Disclaimer: I don't freaking own Naruto
"Hmm…."- Tailed Beasts, Summonings, and Black Zetsu


Chapter 53:
Backup

"Fire Style: Gokakyu!"

The fire technique that every Uchiha was known to use impacted with a tree branch from the giant tree that had been created a while ago.

Madara simply stood on top of the tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest as he watched the revived and controlled Itachi play a game of cat and mouse with the wood clones that he had created who also had their Susanoo activated in its simplest form.

"That was smart of you, Kabuto," commented Madara as Itachi dodged a swipe from one of the swords of one of the wood clone's Susanoo. Of course he was talking about the fact that Itachi had shot the fireball at the real him and not one of his clones. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to do better than that in order to defeat me."

Itachi didn't respond as he jumped back, dodging another swipe from another Susanoo. As he landed, he noticed that he was surrounded by all of the clones with their Susanoo present. If he had to guess, Itachi or Kabuto would say that there were about fifteen clones present. That was not good at all.

'I can't afford to lose Itachi,' thought Kabuto in frustration. 'But it seems that I won't be able to handle Madara with just him. He's going to need extra help….'

Madara raised an eyebrow as four more coffins rose from the ground around Itachi's still form.

'So he's going to bring more shinobi into this, is he?' thought Madara with a chuckle. 'Regardless, the outcome will still be the same.'

The coffins immediately disappeared right after the four revived shinobi had walked out from them.

"So it's you again," commented Madara as he immediately recognized one of them. To be precise, it was one that was entirely wrapped in bandages. "Tsuchikage…."

The Nidaime Tsuchikage, or Mu, looked up at Madara. "Uchiha Madara…..quite a surprise in seeing you again even after I'm already dead."

"The feeling is mutual," replied Madara.

"What's going on here?" asked a redhead next to Mu.

"It seems we've been revived," replied another one that had no eyebrows who was standing to the left of Mu. "It must be that damn Nidaime Hokage with his Edo Tensei. When I get my hands on him, I'll-"

"It's not the Nidaime who summoned you," interrupted Itachi who walked forward until he was standing in front of the four. Well, technically it was Kabuto who said it. "But that doesn't matter now. The reason you're even here is to defeat that man over there," he stated while pointing upwards to where Madara stood.

"I take no orders from anyone," retorted the tallest individual present who was also dark-skinned with a giant scar running down his chest. "Especially from a brat like you."

But Itachi didn't respond to him. It wasn't like he needed to. Moments later, the others present felt their bodies to start moving on their own.

'The Edo Tensei,' thought the redhead in slight anger as he felt his chakra begin to form his gold sand from the minerals that were present on the ground.

"Man, I really hate this jutsu," stated the one with no eyebrows.

The wood clones themselves simply stood there as Itachi activated his own Susanoo.

"The past Kages," muttered Madara before a chuckle escaped his lips as he gazed down at the revived shinobi. "Let's see if you can give me enough of a challenge in order to entertain me for a while."

"You still haven't changed," commented Mu.

Madara didn't bother to respond.

The wood clones' Susanoo all raised their swords upward, ready to strike down their opponents in front of them at any time.

The now identified Raikage activated his lightning armor and disappeared from sight only to reappear outside of the ring that the wood clones had made in order to trap the Kages and immediately took off towards the real Madara.

The Mizukage scoffed. "Showoff…."

The Kazekage simply crossed his arms in the exact manner as Madara was doing as golden sand erupted from the ground from behind him before shooting it towards the wood clones in front of him.

Mu was immediately behind the Kazekage, standing back to back with him with both of his hands in front of him.

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri!"

Immediately four of the wood clones were surrounded in a giant cube with a sphere in the middle before they were all reduced to small particles along with their Susanoo.

The Mizukage smirked at this as he glanced behind him. "That's the mummy for you. His Jinton is still as strong as ever…."

The Mizukage then brought his hands to the ground with a grin on his face before he was surrounded in a cloud of dust.

The remaining wood clones sprang into action, their respective Susanoo attacking the Kages.

Itachi's Susanoo's shield blocked off all of the attacks that were sent his way. The Kazekage took a step back as he tried to hold off the attacks from the clones with his gold sand. Mu for his part merely took off flying in order to dodge the attacks and the Mizukage was no where to be seen.

The real Madara closed his eyes momentarily before snapping them wide open as the Raikage appeared behind him, ready to strike him down.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The Raikage was pushed back a few feet but otherwise held his ground as he tried to push through the attack with his lightning armor still activated.

Madara raised an eyebrow in respect as he noticed this. "Your physical strength is outstanding, I'll give you that much," stated Madara as he turned around in order to face the Raikage as he continued to press with his gravity attack. "I'm afraid, though, that that won't be enough to defeat me."

The Raikage didn't respond. Instead, he disappeared from his spot only to reappear to Madara's right, intent on trying to attack him once more.

Seeing this, Madara grinned as he Susanoo sprung to life which completely deflected the punch from the Raikage.

"You've also got speed," muttered Madara before he noticed that his Susanoo was beginning to crack from the single punch. "As well as strength," he added before turning serious. "It seems that I really must not take you lightly, Raikage."

Immediately sensing danger, the Raikage jumped back in order to dodge being hit by the giant sword from Madara's Susanoo.

"It seems that this will be fun after all," said Madara with a small grin as his Susanoo disappeared before jumping off the tree and down below with the Raikage being right behind him.

"Amaterasu!"

The wood clone in front of Itachi simply fell to the ground as he began to be burned by the black flames.

Itachi's eyes widened partially as tendrils made out of wood began to come out of the ground all around him with them wrapping tightly around his body.

"This is it for you," said another wood clone from behind him.

The Itachi in front of him simply dispersed into crows the next moment making the Madara clone smirk. "Clever…."

The real Madara landed right next to him the next moment before they took positions with their backs facing each other. Itachi appeared in front of the clone, and the Raikage landed in front of the real Madara.

It seemed that this was not close to being over just yet.


On the other side of the compound, Tsunade stood up on shaky legs as she focused entirely on the approaching Naruto.

"So you're going to kill me now, are you?" asked Tsunade as she tried to heal her wounds on her body before giving up, knowing it to be useless. There was a better way, after all. Well, it wasn't better; but it was faster.

Naruto stopped walking, simply standing in front of the Godaime Hokage in silence before he shouldered his sword. "You know something ,Tsunade," began Naruto in a relax and calm manner which was the complete opposite of what he had been throughout the whole fight. Okay, it couldn't really be called a fight. Naruto had yet to take any damage at all. But that was not the point at the moment.

"I still don't see why you're still hung up on trying to save this village," he continued while shaking his head. "Essentially, this village betrayed your family as well. No, it did. Case and point. There is no denying that fact."

Tsunade smirked at him as blood began to come out of her mouth. "You still don't get it do you? It's everything that you once stood for."

"No," interrupted Naruto with an amused look on his face now appearing. "That wasn't the real me. I suppose you could call it a fake in a sense. That was just my incomplete version. The one that you see standing before you, that's the real me. The one that I've been trying to suppress for so many years. But you know what? I'm tired of doing that. This is my true nature. And nothing in the world is going to change that."

"Are you?" asked Tsunade before looking at the pile of ash that had once been Iruka. "Because I'm pretty sure that Iruka once saved you from becoming this. Are you certain that there is no one left that can change your mind at this point?"

Naruto grinned slightly at that while closing his eyes. He didn't fear the woman standing before him in the slightest. "You're right about that, I'll admit to that much. But that was just my naive self clinging to a false hope. An escape, if you will. It was because someone actually believed in me and saw me as for who I am, not just my jinchuriki side. Because of this, I thought that I could make the others believe that as well. But….I've come to realize that that was just a stupid dream. The whole concept of trying to prove myself….it's just idiotic to me now."

"That's not what you once believed in," retorted Tsunade as she fell to her knees, no longer being able to stand.

Naruto opened his rinnegan activated eyes as he looked at Tsunade. "I told you that that was just my naive self clinging to a false hope. I've come to know of the true nature of this village. After everything that I know now….do you really expect for me to actually try to fight for this place!?" Naruto nearly screamed the last part out.

"You're no better…." responded Tsunade as she looked straight at him.

"I never said that I was," retorted Naruto. "Call me what you want. I really don't care at this point. But talking to you is pointless. You've obviously chosen your side."

"This is my grandfather's jewel," stated Tsunade as she stood up, her diamond on her forehead activating as it healed all of her wounds instantaneously. "And I will protect it no matter what!"

Naruto chuckled in obvious amusement when he heard this. "Your grandfather's jewel, eh?" he said as a dark grin appeared on his face. "Another thing that you're mistaken in. He longer believed in this village when we fought."

Tsunade's eyes widened at this. "You….that's not possible!"

Naruto shrugged. "Believe me if you want. Or don't. It really doesn't make a difference to me. But he told me so himself. I really can't say I defeated him either. He allowed for me to kill him again in his own free will. If there was a time when this village was actually a sign of peace, it was in his time. Now? It's nothing more than a lie."

Tsunade growled before she rushed at Naruto in obvious anger. Seeing this, Naruto simply grinned before bringing his Seikatsugakari in front of him. He was greatly surprised, however, as Tsunade's punch succeeded in pushing him back a few feet.

'Her strength has increased,' thought Naruto as he came to a halt. 'It must be because of that diamond on her forehead.'

Tsunade could only frown as she noticed that Naruto's sword had not been broken in half by her punch. 'Just what is that thing made out of, anyway?'

Naruto chuckled. "So….you're still going to be stubborn, are you? Even when you know that it is hopeless."

Tsunade scowled. "I've already told you. I'm going to protect this village. You may be right. Some of the past actions from Konoha have not been just. But that doesn't give you the right to do what you're doing."

"And that is where you are wrong," retorted Naruto with narrowed eyes. "It gives me the right. And even if that weren't the case, I'm doing this for my own satisfaction as well. Is it right or wrong? I don't give a shit. 'Right' or 'wrong' are just labels, a matter of perspective. But for the third time, this is just for bringing joy to my own little dark heart!"

The markings that formed a third eye at the center of Naruto's forehead glowed for a moment as well as the streaks on Naruto's sword.

Naruto chuckled as his face turned back into its twisted grin. "Now, are we done with our little chat? Because I really need to get going with the destruction of this place."

The next moment, Naruto found himself covered completely in oil, making Naruto become confused for the moment.

"What the-"

"Fire Style: Gamayu Endan!"

Naruto soon food himself completely covered in flames thanks to Jiraiya who was standing a good distance behind him.

"That should teach him!" stated Shima with a scowl on her face.

Before they could celebrate any further, chuckling could be heard from within the flames that had supposedly 'killed' Naruto.

"Getting me from my blind spot, eh, sensei? Now how is that honorable?" said Naruto as the repelled the flames as well as the oil along with it with his rinnegan.

"It's not meant to be honorable," retorted Jiraiya.

Naruto chuckled as he turned to face the toad Sennin. "You got me there. Not that it matters anyway…."

"Don't forget about me, brat!" screamed Tsunade as she appeared behind the amused Naruto, swinging her fist towards the said silver haired jinchuriki.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Tsunade was blown back yet again.

'I really love that technique!' thought Naruto before he glanced at the down Tsunade. "Your strength is too much of a hassle to deal with for me to get hit. So I'm not going to let you come anywhere near my face. Understood?"

Using the supposed opening, Jiraiya immediately got on all fours again.

"Senpo: Kebari Senbon!"

Without turning to face the incoming hair needles, Naruto brought his freed hand forward, completely repelling the attack.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's impolite to interrupt someone when they're talking?" said Naruto as he turned to look at Jiraiya with a dark grin. "But if that's how you want to play, then bring it on!"

Jiraiya didn't respond as he rushed at Naruto, hoping to overpower him with the increased strength that his sage mode provided him with.

When he was close enough, Jiraiya jumped and sent a powerful axe kick down towards the person who had once been his student.

What he wasn't expecting, though, was for Naruto to simply bring his left arm forward in order to block the kick and succeeding in doing so as well.

'But that's not possible!' thought Jiraiya in momentary shock. Naruto's arm should have been broken in half and become completely useless afterwards!

Using Jiraiya's shock to his advantage, Naruto brought his sword upwards towards the white haired man. Seeing this, Jiraiya made to dodge only to see Naruto quickly grab a hold of both of his feet with his other hand.

Jiraiya screamed in pain as Naruto cut straight through both of his legs, him falling to the ground as a result. Not only that, but he felt himself become weaker once again.

"Jiraiya-chan!" screamed Fukasaku in worry from his spot on Jiraiya's shoulder.

'He absorb more of my soul,' thought Jiraiya in pain. 'It's just like with the sword from Hoshigaki Kisame…except that instead of chakra, Naruto's sword consumes souls!'

"I've played around with you long enough," stated Naruto as his face lost all of its playfulness. "Seeing as this is the best that I'm going to get from you, there really is no point on continuing with this."

Hearing this, Shima growled before she decided that she had enough. She inhaled deeply before shooting out a continuous amount of a fire stream. Seeing this, both Jiraiya and Fukasaku decided to add their two cents in there.

"Senpo: Goemon!"

Fukasaku shot out a strong wind stream while the downed Jiraiya shout out oil from his mouth. The collaboration technique hit Naruto dead on, causing for a major explosion to occur only for it to die down a second later.

"So you're still trying," said Naruto as his rinnegan absorbed the attack. "I respect that, but any jutsu is meaninglessly before these eyes."

Naruto was then right above Jiraiya, the Seikatsugakari raised upward before he brought it down, impaling Jiraiya straight where his heart should be.

Both Fukasaku and Shima could only watch this in shock before they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. Jiraiya had been the one to summoned them here, after all.

"This is the end," stated Naruto with no remorse.

Jiraiya gasped in pain as he felt all of his energy being drained by the Seikatsugakari as well as feeling his body beginning to turn into ash.

'I wonder,' thought Jiraiya as he looked at Naruto's expressionless face, 'if I had only trained Naruto properly those three years ago, if had actually acted like his godfather…..would this fate have been avoided? Was that the choice that decided all of this? My carelessness….I wonder…..'

In the next moment, Jiraiya's body was completely turned into ash as well as the one that had been used as the sacrifice for being able to have summoned the dead shinobi.

"So that was the end of Jiraiya…." muttered Kurama.

But Naruto didn't pay him any mind at the moment. Instead, he turned his attention to the still down Tsunade who was looking at him with pure anger and hatred. If looks could kill, Naruto would be nothing more than a pile of ash just like Jiraiya was.

"That regeneration jutsu of yours is taking quite a toll on your body, isn't it?" said Naruto as he shouldered his sword yet again.

But Tsunade didn't respond to him any longer. This was the last straw. He had just killed Jiraiya….again! There just wasn't any point in talking any longer.

"Are you sure that you want to kill her?" asked Kurama. "After all, Mito wants to take care of her personally…."

'You're right about that,' replied Naruto before facing towards the burning village. 'Something tells me that they're going to need back up….'

"I can sense the chakra from Matatabi as well as from Gyuki meaning that both Yugito and Bee are here now. Add to the fact that Fu is also here. That makes three bijuu present in the village, so-"

'That doesn't mean that they're invincible,' countered Naruto. 'I'd rather not take any chances.'

Kurama simply shrugged. "Your choice."

"Don't ignore me!" screamed Tsunade as she finally stood up before she fell to her knees yet again as she coughed up blood.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're in no condition to do anything right now, Tsunade. Besides, it's not my job to take care of you. Someone else has already called the right to do that."

"Who are you-" began to ask Tsunade before it hit her. 'Grandmother,' she thought as an image of Mito appeared in her mind.

"It's been fun," said Naruto before he placed the Seikatsugakari on his back. "But that fun now has to come to an end. I doubt that we'll see each other again. But in the event that we do, well….I don't know. I guess we'll just see what will happen then."

With that, Naruto disappeared in a dark flash.

Seeing this, Tsunade hit the ground next to her with as much force as possible as she could muster. The diamond on her forehead also returned to its normal state.

She needed to recover.


Sakura could not believe what she was seeing, or rather who she was seeing. Right in front of her was Sasuke of all people! But what was he doing here? And also, why was he wearing the uniform of the Akatsuki for that matter?

"J-just what-"

"Don't ask, monkey," interrupted Fu with a sigh. "All you need to know is that Sasuke is also on Naruto's side."

Sakura's eyes widened as much as possible at this new information before she turned to look at Sasuke for confirmation.

But Sasuke didn't even bother to even look at her. He was currently looking to where the Uchiha compound was supposed to be located at.

Seeing this, Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "Oi, Sasuke. What are you looking at?"

Sasuke merely began to walk towards where his home had once been before he answered Suigetsu with, "Let's go. There's something that I need to see."

Karin was immediately right behind him. Suigetsu grumbled for a moment before he too started to follow behind the Uchiha.

"W-wait, Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Sakura as she tried to move her upper body but found that she still couldn't. It just hurt too much. Not to mention the fact that the circulation of her chakra was still messed up thanks to Hinata.

Sasuke stop dead on his tracks and glanced at the down Sakura. "You….just what is it that you want now?"

"How could you be on Naruto's side!?" asked Sakura with wide eyes. "Why would you turn against the village!"

Sasuke scoffed at the question. "You're still the same immature girl, Sakura. Me and Naruto…..we've both grown up. That is all. You're simply still living in your own fantasy world where you think that being a shinobi is just fun and games. Well, it isn't. Reality is much harsher than that. But you couldn't possibly understand this. You've had a family and friends your whole life, always being protected. Sometimes I see that as a curse. Because of what I have experienced, I have managed to grow up. The same thing applies to Naruto. People like you who take things for granted….they make me sick."

Tears began to form in Sakura's eyes as she listened to every word that Sasuke said. "Y-you can't-"

"I've already told you this," interrupted Sasuke as he turned his head away from her, "but you're annoying. You're not even worth killing."

With that, Sasuke resumed with his walk towards the Uchiha compound, both Suigetsu and Karin behind him.

Yugito simply sighed as Sakura began to cry. 'Fangirls,' she thought with an internal frown before she turned to look at Fu. "What now?"

"We need to link up with Neji," answered Fu before she shrugged. "Well, I was suppose to, but…."

Bee landed right beside Fu. "Who's Neji?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"You'll see soon enough," replied Fu before she began to walk towards the crying Sakura. "But first…."

Yugito for her part looked down to see the unconscious Shikamaru on the ground who groaned which indicated that he was close to regaining consciousness.

'Not very honorable,' thought Yugito as her nails began to grow, 'but why should I care? Shinobi aren't meant to be honorable.'

With that thought in mind, Yugito sliced Shikamaru's head off with her nails that were coated with Matatabi's chakra. Shikamaru was dead at that moment.

Fu stopped right in front of the still crying Sakura, looking down at her will a small amount of pity in her orange eyes. "So this is it, eh, monkey?"

Sakura didn't bother to respond to her. And why should she? There was nothing that she had to say to her now.

Without a word, Fu shot her scales from her arm from her green armor all over Sakura's body making the said pink medic cry out in pain for a moment before she fell silent.

Haruno Sakura was dead within seconds.

"What about her?" asked Yugito while pointing at the body of Ino who groaned slightly in intense pain.

"Leave her," answered Fu as she began to walk away. "She's already dead. There's nothing that anyone can do to save her at this point."

Before Yugito could reply, a horde of Suna shinobi appeared all around them from the rooftops.

"We have company, yo!" said Bee as he pointed all around him, stating the obvious.

Temari landed in front of Fu with many other Suna shinobi behind her, looking at the bodies of Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino. 'So we're too late,' thought Temari with a frown.

Fu could only sigh in annoyance. "Seriously, just what is it with all of the interruptions!? I just want to finish my mission. Is that too freaking hard!"

Yugito chuckled before she stepped forward, looking straight at Temari. "The blonde one is mine. I can tell that she's not an ordinary kunoichi."

Fu simply rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself. But what about the rest of them?" she said, while pointing at the gathered Suna shinobi.

"I got this, yo!" was the statement that came from behind both Fu and Yugito.

The next moment, many of the present shinobi from Suna wet their pants as Bee transformed himself into his bijuu mode, completely becoming the Hachibi.

Yugito chuckled. "You can have all of them but save the blonde one for me. You got that, Bee!?"

"As you command, kitty!" replied Bee with a chuckle in his current state.

"Have fun then," said Fu before she took off flying via her wings that were on her back thanks to the armor that she wore.

"Shall we have some fun, Suna kunoichi?" said Yugito with a feral grin on her face as the Hachibi stood behind her.

Temari merely readied her fan as she prepared herself for what would probably be the hardest battler in her life.


Up in the Hokage Mountain, Naruto saw as the arrived force from Suna began to turn the tide of the battle. Most members from the Hyuuga clan had been wiped out and the White Zetsus themselves weren't strong enough to handle this themselves.

"This doesn't look good," commented Kurama with a frown. "And who knows when that Uchiha woman will arrive…."

Naruto was currently sitting down on the stone head of the Shodai, the Seikatsugakari laying down on Naruto's right shoulder with the tip of the blade touching the ground.

Naruto grinned as he watched all of this as well as the transformation by Bee. 'Yeah, it doesn't look all right. But you're also forgetting that I had already suspected that Gaara would get involved this early. No doubt that he already had his army at the border if not closer before the Kage Summit took place.'

It was then that Zetsu appeared on the ground beside him.

"Obito is dead," stated Black Zetsu.

"Is that so?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "No doubt that he went out on his terms….."

"And what makes you say that?" asked White Zetsu.

Naruto chuckled. "I don't know. Call it a simple hunch, if you will.'

"I agree with you on that," replied Black Zetsu.

"So, that Uchiha is dead, is he?" said Kurama with a grin on his face. "Now that brings a smile to my face!"

Naruto mentally shook his head. 'I've got to disagree with you on that, my friend. Obito was cool as far as I'm concerned. And not like the rest of the Uchiha clan…."

"Well, he wasn't that bad," relented Kurama. Naruto realized that that was the best that he would get out of the bijuu in this matter.

"What will you do now with this new problem?" asked Black Zetsu.

Before Naruto could respond, one Hyuuga Neji appeared behind with a badly injured Shizune on his back.

Naruto glanced at him for a moment. "It seems that you were having fun," he said with a small grin.

Neji scowled as he threw the Shizune's body on the ground behind him. "Don't get me started. Chasing her was a bitch. I'm just glad that it's over with."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, why is she even alive?"

Neji shrugged. "I thought that you might have some use for her."

Naruto waved his hands in dismissal at that as he turned to face the village again. "Well, I don't. She's useless to me."

"Oh…." Realizing his mistake, Neji quickly kicked Shizune's body off the Hokage Mountain and down towards the ground below.

Nobody present commented on this.

"Back to your question," said Naruto while glancing at Black Zetsu for the moment. "I'm not going to do shit just yet."

Neji raised an eyebrow when he heard that. "And why is that?"

Naruto shrugged. "It would be too early for that. I want to enjoy this a bit more. But I do have something to kick things back in our favor," he added with a dark smirk.

"And that would be?" asked Black Zetsu.

Naruto merely bit his thumb of his right hand in order to draw blood.

Realization hit both Black and White Zetsu as they saw this. Neji for his part looked on in confusion. As far as he was concerned, Naruto didn't have any other summoning contract other than with the toads.

"Kuchiyose!"

Several puffs of smoke appeared behind Naruto.

"Uzumaki….you really have random times for summoning me, don't you?" came from the puff of smoke directly behind him. A second later, it revealed a familiar red looking dragon.

Naruto chuckled. "I apologize for that, Moukaryuu. But I have something that will make it up as well as to your pals…."

The other clouds of smoke revealed similar looking dragons except with different colors. One was yellow, another one was bright blue with the other being a slightly darker blue, and finally there was a white dragon.

Naruto pointed down at the village below him. "See this village? Go crazy. Except for that giant octopus, a blonde kunoichi from Kumo, another mint haired kunoichi as well as for a third kunoichi with purple hair with a trench coat, you can kill anyone that you see down there."

Moukaryuu simply nodded before he took off along with the rest of the dragons down to the village below.

"I didn't know that you had another summoning contract," said Neji with a surprise look. "And that of the dragons as well…."

Naruto simply shrugged. "None of you ever asked. Speaking of which, where is Anko right now?"

Neji really didn't know the answer to that. Before he could respond, however, a tendril of sand was shot behind him and sent towards him.

Naruto was immediately behind him, sword in hand and with his left hand raised forward.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The sand was immediately repelled.

Neji could only sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment. "I guess that I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," replied Naruto as he looked up at the air to see the floating Gaara via his sand.

Naruto smirked up at him. "So it's you, Gaara…."

"Naruto," was all that Gaara said as he stood on his sand with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Naruto looked back on Neji. "Even though it's not necessary, how about a team up?"

Neji smirked as he walked forward until he was right beside Naruto, both of them turning their attention back to Gaara. "It will be my pleasure…."

"This is going to be good," said White Zetsu with a massive grin on his face as he watched all of this.

Black Zetsu had to agree with his counterpart.


Yo

Another chapter. Wow, it's almost becoming a habit for me now. Nothing more to say about that than that.

There is one thing that I have to address though. It was brought to my attention that I was bashing Hinata…..and my answer to that is an absolute N-O. This is not a 'Hinata bashing' fic. The only character that I have been close to bashing has to be Minato, and that was early on. But even I have to admit to that.

But seriously? Just because I didn't let her live? I've killed many other characters already! So what? Does that mean that I'm bashing them? Fuck no! It's just how I planned for this story to go as well as trying to stick to how the characters act in canon. Hinata is in love with Naruto in the same way that Sakura is with Sasuke who asked him to take her with him when he was going to Orochimaru….that's all that I need to say. Naruto just doesn't care about her in the slightest. It's that simple. And it's certainly not bashing. That's the last thing that I'm trying to do. I've seen many fics go down the drain because of that. Let me make it clear that bashing is none of my intentions. And if you don't like it? Then just stop reading the story and leave. It's that simple.

Also, if you found Naruto's reason for forgiving Kushina weak, it's perfectly understandable. I guess I should have explained this better, but even Naruto himself doesn't know why he forgave her. And if you don't believe in what you're saying, how can you make others believe in it? Oh, and more explanation of the Seikatsugakari's power will be given later.

I suppose that that's all that I have to say for this time. Please tell me what you thought in a review. It's highly welcomed.

Till next time.