Chapter 8: The Nature of The Beast

Tsunade looks onto her would be captor, still kneeling before the Hokage. "Please help me," the mysterious Akira Toshida said only minutes early. Tsunade still stands ready to strike down the shinobi, but there is something about his disposition, something about the way he looks in the Hokage's eyes, that draws Tsunade to listen to him.

"What do you mean, help you?"

Toshida raises his head and looks the Hokage in the eyes. "It is a long story I am afraid. I will tell you all of it in detail, but I must make sure that your team does not catch up with me, for they are strong in will and would be most . . . unpleasant to have to deal with right now."

Tsunade begins to lose patience with the dark ninja, "Why should I trust you? You have kidnapped me, killed who knows how many people back at the stadium, and you have seriously injured one of my shinobi!" Tsunade screams, pointing at the catatonic Ino, who lay lifeless on the ground.

Toshida grimaces in remorse as he answers the Hokage's questions, "I assure you I never meant for anything to happen to Ino. She attacked me and I assure you, it was not I who retaliated."

"What do you mean it wasn't you?"

"Like I said, it is all a very long story. But, please, if I am to tell you everything we must leave this area before your team catches up with us."

"You still have not earned my trust yet, you still killed many people back at the arena!"

"The needles that my associate used were filled with an organic tranquillizer. All of the participants should be waking up anytime now, just like you have awoken." Tsunade still looks to the shinobi with scepticism, but her glare shows a tremendous sigh of relief to know that no one at the arena has been serious harmed.

"All right. I will give you five minutes to explain yourself." Says a stern Tsunade, holding up five fingers in front of her.

"Very well. A compromise. I tell you a brief synopsis of my actions, and we remain here." Toshida then thinks to himself, "It is working out now brother. Not quite as planned, but she is listening. Don't hurt any of her underlings." Toshida then turns to Tsunade, as he rises to his feet. "It all started roughly eighteen years ago."

Back at the battle scene between the sin shinobi, and the leaf genins, Shikamaru maintains his hold on Keinea, as the others pair off with one another. Maea continues to spar with the rotund Chouji, and Sakura fights with the stocky built Toragai. Maea and Chouji exchange a flurry of kunai strikes and mild taijutsu, while Sakura and Toragai do the same. Neither of the pairings is producing a clear winner, as both fights are at a stalemate.

Shikamaru turns to Keinea, who is still trapped in Shikamaru's shadow neck bind technique. "Well I am not sure what your brother thinks he is doing, but I assure you that there is no escape once you are trapped in my jutsu. It isn't a very redeeming quality to have a brother that would abandon his sibling to the enemy for the sake of the mission."

Keinea smiles and laughs quietly while still in the stranglehold of the neck bind. "He was not abandoning me by any means. He was leaving the situation to me."

"What?"

"My brother knew that it was not I who was trapped in your jutsu," Keinea then remarkably, fights off the effects of the shadow bind, and raises his hands in the seal of a horse with connected thumbs.

Shikamaru looks on in disbelief as the effects of his technique are being negated so easily. "What the?""

"But it was you, who was trapped in MY jutsu." Keinea then closes his eyes as he starts his signature technique.

"Ninpo: Kage Sonsaku!" (Ninja Art: Shadow Walking) Keinea then begins to sink into the very shadow that binds him. As he disappears from sight, Shikamaru tries desperately to trap him again and the shadow hands swing in vain to get a hold on the shinobi. Keinea's laugh can be heard all around Shikamaru, as Keinea fades completely from sight.

"What is going on here? How can he just disappear into nothingness? Why can I still hear him? Think Shikamaru think!"

"What seems to be the problem leaf?" Keinea voice echoes around the forest, as Shikamaru tries to locate where the voice is coming from. "You were so confident that your technique could not be bypassed, and now you stand there impotent. With no strategy, and no idea of what to do and how to continue, it's all quite amusing if you ask me"

Shikamaru readies his kunai, as he searches from left to right all around him. Trying to locate just where the voice is coming from. As Shikamaru turns to his left it seems almost as if something just passed him quickly, hidden in the shadows of the trees. "That's it. He is hiding in the shadows." Shikamaru then throws several shuriken in a full spread at numerous points throughout the shadows. As one of the shuriken heads toward a tree to Shikamaru's far right, he notices that the shuriken did not hit and stick into the tree. But it actually disappeared into the shadow in which it was thrown at. "He isn't only hiding amongst the shadows . . . He is actually INSIDE the shadows. But how? How can this technique work?" Before Shikamaru can try and assess the situation any further, Keinea interrupts.

"I see that you are slowly putting the pieces' together leaf. But I am afraid that you could not figure it out fast enough!"

Shikamaru looks below him to see his shadow come alive with movement. The shadow becomes darker then the one that was there before and Keinea leaps directly out of the shadow and strikes Shikamaru with a heavy left hand, knocking him off the tree branch that he once stood on and straight to the forest floor where Chouji notices the attack.

"SHIKAMARU!" Before Chouji can rush to his friends aid, Maea focuses on Chouji's lapse in concentration and comes rushing at him from above holding the seal of the dog.

"YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO TURN YOUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM ME!" She screams as Chouji regains his composure just a second too late.

Maea lands on Chouji's bent knee so silently and gracefully that Chouji barely even notices the weight of the shinobi on top of him. She stares Chouji directly in the eyes, only inches from his face, her hand seal still maintained. She leaps over Chouji with one leg, rotating sideways in midair. While her whole figure is spinning behind Chouji, her jutsu then comes into effect.

"Ninpo:Uragiri no Ishiki (Betrayal of the senses)!" Maea finishes her spin with an open palmed strike to the back of Chouji's head. The strike surprises Chouji, who is sent tumbling forward as Maea lands softly on both feet.

"CHOUJI!" Cries Sakura, who is still fighting with Toragai. As Toragai comes in for a decisive open palm strike, Sakura dodges leaping high into a nearby tree. The strike crushes the rock that once stood behind Sakura.

Toragai taunts his opponent, "Are you afraid little girl? Come on down here and fight! Or maybe Maea and I should just team up against your fat friend."

Sakura looks to see if the spoken taboo, has any effect on Chouji. "That should get Chouji angry enough to fight with all he's got."

Chouji however, does not. He slowly tries to regain his vertical base, but he seems dazed and very confused. He tries getting to his feet, but finds himself falling over every time he tries to move.

Sakura looks on in concern as Chouji struggles to stand up. "What did she do to him? She is a medical ninja I take it? Well then, maybe it is time that we switched opponents." Sakura pulls out an enormous branch from the tree she is perched on as she drops at high speed toward a surprised Toragai. Toragai dodges the initial strike, as the branch buries itself in the ground where Toragai once stood. However, Toragai does not dodge the following strike as Sakura reacts in the blink of an eye, pulling the branch out of the ground and striking Toragai across the chest with the large log. The strike sends Toragai hurdling backward and into another tree.

Meanwhile, Maea stalks the helpless Chouji. "Poor leaf genin, I know that you must be very confused and frightened right now. I will make sure that your suffering does not last much longer." Maea then moves her hands along one another, fusing them with chakra along each side, and turning her already deadly hands, into scalpels of pure chakra. "Well then leaf genin, its time to die!" Mea then rushes toward a defenceless Chouji who can only look blankly as his attacker hurdles toward him. As Maea swipes down Chouji's certain death blow, Sakura's hand deflects and parries Maea's strike. Maea regains her composure and stares down at her more worthy adversary.

Sakura looks back to Maea with the same look that is being sent to her. "Your opponent from this point on will be me!" Sakura moves her hands along one another, fusing them with chakra along each side just as Maea had done. A battle between two medical ninjas is set to begin. "I don't know what you did to Chouji, but I will make sure that you pay for it!"

Maea then lunges at Sakura, and the battle between the medics begins. The two exchange swiping blows both being deflected by one another's chakra infused hands. The two swipe at one another relentlessly, neither giving the other and inch in which to gain an advantage, Maea then heads to the trees with Sakura in pursuit, the two run directly up a large tree, their arms thrown backward as they gather up momentum, the two then leap off at the very top of the tree heading spiralling down into the forest. Maea lands on a tree branch and runs further away from Sakura. Unbeknownst to Maea, Sakura has landed on the same branch but is running upside down directly below Maea. As Maea stops to locate her pursuer, Sakura reaches to her feet and grabs onto the branch with chakra. Then using her momentum, she swings on the branch and surprises Maea, striking her hard with a double footed kick, to the left shoulder sending Maea falling to the forest floor. Maea tries grabbing onto a branch with her left arm but finds she is unable to lift it. Maea lands stomach first on another branch and tumbles off, landing on another branch back first.

"Wh-why can't I move my arm?" Maea asks out loud.

Sakura lands in front of her and offers an explanation, as her feet glow with the same precisely controlled chakra that exists in her razor like hands. "I was able to tear up the muscles in your shoulder with a kick, just as easily as if I was striking you with my hand. Now I know that you can heal that injury, so hurry up and let's continue."

Maea grinds her teeth in anger as she begins to heal her damaged arm. "What brilliant control. She was able to control a complex medical technique through her feet. Her chakra control is flawless. Hmpf, she is beautiful, young and very talented. I think Keinea would love this girl."

Meanwhile, Shikamaru has been receiving a severe pounding from the shadow jumping Keinea. Every time Shikamaru figures out which shadow Keinea is hiding in, Keinea lunges out of the shadow with an attack that knocks Shikamaru off balance.

"Dammit, this guy's level of jutsu is incredible." Shikamaru ponders to himself. "He does not seem to be able to control the shadows, but any shadow can become an escape route for him. He enters the shadow some how, travels throughout it and then moves to another one. There has to be a weakness to it."

Before Shikamaru can locate his position, Keinea lunges out from a shadow directly behind Shikamaru and strikes him with a kunai slash across Shikamaru's back on his left side. Shikamaru reels in pain as he clutches the wound.

"C'mon man! I thought you would put up a better fight, you being a chuunin and all." Keinea's voice can be heard once again from all around Shikamaru. "Well then my friend, I say it is about time that we end this."

Shikamaru looks down to the still dazed and confused Chouji who is being looked up with a predator intent from a stalking Toragai. "CHOUJI! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"

Chouji however does not reply. For him he does not hear Shikamaru's words. Instead he hears, "IJUOHC!! TAHW SI EHT RETTAM HTIW UOY!" Maea's technique has scrambled all of Chouji's sensory impulses.

Toragai looks on and begins to mock the stumbling Chouji. "Hah. Looks like you got hit with another one of Maea's signature techniques. That jutsu just scrambled every sense that you got. I can't even imagine how things are in your head right now, and how the heck you are supposed to function properly. Your eyes are seeing up as down, left as right. Your ears are hearing everything backwards. Your taste buds will taste sweet, when it's really sour, feeling soft and smooth when it's actually hard and coarse." Toragai then kneels down in front of Chouji who looks at Toragai with confused crossed eyes. "You know what the only other thing that can do that to a human body is? Poison. You know what your bodies natural reaction is to poison?"

With that said Chouji leans over and vomits. His body thinking it has been poisoned, Chouji's condition only gets worse as he tries to adapt to the change in perception.

"Yea that's what happens!" Toragai says laughing to himself.

However, just above Toragai is Maea and Sakura, who have been listening intently to the conversation taking place. "TORAGAI YOU IDIOT! YOU TALK TOO MUCH AND TOO LOUD YOU IGNORANT FOOL!" Maea screams as Sakura looks on with a pleased smile.

"That's all I needed to know." Sakura says as she then leaps off the branch making the seal of the tiger. She lands just behind Chouji, surprising the clumsy Toragai. Sakura then places her hand on the back of Chouji's head. "KAI!" (Release) Sakura yells, and instantly Chouji shakes off the withering effects of the sensory technique.

Sakura then leaps back up to the branch above, where she is attacked instantly by a furious Maea. Chouji then places his hands together in his families' trademark hand seal.

"BAIKA NO JUTSU!" Chouji then swells up and brings in both his arms, both his legs and his head and begins a fast and furious rotation. The thundering pile of humanity then hurdles toward Toragai at high speed screaming, "NIKODAN SENSHA!"

Toragai tries to run away from the rolling Chouji but finds that it is of no use. He gets run over by the rotund Chouji and lays stuck in a loose layer of dirt. As he raises his head slowly, his face covered in bugs and worms. "That hurt, you fat bastard!"

Chouji's rotation stops instantly and he returns to normal size. His ears prick up as the taboo word has been spoken yet again, only this time, Chouji heard it. "What did you just say?" Chouji asks, "I could have sworn that you called me fat." Chouji then turns to face Toragai, with his eyes filled with rage, "I AM NOT FAT! BANZAI! BAIKA NO JUTSU!" Chouji then thunders toward Toragai again with the same Meat tank fighting style. Toragai then stands to his feet, "I fell for that technique once, BUT NOT AGAIN!" Toragai then starts a jutsu. Rat, ox, ram, hare, dragon, tiger, snake, boar. Toragai then slams his hands down on the ground, sending a wave effect across the sand toward Chouji.

"Doton: Kinko suna no jutsu" (Sand Imprisonment technique)

The wave reaches Chouji and the sand around him becomes loose, stopping Chouji's rotation and trapped him in quicksand up to his waste. Shackles then form out of sand and wrap around Chouji's wrists restraining him completely.

Meanwhile, Naruto is still making his way through the forest to reach his teammates. "Hold on guys. I'm on my way. Just hang in there till I get there." Naruto then connects with the chakra of the kyuubi and his chakra turns to a dark red. His speed then increases exponentially as he then races through the forest faster then before.

At the same time, Shikamaru still tries to figure out the secret to Keinea's technique. "He waits until I am vulnerable and then he strikes, from the side, or behind or at point blank range. He jumps from shadow to shadow but can move within any shadow around. It's almost flawless. There has to be a weakness somewhere. Wait a minute . . ." Keinea then leaps from right in front of Shikamaru and strikes him across the face with another hard blow, changes direction and disappears into a shadow to Shikamaru's right. Shikamaru then begins to notice something, "That's it! He can travel between shadows, but he can't travel through any of them that are not connected. If they are not connected, he has to leave the shadow and travel to another one. So he can't manipulate the shadow, he can only travel inside single or connecting shadows, and there has to be something else. The shadows must become like tunnels for him. He uses his chakra to increase the depth of the shadow and uses chakra to change his own structure in order to travel through that space. It must be like he has a field around his body that allows him to do so. That would explain why his clothing, kunai and shuriken can travel through as well. So if that is the case then the solution should be simple. Take away his field, or take away the shadows. I guess shadows it is." Shikamaru then attaches a flash bang from his equipment to the ring at the bottom of one of his kunai. He then waits for Keinea's next move. When Keinea leaps from a shadow just behind Shikamaru, Shikamaru throws his kunai to a thick shadow just in front of him. Shikamaru takes another kunai slash across the back, just as his kunai lands in the centre of the shadow. Keinea quickly makes his way toward the shadow that has the kunai. Everything seems to slow down to a crawl as Shikamaru observes the kunai beginning to ignite as it sinks into the shadow Keinea is just a few feet away from. As Keinea lands in the shadow, the flash bang goes off, exploding with a bright flash of light. Keinea finds himself crouched down in the centre of the bright light, blocking his eyes as his safe haven has been taken from him.

"WHAT?!" Keinea says, baffled by the turn of events.

Before he can ready the jutsu again, Shikamaru topples him with a strike of his own. He punches Keinea directly in the face, sending Keinea toward a large tree. Instead of hitting the solid mass of wood, Keinea disappears into the shadow that Shikamaru himself had cast upon the tree. Shikamaru gets his distance from the tree and analyses what shadows were connected to his own. Shikamaru quickly notices that the shadow was connected to the shadows that the trees have been casting on the forest floor. Keinea in theory could be anywhere. However, he appears quickly with a vengeance and a look of pure rage across his face, as he emerges from the shadows, striking Shikamaru with a hard right hand, sending the chuunin to the ground yet again.

"Damn I was so close. I am on the right track though, he is getting frustrated as well, he will make a mistake sooner or later. But at this rate, I may not have that long." Suddenly an idea crosses Shikamaru and he turns his attention to the still trapped Chouji. "CHOUJI! CAN YOU TAKE OUT THE TOPS OF THE TREES?"

Chouji looks over to his longtime friend, "I think so."

"THEN DO IT!"

"Bubun Baika No Jutsu" (Partial Multi Size) Chouji's arm then breaks the shackles of sand as it inflates to an enormous size. Chouji then swings his massive arm up toward one of the largest trees in the group that Shikamaru pointed to. Chouji's massive hand punches the tree causing it to splinter and crack. Chouji then grabs the tree and begins to pull it down. Before Chouji can completely pull the tree down, Toragai restrains him again with the shackles of sand. However, the damage has been done, as the large tree falls, it knocks over two other trees, taking away all of the shadows in which Keinea was hiding.

"GOT YOU!" Shikamaru shouts as the Keinea appears without a place to hide. As he then tries to move away and find another shadow in which to take cover in, he finds himself unable to move yet again. He looks down to see the signature shadow bind of Shikamaru, trapping him yet again.

"I thought we established that this technique is no good against me." Keinea then sinks yet again into Shikamaru's shadow. However, Shikamaru retracts his shadow quickly and narrows it to the width of a thin piece of wire. He then retracts his shadow until it remains just underneath him.

"That is what I was hoping for." Says a confident Shikamaru.

"Wh-what did you do? Wh-why can't I move? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" A confused and very angry Keinea questions.

"Your technique uses shadows as tunnels in which you can travel to and from. However I observed that you cannot travel through any shadows that are not connected. Also I noticed that you cannot manipulate shadows like I can. Which means that those tunnels that you use as your main offensive weapon, can also work . . . as a prison."

"WH-WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"You can't leave the shadow unless you have sufficient space in which to make an exit. I am assuming that it works whether you have the shadow concentrated into a large enough space or just as along as it makes up an efficient overall surface area. So unless my shadow extends to an adequate surface area, you are stuck in my shadow." Shikamaru looks around and notices he is standing in the middle of an opening on the forest floor that a large amount of sunlight is focussed on. "The only problem now is, if he gets out I don't know if I am going to be able to handle him. His technique is an almost perfect counter to my own. Looks like both of us are stuck here. Once I run out of chakra to constrict my shadow with, it is only a matter of time before the shadows of the tree's give him an opening."

Meanwhile, Maea and Sakura continue their trading of medical attacks while Toragai does his best to dodge Chouji's still massive arm that is being swung at him relentlessly. At the same time, Tsunade has been fully briefed on Toshida's intentions, and it is much more than she could have ever thought possible.

"It's impossible. He can't be serious. This young man? He is just like "him". But yet they are so different. His eyes lack "his" innocence. This boy looks so cold on the inside. This has to be a trick. But something about him and his story, I find hard not to believe."

"And that Tsunade-sama, is why I have sought you out. We have been planning this mission for some time now. You can see why approaching you directly would have been useless in this situation. Your guards would have arrested me even if they thought I was lying. I am sorry for all of the deception, but I am desperate. I beg of you Tsunade-sama, can you please help me?"

Every fibre in Tsunade's being does not trust the mysterious shinobi. But something about the dark young man, seems genuine.

"I am sorry. But I cannot help you. I am not even sure if I can believe your story. I would make a valuable hostage to whatever village you may be from. I am sorry but I cannot take the risk that you are lying. I will fight you if necessary to leave your custody."

"I think you have misunderstood me Tsunade-sama. Ever since you broke away from your restraints, you have no longer been in my custody. You have shown the utmost courtesy in remaining here to listen to me. But I must ask you again to reconsider my request for help."

"I am sorry but I will not help you." Tsunade then begins to walk past Toshida who remains stoic in his expression.

"I thank you for your time, Tsunade-sama," Toshida then looks to the ground, his expression changed from a stoic stare, into an angry scowl. He then turns around and leaps into the air surprising Tsunade. "Sorry Tsunade-sama, but I cannot take no for an answer."

Tsunade readies herself for Toshida's attack, but before Toshida lands his attack, he changes direction in mid air and begins to head toward the fighting between the rest of Tsunade's village people. Tsunade looks on in confusion as she tries to figure out his intentions. Then suddenly, Toshida makes them evident.

"If you will not help me willingly, then I will show you a demonstration of "its" power. By killing every one of your subordinates!"

Tsunade follows Toshida to the best of her ability, but Toshida's speed is remarkable, and he quickly gains ground on the furious Hokage.

Back at the battles, Keinea can feel his brother's presence coming closer. Still trapped in Shikamaru's shadow, Keinea thinks to himself.

"Brother is returning. Did he talk to the Hokage already? Why is he coming back?" Keinea then gets a better feeling of the chakra his brother is emitting, as if it was a clear manifestation of his frame of mind. "And why is he so angry?! This is not good. I have to get out of this damn shadow. If "it" wakes up, then brother may lose control again." Keinea then tries to convince Shikamaru to release him. "Hey! Leaf! You have to let me out of here! I give you my word that I will surrender to you if you let me out."

Shikamaru however, is not convinced. "I don't think so. You have proven already that you are all deceitful and untrustworthy. This would just be another trap that I assure you, I will not fall for."

"This is not a trick I swear to you! My brother is returning, and he is very angry. If he loses control, then we are all done for. Nothing you or I can do will stop him if "it" wakes up. Please, I am begging you, let me out of here."

Keinea's words have shaken Shikamaru, "He sounds serious. I don't trust him at all, but his brother is creepy. I don't doubt that his strength is at a level high above mine, but what is this "it" he keeps talking about? If "it" wakes up? What does he mean?"

Before Shikamaru can ponder any longer, a dark shadow approaches him at high speed. Shikamaru sees only a blur as he is attacked and sent hard into a tree, knocking him unconscious. Keinea then leaps out of the shadow that once held him and he immediately begins to search for his brother. He notices a fast blur moving toward Sakura and he moves to intercept. Sakura is still fighting with Maea on top of a high tree branch, and when she notices Maea look into the darkness with an expression of intense fear, Sakura turns around to notice a dark shadow speeding toward her. The only thing she can make out is a pair of bright green eyes staring at her with malicious intent. The shadow reaches out and grabs her around the throat, lifting her off the ground and sucking out any fight that Sakura had left in her.

Toshida then drops to the forest floor with Sakura in hand. He lifts her off the ground yet again by her throat and begins to squeeze hard. Toshida's look has changed from the frightening glare he had moments before, to his trademark stoic look. He looks almost as if he is deeply saddened by what he is doing, but remains powerless to stop it.

Chouji remains restrained in the sand pit created by Toragai as he screams at the top of his lungs, helpless to protect his friends. "SHIKAMARU! SAKURA!" He tries as hard as he can to free himself, but the harder he fights, the tighter the sand constricts him.

Toragai, Maea and Keinea stand beside Toshida who stands set and ready to kill Sakura. He looks at Sakura in her frightened eyes and mutters the words, "Forgive me child. I am very sorry." Toshida then readies himself to crush Sakura's throat.

However, before Toshida makes the fatal move, the pain he received in his stomach earlier in the day returns with a vengeance. He drops Sakura to the ground, as he himself falls clutching his chest and stomach. "Wh-what do you want you monster?!" Toshida says out loud as if talking to someone else. "What do you mean it's him? What are you talking about?"

Toshida looks to the top of the tree line and slowly rises to his feet, fighting the pain in his chest. His teammates begin to stare in the same direction, and soon Sakura musters the strength to look and see for herself. Her eyes fill with hope as she can see a familiar face in the trees. The figure then drops from the trees and stands only ten metres from the four sin shinobi.

He points his finger to the shinobi and says, "Get away from Sakura-chan. Or none of you will survive to see tomorrow." A determined Naruto has finally arrived on the scene ready to fight and protect his precious friends.

Toshida's look then changes from a frightened and painful grimace, to a focussed and arrogant smile. He then starts to laugh silently with two voices in unison. The first voice is Toshida's own, and the second is the unearthly, deep and scratchy voice heard once before back in the locker room when Toshida had to be sealed. His eyes light up with the same green glow seen earlier, he looks at Naruto directly and Naruto is then stricken with an intense fear of his own.

"I . . . I know you . . . don't I? Who are you?" Naruto says, stuttering to get the words out, as the face that seemed so alien to Naruto moments ago, once again becomes awfully familiar.

Toshida then speaks in the duel voice, sending shivers up his teammates spines, and making the hair on Naruto's neck stand up on end.

"It's been a long time . . . hasn't it? . . . FOX!"