The Yellow Fang

by Policy

He was left broken from the death of his parents. The one man who had salvaged the pieces burned to ash in front of his eyes. At times, he questioned the meaning to life. But who knows? Maybe these three little Genin might show him the answer. (Team 7 AU) Sensei Naruto.

14. Descent into Darkness II

Yo…

Sorry for the long wait. It was cruel to keep you all waiting for two years now. I want to thank Lord Kyuubi for getting me to write again because without him, there wouldn't be a chapter.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

*Chapter has been edited as of 2016-01-31* thanks to Lord Kyuubi-sama

(See ending for a long author note)

Recap: Having learned of the true nature of his former lover, Naruto pushed to the brink of rage, wages war against Konoha with the aid of the criminal organisation Akatsuki. In a desperate attempt to kill Naruto, Hiruzen launches a counter attack. The two sides clash…

---

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

- Abraham Lincoln

---

Chapter 13: Descent into Darkness II

Konohamaru shivered uncontrollably.

The corrosive nature of the Kyuubi's chakra was beginning to eat away at his body, the skin of his flesh rapidly healing while being corroded at the same time. It was excruciating.

It felt like liquid fire had been poured onto his weary body and the pain of feeling his skin desperately trying to heal made it torture.

He sat shackled to a chair, the strange chakra reinforced chains making movement impossible. The hospital gown he wore had begun to burn away leaving him with nothing much than scraps of cloth hanging limply off his weary body.

The intense heat gave off steam, the temperature growing increasingly hot as more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra was forcefully drawn out. The only source of comfort for the young Sarutobi was the cold floor his bare feet rested on.

Two tails of red chakra whipped uncontrollably behind him.

"GAH!"

His scream was loud and hard. The sound was unnaturally deep and guttural as a third tale suddenly bubbled into creation behind him.

"Make it stop! Please make it stop!"

Tears falling from his red slitted eyes hissed as they evaporated into steam from the heat. It almost seemed impossible but the burn seemed more intense as super-heated bits of flesh actually began to fall from his body.

This didn't make any sense. Where was his team? Sasuke? Sakura?

Naruto-Sensei…

Where was Naruto-Sensei!?

He could save him. He was the strongest shinobi in the village, in the entire world probably. If anyone could save him from this torment it would be Naruto-Sensei.

"Sensei!" Konohamaru screamed desperately. "Where are you!?"

His eyes frantically searched seeing nothing but his own reflection in glass walls surrounding him. He looked up and saw nothing but a white ceiling. He looked down seeing a cold white floor.

A prison.

Cell.

Container.

A container with nothing but four glass walls.

"SENSEI!" He bellowed as he struggled against the chains. He jerked violently in a vain attempt to free himself not even feeling as the chains cut deeper into his skin till the bone began to show, blindingly pure white among all the red.

Crack!

The sharp sound had come from his arm. He didn't even feel that the appendage had snapped in half.

His mind was delirious. He began to chant Naruto's name in an incoherent mess, babbling with a mixture of snarls and whimpers.

"Save me…Sensei…it hurts…make it stop….please…no more…kill me…"

The pain was pushing him to the edge of insanity. He could feel the hemorrhage in his brain as his pain receptors gave out under the strain. He heard another sharp snap and realized something else had broken.

Crack!

Another one.

Crack!

Another…

Crack!

Konohamaru's blood began to spew out of his mouth.

He finally looked down at his broken body and watched in horror as the bones began to heal, forcefully knitting themselves back together as fresh skin and muscle quickly formed over them.

Crack!

The process stared over again.

"KILL ME!"

Death was the only escape.

He began to struggle against the chains once more, this time with a relentless need for death. To make the pain go away. To make it all stop.

"Sir he's killing himself!"

Voices.

He heard voices.

But that was impossible. He was in here by himself. It must have been his mind having gone off the deep end to begin hearing voices.

"S-Sir!"

It was feminine. A woman. She almost sounded…sad. Why was she sad? For what reason? For him. Nonsense.

"We should administer another sedative! Quickly!"

A man this time. Where the woman sounded sad, he sounded …frantic.

"He's burned through all of them already!" The woman screamed. Or it sounded like she had screamed. Her voice was definitely rising though. "We should stop this!"

"…I need more."

Whereas the other two voices were identifiable as a man and a woman, this voice was cold and flat, mechanical even, giving nothing away as to what gender the owner was. Utterly detached as if there was no life.

"More!?" This time it was the man who was screaming. "How could you possibly want more!? Not even you can handle –"

"I was made for this."

The chains glowed and Konohamaru let out a bestial roar as a fourth tail suddenly bubbled into existence. He screamed till his voice box broke and quickly repaired itself as the chakra began to eat away at his flesh revealing a dark red, nearly black, layer of chakra underneath. His eyes vanished, replaced by white glowing holes of pure chakra.

"RAAAHHH!"

Behind the glass, protecting them from the deadly chakra, the two doctors watched the transformation in horror. The chains shackling the Jinchuuriki began to glow an eerie red colour, and with a rattle, the horrible chakra of the Kyuubi began to travel through the chains.

On the receiving end, the chains emerged from the back of a tall armoured figure. The black armour seemed to give off a red aura as more and more chakra steadily began to be absorbed.

"That's right Jinchuuriki… give me more."

For the first time a hint of inflection entered the faceless voice, as a black mask tilted towards the ceiling and basked in the unlimited power.

---

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, his head turned slightly as he stared into the distance.

Behind him, the steady line of people kept moving. Nothing but civilians and non-combatants making their way through Konoha's Underground Tunnels.

The long trek was in relative silence but he could have sworn he heard someone call his name.

"Keep moving, Genin!" Sasuke turned his head forward, focusing on the Anbu who had shouted him. They were always there to make sure the crowd kept moving, like rats, showing up at every corner.

"I repeat, keep moving, Genin!" The voice was definitely male. "Move!"

Sasuke's only response was to activate his sharingan and give the man a glare. Out of patience with the young man, the Rat masked Anbu slowly began to stalk forward, body language radiating danger.

Another one appeared out of the shadows stopping Rat in his tracks.

This mask bared an eagle.

"Please keep moving Genin, you're slowing down the others." Neutral and distinctively male, the Eagle masked Anbu stared the Uchiha down. "Get moving Genin, Uchiha Sasuke. This will be your final warning."

Sasuke's glare didn't lessen. It took a hand on his shoulder and a look from worried green eyes for him to finally start moving.

He could feel eyes on the back of his head from both the Anbu and civilian bystanders but he ignored them allowing Sakura's calming hand to guide him forward.

"Fucking Uchiha." Someone scoffed from the crowd.

Sasuke stopped abruptly but Sakura's hands remained firmly on his shoulder. With a firm push, she got him to put one shaky foot in front of the other. He grit his teeth and took deep steady breaths to calm his emotions. Cool fingers rubbed his shoulders soothingly and he released a grateful sigh.

"You okay?"

Sasuke nodded, finally deactivating his sharingan. "Yeah." He was silent for a few moments "Thanks." Sakura gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She returned her attention to the front, continuing her walk silently. Sasuke glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. He focused specifically on her nose, seeing it perfectly straight and centered, remembering how it had once been broken at a horrible angle from that traitorous whore (he refused to even call her a woman).

He glanced down at pink shirt seeing bandages peeking out from the ends.

He remembered watching helplessly as her ribs were ruthlessly stomped on. Blow after blow rained down on her till a horrible snap indicated that the bones had finally broken.

He had never felt so powerless.

So weak.

He –

"My ribs are fine."

Sasuke blinked away the memory. "What?"

"Well, I know my shirt looks nice but you've already seen plenty of them and I don't think you've stared at any of them that intensely before."

He finally lifted his gaze to her face, seeing she still kept her attention forward. Her features were neutral but her tone held an underlying coyness to it.

"Well…it's a nice shirt." Sasuke admitted.

Again, she gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Thank you Sasuke."

Warm hands rubbed her side and Sakura almost flinched.

'It's just Sasuke,' she told herself as she tried to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat. Her fingers slowly moved away from the kunai holster strapped against her thigh hidden by her blue skirt.

If Sasuke noticed the action, he didn't comment on it.

"Do they hurt?" The question was soft and filled with a hint of worry as he gently rubbed her side, unknowing that Sakura had to resist the urge to crush his fingers. She settled for gently prying his hands away giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I told you, my ribs are fine Sasuke." And there it was once more. That fake smile.

Sasuke watched as her hands released his and dropped back to her side hovering over the kunai holster he knew she hid under her skirt. If the smile wasn't painful enough, it was the paranoia in her eyes and the tenseness of her shoulders that indicated readiness for any unseen threats. He wished Konohamaru was here. The Sarutobi always knew how to keep them smiling no matter the situation. But he wasn't here. It was all …his…fault.

Brown eyes bore into his own.

He could only watch in shocked silence as Konohamaru gave a bloody cough, staring mutely down at the knife that had pierced his heart, gaze traveling upwards to the pale fingers gripping the handle and finally, into the sharingan eyes of his best friend. And again, Sasuke could only watch as his teammate stumbled backwards, giving one final shudder before finally falling to the ground.

And then there was pain.

He pushed away the burning sensation in his eyes. He refused to acknowledge this new power of his. The one thing he needed above all else to exact his revenge on Itachi.

He didn't want it.

Not if meant stabbing his best friend through the heart. Not if meant watching as doctors put him in a medically induced coma. Not if meant watching helplessly as he was carried away, the only thing left behind a headband that Sasuke kept stuffed into his pocket to this very day.

This Mangekyo Sharingan was worthless in his eyes.

Your best friend…you must kill him.

Fuck that. The only person he would be killing was his brother.

Believe it.

He focused his attention back on his remaining teammate.

"Sakura"

She wordlessly turned to him. "Yes Sasuke?" She added after a few moments of silence. He didn't question why she stopped using the affectionate 'kun' to his name. In his opinion, it was about time.

"You okay?"

She blinked at the question raising an eyebrow. "…Yes. I'm fine." She gave him a dismissive wave. "Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

Green eyes gave him an annoyed look. "Does it look like something is wrong with me?"

"Yes."

That made her stop and stare. Sasuke stopped as well uncaring that crowd just gave the duo curious gazes and moved around them.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Konohamaru wasn't here. Naruto was missing. Sakura was all he had left. He would be damned if he lost her as well.

"You aren't weak."

"What?" Anger went to confusion and back again. "Are you okay?" She fired back.

Sasuke just continued as if he hadn't heard her. "I know that you think you're weak because of what happened. The way ...she… used you against us. As leverage. The feeling of powerlessness she made you feel. The way you could do absolutely nothing but watch as she destroyed our team. Trust me when say I know exactly how you feel." He paused taking a moment to quench the rising emotions. "How…How do you think I feel? I could do nothing but watch as you got your ribs stomped in. I could do absolutely fucking nothing as I stabbed Konohamaru right through the heart." He swallowed thickly. "The only thing I can do is make sure that nothing…and I mean nothing like that ever happens again."

He slowly lifted his hands to rest against her bandaged sides.

"So know that you aren't weak. You're strong. Very strong. Don't let a moment of weakness bring you down. Because she made us all weak…all of us."

Sakura stared at him. His black unblinking eyes stared back, a small curve of a smile slowly beginning to form on his face.

"These new eyes do have some perks."

There it was.

A small upturn of the lips.

Then, for the first time since that day, Sakura smiled. Even as her eyes watered and the tears began to fall, even as if she hugged Sasuke to the point she knew it hurt. Even if it the both of them were standing in the middle of a crowded underground tunnel, she smiled.

"Thank you." She whispered into his ear. He gave her something she didn't even know she needed.

"Anytime." Sasuke whispered back.

"Hey love birds, get moving!" Someone from the crowd yelled. "You're blocking the line!"

Sasuke scowled, sharingan quickly searching the crowd for the perpetrator but many avoided his sharingan enhanced glare. Sakura ignored it, tugging on his arm to get him moving and the both of them quickly fell back into line. They enjoyed the sweet sentimental moment in silence before Sasuke cleared his throat.

"You can let go of my hand now, Sakura."

She smiled sweetly up at him. "Nope. Its chilly down here and your hands are warm." Sasuke tried to remove his hand from hers but her grip was too strong.

"I want to put my hands in my pockets."

Sakura almost giggled. "So go ahead." He did just that. It would be awkward for Sakura to walk around with her hand inside his shorts pocket. She let go of his hand, and Sasuke smirked in triumph. Only for the smirk to fall as she wrapped her arm around his, resting her head against his shoulder making herself comfortable. Her hair smelled like cherries. Sasuke just sighed and accepted it.

"Sasuke?"

He hummed in acknowledgement.

"Do you think Konohamaru-kun is okay?"

"I…" Sasuke struggled to find an answer. He had absolutely no idea. Konohamaru was a fighter. Nothing could ever slow him down. He just bulldozed his way through all his obstacles. Being the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki ensured his survival against any injury.

Yet this time things were different.

Anbu had been the guarding Konohamaru long before Team 7 even made it to the hospital on that day. Not the ones he was familiar with either, these Anbu didn't have the traditional animal mask the black ops force usually wore.

'So you're Root...'

Yes that's what Konohamaru had called it. A secret Anbu force led by one Danzo Shimura. The same man who Itachi had warned him about on that day.

"I don't know." Sasuke admitted. "I… I should have gone with him."

He felt Sakura nod against his shoulder. "I feel the same way." Granted, they both couldn't even walk straight at the time given their injuries, but at least being in close proximity with their comatose teammate would have given them some relief.

"He's the Hokage's grandson, so at least he should be receiving the best treatment."

They both shared a glance at the same time, feeling unsure about such a statement.

"If anything happens to Konohamaru, or any of us, I'm pretty sure Naruto-Sensei would skin them alive." There was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that Riha suffered a very violent death.

'I'll cut you to pieces you whore!'

Her death must have been a painful one. He shuddered briefly remembering the look of absolute rage in the man's eyes. There was only one kind of eye that could hold such hate… he had the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Sasuke had seen it. He was willing to bet his eyes that the man didn't gain it from killing his best friend.

He wished his Sensei was here right now, making light of this dark situation the splintered Team 7 found themselves in. But he was missing, gone without trace. No doubt reeling from the repercussions of Riha's betrayal.

'So you're Root…'

Wait… Riha was a Root Agent, meaning she took orders from Danzou. Which meant, without a doubt, Danzou was responsible for everything.

Sasuke stopped suddenly, almost causing Sakura to stumble. People walking behind them actually bumped into the pair from the sudden stop. Sakura ignored the onlookers looking up at her teammate in confusion seeing his wide eyes and open mouth.

"Sasuke you okay?" She asked with growing concern. When he didn't answer, she gently grabbed his face.

"Sasuke?"

He slowly turned to look at her with his bright red eyes glowing in the low light of the tunnels.

"He's going after Danzou."

"What?"

"Naruto, he's going after Danzou." Sasuke repeated.

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Danzou…" She trailed off as she vaguely remembered hearing the name. Danzou. Konohamaru had uttered the name. The leader of Root. Riha was Root... her eyes widened as she quickly caught on to his train of thought.

Naruto had been missing for about a week no doubt planning something.

"You don't…." She swallowed thickly. "You don't think he's planning to attack?"

"I…" Sasuke hesitated.

'I'm going to kill your brother and make you watch as I torture him alive!'

He would never forget the look in his eyes.

'This time I won't use genjutsu… No. I'm going to use my bare hands and tear you apart!'

The feel of his chakra as it darkened, steadily growing…colder.

'YOU ROOT SLUT!'

"Yes." Sasuke answered finally with all the truth he could muster. If it he was in his sensei's shoes, he would want revenge. He wouldn't stop until those responsible were dead.

Sakura's face seemed to grow pale. "So the evacuation orders… the talk of routine drills is all –"

"A lie." Sasuke finished, staring up as the crowd parted, giving way to the two Anbu who they had encountered before.

"Team 7." The Eagle mask responded as he neared. "I'm going to have to ask you to come with us." The Rat mask Anbu put a hand on his sword in a show of intimidation.

"Why?" Sasuke said simply. Sakura stood beside him glaring down the two black ops soldiers as her hands hovered over her hidden kunai.

"Let's not make a scene." Eagle's voice was neutrally polite but the stiff body language showed that the Anbu was ready to react at any moment.

Tense moments went by as the standoff continued. The crowd began to give them space as more Anbu started to appear. Sasuke's eyes traced over the crowd, counting the masks and realizing with growing dread that they were being surrounded.

"If you want to see your mother again, come with us. Now."

Sasuke's eyes instantly snapped to the Rat mask.

"Uchiha Mikoto yes?" Rat asked with a hint of mocking in the otherwise blank tone. "Ninja rank: Jounin. Ninja registration: 005348. 162.6 cm. 48.9 kilograms. Long black hair, pale skin, house wife…single…"

Sasuke's expression grew increasingly more menacing as the man listed each word until a glare that looked like it burn the man right where he stood settled on his face.

Beside him Sakura's eyes widened.

"I'm heading to the shelter with my teammate." Sasuke spoke with a deathly calm, completely opposed to the expression on his face. "My other teammate is in the hospital, while my Sensei's whereabouts are unknown. So, the only familiar face I'll expect to be seeing will be my mother. If she isn't there… I swear to kami I will send you all to hell, screaming in agony as you're incinerated with the blackest of flames!" He finished with a shout.

Silence.

The endless line of people slowly came to a halt as eyes focused on the seething Uchiha. The slow sheek of sliding metal pierced the silence as Rat drew his sword.

"Impressive speech." He replied blankly. "I can't make any promises, but I can guarantee you'll never see her again if you don't –"

Rat stopped himself as Sasuke's sharingan began to change. The tomoe spun rapidly gaining speed as the eye evolved forming a new, strange, and dangerous looking pattern.

"Amatera –"

Boom!

Sasuke flinched, looking up at the ceiling as the lights began to flicker. What sounded like an explosion had come from the surface, one so powerful that it was felt from deep underground.

A violent tremor suddenly rocked the tunnel and people screamed as they fell to ground. Sasuke lost his balance and fell to his knees with Sakura beside him as a small amount of dust and debris began to fall from the ceiling.

"The walls are going to collapse!" Someone screamed.

The reaction was instant. Thousands upon thousands of people packed in a small narrow tunnel all began to run for their lives making a mad dash for the shelter.

Sasuke jumped to his feet narrowly avoiding being stepped on as he hoisted Sakura to her feet.

"Run!"

The two took off running leaving behind the squad of Anbu who vainly tried to stop the suddenly rushing crowd.

"What the hell is going on!?" Rat shouted as he jumped out of the way of rushing civilians. "I thought things were supposed to be finished on top by now!?"

The squadron suddenly paused as their Anbu tattoos began to pulse in Morse code. "I-Impossible." It was testament to the situation that Rat, an Anbu trained to hide his emotions, actually stuttered. "How is this possible!?"

Konoha's army was… losing. That was putting it lightly, they were being destroyed.

Another rumble coming from the surface only added fuel to the already explosive situation.

"Forget about the situation on top, get them!" Eagle barked pointing at the running Genin.

Sasuke looked back easily picking them out among the sea of people realizing with alarm they were quickly gaining on them.

"Don't let go Sakura!" He ordered feeling the girl tighten her grip. Not so much that it was painful but enough to let him know she wouldn't be letting go anytime soon.

The Mangekyo Sharingan.

Heavenly eyes that see the truth of all of creation without obstruction.

That's how the Stone Tablet had described this new power.

With that in mind, Sasuke moved through the crowd as fluid as if he was moving through water. He just seemed to glide between the rushing bodies, making sure to keep Sakura close as he flowed around them.

A particularly large chunk of rock tore away from the ceiling of the tunnel, clipping Sakura in her shoulder causing the girl to stumble. To avoid bringing Sasuke down with her, she was forced let go of his hand and prepare for the rushing people to trample her in their panic.

Only for Sasuke to catch her, hoist her up in his arms, and keep on running without stopping or slowing down at all.

'How did he...?' Her thoughts trailed off as movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned to see Anbu running along the walls. They didn't seem to mind that the tunnels were collapsing around them as they weaved and dodged, skillfully avoiding debris and loose sections falling away to the tunnel's floor.

"Sasuke!" Sakura began to warn him of the approaching ninja.

"I know!"

The Uchiha pumped more chakra into his legs until they started to burn. His legs blurred as he raced through the tunnels making the civilians look like they were running backwards. The speed at which he was going caused Sakura's hair to flatten as the world seemed to blur in her eyes. The Anbu behind them struggled to keep up and soon enough, faded behind the sea of civilians.

She didn't have time to wonder how the Uchiha had gotten so fast when a bright light came from the end of tunnel. There it was… the entrance to the Hokage Monument Shelter. Massive steel doors lay on opposite sides of the entrance as rushing civilians poured in.

"Almost there!" Sasuke gasped, trying to keep his breathing steady. As soon as he got into the Shelter they would try to disappear among the rushing crowd.

He could almost –

Shoooop!

A hurricane.

That was the only way to describe the sudden gale wind that knocked the genin and everyone in the tunnels flat on their backs. Sakura's shout became an echo as she was ripped from his arms. Screams were silenced by the massive air pressure as the force was so strong; it deafened the thousands in the tunnels.

Fwoosh!

As quickly as it appeared, it stopped. The violent winds died down suddenly into a gentle breeze.

Sound slowly filtered back into the eardrums and loud groans and cries soon rang loud in the tunnels. Sasuke sat up with a groan, wincing as his ears ringed. He opened his eyes slowly, flinching as he could no longer sustain the mangekyo and cut off the flow of chakra to his eyes.

His gaze widened as he looked around him.

Literally thousands of people were on their backs. Faces were in the dirt, some struggling to even lift their bodies, and some not moving at all.

"You okay Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he massaged his temples. "…Sakura?" He asked again, finally looking around and not seeing pink anywhere.

"Sakura!"

Sasuke became quickly alarmed. He tried to stand to his feet but fell back to ground on shaky legs. He had put too much chakra into them and was starting to feel the effects. His eyes searched the crowd of people frantically looking for anything resembling pink feeling the sudden sting of tears.

"S-Sa... Sasuke."

His eyes instantly snapped to the sound. There she was. A few metres behind him lying on the ground. Sasuke immediately began crawling towards her on his hands and knees. When he neared her, he was alarmed to see a familiar Rat masked Anbu lying directly beside her.

But by the way man's body was absolutely still and the bone sticking out of his neck, it would seem that he was in fact dead. Irony at its finest.

"I knew I hit something hard." He heard Sakura mumble.

Sasuke shoved the dead body away not even sparing it a glance as his eyes quickly surveyed his teammate.

"Fucking… rat bastard." Sakura grinned softly seeing man's broken neck roll awkwardly.

"Never knew you were a comedian." Sasuke muttered as he shifted himself closer to her, eyes still frantically searching for any signs of injury. He softly cradled her neck and put her head into his lap as he gave her another once over.

Did her ribs suffer any damage? Sasuke gave a small poke to check. Aside from dirt on her skin there were no cuts or gashes. He brushed the dirt from her hair checking to see if any rocks had gotten into it. Nope, her hair was rock free. He moved his hands to feel her arms to see if anything was broken –

"I'm okay Sasuke."

"I know." He said simply, lightly feeling her arms. He then made sure to individually check each finger, giving the digits a small squeeze.

"I'm okay Sasuke." There was something in her tone that finally made him look at her and froze seeing the expression on her face.

She was softly smiling, tears glistening in her green eyes as looked up at him. A hand slowly stretched towards his face and wiped away the tears he didn't even know had begun to fall. He was stunned realizing he was …crying. Sasuke Uchiha was crying. He never cried. Not for anything. Not anymore since that day.

"I'm okay." She said once more beginning to softly stroke his cheek. Sasuke leaned into the touch as his eyes closed and his shoulders shook. He swept up Sakura in his arms and made sure to hold her close and tight, knowing that she was alive and more importantly unharmed.

"There is no light at the end of the tunnel for you." A disembodied voice suddenly interrupted. Sasuke and Sakura broke apart as they turned towards the source, eyes widening at what they saw.

Black mask tilted to one side ever so slightly, maroon cloak billowing in a gentle wind, the Anbu Commander stared them down. The black armour seemed to give off a red glow before it faded away, vanishing before their eyes.

"Only… darkness."

There was a loud bang as massive steel doors suddenly slammed shut, blocking the passage to the shelter. With the entrance blocked, the light in the tunnels became horribly dark.

"I'll be taking the two of you now."

The Commander formed a handseal and both Sakura and Sasuke's hands grasped at their throats as the oxygen was forcefully sucked from their lungs. Within seconds both Genin were unconscious, flopping to the ground

Appearing out of the shadows, white masked Anbu came forward and hoisted the Genin over their shoulders, disappearing as quickly as they had come. With the Genin secured, the Commander turned back towards the crowd, the gentle breeze in the tunnel suddenly turning cold.

"You've all been purposely assembled as the last to go through the tunnels simply because you are the bottom of Konoha; the poor, the weak, the dropouts, the useless and the garbage. You are all a cancer, a plague, a rot that has steadily been growing on the tree that is Konoha. No more will your presence be tolerated."

These tremors were nothing more than seals placed on the ceiling to simulate an earthquake. It was a perfect trap to capture the unsuspecting Genin and be rid of Konoha's filth at the same time. The Anbu team were unfortunate but necessary losses. It was time for Root to be the true black operations of the village.

"Let the tunnels be your tomb."

The Commanders armour glowed red as armoured fingers began forming handseals.

At first there were coughs. Coughs soon turned into gasps. They turned into wheezes. Soon enough, people were clutching their throats as the air in the tunnels was forcefully drained out. It wasn't long before people fell to the floor, gagging on nothing as their lungs slowly gave out.

Slowly removing the black mask, red slitted eyes surveyed the genocide. Ever so slowly, lips twitched into a cruel smile.

"Now to begin…"

---

Itachi didn't enjoy killing.

Contrary to what many thought of him, he was a pacifist at heart. The condition had stemmed from his own father – the man that he had murdered in cold blood – wanting to him to mature quickly, showing him mountains of bodies in the aftermath of a battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War.

At four years old, he had vowed to become strong enough to change the senseless, cruel fighting of this hateful shinobi world.

And for the greater good, he became a shinobi: one of the best that Konoha had ever produced. Long days and nights spent tirelessly training, striving to reach perfection in all aspects of a shinobi. Dealing with the hardships of life without a single complaint or feeling of regret, taking the pain of suffering and using it to become better. Enduring it all, with the motivation of being useful to others.

That's why he had killed them. All of them. Every single man, woman, and child. He didn't want to do it – kami as his witness – he cried till his eyes bled at the thought of harming his family. Peace was all he ever wanted. But the answer was already clear. His clan's extermination would be the path with the least bloodshed, the lesser of two evils.

And here he was, once again, choosing the lesser of two evils.

He ducked the kunai that would have pierced his head, catching it by the handle and returning it back to its owner. A man screamed as the knife pierced his leg, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Two chunin charged him with swords drawn, and he readied himself in response, sharingan quickly analysing their movements with razor sharp precision, and before the blade could even be swung Itachi had already calculated how much speed and force would be necessary to disable the pair.

Disable them, not kill them.

'An over-head swing.' He quickly dodged it. 'Grab the handle and duck the partners swing for decapitation' He did just that, grabbing the blade's handle as the man overestimated the swing, and felt the rush of air as the other swing missed his head.

'Use momentum against them and disable.'

The man still held the blade in a vice grip and didn't let go until his own blade pierced the shoulder of his chunin partner. Before the man could open his mouth to scream, the other sword was grabbed from his fallen partner's hands and the sharp stings to back of his legs signified the tendons had just been cut.

And without a single wasted movement, Itachi was moving forward, slicing apart those unfortunate to fall within his gaze before the two men could hit the ground. Being such an accomplished shinobi allowed him to satisfy his peace loving nature whenever he could.

It also helped that he was just that damn good.

There was a sudden massive buildup of chakra and horrible screeching sound that echoed throughout the battlefield. Itachi turned toward the source and had to squint his eyes as the chakra was almost blinding to look at.

Naruto was surrounded. But it didn't matter as he held up his arm, in his palm a massive rotating bladed orb of chakra.

"Rasen-Shuriken!"

From the name of the jutsu, Itachi had thought it would be thrown. This was Naruto however and despite what he'd seen of his friends new abilities so far, they only continued to surprise him.

He released the spinning ball and let it hover, a yellow chain of chakra sliding out of his arm and attaching to the orb.

"…Holy shit!" Someone yelled. Earth walls suddenly erupted as everyone guessed what was about to happen.

Two hands gripping the chain, Naruto started swinging his arms around his head, steadily building up speed as the Rasen-Shuriken was used as wrecking ball.

It was almost genius. In a wickedly twisted sort of way.

That orb just went through bodies like nothing. Cutting them down on a cellular level with so many microscopic wind-blades that Itachi had to lost count after a thousand. The earth walls were cut through like a scissors going through paper, those standing behind them being sliced apart.

With a final swing of the chain, it disconnected form the orb, and Naruto let it fly with a roar.

It mowed the army down as if they were grass. Not stopping or slowing down until it suddenly expanded, the central sphere detonating in a vortex of wind that just obliterated those in the nearby vicinity.

Deidara would have called it art.

Whereas Itachi avoided killing as much as he could, Naruto on the other hand didn't share the same mentality.

He had been ruthless, cutting down all who stood in his way without any remorse or sentiment that these were former comrades. Since the battle had started Itachi had felt his chakra steadily grow darker till the point it just felt cold. It gave off a feeling of icy dread, no longer warm as it had once had been.

"Form up!" Naruto shouted.

Obeying the command Itachi's form dissolved into crows that quickly moved across the battlefield, flying over the army before solidifying beside Naruto.

His black armour was spotless; only the blood dripping from the Kusanagi blade in his hand showed any sign that Naruto had been in combat. Itachi heard a hiss, and soon enough, Orochimaru appeared, long boa constrictors emerging from his sleeves as he grinned maliciously. What looked like a water bomb exploded somewhere in the distance sending bodies flying and a black figure leapt into the air. Kicking up dirt as he landed beside the trio, Kisame's shark like grin was terrifying as he hoisted his massive blade over his shoulder, the scales dripping with blood. There was a sound of flapping of wings as Deidara, the youngest of the five, descended from the skies on a clay creature that resembled a bird, grinning wide all the while. With Naruto in the middle, Itachi to his right, Orochimaru to his left, and Kisame and Deidara finishing on either side, the gang of S-class shinobi stared down the army in front of them.

It was an intimidating sight for any shinobi, made even more so by the trail of destruction left visible in their wake. Behind them, littering the streets of Konoha, were bodies of the dead. The dirt ground had become red from the blood covering the ground. Buildings in the distance began to collapse, suffering under barrage after barrage of jutsu. Konoha was on fire, the heavy smoke rising up into the air as the conflict took its toll.

What had begun as ambush had turned into a full scale war, the Leaf Army drastically outclassed despite the numbers being in their favour. The strongest shinobi force in the land consisting of 17 000 strong had been had been nearly halved by a mere five missing nin... They had yet to break a sweat.

"Now that was quite the exercise!" Kisame's loud voice broke the silent stare down, his razor sharp teeth glinting as he turned his round eyes on the Snake Sannin. "For an old man Orochimaru, I must say you still got the moves."

The Sannin scoffed at him. "Hn. You younger gentleman could learn a thing or two from me. I am the most experienced one here after all."

"But not the strongest you snake-face hn!" Deidara stuck his tongue out at him, smirking as the Sannin bristled. "Our fearless leader here can make a snake-skin wallet out of you, right Naruto-Senpai?" The grin turned into a pout as he was ignored.

"Didn't know you were such a fanboy Deidara." Kisame retorted dismissively. "Right Naruto-Senpai?" He mocked in Deidara's voice, grinning as the teenager turned red. "You sound like a little girl."

"Come say that my face you shark looking, blue skinned, round eyed, motherfucker, hn!"

Kisame's grin turned dangerous as he gripped his swords handle tightly. "Care to repeat that brat?!"

"You heard me you freak, hn!" Deidara shouted back as the mouth on his palm began to eat some clay. "Did your daddy fuck a shark to make you look like that or did you just come from Atlantis? Hn!"

Orochimaru actually began to chuckle seeing Kisame's blue skin turn purple in anger. "My oh my, I believe that's what you lads call a burn, yes?"

Itachi just sighed as resisted the urge to massage his temples. Here they all were in the middle of a battlefield with an army in front of them and these two just had to begin arguing. Orochimaru's comments weren't helping either.

"You're calling me a freak?!" Kisame thundered, "You're the one who has mouths on his hands! I bet you give yourself a blowjob when you're lonely!"

Despite the situation, Itachi had to hide the twitch of his lips behind his high collar. Beside him Orochimaru's composure broke and the Sannin's shoulders began to shake.

"That's it, hn!" Deidara's face was either red from embarrassment or anger as he began to hold up a handseal. "I'm going to make shark soup out of you, hn!"

Kisame readied Samehada. "Bring it on you midget!"

"Enough!" The sharp shout and flare of chakra instantly turned all attention to Naruto as his sharingan glared at the two. "Cut that shit out, now." He warned making sure they got the message.

Kisame gave a scoff as he turned away, muttering an apology under his breath as Deidara did the same. Returning his attention back to army in front of him, Naruto's sharingan zeroed in on each face he could identify. There were a range of emotions dancing on each face, but most eyes held a lingering amount of fear from watching comrades fall so easily. Despite the carnage, some faces still held grim resolve. There were even some shouts of 'the will of fire'. If they wanted to die fighting then so be it, but he'd had enough of small fry.

It was time to get to the Hokage.

"Ah, I can see it now." Naruto spoke up, gaining their attention. "The army is in a defence formation. They must think I'm actually going to charge right at them heading for the tower."

"Wasn't that the plan?" Kisame questioned? "I thought we were just going to steam-roll them into the dirt."

"You three will be." Naruto answered eyeing Kisame, Deidara and Orochimaru specifically. "Itachi and I will be handling some personal matters."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in realization. "Wanting the Elders for yourself now Naruto?" He asked with his ever present smirk. "Leaving nothing but the fodder for us."

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm confused." Deidara spoke up. "Oi! Naruto-Senpai, what are you and the pretty boy," He made a face at Itachi, "Going to do, and who do I get to blow up, hn?" He questioned a little too eagerly.

"Seeing that the Hokage ran like a little bitch as soon as I looked at him, he and the other Elders are waiting it out underground." Naruto answered as he began to flex his fingers. "Guess I'm going to have to dig him out."

"Oh, do tell how you plan on reaching them underground Naruto-kun." Orochimaru's stated with interest. "Do you have some jutsu that lets you burrow underground?"

The smirk on Naruto's face was visible through his mask. "Something like that."

"Eh, although I'm missing out on the chance to fight some super strong old people, this army should suffice. Otherwise, I would have gotten bored." Kisame's sharp teeth glinted dangerously. "Samehada is hungry." The sentient sword scales twitched in response.

Deidara mirrored the expression. "Look at them… all these willing people waiting to see my beautiful art." The mouths on his hands started eating an alarming amount of clay. "I'll give them my magnum opus, hn." He whispered with a wicked grin.

Orochimaru stepped forward, eyes shining with malice as snakes began to emerge from his sleeves. "Come now lads, let's give these Konoha shinobi a performance they'll never forget."

"You three keep them occupied." Naruto ordered. "Kill at your discretion."

Deidara's clay bird took to the skies as the teenager began to cackle madly. Orochimaru spat out some snakes from his mouth that slithered forward like a rushing river.

Kisame just charged with a massive grin, Samehada cocked over his shoulder.

Watching what would be the final moments for Konoha's army Itachi gave a small sigh. "I think letting Kisame join them was too much. You should have made him come with us." His sharingan slowly turned to Naruto watching as he continued to flex his hand.

"Feeling regret are you now Itachi?" Naruto questioned meeting his gaze.

"Konoha will be defenceless." He replied.

"So?" The retort made him blink, his sharingan searching Naruto's visible features and seeing nothing but utter detachment at the prospect of Konoha being defenceless against enemies.

"You don't care at all?"

"You were always smarter than I am Itachi." Naruto started as he began to focus a significant amount of chakra to his arm. "I'm sure you can figure out how many fucks I give at this point."

Itachi slowly turned away watching as the three Akatsuki began to lay waste to the army. "Hn."

"Stand back pretty boy." Naruto warned as he reached into his pouch and placed his black metal mask over his face. "This is a new jutsu and I'm a little sloppy with it."

Itachi jumped a good distance away sharingan widening as he finally took in just how much chakra Naruto was building up. 'Remarkable. His reserves compare to Kisame's…'

A rasengan formed in Naruto's outstretched hand that quickly turned a brown muddy looking colour as nature manipulation was added to it. Naruto grabbed his wrist as the sound of grinding began to echo off the jutsu.

Itachi watched in amazement as the bits of rock formed inside the spinning sphere, being compressed, grinded down, and finally solidifying into the shape of a cone…

Arm vibrating rather violently Naruto knew that this was all he could achieve for now. With a shout, he slammed the spinning cone into the ground, grinding into the earth like a drill.

"Earth Release: Rasen-drill!"

The ground immediately broke apart under the drill, a hole opening up under the enormous force. Dust and debris kicked up under the spinning force, little bits of rock hitting against Naruto's mask as he lowered his arm. Despite being a good distance away, Itachi had to use his sleeve to shield his face from the amount of dust and debris that was flying through the air. He had to steady his feet with chakra as the ground began to vibrate as if there was an earthquake.

What did he call it, Spiralling Drill? What a remarkable technique.

True to its name, the powerful earth drill bore a hole through the ground, digging deeper by the second as the powerful vibrations shook Konoha to the core. Naruto's form disappeared into the hole he made going deeper and deeper, grinding away at the earth.

He sunk low, making his way into Konoha's Underground.

D-D-Ding!

The drill began to grind against metal. He had hit the tunnels. Since the Anbu ambush back at his apartment he hadn't seen a single civilian soul meaning that they had already been evacuated. This attack had been planned. Sarutobi was a clever little monkey. Too bad the old man didn't count on him having Akatsuki as back up.

The Rasen-drill bore through the protective metal layer lining the tunnels and with the hole made, Naruto cut off the flow of chakra to the jutsu, the spinning cone crumbling to dust in his hands.

He dropped through the hole and landed on the ground, wincing at the sudden sting in his shoulder.

"Ah, shit." It had dislocated. The feedback from the jutsu was deadly. With a crack, he snapped the joint back into place and rolled his shoulder a few times, receiving satisfying cracks as he removed his metal mask.

"Itachi!" He yelled up towards his hole, placing the mask back into his pouch. "Did you runaway or did you fall asleep?! Hurry it up you slow poke!" His shouts echoed through the quiet tunnels.

He received a poke to the back of the head.

Twirling around with a hiss, Naruto watched Itachi's retreating back.

"Coming?" The Uchiha asked looking over his shoulder, a smirk on his face.

Naruto watched him go with a frown before his face eased itself into a smirk . He wouldn't let the smug bastard have the last laugh.

"You've been away too long, genius. You're heading in the wrong direction." He snickered as Itachi stopped mid step. "That's the way to the Hokage Monument Shelter."

Smoothly turning around, Itachi headed in the other direction; face as blank as the walls surrounding him. "Let's go." He replied tonelessly, the only crack in his mask the slight twitch of his eye.

Naruto threw an arm around his shoulder ruffling Itachi's long hair. "Aw, don't be like that! This is just like old times remember? Just the two of us going on adventures. Hey, remember when we stole Hana's pa –"

"Panties. Yes, don't remind me." Itachi's face turned sour. "I was so ashamed that day. I can't believe you talked me into it."

"Oh shush. You were always the little criminal. Pretending to be a good little boy but really being a panty stealing pervert on the inside."

Itachi was silent for a few moments. "...I'm going to kill you."

"You're breaking my heart."

"I'll shove my kunai through it."

"Ouch. What got your panties in a twist?"

He received a sharingan enhanced glare.

"Fine, fine." Naruto relented removing his arm. The playful tone immediately vanished as two became serious, the ease of which their emotions changed showing just how dangerous the two men were.

Unless one knew the layout of Konoha's Underground Tunnels, it would be very easy to get lost along the maze of intersecting paths and obstacles. Arranged in a way to make intruders spend a lifetime trying to find an escape.

"Naruto Namikaze…"

The voice made Naruto and Itachi pause, both back to back as they looked for the source.

"…And Itachi Uchiha"

A chilling breeze blew through the tunnels carrying the disembodied voice.

"A peculiar jutsu," Itachi noted, sharp eyes looking for a chakra source. "A long distance relay message using wind chakra."

Naruto sniffed the air narrowing his eyes. "This wind carries the scent of death."

"I find it interesting to see that you had this attack of yours so thoroughly planned out." The breeze made the voice echo throughout the tunnels. "To think you would have help from missing nin… you really are deplorable."

"I've been called worse." Naruto quipped. "You should come say it to my face… Commander."

"You must feel so secure in your strength. What arrogance. Look at what you have wrought, the destruction you have caused, and the deaths of the people you once called comrades. Why make others suffer for your mistakes? Why make your friends die?"

Naruto's gaze narrowed. "What have you done?"

"I gave them what they deserved Naruto, nothing but a swift and brutal death for serving beside a trait –"

"BASTARD!" Naruto screamed as he began to shake with rage. "Come out and face me!"

"Be calm, Naruto." Itachi tried to reason. "The Commander is just trying to –"

"I always wondered why you spared your mother and brother Itachi…"

Itachi suddenly went very still before his face schooled of emotion.

"You kill every single man, woman, and child. Yet you spare them. Why?" The Commanders voice echoed with the wind. "Surely you wouldn't mind if I finished the job for you."

His expression didn't change, but the mangekyo glowing in the dark was all the emotion Itachi needed.

Naruto meanwhile bore a visage of rage. This wasn't supposed to happen. He had sent –

"If you're wondering how Naruto, that little Hashirama clone of yours was caught long before he could reach them. A terrible shame I had to kill him. Of course I mean your little team seven when I say them."

Naruto's head lowered as he let out a shudder.

"All your friends are dead. Your genin will soon share the same fate. All for what? Revenge? Can you say now that it was worth it? Live with the reality that you've lost everything. All that you hold dear is gone. If only you had remained a good little soldier. You could eventually have had the thing that you yearned for most."

Naruto's breathing grew heavy, the turmoil in his chest becoming unbearable.

"Family."

Itachi's composure finally broke as anger entered his eyes. His eyes followed the direction of the chakra in the wind, searching for the source.

"Isn't this the reason you started this war? Because you lost your precious family." A sudden gust hit Naruto like a punch in the face; it barely made him turn his head. "It's pathetic really. Behind the emulated gestures of the copy ninja, behind all the fame and power, behind that mask that covers your face… you're nothing but a little boy. A little boy who couldn't deal with the loss of his parents. A little boy crying out for mommy and daddy…"

Naruto snapped his eyes open, the mangekyo sharingan burning an angry red as he took off in a burst of speed, forcing Itachi to follow.

His rage was palpable. Itachi could feel it. Even if he knew they were most definitely running straight into a trap, something made him keep his silence as he followed Naruto's lead.

There was a sudden chakra signature in front of them and both slid to halt at what they saw.

There were hundreds of people. Civilians by the look of them. Eyes all rolled up into their sockets as they slowly limped towards the pair, groaning and making noises that brought a chill up the spine.

"They're all dead." Itachi observed, peering into their chakra flow. "But there's chakra still flowing through them… pumping their hearts."

He had seen this jutsu before. The Dead Soul Jutsu. A technique not considered forbidden, but terribly taboo for its nature as it reanimated the dead.

"Help us!" The voices of the dead chanted. "Release us from this!"

Naruto and Itachi ignored the provoking sound, moving around the corpses without touching them.

"Big brother!" The voice made Itachi pause, sharingan instantly locking on to the sound. A boy limped forward, his skin pale and dark hair covered in dirt. "Save me Itachi! Don't let him kill me."

The voice was Sasuke's.

Itachi grit his teeth as he forced his gaze from the boy, avoiding the undead hands that made a grab for him.

"Naruto-Sensei!" A boy and girl chanted, siblings by the looks of it. "Why didn't you save us?" Their voices were a perfect imitation of Konohamaru and Sakura. "Why did you let him kill us?"

Naruto stumbled at the sound. A mangled body that looked like it was crushed to death grabbed onto his arm.

"You let me die Sensei!" Konohamaru's voice whispered into his ear. "You abandoned me…"

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped throwing the corpse off him. The body barreled into a crowd of corpses knocking them over. Eyes pained Naruto made to move, but something grabbed onto his leg. He looked down, eyes widening as he saw a man with half his head missing looking up at him.

"You're scum." It said as Sasuke's voice. "Worse than scum."

"Trash!" One echoed beside him, latching on to Naruto's other leg.

"Trash! Trash! Trash!" They all began to chant as Naruto was surrounded. He couldn't move as cold hands grabbed on to him, the stink of rotting corpses filling his nostrils.

"You failed Kakshi!"

"You killed us, Sensei!"

"You let your friends die!"

The voices hit him like a tidal wave, his eyes beginning to burn with threatening tears as the voices of his students rattled his eardrums.

"Stop!" Naruto screamed shaking his arm free. He drew his sword and began to swing wildly, slicing apart those closest to him. "Stay back!" His sword cut a woman in half, an overhead swing lopping the head off another. But there was so many of them, for each one he cut down five more would replace them.

Itachi was faring no better. The boy that could have been Sasuke's twin was chasing after him, holding up a kunai as he swiped viciously at him.

"You killed everyone Itachi! You killed uncle, auntie, our cousins, and our father!" Itachi backed away from the quickly approaching child grunting as hands grabbed him from behind. "You killed them all!" The boy charged forward with a stab and Itachi dissolved into crows that sailed over the bodies, hovering in the air as he looked towards Naruto. The corpses were piling on him, trying to bury him underneath the bodies of the dead.

"Naruto! They're just trying to get inside your head. Don't let them –"

"Itachi." Itachi's breath left him at the sound of the voice, his eyes slowly turning towards a woman who walked out of the crowd of bodies. Her death must have been peaceful, for she was virtual untouched, the beauty of her body still lasting even in death. Long black hair, pale skin, a warm motherly smile…

"Mother." Itachi whispered his form solidifying as he lowered to the ground.

"It's good to see you son." His mothe – it greeted. The undead eyes stared into his very soul. "My how you've grown."

This was nothing but a corpse, an illusion creating the image of his mother. Yet she looked so real. So genuine. Hearing the voice that use to lull him to sleep when he was a child slowly began to crack through the carefully crafted blank mask.

"Mother…" For the first time since he had killed massacred his clan, tears threatened to spill from his emotionless eyes.

"Shh I'm here for you son." She hushed, slowly walking forward holding out her arms. "I know how much you've suffered Itachi. It's time to let it all go." Ever so slowly, icy hands gently touched his shoulders before wrapping around him, cocooning him in a cold hug.

Her corpse had yet to begin rotting. The smell of her perfume still strong as a vanilla scent flooded his nose. His mother had always smelled like vanilla. It felt so very wrong, his body wanting to put distance between himself and this abomination. His fingers twitched to push it away, fire off a jutsu, stab it – do anything to rid this thing from his sight.

Yet he couldn't.

Just like he couldn't bring himself to kill his mother on that night.

Underneath the long sleeves the woman wore, a hand slowly pulled out a kunai. "Everything is going to be alright Itachi." Slim fingers gripped the handle. "I promise…"

"Raaah!"

The scream came with an explosion of lighting. Bodies were suddenly disintegrated from the electricity. The scream came from Naruto, the Raikiri in his palm surging around him filling the air with electric energy.

The electricity traveled into the kunai, the woman releasing it as it shocked her fingers.

Itachi caught the knife before it could hit the ground. His eyes didn't move from the woman as she untangled herself slowly beginning to back away.

"Itachi please don't –" The kunai buried into her head with a thump sinking to the handle. The woman's body hit the ground seconds after. As expected, she slowly rose after a few moments with a wide grin.

"What a rude little boy you are." With the crazed smile, dead eyes, and a kunai sticking out of her head she now looked like a zombie. "How about mommy gives you a spanking you –"

"Amaterasu."

The world erupted into black flames. Itachi blitzed through some handseals inhaling deeply before spewing out wind that fueled the fires from hell. The black flames spread quickly incinerating all that laid before its path. As quickly as they had appeared, the flames disappeared as Itachi closed his bleeding right eye ending the visual jutsu.

"Raikiri Stream!" The shout made Itachi turn towards Naruto, witnessing the last of the corpses be vaporized by the deadly electricity as it surged in all directions. When nothing but ashes remained Naruto ended his jutsu, the lightning crackling around him before it vanished.

"You okay?" Itachi asked walking towards him drying the blood with his sleeve.

Naruto was quiet for a few moments before mumbling out, "I'm good." He held up his hand and Kusunagi levitated into his waiting palm with a dismembered hand attached to the sword. Naruto's hand sparked with lightning and the hand was vaporized as he sheathed the blade with a twirl.

They stood staring at each other in tense silence.

"They have my brother and mother." Itachi broke the silence first.

"They have my team." Naruto replied shortly.

"We better go save them then."

"Kill the Elders in the process."

"And the Commander as well."

"Definitely."

No more words were needed as the two utilized a shunshin to maximize their speed. They moved as blurs, crisscrossing through tunnel after tunnel like shadows as they quickly neared their destination.

The Root Base.

"Not much further." Itachi whispered, having memorized the location when he had served under Danzou. It wasn't long before the duo entered a steep tunnel; the passage steadily narrowing with a sudden temperature drop.

Something stirred at the edge of his senses and Naruto stopped suddenly, sliding to a halt with wide eyes.

Itachi slid to a stop as well, a question on his tongue before he suddenly felt it. A terrible chakra source suddenly flooded the tunnels. A raw feeling of hate made the hairs on their arms stand on end as a terrible roar was heard. There was no mistaking such a terrible chakra. It was the Kyuubi's.

"Konohamaru…" Naruto whispered in shock.

Itachi's mind raced as he thought over what he had just felt before coming to one possible conclusion.

"It could be just a diversion." He spoke up gaining Naruto's attention. "To separate us." Together, they were unstoppable. It wasn't a boast or statement of pride; it was just cold hard fact.

"That –" Naruto pointed in the direction that he felt the chakra, "Was no fake." That was the real deal; his chakra network was going haywire at the feel. He looked back at Itachi, then towards the direction of the Root Base and finally back at the tunnel.

"There's no time." Itachi insisted. "Go Naruto. If I find you're team in there, you know I will save them."

Naruto hesitated as he looked back at Itachi one last time before extending his fist. Itachi smiled as he extended his own and the two friends bumped knuckles.

"See you other side."

Nothing needed to be said as both of them split apart, Naruto rushing towards the source of the Kyuubi's chakra and Itachi towards the Root Base entrance.

It was time to end this.

---

It was hard to believe a base of such magnitude was built so deep underground.

The Root Base was massive. The sheer size and scale of the hidden fortress a genius work of architecture and earth manipulation to be built so deep underground. The temperature was cold, but not entirely unpleasant as Itachi slowly walked across a long narrow bride, idly glancing down over the edge.

The inner megastructure consisted of intersecting metal bridges crisscrossing over one another going in a downwards spiral disappearing into the depths of the darkness. At the ends of each bridge were doors, leading to places unknown to him. He was apparently on the upper most level as he had an entire view of the base. Roughly in the center were four massive pillars that stretched upwards towards the ceiling, each layered with tags that held a strange symbol he didn't recognize.

"So you've come."

Itachi halted at the voice, looking forward across the bridge as a figure emerged out of the darkness. Clad in his black battle armour, the Third Hokage gave him a sad smile in greeting.

"It's good to see you Itachi."

"Sandaime-sama." Itachi bowed before the man showing some respect despite the situation. Hiruzen smile turned a little sadder at the action, watching as the Uchiha stared him down with blank apathy.

"I almost couldn't believe it was you, Itachi. You stood beside Naruto as he laid waste to Konoha's shinobi. It broke my heart seeing that." The Third whispered in hurt.

Despite his appearance remaining relatively unchanged, this wasn't the same man that had promised to keep his mother and brother safe all those years ago. Gone was the look of a powerful leader, the God of Shinobi that had once been called the Professor. All that was left was a tired old man with the visible glint of shame in his eyes.

"It isn't too late son." The Third tried to reason. "There can still be a happy ending for you and your family. Imagine your name wiped from the bingo book, your status as a missing-nin erased and retirement from the shinobi life. With the mark of a pen I can make it all happen." The Third smiled at him. "I can make it all… disappear."

Itachi stared back, unblinking. "What does the name Madara Uchiha mean to you?"

The Hokage couldn't hide his flinch. Nor the naked fear that entered his eyes. Seeing his reaction was all Itachi needed.

"I almost wanted to believe my conclusions were just wild speculation…" His gaze slowly narrowed as his mangekyo glowed with anger, "But I can see now that your roots are more rotten than Danzou's. "

The smile fell from Hiruzen's face replaced with a frown. He sighed regrettably as he shook his head. "You were always a genius Itachi, even from a young age. You could have made a fine Hokage one day."

Itachi's gaze didn't waver as two figures emerged from the darkness behind the Third.

"I see the look in those eyes of yours hasn't changed, Itachi." Danzou noted as he stood beside the Third, throwing away his cane as he undid his robes revealing his right arm. It was encased in a metal gauntlet layered with seals. Holding up a handsign the seals began to glow, and with a hiss they vanished and the gauntlet fell away.

Itachi's eyes widened, the variety of chakra signatures present in Danzou's arm were clear to his sharingan eyes. Watching as Danzou slowly undid the bandages, his gaze went from surprised to murderous before he quickly regained composure, blank mask once again in place.

"I take back what I said Hokage-sama." Itachi said without emotion. "The both of you are just, fucked."

A scoff of amusement came from the final figure. Standing tall and imposing, The Anbu Commander's black mask titled dangerously towards him.

"How arrogant of you to walk right into an obvious trap." Hearing the disembodied voice clearly now for the first time Itachi wasn't impressed. "And they said you were called a genius." The Commander slowly drew a ninjato attached to the back and Danzou flexed the fingers of his transplanted arm, the ten implanted sharingan glowing in the dark. On his shoulder what looked like a human face could be seen.

The Third looked at Itachi regrettably before he slowly began to go through handseals. It was time to once and fall all be done with this troubling situation.

"Naruto?" the Hokage asked looking towards the Commander.

"Taken care of." That show of the Kyuubi's chakra was bound to lead him on a wild goose chase through the tunnels. By the time he realized it was just a diversion, his precious friend would already be dead.

Finished stretching his arm Danzou lightly rolled his shoulder, "Let's make this quick."

All three stilled as a superior, Uchiha-like, smirk crossed Itachi's lips as his shadow suddenly changed. "For the first time Danzou…" An ultra-thin body peeled out of the shadow rapidly expanding and gaining thickness as he released the breath he had been holding. "I agree with you."

Itachi's sharingan would forever memorize the Root Commander, The Third Hokage, and Danzou flinch at the same time as Naruto casually walked forward to stand beside him.

"Smell that Itachi?" Naruto inhaled cool fresh air as he shook off the effects of the Shadow Manipulation Jutsu. "Nothing like the smell of fear to get the blood pumping." The smirk on his face was vicious, his gleaming sharingan fixing on the three leaders with rage.

How fortunate he had imbued Itachi's chakra with his own when they bumped fist.

The only sound that pierced the still silence was the slow sheek of the Kusunagi being drawn from its sheathe, the blade glinting as it elongated to it full, deadly, length.

Naruto let the mangekyo sharingan spin into existence, his gaze shifting from one face to another before settling on the black mask.

"Where's my team?" Naruto demanded with a hiss.

The Commander held out a hand, two fingers beckoning Naruto mockingly. "Come and find out."

Wrong answer.

Ping!

The Commander's ninjato blocked the swipe that was aiming for the head as Naruto blurred forward in a burst of speed. Beside him, the Hokage blitzed through handseals preparing to spit fire at Naruto's unguarded back but was too slow as Naruto's foot shot out and kicked him right in his jaw, the flames spewing out at Danzo who had to leap out of the way.

Danzou barely managed to duck the kunai that was aimed at his head as Itachi appeared in a flock of crows kicking him backwards sending him over the bridge. A wide bridge was there to catch him, Danzou landed on his feet just as a fireball sped towards him. He quickly went through handseals and blew out pressurized wind that caused the flame to vanish as the oxygen sustaining them was quickly sucked out.

Danzou held up his right arm to block the strike from behind staring into Itachi's narrowed gaze.

"I see old age hasn't dulled your skills." Itachi praised. Danzou didn't reply, too focused on molding chakra in his transplanted arm and Itachi was forced to leap back or be skewered by the sudden emergence of wooden spikes from the arm.

Expecting something like this Itachi's only reaction was to slowly shake his head. "Both the powers of the Uchiha and Senju… you really are The Shinobi of Darkness." He was silent for a few moments. "You were planning on controlling the Kyuubi."

Danzou finally answered with frown, shifting into a battle stance as he readied himself. "All that I do, no matter how questionable or violent, is for the greater good of Konoha. Both you and Naruto fail to see –"

Danzou ducked the stab that would have scalped his head. He didn't have time to wonder how Itachi had gotten a shadow clone behind him as he quickly turned, retaliating with an uppercut that the Uchiha avoided, grunting as a kick sent him backwards towards the real Itachi.

Danzou quickly became alarmed as Itachi charged him. His eyes widened realizing that this was the shadow clone just as it exploded.

Boom!

Itachi watched on as the exploding shadow clone blew a hole in the bridge. He jumped from the bridge just as it began to collapse, leaping onto another platform, eyes already searching for Danzou.

Slick!

Itachi coughed out blood as a kunai coated in wind chakra pierced through his chest. He slowly turned behind him to see Danzou frowning down at him.

"Come now Itachi, let's end the genjutsu. You know it's pointless."

Itachi didn't reply. Reality only changed and Danzou found himself back on the bride he had landed on, with Itachi staring right at him.

"I'm surprised you didn't use that Tsukuyomi of yours yet, Itachi." Danzou stated seeing as Itachi wasn't going to speak. "Just trying to get a feel of my abilities I see?" On the outside, Danzou was trying to keep up an air of superiority; internally he knew that if this battle dragged on he would die.

Itachi was a true heir to the Uchiha bloodline. Since this battle started Danzou had been toyed with. It had taken all ten of the impanted sharingan to finally break the multiple layers of genjutsu Itachi had snared him in.

"I realize now that it was wise for me to not battle you alone." There it was an almost unnoticeable shift to Itachi's eyes as his gaze narrowed a tad. "Why don't you come out my dear boy and meet the man who ruined your life."

The sound of footsteps came from behind him, Itachi pivoting around to see a figure emerge out of the shadows. A white mask was visible first, followed by the standard root attire. A young boy by the looks of it. But peering into that chakra flow was enough for Itachi to finally snap.

"Damn you Danzou!" He shouted as the boy removed his mask, revealing the cold sharingan eyes of his little brother.

Sasuke lips curled into a smile in greeting. "Big brother, it's so good to see you again."

No! No! No! No! No! This could not be happening. His heart began to hammer in his chest as Sasuke slowly drew a tanto from his back, the ever present smile on his face as he stared into his eyes.

"I'm here to kill you big brother."

Itachi spotted what was wrong quickly. Peering into Sasuke's chakra flow showed that it was disturbed, his network in haywire as Danzou's chakra forcefully controlled it.

He heard a muffle screamed and looked up towards the ceiling. On a platform, bound and gagged was Mikoto Uchiha. Her tearful eyes stared into his and Itachi felt his heart skip a beat. Behind her was a man wearing a high-collared all black attire.

"Torune, one of my best." Itachi slowly turned bloodshot eyes towards Danzou. "All I need to do is give the signal and with a simple touch, your mother will be eaten alive by nano insects." At this the man called Torune removed his gloved hand and made it hover over the delicate skin of Mikito's cheeks.

"I'll kill you." Itachi's eyes were wide, the veins in the sclera visible as the mangekyo glowed an unnatural red.

"Before you could have," Danzou smirked. "But now, I'm confident you can't." With a mere nod of his head Sasuke charged forward rushing towards Itachi with a smile.

Itachi dodged the swipes aiming to cut him, his face in turmoil as Sasuke's swipes edged ever closer to him. "Let's play a game brother," Sasuke stabbed forward with Itachi avoiding it. "Who can survive the longest!" Sasuke shouted with glee as the ferocity of his attacks increased, Itachi doing nothing but avoiding them.

A hail of kunai came rushing forward and Itachi turned into crows to avoid them, not before witnessing one nick Sauske's shoulder drawing blood.

"Oops." Danzou said impassively. "My eye sight has become quite bad you see."

A snarl of fury erupted out of Itachi's throat as he descended upon Danzou in a burst of speed. The man rapidly backpedalled to make distance between himself and the furious Uchiha, quickly going through handseals.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

Itachi stopped himself mid stride, disappearing in a burst of speed and appearing beside Sasuke knocking him out of the way to avoid the wind attack. Despite being saved by Itachi, Sasuke swiped at him, forcing Itachi to palm a kunai to block the attack.

Itachi parried each blow kicking Sasuke backwards just as another wind attack reached him. He jumped out of the way narrowly avoiding being made mincemeat by wind blades, landing on a bridge as he stared down at the duo.

Above him he heard another muffled scream, and he looked upwards to see his mother crying.

Something inside of him broke as he watched her tears fall. "I'm sorry." He whispered as his shoulders began to shake. "I'm so sorry."

"Big brother…" Sasuke's voiced called sweetly. Itachi looked up to see Sauske attached to wall above him, smiling down at him with his sharingan gleaming in the dark. "Want to play?"

Sasuke dropped down with a shout, his tanto aimed downwards for a stab. "Die." Just as he reached him Itachi's hand shot out and grabbed Sasuke mid fall stopping him cold. Face in turmoil Itachi's eyes met Sasuke's.

"Forgive me, Sasuke." Itachi blocked the fist aiming for his face. His other hand wrestling the tanto from Sasuke's grip and tossing the blade away as his free hand gently lifted to stroke Sasuke's face. He had grown up from the little boy Itachi remembered leaving on those bloody streets all those years ago. Hardening his heart, he grabbed Sasuke's face forcing him to make eye contact.

"Tsukuy –"

"No!" Sasuke screamed as he stared into Itachi's eyes. "Please no not again!" The terrified scream was enough to shock Itachi, Sasuke beginning to desperately try and wrestle himself free. "Don't Itachi please!"

Itachi's composure broke as Sasuke began to cry, relinquishing his hold.

Seeing Sasuke in tears had cost him. His little brother palmed a kunai and stabbed it towards his face, Itachi leaping back to only suffer a minor cut to his cheek. Still crying, Sasuke charged forward with a desperate cry as threw the knife towards Itachi.

Utilizing a replacement, Danzou switched places with the knife appearing before Itachi with a cruel smirk. Itachi couldn't react in time as Danzou's transplated fist punched him across the face sending him crashing down to another bridge below.

He hit the ground hard quickly jumping to his feet to avoid Danzou's fist slamming into the ground, denting the metal of the bridge. Itachi quickly began to go through handseals before he froze.

He grunted as black markings started to appear over his body.

Danzou's Binding Seal. But when did he… Itachi suddenly frowned feeling his cheek start to bruise. That wasn't just a mere punch.

"I must say I'm disappointed Itachi." Danzou commented as Sasuke landed beside him. "To think you still hold such feelings toward your brother. Pathetic." Danzou scoffed. He turned to Sasuke seeing the youth begin to twitch. Even now, the boy was resisting him. Danzou was impressed; Sasuke would be a powerful shinobi one day.

He held up a handseal and Sasuke's twitching stopped. "Finish him off." He ordered ignoring the muffle screams coming from above. After Itachi was dead he would order Torune to make his insects devour that annoying woman alive.

Sasuke began to walk forwards with a kunai in hand.

"Big brother." Sasuke was no longer smiling, his face as emotionless as his tone. "I'm going to kill you now." Itachi struggled against the seal in a vain attempt to break free, his chakra network now in disturbed as the seal solidified over his body.

He couldn't move.

Sasuke stopped directly in front of him staring up into the eyes that haunted his sleep at night. His pale fingers gripped the blades handle tightly, enough for Itachi to hear the strain as his hand began to shake.

"Finish him Sasuke. Now." Danzou urged.

Sasuke's body began to twitch. Above him, Mikoto's muffled screams of desperation rang loud before Torune hovered his hand over her face to silence her. Itachi remained silent, eyes tearing up as he watched Sasuke struggle over whatever control Danzou had placed him under.

"Kill him!" Danzou shouted.

Badly twitching, Sasuke's other hand slowly raised up towards Itachi's headband and poked him in the forehead.

"Goodbye brother." With that he plunged the knife downwards.

---

On the upper levels, Naruto was engaging the Commander in a fierce kenjutsu battle.

With a snarl Naruto twirled, the Kusunagi humming through the air only managing to scrape against the black mask as the Commander narrowly avoided it. The Anbu Leader retaliated with an overhead swing that Naruto parried to side, spinning with the momentum and using his elbow to slam right against the mask hearing an audible grunt as the Commander's head snapped backwards.

Naruto lunged forward with a stab, only for his sword to be knocked off course with a well thrown shuriken.

"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"

Naruto gripped his sword tightly, sharingan tracing every shuriken as they approached. With a show of great precision and speed, he spun rapidly, knocking every single star up into the air leaving them momentarily suspended.

Coming out of his spin with a handseal held up, Naruto blew out a gust of wind propelling them all right back at the Third.

Hiruzen almost couldn't believe what he had just witnessed as he hit the ground avoiding being turned into a pincushion by the shuriken, hearing the sharp sound they made as they embedded themselves into metal behind him.

He rolled out of the way barely escaping the sword that pierced the spot his head had been, leaping to his feet and holding up a gauntlet clad arm to block the sword swing from Naruto.

The chakra infused metal began to dent heavily as swing after swing rained down on him as he struggled to block. A kick to his chest dropped him on his back and he instinctively held up his gauntlet to block the stab aimed at his eye.

A struggle ensued as Hiruzen used all his strength to keep the sword from piercing his eye. A one handed grip on his sword, Naruto began to use both hands, pressing down with his gaze narrowing viciously.

"Gah!" Hiruzen hissed out in pain as the sword began to slide, piercing through his gauntlet cutting into skin beneath, and beginning to edge closer to his eye.

There was the sudden rush of air and Naruto grunted as a strong wind blasted into him from the back. He lost his grip on his sword as the attack sent him flying off the bridge. He quickly recovered, chakra chains shooting out of his arm and attaching to the bridge. He swung himself under it, using his momentum to come around over the top and slam his feet against the Commander's mask.

"Oof!" The Commander was sent careening off the bride from the force, hitting the walls of the Root Base with a loud clunk of dented metal.

Lighting sparked in Naruto's hand and he wasted no time rushing forward with the Raikiri crackling dangerously. Using the blood from his arm, Hiruzen slammed his palm against the ground just as Naruto neared him.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A large muscled fist slammed into Naruto with the force of a train, getting him to stain his mask with spittle as he flew back from the hit. He rolled across the bridge before stabbing his lighting covered hand into the metal forcing himself to slide to screeching halt.

"So it's come to this eh?" Long white tail twitching agitatedly behind him, the Monkey King: Enma crossed his large muscle arms giving Naruto a fierce glare. "First Orochimaru and now this brat. Why does it always have to be the most promising? "

Naruto stood to his feet quickly shaking off the blow. He raised his hand and the Kusanagi flew into his waiting palm causing Enma to frown.

"Sarutobi, that blade the brat has…" He warned getting the Third to nod.

"I know Enma." The Monkey nodded as he wordlessly transformed into the Adamantine Staff. The Hokage plucked it from the air, twirling the black and gold staff once before he held it at the ready.

Naruto's sharingan analysed the staff seeing the chakra of the Monkey King flowing through it. It was a transformation, so it could possibly –

Hiruzen thrusted the staff forward and confirmed Naruto's guess by rapidly extending. He narrowly avoided it with a side-step raising his sword up to block as Hiruzen swung the elongated staff at him.

There was a sharp clang as the staff and blade clashed together.

Without warning a large hand appeared out of the staff and grabbed Naruto by the throat. He could do nothing but choke as he was lifted off his feet, finally noticing the large yellow eye that glared up at him from the staff.

"I'll snap you like a twig brat!" Enma squeezed and with a snap, Naruto's neck broke.

Poof!

The lightning clone exploded sending electricity into the staff. Enma gave a gasp of pain, his arm twitching violently as he was electrocuted. The electricity raced along the staff towards Hiruzen who was forced to drop it from the shock to his hand. The real Naruto appeared behind him, sword poised for decapitation. He swung only for the Commander to appear in a burst of speed, mask cracked, blocking the attack and returning the previous blow from earlier with a punch to the face.

Naruto's head merely snapped backwards, the Commander's sword aimed downwards with a stab but grunted as Naruto flipped, his feet clipping the mask and sending the Commander barreling into the Hokage.

Mid flip, a chain shot out of Naruto's hand snagging the old man and with a snarl he pulled Hiruzen towards him, sword already poised to skewer him. The Commander recovered in time grabbing onto the Hokage before he could be pulled.

Using the ninjato the Commader stabbed it through one of the chain links pinning it to the ground. Naruto simply leaped of the bridge using his weight to pull the chain free and send the Hokage over the edge with him.

Having finally recovered from the lightning Enma's hand grabbed on to the chain stopping his summoner from being pulled over the edge. Letting the chain extend Naruto swung under the bridge coming back around again and releasing the chain letting it break apart as he landed on the bridge.

With the chakra no longer sustaining it the golden chain shattered before it vanished freeing Hiruzen from its hold. Three sets of eyes warily stared at Naruto watching as he regarded them with his sharingan gleaming in the darkness.

"I'll admit the brat is dangerous." Enma grunted.

The Commander wordlessly turned towards Hiruzen and received a hesitant nod. The Commander's armour began to glow red and Naruto quickly turned alarmed at feeling the Kyuubi's chakra. The distinctive masked cracked further to the point of nearly shattering under the Kyuubi's chakra.

"I won't need this anyway." The Commander's hand grabbed the cracked mask and with one swift motion threw it off to the side.

Naruto saw long red hair and his sword dropped from his now limp hands.

If it wasn't for the whisker-like lines on the distinctly feminine face in front of him, he would have mistaken the now confirmed woman under the mask as his own mother. As the Kyuubi's chakra began to glow off the woman's armour, violet eyes slowly turned a slitted, burning red.

"You seem surprised." She said simply, her voice light, yet still emotionless to his ears even without a filter. Red hair so much like his mother's spilled down past her shoulders, matching the new colour of her eyes.

"W-What is…What IS this!?" Naruto managed to shout. His voice thick with emotion, eyes red as he took a hesitant step back. All he could stare at was the surprisingly beautiful face watching the way red eyes stared back at him blankly.

"...I thought you would be happy to finally meet your sister, Naruto." Hiruzen whispered.

Naruto went absolutely still. Eyes impossibly wide he stared at the woman in front of him as he managed to stutter out a name only the two of them could hear.

"N-Narumi…"

Ever so slowly a smirk tugged at her lips, the only emotion on an otherwise flawless façade. "Clone-18 is my name, sole survivor of the first batch, me being the eighteenth."

Something inside of Naruto finally snapped. Something more than simple rage.

Hiruzen gasped as he watched Naruto openly begin to weep. He had expected anger –an overbearing fury at the discovery… but not this. Not watching Naruto lower his head and letting his soft cries be heard in the uncomfortable silence.

'Narumi' frowned as she watched her ultimate enemy begin to cry before slowly turning to Hiruzen, one eyebrow raised with open confusion.

"Hokage-sama?" She questioned.

Hiruzen couldn't provide an answer. He openly showed the shame on his face as just readied his staff over his shoulder. Still bearing confusion, she readied her ninjato. A large yellow eye opened on the Adamantine Staff fixating on Naruto before a gasp was heard.

"Hiruzen –" Enma couldn't warn his summoner in time as overbearing pressure suddenly filled the Root Base. A feeling of dread could be felt as Naruto's dense powerful chakra began to saturate the air. It was cold, a miasma of darkness that sent a chill down the spine of the two leaders. Just like that the weeping stopped, replaced by something far more primal... and far more frightening.

Slowly lifting his head Naruto fixated the duo with an absolutely murderous glare. Orange pigmentation formed around his eyes, his irises turning a toad-like yellow that glowed in the dark. A horizontal bar replaced the pupil of each eye, the left bearing a slight difference as the tomoe of the sharingan now circled the black bar.

Naruto looked into Narumi's red eyes seeing nothing but a cold emotionless gaze staring right back. In response to the sudden change a red chakra cloak bubbled around her, two tails of chakra whipping behind her as she prepared herself.

Narumi held out her arms letting two red chains of chakra slither out, the metal glowing red from the Kyuubi's chakra as she began to whip them through the air.

Their only warning was the Kusunagi levitating into Naruto's palm.

"Sarutobi get back!" Enma shouted.

There was a sudden blur of speed and a loud crash as Narumi was sent flying across the Root Base with the speed of a shooting star. All Hiruzen could do was watch as she crashed into a wall before a sword descended down upon him. He held up his staff preparing to block the strike grunting as the force smashed him into the ground.

Slick!

"Gaaaah!"

The Kusunagi cut right through the staff. Enma reverted back to normal, his body bisected in two. Blood quickly pooled on the bridge as Hiruzen jumped away watching in horror as his personal summon and long-time friend was hauled into the air by his hair.

"You want a piece of me! You want a pi –" Enma gasped as Naruto grabbed both his arms and with sage enhanced strength pulled.

"No, I want two!" Naruto snarled. There was a horrible squelch as Enma was ripped in half. His arms were pulled apart, his upper chest and face following suit. Naruto threw away the two pieces of flesh sending them careening into the metal walls leaving dents.

When glowing yellow eyes turned towards him Hiruzen knew that this was the end. Naruto rushed forward and Hiruzen closed his eyes awaiting a painful death.

There was a loud grunt and Hiruzen opened his eyes before flinching seeing the Kusunagi less than an inch away from his right eye. The only thing that saved his life were the red chains constricting around Naruto's arm holding him steady. Hiruzen ducked just as the Kusunagi rapidly extended clipping his helmet leaving a deep groove.

On the far side of the Root Base with a third tail now flowing behind her, Narumi grabbed the chains and pulled with all her strength. She only succeeding in making Naruto slide a few metres before he started to resist.

Wrapping the chain around his fist further he gave a roar and he pulled back.

Once again, Narumi was sent flying, the pull from the chains sending her rocketing towards Naruto. She released them letting them break apart just as she neared him, narrowly avoiding the fist thrown at her face.

She grunted as her cheek suddenly caved in and she was sent crashing through two steel bridges before slamming into the metal walls leaving a large indentation.

"Impossible I dodged –" She gave a gasp as Naruto's fist slammed into her stomach forcing her deeper into the wall. He didn't stop there. Blow after blow rained down on her slamming her further and further into the metal and sending tremors through the Root Base.

Naruto raised his sword to finish her off and prepared to stab the blade forward. But as he stared into her rapidly healing face, his arm refused to move. The murderous glare slowly fell from his eyes as a deep sadness replaced it.

Again, Narumi could only watch in confusion as Naruto's hands slowly lifted to stroke her face.

He couldn't help himself. He was staring into the face of the sister he never had. The resemblance to his mother brought back the kami forsaken sting of tears. He looked into her eyes desperately searching for something – anything to show that this being in front of him held some spark of life. That beneath that cold gaze was a soul.

"You have beautiful red hair." Naruto whispered forlornly. The most private and sacred words he had only said to one woman in his whole life.

There was a flicker of emotion before it was gone with the blink of an eye.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance." Narumi whispered to him. "Naruto…"

His grip slackened as he gasped and that was all she needed to kick him with all her strength. He flew back landing on a nearby bridge watching as the Kyuubi's chakra receded around her. Then, she simply jumped over the edge and fell down into the darkness.

Naruto watched the action in confusion before he felt the briefest flicker of chakra. A summoning jutsu?

"RAHHHHH!"

The roar shook the Root Base to its core. In the depths of the darkness, slowly beginning to crawl upwards, a massive red claw tore into the metal. Large red eyes glowed in the darkness and Naruto gasped as seven swirling red tails slowly emerged.

"You stupid bitch." Naruto hissed.

The transformation was the largest Naruto had seen. Drastically smaller in size compared to the Kyuubi, it was still massive as the metal bridges buckled under its weight, breaking apart as the beast began to climb. On the head of Konohamaru's seven tailed state was Narumi, a red chakra chain coming out of her arm and wrapped around the beast's neck like a collar.

"Behold, your precious student!"

'You should have killed me when you had the chance.'

Naruto wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Holding up his a hand a sage enhanced Rasengan formed quickly, growing in size as it glowed with white energy. Gripping the Kusanagi Naruto jumped off the bridge and plunged into the darkness, holding up the Giant Rasengan at the ready.

Konohamaru's transformation roared and Naruto's mind instantly thought back on his promise given what seemed like a lifetime ago.

Brown eyes stared up at him in worry and Naruto made a vow at that very moment: Konohamaru would live. He would make sure of it.

"Rasengan!" Naruto screamed slamming into the transformation.

---

And cut...

So why the long wait? Simply too many ideas and jumbled thoughts. After about 15 failed chapters I just fuck it, Ima take a break and before I knew it two years had passed. Even now with this chapter things could have gone a huge number of routes. It was all about settling on the best outcome to move the story forward.

I hope you enjoyed the twist and turns especially the Commander's reveal. As you may have noticed I changed Yellow Fang to a tragedy. It's going to be one as I finally have an ending planned out. People are either going to hate it or like it. Anyways thanks for sticking with this story and reading. If you like it, leave a review! If you hated then that's fine too! If you're a silent reader then boo you suck. Just kidding. Any questions or concerns send me a pm.

As for the Bone Collector ...that shit is put on hold. I say shit because that's what it is. It was just a desperate try to get writing again but I slammed my head on my keyboard after I read it…so yeah its poo-poo. It needs a serious re-write. As of now, my focus is back on Yellow Fang.

See you next update folks!