Shit, meet fan.

-CHAPTER START-

Konohagakure no Sato

The city burned. Civilians fled toward shelters; some didn't make it. Dozens of shinobi and soldiers fought against and, in many cases, died at the hands of the seven invading shinobi or at the claws/fangs of the Rinnegan-possessing summons. Everywhere the seven invaders went, they asked every Leaf shinobi they found one question: where was Naruto Uzumaki?

They were met with the same response every time: "Naruto Uzumaki is a comrade of the Leaf Village. I'm not telling you anything."

Marie snarled as Charon's energy blade locked with the Preta Path's black chakra disruption blade. The Preta Path's energy-absorption ability only worked with chakra, not magic, but it was still a fearsome fighter. She bit back a virulent curse as Charon telepathically informed her that Kakashi's vitals had flat-lined, his chakra at absolute zero. She lashed out with a kick at the tubby body's kneecap, but it jumped away, choosing to sacrifice a chance to harm her in order to avoid damage.

'Where the hell is the Boss when you need her?' Marie thought, remembering how Teana had set out on a solo mission a day and a half earlier and was presently far outside the Leaf Village's boundaries; her attempts to contact Teana had been thwarted, as the enemy had apparently enough knowledge of magic to disrupt telepathy within the village. She checked her cartridge supply: six left.

Marie was preparing to load another three cartridges when the Deva Path appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, directly in front of her.

"Shinra Tensei."

There was a feeling of wind, a horrible crunching sound, and everything went black.

-SCENE BREAK-

In a forest 9 ½ kilometers outside the Leaf Village, a team of four shinobi – a black-haired young man, a spiky-orange-haired "child", a white-haired boy in a violet outfit and carrying a humongous sword, and a red-haired glasses-clad girl, all four in Akatsuki robes – came to a halt in a clearing. In front of them stood a single red-orange-haired girl, clad in a stylized/customized Leaf Village Chūnin uniform.

"So we finally meet face-to-face, Sasuke-kun" she spoke, her blue eyes staring into his grey ones.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, almost-imperceptibly reaching for his sword.

In response, the opened her eyes, and the quartet stared in surprise at the fully-developed Sharingan.

"I am Teana Uchiha-Lanstar, daughter of your father's deceased sister Sayuri Uchiha-Lanstar. I am your cousin, Sasuke. And on behalf of the village of my mother's birth, I'm taking you in – in piece or in pieces."

Mirage Longsword sprang to life, the meter-long orange blade of superheated energy crackling audibly for the first second or so after its activation. Sasuke stared for several seconds, before his Sharingan flared to life and his sword was drawn, crackling with lighting chakra.

"Another traitor to the will of the clan…" he growled, his tone actually frightening Karin a little. He flash-stepped forward, and to his surprise Teana reacted in time, her energy blade blocking his strike with practiced ease, her eyes glaring at him from less than a foot away. Both leapt back and simultaneously performed hand seals and called out:

"Katon: Hōsenka!"

Several small fireballs shot forth at high speed; each one impacted one of the other fighter's, the attacks cancelling each other out completely. They locked eyes, and then charged each other again.

-SCENE BREAK-

Ahsoka, Shizune, Ino, Inoichi, and the ANBU Captain kneeled, panting for breath, tired out by their narrow escape (each of them accompanied by a mini-Katsuyu).

"There are six Pains," Shizune recapped, "each one can only use one type of jutsu. The girl used Kuchiyose. That means that the Pain that Jiraiya-sama killed and sent back to us was resurrected in a different body."

"And there's no mistake…" Inoichi said. "That woman was transported to Amegakure's tower as a corpse."

"Did the woman's corpse have any of these embedded in her?" Shizune held up the chakra-sensitive black rod.

"No. I'm positive that she didn't."

"This proves that Fukasaku-sama was right. Pain has the power to reanimate the dead. Furthermore, he is able to substitute bodies as often as he needs to, and controls them by planting these black chakra receivers."

"Then the six Pains are…" Ino said.

"Corpse puppets" Ahsoka finished.

"And if they have receivers," Shizune continued, "they must also have transmitters."

"So some hidden person is sending chakra signals to manipulate them" Inoichi said.

"Yes. The coded message left to us by Jiraiya-sama… 'The real one is not among them'… perhaps none of the Six Paths of Pain are the real Pain."

"You mean… there's a seventh, controlling them all?"

"Yes."

"And that someone must possess considerable power, and a very large amount of chakra" the ANBU Captain said. "To control this many bodies with this much versatility, using only their chakra.

"It's similar to the Shintenshin no Jutsu of our clan. But normally, one can only manipulate a single person with chakra. There are six Pains. Does this mean there are six people out there… or are they all being controlled by the same extremely powerful person?"

"In any case," Ino said, "if it's like the Shintenshin, he has to be pretty close to the receivers in order to transmit chakra. Otherwise, it would be impossible to pull off the powerful techniques and the fine control we've seen."

"So he's probably hidden somewhere near the Village…" Ahsoka muttered.

"We need to notify Tsunade-sama immediately," Shizune said, "and organize a search party to find the True Pain."

The group suddenly jumped in surprise as one of the Pains landed in the middle of them, its short orange hair spiked out to the side.

'How the hell did we not notice him? !'

There was an explosion as a smoke bomb detonated, and four figures leapt back out of it. They looked up, spotting the Pain atop a nearby roof… with his glowing hand placed on Shizune's head.

"Don't move…" he said, "or this woman gets her head twisted off. …Mount Myōboku…"

"Shit! He's a telepath!"

In the seconds before Human Path ripped Shizune's soul out of her body, killing her instantly, Ahsoka stared at him, feeling that she'd seen him somewhere before. And then it hit her. The images from the records… and from Teana's old photograph.

Ahsoka realized, with horror, that the current Human Path of Pain, standing before her, was the altered, reanimated corpse of Tiida Uchiha-Lanstar.

-SCENE BREAK-

Mai Kitagawa was nearing her breaking point. With her helping to guard Tsunade-sama, she'd had to listen to the reports as good men & women gave their lives in failed attempts to stop the sextet of juggernauts rampaging through the city, methodically attacking and killing soldiers & civilians alike. Then the Deva Path, the head Pain, had shown up on the rooftop with them. After a short but quite hostile conversation, Pain had suddenly, inexplicably gained knowledge of Naruto's location. As he prepared to leave, Tsunade's arguments and well-supported accusations of hypocrisy only serve to make the deranged demigod angry. Mai and one of the ANBU stepped forward as Pain prepared to fly off; Mai's self-restraint was on a razor's edge.

"And now… to vanquish this village; you who do not know pain."

SNAP

"…What did you just say?"

Pain arched an eyebrow as the light-brown-haired girl spoke in a shuddering whisper, as he suddenly felt a positively enormous killing intent radiating from her.

"Did you just imply… that I don't know pain?"

There was a sudden, humongous surge of chakra from Mai, as a dull-red aura surrounded her, taking the shape of a set of curved horns and three tails. He head rose, revealing a look of absolute, terrifying rage; her eyes glowed a dull pink, and her canine teeth had elongated into fangs. The building began to shake from her power, as the stone beneath her cracked and shuddered, a hot wind blowing forth from her position.

'That chakra…' Pain thought, partially shielding his eyes. 'The Hachibi! But how could… a Type-2!'

"You dare to say that I don't understand pain? ! I was born with advanced regeneration, and have spent most of my entire life up to recent as a sex torture slave, being carved up, eviscerated, burnt, dismembered, all while being violated and defiled, with pain and terror all I ever knew! I had to watch as my only friend was killed right before my eyes, and was tied to a post and forced to watch her body rot! I had the only boy I ever loved taken from me, and was ordered to never even think of him again! My unborn child – my baby – was ripped from my torso, raped before my eyes, and stuck in a blender and poured out onto me! ! I was born and raised in Hell! ! DON'T YOU DARE DECREE THAT I DO NOT KNOW PAIN! ! !"

Tsunade and the ANBU had gone pale in horror upon hearing of Mai's past. Pain, to much surprise, wore an expression of equal horror as his own imagination assailed him with absolutely horrid mental images. 'Such horror… even Hanzō would never have… This girl… her pain is greater than my own!'

Any further ruminations were cut short when Mai moved, and her fist was in Pain's face, and Pain was sent flying at well over 150 kilometers per hour, a completely berserk Mai in pursuit, showing a terrible, terrifying rage that no-one could have possibly foreseen. As he recovered his wits, he acted to defend himself, lashing out with a Shinra Tensei; Mai was sent flying by it, but shrugged it off and charged again. Pain used his gravitational abilities to shoot straight up into the air, quickly taking position high above the Village.

Konan, the other five Pains (including the heavily damaged Asura Path), and the Pain Summons disappeared, with the first-mentioned six appearing outside the village. The Pains keeled over, all of Nagato's chakra flowing into Deva Path. He knew that only one thing could stop the young woman's rampaging power, and it would also smite the hypocritical village at the same time. He gathered his power, focusing on the memory of Yahiko's pain.

"Zenryoku… zenkai. …SHINRA TENSEI! ! !"

The titanic shockwave smashed into the village's center like a super-sized Covenant gravity-hammer, having pretty much the same effect as one; the blast wave pulverized rock, stone, and bone wherever it hit, rapidly obliterating every structure in the entire city. The wave of debris smashed into the inside of the city walls, busting down the main gates.

In the midst of a field of debris, Sakura emerged from within a seven-foot-long Katsuyu, gasping for breath. She looked up… and beheld a sight straight out of Armageddon.

"Wh-what… how could this… Naruto… please, hurry… NARUTO! !"

A sudden burst of white smoke in the center of the crater. Three 100-meter-tall toad summons. A 10-foot-tall toad atop the central one. And standing atop him is a blond-haired young man, his orange and black outfit partially covered by a deep red longcoat with black flame pattern along the sleeves and bottom, a large scroll slung across his back, and orange-lidded rectangular-pupiled golden eyes.

The Hero of Konoha returns.

-SCENE BREAK-

"Again, I thank you for this, Lord Kazekage. Though we only have a few more days before we have to leave the planet, I assure you that when our organization eventually returns to this world, this alliance will prove to be a most fruitful-"

"Colonel!"

A messenger ran into the room aboard the Starshot, interrupting the discussion amongst the group. Col. Holland, Zhal, Gaara & his siblings, and the two Sand Village advisors turned to look at the disheveled, panicking man.

"What's wrong, Lieutenant?"

"The Leaf Village, sir! We sent an aerial probe droid to investigate large flares of chakra. The city is under full-scale attack! Multiple military and civilian casualties! It's the Akatsuki's leader and his Second!"

"What? ! Lord Kazekage, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short. We need to provide assistance to the Leaf."

"Not alone" Gaara said. "We and the three platoons of Sand Shinobi currently aboard this vessel will accompany you. You may need my power."

"…Understood. Zhal?"

The white-armored Sangheili nodded, and then contacted his bridge crew. "Gentlemen, we have an emergency. Get us to Konohagakure at flank speed. Raise shields and ready ventral guns. The city is under attack; we are going to try and save it."

"All Starshot personnel below, we have an emergency" broadcasted from the destroyer's external speakers, for the two platoons of Allied soldiers and all Sand shinobi & civilians in the city below to hear."Konoha is under full-scale attack. We are proceeding to the city at maximum safe speed to render immediate assistance; we don't have time to pick you up. The Kazekage has opted to accompany us and lend his abilities to the operation. We will return once the situation has been dealt with."

Above Sunagakure, the 1600-meter vessel's rear engines glowed, and the ship took off at speed, rising to 2,500 feet and soaring across the sky, heading toward the plume of smoke already visible in the distance.

-SCENE BREAK-

Sasuke and Teana's attacks were a whirl of blades, clashing with one another at insane speed. They broke apart, Sasuke panting for breath. He still hadn't fully recovered from fighting – in short duration from each other – Deidara, Itachi, and Killer-Bee, and thus the girl actually had the upper hand. Barely. Teana's four Shadow Clones stood guard, ensuring that the other three members of Team Hawk did not interfere.

Finally fed up with this shit, Sasuke closed his eyes and began focusing his chakra… and so did Teana.

"Amaterasu!"

Two bursts of black flame sprung to life in midair between the two, consuming each other and winking out of existence. Sasuke stared in shock at the red-haired girl's active three-ripple-pattern Mangekyō Sharingan, which stared at his own atom-looking Mangekyō (well, Sasuke knew enough about physics to understand that atoms didn't really look like three electron orbit-circles around a central nucleus like cartoons showed them, but…).

"So much for that…" he said, returning his eyes to normal Sharingan, as Teana did likewise. He knew that she wouldn't give him a chance to try that again, just as he knew that she knew that he wouldn't give her a chance to use her own Mangekyō to strike a decisive blow, either. Back to swordplay and Katon techniques, then.

Teana made a sequence of hand-signs, preparing the combo that Asuma had taught her.

"Katon: Hibashiri!"

A line of flame sprang up between her and him, forming a foot-thick wall 10 feet high of fire.

"Fūton: Senpūken!"

She reared back and then punched forward, firing a concentrated vortex of wind from her fist that shot through the flame wall, carrying the fire and becoming a spinning high-speed focused vortex of piercing wind and blazing flame spiraling toward Sasuke. He barely got out of the way, his Akatsuki robe being singed; he used his sword to quickly slice off the burning edge of his left sleeve before the flames could reach his flesh.

The two charged each other, and again their blades clashed.

-SCENE BREAK-

Four Paths of Pain lay dead. The Asura Path, busted open by a Rasengan. The Human Path, reduced to the top of a skull with a few clumps of hair still clinging to it. The Animal Path and the Naraku Path, both taken down by a Rasenrengan each. But now, Naruto lay on the ground, multiple black rods pinning him to the ground. Near him stood Deva Path and the injured but alive Preta Path. Fukasaku lay dead, and Shima was heavily wounded. The three Great Toads – Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro – were out of commission.

And now, Hinata stood between Naruto and Deva.

"I used to always cry and give up... I made many wrong turns... But you... You helped me find the right path... I always chased after you... I wanted to catch up to you... I wanted to walk beside you all the time... I just wanted to be with you... You changed me! Your smile is what saved me! That is why I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because... Naruto… I love you..."

She immediately dropped low and lashed out behind her, using a kick to destroy one of the piercing rods. Deva fired a bolt of compressed air, which struck Hinata… who disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Kage Bunshin?' Naruto recognized. 'When did Hinata learn that? Did Kakashi-sensei teach her?'

Suddenly, a pair of hands shot up from the ground directly underneath Deva, grabbing hold of his ankles and yanking him down, leaving him buried neck-deep in solid rock.

"So I hear you can only absorb ninjutsu…" Hinata's voice came from behind Preta. It spun around to see Hinata, her fingertips glowing. "Hakke…"

The attacks struck home, forcing Preta to wince and flinch as the foreign chakra attacked its innards. "Ni Shō!"

Two more hits connected, and then four more. "Yon Shō! Ha Shō!"

Hinata's attacks increased in speed, dealing more damage to Preta's chakra network with each strike. "Jūroku Shō! Sanjūni Shō!"

Her attacks were now like machinegun fire, hammering Preta's systems as she finished the technique.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō! !"

The final blow did massive damage to Preta's body, disabling its absorption ability, and leaving it open to the coming strike. Naruto stared in awe as Hinata formed the technique she'd convinced Jiraiya-sama to teach her before his final mission, and then dashed forward and slammed it home.

"Rasengan!"

The sphere of violent chakra slammed into the base of Preta's neck, and a few seconds later detonated, blowing away the body's neck, chest, and most of its head. The disturbingly-bloodless remains were sent flying back, skidding to a stop about a dozen meters away. At this point, Deva broke free of the Shinchū Zanshū no Jutsu, a surge of gravity energy blasting him free and leaving him hovering about a foot off the ground, glaring menacingly at Hinata.

She was low on chakra, having used quite a bit in fending off several enemy summons; she chose not to spend the rest of her reserves on more Shadow Clones, instead lashing out and destroying another of the black rods pinning Naruto… and getting Shinra Tensei'd several meters away for her troubles. She struggled to her feet, and concentrated chakra into her hands, forming two lion-heads.

"Jūho: Sōshiken!"

She charged him, fists blazing, and Deva had to resort to bobbing & weaving to avoid the snapping jaws of chakra, any of which he recognized could do significant damage with even a single hit. Eventually, a brief lapse in control from Nagato allowed Hinata to land a blow, stunning Deva. She took the chance, snapping out and destroying two more of the black rods pinning Naruto.

"Just two more!"

Unfortunately, Deva regained himself, smashing her with a high-strength Shinra Tensei, rocketing her into the air to land with a thud several seconds later. Several seconds after that, she struggled back to consciousness, hearing Naruto's panicked voice calling her name. She struggled to her feet, limping slowly closer to Naruto. She collapsed a few meters from him, and crawled the rest of the way, pulling herself close to him.

"I don't understand" Pain murmured. "Why would someone as weak as you try to resist? Why fight me… knowing that you'll die?"

"…I stand by what I say. That… is my nindo…"

She leaned down close to Naruto, and kissed him. The burst of gravity flung her into the air and then slammed her hard into the ground. A black blade extended from Deva's sleeve and was driven through her heart, and Naruto felt as Hinata's waning life force abruptly disappeared entirely.

"It was just like this…" Pain spoke, "when my parents were murdered before my eyes… by Konoha shinobi. Love breeds sacrifice, which in turn gives birth to hatred. And from that, we are able to know pain."

Pain stared into Naruto's eyes, noticing as they turned pure, glowing red, and the killing intent became so thick and powerful as to be physically palpable in the air.

"Yes. Know pain."

There was a tremendous bang, as a sphere of dark-red and black enveloped Naruto, a pillar of black light shooting up into the heavens, parting the clouds as a daemonic chakra was felt across the entire area.

"Embrace your hatred! Embrace your pain!"

From within the sphere, there was an unholy roar.

After several seconds, Pain leapt away a few dozen meters as the sphere shattered. The thing that emerged was vaguely human-shaped, its entire body an every-changing mixture of deep-red and black energy; its face was a black mask, its eyes glowing circles of white above a similarly-glowing jagged-toothed maw. A pair of vulpine humerus bones ran from the shoulders to the elbows, a small plate of bone sat just above the forehead, and five long tails swung about.

The daemon spotted Pain, and swung its arm in a curve, sending a small tornado at the orange-haired figure. Pain cast a pulse of gravitic energy that dispelled the deadly whirlwind effortlessly. The Five-Tailed Form raised its arms, and huge chunks of rock and old tree-root burst up from the ground. It roared, and a fusillade of various stones of various sizes flew at Pain, who silently sliced several out of the way with his bare hands while dodging the rest. A huge chunk of stone, easily 20 feet tall, smashed into him, knocking him back. He burst free, only to be sent flying by a burning punch to the face. He turned his uncontrolled flight into a back-flipping spin, regaining control and landing atop a huge platform of stone suspended by old roots. Two gigantic red-and-black hands grabbed hold of the platform and ripped free a huge piece of it. Pain jumped down to the ground, only for the impromptu weapon to hammer-smash him, shattering on impact and burying him beneath stone and dust. After several seconds, he pulled himself free from the rubble, glaring at the daemon.

"Your hatred is strong…"

He leapt free, landing on a low boulder nearby.

"Now… do you still think that people can understand each other?"

Lightning cracked as the sky overhead clouded, and the 5-Tailed Form's body began to glow with power. The small amount of bone on its arms rapidly grew to form a complete set of fox's skeletal forelimbs. A spine emerged from the back, and a fox's skull emerged to cover the head. A sixth tail sprang into existence, and the skull's jaws opened to reveal the daemon's face.

"Your actions are justified" he spoke calmly. "But know this: my pain…"

His voice rose slightly, becoming what – for him – was a yell. "…is greater than yours! Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!"

From seemingly everywhere and nowhere, a massive volume of water sprang into existence, quickly forming a lake. Pain charged the 6-Tails at high speed, his feet almost-gracefully propelling him forward in sliding movements akin to ice-skating. From the mists came several arms of red-and-black chakra, and Pain had to quickly alter course as they pursued him, 'skating' around a large boulder and narrowly avoiding being sliced in half by the arms' swipes. One of the appendages shattered the nearby boulder, the force propelling Pain onto another one, where he went prone and cast a potent shield spell, just in time to deflect a massive barrage of explosive bolts of fire/plasma chakra.

"Hmph. Is that all?" he taunted, a slight smirk on his face. In response, a larger bolt flew in, shattering the shield and sending Pain flying backward. Pain quickly got back to his feet. "Not bad."

"This dark chakra…" Sakura said, standing on the outer edge of Konoha Crater. "I've felt it before… What's going on?" she asked the Hyūga next to her, who peered closer with his Byakugan.

"Hinata-sama went out in an attempt to save Naruto-kun. She destroyed the Preta Path, but…"

"Don't tell me…"

Out in the battlefield, Pain launched a pair of slicing wind waves, severing the petrified roots holding up the huge slab of rock that 6-Tails stood under, causing the rock to fall on top of it with a mighty splash. After a few seconds, the daemon burst up from the rock, entangled in roots. Pain conjured a black blade and threw it as a spear, nicking the daemon's arm; in response, the 6-Tails blasted its immediate surroundings with flame, melting rock and sending burning bits of old wood into the shallow water.

Suddenly, a vibrant light-green light emerged from the daemon's chest, forming a very long tendril that wrapped around the daemon several times. With difficulty, the daemon reached inside its own chest and pulled free the blindingly-bright crystal that was supplying the restraining tendrils.

"A fuinjutsu… set by someone else to restrain the Fox's chakra, using the stored chakra of the First Hokage…"

With a squeeze of the palm, the crystal was shattered, and the glowing green tendrils rapidly faded into nothingness.

"…He broke the seal? …Such strength of hatred to triumph over the Shodai's power…"

The Six-Tailed Yōko slowly descended down the rock face, standing at rest atop the water's surface, the water in direct contact with it boiling and becoming steam. It stepped forward slowly… and then vanished, moving too fast for the human eye to perceive. After a second of searching, Pain spotted, from his right, the red being riding a pillar of boiling water, approaching him at speed. The newborn lake they fought in became turbulent, the boulder Pain stood atop being jostled about as it floated on the waves. From the waves, two extending red arms shot forth, and Pain blocked their glancing blows. In response, they split the rock he stood upon, sending him below the waves.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Pain stood on the rocky surface, palms pressed together in a praying position, the 10-foot-deep water swirling around him and yet leaving him untouched, like the eye of a hurricane. From within the water came one of the daemon's arms, clamping onto his face. Four tails emerged from the ground as anchors, and the daemon pulled itself free, right in front of Pain, its other arm grasping hold. He rose his clasped hands and pushed apart, breaking the thing's hold on his head, and then lashed out with a left jab, hitting it in the face. In response, it reared back and then roared… and the force of gravity reversed.

'Impossible! He's not only withstanding my Shinra Tensei, he's hitting me with it!'

There was the familiar pulsing sound of a Shinra Tensei except lower in pitch, and Pain was sent flying back at incredibly speed, skipping across the water like a thrown stone. He bounced across the rocks and smashed into a cliff-face, disappearing in the cascade of rock and dust kicked up by impact. The Six-Tails leisurely began to swim toward him, the top of its head and the skull atop it cutting through the water like a shark's dorsal fin.

It reached the edge of the water and began to gather yin and yang chakra, forming a dark violet sphere in front of its face. A pair of hands broke free from the rubble and clasped, and a huge chunk of the cliff face broke loose. The hands' owner followed.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

The huge slab of rock flew high into the air and then came crashing down directly on top of the daemon. The gathered energy shot out and then detonated violently outside the village, creating an absolutely tremendous explosion that rocked the just-arrived Starshot, sending it "drifting" about 100 meters.

"What the hell was that?"

An injured UNSC marine sat near the group of Shiho, Ino, Shikaku, Ahsoka, Inoichi, Shikamaru, and Shizune's body. Nearby, Shion, her arm bandaged, watched over the unconscious Kaede and Mai. About 50 meters away, Sakura, Gamakichi, and the Hyūga member beheld the distant devastation.

"What's Naruto's status?" Sakura asked the white-eyed man.

"Six Tails! If he goes too much farther, the Kyūbi may be unleashed!"

"…Katsuyu-sama! Please tell everyone to evacuate immediately!"

"Now what?" Shiho muttered. "The Leaf Village has been completely obliterated…"

"You must all evacuate as quickly as you can!" the three-foot-long Katsuyu suddenly announced. "Naruto-kun has lost control of the Kyūbi; I know this because another of my clones is still attached to him."

"But… Yamato and Kakashi should have placed a seal on him! How did this happen?"

"Hinata-san. She tried to save him… and was murdered right in front of him."

"And Naruto's rage triggered the transformation" Shikamaru finished.

"Where the hell is Yamato? ! What could he be doing at a time like this?"

A Pelican dropship descended, dropping off several UNSC soldiers and medics, the latter of which tended to the wounded in the group. Colonel Holland walked up to Shikaku.

"What's going on, Lieutenant-Colonel?" he asked.

"Hinata was executed by Pain, and Naruto went into his Six-Tailed transformation out of rage. Teana is still MIA; my long-range scout Bunshin indicates she has engaged Sasuke Uchiha in battle approximately 9.5 kilometers southwest of the village; neither of them have yet noticed what's happening over here, and communications are disrupted."

"Damn it… worse than I thought…"

Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō emerged from the dropship.

"I will start trying to locate more survivors and gather them here" Gaara said, heading off to do so, with his siblings splitting up to do it in other locations.

After spotting the downed Mai and Kaede and the injured Shion and Ahsoka, Col. Holland pulled up the TEAMBIO signs for Gamma Team. Five of the signals beat strong, showing life.

But the sixth was completely flat-lined.

"No…"

Pain burst free from the rubble, jumping back; his cloak was tattered, his unnaturally pale chest partially exposed. Tendrils of red and black energy swirled around the boulder, gripping it.

"The Kyūbi's power… magnificent…"

The daemon struggled to pull itself free from underneath the boulder, and the tendrils then crushed the rock as Pain turned and fled. From the splash of water came a column of fire, which flew through the air, chasing the fleeing Akatsuki Leader.

"Naruto and Pain are both leaving the village!" the Hyūga with Sakura reported. "It seems that Pain is fleeing!"

Gamakichi laughed. "Serves the bastard right!"

"This is no time to be so light-hearted!" Sakura snapped. "We need to get to Hinata, see if there's anything that can be done… and then do something about Naruto. The way he is now, he'll attack anyone and everyone in sight."

Pain slid through the canyon, his feet hovering ¾ of an inch off the ground on a cushion of anti-gravity as he moved at high speed, pursued by a living, serpentine column of flame with the Six-Tails at its head. Trees ignited and rocks glowed with heat as Daemon-Naruto passed by them, with the few he burst directly through being reduced to ashes. The chaser and prey broke through the rocks, zooming through the forest. Eventually, Pain evaded his pursuer, coming to a stop atop a fallen log over a stream.

"I've brought Deva close enough…"

Deva Pain walked into a hollowed-out dead tree, clasping his hands together.

"Chibaku Tensei…"

"You don't have to go that far" Konan said. "Your body can't take much more…"

"Silence, please, Konan" Nagato replied. "I need focus."

Between Pain's hands formed a black sphere. He stuck his hand out through a hole in the tree, and the sphere shot off into the sky. A pair of plasma blasts flew in, destroying the tree, but Pain leapt free, hands still pressed together. The sphere took position, and its gravitational pull began in earnest. Huge chunks of rock, bigger in size with each passing second, began to rise from the ground, piling up atop the sphere and increasing its pull. The daemon charged, only for Pain to lash out with a focused Shinra Tensei, trapping it in a small sphere of rock. A plasma beam-bolt shot forth from the rock-sphere, only to be deflected back by Pain's black blade, stunning the beast and allowing the rock it stood upon to be grabbed by the Chibaku Tensei, rising into the air.

Pain grunted with exertion, pouring more power in, and entire mountains began to crumble and rise. Daemon-Naruto fired several shots down at Pain, but a Doton: Doryūheki sprang up to protect the gravity jutsu's caster. Soon, the Chibaku Tensei had formed a gigantic sphere of rock floating in the sky, easily 100 meters across. The daemon fired several shots at it, and some of the rock melted, but the technique held, and the daemon was pulled ever closer to it. Several huge chunks of rock broke apart, and as the Six-Tails made contact with the sphere it was hammered deep into it by a barrage of massive, high-speed boulders. Seconds later, the sphere was finally complete.

Nagato slumped forward, wheezing, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

"Why did you push yourself to make it that huge?" Konan asked, staring in awe.

"My opponent is the Kyūbi. I cannot ease up. The Rikudo Sennin is said to have created the Moon; this construct of mine is but a pebble in comparison. In any case… I have not captured the Kyūbi…"

-SCENE BREAK-

The fight stopped as the humongous flares of chakra became too much for even Sasuke and Teana to not notice. They both leapt atop neighboring trees, using their Mangekyō telescopic sight to zoom in… and gasped in shock at the huge sphere of rock hovering near Konoha… and then in horror as the titanic, skinless eight-tailed fox daemon burst partially free from it.

"…Naruto-kun's lost control!" Teana gasped, before booting up her comm. "Shion, can you hear me? …Shion? …Ahsoka? …Anybody? !"

She turned to Sasuke. "Sorry, but our business is postponed for now."

Before Sasuke could react, Teana shot off toward the Village as fast as she could, pouring chakra into her legs to boost her speed further, and leaving Sasuke in the dust.

'That chakra…' he thought. 'That creature… The Kyūbi… Naruto's lost control of it! If he sprouts one more tail, this entire continent's population is fucked!'

-END CHAPTER-

Final Chapter coming up.