Chapter 7-Birth of Hell
The fire of war raged around Rice Country. Dead bodies lay everywhere and the various birds that ate their flesh were already feasting happily on the corpses laid before them like a smorgasbord. Samurai and Shinobi were on today's menu for these birds and even the various animals in this region of the world once those first to arrive in eating had their fill. The war itself was started by the Rice Daimyo, who was paid a visit by one Uchiha Sasuke, and his subordinate Haruno Sakura shortly upon the Missing Nin's arrival into his domain.
Back when Orochimaru first came to Rice Country, he sweet talked the Feudal Lord into allowing him to setup a hidden village, and the promise of making the country strong. The country was small, a few Shinobi clans at best, but they were all scattered, divided, and in some cases would war with each other. The Sannin had come with the promise of uniting the clans and train strong Shinobi capable of contending with the five major ones and make Rice Country one to be feared. The Feudal Lord of Rice was a man with strong ambitions himself, but without the means to act, and could not until Orochimaru arrived with his knowledge.
Hence the building of the village and the building up of forces capable of fighting anyone under the Sannin's command.
When Sasuke arrived, no one really took him seriously since he was still a kid not even old enough to shave, and the Uchiha had to use his own methods of persuasion to get the point across. None of them had the finesse of Orochimaru's had, which while were brutal in their own ways was done on a calculating measure to ensure a mixture of loyalty that was mixed into the fear, and ensure that betrayal was the last thing from his subordinates mind. Uchiha Sasuke didn't care about finesse though, as he cared about results, and that they were done to ensure things benefitted himself.
And all for giving him power to kill those he hated most. Namely Itachi and Naruto for their ability to get strong while he was left behind with nothing. With Itachi, Sasuke had embraced his hate to kill the slayer of the Uchiha Clan, as it was what the older of the two brothers had forced upon the younger, and start the clan over. With Naruto however, the hatred was born from jealousy, as Sasuke felt he was being cheated out of everything, and the power people had that should belong only to him. It was absurd. Pure and simple. An Uchiha always got what he wanted and took what he wanted from anybody that had power.
Hence how Rice Country had come to be war torn and in shambles under the boy turned man's poisonous touch. Sasuke had gone to see the Rice Daimyo, not unlike how the snake Sannin had done, but unlike Orochimaru's way of doing thing, the Uchiha had used his Sharingan to basically give the Missing Nin permission to cause untold chaos to their enemies, and show no mercy.
And that was what Sasuke did or rather tried to do. The boy turned man had expected things to go his way from the start since in Sasuke's mind made him believe that things should always go his way and if they didn't...he'd make it by any means necessary. First, he went after the small villages, and the countries they served before going after the much bigger ones.
But Sasuke had miscalculated on so many levels. First, the Uchiha had assumed his brutal ways would allow him to have the same level of loyal troops that Orochimaru had when inheriting them from the dead Sannin, and none of them would dare cross him. Second, the opposition would fall easily given his Sharingan, the skills his clan were known for, and the forces he gained from his conquering.
And last, but certainly not least...Sasuke had underestimated Namikaze Naruto.
While Sasuke had planned for things to go his way from the start by his presence alone, Naruto had worked hard to gather those that he knew would become drawn to him, and what he believed in without questioning their loyalty. Because of his brutal nature when killing off several clans that refused to follow him after his victories, Sasuke had faced desertions, questioning of his motives, which had resulted in killing off a few small clans that showed signs of abandoning him for his cruel actions, and further proved he was a heartless bastard. Naruto didn't act like that, as his ranks slowly, but steadily swelled in Outer Heaven with people wanting to join, and even those that deserted Rice Country had done the same. Those that had left Sound, had told Sasuke's opposite of all the sins the Uchiha was committing, and planning on doing to the world without regret to his actions against it.
That in itself made Naruto furious over his mistake in sparing the bastard and showing him mercy by letting the prick live. Big Boss had told Naruto that something similar had happened with him and Major Zero with the man living to continue his havoc after their split to form their own groups. Only by killing Sasuke would the blonde find a measure of peace in himself for this oversight and only by killing Sasuke could the world begin to slowly heal itself.
So a plan was set in motion to pit Sasuke's enemies against him at the same time, as the blonde Jinchuriki knew the arrogant jerk would fight enemies on all sides, and decided to give him just that. Gaara had contacted his sister in Suna, telling her the situation while Killer Bee did the same for the Raikage about Uchiha Sasuke, and how he was the one attack both villages in the belief they would fall to him. Add to the fact Sasuke was not keeping this a strictly Shinobi affair also made things worse for the leader of Sound, as his actions in using the Rice Daimyo's samurai army to attack other countries had caused those Feudal Lords to send out their armies.
In short, Sasuke was losing ground fast, and his own hatred was blinding him to that very simple truth in a painful manner. Even worse was the morale of his forces had thinned to the very minimum of numbers, as the Shinobi that stayed were retired due to being too old, or were too injured to risk leaving the Uchiha out of fear of him hunting them down to face a slow agonizing death.
The only young person Sasuke's age now was Sakura, but while the pink haired girl had firmly believed that the Uchiha would never betray her, the truth was the Sharingan user would in a heartbeat, and the only reason he hadn't...was because her usefulness had not run out. But it was closing fast with Rice Country's enemies closing in on her and him for starting this fight he couldn't win. Karin had left him after seeing his brutality and cold acts of murder of subordinates simply on a whim no matter what they did to displease the Uchiha. Hōzuki Suigestu had stuck with him longer on account of the Uchiha's desire to spill blood and knowing where to gain one of the Seven Swords of Mist at Wave Country where Zabuza's grave had been. However, as things became noticeably dire, Suigestu had started to think about his own survival since he would most likely be locked up again in a cell somewhere, and fled just past the Rice Country border only to have one very pissed off Namikaze Naruto himself waiting for him.
Naruto had respected Zabuza and Haku too much to see some would-be swordsman on the Uchiha's side of the war simply defile their graves just for the sake of the marker left behind. After Karin had left, Naruto had a tracking team be deployed to find her, and bring the girl to him for questioning on everything she knew about Sasuke's operations. After the girl told him everything she knew, including what Suigestu had done, Naruto was livid at the news, and personally to hunt the bastard down after learning everything about the man during his time being there. Karin didn't know much about Suigestu's life before she came to Sound, but the red haired girl did know that the swordsman had been experimented on by Orochimaru, and had the ability to become one with water. Whether or not it was some kind of clan ability or the Sannin's experimentations bringing about his ideal goal was unknown.
Quite frankly Naruto didn't care at the time.
(Flashback-Border of Fire and Rice Country)
"Do you know why I am here? Aside from wanting Sasuke's exact location?" said Naruto with his HF sword drawn and ready for a fight.
"Yeah I do. Sasuke told me this would happen when I went to get this sword in Wave Country. Zabuza made quite the impression on you from what I heard and how you were going to hold a grudge against me for taking this," said Suigestu, as he grinned at Naruto, and got Kubikiribōchō ready for combat.
"You could say that. I have nothing, but the greatest respect for him, and I will not have someone claiming to be his successor take the blade that is his grave marker. The blade had only one true Master and it was him!" said Naruto with Suigestu scowling at him for the insult.
"You don't know anything brat! The blade of one of the Seven Swordsmen is always past down from teacher to student and was going to be the next one to wield it after his death. I would have come for the sword sooner if Orochimaru hadn't locked me away since my loyalty to him was always in question, but now I have a chance fulfill my own ambition, and this sword in my hands is the first of the seven I intend to collect," said Suigestu, as Naruto scowled further while got ready to strike, and his Tactical Eye hidden behind the eye patch was showing him the information needed to fight the man before him.
But first...Naruto wanted to see just how good Suigestu really was with that sword when compared to Zabuza.
The two charged forward, their swords clashing against the other, though it was clear that Naruto's was the sharper blade after cutting into Kubikiribōchō, and Suigestu had to jump back to assess the damage before charging in again. Naruto would admit to himself that Suigestu had the moves to use Zabuza's sword, but the man was far from the level of skill the Demon of the Mist possessed, and also lacked the foot work needed fight back like the Namikaze. All the rogue swordsman did was swing, swing, and more swing with the blade with no finesse at all.
The training Suigestu had while was been good was also incomplete at best.
"I know enough. Judging by the fact you're running away from Sound, you aren't loyal to Sasuke, and would rather not side with the losing part in this war when facing judgment," said Naruto, as he kicked Suigestu back, and saw the point of impact turn slightly into water before turning back into solid flesh again.
"Maybe. The Uchiha isn't really known for being nice. The only reason that Sakura chick tolerates him is because she wants to get into his pants and make little babies for him. Not that he ever gives her the time of day to do it. He's so obsessed with wanting power that the piece of ass right next to him ready, willing, and able to give him pleasure is being ignored. I'm beginning to think Sasuke's gay," said Suigestu while Naruto just smirked at him.
"Yeah. I'm willing to bet that too. So many fan girls wanted him and he just ignored them all," said Naruto while waiting for his opponent to make his next move.
"What an ass. Ha! But seriously were getting off track of the conversation. The point is, I need a place to continue my ambition to get all seven swords in my possession, and I'm not about to be stopped by the likes of you," said Suigestu before performing the Hidden Mist Jutsu using it in combination of turning his body slightly into water.
'So he know this Jutsu huh? Not surprising I suppose. He must have been trained in Mist in their Jutsus along with your swordsmanship before being turned into one of the snake Sannin's test subject,' thought Naruto while closing his eye and expanding his other four senses.
Before rolling to his right and dodged the blade aimed at his shoulder.
"Good reflexes. You can't see me in the mist so your compensating with the other senses to find out where I'm going to strike next," said Suigestu with a grin on his face knowing that many relied on their eyes and only a fool would use them against such a Jutsu.
"Only a fool relies just on his eyes alone. And as you can tell I am no fool," said Naruto before gathering chakra around him and unleashed it to part the mist.
"Not bad. Shame I didn't run into you first before the Uchiha. Something tells me that we would have gotten along very well," said Suigestu with his grin getting wider to show his sharp teeth.
"Still could you know. Mist is getting back on its feet with the Mizukage and I'm sure she would like to have someone like you on her side to reform the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," said Naruto with Suigestu, as he saw the man was interested in that, and gave the blonde a inquiring look.
"And I could be its leader?" said Suigestu knowing that was part of his dream.
"If you ask politely. Hoshigaki Kisame has one of the swords you seek and I'm sure the Mizukage will reward you greatly for helping her retrieve each weapon to place in the hands of a worthy successor to lead in her name," said Naruto seeing Suigestu grinning even further.
"And you can make this happen?" said Suigestu with intrigue.
"Would I be making the offer if it wasn't possible?" said Naruto seeing the man looking at him with some suspicion.
"You are a man of your word from what I've heard. Very rare these days. Not to mention your reputation has made you quite the influential man in the world. I even heard a rumor that some of the various Daimyos in the Elemental Countries don't dare make potentially dangerous moves that bring about conflict without your secret approval," said Suigestu while Naruto just smirked more.
"Perhaps. Though how that rumor got out makes me suspect someone told someone, who wasn't suppose to know, and I have a feeling that person is going to be in a lot of trouble for leaking it out to spite me," said Naruto knowing there was only one person with the means to get such information out and that had been a big thing on the "do not do that to Naruto list" in regards to this certain person.
"Then let's make a deal and swear to honor it on our skills as swordsmen. You take me to the Mizukage to become a Seven Swordsman of the Mist and in return I'll tell you where Sasuke is going to be hiding out," said Suigestu seeing Naruto narrow his eye at him.
"And how do I know the information you give will be accurate?" said Naruto since he had been having his force helping Suna and Kumo in this war in sacking base after base Sasuke had setup.
"Sasuke's running out of bases. I saw a report how two of them were taken a few days ago without much resistance. He has one more, but even I know that one is going to get sacked sooner then later, and the current base Sasuke's currently hold up in just happens to be the best concealed one. You know how a guy like him is, right? The old 'save the best for last' and all that other crap," said Suigestu seeing Naruto nodding since Sasuke would leave the best for last.
"Okay. I agree. We go to Mist and convince the Mizukage you're worthy of being the leader of the new Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. In return, you tell me where the base, and what to expect when there," said Naruto seeing Suigestu grin further.
"Deal!" said Suigestu knowing his luck was turning for the better.
(End Flashback)
Now here Naruto was, standing among the fires of war with his forces having moved swiftly to reach Sasuke's final base, and bring things to an end. It would be amusing to see the Uchiha after all this time, as Naruto wanted to see just how strong the Uchiha was, and if the jerk had actually done more then just command his opponents to surrender because he was an Uchiha. There was also some information that Naruto wanted to have confirmed from the arrogant jerk about a spy in the Leaf feeding the Uchiha information since there were signs of it in several reports the Namikaze had read from his own spies. While Naruto had an idea of the source behind the spy in the Leaf, he knew that proof for his Godmother to take down the spy, and knew that the best way to catch the mole was to outfox the rat by spilling his guts!
"Gray Fox-sama," said a female voice into the Namikaze's earpiece.
"This is Gray Fox. Go ahead Stinger," said Naruto using Fu's codename in honor of the demon sealed inside her.
"We found the base. Its filled with old and wounded Shinobi. They're either to old, weak, or injured to fight us. Its about 5 miles North of your current position," said Fu, as she had scouted ahead of him, and found the base in the general area Suigestu had told them to look.
"Don't let down your guard Stinger. Just because it looks like the base is just littered with weak Shinobi doesn't mean it is. Sasuke might have something up his sleeve and while I do not believe that personally...I'd rather not ignore the possibility out some sense of pride or arrogance in my own abilities," said Naruto knowing that underestimating your enemy was unwise.
"Understood. I'm going to continue surveillance for now until you get here," said Fu since she knew he would want to handle this himself.
It didn't take long for Naruto to get to the base, landing beside Fu, and to give it a once over himself while checking for any real threats that Sasuke might be hiding. Seeing none so far, the blonde ordered Fu to stay behind to keep an eye on things, and then entered the base before finding the entrance to the underground area Suigestu had told him was the entrance. Entering cautiously, Naruto found most of the room were empty, and there was not a single enemy standing in his way.
Something was wrong.
It wasn't until Naruto came to a single large room did the Namikaze realize Sasuke had been expecting him and saw the Uchiha on the ground in what seemed like mediation. Not that Naruto believed Sasuke embraced mediation, as the emo was too into himself to actually accept the concept, and would sooner go on a date with Sakura then embrace the path to serenity.
"So its just you and me huh? Where's Sakura? I half expected her hear screeching about how you were unbeatable, that I was moron, and would never match your greatness. Did you finally knock her up to shut her up?" said Naruto with Sasuke standing and opening his eyes to reveal the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"She finally proved her usefulness to me," said Sasuke triumphantly while Naruto just scowled at him.
"You stupid idiot. The one girl left in the whole freaking world willing to be the Mother of your children and you kill her. And for what? For that! You do realize the chances of rebuilding your clan just went from slim to none right?" said Naruto seeing Sasuke just scoff at him.
"Please! As if I'd want Sakura to give me such weak children. Besides, once I kill Itachi, his eyes will allow me to become Immortal, and the need to rebuild the Uchiha Clan will become a mute point," said Sasuke with Naruto raising an eyebrow at him.
"And how are you going to do that idiot? You're never going to kill him and even if you do manage do it...his eyes will practically be useless to you," said Naruto seeing Sasuke now scowling at him.
"Shut up loser! You just don't get it, do you? Once I kill you, Itachi will be next, and then the world will bow before the might of the Uchiha Clan for all eternity," said Sasuke, as he saw Naruto shake his head at him, and didn't look impressed at him.
"If you say so, but then again you did like to talk a lot of shit, and run your mouth to the point where your ass couldn't cash the check it wrote," said Naruto seeing Sasuke draw a kunai and grin evilly at him.
"According to your pathetic way of thinking. While you were busy gather up such weak fools, I was looking into enhancing my already elite body into becoming something more then what it already was, and have broken free from my limitations!" said Sasuke, as he now had his tongue out, and it was long like Orochimaru's had been while he now stood on the tip of his right foot's big toe.
"Reminds me of Vamp," said Ocelot, as he sensed Naruto nodding at him, and saw the Uchiha just grin further.
"Impressed? You should be loser. I used Orochimaru's past experiments he had locked up, dissected them, and made them apart of something great inside me. I've taken what measly power they possessed and brought them together to make something greater then they ever could be alone," said Sasuke showing his fangs and clawed hands.
"You're such pathetic excuse for a human being. You talk of clan superiority, but the fact remains that what you did to yourself was only achieved through unnatural means, and changes that the body will one day reject. Maybe not now or a year into the future. But we both know that your unnatural changes will be the death of you if I'm not here today," said Naruto seeing Sasuke laugh like he just told a hilarious joke.
"That's rich! You're one to talk given the Kyuubi sealed inside of you," said Sasuke with Naruto raising an eyebrow at him.
"So? What about the demonic fox sealed in my gut? He hasn't done anything to make me a better Shinobi," said Naruto with Sasuke snarling at him.
"Don't play dumb! I know the vast chakra reserves you possess come from the demon. I just have to extract the Kyuubi, seal it into myself, and any future problems my body will have are gone," said Sasuke like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Fool. Its not so simple that you can just seal Kyuubi into your body. A Seal Master has to do it and the vessel must just recently brought into the world. You're over a decade and a half too late to take Kyuubi into that deformed body of yours. Even if it was possible, the fox would just overload your chakra network out of spite, and cause your body to explode in a very agonizing way.
"Damn right!" said Kyuubi inside Naruto head.
"If I can't have the power inside your body, then no one can, and after I kill you...the sluts at your home are next," said Sasuke before charging forward and Naruto did the same.
The two practically danced around the other, dodging the kunai, or sword trying to slice the other up into tiny pieces. Naruto had to admit that Sasuke was holding his own, but mostly because of the Sharingan, and the unnatural augmentations the Uchiha made to allow his body to be this flexible. Of course, the arrogant prick wasn't the only one with agility, and Naruto was matching the Uchiha move for move. It was always duck, dodge, twist, counter, swing, duck, thrust, jump, spin, slash, and clash of metal hitting metal. Sasuke was becoming less and less pleased with the fact the Namikaze in front of him was doing such a great job of staying alive while cursing the blonde's skills. Naruto was able to dodge the strike by Sasuke, knock the kunai in his hand out of it into the air, leap back to dodge another attack, catch the kunai with his foot using the space between his big toe, and launched it back the Uchiha via a spin kick. Sasuke caught the kunai with his teeth, spun with the momentum in a complete circle before facing Naruto again, and was soon found the blonde had used that action to get in close to stab the Uchiha with his HF sword to the stomach.
However, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the wrist, and threw him away from him while the HF sword was still stuck in the Uchiha's stomach. The raven haired Missing Nin just laughed like Naruto's attempt to kill him was a joke and took the kunai out of his mouth before charging the Namikaze while ignoring the sword in his gut. Naruto smirked at the foolish Uchiha, as dodged two strikes, grabbed the hilt of his HF sword, jumped over the Uchiha, slashing at his back in the process, and a sweep kick that knocked Sasuke off his feet. But the Uchiha grabbed the ground quickly, unnaturally bending his body to spin around, and land on his feet.
"Not bad Sasuke. For a emo bastard, who enjoys mimicking people, and whines all the time...you actually have some skill. Itachi would almost be proud," said Naruto seeing Sasuke scowl at him for the mentioning of the Uchiha Clan's murderer.
"Give it up loser. Anything you can do, I can do better, and will always be the superior one between us," said Sasuke, as he just ignored his injuries, and the Namikaze was beginning to wonder if the Uchiha had somehow numbed his body in order to will it to fight longer.
"A perverted version of mind over matter. Vulcan Raven would be enraged by the way this fool does it," said Ocelot knowing the Shaman had been well skilled in the art and it was no secret how the large man had felt about people perverting the skill to go beyond physical limitations.
"Take his head off and be done with it," said Frank Jaeger with the Namikaze mentally nodding to his two senseis.
"If you are sooo superior, then why are you losing the war, and need to alter yourself in order to keep up with me in the first place?" said Naruto with Sasuke frowning at him.
"Shut up! I maybe losing now, but soon my power will be more then a match for my enemies, and they will be wiped out soon enough," said Sasuke, as he went through hand signs, and then shocked Naruto slightly when forming the one Jutsus that confirmed the suspicion the Namikaze had about the spy in Konoha.
The Jutsu being used was the Rakiri and only one man knew such a Lightning Jutsu to pass it onto Sasuke during this time.
"So he taught it to you. Then its like I suspected all along," said Naruto with Sasuke just smirking at him.
"Yeah. Kakashi showed me. It wasn't easy either given the missions he took and I bet the Hokage had people watching him. Still, with the help of my Sharingan, I was able to learn it very quickly, and preventing anyone from knowing he was my contact in the Leaf village," said Sasuke with the smirk on his face growing a bit, but it stopped when Naruto did the same, and the Uchiha realized that something just happened he missed.
"Thanks teme. That's all the evidence I need. My subordinates have just heard your little confession and recorded every word you've said to me. Your little source for information inside of the Leaf is going to get removed and don't worry about his Sharingan. I'll see it gets obliterated from this world," said Naruto seeing Sasuke's face become filled with rage at being made a fool out of by the Namikaze.
It hurt the emo's pride.
"YOU BASTARD!" yelled Sasuke before charging forward, the Rakiri ready to be used, and Naruto just watched the Uchiha come at him with the intent to kill.
"You would know all about being a bastard...wouldn't you Sasuke?" said Naruto, as got into his sword stance, visible eye closed, and waited for the right moment to strike.
"Nothing you do can stop me. I am an Uchiha! An Elite! All the world will bow to me once it is mine and mine alone. NOW DIE AND LET ME FEED ON YOUR POWER TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN!" said Sasuke thrusting the Lightning Jutsu forward, but the Uchiha had not counted on Naruto being prepared for this moment, and the fact there was a way to counter the powers of the basic powers of the Sharingan.
First, you kept your eyes closed. Second, you had to be patient. Third, your other senses, and skills had to be refined to a razor's edge where using your eyes would be a waste of energy. Naruto had trained himself to do all that and more due to the years of training Big Boss along with his two other senseis in how to fight. There was no school like the really old school and Naruto had become the valedictorian of his graduating class.
As the lightning based Jutsu was within an inch from his chest, Naruto moved faster then Sasuke thought possible with his eyes suppose to show him everything, and didn't believe his eyes were unbeatable. The blonde Namikaze spun around the Uchiha, avoiding the stabbing hand filled with lightning, HF sword arched back high over Naruto's head, and in a slow motion moment the arrogant Uchiha realized he had miscalculated in a soon to be painful fashion.
SLASH!
"I have a better idea. Why don't you die and let the world not deal with a prick like you anymore," said Naruto though he knew the question wouldn't be answered anytime soon by the Uchiha.
Not with half of his head diagonally sliced through and slipping off from the rest of the body.
"One Uchiha down. Two more Uchiha to go," said Kyuubi while Naruto just nodded in agreement.
"Gray Fox-sama?" said Fu, as her unit was waiting for him to respond, and the Namikaze knew she was worried about him.
"I'm here Stinger. Inform our agents in both Shinobi villages where the location of this base is, the people in it should not be harmed upon being restrained, and the Uchiha along with his banshee bitch are dead," said Naruto into his communicator microphone, which was part of the earpiece, and extended to his chin when activated.
"Shino-san is already doing that as we speak. What about you?" said Fu curiously since she knew he could do it himself easily.
"I have to see my Godmother in Konoha. We have to handle some important, internal, and quite possibly personal business with some people there before things progress even further," said Naruto while leaving the underground base and heading for Konoha via the shadows of the forest around him.
"All right. Killer Bee contacted me earlier while you were down there. He has some news for you about the Akatsuki and Uchiha Itachi we picked up with our spy network. You are not going to like it. He says you should see him before doing anything else," said Fu while Naruto stopped moving and frowned.
"How serious is this Intel?" said Naruto before a pause came from his fellow Jinchuriki.
"He wasn't rapping," said Fu finally and it made Naruto's eyes go wide.
Bee never rapped when information was serious.
"I'll see him first then. In the meantime, clear a path for Kumo, and Suna to get to the base before heading back. Whatever Intel we have on the Akatsuki, I want everyone on the Committee to know, and prepare a plan to act on it," said Naruto knowing that his fellow Jinchuriki needed to know everything about their enemy.
"Understood. We'll be back soon," said Fu before the line ended.
(Konoha-1 Week Later)
"I can't believe this," said Tsunade, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, and saw Naruto put the recorder away after playing Sasuke telling who his spy was in the Leaf.
"It came straight from the Uchiha's mouth. He created the Raikiri right in front of me. There is no one else in Konoha with that Jutsu and only one person could have taught Sasuke that attack. The fool even killed the one female in the world willing to have his children and continue the Uchiha name all for the sake of power," said Naruto seeing Tsunade looking grim.
"I guess its to be expected. The man blamed you for Sasuke fall from grace and I suspect Kakashi had a hand in Sasuke's defection to Sound too," said Tsunade, as she saw her Godson nod, and then turn to the window with a glare to indicate he knew who was there listening in on the conversation.
"Get in here fool. I have some questions for you," said Naruto coldly before Jiraiya came in through the window and the Sannin didn't look happy.
"What is it Naruto?" said Jiraiya while getting off the window and walked further into the room.
Only to be slammed against the wall...hard!
"I've been hearing some interesting things I thought you could verify for me since they are all connected to your pathetic ass. What gives you the right to leak information about my activities to everyone, which puts Outer Heaven in danger, and those of my fellow Jinchuriki? What gives you the right to not tell us how Uchiha Itachi is your spy in the Akatsuki? What gives you the right to not tell us that the appointed leader of the Akatsuki is an Uzumaki!" said Naruto seeing Tsunade's eyes widen in shock.
"What?" said Tsunade while rising to her feet.
"How do you know that?" said Jiraiya while seeing Tsunade scowling at him from behind Naruto.
"You think your spy network is the only game in town? This just shows how sloppy you have gotten. Let me fill you in on some things my Godfather. My spy network uncovered that information after we captured theirs and your spy before proceeding to shall we say well...squeeze them for information. The spy we got from your network told us how he was assigned by you personally to learn everything possible about us. While I don't really mind that, I do mind how you were going to use that against us, and sell that information to our enemies!" said Naruto while he along with Jiraiya felt Tsunade's killer intent shoot through the roof.
"You were going to do WHAT?" said Tsunade furiously at Jiraiya.
"Oh it gets better. The man appointed the leader of the Akatsuki, is an Uzumaki he once helped train him at one point, and has known about this man being the leader for quite awhile. He's possibly my distant cousin and this baka knew it!" said Naruto angrily at Jiraiya while the Sannin kept his mouth shut.
"Does this Uzumaki know you're an Uzumaki? That I am on my Grandmother's side?" said Tsunade seeing Jiraiya getting a bit uncomfortable.
"He knows. He knows a lot of things. Jiraiya feeds Itachi information, Itachi gives it to their leader, who I believe calls himself Pein, and the man uses that against me! Not just me, but all my fellow Jinchuriki, and the people living in Outer Heaven that was once my Mother's ancient homeland of Whirlpool," said Naruto seeing Jiraiya look away from him before being slammed against the wall again so the Sannin would continue to look at the Namikaze.
"Why?" said Tsunade seeing her fellow teammate remain quiet.
"You want to know why Godmother? I'll tell you why. This moron doesn't want me to fulfill the prophecy that will upset the status quo of the Shinobi villages. If that means having the Akatsuki extract the Kyuubi, then so be it, and I'd bet my eye patch Jiraiya would do that if given the choice," said Naruto seeing the Sannin scowl at him.
"The prophecy could destroy everything, everyone, and cause untold destruction upon this world has become," said Jiraiya before being thrown across the room into the wall.
"So take the child of prophecy out of the equation, hence no more prophecy, and no risk of things being changed. The world will stay stagnant and die slowly without change you baka. The world needs to change!" said Naruto while Jiraiya got himself free from the wall.
"Says a scorned Jinchuriki that the world hates," said Jiraiya before being grabbed by his face and slammed against the wall.
"Says his Godmother, who you along with Sarutobi-sensei scorned, and trust me when I say you will not be leaving Konoha's hospital for quite some time," said Tsunade, as she intended to make Jiraiya regret wronging her Godson, and practically selling him out to the enemy.
"While you deal with him, I am going to deal with one Hatake Kakashi, and remove that piece of trash from this world," said Naruto before leaving the two former teammates a chance to...talk.
A very painful talk at that.
(Memorial Stone)
Kakashi was standing by the Memorial Stone, each name on it of a Konoha Shinobi that had once given their life for the village, and quite the few of them had been friends with the Copy Nin. Rin, Obito, and the Yondaime Hokage himself to name a few people that had their names marked on the Memorial Stone.
Which is why it pained him to see Sasuke and Sakura's were NOT among those names on it.
'I suppose given the nature of things, it would be stupid to have their names on the stone, and openly honor them,' thought Kakashi before sensing a presence behind him and that the person was NOT friendly in terms of wanting to talk.
"You are too predictable Hatake. A properly taught Academy student could figure out your habits," said Naruto now standing some 20 feet away from Kakashi.
"What do you want?" said Kakashi calmly though he had an idea.
"Your head...traitor!" said Naruto accusingly while Kakashi stiffened before becoming lax and turning around.
"So you know," said Kakashi simply while Naruto just glared at him with one cold blue eye.
"The Uchiha sold you out in a display of pure arrogance. Even used the Rakiri at the end to make the attempt at killing me. What I want to know is...why? You may be an Uchiha ass kisser, but we both know you have a good deal of common sense, and loyalty to the Leaf that should be unquestionable. So why betray that? Why betray the village for the Uchiha that left it?" said Naruto, as he saw Kakashi's eye narrow at him, and knew a nerve had been hit.
"I owe Obito my life. He gave me his Sharingan Eye and entrusted me with the legacy of the Uchiha Clan. After Itachi killed the clan, sparing Sasuke in the process, I took it upon myself to be the boy's big brother, and swore to protect him from harm no matter what," said Kakashi seeing Naruto's eye narrow at him.
"And my Father? My Mother? They entrusted you with me as well after their deaths. Did their loyalty, their embracement of you as a friend, and as a member of their family mean nothing to you? After your Father died, it was MY Father, who took care of you, and tried to help in keeping the pain from consuming you too. How can you possibly justify that?" said Naruto seeing the Jounin's eye narrow even more and a scowl of fury showed on his masked face.
"It meant everything to me. It always did. But then she became pregnant with you! My spot on the Namikaze throne in being their prince was taken from me by your future birth and I was not about to surrender my rightful place by their side," said Kakashi seeing the boy's eye widen at a revelation.
"You sold them out. You told Sasuke's parents, who wanted to do something in order to take control of Konoha after the chaos subsided, even though you didn't know what they would do, and they in turn told Madera where to find my Mother. The Uchiha did his thing, killing the Third's wife, and the ANBU with her before starting the Kyuubi attack. You actually hoped my Father would survive the attack, but my Mother, and myself would be killed by the end result of it. You would then swoop in, acting like the sorrow filled, mourning in loss of losing a surrogate younger brother, and comforted my Father. You intended to whisper sweet words into his ear about this being a sign that only you could truly be his son," said Naruto seeing Kakashi's body shake subtly in rage at being discovered by the Namikaze.
"Your point?" said Kakashi while fighting the urge to reveal his Sharingan and unleash its power on Naruto.
"My point is Hatake, is I don't who is more pathetic in terms of jealousy, and hunger for more power that is not their own! You? Or the Uchiha!" said Naruto while Kakashi had heard enough and charged at him, but the Namikaze leaped over the Jounin, and saw the man was not pleased.
"You don't know anything! What could you possibly understand? You demonic filth! I told the Sandaime it would be better to kill you and spare us the risk of the prophecy coming true. The old fool felt it was better to control the boy connected to the prophecy instead of removing you from the equation all together. He knew you would change the Elemental Countries with your power and wanted to control it so the Leaf would survive everything that was destroyed by your actions," said Kakashi bringing out a kunai and the Namikaze before him bringing out his HF dagger.
"The old man should have known better in trying to control power that was not meant to be controlled in the first place. Now he's paying the price for his stupidity," said Naruto while Kakashi raised his headband to reveal his Sharingan and was clearly going to go all out in fighting him.
"Monster!" said Kakashi, as he charged forward again, intent on killing Naruto, and the haunting image of the Yondaime's face that appeared in his mind that just scowled.
"At least I'm not lower then trash...traitor!" said Naruto, as he ducked under the swing, put the edge of his HF dagger to Kakashi's throat, grabbed the Jounin's free hand reaching for the Namikaze's dagger holding arm, and was spinning the man around horizontally in an almost unnatural way.
When they stopped spinning, Kakashi's head was taken clean off his body, and ending the life of a once great man turned pathetic shadow of his former self. Did Naruto feel some form of regret for killing his Father's former student? No. It had to be done. The Kakashi he had killed was not the man his Father trained years ago and simply put this shell of the real Shinobi out of his misery.
"He should have suffered more," said Kyuubi in giving his own opinion on the matter.
'He'll have plenty of time to suffer while in Hell. The fact I sent him there is more then enough,' thought Naruto while the fox conceded that little fact.
"There are more important matters to attend to now Naruto. Chances are, you will have to fight your fellow Uzumaki in combat, and he's not going to hold back. The same will be needed of you kid. You're going to have to go all out against someone like him if the info we got from that Zetsu indeed accurate about this guy's powers," said Big Boss while the Namikaze nodded mentally.
'I don't want to, but I have to, and if I don't do it...,' thought Naruto knowing what would happen if he did hold back.
"You and everyone you care about will die," said Ocelot while Naruto didn't like the idea of that happening.
'Thanks for not sugarcoating it,' thought Naruto sarcastically with Ocelot grinning at him.
"Just being straight to the point kid. Its what being a solider is all about. Just roll with the punches," said Ocelot seeing Naruto grimace.
"There's more to this little talk Naruto then just talk. If you're going to have even a small remote win against Pein...you need to best all of us in combat," said Frank while Naruto realized what the man was implying.
'You're talking about becoming the new Big Boss,' thought Naruto while his heart was racing faster then ever before.
"Yeah. Its that time kid. Its time to become the new Big Boss and as we told you early on...it is going to be trial by fire," said Big Boss while Naruto sighed heavily.
'And after its over in the event I'm victorious...you will leave my body for the other side,' thought Naruto seeing the three soldiers of the old ways and life smile at him.
"We'll meet again one day Naruto. You're still family to us. When your time is over, we will be there waiting, and ready to embrace you as one of us," said Frank while Naruto just smiled at the thought and would actually wouldn't mind meeting the woman behind them all that helped make two of these three warriors so great.
"Don't forget about me," said Kyuubi, as he had grown attached to the group, and felt like a part of their family.
"Of course we won't Kyuubi. You are family too. Joy would love to meet you," said Big Boss seeing Kyuubi smiling at the thought of meeting this warrior woman.
'When do we start this?' thought Naruto knowing the sooner they set things in motion the better.
"When you get back to Outer Heaven," said Ocelot seeing Naruto nod in understanding and began heading home.
'I was afraid you would say that,' thought Naruto before he headed for Outer Heaven to prepare himself for the inevitable.
(Akatsuki HQ)
"Zetsu has been captured by the Jinchuriki," said Itachi while the other members of the Akatsuki shifted nervously when sensing Pein's displeasure.
"How did he get caught?" said Pein while staring at the Uchiha before him.
"I don't know. Its possible some kind of detection seal designed to detect unauthorized entry into their 'Outer Heaven' was activated and prevented his escape. Zetsu is unable to travel through water when moving from one location to the next," said Itachi with Pein nodding while thinking things over in his mind.
"Is it true the leader of this 'Outer Heaven' is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki?" said Pein seeing Itachi nod his head.
"Yes. The leader is Namikaze Naruto. Formerly known as Uzumaki Naruto," said Itachi, as he had been told by Jiraiya recently to let Pein be reminded of that fact, and that one of the Jinchuriki they needed was in fact family.
'Uzumaki? Then that means Nagato's target is an...,' thought Konan, as she saw the twitch the man gave, but knew no one else did due to shadowy form of their projections being able to mask any reaction on their faces, and she saw it due to being right next to him.
"Uzumaki? I know the boy had it before the change to Namikaze, but I was under the impression that was done to hide his real identity from the likes of Iwa, and any other enemies the Yondaime may have made?" said Kisame while Itachi shook his head.
"That is true. It was done in part to protect him from the Yondaime's enemies, but being an Uzumaki is also his right by blood on his Mother's side, and is the son of Uzumaki Kushina. She was the previous Kyuubi Jinchuriki before that night when the fox attacked Konoha," said Itachi seeing Pein's second twitch this time.
"What do we do now?" said Sasori curiously knowing that all seven Jinchuriki were in one spot while one Biju remained free in the water with their own success in getting one extracted.
"We must make a plan for attacking their home," said Pein before ending their meeting abruptly and leaving the group to its own thoughts.
"Nagato," said Konan, as she appeared before the real man behind the form of Pein, and saw him deep in thought.
"I'm all right Konan. I was just thinking about what Itachi mentioned about the Kyuubi Jinchuriki," said Pein while Konan just looked at him.
"About him being an Uzumaki. Like you are and thus making the two of you family. Why are you thinking about this now? You knew this long before today," said Konan with Pein still thinking things over.
"That's not the point. The point is that I assumed he was an Uzumaki by title since the Kyuubi Jinchuriki didn't have red hair and the Sandaime Hokage had done it out of some sense of honoring the clan. But now I know he is in fact one by blood," said Pein while letting out a tired sigh.
"You don't know how to handle this. Do we really want to kill him for our goal? The boy is possibly your last living relative," said Konan while Pein realized that was indeed the case and family was the one thing he had always wanted in life.
"Go to Outer Heaven. Inform the Kyuubi Jin-I mean inform my distant cousin that I wish to speak with him," said Pein seeing Konan's eyes widen in surprise.
"To talk? About what?" said Konan seeing Pein look at her and give the woman a smile.
"An alliance between us. Not the other members of the Akatsuki. Just us and a chance to change things even further for the better," said Pein seeing Konan understanding.
"I'll leave at once," said Konan knowing the sooner she reached Outer Heaven the better since a certain masked individual was getting impatient with the organization's progress.
Time was of the essence.
(A/N: YAY! I updated once again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for taking so long with this. Life is complicated at times. Until next time...PEACE!)