Well, I've managed to sit down to it a bit today (even though it didn't seem I'll manage to) and finished this chapter just few minutes ago. The fight between Sasuke and Naruto is resolved (just as a note, there's a reason why the result is what it is) and Tamao's case is presented a bit wider.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I'm glad you (well, most of you) liked it and hope that this one won't disappoint you either. I didn't find any questions in the reviews, so I can go to the story. But one thing before that:

PLEASE READ THIS: I'd like to ask all of you who likes to draw and are interested in helping me with a certain idea. I'm not good at drawing, so it's hard for me to estimate if the 'job' is hard or not, but I don't think it's THAT difficult. All of you, who I got interested, please let me know (by review, PM or via e-mail) and I'll give you the details. Thanks in advance.

Chapter #13: Ways of Understanding

Title Page: Naraku and Sasuke are standing back to back with the hitae-ate with the slashed Leaf symbol on it between them

Sasuke stood above the fallen Naruto with an evil smile on his face. He looked down at the blonde, who was hardly breathing as he was holding his left shoulder, now completely covered with his own blood. The sound-nin's Chidori cut right through it.

The former leaf-nin was smiling, but he didn't move an inch. As he observed the whisker-marks, who was once his teammate, he suddenly felt something collection in his mouth and then, without any warning, he cough out blood, which dripped from his mouth even after he shut his lips.

"Was that really all the famous Rasengan could do?" asked the Uchiha prodigy as he looked as his torso, shallowly cut in several places and covered with his blood. "Or did you held back in the end, just like last time?"

"What difference does it make?" the blonde shoot back, still holding his arm, unable to get up. "Besides, being such a genius, I thought it shouldn't be hard for you to figure out the truth…" and as he mentioned that, Sasuke's eyes widen for a split second, before he regain his typical posture. "So tell me…" the Kyuubi vessel continued, acting like he didn't noticed the sound-nin's reaction just then. "Did you really achieved what you wanted?"

The raven-haired boy didn't reply at first. His eyes only narrowed as he reached for a kunai. "Not yet…" he finally responded in a cold voice. "But I will in a second…" and so he aimed at the blonde's head. And then he raised his knife, only to throw it at the whisker-marks the next moment.

Naruto didn't close his eyes. As he saw the blade of the kunai coming right at his head, he just stayed motionless… and witness the knife sinking into the wall just two inches away from his head.

"What was the use of that 'I want your head' talk, Dead Last!" demanded the former leaf-nin with fury showing on his face. It was rare for Sasuke to display his emotions so obviously, so if someone he knew would see him at that moment, he'd most likely be very surprised. The Kyuubi vessel however seemed unmoved by that… unmoved at all.

"I don't suppose you realize your situation! I can kill you anytime I want!" yelled the Sharingan user loudly, holding back his anger. However the blonde only kept looking at him as he replied: "Then why don't you?"

"You really don't get, do you Naruto?" stated Sasuke with an evil smile, regaining his cold posture. "I'm not going back to the Leaf… not now, not ever… especially since there's no Leaf anymore… thanks to me…"

Just then ground started shaking and for a short moment it seemed like there will be an earthquake. Surprisingly however, everything calmed down the next second and the sound-nin looked around a little confused. It was then that he noticed something. "Well, what do you know…" he thought to himself as his smile widen.

He then reached for another kunai and preparing to fire it, he asked out loud: "Before I'll finish this, there's one thing I want to ask you, Naruto… during all those years… have you at least once considered why I didn't finish you back at the Valley of the End?"

"I didn't need to…" the blonde replied calmly. "I knew…" but at this the former leaf-nin's eyes narrowed and as he threw his kunai at the Kyuubi vessel, he let out a yell: "You know absolutely nothing!"

His knife however didn't reach it's target as all of a sudden it got deflected by a strange, metal ring, which spinning acted like a boomerang and once knocking out the kunai, it began heading back in the direction it came from.

"So I suppose you're that famous Uchiha Sasuke…" the two suddenly heard a voice and as they looked up in the direction it came from, they saw Naraku and Hinako standing on a nearby rooftop, with the kunoichi grabbing the ring that just returned. In an instant the young Monodane jumped down, landing just few meters away from the Sharingan user.

"And you are…?" began the sound-nin, raising an eyebrow.

"Monodane Naraku…" replied the former leaf-nin. "And this is Banrai Hinako…" and with that he pointed at the green-haired girl. "And you might wanna leave my friend alone… if you're looking for a fight though, I'm willing to give you one…"

"You think you could win?" asked Sasuke with a smirk.

"You think I could not?" the brown-haired boy shoot back calmly. The two stood there for a longer while, before the sound-nin finally smirked even wider and then said in a little annoyed voice: "You Monodane can sure be a pain… naturally, you believe you could win just because my Sharingan is not capable of coping your techniques… I'll prove your wrong… another day…"

Naraku didn't reply. He just stood there in the same position he was standing from the start. Sasuke laughed shortly and then continued: "Don't get the wrong idea however… I assure you that in a one on one fight… I'd have defeated you…" and with that he turned towards Naruto: "Until next time, Dead Last…" and so he was gone.

The moment the Uchiha prodigy disappeared, the young Monodane let out a sigh of relief. As he looked at the whisker-marks, who was slowly getting back to his feet with the help from Hinako, he only smiled for a split second: "You really are special, Naruto…"

"Boy, you're pathetic…" whined the green-haired girl as the blonde now tried standing with her help and even though his legs were shaking, he managed to hold his balance. "You just lost… again…"

"What are you talking about, Hinako?" asked Naraku a little surprised and as the kunoichi looked at him confused, he announced: "The fight just now… Naruto won it…" and as the former cloud-nin's eyes widen, the whisker-marks only threw a quick glare at the young Monodane.

He didn't say a thing, but he didn't had to. It was clear to him that Naraku understood what happened here all too well. The Kyuubi vessel wasn't sure why that was so, but at that point he knew one thing: the Monodane prodigy understood him in some way… probably even more he wished to show.

"I'd congratulate you, Naruto, but I'm afraid we don't have time for that…" announced Naraku, walking a little closer to the blonde. "You felt the ground shaking just then? I know what caused it… in case you haven't noticed it by now, let me tell you that Tamao is the same as you… she's a Jinchuuriki. And this heavy atmosphere means that the beast that's locked inside her… is about to run loose… I'm not sure if you are aware of what that means, but I'll tell you this: if it won't be stopped in time, this entire village will be wiped out from the maps, just like Konoha was…"

Naruto immediately ran towards the place where Tamao was, without paying any attention to the pain that shoot from his wound. Naraku on the other hand hesitated and narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the ground.

And then, suddenly, Hinako was there. She embraced the former leaf-nin and as the young Monodane looked back at her, she gave him a warm smile. But the boy didn't even managed a forced smile. In stead he lowered his head and returned to observing the ground.

"You know, when I took her in, I promised that something like this will never happen again…" Naraku began, still not raising his head. "I guaranteed that she won't have to fear that ever again… guess that in the end it was just another promise I couldn't keep…"

"Naraku-sama…" the green-head only manage to whisper as she lowered her head as well. The former leaf-nin let out a sigh and then continued: "Whenever that thing gets lose, she feels it… the terror… the pain… the darkness… when I first saw it, I could tell it's been ripping her apart… she's not like Naruto or Gaara… that thing that's inside her… it won't help her, not even once… and at some point, she won't be able to withstand it…"

Hinako only opened her mouth slightly, yet she didn't find the strength to say anything at first. As she took a deep breath, she placed her hand on the young Monodane's shoulder, thus gaining his attention, and then speak up: "That's why she has you, Naraku-sama… even though it's a little painful for me to admit that…"

The brown-haired boy just stared at her, without saying a word as the green-haired girl continued: "Sometimes I'm wondering if things would be different if you'd meet me first… if I came in before Tamao did… I'm probably the worst hag in the world… saying this right now… but one cannot do a thing about his feelings… out of everyone I know, you probably know this the best, Naraku-sama…"

The boy still stood there, without saying a word as a single drop of tear slowly began running down the girl's cheek. She pulled herself together quickly however and went on as nothing happened: "They say it's simple… that there's not much to it… but in reality, they're probably just wish to deny the facts… it's not simple at all… this is the most complicated thing that every existed, because there aren't any rules or laws when it comes down to it… and once you get in you can never truly get out… and it's painful… but at the same time, it's also something that gives so much happiness… I basically talk about it all the time, but I'm not sure if I can say that I really know much about it…" and with that she looked away, lowering her head.

It was then that Naraku came closer to her and gentle made her look at him: "You do know a lot about it… more then you let yourself to notice… or rather more then you let yourself to accept…"

"As usual you're right, Naraku-sama…" replied the green-haired girl with a weak smile. "Because accepting that would make me realize that I'm fighting a losing battle…" and with that she hugged him once more, only this time she didn't want to let go. "I know that this will sound bad, but I'd really wish to not say what's need to be said…"

"I know…" announced the former leaf-nin, placing his hand on top of her head as she let go and took few steps back. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry… you don't need to say it… but I must go… please, watch yourself out…" and so he turned away, preparing to run right after Naruto.

Before he managed to take a single step however, Hinako spoken again: "There's nothing you have to feel sorry about, Naraku-sama… but this time you're wrong… I need to say it…" and with that her voice froze for a moment in her throat, before she managed to continue: "Please, bring her back…"

The young Monodane only nodded and then took off, leaving the green-haired girl alone. "Being a nice girl…" she thought to herself, both disappointed and relieved. "Sucks…"

---That time, somewhere in Suna---

"Sasori-dono, mind telling me why we're retreating, yeah?" asked Deidara as she and her partner jumped from on roof onto another, leaving behind the place they fought with the young Hyuuga heiress. "The seven-tails was just there, why leaving it behind?"

"Deidara, you can be really mindless…" replied the former sand-nin calmly without even looking at his companion. "You don't get the situation at all… Kaku isn't really a big treat, considering how powerful the other demons were, but there's one, tiny little detail that you should take under consideration, while dealing with this one…"

"And that is?" demanded the blonde a little annoyed.

"Some Jinchuuriki have the power to become the beasts they carry inside…" responded the puppeteer, keeping his calm. "Basically those are the most dangerous, but there's one catch to it: it's rumored that the seven-tails is a little different in that matter…"

"How's so?" forced the former stone-nin impatiently. But his partner didn't reply.

---Same time, elsewhere---

Hinata jumped back, thus avoiding several, stone spikes that shoot from the ground in the attempt to stab right through her. In an instant she returned to her fighting style, but she couldn't make herself fight back. After all, the one causing all this was the girl she considered as friend. Someone with who she had a lot in common.

Kasumi tossed several kunai straight at the former stone-nin, but they were all blown away by orange chakra that surrounded Tamao. The weapon mistress clenched her teeth as he eyes narrowed. She immediately jumped onto a nearby roof, just barely escaping a giant, stone hand that reached out to grab her from below.

"Kasumi-san, why did you threw those kunai?" asked Hinata a little confused. "Do you want to hurt Tamao-san?" but the former mist-nin replied simply without even looking at the Hyuuga heiress: "Sorry to say this, but you don't get the situation, Hinata… Naraku told me about the way Kaku was sealed inside Tamao… if we won't stop her, she'll destroy the whole village… and at the same time, nothing we do can really do her any harm…"

"Why?" asked Neji, who just joined them after a series of air evolutions, that helped him avoid all the stone spikes that shoot at him. And so Kasumi said what she knew: "I don't really know how this was done, however I can say this: the way the seven-tails got sealed inside her was flawless… once the beast starts to free itself, only someone with another beast inside would be capable to hold it back…"

"Meaning we can't do a thing without the help of another Jinchuuriki?" concluded the Hyuuga genius calmly, but in reality he was never as nervous as now. The fact that he couldn't do a single thing, in some twisted way, scared him. And as the former mist-nin nodded, Hinata drew their attention to her, by saying:

"But you said it happened before… so how was Tamao-san stopped that time?" and at hearing that Kasumi smiled slightly under her nose as she looked at the white-eyed girl: "I guess that it…" and then she spoke up: "The circumstances were a bit different… in the early stadium, the beast can be pushed by anyone… however it seems like now it gotten too much influence on Tamao's body… at the moment the chakra that surrounds her will basically protect her from any attack that won't have a demon part in it… and besides, even if that wasn't so, sealing the beast back isn't that easy…"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Neji a little confused. The former mist-nin only lowered her head, before she replied: "There is a prize for pushing Kaku back… the seal can only be done with using one's own blood… and once it sprays the Jinchuuriki's forehead… the one doing the sealing dies… plus the only one who knows the seal is Naraku…"

Neji looked with his eyes widen at the kunoichi. Even though he didn't know this 'Naraku', he certainly felt sorry for him at that single moment. Further more, what insurance did they had that he'll even make it in time? Things certainly didn't look good.

It was then that Hinata jumped down from the roof and charged straight at Tamao. "No! Stay away, please!" yelled the former stone-nin with a breaking voice as tears run down her cheeks. "He'll kill you!"

But the Hyuuga heiress didn't listen. Her peril eyes narrowed as stone spikes shoot at her from underground yet again. The moment another spike shoot next to her, she jumped into the air, spotting the attack thanks to her Byakugan, and bounced off the very spike, thus flying higher and going above another spike that tried to stab through her.

As the Hyuuga heiress landed on another stone spike and skid down it, a powerful wave of earth came her way. The Leaf kunoichi however only gathered chakra in her right palm and lunched that hand forward, releasing the chakra into the air, cutting the wave in two with it: "Hakke Kuushou!"

As the earth felt down, Hinata charged right through it with her palm aimed at Tamao's chest. The moment she lunched the attack however, a powerful stone wall rose before her, making her palm his the barrier. The wall cracked and soon fell into pieces, but it was at that time that a small, stone hand shoot right at the white-eyed girl and as it hit her, the Leaf kunoichi was send flying against a nearby wall.

"What the hell is she doing?" yelled Kasumi from above. "I told her there's nothing either of us can really do here, so why in the world did she…?" and with that she looked at Neji, awaiting answer, but she never received it. The Hyuuga genius only narrowed his eyes as he looked at his cousin. He knew perfectly why she did what she did. And he respected that, even if it was pointless.

As Hinata felt to the ground, a trail of stone spikes lunched at her once again. In an instant Neji jumped down in an attempt to save his cousin, but at the same time he heard a very familiar voice yelling: "Doton: Ishi Tomurai no Jutsu!" and in a fraction of a second another trail of stone spikes appeared, this time heading towards the one created by Kaku.

As the two attacks collide, they canceled each other out and the moment Neji landed next to the Hyuuga heiress, there was no danger anymore. At the white-eyed boy looked in the direction the second earth-based attack came from, he saw a certain, blonde boy walking their way.

"Good to see you… Naruto…" he announced with a smile as he helped Hinata get back to her feet. But in the next moment another boy appeared next to the first, this time with brown hair and a hitae-ate with the slashed, Leaf symbol on it.

"Naraku-san…" Kasumi immediately recognized the other boy as she jumped down to the two Hyuugas. "I'm terribly sorry…" she added with a slight, apologizing bow. "I failed… I came here too late and now Tamao…" but at this point the former leaf-nin stopped her:

"You did what you could, no need to be sorry. Besides, what's done is done…" and it was then that he seemed to notice Neji. "You're a Hyuuga too… I wish we could be properly introduced, but now's not the time… considering that you're from the Hyuuga clan, I have a favor to ask you: please that both Hinata and Kasumi out of here… as bad as it may sound, none of you can really help us here… once you'll reach safe distance, please find Gaara-san and ask him to come here as soon as it'll be possible…"

"But Naraku-san…" began the Hyuuga heiress, wanting to disagree, but the former leaf-nin didn't allow her to finish: "Hinata, I saw what you did…" he whispered to her, while walking closer: "And I'm truly thankful to you for it… I wish you and Naruto all the best… but just as you did what you did coz you had to, this is something I must do as well…"

"But Kasumi-san said…" the white-eyed girl still couldn't accept what was about to happen, but it seemed that the young Monodane has made up his mind as: "This is the only way… as my last request, once all of this is over, please tell Tamao-chan…" and with that his words froze in his throat for a moment, before he managed to continue: "Please tell her that I'm sorry…" and with that his sight stopped at the female Jinchuuriki, who was still on her knees, shaking, absolutely unable to do anything else but crying.

Kasumi almost forced the tow Hyuugas to leave with her and once they were gone, the former leaf-nin decided that it was high time to start what they came to do:

"Naruto, know this…" began Naraku calmly as he reached for a scroll. "From the looks of it Tamao's body is already reaching its limit… that means that typical attacks won't go throw that chakra field surrounding her… at this point, only another Jinchuuriki can break through, by using his own demon's power… Gaara-san's presence would surely be helpful, especially considering that you're wounded, but I have no idea where he is, so it'll all rest on you and for that I apologize. I know how to stop the demon from getting free, but in order to do so I both require a little time and a clear way to Tamao… and with my injuries, doing so alone might prove impossible… but be aware of the fact that Tamao has absolutely no control right now and since that's the case, we're facing the demon's power itself…"

At this point Naruto walked forward, standing between the former leaf-nin and the kunoichi. "I got it…" he replied simply with determination appearing in his eyes, which slowly began to turn red. "So… what do you need me to do?"

---to be continued---

And so this chapter ends. Next chapter it's Naruto vs. Tamao! Kyuubi vs. Kaku! Demon vs. demon! Who'll win in that confrontation? And with the seal that'll cost him his life, what awaits Naraku? Find out next time!

To make it quick, here's the jutsu encyclopedia for this time and after that a profile of the OC I completely forgot to make before (and she's the last one of 'Naraku corps'). So, here goes:

Doton: Ishi Tomurai no Jutsu (Earth Element: Stone Funeral Skill) – in order for this technique to work, the user must first release his chakra into the ground. The same chakra pushes up the stone from underground up in the form of spikes. Perform correctly, this jutsu can be extremely devastating (it was used in some of my other fics as well).

Name: Nakago Kasumi

Name origins: her first name, Kasumi, means simply 'mist', so I don't think there's any need for me to explain that… as for her last name, Nakago can be translated as 'blade'… and she's a weapon mistress

Age: 19 years old

Birth Date: 13th of March

Blood Type: AB

Height: 153,4 cm

Weight: 47,1 kg

Rank: she left her village right after becoming chuunin

Village: Kiri Gakure (Hidden Mist)

Techniques (used so far): Hijutsu: Aka Yaiba (Secret Skill: Bloody Blades)

Favorite food: none

Favorite color: black

Family: those who hang around her most likely heard about the fact that she has or at least had a twin sister, however Kasumi herself isn't to quick to talk about it and thus not much is known besides that

And that's all for now. Thanks for reading and do leave your opinion once you're done.

Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.