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Recruitment
Ryuu sighed as he watched Naruto sitting in front of the waterfall. It was the first step to learning to subjugate Kurama. Naruto had to overcome the darkness in his heart in a sort of Genjutsu-like illusion, from what Ryuu understood. Thanks to Isobu's cooperation with Ryuu, and similarly Fu's friendship with Chomei, neither had to undergo the training, leaving them free to train themselves.
"Are you ready?" Itachi asked.
"I'll be honest," Ryuu said. "Probably not. You're going to obliterate us."
Itachi chuckled as they left the island to the water nearby where Sasuke was waiting, Ryuu joining Sasuke against Itachi.
"Remember," Ryuu said. "No actual attempts to kill, you two can't use each other's vision, and no Totsuka Blade."
"And you can't use your Mangekyo Sharingan for anything other than Susanoo," Itachi said.
"This fight's going to last days," Sasuke said.
"Don't sell your brother short," Ryuu said. "He'll win within twenty-four hours."
Sasuke snorted in amusement before all three exploded into motion with no warning, Ryuu's tanto and Sasuke's chokuto clashing with a pair of Itachi's kunai. All three of their Sharingan shone, none using Mangekyo Sharingan yet. Their bodies moved in blurs, sparks flying everywhere as their blades clashed again and again. Finally, all three's weapons spun away as Itachi sacrificed his kunai to disarm Sasuke and Ryuu. Fu streaked around them, giving them a wide birth as she gathered their weapons, then stopped to watch again as the three Uchiha traded blows. Itachi spun, hurling Sasuke away before blocking several of Ryuu's strikes. Finally, Ryuu flipped over Itachi, only for Itachi to catch his foot and pivot, slamming Ryuu into Sasuke. Both sailed away, and Itachi formed hand seals rapidly before exhaling a massive fireball. Ryuu flipped, placing his feet down before vanished just before Sasuke exhaled a fireball of his own just as he landed, his fireball stopping Itachi's. Then, several Ryuu Afterimage Clones appeared around Itachi, forcing him to end his jutsu and begin to fend off Ryuu's strikes for a few seconds before both vanished as Sasuke's fireball shot past. As Itachi reappeared, Ryuu appeared behind him, Wind Chakra roaring around his foot as he slammed a roundhouse kick into his side, launching him. Itachi flipped to his feet, only for Ryuu to slam a kick into his back. Just as Itachi began to flip to land on his feet again, he passed over Ryuu, who slammed a kick into Itachi's gut. Itachi shot into the air, then noticed Ryuu was gone and flipped, expecting him to be above him. Instead, Ryuu appeared below him, grabbing him by the left arm and around the throat before twisting, hurling Itachi at the water. At the last second, Sasuke slammed a kick into him from the side, launching him and sending him bouncing away. Itachi bounced five times before spinning into the air, only to burst into smoke. A second later, Itachi slammed a foot down into Ryuu's shoulder, sending him exploding down into the water. Then, he formed his Susanoo, sending its fist exploding down into Sasuke, only to find Sasuke's own Susanoo had formed just in time to catch the fist.
"Get down here!" Sasuke snarled, using his Susanoo to pull Itachi by his, only for Itachi to resist.
Then, just as he began to lose ground to Sasuke, Ryuu and his Susanoo exploded out of the water with its entire body formed, flipping and slamming a kick into Itachi's, sending it blasting to the water. Both of the other Uchiha formed their Susanoos' legs just in time for Sasuke's Susanoo's sword to crash into Itachi's Yata Mirror. Ryuu fell, drawing his Susanoo's tanto and slashing just in time for Itachi to pivot, allowing Ryuu's blade to crash into Itachi's. Then, Itachi's Susanoo formed a pair of Yasaka Magatama and sent them exploding into both Ryuu and Sasuke, hurling them away. Both flipped their Susanoo to land on their feet, then prepared themselves to attack again. However, just as they began to charge, the Giant Squid exploded up in the center of all three, shrieking. Ryuu rolled his eyes, his Susanoo's fist slamming down into the top of its head and sending it streaking under the surface again.
"Pointless interruptions," Ryuu sighed, then stopped, all three Uchiha looking back toward the island as they all sensed someone they shouldn't. "I don't believe it."
"Kisame Hoshigaki," Itachi said. "He's alive. He's here."
"And Guy's chasing him with the Eight Inner Gates," Ryuu said. "Feels like Gate Six."
"Guy can handle this," Sasuke said.
"But he doesn't need to," Ryuu said, all three Uchiha using the Body Flicker Technique to reach Kisame before Guy, Ryuu arriving first and blasting the Water Style, Shark Bomb Jutsu Kisame was riding in with a Fireball Jutsu, sending Kisame crashing into a tree.
Kisame sighed as the three Uchiha gathered around him, and Guy appeared behind him. "I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to surrender, then?"
"No," Ryuu said. "This is the part where you leave the Akatsuki of your own free will and you're allowed to leave this island alive."
Kisame chuckled. "Still so naïve."
"There's too much risk to allow him to leave," Itachi said. "He can stay with us under heavy guard."
"Itachi," Kisame said. "You're disappointing me. Don't tell me you've lost the nerve to kill."
"I no longer need to kill every person I'm forced to oppose," Itachi said. "I can choose now."
Kisame laughed. "A pacifist! All this time! It must have been hell for you!"
"Last chance, Kisame," Sasuke said. "Unlike my brothers, I'm not the forgiving type, or the type to shy away from killing. Surrender now, or you'll die."
Kisame smirked. "Let's see about that." He formed hand seals rapidly. "Water Style, Super Exploding Water Shockwave!"
All four of his opponents vanished ahead of the flood he spewed, but as the water formed a massive sphere around himself, Sasuke set his hand against it.
"Chidori Stream," Sasuke said calmly.
Electricity screamed as it raced through the water, and after a few seconds, the massive sphere collapsed, washing Kisame out to sea. However, just as he moved to dive underwater, Ryuu's Susanoo drove its hands into the water, one raising Kisame, and the other raising a shark, which it crushed. A scroll shot into the air from the shark, then ignited with Amaterasu, burning away before it hit the water, Itachi shifting his gaze back to Kisame from atop one of the spikes around the island.
"You're fast," Kisame smirked at Ryuu. "Are you going to crush me now? If you let me go, I'm just going to make my report in person."
"You're not going anywhere," Ryuu said.
"You might want to look behind you before saying that," Kisame smirked.
Ryuu turned inside of his Susanoo, his eyes widening as he saw a massive tsunami of Shark Bombs flooding toward the island.
"Now what will you do?" Kisame asked.
"Fire Style, Majestic Destroyer Flame!" Itachi shouted before exhaling a massive tsunami of flames.
"Asakujaku!" Guy thundered from the air above them, punching countless times in a blur, the speed of the air causing enough friction against the air to hurl a flood of fireballs.
The two attacks slammed into the tsunami of sharks and destroyed them all within seconds. Except, there were more underwater. Guy dropped into the water, opening his Seventh Inner Gate, the sheer flood of chakra exploding off of him blowing the water away from him. Then, he clapped his hands.
"Hirudora!" Guy roared, a massive, grey tiger formed from pressurized air forming around him before roaring.
The massive blast exploded outward, slaughtering all of the remaining sharks and forming a massive sphere of raging, pressurized air that dwarfed the island several times over. The shockwave rushed toward the island, only for Itachi's Susanoo to hold the Yata Mirror in front of the island, the mirror expanding quickly, blocking the shockwave for the island. As the shockwaves slowly faded, Guy let his Inner Gates close, and Ryuu's Susanoo moved Kisame directly in front of him.
"Are you going to interrogate me?" Kisame asked.
"Don't talk," Ryuu said, staring into Kisame's eyes. "Show me."
He activated his Genjutsu to search a person's memories, and after a few seconds, he was watching as Kisame sat against a tree in a Kirigakure as a Kiri Cipher Core team enjoyed their lunch. However, one member, a pretty woman with long, orange hair, walked over to him, offering for him to join them. He turned her down, saying that he didn't need them being sociable with him. One of the other team members told her not to waste her time, only for Kisame to say they needed to leave, a tripwire perimeter he'd set up warning of incoming enemies. As they fled, the pretty woman asked Kisame to dinner, before he could answer, in favor or rejection, kunai with paper bombs began to rain down around them. As they all stopped, Ibiki and his team stepped out of the trees to capture the Cipher Core team. Kisame killed several of his foes before clearing a path for the Cipher Team to flee. However, as the team began to be captured one by one, Kisame, in keeping with his secret orders from Samehada's previous wielder, began to eliminate the Cipher Team, until only the woman who'd been attracted to him and two others remained. They reached a cliff, and forced with no alternatives, Kisame struck down the remaining Cipher Team members. As she died, the woman asked him why, and he said that he'd been chosen as their escort because of his specialty of killing his own comrades. However, far from being angry, the woman had only been sympathetic to him. Ibiki arrived and asked why he'd done it, and Kisame explained simply that he could not afford his village's secret code to be compromised, then retreated off of the cliff.
Ryuu skipped ahead to his return to Kirigakure and his predecessor in the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He watched as Kisame trapped and killed his predecessor as revenge for the mission he'd been sent on. Then as he claimed Samehada, only for the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, Isobu's previous Jinchuriki, stepped into view, congratulating him and announcing him as Samehada's new wielder, and informing him that his predecessor had been a traitor. Then, as Kisame asked whether he was a friend or foe to the Hidden Mist, as he'd been routinely given and carried out traitorous missions, and talked about not knowing his true role or his true place, a shadow appeared behind Yagura, exposing a Sharingan when Kisame demanded who it was. Ryuu narrowed his eyes. If this was only a few years ago, that should be Obito Uchiha. Obito introduced himself as Madara, only for Kisame to deny the claim, demanding that Obito step out of the shadows. As Obito complied, however, Kisame bit off his tongue to break the Genjutsu, struggling to free himself.
"No," Ryuu said, placing a paralysis seal to stop him moving entirely, then channeled Medical Ninjutsu through his Susanoo to heal Kisame's tongue before diving back into the Genjutsu interrogation.
His re-entry was close, instead entering the same memory a few seconds later.
"Yes, that is my plan," Obito was saying. "Project Tsukinome. It will be a world free of all lies."
"Oh, Kisame," Ryuu sighed, pulling Kisame's consciousness to him so they could speak. "You don't understand yourself, do you? You don't need a Genjutsu world, you just need to choose where you want to go."
"And where would that be?" Kisame asked. "You know nothing about me."
"No, I don't," Ryuu agreed. "But Itachi does." Ryuu pulled them both back out into the real world and looked to Itachi. "Tsukuyomi."
He used a Genjutsu to show Itachi what he'd seen, and Itachi nodded, turning his Mangekyo Sharingan to Kisame. Kisame's eyes went wide, and after about three seconds, his body went limp, though it didn't move with the paralysis seal and Ryuu's Susanoo both restraining him. Ryuu opened his Susanoo's hand, Kisame lying on the palm. Finally, Kisame sat up, groaning and holding a hand to his head.
"You two...really are something," Kisame said. "An entire life in a few seconds. An entire, happy life, loyal to my village, and friends with you, and by extension your family. Do you really think that's enough to turn me?"
"We had hoped," Itachi said.
"What will you choose, Kisame?" Ryuu asked. "I can kill you now, if you still want, or I can let you go and you can join us. Those are the only options."
Kisame narrowed his eyes before sighing. "You work well, Itachi. A happy life as friends, Ryuu as a little brother, and married to...that woman. Fine. I'll join you. For now."
Yamato and Guy shook their heads in disbelief.
"You have a gift, Ryuu," Utakata said. "Truly."
"Given a proper opportunity, anyone's soul can be saved," Ryuu said. "I simply excel in giving the opportunity."
Yamato nodded. "Let's head back to Killer B. And no offense, Kisame, but we're going to have you under guard."
"I'll do it," Itachi said. "He's my friend, after all."
Everyone stared at him for a moment before nodding.
"We want you to tell us what you can about the Akatsuki's plans, Kisame," Aoba said.
"No," Ryuu said. "It's enough that he's agreed to fight with us. We don't need him to sell them out, as well."
Kisame regarded him silently.
"We need to know what they're planning," Yamato said.
"Tobi is likely handling that," Ryuu said. "I left him under Tsunade's command while we're away. He'll provide whatever information he can get. In the mean time, we should focus on our mission."
"Agreed," Hinata nodded. "Our mission is what's most important for us."
Yamato sighed, nodding. "Alright. Let's head back, then we can worry about the mission."
Everyone nodded, but Ryuu, Fu, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kisame remained on the water.
"What life did you show him, Itachi?" Ryuu asked.
"At the mission where he was ordered to protect the Cipher Core, he instead attacked directly by his predecessor," Itachi said.
"He had been under orders by the Fourth Mizukage to kill me and the Cipher Core team I was protecting, so I fought him," Kisame said. "Ibiki Morino arrived and helped me, and together we managed to defeat my predecessor because Samehada chose to help me, much as he chose to help the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in our battle during my actual life. After we'd been betrayed by the Hidden Mist, I joined the Hidden Leaf with the woman from the team, Miru, eventually joining your ANBU Black Ops. A few years later, I met Itachi and Shisui Uchiha, then the two of you, as well."
"From there, I matched up his memories with real events until the point of my betrayal of the Leaf," Itachi said. "Instead of betraying the Hidden Leaf, Shisui succeeded in using the Kotoamatsukami to stop the rebellion, and Kisame assisted myself and Shisui in dealing with Danzo. Once we'd finished that, we all lived in peace for the remainder of our lives with Naruto becoming Hokage and you his right hand and negotiating a lasting peace with all four villages."
"How'd we manage that?" Ryuu asked.
"The Genjutsu was a bit vague about that part," Kisame smirked. "I just remember Itachi telling me it happened."
"And the fact that it was all a Genjutsu doesn't bother you?" Ryuu asked.
"I'm rather disappointed that it is, but it was enough for me to learn what kind of man I am," Kisame said. "The reason I never felt that I belonged anywhere, and the reason I was always so good at betraying my comrades is because I never considered them comrades, and never allowed myself to have a friend worth protecting. Even if it was a Genjutsu, Itachi's Tsukuyomi allowed me to have that in the three of you, and Shisui as well, even though he's gone in the real world. It's good enough for me, because now, I can fight to find something like that in the real world, and have it be more fulfilling."
Ryuu nodded. "Alright. I need to give Tobi a call, and report recent events to Tsunade. I'll join you guys on the island in a few minutes."
Sasuke, Kisame, and Itachi all nodded, heading inland as Ryuu knelt, placing his communication seal on the ground.
"I'm proud of you," Fu smiled as the seal formed, symbols flashing in the center of it. "You found a way to save Kisame, even though he didn't even know he wanted to be saved. I'm so proud."
Ryuu smiled, kissing her for a moment before an image of Tobi appeared over the seal, Tobi waving exaggeratedly instantly.
"Hello!" Tobi said brightly. "It's been so long! Tobi misses you!"
"We miss you, too, Tobi," Ryuu smiled. "How's the war going?"
"Tobi has been gathering lots of information, but it's been getting harder for Tobi to avoid Zetsu," Tobi said.
"I see," Ryuu nodded. "I have a specific mission for you, but it's going to be dangerous. It likely involves risking a battle against both Zetsu and Orochimaru."
"You can count on Tobi!" Tobi said confidently.
"Rescue Anko Mitarashi from Orochimaru, and take her to Kakashi," Ryuu ordered. "Do not die in the process."
Tobi saluted and vanished, the seal shifting to Tsunade.
"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked.
"Status update," Ryuu said. "I'm sending Tobi to rescue Anko Mitarashi from Orochimaru, and there was an incident here. Kisame Hoshigaki was hidden inside of his old sword. He tried to pass along information he'd gathered, but we captured him and destroyed the scroll he had the information in. Then, between myself and Itachi, we managed to recruit him."
Tsunade groaned, pulling out a bottle of sake. "You and your habit. Fine. Double and triple-check his loyalty, quickly, but stick to your mission. Keep Naruto on that island at all costs."
Ryuu nodded. "Call me with this seal if you need me. I could reach the frontlines in hours."
"I know," Tsunade said. "If it comes to it, we'll call you. But in the meantime, stay there."
Ryuu nodded and ended the jutsu just as Yomo cawed, flying down to land on his shoulder, Ryuu holding up a piece of meat for him. Yomo swallowed it before cawing again.
"Clear, huh?" Ryuu mused. "I don't trust it. There are too many Jinchuriki on this island for him not to do something."
"I agree," Fu nodded. "Someone's going to come here. Soon."
Ryuu nodded. "Come on, you two. Let's go see the others."
Yomo cawed, flapping his wings once, and they headed back onto the island to the building they were staying in.
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