Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 17: The Blood Cult: Part IV

The Blood Cult- IV

After the Blitz on Konoha and in the aftermath of Team Sigma's battle against the S-ranked criminal Uzumaki Shinno, Naruto had debriefed with Jiraiya of the Sannin. It had been a relatively quick run-down of the mission- what the team had encountered and how Naruto had proceeded. Jiraiya had listened intently and then redirected the conversation onto lighter subjects. After Tsunade had returned, Naruto had completed a comprehensive report on his actions and decisions during the village crisis. As he wrote it, hindsight had struck him hard and questions upon questions had filled his thoughts- but two stood out amongst them all.

What if Naruto had kept Daichi and Kage with him during the battle against Shinno? The added firepower of two more ANBU members and the insight that Daichi's eyes may have provided could have completely turned the tide of that battle. Perhaps, if Naruto had acted differently, Team Mantis may have survived- although he still didn't know what platoon that they had belonged to and any questioning on his part had been shut down rather promptly.

There was only one other question that plagued him more. What if Naruto had been able to access the power of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox with greater ease? If he had been able to harness and control that unfathomable power within him, the fight would have gone much differently. Perhaps they would have been able to stop Shinno before he had activated his weapon and wiped a large city and almost one-hundred thousand people off of the map.

He had voiced both questions to the Hokage. The old man had nodded thoughtfully, and then told him to stop wasting his time. 'What ifs' were of no use if they were just being used to agonise and doubt every decision. Instead, the Hokage had said, Naruto needed to focus on what he would do next time. He had gone further with an answer for his second question, adding that Naruto hadn't been trained in the use of the power of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox because the chakra simply hadn't been available during his childhood.

The Fourth, Naruto was told, had been a sealing expert to the highest calibre. The seal that adorned his belly had locked away every hint of the bubbling crimson chakra deep within him, slowly purifying it and pumping it into his body. It had given him immense chakra reserves, which in turn boosted the Uzumaki longevity and endurance. But from what the Third Hokage had been able to determine, the seal had not been designed to allow Naruto access to the demonic chakra while he was young- unless he had come across a life-threatening situation. Then, fail-safes in the seal activated and Naruto could- and had- accessed and harnessed the power of the most powerful tailed beast. The seal had clamped down soon afterwards and the chakra was again out of his conscious reach.

The seal would soon begin to slowly deteriorate- the one exposure to the foul, corrosive chakra of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had caused minor but irreparable damage that would eventually snowball into complete seal failure. The more that Naruto used the demonic chakra, the faster this process would occur. Naruto must have looked worried because the Third Hokage had laughed, clapping him on the shoulder and saying that as long as Naruto didn't use the Kyuubi's chakra again, such an event was a decade away at least, and that the seal could be repaired and refreshed before that had happened.

Now though, as the young, thirteen-year old blond boy pressed against the wicked, tri-pronged scythe of Hidan, the immortal priest of Jashin, he wished that he could once again call up that terrible power within him. All around him, men, women and children were bound by some kind of paralysing technique, but still able to scream and plead and beg for their lives. Without any warning and almost seemingly at random, a random civilian would scream in agony and implode, their entire body disappearing into nothingness as their blood splattered everywhere around them. This only spurred on the sobbing and screams of the others and Naruto's ears rang as sparks flew through the air.