Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Shades of Crimson	By : Onileo Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2074 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. My fanfiction is for entertainment only and is not intended for financial gain.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Chapter 20
          "Foolish kunoichi." Pein stated as Hinata closed in on him. Lifting his free arm and spreading his palm outward, he used his chakra to draw her to him. The force of the jutsu lifted her off her feet. Just when she would have collided with him, he sidestepped, and without anything to stop her, she went careening headlong into a surprised Kakashi. The protective barrier of chakra fell as he caught her, but not before ripping a long gash in his jounin vest. They slid backwards to a halt. Straightening as he set her on her feet, Hinata crouched, unfazed and ready to attack again.
          "That is the last bit of mercy you will get. Hand over Uzumaki. Now." Pein ordered with a glare. The only reply he received was determined stares and defensive postures.
          Konan, who had been watching from a few feet away, glanced upward as a familiar shadow passed overhead. It was the shinobi on the ink bird. Turning to Pein, she inclined her head. "More company, Pein-sama."
          Without bothering to turn his head and look at her, he replied. "Take care of it. The others will deal with the bunshin, and I'll apprehend the jinchuriki."
          From the crowd of leaf ninja in front of him, a long-haired blonde spoke, her mouth turned down in a pout. "Aww, what gave us away?" she asked.
          Pein's silver eyes bored into hers. "I see everything."
          His patience at an end, Pein took the offensive. Four of the paths suddenly vanished, transporting themselves to hidden vantage points around the street. Chikushodo remained standing next to the Deva Path and began forming the hand seals for her first summon. As the giant centipede appeared in a puff of smoke, the Leaf shinobi attacked. Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto stood back and watched, evidently conserving their strength until the clone's chakra ran out or they were all destroyed.
          Following his lead, Konan manifested her paper wings, and raising her arms, lifted herself into the air. When the people beneath her looked like they were the size of large ants, she stopped. The ninja that was now her target was cruising on his ink hawk almost fifty yards away, staring down at the scene unfolding below. Using the distraction, she closed the distance between them. Lifting his head, her opponent spotted her approach and circled higher, drawing her well out of range of the other shinobi. Being below him was a severe disadvantage, so Konan climbed with him, stopping when she had drawn even to his bird again.
          Hands in the open to show he held no weapons, he guided his hawk close enough to her to speak. Meeting his gaze, Konan saw a flicker of anger shoot through his eyes before it disappeared into a mask of indifference. "Tell me the location of Haruno Sakura." he demanded in a steady voice.
          "Who are you?” she asked, her stoic expression mirroring his.
          "Sai."
          Sai. According to Zetsu's information, he was one of the shinobi assigned to Sakura's team, and a former member of ANBU's Root Division. The rumors about Root held that their ninja were relentless and unfeeling, trained almost from birth to obey every order to the letter without hesitation or remorse. With such a lack of emotion or fear, she was certain he would not be easy to defeat. But she had seen a crack in his facade of steel just before he mentioned Sakura's name. So despite the conditioning, he still felt something. Maybe she could use this to find a weak point and gain the upper hand.
          She managed a small smile before she answered his question. "I'm sorry, Sai, but I cannot tell you. However, I can tell you she is well. And I'm sure she would not want us to fight. So why don't you let us complete our objective here and leave with as little trouble as possible?"
          His face was completely expressionless as he drew a brush out of his weapons pouch. "You are an enemy of Konoha, and I cannot let you continue with your mission."
          Unrolling the scroll he carried in his hand, he quickly began to draw, keeping one eye on her at all times. His training had held, so it was time to move on to more persuasive means. Reaching into her pouch as her face returned to its blank state, Konan pulled out another handful of paper. After infusing them with her chakra, she swiftly folded them, creating her paper shuriken. Making sure they were adequate for battle, Konan threw them at the pale shinobi. Finishing his jutsu, Sai pulled his brush back and formed a seal, releasing his drawing into the air. As the ink dragon lifted itself off the paper, her shuriken reached him. Pulling to the right, he managed to dodge them all but one, which was deflected with a quickly drawn kunai.
          As the black beast rose and spread its inky wings, Konan formed a series of hand seals, creating a paper clone before dropping through the air. When she was out of sight below, she flew forward, under the belly of the ink hawk to emerge on the other side. Sai's back was now to her, his eyes watching his jutsu as it began its attack. She watched as the dragon flew straight at her clone. The impact was quiet, and with a soft squelch, her bunshin dissolved into thousands of slips of paper, which caught in the air before drifting downward to shower on the battling shinobi below them. Just as Sai realized what had happened, Konan lifted her wings, aimed the tips at him, and shot her paper feathers at him, the deadly points heading right for his chest.
          A soft whoosh had his head twisting in her direction, just in time to see the projectiles coming at him. Reacting quickly, he dropped his kunai and uncapped his bottle of ink, splashing the liquid into the air. Lifting his hand to his face, he concentrated his chakra. The ink slowed its motion, seemed to adhere to an invisible surface, and created a barrier that deflected her attack. It wasn't large, only protecting his vital areas, and several feathers made it through, piercing his shoulders and one thigh. His eyes narrowed, but he gave no other outward sign of pain as he reached out and removed them, dropping the now harmless feathers over the side of his hawk to land with the rest of the paper on the ground.
          Glancing towards the battle below, Konan was dismayed to see Pein surrounded by a sea of orange. She had to hurry and finish this so she could assist him with the retrieval of the nine tails. Creating another clone, she slipped below just as Sai threw several kunai at her, exploding tags attached to the hilts. She was in position before they hit, and right before they reached her doppelganger, it burst into a shower of paper. The slips folded into cranes, and now a cloud of projectiles, zoomed towards Sai. Breaking into two groups, they surrounded him. He unrolled his scroll and started furiously drawing, but he didn't have time to finish as the cranes closed in on him. As a unit they attacked, and although she couldn't hear the impact, she could easily see the multitude of gashes the birds created as they scored hit after hit on him. A stifled cry of pain slipped from his lips, and he dropped his scroll as he began defending himself against her jutsu.
          The cranes hit his hawk as well, and no longer able to maintain its form, the large bird exploded in a shower of black liquid. With nothing to support him but open air, Sai was sent plummeting to the ground. Following him down, Konan watched as he hit the street with a sickening thud. He landed on his back, arms splayed wide, eyes closed. Edging closer, Konan watched in surprise as his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. He wasn't dead. She hovered above him for several minutes, making sure he wasn't getting back up. Satisfied that he was defeated, she rose back into the air to look for Pein. Her partner would have no qualms about finishing him off, but she had never seen the point in killing someone who was no longer a threat.

          Pein had to admit it to himself. It had been a long time since he had orchestrated a battle as complicated as this one. The majority of the paths' chakra was going to Chikushodo, who had turned the street into a jungle on the rampage. Her rhino summon was engaging Chouji Akimichi's clone in a contest of strength, tearing up the surrounding area and spraying dust and debris into the air. A cloud of praying mantis hovered in the air, taking on the massive swarm of insects coming from the jacketed ninja standing silently to the side, watching the progress of the battle from behind his dark sunglasses. The replicating Cerberus had just pounced on the dog ninja, and they furiously tore into each other, the noise from their fight nearly deafening. Pein's eyebrow raised in a rare display of surprise as a rasengan-wielding brunette went charging through the crowd, wearing nothing but a black bikini, white scarf and heels. A disgruntled looking redhead followed after her, shouting angrily and knocking everyone and everything out of her way with a well-aimed punch.
          Naruto had not stood idly by for long, creating a virtual army of clones to assist his comrades. It looked like things were going to turn in Leaf's favor, until Pein ordered the other paths in to help. Shurado began picking off some of the clones with his missile-like projectiles while Gakido stepped in to absorb some of the more powerful jutsu their opponents were creating. Ningendo and Jigokudo stayed hidden and watched his target, their special abilities useless until they discovered the location of the shinobi directing the clones. It was a good thing they did, because Naruto was lost from Pein's sight amid the dust, insects, and the slips of paper that kept raining down from Konan's battle overhead.
          One by one, the Leaf clones were defeated, each one popping out of existence with a poof of smoke. As the last one was destroyed, the child with the scarf, the paths that were fighting made their way back to his side. He had won this round. But it had not come without a heavy price. He had used more chakra than he would have liked, and Shurado and Gakido had taken quite a lot of damage in the fight. The former had lost several arms, and one of his faces was hanging at a funny angle. Nearly all of the summoned creatures were either destroyed or disabled. But at long last, the debris-filled street was cleared, leaving only Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto and the Hyuuga kunoichi standing opposite him. Now that everything had calmed down somewhat, he tentatively reached out with his chakra. Konan was there, and evidently she was unharmed. Her chakra was steady and strong, and he could feel her physical presence overhead. Good. Without her help, he might actually have to withdraw from this next battle without the kyuubi.
          Glancing up to sway the others' attention with him, he spoke. "Konan. Find the other shinobi. Take Ningendo and Jigokudo with you and destroy them. Their chakra will be low and they shouldn't present much of a problem."
          With a nod, Konan dissolved into hundreds of paper butterflies. They dispersed, spreading out over the village in a cloud. The two paths emerged from where they were watching, and headed out, following Konan's strongest chakra signature. Turning towards Tsunade, Pein spoke. "Choose, Hokage. Will you protect one shinobi at the cost of the village you swore to defend?"
          Glaring at him, Tsunade formed a set of hand seals and slammed her hand to the ground. Moments later, the giant slug, Katsuyu, towered over them. "Katsuyu!" the Hokage shouted, "It's time! You know what to do."
          Lifting herself as high as she would go, Katsuyu sucked in a deep breath. Letting it out, she released a wave of acid before her body collapsed into hundreds of miniature versions of herself. They swiftly disappeared, seeking out the villagers and hidden shinobi. The acid had nearly reached Pein when he lifted his hand. Repelling the attack, the liquid was sent back towards Tsunade. Reacting quickly, Kakashi jumped to the front and lifted his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan. The air seemed to distort, and suddenly, the acid was sucked away into nothingness. Breathless, the Copy-nin stepped back.
          Pein frowned. He had hoped that the Hokage would be drawn away. But his gamble wasn't a complete loss. Her attention and chakra were still divided. And the other two paths were now deep in battle with the real Leaf shinobi. But his chakra would be running dangerously low soon. This had to end quickly. The air stirred behind him as Konan reformed and stepped up to him. He didn't look at her, but kept his eyes on their target. Naruto was forming hand seals while arguing with the Hokage, and presently three giant toads stood behind him, ready to attack. Their entry stirred up the slips of paper that lay strewn on the ground, creating a whirlwind. An idea formed in his head.
          Looking at his partner, he narrowed his eyes. "Konan, it's about time we wrapped things up here and head back home."
          Nodding in understanding, Konan manifested her wings, and rose to hover a few inches above the ground. Chikushodo summoned her chameleon, and at the same time, Shurado and Gakido rushed forward, launching a simultaneous attack. The toads went after the chameleon and Tsunade, Kakashi Hinata and Naruto countered the other two paths. The latter was in sage mode now, and if he hadn't pulled the now legless Cerberus in front of him, Pein would have been annihilated by a massive rasengan that was launched in his direction. But even after that attack, he made no move to join in the battle. All he needed to do was be patient a little longer.
          Then the moment he had been waiting for arrived. The Hyuuga was hit by a lethal blow from Shurado, falling to the ground with a cry. Tsunade blasted Gakido back before running to help her. Kakashi, getting low on chakra, was assisting the toads with Chikushodo, who had released several more summons to fight. Naruto, angry that the kunoichi was down, jumped into the air, launching his rasen-shuriken at Shurado, even as his sage chakra was dwindling.
          Lifting his arm, Pein released his jutsu, pulling Naruto to him. Before the others could come to his rescue, Konan lifted her arms, sending the loose paper that lay on the ground into a flurry. The slips were still infused with her chakra, giving her an advantage that only the two of them had realized. Half of the swirling paper created a blinding wall, preventing the Leaf ninja from coming after them. The other half wrapped around Naruto, effectively pinning his arms and legs together as he flew through the air, leaving only his face visible. He landed on the ground in front of Pein with a thud.
          Struggling hard, Naruto fought with all his might. Glaring up at them, his eyes narrowed, gaining a feral look as the whisker markings on his cheeks became more prominent. The kyuubi's chakra began leaking out in a shroud of red, forcing the paper bindings to loosen. Leaning down quickly, Pein hit him on the back of his neck, rendering the jinchuriki unconscious. As his eyes rolled up in his head, a high pitched cry sounded from the other side of the paper wall as the Hyuuga regained consciousness and realized that Naruto was gone.
          Hefting the nine-tails to his shoulder, Pein turned around. "Let's go." he said to Konan.
          "What about the others?"
          "Necessary losses. They can be replaced."
          Without further comment, they took off at a run, making their way down the streets of Konoha without interference. They had nearly made it to the gates when a figure stepped into their path. He was an older man, with bandages over one eye and one arm leaning on a cane, while the other was either gone or bound beneath the black robe he wore to cover the right side of his body. He was completely unafraid, stepping forward, anger evident on his features. Pein and Konan came to a halt as a dozen ANBU circled them. Dropping to a defensive crouch, they waited to be attacked. They were surprised when no one moved. Finally, the old man spoke.
          "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted. "What about our agreement?"
          "I know nothing of an agreement with you." Pein stated calmly.
          "Of course you do! Madara-san promised me the title of Hokage in exchange for handing over information on the nine-tails! But your end of the deal isn't finished. You were supposed to kill Tsunade-hime!"
          "Again, I know nothing of which you speak. I have completed my objective and I am leaving." Pein said, stepping forward. The ANBU tensed.
          "Shall we attack, Danzou-sama?" the one closest to the old man asked.
          Konan froze and Pein's steps stilled as recognition dawned on them. Danzou. The man in league with Hanzo and the last one responsible for Yahiko's death still alive. Painful memories threatened to overwhelm the blue-haired kunoichi when Pein's icy voice snapped her out of it. "Konan."
          "Yes?"
          "Take the nine-tails and get ready to head back. I'll catch up to you shortly."
          "But..." She was cut off as he looked at her, his face as impassive as ever, but his silver eyes were pure molten fury. There was no getting through to him when he looked like that. Without another word, she took Naruto's unconscious body in both arms, and with several flaps of her paper wings, was over the gateposts and flying above the trees.
          After she was gone, Pein recalled the chakra from the other paths, and they dropped to the ground, lifeless shells once more. No doubt the shinobi still fighting them would be relieved. Lifting his arm, he drew Danzou to him. When he reached him, Pein grabbed him by the front of his robe, lifting him off the ground. The ANBU drew their swords, edging closer, but refraining from attacking. Pein ignored them completely, his attention on the man in his grasp. The old man stared steadily at him, seemingly still unafraid. But Pein didn't miss the flash of apprehension in his eyes, or the slight shaking of his hand as he tried to free himself.
          Gripping him tighter, Pein stared him straight in the eyes, his voice murderous. "Do you know me, Danzou?"
          "You are Pein-san."
          "That's right. I am Pain. I had another name once. A long time ago. Do you remember what it was?" Pein asked, his voice dripping with malice.
          "No. I don't know. Now stop playing games and release me." Danzou demanded.
          "You don't know. Well, we will have to open your eyes. And then, once you have faced your pain, you will remember." Twisting his arm, Pein spun Danzou around to face the ANBU, bringing his arm across his neck to hold him. He dropped his voice to a whisper as he spoke in Danzou's ear. "These ANBU. They're from Root, aren't they? Trained to do whatever you tell them to without pause. Well, Danzou, if I kill you right now, they would attack me, and they might even win. But where would you be? All the things you worked for would go washing down the drain. Konoha would never be yours, because you would be rotting in Hell. And then my Angel would destroy your precious village in her anger. Nothing would stop her from avenging the two people she loved the most."
          "What do you want?" Danzou hissed.
          "All you have to do, is show me what your ANBU are made of. Tell them to kill each other and I'll let you go when there is one man left. If not, you die where you stand."
          "I can't do that!" Danzou cried out loud. Several of the ANBU jumped at the sound of his distressed voice, gripping their swords even tighter.
          "Sure you can. It's no more than you asked of me once. It's either them or you. Make your choice."
          Danzou slowly turned his head to look at Pein as memories from long ago surfaced. A secret meeting with Hanzo. Three young ninja from Amegakure who were too nice, too good, for the power they had attained. All the color drained from his face as recognition dawned. "But...it can't be. It can't be you. You were the one who died."
          Pein gave him a bitter smile. "You have one minute to make up your mind."
          As Danzou stood there in indecision, Pein could hear the sounds of the leaf shinobi regrouping in the village behind him. Giving Danzou's neck a little squeeze, Pein whispered in his ear. "Better hurry, before the rest of Konoha finds out what you've been up to."
          Clenching his hand into a tight fist, Danzou swallowed hard. "ANBU. I order you to ...to kill each other. Leave none alive." he said, his voice hard and angry.
          The ninja around them stiffened slightly, then stood as a unit. True to their training, they turned on each other. Pein watched unflinching as one by one, they put their katana through each other's hearts before slumping to the ground, unresisting of their wounds. Danzou stood there as well, never moving, until only one Root ANBU remained. He went to run his sword across his own neck when Danzou lifted his hand. "Stop!" he shouted. The ANBU obediently lowered his weapon.
          Pein said nothing, but let go of Danzou and stepped back. The relief was visible on the old man's face. In fact, a small smile had made its way onto his face when Pein stepped in front of him, drew a kunai, and in one swipe, opened his throat. He had turned around and was walking away before the first drop of blood hit the ground. A gurgling sound emanated from behind him before Danzou hit the ground with a soft thud. The remaining ANBU stared at him in shock as he passed. Pein just stared back.
          "Konoha has no need of a leader that is willing to sacrifice his men for his own gain without a second thought. Such cruelty only leads to more war." Then he was gone.

          Sakura walked briskly down the hallway, heading for the training rooms. Kisame was already there, waiting for her. A smirk crossed her face. She fully intended to give the shark ninja the fight of his life, no holds barred. Actually, she was surprised that he had agreed to fight her at all. It had been nearly a week since they had sealed the hachibi, and her nerves and temper were getting the better of her. She just couldn't stand waiting around for Pein and Konan to make it back so she would have news on Naruto. And it showed, even if only Hidan knew why. There were now several new cracks in the wall that needed mending thanks to Karin and her insistence on being irritating. Suigetsu and Kisho practically hid every time she walked by, and Juugo gave her that look that a patient father would give to a screaming child. Sasuke ignored her completely, and Kisame did his best to rile her at every chance.
          Which was why she was on her way to fight him now. At breakfast he taunted her, then again while she was playing pool, trying to do anything to relieve her restlessness. Finally, when he started up again at lunch, she had had enough and told him if he didn't shut his mouth she would do it with a fist to the face. He just smirked at her and told her to 'bring it on, zombie chick.'
          Hidan, of course, was having a field day with her attitude. As soon as they would settle down in their room in the evenings, he would say something to provoke her, and she would respond with an insult or an outright threat. Then he would tackle her on the bed, and a chakra-enhanced wrestling match would ensue, liberally laced with shouted swearing, loud thuds and more than one broken piece of furniture.
          When he had finally overpowered her, which he always seemed to do, more physical activity followed. This in the form of rough, unyielding sex. And it wasn't just once and then go to sleep. He pursued her until she was so thoroughly tired and sated that the effort it would take to get up and walk across the room was beyond her. By the time the noise they made had morphed into silence, they would both just lie on the bed, naked, sweaty, and on more than one occasion, bleeding heavily from numerous wounds. Then he would gather her into his arms and hold her, kissing her neck and face and telling her how fucking beautiful she was, and how blessed he was that Jashin had sent her to him. And then she would cry. Like a weak, pathetic child, she would cry as he held her, until her exhaustion took over and she fell asleep. And the next day, as soon as she walked into the kitchen to find out from Madara that Pein hadn't returned yet, her anxiety would start all over again.
          She had just passed the stairwell that led to Pein's office when the sound of arguing from above shook her from her thoughts and made her pause. From what she could make out, it was Madara and Pein. They were back? Dread tightened her chest and her stomach felt like a stone. Finally, the day she had been both waiting for and fearing was here. But what about Naruto? Did he escape? Or was he lying in a dark cave somewhere, under the watchful gaze of Zetsu until they performed the sealing? Suppressing her chakra without being obvious, Sakura strained to hear what the elusive leaders of the Akatsuki were discussing.
          "We can't do it tomorrow. I have to replenish my chakra and replace the bodies that were lost to Konoha." Pein stated in a voice of iron.
          "You can always do that later. Besides, you have more than enough chakra for the sealing." Madara said lightly. Then, in a more menacing voice, "I'm tired of waiting, Nagato. I want this over with as soon as possible."
          Nagato? Who was he talking about? Did they have someone else up there with them? The man from the secret room, maybe? Or did Pein have another name no one knew about? Pein's voice drifted back down to her, catching her attention when he mentioned the name of someone she did know.
          "I want to ask you about Danzou. Did you have an agreement with him involving Konoha? He seemed to think so." Madara's response was muffled, then Pein's raised voice carried his displeasure at whatever that answer was. "Why didn't you tell me where he was and that he was alive? You knew he was one of the ones. You knew we wanted him dead!"
          "Calm down, Pein. Danzou was just a pawn to get close to the nine-tails. And you did get to carry out your vengeance on him, didn't you?" Madara asked, his voice back to its light tone.
          "What are you really planning, Madara?"
          "...Sakura."
          Jumping at the harsh tone in Konan's voice, heat rushed to Sakura's face as she turned around to see the disapproving look in the other kunoichi's eyes. Not bothering to try and explain her presence when she was so obviously caught eavesdropping, Sakura straightened. "I take it your mission was a success?" she asked, praying her voice didn't give away her nervousness.
          "Yes it was. And since you're the first to know, I'd like you to tell the others that we'll be starting the kyuubi extraction tomorrow." With a nod, Sakura headed in the direction she was originally going, to the training rooms. She was halted when Konan called out to her a second time. "Oh, and Sakura?."
          "Yes?"
          "Don't do that again. Pein-sama is not a trusting man. If he even suspects that you would betray him, he won't hesitate to destroy you." she warned.
          "I understand." Sakura swallowed hard before continuing on her way, her anxiety doubled now knowing that Naruto was caught, the Akatsuki was watching her, and she would most likely be forced to have a hand in her friend's destruction.
- 19
- 20
- 21
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Shades of Crimson