Tales of the Arcane

by kekkeigenkai95

When it becomes obvious that the long lived line of Uzumaki would be at risk, what would the only surviving Uzumaki elder do to preserve her family line? Join Naruto and Mito on a journey of reunions and farewells, as Naruto scours the elemental lands searching for something that long eluded him, himself. Begins after the Tsunade Retrieval Arc. Fuinjutsu!Naruto, ChakraChain!Naruto.

7. The Molting of the Mayfly

A.N. Much darkness, young Sasuke has. Much surprise, there will be!

Ahem. As you may have noticed, I was up all night watching a Star wars movie marathon. So, now that I've got Yoda out of the way, here's the seventh episode of Tales of the Arcane. The continuation of the earlier battles, and Sasuke enters the fray. Mito's reluctance to go on the trip is explained.

Thank you, all loyal readers, followers, and all who reviewed my story. Over 100 reviews! Thank you.

Please review!

Disclaimer: Naruto, and all its characters, belong to Kishimoto. Curse him, slaveowner!

Chapter 7 : The Molting of the Mayfly

…

My work is done now look at him
He's never been more alive.
His head it shakes his fingers clutch.
Watch his body writhe
I'm the Gypsy - the acid queen.
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy - I'm guaranteed.
To break your little heart.

The Acid Queen – The Who

…

Kiba had just made some headway with the giant summoned gate, when an enormous explosion ripped the gate apart. Blown back by the force and dazed, he was thankful that the gate was un-summoned following its destruction, or the debris might have torn him apart. He heard a whine, and looked down to see Akamaru, having reverted back to his normal form from the blast, lapping at a narrow trail of blood running down his flank courtesy of one of Ukon's earlier punches.

Then he heard a sniggering female voice in front of him, which he was unable to identify due to the ringing in his ears and the acrid smoke in his nose. Akamaru whimpered again; it seemed he too had been affected by the noise of the explosion and the destruction of the gate.

"Kiba-san? Uh… Sorry about that, I guess? It's just… I saw the perfect opportunity…"

Ah. Now he remembered where he had heard that particular voice. It was that bun haired girl who had lost to that sand chick in the Chunin exam… Now he just had to figure out why she was here.

"…Kiba-san? I said I'm sorry, now stop napping and come with me to help the others!"

Right. He was with the others, and they were on a mission to… retrieve Sasuke? Why would he go after the teme? Instinctively clutching at his forehead, Kiba stumbled to an upright position, gently depositing Akamaru inside the shredded remains of what had once been his favourite hoodie. It was after this that his eyes focused on the impatient kunoichi in front of him.

"Uh… Tenten-san, isn't it? You were on the same team as that bastard Neji… What're you doing here?"

The kunoichi frowned, before leaning into his face and peering at him. "Huh? Are you in shock, or something? Maybe this will help…" With that, she gave him a prompt cuff on the back of the head, spinning him around and into the nearby stream.

Kiba came to, sputtering, as he pulled his face out of the stream. "Why would you do that?" He asked indignantly, as the girl giggled hysterically.

"You were in shock," she replied unrepentantly, "Now come on; Neji has probably gotten in over his head already."

Kiba stuttered. "B-But…"

"Oh, that? The guy we were fighting is probably in a thousand pieces. I thought the stupid idiot would jump… I didn't even get a proper fight."

Kiba looked at where she was pointing, and barely managed not to vomit. What remained in the crater could not be identified as human, or even something that was once alive. Burnt, shredded and crushed, it smoked in the crater emanating the most disgusting stench of burnt flesh.

"Yeah…" Kiba said weakly, turning away from the corpse, "That guy's dead. Let's go."

As they sprinted away to find a way back up the cliff, neither saw the grim face of Ukon, peeking out from the back of Kiba's head.

…

Neji skipped away from yet another golden projectile, almost lazily reaching out with a Juuken strike to sever the spider thread attached to it as he landed in a crouch. At the other end of the clearing, Kidomaru grinned.

"You're getting really interesting, trash," he said, grinning as his Spider Sticky Gold to form a set of boomerang like weapons for each of his six hands. "Care to try closer?"

Neji charged forward, as Kidomaru continued to send volley after volley of webbing at him. Each time the webbing close to snaring him, he would strike it with a precise Juuken strike dissolving the thread. Batting away his webbing at every turn, Neji slowly advanced even as Kidomaru retreated into the forest, spewing webbing from his hands.

"Give it up, Sound shinobi," Neji advised Kidomaru as he disentangled himself from yet another web. The two were within striking distance now. "You're within the range of my divination. Two Palms!"

Neji crossed the distance between them in an instance, driving two Juuken strikes into Kidomaru's shoulders. Even as Kidomaru jerked back at the impact, Neji was continuing with the attack.

"Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty Two Palms!"

Neji stepped into Kidomaru's face as he was flailing from the attack. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!"

Kidomaru was launched away from the branch they were on by the force of the last attack, but suddenly flipped away to land in a crouch on a low-hanging branch. He was grinning.

Neji frowned. "Your willpower is commendable, sound shinobi, but you can't use chakra now. Give up, and your life will be spared."

Kidomaru mouth twisted into a mocking grin, even as Neji noticed a gold substance flake off from Kidomaru's body. "Guess your Byakugan isn't as all seeing as you would like it to be, is it, Hyuuga?" He mocked, before gesturing to the flakes falling off him. "This is my Armour of Sticky Gold. It'll take more than you to put a scratch in my armour!"

Neji stared at Kidomaru blankly. "You do realize that you gave me a solid reason to use lethal force, don't you?"

Kidomaru gave him a challenging grin. "Go on, be my guest. I like it when prey struggle!"

Neji sighed, jumping down to re-engage his opponent. "I swear, fate has a strange sense of humour. Why can't I get a normal opponent for once?"

…

Chouji, now out of his multi-size technique and sporting a rather generous gash on his shoulder, looked nervously between the three shinobi that were staring at each other across the centre of the clearing where the barrel containing Sasuke stood. The Sound shinobi, Kimimaro, stood at one end, sharp bone spikes sticking out of his arms, legs, shoulders and spine, with a strange black pattern spreading through his body originating from the strange three line seal below his throat. His green eyes were flashing with irritation.

At the other end was Naruto, only he looked a lot different, even when compared to the red haired version that had come to the mission. His orange jumpsuit was in tatters, the top barely hanging on to the frame. His canines looked large, his unique whisker markings wider, giving him a feral look. His eyes looked bloody, the sclera bloodshot and curious crimson veins traversing the irises. Blackish half-clotted blood matted his hair in clumps, running down his clothes and the remains of his clothes. A blue-black bruise was clearly visible on his exposed chest, and three golden chains with strange crimson veins within them were protruding from his lower back.

Between them, nearest to the barrel, stood the woman that Naruto had called 'Ghost Lady'. Chouji could certainly see the reasoning. The woman looked like a coloured glass figurine, the destroyed forest around them visible through her translucent body. Her hair, which seemed to be of a reddish shade, was pinned to her sides in two buns, somewhat reminiscent of Tenten's, only held up with multiple senbon. She was wearing a white kimono, and she had a pair of seal tags in place of earrings. Also, now that the fight had been halted for a moment, she looked completely calm, in contrast to Naruto and Kimimaro who were flooding the surroundings with killing intent.

For a moment, the three stared at each other. Then Kimimaro scoffed. "You Konoha shinobi are all very eager to die; more's the pity that I don't have the time. And you, woman. You were the one who kept trying to put me in a genjutsu, weren't you?"

Mito snarled, at odds with her expressionless face. "I'm Mito of the Uzumaki clan, Kaguya." She spat at the sound shinobi, ignoring Chouji's gasp. "You don't need to tell us about your killing tendencies, we Uzumaki have faced it often enough. I would have thought that your clan would have done this world a favour and gone extinct by now, but of course that's too much to ask from your kind, isn't it, barbarian?"

Kimimaro stared at her blankly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, woman. Now hand me over the barrel containing Sasuke-sama, so I can be on my way."

Naruto took a stumbling step forward, gritting his teeth. "Now see here, Sound trash. If you think we'll just allow a shinobi to defect to your bastard master," Kimimaro growled, "you're very much mistaken. Die!"

With a scream, Naruto swung his arm wildly, his chains arcing behind him in unison to crash into the place where Kimimaro was, even as Mito vanished into thin air again with a whisper of wrapping oriental dragons.

Suddenly, through the dust cloud caused by the chains colliding with the ground, a bone spear broke through. It was followed by Kimimaro, who had what looked like his own ribs jutting out of his body in a protective cocoon.

"You are an interesting opponent. May I know your name, Konoha nin?"

Naruto paused in his charge, before a bloodthirsty grin crossed his face. "Uzumaki Naruto. And yours?"

"Kaguya Kimimaro. Now prepare to die for opposing Orochimaru-sama. Dance of the Larch!"

"Your master's ambition is as useless as his hands have become. Prepare to die, Kaguya, for treading on lands protected by the Sandaime's sacrifice! Kage Bunshin!"

With a series of pops close to a hundred clones of Naruto appeared; however all but the original lacked the chains waving behind him. Then the clones paired up, cupping their hands over the other for a moment before the forest was lit up with the blue glow of pure chakra even as Kimimaro attacked the nearest clones in a pirouetting maneuver, cutting a swath of destruction through the multitude of clones. "Rasengan!"

Kimimaro disappeared under the assault of the remaining clones, his bone spears cracking under the assault of the rasengan, before Kimimaro's chakra pulsed with a yell.

"Cursed Seal Level Two: Activate!"

With a spin, all the clones surrounding Kimimaro were shaken off, revealing Kimimaro with a darkened skin, and a dinosaur-like tail. Then with the slightest shimmer of a serpentine silhouette, Mito attacked from behind him as Naruto's chains disappeared, only for Kimimaro to somersault over the approaching dragon into a group of rasengan wielding clones, which were abruptly dispelled by the bone spears as he spun in place, the needle sharp bones digging into the clones and obscuring him in a cloud of chakra smoke. Synchronizing with a clone for a moment, Naruto created a rasengan in his left hand as he materialized one chakra chain through his right arm, giving him a knife edge and several chakra edges throughout his arm. With a yell, he dived into the smoke after Kimimaro, who parried it with the bone emerging from above his palm, his other hand gripping Naruto's above the wrist, stopping the rasengan from approaching him.

With an ominous crack, the bone started to give way as both Naruto and Kimimaro tried to overpower each other. "Heh… Looks like your bones can break after all, what do you know?"

Jumping back at the exact moment that the bone dagger broke, Kimimaro reached for his shoulder as Naruto's rasengan wielding hand hit the ground with a deafening crunch. Kimimaro slowly pulled out a bone sword from his upper arm, molding it into a short bone sword before settling into a sword stance. "Dance of the Camellia!"

Within a moment, he was within Naruto's guard, rattling him with repeated puncture wounds before one of his flailing chakra chains caught Kimimaro across the stomach, tossing him away. Naruto fell onto his knees, red chakra bubbling around his wounds for a moment as they hissed and steamed. Then, struggling to his feet, he walked towards Kimimaro, who had also gotten onto his feet, ignoring the blood as it flowed from the gash Naruto's chain had inflicted. Mito stood immobile in the clearing above Chouji who seemed paralyzed by the raw killing intent filling the area, ready to interfere should it be necessary; but she was wary of chakra use so soon after Naruto had suffered an injury, particularly in the wake of clear use of the Kyuubi chakra, showing it to be just below the surface. Besides, in this position, she could easily take stop any interference should Chouji try to interfere, which would simply get both him and Naruto killed. This was way above the abilities of Chouji.

Meanwhile, Kimimaro gave Naruto an assessing glance. "I thank you Uzumaki-san, this has been a most invigorating battle. However, Orochimaru-sama's business is urgent, and my life is dedicated to his duty. I will kill you now."

Giving Naruto a fanged grin, to which Naruto responded by sprouting three other chains in addition to the one through his arm, Kimimaro reached behind his shoulders.

"Dance of the Clematis: Vine!"

…

Shikamaru barely had the time to move before one of the strange worm-like creatures ghosted into his hiding place. Still, as he jumped away the technique had grazed his arm. Immediately, a bone-aching exhaustion swept through him, as he stumbled on the landing and rolled onto the ground.

Mocking laughter met his ears as he struggled to get up. "There you are, shithead. For a moment I thought you had scurried away, like the rat you are."

Shikamaru grimaced. "That would be too troublesome to explain, troublesome woman," he grumbled, "make no mistake, I'm not here because I want to fight you."

Shikamaru's hands twitched, unobtrusively forming a seal. However, as soon as his shadow started to extend, one of Tayuya's doki charged at him, forcing him to leap back.

"One trick pony," Tayuya scoffed, "did you really think I wouldn't notice you forming seals?"

Then another of the physical energy leeches lunged at him, but this time, instead of Shikamaru jumping away, he simply stood in position, letting the strange leech pierce his body. Then, around the leech, his body began to blacken and bubble. Then a voice came from behind Tayuya. "Kagemane no Jutsu: Complete!"

Suddenly, Tayuya couldn't move, immobilized by the Nara clan jutsu. Then, without her volition, her body started to move, until she was brought before an utterly relaxed Shikamaru leaning lazily on a nearby tree, looking at her with a smirk. "You know, you were correct when you said I couldn't fool a genjutsu user with a bunshin, and you were correct. However, a Nara can fool you with a Kiroii Bunshin. Look."

Her head unwittingly moved to look at the place where the now still doki had pierced the bunshin, which now contained just her doki and its spirit leech, both covered in a strange black cloak.

"Shadows," Shikamaru explained somewhat unnecessarily, "They are solid enough to not be considered an illusion, yet they cannot contain any physical energy. So when your strange jutsu pinpointed my location, I just waited for it to commit to an attack it couldn't abort, and then substituted with a Kiroii Bunshin I had placed there previously. When your attack tried to absorb nonexistent physical energy, well…"

As they were watching, the captured doki began to creak, the black shadows seeping into its structure, creating crevices and cracks as it seemed to melt into it. Then, with a keening wail, the doki and its worm-like protrusion began to disintegrate.

Watching Tayuya's face twist in fury, Shikamaru smirked. "As you can see, Nara clan jutsu use shadows, which do not play well with other types of energy. Sorry about that." He drawled, seemingly enjoying Tayuya's anger.

Just then, Shikamaru ducked to dodge a wild swing by one of the other doki, forcing Tayuya to do the same. This time though, Tayuya was the one grinning when they were upright again. "So, shithead, what's your fucking idea to stop that? I'm the only one who can stop them, but as it is, you've fucking tied me up…"

Slowly Shikamaru brought his hands to his mouth, forcing Tayuya to do the same with her flute. "I saw you playing, and I can guess the melody."

With that, Shikamaru began to mime the notes he wanted to play, but unlike before, Tayuya was actively opposing him, making the melody choppy and unclear as Tayuya fought Shikamaru for control. Beads of sweat were rolling off Shikamaru's face due to the exertion, but he held on doggedly, refusing to release Tayuya from his technique. 'Damn it! If this goes on, I'll have to use that technique to finish the battle, and on top of it, I'm running out of chakra! Troublesome…'

The doki continued to stumble around, swinging wildly and showering both combatants with woodchips. Struggling, Tayuya spoke. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, shithead. But you're simply too weak for this level. Curse Seal Level Two: Activate!"

Shikamaru barely managed to sever his connection to Tayuya and leap back as ominous chakra blanketed the area, originating from Tayuya. Her body was bubbling, changing considerably; with her hair becoming longer and lighter, her skin darker, along with a protrusion of horns emerging from her head.

Jumping back, Shikamaru latched his shadows to those of the two remaining doki, hoping to use them to against Tayuya while he figured out his next move. Tayuya just stared at him blankly. "Seriously? Do you think I'm a fucking idiot like you? Release!"

With a puff of chakra smoke, both remaining doki were unsummoned, leaving Shikamaru and Tayuya facing each other on the opposite sides of the clearing, Shikamaru staring at Tayuya, expressionless, while Tayuya gave him a bloodthirsty leer. "Well, well. It's just you and me now, shithead. Now how should I kill you?"

…

Kiba and Tenten were sprinting, stumbling in Kiba's case, across the riverbank while looking for a place to climb the cliff separating them from their comrades. Normally they would have simply tree-walked their way up the cliff, but Kiba was adamant that they not attempt it with his and Akamaru's condition.

The mood between the two was tense. Kiba was still cross at Tenten for using exploding tags without warning him, while Tenten maintained that warning him would have made the whole attack useless, and that Kiba was just jealous that he had not had the kill.

Of course, when she made the mistake of saying her opinion out loud, it started Kiba off on a tirade.

"Jealous? Because of your stupid explosion fetish, Akamaru got hurt, and I almost died! Why did you butt in anyway, I had the fight under control!"

"Yeah right, the great Kiba was pulverizing the poor Sound fools." Tenten said sarcastically. "Face it, Dog-boy; you were being lead around by your over sensitive nose."

Kiba growled at the insult. "What the hell's your problem anyway? You could have gone and bugged someone else, like that Neji-bastard! I don't need a bloody kunoichi to babysit me!"

Tenten's eyes narrowed as she abruptly turned towards him. "You better rephrase that, Dog-boy." She said between gritted teeth, as one of her eyebrows twitched in irritation, "Or do you have anything against kunoichi?"

Startled at her vehemence, Kiba stammered incoherently. Tenten snorted, turning away. "Thought so, you chauvinist pig."

Suddenly, her instincts, honed by Gai-sensei's habit of randomly attacking his team, flared. Acting subconsciously, she twirled, unsealing a large wooden shield to cover her. With a 'shlink' of wood against metal, a kunai stabbed itself to the hilt and through the hardened wood of the shield, missing her side by inches and leaving a gouge in the ground behind her. Tracing its trajectory, Tenten saw that it had been thrown by Kiba, and judging by her previous position, it had been aimed for her kidneys. With the force in the throw and the angle, it would have caught her side, and lacerated both of her kidneys before exiting her body, causing an excruciating, and slow, death. It was one of the most advanced, and disturbing, places to target during a fight, and it could not be easily done; Konoha Academy trained students to go for the easier, more obvious choices like the heart or throat.

Unbelievingly staring at Kiba, who seemed to have gone into shock, she settled into a defensive stance. "Did you just try to kill me?"

The thought itself was ludicrous. Konoha shinobi were taught teamwork and loyalty from their very cradles, and betrayal and desertion was considered to be so abhorrent that even thinking about it was considered taboo, and the punishment for trying to kill a teammate was so horrific that deserting Konoha and having the hunter-nins after you was considered to be better. In fact, the stakes were so high that only socially isolated shinobi with turbulent pasts had ever deserted Konoha, which meant that of the twelve rookie genin that had participated in the last chunin exams, only Sasuke, Naruto and Neji had ever fallen into the 'risk' category. Kiba, who came from the renowned Inuzuka clan, had no possible reason to defect, and though they generally had hot tempers according to Gai-sensei, Kiba couldn't have expected to get away with it! Unless, of course, he wanted to kill her and make it look like the sound shinobi had killed her. But surely he wouldn't try to kill her just because of an argument? At least she hoped so…

Trepidation growing, she cautiously brought out a pair of nunchucks as she approached Kiba. Then suddenly Kiba seemingly sprinted at her, while simultaneously trying to hold himself back, resulting in him tripping over himself and falling on his face. As Akamaru yelped and leapt clear of Kiba's falling body, Tenten crept forward cautiously towards the figure on the ground, which was writhing in apparent agony. By now she knew there was something very wrong with Kiba.

"Kiba-san?"

Then suddenly Kiba was looking at her with mismatched eyes, with the right side of his hair turning white and growing longer, and the skin slowly colouring brown. Struggling to speak, Kiba whispered, "Run. I can't… control… body…"

Akamaru whimpered, seemingly afraid to approach his partner. Tenten took a cautious step back, trying to understand what was happening.

Then, Kiba's face fell slack as he lunged at Tenten with a kunai.

…

Looking into the forests of the north from her seat in the Hokage Tower, Tsunade felt a shiver of premonition. Below her, the village was a beehive of activity, and her ANBU had reported that the story of the Uchiha's desertion was the hottest news in the gossip circles.

She knew where the information had leaked from; the kunoichi in the newest generation seemed unable to grasp the meaning of discretion. Tsunade had half a mind to place the lot of them in punishment detail for this particular blunder, but she supposed the results of their actions would be punishment enough. If Sasuke had been retrieved without the story spreading far and wide, there had been a chance that the Uchiha would have been able to get away scot free. However, seeing as the whole of Konoha knew by now that the 'last loyal Uchiha' had deserted the village for their most hated enemy of the moment, Sasuke would face forced genetic donation followed by forced seppuku, at best. A mirthless smile graced Tsunade's lips at the thought; in a way, his fangirls had signed the Uchiha's death warrant.

But she had no time, nor inclination, to worry about the non-existent future of an Uchiha. She was instead worrying over her favourite genin, one Uzumaki Naruto, who had gone on the mission to retrieve the said Uchiha.

The conversation she had had with her grandmother prior to their leaving for the mission still echoed in her mind, filling her with anxiety.

…

FLASHBACK

…

"You know, this is a dangerous game you are playing, Tsu-Tsu."

Tsunade, who had been trying to burrow her head into the wooden desk, jerked up at the sound. Looking up from the cozy nest she had made with her arms, she resisted the urge to groan when all of her ANBU detail were out cold on the floor, again.

"My games aside, that is really not good for them, grandmother," Tsunade stated drily, looking at her snoring 'guards' with an expression halfway between exasperation and amusement. Though she supposed it was a welcome change after all the headaches that that blasted Uchiha had caused her, it was too early to deal with anything other than a hangover cure, damn it!

"If they get caught in a genjutsu that only traps an unsuspecting mind while they are on guard detail, they deserve any neck cramps they get, you know." Mito's response was just as dry as her grand-daughters. "Plus I don't see you doing much better, you know. You didn't even notice me enter and I knocked out all your guards without you even noticing." Sniffing a bit, her lips narrowed. "And you've been drinking again, haven't you?"

Tsunade groaned, dropping her head back into her arms. "Give me a break, grandmother! I've got a killer headache, the council's breathing down my neck, those two old fossils won't stop pestering me, and that spoiled brat of an Uchiha had to chose now of all times to run off to snake face! Do you know how much meetings this is going to cause? And paperwork! I swear I'll kill that brat myself…"

"Get in line," Mito scoffed, sounding uncharacteristically bitter. "If Naruto-kun doesn't stain his hands with the traitor's blood, I might kill the bastard myself, and I will make him suffer."

Tsunade looked at her, shocked. "Grandmother? You don't even know that little self-obsessed headcase!"

Mito snorted. "I saw him once; I don't believe I ever want to repeat that experience. That boy is a collection of his clan's worst attributes, you know." She sighed. "Though I have to say, Tsu-Tsu, your summons came at the worst possible, not to mention downright dangerous moment in our training."

"Oh?" Tsunade asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Why is that, he should be able to function with his old skills during any battles, and I need the safety net that Naruto and you will provide for the mission." She asked, before continuing to grumble. "It's not like I have any Jounin or chunin to spare, what with the bloody border patrols, and that gnome of a Tsuchikage probing our lines…"

Mito snorted. "Focus, Tsu-Tsu. Now as for your earlier question, the reason is that Naruto's body is still adapting to its changes, not to mention the changes to the seal."

"What changes to the seal?" Tsunade interjected, alarmed.

Mito groaned. "Come on, Tsu-Tsu. I've told you about the effects of the Uzumaki bloodlines, especially of the Spiked Chains. And you should know anyway, you were friends with a user!"

"What do you mean, grandmother? Kushina only told me she could suppress chakra with it!"

Mito smirked triumphantly. "But did she ever tell you why?"

Tsunade looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Normal Spiked Chains don't suppress chakra; it was unique to Kushina, and for a simple reason. That particular expression has a rather strange ability… Seal transference."

Tsunade looked at her warily. "And what does that do?"

Mito sighed. "It channels the abilities of any seal that is linked to the user's very self. Since Kushina's jinchuuriki seal, which I designed, was in itself a chakra suppression seal, her chains gained the ability to suppress chakra themselves. Seeing as Naruto has not yet gained full control over his powers, and the fact that the isolation seal I put on top of his jinchuuriki seal wouldn't have a ghost of a chance if he got angry, do you see the problem?"

Tsunade looked at her, troubled. "You think that the chains could become a conduit for the Kyuubi to come out?"

Mito ran her hand over her face tiredly. "If only that. No, Tsu-Tsu, if Naruto is pushed hard enough at this time, he would channel the essence of the seal. And with what Kushina's husband used to bind the seal…"

Tsunade reared back in horror. "You don't mean… The Shinigami!"

…

END FLASHBACK

…

Tsunade was pulled out of her reverie by the sound of hurried footsteps, before a messenger burst into her office, panting.

"Apologies, Tsunade-sama. Urgent message from the lookouts in the North Gate!"

Tsunade could already feel the headache coming on. "What is it?"

"There's a report of a strange jutsu being used in our northern forest, something about crimson chakra chains…"

Tsunade turned around, her chair crashing into the ground. "What did you say the colour was?"

"C-C-Crimson, Tsunade-sama…"

Tsunade gritted her teeth. "That's it!" She declared, ignoring the messenger's wince at her tone. "I've had enough of this!"

Turning to face the frightened messenger, she ordered, "Inform the council that the village is in lockdown. Send for the Hokage guard, and send Kakashi a message that he's got exactly five minutes to get here if he doesn't want to be in punishment detail for the rest of his life. Emergency mission, possible S-Rank. Go!"

As the messenger scurried away, Tsunade searched her desk for her combat attire. "Now if Snake-face were there, then it'll be a party," she thought wryly as she strapped her equipment pouch on, before staring out of her window at the northern forest. Squinting, she could just make out something that looked like a tentacle poking through the wooded expanse. So that was where Naruto was. At least he was alive.

'Whatever happens, brat, don't die out there.'

…

Kimimaro's bone whip slashed into a rolling figure, which went up in smoke as two thick chainlike chakra constructs barreled into him from the other side of the clearing. Wincing slightly at their speed, he held his Dance of the Clematis: Flower encrusted hand as an impromptu shield. The two chains slammed into the curling bone lance, sending bone chips flying as Kimimaro skidded back from the force of the impact. Even as he used his dinosaur-like tail to steady himself, Kimimaro pushed back at the chains with his bone covered arm, even as his other hand swung his bone whip at the source of the chains, the ligaments between the vertebrae stretching grotesquely as they tried to wrap around the figure, only to meet a barrier in the form of an increasing cage of chakra chains surrounding him.

"You are now starting to annoy me, Konoha shinobi." Kimimaro's monotonous voice floated around the clearing. In the other end of it, Chouji, still nursing his wounds, winced at the threat in the voice, while Mito, in the very centre of the rather large patch of wood devastated by the fight, bristled, looking up from her intent examination of the barrel containing Sasuke.

The fight between Kimimaro and Naruto was fierce, with them equal in their speed and agility, with Naruto's multiple chains countered by Kimimaro's dance of the clematis techniques. Both of them were panting as they dodged each other's attacks, cuts littering their bodies from near misses.

Then, suddenly, in the middle of yet another deadlock, Kimimaro suddenly stiffened, before his techniques faltered as he spat out blood. Immediately capitalizing on the opening, two chains immediately tore into Kimimaro, one piercing his upper thigh and spearing his tail as the other dug into the whip wielding hand.

Hurriedly jumping away while absentmindedly forming bone plates above his cuts to slow his bleeding, Kimimaro's lips set into a thin line.

"I will not die before I fulfill Orochimaru-sama's purpose," he declared, looking mutinously at the panting Uzumaki before him.

Naruto smirked, flashing Kimimaro a bloody grin. "Then you'll probably have to try being immortal, Kaguya."

Kimamaro gritted his teeth as he prepared to fight, a sense of futility seeping into him. Even if he defeated this monstrosity, he would still have to fight the disappearing woman and the fat boy. On top of that, his curse seal was enhancing his disease to the point of no return; he would be lucky to survive long enough to report to Orochimaru-sama.

Trying to fight through the pain, he stumbled, suddenly feeling dizzy as his knees hit the ground. His mind was getting fuzzy, and his sense of vertigo was increasing, even as he instinctively blocked Naruto's attempts to land a hit on him. Blood was filling his mouth, and he could feel rivulets of blood flowing down his wounded arm through the plates of bone, and his sense of balance was worsening.

Then, with an ominous crack, wood splints showered the clearing as the barrel containing Sasuke burst open. Mito, closest to the explosion, barely managed to cross her arms over her face before the explosion tore into her, throwing her into a nearby tree. Immediately afterwards, Naruto felt an immense drain on his chakra as Mito's seal automatically diverted some of his chakra to healing her chakra shell. Letting out an involuntary groan, Naruto sank to his knees in exhaustion, even as the chakra smoke obscuring the remains of the barrel dissipated, showing a monstrous figure standing on the remains of the barrel.

Two leathery, hand-like protrusions emerged from the shoulder blades of the creature, and glaring crimson eyes stared at the prone figures of the fighters through long locks of gray hair. Crimson eyes, with spinning black tomoe in them, that widened as they took in the destruction of the clearing. Then the colour bled out of the figure, starting from his extremities and reaching towards his shoulder. The creature grew smaller, the leathery hand-like wings disappeared, and then the last remnants of the transformation, black tribal marking, drew back leaving a pale Sasuke standing in the middle of the clearing.

A.N.

Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms – Immobilization or death inducing Main House Juuken technique of the Hyuuga.

Armour of Sticky Gold – Technique in which Kidomaru excretes his special sticky gold from his pores, creating a hard armour that even block the Juuken.

Dance of the Larch – Taijutsu technique of the Kaguya clan, in which several barb-like bones extend from their bodies before they start a spinning attack pattern which shreds anyone nearby.

Dance of the Camellia – Kenjutsu technique of the Kaguya, employing a bone sword made of the bone of the user's upper arm.

Dance of the Clematis (Vine, Flower) – Paired techniques of the Kaguya clan. The vine, which uses the user's spinal column, immobilizes the opponent while the Flower, formed of the densest bones, pierces them.