New chapter! Please enjoy!

Edit: Was told I called Harry a couple of times. Fixed now, haha.

–

Life was pretty good for Naruto. Granted, Kakashi putting them in the Nijuu Shoutai had pissed him off a little. While it would be awesome to go fighting Akatsuki, there was still the fact that they couldn't do missions because they were on stand-by...

So, naturally, Naruto spent most of that time either sparring with Sasuke, Hinata, or Kakashi, or overseeing Konohamaru's training. Unfortunately, that became boring quickly...

But all-in-all, life was good. Since he came back from his training trip, he had noticed that he received considerably less angry stares from the villagers. Some of the shopkeepers even greeted him now, which was cool. And Kurama wasn't as much of a dick as he used to be. And Naruto had still managed to avoid catching the gay from Sasuke.

While he knew that homosexuality wasn't contagious, he loved how annoyed Sasuke got when Naruto claimed that it was.

"Well, well," Naruto heard, making him look over his shoulder to see Team Ten approaching, minus Chouji. It was Shikamaru who had spoken, smirking at him. "Heard you also got signed up for that troublesome Nijuu Shoutai thing."

"Yeah," Naruto said, nodding in greeting to Ino, who smiled at him. "You too?"

"Yeah, Asuma-sensei signed us up," Ino said. "Chouji and I are in Ninth Platoon with Raidou-senpai and Aoba-senpai, and Shikamaru is in Fourth with Asuma-sensei, Izumo-senpai, and Kotetsu-senpai."

"Wow, you're not one team?" Naruto asked in surprise. "Why not? Don't you work best with each other?"

"That's right, you've been away," Ino said in realization. "Team Ten has been split up for a whole bunch of missions, and most often we've been paired up with others. Chouji and I work better with Raidou and Aoba than Izumo and Kotetsu do, so we've been swapped."

"Cool. So, you guys looking forward to kicking some Akatsuki ass?" Naruto asked with a grin, which made Shikamaru scoff, while Ino looked a bit hesitant.

"Get real," Shikamaru muttered as he reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Personally, I'm hoping you and your dream team end up saddled with that responsibility. I don't really like getting my ass kicked, even if I do a bit of kicking on my own."

"Yeah, I don't feel entirely comfortable at the thought of fighting guys like that..." Ino muttered in embarrassment. "I'm just not as strong as you and your teammates..."

"Yeah, Ino's greatest weapon is her harpy scream, but I don't figure it'd do too much against the Akatsukyeowch!" Shikamaru yelped in pain as he was smashed into the ground by Ino's fist of righteous fury.

"Shut up, Shikamaru!"

"Geez, that's what I get for agreeing with my teammate..." Shikamaru muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. "So, anyway, Naruto, what are you up to?"

"Trying to get rid of my restlessness," Naruto answered with a frown. "Because of this Nijuu Shoutai thing, we're on stand-by, so we can't go on missions. Hell, I can't even leave the village. And sparring with the team isn't as fun and refreshing as it used to be."

"Maybe you need to spar with some new blood," Shikamaru mused, which made Naruto grin at him.

"Are you volunteering, Shikamaru?"

"I'm not stupid," Shikamaru muttered. "I'd get killed within five minutes."

"I think you're underestimating your tactical skills," Naruto said, before looking over Shikamaru with a pondering look on his face. "But you do look kinda fragile. I guess it's for the best."

"So, you've got nothing to do, then?" Ino asked suddenly, smiling brightly. "Nothing planned?"

"No?"

"Good. Would you like to go get a bite to eat with me?"

Naruto opened his mouth to say no on pure reflex, to claim that he had training to do. Thankfully, his mouth wasn't faster than his brain this time, because he realized that he didn't actually have any training to do.

"Er... What?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

"Would you like some dango?" Ino asked, sliding up to Naruto and looping her arm with his. "My treat."

"Um, okay?" Naruto said hesitantly.

Ino had never really shown any real interest in him before. She had always been a Sasuke follower. Was she... going for Naruto because he was the second best? If that was it, he didn't really want to hang out with her. But then again... free food.

"Alright, great!" Ino said with a pleased smile as she dragged Naruto off. "Shikamaru, let Asuma know I won't be there for team training!"

Shikamaru watched as Naruto was pulled away by Ino. He reached up and lazily scratched his head.

"Now why'd she have to decide on Naruto? One loud blonde is troublesome enough..." he muttered, before frowning. 'If those two get together, they'll be around each other a lot. And by extension, they'll both be around me a lot... And they'll be loud... Ugh...'

–

"And then, Sandayu started talking about how it was hopeless," Naruto told Hinata as the two wandered through Konoha, having just had lunch at Toyama Dango. "So Koyuki stands up, and she gives him this look, just like Fuun-hime in the movies, and she goes," Naruto set his face in as serious an expression as he could and looked at Hinata out of the corner of his eye, "'Never give up. As long as we breathe, we can fight.' Man! I thought I was gonna cry for sure!"

Hinata giggled at that, smiling brightly.

"You sure have been through many adventures on your trip, haven't you, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah! It just sucked that you guys weren't with me. It would have been much more fun," Naruto said with a grin, which only grew wider as the third member of their team landed in front of them, raising his hand in a wave. "Yo, Sasuke! How did the date go?"

"Yo, Naruto, Hinata," Sasuke greeted, before nodding. "It went surprisingly well. It felt a bit nervous in the beginning, but Takeshi is a pretty nice guy."

"See, aren't you happy I went and flapped my gums to him?" Naruto asked happily. "If I hadn't, you'd still be stalking him to try to figure out if he was a fellow gay."

"Yes, I'm grateful you went and asked him," Sasuke said, but added before Naruto could speak, "but that does not mean that you're permitted to do anything like that again."

"He just doesn't want to admit that the direct approach is usually the best," Naruto muttered to Hinata, who much to Sasuke's surprise nodded in agreement.

"Et tu, Hinata?"

"Well, Sasuke-kun, you are usually so brave... But when it came to Takeshi-san, you were kind of... me-like."

"I was not!"

"Were to."

"Was not!"

"Were to," Hinata insisted. "And I would know."

"Wait, you were Hinata-like?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening. "When? Why was I not around for it?"

"Hinata, don't you dare...!"

"He's been coming to the Hyuuga Compound sometimes for advice," Hinata said, a smile on her face. It clearly showed how at ease she felt around her teammates that she could say something like that without fearing Sasuke's wrath. "Eep!"

Okay, by the fact that Hinata just realized what she had said and took off running, she did fear Sasuke's wrath...

"Why'd you have to go and scare her off?" Naruto muttered, scratching his head. "She was gonna buy me ramen..."

"Haven't you already eaten?" Sasuke asked, to which Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, but I always have room for ramen."

"You know, maybe you should sew up that black hole you call a stomach?" Sasuke said with a smirk. "Don't want to get fat."

"I'll never get fat," Naruto said, snorting. "The doctors say I've got a high metabolism," he muttered, using air-quotes as he mockingly said 'high metabolism'.

Sasuke snorted as well at hearing that. He was quiet for a few seconds, and then gave Naruto another smirk.

"So, I hear you went on a date as well recently. Ino, was it?"

"Yeah, it was pretty strange," Naruto mumbled as he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Didn't really know what to make of her... Thankfully, I'll have a chance to figure her out later. We've decided to go out for dango again soon."

Before Sasuke could comment on that, Hinata came running into view. She looked alarmed by something, and it sure as hell wasn't Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed as she reached them. "The Nijuu Shoutai have been summoned to the Hokage Tower. There's been an Akatsuki sighting!"

"Freakin' finally!" Naruto barked, a grin appearing on his face. "I've been getting antsy just walking around the village! Let's go!"

–

"And that's the end of the briefing," Tsunade said, standing on the roof of the Hokage Tower in front of the eighty gathered ninjas, twenty four-man teams, the Nijuu Shoutai. On her right stood Shizune, and on her left stood a monk from the Fire Temple, which had been attacked by the Akatsuki. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand, and Tsunade looked at him.

"Capture or kill?" he asked.

"Capture if possible, but no matter what, do not let them escape. Anyone else?"

Now Asuma raised his hand.

"Chiriku, a former member of the Twelve Shinobi Guardsmen, should have been there too. What happened to him?"

The monk frowned at that and lowered his head.

"Chiriku-sama died... at the hands of those two scoundrels..."

"As I just said, in the event that capture becomes impossible, eradicate them," Tsunade said. "As much as I'd like to find out about their plans, these guys are dangerous. You must not let them leave the country! No matter what, find them! Go!"

Tsunade threw her arm out, and the twenty teams dashed off.

When Team Seven (named Fifth Platoon in the Nijuu Shoutai) took a break, it was several miles away from Konoha. As expected, everyone turned to Naruto once they stopped.

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "How far can you stretch your senses? Do you think you can find them from here?"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Naruto said as he crouched down and put his hand in a half-Ram seal, before reaching down and pressing his index finger on his other hand into the dirt. His eyes drifted shut as he concentrated harder than ever before. "This would be much easier if the whole Nijuu Shoutai hadn't been sent out," he muttered after a moment. "There are many chakra signatures I don't really recognize, but I think I can figure out which ones belong to Konoha..."

"Any signatures that stand out?" Sasuke asked, to which Naruto shook his head.

"Not that I can feel from here... My senses aren't sharp enough yet to stretch across a whole country... Hold on."

Naruto pulled his finger out of the dirt and started going through handseals. As usual finishing in a Snake seal, he slammed his hand down on the ground.

"Mokuton: Futsu no Uranaibou no Jutsu (Wood Element: Buddha's Divining Rod Technique)!"

A tremor went through the ground. Although no member of Team Seven could see it, wooden poles with intricate seal carvings on them sprouted from the ground all around them in a fifty-mile radius.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked, furrowing his brow as he looked around to try to figure out what Naruto's jutsu had just done.

"This is a technique the Shodai created. The Nidaime was a sensor, and this technique was created to amplify a Senju chakra signal," Naruto said, putting his hand in a half-Ram seal again and pressing his finger down in the dirt. "They catch my chakra and send it out further, increasing my sensing range. Now shut your hole and let me focus."

There was a minute of silence, and then a small grin slowly spread on Naruto's face.

"Ah, there you are..."

"Found them?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, two hundred and twenty-five klicks northwest. Either they're Akatsuki, or there's two other people with freakish chakra running around in Fire Country."

"Let's hope not. We've got enough to worry about as it is," Sasuke muttered, looking to the north-west. "Well, there's only one way to find out if it's them."

With that, the team dashed off.

"Sensei," Hinata spoke up as they ran. "Did the monk give us any intel on the two Akatsuki?"

"Unfortunately, no. He only survived because he wasn't there. He only arrived as they were leaving," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "The only intel he could give us was a description of their appearances."

"Well, appearance-wise, they won't be hard to spot, what with the cloaks and all," Naruto reasoned with a shrug.

–

Team Seven landed on a branch in a tree by the edge of the forest. Before them was a building, which was old and worn down. They had no idea what the front business had been at one point, but it looked abandoned now. However, they all knew that this was a rather well-known exchange point. No doubt, the Akatsuki had come here to turn in Chiriku's body for a bounty.

Outside the building sat one of the Akatsuki members, a purple-eyed man with slicked-back, gray hair, who had a large, three-bladed scythe on his back.

"That is one strange weapon," Naruto commented as Hinata looked the man over with her Byakugan.

"It's attached to a rope that's wrapped around his wrist. No doubt, he is proficient in using the scythe for mid-range attacks as well," she informed them, narrowing her eyes slightly. "It's strange..."

"Well, naturally, the thing's got three blades."

"No, that isn't what I meant," Hinata said softly. "He is completely relaxed... Akatsuki are wanted. Anyone would be at least slightly on guard, but he isn't. It's as though he's not worried about any surprise attacks..."

"So, he's either strong or stupid enough to not worry," Sasuke concluded with a hum. "Well, at least we know he is mainly close-range. Anyone swinging around a weapon like that is someone who enjoys carnage. I doubt he'd use any jutsu. He doesn't feel like the type."

"His partner is still an unknown, though," Kakashi muttered. "Hinata, can you see inside the building?"

Hinata focused, then nodded.

"Yes, I see him." Her eyes widened in shock. "W-What?"

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"This man, he... he has five chakra centers!" Hinata whispered in amazement. "I have never seen anything like this before!"

"Shiiiit," Naruto muttered in annoyance. "I hate running into the unknown. Odds are I'm gonna get hurt..."

"That's not all. This man is also relaxed. Recklessly so..." Hinata mumbled. "C-Can we... Can we really take these guys?"

"So long as we take them one at a time, there shouldn't be a problem," Sasuke said, then furrowed his brow and added, "hopefully."

"That's great. Your confidence is truly inspiring, Sasuke..." Naruto muttered.

"Enough," Kakashi ordered, narrowing his eye as he stared at the man sitting outside the building. "Naruto, we don't know anything about these guys. It would be best to just take this one out in a single strike, then focus on capturing the other. Do you feel up for a Fastball?"

"I knew you were gonna ask that..." Naruto muttered as he stood up. "I never should have invented that move..."

"Well, you did, and now you're gonna fly," Sasuke said with a smirk, standing up as well and grabbing Naruto by the back of his pants and his collar. "Ready?"

"So long as you guys surround me and get ready to swarm the other guy when he comes out, yeah," Naruto said with a nod, steeling himself. "Alright, do it."

Sasuke lifted Naruto into the air, holding the blond horizontally in front of him. Kakashi and Hinata backed away to give him some room, and Sasuke started spinning. He picked up more and more speed, until he and Naruto were nothing but a blur, spinning like a top on the branch. Then, Naruto was flung straight at the man, a blond missile that shot at the Akatsuki with amazing speed.

The silver-haired man only had time to look up before he copped a straight right to his face that snapped his head back and sent him flying into and through the entire building, kicking up a massive amount of dust.

"One down," Naruto concluded as he landed on the steps where the man had been sitting. "Now we just have to wait for the other guy."

"By 'the other guy', I assume you're referring to me?"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he spun around to find himself facing down an incredibly unnerving ninja.

The man wore the standard Akatsuki cloak. On his head, he wore a sort of gray cowl with a black mask attached to it, which covered the lower half of his face, leaving only a small amount of his tanned face visible, along with a pair of poisonous green eyes with dark pink, almost red sclera.

The eyes staring coldly at Naruto spoke of cruelty, sadism, and, most importantly, vast amounts of experience, reminding Naruto of the Sandaime's eyes during the Chunnin Exam invasion.

"I've warned Hidan on countless occasions that he should focus his senses if he desperately feels a need to relax his guard. That should teach him a lesson," the man spoke in a slow, drawling, and rather gravelly tone of voice.

"Sorry to tell ya," Naruto said with a grin as Sasuke, Kakashi, and Hinata blurred into view around the Akatsuki member, "but he won't be learning anymore lessons."

"Is that so?"

Naruto only had time for his eyes to widen when he heard the whistle of steel cutting through air. He ducked, and a three-bladed scythe passed through the space his neck had previously occupied, flying straight past the surrounded Akatsuki member and toward Kakashi, who went wide-eyed and leapt out of the way. The rope attached to the butt of the scythe was given a yank, and the scythe changed direction in the air, jerking back and heading straight for Hinata, who leapt away as well.

Sasuke, however, suddenly found himself an inch away from the other Akatsuki member, who had crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His Sharingan eyes widened and he raised his arm just in time to catch a swing from the man.

The next second, he found himself soaring through the air.

'What the hell?!' he barked in his mind, flipping and landing on his feet several yards away from the man, who was staring at him in what appeared to be boredom. "Regroup!"

Sasuke leapt backward, putting some distance between them, and was soon joined by the rest of his team, who were all staring at the Akatsuki in shock. Or, more specifically, the Akatsuki member who came up to stand next to his partner. It was the silver-haired one, Hidan, and he looked completely unharmed.

"That's quite a punch you've got there, blondie," Hidan said with a grin, tilting his head to the side, hearing several satisfying cracks, before reaching up and wiping blood from his upper lip, which had been pouring from his broken nose. "Thought I actually died there for a second."

"Idiot," the other Akatsuki growled at his partner. "I've told you not to relax, moron."

Hidan twitched in annoyance, and his head snapped toward his partner.

"Kakuzu, eat a dick! Not even you would have had time to react to that one!"

"Perhaps not. The speed was impressive. When he reached the edge of my senses, he was seventy feet away from you, and before I even blinked you were suddenly sent flying," Kakuzu commented, looking over the Konoha team. "Lots of potential among them. And what's this? Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja... Your bounty is pretty high."

"What is this, Naruto?" Kakashi asked quietly. "I thought you hit him?"

"I did," Naruto muttered, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Clean, direct hit straight to the nose... He should be dead."

"Kakuzu, let's take two each," Hidan said, grinning at the Konoha ninjas, looking them over and sizing them up. "I'll take the girl and that blond shit who punched me. They'll be my ceremonial offerings!"

"You really are a moron, Hidan," Kakuzu growled. "Take a good look, that's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. We want him alive."

"Huh?!" Hidan barked in surprise, narrowing his eyes as he stared intently at Naruto. "Fuck, you're right... Alright, then I'll take sword-boy instead. Should prove amusing."

"Very well," Kakuzu said, setting down the briefcase in his hand. "But don't let your guard down, or they'll kill you."

"Tch, why are you telling me that?" Hidan asked with a grin reappearing on his face. "If they actually can kill me, I want them to. After all, it's impossible."

Kakuzu sighed.

"Fine, do as you wish. It's not like your death will be a great loss. If you do die, I can just cash in on your bounty."

While this (which to the Konoha ninjas looked like a friendly conversation, as they couldn't hear what was being said) was going on, Team Seven were strategizing, all of them with less than pleased looks on their faces.

"See, this is why I hate rushing into the unknown like that..." Naruto muttered. "So, apparently scythe-boy has his eyes set on you and Hinata, Sasuke. You think it's a good idea to split?"

"Yeah, Hinata and I can separate them from each other. In any event, Kakashi is more in tune with working with your more destructive justu. You'd work best together."

"Be careful, though," Naruto said, raising his fist to Sasuke, who tapped it with his own fist. "We still don't know what that freak can do, other than shrugging off one of my punches."

"Hidan," Kakuzu spoke up loud enough for Team Seven to hear. "Take your fight elsewhere. If you're going to do your tedious ceremonial crap, do it away from me."

"Tch, you fucking Atheist piece of shit," Hidan muttered, hefting his scythe. "Like I want you to step all over my ritual grounds... Well, come on then, kids, let's go play elsewhere!"

With that, Hidan leapt off, Sasuke and Hinata following closely, leaving Naruto and Kakashi to face down Kakuzu, who gave both of them cold, calculating looks.

"Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, seventy million Ryou, and another thirty for an intact Sharingan," he spoke up coldly, then turned his gaze to Naruto. "Shizen no Kami, Senju Naruto, thirty million Ryou. It looks like I stumbled upon two big bounties today."

"Naruto, harden your body and go in close," Kakashi muttered quietly to Naruto. "We need to figure out what this guy can do before we can think up a proper plan for how to beat him."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a nod, flashing through three handseals that ended in a Ram seal. Then, he charged forward at Kakuzu, who didn't even seem to tense up.

The punch Naruto threw was a powerful one. It was fast, too, so it came as an amazing surprise when Kakuzu dodged. It was even more surprising when Kakuzu's fist came flying up into Naruto's gut, hitting him with enough force to lift him off the ground and knock the air out of him.

While Naruto was in the air, Kakuzu raised his other hand and hit Naruto with an amazingly strong punch that sent him flying straight into the abandoned building, crashing through the wall and causing a decent part of the ceiling to collapse on top of him.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled in surprise. He couldn't focus on Naruto, however, as Kakuzu was on him in a heartbeat, engaging him in a Taijutsu fight.

There was no finesse, no style in Kakuzu's moves. It was all power, and no energy was wasted in any single one of his strikes, all of them striking with almost mechanical precision.

Kakashi was slightly faster, however, and with his uncovered Sharingan eye, he managed to predict the shinobi's movements and dodge by a hair's bredth each time.

The fighting had to stop, however, and both fighters leapt back to avoid a massive slab of concrete that came flying past them from the hole in the wall. The dust in the hole cleared to reveal Naruto standing, blood pouring down his face from an unseen wound somewhere behind his happuri, or in his hair.

"Ow," he said simply as he walked out of the hole. "Quite the power in you, man. Guess Taijutsu isn't the best way to deal with this."

Kakuzu's eyes widened when Naruto flashed through a chain of handseals.

"Fuuton: Atsudangan!"

A large ball of air was spewed from Naruto's mouth, tearing up the ground and heading straight for the surprised Kakuzu, who leapt out of the way at the last second.

What he hadn't expected was for Kakashi to launch a fireball at him at the same time. The fireball impacted with the Atsudangan just as it passed between them, absorbing the Fuuton jutsu and increasing its power as it crashed into Kakuzu, pushing him back a good twenty yards before exploding.

"Can't have been that easy," Naruto commented as he jumped over and landed next to Kakashi. "Nope, still feel him in there," he said with a gesture for the smoke rising from the blast zone.

"When the smoke cleared, it revealed Kakuzu standing in the crater, looking unharmed. In fact, only his Akatsuki coat had been burned by the explosion and was now hanging from him in tatters. Kakuzu pulled the ruined coat off him, showing that he was wearing some kind of shirt that only covered his front, and not his arms, shoulders, or back.

Both Naruto and Kakashi went wide-eyed at seeing that the man had stitches all over his body, and the glare he gave them was not pleasant. He also had four strange masks sewn into his skin on his back.

"How pitiful, to allow myself to be hit by an attack from a pair of runts..." Kakuzu glared, hunching forward slightly. "Well, given who you are, I guess I can forgive myself. But right now, fun's over."

Kakuzu charged forward, and Naruto noticed how his hand turned pitch black as the fist came flying. He hardened his arm and raised his hand, blocking the strike and skidding back from the force. When Kakashi made to move, Kakuzu threw his free hand out to the side. To everyone's surprise, the stitches on his forearm loosened, and his hand launched toward Kakashi as though fired from a cannon, attached to the rest of the body by a group of black tendrils. The hand latched onto Kakashi's collar, and Kakuzu gave it a yank that caused Kakashi to come flying toward Naruto, who stomped his foot down on the ground.

A wooden pole, its end shaped like a hand, burst from the ground and grabbed Kakashi by the back of the collar at the same time as what appeared to be two wooden meat-cleavers came up from under the tendrils, slamming together and cutting them off.

Kakashi, not even slowed down, planted his feet against the pole and flashed through seals as he launched himself at Kakuzu, who made to leap away, only to find himself grabbed by a grinning Naruto.

"End of the road!" Naruto exclaimed as Kakashi reached them with a lightning-covered hand, which punched straight through Kakuzu's side, piercing his head.

Kakuzu's eyes screwed shut, and a grunt escaped him. He glared with a considerable amount of hatred at Kakashi with eyes that slowly dimmed and closed as his body slackened.

"Well, at least we can bring that other one back alive," Kakashi reasoned as he pulled his hand out of Kakuzu, and Naruto let the Akatsuki drop to the ground. "Let's go help Sasuke and Hinata."

"Yeah, we'll-"

Naruto was interrupted when a fist impacted with his chin, launching him straight up into the air, and a foot impacted with Kakashi's chest and sent him flying into the building, through the wall.

Once Kakashi had pushed the rubble off him and look, his eyes widened at what he saw.

Kakuzu was standing up, glaring heatedly at Kakashi.

'That's impossible!' Kakashi thought in shock. 'I'm sure I pierced his heart!'

A few feet away, Naruto crashed into the ground with considerable force, forming a crater with the impact. Once the dust cleared, Naruto pushed himself up and shook his head to clear it.

"Alright..." the blond muttered, rising to his feet to glare at Kakuzu. "Round two..."

Kakuzu didn't speak. Instead, he just put his hands in a Ram seal. He hunched forward and growled from the strain as his back started bulging. The stitches holding the masks to his skin strained as what seemed like thousands of snakes writhed underneath the skin. Then, the stiches broke, and a huge mass of black tendrils shot out of his back, along with the four masks. The mass split into four pieces, each with a mask on them, and the slowly started taking on a somewhat humanoid form as Kakuzu's back stitched itself back together.

As soon as the four creatures had taken their places at Kakuzu's sides, two of them gave echoing groans as the slowly sank to the ground and turned into black liquid, leaving only a puddle and a mask in their place.

"What the hell?" Naruto muttered in shock, staring wide-eyed at the creatures.

"And with this, you die," Kakuzu growled out, narrowing his eyes.

–

When Sasuke and Hinata had pursued Hidan, the man hadn't gone too far away from Kakuzu, probably to be able to call on his partner if he needed help. But then again, they hadn't really seemed like friends.

Hidan landed in a clearing in the forest not too far away from the building where they had left Kakuzu, Naruto, and Kakashi. He rested his scythe against his shoulder and looked around, seeing Sasuke and Hinata landing in the clearing as well.

"Yeah, this looks like a good place," Hidan said, grinning at the two shinobi.

"As a Konoha shinobi with a capture priority, I feel the need to give you a chance," Sasuke said as he unsheathed his sword. "Give up peacefully, and no harm shall befall you."

"Hah! You think two little brats like you could take me down?!" Hidan barked, his grin only widening as he gave his scythe a few test swings, before charging straight at Sasuke. "Get real!"

Sasuke's Sharingan studied the man as he charged, and his eyes widened in surprise.

'There are so many openings! Is he really an S-ranked ninja? What's his game?'

Hidan whooped with glee as he swung at Sasuke, who deflected the blow with his sword, his eyes widening in amazement when Hidan jumped and launched a spin kick at Hinata, who had come charging from the side.

Hinata blocked the strike, but was sent stumbling back, giving Hidan the opportunity to once more attack Sasuke, who frowned in annoyance as he blocked attack after attack.

'This guy is unnerving...' Sasuke thought, jumping over a horizontal swipe and slashing at Hidan, cutting through the man's nose. The Akatsuki didn't even flinch from the pain. He just kept attacking. 'There are countless openings in his style... Rather, he has no style at all... He doesn't even flinch when I hit him... And he shrugged off one of Naruto's punches with ease... Does he just heal fast? No, his nose hasn't healed yet... Then what? Why isn't he afraid of getting hurt?'

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when he had to raise his sword to block an overhead swing, gritting his teeth in annoyance when the two blades he had slipped his sword between tore open the shoulder of his Chunnin vest, almost piercing the skin.

Hidan had that grin on his face still. He still whooped with almost every attack, as if this was just some big game to him. A true-blue Akatsuki. Crazy skills and an equally crazy personality...

Sasuke was given a temporary reprieve when Hinata once more swooped in from the side and landed a powerful Juuken strike to Hidan's ribs, hitting him hard enough to send him flying away.

She didn't let up, though, charging at Hidan and engaging him in close quarters. She was striking to incapacitate, but Hidan showed a surprising ease as he dodged each attack and counter, forcing Hinata to twist and bend to avoid the menacing-looking scythe.

'That weapon is strange,' Sasuke thought as he came rushing at Hidan from behind. 'It's totally unwieldy... It's like he had it made simply for the purpose of causing as much carnage as possible...'

The ground shook, and Sasuke looked to where they had come from, to see a large amount of trees rising up above the forest, followed by a series of explosions.

'Can't count on Naruto to come back us up right now. He's got his hands full...'

"Come on, girl!" Hidan barked as Hinata barely dodged a swing. "You're not getting tired already, are y-ow!"

Hidan blinked when a blade pierced through his chest, and he looked behind him to see Sasuke there, having quickly closed the distance and stabbed him.

"That hurt, ya dick!" Hidan barked, making Sasuke's eyes widen.

'What?! I pierced his heart! I know I did!' he thought in shock, amazed at the bored, if slightly annoyed, look he was receiving from Hidan. "Hinata, take him down!"

Hinata nodded and rushed forward, but Hidan's elbow flew up and impacted with Sasuke's temple, making him stumble back, pulling his sword out as he did. Then, Hidan charged at Hinata and swung his scythe. It all happened too quickly for the now wide-eyed Hinata to properly react.

"Gotcha!"

"Hinata!"

The scythe flashed, and blood spattered the ground. Hinata's eyes were wide as she stared at Sasuke, who had tackled her to the ground, taking the hit for her. The scythe had sliced his back, but not deep enough to sever his spine. Still, it hurt something fierce.

"Finally!" Hidan barked with a grin as Sasuke flipped to his feet and started flashing through handseals.

'Need to put some distance between him and us so Hinata can heal me,' he thought as he finished the chain in Tiger. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke blew a massive fireball at Hidan, who simply grinned and licked the blood off his scythe, not making a single move to dodge as the fireball impacted with him, exploding in a cloud of smoke and fire.

"Y-You got him!" Hinata said sighing in elation, only for her eyes to widen as Sasuke grunted in pain. "Sasuke-kun?!"

"W-What the hell is this?" Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth as he looked down as his right hand. The back of it sported burn wounds that hadn't been there before, and his entire arm, his right leg, his right shoulder, the right side of his neck, and his right cheek were stinging from burns as well.

A chuckle sounded, drawing both ninja's attention to the smoke, which slowly cleared.

There, standing in a circle drawn with blood, with a triangle drawn inside it, was Hidan. His skin was black with white skeleton patterns covering it. Also, his body was burned in the exact place as Sasuke...

"How is it?" Hidan asked in a voice that was downright trembling with pleasure. "Does it hurt? You've been cursed now, you know..." Hidan's head snapped up to stare at Sasuke with bloodshot eyes, a massive grin on his face. "Let's savor the utmost pain together!"

"H-How...?" Hinata whispered in surprise. "How did Sasuke-kun get burned?"

Hidan gave a cackle as he reached into his ruined coat to take out a black rod. A spike tip extended from one end, and he grinned widely once more.

"The preparations are now set! Be prepared, because you'll be in so much pain!"

"Tch, you talk too much..." Sasuke grunted out as he twirled his sword, then charged at Hidan, who scoffed as he raised the spike...

...then stabbed it into his own leg...

Sasuke only had time to go wide-eyed, before he tripped and fell to the ground, clutching at his leg. He felt his pant leg getting wet with blood.

"W-What...?"

"Hurts, doesn't it?!" Hidan barked happily, pulling the spike out of his leg. "Not as much as your vitals, I bet! Hehe... That's where you'll find the utmost pain, you know... The pain present when someone dies permeates through my body! It goes beyond pain, beyond words!"

'Seems our bodies are connected somehow...' Sasuke thought, clutching at his leg as he pushed himself into a standing position. 'Any damage done to him will also be done to me... How the hell am I going to deal with that?'

Hidan laughed again, raising his spike into the air.

"What other pains do you wish to savor, hm?! Or... do you want me to end it now?!"

Sasuke and Hinata's eyes widened as Hidan took aim with his spike, and then brought it down toward his chest.

Before it could so much as pierce the skin, however, an explosion in the distance caused the Akatsuki member to pause for a millisecond to glance toward its source. That millisecond's pause saved Sasuke's life, because a blur came shooting at them from Naruto's location, crashing into Hidan and sending him tumbling along the ground with it.

Sasuke grunted in pain and clutched as his chest. It felt like something had just barely pierced it, poking his ribs, but no more than that.

He looked toward Hidan, to see him in a tangled mess on the ground, with Kakuzu on top of him, along with two strange, black creatures with porcelain masks on them. Amazingly, the spike was pierced straight through Hidan's chest.

"Damn it, Kakuzu, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Hidan barked as the two creatures jumped off, allowing Kakuzu to get up as well. "I was just about to kill that little shit!"

"Shut your trap, Hidan!" Kakuzu growled as he turned his gaze toward Sasuke and Hinata, just as Naruto and Kakashi landed in the clearing.

They were both kind of dirty, and they clothes were ripped here and there, but other than that, they seemed to be fine.

"Seems there will be no separating them," Kakashi commented, and Sasuke gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for the save," he said, still clutching at his leg. "I was about to bite it..."

"How the hell did that happen?" Naruto asked in surprise. "You're strong enough to take this guy out, aren't you?"

"He did some kind of ritual. Our bodies are connected. Any would he gets, I get," Sasuke informed them, making their eyes widen. "However, it seems to only work within that circle," he added as he pointed at the symbol painted in blood on the ground. "That thing only barely pierced his chest while he was still in it, but once he was out, I wasn't hurt further."

"Well then," Naruto said simply, flashing through handseals. The ground shooke once more, and wooden poles rose from the ground to form a dome over the symbol, hiding it from view. "There, that should stop him hurting you. Hinata, can you heal Sasuke?"

"Y-Yes, right away!"

"Good," Kakashi said with a nod. "We'll try to keep them occupied until Sasuke is healed. Let's go, Naruto!"

"Right!"

–

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance. In some ways, he was upset that he wasn't fighting alone. With his team there, he couldn't go crazy like he used to do during his training trip, because there was a chance that his teammates would get caught in his more destructive jutsu. He didn't yet possess the finesse of the Shodai Hokage.

He was brought out of his musings when one of those strange creatures appeared in front of him, the mouth of the mask opening. A flame sparked in the mouth, and Naruto was quick to flash through seals and erect a wall of water in front of him just as the massive blast of fire came roaring at him.

As the water turned into steam when the attack impacted with his wall, Naruto growled to himself.

'So, Sasuke's life is in constant danger as long as that Hidan chump is still in the game, so we'll have to incapacitate him first... But that's pretty freakin' difficult when this Kakuzu freak and his tentacle buddies keep blocking my path! I don't know how long Kakashi-sensei can last against Hidan... All it would take is a scratch, after all...'

Naruto's thoughts were once more interrupted, this time by Kakuzu himself, who engaged him in a Taijutsu battle once more. For such a stiff-looking guy, Kakuzu sure had speed, managing to dodge all of Naruto's counter-attacks. The man had obviously learned not to try to block Naruto's strikes, which sucked. Even a blocked attack would do considerable damage...

Kakuzu landed a kick into Naruto's chest, sending him stumbling back. When Kakuzu didn't press the attack, Naruto knew something was coming.

As expected, the two creatures appeared on his right, both of them opening their mouths. Naruto knew their elemental abilities, so he knew that a mixed Wind and Fire technique was something to watch out for. Therefore, he backflipped out of the way as the Wind-enhanced ball of fire came shooting at him.

Naruto's eyes widened, however, when he saw the fireball smash into the wooden dome covering the ritual circle, smashing it to bits.

'Shit!' he thought in alarm as he saw a grin spread on Hidan's face.

Hidan broke off his attack on Kakashi and dashed off toward the symbol. When he reached it, stepping onto it, he gave a triumphant laugh as he raised the spike in his hand into the air.

The man was never allowed to stab himself, however, as Naruto came flying at him, tackling him off the circle and to the ground. Before Hidan could even process what had happened, Naruto flipped them over on the ground so he was under Hidan, wrapping his legs around the man's waist and his arm around his neck in a Guillotine choke hold.

"What the hell?!" Hidan barked, flailing his limbs. The force of Naruto's tackle had made him drop his weapons in surprise, so all he could do was wave his hands at Naruto, who tightened his hold. "Let go of me you, brat! What do you think you're-"

A loud crack reverberated through the clearing as Hidan's body went limp. Naruto didn't let up, though. He kept up he pressure, and two more cracks were heard, followed by a snap.

Hidan's neck had been snapped clean off.

"That hurt, you little shit!" came Hidan's voice, which made Naruto's eyes widen. "Now I can't use my fucking body! Are you happy now?!"

"Of course I am," Naruto muttered, pushing the crazy immortal off him and getting to his feet, to see that Kakuzu was standing completely still flanked by his creatures. He was just watching them right now. That was lucky, too, because Kakashi was panting slightly, and Sasuke hadn't been fully healed yet.

"Oi, Kakuzu!" Hidan barked, laying unmoving on the ground. "Come help me out here!"

"You're annoying, Hidan. Shut up," Kakuzu growled out, his eyes fixed on Naruto. "You know, fighting you fills me with nostalgia, boy. You remind me of the first Konoha ninja I ever fought." His eyes narrowed. "The Shodai Hokage!"

Team Seven went wide-eyed at hearing that.

'How old is this guy?!'

"How can that be?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes as well. "Are you immortal?"

"There is no such thing as immortality."

"Oi!" Hidan barked, only to be ignored.

"I have merely come up with a way to prolong my life."

"Then we shouldn't take you lightly," Kakashi said, glancing at his blond student. "Naruto, go wild."

"But you might get caught in it, sensei."

"We'll be fine. Just go crazy."

A grin slowly spread on Naruto's face, and he clapped his hands together as Kakashi leapt away. Sasuke and Hinata did the same, and Kakashi made sure to pick up Hidan's unmoving body before leaving the immediate area.

"Is that wise, boy, having your teammates leave?" Kakuzu asked, which only made Naruto grin wider as he started going through handseals.

"Yeah, because this means I can go all out without worries."

"What?"

"Naruto Hijutsu: Mokuton: Shizen no Fukkatsu (Naruto Secret Technique: Wood Element: Nature's Rebirth)!" Naruto called as he slammed his hands down into the dirt.

The ground started shaking something fierce, which made Kakuzu look around with a small amount of worry in his eyes. Understandable. After all, he had fought the Shodai, so he somewhat knew what to expect. It was also guaranteed to be bigger than the forest Naruto summoned earlier.

Massive trees burst out of the ground, trees the size of redwoods, which made Kakuzu and his creatures leap away to avoid being launched into the air by them.

The trees stretched higher and higher into the air, reaching the same height as the peak of the Hokage monument. The forest Naruto had summoned stretched out in a radius of five miles in every direction.

Naruto looked up to see Kakuzu landing on one of the branches sticking out of one of the trees, and the Akatsuki member shook his head.

"It will take more than a couple of trees to-"

Kakuzu cut himself off and leapt out of the way when wooden spikes shot out of both the trunk and the branch, missing him by less than an inch.

As he landed on the ground, however, he noticed that Naruto had performed another jutsu, and was informed of just what that was when stone spikes shot out of the ground, ready to impale him. He jumped into the air again, only for his eyes to widen when Naruto blurred into view behind him, wrapping his arms around the Akatsuki member and flipping them over in the air so that they were rocketing headfirst toward the ground.

Kakuzu crashed into the dirt, Naruto letting go at the last second and landing on his feet, immediately slamming his palms into the ground. Kakuzu was immediately impaled by three stone spikes, only for his body to explode into water.

'Shit,' Naruto thought as he leapt out of the way of a ball of compressed wind that was fired at him from one of the creatures. He clapped his hands together.

"Mokuton Bunshin!" he called out, and two replicas of himself made out of wood rose from the ground. They changed color to match Naruto perfectly, then immediately took up positions behind Naruto, so that their backs were toward each other, and they formed a triangle, all three of them on guard.

Kakuzu and the creatures had disappeared from view. Unfortunately for them, this was Naruto's forest.

The blond closed his eyes and focused his senses. He reached behind him and tapped his clones on the backs, and the two nodded before charging off toward separate trees. Both clones held out their right hands, a ball of furiously spinning chakra building up in their palms.

"Rasengan!" both clones called out, smashing their chakra balls into their respective trees (In the back of his mind, Naruto knew there was some kind of gay joke in there that could have been told to Sasuke had he been there), completely shredding through them. When they were halfway into the trees, however, anyone watching intently would have been able to see a brief flicker of wind chakra enter the Rasengan balls, which caused them to explode in the clones' hands. The remaining halves of the trees were completely blown up, sending insanely large splinters flying at the creatures hiding behind them.

One of the creatures seemed to have picked up on the Wind chakra in time to jump away, but the other wasn't so lucky, getting completely torn up by the wooden splinters that, upon Naruto forming a half-Ram seal, sprouted a massive amount of spikes that served to pierce its body even further.

One of the spikes hit its mark, because the creature's mask opened in a gasp as three cracks went down its from, before its body started melting just like the other two. When it was nothing more than a puddle of black stuff, the mask shattered.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, especially when he watched his other clone leap after the other creature and grab it in the air from behind. The creature turned its head toward Naruto and opened his mouth, which made Naruto smirk as he knew exactly what element this was, so he started going through handseals.

'Alright, let's see how we compare,' he thought, clapping his hands together. "Fuuton: Yama no Ishi (Wind Element: Mountain's Will)!"

Naruto clenched his fist, whistling wind gathering around it, and then, just as the creature released its Fuuton attack, Naruto threw a straight right punch up at the creature. The air between Naruto and the creature compressed, the force of the act shaking the surrounding area, and was then sent rocketing straight toward the creature's compressed ball of wind.

The two attacks collided in mid-air, and just the small pieces of the wind chakra that were chipped off and flung aside were enough to cause something akin to a tornado that formed around the two attacks, slicing up any tree reckless enough to remain standing as the wind passed through.

Then, Naruto's attack overpowered the creatures, and Naruto saw, and was fairly he was history's first witness to such a thing, a black-tendril creatures and a wooden clone get sliced up into thousands of small gooey and splintery messes that was launched around the recently made clearing, landing here and there with a splat or two. All that remained of the mask was dust.

"Heh, and that makes four. Only the freak left," Naruto said with a pleased grin. He perked up and spun around, to see Kakuzu standing some distance away from him, glaring heatedly at the blond.

"I wonder if you will look so pleased when I scoop out your brain and crush it in front of your eyes, brat," Kakuzu growled out, which made Naruto scoff.

"Well, joke's on you, dipshit, I hardly even use it!"

"I suppose you have a reason for being able to joke even at this point," Kakuzu said as he clapped his hands together. "However, I'm not through yet!"

Kakuzu tensed up, and his body started bulging everywhere. Something was writhing like crazy under his skin, and the stitches holding his skin together strained and snapped from the pressure put on them.

Hundreds of black tendrils shot out of Kakuzu's body and spilled out of his mouth, which ripped his cowl and facemask off. His limbs were sewn together again, and all the tendrils gathered around Kakuzu's head, forming eight long, black arm-like appendages that surrounded his head. He looked even more freakish now, and the amount of chakra Naruto sensed made Naruto frown.

"What the hell is the point of being really powerful if everyone else is as well?" he muttered to himself, before taking a deep breath and nodding. "Alright, tentacle-face, let's do this!"

With that, Naruto charged.

–

So, what did you think? Love it? Hate it? Remember to leave a review!

Peace,

ZnK