Ashes (A Naruto Fanfic Book 6)

Chapter 38

I left the Raikage's office, and a small fox ran up and jumped to my shoulders.  "Well, hello..."  He growled, and I smiled as I strolled to the gates.  I looked at the party waiting for me.  "Ready?"

They all nodded, and we left the village.  Minato looked at Kurama, resting around my shoulders.  "That's not safe..."

He was met with one red eye and a huff.  "Trust me when I say this is safest for now..."

Minato frowned at us.  "How?"

I stared ahead, and he dropped to the ground.  "Minato..."  I signaled for the others to go ahead and joined him.  "I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything here."

He crossed his arms.  "That seems to be everywhere lately."

I looked at a nearby tree, and it shifted.  "Eyes and ears are everywhere..."

He saw it, and his eyes widened.  "Who or what was that?"

I met his gaze.  "They are known as Zetsu, and we'll have company soon..."  I gestured for him to follow and led him away to a secluded cabin.  I pat Kurama on the head.  "Sorry, Fox..."

He grunted and jumped from my shoulders before disappearing behind a hidden passage.  "So... if you're captured..."

I nodded.  "They won't have him, at least."  I felt a presence outside of the cabin.  "So soon..."

Minato felt it too and withdrew his weapon.  "What will we do?"

I sighed and put a hand on his wrist.  "You will sleep."  His eyes widened before he fell unconscious, and I faced the door.  "Sorry, Minato... I still need you alive."

I teleported away from the cabin, and the chase began.  I raced toward nowhere in particular but stopped when he stood before me.  "Left your father behind that barrier... how soft hearted of you."

I shrugged.  "He would get in the way."

I felt Madara's sinister smile behind his mask.  "I'm assuming you won't come willingly..."

I tilted my head.  "Now Madara... have I ever done this the easy way?"

He chuckled.  "No."  I braced as he came at me and dodged.  I entered his mind, trying to anticipate his moves, but came up blank.  Fuck...

I dodged again and threw up an ice barrier as weapons followed me.  I broke the ice and sent the shards flying towards him.  He did that wretched jutsu again, seemingly becoming untouchable as the ice passed through him.  "Who's eyes did you aquire to have such a power?"

I quickly drew my swords, and we locked blades.  "Wouldn't you like to know..."

He did it again, but I jumped back before I could become part of his trick.  I thought for a moment.  "His name was Obito..."

He chuckled.  "You always were smart, but not smart enough."

I spun deflecting him and tried to form a plan of escape.  He was coming at me fast, and it was all I could do to keep from getting sucked in.  Luckily, I wasn't a pushover, genjutsu was null and void between us, so all the was left was tai- and ninjutsu.  We were evenly matched attacking and countering, neither getting the upper hand.

All it would take was one misstep and either would fall.  I tried Wood release and Ice release to trap him, but his Amertarastu burned through them both.  "Always hated those flames..."

He laughed.  "Give up... I know all your tricks."

I smirked.  "Do you?"  I knew his was bluffing, but the problem was I didn't know all of his either.  Even with my swords absorbing his chakra, I didn't know his limit, but neither of us was close to finished.

We both jumped back to regroup, assessing and reassessing our situation.  Then the dance began anew.  I allowed him to disarm me and began to use my chakra threads.  I pushed him back, and as one passed through him, I used it to throw a sword back towards him.  He barely dodged as I caught the blade and punched his chest, sending as much lightning charka as I could through it.

He fell back and grasped his chest but was still standing.  "Impressive."  I missed his heart.  I held my blade in front of me and felt something coming at me from behind and dove to the side.  I grimaced as I rolled to my feet.  "You finally decided to show yourself."

I instantly regretted the large discharge of chakra and hopped backward, regrouping.  "Shisui... It seems you've regained use of your limbs.  How unfortunate."

He sneered at me, Sharingan bright.  Dammit...  "What you did to me... I'll kill you both."

I smirked, glancing between the two.  "Well... maybe we should've killed you, but hindsight is 20/20 after all."

He began to stalk towards me, and I entered his mind, burning it.  He grasped his head but continued.  "That won't stop me..."

I held my blade toward him.  "Clearly..."  I raced through my options, but knew likelihood of me escaping was slim, but I didn't have to make it easy.

He vanished, and I spun, deflecting him and jumped as Madara appeared behind me.  I threw my sword and backed into a tree.  "Stupid Uchiha... Have you nothing better to do than chase me down?"

They exchanged a glance, and I waited, trying to anticipate their next move.  They both moved, and I dropped to the ground.  I blocked and evaded, slicing through them with threads when I could.  I'm close to my limit...  Madara was slowed due to my hit earlier, but Shisui wasn't tiring in the least.

Then, a wave of dread spread through me as I felt another chakra signature in the area.  No...  I spun, making them both fly back and fled in the opposite direction.  They followed, still unaware of him, and I planned to keep it that way.  Shisui appeared in front of me, and I dropped to the ground.  I continued to evade them, but he was closing in fast.  Dammit...

I reanalyzed my options and redirected.  I thought I would lose him, but the other two suddenly stopped giving chase.  I groaned and retraced my steps, falling in front of them.  "Leave him out of this..."

Shisui smirked.  "How will you stop us?"  I cursed under my breath and put up a barrier trapping the three of us in.  "Really?  Is he so important that you would risk your own life?"

I summoned my blades.  "Let's end this then."  I gathered the last of my chakra for a final standoff, knowing I would lose.  They prepared themselves and attacked.  I hacked and slashed, using jutsu as I could.

I didn't slow when Itachi collided with my barrier.  "Kunoichi!"  I grit my teeth focusing on draining my opponents of their chakra as much as I could.  I felt him rip through my barrier and cursed.

Shisui redirected his attention, but I couldn't stop him so long as Madara's sole focus was on me.  I had to trust Itachi could hold his own.  We locked blades, and I dropped one to punch his mask.  I was shocked when I saw what was hidden underneath as he jumped back.  "So... you possess the Rinnegan..."

His smile was vile.  "Looks like the secret's out."

I gulped, hearing the fight behind me.  "Why?"

He ran towards me.  "You know why..."

He hit a clone, and I tried to stab him from behind, but he disintegrated again, and I felt a pain in my side.  "Fuck..."

I jumped away, clutching my wound and he followed.  I felt a shift within me, one I had become very familiar with.  I allowed the unknown chakra to move within me until it began to leak out.  Madara paused.  "What's this?"

I sheathed my blades and took a deep breath, fighting against the pain.  I used the last of my own chakra to extend my mind.  Itachi... I would suggest your run...