Normally, when using the base-line Sharingan to create an illusion, it works like this:

First, you gather chakra. Then you imagine a series of images and other sensory information, the more vivid the better. You don't need much; the Sharingan induces a dream-like state in its target, and from there most people will smoothly fill in the scene with missing pieces from their own subconscious. Then, you make eye contact to establish a connection with the target's chakra system. After that, the hard work is done, and you are technically able to leave the target alone to dream.

Realistically, of course, it needs much more effort to convince a strong-willed person to stay wrapped in illusion. It's likely that anyone so weak-willed that they could be left alone with something crafted in a few seconds is someone for whom it was pointless to catch in that illusion in the first place. Shinobi had far more important matters to attend to than fooling simpletons, after all. This was what separated the Tsukuyomi from normal Sharingan-based genjutsu.

Even though Sasuke wasn't creating an illusion, some of the same principles applied to any sort of connection using the Sharingan. The instant the target realizes that they are being attacked, they can exert their will and chakra to clear their systems. This is a direct contest of their chakra against the chakra that the caster used to strengthen the link, which becomes like a shield that protects the caster's jutsu from destruction. In extreme cases it protects the caster's own mind from a counterattack.

Sasuke had spent the minute that Luffy had been fighting building up that shield of chakra brick by metaphorical brick, and now he got to watch his hard work be torn apart in an instant.

A vortex of flame swirled about him, and the Kyuubi was at its center. Now that he was connecting directly to the target's chakra system, he no longer saw Naruto, but an entirely different beast that was built of black and red fire, staring at him with deep eyes of abyssal void.

The Kyuubi knew what he was doing right away, and it began attacking his connection the instant he made it. It tore into the jutsu like a murderous whirlwind, and Sasuke's shocked breath came in a gasp that made him feel as though he were sucking flames into his lungs. The Kyuubi's energy rebounded across his shielding, cracking the walls he had made as he desperately fought to shore up his defenses. It wasn't good enough. He was losing ground.

Just when he was sure things were slipping from his grasp, Sasuke felt a warm hand on his shoulder. There was a moment of clarity, and suddenly it was as though all every exertion of his chakra was going exactly where it needed to be, patching the holes as quickly as they appeared.

"Brother?" he whispered, but there was no response.

With a feeling as though the world had dropped out from under him, the connection completed and the young ninja fell into a deep darkness.


Sasuke landed in a dark cavern. Around him, melting ice-water cascaded from the ceiling, the sound echoing and splashing throughout the darkness. He stood before an immense cage- inside it was the unmistakable form of the Kyuubi. It lay in relaxation inside the cell, one claw idly reaching through the bars to pick and scrape against the paper seal that represented the true form of its imprisonment. Sasuke noted that the seal was beginning to fray at the edges.

Before the bars of the cell, an unconscious Naruto was suspended inside a raggedly-cut boulder of red ice that rose out of the layer of water coating the floor.

Slowly, the demon stopped its idle toil and turned a burning eye in his direction.

Ohh… This is a chakra I have not felt in some time. An Uchiha… Things always become so interesting when one of your hateful clan appears…

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke stepped forward. "Yes, that's right. I am Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's best friend. I wish to speak with you."

You've put so much effort into knocking at my door, it would be rude to turn you away now, wouldn't it? Hmmm, but when an Uchiha comes to me, they are always looking to control my power. What makes you think I shouldn't fight you with everything I have, child?

This was strange. Having seen Naruto's struggles to control himself when under the thrall of the Kyuubi, Sasuke had assumed he would be meeting a snarling, rabid beast. Instead, the Kyuubi seemed patient, composed, and intelligent. Was that really the Kyuubi controlling Naruto's body out there, or was it some sort of instinctual physical response to this animalistic energy? If the Kyuubi itself were personally in control, would it really just attack blindly without tactics or strategy?

He couldn't help but feel like that was important somehow, but he didn't have time to consider it further.

"I may be an Uchiha," said Sasuke, taking another step forward through the slush that coated the floor of this chamber, "-but I'm not here for your power. All I want is for Naruto to live."

Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm… A boy come to plead for the life of his friend… How touching. But while you are hardly the first of your clan to come to me under false pretenses, you would be the very first to mean it, and that seems truly unlikely to me.

The Demon shifted, bringing his predatory gaze closer to the bars of the cell.

Another Uchiha liar, then... But isn't that curious... When compared to the other Uchiha I have felt, your chakra is as clear and pure as water.

Sasuke shielded his face as a wave of burning energy washed over him without warning, roiling the slushy water around him into a turbulent foam. All around him, the foam began to bubble and crest until it resembled the Kyuubi's eyes, fangs, and grasping claws.

Why is that, do you think? Are you weak? A defective child of a powerful clan? You come here looking to control me and you couldn't even frighten a rabbit!

His eye itched, and Sasuke stilled the foam with a focused gaze, the Mangekyou projecting its power all about him. The Kyuubi's energy fell away and dissolved into nothingness.

Ah, but there is some strength in you after all.

Sasuke turned back to the beast. Suppressing that fragment of its chakra hasn't been too difficult, but the more he felt this creature's energy, the more certain he became that with only one Mangekyou he wouldn't be able to win this with force alone. He'd need to at least convince it not to fight him.

Why couldn't things be easy for once?

"I'm not here to control you!" he repeated, calling into the prison, "I'm not trying to take your power! I'm here for my best friend! I only want you to stop!"

The demon rumbled as it chuckled slightly.

And why should I do that?

Stretching its long arm out once more to reach a claw around the bars, the Kyuubi indicated the fraying seal.

As the young boy draws upon my power, his seal weakens, slowly but surely. This is the greatest progress I've made during his entire life, and you want me to stop now? Why, exactly, should I care?

Sasuke had been afraid of this. When it came right down to it, he had no idea what it was that the Kyuubi wanted. It sounded as though the demon wasn't exactly aware of what was going on outside in the real world, except in the vaguest possible terms. That would fit with the idea that it wasn't controlling Naruto's body directly.

Did it not know that Naruto was actually in danger? Sasuke wasn't even certain that the demon could experience death, but he knew that it would eventually reappear in the world if its host died. Would Naruto's death help it or harm it? Did it want Naruto to live or die? He took a chance.

"Because Naruto's going to die," he said, simply.

Now, the beast shifted again.

Do tell.

"That man that Naruto is fighting out there is one of the greatest powers in this world. He has access to a demon similar to you, one that grants him power over ice."

The Kyuubi stretched out, slowly testing the limits of the cage. Bored, it closed its eyes.

I know this already... I have never seen a demon like the one whose power touched mine, but I am not worried. It already ran from me, which is, of course, natural. There are no demons comparable to me, not even among the other Tailed-Beasts.

It ran from him? This demon must really not be able to directly sense things happening on the outside, instead relying on impressions gleaned from feeling Naruto's senses, like a blind puppeteer orchestrating a puppet-show.

"Are you aware that he's been trying to take Naruto and I alive?" Sasuke asked, pleading that the answer was no.

Now, the demon opened an eye.

"It's true," Sasuke insisted, "He gave me one final chance to convince Naruto to stop fighting him, and then said he would destroy the entire island if we refused."

You're not lying, are you…

This was not stated like a question, but as a certainty.

The brat said something similar, but his naivete is astounding. I care nothing for this man's promises of leniency, but power is a language unto its own. Destroying an island or ten is by no means outside the limits of my power, but it is true that I have concerns that the boy's weak body could survive the damage such attacks would create.

Sasuke kept quiet, somehow feeling as though this was not a time for him to speak. Soon, the Kyuubi seemed to reach a decision.

Very well, Uchiha child. Unlike a human, I do not grow unreasonably stubborn. I've gained enough from this exercise of my power. If this man challenges my might once more then my next appearance will be far more destructive. See that he understands that. I will retract my chakra from the boy as carefully as I can to spare his body, though he will likely remain hurt and unconscious for quite some time.

The demon's arm retreated back through the cell bars, and it closed its eyes.

Ensure he returns to safety, or else you will be seeing me again.

Sasuke backed away, and then broke the link with relief, feeling the world intrude on his consciousness once more.

As soon as he returned to the blasted and frozen landscape that had once been so idyllic, he pushed his wounded body to get himself away from the battlefield. Naruto had suddenly collapsed, and Luffy was busily exploring new boundaries in the field of being extremely wounded, but somehow Sasuke doubted Aokiji would let him apply his limited knowledge of first-aid to help them. There was nothing else he could do here.

But he might just have a plan to get them all out of this.


A minute after the battle had ended, Aokiji returned to clean up the mess. Emerging from the ice, he watched Sasuke stagger off the field and disappear into the mess of rubble and warren of craters that now covered this part of the island. No matter. The boy wouldn't be getting too far like that, and Aokiji had seen people lose too much trying to chase after everything at the same time. Keeping the two in his hand was definitely preferable to chasing one in the bush. Lazy Justice, that was the key. That's what he had subordinates for, after all.

Instead, Aokiji checked on the two other combatants. Naruto was now completely unconscious, his clothing torn and bloody. Though the boy was bleeding from wounds all across his body, the Admiral noted that none of them were as deep as they should have been. When that red energy had dissipated, the boy had stopped regenerating, but it seemed likely he would now live.

Checking in on Straw-Hat Luffy, Aokiji winced. The pirate was fighting and struggling to breathe, his arms and legs charred from the vicious melee with the burning beast. What little of his skin that hadn't suffered burns was covered in blood. Straw-Hat's eyes turned to him for just a moment before they began to close.

The lad really did remind Aokiji of his old friend and mentor, Vice-Admiral Garp.

"You fought well, kid," he said, as Luffy fell into unconsciousness, "But it's over now."

It was true. The battle was over. Time to bring in the cavalry.

Concentrating for a moment, he extended his senses along his ice and found his bicycle embedded where he had left it about a mile off. Raising an incline and frozen path for it, he waited patiently as it rolled his way. Anticipating combat, he had kept his sensitive supplies in one of its carrying compartments, including a portable Den-Den-Mushi. Taking it out and establishing a connection, he spoke into the line.

"Yes, Commodore Flounders, it's safe to approach the island now. I have Straw-Hat in my custody. The rest of them should be wounded, so I want them rounded them up and then taken to your ships. Meet me at the eastern side of the island where we discussed earlier. Out."

Orders given, he returned to watching the two wounded young men. Though the battle was over, he was not at all worried about any of the Straw-Hats escaping. The Log Pose for this island was abnormally quick, taking barely eight hours to set, but it had been only two hours since the Straw-Hats had arrived. Nothing that this incapacitated group could do would delay matters by that long. Even in the worst-case scenario of their improbable evasion, nothing could stop him from freezing the sea to keep them land-locked.

Admiral Aokiji- the man known as Kuzan in a past life- was one of the most powerful and experienced figures in the world, and he had a terrible premonition. Akatsuki, this new island of ninjas, the Poneglyphs, this mysterious young man that had undergone the terrifying transformation, they were all connected in a horrible manner. In his long career in the Navy, he had seen world-threatening conspiracies surface and sink numerous times, and this set off his warning bells like none other.

In particular... something was odd about those tails the young boy had displayed. There was something familiar about it that lurked at the corners of his memories.

Something that Fleet Admiral Sengoku had once said…?

He couldn't recall. Taking a pained breath, Aokiji tested his wounded side. No good. He couldn't unfreeze it without slowly bleeding to death, which meant no bicycling until he got treated.

The prisoners would be taken to Enies Lobby and processed for full interrogation. He himself would have to report this incident to World Government HQ as soon as he was healed enough to make the return trip. He had a lot of questions to ask when he got there.

In the meantime, getting a ride on Commodore Flounders' ships would have to do.

He hoped the Commodore's battleship had a bike rack.


In minutes, the Marines from the Third Fleet battleship and its two escort cruisers swarmed the island. Foxy and his surviving crew had already departed at the first sign of more trouble, but the Straw-Hats were not so lucky. Everyone besides Nami, Usopp, and Chopper was either unconscious or so thoroughly wounded that they could barely move, and the advance medical post was overrun as soon as the Marines arrived.

Presiding over the entire operation was Admiral Aokiji, who made resistance unthinkable. The Straw-Hats were captured alive, and the most grievous of their wounds were given emergency treatment.

Commodore Percival Flounders watched his subordinates work with real satisfaction. The capture of an actual ninja meant that perhaps some progress could be made in the investigation of Akatsuki.

"Commodore Flounders, sir!" interrupted a woman's voice. One of Saldicci's lieutenant commanders.

"Yes?" he asked, turning to face her and waving down her salute.

"The squads searched the pirate vessel and found no one on-board!"

"Is the ship fit to sail?"

"Lieutenant Park says it's barely fit to float, sir. It's a hunk of junk, but the Admiral froze it to the island during the fight."

Flounders nodded. "Leave it, then. We need to be off this island as soon as we find everyone. Are we still missing one of them?"

"Yes, sir! One person as described during the escape from Jaya is currently missing!"

Percival scanned the prisoners that had not yet been loaded onto the ships. "That would be the other so-called 'ninja', yes? The black-haired one?"

"Yes, sir!"

"If he can't be found then we should bring Captain Saldicci's cruiser around to destroy their ship. Not that he could escape alone anyway, but..." Flounders' face assumed an odd expression for a moment. "A caravel like this isn't bad as a getaway vehicle, but one person can't properly handle it alone. Besides, a getaway vehicle's no good if you don't keep a crew ready to get it sailing the instant you're on-board. I mean, can you imagine carrying the loot while being chased down by the Navy back to your ship and then running through twenty minutes of working the ropes and sails so that you-"

Someone interrupted him from behind by loudly clearing his throat. Percival blinked, and looked over his shoulder. Captain Weber was glaring at him again. Chastised, Percival turned back to the woman he had been speaking to.

"Right, yes... Well- you can assume that the remaining ninja will be difficult to capture. In addition to the seastone cuffs for the Fruit-Users, make absolutely sure the restraints for each of the ninjas prevent them from bringing their hands together."

His subordinate nodded, saluted, and marched off. Captain Sebastian Weber was at his side momentarily.

"It's good to see you again, sir. We came as soon as we got your call. I trust you made some discoveries on the matter of this mystery organization."

"Mm… yes. The short of it is that this group called Akatsuki- and all of these ninjas as well- are natives of the unknown new island we've been hoping to monitor. I'm afraid the situation is just as bad as we feared."

Sebastian nodded, seeming unruffled by the news. "You know something about these 'ninjas,' then? The restraints you specified?" he asked.

"Yes, it appears that the overwhelming majority of their techniques require the ability to use both hands together in unison. We'll want extra security regardless, but those restraints should be a reasonable precaution against breakout attempts."

Sebastian adjusted his glasses, and the sun glinted in their reflection. "I can do extra security," he said, an edge of malicious glee sneaking into his voice, "I'll just ready the… special traps…"

Percival nodded uncomfortably at his subordinate's enthusiasm, but let him continue speaking.

"Speaking of the Admiral," said Captain Weber, "He was hurt. Surely the Straw-Hats didn't manage that?"

"No!" Percival let the word escape as if surprised. "No, I don't think it was the Straw-Hats- it must have been Akatsuki. The Admiral ordered me away from the fight for my safety, so I didn't see it.

"Probably for the best, if they managed to wound him. If they were capable of fighting with the Admiral as well as deciphering those stones, then I suppose it truly is a worst-case scenario," mused Sebastian.

Percival nodded, frowning at the thought. "Well, yes… Though I'm still a bit confused by the matter of their supposed leader, Tobi..." sighing, Percival straightened up and turned to his friend.

"Orders from the Admiral. We're heading to Enies Lobby. The priority targets for this convoy mission are as follows: First, Nico Robin. Second, the yellow-haired ninja, Naruto. Third, the currently missing ninja of unknown name. Fourth, Straw-Hat Luffy. Fifth, the remainder of the Straw-Hat Pirates. Nico Robin and the two ninjas will be convoyed by our lead ship to be guarded by the Admiral and myself. The remainder of the Straw-Hats will be split up between your ship and Captain Saldicci's."

"Yes, sir," said Captain Weber, "But is it wise to keep those two ninjas together?"

"The Admiral has concerns about the unknown transformative ability displayed by this Naruto child. Apparently, he attacked indiscriminately during the transformation and we're working under the assumption that he will be unwilling to transform where he could harm a friend."

"Then we'll handle the preparations and necessary medical attention immediately."

"Good. Now, all that's left is to find our missing ninja."


It was surprisingly easy. Signs of their quarry were discovered barely ten minutes later. An elite force was quickly assembled to section off the area, and eventually they had success.

Breathing hard, and clearly injured- limping from various harms suffered in the battle- Sasuke looked at the guns being leveled at him. Letting a long sigh escape him, he knelt to the ground and placed both hands on the back of his head.

"I surrender!" he called out, "I'll go with you peacefully! I'm the only one who can restrain him. Please. I won't fight you."


A/N: Title changed to the one I used while writing, and I'm much happier with it.

We're going off the rails for a bit. Anyone who figures out Sasuke's plan gets a cookie. Well, I won't actually give you a cookie, but you should take the nearest one and say that I said it was okay.