A.N. Hey all and again i am so sorry its taken so long for this update. i also suspect some of you you are planning on lynching me once you read through. My Mortgage situation is still taking much of my time and the stress of that is also affecting my health negatively. at this point its more of a waiting game so I'll try to get the next chapter out in two weeks.

Thanks again for the support, reviews, likes and faves. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Also Naruto et al doesn't belong to me. Onwards to Glory.


Sasori looked apathetic as they placed the Ichibi Jinchuriki in the centre of their formation. So far everything was set for the extraction; The Gedo Mazo had been summoned and the Akatsuki members were projecting from various locations around the Elemental Nations, only he and Deidara were physically present.

"Let us begin"

At those words all hands went into seal and the extraction began. Chakra streamed from the Gedo Mazo, overtaking Gaara. His body rose and hovered, Biju chakra poured out of him and flowed up the chakra paths into the Gedo Mazo.

Sasori felt an appraising look wash over him as the extraction took place. He glanced up and met the eyes of Uchiha Itachi. So far nothing seemed amiss, and a part of him wondered why he was singled out.

Mangekyou Sharingan – Tsukuyomi

Sasori blinked as the world inverted around him.

"You are playing a dangerous game Sasori"

He blinked at the sudden address, slowly he turned to the Uchiha; a sardonic smile grew on his face.

"I have come to find that the most dangerous games are often the most rewarding."

Itachi stepped closer to Sasori.

"You are risking far too much. The villages are beginning to wise up to our threat, the Jinchuriki from this point will be harder to acquire. We cannot afford your games to threaten the careful balance we have managed."

"My my, aren't we the loyal songbird." Sasori couldn't believe the purr in voice, but he could help feel excited. "So much emphasis on my games, shall we turn around and look at yours. If mine trouble our timetable, yours could very well destabilise the organisation. After all, while they may question my actions it would never be a question of loyalty…."

Silence reined at the jab. Itachi remained expressionless, while Sasori remained mocking.

"And are you loyal, Sasori?"

Sasori shrugged at the question.

"Who is truly loyal, in this day and age?"

"I am." The answer was firm, resolute. Sasori cocked his head, his smile growing softer for a split second.

"Yes…I believe you are. I have enjoyed my observations of you Itachi, I doubt I would ever meet another quite like you. When you die, it would be my greatest pleasure to add you to my collection."


Sasori blinked first and met the gaze of black Uchiha orbs in return. All around the minor grumblings of Hidan echoed with the boisterous tones of Deidara.

"Itachi, Sasori" conversation quietened, "Is there something I should be aware of?"

Sasori barely shrugged as Itachi answered, "Nothing that is of consequence, Pain-Sama."

"….Very well. Then perhaps we should focus on the reinforcements sent to Suna. I believe they belong to Hatake's team; the Kyuubi Jinchuriki will be on the hunt for the Ichibi."

"Then let me and Kakuzu deal with him" Hidan called from the darkness. "He would make a wonderful sacrifice to Lord Jashin."

"Given your current location it would be a wasted effort, not to mention the chakra requirements." Pain dismissed Hidan and glanced around the room. His eyes narrowed on Itachi, darting between him and Sasori.

"Kisame, Itachi. You will both do for the technique. Delay them for as long as possible."


As per Naruto's declaration the flight to Suna had taken just under four hours. During the flight the overall fury that had been emanating had simmered, but not abated. Behind him and clutching tight to his clothes were Temari and the Medic-Nin sent by Tsunade, which in a surprise move turned out to be Shizune.

It seemed they were fortunate that Shizune had been able to catch up to Temari and informed her of the situation, Naruto hadn't even bothered to stop or slow down once they had visual confirmation of their position; he swapped his glider, mid-flight, for one larger and more capable of supporting the additional numbers. Then he spun the craft upside-down whilst simultaneously launching chakra reinforced chains. Neither Kunoichi had the time to act; the chains wrapped around them securely, seconds later they were pulled off the earth and into the sky. The air around them tingled with chakra and again the perspective shifted; they were no longer dangling several hundred feet above ground, but standing behind Naruto on his glider.

"The rest of the team can catch up. We are taking the express to Suna."

Naruto refused to speak after that and both Kunoichi settled themselves for the ride, wonder and trepidation in equal measure.

Kakashi and Sakura had their gliders each, piloted by Naruto's clones. While the sense of wonder had minimised in both of them, Kakashi's had become more contemplative.

Just how skilled was Naruto becoming?

Power was important, there was no questioning that. But power did not equate with skill. And in terms of the two, skill was much more important. When two forces of even power collide, it is the one with the greater skill that often triumphs. This was first-hand knowledge to the white haired Jonin, he was powerful, one of the best out there, however it was his skill that made him deadly.

Kakashi had run a cursory glance over his student with his Sharingan, and what he saw was amazing as it was terrifying. The sheer amount of chakra acting and working through his student was on a scale he had never believed possible. It was a literal storm of chakra, and yet was held by such iron will and near impeccable control. He marvelled at the strands of chakra that connected all three gliders to the blonde, the vast amount of power running through the strings, or more like cords.

All to top it all off, he could not see a trace of the Biju's energy in the giant ball of compact chakra energy.

Naruto always had power, and he prided himself on control; now though it seemed his student was something else entirely. It confirmed everything he suspected and gleamed during their battle, given enough time and experience Naruto would become a monster, much like the previous Kage and some exceptional names. And all without the Kyuubi's power.

Shizune was of similar thoughts, more because of her proximity to him and her medical training made it easy to feel the depth of strength behind his chakra. Plus she was aware of how ruthless her little brother could be, to his enemies and more importantly to himself; nothing less than perfect was enough for him and he was one of the few who could keep pushing, exceeding past his supposed limits.

All stray thoughts dried up as Sunagakure came into view. Naruto ignored the warning shouts and siege arrows fired at them. With a sweep of his hand all of them parted mid-flight, before violently splitting further with the remains carried off in a sharp wind.

Temari was quick to call out, signalling their status and halting any further attacks. Naruto however kept them moving, stopping only once he was at the hospital.

"Sakura, Shizu-Nee, time to get to work"


Naruto made a mental note to apologise for his rudeness, just as soon as they had secured Kankuro and gotten any details out of him. In the meantime he remained silent as they were ushered into the ward.

"You!"

Naruto's senses sharpened again as raw anger slammed against his mind. He paid little attention to the shock echoing around the room. Quickly he worked through the trajectory of the rage, the speed it was moving, and the likelihood to intercept. Kakashi it seemed was the target, and too shocked to mount a defence. There was very little time to react, every second content.

Naruto inhaled.

The world bent…


Kakashi's eyebrow disappeared entirely as what felt like static travel around his body. From the surprised look in his attackers gaze he wasn't the only one.

From his attackers positon there was very little he could do to counter. At best he could move to mitigate some of the damage.

Then things got weird…

Kakashi tensed and tried to shift one step back and to the right, cursing the presence of the door frame. At best the falling meteor would strike off centre, at an angle and possibly glance off, much better than dead centre.

Instead, the blow missed. Not by much, but it missed

Both he and his attacker were gobsmacked. Even with his manoeuvre there was no way that the blow could miss. It was impossible, at that range, and at that speed to miss.

Kakashi merely looked on in amazement.

Elder Chiyo was one of the last of the old world, a contemporary of the late Sarutobi of Konoha. She was a shinobi of formidable skill, a master of many arts including medicine, toxicology and her most renown, puppetry. In short, all ninjas who got to that age and retain their fame were not to be crossed lightly.

So it was no small feat to say she was shocked, that her attack on the white fang missed.

Not just miss, but if her eyes did not deceive her, then it missed by a significant margin.

A small part of her realised that it was a brash act. Another realised that she would be stopped, or countered. An even smaller relished that she would actually strike, vent against her foe. However in no form did she conceive that she would miss. From her point of view the White Fang may as well have been standing a lot farther away than where she ended up.

Impossible, and utterly absurd.

She had clocked him as soon as he stepped through the door. He hadn't had time to think, not less act. And somehow, even with the door less than a foot away, she managed to miss him by several feet?

A sharp grip on her hand brought clarity to mind.

"Forgive my impetuousness Elder Chiyo" She turned to the figure restraining her. Her one-time patient….and for a while student.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Whatever your grievance is with Hatake-Sensei, may I beg a boon that you table it for a more appropriate venue. The Kazekage can ill afford delays at present."

He gave her wrist an almost imperceptible squeeze, Elder Chiyo's eyes narrowed at the implied threat.


"Ever the little viper you are, Uzumaki-Child" she sniped as she wrenched her arm free from his and moved back to her brother's side.

"As always your words are gracious Elder Chiyo" Naruto returned with a bow.

Chiyo scoffed and turned away. Her brother however chuckled and stepped closer to the blonde.

"Young Naruto-Kun, it does these old eyes good to see you again."

"Elder Ebizo. I am glad to find you well, despite circumstances being what they are."

The elderly ninja nodded sombrely and cast a gaze on the shivering Kankuro. Naruto followed the gaze and shifted his stance slightly. Immediately his teammate relaxed. Both Sakura and Shizune then went over to the bed and began their own diagnosis.

"We need to work fast. So far they have managed to stave off major degradation. With their notes and our findings we can get him to recovery." Shizune intoned as her hand glowed with healing energy. Sakura nodded as she got her tools and salves ready. Meanwhile Shizune glanced around the room.

"All non-Medics clear the room. Leave us to our work."


Even with Sakura and Shizune working, it took much of the day to stabilise and then heal Kankuro; by the next day he was coherent enough to answer their queries. His news was grim.

"It was Sasori" Kankuro ignored the intakes of breath and sharp hisses, "Akasuna no Sasori. He was working with the one that took Gaara. He cleared a path on the ground, inside or defence screen, that's why we missed the initial attack. Sasori knows how our systems and protocols worked; it would be child's play for someone like him to work around it."

Kakashi nodded slowly while Naruto made to speak.

"The other one is a Nin from Rock; his name is Deidara, at present we only knew for sure that Uchiha Itachi worked with Hoshigaki Kisame of Mist. Most likely Deidara is Sasori's partner in Akatsuki."

Kankuro indicated to his things, his movements jerky and tinged with pain.

"Sasori wanted me to give something to you. He said you would know…" Kankuro grimaced as his chakra came out sluggish. His puppet rattled and one of the compartments opened and a piece of cloth.

Naruto's eye gleamed at the item. He plucked the item from the puppet and opened his senses to the material.

"Naruto" Kakashi began cautiously, his toned coloured with suspicion as he eyed his student and the piece of cloth. "Why does Sasori seem so interested you?"

"I would have thought it obvious Kaka-Sensei" Naruto returned nonchalantly as he continued his analysis. "Sasori is as interested in me as I am interested in him."

"You are a puppeteer" Kankuro broke in weakly, grimacing as he brushed his side. He turned to Kakashi and continued.

"Sasori is obsessed with puppetry. When I fought with Falcon and Scorpion he was eager and pleased. He told me the Suna arts have been too static, unchanging. I couldn't feel anything but contempt as he described them, but he liked my puppets."

Sasori gulped as he steadied his breath.

"He said if I survive I would be of interest to him, he would be eager to see how far I can go. I'm guessing it's the same with you, Naruto" Kankuro turned to Naruto at the last statement, meeting the single eye stare in return.

"Akatsuki may have Gaara and the Ichibi. But with Sasori…" Ebizo glanced around, taking in the two young puppeteers, "- My bones tell me what Akatsuki want and what Sasori wants may not be to the same ends."

"That said he is not against them" Baki interjected, "We can worry about the differences later, right now we need to move on Gaara."

"I have that information right here."

All eyes turned back to Naruto. The piece of cloth was still in his hands, only now it shimmered with chakra. They watched as Naruto ran a finger across an edge, then carefully he pulled out a thread from left to right. He then selected another thread at random and pulled it out, from the top.

Kakashi stepped closer, Sharingan in view, and what he saw fascinated him. Each time Naruto ran his finger across the cloth the chakra would ripple in odd patterns; whenever a thread was pulled out it would shift completely.

At this point Naruto was now reweaving the threads back into the cloth, feeling out the subtle shifts as each one locked into place. With the last thread in a seal flashed bright then slowly faded out.

Naruto then held the cloth out for everyone to see. Woven into it was a rough map and coordinates.

"It doesn't matter right now what Akatsuki wants. Sasori has made his intent clear; he wants to fight me, and he hates waiting. And I'd rather not disappoint."


Akatsuki Temporary Base

The air was full of chakra as the Gedo Statue continued it task. Gaara lay suspended in the air as the Ichibi was pulled out of him, to the audience of the nine Akatsuki members.

"Konoha have left Suna, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. They also have Elder Chiyo with them." Voice called out from the shadows.

Pain turned to the speaker.

"Zetsu" The named figure came into relief, a two-toned in a giant Venus flytrap body. "The ceremony is half complete. It should take them some time to find us, by then it would be too late."

Zetsu shook his head.

"Their movements suggest otherwise. They have made neither deviations nor hesitations. Given their current speed, they will find this place before the ceremony is over."

…..

"Kisame, it seems you get your fight after all." Kisame smiled in relish. Pain turned to Itachi as well.

"I need at least a third of your chakra for this; Sasori has already done his part. You need to buy time for the Statue to complete the sealing."

"I must admit, I am looking forward to going up against Hatake-San and the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." Kisame remarked, his shark teeth gleaming in the dark. Pain however paid him no mind.

"There is no time to waste. Get moving."

Sasori kept his eyes closed as both Itachi's and Kisame's profiles dimmed in preparation for their battle with Team Seven. Even at a third of their strength it was very possible that they could delay Team Seven long enough to finish the ceremony. It was now a question of which scenario did he prefer.

Naruto arrives, just in time to save Gaara, despite the loss of much of his Biju. He is filled with purpose and determination, defend is ally while crossing blades with his enemies. Noble. Poetic.

Naruto is too late. Gaara's corpse cools on the cave floor. There is rage but it has no mastery over him. Retribution is his blade; he would carve a bloody tally as the price for his friend's life. No quarter will be asked or given.

A smile grew unbidden on Sasori's face. His right fingers drummed over his exposed left arm, brushing idly across grooves etched on the surface.

"Such choices, but which one….?"


Finally making it through the desert, Team Seven and Elder Chiyo wasted little time taking to the trees. They were still several miles away from Gaara's location, however if they wanted to be able to fight they couldn't afford to push excessively. Still, knowing their destination made things easier for them; they wouldn't have to spend too much time searching around.

Naruto kept his awareness open as they chewed up the distance. He led the pace, with Kakashi on his left and Sakura to his right. Elder Chiyo was in the centre of their formation, moving just as easily as they were. Despite her age she was formidable, Naruto could tell from her chakra presence.

His senses rang sharply and he snapped into focus. He stopped suddenly, the others not far behind at his sudden action.

In a flash he drew his blade and swung left, just in time to intercept an incoming blow. Meanwhile Kakashi drew several shuriken and tossed them forwards. He blitzed into high speed, trying to catch his aggressor of guard. His shurikens were deflected with casual ease, before his opponent spun around to block his attack.

"An attack at this level is not enough to disturb me Hatake-San" the calm tone of Uchiha Itachi rang out.

Meanwhile Naruto leaned backwards as a large blade swung for his head. He let the displaced air wash over him, from his side Sakura moved into position and launched a straight blow

Doton: Earth Shards

Sharpened pieces of rock headed straight of the blue Nin, Hoshigaki Kisame. Kisame smile as he leaned sideways, avoiding the projectiles. His eyes widened in shock as Naruto's sword came into view. He barely took a step when Naruto drifted passed and sheathed his blade, Kisame's vision warped as thin lines appeared across his body. Naruto paid little attention as he glance over to Itachi and then into the bushes.

"What a troublesome thing." He murmured as he heard the tell-tale sound of water splashing over the ground.

"Mizu Bunshin?" Sakura murmured as she encased her limbs with rocks while watching Kisame's clone fall apart.

"Ahh" Naruto didn't take his eyes off the forest. A chuckle rang out. Moments later a figure appeared by Itachi's side, just as Kakashi disengaged and re-joined his team.

"It's seems our morning constitution paid off Itachi-San." Kisame ventured with a grin, "And it has been sometime since I swung Samehada with intent."

Kakashi narrowed his gaze and assessed the situation. He had expected something like this, but having both Itachi and Kisame was still a problem. Beside him he heard Naruto drop and shift his stance.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us." Kakashi set to his student as he continued to eye the two Akatsuki Ninjas. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turn in time to see him shake his head.

"Not necessarily" Naruto stated as he looked deeper at the two before him. He took a step closer and cocked his head, going from one to the other.

"Where are you now?" The question was sudden, wiping the smirk of Kisame's face. "You look like them, you talk like them. You move and even feel like them…." Naruto trailed off. Then his vision narrowed.

"But you are not them, not completely." Naruto's tone was tinged with wonder. "I have never heard of felt anything like this. Fascinating."

"Naruto" Kakashi probed, bringing him back to the present.

"It's some kind of possession. The chakra signatures belong to Kisame and Itachi. But there is another, buried deeply underneath. Not to mention, the chakra itself is only a fraction of the originals." Naruto stated with confidence.

Itachi inclined his head.

"Impressive. Still I would have thought experience would teach you the price of overconfidence."

Naruto chuckled as his chakra pulsed.

"Oh it is a lesson I have learned well. But right now it's not an issue, after all you can't use your Mangekyou can you?"

Itachi blinked at that, while Kakashi focused sharply on that fact. Kisame sneered beside Itachi and shifted his stance.

"How do you want to play this Naruto?" Sakura murmured as she felt the tension spike.

Naruto shrugged lightly as he summoned two puppets.

"Despite what I said they are still dangerous. I with Kisame I have a major disadvantage." Sensing the attention he went on, "His sword's ability to absorb chakra is problem, it can disrupt the chakra strings of my puppets and jutsus."

"That is a problem, because I need to face Itachi." Kakashi finished grimly. The situation certainly didn't seem ideal.

Naruto tapped him on the shoulder, his next words caught everyone off guard.

"Actually I can take on Kisame easily enough. You guys focus on disabling Itachi, Mangekyou or not he's the greater threat."

"Naruto, now is not the time to be reckless." Kakashi barked as he took his eyes of Itachi.

In that moment the Akatsuki members struck.

Kakashi turned back to them, no time to react. The air parted swiftly beside him. Kakashi picked up a grunt from Sakura, the force of Itachi's strike almost overtook her but she managed to deflect it away from Kakashi. The Jonin pulled out a kunai and made a swipe at Itachi's exposed side. Itachi countered with his free hand, with a twist he destabilised Sakura and kicked her away before facing off with Kakashi.


Meanwhile Kisame had crossed the distance and his sword rang for Naruto's head. Naruto shifted backwards as one of his puppets moved into intercept. Its longsword met Samehada with resounding thud, locking both great blades into place. Carefully concealed vents around the puppet released the excess pressure, keeping the puppet in upright in the deadlock. Kisame's gaze narrowed as he also noted another phenomena; the air around the puppet was growing colder. The chill slowly seeped into him, sapping him of stamina. Samehada rumbled, causing his frown to increase.

Naruto smirked at the reaction. His gambit had paid off some. The puppet he had chosen was one of his fixed elemental theme puppets, this one was based of frost, ice and cold. With Jiraiya's assistance they had managed to create a fuinjutsu formulae that allowed him to convert chakra into a frost effect, much like a freezer. Also the Sannin had contacts that provided scrolls with sealed ice based techniques which Naruto secured deep within the puppet. The chill of the puppet worked in a similar vein to the cold mist he used against Kabuto, only the effects were more concentrated and localised around the puppets frame. The freezing temperatures however meant that the relative surroundings of the puppet iced over.

Kisame broke the deadlock and swiped by the puppet, temporarily disrupting the connection. He smirked as he tried to disable it, only for Naruto to counter. His chakra pulsed and his second puppet moved into action. A three foot long spike dropped sharply from the sky, glancing of Samehada's handle and knocking the sentient sword from Kisame's grip. He looked up to spot the second puppet hovering in the air on giant semi-transparent wings. Two flat oval tubes similar to the underslung weapons on his glider were in each hand with modified grip attaching the weapons to the wrist and just before the elbow. Scrolls were displayed strategically around the puppet, various ammunition types for the weapons.

The puppet cocked its weapons again and opened fire. Spikes rained down incessantly at Kisame. The blue Nin cursed and darted for his weapon, then began dodging the steel rain.

Suiton: Water Sphere

Dodging a particularly dangerous spike, Kisame's chakra surged and a deluged of water streamed out of his mouth. Quickly the water took flooded the area and took shape as a sphere around him. The spikes slammed into the sphere but slowed immediately, unable to retain their force. Naruto narrowed his gaze and the puppet slowed its assault; he paid little mind to the spontaneous lake as his frost puppet stepped forwards, its sword poised to pierce deep into the water ball.

The sphere rippled ominously. Kisame gave another smirk; the sphere exploded outwards violently.

The collected spikes shot outwards at thrice their original speed. The frost puppet was caught in the blast, and several spikes sunk deep into its frame. Naruto's hair seemed to come alive as it writhe and twisted around him, deflecting the spikes as they came close. In the air the flying puppet also moved into action, evading spikes as they came.

Suiton: Water Prison

The water surged behind him and rose to overtake him. He idly noted a similar ball moving on his frost puppet and a third shooting skywards. His eyes narrowed as his chakra surged.

A smile fleeted across his face; he had to admit, the challenge was exciting.

The frost puppet crouched and shifted its stance, its longsword held in its right hand and pointed backwards away from it, while its left hand was palm first in front of it. Vents opened around its frame and fuinjutsu scripts across its surface lit up, dropping the temperature around it significantly, creating an area of pure cold. The instant Kisame's water sphere made contact with the supercool area it froze. Pressure vents concealed in the right arm fired propelling it forwards, the sword grip adjusted minutely before making contact with the frozen sphere, shattering it completely.

The flying puppet hovered in place. The launcher's clasp on its left hand disengaged, the launcher itself fell a short distance before dangling on an unseen chain. The left hand braced on the right, several tubes snaked out and connected to the right arm and launcher. Both arms and launcher began to vibrate and the mouth of the launcher glowed with heat. The air coiled with energy and the centre of the flying water ball bubbled ominously. At the height of its pressure the launcher fired. What could only be described as a ray of pure heat burned a straight line from the sky to the ground; the heat ray evaporated the centre of the water ball, the surrounding liquid heated almost instantly and followed suite, turning into a cloud of mist.

Kisame whistled as two of his water prisons fail. He turned to the last prison rising from behind Naruto. Anticipation built as the prison moved to engulf the blonde Jinchuriki only for the water to distort massively. Kisame's eyes widened in surprise and quickly narrowed, his face morphed into a scowl. The way the water stretched and distorted wasn't natural, even for shinobi techniques and chakra manipulation. Kisame however didn't dwell to long on that fact, the Jinchuriki was turning out to be more than a nuisance and it was passed time he was disabled.


Itachi kept some of his attention on Naruto and couldn't help marvel at the growth. It was one thing to read up reports on his skills but to see them in action was something else entirely. Even if they were only at a third of their strength Naruto would have made a formidable opponent regardless. Just once he felt a slight envy at Sasori; both puppeteers gravitated to each other in a mutual desire to test the full range of their capabilities, even if Naruto didn't consciously acknowledge it. Whereas the only thing that bound him and Sasuke together was the blood and cries of the dead.

Itachi evaded a slash that would have taken his eye, his feet moving rapidly over the impromptu shallow lake Kisame had made. He kicked out, sending water towards Kakashi. The Jonins instincts were firing on all cylinders and he ducked, only to realise too late he had been duped. Itachi spun into a sideways kick. The blow would have struck true, but suddenly an earth stump rose just underneath his leg; Itachi hid his discomfort well, the leg was fractured at the sudden blow and his attack deflected off course. He shifted his weight to keep pressure off the foot but Kakashi was relentless, the Jonin was no longer laid back but every bit the S-Ranked shinobi enemies knew to be wary of.

Suddenly there was a sharp crack and the air was charged with heat. All eyes shifted to Naruto's location, just in time to see Kisame's form slumped over him.


Kisame gripped Samehada tight, calculating his next move. He swung over the water, sending a large spray over at Naruto; the edges sharped into blades. Naruto countered, his left hand swung into a vertical slash. Immediately the water parted before him and moved over either side. His eyes narrowed as Kisame was no longer in sight; the large chakra signature was still present in the air but was saturated all around and it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location. A sharp pulse to the left triggered his senses. His hair snapped outwards, perforating the Mist Nin. The body turned clear and began to drip; Naruto cursed as he felt a new presence to the right.

"It's been fun, gaki" Kisame smirked with dark glee, poised to strike. Naruto shifted, desperate to counter. His hair struck out, but Kisame cut through with contempt. Samehada gorged on the large amount of chakra, causing the blond strands to fall limp and shrivel. Kisame wound of for a second blow; his eyes fixed on the panic in Naruto's gaze.

The panic however changed into triumph; Kisame couldn't slow down, his attack was committed.

Samehada was stopped mid swing. The sentient blade groaned as if in pain. Kisame's arm strained, but the grip was tight. Naruto stood firm, Samehada held tight in his hand.

His Right Hand….

Overlapping plates slide into place. The finger points opened and slip upwards; sharpened talons were revealed and sunk deep into Samehada's scales, causing the blade more pain. Several cylindrical locks sunk into place around the prosthetic limb, blending into the frame. The plates rattled rhythmically; the sound ominous as per the design.

Naruto smirked again and his eyes flashed with chakra.

Kyuubi….

You are feeling quite dark this day…. I find myself enjoying this Naruto.

Naruto's hair went from limp to alive in an instant. The strands wove around the Mist Nin in seconds. Binding seals fleeted in the edges of vision, blinking in and out of reality. Kisame growled as his struggles proved fruitless, Samehada was been kept clear out of reach.

Naruto brought his left hand upwards, over Kisame's heart. Chakra rose rapidly, and with it heat. A seal etched it way into reality, the shadows burnt their way into Naruto's palm.

"This is the same jutsu my Valkyrie used. The only thing is I didn't have time to prepare it for myself. It's not easy increasing the oscillation range at a molecular level, but with Kyuubi I can brute force it. It's a taste of things to come."

Naruto's palm was an inch away from Kisame' and his face showed the discomfort from the rapid heat.

Phonon Maser

The air crackle sharply. The rays of pure heat energy followed a straight path through clean through Kisame. He barely had time to gasp as a neat hole scorched through him, turning his heart into ash.

Naruto watched dispassionately as the blue Ninja slumped over. His prosthetic arm clicked as the grip came loose. The overlapping plates rattled rhythmically and the finger points slid downwards and closed over the sharp talons. The cylinder locks opened slightly, vented, then closed off again. Naruto flexed his fingers, giving the arm a once over and clenched his fist in satisfaction.

Slowly, his eyes drifted over to the remaining Akatsuki member. Sharingan locked with a single glowing red orbs.

No one said anything.

Nothing needed to be said.


Kisame gasped loudly and clutched his chest. In the centre of their formation Pain narrowed his gaze. Moments later Itachi blinked, coming to awareness. The Akatsuki members looked at the three figures, waiting for a clue as to what was happening.

Kisame was taunt, his face a twisted grimace at the phantom ache. Normally such sensations were not even an issue, but that last Jutsu, that was something far more dangerous than he imagined, and Kisame almost for a brief moment he was going to die.

"Kisame, Itachi." Pain called to the two members.

Kisame shook off the feeling and growled out.

"We met them as planned. The Kyuubi brat is much more dangerous now than he ever was." The anger was more than clear in the former Mist Nins tones.

"Itachi?" Pain turned the Sharingan wielder. Itachi remained expressionless.

"By my estimates they should find us within the hour. Less if they don't take the time to rest. Hatake may need sometime but I get the sense that Naruto-Kun can push further than what we saw. Next time we engage him it might be wiser for me two face him, and at full strength."

That received raised eyebrows all around.

"It seems things won't be boring after all, Sasori-no-Dana" Deidara called out excitedly.

Sasori however ignored the goings on around him. The excitement was getting to him; Naruto was close, so very close. And he wanted that fight, he had been building to this moment. And he needed to make his choice.

Fight for Vengeance….or Fight for Life.

Suddenly his choice was made.

Around the perimeter of the base, several security seals failed. The sabotage was subtle, concealed so as not alert anyone of what had transpired.

Now, Hurry Up Naruto!

Vengeance or Life….none of that matters anymore.

Hurry Up, and give me the answers I have been waiting for.

Let's go, Naruto!


Half an hour later he got his wish. Pain swore loudly, to the shock of everyone, and cast his gaze to the rock entrance of the cave. The solid rock seemed to ripple like water, before completely disintegrating. All eyes caught sight of Sakura, fist outstretched and chakra swirling ominously around her.

"The ceremony is almost over" Pain hissed out. A glance at the Gedo Mazo showed the eye was almost fully open, bearing the symbol for the Ichibi. The Biju energy was now trickling out of Gaara.

"Sasori, Deidara. Do everything to stall them, now!"

Sasori however was fixed on Naruto. His answers were here.

Now, I ask again. What is the truth of Art?


A.N Now for those who want to lynch me hang on a sec; There was just no way i could do the fight we are all waiting for in this chapter. i tried but it was just...urgh.

so i will be leading the next chapter with that fight. i will also answer any questions or observations i have missed out for the previous chapter and this one, Just needed to get this out.

Catch you all soon...so please dont lynch me.