I packed up all my sets of clothes and weapons. I also decided to bring along some books about my clan so I could learn more jutsu. At midnight, I walked out of my home and sneaked around the village. I jumped through the trees lined along the path that leads to the exit of the village. While I jumped, I sensed two familiar people. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, hid in the trees, and watched from above.
"Sasuke, I love you so much it hurts, and I can't live without you! Please, don't leave me! And if I can't make you stay, take me with you!" Sakura sobbed and my eyes widened immensely. Sasuke appeared behind her.
"Sakura, thank you. For everything," he said and knocked her out. He laid her unconscious body on the bench nearby and continued walking. I jumped down and appeared beside him. He scowled.
"Another person to stop me, huh?" he growled. I scoffed.
"Not quite. I didn't even know you were going to leave the village. I myself am leaving, those four guys attacked me and told me to go with them. I agreed," I clarified and he only grunted.
"Whatever."
We walked together the rest of the way up until the gate. Throughout the walk, one thing went through my mind. I have to get over him. That little encounter with Sakura affected me too much. I have to get over him now if I want to accomplish my goal. I know it's going to take long, but I'm willing to sacrifice all my feelings even if kills me.
We met up with the Sound Ninja Four and I took a last look at the village. I slipped off my Chunin jacket and dropped it on the floor, marking the end of my affiliation with the Leaf. We started jumping quickly through the trees to get as far as we could. After a while, we stopped in a clearing.
"Before we can go any further, I'm afraid you're going to have to die just this once," twin head said. I still couldn't remember his or multi-arms names, so I decided to stick with the nicknames. My eyes widened at his statement.
"What do you mean, I have to die once?" I asked.
"You will have to take one of these awakening pills," he chuckled evilly.
"What's it for?" Sasuke asked. "Awakening what?"
"The mark on your shoulder is only a first state curse mark. But those pills will stimulate and magnify its power, making a level 2," Tayuya, formerly known as the bitch, explained.
"One problem, strengthening the curse mark will also increase its effects on your body. Such a rapid change would kill you at once. And so, to ensure you survive the transition to the second state, we must give your body time to get accustomed to it, several hours, at least. After that, once the transition is complete, your power may even be equal to ours. Unfortunately, the fact remains that even with all these preparations, you'll still have to die," twin head explained while holding the little bottle filled with red pills.
"What's the point of taking these pills if I'm going to die?" I asked annoyingly.
"Not to worry, why do you think my friends and I are here?" he continued. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, I don't know, lead us to this secret hideout we don't know the location of?" I asked sarcastically, but twin head only rolled his eyes. He opened the little bottle and gave us each a pill.
"We'll cast a barrier ninjutsu to lessen the effects of the transition. Instead of dying, you'll only be suspended in a state of half death for a while. By the way, only one of you can take it at a time or else one of you will die," he warned. I looked over at Sasuke who gulped. I sighed and looked down.
"Alright, I'll go first. If you guys don't save me, I will haunt you till your death," I threatened and swallowed the small pill.
At first, nothing happened. I felt like I normally do, but within a few seconds, the effects started kicking in. I clutched my chest and fell to my knees. I coughed heavily at the pain while the Sound Ninja Four started making hand signs and yelling things I couldn't pay attention to. I felt Jirobo (fat guy) lift me up and place me in this crate of some sorts. Purple clouds filled the sky from their hands and came into the crates.
"Four Black Mist Formation!" the four yelled and closed the crate. With that, everything became dark and I couldn't feel anything...
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My eyes fluttered open, but I felt different then I normally would. I activated my Hoshigan so I could see in this dark, cramped place. My skin was a grayish-blue color and my hair reached my ankles. The lid popped off the top, revealing the first rays of light I had seen in a while. I stepped out and looked around at my surroundings.
I deactivated my Hoshigan and noticed my body was returning to normal. I looked over to see another crate similar to mine nearby. The lid of that crate popped out as well to reveal Sasuke who stepped out of it. His skin looked a light gray and his hair was long and the color of my skin while in that weird form. He quickly returned to normal, just as I did.
"Sasuke, Hotaru! We can go back to the village now! Let's go, buddy!" Naruto's voice called from behind us. Sasuke started laughing, which I sensed freaked Naruto out.
"Sasuke? Why are you laughing? Hotaru, let's go, everyone's waiting for you," he continued, his voice a lot less cheerful than it did just moments before. Sasuke continued laughing some more.
"Naruto," I stated, which startled him. "When you get back, tell Tsunade to burn my Chunin jacket. I'm not going to need it where I'm going," I told him. "Oh yeah, and this too."
I took off my Leaf headband from my forehead and made a sharp piece of crystal come out of my finger. I carved a line across the middle of it, which means that I've gone rogue. I threw it over my head, behind me for Naruto to catch. "I won't be needing this either."
Sasuke and I started jumping away, but I could sense Naruto catching up from behind us. He kept yelling out our names, especially Sasuke's, but we ignored him and kept going. We arrived at cave and stopped.
"Do you want me to cast a genjutsu on the cave so that when Naruto goes in, he'll get distracted?" I asked Sasuke.
"Do what you want, I could care less," Sasuke replied emotionlessly. I sighed heavily, casted the genjutsu, and jumped over the cave with Sasuke. Just as I hoped, Naruto went in through the cave and got caught in the genjutsu that revolved with his and Sasuke's memories. Since I have the Hoshinagan that reads minds, I am able to cast genjutsu with their memories.
We kept going, but sadly Naruto got out of the genjutsu and followed us from behind. "Sasuke, you're going to have to fight him sooner or later. I'm going to watch from afar and I'm assuming I should 'mind my own business', right?"
Sasuke only grunted in response and we stopped running when we arrived at the Final Valley. This was wear the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju and the God of shinobi, fought against Madara Uchiha, said to be the strongest Uchiha and one of the strongest shinobi that ever lived.
I jumped a couple miles away to watch them. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but at first no one moved. This changed when Naruto hopped from Hashirama's head to Madara's wear Sasuke was and tackled him. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar, picked him up, and punched him straight in the stomach.
Naruto coughed up blood and was flung into the body of water below. After a while, he came back up to the surface and ran towards Sasuke once again. Sasuke kicked Naruto in the face, sending him into the water once again. Naruto threw a shuriken at Sasuke, while Sasuke threw a kunai at him, both of which were dodged.
Naruto hid behind a rock and Sasuke two kunai, one bounced off the other to hit Naruto. There was a "poof" sound and a puff of smoke. Shadow clone...so the real one's still behind the rock.
Sasuke threw multiple shuriken that had wires around them to tie Naruto up. He made hand signs and flames went towards Naruto. When I thought everything was over, Naruto jumped from the flames and punched Sasuke straight in the face. I sighed heavily, kneeling this fight was going to drag on for a long time.
Alright, let's see where everyone else is. When we woke up, none of the Sound Ninja Four were around, so I'm guessing they engaged in other fights.
I looked over at Sasuke and threw a star shuriken, making him look up at me. I tilted my head towards the direction we came from, indicating that I would go over there. I'm not sure if he understood or not, but I knew he definitely didn't care as he looked away from me. I shrugged, not really caring at this point, and made my way towards the others.
I jumped towards the field I woke up in to find Rock Lee, Gaara, and some bone guy fighting. I knew Gaara sensed me because he faced my direction, but he didn't do anything about it so I assumed he didn't care. I jumped away from them to see a destroyed landscape. I activated my Hoshigan to see three figures. I locked onto one and jumped towards them; Tayuya.
I bent down besides her lifeless figure and sighed heavily. Well...one escorts gone. How about the other three? I got closer to the two other figures, who ended up being Temari and Shikamaru. I ran past them to find the others. I found another five figures while I got deeper into the forest.
When I got closer, I realized that there were actually six figures, and only three were human. One was lodged inside a puppet, the two other humans were together with the puppets and animal. So Kankuro and Kiba killed twin-head, eh? How about multi-arm and Jirobo?
I ran past them to, hopefully, find the others. I eventually found an unconscious, half-dead Neji and a dead multi-arm. I continued to find another half-dead and unconscious Choji and a dead Jirobo. I sweatdropped. They were all defeated that easily? They were probably really weak. I wonder if Orochimaru can actually make me stronger... I ran back in Sasuke's direction, but this time someone came in my way.
"Hotaru, what are you doing?" a familiar voice asked from behind me. I faced Shikamaru.
"None of your business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way," I said and was about to run, but something held me back. I closed my eyes and smirked.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu? Really? With the little amount of chakra you have, do you really think you can pull that off?" I asked and he grunted in annoyance.
"You're right, I'll only last a few seconds, but Temari will fight you," he countered and I laughed evilly.
"Do you REALLY think she can beat me?" I chuckled and he 'tsked'.
"Don't underestimate me, shorty. I'm a lot stronger than you think," Temari said from another direction. Shikamaru immediately released his shadow possession jutsu, which let me face the girl. My Hoshigan was already activated, and her chakra nature was Wind.
"Perfect, I can finish this in one blow," I said confidently.
"That's if you can manage to touch me," she retaliated. My smirk widened.
"You do know I can perform all sorts of fighting styles, right? I know you're long distance, and I can counter that perfectly," I taunted and she growled.
"Don't underestimate me!" she yelled and swung her fan, creating a gust of wind to come at me. I quickly weaved hand signs.
Star Style: Crystal Barrier Jutsu!
A dome of crystal appeared around me, shielding me from her attack. It got a little scratched up, but it was nothing close to damage. I stepped through the dome and shook my head.
"That fan is quite troublesome, isn't it...I'll just have to get rid of it," I mumbled to myself. I held out my hands and little needles shot out of them. The needles ripped through Temari's fan, rendering it, and her, useless. She tried sending another gust of wind at me, but nothing happened.
"So...when are you going to defeat me again?" I yawned, which angered her, and Shikamaru as well.
"Hotaru, what the hell happened to you?" he yelled out. I turned my head to face him, but an uninterested expression remained in my face.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I asked innocently. He glared at me.
"You became a Chunin today, and before this, you were so passionate about the village! Why are you trying to leave it?" he yelled angrily. I sighed.
"I have nothing against the village, trust me. I mean, once I finish my goal, I'd be happy to come back if they let me," I told him with a shrug, but this seemed to confuse him even more.
"So, why would you go to someone who tried to destroy it? You're an even bigger idiot than Naruto!" he insulted and I frowned.
"I'm afraid I'm not an idiot. Actually, I'm going all of you a favor. Once this is all over, you should thank me," I snapped and he shook his head.
"No...I'm not letting you leave, I will bring you back!"
I rolled my eyes as he tried to tackle me. Although I was small, he was running low on chakra, making his moves were sluggish and slow. Temari tried swinging her fan at me from behind, but my hair caught it. I jumped backwards and sighed heavily.
"I really didn't want to kill you guys, but now I have to other choice," I whined, making their eyes widen in fear. Good, now that they're practically paralyzed in fear, I can knock them out easily. Or, I can use genjutsu...I made hand signs.
"Suimin," I whispered and clasped my hands together and jumped over to where Shikamaru and Temari were. I caught them before they could fall. I laid them down on the ground and jumped away. The genjutsu I put them in was pretty basic and easy to get out of, if they couldn't get out on their own, then someone else could easily do so.
I jumped back to where I originally woke up to see Gaara and Lee still there. Instead of the empty clearing from before, there were trees made of bones (with a dead bone guy laying among them) along with sand on the bottom. Gaara and Lee immediately noticed me when I revealed myself. Lee opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted them.
"I suggest you don't try to stop me. Forget about me and help your friends; they're all in critical condition. You should pay attention to them before they die, like my partners," I told them and they narrowed their eyes at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Relax, I didn't kill them or anything. It's not worth it. Now go," I commanded and jumped away. The two seemed speechless and I shrugged. I mean, it's not everyday that your target actually spares your friends over their own...
I ended up back at the Final Valley to see Sasuke and Naruto still fighting. However, the fight had gotten heated and now Sasuke was in his 2nd stage curse mark while Naruto had the Nine Tails' chakra surrounding him. I sat back, hidden in the trees, and watched so I could step in last minute before Sasuke died.
Although he wasn't the strongest, I doubted Naruto would die, not as long as the Nine Tails was there. The kyuubi would protect him and heal him; he didn't really have a choice. If the Jichuriki dies with their beast inside, it's very likely the beast will also perish.
Anyways, the fight continued on for a few more hours before they both shot out their most powerful Jutsus at each other, but the power was tenfold. Sasuke used the power from the curse mark in his chidori, making the chakra appear black and white instead of blue. For Naruto, he mixed in the Nine Tails' reddish-orange chakra with his blue chakra, making his rasengan a purple color instead of the usual blue.
I leaned in with my eyes widened to see the outcome. When the two Jutsus struck, it created a flash of white that was almost blinding. I used my arms to shield myself from the light, but kept my eyes open to see what was going on. Purple chakra formed a sphere around them until it all connected. Then, it enlarged and turned a pitch black. The spree of chakra kept expanding and my eyes widened.
Were any of them going to survive that?
It finally started to crack and exploded into an even more blinding light. I squeezed my eyes shut, but it wasn't any help. I ended up shielding my face with my hair to protect my eyes. Finally, I felt the light clear and I opened my eyes.
I watched as Sasuke's headband fell loose from his head and fell to the ground, leaving his forehead bare. I noticed there was a scratch across the the headband. Naruto was unconscious, but Sasuke still stood. Sasuke suddenly grabbed onto his shoulder, grunted in pain and fell to his knees. He coughed up blood from the pain.
Then, it started to rain. I sighed heavily and jumped down to where Sasuke was. I grabbed his arm to inspect it and noticed it was dislocated. I surrounded my hands in green medical chakra and grabbed his arms.
"This might hurt," I warned and popped his arm back in place. He winced in pain as I stepped back. "It's going to hurt for a few days, but we've got to get going."
We started our slow to where Orochimaru might be. Sasuke was exhausted, and I couldn't blame him; that fight was heated. While we were walking, he suddenly stopped. I stopped as well.
"Sasuke, we're at the border of the Land of Fire. Before we go and fully give our lives away to power, I need to...confess something," I started. He looked up, his face emotionless and his eyes glazed over slightly.
A/N:
Gus!!! Next chapter is the last one! Don't worry though, there will be an epilogue and a sequel. Also, don't forget to vote for the Naruto Watty Awards! Visit the previous part to know how! ^_^