Changing Fate Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

The Man Behind The Cloak

"It's you...But, it can't be...!"

Her eyes couldn't widen any further from what she had just seen. The man behind the cloak really took her by surprise. With the strength she had, Nariko focused on the man's feature. The muscular structure on him was abnormal but not to the point of being inhuman and he was tall. He stood at a roughly 179.4 cm and had light gray hair and his bangs framed his face while the rest fell to the small of his back. Below his dark green eyes were visible creases, which in her opinion was a definite sign of aging. She quickly guessed that the man had to be in his early forties or possibly more. He was wearing a gray open jacket with rugged cut sleeves, pants of the same color with white bandages around his legs and gray sandals.

Her lips quivered from the shock and she uttered, "You're...M-Mizuki...!"

This man of all people, one of her parent's past enemies was now a member of the 'Bakudai'? She wasn't expecting this at all and yet...it seems so fitting for this situation.

"Oh ho, so you know who I am." Mizuki laughed. "You're even smarter than I give you credit for!"

"You monster! You're...you're suppose to be in prison!" Nariko growled and she took a step back. "How are you even here right now?!"

"The leader of the Bakudai Syndicate freed me from that horrid jail and took me under his wing. He said he needed someone who would show no mercy to his opponents and I gladly accepted his offer..."

"What's in it for you?!" She said clearly pissed off. "I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't do anything like this if there wasn't something to gain from it!"

"It's simple, Sharingan princess. In exchange for working under him, he will give me the awaited pleasure that I've longed to have from many years ago..."

"And what is that?!"

From what Mizuki has told her, Nariko's anger was reaching a breaking point and wouldn't be take much for her to snap and throw all common sense out the window and try to eradicate him.

"To have the sheer enjoyment...of killing Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine Tails demon!" He answered with malice and hatred. "Your father!"

That was the last and final straw...

"YOU...YOU...YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!" Nariko made an effort to go after him with her raw strength but she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest and her body went taut...

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"Nariko-chan!" yelled Sakura. "Where are you?!"

Naruto, Sakura, Kiba with Akamaru, and Hinata were still traveling in the forest. Jumping from branch to branch, they still haven't reach the borderline to Konoha Forest yet. The good news was that they were making good time; the bad news was that they still couldn't lock onto Nariko's chakra signature.

"Ohh, man. This is bad..." Kiba announced. "This is really bad...If we don't find her soon, Nariko-san is gonna be done for!"

"Hinata, how's everything on you end? Have you been able to find anything?" Asked Sakura, hoping that a bit good news will come from her.

Hinata shook her head. "No, I haven't been able to pick up her chakra, either. Sorry, Sakura-san..."

Naruto sucked his teeth in aggravation. He was getting worried because couldn't pick up her chakra essence or anything for that matter. Wasn't there anything he could do? 'Nariko, please be all right...'

With that set in mind, Naruto doubled his efforts and increased his speed on his running and the others followed his lead and they sped up as well.

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Nariko slumped to her knees and crossed her arms around her chest, coughing up small driplets of blood and taking short breaths. 'What in the...what in the hell is this...?!' The tightness was becoming worse with every breath she took and she was having a hard time breathing properly. "You bastard! What have you done to me?!"

Mizuki's grin turned even more sinister as he dispersed his chakra infused sword. "I see that the paralysis is starting to take effect on you. I focused the technique precisely on your lungs..."

The kunoichi looked up him with fear of what he was saying.

"You won't last no more than ten minutes before you die of suffocation."

"What?!" Nariko gasped.

Mizuki laughed wickedly at her suspense. He was clearly enjoying watching the kunoichi suffer.

"They're only two ways to break this jutsu. The first way is for the target to overcome it by themselves. But that's only possible for someone who has a very strong shinobi spirit or will power. In your case, it almost impossible because of the strength it has on the target's body. The second way...is for the one who cast the technique to die. In other words, unless you kill me, then you'll die..."

Nariko grasped unto her throat and she was now coughing up small droplets of blood on the grassy plain. 'When...when did he do this...?'

Then she remembered her very first encounter with him and it dawned on her. 'When he threw the kunai knife with the explosive note?! It must have had anesthetic serum embedded in that smoke!'

"It seems that you figured it out, Sharingan Princess. So what are you going to do now? Are you really going to let yourself die in such an unsightly way? Death by suffocation won't be a pretty sight for a girl such as yourself..."

"YOU...ASSHOLE!!!" Nariko hollered. She tried to attack him but he caught her by the throat and suspended her up in the air. She tried to wriggle herself free from him however she was not able to do so on account of her lungs began to ache with unbearable pain. The airways in her lungs were starting to close up on her and breathing became even more difficult for her.

"I will say this though, Sharingan Princess. You lasted longer than I thought you would. At least you get the honor of me giving you a death fitting for a shinobi..."

Nariko's Sharingan had receded from her eyes and she tried her hardest not to let out any tears from the grip Mizuki had on her throat. 'I-I can't...get away from him. Damn it...At the rate I'm going...Oh no... I'm losing consciousness...' She felt her eyes becoming heavier by every passing second but she forced herself to keep them opened. 'Am I really gonna die...like this?' Her mind finally admits defeat and she falls into unconsciousness...


Under a red pillar of light, Nariko slowly drifted deeper and deeper into the darkness...'What am I gonna do?! I came so far...just to fail. I know I'm stronger than this!'

"Nariko." A voice called out to her. "Nariko..."

"Who..." She checked her surroundings and she seen nothing but red specks of light. Nariko realized that the voice was that of a man. "Who's...calling me?"

"Just feel it. You have the power within you. It's up to you..."

"Who are you?!" Nariko asked again and she felt something being placed on her shoulder, making her turn around in an instant to see who it was but she easily recognized the man's voice.

"Father?!" She said in disbelief as tears formed in her dark coal eyes. "Is it really you?"

"That can't be all the power that you have, Nariko." Sasuke told her. "The battle is not over yet. Have you really lost faith in your dream to give up on it so easily?"

"My...dream?" Nariko questioned as she backed away, giving herself some space.

"That's right. By making it this far, you relied on your dream and sheer will power alone. I'm proud of you and your sister, Miyuki. Now is not the time to fall in despair. Don't you want to see the world that use to have before the tragedy?"

What kind of question was that? She wouldn't be doing this if she didn't want that. "Of course I do!"

"Then go back there and show that asshole what you're made of, Nariko. You got my blood and Naruto's blood running through your veins, don't you? Why have the power and skill if you won't use it?!"

"Do you...do you really believe I can do it?"

"Yes I do...because, you're an Uchiha and you are mine and Naruto's daughter..." He answered without hesitation as Sasuke's voice gradually disappeared and Nariko's fortitude grew just from her father's brave words of encouragement.

'My father is right...I can do it and it's because...'


'I can't...afford to lose!!!' And she unleashed an ear piercing war cry, demolishing the technique from its endeavor.

Nariko opened one eye and the power behind her Sharingan had been revived from the paralysis. The tomoes in her eyes spun so wildly to the point that it had formed a diamond around the iris of her eyes.

'W-What?! She broke out of my paralysis technique...?!'

With the strength that she has, Nariko raised her right arm and her elbow connects viciously to Mizuki's elbow but he doesn't budge. Determination had set in and she continued her assault on his elbow, while he forged ahead to grip her throat to immobilize her from doing anything else. Nariko carried on with all her might to free herself from his grasp and with one final elbow strike, Mizuki howled in pain from the aggression as she was finally able to get away from him.

Nariko's breathing was returning back to normal as she dashed forward and grabbed him by his arm. She ran as she hauled him along and with her recovered strength, she flung him over her shoulders and she sent him flying into a tree. Mizuki landed back first on the tree, snapping it like a twig and he slowly slid down from it, obtaining several scratches and bruises from the wood's bark and splinters--the first battle damage he has received during the struggle with the kunoichi. Some of the cuts on him had blood seeping through them and the joint in his elbow has been crushed from Nariko's assault and it also suffered several torn ligaments.

Mizuki managed to sit up from the now destroyed tree and growled furiously at the girl in front of him. "How...how did you...break the paralysis I had on you...?!"

She slowly wiped away the blood away from her sealed lips that had stained her chin from earlier. "You just don't get it, do you? It's going to take...a lot more than that...to beat me." Nariko said through labored breaths.

"That still doesn't explain how you diminished my technique I had on you!!!" Mizuki hollered in vexation.

After a while, she finally answered his question. "My dream...and my father is what saved me..."

"Huh?"

"My dream is to be able to save my world and reverse the horrible tragedy that took the lives of many people ten years ago, including my family. My dream is the only thing that I have left in life to strive for...and I truly believe that I can make it a reality if I keep fighting for the sake of others. Of course to people like you and the 'Bakudai' who feeds off the hatred and destruction of others, that is something you can never understand..."

"Heh. You're still going on and on about how you're going save your world from total destruction? You want to continue struggling until you die a slow painful death? You're a fool..."

Nariko slipped her hand inside her dress and pulled out her crystal necklace. "You're right. I maybe a fool...but I'm a fool who doesn't know when to give up."

She forcibly hacked the necklace from around her neck. "But that's not the only thing that's driven me to this point..." The small crystal itself shattered and the chakra from inside it was gradually growing bigger. "My hatred towards the 'Bakudai'...is what made me...the woman I am today."

After much struggling, Mizuki managed to rise up and faced the young girl and he couldn't help but smile a sinister grin at her. "As if you weren't enough trouble as it is..."

The chakra in her hand had stopped growing and she brought close to her chest, slowly slipping inside her body. "You will not leave here unscathed, Mizuki... The only way you will be able to leave from here...is if you die..."

"Naien: Kaihou!"[(内炎:放免Inner Flame: Release)] Nariko formed the sign of the Tiger.  

The extreme high level chakra emitting from Nariko's body caused her clothes to melt away. A warm red light wrapped around her form and her body started to lift up from off the ground. "I suppose I should thank you...because I've been dying to get out of this fucking dress..."

'Shit...what the hell is that?! Is that a ninjutsu? Or a genjutsu?'

Nariko's hair floats up and a long white cloth ties around her head, forming her hair into high ponytail while the Leaf symbol carves itself on the front of her bandana. She lifts her arms up and burning fiery currents forms her new arm guards, fire flows down to her legs to create her new sandals, and fire sparks circulate around her body to form her outfit. After the chakra calms down from his high, Nariko slowly falls back on the ground, landing on her feet.

Mizuki stared at Nariko, completely flabbergasted by her power. 'Her body...she's no longer suffering from her injuries. How can a person like her possess that kind of chakra? Is it the Nine Tails' chakra?!'

Nariko was wearing her white forehead protector like a bandana with her hair in a high ponytail. The bandana ribbon is tied around her ponytail to keep it in place. She is wearing an open white karate, no-sleeves shirt with a raised collar with navy blue lining around the hems that stops at her hips and a light blue belt around her waist. Underneath her white shirt, she wears a tight body suit that navy blue that is also sleeveless that stops to her thighs. She also wears black wrist to above elbow arm guards and knee high shinobi sandals with thigh high stockings. On the back of her shirt is a red swirl and a Uchiha fan combined together as one symbol.

"I'm going to kill you...if it's the last thing I do..." She opened her eyes to revealed to Mizuki her new power and newly awakened dojutsu, the 'Prism Sharingan'...
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* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *


The next special chapter of Changing Fate is:
The Broken Promise


Team Take give it their all during the battle and Miyuki's heart slowly begins to crack...