Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I don't think that I ever will. So sad...
"Hmm…"- Tailed Beasts, Summonings, and Black Zetsu
Chapter 54:
New Comrades
Now one would think that Naruto would want to just appear anywhere in the village and start killing anyone from Konoha, be they a civilian or shinobi, and to just simply destroy the village again like he had already done once. To just get everything over with already.
Well, that person would be dead wrong.
Naruto had been impatient before he had acquired the Seikatsugakari, that much was true. And he still kind of was. But there were a few things that he needed to do before he could truly just sit back and watch the fireworks go off, if you will. There were two things in fact.
And those two things would be Kabuto and his other self. They were the only true major threats and annoyances that still stood in Naruto's way as far as he was concerned. Until they were both dead, he couldn't truly enjoy the beauty of what was currently happening. Well, what he thought of as 'beauty' in his eyes at any rate. The people from Konoha would totally disagree with him on that regard. But who cares about that?
Although he had to admit that he wasn't too annoyed about what was currently happening as he looked up at the still floating Gaara. Now as to why that was, he didn't really know. If it were anyone else, he probably would have been annoyed. Interesting….
Putting those thoughts aside, Naruto glanced behind him to see the grinning White Zetsu with the indifferent looking Black Zetsu at his side.
"You two, I have a job for you," began Naruto, completely ignoring Gaara for the moment. Said redhead simply stood there calmly with his arms still crossed.
Neji, who stood next to Naruto, had his attention completely on Gaara for the moment, however. He had already been caught off guard once, and there was no way in hell that he was going to let that happen again.
"And that is?" asked Black Zetsu.
"I need for you to find Kabuto for me," answered Naruto as he turned to look at Gaara again. "It's time for me to settle the score with that bastard."
'So that's why he said that it was too early,' realized Black Zetsu.
"Hai, hai," replied White Zetsu with his grin before they started to sink to the ground.
Before they completely disappeared, however, Black Zetsu had to ask something, "What makes you so certain that he's here right now? He could be anywhere…."
"Maybe," replied Naruto with a small shrug, "but it doesn't hurt to look. And this way, you have something to do instead of just sitting here doing nothing."
Black Zetsu didn't respond while White Zetsu chuckled before they completely sunk into the ground, intent on finding the said target.
"You know," began Naruto as he looked at the calm looking Gaara, "I'm surprised that you still haven't attacked me yet. I was kind of vulnerable right a few moments ago."
"That would be pointless," replied the said redhead while glancing at Neji. "I'm sure that he would have just simply blocked my attacks. Not to mention the fact that you would probably know that they were heading your way," he finished, turning to look at Naruto again. "Besides, there is something that you and I need to discuss."
Naruto immediately shook his head at hearing that, bringing his sword up to his right shoulder. "I'm not talking with anyone anymore. It doesn't get us anywhere. I'll just be wasting my time as well as yours. I'm here, you're there. Can't we all just accept that and move on with our lives? Things would be so much simpler that way."
But Gaara didn't look amused in the slightest. "The 'why' and 'how' we got into these positions are an important factor, and something that I'm still trying to understand at the moment."
Naruto could only sigh at this. "You….you just have to make things complicated, don't you? Well, just what do you want to understand exactly? My reasons for doing what I'm doing should be obvious to you. And as for the how….well, that would take to much time to explain," he finished with another small shrug.
Neji glanced at Naruto with a raised eyebrow in confusion. "I thought you said that you weren't going to talk anymore?"
Naruto looked at Neji with a blank look. "How exactly is this my fault! It's him over there with all of the damn questions!"
"Rendan: Suna Shigure!"
A barrage of sand bullets were immediately shot by Gaara which headed straight towards the bickering duo until Naruto raised his freed hand, bringing it forward and repelling the barrage completely.
"Son of a bitch," muttered Naruto as he turned to look at Gaara. "And here I thought that you were waiting for the moment…."
"I can ask you everything that I want answered once I capture you," retorted Gaara as he descended on the ground, more sand making its way of the sand gourd on his back.
"Cheating bastard," muttered Naruto in return before smirking. "Well, that just makes all of this easier then. It would have been boring if you just kept asking me questions without attacking me first. I would have just killed you, and then I wouldn't have been able to see what you're capable of now."
Neji had a slight sweatdrop as he heard this. "You….are you a masochist now or something?"
Naruto actually thought about the question for a moment before he shrugged. "Maybe….I don't know. But would that really be a bad thing?"
Neji didn't even bother to acknowledge the question. If he did, he would start to fear for his own mental stability.
"All right then," said Naruto as he focused back on Gaara. "Let's do this then."
'He's not taking me seriously,' thought Gaara in realization as he looked at the grin that began to form on Naruto's face. 'He's all carefree like a person without a care in the world…'
Naruto then raised an eyebrow. "Well? Aren't you going to attack us or something?"
Gaara didn't respond. Instead, he shot a wave of sand towards both Naruto and Neji at a fast rate, making the said duo jump out of the way. Well, Naruto didn't have to but still did.
Neji activated his byakugan as the wave of sand split in two, one heading towards Naruto and the other towards him. Seeing this, Neji prepared himself.
"Hakkesho Kaiten!"
The technique defended Neji from the sand which was dispersed to different locations in the air.
Naruto for his part simply used the rinnegan to repel the sand that was sent his way. Really, he was beginning to think that the Shinra Tensei really was the best jutsu that he had in his arsenal.
Neji landed on the ground, instantly dashing towards the still unmoving Gaara that still had his arms crossed. Seeing Neji heading towards him, Gaara immediately shot more of his sand towards him.
Neji frowned briefly before he brought his arm forward.
"Hakke Kusho!"
"Fire Style: Gokakyu!"
The palm trust was soon engulfed by the fireball that was sent by Naruto who was standing a few feet away next to Neji. Because of the palm trust, the fireball became even more powerful.
Seeing this, Gaara brought his sand in front of him in a protective wall, intent on repelling the extra powered fireball.
A few moments later, the fireball impacted with the sand wall. Gaara pushed more chakra into his defensive move, trying to repel the fireball.
"You're wide open, you know."
Hearing this coming from behind him made Gaara's eyes widen in surprise. He didn't have the time to defend himself, however, as he felt a strong punch impact with his left cheek, sending him back towards the fireball. At the last moment, Gaara brought all of his sand around him in order to not get burned alive by the attack.
Naruto, having been the one to have punched Gaara, simply watched all of this with his rinnegan eyes. Neji was still on the same position, byakugan activated.
"Your sand armor, eh?" muttered Naruto once the fireball had died off, revealing an unharmed and slightly panting Gaara with his sand all around him. The only 'injury' that could be seen was the cracks on the cheek that Naruto had punched, bits of it falling to the ground and revealing it just to be sand.
Gaara looked behind for a moment to look at Neji before turning back to look at Naruto. 'There is no way that I'll be able to fight them both at the same time….'
Naruto's markings from before appeared all over his face, the third eye in his forehead glowing. "Now don't tell me that that's all that you've got, Gaara," commented Naruto with a serious look before he chuckled. "Fuck it. No point in being serious right now."
'What's wrong with him?' thought Gaara before he brought his sand in front of him in instinct as Naruto rushed at him, swinging his sword in order to cut down the redhead Kazekage. Instead, all he hit was the sand.
"Hakke Hasangeki!"
Gaara grunted in pain as he flew forward from the attack from Neji who was standing behind with his arm extended.
Seeing this, Naruto willed for the Seikatsugakari to emit its crimson energy which immediately cut right through Gaara's sand just in time for the said redhead to be flying towards him.
Using this opportunity, Naruto brought his sword forward, cutting right through Gaara's chest only for Gaara to disperse into sand.
'Switched with a sand clone at the last second, did he?' realized Naruto with a grin before jumping upward. The reason for this being as massive tendrils of sand erupting from the ground which was covered in sand.
Looking up, Naruto saw the real Gaara floating in his sand again with his arms crossed.
'All right, if that's how you want to play,' thought Naruto as he brought his freed hand forward.
"Bansho Tenin!"
'What!' thought Gaara as he felt himself being pulled forward.
Neji was up in the air next to Naruto the next moment as he sent more of his 'vacuum palm' attacks toward the approaching Gaara.
Gaara brought more sand in front of him in order to block against Neji's attacks. He also sent a barrage of sand bullets towards both Naruto and Neji, using the fact that Naruto was pulling him forward to his advantage.
Seeing this, the Seikatsugakari released more of its crimson energy which reflected all of the sand bullets.
"This is it, Gaara!" stated Naruto as for a moment his crazed grin returned.
Seeing no other alternative, Gaara pushed all of his chakra into his sand armor as Naruto slashed right through his chest like he had done with the sand clone.
Gaara grunted in pain as he was flown to the ground below from the attack.
Both Naruto and Neji landed on the ground calmly before they turned to look at the now kneeled Gaara.
'That damn sand armor of his,' thought Naruto in slight frustration before he sighed. "As much as I want to continue playing with you, there is something more important that I have to take care of right now," he said out loud.
Neji for his part merely glanced at Naruto for a moment before turning his attention back to Gaara.
Gaara was now panting more heavily than before. His sand armor used up a lot of his chakra, after all.
"We're not through here," replied Gaara as he took a deep breath in before standing back up. "I will defeat you."
Naruto could only shake his head in amusement at that as he placed his Seikatsugakari on his back. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're nowhere near my level to be saying that, Gaara. But I'm through with the discussions. Let's get this over with already."
Gaara was silent before taking a step back without knowing as Naruto's Susanoo erupted into life around the said silver haired individual.
Neji took several steps to the side in order to not get caught in the crossfire.
'Is this….the power of darkness?' thought Gaara.
Naruto chuckled before placing his right hand on his face in order to hide what his face was showing at the moment. And that was a twisted and dark grin.
On the far side of what was once the Uchiha compound, another conflict was currently taking place. A conflict that one Uchiha Madara was beginning to get bored of as illustrated by the slight annoyance that his face showed as he landed on the ground from having jumped in order to dodge the gold sand sent by the revived Kazekage.
Both Mu and the Raikage stood next to the Kazekage with Itachi being a good distance away behind them, simply observing the fight for the moment. Well, Kabuto was at least.
As for the Mizukage….well Madara didn't know where he was right now, but he didn't really much care either. It had been fun in the beginning, fighting Kage level shinobi. Now it was just annoying for the revived Uchiha.
'I might as well end this now,' thought Madara. 'Besides, I need to watch how Naruto and the others bring down this village. Heh, now there is something that I will not miss.'
"This is getting annoying," commented Mu with a sigh. "How long is this going to last?"
"Well, it seems that we can't do anything about it," replied the Kazekage. "We're just simply puppets right now."
The Raikage, although not liking that fact, nodded his head in agreement as to what the Kazekage had just stated.
"Enough chatting," cut in Itachi/Kabuto from behind them. "Enough time has already been wasted here."
The other Kages simply grunted in annoyance but didn't respond.
It was at this time that three individuals suddenly appeared beside Madara, all looking intently at the Kage in front of them.
Madara chuckled slightly as he closed his eyes for a moment. "So it's you, Uchiha Sasuke….."
Sasuke glanced at Madara for a moment before focusing back on the three revived shinobi in front of him. "Just who are you?"
"Uchiha Madara," answered Madara calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Sasuke was silent for a moment before simply nodding. "I see…." If he was shock from hearing that, he did a very good job at hiding it.
'His chakra is off the charts!' thought Karin with a slight gulp as she glanced at the calm if not slightly annoyed Madara.
And Suigetsu…well he was just looking plain bored.
It was then that Sasuke noticed Itachi in the back, making his eyes widen in surprise. But before he could dwell on this, the Raikage was on the move.
He rushed at them with his lightning armor still activated at an incredible speed.
Seeing this, Madara stepped forward and activated his own Susanoo which the Raikage immediately attacked again. But already being aware of the Raikage's strength, Madara immediately repelled the said shinobi with his rinnegan. But just like before, the Raikage started to push forward despite the force that tried to push him back.
So busy in doing this that he didn't notice the Amaterasu sword from Sasuke's Susanoo descending down upon him since he was also aware of the swords from Madara's own Susanoo.
The Raikage gritted his teeth in pain as he felt his entire left half of his body being consumed in the black flames as he was pushed back by Madara's Shinra Tensei.
'This hurts like a bitch,' thought the Raikage as he landed on the ground on his back in front of the Kazekage and Mu.
Seeing this through Itachi, Kabuto could only scowl. Now that Sasuke was here, this was not going to be as easy as before. Hell, it wasn't easy to begin with!
"All right, enough with the games already," said Madara as he walked forward a couple of steps before stopping. "It's been fun, but I'm afraid that the fun has to end now."
Wordlessly, the Kazekage shot his gold straight at Madara only for it to be deflected by Madara's Susanoo.
In the next moment, Kabuto felt his control over Itachi dwindle for just a moment, making the said individual shock beyond belief. After all, Itachi was the only that he was controlling directly. His control could not be broken through. Or so he thought at least.
'Still fighting, are you Itachi?' thought Kabuto as he felt his control return. 'But unfortunately, it's going to take more than just willpower to escape my control.'
What Kabuto didn't know was that in that brief moment of freedom, Itachi had summoned something which would be the cause of Kabuto's downfall.
Madara stopped what he was going to do as he felt a change in the atmosphere before gazing at Itachi to see many crows appearing all around the said controlled Uchiha. 'What is he up to?'
Sasuke had also noticed this and was looking at his revived in brother in confusion.
Both the Kazekage and Mu just stood there, feeling the orders of attacking the shinobi in front of them disappear for the moment.
One of the crows suddenly flew in front of Itachi, and it was then that Kabuto lost complete control of the said Uchiha.
"Oi, what the hell is going on with your brother?" asked Suigetsu who was standing next to Sasuke.
But Sasuke didn't respond to him. He was too busy trying to figure out what his brother was trying to do. Or if it even was his brother doing this.
"Fire Style: Gokakyu!"
Mu took the skies once more while the Kazekage brought his gold sand around him in order to shield him from the fire attack that was fired from none other than Itachi.
And the Raikage….he just continued to lay on the ground while his body continued to be burned.
Madara raised an eyebrow in complete surprise at the sight in front of him as well as for Itachi appearing next to him on his right with one of the crows on his shoulder.
Realization then hit Madara causing for him to chuckle in respect towards his fellow Uchiha member. "You weren't going to go down without a fight, were you?"
"You know me too well," replied Itachi in a stoic manner.
Sasuke could only look at him in shock. "Just what did you-"
"He broke free of Kabuto's control with genjutsu," interrupted Madara, already knowing what Sasuke was going to ask.
'A genjutsu?' wondered Sasuke. 'But how could genjutsu-'
"You used Shisui's eye, didn't you?" asked Madara but said it more like a statement.
Itachi simply nodded. "It was tricky. I wasn't able to change the order that I placed on it, though….."
'Because you were hoping to one day use it against Sasuke,' thought Madara with as sigh before turning his attention back to the Kage. "It doesn't matter now. But I suppose that it will be up to you to take care of Kabuto. I have to take care of these four still as well as for something else." Well the 'something else' was just to sit back and watch the village burn but, they didn't need to know that.
Itachi simply nodded as he turned around and began to walk away with Sasuke and his team in tow.
"Just how did you-"
"I gave myself the order that I must protect the village at all costs," interrupted Itachi already knowing what Sasuke was going to say. "It was done by placing a genjutsu upon my self using Shisui's mangekyo. His genjutsu is superior even to my own." 'Although it also has its own drawbacks,' he finished in his mind.
"But aren't we threatening the village as well?" asked Sasuke, expecting to fight his brother once more.
Itachi glanced at him before he chuckled. "That you are. But so is Kabuto. And I never did specify whom I would go against first though."
'This way, the Edo Tensei will be undone making Itachi disappear as well. But he will have had provided support to both us and Konoha at the same time this way…..' realized Sasuke. 'It's….fucking brilliant!'
"Now," Itachi stopped before looking at Karin, "if you would please offer us with some assistance."
Karin nodded before concentrating on finding her target.
Suigetsu merely grumbled. 'What the hell am I? Chopped liver?'
Mu landed once more and stood next to the Kazekage, now facing the alone Madara.
"Seeing as this is probably the last time that we'll see each other, let me thank you for everything that you have done, Kabuto," said Madara with a chuckle. "You have done exactly what I expected from you."
Even through his pissed off state at the moment, Kabuto heard this through both Mu and the Kazekage as well as from the hidden Mizukage, making him confused. But just what did Madara mean by that?
"But now, let me thank you for that," continued Madara as his Susanoo began to change, "by showing you the Susanoo's true form!"
Both Mu's and the Kazekage's eyes widened as they gazed at the now gigantic and changed form of Madara's Susanoo. It now looked like a some sort of samurai.
The Susanoo then drew its sword before swinging it down towards the direction of the revived Kages which sent them flying backwards as well as make the actual ground beneath them crack. This also revealed the Mizukage who had been hiding within his summoning, a giant clam. Said clam disappeared in a puff of smoke having been cut in half from the attack.
"What the fuck!" screamed the Mizukage as parts of his body were blown off as well. "Just what the hell is this guy!"
None of the rest of the Kages had an answer to that question.
"I'm not through yet," stated Madara as its Susanoo prepared to swing its sword again.
It was at this time that the revived Kages knew that they had no chance of winning.
Gaara could only look at the dark form of Naruto's Susanoo, not believing that the Naruto that he knew had become this.
"Ankoku no Kensurasshu!"
Both of the swords from Naruto's Susanoo swung forward, sending a wave of dark energy towards Gaara who brought his sand forward again.
Gaara then grunted in pain as he felt some of the dark energy actually cut through his sand defense as well as his sand armor, cutting right through his real skin.
Holding his left shoulder in pain, Gaara saw more of the crimson energy beginning to flare within Naruto's Susanoo.
It was at the last second that Gaara sensed Neji's presence from behind him. So busy in focusing in Naruto that he had completely forgotten about the Hyuuga!
"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"
Neji brought both of his opened palms forward, sending violent blows to where Gaara's chakra points were suppose to be located in.
Using his sand as support, Gaara managed to stop himself from being pushed back too far but felt extreme pain in his stomach area. He had managed to block off against most of the blows by protecting his chakra points with his sand, but not all of them it would seem.
'I guess that I shouldn't be too surprised by that,' thought Neji as he immediately jumped back out of range from Gaara's sand into one of the tree branches from one of the trees that stood behind the Hokage Mountain.
"Thanks for that, Neji."
Gaara's eyes widened as he felt something pierce him. Looking down, he saw one of the swords from Naruto's Susanoo except that the sword was now coated with the crimson energy as well as with the crimson energy running through it. The Susanoo had simply thrown it at him.
Gaara felt the control of his sand leave him as he collapsed on the ground on his back. The sword had been powerful enough to cut straight through his sand armor it would seem.
The dark sword disappeared the next moment as Naruto appeared in front of Gaara, the red markings on his face still present. Neji landed beside him the next moment.
"How's that for a team up," commented Neji with a small smirk on his face.
"As good as any," answered Naruto as he and Neji bumped fists with each other.
Naruto then turned his attention to Gaara. "So this is it, eh, Gaara…."
Gaara was silent before asking what had been on his mind this whole time, "Why?"
Naruto sighed again. "You know, everyone seems to be asking me that lately…."
"You told me that you fought for your comrades, and yet…." Gaara went silent.
Naruto grabbed the Seikatsugakari from his back before bringing it forward and raising it. "And who says that I'm still not?"
Hearing this caused for Gaara to look at him with a questioning look.
"The only problem is that the comrades that I thought that were my comrades…well, they weren't. They never knew the real me. But the ones that I have now….well, they're different."
Neji was silent at hearing that as he remembered how Naruto had actually saved his life when Gaara had first attacked him.
"I have new comrades now. That's all there is to it," stated Naruto.
Gaara chuckled humorlessly as he closed his eyes. "And here I was planning on saving you like you saved me those years ago…."
"My darkness is just simply too big for you to erase it. Or well, for anyone really," replied Naruto.
"I see…."
"You might actually be stronger than me, Gaara," said Naruto softly. "After all, you managed to get over your own hatred for your village as well as for its people while I couldn't. But I'm still moving forward with what I'm doing. I chose this, and I'm prepared to see it through to the end as well as for the consequences that it will bring as a result of my decision."
With that, Naruto brought the Seikatsugakari down on the ground, stabbing Gaara right through his chest before the said redhead turned into ash.
"Gaara, eh," said Neji with a sigh.
"He was just simply fighting for what he thought was right," responded Naruto as he placed his sword on his back again. "We just simply switched places is all except that unlike me, he couldn't bring me back."
Neji simply glanced at Naruto, not knowing exactly what was going on in the Uzumaki's mind.
"You can come out now," said Naruto, making Zetsu appear on the ground in front of the duo.
White Zetsu pouted slightly, making both Naruto and Neji cringe at the sight. It wasn't a pretty one, after all.
"I told you that we had already missed it," said White Zetsu.
"Shut it," was the response from Black Zetsu.
"Did you find him?" asked Naruto.
"We did," answered Black Zetsu. "He's hiding himself in one of the underground bases that must likely belonged to Orochimaru when he was still in Konoha for his experiments right underneath the center of the village."
'Underneath the center of the village?' repeated Neji in his mind. 'I don't know whether that's stupid or brilliant….'
"You better hurry though," continued White Zetsu. "We don't know if he sensed us or not…."
Naruto simply nodded before looking at Neji. "I need for you to find me Anko. I don't like the fact that she hasn't turned up yet."
"About that," began Black Zetsu, causing for Naruto to look at him. "Kabuto actually has her right now…."
"Is that so?" said Naruto with an unreadable tone in his voice. "Do whatever you have to do then, Neji. I have to pay someone a visit right now."
With that, Naruto disappeared in black flash.
Neji could only chuckle as he turned around and made to walk back to the village. "I pity Kabuto already…."
Zetsu simply sunk back into the ground, intent on seeing what would happen.
"Okamaitachi!"
Yugito jumped into the air in order to dodge the heavy air currents that were sent by Temari who was dressed in the standard jonin uniform from Suna.
Temari then proceeded to send even more gust of winds toward the airborne kunoichi from Kumo.
'So she's a long range fighter, is she?' thought Yugito as she inhaled deeply.
"Fire Style: Gokakyu!"
The fireball immediately consumed the gusts of winds, making it even more powerful as it made its way towards Temari.
Seeing this, Temari immediately pushed chakra to her feet in order to jump backwards in order to dodge the attack.
'I'm at a disadvantage here,' thought Temari as she came to a stop. Fire beats wind of course. Well, under normal circumstances at least.
Yugito landed gracefully on the ground as she focused on the Suna kunoichi in front of her.
All around them, the rest of the Suna shinobi were trying to fight back the fully transformed Bee only for them to be swatted away like flies by one of the tentacles. It seemed like Bee was having fun if his slight humming was any indication. He was most likely thinking of new rap lyrics while fending off the Suna shinobi.
Yugito and Temari had a stare off for about five seconds before Temari swung her fan forward and sent an even bigger torrent of winds.
Yugito scowled at this. 'I'm really starting to hate that damn fan of hers….'
Yugito then got on all fours before jumping to the side to stick to one of the walls of the buildings around them in order to not get hit by the winds.
Temari then swung her fan again, creating even more gusts of winds and sending them towards Yugito again.
'That does it!' screamed Yugito in anger and frustration as she pushed chakra to both her feet and hands as she pushed herself off the wall and into the air.
"Stop moving so much, dammit!" screamed Temari.
"You stop swinging that damn fan of yours so much!" retorted Yugito as she landed on the spot that she had been before on the ground, still on all fours.
Temari scowled before she bit her thumb and ran it all across her fan.
"Stop playing too much already, kitten!" screamed Matatabi in Yugito's mind. "I want out now!"
Yugito sighed mentally before nodding.
Temari then swung her fan yet again except that this was different from before.
"Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!"
An one eyed sickle holding weasel appeared as an enormous torrent wind appeared behind the said summoning who rode through the wind.
Matatabi's chakra began to surround Yugito before she fired her own attack.
"Nezumi Kedama!"
The mouse shaped fireball split itself into smaller and deadlier parts that all took the same mouse shape before it came in contact with Temari's attack. The fireballs all flew around Temari's attack, going straight for the said Suna kunoichi.
Seeing this, Temari prepared to jump upward which we did, only for the fireballs to chase right after her.
'They're tracking me!' thought Temari in realization as she brought her fan forward, prepared to fight them back. Which she did for a few, only for one to be able to hit her which caused an explosion in the air which was amplified by the rest of the fireballs coming in contact with her as well.
Temari's summon was simply squashed by a giant blue flame covered foot that belonged to none other than Matatabi who didn't even flinch at the rest of the attack hit the foot that had been used to crush the summon.
A badly injured Temari landed on the ground with a thud, her body covered completely in burns.
Seeing this, Matatabi's mouth opened before shooting a massive fireball at the down Temari which engulfed her immediately, burning her alive.
"Let's do this, Gyuki!" screamed Matatabi while looking back at the eight tailed octopus.
Gyuki nodded as Matatabi stood next to him before they prepared a combined tailed beast ball.
Those who saw this were immediately on the run as the bigger than average attack was shot, destroying many buildings in the area in the process, engulfing the area in a big explosion.
Outside of the village in the forest that it was surrounded in, another confrontation was taking place between the samurai from the Land of Iron and the shinobi from the village of Ame.
One Uzumaki Mito could only scowl as she cut through another samurai with a kunai in hand before Fuka appeared behind her, the two redheads standing back to back with each other.
"So it seems that the samurai really did join in," commented Fuka with a kunai in her hand as well as she looked all around her, stating the obvious.
"Well, Kushina did kill their leader," responded Mito with a frown on her face. "But we've been delayed by this too long. I want to get to Konoha as soon as possible before Naruto destroys it by himself…."
"Mito-sama!" screamed one Ame shinobi on top of a tree behind them. "I see Konoha! Although it's currently being attacked by what appears to be a giant octopus and a cat as well as dragons!"
Fuka blinked dumbly at hearing that.
'The Hachibi and the Nibi, is it?' thought Mito. 'So, has that Uchiha arrived to the village already as well? But for the dragons…something tells me that Naruto is behind that….'
"I'm just going to take that in stride," muttered Fuka.
"We need to get going then," said Mito out loud before finding the two individuals that she was looking for fighting a good distance away from them. "Roshi, Han! We need to cut through these samurai this instant!"
Both Jinchuriki simply nodded as they finished killing the last of the samurai that they had been fighting against before red chakra began to surround them both.
Another Ame shinobi appeared in front of both Mito and Fuka with an alarmed look on his face. "Mito-sama! We have shinobi from Iwa approaching from our rear!"
Mito scowled heavily at this. 'Damn you, Onoki!'
"What are we going to do now?" asked Fuka with a frown.
"We're going to let our heavy muscle take care of them," replied Mito as she looked at both Roshi and Han.
Seeing where Mito was going, Fuka smirked.
'We're almost there,' thought Mito as she gazed at the direction of where Konoha stood. 'Almost there before all of this ends….'
Kabuto was not in a good mood right now. No sir, he was not. He was in a bad mood. No, even worse than that. He had underestimated Itachi. And now, he was praying the price.
Kabuto could only grind his teeth together in anger as he felt all of his beads on the board in front of him crack in tiny pieces save for the ones that belonged to Itachi and Madara. Not that it matter anyway. He didn't have any control of either Uchiha at this point.
Not only that, but he had just lost the Kages as well as Jiraiya now. It was not looking good for him right now.
'I'm going to have to use her now,' thought Kabuto as he looked back at the still unconscious Anko laying behind him.
It was then that his danger senses went off as a dark flash appeared in front of him.
Kabuto jumped back at the last second but felt a cut appear on his right cheek as well as some of his strength leaving him.
"Who-"
"Knock, knock, it's your friendly neighborhood Uzumaki!" said Naruto with a feral grin as he placed his Seikatsugakari on his shoulder.
Kabuto frowned as he looked at Naruto in his crouched position. "You….how did you find me?"
"You don't have to worry about that," replied Naruto as his grin grew, "because you're going to die right now anyways!"
Kabuto chuckled as he stood up. "It doesn't matter now, I guess. I've been waiting for this chance all along! Now, I will finally have those eyes of yours, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto's face grew disgusted. "Would you mid not adding the -kun. It's really creepy, you know."
But Kabuto didn't respond. Instead, he merely readjusted his glasses.
Before they could continue, however, two blurs landed beside Naruto.
Naruto smirked lightly while not taking his eyes off Kabuto. "So you two are here too, eh?"
"Good to see you too," said Itachi from Naruto's left with a chuckle.
"Hm," was all Sasuke said from Naruto's left.
Now Kabuto was not enjoying his chances. Not only Naruto, but Sasuke and Itachi as well? Even he wasn't arrogant enough to say that he could take all of them at the same time.
"I'm not even going to ask how you're even free," began Naruto as he glanced at Itachi before turning to look at Kabuto again, "but welcome to the team."
"It's an honor," replied Itachi with some humor laced in his tone as he too looked at Kabuto.
"Shall we get this started?" said Sasuke with a dark grin as his eternal mangekyo activated.
"That is something that we can all agree on," said Naruto with a chuckle.
Never would have Naruto expected to team up with both Itachi who had been hunting for his bijuu in the past and Sasuke who had left the village while almost killing him as well. Karma was a true bitch.
"And so it begins…." muttered Kurama.
Yo
Hmm….what can I say? Well, I actually have a few things to say. Or maybe not a few, but whatever.
First things first (if that even makes sense), enough with the whole 'if I hate this character or not' business. I've already explained myself with that whole mess. So many people messaging me about that that it just got annoying at this point. So I killed Hinata! I also just killed Gaara, Temari, and….well a bunch of other characters as well. Get over it already! This is not even canon!
Secondly and this is story wise….I've been asked just how the hell can peace be born from all of this. On that regard, Naruto doesn't give a damn about peace at this point. But yes, I'm not going to lie that that will be the end result. How? Just stick around until the ending because I'm keeping my mouth shut about that for the moment.
Speaking of the ending, yes I've already planned it out. Who is going to live and who is going to die. All of that stuff. Some of you might not like it, but…..that is how it will go.
And thirdly: I've been asked if I'm going to write another story after this one. And the answer is yes. But it is not going to be a 'Dark Naruto' like this one. In case you haven't noticed this by now, but I'm a fan of both 'light' and 'dark' Naruto stories. If it's well written and has a good plot, I don't care whether Naruto is good or bad. I'll read it anyway. That may disappoint some of you in not all, and I apologize for that. But that's how it is.
I suppose that that's all that I have to say for now….I think. If I missed something, tell me. As well as to what you thought of this chapter.
Till next time.
