Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Villages ❯ All we'll ever find is war ( Chapter 10 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Kazuki Ferret 
stuff happens in this chapter.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance / Martial Arts / Fantasy | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 11.09.2007 | Updated On: 11.25.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 211 | Status: Work In Progress
stuff happens in this chapter.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance / Martial Arts / Fantasy | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 11.09.2007 | Updated On: 11.25.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 211 | Status: Work In Progress
“What is peace? Most would say it’s the end goal of all humanity; to live in peace. Yet, it seems the more you try and achieve peace the more conflicts you stir up. So is peace merely the bait laid out by God to cause mankind to tear itself apart? I believe so, because it seems the more you seek peace, all you ever seem to find is war.” –Miho, Paradiseo Genin
Pein had halved the distance between himself and Momoko, she wasn’t even moving. For some reason he couldn’t stop thinking about the ‘tarot’ cards Juubei showed him, the ones he said ‘held his future’. The first card was the young maiden, the second was the piano wire, and the last was the jungle cat. What they meant was beyond him, but Pein thought he was about to find out.
“Charging forward so recklessly,” Momoko smiled as she spoke and got into a low crouching fighting stance, “You’re a fool!”
Pein stepped in front of a wooden panel; it exploded with a thunderous roar. He managed to dodge the worse of the trap, where the panel was he could see a side-by-side shotgun with wire around the trigger. When did she set that!?
“I am Paradiseo’s foremost expert on all manner of traps; you allowed me too much time.” Momoko calmly said as she reached both hands into her hip pouch and with her right hand she pulled out her .357, with her left she pulled out more bells. She had a wide grin on her face, she growled out, “This whole street is a giant gauntlet of traps! Welcome to my playground!”
Pein set foot on the edge of a shop’s roof; a wire flew at him and nearly sliced his arm off. His eyes widened; she’s good! Without a doubt at the level of a Sennin, what manner of Hell was the three year war to create such a ninja!?
Kakuzu leapt to join Juubei in his battle against Kuroudo. No way he’d let such a heart escape his collection.
-WHAM!- Kakuzu flew backwards, he’d been struck by…by…
“No way.” Kuroudo said absently as he looked up to see someone he never expected to be his ally.
“YOU’RE SO SLOPPY!” Toku howled out in his usual insane tone as he stood on the street, lightning swirling around his jittery body. His eye held that same insane look as when they were in the alley a few days before, behind his mask Toku was smiling, “I’ll handle this loser for you, you piece of trash!”
“You should pay more attention, Fox.” Juubei said calmly as he punched Kuroudo in the face, pieces chipped off as he flew backwards. Kuroudo quickly regained his footing and charged at Juubei; large parts of his face had chipped off already. I wonder why that’s happening. I’ve never heard of anything like that in the after action reports of the war, but he seems to get stronger the more it chips off. I’ll make a prediction for him. Juubei tossed a hand full of his tarot cards into the air as he dodged Kuroudo’s punch and vanished; the wheels of fate had been spun and all that remained was to leave the rest to God. Kuroudo looked up at the cards, there were six but he could only see what was on five of them. The first one was a picture of a man in a lab coat and surgical mask covered in blood, above it ‘Mad Doctor’ was written obviously referring to Juubei. The second was a picture of blowing flames with the word ‘Explosion’ written above them. The third was a picture of a harp with the word ‘Harp’ written above it, obviously referring to Juubei’s wires. The fourth was troubling it was a picture of a fresh grave with ‘Burial’ written above it. The fifth was a picture of a man, who looked kind of like Mr. Konoha Raven Hair with a backpack and a scornful look on his face, the word ‘Onward’ was written above the picture.
“Those damned cards, they’re not traditional tarots.” Kuroudo growled as he grit his teeth, the cards still hung in the air. These are obviously of Juubei’s design. So is this style of ‘prediction’, although I’m willing to bet that they’re extremely accurate. They’re a lot more specific than the normal deck, so they’re just Juubei’s version of cartomancy (KF note: Cartomancy is the term for fortune telling using cards. Tarot cards are used most commonly for this practice.)? They’re as chilling as readings with traditional means; I wonder what that last card is.
“You really should pay more attention, fox.” Juubei said with a mocking chuckle as he swiftly appeared behind Kuroudo and wrapped Kuroudo’s arms with the bell wires; he also grabbed the sixth card. Kuroudo’s blood painted the sky as Juubei flung him into the air and back to the ground; the impact easily and audibly dislocated Kuroudo’s right shoulder. Juubei threw three kunai with eight explosive tags on each one around Kuroudo, whose eyes widened in fright.
The explosion was truly massive, it could be seen from anywhere in the village. The mushroom cloud reached at least one hundred feet into the sky. Debris flew everywhere and all the fighting in the immediate area stopped. Temari, who’d gotten to the street just in time to see Kuroudo get blown up screamed, but couldn’t be heard over the sonic boom, she slumped over against a building, panting.
“No…” Temari’s eyes widened as she watched Kuroudo disappear in the explosion and a sudden wave of terror swept over her and her brain screamed a funny thought into her head. You bastard! I need you to at least pay fucking child support if you aren’t going to marry me hot stuff!
“I think you over did it Juubei.” Koga chuckled and shook his head as he walked up next to Juubei, staring at the crater where Kuroudo once was. The hole was a good fourteen feet deep, not that Koga could accurately guess with all the smoke pouring out. “But you killed him at least.”
“You think that’s enough to kill him?” Momoko chuckled and everyone fixed their eyes on her as she chuckled and let the rain wash her face, “He’s not gonna die from that alone, not after I gave him permission to go all out. Tell me father, what card do you hold in your hand?”
“GOD NO!” Juubei shouted as he looked at the card in dull amazement and a loud roar came from the crater, so loud the ground shook. Juubei stared at the card’s slowly running ink, there’s no way in Hell! Not this card, any card but this one!
“WHAT IS THAT!?” Koga screamed as he strained to see into the blackness that concealed the beast.
“He’s here, he’s here!” Kazuko gleefully declared as she smiled at Lee, “He’s fighting unrestricted now! It’s him, I know it is! It’s the master of murder; the king of the kill!”
“This is what is down there in that crushing blackness.” Juubei said as he showed Koga the card, his tone was one of quizzical curiosity but he was undoubtedly happy about however the situation had developed. The card had a picture of an anthromorphic wolf with blood red hair like Kuroudo’s in a frightening pose almost as if it was growling. Written above the picture was ‘Werewolf’. Koga slowly directed his stunned gaze to the shrouded hole; he could barely make out an outline of Kuroudo. He appeared to be pointing something at him, although what it was Koga had no idea.
“MOVE YOU FOOL!” Juubei screamed at Koga who leapt back as a loud gunshot roared out from the hole, the bullet went through the brim of Koga’s hat. His eyes widened, that wasn’t the Luger! Too loud, and the muzzle flash lit up the entire hole!
“Ho, he brought that out?” Momoko said as she smiled again, “Koga, you should bug out. He’s serious now; if he’s brought out the model 29, he means business.”
“I’ve never felt chakra like this before, what is this feeling?” Lee said in stunned terror, he couldn’t look away from the smoke. The feeling that swirled in the air was true terror; it was almost physically painful and the sense that overwhelmed Lee was that he sensed death. It also seemed like it wasn’t just Kuroudo but that there was an unseen army of death that swirled in the air, howling in muted pain and rage but screaming none the less.
“It’s Kuroudo’s true form, that’s why his face was cracking.” Kazuko calmly explained, “He seals himself for a number of reasons, however if he just undoes the seals he’ll easily lose control of his body so he releases them gradually via that chipping you saw earlier. Although truth be told he can’t control his 100% yet, only up to 80% which is still frightening to see. I’ve only seen this form once before, at Oh-Ka pass. And when he was at eighty percent, he ripped through four thousand enemy Jonins like they were wet tissue paper. I believe that he’s invincible while he’s like that, and from what Momoko-sama said. He has her go ahead for that feared transformation. He has full permission to show the world why he’s the King of the Kill!”
“You mean, he’s going for….” Lee stuttered as he stared in amazement; the ninjas of Paradiseo are truly fearsome warriors!
Koga leapt away along the path Juri took out of the village, he was no match for the killing machine that Juubei intended to face. Kuroudo was on another level as far as killers went, the slightest slip in your skill meant instant death when faced with the last surviving member of the Kitsune clan; even Juubei wouldn’t get away unwounded.
“Traitor, I’ll kill you later.” Juubei chuckled as he tossed the card. He calmly looked into the crater, “How dare he underestimate me, I can’t lose, much less to a werewolf!”
“We shall see Jackal; I promised you a death match between two monsters, didn’t I?” Kuroudo said as the smoke cleared, revealing his form. Juubei took in the sight of him; the shirt was gone, so were his shoes, they’d been replaced by two feet paws covered in black fur, Kuroudo still stood upright, his fingerless gloves were over black fur covered hands, Kuroudo’s face had elongated into a muzzle and his ears had moved to the top of his head and were fox ears (big surprise), his body was covered in dark red fur with black ‘gloved’ lower arms, his legs were probably much the same Juubei guessed, his pants were still intact, although a bushy fox tail wagged behind Kuroudo. The colorings were for the most part those of a standard red fox, Kuroudo’s hair still danced in the breeze unchanged. In his left ‘paw’ Kuroudo held a large revolver, obviously what he shot Koga with. A smile spread across his muzzle, “Are you ready to die Jackal?”
“You can’t kill me.” Juubei said as he pulled out another bell, malicious glee permeated his rough voice as he stared into Kuroudo’s mismatched eyes and declared his challenge. “Come, prove me wrong, fox.”
Kuroudo leapt out of the hole and landed in front of Juubei. The height difference was staggering; Juubei stood at least two feet taller than Kuroudo. Kuroudo holstered his revolver and produced two more bayonets in his right paw. The two stared at each other as the rain fell, finally Juubei moved. He swung a full knockout punch at Kuroudo’s head. Kuroudo moved fast, faster than anyone and he lifted his left paw and caught Juubei’s fist, the giant nearly lost his footing as his momentum continued to carry him forward.
“Ist das alles fur mich huete?“ Kuroudo said cruelly as he pulled Juubei in and jammed the bayonets into his heart. Kuroudo grinned, I guess so.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Juubei said coldly as he jerked his head up and looked into Kuroudo’s eyes, “Did you really think it would be so easy?”
“Hey,” Menos said as he looked at Sasuke, “Did you feel that, boy?”
“Yeah, so what?” Sasuke said as he cracked his neck, “Has nothing to do with us.”
“I guess you’re right, it really doesn’t affect us.” Menos calmly said as he stalked forward slowly, “But I’ll warn you now; that is Juubei and Kuroudo you sense; frightening aren’t they? They’re true monsters, beasts of burden; harbingers of death and destruction! They are the scourges of mankind itself; the two greatest killers in all of history battling to the death. It must be a great and bloody battle worthy of song, don’t you agree?”
“Menos,” Koga said sternly as he landed on Menos’s shoulder, blood still flowing from the bullet hole in his face, “You let one escape; where is Juri?”
“Juri lost to that sand ninja girl with the giant fan, she’s over there.” Menos calmly said as he pointed to Juri’s broken and bloody form. She looked as if she’d died, but Koga knew better. Menos continued calmly bringing Koga up to speed, “That fan girl was all nice and tenderized for me; she was pregnant too. I’m sorry that I had to let her go, she’d have tasted great but it looks like she gave Juri a real good time.”
“You monster…” Sasuke said as Menos talked about how delicious Temari would’ve been to eat, but he also thought to himself; if she’s pregnant I have something to hold over her and Kuroudo, probably Momoko too if my suspicions are right that is.
“The greatest and most terrifying monster is man himself!” Menos aggressively declared to Sasuke, “Man is the true monster! Neither I, nor any other boogie man!”
“You two are pathetic, I’ll kill this raven haired loser and then we’ll leave.” Koga said as he jumped towards Sasuke.
-WHAM!!- Koga was sent flying, his hat fluttered to the ground and two Leaf Jonins landed in front of Sasuke, they were…
“Yo.” Kakashi said in his usual tone as he waved at Sasuke, Might Guy stood next to Kakashi. The two would surely be enough to give the two Akatsuki prospects a run for their money; they were both Leaf elites…
“Who are these two guys?” Might Guy said with a sharp tone to his voice as he looked at Menos and then at Koga who’d stood back up. Koga smiled and took out his shotgun and tossed it into the woods.
“I am Koga, the Fenris wolf and one of the most famous serial killers in Paradiseo.” Koga said in twisted glee as he appeared behind Kakashi and Guy, “I’ll take you two, Menos you continue with Sasuke.”
“He’s fast!” Kakashi and Guy both said in shock as they jumped away from Koga. Still grinning like a mental patient, Koga pulled out two kunai and tossed them at his foes. Guy ducked underneath the kunai tossed at him and rushed Koga.
Juubei’s fist crashed into Kuroudo’s gut, sending him reeling backwards in pain as blood vessels burst open. Juubei stood up straight, twin bayonets still lodged deep in his chest. He chuckled slightly and grabbed the blade handles, behind his mask he was surely smiling at Kuroudo’s stunned face.
“Did you really expect this to be enough to stop me?” Juubei said as he tore the bayonets from his heart, “I taught I’d made it clear; I cannot die!”
“Well then, I’ll just have to force it upon you!” Kuroudo snarled out as he snapped his fingers, “Explodieren!”
-BOOOOOOOM!!!- The two bayonets Juubei held exploded and he was enveloped in smoke. Kuroudo tensed, ready for Juubei’s inevitable counter attack. Instead Juubei started chuckling and walking forward. The explosions really weren’t all that serious, but no one should be able to simply walk away from them smiling. Whatever Juubei was; it was far from human, maybe even further then Kuroudo’s own monstrous form. Juubei stepped out of the smoke, and Kuroudo stared in awe.
“You really are good! To think you’ve forced me to 50% already, that’s truly amazing. And you’re not even trying yet, I really underestimated you earlier.” Juubei’s voice was calm and neutral as he looked into Kuroudo’s eyes and spoke to him, “You’re a challenge for me. However, you’re still nowhere near my level.”
“Kuroudo,” Momoko said, “Stop playing with your food and clean your plate. We’ve got shopping to do later, show him the edges of madness. Kuroudo, show him the fury of 90%.”
“Hm, well Juubei…” Kuroudo chuckled as he smiled, “You heard the woman; she wants to go shopping. I’m gonna have to cut our fun short.”
“She has you on a leash!” Juubei howled out with a joyous laugh.
“No, I had her on a leash last night. She loves it when I get kinky like that.” Kuroudo said in a playful voice as he smiled at Juubei, “She also loved it when we had Temari on that same leash, such fun we have at night with no clothes on.”
“WATCH YOUR TONGUE BOY!” Juubei’s voice seethed with rage as he stood up straight, showing his full form to Kuroudo, “I may be a terrible father, but you won’t insult my legacy like that!”
“It sure sounds like things have gotten crazy over there, doesn’t it?” Itachi spoke calmly as he stared into Miho’s uncovered right eye. He’d already put Gaara through Tsukuyomi, but for some reason he couldn’t do the same to the girl. After staring into her eye for some time he asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Miho, the Beowolf.” Miho said as she tore the right sleeve of her kimono off; with a look of dejection she calmly showed her mangled arm to Itachi; the tribal tattoo really didn’t disguise the broken patchwork beneath it, it just looked cool. Miho grinned menacingly at Itachi, “I am Paradiseo’s foremost genjutsu expert, and I’m also the first person to compound their chakra to slow down the molecules in the air enough to lower the temperature to absolute zero. Your Mangekyo Sharingan and all your genjutsu are useless against my Jagan, and taijutsu is useless against my Beowolf fist. I usually don’t make this offer, and it’s only because you’re the strongest foe I’ve ever faced.”
“Oh,” Itachi narrowed his gaze as he spoke to Miho; She has some skill, this might not be an easy battle. “and what is that?”
“Withdraw, I’ll let you escape.” Miho said flatly as she ran her fingers down the shattered patchwork of skin that was her right arm. “You’re wondering about these horrid wounds aren’t you? I know you’re staring at my arm, it’s alright I’m quite used to it by now. I was too close to a bomb that went off, I nearly lost the arm.”
“So you were lucky then, however I can’t simply withdraw.” Itachi said as he pulled out a kunai, “I’ll kill you and rejoin my comrades in the city.”
“And I can’t let you do that; you’ll have to go posthumously.” Miho said with a sorrowful voice as she cracked her knuckles and looked at Itachi somberly, “No matter how hard we strive for peace; all we’ll ever find is war.”
To be continued….
-Kazuki Ferret
Next time: Insanity
Pein had halved the distance between himself and Momoko, she wasn’t even moving. For some reason he couldn’t stop thinking about the ‘tarot’ cards Juubei showed him, the ones he said ‘held his future’. The first card was the young maiden, the second was the piano wire, and the last was the jungle cat. What they meant was beyond him, but Pein thought he was about to find out.
“Charging forward so recklessly,” Momoko smiled as she spoke and got into a low crouching fighting stance, “You’re a fool!”
Pein stepped in front of a wooden panel; it exploded with a thunderous roar. He managed to dodge the worse of the trap, where the panel was he could see a side-by-side shotgun with wire around the trigger. When did she set that!?
“I am Paradiseo’s foremost expert on all manner of traps; you allowed me too much time.” Momoko calmly said as she reached both hands into her hip pouch and with her right hand she pulled out her .357, with her left she pulled out more bells. She had a wide grin on her face, she growled out, “This whole street is a giant gauntlet of traps! Welcome to my playground!”
Pein set foot on the edge of a shop’s roof; a wire flew at him and nearly sliced his arm off. His eyes widened; she’s good! Without a doubt at the level of a Sennin, what manner of Hell was the three year war to create such a ninja!?
Kakuzu leapt to join Juubei in his battle against Kuroudo. No way he’d let such a heart escape his collection.
-WHAM!- Kakuzu flew backwards, he’d been struck by…by…
“No way.” Kuroudo said absently as he looked up to see someone he never expected to be his ally.
“YOU’RE SO SLOPPY!” Toku howled out in his usual insane tone as he stood on the street, lightning swirling around his jittery body. His eye held that same insane look as when they were in the alley a few days before, behind his mask Toku was smiling, “I’ll handle this loser for you, you piece of trash!”
“You should pay more attention, Fox.” Juubei said calmly as he punched Kuroudo in the face, pieces chipped off as he flew backwards. Kuroudo quickly regained his footing and charged at Juubei; large parts of his face had chipped off already. I wonder why that’s happening. I’ve never heard of anything like that in the after action reports of the war, but he seems to get stronger the more it chips off. I’ll make a prediction for him. Juubei tossed a hand full of his tarot cards into the air as he dodged Kuroudo’s punch and vanished; the wheels of fate had been spun and all that remained was to leave the rest to God. Kuroudo looked up at the cards, there were six but he could only see what was on five of them. The first one was a picture of a man in a lab coat and surgical mask covered in blood, above it ‘Mad Doctor’ was written obviously referring to Juubei. The second was a picture of blowing flames with the word ‘Explosion’ written above them. The third was a picture of a harp with the word ‘Harp’ written above it, obviously referring to Juubei’s wires. The fourth was troubling it was a picture of a fresh grave with ‘Burial’ written above it. The fifth was a picture of a man, who looked kind of like Mr. Konoha Raven Hair with a backpack and a scornful look on his face, the word ‘Onward’ was written above the picture.
“Those damned cards, they’re not traditional tarots.” Kuroudo growled as he grit his teeth, the cards still hung in the air. These are obviously of Juubei’s design. So is this style of ‘prediction’, although I’m willing to bet that they’re extremely accurate. They’re a lot more specific than the normal deck, so they’re just Juubei’s version of cartomancy (KF note: Cartomancy is the term for fortune telling using cards. Tarot cards are used most commonly for this practice.)? They’re as chilling as readings with traditional means; I wonder what that last card is.
“You really should pay more attention, fox.” Juubei said with a mocking chuckle as he swiftly appeared behind Kuroudo and wrapped Kuroudo’s arms with the bell wires; he also grabbed the sixth card. Kuroudo’s blood painted the sky as Juubei flung him into the air and back to the ground; the impact easily and audibly dislocated Kuroudo’s right shoulder. Juubei threw three kunai with eight explosive tags on each one around Kuroudo, whose eyes widened in fright.
The explosion was truly massive, it could be seen from anywhere in the village. The mushroom cloud reached at least one hundred feet into the sky. Debris flew everywhere and all the fighting in the immediate area stopped. Temari, who’d gotten to the street just in time to see Kuroudo get blown up screamed, but couldn’t be heard over the sonic boom, she slumped over against a building, panting.
“No…” Temari’s eyes widened as she watched Kuroudo disappear in the explosion and a sudden wave of terror swept over her and her brain screamed a funny thought into her head. You bastard! I need you to at least pay fucking child support if you aren’t going to marry me hot stuff!
“I think you over did it Juubei.” Koga chuckled and shook his head as he walked up next to Juubei, staring at the crater where Kuroudo once was. The hole was a good fourteen feet deep, not that Koga could accurately guess with all the smoke pouring out. “But you killed him at least.”
“You think that’s enough to kill him?” Momoko chuckled and everyone fixed their eyes on her as she chuckled and let the rain wash her face, “He’s not gonna die from that alone, not after I gave him permission to go all out. Tell me father, what card do you hold in your hand?”
“GOD NO!” Juubei shouted as he looked at the card in dull amazement and a loud roar came from the crater, so loud the ground shook. Juubei stared at the card’s slowly running ink, there’s no way in Hell! Not this card, any card but this one!
“WHAT IS THAT!?” Koga screamed as he strained to see into the blackness that concealed the beast.
“He’s here, he’s here!” Kazuko gleefully declared as she smiled at Lee, “He’s fighting unrestricted now! It’s him, I know it is! It’s the master of murder; the king of the kill!”
“This is what is down there in that crushing blackness.” Juubei said as he showed Koga the card, his tone was one of quizzical curiosity but he was undoubtedly happy about however the situation had developed. The card had a picture of an anthromorphic wolf with blood red hair like Kuroudo’s in a frightening pose almost as if it was growling. Written above the picture was ‘Werewolf’. Koga slowly directed his stunned gaze to the shrouded hole; he could barely make out an outline of Kuroudo. He appeared to be pointing something at him, although what it was Koga had no idea.
“MOVE YOU FOOL!” Juubei screamed at Koga who leapt back as a loud gunshot roared out from the hole, the bullet went through the brim of Koga’s hat. His eyes widened, that wasn’t the Luger! Too loud, and the muzzle flash lit up the entire hole!
“Ho, he brought that out?” Momoko said as she smiled again, “Koga, you should bug out. He’s serious now; if he’s brought out the model 29, he means business.”
“I’ve never felt chakra like this before, what is this feeling?” Lee said in stunned terror, he couldn’t look away from the smoke. The feeling that swirled in the air was true terror; it was almost physically painful and the sense that overwhelmed Lee was that he sensed death. It also seemed like it wasn’t just Kuroudo but that there was an unseen army of death that swirled in the air, howling in muted pain and rage but screaming none the less.
“It’s Kuroudo’s true form, that’s why his face was cracking.” Kazuko calmly explained, “He seals himself for a number of reasons, however if he just undoes the seals he’ll easily lose control of his body so he releases them gradually via that chipping you saw earlier. Although truth be told he can’t control his 100% yet, only up to 80% which is still frightening to see. I’ve only seen this form once before, at Oh-Ka pass. And when he was at eighty percent, he ripped through four thousand enemy Jonins like they were wet tissue paper. I believe that he’s invincible while he’s like that, and from what Momoko-sama said. He has her go ahead for that feared transformation. He has full permission to show the world why he’s the King of the Kill!”
“You mean, he’s going for….” Lee stuttered as he stared in amazement; the ninjas of Paradiseo are truly fearsome warriors!
Koga leapt away along the path Juri took out of the village, he was no match for the killing machine that Juubei intended to face. Kuroudo was on another level as far as killers went, the slightest slip in your skill meant instant death when faced with the last surviving member of the Kitsune clan; even Juubei wouldn’t get away unwounded.
“Traitor, I’ll kill you later.” Juubei chuckled as he tossed the card. He calmly looked into the crater, “How dare he underestimate me, I can’t lose, much less to a werewolf!”
“We shall see Jackal; I promised you a death match between two monsters, didn’t I?” Kuroudo said as the smoke cleared, revealing his form. Juubei took in the sight of him; the shirt was gone, so were his shoes, they’d been replaced by two feet paws covered in black fur, Kuroudo still stood upright, his fingerless gloves were over black fur covered hands, Kuroudo’s face had elongated into a muzzle and his ears had moved to the top of his head and were fox ears (big surprise), his body was covered in dark red fur with black ‘gloved’ lower arms, his legs were probably much the same Juubei guessed, his pants were still intact, although a bushy fox tail wagged behind Kuroudo. The colorings were for the most part those of a standard red fox, Kuroudo’s hair still danced in the breeze unchanged. In his left ‘paw’ Kuroudo held a large revolver, obviously what he shot Koga with. A smile spread across his muzzle, “Are you ready to die Jackal?”
“You can’t kill me.” Juubei said as he pulled out another bell, malicious glee permeated his rough voice as he stared into Kuroudo’s mismatched eyes and declared his challenge. “Come, prove me wrong, fox.”
Kuroudo leapt out of the hole and landed in front of Juubei. The height difference was staggering; Juubei stood at least two feet taller than Kuroudo. Kuroudo holstered his revolver and produced two more bayonets in his right paw. The two stared at each other as the rain fell, finally Juubei moved. He swung a full knockout punch at Kuroudo’s head. Kuroudo moved fast, faster than anyone and he lifted his left paw and caught Juubei’s fist, the giant nearly lost his footing as his momentum continued to carry him forward.
“Ist das alles fur mich huete?“ Kuroudo said cruelly as he pulled Juubei in and jammed the bayonets into his heart. Kuroudo grinned, I guess so.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Juubei said coldly as he jerked his head up and looked into Kuroudo’s eyes, “Did you really think it would be so easy?”
“Hey,” Menos said as he looked at Sasuke, “Did you feel that, boy?”
“Yeah, so what?” Sasuke said as he cracked his neck, “Has nothing to do with us.”
“I guess you’re right, it really doesn’t affect us.” Menos calmly said as he stalked forward slowly, “But I’ll warn you now; that is Juubei and Kuroudo you sense; frightening aren’t they? They’re true monsters, beasts of burden; harbingers of death and destruction! They are the scourges of mankind itself; the two greatest killers in all of history battling to the death. It must be a great and bloody battle worthy of song, don’t you agree?”
“Menos,” Koga said sternly as he landed on Menos’s shoulder, blood still flowing from the bullet hole in his face, “You let one escape; where is Juri?”
“Juri lost to that sand ninja girl with the giant fan, she’s over there.” Menos calmly said as he pointed to Juri’s broken and bloody form. She looked as if she’d died, but Koga knew better. Menos continued calmly bringing Koga up to speed, “That fan girl was all nice and tenderized for me; she was pregnant too. I’m sorry that I had to let her go, she’d have tasted great but it looks like she gave Juri a real good time.”
“You monster…” Sasuke said as Menos talked about how delicious Temari would’ve been to eat, but he also thought to himself; if she’s pregnant I have something to hold over her and Kuroudo, probably Momoko too if my suspicions are right that is.
“The greatest and most terrifying monster is man himself!” Menos aggressively declared to Sasuke, “Man is the true monster! Neither I, nor any other boogie man!”
“You two are pathetic, I’ll kill this raven haired loser and then we’ll leave.” Koga said as he jumped towards Sasuke.
-WHAM!!- Koga was sent flying, his hat fluttered to the ground and two Leaf Jonins landed in front of Sasuke, they were…
“Yo.” Kakashi said in his usual tone as he waved at Sasuke, Might Guy stood next to Kakashi. The two would surely be enough to give the two Akatsuki prospects a run for their money; they were both Leaf elites…
“Who are these two guys?” Might Guy said with a sharp tone to his voice as he looked at Menos and then at Koga who’d stood back up. Koga smiled and took out his shotgun and tossed it into the woods.
“I am Koga, the Fenris wolf and one of the most famous serial killers in Paradiseo.” Koga said in twisted glee as he appeared behind Kakashi and Guy, “I’ll take you two, Menos you continue with Sasuke.”
“He’s fast!” Kakashi and Guy both said in shock as they jumped away from Koga. Still grinning like a mental patient, Koga pulled out two kunai and tossed them at his foes. Guy ducked underneath the kunai tossed at him and rushed Koga.
Juubei’s fist crashed into Kuroudo’s gut, sending him reeling backwards in pain as blood vessels burst open. Juubei stood up straight, twin bayonets still lodged deep in his chest. He chuckled slightly and grabbed the blade handles, behind his mask he was surely smiling at Kuroudo’s stunned face.
“Did you really expect this to be enough to stop me?” Juubei said as he tore the bayonets from his heart, “I taught I’d made it clear; I cannot die!”
“Well then, I’ll just have to force it upon you!” Kuroudo snarled out as he snapped his fingers, “Explodieren!”
-BOOOOOOOM!!!- The two bayonets Juubei held exploded and he was enveloped in smoke. Kuroudo tensed, ready for Juubei’s inevitable counter attack. Instead Juubei started chuckling and walking forward. The explosions really weren’t all that serious, but no one should be able to simply walk away from them smiling. Whatever Juubei was; it was far from human, maybe even further then Kuroudo’s own monstrous form. Juubei stepped out of the smoke, and Kuroudo stared in awe.
“You really are good! To think you’ve forced me to 50% already, that’s truly amazing. And you’re not even trying yet, I really underestimated you earlier.” Juubei’s voice was calm and neutral as he looked into Kuroudo’s eyes and spoke to him, “You’re a challenge for me. However, you’re still nowhere near my level.”
“Kuroudo,” Momoko said, “Stop playing with your food and clean your plate. We’ve got shopping to do later, show him the edges of madness. Kuroudo, show him the fury of 90%.”
“Hm, well Juubei…” Kuroudo chuckled as he smiled, “You heard the woman; she wants to go shopping. I’m gonna have to cut our fun short.”
“She has you on a leash!” Juubei howled out with a joyous laugh.
“No, I had her on a leash last night. She loves it when I get kinky like that.” Kuroudo said in a playful voice as he smiled at Juubei, “She also loved it when we had Temari on that same leash, such fun we have at night with no clothes on.”
“WATCH YOUR TONGUE BOY!” Juubei’s voice seethed with rage as he stood up straight, showing his full form to Kuroudo, “I may be a terrible father, but you won’t insult my legacy like that!”
“It sure sounds like things have gotten crazy over there, doesn’t it?” Itachi spoke calmly as he stared into Miho’s uncovered right eye. He’d already put Gaara through Tsukuyomi, but for some reason he couldn’t do the same to the girl. After staring into her eye for some time he asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Miho, the Beowolf.” Miho said as she tore the right sleeve of her kimono off; with a look of dejection she calmly showed her mangled arm to Itachi; the tribal tattoo really didn’t disguise the broken patchwork beneath it, it just looked cool. Miho grinned menacingly at Itachi, “I am Paradiseo’s foremost genjutsu expert, and I’m also the first person to compound their chakra to slow down the molecules in the air enough to lower the temperature to absolute zero. Your Mangekyo Sharingan and all your genjutsu are useless against my Jagan, and taijutsu is useless against my Beowolf fist. I usually don’t make this offer, and it’s only because you’re the strongest foe I’ve ever faced.”
“Oh,” Itachi narrowed his gaze as he spoke to Miho; She has some skill, this might not be an easy battle. “and what is that?”
“Withdraw, I’ll let you escape.” Miho said flatly as she ran her fingers down the shattered patchwork of skin that was her right arm. “You’re wondering about these horrid wounds aren’t you? I know you’re staring at my arm, it’s alright I’m quite used to it by now. I was too close to a bomb that went off, I nearly lost the arm.”
“So you were lucky then, however I can’t simply withdraw.” Itachi said as he pulled out a kunai, “I’ll kill you and rejoin my comrades in the city.”
“And I can’t let you do that; you’ll have to go posthumously.” Miho said with a sorrowful voice as she cracked her knuckles and looked at Itachi somberly, “No matter how hard we strive for peace; all we’ll ever find is war.”
To be continued….
-Kazuki Ferret
Next time: Insanity