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Funny reviews, I have to admit XD

I can't even begin to describe how much I appreciate each and every single one of you that's stuck with me on this story and have been reading my stories since some of my older stories. I'm honestly surprised (and startled) when some of you said that you've been reading my stories since, say Redlights or Fire Pit.

Effing incredible.

Thank you all so damn much.

This is one of those chapters I've been itching to write, since Chapter 13!

Last chapter ended at around 01:10AM and the story continues right after. As in, immediately after Naruto's kid is born. At the start of this chapter, I'm well aware of how absurd what you will read may sound. This chapter also features something I purposefully didn't place in the last one, and I will feature this new information (or news) on a news broadcast. You can skip it if you want or if you think it's too boring for you, but let me just say that the information is important to the end of the whole story.

Enough of my chatter

Enjoy…

CHAPTER 29

Clan heads house

Uchiha clan compound

Konoha

There hasn't been peace in the Uchiha clan heads house for the past seven months, and tonight wasn't any different.

"I am your husband and you will do as I say!" Fugaku shouted as he stormed after his seven months pregnant wife, who ignored him, as if he hadn't said anything. The man harshly grabbed her wrist and forced her to face him. "Do you hear me, woman?"

Mikoto raised her eyebrows, unimpressed, and tore her wrist out of her husband's grip. "Haven't you noticed, Fugaku; it's past midnight and I'm tired. Do you want the rest of the clan to hear us fight?"

"If you are tired, then you sleep with me in the bedroom. No more of this petty rebellion." The Uchiha princess chuckled shortly and briefly looked at her black haired, black eyed attendants, who remained professionally stoic, though amusement glimmered in their eyes. "Come this instant."

"Fugaku, dear," she gently cupped his cheek and smiled lovingly at him, saying. "As long as I live, I will never lie in the same bed as you." She patted his cheek patronizingly and took step back, preparing to turn around and leave for her room. "Be glad I haven't aborted this bug you put inside me-"

The man grabbed her by the back of her neck and that was when her female attendants stepped in and stared with narrowed eyes at their clan head, standing to both sides of the Uchiha princess and daring their clan head to go further. The man, not intimidated by the smaller, half-Uchiha attendants, kept his hand on the halted woman's neck and said in a low, intimidating voice. "The child you hold is testimony of our union as man and wife. Do not sully your clan by saying such…disgusting things." He spat, shoving his wife away. "Once our child is born, you will return to the bedroom and perform your role as my wife. I am your husband and your clan head-"

"Let me stop you there," Mikoto said, holding her large stomach with her left hand and slowly turning around, shaking her head to tear her husband's hand off. "You, Fugaku-dear, are not the clan head." she pointed at herself with her free hand and growled right up into his face. "I am." She jabbed a strong finger at the centre of his chest as he opened his mouth to exclaim foul profanities. "You are nothing but a figure head."

The man clenched his teeth and Mikoto jerked her head back. Her attendants wavered in place, before they bowed deeply and retreated deeper into the passageway they were conversing in, to prepare their mistress's bath in her room.

The woman fearlessly looked up at her husband's eyes, spiralling inwards and shifting into a three tomoe sharingan, morphing once more and evolving into its advanced form.

Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

They were her father's eyes.

She had attained Mangekyo level when she was a chunin and had been unable to advance since, seeing as she was unable to find a willing Uchiha, living or dead, that wished to exchange eyes with her.

Now that her father had died, at Minato's hand no less, Mikoto would admit that her morals became stunted.

The pregnant woman's powerful doujutsu spun sluggishly as Fugaku activated his own eyes, though still at the Mangekyo level.

This small display from Mikoto, though the woman being smaller than her husband and burdened with carrying their child, shortly silenced the Uchiha man.

The woman began, jabbing another finger into Fugaku's chest, hard enough to have him take a step back. "You don't hold any power in this clan. The clan council doesn't listen to you and our people don't respect you." Another proof being the half-Uchiha maidens that followed Mikoto around didn't bow to him as deep as they would for Mikoto; Half-Uchiha weren't given full rights in the clan and for those two to not show respect to the person that supposedly led the clan. The pregnant woman jabbed his forehead, pushing him back again, and said in a strong voice. "That illusion of power and authority you have is merely the respect accorded to you as my husband. You represent me for the time being." She shook her head and flicked his nose, having him take another step back. "Keep my seat warm for me, will you?"

"Your father-"

"Damn my father, Fugaku." The woman scoffed rudely, against the feminine morals drilled into her head during her upbringing. She whipped around and said over her shoulder, to the stunned man standing stock still, watching her leave for her bedroom. "I'll leave you to your duties, Lord Fugaku."

Recognizing from a very young age that as a female and the only child of her clan head father, she would have to put much more effort into everything she did, more so than if she was born as a male, Mikoto held nothing back during training and her time in the academy, as well as using any available time she had to be making connections with the clan councils families, and members of her whole clan.

Still, her father had put his foot down on a woman becoming clan head, purposely not seeing how Mikoto was widely respect in the clan, more so than the person he intended to become clan head.

Like for that whole day, Mikoto had been going round her clan and speaking with her clan mates, while Fugaku was screaming himself hoarse to get the Konoha Council instated once again.

Even when the Hokage had given him and the Uchiha clan the chance to redeem themselves, the thick headed man walked out while his comrades stayed back.

Mikoto wasn't too pleased to hear that.

Fugaku was clan head in name only.

The man closed his eyes with a terse sigh, displeased with himself for not being able to speak back to his wife, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw a rolled up scroll on the ground before him.

He looked at it with his sharingan eyes, checking it for traps, and finally picked it up when he was satisfied of its safety.

It read:

Minato is on Clover Mountain, Hidden Mountain.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

07:59AM

Kushina's Hospital Room,

Maternity ward,

General Hospital,

Dark capital,

Dark country

Naruto exhaled in relief as he relaxed into his seat next to his recently slumbering red haired wife, Uzumaki Kushina.

Sakenomi Ketsueki was sitting on his lap, her head nuzzled under his chin and snoring peacefully with her arms wrapped around his middle, as his left arm was around her as well, holding her to him while his right hand drew light, soothing circles on her thigh.

Some ten minutes ago, Kushina had woken up, as hungry as a bear and with a bladder ready to burst.

Naruto recalled the words of Dr Yuma concerning Kushina and the birth of their child; the Kyuubi had tried to swell its holders chakra coils, finding a way around the seal to do so and therefore disrupt the pregnancy and somehow influence the child the woman was holding, and now that the seal had been tightened to the extent that Naruto felt some sort of pity for the beast, for the Kyuubi wouldn't even be given the luxury of breathing under the seal Panda, Polar Bear and Amara Chui-Inku had placed on Kushina.

To deal with the excess Kyuubi chakra in her body, Kushina's Uzumaki genes were readapting and moving it around into her digestive system. The presence of the beasts corrosive, corrupt chakra would burn her stomach of every morsel of food but would end up being digested as if it was liquid, resulting in the Uzumaki waking up and running to the bathroom every few hours or so.

Yuma had said that this would last for the rest of the day, but normalcy in her body would return.

Amara and Naruto's other two top seal masters had sworn that the Kyuubi seal wouldn't interfere in any other pregnancy in the future.

There was always the option of passing the beast onto another holder as well.

Sueki mumbled sleepily on his lap and the man smiled softly, breathing out in content once again as the pale vampire searched deep into her husband for his warmth. The BLAK Commander was so much as tired, more like now that her husband was there with them, she was using that chance to absorb the bonfire of warmth that Naruto apparently was.

It was more than enough to lull her back to sleep.

The blue eyed man then cast his eyes to his first born son, Benimaru.

The incubator was closer to Kushina's bed and Naruto and Sueki's seat, almost directly in front of Naruto, and the man couldn't help but stare at the child every time he looked at him.

Benimaru was beautiful.

The man bent his head down and placed a kiss on the top of Sueki's head, doing so somehow with his black mask, and the white haired woman laughed breathily, quietly, still deep in the allure of sleep.

The Leader of Dark country looked upwards, to the installed television hanging on the wall at the end of the room. Televisions were a luxury in Dark country; they didn't come with the house and, depending on the price, there was a monthly bill sent out to houses for TV subscriptions, allowing them access to an array of channels all over the continent, from as close as Fire country to as far as Hidden Chill. The TV station had cut a deal with other major network channels and the monthly bill for TV stations contributed to the money they paid other villages and countries for allowing them into their TV airwaves. Like how charges applied to calls made outside of the country, TV stations that weren't indigenous to Darkness didn't come cheap, but the payment was well-worth the service.

There was a television in Kushina's hospital room because the Hospital had deemed it important, until they discharged redhead by weekend, which was five days from now.

It was just about eight o' clock in the morning and, right on time, the news came on.

The newscaster was a young woman with dark yellow tresses that stopped above her shoulders, a healthily tanned skin and striking yellow eyes that drew the watchers in. She had on dark red lipstick and modest makeup, with a black pencil skirt, black suit coat and a white long sleeved shirt suit underneath, though the views only saw her upper body and the few pieces of paper on her desk, along with her dark red nail polish.

Naruto wasn't hiding it and he wasn't going to hide it.

Darkness's only News Channel was state owned and controlled.

There were some things that just didn't need to be made known; they weren't necessarily lying to anyone either. The news was honest and factual.

Naruto could remember the exact day the newscaster presently on the television had applied for the job in his office.

She was a Dark born woman whose father was from Kiri and mother from Dark country. Her father was a member of the Kaguya clan, who held the Dead Bone Pulse kekkai genkai, though there wasn't anyone that did have the bloodline presently, and her mother was from the Kemuri clan. The Kiri clan and the Dark country clan believed to have shared ancestry in the fact that all members of both clans had strong bones, though the Dead Bone Pulse bloodline could bring these strong bones outside. The Kemuri though had powerful water and fire affinity chakra, therefore allowing them to have Smoke release.

Naruto was from the Kemuri clan.

The Kaguya clan were bloodthirsty and were more likely to commit murders in Kiri.

The newscaster had a passion for reporting and the producer of the News Channel had put up job applications in the newspaper and on the TV, she had all the necessary qualifications and she didn't mind much that there was a limit to what she could say on television. Working in Dark country was a dream of hers since she graduated from the Civilian Academy's Advanced Classes, and now that she was a newscaster, slash journalist, she had a good salary, nice benefits and like other field journalists and reporters, she had security while on the field and all-expense paid trips to wherever it was she was going. These benefits covered those working on and in the News Channel for Dark country.

Another tid bit about the Dark born newscaster was that she was married to Ran Tomo, also known as Epic Mist, Kushina and Shimara Kuma's former teammate. Epic Mist had retired from active duty and took up acting, working as a martial arts expert on movies, a stunt double for prominent actors and Naruto had heard that Epic Mist and Koyuki Kazahana had released a movie they had co-directed and personally starred in last week.

He noted to himself to watch it.

The man gave the news his full attention; there was a report he earnestly wanted to hear from it.

The intro chimed and the camera panned onto the newscaster.

"Good morning, Dark country. My name is Ani Kaguya and this is the News at 8." The camera came a bit closer to her face and the headlines started rolling out at the bottom of the screen, under a bigger, more pronounced headline, which she read out for the country. "The country celebrates as Lord Naruto welcomes his first child. Named Benimaru after Lord Naruto's late father, young Lord Benimaru was born around one in the morning and Lord Naruto's office has said that he bears a great resemblance to his mother, Lady Kushina Uzumaki. We at Channel Eleven wish to congratulate Lord Naruto, Lady Kushina and Lady Sueki on this most wonderful occasion."

Here, Ani Kaguya, the newscaster, smiled lightly and bowed to the camera, to Naruto, before she straightened up and continued with the news.

"In other news, as of midday two days ago, Dark country ryu has become the most widely used and most precious currency on the continent, surpassing Snow ryu to become the leading currency on the continent." Naruto smiled ever so slightly at the news and tucked his chin down onto his white haired wife's head, keeping his eyes and ears on the news broadcast. "This development has come about at the fall in popularity of Fire ryu and Konoha becoming Fifth Greatest Hidden Village. Lord Ozo Suzumebachi, Deputy Director of the Dark country National Bank, has told reporters that 'this development in our national currency has increased the value of our goods and services traded to non-allies,'" the Deputy Directors quote rolled onto the larger headlines on the bottom of the screen. "Compared to Fire ryu, One Dark ryu is equal to Six Hundred Fire ryu, and One Dark ryu is equalled to One Hundred and Fifty Snow ryu."

The news couldn't have gotten better for Dark country traders.

Ani Kaguya proceeded. "In a private meeting of three Wealth Nation Daimyos in a secluded room of the Suna Beach Resort following Dark ryu's climb to the top of the list, Lord Mifune of Iron country and Lady Kamina of Hidden Chill forwarded a motion to re-evaluate the Wealth Nations ranks. Lord Naruto was purposely not present during this meeting, as is the tradition for when a Wealth Nation is evaluated by other Wealth Nations." Naruto invisibly sat up and his ears perked. "Lord Mifune and Lady Kamina have agreed to step back and that Dark country is to move up the ranks to Second place."

The Dark Leader sat back and sighed in relief.

"Lord Doton opposed this shift in power, but the decision stands." On the right side of the screen, the newly arranged ranks slid down. "First is Snow country, Second is Dark country, Third is Iron country and Fourth is Hidden Chill."

The Merchants Guild in River country erupted in rancorous celebration.

"Lady Kamina of Hidden Chill has commented to one of our reporters that Darkness would have ranked higher, if not for Lord Doton's objections. He has demanded 'Entry into Darkness to survey its development first hand' as his condition before Snow could step back and allow Darkness take the lead. Our sources in Snow have said that Lord Doton does not believe Darkness should be a Wealth Nation and is taking steps to debunk any notion that Dark country is appropriately prosperous."

The blonde Leader scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Lord Mifune has refused to comment. Lord Naruto is currently unavailable to tell us his thoughts." Ani shuffled the papers on her desk a little, looking down for a short while to do so, and then looked up, continuing. "Lady Wakono of Fire country has voiced her intentions of seeking audience with Lord Naruto. She has emphasized that the meeting is not for an alliance, as she simply wishes to speak with Lord Naruto and share a cup of tea. She has expressed remorse on behalf of her father, the deposed Daimyo Sei, on Fire country's involvement in the Dark Civil war and wants for us all to move past those terrible events. More on that later."

Naruto was well-aware of Lady Wakano's intention to talk with him, as she had sent him a letter voicing her wish a handful of days ago. Naruto hadn't yet responded, but once he got the chance, he would like to meet with the Fire Lady, though not in Darkness but in River. Allying with Fire country was the very last thing Naruto wanted to do. His reason for wanting to meet Wakono was because she held resentment for Konoha; Naruto wanted to see if he could convince her to dissolve the Hidden Leaf village, though to make sure to keep his name and influence out of the final decision.

"With a sharp rise in mission requests this winter and in anticipation for more mission requests during spring, next year, Lord Naruto's Office has sent out a Public Notice to all Shinobi of Darkness; to come and collect more missions. Lord Naruto informed us that, as long as his shinobi rest, the more missions they collect, there will be a ten percent increase in payments. Lord Naruto has also said that, with the abundance in mission requests and the oncoming snow storm, he would personally look into promoting those that have stellar performance during missions, those that have recommendations from their superiors and those that are due to be promoted will also be considered by Lord Naruto and his staff. Any complaints and concerns should be left at the Leader's Tower, and it would be attended to as soon as possible."

The Leader hummed mutely to himself and calmly ran his hands up and down his sleeping wife's thigh.

"Lastly, The Defence Corp uncovered an infiltration attempt through the Night Forest last night but the culprits, Kisame Hoshigaki and Minato Namikaze, did not leave the forest for the country. Kitsune Scouts reported that they took a bone from inside the forest and left some hours later. The Defence Corp have endeavoured to block this entry point and has promised that it wouldn't happen again. The Chief of Police, Aoi Keisatu, encourages people of the country to notify any close by shinobi or report it to any suspicious activity to the nearest Police Station or Defence Corp Office." She arranged the papers on her desk, making sure not to look away from the camera. "That concludes the news. Now onto the weather…"

The weatherman, standing before a projected image of Dark country, enlightened the country of the decline in temperature and the presence of snow in the extreme south eastern reaches of the country. The forecast said that there would be high winds later in the day and that there would be a hail storm near midnight that night. The weatherman further emphasized that the coming snow storm was the strongest, coldest and overall worst they had ever seen, and people should stock up on essentials in preparation for the blizzard, as all shops, schools and pretty much general activities would forcefully grind to a halt, by Order from the Leader.

The News Channel then moved onto Sports News, where the two newscasters, different from Ani Kaguya, the first newscaster, reported that the seven-month-old basketball team were on the verge of entering the quarter finals in the Wave country Sports Tournament, their table tennis team had qualified for the semi-finals and their soccer team had qualified for the finals, against Kumo's team. The golf segment of the tournament had to be put on hold due to bad weather and the relay races were postponed.

The TV station then showed highlights for the basketball match, and Naruto, though still confused about the rules and the sport itself, silently cheered as one of his players threw the ball from the half court the court, hit the backboard and sank into the net. The next footage showed one of Naruto's soccer players punting the ball from the corner of the field, onto the waiting head of jumping player and into the post. The man wasted no time taking off his shirt, running to the stands and leaping into the deafeningly screaming Dark country fans.

Dark country's various sports teams was years in the making, gathering experience and skill in competitions within the country and among allies. The Wave hosted Sports Competition was their first foray into the outside world. The Council had pushed for the establishment of those sports groups among the younger generations as measures to curb crime and prevent youth from being constantly bored and idle.

The very first sports group Naruto had set up was for Boxing, then after the Martial Arts Tournament in Bear country, he had added Mixed Martial Arts into the wider umbrella of Martial Arts, of which Boxing could be found under. Shimara Kuma, Kushina's former teammate and ex-girlfriend, was the Head of the Boxing Club, while another rising Kuma in the Shinobi Academy headed the Boxing Clubs in the Civilian and Shinobi schools.

Naruto laughed at the wild celebrations of his soccer players, after each goal, savouring their joy and humming along with them as the fans waved Dark country's flag.

His ears twitched when he heard footsteps outside of his wife's hospital room stop before the door. He held Sueki closer to him, calming her down as she blearily made to stand up and prepare for the guest. She smiled peacefully in her teachers arms and slipped back asleep as the person on the other side of the door rapped his fist on the hard wood thrice.

"Come in." Naruto called, doing so carefully to not wake up the two beautiful women and his first born child in the room.

Yagura, the Kage of Kiriagakure no Sato entered the room and immediately winced, his hand still on the door knob. "I-I didn't know they were sleeping."

"Pshh, don't worry about it, Yagura." He emphasized his name and the other man rolled his eyes. There was a whole thing where Naruto would constantly forget Yagura's name, this was when the Kiri shinobi hadn't been Kage yet and was still a student of Gengetsu Hozuki. The Mizukage then flicked his eyes to the child and Naruto nodded his head, prompting Yagura to quietly plod over to the incubated child, looking down at the tiny baby inside.

Looking down at his friends first child, the plain faced Yagura felt a smile touch his lips. "You have a beautiful child, Naruto."

"Thank you; he has his mother's eyes."

The child didn't have much hair, though the Mizukage noticed that what little hair that was there was yellow, now Uzumaki red.

Kemuri genes were said to be dominant, and offspring normally took after their Kemuri halves, proven by how Minato Namikaze still took after his Kemuri mother instead of his Hatake father. But the same could be said about Uzumaki genes.

Yagura immediately assumed that Naruto meant that the Uzumaki genes were more dominant in baby Benimaru but his eyebrows furrowed when the infant yawned, his eyes opening fractionally before closing again.

The little he saw was more than enough.

Benimaru had coal black eyes and a glowing, bright orange, vertically slit pupils, reminiscent of when Kushina would summon the power of the Nine Tailed Fox.

Yagura blurted out his next words before he could stop himself. "He is possessed by the Kyuubi…"

The blue eyed man stared at his friend, long and hard, and his expression didn't change even when the Mizukage whirled around to him with apologetic eyes. Naruto cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes, saying in a low, dangerous voice. "Watch yourself, Yagura." His blue orbs briefly flicked down to the sleeping vampire on his lap, then to the slumbering Red Reaper on the hospital bed, muttering. "If either of them had heard you…even I won't be fast enough to salvage what's left of your corpse."

The Mizukage couldn't help but gulp, flinching when Kushina smacked her lips, in the sweet delirium of sleep, and turned from her back to her side, facing her loving husband. The Kiri ninja stilled, waiting for the silent sounds of the room to return back to normal, not meeting Naruto's ill-intentioned glare.

All light in the room dimmed and the shadows under Naruto's eyes covered his whole face, leaving his sky blue eyes glinting brightly. Yagura felt the temperature dip and the sun set over the horizon. The television crackled loudly and the windows fogged up, gradually turning to ice. He heard a crow squawk, the sound of the Shinigami's animal jolted him, and his eyes widened when he noticed the two women seemingly stir.

"I'm…I'm very sorry, Naruto-"

Suddenly, light rushed back into the hospital room and warmth followed after it not too long after, warmth so refreshing that the Mizukage took in a deep breath and exhaled, more relieved than he had ever been in his life.

Naruto's body disintegrated into smoke and he rose past the woman perched on his lap, leaving behind a Smoke clone substitute for Sueki to sleep on, doing so without waking the white haired woman up. The seamlessness and ease at which the Dark Leader had shifted his whole body into smoke, flowed around Sueki and left behind a clone before the vampire was any wiser took Yagura aback.

The man still wasn't in his ceremonial clothes, but his normal ninja attire, and pressed his palms onto the abdomen of his jounin flak jacket, casually walking up to the Mizukage.

He smirked widely when Yagura stood his ground, his blue eyes sparkling humorously behind his black rimmed, rectangular glasses.

"Its fine." he said once he got to his friend, genially patting the other man's back. "I get it, it just…slipped out." Naruto then held up a hand when the Mizukage tried to apologize again. He then proceeded to explain in a low voice, placing a soft hand on top of his son's incubator and looking down at the sleeping infant. "The Kyuubi isn't a spirit and the Kyuubi doesn't have a soul. All tailed beasts have no soul; they are merely compacted clusters of sentient, living, self-aware and intelligent creatures, almost like normal animals but with the added perk of having corrupt chakra for a body. When a beast is sealed," he further explained. "His corrosive chakra is loosened up and broken down into sizeable chunks, equally distributed throughout the chakra network of the jinchuriki. Kushina's seal, the Twelve Shackle Seal, serves this same function, except it also mutes the Kyuubi's emotions from affecting Kushina. When she was fifteen, maybe sixteen, Kushina mastered summoning the Nine Tail's chakra."

Yagura slowly nodded in understanding.

Naruto then out right said, factual and honest. "No Tailed Beast can possess the user; only influence them with their emotions and their chakra."

"What about all the times the Eight Tails prompted the jinchuriki to attack Kumo?" the younger Leader questioned.

"The beast was never in control, rather it was the corrupt chakra clouding the holders mind." the man then lifted a lecturing finger and said. "If you can recall correctly, both times the Eight Tails attacked Kumo through its holder, the holder was still genin and under the age of thirteen. They haven't even mastered their own chakra, not to talk of their beast's chakra. The influence of the Beast's voice and emotions cloud their judgement and it seem as if the whole village is against them, hence why they attacked Kumo indiscriminately."

Yagura tapped his chin. "Ah…I understand, I understand."

Naruto looked down at his sleeping fox-eyed son, then back up to Yagura, and said in a strong, firm voice. "My son isn't possessed by the Kyuubi. The circumstance that led up to my wife having to give birth prematurely is the reason for Benny's eyes being tainted by Kyuubi chakra."

"Is…" the man wanted to ask, and Naruto, suspecting what that question was, nodded encouragingly for his friend to speak. "…Is he blind?" he asked, adding. "Beast chakra is corrosive and poisonous to humans. Some of my shinobi have suffered from Tailed Beast Chakra Poisoning from the Sanbi and have to lose the affected limbs in order to save their lives."

"He's not blind. It isn't impossible for a person to build a tolerance for Tailed Beast chakra." Naruto began. "Benny was in contact with the Kyuubi's chakra in the later stages of Kushina's pregnancy, but being part Uzumaki, the child of an Uzumaki with unique chakra and also being born in Dark country, Benny's chance of being poisoned by the Tailed Beast chakra is close to, if not, zero." He pushed his medicated glasses back up his nose. "He has some of the Kyuubi's chakra in him…but…it far from being poison."

The Five Tailed Horse had revealed to them long ago that Dark country was the place the Kaguya Otsutsuki and the Ten Tails had been defeated by Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki, the Otsutsuki Princess's children. Hamura, using his byakugan and his special chakra, had sealed their mother into the moon and cast it into the sky while Hagoromo had split the Ten Tails into nine beasts, and each time the man divided the beast, extracted the chakra and gave it form, tainted black, smoky mass escaped and filled the land, mutating the animal and plant life. Hagoromo and Hamura were unaffected because of their doujutsu and the newly 'born' Tailed Beasts adapted to the darkness in a way that they could see clearly. Hamura left the area soon after he sealed up his mother and decades later, his descendants would form the Hyuuga clan, while Hagoromo died some years after giving the beasts form and giving them some sort of intelligence.

The demon horse wasn't sure how or when humans moved into the thick blackness blanketing the land but Darkness was the safer option, as compared to the unrest around the continent at that time. The demon horse also wasn't sure who 'Lord Yin-Yang' was or if he was truly an Otsutsuki, but the man walked onto the land and swept the darkness into the forest at the north-west, which would be called Night Forest.

Due to the darkness being watered down residue of tailed beast chakra and due to people learning to live inside Dark country as said blackness was taken to Night Forest, people in the country were less likely to be fatally poisoned by Tailed Beasts, not so much that they had to cut off affected limbs, and seeing as young Benimaru was born from an Uzumaki with unique chakra, a father with volatile, uncontrollable chakra and inside of Dark country, the child had less of a chance at being poisoned.

Naruto didn't explain all of this to Yagura, just about how Kushina and his type of chakra effectively made it much harder for Tailed Beasts.

Benimaru might have had the Eyes of the Kyuubi but Naruto wasn't going to love him any less.

The blue eyed man looked at his friend from behind his glasses and lifted an eyebrow. "You said you were having a problem?"

Yagura's eyes dimmed considerably and Naruto's forehead creased. "Can we…talk somewhere private?"

Without missing a beat, Naruto led Yagura out of the hospital room and both men roof jumped towards the Leader's Tower.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto's Office

Leader's Tower

Naruto waved his hand and the guards hidden in the corners of his office left. He had to jerk his head to the door for his assistants to do so as well.

The Leader of Darkness motioned to the guest seat before his desk, while he sat down on the window sill.

The Mizukage cleared his throat and said.

"I…" the Kiri ninja looked down, disgusted with himself. "Have been having these…thoughts…" he sat forward and perched his elbows on his thighs, lacing his fingers together and placing them under his nose, over his mouth, though not muffling his words, as Naruto silently listened. "These…these…terrible, destructive…mutinous thoughts…"

He paused for a second, to shake his head, as if it would somehow throw away what he was thinking.

Naruto didn't speak.

He waited for Yagura to continue.

"My mind tells me…that every bloodline holder in my village…every bloodline holder I know…family…" he flicked his eyes up to Naruto and then down again, unable to maintain eye contact. "Friends…that they are all evil and should be wiped out without mercy. That kekkai genkai users are plotting my death and would throw Kiri into turmoil…that I am the only person clear-sighted enough to see their inherent treachery."

He grit his teeth and closed his eyes, unlacing his fingers and clenching his hands into tight, white-knuckled fists.

"Somewhere in this filthy mind of mine," he jabbed his right pointer finger into the side of his temple and said in a harsh voice. "I think…that you, Naruto, are the cause of Gengetsu-sensei's death…you connived with bloodline users from your country, my country, every country…you plan to usurp me and skewer me like a pig, scatter my corpse on the roads of my home and persecute everyone that makes the mistake of not having a bloodline."

The corners of Naruto's eyes dipped down and he hummed mutely.

"But…" Yagura raised a finger and muttered. "The sensible, logical part of my mind…tells me that you are innocent…that you would never do anything to harm me or my village. That I should seal the Three Tails into myself and use that power to murder every kekkai genkai user I can get my hands on." He was on his feet now, pulling down the skin under his eyes. "I-I-…I have been fighting devilish thoughts in my head…these ones that want to turn me against my own people, my own family…" he stopped and looked to Naruto again, saying in a low whisper. "My friends." he shook his head, hard enough to make Naruto worried he was going to wring his skull clean off his shoulders. "It wants to turn me into a monster, Naruto."

"…How long have you been thinking this, Yagura?"

"Since Gengetsu Hozuki-sensei passed." Was the short reply.

"And you've never had these thoughts before?"

"Never once…never before." Yagura shook his head again and laughed humourlessly. "Now they're all I can think about."

Naruto crossed his arms, but visibly relaxed his body to show his non-threat, to keep Yagura from feeling in danger while they were in his office. Out of curiosity, he posed this question to the Mizukage. "If you've been having these dark thoughts for a year and four-maybe five-months now…what's been stopping you from lashing out and killing bloodline users in your village?"

Here Yagura paused again, looking straight at Naruto with hard, unflinching eyes and a strong jaw. "There was something you told me sixteen years ago."

The bespectacled blonde raised an eyebrow. "What did I tell you?"

"'Any decent Leader-in my position-would prioritize the lives of their people over all else'"

Naruto's words echoed through Yagura's mind ever since.

Everything the Mizukage did, he did for his people.

The glasses wearing assassin tapped his chin, vaguely remembering that night he said those words; when he and Kushina were rounding up their day together and shopping for furniture, when the present Mizukage, then just a Kiri jounin, approached Naruto while he shopped for kitchen tiles.

"You remembered that huh…" Naruto muttered and Yagura nodded.

"I never forgot." He sighed heavily and fell back into his chair. "I'm tired of these traitorous thoughts, Naruto. Please…help me."

Naruto stared at his friend for two long minutes, his eyebrows knitted together in thought and his blue orbs spinning ever so slowly. He then said. "Come with me."

The other man got out of his chair immediately, asking as he walked to the window the Leader of Dark country was standing on, ready to jump outside. He made sure his hook staff was properly position on his back. "Where are we going?"

"South eastern Port."

Recognizing that place as where ships going to and from Kiri to Darkness, and vice versa, Yagura jumped out of the window and ran atop the roofs of the buildings around the Leader's Tower, wondering in a loud voice to the man beside him. "Why are we going there?"

"I'll tell you on the way." Naruto answered, a smiling twinkle in his eyes, then he unsealed a grey-white cloak from the storage seal on the back of his left hand, throwing it at Yagura. "Put that on."

He tossed his own over himself and both men didn't look any different from Defence Corp Officers wearing their winter cloaks, hopping from roof to roof and patrolling their portion of the Dark capital.

Given, Kiri wasn't the only place ships were coming in and going out from; Uzushio, to a lesser degree, used that port, though the Southern Port-not South Eastern Port-was more convenient for the island of redheads. Those were the only two Ports in Darkness but Naruto had a fleet of ships and devoted crewmen working night and day to ensure life moved on normally on the waters and in the boats. Now, voyages into and out of the country were slowing down due to the oncoming winter, but it would pick up in earnest a week or two after New Year.

Before people could enter those ports, there were DC checks to make sure they were authorized to enter or if their Entrance seal had expired; it could be renewed on the spot, for a price, else the person was sent back to wherever they had come from. Around both Ports were fish markets and Seafood restaurants, guest houses, hotels and apartments-for-rent, available for sea farers and fishers that preferred living by the sea. There was a DC Office in the southern region and Police stations within reach in every town and village. There were major roads that branched out into the country and easily identifiable roads that took people to Ghost town or the country's capital, a common destination for people from Kiri but not the only one.

Yagura chose not to get an apartment near the sea but instead in the eastern region because he had gotten his fill of living close to the ocean in Kiri. There was a community pool somewhere in the row of flats he was living on, a training ground a handful of miles away, constant electricity, hot water, bearable neighbours and his street, like any other street in the country, was accessible to food delivery, so he didn't have any complaints.

Truly, he didn't have much to complain about when it came to Dark country.

The Mizukage was actively looking down at the few people walking around on the street, going about their day. There weren't that many people because the cold weather and the harsh winds were picking up. He saw a man carrying heaps of woollen sweaters in both of his arms, three children scampered after the man, wearing thick clothing and chattering about their day in school, and about how their exams were coming. The man and his children had a pair of triangular, midnight black ears atop their heads-their normal human ears blocked by their smooth, black hair-and black tails swaying back and forth, sprouting out of their tail bones.

"Pansa-Senshi." Naruto said, interrupting his distracted thoughts. "Shapeshifters."

"I hear they hardly ever get tired."

Naruto laughed. "It's why they agreed to be our delivery people." The two men's faces and physical features were hidden under their cloaks and they were largely ignored by those on the ground. "In their Panther Forms, their body heat triples, so they can endure the cold better than other, but they also have this abnormally fascinating ability to regulate their core temperate, so when they're in the desert, they won't bake to death."

"Is that not a clan secret?"

The older shinobi scoffed. "It isn't; we (those not in their clan) found about that last one before even they did." Naruto shrugged. "And there really isn't much an enemy can do with that info."

"Am I an enemy?"

"Of course not." The bespectacled blonde rolled his eyes.

"…You were going to tell me why we're heading to the South Eastern Port…"

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Ah yes." He leaped off the edge of a building and landed softly on the next, making sure not to make a sound. They weren't yet out of the capital. "That problem you've had…" he flicked his eyes to Yagura, then returned it back in front of him. "I've seen it before."

"You have?!" the Mizukage questioned in an unintentionally frantic voice.

"Yes, much, much worse than yours."

"What do you mean by…'worse'?"

"I mean she acted out on her desires."

Naruto sent out a Morse code message through his Supreme Commander of BLAK tattoo to Sueki, who was awake by then and utterly miffed at the fact that it wasn't the real Naruto she had woken up on. The BLAK Commander relayed the message and sent a tingling message to a member of Team Twelve that was currently on his mandatory 'Off Day'. The man lived in a house in the South Eastern Port, coincidentally the same place Naruto and Yagura were heading to, and when he received the message, he wore his hastily BLAK uniform and flew out onto the roof of his house. His house was set on a high rise and so gave him a great view of the Port Market; ships sailing out and into the country, people hustling around in the market and haggling over fish, crayfish and crabs, some others relaxing in outdoor cafes. Those people took care to wear the appropriate clothing for the present weather and there were noticeably only a few children outside, only those that were hopping off carriages and coaches from school and walking the rest of the way back home.

Komodo Dragon liked the Sea Port (South EAst Port); his sisters, his nieces and nephews and his father, his last family, made a living in the Port Market and just being able to live near them was enough for him.

Back with Naruto, as they finally cleared out of the capital's borders and landed on the tarred black ground of the major road leading to the Sea Port, the Leader of Darkness continued to a shell shocked Yagura.

"Chizuri Nagateko is her name." Naruto mumbled audibly. "She isn't from any clan but she is a birth citizen of this country. She used to work for a shipping company in Wave country sometime before the Third war. She lost everyone in her family during the civil war-father, mother, grandparents, husband, sisters and children-and so she moved out of the country to get over the pain of loss, even after the civil war ended. She only came back to formally register her name, get her Citizen seal and request financial support to make a living in Wave. She's a very…loud woman…" Naruto admitted with a wince. "But she's nice when she wants to be."

Yagura almost dreaded to ask. "What happened to her?"

"One day, five years ago, she marched into the country and went straight to the Suzumebachi clan," Wasp clan. "She was wearing a bomb vest threaded with enough explosive tags to take out a quarter of the country. Some off duty Police Officers from that clan noticed how jittery she was and knocked her out before she could detonate the vest."

"Did she say why she wanted to blow herself up?"

Naruto nodded with a terse frown. "She had gotten it into her head that it was people from the Suzumebachi clan that had killed off her whole family, meanwhile the real cause of her family's death was Konoha ninjas poisoning water reserves while they were taking refuge in the Sakenomi branch family compound."

That was also the time Sueki lost her clan.

"She was restrained and we discovered that she was under a genjutsu."

Yagura's eyes widened. "A genjutsu?!"

"Not just any genjutsu." Naruto said, ushering his friend to speak in a low voice as they leisurely sped along the road, making sure those riding the carts on the road and those walking on the sidewalks weren't hearing their conversation. He looked around and said in an even quieter voice. "A sharingan genjutsu. A really powerful one at that."

"That means…"

"Yes, I think someone put a sharingan genjutsu on you, but not as strong as the one they placed on Chizuri. I want to check if it's the same person as the one that put the illusion on her." he lightly scratched his chin. "I have a theory."

"Theory?"

"Well," Naruto began. "If it's the same person, then it's possible that he used a stronger genjutsu with her because it is a once-in-a-while kind of genjutsu, one that can't just be thrown around. Since he used that up on her and failed, then he, or she, had no other option but to use a strong-but not as strong-genjutsu on you."

"What if it's the same Uchiha?"

Naruto beamed widely. "Then I can finally have that pesky mastermind killed."

Yagura's face turned into a question mark. "…What…?"

The blonde waved flippantly. "Nothing. Never mind."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Komodo Dragon was a clanless man and he didn't have any spectacular bloodlines to speak of.

He was a Taste sensor.

His three foot long tongue had hyper sensitive taste buds that went further than knowing the exact ingredients in food to knowing the finer details of chakra in the air and on surfaces. The corners of his lips went all the way up to just under his ears, allowing him to unhinge his powerful jaws and snap it down, able to break limbs in one bite. His lips indeed looked normal and were normally positioned, though there was a slightly unseen line that went up to his ears from each corner.

He should have been called Crocodile or Snapping Turtle, but he insisted on Komodo Dragon.

It sounded cooler.

He also liked magic tricks and board games; he and BLAK Operative Phoenix of Team Eleven were in an active competition to see who the better magician was. Komodo was winning; Phoenix was too clumsy to even know how to shuffle a deck of cards. The long tongued man gave the dark skinned, ham-fisted Kemuri woman props for not giving up.

Komodo-or KD, to his black operatives friends while on duty-was among the team that had investigated murder in Snow country and used his taste sensor ability to find the Uchiha chakra in the bar, in Kisame's room and also in Kisame's blood stream. Sueki-or Bat-had reinforced his findings with her own bloodline; detecting the chakra in Kisame's blood.

Yagura slashed his palm with a kunai and gave the blade to Komodo. The man pushed his mask up a little and his three foot long tongue slithered out of his wide mouth and lapped at the blood once, curling back inwards.

"Hmm…" Komodo hummed. "It's a match for the Uchiha chakra that was in Kisame's blood, Leader Naruto." He bowed to the blue eyed man. "There's no mistaking it."

Yagura faced Naruto after hearing this. "How do we get it out?"

Standing in Komodo's backyard, on cold hardened grass and provided the simple privacy of fences to prevent neighbours from looking in on the three men, Yagura posed this question to Naruto.

"The same way we did for Chizuri; disrupting your chakra and dispelling it from your body. Since yours isn't as strong as hers, it'll be much quicker." He curled his left hand into a fist and jutted out his thumb, pointer, middle fingers, pointing it straight at Yagura's heart and holding a half ram up to his own chest. "This is going to pinch a little."

Before the Mizukage's warped mind could take the gesture as a threat, one that needed to be defended against without holding back, and before Yagura could find the wherewithal to leap away, the tip of Naruto's left gun hand glowed white and black, warbling like oil and water in a tiny, compact, violently spinning and eliciting a an ear piercing whistling noise.

Naruto's chakra, formed and turning on the tip of his finger in less than a quarter of a second, screamed as it was pushed into Yagura's chest.

"Kai."

Yagura's back arced excruciatingly as electricity coursed through his body.

His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and his mouth opened, roaring soundlessly as Naruto's volatile-y violent chakra tightened his muscles, constricted his heart and squeezed his chakra coils, like a live earthworm being heartlessly baked by the scorching red sun.

Komodo closed his right eye and stuck himself in place with his chakra as small shockwaves of Yagura's chakra rocked through the man and out of his feet, thudding in the ground, as if a boulder was being dropped out of the sky.

Naruto wasn't an expert in genjutsu; he only knew enough to not get himself killed.

Dispelling illusions from his own body was less catastrophic than helping a comrade with their own illusion problems.

The bespectacled blondes chakra alone made illusions nearly impossible to work but on the occasion that that one illusion was lucky enough to slip past his defences, and he was aware of this soon after, he could simply cast the foreign chakra out of his mind and body, but when it came to doing so for a comrade it was different.

The man was using his chaotic, black and white chakra to invade Yagura's body and wring out all his chakra, squeezing it all out and also taking with it the Uchiha's illusionary chakra. His chakra contained Lightning affinity, potent enough to be a bloodline, and water affinity

Komodo rushed out of his backyard to inform the Police officers coming over to his house to see what the problem was.

This process took two minutes and five noise complaints later.

The Mizukage slumped into Naruto and the masked man chuckled with a sweat drop on the side of his head as Yagura glared hatred and wrath at him.

"What the hell, man?"

"It's four less than what Chizuri had to endure." He helped Yagura onto the ground and dropped onto his butt with a relieved huff, falling onto his back to admire the few puffy blue clouds in the light blue sky. He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Sueki wasn't able to completely filter the Uchiha chakra out of her body…poor lady had to endure much worse, unfortunately."

Yagura collapsed onto his back, like Naruto, and his DC winter cloak rustled in the wind. "You mean…you had to do that to her five times?"

"Five times worse." Naruto corrected with a small frown. "I'm just glad she didn't get brain damage."

One junior Ame shinobi that had enlisted in the Akatsuki, back when Naruto was still an Ame shinobi, had been shocked so badly that he grew a terrible, debilitating stutter.

Naruto had still been too young to know how to better control his chakra.

"Out of curiosity," Yagura breathed out, his chakra coils slowly unwinding and struggling to regenerate what he had lost, which was to say all of his-useable-chakra. His arms were spread out to his side and his eyebrows furrowed, watching a falcon soar through the sky with a twig in its beak. "What happened to that woman? Chizuri, I mean."

Naruto relaxed his body and placed his hands behind his head. "She became too scared to leave the country on her own again. She hires not less than five of my jounin to accompany her and stay with her in Wave." Naruto hummed silently. "She's now working as a foreman in some upcoming shipping company under some drug peddler called Gato. She's safe now, safer than she's ever been and that's what matters."

Chizuri Nagateko was the reason Naruto set up a randomly rotating roster of shinobi that would check up on tourists, traders and merchants in non-allied countries. The ninjas would speak to them for as long as they wanted, subtly discern if they were under some sort of foul compulsion and ensure that any problem they were encountering that could be aptly fixed was fixed.

What Naruto didn't tell the Mizukage, as the secret was under the Secrecy Seal of the Dark Leader, bound by Naruto himself, the Dark Council and the BLAK Commander, was that Chizuri had revealed dangerous information while she was under the sharingan illusion.

To her, it was like her eyes had been blocked out by a blinding red light, while her ears were amplified. Her body wasn't hers but under the control of the person that placed the genjutsu.

She wasn't able to identify him, though it was already a noted fact that the person was an Uchiha and now that same person was the one that framed Kisame from murder in Snow and was also the same person that attempted to recruit Kisame in the Akatsuki years before the Snow murder.

The man had appeared directly in front of her from an 'invisible whirlpool' and the woman had heard the jutsu as it was placed on her.

Katoametsukami.

The Uchiha man then ordered her to reveal her Citizen seal so that he could copy it, but Chizuri couldn't do that because the seals had been drawn on using a special brew of Chui-Inku invisible ink that would only be revealed to Defence Corp Officers at the border of Dark country when they asked to see it. No matter how much he bellowed into her face, she simply couldn't perform the impossible and reveal the seal.

Katoametsukami, as the sharingan genjutsu was called, not only controlled the body but placed the victim in a state where they couldn't lie or betray to the jutsu user.

The Uchiha man then audibly wondered if he should send her in to buy some obsidian iron from the country, but that plan also fell apart when Chizuri told him that only Shinobi of Darkness were allowed to own and bear obsidian weapons, while unformed obsidian steal couldn't be bought as it was. The Gado and the Hogo clan were the two people that mined the cursed iron, as their bloodlines made it ten times easier to endure the mental torment of mining the metal from the underground caves. The Gado and Hogo were also the ones that mainly populated the Defence Corp, as Chizuri later told the Uchiha man, and that the Leader had outlawed obsidian from being bought or sold in its unmoulded form.

Genin that had graduated from the Academy were given two full sets of obsidian kunai and shuriken as their graduation presents, even the transfer students, and they were at liberty to buy more kunai and shuriken, order for a readymade or custom weapon altogether. It wasn't uncommon for ninjas to order for obsidian armour of some kind, but it was eye wateringly expensive. They were responsible for the kunai and shuriken they left behind on missions. The upside was that the obsidian weapons couldn't be picked up or handled by anyone that wasn't the original owner, meaning the first person to channel their chakra into them once they were gifted them during the graduation, as that person would be permanently petrified and at worse would suffer a severe heart attack moments later. Having their chakra in their obsidian gear allowed them to track down their lost weapons.

Chizuri was a civilian, so she couldn't buy them.

The man seemed to already know this by the end of the woman's long ramble.

He gave up on that angle and asked Chizuri for the identities of all the Dark country Council members.

This, the genjutsu coerced woman could do, spilling everything out before the man.

The Shinobi half of the council comprised of all the clan heads and one clanless. Some of the shinobi councillors held other positions in the country other than clan heads; Makoto Gado and Nanako Hogo were the North and South Directors of the Defence Corp, Amara Chui-Inku as the Director of the National Bank, Ginko Suzumebachi was the Director of the Shinobi Academy, Daichiharu Pansa-Senshi was considered the foremost chef in the country and Rimaru Kemuri-now late and replaced by Asura Kemuri-was the unofficial Head of the Blacksmiths. As of them, the Kurama weren't part of the clan, but now Umara Kurama overlooked the Museum and other ancient relics. The last shinobi councilwoman, a clanless Kunoichi, was Bobo Yamimoto.

The Civilian half consisted of Fukijima Anato Head of the Medical Department, Io Boueki Head of Trade and Kinzoku Zaiku Head of the Inventors department.

Ten people in the Dark Council, plus the Supreme Commander of Dark country, Naruto and the BLAK Commander.

The identity of his Deputy Director of the National Bank, Ozo Suzumebachi, being known was intentional and not to detrimental but the identities of the other civilians being revealed was dangerous. Naruto had to increased their security any time they went out on functions out of the country and into non-allied nations.

The ninjas of his council could take care of themselves, the blonde Leader was confident of that.

One of the reasons Naruto went to the Conference of Wealth Nation Daimyos was to find out if the information about the identities of his council and their functions had been leaked.

It hadn't.

The Uchiha man chose to keep it to himself for some reason.

Did he not know how valuable that information would be to non-allies?

Doton of Snow country would pay billions to know the people in Naruto's Dark council, to better know how to target them and force his way into the Dark country by threatening their lives.

Wealth Nation Neutrality be Damned.

Or maybe other nations didn't want to get on Darkness's bad side, because being on Darkness's bad side, meant they were on Naruto's bad side, and Sueki's bad side and River's bad side and Uzushio's bad side and Kiri's bad side and Suna's bad side and so on…

The Hermit Nation's network of connections among his non-allies, though massively secret and unknown, couldn't and wouldn't be trifled with.

There had been suspicious watchers from time to time but the sheer specialization of the ninjas Naruto assigned to protect the Civilian Council normally dissuaded any sane man.

Seeing as he couldn't gain entry into the Hermit Nation and he could coerce her into stealing-or buying-something useful for him, he gave her a bomb vest and commanded her to blow up the Suzumebachi clan, warping her mind to think that the clan of wasp-eyed people had a hand in the murder of her family.

The likely reason the Uchiha man had chosen the Suzumebachi clan was because of their near overpowered eye sight, archery skills, mastery of their corrosively poisonous wasp colonies and their devotion to Naruto, much like the other clans and the whole country. Just because the Suzumebachi didn't commonly live together as a clan, rather scattering all around the country and living their own lives, mostly marrying outside of the clan, didn't mean that they didn't have a clan compound populated with many wasp users. Outsiders didn't know that the wasp users returned in droves with their children at least twice a month to train them on how to trust and control their colonies.

Cutting down their numbers would greatly weaken Darkness.

In the end, Naruto wasn't sure what reason the Uchiha man had for wanting to bomb that clan.

Chizuri was caught and pinned down before she could unwillingly bring about devastation.

Bringing these clues together, Naruto identified the masked man Kisame had spoken to in the Kiri graveyard as an Uchiha, and also as the one that had helped frame Kisame for the murder, alongside a puppetmaster.

The glasses wearing man closed his eyes as Komodo dropped down beside him, finished speaking with the police officers coming to check on the cause of the small earthquake.

His mind searched for the Smoke Seed he had instructed Kisame to feed Samehada.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Amekage's Tower

Amegakure no Sato

"You're your own person, Konan." Kisame rumbled lowly, walking next to the petite Origami Angel in a long tunnel sloping downwards into the dungeons, where Orochimaru's lab was located. He spared a quick look to the plain faced woman, who didn't meet his eyes but shuffled with a small, invisible frown on her face. "Do whatever you want."

"But…" she said quietly, afraid her voice was echo. "He is…our Leader, is he not?"

"He is, but didn't you say you don't like what he's doing with Akatsuki?" Kisame replied, unafraid of being heard and rightfully so, seeing as Samehada was telling him that there wasn't any person close enough to them. Their feet reverberated mutely with each step. "Stand up for yourself and what you believe in, Konan."

She looked up at the tall shark man, her dark brown eyes wide and imploring. "It's not that easy, Kisame-"

"Ah, no," he cut her off with a deep frown. "If you're against what Leader is doing, then do what Naruto and Sueki did and walk away."

"It's…It's not that easy, Kisame." She repeated, looking back down with an empty expression. She had discarded any self-care and threw her heart out there, confiding in the person that was close to her former best friend, Naruto.

Kisame's words bit as hard as she remembered Naruto's own to be, for the blonde was as blunt as a sledge hammer.

It brought a slight glaze to her eyes at the memory of Naruto laying in on her, not caring for her feelings. He had a bad crush on her that time, or so Nagato told her years ago, but he didn't spare her from his scathing words.

Sure, Naruto might now have a bit more tact but he was still brutally honest when the occasion demanded it.

Konan told Kisame of her wretched life.

All of it.

"There was no blood contract or ring back when Naruto and Sueki left." She said gently, weakly. "Even if I did know a way around the blood contract-"

"Let's stop lying to ourselves, Konan." Kisame snapped silently, not stopping in his stride. "You know a way around the blood contract and as for the ring…"

He trailed off, allowing her mind to reach its own conclusion.

The ring didn't come off once fitted on the finger.

Unless…

"Stop all this useless self-pity; your life is yours, Konan." The former Dark ninjas sighed, finally stopping as they got to the end of the tunnel. He towered over the purple haired woman, crossed his arms and his lips screwed to the side as she pointedly didn't look back up at him, staring straight at his chest. He went on. "You're nobody's prisoner. You can think your own thoughts, make your own choices and walk your own path."

Sueki had told him that, after they left the Snow country bar he had gotten shit faced in. When he was conflicted on if he should just cede his life to his Leader as an apology for doubting him.

"Yes, there might be consequences for your decisions but they're your consequences." He spoke in a hushed voice, so Orochimaru didn't hear him. "It's about time you stood up for yourself."

Konan's head dipped and her eyebrows creased lightly.

Kisame stood still for a moment, allowing his words to sink in and sparing a careful ear to the low frequency vibrations the wrapped bundle of sentient life on his back was transmitting, straight from the man that had tasked him with this important mission.

The Masked Man.

Uchiha.

Fire affinity.

Find him.

Kill him.

The order couldn't have been any clearer, but there was a slight problem with executing it; Kisame hadn't seen 'The Masked man' since he got inducted into the criminal organization. It was an Iwa missing ninja and a Suna missing ninja that recruited him-The Mad Bomber Diedara and Sasori of the Red Sands-and it was the latter of the two that Samehada confirmed it had sensed way back in the Kiri graveyard.

Any meeting they had, 'The Masked man' wouldn't be present, even when everyone was there; Pein, Konan, Hidan, Sasori, Diedara, Orochimaru and himself.

The Masked man might be busy doing his own, separate thing, or he didn't trust Kisame, or someone in the organization.

That wouldn't be a problem.

Kisame would find a way.

…Maybe convincing Konan to defect would lure him out into the light so he could shave off his whole upper body and be done with this kami damn mission.

If Konan survived and he encountered her later on, he would have to apologize for using her.

It was for the sake of the mission.

Naruto would be pleased.

"Thank you, Kisame." The purple haired Kunoichi bowed slightly, humbly.

The man nodded once to the grateful Angel and motioned into the laboratory. "After you."

Konan bowed again, appreciative, and proceeded into the lab. Orochimaru watched them enter, an intrigued eyebrow was raised and a more than amused smirk tickling his lips.

The Angel of Ame then asked in a soft, but audible, voice.

"Were you able to extract Kakuzu's Jiongu?"

The man hissed quietly and his lips stretched into a wide, chilling smile. "I've only had a few hours since you gave me Kakuzu's bone." he laughed lowly at the silent glare Kisame sent him over Konan's head, standing a respectable distance away from the Kunoichi and with his arms tightly crossed. Orochimaru bowed graciously and said. "I am a genius, Lady Konan…of course I have Kakuzu's Jiongu."

He hacked into his fist and swept his right hand to five foot tall glass cylinder standing on the ground. There was a black, wriggling mass of strings inside the cylinder, thrashing about inside the stationary cylinder.

"It was only a simple matter of collecting the trace amounts of dead tissue inside the bone, separating the animal saliva and Kakuzu's bone marrow, and replicating the Jiongu."

The Snake sage smiled gleefully.

"The cure for this accursed sickness will soon be ready."

Authors note

Woof.

Thus another chapter comes to a close.

What are your thoughts?

How is the story progressing so far?

Drop a review, would you so kindly. Please stay safe, wherever you are in the world, and I will see you when I see you.

Foy.