Hokage no Isan: Hi no Ishi Chapter 5, a Flame of Recca + Naruto Crossover fanfic

And so Akatsuki begin to stall for time. Sadly, I won't be deviating much from Gai's fight, as quite frankly the Bizarre Beast had things well enough in hand.

Gai: WHAT?! BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DISPLAY MY BURNING YOUTH IF I CAN'T-?!

Kyuga: (Hits mute button, Gai continues to rant silently) The Itachi fight has been altered though, and expect a surprise twist or three in the telling.

Chiyo: Call me old will ya?!

CRACK

Kakashi: SPINE!

Itachi: We're supposed to be on now you know...

Demon Shark; Shadow Moon

'What in the hell?' Neji wondered, eyeing the figure before him warily with his Byakugan active, the prodigy nearly wincing from the sheer amount of raw chakra the man before them seemed to possess 'What IS this guy?!'

"Neji?" Lee asked, the gai-clone turning to regard his rival and teammate with concern as the Hyuuga seemed to take a step back from their foe, something he'd never done before "What can you see?"

"This guy has an enormous amount of chakra," the Hyuuga muttered, actually taking the slightest of steps backwards "I've never seen anyone with this much chakra since Naruto."

If any words could've had a sobering effect on the team, it would've been those. Everyone on Team Guy knew that Naruto was in a class of his own when it came to chakra reserves and stamina, even Kakashi admitted that, at his peak, the teen would outstrip ANY of the currently existing Jounin combined. To be facing an opponent that possessed a similar, if not identical, level of chakra at their disposal, was NOT a situation you wanted to be caught in, especially on a rescue mission.

"So this…" Lee noted, shifting backwards slightly as he kept his eyes on the shark-man's frame "is the Akatsuki we were warned of."

At that, the figure abruptly hurled his weapon in the air, the group backing off slightly, not willing to fall for such a blatant distraction, only to curse as they realized he'd played them, watching in trepidation as he clapped his hands together.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" Kisame called out, reeling back as his cheeks swelled outwards, only to spew out a massive torrent of water onto the valley floor, instantly flooding the area and riding the wave as it bore down on the Konoha shinobi, catching Samehada out of mid-air.

"Here I come!" the shark-man called out in twisted, sing-song manner, his shark-leer showing all his teeth as he bore down on team-guy atop the raging waters, grinning manically as their leader, the one he was searching for, into the air, providing a perfect target for the Kirigakure no Kiishin to exploit. "Miss me?" he cackled, leaping off the tidal wave to hover in the air right in front of Gai, who gaped at him in alarm as Samehada swung round towards the man's unprotected flank.

"KONOHA SHOFUU!" a voice called out, followed by a younger clone of the Bizarre Beast to come completely out of left field, kicking the daitou out of its wielder's hand, following it up with a kick to the ribs that would've damaged more than a few ribs had Kisame not blocked with his arm.

'Dammit!' the swordsman cursed, glaring at the younger version of his opponent in annoyance, swatting him out of the air only for the Hyuuga on the team to return the favor with some sort long-range Jyuken strike that fortunately knocked him in the general direction of Samehada, as the kunoichi on the team was quick to hurl several spiked, explosive nasties his way. 'These brats are annoying.' The Akatsuki growled as he lurked beneath the water's surface, watching the pyrotechnics die down, along with his water clone, rising again once the smoke had cleared, his weapon held at the ready.

"Suiton ninjutsu…and that great-sword…!" Gai called out, his face set in a look of serious recollection as his students scattered about to make it harder for them to be picked off, their guards up and their eyes focused.

"So…" Kisame chortled, walking towards the man with a smirk, Samehada trailing water as he dragged it from the lake, lettingit rest over his shoulder menacingly "You finally figured it out did you?"

"I do have the feeling we've met before…" Gai replied, still as clueless as ever, prompting exasperated scowls from his students, with the exception of Lee of course, and a look from Kisame that practically screamed 'WTF?!'.

"…You're really starting to piss me off…" the shark man muttered, stabbing the tip of his weapon into the water as he spoke "Looks like I gotta bash you around a bit more to get the blood pumping in that thick skull of yours.

That said, he lunged forwards once again, trailing Samehada behind him in a way that produced threatening waves in it's wake, even as Team Gai rushed forwards to meet him.

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"Yo...Kaka-sensei…" Naruto called out, looking over at the cycloptic jounin as she matched his pace easily as they leapt through the trees "Why'd those bastards wait so long before going after the jinchuuriki?"

Kakashi shrugged, a little curious as to that scenario himself. It wasn't like Itachi to just give up in something half-way, he'd known the psychotic little bastard from the time he'd been drum-rolled into ANBU training in his teens, hell he'd been the man's superior before he'd retired to become an active jounin, during which time the prodigy had virtually torn apart his exemplary records to date, with the exception of tardiness.

If anything, Itachi had a habit of showing up for a mission BEFORE his superiors thought to summon him. He was just that good.

"Most likely it's because Jiraiya-sama was with you at all times." Kakashi reminded the redhead, shaking his thoughts back to reality "Though that doesn't explain why they didn't grab the remaining eight in the meanwhile."

"They needed time to prepare." Chiyo supplied, leaping alongside the jounin, much to his ire "The extraction process is a complicated, time-consuming ordeal that would require several Jounin class shinobi to carry out at the very least." She frowned, "Take into account the fact these are Nukenin we're talking about, then it's doubtless they needed time to not only amass resources, but to ensure the extraction sites are secure."

"So basically they were being cautious." Rekka muttered, a frown on his face as he matched paces with the others, just behind Kakashi, but well within reach should Chiyo decide to pull a Hibiki and attack the cyclops again "Man, I hate it when the enemy has time to think things through…"

"My sentiments exactly." Kakashi agreed, eye-smiling at his hot-headed student over his shoulder, though he kept a careful watch on Chiyo as he did so "Though at the very least, it bought us time of our own to prepare."

"Hell yeah!" Recca cheered, his smirk stretching his features tight as he somersaulted through the trees like the demented, pyrotechnical monkey he was "We trained our assess of while you were gone Naruto, you won't believe how much we've changed!"

"You say something Aniki?" Naruto queried, her voice sugar-sweet as she mimicked Kakashi's trademark put-down flawlessly, causing Recca to lose his footing, the enjutsu-shi nearly plowing into a branch from the shock.

'They grow up so fast…' Kakashi sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye as he suppressed the urge to laugh, his facemask hiding his proud smile 'Ah how the years fly…'

So caught up in the moment was he, the copy-nin didn't feel the foreboding chakra until it was virtually on top of them. "Crap! Everyone stop!" he yelled, his lazy-demeanor dropping entirely as he led them to a clearing, his eye narrowing at the figure barring their path, the shadows of the trees doing nothing to hide the red clouds that adorned his cloak, nor the burning intensity of his sharingan.

"Those eyes…" Chiyo muttered, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, her air of genial senility replaced with the wariness of a shinobi that has lived to a ripe old age "To think I'd be facing one of them at my age…"

"It's been a long time…" the apparition voiced, the shifting clouds revealing the lines on his impassive face "Hatake Kakashi."

"Uchiha…Itachi!" Naruto snarled, her hand instantly going for her sword as she recalled the last encounter with Sasuke's hated older brother, pupils slitting as she looked around warily for his partner, the creepy shark-guy with the dismembering fetish. Recca sidled closer to his Outoto, several gunpowder balls already between his fingers, one of his hands raised in preparation as he glared spitfire at their opponent.

"Itachi…?" Chiyo repeated, leveling a calculative glare at the patricidal Uchiha with her beady eyes, "Hoh…so this is the one that wiped out his own clan." she noted, with something that sounded like approval in her tone.

"You seem to be doing well, Kakashi-san." Itachi noted, his eyes trailing from the jounin to Recca "And you're that youth from before…the Katon user…"

Recca merely glowered, tightening his stance as he fought the urge to look into his opponent's eyes. He hadn't forgotten the training he and the rest of team 7 had undergone to combat sharingan users over the last two and a half years, if anything he and Domon had intensified it, actually demanding that Kakashi use his own when the team sparred to keep them on their toes, something the jounin had been a little TOO eager to agree to.

'Plagiarizing jutsu aside, the sharingan isn't something you can laugh at.' The enjutsu-shi muttered, keeping his eyes locked on Itachi's feet and arms 'Kaka-sensei always managed to drive us into the pavement with his active, but then we could always wear him down eventually since it literally devoured his chakra.' He scowled 'No such luck of that happening here…those aren't transplants he's packing.'

"I don't see Naruto-kun or that hulking fellow with you, Kakashi-san." Itachi muttered, running his eyes impassively over the group "Should I assume then that Jiraiya has yet to release him back into active service?"

"I'm right here you freaking psychopath!" Naruto yelled out, drawing Itachi's attention towards her as she moved into a better stance, only to blink at the look on Itachi's face as he took in her features.

"Impossible…" the Uchiha breathed, his face seeming to pale slightly, a look of haunted wonder spreading across his face as he stared at the confused redhead, his mouth slightly open in awe "Kushina…sensei?"

Naruto shivered, eyes widening at the Uchiha's words, sword hand relaxing in confusion as she stared at the man that had beaten Sasuke into a pulp all those years ago "Sensei?" she repeated, as if trying to make sense of a puzzle "H-hold on…you knew my mom?"

Itachi blinked, as if waking from a daydream, his gaze intensifying as he took in the redhead's features, tomoe spinning around his irises as he checked for genjutsu. "I see…" he muttered, an intrigued tone dominating his normally impassive voice as he took in the whisker marks adorning her cheeks, and the trademark chakra of a seal around the navel "Well this is an unexpected development…I don't recall any Fuuin jutsu that had such an effect on the host's body." He scoffed, so low they almost missed it "Sensei did say she wanted a girl…"

"Answer my question dammit!" the redhead snapped, stepping forward, slapping Recca's hand away when he tried to restrain her "What do you know about my mother?!"

"Calm down Naruto!" Kakashi snapped, holding up a hand to bar her path, glaring at Itachi with his good eye the entire time "He's deliberately bating you on! Remember what Jiraiya-sama said and calm down!"

Naruto growled, clearly chomping at the bit, her eyes flashing between stormy blue and murderous red, before grunting and slipping into a ready stance, one hand behind her back, ready to draw her katana. "So what do we do sensei?" she demanded.

"Most of Itachi's genjutsu, including the one that he used on Sasuke and myself are Dojutsu unique to his sharingan," Kakashi supplied, slipping closer to his charges as he spoke "So avoiding eye contact is paramount, but then you've known about that for some time now, right?"

"Ever since the mission to Nami no Kuni." Recca agreed, keeping an eye on the Uchiha's feet as he spoke, something Naruto mimicked with equal skill "Not to mention those spars with you back home."

"The Uchiha clan were always a tricky bunch." Chiyo noted, as of commenting on the weather, "Quite frankly I was happy to think we'd heard the last of them, I never thought I'd be facing one again."

"You've fought against the Uchiha before, old mummy?" Naruto asked, only to yelp as she was slapped upside the head by a hand that seemed to be mostly composed of leather and bone "ITE-!"

"Suna and Konoha were not always so…amiable, towards one another." Chiyo muttered, not taking her eyes off Itachi as she spoke "That being said, there are a number of means of battling the Sharingan, outside of avoiding their eyes."

"Such as?" Recca demanded, trying not to scoff at his outoto's pain and failing miserably, earning a pointed glare from the redhead. Either way, both of them paid rapt attention to Chiyo's words, as crackpot or not, she was one of the elders of Suna, and had to have ammassed a wealth of wisdom over the years.

"One on one: run like hell." Chiyo recited, earning sweat drops from the teens "Two on one, take the rear." She smirked "Basically all we have to do is distract him whilst targeting his blind spots."

"I like the way you think Granny!" Recca smirked, a devious grin on his face as he clenched his fist, a slight haze of heat coming over it as he glared at Itachi "And distractions happen to be my forte!"

"That's all well and good for NORMAL genjutsu…" Kakashi interrupted "But Itachi possesses an 'evolved' Sharingan, the Mangekyou." He frowned "Getting caught by its genjutsu can happen in an instant…even another sharingan can't cancel it." he nodded "However…It's not a technique he just throws around, using it once puts a tremendous strain on his reserves."

"As well informed as ever Kakashi." Itachi noted, his tone as impassive as always, even as he turned his attention to the jounin fully "You gathered all that from experiencing my Tsukuyomi once?"

"Itachi…" Kakashi muttered, closing his good eye as he raised his headband, unveiling his own Sharingan for the Uchiha to see "…just how far has your eyesight deteriorated?"

If Itachi's face before had been startled then the only word for his expression now was absolutely gob smacked. Only the neckband of his Akatsuki cloak shielded the full extent of his surprise from being witnessed, before he regained his wits and narrowed his eyes. "Kakashi…" he muttered, and there was a definite hint of a growl in his normally reserved tone "Don't tell me you…?"

"You caught me off guard last time Itachi." Kakashi shot back, smirking at the ire he'd raised in his former protégé "But this time I'm ready for anything."

At that moment, the earth directly under Itachi exploded upwards, startling the crap out of both jounin even as a snarling Naruto rose amidst the rubble, katana flashing in the light as she slashed at Itachi's jugular.

Itachi, his fully matured sharingan reading her movements as if in slow motion, recovered quickly and leant back, his foot coming up and under the redhead's chin with an audible crack, sending her soaring back towards the group. Only then did he see the threat from on high as several boomerang like flames descended upon his form, detonating on contact with the earth around him.

"Smoked the bastard!" Recca cheered, dropping from his hiding spot in the trees to land next to Naruto, who had landed on her feet and was rubbing her chin tenderly, testing her mouth with her tongue "You okay?"

"Been better." Naruto muttered, spitting out a couple of teeth, new ones already growing in their place as her healing factor replaced the damaged chompers with a speed that would make a shark green with envy "Still, you think we got him?"

"You kidding?" Recca asked, looking insulted that his sibling would doubt his skill, "Even Kaka-sensei didn't know we'd switched with clones," he reminded the redhead, thumbing towards the annyoed cyclops for emphasis "how'd HE be able to notice?"

"I dunno…" Naruto muttered, letting Recca help her to her feet "That all seemed a little too easy for an S-class Nukenin…" she stepped forward, only to blink as Recca's grip on her elbow kept her firmly in place "You can let me go now aniki."

"And why…" Recca asked, his voice warping mid-way through to a cold, semi-bored tone that sent a sliver of ice down her spine "after taking all this time…would I do something as redundant as that?"

Naruto gaped, watching in alarm as Recca's body began to peel away like cheap paint off a figurine, the smirking, scarred cheek replaced with an emotionless scowl, set with twin, spinning sharingan and premature lines. "It can't be…" she muttered, free hand going for her sword, only to find she could no longer move "When did you-!?"

"Did you think simply avoiding my eyes like a dog would allow you to escape me?" Itachi asked, the last remnants of Recca's form drifting away like scorched leaves "Do not underestimate a true master of the sharingan."

Naruto swore, twisting in the invisible grip of the genjutsu, muscles straining futilely, as if every fiber of her being was frozen in place. 'What the hell!?' the redhead growled, 'I didn't look him in the eyes once! When the hell did he have time to nab me with a genjutsu?!'

"Cease struggling and accept your fate." Itachi deadpanned in stereo, a clone of him having replaced Kakashi on her other flank, holding her in place with an equally powerfull grip on her shoulder "You cannot escape us."

"Wanna bet?" Naruto replied, smirking as she finished her one handed seals, her crimson hair spiking out in all directions as she griabbeded the sleeves of their Akatsuki coats in a death grip, holding them in place "Ninpou: HARI SENBON!"

Before either of the Itachi's could blink, several chakra enriched needles detached themselves from the redhead's hair, blasting in all directions, penetrating them with pinpoint accuracy and effectively turning them into human pincushions.

"Impressive." Itachi, or rather another genjutsu clone noted, applauding her creativity as he stepped into view ahead of her, even as the two clones dissolved into a flock of crows, pecking and swiping at the startled redhead "For you to be able to create such a mental defense…Jiraiya-sama has certainly taught you well." He frowned, moving his fingers into a ram seal "However…not good enough."

Naruto cursed as one of the crows morphed into a miniature black shuriken, slicing open her cheek even as countless others lunged at her from all sides. 'Gotta focus my chakra…' she ground out, teeth clenched as she pressed her palms together, drawing as much of her chakra into herself, only to flinch as she felt her skin begin to peel from the cut. 'What the hell?' the redhead stammered, trying to see what was going on, only to choke as her own left hand started to throttle her.

"Filthy whore…" a dark, brooding voice growled out, Naruto's eye widening as she realized just who's features were replacing her own "I should've killed you when I had the chance…"

"Sasuke…?" she choked out, fighting off the possessed limb even as other lumps began to form on her person like cancerous tumors, their gazes harsh and unforgiving as they formed familliar faces.

"Why didn't you bring Sasuke back…" Sakura demanded, glaring at her from the folds of her chunin vest, the medic's eyes red with tears and accusation as she glared up at the redhead "I trusted you…"

"To think I had faith in you…" Kakashi muttered, his voice laden with disgust and disappointment,his one visible eye half shut as always, but carrying the dismissive look the villagers had long subjected his charge to "Clearly I overestimated you…"

"Stop it…" Naruto grit out, clenching her good eye shut as she spoke, trying to focus her chakra, only to find that her control was virtually zero, whatever this genjutsu was, she wasn't getting out of it so easily "Stop it…stop it…stop it…!"

"Why is it always you?" Gaara's voice called out, Naruto's eye snapping open in horror as the hand she'd been using to fight off Sasuke's moved by itself, Gaara's green eye and love tattoo glaring at her from the palm "What did you ever do to earn your good fortune? Why were only you loved?"

'This isn't real!' Naruto kept reminding herself, shutting her eye, even as the cacophony of voices continued their assault 'It's an illusion…kai…Kai…KAI!'

"Whore…"

"Loser…"

"Monster…"

"Liar…"

"Feh…Pathetic…"

Itachi's eyes widened as a literal explosion of crimson Chakra and Killing intent washed over him, his apparitions screaming as they were burned away, along with the clearing around them as a vision of death and bloodlust loomed over the Uchiha like the shadow of death. 'What is this?!' he wondered, eyes widening if not with terror then with something akin to it, for even HE did not presume himself to hold more power than the beast sealed in the redhead's navel.

The vision lunged at him, maw gaping with crimson fangs, and the genjutsu shattered like finest crystal, leaving Naruto gasping on all fours and Itachi stumbling away like he'd been struck.

"Naruto!" Recca yelped, crouching down next to his Outoto in concern as the redhead dropped to her knees, before glaring at Itachi as he felt the pain filled gasps wracking through her body "Kisama! What'd you do?!"

"Recca!" Kakashi yelled, stepping between his charges and Itachi lest Recca meet the Uchiha's eyes "Back me up! Chiyo-sama, stick with Naruto!"

Chiyo said nothing, but sidled up behind the redhead, placing a glowing palm on her back to dispel any remaining foreign chakra from a genjutsu, a shudder running through her as she felt some of the Kyuubi's chakra dieing away from her touch. 'It seems the fox is not one to be crossed, even sealed into a host…' she noted, flicking a gaze to the obviously startled Uchiha 'He won't use Genjutsu again any time soon.'

Recca, his blood boiling from the attack on his adoptive sibling, lunged forwards alongside his sensei, even as Itachi regained his footing, his features slipping back into their emotionless mask as he focused on the task at hand. "Katon:…" the Uchiha called out, rearing back with his momentum, chest expanding outwards slightly before spewing out a gargantuan fireball that bore down on the group like a meteor "GOENKYUU!!!"

"Trying to split from the original huh?" Recca called out, leaping to the fore despite Kakashi's protests and rearing his fist back, flames blazing to life as he smirked in the face of fiery death "Too bad fucker! I wrote the book on Katon innovation!"

Thrusting his fist forward, Recca unleashed a column of fire that absorbed Itachi's jutsu as easily as a sponge absorbs water, before barreling down on the man like a freight train, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. "Hanabishi-ryu Nintai…" Rekka called out, drawing his smoking fist back to his lips and blowing the smoke off it "Hi-Ken."

"Most impressive…" Itachi allotted, rising from the ground courtesy of the Shinjuu Zanshu jutsu having escaped the blaze by tunneling underground "As expected of Naruto-kun…he has comrades as unique as he is."

"You got that right…" Recca smirked, Itachi blinking as he noticed Kakashi was missing, only to scowl as his former sempai burst out of the earth like a gofer attempting Shoryuken, grabbing the copy-nin's arm and dragging him into the range of his ringed fist, Kakashi weaving under the blow thanks in part to his own sharingan, but mostly his experience from sparring with Gai, whose slowest kick was three times faster than this.

'Something isn't right here…' Kakashi muttered, even as he traded blows with his one-time subordinate 'Even up this close…with my Sharingan active…I can't tell if this is the real Itachi.'

He rolled with a punch, his elbow lashing out at the prodigy's ear, only to be blocked, a knife hand strike going for his armpit. 'He definitely fights like Itachi…' he grunted as a near miss clipped his ribs 'hits like him too…and that Goukakyuu-look-alike was definitely something Itachi would muster…' he scowled 'But this vibe…and the directness of the assault…They aren't like Itachi at all.'

Uchiha Itachi, as long as Kakashi had known him, had not been the type to trade fisticuffs with his opponents, preferring to deal out death via the numerous pointy implements he carried about his person, charbroiling his foes with his clan's vaunted Katon mastery, or quite simply raping their minds with Genjutsu whilst looking oh-so-badass whilst doing so. He'd NEVER consider opening a fight like a Mexican stand off, despising dramatics as much as he did fangirls, and NEVER made the first move…at least not visibly anyways. If Itachi had wanted them dead, he could have employed numerous tactics to do so, all of which would've been feasible, understandable, and above all, HIGHLY more effective than what was going on now.

'But instead he stood there in our direct path, as if daring us to challenge him.' Kakashi muttered, running the fight through his mind even as he attempted to snap the man's wrist like a twig with his fist 'Something is definitely fishy about all this…'

The copy-nin's thoughts were cut off as Itachi gripped by the scruff of his neck, bringing their eyes into contact with one another, the world around them dieing away to a black field.

"Your mastery of the sharingan once again surprises me…Kakashi-san." Itachi noted, his voice flat despite the words of praise as they echoed around the dark landscape he'd imprisoned the man in "Not to mention your skill with pulling off rapid-fire jutsu…following me underground, using your protégé's attack to cover your own actions…as expected of the infamous Copy-nin."

He watched, with idle fascination, as the masked jounin seemed to wave, like a paper doll, feet catching alight as fire began to consume him with agonizing slowness. But rather than the howls of suffering that should have ensued after such mental torture, Kakashi's mental image merely continued to eye him beadily with his own sharingan, headless of the flames consuming it's body, which should have left the man a brain dead husk. In fact, back in reality, Kakashi had actually reached out and grabbed Itachi's sleeve, holding the younger man's arm in a grip that threatened to snap the bones beneath.

"I see…" Itachi muttered, his tone flat, as if this latest turn of events had been scripted and he'd been the only one that read ahead "A kage bunshin…you truly are a credit to your generation, Kakashi-san."

"My Generation is over…" Kakashi shot back, rising from the earth with his eye narrowed, a knowing smirk hidden under his mask that caused Itachi to cock an eyebrow "The ones that you have to watch out for…are right behind you."

Itachi whipped his head round, only to be caught between the Hanabishi siblings, Recca on the right and Naruto on the left, both with dangerous glints in their eyes and both holding spiraling balls of concentrated chakra in their palms.

"…Well shit…"

Deep within the artificial ocean that was serving as their battlefield, Gai, beset on all sides by sharks composed of Suiton chakra, closed his eyes beneath the waves, earning a smirk from his opponent. "Throwing in the towel are we?" Kisame called out, a smirk on his lips "I don't blame you, after all, no animal can match a shark in the water."

"KAITEN!"

Kisame blinked, whirling around as his water clones, and by proxy, the prisons they were controlling, disappeared in a burst of chakra, glaring murderously at the Hyuuga as he knelt on the water's surface, his teammates alongside him 'I shoulda cut him in half…' he growled, only to yelp as a pillar of water erupted right from under him, launching him into the air, along with the pulped remains of his summons.

Shielding his eyes from the combination of chakra and water, Lee was the first one to espy his mentor and role-model hovering within the water-spout, powering up as much of his chakra through the sixth gate as he could, his fists literally glowing with his ire, before leaping out of the funnel, right into the alarmed features of their Akatsuki assailant.

"Sensei?" Tenten coughed, looking around for their loveable, if eccentric, sensei, only to follow Lee's awe-inspired gaze as the sky lit up like a new years festival.

"ASA KUJAKUU!!!!!!!

Lee cheered as Kisame's flaming carcass descended, crashing into the water and sinking out of sight, the water slowly fading away as the chakra maintaining it slowly ran out, Gai dropping down to land before his students with a grunt.

"Are you alright, Sensei?" Neji asked, walking up to the panting jounin and running his Byakugan over him for injuries, only to be waved off as the Taijutsu specialist stood up, looking flushed, but alright.

"I'll be fine…" Gai panted, the sixth gate having drained him considerably as he leant on lee's shoulder to catch his breath, his protoge recognising his fatige better than anyone "More importantly…is everyone else okay?"

"All present and accounted for Sensei!" Tenten chirped, pulling off a cute salute, one hand behind her back as she re-sealed her weapons, what remained of them anyways, back into the giant scroll on her back "But that guy was something else wasn't he?"

"His chakra reserves were insane, even for a missing nin." Neji added, crossing his arms in thought, one hand going to his chin as he frowned, recalling something unusual about the fight that had caught his attention earlier "Still…something doesn't quite add up."

"Neji?" Lee queried, looking over at his teammate and rival in confusion, his bushy brows burrowing together like mating caterpillars as he forwned, earning a gigglefrom Tenten, who always found the sight to be hilarious "Is something wrong?"

"I read the bingo book when I became Jounin." Neji muttered, holding his chin as he spoke "I thought it might be useful, especially seeing as we were attacked a while back." He nodded at the spot Kisame had fallen "I remember seeing him in there…he was registered as an SS-Class, avoid at all costs missing nin."

Lee and Tenten blinked at the Hyuuga's words, only to stumble as the last of the water sank underground, leaving them on relatively dry land again, Gai pushing off his student hobbling towards Kisame to get a better look at their opponent's corpse, only to pull up short. "What the hell?" he wondered, eyeing the broken, bloodied body at his feet "Who in the hell is this guy?"

"Mou…sensei…" Tenten sighed, sidling up to the man in exasperation "you really are bad with names aren't…" she trailed off as she got up close "Hey…this isn't…"

Neji scowled, his Byakugan scanning the corpse for confirmation as he did so "No doubt about it…this guys reserves are nowhere near as developed as the guy we were fighting a second ago…not only that, his weapon's disappeared too."

Tenten shivered, holding her elbows as she gazed down at the corpse of a man that, by all rights, shouldn't have been there "Who on earth…?"

"Who in the blue fuck is this?!" Naruto gaped, eyeing the cooling corpse, the upper half of it anyways, of what should have been Uchiha Itachi "This ain't Itachi! And there's no way he was a clone this entire time!"

"Yeah, was this thing a set-up the whole time?" Recca wondered, kicking the tattered remains of the torso in annoyance, sorely tempted to just burn the stiff and be done with it "We on candid camera or something?"

"No…" Kakashi assured them, idly wondering what on earth 'candid camera' was "That was definitely Itachi we were fighting a second ago…I wouldn't have mistaken him for anyone else, and my Sharingan would've noticed a henge."

"So how the hell'd THIS guy get here?" Naruto demanded again, pointing down at the remains in annoyance "Did he use Kawarimi at the last second or what? Or some other type of teleportation jutsu?"

"No time." Kakashi countered, nodding towards the teen "You and Recca were right on top of him before he knew you were there." He scowled "That alone should've tipped me off…Itachi NEVER leaves his back unguarded…not to mention the swearing at the end." He added, as it was a little known fact that Itachi, no matter how hard you pressed him, and you'd have to press very hard indeed, would never utter a profanity stronger than 'damn'.

"How on earth…" Chiyo muttered, squinting at the corpse's blood-stained face in abject disbelief, her eyes widening after a few seconds a sshe stood there in shock "That's…no it can't be…"

"You know this stiff Chiyo-ba?" Recca asked, rifling through the remains of the Akatsuki's coat for clues, coming up with little more than a few spare kunai and a money pouch, filled to bursting.

"That's Yura." The old crone muttered, her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she glared down at the man's features she'd seen almost every day at the council meetings "A suna Jounin and one of the members of Gaara's Council."

"So…they had a spy watching Gaara all this time?" Naruto asked, shooting Yura's remains a withering glare, wishing they'd pumped more chakra into the rasengan assault, only for Chiyo to shake her head.

"He's been serving on Sunagakure's council for over four years…" Chiyo muttered, looking down at the bearded man with a suspicious scowl "In that time he's done nothing to suggest anything but absolute loyalty to Suna."

"This is some seriously freaky shit right here…" Recca muttered, kicking a stone out of the way, having rifled through Yura's pockets long enough "He didn't even have any kunai on him…it's like he came here fully intending to die."

"Like a ghost." Kakashi agreed, looking up at the sky in thought, his visible eye narrowing.

Far away, on some deserted mountaintop, a cloaked duo slowly woke back into consciousness, the larger of the two seeming a little torn between feeling grudgingly impressed and decidedly miffed. "Yare-Yare…they've improved since last time." Kisame muttered, shaking his head ruefully as he got to his feet "Then again…we were just supposed to stall them."

"Never underestimate the Jounin of Konoha." The shorter of the two intoned, eyeing his companion impassively "Even if our 'doubles' only possessed 30% of our power on top of their own, they were still formidable opponents."

"Feh…maybe…" the larger muttered, shaking his head in disgust "But mine trash talked too much, and yours…well, anyone that knows you would know something was off with that one."

Itachi said nothing but it was clear to anyone who knew him that he hadn't approved of Yura's grandstanding. "We should get back to the sealing." He muttered, closing his eyes as he focused his attention elsewhere.

"Gimme a break dammit!" Kisame growled, rubbing the feeling back into his legs "Not everyone likes to sit still for so damn long."

Itachi said nothing, having already filtered back into the cave, his efforts rejoining those of the members still there. "I see the jutsu failed." The leader noted, his eyes narrowing in suspicion "I suppose we're dealing with some highly capable opponents."

"We still haven't dealt with the intruder outside-un." Deidara pointed out, still a little miffed at being tailed so easily and wanting to vent some frustrations on the poor sod "Maybe we should send someone after them."

"No." the leader countered, his tone final "The ritual is more important…and is nearly finished at any rate." He eyed Gaara's limp form impassively "We'll finish up here…and then move on to the next host."

Unbeknownst to the Akatsuki, Kagero was listening in on their conversations with the Eikai Gyoku, her eyes narrowing as she took in the statue they were perched on.

'This sickening feeling…' she muttered 'This…destructive…EVIL presence…' her lips pressed into a firm line as she fought the urge to try and enter via a shadow portal again, knowing it would prove fruitless 'There's no mistaking it, the Akatsuki's secret weapon…!'

Just what Has Kagero uncovered about Pain's statue? And will Tem Gai ever get here in time to back her up?

And what about Naruto? Will she determine what Itachi knows about her mother?

Kakashi: You are an evil...Evil man.

Kyugan: I know, that's why I altered the first chapter of your book just now.

Kakashi: What?! (looks back to find the pages are blank, and that the first page is decidedly differnet from the start) DAMN YO...hey...this is GOOD! Better even!

Kyugan: And you can't read the rest.

Kakakashi:...(turned to stone)...!

R&R for more updates!