AN
"Blah"- Normal Speech
'Blah'- Thoughts

Naruto/Final Fantasy VII

Lost Son of Konoha

Chapter 16

Aftermath Arc part 2

A day had passed since the council meeting and life inside the village walls continued as it had before. Whilst there was still damage to be repaired much of the villages businesses were now up and running again and providing a small slice of what passed for normalcy in a village where people could breath fire or walk on water. At the hospital the atmosphere was less tense and although there was still injured from the battle most of them had survived and the less severe patients had been discharged freeing up space as well as allowing for non ninja related injuries to start turning up. Inside of the building, in a room a rather anxious looking Tifa sat in a chair with her husband at her side, she had just completed a series of test in hopes of find the course of her symptoms.

The door opened and in walked Ino Yanamaka, carrying a clipboard in her arms. "Sorry to keep you waiting." She told them, "But I've got the results here."

"Give it to me straight doctor, what's wrong with me." Tifa asked, "Doesn't matter what it is, just tell me. Just long as its not cancer its fine. Ok just as long as it's not a life threatening disease or cancer its fine. Oh god I'm dying aren't I." she then turned to Vincent, her eyes wide in fear. "Vincent I don't want to die, I don't want to leave you. There's so much I was looking forward to doing with you, and now we'll never get to now."

Ino looked at the dark haired woman in confusion. "What? No you're not dying, in fact its good news." She told her, Ino then offered her hand to Vincent, "Let me be the first to say congratulations."

"What?" Both Vincent and Tifa said in confusion.

"Mrs. Valentine, your pregnant." Ino told them; this stunned the pair into silence.

'Tifa's pregnant…' Vincent thought, 'She's pregnant…how could this happen? I always thought because of what was done to me that…' He then looked at his wife, "Tifa…"

Tifa then grabbed him by his hand whilst the placed her other one on her stomach. "Vincent, we…we're having a baby." She said to him in a voice just above a whisper, "Can you believe it, us. This is our baby."

Vincent looked back over at Ino. "How far along is she?" he asked.

"I reckon about three months." Ino replied, "Since she wasn't showing yet you two didn't know so I guess I can forgive you for dragging your pregnant wife into the middle of a warzone."

"I didn't drag her anywhere." Vincent retorted, "And trust me even if she was nine months pregnant Tifa would still have insisted she go down there and fight."

'Oh wow, she's stubborn as a mule and a fighter to boot.' Ino thought, 'And yet right now she's being all…motherly. She's kinda like Sakura.'

Just then a tapping at the window was heard, looking round to see an ANBU attached to the wall outside the window. 'Wonder what he wants?' Ino wondered. Walking over and opening the window the man handed her a scroll before he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Elsewhere Team Kitsune found themselves in the Hokages office, behind the desk sat Tsunade with both Aoi and Kurenai beside her.

"You wanted to see us Raikage-sama." Samui said in her usual tone.

"Yes, I've brought you to discuss a very important matter." The dark haired Kage said solemnly, "That you have effectively abandoned Kumo."

"Yes Raikage-sama." Three of the four of them replied.

"Aoi-san, if you please." Kitsune spoke up, "I am the one who convinced them to come with me, plus as team leader it is my duty to take responsibility for any mishaps that may occur. If you're going to punish anyone, punish me."

"That's a lie Raikage-sama." Karui said, "He didn't talk us into anything, he was going to head off by himself but we followed him willingly. We knew full well what we were doing and the consequences of our actions."

"Ok that's enough." Tsunade said sharply, "No matter who did what, the fact remains that the four of you are in a lot of trouble."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Aoi said, she then turned back to Team Kitsune, "Despite your intentions the four of you have deserted Kumogakure no sato, such an act comes with severe consequences." She then stepped out from behind the desk. "Karui. Kistune. Samui. Omoi. For your actions you are stripped of your rank as ninja of Kumo and are cast out. Should you be seen within our borders you will be arrested, tried and put to death."

Just then Tsunade stood up. "Team Kitsune, as the temporary leader of Konoha it is within my power to grant the four of you asylum within the village walls." She told them in her official tone, reaching under her desk she took out a box and opening it revealed four black Hitai-ate's each with a metal plate attached that bore the Konoha leaf, "I also offer you all a place in Konoha's military at the rank of Chunin."

"Are you serious?" Samui asked.

"Quite serious." Aoi replied, "The four of you are excellent ninja and it would pain me dearly to have to send Hunter nin after you. At least this way I can guarantee your safety."

"But Chunin," Omoi said in a tone, "We're Jounin for Kami's sake. Why would we accept an offer of asylum if it means a demotion?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. "Would you prefer Genin? Or maybe Academy student is more to your liking?"

Just then Karui elbowed her teammate in the gut. "Chunin is fine Tsunade-sama, we accept."

"Do you mind if we keep these?" Samui asked pointing to her Kumo Haita-ate, "Just as a memento?"

"Sure, I have no problem with that." Aoi replied. The members of Team Kitsune then removed their Haitai-ates before taking a new one out of the box and attached it to their heads, all except one. Kistune stared down at the item in his hand, his reflection distorted in the metal plate.

"Is something wrong Kitsune?" Aoi asked the blond swordsman.

"No, its nothing." He replied, he then looked over at Tsunade, "Is Teuchi-Ji-san and Ayame-Nee-chan still around?"

"That's 'are Teuchi and Ayame still around'," the busty blond informed him, "And yes, they're still citizens of the village. Unfortunately their stand was destroyed during the invasion but they'd already put in a proposal to build a new bigger shop sometime ago, I've already given them approval." The last part was said in a reassuring tone, as a look of panic that had begun to appear on is face.

"I guess that's a good thing." Kistune pouted as he said this, "But still, I wanted to eat Ichiraku." He then removed his Kumo Haitai-ate and attached his new one.

Tsunade just stared at him in disbelief, 'Who'd have thought one of Kumo's top ninja would be such a little kid.'

Kitsune then asked, "So where's the Kubikiribōchō?"

"We sent it back to Kiri, we figured it might win us some points with the Mizukage. If nothing else it might at least make her reconsider her position if Orochimaru decides to make another attack." Aoi told him, she then smiled at the four of them. "I cannot say just how much pride you four bring out in me. I have no doubt that this is another step that will open up a new future between our two villages."

Just then there was a knock at the door and Kurenai entered. "Tsunade-same, the others you requested are here. They're waiting outside." The dark haired woman told them.

"Good, please tell them to come in." Tsunade ordered, Kurenai bowed before she exited.

"What are you up to Baa-chan?" Kitsune asked, his voice carrying a tone of suspicion.

Tsunade just grinned slyly at him as the door opened again and a large group entered the room.

"OK Tsunade-sama, we're here, what do you need us for." A female voice said.

"Excellent timing." Tsunade replied, "I figured you'd want to be here to meet the new teammates."

Looking round the four former Kumo ninja caught sight of the almost every member of the Konoha 11 (minus Sakura and Tenten, the rosette was elsewhere whilst the brunette was at home taking care of Yui).

"Wh…wha." Kiba exclaimed.

"N…Naruto?" Hinata gasped out in a breathless whisper.

"Why am I not surprised." Shikamaru sighed.

"Hi guys." Kitsune greeted them, "Been awhile."

"I'll say it is my youthful friend, I haven't seen you since…" Lee began and then trailed off, he was quiet for a moment before he continued, "I mean I know Chouji told us that you were part of Kumo now."

"Long story." Kitsune replied. Just then a coughing sound was heard and Kitsune turned to see his teammates looking at him in a rather ticked off manner. "Oh yeah, guys these are my teammates. This is Omoi, Samui and Karui." He told them, "Guys this is Ino Yanamaka. Shikamaru Nara. Choji Akimichi. Shino Aburame. Kiba Inuzuka. Hinata Hyuua. Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga."

"Alright you lot that's enough, whilst its nice to see you all getting to know one another the Hokage's office is not some bar where you can hang out." Tsunade told them, "I'm giving you all the evening off, that way you'll have the time to hang out properly. Since you four will be joining us you'll need some place to live, however reconstruction work still needs to be done on many of the housing areas so for the time being you'll have to stay in the ANBU training barracks until we can find you a place to live." Standing up she looked over at Kurenai. "Kurenai-san I'm heading out for a while, please take care of things here until I get back. Raikage-sama, Naruto, would you please accompany me, there is a current matter that wish to discuss with you."

"Of course Tsunade-sama." Aoi said giving the blond a respectful bow, Kitsune however was fixing Tsunade with an uneasy stare but nodded. Once the gathered members of the Konoha 11 and the three members of Team Kitsune had filed out the three of them made their way out of the office.

The journey was conducted in total silence as Tsunade led her two companions through the tower and to a staircase that led to the very bowels of the tower; an area that few in the village even knew existed.

'What's she up to,' Kitsune wondered as he followed the woman, 'What's so important that she's dragging me down here?' Several more silent minutes passed by before they reached their destination, a heavy looking door that had a pair of ANBU guards stationed outside of it.

"Hokage-sama." The two men said.

"Please, would you open the door." Tsunade told them.

"Hai." Both of them then ran through a series of hand signs and the door slid open allowing them to enter, the door sliding shut once they were inside. What was on the other side was a large cavernous room, dark and dank with only a series of lit torches hanging from the walls to provide light. Littered around the room were several dozen examination tables with a cloth laid over them, amongst them was a rather worn out looking Sakura.

"Shishou, Raikage-sama." She said when she saw them, her eyes fell upon Kitsune for a moment but all she got from him was a look of cold indifference.

"Greetings Haruno-san." Aoi replied in a warm tone, "I take it all the of the fallen Oto ninja are here?"

"Hai." The rosette replied.

"You've got the bodies of dead Oto ninja?" Kitsune spoke up.

"That's correct." Tsunade replied, "Orochimaru has been up to his old tricks again, conducting experiments to create the perfect soldiers. We've been examining them to see what makes them tick."

"I see, now what is it you're not telling me?" the blond ninja replied.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade replied.

"Don't play dumb with me," Kitsune said sternly, "I seriously doubt you dragged me down here just to show me your corpse collection, so why don't you cut all the bullshit and tell me why we're really down here."

Tsuande stared at him, her face neutral but her eyes were analytical as she took him in, 'Is it possible, is there a chance that...'

"You are correct Kitsune, we have another reason for bringing you down here." Aoi told him, "However I request that you hold off on any questions you may have, we promise to answer them in due time."

Kistune said nothing; he just stared at Tsuande and Aoi suspiciously whilst at the same time ignoring Sakura. After some time the door to the chamber opened again and in walked Shuzune, accompanied by Cloud.

'What's he doing here?' Kitsune thought, surprised to see the blond swordsman.

Sakura meanwhile was observing both of them and was slightly taken aback by the similarity between them, 'They really do look alike, can't believe I hadn't noticed it right away.'

"Tsunade-sama, I have done what you have asked." The dark haired woman said, "If you have no further need of me I have other things I must attend to."

"Thank you Shizune." Tsuande told, "You may go. " Shizune bowed her head respectfully and departed, the door sliding shut behind here. "Ok you two, what I'm about to relay to you is SS rank information, it must not leave this room." Tsunade told them.

"Not sure what that means, but sure." Cloud replied. "

"As I'm sure you've already figured out, the army Orochimaru used to attack us wasn't…normal. The truth is he used a forbidden technology to create it." Tsunade told them.

"What, you mean he had an army of clones?" Cloud replied.

"Clones, you mean like Kage Bushins?" Kitsune asked.

"No, these are not the kind you're thinking of." Tsunade told him, "There weren't created from chakra, these were flesh and blood."

"What? You mean, they're…people?" Kitsune said in a shocked tone, "The snake bastard has actually found a way to make human beings?"

"Well they're not 100% human." Sakura told him, "It seems that he's been combining them with the DNA of other life forms, I suppose in his twisted mind he's creating perfect warriors. We also know who he's based his army on, and your not going to like it."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud said.

Tsunade looked over at Sakura, her features set in a solemn look, gave her a nod.

Sakura went over to the nearest tables and, hesitantly, took hold of the shroud covering it and pulled it away revealing the body of an Oto soldier. Both Cloud and Kitsune stared at the body, both of them stood there wide eyed seeing their own face looking back at them.

"Wha…what is this?" Kitsune demanded, "Why does this…thing have my face?"

"This isn't easy to say. During the battle Jiraiya confronted Orochimaru and he told him of how he created a perfect replica of Naruto Uzumaki. However his lab was attacked by the Akatsuki and both Naruto and the replica escaped the lab during the chaos." Tsunade told them.

"Wh…what are you saying?" Cloud asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"I'm saying that, one of you is a clone. The first successful one that Orochimaru created." Tsunade said.

This news hit both Cloud and Kistune like slap in the face. Kitsune fell to the floor, his head in his hands whilst Cloud was staring down at his shaking hands, the words of Kadaj echoing through his mind. "So what if I'm a puppet?...Once upon a time ... you were too!"

"I realize that this is distressing for you," Aoi told them, "But please breathe deep and try to stay calm, getting yourselves worked up isn't going to help."

"Who…who is it?" Kistune demanded as he struggled to his feet, "Which one is it?"

Both Tsunade and Sakura looked away from them, a look of shame on their faces.

"We…we don't know." Sakura told him.

"What!" Kistune exclaimed; he then marched over and grabbed Sakura roughly by the arm, "How the hell can you not know?"

"Naruto please…you're hurting me." She pleaded.

Just then Aoi appeared at Kitsune's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kistune-san, if you please release her." She told him a strict tone, "Now."

Kitsune glared at her for a moment but complied; letting go of Sakura he turned to Tsunade. "How the hell can you not know?" He demanded.

"We tested your DNA against that of the bodies we collected and for the most part it was a match." She told him, "However as to why we can't tell which of you is the real Naruto, when we were testing the samples we had taken from you we…an anomaly that prevents us from getting an accurate reading." She looked over at Cloud. "Your genetic code contains several anomalies that makes getting an accurate reading next to impossible." She said, "We can only guess it's due to the results of Shin-Ra's Soldier program. Even Orochimaru admitted that he probably couldn't tell you two apart anymore."

A pregnant silence filled the air; both Cloud and Kitsune glanced at each other. Neither of them sure of what to say or think about the other.

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered, she then went over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you…"

"Don't speak to me, don't touch me." Kitsune spat venomously as he brushed her hand away. Kitsune then spun round and turned his back on the others. "I'm not a clone, I'm not. I can't be." And with that he used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker) to vanish from sight in a swirl of leaves.

Cloud meanwhile was staring at the spot where Kitsune had been moments before, the other mans outburst had been so full of anger and bitterness, he couldn't say he blamed him either. Right this moment he didn't know what to do or think, his whole life had been turned on its head, all he could think to do was get out and get as far from this place as he could. With some semblance of a plan he rushed over to the door and began pounding on it with his fists. "Open the door." He ordered, he then looked back over at the three gathered Konouchi, "Open the damn door."

Unsure of what to do Sakura looked over at Tsunade, a solemn look on her face the buxom blond gave her a nod. Sakura formed a hand sign and the door once more slid open. The second it did Cloud dashed through it, out of the room and up the many flights of stairs, never looking back.

The day passed and evening rolled around. After a long day of using his Moton based abilities to aid in the reconstruction Yamato was walking through the streets headed to the home of Anko Mitarashi, several days had passed since he had last been able to see her due to his work with the reconstruction effort.

However he had been keeping track of her progress and since he'd last seen her she'd been transferred to the hospital when a bed became available, however she had soon checked herself out as soon as possible. Hearing this Yamato had headed over to the hospital to talk with the medics and what they'd told him had been less then encouraging. Along with her injuries, her chakra network had been severely compromised and according to the medics her career as a ninja was all but finished.

A feeling of uneasiness filled the brunettes soul at this thought, if he hadn't charged in without thinking then Anko wouldn't be in this state. After several minutes he reached his destination and was standing outside the door of the snake mistress's home.

'Alright, here goes nothing…' he thought before bringing his fist up and wrapping gently on the door. "Anko…Anko, its me." He called out, "Are you in there?"

No sound was heard from within causing a frown to spread across the brunette former ANBU's face, he then began banging on the door and calling out Anko's name. When he still got no response he forced the door open and entered. The inside of the house was in total disarray, all the furniture was upended and broken, pictures had been destroyed and debris littered the floor.

"Wha…what happened here?" Yamato wondered aloud at this sight of this. Not wasting a second he began searching the house for any sign of Anko until all that was left to look was in her bedroom.

Steeling himself Yamato opened the door and slipped inside, on the other side was just as much carnage as the rest of the house. 'Geeze Anko, what have you been doing?' Yamato thought as he scanned the room, looking for any sigh of the purple haired Konouchi. After several minutes he was about ready to give up and leave when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, his attention peeked the Moton user went to check it out.

What he found was a tangled web of bed sheets and unwinding them found the still form of Anko, still clad in a hospital gown. However the thing that troubled him was what was lying next to here: a dozen bottles of pills, no doubt taken from the hospital. Wasting no time Yamato grabbed Anko and ran to her bathroom getting into the shower and stood beneath the running water.

'Come on Anko, don't you die on me…' Yamato inwardly growled as the water cascaded over them.

After what seemed like an eternity Anko began coughing and slowly she came back to life, which resulted in Yamato releasing the breath that he hadn't know he'd been holding. Slowly her eyes parted and her blurry gaze came into focus to find herself held tightly in the Moton users arms. "W…what…Yamato…" she managed to get out in a horse whisper, "You…you idiot, why…why didn't you just leave me? Leave me alone and to die?" With those words she passed out once more.

Later that evening Team Kitsune, minus Kitsune himself, were seated at a table in one of the few newly opened bars, ironically the sign outside bore the name 'The Happy Fox'. Whilst she wouldn't say it out loud Samui was impressed that several of the Konoha ninja that they'd met earlier had managed to put this little shindig together in such a short amount of time, she also knew that since she and her team were joining a new village, getting to know the people she'd be working with was a smart thing to do. Whilst their team was prone to arguing with each other every once in a while she also knew the chances of them getting split up was a possibility so she would have to enjoy what remaining time they had together.

The evening had started off on rather an awkward note, a certain level of uneasiness hung over the group as if they were unsure of what to think of one another. Especially by Hinata Hyuuga, however given that her former village had tried to kidnap the heiress at a young age Samui couldn't blame her.

After a few drinks however the evening had since then had shifted from rather awkward small talk to both groups exchanging stories about old missions, as seasoned veterans were want to do from time to time. Currently Omoi was telling them of their escort mission to Oni no Kuni and the insufferable Priestess.

"…So there we were in the middle of Oni no Kuni, escorting this insufferable bitch of a priestess having to listen to her near constant whining about fate and all that shit." Omoi was telling the others, "So after we escort her to the shrine that she's supposed to watch over our real mission gets put into action and we make our move. Me Kauri and Samui take out the guards whilst Kitsune is inside and stakes her to the wall with kunai before conjuring up a Rasanshuriken and cuts her in two pieces."

"That's horrible." Ino said in a disgusted tone.

"I'll say." Choji added.

"That's only because you haven't met her, trust me if you did you'd want her dead too." Karui replied, "Right Omoi."

"I'll say. From what he's told us, she was worse then you Neji Hyuuga." Omoi added, "No offense Hyuuga-san."

"None taken, I'm ashamed of the way I used to be." Neji replied, "Still what you did was reckless, you could have ignited a war between Kumo and Oni no Kuni. I doubt its Damiyo would have taken such an action lightly."

Just then the four former Kumo ninja began snickering. "You kidding, he's the one who hired us to do it." Kauri told him.

Samui meanwhile was sitting off to the side nursing a dish of sake when she became aware of a presence standing over her, looking over she saw a nervous looking Sakura standing there.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Erm, I was curious about something." Sakura replied, "I don't know if you'll tell me but… I was wondering how Naruto came to be in Kumo?"

Samui turned her attention to glass that contained her drink, as if the way the light was reflected off the liquid was the most intriguing thing. "About eight years ago my team along with Bii-sensei were summoned to the Raikage's office. He told us that he'd received word about some kind of creature that had been sighted on the border between Kumo and Shimo, all reports we'd received that it was some kind of demon. He then dispatched us to investigate these rumors and if they turned out to be true to find the creature and if needs be to terminate it." Pausing a moment to take a swig of her drink, Samui continued. "After weeks of searching we managed to find a clue to its whereabouts and we managed to track it to its lair, I suggested that we wait and try and gather more information on our target since we did not know what to expect from the creature however Bii-sama was tired of being in Shimo and headed in there with Omoi in tow. As you can guess this proved to be a pretty big mistake. The creature quickly caught on to us and attacked, managing to take all of us but Bii-sama down pretty swiftly."

Sakura's eyebrow cocked. "Creature, you mean…?"

"Yes, it was Kitsune, we weren't sure of what happened to him but he had gone totally feral." Samui told her, "But even in that state he was a wily and devious opponent, it took all Bii-sama had, even resorting to use the power of his own Biju, to finally restrain him."

"Wait, your sensei's a Jinchuriki? Your village actually allowed one to teach a bunch of Genin?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yes, he's the container of the Hachibi." Samui said, clearly irritated at being interrupted, "Anyway once he was restrained and unconscious we debated what to do with him, however in the end Bii-sama insisted that we take him back to Kumo. As you can imagine this proved to be a rather large headache due to Kitsune being difficult to control meaning the journey took weeks rather then days. After being gone for over a month we arrived back home and went to inform the Raikage of our findings and try to work out what to do next." Samui paused again to drain her dish of sake before signaling the barman for another. "However we learned that he had news of his own to tell us, turns out whilst we were gone Kumo's other Jinchuriki; Yugito, had been captured whilst out on a mission by the Akatsuki and had the Niibi no Neko extracted from her. Anyway we still had the problem of what to do with Kitsune; eventually it was decided to keep him locked up in a secure location until he could be snapped out of his feral state since the loss of Yugito had weakened our position and the council were determined to have two Jinchuriki again. At first things seemed pretty much hopeless, no matter what anyone tried nothing seemed to be working, that was until something unexpected happened. Aoi began arriving everyday to give him his meals; it was as if she had some kind of calming effect on him whenever she was around. Thanks to her influence he slowly came out of his feral state. A year after his arrival Kitsune was back in his right mind and been assigned to our team, since both he and Bii-sama were Jinchuriki it made sense incase he were to slip back again."

Sakura stared at the busty blond Konouchi, her mind going over the information that the busty blond Konouchi had just told her. Not that it hadn't been informative but she couldn't help but wonder at the other things that she couldn't tell her, like just how Naruto had been treated whilst he had been locked up or what kind of tests and procedures had been done to him.

Before she could process any more of this the door of the bar opened and in walked the members of AVALANCHE, sans Cloud.

"Well well, look who's here." Kiba spoke up upon seeing them.

"Hey shuuutup ya pansy ass mutt." Cid retorted, he then looked over at the bar tender, "Hey bar guy, get me a round of your best booze for me and my buddies already."

"So what are you guys doing here?" Chouji asked as the AVALANCHE gang sat themselves down at a table.

"Shit, why do ya think where here fat boy." Barrett told him, "Where here cos Vincent and Tifa got some big news they want to tell us."

"What news?" Hinata asked.

Tifa looked over at Vincent who nodded and then to Ino who flashed her a grin before turning back at the others. "Well we were at the hospital earlier and after some tests Ms. Yanamaka had some big news for us." She told them, "It turns out, Vincent and I, we're having a baby."

There was suddenly a wave of emotion as everyone suddenly gathered round the happy pair, each of them offering words of congratulations to them.

That was until Sakura grabbed Vincent by his cloak and pulled his towards her. "You irresponsible jerk, what the hell were you doing bringing your pregnant wife into the middle of a war zone?" She demanded.

"Hey easy there forehead." Ino told her, "They didn't know until this morning."

"That may be, but its still irresponsible." Sakura said as she let Vincent go, "Your just lucky that nothing happened to her."

Ino shook her head at this, just then something occurred to her. "Hey, I don't see Cloud. Where is he anyway?"

Elsewhere Cloud was walking through the woods headed towards training ground 7, despite knowing that all his friends had gone off to a bar to hear some big announcement that Tifa and Vincent had to make but instead he was here due to getting a message telling him to come here. Exiting the trees he found himself in the wide-open space and off to one side, standing before the memorial stone, was Kitsune.

"So you showed up." He said, not even bothering to turn and look at Cloud.

"Yeah, so what do you want?" Cloud asked, his voice carrying a slight cold tone to it. Kitsune turned around and fixed the other blond man with a cold stare.

"You really need to ask?" He retorted whilst gripping the swords in their scabbards. A frown decorated Clouds face.

"Guess not." he replied as he took hold of First Tsurugi, "Why are you doing this?"

"I'd have thought that was obvious." Kistune said in a matter-o-fact way, "I'm not the clone and I'm gonna prove it by kicking your ass. Sides I get the feeling that the world isn't big enough for two of us."

"You think you're the only one whose hurting right." Cloud told him, "I've had my whole world turned upside down, my life thrown into chaos. Everything I've ever done or achieved is now meaningless."

"My heart bleeds for you." Kitsune replied. The two of them then drew their weapons.

"I gonna take a wild guess that talking you out of this is pointless." Cloud said.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Kitsune replied. The two of them then charged at one another, the weapons meeting with a loud clang.

Far from Konoha Sasuke was walking up to find himself in a cell of some kind, his head was pounding and his whole body was sour. Just then the door of his cell opened and turning his head found Kabuto standing there.

"I see you're awake." The grey haired man said coolly, "You'd better get up, Orochimaru-sama wants to see you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man; it would give him no greater pleasure then to shove a Chidori through the man head however he also knew that he had very few options right now so he complied. Following him the two men passed through several corridors until they came to a large open room, inside were a dozen tanks all containing a Naruto clone. Beside one of them stood Orochimaru, admiring his creation, with Cassius at his side.

"Orochimaru-sama, I have brought Sasuke." Kabuto told his master.

"Thank you Kabuto." The snake user replied, he then turned to face Sasuke, "Ah Sasuke, welcome to my humble abode. I do hope you are finding the accommodations satisfaction."

"Cut the small talk," Sasuke retorted, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't just kill you again?"

Hearing this Cassius stepped forward and with a flick of his wrist a kunai was in his hand. "Do not threaten Orochimaru-sama." He told the dark haired avenger, "If you do so I will do my duty and protect my master."

Orochimaru placed a hand on his subornments shoulder. "Easy there." He told him. He then looked over at Sasuke, "Sasuke Sasuke, no need for such hostilities. The last time you killed me I'll admit was completely deserved, I overestimated myself thinking I could contain your desire for revenge and that you would submit to me." Just then a sly grin spread across his pale face. "However this time I believe I actually have something that will ensure your loyalty."

"You have nothing that I want." Sasuke stated, he then turned and began to walk away.

"What if I offered you all of this?" Orochimaru suddenly said, caught a little off guard Sasuke stopped in his tracks and looked over at his former master, "You are a Uchiha, whist alone you are formidable ninja, imagine having an army at your command. An army of Sharingan users and all programmed for absolute loyalty. I imagine even Itachi would have a difficult time overcoming that."

Sasuke shifted his gaze from Orochimaru to his feet, his mind racing as he processed this new information. Now that Jugo and Suigetsu were dead and Karin most likely captured by Konoha he would need new followers to help him locate and bring down his brother and the idea of having a whole army at his command instead of just a few followers could possibly be a greater asset to him then Team Hebi had been.

Whilst he was pondering this Kabuto leaned over to his master and whispered into his ear. "Excellent thinking my lord, appealing to the Uchiha's overinflated ego seems to be the simplest way to appease him." He told his master, "With our supplies of Uzumaki DNA almost exhausted we will need a new subject and Sasuke should prove to be a suitable replacement."

Sasuke then looked up and turned to face the Oto trio. "Fine then, you give me this army to kill my brother and I'll do what your bidding. For now."

A chuckle erupted from Orochimaru. "Good to hear that Sasuke. Things are certainly going to become interesting around him."

AN And with that chapter 16 is fini. First I gotta say a big thanks to all of you for your patience, I originally wanted this to be finished and posted before Christmas but as you know that didn't happen. This is due to me getting a job and having to work most days, as you can imagine this leaves me very little time to work on my stories.

Yeah on the whole not a whole lot happened this chapter, its pretty much the middle part of this arc and the next chapter will be the final part before moving on to the next part of this story.

As usual big thanks thanks to Joel for beta'ing this, thanks a lot man, I really appreciate it.

So that's me done for this chapter, look forward to your comments.

Later y'all.