Yahiko slid back, a few scratches and dirt covering his face, and his cloak fairly tattered. Across from him, Kushimaru and Mangetsu panted softly. Kushimaru scowled before readying his sword again. 'This is getting us nowhere...' Yahiko thought to himself impatiently. The Akatsuki founder looked to the side before quickly resetting his eyes on the swordsmen in front of him. 'There's no way Kiriya can handle Ameyuri Ringo if she has her swords back...damn it, where is Itachi...?'
As the two Uchiha lunged at each other, Itachi phased through his ancestor. Madara slowly started to turn as Itachi began to pass through his intangible body. The masked shinobi spun around and reached out to grab Itachi while his back was turned. The rogue ducked under Madara's hand and jumped off. Madara's eye narrowed before he heard something ignite. He looked down and saw a paper bomb that was about to explode. As the bomb detonated, Itachi landed on a large root and turned around, staring around the cloud of smoke for Madara.
As the smoke began to clear, Itachi glanced back at the original position where Madara last was, and saw nothing besides burning earth. "You're mine now..." Itachi fearfully looked down, seeing the orange mask coming out of the ground at him. The young rogue felt himself being sucked away. Fear beat on his heart as instinct kicked in and he performed a series of hand signs, too fast for the untrained eye to follow. A light gasp could be heard behind Madara's mask as Itachi pulled his head back and exhaled all in an instant.
A giant fireball hit the ground point blank, causing an explosion that sent Itachi flying. His cloak was on fire, but he quickly striped himself of it and threw it before landing on a high tree branch. Itachi now had blood running down his face from his hairline, and down the side of his chin from the corner of his mouth. He panted lightly before groaning as he placed a hand to his now aching head.
"Quite impressive..." Itachi scowled and looked across the way to Madara as he warped out of nothingness on the tree across from him. "Also very impulsive. Quick thinking nonetheless."
"So you need to stay solid in order to absorb things," Itachi stated between pants. Madara remained silent as he simply gazed at Itachi. The younger Uchiha had already gathered that much detail from the point-blank blast, and the fact that in the split second before it exploded, Madara stopped his attempts to swallow him. "Those if you're truly Madara Uchiha...shouldn't you have more than just that one ability...?"
"I typically don't enjoy overexerting myself on my foes," the masked man admitted with a shrug. Itachi scowled and clenched his fists.
"Why do you want Naruto so badly?" Once again, Madara stayed silent at Itachi's words. The rogue narrowed his eyes dangerously as he wondered if Madara was simply choosing his next words carefully. Itachi wondered to himself if Madara was after Naruto for a reason aside from the obvious: the Kyuubi.
"Question not the need, Itachi Uchiha. My affairs don't concern you, nor Akatsuki."
"If you're after Naruto, it concerns us a lot actually..."
Madara simply tapped the right side of his mask with two fingers, "As I told you before, that wasn't your Naruto. It was a clone."
"And if that clone doesn't serve your purposes," Itachi questioned. Madara's single Sharingan narrowed threateningly. Itachi saw this, knowing that he was prodding in the right areas to get under the ancestor Uchiha's skin. "You'll be after our Naruto, won't you?" The masked man simply chuckled softly, his shoulders and head shaking a bit as he did. Itachi's eyes never left the threat before him, waiting and anticipating some sort of attack.
Before the masked man could reply, a figure appeared out of the blue, rocketing towards Madara. The figure phased through him and slammed his palm on the base of the tree before jumping away. As soon as the new, third figure was out of range, an explosion went off behind Madara, who didn't flinch in the slightest as pieces of wood came flying through him from his back.
Both Itachi and Madara turned to the new figure to get a better look at them. They wore a long cloak with a hood that prevented them from making out any notable features before the shinobi jumped off into hiding. Madara slowly turned his head to the smoking intention in the tree behind him and hummed quietly.
"The Explosion Style kekkei genkai...?"
Itachi felt someone shoot past him, catching the young man by surprise for not noticing them before. Again, the individual was clad in robes with a hood to disguise their appearance. The new person in question, like the previous one, headed straight for Madara as they clapped their hands together. As soon as they did, three orbs of fire emerged around the top of the individual, catching both Uchiha by surprise. The attacker launched all three orbs at Madara in unison. Madara jumped in the other direction as the three orbs hit the tree, and instead of setting the wood ablaze, the tree itself became dried out and brittle.
"Scotch Style," Madara said, his eye gleaming intensely. "So, the Alliance has made its way here after all...?"
Itachi watched as Madara landed in another tree before turning his eyes to the second attacker, who was already gone. 'What's going on here...those abilities are specific to Iwagakure and Sunagakure...is the Alliance here already?'
The masked man performed a few hand signs, "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!" Madara held his hand in the proper position in front of his mask. Though there was no sign of his mouth from what Itachi could see, fire still shot out from a tiny stream, to a much larger wall of fire that easily ate and burned through the forest in an instant.
Itachi watched in awe, his cloak and hair fluttering a bit from the force of Madara's fire jutsu that incinerated the forest in front of him.
Madara's eye narrowed a bit when he noticed his jutsu was stopped and being pushed against by an unseen force. Eventually, two water dragons punched through the fire wall and moved towards Madara. The masked man stopped his jutsu and let out a dismissive breathe before his Sharingan swallowed him in a vortex. The two water dragons hit the tree, splitting it in half and causing it to crash down to the side loudly.
Itachi watched as the water dragons dropped to the ground, chakra no longer shaping them. He looked towards the area the jutsus came from and followed it, guessing that Madara would be heading to that area.
Kiriya fell to the ground, panting heavily as cuts were seen all over his body, blood running down his face and arms. An odd object in his chest was exposed, having taken a bit of a beating as well from fighting Ameyuri. The kunoichi stared down at her prey for a few silent seconds before kicking the boy's side. Kiriya winced in pain and fell onto his other side before the kunoichi rolled the boy on his back. Ameyuri placed her foot painfully on the assassin's wrist, preventing him from using that arm. Kiriya gritted his teeth as Ameyuri needlessly applied an excessive amount of pressure there.
The redhead tilted her head to the side curiously before gently putting the tip of one of her swords against the object in Kiriya's chest. The boy looked at the sword, his breathing picking up nervously, though his expression showed anger to the young woman. Ameyuri tightened her grip, releasing a surge of lightning chakra through her sword and into the object in Kiriya's chest.
She smiled darkly when the object absorbed her chakra, as she had expected. "Well, now this is interesting..." Ameyuri gently started to trail the tip of the sword up Kiriya's chest, getting it close to his face. The assassin turned away, breathing harder as his eyes fixated intently on the Kiba blade. Ameyuri slowed down a bit when getting the tip of her sword right between the boy's eyes and then raised the blade up above her head. "Let's see how much damage that thing can really take..." Ameyuri raised both hands and swords above her head. The blades crackled to life with electricity, "Thundersword Technique: Thunderbolt!"
A bolt of lightning came down, as if called by the Kiba blades, and struck Kiriya directly in the chest. The boy cried out as lightning coursed throughout his body before all being channeled into the object in his chest. Ameyuri grinned a toothy sneer before chuckling sinisterly. The lightning highlighted the young woman's face, adding a sense of maliciousness as she stared directly down at Kiriya.
"Let's crank the punishment up even more then," the woman whispered sharply. The lightning surged more fiercely in her swords as she began to laugh. Kiriya's body shook painfully as Ameyuri raised her swords to the sky again, bringing down an even larger, more powerful thunderbolt that struck the young man. Kiriya cried out in pain, howling at the top of his lungs as his body was wracked with agony. Ameyuri watched and snickered sadistically as the boy writhed with pain under her. "You're screams are delicious...more!"
Ameyuri twirled her swords around in her hands before stabbing one through Kiriya's hand. The assassin cried out in pain, eyes nearly popping out of his head as he looked in horror at his bleeding, pierced hand. He attempted to reach over to pull it out, still yelling in pain, put Ameyuri pinned his hand to the ground with her foot before piercing the other one with her sword. The boy shrieked louder as the blades felt as hot as fire through his bleeding hands. Ameyuri performed a few hand signs, her eyes as wide and evil as her grin.
"Lightning Style: Call of the Raijin!" The Kiba blades crackled fiercely. Kiriya's body reacting by shaking and spasming uncontrollably.
In the skies above, the clouds became darker, rumbling lightly as if about to storm. Kiriya noticed this and grew concerned, and confused. He looked down at Ameyuri, who had a dark, unsettling chakra flow around her body. The clouds began to rain down around the two combatants, and within seconds began to pour with the booming sound of thunder overhead. Kiriya looked at Ameyuri in horror, but the woman simply grinned at him. Her expression was terrifying, making Kiriya wonder if she was always unhinged.
"Let this be a lesson anyone who attempts to steal from the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist!" A tower of a lightning bolt came down from the sky, and struck Kiriya directly in the chest. The boy's chest rose and his mouth opened, but no sound came out as his entire body was consumed by the lightning. The bolt continued for less than two seconds before stopping, and the lightning within the Kiba blades vanishing.
Ameyuri's wicked grin vanished as she saw a sweating, panting body at her feet. The kunoichi's narrowed eyes examined the panicking boy closely before looking at the object in his chest. Ameyuri walked around him, standing to Kiriya's right side. She stared down at him and then slammed her foot into the device, causing Kiriya to let out a pained howl.
"You're a speedy little shit, ain't ya boy," Ameyuri asked. "I knew you had chakra stored up in this stupid thing, but I was wondering what you were saving it for." Kiriya panted and growled through his teeth, glaring at the kunoichi with her foot on his chest. Ameyuri huffed, impressed and uncaring to the look she was receiving. "Turns out you were just saving your own ass...I figured you would have saved up for some large scale jutsu, and I would just kill you before that." Ameyuri lifted her foot off Kiriya's chest, letting the boy take in a deep, relieved breath of fresh air before he was kicked right across his face.
Ameyuri reached forward, grabbing both of the Kiba blades and roughly pulled them out of the boy's hands. Kiriya screamed in pain as the blades were jerked out of his hands, causing him to roll over onto his side, his hands pouring blood onto the ground.
"You have no chakra left...and neither do I for that matter. I should kill you on principal with the blades Akatsuki stole from me!" Kiriya looked up, eyes filled with terror and fear. A fear Ameyuri recognized too often as the fear of someone's impending death. The kunoichi huffed and then sheathed her swords on her back, a powerful scowl printed on her face. "However...it would be hypocritical for me to kill you with the Kiba swords as such vulgar tools after my lecturing you. If I were going to kill you, it would have been with a jutsu, not at the tip of a sword."
"C-coward..."
"You can pretend you're not afraid of death, but you clearly are. It's clear that in terms of swordsmanship, I'm your better. And because of that, killing you would have no meaning. You having to live with this failure has oh so much more meaning." Ameyuri smirked and then walked away, passing by Kiriya on the ground.
The assassin rolled over on his back, glaring angrily at the kunoichi, "Y-you just can't face the fact I survived your attacks! You're a coward who doesn't have the will to kill me!"
"Killing you would be all to easy," Ameyuri said as she stopped in her tracks. "Like shooting a wounded animal, or slaughtering a child. But killing you, as a failed assassin, you would have an 'honorable' death." Ameyuri turned her head, snapping her visible eye at Kiriya in a firm glare. "You may think there's such a thing as an honorable death, but that's a lie. There's such a thing as a meaningful death! But there is no such thing as honor in your final moments. I won't kill such a disillusioned child who can't even cast ninjutsus without a chakra absorbing device. Rather, your death will be at the hands of a power you can't use and manipulate, to show you how powerless you really are."
Ameyuri wasted no more of her words and turned her head forward, continuing forward. She knew she had wasted enough of her time on the gutter-snipe of an assassin, and that if any of her companions saw it that they would torment her for killing even a child.
Kiriya struggled to stay conscious, crawling over towards his hook swords that were now far out of his reach. His body burned with pain and anger at his failure, but his mind was focused on staying alive more than anything.
Yahiko turned his attention towards the sound of booming thunder far off in the forest. A look of worry crossed his face before his two opponents pounced him. The Akatsuki founder spun around, carrying a lot of momentum with him as he turned, and clashed his blade against his three sword wielding opponents. The two swordsmen skidded against the ground a fair distance away. Mangetsu wore a bit of a cocky smirk, something Yahiko noted.
"Uh oh, you guys know what that means," Mangetsu stated. The orange haired rogue had a look of dismay, having already assumed the worst.
"Your friend is dead," Kushimaru said, turning his head towards Yahiko. The lanky swordsman held up his blade, the tip pointing at the ground. "It was a problem for you all to steal swords that belong to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Even worse yet, you have a betrayer in your midst as well..."
"Can't say I blame him, knowing that you all are loyal, blind followers of Madara Uchiha," Yahiko snapped. The Kiri shinobi remained silent as they readied their blades. "Tell me, does your Mizukage know that you all follow Madara Uchiha?" Yahiko's blue eyes shifted back and forth between the pair, trying to read their expressions. Kushimaru was obviously not showing any, while Mangetsu remained stoic. Yahiko's suspicions grew and the gears in his head began to turn. "Or maybe...Madara is working with Yagura..."
"Enough talk," Mangetsu shouted, twirling his two-handled sword around over his head. "Time ta die!"
Yahiko huffed dismissively before doing a small hop off of the ground, and then fell through the softened earth. Both Kushimaru and Mangetsu gave out a surprised breath as Yahiko tunneled through the ground quickly, digging past the two swordsmen.
'If Kiriya is really dead...then Itachi is on his own looking for Naruto. I can't fight whatever number of Swordsmen are left, and Itachi can't fight them alone either. I need to double check on Kiriya, and then regroup with Itachi, and then find Naruto...' Yahiko knew that he would be safe underground, away from both Kushimaru and Mangetsu's abilities. The thought of his other comrades crossed his mind as he burrowed through the ground. 'Konan...please be safe...'
Two figures stood in an opening in the woods, arms by their sides, covered in hooded cloaks. Behind the duo was a ravine, with a river full of crystal clear water. "She's having us wait here," one of the figures stated. "I wonder why..."
"To wait for the bastard we attacked...if he survived," the second man, an older one, stated. "The Water Dragon Jutsu is effective for long range attacks, if you can hit your opponent. If not, it's a dead giveaway for your position on the battlefield unless you move fast." The older man turned his head towards the younger one. The younger man now understood that they were essentially bait, a thought that he didn't like, and that made him very nervous for their target to arrive.
A new shinobi arrived, landing on a tree branch high above the two hooded men. They both looked up at the young man with dark hair, wearing a long black cloak with red clouds. The younger man gasped softly, now becoming griped with fear.
"Akatsuki...here?"
Kin, with her eyes closed, fingertips on the grid she set up, close to her two pebbles of Shibuki and Suien, scowled angrily, "You're not Madara..." Kin's eyes opened, narrowed and menacing with anger. "But I can't risk Shibuki ruining my cover!" The black haired woman formed a hand sign, sending a new message to her puppets on the battlefield.
Shibuki and Suien both tensed as they felt darkness overtake their consciences entirely. Their bodies had jolted back tensely, their hoods falling down to reveal their faces, and their blank, lifeless eyes.
Itachi stared at the two in confusion before one man launched himself at the rogue. Itachi easily sidestepped Suien's first strike. The undead shinobi spun around, a kunai suddenly in his hand as he attempted to stab Itachi in the chest. Itachi easily caught Suien's wrist and then 'broke' his forearm with his second hand.
Suien looked at his mangled arm while Itachi took a few steps back to distance himself from his opponent. As the undead shinobi looked at his broken arm, it quickly and easily realigned with no cracks or snaps that were heard. The only sounds Itachi heard was a dry shifting noise, like dry leaves rustling against each other.
Lost in his confusion, Itachi suddenly felt his arms pinned to his body. He looked down and saw what he recognized as the Water Whip Jutsu around his body and snapped his head towards the second figure he left alone. Suien, still holding onto his kunai, stabbed the blade towards Itachi again, striking him in the chest.
Itachi then disassembled into a small flock of crows, flying out from the Water Whip. Suien showed no signs of emotion or shock from this and simply lowered his arm, looking around for his target.
On the ground, Shibuki looked around the forest as well, his arms lowered at his sides now. A figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree and then flashed across the clearing with a stream of light following it. Shibuki looked a bit shocked and lowered his head, seeing that the right side of his stomach was ripped through, and his hand was gone as well.
Itachi turned his head quickly, Sharingan focusing intently as the pieces of Shibuki that lied on the ground started to fall apart, but floated right back up to the young man's body and fixed him just like new. 'What jutsu...is this...?'
Far off away, Madara sat on a large rock with an arm resting on his knee as he watched Itachi fight the two undead shinobi. "The Edo Tensei. So, Orochimaru is here, eh?" Madara stood up and chuckled softly before turning his back on the battle and began to walk away. Having no other reason to stick around, Madara's vortex swallowed him up, taking him away from the forest.
Kin growled again, clenching her hands tightly into dense fists. 'Damn it Shibuki...you and Suien together can't even keep up with Itachi?!' The black haired mistress let out a soft breath to calm herself down and nodded. "Alright...keep calm, I can handle this." Kin placed her finger on Suien's representative pebble and grinned.
Suien jumped down from his tree branch and onto the ground. Itachi turned to him, moving his head back between the two former Taki shinobi, waiting for one of them to attack. Suien clapped his hands and then placed them on the ground, bringing up three coffins from the ground behind him.
The coffin lids fell open, revealing three undead Ame shinobi, Hisame, Kirisame, and Musame behind Suien who stood up from the ground. Itachi's eyes widened in horror as he realized the jutsu that was being used. 'The Edo Tensei?! That can't be! Orochimaru wouldn't come out all this way, would he?'
Hisame formed a few hand signs before holding the last seal. The water from the river came up like an explosion went off, catching Itachi's immediate attention. As the water came down, it started to freeze, becoming snow. The rogue looked in shock, watching as the snow lazily descended to the ground and quickly realized that each flake of snow was giving out a light, white mist, making Itachi's surroundings difficult to see through, even with his eyes.
A strong whip came down and struck Itachi's back, causing him to cry out in pain. The young man stumbled forward, his back stinging and throbbing hard where he was struck. He saw, barely, another whip coming at him and swiftly sidestepped it. Soon, many more Water Whips came from all directions at him. Itachi's dexterity allowed him to bounce back and forth between them, narrowly dodging each one with only his cloak taking a little bit of damage from the strikes.
Itachi quickly performed a series of hand signs and pulled his head back, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The young rogue launched the jutsu in the direction he saw the woman last, hoping that he would hit her and interrupt the jutsu at least. Before he could scarcely finish his thought, he saw a Water Dragon come out of the snow, swallowing his fireball. Itachi, acting quickly, jumped away from the two jutsus just as his fireball exploded inside of the dragon, blowing steam and water droplets around the area.
"Damn it!" Itachi saw before he even rebounded off the ground that the water droplets from the explosion added to the snow fog, obscuring what little visual Itachi had left. 'I need to think fast!'
Kin sneered as she moved her pieces into place, as was her goal, "Kandachi's former subordinates alone were nothing, but their teamwork was amongst the best ranking out of the chunin in Amegakure. Hisame's famous Snow Fog Jutsu has been compared to the Hidden Mist Jutsu of Kirigakure. Not only that...but Kirisame's use of the Water Clone Jutsu, and Musame's ability over the shape of his ninjutsus make this trio a dangerous combination, even for you, Itachi Uchiha..." Kin held open her hand, looking at the three remaining pebbles in her hand. A cruel smile crossed the woman's soft lips before closing her fist gently around the pebbles. "And that's not even my entire arsenal."
A disgruntled growl caused Kin to break out of her thoughts and turn to her 'clone' possessed by Moryo. The demon's eyes were narrowed as his body shuddered angrily. "They're running further away..."
"Who," Kin questioned.
Moryo turned towards Kin, eyes narrowed angrily, "The Priestess, Shion, and that Jinchuriki containing Kitsune." Kin hummed softly in understanding. Part of her didn't know why, but she didn't like the Kyuubi being called a Kitsune. She brushed it off as a force of habit. A dark aura surrounded Moryo as his face twisted even more with anger, "I can't let her slip through my fingers this time..."
Kin's face lowered to the ground. Her mind began to search for a solution, as her mission lied with the Seal Shrine around Moryo's body being undone so she could acquire a sample of pure Dark Chakra. She looked at the last pebble in her hand and then placed it on the grind, far away from the others.
"Leave that to me," Kin told Moryo. The demon turned his head to Kin curiously as she began to work, her mind unreadable to him as his was to her. He didn't care though, as long as he was revived and could enact his rule over the world, it didn't matter who he worked with or who he used to meet those ends. Even Yomi, his loyal, obedient slave was simply a means to an end.
An explosion went off on the side of the mountain, causing a rock slide that send dozens of the statues of the Ghost Army to plummet down the side of the mountain. As the soldiers tumbled and rolled, they broke apart and shattered before falling out of view from Higure and Nono. The two stood back to back, facing out to the Ghost Army that surrounded them.
"Got any more ideas that don't involve destroying the mountain," Nono asked.
Higure chuckled softly before giving a casual shrug, "Mountain smashing is my old friend's specialty." Nono turned her head, catching a glimpse of Higure's eyes. Though it was a brief sight, Nono noticed the small trace of sadness in his gaze. "But no, I have no other ideas that don't involve us burning through chakra using tons of jutsus to stop these guys."
"So, what's the plan," Nono asked, a bit concerned by their limited options. Higure quickly looked at all of his surroundings, seeing only one way out.
"We can either fight these guys and hold them off, or try to rejoin Naruto and Shion. Up to you Nono, but choose fast." The spy turned her head back and then forward, sizing up their enemies. She and Higure discovered that conventional means against the Ghost Army wouldn't do much, and only ninjutsu or sufficient force managed to break them. Nono knew that fighting the Ghost Army with only two would end up in a long, drawn out battle that could be the death of them both. This allowed Shion and Naruto time however, which she knew they needed.
"Let's stay if that's alright with you," Nono finally said.
"Done." Higure shot towards one of the stone soldiers wielding a naginata. The Commander placed his hands on the soldier's shoulder, brought his lower half up and then sent a strong kick at the weapon in the Ghost soldier's hand. The weapon surprisingly broke in half, the blade made of stone getting stuck in a wall.
Higure quickly grabbed the weapon and pulled it out of the wall before slicing through one of the stone warriors. The Commander looked a bit surprised for a moment before staring at the stone item in his hand. "Huh...that seemed to be a lot more effective than I thought."
Nono shook her head and rolled her eyes. 'Men...'
Higure sprung away from two attacks from the Ghost Army's soldiers before charging at them with the broken naginata. One by one he continually sliced through each soldier with the weapon made from the same stone as the soldiers themselves were forged in.
Nono turned her head as the other half of the Ghost Army approached her. She performed a hand sign and then activated her chakra scalpel blade around her hand. 'I hope we can keep this up long enough for Naruto and Shion to seal Moryo back up...'
Naruto, carrying Shion on his back, continued up the mountain, huffing as they had to climb back up a fair bit of it with no sign of Higure or Nono. "Damn it...where are they?"
"Naruto," Shion murmured. The Jinchuriki turned his head curiously as Shion simply stared at the ground. The Priestess sighed, having been thinking solely to herself for the past few minutes. "Maybe we should go stop Moryo now...we can't wait on Higure and Miko if they're being chased by the Ghost Army..."
Before Naruto could reply, both he and Shion heard the sound of approaching footsteps. A man in a hooded cloak came around the corner, his hood obscuring his face to Naruto and Shion. Both blondes tensed up, having enough of their fill from cloaked figures for the day. Naruto slowly released Shion and placed her on her feet before squaring off against the approaching opponent.
The man raised up both of his hands and placed them together, "Summoning Jutsu..." A large cloud of smoke appeared before the hooded man. The smoke trailed out towards Naruto, who stepped back and readied his blade to fight. As the smoke cleared, a giant, shelled creature was revealed, with the hooded man standing on top of it. "Conch King!"
The hooded man performed three hand signs as Naruto turned to get Shion further away from the battle, "Conch Canon!"
Several needle-like projectiles shot out from the Conch King's body pores, aimed in Naruto and Shion's general direction. The Jinchuriki grabbed the Priestess in time and managed to bounce back and forth between the projectiles as they fled.
Kandachi heard Kin's snickering in his head, "The Jinchuriki can't get away from you, can he Kandachi? Just make sure to capture him alive, and the Priestess too if you can."
The lifeless husk dismissively huffed before air blew out from it's lower body. The great shelled beast hovered off the ground and then flew after Naruto and Shion in pursuit while Kandachi stood atop the summon, arms crossed over his chest.
Naruto quickly rounded a corner on the mountain's path, his feet skirting right at the edge of a straight drop. Shion clung to her escort and closed her eyes as she felt the wind blowing past her face and legs. "Gotta get you away from that battle...that guy's clam is serious trouble!"
"It wasn't a clam you idiot," Shion corrected, "He said it was the Conch King!" Naruto looked puzzled for a moment as the name rang a faint bell in his head. The blonde knew he had heard that name somewhere before.
Naruto slid to a stop as another figure appeared in his way, wearing an identical cloak to the man he encountered before. The man simply slammed his fist into the side of the mountain next to him. Naruto looked confused for a moment before an explosion went off from the wall behind him. The blonde stumbled around, crying out as the explosion rang in his ears. A stray rock had also struck him in the back of the head, rendering him slightly disoriented as he tried to clear his blurry vision.
A strange, wet strand of something wrapped around Naruto's arm, clenching it tightly as he was pulled back. The blonde cried out again as he was violently pulled the opposite direction by his arm, causing Shion to slip from his hands.
Naruto turned his head around as Shion somehow managed to land on her feet, but was tripping back the opposite direction towards the cliff's edge. The two reached out for each other, eyes wide with horror at what appeared to be Shion's impending death.
The Priestess's heel slipped on the cliff's edge and she plummeted towards the side of the mountain, crying out her guardian's name. "NARUTO!"
"SHION!"
As Naruto began to fight against his restraint, more of the whip-like appendages came out and wrapped around his other arm and both legs, as well as his torso. The man standing on top of the Conch King stared down coldly with undead eyes as his summon pulled Naruto closer to him.
Kandachi and his current partner, Gari, both looked over towards the cliff's edge as Shion fell to her impending doom. The two stood there, receiving no word from Kin to save her, despite their orders to capture the Priestess.
Before Shion hit the ground, a blur of a person had grabbed her in their arms, spinning around in the air to slow their momentum before they hit their bottoms against the stone trail. "OW! Jeez, you're just a bit heavy, you know that?"
Shion didn't bother to take note of her savior before she freed herself from his grip. She tried to climb up the mountain's walls towards Naruto to hopefully save him from their attackers.
"Whoa, hey slow down," Shion's savior said as he grabbed her jacket and forcefully pried her off the wall. Shion then saw the face of the young man who saved her, with dark eyes and spiky black hair. The young man was then joined by a hunched over, masked boy with excessively long sleeves, and a pink haired kunoichi with green eyes. "Calm down, we're here to help alright?"
"My friend, please," Shion frantically, breathlessly began explaining. "He's in trouble! I have to save him!"
"Alright, alright," the black haired boy said, "Where is your friend?" Shion had a powerful urge to hit the boy who had saved her life, but instead pointed up the cliff wall.
"He's up there! We were ambushed!"
The three new shinobi turned their heads up, seeing two cloaked figures standing above them. One of them performed a single ninjutsu seal and caused a cloud of smoke to engulf both of them. When the smoke cleared, both the hooded figures were gone.
"You have very rude friends," the black haired shinobi said jokingly as he put both of his hands on his hips. Shion scowled before she started running along the stone trail, much to the others shock. "Hey! Will you hold still for one minute?!"
"I can't! I have to save Naruto," the Priestess angrily shouted. The three shinobi all tensed up at the name and showed the same look of shock. Shion paused for a moment, noting their reaction and even took the time to notice their Konohagakure headbands.
"You know Naruto," the pink haired girl asked, her tone soft and worried. Shion swallowed a nervous lump in her throat and nodded.
"I-I do. I'm Shion, a-and I also met a Commander of yours...Higure Haruno, he helped my group and Naruto get this far..."
"You've seen my uncle?!" Shion let out a surprised squeak as the pink haired girl practically shot across the distance separating them. "Where is he? Is he with Naruto?!"
"Y-yes, at least he was," Shion replied a bit nervously. "We were separated from each other a little while ago, and we were trying to rejoin them when we were ambushed..."
"We haven't encountered those dudes in the robes before," Zaku stated to Dosu. The masked boy nodded and looked up at the cliff's edge. "Think they're more powerful bad guys than those four chakra-fueled lackies?"
"I don't think so," Dosu replied quietly. "Those four punks in the white seemed to be the cream of the crop...maybe those hooded guys were more mercenaries." Dosu turned to Zaku as their other teammate stared back at them, overhearing part of their conversation. The masked chunin crossed his arms and hummed quietly. "We still don't know how strong those three mercenary shinobi are...but they were strong enough to keep Rin's group from rejoining us."
"They'd have to be pretty strong to capture Naruto," Zaku said, referring to his battle with the Jinchuriki during the Chunin Exams.
"So in other words, we should be careful, got it." Sakura turned back around to Shion, "Can you take us to my uncle? Please Lady Shion?"
"Sakura..." The pink haired girl turned around to Dosu's soft, solemn voice. The masked boy had his eyes closed, while Zaku simply looked away, as if he knew what his partner was going to say. "Our mission is to stop Moryo..."
"But Uncle Higure-,"
"Will catch up with us if he has the mission in mind," Dosu stated. The kunoichi of the group scowled angrily and clenched her fists, upset that Dosu expected her to abandon her uncle.
The two stared intensely between one another. Sakura's eyes were filled with the will to search for her uncle, while Dosu beamed a look of knowing back at her.
"I'm not abandoning my family!"
"Nobody is asking you to do that Sakura," Dosu snapped defensively, "But Higure is a skilled, seasoned shinobi who can handle himself. We have a mission to complete."
Shion stared over at Zaku, who returned the same reluctant, awkward stare. Despite her status as a person of importance, even amongst the Alliance shinobi, Shion felt as though her words wouldn't carry much weight in this decision.
"Dosu..."
"Your uncle is fine Sakura. Have some faith in the old man. You know even if he were with us when this whole group got separated that he would want us to continue this mission to stop Moryo."
Sakura stared intently at Dosu with her green, glimmering eyes. She let out a long and reluctant sigh from her nose and then shook her head. "Fine..."
"I'm sorry Sakura," Dosu said, his tone genuine before he stood up straight. The boy turned down the path and turned his head to look back at the kunoichi on his teammate. "You're making the right choice though. I promise your uncle will be fine." Sakura nodded, regardless of how much she believed Dosu or not. Dosu looked to Zaku, who nodded to him. "Stay close to us Lady Shion...we'll escort you to the shrine to seal away Moryo for good."
Shion nodded as she stood next to Sakura, "And save Naruto..." The kunoichi nodded and then motioned for the Priestess to get on her back, which the blonde complied with. While part of her mind wanted Sakura to be jealous, the pink haired girl presumed that it was Naruto's innate ability to get people to like him is what caused the Priestess to be so determined to save him.
Kushimaru huffed angrily as he stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground, staring out to the other side of the rapids in the river in front of him. "Damn it...that bastard's trail ends after this..."
"Can you explain to me why I'm carrying the dead weight here?!" Kushimaru turned to Mangetsu, who had been trailing behind, trying to carry Jinin and his sword, all in all was about twice the boy's normal weight. "I'm getting overworked and dehydrated here!"
"Shut up. We lost track of him anyway..." Mangetsu let out a large sigh of relief, grateful he didn't have to walk any farther, before throwing Jinin off his back and dropping Kabutowari on the ground. Jinin groaned angrily when he hit the ground, slowly regaining consciousness. Mangetsu glared and huffed at his partner before putting his hands on his hips. "Oh, NOW you wake up after I've hauled your sorry ass for miles."
"Oh you barely even went a mile," Kushimaru stated coldly. Mangetsu turned and scowled angrily at his senior.
The three swordsmen turned their heads when a fourth member of their group, Ameyuri, joined up with them. The kunoichi grinned happily, still giddy over the retrieval of her swords. Her smile however was chilling, as it even made Mangetsu feel uncomfortable.
"Welcome back Ameyuri," Kushimaru said, looking out into the forest in front of him. Though it was futile, Kushimaru hoped that maybe he would catch some kind of clue to help him track Yahiko.
"Thanks," the kunoichi replied with a sneer. "Where's Madara?"
"Right here."
All heads turned to the sound of their leader's voice as he came out of a sudden wormhole. The masked man held an unconscious, or possibly dead, body in his hands before dropping it on the ground. The swordsmen noticed after a closer look that the body was their unconscious comrade, Jinpachi.
"Heh, what happened to him," Mangetsu asked mockingly.
"Sharingan genjutsu," Madara replied as he walked towards Ameyuri. "Come, we've gotten more than we signed up for when we arrived," Madara stated.
The swordsmen stood in front of their master as a vortex opened up from his mask hole and absorbed the four of them. Madara turned to Jinpachi and did the same to him before swallowing himself up into nothingness.
Moryo's eyes flickered a bit to life. A dark, brooding breath echoed throughout the cavern, catching Kin's attention. Standing next to the black haired kunoichi was a hooded Pakura, who also turned to the demon.
"Madara...has vanished..."
"Well, that's the least of our worries now," Kin replied, the faint sound of a boy struggling gently echoing off the cavern walls.
Kandachi and Gari both entered with a bound and gagged Naruto Uzumaki in tow, and dragged the boy towards the center of the cavern. As the blonde was dropped and hit the ground, he looked up, seeing two identical black haired girls, both around his age look down at him. One of the girls however was very different from the other, as she had paler skin, glowing red eyes, dried out, frazzled hair, scaled skin patches, and a darker aura than the other girl. Naruto shivered gently as the more mangled looking girl knelt down in front of him and grabbed a handful of his spiky blonde hair and yanked up hard on it. Naruto groaned loudly into the gag around his mouth and glared daggers at Moryo.
"Such a defiant little brat...perhaps your demon did a better job of taming you than I realized..." Kin studied the blonde from a distance while Moryo laughed darkly in his face. The black haired kunoichi admitted to herself that the picture of the Jinchuriki she had in her head was vastly different than how he actual appeared.
'Did this brat really beat Gaara, Kakuzu, and Doto Kazahana...the brat looks like he'd barely be a C-ranking ninja...'
Kin's eyes shifted a bit as her mind suddenly began to work into overdrive, planning her next course of action while Moryo was distracted. She saw through both Gari and Kandachi that the Alliance team had made it this far, and were likely on their way with the Priestess. She couldn't risk being caught by them, let alone them seeing her usage of the Edo Tensei.
The kunoichi clapped her hands together, causing the three shinobi around her to go lax before they were all encased in separate coffins. Moryo lifted his head up as he noticed this. The demon carelessly dropped Naruto's head on the stone ground, getting a stifled groan from him before standing up and staring at Kin.
"I'm afraid my usefulness in this situation has come to an end Moryo," Kin replied calmly. The name Naruto heard sent a shock of panic through his heart, on top of his blood practically freezing over in terror.
Moryo let out a soft growl as he examined his 'partner' curiously. She no longer had her cocky, arrogant look, and now had more of a somber, quiet expression. "How so...? Can't run the risk of those shinobi outside finding out who you are?" Kin remained silent and stared at the ground. Moryo scowled at the lack of an answer and crossed his arms. "Do you really think it will matter after my revival? All of you, the Alliance shinobi, Akatsuki shinobi, even Madara Uchiha will die!"
The Jinchuriki practically rolled completely over when hearing the last name Moryo spoke. 'You've gotta be freaking kidding me! Even Madara is here?!'
"Your goals don't interest me," Kin replied truthfully. Her response only seemed to anger the demon further. Kin's eyes darted back in forth in short shots as her mind calculated the probability of her theories. Her expression seemed as though she didn't even know or care about any one else in the room. "You see, there's always this insatiable trend about whenever that boy gets the proper motivation..." Kin turned and looked at Naruto, just as his blue eyes caught her gaze. Kin flashed a cocky smirk, not taking her eyes off the boy. "It seems that whenever he gets a certain motivation...from a certain kunoichi that is, that he becomes an unstoppable force."
Moryo scoffed dismissively, shrugging off Naruto as a potential threat. "Nothing will stand in my way once I am reunited with my body."
"I'm interested to see...just how strong your Will is, Naruto Uzumaki..." Said Jinchuriki only grew more confused and shocked when the woman uttered his name, and how she knew about Sakura. Her words rang through his head again, catching her emphasized word.
Kin then turned to Moryo and smirked before forming a hand sign, "I'm retracting all of my soldiers, leaving you at the mercy of the remaining Akatsuki forces. That's a total of about five S-ranking ninja. And that's not counting the Alliance reinforcements you'll encounter."
Moryo huffed before grinning, matching Kin's look towards him, "As I said before, it will not matter. Once I am complete, and I kill the Priestess, nothing can stop me!"
Kin gave a small nod and then chuckled, "I wish you the best of luck then Moryo..." In the blink of an eye then, Kin vanished before both Naruto and Moryo.
The demon's eyes narrowed as they brightened up and flashed for only a moment. Moryo then began directing his Ghost Army to focus less on the only two shinobi fighting them, to better defend himself until his resurrection was completed. After he was whole, Moryo knew he could simply rebuild his army out of the earth itself.
The demon growled darkly, knowing that he only needed the Priestess who was assuredly on her way to stop him now. A flint of doubt entered Moryo's mind, though he blocked it out as he turned to look at Naruto lying on the ground before him.
"You little creatures pose no threat to me," Moryo whispered, his voice carrying enough presence to cause Naruto to shiver. The demon huffed and glared his glowing red eyes at the Jinchuriki before looking back at the seal that was all that stood between his complete revival.
Higure slid back to a halt, panting softly before looking over to check on Nono. The spy seemed to be faring about as well as Higure was himself. The Commander groaned and rolled his neck around before twirling the stone weapon in his hand.
"Their numbers seem to be dwindling," Nono stated as she ducked under an attack from one of the stone warriors. Her chakra blade around her hand arced upward and sliced one of the Ghost Warriors up vertically. As the two pieces fell to the side, Nono took the time to take a small breath before turning to the other enemies. "Are we finally making a dent?"
"Hardly," Higure replied as he used his broken, stone naginata to slice and cleave through the stone warriors. "They've split up. I guess Naruto and Shion are getting closer!" Nono smiled softly, feeling a little more at ease despite the life-threatening situation.
'Come on you two...make it count...'
Higure and Nono both stopped mid-attack when they saw pieces of paper fluttering down from above onto the battlefield. The two showed clear confusion before the papers shot towards all the stone soldiers. The razor sharp pieces of paper cut through the stone as though they were made of nothingness, and one by one heavy pieces and entire halves of stone warriors fell to the ground.
"Paper..." Higure questioned before turning to Nono, wondering if she had some sort of trump card hidden away. The spy was looking up into the sky, to which Higure followed her gaze.
From above, the Commander and Nono saw a blue haired woman in a familiar black cloak with red clouds descend from above, with paper wings on her back. She gently planted her feet on the ground, arms crossed as she glare at the two shinobi in front of her, Higure in particular.
The Alliance Commander blinked a bit as he felt like he had met the woman before. He slowly lifted up his hand, index finger pointed up at the sky before slowly lowering it to Konan as the realization slowly came back to him.
"You're...that Akatsuki woman..."
"Konan," the blue haired leader stated matter-of-factly. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, causing Higure to feel threatened. "How nice of you to welcome us here..."
"Um...welcome...?"
"Orochimaru's servants, the Serpent Five, I'm surprised you actually managed to round them up for this little mission..." A genuine look of shock crossed Higure's face. Konan's eyes narrowed a bit skeptically on him, restraining herself from attacking the man immediately.
"Lady Konan, right," Nono asked. The blue haired woman turned to the spy as she stepped forward. Nono bowed her head and smiled, "I'm glad you received my letter back in the Land of Demons." Now Konan was the one who showed surprise. Nono lifted up her head, showing a kind and caring smile to Konan. "My name is Nono, a spy within Akatsuki under jurisdiction of Master Yahiko."
Konan could only sigh and shake her head at this. "Keeping more secrets...I guess that's what happens when you're working with spies and assassins..."
"I can vouch for Higure, we found him trapped and he's been with me the entire time," Nono explained. "We haven't encountered any other Alliance shinobi, and he says he only came here with seven others."
"As far as I know, the Serpent Five are helping Orochimaru with creating various outposts all throughout the Land of Fire." The two women of Akatsuki stared at the Commander for a few seconds. He stared back at them, "What...?"
"Shouldn't information like that be a little more sensitive," Nono questioned. Higure rolled his eyes, displaying his lack of worry at the situation. For some reason, the Commander's indifferent attitude only seemed to upset her even more.
'Maybe I just hate all men or something...'
"Look, you hate the Alliance, I get that. But right now Moryo is the threat to both parties. Could we work together to stop him instead of distrusting each other?"
"If Alliance shinobi hadn't attacked us, then yes. For now, I can't trust you."
Nono stepped forward in front of Higure and Konan both, "Then trust me milady. I've spent a long time with this man, and I believe he's trustworthy. If he does anything to betray that trust, then I'll take full responsibility for it."
Konan narrowed her skeptical eyes and then shot them at Higure for a moment before looking back at Nono. "Why would you trust an Alliance ninja like this?"
Nono's mind went back to Higure revealing the fact his niece was in the Land of Swamps with him, and was easily his weakest link. "Call it a hunch..."
Konan sighed and shook her head with wariness. She knew that there were larger issues at stake than just the Alliance and Akatsuki. "Very well then, I'll follow your intuition Nono..."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence Lady Konan." The Akatsuki founder nodded and shot another look at Higure before walking down the path.
"I'll take point."
"Fine with me," Higure replied, becoming just a bit annoyed at the lack of trust. Even though Konan was justified to be paranoid of him, Higure couldn't get the accusation of the Serpent Five being in the land out of his mind.
'As if there weren't enough problems on this mission...last thing I wanna deal with is an Alliance conspiracy...'
Itachi had continued towards the mountain that contained Moryo's body. His eyes had narrowed, Sharingan activated as a precaution. His mind went back to his fight with the five other shinobi under the affects of the Edo Tensei, and how they suddenly disappeared without warning. As much as he would have hated to admit it, Itachi was getting overwhelmed with the five-to-one odds he was facing. It made no sense for his enemies to retreat when they had the advantage in battle.
Even disregarding the use of the Edo Tensei in the Land of Swamps, the fact that he encountered Madara Uchiha, who stole that clone of Naruto, wherever it came from, weighed heavily in his mind. Part of Itachi wondered if the masked man he encountered was indeed the legendary Uchiha, even with all the obvious signs pointing to confirm that suspicion.
Itachi stopped when he heard something digging through the ground nearby. He looked to the side and saw something tunneling through the ground towards him. As Itachi put his guard up, the burrower came out of the ground, revealing none other than Yahiko, with an unconscious, silver haired boy on his back.
"Is he...?" Itachi asked.
Yahiko nodded, looking back on the boy he carried, "He'll live at least...but he needs medical attention." Yahiko looked back at the conscious member of the Akatsuki, "What about Naruto, did you find him?"
"The Naruto we were chasing was...a fake." Itachi opened his eyes, seeing Yahiko's confused expression. The young Uchiha crossed his arms, knowing that he'd receive such a reaction from anyone he tried to explain things to. "While I was chasing Naruto, I called out to him, but he didn't even acknowledge me. I used my Sharingan, and saw that it had a different chakra signature than Naruto's. Not only that, but it did indeed have a seal on its body, but the seal was entirely different than the one placed on him by his father, Minato Namikaze."
Yahiko's face slowly grew more and more incredulous, "Someone...created a copy of Naruto...?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but how likely would it be that Naruto is running through the forest naked with a tail, and pretends like he doesn't know us?" Yahiko's face fell at the blatant statement of Itachi's. The orange haired man's mouth simply hung open as he tried to think of how to respond to his subordinate.
'That promotion seems more and more likely for him...'
"I know it's crazy...but I encountered Madara Uchiha, the masked man, while pursuing the fake Naruto..." Yahiko's expression of bafflement quickly changed to one of alarm as he looked back to Itachi. The young Uchiha looked upset, "I couldn't stop him from taking the fake Naruto in some sort of...jutsu...but Madara confirmed that the Naruto he took was indeed a fake...and that our Naruto has something to do with his plans."
Yahiko placed his hand up to his chin, a thoughtful expression printing on his face. "Most likely the Kyuubi inside of Naruto is what he's after..."
"I thought that too at first," Itachi admitted. Yahiko's blue eyes traveled to Itachi's, a curious expression on his face. "But then I thought back to my conversation with Madara...he, nor I ever mentioned the Kyuubi. He simply stated his purposes concerned Naruto, and implied that the clone could replace Naruto in his scheme..."
Yahiko scowled a bit, clenching his hands into tight fists. He and everyone else in Akatsuki knew his status as a Jinchuriki would make him a high priority target, but it never occurred to him that someone would want Naruto for some purpose besides the fox in him.
"This is getting complicated," Yahiko voiced softly. The orange haired man closed his eyes again and shook his head before turning to Itachi. "We have too much to do right now. We'll tell your findings to the other leaders of Akatsuki when we get back home. For now, we need to try to stop Moryo." Itachi nodded before Yahiko turned towards the mountain and sprinted towards it.
Despite the two rogues were focused on their mission now, both of them couldn't get the thought of Naruto's fate in their heads. Besides the boy being a spectacular ninja for his age, and the Kyuubi within him, they couldn't think of anything worth stealing him over. The worst part was, the fact they didn't know scared them the most.
Sakura and Shion climbed to the top of the trail right outside of the entrance. Waiting between them and the cave were hundreds of stone warriors from Moryo's Ghost Army. Sakura scowled angrily as her teammates caught up to her and Shion.
"Wow," Zaku murmured.
"We need to get through them," Sakura stated, slamming one of her fists into her open, gloved hand.
"This is gonna suck," Dosu stated with an already exhausted tone.
"Think you can get Lady Shion in the cave fast enough," Sakura asked, turning to Dosu. The masked boy gave her a look of disbelief and huffed.
"I am the fastest, but there are a few problems: I'm also the heaviest hitter with my Eight Branches Strike jutsu. Also, the Priestess probably couldn't handle the speeds I can go at without puking her brains out."
"Don't even bother asking me," Zaku said. The three others turned to the boy, who was already putting himself under the affects of his Curse Mark. Shion gasped softly, looking terrified before Sakura placed a hand on the Priestess's back. The two looked at each other, with Sakura giving a sorry, comforting smile.
"Don't worry, he's not a demon or anything." Shion nodded wordlessly, somehow feeling at ease despite Zaku's unnerving appearance. For whatever reason, Sakura's presence reminded her faintly of Naruto, which also strengthened her desire to save him.
"It's up to you Sakura, unless you want her to go it alone," Dosu stated. Both he and Zaku gave each other a quick glance, knowing that with Naruto at stake that she'd assuredly go on ahead.
"Are you ready Lady Shion," Sakura asked as the stone warriors readied themselves. Shion swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and nodded firmly.
"Let's get the party started then," Dosu said, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his Serpent Arm Device. "Eight Branches Strike!" White, searing hot chakra briefly exploded around Dosu's arm before he sent a quick punch towards the center of the Ghost Army.
A ball of white chakra was fired from Dosu's fist, and easily disintegrated anything in its path before exploding, destroying a handful of the stone warriors.
"GO!" Both Zaku and Dosu shot themselves into the fray, using their speed to sweep between their foes, gaining their attention while also dealing a bit of damage to them. Dosu had shut off his Serpent Arm, not wanting to burn through what chakra he had left.
Sakura turned to Shion and grabbed her by the wrist, "Let's go Lady Shion!"
The two girls ran towards the battle fearlessly, both wearing the same determined looks as their will to save Naruto drove them forward.
Pieces of stone and explosions went off around the two, but Sakura led them along the safest paths while using her newly discovered super strength to shatter a few of the stone warriors in her way. Shion looked at Sakura in awe, both admiring and fearing the girl's drive and power.
"Get the hell out of our way! CHA!" Sakura slammed her fist into the direct center of a stone warrior, causing a large explosion-effect out of its back as rocks and pebbles hit the ground.
From a distance, Dosu and Zaku both smirked as their teammate managed to get herself and Shion into the cavern. "I swear, Sakura is gonna get stronger than both of us before too long," Zaku said, his smile growing wider.
"She isn't that far behind us as it is," Dosu replied, holding his ground against a pair of stone warriors. "And we both have somewhat unfair advantages."
"Sakura is a hell of a chick then!" Zaku shouted at the top of his lungs as he smashed his way through several soldiers of the Ghost Army. Dosu huffed and nodded in agreement before he joined Zaku in destroying the soldiers.
In the midst of the fight, several explosions went off on separate sides of the battlefield. Dosu and Zaku both stopped in confusion, knowing that neither of them were responsible for said explosions. The two boys jumped when they heard a figure land behind them and spun around to see who it was.
An man with spiky black hair, wearing a long black cloak with red clouds and orange goggles stood up and looked at the two boys, "Hiya."
"Uh...hiya," Zaku replied nervously at the presence of an Akatsuki member. While staring at the older man, Zaku was unaware of a stone warrior about to strike him down from behind. An explosion went off point-blank, not hurting Zaku at all, but paralyzed him with fear nonetheless.
In the air above them stood a blonde member of Akatsuki on an odd bird that appeared to be made of clay. Dosu and Zaku both looked at each other and then at the spiky haired Akatsuki member closest to them.
"It's not exactly our style, but since your friend took the Priestess to stop Moryo, I guess we won't mind helping you," the goggles wearing Akatsuki member said. He looked up and grinned, placing his hands on his hips. "Right Deidara?"
"Well they're not from Iwagakure, so I don't give a damn," the blonde artist snapped defensively. "Just make sure you don't interfere with my art, and that goes double for you Obito, hm!"
The three shinobi watched as Deidara flew to the other side of the battlefield to bombard the enemy with his clay bombs. Zaku pointed to the blonde artist and looked at Obito. "What's his problem?"
"Artists have a stick up their ass or something," Obito replied with a confused look. The man shrugged his shoulders and shook his head before smiling down at Zaku, "At least that's what I think he was trying to tell me when he was explaining the meaning of art." Zaku chuckled and then pointed to Obito and turned to Dosu.
"I like this guy."
"Focus!" Dosu ducked under a strike and then delivered a swift uppercut that blew the head of stone soldier off. The masked boy was upset that he already took out at least two of the soldiers while Zaku was making buddies with the enemy.
The two jokesters turned to their enemies and darted off in opposite directions to spread the enemy thinner, hopefully making their jobs easier.
Before any of them could attack however, a large chunk of the Ghost Army was blown apart of sliced clean through by an unseen, quick force.
Obito, Zaku, and Dosu all stood together, blinking in confusion before they heard feet hit the ground behind them. The trio tensed up before turning around slowly, seeing a woman dressed in a long black cloak similar to Obito's, a man with light brown hair dressed in a Konohagakure vest over a mantle cloak, and an unfamiliar woman with light hair and glasses, dressed as a kindly nun.
The two trios stared at one another, with Obito, Zaku, and Dosu having more perplexed looks on their faces when compared to the older three.
"Boys," Higure finally spoke before looking over at the Akatsuki male. "Obito...it's been awhile."
"A long while Higure sensei," Obito replied, smirking a bit that his sensei's old friend hadn't changed. "I heard you came out of retirement."
"Yeah, not really my choice," Higure said as he unfolded his arms. "But who knows, maybe I came out of retirement for things like this?"
"Fighting legions of stone warriors, or staying at home safe and sound," Zaku mused, holding his hands out as if they were weighing scales. "I'd choose to stay home." The Commander rolled his eyes before catching Konan's cold gaze. He looked to his left where the other woman of the group was, and she was staring right back at him too.
"Right, okay, we're working with Akatsuki for now to fight the Ghost Army, sound good?" Dosu and Zaku both gave Higure a dull, dead gaze. The older shinobi sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Just wanted to make sure, damn."
"Whipped by your new girlfriend or somethin' boss," Zaku asked jokingly. Konan shot a glare at Zaku which wiped the smirk off his face, and sent a shiver of fear throughout his body.
"I suggest we separate our forces for the time being," Higure said, shifting his attention to the fiery bluenette. "In case the other half of my group shows up...they'll be less willing to work with Akatsuki I think."
"You have Fu the Jinchuriki with you and Kurotsuchi, right?" Higure nodded as he held up two more fingers to add to the already stated roster.
"As well as Anko Mitarashi, and Rin Nohara." Obito's ears perked up at the name of his old teammate, as well as his heart almost skipping a beat. Higure lowered his arm and then turned to face the opposite direction as Konan. "If they manage to catch up to us on the mountain, I'll try to keep them away from your people. Fu will more than likely want to take our the failure of Takigakure out on what members of Akatsuki she can get her hands on, and Kurotsuchi has that history with Deidara as well."
"What about the other two," Konan asked as she signaled for Nono and Obito both to start attacking the Ghost Army. Nono did so without question or pause, but Obito lingered for a bit, wondering about his old comrade, and childhood crush.
"Anko Mitarashi is loyal to Danzo, and a former subordinate of Orochimaru, so I'm not sure how she'd deal with Akatsuki at all. And Rin Nohara is a former student of Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, and teammate of Obito's. Still, times have changed, so I'm not sure exactly where Rin stands on the issue."
Both Zaku and Dosu shot past Higure, tearing through one stone warrior that tried to attack their Commander as he remained motionless and unfazed by the sudden movement. Konan turned her head slightly towards Higure, who met her gaze as well with an aloof look in his eyes.
"Those two boys can be trusted. They're my niece's teammates after all." Konan nodded then looked back at Obito. The young Uchiha gave a hesitant look, not entirely satisfied with the information on Rin, before he turned around and did his duty to assist Nono in fighting the stone warriors.
Higure turned forward and headed to help Zaku and Dosu before the blue haired rogue stopped him. The two stared at one another yet again when Konan spoke first, "I have three others out there as well. Yahiko, Kiriya, and Itachi Uchiha. None of them have any love for the Alliance, so be cautious if you run into them. I'll keep my people off your back if you do the same. But if we happen to cross them..."
"Duty calls I suppose," Higure said with a disappointed voice. Konan nodded, the same hesitant look in her eyes. Part of Konan wished that such an honorable man would have came to Akatsuki, but she pushed such feelings aside.
The two leaders nodded to each other, understanding what needed to be done before they hopped off in opposite directions to help their separate allies.
So, as I promised, two chapters in one month, due to missing the update last month xP Hopefully you all enjoy. The Land of Demons arc is ending next chapter, then we're onto new and exciting things xP I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the rest of the story so far. Feel free to post a review on your way out ^^