Hello readers and welcome to the next chapter. Now before I begin I have to mention that I had a nice surprise recently. I actually had one of you readers send me a PM that was actually really nice to see. Not to mention they said that they may try to create their own stories. Something that I am happy to hear and support. After all for me writing is a really good hobby to have simply because you keep your mind active through creativity. Anyways here is the story.

Chapter 54

~Training Field~

"How are you holding up Yamato?" Kakashi asks his friend who seemed to be even more pale than normal.

"I'm fine." Yamato tells him clearly feeling some stress from holding up his jutsu again. For as soon as Naruto got back he was raring to go for another session of training. Thankfully though they managed to talk him out of it just enough that they were able to get some sleep. Course that only was until the sun started rising for as soon as the first rays of sunlight woke him up he quickly woke them up due to it being 'morning'. Since then they spent several more hours watching the blond train with even more clones clearly determined to get this jutsu to work. They didn't know why but this increased enthusiasm was clearly putting a lot of stress on Yamato. Something Kakashi yet again felt bad for seeing as the man was the only one able to use the justsu and he could only be the moral support/spotter.

"I NEED to get this jutsu down. If this really is going to be my trump card against those bastards then I need to be able to use it. I mean if they were able to kill Asuma-san then I need to make sure that I have something that can kill those bastards….for Ino-chan and Konohamaru." Naruto thought determined to have this jutsu in his 'pocket' for when he hunted down the bastards that caused his precious people so much pain. And while he knew he was strong even he didn't expect to be able to face two S class ninja especially when they were dangerous enough to take out one of the villages strongest. With that in mind Naruto refocused and fully planned on training all day long…well as long as Yamato was able to hold up for.

~Kurenai's home~

"Okay Shikamaru you can do this. You were the leader of the team meaning you had to be the one to do this." Shikamaru thought. For he was one of the few people in the village that actually knew of the fact that Asuma was actually off the market. For while he may not have been a widely hated ninja such as Minato Namikaze he still was well known. Not to mention the fact that Kurenai wanted nothing to do with the publicity she would get from dating one of the main members of the Sarutobi clan.

So, instead of letting someone else know to tell her while he grieved he forced himself to come to her house and tell her himself thinking that it was his duty. With that in mind he steeled his nerves as much as he could and knocked on the door.

"Hello" Kurenai said as she opened the door. "Oh, Shikamaru-kun what can I do for you?" She asked him with a small smile.

"Hey Kurenai-san do you mind if I come in?" Shikamaru asked trying his hardest to not sound too depressed.

"Sure.." She told him already sensing something is wrong. Still he walked into the home and saw that both Anko and Hinata sitting in the livening room. "So, what's wrong Shikamaru?"

"Umm would it be possible to speak to you alone?" Shikamaru asked feeling a bit awkward. She simply shrugged and went into the kitchen with Shikamaru following while trying to ignore the two girls sitting there looking curiously at him.

"Well at least she has the two people that can comfort her…" Shikamaru thought knowing that they were two of the girls that spent the most time with her. He then refocused on Kurenai as he reached the kitchen.

"Kurenai…I felt I had to be the one to tell you this. Recently my team went on a mission that ended up going bad. Asuma-sensei tried his hardest to keep us all safe but I am sorry to say that…that he didn't make it." Shikamaru told her with a few tears escaping his eyes as well. He then watched sadly as Kurenai quickly processed what he told her and first looked horrified then began to cry as well.

"Asuma-kun d-died." She mumbled trying her hardest to force herself to realize that he wasn't coming back to her. After all while they all knew that it was quite possible and tried to plan for it is a lot different when it actually happens to you. While she began to process this Shikamaru quickly gave her a hug trying to comfort the woman as much as he could.

"I am sorry Kurenai." He told her as she began to cry. Course at this point Anko and Hinata came rushing into the room as well to see why their friend was crying.

"H-he never will be able to see his child." Kurenai mutters out feeling even more depressed while also shocking Shikamaru.

"S-She's pregnant! A-and because of us not being able to help him properly he will never get to see their birth." He processed partially freezing in shock due to this. Meanwhile Hinata quickly rushed towards them and tried to comfort Kurenai as well while accidentally pushing Shikamaru a bit out of the way. Something that he wasn't complaining about seeing as he really had couldn't think of any way to help at the moment besides being there. Though he nearly jumped when he felt a hand get placed on his shoulder. So, he quickly glanced behind him and saw Anko looking at him with an expression he never thought he would see on her face.

"Don't blame yourself for this gaki, it happens…now why don't you go try and get some support for yourself. I know you don't want to be anywhere around here after having to be the news bringer." She told him kindly only getting a nod in return. With that being said he walked towards the door planning to do just that. He only took the time to take a quick glance behind him seeing Anko join HInata in trying to comfort Kurenai.

"What do you know she actually does have a soft side" Shikamaru thinks partially surprised but thankful seeing as he knew that the two girls would be able to support Kurenai more than he could at the moment. Though he did make a mental note to make sure he helped her in the future take care of the child seeing as his mentor now could not.

~Uchiha District~

"Sir what exactly are we looking for?" A man wearing the normal Konoha chunin attire.

"We are looking for anything that could help Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto told the man not even bothering to look back at the man. He currently was wearing a set of normal Anbu armor and a mask from one of the few he killed to make sure that they wouldn't be interrupted for at least a while. "Now keep looking around at let me know if that eye picks anything up." He ordered the man beside him. For said man currently had one sharingan eye of the few they managed to collect as extra payment for helping Danzo. An eye that they were able to mutate enough that they now believed it would be more than capable of seeing any secrets the compound held.

"Yes sir. I won't let you down!" the man told him then slowly looked at each and every inch of the compound. "And maybe when we find something Kabuto-sama will tell Orochimaru-sama and I will get a reward. Or better yet to maybe even be their partners." The man thought happily hoping all the pain he went through was worth it. After all the mutation process they put both him and the eye through were painful and didn't often involve any pain control other than being knocked out.

"Hurry up and find something here already. I have been around you for only a few days now and I am already sick of not only your personality but also by how much of a brown noser you are…I think I will offer to personally be the one to dispose of you when his usefulness is done." Kabuto thought already planning several different deaths for the man…after slowly collecting the eye back of course.

He then began to think about the whole reason they were here in the first place knowing that anything he walked by in the compound wouldn't be found by a regular pair of eyes.

*Flash Back; Orochimaru's base*

"Orochimaru-sama your body is beginning to deteriorate I think now would be the best time for you to take your new body. May I suggest Sasuke-kun? His training has paid off and made him one of the best options we have for you." Kabuto told him.

"Now, now Kaabuto-kun we can't be too hasty when it comes to Sasuke-kun. His genetics and thought process is currently leading towards what could end up being the start of me having an endless amount of perfect vessels." Orochimaru told him with an evil smirk. "After all now that he feels he is getting to be strong enough to face his brother he is beginning to think about restarting his clan. So, we should simply give him some of our strong women and preferably some decent bloodline users. Then after a few years I will hopefully have a wide selection of Uchiha to pick from with even more amazing genes." He told him with a smile.

"Okay Lord Orochimaru. I will prepare one of your other options then. Though for your plan to work we need an idea to let you take over Uchihas easier seeing as what happened when you tried to take over Itachi.

"Hmm, maybe you are right." Orochimaru muttered looking over at a jar that currently contained four eyes that all had the basic level of the sharingan active. "I guess it is time for us to prep another look to see if we can find any treasures in Konoha." He told him confusing Kabuto but he still just bowed to his master before leaving to prep someone for the transfer.

*Flash back end*

It turned out that Orochimaru always suspected that the Uchiha were hiding things away in their clan compound but was never able to check due to not only the guards there. So, needless to say soon after the massacre happened he quickly sent out his teams to search every inch of it. A plan that gave him several scrolls on various fighting styles and a lot of jutsu but nothing really specific to the clan. So, he began to try and figure out how they hid their jutsu seeing as he knew they had at least a few clan techniques. So, he eventually just assumed that there must be a secret in their eyes themselves so he took some 'extra' payment from Danzo for his modifications so that he could check if this was the case.

All of which lead to Kabuto's current predicament of watching his 'scanner' go around the compound while he kept an eye out for any trouble. A scan that at the current moment had no real results other than wasting their time. Eventually thought they found themselves in one of the buildings and Kabuto was actually the one that found a hidden panel in the ground that was sealed shut. A seal he quickly destroyed and called over his teammate.

"What do you need Kabuto-sama?" the man asked after rushing over as fast as he could.

"Check this tunnel and see what you find." Kabuto tells the man who salutes him and heads down the tunnel without even stopping to worry about any traps.

*sigh* "Well I suppose if this idiot gets himself killed I will have a pretty clear path to collect his eye afterword." Kabuto thought deciding to not care about the high chance that his idiotic teammate would die.

"Sir come down here!" the man yelled up the tunnel making his voice echo.

"Well I guess he didn't die." Kabuto muttered before walking down the tunnel slowly while making sure to keep a look out for traps. Partially thinking that it was only dumb luck that kept his scanner alive. Still when he made it to the end he was partially shocked at what they found. For the tunnel seemed to have led to a stone that to him had a bunch of jumbled up marks. "Please tell me you can read this and you didn't make me come all the way down here just to see the stone." Kabuto told the man who nodded clearly proud of this fact.

"Well then read it out for me." He told the man pulling out a scroll. He then quickly wrote down each and every word the man said keeping it is as neat as possible while still making sure to keep the exact wording just in case it had a double meaning or code. He even went as far as showing his incompetent teammate just to make sure the symbols all matched up. "Okay now were you able to read this entire stone or is there more you can't read?"

"I could read most of it but missed this tiny part here." The man told him making Kabuto nod.

"Okay, good job. Now let's get out of here before anyone finds us." Kabuto orders the man and they rush out of the compound and the village as fast as they could while remaining hidden from the sensors.

"Yes I did it! I am sure that Lord Orchimaru will praise me for brining such great news!" The man thought with a mental smile.

"Thank kami this mission is over. Now hopefully we can use this information to further our plans… and hopefully be able to take care of our biggest problems as well." Kabuto thought as they sped back towards their base.

+Several Hours later+

"Lord Orchimaru, Kabuto-sama has just arrived from his mission." A random sound ninja told Orochimaru who smirked.

"Bring them in." he ordered getting a simple nod. A few minutes later Kabuto came in with his teammate who clearly was excited to inform him what they found. Course before he could say a word Kabuto closed the door securely and activated a silence seal.

"Lord Orochimaru we have come back from our mission with great news." Kabuto's teammate tells him with a smile. "Through a secret passage in the compound there was a stone that only I could read. Don't worry though we have written down everything it said." He explained with pride in his voice.

"Ah good to hear; show me." Orochimaru told them and Kabuto calmly walked up and handed him the paper. They then stood there as he slowly read over the note. "Ah, finally we have the secrets we need to progress. Kabuto prep a secure study for us to begin to work on a seal to counteract these jutsu" Orochimaru told him clearly excited for his plan to begin to work. "Oh, and I think it would be wise to make sure we don't have many people who know these jutsu before we can fight them." Orochimaru told him with a quick glance at Kabuto's teammate which was all the hint Kabuto needed to gain a sinister smirk as well.

"Wait what!?" his teammate asked shocked. Course he didn't get to question it for long seeing as Kabuto quickly decapitated him with a chakra scalpel. His body then fell to the ground and quickly began to create a pool of blood while his head rolled a bit away from the body.

"Now Kabuto-kun make sure we don't lose that eye. We only have so many of those and we do know that it was mutated enough to be a perfect specimen." Orchimaru told him before walking out of the room ready to work. Kabuto followed a few minutes after leaving the body where it was for a random grunt to clean up seeing as they got all that was important.

"Soon my plans will be ready to proceed. Watch out Akatsuki you are first." Orochimaru thought with a wide smile thinking of how he would kill each of the members that have been trying to hunt him down ever since his failed body possession of Itachi.

+Next Day; Orochimaru's Base+

After working a long night with Orochimaru on the things they found in the Uchiha compound. He of course was tired but he still had a job to do. With that in mind he walked through the dark base to a jail cell.

"Good morning Akaru-san how are you doing today?" Kabuto asked the man with a small smile. Course the man just spat in Kabuto's direction.

"Fuck you and the rest of your damn minions." The man growled. Said man was a rather plain looking person with dark brown hair and black eyes. He also was wearing a mostly red uniform and had a headband that seemed to have two stone like marks on it. Currently though his uniform wasn't in the best of shape with several cuts and blood stains. Course the man inside of the clothing also seemed to be pretty injured as well. He currently even had a broken nose from a blow that hit him hard enough to knock him out.

"I will be sure to tell them of your displeasure." Kabuto clearly lied to the man with a smirk knowing he was getting under the man's skin. "But I promise that your trip here was needed…both for us and for you." Kabuto adds.

"Why the hell would I need to be here. Especially after your damn lackeys KNOCKED ME OUT!" The man yelled as he looked up at Kabuto on his seat on the floor. Course said man would have gotten up to be right in Kabuto's face if he wasn't chained to the wall.

"Heh, well we heard from our spies that your days in your village were numbered anyways. After all that old man of a kage finally realized a certain someone's involvement with trying to sell off secrets for an 'easy' life." Kabuto told the man who paled a little bit.

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked Kabuto trying to cover up his reaction.

"Nothing that affects you here. In fact I came here with a proposition." Kabuto told him with the light of a light near him reflecting off his glasses. "Come with me and help with a…study we are preforming and we will let you join our ranks. Needless to say this also means that you would have protection against any ninja that come for you." Kabuto suggest. After which Akaru sat for a moment thinking quietly before sighing and looking up to Kabuto.

"You have a deal." He told Kabuto knowing that he really didn't have a choice seeing as he doubted that they would just let him go anyways.

"Good to hear." Kabuto tells him before grabbing a key from his pocket and unlocking the cell door. He then walked slowly to the man and quickly attached a seal to the back of his neck. Finally after the seal was activated he freed Akaru from his shackles with conveniently the same key as the cell door. "Now I have sealed off your chakra for the time being simply for safety reasons. I promise you that as soon as the study is ready for you it will be removed. Now if you would follow me." Kabuto told the man before beginning to walk away from him not even caring that this left he back exposed. After all he could easily free himself from anything using a few hits from a chakra scalpel.

A preparation that turned out to be unnecessary as Akaru knew he was pretty much screwed no matter what he tried. Instead he just quietly followed Kabuto until they finally reached a simple room that basically had two tables. One big enough for any man to lay on that had straps installed. The other which was much smaller and held a syringe of something and several kunai. "What the hell?" Akaru muttered already with his danger senses maxed out.

"Now would you please take a seat on the table." Kabuto told the man after watching a waiting person walked in that looked almost to be a nurse of some sort.

"I am gonna regret this I just know it…but what can I do otherwise." Akaru thought with a frown as he laid down on the cold table. The nurse then strapped him tightly onto the table.

"And as promised…" Kabuto told the man taking the seal of his neck. "Now don't worry this will only take a little bit." He told the man as he walked back out of the room. "Do it." He simply told the nurse before finally shutting the door tightly behind himself.

"Wait what are we doing?" Akaru asked worried only to be ignored. Instead the nurse simply grabbed the syringe and stabbed it into his neck as he while he pleaded with her not to. She then calmly walked to the same door Kabuto went through and left as well. In fact the last thing she heard before the door sealed with Akaru already beginning to scream in pain.

"What is the current suspected success rate of the test?" Kabuto asked the girl while they waited just outside the room for the yelling to stop.

"Sir with the recent progress research team 8a has made with the formula we have an estimated thirty percent chance of the formula changing Akaru Harama. A low leveled jonin from Iwa." She told Kabuto respectfully.

"So, we have managed to up the chance a decent bit…still I imagine it still has some more room for improvement. Make sure the all teams continue their studies." Kabuto told her just before the final yell came to an end. "Oh, good he has finally stopped." After he said this he nodded to the girl who walked back to the door and walked into the room.

"W-wait stop!" She yelled out in fear before Kabuto heard a loud thud Akaru then walked out of the room looking zombified. Said 'zombie' seemed to get ready to attack Kabuto as well.

"Stop." Kabuto ordered the zombie who did just that. *sigh* "Now what am I going to do with you? Do you know how hard it is to find help willing to come help us with our research?" he asked the man who stood there without any emotion or anything showing that he even heard Kabuto. "Still it's nice to see that you beat the odds. Now I welcome you to the village." Kabuto told the man with a sadistic smirk knowing that this was NOT what the man thought of when he told him that he would join the village.

"So, it is clear that we are quickly pushing through the first problem our chemical has. Chakra now isn't able to stop as much of the solution. Next problem getting them able to use at least some jutsu if at all possible." Kabuto thought happily. "Watch out world for soon enough we will have an army to face you all. And unlike your people our soldiers not only are loyal but will never tire." He then began to chuckle not even bothering to look into the room Akaru still stood in front of. After all his test was done and one of the more useless workers would eventually try to use the room and have to clean it up in order to do so…just one of the joys of being pretty much the head honcho.

Hello readers I am gonna end this here for now. I really just wanted to focus more on the 'evil' people to show the plans that are in the works so to speak. Next episode I plan to have at least the battle between the 'undead duo' and Konoha. Now as a warning it will be a lot like how it is seen in the anime though probably with some changes because let us be honest. That fight while also showing a bit of Shikamaru's strategies was mainly to show off Naruto's best move of that point. A move that was super impressive to all who saw it but had some major drawbacks to the user making it not as OP….until later on when he can pop them out like candy. Anyways enough of me I will leave all you readers to have a nice day and weekend Ja Ne.