A/N: I humbly present to you: chapter 21.

I don't own Naruto.


Chapter XXI: Touching the Sky

Naruto stared down the beast-like Kisame, breathing deeply to steady his heart and keep his anger at bay. They each waited for the other to twitch, shift their weight, or give any sign of an impending attack.

In his restlessness, Kisame charged first.

Naruto slammed his palm down on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

From a massive plume of smoke, a giant bird swooped down with a screech, aiming its sharp beak at the charging shark man. Kisame skidded to a stop, catching it by its beak with his finned arms. Naruto flinched; his eyes wide beneath his sunglasses as he watched the beast-man stumble backwards from the force of the impact. With a grunt, he heaved the gargantuan bird up, slamming it onto the ground and dispelling it in a cloud of smoke.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto slapped both palms onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Two explosions boomed through the area, two plumes of smoke billowed into the sky, and two Rinnegan-bearing beasts emerged, charging full-speed at Kisame. The rhino bore down on him first, but he caught it just like he had the bird. Though he was pushed back farther, he still dispelled it with a slam against the ground.

A two-headed dog followed closely behind. With a punch, Kisame sent the animal flying, only for it to land on its feet. The shark man's brow furrowed as he watched the dog sprout a third head. With a huff, he charged the beast, but ground to a halt when it split into three separate dogs.

For his size, Kisame was agile. He deftly dodged gnashing teeth, at times narrowly avoiding being turned into dog food. Any bites that landed were healed quickly thanks to his fusion with Samehada. One of the dogs managed to sink its razor-sharp teeth into his arm, eliciting a wince. He dared to look into the beast's eyes. They held the very same eyes that Pain once possessed. How they came unto this Konoha brat, he didn't know, but he knew he'd have to go all-out and end this quickly if he was to survive.

With a yell, Kisame freed himself from the dog's maw, striking all three of them with a hard spinning kick. Throwing his hands into the Ram seal, he unleashed another onslaught of water. He channeled even more chakra than before, knowing he needed a field advantage. Once the area was sufficiently flooded, he built his water prison around himself and his foe.

Now in his element, Kisame let himself float upwards. The gills on his neck opened, letting water pass over them to take in precious oxygen. A sadistic grin crept across his mouth; his shark-like teeth bared. Naruto struggled against the weight of the water prison, trying to swim to the edge so he could break out. Kisame barreled towards the struggling blond, his eyes wild and hungry.

Naruto turned and saw Kisame gaining on him. Before he could move any further, the shark man tackled him, sinking his claws into his abdomen. Naruto let out a strained, muffled cry before Kisame's jaw opened wide. With a sickening crunch, he sunk his teeth into Naruto's neck. The blond writhed in agony under the deadly vice grip. Kisame smirked as he clamped his jaw down harder, relishing his quick victory.

The smirk faded when Naruto disappeared with a pop. Kisame whipped his head around, searching for the blond. Mild panic set in when he found no trace of him. He felt something disturb the water's surface. Not a second later, the water prison started to shrink at an alarming rate. Kisame bolted towards where he felt the disturbance, his teeth bared. Before he could break the surface, the water prison popped like an oversized soap bubble, melting to barely a foot of water coating the area.

Naruto landed gracefully on the water's surface some twenty yards away from a seething Kisame. With a roar, the combatants charged each other head-on. Just before they collided, Naruto brought his hand up. "Shinra Tensei!"

Kisame was thrown back, tumbling like a ragdoll. Before he could regain his footing, Naruto grabbed his right hand, twisted, and pulled. With an all-too-familiar fleshy splat, his hand separated from the rest of his arm, connected by a cluster of bombs. He took aim and fired, sending them rocketing towards an aghast Kisame.

Acting quickly, Kisame zig zagged, avoiding each of the small missiles in turn. As the last one detonated, he charged through the spray and black smoke. Naruto clenched his fists, releasing his knuckle scythes as the rogue nin barreled towards him.

Kisame swung a clawed hand, only for it to be blocked by a bladed backhand, sending sparks flying. They exchanged blows that never hit their mark. Slashes from claws and blades alike sliced through air and clanged against each other. Punches and kicks were blocked and batted away.

Naruto finally found an opening. Thrusting his fist upward into Kisame's abdomen, curved blades sank into the shark man's flesh. Naruto brought his other fist up, effectively puncturing both of Kisame's lungs. With a wheeze, he spat up blood before raising a clawed hand to slash at his attacker. In an instant, Naruto withdrew his fists and extended a bladed hand. "Shinra Tensei!"

The Tailless Tailed Beast was sent flying once more, landing with a splash. Naruto retracted his knuckle scythes as Kisame rose to his feet, his wounds sizzling as they healed. By now, he was thoroughly livid. Rage boiled over inside him like a malicious cauldron. This brat was becoming a thorn in his side, and he planned to knock him out or kill him, whichever came first.

Kisame charged with a roar, his clawed, webbed hands thirsting for blood. Naruto followed suit, his hand cocked back and ready to deliver a sucker punch. His fist collided squarely with Kisame's jaw with a crunch, but not before Kisame dug his claws into Naruto's torso. Just as another clawed hand was about to descend, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. A log was now skewered on Kisame's clawed hand.

Naruto raised his left hand and concentrated. He felt the familiar catch and pulled. "Banshō Ten'in!"

The shark man was sent hurtling towards the blond. Moments before impact, Naruto quickly produced a black chakra rod. With a snap, he separated it from his palm and twirled it, the pointed end ready to impale the shark man. Kisame's eyes widened as the rod stabbed him, slipping between his ribs and puncturing his left lung, just barely missing his heart.

The blond jinchūriki took a step back just as Kisame lunged forward to swipe at him. A pulse of chakra into the rod froze him in his tracks, drawing out a wince. He screwed his eyes shut and beheld a pair of rippled purple eyes staring at him—into his very being.

Fighting the disruption of his chakra network, Kisame strained to reach for the rod. Gripping it only intensified the debilitating thrum, crumpling his posture. Without the healing from Samehada, he struggled to pull the rod from himself. After a grueling moment, he freed the oversized thorn from his chest.

Not a second later, he felt two more rods stab his back, drawing a pained cry from the shark man. Naruto circled to Kisame's front, creating two more rods and snapping them off. The blond slammed them into his foe's shoulders, one after another, each time drawing a wince.

Kisame sank to his knees, unable to heal himself or pull the rods out. Naruto loomed over him as he spoke. "I told you: don't underestimate me. If you give up now, I'll let you live. But you're going to tell me everything you know."

The incapacitated Akatsuki went over the situation in his head. The leader was a bit unhinged, but he couldn't desert Itachi or reveal the plans that were being set into motion. He gathered his strength and swiped at the blond with a roar. Naruto blocked the swipe with another black rod and punctured Kisame's other lung with it.

The jinchūriki watched as the shark man struggled against the pulses of chakra. His arms moved as though they had Rock Lee's weights strapped to them, and his breathing was labored thanks to his two punctured lungs. Gathering his strength once more, he swiped at the blond again, struggling to break free of the hold the black rods.

Jumping to the side, Naruto could feel an influx of chakra coming from the rods. The interruption of Kisame's chakra network was only temporary, and he'd started to regain his bearings. Naruto's eyes widened as Kisame lunged towards him, completely ignoring his wounds.

Enough was enough. Taking a gamble, Naruto sidestepped the shark man, grabbing hold of the chakra rods stuck into his back. Instead of forming a barrier, he concentrated on pulling chakra through the rods. A surge of chakra flowed through the rods and into his system, nearly overflowing his reserves.

Kisame flinched, his beady eyes widening as the massive amount of chakra held within Samehada was being sucked away. The fusion began to reverse as the scaled sword separated itself from his skin. Once he returned to his normal form, Samehada fell with a small splash. Surprisingly, Kisame could still maintain his balance on the water's surface, which was falling by the second.

Naruto studied the weakened swordsman, secretly hoping he would surrender. His hopes were dashed when Kisame suddenly reached for Samehada and swung with a furious shout. Naruto dodged, which gave Kisame a chance to cut the rods shorter. The jinchūriki's face set in a scowl as he considered his options.

"I have to hand it to you, you're stronger than you let on. But this ends now," Kisame declared through labored breathing. He took a precious moment to channel a small amount of chakra to heal himself just enough to be able to fight. With that, he charged.

Naruto sped towards the man, gritting his teeth as he produced a black rod to use as a sword. The two blades met with a resounding clang. Naruto was no expert, but the lessons he had with Kakashi and Yūgao helped him avoid being turned into mincemeat. The two exchanged strikes in a dance of sparks and clangs.

Finally, Naruto saw his opening. He raised a hand. "Shinra Tensei!"

Kisame was sent careening towards a tree, the force of the impact knocking the wind out of him. He was about to regain his bearings when Naruto bore down on him, aiming a kick at his wrist, causing him to let go of Samehada. With his enemy disarmed, Naruto leapt back, landing on the now waterlogged ground.

Seeing the shark man reaching for his blade, Naruto raised his hand once more. "Banshō Ten'in."

Just before Kisame could wrap his fingers around the handle, Samehada went flying towards the Konoha shinobi, who sidestepped and let it embed itself in a tree trunk. Kisame rose to his feet, his teeth bared in rage. Naruto braced himself for the inevitable charge. He had to end this.

Just as Kisame pushed off, Naruto clapped his hands together, his fingers flat against each other. He focused his chakra into a single, concentrated point between his two palms. As he slowly separated them, a black, glowing orb materialized. He cradled it in his right hand before releasing it into the sky.

Kisame closed the distance, but Naruto wouldn't let him have another hit. He raised his hand.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Kisame was thrown away from him like a ragdoll. Hitting the waterlogged ground with a squelch.

Naruto leapt back even further, slapping his hands together again. As Kisame struggled to his feet, Naruto gathered chakra to pour into the inactive gravity sphere, being careful not to gather too much. He took a shaky breath before he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

A pulse rippled through the air, giving way to a low, foreboding thrum. Kisame was up by now, wildly searching for the source of the energy spike. Suddenly, the earth trembled. Deep cracks split the ground beneath Kisame's feet. Chunks of rock, trees, and masses of soil freed themselves of the bonds they were once held by and started floating. Kisame felt himself being pulled upwards, and hard. He craned his head to see a tiny black sphere floating in the sky, radiating a massive amount of energy. The earth down below opened up as more rocks and trees were ripped from where they sat and were pulled towards the gravity sphere.

Kisame tried to fight the pull, struggling to clamber his way across chunks of rock. It was no use; he felt the pull grow even stronger, the invisible hand tightening its grip on him. He found himself pinned against a small boulder, unable to move. As he watched more and more rock float up towards him, he reflected on his life. Knowing that he had done his part, he made peace with his demise.

Naruto held his focus, sweat beading on his brow as he continued to pull material into the emerging planetoid, letting out a yell. By now, the mass of rock and wood and soil was the size of the Chūnin Exams arena. A low rumble echoed through the area, as though the massive orb was telling him that it was enough. Dropping his hands, Naruto doubled over, gasping for breath. Once his head returned to its normal weight, he dared to look up at what he'd done.

Konan was right: this was a last resort if he'd ever seen one. He surmised that this planetoid wasn't nearly as large as the one that Nagato created, but it was still sizable enough that its creation had altered the landscape. He knew he couldn't leave a floating ball of rock hanging there. Slapping his hands together in the Serpent seal, he let the mass of earth fall to the ground. The crater left by its creation was filled once more, albeit unceremoniously.

There was no way Kisame could have survived that, but just to be sure, Naruto searched for his body once the dust settled. All he could see was a motionless, ring-bearing hand protruding from a cracked rock. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the hand was still attached to its now deceased owner. With a single nod, he left the corpse there. He would look for Kakashi and the others later. He needed to find Sasuke first.


Even with his near-blindness, Itachi could see what just happened. After all, it was hard to miss a small planetoid coalescing in the sky and then falling to the ground. Sasuke went back to keeping his ninjato pressed against his brother's throat. He could try and restrain Itachi, but knowing him, he might try to escape.

He didn't have to wait long before Naruto landed nearby, stumbling a bit from his fatigue. He approached the two Uchiha, kneeling next to Sasuke. After a knowing look and a nod of understanding, Naruto turned his attention back to Itachi.

"So, what're we gonna do with him?" The blond asked.

"Something tells me he hasn't told me everything he knows yet. We're gonna restrain him, take him back to Konoha, and see if they can't get him to talk," Sasuke explained, not taking his blade away from Itachi's neck. "Send a clone to get Kakashi-sensei and the others. I want you to help me restrain him."

Naruto nodded and created a regular shadow clone, not wanting to think too much about controlling something. The clone sped off towards the other side of the main road while Naruto tried to think of how they could restrain Itachi. They could bind him with rope or ninja wire, but that would only hold for so long until he recovered some of his chakra and gave them the slip. An idea popped into Naruto's head, albeit a rather crude one. Without a word, he produced a short black rod from his palm, snapping it in half.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow as he glanced sideways. Naruto continued with his plan. "Hands in front of you, weasel," he ordered. Itachi complied, weakly holding his hands in front of him.

With cold efficiency, Naruto pierced the older Uchiha's hands with the black rods, drawing a pained wince from him. Itachi screwed his eyes shut and beheld the same pair of purple rippled eyes that Kisame had seen. He found himself unable to move, and felt foreign chakra disrupting his system. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be put under Tsukuyomi.

Sasuke pulled his blade away apprehensively. "What'd you do to him?" He asked more out of curiosity than concern.

"I disrupted his chakra system. He's not going anywhere," Naruto responded coolly. Sasuke nodded as he sheathed his blade, letting out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"So, did you get your answers?" Naruto asked with a bit of trepidation.

Sasuke paused before answering. "I'll tell you later."

Naruto nodded, taking a step back from their captive, who could only stare blankly at the ground in front of him. Naruto and Sasuke took the opportunity to sit and rest. In lieu of a tree or a rock, they each used the other's back to lean against. It was comfortable, and even offered them the chance to keep watch while they waited for their squad.

About half an hour passed before Naruto stirred. His clone dispelled, sending its memories of leading their comrades to him. He craned his head to see the group emerging. Haku's arm was wrapped in bandages, but he was able to walk with some assistance. They all looked tired, no doubt from mild chakra exhaustion.

Naruto nudged Sasuke, who turned and regarded his comrades. They stood and were all but tackled by Sakura in a crushing hug which they happily returned, though a bit weakly. When she released them, she regarded them with an almost motherly look in her eyes.

"Idiots, both of you," she admonished, earning tired, sheepish grins from both boys. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Haku, is your arm okay?" Naruto prompted.

"It looks worse than what it actually is. Thankfully it was just a flesh wound, aside from the chakra drain. It's a good thing Sakura was here. There shouldn't even be any scars after this," the ice user answered. His tone was chipper, albeit tinged with fatigue.

Kakashi regarded his two students with a nod. He turned his attention to the incapacitated Akatsuki, noting the black rods piercing his hands. "Should I guess or let you two explain this?"

"It was my idea, sensei," Sasuke began. "I get the feeling he knows more than he's letting on. I'll tell you the details that I know later, but I think he's more useful alive than dead. I suggest bringing him back to Konoha for interrogation and sentencing."

Kakashi considered the situation before nodding. "And the black rods?"

It was Naruto's turn to explain. "Basically, they disrupt his chakra system. He's been like this since I got here. I don't know how to create chakra suppression seals, and we wanted to make sure he didn't give us the slip, so the rods were my idea."

Kakashi hummed before producing a suppression seal and placing it on Itachi's forehead, just below his slashed Konoha headband. The masked jōnin regarded his former comrade, an unreadable look in his visible eye. A barely audible sigh escaped him as he rose and turned to his team.

"Naruto, I know this is an odd question, but where's the sword that Kisame was using?" Haku asked.

The blond gestured in the direction of where his battle unfolded. "It's over there, stuck in a tree, why?"

"Samehada is one of Kiri's Seven Swords. I think it would be wise to retrieve it, just to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"I'll go with you," Yamato piped up.

Kakashi nodded. "Alright. First thing's first: Yamato, create some bindings for Itachi before you help Haku. Naruto, get rid of those rods somehow so Sakura can bandage Itachi's hands. We can't have him bleeding out before we get back to Konoha."

Yamato got to work, making handcuffs out of especially potent wood for Itachi, throwing a scowl at his former ANBU teammate. Naruto then created a shadow clone to guide Yamato and Haku to Samehada before dispelling the black rods in Itachi's hands, leaving gaping holes. Sakura frowned at the prospect of having to patch up one of their enemies, but did as she was told, albeit with reluctance.

"Um, Naruto?" Sakura began, a touch of apprehension in her tone.

"What's up, Sakura?"

She chose her next words carefully. "What, um…what was that earlier?"

Naruto cocked his head, his face twisted in puzzlement. "What was what?"

"That, y'know, that thing you did with the rocks and stuff," Sakura stumbled, not wanting to reveal too much with Itachi around.

It took a moment before it clicked for the blond. "Oh, that. Well…I'll explain later, okay?"

She could tell he felt the same way, so she gave a nod and left it at that. They all took a moment to rest and catch their breath before Yamato and Haku returned. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura sat in a triangle, their backs against each other. Kakashi regarded his students with an inward smile. The joy he felt was replaced by dread when he realized he'd be giving one hell of a report to both the Raikage and Tsunade. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.


A/N: Before I get into the translations, let me just say that this was probably the most fun I've had writing a chapter so far. I may or may not have had Pain's theme on loop while I hammered this one out. I also may or may not have been shaking with excitement while writing it. A cookie to whoever can guess where I got the idea for this chapter's title from.

Translations:

Kuchioyse no Jutsu - Summoning Jutsu

Shinra Tensei- Almighty Push

Banshō Ten'in - Universal Pull

Chibaku Tensei - Planetary Devastation

Thank you so much for reading! Chapter 22 is in the works!