Chapter 30
Sasuke was not fond of sharing his past with the others. Usually, he did not have to, given that most everyone within the village already knew about the massacre and the one responsible for it, yet Karin was not from the village.
He could have easily rebuffed her request, yet for some reason he had chosen to tell her the truth with his own words. Even now, years later, it was painful for him to remember the tragedy of that night, and he saw the red-haired girl pale at his tale.
By the end of it, tears were running down her face as she apologized to him again and again.
"I am sorry. I am so sorry," and Sasuke shook his head.
"You don't have any reason to be," and he had never consoled a girl before, and so he was a bit out of his depth as the red-haired girl poured her heart out in front of him.
"I am okay," he reassured her, and she shook her head.
"I did not know that you were carrying such a heavy burden," and then she wiped away her tears.
"So, the reason you are injured so much is because you are pushing yourself too hard to prepare yourself for confronting your br—Itachi Uchiha," and that was the gist of it.
"Yeah," he answered, and then a few seconds passed in silence before something shifted in her expression.
"Then let me help you," and with that she walked forward, uncuffed her sleeve much to his surprise, and placed her wrist in front of his face.
"Bite it...."
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TSUNADE SENJU
Tsunade Senju was worried, and she was not the only one. There had been a consensus within the village that war with the Akatsuki was inevitable. Konoha was perhaps the only nation to know of the organization's true plans, and so it had been easy for them to recognize that the revolutionary group from Ame was a great threat, not just to their village but their entire world.
Yet despite such an understanding, they were not eager for this confrontation, given the sheer might wielded by the group. Most of Akatsuki's workings were shrouded in mystery, and it was difficult for them to gauge the actual strength of the group, but only a fool would dare estimate a group that comprised some of the most dangerous S-ranked shinobi alive.
But the greatest threat within the group was their leader. Pain. The leader of the group was said to possess the same visual doujutsu as the Sage of the Six Paths, and that made him a very troubling opponent.
And to think that this Pain was none other than the scared little boy Jiraiya had saved years ago.
"So, it really is him," Tsunade whispered as she stood beside her teammate on the roof of the T&I building. It had been quite some time since she had seen the white-haired man-child being so serious, and it felt a bit strange seeing him so broken and somber.
"Yes," and as they had suspected, the captured girl had refused to give them anything, and while Konoha had some very skilled shinobi who could extract all the truth out of her, the Godaime Hokage had barred them from using such techniques.
She had met Konan as well, and she had been a part of the trio of kids Jiraiya had saved years ago, and to think that those three innocent souls had grown up to become such dangerous criminals.
Konan of the Akatsuki had not divulged their organization's secrets, but she had told them of its origins, of how they had gathered men with a dream of establishing peace within Amegakure only for tragedy to strike at them.
Danzo's name had come up here once again, and she could not help but curse her sensei for giving that one-eyed bastard so much leeway. But the damage was already done, and now they shall all bear the price for it.
"I wrote my first novel about him," Jiraiya added, with a broken smile, but she could see the effect the revelation had on him.
"I thought that he could be the Hero I always sought, but to think that he became Pain," and he blamed himself for what he had become.
"It's not your fault, you know," Tsunade added, looking towards the stars.
"It sure feels like it," Jiraiya sighed.
"Well, even if it is. Now, it is too late to do anything about it," and they were old now. The world was changing rapidly, and their era was gone. Their duty now was to guide and protect the younger generation and teach them how to make better decisions.
"Yeah," Jiraiya agreed, tiredly, before an ANBU joined them on the roof.
"The Hokage-sama is summoning you," and Tsunade frowned at that.
"We will be there," she answered, and she did not need to know why they were getting such summons. Konoha was on high alert at the moment, in anticipation of an attack.
"Let's go," she added, and a few seconds later they stood in Gojo's office, and the white-haired brat was sitting there with his legs resting on the table.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked angrily, and it enraged her to see him being this nonchalant.
"Enjoying the show," he answered, and before she could tear him a new one, another voice from behind cut in.
"And where exactly is this show happening?" It was Shikaku Nara who spoke up, and she had not noticed when the jounin commander had made his appearance.
"Ame," and her eyes widened at that answer as she finally realized what was going on here.
"What the hell is going on in Ame?" Jiraiya questioned at once.
"Well, it seems like Orochimaru has launched an offensive. He has led armies straight into Amegakure, and now they are facing off against the full might of the Akatsuki," and the entire room was quiet.
"Orochimaru's taking on the Akatsuki?" she confirmed again, and she did not know how she was meant to feel about such a development.
"Well, he is trying to. I must hand it to your teammate. He has managed to do something which even I could not do," and he finally lowered his legs and leaned forward on the desk.
"He has forced the real mastermind behind the Akatsuki to come forward," and now both Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances.
"You are telling me that Pain is not the real leader of the Akatsuki?" and he nodded.
"Indeed, and now the real one has chosen to reveal himself," and she frowned at those words.
"Then who is it?" Tsunade asked, with some trepidation.
"Who is the man behind the Akatsuki?" Gojo shrugged.
"He calls himself Madara Uchiha, but the truth is that he is nothing more than a charlatan. A faker who wears that name just to incite fear in his enemies' hearts," and Jiraiya was the one to cut in now.
"The masked man," he gasped, and Gojo nodded.
"What are we going to do to him then?" Shikaku Nara questioned.
"Oh, you are going to do nothing," Gojo Hatake answered, and his expression shifted as he looked at them all.
"I don't care about Nagato, Yahiko, or even Konan for that matter. I care little for any shinobi at all, but this one. He is mine to kill," he declared, and he was being assertive.
"Why?" she asked.
"He is, but there is no need for you to worry. You won't have to face him," he added as he rose up from the chair.
"You don't have to worry because Pain is coming here," and that set off an alarm within the room.
"WHAT!" Shikaku Nara asked, his voice rising for the first time ever.
"By my estimates, he will reach the village in a few hours," and he was telling them this now.
"But you said that Orochimaru was attacking Ame," and Gojo nodded.
"He is, and while he is strong, your old teammate has underestimated the might of the Akatsuki. I believe he will lose," and that was a very bold declaration to make.
"But I will deal with him later. First, I must deal with Pain," and Tsunade stepped forward.
"We should make preparations," but Gojo raised a hand.
"There is no need for anything of that kind. I will be the one to face him," he declared, leaving no room for an argument, and he looked at her.
"You can't be serious," Jiraiya cut in angrily.
"You may be strong, but we are talking about a shinobi who was able to bring down Hanzo himself. Let us fight with you," Gojo said, unmoved.
"I have made my decision, and you will follow it. I will face Pain on my own, for I am the only one here who stands a chance against him," Gojo declared.
"Until then, the village is in your care," and with that, he walked out of the room, and Tsunade followed after him. She knew how stubborn he was, and how futile it was to try and change his mind.
He walked up to the roof, and she followed after him.
"You don't have to do this alone," she added still.
"I have been training myself for this battle for nine years," he answered her, in a dull tone.
"I am not going to let someone else fight it for me," and so he had made up his mind already.
"Can you win?" and she was not just asking him about Pain now.
"Can you win against them all?" and he turned away from her and looked towards the skies.
"I will have to," and she stood there for an hour, until Gojo suddenly reached for his bandages and began to untie them, and she knew exactly what this meant.
And just as the dark bandages fell to the ground, she noticed a figure descending down from the skies. He wore the red and black cloak of the Akatsuki, and his hair was a dark orange, but the strangest thing about him was those eyes.
They were purple and had dark circles in them, just as she had read in the legends.
Slowly, Gojo's feet lifted off the ground as he rose into the sky.
"I have been waiting for this," Gojo added, and Pain was quick to relent.
"Where is Konan?" he asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Gojo teased.
"You think her presence can protect your feeble village," Pain threatened as he raised his hands.
"You are mistaken," he remarked, and she could feel him gathering a large amount of chakra.
"I have known far greater sorrows than the death of a comrade. Her death will bring me great sorrow, and so let me share my pain with your entire village," and Tsunade felt a chill run down her spine as she heard the man whisper.
"Ninpo:..."
"Gojo!" she screamed, realizing Pain's intention, but he did not need her warning as he raised his own hand.
"Hanten...." and then the two of them unleashed their techniques at the same time.
"...ALMIGHTY PUSH!"
"...AKA!" and the techniques were of a similar nature, and their clash was enough to split the very skies above them, as a storm erupted within the village as Gojo clashed with Pain.
The red force of his technique clashed against the invisible force of Pain's, and the ground underneath her feet cracked up. She saw Gojo's eyes widen, and then in the blink of an eye, the red force overpowered Pain's technique, and the purple-eyed shinobi was sent tumbling through the air, and his body tore through the Hokage faces and cut through a mile of forest before Gojo himself vanished from the air.
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Pain could not believe what was happening. He could not believe that he had just been overpowered by another shinobi, but he should have expected nothing less from the shinobi named Gojo Hatake.
He pushed himself out of the gravel and found himself floating in the air above him once more.
"You speak of Pain," and he raised his hands and brought them together.
"Let me show you a glimpse of mine," and two orbs formed in front of him, a blue and a red.
"Kyoshik..." and they merged into one another, as they formed a purple orb.
"....Murasaki!"
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