I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Imprisoned

Ryuu sighed as he sat in the prison cell silently, Fu in the cell to his left, and Kakashi to his right. All three bore chakra suppression seals, and the cells were reinforced with half a dozen seals, so Ryuu wasn't breaking out on his own, at least, not without time. Not that it mattered. Tobi could get in or out easily, as he had shortly after they had been locked in the cells. Ryuu had then sent Tobi to get Tsunade and make sure the Akatsuki didn't try anything while she was on the way. Tobi had asked if Ryuu wanted him to tell her what happened, but Ryuu assured him that Yomo would pass along the message via a seal that recorded everything the bird saw and when released turned it into writing on a scroll. Or at least, the short version of it. Instead of a play-by-play of their fight, they would see something closer to "Hidan and Kakuzu had captured a Jinchuriki. Ryuu and Sasuke fought them. Zetsu arrived. Hidan and Kakuzu escaped while Zetsu fought them. Zetsu fled." It had taken Ryuu a while to figure out how to get the seal to work, and had yet to find an actual reason to use it. But, apparently, that time had finally come.

"So, know any good ways to pass the time?" Ryuu finally asked.

"I do, but it's kind of hard to manage from a different cell," Fu said halfheartedly, still disgruntled that the Raikage had refused to let her and Ryuu share a cell, even with extra chakra suppressors.

"That's alright," Ryuu said. "I wouldn't want to risk Kakashi spying anyway."

"I resent that remark," Kakashi said calmly. "If you want, I could lone you one of my books."

"I'll pass on the porn, thanks," Ryuu said. "I'm not that bored yet."

He tilted his head back against the wall and bit his left thumb, wiping some blood on a seal under his left sleeve. A moment later, the seal released a small rubber ball. He smiled. A chakra-free seal was the perfect place to hide the ball for exactly this situation. Of course, he had less innocent items in that seal as well, as well as several others, but the ball was all he wanted right now. He tossed it out through the bars, the ball bouncing off the floor, the wall, and the ceiling before slipping between the bars of Fu's cell. After a moment, it left the cell again repeating its bunces and entering Kakashi's cell. After another moment, Kakashi sent it to Ryuu. And so, they began to play a game of trick pass, getting more and more creative as they continued. After a few hours of this, the door opened and A stepped in, catching the ball just before it could get into Ryuu's cell, crushing it.

"Now that was just rude," Ryuu said.

"Where did you get this ball?" A demanded.

"Prison wallet," Ryuu said.

A growled in rage before slamming a fist into the cell. "What the hell are you all doing here!? Did Tsunade really expect us to not arrest her spies the moment they arrived!?"

"We're not spies," Ryuu said calmly. "We're only here because we were bringing your Jinchuriki back to you, where she's safe. We meant no harm and harbored no ill will."

"Stop lying to me!" A raged.

"I'm not lying," Ryuu said calmly.

A turned, ripping Fu's cell door open and grabbing her by the throat, yanking her out of the cell and slamming her into the wall opposite Ryuu's cell, glaring at Ryuu. "Tell me what you're doing here, now! Tell me or I swear I'll crush her throat!"

Ryuu stood slowly, the room seeming to darken as Ryuu's Sharingan activated, venom, malice, and hatred dripping from his perfectly even voice as he spoke. "Lord Raikage, I am going to say this only once. You are making a terrible mistake right now. If you do not wish to believe that we are here peacefully, that is fine. But if you harm Fu in any way, you will regret it, deeply. Partly because Fu is one of Konoha's Jinchuriki, and harming her will result in all out war. But even before that, and believe me when I warn you not to test me on this, if you hurt Fu, in any way, I will end you in the most painful way you can possibly imagine. I will rip your fingers off and drive them into your eyes, then I will rip you intestines out and shove them into your mouth. I will make you choke to death on your own entrails, and while you lay on the ground, feeling your life slip away, you will watch as I raze this village to the ground and slaughter everyone you hold dear. Now, get your hands off of my girlfriend."

A stared at him, eyes wide with shock and a hint of fear. As Ryuu had been speaking, he had been using Genjutsu to show Raikage visions of exactly what he was saying, having removed his chakra seals the moment A had opened Fu's cell. After a moment, A lowered Fu to the ground, Fu quickly retreating into her cell and closing the door.

"Seal his chakra again," A said. "And if anyone touches that girl, I'm going to punish them personally. We don't need to start a war with Konoha right now, nor do we need a Jinchuriki showdown in our village right now."

The other shinobi nodded, two of them entering Ryuu's cell and placing chakra disruption seals on him again, Ryuu's eyes not leaving A. Finally, A left with the other shinobi and Ryuu knelt in the center of his cell, eyes fixed on the wall across from his cell, senses extended, searching the village. Finally, he found him. Kumogakure's second, and vastly more powerful Jinchuriki. The Eight-tails' Jinchuriki. He was on the far side of the village, but Ryuu could tell he was watching the prison. Escape would be problematic, if it came to that.

"Are you alright Fu?" Ryuu asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Fu said. "Are you okay? Your Murderous Intent was suffocating for a minute."

"I'm fine," Ryuu said. "I was just giving a show of dominance to repay him for the one he gave when we arrived, as well as ensuring he didn't hurt you."

After a moment a rubber ball like the one A had destroyed bounced out of Fu's cell and into Ryuu's, Ryuu chuckling and catching it, the three of them continuing their game. Finally, after several hours of the game, which eventually had gotten so involved that Ryuu had bounced the ball off of each of Fu's bars once before making it go into Kakashi's cell, all in one go, the door opened and Ryuu caught the ball, spinning it on one finger as A walked over, stopping and staring at the ball with a death glare for several long seconds.

"I hate you," A grumbled, stepping out of the way.

Tsunade stepped into view and Ryuu tossed the ball into the air, standing and catching it, walking over to her.

"Tell me you have some good news," Ryuu said.

"Well, yes and no," Tsunade said. "They've agreed to release Fu, since she's a Jinchuriki, and Kakashi since he's one of my most trusted advisors. You have to stay for a bit longer."

"Until?" Ryuu asked.

"If Yugito wakes up and confirms your story about you saving her, we'll release you," A said.

"She was unconscious," Ryuu said. "At most she'll be able to confirm that she was defeated by the Akatsuki."

"That'll be enough," A said. "If she confirms that she was defeated, and her story about which Akatsuki she fought matches yours, we'll release you. Which brings me to my next question. What can you tell me about the Akatsuki members you fought?"

"One has silver hair slicked back, an pen robe, fights with a red, three-bladed scythe and is literally immortal," Ryuu said. "His name's Hidan. The other is Kakuzu. He's got tanned skin, hardens it to attack with taijutsu, and controls black cords both attached to his body and separately, able to form four puppets with them, each with a mask, and each capable of firing extremely powerful jutsus of each element. He has a mask for Lightning, Fire, Wind, and Water. His main body is what primarily uses Earth Style ninjutsu, like his ability to harden."

"I see," A nodded. "You had better hope Yugito says the same thing."

Ryuu nodded and A nodded to a Kumo shinobi who quickly released Kakashi and Fu. Fu walked over to Ryuu and leaned against the bars, resting her head against his.

"I'll see you soon," Fu said.

"Be careful," Ryuu said. "Keep an eye out for Danzo or his goons, tell Tobi that he's under standing orders to protect you from Zetsu, don't let anyone take over Konoha while we're away."

"I promise not to let Naruto and Hinata get together until you get back either," Fu said. "I know you want to be there to mess with Naruto whenever he finally smartens up."

Ryuu smiled and kissed her. "You know me so well."

"Enough already," A snarled. "Time to go."

Ryuu glared at him for a moment before kissing Fu again before sighing. "I'll be home soon. I promise."

"You'd better," Fu said, stepping away from the bars.

Then, she and the others walked out and Ryuu sat down, beginning to bounce the ball for himself, only to find that it simply served to remind him that he was alone now. He sighed, spinning the ball on one finger again for a while before setting it down and leaning his head back against the wall. He began to drift in and out of sleep, never for long, he didn't think, but enough that time began to pass quickly. By the time A showed up again, he was pretty sure it had been a couple of days.

"Wake up!" A snapped, opening the cell. "Yugito wants to speak with you."

Ryuu nodded and stood, dusting himself off and stepping out of the cell, one of the shinobi putting him in a pair of shackles attached to a metal belt, keeping his arms straight and at an uncomfortable angle behind himself. Then, they walked him through the prison to the outside, Ryuu seeing it was dark. They led him to the hospital and through it to a room where the Jinchuriki, Yugito, was lying in a bed, hair hanging loose behind her and a cold expression on her face as Ryuu walked into the room.

"Why is he in restraints?" Yugito asked.

"I don't trust him," A said. "He's dangerous, and he's to strong to allow him to roam around free."

Yugito sighed. "As you wish, Lord Raikage. With your permission, I'd like to speak with him alone."

A nodded after a moment and left, closing the door behind himself. Yugito gestured Ryuu over and he walked over, Yugito having him turn around before he felt his cuffs click open. He looked back and saw her right index fingernail had grown into a claw, though it was retracting.

"The Two-tailed Monster Cat, Matatabi," Ryuu said, bowing. "It's an honor to meet you. And it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Yugito. Properly, at least."

"You're Ryuu," Yugito said, sounding as though she was appraising him. "You're not quite what I was expecting. When that girl told me you had saved me from those two freaks, and that you were fighting them, I was expecting someone..."

"Older?" Ryuu asked. "Bigger? More impressive."

"Maybe not more impressive," Yugito said. "Out of anyone, a Jinchuriki understands that you can't judge a person on appearances. But, yeah, older. I thank you for saving my life, but I hope you'll forgive me for saying that you're not like anyone else I know. Even in Kumogakure, where us Jinchuriki are respected and welcomed, I don't know that there's anyone that would call meeting one an honor. Especially not if the honor is because of the Tailed Beast."

"Well, as you said, I'm not like other people," Ryuu said. "I'm dating the Seven-tails Jinchuriki."

Yugito's mouth actually fell open at that. "You're...the green-haired girl?"

"Yeah," Ryuu nodded. "Fu."

Yugito nodded, smiling. "I'm glad she was able to meet someone like you. Even here, the thought of being involved with a Jinchuriki is a foreign and frowned upon concept. We're not supposed to be close with anyone that way. We're weapons of the village."

"I'm sensing that you didn't follow that rule well," Ryuu said.

"No," Yugito smiled. "There's someone. Killer B. He's the only person to have ever truly accepted me."

"Good for you," Ryuu said. "Assuming he feels the same, I'm glad I could bring you back to him."

"He does," Yugito smiled. "A would punish us both severely if he knew, but we don't care. B will want to thank you in person after he finally finds out what happened. You should expect him to show up at your village."

"Good to know," Ryuu nodded. "Do you know if A is going to release me?"

"I told him about the two Jinchuriki I fought," Yugito said. "He didn't seem pleased, but I assume that's because my description matched your own."

"One with a scythe, one with black cords?" Ryuu asked. "Both seemingly immortal?"

"That's the one," Yugito nodded. "A is nothing if not honorable. He'll release you. And whether he wants to show it or not, he really is grateful to you for saving me. He's a bit rough, but he's a good man over all. He truly cares about his village and everyone in it, even us Jinchuriki."

Ryuu nodded. "Make sure to warn the other Jinchuriki to be careful. The two you fought were a couple of the trickiest to keep down, but they were far from the most dangerous. More powerful ones will be sent to succeed where the last failed. If you'll allow it, I can give you all my accumulated knowledge of the Akatsuki and all my memories of fighting them."

"How?" Yugito asked.

Ryuu deactivated the chakra disrupters and activated his Sharingan. Yugito's eyebrow rose but she nodded. He nodded as well and used a genjutsu to transfer the memories, making sure to keep anything overly personal out of them. As he finished, Yugito was staring at his arm.

"You payed a heavy price for that knowledge," Yugito said quietly, borderline reverently.

"I payed a heavy price for Fu," Ryuu said. "I'd give up everything for her."

Yugito nodded. "And this Tobi..."

"He's trust-worthy," Ryuu said. "He defended you when Zetsu came after you."

Yugito nodded. "Do you mind?"

Ryuu hesitated, wincing, but held out his hand, Yugito running her fingers over his palm for a moment, staring at his hand.

"It's smoother than I was expecting," Yugito said. "I was expecting something like elephant skin, or an eraser."

Ryuu pulled his hand back, resisting the urge to cover it with his other hand. "I should get going."

Yugito nodded and Ryuu turned, allowing her to restrain his arms again. Then, she pressed her call button and A walked in, leading Ryuu to the edge of the village and removing the restraints.

"I assume you can find your way back on your own," A growled.

"Thank you for keeping your word, and for not harming Fu," Ryuu said. "Hopefully if we ever meet again, it's under better circumstances."

A nodded and Ryuu turned, extending his wings and glancing behind him, seeing A staring at them in surprise, and the shinobi behind him in a mixture of awe and wonderment. Then, he grinned and took off, speeding away from the village and back toward his own.

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