Naruto: Mind over matter

I raise my palm and [Unseen Push]! At his legs.

He doesn't see the attack and is suddenly unbalanced on the tree, I throw three kunai imbuing one with a [Path] he dodges them and one curves upwards- cutting at Sasuke's binds... I don't need to win. Just to get Sasuke and leave.

I flicker towards Sasuke and grab him as he drops, as we are falling another bone is shot towards us and I [Item Pull] it away from us- we land.

But he lands in front of us too.

He pulls a shoulder bone and runs in to attack- slashing at my legs, probably to immobilize me. [Body Shunt] backwards and I try my best to dodge.

Shit I cant leave if he is like this... should I drop him and fight?

"Dynamic Entry!"

A flash of green enters the battle and gets a hit on the bone man.

"Lee? Your injured are you not!?"

He gives me a thumbs up.

"Hahaha the leaf's proud azure beast has reincarnated! I am here to HELP!"

Did he just get out of surgery? He was still injured when we left....? Shit need to get him out of here too... actually.

I throw Sasuke to Lee and he grabs him.

"Lee! take Sasuke and return to Shikamaru and receive further orders from them!"

He nods and dashes away.

The bone man speaks.

"Haaaa- It seems I will have to go all out. To retrieve my lords gift."

"Yeah well.. fuck you!"

Gods I need to take some improv classes..

I fling two more kunai, each infused with [Item Pull] he dodges them- on the return trip too.

He rips off his shirt and the mark on his chest swirls into a greater image.... a curse mark... like Sasuke.

"If I'm going to die today, might as well do it quick"

He starts to groan and he sprouts a tail and bones pop from his back.

His skin darkens and the markings solidify him into something not human.

Well not human- meet inhuman.

[Manual Operations] [Levitation]

He rushes at an astonishing speed and I [Body Shunt] upwards before gliding up a tree and pushing through the leaves, using my chakra to hover over them.

I hear him mutter something and suddenly the forest of trees is overrun with a forest of bone.

The points of each bone reach me, just above the treeline.

I cant see him any- *swoosh* my Telekinetic sight allows me to see him spawn from the bones around me and I dodge his attack in time.

a series of bone like projectiles shoot out at me from every direction, using [Item Pull], [Body Shunt] and my Telekinetic sight I dodge the fatal ones but receive six impacts. Two on my left thigh. 3 on my torso. And one in my hand.

I look up at the bone man and blood starts to drip from his mouth.

"Lord Oorochimarru was interested in you.... you have an interesting chakra... one that holds conscience... I was interested in the fact that you overcame your illness... I'm afraid to say I have not."

The blood starts flowing heavier and the bone man flings himself at me in a last attempt to kill me- pulling his own spine out and with a flash of speed that I cant dodge pierces my chest with the bone.

Okay- not human beats inhuman. shit..

"You... would of been..... a great alternative vessel...."

He stops moving and freezes entirely. My inhuman face studies my body as it hangs no longer by levitation- but by the Spine that pierced my chest.

Grazed my heart and pierced my lungs. Shit, I thought we talked about this death... we have to stop meeting so often.

I take a breath and it hurts... blood spills from my mouth as I cough up blood.

"I'm sorry I was late... I will make sure you get healed in the Leaf"

Sand......?

My body is pulled from bone as sand packs my wounds, and my body is placed on a sand like floating platform.

It hurts to breath... right manual control. Lets turn off that pain. My emotionless face studies Gaara who is taking me in the direction of Konoha.

"*cough* did *cough* -did you see the rest? How is the mission."

"Shikamaru sent Ino back to get Choji treatment... the Hyuga duo had to be taken for treatment too and Shino took them. Kiba, Naruto, your puppet and Tenten were fine, though Naruto had been enveloped with the tailed beast chakra when I last saw him.... Temari and Kankuro assisted in the quick ending of that fight as I came to get you..."

"Thanks..."

"Thank you... I owe you far more"

Its at this point I relinquish manual control and fall asleep.

---

Pov: rock

...

I separated from the apartment.

A bird picked me up and took me.

I am now in a river.

My priority is to train my sense.

My second priority is to send my knowledge back to my main body when I run out of chakra.

I wanted to be in this rock for a year- not a month.

Unfortunately the separated selves are the only ones who can sense the main body. Not the body sensing the disconnected.

I will not be charged.

I must find a way to gather more chakra to continue priority one.

---

Pov: Riku

Its awkward to wake up on a surgery table mid-operation. But I do [Manual Operations] quickly and maintain my body for surgery.

"Hey lady! Why am I awake mid surgery?"

Tsunade looks at me in shock

"You shouldn't be-"

"Never mind, Almighty sent me his memories for the day and it woke me- Continue sorry. While I'm in manual operations there will be no distinction from before- I will make sure of it... we can chat while you operate though..."

She twitches her eyebrow and sighs before continuing with removing bone shards from my lungs.

"You have a 10% chance at survival with a dedicated operation. You want me to stitch you up and say your goodbyes or continue."

"Continue, in sure you know this but I'm lucky."

"And I'm unlucky... you want to make this bet? Is your luck greater than my unluckiness?"

"If I'm betting against you then certainly. I have a tattoo that states that I've never lost against you, ya' know?"

She sighs and continues in silence before I speak up again.

"Actually... I need to fill a cup if before I die... you wouldn't happen to be in need of a smoke break while I you know... for... I can do it ten-"

"Is there a reason you can talk right now."

"Yep. I'm technically a corpse due to awakening and cutting my chakra from my body so it wont interfere with the operation...so dead again... but I'm currently controlling my vocal cords and lips and tongue... do you always operate alone? I thought doctors had multiple people to work on someone?"

She scoffs from under her mask.

"Members of your recent team needed operating and they needed teams.. I do too but I am much better off than them when operating alone... stop talking trying to focus."

"Can I whistle at least? Hum?"

Her eye twitches again.

"How can you laugh this off. You will die. Ten percent was with a team of dedicated medic-nin. You wont live."

She squeezes her hands tight and continues.

".... no matter what I do your chances are less then 3 %, you were too late returning to the village and even then you suffered from too great of wounds."

I smile.

"Dying isn't that bad... you meet some others and follow them to the afterlife."

"And you know this how?"

"Lady. Your operating on a corpse that is speaking to you. I've died before and I've seen the other side... well never reached the end but..."

"So what. You're just fine with me failing you? You're fine with dying?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

She looks me in the eyes and doesn't see a trace of hesitation. Even if I turned off Manual Operations, that would not change. I Riku have never died, as I'm still here. But what Luke gave me- his memories of it. I think I'm content to go, even if it means just drifting in the void, talking to people and asking for there stories... its odd to have been born with memories of death.. makes one more agreeable to it. No longer an unknown, it is less scary.

"Ill keep the stupid tattoo if you live."

"Hn. You just want an excuse to keep it, admit it I have good taste in tattoos~"

"..."

"And plus ill live. My luck is one thing, but its not my luck against yours. Its my luck and your skills as the best medic in the world- not below anyone- against a few wounds."

"..."

"..."

We sit in silence as she operates on me, shard after shard is removed. She begins to repair my lung with medical Jutsu and I watch as ten minutes pass. I have roughly ten more till my conscience leaves this corpse.

She seals me back up.

*Thump. Thump. Thump*

Her hands press against my chest and she opens my lungs. Getting me to breathe and getting my heart pumping again.

"Thought I was going to die?"

She looks at me solemnly.

"You are. Not enough blood, multiple holes in other parts of your body... too much to fix. And no one to help."

She starts to walk out. Before turning around.

"If you are alive by the time I come back. You will have a greater chance to live... until then any last words you wish to give anyone?"

I bite my lip as I look over my body- she is right. She fixed one injury of many, If I live in time for a team to come fix me my odds are back to ten percent. No with my heart and lungs fixed, at least twenty percent.

"Tell Naruto that he needs to wake up and give Hinata a chance...tell Hinata that she is pretty cool I guess, could be better at painting though-don't ask inside joke.... uhh tell Shikamaru I said hi, maybe tell Sasuke if I can borrow 50 ryo... yeah I got nothing. Tell everyone else I said; Insert personal comment for you here."

She sighs and laughs dryly as she leaves the room. I couldn't be serious for even a moment could I? That's... very unlike Luke... but very Riku of me.

Am I both Riku and Luke if I die? What happens when we are both dead...who gets the soul? Questions ill get an answer too I suppose... just.....have.....to......wait....

No! My body may be going but I will not.

My mind is strong. My body can go and die! But I will put it to work even if it does.

I stubbornly stay awake. My body is sleeping but my mind is not.

Each second feels like agony, the waiting eats at me and I can feel my body wanting to go down.

It will not. My mind wont let it and I can feel it resist.

My ninja way is to die on my own terms, not this!

I AM RIKU.

MIND OVER MATTER.

IT IS NOT A CHOICE  OF BODY BUT A CHOICE OF MIND.

IF I WILL IT.

IT WILL HAPPEN.

I.

WILL.

LIVE.

---

oops. anyway thanks for the reading thing you guys do :)