Konoha's Nightmare CYOA
Feb 1, 2011 22:06:19 GMT
Post by pyroflare77 on Feb 1, 2011 22:06:19 GMT
The full moon shone brightly, illuminating the forest path below. The night was tranquil and serene, and a light breeze drifted by, rustling the trees and adding further calm to this picturesque night. Yet despite the great beauty, the animals knew that something was wrong. There were no sounds common to the ambiance of the forest-- everything was silent except the infrequent rustling of the foliage as the wind caressed them. The forest creatures knew of the impending disaster.
Two figures leaped and flickered from tree to tree, their black cloaks fluttering from their forward velocity. The sound of their sandals tapping against the wood of the branches they landed on was the only other sound heard in the area. One of the figures jumped across the cleared path to the parallel row of trees, briefly exposing themselves as the moonlight flashed across the person. Any nearby traveler with a decent eyesight and knowledge of the world could identify the crimson cloud design spread across the cloak.
The two figures landed on the ground after their extensive push towards their destination. They were close enough now to simply walk, and they needed to conserve as much energy as they could, for they were on an important mission. If anyone was present, they would have easily described the scene as eerie as the figures cloaked in black began moving forward.
One figure was the taller of the two, and a large bamboo shade shrouded the face of the figure. The height, muscular physique, and broad shoulders of this figure suggested that he was a man. His cloak was slightly open, showing that he was wearing a simple midnight blue gi uniform. Strapped to his back were two sheathed katanas, both of them lying in an X shape across his back, and behind the black sash around his waist were two smaller sheathed swords. His stance while he walked suggested that he was a brash individual.
Next to him was a smaller figure with more delicate features. The exact sex of this person could not be identified due to the bagginess of his or her cloak. In addition, this person wore a thick black hood that encased the face in blackness. This person did not seem to have any weapons on them, but what might lay under their cloak remained a mystery. The posture of this person as they walked showed refinement and dignity.
"We're close, aren't we?" questioned the male Akatsuki member, his voice deep and somewhat husky.
The smaller person simply turned to the man and nodded. The man sighed in exasperation and crossed his arms.
"Look," he said, "I get it. You're new, you're shy. But cut the act. I'm tired of you being quiet. We're partners now, and if we're going to pull this off, we need to speak with each other."
The other person held a black-gloved hand up, telling his or her partner to be quiet. The hand then pointed forward towards their destination-- the gates of Konohagakure. The anger the hooded member's partner held had vanished as he beheld the gates.
"So... this is it..." the man said as his gently bit his lip in uncertainty.
The hooded member began to speak, but the words died in his or her throat. Apparently this person had not spoken in quiet some time. A clearing of the throat was heard, and the hooded member spoke.
"Yes," said the person, whose voice was a soft woman's voice, "tonight, we shall share our pain."
The man looked towards the hooded woman and took a step back in shock. He soon regained himself and rose a thick hand to rub against his chin.
"Huh... I never would've guessed that the mysterious 'Necromancer' would be a woman," he said in a tone that was hard to tell whether he was impressed or unimpressed.
"Let's just move," commanded the woman as she led the way to the gates.
Atop the gates stood a single Konoha ninja. It was quite early in the morning, so most of the night watch had clocked out to sleep. There were usually never any visitors at this hour, and the two jonin and three specialized jonin stationed near the entryway below would only deter any potential attackers. Therefore, he found it quite unusual that two figures were approaching in the distance. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and, upon seeing that his eyes were not fooling him, he pulled out binoculars from a pouch in his flak jacket and gazed into them.
His eyes widened with fear as he saw the red clouds on their black cloaks. Akatsuki was approaching! This was an emergency! He reached up to the earpiece he was wearing to communicate with the ninja below using radio, but his he felt his gut sink as the vision he saw through his binoculars become pitch black. He lowered them to see that a hooded Akatsuki member had jumped up to him! He tried to cry out for help, but his voice was silenced with a gurgle as the man's throat was slit with a short blade. The woman flicked the blood off of the blade, which had emerged from the sleeves of her cloak. A mechanical click was heard, and the blade quickly disappeared up the sleeve of the cloak.
Below, the man walked towards the five ninja in a pompous way as he unsheathed a single katana from his back.
"A-Akatsuki?" one of the Konoha ninja stammered.
"Quick, go alert the village!" cried another.
"I don't think so," spoke the Akatsuki man as he grabbed his shade with his free hand and threw it towards the jonin as a distraction. The shade flew towards them, obstructing their view of the Akatsuki man. When the shade landed, he was there no more. A pained cry was heard as one of the jonin was stabbed in the gut by the man, who had dashed over to him. Another jonin quickly fumbled with the contents of his flak jacket to find some sort of weapon, but he was felled by a swift blow from the blade. Two other jonin began making hand seals, but they ceased as two blades emerged from their foreheads. Mechanical clicks were heard as the tips of the blades sank back into the heads. The men slumped down, revealing that the cloaked woman had been behind them.
"Thanks," the man said to the woman as he walked over to pick up his shade. His short and scruffy hair was a vivid blue, and his light skin had a slight bronze tint to it. He reached down to pick up his shade, but reconsidered.
The cloaked woman turned to look at the sole remaining member of the night watch. He was holding a katana, his grip tight and trembling. The Akatsuki man stood up and turned towards him with a cruel grin.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot you were here. Quiet as a mouse, you are," said the blue-haired man to the Konoha ninja, who had spiked brown hair and a distinct scar that began on the bridge of his nose and spread and widened until it covered his entire left cheek.
What the hell is wrong with him? wondered Raidou Namiashi as he gazed at the Akatsuki man, who was wiping the blood off of his sword by using the clothing of the fallen jonin. The man's teeth were strange... his canines were sharper than a normal human's. His eyes... they were yellow like those of a wolf's! And not only that, these two had effortlessly taken down the rest of the watch men!
"S-Stay back!" Raidou spoke in fear, "I w-won't let you in the village!"
"You will be the first..." spoke the hooded Akatsuki member. The woman made a few hand seals in a combination that was foreign to Raidou. They weren't falling for his bluff, and Raidou cursed his foolishness for thinking that they would. The cloaked woman finished the hand seals and began slowly walking towards Raidou. She drew nearer and nearer, and with each step, Raidou felt his panic rising.
"I m-m-mean it! This is your la..." he warned, but his words died away, along with the last of his courage. He was paralyzed with fear, and he could tell that even if he fought or fled, they would kill him. The wolf-eyed man chuckled at Raidou as the woman placed a gloved hand over Raidou's face.
The latent jutsu was activated, and a pale yellow gas with a noxious odor manifested itself from the woman's palm. It rushed into Raidou's face through his nose and mouth, and he instantly fell to the ground, dropping his katana as he began to cough intensely. He began to spasm as he coughed up blood, and soon he was still.
"It shall take effect soon..." spoke the woman as she turned towards her partner, "...so we had best locate a proper building in this city to inhabit before the village wakes up due to the plague."
The man nodded, and stared at the limp figure of the man the "Necromancer" used the gaseous jutsu on. He shook his head in pity and sheathed his blade.
"Poor motherfucker..." the wolf-eyed man said to nobody in particular. He then looked up to see that his partner had already began to walk into the village.
"H-Hey, wait for me!" he called out as he ran after her.
In the distance, a wolf howled lowly. A requiem for what was going to occur.
-----
Elsewhere, a figure underneath the covers of a bed tossed and turned. After a bit, the movement stopped, and the figure rose up. The sheets draped over the person's face fell, revealing a very tired...
Free Will: Pick a character from Konoha to be the player character. I will answer any questions that you might have.
[Kakashi chosen]
Kakashi Hatake sat in bed for a bit, blinking slowly as the hold of sleep slowly eased itself from his mind. He arose from bed after a few minutes, rubbing his uncovered eye to get the sleep out of it. Slow steps were taken as he walked towards the bathroom. A few minutes passed, and he emerged rejuvinated and properly groomed for the day. He walked towards his wardrobe and opened it. He quickly got dressed in the standard Konoha flak jacket. The eyepatch he was wearing to cover his Sharingan eye during sleep was taken off and replaced with his forehead protector worn in a slanted way. He pulled the neck of his shirt up, and it neatly covered the lower half of his face.
He left his apartment and headed towards the outskirts of the village. It was early in the morning, so it was not surprising that he didn't encounter anybody. Eventually he arrived at his destination: the Shinobi Memorial Monument. Engraved on the stone was the name of every shinobi that had been killed in action. Kakashi sat down in front of the stone, his hands resting on his knees, as his eye flicked back and forth between three names: Obito Uchiha, Rin Nashima, and Minato Namikaze. Today was one of his "sentimental days", in which he would stay by the memorial stone for a few hours, thinking about what could have been.
His mind then focused on his father, who's name was not on the stone. It was not often that he mourned his father's loss, but for some reason, today felt fitting. He had idolized his father as a child, but he never really got to tell him how much he loved him. Kakashi closed his eyes as he recalled the traumatic moment in his youth when Sakumo committed seppuku. Sakumo had asked for his son to be his second. Kakashi honored his father's decision, but it was so hard to make the blow to cleave through his father's neck. But he had to... he had to honor his father's wishes so that he could feel redeemed in his death. The event hardened him into the cold young boy that he was until Obito changed him...
Obito... Rin... Minato. None of them really got to fully see how Kakashi changed throughout his life. Obito, of course, had died in the Third Great Shinobi War. But shortly after their successful mission, Minato became the Fourth Hokage, and soon after that the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village. Both Rin and Minato would die in the battle, both of them valiantly sacrificing their lives to protect others, just as Obito had. He owed so much to those three... they completely changed him, and he just wished he could thank them for all they had done for him. He felt a lone tear roll down his cheek as he recalled the memories he could never relive. The memories where he would never be able to say what he always wanted to say to them. They would always be phantoms that haunted his sleep, apparitions that stalked his memories, ghosts that blessed his dreams, and, ultimately, the spirits that both weighed down on him and guided him forward in life.
And Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted as his ears picked up slow footsteps behind him. Something was off about their beat-- it didn't feel like the person behind him was walking naturally. The grass also rustled way more than it should with normal steps... was this person limping? Kakashi stood up and turned around to look at the person approaching him.
Sure enough, he was limping. But what was extremely unusual was the fact that the injured leg was turned around in a way that would normally cause excruciating pain, but this man did not seem to mind. Blood was all over his mouth and flak jacket, and he moaned lowly as his soulless white eyes stared into Kakashi's. The man continued to approach with his limp shuffle, his leg dragging uselessly behind him.
This man is not human anymore, was the concluding thought that Kakashi had. He took a defensive stance and eyed the man a bit more.
"Stop approaching or I will attack!" Kakashi commanded. The strange man did not heed the warning and simply kept approaching with that unnatural limp of his. What would Kakashi do?
A. Warn the man yet again. He obviously seems disoriented... maybe he didn't hear correctly?
B. Well, you did warn him. Spook the man by feigning an attack.
C. Something's definitely wrong here... closely investigate the man.
D. Back down from the man. He's probably just drunk.
He stared at the man, who was now just a few feet from him. The man's teeth were slightly yellowed and bloody, and he reached towards Kakashi. Kakashi took a few steps back. He raised his forehead protector and closed his right eye so he could see better out of the Sharingan. Normally, he would not use the Sharingan for such minute purposes, but he would make an exception to see if what he thought he noticed earlier was true.
Right away, he could see that the man's flow of chakra was nonexistent. This confirmed more than his suspicion that the man was not breathing (which he wasn't), because he could see that the man's chakra had been replaced by... something. He moved the forehead protector back down, suddenly concerned. Just what the hell happened to this man?
A. Warn him again. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems...
B. Warn him, then attack with a ninja tool. Hopefully this guy's actually dead...
C. Attack with a jutsu. This man is no longer alive, and something vile has happened to him.
D. Flee. I've got to tell the others back at the village! But will this man still be here when I return? What if he's dangerous?
"This is your last warning..." Kakashi said, but he knew it was futile to continue to warn the man, who continued to shamble closer to Kakashi. Kakashi decided to take a slight risk and see if his suspicions were correct. He reached into a pouch in his flak jacket and produced a kunai. The metal tool whirled around in his hand before he hurled it at the chest of the approaching man. The man stumbled back slightly from the force of the blow, but he made no signs that he had been injured. A small part of his mind was trying to convince him that the man could be on drugs or something that have made him more tolerable towards pain, but he shut out that voice. The man was dead! And it was trying to attack him... in its own sad, pathetic way. But it was still a threat.
A. Test this creature's endurance using a ninjutsu.
B. I think I know the trick to killing this man... no need to waste chakra; I'll just use another ninja tool.
Kakashi had faced opponents with immunity to pain before, but not on this level. Nor were those enemies dead. But one piece of advice he had picked up during his time as an ANBU always helped him.
When in doubt, go for the head, he mentally recited. He reached into a pouch in his flak jacket and produced another kunai. With a single well-aimed toss, the knife flew into the man's head, causing him to fall limp. Kakashi waited for a moment to see if the man would move again, and, when the man did not, he turned away.
Just as he finished off the man, he heard more sets of footsteps. His eyes dilated as he spun around with fear and surprise. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true: three more people in similar condition to the man were approaching him-- two male Konoha ninja and a civilian woman. All three of them were moaning and shambling towards Kakashi, with blood on their clothing and around their mouths. One of the men had much of his skin around his lower jaw torn off, revealing blood-caked bone. The other man had a large hole in his stomach with a few bits of intestine dangling out of the wound. The woman had a large portion of her neck ripped open, and one of her ears had been torn in half, the two pieces connected only by a small band of flesh. All three had the same eerie white eyes.
What did this mean? Why were there more people in similar condition to the man? Why were they all bloody with various wounds that a living person couldn't possibly endure? Why did they have those white eyes that lacked feeling behind them? There were many possible answers, and none of them seemed good. From what Kakashi could piece together, someone had altered these people to be walking dead somehow, and they were bloodthirsty beasts. Judging by the blood around their mouths and the wounds on their bodies, it seemed that this strange disease or jutsu or whatever was afflicting them was spread through bite. They did not feel pain, and they could only be destroyed if their brains were destroyed. Konoha was likely in danger!
Kakashi swore under his breath as he pulled out three more kunai and swiftly tossed the three weapons at the heads of the new arrivals. They all hit their mark, and the creatures fell down, dead once more. Kakashi placed his hand on his forehead, composing himself and fully recognizing what was happening. This strange plague was most likely endangering the village as he stood there! He needed to protect it! Worry filled him, but he decided not to panic until he observed the condition of the village firsthand. His thoughts were then interrupted by more footsteps nearby.
Not again... he thought in annoyance.
A. Attack the approaching people and put them out of their misery.
B. I'm sick of this... I'll just blast them with a jutsu real quick and then check on the village.
C. Turn and wait before attacking. There's a chance they could be human.
Kakashi turned around, fully expecting to see more of the monsters approaching him. Instead, he saw two of his students running towards him. Kakashi felt relieved that they were okay. He would also most likely learn more about the village's condition, but the fact that they sought him out most likely did not mean good news was going to be given. Kakashi lightly smiled under his mask. It was very fortunate that these two were safe. He just hoped that other people were okay...
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out as he ran up to his teacher and stopped in front of him. He leaned forward and began to pant. Sakura soon was at Naruto's side, and she, too, was catching her breath from running.
"Well, you two are certainly happy to see me," Kakashi said nonchalantly.
"I... uh... of COURSE we are!" Naruto shouted in disbelief at how normal Kakashi was asking.
"Shh..." Kakashi said as he placed a finger up to his masked mouth, "we might attract more."
Sakura noticed the body behind Kakashi. She looked at him with concern and a bit of disgust, "How can you act like this during this crisis?"
"It helps me cope and not feel panicked," explained Kakashi, "which you promptly ruined by saying the word 'crisis.' How bad is it? And do any of you know what this is or how it happened?"
Sakura frowned and stared at the ground. Naruto sighed sadly, and looked at his teacher.
"Pretty bad. I don't know if the whole village is overrun yet, but..." Naruto said.
"Damn! What's going on? What are these things?"
"Zombies..." Naruto said quietly.
"Come again?" Kakashi asked in confusion.
Naruto sighed. He felt like he was going to have to explain this to a lot of people. Why couldn't more people read comic books?
"The walking dead that desire the flesh of the living. They spread their plague through bite. They can't feel pain and can only be killed by destroying their brain," Naruto explained with a hint of exasperation.
"I could definitely tell something was wrong with the ones that approached me. I figured out most of the characteristics of these-- zombies, you say? --by observing that man behind me,” Kakashi said as he motioned towards the body by pointing at it from over his shoulder with his thumb.
"And Akatsuki's behind it," Naruto said, rage welling up in his voice.
"What? Akatsuki!? Why?" Kakashi said in disbelief, "This directly goes against their goal if it endangers your safety, Naruto! Why would they cause something like this?"
"I still don't know. There was one guy I recklessly attacked, and he wouldn't tell me anything. He beat me down and left me for dead, but the Kyuubi healed me. That Akatsuki jackass seemed to know something, but his partner was not present..." Naruto said with shame as he mentally cursed his stupidity for acting so brashly during that situation. Kakashi seemed to tell what Naruto was thinking.
"It's okay... you found out more by confronting him. Although I would not have recommended such an attack if you didn't have a beast inside of you that will protect your life at all costs, if not only to preserve its life. Did you find anything out about his abilities, or anything indicating why he tried to kill you instead of capture you?"
"Yeah... he's a swordsman. He had lots of swords on him. He didn't use any jutsu on me, but he's fast and strong. He also had crazy healing powers. I used my Rasengan on him twice, and he shrugged of the blows like they were nothing! And no, I wondered myself why he didn't capture me," Naruto said.
Kakashi looked downward as he closed his eyes in thought. This was a terrible situation, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do. If these zombies were spread throughout the village, then many people were in danger. He then realized that Sakura had not spoken in quite some time and let Naruto explain the situation, which was quite odd.
"What the matter with Sakura?" he asked quietly as he looked at her.
"Oh... her parents... they..." Naruto said lowly.
"I understand," Kakashi said quietly. He walked over to Sakura and embraced her. She hugged back. She sobbed for a bit into his chest before she composed herself.
Kakashi sighed. No matter how he thought about it, he knew his mind would never prepare him for what he would witness once they entered the village.
"We need to do... something. We can't just stand around here. There are people at stake.
"I say we hunt down those Akatsuki bastards and make them pay!" Naruto growled in anger.
"No..." Sakura muttered quietly, "...we have to save other people from those monsters!"
Kakashi closed his eyes in thought. Both of those plans had merit, but he wasn't sure that they were the wisest decision. He personally believed that they should find the Hokage and go over things with her. They were the only people that knew about Akatsuki's involvement in this attack...
*Important Decision*
A. Go with Naruto's idea. They hold information about whatever made these zombies, and they might have a way of reversing it.
B. Sakura's plan sounds good... after all, a shinobi's duty is to protect their village.
C. Finding Tsunade is crucial. She needs to know this information!
"Before we do anything else, we're going to report this information to Tsunade. It's the wisest thing we can do, because I don't think anybody else knows Akatsuki is involved yet. We need to head to the Administration Building, now!"
"Right!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed as the three began to body flicker towards the building where the Hokage resided.
-----
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were running down a back street that was relatively zombie-free. They had to take several winding lesser-traveled routes on their way to the Administration, which cost them time, but with the benefit of safety. Traveling on the rooftops towards the northern part of the village was difficult due to the differing height of the buildings, so they took to the ground, even if it meant dodging the walking corpses.
The current street was completely empty. Kakashi found this most unusual... every other street they had ran through at least had a few of the walking dead. Was there something wrong with this street, or was he just thinking too much?
A. Halt the team... something's wrong here.
B. I'm just thinking too much. Stopping here will slow us down, and we don't have any time to waste!
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were running down a back street that was relatively zombie-free. They had to take several winding lesser-traveled routes on their way to the Administration, which cost them time, but with the benefit of safety. Traveling on the rooftops towards the northern part of the village was difficult due to the differing height of the buildings.
This current street was completely empty. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, and he held up a hand, signaling Naruto and Sakura to stop as well.
"Why'd we-" Naruto began, but Kakashi hushed him. He pointed to his ear, indicating for the two to listen. The only thing that could be heard was the distant moans of the undead and the screams of their victims. There was nothing near them at all. Kakashi looked around, noticing that this entire street seemed "off." Despite the zombies sweeping through the city, there were no signs of struggle on this street. There was no blood, no dropped possessions... even peering inside the houses showed that there were no visible signs of struggle.
"It's like there were no zombies here at all..." Sakura said quietly, breaking the silence.
"Exactly... which is why I think we've found the perpetrators..." Kakashi said.
"Huh? Why's that?" Naruto asked in confusion as he looked around for people wearing Akatsuki robes.
"If they created these creatures, it would make sense that they could control them, especially if they eat people without discrimination. So it would make sense to make the creatures avoid their base of operations. Plus..." Kakashi explained, then he pointed up at a building they were nearby, "...this building is rather tall. A nice place to observe the village, don't you think?"
"Well, you're good at piecing together little things," spoke a man from a nearby rooftop. The three turned to see a man in an open Akatsuki robe with blue hair and yellow eyes. The several swords on his person made it unmistakable-- this had to be the man that attacked Naruto earlier in the day.
"Why, thank you," Kakashi said with a light smile. The Akatsuki man suddenly unsheathed a sword and leaped down from the building, ready to cut down Kakashi. Naruto roared in anger as he jumped up and slammed his foot against the blue-haired man's face, knocking him off-course and down to the ground.
"Fucking piss-ant," the man cursed as he turned his head to the side and spat out a small glob of blood. He wiped his mouth with his free hand and beckoned for Naruto to charge at him, all which he grinned, showing his wolf-like teeth.
Naruto clenched his fist tightly as he felt the anger boil up inside of him. He was ready to burst forward, and Kakashi realized this. It could be deadly if that boy's temper got out of control...
Kakashi
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Collected
Vote for a letter, number, and symbol.
A. Go on the offensive using Lightning Beast Running Jutsu.
B. Use an offensive earth jutsu.
C. Go on the defensive and form some water clones.
D. Test the enemy by engaging him in close combat.
1. Conserve chakra and keep the Sharingan covered for now.
2. Uncover the Sharingan.
!. Tell Naruto to calm down and control his temper.
?. Say nothing and focus on the battle at hand.
Naruto
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Angry
E. Form shadow clones and have them attack with ninja tools.
F. Form shadow clones to confuse the enemy, eventually striking him with a summoned Fuuma Shuriken.
G. Form shadow clones and have them rush the man with taijutsu.
H. Create a Rasengan and strike the enemy with it.
I. Summon shadow clones and have them scatter in various tactical locations around the battlefield (50% chance of success).
Sakura
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Concerned
J. Go on the offensive with taijutsu.
K. Stay back and wait for an opening.
Two figures leaped and flickered from tree to tree, their black cloaks fluttering from their forward velocity. The sound of their sandals tapping against the wood of the branches they landed on was the only other sound heard in the area. One of the figures jumped across the cleared path to the parallel row of trees, briefly exposing themselves as the moonlight flashed across the person. Any nearby traveler with a decent eyesight and knowledge of the world could identify the crimson cloud design spread across the cloak.
The two figures landed on the ground after their extensive push towards their destination. They were close enough now to simply walk, and they needed to conserve as much energy as they could, for they were on an important mission. If anyone was present, they would have easily described the scene as eerie as the figures cloaked in black began moving forward.
One figure was the taller of the two, and a large bamboo shade shrouded the face of the figure. The height, muscular physique, and broad shoulders of this figure suggested that he was a man. His cloak was slightly open, showing that he was wearing a simple midnight blue gi uniform. Strapped to his back were two sheathed katanas, both of them lying in an X shape across his back, and behind the black sash around his waist were two smaller sheathed swords. His stance while he walked suggested that he was a brash individual.
Next to him was a smaller figure with more delicate features. The exact sex of this person could not be identified due to the bagginess of his or her cloak. In addition, this person wore a thick black hood that encased the face in blackness. This person did not seem to have any weapons on them, but what might lay under their cloak remained a mystery. The posture of this person as they walked showed refinement and dignity.
"We're close, aren't we?" questioned the male Akatsuki member, his voice deep and somewhat husky.
The smaller person simply turned to the man and nodded. The man sighed in exasperation and crossed his arms.
"Look," he said, "I get it. You're new, you're shy. But cut the act. I'm tired of you being quiet. We're partners now, and if we're going to pull this off, we need to speak with each other."
The other person held a black-gloved hand up, telling his or her partner to be quiet. The hand then pointed forward towards their destination-- the gates of Konohagakure. The anger the hooded member's partner held had vanished as he beheld the gates.
"So... this is it..." the man said as his gently bit his lip in uncertainty.
The hooded member began to speak, but the words died in his or her throat. Apparently this person had not spoken in quiet some time. A clearing of the throat was heard, and the hooded member spoke.
"Yes," said the person, whose voice was a soft woman's voice, "tonight, we shall share our pain."
The man looked towards the hooded woman and took a step back in shock. He soon regained himself and rose a thick hand to rub against his chin.
"Huh... I never would've guessed that the mysterious 'Necromancer' would be a woman," he said in a tone that was hard to tell whether he was impressed or unimpressed.
"Let's just move," commanded the woman as she led the way to the gates.
Atop the gates stood a single Konoha ninja. It was quite early in the morning, so most of the night watch had clocked out to sleep. There were usually never any visitors at this hour, and the two jonin and three specialized jonin stationed near the entryway below would only deter any potential attackers. Therefore, he found it quite unusual that two figures were approaching in the distance. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and, upon seeing that his eyes were not fooling him, he pulled out binoculars from a pouch in his flak jacket and gazed into them.
His eyes widened with fear as he saw the red clouds on their black cloaks. Akatsuki was approaching! This was an emergency! He reached up to the earpiece he was wearing to communicate with the ninja below using radio, but his he felt his gut sink as the vision he saw through his binoculars become pitch black. He lowered them to see that a hooded Akatsuki member had jumped up to him! He tried to cry out for help, but his voice was silenced with a gurgle as the man's throat was slit with a short blade. The woman flicked the blood off of the blade, which had emerged from the sleeves of her cloak. A mechanical click was heard, and the blade quickly disappeared up the sleeve of the cloak.
Below, the man walked towards the five ninja in a pompous way as he unsheathed a single katana from his back.
"A-Akatsuki?" one of the Konoha ninja stammered.
"Quick, go alert the village!" cried another.
"I don't think so," spoke the Akatsuki man as he grabbed his shade with his free hand and threw it towards the jonin as a distraction. The shade flew towards them, obstructing their view of the Akatsuki man. When the shade landed, he was there no more. A pained cry was heard as one of the jonin was stabbed in the gut by the man, who had dashed over to him. Another jonin quickly fumbled with the contents of his flak jacket to find some sort of weapon, but he was felled by a swift blow from the blade. Two other jonin began making hand seals, but they ceased as two blades emerged from their foreheads. Mechanical clicks were heard as the tips of the blades sank back into the heads. The men slumped down, revealing that the cloaked woman had been behind them.
"Thanks," the man said to the woman as he walked over to pick up his shade. His short and scruffy hair was a vivid blue, and his light skin had a slight bronze tint to it. He reached down to pick up his shade, but reconsidered.
The cloaked woman turned to look at the sole remaining member of the night watch. He was holding a katana, his grip tight and trembling. The Akatsuki man stood up and turned towards him with a cruel grin.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot you were here. Quiet as a mouse, you are," said the blue-haired man to the Konoha ninja, who had spiked brown hair and a distinct scar that began on the bridge of his nose and spread and widened until it covered his entire left cheek.
What the hell is wrong with him? wondered Raidou Namiashi as he gazed at the Akatsuki man, who was wiping the blood off of his sword by using the clothing of the fallen jonin. The man's teeth were strange... his canines were sharper than a normal human's. His eyes... they were yellow like those of a wolf's! And not only that, these two had effortlessly taken down the rest of the watch men!
"S-Stay back!" Raidou spoke in fear, "I w-won't let you in the village!"
"You will be the first..." spoke the hooded Akatsuki member. The woman made a few hand seals in a combination that was foreign to Raidou. They weren't falling for his bluff, and Raidou cursed his foolishness for thinking that they would. The cloaked woman finished the hand seals and began slowly walking towards Raidou. She drew nearer and nearer, and with each step, Raidou felt his panic rising.
"I m-m-mean it! This is your la..." he warned, but his words died away, along with the last of his courage. He was paralyzed with fear, and he could tell that even if he fought or fled, they would kill him. The wolf-eyed man chuckled at Raidou as the woman placed a gloved hand over Raidou's face.
The latent jutsu was activated, and a pale yellow gas with a noxious odor manifested itself from the woman's palm. It rushed into Raidou's face through his nose and mouth, and he instantly fell to the ground, dropping his katana as he began to cough intensely. He began to spasm as he coughed up blood, and soon he was still.
"It shall take effect soon..." spoke the woman as she turned towards her partner, "...so we had best locate a proper building in this city to inhabit before the village wakes up due to the plague."
The man nodded, and stared at the limp figure of the man the "Necromancer" used the gaseous jutsu on. He shook his head in pity and sheathed his blade.
"Poor motherfucker..." the wolf-eyed man said to nobody in particular. He then looked up to see that his partner had already began to walk into the village.
"H-Hey, wait for me!" he called out as he ran after her.
In the distance, a wolf howled lowly. A requiem for what was going to occur.
-----
Elsewhere, a figure underneath the covers of a bed tossed and turned. After a bit, the movement stopped, and the figure rose up. The sheets draped over the person's face fell, revealing a very tired...
Free Will: Pick a character from Konoha to be the player character. I will answer any questions that you might have.
[Kakashi chosen]
Kakashi Hatake sat in bed for a bit, blinking slowly as the hold of sleep slowly eased itself from his mind. He arose from bed after a few minutes, rubbing his uncovered eye to get the sleep out of it. Slow steps were taken as he walked towards the bathroom. A few minutes passed, and he emerged rejuvinated and properly groomed for the day. He walked towards his wardrobe and opened it. He quickly got dressed in the standard Konoha flak jacket. The eyepatch he was wearing to cover his Sharingan eye during sleep was taken off and replaced with his forehead protector worn in a slanted way. He pulled the neck of his shirt up, and it neatly covered the lower half of his face.
He left his apartment and headed towards the outskirts of the village. It was early in the morning, so it was not surprising that he didn't encounter anybody. Eventually he arrived at his destination: the Shinobi Memorial Monument. Engraved on the stone was the name of every shinobi that had been killed in action. Kakashi sat down in front of the stone, his hands resting on his knees, as his eye flicked back and forth between three names: Obito Uchiha, Rin Nashima, and Minato Namikaze. Today was one of his "sentimental days", in which he would stay by the memorial stone for a few hours, thinking about what could have been.
His mind then focused on his father, who's name was not on the stone. It was not often that he mourned his father's loss, but for some reason, today felt fitting. He had idolized his father as a child, but he never really got to tell him how much he loved him. Kakashi closed his eyes as he recalled the traumatic moment in his youth when Sakumo committed seppuku. Sakumo had asked for his son to be his second. Kakashi honored his father's decision, but it was so hard to make the blow to cleave through his father's neck. But he had to... he had to honor his father's wishes so that he could feel redeemed in his death. The event hardened him into the cold young boy that he was until Obito changed him...
Obito... Rin... Minato. None of them really got to fully see how Kakashi changed throughout his life. Obito, of course, had died in the Third Great Shinobi War. But shortly after their successful mission, Minato became the Fourth Hokage, and soon after that the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village. Both Rin and Minato would die in the battle, both of them valiantly sacrificing their lives to protect others, just as Obito had. He owed so much to those three... they completely changed him, and he just wished he could thank them for all they had done for him. He felt a lone tear roll down his cheek as he recalled the memories he could never relive. The memories where he would never be able to say what he always wanted to say to them. They would always be phantoms that haunted his sleep, apparitions that stalked his memories, ghosts that blessed his dreams, and, ultimately, the spirits that both weighed down on him and guided him forward in life.
And Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted as his ears picked up slow footsteps behind him. Something was off about their beat-- it didn't feel like the person behind him was walking naturally. The grass also rustled way more than it should with normal steps... was this person limping? Kakashi stood up and turned around to look at the person approaching him.
Sure enough, he was limping. But what was extremely unusual was the fact that the injured leg was turned around in a way that would normally cause excruciating pain, but this man did not seem to mind. Blood was all over his mouth and flak jacket, and he moaned lowly as his soulless white eyes stared into Kakashi's. The man continued to approach with his limp shuffle, his leg dragging uselessly behind him.
This man is not human anymore, was the concluding thought that Kakashi had. He took a defensive stance and eyed the man a bit more.
"Stop approaching or I will attack!" Kakashi commanded. The strange man did not heed the warning and simply kept approaching with that unnatural limp of his. What would Kakashi do?
A. Warn the man yet again. He obviously seems disoriented... maybe he didn't hear correctly?
B. Well, you did warn him. Spook the man by feigning an attack.
C. Something's definitely wrong here... closely investigate the man.
D. Back down from the man. He's probably just drunk.
He stared at the man, who was now just a few feet from him. The man's teeth were slightly yellowed and bloody, and he reached towards Kakashi. Kakashi took a few steps back. He raised his forehead protector and closed his right eye so he could see better out of the Sharingan. Normally, he would not use the Sharingan for such minute purposes, but he would make an exception to see if what he thought he noticed earlier was true.
Right away, he could see that the man's flow of chakra was nonexistent. This confirmed more than his suspicion that the man was not breathing (which he wasn't), because he could see that the man's chakra had been replaced by... something. He moved the forehead protector back down, suddenly concerned. Just what the hell happened to this man?
A. Warn him again. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems...
B. Warn him, then attack with a ninja tool. Hopefully this guy's actually dead...
C. Attack with a jutsu. This man is no longer alive, and something vile has happened to him.
D. Flee. I've got to tell the others back at the village! But will this man still be here when I return? What if he's dangerous?
"This is your last warning..." Kakashi said, but he knew it was futile to continue to warn the man, who continued to shamble closer to Kakashi. Kakashi decided to take a slight risk and see if his suspicions were correct. He reached into a pouch in his flak jacket and produced a kunai. The metal tool whirled around in his hand before he hurled it at the chest of the approaching man. The man stumbled back slightly from the force of the blow, but he made no signs that he had been injured. A small part of his mind was trying to convince him that the man could be on drugs or something that have made him more tolerable towards pain, but he shut out that voice. The man was dead! And it was trying to attack him... in its own sad, pathetic way. But it was still a threat.
A. Test this creature's endurance using a ninjutsu.
B. I think I know the trick to killing this man... no need to waste chakra; I'll just use another ninja tool.
Kakashi had faced opponents with immunity to pain before, but not on this level. Nor were those enemies dead. But one piece of advice he had picked up during his time as an ANBU always helped him.
When in doubt, go for the head, he mentally recited. He reached into a pouch in his flak jacket and produced another kunai. With a single well-aimed toss, the knife flew into the man's head, causing him to fall limp. Kakashi waited for a moment to see if the man would move again, and, when the man did not, he turned away.
Just as he finished off the man, he heard more sets of footsteps. His eyes dilated as he spun around with fear and surprise. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true: three more people in similar condition to the man were approaching him-- two male Konoha ninja and a civilian woman. All three of them were moaning and shambling towards Kakashi, with blood on their clothing and around their mouths. One of the men had much of his skin around his lower jaw torn off, revealing blood-caked bone. The other man had a large hole in his stomach with a few bits of intestine dangling out of the wound. The woman had a large portion of her neck ripped open, and one of her ears had been torn in half, the two pieces connected only by a small band of flesh. All three had the same eerie white eyes.
What did this mean? Why were there more people in similar condition to the man? Why were they all bloody with various wounds that a living person couldn't possibly endure? Why did they have those white eyes that lacked feeling behind them? There were many possible answers, and none of them seemed good. From what Kakashi could piece together, someone had altered these people to be walking dead somehow, and they were bloodthirsty beasts. Judging by the blood around their mouths and the wounds on their bodies, it seemed that this strange disease or jutsu or whatever was afflicting them was spread through bite. They did not feel pain, and they could only be destroyed if their brains were destroyed. Konoha was likely in danger!
Kakashi swore under his breath as he pulled out three more kunai and swiftly tossed the three weapons at the heads of the new arrivals. They all hit their mark, and the creatures fell down, dead once more. Kakashi placed his hand on his forehead, composing himself and fully recognizing what was happening. This strange plague was most likely endangering the village as he stood there! He needed to protect it! Worry filled him, but he decided not to panic until he observed the condition of the village firsthand. His thoughts were then interrupted by more footsteps nearby.
Not again... he thought in annoyance.
A. Attack the approaching people and put them out of their misery.
B. I'm sick of this... I'll just blast them with a jutsu real quick and then check on the village.
C. Turn and wait before attacking. There's a chance they could be human.
Kakashi turned around, fully expecting to see more of the monsters approaching him. Instead, he saw two of his students running towards him. Kakashi felt relieved that they were okay. He would also most likely learn more about the village's condition, but the fact that they sought him out most likely did not mean good news was going to be given. Kakashi lightly smiled under his mask. It was very fortunate that these two were safe. He just hoped that other people were okay...
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out as he ran up to his teacher and stopped in front of him. He leaned forward and began to pant. Sakura soon was at Naruto's side, and she, too, was catching her breath from running.
"Well, you two are certainly happy to see me," Kakashi said nonchalantly.
"I... uh... of COURSE we are!" Naruto shouted in disbelief at how normal Kakashi was asking.
"Shh..." Kakashi said as he placed a finger up to his masked mouth, "we might attract more."
Sakura noticed the body behind Kakashi. She looked at him with concern and a bit of disgust, "How can you act like this during this crisis?"
"It helps me cope and not feel panicked," explained Kakashi, "which you promptly ruined by saying the word 'crisis.' How bad is it? And do any of you know what this is or how it happened?"
Sakura frowned and stared at the ground. Naruto sighed sadly, and looked at his teacher.
"Pretty bad. I don't know if the whole village is overrun yet, but..." Naruto said.
"Damn! What's going on? What are these things?"
"Zombies..." Naruto said quietly.
"Come again?" Kakashi asked in confusion.
Naruto sighed. He felt like he was going to have to explain this to a lot of people. Why couldn't more people read comic books?
"The walking dead that desire the flesh of the living. They spread their plague through bite. They can't feel pain and can only be killed by destroying their brain," Naruto explained with a hint of exasperation.
"I could definitely tell something was wrong with the ones that approached me. I figured out most of the characteristics of these-- zombies, you say? --by observing that man behind me,” Kakashi said as he motioned towards the body by pointing at it from over his shoulder with his thumb.
"And Akatsuki's behind it," Naruto said, rage welling up in his voice.
"What? Akatsuki!? Why?" Kakashi said in disbelief, "This directly goes against their goal if it endangers your safety, Naruto! Why would they cause something like this?"
"I still don't know. There was one guy I recklessly attacked, and he wouldn't tell me anything. He beat me down and left me for dead, but the Kyuubi healed me. That Akatsuki jackass seemed to know something, but his partner was not present..." Naruto said with shame as he mentally cursed his stupidity for acting so brashly during that situation. Kakashi seemed to tell what Naruto was thinking.
"It's okay... you found out more by confronting him. Although I would not have recommended such an attack if you didn't have a beast inside of you that will protect your life at all costs, if not only to preserve its life. Did you find anything out about his abilities, or anything indicating why he tried to kill you instead of capture you?"
"Yeah... he's a swordsman. He had lots of swords on him. He didn't use any jutsu on me, but he's fast and strong. He also had crazy healing powers. I used my Rasengan on him twice, and he shrugged of the blows like they were nothing! And no, I wondered myself why he didn't capture me," Naruto said.
Kakashi looked downward as he closed his eyes in thought. This was a terrible situation, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do. If these zombies were spread throughout the village, then many people were in danger. He then realized that Sakura had not spoken in quite some time and let Naruto explain the situation, which was quite odd.
"What the matter with Sakura?" he asked quietly as he looked at her.
"Oh... her parents... they..." Naruto said lowly.
"I understand," Kakashi said quietly. He walked over to Sakura and embraced her. She hugged back. She sobbed for a bit into his chest before she composed herself.
Kakashi sighed. No matter how he thought about it, he knew his mind would never prepare him for what he would witness once they entered the village.
"We need to do... something. We can't just stand around here. There are people at stake.
"I say we hunt down those Akatsuki bastards and make them pay!" Naruto growled in anger.
"No..." Sakura muttered quietly, "...we have to save other people from those monsters!"
Kakashi closed his eyes in thought. Both of those plans had merit, but he wasn't sure that they were the wisest decision. He personally believed that they should find the Hokage and go over things with her. They were the only people that knew about Akatsuki's involvement in this attack...
*Important Decision*
A. Go with Naruto's idea. They hold information about whatever made these zombies, and they might have a way of reversing it.
B. Sakura's plan sounds good... after all, a shinobi's duty is to protect their village.
C. Finding Tsunade is crucial. She needs to know this information!
"Before we do anything else, we're going to report this information to Tsunade. It's the wisest thing we can do, because I don't think anybody else knows Akatsuki is involved yet. We need to head to the Administration Building, now!"
"Right!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed as the three began to body flicker towards the building where the Hokage resided.
-----
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were running down a back street that was relatively zombie-free. They had to take several winding lesser-traveled routes on their way to the Administration, which cost them time, but with the benefit of safety. Traveling on the rooftops towards the northern part of the village was difficult due to the differing height of the buildings, so they took to the ground, even if it meant dodging the walking corpses.
The current street was completely empty. Kakashi found this most unusual... every other street they had ran through at least had a few of the walking dead. Was there something wrong with this street, or was he just thinking too much?
A. Halt the team... something's wrong here.
B. I'm just thinking too much. Stopping here will slow us down, and we don't have any time to waste!
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were running down a back street that was relatively zombie-free. They had to take several winding lesser-traveled routes on their way to the Administration, which cost them time, but with the benefit of safety. Traveling on the rooftops towards the northern part of the village was difficult due to the differing height of the buildings.
This current street was completely empty. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, and he held up a hand, signaling Naruto and Sakura to stop as well.
"Why'd we-" Naruto began, but Kakashi hushed him. He pointed to his ear, indicating for the two to listen. The only thing that could be heard was the distant moans of the undead and the screams of their victims. There was nothing near them at all. Kakashi looked around, noticing that this entire street seemed "off." Despite the zombies sweeping through the city, there were no signs of struggle on this street. There was no blood, no dropped possessions... even peering inside the houses showed that there were no visible signs of struggle.
"It's like there were no zombies here at all..." Sakura said quietly, breaking the silence.
"Exactly... which is why I think we've found the perpetrators..." Kakashi said.
"Huh? Why's that?" Naruto asked in confusion as he looked around for people wearing Akatsuki robes.
"If they created these creatures, it would make sense that they could control them, especially if they eat people without discrimination. So it would make sense to make the creatures avoid their base of operations. Plus..." Kakashi explained, then he pointed up at a building they were nearby, "...this building is rather tall. A nice place to observe the village, don't you think?"
"Well, you're good at piecing together little things," spoke a man from a nearby rooftop. The three turned to see a man in an open Akatsuki robe with blue hair and yellow eyes. The several swords on his person made it unmistakable-- this had to be the man that attacked Naruto earlier in the day.
"Why, thank you," Kakashi said with a light smile. The Akatsuki man suddenly unsheathed a sword and leaped down from the building, ready to cut down Kakashi. Naruto roared in anger as he jumped up and slammed his foot against the blue-haired man's face, knocking him off-course and down to the ground.
"Fucking piss-ant," the man cursed as he turned his head to the side and spat out a small glob of blood. He wiped his mouth with his free hand and beckoned for Naruto to charge at him, all which he grinned, showing his wolf-like teeth.
Naruto clenched his fist tightly as he felt the anger boil up inside of him. He was ready to burst forward, and Kakashi realized this. It could be deadly if that boy's temper got out of control...
Kakashi
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Collected
Vote for a letter, number, and symbol.
A. Go on the offensive using Lightning Beast Running Jutsu.
B. Use an offensive earth jutsu.
C. Go on the defensive and form some water clones.
D. Test the enemy by engaging him in close combat.
1. Conserve chakra and keep the Sharingan covered for now.
2. Uncover the Sharingan.
!. Tell Naruto to calm down and control his temper.
?. Say nothing and focus on the battle at hand.
Naruto
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Angry
E. Form shadow clones and have them attack with ninja tools.
F. Form shadow clones to confuse the enemy, eventually striking him with a summoned Fuuma Shuriken.
G. Form shadow clones and have them rush the man with taijutsu.
H. Create a Rasengan and strike the enemy with it.
I. Summon shadow clones and have them scatter in various tactical locations around the battlefield (50% chance of success).
Sakura
Health: Full, Chakra: Full, Temperament: Concerned
J. Go on the offensive with taijutsu.
K. Stay back and wait for an opening.
