Naruto: A Red Eye Hidden by Shadow

by Tatanka4Life

On the fateful night of the Uchiha Massacre, a girl of Uchiha and Nara blood is spared and left with no memories of her past. Now she must walk on the path left by her family to help her build a new future for herself. Her path will be hard, full of struggles and pain, but as long as she has her friends and family at her side she will keep forging ahead, even if it was a drag.

131. Chapter 130: Freedom and Power

Chapter 130

Freedom and Power: Naruto and Sakura vs Kasai!

In the vast chamber hidden beneath the forest hills of the Land of Sound, where the dull glow of candlelight warred in futility against the thick veil of shadows, their warm orange tongues licking at the cold air, and enormous wooden pillars rose like monoliths from the floor and vanished beneath the abyss blotting out the ceiling high above, seemingly stretching on infinitely to hold up nothing at all, a standoff—or a cruel greeting, perhaps—was occurring.

On one side, two Leaf shinobi—Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. Fists and teeth clenched tightly, hairs standing on end, their hearts slowly, steadily, picked up tempo as the tension, like a bolt of lightning, prepared to crack and unleash a roar of thunder at a moment's notice.

Opposite of the Leaf shinobis, having pushed off the pillar he leaned against and strolled out of the shadows into the light, exposing himself and his scarred body freely, proudly even, was the Sound shinobi—Kasai Senju.

His twisted and scarred smile was sinister—grotesque. Like an intrusion of cockroaches pouring in and out of a hole in a wall en masse.

"So, Nine-Tailed Fox, where is she? Where is my dear old friend? Where is Amari?"

Naruto's lip curled in a snarl. There it was again. The dehumanizing name that wasn't his. He hated it. Hated how Kasai looked at him the same way the Villagers did since he was born.

It was that look again. Kasai had the same eyes, eyes which stared at him like he wasn't even human. Like he didn't exist. All Kasai saw in him was the Nine-Tailed Fox. Not a person. Not a human being. Just a heartless monster.

His eyes, the boy felt a growl deep in his throat. They're even worse than the Villagers.

It wasn't the burn scars knitting together around his left eye and across his left cheek, or how they coated his flesh around his ear, down his neck and beneath his black and white scarf. It wasn't the knowledge that beneath his pristine white haori printed with a black dragon eating its own tail on the back, his simple black shirt, dark blue shinobi pants and black sandals that he looked like someone had laid him on a platter and overcooked him on one side and forgot to cook the other.

No, the ugly scars on his ugly face had nothing to do with how awful his gaze felt.

What made his gaze worse than the Villagers was such a simple difference, anyone who wasn't like him or Gaara wouldn't understand it.

The hatred in the Villagers eyes was wholly absent in Kasai. The blame for pain he hadn't caused, the abject disgust, like he pulled his pants down and relieved himself in the middle of the street every day, didn't exist in Kasai.

His hatred was directed at Amari, at the world itself, and was impersonal. There wasn't even fear in his gaze. Unlike the Villagers. They often stared at him like he was a paper bomb about to level half of the Village.

Kasai sneered at the idea of any potential threat to his well-being.

The Senju stared at him the way people stared at an untrained dog barking and growling at the end of his leash. Like he was an animal that needed to be caged, disciplined and controlled.

Beneath his gaze he was a monster to be tamed. A weapon to be used, the same way the Sand used Gaara. And to the Senju's mind he was the one who could do it.

"Well, don't leave me in suspense," Kasai taunted, smiling wickedly. "Where is my dearest and oldest friend? Did she split up and end up somewhere else in old Snake Skin's compound? Or has she forgotten what I promised her?"

Somehow his smile became crueler, uglier.

"You better hope she hasn't. If she has, you two will be a reminder. She'll remember my words as she sobs over your empty graves. Because when I'm through with you there won't be a single piece of your bodies left to be buried in that Village drowning in hypocrisy you all call home. Amari will cry and curse herself. She'll curse me and this twisted world. And she will come to understand the same pain and suffering I've endured because of her!"

Kasai threw his hands out in a grand gesture, his eyes wide and wild, sinister and twisted. The sleeve of his haori slid up his arm. More scars. Worse than Amari's. Far worse.

I don't think he's fully healed yet.

"Look at what my 'precious' and 'dearest' friend has done to me!" he proclaimed in a frenzied voice. "Look at the pain I've endured because of her! And realize I will use you and every person she loves to inflict the same suffering onto her! She will wish to be dead by the end of it all! I will destroy her world and her bonds again and again until she is at my feet, begging me to end her miserable life!

"So tell me, Nine-Tailed Fox, where is she? Where is Amari?! Where is my oldest friend!" Kasai bellowed, voice reverberating through the large and empty chamber.

Naruto felt an unwelcome chill race down his spine. He was willing to bet the spending money the Pervy Sage stole that Sakura did, too.

Killing intent didn't roll off of Kasai in waves, it was a maelstrom conceived of pure darkness, malice, a thirst for violence, and a desire to kill. Feeling it was like falling into a frozen lake. It sent a jolt through his heart, stole his breath and encompassed his body in a bitter chill that stiffened his muscles, tendons and bones. Even the candle flames seemed to bend and shiver because of Kasai.

The closest comparison he could think of was Gaara's intense, bloodthirsty psychosis when he tried to kill Bushy Brows in the hospital. Intense, palpable on the air itself. It even seemed to have a taste, something close to the slush of vomit getting caught in your mouth before accidentally swallowing half of it back as you tried to keep it from spilling out.

His heart pulsed slowly but with the force of a sledgehammer. Gooseflesh danced over his skin. Sakura swallowed roughly.

He's even worse than he was before, Naruto realized, breath caught in his throat. Or was it restrained because we weren't his real targets back then? That day, he said he wanted us alive so we could see what he did to Amari. But now… He's full of so much darkness and hatred. More than even Gaara was.

Is this what Amari battled against while we were busy with his Wood Clone and Kimimaro? This deep hatred? This black void of darkness that he relishes in?

Kasai is…

Naruto stared at the twisted expression on Kasai's scarred face. He examined the wild, downright rabid obsession in his mismatched gaze, witnessed the hatred for Amari in vivid detail without a word even needing to be spoken; he could feel his bloodthirsty glee at the thought of causing her pain swirling around him in a never-ending, relentless whirlpool of killing intent.

He swallowed the brick in his throat.

He's just like Orochimaru. Evil. He's pure evil!

"Amari isn't the one you need to worry about, you obsessive maniac," said Sakura.

Kasai flicked his menacing gaze over to the kunoichi. Then, after puffing out a sardonic laugh, he lowered his arms to his side, ducked his chin down and smiled. It was a revolting smile.

"So, she didn't come after all. How disappointing. I was waiting for her. Old Snake Skin was so certain the Leaf would come after us. I expected Amari to jump at the opportunity. I know I would've. So why isn't she here?" Kasai contemplated. "Was it because she was too weak? Does she think I'm too weak and no longer worth her time? Or has the Leaf restrained her?"

He didn't wait for them to offer any answer.

"No," he shook his head. "She isn't stupid enough to brush me off on purpose. She hate's me just as much as I hate her. She would've come even if she was injured, which can only mean that annoying Village of yours is responsible for her absence."

Naruto and Sakura said nothing. Neither saw the sense in confirming the truth.

"Ha!" Kasai barked out a sudden, cruel laugh, struck by inspiration. "This all works out perfectly! I thought it might be more entertaining to kill you in front of her. I wanted her to see your final death throes. Hear your last gasps. I wanted her to see the tears in your eyes as you reached out helplessly towards her. I imagined it vividly.

"But this way… Yes," he grinned. "This way she'll be even more powerless to stop it. It'll be just like when I killed Ryu. We'll both be responsible for your deaths: Amari because she has failed to finish me off twice now, while I get the glory of delivering the finishing blow!

"Good news, Leaf shinobi, your deaths will not be for nothing!" he promised wildly.

The Byakugan eye hardened. Bulging veins formed from the corner of his right eye, out and along his temple and cheek; they visibly pulsed. His scarred face morphed with a twisted grin. Naruto flinched. Chills shot down his spine.

"Your deaths will be a gift from me to my precious friend. The first gift of many to come!"

There was no time for a bitter reply. No time to consider how disturbing Kasai and his killing intent were.

The Senju rushed them, wasting no more time on pointless words, venomous taunts or malicious games. He charged ahead, the intention to fulfill his promise in every long and powerful stride. Joyful malice burned brightly in his mismatched eyes, all from the thought of killing them to cause Amari pain.

The palpability of his killing intent intensified the closer he came; it was thick, vicious and suffocating like Hikari's lava cocooning around them, but as bitter cold as the water in the Land of Snow.

In a moment Kasai was upon them, unchained from what little restraint he possessed. Naruto grunted. The thunderous roar of his heart couldn't be ignored. But neither could his basic instincts.

He lunged at their enemy just as he approached.

"The only person who's going to die today is you, you bastard!" Naruto declared.

Kasai ducked his punch, countered with a quick jab to the stomach, then rose into an uppercut. Naruto narrowly evaded his chin out of the way, lifting and turning his head toward his left shoulder. He retreated a step. His enemy advanced with a combination of jabs and hooks, grinning cruelly as he did.

Unlike last time, the Senju wasn't playing a defensive game, instead pressing ahead with a violent assault.

The rain of blows pelted his meager defenses. Broke through them with the force of a cannon, powered by dense hatred Naruto could feel packed into every fist. His reaction time wasn't enough to block every blow, his enemy's fists finding purchase on his upper body and cracking harshly against his face.

He couldn't find room to counter. He brought his hands up, preparing to form the Clone Seal as he recoiled from another blow. Kasai was quicker. He snatched him by the wrist of his left hand and yanked him straight into another fist that buried itself in his abdomen. Then he followed with another, and another, pounding his abdomen repeatedly until Naruto managed to slam his forearm into the assaulting arm of his enemy like he was trying to sever it from his body.

Pain pulsed from his belly, bruised and certain to be discoloring beneath his clothes. His breath hitched as he stumbled one step back.

The second of breathing room passed quicker than a snap. The Senju was on him again, sickeningly filled with joy at the sight of his misery. He kicked Naruto in the inner part of his knee.

Wincing, he felt his leg buckle beneath him. He saw the next fist coming, a heavy right haymaker. The power, like Bushy Brow's, was tangible before it could land. It barreled towards him with the force and speed of a runaway train; he could almost hear the piercing train whistle and rapid chugging as it closed in.

Desperate, he threw a right of his own as he collapsed towards the attack. He grit his teeth and tilted his head away. Air rushed past his right ear and cheek, and their arms locked together at the inner elbow.

When his knee hit the ground, he unleashed a rapid counter, slamming his free fist into the side and kidney area of his enemy once, twice and a third time with as much strength as he could muster.

Grimacing and growling, Kasai clutched the crook of his neck with his right hand. Immediately Naruto stiffened, recognizing the potential for a fatal counter but unable to react quick enough.

Kasai's eyes suddenly flicked up. The momentary diversion of attention likely saved his life. Hastily, Naruto clutched his right arm, driving another punch into his enemy's side, peeling the hand from his neck.

At that moment, Sakura's hand came to rest on Naruto's shoulder. The kunoichi vaulted over him, foot crashing into the left arm of their enemy, who had lifted it at the last moment in a block. Kasai stumbled back, the force of the kick knocking him off his solid base. Despite his stumble he still managed to drive his knee beneath Naruto's chin.

"Gah!"

The Uzumaki collapsed onto his back. His jaw hurt intensely but didn't seem to be broken. The blanket of abyss concealing the ceiling had a few new stars, though.

Naruto rolled onto his shoulders, bringing his knees in, and kipped up.

In the brief moment he was down, Sakura had Body Flickered behind Kasai and attacked at his blindspot. Naturally, just like Amari, Neji and Hinata, he anticipated the attack on his weakness. Through his three hundred and sixty degree vision he witnessed the kunoichi dash around him at high speeds in detail, reading her movements and predicting her attack.

He whirled around. The kunai she had thrown first tore the fabric of his haori at the shoulder.

Though Naruto couldn't see it, Sakura saw his eyes flash with vehement hatred.

With his moment to breathe Naruto brought his hands together in the Clone Seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four Shadow Clones rushed ahead of him. One transformed into a Demon Wind Shuriken, the other into a simple kunai; their counterparts caught the weapons and dashed towards the enemy.

Meanwhile Kasai was on the unenviable side of Sakura's attacks, dodging, evading, blocking and countering where he could. When he couldn't her strikes fell upon him like boulders thrown by a stone giant, heartfelt and sincere contempt packed into each tightly clutched fist.

Like any wise man caught in the flurry of a furious woman's fists, Kasai retreated back quickly to escape the immediate range of her attacks. Sakura gave chase, zigging and zagging, throwing shuriken and kunai with precision while closing in. The whirling and plunging blades thrown at continuous intervals kept him busy evading, distracted.

There was no time for Kasai to unleash a jutsu of any kind. Sakura moved in closer with each second, narrowing the window for evasion.

On the final step she released chakra from her feet, shooting ahead with her fist drawn back. Kasai pivoted suddenly at the last moment. The fist struck the air. Meanwhile his knee drove straight into Sakura's abdomen.

The kunoichi's eyes bulged, spit flying from her mouth as she gasped out; her feet came off the ground. The Senju drew his right arm across his body and slammed the point of the elbow sharply into her spine, hammering her into the concrete floor with a harsh crack.

Fingers spread, he prepared to clap his palms together to finish the job.

The Shadow Clone wielding the Demon Wind Shuriken raced in, springing into the air to spin one whole revolution. As he came back around he threw the projectile weapon.

Again the visual prowess of the Byakugan alerted Kasai to the incoming attack. He hopped back while lowering himself to the floor, beneath the whirling blades hunting for his head.

The weapon hissed by, then dispelled into the Shadow Clone, who rapidly threw a series of shuriken at the exposed back of the enemy shinobi.

Kasai sprang to the side, sandals grating and skidding against the stone floor. The Shadow Clone wielding the kunai dashed to Sakura's side, pivoted to align himself directly with Kasai, then darted for him, throwing the kunai ahead.

The Sound shinobi dodged his head to the side, the blade singing past the ear missing a gap of flesh along the outer rim cartilage. The blade dispelled into his Shadow Clone, bearing three kunai in each hand. Without little more than a growl he threw the weapons.

Kasai clapped his hands together. Sakura, grimacing with a busted lip and struggling to breathe, sprang to her feet, off the ground and onto a pillar, hands weaving through handseals.

The stone floor beneath Kasai cracked, then ruptured. From it a wooden dome a head taller than him rose effortlessly. The kunai thunked dully against the barrier.

At the same time, while attached to the wooden pillar by her chakra, Sakura finished weaving her handseals.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

For a moment, before the wall emerged, Kasai's lips twisted into a wicked sneer. What was the point of a defensive jutsu like that when he could see through any wall? When he hadn't even attacked yet?

His sneer faded for wide eyes, eyes which snapped down to the floor beneath him. It was too late. A square-shaped stone column lurched from the floor at a diagonal angle, the blunt end spearing him in his abdomen.

He crashed through his own Wood Jutsu with a harsh, tumultuous crack, splintering it, pushed by the low-level and weak ninjutsu directly at the Shadow Clone waiting on the other side.

Suddenly the stone stopped; Sakura's wall had reached its present limitation. But his momentum carried him through the air back first at the blond boy.

The Shadow Clone slid in, bracing a hand on the stone, leg loaded for a kick. His foot caught the enemy in the back, launching him away and higher towards the second Shadow Clone, who was springing through the air to drill him straight into the floor.

Naruto caught the sight of his hands in Tiger. His Shadow Clone hadn't.

Flames exploded from Kasai's lips in a continuous stream that set the Shadow Clone aflame instantly. It dispelled before it hit the ground. The Senju landed on the stone floor, slid along the smooth stone and, with his haori fluttering with the movement, while still expelling a continuous stream and igniting every column it came into contact with, whirled around.

The flames whirled with him, vast and powerful, encompassing the surrounding area in a twisting wave of fire.

Sakura dashed up the pillar. Naruto jumped onto one of the many wooden columns and did the same, two of his Shadow Clones following the same evasion tactic. The third fell prey to the untamable fire.

The cold air in the chamber evaporated beneath the swath of heat setting aflame the lower and mid-regions of the columns. Ribbons of smoke rose to the ceiling.

Our teamwork is working, mostly, thought Naruto, leaping to another pillar, scanning the area for Kasai. The boy had seemingly vanished. And we know how to use his Byakugan blindspot against him from training with Amari. But still, every time we begin to make progress, he flips the tables on us again.

Now we have no idea where he is. A bead of sweat slithered down the nape of his neck. I wish Mimi and Aoko were here. They'd be able to sniff him out before he ambushes us.

Landing on the side of another pillar, he caught a flash a movement amid the dim candlelight and shadows on his left side.

Naruto jumped right on instinct, at a diagonal. He twisted his body to face the movement, kunai flashing into hand. The metallic clang of his kunai meeting the cold steel of Kasai's sword rang sharply in his ears; it carried up the pillars, reverberating off the ceiling.

On the other end of the longer sword, Kasai was possessed by a deranged grin. He didn't say a word, but his eyes said plenty. The sword pressed harder against his kunai; it was almost touching his jacket.

Naruto snarled. His foot caught the enemy in the abdomen, the weak kick separating them.

Kasai tried to use the length of his blade to lop his head off as he flew away. Had he struck a half of a second quicker he may have succeeded.

Instead the edge of the blade sang just beneath his jaw, so close Naruto could see his reflection in the steel, could almost feel it shaving the facial hair he hadn't even begun to grow.

The extra push of the kick brought him to the wooden column faster. Naruto landed with both feet and his free hand against the column. Without thinking he launched after Kasai.

Likewise, his enemy did the same. They shot past one another, blades colliding, orange sparks like rain drops falling into the flames below.

"What the hell is your problem anyway?!" Naruto yelled, launching again after the Senju. "You hate Amari so much, and for what?! It doesn't make any sense! She never did anything to you! She considered you her brother! She loved you! You're the one who betrayed her! So why, why are you so obsessed with making her suffer?!"

"Doesn't make any sense? Never did anything to me? Oh, Nine-Tails, you couldn't be more wrong!" Sparks rained off their blades again. "The Senju and the Uchiha, Hashirama and Madara, their war is ours! Ours! This is our destiny! The twisted inheritance our ancestors left for us!"

"Don't give me that crap! Destiny? Inheritance? I don't believe in any of that! You may be related to the First Hokage, and Amari may be an Uchiha, but that didn't mean you had to be enemies! You chose to kill Ryu! You chose to betray Amari!"

"I set Ryu free! I set us all free! Me! I did that with my own power! What would a caged beast like you know about that? You're just a monster to be tamed!"

Naruto growled. He swore he felt the rumbling growl of the Nine-Tailed Fox in his bones.

"It's because of me she has her so-called new family! It's because of me you have a friend, Nine-Tails! Without me, you would still be alone! Without me, Ryu would've been subjugated by the Hyūga Clan's traditions! Amari would've never known the comfort she cherishes so dearly if I hadn't set her free! Without me we'd still be at the orphanage!"

They landed on the same column, Kasai looming above silhouetted by an abyss, Naruto below cast on a background of chaotic flames and rising smoke. Their blades, like the boys themselves, raced into another collision, attacking quickly, fiercely. Metallic clangs followed the hiss of their blades cutting the air. Sparks flew. Hatred festered.

The Senju advanced, forcing Naruto to retreat backwards down the column as he blocked and struggled to find an opening; the length of Kasai's sword gave him a considerable advantage.

The Senju slashed a powerful upward cut, breaking Naruto's guard, knocking his kunai and arm up above his head. Eyes wide, teeth grit, the blond stumbled back, eyes flicking to his right unconsciously at the sight of his Shadow Clone soaring off an adjacent column, throwing two shuriken while bearing a kunai in his free hand.

Foot flashing forward, Kasai rocked his insides with a powerful kick, sending him sliding on his heels down the column. With a fluid movement he pivoted and jumped away. Facing the Shadow Clone, he deflected the shuriken with two quick strikes.

It's like fighting Amari and Neji, thought Naruto, frustrated. Catching him by surprise is next to impossible.

The Shadow Clone launched off the initial column directly for Kasai. Naruto jumped across below. When he landed and raced up, his Shadow Clone met the sword of the enemy in a brief clash, his kunai deflected to the side before he could get his footing. Then Kasai's sword bisected the Shadow Clone.

Pivoting a half turn, kunai and sword greeted one another yet again. Their blades and arms shook in a deadlock.

"We wouldn't know what a full belly feels like, or how it feels to wake up in a warm bed on a cold day," Kasai continued in a growl. "We'd still be crammed together on worn down cushions, sweating in the summer, freezing in the winter beneath itchy blankets. Our stomachs would be empty and we'd be imprisoned by poverty! We would be nothing. Nobody!"

"You were someone! You were Amari's brother!"

"You say that like it should mean something!"

"It should've meant everything to you!"

"Such sentimentality!" Kasai grinned vilely. "I feel sick just hearing it. Brother this, love that. You sound just like that pathetic crybaby. Why should any of that mean anything to me? All she did was replace her family with us. And then when we were gone she replaced us with all of you. After I've killed all of you she'll search for someone new to attach herself to, like a parasite. It's what she does."

"You heartless wretch!" snarled Naruto.

"Except there'll be one difference this time," continued Kasai, the fires below visible in the reflection of his eyes. "This time there won't be anyone left for her to attach herself to! I'll kill every last person she loves! I'll destroy everything she cherishes! Then the only bond she'll have left is our bond of mutual hatred!"

Before he could retort, Kasai's sword slid off his kunai, causing Naruto's arm to swing wide across his body, leaving his entire torso exposed. The sword, thrust for his abdomen, tore through the fabric of his jacket, severing threads of cloth and unzipping flesh along the side of his ribcage thanks to a semi-successful evasion.

Naruto winced. But he didn't retreat or panic. Instead, snarling in fury, he clutched his free hand around Kasai's extended wrist, tugged him closer and slammed their skulls together.

Dazed, he stumbled back. Kasai did, too. Unlike Naruto, however, he didn't have a forehead protector to soften the blow. Higher above, his other Shadow Clone appeared, throwing a kunai directly along the path of his blindspot.

"How many times are you going to try the same trick?"

Kasai began to pivot out of the way, sword slashing through the air to deflect the incoming blade. The kunai dispelled. From the faint veil of smoke Sakura appeared.

There was little more than a second between her and the sword swinging on its path to deflect a kunai, now set to cut her in two. Yet, despite that, Sakura was never touched by the cold steel. Her feet found the column immediately. The moment of solid ground provided all the necessary time to readjust her physical positioning.

As the blade and her body neared one another, Sakura with all of her agility and flexibility leaned herself all the way back to fall feet first towards the horizontal facing enemy, sliding along her back on the wood. She turned her cheek into her shoulder and slid beneath the slashing blade, the sharp edge passing fractions over her face, nearly butchering strands of her pink hair.

The blade passed over. Kasai's wide eyes were captivated by the daring stunt and the kunoichi glaring at him from the corner of her eyes. Then Sakura rose up in an instant to crash her fist and all its power into his exposed side.

The wide eyed expression of agony that crossed Kasai's face, followed by the flash of unrestrained hatred, could only mean Sakura had cracked a rib or two with the heavy blow.

Naruto dashed up the column.

Even to his ordinary vision time seemed to slow. He saw the wooden branch sprout from Kasai's back like a third limb, sharp as a spear, and begin to curl around his body as he finished whirling around to face Sakura, who had equipped a kunai and lunged in for the kill. Above, equally horrified, his Shadow Clone created the Clone Seal.

Sakura saw the wooden spear at the last moment. Naruto knew that because he saw her emerald eyes widen, heard her gasp and saw her feet begin to shift in an evasion.

Blood splattered through the air, raining onto Naruto's face. Sakura fell, crying out in pain.

Heart racing, Naruto jumped off the column, catching his kunoichi teammate, then jumping across several pillars away from Kasai and his Shadow Clone, who was repeatedly launching newly formed Shadow Clones like human missiles at their enemy.

Kasai tried to evade the horde, tried to follow his real targets, but found himself overwhelmed and obstructed by the shouting horde flying at and past him. He began to cut them down while retreating down the pillar.

Looking down at his teammate, Naruto saw Sakura's face contorted by a grimace. Blood was streaming down her right bicep, where a painful laceration was opened through her pink arm warmer. The trails of crimson were staining the piece of cloth.

Had she not seen the branch and attempted to evade, he knew he would've seen her skewered right before his eyes.

"Too close," Sakura grunted.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Stop here. I need to bandage it to slow the bleeding. Before Kasai attacks us again."

He did as she asked. They needed to get the bleeding under control.

Stopping halfway down a column, the Uzumaki set Sakura on her chakra glowing feet. He helped her bandage the wound as quick as he could. The adrenaline of battle was causing his hands to shake more than he'd like.

While he worked his thoughts were struck by the fiery demise of his Shadow Clones.

When he finished tying the knot, his teeth clenched at the sight of crimson expanding over white, he heard the whirl of shurikens ripping through the air, curving around the columns.

Naruto and Sakura scattered. The wood of another column greeted the soles of his sandals, the dull thunk-thunk-thunk of the shuriken embedding into his previous position echoed over the crackle of flames climbing up and down the wooden supports as if they were thin candles.

Above, in the dance of incandescent orange flames and black shadows, Kasai became visible behind the ignition of a Fire Ball Jutsu, like the flash of cannon fire in the dead of night. Vanished. Then materialized again, cast in orange flames, closer than before, expelling another Fire Ball. He vanished into the darkness once more.

The Fire Balls barreled for the two Leaf shinobi. They evaded, retreating across the series of columns yet to be consumed by fire. The chamber trembled beneath the explosive impact of both Fire Ball Jutsus.

Naruto squinted, muffling a cough behind his sleeve. The heat of the spreading flames was intense. The rising ribbons of smoke were forming a thick shroud along the ceiling. The flickering flames and the shadows they cast messed with his vision, deceived it at times with false movement.

He doesn't even care that he's setting Orochimaru's base on fire.

Kasai was no different than the hungry flames devouring the wood kindling. Anything and everything was disposable so long as it fed his insatiable hunger.

In their first battle, Naruto had sensed a fragment of his hatred in his blows, witnessed a sliver of his obsession with Amari. But Kasai hadn't taken them seriously. He'd toyed with them. Taunted them. He laughed cruelly in their faces, so certain he would kill Amari.

It was only now, surrounded by flames and smoke, having communicated plenty through words and their fists and blades that Naruto realized the lengths Kasai would go to cause Amari pain and suffering.

He would devour the world, leave it barren and desolate, burned to cinders and unrecognizable, all to feed his twisted obsession. Like an uncontrollable and sentient wildfire.

Like a parasite.

Kasai appeared again. He stood on the side of a column ahead of them, a twisted smile on his scarred lips, arms crossed over his body and a shuriken in each hand.

"There's nowhere for you to run!"

He threw the shuriken, then immediately began to weave handseals.

"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. At the name of the jutsu. And the result.

In an instant two shuriken multiplied into a hundred. The whirling blades surrounded him and Sakura on all sides. He couldn't see them all. His depth perception was all out of whack because of the poor lighting. Even if the chamber had been properly lit he wouldn't have been able to perceive them all without a dōjutsu.

"Move, Naruto!" Sakura called, jumping not only across the columns, but down towards the floor.

"Dammit," Naruto cursed, following his teammate's example. "Seeing Old Man Hokage's jutsu used by a bastard like him really pisses me off!"

They hastily retreated down the columns, zigging and zagging, but even then it wasn't enough to evade all of the shuriken. There was too many. Razor sharp blades severed threads of fabric on his jacket, his pants. He felt thin cuts tear open over his flesh, along his arms, over his shoulders and thighs. He grimaced when three shuriken embed themselves into his right forearm.

Sakura wasn't faring much better. She had equipped a kunai in an effort to deflect the whirling blades, but it was useless. Turning to deflect shurikens from one side meant leaving yourself open everywhere else. Similar cuts opened over her body, too.

At this rate, we're gonna be turned into pincushions.

The only defensive jutsu they had was Sakura's Earth Style: Mud Wall, but unless she could turn it into a dome it would leave them stationary, open to attack on multiple sides. They didn't have an Ultimate Defense like Gaara's sand or Neji's Rotation.

Kasai laughed cruelly as he followed them down. He lingered behind his impenetrable ring of cold metal.

Dammit. What do I do? I won't be able to touch him with the Rasengan at this distance. I could use my Shadow Clones as cannon fodder, but I bet he'll just use another Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu or a Fire Style Jutsu to eliminate them. They're not like his Wood Clones. They can't take the same amount of damage and keep fighting.

Damn, he grunted. All my techniques are close-range attacks. Same thing with Sakura. That's why Kakashi-sensei always pairs both of us up with Amari or Sasuke on missions. This is exactly what Amari warned us about on our way back from the Land of Tea.

His mind returned to the ship they had sailed upon. Through the smoke and fire he could almost smell the salty spray of the sea. He could almost see Amari sitting on the railing of the ship, eyes earnest and voice to the point.

"There may come a time for all of us when we battle a powerful shinobi who pushes us to our very limits, and we may lack the chakra to use a single jutsu, or activate our eyes or enhance our speed and strength.

"Aoi's greatest failure wasn't just his arrogance. That played a starring role, I assure you, but his greatest failure was he had one trick. One power. The Sword of the Thunder Spirit. Once I took that away and he was forced to rely on his physical attributes, he didn't stand a chance against us.

"We cannot become a shinobi like him."

Kimimaro, Kagerō, and now Kasai, they'd all proven her words true. They'd all shown him the limitations of his current abilities.

I bet Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade picked Mimi and Aoko to compensate for our limitations. If this stupid compound didn't have so many halls and rooms we wouldn't have needed to split up.

A shuriken impaled him, this time in the upper right portion of his back. Naruto grit his teeth.

Argh, you idiot! Stop whining and complaining! This is the whole reason we've all been training so hard. So what you have limitations right now!

He channeled chakra to his feet, then released it to soar to Sakura's side.

"Sakura, go straight for the floor. Straight ahead of me!"

Sakura didn't acknowledge his command with words. She shot off the column straight for the floor, trusting he had a plan of some sort. Naruto followed behind her, only to whirl around to face Kasai and all the shuriken on a warpath for them.

Bringing his hands together, Naruto began to mold his chakra. The Senju eyed him with unrestrained cruel amusement.

"Create as many of those pathetic Shadow Clones as you like, Nine-Tailed Fox! Any number multiplied by zero will always amount to zero!"

Naruto snarled. His hands created the Bird handseal.

He was in the perfect position to counter. From here, beneath all of the shuriken, all of the weapons were within range of his jutsu.

I don't care if he's related to the First Hokage or that he possesses Wood Style! To achieve my dream to become Hokage, I'll surpass all of my limitations!

Inhaling a large breath, chest and lungs expanding, he drew his head back.

Wind Style: Air Bullet!

From his lips he exhaled a blast of pressurized air at the shuriken and the enemy shinobi behind them.

The sudden upstream of air deflected many of the shuriken on the outskirts of the gale off course; they pierced into columns or fell uselessly to the floor. Those in the direct path began to spin faster, faster, faster, whirling in place like field of flower pinwheels spinning on a hill.

In a matter of seconds they were flying in the opposite direction, repelled by the force of air. In a matter of seconds the weapons were turned against their creator.

Gusts of wind fanned the flames. Smoke swirled.

Kasai was caught between jumps. Surprised. Throughly pissed off. He lifted his arms and legs up to protect himself as his own shuriken tore past him. Then the Air Bullet collided against his body, hitting with the force of a horse kicking him. It hurt. Naruto could tell.

Likewise, the blast of his jutsu sent Naruto shooting towards the floor. He flipped backwards, landing in a low crouch; his fingers glided over the rough stone as he slid back on his toes.

Kasai, knocked against a pillar, pushed off with a shout and torpedoed straight at him bearing all of his menace and consuming hatred on his face, and an even more menacing appendage of wood growing out of his back.

Naruto saw him coming. Utilizing the momentum of his slide the Uzumaki quickly rose up and hopped back. At the same time, the Senju landed in his previous position, branch spearing through solid stone and burrowing deep into the earth itself.

Tremors rumbled through the stone. An inadvertent warning of impending death. Quick on his toes, the Leaf shinobi shifted the weight on his feet and jumped to the side, shards of rock exploding beneath him, debris pelting his body and slicing open a cut beneath his left eye.

The branch rose from the pits of hell itself after him.

He rolled through the air, hands forming the Bird handseal again.

Wind Style: Air Bullet!

The blast of air slammed full force into Kasai again, unsharpened to be more akin to massive invisible and intangible fists. He detached the branch, stumbling to the side. Frustrated. He couldn't stand letting shinobi he saw as inferior touch him with a single attack.

His composure was fracturing. He was cursing them silently. Cursing his body for its weakness. It called for cruelty. For sadistic and unimaginable savagery.

As Naruto's feet hit the floor again, Sakura rushed the enemy, throwing punches high and low. Naruto rushed in after her, creating a Shadow Clone beside him.

Dodging, blocking, redirecting her attacks, Kasai sneered and knocked the kunoichi's fist away and blasted her with a powerful straight kick, knocking her back.

Naruto tore the shurikens out of his forearm one at a time, throwing his enemy's blades right back at him. Kasai hopped to the side, pivoted and ducked beneath them.

As he ducked the Shadow Clone dashed in, sliding in for a low sweeping kick. Naruto yanked the shuriken in his back out. The Senju hopped over the kick, then felt a shuriken graze the scarred side of his face.

Undeterred, Kasai slammed both of his feet on the sweeping leg of the Shadow Clone, breaking it and dispelling him.

"Is that the best you can manage, Nine-Tails?"

"Grr, stop calling me that!"

"It's what you are! Don't you get it? Your 'precious' Village turned you into a weapon of mass destruction! You're just a container for the Nine-Tailed Fox, a medium for them to use its power against their enemies! It's how they maintain power and control over this twisted world! You're just a weapon! A monster that needs a tight leash and a firm master!"

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Angry, Naruto threw all of his weight behind his hook. Kasai rolled his body beneath it, unloading two quick jabs into his stomach, then a rising uppercut that landed square below his chin. He stumbled back, seeing stars and fireworks flash. The Senju didn't give him a moment of breathing room; he lunged in with a malicious grin twisting his scarred features.

He was too slow to dodge the follow-up punches, his insides getting rocked and his bones rattling beneath the violent assault.

When Kasai swung for his face, believing him to be open and vulnerable, Naruto used his off balanced stance to his advantage. He, too, swung for his enemy's face at the last moment.

His fist found its home first. Then he felt the Senju's heavy and hatred filled fist crash against his cheek. Their faces contorted, their flesh rippled beneath the force, but the difference of power was stark. Naruto was taken off his feet to crash against the unforgiving stone floor. Kasai merely stumbled a few steps away, growling in pain. In annoyance.

He quickly raised his arms in front of his face, a block meant for Sakura, who had Body Flickered back in. The block failed to protect him, for the punch he prepared to block was a feint he failed to see through. It was too late to counter. His body was wide open.

Sakura's kick caught him at the end of his stumble, on an unstable base, knocking the wind from his lungs, incensing his injured ribs. Spittle flew from his mouth. Before she could retract her leg, however, he snatched it possessively.

Springing back to his feet, a snarl on his lips, Naruto created four Shadow Clones as he charged in.

He saw Sakura suddenly fly into the air, throwing another kick with her free leg, but it, too, was blocked by the Senju. The connection of flesh, muscle and bone reverberated up the empty walls of the chamber.

Her hand flashed to her pouch, a kunai flying from her hand at point blank range straight for their enemy's face. There was a brief opening his teammate had where Kasai's blocking arm shifted, hand slapping the kunai out of the air and down towards the floor, a moment she utilized to escape. She drew her free leg back and slammed it into his chest.

Again Kasai was knocked into a stumble, thin trails of red streaming across his hand from the new wound opened on it. It was a war of attrition. Wound for wound. Attack for attack. They were damaging each other, sucked up into the cyclical cyclone of war left behind by Hashirama and Madara and inherited and renewed by Kasai and Amari.

Sakura landed gracefully on her feet and threw two more kunai, a paper bomb flickering on their ends. The Senju clapped his palms together, snarling like a beast. The earth shook as a wooden dome broke through the stone several feet ahead of its summoner, blades impacting against it with two dull thunks.

Light flash. The explosion ruptured the air, left their ears ringing and nearly deaf. Splinters like needles of sleet became small, punishing projectiles. Black smoke in the form of a shapeless cloud billowed around the dome, but it wouldn't obscure their enemy's vision.

The Byakugan eye was too sharp for that.

Through the cloud of smoke two Shadow Clones slid along the stone floor, their feet slamming into Kasai's guard, but still knocking him off the ground into the air.

"This again, Nine-Tails?" Kasai taunted.

A gale of wind suddenly burst through the cloud of smoke, dispersing and parting it with its power. Stunned, there was nothing for the Senju to do except watch it come and barrel straight into him. It crashed against his body mercilessly. He didn't deserve mercy.

Guard broken and haori fluttering and flapping in the wind, Kasai was driven higher into the air by the force of a bull goring him.

"My name is—"

Kasai could only look over his shoulder with wide eyes. Floating above him was Naruto, the Rasengan hovering over his palm.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!"

He drilled the Fourth Hokage's jutsu straight for the exposed back of Kasai. Glowing blue chakra illuminated the black dragon eating its own tail. It rustled the haori.

The Senju vanished instantly right before his eyes. The Rasengan struck the air to no effect. Naruto gasped. He disengaged the jutsu and landed on his feet, hastily jumping to Sakura's side.

Sweat dampened his hair, beads slid down his cheeks. Their eyes were drawn to the new combatant.

A man with pale white skin, long black hair and snake-like golden eyes.

"Are these the guests causing such a ruckus? Kasai, I expected you to have this finished already."

"Shut up," growled the Senju, who had been dropped unceremoniously on the floor.

The man merely smiled.

Naruto and Sakura were not smiling.

"It's Orochimaru," said Sakura nervously.

"Aw man," Naruto muttered beneath his breath. "This is bad."

Pervy Sage, Mimi, Aoko, where the hell are you three?

---

Heavy footfalls approached rapidly. Beneath them, lighter claps of sandals on the stone floor trailed close behind. A team of three shinobi. The light clamor of their weapon belts, sheathes and harnesses shifting with every step could be heard.

The two Shadow Clones of Naruto stood at alert. One positioned himself in the center of the hallway facing the entrance of the compound, kunai gripped tightly in hand. He wouldn't let a single shinobi through. No way. They'd have to kill him first.

The other stood in front of Sasame, prepared to grab her at the drop of a hat and dash deeper into the nefarious den if necessary.

Apprehension seized Sasame. The footfalls were closing in. Step by step. She could almost see their gear just by hearing it. Two swords, at a minimum. A quiver partially full of arrows. She could hear the kunai in their ninja tool boxes shift and clatter. They were in a hurry, full of adrenaline.

Were they running in to reinforce the compound? Or running from someone else entirely?

An anxious expression contorted her black and blue face, incensing the swelling. Pain ricocheted from her left eye socket, along her cheek bones to her chin, then up her jaw to her ears. Grimacing hurt. Everything hurt.

Her heart skipped a beat, then fell into a rapid tempo. With her healing fingers in splints she couldn't even wield a kunai, she realized in horror. With her body bruised and beaten she was weaker than a newborn puppy. A migraine assaulted her head; she would be lucky to stand without wobbling, luckier still to not collapse immediately.

She couldn't defend herself. Fear of being captured, beaten and hung from a tree again made her empty stomach churn and slosh violently. Her head grew light, her muscles trembled and her skin crawled.

Sasame could feel the spiders on her skin. On her face. Taste them in her mouth and feel their terrible tiny legs on the inside of her nose. She could feel the lack of gravity, the sensation of falling without falling.

Eyes widening, she started to breathe heavily, without rhythm. There was no air. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't—

"Sasame!" Naruto's calm voice awoke her from the traumatic haze of her panic attack with a start. He didn't look at her. His gaze was focused on the approaching footsteps. "You don't have to worry about a thing, all right? I won't let a single one of these bastards lay another filthy hand on you. I'll die before I ever let that happen again."

"Naruto…"

He glanced back at her, a small smile on his lips. Strangely, Sasame felt her heart skip again.

It wasn't fear.

"So don't you worry. No one is going to get through me. I'll protect you no matter what. I'll never back down, and I'll never go back on my word. That's my nindo. My ninja way. So sit back, relax and watch a future Hokage kick some Sound shinobi butt! Hehe!"

The sincerity and warmth of his words and smile, it was enough to make her heart skip again. She found herself looking closer at the boy, drawn in by his big and earnest cerulean eyes, eyes which, though colored like the sky or ocean, she associated with sinking into a hot spring after a long day of training in the cold.

She looked at his whisker-like markings and, not for the first time, thought of how charming they were. At his goofy grin which brightened the dim hallway and made her feel stronger, hopeful…and made her wonder if he thought she was pretty.

Sasame quickly ducked her chin down, hiding the pink flush of her cheeks. A shy smile tugged onto her trembling lips. She tried not to fidget as her adolescent body reacted in unfamiliar ways.

Unaware of what she was feeling, Naruto turned his attention to the approaching shinobi.

"Bring it on, Sound shinobi! I'll pummel you into next week!"

"Hold, Leaf shinobi!"

The deep baritone voice perked Sasame up.

At the head of the group of three shinobi was a tall, masculine man, a Zanbatō hung from a harness on his back. He was flanked by a woman with a long bow and a man wielding a sword. Cuts and tears were torn through their clothes and along flesh. Varying amounts of dirt, grass and blood splattered and stained their outfits and bodies. And their weapons.

They'd seen battle. Intense and remorseless.

"Hanzaki." Sasame recognized the leader of her Clan instantly.

"Sasame. I am glad to see you alive."

Hanzaki took a step forward. The Naruto Clone in the center of the hallway didn't budge.

"Hold on a minute," he interceded. "How do we know you're the real Hanzaki? You could be an imposter Sound shinobi for all I know, so don't move another inch towards Sasame."

Hanzaki stopped. "You have good instincts, Leaf shinobi. Caution like that will keep you alive in the future."

"Save the flattery. If anyone tries to touch a hair on Sasame's head, I'll kill you where you stand. Got that? No way am I letting anyone near her."

"I appreciate your dedication to protecting a member of my Clan. However, since we are strangers, how would you demand I prove I am the real Hanzaki?" replied Hanzaki calmly. "I could tell you about my meeting with Master Jiraiya, or encountering the Inuzuka kunoichi from your squad, but neither are here to confirm my account."

"I know that," admitted Naruto. "But there is someone here who can confirm you're the real Hanzaki. We have Sasame. Surely there's something you could tell me about her to prove it. An event only you two would know. A talk you two had. Something she can remember clearly. I'm not asking for any secret about your Clan; that won't convince me anyway since I know Orochimaru has been stealing them."

"Mm. Wise reasoning." He flicked his eyes to Sasame. "Three winters ago, after a bitter storm passed through, you went off to train alone and sprained your ankle after slipping on an ice covered branch. You were missing for no more than an hour before I finally found you hopping on one foot through the snow. I scolded you for your reckless behavior. In truth, I was harsher than I should've been, but I was concerned for your safety."

Sasame winced. Blood rushed to her aching face.

Naruto glanced back at her to confirm the story.

"It's true," she confessed, blushing.

Of all the possible anecdotes Hanzaki could've chosen…

"Well, in that case…" Naruto sheathed his kunai in his ninja tool box. "Did you guys see Daisuke out there? Mimi's Shadow Clone hasn't returned with him yet."

"Two of my clansmen are searching for him as we speak," answered Hanzaki, approaching the boy and Sasame. He glanced to Naruto. "What of Kagerō, Kamikiri and Jigumo? Jigumo was taken by Kagerō before we could eliminate him."

Naruto's expression darkened. There was guilt and regret shimmering in his eyes. But also anger. Anger which he restrained, but it was clearly a struggle when looking upon the leader of the Fūma Clan.

"I don't know what happened to Kamikiri or Jigumo. Sakura and I only encountered Kagerō. She… She's gone."

Hanzaki flattened his lips in a tight frown. "Of the three, I had hoped to save Kagerō. Kamikiri and Jigumo had become cruel and arrogant—twisted by Orochimaru. But Kagerō… She was a kind child."

"She deserved better."

Anger and blame slipped out, delivered in solemn resignation.

"You're right. She did. But I cannot change the mistakes of my past. All I can do is ensure they are not repeated."

Hanzaki knelt down beside Sasame, examining her injuries. She had never seen him look so grim and guilt-ridden. Or maybe she had never truly seen him as he was, too busy believing he didn't understand how she felt about Arashi's disappearance. Believing he felt nothing for those taken in by the Sound Village, only caring selfishly about themselves.

It was only then she witnessed that his shoulders, like Daisuke's, were weighed down by the weight of the lives they had taken and the loved ones they lost in hopeless wars.

"Will you be taking Sasame out of here?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

"Wait," Sasame protested. "What about Arashi? We've come this far, so…"

"You don't need to worry about that. Leave rescuing Arashi to us," Naruto said, jabbing his thumb into his chest. "Besides, no offense to you three, but I doubt Pervy Sage would want me to let you guys go on ahead. Orochimaru might be here somewhere; that snake is way out of all our leagues. And Kasai is—"

The walls and ceiling trembled and rumbled violently. For Sasame it was like sitting in a massage chair set on its highest setting; in her condition it awoke aches and pains Mimi had soothed. Her clansmen stumbled, bracing themselves on the walls. Hanzaki held her close, covering her body with his in case the ceiling collapsed. The pair of Naruto's whirled around to face where his comrades and original had gone.

The tremors lessened in force, but did not cease.

"You guys get out of here," Naruto ordered, narrowed eyes glaring down the hall.

"Naruto—"

"Go on!" he said, throwing his arm out. "Trust me, you don't want to be here now!"

Hanzaki took the boy at his word. He lifted Sasame up in his large arms, ordered his comrades to fall back and dashed for the exit.

From his arms the Fūma kunoichi could only watch the two Shadow Clones stare off grimly into the dark and cold halls shaking and trembling from floor to ceiling.

The last she saw of the Shadow Clones was the wisp of smoke left behind by their dispelling.

Please… Be careful.

---

Come on, think, think.

Naruto, gritting his teeth, fought against the thoughtless panic searching for a foothold in his conscious. His eyes flicked from Orochimaru to Kasai, then back again.

This was bad. Real bad. Kasai had been a handful for him and Sakura on his own. The thought of fighting Orochimaru was a joke. A bad one at that.

The candlelit chamber smelled of burning wood and smoke, the columns Kasai set ablaze creaked and cracked, popping at times, while the flames climbed higher. Smoke was gathering in density. Soon enough they would have better luck breathing underwater than in the chamber.

Across from the Leaf shinobis, the Senju sat on the stone floor looking away from his master, his lips curled in disgust and hatred. Naruto was certain he would say he had the situation under control, that he didn't ask or need any help. And he'd sound very convincing. Like he wasn't about to be pulverized by the Rasengan.

Orochimaru stared at them with what appeared to be amusement. He was smiling, titling his head to the side with curiosity. Sinister and detached from any semblance of humanity.

He could've taken me out instead of rescuing Kasai, Naruto thought grimly. And in the process protected Kasai anyways. So why didn't he?

He supposed it didn't matter. It wasn't like Orochimaru had lost his one chance to kill them; he could kill them at any moment if he really wanted to. He was on the same level as the Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade, after all.

They were face to face with a legendary shinobi, the man—monster—responsible for Old Man Hokage's death. The difference in abilities between them…

Could they even hope to survive the next few minutes?

Naruto shook his head. Now wasn't the time for those thoughts. He needed to figure out a way out of this, a way to escape, at least until Pervy Sage showed up to take on Orochimaru. Afterwards they could reengage Kasai and finish where they left off.

"You," Sakura spoke up, looking at Orochimaru through narrowed eyes. "Who are you?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Naruto asked, confused. "It's Orochimaru! You're the one who said his name a moment ago!"

"I was mistaken," Sakura replied, confident. "But now… Now I'm sure he's a fake."

"Sakura, you better catch me up on where this is coming from real quick, because if that isn't Orochimaru then I think I need to get my eyes checked."

"My eyes tricked me, too. That's the point. This is a Transformation Jutsu, or some other means of disguise. He may look and sound like Orochimaru, but he isn't the real one." She glanced quickly at Naruto. "We've stood in his presence before. Think about it. The thirst for blood poured off of Orochimaru. Just by being in his presence, my body trembled on its own. Even without sensory abilities we could all sense his power."

She shook her head. "I don't feel any of that now."

Naruto flattened his lips. He stared at the man across from them. By all physical attributes he was the perfect duplicate of Orochimaru, matching his height, possessing the same snake eyes, long black hair, pale skin and strange purple markings around his eyes. He even dressed the same, stupidly large purple rope belt and all.

At the surface level he was Orochimaru. But when he peeled back the layers, honing in on the sensations Sakura mentioned…

"You're right," said Naruto after a moment of consideration. "I'm not feeling any of the bloodlust I felt around him in the Forest of Death or when I was with Pervy Sage. Your eyes," he directed to the fake, "look like his, I'll give you that. But you don't have the same level of hunger Orochimaru does. Not even close."

The amused smile fell for a strange frown.

Kasai, seated on the stone, snorted, which devolved into a mocking chuckle. It may have transformed into full-blown laughter if he hadn't grimaced, hand clutching at his ribs.

"These pathetic fools can see right through you," he sneered at the man standing beside him. "You had a single job. All you had to do was sit on his throne, pretend to be old Snake Skin, using his reputation to rebuild the Sound Village and its forces, drawing the Leaf's attention here to distract them while he slithered off into the shadows to build elsewhere.

"It was a simple plan. They wouldn't have seen it coming. But you couldn't do it, could you? Even after killing your own clansmen—your friends—you still fail!"

The man posing as Orochimaru was quick. Naruto blinked, heard Kasai grunt and when his eyes opened he saw the Senju slamming back first into a column.

None of his menace evaporated. It glinted in Kasai's eyes. His twisted grin was satisfied at the turn of events.

"What's the matter? Does it sting knowing you sacrificed friends and clansmen for nothing?" Kasai taunted, grinning. "You all set out to rebuild the Fūma Clan, right? You, Kamikiri, Jigumo, Kagerō and that madness-driven woman. But here you are, no closer to your goal, with the blood of your so-called friends on your hands.

"Kagerō was on her dying gasps but you didn't budge to save her." Naruto stiffened at the news. "Kamikiri was dead before he arrived, all because you sent him to his death. You broke that woman by helping experiment on her newborn.

"And then there was Jigumo, that pathetic cretin. He was alive, perfect health almost. He begged and pleaded, 'oh please Lord Orochimaru, save my friends. We've dedicated ourselves to you.'" Kasai mocked in a whiny voice, a vile sneer on his face. "And in return you cut him down. You didn't even blink

"Ah, friendship. Camaraderie. Bonds. Humanity. You sacrificed it all so quickly for power. And Amari called me twisted! Ha ha ha! If only she were here now. Then she would know what I said was true. Then she would understand how twisted this world and all of us who inhabit it are!

"Just say what you really want! Say it!" Kasai demanded, becoming more manic and obsessed by the second. "You didn't go to Orochimaru to rebuild your Clan. You crawled to him and attached yourselves to his leg like dogs in heat because you wanted power! You wanted the freedom that power grants you! The Fūma Clan was your cage. Your bonds were shackles. So you severed them all and set yourself free with your own power! Isn't that right?! Arashi!"

"Arashi?" Sakura gasped.

"You've gotta be joking? Arashi?" Naruto stared wide eyed at the fake Orochimaru. "It can't be Arashi. Someone as kind as Sasame's cousin would never play dress up as Orochimaru!"

"You left behind a cousin?" Kasai sneered. "How cold-hearted!"

Silently, the fake Orochimaru reached his hand up towards his face. He threaded his fingers through his hair, then began to pull.

Before their eyes they saw him peel the mask and outfit off with a sudden yank, like a magician pulling the table cloth off without disturbing the glasses on top.

The new man had chin-length purple hair and a fair complexion, bearing the same height and build as the man he had pretended to be a moment ago. There wasn't a clear resemblance to Sasame. Still, Kasai had no reason to lie about his identity.

Why would he reveal himself if he wasn't the real Arashi, after all?

What bewilderment Naruto felt collapsed away for simmering rage. Growling deep in his throat, he swiped his hand through the air.

"What the hell are you doing, Arashi?! Do you know how hard Sasame has been trying to find you? She's been searching for you, risking her neck trying to find this base because she was certain you were held prisoner! All she wants to do is find you and bring you home!

"She's cried for you! She was pummeled by Kamikiri and Jigumo! And you," he growled, anger bubbling in his stomach, "you've just been sitting down here playing as Orochimaru? You're the one who's let those bastards run rampant in this Nation? Kidnapping people? Kids? Experimenting on them while you try to build up the Sound Village? What the hell is wrong with you!"

Anger, disappointment, guilt and grief on behalf of Sasame, it all blended and bubbled together.

The way Sasame had spoke of her cousin had made him certain there was no way, absolutely no way, that he'd taken part in any of what they'd heard and seen. But seeing him here, knowing he could've left at any time to return to his cousin…

"What happened to the Arashi that cared for Sasame, huh?!" Naruto demanded.

"…I'm no longer the Arashi Sasame knew."

Arashi hunched forward. At the same time a giant mass started to balloon from his back. His shirt began to bulge, rip and tear, unable to contain the sudden bulging growth.

The fabric gave way abruptly, tearing off his torso. The mass of flesh, covered in grotesque bulging and pulsing veins, ballooned to the size of refrigerator. To the revulsion of the Leaf shinobis, two oval holes peeled back in the sides of the malleable flesh, which two groaning faces peeked out from.

Like the mass itself, the two faces and the flesh of Arashi had darkened into the color iron. Naruto and Sakura were stricken by horror when they examined the faces. And recognized them.

"That's Jigumo," Sakura recoiled in revulsion, noticing his bald head and scarred face.

"And Kamikiri," said Naruto, eyes wide. "What kind of messed up jutsu is this?"

There was no question they were dead despite their groaning. Their eyes were white, their groaning inhuman.

"They're his Cadaver Puppets now."

Kasai didn't appear stunned or revolted. He watched the transformation with a self-satisfied smile.

"Their chakra, abilities and weapons are all his now. He's just an ugly mass of unfeeling flesh. The cousin you hoped to save is dead. How unfortunate for you. You'll have to break that girl's heart now. I might shed a tear."

"Grr, why don't you shut up already!" Naruto shouted pointlessly.

"Why don't you? You bark like an undisciplined dog."

"I'll shut you all up!" Arashi declared psychotically. "Three of the Fūma Clan's bodies joined together, the strength of all and weaknesses of none! I have become the ultimate shinobi!"

"Ultimate shinobi, huh?" Kasai's cruel eyes glinted at the challenge. "Don't make me laugh. Strength of all and weaknesses of none? You're a bigger fool than the Leaf shinobi! Kamikiri and Jigumo were weaklings, nuisances who didn't deserve the title of shinobi!" Kasai clapped his palms together. "Allow me to show you real power!

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"

The entire chamber was seized by tremors. Suddenly, with the same heart-stopping force and crack of lightning, the stone floor ruptured explosively.

Naruto didn't need to think. He reacted by first snatching Sakura's wrist, after which he hastily jumped up and back, further away from Kasai and Arashi towards what he hoped was safety.

He had a birds eye view of the scene of carnage. Thick roots surged out across the entire length and width of the floor, shattering stone, coiling around columns, and piercing through the walls. Debris of dust and fragments of stone fell from the ceiling as the whole compound trembled.

Jumping had spared them from the immediate carnage. But they hadn't escaped. Naruto, despite his awe, landed on one of the columns, allowing his teammate to get her feet. Not a moment later the thick roots spreading from wall to wall, consuming all conceivable space, speared for them.

"Whoa!" Naruto flew off the column.

The sound of splintering wood and earth displacing as the column was felled like a tree, breaking off the ceiling, thundered in his ears. Two twisting roots coiled up the entire length of the column; it froze at a diagonal angle.

The roots didn't relent. They kept spreading, fatter and thicker than before, attacking the two Leaf shinobi leaping through the growing forest. They evaded onto the columns. Leapt over and dropped beneath the roots.

Eventually there was no choice but to jump onto the still roots and branches of Kasai's Deep Forest Emergence.

Naruto grimaced when a sharpened branch set on impaling him grazed over the front of his left thigh. The fabric of his orange pants tore like wet tissue paper, the fragile flesh beneath was shred open, spraying flecks of blood. His next evasion, though successful, was slower.

By the time the jutsu finished stuffing the chamber, no more than thirty seconds passed. It felt longer. Far, far longer.

Breathing heavily, Naruto took in his new surroundings with one eye shut in a grimace; his injured leg trembled. The forest, if it could be called that, lacked a canopy entirely. It was just branches and roots, barren of a burgeoning canopy of leaves. Though he supposed that was fitting for who summoned it.

This was a tree meant to kill. A tree of death.

It's like being in one of those aquariums full of plants and snakes instead of water and fish, he thought, breathing in deeply and exhaling roughly. Except this one is overstuffed. And darker. This forest thing is blocking out what little light we had. Man, I know he said he was just playing with us last time. But…

He couldn't help but feel dwarfed by the monstrous branches and roots surrounding him. Some were as thick as Orochimaru's giant summoning snakes!

I guess I just wanted to believe he was bluffing. This Wood Style ninjutsu is insane. And Amari and Atsuko fought in something like this while it was on fire?

Again he was reminded of how far he was behind. It wasn't just Amari or Mimi or his friends anymore, it was Kasai, too—an enemy wielding an incredibly powerful kekkei genkai.

The thought brought him back to the Land of Waves when they were trapped inside Haku's Crystal Ice Mirrors. The freezing cold air attacked his lungs, his skin, even his bones. The bursts of heat from Amari and Sasuke launching Fire Balls brushed over his body as he launched over and over again with his Shadow Clones at the mirrors.

But Haku was impossible to see. His masked reflection surrounded them, cold and merciless as the ice mirrors themselves.

Now he was here, surrounded on all sides by another powerful kekkei genkai, injured and in another seemingly impossible scenario.

The kid that graduated from the Academy would've died already, he knew. Bravado and naïveté would've killed him. That kid would've been gassed of chakra by now, too busy throwing himself and all of his Shadow Clones at the enemy to get absolutely nowhere.

So, despite his injury, he felt he was doing pretty well. Sure, his leg hurt like hell, but at least he wasn't impaled through his gut, right? That definitely would've made eating ramen a bit more difficult.

"Naruto!" Sakura landed on the branch beside him. Chest heaving, she examined him with sincere concern. "Are you all right? Your leg…"

It was bleeding pretty badly. Warm blood slithered down his knee and shin, soaked into his orange pants. The pain could've been better. But it could've been a lot worse, too.

"It's nothing." He smiled through a wince. "Hardly a flesh wound, Sakura. Besides, I'm just glad it was me and not you who got hit. I can heal a lot faster."

At that moment he was struck by the memories of the Shadow Clones he left with Sasame. The sight of Hanzaki and his shinobi leaving with the Fūma kunoichi was a weight off his shoulders. One that was immediately replaced by a greater burden.

"Leave rescuing Arashi to us!"

Guilt and grief tightened its hold on his heart.

How was he supposed to keep that promise now? How could he possibly bring Arashi back to Sasame when he had turned himself into a monster? When he willingly killed his own clansmen to then desecrate their bodies by turning them into Cadaver Puppets?

A worse thought came to mind.

What if he had to kill Arashi to protect Sakura and himself? What if Kasai killed him? How the hell he was supposed to explain that to Sasame?

He had promised to bring him back, to rescue him from Orochimaru and his cronies. But here he was, masquerading as Orochimaru, staining his hands with the blood of friends and clansmen without remorse.

Arashi wasn't the kind and gentle cousin she remembered. Not even close.

What was he supposed to do? What was the right choice?

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath.

There was no time to think of an answer. A string of web suddenly attached itself to a branch higher than the two Leaf shinobi. The first thing they saw was the malleable, veiny mass with Jigumo's dead face. His mouth was open, the web attached to the tree appearing to lead down his throat. Then Arashi appeared, pulled up by his dead former comrade.

The Fūma shinobi's eyes had become entirely white. He bore a psychotic grin.

"Kamikiri, attack!" Arashi commanded.

The dead face of Kamikiri groaned. The bulging mass he was attached to suddenly grew, elongating, forming a grotesque, shapeless mockery of an upper body and arms that ebbed and flowed like tub of gooey putty in the hands of a giggling child.

The Kamikiri puppet lunged forward quickly, still attached to the giant mass of Arashi's back. Inside the flesh of its right arm, as if growing out of it, the glint of metal could be seen.

Naruto and Sakura jumped. The powerful attack crashed into the wood previously beneath their feet, showering them with splinters. The blond boy landed on his good foot. Then inhaled sharply, eyes going wide.

Out of the sawdust and splinters the metal pincer blades formerly used by the dead shinobi whirled straight for him. Desperate, he collapsed onto his back roughly, sliding on the bark. The blade whipped by over head, whirling through the complex maze of roots back to its thrower, which absorbed the blade once more.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Naruto growled in disbelief, pushing himself onto his feet with a mild limp. "Now he can throw that thing like a boomerang?"

Arashi detached Jigumo's web by, Naruto assumed, commanding him to bite the spider thread after swinging himself towards Sakura. He landed on the branch, and the wood splintered beneath his feet, creating two craters.

With a crazed laugh Arashi, and by extension Kamikiri and Jigumo, surged directly for the kunoichi.

The lump of flesh grew again, this time for Jigumo, who also extended into the putty-like worm with arms.

Naruto charged after them, teeth grit as each step sent a jolt of pain through his leg. Keep moving. Keep moving. It was all he could tell himself.

He brought his hands together.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four Shadow Clones joined him.

At the same time, Jigumo's fist crashed into the bark of the tree.

Sakura, fortunately, evaded back with a hop, spinning three-hundred and sixty degrees and arching her back to evade the thick web he spat. As she landed, the Kamikiri puppet was upon her with its pincer blades open. There wouldn't be time to evade. Not for her. Not without help.

Arashi's white eyes went wide when he felt the two Shadow Clone's throw themselves shoulder first into the back of his legs, acting as hatchets to fell the heavy and tall tree at its base.

The blade suddenly flung upwards. Sakura evaded narrowly again, up the hump of the branch. Knocked off his feet, floating with his back facing the thick root, Arashi witnessed the other two Shadow Clones spinning head over foot rapidly towards him.

"Jigumo!"

The Jigumo puppet lurched in front of Arashi, groaning wordlessly. It raised its arms and blocked the double axe kick of the Shadow Clones proving the physical blow was pointless against a corpse. It absorbed the shock of the attack with little more than a dead groan and blank expression.

The Shadow Clones to barrel into Arashi's legs launched up at the Fūma shinobi. Naruto prepared to join them. A flash of movement above stopped him in his tracks.

Before his Shadow Clones could attack, the thick twisting roots above them came alive, growing branches that speared down in search for his Shadow Clones. For Arashi. For him and Sakura.

Everyone. No one was to be spared. Their only purpose in life was to die by Kasai's hand to cause suffering to Amari. That's all. And they, in his eyes, should be grateful they had even that small of a purpose in his grander schemes.

Naruto dodged back, a branch crashing down a mere foot in front of him. He hopped back again, this time at a diagonal left. Another branch crashed within arms distance.

He was immediately grateful to hop back at the opposite diagonal, for sharp branches rising from the root he was standing upon ripped open flesh on the side of his left knee and left bicep. Had he hesitated a second it would've impaled straight through his leg, and the cluster of mangled branches joining it would've gone through his torso.

Unlike him, Arashi and Sakura managed to evade the attack with no injuries. The Cadaver Puppets bent around the spears, and the Jigumo puppet used its web to pull Arashi out of his fall and out of the line of fire. Sakura dashed up the branch, circling around its underside, her agility and flexibility all she needed to stay unharmed.

Kasai watched on from above like a vulture, hands clasped together in Snake, a vile grin on his face. Carnage and chaos, it was all he wanted, the Uzumaki sensed. Let the world burn and be reborn from the ashes how he envisioned it. As a true God of Shinobi.

The moment Naruto's feet touched the bark again he launched off the branch, raising his arms in front of his face as he was peppered with splinters again.

Gah! He grunted. These injuries are slowing me down. I can't keep up like this.

Across from him, Arashi zipped up onto a higher branch with Jigumo's web. From there he launched across the roots, spitting more web at the Senju, who quickly sank into the wood itself, vanishing. Briefly.

As soon as the Fūma shinobi stopped, Kasai rose out of the wood on the underside of the branch, hands still clasped in Snake.

Roots and branches lurched for Arashi on all sides. Naruto caught himself on another thick root, face contorted in horror, his mind already playing the skewering finale of the scene unfolding in front of him before it occurred.

And with it he saw Sasame's tear streaked face.

For no discernible reason, Kasai's branches halted before they hit. The Senju shot off the branch a moment later on his own power, a nasty snarl on his lips. Landing on the root further below, bearing a fresh cut along his right side, he only had enough time to raise his arms in a block and shout,

"You weak nuisance!"

The resounding collision of flesh and bone was audible even at a distance. As was the head of pink hair responsible for it.

"Curse me all you like," Sakura growled back. "That's how you voice your inadequacies, isn't it? What's the matter? Did that genjutsu catch you off guard?"

Arashi dropped down after them.

"You annoying little—"

Kasai's curse was cut off by a cry of pain, accented by a wordless shout of rage.

"Arashi! You waste of flesh! I'll send you to join those weaklings you called friends!"

"He's nothing like Hashirama Senju."

The deep growl of a voice came from within Naruto. It was a voice only he could hear. A voice he wished he didn't have to hear.

Upon shutting his eyes, and opening them again, he found himself inside the flooded, dimly lit sewer of his mindscape before a massive gate. Inside the darkness he could hear the heavy breathing of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Naruto squinted at the darkness encased cage.

"Since when did you bother to comment on anything? Normally you just lay in there quietly."

Suddenly a harsh red eye was gazing upon him. There was only hatred in the eye. Hatred and nothing else.

"What are you waiting for?" the Nine-Tailed Fox questioned, a hint of mockery in its menacing growl. "Beg me to lend you my power. You know it's the only way to heal those injuries. Without it, you're useless. You'll have to sit and watch your little friend die."

It was true. It was his plan. But hearing it from the Nine-Tails himself made him second guess it.

Something wasn't right. The Nine-Tailed Fox never went out of his way to talk to him. Never. Their relationship was based off of resentment for one another. The Nine-Tails hated him for being his jailer, and Naruto resented him for being the reason the Villagers despised his existence.

Besides, last time he used the Nine-Tails chakra against Kasai, the tailed-beast flooded his broken body with so much chakra he lost complete control of his temper. And nearly himself.

"Well?" the Nine-Tailed Fox prodded. "What are you waiting for. You know you can't protect her without me."

"Heh," Naruto laughed bitterly. "Oh yeah? And since when did you care what happened to my friends?"

The white, sharp teeth of the fox became visible amid the darkness as the tailed-beast grinned.

"I don't. In fact, were she to die, it would be even easier to escape this cage. However, I'm not a useless, idiotic runt like you. I can see what that Senju is planning."

"Oh, so now you're actually paying attention to the fight? How thoughtful," he drawled with every bit of sarcasm he could muster. "Thanks, but no thanks."

He was lying through teeth. He needed the chakra of the Nine-Tails to heal, it was the only way he would be able to help Sakura. The Nine-Tails knew that. But Naruto didn't trust him as far as he could throw the giant creature.

What was the Nine-Tails motivation this time? What was he after? Why offer to help him?

He needed to know. So he took a chance. And decided not to poke the angry fox, but smack it with a metaphorical stick to get his answers.

"I didn't ask for your help," he continued. "And I'm certainly not going to beg for it. Besides, I didn't think the big, bad Nine-Tailed Fox would be scared of anything. All those claws and power and you're frightened of a little kid."

With a roar the Nine-Tailed Fox stabbed its exceptionally long and sharper than razor talons through its cage. The rumble within the flooded sewer and blast of forceful air didn't startle Naruto. Not as much as it did the first time, at least. He still shut his eyes and winced.

Yep. That definitely pissed him off.

"You impudent brat! Look around you!" roared the Nine-Tailed Fox. "Do you think that obsessive Senju unleashed this jutsu thoughtlessly like you would? Look at the shapes formed by the tree. He's set it up so when he finishes killing your friend he can capture me!"

Progress. But not enough. He pressed harder.

"Nice try," countered Naruto, eyeing the Nine-Tails with distrust. "You're the Nine-Tailed Fox. You destroyed the Leaf with ease. This wood would be nothing to you."

"Fool!" growled the Nine-Tailed Fox. "Do you truly know so little of your own Village's history? You, who is obsessed with the title of Hokage, should understand why the Wood Style was renowned and sought after with the same passion as the Sharingan!"

"They're both powerful kekkei genkais. Duh. I'm not stupid.

"Yes," the Nine-Tailed growled, tone shifting as if to speak to an even bigger idiot than before. "And both kekkei genkais were used to control and restrain me, as well as the other Tailed-Beasts. Did you ever consider why there are two Uchiha on your team? Do you think they placed you with Amaririsu because you two were friends?"

The Nine-Tail's eyes somehow became more menacing.

"Your Village elders are hoping that, one day, they will grow strong enough to control me when I escape this prison."

More information. He could sort of see what the Nine-Tailed Fox was after, but it didn't fully add up. Not yet.

"Even if I believed that, what's different about them compared to Kasai?" Naruto asked skeptically. "If their Sharingan can control and restrain you the same as Wood Style, why bother helping me now?"

"Because, though I despise being locked inside of a pathetic runt like you, I despise the Senju and Uchiha even more."

That was a thought to keep in mind.

"Also," the Nine-Tails continued, "the war on the horizon is a guarantee you will lose control of me in the future. You're too soft. Too weak. I'll be free before either Uchiha are strong enough to restrain me with their Sharingan. Helping you now guarantees that. Besides," the tailed-beast narrowed its eyes, "it's not Sasuke I'm worried about."

Naruto tilted his head, baffled by the statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You may be too stupid to connect the pieces right in front of you, but I've had my suspicions for some time now about your little friend Amaririsu. Ever since you first met, her mere presence has bothered me. Back then I thought it was because of that sickening personality of hers. But now…"

Somehow the hatred in the Nine-Tailed Fox's eyes intensified.

"The more her power grows, the more I see that runt grow up day by day, the more I understand my innate aversion to her. Rest assured, when I break free, she'll be the first I kill."

"Heh, get real! No way I'm ever letting that happen!" he said, swiping his hand through the air. "And even if you did somehow find a way out of that cage, Amari would kick your furry butt!"

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, brat!" the Nine-Tailed Fox laughed cruelly. "Anyway, she isn't important right now. What's important is you killing that Senju while he's weak. So, runt," the Nine-Tailed Fox grinned like, well, a fox, "how about it? Do you want my chakra or not? If you don't use it now, he'll restrain you before you can, and then you'll have no choice but to watch him kill Sakura and Arashi. Think of how that would effect poor Sasame and all of your friends."

"Tch," scoffed Naruto. "You may think I'm stupid, but I know you're just trying to manipulate me to make it easier to escape later. I haven't figured out how lending me chakra achieves that, but I know that's what you're after."

"Give the runt a prize," the Nine-Tails mocked.

"Unfortunately, I don't have much of a choice right now. I'm not about to sit on the sidelines while Sakura fights against Kasai and Arashi. But if you think I'm letting you flood me with chakra like last time, you're dead wrong."

"What?"

"I'll take just enough to heal my wounds. After that, I'll handle the rest myself." Naruto half-turned away from the cage, flattening his palms together. "The way I see it, I can't rely on you to bail me out of every fight. I should treat your power the way Amari treats her Mangekyō Sharingan—as a last resort when my skills aren't enough to hold me over. Because, like I said, I don't know how you plan to escape, but I've got a feeling it has to do with lending me your chakra.

"I'll just have to limit how much I use from now on. At least until I figure out a way to control it better."

"Do not compare my immense power to that infant's kekkei genkai," the Nine-Tails growled.

"Whatever." He squinted his eyes, glaring at the Tailed-Beast. "I don't get what your problem with Amari is, and I don't really care. But I can promise you this: You won't ever lay a hand on her or my friends. So, it's time to pay your rent, Nine-Tails."

Closing his eyes to the flooded sewer, he ignored the growls of the Tailed-Beast while channeling the chakra throughout his body.

Instantly the pain began to fade. The wounds began to seal themselves shut, steam rising from the lacerated flesh.

With his eyes closed he didn't see Kasai's head perk up or the twisted excitement to flash in his eyes as he looked through the Byakugan at the orange-red chakra flowing through his Chakra Network. He didn't see him ignore Arashi altogether, sinking into the branch, or how Sakura's knowing eyes snapped to him.

"Naruto! Look out!"

Her call didn't reach him in time.

Just as his wounds finished healing, the rough bark of a branch wrapped around his neck, tightening until he couldn't breathe.

"You stupid brat!" He could hear the Nine-Tails roaring inside of him even as its chakra was repressed.

"What did I say?" Kasai drawled, the root protruding out of his shoulder tightening.

Naruto kicked his feet, eyes wide, and scratched at the bark, unable to form a single word. He choked and gasped for air.

"A firm master and a tight leash, right? So how's this collar fit, Nine-Tails? I think a choker chain suits a beast like you."

Through darkening vision he could see Sakura frantically evading Arashi's attacks while trying to race to his aid.

Dammit! I had hoped Arashi and Sakura together would've kept him busy, but he ignored them and came straight at me the moment he sensed the Nine-Tails chakra.

He tried to bring his hands together to form the Clone Seal. From the root wrapped around his neck two new branches formed, cuffing his wrists before he could create a handseal.

"Hehehehe!" Kasai laughed manically. "To think I'd get you first. I wonder how Amari will take it. Think it'll be disbelief first? Guilt? Broken sobs? I can't wait to ask he—"

Neither Naruto nor Kasai saw the sharpened jet of water. The blond boy only heard it saw straight through the wood, then felt himself falling. As he crashed to the thick root in an asphyxiated daze he caught the sight of a second jet of water piercing straight through Kasai's right shoulder.

The look of pure agony and hatred on his face was satisfying. Nearly as satisfying as seeing him whirl around, set on causing whoever had shot him a great deal of suffering, straight into a powerful and enraged fist of Mimi Inuzuka.

The Inuzuka's teeth were gnashing together in a throat vibrating growl, a growl which then transformed into a furious roar of emotion. The crack of his face meeting her fist vibrated through the bark and into Naruto's bones.

Kasai sailed off the thick root, through the air, shooting past Sakura like a loosed arrow from a fully drawn bow directly into Arashi. The collision sent both bodies tumbling deeper into the mangled roots.

A moment later Mimi was at his side severing the branch around his throat with a quick and precise cut of a chakra coated kunai. He sucked in oxygen greedily, coughing and choking as he did.

Through a grimace and cough, he smiled up at Mimi and Aoko.

"What took you two so long? We had to start the party without you."

They hadn't come shouting Dynamic Entry, but boy was he glad to see the Inuzuka duo again.

Better late than never.

---

Review Response to Guest: Happy you enjoyed the last chapter! Poor, poor Sasame. Normally spiders don't really bug me, save for the worry that they may be venomous, but writing out that part was particularly unnerving to be honest. It's pretty much all of my worst fears if I was trapped in a small space with insects. Happy to know it had the desired horrifying effect.

I considered briefly letting Talk no Jutsu work, but I felt it was more impactful that it didn't on both Naruto as a character and to add an extra layer of sorrow and pain to Kagerō's character.

Jiraiya definitely had it rough in the last chapter. Happy you liked the bit with the koto.

Hope the first part of Kasai's fight was entertaining to read. We'll have to wait and see what happened with Mimi, how she has been effected and if she met his eye at all.

I am presently, and thankfully, in good health at the moment. Crazy times we've lived and are presently living through. Hope you and everyone else are staying healthy, too.

Thank you for the review!