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~Interlude~ Minato

I wanted to do nothing more than massage my forehead as the clan heads bickered before me. The entire Kumo kidnapping incident had caused nothing but problems and I still couldn't figure out why the hell they thought they could get away with it. I'd met A, the current Raikage, several times before. Once on the battlefield and more recently meeting with him to discuss a true peace between our villages and not a ceasefire which we were currently in. He seemed like a hothead each time but I had held onto hope that he had cooled off somewhat however the current evidence suggested otherwise.

'Although there are more than a few here who would say peace and ceasefire are the same thing.' A traitorous portion of my mind spoke to me and I did have to acknowledge it. The Elemental countries seemed to be locked in a state of cycle of violence with periods of small skirmishes instead of wars. Still it was far better than the Clan Era. That had been a period of constant warfare.

Just taking a quick glance around I could see that more than a few clan heads were rearing to go and rejoin the fight with Kumo over this. I was more willing to go down a peaceful solution but I wasn't sure that was still an option here anymore. If only they could have taken being caught with some amount of grace but no they had to double down and demand Hiashi's head for killing the man who stole his daughter away.

At least the quick crackdown and purge of those who enabled this was over. A brief frown marred my face as I recalled several Hyuga elders who were in on it. I would never understand what would drive people to toss away their friends, family and their village for money or promises of power. Just the thought of betraying my family in such a way made my heart ache.

The sudden silence drew me from my thoughts and I had to spend a second going over what had been said before I turned to Hiashi. "Could you repeat that? It sounded like you were thinking about agreeing to Kumo's demands." I had to work hard to keep my voice as neutral as possible. I didn't want to be seen as favoring one side or the other until I had to.

Hiashi already had his Hyuga poker face on as he turned his pupil less eyes towards me. "I merely suggested that the cost of one life against the amount of people we would lose warring with Kumo makes this no contest in my eyes. I am a proud shinobi of Konohagakure and if my death would save thousands of others I would gladly pay it."

His declaration caused quiet murmuring to spring up around the table but I ignored it for the moment in favor of steeling my hands together and studying Hiashi. He gazed passively back at me while I did so and I saw nothing but resolve in his eyes. Our impromptu stare off was interrupted by a quiet "Troublesome," and I turned my focus onto Shikaku Nara who was looking remarkably alert for a Nara at the moment.

"Is there something you wish to share with us Shikaku?" I hoped he had some sort of plan to get us out of this mess. The Nara's, at least the males, were one of the laziest bunch of people imaginable but they were also the smartest and if he had a plan I was all for hearing it.

The rest of the room also quieted down as everyone focused their attention of Shikaku who let out a truly impressive sigh before he spoke. "While your gesture is noble, Hiashi, I don't see it working out as you planned. Kumo seems to be deliberately trying to provoke us into a fight but the question is why?" His gaze traveled around the room and briefly stayed on my regrown limb that was lost to the Kyubi before continuing onwards. The clan heads knew about the near miraculous technique, how could they not when some of their clan members were the ones healed, but they believed that Tsunade was the creator of the technique. She had also reported a far greater increase of assassins and spies after her recently so the secret had finally spread beyond the village walls which was unfortunate, but nearly a miracle that it took this long to get out.

Shikaku finished his perusal of the room and then slowly shook his head. "No, I believe that any attempts to appease Kumo will simply delay the inevitable fight unless we manage to firmly dissuade them from their course. It might even be better to allow them to attack now when they have no allies that they could call to battle or would only join if we started losing massively."

'Damn. It was a harsh assessment but it was in line with what the Tactical department was saying.' I held back a sigh. 'If only they could have done this later.' We were still recovering from the Third Shinobi War and then the Kyubi attack and even with Shiro's jutsu bringing back people to field readiness we were lower on manpower than I would like. 6 more years would have bought us enough time to fully recover and begin training the next generation of bloodline user's from Orochimaru's experiments as well. If wishes were real… well actually we would probably be dead because of our enemies.

Regardless. "What do you suggest then?"

"If it comes to another war then Suna, Kawa and Taki should join on our side but to prevent that from happening we would need to do something big." He paused and then let out another sigh. "The current Raikage's brother B is a jinchuuriki, that much we know, but we have reports of another contained tailed beast as well. I believe the jinchuuriki's name is Yugito Nii."

I slowly nod and motion for one of the ANBU to go get me the folder we have on her. "Are you suggesting we kill or take one of them hostage?"

"Yes the loss of such a strategic power would severely weaken their military might although I would recommend not targeting B. Based on the reports we have of the Raikage he would definitely pursue war with us if anything happened to his brother but his advisors might become more cautious if they lose Yugito."

The ANBU returned with the folder and I quickly skimmed it over. Female, age 17, jonin and seen in a two tailed state while still in control of herself. Yes, she was definitely a threat and could probably kill quite a few of our ninja if war broke out. I repressed a sigh and set the folder to the side for the moment.

"Let's say we succeed at taking her out without being revealed. What are the chances Kumo will back down?"

Shikaku wearily rubbed his forehead before he spoke. "They would probably be more likely to stand down for a while but you have access to the same reports I do as Jonin Commander. They've been harassing us on our border for the past 6 months which was why this peace delegation was so important. Either way it's more of a question of when than if they attack, but either way we deny them a valuable asset even if the ceasefire continues."

There was a moment of silence as everyone seemed to harden themselves for the seemingly inevitable conflict. I let the news sink in and then rapped my knuckles on the table to get everyone's attention. "After considering the situation I've come to a decision." I turned so I was fully facing Hiashi before I spoke next. "Hiashi your willingness to sacrifice your life for the good of Konoha shows that you are a true ninja and I wish everyone could have the courage it takes to willingly do so." I took a deep breath before I continued. "However, I do not believe that doing so at this time would be for the benefit of Konoha as we would lose a wise and respected clan head for dubious gains at best. This may change but for now we'll put this to the side."

He bowed his head slightly and I still couldn't tell what he was thinking behind his blank face. "As the Hokage wishes."

"Since we will not be giving into Kumo's demands just yet I want you all to begin preparing for the worst while I continue to try to resolve this peacefully, even if that goal seems further away by the minute. If there is nothing else you are all dismissed."

There was a scrapping of chairs as the clan heads rose and left. Once the last one had left I allowed myself a small moment to collapse back into the chair and tiredly rub my eyes. 'Why did I want to be Hokage again? Oh right, it was my childhood dream.' An amused snort escaped me. 'If I could I would probably go back and slap myself for wanting that. Being Hokage is nothing more than paperwork and hard decision after hard decision.' With a small sigh I straightened and left the room, grabbing the folder on the way, to go back to my office.

As I entered the office my clone looked up from the stacks of paper and with a gleeful look on its face dismissed itself as I winced at the sudden influx of memories. I gave myself a moment to go through everything as I sat down before sending one of the ANBU to fetch Danzo. I had a mission that needed to be hashed out.

It didn't take him too long to arrive and as soon as he had made himself comfortable I activated the privacy seals around the room sealing us in. "So I'm sure you know our current position in regards to Kumo."

He nodded slightly as he took a sip of tea one of the ANBU had left for him. "I do. I even have an updated troop movement. We can't be sure exactly where they're being sent but Kumo is mobilizing even more than they were before the kidnapping attempt."

My shoulders slumped at the news and I felt my headache grow. "So they've been preparing for this and the unreasonable demand is just an excuse."

"It would seem so." He said blandly and I let out a sigh. We could win a war against them. We still had one of the largest militaries even with recent setbacks and our allies would help but it would be bloody.

Straightening I walked over to the window so I could look up to the Hokage's mountain. It helped ease my mind seeing my predecessor's faces carved into the rock face looming above us and I stared up at them a moment longer before I turned back to Danzo. "I need your advice on a mission regarding the jinchuuriki, of the Two Tails, Yugito Nii. If Kumo is determined to see this through I want a crippling first strike against them."

"Not Killer B, the Eight Tails container, instead?"

"No, he's powerful enough that we would need a small army to kill him and the security around him is too tight for an assassination."

"True enough." He took a sip of tea and then closed his eyes as though trying to recall something. "If I remember correctly I believe I can have a team sent out within the day. Do you want to just assassinate the container or capture her to bring her back and extract the Two Tailed beast?"

I rocked back on my heels as I thought about it. Just killing her would allow the beast to escape and Kumo could seal it again but if we captured her and took the beast for ourselves than we would be that much stronger down the line. Of course the risk was far higher and our enemies would become even more nervous when they found out we had a jinchuuriki but that would be later. "Focus on killing her but if you can bring her back without implicating Konoha do it."

"Two teams then and I would like Shiro to go along as well."

A jolt went down my spine and I carefully kept my face neutral. "Why do you want him to go?"

"His powers would make infiltrating and extracting a great deal easier giving the mission a higher chance for success." His eyes flickered over to mine. "Of course if you do not believe him ready for such missions then…" he trailed off as I shook my head.

"Shiro has my full confidence but for such a high risk mission I would ask that you give him the choice to refuse."

"As you wish." He drank the rest of his tea and then stood. "If that is all?"

It was not and I shook my head. "I actually want your advice on whether or not we could possibly seem to comply with Kumo's demand and substitute a clone from Orochimaru's experiments?"

The question actually seemed to stump him for a minute but when he replied it was strong and confident. "It is definitely a possibility that needs to be considered. I don't know the exact politics of the Hyuga clan but the betrayal of several of their elders must have shaken them and they need a strong leader at the moment. Another thing to be considered is if they ever discover the ruse." His eyes locked with mine.

"If other villages discover that we could copy people's bodies down to a genetic level with intact bloodlines there would be war. The current civil war in Kiri is helping us cover the fact of where we're getting so much new blood but such an outright display would be inadvisable. Of course you are the Hokage and the choice rests with you."

I let out a sigh and nodded. "Thank you for your advice. That will be all for now." He gave me a small bow before he left the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind him I collapsed in my chair and leaned down to open a secret drawer. Pictures of my children greeted me and I flipped through them. The one of them all peacefully sleeping together was one of my favorites although the one with Shiro with a powdered face wearing a pink yukata as Mito and Karin braided his hair always drew a smile to my face. Shiro would probably kill us all if he ever found it but it was worth it. The latest photo caught my eye and I saw Mito and Karin grinning widely as they hugged Shiro while Kushina smiled as she rested her chin on his head. There was even a small smile on Shiro's face as I saw the banner in the back proclaiming it his eighth birthday.

'Harder and harder decisions.' I thought as I gently tucked the photos away.

~Interlude End~

I felt a chakra signature flare up outside the house and pulse in a rapid pattern that made me want to sigh. Apparently I was being recalled to the Root base for an urgent mission and I had just gotten home as well. Before I could get up Kushina hugged me close and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. "Stay safe."

"I'll try," I murmured as I wiggled out of her grasp and headed towards the door. "Tell the girls that I said hello."

"I will." I heard her call out as I shut the door behind me and sped off towards the base. It didn't take long to reach and I quickly changed my outfit to be suitable for a Root mission. I was just slipping on the comforting weight of my mask before I stepped into Lord Danzo's office to see him and 8 other Root agents standing at attention.

As I joined the line Danzo cleared his throat and began to speak. "You are called here today for a vital mission that could determine the survival of Konoha. The odds of survival are low so I will only ask for volunteers for this mission. If you wish to participate step forward now."

Each of us stepped forward at the same moment making it seem almost choreographed in nature. While I wasn't enthusiastic about what he said I wouldn't try to shirk my duty and beside if they called me here they must need me for something. Danzo slowly looked at each of us and nodded.

"Very well." He slid 9 folders towards us which we took and then returned to our original positions. "Your target is the possible capture of one Yugito Nii, the jinchuuriki of the Two Tails, or her elimination if that is not possible."

'Damn, he was right about low odds wasn't he?'

"Our latest reports show that she is currently residing within Kumo at the moment and will be staying there for some time." He pointed at me. "Kyuu(nine) will be your point of entry and exit to the village. Take the next three hours to go over your strategy and then move out with Ichi being your leader. Make sure to burn the folders when you are done. Dismissed."

As soon as he said that a ding partially distracted me as I followed everyone else out of the room towards a nearby room where we could go over everything.

Ding! Quest Received.

Taming the Cat

Duration: 2 weeks

The jinchuuriki of the Two Tailed beast needs to be eliminated. If you fail there will be drastic consequences for both yourself and Konoha.

Rewards: 30,000xp, 50,000 ryo, ?

'Great. Another quest that promises dire consequences for failure. Why couldn't I get nice easy quests?' The answer came to me a moment later and I repressed the sigh that was threatening to come out. 'It wouldn't be a quest then but a task.' I mentally dismissed the popup and focused on the folder as I started flipping through it. I had to raise an eyebrow at the amount of detail here. Sure it didn't give the exact layout of patrol schedules but it did give commonly patrolled areas and a quite detailed layout of Kumo. 'I wonder how many people died to give us this information?'

I set that thought aside for the moment and looked at a photo of the target. It wasn't the best as it was obviously taken at a distance but I could still make out enough of her to pick her out of a crowd. The list of her known abilities was underneath the photo and it seemed pretty standard for a jonin although being able to fully control her two tailed state was incredibly worrying. There was a bit more to work through after that but I finished reading it quickly and then burned it all to ash as the rest of the agents followed suit.

Ichi brought out a map of the elemental nations and laid it down on the table as we all leaned in to get a better look. "Alright, we have to infiltrate Kumo within the next 5 days." He tapped the bottleneck on the border between Snow and Cloud country. "With such a massive increase in numbers on the border we have to get around the blockage and we will do that by going here." Ichi pointed at the North most tip of Iron country which drew some whispers as they saw how long a journey across the open sea we would have to take.

"Quiet." Ichi commanded and the muttering stopped. "We'll reach here and rest for the night before making the journey across the sea. Bring plenty of chakra pills if you think you can't make it but if we do this we'll be behind the majority of their patrols."

I felt the need to add my two cents to the topic. "I can help with the crossing." 8 heads swiveled to me but I pressed on. "My chakra regenerates quicker than I lose it when water walking so I can carry people if need be." I could feel the incredulous stares even underneath their masks and I shuffled in place when I heard one of them say, "Lucky bastard," under their breath.

I kept my focus on Ichi who slowly nodded which relieved the majority of the tension I felt for revealing that. Quests, and the severity of this mission, were incredibly important and I would not jeopardize it because I wanted to fit in. "I'll keep that in mind. Now once we make landfall we'll rest for the night and slowly make our way through the mountains to Kumo. Once we get close enough we'll stop and wait for nightfall before Kyuu will provide the infiltration route."

I took that as my queue to speak up again. "My technique allows anyone I am physically touching or connected via chakra string to travel to a separate dimension. You can only stay there for an hour before things will become increasingly fatal to you and everyone but me experiences severe nausea upon entering and exiting." Finding out what happened to people who stayed longer than an hour had not been pretty. Seeing a volunteered prisoner being ripped apart from the inside out was more than a bit horrifying.

"Then we'll use that thirty minutes out from Kumo. Drop in, set up charges, slap a ludicrous amount of chakra seals on the target and high tail it out of there. That's where the dangerous portion starts." I sent Ichi a weird look even though he couldn't see it. 'Was the first portion not dangerous?'

"From there we have to transport a highly deadly prisoner through Kumo held land to here." Ichi tapped on the border of Kiri. "We need to balance escaping with leaving enough of a trail that Kumo trackers can follow us to Kiri throwing the blame on them whilst also avoiding both rebel and loyalist forces all while keeping our prisoner from escaping."

'Shit. I volunteered for a suicide mission didn't I? I'm an idiot.' I looked around at the 8 other people contemplating the mission. 'Oh well, at least I'm with similar minded people.'

Ichi rolled up the map and put it away. "Alright. You have 30 minutes to grab whatever you feel is necessary then meet back here. Dismissed." The room emptied except for Ichi and I as the rest left to stock up on more than the standard Root package that everyone carried. "You're not going as well?"

I shook my head and leaned against the wall. "I always carry everything I need with me." Ichi just grunted at that and copied me as we waited for everyone to return. 30 minutes later everyone had assembled and it was time to move out.

"Kyuu, use your jutsu now so we can get a feel for it."

The order made sense so I stretched out my chakra strings to connect with everyone before softly calling out, "ID Create: Empty." The world broke and reformed around us as my jutsu took effect. Everyone seemed to be shaken by the experience but none of them vomited so I think we're off to a good start.

"Damn. You weren't kidding about the nausea." San said as she shivered.

"Suck it up and let's get a move on." Ichi called out so we set out at our quickest sustainable pace North. Being in the ID Empty was always a little strange to be honest. It was just so… quiet. Nothing was alive here but the 9 of us as we sped along. At the 45 minute mark we exited the ID to land back in the real world and although no one said anything I could tell that they were all glad to be gone from that place.

Time passed and we reached the borders of Iron country. Iron country itself was an odd place. It was considered completely neutral in the eyes of all Hidden villages and even though it did not have any ninjas of its own the country had never been taken over. This was probably due to the legions of samurai retainers that the daimyo had and whilst they were far inferior in terms of external chakra usage such as ninjutsu and genjutsu they more than made up for it in internal chakra usage. Every single one of them was at least the speed of a genin and that made them a formidable fighting force.

Thankfully they seemed content to sit in their little corner of the world and export iron and other metals to the rest of us. I suppose that was also why no Hidden Village had tried to invade them. They were scared of losing their supply of metal if they lost.

We slipped around the border patrols and continued North until we reached our resting point for the day. Of course the fun didn't end there and we had to fortify the area while making it seem like we weren't even here before setting up a watch for the night. While the others slept I stayed awake for the night and nobody gave me any grief for it except Ichi.

Why are you still up? Ichi tapped on my leg as he settled next to me.

I don't require much sleep. It won't affect my performance in any way.

If you say so, but if it does I'll knock you out myself. He left it at that and rose to head to his watch spot.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon everyone stirred and we began the process of erasing our presence which didn't take too long to do. After that we set out across the sea with four of us floating along due to me connecting 5 chakra strings per person. I actually felt a bit embarrassed that I hadn't improved the skill at all in the last two years. All those other fancy jutsu and the new bloodline had distracted me from one of my first skills. I vowed to spend some time on it later.

We were about 12 hours into our journey when I switched who was floating along because the other 4 were starting to show signs of slowing down which was pretty good considering that it took double the amount chakra to walk on rough waters such as the sea. Regardless they didn't complain about being carried along because who would complain about having a free nap during a mission. It took another 10 hours before we actually hit landfall and we went for another hour inland just to get away from the shoreline before we set up our camp.

After a rather tense resting period we set off at around midafternoon. Kumo was a naturally mountainous area and that slowed down our movement even further considering we had to keep an eye out for any enemy patrols. There weren't any scheduled for the area in the briefing but no intel is flawless and indeed we had to hide at one point as a squad of chunin passed less than 400 meters away. Thankfully they didn't detect us and we were able to continue moving after waiting for an hour to make sure they were gone.

It took another day to creep through the increasingly dense patrols but we got within a two hour journey to Kumo before stopping. As we hid ourselves amongst the sparse foliage Ichi released a sparrow that took off in the direction of Kumo. I could only assume that it was a means for communicating with a spy within Kumo because it returned several hours later and Ichi gave us the signal that the mission was to proceed. I waited tensely until the moon had risen and hung nearly overhead.

'It was time.'

Everyone rose and we stealthily made our way through the mountains until it came time for my part. "ID Create: Empty," I said and the world broke around us once more. The time for stealth was almost gone and we raced as fast as we could into Kumo. Someone would no doubt sense the chakra flare from my technique and would investigate where it came from but by then we would already be inside and thankfully the exiting portion was similar to a whisper instead of a shout.

Kumo itself was a beautiful village that seemed to have been carved from the surrounding mountain peaks to form a city within the clouds. Which is probably where the name came from come to think of it. Regardless we were heading towards one of the outer peaks where their jinchuuriki had been placed to ensure that if she went berserk she would do minimal damage to the village.

We found an alley about two blocks away from the target's home and exited my ID to return to the real world. This was one of the more dangerous portions of the plan because we would have no idea what was there until we exited but after a hurried scan we found nobody near us.

Team B set charges. You have 5 minutes.

Go(five) through Haichi(8) jumped away to go place numerous explosive tags around the area. While I didn't like the idea of hitting a mainly civilian target the explosion would cover our tracks and muddy the chakra signature left behind when I performed my ID Create so I accepted it as necessary. I perked up at the sound of voices coming towards us. One annoyed sounding female and a slurred male voice, probably from drinking.

"Is fine." The male voice belched out.

"No it is not fine Daisuke. This is the third time this week. What would mom think?"

"Du know cause my sista wouln't tell on me." There was a slight pause. "I gotta take a piss." He hiccupped and I heard an annoyed sigh.

"Fine. Go in that alley over there." A boy of about 15 stumbled into the alley but the main thing I saw about him was his Kumo headband strapped to his forehead. If them making a racket hadn't sealed their fate this did. We couldn't take the chance that this was a ruse of some kind and they needed to be eliminated before they could draw too much attention to us. As Daisuke was fumbling around with his pants I dropped behind him and blew a cloud of fast acting knockout gas in his face.

He dropped like a sack of stones but I made sure he didn't make too much noise as he hit the ground. The only sound left was an impatient tapping as the girl waited outside the alleyway. "Daisuke, you done yet?" The only response was a resounding snore from him and I heard the unmistakable sound of someone hitting their forehead.

A young girl of about 13 peeked around the corner and groaned at the sight. "Oh come on." She ground out as she entered the alleyway and I noted the Kumo headband on her left arm. "Why do I have to be the responsible one here when-" whatever she was about to say was cut off by a soft cracking noise as Ichi appeared behind her and twisted her head around, killing her nearly instantly. His masked face turned to me making his intent clear and I reached down to break Daisuke's neck as well.

Once that was done Ichi sealed the bodies away in a scroll and we resumed waiting for Team B to finish setting up the explosives. We didn't have to wait long and after we regrouped we set off to the target's house. Entering a sleeping jonin's house is always a risk and not just from the owner. If a person has reached the rank of jonin they're almost always justifiably paranoid and it would seem that Yugito was the same as we were met with a veritable maze of traps leading further into her house.

Methodically Go traveled further and further through the death maze and we followed along placing our feet exactly where he did and not touching anything. It took a good 15 minutes to travel from Yugito's door to her bedroom and I for one was extremely tense the entire way. Even as we gathered around her bed and she still slept the tension never left me. It was only as my teammates slammed chakra suppression tags on her as her eyes sprung open and the world broke to bring us to the relative safety of my ID did the tension dissipate.

It was a mistake.

With a wordless roar cloyingly thick chakra sprung from her body. I saw her raging blue chakra cover her completely as the seals meant to suppress her literally overloaded from the amount of chakra and burnt to ash. We, as a team, had flinched at the appearance of her chakra cloak and the horrifying beast behind it which Yugito hadn't wasted.

As she slashed her arms to the sides chakra claws formed on her hands neatly bisecting two of our members in moments. 'We need space.' I thought as their bodies began to fall and lightning jumped from my hands to strike Yugito as I burst out of her house to gain some distance. Apart from twitching slightly as the lightning hit her it didn't seem to have much effect and the various kunai and shuriken bounced off her chakra cloak as well as the remainder of my team threw them while falling back.

"Code Black," I heard Ichi call out as Yugito's house exploded outward and hundreds of fiery blue mice swarmed towards us. With no convenient source of water nearby I had no chance to gather enough water quickly enough to quell the small horde that had split off to head towards me. Thinking quickly I ran through hand signs as fast as I could summoning a wall of crystal to cut off the horde of mice. They collided with my hastily formed wall and exploded in a flash of flames but my hastily made wall held giving me enough time to regain my bearings on the fight.

I turned just in time to see the chakra clad Yugito catch Go's sword with her hand before lashing out to remove Go's head and San being overwhelmed by flaming mice. Our response was immediate and every sort of elemental attack was sent towards her. She flung Go's body into the path of my lightning spears and then sent a humungous wave of flame which overwhelmed the two flame dragons while dodging the spikes of earth that burst from the ground.

'Fuck.' I sent nearly invisible waves of cutting wind at her which she didn't even bother to notice as they splashed against her chakra cloak ineffectually. Another horde of flaming mice spewed from her mouth and I had to create a wall of crystal to block them as Ichi's right arm was torn off. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck! We're being picked apart! What can I do?'

Suddenly there was no time to think as she was right before me and I tried to dodge her incoming punch. I wasn't nearly fast enough and then I felt nothing but pain as her hand went through my chest, ignoring the body armor and crystal armor underneath, as the corrosive nature of her chakra burned me. 'Damnit.' I grabbed her arm and tried to ignore the feel of my flesh burning as a rasengan formed in my right hand.

'Please work,' I prayed to whatever God was listening as I rammed it into her neck. It felt like I was pushing through thick mud and the swirling ball in my hand started to dissipate before I pushed more and more chakra into it in a desperate attempt to tear through her chakra. The rasengan swelled in size and with one final push it broke through her cloak to tear through her neck.

I could only hear the ragged sounds of my own breath as her lifeless body fell before me, her arm slipping from my chest with a wet squelch, and I stared blankly at her body for a moment in a daze. 'I can't believe that worked.' I thought before my blank gaze caught sight of the copious amounts of blood flowing down my body.

'I have a hole in my chest.' I thought still dazed from winning before realization set in. 'I have a fucking hole in my chest where my heart is and I'm still alive!' I hastily checked my health and saw it was at a quarter health and dropping quickly. My eyes widened and two clones appeared next to me, hands glowing green, as they went to work healing me.

"Holy shit." I looked up to see Ni standing staring at me or more accurately the large hole in my chest.

"I'll be fine." I rasped out having to work with only one lung at the moment as my left one got destroyed along with my heart. 'At least physically I'll be fine. Not so sure about mentally right now. Still kind of freaking out that I don't have a heart right now.'

She just gave me a very shaky nod and collected Yugito's body to put into a scroll when a thought popped into my head. "Ni, where's the Two Tailed beast?"

She didn't look up from her work. "It's gone for now. Since you killed its container it should disperse and reform again within a couple years."

"Okay, but will it reform in this dimension or the real world?"

The question was enough to get her to stop and look up at me. "That's a good question and I don't know." Her head moved down fractionally and I knew she was staring at the rapidly closing hole in my chest. "When will you be able to move out?"

"Ah," I glanced at my health bar and did some mental math. Since I was no longer bleeding I had a net gain of 80hp/min so 15 minutes until I was fully healed. "Give me 20 minutes to make sure everything is good to go. Is Ichi still alive?" Her nod was answer enough and I slowly made my way over to where I saw him fall to see the two other remaining squad mates tending to him. In addition to losing his arm I saw that he had deep lacerations across his chest and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

Everyone looked towards me as I came into sight and while they didn't have an outburst like Ni did I could tell they were shocked at my appearance. Ignoring it for now I made my way over to Ichi and knelt down near his head. "Ichi, do you want me to heal you?" I had to ask because Lord Danzo and Minato had both ordered me to never use Angel's Breath outside of Konoha without express permission from a superior officer. Since we were in a dimension of my own creation and nothing was here except us I felt it was fine to just go ahead and do it but protocol is important.

"Yes." He hissed out and that settled it. I made the required hand signs as quickly as possible with my burned left hand and shortly enough Ichi was back to full health while I was still wounded. It was quite unfortunate that I couldn't use shadow clones to use Angel's Breath on myself. I had tried before and all that happened was the technique fizzling out on me.

While Ichi got used to having everything back in place I settled into a meditative stance as I tried to regain some of my chakra while my clones healed me. I only got 5 minutes or so of rest before I was shaken by Ichi.

"We need to go. The explosives must have gone off by now and we need to get some distance away from Kumo so we can start laying down a trail."

"Really? I still don't have a heart!" He didn't say anything and I hung my head. "Fine! I really hate this mission."

Author's Footnote: How many of you thought I was going to make Shiro a jinchuuriki?

Age: 8 years - 1 month

Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage

LVL: 28 - 89% to next LVL

HP: 815/1,610

Chakra: 45,509/63,714

Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth

Bloodline: Crystal Release

STR: 169(219)

VIT: 161

END: 159

DEX: 174(191)

INT: 151(161)

WIS: 132(141)

LCK: 30

Points: 74

Money: 671,359