Chapter 49 - Strength from Within

The second Tsunade left, Ekyt kicked the covers off him, yanked out the IV’s, and put his vest back on. The hell with orders- he had a fight to finish.

“Going somewhere?” Tsunade asked, undoing her transformation jutsu. She had been waiting for Ekyt to do something like this. Ekyt looked at her, slightly panicked. Then he bolted for the window, just making it past Tsunade’s outstretched hand.

Tsunade retracted her hand. I knew he would do this…I healed him so he could. This assault on the Akatsuki should be enough to drive them back, But that means changes for Ekyt. ANBU training beyond interrogation and torture, for starters. I’ll have to think this through. At least I won’t be without a trainer…

Tsunade took the opportunity to check on her other patient. Walking down the hall, Shizune falling into step behind her at some point, Tsunade slid open the door to Hayate Gekko’s room. He was sitting up, his oxygen mask off, his breathing stable. Next to him was his purple-haired fiancé Yukao Uzuki. Yukao stood up as Tsunade entered the room, bowing crisply.

“How are you today, Hayate?” Tsunade asked amiably, using her chakra to check his breathing. Stable; same as his internal functions. His body was almost fully recovered from that illness.

“I’m fine, My Lady (koff),” Hayate replied, sounding upbeat- or as upbeat as Hayate ever got.

“Very good. If I may borrow Yukao for a moment, I’ll be right back with your blood test results.” Tsunade looked purposely toward Yukao, who nodded vaguely and got up to follow the Fifth Hokage.

-

“Is all well, M’Lady?” Yukao asked. Without her ANBU mask, she was a decidedly pretty young female of roughly 25. With long purple hair and a good figure, she was a standout in ANBU. She possessed an ability to think ahead that many other agents just didn’t have. It wasn’t something you could teach.

“I’m afraid not. Yukao, I’m about to reveal the blackest secret in the village to you. But I need your assurance that you will NOT tell anyone- Hayate will be told, rest assured. But right now, I need to know I can trust you.” Tsunade looked at Yukao through her bangs, hands folded in front of her.

“Of course, my lady. Anything you ask.” Yukao wondered what this was all about. She thought she already knew the blackest secrets in the village.

“I need your help. You’re familiar with Ekyt Kaguya…”

“Yes, My Lady. I owe him a great deal. He is like a little brother to me.” Yukao recalled how Ekyt had let himself be taken prisoner so that she could go free. He had been the one who had given her the ring from Hayate, back when it was believed he was dead.

“In that case…I need you to instruct him in ANBU. I know it’s unheard of for someone like this, with such a history…but he’s taken a sacred oath to protect someone. No matter how much he studies, he still studies alone- the amount you can learn from that is limited. For his own sake, and the sake of his promise, I need him to become stronger. He’s pushed himself so hard, but I can’t ask more of the person he’s protecting- that one has already been instructed by someone else. But if they’re both to survive…I need your help.”

Yukao gave a grave nod. “Am I to assume these meetings will be in secret?”

“Yes. The utmost secrecy. The only other in ANBU you may consult is Ibikki Morino- he is already familiar with Ekyt.”

“That would explain his genjutsu…When will this training begin?” Yukao asked, wanting to talk to Hayate.

“If he survives…whenever he’s medically cleared to do so.”

“Is he still fighting the same disease as Hayate?” Yukao question, surprised to hear Ekyt was in poor health. Tsunade shook her head.

“If only. No, he’s affected by the plague that you know as the Akatsuki.”

Yukao was shocked, to say the least. “But he’s just a boy! What business could they have with him?!”

Tsunade shrugged. “I’m not sure. From what he says, the Akatsuki think him a threat to their mission. He refuses to let them have their way, so he needs to learn how to protect himself. Let’s leave it at that, because I’ve said too much already. From now on, I want you to be careful as well. Very careful.”

Yukao bowed in understanding. “Very well, my lady. I’ll do my best.”

--

Gaara’s sand was driving Deidara back. But like before, Deidara let the sand grab him once. He put explosives in the sand. Gaara was aware of that, and let the sand drop.

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” he rasped, glaring impassively at the explosive artist. “I should thank you for relieving me of that demon inside me. My mind is much more clear now. I may have lost chakra as a result, but I’ve learned to do more- much more.” Gaara moved his hands upward. The ground twisted and heaved, lifting Deidara up. The sand cocooned Deidara while Gaara held his hand up.

“Sand Smashing Impact!” Gaara yelled, smashing his hand downward onto the ground. The sand cleared out of the way, leaving a barren, dry ground that would be next to impossible to survive a fall on.

Deidara was hurtled toward the ground head-first. This jutsu was one Gaara created after experiencing Lee’s Primary Lotus attack. It worked the same way, except Gaara didn’t have to touch the person- the sand did all the work.

-

Gai and Kisame were exchanging high-speed attacks, bouncing all over the clearing. Kisame was getting frustrated that Gai was simply faster than he was. But he knew that one swing from Samehada could end the threat that Gai posed.

Gai watched Kisame’s body, waiting for him to make the right move. He could read physical movement because he had trained himself in the way the body moved. Kisame’s sword was heavy. No matter how strong you were, if you kept swinging something heavy for a long time, you would start to tire. And that’s what Gai was waiting for. After minutes of swinging that sword, Kisame took one swing at Gai’s waist. Gai stepped in and pushed Kisame’s arm in the air, knocking him off-balance. That’s when Gai took made his move. Taking a strange stance, he yelled his jutsu with his usual passion:

“Asa Kujaku!” (lit translation: Morning Peacock. Eng use- Blazing Kujaku)

An aura began to grow around Gai as he attacked. He had opened six gates of chakra with a practiced ease, so his moves were blurred and all but impossible to block. He and Kisame were both launched into the air where Gai scored a nearly 100 hit combo. Kisame fell to the ground, covered in Gai’s aura. Gai fell back down, landing on his feet, but almost immediately falling to one knee- using the gates wore you out- especially six of them.

-

Kimimaro looked around. He found he was tied up. The world had changed into hues of black and red. The clouds above him moved slowly, then even slower, then a little faster.

“You’ve been trapped in my Tsukuyomi,” Itachi informed Kimimaro. Itachi was standing at the foot of a T-shaped block of wood to which Kimimaro was bound. “In this world, I control space and time. You’ll be here for seventy-two hours- a split second in your world.”

Itachi had a long sword, it’s gleaming tip aimed at Kimimaro. “For seventy-two hours, I’m going to stab you with this sword. How long before your mind will crack, I wonder?”

-

Outside Tsukuyomi, Kimimaro and Itachi seemed to just be staring at each other, standing still. Kimimaro was a naturally-talented Shinobi, so he had learned a way to counter this jutsu. But he needed help.

“Wind Scythe Jutsu!” came the shout from Temari. The powerful wind from her fan knocked Itachi into a tree and shook Kimimaro free from the confines of Tsukuyomi.

“I see…I can tell your chakra level has decreased by at least half…” Kimimaro drew a bone from his shoulder, walking toward the downed Itachi. “Well then, I’m going to send you to the afterlife.”


“Room for one more?”

Ekyt ran into the clearing, a bone already drawn from his shoulder. Deidara had used his clay bird to escape Gaara’s jutsu, while Kisame’s huge chakra pool saved him from death at the hands of Gai’s devastating attack combo.

The Akatsuki trio were surprised to see Ekyt- he shouldn’t have been well enough to come back.

“We underestimated Tsunade’s healing ability…” Itachi murmured, getting up, apparently unconcerned. “It was a mistake to leave you alive, I see.”

“You bet it was,” Ekyt snarled. “I don’t know why you’re focused on me, but that’s just fine by me. I can call this ‘self-defense’ then…Shall we, Kimimaro?” Ekyt asked, taking up the same position as Kimimaro. Kimimaro gave an amused smile.

“Yes, I think so…”

In unison, Ekyt and Kimimaro shouted: “DUAL CAMMELIA DANCE!”

The two began to stab at Itachi in a rapid-fire succession- it took all of Itachi’s skill to dodge the attacks. But even as he was dodging, he was noticing things about the attack.

They share a kekkai-genkai…the one with the white hair is talented…the other not so much. But his timing makes it difficult to dodge. When the white haired one is withdrawing his strike, Ekyt is striking. And vice versa. With the others hurt, and my chakra low from Tsukuyomi…time to withdraw. We’ve already gotten enough information.

As he leapt backward, Itachi told the others to run. “Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!”

The giant ball of fire could hit all the Leaf Shinobi at once. As they scrambled for cover, the Akatsuki made a break for it. They could have pressed their attack, but it was a foolish gamble- their true target wasn’t involved. But it left a bitter taste in the temperamental Kisame and Deidara’s mouths. Itachi took it for what it was- one less way for the enemies to surprise them, more jutsus revealed, and damage done. The Akatsuki were low on chakra. The Leaf Shinobi were injured. That proved that it would take a large force to even contend with the Akatsuki. Information collected, mission accomplished.

--

Ekyt and Gai were both tapped- out of chakra. Kimimaro was okay, but a little disturbed from Tsukuyomi’s effects. Temari was taking care of Kimimaro, which left Gaara to return to Sunagakure. Before he did, Ekyt put a hand on his shoulder. He looked Gaara square in the eyes.

“Thank you. If Naruto knew what you had done for him just now, I know he’d appreciate it. Thanks for the save. Let me know if I can ever return the favor.”

Gaara blinked a little at Ekyt’s sudden formality. True, they had buried the hatchet- Ekyt attacked Gaara’s mind after Gaara destroyed Ekyt’s eye (which was later healed), but all the same…something so friendly was strange. But Gaara wasn’t going to question it.

“I’ll let you know.” With that, Gaara disappeared in a flash of sand and chakra. That left Ekyt to carry Gai, while Temari and Kimimaro took care of themselves. Temari was the only one without an injury. All in all, that was good, considering it was the Akatsuki they were facing, after all.

--

Tsunade was waiting, a staff of nurses with her. “Gai overdid it, he needs to rest…Kimimaro needs a little rest as well...Ekyt…I’ll take care of you personally. We have something to discuss.”

-

Tsunade and Ekyt sat down. Ekyt waited for the reprimand he knew was coming. He deserved it- he left the hospital and he shouldn’t have. But he didn’t regret what he did. To his surprise, Tsunade didn’t even mention that.

“In two days, Hayate will be getting married. Please don’t have yourself killed by then, you’re supposed to be his best man. After that, he and Yukao will be working with you. Let me congratulate you on being accepted into ANBU.”

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