The Rise of a Warrior: Naruto: Shippuden

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Three years have come and gone, and while Tatsu and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf have grown stronger, they'll have a whole new group of enemies to face. The era of Team Dragon has arrived, but can they rise to the challenge? Sequel to the Rise of a Warrior: Naruto, second story in my Naruto trilogy. Please read each chapter until the end and check for notes.

12. Art is an Explosion, Jiraiya the Gallant

Once out of the village, Shikamaru stopped the group "Alright guys, listen closely. Starting now, our objective is to find Itachi and take him into custody. The Akatsuki is rounding up the Tailed Beasts like the Kyuubi inside Naruto, and we know according to Dragon's intel that they've already located and captured the One-Tail from Gaara, along with the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Five-Tails and Seven-Tails and are currently in the process of gathering the Four-Tails as we speak, leaving only numbers six, eight and nine. According to intel Dragon and Jiraiya obtained, it's already possible that they've infiltrated the Land of Fire and are trying to track Naruto down. Don't forget that Itachi was originally from the Hidden Leaf, three years ago he came back searching for Naruto and our sensei's and Lee fought him."

"So he's heading back to the Leaf this time as well?" Ino guessed "And how Sasuke should be close by?"

"That's my best guess, though we've gotta take something this delicate one step at a time. We'll use this as our center point and search in all directions with a radius of exactly 5 kilometers, if we don't find anything then we'll move the center point and search the next 5 kilometer radius. We'll keep repeating this strategy until it works."

"But if we spread out 5 kilometers then we can't use our wireless com links, and splitting up like that could be dangerous." Ino pointed out "Rules dictate a minimum of two man squads for patrols so if an enemy is-"

"Ino stop worrying so much, it can be such a drag."

"Look." Kakashi formed several hand seals "Summoning Jutsu!"

Then Pakkun appeared with the rest of Kakashi's ninja hounds "Our voices are able to reach much farther than any com link, also our noses can detect dangers so we'll protect you."

"Thanks Kakashi." then Shikamaru stepped forward "Alright, here's the team rosters for our patrol. Just to be on the safe side, I'm assigning two ninja hounds to each team member so no squabbling with them. Naruto, I'm looking at you." he sent two ninja hounds each to pair up with Kin, Choji and Ino.

"What about me though?" asked Naruto.

"You're a jinchuuriki and by extension that makes you a target for the Akatsuki, to protect you from a potential attack by the Akatsuki I'll be going with you along with a sensory type, that being Hinata."

Then Pakkun poked his head up from Kakashi's shoulder "And don't forget big bark Bull as well."

Naruto looked at Bull "Huh."

Hinata walked up to Naruto, looking nervous "Good to work with you Naruto."

"Yeah, you too."

"Being ninja hound users, Kakashi and Kiba will each only have one dog." Shikamaru went on with explaining the plan.

"So we're all set and ready to go." Kiba told him.

"Alright, now listen and listen well everybody. Your highest priority is to track the scents of Sasuke and Itachi, but if you encounter either one of them then simply verify their locations and return to this central point. This especially applies to you Naruto, we're not gonna let you run off on your own like a wild man again. Alright guys, spread out!" and they scattered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke led his group through the forest until he stopped them "Alright guys, it's time."

"Itachi Uchiha huh? I hope we can find him." Jugo muttered.

"Remember not to engage him if you find him, come and inform me first."

"Right." then Jugo, Hotaru and Suigetsu all scattered.

'Yes!' Karin immediately latched onto Sasuke "Oh Sasuke I get to stay all alone with you, isn't that right?"

"Not even close, now hurry up and head out." Sasuke ordered bluntly.

"...Fine." very unsatisfied, Karin took off.

'No way I'm letting that psychopath put her hands on me, my heart belongs to Kin and Kin alone. The question is, will she forgive me?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having been sent off on his own, with Jugo and Hotaru being a team, Suigetsu managed to track down Kyoya and Ginji, the accountant and barker, respectively, for Kakuzu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jugo was checking with the animals to see if they could locate Itachi.

Hotaru was rather thrown off by Jugo's ability to communicate with animals.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As he travelled with Shikamaru and the rest, Naruto had only one thing on his mind 'Sasuke…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kin was travelling with Kakashi's ninja hounds Bisuke and Shiba.

"You know if you don't wipe that sullen look off of your face then you're just gonna scare off all of the boys." Bisuke commented.

Kin rounded on him "What was that?"

"The more you chase the farther they run, but you're the type of girl who just keeps charging ahead aren't you? Why don't you try pulling back for a change?"

"You've got a lot of nerve." then her eyes softened and saddened "Besides, it's not like that. Not with Sasuke and me."

"Hey Bisuke, just lay off the girl would you?" Shiba told him, only to receive a grunt.

"Sasuke should know how I feel he needs to know how everybody feels. I… We want him to come home safely, all of us, and that's all there is to it alright?"

"You can't draw his attention, so we'll just sniff him out then." Bisuke took a whiff, then stopped.

"Did you get something?"

"It's really faint, but I detected Sasuke's scent."

"Wait, really?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This led them to wandering through a nearby town.

Kin looked around to find any sign of Sasuke "Anything?"

"Well I can't pinpoint it, but it's getting stronger with every step we take." Bisuke told her.

Kin looked around for awhile but nearly bumped into someone, forcing Shiba to grab her cloak.

"Hey what the hell are you doing? Guard yourself or he'll be onto us long before we find him. Be very cautious."

"Right." they continued on.

"He's close. Well Kin, can you sense Sasuke close by at all?" asked Shiba.

"Hold on…" Kin looked around, not noticing as Karin walked past them in the exact opposite direction.

"It's no good, the scent's receding now and fast."

Karin looked back, but saw no sign of Kin or the dogs 'I'd given a thorough once over, but I don't sense any worrisome chakra.' she took off her glasses 'Maybe I'll go back to Sasuke, the others probably aren't back yet so I'll have him all to myself!'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time, having been scouting from above, Deidara and Tobi had locked onto their target, but Deidara neglected to mention whether he had chosen to go after Naruto or Sasuke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru, along with the rest, noticed something behind them "Naruto, Hinata, you guys know what to do right?"

"Yeah." Naruto fired off some shuriken, forcing the hooded figure following them to reveal himself, shocking them "You!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke looked back into the bushes "I know you're there, now show yourselves. Who are you?"

A shadowy figure stepped out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The figure revealed part of his face "So you sensed me coming did you?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and hardened "Kabuto Yakushi, it's pretty brash and reckless of you to approach us of your own free will like this."

"Please calm yourself Shikamaru, I didn't come to fight. I'm just here to have a little chat with Naruto, that's all."

"So you want to chat do you?" Naruto stepped forward and prepared formed the hand seal to fire off some Air Bullets "You're not escaping this time Kabuto, we're taking you in whether you like it or not. I bet you'd know Kabuto, we're Sasuke right now?"

"You're still all about Sasuke aren't you?"

"They say that Sasuke killed off Orochimaru a while back, is that true?"

"Oh yeah, it's true alright. But more importantly, I brought you a present, a little something I thought you might like." he reached into his robe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke's eyes narrowed "I know those robes, you're with…"

Then Tobi emerged from the trees "So you're Sasuke huh? You really do look just like Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes hardened.

"Scary!" Tobi ran back into the woods.

"Where's your partner?"

"Right here!" Deidara dove down from above and fired two gigantic C1 clay dragons, colliding with Sasuke in an explosion while he himself landed safely on the ground "Okay that's taken care of."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kabuto held out a book "Here."

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"Intelligence our organization managed to gather regarding the Akatsuki."

"So what about it?"

"It's yours now, I'm letting you have all of it."

Skeptical, Shikamaru stepped forward "Orochimaru is dead now so you're trying to negotiate some kind of deal with the Leaf Village, is that it?"

"No, I'm not so foolish as to believe that the Hidden Leaf would negotiate with the likes of me."

"Then start talking, the Akatsuki aren't after you so why would you help us and give us information to use against them?"

"It's simply a gift for Naruto, a token of my gratitude. After all, the Akatsuki is pursuing you."

Naruto's eyes narrowed "Gratitude?"

"Yes that's right, when Lord Orochimaru died I lost sense of my identity again of who I was. I never knew my parents or homeland, the enemy took me into their custody when I was very little. I was used as a spy since I was a child, moving around from country to country and village to village. For a long time the idea of home was alien to me, until I became a disciple under Lord Orochimaru. But now it's complete again." he threw the book to Naruto's feet "The pain of not knowing who I am, of being without an identity, you understand it well don't you Naruto?"

"I don't want to understand anything that comes out of you."

"Are you sure? Who are you really? Are you Naruto Uzumaki or are you the Kyuubi? I know you were shunned and despised in the past, you must've questioned your identity, who you were meant to be. But you had faith in your strength and told yourself that you were Naruto Uzumaki, you forged your own identity and in doing so you overcame the cold glares meant for the Kyuubi."

"What is he doing? What was he want with Naruto?" Hinata whispered.

Shikamaru shook his head "I can't figure it out either, whatever game he's playing it's really complex."

Kabuto turned his head away "That's why you're confident, that's why you have no doubts at all about your identity, why you have friends who accept you so readily. But my story is different, instead of moving beyond Lord Orochimaru I stubbornly kept clinging tightly to his power. Now I have a much better idea of how you must have felt Naruto." he lowered his hood and removed his glasses "It made me see, and so I decided that I would try and be like you. That's why my path is clear to me." he turned to face them, revealing that part of his face had become unnaturally similar to that of Orochimaru, shocking them "I'm going to use what I was able to absorb from Lord Orochimaru, to become a better stronger Kabuto Yakushi. I will find a new identity and you've given me a clue as to how. That's why I'm so grateful to you Naruto. Lord Orochimaru is a symbol of renewal, he will live inside of me as a reminder of what I must overcome."

Naruto was appalled "You really absorbed someone like him into your own body?"

"That's right, I took a part of Lord Orochimaru's corpse after Sasuke defeated him and then I simply grafted that piece right onto my own body." he lifted his cloak, revealing his transformed arm "And since then you won't believe the life force it's given me, every day I can feel it steadily consuming my entire body. It's amazing."

"Unbelievable." Shikamaru muttered 'Wait a minute… Hinata."

"Right." Hinata studied Kabuto with her Byakugan 'It's already taken over ⅓ of his body.'

"I have to fight desperately just to avoid being completely subsumed by it." Kabuto continued maliciously "Every day I feel my will to surpass Lord Orochimaru reaffirmed to me."

"So is that everything you came here to say?" asked Naruto "Well you know what Kabuto, you can keep on fighting him in a jail cell when we drag your scaley ass back to the Leaf! Wind Style: Air Bullets!" he fired off some blasts of air from his mouth."Naruto keep him busy!" Shikamaru appeared behind him "Shadow Grab Jutsu!" he grabbed Kabuto by the cloak with his shadow "Got him."

"Alright!"

"Behind you!" Hinata cried out suddenly.

"Dammit!"

Kabuto leapt back, laughing wildly "In time I will be able to gain complete control over all of Lord Orochimaru's powers and abilities, and when that happens I will fight you again Naruto. But that's later, my first priority is to avenge him, and therefore my priority is Sasuke."

"Hold up, what the hell are you planning to do with him?"

Kabuto merely formed a hand seal "Until next time." and he disappeared.

"Dammit."

Shikamaru stared hard at the book Kabuto left behind 'What's his angle?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara stared at the sight of the explosion in front of him and smirked "We did it, we just took down Sasuke!"

"Nicely done Deidara." Tobi praised.

"Is that so?" when the smoke cleared, Sasuke stood unharmed, having summoned a lightning shield using the power of Raijin.

"...Yeah, real nice."

"Quiet!" Deidara barked.

"I guess he's even stronger than we thought, huh?"

"Just imagine, Orochimaru and my man Sasori being killed by a brat like him. I still can't believe it."

Sasuke dematerialized his shield and activated his Sanda Sharingan 'This guy was partnered up with Sasori back when Gaara was captured, so is he looking for revenge?'

"Just look at the way he's glaring at us Tobi."

"Raring to go huh Deidara?" Tobi guessed "I guess you'll have to apologize to Itachi later."

"Yeah like I give a rat's ass what he thinks."

Sasuke stepped forward, itching to grab his sword "I'm giving you one chance blondie, tell me where Itachi Uchiha is and I'll let you and your partner go and we don't have to shed blood like this."

That just pissed Deidara off and brought back some bad memories "Sharingan huh? And with that weird lightning power Zetsu told me about. No doubt about it, you're Itachi's kid brother alright. You were only able to kill my man Sasori and Orochimaru thanks to your Uchiha blood, you were lucky to be born into that family and nothing more."

"Is that so?" Sasuke blitzed forward.

'He's fast!' Deidara leapt back onto a tree branch.

Sasuke quickly cut Tobi through with his katana "One down, now then mr loudmouth you're going to tell me everything you know about Itachi." he looked back to see Tobi getting up like nothing happened 'I know I cut through him, so how come he isn't even hurt? That's one I've gotta look out for.'

"What the hell are you doing Tobi? Don't let your guard down just because he's a kid!"

'And blondie there doesn't seem surprised.'

"His teleportation jutsu is too fast for both of us!"

'Who is this one?'

Deidara stuck his hands in his clay pouches 'Let me size him up with some chakra level C1 explosives first. Tobi, stay back!" he threw the mini spider bombs, and once Tobi had gotten out of the way, he prepared to detonate them.

Sasuke fired off some Chidori Senbon, pinning them to the surrounding trees or the ground.

Deidara formed a hand seal.

"Time out partner!" Tobi cried "Don't blow them up yet!"

'Dammit!'

"Behind you, look out!"

'What?!'

'Now!' Sasuke aimed an attack from behind.

Deidara threw one last bomb he had stowed in his hand, catching both of them in the explosion.

"Deidara!" Tobi cried out "He may have been strict but he was a good partner, I'll never forget him!"

"Okay, will you just shut up already!" Deidara emerged and skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Huh? Oh hey, you're still alive."

"Don't sound so surprised?"

Sasuke emerged unharmed and studied Deidara 'He can produce clay explosives from those weird mouths on his hands.'

'I somehow managed to escape hidden in the bomb blast, good thing I kept the chakra level at C1.' Deidara stuck his hands in his pouches 'He's certainly fast on his feet, how about this?' he held out his hands and upd the ante by creating some ugly clay dolls "I think I'll play with you for a bit." he sent the dolls forward.

"Oh come on, now you're just insulting me. It's a joke." Sasuke slashed through one of the dolls without using any chakra, only for his sword to get stuck, forcing him to rely solely on taijutsu and cut off some parts with lightning chakra channeled into his hand, only for the bisected parts to turn into smaller dolls.

"Not done yet!"

"Neither am I." grabbing and freeing his sword, Sasuke began cutting down the dolls bit by bit, only for them to reform as smaller dolls the more he cut them down.

'It's almost time… now!' Deidara detonated some of the dolls, engulfing Sasuke in the explosion.

"No way!" Tobi realized.

"What?" then Deidara noticed a surge of lightning 'One of those weird Lightning Clones or whatever.'

"Just as I thought."

"Shut up!"

"He's clearly the smart one." Sasuke appeared from the trees.

"Shut up!" Deidara sent more of the dolls at him.

Sasuke was forcing across the trees, evading the blasts as they went off, resorting to slashing through branches in an attempt to evade them, until one caught his leg, allowing the rest to glomp onto him before detonating in a fiery explosion.

"How's that? I guess he's not so great after all." then he noticed the surge, indicating that it had been another Thunder Clone.

"Yep, I knew it." Tobi noted.

"Look Tobi, just whose side are you on here anyway?!"

"The side that's right." Sasuke emerged from the trees unharmed.

'So he double substituted with those Lightning Clones of his, well he's clearly very skilled, which means that my best bet is to switch to C2.' he stuck his hands in his pouches and smashed them together, and he and Tobi were engulfed in a cloud of smoke. When it subsided, it revealed a massive clay dragon.

"Ta-da!" Tobi called "Presenting one of my partner's signature pieces! His specialty, the C2 dragon!"

Deidara leapt onto the head of the dragon "You know what to do Tobi?"

"Yes siree partner, we're going with that right?"

"Yep, that is the plan." Deidara formed a hand seal, and from the mouth of the dragon spilled dozens of C1 explosives.

'It can generate explosives.' Sasuke noted 'For now I have to assume the gigantic one can become an explosive as well.'

"I'm counting on you Tobi."

"Yes sir!" Tobi saluted him "I won't let you down!"

'It's got wings, so it most likely can fly too. That's not good.' Sasuke charged forward.

"Here he comes! Now let's really show him, let's show him the power of your popart partner!"

"Pop is dead, my art is super flat!" Deidara formed a hand seal, sending out a miniature dragon and had it circled behind Sasuke, detonating on him from behind.

Sasuke managed to escape at the last second 'This one was different, it was like some sort of guided missile. Wait, what happened the stupid one with the mask? Well never mind that right now, first things first I have to take care of blondie here.' Sasuke charged forward, a Chidori flaring into life from his sword and extending forward in the form of a blade.

Deidara flew up, causing it to miss 'So his range is only about 6 meters is it?'

Sasuke reluctantly retracted his attack 'Dammit, he must've figured out my limit.'

"You copied that off of Kakashi didn't you? But I will give you credit for that change in chakra form, that wasn't half bad." Deidara formed a hand seal, and another dragon formed in the big one's mouth "This one's got a little bit more bite than the last bunch. Blow him to bits!" he sent it forward.

Sasuke dodged at the last second, escaping from the explosion unharmed.

'Man he is fast.'

Sasuke stepped on something 'What?'

'Got him!'

Sasuke was suddenly engulfed in an explosion.

"That oughta do it." then Deidara looked further "Oh come on!"

Sasuke stood in the center of a crater in the second level of his Curse Mark, wings of lightning crackling on his back.

"That's Orochimaru's Curse Mark, and I didn't realize he could use that lightning manipulation to make wings too. So he dodged my attack by flying upwards.'

Then Tobi suddenly poked his head out of the ground "Partner I've set up all the clay land mines, we're good to go!"

"Good job Tobi, now just stay out of the way!"

'Guided missile attacks from above and landmine attacks from below.' Sasuke noted 'They're not making it easy for me.'

"This C2 assault is brought to you by the linked attacks of the landmines that restrict your ground movement, and the painful missile attacks from the air. You're completely surrounded by landmines in the ground all around you." Deidara pointed out "Step on one, even touch it and it'll go off."

'So he plans to fire that guided missile directly at me, and he's flying just outside of my maximum attack radius.'

"I see that your leg is injured, I wonder if you can dodge my attack now." Deidara formed a hand seal "This next one's gonna be huge."

Sasuke's lightning wings twitched.

"You can't escape!" Deidara fired a large clay dragon and detonated it, resulting in an electrical explosion.

Sasuke's Raijin katana flew out of the blast radius and fell to the ground, the blade piercing the soil while still crackling with electricity, while Sasuke himself had lost one of his lightning wings.

"You shouldn't have used your wings as shields. You can't fly anymore, not with one wing."

"You're so awesome Deidara!" Tobi cheered from the sidelines.

"Now to settle this at last." Deidara formed a hand seal and summoned an even bigger attack.

Sasuke looked up 'Now!' he pulled on some steel wire.

Deidara looked back to see two giant shuriken, but he dodged them "Like that could get me!" he sent the attack forward.

Sasuke leapt out of the way.

'Go ahead and leap, there's no place to land except on a landmine and that will stop you for sure.'

Sasuke then proved him wrong by landing on the grip of his sword.

'Dammit, he made a foothold!'

Sasuke leapt off and fired a Chidori Sharp Spear, piercing the dragon's wing.

'He got me?'

Sasuke then severed the dragon's wing entirely "An eye for an eye, or in this case it's a wing for a wing."

'He deliberately thrusted his blade into the ground to check for landmines and to create a foothold for himself. The length of the sword combined with the height he can jump with just one wing was just enough to get him in range. Wait, this spot… of course, with that attack he lured me into position right above his blade, the shortest distance his chakra blade could reach.' then he suddenly got pinned down to his clay dragon by two more shuriken 'I can't move! No, I'm headed toward the land mines!' his dragon hit the ground, resulting in all of the landmines going off all at once.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" under the cover of the smoke, Sasuke launched a fireball to propel himself back into the trees, landing safely on a branch as he retracted his Curse Mark and returned to his normal state 'Okay, maybe this Curse Mark isn't all bad. After all, without it I doubt I would've made it out of that unscathed.'

Tobi looked and saw Deidara's cloak fly out of the blast "You did die a death by bombing after all, Deidara you fool!"

Then a pissed off and minorly wounded Deidara emerged on a clay bird "How many times do I have to tell you to shut up Tobi?"

"What, you're still alive?"

"Why do you sound so disappointed?"

Sasuke sighed 'Obstinate, there's no other word I can think of to describe it.'

'I managed to free my arms from those giant shuriken at the last second, but still…' he sent a furious glare at Sasuke 'You… You damn brat… Those eyes… Those same damned eyes…' he reflected on how he had been defeated and humiliated by Itachi and his Sharingan, resulting in him joining the Akatsuki 'Don't you mess with me… I'm better than you are! My talent is absolute, my art can't be beat! I know I'm better than you, I will not lose to you! Not to such a… such a…' he gritted his teeth so hard his lip began to bleed, and he swallowed some of his detonating clay himself, then formed a hand seal "I've saved the best for last, this will kill you! Tobi run, now !"

Tobi did so, very frantically "Oh no, it's the C4 Karura!"

"That's right, the technique that will end your life!" Deidara spat out all of the clay he swallowed, sculpting all of it into a large clay version of himself.

Sasuke's eyes widened 'That's as intimidating as it is ugly.'

'I set this jutsu aside especially to kill Itachi, but oh well.'

Sasuke looked back at the nearby city 'Don't tell me that thing is a bomb too. The blast radius must be massive, if it goes off it might kill all of the civilians in that city. Wait, is it looking right at me? I don't know if I'll make it, but I can't let him detonate that thing!' he charged forward.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you think a direct attack will work. Have you really become so desperate? That won't work, especially not in the face of my C4 Karura!" he formed a hand seal, and the doll ruptured.

'Did he misfire? No, that isn't it.' then the horrible realization hit him 'That's-!'

"That's right, I win! Art is an explosion!"

Sasuke suddenly found himself disintegrating "Impossible!"

"Sublime isn't it?"

"This can't… be happening!" Sasuke's entire body completely disintegrated, mere inches away from reaching Deidara's face.

Deidara let out an insane victorious laughter "This is my greatest masterpiece!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Things grew quiet.

Tobi finally stopped a safe distance away "Okay, that should do it. Geez the C4 Karura, microscopic nano-sized explosives. When the giant Deidara ruptures, the blast wave disperses explosives too small for the eye to see, scattering them all over the atmosphere. The mini bombs then implant themselves within the bodies of any and all creatures that inhale them, and when they explode the multiple cellular level explosions destroy their victims from the inside out. A fearsome jutsu indeed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Deidara looked around and smirked "I have Itachi to thank for this." then it finally sunk in and he laughed maniacally "I've won! I've won! My art has won this fight!" then he suddenly felt something and froze 'No, it can't be…'

"I know what you're thinking and yes, it can be." now in the second level of his Curse Mark, Sasuke appeared and blasted Deidara through the chest from behind with a Chidori through the chest "Looks to me like you've used up all of your chakra with that last jutsu, and now you don't have enough strength left to react fast enough."

"Those eyes…"

"I've gotta admit, that technique is formidable. Your explosives are way too small for the eye to see yes, but my Sharingan is able to see chakra as different colors. Your mini explosives filled with chakra were visible to me, clear as day as a large cloud of smoke. I could also tell that you took great care to remain hovering just outside the range of the nanobombs. Since I could see the explosives, escaping was easy."

"But I just saw you die from my C4 with my very own eyes."

"A basic Sharingan genjutsu."

"I see, so what's what it was."

"I made sure to avoid hitting any of your vital organs, now tell me where Itachi is."

"Like I said, I've gotta remember to thank Itachi." then Deidara suddenly burst up from below and grabbed Sasuke's ankle.

Sasuke looked at the Deidara he had pierced 'A clay clone, I should've figured as much.'

"Do you see now? I anticipated your genjutsu, you're just like Itachi and I never fall for the same trick twice. Yes, it all began the day I fought Itachi, the day he humiliated me and insulted my art. Since that day I've trained my left eye to counter the Sharingan, as if I wouldn't find a way to counter such a powerful genjutsu. And now it's over, how about a direct C4 attack?" he unleashed another C4 from his mouth, trapping Sasuke within.

Sasuke found the clay wrapping around his arms and legs 'Dammit!'

"Now who's the one running out of chakra huh? It seems you don't have enough left to free yourself!"

Sasuke noticed the explosives entering his body.

Deidara broke off from the clay bird "The inside of this model is just like the other one, full of invisible C4 bombs." he formed a clay bird with the mouths in his palms 'Dammit, molding clay hurts now. And even worse, I used up my chakra with that last attack. What a poor piece.' but he threw it anyway.

Sasuke broke out of the C4, a Raijin-powered Chidori crackling in his hand.

"What will you do now, huh?" Deidara formed a hand seal.

Sasuke formed a hand seal of his own, and another set of lightning wings crackling into life on his back, and he charged forward.

'He's channeled the last of his chakra into that Lightning Blade. That Lightning Blade attack won't reach me at this distance, I'm out of your range! It's over!" he formed a hand seal right before he fell into the trees, and when his vision cleared he saw something disintegrating from his attack and assumed it to be Sasuke "I've won! I really did it! My art triumphed, as I knew it would!" then he suddenly froze, feeling a familiar sensation 'No… No way… not again…' he looked back, only for his worst fears to be confirmed.

"Gotcha!" Sasuke charged from behind and slugged Deidara right in the face, sending him tumbling forward.

Deidara sat up, his mind racing 'What is going on here? That was no genjutsu, but then that means that… How? How did he disarm the C4 bombs?' then he noticed something.

Sasuke had electricity surging all across his body.

"But how? Don't tell me that you… you figured it out."

"Actually yeah, I did a while ago. When facing someone with the Sharingan, you really should be more discrete when you're weaving your hand signs because no matter how fast you are these eyes can read them like a book. All of your jutsu so far have used earth style signs. My Chidori and Raijin-based attacks all use lightning style chakra, so you do the math from there."

"So you knew about it all along then? Then when you attacked me with that Lightning Blade…"

"Earth style is vulnerable to lightning, I knew that if I used it then the Lightning Blade would diffuse then it would diffuse your bombs. It's their achilles heal isn't it?"

"Damn you… Of course. The Lightning Blade wasn't intended for me, it was for yourself. You used it to deactivate the C4 in your body."

"That's right, but the downside to that is that it left my body in really bad shape. By the way, my jutsu is actually called Chidori. Kakashi is the one who uses the Lightning Blade, not sure where the name comes from though."

'He figured out its weakness so quickly and with perfect accuracy. When did you realize?"

"I figured it out after those land mines went off, I knew then but I had been realizing it from the very start. Early on I countered your first attack with Chidori Senbon, I noticed that some of the bombs you created exploded but some didn't. That's when I first formulated my hypothesis."

"Your hypothesis?"

"That time the only explosive you actually detonated was the one you threw back at me again, the one you threw when you tried to evade my counterattack. But all of the other explosives that I blocked with my Chidori Senbon didn't detonate, though it was possible that you purposely chose not to trigger them since they fell too close to where your partner was so perhaps you disabled them."

"I see, so in other words you couldn't tell if your Chidori stopped them from exploding or if it was me. Yes, you checked your theory by testing it on the landmine."

"Exactly, if they detonate automatically then they're not under your control and if that was the case then I could confirm if my lightning style jutsu could diffuse your earth style bombs."

Deidara felt the realization hit him.

"That's right, that time I stuck my sword into the ground. I wasn't trying to find a place in between the landmines, I was testing my hypothesis by stabbing my lightning sword through a mine that I knew was there."

"But how could you? How could you ever pinpoint the location of the landmines like that?"

"Like I told you before, these eyes see chakra as different colors. Didn't you hear me the first time?"

"You could see where the landmines were? So then he wasn't just trying to find a safe place to stand, he was a step ahead and seeing if he could disarm my detonating clay. But what would you have done if the mine had stayed active and gone off?"

"Well there were only two outcomes, fortunately I had a backup plan just in case but I guess I didn't need to test it out."

'He still has other jutsu…'

Sasuke slowly walked forward.

Deidara tried to get to his feet, but collapsed again, so he resorted to firing off two more clay snakes.

The lightning chakra running through Sasuke's body disarmed them, forcing Deidara to let go before he was electrocuted, while Sasuke himself fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Dammit… you sure can talk tough, but you're on your last legs too aren't you? Your chakra took a big hit didn't it? I still win, I have some detonating clay left." he got no response that came across as frantic "Are you still calm? Shouldn't you be worried at least a little? Come on. You're about to be killed by my art." then he finally lost it "That's what annoys me the most, about both you and your brother! You think you're just so cool! Those eyes, those overconfident eyes make me so sick! Your eyes always judging me and my art, I'll never forgive them for that! You have absolutely no respect for my art, I can tell that you don't! I can never forgive those eyes that just ignore my art!"

"...I honestly couldn't care less about all of that, I had my fill of art back when I was fighting Sasori before. Besides, all I want is for you to tell me where I can find Itachi." to add insult to injury, Sasuke deactivated his Sanda Sharingan.

"So you've retracted that strange blue Sharingan of yours, do you mean to tell me you really take me that lightly?!" having reached the limit of his patience and sanity, Deidara ripped off his shirt and removed the stitches on his chest, revealing a large beast-like mouth, which he then fed the last of his detonating clay, causing the explosive chakra to manifest itself through his veins, flowing through his body "This is my ultimate art, this time I'm going to detonate myself!"

'Okay, it's official. He's insane.'

"In death I shall become art itself! No one has seen an explosion like this! One that shall leave behind a scar on the very earth itself and then I shall receive more admiration for my art than anyone has ever seen before! Sorry Tobi, but this is how it has to be. I know I was a dick to you, but thank you for always being there for me, my friend. But while I shall be admired you'll most definitely be dead!"

'Dammit, my leg is broken. I can't run from it.'

"This explosion will cover 10 kilometers, you can't run away from this one! Tremble! Be afraid! Recoil in despair! Cower in awe, and cry your heart out! Because my art…"

Sasuke formed a subtle hand seal 'Please let this work, please let this work!'

"IS AN EXPLOSION!" and with that, he detonated in a white light, incinerating everything in the surrounding area.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru looked at Naruto "What do you think Naruto? Do you know what it is?"

"Yeah." Naruto gripped his fist "I recognize this chakra, it's that Akatsuki, the one with the clay bombs that kidnapped Gaara. I don't know what he's trying to pull, but I think we'd better go check it out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'Sasuke, no… it can't be…' having seen the blast from the town, Karin tried to sense out Sasuke's chakra, to no avail 'I can't sense Sasuke's chakra anymore!'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suigetsu noticed it as well 'That blast is near our rendezvous point.' he watched as the blast finally dissipated 'I'd better hurry.' and he rushed to the sight of the blast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having witnessed the battle and its conclusion, Zetsu informed the Akatsuki about Deidara's death and how Tobi and Sasuke had most likely suffered the same fate.

The Akatsuki leader, Pain, advises all of the remaining members to try and mourn Deidara's passing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite Kisame offering his condolences for Sasuke's death, Itachi appeared absolutely certain that Sasuke was still alive.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hotaru followed Jugo to a spot by a river "Are you sure this is the spot?"

"Positive, this is where the birds told me to go." then Jugo looked up "There!"

Hotaru looked up and saw a ball of lightning in the air, which then dissipated, revealing Sasuke falling towards the ground "I've got him! Water Style: Liquid Platform!" she formed a water platform, gently lowering Sasuke to the ground.

Slowly, Sasuke opened his eyes "You… You both came…"

"You're a mess Sasuke, who in the world were you fighting?"

"Someone I underestimated, the only reason I survived that blast was because I rose my Thunder Dome at the last second."

"There you are!" then Karin and Suigetsu showed up "I thought you'd be here, your chakra suddenly disappeared so I wondered what happened. Did you transport yourself or something?"

"You protected yourself with Raijin's power in the form of the Thunder Dome, a ball of lightning that blocks and cancels out any attacks that aren't wind-based, so why are you so beat up?"

"Just before I rose the shield, I was hit by the blast wave." Sasuke told her "That Akatsuki, he was a lot stronger than I expected. Then again, since he was paired up with someone as powerful as Sasori I should've seen that coming.'

'Even all cut up and bruised, Sasuke's still pretty sexy.' Karin started getting thought so dirty that even Jiraiya wouldn't be able to stand them.

"Well in any case, you'll need some time to rest and heal." Hotaru insisted "Isn't that right Karin?"

Then Karin's tsundere-instincts kicked him "How pathetic, I can't believe you're the man who killed Orochimaru!"

"Orochimaru had already been weakened to begin with, that's all I'm going to say about that. But in the meantime Hotaru, there's something I want you and Jugo to do."

Hotaru blinked "What is it?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Guys!" Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata reached the sight of the blast, only to find everyone else already there "You guys, what the hell happened here?"

"There's evidence Sasuke was here until just before we arrived." explained Ino.

"What?"

"It's scent is faint, but he's definitely here." Kiba told him "Also, I could detect several other scents as well."

"What does that mean?"

"By the look of the crater, there was a fight here."

Shiba sniffed around "Thought so, as I suspected one of the other scents is identical to the one I detected in the city. Sasuke isn't travelling by himself now, he has four companions travelling with him as well. They must be his accomplices."

"So Sasuke's probably formed a team." Kakashi guessed "Also, I know that one of the six scents here belongs to Deidara, a member of the Akatsuki."

"But wasn't he the blond guy who blew himself up and got sent to another dimension by your Mangekyo Sharingan?" asked Ino.

"I thought so, but it seems he faked his own death to escape."

"I figured as much." Shikamaru commented "Tatsu told me what happened, but I had my doubts he was actually dead. I wouldn't think a member of the Akatsuki would be killed so easily."

"Well moving on from that, the Akatsuki operate in two man teams, so there should me three left. And Sasuke is in a five man team."

Naruto was losing his patience "I don't care how many there are, let's just hurry up and track down Sasuke's scent."

Pakkun shook his head "Sorry I'm afraid we can't do that."

"What the hell do you mean we can't?"

"The trail goes cold here." Kakashi told him.

"And what does that mean?"

"Either Sasuke was killed in that blast or he somehow managed to escape before the blast could kill him."

"It was probably the latter." Kiba told them "I've made my sense of smell even keener than that of a dog, I think I found Sasuke."

"Close, but not quite."

Ino and Kiba both recognized the voice and turned to see Hotaru approach them "You're…"

"It's been awhile you two, glad to see you're doing well."

"You're Hotaru, what are you doing here?"

"Sasuke sent me with a message."

"You're with Sasuke?" Naruto grabbed her by the shoulders "Where is he? Is he alright?"

"He was injured and he's suffering from a minor case of exhaustion, but he'll be fine with a few days of rest."

"Can you take us to him?"

"I'm afraid not, Sasuke only sent me here to give you this." she handed Naruto a scroll, then turned to Kakashi "He also wanted me to give you this." she handed him a scroll too "Now then, if you'll excuse me." and she disappeared into a puddle of water.

"What the hell?"

"A water clone." Kakashi looked at the contents of his scroll and sprouted a tic mark "You think he'd know how to show respect."

"What's wrong with you?"

"This scroll just explains how he disarmed Deidara's clay explosives, followed by a picture of him flipping me off."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the Hidden Rain Village, a female Akatsuki addressed Pain "Come in Pain, it's time. He's arrived."

"Right." Pain entered the dark room to meet with a shadowy figure "Well? So how is Sasuke?"

"Coming along nicely, his Sharingan is at full power." the figure told him "His eyes will surpass even that of Itachi. Then the time has come, I'm sure his mind is made up since he doesn't have much longer."

"And what about the Kyuubi?"

"You will hunt it, and as leader I will not tolerate failure."

"Understood."

"Be on your guard, just in case. Naruto Uzumaki, he's no longer just some troublesome brat. He's acquired some formidable jutsu and has many powerful allies, it won't be easy. Be especially careful of Tatsu Kamikaze, he is particularly strong and even destroyed two of Kakuzu's lives in a single blow."

"Spare us your words of warning and fear, they are wasted on us. Pain has never lost a single battle." Konan pointed out.

"Well that is true. We're done here." the figure grabbed his cloak "Be certain to tell the other remaining members to hurry with the jinchuuriki."

"I know, I will." Pain told him.

"Soon, very soon, all of our goals will be achieved." the figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be Tobi "When that happens then everything will be restored to its rightful place. The true power of the Sharingan that belongs to me, Madara Uchiha!" and with that, he vanished.

Konan looked up at the rain "Once again the sky is weeping. Pain, are you…?"

Pain said nothing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm coming in Tsunade." Jiraiya entered the room.

"Jiraiya, have you learned anything?" asked Tsunade.

"I have, I've located the leader of the Akatsuki."

"What?!" Tsunade bolted right out of her chair "You have? Tell me everything!"

"Now now, don't be hasty."

"This isn't like planning a sequel to your novel! We don't have any time to waste here!"

"But haste makes waste and we can't afford that, especially not with the stakes as high as they are now. Listen, why don't we go somewhere just the two of us and grab a drink together? I'll tell you everything I know."

"You old fool! I am the Hokage, I can't go drink in the middle of the day! What about all the ninja out there on duty? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"When has that ever stopped you before?"

Tsunade yelped and looked to see Tatsu sitting in the windowsill "Oh great now you're doing that too."

"Yeah but the difference is that I can actually do it without you noticing. Dragon Sage Mode is a lot different from other types of Sage Mode."

"Well regardless, the answer is no!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

15 minutes later…

Jiraiya sweatdropped as he watched Tsunade down a whole bottle of sake "You know, you really oughta take your own words a bit more to heart Tsunade. I mean, downing that sake straight out of the bottle? Like you said, you are Hokage now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suigetsu was losing his patience waiting for Karin "That girl is late again, how long does it take to pick up supplies?"

"This is Karin we're dealing with." Sasuke pointed out "Anyway, did you guys gather information on Itachi like I asked you to?"

"Well I picked up some intel about the Akatsuki here and there, but I wasn't able to find anything specific about Itachi. It appears they're targeting specific people, or at least they're after people with a very special chakra."

"I think what you're referring to is a jinchuuriki, a powerful shinobi with a Tailed Beast sealed inside of their bodies."

"Do you have any who any of them might be?"

"Gaara of the Sand, the Kazekage, used to be the jinchuuriki of the One-Tail before the Akatsuki extracted it from him, but one of the Sand elders revived him with a forbidden jutsu. Hotaru, you may not be aware of this, but your master Utakata is the jinchuuriki of the Six-Tails."

"I know actually." Hotaru told him.

"Well that makes it easier. Anyway, my teammate from the Leaf happens to be the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, and I've heard rumors about the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails in the Hidden Cloud having full control over his Tailed Beast. From what Dragon has told me before, by now the Akatsuki have captured all of the Tailed Beasts from the One-Tail all the way up to the Five-Tails, as well as the Seven-Tails. Anyway, back to Itachi."

"I've been conversing with the animals." Jugo told him "I've pinpointed a few Akatsuki hideouts, it seems they sense powerful unpleasant chakra coming from those places. At least that's what the animals told me."

"Wow, so you're saying even lowly animals have the ability to sense chakra? Or maybe it's because they're so lowly, just like Karin." Suigetsu commented.

Then Karin busted down the door and stomped on Suigetsu's head "Get up Sasuke, we're about to have company."

Sasuke let out a sigh "Fine, I'm up."

'Even when he first wakes up he's still dreamy.'

"Everyone get ready, we're leaving."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They were soon ready and standing outside the inn.

"Jugo, mark the map with the location of every Akatsuki hideout you found." Sasuke ordered.

"You sure you're okay now Sasuke?" asked Suigetsu.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Sasuke got a new outfit on, a dark blue shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back of it, his Raijin katana strapped to his back, and a pair of black pants and his basic black cloak (A/N: Basically what he wore when he left the Leaf in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi Dream, along with the black cloak) 'I've been healing a lot faster ever since I absorbed Orochimaru's power, so this is the power of the white snake.'

"Whether it's the Akatsuki coming or the Hidden Leaf, they might have intel on Itachi we can use." Karin pointed out "Why don't we just ambush them Sasuke?"

"From what you've told me about the number of people tracking us, if they're coming in force then it's most likely the Hidden Leaf team that you sensed. The Akatsuki normally only operate in teams of two."

"And if that's the case then we would just be wasting our time with an ambush." Hotaru finished for him.

"Exactly. Don't worry about the Hidden Leaf, I'll take care of them when the time comes."

"What's the plan?" asked Karin.

"Itachi is our only priority at the moment, I will take care of the Hidden Leaf when the time comes. For now, this is the mission for Team Hebi. We're going to use the intel gathered by Jugo and hit the Akatsuki hideouts one by one."

"Alright, sounds good."

"But first, Karin I need you to take out my old outfit."

"...What are you talking about?"

"I know you held onto it, but I'm not going to go into that right now. Anyway, it's covered in my sweat and smell, and since the Leaf most likely has an Inuzuka with them Jugo will scatter pieces of the outfit so it will throw them off."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiba noticed something off "What the-?"

"Kiba, what is it?" asked Naruto.

"It's Sasuke, it looks like he's on the move."

"Then we'd better hurry up and get after him, he's going after Itachi."

"Hold on, something's wrong."

"What?"

"Sasuke's scent is becoming more diffuse now, looks like it's scattering outward in every direction all at the same time."

"They probably sensed our movements and set this up to throw us off." Shikamaru guessed "For now we can only assume that Sasuke has a skilled sensory type on his squad."

"The scent is spreading too far and our coms aren't long range, I'm the only one who can track him but I don't know which scent to follow and I don't have enough chakra to use Shadow Clones to go after every scent. What do we do?"

"I'm gonna find him even if I have to search every blade of grass! I'll do whatever it takes, just watch! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto formed dozens of clones that all scattered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hebi reached a marker for an Akatsuki hideout.

"So it's here." Sasuke noted "I want the four of you to wait here until I give the order, I'll go check it out." and he went on ahead alone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One of Naruto's clones hid behind a tree and looked out at a shadowy figure 'Who is that? He's got the Sharingan… Sasuke? No, he's too tall.'

"So you're here." the figure stepped out, revealing himself.

Naruto froze 'That's Itachi Uchiha.'

"Come on out, Naruto Uzumaki."

Reluctantly, Naruto stepped forward "Let me guess, you came to capture me? Well I should warn you, I've grown a lot stronger since the last time we met."

"I'm not here to capture you, right now I've only come here to talk to you about something." he nonchalantly threw some kunai at two clones behind him, dissipating them in an instant.

"Yeah like I'd ever trust any of the crap that comes out of you. When going up against the Sharingan, if it's one on one then you always run. If it's two on one then attack from behind. This guy can cast a genjutsu with the same finger he uses to make hand seals, I've gotta be way careful about this.'

"I know that you're out here all by yourself, so why aren't you trying to run?"

"No need, I can be any number from one to hundreds in an instant. Besides, why would I want to run? If I capture you then I get to see Sasuke."

"Why are you obsessed with my brother? He's just a rogue ninja now."

"He's anything but a rogue ninja, grandma Tsunade gave him a mission to go to Orochimaru and take him out the first chance he got. Besides, it doesn't matter if we're not blood but Sasuke is more of a brother to me than you ever were to him."

Itachi's lips twitched.

Naruto charged, forming hand seals "Water Style: Raging Waves!" he breathed out a blast of water.

Itachi was hit dead on by the jutsu, simply disappeared into a flock of crows "You're already under my genjutsu."

Naruto found himself surrounded by crows, and his surroundings were warped "Dammit!"

Then Itachi appeared in front of him "I'll say it again, I just want to talk."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade put her glass down "So are you absolutely certain the Akatsuki leader is in the Hidden Rain Village?"

Jiraiya nodded "Yeah, I'm positive."

"That place conducts very thorough checks of anyone entering and exiting their territory, and even keeps track of how long they stay. Just preparing for the joint Chunin Exams is difficulty shared because that village is so strict and insular. Why would he pick that place? It just doesn't seem like somewhere he could move around very freely."

"That's true, but that very insular nature makes it ideal. They're able to keep other nations from learning about their internal affairs and cover up the shame of what's going on."

"Shame?"

"Apparently a civil war has been waging there for quite some time now and has divided the village in two, word has it that leader of one of the sides if the very Akatsuki leader that we're talking about."

"That tormented land, it's surrounded by the three great nations of Earth, Wind and Fire. It's often and long been used as the staging ground for all their battles, there's never been domestic stability there and the number of fleeing refugees keeps rising."

"Yes that's right, and that's exactly why I must infiltrate it and verify the information I've gathered. When I return, we'll plan our strategy."

"It's too dangerous to go alone."

"I'm one of the Leaf's legendary Sannin, you know what that means just as well as I do."

Tsunade looked away "I'm sorry, you always seem to get such unfortunate assignments."

Jiraiya let out a chuckle "What's with the sudden confession?"

"I'm merely saying that you were originally supposed to become Hokage, after all the Third Hokage always wanted you to succeed him."

"I'm not cut out for that sort of thing, I like being free and unfettered."

"You regretted not being able to stop Orochimaru, that's why you tracked his movements by yourself for so long isn't it?"

"...Well I no longer need to do that do I? That also means I get to release the sequel to my novel even sooner."

"Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction isn't it? I never imagined Orochimaru would die. Remember how the three of us would go up against the Third Hokage?"

"And now flat as a board Tsunade has become the big bosomed Hokage, times have changed and always will. You were always so beautiful back then, and now you're a 50-something granny. But it does pay me to see how you hold all the memories of your lost friends and loved ones inside that ample bosom of yours. As you know, the number will only continue to rise." he downed some more sake "Well then, we'll just have to keep our emotions in check. The job that we must give to ourselves now is to set examples and aid the next generation Tsunade. To achieve that I'd gladly risk my life, wisdom is the one thing that makes growing old worth it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu sat outside Amaguriama with some unexpected company "I find it extremely unnerving for you of all people to call me out like this."

"Your brother was aware of every single one of my operations." Danzo pointed out "But he understood something many did not."

"The fact that while some of your actions are incredibly appalling, everything you do is for the sake of the Leaf."

"Correct. He left you almost all of that information."

"He did, but that doesn't explain why you called me out here."

Danzo turned to face Tatsu with his one unbandaged eye "I trust that you are also aware that I provided Hanzo of the Salamander of the Hidden Rain Village."

"That was before the Uchiha clan met its end, back when you were still officially in charge of the Foundation."

"But I communicate with him secretly even after I had been ousted as well."

"Wait, are you saying that-?"

"But Hanzo abruptly stopped contacting me, if he had stopped trusting me then I'm sure he would have lured me out and killed me since I know so many secrets."

"But the fact that he did absolutely nothing disturbs you."

"I have no doubt in my mind that something has happened to Hanzo."

"What do you think that something is?"

Danzo took a sip of his tea "I think there's been some kind of trandestant incident in the Hidden Rain Village, the worst case being that Hanzo is no longer amongst the living."

"But that's insane, who would be capable of that? Hanzo took on all three Sannin at once and came out on top, the only people still alive who could take him would probably be then Tsuchikage or the Raikage. Besides, to the outside world Hanzo is still the leader of the Hidden Rain."

"I'm aware, and this is why I was sure to warn Princess Tsunade to be wary of the entrants from the Hidden Rain during the Chunin Exams last year."

"Fair enough. But wait, I thought she sent Kakashi to meet with Hanzo during then. How could he not find out?"

"Of that I can't be sure, but for now I feel we must bide our time and wait."

"So I've gotta get as strong as possible, at this point I fear even Sage Mode might not be enough."

"Just in case of that, use these." he handed Tatsu a scroll

"What is it?"

"A scroll containing various wind style jutsu in my arsenal, perhaps you and your teammate could make use of them. By the way, what happened to you?"

"Oh this?" Tatsu rubbed his black eye "Inoichi happened, overprotective father stuff and the like."

"I expected as much. Speaking of which, how is his daughter coming along?"

"Well she has an incredibly strong water style nature, probably the strongest in the village at the moment. She told me and Asuma that she wanted to surpass the Second Hokage in the area."

"The second, my sensei, was known for his remarkable mastery of water style. She's reaching high in her goal."

"Why are you so interested?"

"Because the future of the Leaf's stability depends on you and your generation."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto found himself back in reality, panting heavily on his knees 'Dammit… What the hell is this? What are you doing? I thought you said that you weren't after me! Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm going now, I have an important matter to attend to." and Itachi promptly disappeared in a flock of crows.

'So it was a Shadow Clone, but what the hell was that about?'

"Damn, no luck with this scent either."

Naruto looked to see Kiba and the rest show up in front of him "Guys…"

"You okay Naruto?"

"Yeah…"

"Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothing. Nevermind that, Kiba get on the next scent."

"Right."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya was with Tsunade in an alley, helping her with her hangover "Damn, you're an even worse drunk than I am. Let's find some place where you can rest up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunset came.

Tsunade sat on a bench with Jiraiya "The Akatsuki, if its leader can control of such a powerful group then you have to wonder how strong he is. Jiraiya, this mission of yours will take you right into the lion's den."

"Well then, I think I'd better get going." Jiraiya got on his feet.

"Please come back alive Jiraiya, if I were to lose you too then I… I don't know."

"Are you saying you'd cry for me? I'm glad to hear it, but I doubt it would be like the time that Dan died right?"

"You idiot."

"Say, how about making a bet with me? You gamble everything on me dying, after all Tsunade you always lose your bets isn't that right? Promise me, if I do actually manage to make it back alive…" he turned to face her.

Tsunade felt her concern multiply.

Then Jiraiya burst out laughing "I'm only kidding Tsunade. You know I'm grateful to you." he pulled out one of his books "Rejection makes a man stronger, I believe you can't call yourself a real man unless you laugh off all the bad stuff that happens to you or at least use it as writing material."

"So a man's only job is to be strong?"

"Kind of, but that isn't the entire story. Basically, the pursuit of happiness isn't for us."

"Stop trying to act so cool, if there weren't any women around then there wouldn't be any rejection either."

"Well you have a point." Jiraiya looked away and stared at the sunset.

"If anything happens then contact me through your toad and I'll rush in to help you myself."

"No need for that, you mustn't leave the village. All of the Hidden Leaf is relying on you right now."

"Plenty of others could be Hokage."

"But there can be no stability if the leadership keeps changing, and right now there's no better Hokage in the Hidden Leaf Village then you Tsunade."

"No, that's not true. There's Kakashi and Asuma, maybe Tatsu and, well eventually Naruto will become Hokage as well."

"Boy you really are sold on Naruto aren't you?" Jiraiya looked up at the sunset "Although I can see why, your kid brother Nawaki, your boyfriend Dan and Naruto too, all three of them chasing after the same dream. So there's Kakashi and Naruto maybe, you may have given him your necklace but he still has a long way to go."

"You believe in him too, that's why you pushed him so hard Jiraiya. I mean, you even taught him to summon."

"Just put it down to nostalgia, he reminded me of the days when I taught Minato."

"Minato Namikaze, Naruto's just like him."

"Minato was a once in a generation genius, there won't be another like him ever. I mean Tatsu comes close, but not quite. He was kind of gentle yet fierce and full of grit, he became the Fourth Hokage in the blink of an eye. I've never been a parent before so I don't know very much about these kinds of things, but if he'd been my son then I would've been very proud."

"Now that you mention it, Naruto might not be like him after all. He's not the kind of child you'd boast about, he's the one whose mischief you always try to cover up. No, I'd say Naruto is more like his mother was."

"Wasn't she a kunoichi from the Land of Eddies?"

"That's right, his personality is just like Kushina Uzumaki."

"That's right, I had forgotten her name. She was a chatty red-haired little rascal, and she was quite a tomboy as I remember."

"She was that but she grew up to be a real beauty, but Naruto looks more like his father."

"Yeah when I look at Naruto I see a lot of his father, although to me it feels as if I'm looking at my very own grandson."

"It's being passed on, the will of the Leaf, from past to future."

Jiraiya fastened his scroll to his back "Now I really oughta get going. Oh that's right, I had one last warning." he looked back, deadly serious "Keep an eye on the Foundation Tsunade."

"Yes, I know."

"Good. Well then, see ya." and with that, he walked away.

Tsunade just watched, tears streaming down her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya found Tatsu waiting for him by the gate "Hey."

Tatsu decided to get straight down to business "You're not gonna come back are you?"

Jiraiya paused in his response, before letting out a laugh "Oh come on, who do you think you're talking to? I'm the hermit of Mount Myoboku, the wise and immortal spirit, the Toad Mountain Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin, a writer of great books-"

"You're the writer of a great book, you wrote one of the greatest books of all time before your career took one of the biggest nosedives in history."

"Oh really, and what book would this be exactly?"

"Oh yeah that's right, I never did tell you did I?" Tatsu pulled out a book from his bag.

Jiraiya looked at the book, only to be surprised "This is…"

"Tales of A Gutsy Ninja, your first book and without a doubt the best. I always wanted the author to sign it for me, and I figured this might be my last chance."

Jiraiya took the book, wrote his name down, and handed it back to Tatsu "You're a good kid with great potential and a good heart, take care of Naruto for me." and with that, he departed.

"Sure thing."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a long journey, Jiraiya was able to successfully infiltrate the Hidden Rain Village, where he wandered around the town and spoke to a number of inhabitants about their leader, Pain.

Unfortunately, gathering information on this was less than successful, and so he tried a new method of intel gathering: capture two suckers, I mean lower ninja of the city in a tavern, in a tavern that was actually the stomach of one of his summoning toads.

The two ninja quickly caved and told him that the mysterious Pain had been able to defeat the former Hidden Rain leader Hanzo, someone who was so powerful that even the three Sannin together were unable to defeat him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time, Pain sensed an intruder in the village and ordered Konan to search for this intruder until he himself was ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya summoned the toad Geotara and talked with him about how he was going into a difficult battle and that he would have to be ready, as well as one other thing that was increasingly significant, and would become even more so as time went on:

The Kyuubi, or Kurama, attacking the Hidden Leaf Village 16 years ago was not a natural disaster, it was summoned by someone. This someone happened to be an Uchiha, and that Uchiha was none other than Madara Uchiha.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After having Konan stall for time while Pain changed into a new body, Pain arrived on the battlefield in order to personally confront Jiraiya, who just happened to be their former sensei from years ago.

Pain launched into a discussion with Jiraiya regarding his personal ideology and the overall goals of the Akatsuki, and then he reveals that the purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that he can created a weapon of Forbidden Jutsu that will be able to destroy entire nations in an instant, so that the world would be able to mature and develop an aversion for war.

Pain then went on to summon a Rinnegan crab in order to attack Jiraiya, which was quickly defeated before Jiraiya went on to summon the toad Gamaken.

Jiraiya and Gamaken began their battle against Pain, the former having hidden himself using camouflage.

Jiraiya used a barrier jutsu to try and find him while preparing to enter Sage Mode, his secret trump card.

Meanwhile, Pain assaulted Jiraiya with a barrage of animal summons, such as a multiplying dog, a rhino, a bird and a bull, all of which had the Rinnegan just like he did.

Jiraiya finally entered Sage Mode after sending Gamaken back home, and then went on to summon Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima, who found Pain and destroyed his Rinnegan chameleon without too much trouble.

Pain then went on to summon two more of his Six Paths of Pain, and the battle intensified even further.

Jiraiya blinded one of the new Pains, and Lord Fukasaku was able to theorize that all three shared the same eyes and vision due to the Rinnegan, while Jiraiya realized that each of the bodies has only one specific purpose of the Rinnegan.

Jiraiya tried to stall for time while Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima prepared a powerful genjutsu to defeat the bodies, and despite some clear difficulty, they were successful in doing so.

As Jiraiya prepared to leave the battlefield, fourth path of Pain ambushed Jiraiya from behind while his guard was down destroying his left arm in the process.

As Jiraiya attempted to force himself to his feet, he looked up and saw six Pains, including the three that were killed mere moments ago, leaving him to wonder in horror as to just who and what Pain was exactly.

Now Jiraiya was in a deep state of panic, thinking that Pain is either Yahiko or Nagato, as Pain possesses Rinnegan which Nagato had and he appears as Yahiko.

Jiraiya eventually managed to kill one of the Pains, albeit just barely, only to realise he had fought him before during his travels many years ago.

Lady Shima eventually left, albeit extremely reluctantly, on Jiraiya's request, before Jiraiya came to the realization that he has met all of the Pains before.

Jiraiya eventually managed to figure out who Pain was, as Pain attacks Jiraiya and began crushing his throat ruthlessly.

As the light begins to fade from his eyes, he remembered Naruto's determination and unwavering spirit and forced himself awake, where he wrote a coded message on Lord Fukasaku's back before helping him to escape, leaving Jiraiya to face the six paths of Pain alone in one final stand.

After Jiraiya gave one final attack Pain then blasted him into the ocean, where Jiraiya sank all the way to the bottom as he quietly died with a smile on his face knowing that Naruto would live in his place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As he continued on with his team, Naruto suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder and stopped to check 'What the-? What was that?'

"Naruto, what's wrong?" asked Shikamaru.

"I'm not sure, I just felt something."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With the battle over, Pain took a few moments to contemplate the death of Jiraiya, his former master, and decided to pay his respects to him and acknowledge his strength. After that, he decided to execute the orders given to him and Konan by Madara.

As soon as his preparations were made, they would journey to the Hidden Leaf Village, and capture the Nine Tails…

A/N:

This chapter has been revised, not very heavily though. I just gave a more detailed summary of Jiraiya's final mission instead of just skipping it.

I know that's not how Sasuke escaped in canon but my fanfic, my rules so live with it.

Yes Tatsu knows Sage Mode, he learned it during the 6 week gap between the events of last chapter and the events of this chapter. And just to be clear, he doesn't know the truth about Itachi, at least not yet.

To reader R, thank you for understanding my plans about Danzo. If you want to know, here's a small look into my plans:

Having Danzo fight Pain during the invasion, not using any of his eyes or right arm.

Making it so Danzo would let Itachi spare those not involved in the Uchiha coup, but Madara getting involved botched that deal.

Having Danzo deliberately lure Madara away from the Five Kage Summit in an attempt to stop him personally.

I'm having a hard time thinking about what to do for him taking one of Shisui's eyes, if you could give me some suggestions then I'd really appreciate that.

As for Asuma, I'm thinking about giving him Sage Mode from the monkey contract like the Third had. You know, like the Monkey King Enma that the Third summoned in his fight with Orochimaru that can turn into the staff.