Hello! So, quite a number of you want Fuu to live. Well, then, since it won't really affect the flow, I'll just have to keep her alive then.

To Brin, that's true. Thanks for your suggestions.

To the Guest, since Hikari has Dragon summons, it'd make sense that she has the dragon version of the sage mode, no?

To Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, thanks for tbe vote. To how Nagato ponders about him living in Yahiko's body, it doesn't really mean anything. Just a reminder for himself that he is human, not a god. That part is a very important aspect I'm trying to bring out, as in canon, Nagato had a god-complex until Naruto talked to him. Here, I'm trying to remove that complex by having him realise it himself.

So yeah, thanks for the votes, here's the next chapter.

XXX

Tobi laughed darkly as the army of Zetsu clones charged. As his battalion charged the Konoha shinobi, and former Taki kunoichi, the masked man slowly backed away into hiding.

Tobi was really looking forward to this experiment. According to his calculations, everyone of those Zetsu clones had the physical abilities of Senju Hashirama, but as they were clones, they had none of his combat experience.

Nonetheless, it was a good test for the test. Sure, he had sparred with them on occasion, but the clones never had actual experience.

Then came the next objective, the Nanabi, it was a secondary one, so it didn't really matter if that succeeded or not. Of course, it would be for the best if it did. But now Tobi wasn't really focused on that.

With the Konoha ninja (and former Taki kunoichi), they were fending off the White Zetsu clones as hard as they could.

Kiba cursed as he punched one of the clones away, "I can't catch their scent! Its like they're not even here!"

Shino nodded, "Its the same as my bugs. I can't lock on to them."

Hinata frowned as she Juuken'd another clone away, "They have chakra, but their signatures are identical, but that doesn't tell us much, since they're clones."

Hikari said as her chains flung a few White Zetsu clones away, "Whatever they are, they just keep coming back."

True to her words, the White Zetsu clones kept coming back up, even if they were hit at places that were fatal or with sure-kill shots.

Sasuke growled silently as he sliced a clone apart with his chokuto, only for the wound to regenerate as if it were nothing. The Uchiha yelled, "This is getting nowhere!"

Kakashi nodded as he cut off the head of a clone with his tanto before he kicked the head away, separating the head from the body. To his ire, the head melted away into a white pile of goo while a new head appeared on the supposedly beheaded clone.

Sinon sighed in annoyance as she kicked a clone away, "What is this? Resident Evil? If we can't kill it, might as well obliterate it."

The archer drew her bow and nocked three arrows with explosive tags, then she let the arrows loose at a clone, all three arrows hitting the same clone, causing it to explode, leaving nothing of the clone remaining.

Yugao frowned as she dodged punches from the Zetsu clones before she tagged a clone with three explosive tags, destroying it as the tags went off, "I guess we're better off using explosive tags..."

Immediately, everyone started using explosive tags on the clones. Well, almost. Sasuke got fed up and started using his Mangekyou and spammed Amateratsu on the clones, while Hikari used the Rasengan to completely erase the Zetsu clones.

Tobi frowned from his hiding spot as the Konoha shinobi started to take down his army. Granted, he still had a lot where those came from, and there still were a lot of White Zetsu clones fighting the group. But sooner or later, they finish them off, and he'd lose his chance for his second objective.

The masked man decided to ignore the others and focused on his sole target, one Jinchurikii of the Nanabi.

With Fuu, she was having a great time. Her usual fighting style of using scale powder, coupled along with explosive tagged kunai, was proving to be effective against the White Zetsu clones.

The former Taki kunoichi glanced around. Everyone was doing great, and they were taking down all the clones one by one. Sooner or later, they'd clean up the clones and get Tobi.

Then all of a sudden, she found the masked man in front of her. Fuu glared at him and tried to punch him, only for her fist to phase through him, causing her to lose her balance.

Fuu's eyes widened before she quickly jumped forward, out of Tobi's reach as she glared at him, "You, what was that?!"

Tobi laughed darkly, "Not bad, those are good instincts. A second later, and I would have had you."

Fuu glared at him as she briefly glanced around her. The White Zetsu clones were doing a really good job keeping the others occupied, so no help any time soon.

Tobi spoke, "You know, I've heard a lot about you. Fuu of Taki, Jinchurikii of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, known to use explosive powder and wings, along with other things. Let's see, if you live up to your reputation, no?"

Fuu didn't reply, instead, she thought, 'Choumei!'

The Bijuu instantly obliged, sending the red chakra around her, forming a three tailed chakra cloak. The girl also spread her wings, and she released a considerably large amount of scale powder.

Tobi frowned as he easily noticed the powder filling the air. He was lucky his mask had a filter in it, or he would have possibly inhaled the possibly poisonous powder.

He then looked at the green-haired girl, oddly standing there. Jinchurikii had always tended to favour close combat when using their chakra cloaks, but Fuu was just standing there.

Tobi's eyes widened, and he barely had the time to leap away as several chakra arms shot out of the ground in an attempt to grab him. If possible, his eyes widened even more, as the arms changed direction and followed him in midair.

The man quickly made himself intangible, allowing the chakra arms to pass by him harmlessly. Fuu's eyes widened slightly as she saw what happened. But she didn't let that deter her.

Without missing a beat, the girl launched herself forward with her chakra arms, holding an explosion tag in her hands. Fuu easily reached the masked man and thrust her hand forward.

Tobi narrowed his eyes and swiftly dodged the first few strikes before he raised his forearm to block Fuu's attack by the wrist. The man chuckled as he saw the tag in her hands before he kicked her away, "Nice try, but not good enough."

The man had learned from his fight with Minato after all. Fighting against a Hiraishin user, even just once, would teach you a lot. Compared to the Fourth Hokage, Fuu's attacks were child's play.

(Note. Everything that happened that lead to the Kyuubi sealed in Hikari, is exactly the same as in cannon. So Tobi did fight Minato.)

Fuu glared at the man as she thought, 'Choumei, let's take this up a notch.'

The Bijuu grinned and happily obliged, channeling even more chakra into Fuu, giving her five tails in the Second Version of the Chakra Cloak.

Upon seeing the more advanced version of the cloak, Tobi narrowed his eyes slightly warily, but at the same time, he was also smirking, 'Good, let's test this out.'

The man brought out a small black receiver from his cloak. This had been one of his experiments, considering he had Hashirama's cells and Madara's cells in his body, plus he had been given Madara's eyes, which had evolved into the Rinnegan, which was now in Pein's possession, he was still probably eligible for using the receivers.

Tobi quickly stabbed the black receiver into his left palm, pushing it in as he grunted in pain. After fully pushing it in, and fortunately fully integrating it into his body, Tobi let out a dark chuckle, dark purple chakra chains forming from his left palm.

The man let out a breath as he jumped away just in time to dodge Fuu's punch, "Now, let's have a little... test, shall we?"

Fuu just glared at the man as she charged again, noting the warning Choumei gave her about the chains. The girl sent a few swipes at the man, but to her ire, the attacks only passed through him as if he was a ghost.

Fuu tch'd and jumped away to avoid the chains. For some reason, seeing those chains gave her chills up the spin, and she didn't like it.

Choumei spoke in her mind, "Fuu, those chains, they are from the Gedo Mazo. Only someone with father's eyes can wield them, but I don't sense it at all."

The green-haired girl nodded as she stared at Tobi warily. The man glanced at the chains, which seemed to flicker for a second, and said, "Hmm, so, its still a work in progress. Whatever, I suppose its time to end this, Nanabi, no?"

Fuu was about to charge when Tobi started to swirl out of existence, to her surprise. The girl quickly glanced around at all directions, knowing full well he could appear anywhere.

After a good twenty seconds, Fuu's eyes widened before she quickly leaped forward. But she was too late, as a number of purple glowing chains wrapped around her.

Then the chains glowed brighter, and Fuu felt her seal explode with pain, causing her to scream as she immediately lost any strength to fight back.

In the seal, the same chains wrapped around Choumei, slowly dragging the chakra, or rather the soul, of the Nanabi from the seal. The Bijuu cursed and yelled, "Kurama!"

The eldest brother of the otherother Bijuu heard his younger sibling's cry and said to Hikari urgently, "Hikari, the Nanabi's getting taken. Move, now!"

The girl didn't need another word as she kicked a Zetsu clone away and drew a Hiraishin kunai. Hikari glanced to the closest person, which was Suguha and yelled, "Suguha-chan!"

The swordswoman nodded and ran over to her, seeing the kunai in Hikari's hand. Easily spotting Fuu, Hikari then threw the kunai at Tobi, holding Suguha's hand, before the two vanished in a flash of yellow.

With Tobi, the man was grinning darkly. He could see the Nanabi's chakra/astral form exiting Fuu's body. The man brought out a flask enhanced with many seals and prepared to bring the Nanabi into the container.

Then, all of a sudden, he was blinded by a bright flash of yellow before he was slashed at the shoulder, severing his left arm from his shoulder before he was kicked away.

The man screamed in pain as his vision slowly cleared, his only visible eye glaring hatefully at the two that sliced off his arm, Suguha and Hikari.

Granted, Tobi could easily replace his lost arm, but he still felt that one. Contrary to what most believed, pain was an important factor to humans. It told them how much damage they sustained, and it warned them if they were dying or not. True, most warriors trained to withstand pain, but being able to withstand it, and not feeling it at all, were two totally different things.

That was why Tobi still maintained the pain receptors, everytime his body got damaged. But still, he didn't enjoy the pain.

However, Hikari and Suguha were focused on other things, more specifically, the chakra of the Nanabi that was still in an astral-like form, floating in the air. As soon as the Uzumaki saw the bijuu, in her own seal, the Kyuubi raised an eyebrow and smirked, 'Oh, this might work...'

Back outside, Hikari cursed and used her own chains to keep Choumei from fading away before she looked over Fuu. Needless to say, Suguha stood between them and Tobi, even if the man was on the ground gripping his wound painfully.

The Uzumaki didn't have as much skill as Sakura or Shizune did when it came to medical ninjutsu. But Tsunade had managed to cram some knowledge into the girl's head, and Hikari easily scanned Fuu's body, and the green-haired girl was slipping away. Fast.

The blonde growled and quickly drew a seal on the ground, linking her chain to the seal before she glanced at Suguha, "Suguha-chan, I'm gonna bring Sakura over. Take care of them."

The girl nodded and glanced at Tobi, who was still on the ground, discretely putting first aid over his severed arm. It wasn't enought to fully patch it up, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.

In less than a minute, Hikari returned with Sasuke and Sakura. Immediately, the medic went to work on Fuu, while Sasuke went over to deal with Tobi.

Hikari then heard the Kyuubi, "Hikari, you know Fuu's tenketsu are damaged. The Nanabi was probably extracted with chains from the Gedo Mazo, so it directly went through her tenketsu and forcefully pulled the Nanabi out. Its a miracle the the Nanabi wasn't fully pulled out, and there is some of his chakra in her. That's why she's even alive, if only barely."

The blonde nodded before the Kyuubi continued, "Sealing the Nanabi back into Fuu won't save her, in fact, it will definitely kill her. Her tenketsu can't handle the strain of a Bijuu entering her system, it will cause them to collapse, at best, ending her ninja career, or at worse, killing her instantly."

Hikari asked, frustrated, "Then what do we do?!"

The Kyuubi closed his eyes for a moment, then he answered, "Seal my brother into Suguha."

Hikari's eyes widened, "What?"

The Bijuu nodded, "Yes. I don't trust anyone else here, not that pink bubblegum, and definitely not the Uchiha, even if he is decent. You can't house another bijuu and we don't have time to go back and get the Aburame."

The Uzumaki sighed and nodded, 'Fine.'

She looked up at Choumei's astral form and it was obvious he knew what was going on. Hikari then looked at Fuu, who also knew. The green haired girl nodded weakly as Sakura tried her best to heal her, "I know, do it."

Hikari nodded before looking up a Choumei for permissions, and she received a nod. It was obvious the Kyubi had told his younger sibling, and the Nanabi had accepted it.

The girl looked over at Suguha, "Suguha-chan, come here."

The swordswoman stared at her sister curiously and complied. Hikari sighed, "Right now, Fuu's tenketsu are too damaged. She can't handle the strain of having a Bijuu sealed back into her body, but we can't leave the Nanabi put here, nor can we seal him into a container. That's why, I need you to be his Jinchurikii."

Suguha's eyes widened and she glanced over at Fuu, who nodded weakly. The green haired girl didn't really want to part with her friend, but she got careless, and she couldn't leave Choumei out here due to her own selfishness.

The katana user nodded, "Fine, I'll do it."

Hikari nodded and readied her brush, "Lay down here, I'll do the rest."

Then she got to work.

Meanwhile, with Sasuke and Tobi. The last loyal Uchiha glared at the masked man, "Who are you?"

Tobi chuckled, "I already told you, I am Tobi."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, "That move, it's just like Kakashi. And that eye, how do you have the Sharingan?"

Tobi seemed to smirk as he said, "Why, I got it the same way you did."

Sasuke glared at him and charged, swinging his chokuto at the man, "ANSWER ME!"

The blade easily phased through the man as if he did not exist. Tobi shook his head mockingly, "Tsk tsk, you're repulsive. So unlike your brother."

Sasuke growled and conjured a Chidori in his hands, thrusting it forward. But the results were the same, as Sasuke merely phased through the man.

The masked man then noticed Hikari drawing seals on Suguha, and then, the Nanabi got sucked into the swords woman. He then looked further and saw that almost all of the White Zetsu clones were defeated. Tobi tch'd and thought, 'Well, whatever... I've done what I came to do.'

Tobi looked at Sasuke, "I suppose it's time for me to leave."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "As if I'll let you, you will tell me where Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki are."

Tobi chuckled, "You don't have a choice. Tell Kakashi I said hi, and I'm itching to gut him like how he did to her all those years ago."

Then the man swirled away before Sasuke even had a chance to yell Amateratsu. The last loyal Uchiha cursed. Tobi hadn't taken him seriously at all. He couldn't even touch him. Well, at least none of the other Akatsuki members had space time techniques like Tobi did, at least, he hoped so.

Sasuke let out a breath and went back to where Hikari and the others were. By now, Kakashi, team Yugao and team Kurenai had also wiped out all of the White Zetsu clones, and they were all gathered around Fuu.

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead and let out a breath. It was miracle Hikari had brought her over when she did. If they had even been a second later, Fuu would have died. But fortunately, it seemed Hikari's seal helped, somewhat, in keeping Fuu alive, long enough for Sakura to fully heal her.

The apprentice of the Fifth Hokage stood up and nodded, "Okay, that should do it."

Fuu weakly got up, and Shino quickly helped her stable herself. The girl nodded in thanks before she looked at Hikari and Suguha, who had both finished their work in sealing the Nanabi into Suguha.

The former Jinchurikii thought, 'Well, I'm gonna miss that over-grown beetle.'

To her surprise, that familiar annoying voice of the Nanabi replied her, "You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'm still here."

Fuu blinked, "I... I can hear Choumei... Hikari, you did seal him into Suguha, right?"

Suguha nodded, she could hear the Nanabi in her seal. With Hikari, the Kyubi spoke, "I can explain that. Make a clone."

The Uzumaki raised and eyebrow and made a clone, the Kyubi quickly taking over and said, "That man, Tobi, he used the chains from the Gedo Mazo. Those chains directly enter a Jinchurikii's body from the tenketsu, and they rip us Bijuu away from the seals forcefully."

The Kyuubi pushed some hair away, frowing as he did, "From what I saw, and understand, the chains were in the process of fully pulling Chomei's chakra out. But since Hikari here interfered, by cutting off his arm."

The Bijuu in the clone pointed to the severed arm on the ground, "Which cut off the chains, it left half of Choumei's chakra hanging. Normally that would be impossible, as we Bijuu exist as a single life form, if you will. But, that bastard, he didn't have the Rinnegan, and he used those chakra receivers to make the chains. So by cutting off the chains, it might have cut off the chakra from the Nanabi. "

Kakashi nodded and looked at the Bijuu, "So, how does this affect the Nanabi? Will those two parts exist as a single being?"

The Kyuubi rubbed his chin, or rather, Hikari's chin, "Hmm, that I'm not sure."

The Bijuu looked at Suguha and Fuu, "You two feel anything different?"

The two girls asked their tenants, and Suguha said, "Well, Choumei said he couldn't feel any link to that Choumei in Fuu. But he still has the essential parts of his chakra, it's like he just used half of his reserves."

Fuu nodded, "Same here."

The Kyuubi grumbled, "Lucky bastards... Well, that clears it up. It seems that there are two of them now. Well, two annoying bugs anyways."

Kurenai then asked, "So, they're stuck like that?"

The Kyuubi nodded, "Yeah. They'll probably regain their lost chakra in time, we Bijuu always regenerate chakra no matter what. Well, that makes things better, since we have a better chance at fighting the Akatsuki now."

Fuu had a small smile on her face, happy that she didn't really lose her friend. Choumei-F chuckled in her mind, "Even if I was totally extracted and sent to Suguha, you won't lose me. We would still be able to talk."

(for simplicity's sake, I'll refer to the Nanabi in Fuu as Choumei-F, and the one in Suguha as Choumei-S)

Fuu nodded, 'I know. But you've been with me for so long, it will be different for me if I don't have your annoying voice in my head.'

Choumei-F just laughed.

Outside, Jiraiya said, "Let's get going. We don't know if there are any other Akatsuki members out here."

The Sannin then got an idea and looked at his god-daughter, "Hikari, can you modify your Hiraishin seals so we can travel as a whole group?"

The Uzumaki blinked several times before she face-palmed, "Oh my gods... I could've just done that in the beginning!"

Everyone blinked in confusion as Hikari took out a Hiraishin kunai and unrolled its seal formula. Then she started drawing several more seals on it for a whole minute before she replaced the seal on the kunai.

The last Namikaze nodded in satisfaction before she picked it up and said, "Wait a sec, I'll be right back."

She dropped another Hiraishin kunai onto the ground and vanished in a yellow flash.

The others just blinked several times. Kiba asked, "What just happened?"

Shino pushed his glasses up, "It seems Hikari forgot she could use the Hiraishin to transport all of us back to the village, and most probably, vice versa."

Asuna, Suguha and Sinon all smiled, knowing that even if their sister was strong, she still had a knack for forgetting stuff like that. But no one minded to be honest.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, a motion mirrored by most of the Jounin present as they knew full well how the Uzumaki acted.

In less than five minutes, the blonde reappeared at their location. Hikari smiled, easily noting how close Shino and Fuu were standing, before she looked at the others, "Okay, you guys ready?"

Everyone nodded and Hikari said, "Okay, everyone, grab onto each other and make it so all of us are linked."

No one objected, and in a bright flash of yellow, the whole group vanished, blissfully unaware of the shadow that sank into the ground some distance away from them.

A while later, back in Konoha, the three teams, one Sannin and one former Taki kunoichi, had given their report to Tsunade.

The Hokage sighed and leaned back into her seat, "So, let me get this straight, you were all attacked by the Akatsuki, along with some sort of white humanoid creatures. Fuu here, almost had her Bijuu extracted, but Hikari managed to stop them. Am I right so far?"

Everyone nodded and she continued, "So as a result, half of the Nanabi was left outside, and Fuu's tenketsu couldn't take the strain of taking in that much chakra, or she would die. So under the Kyuubi's advice, Hikari sealed that half of the Nanabi into Suguha. Yes?"

Everyone nodded, and Fuu felt a bit nervous as Tsunade rubbed her temples, obviously stressed out by the situation. The green haired girl subconsciously moved closer to Shino as she glanced around, Hikari and Jiraiya were indifferent, obviously used to this. Shino and Sasuke looked calm while Sakura was a bit nervous but didn't act. As for Asuna, Sinon and Suguha, they were trying to keep calm, but Fuu could see that they were a bit nervous.

Moving on, Kiba was scared shitless, Hinata looked really nervous, while the three Jounin were praying that they won't lose their jobs.

After a few moments, Tsunade let out a breath, "At least no one died this time, and Fuu is still a Jinchurikii."

Everyone visibly relaxed as all traces of the Hokage blowing up vanished. The last Senju was thankful to god things weren't as bad as with the Niibi. Especially since Taki wasn't as strict with the Nanabi as Kumo with the Niibi.

As far as she knew, as far as most of the people of Taki were concerned, they'd give the Bijuu in Fuu to the Akatsuki just to get rid of the girl even it meant a group of terrorists taking over the world, just to save their skin, even if they were starting to accept the girl.

Tsunade brought out a bottle of sake and said, "You're all dismissed. Fuu, seeing as you carry the Nanabi, and seeing how you seem... attached to our heir of the Aburame clan, you'll be staying with them, is that okay, Shino?"

Only then did everyone realise how close Fuu was standing to Shino, and the girl blushed slightly as she quickly moved away from the young heir, an unnoticeable blush under hid cloak. Shino nodded, "That's fine, if Fuu wants that."

The green haired girl nodded shyly as she heard Hikari snicker slightly. She knew it wasn't like her to act like this. The girl had always pushed people away, and she always put on a strong face when in front of people. But meeting Shino, she felt like she could act like a girl. Even when with Hikari, someone she saw as a sister, Fuu would have her mask up, if only slightly.

Tsunade sighed and nodded, "Good, I'll inform your father. For now, you're all dismissed. Shino, I trust you can show Fuu around the village?"

The Aburame raised an eyebrow, "Me? Wouldn't Hikari be better?"

Tsunade chuckled as she glanced at Fuu, "No, I think you'll be just fine."

The man just nodded as everyone had a sly smile on their faces, knowing what Tsunade was doing. After that, they all left the office, leaving Tsunade to her own on her paperwork.

Meanwhile, in one of Tobi's hidden safe houses, the man growled as he took off his mask and placed it on the table as he sat down, revealing a man with black hair, the right side of his face scarred in a pattern not unlike his mask. More importantly, there was a Sharingan in his right eye, while he kept his left eye shut.

As he poured himself a glass of water, Zetsu appeared from the ground. The plant asked, "So, what do you want to do now?"

Tobi sighed and considered his options. The test for the White Zetsu clones had gone well, hell, it was a great success. None of the Konoha ninja felt the presences of the battalion, and considering who they were, being able to put pressure on them, even if it was only a moment, spoke volumes of the clones' capabilities.

Then came the Nanabi extraction. True, it wasn't important at that time, not too important anyways. But Tobi had got ahead of himself, and he had lost his arm as a result. Well, at the same time it also proved he could use the chains without the Rinnegan, not as effective with the Rinnegan, but still combat ready. That was another important thing.

So while he had lost an arm, and the Nanabi had been sealed into Suguha, he hadn't exactly lost a lot. In fact, he had gained some valuable information, which will prove helpful for the future.

Now it was time for the next step. Tobi looked at Zetsu, "Inform Pein that the Nanabi is with Konoha now. The remaining Bijuu, apart from the Hachibi, are all in Konohagakure. Tell him to prepare as soon as his paths have rested up. It's time to launch a full scale attack on Konoha."

XXX

Done. So that's the end of the Nanabi arc. Just a note, as in canon, Jinchurikii die once their Bijuu are extracted. Here, Fuu didn't have Choumei extracted. Its more like this, imagine a gate, a starfish is passing through that gate. But as it passes, with half the body through the gate, the gate slams shut. And it gets cut in half one part inside the gates, the other outside the gates. Then, the two parts of the starfish regenerate to form two new starfish.

That's what happened. So, Fuu technically didn't get the Nanabi taken out, so she survived barely, long enough for Sakura to heal her. Its also not like the Kyubi, as Minato purposely separated the Yin and Yang parts.

Here, Choumei just literally got split into half. So he retains both Yin and Yang parts, and his consciousness as well, but he will temporarily have half of his full powers.

So yeah, the next arc will be the Pein arc. After that, the Aincrad arc.

Review please.