A/N: Continuing with the trend from earlier, I will not be using jutsu names, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow. If it is, please let me know and I'll add them in.

Enjoy.

- XXII -

Jinchuriki

The battle around them felt so distant. The clashes of metal and the roars of chakra-infused nature danced upon the wind. The blood splattered across the sky as bodies fell one by one, some trying to save their home and others trying to destroy it. Civilians ran through the streets, trying desperately to save themselves, and if that wasn't possible, then at least their family and friends. The smell of smoke filled the air, but in the dust that danced in front of them, the fires only looked like embers. The grey sky above threatened rain.

It didn't come.

For a moment, time stopped for Naruto and Hidan, each of them called away from the battlefield by something greater; Hidan looking towards the heavens, Naruto looking towards the past.

Both of them towards the truth.

"What do you mean, Naruto?"

Naruto returned to himself as Kurama's voice filled his mind.

"Hidan," he said, voice shaking. "He wants you…he wants your power."

There was no gasp from the fox, no follow-up question, no curious look in his eyes. As Naruto turned up to see his reaction, Kurama only looked straight ahead at the monk who stared back at him.

"I see…"

Naruto knew he was missing something; but what?

"Well…" The word fell softly out of Hidan's mouth and over the settling dust. "What an absolute pleasure to see you again, Kurama."

Kurama bared his fangs towards the monk, and a muffled growl came through gritted teeth. The beast stood tall over Naruto and held its head in such a way that the boy would be safe from any attacks.

"Ah…now I see…now it all makes sense."

Hidan lifted his arms to his sides, standing like a cross, as he witnessed this divine revelation.

"You're protecting this boy."

Naruto's mouth fell, eyes widening as he turned to Kurama.

"What?" Naruto said quietly. "You…you're protecting me?"

Kurama kept quiet, but upon being questioned, Naruto thought he saw a wavering in his eyes that was not present before.

Finally, the beast broke his silence.

"Tell me…did you find Uzushio?"

Naruto's daze broke as he recalled the Village Hidden in the Eddies. The ruin, the emptiness, the lack of life.

His home.

"I did…"

Kurama was silent for a moment. Hidan, despite being so close, made no attempt to attack, the sight of the monster keeping his eyes focused on his own desires.

"Good…"

Naruto felt it; there was something that Kurama was not telling him.

"You…you know what happened, don't you?"

The silence returned, and the fox said nothing. Naruto felt desperation rise into his chest.

"Tell me, Kurama! What happened? It was my home!"

"Yes."

Finally, the beast's eyes turned down to the boy that he wanted so badly to protect.

"It was mine, too."

Had Kurama's voice not been going directly into Naruto's mind, he was sure that his ears had made a mistake.

As it were, all he felt was a pit of despair opening up in his stomach.

"What…?"

"Oh, my…"

Naruto and Kurama were reminded of Hidan's presence as the monk spoke, his voice and his body seemingly filled with pleasure.

"You're talking right now, aren't you? This…this is too good to be true…tell me, fox—when I make your power mine, will I be able to talk to the kid, too?"

Kurama returned his eyes to Hidan as rage sept out of him. His own yellow eyes narrowed in on the purple ones.

Naruto, for his part, wanted to scream. Every single time…every single time he came a little closer to the truth, something else popped up and handed him another million questions to answer.

But now, on the strength of Itachi's words and his promise with Ino, he calmed himself; running away was simply not an option.

He lifted his sword in front of him, and his blue eyes filled with fire.

"You're not touching him."

The declaration shocked Kurama. He expected Naruto to be the one who needed protecting, but clearly this was not the same boy as a few weeks ago.

If only he could have watched him grow.

"Come, Naruto. We'll defeat him together."

"Right!"

But there was a small voice, perhaps his own, in the back of Naruto's head. It told him that something wasn't right—that something was missing.

Wait a minute.

Where was—?

"Now, Kakuzu!"

Naruto barely heard Hidan's voice reach his ears before the green-eyed man erupted from the ground beneath him. The next thing he knew, Kakuzu's fist was in his gut, knocking all the air from his body. As he double over, a hand gripped his cloak tightly.

"We'll be taking him now."

With a heave, Kakuzu launched Naruto into the air, sending him crashing to the broken ground in front of Hidan. A small cloud of dust kicked up around him as he lay struggling, trying mightily to catch his breath.

"Naruto!"

Kurama made to move—but not quickly enough. Kakuzu took only a few steps back, now out from the fox's shadow and weaved his fingers like lightning into a number of different hand signs. As he finished, his hands fell to the ground, and in a glow of blue light, five giant columns of stone shot out of the ground. One by one they latched onto Kurama, and before the fox even knew what had happened, he was pinned to the ground.

Naruto, through small eyes, could only watch.

"K-Kurama…"

But such a monster could not be held so easily. Kurama raged with all of his might and little by little the earth around him began to crack.

Kakuzu stepped to the front of the beast and performed another set of hand signs, far more complicated than the last ones, before he shot a hand out towards Kurama. His fingertips ignited in blue flame.

"Now, Hidan!"

The monk smirked as he made his way to Naruto, who could do nothing but glare at the purple eyes as they looked down upon him.

"Sorry, kid. I have far more important things to deal with than you."

Hidan stepped over the boy, and as he did so, finally allowed himself to lay his eyes on his goal. As he approached Kakuzu, who held the final steps in his glowing fingertips, he spoke once again.

"You know, maybe I should thank you after all, kid. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be praying to that fake Jashin. But now…now it's time for the real deal. I will be the one to take the mantle. I will be the one to become go—"

KSSHK!

Hidan was sent forward off-balance by a searing pain in his back near his right shoulder. With a quick move of his leg he caught himself from falling over, but even as he stood, his shoulders slouched. Purple eyes filled with rage, he turned around slowly to see Naruto, panting but rising to his feet. The boy held his sword in one hand, and with the other reached behind him. From a hidden pouch on his back, he pulled out a three-pronged kunai with a wooden handle.

The blue eyes still had that fire in him.

The monk reached to his back and pulled out what had impaled him; it was another of the odd kunai, this one dripping with his own blood.

"Oh, really…? So that's how you want to be…"

Naruto watched as Hidan tossed the kunai to the ground. It bounced a few times, clanging with each hop, before settling silently over the dirt.

"No, Hidan!" Kakuzu said. "Come, now! Before the fox escapes!"

But Hidan's purple eyes could only see one thing: Naruto staring him down in defiance.

The monk, scythe still in hand, brought it forward, and snarled.

"Don't you look at me like that, you brat!"

Kurama, for a moment, only took in the scene before him. This close to being made into a tool for a power-hungry monk; but Naruto had saved him.

After all he had put the boy through…

He had never been so angry.

RRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!

With a shake of the earth, Kurama broke the stone restraints on him. In the dust and debris, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Naruto were all pushed back. Kurama, too, retreated, and with another roar, glared his giant yellow eyes at Kakuzu.

"You idiot," Kakuzu said to Hidan.

The monk's teeth grit immediately.

"Grr! Get him, Kakuzu!"

Kakuzu pulled out what looked to be a reed whistle from under his cloak. As he held it to his mouth, he spoke under his breath. "Shut up, stupid monk." With an enormous exhale, Kakuzu blew into the reed, and a high-pitched shriek rang out across the entire village.

Naruto felt the distant battle come to a screeching halt, and a moment later, orange cloak after orange cloak arrived in the area around the square.

"After the fox!" Kakuzu yelled. The cloaked ninja present followed the order without question, and as more kept on arriving, they ran to join them.

"Kurama!" Naruto yelled, beginning to take off after the enemies; but from a dozen feet away, a red, three-pronged scythe obstructed his path.

"What are you doing, Hidan?" Kakuzu asked fiercely. "Forget the boy!"

"No," Hidan said. Perhaps it was just Naruto's imagination, but his eyes seemed like they had lost their insanity. All that stared at him now was a fierce determination.

Hidan held the scythe out towards him.

"This will only take a minute."

Kakuzu reluctantly went to join his underlings.

Naruto watched the monk with careful eyes. Last time it took him, Itachi, and Kurama—and all they could do was escape.

Escaping would no longer do.

The grip on his weapons tightened and he felt the weight of the promises he had made over the morning: one to Itachi, one to Ino.

And now one to himself:

They would not have Kurama.

Hidan charged, scythe rising high in the air as it made to cut Naruto in two. With a parry of his sword, Naruto sidestepped the attack and went to ram his kunai into the monk's chest; but Hidan brought the scythe back quickly to block, and the clang of the metal echoed through the smoke and dust-filled air. Hidan raised the three blades one more time and brought them down on Naruto, who managed to get his sword up in time to stop him—but only just. The impact of the attack sent Naruto reeling a few steps backwards, and Hidan came once again.

Swing after swing after swing came down hard, and Naruto just barely managed to block. Each clash of weapons threatened to take him off his feet; he had no choice but to retreat a couple steps with each one. The heavy intensity in Hidan's eyes also pushed him back. Though Naruto knew he was, without a doubt, completely insane, there was no denying his skills with his scythe—and as the longest of the three blades knocked his father's kunai out of his hand, an instant passed in which their eyes met, and Naruto thought that it was the end.

But at the last second before the scythe would have split him in half, Naruto sent a burst of chakra to the soles of his feet and jumped high into the air. On the way up, he sheathed his sword, and his fingers broke into an array of hand signs. As he finished, he took an enormous gulp of air, his chest swelling as he held it inside of him. A second later it all rose into his cheeks before bursting out of his mouth in the form of balls of wind, that crashed to the ground.

A dozen of the small air spheres came out Naruto's mouth, but Hidan avoided every one; some dodged, some knocked away with his scythe, but none of them connecting.

Naruto fell back to the ground, and, in the moment granted to him by Hidan's retreat, quickly stepped over to his fallen kunai and launched it forward, catching the monk off guard. All Hidan could use to stop it was his forearms, which he crossed in front of his face.

A grunt of pain escaped him as it connected, but he quickly pulled it out—he was barely in time to see Naruto charging at him, short sword and the second of the two kunai in his hands.

CLLAANNGG!

The three weapons clashed between the opponents, the sword and the kunai against the scythe. Their muscles struggled to push as hard as they could, but neither side gave an inch as blue and purple eyes stared their respective enemies down as obstacles in their way.

Finally Hidan shifted slightly and allowed Naruto to fall forward. With a quick swing, he brought his scythe up to take the boy's leg off, but Naruto pushed off with his momentum and dodged. As he landed, he performed some more signs with his fingers before sticking his palm out in front of him, a gust of wind shooting outward from it directly towards Hidan. With a twirl of his scythe, the monk knocked the jutsu into the air, and the two of them caught their breath.

Naruto saw that the kunai that had pierced Hidan's arm was nearby and picked it up. Both of the three-pronged knives were now covered in blood.

He quickly turned his head to see how Kurama was fairing. The orange cloaks, as they seemed wont to do, were ganging up on the fox. Jutsu and weapons went flying, but many of the enemies were thrown back by Kurama's slashing claws and all nine of his thrashing tails—and yet there always seemed to be more. As Naruto took the second to watch, Kakuzu erupted an earth wall from the ground and brought it down upon Kurama, crashing and breaking over the fox's head. Still Kurama fought, and it seemed as though he could not be stopped.

But he was certainly slowing down.

"Not bad, kid…" Hidan's crazy smile had returned to his lips. "Not bad at all…" He regripped the staff of his weapon and held it to his side, ready to charge. "But I don't have the time to play around with you."

Slowly, Naruto got to his feet, still panting, and put the kunai back into his pouch. He was tired, exhausted even—but his eyes still had that same fire in them as he raised his sword to Hidan. He had to win. He had to.

As he stared at the monk and the blood dripping from his forearm, he confirmed what he was already thinking.

"You're not immortal anymore…are you?"

Hidan's eyes widened in shock for a second before narrowing on his opponent. A small laugh escaped him as he smiled.

"Good eyes, kid…you're right. That poser Jashin has abandoned me…but I'll tell you what: it's not gonna matter when I take the fox's power for myself…"

Hidan let his scythe fall a little as his pupils dilated. He looked straight at Naruto, but he saw something more:

His goals, realized.

"When I become the jinchuriki!"

Jinchuriki? Naruto didn't know what the word meant, but he felt he didn't need to; surely, it was something bad.

Suddenly Hidan stuck the staff of his weapon into the ground beside him and put his hands together.

"Sorry, kid. It's been fun, but time's up."

Naruto froze in the face of Hidan's hand signs. The monk had only ever fought with his scythe and his blood curse—now ninjutsu, too?

Hidan's hands fell to the ground, and Naruto had no time to react before a rumbling came from below the earth, and it began to crack. The rock below the dirt was destroyed as if something were shaking from beneath it. It only took Naruto a second to realize it was Hidan's chakra that was breaking the ground, but by the time he did, it was too late; the line of wrecked earth stopped in front of him before splitting in two, rounding either side of him, and rejoining at his back.

It was only a split second before the rock erupted from the ground and covered him in shadow. Just before the dome closed on him and shut out the light of the outside world, his instincts rocketed him up to the top—but not in time. Naruto only hit hard rock, and the world became dark.

It was impossible to see, but his eyes widened anyway, and a chasm formed in his stomach.

He was trapped.

Hidan's voice came in muffled through the stone wall.

"I have to say, kid. It was a good try…but you're out of your league. Now rot in there like the scum you are."

Naruto wanted nothing more than to clock the monk in his smug face—but as he put all his might and a good deal of chakra into a punch, all he felt was a pain in his hand. An impenetrable wall finally separated the two of them, and left them on their own; Hidan in the light, Naruto in the dark.

With each footstep Hidan took away from him, Naruto felt his heart sink lower and lower. Kurama's roars came muffled through the rock, but they were still loud; the world, the truth, was so close…

And yet so far.

"No…no…"

Had…had he failed…?

In the pure darkness Naruto had nowhere to look to. He had nothing to feel except for the pain and regret that was growing in his chest. Hidan was going to become a jinchuriki…

All that meant to Naruto was that he was going to take Kurama.

Suddenly it all came back: the pain, the doubt, the fear. Everything that Naruto thought he had turned off, that he thought his confidence had destroyed, returned all at once. The fire was slipping from his darkening eyes.

Maybe…

Maybe it was just time to forget it all…

Maybe it was just time to go to sleep…

…

Hello, Naruto.

Perhaps it was because the dome was cold; perhaps it was because Naruto needed something to cling to in the darkness; or perhaps it was only his mind wandering away from the harsh reality of the battle…

Whatever it was, it brought forth the memory of his parents welcoming him home with open arms. The room, their smiles, the sunlight—all of it was so bright.

And in the darkness, Naruto was warm.

That feeling…

That feeling of being welcomed home…

Wasn't that it?

Wasn't that all he ever wanted?

The sounds of the world outside shut themselves out for a moment as Naruto's tears fell down his cheeks.

They were warm.

He thought of Itachi and Ino—surely, there would be time later to question.

For now he had promises to keep.

A deep inhale, and then a deep exhale, and Naruto's shaky breathing calmed itself. He took the sword from his back and held it in front of himself. With an intense focus and a sign formed with his free hand, the sword began to glow blue. Another two hand signs, and he took one more large breath—but whereas the Air Bullet jutsu required the wind to be released quickly, Naruto now let out his breath slowly and carefully over the sword. In a moment, Naruto held a glowing blade of wind in his hand.

It had used a good deal of chakra. It had to work, or he would be trapped for good.

One final breath. In the light of the blade, Naruto's blue eyes regained their fire.

"Yyaaaahhh!"

With a stab of the blade, Naruto burst through the rock wall and emerged into the world, and all at once, the sensations of the battle returned to him. His eyes soon filled with the dust of the earth, but as they cleared, he turned them north to see what was happening.

He looked just in time to see Kakuzu's earth pillars rise out of the ground and trap the Nine-Tailed Fox once again.

"Kurama!"

Naruto ran, and ran, and ran, through the debris and the fire and the smoke. He returned the sword to its sheath and pulled out he kunai, still wet with blood.

He had to make it. He had to stop them. Same thing as last time, or anything—anything that could stop them.

Come on…come on…

Come on!

A ways up the road, Kakuzu and the rest of the Order stood in front of the struggling fox. Its nine tails lashed out wildly to destroy the rock constraints that had been put on it. Slowly they cracked…slowly they broke…

But there was no time let for them to finish.

"Finally…"

Kurama froze as he saw Hidan through the dust. The monk approached his men slowly. There was a look in his purple eyes as if he had struck gold…

As if his dreams stood in front of him.

"Well done, partner," Hidan said to Kakuzu.

"Please. Just get on the floor."

"Gladly."

But first, Hidan took a couple steps past Kakuzu and approached Kurama, his eyes fixed intently on the fox. His voice was calmer than ever.

"Join me, Kurama…"

All Kurama did was let out a giant roar right into Hidan's face. The members of the orders covered their ears, and even Kakuzu flinched.

Hidan did not move.

"Yes…just like that…that power…all mine…"

He returned to where Kakuzu stood a few feet away and lay himself on the ground, and suddenly, to Kurama, it all felt very real. The fox thrashed about, trying with all its beastly might to break the rock around him…to no avail.

Nevertheless Kurama kept trying as Kakuzu performed the hand signs; as his fingertips lit up in blue flames; as he pointed his right hand towards the fox and his left towards Hidan; and even as a bright orange light engulfed the three of them and the jutsu slowly began to take effect…

Finally Kurama felt his chakra leaving him. He raged harder than ever.

But the rock would not break.

With a jolt, his chakra began to enter Hidan, and the monk let out a terrifying yell, as if death were closing in on him—but in a moment he began to smile through the pain, and a delirious, wicked laugh escaped him.

"Yes! Yes! Give it to me! Give it all to me!"

Kurama could only watch with pain as his chakra and his fate were sealed.

If only…

If only he could have—

"Kurama!"

The fox's yellow eyes opened wide and saw the blonde boy running from down the road, two oddly shaped kunai in hand, with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Naruto…"

Naruto ran with everything he had, but it wasn't enough to make it to Hidan; still, if he could just get a good throw off—!

The orange cloaks and the fox masks of the Order rushed to him, kunai drawn and ready to take him down. Naruto stuck a kunai into his mouth as he performed a set of hand signs—and as he finished, he stuck his palm out below him and let out a wave of air onto the ground, the recoil sending him high into the air.

As if suspended for a moment, Naruto saw the scene before him in perfect clarity. The orange light that glowed over Kurama, Kakuzu, and Hidan seemed only to get brighter, but still he saw the fox's yellow eyes as clear as day.

They called to him.

Naruto took the kunai from his mouth and, with all of the strength he had, launched it toward Hidan, all the while hoping that there really was something special about these knives.

CLANG!

But nothing happened; the kunai bounced off of the light as if hitting a wall and fell to the ground, still.

Naruto watched in terror as he himself landed on his feet. The energy to run was gone. The will to fight has vanished.

"Kurama…"

A second later he was tackled to the ground by four orange cloaks, who pinned him down. Naruto struggled to escape, but it was no use. Through weary eyes he looked ahead at Kurama.

"No…"

"Yes!" Though he remained on the ground, Hidan's body seemed to fill with electricity as he thrashed about. "Yes! Come to me, Kurama! I will reach that throne!"

His purple eyes never left the heavens.

"I WILL BECOME GOD!"

A blue electricity erupted around Hidan as black markings began to form on his stomach. The air was heavy, but it was still, as if all the life had been drained from it, and even the members of the Order who had Naruto pinned to the ground could not help but watch in awe.

Naruto himself only felt his heart drop as he watched.

"Kurama…I—"

"Naruto…"

His blue eyes widened as Kurama's voice came into his head one more time.

"I'm sorry."

"What? No! Kurama! Don't—!"

Naruto could only watch as the light expanded outwards, enveloping the surrounding area, carrying the dying echo of Hidan's laugh and Kurama's cry to his ears.

A shockwave exploded out from Hidan, and Naruto and the people on top of him were blown backwards, dust and debris attacking them in the high winds. Naruto could do nothing but cover his eyes, wondering if the burst energy would ever stop.

Finally, it did, and the air, and seemingly the entire village, was still.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly. Through the blur he saw that Kurama had vanished, but the orange light had not. It was smaller now, more concentrated, and it was duller, but it was still there.

It was another second before he realized that it only covered Hidan.

The silver-haired monk was hunched over, arms hanging loosely in front of himself, as his chakra, now a dark orange, sept visibly through his skin. His head hung low at first, but as he finally raised it, Naruto saw that his purple eyes were gone, replaced by glowing red dots with black slits running down the middle.

The eyes of a fox.

The crowd of orange cloaks watched their leader in shock. Even Kakuzu, who stood behind Hidan, looked at his partner with wide eyes.

Naruto could only watch in terror as the meaning of the word jinchuriki became apparent to him:

Kurama had been sealed away.

Hidan's voice had always been deranged, but now as he spoke it was nothing short of sinister, and it was as if a deeper, more primal sound followed his words.

"I told you," he said through a smile.

Naruto couldn't help but noticed that the red eyes were trained directly on him.

"I told you…"

THWCK!

Suddenly, Naruto felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. As he reached his hand up, he felt something sticking out. With a heave he pulled the object out of himself and saw that it was one of his kunai—the one that had deflected off of the light a moment before. He turned back to Hidan, who stood with an outstretched arm.

Naruto, in the moment, actually wondered how in the world he would defeat someone so powerful and so terrifying.

All it took was a second for him to realize that he didn't have a chance.

He barely saw Hidan move, but before he knew it, he was face-to-face with the demonic man. Naruto was close enough now to really see his eyes—they were not the eyes of a fox.

They were the eyes of a monster.

"I told you…you're out of your league."

The weight of a mountain hit Naruto in the gut, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Blood rose to his mouth immediately. He coughed it out as the air was taken from him, and he had no time to react as Hidan spun and delivered a straight-footed kick into the bottom of his chest.

He flew backwards faster than he could ever remember running. Hidan hit him so hard that he was moving straight through the air until he reached the end of the northern edge of the village. He hit the ground just before the set of stairs that led to the lower half, but with nothing to stop his momentum, he kept going, rolling and spinning with each bounce before finally drifting to a stop.

He could barely open his eyes, but as he forced them to life, saw blue water beneath him.

It reminded him of Uzushio.

His strength left him. His eyes closed. With no mothing hold him up, Naruto tumbled over the edge of the broken bridge and into the water of the Konoha River.

He only had one thought before the world went dark:

One promise…

Broken…

Well…who knew one scene could be 5000 words? My apologies, I know it's kind of hefty, but it was too fun to write.

Thanks for reading!