CHAPTER 53: REVERSE

Chapter 53: Reverse

~~~

Soon enough, they made a stop.

"We need to do it now before it's too late," said Sakon and Ukon, getting nods from all of the other Sound Four.

They all turned towards Satsuki.

"As of right now, your Curse Mark is only at the first stage." Satsuki raised her eyebrow at them with this newfound information.

"And for you to evolve to the next stage -- you must die once." Satsuki sharpened her eyes, waiting the next thing to happen.

"And these are the key to that," Sakon told Satsuki, taking a small bottle out, showing an abundance of small, tiny pills inside of it.

"Those are Mind Awakening Pills. Those pills will forcefully stimulate and make the Curse Mark go to the second stage," Tayuya told her, not using her usual sharp-tongued mouth to spout out some nonsense and foulness.

"However, if things are left unchecked, you will have a permanent death. In order for you to control the Second Stage, your body will have to be accustomed to it. Once doing this, you won't be able to last for even a minute before your inevitable death." Naruto was quite intrigued in their ways to prevent death as he gazed down at them from a tree above.

"And what will happen after?" Satsuki questioned, her features were sharp as she gave Sakon a thin gaze.

"You don't need to worry, that is why we are here." Sakon walked towards Satsuki and handed her the bottle of pills.

Looking at the pills, her mind raced with many thoughts.

I could die and that would be the end of it. But if I live, it would be another large step for me to gain more power to defeat Itachi. Satsuki mused, taking the risk and downing one of the pills within her system.

She felt the immediate effects of the Mind Awakening Pills all throughout her body. Clenching her stomach, she kneeled down with the overwhelming pain covering all throughout her body.

"Now! Do not fail!" Kidomaru yelled as everyone got into position. Sakon had a large scroll behind his back where his twin brother Ukon was located.

A large barrel appeared right beside Satsuki that was full of seals.

Jirobo picked up Satsuki and placed her inside of the barrel. Jumping back, everyone in the Sound Four performed exactly one different hand seal.

Bringing their arms up into the air, a dark mist illuminated from their hands and gathered at the top to form a large cloud full of darkness.

Slamming their hands down, the black mist all gathered into the barrel to seal it off.

"Four Black Mist Formation!" Sakon held four sealing paper in the grasp of his hand and threw it at the barrel that had Satsuki inhabiting it.

"Black Seal!" All of the seals had sealed all of the sides of the barrel, letting Satsuki to rest and get accustomed to the body instead of instantly dying.

She was in a false death state.

"We're done for now. Let's go." Everyone nodded, bringing Satsuki along with them. As they walked to their destination, a few Jonin of Konoha appeared right in front of them.

Their guards were up, recognizing the that the four of them are shinobi from Otogakure.

"You four, it seems you all were coming the direction of Konoha." They didn't noice the presence of their 5th person -- Naruto.

They all stayed silent, not saying a single word to the Konoha-nin.

"What's in that barrel?" They stayed silent once more. Although Kidomaru had a grin forming on his face. He was excited to face the Jonin.

And they all had the intention to fight them.

Their bodies were soon being covered by the familiar markings that Satsuki had, but the design of them were drastically different. Naruto was henged into himself but with just jet-black hair.

He didn't need to drastically change his appearance. Although this cloak he had will surely needed to be changed due to him using the same cloak on this mission as well.

Naruto leaped from tree to tree, he examined the area and the possible people snooping around. Naruto grit his teeth, knowing he will have to stay away from the area so his scent doesn't get through the nose of an Inuzuka.

How Naruto knows this is because it's quite obvious. There would be o way Konoha doesn't bring out someone who has the capabilities to track their targets.

As Naruto came back, the Konoha-nins were retreating.

"Wow, thanks for the fucking help," Tayuya angrily yelled at Naruto, whom was just amused at those words. Naruto, after a few seconds, looked towards Tayuya.

"I'm currently in a situation where helping you all in fighting will jeopardize my identity to the Konoha-nins. Although once the trackers are taken care of, I can make my move to ensure the the full success of this escort mission." Tayuya scoffed at that, choosing to ignore Naruto's words and instead focus on ahead.

"Let's just go," said Jirboro, disarming the situation so they all could continue forward without any unnecessary hinderance creating a setback.

~~~

"Man, if only Naruto was here. He could easily just charm Satsuki into going back to the village," stated Kiba, jumping from tree to tree alongside his other comrades.

Shikamaru sighed at those words.

"It doesn't matter. He was hurt before the mission even began. Pushing himself to save her might cost him more than just an arm." Kiba nodded, understanding what he meant by that.

"I guess." Their squad consisted of exactly what Naruto had previously imagined. Shikamaru as the leading strategist, with Choji being an offensive powerhouse, and Neji, Kiba, and Shino being the trackers of the team.

Although they were all very efficient when it came to close-combat capabilities.

"Get ready, we're nearing them." Even though the team was formed very late during sunrise, they were able to catch up due to he amount of things getting in the Sound Four's and Naruto's way.

Stopping at a branch, they all caught sight of the Sound Four walking with a barrel on Jirboro's back.

"Where's Satsuki?" Choji questioned, analyzing the situation as they head within the abundance of trees around them.

"In the barrel," assessed Shikamaru, pulling out a kunai from the pouch near the rear of his buttocks. Looking at the rest, they nodded their heads and threw their own kunais at the Sound Four.

Reacting to their attacks, they all stepped to the side. Their positions were now revealed. "Move," order Shikamaru, jumping off of the tree and sliding down the tree trunk. Following his lead, they did the same and decided to split up to surround the area.

Throwing kunais from many directions, they switched positions every time to void from being caught. Although that was only the case because the Sound Four were only dodging.

"Get them." They all disappeared. A few moments after, the bodies of he retrieval team flow out of many directions. Landing on their feet, they backed to away to create distance.

They were now face-to-face with the Sound Four. Their eyes locked, eyeing each other with such intensity piercing through.

"Leave -- I'll hold them off so you all can go," said Jirobo to them. Although some wanted to fight, they ultimate decided to leave him behind so he could fend them off from their backs.

"After them!" Yelled Shikamaru, jumping to try and follow the remaining 3 Sound-nins. Unfortunately, Jirobo appeared and blocked them out.

"I can't let you pass through," stated Jirobo, tightening his fists for the incoming battle that was about to occur right in front of their eyes. Gritting their teeth, they knew they couldn't waste anymore time.

Shino jumped away, dodging the fist that came hurling towards him. They were now in a situation where they will either have to go forward with Jirobo tailing behind them.

Defeat him as a unit, or the 3rd and last option.

Leave someone behind so they could fend off Jirobo off their backs. And as of right now, the 3rd option was looking quite tempting.

Very tempting.

"Guys! You guys go while I fight him!" Yelled out Choji, taking out 3 different colored pills. He swallowed each pill down his throat.

"We. . . can't just leave you!" Kiba and everyone else was reluctant with this idea even though it was coursing through their mind already over a dozens of times.

"Just go! I'll deal with him!" Once again, although they were reluctant, they listened to his word and jumped back to the trees.

"Oh, no you don't!"Jirobo leaped into air and homed himself towards the the others. But that was abruptly stopped by the staggering power of Choji.

Throwing Jirobo down back at the ground, a cloud of dust rose from the ground. Landing on the ground safely, he saw Jirobo recover from the injury and regained his footing.

A grin covered Jirobo's chubby face.

"You -- whoever you are -- are nothing but a dispensable piece." The two rushed at each other, soon colliding with both of their hands interlocking with one another.

"Shut up!" Choji wouldn't let Jirobo get to his head. He wasn't dispensable, but he was a valuable shinobi of Konoha.

And will become invaluable in the future.

Their physical strength was overwhelming, but it seems that both were struggling to overpower each other in raw strength.

"GAWWW!" Screamed Choji, managing to lift Jirobo off the ground, he lost his grip and was now being controlled by Choji. Twirling around, Jirobo was launched away by Choji.

Hitting a tree, he created a large dent on the tree. Choji gritted his teeth, feeling the effects of the Three Colored Pills that he had swallowed earlier.

It was something that was able to give someone a large boost of power to the individual, but each pill damaged the body with the use of poison, it was a risky item.

But this? It was worth the risk for him.

Choji dashed, closing the gap between him and Jiboro. Hurling a punch at his opponent, Jiboro managed to catch it.

"This. . . all you got?" Asked Jiboro, black markings covering his body. Widening his eyes, Choji felt the increase in power that Jiboro had just received.

One that was greater than his own. Getting thrown back, Choji got back on his feet, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Must not give up. Thought Choji, enlarging himself to a surprising size. His destructive power had been boosted by the expansion.

"Get ready!" Choji roared, rolling himself towards Jiboro. Whipping his hand at the ground, Jiboro made the ground right in front of him arise.

"Earth Style: Earth Shore Return" Choji clashed with the jutsu that Jiboro was wielding that he was using to defend himself from impact.

"This is not. . . ENOUGH!" Choji's voice did not waver whatsoever. His power ever-so increasing, he broke through the wall made of Earth.

Jiboro widened his eyes, feeling pain explode from every ounce of his body. He was launched once again, hitting the same tree that he had collided before.

Rage filled Choji's body.

His stampede knocked over many trees; unable to withstand the power of Akimichi Choji.

Jiboro couldn't create an opening to counter due to the pain that was washing over his entire body. Blood dripped from his head, mouth -- his entire body.

Ending his stampede, Choji did one final hit before releasing his expansion and kneeling on the ground. Huffing and panting in an uncontrollable rate, his vision began blurring.

Shit. Thought Choji, unable to override his fatigue and tiredness, he began to lose consciousness. Gritting his teeth, he hoped that Jiboro was also passed out.

"I lived!" Yelled Jiboro, coughing blood out from his mouth. He shakily lifted himself up from the ground, blood dripping down, soaking the ground with the familiar crimson red.

"I lived." His voice was hoarse and rough as he repeated those two words once again. He steadily walked towards the unconscious Choji, pulling out a kunai from his pouch.

"No," Jiboro widened his eyes, looking down, he saw the tip of a sharp blade piercing through his body.

"You've lost." Naruto stood behind Jiboro, clipping his featureless mask to reveal his features. He slid the blade out of his body.

"W-what?" Jiboro was in disbelief at this. Naruto was supposed to be helping them -- not killing them with no remorse.

"I thought. . . you were helping us?" Naruto looked over at Jiboro, his face full of indifference and apathy. He reigned over him with an aura of authority that could make people crawl in fear.

"I am helping you all -- In my own terms, of course," responded Naruto, swinging his blade once to rid of the Jiboro's blood covering the blade.

"Then. . . what's the. . . meaning of this?" Jiboro was paralyzed with the fear that was shadowing over him. It was uncontrollable.

"You are nothing but a dispensable piece," recited Naruto, repeating the words that Jiboro had told Choji.

"This. . . was nothing but a. . . game to you?" His fist was clenched tightly.

"Do not misunderstand, but this was just a simple act of betrayal. Even though the retrieval team and I aren't the closest of friends at the moment, does not mean I do not consider them as comrades -- because I do." Naruto clipped his mask back on, positioning his blade a few inches above his head.

"Goodbye, Jiboro. This is your end." Naruto ended his life by striking the back of Jiboro's head without any remorse.

He summoned a clone right beside him.

"Bring Choji back to Konoha. Do not stop for anyone and make sure you are not seen by any Konoha-nins." His clone nodded, picking up the knocked out Choji.

Naruto looked down at the dead body of Jirobo.

"Sorry, but I'll be the one that escorts her out of Konoha. I don't need your group's incompetence to hinder me as I make a pathway for her." Naruto jumped away, making numerous Shadow Clones to interfere with all the other battles behind the scenes.

~~~

Naruto jumped out in an open field, seeing a figure in the grassy field. He observed the figure much intensity.

The platinum-white hair brushed throughout the air as they stared at each other. He was most definitely not informed of this happening by the Sound Four.

Could it be back-up? Naruto thought to himself, feeling the strong aura emitting from his body. He knew from with just a glance that this guy was strong.

"Who are you?" Questioned Naruto, wanting to know the identity of the person that was carrying Satsuki behind his back.

"I am Kimimaro -- I hail from the Kaguya Clan and I am a direct servant for Orchimaru-sama." Naruto saw Kimimaro tense up, readying for a fight.

"Stop, he's helping us," said a familiar voice, jumping the container and landing on the grass safely and soundly. Satsuki's hair was even longer than usual.

It was all rigid and sharp and it had turned into a palish-blue. Her skin had changed from the silky porcelain color to a grayish tone.

It all turned back to its original state soon after. Although the stage 1 markings were still there with her sclera pitch-black and the iris being yellow with a black pupil at the center.

"I see," Kimimaro said, facing Naruto once again. "You may proceed. Although it seems I'll have to stay here to fend off a person coming straight here." Naruto nodded, walking passed Kimimaro without a hint of fear.

Naruto stood by Satsuki, nodding his head.

"Let's go," Naruto told Satsuki, getting a nod from her as they jumped away, letting Kimimaro take care of the opponent that was about to arrive.

Kimimaro stood still, seeing a blur of green cloud his vision. Dodging the blow, a boy with a perfect bowl-cut was standing in front him.

His body already in a stance.

"I am Rock Lee -- I will be your opponent!" Rock Lee disappeared, letting his weights fall down, making him go even faster than before.

"Leaf Gale!" Lee appeared right behind, delivering a low-kick towards Kimimaro. Though he managed to react fast enough in time and jumped up, dodging the low-kick being delivered.

In a quick second, Kimimaru twisted his body and swung a foot at Lee, doing a surprise attack. Just barely missing, Lee disappeared once again, then reappeared right above Kimimaro.

"Dance of the Larch!" Sharp bones started to rise out of Kimimaro's skin, acting in both offense and defense. Lee noticed this and escaped from the piercing bones.

The sharp bones then retracted. Lee was just a few meters away from Kimimaro, prepared for any attack coming his way.

"Dance of the Camellia!" A large bone rose from Kimimaro's shoulder. Lee paid close attention, noticing that the bone was now being used as a blade to fight.

Lee now knows that Kimimaro has experience in Kenjutsu. As the wind swayed the grass, the two quickly approached each other.

With Kimimaro pulling back his arm, he tried striking Lee's heart. Although Lee countered by moving his body to the side. Jumping slightly in the air, Lee swung his leg at Kimimaru to block another attack with his bone-sword.

Landing on the ground once again, Rock Lee placed his hand on the ground, using it as a way to catapult his other leg at the bone-sword. Knocking the bone-sword out of his hand, Lee made his move once again.

Spike appeared from out of his body, but Lee was ready. Appearing and reappearing everywhere, his speed was building up at an incredible rate.

"Leaf Whirlwind!" Rock Lee appeared from every angle and delivered a series of kicks that varied from high to low. The bones were too slow to keep up with the ever-so increasing speed of Rock Lee.

Appearing in front of Kimimaro, he was about to deal another blow until another series of spikes arose from Kimimaro's chest.

Widening his eyes, Rock Lee backed away, blood dripping from his hand and part of his arm.

You kept increasing your speed, but you were reaching your maximum output because you were increasing very slowly towards the end. I took advantage of that and created a small prediction. Kimimaro thought to himself.

And this was the product of this quick-witted prediction that was made. He had gotten used to the rhythm with each attack that Lee had delivered.

Of course, this prediction would've been much harder if his rhythm had changed every time he had attacked.

Picking up his bone-sword once again, Kimimaro analyzed the current situation. He had injured Lee's hand and he will have to let that injured arm to take a small rest before it was fit to be used once again.

"Sand Spear!" Kimimaro turned around, seeing a slender but sharp rod of sand that was heading his way. Twisting his head to the side, he had managed to dodge the attack with late notice.

With a large gourd on his back, Gaara stood silently with his arms crossed as veils of sand rose from the ground. Seeing this, Lee disappeared and reappeared right behind Gaara.

"I'll hand this -- you go on with your mission." Gaara had his usual stern and serious facial expression, continuing to stand still as the waves of sand split apart to individually attack Kimimaro.

Rock Lee nodded his head, understanding that Gaara had no intention of asking for his help. He quickly passed by the fight and jumped into the trees of the direction of Naruto and Satsuki.

~~~

Naruto and Satsuki arrived at a valley that had two statues of highly significant figures of shinobi history.

Two statues of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. Making their way through the statue of the First Hokage, they stopped at the statue of Uchiha Madara.

"And this will be our time to split ways." Satsuki looked at Naruto, knowing that this was indeed true on both of their parts.

"You think. . . I'll see you again?" Satsuki asked, averting her yes away from Naruto due to embarrassment from asking that question to Naruto -- someone who was always overly serious.

He raised an eyebrow at Satsuki.

"I do not see any reason why we won't. Although not soon, but in the future we will cross paths again." Satsuki was tempted to ask Naruto if he could come along with her.

But she knew better -- it was obvious to her that Naruto has unfinished business within Konoha, and he also has duties as a Tokubetsu Jonin.

Naruto unclipped his mask, showing an amused expression on his face. Although the image of an 'amused' Naruto was quite distorted and did not fit the expression of 'amused'.

There was a weird tension that loomed in the air. "And before you go," said Naruto, gaining the attention of Satsuki.

Naruto leaned in and gave a slight peck on Satsuki's cheek for a second or two.

In a daze, Satsuki just barely noticed Naruto' lips curving into a slight smile as he clipped the mask back on.

"Until next time, Satsuki." Naruto turned around, looking down from on top of the statue. Snapping out of the daze, she also curved the sides of her mouth into that of a small smile.

She jumped away.

"Tch. 'Nothing has changed' my ass! You're a filthy liar, Naruto." He heard Kurama's voice roar from within his mind.

"Hm? I see no reason for me not to reciprocate her feeling for me that she has been holding within herself all this time. After all, her and I are quite similar in some aspects." Naruto sat down on the statue of Madara.

"And of course you reciprocate it during the time where she leaves the village." Naruto ignored those words and stood back up as he saw the leaves rustle.

Rock Lee emerged from the leaves.

~~~