NARUTO: LIGHTNING AND ROSES CHAPTER 71 (Patreon)

Chapter 71

JIRAIYA

‘One day, a child will stumble upon these lands, and I shall entrust him with the power of the toads. That child shall mentor the child of prophecy that shall change this world.’

Jiraiya had thought that these words were a great calling. A blessing, for he saw the plight of the world. He shall rescue the world and show the world a better path.

Yet, perhaps in all this, he had forgotten that his life’s story was not of success. No, it had always been one of failure. Maybe, he should never have used the summoning jutsu all those years ago, and the world’s fate would have been different.

It would have been better.

Jiraiya turned his head as he lay in a puddle of crimson red as he looked at the destruction all around him. His heart broke as he saw his village, his home reduced to rubble. The village had been razed to the ground, and he did not even want to think of all the lost lives.

All this for he had failed.

“ROARRR!” there was a riveting roar, and he felt even the ground shake as he saw the chakra-cloaked form of Naruto appear, the seventh tail forming as the Nine tail’s skeletal structure started to form.

Another failure, he thought as he saw Naruto thrash his tails around, causing even more destruction as it howled. He had failed Minato. He had failed Tsuande. And more so, he had failed himself.

He tried to move his arms yet failed even to feel his left one. He looked down and found only a profusely bleeding stump in place of his arm. And he finally noticed the crimson-red puddle forming underneath.

Jiraiya ignored the jolting pain arching through his body as he tried to sit up, trying to do one last thing before his time ended. His whole body protested, refusing to even listen to his commands. Yet he did not relent. He couldn’t.

Jiraiya, the gallant, wasn’t going to finish his tale like this. Never!

“AGHHH!” he screamed, pushing himself, trying to lift himself up, begging his body to listen to him for one last time.

“AGHHHHHH!” blood dripped down his hair, which seemed as if they were Uzumaki red, as he struggled to his feet. His chakra was depleted to its absolute low. Yet he stood up, he stood up, and looked ahead and found Naruto staring straight at him, and yes, it was still Naruto. It was still the bright, stubborn blonde underneath that raging crimson.

He saw those hollow white eyes focus on him as he beseeched the last chakra. The last vestiges of his chakra moved sluggishly through his arm, right into the tenketsu in his arm.

“Naruto!” his voice barely came out, yet he saw those white eyes narrow. A ray of hope!

“Naruto! You have to fight it! You have to get it under control! You have to believe in yourself! You are stronger than that fox! You can beat it!” Jiraiya screamed, collapsing onto his knees again.

Huffing in gulps of air, as he felt his vision darken. Yet he couldn’t allow himself the final respite just yet!

Not yet!

Naruto began to walk toward him, the mouth forming a snarl, and he felt the devastation and destruction that the nine-tails chakra promised. He could hear the blood dripping down his arm. His vision kept on darkening until he could see nothing, except hear the slow prowl of the predator.

Jiraiya felt a smile appear on his face as he felt Naruto getting nearer and nearer. And just as he felt he was in front of him, he thrust forward his hand, yet he found it hit nothing but air. With the last of his chakra gone, he found his consciousness swimming away as he felt himself falling forward.

“Another fai….” yet before he could finish the sentence, he found a very familiar voice as he felt someone suddenly support his body.

“Jiraiya-sensei! Jiraiya-sensei!” he heard Naruto scream, and a part of him thought the voice to be nothing but a dream.

His last dream.

“Jiraiya-sensei! Please wake up Pervy sage! PLEASE!” the voice continued, and Jiraiya tried to reply, yet he couldn’t.

“WE NEED MEDICS HERE ASAP! SHIZUNE, GET HIM STABILISED. WE CAN NOT LOSE HIM!”

Was it the voice of Kakashi? And why did it seem so real?

0000

KAKASHI HATAKE

Kakashi watched as the medics swarmed toward the bleeding form of Jiraiya-sensei. Kakashi found himself staring at the pool of blood below the man as more continued to spill from his stump, coating the ground red.

Yet he had still stood up, despite that. What was he even made of?

Yet he could not linger on these thoughts! Not now!

“Take Jiraiya-sama and Naruto to rescue tent one. Do everything you can to stabilize him. Rest of you, continue the search. We still need to find Tsunade-sama!” Kakashi ordered as the shinobi vanished to carry out their orders.

“Genma, stay!” Kakashi ordered the Tokubetsu jounin, and the man stopped rushing towards him, and Kakashi could see that much like everyone else, Genma was shaken as well. His face was completely pale, and his eyes were haunted.

However, Kakashi also knew that he wasn’t much better in that regard.

“What are the numbers regarding the evacuation?” Kakashi asked. He saw Genma’s face harden as he answered.

“As per the latest information, the evacuation was at seventy percent completion!” and Kakashi’s breath hitched at that number. Thirty percent dead! Thirty!

And the complete destruction of infrastructure as well. This was a disaster! A complete disaster!

“Thank you, you can leave now! Though relay the orders, all administration work is under Asuma-Sarutobi, and there are four rescue tents, each near the four evacuation tunnels!” Kakashi reminded the man, and the man simply nodded.

“Yes, lord commander,” and vanished much like everyone else.

“Kakashi! Kakashi!” he heard his name getting called out, and looked back to find Kato Shizune standing there, taking huge gulps of air! Kakashi frowned as he saw her, for he had ordered her to go with Jiraiya-sama!

“What are you doing here? Did you not hear my orders about treating Lord Jiraiya, Jounin Shizune!” he spoke up, though his Sharingan continued to scan the surrounding for any hint of life.

“Yes! But I have to give you something!” she said, throwing a storage scroll towards him. Kakshi caught it, not knowing about its contents.

“Katsuyu-sama, before she vanished, informed me that lady Tsuande was fighting a reanimated Hanzo the salamander. She continuously let his poisonous fog concentrate in her body to stop its spread! That scroll contains the antidote for it. Use it on her and anyone showing poisoning symptoms!” she finished before jumping away.

Kakashi nodded to the head medic, placed the scroll in his pocket, and continued his search!

“What’s the status of the search for Lady Tsunade? Search squad, have you sighted her yet!” he questioned the Hyuga sitting atop a heap of debris as the man scanned the area with his byakugan.

The man shook his head, “Not yet! There is too much chakra dispersed in the area, and its messing with our range!” the man was about to continue before suddenly a voice came from a side!

“Here! I have found someone! There is someone trapped down here!” came the voice of a shinobi, and Kakashi jumped towards the screaming man.

And Kakashi’s heart dropped as he saw the bloody trail near the heap of debris.

“Are you saying that there is someone under there!” he questioned the man, and the Hyuga nodded.

“Affirmative! Though they seem extremely weak and barely alive, someone is down there, and its most probably a shinobi!” Kakashi nodded as he scanned the collapse with his Sharingan.

“But we have to be careful! If we aren’t careful! They could get crushed underneath there,” Kakashi nodded at this and immediately gave further instructions.

“I need an Earth-style specialist here ASAP! We have a signal down there!” and he saw the movement as his orders were conveyed.

Suddenly he felt the microphone on his flask jacket activate, as the emergency communication network was finally activated!

“Check one. Check two. Konoha emergency comms network, all channels clear! Speak clearly and loudly and in turns! Lord Commander, are there any further instructions!”

And Kakashi finally felt a semblance of hope as this was a big step in restoring the chain of command and communications!

“Yes, acting commander Hatake on line one! I want any latest intel we have on the rest of the five villages ASAP! Give me the last log made regarding this!”

“HQ Copy. Playing the last recorded lo. BEEEP! ‘This is Shinso Ken, rank jounin. Right now, Kirigakure is being attacked by members of the Akatsuki.”

And Kakshi’s heart stilled as he heard the report. The implication was clear that this was a well-coordinated and planned attack.

0000

SHINSO KEN

Pain. Mind-numbing and piercing pain. All over his body. It was all he felt. He felt his mouth wet. Wet with a liquid of metallic taste. He tried to wipe it away, yet his body refused to listen. And he noticed how he couldn’t even feel his arm.

Even breathing was hard, for he felt a weight on one side of his body. He tried to open his eyes and found only crimson-red streaks. There was barely a glimmer of light. He tried to recall his last memory and suddenly remembered the fight. And the destruction. He remembered how the whole village collapsed onto him. Onto them.

He opened his mouth to take in a gulp of air and found himself coughing up blood. He felt a body right on top of him, an exposed shoulder, bleeding and covering him with blood. A bite mark on it.

And his heart almost gave up as he recognized those red locks.

“Karin!” he tried to speak up to receive a response. Yet to his demise, she did not move. He moved his arm, the one he could move, brought it up to her face and found her stone cold. The pulse in her neck, was gone.

“NO! NO, NO!” he coughed under his breath and tried to move, trying to do CPR. Yet he found himself unable to move. He looked down to see his legs stuck under a huge block of concrete.

“DAMN IT!” he shouted as he rubbed her face, his heart thumping beneath the redhead’s very own that had given out.

“KARIN! KARIN! No! NO! You are not dying. You are not leaving me like this! Not like this!” he screamed as he brought his hand to her chest, closings eyes as he roused up his chakra and soon he felt her whole body jerk up as he gave her a shock!

Blood continued to spill from her stump! He saw it and took out his hand, coating it in lightning he brought it up to her shoulder, and the whole area was filled with the smell of burning flesh!

He forgot about his own pain as he lay there continuously trying to get her heart to beat, screaming for help! His reserves dry. His body was broken, yet after the tenth or so try.

He felt it. He felt her heart beat on its own.

But his eyes widened as he saw the concrete slab above them shake, losing its support. He saw the support break. He tried to wriggle away, tried pushing away with his hand. Yet he was stuck. The concrete continued to shake, promising its imminent fall.

“AGHHHHHH!” he screamed as he gave a push with all his strength, trying to get his leg out yet to no avail. He saw the slab crack, and his senses screamed at him to get away. He looked at the pale face of Karin, her pulse still feeble and weak yet present.

One of his arms and legs was stuck under the debris, and he felt his time was up. Yet there was no time to think! Yet he couldn’t let it be! He couldn’t get out! He couldn’t get Karin out! His reserves were empty!

He saw the crack widening, reaching the ends of the slab, and he set his heart on a final push! He dislocated his hip joint, and pain arched through him, reaching levels he had never felt. His mind numbed down as his vision darkened.

“AGHHHHH!”

The sound of concrete creaking and moving, yet he pushed himself up with his arm and pushed himself on top of Karin, trying to shield her from the imminent fall of the concrete.

He finally got a good look at her face. Her face was pale and had blood caked onto it, though his might have been in a similar situation. There was a bite mark on her shoulder, and her hand had been placed near his jaw, making him realize exactly what she had done!

His heart was beating wildly, his mind going numb from Pain. He felt his eyes moisten as he found bloody tears falling on her face, wiping off small streaks of blood.

BOOM! The concrete gave out! Falling on top of him!

He angled his arm to provide support as he readied himself for the upcoming weight!

“AGHHH!” he screamed as a concrete slab fell on his back, his shoulder dug into the ground, and his skin broke.

“AGHHHHH!” he shifted slightly to shift the weight to a side, yet there was another explosion!

BOOM! And he felt the weight increase! His arm gave out as he collapsed on the ground again, only seeing a silhouette of red locks!

“Goodbye, princess!”

BOOOOOOOOOM!
CRASH! BOOOM!

‘Be careful. There is someone down there! Be extremely careful!’

00000

BOOOM! BOOOM!

Is this the end? Or is there more in store for our young Shinso?