Reviews

Biginferno: Thank you, and yeah, the relationship between Naruto, Tayuya and Kin is a lot more dynamic than it appears on the surface.

Thecla: Thanks, and no, the sannin and the gang just had the same goal in mind, to protect Hanabi and Hinata. I've noticed the plot seems to be pretty slow too, I'll try to speed it up from here on out.

WASTELANDS

Chapter Nine: A Family?

XXX

"F-Five Tails… Five Tails, I'm scared,"

"Don't be, Calf, just open your eyes," a voice said. Tayuya followed the loud voice's instructions. Her hazel eyes opened slowly as her senses came back to her. The redhead saw a beautiful grey sky above her. She curled her fingers to collect a handful of damp sand. Her exhales were drowned out by the loud clattering of waves hitting the shore.

"Is… is this heaven?" Tayuya turned onto her side.

"This is my home," the hundred-metre-tall dolphin-horse commented.

The redhead forced herself to stand. Tayuya looked at herself. She was wearing some a graceful ankle-length beach dress with a large straw hat, that didn't stop her beautiful red hair from flowing in the wind.

"How did I get here?" Tayuya tapped her left shoulder. She tried to stay calm when she felt her hand go through her shoulder bone, "I'm dying, aren't I?"

"Have you ever been to the beach, my Calf?" the streamline white beast stared out at the horizon. Tayuya turned to face the waves again. They crashed into the sand. She took a step back as the waves ran up the sand. They rushed past her, tickling her toes as they did. Tayuya stared. It was overcast. Lightning flashed in the distance, "It's beautiful."

"No… there was no beach in the Land of Sound, and we've only been in the Northern Land of Fire since last year," Tayuya sighed, "but yeah… it really is beautiful."

"Ask Naruto to take you to the beach," Kokuou suggested, "When this all blows over."

"I'll ask him when we get to the Land of Lightning," Tayuya said.

"You're a very impatient woman, why is this the one thing you hold off?" Tayuya looked down. She fiddled with her fingers.

"I… I don't really know" Tayuya groaned. She glanced at her shoulder, "Damn it!" she coughed up some blood.

"Don't be afraid… that just means he's here for you," Kokuou turned and trotted into the kilometre-high forest behind them, "By the way… my name is Kokuou. As you said, it's about time we got acquainted… our friendship is going to be as valuable as those princesses when this is over."

XXX

"Friendship?" Tayuya's eyes creaked open once more, "Na… ru… to," she whispered.

"I'm here," Naruto said.

He placed his hand on her cheek. She reached for his hand and placed hers on top of his. Their fingers interlocked. She stared at his soothingly calm face. The sunny skies above accentuated his features perfectly. His messy hair waved in the wind. His cerulean eyes stared back into her hazel pair. She could see the beach in his eyes. He gave her such a beautiful toothy grin.

"We're safe."

Tayuya blinked to reveal the real Naruto. The man was on his last legs and the rain falling around them made him look so much worse. His fleshy skin had gone pale showing off the purple bags under his eyes. His blue eyes were a bloody red, even more so than before because of the blood leaking out of them. Naruto's teeth were still deadly fangs and his face was ruined with scars and gashes, with the added bonus of purple streams running through his veins to indicate poison. He was so close to death it was scary.

"Naruto?" Tayuya's eyes teared up.

"I'm okay… Sakura's here," Naruto gave the last of his chakra to Tayuya to keep her awake. He collapsed next to her. Her hands jumped to cover her mouth in shock. She honestly though Naruto was dead for a second. She squeezed his hand. He squeezed back. She breathed.

"What's going on?" Tayuya looked up.

Sasori had used the black wings to block Jiraiya's Rasengan.

"Naruto!" Sakura looked back at the blonde.

"Heal me first," Sasuke demanded.

"The poison is killing him!" Tayuya yelled.

"Ino, give him this antidote," Sakura threw a vile of elixir at the blonde, who caught it, "Give some to Tayuya and Fuu too."

"They're in the perfect position for another World Order," Sasori noticed.

"Rasengan Barrage!" another Jiraiya appeared. Sasori, carefree, blocked with the second Iron Sand Black Wing, "You've only got two wings!" a third Jiraiya appeared. Sasori growled. He hopped off the puppet and landed on the black pyramid. He tugged on the Daimyo, leaving Jiraiya to fall to earth. The old man landed on his feet. The man's fighting style was so fearless and slow, compared to his partner's fast-paced panicky style. He was really commanding the battlefield.

Itachi and Orochimaru rushed onto the field of battle, they both made eye contact with the redhead as they reached the fight. Sasori noticed the duo and asked, "So, does that mean that blonde idiot is dead already?"

Itachi scanned his environment quickly. Fuu was down. Naruto was down. Tayuya was out. Sakura was never in in the first place. Sasuke was out. Ino was out. It was only him, Orochimaru and Jiraiya. The crow king looked up and yelled, "He's probably not dead yet, and if you surrender now and leave, you could probably still convince Shisui to not kill him."

Sasori remained silent for a while.

"You want to let him get away?" Orochimaru grunted, "He's up against a member of the Uchiha and two of the three Legendary Sannin, there's no way we could lose, Itachi."

"Orochimaru, I think letting him go would be beneficial to both of us in this situation," Jiraiya walked up to the duo with a bit of chuckle. He lifted his shirt to reveal tiny holes that were still trying to heal over, "I've felt this guy's poison, it's not a pleasant experience in the slightest. These kids need Tsunade's antidote as quickly as possible."

"Sounds like a plan…"

"AHH!" Jiraiya jumped away, "Shit! Don't scare me like that, you short runt," Jiraiya scolded the red-haired puppeteer. Sasori ignored him whilst dispelled the Daimyo, trapping it in its scroll. He slotted the deadly puppet into his back pocket before turning to Itachi and holding his hand out.

"The deal is you give me the brat, I get out of here," Sasori said.

"Deal," Itachi nodded. He held out his hand too.

The redhead took it, "But the next time we meet, I'll make sure the kid doesn't get in my way," he warned the raven-haired Uchiha. He opened his cloak to reveal another scroll with the number '100' on it, "Your blood rests in this scroll, Uchiha, and I can't wait for the day when your beautiful eyes join the list, so I can make it 101."

"When that day comes, believe me, I'll be ready," the handshake tightened. Itachi stared into Sasori's eyes. His onyx pupils exploded with a burst of red and black. Sasori blinked. The Uchiha's eyes grew in size. The puppeteer winked.

Sasori let go. His cold plastic hand slid out of the man's grip, "That must be how you defeated Deidara. You better have a better plan for the next time we meet," he began walking towards where he last saw the blonde idiot that was Deidara. Itachi looked over his shoulder.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost, Itachi," Orochimaru smirked.

"I might as well have."

XXX

The sound of rain hitting concrete, wood and glass grew more thunderous as the day came to an end. Civilians and resting mercenaries crept into the Sanction to see the remains of their homes. Those who were lucky enough to build homes on the outskirts were lucky, most of their homes weren't even touch. Three of the skyscrapers looming over the Sanction though, were on the verge of collapse, and if they went down, a lot more homes would be destroyed. As the Sanction's construction workers returned to their homes, they knew they only had about a week or so to demolish the scrapers and start afresh.

"I think it's better if you guys rest here tonight and leave tomorrow morning when you're slightly more well rested," Jiraiya leaned against a wall with arms folded. He opened his eyes and looked around at his guest for the night. He made a quick headcount before laughing and turning to Tsunade, "How are we going to cater to thirteen people?"

Admittedly, their hideout wasn't the biggest building in the Sanction. In fact, to cut costs and be more incognito, the trio had sprung for a little three-bedroom cottage on the border between the outskirts and the suburbs. Their home wasn't really built to house, altogether, sixteen people.

"Don't worry," Shisui stepped forward, "My home wasn't wrecked in the attack, so I'll retire to my own sanction for the night."

Itachi's brow furrowed. He reached out to grab the man by the arm, "You're not coming with us?"

Shisui laughed at the comment. He looked past Itachi at the eleven other figures sitting in the living room. They were all drenched with sweat, blood and raindrops, but they were drenched as a team, "Last time I checked, this was a ten-man mission."

"Then who's going to lead us? How are we going to function without your wise words, Shisui-san?"

Hoshiko propped up on the couch, "What?! Leader? There's only one leader here."

Asuna smacked him on the back of the head to shut him up. The speedster cringed, "Not the time."

"But I'm the leader."

Itachi turned back to Shisui. The curly-haired Uchiha ruffled the younger man's ponytail and said, "Name one thing I did in that battle that no one else in this group could have done."

"You organised the group," Itachi stated.

"Really? Was I the one barking out orders left and right?" Shisui asked. Itachi stared at the floor. He thought. Shisui raised an eyebrow.

"But you helped me defeat Deidara, name another person in this group who could've survived an explosion like that at point-blank range."

Shisui stared at Sasuke, who was still being healed by Sakura. The onyx-eyed youngster breathed heavily as Sakura placed her hands on his naked chest. She looked up into his eyes. Sasuke smirked. A rush of blood heated Sakura's face, she kept her eyes on Sasuke's chest, causing another burst of bright red to hit her face.

"Sasuke's not ready to learn the secrets of the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"You can't protect the kid forever, you know. At some point, Sasuke will experience great emotion and his eyes will evolve, don't make it so that when they do evolve, he doesn't understand why," Itachi let go of the older man's arm. Shisui nodded before making his way to the door. Orochimaru opened the door for the legendary Uchiha.

"But…"

Shisui stopped one last time, "Do you remember those stupid campfire exercises our counsellor used to make us do during the Uchiha Training Camp?"

"How could I forget them?" Itachi chuckled.

"As stupid as they were, remember how after a few of those every night, our group seemed to be communicating without actually communicating?" Itachi looked down again. Shisui took a step back to exit the building. He raised his hand and waved before yelling, "I'll be seeing you guys later," the door closed behind him.

Naruto blinked, "Who was that guy?"

"Stop moving around so much!" Tayuya yelled. After being taped up by Kin, Tayuya had taken the opportunity to bandage Naruto's wounds up. She promised herself it wasn't just an excuse to see him shirtless, but seeing his muscles tense up every time she rolled around him was really making her time worthwhile. The blonde didn't really want to be mummified in the first place, considering how quickly most of his wounds healed up, but Tayuya wasn't having any of it. She'd pinned the youngster down and grabbed a handful of bandages before he could even say her name in protest.

"I didn't move, dattebayo! And you can't blame me for moving, you have the touch of an angry gorilla."

"What did you say to me?"

"Nothing, Tayu-chan."

"Damn straight!" steam escaped from her nostrils. She ground her teeth as she wrapped some bandages around Naruto's bicep, "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"That bit of chakra you gave me, it actually healed most of my shoulder… so I just want to say thank you," Tayuya blushed.

"Don't thank me," Naruto grinned, "I didn't even know I could do that until Kurama taught me."

"Kurama?"

"The Fox," Naruto explained.

"Naruto?" Tayuya was blown across the desert sand as Kin toppled over and rolled down a hill. They'd been ambushed by members of the Uchiha Clan. The tactical mercenary family had ensnared Naruto in chakra draining wires and set off explosions to incapacitate Kin and Tayuya, who were already on their last legs.

"Tayuya!" Kin looked across as she hit the loose sand.

"My legs!" she cried. The red-eyed bastards rushed her. Defenceless, she could do nothing but scream as they picked her up. Kin tried to get up and attack but another trio grabbed her by the hair.

"No," Naruto yelled. The wires interlocked and tightened before pulling him down into the sand. The blonde shrieked.

"We got ourselves two Jinchuuriki, Lord Madara was right about the Sound Facility explosion."

"Help!" Naruto pleaded.

"And I'm surprised we got them in such a weak state. Saves us a lot of trouble."

There was an explosion of chakra. Sand smacked the six Uchiha mercenaries. They all looked over their shoulders in utter horror, "What the fuck?" Naruto tore away from the wires and growled. His eyes were as red as their Sharingan, with claws at least an inch long.

"Who the hell are you?"

A giant red fox made solely of chakra loomed over the blonde as he got down on all-fours, "Just call me… Kurama!"

What Naruto did to those Uchiha mercenaries, Tayuya had tried to suppress. All she chose to remember was that, when she woke up, she was being carried into the Leaf Sanction on Naruto's shoulder, whilst Kin hung from the other shoulder. Naruto claimed he passed out too after being dragged under a ton sand, he struck a last-minute deal with the devil and awoke to Kin and herself on his shoulders.

That chakra, that name, it was all so familiar, but Tayuya couldn't understand why until then. The redhead's hazel eyes stared at Naruto's muscular back. It tightened and loosened as he inhaled and exhaled. She froze. Naruto stared at her over his shoulder.

"You talk to your Tailed Beast?"

Naruto faced forward, "Talk is a… weird word. We have a strange relationship where he doesn't want me to die, and I don't want to die either. Beats me why."

"You want to know what I wish?" Tayuya asked. Naruto looked back, "I wish I could see the beach before this is over."

"That's a little random, Tayu-chan," Naruto said, "But I wanna see the beach too, dattebayo," he gave her his trademark foxy grin.

"… I'd fucking love it if we saw the beach together."

"You look like shit, ssu," Fuu said sitting down on the coffee table in front of Hoshiko and Asuna.

Hoshiko turned to Asuna expecting her to reply, "You better not look at me, because there's no way she just called me ugly."

Hoshiko chuckled before turning to Fuu, "Yeah, I did a lot of running around today, and with my low stamina reserves, I can only do so much running before I run right outta chakra," he noticed the heavy bandaging around Fuu's exposed midriff, "And what happened to you?"

"Oh, ha, I took a poisonous needle branch thing to the stomach, yeah, it really hurt," Fuu rubbed her stomach.

"And you're alive?" Asuna asked.

"That's the best thing about being a Jinchuuriki, ssu! My body is constantly healing at a rate faster than any normal mercenary."

"Oh, kinda like Naruto?" Hoshiko said.

"Honestly, Naruto's healing rate is ridiculous," Fuu giggled, "But almost, yeah, the only thing I needed treating for was the poison."

"What poison?" Hoshiko asked.

"The guy we were fighting was poisonous," Fuu explained, "He used puppets and these puppets had black sand that would harden and just spread like branches, ssu!"

"Damn, the guy I fought made things explode. He was a tricky one," the speedster looked up.

"You say that like you actually fought him," Asuna said.

"Hey! Before you even showed up, Sasuke and I were fighting our butts off," Hoshiko yelled, "Well, I was fighting him, Sasuke was just there to keep him distracted," he threw his arms behind his back and fell onto the couch. Hoshiko groaned as the couch absorbed his shape and took him in.

Fuu grinned, "You know another benefit of being a Jinchuuriki is that I've never once been out of chakra."

"You're really proud of being a Jinchuuriki, aren't you?" Asuna adjusted herself so both feet were on the couch. Fuu responded, unintentionally, by crossing her legs on the table.

"Of course, that's just how I've learnt to identify myself, ssu. I was an orphan so no one in my Sanction actually cared who I was until I was chosen to become a Jinchuuriki. Most people shunned me, but at least I was noticed, ssu."

"Uh-sounds like-ah, sounds like you had it pretty rough," Hoshiko moaned, trying to lift himself off the couch. He gave up and sank deeper into it. Fuu giggled.

"What is wrong with you?" Asuna glared.

"Oh, you can't judge me, you love me," Hoshiko blew kisses at the emotionless woman.

"Hey, I don't mean anything rude but what exactly do you do?" Fuu asked Asuna.

"Nothing but drag me down," Hoshiko laughed. Asuna threw her feet across the couch to give Hoshiko a mouthful of sandal.

"I'm more of a reconnaissance specialist. If I stare at an animal, I have the ability to take control of it, I can be your eyes in the sky or be use earthworms to crawl under your enemies."

"Now tell her what happens when there's no animal in the vicinity," Hoshiko grinned. He got another sandal in the face. Itachi walked into the living room and requested for everyone to grab a chair and gather around the table. The older man scooched Fuu over to give himself some room on the wooden table. He sat with legs folded.

Sakura stopped healing Sasuke to guide him to a chair. Asuna leaned against the four-person couch's armrest allowing Ino, Kin and Hanabi to sit. Hoshiko, too chakra deprived to care, refused to change positions, so if Kin and Hanabi wanted to sit comfortably they had to allow Hoshiko to place his legs on their laps, which they reluctantly accepted. Naruto sat on the one-man couch, so Tayuya rested on the chair's armrest. The redhead was flabbergasted when Hinata, out of all the open seats in the room, chose to sit on Naruto's lap.

"Bitch?"Tayuya grinned.

"The four of you can come sit too, if you'd like to join," Itachi invited Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade and Roshi to relax. They took the three-seater, "This exercise was actually a suggestion from Shisui, we used to do it in the Uchiha Training Camp to help understand each other more."

"Uchiha Training Camp?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You were supposed to go next year, but… yeah," Itachi looked around, "We actually did this over a seven-day period back in camp, but I'm sure I can compress all seven questions into one night, even though there's sixteen of us and not five."

"So, it's like a team bonding exercise?" Fuu asked over Itachi's shoulder.

"That's exactly what it is. I'll ask a question, I'll answer it first too, then, Fuu, you can go next, then we'll go Hoshiko, Hanabi, Kin, and we'll carry on that way," Itachi said, "Well, on day one we did introductions so, let's go… name… clan, where you're from and how old you are."

"What if you don't have a clan?" Naruto asked.

"That's the beauty of this exercise, if you don't want to answer a question, then don't, no one's forcing you. You can just say your name and your age," Itachi adjusted himself, "And since I'm going first. My name is Itachi, from the Uchiha Clan, born in the Central Land of Fire, and I'm twenty-two."

"Damn, you're ancient," Tayuya said, sparking laughter amongst a few of the youngsters. Itachi shrugged, acknowledging the fact that he was, indeed, the oldest member of the group and the wisest, which was why him being the leader was such an obvious choice.

"If they think that's old, wait until they get to you," Jiraiya nudged Tsunade. The blonde's eyes widened when she realised that she was the oldest person in the room. She turned to the white-haired old man and punched him across the room.

"You don't talk about a woman's age, you old perv!"

"I like her," Sakura giggled.

"Fuu?" Itachi wanted to speed things up.

"Oh yeah, well, the name is Fuu," the mint-haired mercenary raised seven fingers, "and I am nineteen years old, with no clan, but I am from the Land of Waterfalls."

"Hoshiko, eighteen, I'm from the Land of Frost, and I don't have a clan either."

"My name's Hanabi Hyuuga, of the Hyuuga Clan obviously, and that would mean I'm from the Central Land of Fire too. I'm seventeen."

"Well my name is Kin, twenty years old, from the Land of Sound, but I have no clan."

"This sweet flower goes by the name Ino, I'm from the beautiful Yamanaka Clan of the Northern Land of Fire, and I'm nineteen."

"Asuna Kawamoto, from the Land of Trees… nineteen."

"I'm Sakura Haruno, I was born in a small Sanction in the Southern Land of Fire. I'm nineteen years old."

"My name is Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan… I'm nineteen, there's no point in sharing where I was born, is there, Itachi?"

"I may know, but that doesn't necessarily mean, everyone knows," Itachi explained.

"Central Land of Fire, where else would the Uchiha Clan reside?"

"I mean, we've got some clan members in the North," Itachi shrugged before turning to Naruto.

"My-my name is Hinata, Hinata Hyuuga, of the Hyuuga Clan, and… I'm from the Central Land of Fire, and I'm nineteen."

"Well my name is Naruto, of no clan, but I'm from the Northern Land of Fire, and I'm nineteen."

"The name's Tayuya, I'm originally from the Land of Sound, but I'm currently chilling in the Land of Fire, don't ask me how the directions thing works though. And I'm twenty years old."

"We're in the North," Naruto whispered.

"Yeah, I still don't fucking care."

"I might as well humour myself, kukuku, my name is Orochimaru, of no clan either, I was originally from the Central Land of Fire, but that was a long time ago, I'd rather not relay my age to any of you children either."

"Central Land of Fire, since when could someone with no clan even enter the Central Land of Fire?" Sasuke asked.

"That's none of your business, brat," Orochimaru hissed.

"Sasuke!" Itachi scolded.

"My name is Roshi, I'm another member of the no-clans list, yeah, I'm twenty-five years old and I'm from up in the Land of Earth."

"Heh, the name's Jiraiya, I've got no clan either but I'm from Central Land of Fire, my age… uh… after seeing how you reacted when you heard Itachi's age, I'd rather not share."

"Saving the best for last, I see, my name's Tsunade Senju, sister of the great Hashirama Senju, leader of the Senju Clan, and obviously, I'm also from the Central Land of Fire region."

"Your age?" Jiraiya leaned in and grinned.

"I'll shove my foot up your ass if you ask me that again!" Tsunade folded her arms before turning to Itachi.

The younger man cleared his throat before looking around, "The next question, tell us a bit about your family, it doesn't necessarily have to be your clan, but maybe someone you consider family," Itachi shifted on the table, "Like for me, my family would just consist of Sasuke and Shisui-san at the moment, I really value my family and I'd do anything to risk my life for them… Fuu?"

"My family, ssu?" Fuu put her finger on her bottom lip to think, "Uh… I'd say the only person I considered family prior to meeting you guys, was my old mentor Shibuki, but a Senju-Uchiha clash near my Sanction caused a fire to break out, and a huge mass of wood had sprouted in the path of the waterfall protecting our Sanction and its forest, so there were some complications and he kinda…" the usually energetic woman just stopped and shrugged whilst staring at the floor.

Itachi glanced at Sasuke for a second, the younger Uchiha lifted his head and turned to Tsunade almost to say 'Your brother killed this girl's mentor'. The blonde squinted. Sasuke turned back to Itachi, who had his Sharingan activated. The stoic man stood down. Itachi placed his hand on the Jinchuuriki's back. Sasuke's hate for Senju Clan members was a lot more intense than Itachi's. He was actually surprised Sasuke didn't pounce on the blonde the second he heard that she was a Senju.

To move things away from Fuu, Itachi tried to get Hoshiko to speak but the man looked like he was on the verge of tears too, "Hoshiko, are you okay?"

He grinned with tears in his eyes, "Yeah, it's just… she said she considers us family, I haven't been a part of a family since I was six. The Land of Fire Facility forced my old family to let go of me when I was a child because they heard about my special abilities, so it's good to be considered as part of a family again," he sighed to calm himself down, "Sometimes I just miss my family, you know."

"We're gonna be passing through the Land of Frost anyway, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to stop and go see them," Fuu said.

Hoshiko thought about it, "Yeah… I'm sure we could," he smirked.

Fuu mirrored him.

"I'm sure my family would love to meet your family," Hanabi laughed.

"Have you met our family, knowing them they'd kill any family if they knew you had some weird Kekkei Genkai," Hinata said.

"Oh no, it's not a Kekkei Genkai," Hoshiko explained.

"Could we save it for the abilities question, it's literally one of the next questions," Itachi pleaded.

"Oh yeah," it was Hanabi's turn, "Well, my Main family just consists of Hinata and my dad, I don't really have much to say about them because I guess I fall into the minority of people who had pretty stable lives. After all, everyone treated me like a princess," Hanabi shrugged.

"Oh brother," Asuna rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?" Hanabi squinted.

"I didn't say anything."

"Moving on!" Kin was trapped between Hanabi and Asuna so the last thing she wanted was for the both of them to fight with her in the middle, "My family only consists of Naruto-kun and Tayu-chan. Naruto-kun's a very close personal friend, who I owe my life to, and Tayu-chan's been there for me since I first got to the Facility, so I owe her my sanity," she giggled.

"That's… beautiful," Naruto laughed.

"I think, as bad as Facilities are, for the most part, at least they feed you, supply you with clothing and allow you to meet outcasts just like you," Kin sighed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Ino's hair flipped, "You had your time to speak, it's my turn."

"Oh, there's two of you," Asuna mumbled.

"So, you see my family is the Land of Fire's greatest and most expensive family at the moment, the Yamanaka Main Family," everyone turned to Hinata, who shrugged. Ino was right, the richest clan in the Land of Fire at that moment was the Yamanaka Clan, but that was because they mass-produced men and sold them off to powerful clans. Although rich, power was more valuable in the Wastelands, which was why the Hyuuga Clan was still regarded as the most valuable family. The fact that every member of their clan was born with the Byakugan put its power above the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, the Senju Clan's willpower, the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu and the Yamanaka Clan's wealth. "My Main Family consists of just my dad and my mom, and since I'm an only child, all the money that they get is spent on me and what I like, I just love my family so much, you know."

"Interesting," Itachi nodded before quickly moving on to Asuna before Ino got the chance to carry on, "Asuna?"

"I hate my family's guts. They found out I had a Kekkei Genkai, so they sold me to the Land of Fire's Facility. I would kill any one of them if I had the chance," Asuna sighed.

"Oh wow," Itachi said.

"Yep… Facility kids have issues," Hoshiko scratched his chin.

"I could tell."

"Sasuke!"

"What? It was my turn anyway," the Uchiha grunted, "My only family is you, Itachi. You know how I feel about you."

"In my family it's just me, my mom and my aunts but we're… a lot more humble than Ino-pig's family, but it's so small. I've always wanted to expand my family, I've just never had anyone to expand it with, you know?" Sakura turned to Sasuke. The Uchiha ignored her gaze.

"Did she just call me a pig?" Ino lifted her head.

"Hinata?" Itachi acted quickly.

The Hyuuga Princess laughed awkwardly, "I… I can't speak about the Hyuuga Main Family, and I haven't met my future fiancé yet, and I don't know what he'll be like, so right now I don't really have a family. I'm… a little stuck."

Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand. If looks could kill Tayuya would have struck Hinata dead at that moment, "We're your family now, dattebayo! You know, I'm also looking for my family, people of the Sanction said that my family didn't want me to be killed in the mass culling of the male population so they hid me away. But I know, if I discover a new and powerful jutsu, they'll know my name and they'll come back to find me," Naruto turned to Hinata, "But for now… you can be my family."

Tayuya's face lowered into a frown. Itachi turned to the redhead, who shook her head, "I'd rather not talk about my family."

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Okay… well, Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya grabbed Orochimaru and Roshi with one arm whilst wrapping his other arm around Tsunade's shoulder. He pulled them both closer and laughed, "I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say, we're the only family we need. The four of us were all outcasts in our own ways, and now we're here, feeling more together than ever."

Itachi sighed, "Which is exactly how a team should feel, and that's exactly how our team will feel after all these questions," he readjusted himself, "The third question is what are your goals… now we get a little more introspective."

"Goals?" Fuu asked.

"Yeah, like, what do you hope to get out of this team. Why do you need that one hundred million Ryo?" Itachi asked, "I'm going to use it to retire to the Rain Sanction with Shisui and, hopefully, Sasuke."

"You're still going through with this… 'escort mission'?" Fuu asked.

Itachi glared at her, "Of course I am, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't complete the escort mission," his eyes widened.

"Well I do… so, I think it'll be better if I don't share my goals, ssu."

"Honestly, we were just sent here by our Facility because they thought the two of us were the best candidates, both of our rewards will probably just be used to maintain the Facility," Hoshiko said while looking at Asuna, "I doubt we'll a cent."

"And the money will obviously be used to find more slaves, of course, thus furthering the cycle," she stared into empty space.

"I'll honestly just share it with Naruto-kun and Tayu-chan, one hundred million Ryo is just so much money, I can't imagine what I'd do with it," Kin giggled.

"One hundred million is such a small amount, I'm sure I'd just use to build my very own Yamanaka mansion, with muscular guards and five storeys," Ino thought aloud.

"Are we all just speaking randomly now, because I want to use that money to find a clan, I really feel like I'm deserving of a family I know I can permanently be surrounded by," Naruto said.

"What makes you think we're just going to let you walk out of here with the Hyuuga girls, huh?" Tsunade sat up.

"Calm down, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya felt the heat build up, "Hey, just ignore us, we're not part of this team."

"Okay, okay, wait, maybe goals are a little too touchy, maybe we should move on to weaknesses," Itachi said.

"No!" Asuna said firmly, "As a Facility Mercenary, the first thing you're told is to never let the enemy know your weaknesses!"

"I thought we were a family?" Kin said.

"Yeah, the Hyuuga Clan's weaknesses are a family secret, if I told you my secret, you could use it against any one of my family members," Hanabi said.

"Yeah, what are you trying to get at, Uchiha?" Tsunade roared.

"Ah, damn," Jiraiya couldn't contain her.

"There it is!" Sasuke jumped to his feet, throwing Sakura off, "I knew you were waiting for your moment to snap, you Senju swine!"

"I will rip those eyes out of their sockets, you red-eyed shit!"

"Honestly, what is your problem with me?" Ino turned to Asuna.

"Excuse me?!" Asuna unfolded her arms.

"Is it because I actually like my clan or is it because I'm rich? It's not my fault I was built into a beautiful home and you weren't!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Hoshiko tried to argue but his body gave out on him.

"Are you okay?" Hanabi grabbed Hoshiko's hand.

"Hanabi, hands off him," Hinata warned.

"You can't be telling me to take my hands off someone when you're an engaged woman sitting on another man's lap," Hanabi retorted.

"Preach, motherfucker!" Tayuya's face brightened.

"What?" Naruto was forced into the conversation.

"Oh no, things are going wrong," Itachi began sweating, "What do I do? What would Shisui do? Wait… okay, let's all calm down."

Sasuke leapt over the table and grabbed Tsunade by her collar, "What are you going to do? Your brother isn't around to lead you, what are you going to do?" the black flames spread across his face.

Orochimaru formed the tiger seal. The flames glowed before receding. The Uchiha's eyes widened as he collapsed onto his knees. Sasuke let out a hellacious cry as the flames receded. Pain shot through his body, "You're not going to use my power to harm my own teammate," Orochimaru said.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura pushed Orochimaru, "Let him go!"

Oro hissed.

"You're going to get yourself hurt, little girl," Jiraiya stood between Orochimaru and Sakura.

Fuu looked at Kin. Kin glanced over at Naruto. The blonde nodded. Tayuya stopped arguing. Roshi looked at Naruto. They exhaled before taking a deep breath in at the same time.

Dense chakra flooded the room, leaving everyone short of breath. Dark red heavy chakra silenced the room.

Everyone turned to face Naruto. The red-eyed Jinchuuriki exhaled to stop the flow of Nine Tails Chakra. When he opened his eyes, they had reverted to their usual blueness, "Fuu wants to speak, dattebayo!"

"Am I the only one a little concerned at how quickly you're learning to use your Tailed Beast chakra?" Roshi asked aloud.

"I honestly think we're all just a little tense after all the fighting we just did, maybe we should end the game here, and just all go to sleep, ssu," the Jinchuuriki explained.

"Yes, we all fought so much in the span of two days, maybe we should rest for now and meet again tomorrow morning when our reserves have been replenished, please," Itachi sighed.

"I think that's a good idea," Jiraiya said, "I have some sake in the kitchen, if you need it to sleep, I'm willing to give you some."

"Fuck! Me! Please!" Tayuya yelled.

"What?" Naruto turned.

"Just pretend there was a comma between those three words," she cackled.

"I could also go for some," Hanabi admitted.

"Hanabi, you know father wouldn't want you to drink alcohol," Hinata scolded her younger sister.

"Yeah, and it's illegal in the Rain Sanction," Jiraiya added.

"What?" Hanabi asked.

"Excuse me?" Hoshiko said.

"What?" Naruto wondered.

"Oh yeah, most Sanctions lowered their age limits to twelve, but the Rain Sanction kept theirs at eighteen, Lord Pain is a very strict leader, drinking, living on your own, sex, representing yourself in court, buying erotica, hehehe, purchasing weapons, all that is restricted to people eighteen and older for as long as you're in the Rain Sanction. I'd go to jail for a really long time if I gave you alcohol."

Hoshiko looked at Hinata who was staring daggers into his eyes, then he turned to Hanabi, then to Jiraiya, then to Hanabi's hand which had fallen onto his chest, "NOPE!" he threw himself off the couch and onto the wooden floor, "Don't touch me! Asuna, take me to the bathroom, I feel weird."

"What is wrong with you," Asuna dusted herself off as she got up off the bed.

"Naruto-kun, come drink with me," Tayuya pushed Hinata off the blonde before dragging him into the kitchen.

XXX

The rain continued to fall on the desolate and quiet Rain Sanction. A thick blanket of mist descended on the recovering Sanction as the clock neared midnight. Shisui Uchiha locked the door behind him as he re-entered his tiny home that was now covered in cracks, that he'd probably have to cover up later.

"Shisui Uchiha," someone said. The Uchiha turned nonchalantly to face the intruder. The humanoid was reading Shisui's Uchiha Book of Legends, but he was drowned in darkness so the Uchiha could only pick up a few features. Shisui had never seen the man before, but he knew exactly what he… it… was.

"Who the hell are you?" the curly-haired Uchiha asked before snakingly sliding his hand behind his back to grasp his tanto sword.

"You know exactly what I am, Shisui Uchiha, and you know that me being here confirms what you've been suspecting."

Shisui had already grabbed his tanto, "I'm not much for intimidation, so tell me what the hell you want and I won't cut you down where you stand."

"We're looking for Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru…"

"We?" Shisui activated his Sharingan to spot eight other figures waiting in the shadows, "Why?"

"So, you know where they are?"

"Why are you looking for them?"

"So, you know where they are?"

"There's no way in hell I'm telling you."

The man chuckled before stepping into the moonlight. The humanoid's skin stuck to its skull in the most inhumane manner ever. Its mouth was torn flesh with strands of skin loosely connecting its upper jaw to its lower jaw. When Shisui stared into its empty sockets, as dark as the abyss, he could do nothing but freeze. The creature was naked with ribs sticking out through the skin, razor-sharp claws and disproportionally elongated arms, "I was hoping you'd say that," the skin around its mouth tore, "Kill him!"

Shisui activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sixteen deadly claws jumped out of the shadows.