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.

138. Chapter 137: A Symbol of Death

Chapter 137

Warped Mizuki: A Symbol of Death and a Battle in Darkness!

On the isolated island of stone sculpted to imitate a kunai blade, which was centered high above a tremendous, impassable chasm, and inside the innermost defensive bailey erected around the four-story shinobi fortress, the harsh striking of metal against metal rang along the barren stone walls.

It rang amid the blood-curdling roars of men. Men who were fighting ferociously for their individual greed, as mankind was wont to do. Roars which rose or fell in pitch, twisted into mangled howls of dying men the wailing wind carried out of the fortress and across the desolate environment.

The Maximum Security Prison was a grim scene. Bodies attired in drab prison garbs—unconscious, dead and wounded—lay strewn at odd and uncomfortable angles spanning the full length and width of the staircase leading to the fortress.

Pools of crimson blood, pouring out of wounds dealt by cold steel and blades of wind, swelled beneath bodies. Spurting from arteries, gushing from mortal wounds, spilling all across the earth until the stone, which the shinobi, rogues and murderers fought over, became slick as oil; it leaked down the stairs, trickling off the sharp edges like the dying gasps of a waterfall cut off from its source by a manmade dam.

The trail of silent dead and groaning survivors led down the stairs. Into the defensive bailey. They lay strewn there, too, how an undisciplined toddler leaves their toys out after playing. Discarded. Piled in bunches or in isolation where they fell with no rhyme or reason. No regard.

Arcs of blood stained the enclosing walls. Some of the corpses held hands to their throats, their last desperate attempt to survive after falling to the Leaf shinobi. Others, still alive, pressed their hands feebly against their wounds, groaning and praying not to die.

Others still, bearing similarly mortal or incapacitating injures, were crawling away. Away from the shinobi who, despite the odds, continued to kill them one at a time or in swoops, like farmers using a scythe to mow inconsequential, overgrown blades of grass.

Eventually the trail ended where the battle was raging, where the Leaf shinobi found themselves surrounded on all sides by the overwhelming numbers, boxed in on this cold and crisp evening in the mountains. On what was meant to be a routine pick-up of a single prisoner.

Nonetheless, the bodies kept dropping. The crimson pools grew around their feet.

The soles of the shinobi's sandals were wet with blood, the bare feet of their enemies were colored red. The bodies at their feet stumbled the prisoners and the Lear shinobi; there were so many—too many—it hamstrung maneuverability in the already cramped battlefield, maneuvering which was solely meant to prolong survival.

Truly, Kurenai lost count of the prisoners she, Asuma and the Crows had prevented from leaving the facility. How many she'd strapped in powerful genjutsus or outright cut down to protect herself or Asuma. The mounting pile of bodies was impossible to count in the midst of battle.

In her heart, though, she knew the answer.

Not nearly enough. It wasn't enough to contain the situation. It wasn't enough to stop Mizuki in his tracks before he and his entourage could set off to hunt her daughter.

They'd done all they could, of course. They were still fighting fiercely to regain control of the prison island, but it still wasn't enough.

Too many of the escapees ignored them outright, like Mizuki, taking flight into the wilds with their vile auras like caged birds who's forgetful owner left their door unlocked. Free to fly and flee wherever their hearts desired. And while they stretched their wings once more, she and Asuma were locked in combat, staving off attacks from the rogues and murderers seeking the bonus payment Mizuki promised for her head.

Presently, Kurenai was sunk up to her shoulders in a seething bog. Jaw clenched, molars grinding together unpleasantly, she squirmed and thrashed to free herself from the dozens of cold, pale, blister ridden hands latching onto her. To no avail.

They dragged her deeper and deeper, pulling her hair, groping her body. Everything they could to drown her.

The scrawny prisoner responsible for the jutsu, who was at least twenty years her senior but looked at least forty years older, cackled at her from the safety of solid stone.

"The prize is mine! Mine! Hehehehe! Sink, sink, sink down for me!" he commanded. "Drown, woman! It's nothing personal. There's no shame in losing, hehehehehe!"

The bog rose above her chin. Kurenai inhaled a deep breath before her nose submerged. She shut her eyes, stopped thrashing, and calmed her mind against basic instinct.

The cold, pale, blister ridden hands pushed her head beneath the bog, and held her head under.

The scrawny prisoner cackled, hopped and cheered. Loudly. Triumphantly.

"It's mine! Mine, mine, mine, mine!"

He couldn't have been more exhilarated. The reward was his! His and his alone. After biding his time, letting the other prisoners weaken the Leaf shinobi, he slipped in with the greed of a hyena and stole the remains while the carrion was still fresh.

The prisoner's excitement overwhelmed him. So much so he failed to notice how grass, green vines, mushroom and flowers were quickly sprouting over the stone beneath his feet. He didn't even notice when the vines, like snakes, began to loosely coil around his legs. He was blind to it all.

Until the vines constricted his body from the waist down. His head snapped down. He gasped. In befuddlement. In horror. It was all he could do.

The vines sprouted thorns the size of a fist to impale his body. He grimaced, watching the vines in horror snake up and around his torso, pinning his arms to his side.

Imprisoned by vines, he could only gape when pink flower petals densely coated the flesh of his hands and arms. A gust of wind whipped past him.

He wailed. Loudly. Agonizingly.

The petals were taken by the wind, and the meaty flesh, the tendons, muscles and tissues previously beneath them vanished as though the limb was amputated. But not without pain. Not without mind splitting agony that did not relent no matter how loud he screamed or how harshly he thrashed.

The pain only intensified, for the petals climbed up his arms, up his legs, taking over his upper body and covering all but the left half of his face.

A red flower, taller than a door, bearing a diameter that dwarfed a large cart's wheel, sprouted from the earth beside him.

Its velvety petals opened up, blooming amid the desolate and barren stone, to reveal Kurenai seated inside, appearing like Mother Nature incarnated. Her cold red eyes watched the pink petals begin to peel off rapidly.

"Don't worry. There's no shame in losing," she said icily.

His vision turned pink as his whole face was consumed.

The petal covered body exploded, struck by a powerful gust of wind that screeched with the scrawny prisoner's piercing wail.

The genjutsu world collapsed in an instant. Returned to reality, the body of the prisoner crashed unceremoniously onto his face, busting open his nose and dislodging a tooth.

Even that wasn't enough to reverse the genjutsu. His psyche was too damaged.

Kurenai reemerged behind Asuma, chest expanding and contracting with long, controlled breaths. She winced through a mild headache pulsing at her temples. She licked her dry lips, and tasted the unpleasant iron of her busted lip.

A necessary self-inflicted wound. When the scrawny prisoner first ensnared her and Asuma in his genjutsu, they were in the midst of heavy combat. The throb of her lip and taste of iron was a small price to pay for survival.

"Looks like you're finally back. You all right, Kurenai?" Asuma asked, trench knives—and fists—at the ready.

He was breathing heavily, too. Despite their combined efforts, they were surrounded a full one-hundred and eighty degrees by the remaining prisoners—a total of seventeen shinobi or murderers, all staring at her with greed in their eyes.

Behind the Leaf shinobi, close enough for her to reach a hand out and touch, protecting and pinning them in simultaneously, was the tall defensive baileys barren stone wall, painted in the shadows of the falling sun. And bloody arcs.

"Looks like we're trapped between a rock and a hard place," she replied.

"Heh. True enough," Asuma chuckled.

Kurenai shifted slightly in her position, scouting the physical locations of their enemies and the corpses. Her sandals slapped wetly against the ground, splashing droplets of blood onto her stocking covered feet.

Three new bodies lay at Asuma's feet, dead, slain while she battled illusions with the scrawny prisoner. Two, at closer inspection, were felled by his trench knives. The cuts were long, precise and deep; he had infused his blades with Wind Nature.

The third bore burns, whether by Asuma or the Crows was impossible to say.

"I'm sorry it took so long. We were battling through multilayered genjutsus. He was…" she trailed off, catching herself.

"Troublesome?" She could sense his smirk without seeing it.

Kurenai exhaled a short laugh. "Seems Amari's vocabulary is rubbing off on me."

The prisoner had talent, she'd give him that. But compared to Itachi and Aimi Uchiha—who's superior talent and gift for the art had thwarted her attempts at every turn, exploited her weaknesses mercilessly and taught her a great deal in the process—he was a troublesome nuisance amid a greater crisis.

"Don't worry about it. The whole point of this formation was to eliminate him before he caused us more trouble after all."

Humming in agreement, Kurenai prepared for the next attack.

No one moved. Kurenai and Asuma flicked their gazes between the seventeen enemies, and seventeen pairs of greedy, savage or downright vile eyes stared back. The shadows of the Crows glided along the earth, wheeling, waiting, watching.

The Adam's apples of the prisoners shifted up and down, swallowing down nerves or fear. Bile. The wind whistled and wailed through the bailey, rustling the kunoichi's long, dark tresses.

Asuma moved first. He shifted laterally in search of better footing, a stronger stance for the resumption of battle. A position without bodies directly in front of his feet, preferably. Or wet blood beneath his sandals.

Kurenai shifted with him, carefully, never taking her eyes off their enemies. She monitored them for fluctuations of chakra, Sensory Abilities neither dulled by their vile presence nor distracted by the darkness, aggression, greed and savagery imbued into their killing intent.

The prisoners watched them how a curious pack of predators might, adjusting their positions, stalking closer in small increments—centimeters—to better surround their moving prey, but not leaping in thoughtlessly. Not giving into their greed, their hunger.

They're being more careful, Kurenai analyzed calmly. Though the numbers advantage is still theirs, the bodies we're fighting on top of has tempered their haste. You can't cash a reward if you're dead.

Likewise, she and Asuma mirrored their caution. They survived thus far through teamwork and sharper abilities, bearing a few minor injuries—contusions and surface cuts—permitted by the dangerous union of disadvantageous numbers and a cramped battlefield.

However, a single reckless act, a disastrous moment of ill-footing, a powerful jutsu or secret technique yet to be revealed could turn the tide.

Asuma flexed and relaxed his cramping fingers. Kurenai shifted the majority of her weight onto her right leg, off the tender ankle she was favoring. A prisoner wiped the sweat from his brow. Another licked his dry lips. She witnessed some glance at their compatriots greedily, vilely. Some shifted back rather than forward.

Their war, unlike the Leaf shinobis, was one of attrition. They didn't have to be all-powerful, they just had to survive while the others wore the Leaf shinobi down.

The temporary alliance which bound them together towards a common goal would only last until the two Leaf shinobi were dead. Then it was every man for himself, as isolated as the cells that once confined them, as solitary as this desolate island of stone they inhabited.

In the end, each prisoner was fighting for their own personal gain. The reward was for one person—the man who brought Mizuki the head of Kurenai. There would be no sharing. No splitting of a reward, least of all one paid by Orochimaru.

Were they to successfully kill her, and were there more than one prisoner left, they would sooner slip a knife between each other's vertebrae than surrender the reward.

She could see it in their eyes. Feel it in their chakra. The sensations she felt before remained, intensified by their desperation.

The searing desert sun and suffocating humidity could've given her heatstroke; the grotesque field of corpses attacked by thousands upon thousands of maggots, poking out of flesh, feasting on the dead carcasses was noisy enough to hear, as though the insects were crawling in her ears; the greasy, prodding fingers were groping her senses just like the cold, pale, blister-ridden hands of the genjutsu, digging their fingers roughly into everything they touched.

The foul waterfall of gore, organs and body parts was pouring, churning, roaring with the strength and force of the waterfall at the Valley of the End all over her.

Mizuki had stirred this in them. He stirred their evil intents, put them in a frenzy for blood, and left them to cannibalize each other over a reward he damn well had no intention of providing. Kurenai had no doubt he was laughing at these fools.

Is it the Curse Mark that has twisted his mind? Prison? Or was he always as twisted as this?

How had someone so psychologically unwell become an Academy teacher?

At that moment, through the searing desert sun and grotesque field of corpses, Kurenai sensed five new chakra signatures. They were at the bridge. And they were moving with purpose. Swift as the wind which wailed through the bailey.

"Asuma," she spoke in a lowered voice, too quiet for the prisoners to hear, "I sense a team of five heading our way. They'll be here in a moment."

"Recognize them?"

"I do. They aren't prisoners."

"Finally. It took them long enough," Asuma muttered. When he spoke next, he did so to provoke the prisoners. "So, how many more need to die before you idiots decide to surrender?"

"What's the matter, Leaf shinobi? Getting tired?"

"Hardly. We've only just started getting warmed up."

"I suggest you all surrender now," Kurenai recommended mercifully and firmly. "If you don't, I can't promise you'll survive."

"That's funny. Because I can promise you won't survive, woman. It's nothing personal. Your head is just too valuable. Your daughter's head, though? Hers will be an even greater prize."

"Hmph. And your head is utterly worthless. Yet I'll take it all the same," she replied coldly.

"You say it's nothing personal," Asuma said. "But to us, it is."

"What, are you the girl's father or something?"

"No. But she's important to me all the same. You've all forgotten—no, you never understood to begin with what was important as a Leaf shinobi. That's why you're here. Imprisoned in the middle of nowhere for your sins. Your greed is a threat to Amari's life. You final few still can't let it go, and in the name of that greed you threaten Kurenai's life, too."

Kurenai sensed his chakra flare, and knew without seeing or feeling it that the blade of Wind around his trench knives had extended and sharpened.

"I'll protect them both. Understand? You have to get through me before you even think of laying a hand on Kurenai or Amari. So, if you have any sense or honor left, I'd take her suggestion to heart and surrender while you can. This is your last chance."

"No deal."

"Then why are you all standing around," Asuma provoked. "Come on! Show some backbone! Killing your buddies has made my arms awfully tired." He made of show of shaking his arms out. "Hey, you might even get lucky and hit me."

"Ten seconds," Kurenai whispered.

A spike of chakra snapped the kunoichi's eyes to one of the prisoner's, a man with a square jaw and jagged scar marring his right cheek.

"Let's go, then!" the square-jawed man shouted upon finishing his handseals.

"Beneath us," she warned, legs bending in preparation to leap.

The stony earth beneath their feet trembled. From it, two halves of an Earth Dome snapped up like a triggered bear trap.

Kurenai leaped out before it could close around her. Asuma wasn't nearly as quick.

The two sides of the dome carried bodies with it, throwing one into the Sarutobi. She heard him grunt, saw him glance up and watch her escape. Then the two sides slammed shut over him, generating enough force to amputate the leg off one body, and bisect another at its waist.

Over the whistle of air rushing past her ears, she swore she heard Asuma's groan of pure disgust.

Kurenai landed right foot first on the wall, chakra humming at the soles of her sandals, and immediately heard the stone rupture below her.

Shards of stone ripped past her before she could blink, pelting her skin, nicking open tiny cuts, after which the sound of rupturing stone echoed a second time directly beside her.

A precise hole was tunneled through the dome. She turned her head quickly to her right and saw one of Asuma's trench knives impaled into the wall an arm length away.

Another surge of chakra, like an electrical current, touched her senses.

Swiftly, the kunoichi snatched up the blade, still thrumming with Asuma's Wind chakra, and evaded to the side, sandals grating against the stone while a bolt of Lightning cracked and shattered against her previous position.

The debris whistled past her. Hair whipping, she weaved handseals of her own, ending on Tiger as three men, including the one with the square jaw, leapt through the air after her.

Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!

In a haze, as though suddenly wiped away by a blackboard eraser, she vanished to all enemy eyes.

A massive tree sprouted from the stone wall she once stood upon, ensnaring the three victims in thick, constricting branches fashioned after the famous Wood Style of Hashirama Senju.

Restrained by the tree, the three men seized in panic, unable to believe their eyes. The last they saw of Kurenai was her emerging out of the bark, trench knife equipped and drawn back. And then nothing.

To those outside of the genjutsu, they saw the three prisoners go limp whilst leaping through the air, and then witnessed the kunoichi cut them down with the Wind enhanced blade.

As their bodies crashed to the earth below, dead, the sound of Wind shearing through stone echoed through the bailey. One cut, two, a third and fourth, the dome suddenly collapsed into pieces around an annoyed Asuma Sarutobi. Blood not belonging to him splattered his attire.

Before another move could be made, Asuma threw his trench knife. The blade shot across the short distance in less than a blink, its long blade of wind impaling the throat of the prisoner to mention taking Kurenai's head, splashing blood before the actual blade penetrated his larynx.

It shot out the other side as though cutting through wet toilet paper. But it did not crash into the opposing wall. With years of experience and control over his special blade, Asuma commanded the blade to fly back into his possession.

Above, another rogue shinobi was dashing an arc up the wall towards Kurenai, weaving his handseals.

Eight. Nine.

"Ha ha, the reward is about to be mine! Secret Jutsu:—"

"Ten."

"Millennia—"

A shadow flashed down the wall, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. None heard the hiss of the sword leaving its scabbard, or saw the light glint off its sharp edge.

The shadow struck with such speed, such precision, the prisoner barely felt the blade sever his spine.

For a brief moment he witnessed the sword protruding out of his chest, the sleek steel tainted by stains of crimson. The blade harshly turned. His eyes rolled back into his skull, his body spasmed; the secret jutsu of his Clan went with him to his grave.

The shadow pulled her sword free with a quick movement, flecks of blood whipping off the steel, spurting beads of crimson raining onto the bodies below. The dead prisoner's body crashed dully against the stone earth.

At the precipice of the bailey, four more shadows loomed, three men and another woman, their masks consisting of a bird, a dog, a rat and a bear.

"There you are," Kurenai smiled.

"It's about time," Asuma said, smirking. "You guys nearly missed the whole party!"

The four shadows dropped down off the wall to join Asuma.

"What's the matter, Asuma? I thought you'd have this finished before we showed up," the man with the bird mask quipped.

"We were just taking our time. Giving you guys a chance to play the shining knights for a change."

"Kurenai, Asuma, are you injured?" the purple-haired kunoichi asked.

"A few cuts and bruises. Nothing serious," answered Kurenai.

"That is a relief." She pivoted slightly to face the rogue shinobi below. "Allow us to finish this."

Below, the remaining prisoners froze at the sight of the five Anbu agents. Many eyes were drawn to the kunoichi above, her long purple hair draped over both shoulders, silhouetting the white and red-striped mask in dark, undulating shadows.

One of the prisoners, sensing the turning tide, turned and dashed off. He didn't see the cat-masked Anbu agent flicker away. He did, however, feel her katana's hilt smash into his sternum. Spittle flew from his lips, the stiff strike ejected the air from his lungs and buckled his knees.

The Anbu agent knocked him out with another strike to the head.

Exit cut off, the cat-masked Anbu agent stepped over the body and, with a silent gesture, ordered her comrades to surround the eleven remaining prisoners.

"You will go no further!" the cat-masked Anbu agent declared.

The resolute statement was met with resistance.

Ultimately, though, she was right.

---

The Maximum Security Prison was secured.

The Anbu squad made quick work of the remaining prisoners, utilizing a combination of Paralysis Jutsus and ruthless steel to capture or eliminate their targets. More corpses joined the mounting pile.

Surrender and mercy, the prisoners learned, was a luxury they could either accept willingly. Or die pleading for.

However, although the Anbu squad's actions brought a swift end to the conflict, it was Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yūhi, and the Crows, of course, who were owed considerable gratitude.

The prison break set loose numerous prisoners into the Land of Fire; there was no disputing the tremendous failure of the security systems in place, systems which were supposed to prevent these occurrences entirely.

Finger pointing and blame could—and likely would—be cast behind closed doors by the powers that be. Countless arguments would unfold. Those who commanded the budget cuts and those who inherited their consequences would blister each other. For the events of the day, in hindsight, were completely foreseeable.

However, it was not yet time for those arguments; the conflict had yet to reach its conclusion. Later the higher-ups could decide fault. Later the politicians could point fingers, cast blame and verbally flog each other to their hearts content.

Ultimately, the gratitude owed to Asuma and Kurenai would go unspoken. For though numerous prisoners had escaped their line of defense, and though those prisoners took control of the bridge, opening a path to freedom for all inmates who sought it, the number of escapees was considerably lower than it could have been.

The cat-masked Anbu kunoichi inspected the battlefield from atop the defensive wall, perched on its edge like one of the Crows wheeling above. The evening sun manifested a golden halo around her.

Below, along the staircase and into the bailey, it looked as though the prison warden ordered a mass execution. Bodies attired in muted grey prison uniforms, discolored by dark, wet stains, lay unmoving, at times piled in heaps on top of their former compatriots.

The surviving prisoners were already removed and separated from the corpses. Captured, bound and imprisoned by a Paralysis Jutsu under the strict guard of the Anbu. Even then the body count was high.

The cat-masked kunoichi gazed emotionlessly at the corpses.

Indeed, the number of escapees could've been higher without Asuma and Kurenai. Far higher. And thus their weakened defenses exploited to disastrous effect. Or, worse, had the pair not been sent at all, multiple prisoners may have escaped the border into other Nations before the Leaf was aware of the prison break.

The fallout would've been catastrophic in this fragile time, this moment where the threat of war took on the shape of a tightrope suspended over a pit of spikes, and the eager crowd thirsting for bloodshed waited for the slightest mishap to send them plunging towards death.

Another war…

From her perch, the isolated kunoichi witnessed the silent and carefully hidden gestures of support and affection between Asuma and Kurenai. A held hand, a touched shoulder, a reassuring smile.

She was happy for them. Happy they had one another. Yet…she was also envious. Envious of the held hands, touched shoulders and smiles the Sand and Sound Villages stole from her. Envious of the love clear in the gestures. Love she once felt so intensely, so purely…

Before the Invasion. Before Hayate Gekko was slain—murdered—callously by those meant to be their allies.

Grief and heartbreak weren't hers alone to bear, she knew. Nor would she be the last to suffer beneath its blade. All she need do is look at the scenes of death before her, littering the bailey, the stairs, the guardhouses and the interior of the Maximum Security Prison, to witness the sharp, cruel and infinite reach of misery's sword.

Just today more comrades had perished. Slain. Murdered. Mutilated without remorse. Without regret. The prisoners severed the bonds of friends in their greed. Because of them people would be forced to mourn the husbands, brothers or sons lost in the incident, jarred awake from a normal and pleasant life into an unrelenting nightmare of suffering.

They would all feel an irreplaceable piece of their heart be cut out without sedative, without reason or cause, for the cells were not cancerous; the piece was still healthy and strong. Yet men with evil hearts, who's greed knew no bounds, removed it without regard for the lives their actions afflicted misery to.

A cold void would replace the missing piece. The same cold void she suffered daily from, inescapable in its bone crushing and life-sapping gravitational pull.

Within the gloomy interior of the fortress they found their slain comrades. The prisoners left them piled together in the center of the fortress, at the deepest and darkest point of the bottom floor.

Their bodies were broken. Bones pulverized beyond repair, limbs twisted and bent at opposing angles to natural movement, like partially severed tree branches hanging limply from the trunk. Unblinking eyes stared at them.

Some of the guards were dismembered in gruesome scenes of mutilation that stunned even the members of the Anbu. Signs of torture, pointless in its savage application, were displayed arrogantly; it was a vile taunt left by the ringleader. They found a few prisoners to suffer similar gruesome fates among the dead guards.

One of the guard's was gutted like a deer and hung from the railing.

Beneath it. painted in blood on the wall where the slightest glow of candlelight illuminated the dry stains smeared in large, clumsy letters which bled down the wall, as though someone had cut the fortress's artery, was a message meant for someone else.

Miyako Nara, it read, shall we play a game?

Upon its discovery, the cat-masked Anbu agent stared long and hard at the wall for some time, hands clenched in trembling fists. Her fellow agents regarded her carefully, but said nothing. They understood.

Asuma and Kurenai were taken aback by the message for their own reasons.

The Grim Ripper… Someone set that maniac loose. He is roaming the Land of Fire again.

The cat-masked Anbu agent, examining the corpse littered battlefield, felt her fingers curl into a tight fist.

Even without the message the modus operandi made her certain of it. She'd seen glimpses of his handiwork long ago. The Grim Ripper had become a household name, one dominated by fear as each new victim was discovered.

At the height of his infamous murder-spree she was a young girl, no more than seven years of age, freshly recruited into the Anbu for her sensory abilities and swordsmanship. The new assignment had her nervous. Although any kunoichi would have been in her position.

To be scouted by and assigned to apprentice under Miyako Nara was an incredible and rare privilege. The Mistress of Shadows, a living legend who's name commanded profound respect among the Anbu and beyond it.

Master…

"All right, little doe, first things first, don't call me Master. It's a drag. Call me Miyako-sensei or Captain, if you must. But Master? Save the formality for a crusty old man."

"Master?"

"Sheesh. Am I a crusty old man to you?"

"N- no, Master! Nothing of the—"

"There it is again. Say it one more time and I'll demand you to call me Mistress Miyako, Queen of the Leaf Village. I will cease to respond to any other name. Is that what you want? To be saddled by such a long, unreasonable formality, calling me Mistress Miyako, Queen of the Leaf Village at every turn? Even in front of the Hokage?"

"N- no, Lady Miyako."

"Hmm. I can live with that." She could still see that sadistically charming smirk in her mind's eye. Feel the older woman ruffle her hair fondly. "You're going to be fun to tease, little doe."

"Don't you mean teach?"

"Nope. But that'll be fun, too."

The memory brought a short, but fond and melancholic smile to her lips.

Lady Miyako…

The Anbu kunoichi hadn't realized it until years later that her Master's initial tone hadn't matched her expression.

When teasing her, Miyako had taken on a bored and tired tone, as though annoyed by the idea of apprenticing a young student, almost as if someone had foisted the young girl onto her, patted her on the shoulder and told her "Good luck with this one. She's impossible to teach."

But her eyes were awake and alive, bright as a summer's day despite their characteristic dark color, and her smile wide and warm.

Later, after considerable time as her apprentice, she understood it was all apart of Miyako's unique sense of humor. Her means to relax the young child standing stiff before her, massaging away the jitters with levity. And to nip the whole Master name at the bud.

Formality like that was just too troublesome.

However, in the present, the Anbu agent's smile faded as quick as it appeared.

Sei Okada, the Grim Ripper, who had terrorized the Land of Fire fifteen years ago, was somewhere out there. Somewhere hunting his next victims in an effort to provoke her deceased master into another demented "game."

Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. The men responsible for the capture and execution of the Leaf guards were on the loose. The rogues who killed the poor bridge controller, crushing him, were fleeing or hunting across the Land of Fire, pursued by Leaf shinobi.

The Maximum Security Prison was secured. But the conflict was far from over. The bloodshed had yet to cease.

Gazing at the corpses littering the staircase and bailey, at the blood splattering the barren stone in pools and arcs, she saw the faces of the comrades she'd lost.

She saw her dead Master, who's body she collapsed beside when they found her in the Uchiha District alongside her husband. Dead. Murdered in cold blood.

She saw Hayate, who's body was torn apart by a Wind blade, who's body she found being pecked at and chewed by vultures the morning after his murder.

She saw the enemy's she had killed in search of vengeance and justice for stealing the love of her life, her precious Master and the friends she lost along the way.

And, as she gazed at the dead prisoners, mixed together with visages of her fallen loved ones, Yūgao Uzuki wondered if the bloodshed ever would end.

And whether if the sword on her back could be more than a symbol of death.

---

The Ultimate Body, huh?

Inside the nucleus of the Leaf, standing with his arms crossed and lips screwed in a pensive frown, Shikaku Nara considered whether he found the phrase to be amusing or absurd in its egotism.

The Ultimate Body? It sounded like something an immature kid would think up. The kind of thing a boy would shout out when asked how strong he would be, followed by another kid claiming they would gain the Ultimate-Super-Cosmic Body.

It held about the same weight and meaning in the shinobi world. No different than what the mission report from the Land of Sound detailed about that kid—Arashi.

The Ultimate Shinobi. The Ultimate Body. It was the declaration of a brat blinded by power. A clear sign of a deranged fool so absorbed by their own self-importance they couldn't see the hand of hubris readying to slap them. Or the ultimate price to their so-called "ultimate power."

Anyone who had to declare their power was ultimate generally possessed one fundamental trait—an inflated ego.

It could work to their advantage, if need be. However, he wanted to nip Mizuki's scheme at the bud; there was no reason to play his game, to let him gain his power and risk his egotistical declaration coming true. Even if it was unlikely. Even if hubris inevitably slapped him back to reality.

He'd rather swat Mizuki like the annoying fly he was. Before he managed to find a new way to complicate their situation.

Too late for that. Shikaku glanced to Inoichi, seated and connected to the Chakra Transmission Communication Device. Of all the people Mizuki could manipulate into his inner circle, I expected the Demon Brothers, Aoi and those two Cloud shinobi would be among them. I didn't imagine he'd get those two buffoons to join him.

The Legendary Idiot Brothers, Fūjin and Raijin, were proving their namesake beyond any shadow of a doubt. And, in the process, their victims learned the hard way why they were an infamously feared duo.

Presently, he thought, Fūjin and Raijin are the greatest threat, in terms of physical ability. They're freaks of nature. They can withstand incredible amounts of punishment. Basically, they're punching bags that can punch back. Their raw strength is inhuman. Frightening, even.

He had to figure out a way to restrain them. A means to get them to see through Mizuki's manipulation, perhaps, and coax them back into their cells. Before they killed more Leaf shinobi.

In the same swing, he wanted to swat Mizuki out of the sky and put an end to his fantasy of gaining an ultimate body.

To do that…

"Inoichi, tell 'Risu and Tenzō to stay put and prepare for new orders," he began, walking over to his comrade. "Then, once you're finished, I need you to link me to Lady Tsunade. There's something I need to know about that formula."

He had a suspicion. If the Hokage confirmed it, then they could speed up hubris's hand and end this matter once and for all.

---

"It seems your suspicion was right, Lady Hokage," said Tonbo Tobitake, standing opposite of the Fifth Hokage and distinguishable by the bandages wrapped around the upper half of his head and the forehead protector worn over his eyes.

Tsunade merely hummed.

Her hunch was right. Mizuki's formula, designed by Orochimaru, wasn't just some random doodling or conventional poison. To be honest, she would've preferred it was a not-so-innocent grocery list for a poison.

The seemingly random assortment of ingredients had a very specific purpose. She may not have realized the nature of it initially if it weren't for Jiraiya's recent mission to the Land of Sound, and for all the attention drawn to Orochimaru's Curse Marks as of late.

"Mizuki is playing with fire," she said at length, tapping her finger on her desk. "I can't tell if he is willingly serving Orochimaru as a pawn, or if he thinks he can get one over on him. Either way, if he drinks this, his ability to reform or choose a future for himself will be nothing but a lucid dream."

And should he drink it, she thought, anyone in his immediate vicinity will witness the danger of the fire he's decided to play with.

It was better if they stopped him before he found a means to craft this potion. For the Leaf's sake. And for Mizuki's sake, too.

Mizuki didn't have the slightest clue what he was dealing with. Not truly. If he did, then he was simply too arrogant for his own good, likely believing he could overcome the consequences with sheer willpower.

He wouldn't. He had about the same chances of overcoming Orochimaru's concoction as he did surviving a poison crafted by Chiyo of the Sand Village.

"Lady Tsunade, pardon the interruption," Shikaku's voice came from within her own mind.

"What's the situation, Shikaku?"

The Jōnin Commander briefed her quickly on the overall situation. By all accounts it was good news across the board, with a few major loose ends still in need of tying before they could call it a success.

Afterwards he cut straight to the point of his interruption. First, he explained the Intel acquired by both Hana Inuzuka and Amaririsu and Tenzō in regards to Mizuki's motive for the formula. In doing so, Shikaku placed the final nail in the coffin, confirming what she and Tonbo had already deciphered.

The Ultimate Body. Another of Orochimaru's so-called "gifts" was what Mizuki sought to acquire. Another fool searching for the ultimate power to compensate for his dire lack of it.

"From what I can tell," Shikaku explained, "the formula is likely a means for him to advance his Curse Mark to the second stage. I'd wager it was created before Orochimaru created the pseudo-death and Sealing Arts the Sound Four utilized on Sasuke. Or perhaps it's a more hazardous means to advance it without additional support."

"You're not far off the mark, Shikaku," Tsunade replied. "It is a potion to advance the power of his Curse Mark. However, this Curse Mark is different from Sasuke's and Anko's."

"Meaning it's a different Curse Mark altogether. Hm. It's easy to forget how vast the possibilities are when it comes to Curse Seals. Can you say what the formula will do? Beyond advancing his power?"

"Yes. Should Mizuki drink his potion, it will inflict internal pain he has never felt the likes of before until, likely, he will wish he was dead instead. It's part of the process, you see, of his genetic code being forcefully rewritten in order for him to undergo the inhuman physical changes caused by the potion. That is if he can survive. The probability of that, though, is extremely low. In the single digits, to be exact.

"Should he by some miracle survive that, he will unlock the next stage of his Curse Mark's power. He will undergo those inhuman physical changes I mentioned—a sort of metamorphosis, you could say.

"Unfortunately, though, there's no way for me to know specifically what the physical changes will be or how far it will increase his power. However, just like those victims Jiraiya found in Orochimaru's base, he will no longer be fully human. He will take on the appearance of a hybrid of animal and man."

"If he can survive the transformation."

"Which is unlikely."

"But not impossible," Shikaku pointed out. "I'd rather stop it altogether, just like you. Nevertheless, I don't want to rule out the possibility he succeeds in attaining the potion and surviving it. Better we prepare and whine about how it was a waste of thought over drinks than to be caught by surprise."

"True enough. However, Mizuki has another hurdle to climb before he can think of gaining his 'ultimate body.'"

The Fifth Hokage picked up the formula and mentally imagined it for Shikaku and Inoichi to see.

"The ingredients he needs aren't exactly something you can pluck off the side of the road or pick up at a store," she explained. "One can't even be found naturally in the Land of Fire."

Shikaku was silent for a long moment. She could sense his unease through the Mind Transmission Jutsu.

"You're right," he said finally. "He wouldn't be able to find them naturally in the Land of Fire or by simply searching for them aimlessly. However, there is a place he can find all of these ingredients in the Land of Fire. And based on the last report we received on his heading, I think he knows exactly where that is."

"What do you…" Tsunade's eyes went wide. "That's impossible! He shouldn't even know that facility exists."

"He shouldn't. Yet, right now, there isn't a doubt in my mind that he does. Which can only mean someone fed him that information. Someone who would know. Like Orochimaru. Or…"

The Foundation.

It took effort to think the name over spit it.

"That is a possibility. I don't want to jump to conclusions until we can thoroughly interrogate Mizuki."

"Where's Shizune? Has her squad caught up to Mizuki yet?"

"Yes, but they were ambushed by the Legendary Idiot Brothers and the Demon Brothers. On the orders of Mizuki. Only Shizune and Kawaguchi survived the encounter; she was forced to retreat."

"What?!" Tsunade rose out of her seat as though she had felt insects crawling beneath her. "When did this happen?"

"Shizune's report came in before I contacted you. Before that, we were trying to track the Idiot Brothers down. I never imagined Mizuki could manipulate them into being his allies. Apparently they even call him Big Brother."

"Those idiots," she growled. "Even they shouldn't be that stupid. Who do we have chasing after them now?"

"Iruka and Naruto are the closest. Sakura and Sasuke are heading to regroup with them alongside Shizune. I've also sent Shikamaru's squad as support. Once we finish speaking, I intend to send 'Risu and Tenzō to cut off Mizuki before he reaches the Nara Clan Research Facility."

"Tonbo, you're with me," Tsunade said, moving out from behind her desk. "Shikaku, Inoichi, give me their last location."

"You're going after them?"

"Against those two giant oafs, they don't have a chance in hell. You're in charge in my absence, Shikaku. But don't worry." She shoved her door open, nearly breaking it off its hinges. "I won't be gone long."

"Of course, Lady Hokage."

---

Iruka was submerged in darkness.

Dank, dark, the cold air of the abandoned Academy Teacher Exam tower was ripe with mold, so dark he couldn't see his hand or the kunai held tightly in its grip despite how close it was, so quiet he could hear the forceful beats of his heart and his breaths, heavy and anxious.

His side, wounded by the cutting edge of a bamboo stalk during a previous battle, was bleeding. It hurt. Left his expression caught in a perpetual grimace. The stinging pain was getting worse, making him sweat, as though it was a living thing, like a parasite who's hunger could only be sated by feasting on his suffering.

Nothing was going according to plan. Except, perhaps, Sasuke and Sakura splitting off to aid Shizune and a member of her squad.

He couldn't be sure, though. How could he be when he was cut off from Naruto, lured and trapped in this abandoned facility with Mizuki while his former students were elsewhere, fighting for their lives against the rogue's pawns.

He gripped his kunai tighter and tried to steady his breaths. He was desperately trying to attune to the darkness, to hear his enemy's movements, to feel his presence and aura despite Mizuki's greater ability. For he was trapped in the lion's cage now, and if he didn't squeeze through the bars or kill the beast now, he wasn't going to see the light of day again.

I can feel something in the air… It's evil. I can feel my skin beginning to crawl.

Was this purely Mizuki? Or the Curse Mark's influence?

Whirling blades disturbed the silence. Then the whistle of a kunai. And a second grim whistle.

Iruka leaped back at a left diagonal, saw red sparks amid the darkness when his kunai and the flying blade bounced off one another.

The evil presence appeared suddenly beside him. Not a moment later he was skidding along his back with a silent cry, unable to form a sound after the heavy kick Mizuki had connected with.

Mizuki was faster than ever. Stronger. He could maneuver in this darkness and sense Iruka's exact position with ease. His former friend hadn't just improved while in prison, he was on a different level entirely.

"Hmhmhm!" Mizuki laughed at his pain from somewhere in the darkness. "You know, I have to ask, Iruka. How did you see through my disguise earlier?"

Iruka sat up, breathing heavier, kunai raised.

Even though he's speaking, I can't pinpoint his location.

"Pakkun sensed Shizune retreating before we encountered you," he answered, trying to color his voice with determination. "She was being chased by two of your other pawns while with another Leaf shinobi. Even had he not, though, I would've known."

"Is that right? And how's that?"

"Because Leaf shinobi don't leave their comrades behind. It takes a cold and hardened heart to say your squad is likely already dead. Yet you did. You pushed us to continue the pursuit as if Shizune's life or that of her squad meant nothing—a squad you were meant to be a part of. You brushed their deaths off. Acted as though you had no bond or connection with your comrades. That isn't our way.

"There was also your state of injury. Or lack thereof, I should say. If you and your pawns were capable of killing Shizune and her squad, then how was it you survived unscathed? Either you were a coward, or a traitor."

"Ahhh, very astute, Iruka. I'd almost forgotten how sickening the Leaf's Will of Fire was."

Iruka silently rose to his feet. He tried to attune to the darkness again.

"You're right, though. I did harden my heart. The Will of Fire is an idealistic and naïve moral prison. It asks us to seek peace, it teaches us to love each other, all while shinobi life demands we abandon all emotion to fulfill our missions. It's because of shinobi who can harden their hearts that others can express their idealism."

"Shinobi like you, you mean," Iruka derided.

"Don't you dare mock me," growled his former friend. "I hardened my heart to carry out my missions. I gathered my strength. I defended the people sheltering behind our walls! It's because of me they could live in blissful ignorance. Because I made the sacrifices they weren't willing to make. Those children we taught, those kids playing ninja in the streets, laughing and giggling without a care in the world, they had that opportunity because of me!

"But did it matter? No matter how powerful I became, no matter how many enemies I eliminated, it didn't matter! You people gave me no respect at all! Even when I was apart of a team, my 'comrades' were all bound by rules and morality! But did I earn respect when I eliminated the weak links? No!"

"Eliminated the weak links?" gasped Iruka. "Wait… Your mission to receive the secret manuscript… Genda—"

"That's right!" Mizuki confirmed viciously. Wildly. Proudly. "Genda's leg injury was minor, he may have even recovered, but those who cannot defend themselves on the battlefield are dead weight! We would have had to carry him on our backs to safety, potentially compromising our whole mission for one measly man who was too weak to defend himself."

"So you murdered him?!"

"I simply carried out my mission to the end!

"But you and the others in the Village, not one of you showed me the respect I deserved," snarled Mizuki. "Why not?! Huh? Why couldn't one single person acknowledge my strength! Why, Iruka?! Why is a man like Kakashi Hatake, our infamous friend killer, revered for fulfilling his missions no matter the cost? Why am I held back?"

"That isn't what—"

"It's not fair!"

Mizuki's childish outburst made it clear he didn't care for the facts or the truth. Iruka, sensing the evil on the air, suspected the Curse Mark was deepening the darkness in his heart, twisting the skewed parts of him until all that remained was a misshapen, deformed version of the man he once knew.

"When you even acknowledge that Nine-Tails brat despite what he did to your family… What about me?! You're just like the rest of them! Treating me like I'm not as good as you!"

"Have you lost your mind, Mizuki?" Iruka demanded, bewildered. "Killing your comrades in cold blood to fulfill a mission, that isn't our way. That isn't what Leaf shinobi—"

"Oh, spare me your lectures!"

"I will not! You say you weren't acknowledged when you were. People did acknowledge you and respect your abilities. But…" Iruka frowned. "Lord Third must have suspected foul play in Genda's death. It's no wonder you were held back."

"I did what I had to do!"

"No, you went too far! A true Leaf shinobi would've carried that man on their back! They wouldn't have murdered him or left him to die. But you…"

My old friend, how did I not see this darkness within you…

"Do you have any idea what you're doing right now? What this selfish act to gain power and acknowledgement could cause?! The Leaf—"

"I don't care about the Leaf. What about that don't you understand? Ever since that day they held me back… Ever since Lord Orochimaru gave me his gift, I have felt nothing except contempt for the Leaf."

"So it was Orochimaru who branded you, then! Don't you understand how dangerous his Curse Marks are?"

"Dangerous to someone as weak and naïve as you, maybe."

"Mizuki, Orochimaru is pure evil! Can't you see you're just another pawn to him?"

"I'm no pawn. Not like you. Besides, once I gain the Ultimate Body, the offering I bring Lord Orochimaru will prove that I'm more than another pawn he can order around. After all, Amari's head is quite the precious trinket, wouldn't you say, Iruka?"

"You will not lay a hand on her, that I promise," Iruka declared fiercely. "Tell me, Mizuki. Is it her eyes you are after? Or petty revenge because she embarrassed you?"

"Who says it can't be both? Two birds, one stone, as the saying goes."

His voice dropped into a menacing hiss. In the darkness he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"You have no idea how I've suffered since that day. There are nights I still see those insufferable eyes of hers. Burning red and piercing lavender just…staring into my soul. Like I'm the weak one. Like I'm unworthy of even breathing the same air as her.

"I see that green chakra flickering around her, and there's a dragon inside of it! A dragon which has the same eyes as her. I can feel its hot breath on my face, hear its roar shrieking in my ears, and I begin to sweat. My body quakes on its own.

"And no matter what I do or where I go, those eyes are always there, watching me. Following me. Staring straight through me. Judging me! Me! Who is she to judge a superior officer! Who is she to judge anyone at all!"

"Seems Amari's promise has come true then," Iruka said emotionlessly. "Her eyes have seared themselves into your soul. You will never escape them, Mizuki. Her eyes can see right through you."

"Oh, I'll escape them. I'll escape them when I pluck them out of her skull. Let's see her try to judge me then!"

"I already told you I won't allow that to happen. Furthermore, no matter what strength you believe this 'gift' will give you, Amari is beyond you now, Mizuki."

"What'd you say?"

"Ever since the day you betrayed the Leaf… No, ever since she was found and returned home, Amari has taken leaps and bounds few of us ever expected from that meek and quiet child. She hasn't stopped. I don't think she ever will. Amari…"

Iruka couldn't help but smile to himself in pride. "You can't stop her, Mizuki. She has a gift of her own. Just like Naruto. They possess something far more powerful than Orochimaru's Curse Mark."

"Those eyes can only take her so far."

"I wasn't referring to her eyes. I'll give you one last chance to surrender Mizuki. This plan of yours is doomed to fail. If you surrender now and pay for your crimes—"

"Don't you understand?! No… No, you don't know. You have no idea! You've gotten off so easy!"

"Then I suppose I have no choice but to end this. I hoped you might listen to reason. Because I acknowledged you. I respected you. Now…all I feel is sadness. It's a shame, but…"

There was only one way this could end now.

"Ohhhhh," sighed Mizuki sadistically. "I'm about to cry. You're making me smile, Iruka."

More whirling blades. Rustling clothing. The darkness seemed to ebb and flow, like a corporeal shadow was snaking past him, then vanishing.

Mizuki was toying with him. Iruka knew it without a doubt as he deflected more shuriken. He knew it when his shirt sleeve tore open and the sting of unzipped flesh awoke along the top of his forearm.

Air rushed past his back. His front. His back. A kunai suddenly struck against his guard, yet there was hardly a moment to counter-attack, let alone see where to strike.

The crawling sensation on his skin intensified, scuttling like insects up the base of his neck. Iruka leapt into the air, wheeled around and, at the sound of another whirling blade, judged the trajectory and deflected another shuriken.

There was no follow-up attack as he landed. Mizuki was enjoying himself. Taking his time. And why wouldn't he? Here, submerged in darkness, he was in control.

This was everything he wanted, for his warped mind was searching to prove he was the true shinobi. And what better way to do that than to kill a former friend, and an Academy teacher at that.

"It was sooo enjoyable being locked up behind bars," his voice painted his sadism and satisfaction that, even in absolute darkness, Iruka could see his sneer. "The dank moldiness. The unrelenting gloom!"

Iruka grit his teeth and tried to trace the echo. Anything. Something that might help him locate his enemy. There was a whistle—

The darkness seethed again. Something struck his back harshly—an elbow. He groaned and turned, but not to counter the physical strike. He wouldn't catch Mizuki anyway, not like this.

Again he raised his weapon and deflected the kunai he managed to hear moments before.

Breathing heavily, Iruka placed his free hand over his wounded side and searched the darkness. For better or worse, he was beginning to attune to the environment, to its natural state of stillness before each attack and the impenetrable veil of shadows that moved when Mizuki did.

"In solitary, and even in our normal cells, it's pitch black. Ahahahaha! That darkness made me…stronger. I sharpened my skills and mastered the darkness. A place like this is no different than a battlefield in broad daylight to me. I can sense your every move. I can feel your chakra. And I can smell blood in the water."

The blades came again, this time in quicker succession and in greater numbers. The first came from his left. Three followed on his right, so quick and close together Iruka was amazed he managed to deflect them at all.

The immediate whistle following it came straight at his center, and, were it not for his tight guard and for Mizuki's games, he knew it would have found its mark.

It's getting easier to sense them, he analyzed calmly even when a fifth, sixth and seventh whirled in from all three directions. The longer he takes his time, the better chance I have at finding him. It's sick, but right now, my best chance is to let him toy with me. It's the only way I can get—

"Getting tuckered out already?" The whisper was directly behind his ear.

Iruka gasped and turned his head, but saw nothing.

Another kick smashed into his stomach, knocking him through the air and onto his back.

"Hahahaha! Now's not the time to lose your concentration, Iruka. This is fun! I'm going to make it last."

Iruka grunted, struggling to sit up.

He's getting arrogant. I can almost make out his silhouette now. My senses may not be as sharp as his are, but they're attuning. Little by little.

"Tell me, Iruka, what is this gift Amaririsu Yūhi apparently possesses? And don't lie. I hate liars."

Slowly, laboriously, Iruka rose to a knee. Hand over his wound, he shut his eyes and smirked.

"What's the matter, Mizuki? You sound tense all of the sudden." Unwarranted bravado was unbecoming of an Academy teacher. Especially in his wounded condition. But if he could buy a little more time, then…

"Don't tell me you are doubting Orochimaru's gift. I thought you believed it would grant you the Ultimate Body."

A harsh kick left him sprawled out on the cold, stone floor, saliva dripping from his lips. His wounded side was aflame; Mizuki targeted it precisely in complete darkness.

"Oh, I see. So you were lying. You're trying to toy with me. Well, I'm too smart for your mind games, Iruka. Once I have the Ultimate Body, there is nothing Amaririsu Yūhi will be able to do to stop me."

"No… You're wrong…" he wheezed. "I…wasn't lying. Amari is— Gah!"

The pain of the following blow was worse than the first. He rolled across the ground and gasped for air.

"I said don't lie!" growled Mizuki. "You're just trying to psyche me out in order to protect her."

"…Hehehe."

Iruka's laugh was weak and yet sincere. He rolled over and braced his trembling weight on his elbows and knees.

"I think I finally figured out why you're targeting her… You claim her head is a precious trinket… And perhaps it is to evil men like Orochimaru… You also claim it is because she embarrassed you, a seasoned Chūnin…when she was a fresh graduate of the Academy. And that is also true. Two birds, one stone. Right?"

"What are you monologuing about, Iruka?"

His senses… Yes. With his eyes shut, he could…

"The real reason you're targeting Amari is because…you fear her."

"What?"

"You're afraid of the power she possesses. That's why you've come searching for your so-called Ultimate Body first. You saw a glimpse of the power she possesses. You've seen her Will. And it terrifies you to know such power exists in a girl so young.

"More than all of that, though, you're afraid to face Amari's judgement. Because you've seen what it will be. The dreams you suffer are like a prophecy you can't escape. You see it there each night. In the burning red and piercing lavender gaze which has seared itself onto your soul. And you know should this Ultimate Body be a lie, the dreams will become reality."

Sinking himself in the darkness, Iruka rose to a knee and a foot, bearing his kunai in a guard. He pushed away the sensations of warm sweat trickling down his face, of warm pain stinging his side and forearm, and focused.

"Me? Afraid of her? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous? No. I'm not being ridiculous at all. I can hear it in your voice. The fear she possesses a gift greater than yours is eating away at you now."

The Academy teacher rose and made a half turn.

Clang!

"Isn't it, Mizuki?" he asked of his former friend as his kunai shook beneath the force Mizuki was exerting.

Mizuki growled. The pressure against his kunai vanished, the air whipped around him. Iruka knew he wasn't faster than his enemy, and so didn't bother to attempt to whirl to face his attack. Instead he pushed off his back foot, leaping forward and spinning, shuriken leaving his hands.

He heard fabric rip.

Iruka landed, took three steps back, then ducked. Air rushed over his head. His forearm brushed aside a kick and his fist caught Mizuki in his abdomen.

A shinobi must always remain calm, Iruka instructed himself. Anticipate the enemy attacks.

A deflected shuriken whizzed by his head and bounced off solid stone somewhere behind him. Iruka furrowed his brow. Then made a powerful leap up, turning slightly to block Mizuki's kick with a knee.

Upon landing, he sidestepped and felt power pulse off Mizuki's punch. Iruka countered with a jumping kick. The sound of Mizuki's bare feet sliding against the stone floor was all he needed to throw his kunai.

Fabric tore again. It was joined with a grunt of pain. A surface wound, doubtlessly, along the left shoulder.

"Huh. Quite adaptable, aren't you, Iruka. I didn't think a guy like you, who has spent his whole life in the light, could adapt to the darkness."

Iruka said nothing. He focused on expanding his senses, calming his breaths, and anticipating Mizuki's next move.

"I guess you're right. There's been enough talk. Let's get serious!"

Here he comes.

The battle in the darkness seethed once more.

---

"Dammit. These idiots…"

Naruto, panting like an overheating arctic wolf lost in a desert, was in the midst of a crisis of confidence.

Back braced against trunk, knees bent to his chest and head ducked down, he struggled to think as Shadow Clone after Shadow Clone found themselves pulverized, bombarding his thoughts with their final moments.

These morons are like monsters, he thought. Nothing I throw their way even hurts them. They say it tickles! I don't even think they're joking or boasting. They're wayyy too stupid for that.

Taijutsu, Wind Style, he'd thrown everything except the Rasengan their way, and it all had zero effect; he was honestly afraid the same would be said for the Rasengan.

Despite being dumb as rocks, despite being thicker than wet piles of cow dung, the two giants were ridiculously strong. With a single strike they'd created a massive bowl shaped crater, sinking the surrounding trees, felling them without any effort whatsoever. And that was just how they separated him and Iruka-sensei.

His Shadow Clones were the only reason he could curse the brothers. Well, them and the immense stupidity of his enemies. On the fly, in desperation, really, he tricked the two idiots into a game of hide-and-seek, which they accepted merrily much to his own and Pakkun's disbelief.

At the time he thought it would buy time to escape and regroup with Iruka to take down that scumbag Mizuki.

Except these guys weren't just brutes capable of physical feats he'd only seen from the likes of Granny Tsunade. They possessed speed and agility that should've been impossible for men of their overwhelming size.

"Freaks of nature."

"Cursing them isn't going to help, Naruto," Pakkun reminded from the top of his head. "Eventually those idiots will find us. We need a plan."

"I'm trying. I'm trying. I just…"

What could he even do to guys like this? He had tried everything he could think of already, even Paper Bombs, and these idiots just brushed it off like their layers of fat and muscles were protective shields and armor.

Here I am again, Naruto made a face. I rely so much on my Shadow Clones and the Rasengan, they're the only moves I had until I started training with Wind Style. But my Wind Style is still way too weak to do anything except tickle these guys. And I know the Rasengan isn't a guaranteed win anymore. Kimimaro and Kagerō proved that.

Once again he came face to face with the limitations of his current abilities.

So, what did he do? His current abilities weren't enough to defeat these two. Not in physical combat, at least. And definitely not on his own.

Unlike the idiots he was up against, he wasn't stupid enough to believe he could pull off a miracle and beat these two into pulps. He'd be the pasty pulp smeared in the grass if he tried.

"Hmhmhmhm! Looks like you're at the end of your rope, brat."

Naruto tightened his jaw and suppressed a growl. He tried his best to shut out the voice of the Nine-Tails. To no avail.

"You're out of options. All except one. I could kill them. All you have to do is—"

Suddenly, abruptly, Naruto was inside the dank, flooded sewer of his mindscape.

"What? Beg? Forfeit my body to you? Get real!" he snapped at the Nine-Tails.

The Demon Fox's red eye stared at him with all its hatred, and yet sparkling with sadistic amusement at the puny human talking back to him.

"Don't think I've forgotten what you threatened to do back in Orochimaru's base. I already know who and what you're after. And there's no way, absolutely no way, I'm letting any of that happen. You got that!"

The toothy grin of the Demon Fox was unnerving.

"You can't protect her. You can't even protect yourself. When I'm free—"

"That's not going to happen," Naruto interrupted passionately. "I made myself a promise to protect Amari and everyone else from you, and I never go back on my word."

"Hmhmhm!" the Demon Fox rumbled with a deep chuckle. "We'll see how much that promise is worth when I escape this prison." The Nine-Tails shut its eyes. "If you survive."

"Whatever."

Naruto hated how stupid the comeback sounded. Hated that he still didn't know how he was going to keep that promise when the Nine-Tails had all the time in the world to plot and plan how to steal his body.

Most of all, he hated that when he came back to reality, one of the twin idiots was already flying down right at him while Pakkun bit his arm, trying to force him to move and wake up. Because he knew the Nine-Tails probably sensed it and hadn't bothered to warn him.

Why would it? If he died here and now, or was placed in a state close-enough to death that it could take control of his body, it'd be that much closer to true freedom.

Stinking fox!

He cursed while throwing himself off the tree, pulling Pakkun into his stomach as the big buffoon bellyflopped through the branch, laughing dumbly as he did.

Over the snapping and splintering of the branch he heard the beast's rumbling, malevolent laughter join the idiot. The big jerk.

The air was knocked from his lungs when he crashed back first against the forest floor. For that reason he couldn't even gasp when he saw the second brother, the shorter one of the idiots and the eldest, sprinting straight at him, the earth seeming to shake beneath each stride. He wore the dumbest grin on his fat, goateed face.

"Weeeee found youuuuuu! Ahahaha!" declared the idiot.

Pakkun leapt off his chest. Naruto flopped over onto his stomach, scrambled to his hands and feet and threw himself into another roll. Just in time, too. The earth behind him shattered beneath the weight of the Goatee Idiot's massive elbow, dropped after a running leap.

Reaching into his pouch, the blond grimaced through a smirk.

I've got one smoke bomb left. If I don't figure something out after this, I'm totally screwed.

"Naruto!" Pakkun called from the nearby trees. His Sensei's faithful ninken gestured to follow with his furry head. "Follow me! This way!"

"I sure hope you know what you're doing, Pakkun!" Naruto took his hand off his smoke bomb and scrambled across the grass on all fours, up onto two legs in a bipedal sprint he knew he couldn't keep up for long against his enemies. "'Cause I am all out of ideas!"

"Then it's good one of us was paying attention! Now let's go! Hey, morons, we're playing tag now! And you're it!"

"Heyyyyy!" The taller buffoon looked absolutely frightening. Rage billowed off both of the idiots. "That isn't fair! Bro, Bro, they changed the game without permission! Tell them!"

The shorter and elder brother mirrored his younger brother's rage and menace.

"You can't just change the rules like that! You decide who's it by playing rock-paper-scissors! Who taught you two how to play, huh?! That's it! We're gonna crush the foolishness right out of you!"

"Yeah! Tell them Bro! Tell them!"

The pair gave chase like loosed mustangs at full gallop. Naruto, wailing at how quick they were moving, took his frustrations out on Pakkun.

"Now look what you did! We could have been it and let them run away!"

"And let them terrorize a town? Or run straight back to Mizuki to attack Iruka instead? Not a chance," Pakkun replied. "Just trust me and keep running!"

"What does it look like I'm doing!"

"It sounds like you're complaining!"

"Gahhhh! How can guys this stupid be so powerful!"

"Well, at least you know there's a chance for you, kid."

"Heyyyyyy! You jerk! I may not be as smart as Sasuke, Sakura or Amari, but I'm not nearly as stupid as these guys!"

"So you admit you are stupid, then?"

"Wha- Hey, wait a minute! That's not what I was trying to say!"

Naruto never managed to correct his own flub.

Something struck him directly in the back. It may as well have been a cement block thrown by a catapult, or one of Granny Tsunade's flicks, for the moment it struck him, he blacked out, briefly.

When he awoke a moment later he found himself supine on the ground, a crater carved from the point he was struck to his final position.

His face was scraped raw on his right cheek. His back was throbbing and, though it was a small victory, he could still feel his toes, burning and shredded by the earth. He couldn't breathe.

What…the hell…

"Got you," growled the familiar voice of the older brother.

"Now you're it," the taller and younger twin followed.

Naruto barely heard them.

The young brother picked him up by the back of his collar like he was picking up a misbehaving kitten. Except when he tried to, Naruto fell limply out of his jacket, which he hadn't realized until that moment had its zipper busted.

The second crash allowed him to gasp and feel a bit of oxygen enter his lungs. On trembling arms and legs, he tried to push himself up onto all fours, feeling the icy nip in the air despite his black t-shirt and mesh long sleeve beneath it.

Come on, body. Move. Move, he choked for air. They're gonna pulverize you if you don't move.

The younger brother picked him up by the neck.

"The game is over," the elder brother stated. "You've gotten between us and our feast for too long!"

Suddenly he was flying up into the air, tossed gently by the younger brother. Then he was falling right back between the pair.

"I'll go for his stomach, Bro!"

"And I'll pulverize that empty head!"

"Naruto!" someone called out.

Dammit…

Naruto crashed to the grass again. And the whole world went black.

---

This whole day was turning out to be a huge drag.

Shikamaru, kneeling in position with his hands in Rat, could already feel the intense struggle of holding the two giants back in his Shadow Possession. Despite not actually physically exerting himself, his muscles trembled, uncomfortable heat built across his body, sweat proliferated on his forehead, his back and thighs.

All because of the power these two giants wielded. They gave the same struggle as Tayuya's giant puppet monsters. Maybe even more.

Both prisoners stood over Naruto's unmoving body, fists still drawn back to turn the troublesome idiot into paste. And then he would have had to break that to 'Risu.

"Ino," he ground out the word, "grab Naruto. Hurry!"

"Right!"

His kunoichi teammate dashed to the unconscious form of Naruto, quickly slung an arm around her shoulder and returned. At the same time, the Nara glanced to his faithful friend.

"Chōji, these guys are as strong as my dad said. I'm going to need your all here, buddy."

"No problem, Shikamaru." Chōji stepped forward, serious, as though a once-in-a-lifetime chance at free barbecue for life had presented itself to him. "Let's go! Partial Expansion Jutsu! Both arms!"

The Akimichi's arms expanded not only in length, but in size as well, clutching perfectly around the two giants like they were specifically made to fit in his massive hands.

Ino laid Naruto down behind their formation and began to check him for injuries. Likely internal bleeding or other mortal injuries after the hit he took. Not that the Nara knew how she would do that. He just trusted her and the training she'd undergone so far with the Fifth Hokage.

"What's his condition, Ino?"

"He's out of it. It doesn't look like it isn't anything he can't walk off, though."

"What a lucky guy."

"I have some smelling salts. I'll see if I can bring him around and then finish our formation."

"Good. We're going to need it." Shikamaru could feel the sweat building.

These guys are freaks of nature. It's like trying to hold down Chōji in a full Expansion Jutsu. Even though we lured them into this area of dense shadows… Shikamaru grimaced. This is bad. But we're going to have to make it work. We have to hold them here until reinforcements show up.

"Pakkun." He directed a small portion of his attention to Kakashi's ninja hound. "Where's Iruka-sensei? And Mizuki?"

"We were separated. But I have their scent. They're to our southwest, I'd bet at the old Academy Teacher Exam building. Mizuki has a flair for dramatics, it seems."

"How far is it?"

"About ten minutes, if you're in a hurry."

"Right," grunted the Nara. "I should've known it wouldn't be easy. What a pain."

It would've been better for their old Academy teacher to be here. At least then, maybe, they could have restrained these two morons with that fūinjutsu technique his dad mentioned. Looked like that wasn't an option, though.

Even if Naruto wakes up, Shikamaru analyzed under pressure, or if I send Pakkun, we still have to hold them a minimum twenty minutes. However, that's in the perfect scenario where all either has to do is run there, get Iruka-sensei and come back. It won't play out that way. This isn't the perfect scenario. It's the perfect storm.

He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow.

Mizuki likely has Iruka-sensei trapped in a battle. I can't say if he'll have the Academy Teacher Exam building trapped to fight one-on-one, or whether or not he's used that Curse Mark of his.

Either way, assuming Naruto is the one I send, he'll jump into battle and Mizuki may either flee, making him a priority target once again that must be detained. Or he'll unleash the Curse Mark and do who-knows-what kind of damage.

Team Ten would be on their own for longer than twenty minutes then. Even if Naruto and Iruka pulled through, they'd be gone far longer than they had time for.

Which means, against all odds, we have to hold these colossal idiots here until one of three events occurs.

One: We restrain them until someone who can actually fight them arrives. The best case scenario. If this happens, we'll hit our limits and get saved by the reinforcements. Hopefully without injury.

Two: We fail to hold them and let them return to Mizuki, tactically retreating to spare our lives. Not very manly, but we'll have bought time for those reinforcements to catch up.

Three: We fail to hold them and die here.

There was no other way to say it: This whole situation was a big, stupid drag.

Shikamaru tried to think through the necessary next moves to keep his teammates alive. How did he turn scenario one or two into reality? Three wasn't an option. At least not while he still had strength and chakra left.

Besides, if he died here, his mother would dig up his grave, somehow revive him and then strangle him with her Shadows for being a lazy good-for-nothing that got himself and his teammates killed. And his dad, tied to her apron strings like he was, would let it happen, sighing and shrugging while looking at him like he brought it upon himself.

It'd be a huge pain in the ass.

"Come on, Naruto. Snap out of it," Ino chided, slapping the boy's face lightly while holding the smelling salts beneath his nostrils.

"…Ino?"

"Yes, it's me—"

"You're really pretty. All the boys at the Academy always talked about it," Naruto said, and by the tired drawl of his voice, and lack of filter, he was still out of it. Probably didn't even realize he was laying partially in Ino's lap. "You and Sakura. The prettiest girls in class. Beautiful and delicate flowers. Anyone would be lucky to get a date with you."

Ino, ever the girl, blushed. "Th- this isn't the time for that! Snap out of it, come on!"

"But you two were so pushy and mean back then," Naruto continued in his dazed honesty.

Ino's whole face went red.

"Who's pushy and mean?!" she yelled.

"Always hitting or yelling at me," Naruto wasn't even on the same planet.

Shikamaru couldn't help but snort and smirk. You're in for a nasty wake-up call, Naruto. Not that you aren't being honest.

With a glance, he saw that Chōji, too, was stifling a laugh as he smiled.

"Always swooning over Sasuke and talking about how great he was. And he was never nice to anyone. He was big jerk, you know."

Another fact as real as these two moron's physical strength.

"I've seen prettier boys. Like Haku. He was prettier than you and Sakur—"

The crack of Ino's palm against Naruto's cheek made Shikamaru and Chōji grimace initially. Then, despite the serious circumstances and killing intent pouring off the Idiot Brothers, the Akimichi and the Nara snickered and chuckled at his expense.

"OWWWWW!" screeched Naruto. "What happened? What was that for? Why did you have to slap my face," his voice dropped into something close to a sob. Shikamaru could almost see the comical tears in his eyes. "Weren't these wounds enough?"

Ino, ever the girl, ignored his complaints, snatched him by the collar of his shirt and began to shake the injured boy.

"Jerk! Jackass! Idiot! What kind of guy goes and says something like that, huh?!" she roared.

"What did I say?" Naruto moaned. "I don't remember anything at all."

"Is he prettier than Amari, too? Hinata? Or are me and Sakura just so ugly that a boy is prettier than us?! Go on, tell me!"

"Wha- what are you even talking about?"

"No, better yet," Ino, fire in her eyes, didn't hear him and didn't plan to, "I want to see him! Transform right now! And I swear, if he's not the most gorgeous boy to ever exist, if this boy isn't worth starting a war over, I'll pound you so hard you're gonna wish those big oafs killed you!"

"Someone, please help me. I don't know what's going on. Ino's gone totally crazy."

"Now I'm crazy, huh? Ohh, you big knucklehead, let me show you how many thorns this beautiful and delicate flower has!"

"Ino, enough," grunted Shikamaru. "Funny as it is, we've got bigger problems to deal with. In case you've forgotten, these two are trying to kill us, and if they keep struggling like this, they might actually pull it off."

"We'll finish this later," Ino warned while rushing to finish their formation.

Naruto couldn't have been more confused or more afraid if he tried. Pakkun padded closer and offered something close enough to supportive words.

"You're a real idiot, you know that?"

"Ughhhh," moaned the troublesome idiot.

At his side, Ino set her sights on the shorter brother and aimed her hands at them, held in the special handseal for the Mind Transfer Jutsu.

"You better catch me, Shikamaru."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry it up already."

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Barely a moment after she said the words, his kunoichi teammate's body collapsed towards his side. Quickly, the Nara relinquished the Rat handseal, caught her limp body, laid it down then resumed his previous position, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

Instantly he noticed a change. The shorter brother, Fūjin, he was pretty sure, stopped struggling altogether. His dumb face became more passive.

Good, now we can focus on restraining the other one.

"Chōji, let go of the short one. We'll focus all of our attention on the big one."

"Got it."

His best friend retracted and shrank the hand and arm previously clutched around Fūjin. It would conserve chakra. Though, if they were lucky, he wouldn't need to use it again. But Shikamaru doubted they'd see that kind of luck at this stage.

Fortunately, Fūjin didn't suddenly attack them. He stood dumbly in place. His brother, Raijin, stared confusedly at his brother.

"Hey Bro, are you okay? You don't seem like yourself."

Heh, the Nara chuckled nervously, give the idiot a prize. He can actually tell there's a difference between his brother and Ino just by looking at him. That's siblings for you, I guess.

With his attention strictly on Raijin, the struggle wasn't nearly as immense as it was holding the two. But, he reasoned, Raijin was also distracted. The longer they kept that up, the better chance they had at pulling this off.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Naruto piped in. "What can I do?"

"Can you move?"

"In a little bit."

"How you recover so quickly is a hell of a thing. After the hit you took, I'd probably be eating out of a straw."

"Yeah, it's useful in the heat of the moment and in battle, sure. But… Well, it isn't all its cracked up to be, trust me."

Shikamaru hummed and left it be.

"Once you're ready, go regroup with Iruka-sensei," he ordered. "If you can finish off Mizuki, or if Iruka-sensei already has, get back here. Iruka-sensei knows a technique that can hold them. If not, just focus on taking Mizuki down. He's the priority target."

"What about you three? No offense, but these guys are way too strong."

"Yeah," the Nara agreed through a grimace. "I can feel it. They look like they're made of whale blubber, but they're more like hairless gorillas."

"Why don't I blast the other one with a Rasengan?"

"I've thought about that," Shikamaru replied. "But if you believed that would work, you would've done it already. Or you did before we arrived and they're still standing."

"Yeah," Naruto admitted reluctantly. "I've thrown everything I have except the Rasengan at them. All I've done is tickle them. But the Rasengan might…"

"Yeah, it might. But it might not, too. And if it doesn't work, we'll be in an even stickier situation than we already are."

Ino, using Fūjin's body, reached forward and wrapped his massive hands around Raijin's neck, restraining him further. Raijin's confusion quickly transformed into struggling. Shikamaru winced.

"The thing is, I chose this place because of its dense shadows. Before we were sent here, we had to capture a few of the prisoners, so I've used my Shadow Possession twice before already. Against these guys, I might as well have used it ten times today."

Had their team leader, Hayama Shirakumo, not been needed to protect his sector, the Nara wondered if he might be able to kill one or both of these two. But then quickly brushed the thought off.

If his dad thought that was possible, he would be here now. Which he wasn't, so there was no point thinking about it.

"If you use the Rasengan on either of them," he continued, "and they walk it off, it's going to send them flying. Fūjin or Raijin will be free to attack us, and there's no guarantee I can capture them again. And even if I do, my Shadow Possession will be weaker.

"I've run it through my head a few dozen times already. Our best chance is to focus all of our strength on holding this formation, holding just Raijin down until reinforcements show up. If we can do that, we've got a shot. And if you and Pakkun can get Iruka-sensei back here quickly, our chances of success will increase drastically."

If. If. If. What he would give for certainty over possibility.

"However, there's one other problem I've been meaning to ask about," said Shikamaru, flicking his eyes around the battlefield. "You mentioned Mizuki's location, Pakkun. We have these two idiot's here. My dad told me Sasuke and Sakura separated to take care of two of Mizuki's accomplices—the Demon Brothers. But no one's mentioned that guy Aoi."

Aoi should've attacked by now. It was missing the perfect opportunity to take them down.

"Aoi?" Naruto gaped. "Wait, he's here?"

Shikamaru grunted in affirmative. Raijin was struggling even harder. The big buffoon was absolutely furious.

"Brother, wake up! What did they do to you? Bro! You bastards! Give me back my brother!"

"Geh, dammit," Shikamaru cursed, feeling his Shadow thin and wane against Raijin's brute force. "Yeah, he is. He's the last pawn, according to my dad. Said you guys arrested him in the Land of Tea, which gives him motive to join Mizuki's team.

"Think about it, everyone he's comprised his team of, except these two, are all people who have a motive or a grudge against you. The Demon Brothers from your first mission, the two Cloud shinobi from the Invasion, Mizuki himself, and Aoi.

"But judging on your reaction, you haven't seen him. Which begs the question: Where the hell is that guy? Is he with Mizuki now? Did he split off? Or is he doing something else for Mizuki? Either way," he grunted, "we've gotta find him. And if he's with Mizuki now, Iruka-sensei needs backup.

"That's where you come in. We can hold these two here."

"But—"

"Don't worry, Naruto," Shikamaru said calmly. "We've got this. I know its easy to forget, but you're not the only one who's been putting in extra training. Or who has a bag of tricks to rely on. So go on. Get going as soon as you're ready. The sooner the better, honestly. Otherwise," he smirked weakly, "Ino might pummel you while she has the chance."

Reluctantly, Naruto agreed. He rose to his feet, nearly stumbling as he did, and straightened his posture.

"I'll bring Iruka-sensei right back, Shikamaru. Just don't do anything stupid or reckless until then."

"I'm not 'Risu. Or you, for that matter," he bit back good-naturedly. "Now get going. We'll be waiting for you."

"Right!"

Naruto bolted off. First rushing the Idiot Brothers, where he snatched his jacket off the ground, and then back to Pakkun, who led him off as he was stuffing one of his arms back in the broken clothing.

"I'll be right back, you guys!" he called over his shoulder.

"That didn't take long," Chōji commented.

"It's Naruto. Guy could get trampled by a horse and still have the energy to run around screaming about ramen or fighting Sasuke or something. I don't know how 'Risu deals with it."

"The same way she handles your laziness, I bet," his best friend teased.

"Heh. Good point."

I'm counting on you, Naruto. We'll hold them here until then.

Not like we've got any other choice.

---

Iruka had attuned to the darkness.

Kunai held in front of him, eyes shut, he was calmly extending his senses out and sifting through the impenetrable void for Mizuki.

The battle in darkness intensified. Words and reason had failed. The language of the blade was all they had left, reasonableness was replaced by reasons for fighting heard and felt in each exchange.

Iruka could feel the newly bleeding wounds Mizuki imparted onto him. Attuning to the darkness hadn't been enough; his enemy was still faster, stronger, in prime condition when compared to his wounded status.

All the same, his efforts weren't fruitless. He'd struck Mizuki, too. Though, unlike his fallen friend, he found no satisfaction in the act, no sick joy or warped exhilaration. It was all just…sad.

That it had come to this…

He's gone silent, Iruka noted cautiously. It's been at least a minute since his last attack. Where are you Mizuki? What are you doing?

The Academy teacher focused his attuned senses and expanded them outwards, like stretching his hands out in a dark classroom to feel around for the chalkboard, a wall, the podium, his desk or the students desks to gain his bearings.

It was quiet. Very quiet. The sound of his own breathing, his heart beating, and swallowing of saliva, by comparison, were distinct. And unhelpful.

Deeper, he commanded of his senses. Beyond the self. Beyond the darkness. Search deeper.

Skittering movement.

A pause.

Skittering, untrimmed claws scratched along the stone floor again.

A rat. A large one. On the higher levels of the facility. It was searching for food. Stopping abruptly, as though it could sense something or someone watching it. Then moving again.

He searched deeper.

Footsteps?

Bare feet running. Slapping against the cold stone. Far away. Deeper within the facility. No longer within the Exam battlefield where he once took his test to become an Academy teacher. No longer on the present battlefield.

Was Mizuki fleeing? Or trying to draw him into another trap?

The footsteps stopped. Iruka was struggling to recall the whole layout of the building. Was Mizuki in the old generator room?

Another skittering. A smaller rat. No, two smaller rats.

The footsteps retreated again. There was the opening of an old, rusted door. But it did not close. And…

There's something else. Something deeper. Something…

He could almost see the old generator room in his mind's eye. Could almost see himself inside of it, examining it inch by inch for the source of the new noise.

The fizzle of a flame painted the room in horrifying detail. Iruka felt his breath hitch and his eyes shoot open.

Paper bombs!

---

"There it is!" Pakkun informed.

Naruto saw the abandoned building before his Sensei's ninja hound pointed it out. The old building was built with a bulbous, round base, sort of like a tall igloo covered in moss, splattered with bird poop and worn and weathered by the environment.

"And Iruka-sensei is inside?" he asked.

"Iruka's and Mizuki's scent lead right to it!"

"All right! Let's get in there and—"

What sounded like a transformer exploding cut Naruto off. Before he could even begin to question it, the roof of the building exploded how he imagined a dormant volcano blowing off its top would appear. The air ruptured violently. Smoke and fire erupted outwards. Pieces of the walls and roof were flung like pebbles rather than slabs of concrete. Other pieces collapsed inwards.

The shockwave crashed into Naruto and Pakkun a moment later. It made his heart skip, froze him in place and left him in horrified awe.

The entire building collapsed. Its center, once an arena for would-be Academy teachers to prove their capability to teach the next generation, rendered into a smoldering crater of debris and stone.

"What in the world?" Pakkun gaped at the scene.

"N- no way," Naruto stammered in horror. He struggled to move, to break the paralysis which overwhelmed his body. "Iruka-sensei…"

Smoke and embers billowed into the evening sky.

Naruto darted off towards the crater.

"Iruka-senseiiiiii!"

The sky was red.