Another day of fun and excitement. Hope you're all doing well.

Review response:

1. TigrezzTail: It's an odd thing to figure out how to write, given that I've never had to question myself or my preferences, but I hope that my attempt rings at least somewhat true. And yeah, Ayame's gonna be up there in badassitude. Orochimaru's experiments are all fun like that.

2. Noahendless: Yuurei's new outfit...come meet the new boss, same as the old boss...lol. As for the Shinigami's tanto: yes, it's powerful beyond measure, but Yuurei himself doesn't actually want to use it often—or at all. Souls taken by the Shinigami all find their way to the Speargod's hall, while people that Yuurei kills will remain inside of him as residual auras. So, if he kills people with that tanto, he's actually stymied his development. Plus, it could be used against him if he loses control of it, which is a weakness the sandworm teeth don't have. As for Tsunade/other Senju...we'll find out. I haven't set anything in stone yet.

Let's get this trainwreck moving.


In the aftermath of the night before, Mei was the first to wake. Not used to sleeping on her side, her natural inclination was to roll back down; as she turned, though, she saw Yuurei's bloodshot natural eye staring up at the ceiling.

"Is everything alright?" The Mizukage's voice was quiet, unwilling to wake up either of the large bed's other occupants. "You don't look like you slept well."

"Sleep isn't really an option for me, and never has been. The last time I fell unconscious was...after the destruction of Nami no Kuni," Yuurei replied, equally soft-spoken. His natural youki had been scarce, when he first awoke to it, and he'd run through it after a short battle. The resulting exhaustion had been so severe that Yuurei passed out, only waking when Gato's yacht had collided with the natural cliff-walls that protected the City of the Dead.

A shocked, pained expression flashed across Mei's face when she heard Yuurei speak. Taking her far hand and placing it on the demon's cheek, the Mizukage's emerald-green eyes glimmered with sorrow.

"Would you like to?" She asked. "Before the rebellion, anybody with unnatural...with kekkai genkai...was persecuted. I developed beguiling techniques to hide my bloodline. They might help you rest."

"You can try, if it would make you feel better," Yuurei said. Without warning, Mei kissed him, and a fog began to cloud his mind as the Mizukage pulled away. Immediately, he felt his attention being drawn in multiple directions; unable to focus, Yuurei's gaze drifted from the soft curves of Mei's lips and cheeks to her brilliant eyes. Between the smooth shape of her shoulders, her tender throat, and the gentle hand that caressed his face, Yuurei was at a loss for thoughts or words.

In this state, utterly hypnotized by her power, Mei could convince Yuurei to do almost anything. Even for a man whose interest in women had only truly been piqued last night, driving him wild with desire or morose in gloom would be child's play. Taking her hand off of his cheek, the Mizukage slowly dragged her fingers across the air in front of Yuurei's face. Completely lacking the willpower to resist, the demon closed his eyes, and Mei kissed him again to complete her technique.

Immediately, the blond's breathing took a slightly slower pattern, and Mei watched as Yuurei's muscular shoulders sank into the bed beneath him. Rolling onto her back again, Mei watched the young Kyuubi breathe for a few moments before turning her head in the other direction—only to come face-to-face with Tayuya, whose dark brown eyes stared unflinchingly at the Mizukage.

"How long have you..." Mei trailed off.

"Long enough," Tayuya replied. The truth was, she'd woken up as soon as Mei had moved. During her time in Otogakure, the younger redhead had learned that being a heavy sleeper was inviting death. "How'd I know you use those techniques?"

"I didn't hear you complaining a few hours ago..." Mei shot back, watching Tayuya's face attempt to turn the same shade of red as her hair. Before Tayuya could protest further, she was pulled into the Mizukage's one-armed embrace. "...it's okay. Yuurei can be first in your heart. I don't mind being second."

"What? No, that's not...what?" Tayuya almost seemed to mewl in confusion, her mind replaying the previous day's events after she'd been thrown out of the Speargod's hall—namely, that she'd kissed Yugito twice without stopping to think about it. On top of that, ever since she'd met Mei, Tayuya had hardly been able to tear her eyes away from the taller woman. The former Otoyon's harsh personality had manufactured its own reasons for that, but those reasons weren't necessarily honest. "I'm gay?"

"Maybe a little bit," Mei said. "Now, you go to sleep too. The world can wait for a few more hours."

"I don't need sleep, I need answers! I—whm're'oo'oong?" Tayuya's latest irritation was squashed, with her face, into the Mizukage's torso. Though she'd been taken unwillingly, Tayuya admitted to herself that the soft warmth surrounding her felt nice. Shifting so that both of her arms were behind Tayuya's bare back, Mei ran her fingernails over the smaller woman's spine with feather-light touches.

"Shh..." the Mizukage's soft voice carried to Tayuya's ears, repeating the same breathy sound until the pseudo-demoness drifted into unconsciousness. Though the rising sun was already climbing through a bright and cloudless sky, it would be several hours before anyone in this room was willing or able to get up.

All the while, with her head and one arm across Yuurei's abdomen, Yugito continued to sleep.


"Do you remember our conversation about void tunnels, back in Kirigakure?" Jiraiya asked. He, Sasuke, and Shizune were traveling through the forests of Rai no Kuni, almost at an equidistant point between Kumogakure and the civilian capital.

"Yes." Sasuke and Shizune replied in sync, looking at one another in mild confusion before turning back to Jiraiya.

"Good. We're coming close to one that I've used before, and I want you...both of you...to know how to find them, and use them. You'll never know when that kind of information will come in handy!" The white-haired sage had a smile on his face that hid a dark history. If these void tunnels were as rare, linear, and dangerous as the Gama Sennin made them out to be, then why did he know the location of one that was so close to Kumogakure?

Traveling for a short distance after having spoken, Jiraiya stopped abruptly before looking around. Temporarily cutting himself off from his chakra, the ambient energy of Rai no Kuni began to flow into Jiraiya's body; using that energy as a guide, Jiraiya's neck twisted to his right, and he ran off without another word. It wasn't difficult for Sasuke or Shizune to follow after the middle-aged hermit, but they were deeply confused. Several seconds later, they stood behind Jiraiya, who had put his hand on a boulder in the middle of the woods.

"Jiraiya?" Shizune asked.

The white-haired man didn't respond, allowing his chakra to return to him before pouring it into the boulder. After half of his larger-than-average reserves had been drained, Jiraiya groaned with exertion, and a black rectangle appeared on the boulder's surface. This rectangle was large enough for all three shinobi to comfortably pass through, with bright blue edges that seemed to be pulled inward.

"Hurry inside," the sage said, breathing a little heavier than he had a moment ago. As he stepped through the dark gateway, the surface of the boulder seemed to ripple; neither of his younger companions hesitated to follow after him. After all three travelers were inside of the void tunnel, the entryway closed behind them, but the blue light from the tunnel's edges stretched out ahead of the horizon.

"Where does this lead?" Sasuke asked, careful to stay close behind the older shinobi.

"About fifteen minutes away from Takigakure. My hope is that we'll be able to resupply and get some information that's not related to Kirigakure, but...don't hold your breath," Jiraiya said.

Shizune's immediate thought was that Jiraiya meant "information about Tsunade." How could she not? In the months since she'd taken to traveling with the Gama Sennin and his latest apparent protege, they'd heard no news of the Sannin's female member. Sasuke said nothing, but he would have been a fool to miss the edge to Jiraiya's last four words. What had he heard that would make him this pessimistic?

After thirty minutes of walking across the black path, a white doorway seemed to signal the end of the dark corridor. Though Shizune's mind immediately wandered to the origins of the phrase, "a light at the end of the tunnel," she held her tongue. Stepping out of the void tunnel, the change in scenery was readily apparent; the dark and hardy evergreens that grew in the northern reaches of the Elemental Nations were nowhere to be found, replaced by sturdy southern trees whose enormous sizes were a result of the Shodaime Hokage's influence. Though Sasuke had never been to Takigaakure before, the scene around him was indicative of just how far they'd traveled.

"Taki's this way, but before we go...do you know how to draw in the world's energy?" Jiraiya asked. Shizune nodded, but Sasuke shook his head; the Uchiha's field of expertise was combat, so he'd never thought about learning a technique that would leave him vulnerable.

"I know it's an odd request to make, but I'm here, so you'll be perfectly safe. Shizune...see what you can figure out while I teach Sasuke."

The boulder that they'd come out of looked identical to the one they'd entered—almost as if they'd gone in on one side and exited through the other. As Shizune opened her senses up to the rich aura of world energy that surrounded this massive rock, Jiraiya began explaining the necessary process. Releasing internal energy to take hold of external energy wasn't actually very complicated; after Sasuke shifted chakra out of his meridians and into his dantian, in the core of his body, he lost his ability to feel chakra at all.

The sensation was unnatural, leaving the young Uchiha feeling exposed and vulnerable. Before he could get lost in that weakness, a new gravity took hold of him. Drawn toward a mysterious aura that his mind was struggling to process, Sasuke wandered around the gigantic boulder in thought.

"Okay, that's enough of that. I just wanted you to familiarize yourself with the way a void tunnel can call out to you, if you know how to sense them. Now come on, it's only a few minutes to Takigakure!" Jiraiya's voice carried across the air, shaking both of his younger compatriots from their trance-like states.

In short order, the trio was traveling once again, bounding between branches and tree trunks at a jogging pace. Fifteen minutes wasn't a particularly long time to travel, but Jiraiya's silence throughout the journey invited a dark premonition to Sasuke's mind. Soon enough, the sound of rushing water was audible across their surroundings; when the waterfall came into view, however, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Huh, it's not as strong as usual. Maybe something happened upstream?" Jiraiya thought out loud. "Anyway, the village is through the waterfall. Prepare to be amazed!"

With a solid push off of his front foot, Jiraiya launched into the waterfall—and promptly crashed face-first into a rigid pile of rubble. As the white-haired giant swore with enough blistering rage to make Shizune blush, Sasuke's expression had shifted to an emotionless mask.

"Well...I'm amazed, alright," the Uchiha said. "Did you do it wrong?"

"No! There's supposed to be a giant hole in the middle of the fucking waterfall! Gods, I think I broke my nose!" The Gama Sennin complained loudly, holding the front of his face with both hands.

"If your nose was broken, you'd have more trouble speaking," Shizune said.

"You thought something happened up the river, right? Let's try looking. The problems might be related," Sasuke added.

This time, he was the one who led the way. Jiraiya and Shizune followed behind him as he climbed up the waterfall's adjacent cliff face, noticing how the waterfall itself seemed to dip into the ground in comparison to its edges. The trio's search for clues didn't last long, either; as soon as their eyes fell on the gaping hole in the ground, whose edge intersected with the river that fed Takigakure's obscuring waterfall, they found their answers.

"That...goes down pretty far," Sasuke said.

"Wait, is that-" Shizune began, only for Jiraiya to interrupt her.

"Takigakure, yes." The sage placed his thumb and forefinger over the top of his eyelids, having feared this result. "Buried under who knows how much water and rock. I'd hoped the rumors were baseless, but...I can't shake the feeling that we're following that demon's trail."

"You think he did this?" Shizune asked.

"Do you know anybody else that could, or would?" Jiraiya asked. "Taki was built with extreme safety in mind. Even if I could cut the village's ceiling open and place my strongest explosive seal in it, the best you'd get out of that is an earthquake. This isn't right. Or...I guess there's one nukenin who could do it, if he really wanted to. But why would he bother?"

Across the Elemental Nations, Jiraiya was recognized as one of the world's foremost Fuinjutsu experts. It didn't matter whether it was the demon containment seal that had held the Kyuubi inside of Uzumaki Kushina, his infamous Rakurai seal, or the long-range communication seal that had allowed him to report to the Sandaime Hokage; the tall Sannin was internationally respected. Unfortunately, the Fuinjutsu that Yuurei had learned in the City of the Dead was a far older and more orthodox method than mankind had available to them. Its age in years wasn't measured in decades, centuries, or even millennia—it was counted in millions, and its power completely outstripped anything that modern shinobi could use.

Only Yuurei's paltry education, and the fact that this world had no way to augment it, held him back.


"You're sure I can't convince you to stay?" Mei asked, using her voice for the benefit of the others in the room. If it was only Yuurei, she wouldn't have bothered; telepathy was faster. Standing at the western gate of Kirigakure, she spoke with the allies who'd turned the tide of her rebellion.

"No, I'm convinced. I want off this ride," Fu said, "and I have nothing better to do."

"Y'know...does this mean we completed that nukenin's mission?" Tayuya asked, looking at Yuurei and Yugito. "The one you just kind of killed for fun?"

"Huh...I almost forgot about that. I guess we did?" Yuurei's voice carried across the air, looking at Fu as she stood next to Mei.

[What?] Mei asked.

[Your predecessor authorized a mission to kidnap Fu and bring her to Kirigakure,] the demon explained. Strictly speaking, they'd taken a few extra steps in the process...but the Nanabi Jinchuriki was in Kiri now, and didn't seem eager to leave.

"Anyway...I don't mind the idea of staying, but moving is the best way to stay under the radar. I really don't want my uncle finding out that I'm alive," Yugito said.

Mei nodded to that silent request. Whatever the Sandaime Raikage's relationship with his niece amounted to, if there was even a relationship to speak of, he'd been searching relentlessly for her. While staying in a different hidden village was a fantastic way to conceal herself, it was also unavoidable that Kumogakure's spy network would re-infiltrate Kiri. The best course of action would be to leave before that happened—it would take a long time for Kirigakure to heal from its civil war, and Yugito didn't want to see them plunged into another bloody conflict.

"It won't be much longer," Yuurei replied. "I swore an oath to deliver salvation to Kumogakure."

Nobody present needed to ask what form that "salvation" would take. With shaggy hair falling to his shoulders, Yuurei was prepared to unleash a violent cleansing throughout the mountain village's streets. Politely saying goodbye to Fu as he stepped forward, the blond demon placed his hands on either side of Mei's face before kissing her forehead.

[I'll be waiting for you to return, dear. I won't forgive you if you try to love me and leave me, you know?] Mei's thoughts made their way into Yuurei's mind, making the young Kyuubi smile softly.

[Safety is a quality that's hard to come by,] Yuurei replied. [I'll never forget where I learned what it felt like, or the person who taught me. We'll be back...sooner, rather than later, I hope.]

In the moments before they separated, Mei's arms went beneath Yuurei's shoulders, only to cross around his back in a loose hug. Then, after Yugito and Tayuya also gave their farewells to the two women who would be staying in Kiri, the trio left without looking back. Though Mei felt a slight urge to grieve for the idea that they might have stayed, Fu was nonplussed about the red-eyed demon's departure. And, for their part, Tayuya and Yugito wouldn't stop staring at the back of Yuurei's head as they traveled.

"Oh, for crying out loud," the blond complained.

"This is the second time this has happened. Once was bad enough, for the record, but this is the second time." Tayuya's irritation bled into her voice, an aggravated glare sharpening the line of her jaw.

"Is it the ring? Are you upset that she has a ring?" Yuurei asked. In a near-perfect replica of their departure from Sunagakure, so many months ago, Yugito's open-handed slap almost threatened to cave her master's head in.

"Maybe I am," the former Jinchuriki replied darkly, a dark and predatory smile on her face as Yuurei straightened back up from the blow.

"Mother of...I went to Makai to get your soul back! I literally killed a Shinigami trying to-" Yuurei said, before being interrupted.

"What about me?" Tayuya asked. "I don't remember you doing anything like that for me."

Yuurei could only offer up an exasperated sigh of defeat. What had he gotten himself into? Why had he gotten himself into it? Had he really been given a choice? Maybe Shikamaru had been right, all throughout their years in the academy, as he'd used his energy to complain instead of study.

Women were too troublesome.