ItsukoAkatsuki: Finally, I'm back and ready to finish the story :D I've graduated and finished moving into my new place which means more updates with less wait, yay! My apologies about the last chapter if it sounded strange, I wrote that in the course of three months, and I plan to rewrite it to make it sound better but that's until later on. With that, here's Chapter 8.

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Chapter 8: A Seeking Calamity…

"Ninja Art: Nara Style: Shadow Nightly Takeover!" The clouded sky above them grew darker and the clouds began to sink and take a makeshift form of what appeared to be giant hands.

Sephiroth dodged one of the hands as it crashed into the barrel, his sword fell down to the ground far below.

"You shouldn't bite off more than you can chew." Shikamaru stepped closer.

"Nor should you" Sephiroth flew forward and Shikamaru answered with taking out a small blade and meeting him head-on.

"You will not survive this…" Sephiroth growled.

"I don't intend too"

With that Shikamaru and Sephiroth jumped back and they both got ready for the storm that was coming, steadfast.

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Back in the control room, Ino was recollecting herself as Tsunade watched Sephiroth from the window. As soon as Ino realized that Tsunade was still there she shouted "Lady Hokage, have you been standing here the entire time!?" Tsunade still watched Sephiroth and then turned to Ino, "sorry Ino for not stepping in but…I recognize that man."

"Y-You do?" Ino was taken aback and then glanced at Sephiroth, "how do you know him?"

"Well, after Sasuke Uchiha started using the calamity cells within live people, it became rather popular talk, especially among the people of the nearby towns. When I was traveling I heard of a story of a young man that had survived a lethal dose of this Jenova calamity but as I thought there was no way Sasuke could control someone with the power that could easily match-out chakra…" Tsunade paused, Ino appeared confused, "uh…" Tsunade looked at her, "do you know what that means?"

"I'm not exactly following"

Tsunade sighed and looked back at Sephiroth, "When I transferred to A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E they had me look over the fallen Taka members that died from an overdose of Jenova cells. The Jenova cells eat up chakra as if the chakra was nothing more than a harmless protein and then it slowly ate the person's nervous system because it required the change."

"Required the change?"

"If someone learns something new they need to adjust to it. If they want to be stronger then they need to train. If someone wants to be smarter then they need to study. The shinobi bodies are born with chakra and we learn how to use it. Chakra and Jenova cells aren't the same product, there's not much in common other than its color which means the way it's used and taught is different." Ino suddenly started to get the jest of what Tsunade was explaining.

"So, in other words, our bodies can't live without chakra because it was in our bodies when we're born so if it goes away the body can't accept the loss and wastes away."

Tsunade shrugged, "somewhat, you have the right idea" Ino turned to Sephiroth and something dawned on her. "So wait! The reason that guy is alive is because he was born without chakra so his body mutated from the Jenova and he was acceptable to the change."

"That's what I thought at first when I heard about him but there's something wrong with that idea…" Tsunade hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"This Sephiroth character is no stranger to people like us." Tsunade waited to see if Ino caught on but Ino remained quiet so she continued. "Sephiroth was born with chakra; like us, and the Jenova calamity was injected into him."

"Wha-? But then how did he…?" Ino started but a rumble made her quiet. The control room shook horribly due to Shikamaru's jutsu. The shadow-like hands had wrapped themselves around the gun barrel and began to wretch it up with mighty strength. Shikamaru fell to one knee and tried to catch his breath but in his current condition it took longer than usual.

"We can talk about this later, they need our help" Tsunade jumped through the broken window and went to Killer Bee's side who was trying to stop the bleeding coming out of his arm.

"Bout' damn time, old lady, fer' a moment I thought you were a block of stone, fool'"

"Just be quiet and watch for Shikamaru" Tsunade closed her hands over the open wound and her hands begun to glow green. Ino landed, perched, next to Tsunade "Lady Hokage, what can I do?"

"Help me with the healing, as soon as I stop the bleeding I'm going in to aid Shikamaru"

"Then what can I do?" Ino closed her hands together and they too glowed green. "Nothing, just stay here and make sure this wound doesn't get any worse"

"Wha? Oh hello no, the big bad Killer Bee can't just take a second to breathe fool' I gots to get back in the action"

"You're not going back into the action if you don't be quiet" Tsunade threatened and her closed fist was enough to get Killer Bee to hush. Ino frowned and wished there was something she could do but her attempt at the mind transfer jutsu didn't last.

"Where is everyone?"

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"Hey, wake up" Jugo nudged Suigetsu with his foot. Suigetsu slowly came back to life and looked up at Jugo dumbly. "Hey I was having a nice dream, leave me alone" Jugo kicked him again only a little harder, "look, we need to find Sasuke, get up" "can't that wait?" Suigetsu waved his hand at Jugo and kept himself on the floor.

"Hey, you two, stop lazily around and get the hell up!" Suigetsu opened his eyes, he knew that voice, "shut up you ugly bitch" Suigetsu got up off the floor and yelled at Karin who came from the doorway "Don't tell me to shut up, no one tells me to shut up" Karin replied angrily, "oh, yeah, you ugly skank? You can't make me" Suigetsu yelled back.

"ENOUGH!" Jugo yelled, silencing them both. "This is not the time to mess around. We need to fire that gun…"

"Uh…I thought you said we needed to look for Sasuke" Suigetsu rubbed his head and flinched when his hand went over his face; he was going to have a mighty bruise from Killer Bee's knockout punch.

"Yes but if that shinobi manages to disable the gun Sasuke won't be happy…Kimimaro wouldn't be proud of me otherwise; so we need to focus on that. We need to get serious or things won't end well for us…" Jugo paused.

"I see what you mean and by the way…Karin; where were you when me and Jugo tried to stop those guys?" Suigetsu glared at Karin who just scoffed at him. "At least I'm not stupid like you; there was no way I was going to stand up four shinobi; especially when one of them was the previous Hokage of the leaf village."

"That's just an excuse!" Suigetsu yelled back. "And it's not called being stupid it's called having guts which you obviously don't have!"

Jugo's body began to change when he allowed his anger to fulfill his spirit. "I'm sorry Kimimaro but in order to protect your dreams; your legacy, I will allow myself to suffer to accomplish this deed." Jugo smile turned maniacal as he grew in height and mass. Suigetsu and Karin immediately got quiet and stood back in fear as he began to change. "Jugo…"

Jugo's body twitched as he began to laugh; "I'll kill 'em; I'll kill them all!"

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Shikamaru's shadow hands pulled the gun up and apart from the building, but the process was going slow because of Shikamaru's lack of chakra. Sephiroth caught Shikamaru's blade in his hand and fought with Shikamaru with strength but Shikamaru pushed back. "You shinobi just don't know when to give up, do you?"

"Giving up isn't in our vocabulary" Shikamaru pushed back, the space on the barrel was beginning to get smaller and any big move could end everything, Shikamaru's foot slipped but he caught it before his body fell.

"It's a long way down little shinobi" Sephiroth taunted; Shikamaru pushed back a little more and Sephiroth allowed himself to be pushed back. The scene needed to be perfect and without his sword it would take a little more and Mother Jenova was getting tired of messing around.

"Ino! You handle this; it's time I showed these young kids what the real Legendary Sannin can do!" Tsunade smashed her fist into to her hand and jumped forward when a hand caught her around the ankle and swung her around onto the catwalk below. "Lady Hokage!" Ino yelled as she saw Tsunade crash into the metal walkway. Tsunade got up quickly and Jugo's laugh gave his identity away. "I had a feeling I was going to have to deal with you."

"That was for knocking me around earlier. Now allow me to kill you…" Tsunade just scoffed "as if you could"

Jugo jumped down and his arm changed into a sharp welded ax and he swung at Tsunade who easily dodged with a jump and pulled her leg up to her chin and aimed directly for his head "how about a heaven kick of pain!?" she yelled before slamming her foot into his head but to her surprise his head didn't break nor began to bleed. "Surprised? I'm like a walking bad of rocks. It'll take more than that to knock me around this time"

"I can see that but can you endure this?" Tsunade's hand glowed with chakra and she reared to punch him but Jugo absorbed the railing and used it to hit Tsunade; expecting her to dodge and fall because of the lack of railing. Tsunade allowed the part of the railing to slash at her side so she wouldn't fall to her death; the height was more than enough to kill even a shinobi, especially with all the leftover construction down below. "Smart but how long can you last!" Jugo yelled and charged forward.

Up above Shikamaru was still clashed with Sephiroth who was waiting for the right moment when footing would become important. Shikamaru's jutsu was forcing them higher into the sky and the gun's mechanics were beginning to let loose and if not stopped the gun would soon become unoperatable. "The calamity is needed for this putrid world to exist and I will right the wrongs of the shinobi world and nothing but Mother Jenova will exist. Although I admire your sense of justice and abilities; it's too bad it's been wasted."

This set Shikamaru off and he pushed Sephiroth back a little more. "My Dad died so people like you could live and there's no way I'm going to let him down after everything he's done for this world"

"Well isn't that a pity?" Shikamaru pushed back again. Sephiroth smiled at him and finally used his strength to push him back a ways away. Sephiroth reached into his jacket and pulled his small blade that still had Kakashi's blood on it. Shikamaru allowed himself a moment to catch his breath and then he smiled. "You think I'm going to fall for it…don't you?"

"Spare me the lecture"

"You wanted us to get so far up this gun so that in my haste to defeat you I would lose my footing and fall? Not going to happen…" Shikamaru put his hands back together and his shadow nightly takeover let go of the gun and dove for Sephiroth. Sephiroth dodged one by taking a step forward and dodged the second one by jumping back. "I'm going to push you off the map" Shikamaru growled. The hands rose up and dived for Sephiroth again; he didn't have much farther to move so he had to go forward. He jumped forward and Shikamaru yelled "gotcha!" both hands slammed down onto Sephiroth; crushing him until there was nothing left. Shikamaru dropped his hands onto his knees and breathed out.

That was such…an unneeded drag…

"Shikamaru! You did it!" Ino yelled with a bright smile.

"…Yeah; I guess I did…" Shikamaru straightened then suddenly doubled over and upchucked blood. Damn that Stigma but at least the fights over…

"Shikamaru, hold on, I'm coming!"

Ino finished with Killer Bee; as much as she could do anyway, and turned back to Shikamaru but everything began to get slow.

"…Is the death you had in mind for me?" Shikamaru froze but before he could turn around Sephiroth stabbed him right in the middle of his chest. "…Because it's not one I had in mind" Sephiroth pressed his blade in further. "Shikamaru!"

"Your time has come and gone…say hello to your father for me" with that Sephiroth removed his blade from Shikamaru and allowed him to fall…off the gun and straight to the ground below…

"Shikamaru, no!" Killer Bee grabbed Ino's collar and kept her from jumping down to grab him. "It ain't no use girlie…" Killer Bee's tone was low. Ino recoiled and fought to get free "no it's not! That's Shikamaru, LET ME GO!" Ino couldn't match Killer Bee's strength and soon she just broke down.

Down below on the catwalk Tsunade was even with Jugo and out of the corner of her eye she saw Shikamaru fall. She immediately turned her head towards him which allowed Jugo to punch Tsunade squarely in the stomach. Tsunade leaned over his arm and closed her hands over his fist. Damn it! If the Stigma wasn't giving me trouble I would done and finished with this boy

"Ahh…that's one less I've got to kill; how convenient…" Jugo watched as well and his smile enlarged; "now I'll finish you!"

"I don't think so!" Tsunade yelled back and closed her hand into a fist and aimed for his head.

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"…Whoa; did that guy just…?" Suigetsu peered out the window with a nervous chuckle.

"…I think so…" Karin answered; her voice was just as light. "Damn, Sephiroth! You don't play around do you?" Suigetsu straightened and turned to the untouched controls. "We need to get this gun operating. Especially since that guy's jutsu…uh, is no longer working…we need to take advantage of the moment." Suigetsu started to fiddle with the controls to the point where Karin loudly groaned and pushed him out of the way. "Let me do it! You're stupidity might mess it up" she yelled.

"My stupidity? Your ugliness could mess it up!" Suigetsu shot back. Karin continued without another word and the barrel slowly began to come back online as it repositioned to its original position. "The gun seems to still be working but that might not mean the same for the components." Karin moved away from the controls and looked out the broken window towards the bottom. "We're going to have to go down there and see."

"Ah…isn't there any Taka members left to do that?"

"No you idiot! They're all dead!" Karin yelled; "now go down there and see if everything is still online"

"Wait, why me? You're perfectly able to do it yourself!"

Karin kicked Suigetsu out the window onto the gun; "GO!" Suigetsu laid there for a moment then got up and straightened his clothes; "why do I have to do everything?" he griped.

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Sephiroth crashed to his knees and stayed still until his heart slowed; he cringed from the sharp stings in his body. I'm sorry Mother but I had to…use my chakra; I won't use it again…

What is taking you so long? I want to taste the Lifestream already; stop messing around and do it already!

"Gladly" he answered aloud.

Hurry up! I'm getting tired of waiting

Sephiroth took his time standing back up and he slowly turned to face the control tower.

"Watcha' fool; you coming back for round two?" Killer Bee rearranged himself into a battle stance but Sephiroth merely charged right to his face and decked him back into the control room; Karin ducked just in time and immediately went to the corner. Ino was still motionless on the gun barrel and Sephiroth walked by her without a word and entered the control room.

"Are you going to interfere this time?" Sephiroth asked Karin with an exhausted glare. She didn't say a word and quickly shook her head and remained quiet.

Sephiroth moved the gun's position; straight for the night sky above them and flicked on a few switches.

"You can't fire the gun here…can you?" he asked Karin who just stared at him. "Well…?" he stepped forward and she blurted "no…Sasuke's office".

"I figured as much" Sephiroth turned and left the room. Karin released a heavy breath but didn't move a muscle. She stayed exactly where she was.

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"We're close" Hinata yelled to Kiba who was lagging behind with Akamaru. Kiba stopped again to catch his breath. "Wait up Hinata; I'm not as young as I used to be and this place is still on fire!"

"Come on Kiba!" Hinata left him behind and charged forward. "God, this sucks" Akamaru whimpered along with Kiba and they briskly continued forward.

Kiba was halfway done the hall when someone was thrown into the hall through the window. Kiba jumped back with a yelp and Akamaru growled.

"…Lady Hokage?" Kiba braved forward to the unmoving Tsunade. He froze when he heard a loud laugh; "How about that?" the voice yelled.

Jugo cut away a part of the wall and entered from the catwalk. His body was completely transformed now and his regular self was easily forgotten. "Whoa…it's you!" Kiba gaped but then got serious. He put his hands together and said with a grin "ready Akamaru?" Akamaru barked in agreement, ready to fight.

Let's start with something simple…Ninja Art: Fang over Fang Jutsu!

Akamaru changed into a copy of Kiba and they both charged at Jugo who just prepared for his attack by changing his arm back into an ax like shape.

Up ahead, Hinata, had heard all of the noise turned around and started forward but Kiba's voice stopped her in her tracks; "go Hinata! I can handle him, you need to help the others" Hinata hesitated; searching Kiba's face but she knew he was serious so she swiftly nodded and turned around and disappeared from sight.

"You know; here I was thinking everything could finally be peaceful, despite the Stigma, but you guys just have to ruin everything…don't you?" Kiba's expression was no longer playful nor to an extent; silly. His face showed that he was ready for a fight and more than prepared to give one. Akamaru sensed this as well and became serious as well; not wanting to let down his master nor himself.

"I'm going to put a stop to this…right now!" Kiba jumped above Jugo with his fangs bared and his claws seeking its target.

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Back in the A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E base there was a young woman searching through a file. The file cabinet she had received it had been locked with a key that only the head of the group was allowed to carry but there was no guards in pursue of her nor anyone looking for the leader's missing key.

"So…that's how he can be defeated…such a pity" the woman finally announced to herself and closed the file; holding it close. "It truly is terrible for anyone who can't understand that and fight him regardless…but oh well" her voice was rather cheerful despite knowing of the battles that were happening just some ways away. A man that had be waiting for her entered the tent and told her "we need to be going now…Miss Arieth"

"Yes I know…I know…" she answered and not bothering to return the folder she had she left with it and headed to a place that only she, and the man escorting her, knew.

TBC…The last chapter of the past is upon us 'The Reason we Fight' and it will be available this week or early next week; see you then…