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

Defending

Ryuu whistled, sighing in relief and smiling when birds all but flooded out of the trees to sit on and around him, all twittering and chirping excitedly. Beside Ryuu, Fu smiled, having half a dozen birds on her as well.

"I've never understood why birds like you so much," Tenten said, carefully making her way over to them through the birds, who parted for her, a mandarin duck held in her arms.

"Neither have I," Ryuu said. "What's up?"

"We've gotten word back from Lady Tsunade," Tenten said. "She wants us to try and seal the Three-tails for now, then move it to a safe location."

"The Three-tails won't like that," Ryuu said. "He said he'd decide whether or not we could relocate him after we deal with Orochimaru's goons."

"I know," Tenten nodded. "I brought that up but Shizune said it wasn't her call."

Ryuu nodded, lifting his arms, all of the birds besides Tenten's duck, which she had taken a liking to, taking off. "I'll go talk to her."

Fu followed him inside where Kakashi, Yamato, and Kabuto were coming up with a plan alongside Shizune, the other two reinforcements that had come with her and Tenten, Lee and Ino, catching up with Naruto and Sakura respectively.

"Shizune," Ryuu said, the kunoichi looking up at him. "Did they fill you in on my conversation with the three-tails?"

"Yes," Shizune nodded. "I know you promised to deal with Orochimaru's people first, but at this point, we have to make the Three-tails our top priority. It's too dangerous to be left to its own devices. Also, Lady Tsunade is of the mind that you didn't actually speak to the Three-tails, only an illusion. Unless we have hard evidence that it's willing to work with us, we have to assume it won't."

"So she just doesn't believe me then," Ryuu said. "Or Fu."

"It's not that," Shizune said.

"No, it's exactly that," Ryuu said. "We told her we spoke to the Three-tails, she called bullshit and ordered us to seal it against its will anyway."

"Ryuu, calm down," Kakashi said. "Everyone here believes you. That's why we're going to give you the chance to try and convince the Three-tails to help, assuming we get the chance. In the mean time, we need you to help deal with Orochimaru's people, including Guren, if she decides not to help."

"Yes, about that," Shizune said. "Lady Tsunade was not pleased that you took it upon yourself to welcome another of Orochimaru's followers into the Hidden Leaf without at least consulting her first. Koharu and Utatane were...well...Koharu and Utatane about it."

"Yeah, I don't care what those two think," Ryuu said. "I still don't trust them to be innocent in the Uchiha Clan's massacre, so I really don't care if I make them mad or not. As for Guren, if I can save her by bringing her back to the Hidden Leaf so that she doesn't have to die, I'm going to try. Not only would it gain us a powerful ally, it would also gain us valuable intel on Orochimaru and his operations, along with other possible allies."

"That's not your decision!" Shizune snapped, then sighed. "Ryuu, you need to understand your position. Some in the village still aren't convinced that Orochimaru didn't turn you while you were imprisoned, even after all this time."

"You think I'm a spy!?" Ryuu demanded.

"No," Shizune said. "I don't. I believe you. I've seen the kind of man you are. But there are some in the village who are...unsure."

"So it's Tsunade then," Ryuu said. "Koharu and Utatane are one thing, since they don't trust anyone. And Danzo is an ass who needs to crawl in a hole and die. But you're saying Tsunade thinks I might be a spy. Great. I love having the village's trust."

He turned, storming out of the room, slamming the sliding door open so hard it broke free of its track and fell off the building. Fu followed him as he took off into the air, catching up to him just above the clouds, wrapping her arms around him.

"I don't understand!" Ryuu said, tears stinging his eyes. "After everything I've been through, and everything I've suffered, they still don't trust me! What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing," Fu said. "It's their fault for not having any faith in you."

Ryuu sighed. "I thought they trusted me. After everything, I thought I had at least earned that much."

"You've earned more than that," Fu said. "They're just being stubborn fools."

Ryuu remained silent, allowing the tears to fall for a few minutes before pulling back. "I love you Fu. Thank you for always being there for me."

"And I always will," Fu smiled. "You know that."

Ryuu smiled and nodded, kissing her for a few seconds before pulling back. "We should get back to the others. They'll want to have a strategy meeting first, and we need to know what we're doing."

Fu nodded and they descended back toward the building.

Ryuu was not pleased. Despite Kakashi's earlier promise to allow him the oportunity to talk to the Three-tails, he was being kept on a security team under Kakshi's command, on the opposite side of the sealing team from where the Three-tails would be. What's more, Tsunade had sent explicit orders to prioritize defeating Guren if she was spotted. Ryuu's only consolation was that he wasn't the only one fuming about the plan. Fu was as mad as he was, Kakashi was displeased, Naruto was livid, Kabuto and Tayuya were both furious, and even Hinata and Sakura, who were both on the sealing team with Ino and Shizune, were angry. All of them understood what Ryuu was feeling, and all of them understood what he was trying to do. The problem was, Tsunade obviously did not care, and Shizune didn't seem to either.

"Is everyone ready?" Kakashi asked over the radios Tsunade had sent with Shizune.

Everyone began to check in, Ryuu grumbling a response, leaving no question about how he felt about the plan. He watched as the sealing jutsu, the Four Corners Sealing Barrier, rose into the air over the trees, then began to move. He turned, walking out onto the lake after the sealing team. It was quiet. He couldn't sense Guren or the others serving Orochimaru anywhere. However, that didn't mean they weren't there. Ryuu could feel the tension from the rest of his friends, all of them expecting to be attacked at any moment. However, after a few minutes, a massive explosion went off on one side of the lake. That would be Yamato's team, consisting of Tenten, Lee, and Kiba. The plan was for them to lure out Rinji and the other three. If they did, that left only Amachi, Gozu, Guren, and the Three-tails to worry about.

"There you are!" Guren's voice called out as she and Gozu landed on the water behind him, Ryuu turning to them and seeing Yukimaru sitting on Gozu's shoulders.

"Hey there," Yukimaru smiled pleasantly. "I'm Yukimaru."

"Hello Yukimaru," Ryuu smiled. "I'm Ryuu. It's nice to meet you."

"Are you the one that wants to help Guren and me?" Yukimaru asked.

"And Gozu," Ryuu nodded.

Just then, Sai leapt at Guren from the side, only for Ryuu to form the Seal of Confrontation, water exploding upward in front of Sai, throwing him backward and forcing him to stop.

"What are you doing?" Sai asked.

"Guren, what have you decided?" Ryuu asked.

"If you can promise me that Yukimaru will be safe, I'll give you a chance," Guren said.

"Good," Ryuu nodded. "However, there's been a slight complication."

"What kind of complication?" Guren asked, eyes narrowing.

"Apparently, because I was held prisoner by Orochimaru for two years, some of the higherups in the village, including the Hokage, have expressed distrust in whether or not I'm still loyal," Ryuu said. "It may be a bit challenging for you to be welcomed in the village after all. It's not impossible, but it's going to take longer than I thought."

"I see," Guren nodded. "What about Yukimaru?"

"He'll be protected by us regardless," Ryuu said. "He's innocent."

Guren nodded. "That's good enough for me."

Ryuu sighed, turning to Sai. "She's not an enemy, Sai. The only person left to deal with is Amachi."

"Are you sure?" Sai asked.

"Positive," Ryuu said.

Sai watched Guren for a moment before nodding and straightening up. "Very well. I trust you."

"So, you've shown your face at last," Kakashi said, appearing in front of Ryuu and Kakashi.

"Kakashi, she's decided she wants to join the Hidden Leaf Village," Ryuu said. "She's not an enemy."

"Ryuu, you know what Tsunade's orders are," Kakashi said.

"I'm not going to attack someone who isn't an enemy, and I'm not going to let you do it either," Ryuu said. "I don't care if Tsunade doesn't trust me. I don't care if Tsunade doesn't like my decision, but I'm going to save Guren. If necessary, I'll let Inoichi and Ibiki try to figure out if I'm a traitor once we get back. I don't care. But I'm absolutely not going to allow you or any of the others to treat Guren as an enemy when she's chosen to be an ally."

Kakashi watched him for a moment before sighing. "Very well. Then all we have to do is deal with Amachi."

"Right," Ryuu nodded. "I had Naruto and Kabuto tell me what they could about Amachi. Thanks to whatever experiment he was a part of, he can breathe underwater and has strong Water Style Ninjutsu. According to Naruto's foggy, at best, memory, there was also some kind of summoning animal made out of water."

"A Summoning Animal made of water?" Kakashi asked. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Naruto was less than helpful about it either," Ryuu said. "However, he also claimed Chief Toad killed it, so it probably won't be a problem. Just figured I'd give you a heads up."

Kakashi nodded. "I'm heading back to my spot. Sai, you do the same."

Sai nodded and both disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique. However, a moment later, a voice began to laugh.

"So, you turned traitor after all, huh Guren?"

They all spun, seeing Amachi walking out onto the water.

"Gozu, get Yukimaru out of here!" Guren said.

"Right," Gozu nodded, turning and running away quickly.

"You're finished!" Guren snarled, forming hand seals rapidly.

The ground below Amachi flashed and crystal began to rise quickly around him, however, it was barely crawling along compared to how fast it was supposed to be.

"Uh, Guren, isn't that jutsu supposed to be instantaneous?" Ryuu asked.

"It is," Guren nodded, just before the crystal shattered at Amachi's waist, leaving Amachi's lower body intact. "What!?"

"My thanks, Rinji," Amachi smirked as Rinji stepped out of the trees with a pair of bats on his shoulders.

"What did you do!?" Guren asked.

"It's simple," Rinji smirked. "As your crystals are forming, their atoms are vulnerable to ultrasonic frequencies. Meaning that I can shatter them faster than you can form them."

"You think so!?" Guren snarled, forming hand seals. "Jade Crystal Blade!"

A ring of light formed in front of her hand and rose up her arm before disappearing after her elbow, leaving her blade in place, only for the two bats to shriek and the crystal to shatter.

"Easy fix," Ryuu said, handing Guren a pair of kunai. "Handle Rinji while I deal with Amachi."

Guren nodded as Amachi chuckled, dropping his lab coat and beginning to change. His head swelled, going from long and thin to fairly rounded, his hair receded into his head, a fin grew out of the top of his head running backward, his ears sunk into his head and a pair of fins grew from the back corners of his jaw, a pair of feelers with fin-like ends grew from either side of his brow. Fins grew along the backs of his forearms and the outsides of his shins, his skin began to darken and separate into scales, his abdomen, face, and the insides of his arms and legs turning a blueish off-white while the rest of his skin turned to dark green scales, and his fingers and toes grew webbing like a frog's. Ryuu narrowed his eyes.

"Freaky," Ryuu said. "I'm not sure why you'd want to have that ability, but I suppose you are a little less ugly now than you were before."

Amachi narrowed his eyes at him before inhaling slowly. Then, a massive blast of water exploded out of his mouth into Ryuu's chest, hurling him backward. He flipped, landing on his feet, then began to flicker, the next blast passing harmlessly through him before he shot forward. However, on his fourth step, a pair of scaled hands burst out of the water, grabbing his legs and yanking him down under the surface. Ryuu's eyes widened as he saw a second Amachi grinning up at him from below. Then, the first dove in as well, grabbing his arms and biting into his shoulder, his jagged, shark-like teeth sinking deep into his flesh.

Ryuu shouted in pain, moving to punch Amachi, but he couldn't move fast underwater, even with the Body Flicker Technique. With it, he was barely able to move normal speed when he was out of the water. His fist slammed into Amachi's gut, and Amachi grunted in pain, biting down harder. Ryuu again groaned in pain, his head starting to spin from lack of oxygen. He focused, forming a repulsion seal and this time Amachi was sent hurtling backward, his teeth shredding Ryuu's shoulder. Ryuu shouted in pain, blood loss making his head spin even faster. He looked down at the other Amachi just as that Amachi's fist crashed into his nose, hurling him backward. Ryuu flipped backward and struggled to focus, darkness starting to close in on him. Then, he exploded into smoke and a fish shot out of the smoke. Ryuu gasped for breath as much as he could as a fish, his senses sharpening again. Just as he was able to think again, one of the two Amachis appeared in front of him, mouth open wide. Ryuu transformed into an octopus and wrapped his tentacles around him before swinging him around, slamming him into the Amachi chasing him. One of the two burst into a cloud of scales and the other snarled in annoyance before the water around him formed five more Amachi clones. The clones all shot forward and Ryuu began to swipe at them with his tentacles. Most of them avoided them, but he managed to catch one by the ankle and swung him around, slamming him into another, both transforming back to water.

One suddenly bit into the side of Ryuu's head and he shouted in pain, exploding into smoke and transforming back into himself, fortunately without Amachi biting him. He used the Body Flicker Technique to spun, slamming a hook kick into that Amachi's head, destroying that clone as well before the last two each bit into a shoulder, dragging him downward. Ryuu shouted in pain, then slammed a palm strike into each of their diaphragms, making them release him just before the gravity seals he'd placed on them took effect. Then, he began to swim upward with his legs as his shoulders healed from his Instinctive Medical Ninjutsu, as he'd begun to call it. Once they were healed, he used them as well, finally breaking the surface and gasping for breath just in time for Guren to shout in pain, a third Amachi suddenly biting into her shoulder.

Ryuu kicked his legs, using chakra to push off of the water and launched himself out of the water and at them. Amachi spun, hurling several Water Shuriken at him, only for them to pass through Ryuu as he flickered, then solidified, drilling a punch into Amachi's head and slamming him into the ground. As he did, Guren staggered backward past him and Rinji pursued her, only for Ryuu to begin to flicker, an Afterimage Clone stepping out of him and drilling a punch into Rinji's gut, lifting him before flipping forward and slamming an axe kick into his back, blasting him back into the ground, a paralysis seal spreading from his gut instantly. The Afterimage Clone disappeared as Ryuu placed a paralysis seal on Amachi as well, then turned to Guren as she collapsed, suddenly pale with the veins on her neck around her injury darkening. Ryuu swore, catching her before she could hit the ground, and began to form hand seals.

"I'm sorry," Ryuu said just before sending Water Mosquitoes into her wound.

Guren shrieked in agony, writhing and convulsing as the mosquitoes burrowed into her blood vessels, then returned with the poison, falling away off to the side as the water of the lake formed more and more mosquitoes. Finally, Ryuu finished extracting it all and began to heal the damage from the jutsu, the poison, and the bite. After a few minutes, he finished and Guren fell limp, the pain having made her pass out. Ryuu sighed, lifting her into his arms as Fu landed beside him, seeing Rinji and Amachi.

"Are these both the real ones?" Fu asked.

"I'm not sure about Amachi," Ryuu said. "I left two more laying on the bottom of the lake with a Gravity Seal. Rinji, though, yes. He's real."

"Is Guren okay?" Fu asked.

"She'll be fine," Ryuu nodded. "She just needs rest."

He formed a clone who took Guren and took off to find Gozu and Yukimaru, then Ryuu and Fu returned to the others. However, just as they did, Ryuu's prosthetics suddenly began to prickle agonizingly. He stopped, turning slowly, feeling the sensation grow rapidly as he swept his gaze across the land. Then, just as it spiked to agonizing, it also vanished as he stared at the orange spiral mask, his Sharingan meeting his next opponent's.

"You," Ryuu snarled.

"Who is that?" Fu asked.

"Madara Uchiha," Ryuu growled. "The secret leader of the Akatsuki, and also the one who attached my prosthetics, then left Tobi to rehab me."

"We should go and thank him for saving your life, then," Fu said.

"I couldn't agree more," Ryuu nodded.

Both extended their wings, but when they moved to charge, water exploded upward in front of them, forcing both backward. A moment later, they stopped, staring at a construction made entirely of water. It was a huge, shifting tendril of water, a bit bigger than Chief Toad, with two barely-visible depressions where its eyes and mouth would be. Standing on top of it were four Amachis and Rinji.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ryuu growled. "Why are there so many of him? How many clones does this guy have?" He glanced at the shore where they'd left Amachi and Rinji, but both were gone.

"Let's just destroy this thing," Fu said. "Then we'll worry about Amachi and Rinji."

Ryuu nodded and they both began to form hand seals. However, before they could attack, several dozen water tentacles, each about as thick as Ryuu's arm, burst out of the water, wrapping around Ryuu and Fu and dragging them under, dragging them further and further down. Both fought to get free, but the creature was stronger than them. Then, suddenly, a massive blast of pressurized water so filled with chakra that it hurt Ryuu to look at it with his Sharingan shot past them, exploding out of the water and into Amachi's creation, obliterating it in a single blast. The tentacles vanished instantly and Ryuu turned as the Three tails swam under the sealing jutsu and wrapped a tail around Ryuu and Fu, surfacing and lifting them up to the surface. Fog began to spread from it instantly, and the Three-tails, even little more than ten meters from them, became a silhouette. Then, a young Ryuu formed in front of them, once again holding a stuffed version of the Tailed Beast floating behind them.

"The Akatsuki has found me," the Three-tails said through the child. "We've run out of time."

"We're trying to seal you now so that we can move you to a safe location," Ryuu said.

"There is only one place that is safe," the Three-tails said. "However, only my soul can go there, with a small amount of chakra, which I can rebuild over time."

"What are you talking about?" Ryuu asked.

"However, in order to do this without anyone knowing the difference, I'll have to leave my body behind," the Three-tails said. "Doing so will send it on a rampage. You won't be able to seal my body."

"Where are you sending your soul?" Ryuu asked.

"I am entrusting it to your protection," the Three-tails said. "I intend to make you my Jinchuriki. However, leaving behind my body as I am, I'll be too weak for you to utilize the Tailed Beast Cloak or benefit from having my chakra mixing with yours. At least until I can rebuild my strength."

"But, if you do this, you won't be able to be free," Ryuu said. "You'll be trapped inside of me."

"Better someone innocent and peaceful like you than someone like the Akatsuki," the Three-tails said. "Now, hold still and I'll apply the seal."

"Which?" Ryuu asked.

"One that my last Jinchuriki, Yagura Karatachi, created for my future Jinchuriki, allowing them complete control over my chakra," the Three-tails said. "I have modified it a bit, however, so that I can choose when to allow you to use it, but when I do, you'll be able to use the Tailed Beast Cloak freely without it harming your body, like Fu does. However, as I said before, it will be a long time before that can happen."

Suddenly, the Three-tails' massive hand, which was bigger around than Ryuu was tall, reached out of the fog, pressing its index finger's claw to Ryuu's chest over his heart. The spot shone for a moment before the hand retracted and the child faded. Ryuu felt an odd tickling sensation in the back of his mind for a moment before it faded. His skin itched for several seconds, and then it was over. The fog began to thin and Ryuu swallowed hard as bloodlust began to permeate the air rapidly.

"We need to back up," Ryuu said.

Fu nodded and both shot into the air over the fog, Ryuu inhaling.

"Get back!" Ryuu shouted. "The Three-tails is about to go out of-"

A massive hand made of water flashed up out of the fog, slamming into both of them and sending them exploding into the barrier Hinata and the others were still holing. It deformed inward before Ino lost control and the barrier faded, Ryuu and Fu splashing down in the water. They both surfaced instantly, only for a massive hand of water to explode up from beneath all six of the people gathered there, raising them into the water before Amachi's water creation rose out of the water before them, one Amachi standing on its head.

"I don't know what you did there, but I'm going to repay you for it," Amachi snarled. "That attack really hurt."

Ryuu and Fu both inhaled instantly, then each exhaled a Searing Migraine. However, Amachi's creation roared and a massive flood of water exploded out of it, hitting their two jutsus and extinguishing them, slamming into Amachi's six captives for several seconds before clearing, leaving them all sputtering and coughing.

"Nice try," Amachi smirked. "Any last words?"

"Yeah," Ryuu said. "Look up."

Amachi raised an eyebrow and looked up, only for his mouth to fall open. Above him was a massive crawfish-like tail was swinging downward, driving the spikes on the end down into the water creation. Amachi had barely managed to avoid it, but as the tail once again obliterated the creature, the hands holding Ryuu and the others vanished and Ryuu formed a clone for everyone, grabbing them and fleeing into the air over the tsunami the Three-tails had caused. Amachi managed to avoid it as well, but just as he landed on the surface of the water again, another tail swept around at him out of what little remained of the fog, slamming into him and sending him spinning away, probably killing him.

"What do we do?" Fu asked.

"I don't know," Ryuu said. "We can't actually hurt the thing. It's body's too hard."

"Aim for my eye," a misleadingly high-pitched male voice spoke in Ryuu's head suddenly.

"The eye?" Ryuu blinked. "Wait, is this you?"

"Is what who?" Shizune asked.

"My name's Isobu," the voice said. "But yes, I'm the Three-tails. Anyway, my eye is my weak point. Also, you don't have to speak for me to hear you. I can hear your thoughts now."

"Fu, we're going to fight him," Ryuu said. "Aim for the eye."

Fu nodded as the fog finished clearing, Isobu's body turning and roaring up at them. At the same time, Kakashi and the others landed off to the side, Ryuu and Fu landing with them.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked.

"Long story," Ryuu said. "Short version, Fu and I are going to fight him. I'll explain everything after."

"I'll help," Naruto said.

"Alright," Ryuu nodded. "The eye is the weak point."

Naruto nodded and they turned, heading out to face the Isobu's body while everyone else fled to a safe distance, as per Kakashi's orders. Ryuu took a deep breath, glancing at Fu, who nodded, and both began to form hand seals rapidly.

"Fire Style, Majestic Demolisher Flame!"

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