Rasa looked at his children, they were set to leave for Konoha today. The invasion of Ame would begin a week after their and the other Suna forces' arrival. He watched them with a mixture of pride, worry and regret. All three had matured after the Chunin Exams, and he'd seen fit to promote each. Temari worked on her over reliance on her war fan, Kankuro got better at operating multiple puppets. Gaara had demonstrated the largest change. No longer was he lost to his own madness, an infliction born by Rasa's choices, the Kazekage lamented. He trained harder, working on his endurance and taijutsu. His sand techniques improved and he had even started making amends to the villagers.

It was not easy to send them to a warzone. He was their leader and truly hadn't treated them as his children but he had a father's worry all the same. His children needed to be strong, Suna needed to be strong. Everyone needed him to be stronger still. Strong enough to be near heartless to his children, sacrifice his wife and keep Suna afloat with no support from the Daimyo. He'd done it for so long, the cold veneer eventually just became what he was. No one liked him and it was arguable no one truly respected Rasa the man. They endured Rasa the Kazekage because they had no choice, because no one could lead Suna as he had.

He wanted to bridge that gap. He wanted to be a family again, to embrace his children as a father should. They managed to grow closer to each other and a he hoped they had space for him. But he may never see them again, there was no guarantee they'd return or that the invasion would be successful. So, why could he only give commands and tell them to do Suna proud? Why couldn't he tell them he was proud and loved them dearly? That he was a cold man because he believed it to be the only way to accomplish anything, to keep his village viable? The loss of his wife, by his own design, only exacerbated his embrace of a facade. Because the guise of the Kazekage had been the only way he'd known how to act for so long and it couldn't change in a day, on a whim.

The trio left, none referring to him as father but as Kazekage-sama. Perfectly respectful and accurate. That's what he'd been to them and they may depart from the world thinking he only saw them as weapons and tools, as reflections on Suna's might and potential. The children of a monster, an unfeeling man that would do anything for power. In the quietest parts of his mind he'd admit his jealousy for Minato Namikaze.

He'd ask, why was he so beloved? Didn't he sacrifice his child? Didn't he do all he could to keep Konoha strong? Were they really so different? To Rasa's mind, they weren't. And yet, Minato was respected in every nation, every hidden village. Iwa hated him, feared him, but respected him. Rasa was just a wielder of a second tier kekkei genkai and leader of the weakest of the big five, only Kiri's civil war changing the designation. So many burdens, so many decisions. But Suna was recovering, they were gaining their strength and pride back. Just a few more years and everything would be worth it. A few more years.


Orochimaru led Naruto to a secret lagoon Tsunade and she would visit when they were younger. She relished the opportunity to indulge in a brief respite, one of her major plans had recently come together. Naruto also needed it. Since he'd been informed of his leadership position, and the assassination attempt by that lowly worm, Naruto had been pushing himself harder and harder in his training. His only real breaks were missions, as even if his physical body was resting, he still had clones undertaking some task for him. She could appreciate the diligence but he'd been nearing a burnout at the exact worst time for one. So, she requested he join her and forbade any training for the rest of the time before the invasion.

The timing worked out perfectly. He'd been working so hard, he didn't remember today was his birthday. His teammates and friends were planning something at the recently finished Uzumaki Manor but she'd have him all to herself before then. She hadn't told her student where they would be going, only that he'd need swimwear. As they made the final leg of their trip she found it adorable how he tried not to stare, her sheer purple kimono with red accents stopping at the middle of her thigh and showing her curves. Such a gentleman, she'd have to rid him of that once he was older.

They came upon the lagoon and Naruto had to admit it was picturesque, clear water shaded by tall trees. It was quiet and peaceful, he understood why Tsunade and Orochimaru-Shishou would want to keep it a secret. That, and their other teammate was a self described super pervert. Speaking of, Naruto tried his best not to perv on Orochimaru as she rid herself of her kimono to show the black and purple two piece bikini she was wearing. He prayed his hormones wouldn't betray him in the immediate future.

Naruto heard a splash, signaling Orochimaru had entered the water. He removed his blue shirt and sandals, leaving only his orange swim trunks. As he prepared to get into the water, he noticed there was no signs of the burns he endured when fighting Deidara. The Mad Bomber and Sasori of the Red Sands attacked his and Team 7 as they were returning from their mission in the Land of Snow. It was Kakashi's keen senses that allowed them to avoid the initial ambush but they couldn't escape the fight.


Both teams of Konoha nin were able to avoid the initial blast thanks to Kakashi. He'd been alerted to two upcoming presences, his senses as sharp as any Inuzuka's. Both teams tensed but not for the same reasons. Team Kurenai had trained and planned in order to take out any pair of Akatsuki members, all but the leader and his "angel". Orochimaru made it clear retreat and avoidance was the only tactic for them. None of their plans accounted for an additional team, it could make things easier or harder.

Kakashi knew who those two were, knew how significant a threat even one could be. Fighting them and protecting his comrades would be near impossible, especially as he was going to tell his team something they weren't going to like.

"Team, you need to stay back, these two are beyond you. No arguments." he snapped before Sasuke and Kiba could levy their complaints. He understand not wanting to be sidelined but this wasn't going to be the kind of fight that allowed for mistakes. One wrong move meant death.

"You ruined my art, un." Deidara said from the sky, riding a clay owl.

"No need for all the talk, let's just grab the fox and go." Sasori said having arrived on the clearing. They'd chosen well, no trees or cover anywhere near. Two long distance fighters, one with aerial superiority. Kakashi immediately uncovered his Sharingan as Naruto created twenty shadow clones. Ten of the clones, along with the original and Shikamaru dashed toward Sasori, leaving the rest with Kurenai, Shino and Kakashi.

"Rasengan" one of the clones roared as it pounced on Sasori. It hit the Puppeteer's shell but was taken out by its tail at the same time, now the real Sasori was revealed. Naruto thought the man turned puppet looked smug as he retrieved a storage scroll and unsealed a new puppet.

'The Sandaime Kazekage, just as Orochimaru said he'd go for.' She fought with and against Sasori and said the man had a pattern of escalation. Because of that, there was opportunity for weaker but forewarned combatants to take him out if they planned well and kept sharp.

The puppet charged toward Naruto and Shikamaru at great speed but the Uzumaki met its charge with one of his own, blade drawn. He blocked the poison blade of the Kazekage puppet and performed a replacement with a clone when Sasori unleashed the dozens of hands sealed within the Kazekage's arm. The arms continued toward the real Naruto but several of the shadow clones were ready.

"Wind Style: Crescent Blade Barrage". The fuuton jutsu performed by expelling sharp wind blades from the mouth in successive fashion. They tore through the wooden hands and Naruto saw Sasori start to get annoyed as he pulled the Kazekage back. The puppet then shot forward the iron sand the Kazekage was known for. That was the signal, both Naruto and Shikamaru knew.

Two shadow clones performed two distinct jutsu, one Water Style: Torrent Blast, a suiton jutsu that forms and compresses water chakra in the stomach before expelling it with enough force to break bone and render one unconscious. The second performed Lightning Style: Focused Bolt a raiton jutsu that concentrates the chakra at the tips of the index finger before emitting a thin, concentrated burst of lightning toward a target. The two jutsu combined and hit the oncoming iron sand, momentarily disrupting Sasori's magnetic control.

The real Naruto was busy preparing his own jutsu, he could have gone with several alternatives but this just had the dual purposes of destroying the puppet and distracting Sasori. "Lava Style: Burning Geyser". Molten rock shot up beneath the Kazekage puppet, the intense heat destroying it. Just for the briefest of moments Sasori displayed his shock. They hadn't known the Jinchuuriki had a bloodline, having no reports of him using that type of jutsu. Sasori attempted to retrieve more scrolls but found he couldn't move.

"Multiple String Light Formation" multiple clones that had surrounded Sasori said. Their chakra capacity making sure even the S-rank ninja couldn't simply overpower them.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Sewing Jutsu" Shikamaru muttered and sent several shadow threads towards Sasori's chakra core, piercing it multiple times. The former Suna Ninja was no more. Naruto looked across the clearing. Deidara was down and Shino was approaching him with a chakra suppression tag. Naruto watched as the blond bomber had a grin, something so wrong given the circumstance. He was already molding chakra when he performed the replacement with Shino, the Water Style: Gummy Wall was thrown up but not in nearly enough time, the explosion rocked the clearing, burning Naruto and knocking him out, along with his clones.

As he was passed out, Naruto got memories of the fight. His clone informed Kakashi of Deidara's weakness for lightning as they watched the Iwa nin take to the skys. Suddenly, Deidara started hurtling toward the ground. Another clone realized it was Kurenai-sensei. Due to his hatred for Itachi, the blonde had been developing a resistance to optical genjutsu but Kurenai-sensei was a master of the art and focused on the other senses, like the inner ear which affected balance. The clones tossed kunai in the air, multiplying them with the Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu and following it up with the Lightning Style: Chain Lightning Jutsu. Kakashi must have taken his eyes off Deidara for a moment, which is why he missed the swap with the clone.

When Naruto returned to consciousness, everything hurt. He could tell he was healing but the burns were unpleasant and he felt like he may have broken or fractured ribs. Being clutched, tightly, by the talons of some clay bird was not helping matters. He was high up, extremely high up. This was not an ideal scenario and he had to play things just right so he could survive. Naruto ran through what he could do, He could move his hands but too much movement would alert Deidara. He needed to end this as fast as possible. He could see his team trailing behind him and hoped they were close enough to catch him.

Slowly, gently and ignoring the pain, Naruto performed the hand sign for creating a fuin bunshin and had it appear right beside Deidara. The original Naruto immediately summoned a kunai, ran lightning chakra through it and stabbed it into the bird, causing it to falter and release him. The fuin clone managed to apply the chakra suppression seal so both ninja were falling helplessly through the sky. Naruto passed out before hit the ground.


He was told he Kakashi caught him before he could hit the ground A face full of water brought Naruto out of his thoughts as he sputtered in reaction. The laughter of his sensei filled his ears. He used his shirt to wipe his face before looking at his attacker, questioningly.

"Kukuku, you were thinking too hard. The point of this is to relax. Or am I not good company, Naruto-kun."

"No, that's not it, you are. Sorry, just thinking back to when Sasori and Deidara attacked us."

"Hm, that was well executed. Even if that sacrificial idiocy you're inflicted with flared up." Orochimaru said, wading in the water. Naruto didn't respond. The fight may have looked easy, Kiba sure seemed to believe so, but given their copious amount of information, the team's abilities and the planning abilities of a Nara and a Aburame there were just too many contingencies in place not to overwhelm an enemy that didn't expect you to be much a threat.

Naruto finally entered the water, glad it was relatively warm. Orochimaru turned her back as Naruto adopted a mischievous smile. She splashed him, that was a declaration of war. If he didn't retaliate she couldn't really respect him, he reasoned. What he was about to do was because of her, she was sorta asking for it. He immediately became uncomfortable with that line of thought but persisted to execute his revenge.

Naruto cupped his hands together, leaving a narrow space between. Channeling some suiton chakra into his hands, he forced a low powered and tiny stream of chakra through the opening, dousing the back of Orochimaru's head. She swiftly turned to her apprentice and saw him whistling while looking everywhere but at her. She smiled.

"So, you want to challenge the Snake Sannin?" she spoke with false menace.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean, Shishou?" Naruto hamming up his innocent act but a smile kept appearing on his face, a sign of his guilt.

"Oh, my apprentice has grown arrogant. Do you think you're the only one to master all five nature types?"

"Of course not, Orochimaru-sama. I just did it before adolescence is all." He said innocently but a hint of smugness laced his words. He had to swim out of the way of oncoming water wave. And several more after that.

"Kukuku, is retreating all you can do? I thought you had more fight than that, how disappoin-" Orochimaru was interrupted as she felt pulled underwater. Once submerged she saw it was a localized whirlpool that drug her under. It dissipated and she was free to move once more. Orochimaru cut through the water at impossible speeds, startling Naruto. She almost got him, attempting to grab him underwater but Naruto used his chakra to submerge him further and then created more distance from his mentor. Undaunted, Orochimaru continued her chase, Naruto managing to narrowly avoid her several times. However, eventually his luck ran out and he was in the Snake Sannin's embrace.

"Nowhere to run." she whispered in his ear sending a thrill to his core.

"Can we talk about this?"

"About you attacking your dear teacher from behind?"

"I was framed."

"We're alone."

"That's what they want you to think."

"Oh, really? And who is this they?" Orochimaru didn't get a verbal response, instead she felt Naruto grab onto her and go underwater once again. She didn't know what to make of her student's newfound assertiveness until she saw a most displeasing vision; Konan, hovering above them and if she were here it was more than likely Pein was here as well. This wasn't good. She watched as Naruto made dozens of clones and each began weaving hand signs.

Water Style: Water Lance was the jutsu being performed and several pressurized jets of water launched into the sky but Ame's angel avoiding them deftly. That was not unexpected as the clones continued to weave hand signs, those jets became inky black clouds that rained oil on the paper ninjutsu user. Water Style: Onyx Rain. The manipulation is similar to the Nidaime's Water Style: Bite of the Explosive Water Dragon in that requires a secondary manipulation of a pre-existing suiton jutsu.

One Naruto emerges from the water, his hands forming the tiger seal and then waves of fire spew from his mouth. Fire Style: Sea of Flames requires the user to store air in his cheeks and expel the chakra from there so it is possible to inhale and continue the process. As the flow can be slightly uneven it gives the look of waves. Unexpectedly a chubby orange haired ninja with piercings throughout his face stood in front of the fire jutsu and absorbed it.

The well fed nin was taken off guard when the Kusanagi emerged from underwater, even piercing the Naruto in front of him before going through his head. The body collapsed and the clone dispelled into a cloud of smoke. Konan was now on the shore, her paper jutsu ineffective with her covered in oil, at least for the time being. Five more bodies now appear on the water.

"Naruto Uzumaki, come with me and I may spare the traitor." The one with spiky orange hair said. The response was a numerous amount of tentacles attempting to entrap each of the ninja present. They all took to the air to avoid them, leaving them vulnerable. Several Hidden Shadow Snakes break through the water's barrier and wrap around the multiface shinobi, intending to pull him down. Instead the snakes are severed by his bladed tail and the remaining bodies are grasped by his hands. He gave a powerful pull and Orochimaru was now on the surface.

As the Asura Path pulled Orochimaru up, the long haired Human Path was closing the distance intent on taking the soul of the snake summoner. It arrived before she could react, hand around her throat but when the ningendo technique was activated Orochimaru turned into mud. The Human Path didn't have time to consider its folly as its feet were encased in ice and a kunai with an exploding tag appeared in front of it, going off without leaving it any chance of escape. Two bodies were down and while not angered, Pein was not amused.

Both Orochimaru and Naruto were running out of air, they'd have to go to the surface soon. They were outnumbered and Orochimaru was quickly putting together these bodies may have some shared abilities given the Rinnegan each wielded. She had little in the way of information, outside of Pein being able to repel anything that came near him. It wasn't good but she could turn things around, she had to.

The Deva Path watched as two olive green snakes, of impressive size, came from below. One headed toward the Animal Path, another toward the Asura Path. "Almighty Push" the path spoke and the large summons were forced back, hitting several trees before dispelling. Running out of air and options, Orochimaru and Naruto came to the surface, each behind one of the paths, swords drawn. She chose the Animal Path, Naruto chose the Asura Path. The Asura Path's tail pierced Naruto before his sword could make contact which resulted in smoke; the Animal Path deflecting the Kusanagi but not able to avoid the follow up strike, decapitating it.

Every Naruto left underwater came to the surface and began attacking. Most of the remaining clones were dispelled by the Ausra Path's projectiles and multiarm attacks. The real Naruto tried to cut the Deva Path, even managing to cleave into the chakra rod the path generated but he was too slow to avoid the next one, as he took a stab to his right leg before being kicked in his midsection, flying away due to the force.

The Asura Path was now engaging with Orochimaru directly, her Kusanagi doing well but not managing to put the path down. Without warning she was stabbed in the back at the near her left shoulder and stabbed in the stomach. She hit the water, barely managing enough chakra to stay on the surface before she was kicked in the face by the Asura Path hard enough to make her flip to her back. She looked to see the three bodies Naruto and she had managed to defeat had returned.

Naruto saw one of the Paths collecting the bodies and then throwing them into a thing before they returned fully healed. They were in trouble. He didn't have much time to think, creating a whirlpool, much more powerful than he had earlier, Orochimaru sunk to the bottom, taking advantage of the delayed death strike. Naruto summoned dozens of clones again and performed the Ninja Art: Smokescreen Jutsu.

Naruto sent a clone underwater to get Orochimaru, removing the rods from her body as the real Naruto did the same to his own. The Deva Path was not bothered by the smokescreen, activating his jutsu once again he blew it away and from the sounds of it multiple clones as he heard them poof. When the smokescreen cleared he saw the jinchuuriki and his master, both on their last legs. The surroundings were quiet, only the sounds of the birds chirping filled the area.

The Paths watched as the injured paired returned to their feet and made a desperate charge but the damage had taken its toll. Both were stabbed multiple times but still alive. The Deva Path activated his Universal Pull technique and Orochimaru helplessly flew toward him. With grim satisfaction, the Asura Path plunged a chakra rod into her heart, killing the turncoat. Her final punishment for thinking she could defy God wouldn't be her death but knowing she failed to protect the motivation for her treachery, the jinchuuriki would die regardless.

The disruption from the rod caused a shift in reality and all the Paths saw it wasn't Orochimaru they killed but the Naraka Path. They all performed the genjutsu dispel technique but felt it try to be cast again. It was confusing, nothing was around to cast it. Nothing but…

"Almighty Push!" the Deva Path yelled and expended a good deal of chakra to focus his attack. Soon he heard numerous poofs but the end of the birds chirping. It was an auditory genjutsu and given the amount of clones, the Paths reasoned it likely came from the Uzumaki. They had no information on him wielding any genjutsu of note and the lapse in intel had come with a cost. The rest of the Paths were fed up, mimicking the real Nagato's emotional state. He saw Konan return, free of the oil and ready to fight once more but he instructed the paper clone to dispel. He wanted to do this, for their blasphemous actions had arisen his ire.

Deep in the forest, sat Orochimaru and Naruto. She'd healed given her special replacement technique and Naruto was almost back to full capacity due to the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto got confirmation his genjutsu had been disabled and Pein would be coming for them soon. The genjutsu, what he called Genjutsu: Chidori was him thumbing his nose at Kakashi who claimed only a Sharingan wielder could perform his Chidori when Naruto offered a jutsu trade. He was thankful Kurenai-sensei had increased the team's genjutsu training, including how to layer illusions and how to attack multiple senses.

He welcomed the development as it was helping end his blush. Orochimaru had come out of her replacement technique completely naked and hadn't seemed fully aware of it until it was pointed out. The Sannin made a mental note to include some seduction training so he wouldn't fall apart at the sight of a naked woman.

"Shishou, they ended my genjutsu."

"Hm, were they fooled long enough to take one of them out?"

"Yea, the one that healed the others but it pissed them off so there's that."

"We need to increase our numbers and buy time, I know you hate it but use the-"

"Edo Tensei? No, I'm totally fine with it." Naruto created two Yang Release: Shadow Clones with control seals implanted in them and retrieved the DNA samples he had. He performed the jutsu just as Orochimaru was doing the same. Two caskets emerged, while Naruto's clones just transformed into his two revived nin. When the techniques were done, Deidara and Kisame stood beside the Shodai and the Nidaime Hokage.

Naruto gave Deidara some of the special clay the missing ninja died with and gaze Kisame Samehada and the two took off, one in the air and one on the ground. The first two Hokage simply looked at Orochimaru and he in bemusement.

"You should have never created that jutsu, brother."

"I shouldn't have done a lot of things but it's too late to change that. You, Uzumaki, why am I here?" Tobirama said, having sensed the boy's lineage through his chakra. He was clearly an Uzumaki and also a jinchuuriki.

"Ok, quick rundown; there is this organization hunting down jinchuuriki like myself. Sidenote, we're all pretty much treated like total shit so thanks for that, Hashirama-sama. Anyway, the leader attacked my shishou and I and is extremely powerful."

"He holds the Rinnegan, the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths but appears to have separated his abilities into six different bodies. Each body has an ability, one can create advanced weaponry, another has control over attractive and repellent forces. One can absorb chakra and renders ninjutsu useless. We don't know about the other two." Orochimaru added and then gave the physical descriptions for the ones they had information on.

"Let's go brother." Tobirama said, which surprised Hashirama.

"And why would I do that?"

"Open your senses, clearly the boy is Mito's successor and we are near Konoha. Who is to say this man won't target the village? Besides, the strapling is injured and can't fight as he is." Although he knew how serious this was, his life was on a line, Naruto wanted to justify his injury to his idol but realized this wasn't the time.

"Fine, brother." As soon as he answered the forest shook with the sounds of high yield explosives. That caused the Senju brothers to depart immediately. Both Orochimaru and Naruto stayed where they were, there choosing to take the break the Edo Tensei allowed them. The Snake Sannin's mind fast at work for a counter strategy and every moment she could have to plan the better.


While Naruto was filling the returned Hokage on the situation, Deidara had come across the Animal Path, who was on top a bird summons. The explosion release users wasted no time attempting to pepper the Path with his explosive creations but the bird was agile in the air and avoided direct damage. The two flew above the trees and frustrated sat in for the once dead shinobi, so much so he forwent any offense, only focusing on speed to close the distance. Once he did he leapt off the clay bird and using his body exploded in the air. It took out the bird but the Animal Path jumped off its summon right before impact and landed on a multi headed dog.

When Deidara reformed, he continued to lay explosive after explosive but it only increased the dog's power as it grew more and more heads. The Animal Path summoned another animal, a Rhino to accompany the dog as they tried to keep Deidara occupied, at least until the Human Path could arrive, as it was rapidly approaching.

The animals were dealing damage while the dog absorbed all of Deidara's offense, much to his annoyance. The bomb enthusiast started to flood the area with his C4 explosives and watched as not even the Dog summons could handle it. The Animal Path, too, had succumbed but the area of effect was limited and the Human Path had not been infected and managed to remove the Edo's soul before it could explode again. However, the Path did not avoid the wood spike that pierced its head.

The Deva Path looked as the Asura Path lay headless. The Samehada interrupted the chakra receivers long enough for Kisame to cleave its head off. Until that point, the former Kiri Swordsman's attacks had been rendered ineffective, the Preta Path absorbing all he could muster while Deva and Asura retaliated. He immediately pushed the sword away from the undead ninja. Kisame started weaving hand signs again for another suiton jutsu, his Water Shark Bomb and just like times previous it was absorbed but Preta was kicked back by the Shodai Hokage.

"Almighty Push" the Deva Path said, avoiding the attack of the second Hokage as he sent the man out of the lagoon. Kisame followed suit, now pressing the attack, having abandoned his ninjutsu. It was clear the man wasn't as good in unarmed combat as the Deva Path managed to stab him several times with the chakra rod. The Nidaime returned and the pair were attacking in tandem, starting to overwhelm the Path. The Deva Path performed his jutsu again, repelling the suiton masters as, through their shared vision, he saw the Preta Path get its face caved in by the Shodai.

"Five seconds." The Nidaime said but the Deva Path didn't react. All three Edo Tensei started peppering the lone path with various water jutsu, managing to dodge most of them until he was cornered and had to perform the Almighty Push again. As soon as he did, the three ninja were on him. He was getting attacked from multiple sides, blocking two strikes left him open for a third. The attacks were relentless and the Path was growing increasingly frustrated. A hard left straight from Kisame sent him flying back but he welcomed the space. Skidding out of the lagoon, onto dry land the Deva Path performed his most powerful technique. "Chibaku Tensei".

The surrounding area became overturned as the extreme pull of the gravity technique took hold. Each ninja tried to fight the attractive force but couldn't and soon each were entombed into a small satellite. The chakra use was straining enough that Nagato faltered, causing a short disconnection from his path. He recovered and made his way toward Orochimaru and Naruto at least where he'd assume they'd be.


Orochimaru and Naruto saw the moon like object being created and how their remaining Edo Tensei were encased within. They didn't know how many more paths were left but they did know they would be on their way. Neither were in perfect shape, Orochimaru had expelled a good bit of chakra with the summoning and restoring herself. Naruto's leg healed, mostly, but he still didn't have his full mobility. They were low on time and needed a strategy.

"You should leave." The Uzumaki said. "He wants me alive so I may be able to buy some time for reinforcements to arrive."

"If they haven't arrived already it means something is happening within the village."

"Still doesn't change, he only wants to kill one of us."

"Immediately, he only wants to kill one of us immediately."

"I have faith you'd come rescue me."

"Flattery at a time like this? Kukuku, I may blush."

"I take that to mean you aren't leaving?" Naruto asked.

"No, I'm not leaving so get ready."

Naruto wasted no more time trying to convince her to leave, instead he began centering himself. He didn't have a foolproof way to utilize the Kyuubi's chakra but he'd found success in not thinking about it as a matter of control but an experience to endure. Similar to a surfer's relationship to the wave. The metaphor became something of a mantra and as Naruto delved deep into the chakra core he reminded himself to embrace the wave, to be one with it. He repeated it over and over as he drew more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra out, going out of the zero tailed state to form an initial cloak. One tail became two, 'embrace the wave, embrace the wave' he thought as two became three and he stopped pulling.

'Must you repeat that insipid phrase every time you abuse my power?'

'Jermaine?'

'You know good damn well my name is not Jermaine!'

'I'm kinda busy here and if you'd just tell me your name I wouldn't have to guess, Jiro.'

The Kyuubi scoffed and said nothing more, ending the conversation just in time for the Deva Path to arrive, alone. He pulled both Konoha ninja toward him, grabbing each by the neck and slamming them down. Naruto swatted the hand away with a tail, Orochimaru turned into mud while the real kunoichi darted toward Pein from his flank, Kusanagi gleaming in the sunlight. He let go of Naruto and created a chakra rod to meet the legendary sword. The rod was cleaved in two but it halted its momentum enough to spin away from the next swipe.

He grabbed Naruto's wrist, narrowly avoiding a Rasengan and tossing the boy away. He repelled Orochimaru when she attempted to attack his blind side and she slammed into a tree. The jinchuuriki was back, taking furious swipes but Pein defended the attack, kicking Naruto in the stomach in response and then hitting him in the jaw. He didn't expect the jinchuuriki to absorb the blow, nor to grab his arm and proceeding to kick the Rinnegan wielder in the ribs. Pein was taken off his feet due to the force, which was amplified by a pair of Great Breakthrough Jutsu performed by teacher and student. Pein landed, feet first on a tree and kicked off.

Orochimaru performed the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands Jutsu planning to stall his charge but Pein avoided them and continued forward. There was a clang of sword against chakra rod. Pein attempting several thrusts while Orochimaru would deflect them or dodge. Pein overcommitted on one such attack and the Snake Sannin rotated away from the attacking arm, swirling the Kusanagi behind her back before bringing it up aiming to slash at his face. He quicking repelled her again but sent a chakra rod toward in as well. Naruto swatted the rod and reengaged.

His body was able to handle this much of the Kyuubi's chakra for long and he felt his body starting to give under the strain, which made keeping calm and centered exponentially more difficult. He charged, ignoring the pain, trying his best to land a significant strike on Pein. But he was outmatched and Pein began to batter him, punching combinations connecting to Naruto's face before he was knocked away again and found his stomach pierced with a chakra rod, ending his bijuu cloak. He then repeated the tactic Naruto interfered with as Orochimaru charged at him again. Without her student to block the rod, she too found herself impaled by Pein's weapon.

The Path didn't show it but he was inwardly relieved. He could feel the Edo Tensei trying to break free and he had been pushed harder than he expected. He walked over to the Uzumaki, in a different lifetime someone he may have looked at as family but now a means to an end. The boy, battered and bleeding, his left eye swollen shut and barely hanging on to consciousness. He picked him up by his neck, making sure not to do anymore damage.

"This may mean very little to you but your sacrifice will bring about a lasting peace." He said as he darted off with the boy, the Snake Sannin helpless to stop him. "It's unfortunate, had the Kyuubi been sealed into some else, I could have used someone of your talents. I get why she betrayed us for you." He saw the boy's lone functioning eye widen. "You didn't know? Had I agreed to find a way to keep you alive after the extraction she wouldn't have left. But I'm a God and I don't make deals."

"Y-you're no more a God than I am a giant." Naruto struggled to say.

"You don't need to believe me, your opinion doesn't matter." Naruto really detested this smug prick and wanted nothing more than to shut him up permanently; however, the rod in his gut made molding chakra near impossible. Suddenly, Naruto felt the grip around his neck tighten as Pein began moving faster but after a minute, the Path simply collapsed as if its strings had been cut. Naruto lost the battle for his consciousness as he laid on the forest floor.


Yooo! This is part one of a two parter. Damn, this one fought me, action scenes are hard to write. I hope you like it and part two is on its way soon(ish).