Once Again (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Sequel to Another Take) (Complete)

Ch. 25: No Roads Left

~Standing alone with no direction, how did I fall so far behind? Why am I searching for perfection, knowing it's something I won't find?~

Kiyomi's POV

I landed on an outcropping of rock high above the battlefield and peered down. Below me sprawled a giant forest that couldn't have been natural, considering we were in the middle of the mountains. The sky was beginning to darken, but I could see far enough to make out a large amount of destruction not too far away.

Fen had returned to inside my body, saying that a huge wolf was likely to attract attention. I agreed, and now here I was.

The air felt tense as I slowly jumped down towards the ground, taking care not to make too much noise. As I got closer, I could see a man in black-and-red armor making his way away from the battlefield, which had gone scarily quiet.

This is the place that I'd recently felt the Kages fighting, right? But now... now I could only feel the overwhelming presence that I assumed was coming from the man in armor.

'That is Madara Uchiha,' Fen's voice was grave. I could feel that all of his attention was focused on that man, and the wolf was more tense than I'd ever seen him.

I stopped, taking cover behind a fallen bolder. There was a corpse nearby, but I decided to ignore that. 'You're sure? But he's a revived shinobi, how is he still here? The jutsu was released!'

'I am absolutely positive,' Fen said lowly. 'I've never met him, but he came close to my mountain during the first war. I would never forget his presence. It was so strong, it felt like it charged the very air!'

'I've heard the stories,' I replied thoughtfully. 'It's actually not surprising that such a powerful shinobi could escape the control of the revival jutsu. But the question is, where is he going now?'

'And what happened to the Kages...'

I nodded, then peeked out from my hiding spot. Madara was facing away from me, and was still walking away. This is as good a chance as any. "Illusionist's Deception," I whispered as quietly as I could.

Apparently I wasn't quiet enough. Madara whirled around, but the jutsu had taken effect by then and I had disappeared.

I could barely make out Madara's eyes narrowing in my direction, but then he turned back around. I let out a silent breath, then carefully stood up and started ghosting towards him.

I stayed a good distance away from Madara as he walked, but still close enough that I wouldn't lose him. Suddenly I heard something hiss through the air, then an arrow struck Madara straight in the back.

But the Uchiha didn't fall, instead just coming to a halt and looking up in the direction the arrow came from. He casually reached back and pulled the arrow out, looking at it with disinterest before snapping it in half.

Another arrow streaked through the air, but Madara was ready and easily caught this one in his hand. His face hadn't changed, but his Sharingan eyes were whirling. Then a blue arm shot from his back and into the growing darkness.

When it returned, a struggling figure was clutched in the glowing blue hand. Madara brought the hand closer, and then I could see who it was.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Jiyuu shouted as she tried to free herself, but was unable to escape from the crushing grip. Briefly her hair flared into lightning, but then flickered back to normal when either she or Seaiga were unable to maintain the transformation.