Chapter 25:

Seven Gems

An: There being seven gems is not a reference to DB or DBZ. It was an accident.

Naruto and The Sage have been battled for over two weeks in a large grass wasteland, of course Naruto got to sleep eight hours and had an hour for lunch. Fifteen hours out of everyday Naruto was forced to battle, to the death. Sēji was amazed at the stamina of the genin.

"You must finish this. This is to long of an amount of time." Sēji shadowed over Naruto, who was barely concious. His age was near the forties, which had meant Naruto inflicted slightly more damage over the few days it had been.

"I can't... Your just so..." Naruto was on his back, he propped himself onto his elbows. "Fucking strong!" A cloud of smoke covered both of them.

"Rasengan!" Naruto was behind Sejī with an orb of concentrated blue chakra. It crashed into an invisible wall of some sort. "Wha?"

"Reflect!" Sēji thrusted his staff towards the sky, the invisible wall flashed and shoved Naruto against the ground. "You are pathetic. Can't even hurt me, after two and a half weeks. Maybe I should kill you?"

"What?" Naruto quickly struggled to stand. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have more than enough power to end your life." Sēji looked at his hand, it was surrounded in flames. "I can end it quick."

You stupid fuck! Move! Move now! Kurama barked.

"Uh... I..." Naruto was paralyzed in place. "I can't...do this without Kurama!"

"Kurama? The nine tails? Did you finally realize this? The fox is part of you, another one of your abilities. You must take advantage of that power." The sage pressed his hand into Naruto's belly, sending him flying back onto the ground ten feet away.

"Ah..." Naruto felt a relief in pain, red chakra surrounded him. "I... Feel a lot better." The grass was uprooted and the aura expanded. A large radius around Naruto was now dirt.

"Good. Show me your full power, together." Sejī held his staff under his arm, spreading his feet apart. "Let's go."

The slot machines stopped at two sevens, the third row still spun. "C'mon." Tsunade was tapping her foot in anticipation. "C'mon." It stopped... the BAR symbol. "Dammit!" She smashed her foot, cracking the floor.

The gambling hall was a small building just outside of the village. Because the village elders did not allow a gambling facility inside Konoha, Tsunade looped around it and had one built outside on the outskirts. She always snuck off to play, even in times of crisis.

"Lord Jakob!" A woman yelled outside of the hall, Tsunade overheard the familiar name. "We have them."

Samantha and Masaki rushed out of the forest onto the main road. Jakob and his daughter, along with a few silver armored soldiers were heading to the Leaf Village. Tsunade stood up and walked over to the window.

Samantha handed Jakob two gems. One was burning inside, the other a shining white. "Good. You are perfectly on time." He felt around his buttox and pulled off a sack, it clicked open and he dropped the gems in.

Masaki stepped forward. "We killed them. Dead."

"Orochimaru and Kabuto? Good. They would have been a burden in the future." Jakob rubbed his balding head.

"Now. I need my arm healed." He picked up the limp left arm hanging at his side. "Some type of venom."

"Soldiers. Escort Masaki back to our camp." Jakob turned to the soldiers. They nodded and with a "Yes sir" left with the Uchiha.

Tsunade decided to meet them outside. Her heels clicked against the floor that turned to dirt as she got closer. "Jakob." She bowed. "The gems?"

"Yes. Here." The sack plopped into her hand as he handed them over.

"This makes three. And one more when the ANBU unit I sent comes back." Tsunade sighed. "Now we have to get the remaining gems from Jastin." She put the dark Kuro gem into the sack.

"That will be a challenge." Samantha added in, feeling left out.

"Is it me? Or is it kind of smoky?" The road was started to fog up with black smoke. "No... This is a jutsu!" Tsunade put her hands together and formed a few hand signs. She raised her fist to the sky at an incredible speed, forcing all the smoke around her to dissipate.

A smacking noise and a grunt was heard in the smoke. Then a sound similar to metal hitting metal. She punched the smoke, it dissipated again. Jakob was laying on the ground in a pool of blood. His daughter had her golden buster sword out, guarding against an assailant's blade.

"Serah!" Tsunade yelled.

"Don't worry, I got it!" She applied force, the other blade bounced back and she took advantage with a swing. It swished through the air as it missed. "What speed!"

Tsunade was punched in the stomach by someone moving at a high speed. She fell onto the ground. The smoke rose to the sky, the assailant was revealed to be Sasuke Uchiha.

A brown sack was being tossed up and down in his hand. "Slow, aren't you?" Sasuke smirked. "Too bad. Looks like these are mine!" He vanished in a vortex of electricity.

"Dammit to hell!" Tsunade looked around for the pouch and got back up onto her feet. She grasped her stomach, it was writhing in pain. "Bitch!" Her knees shook and she fell back down.

"Daddy!" Serah felt for his pulse. It was faint, but still there. She glanced over to Tsunade. "Are you okay? C-Could you maybe use your ninja magic?" Her vocabulary showed the fact that she was not a ninja and was not raised around them.

"Yes." Tsunade fought the pain and stood up, Samantha helped take her to Jakob's body. Her hands glowed a bright green as she placed them on his chest.

"Th-Thanks..." Serah was fighting tears, Samantha comforted the girl.

"Yeah." Tsunade smiled. She looked towards the sky. Dammit. It was all she could think, the only hope was the Shiro gem.

The dark dave had grown to be a familiar sight to Sasuke. Jastin's cove was the same as it always was, computers aligning the back wall. "I have them." Sasuke threw the brown sack to Primero. "Now. Give me what was asked in the deal."

Primero bowed. "Of course Uchiha-sama." He went to the mechanical chair Jastin was resting in. A few button clicks and the wires unhooked. "Master, get up."

Jastin groaned and sat up. "You have all the gems?"

"Yes. Uchiha-sama obtained the two stolen from Orochimaru and Tsunade's. I have the Shiro gem. Along with the three that you have, that equals seven, I believe." Primero handed the sack to his master.

"At last. These Forbidden Gems have a power limit. It cannot exceed the strength of the first Kage of all the villages. Fortunately I am sure they were strong because the very first Hokage was incredible." Jastin got out of the chair. "Now for Uchiha's reward."

Primero was given a scroll and took Sasuke into a seperate room to the west, leaving Jastin alone.

He caressed the gems. "Now. Give me what I want most. Give me my full power back without the need to recharge. Give it to me!"