Chapter 82: Chapter 82 The Return of the Zombies
Sasori looked at the body before him Normaly he would not refuse himself to making a puppet from someone who he did not end with his own art, but for this one, he'd make an exception. Madara Uchiha, who somehow had both the rinnegan and the Mokuto, how could he pass that up. He took out his tool kit and began to work. His Hiruko and Kazekage bodies helping as well. This one would need special attention, and his Kazekae puppet had more than enough hands to finish this important puppet very quickly. This would be a special puppet, no additions, no traps. None were needed, and with Sasuke sharing the secrets of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasori would have a puppet to be reckoned with. He would have to thank Naruto later for this special gift.
Naruto sat in his office thinking over everything he had come to learn in the coming days. The revelations of the Great Cult, Madara Uchiha having two other blood lines he should not have. His body had yet to arrive for Sasori's puppet making. Already revelations of things showed that things were spiraling towards unknown territory. Something was going on before Madara died, and though he had collected the DNA and determined he died much later than previously thought, by way to many years. He was dead for maybe twenty years, probably less, and that revelation did not tell much.
However there were other problems to deal with. Despite being a somewhat minor threat comparatively, the Akatsuki were quite a thorn in Naruto's side. Word reached him that they were keeping tabs on the tailed beasts. Notably that two new members who were unknowns. Either way, they were rapidly growing as a dangerous force. To the point where a confrontation was coming fast. Naruto got out of his seat to head to the cells below.
On the bright side of things Danzo was sealed and Minato was ready for the word, but it would have to wait for just the right moment. Danzo had something that was needed, the Baku scroll. Perhaps the most important summons given the circumstances. Dream eaters. Once it was obtained he could present the scrolls to the other rookies. Either way there was more to worry about. Namely that in his cells, Naruto had five prisoners to deal with. Kin could handle Zaku, explain the situation to him. But right now, he had to talk to Kabuto. While in his mind Naruto learned quite a bit about the boy. One that could prove interesting.
Naruto sat in front of Kabuto's cell. He flipped the microphone to speak. For a while his eyes were drawn to both the Zero Tails and the Color. Understandable given their nature. Kabuto focused on Naruto, his face betrayed no emotion as he hid it behind a false smile, Naruto could easily change that.
"What do you want", asked Kabuto.
"You know, while I was in your head, I saw a lot of very interesting things Kabuto. All I want to do is ask you a question, one I already know the answer to but I would much rather hear it from you", said Naruto.
"And why would you want to do that", asked Kabuto with a smile.
"You see, I have a bad habit. I manipulate people, sometimes unconsciously. I do not like to do it, but I do, and I am very good at it. But that does not matter, what does is my question", said Naruto.
He moved closer to the wall to look Kabuto in the eye. The grin on his face made it appear as if he was quite interested in whatever Naruto would ask. If he only knew.
"Who are you", asked Naruto.
Kabuto seemed genuanly shocked by the question.
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi..", said Kabuto before he was cut off by Naruto.
"Kabuto Yakushi, war orphan. Raised in Konoha Orphanage. Joined ROOT to become a deep cover agent. Defected to join Orochimaru, later defected Orochimaru after he became a Yig worshiper. Skilled medic, jonin level. Suffers from amnesia after an unkown incident when you were a child. I know all this, but it is does not answer my question. I will ask again, who are you", asked Naruto.
Kabuto said nothing. He opted to instead look at Naruto with feigned confusion, but his eyes betrayed his fear.
"Right there, I cn see it in your eyes. You know the answer to this question, but at the same tie you don't accept it. I will not leave without the answer. Now Who are you"
"Shut up", said Kabuto, with venom.
"Who are you", asked Naruto still showing no emotion himself.
"I said Shut up", said Kabuto.
"And I asked who are you, now answer me", said Naruto.
"Go away, now" said Kabuto as he hit the glass with his fist.
"Absolutely, once you answer the question", said Naruto.
"Leave me alone Naruto, or I swear...", he was cut off again.
"Who are You", asked Naruto just as calmly.
"I don't know", said Kabuto in anger.
Naruto smiled. He got up and walked to the glass looking at Kabuto who stared back with hate filled eyes.
"That is the correct answer. You don't know, you live your life with an identity crisis, you are not alone. Plenty of people have the same problem, and as such you are not special. You are a carbon copy. Whoever you work for becomes you, and because you no longer have Orochimaru you defect to find someone who can acknowledge your existence. Orochimaru did not do that for he began to concentrate solely on Yig, you disappeared into the shadows to find yourself. You took these three to find some way to find out who you are on your own terms, but your crisis makes those terms hazy at best, you need someone to follow, otherwise you are nothing. Thats how you see it anyway. Maybe one day you can put some semblance of a person together in that mind of yours, but maybe not. You fear that maybe you will never figure out just who you are. truth is it doesn't matter", said Naruto.
Kabuto recoiled and sat down on the ground. Still as a statue looking to the floor.
"You are a psychological mess Kabuto. Do you want to know exactly who you are, what we all are", asked Naruto.
Kabuto lifted his head up ever so slightly.
"We are insignificant, we are born, we live, then we die and some so not get the chance to do the first two. The universe does not care we are alive, it does not care we suffer, it doesn't not care about the good or the bad. It does not care what is fair or what is not. It is just there. It is the most uncaring an apathetic thing we live in, and in the end of all things, when there is nothing left, it will die to. And the other universes won't care as well", said Naruto.
He then leaned closer to the microphone.
"But we are still here, we matter to each other, we may be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but we are also the only way for the universe to see itself. Every atom that makes us up was cooked in the heart of a star, and that in and of itself is a miracle. I don't care what the universe thinks, I think humanity is important, sure we are flawed, sure we could all die and nothing would change on a massive scale, but we are still here, we exist simply because life can exist. One day that will not be the case, but until then here we are, and you can be damn sure I am going to do everything in my power to keep it that way. Even you, with all your faults and problems are worth it, because where some see a race of violent half-filled beings who probably will be our own destruction, I see the future when we can evolve pass that to become something so much more", said Naruto.
He flipped the switch to turn off the microphone and walked away. Kabuto did not move from his spot. He sat with his head in his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs.
Sasuke had done it, he was rather proud of himself. Sure it took a week and a half, but he completed the rasengan. And he was impressed. To think something so powerful wasn't even complete. He looked at the tree that had been reduced to splinters before him, and he was proud of himself. He put his hands in his pockets and just looked at it.
"Well you have learned all I can teach you, and you got it fast. Maybe one day you can complete the rasengan, maybe Naruto can. But either way I'm proud of you Sasuke", said Minato.
"Thanks", said Sasuke.
Minato shrugged.
"So what now", asked Minato.
"Not sure, might go and see if Naruto will let me look at his copy of the forbidden scroll, never know when a kinjutsu will come in handy", said Sasuke.
"If you say so, I'm off. You need any help let me know, while I'm still here", said Minato.
"Sure", said Sasuke as he headed off towards the Shinigami.
As he walked Sasuke found the air grew denser. A thick mist slowly poured in the area. Sasuke froze for a moment as the air started to get cold.
"Eight points", spoke a voice in the mist followed by the sound of thunder.
Sasuke froze. He lifted out a kunai and began taking in shallow breaths. Then he heard laughing. The mist began to cler. Standing before him was a VERY messed up Zabuza and Haku who looked like he was made of ice.
"You should have seen the look on your face and the thunder, was a nice touch, helped with the drama, didn't even plan that out, just a happy coincidence. Nice glasses by the way", said Zabuza.
Sasuke did not move, he only stared at the two before him. The two who should be dead. True he knew Naruto resurrected them, true he was told about the reagent, but all logic was thrown through the window at that moment. Zabuza lifted his sword over his shoulder and looked down at Sasuke.
"So where is Naruto, I heard he got some new toys for the coup", said Zabuza.
Sasuke did not move.
"Are you ok Sasuke", asked Haku.
"He's fine", said Naruto who appeared from nowhere in a flash.
"So you got your old mans jutsu down, good. Where is the seal", asked Zabuza.
Naruto pointed to Sasuke.
"It's on Sasuke's shirt. Everyone has them so I can get to them in case of trouble", said Naruto.
Zabuza nodded.
"Ok, makes sense, so you are here now huh well I suppose that after what I heard about you going missing nin was true. What trying to take after your old friend Zabuza"
Naruto chuckled.
"No, just an unseen circumstance, it's being taken care of. So lets go inside, I think when you see what we got you can take the Hidden mist, once we have a new Hokage in place, you can ally with them", said Naruto.
"Sounds good to me", said Zabuza.
"It is good to see you again Naruto-kun", said Haku.
"You to Haku so how have things been", asked Naruto.
Haku began telling Naruto about there adventures since last they met, unknowingly leaving behind a still frozen Sasuke behind. Sasuke shook his head put away his Kunai and left to his room. He had forgotten how strange things get around Naruto.
Naruto stopped so that Zabuza and Haku could admire the village. They were impressed, though slightly at unease by the uninviting alien structures o the buildings.
"So you got yourself a village. Not bad, though you could probably do with different decorations", said Zabuza.
"It serves its purpose. Right now Whirlpool in at the height of technological superiority unseen in the world. A chimera of every single scientific breakthrough in these lands. With salvadged tech from the Land of Snow, the Sky village, the Hidden Mist, and every other village there is. All of it studied and improved to greatness. And considering the clones are copies of me and thus have my skills, including the memories of an S-rank ninja, we are the powerhouse of the elemental nations. I could unite the world without lifting a finger, but that would only breed mistrust and would sacrifice everything I have set out to accomplish against the forces of Cthulhu", said Naruto.
"Well i'm impressed, anyway everything is set for the takeover. Even got a new kage ready to take over, she's a bit on the crazy side of things, but she's one of the best", said Zabuza.
"I can imagine", said Naruto.
He looked up to the sky. Black clouds began to bellow from the sea.
"You know, we have been having a few problems with rain in these parts. Destroys some of out equipment, I got to thinking on how to fix it. My first thought was to implement a massive device similar to the one we found at the Land of snow to keep the weather at a manageable level. We have the schematics, but never actually did anything with them. So I got to thinking about my Chakra type, three elements. Wind, Water, and Lightning. I am attempting to combine them together to create what I call Weather Style. Progress is slow, and the rains still comes. We should get inside", said Naruto.
Deidara followed the mermaid all the way to the shore. He thought he lost it. He got off his whale and left it there. Blowing it up would only scare the creature. He moved around the beach. It was getting dark, and he had yet to find the creature. As far as Deidara was concerned this was a once in life time chance to capture the illusive creature, assuming it was still here. He stopped when he saw the same girl covered in bandages from before staying hidden. Though it was not done particularly well, he spotted her in an instant. He pointed to the girl causing her to flinch.
"Hey you", said Deidara.
The girl hid behind the tree.
"What", she screamed back.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but have you seen a mermaid, un", asked Deidara.
The girl poked her head from behind the tree with a confused look on her eyes.
"Are you serious", said the girl.
"Told you it sounded crazy", said Deidara.
"No I havent, now go away", said the girl.
"Well fuck, if you see it, let me know", said Deidara much to focused on finding the supposed mermaid.
The bandaged girl walked deeper into the forest being sure to stay away from the city. She was stopped by a hand on her arm.
"Isaribi, where have you been", asked a man.
"Amachi, I-I was followed by a man on a clay whale", said Isaribi nervously.
"I see, so you didn't get the gold", asked Amachi.
"I couldn't"
The man glared at the girl.
"I guess you don't want to be cured" said Amachi.
"No, I'll do it, but that man said he was looking for a mermaid", Said Isaribi.
Amachi smiled.
"Is that so, well you just find the newest gold shipments, I'll take care of him. Now go", said Amaci.
Isaribi wasted no time as she ran off. Amachi walked back towards the see when he saw the man search the area before leaping on a clay whale to go back out to sea. He were a full bid suit of armor, it appeared very technologically advanced, Amachi smiled. He could use something like that, after all this man did not seem dangerous. If only he really knew.
Naruto sat with Zabuza and Haku continuing to tell tales since their absence. So far the only shock was finding out Xel had Samehada. Zabuza let it go, though he was somewhat angered by the fact. Kisame was born to use that sword, and he lost it to a fish. Oh the irony.
"So Xel kept the sword, it had proven useful, though drinking to much psionic energy had given it the ability to speak", said Naruto.
"Relly, I always thought it could talk", said Zabuza.
Naruto nodded. It was understandable, considering the nature of the sword.
"I have recently been looking into acquiring the other swords, mostly for study's sake, but I also promised Deidara he would get to use Shibuki", said Naruto.
"Yeah, give an S-rank missing nin with an explosion fetish a sword that uses explosions. You really are insane", said Zabuza.
"Not at all, I just like keeping anyone who is willing to help me happy and powerful, can you think of anyone better than Deidara to use Shibuki", asked Naruto.
"Yeah, I can. But I see the reason for it, I don't like it but I won't stop you. I know this whole fighting squid head thing is important, so about the takeover", said Zabuza.
"Right, we have a few squads of clones to accompany you. We will bring the weaponry with us. I plan on helping any way I can, as such I am sending Sakura and Sasuke with you, I will be going as well. This is much to important for me not to be there. Once there I default to your command, my resources, soldiers, and summons are yours to command", said Naruto.
Zabuza nodded.
"Good, we'll meet up with Mei, she's the one chosen to be the new Mizukage, I'd do it, but I'm kind of dead. I'm pretty sure it would be illegal", said Zabuza.
"I think it is Zabuza-sama", said Haku.
"What about you Haku", asked Naruto.
"I am to take out high profile targets. Our main focus is the Mizukage, Yagura", said Haku her voice with venom at the mention of Yagura.
Naruto nodded.
"Intel says he's the Jinchuriki for the Three tails, which is the main reason I am coming. I want him captured and brought here. The Akatsuki may be a minor threat now, but I want to make sure they stay weak. I'll detain him here in my cells", said Naruto.
"Whatever, I really don't like it, but you have helped more than anything else, besides as long as he gets off the seat I don't care. Taking everything into account, our only problem right now is food, we are running short on money to get much more. And the soldiers Mei and I got are starving", said Zabuza.
"Sasuke emptied out the Uchiha vaults before we left. He has willingly given me control of one third of the funds, leaving a third for himself and another for Sakura. While I cannot speak for them, my funds are yours for this invasion. I will spare no expense. As of now money is not a problem. Even a third of the funds is equivelent to the money an entire great village has, three times over", said Naruto.
"Wow, really generous of the brat", said Zabuza.
"He never was one to flaunt his riches, cares little for it. But thats not important, we will wait until the others arrive to talk on battle plans and transport of the equipment. If all goes well we will suffer minimal casualties, but I have heard whispers of two new members of Akatsuki shadowing Yagura, they could pose a problem", said Naruto.
"Any idea who they are", asked Haku.
"At the moment, no. But we can confirm they are both new. Possibly replacements for Sasori and Deidara. So I'm going to bring Sasori and Herbert along to take care of them. With Sasori's multiple bodies and puppets, and Herberts abilities from Black Kurama, they should prove more than enough", said Naruto.
"Hope you are right", said Haku.
"Don't doubt Sasori, he escaped the Akatsuki with Deidara without harm. He is much better than he normally lets on. And Herbert has the skills of an S-rank ninja and lets not forget he was once my clone, he is just as smart ar me, though a little eccentric. Besides, Sasori has a brand new puppet he has been dying to use", said Naruto with a smirk.
"Forgive my doubt, I am sure that they can handle them", said Haku.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone