When I opened my eyes, I was on the front line, standing side by side with Garra, Naruto, and the others.
"Looks like I made it just in time". I whispered, more to myself than to anyone else.
In the distance, I could make out two figures that stood atop a large boulder. The chakra I felt from one of the men daunted me. It was completely different from the man in the mask. It was incredibly and inconceivably strong. The entirety of the allied forces' chakra levels narrowly compared to his. But it felt odd. I just couldn't quite place it. It felt like a presence that was known but somehow unknown, familiar but foreign, born of godly intent but corrupted by hellish agony...
His immeasurable chakra was tainted and menacing.
Ominous... Evil even...
"Shiori? Where did you come from? Where's granny?" Naruto's voice broke my thoughts.
"Huh? She's with the raikage, but she told me to come here". I responded, eyes still trained on the forboding man that is Madara.
Suddenly the figures dropped down, making their way towards us at top speed.
"They're coming!" Naruto yelled.
"Stop!" I barked, taking a stand before them.
"Let me handle this for now". I smirked, looking over my shoulder.
"But?!" Naruto contested.
"Just shut up and let me handle this okay?" I laughed with a wink.
I could see him bite back another imposition. His big blue eyes sparkling with uneasiness.
But before I could signal the rest of the forces to stand back, someone among the sea of constipated bodies uttered a fearful battle cry, beckoning the rest to rush into battle.
My head cocked back, "Damnit it".
"Shiori!"
"Just stay back, if he's the real deal then there's going to be a lot of casualties". I barked over my shoulders.
On the battlefield, Madara was laying waste to the allied forces.
Sharp incisors sunk tortuously into the plushy muscles of my inner lip. My left arm reached behind my waist, clutching the cool metal of my most trusted weapon. But the moment my fingers brushed the cool textile I body froze. Was I scared to do battle with the infamous Uchiha? Was I scared that if I did, I would lose my life? Lose the opportunity to live life with Itachi? Break the promises I made with the most important people in my life?
But it didn't matter... In the end, if I didn't fight now, I would lose everything.
Then I saw it. His fingers wove the sign for the majestic destroyer flame jutsu.
"MOVE DAMNIT!" I yelled to myself.
In the blink of an eye, I was at the forefront. The wings of the phoenix-like flames scorched the earth as it barreled straight for me.
'Mangekyo sharingan'.
Almost instantaneously, the flames disappeared as they made contact with the circumferential barrier around me. After the flames had dissipated, the effect of the sharingan coursed through me. My body hunched at the waist, my vision tilting with warped orientation. My breathing labored as my hand clutched the left side of my head, the heel of my palm pressing painfully into the socket.
'The effects of time warping is still just as painful as ever'.
"That is quite a powerful sharingan. But it would appear to have some intense drawbacks". His voice was unnaturally deep that it stunted me.
My palm pressed deeper as a means to lull the pounding feeling that compounded at the back of my skull.
'Even with the byakugou seal, I only have a few more reveals left in me before I am out of commission'.
'Shiori! Show no weakness!' A familiar voice echoed in the back of my head. Suddenly the fainted image of my mother flashed across my mind. "Why now?" I whispered, straightening my back while grounding my feet.
"Showing weakness to the enemy... What kind of an Uchiha are you". His voice echoed, the words repeating with a sense of condescension that enflamed the blood in my veins.
'Show no weakness'. The repeating words ignited a feeling of excitement inside me. The fears that paralyzed me before washed away like footprints on the beach. The thrumming buzz of the pleasure of battle replacing it.
A grin tugged at my lips, laughter gargling deep within my chest, spitting out in methodical irony, "I'll show you weak!"
Reaching up to either side of my shoulders, fingers clutching the fabric of the half kimono-like shirt. In a swift motion, I yanked forward. The delicate material ripping from my body with a slithering hiss. A hushed gasp murmured behind, but I didn't care to look back. The garment snaked down my waist, the long bell-like sleeve that had covered my arms for the last decade finally gave way to the weight of the shredded clothing, revealing the white bandages that wrapped my chest and the swirling seals that decorated my upper and forearms.
'Now or never'.
Looking up, Madara had a noticeably intrigued look on his face.
My fingers twitched, cracking as the joints locked and unlocked as I rounded them. Slowly each finger ignited with dark-colored chakra.
"Five-element seal release".
Plunging the tips of my fingers into the opposite forearm. The lines that composed the swirled seals split apart, dissipating as they seemingly evaporated from my skin.
Like a tsunami, it hit me. The earth beneath my feet shook, the chakra that leaked from my body disintegrated the ground creating a creator of rubble. It had been so long since I had been in this released state. The surcharge of chakra that pumped through me lit every cell in my body blaring with joyful fervor. The feeling flooded over me in undulating euphoric waves. The excitement of battle, coupled with the heightened levels of chakra, intoxicated me.
*Back at the front lines*
"This chakra... I can't move... It's almost as unsettling as Madara's... No... It's more intimidating...." Naruto whispered. "Is this Shiori?"
Everyone on the battlefield stilled, paralyzed by the presence of the two dwarfing figures that have yet to even do battle.
"Hey, Naruto... Is this the first time you've seen Shiori fight?" Temari whispered, her body trembling from external forces.
"Yeah... I never thought she had this type of power".
"Garra?" Temari called. But there was no response. "Garra, are you okay?" She continued.
His expression was blank, mouth hanging agar. "She's terrifying".
"Your chakra is overwhelming. Reminds me a bit of myself". His voice laced with tender reminiscence.
"Don't compare us, I am nothing like you". I growled back.
Despite the distance between us, the sound of his cynical chuckling resonated across the battlefield.
Reaching back, I pulled both sais from my waist, placing them forward. The sai in my right hand was flipped in a defensive position, while the other pointed directly at Madara. In a fraction of a second, I was inches from his face.
Everything moved in slow motion.
The realization on his face brought a pleasant smile to my face. In this state, it would be hard for anyone to react, even the great Madara. My knee kicked up as my leg slammed against the side of his head sending him flying back more than a km away. It was impressive enough that a reincarnated body was capable of withstanding a kick from me'.
His body slowly heaved from the ground, the skin on his face flaking off his cheeks and forehead in patches. His hands lazily brushing the dust from his armor, his expression returning to its original apathetic guise. I bolted for him, pulling my arm back in an attempt to land a punch. But he easily dodged the strike and reappeared behind me. Kicking my legs up I just barely caught the underside of his jaw with my foot as I flipped back. But before I could land upright on my feet his arm shot out his fingers folding around my neck.
His fingers dug painfully into my trachea. On instinct, I drove the sai into his arm, somehow prying it free of my neck. Yanking the sai out with the opposite hand, I funneled chakra into my hand, giving his arm and chest a soft pat as I ducked low, swiping his feet to bring him down in the process. But before his body hit the ground, I managed to catch the back collar of his armor, pulling him up and over my head slamming him into the ground. The force created massive tremours, once again shattering the ground.
Taking a step back from his body, I watched for any sudden movements in the arm that I touched with the medical scalpel. I wasn't sure how effective it would be, especially since his body was a reanimation.
Steadily he began to pick himself off the ground. The arm I had disrupted with lay lifelessly at his side. 'At least I know it works...Even on the dead'.
"You remind me of someone..." He spoke after a moment of silence.
The statement was shocking. It was the last thing I was expecting him to say.
'I can't let him distract me'.
With both sais in one hand, I managed to complete the necessary hand seals...
"Hellfire Pheonix".
With one deep breath, gargantuan flames spewed from my lips, taking form in the image of a phoenix.
The enormous bird dove towards Madara, setting everything ablaze. The battlefront sparkled with a holocaust of glorious inferno. It was minutes before the flames began to subside. Sparks of flames still kindling areas of the forefront as everything shifted back into focus.
In the distance, a proud azure warrior stood tall.
But his susanoo had not manifested its full form, from the looks of it, it was still in its second stage. But a glimmer caught my attention. The armor cracked. A grin tugged at my lips. Perfect
'Bodyflicker'
When my eyes fluttered open, I was high in the air. 'I'll end this in one move'.
With the weight of all my strength, my leg came down, shattering the warrior on impact. The sound was akin to that of cracking bones, a hard snap followed by the vibrant crackling fracture of smaller bones.
Just as my leg penetrated his susanoo, he skipped back successfully avoiding contact.
'Damnit'.
We stood face to face, sharingan to sharingan. The silence felt like an eternity. He made no move towards me, he just stared. His eyes shifted, scanning me up and down. The battlefield fell silent, the allied forces stood at attention, watching and waiting for what was to come.
The warm desert breeze swept my hair over my shoulders, making it dance. His eyes examined me with absolute scrutiny. His eyes vigilantly observed the sais that sat clenched between my fingers. His intense gaze quickly moved to my face, studying every feature with such vigor that chills ran up my spine. A baffled look slowly creeping across his face.
"Himari?"
The name, caught me completely by surprise. I hadn't heard that name since I was a small child.
"How do you know that name?" I responded. A sweltering feeling of dread engorging my chest.
"You are her spitting image".
"How do you know my great-grandmother?"
"So she did have a child".
"How do you know her?"
"You inherited her personality. Strong and brazen".
"One more time... How do you know my great grandmother?"
"Himari was my wife, those sais were a gift for our wedding".
"Wife? Y-y-you didn't have any children... An heir or a wife was never mentioned".
"I left the village before she bore a child. In the end it seems she kept everything a secret from my child, and evidently you".
"I-i-i-I don't believe you!"
"Himari was head of the clan for a brief time after I left. She was the only woman I loved, but she most likely knew what it would mean if it was found that I had an heir. In the end, she forged a false reality to protect her child".
The mention of her status as head of the clan was enough to convince me he was telling the truth. Everything was starting to make sense. Why every time, even as a really small child, if I asked her about my greater grandfather she would never give me an answer. Even my grandmother, my mother had little to no knowledge of the man.
Everything felt like a lie... It felt like every emotion humanly capable wreaked through my soul. My heart was racing... Pounding... So hard that I could hear the blood rush in my ears. I could feel my veins pulse and contract painfully against my skin.
"The power you possess should be evidence of our relation. It dwarfs those in the Uchiha by milestones, the person who placed those seals on you was aware of that".
I watched as his mouth moved. Lips opening and closing, jaw clenching and unclenching, a slight suck of his check at the utterance of some word or another. But nothing registered.
"He died before I was born". My grandmother would say.
"He died before grandma was born. So I don't know". My mother would repeat.