A/N: Wow, this is really coming to an end, isn't it? I think this'll all be wrapped up in about four chapters, three if I get writer's block and shorten stuff, and five if I feel very inspired all of a sudden.

Disclaimer: Naruto me not own in words and stuff. Yeah. I don't get it either.

Kiora checked her reflection in the blade of a kunai just before they entered the Hokage's mansion. Her eyes were now almost completely gray,though it appeared as though they were gray with the black teardrops of the Sharingan on them.

"They're my old eyes," Melody said. "Your mother spliced the Byakugan gene into them. She said it would be twenty-four hours until they were ready. But that was just a few hours ago."

Kiora suspected the Kyuubi's chakra was fueling the recovery. They followed Midori into the debris-strewn front hall, carefully avoiding the more unstable areas. The entire building gave of the vibe that it could crumble at any moment. Midori led them into an adjacent room, which appeared to only have one exit: the one they had come in.

"This is the point of no return," Midori said. "There will be no escape after this."

Melody spun on the ex-Akatsuki member. "If I find out this is a trap, I'm killing you when we get out."

"How can a trap be worse than facing Hakaishimaru," Kiora reasoned. "If she wanted us dead, leading us to him would be the quickest way, and since we need to find him to kill him, it's a win-win."

"Fair enough," Melody said. Her hand still drifted nervously to the hilt of her new sword. Her fears were not abated as Midori pulled a hidden switch and a panel of the wall slid away to reveal a hidden passageway.

"This will lead to Hakaishimaru's lair," she said. "I fear Orion is already there. He'll have exposed your abilities to him."

Kiora nodded, stepping into the passageway. She turned to Midori. "Go to my mother, explain everything, and tell them to wait for me. I'm going to end this."

"We're going to end this," Melody corrected. She was breathing heavily, having expended a lot of chakra in all of the various fights. Kiora nodded. She herself was running primarily on pure adrenaline at this point, between Naruto's assault, the ordeal with the Kyuubi, and the subsequent, yet brief, encounter with Nejimaru. She didn't want to have to rely on the Kyuubi's chakra again, especially not this close to getting her powers back.

They worked their way through the tunnels, surprised to not find any traps or forks in the path. It almost seemed too easy, but this was most likely designed as an escape path for the Hokage in the event that the enemy reached deep into the village. The two walked in silence, each trying to recover as much as they could on the way.

The smooth brick wall gave way to rough stone after a short trip. Moss began to appear soon afterward, and Kiora suspected they were under the river that ran through town. That meant they were heading for the main gate, if she was remembering her directions right.

Several more silent minutes passed, broken only by the crunch of their footsteps in the dirt and dust. Finally, they came to a wooden door. It seemed too simple, to easy.

"Is this it?" Kiora wondered aloud. The door opened before she or Melody could do anything.

"Please, come in," said Naruto. "Greetings, my little toy."

Kiora resisted the urge to strangle the man, deciding instead to play along with Hakaishimaru. They were led into a small chamber, where he was seated in a comfortable looking armchair.

"Hakaishimaru," Kiora said. "How's it been since you stole my powers?"

"From what I hear, you have plenty of power even afterward," he responded. Kiora glared at Naruto. The little rat had told him about the Kyuubi.

"The Kyuubi is dangerous," Hakaishimaru continued. "This whole ordeal was dangerous. Although, I must know, where is Kohana? If it wasn't for that little witch I'd have never escaped Lucifer's clutches."

"She's helping the villagers," Kiora said. "Why don't you explain a little more about how all of this came about. I really don't understand how the greatest shinobi villages fell prey to nine rogue ninjas."

Hakaishimaru smirked. It was neither pleasant nor comforting. "It only happens once every few millennium that Lucifer releases a soul from Hell. Kohana's reason was rather unique, but it provided a very ideal opportunity for me. The demons that escorted her from Lucifer's private torture chamber passed right by me, and I followed on a whim. Normal souls are easily detectable to demons, but as an elite shinobi I possess powers of stealth unrivaled even in the afterlife.

"When the gate was opened to this plane of existence, the guards turned their backs for a brief moment, and that's when I made my escape. Upon reaching this world again, I returned to the cavern that I once used as a base of operations.

"In my original mortal life I was the ruler of the last great shinobi empire. It fell, just after my sons were born. Fraternal twins, Madara and Hiashi. I was the last of the clan, the ruling family, and the lower class knew. So they revolted, and the empire crumbled. I thought my sons were slaughtered, but somehow they were spared, and taken into separate families. Madara was taken in by the Uchiha, and Hiashi was raised by the early Hyuuga.

"The clans did not have any kekkei genkai before then. It took my blood, through my sons, to create the modern Uchiha and Hyuuga clans, though as I understand it, they are very nearly extinct now. I myself was killed during the revolt, and the empire crumbled.

"Thus began the dark ages for shinobi. There was no longer a ruling government, and that resulted in many wars. Finally, after several bloody conflicts, the beginnings of the five Great Nations appeared. And I'm sure you know the history of your own village, so you won't need that lesson from me."

Kiora and Melody nodded. They were at a loss for words. Kiora had a thought. "Explain the reason for this takeover," she demanded. "Depending on your answer, I might not kill you as painfully as I was planning."

"So you are determined to kill me regardless of my answer?" Hakaishimaru asked, laughing sinisterly. "Very well. I wanted my old power back, the influence and control that came from being an emperor. The cavern I returned to was apparently the base of operations for the Akatsuki. I took over, and we set about conquering. The goal was to re-create the empire, re-establish stability between the Great Nations, and thus end the shinobi wars."

"You try and make it sound noble," Kiora said. "Ending war, establishing order, save people the misery of conflict. But you just want to be in charge again. You're nothing more than a selfish nobleman, clinging to a life that you were too stupid to hold on to."

She snapped into motion, drawing several shuriken from her thigh holster and launching them the short distance to Hakaishimaru. Naruto's doppelganger intercepted the weapons.

"You have to kill me first, my dear," he said. His Rasen-Shuriken formed in his hand. Kiora moved instantly, kicking his hand upwards and driving the jutsu into the ceiling overhead.

The blast shook the village to its foundation. The underground hideout collapsed, half of the ceiling burying the occupants, the other half blasted skywards by Naruto's attack.

Kiora jumped up and out of the hole, pursuing the undead Akatsuki member. She realized they were just outside the main Konoha gates. Naruto ran straight up the wooden gate, and Kiora followed, gaining with each vertical stride.

Naruto plunged his Rasengan into the top of the wall as he passed over. He disappeared from view as debris filled Kiora's field of vision. She forced open the first inner gate and wove her way through the falling rubble. She vaulted over the wall, eagerly pursuing her foe.

-----

Melody coughed, dust trying to fill her lungs. Her Mangekyo activated, in an effort to see through the rubble. She saw a glimpse of Hakaishimaru fleeing through the collapsed ceiling, and decided to follow. In the back of her mind, she remembered the words of warning given by Kakashi and Sakura.

Don't look him in the eye, she thought. It's cost me too much to get these eyes, I can't afford to lose them.

The memory of Serenity fueled her determination, and she chased after Hakaishimaru. He ducked into an alley, weaving a complex and difficult to follow path. Melody stayed on his trail, her Chidori charging in her right hand. She thought she saw Naruto and Kiora pass by overhead, but she didn't want to lose the trail and ignored it.

Hakaishimaru disappeared around a corner, and Melody followed, only to end up face-to-face with her father. The remnants of a cloud of smoke dissipated around them.

"He disappeared," Sasuke said. "I'm willing to bet he was using a shadow doppelganger to lure you away while he escaped."

Melody nodded. She turned away from her father, dispelling her Chidori. Leaning on a wall, she let out a long sigh.

"The rest of the group is over here," Sasuke said. "Let's join them."

Melody nodded again, putting her weight back on her feet as she followed Sasuke. Hopefully regrouping would help them in the upcoming fight.

-----

Kiora let loose a primal roar, frustrated by Naruto's uncanny ability to stay just out of reach. He laughed and dodged around a corner, and Kiora followed, just the same. She matched him, pace for pace, for what felt like hours, trying to get an edge.

"What are you doing?" Kohana asked, appearing at her side. "You're not really trying, are you?"

Kiora looked confused, but maintained her breakneck pace. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen you break the sound barrier on multiple occasions," Kohana said. "In addition, you supposedly know this village like the back of your own hand. Why are you wasting time chasing him when you could have been doing the intelligent thing and trapping him?"

Kiora forced back a sheepish grin. "Oops," she said meekly. She abruptly pulled back from the chase to retrieve her ninja tools and sword belt. She quickly devised a plan, and conjured a shadow doppelganger to help carry it out. She drew her sword and took to the rooftops while her clone stayed on the ground.

She spotted Naruto as he ducked into an alley not far from Ino's old home. She motioned to her clone and then chased in behind him. He caught sight of her and fled, running around the corner.

Kiora followed, expecting to find a puddle of goo where there was once a human being, but Naruto was not dead. Her trap had not been sprung. Instead he balanced precariously, his face millimeters away from the trip wire that was rigged to set off four dozen paper bomb tags.

Kiora laughed loudly, drawing a kunai as she turned her back on the scene. Fleeing, she tossed the weapon and plugged her ears as it sliced cleanly through the trip wire. The bomb tags detonated, throwing her off-balance, but she caught herself and turned to watch the plume of smoke rise.

"Way to give away your position," said a voice in her left ear. She spun instantly, leading with the tip of Hiashi's sword. It was parried by a kunai, held by none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"How did you escape?" Kiora asked through clenched teeth.

"You're not the only shinobi who knows how to spring a trap. I lured you into that scenario with one of my doppelgangers."

Kiora ran chakra through the blade of her sword, as she had seen Nejimaru do. Instead of turning jet black, the Hyuuga blade turned pearl white. It bit into the steel of Naruto's kunai, and she jerked it from his grasp. A split second later, she drew her own kunai and drove it into his chest.

"You think that'll stop me?" Naruto asked mockingly. He pulled the weapon free and tossed it aside, his skin already knitting itself together.

"Tell me," Kiora said from above him. "How does that body of yours react to fire?"

Naruto's eyes went wide as he saw what Kiora was doing. In one hand, she held a Rasengan, while she flipped through handsigns in her free hand for a fireball. She added the flames to the chakra sphere, then charged.

Naruto formed his Rasen-Shuriken, and the two collided, the jutsus exploding in a mass of swirling chakra. They were each blown back, but Kiora recovered faster. She flipped in midair, planting her feet on the wall of the building behind her and launching herself at Naruto, her chakra infused sword leading the charge.

The sword, edged in silver and blessed by the Hyuuga clan's shrine elder, cut through the undead body of the former Konoha ninja like butter. Naruto was split in two from groin to crown, a look of disbelief on his face.

The jutsus Kamimaru placed on him were dispelled, and Naruto's false life came to an abrupt end. The flesh melted from his bones, leaving a battered and broken skeleton on the ground.

Kiora sheathed her sword, breathing heavily. She stared into the dirt, willing away the horror at having killed one of her former village members. Then she remembered what he had done to her, how he had violated first her lover and now her, and the feeling of vengeance put her at ease.

She turned and headed back to the village center, hoping to find Melody and Hakaishimaru.

A/N: I know, the chapters are getting shorter, but it's all I can do to keep from spilling everything all at once. I'm trying to keep from wrapping up everything in one swoop like I did with HN 1. Anyways, read, review, and please be patient, I know you'll like the ending! Just a few chapters to go!