Chapter 2 – The Akatsuki

==Four Months Later==

Haku paused as she noticed the bedraggled little fox slinking up to her and Zabuza's campfire, "Well hello, aren't you cute?" "He'll eat your rabbit," Zabuza said bluntly. "WHAT?!" Naruto demanded as he poofed back to human form, revealing that to be as bedraggled and beat up as his fox form, "I would never eat a defenseless bunny!"

Then he found himself on the ground under Zabuza's foot as Zabuza's hand went to his sword, "And would you like to explain exactly who you are sneaking up on me while you can still draw breath?" "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, missing-nin," Naruto declared.

Zabuza blinked and then raised an eyebrow of skepticism, "You? A missing-nin? Yeah right. How old are you brat?" "Nine," Naruto grumbled. Zabuza threw back his head and laughed. Then Haku tapped him on the shoulder and handed him the Bingo Book, open to a certain page. Zabuza accepted the book and his eyes nearly popped out of his head, "FIFTY MILLION RYO TO BRING HIM BACK ALIVE?! THIS RUNT?!"

"HAH!" Naruto exclaimed, "Told you!" Then Zabuza's immense blade slammed into the ground next to him as Zabuza leaned down, "Boy, you shouldn't have brought it up. Now I'm going to drag you back to Konoha for the reward money." Naruto's eyes widened and he began fervently protesting, "NO! PLEASE NO! ANYWHERE BUT THERE! THEY ALL HATE ME AND I DON'T KNOW WHY! PLEASE JUST KILL ME! I'D RATHER BE DEAD THAN GO BACK TO THAT PLACE!"

Zabuza thought about it, and then a voice hissed from behind him, "Or you could go one better Zabuza-san." Zabuza whirled and brought his blade up between him and the unknown speaker. A pale face seemed to ooze out of the shadows of the forest, followed by a man with long black hair, yellow eyes and a purple rope around his waist. "Who are you?" Zabuza demanded as Haku readied a handful of senbon.

"I am Orochimaru of the Sannin," Orochimaru declared with a small smile, "And I will not only match Konoha's offer, give me that boy and I will give you and your apprentice shelter from Kiri's forces in exchange for joining my village Otogakure." Zabuza regarded the pale man warily, "Really now." Orochimaru shrugged with a smile, "Or you can try to keep him and you'll die where you stand."

Zabuza's face twisted into an ugly expression, "Oh really? I don't care if you are one of the legendary Sannin, Zabuza Momochi does not go down that easily!" Orochimaru pouted slightly, "Oh? So am I to take it that you are rejecting my generous offer?" "Damn right I…" Zabuza was cut off by a meaty POW sound and the sound of a tree shattering. Before Haku knew what was going on, she was trapped in a pillar of crystal as Zabuza's headless body slumped to the ground.

Kishu walked back over to Zabuza's body as Guren and Kimimaro stepped out of the shadows, and pushed the corpse off Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, right?" Naruto nodded warily, more than a little freaked out by how casually the older boy treated the corpse. Kishu pulled him to his feet, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kishu, you can call me big bro if you want." Naruto blinked, "Um…okay…" Then he blinked and his brow furrowed, "Wait…"

Spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, not orange but a dull red jacket and pants, big smile… "You're my brother?" Naruto asked with a quiet note of shock and awe in his voice. Kishu shrugged with a small grimace, "Half brother. Sorry, I only found out about you a month ago and we've been hunting for you ever si-" Naruto glomped him a hug and Kishu smiled as he hugged Naruto back, "Well alright then!"

"I take it you will be wanting to join us then young Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru asked. Naruto nodded vigorously into Kishu's chest and Kishu laughed, "I think that's a hell yes Oh Fearless Leader."

"What do you want to do about this one Lord Orochimaru?" Guren asked as she gestured to Haku. Orochimaru glanced at the crystalized kunoichi, "I see no use for her. She did not notice our approach, nor was she able to react when Kishu-kun knocked off her master's head. Eli…"

"Orochimaru of the Sannin," a cold voice declared from the tree tops. All present whirled to see a young man with black hair and red eyes and a massive blue skinned man in the branches overhead, both clad in black cloaks with red clouds on them. Orochimaru stepped back and hissed, "Itachi Uchiha!"

Kishu immediately shifted Naruto behind him and blew out a massive blast of steam that flooded the branches overhead. "Do you really think such a pitiful jutsu will stop us?" Itachi asked calmly as Samehada began to suck up the mist. Kisame glanced over his shoulder at his sword as it wiggled, "Really? We've struck gold Itachi, that one's the Five Tails!" Itachi's eyes narrowed, "Then we will capture him as we..."

Even as fast as Samehada could suck up the mist, it still couldn't outpace Kishu's output. Itachi and Kisame had been totally enveloped in the mist by the time Samehada realized he was a Jinchuriki, and from there all it took was a touch from Guren to turn the mist to crystal, freezing both Itachi and Kisame in place as their bodies crystalized. "KILL THEM! QUICK!" Orochimaru barked.

Kimimaro immediately pointed his hand at the massive crystal in the trees, "Digital Shrapnel." A flurry of bone bullets later, the crystal, and the two Akatsuki members inside, exploded into a shower of silvery dust.

Just as Orochimaru was narrowing his eyes, That was way too easy… The sensation of massive jagged spikes impaling and paralyzing him erupted through his body. All present froze as two massive Killing Intents flooded the clearing, paralyzing genjutsus descended on all of them, and Itachi and Kisame stepped from the shadows. They advanced forward, taking their time as they approached their frozen victims. Itachi drew his sword from beneath his cloak as Kisame pulled Samehada from his back, "Kisame, you take the two non-Jinchuriki, I have a score to settle with Orochimar…u?"

Kisame had been abruptly batted away by a massive black and red cat like creature with two tails and glowing eyes, and now it was turning its attention to Itachi. The surprise was enough to disrupt Itachi's genjutsu for just the faintest instant, and then Orochimaru was back in control, "RELEASE!"

The instant Kishu was free of the genjutsu, he was enveloped in the same dark glowing red chakra as the one that had smacked away Kisame, "Thanks for the save Senpai!"

The two tailed cat grinned, "My pleasure Kishu-kun." Before Itachi could comprehend what he was seeing, a blade sheathed in lightning erupted through his head and was deftly caught by the cat like creature as a very loud and triumphant cry of "WHEEEEEEEEEE!" erupted from the woods.

Before anyone could pat themselves on the back, Itachi's body dissolved into crows and reality seemed to shift a little off to the west as the real Itachi appeared once again, over two miles from where the Jinchuriki were. Itachi frowned and without looking over his shoulder, "I believe we should withdraw for now. Three fully realized Jinchuriki and Orochimaru is rather beyond the scope of the opportunistic snatch we had hoped for."

"Do not fret Itachi-kun," Madara declared from behind his orange mask, "I will have Pein and Konan here momentarily. Zetsu, report all of this to our other members while Itachi and Kisame stall them." "Right away," White Zetsu replied before the plantlike spy disappeared into the ground.

==Meanwhile==

Orochimaru flashed through a set of hand signs and slammed his hands to the ground, "EARTH STYLE MOBILE CORE!" For nearly a mile in every direction the ground rose beneath them, rocketing upwards until they were standing on a platform almost two hundred feet above the rest of the forest floor. "Guren! Kishu! Kimimaro! We need all of this foliage cleared away!"

Kishu immediately flooded the forest with steam and as soon as a good sized cloud built up, Guren crystalized it and Kimimaro shattered it. They repeated this process several times and by the time they were done, they were standing atop a barren field of broken crystal, which Guren immediately reformed into a massive sheet with her Crystal Release to stop any earth jutsu from burrowing up through it, and give her total control of the battlefield.

Kishu tucked a toe under Zabuza's blade and flipped it up, taking a second to examine it, "Nice sword. I think I'll keep it. Naruto, stay close to Yugito-senpai, she'll keep you safe." "What?!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at the evil looking being and then Kimimaro ran forward, "Here they come!"

He pumped his hands back and forth in straight handed jabs half a dozen times, then he flashed through a sequence of signs as his Digital Shrapnel flew towards the black cloaked figures erupting over the edge, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Instantly the sixty bone bullets became over a thousand. The two black clad figures went to leap over the barrage and were rooted to the ground by the very crystal they stood upon. Before they could break free, they were blown apart by Kimimaro's assault, revealing them to be water clones.

Then Itachi bounced up into view out beyond the edge of raised platform, his Sharingan blazing, "AMATERASU!" Even as Itachi was falling back out of sight, black flames erupted at the edge of the crystal platform and rapidly began eating their way towards the Oto and Kumo-nin. "STAY AWAY FROM THOSE FLAMES!" Orochimaru roared, "GUREN BREAK THE PLATFORM!" Guren quickly flashed through a set of hand signs, "Crystal Encampment Wall!"

A massive crystal erupted between them and the black flames as the crystal field cracked in a line. A moment later there was a massive crumbling and shattering noise and nearly a quarter of the rock face broke off, taking the Amaterasu with it, and was replaced by spiky crimson crystals. Guren panted as she watched the deadly black flames tumble out of sight, "This is insane!"

Orochimaru laid a steadying hand on her shoulder, "You're doing very well Guren-chan, don't worry, they will finish testing our defenses soon and then the rest of us will be able to step in." "Speaking of…" Kishu declared as he looked skyward, "Why are there people flying over our heads?"

All present looked up and saw that there were indeed seven people floating overhead, with only one having any apparent means to logically be there. "Oh…" Orochimaru breathed, "That's not good." Guren immediately erected a crystal shield overhead, and then before it could finish forming, a tremendous force slammed down on top of them with such force it actually pushed the raised platform down almost twenty feet. By the time the force lifted, the crystal had long since crumbled, and all those caught under it felt as though they'd been rolled out like dough.

Then half a dozen thumps signaled the landing of most of the flying figures. As the Oto and Kumo nin picked themselves up to observe their opponents, they saw half a dozen pairs of Rinnegan eyes glaring at them. The one that appeared to be the leader, a tall man with spiky orange hair spoke in a deep voice, "Orochimaru, for your betrayal, you and all who follow you will d…"

Orochimaru smirked as all Six Paths of Pain were enveloped in crystal, "Oh? What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of I WIN! GUREN YOU ARE SO MY FAVORITE KUNOICHI IN THE WORLD! I GOT THE FUCKING RINNEGAN! HAHAHA YESSSSS!" Orochimaru of the Sannin, the terrifying snake sage, scourge of all who crossed him and master of Hidden Sound, proceeded to prance in place, giggling and clapping his hands with a feverish energy born of excitement as he looked on with glee at the Six Paths of Pain, completely crystalized to a cellular level. Then he proceeded to do a victory dance, "Orochi-cho-cho-cho-cho-CHO! Orochi-cho-cho-cho-cho-CHO! Come my children! Dance the dance of victory with me! Orochi-cho-cho-cho-cho-CHO!"

Then he froze as he became aware of paper bombs fluttering down around him like snowflakes while everyone else took cover under Guren's freshly formed crystal dome. Orochimaru's eyes went wide, "Oh yeah, forgot about her…" BOOOOOOOM!

"And that children," Orochimaru declared as he appeared inside the dome via Body Flicker, "Is why you do not dance the dance of victory until you are standing over the thoroughly dead bodies of your enemies." He sighed as a steady rhythm of explosions sounded outside, "And that's probably blowing those lovely Rinnegan I wanted apart, so now my victory is not quite so sweet. Guren-chan, be a dear and knock that paper doll out of the sky. I want to do an autopsy on her."

"I'll try my lord," Guren replied, then she looked over at Kishu, "Kishu, see if your steam can slow down these damn paper bombs, because I am going to run out of crystal to repair the dome with way before she runs out of explosions, and of all the people in this dome, I am the least likely to survive if it fails!" Kishu grinned ferally, "You got it." Then he was gone. A moment later, the explosions stopped.

==Two Miles South==

"MY GALLANTRY SENSES ARE TINGLING!" Jiraiya declared loudly before leaping to catch the plummeting form with the rapidly falling apart wet paper wings. He landed and then stared in shock as Konan coughed and spat out blood before opening her eyes as she reformed. Her eyes went wide as she recognized her savior, "Sensei?!" "Konan?!"

==With Madara and Zetsu==

Madara observed calmly as Kishu knocked Konan out of the sky, "Well, that doesn't bode well. Zetsu, give the order to withdraw for now." "Right," Zetsu declared before disappearing into the ground. "What about Konan?" Nagato demanded. "Either Zetsu will find her, or he won't," Madara replied calmly, "If she is dead, which after a landing like that she probably is, then Zetsu will dispose of the evidence."

Nagato looked like he wanted to protest further but Madara cut him off, "That brings me to an interesting topic Nagato. Your six paths are supposed to be able to defeat and capture Jinchuriki, yet on this, their first deployment, they have been not just bested, but captured without a fight and then completely destroyed in less than two minutes. Not even by one of the Jinchuriki, by a little girl. Is this the best you can do?" Nagato growled, "It was a fluke. It won't happen again." Madara nodded, "No, I do not believe it will."

Madara's hand snapped out and latched around Nagato's throat, "Goodbye Nagato." There was a ripple in the air and then Nagato was gone, his life support left behind.

Madara crossed his arms and spoke to the air, "Zetsu, since I'm sure you can hear me, Konan died from the landing and you disposed of the evidence, understood?" "Of course," Zetsu replied as he poked his head from the ground, "Nothing is easier." Then he was gone.