Not getting many reviews lately TT

But hell, I'm just glad I was able to drag this out this long without losing interest :D

I've already got all of this planned out up to a few chapters into Shippuden.

This story has broken the record of reviews, words, favorites, and alerts of all of my abandoned fics :D All that's left is Hits and I only need about 700 more. That will be accomplished sometime after chapter 9, I estimate. Maybe this one :O

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.

Started: May 24, 2008

Worked On: May 26, 2008

Finished: May 27, 2008

Total Days Worked: 3 Days

Start to Finish: 4 Days

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Chapter 8: The Kaima Revealed

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Kumei watched as Naruto landed on the marked sewer hatch and destroyed it with a chakra empowered claw. He turned his grin towards her a nodded to the hole before jumping in. She mimicked his grin and hopped in. "My turn!" She said to herself as she landed.

Naruto looked at her. "Kumei, we're splitting up to search for the prison. When you find it, try to signal me with the seal. If you get into trouble, summon Kakashi with the scroll." He said, handing her the scroll that Kakashi had given to him earlier that morning. "Let's go." Naruto shot off to the left while Kumei went right.

Kumei jumped across any waterways that she found. It was a disgusting color and gave off a disgusting smell. The whole system of sewers seemed to stretch and cover all of Ame in an intricate maze of tunnels. Kumei had already forgotten the way back when she found a dimly lit corridor that lacked any path for sewage. She used every bit of stealth she had to peak around the corner. There was a single Jonin with a bottle of sake reading a magazine. Kumei sent a pulse of chakra to the seal over her heart to signal Naruto.

I want to beat this guy by myself. She thought. I'll use the advantages of a woman's body to do it. She raised her hands into a seal and disappeared in a small poof of smoke. It disappeared to reveal an adult Kumei that had a bruised shin and various scratches over her body. I already know the perfect back story. She told herself. She creeped back a few yards before she went into form and starting to stumble along the path. One eye was half lidded and she favored the leg with the bruise. Right as predicted, the Jonin had a kunai out, prepared to kill the intruder when she turned the corner. She stumbled a bit and caught herself on the wall before she looked up at the man with a pained expression.

"Sir, do you have anything that could help the pain in my leg?" She took a step forward and winced. "Some bastards thought it would be funny if they through me down here for not letting them have their way with me. I injured my leg and got a few scratches."

The man, after checking for any deception helped the women to sit against the wall. "Sure, just hold on." He pulled some cream out of an emergency medical pack and put it on the bruise to lessen the pain and speed up recovery. He grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped it around it to stop air from reaching the nasty cut that was in the center of it. Kumei played along and winced when she should and let the man dig his own grave.

When he finished, she tested her leg and smiled when it didn't hurt as much. "Thank you, sir. If there's any way I could repay you..." The man's face instantly lit up, though he hid it faster than she could see.

"Well, it's been a while since I've had some fun." He said with a perverted grin. Kumei grinned back at the man.

"Oh, I see." She said seductively. Where she learned how to do that, she would never tell anyone except the Icha Icha Movies she found under Naruto's bed. "So long as you don't release inside and take it gently, I'm sure we can figure this out." She walked up the man, careful to make sure her limp was still there, and wrapped around the man before whispering into his ear. "You know, this is only my second time, so be gentle." She nibbled on his collarbone and grinned to herself when he closed his eyes and gasped. She pulled out a kunai and brought it to the back of the man's head, killing him in an instant.

She stepped away from the dead body and shivered. She just took another human being's life. She closed her eyes and forced the guilt to the back of her mind until she had time to deal with it and released her henge. She pulled the bandages off of her leg and dragged the man's body back and around the corner only to come face-to-face with a man with a feral grin. She dropped the body and her eyes widened.

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Sasuke watched Isaribi from his hiding place on the roof of a building. The girl was hiding behind a barrel and watching the movements of people inside a fort-like building. The place where the government's money to be transported is. Sasuke presumed. He watched her seem to nod to herself and disappear.

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Sakura dropped down next to Anko and Iruka. "Anko and Iruka-sensei, I have failed to find much help on finding Sasuke-kun, but I met a women that was very helpful for the mission and possibly Sasuke. She said that Kikai Island is a forbidden place. They say that anyone who goes there never returns because they've been spirited away. I believe Sasuke-kun may have been taken to the island." The pink-haired girl paused to take out a piece of paper. "I also got the instructions to the house of the only person to have come back after being spirited away."

Anko nodded. "That would make sense, though I highly doubt anyone has been spirited away. Kikai island is most likely the place of the abandoned lab. Quick, let's go see the survivor of Kikai island." Anko turned and leaped off, with Iruka and Sakura following her, following the directions on the paper.

They had been jumping for six or so minute when Anko called a halt on a branch that overlooked a beach. "Wait."

Sakura landed next to her to see what it was. "It's that girl." She said.

"What's she doing?" Anko asked. "We'll wait and watch." The three leaf nin stood on the branch and watched as the girl they met earlier, later dubbed as Isaribi by Sasuke, walked along the beach. After a bit she stopped and looked around carefully.

"She's cautious." Sakura said.

Anko nodded. "We'll follow her, carefully." The three jumped down and began to flit from shadow to shadow as the girl entered a large crack in the wall. The three hurried to follow, not noticing the ever watchful presence that sat high above them on the cliff.

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Isaribi exited the small naturally-made tunnel and walked into a pond-like area. The only entrance and exit fro the water was a break in the circular cliff that surrounded it. She kept a sharp eye out as she walked out until the water came up to mid-shin. She stopped all movement as her pupils seemed to widen and change. She formed a fist with her hand before it warped into a strange fish-like limb. Her body tensed as all the bandages were ripped off and she became covered with green scales. Her hair itself was also coated with the scales, housing a large fin on the back of her head. Under her eyes were two curves of the green that seemed to pull attention to her sad eyes. Fins sprouted on the backs of her arms and legs, leaving only her turquoise half-dress, and tan shorts to cover her body.

"That form!" A voice gasped form behind her. She turned to see the Leaf nin minus Sasuke behind her. She grit her teeth and turned to dive into the water.

Anko's eyes widened a bit as memories came back involving fish-people experiments in the labs. She grasped the curse seal on her neck as the fish girl entered the water. Sakura and Iruka immediately focused their chakra and ran along the water after the girl. "I won't let you get away!" Sakura said. Anko stayed put and closed her eyes as the memory of her standing in front of a large green-filled tube came back. Inside the tube was a girl with long hair and a body that was deformed and morphed into that of a sea beast.

"Orochimaru-sama, what is this?" The young Anko asked. The man behind her was smirking.

"I'll tell you." He said, "This is one of my special jutsu creation facilities. I thought I'd have you help me too."

"But, if the village finds out about this..." The girl was stopped when Orochimaru placed a hand on her shoulder. He had an evil smile on his face.

"It's not working out so well. I'm almost there too..." He said, "Silly girl, there's nothing to be afraid of. What's truly frightening is to neglect the pursuit of truth." Anko turned back to the tube with fearful eyes, her body shaking.

"That girl, could she be...?" Anko asked herself, wondering if the girl she was seeing now was the same that she'd seen so long ago in the tube.

Isaribi dove underwater and sped up. Sakura was about to prepare an explosive note covered kunai to destroy the exit, when something stopped her. The earth around the exit itself dropped down, like a sluice gate, to block the fish girl. She dodged a few rocks that fell from the wall and surfaced, only to be wrapped up with ninja wire by Iruka.

"So you're the kaima?" Sakura asked, calmed down since before. She held an amount of pity for the girl because she was just like Naruto in the sense that everyone disregarded and even hated her for something that wasn't her fault.

Sasuke dropped from above the collapsed exit to look at Isaribi. The girl was looking down in shame and feelings of being hated coming back full force. "Isaribi." He said, no emotion betraying his thoughts. She just grit her teeth and slashed the wires holding her. She dove underwater as Anko stumbled up, holding on to her pulsing seal. They all watched as the water rose and formed into a mass that faintly resembled human beings. It condensed and formed into the man with the shades with his hand on Isaribi's shoulder. "Release her." Sasuke said.

"I can't do that." The man grinned. "She's an important guinea pig. If I lose her, I'll be held responsible." He made a single hand sign and the water around them began to swirl. The man and girl began to sink into the water, grinning all the way.

The man's laughing was only stopped when a powerful knee slammed into his face, flinging him backwards and causing the girl to fall over. She was caught by someone and looked up to see the, oh-so-rare, kind face of Sasuke Uchiha. "Isaribi, if you keep running, I'll have to bring you down by force." She grit her teeth and fruitlessly tried to escape. Sasuke's grip was too strong, even when her fins would cut into his arms, he held firm. He wasn't about to let one of his and Naruto's friends just run away to continue working indirectly for Orochimaru.

Anko's seal pulsed harder. There's no doubt about it. She thought to herself, an image flashing back of the fish girl in the tank. The seal pulsed even harder and she fell to her knees and hand that wasn't clamped over her shoulder.

"Sensei!" Sakura said, catching the snake mistress before she fell head-first into the water. She pulled her up, one arm around the woman's shoulder. Iruka moved to support her other side. "What's going on?" She asked, only to receive no answer.

Sasuke hauled Isaribi up and kept a firm hold on her shoulders. "Let's set up camp and help Anko recover. Isaribi, release your form and I'll supply bandages for you to hide your features." She reluctantly followed his orders and turned back into a human. Sasuke pulled out a roll of bandages and created a shadow clone to help bandage her up while he kept a hold on her.

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The sky overhead was dark as Sakura wrung out a washcloth and placed it on Anko's forehead.

"How is she?" Iruka asked, feeling concerned for the women's health, considering her 'known' past with Orochimaru.

"I don't know." Sakura said. "I can't tell why she collapsed earlier, though I have a suspicion that it involves the seal on her neck."

"It does." Sasuke said, drawing attention to where he sat next to a sad and lonely Isaribi. "The Curse Seal is one of Orochimaru's sick and twisted inventions. From what I understand from when she received it, she was a test subject and probably has an imperfect one. That is probably what stops her from going to the man for power. From what I heard from someone one my and Naruto's travels, it corrupts the person and draws them to Orochimaru so they can gain power. The fact that she is able to resist is because it is imperfect. But, being near to where she was discovered after she'd left with the snake, is probably bringing back the long lost memories that the snake sealed away, causing her seal to go haywire."

"You sure know a lot about it." Iruka said, eying the mark on the woman's neck.

"Let's just say we had the misfortune of running across Orochimaru's only female teammate."

"You met Tsunade-sama?" Iruka asked incredulously.

"We did, but it wasn't that pleasant as Naruto got the tar beat out of him after picking a fight and I was close to receiving one. But we were able to get some information regarding her teammates and my Sharingan deciphered her super strength so we could teach it to Sakura."

"Sugoi..." Iruka said. He broke out of his stupor when he turned to the girl. "What of the girl? She is the kaima, no?"

"She is," Sasuke said, making the girl look down in shame, though she was already looking down so she didn't move much. "But, just like Naruto, her condition was not her choice and people hate her for it. Though, I don't know why she does it, I figure it has something to do with those men and Orochimaru's lab. She refuses to talk about it."

"I see." Iruka said, sad that there were actually people like Naruto that were hated for something that wasn't their fault. It was the snake bastard's fault. Iruka swore he'd kill the snake if he got the chance for what he did to Anko and any of his other experiments. "The government money transport ship leaves tomorrow morning. We should go back to the inn."

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Anko found herself staring at the floating fish girl again before she was back in her room, holding her knees to her chest on her bed. Her floor was half littered with books and scrolls. She stared ahead with eyes that lacked life. Monotonously she stood and began washing beakers and such that were sitting in a sink. Then her hand slipped and she dropped the bowl she was wiping off and it shattered on the floor. She bent down and began to pick the pieces up when a shadow fell over her.

"What's wrong?" came the voice of her sensei. She looked back at him with slight fear and stuttered.

I-I'm sorry; my hand just slipped."

"Really." He said.

His gaze was disturbing so she diverted her eyes before picking the last few pieces up. "I'll clean this up right away." She said before turning to carry the pieces to a suitable disposal unit.

"Anko." She stopped and looked back at the snake-like man. "Hokage-sama is aware of the research here."

"I understand." She said before walking out of the room.

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Iruka, Sakura, and Sasuke turned their heads when they heard a shuffling. Anko was sitting up. "Sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Hai, but more importantly, there's something I want to tell you about the kaima." She said, sitting on the wooden floor of the inn they were staying at. "Those things called kaimas were once human who's body has been modified." Isaribi just tried to make herself smaller on the small cot they'd set up for her on the floor.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked.

"The spirited away incident that happened ten years ago wasn't because of a monster. Orochimaru was kidnapping people for the research he was conducting at the time."

"Orochimaru..." Iruka muttered under his breath. "Is he the one responsible for the incident this time around?"

"Wait a second. Orochimaru, incident, why do you bring this up all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.

"I guess I'll have to start by explaining to you why Orochimaru left the village. About twelve years ago, Orochimaru gave in to sense of curiosity and lust for power. He gradually went beyond the discipline of a shinobi and later he even began creating kinjutsu. Of course the village eventually learned of it. But Orochimaru, who had been traveling out of country often for missions, had a few facilities outside of Konoha."

"Then, one of those facilities is on Kikai Island." Iruka stated. "It was made before he went rogue."

"Then, all the people that were kidnapped..." Sakura started.

"Were used for experiments." Sasuke finished for her.

"That bastard, Orochimaru." Sakura said, half angry. "What does he think people are!?"

"Then what do we do?" Sakura asked, slightly fearing the answer.

"We crush the kaima's base." Anko said, grinning, as if it was the most obvious thing. "No need to worry, though, he abandoned it long ago and there is practically zero percent chance that we run into Orochimaru himself. Other than that, judging by our friend over here, there should only be maybe one or two experiments, if that, that we run into since the lab had probably lost a lot of needed funding.

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It wasn't long before the five found themselves in a boat rowing out towards Kikai Island.

"Ne, Anko-sensei, How did you know about Kikai Island?" Sakura asked.

"The Jonin who trained me was Orochimaru." She lowered her head. "Let me know when we get close to the island." The seal started burning against her skin again. The pain is getting worse.

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The man with shades rose up from a pool inside of a glowing cave. He walked up to a man sitting in a chair in an adjacent chamber. The man scowled when he saw that the girl wasn't with him.

"Where's the girl, Yoroi?" The man asked, irritated.

"She was taken by Sasuke Uchiha. Amachi-sama." He said, kneeling. "His strength has been greatly underestimated."

"I see." Amachi said, rubbing his chin. "We're going to get her back one way or another. You and Misumi get one more chance. I don't care if Orochimaru-sama needs you for later, if you fail this, Yoroi Akado and Misumi Tsurugi will be names buried with this experiment."

"Understood, sir." Yoroi said before disappearing.

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Isaribi was asleep when dreams began to assault her. The first was earlier when Sasuke defended her against the children. Following that were older ones where she was completely shunned.

She stood in front of a group of people who all seemed to be glaring at her.

"Hey, it's her." Someone said. "I hear she was spirited away, but only she came back..." Isaribi felt tears well up in her eyes and she turned around and just run, the tears falling. She didn't care, she just wanted to get away.

Her dreams continued half of the night before she entered a dreamless state, much to her would-be relief had she been conscious.

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"Aniki!" Kumei said in an excited whisper. She looked at the form of her smiling big brother as she dropped the body.

"Do I want to know how you know how to seduce men?" He asked.

Kumei blushed a bright red. "No, you don't."

"Didn't think so. Now, let's finish of this place. We still have four Jonin and three ANBU to beat." Naruto said, grinning. Kyuubi was gearing up for the first fight she had in twelve, going on thirteen, years. Naruto crept up to the door and let his sense spread out. He sensed twenty-eight chakra sources, seven were the guards and strong, one was being concealed, and the rest were civilians. The room was a large square room that would have enough room for the prisoners to stay out of the fight. In the back corner was a small pipe that could barely fit a teenager. On second glance, Naruto felt a genjutsu covering the hole. Probably the guards hiding the prisoner's escape route. Naruto turned back to Kumei.

"When we rush in, wait for me to pull up Kyuubi before you go and have everyone crowd against the far wall. I don't want anyone to get stuck in the crossfire." the blond turned back to the door and grinned. Remember, Kyuubi, only kill those with the rat skull symbol.

Fine, whatever, just let's get this over with! Kyuubi whined. I needs to kill before this boredom kills me! Naruto sweatdropped. He leaned back and raised his right leg before sending it crashing into the door. The metal was torn off of its hinges and flung into the room.

Inside the room was just like Naruto had sensed, but the pipe was non-existent as it was still under the genjutsu. In the middle of the room were twenty-one people huddled together. There were seven now-alert guards standing in a circle around them. Naruto didn't waste time trying to figure out the one concealing their chakra, he just let Kyuubi take over. "Kumei, go!" He said in a half-demonic voice. The little girl nodded and shot forward faster than one would think possible for an eight year old girl.

"Who are you!?" One guard asked as they congregated on Naruto, who just grinned.

"Hello there. It's been a long time since I've been able to tear into flesh and bone!" He said, laughing, scaring the ninja to no end. The red chakra cloak in the shape of a fox wasn't too calming either. He shot forward and slashed a claw at a Jonin. It was blocked before his second claw swung around and grabbed the man's arm. The man's arm was separated from his body before he knew it. He screamed when the pain set in for a second before Naruto's claws sliced through his neck. He turned and hit an oncoming ANBU in the face with the arm before disappearing and tearing a goat-masked ANBU in half with a claw on each side of the spine.

"Two down!" Kyuubi-Naruto said. He charged forward and kicked one ANBU in the back as a Jonin ran up onto to get backhanded. The force dislocated his jaw and knocked him to the floor where Naruto stomped on the base of his neck, breaking it. A kodachi sliced through Naruto, to reveal it was an afterimage. The man's head was crushed by a large red chakra hand. The last two Jonin, despite the small size of the room, decided to perform jutsu.

"Katon: Endan!" One yelled and blew out a significantly sized fireball. But that wasn't the main part.

"Fuuton: Kaze Ba-Suto!" The burst of wind collided with the fire and made it white hot and faster than before. It hit Naruto dead on.

"Aniki!" Kumei shouted. Only to gasp in shock when laughter came from the white bonfire. The fire dispersed to reveal a perfectly fine Naruto.

"Sorry, boys, fire doesn't quite work on me!" Naruto disappeared and cut one Jonin into pieces while throwing them at the other. In the confusion of limbs and body parts, Naruto swept up and decapitated the man. "One left." He said as he received a sword through the chest. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood. HE turned to glare at the man before standing and grinning. "Nice try! Too bad it failed!" He growled out as the wound healed in front of the ANBU's eyes. That was all the shock needed for Naruto to destroy the man.

As Naruto gathered up the bodies, a man in the crowd separated and darted for the hidden pipe. He had on glasses and white/blue camouflage pants and t-shirt. His hair was short and brown. He leaped through the genjutsu and kept it up. Naruto growled at the boy before turning to the pile of corpses and burning them with a Goukakyuu.

Kyuubi receded back into the cell and Naruto winced a bit from using the fox's chakra. "Kumei, take care of them! Escorted them out with my clone!" Naruto jumped into the pipe and left a shadow clone.

Naruto crawled through the pipe that fit him better than the other man because he was smaller. But the problem was, the other man was far ahead and seemed to be sliding through the tunnel on ice, nonetheless. "Two can play at that game." Naruto growled before he used his wind to push himself forward. The rough pipe was a pain but Naruto pushed through.

He was nearing the boy when he just dropped from view into an open room. Naruto just shot into the room without slowing down and flew across it. He landed on the wall before dropping to the floor and looking around. They were in a room that was at least four times as large as the previous one. There was only the pipe for an exit and the man knew it. He stood across, just under the pipe, smiling, kind of like Bokura did. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Naruto.

"Glad you could make it, Naruto Uzumaki." He said.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes and preparing to fight.

"I am Ician Franz. I have drawn you to here to fight to test your limits." Ician said gesturing around them. "I remember Bokura explaining all about your fight with him. I wanted to test you myself, unfortunately, you were still in Konoha. But, when I heard you had a mission to Ame, I hurried here and integrated myself with the prisoners. And here we are." Ician settled into a stance. "I don't normally like fighting, but this is just like an all-out spar with the possibility of death on both ends. What do you say?"

Naruto grinned. "Did Bokura tell you how I kicked his ass?" Naruto settled into his own taijutsu stance. "Too bad I forgot to finish him off. Or maybe it's for the better? Maybe I can fight him again later. Tell me, how's his condition?"

Ician smirked. "Unfortunately, he's pretty beat up. Those air blasts that you did damaged his body quite a bit, not to mention your blew out his ear drums. Those were a pain to fix. All in all, he'll be ready to go in a month or so. Now, let's begin." Ician shot off at Naruto as speeds that rivaled Sasuke's. He stopped concealing his chakra and Naruto got the full view of where he sat compared to this guy. His chakra levels were almost high Jonin and would probably reach it in a month or two.

Powerful! Naruto thought before he moved his upper body to the side to avoid a punch to the stomach. He brought his own fist into a upper cut that barely missed as Ician leaned back. The boy, who couldn't have been older than sixteen, kept going back and brought his foot to connect with Naruto's chin, sending him into the ceiling.

Naruto groaned when he fell and landed on his feet. Good job, idiot. Kyuubi said to him. Just let me out and I'll handle it. Naruto shook his head. No, this is my fight, a test. Kyuubi just bristled and walked back into the darkness of her cage with Tenshi giggling at her actions. "You're strong, I'll give you that." Naruto created a shadow clone and then dispelled it in order to tell the other clone to get Kumei back to safety and to tell Kakashi and Yamato not to interfere.

"Why thank you, you are too, to be able to beat Bokura. Though, that was really the Kyuubi and not you. That's why..." Ician's face became serious. "If you use Kyuubi's power in this fight, other than healing, I will kill you." Naruto nodded in understanding. Ician smiled again. "Then let's have fun!" The older boy rocketed towards the blond to begin another taijutsu battle.

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Kumei and the Naruto clone helped the last person through the hatch when the clone stopped for a second. He stood up straight and smirked. "Seems like boss has himself a spar. Come, Kumei, we need to get these people to safety." The girl glanced at him in confusion before following.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at their hotel room. All the people had been taken to shelters until they could get their houses back. When they entered they saw Kakashi and Yamato sitting there, waiting.

"Have fun on your little, excursion?" Kakashi asked, nonchalantly.

Naruto smirked. "Of course, but I'm sure boss is having more fun in his spar right now."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When we went to the prison, there was one person concealing his chakra. When the guards were dead, he darted away and boss followed." The clone explained. "The man is a friend of Bokura's, the guy we fought in Wave, and is testing the limits of boss's power without Kyuubi. He doesn't want you to intervene or do anything to stop them."

Kakashi sighed. "Damn blond." He muttered and the clone's eyebrow twitched. "I suppose we'll just leave him there. If he dies, I'll pull him up from hell and beat the tar out of him."

"I'll remain with you for any updates." The clone said.

Kakashi just waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, do what you want. We're going to go destroy the warehouse base now. We can go in a group."

"Good." Naruto clone said. "We can let Kumei test herself against on of the Chuunin. She's already killed one with deception, now she needs to fight directly." Kakashi would have said that wasn't smart, but he stopped himself because this was Naruto he was talking about and Kumei wasn't technically a ninja, meaning he had no authority over her. They stood up and began to prepare themselves for the upcoming raid.

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Sakura led the five as they jumped off the boat onto Kikai Island. They had landed in a stony area that had no path to anyplace else, meaning they'd have to climb or jump up the rocks.

"This way." Anko said, leading them up the large boulders. Sasuke stayed in the back, keeping an eye on Isaribi, to make sure she didn't run off.

They ended up in a forest looking at a cave. Sasuke was scanning the cave and the surrounding area with his Sharingan. "It's clear." The others nodded and they entered the cave, finding it to have a well-built stone staircase with wooden support beams to hold the ceiling up.

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Amachi was standing between Yoroi and Tsurugi. "The prototype was taken by the Leaf ninja. Get her back. I will not tolerate failure in this. They are coming here. When they get here, we will kill them. If we let this transport ship get by, we won't be able to continue to the next and my research will be postponed. If that happens, you two will die by my hands before I by Orochimaru-sama's. Now, go welcome our guests."

"Hai." The two said. Amachi grinned evilly as the two walked off to take care of the problem. His grin was replicated by the two, though on a lesser scale.

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Sakura led Sasuke and Isaribi down a dark corridor, lit only by a door that was left ajar. Anko and Iruka had branched off earlier. They approached the door and carefully pushed the door open, checking for any ambushes. The room was filled with tanks that gave off an eerie green glow. They approached the tanks to see people-shaped amphibians that seem to be asleep.

"What are these?" Sakura asked, slightly disgusted.

"Experiments that are based off of the data the men gain from Isaribi." Sasuke said, stoically, though inside he was burning with disgust and hatred. Behind them they heard a click. They whirled around but it was too late. The last thing they saw before they fell into the black abyss was the smirking face of Yoroi.

Yoroi's smirk didn't last long as he felt the edge of a kunai being pressed against his throat.

"Don't underestimate Konoha Shinobi." Anko said from behind him. The man put his hands up in surrender but regained his smile. The pink arm of Tsurugi wrapped around Anko's neck and her arm before she could move. Yoroi jumped back next to his partner. A water jet interrupted them and forced Tsurugi to release Anko, but not before Iruka came into view. The two men just smirked and shut the door, leaving the two Leaf nin inside. Outside the door, Yoroi fell into water and Tsurugi grinned.

"Ha, don't underestimate us!" Came the echoing voice of their captors. Anko grit her teeth. Damn!

Any further thought was stopped when the wall behind a row of glowing tanks rose to reveal glaring red eyes. From the shadows came three beasts that were twice as tall as the shinobi. By look they seemed to be giant lions, but on further examination, one could tell there was an unnatural sense about them.

"My, my, aren't these cute little kittens." Anko said with a smirk as she licked her kunai. Iruka shuddered slightly but prepared himself for battle.

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Sakura scream was heard for a short while before she shut down the instinct to do so. They fell down the long shaft and applied chakra to land safely on the ground beneath them. This ground seemed to be like dirt instead of stone and the room was large, with a few pillars to hold the ceiling up.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked. Isaribi just looked around is slight fear.

An evil laughter stopped their actions. They readied themselves and turned as a guy walked out from behind a pillar. Yoroi was grinning. "You guys are as careless as ever." He spread his arms wide. "Feel free to come at me all at once."

"I'll take this guy." Sakura said. "Sasuke-kun, you and Isaribi go on ahead."

"You sure Sakura?" Sasuke asked, though he knew the girl was plenty match for the guy now that they weren't on the water.

"Of course, go on." She flexed her hands and got into a stance that would allow her to strike from any direction if attacked. Sasuke nodded and darted off with Isaribi ahead of him.

"Wait!" Yoroi yelled before the ground rumbled. He jumped back as the place he was standing erupted in cracked earth.

"You're opponent is me!" Sakura said, grinning. This would be her first real test as a ninja.

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Iruka and a panting Anko walked out of the now destroyed room. The beast lions lay dead amidst all the broken glass and destroyed fish-person experiments. Anko's curse seal was glowing and she could feel the pain again. She stopped and placed one hand on the wall and one on her shoulder, grunting in pain. Iruka rushed up to her.

"Anko, are you alright?" He asked, supporting her under her arm. They walked ahead, her ignoring his question to a wooden door set in the wall. She opened it to look in and grinned. Iruka peeked in too but did not feel the excitement she did. Found it. Anko thought. They walked in to see a shadow-covered figure sitting in a chair.

"Who's there?" Anko asked, stopping. The man stood up and walked out to reveal Amachi. He had a smirk on his face.

"Welcome. Or perhaps I should say it's been a while." He said.

"You're...Amachi!" Anko said angry at the man. Iruka just stood behind, ready to fight, not knowing what was happening.

"I'm surprised you'd come back after what happened." Amachi said, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" Anko asked.

"So you don't remember."

"Sorry, but I have no use for you." Anko said. "Where is Orochimaru!?"

"Orochimaru?" The man asked, confused.

"Stop playing dumb, He's here, right?" She asked, scaring Iruka to no end.

"Wait, what?" Iruka asked, only to be ignored as Anko's seal started burning again.

"The seal can react even though the one who gave it isn't around. I guess such things do happen." Amachi said smirking to himself. "Yes, Orochimaru was here. But that was about two weeks ago. I don't care if you don't believe me."

"Then this tingling up till no was due to Orochimaru who was here half a month ago?" Anko asked. They were interrupted by the door banging open.

Sasuke and Isaribi walked up next to Anko and Iruka. "Sensei." Sasuke said.

"You're alright." Iruka said, overjoyed. "Where's Sakura?" HE asked when he noticed the pink-haired girl's presence.

"She's off fighting the shades guy. She'll be fine." Sasuke said, not removing his eyes from Amachi.

"Oh, leading Genin, Anko, you've grown up." Amachi said, with a deceiving smile.

"Who is he?" Sasuke asked, though it sounded like he didn't care, but he did.

"Amachi," Anko said hatefully, "The medical ninja who teamed up with Orochimaru and was experimenting here. Orochimaru isn't here. This time's incident was all his doing."

"He's the one doing all these crazy experiments..." Iruka said more than asked, voice laden with hatred.

"Crazy?" Amachi asked. "This is my life's work. Behold," He gestured to Isaribi. "She has the physical ability to adapt to water. She can, of course, breath underwater and has the speed and muscle to move freely. As the first step towards my long dream a ninja unit for underwater fights! A unit that can roam underwater freely, something no human can achieve. If it comes true, I can separate the islands and fully control the water transportation routes! Isn't that wonderful!?" He asked, excited. "I'm going to take over the world with this power! And I'm definitely going to make Orochimaru regret abandoning this research!"

"Humans aren't you tools." Iruka ground out.

"My, my, you're still naïve, I can't expect you to understand the greatness of my research." Amachi said, a bit down. "Still, I wouldn't want you guys, who only have the brain capacity of guinea pigs, to understand anyway."

"Why you..." Iruka said as he began the hand signs for the great water jet. Isaribi darted forward to try and slide in front of Amachi, only to be stopped by Sasuke firmly grabbing her upper arm.

"Isaribi." Sasuke said coldly. "Continue as you do and I will have to kill you, Naruto's wish or not. Whatever this man has promised you, he will not give. I've met people like him during my travels and they only use people like you that believe what they say."

"Isaribi stopped struggling and Iruka stopped his jutsu. "He promised me he'd turned me back into a human."

Sasuke scoffed. "It's physically impossible to turn you back into a normal human at this stage. The only person who could remotely help, which would most likely be hiding your features, would be Tsunade of the Sannin. This guy made false promises." Isaribi shuddered as realization settled in. She fell to her knees.

Amachi just grinned. "Well now, did the monster find herself a boyfriend?"

Isaribi raised her head and glared at the man through her tears. Iruka glared too. "The only monster I see here, is you!" He growled at them man.

Amachi laughed. "You're right!" He yelled, laughing all the way. "I am a monster! But I am also the future!" Everyone shivered, feeling a dread crawling up their spines.

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Hrm, this filler arc annoys me Watching the episodes again is a hassle.

I might finish it next chapter :D

Then we get to go on to whatever the hell I decide to do after that to make the Chuunin Exams wait a bit more. Though, after next chapter, the Chuunin exams might start even with the wait...But that is not my concern at the moment.

Read and Review!