It Has Begun

Naruto watched in horror as Robin slammed a ball of lightening into her stomach. With a cruel grin she looked up at him and outstretched her arm. Lightening shot forward from her fingertips. The lightening raced towards Naruto and knocked him back, off of his feet. The older Uzumaki smirked as she held her hands above her head. Lightening flickered between her hands.

"This is a new skill I've worked on. For a short time the summon becomes part of me. Normally this could kill a person." Robin appeared behind Naruto and rammed an electric punch into his back. A startled cry escaped his lips as he flew forward. "But with the Uzumaki bloodlimit of Unlimited Adaptability, all I experience is a little pain." Robin jumped high into the air and threw down bolts of lightening. Naruto had a hard time ducking and dodging all of the lightening but he managed to do so. When Robin landed Naruto tried to kick her but a electric shock sent him tumbling back. "We might not have any thing fancy to our name, but the bloodlimit is actually useful in its own way."

"D-damn you!" Naruto growled as he stood up. Robin charged forward and ducked under a punch from Naruto. She slammed her fist into his side.

"You don't learn, do you Naruto-kun?" Robin leapt up as Naruto started to stumble back and spun around, planting her foot into his chest. "You have to come at me with the intent to kill in order to beat me!" Robin pushed off of him and flipped in the air, landing on her feet. Naruto twitched as he tried to get up. He could still feel the jolts of electricity surging through him. Tilting her head back slightly, Robin smirked. The sparks of electricity around her faded. "Like I said, only for a short while. But in the time you've been dealt far more damage than throughout the whole battle." Gathering chakra into her fist, Robin punched down as hard as she could into the ground. Rocks flew up into the air and Robin disappeared among them. Naruto looked around to try and find her.

"There!" Spinning around, Naruto sent a punch into a rock behind him. He winced as he felt a bone break. However, Naruto pivoted around and blocked a kick from his cousin.

"You're weak Naruto-kun. So weak that you have failed everyone." Robin landed a few feet away from Naruto. "Look around you Naruto! Everyone has fallen because you are not strong enough!" Spreading out her arms, Robin indicated everyone around them. It was true. Almost every single person was on their last leg. Gai was fighting to stay conscious. Neji and Hinata were bruised and battered, barely standing up still. Jiraiya was panting from the massive amount of chakra he had used. Temari had her fan broken and Sakura was out cold. Kakashi was struggling against Deidara. Lee was bleeding freely, Sasuke was barely able to stay while his brother only had a few cuts ans scraps, and Yoko was using all her strength to pull off the puppets but to no avail. Naruto looked back at Robin and glared at her.

"Robin . . . you are a precious person to me. That is why I have to stop you." Robin barked out a harsh laugh.

"You and Gaara are so similar it's funny! He vows to kill because he loves me still. Have you ever heard of such a silly thing?" Robin smirked. "But wait, you obviously belong to the same sappy club that believes love will save everyone." Shaking her head in disgust Robin snorted. "Love is an illusion. It does not exist." Robin leaned back slightly and avoided the punch from Naruto. "As a ninja you should know that by now." Robin slammed her fist into Naruto's stomach and sent him flying back. "Naruto-kun, give up. Guts and effort aren't the only things that will prevail in a fight. In fact, they do not count for much." She moved to the side and avoided another punch from Naruto but raised her arms to block a kick. With ease she knocked the kick to the side and followed through with a punch to his head. Naruto moved his head back and avoided the punch. Naruto spun around and slammed his foot into her side. Flipping in midair, Robin managed land on her feet.

"I could never understand why you did this." Naruto muttered as he stared into his cousin's eyes. It was then that he realized how terrifying it was to fight an emotionless ninja. It was the deep void of nothing that would shake any enemy. It was the emptiness that could cause one to tremble. ". . . and I could never understand how you can be so heartless to your own family."

"Family?" She echoed. "What family? All I was to the Uzumaki was Keiko's daughter."

"Uzumaki . . . . Keiko." Naruto whispered as he remembered her mother.

"That's right. The only woman in the Uzumaki clan to have given up. A stain upon the Uzumaki name. Using her daughter so that she could commit suicide. Then backing out at the last minute, leaving a black hand on my foot from where she grabbed me before she died." Robin smirked as she charged forward. "But I now make up for her shame! I will never give in!" Her punch caught him in the face, throwing him to the ground. He barely had enough to to roll out of the way as her foot slammed down into the ground where his head laid. Robin spun around and blocked a kick from a clone of Naruto. With ease she jabbed her elbow into its face and caused it to disappear into smoke. She pivoted and dodged a kick from two Narutos. She had to jump into the air to avoid a rasengan and twisted around midair to dodge a punch from another Naruto. Landing with a light thud , Robin snapped her head up to look at Naruto and all his clones. "Impressive. I didn't see you make those clones. All that training with Tenshi must have paid off!" She kicked out into a clone, destroying it.

"Jealous?" Naruto challenged her, trying to bring forth any kind of emotion. It failed.

"I was only something to pass the time. That is why they trained me. They were only experimenting and waiting for you." Robin dropped down and kicked the feet out from under several clones. Only the real Naruto was left.

"Robin!" The Emotionless Executioner glanced at Itachi. "We need to go." Robin turned her eyes back to Naruto and smirked.

"Well, you got off easy this time, little cousin. Next time we fight I will not stop." Robin slammed her fist into his stomach and jumped back, far from Naruto. Naruto rolled to a stop and looked at Setsuko when her head a startled sound from Yoko and Setsuko. Setsuko had started to sink into the ground.

"Setsuko-sama!" cried Yoko as she tried to keep Setsuko above ground. Naruto rushed to her side and grabbed onto Setsuko's arm as a weak and worn out Kakashi appeared beside them and grabbed her other arm. However, Setsuko slipped from their strong grips and disappeared into the ground.

"SETSUKO!"

Robin moved swiftly down the corridors to Gaara's holding cell. Upon reaching the cell she glared down at him.

"You've come to extract the demon." His words rang out through the darkness. Robin stared down at him. Any emotion she might have felt was gone.

"You will die." It was a simple statement. There were no feelings behind the statement. No care or worry seeped into her words. Nothing. Gaara did not expect anything. He had long given up hope that she would care once more. Though he still cared for her, she had moved on. Accepting this was not easy, but Gaara did, none the less.

"I know." Robin tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. 'He is ready to die?'

"Yet you do no beg for your life." A smirk crossed her face. "I was looking forward to that."

"I won't make deals with the devil, if that's what you're wondering." Itachi appeared behind Robin, startling Gaara.

"Robin, you need to go to the sacred seals. Everything has to be perfect in order for this to work." Robin took her eyes off Gaara and left without a word. Watching her walk away, Itachi smirked before looking down at Gaara.

"She belongs to me now."

"Robin belongs to no one." Gaara hissed with narrowed eyes. This statement caused Itachi to raise an eyebrow.

"Really? It that how you see it."

"That is how it truly is." Gaara stood up and looked Itachi dead in the eye. "Her heart is pure. Nothing like that retched thing you call a heart." Itachi activated his sharingan.

"Yet she is apart of Akatsuki. She looks to me now, not you. She has moved on. If you had only done the same you might have lived longer." Gaara felt himself be drawn into a world of genjutsu.

"Wake up, Setsuko-chan." Setsuko let out a groan as she eyes slowly cracked open. Her head hurt and she felt tired. Pain shot through her body when she tried to move. Setsuko bit back a startled cry of pain. "Ohh, did you get hurt?" There was a condescending tone in the woman's voice. Suddenly, another sharp pain surged through her, this time from a kick in the ribs. Setsuko felt the wind shift as another kick came towards her. A hand shot up and caught the foot before shoving it back roughly as she forced herself to stand, wincing at the pain. Her eyes cracked open and Setsuko came face to face with Ai.

Robin watched with a stoic face as Gaara was laid in the middle of a large holy seal. Eight large scrolls stood up at different points around the circle with the holy seal, all connecting to make an eight pointed star. Ancient runes, similar to the ones that appeared while Setsuko was casting a wind spell, were engraved into the ground. A crescent moon engraving was overlapped by the star. After watching the others pour holy water onto the scrolls along with blood Robin turned her eyes to Gaara. The genjutsu he was under broke as his scream echoed through her head. The eight pointed star light up. Greenish blue light poured out of the every line. A bright light emitted from Gaara as he thrashed back and forth, trying to stop the pain that ran through his body.

"Where is Ai?" Itachi looked at Robin through the corner of his eye.

"She went to finish Setsuko."

"Does she know that we are using the seal?"

"Hai." Robin turned her back on Gaara and walked away. "Where are you going?"

"To say goodbye to my cousin." Itachi nodded and turned back to Gaara as he screamed. Brown liquid oozed out of the seal and began to wrap around him. For a moment the liquid was blasted away. Itachi narrow his eyes in confusion. True, this was the first time they had used the seal, but it was not suppose to be repelled like that. He watched as more liquid rose up and tried to force its way down his throat. Yet once more it was repelled. Itachi looked to the others to see their faces clouded with confusion. The screams from the Kazekage rang out while the liquid was slowly being pushed back. Suddenly, Gaara disappeared. Not a trace of him was left behind.

"What on Earth?" Muttered Deidara. Itachi scanned the seal, searching for a clue to as where Gaara had gone.

"Kento, where could he have gone?" Kaori asked her partner, a frantic looked painted on her face. Kisame turned to Itachi.

"Itachi! We need to get Robin. She can summon him back, wherever he is." Suddenly everything clicked into place. Itachi spun around towards the corridor that Robin had gone done.

"ROBIN!"