Here and Now

by Denim88

The sequel to 'Better Late Than Never'. Naruto's 18, he's dating Sakura, he's a respected ninja of the Leaf, what could possibly go wrong? Well, some things have been overlooked...some very dangerous things.

25. Breaking the Limits

Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Naruto. I'll let you all know when I get around to it...just as soon as I figure out how to solve a rubix cube...

Chapter 24: Breaking the Limits

(Naruto's P.O.V)

I stood there on the water, red chakra forming a dome around me. I felt my chakra begin to climb to higher and higher levels, and soon I was on the verge of going into my fourth tail.

"Kit...careful now...mess this up, and it could do you more harm than good..." came the booming voice of demon tenant. I nodded as I stared down each remaining member of Akatsuki, and felt my skin begin to burn. No, I can't mess this up...I have to maintain control...and transform the proper way...

I stopped crouching and increasing my chakra, and stood up on my legs as I took in a deep breath, than exhaled. I had to control my temper...use my anger in a better way.

Kisame laughed, "Heheh, what's the matter brat? Why did you stop gathering chakra?"

I smirked, "Oh, don't worry...I'm far from done gathering power...I just need a minute..." I replied as I began to concentrate on Kyuubi's chakra and my own.

"Whatever the case, it won't make a difference on your part, Uzumaki...you're still coming with us either way. It is inevitable..." spoke the man named Pain.

"Just wait...I'll make you take back that statement once I'm through with you." I began to focus on the two intermingling chakras within me, and I felt a small tug on my coils. I was gathering too much chakra from Kyuubi at one time...but I had a way around that.

"So, then what did you have planned for us Naruto-kun?" questioned the masked man named Tobi. I looked up to him, and the ball of chakra around me began to grow darker.

"Don't worry, I'm about to show you my most powerful state yet..." I clapped my hands together as I began to combine my chakra and Kyuubi's together...

(Kakashi's P.O.V)

"Wha...what's he...?" I said, feeling the earth around me begin to tremble.

Jiraiya smiled as he coughed a bit, "He...he's going to combine Kyuubi's and his own chakra coils into one..."

"What???" I asked, staring on at Naruto as he began to cry out in a feral manner as the red chakra and his own began to intermingle. I lifted my headband, and watched in awe as Naruto's body flared like a bonfire of chakra. It was incredible. Naruto was indeed combining the two chakras into one steady flow.

Waves began to crash alongside the docks, and a few of the smaller ones began to break as the waves continued to grow in strength. A wind picked up as Naruto became shrouded in red, and a fourth tail began to grow ever so slowly.

"Is he really...capable of this...?" I asked, but was interrupted as Konohamaru shouted out.

"What's Naruto doing?!" yelled the Sarutobi.

We all turned to see Naruto crying out to the heavens, and his body began to change. Instead of his skin peeling away though, he simply became covered in a layer of red chakra. His yelling continued to increase, becoming more and more pained as he continued to gather power. Hanabi, Moegi, Inari, and Konohamaru were all on their knees from being so weighed down by the chakra. I myself was having trouble standing and holding Jiraiya.

The winds began to pick up speed, and a few of the weaker trees near the port were ripped from their roots. All of the docks had been destroyed by Naruto's power, and he still wasn't finished.

"Naruto...just how powerful have you become...?" I asked myself while squinting as the chakra was nearly blinding my Sharingan.

(Sakura's P.O.V)

I watched as Naruto became the image I remember of him in his four tailed state. Crouching on all fours, long, fox like ears, four flaring, red tails. His eyes were pure white, and his mouth was the same. He didn't seem finished though, he was still gathering chakra. I didn't need to be a doctor to see that the transformation was really painful. His muscles seemed to bulge a bit, and he was screaming for all that his lungs were worth. His voice was laced with the Kyuubi's, yet I could still hear his voice over the demon fox's.

"Naruto..." I said, feeling my body shake as he began to burn a bright orange. His bubble of chakra around him began to glow and pulse every now and then. I just prayed that Naruto would make it through this all right.

(Naruto's P.O.V)

Pain...

That was all I felt as my body pulsed with Kyuubi's raw and untamed chakra. I could feel sweat pouring out of my body as my temperature began to rise. Steam began to rise as I continued to focus on Kyuub's power. Soon I would have to go to the next step...and the riskiest one too.

"Focus, Kit...don't lose control of my chakra, or this will be all for nothing!" Kyuubi roared as my mindscape began to churn with the waters of the sewer like maze of Kyuubi's chambers.

Sasuke spoke to me, his voice yelling to speak over the sound of chakra rushing through my body, "Naruto, you're almost there! Just a few more seconds and Kyuubi and you will be ready to complete the transformation!"

Then...I found it...the focal point of where Kyuubi and my chakra began to intermingle...and I began to focus on the seal on my stomach.

My yelling was sounding more like Kyuubi's by the second. A small stream of light began to stretch out into the sky, and I felt my body become weighed down with all of the raw power.

"It's...now...or never..." I grunted, and began to focus on the flow of Kyuubi's chakra coils. He leaked chakra into my seal, and my stomach glowed with a yellow light as my seal became visible. Inside the chambers of Kyuubi, a line of chakra connected me to the Kyuubi; a line of pure chakra. This was the most difficult part...

I felt myself become stronger...faster...bigger...my muscles began to grow a little more and another tail began to form. The chakra like fur began to thicken, and my pupiless eyes began to form my irises again, with a red color. My canines became more defined, my nails became more sharpened.

I felt myself begin to lift off the water, and I felt like I was about to explode. It hurt so much!!!

Then...Kyuubi's chakra and my chakra began to flow in a single stream...and the chakra line connecting us began to transfer chakra back and forth between Kyuubi and myself...

...it was time...

"Now, Kit!!!!!" roared Kyuubi.

I opened my eyes, and let loose a primal roar as chakra literally exploded out of my body. The red ball of chakra around me shattered, and I let out wave after wave of my new chakra; a chakra that was a combination of my own and Kyuubi's. We had successfully combined our chakra...and my capabilities were now far greater than what I could have achieved in my fourth tail form.

I let out one final yell, and a stream of light shot into the heavens as I blasted water in every direction, hearing rocks and powerful waves go past as I did so. A few of the smaller buildings near the port began to crumble, but I didn't pay worry to them.

(Itachi's P.O.V)

I watched as Naruto Uzumaki changed into his supposedly stronger form. I realized soon afterwards that he was indeed being truthful; this form was much more powerful. Just standing at the distacnce we were at seemed to burn our skin to some degree.

"Impressive...he seems to have been able to bring his chakra and the Kyuubi's in sync with each other...neither one is outweighing the other." I spoke as my Sharingan swirled. I readied myself to activate my Mangekyou if necessary. Naruto's power had increased by at least five times that of his four tailed state.

There stood the boy that had once been a mere man a few minutes ago. Now, he was standing before us, covered in fur with five tails waving behind him. His irises were a deep red, and black markings surrounded the fur around the eyes. His fur was a dark orange, much like the Kyuubi's had been. His hands were still human in appearance, although he now had sharp nails. The same went for his feet.

However, the most distinguishing feature of this new form was his stomach. There, glowing brightly in yellow was the seal left behind by the Yondaime that sealed the Kyuubi within Naruto. It gave off a light that resembled magma flowing under molten lava, and the flow of chakra was constantly being let out from there.

"Sorry for the wait...I haven't really had a shot at actually performing this transformation, so I hope you can over look that." Naruto said in a taunting voice. He flexed a hand, and a flare of light seemed to explode from him. He stretched a bit, and I sensed the air warp with every movement...indeed...very impressive.

"We attack now. His power is much greater than before, and he could pose a possible threat to us." Pain spoke.

I went through a few hand seals, and blasted out a jet of flames. Naruto seemed to raise a hand, and my attack seemed to be stopped by an invisible force, leaving an explosion of fire in front of him. He turned to me and smirked, fangs showing as he did, "Itachi...what was that? If you're going to attack me, try to put a little more effort into it. I know you were holding back on me."

Very perceptive...he was able to realize that right away. The five of us ran at the Jinchuuriki from different angles, and he never moved an inch as we did. Just as Kisame came within reach, Naruto quickly grabbed him, and with a swish of one tail, knocked him across the battle field and into a rockface. We stopped in our tracks, realizing he wasn't to be taken lightly. He nodded as we did, "So you see that I'm not toying around...good," he looked at us with a fierce glare, "Well, we don't really like the idea of being captured so that we can die and be sealed within a statue, so maybe you should just give up...we won't be giving into your demands..." he finished his sentence with a growl, and shot out a arm of red chakra at us.

We all dove out of the way of the chakra claw, only to see that Naruto had planned ahead. He shot two more arms out, catching both Zetsu and Tobi with his arms. He swung his arms around a few times, and then while maintaining a hold of them, slammed them into a nearby cliff. He kept a hold over them, and channeled chakra into his chakra arms. A visible ball of light was sent through each arm holding the two down, and the two energy balls exploded as they reached Tobi and Zetsu.

Naruto retracted his chakra arms, and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the large craters that had been where Zetsu and Tobi once were, "You can quite hiding, I know that didn't hit." spoke the Jinchuuriki boy.

Tobi and Zetsu reappeared from the water near us, and Kisame soon landed by us, chuckling a bit, "The kid's definitely stronger."

Naruto stared us all down, and then rested his gaze on me, eyes locked with mine, "Itachi...today, you die."

Naruto began going through a few seals, and then shouted, "Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!!" An enormous sized blast of air shot at us, aimed for me in particular. I knew that trying to stop it would be useless; there was too much chakra. I jumped to the side, and sent a Shadow Clone at Naruto.

"Shadow Clone Explosion!" I shouted, and the blast sent out a shockwave as it hit Naruto. I waited for the water to settle as I noticed Naruto standing there, tails covering him as he slowly got out of a sheilding stance.

"Are you finished?" Naruto spoke as he backed up against a rockface, as though he was bracing himself, "I guess that makes it our turn then..." Naruto began to draw more chakra, and he puffed out his chest as his body began to glow. The seal on his stomach turned a bright red, and the boy's body began to inflate to impossible levels as he gathered a unnatural amount of chakra.

I watched with my Sharingan as Naruto remained motionless for a few seconds, and light began to leak out of his mouth. He let out a growl, and then gripped onto the rocks. He lowered his head to face me, and opened his mouth. A large blast of raw chakra shot out at blinding speeds, and I was pretty sure that if my Sharingan wasn't active, I would have been dead. I quickly moved out of the path...but I wasn't fast enough. I felt an indescribable pain as my right arm was blown off, effectively cauterizing the skin as well, therefore it never bled.

"He's...definitely improved..." I spoke, trying to ignore the pain.

(Sakura's P.O.V)

"That was...whoa..." I heard Kiba say as he watched the blast from Naruto destroy Itachi's arm.

Naruto had hardly moved more than a few steps in the time he had transformed, yet he had already tossed Kisame like a ragdoll and made Itachi lose a limb. I couldn't believe it. The most interesting thing was Naruto wasn't acting savage in the least. He was angry, I could tell, but he remained composed too.

I felt the haggard coughs of Jiraiya as I put a palm over the Toad Sage, trying to heal what I could at the moment. He seemed to be recovering, but I doubted the damage wouldn't have permanent effects on the Sannin.

"Naruto just blew off Itachi's arm," I said to the Sannin, and he simply smiled.

"Heh, the Uchiha had it coming I guess..." Jiraiya joked, and took in a deep breath, "Sakura...tell me...just how much of a chance do I have at living...through this...?" he coughed up some more blood, and it was starting to look dark and gooey.

I frowned, "I can't say. I had Inari and Shikamaru go and send for a medical unit, it should be some time. Once they arrive we can begin to take the proper measures to try and help you. I'll do everything in my power to heal you, Jiraiya-sama."

"He loves you...you know." Jiraiya spoke quietly.

"I know he does. I love him with all of my heart too."

Jiraiya nodded, "He told me he regained the memory of when he attacked you those years back when he transformed into his four-tailed state during the mission to intercept Kabuto's information to Sasori...he was upset quite a bit about that..."

I sighed, "He should know by now that I never blamed him for that. He wasn't himself, and it was only because Kyuubi and he couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe..."

Jiraiya looked to me, "You know...he told me the reason he decided to achieve the fifth tail was so he would never do that again..." Jiraiya coughed a bit before he continued, "...he told me that he and Kyuubi originally took on the task of achieving five tails so they could protect his precious people with everything he has at his disposal. So far, he's proven it to be a powerful tool."

"I don't want him to feel guilty about what happened...I'm not helpless anymore..." I continued to heal what I could as Naruto and the group of nuke-nin battled on.

(Naruto's P.O.V)

I stood there as Itachi began to breath heavily. He growled a bit as he looked at me, "You're not weak anymore...that's good."

I nodded, "You were expecting anything less? I'll be honest Itachi, you're a tough opponent...one of my toughest. However, there's one thing you should have never done. Hurting Sakura-chan like you did was a big mistake."

I focused on the group before me, and took in a deep breath, "I've had enough of these games...time to get serious..." I pushed off the rockface, and sprinted on all fours towards the group. I felt light as a feather as I moved, thanks to Kyuubi's chakra. It enhanced my muslce mass and gave me more strength, allowing me to push off with greater force.

I spun around to whip my tails at the missing nin. They jumped away, and avoided the attack. I giant wave was sent out to see by my attack, as well as a large gust of wind. I regained my footing on the water, and turned to look at Kisame, who was going through a set of seals.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!!!!" a large spinning mass of water rocketed at me. I raised my hands and blocked the attack, forcing the water to stop it's movement. Kisame had a look of anger on his face, and he went at me with his Samehade, ready to shave of my skin, "Time for a hair cut, you fox bastard!!!!"

I managed to grab a hold of the odd sword, and Kisame looked at me incredously, "Kisame...your sword drains chakra, correct?"

Kisame gave a growl, "What about it, gaki?"

"I was just wondering how much chakra this sword can possibly drain before it becomes too much..." I smiled as I began to pump more and more chakra into the sword. Kisame seemed to catch on, and began to try and pull his weapon away.

"Let go of my sword, you brat!!!!" he yelled as the sword began to shake and glow red. Smoke started to come off the surface, and I smelled the scent of burning flesh as Kisame's skin began to burn from holding his heated sword.

I watched as the sword began to shake a bit, and cracked a bit, and a whistling sound could be heard that resembled that of a kettle that was letting out steam.

Samehade exploded as bits of shrapnel from the sword flew everywhere. Kisame yelled in pain as bits of the sword imbedded into his face. I felt bits of the sword puncture my face. I growled in pain, but immediately my chakra began to heal my wounds. In a matter of seconds, my wounds were gone.

"Heh...well, so much for your little toy, Kisame." I said, gripping his other hand while channeling chakra into his hands. He growled in agony, and I could see his blue skin peel away.

I surrounded the two of us in Kyuubi's chakra. Kisame was howling in pain as I continued to increase my chakra. I opened a palm and formed a ball of spinning chakra.

"Well, looks like it's over Kisame...any last words...?" I growled as Rasenshuriken formed in my hand.

"Go...to hell...Kyuubi-brat.." he growled as his arm began to form blisters and turn black.

"That's too bad...I believe you'll be waiting awhile for me then...since I don't think Kit's going there...but I'm a differnt story..." spoke Kyuubi through my vocal cords.

Kisame's eyes widened, "Wha-?"

"Heh, well, I'll try and make it quick for you Kisame...die!!!!" I pulled back my hand, "Rasenshuriken!!!!" I slammed it into Kisame's chest, and jumped back as my attack began to shred Kisame apart.

I watched as the missing-nin exploded. Unlike when I used my powerful technique in my normal state, Kyuubi's chakra caused the victim to not only be shredded to the molecular level, but also caused them to explode from the sheer amount of chakra. I watched as blood showered the area.

I turned to the other Akatsuki members, and again my eyes rested on Itachi's. It was thanks to Kyuubi's ability to deflect most chakra that most of his genjutsu didn't work.

"Which of you is next then...?" I asked, clenching my fist, sending a small tremor to ripple throughout the port. I didn't have much more time. I had to take things up a notch...

(Pain's P.O.V)

I stared at the Kyuubi container. This boy knew how to manipulate the Kyuubi to the point where he and his Jinchuuriki were able to stay in constant sync with each other. Yes...he did kill Kisame...but this only further drove my desire to capture the Kyuubi. The power that Bijuu possessed was the last key needed to gain world dominance and bring about a new era...

Soon our goals would be reached...

end of Chap. 24- Well, there it is. Five tailed Naruto's appearance has been made. Just to let you know, Naruto hasn't used all his power yet while in this form. He's holding back a bit...for obvious reasons. I'll explain next chapter why that is. Anyway, I hope you like this. Kind of been updating my other fics lately, so I felt I needed to get on the ball with this one. There's still more to come. Well, R&R and let me know what you think. Until we meet again, I'll see you all later!