Naruto:
Edge of Tomorrow
Chapter 6
-Hi no Kuni
Overture: End-
By Geor-sama


"Are we still headed in the right direction?"

"Yes," Hinata managed, stumbling slightly before correcting herself.

"Are you ok?" Kakashi glanced at the girl, noting absently the veins jutting out on her face before he looked away. Despite her intent look and dangerous attitude, she was pushing herself. He was impressed with the way she was soldering through the obvious exhaustion she was feeling.

"I am fine," Hinata said her breathing heavy and sweat standing out on her forehead.

"We can go a bit slowe-" Kakashi started to offer before Hinata cut him off, in a manner reminiscent of Kurenai.

"I am a kunoichi of Konoha." Hinata said, not looking away from the path they were on. "I will be fine Kakashi-sensei."

"Of course," Kakashi said, his visible eye curving up. "I wouldn't expect any less of a woman like you." Noting the faint blush that filtered over her cheeks at that he turned his mind away from the girl and back toward what they were rushing into.

Two Akatsuki agents, one of whom seemed truly immortal. By all accounts, this 'Hidan' had survived complete decapitation without a problem. The other one, 'Kakuzu', was a total unknown figure. Other than the fact that he collected bounties there was nothing else known.

Of the two, Kakashi was sure Hidan would be the one that Shikamaru and the others would target. After all, Hidan was the one responsible for the death of Asuma after all, and that had been the reason for their leaving the village. However, blinded by grief, he feared they were overlooking Kakuzu.

Despite whatever the surviving members of Team Nine believed, Kakuzu was not going to just sit around while they killed Hidan.

"Kakashi-san, anou, I have not asked yet but...what are we going to do?"

Blinking and pulling himself out of his thoughts, Kakashi frowned slightly glancing at the girl. She raised a good point, if it was just the two of them then they didn't have much chance. Still, if he had to fight, he wanted to handle this and fast, especially since Naruto and his team could be in the general area according to Tsunade.

The last thing they needed was two apparently immortal Akatsuki agents acquiring the grand prize of demon collectors.

"Our goal isn't to fight, just to get those three out of danger." Kakashi said, glancing at the girl. "However, it's a strong possibility that we will have to engage the enemy. I'll cover the group's retreat, while you tend to any injuries and attempt to keep them from coming back to the fight."

"Won't they stop us?" Hinata said, the veins around her eyes fading as exhaustion finally forced her to stop using the Byakugan.

"I am the Copy-cat Kakashi," Kakashi said without bravado "I have several powerful jutsu, beside the Chidori, I can use to help cover your retreat. Also, if all else fails, I do have a version of the Mangekyō Sharingan and even if its' not a 'true' Mangekyō it will stop our enemies."

"Anou, but that still doesn't explain..."

"Trust me Hinata-chan, I can do tactics," Kakashi said brightly "who do you think taught Naruto to look beneath the underneath?"

When she remained silent, apparently mollified, he turned his mind to the serious matter. Now that he was thinking about it, how exactly would he keep those two Akatsuki from stop attacking the retreating group? Even with the use of the Mangekyō Sharingan, he doubted he could stop both of them.

Ideally, he would have to kill one by conventional means and then use his Mangekyō Sharingan on the other, which of course settled the targets. Hidan would have to have to be his target for the extra-dimensional world and Kakuzu would be killed.

Now how exactly he was going to achieve that was a good question, it wasn't like he could attack them head on.

Unless he used Kage Bunshin.

Slowly a plan started to take shape in his mind and he felt his eye narrow in intense thought.


Kakashi


Looking up from his conversation with his bugs, Shino stared at the approaching Kiba. A moment later, he noticed the unconscious boy slung over Kiba's shoulder and the two Genin trailing behind him. Raising an eyebrow he stood, hands in his pockets, preparing his bugs in case this was an enemy trick.

"Kiba," Shino said in greeting as they drew close.

"Oi, Shino." Kiba returned casually, coming to a stop looking annoyed. "I gotta get this guy to Konoha, medical emergency and crap."

"Ah," Shino inclined his head, as his bugs confirmed it was indeed Kiba. "I trust you can take the time to explain the situation?"

"Damn it, I shoulda known," Kiba complained adjusting the boy on her shoulder. "Ok, so me and Akamaru were out looking for backup like we decided and we found Naruto and them. Only, these guys were hurt...well I told them what was happening and how we needed to go help out."

"And?" Shino prompted.

"And, Naruto got all bossy right? Told me to take these guys back to Konoha and his team would go on to help Hinata and Kakashi-sensei." Kiba snorted in annoyance. "So I lent 'em Akamaru to help them track the others down..."

"That seems unwise, even with Akamaru's tracking ability you should have joined them." Shino said, uncertain. "Also, Akamaru could have carried the boy back easily enough with those two making sure he didn't fall."

"Well," Kiba hedged before sighing. "Look, it's not like I had a choice ok? Naruto sorta ordered me to-"

"He ordered you?"

"Yea," Kiba agreed sounding put out. "It was really weird; I mean normally I wouldn't listen to him. But this time he was, different, ya know? Not cocky or a goofball, like he had total authority."

"Total authority?" Shino repeated, understanding better than Kiba what he had meant. He had overheard a few people commenting on that, how he seemed unlike his normal self at times. Which didn't surprise Shino, he had seen a glimpse of that change shortly after meeting up with Naruto shortly after his return.

"For a moment it felt like I was talking to the-" Kiba said, before pausing and scowling "it's not important."

"The Hokage," Shino supplied blandly, then noticing his friends surprise nodded. "Everybody has been talking about it, least of all Hinata."

"It seems a bit strange though. I mean, I know Hinata has been saying he would be Hokage but ya know how a girlfriend is." Kiba sighed before shaking his head. "But I guess it's true. Either way I have to get these guys to Konoha, especially this guy whatever happened to him had Sakura spooked and you know how great of a medic she is."

"Indeed," Shino agreed coming to his own decision. "I'll escort you, weighed down as you are if we were to encounter any enemies I am not sure how well you could manage."

"Oi, saying something like that! Are you saying I'm weak?" Kiba snapped heatedly.

"I said nothing of the kind," Shino said turning to lead the way. "You however, did say it."

"HEY!"


Kiba


Uzumaki Naruto was by no means sane in the conventional sense. Indeed only in Konoha, which produced an alarmingly high rate of insane ninja, was he considered sane and even then, he stretched the boundaries at times. Five minutes alone with the boy told anybody that he was far from stable.

Yet, Sakura mused darkly as she watched him surge ahead of them; he had never reacted this way before. Every since they had started racing after Team Nine, as well as Kakashi and Hinata, he had been radiating a homicidal insanity. Case in point, he had actually threatened to slit Shikamaru's throat for putting so many people at risk.

Frighteningly enough Sakura believed he would do just that.

"Sakura-chan, if we keep this pace up much longer we'll be far too tired to provide proper backup." Lee suddenly said beside her, a frown firmly in place.

The medic sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Lee was right, she was rapidly burning through her own chakra reserves to keep up with Naruto's pace, and Akamaru was panting from behind them and while Lee was nearly equal to Naruto in terms of stamina, seemed to be showing signs of fatigue.

"Quit playing aroun-" Naruto started to shout in annoyance, as he glanced back at them, only to have Sakura cut him off.

"Will you slow down!" Sakura snapped, glaring at the boy and noting his harsher whisker marks. "Setting a land speed record will get us there faster but we'd be in no condition to do much. So slow down and use this time coming up with a PLAN!"

She watched the way his features shifted, noting how disturbing it was to see his blue eyes in a state of near foxiness. She could see his jaw muscles tighten and she knew he wanted to shout and rage at her, but he mastered his anger and slowed down. In response, she and Lee eased off the speed as well and they closed ranks.

"I just...what if we're too late?" Naruto muttered glancing at her in a heartbreaking fashion. "It won't be like with Gaara and the granny. Someone dies and we won't be able to bring them back."

"I know," Sakura said. "but Hinata and the other's won't die that easily."

"These are Akatsuki," Naruto growled, eyes flashing.

"Yosh, are these 'Akatsuki' the same as the group that we fought not too long ago?" Lee asked.

"Yes," Sakura said nodding slightly. "You know that each one is S-ranked right Lee-kun?"

"Of course," Lee said seriously. "I know the three of us can handle them. However, I would like to know what exactly they were searching Fire Country for."

"Same thing they wanted in Suna," Sakura said tacitly, aware of Naruto's silence. "They'll go to any length to achieve it as well. Naruto, you've fought these two before?"

"Yeh, in Waterfall" Naruto spat. "Well at least Kakuzu..."

"What's he like?"

"Strong," Naruto muttered with a scowl. "Really strong and really old, he can remember fighting the Shodai Hokage..."

"Yosh, then we should be able to overcome him easily." Lee said.

"Not really," Naruto said with a snort. "The guys' almost immortal, I hit him with everything I had and he just shrugged it off."

"Even as bright flames of youth how can we defeat an immortal?"

"Aa, Lee-kun he said 'nearly' there is a difference," Sakura said with a nod. "However we can't forget about his partner. We need to create a strategy to handle both of them."

"We don't," Naruto said glancing at her. "I do, you two help Hinata-chan and Kakashi-sensei ok? Get them and Team nine out of there. I'll deal with Tweedledee and Tweedledumb."

"Yosh, yes you are powerful Naruto-san, but I don't think even you could kill both."

"We'll see," Naruto said in annoyance. "Just do this for me ok? I don't want...."

"Check." Sakura said with a nod, knowing without words why Naruto was wanting to try and shoulder this task alone. Naruto was silent for a few minutes longer and then darted forward, his chakra surging strong enough to snap the branch he pushed off.

Sakura just sighed and picked up the pace alongside Lee.


Sakura


"Anou, we will be there in ten minutes," Hinata said, her heart beginning to pound in her ears. Straining her eyes, she swept the battle ahead to try and help Kakashi as best she could when she noticed something very disturbing. "Shikamaru-san is missing!"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked anxiously.

"I, anou, I was scouting ahead and...I can see Ino-san and Choji-san, but Shikamaru-san is not there." Hinata explained, frowning and wishing that the knot of fear in her stomach would dissolve. Despite her improvement, Hinata knew she was nowhere near ready for a fight of this level.

"How many Akatsuki can you see?"

Hinata winced and pushed through the pain and the intensifying migraine she was developing. Her vision blurred for a moment as she pushed it to the limit, why couldn't she be as talented as Neji? He wouldn't have had a problem with this at all.

"Hinata?"

"I...anou, just one..." Hinata said, panting heavily. "I don't think I can use my Byakugan much more Kakashi-sensei."

"You're doing great," Kakashi said reassuringly reaching up to lift his forehead protector. "Just a bit more though, if you can. I need to know what Ino and Choji are doing."

"Anou, I'll try." Hinata mumbled, aware of the sweat trickling down the sides of her face. "They look like they are working together...I think-" Hinata suddenly stumbled, pain flaring through her mind. It was only because of the steadying hand of Kakashi that she didn't fall and hurt herself.

"I...I am sorry," Hinata managed, looking embarrassed.

"It's ok Hinata-chan," Kakashi said reassuring her. "You've done great so far, I know that Hyūga don't normally keep their Doujutsu active or strained for this long."

Hinata remained silent, not wishing to argue. Still she felt so pitiful, she was sure that Neji would have been a better choice than her. Hanabi would never have this problem, her sister was very strong and when compared to her Hinata felt almost inadequate as a Hyūga.

"We're almost there," Kakashi suddenly said, intruding on her thoughts. "Remember the plan, you tend to Ino and Choji and then get out of there."

"Anou, what about Shikamaru-san?"

"No this was his idea," Kakashi said with a slight shake of his head. "He wouldn't leave this fight for anything."

"But shouldn't we," Hinata said before realizing how dry her mouth was. Shaking it off she continued "we should act as his backup then."

"Normally I would agree," Kakashi said while creating a Kage Bunshin. "However, both Ino and Choji have to be at their limits by now and you've pushed yourself far too much to be safe. I really don't want to have to deal with Naruto if I let you kill yourself."

"I...I understand," Hinata mumbled and when they came out of the forest she dropped to the ground next to a battered and bruised Choji and Ino.

"Hinata-san?" Ino said in surprise.

"Yes," Hinata said, trying desperately to be the serious kunoichi that she believed herself to be. Eyes sweeping the two she winced, and then looked up at the figure they had been fighting. Her heart paused as she saw an attack already inbound; it looked nothing like a normal attack.

"We have to-" Choji started to scramble to his feet, which snapped Hinata out of her daze and she grabbed his arm yanking pulling him back down as the space between them and the attack was obscured by the green and black blur that was Kakashi.

"Raikiri!"

Hinata could feel the electricity in the air, feel the way her hair fluttered at the impact and winced at the sound of the crackling lightening. Still it was over in a moment and it was clear that Kakashi had come out as the victor, if only barely.

"What the hell?" The oddly masked enemy said in surprise, "Huh, Hatake Kakashi...you have a pretty large price on your head."

"Do I?" Kakashi said in curiosity, before exploding into a cloud of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Choji shouted in surprise, while Ino pointed at the enemy who now had a glowing hand protruding from his chest.

"He...wow, just one attack and he killed that Kakuzu guy." Ino murmured eyes wide. "We couldn't do anything against him and he just...wow."

Hinata however, focused on her task. While both Ino and Sakura had traditional medical training, Hinata had her Hyūga Healer training. Hyūga Healers focused entirely on creams and ointments, they were experts in that field and Hinata proved this as she produced her medical cream and began applying it to Choji. "Ino-san, if you can still use your medical jutsu please heal yourself and help me."

"Y-yes," the blond said snapping out of it, then concentrated on healing leg. Finished she moved to work on Choji as well, while offering Hinata a food pill. "We need to help Shikamaru-"

"No, neither of you are in any condition to help him." Hinata said firmly, noting Kakashi moving toward them. "Kakashi-sensei ca-"

Whatever Kakashi could do however, Hinata never said since a minute later he crashed into the group. Rolling free, Hinata scrambled up and froze seeing the dead Akatsuki agent on his feet once more. A jolt of fear raced up her spine, that was impossible, but there were four black forms bearing a different mask surrounding him.

"Kakashi-sensei how is he still...?" Ino asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure," Kakashi said struggling to a crouch. "However, he managed to survive it's not natural. See those monster's that are coming out of his back?"

"Yes,"

"I think...they're all alive and each one feeds back into him." Kakashi said shaking his head. "Basically he's got five hearts, or four now."

"You impress me," Kakuzu said with a slight tilt of his head. "You're also correct; they all contain hearts of Shinobi I've killed. I'll have to stock up and you should do nicely."

Hinata felt her eyes widen, watching as one of the monster suddenly shot forward, the mask's mouth gaping open. Whatever the attack was, there was no way she could survive it. Then someone roughly tackled her to the ground, while she was buffeted by a powerful blast of wind.

As the attack passed, Hinata pushed herself free of a dazed Ino and looked around. Choji looked hurt worse than ever and Kakashi, who had apparently countered the attack, swayed before collapsing to his knees. Galvanized into action Hinata darted toward, before skidding to a halt as another attack rushed toward her.

Turning her eyes widen as instead of some strange jutsu, there were several black tendrils shooting toward her. Time seemed to slow and for one brief moment, she prayed that Naruto would somehow show up like in a dream and save her. Then reality caught up and she realized that she had only one way to survive.

"Hinata, move!" Kakashi shouted, struggling his way back to his feet.

Hinata however pressed her lips together and gathering her courage, with the knowledge that she could do no less than try, began to move her arms while activating her Byakugan and expelling her chakra. Up, left, right, down, across, up, down, right, left, faster and faster and faster. Thicker, stronger, more flexible!

"Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

A second later the black tendrils crashed into her jutsu, trying desperately to pierce through while Hinata struggled to keep going. Stronger, stronger, faster, faster, more chakra! She couldn't stop, she couldn't let up for an instant, there went one tendril and then another and another.

It seemed to go on for hours, her arms growing more fatigued with each passing second, struggling to stay focused. Then finally, unexpectedly the remaining tendrils retreated and she collapsed to her knees, clutching at the earth, panting and wishing more than anything that she could just pass out.

"Hmm, you're another unique one," Kazku said in a horrible tone. "A Hyūga? What's left of Lightening would pay handsomely to get your body I'm sure, or at least your eyes."

Fear, then anger, clutching at her heart, Hinata looked up at that evil looking monster. She saw the four monsters shifting in anticipation and she knew, without a doubt, there was no way she could stop this man, no way she could win. Despite that she slowly, painfully, fought her way upright. If was going to die, then she would so fighting, proving that she was a ninja.

Forcing her Doujutsu back into activity she braced herself, watching and waiting. A tendril suddenly whipped toward her face but a Jyuken struck it down, nimble footwork moved her out of the path of others. Another Jyuken strike and she was safe, another and another, unending it seemed until she was next to a tiring Kakashi.

"Looks like we'll have to fight him," Kakashi said as he slashed through a tendril wrapped around his waist.

"Y-yes," Hinata panted, batting another aside, aware of the building pain in her body. Darting away, she carried her own fight, trying to buy the other two time to retreat. Still her eyes saw everything; Kakashi fighting a losing battle, the mysterious man leering at her, Ino determinedly working on an unconscious Choji.

For some reason...

for her friends...

for Naruto...

for herself...

Hyūga Hinata, kunoichi of Konoha, fought all that much harder.


Hinata


Lee was not very observant when it came to certain things, not that he was alone in that. Still, he did notice things and what he was noticing worried him. Sakura's face was set into an odd mixture of worry, determination and sadness. He couldn't quite figure out why those emotions were at war within the medic, but he could guess.

Glancing at their captain, the orange and black clad Naruto, Lee felt a stab of jealousy. This boy was the reason for those emotions; Lee knew it though he was not entirely clear why he knew. That was the reason he was jealous, because Naruto could make Sakura feel, whereas Lee could not.

Shaking it off he noticed that the large white canine that they had been following had come to an abrupt stop, followed by Naruto. Coming to a stop as well, Lee glanced at the animal that was looking in two different directions and growling.

"Oi, what's the matter?" Naruto asked, looking in both directions and then at Akamaru.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked, then in a remarkable imitation of a human, used his paw to point in both directions. "Arf, Arf!"

Lee blinked and glanced at Sakura who shrugged.

"So the two went in different directions?" Naruto asked, squatting beside Akamaru who was nodding. "Who's where?"

"Arf, arrf, aarf!!" Akamaru barked, giving Naruto what passed as an expectant glance.

"What'd he say?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Iunno, I can't actually understand him. I'm just reading body language here!" Naruto admitted before pointing to the left. "Is Hinata-chan over there?"

Akamaru shook his head.

"Choji?"

Another shake.

"Ino?"

Another shake.

"Shikamaru?"

"Arf!" Akamaru barked, accompanied by a confirming nod.

Lee glanced in that direction, then back at the other knowing that the team would have to divide now, which would prove dangerous. True, Lee had never fought a true Akatsuki but he did understand their strength and the last time they had divided like this he'd nearly died. Most frighteningly though, was the similarities this situation was bearing to an event two and a half years previous.

"Oi, Lee I want you and Akamaru to head that way," Naruto said, turning to look at him while gesturing to the left. "Help Shikamaru if you can, or need to, but get his ass out of there."

"Naruto, if Shikamaru is over there, he might have a plan." Sakura said, trying to reason with him. "If we try to help, it might disrupt whatever he's doing."

"Sakura-chan, I honestly don't care what he's got going on." Naruto said curtly. "Right now, all I am concerned about is saving my friends from getting killed over revenge."

"Well, what about the others?" Sakura said gesturing expansively to the right. "That's a lot of area to cover without some sort of tracker."

"Don't worry," Naruto said reassuringly with a dark look. "I'm no tracker, but now that were this close I can feel a lot of chakra being thrown around over there."

"I don't feel anything, Naruto are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Naruto almost growled. "Trust me."

"Of course, you are not only a bright flame of youth and my most joyous rival, but also the next Hokage!" Lee said to raise the mood, while flashing a smile. "It is unsurprising that you could do such a thing."

"Thanks, I think."

"Naruto," Sakura started to say, looking torn about something.

Naruto however, turned away fixing his gaze in the opposite direction of where Lee would be heading. "If she dies...Akatsuki finds out what a demon is really like." Naruto said in a tone that reminded Lee of boulders rubbing together, then without warning the blond took off.

"I am beginning to fear for these agents, Naruto-san seems very unstable at the moment." Lee said glancing at Sakura. "He must care for Hinata-chan a great deal."

"He does," Sakura confirmed, her tone holding an emotion that struck a nerve in Lee. "He does a great deal..."

Lee paused, considering that.

Sighing he turned away to face the direction he had to go. "You love him," At her noise of protest, he continued without looking back at her. "He is your friend and comrade. I think it is impossible to know someone for so long and not to have feelings for them. That is why Sakura-chan,"

Turning he gave her his best Nice Guy Pose! "I will protect you with my life. For the beautiful Cherry Blossom and her love of the unstoppable maelstrom the Lotus will bloom as often as it needs to."

"...Lee-kun."

Lee was moving however, already racing toward his fight and ignoring the pain in his heart the knowledge he had just gained.


Lee


Kakashi could feel the burning in his lungs, the ache of his muscles as they were forced to continuously move. This fight was taking a lot of him and it was all too just hold on. The worst part was that Ino was not leaving, nor was Choji, both were on the sidelines exhausted.

Damn it, things weren't going right. They needed to end this fight, but this Kakuzu was impossible to fight. Any jutsu Kakashi used, the man repelled by turning his flesh to steel. To get close enough for taijutsu you had to fight through a horrendous mass of black tendrils and avoid those masks.

So focused on his own fight, Kakashi almost didn't hear the noise of Hinata being struck. Looking up he felt his stomach drop, the girl was standing there, a tendril extending through her chest and out her back. Kami, he shouldn't have- then suddenly 'Hinata' exploded into a cloud of smoke.

...Kage...Bunshin...

Even Kakuzu looked stunned at that, until Hinata was at his side raining blow after vicious blow against him. The girl was fighting at a level that he couldn't have imagined. She danced and weaved, driving the man back, her chakra lace blows doing far too much damage for the man to survive much longer.

Still Kakashi fought toward her, knowing that she was expended too much chakra. She was exhausted, beyond exhausted and she was pushing herself too much. At this rate, she would kill herself; still it had been Kakuzu's mistake to let her in so close.

He had toyed with her too much, had forgotten that a Hyūga was at their most dangerous when in close combat.

Then suddenly the tendrils became erratic, abandoned him and whipped back toward Hinata. Kakashi couldn't help but stop and watch as Hinata swerved out of the path of an attack, piercing his guard with a timed palm heel to his chest. Even from here, Kakashi knew under normal circumstances that would be the end.

They're had been enough chakra in that blow to kill anyone else.

Kakuzu was of course nearly immortal, and had transformed his skin to metal, and even with all the previous strikes, one blow would not kill him. Hinata stumbled, wavered, then recovered and dodging the increasingly wild attacks of those tendrils, shoved enough chakra into his system to turn any heart into ash.

Kakashi watched in awe as the girl worked, dodging each of Kakuzu's attacks and countering with brutal efficiency. Then it dawned on him, this was not Hinata's normal variation of the Jyuken, it was Neji's. The biggest difference was that Hianta's gentle nature, but there was nothing gentle inside her now.

This was one of those rare flashes of brilliance, which Kurenai had mentioned before.

Kakashi was stunned, almost so stunned that he missed it, her crowning achievement. Ducking a punch, Hinata spun drawing her hands together and to her side. Then coming around she thrust them, palms out, at the man's chest.

"Hakke Kuushou!"

The result was impressive, causing the man to jack knife with a spray of blood from his mouth. Kakashi knew from Neji that move was meant as a long range attack, used so close the blow would have no time to weaken. It had to have destroyed at least one heart. To hammer home the point, a mask cracked and then shattered.

Kakuzu had lost yet another heart.

Realizing the truth, Kakashi moved quickly and reached Hinata just as she collapsed from extreme over-exhaustion. Her skin was ashen, her lips nearly blue. Kami, she was frighteningly close to death as it was, she really had used too much chakra to be safe.

Still she had proven she was stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino shouted, rushing to his side, with Choji in her wake. "I'll take care of-"

"Not now!" Kakashi shouted, feeling the shifting of chakra and looking in the direction of Kakuzu as two masses of black tendrils exploded up and rushed toward them. Handing Hinata quickly to Ino, Kakashi quickly flashed through a series of seals.

"Doton: Toku!"

With a quick rumble, the earth spat forth a massive wall of earth, against which the tendril slammed hard enough to shatter. Still had stalled the attack long enough for Kakashi to convert the wall into an attack, the Earth wall crumbled then blasted forward like a lance piercing the man's chest.

"Nice!" Ino shouted, covering her face.

Kakashi however, could feel the drain of so many high level jutsu. Turning to tell Ino to get out of there he froze, feeling the buildup of chakra. Shoving both girls away, he tried to regain his feet. A second later, the body of Kakuzu convulsed and then exploded once more with those tendrils into a grotesque shape.

Kakashi felt a pain lance through his shoulder and hit the ground hard. Sitting up weakly, hand pulling a tendril from his shoulder, Kakashi watched as the Akatsuki regained his feet. Kakuzu's arms and torso were held together only by those strange tendrils. More telling however, was the man's eyes, which looked slightly crazed, completing the monstrous look he now wore.

"I've never gone through three hearts in one fight..."

"Watch out!" Kakashi shouted a split second after he sensed the hidden tendrils, but it was too late they were already wrapped around his limbs holding him in place. It was too late, he could tell without even looking, he could hear Ino struggling.

There was no one left.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" Choji suddenly shouted, and a second later, a massive fist slammed into the Akatsuki agent freeing them.

Kakashi quickly scrambled to his feet and collected Hinata, only to turn at the sound of Choji screaming. Kakuzu was on his feet once more, his tendrils depositing a now wounded Choji near them. Looking up, Kakashi met the man's gaze and knew this really was the end unless a miracle happened.

"Now...die..." Kakuzu grinned almost manically as two of his masks withered their way out from the black mass of tendrils protruding from his back. Kakashi noted futilely that he was combining wind and fire, to which he had no ready counter unless he used his Mangekyou Sharingan. He couldn't though; using this close would kill his team mates, making it a pyrrhic victory at best.

He should have been better, should have taken more than just Hinata as his backup!

"Fuuton: RASENGAN!" A new voice shouted and Kakashi felt a sense of deja vu as the jutsu that had been hurtling at him slammed into what could only be Naruto's.

The explosion was intense, ripping the tendrils binding them to shreds and gouging out a section of earth. Several of the surrounding trees were now aflame, but most importantly everyone was alive, and Uzumaki Naruto and his team were standing between them and an unstoppable enemy.

"Hope we're not too late," Naruto said, his eyes never leaving the recovering Akatsuki agent.

"Good timing," Kakashi allowed as Ino breathed in relief.

"A hero usually shows up at the last second," Naruto remarked casually, clenching a fist. "Sakura-chan?"

"I'm on it!" the pink haired medic said, breaking formation to race to Hinata's side.

"Hehe..." Kakuzu said, his eyes focusing completely on Naruto. "Looks like you've already been beaten up...are you still wanting to fight me Naruto-san?"

Kakashi struggled to his feet, setting aside his curiosity about how these two knew each other. His body was feeling far too sore to be a good sign but he had to help Naruto. Moving to join the boy he was brought up short as Sakura, holding Hinata under one arm, restrained him. "Kakashi-sensei, we need to move..."

"Are you insane?" Ino shouted moving over to confront her friend. "We need to stay and help Naruto, this guy is seriously strong!"

"I can handle him," Naruto said and Kakashi could tell, despite seeing only his back that Naruto had that fox-like grin he wore during battle.

"Naruto!" Ino shouted before rounding on Kakashi. "We can't just leave him!"

Kakashi ignored her for the moment, studying the blond in front of him. He could tell this was a different Naruto, stronger, but was he strong enough? Kakashi frowned, remembering what he had told the boy when they had first started the Nature Manipulation training. "Naruto, you'll have to kill him three more times."

"Right." The blond said.

"Fall back," Kakashi said, then turning grabbed Ino's arm and took off toward the forest, Sakura at his side and Choji acting as a reluctant rear guard.

"This is insane," Ino shouted, stumbling but keeping up.

"Just have faith," Kakashi said seriously, reaching up to slide his forehead protector back over his eye. "If there is a ninja we can trust to get this done it's Naruto."

"But, but...he's Naruto!"

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask, bringing them to a stop just far enough away to be safe and yet still be helpful if need be. "Trust me Ino-san, I believe Naruto's the ninja that will surpass the Yondaime."

"Insane," Ino mumbled.

Kakashi instead focused on Sakura who was already working on Hinata, then turned his attention back the way they had come. Sitting down, he sighed, wishing he had his book to read, but in retrospect, maybe it was better without it. Either way he knew one thing now, one very important thing:

It was all up to Naruto.


Kakashi


Kakuzu watched in annoyance as the large bounty he could have claimed for that Kakashi and Hyūga slipped through his fingers, still he was now facing the most elusive Jinchūriki Akatsuki had ever encountered. On the up side, Rock had a decent amount on the boy's head and after they had extracted the Bijuu the body would be far game.

Still, he would have to make it a point of claiming both Hyūga and Kakashi.

"Hmm," Kakuzu finally said softly, using the threads that connected his body to restore his arms. "You've gotten a little stronger than Waterfall huh?"

"Oi, I can't believe I'm looking at your ugly ass face again." Naruto said eyes narrowed in anger. "Plus, shouldn't you be collecting the money for all those missing-nin's in Akatsuki?"

"I had forgotten how talkative you were."

Naruto in response formed a familiar seal and created a dozen clones.

"Taju Kage Bunshin?" Kakuzu asked in mild amusement, remembering their brief encounter in Waterfall a few days before Hidan had come to recruit him for Akatsuki. "Haven't you already tried this? Next you'll pull a switch and slam that Rasengan into me..."

"You haven't seen anything!" Naruto shouted as the mass of clones charged toward him.

Kakuzu snorted at the stupidity of this attack and sent several threads snaking through the air to stall the attack, unsurprisingly this worked alarmingly well. Kage Bunshin after Kage Bunshin exploded as they were ran through or crushed by the threads, creating a rather large cloud of acidic smoke.

Kakuzu however was less interested in this and more interested in the coming Rasengan. Forming the Snake Earth hand seal he activating his ability, turning his entire body to steel then braced himself. A second later, the smoke swirled and then parted, revealing a charging Naruto only instead of a Rasengan he had his arm pulled back holding a spear made of smoke.

"Kemuri Yari!" Naruto shouted thrusting the spear forward.

Kakuzu flinched ever so slightly, surprised at facing an attack that he had never seen before. Then he felt the impact and breathed in relief, despite the fact that it managed to force him backward. Righting himself he lashed out with his threads, discovering after his threads had impaled the boy's shoulders, that it had been a Kage Bunshin.

Impressive.

"Kazeryu no Jutsu!" Naruto suddenly shouted from the left and Kakuzu felt not just surprise, but worry. Turning he had just enough time to see a dragon, made of wind, hurtling at him as if it was alive. Not wanting to test his steel body against that much compacted wind, Kakuzu jumped avoiding the devastating jutsu.

He felt impressed; this was the first time in a hundred years that he had seen a wind dragon. That was a very dangerous technique.

"Fūton: Rasengan!"

Twisting in the air as best he could, he cursed as he found yet another Naruto slamming a ball of compact wind chakra into his back. It was by far the most painful thing he had felt in a long time and he lashed out without thinking, his threads making quick work of Naruto. Sadly, this was yet another Kage Bunshin, and Kakuzu realized belated that he was already slamming into the ground.

The Akatsuki agent laid there for a moment, unable to believe what had happened and aware that he had come close to losing yet another heart. Getting up quickly, his last two mask's bursting from his body as he did, he noted this boy had an unusually strong affinity for wind chakra.

"So you've mastered Nature and Form manipulation now?" Kakuzu said, eyes narrowing in anger at the apparently real Naruto who was creating even more Kage Bunshin.

"Something like that," Naruto answered as he finished creating his Kage Bunshin.

Kakuzu however was not about to let this child get the better of him yet again. Combining their bodies the last two mask's, wind and fire, each emitted their own jutsu blast from their mouth. He saw the surprise on the boy's face, as the area was consumed in the attack that left nothing in its wake. Unsurprisingly the blond had managed to avoid it and was currently rushing toward him.

Kakuzu found it almost childishly easy to use his thread and entwine the boy tightly. "You're heart is mine now!" A second later his threads were ripped apart as a burst of red chakra engulfed the boy before fading away. Staring at the blond in surprise Kakuzu realized something that was the first overt sign of the sealed Bijuu he had ever seen from Naruto.

The Nibi Jinchūriki had almost instantly jumped straight into using her demons strength, Naruto however seemed to be restraining himself. For what reason, Kakuzu didn't know, but that meant Naruto was a lot more unpredictable than he should have been. Still...

"So what now?" Kakuzu asked. "It's obvious that I'm smarter than you and it's only a matter of time until I win, that fancy 'Fūton: Rasengan' or not."

"I know," Naruto managed with a pant, creating a vast horde of Kage Bunshin, two of whom began to concentrate chakra into his hand. "It's time for stage two..."

Kakuzu blinked, watching silently and with a great amount of trepidation as he felt the chakra taking shape, into what he didn't know. All he knew was that jutsu was insanely powerful, extremely dangerous...and most definitely not something he could let hit him.

Then as the chakra finally took the shape of a Giant Chakra Shuriken, with a Rasengan at the center, the Kage Bunshin attacked.

Kakuzu was no fool; he knew that losing track of the real Naruto would mean his immediate and permanent death. Still he couldn't ignore the incoming Kage Bunshin, thus he sent out massive amounts of black thread and allowed his mask's to fire off wind and fire jutsu all around him.

Yet the entire time he laid waste to the world around him, he kept track of the real Naruto which was amazingly easily with that jutsu that had been unveiled. Yet every time he tried to snag the boy with a thread or a mask, a Kage Bunshin or three would appear and take the brunt of the attack allowing the boy to gain even more ground. It appeared this fight would boil down to whoever made the first mistake; damn he hadn't thought this child would actually be this strong.

Destroying yet another Kage Bunshin, he cursed as he was distracted. Hastily scanning the sea of yellow, black and orange Kakuzu tried to find the real Naruto. When he found what appeared to be the real one, he had a swirling mass of chakra in his hand after all, Kakuzu attacked without hesitation.

The blond jumped, his face screwed up in concentration as he kept the jutsu from dissipating and Kakuzu sensed his moment of victory. Threads twisting around and hurtling upwards, he watched as the sky borne Naruto was forced to use his jutsu to defend himself, only it wasn't the giant shuriken that he remembered seeing and he realized he had made a mistake.

It was not the real Naruto and it had never been, the Rasengan that slammed into the threads was the 'Fūton: Rasengan' and that moment of distraction was all the real Naruto needed to dart from among his army of Kage Bunshin and cover the short distance between them.

"Kaze Shuriken!" Naruto screamed, slamming the horrifying mass of chakra directly into his chest. Kakuzu tried to block, tried to move but it was impossible. He could feel his body, what felt like every cell, shredded by what felt like billions of tiny knives.

Distantly he could hear and feel his last mask's shattering.

Kakuzu's last thought as he stared into those crystal blue eyes and grime covered face was how young the would-be-Hokage actually looked.


Kakuzu


Uzumaki Naruto was not a stranger to pain; it had been his constant companion for his entire life really. He had, of course, redefined his definition of pain several times over the course of his career. First with that pervert Jiraiya, then when he began his training for the ever elusive combining of nature and form manipulation.

Staring up at the darkening sky, sensing the rain that was to come, he decided to redefine pain once more. Because that last attack had felt like he had been ripped apart from the inside out. Turning his head, he looked at the outstretched hand.

Concentrating, he pushed through the pain to try to make a fist. It felt like forever, but finally he managed it and he breathed easier knowing that he hadn't destroyed his arm. Thank the Kami for small miracles, if had ruined his hand then he'd be in a bad position.

Using his good arm and hand, Naruto leveraged his way into a sitting position while unconsciously cradling his hurt arm against his stomach. Looking around he felt the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, despite the devastation of the area he felt damn good. One Akatsuki dead without aid from the blasted Kyūbi, and even better, he could term the second stage of his new Ninjutsu officially complete.

A moment later, as the first drops of rain splattered against his cheek, Naruto laughed happy to be alive. He quickly sobered however, as he remembered how this had happened. He could still see Hinata's slightly ashen face and a sense of dread filled him, what if she had died?

Then Shikamaru would too. Naruto decided curtly, which told him something important. Naruto had a very dim view on revenge, with good reason, but he was also aware that there was certain people he would seek it for. Tsunade, Iruka, Sakura...and now Hinata.

His most precious people.

"Naruto?"

Looking up, Naruto blinked his eyes to clear them of the rain and found Sakura and the others approaching once more. Kakashi was carrying Hinata carefully and Naruto struggled to his feet before he collapsed. Swearing he fought his way up once more, aided this time by the firm hand of Sakura.

"Relax Naruto, she's fine...it was touch and go for a while, but she pulled through." Sakura said and a sense of relief washed through him. Hinata was fine.

"Sakura-chan, thank-" Naruto started to say before he paused, taking in how pale she looked. Even he knew the early signs of chakra exhaustion and a jolt of alarm shot through him. "Sakura-chan!"

"I'm fine," Sakura said, flashing him a weak smile. "Just exhausted, not just from Hinata, but the others. But I'm fine, really."

"Oi, you need to sit down." Naruto said firmly trying to force her to sit.

"No really, I'm fine. You're the one that needs to be sitting down," Sakura protested, struggling to fight his instance that she sit down. In the end they both ended up collapsing, which in turn prompted them to start laughing as only friends could.

"Naruto-san? Sakura-chan?"

"Aa, Lee-kun?" Sakura said, managed through her laughter.

"Ahaha! I knew that two such bright and happy flames of youth as the beautiful cherry blossom and my newest of eternal rivals would win the day!" Lee proclaimed, happily before noticing Hinata. "Yosh, is Hinata-san-"

"She's out of the woods, but it was rough. According to Kakashi-sensei she would have been fine if it had been someone that didn't have five hearts." Sakura explained, turning serious which prompted Naruto to stand once more and approach the girl.

Reaching out he brushed a few stray strands of hair aside, taking in her lovely face and reassuring himself that she was really just unconscious. Most telling was the fact that she was no longer ashen, and Naruto allowed a finger to graze over her lips.

"Shikamaru, what about your Akatsuki agent?" Sakura asked and for the first time Naruto realized the other boy was there.

"This is troublesome," Shikamaru muttered before continuing. "Lee was a bit late..."

"Yosh, I arrived just as he defeated his opponent." Lee supplied.

"That's...really impressive," Sakura said, her tone slightly hollow.

"It was just something I had to do," Shikamaru replied, prompting Naruto to turn and stare at him. The pine-apple headed boy was smoking and he looked dirty as all hell. But what Naruto found insulting was the fact that Shikamaru looked so casual that it screamed 'no big deal'.

"So, this was something you had to do," Naruto said evenly, moving toward the other boy until they were face to face "you couldn't wait for backup or for the Hokage to figure out how to handle this. You had to do it."

"Hey, you don't under-" Ino started to protest until Choji wisely clamped a hand over her mouth.

Shikamaru stared at him and taking a deep drag let it out. "Of course it was it was something that couldn't wait. It's a bit bothersome to-"

"Don't. You. Dare. Say. That!" Naruto shouted, cutting him off. "This is not troublesome or bothersome! You wanted revenge so badly that you dragged not only your two closet friends into this, but at least four-" at Akamaru's bark Naruto corrected himself "-five, sorry, other friends into this. OVER REVENGE!"

"This was not just about-"

"Yes, it damn well was! Whatever fuckin logical reason you might have to explain why this wasn't, it IS. You're a damn genius and you can't see that this is the same damn thing Sasuke did two and a half years ago!" Naruto shouted, glaring at the boy with intense loathing.

"Hey," Ino shouted, coming to a now silent Shikamaru's defense. "Are you saying you wouldn't do the same thing? That if someone important to you was killed, you wouldn't go after their killer?"

"What I'm saying," Naruto said, glaring at her, before fixing Shikamaru with another glare "is that revenge is bullshit. The fact that I will kill anyone that hurts one of my precious people goes without saying. But its still bullshit."

Finished he turned away, and retrieving a still unconscious Hinata from Kakashi, started into the forest. "Now let's go back to the village."


AN:

I post these two chapters in honor of Hinata finally A) Getting real screen time and B)Telling Naruto how she feels.

Seriously, the Six tails form was all impressive and everything, but I went only went 'Fuck!' when Hinata had her page to say 'I love you.' I mean, I knew she was going to get invovled in the fight with Pain, she would get beat (and kudos, she actually had a moment of impressivness with her speech and all...now if only she had landed a hit, however glancing, that would have been nice) and Naurto would freak out because an important person of his got hurt/killed in front of him.

But having her admit her feelings, to Naruto of all people, that was surprising.

Also, I didn't include the manga explination of how each village got the Biju. Mainly because I didn't feel like re-writing this chapter for that simple little addition. As it sits, I feel the story doesn't conflict with what the manga explained for the village and their bijuu holdings.