Author's Note: Yup I'm back. Sorry for the long hiatus. Decided to focus on my book a little more and also the fact that I also recently started to work again. So yet again I apologize for my huge absence. For those of you who are also my Vanished Without a Trace fans, I will update that one pretty soon too. Thanks for waiting and not hunting me down! Hope you enjoy.

01/10/2009: Revised

Immanence
Resurrection of Uzumaki no Kuni
6th Shippuu: The Tides of War

Two years had passed since the order was sent to retrieve the two members of the legendary sanin that still had some minuscule tides with Konohagakure but both missions turned out to be failures with the death of one of the shinobi that were sent to the mission. After this, things seemed to enter a new stage of development as Konoha became more aggressive towards the other villages as they began to attack nearby establishments and adding them to their power, causing Sunagakure to start to ramp up their armed training in preparation of an attack. The newly appointed Kazekage, Gaara, felt that there was the possibility of this new Konohagakure attacking them as well, thanks to what had happened several years ago. This cause a cold war to break out between the two villages, killing all efforts to revive the treaty that was formed so long ago.

Kumogakure was also making moves of their own as they began to spread their territory like Konoha as they too began to invade and conquer some of the smaller shinobi villages around the boarders of the Land of Lightning, causing Konoha to keep an even closer eye on their eldest enemy.

Amegakure felt the most alarmed about this new predicament since they were still recovering from their own internal conflict and was amongst the weakest of the villages and could be attacked by either Konoha or Kumo at anytime.

The Land of Water was probably having the most trouble since they were suffering from a similar civil war as Amegakure did but on a much larger level. Twenty-five of their islands had been seized by an unknown organization strong enough to wave off the forces of Kirigakure.

Yeah, almost everywhere you turned you could sense the brewing of a powerful storm that could lead to a war that would be twice the size of the previous ones.

II

The damp air of the spring night created a cool breeze as three guards walked past their post, discussing what their plans were after their shift was over. Despite the size of this village, a large portion of it consisted of a compound where the village head resided. Not much was known about what happened behind those gates and not everyone wished to know, since the village head was a part of a much larger organization that claimed control over the twenty-five island chain known as the Umihebiza Archipelago.

"So, what's the status?"

"There're about three soldiers standing guard outside of the gates but our target is yet to be seen."

"They probably already know we're here."

"I highly doubt it since I double and triple checked everything. Everybody thought I was one of his advisors. I physically filled out his schedule."

"Yeah, but things just seem too easy. This guy is supposed to be powerful and his guards were suppose to be crafty and cunning, according to the details."

"You are reading too much in this right now. If you keep overcomplicating things then we are sure to meet with trouble." A kunoichi said.

"See? She agrees with me too."

"That doesn't mean anything, baka… she always agrees with you."

"Now is not the time for arguing."

"Yeah…" Both shinobi said as they kept hidden under the veil of the shadows and the darkness of the night.

"Something is happening."

The three of them homed in on the gate and noticed that the three soldiers were now staring in the distance at something. Suddenly the wind began to pick up as suddenly a carriage appeared out of nowhere. A man in a dark blue cloak stepped out and all of the soldiers quickly bowed to show their respect.

"Looks like our target is finally here."

"Don't make a move until those gates open."

"Don't speak the obvious… we have been doing stuff like this way before you joined us."

"A baka is always a baka despite the amount of experience they have."

"I kind of miss the old lazy you."

"You know what? Me too."

A few words were exchanged between the man in the cloak and the soldiers before the first one began to open the gates for them to enter. A breeze of wind blew past them, giving all three shinobi the chance to enter the compound unnoticed. As soon as the gates were closed the kunoichi appeared behind the cloaked man with a kunai pointed to his throat.

"Oh? About time you made your move. I was beginning to get a little impatient waiting for you. So whom do I have the pleasure to thank for this lovely visit? The Mizukage again?"

"We are not allied with the Kiri-nin. Now give up now peacefully and you will not be killed. We only want to send a message to your organization." The kunoichi said as she tightened her grip around his neck.

"A message? Could it be a declaration of war? And I thought the rebels were smarter than this."

"We are not a part of the Umihebiza rebellion either, we are acting on our own behalf."

"I see… but regardless who you are, you will not leave this compound alive. Don't you understand that I have an entire army with guns at their disposal? Not much a shinobi of your caliber can do about that."

"I see you underestimated us." Several gunshots were heard in the background causing the man to wear a large grin on his face. Suddenly a flash of light burnt through the sky as a loud explosion was heard in another part of the compound.

"What do you think is happening, kunoichi-san?"

"Your men are dying."

"Huh? Are you that ignorant?"

"Look." she pointed in the direction of the explosion. As he followed her line of sight, he saw several hundred shinobi's bouncing around, dodging several bullets and easily taking care of the soldiers.

"Nani? How is it even possible to sneak that many shinobi in here?!"

"I told you that you underestimated us, Musibi-san."

"So you actually knew my name, huh? Then at least you will not die with any regret then." He bent forward and quickly slung her to the ground. He quickly tried to stomp down on her face but she rolled out of the way and swept her leg under his own. He leaped over her leg and slung several kunai at her. She deflected each one with her own kunai as she forced her way back to her feet.

She quickly dashed backwards, creating some distance in-between them as she slung two kunai at his feet. He leaped into the air to dodge the attack, but in the blink of an eye she was in his face with two kunai in her hand, landing both of them in each of his shoulders, and in the same motion she dropped kicked him back to the ground.

"We wish not to kill you, Musibi-san, so please do not make this any harder than it is." He grinned as he ripped out each kunai one by one and flung them to the ground.

"You are a lot stronger than what I gave you credit for, kunoichi-san, but it is too bad that you do not understand anything! Do you understand the consequences are for attacking a member of the Akisame!"

"Yes, I do, Musibi-san, so please surrender now before you force me to kill you."

"Like hell I will! If you don't kill me, then they will!"

Musibi began to run through several hand signs as his body began to perspire more than normal. Suddenly he made a large thrust of his body in the direction of the kunoichi, causing all the sweat on his body to form a large wave of water. The kunoichi's emerald orbs began to glow as she slung her fist at the wave, causing it to disperse and evaporate instantly with a massive amount of heat.

The cloud of mist provided a cover for Musibi as he slung a punch in the kunoichi's direction but she grabbed his fist with her free hand and twisted his wrist, causing several bones to snap. She then pulled on his injured wrist and slammed her knee into his abdomen, and in the same motion slammed her other knee into his forehead before slamming her fist into the back of his head, causing him to crash into the ground in a world of pain.

"Do you still wish to fight me?"

"You're damn right I do!" With his uninjured hand, he slammed it into the ground and yelled "Tsuchikabe Kangoku no Jutsu!" The jutsu created a large wall of mud to surround and enclose the kunoichi, cutting off all air as well. "Now to finish you off before going to get help…"

"Rasengan!" Before Musibi could finish going through a new set of hand seals, the wall of mud he had just created was shattered to pieces as not only was the blonde kunoichi was standing there but also a blond shinobi as well.

"When did you…?"

"That's a secret…" The shinobi said as he instantly appeared in front of Musibi and landed a hook to his jaw, shattering it, while the kunoichi leaped into the air and landed a heel to his already broken jaw, knocking him unconscious as his body fell like a lifeless rag-doll before colliding awkwardly with the ground, probably breaking even more bones in his body.

"Why did you hold back?"

"I didn't want to kill him."

"Well, could've almost killed him then if that what you were worrying about."

"You mean just like we just did?" The shinobi glanced at Musibi's battered body and chuckled a little.

"Yeah, like that…"

"I knew you two would overdo it… so troublesome…" The third shinobi walked up to them with several scrolls in his hand.

"What do you mean 'overdo it'? We both were trying our hardest to hold back on these guys… This was kind of disappointing, I was thinking these guys would be a lot stronger and yet we ran into the runts of the litter." The blond said as he picked up the unconscious Musibi and slung him over his shoulders.

"Bakemono…"

"Hey! That's mean…" He only sighed as he muttered troublesome again before disappearing. The blond glanced at the kunoichi and winked. "Let's light this place up."

The kunoichi smiled as she nodded before going through a small sequence of hand seals. A large round of explosions began to go off one after the other. The two shinobi quickly exited the compound right before the last explosion was set off, engulfing the entire compound and leaving nothing in its wake but rubble and debris.

II

"They're done, kaa-sama." A clone of the blond shinobi said as he opened his eyes.

"Did they kill their target?"

"Almost…"

"Those baka… Arigatou." The clone nodded as it disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

The rest of the party was having dinner at a family restaurant on one of the neighboring islands.

"So the gaki succeeded, eh? They sure have changed a lot in the last two years." Jiraiya said as he took another sip of his sake.

"Yeah, yeah… By the way, where is that damn kitsune? I haven't seen her in a while."

"I think she's still working on a way to separate the neko from Yugito-chan with Aoi-chan."

"I know I asked you this before, Kushina, but are you sure about this? We already have to worry about the Akatsuki, and adding the Akisame to our enemy list is a bit rough." Tsunade said asked as she lean in closer to her.

"I understand, Tsunade-nee-san, but I have to do this. We can't all be senin like that hentai over there."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Yeah, I get that, but why are you declaring war to do this? You could settle down anywhere in a peaceful manner."

"I guess I really miss my homeland so much that I want to recreate it. Plus, I think settling down peacefully would just be too boring. Why not liberate a country from tyrants and recreate something greater."

"And you do know that if we succeed than we will be creating an enemy out of the Land of Water as well?"

"What do you mean 'if we succeed'?"

"I see where Naruto gets it from now."

"Yup… the only thing he got from his father was his good looks." She said with a toothy grin on her face.

III

Two years had passed since the run in with Konoha and everything had seemed to calm down a little until kaa-sama had decided to heat things up a little. I know I said that I was going to become the kage of another village that was going to be stronger than Konohagakure but when I said that I meant that I would start one from scratch. I never imagined that we would actually be declaring war on an already establish country. Yeah, I know that there were being controlled by an outside evil organization that could have been behind what happened to the land of the whirlpool back in the day, but this was a little extreme for me too. Yugito-chan seemed ok with it, though. I think she was even looking forward to this.

"Is everything ok, Naruto-kun?" I snapped out of my thought process long enough to realize that I was staring at her. We had just returned to our hotel room and I was seating in one of the chairs while Yugito-chan was lying in bed and Shikamaru was taking a bath. I didn't know how long the others were going to be out but I was enjoying the peace and quiet I was getting with them being absent.

"Yeah… I'm fine." She rose up and began to crawl over to me until she crawled up into my lap.

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"Uh… Not really…" I tried to turn my head but she gently grabbed my chin and pulled it toward her.

"I know when you're lying to me, Naruto-kun…" She said right before kissing me. Suddenly the door swung open causing both of us to jump up.

"Aww… did I interrupt something?" Yugito glared up at Regina, causing her to giggle.

"Where's kaa-sama?"

"Still out drinking with the others probably... I told you I don't keep up with what that old hag does."

"I see… how things going on your front?" I asked as Yugito-chan began to look even more annoyed.

"That damn neko is going to be even tougher to get out than I original thought. Aoi-chan is still searching through all of the scrolls trying to find anything, if there is anything, to aid us in our research."

"I don't really care if I form a binding contract with the Nibi. There is no need for all of the trouble."

"Don't worry about us, Yugito-chan, we are doing this because we want too. It will make things twice as easy for you without the burden of having one of us inside of your body twenty-four/seven, and it makes you less of a target to the Akatsuki when they do decide to attack."

"Yes, but aren't you still tied down to Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, but not like before, now I have more freedom and if they do managed to beat my kit, then mother kitsune jumps in to save her precious kit."

"Since when have I been so precious to you?"

"Hey… I was your temporary mother until that power-tripping kunoichi appeared out of nowhere."

"Heh…" I chuckled a little as Yugito-chan tightened her grip around my shoulders, letting me know that she wanted us to be alone.

"Have you been able to communicate any with the Nibi, Yugito? I'm sure he knows a way to help us in this situation." Regina asked as she sat down on the bed and stretched out as if it were her own room.

"I still only get grunts when I tried the techniques you told me of."

"Still as pompous as ever, that damn neko."

"If you don't mind me asking this, but what do you plan on doing in here?" Yugito-chan asked Regina-san.

"Take a nap of course, I have been working hard the past couple of hours."

"Shouldn't a bijuu have more endurance than this?" Yugito-chan asked as it was beginning to become obvious that she wanted her out.

"In this form, I am sort of limited." Yugito-chan scoffed as she stood up and grabbed my hand and pulled me as we walked right out of the room.

"Is everything ok, Yugito-chan?"

"Hai!"

"Then why are you yelling?"

"I'm not!"

"Listen to yourself…" She stopped as soon as we were outside and turned around.

"I just wanted to be alone with you Naruto-kun, is that too much for me to ask?" I stared up at the soothing clouds of the night sky as the few stars that were visible continued to sparkle brightly. I looked back down at her and smiled as I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

"No… it's not. Want to have a date?"

"Date?"

"Yeah, we haven't had one in a long time since we've been going through hell to get ready for our project to start."

"Sure… but not like this, ok?"

"Huh?"

"I want to go back to the hotel and dress in something… nicer…" she said as she blushed a little. "And you too."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" She glared at me the same way kaa-sama and obaa-chan did, which always sent chills up, down, and all around my spine. At that time, I really thought I should have stopped letting her hang out with those two in her free time or I could be in for a world of pain in the future.

"Fine… no need to yell, Yugito-chan." I said with my patented smile on my face causing her to smile as well.

We both took our time making it back to our hotel room trying to set the mood right. Even though we had been on dates before, this would technically be the first real one since all of the others were special occurrences where we just happened to be alone during that time. Not to mention the fact that this would be the first one where we were older and more mature.

When I stepped into the room, I noticed that Regina-san was fast asleep and Shikamaru had still to return from the bathhouse. I opened my bag and began to search though into until I found my all dark blue long sleeve t-shirt and black pair of pants. As I looked in the mirror I couldn't help but notice how long my hair was. It now flowed down past my ears in all its spiky glory. I suddenly remember the pictures of the Yondaime, my late father, and couldn't believe how much I looked like him.

"I figured Yugito-chan would force you out on a date." Regina-san as it seemed that she was only faking sleep earlier.

"Go back to sleep…."

"So cold, kit…" Before I knew it, she was behind me, giving me an embrace as I felt her breath down my neck tickling me a little.

"What are you doing?"

"Just indulging myself."

"On what?"

"Don't worry about it… Treat her good, ok, kit?"

"You know me almost more than I know myself."

"Hai… I do…" I turned around to grab my orange wrist band that I always wore with my normal clothes and noticed that Regina-san was gone.

"What the hell was that all about?"

I slid the band on and I heard a soft knock at the door, making me wonder who it was. As I opened it, I literally had my breath taken away. It was Yugito-chan in an all jade kimono with white pedals dancing all around it, bringing her the enchanting beauty of her emerald orbs. Her golden locks flowed past her shoulders instead of the usual ponytail she would normally wear in her kunoichi and casual attire.

"Is everything alright, Naruto-kun?"

"Y-Y-Yeah… just a bit taken back by your beauty." She titled her head to the side trying to hide her blush which I saw as clear as day.

"Arigatou…" I smiled even harder as I gently grabbed her hand and pulled her along side me.

"Shall we go?"

As if this little date was meant to be, all of the clouds that were out earlier had dispersed, giving us a clear image of the beautiful night sky as all the stars began to shine down upon us. The cool gentle breeze made me feel more than revitalized from our earlier mission.

"So what do you want to do, Yugito-chan?"

"It doesn't matter… I just wanted to be alone with you." She said as she latched onto my right arm and smiled up at me. I was still slow in realizing my own height growth, since we had first met she was a little taller than me and just two years ago we were the same height but now I almost towered over her.

It the background, I could hear the soft soothing sounds of the ocean waves that literally felt like they were calling me.

"Let's head over to the beach then, ok?" She nodded her head as we began to walk. I remembered when there was a time that I could only dream of being with a beautiful woman on a night like this, even though almost all of my dreams had Sakura-chan in them. That was the past and now is now and I could never be any happier. I think, no, I knew that Yugito-chan was a better match for me than Sakura-chan would ever be.

As we walked up to the beach, Yugito-chan pulled off her sandals and began to play in the cool waves as her smile outshined the heavenly bodies that kept watch over us that night. I always thought Yugito-chan was beautiful but that night she was radiant, her lightly tanned skin literally glowed.

"You changed." She stopped and looked over at me.

"Did you say something?"

"You changed."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all, I love this new you. You smile more, you talk more, and you are happier, which makes me happy. This new you gives me confidence to keep going even when even I have a problem keeping my nindo." She look completely flabbergasted as she just stared at me for a second until she tackled me to the dirt and began to kiss me. This was yet another one of the changes that I enjoyed as well.

IV

The next day was a very hot one in the barren deserts of the Land of Wind, the general location of the Sunagakure no Sato. In this reason, as well as the tense vibe that only meant bad things for someone.

Several Suna-nin were dashing through the blazing heat as they dodged several kunai and other types of sharp projectiles that were sent their way. One of the nin stopped his pace and ran through several hand seals before unleashing a small blast of wind, pushing all of the weapons back but that wasn't enough to stop their pursuers.

"We have to make it back to Suna and inform the Kazekage of this before it is too late."

"I know…. You three… continue on, Miko and I will keep them off your backs."

"Nani? That's suicide for both of you. The're already too many of them back there."

"Just do as I say! This is for the village to be able to survive!" The shinobi looked over at the kunoichi named Miko as she nodded her head, letting him know that she was with him all the way. He grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly as he stared deeply into her eyes. He turned back around and glared at the other three. "What the hell are you baka waiting for!"

With a slight wave of his hand he produced enough wind to push them away from him. Miko pulled out a kunai that was pulsating with chakra as the wind around them began to form around it, making a sword similar to Naruto's Kazekatana jutsu, but her jutsu had a little twist that made it even deadlier.

As the enemy approached even closer, she made one blind swipe in their general direction, even though they were several yards out. The wind kunai extended in length, nearly taking out the first wave of shinobi, catching a lot of them off guard. She pulled back the kunai closer to her again as the wind dispersed.

Even though that attack was strong enough to shake up some of the shinobi, it wasn't enough to keep them at bay, since a lot these shinobi were seasoned vets who had been trained to kill since they could walk. In a sense, the perfect shinobi, and a lot of them carried the same emblem of the new Konohagakure.

"Good job, Miko!" The shinobi yelled as she sent another wave of wind towards their enemy. But even that was not enough as they found themselves completely surrounded. It seemed that Konoha was focusing more on the sheer number of their forces to overcome Suna, but something just didn't feel right to the Suna shinobi as he looked over at his daughter. Both him and his daughter were at the rank of chuunin, so why would they be able to take out several of these nin even if they were surrounded now?

Suddenly the amount of shinobi began to disappear in wavy lines as he realized that this was all an genjutsu. As his eyes blinked several times, he realized that he wasn't in the desert like he thought but actually in Sunagakure. The genjutsu had caused him to lead the Konoha-nin right through the genjutsu barrier they created to keep their village hidden. But that wasn't the only problem he was having as he realized this. No, there was a much bigger problem now as he noticed the amount of blood that flowed through the streets of Suna. He glanced around for his daughter as he found her literally fighting for her life as more shinobi seemed to appear and attack her.

He pushed himself to his feet and finally noticed the gapping hole that was in his chest but it was already too late to do anything about it. Suddenly the genjutsu hold on his mind finally dispersed as he began to remember what exactly happened to him.

He and his daughter were the only surviving members of the recon team sent to scout the land for any attackers. He had already been killed by their ambush and they used a powerful genjutsu to keep him alive just long enough for him to lead them back.

As he reached out toward his daughter, he watched her take several kunai to her shoulder, his eyes began to cloud over as the visible light began to dim until there wasn't anything there but darkness.

Miko was also near death as well as she watched her father finally die. Even though she was saddened by this, she was finally able to be at ease knowing that his suffering had finally ended. From behind her, she heard someone yell "Kazekage-sama!" As she turned around to see the hateful eyes of Gaara as he looked over the dead bodies of his people.

He covered his eyes as several Konoha shinobi leaped toward him but were completely mutilated by waves of sand, creating a crimson coating over the sand as it began to ravish the other Konoha shinobi that were in the area. Gaara pulled back his hands from his face, revealing the blood-lust eyes of a being possessed by the bijuu that was sealed within him. This was the first time she had seen her Kazekage like this but what she felt deep within her wasn't fear, but excitement. It was almost as if something within her wanted to get out as well.

"Finally the beast shows himself."

"Make this quick, ok?"

"Don't worry, I will finish this quickly, creating the most beautiful masterpiece I've ever created."

Miko turned around and watched as two men in dark cloaks with scarlet clouds scatter all over them appeared in the midst of the chaos.

"Why are you here?"

"Is that a way to talk to your honored guests? No wonder this village has fell off so much." The shinobi stuck his hand in a pouch he was carrying for a few seconds before pulling out and slamming something down at the ground. Miko covered her eyes thinking it would be something like a flash bomb, but what she saw shocked her even more. On the ground were thousands of tiny spiders dashing towards Gaara.

Gaara's violent sand began rip away at the spiders but as each one died a large explosion was set, creating a chain to the point that even Gaara was sent flying several yards until he was forced to collide with the ground. The shinobi took this opportunity to get even closer, this time he slung several kunai that looked just like the spiders in a way. Gaara's sand kicked in the last minute and swatted them away but a similar thing happened as before as another explosion was set off, this time even larger than before.

Even though Gaara's perfect defense was keeping him from taking any damage, that still didn't overturn the fact that these attacks were effective in almost ever way. Gaara's mentality was already a bit scattered to begin with and with the added affects of his village being slaughtered right after he had finally learned to trust others allowed the Shukaku to regain a portion of the control he once had over Gaara. Now both him and Shukaku were arguing amongst themselves thanks to the matters at hand, causing a pause in Gaara's sand barrier as more bombs were unleashed, and this time unprotected. The explosion was immense, as Gaara felt the most amount of pain his body had even felt since his fight with Yugito. The attack nearly killed him on the spot if it wasn't for his sheer will to survive that his ticket in this fight was no longer valid.

"See… I told you I would finish quickly."

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" A voice from behind them shouted as a large wave of chakra literally ripped the ground apart, sending everyone and everything in the vicinity flying. Both the Akatsuki nin were forced to retreat as they too were caught off by this attack.

In the center of it all was a battered Miko as almost all of her clothes were shredded. Her eyes were a piercing silver as her pupil were slits. Her hair was snow white and twice as long. Her breathing was erratic as she finally collapsed to the ground from sheer exhaustion.

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