Hey guys so its been a REALLLLLLLYYYYY long time and I'm really sorry for not writing or checking my reviews or inbox for a while. Ive had a really busy summer and didn't really have the time or the excitement to write until now . Hopefully i can get chapters out a little faster now that I'm kinda motivated to do so. I really appreciate all the reviews Ive gotten this summer after reading them all for the first time just recently, Ill try and get back to as many reviewers and individuals who PM'd me as soon as possible. Thanks again for all the support and encouragement and PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. It really helps me know if Im improving or maybe getting worse, it also helps me get ideas.

This chapter won't be too exciting I don't think but its definitely necessary. This chapter allows me to start writing the fight seems with the two Akatsuki members for the next chapter.

Also I am really looking for some ideas for jutsu involving Nuibari and maybe some creative water ninjutsu, if any of you have ideas please let me know and if I really like them and if you're fine with me using them i may incorporate some of them in later chapters.

THANKS- PLEASE REVIEW

Naruto began to casually wipe the blood from his blade off with his hand. He hated when the blade would drip with the crimson liquid, although with the amount of wire that had coursed through Itachi, Nuibari would be dripping blood for a while.

He looked down at the mangled corpse that had Nuibari's blade still running through it. Naruto tugged at his legendary blade, causing the wire the flow through the puncture wounds like a snake slithering into holes in the ground. Eventually all the wire flowed out of the bloodied figure. As Naruto studied the body a little longer he could tell it was a Suna nin due to his attire.

"Hehe, well that's pretty odd…. I had definitely been fighting Itachi."

Murmured the masked Naruto. He knew that he had been engaging the Uchiha Clan murderer in combat, however the corpse lying at his feet clearly didn't belong to the elder Uchiha brother.

He couldn't have been under a genjutsu or have been hallucinating the entire time, could he of? Naruto knew he had changed dramatically since he'd left the village but he was almost positive he hadn't gone completely insane during his time away. He was only a little bit crazy! Hallucinating an entire battle would qualify him to be thrown in an insane asylum. Naruto spoke to the other Konoha nin in order to quell his concerns.

"I wasn't just hallucinating and picturing this guy to be Itachi the entire time, was I?'

All individuals present on the battlefield also shared a sense of confusion about what had just transpired. All of them were positive that they had been engaging Sasuke's older brother.

"No…. That had definitely been him"

Spoke Kakashi. Naruto then heard a response from the ancient looking lady wearing robes.

"Impossible, that's Yura, a jonin of Suna and a member of the council!"

Chiyo was in a state of disbelief about the realization that Yura had been assisting the Akatsuki. Naruto didn't really care who the dead guy was, but he was still confused about how Itachi was essentially able to take over the guy's body.

"Well I suppose we can't really worry about how Itachi was basically able to take over this guy's body."

Naruto proceed to take the but end of Nuibari and poke the deceased Yura's head with it.

"I mean this Yura fellow is clearly a goner, plus I do believe the lot of you have to attempt to find the Kazekage now, correct?"

Sakura had yet to speak since the masked swordsman's arrival. After the realization that the Nuibari wielder was the person engaging Itachi, she became a little more on edge. She certainly didn't trust the masked man in the slightest.

Kakashi was somewhat glad to see that the masked Naruto had arrived. He was having trouble keeping Sasuke level head during the fight against Itachi so it was lucky that he had shown up. Plus if what Tsunade had told him about the opponents he was up against, Naruto's strength could help his team. Now that would only be true if Team 7 was able to collaborate with him. His Uchiha student interrupted Kakashi's thoughts.

"Why are you here?"

Questioned the Uchiha in an unwelcoming manner.

"Oh I'm hurt Sasuke! You're not excited to see me again? I really thought that we had started to bond after our last interaction."

Sasuke had spent a good amount of time thinking about the last conversation he had with the blonde in front of him. The masked man seemed to know a lot about his past, especially with regards to his long lost teammate. Not to mention the fact that the blonde hair was exactly the same color as Naruto's.

Sasuke could have seen the man being Naruto, if not for the fact that this man was the exact opposite of his lost teammate. Besides the hair, there was nothing in his appearance that resembled what he remembered from his one time friend. He remembered Naruto's build being more muscular and built opposed to the shinobi in front of him who was not necessarily frail, but definitely skinny.

There was also the personality and mental stability factor, this guy was completely insane. He wouldn't put it past the guy to have hallucinated a fight with some imaginary opponent. Naruto had been energetic and sometimes annoying, but insane was not a word he would use to describe him.

The masked man's killing methods were also extremely gruesome. In fact he had never seen anything like it before in his lifetime. This guy reveled in causing his opposition the most pain possible. The dead Suna shinobi's body was a clear example of this. Not one of his wounds was necessarily fatal, all were meant to cause more and more pain. If this masked guy had enough time to sew his blade through both shoulders and thighs then he could have easily pierced his opponent through the heart or neck, however he chose not to.

"You're clearly even more deranged then I originally though if you considered that bonding."

Naruto chuckled under his mask at the pissed off Uchiha.

"Such hostility! Well to answer your question, I was sent here to assist your team in retrieving the Kazekage. Good thing I came to because you were clearly struggling Sasuke, I knew Itachi was good but he completely outclassed you."

"Shut up you lunatic! Kakashi and I barely had a chance to fight Itachi before you entered the fray; you haven't even seen half of what I'm capable of. I'd be more then happy to show you rite now though!"

Shouted Sasuke as he began to unsheathe his sword. Naruto twirled Nuibari around before gripping it tightly in his right hand.

"Hehe you're very quick tempered Uchiha. I'd be glad to thread my blade through your body later but I really don't have the time now. I mean the issue wouldn't be killing you quickly, that'd be the easy part of course, the real challenge would be having to try and stop the blood dripping from Nuibari's wires, it always takes quite a while and it gets so annoying."

Naruto knew that fighting Sasuke would be no walk in the park, in fact it would probably be very challenging but he just had to rile up the Uchiha. It was just too fun and easy.

"That's it you're dead!"

Kakashi quickly placed an arm in front of Sasuke to stop him.

"Cut it out both of you! Every second we waste is of vital importance. Now…"

" Nuu"

"Nuu may I ask who else is on your squad?"

"I was recently appointed to tokubetsu jonin with a specialty in combat, allowing me travel solo in order to assist you."

Said Naruto, gaining a nod from the copy ninja.

"Well we have to move out immediately, lets go now."

Kakashi stated which gained a nod from all members present.

"I have no idea here this place is so lead the way."

Naruto hadn't been told where the Akatsuki planned to extract Gaara's biju, in fact Tsunade directly told him that she had no idea where they were planning to remove the Shukaku. She had just given him the vicinity in which Kakashi's team would be located.

"We believe that they're extracting the Shukaku in a cave over there."

Kakashi pointed to a mountainous area a decent distance away. It would probably take twenty minutes to arrive there if he had to estimate. He watched as Kakashi took off while being trailed by the rest of team 7 and the Suna elder.

Naruto waited a little while before taking off in pursuit of his former team. Although he hadn't shown it, Itachi's technique to take over the Suna Jonin's body was concerning. The idea that the eldest Uchiha could temporarily take over someone's body and fight as if it was himself was crzy! Naruto knew for certain that the body take over technique didn't allow Itachi to fight at full power. In a full scale one on one battle Naruto was positive that Itachi would beat him handily.

He pushed the thoughts aside as he trailed his former teammates as they began to approach the mountainous terrain ahead.

0o0

Itachi was seated in the cavern where he had earlier been helping to extract the Shukaku. He had been assisting in the process for a while until the Akatsuki leader had instruct him and Kisame to stall the two Konoha teams that were approaching the actual location of the Shukaku.

Him and his partner were able to do this indirectly by utilizing their leader's shape shifting technique. Pain had allowed them to utilize forty percent of their actual chakra capacity to fight their enemies, which wasn't nearly enough to defeat the opposition he was facing.

Even if the ANBU member hadn't shown up he wouldn't have been able to defeat Kakashi, Sasuke, the Hokage's apprentice and the Suna elder. With only forty percent of his chakra at his disposal there was just no way that would be possible. However, that amount of Chakra had been successful in allowing him to stall the four original Konoha nin, which was all he needed to do.

Things spiraled out of control when that ANBU ninja showed up. His fighting style was extremely unique for a Konoha shinobi. The most distinctive part of his fighting style was the utilization of some needle weapon. The weapon had seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Not to mention the man used silent killing and the hidden mist technique. Kisame would have fawned over the opportunity to fight such an opponent.

Itachi noticed that Kisame's shape shifting technique had also ended, signifying that he had fallen to his opposition as well.

"I see you also were unable to hold off your opposition Itachi. I had to fight that pesky Might Guy again, I was shocked to see that such a bafoon was capable of opening the eight inner gates."

"He's the most skilled taijutsu shinobi in the world."

Responded Itachi, well aware of Guy was capable of.

"Has your brother improved much or was Kakashi the one who took you down?"

Questioned Kisame, the powerful wielder of Samehada. Itachi didn't respond for a few seconds but then responded.

"My brother has improved but I don't believe he's capable of defeating me yet. Neither him nor Kakashi were the ones to take me down, although they would have eventually. A shinobi who utilized the hidden mist technique was the one to defeat me."

This peeked Kisame's interest slightly.

"Kiri has sent ninja to assist as well?"

Questioned the blue skinned man, confused as to why Kiri would get involved in such a matter.

"He wasn't from Kiri….he was a Konoha shinobi who was also highly proficient at silent killing."

This caused Kisame to raise his eyebrow in surprise; it wasn't impossible for a konoha shinobi to learn the hidden mist technique. The jutsu wasn't necessarily complicated or hard to maintain. It only got difficult to use if you wanted to make the mist denser by infusing more chakra. The jutsu was also only deadly when used in collaboration with silent killing.

Kisame had never heard of a shinobi not from Kiri who was proficient at the technique. It took years to master it. The last person he knew that had become skilled enough to use silent killing was the brat Zabuza but he heard that Kakashi had disposed of him.

"Well that quite strange, I wish we could have swapped opponents so I could have seen how good he was at it."

Chuckled Kisame. He had of course become talented at silent killing in order to be able to join the seven swordsman of the mist. He was never a huge fan of it though back when he was in Kiri. That's probably why he never bothered to ask Fuguki about learning the hidden mist jutsu. Fuguki or Zabuza were always the ones who would activate the jutsu back then. Plus his fighting style didn't require silent killing or the mist.

"My opponent also used a needle like weapon with wire attached to it. He had a kiri hunter nin mask on with a red triangle at the bottom but a Konoha symbol was etched into the top.

Kisame chuckled even more at this news, causing Itachi to stare at him.

The Samehada wielder new exactly what weapon Itachi was talking about. Basically everyone who lived in the Mist knew of the deadly blade Nuibari. Kisame had not only grown up learning about it, he had fought alongside Kushimaru Kuriarare, arguably the greatest ninja to ever wield the weapon.

However the description of the mask that the shinobi Itachi had fought didn't match up with Kushimaru's old mask, which had a blue triangle at the bottom.

Anyone who joined the Seven Swordsman of the Mist had committed some act of atrocity in his or her respective lives. Kisame wasn't sure if it was simply a coincidence that all of them had committed some terrible action, or if it was a requirement to join the elite group. Kushimaru's cruel act was well known throughout the village of Kiri, the coldblooded murder of his sensei for apparently no reason at all.

Kisame actually got along relatively well with the guy. Its not like they ever hung out, but they never got into to many fights either. He supposed it was because they were two of the three most ruthless members of the swordsman.

Fuguki, and jinin were by no means saints; in most people's eyes they were both monsters. Despite this, they were probably the two who cared most about achieving the goals of the mission and not going out of line unless the mission allowed it. However, when the mission said they could use as much violence as needed, they wouldn't hold back in the slightest. Once Kisame killed Fuguki and took his place as a member of the seven, jinin was left as the sole member of the unit who valued following mission guidelines.

Ameyuri and Mangetsu were viewed as the middle ground within the group. In Kisame's opinion these two were the most skilled in the group beside himself. Mangetsu could wield every blade that the seven swordsmen utilized but preferred the Hiramekarei. He was extremely skilled at water ninjutsu and also had the abilities of the hozuki clan. Ameyuri was a powerhouse with lightning ninjutsu and utilized the kiba blades to only amplify these abilities. The two seemed to differ every mission on whether they'd prefer to follow mission guidelines or rampage and kill everyone that opposed them. It really depended on the mission with these two.

Zabuza was always a pest in Kisame's eyes. When he joined he had been the rookie of the unit. The kid was definitely ruthless; after all he did kill his entire graduating class in the academy. The problem was that the guy would always go to extreme lengths to try and gain respect from the other members. This of course always involved killing someone in some fashion, or picking fights with other members. After a while he stopped trying to impress the rest of the unit but killing was always expected from him on missions but the guy didn't seek out violence.

Kisame new he was powerful, one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. Even amongst the elite unit of the seven swordsman of the mist, he was the strongest, individually. However back then if any two of those members were to team up against him, he wouldn't of won. It would be a different story now as he'd gotten much stronger but back then it wasn't the case. Even though he was the strongest member individually in the group, he couldn't dictate what the group would do. Even back as a member of Kiri, Kisame showed absolutely no mercy and eliminated any opposition he faced. If anyone dared to cross his path he would end him or her without second thought.

Then came the last two members of the group who he considered just as if not more gruesome then himself. These two of course were Jinpachi and Kushimaru. Jinpachi was a pure force killer while Kushimaru was a finesse killer. This could be expected due to the blades they used. Jinpachi used Shibuki, the explosion sword that could cause large-scale damage where as Kushimaru's Nuibari killed opposition individually but with great precision and skill. These two actively sought out combat regardless of the mission. They would go out of their way to kill and destroy, and often had Kisame tag along. Every mission that those two were on resulted in them killing a plethora of peoples each.

The group was feared as one of the most gruesome and violent teams in the history of the shinobi world. Jinin could rarely restrain the group from causing complete destruction wherever they went. This was especially the case when Ameyuri and Mangetsu felt like killing and destroying stuff. And if all other six members began to rampage, Jinin would often join in on the fun. Kisame actually enjoyed his time as a member of the group, none of the six judged him and he was more then happy to help them level towns and cities or slaughter masses of people.

"Ahh the legendary blade Nuibari, other wise known as the sewing needle. I'm actually shocked that it's in the hands of Konoha. Was the man any good with it?"

"From what I could tell he was very skilled with it, I'm sure you'd be a better judge though. Its one of the strangest weapons I've ever gone up against."

"Well this is quite interesting, I may have to investigate into this later"

Laughed Kisame, Pain would also probably be interested in this mystery shinobi.

0o0

Sasuke and Kakashi emerged from the woodland and leapt onto the ground. In front of them stood a monstrous cavern, which was completely blocked off by a huge boulder. Sasuke quickly activated a chidori and charged at the strategically placed rock. Sasuke jabbed his right hand into the boulder, only slightly denting the object, causing Sasuke to grunt in annoyance.

"Danm…."

Sakura and Chiyo had arrived as Sasuke was charging at the boulder and observed the minimal damage caused by the lightning attack.

"I've got this Sasuke-kun"

Said Sakura as she tightened both gloves on her hands. She charged at the boulder with her chakra-enhanced fist, slamming her left hand into the boulder, instantly causing it to crumble and break down. The pinkette leapt back to the company of her three comrades.

"Lets go!"

Commanded Kakashi as team seven and Chiyo cautiously darted into the cavern.

Instantly upon entry the four were confronted with the sight of two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them, an automatic indicator of the Akatsuki. One was a blonde with a ponytail and bangs covering one of his eyes. The other looked hunchbacked with a iron tail and black mask covering half of its face. In front of the two Akatsuki members was the lifeless body of the Kazekage.

Chiyo's eyes narrowed at the hunchbacked Akatsuki member. It seemed as though she would have to fight her grandson after all these years.

"I see you still enjoy hiding within Hiruko Sasori."

Said Chiyo gaining a chuckle from the masked puppet.

"This old lady seems to know some of your secrets Sasori, yeah?"

"Well it's been a while… Grandmother, I'm so excited that I'll be able to fight you."

Chiyo glared at Hiurko until Deidara spoke up.

"You Konoha nin are too late, we've already extracted the Shukaku. I suppose I can still show you my art though!"

Kakashi cursed under his breathe, they were too late. He knew that once a biju was extracted from a jinchuriki, the host would in all likelihood die and that seemed to be the case with Gaara. He figured they should at least try and retrieve the body and see if they could pull off some miracle to save him.

Kakashi was already aware that Sasori was Chiyo's grandchild. He figured that Chiyo would attempt to fight Sasori while Sakura stood by to help her possibly deal with any poisons that Chiyo may encounter. Sasuke and himself could take on the Deidara of the explosion style. He had no idea where Naruto had gone but they would definitely need him soon.

"Sakura you will assist lady Chiyo with Sasori. Sasuke and I will go after the other one."

Deidara had been staring at the black haired boy thinking that he looked a lot like Itachi. He knew that the Uchiha member within the Akatsuki had a younger brother but was this him? His answer came when the black haired boy's eyes began to turn red and three tomei appeared within them.

"You're Itachi's brother, yeah?"

Said Deidara in a angry tone.

"Don't mention his name in front of me!"

Screamed the younger Uchiha, irritated by even the mentioning of his brother. Sasuke was already pissed off that this Nuu guy had taken out Itachi today and thus removed his opportunity to compare his skills to his older brother. He didn't want to hear any more about Itachi today.

"I hate that guy just as much as you do. In fact I hate all Uchiha, so get ready to face my art!"

Deidara reached both hands into his pouches as the hands on his mouth began to chew clay. The mouth on his right hand spit out a bird, which instantly grew in size. The tail of the bird wrapped around Gara's body as Deidara leapt onto its back.

"Sasori my man, we'll meet up at the main Akatasuki base."

Said Deidara, gaining a nod from Sasori. The clay bird began to flap its wings, flew into the air and then out of the cavern. Sasuke and Kakashi were surprised at the speed of the bird and quickly rushed out of the cavern in pursuit.

Now Sakura, Chiyo and Sasori remained in the cavern. Sakura gulped as she stared at the puppet that Sasori was hiding within. She had definitely gotten better over the years but was she ready to face a S-ranked criminal. A criminal who happened to be arguably the best puppeteer of all time and probably one of the best shinobi Suna produced in their history.

Chiyo noticed Sakura's visible fear and spoke up.

"Don't' worry Sakura, I'll protect you."

This gained a horsey chuckle from Hiruko.

"Don't be so AROGANT!"

Shouted Sasori as Hiruko fired its tail at Sakura, a lethal poison covering it. Chiyo immediately pulled seven kunai out which were attached by chakra threads and fired them at the incoming tail. Chiyo was surprised to see her kunai deflected and leapt out of the direction of the incoming tail.

One of the lessons Tsunade drilled into Sakura was that medic nin must be able to dodge and avoid incoming attacks with ease. So for hours on end Sakura was forced to evade Tsunade's chakra enhanced punches. If she wasn't quick or fast enough to evade she'd pay a hefty price of multiple broken bones. This training had definitely come in handy, as she was able to narrowly dodge the poison laced tail by dodging to the left.

Sasori's tail began to curve to the right the instant he realized he had missed the pink haired Konoha nin. Sakura leapt back to avoid the tail, which was curving in her direction. The tail began to change direction until a needle like weapon passed strait through the metal tail, pinning it in place on the ground.

Sasori was surprised at the development. Hiruko's tail was extremely dense and made of a strong metal, for a weapon to pass through it was absurd. Sasori saw enough of the weapon while it was soaring through the air to know it wasn't enhanced by wind chakra to enhance its penetration power. The other matter was the accuracy that was required to pull such a maneuver off, was it Chiyo's doing?

Sasori took another look at the weapon and after a second glance a feeling of recognition hit him. He knew what that weapon was, he had grown up in the era of the strongest seven ninja swordsman of the Mist. You had to have been living under a rock during that time to not know the names and weapons of the seven swordsmen. This of course was Nuibari, wielded in his younger days by Kushimaru Kuriarare. He hadn't heard or thought of that name in many, many years and didn't even think the man was still alive.

A high-pitched laughter then echoed through the cave as a figure appeared at the entrance to the cavern. The figure appeared to be black do to the light from outside shining directly onto him. Despite this Sasori was able to make see the man holding onto the wires of Nuibari and also noticed that he had a mask on.

"Hehe, mind if I join in?"

THANKS, PLEASE REVIEW!