Author's Note: It seems that a lot of people enjoyed Utakata's debut. Let's hope that the continuation is just as well received, especially since it features my favorite villain. Enjoy:
Chapter 70:
Facing a God
or
Here Comes the Pain!
Nagi Island, Morning
"As I said, I've been thinking about what you told me. The threat of Akatsuki, and what should I do in order to avoid it," Utakata began.
Everybody listened to him intently. What he would say next would determine if the mission could end here and there and finally take the jinchuriki to a safe place, or if the Kiri and Konoha ninja would have to subdue him by force.
"At first, I thought that if I did what I've been doing this past years, moving from one place to another and never staying in the same place for long, I'd be able to evade the Akatsuki," Utakata stated. "However, you finding me is evidence that such plan isn't going to work. I also thought that, in the case they got me, I could defend myself from whoever they send to capture me. But again, the fact that Akatsuki captured other jinchuriki already also means that it'd be foolish if I was so overconfident."
Both Miyaki and Suigetsu looked hopeful.
"Does that mean...?" Miyake began, almost holding her breath.
"Yes. I decide to let myself to be taken into the Great Villages' custody," Utaka finished.
Everybody cheered upon hearing the jinchuriki's response, Hotaru included, much to Utakata's surprise, who raised an eyebrow at this. He cleared his throat to indicate that he wasn't finished.
"However, I do have a condition," Utakata stated.
The cheering abruptly stopped, and the mood died down. Miyaki, however, kept a positive attitude.
"Whatever it is, Utakata-san, I'm sure we can provide it," she said in a conciliatory tone. "As long as it's something reasonable, that's it. So, what do you want for Kiri to offer you?"
"I want nothing from Kiri," Utakata stated, his voice laced with some venom. "I don't want to return to that place. You told me that I was able to go to any of the Great Villages, right? In that case, I want to go to Konoha. That's my request."
"Really? That's awesome!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
"May I ask why do you wish to come to our village, Utakata-san?" Hinata asked. "Don't you prefer to return to your own home?"
"Not that we won't welcome you," Haku helpfully added.
"If you need to know my reasons, well, the first one is that I have way too many painful memories attached to Kirigakure, and I do not wish to return there. Second, Konoha already houses two jinchuriki, as far as you told me," the brown haired man looked at Naruto. "The only jinchuriki I ever met was Yagura, and he wasn't a very pleasant man. Now that I have this opportunity, I wish to know both you and the other jinchuriki better. And third, of all the available options, Konoha seems to be the safest." Utakata then looked at Haku. "And from what you told me, I won't be the first Land of Water native to move there."
"You're not going to regret it, I can assure you that," Haku replied while nodding.
"Then it's settled! Utakata and Hotaru will move to Konoha!" Naruto shouted, as excited as a little boy with a new toy.
"Hey, I said that I'd be there as long as the Akatsuki threat persists. Once this is over, I'll go back to the road," Utakata interjected.
"Fair enough. But I wouldn't be surprised if you changed your mind over your stay there," Haku added, smiling a little.
"I also want to state that I don't plan to become a Konoha ninja nor do missions for your village. That part of my life is already over," Utakata firmly stated.
"Don't worry. Nobody will force you to do anything you don't want to," Naruto assured him, before he shot his fellow jinchuriki a foxy grin. "Not that I won't try to change your mind."
Utakata grimaced a little. "I'm already regretting this decision."
"Come on, Utakata-sensei! I'm sure being in Konoha will be fun!" Hotaru chimed in. Her sensei just sighed.
As they watched the happy exchange, the Kiri ninjas looked less excited than their Konoha counterparts, but they were content nontheless.
"We were hoping we could convince you to come back home. I'm going to admit we wanted to have a jinchuriki again," Suigetsu stated.
"But we will be happy to know that our enemies won't be able to lay their hands upon you," Miyaki stated. "And who knows, maybe in the future, once Mei-sama wipes away every trace of the Blood Mist, we can convince you to come back."
"You're planning way too much ahead," Utakata stated in annoyance.
"Anyway, now that it's settled, I believe we should get going. The more we stay in the same place, the bigger the Akatsuki's chances of finding us," Suigetsu stated. "We should go back to the port town, get a ship that goes to the Land of Fire, and escort Utakata to Konohagakure."
Miyaki nodded. "We will tag along until Utakata-san is safe behind Konoha's walls. Is that okay with you?" Miyaki asked.
The Konoha ninja looked at each other, looking for their mutual approval, and quickly nodded.
"Yeah, the more we are, the better," Naruto said. "Now, let's pack everything up as fast as we can and get moving."
…
True to Naruto's words, they picked up the campsite and got moving in record time. Jumping from one tree branch to another –except Hinata, who flew close to them–, the group of Konoha and Kiri ninjas made their way back to the port town. They needed to get back there and get into a ship as soon as possible. Once in the sea, the chances of an ambush happening would be close to zero. And in the Land of Fire they'd be safer than in a small island in the middle of nowhere.
"If we keep this pace, we'll reach the port town in little more than half an hour," Miyaki stated.
"Let's try to make it into less than that," Naruto suggested.
Everybody nodded, and increased their pace. Despite the good mood, they wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible, since they felt like they were carrying a potentially dangerous cargo that could blow up at any second, and that filled them with a feeling o uneasyness.
And true to that, the metaphorical cargo was about to blow up.
"SHINRA TENSEI!"
Nobody knew where it came from, but one second, the group was moving forward, and the next a powerful shockwave blasted them upwards, while tearing down several trees in the process, creating a clearing in the area. All of them landed painfully in the now clear ground with several painful thuds.
"Oww..."
"Where did that come from?"
"No time to groan! Everybody, get back to your feet and ready to fight!" Suigetsu called, as his body, which had been partially liquified by the blast, started to reform.
"Hinata-hime, find the enemies!" Naruto asked.
"I'm on it!" his girlfriend replied, as she expanded her field vision in order to find said enemies. She took no time to find a figure wearing a black cloak with red clouds standing in their path. "Akatsuki is here!"
"Of course, this mission would be too easy if they didn't show up," Naruto groaned, as he rolled his eyes. "How many of them? Where are they?"
"They're..." Hinata began, but cut herself as something caught her attention. Another Akatsuki, flying above them. But most distressingly was what she was about to do. "Explosive tags coming from above! They're without number!"
Instinctively, everybody looked up, and indeed, they saw hundreds upon hundreds of explosive tags floating above them, around a member of Akatsuki that kept herself in the air thanks to a pair of wings attached to her back that appeared to be made of paper. The Akatsuki motioned her hand downwards, and the explosive tags rained upon them at such speed they appeared to weight as much as kunai.
"Oh shit!" Suigetsu cried.
"Everybody, get close to me!" Haku called, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
As everybody clustered around Haku, three domes made of ice quickly formed around them, just in time as the explosive tags reached them, unleashing a chain of explosions. The chain lasted several painfully long seconds, making the ground tremble with each blast. Those sheltered inside prayed for the domes to resist, while Haku struggled to keep them strong.
Eventually, the explosions ceased, and Haku allowed himself to stop channeling chakra into the jutsu, which quickly started to thaw. The Ice Ninja fell to his knees, a bit exhausted.
"Good job, Haku-san. If it wasn't for you, who knows how many of us would have perished," Miyaki praised, as her hands reached her Helmet Splitter.
"So, those our enemies, right?" Suigetsu said, also grabbing his sword, the Sewing Needle. "I never fought against an Akatsuki, but if this is how they open a fight... damn, we're for a fun time."
The Akatsuki on land was a man in his early thirties with spiky orange hair, his face and ears loaded with thick black piercings. He was wearing a slashed Amegakure forehead protector. But the trait that drew the most attention were his eyes, completely purple with a concentric ring pattern. The other Akatsuki, a blue haired woman the same age, with blue hair decorated with a flower, descended upon being close to him.
"You've been found at last, jinchuriki of the Six Tails," the man spoke. His voice was deep and omnious. "Now, I shall take the beast that you bear inside your body. Resisting is futile."
"The Nine Tails jinchuriki is also here," the woman observed. "We can capture the two of them at once. This opportunity it's too good to pass, Pain."
"You may be right, Konan," the man replied. "But for the time being, our main priority is the other."
Naruto made a hand seal, and two clones popped into existence. Without waiting to receive any order from their creator, the clones rushed in opposite directions, vanishing among the sea of trees.
"You said you fought Akatsuki before," Utakata told the Konoha ninja as he grabbed his bubble pipe. "Are this people familiar to you?"
"No, we never met them before," Naruto replied, growing tense. "But they look even more powerful than the ones we did."
"Your assement is correct, Uzumaki," the man added. "Because in the past, you only fought against regular men. You're against a god now."
"We only want the jinchuriki. Surrender them, and we'll spare everybody else's lives," Konan offered.
"If you think we're going to do that, you're more stupid than you look!" Hotaru angrily replied.
Pain noticed that Naruto was staring at him intensely. More specifically, he was looking into his eyes. Something the Akatsuki didn't find unusual, but decided to ignore. That's it, until the blond opened his mouth.
"Those eyes... they're Rinnegan, correct?" Naruto solemnly asked.
Pain's lips curved into a small smile. "You're right. These are the eyes that once were wielded by the Sage of the Six Paths. As I carry them now, it is my duty to continue with the Sage's mission to create a world without war or strife."
"And how do you plan to do that? By hunting jinchuriki?" Naruto angrily replied. "Reviving the Ten Tails will only cause the end of the world!"
Konan opened her eyes widely when Naruto mentioned the name of the monster they were planning to restore.
"How do you... where did you...?" she blabbered.
"Their knowledge of the Ten Tails is irrelevant to our mission, as it will do them no good," Pain told Konan, sounding as omnious as confident as before, before his eyes turned towards Naruto again. "But if you need to know, the Ten Tails is the key to create that world. If somebody harnessed that vast power, that person would be without equal, and could use that power to put an end to all wars and mysery in the world."
"But that wouldn't be real peace! If you know about the Sage and the Ten Tails, then you must know about Kaguya too!" Hinata heatedly interjected. "Such peace isn't bound to last!"
"And what is the alternative? Trust that people will stop hating and warring each other on their own?" Konan asked, scowling angrily at the Hyuga. "You foolish, naive children..."
"Konan is right," Pain continued. "People will never understand each other. Only by knowing each other's pain can understanding be reached. And even if you know the other's pain, hatred may make understanding impossible. That's why there are wars even if most people don't want them. The only way to stop this cycle of hatred is by force."
"I don't care what you believe. I'm not going to let you-" Suddenly, Naruto's eyes snapped wide open. "Uh?"
"Naruto-kun...?" Hinata worriedly asked.
"My clones... they disappeared..." the confused blond replied.
"What? How?" Haku asked.
Hinata made a hand seal, and her Tenseigan flasehd for an instant. Her eyesight expanded to cover the entire area, her eyes also opened wide upon seeing what had killed the clones.
"More Akatsuki! Five of them! They're surrounding the clearing!" Hinata distressignly informed. "All of them have the same orange hair, multiple facial piercings, and those purple eyes."
"We've studied your fighting style for when the time to capture you arrived, Naruto," Pain replied. "Before a fight begins, you create two clones that go into hiding, making your opponent believe that you're preparing an ambush. Then, in the middle of the fight, you'll go into Sage Mode, despite the fact that in order to gather nature energy one needs to be still for a long period of time.
"But by using clones, you can gather nature energy unimpeded as you fight, then the clone will dispel itself, transferring the nature energy to you, with the added benefit that your opponent's attention is now divided, waiting for an ambush that will never come. Is my guess a correct one, Naruto Uzumaki?" Pain asked.
Naruto gritted his teeth, as a frustrating feeling of imptence washed over him. "I've never fought an Akatsuki without Sage Mode before. What I'm going to do now? No! Stop the quitter talk! You're a great ninja with or without Sage Mode! I can win this! I HAVE to win this!"
The blond's scowl of frustration disappeared, as it was replaced by a confident smirk. "So, you were able to counter one of my many, many jutsu and techniques. Let's see if you can do the same with the others."
"Boasts are useless if one lacks the power to back them up," Pain replied, as he raised an open hand towards them. "I believe there's no point in conversing anymore. Now, it's your turn to know pain. Shinra Tensei!"
Once again, a powerful shockwave blasted the group of Konoha and Kiri ninjas backwards with overwhelming force. Though now they realized it wasn't a normal shockwave. A second before being pushed away, it was almost as if they weighed nothing, as if somehow the Akatsuki could manipulate gravity itself.
They rushed to get back on their feet as the two Akatsuki menacingly approached.
"Hinata-hime, you can take make somebody else fly as well, right?" Naruto asked. His girlfriend nodded. "In that case, take Utakata to a ship, and get the hell out of here!"
"But... I can't leave both you and Haku-kun with those Akatsuki!" Hinata protested. "You're a jinchuriki too! You're in danger as well!"
"Don't worry, we'll divide his attention by rushing in a different way. Let's see which one of us he'll go after," Naruto replied. "Now go, quickly!"
Hinata nodded, and made a hand seal. Utakata's feet stopped touching the ground.
"What the...?" the brown haired jinchuriki asked, as he started to flail.
"Sorry Utakata-san, but no time to ask for permission. We need to leave now!" Hinata urged as she took off into the sky, with the unwilling Utakata being carried behind.
"I won't let you," Pain replied, but oddly enough, made no effort to stop the flying ninja.
Suddenly the air was filled with several whistles, and much to her shock, Hinata's Tenseigan caught a cluster of missiles flying right at her and Utakata. Wasting no time, her hands started to form several hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
Multiple lightning bolts fired from Hinata's fingertips, catching the incoming barrage of missiles, making them to detonate prematurely. Unfortunately, while Hinata was doing this she was unable to notice another danger that was coming to them.
"Watch out!" Utakata called.
As if appearing from thin air, a gigantic, deformed bird with gray plumage and a massive, jagged beak dashed at them. Hinata wasn't able to menuver in time, and the impact send the two of them back to the ground, tumbling.
"Hinata-hime!" Naruto cried, as he ran towards her.
"Sensei!" Hotaru cried, following Naruto.
The two of them groaned, as they got back on their feet, helped by their respective partners. So far, they didn't look injuried.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked.
"I'm fine, don't worry. I was able to cushion our fall with my kinetic abilities," Hinata explained.
"Guess that's why it didn't hurt as much as I expected," Utakata said, as he took out he bubble pipe he was carrying on his belt. "No option but fighting, I see."
"Unfortunately, yes," Naruto bitterly agreed, as he glared at the incoming Akatsuki.
"We'll need to take care of the other Akatsuki surrounding the clearing, or else we're going to get blindsided," Hinata stated.
"Leave that to me. I'll try to force them out in the open, while getting some intel on their abilities," Naruto said, as he made his favorite hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
An army of a hundred Naruto clones popped into existence, as they spread out and went to seek and fight the other four Akatsuki. If Pain and Konan were perturbed by this, they didn't show it.
"Konan, make sure none of the jinchuriki leave," Pain instructed his partner.
"What about the others?" Konan asked.
"The closest ninja village is hundred of kilometers away. Even if they go away and call for reinforcements, it would take days to arrive," Pain assured her.
"Very well then," Konan nodded, and flapping her artificial wings, took off into the sky once again.
A black rod emerged from under Pain's sleeve, which the Akatsuki grabbed and wielded it as if it was a weapon. He raised it towards Naruto and Utakata.
"Now, let the hunt begin," Pain omniously declared, before raising his other hand. "Basho Ten'in!"
Suddenly, Utakata felt completely weightless for a second, before he was pulled towards Pain by a violently unstoppable force. He tried to react, but the suddeness and the sheer force he was being pulled stopped him, and his neck was gripped by Pain's open hand.
"You're mine now," Pain said before slamming Utakata into the ground, and readied his black rod to stab him with it.
While this happened, Naruto pulled out several shuriken with one hand while making hand seals with the other. The steel starts started to crackle with electricity just before he threw them at the orange haired Akatsuki.
"Leave him alone!" Naruto shouted.
Pain was forced to release Utakata and jump backwards while either dodging the incoming shuriken, or deflecting them with his black rod. Despite being enhanced with Lightning Release, they failed to cut through Pain's mysterious weapon.
Taking advantage of Pain's predicament, the jinchuriki of the Six Tails quickly got back on his feet, and started to weave hand seals. His apprentice landed besides him, also doing hand seals.
"Hotaru, let's attack at once!" the brown haired man commanded, the girl nodding in agreement. "Acid Scattering!"
"Water Release: Water Hail!"
Utakata expelled from his mouth a stream of an extremely corrosive acid, while Hotaru cupped her hands forward, releasing a barrage of water bullets. However, before the two attacks could hit their target, another Akatsuki got in the way. Casting his hands forward, he created a glowing shield of chakra that absorbed both attacks the moment they made contact, much to their bewilderment.
Realizing that they were in danger if stayed close to the Akatsuki for longer, Utakata and Hotaru jumped back, rejoining the others.
"Who is that guy?" Naruto asked, as he stared at the new Akatsuki, a very portly man. Like Pain, he had orange hair, thick facial piercings, and most distressingly, a pair of Rinnegan. "How can he have a Rinnegan too?"
"Your minds cannot hope to comprehend the power I possess," Pain boasted once again.
A high pitched shriek came from the sky, as the giant bird from before loomed over them from above, menacingly nose diving at them. This time, however, Hinata's Tenseigan managed to catch the aerial threat in time, and replied before it could cause any harm.
"Vacuum Palm Wall!"
Thursting both palms upwards, Hinata launched a massive vacuum shell upwards, hitting the giant bird in its beack with such force, it made it deviate its course to the side, before losing its balance and crashing into the ground, tearing some trees apart in the process.
Immediately, there was a light rumble followed by the sound of more trees teared apart, as a gigantic ox and equally large rhino plowed through the trees, charging at them. Like the bird, all them noticed that these animals also had Rinnegan eyes, as well as thick, black stakes piercing their bodies.
"The hell? Where all these summoned animals are coming from?" Suigetsu asked, as he narrowly dodged being eviscerated by the giant rhino's horn.
"Naruto-kun, I think it's time to bring some summons of our own!" Haku called.
The blond nodded, before biting his thumb, and making the usual five hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Naruto slammed his palm into the ground, producing a massive burst of smoke. When the smoke dispelled, Naruto was now standing at the top of Gamaken's head.
"Greetings, Naruto. I'm honored that you have summoned be to battle once again," the soft spoken toad said.
"It might be too much for you to handle, but I need your help to deal with those animals," Naruto said, pointing at the incoming rhino and ox.
"Leave that in my hands, Naruto. I've been training these past years in order to curb my clumsiness," Gamaken replied, as he readied his shield and sasumata.
"Meanwhile, we'll deal with the others," Naruto said, as he jumped down to rejoin his friends. "I'm getting information from my clones on the other guys. One of them is some sort of mechanical being, like a puppet. Another is the one summoning these animals, but it seems is the only thing he can do. I don't know about the other two."
"We can't let everything in the hand of the clones," Miyaki decided. "Tsurigi, you and your ANBU unit go and stop those guys! Or else we'll get blindsided!"
"Right away, ma'am!" Tsurigi replied. "Everybody, go!"
"Suigetsu and I will help the giant toad take care of the summons," Miyaki suggested. "Naruto-san was the one who helped Mei-sama take down Yagura, and his teammates don't lack skill nor power either. They're our best bet against these Akatsuki."
"Alright then. But don't think I'm going to be happy with just the leftovers while the Konoha ninja have the real fun!" Suigetsu replied, as he and Miyaki went to face the giant ox.
Meanwhile, the Konoha ninjas, Utakata and Hotaru decided that they have had enough of being on the receiving side, and went onto the offensive.
"That man is able to abosrb ninjutsu attacks. I'll keep him distracted while the rest of you deal with the other one, understood?" Hinata asked. Everybody else nodded.
"Whatever you've planned, I can assure you it won't work," Pain confidently stated.
"We'll see about that!" Hinata replied, as she dashed towards the ninjutsu-absorbing Akatsuki, while delivering a palm strike forward. The Akatsuki jumped backwards, and Hinata's palm ended up hitting the ground, producing a small crater. "You won't be able to dodge the next one, since you're within my divination range! Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!"
Just as Hinata said, the Akatsuki was unable to dodge the Hyuga Clan's signature taijutsu combo, and was pushed backwards with each palm strike as he tried in vain to dodge it.
"Now is our chance, attack at once!" Naruto commanded, as he started to make hand seals. Utakata, Horaru and Haku nodded, proceding to do the same.
"Ice Release: Multiple Icicle Piercing Shots!"
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
"Water Release: Bubble Jutsu!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Stab!"
Haku conjured and shot forward multiple ice stakes, while Hotaru exhaled a powerful stream of water from her mouth. Utakata blew several innocuous-looking bubbles, while Naruto pulled out several kunai, infused them with electricity and tossed them forward.
Even the most veteran Jonin would have felt at least a bit distressed upon being on the receiving end on so many elemental ninjutsu. However, Pain was above any average ninja, and was about to show why.
"Pathetic," Pain said, raising an open palm at the incoming elemental barrage. "Shinra Tensei!"
Pain's open palm produced a repulsive shockwave that was easily able to repel –and in the soap bubbles' case, prematurely detonate– the incoming attacks at him, and still keep enough force to push the casters and make them fall on their backs.
"Such power!" Hotaru shouted, midly distressed. "If all of us together aren't able to overcome that jutsu of his-"
"Watch out!" Naruto called out, pointing upwards.
Everybody looked in the direction the blond was pointing at, and saw Konan looming above them.
"Paper Drizzle!"
Flapping her makeshift wings once, a barrage of razor-sharp paper tags rained from them. The ninjas below her quickly rose to their feet and scrambled to dodge the deadly shower, with each missing projectile stabbing itself into the ground as if it was made of sharp metal.
"Not bad," Konan stated, her face remaining neutral. "Now let's see if you can-OOF!"
Suddenly, Konan was slammed into the ground by an unseen force, her body making a loud noise as if it crashed down.
"Konan!" Pain yelled, expressing some sort of emotion for the first time since the fight began.
"I'm...I'm fine..." Konan said, coughing a little, as she got back on his feet. "What did-"
"She did," Pain finished her question, as his eyes drifted to Hinata. "So, that's the power of the Tenseigan. Impressive, but still inferior to the Rinnegan."
"You know the Tenseigan?" Hinata asked.
"One of our newest members possess a pair," Pain replied, causing Hinata to tense. "I believe that you already met him, didn't you?"
"So it's true. That Toneri guy is somehow part of the Akatsuki," Naturo muttered, mostly to himself.
"Indeed. I have been unable to test the extent of his powers, but given that you have the same eyes as him, an assessment of your abilities will be a valid substitute," Pain stated.
"Alright then, I'll show you the power of my eyes. No, my power," Hinata replied, as she started to make hand seals. "Tenseigan Chakra Mode!"
Hinata's body started to glow with a purple aura. Pain looked unimpressed. Not that she expected any other reaction, given that it was the most basic stage of the Mode. However, the next part would tip the battle in their favor.
"Now..." Hinata placed her hands as if holding an invisible object. A sphere of lavender light formede between them, and started to grow as she moved her hands outwards. "Truth Seeking Balls!"
The violet sphere split into two smaller ones, before losing their light, revealing two fist sized black spheres that reflected a dim purple light. As if they had life of their own, the spheres placed behind Hinata's back.
"Just two? I was hoping I could produce more when the push came to shove," Hinata inwardly lamented. "With Naruto-kun unable to use his Sage Mode, it falls on me to carry the weight of the fight."
Despite her disappointment, her display did impress the Akatsuki.
"Truth Seeking Balls? That's not something you see every day," Pain praised. "Congratulations, Hyuga, You now have my attention."
"Very well then. Take this!" Hinata said, as she motioned both hands forward. The Truth Seeking Balls launched themselves at Pain while spinning around each other.
Pain raised his hand forward, but rather than a Shinra Tensei like Hinata was expecting, several black rods fired from under his sleeve. Two of those rods collided with the Truth Seeking Balls, deflecting them backwards.
"If he knew that Truth Seeking Balls can nullify ninjutsu,, then he knew his shockwave wouldn't work," Hinata realized. "But how did those rods repel the balls? It should be impossible! Unless they're-wait a minute, where did he go?"
The short time Hinata took to muse, Pain launched himself forward, with a longer rod in his hand. But she wasn't his prey; instead, he was now onto Utakata, ready to sink that black rod inside his flesh.
A loud metallic noise was heard, and Naruto was standing between Pain and Utakata, his rod being parried by the blond's Wind Blade.
"My Wind Blade is able to cut through pretty much everything," Naruto pointed out. "Just what the hell is that thing made of?"
"Good one, Naruto! Keep him like that!" Utakata said, as he jumped backwards while taking his pipe to his lips. "Water Release: Drowning Bubble Jutsu!"
Utakata flew a flurry of bubbles, which quickly converged around Pain's head, encasing the Akatsuki's head in a spheric blob of water. The effect was immediate, and the orange haired Akatsuki started to suffocate.
"Pain!" Konan shouted, as he dived to assist her partner.
"Not so fast, miss!" Hotaru claimed, as she quickly formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Hail Jutsu!"
The suddeness of the attack forced Konan to fall back, much to her furstration. And now that Pain was vulnerable, Haku decided he should better speed up the process. He leaped at Pain while his hands flew through hand seals.
"Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"
Haku exhaled a gust of extremely cold wind, covering Pain in frost but, most importantly, freezing the blob of water the Akatsuki's head was encased into. After a few moments of weakly trashing and trying to break the ice, the Akatsuki fell on his back, lifeless.
"His chakra vanished!" Hinata pointed out. "He's dead!"
"YES!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Haha, so much for the Rinnegan!"
Suddenly, there was a loud rumble, and the Konoha and Kiri ninjas were startled to see more giant animals coming their way. This time, they were a giant, multiple headed dog, and oddly enough, a giant panda. There were other two Akatsuki on top of each animal's head. One of them had long, orange hair tied in a ponytail, multiple facial piercings, and the Rinnegan. The other hardly looked human to begin with, and just like Hinata said, his appearance reminded one of a puppet. He also had facial piercings and Rinnegan eyes.
"Watch out!"
The giant animals charged at them, forcing the Konoha and Kiri ninjas to scatter. Taking advantage of this, Konan took Pain's corpse, and jumped away.
"You have seen nothing yet!" was the last thing they heard Konan saying.
"Even if we defeated Pain, it seems that these guys can act on their own," Haku observed.
"You're no closer to defeating me than you were at the very beginning of this fight," the Akatsuki with the ponytail said, sounding as if he was also Pain even if his voice was different.
"So...this guy is Pain too? How is that even possible?" Utakata asked, as he looked at the other Akatsuki, the one who looked like a puppet. "All of them are Pain then?
"We fought an Akatsuki member that had five hearts, split among five bodies, each with a different elemenatl affinity," Hinata recounted. "That's why the Akatsuki are so dangerous. They aren't merely strong ninja, they possess abilities that defy both logic and morality."
"That means that we need to kill all the Akatsuki with Rinnegan eyes to defeat the actual Pain," Haku deduced. "The Rinnegan is truly an astounding power."
"You have no idea, kid," the Ponytail Pain said, as he nodded to his other self.
The Puppet Pain raised an arm against them, which split in two to reveal what appeared to be a canon. Light particles started to gather around the canon's end, forming a ball, before being released as a beam, producing an explosion when it hit its targets. However, once the smoke dispelled, the Akatsuki could see that the Konoha and Kiri ninja were okay, protected behind a strange black mass. The mass then shrank and reformed into a pair of spheres, and placed themselves behind Hinata's back.
"You seem to forget that Truth Seeking Balls can nullify all kind of ninjutsu," Hinata stated. Suddenly, her expression became one of panic when her Tenseigan caught something a second too late. "Utakata-san!"
The startled jinchuriki felt something wrapping itself sround his body, before being pulled upwards by an invisible force.
"Sensei!" Hotaru screamed, as she futilely dashed towards him.
"Hotaru-san, wait!" Hinata called, grabbing her by her arm. "There's another summoned animal there! One who can turn invisible!"
As if to prove Hinata right, a giant chameleon made itself visible. Like all of Pain's bodies and animal summons, the giant repitle also had Rinnegan eyes and several black thick stakes stuck on its body. Oddly enough, its tail ended in a snake head.
"But we need to help sensei!" Hotaru urged.
"Don't worry, Hotaru, I can get out of this mess by myself," Utakata confidently stated. His cheeks then puffed before releasing a corrosive acid from his mouth, spraying the chameleon's tongue with it.
The chameleon hissed as it retreated its hurt tongue into its mouth, releasing Utakata in the process. As he fell, the jinchuriki blew more bubbles from his pipe.
"Water Release: Explosive Bubbles!"
The bubbles started to gather around the giant reptile, and as the name of the jutsu implied, the bubbles exploded upon touching its skin. The chameleon hissed further in pain, before the damage forcefully unsommoned him, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
"Yes! That was so great, Utakata-sensei!" Hotaru gushed, happy to see her beloved master safe and sound.
"Don't celebrate yet, Hotaru. I got rid of one enemy, but there are still many others left!" Utakata told her, almost in a chiding tone.
As if on cue, the giant animals charged at them. Ponytail Pain stayed whe was, while Puppet Pain jumped from the head of the giant centipede in order to engage the enemy ninjas himself. His left up opened up in multiple places, revealing hidden missiles that he fired at the Konoha ninja.
"Scatter!" Naruto commanded, as he made several hand seals. "Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Naruto poured as much chakra as he could into the attack, creating a huge wind vortex that sucked all the incoming missiles inside it, and made them prematurely explode.
The giant dog headed towards Utakata while the centipede lunged at Naruto, who was wide open. Fortunately, the giant canine was stopped in time by Gamaken, while a giant needle pierced the giant arthropod multiple times, trapping it in a tangle of ninja wire.
"And got ya!" Suigetsu boasted, as he pulled the ninja wire with all his strength, in order to keep the multiple legged animal in place.
"I'll bring it down in one hit!" Haku claimed, as his hands flew through a particularly long sequence of hand seals, clapping his hands in the end. "Ice Release: Sword of Winter!"
Suddenly, the temprature abruptly dropped, and a blizzard started to blow, slowly covering the area in snow. A few seconds later, several gigantic icicles fell from the sky, impaling the centipete through several areas, forcing it to cancel the summon, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Way to go, Haku!" Naruto cheered.
"This jutsu still have enough momentum for more," Haku added, his palms still together, as his sight moved onto the giant dog fighting Gamaken. "Toad-san, move out!"
Gamaken jumped backwards just before more gigantic icicles impaled the dog as well. But much to everybody's surprise, rather than dispelling it like it happened with the arthropod, the dog split into multiple copies of itself.
"What the hell!?" Naruto asked in shock.
Gamaken tried to fend off the pack of monstrous dogs, but in the end, the poor toad was overwhelmed.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," Gamaken croaked, as multiple jaws bit into several parts of his body. "I'm still more clumsy than I thought..."
And the giant toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Their prey gone, the giant dogs looked at Naruto, and chose him as their next prey.
"I'm not afraid of you, you overgrown mutts! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A clone of Naruto popped into existence. Both the original and the copy flew through a different sequence of hand seals.
"Let's see how much you like this combination!" Naruto said, as he prepared his attack. "Cyclone Vortex!"
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Naruto created a tornado aimed at the dogs, while the clone blew a fireball into the cyclone, creating a massive twister of fire which caught most of the dogs inside it. However, some of them managed to dodge it or escape with some minor burns and chase the blond.
"It seems we won't be able to defeat this summon the conventional way," Utakata observed, before his gaze locked onto the Pain who summoned it, now perched on a tree branch. "But there are more ways to get rid of a summon."
"Like defeating the summoner, right?" Hotaru asked.
Utakata nodded, and smiled at his apprentice. "Exactly, now let's go!"
"Alright, go after him, we'll try to keep these goddamned mutts at bay!" Naruto said, as he made his favorite hand seal, creating a multitude of clones.
Hotaru took the initiative, making several hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
Joining her hands with both index fingers aiming at the Pain with the ponytail, Hotaru fired water missiles from her fingers. The summoner Pain jumped from the branch he was standing on, and continued running, ttrying to dodge the water projectiles, powerful enough to blow holes in the tree's bark upon hitting them. As he jumped, he motioned his arm towards Hotaru, firing several black rods from under his sleeve that blocked the water shots.
"You're wide open now!" Utakata said, as he ran to close the gap between him and his enemy. "Water Release: Bubble Jutsu!"
Utakata blew a barrage of explosive bubbles at the now unprotected Pain. However, before the jutsu could make contact, the portly Pain appeared out of nowhere, landing between his fellow self and Utakata's attack, and absorbed all the bubbles before they could even explode.
"What the...?" Utakata asked, jumping back before his orange haired enemies could counterattack. "Didn't Hinata-san deal with this guy already?"
At that moment, Miyako leaped from one of the surrounding trees, Helmet Splitter in both hands, ready to hack the chakra-absorbing Pain to bits. Her ambush was seen by the summoning Pain, but he wouldn't be able to warn his partner in time.
"Die!" the blue haired swordswoman said as she lowered the axe half of her weapon.
But much to her surprise, the chakra-absorbing Pain dodged her blow without even turning around, almost as if he had eyes on his back (or a Byakugan). Still, Miyaki didn't cease her onslaught, and continued to deliver blows to the portly Akatsuki.
As that happened, Puppet Pain reentered the battle. A compartment opened on his arm, deploying a metallic cannon, which fired a massive stream of flames at the jinchuriki of the Six Tails and his apprentice.
"Too broad to dodge! Counter it with a water jutsu!" Utakata ordered.
Hotaru nodded, and the two of them formed the same chain of seals.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Master and apprentice expelled from their mouths a torrent of water, Utakata's being larger, which managed to succesfully stop the Akatsuki's fiery attack. However, the brown haired man noticed Hotaru was starting to pant heavily.
"Hotaru, are you okay?" Utakata asked.
The dirty blond girl needed a second to answer.
"I am, but..." she wheezed. "My chakra is starting to run low..."
Utakata nodded, rememering that normal people don't have the immense chakra reserves and seemingly unending stamina jinchuriki posses. Even if he could continue fighting, the battle would become much harder to win if his allies started to drop off. Glancing back, seeing the Konoha ninjas fighting the giant dogs –which kept multiplying– he could see that the Ice Release ninja was also breathless. That huge jutsu from before must have taken a good chunk of his chakra.
As this happened, Miyaki continued fighting the chakra-absorbing Pain. It seemed he got tired of just dodging, and pulled a black rod under his sleeve. A loud clang echoed through the forest when the axe half of the Helmet Splitter was parried by said chakra rod.
Miyaki's lips curved into a wide, extremely smug smirk.
"Sucker," she laughed.
She quickly slammed the hammer half into the backside of the axe. The result was the black rod shattering, unable to withstand the sheer force of the attack, and the axe embedding itself into the Akatsuki's chest, killing him instantly.
"You guys won't have to worry anymore about your ninjutsu being absorbed," Miyaki triumphantly said. "This one won't trouble us anymore."
"Good job, Miyaki-san," Utakata praised. "Though do make sure he's dead. He recovered from a seemingly lethal attack before."
Suddenly, Hotaru's opened wide, as she pointed somewhere forwards.
"Sensei, watch out! More summons incoming!" the blond girl shouted.
Utakata turned around and saw that, indeed, the summoning Pain had finished the Summoning Jutsu seal sequence.
"Summoning ju-"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Flash Arrow!"
A blue flash happened, and the next instant, the summoning Pain was impaled by a huge arrow made of electricity. The Pain barely have time to try to understand what happened, before he fell to the floor, lifeless. He was followed by his currently summoned animals, which all instantly vanished, leaving a poof of smoke behind.
Turning from the direction the impossibly fast arrow came from, Utakata and Hotaru saw Hinata, perched on a tree branch, holding a composite bow with glowing seals carved on it and a string that appeared to be made of chakra.
"Another one down," Hinata said, as she folded her collapsible chakra bow. "Now only half of the Pains remain."
"Good job, Hinata-hime!" Naruto praised his girlfriend.
"Yes. Victory is within our grasp," Haku replied, smiling, before his eyes rested on the puppet-looking Pain. "Dealing with this enemy will be easy. Then we can move to help the Kiri ANBU with the other two and Konan. If they stayed behind, I deduce it's because they aren't suited for direct combat."
"I believe you're right, but-" Hinata said, before she interrupted herself when her Tenseigan caught something from the corner of her vision. "HAKU, WATCH OUT!"
"Uh?"
The warning came too late, and the Ice Ninja was impaled by several black rods that were fired out of nowhere, with such force that they pushed Haku backwards, as if he had been kicked by a giant beast, until his lithe body was slammed against a large tree.
"HAKU!" both Naruto and Hinata screaming in unison, with the Hyuga flying towards his position. "Don't worry, I'll help you!"
"I don't think so," a familiar, chill-inducing voice said. "Basho Ten'in!"
While in mid air, Hinata was pulled with incredible force towards Pain, the one with the gravity based powers. The one who should be dead. His strong hand gripped against her throat.
"You...how...?" the Hyuga manaed to ask.
"Do you honestly think you can kill a god?" Pain asked, as Konan landed behind him. Despite such boastful question, his tone wasn't one of smugness or superiority. "Toneri requested me that, should our paths cross, I spare your life, for you're dear to him," Pain said, as another black rod appeared in his other hand. "However, his foolish romantic desires are secondary to our goal, so I made no promises."
And then, Hinata followed Haku's fate, her gut being impaled by the black rod, before Pain lazily tossed her body away. A pool of blood started to form around her.
"Hinata...no..." Naruto said in a whisper. His body tensed, as his hands clutched into fists. "How dare you... how dare you...!" Naruto began. His eyes turned red with slitted pupils. His teeth and nails grew longer and sharper, and his cheek marks became bolder. A red aura started to form around his body. "HOW DARE YOU!"
The aura took the shape of a fox, with two tails forming behidn him. The grass around his started to burn as a strong wind started to blow in every direction.
"You made him mad, Pain," Konan observed. "This will make things much harder for us."
"Not necessarily," Pain countered, as he extended his hand, his fingers curled as if they were holding something. "Stand back, Konan, I'm going to do it."
Pain opened his hand, revealing an object the size of a small marble, colored pure black. As if it weighed nothing, it started to elevate into the air the moment Pain released it. Just at that moment, the feral Naruto charged forward.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
The earth started to rumble, as chunks of the ground were teared apart and pulled towards the black orb in the sky, as well as fallen branches, pieces of wood, leaves and anything light enough not to resist the gravity pull. Unfortunately, human beings were in this category.
Naruto's charge was abrutply cut as he was pulled upwards. Claws made of red chakra grew from his fingers, and used them to remain attached to the ground, while slowly advancing towards Pain, resisting the gravitational pull, fueled by sheer anger alone.
"Yes.. this man hurt your friends, and want to exterminate your kind..." the Nine Tails voice said within him. "Now take my power! Give into your anger! Make sure he won't be able to hurt you again!"
The jinchuriki let out a feral, inhuman roar that chilled the blood of all of those who heard it, except the oranged haired Akatsuki, who remained as stoic and nonplussed as ever.
"Your power is incredible, Nine Tails. But the power I wield trascends even that of a Tailed Beast," Pain boasted.
Naruto's anger grew each second, and with it, the power coursing through his veins burned stronger. A third tail formed along the other two, as his eyes turned solid red. Burns started to spread across his body.
And then, something distracted him from the blinding fury that compelled him to go towards Pain and tear him to shreds: Hinata and Haku's bodies, flying towards the forming planetoid. He saw Hinata's eyes. Her Tenseigan still glinted with a white light. Could that mean that Hinata was still alive?
"No! Don't let her distract you! Your girlfriend is dead! Pain killed her! Now revel in my power in order to become strong enough to kill him! Let the anger guide you!" the Kyubi commanded, his voice growing increasingly desperate.
But the tailed beast's voice didn't have the intended effect on Naruto. The number of tails went down to just two, and as the anger within Naruto subsided, his focus became more clear, and making his choice, let the gravity well pull him as well.
"NO! Don't do that! If you do it, you will die!" the Kyubi called.
Of course, Naruto had no intention to die. He used the rocks flying towards the planetoid as stepping stones, until he reached Hinata, and wrapped her between his arms. He then did the same with Haku, which he used his two tails to grab him, before he tried to take them away from the forming planetoid.
Unfortunately, as Naruto did this, he was unable to provide aid to the Kiri ninjas, not even in the form of Shadow Clones, as his mind was too focused on saving his friends and teammates, while keeping the Nine Tails' from poisoning his mind.
"Oh shit!" Suigetsu yelled, as he was pulled towards the forming sphere of rocks. Overcoming the shock and panic, Suigetsu threw the Sweing Needle towards a tree, and maneuvered the attached ninja wire as to wrap it around its canopy, creating an anchor.
"Hang on there!" Miyaki replied, as she stabbed the axe half of the Helmet Splitter into a nearby tree, in order to anchor herself as well. "Everybody, grab onto either Suigetsu or me!"
Unfortunately, there was somebody unable to anchor themselves to the ground like the others were doing, and was pulled towards the forming planetoid.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Hotaru screamed, as she was pulled upwards.
"Hotaru!" Utakata shouted.
The jinchuriki of the Six Tails instantly leaped to her rescue, letting the gravitational well pull him as well in order to gain speed, and using the flying chunks of earth and ground as stepping stones, just like his counterpart from Konoha had done so moments before to save his comrades.
"Got you!" Utakata said, as his fingers clamped over the young woman's wrist.
"Sensei!" Hotaru screamed again.
"Just hold on! Don't worry, I won't let you go!" Utakata promised, as he began to now move away from the gravity attack, still using the flying stones as improvised platforms.
However, at that moment, butterflies started to appear, fluttering around the tall brown haired man, as if they were unaffected by the gravity field. A feeling of dread washed over him as more and more butterflies gathered, some of them perching themselves on Utakata. Then, the former Kiri ninja learned two things, neither of them good.
First was that those butterflies weren't real, but origami figures.
And second, that they weren't made of ordinary paper, but of explosive tags.
Which led to a third, more distressing revelation: He wouldn't be able to get rid of the explosive butterflies while holding Hotaru. Two options were now in front of him, but he took no time to make his choice. To him, it was obvious. His hand reached his pipe.
"Hotaru, I can't save the both of us," Utakata began, as he took the pipe to his mouth. More butterflies gathered around him. "In the past, I would have chose my life over yours in an instant, but that was before getting to know you better. I'm glad that you were so persistent of being part of my life, and that I ended up giving up and let you in. Now I see that I could have been a better teacher, but I think I have time for one last lesson."
Utakata blew a rather large bubble, which he used to encase Hotaru inside it. The bubble managed to resist the gravitational pull and slowly floated away from the danger, much to Hotaru's incesant protest.
"No, sensei, don't do it!" Hotaru screamed, as tears fell down her cheeks, while she futilely banged the surprisingly hard wall of the bubble with her fists.
"Live," Utakata said, a small smile formed in his lips. "Enjoy life ot its fullest, don't be chained by the past, and make sure that when your time comes, you can look back and smile knowing that you have no regrets."
"SENSEI!"
Utakata's last words were followed by a chain of explosions, engulfing the unlucky jinchuriki, before his unmoving body was pulled by the gravity core. Konan quickly flew towards him and intercepted him before he could become part of the still growing planetoid, which was large enough to partially block the sun.
"Are you sure he's still alive?" Pain asked. "Those were quite the explosions."
"I'm positive," the blue haired woman replied, as she landed besides her partner, with the burned and uncosncious Utakata on her arms. "I know the amount of force I have to use to neutralize a jinchuriki without killing him."
"YOU!" Naruto yelled, as he landed in front of them with a loud thud. The two-tailed chakra cloak burned with intensity around his body. "Do you think I'm going to let you go away with him!?"
"What we do we do, Pain?" Konan asked her partner. "Should we capture him too?"
"I think for the time being, we should stay safe and retreat with the one we have captured," Pain's raised hand curled into a claw. "But don't worry, Nine Tails, your time will come as well."
"Bastard! You're not going to-"
"One last thing: tell Jiraiya-sensei that I send our regards," Pain replied, before quickly motioning his outstretched hand down.
"Jiraiya... sensei?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. The shock caused by such statement was enough to stop him on his tracks.
A few seconds, he finally realized of the situation he was in. A massive rock was falling down on both him and all his friends and partners. Though judging by Suigetsu's screams, it seems that they had noticed and were taking the steps to avoid being crushed to death, while Hotaru slowly floated away inside a large bubble. He was about to run, though not back, but forward. He couldn't let Pain get away with Utakata. But before he could resume the chase, he realized of something.
"Hinata-hime and Haku. They're too wounded to run by themselves. They'll die if that thing falls near them!" Naruto distressingly thought.
Glancing one last time with hate-filled eyes at the retreating Akatsuki, Naruto turned around, and rushed towards where he had left his friends and teammates, hoping that they would be safe while he and the remaining ninja finished the fight.
But alas, this time victory would go to Akatsuki as well.
…
Sometime Later
When Naruto woke up, it was nightime already. He had very vague memories of what happened after the man-made asteroid hit the ground. The blond guessed the Nine Tails' chakra combined with the exhaustion from the battle made him lose consciousness.
And once again, his thoughts went to his teammates and girlfriend.
"Hinata-hime! Haku!" Naruto yelled, as he quickly rose up –not even realizing he was lying down a momet ago–, and started to frantically look around in panic, his eyes still adjusting to the growing darkness. "Where are-"
"Calm down, Naruto," a female voice gently said near him. "They're besides you, and safe."
Naruto realized that Miyaki was crouching besides him. Looking to the other side, he was Hinata and Haku, both of them unconscious, lying down on white sheets. Despite how pale and sick they looked, the fact that he could see their chests heaving up and down was reassuring.
"We tried to patch them up as best as we could, but they're in need of medical assitance," Miyaki explained. "Sadly, our group of ANBU has no medic nin."
"Utakata," Naruto said, now that his mind was at ease –relatively speaking– when it came to Hinata and Haku's status. "They got away with him."
"And he isn't our only loss," Miyaki sadly added. "Tsurigi died in the fight, as well as one of our ANBU. By the time we can mount a rescue mission, Utakata shall be dead. This mission has been a massive failure."
Naruto couldn't help but nod in frustration, before his eyes once again rested on the sleeping forms of his girlfriend and friend. They had been very close to lose their lives today. Even if Naruto knew that Akatsuki was a dangerous enemy, he always believed that the Assault Squad was powerful enough to beat them no matter what. That childish notion, no doubt engorged by their past victories against them, had been shattered when the rogue organization decided to dispatch one of their heavyweights.
Through the corner of his vision, the blond saw Hotaru, sitting on the grass, hugging her knees against her chest, her sad eyes lost into nothingness. Shaking the pain, Naruto stood up, walked towards her, and decided that maybe she should say something to the distraught girl.
"Hey," Naruto awkwardly greeted the girl. "Are you...are you okay?"
She took a few moments to answer. Her voice sounded cracked. "Yes, I am, thank you. But Utakata-sensei is not."
Naruto didn't say anything, and sat besides her. While Naruto was sad for losing a fellow jinchuriki, this girl knew and probably loved Utakata on a more personal level.
"It would have been better if I weren't here," Hotaru sadly said.
"What? Why do you say that?" Naruto asked.
"It was my fault sensei got captured. He was busy saving me, so he couldn't save himself," Hotaru explained, her eyes starting to swell up with tears. "If I wasn't so weak... if I were a better apprentice to him... none of this would have happened. He was right trying to push me away from him."
"No!" Naruto replied, surprised by the volume of his voice. "Don't you dare to think that. It wasn't your fault that Utakata got captured," despite Naruto's choice of words, it was obvious to the girl that her sensei was as good as gone. "Akatsuki are the only ones at fault here. They're the ones who took Utakata away. That's why we must do everything in our hand to stop them before more innocents suffer."
"I'd like to do that but..." Hotaru began, sobbing a little. "I'm not that strong. I'd only get in the way. My uncle was right, being a ninja was just a childish whim. I should better return home..."
"It's that what you truly want?" Naruto asked.
"No," she replied. "But what else can I do?"
"What do you want?" the blond repeated.
"I want..." Hotaru began, fighting back the tears. "I wanted to be a ninja. To be strong, to be able to take care of myself, as well as protect others. That's why when I met Utakata-sensei and saw how strong and skilled he was, I did all I could to make him teach me."
Naruto smiled a little. "Hey, those are pretty good reasons to be a ninja. Plus I saw you fight and you're really good. Why let Utakata's teaching go to waste? Continuing your ninja training could be a good way to honor his memory."
Hotaru looked at Naruto a bit surprised, before her eyes shrank a little, and her lips formed a sad smile. "I guess you're right. But what can I do? I no longer have a sensei."
"You can get a new one. There's always time to become a ninja," Naruto kindly said. "The offer from before still stands. The gates of Konoha are open for you if you want to join us."
"That's... very generous of you," Hotaru thanked him. "But for the time being, I need some time alone... to do some thinking, to grieve Utakata-sensei, and plan what I'm going to do next."
"Oh, okay," Naruto replied, as he stood back to his feet. "But try not to wallow in grief too much, okay? Utakata would have wanted you to move on with your life."
"I know," Hotaru nodded. "Thanks for the talk."
Naruto nodded, and walked away. He heard Suigetsu and Miyaki talking about how they'll head back to Kirigakure with the first light of dawn, and that they'll have to make sure all the wounded were taken care of. Though the blond quickly lost interest in their mundane talk, ad the last thing the Akatsuki said before leaving with Utakata replayed in his head.
"Tell Jiraiya-sensei that I send our regards."
As Naruto pondered those words, an image appeared in his mind. A picture of his dad, only much younger, with three kids: a redhead, one with orange spiky hair, and a girl with chin length blue hair. He didn't remember where or when, but he saw such picture in his house, some time ago. He had dismissed that picture as just another trio of Genin his father had trained in the past. Now he was completely sure two of those kids were the same Akatsuki he just fought.
"Dad...what did you hide from me?"
Author's Note: Sadly for our heroes, Akatsuki wins again, and Utakata becomes the latest of their victims. You know, even if it would have made an already long arc even longer, now I kind of regret not including Utakata in the Kirigakure Civil War arc. He could have bonded with Naruto, and that way his death could have have a greater emotional impact, both for the blond and the story as a whole. Oh well, at least I'm more satisfied with his performance than Yugito's, since he got to be more involved in the arc.
I had to wait a whooping seventy chapters, but I finally got to write for my all time favorite Naruto villain, and boy, that felt good! I hope I made Pain's justice, and that you like him, both personality and badassery wise. Though given that he nearly killed Hinata and Haku, I'm afraid that some people are going to get mad at him. Oh well.
Yeah, speaking of Hinata and Haku, due the injuries they sustained in this chapter, they're going to be out of commission for some time, leaving Naruto as the only remaning member of the Assault Squad. Don't worry, while they recover, Naruto will get assigned a new team for the next arc. All of them being characters I think are popular, which people have been asking more of them (though I can tell you already it's not going to be Team Gai. Yes, I know I'm neglecting them, but I'm kind of struggling with where and when I should use them).
Also, there was something curious about this chapter: Naruto's Sage Mode. I pretty much had to find ways to remove Naruto from many fights so he wouldn't just crush the enemy in an instant, to the point that I regretted giving him Sage Mode so soon (so no, stop asking about the Kurama Chakra Cloak, he isn't getting it before he did in canon). However, Naruto getting Sage Mode much earlier played against him here, given that it gave the Akatsuki time to observe it and develop a way to counter it, while in canon, Pain pretty much had to guess how it worked as he fought Naruto (and lost quite a few bodies in the process).
And yeah, Naruto finally found about Pain's connection to Jiraiya. Which means that Jiraiya's greatest fears are going to be confirmed next chapter. It's going to be a "fun" one, hehe.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading the chapter.
Only four jinchuriki left! Which ones will fall to the Akatsuki, which ones will survive? As this question is in the air, don't forget to leave your thoughts on this chapter in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!