Moryo growled darkly with anger as he felt his power fading, slowly corroding the host body he occupied. There was only one acceptable vessel for his spirit, and it was sealed away in a shrine that only the Priestess could undo. To make matters worse, he felt his own Ghost Army being overwhelmed and dominated by two measly bands of ninja outside his hideout.
The demon's pride would never allow him to admit it out loud, but he regretted Kin's departure, and the lack of her soldiers to aid him in battle. While his Ghost Army had unprecedented numbers and durability, with his power dwindling and the Alliance and Akatsuki shinobi working together against him, Moryo felt as though his time was drawing closer.
"I refuse to let myself die like this," Moryo stated as he turned around and stomped towards Naruto. The bound and gagged blonde groaned as he was forcefully lifted up by the demonic entity with one hand and thrown against a wall. "If need be, I will release you from your seal, Kurama, and your presence will give me enough time to undo the seal myself, if not break it completely!"
Naruto looked at the dried up, terrifying figure before him before a hand was placed firmly on his stomach. All at once, Naruto's body went numb with the exception of his stomach, which felt heavy, and as if someone set a fire in his gut.
Naruto also felt the seal slowly start to open and weaken a bit, and he realized what Moryo meant with his words. Thinking fast, Naruto threw his head forward and slammed his skull into the top of Moryo's head.
The demon cried out loudly and dropped Naruto as pain surged through his vessel's head. Moryo's eyes burned brightly as he clenched his fists, "You damn little brat..." Moryo's body started to break and crumble more as a dark aura flowed around him. As his anger grew, Moryo's power caused the body to decay and decompose faster. Naruto's fear rose as he saw this, and the demon stalked towards him.
"Step away from my Kyuubi," a voice called out. Moryo froze in place before he and Naruto both turned to the sound of the voice. A dark figure stood in the shadows of the room and slowly walked into what light there was radiating off of the nearby lava. A man with black, spiky hair and an orange swirled mask with only a single eye-hole came forward.
Naruto's blue eyes widened in shock, recognizing his long absent enemy. Needless to say, being trapped in the same room with an all powerful demon, and Madara Uchiha was more than horrifying for Naruto.
Moryo scowled bitterly at the man before turning to him. "You...you have the same presence as Madara Uchiha..."
"That's because I am Madara Uchiha," the masked man stated as he started to stroll towards the two. "You should remember me well, Moryo." The demon practically snarled at Madara, who stared at him calmly behind the Sharingan. The masked man lightly tilted his head, displaying his confidence at the situation. "Now, as I said before, step away from my Kyuubi."
"What is this boy to you," Moryo asked.
"More valuable than you are."
"Then I should just kill him and be done with it," Moryo stated as he lifted up his arm, the dark aura pulling the air around him with it.
"Stop," Madara ordered as the tomoe of his Sharingan began to spin around like a rapid moving wheel. Moryo froze in place, his body shaking ever so slightly as he tried to resist what had already possessed him.
"Damn...you..." Madara ignored the demon's anger and walked directly past his old foe.
Naruto struggled and attempted to break free again, though it was in vain. Madara continued towards Naruto, setting his eye on the defenseless boy.
"Now that I have the real thing," Madara murmured as he reached out towards the blonde Jinchuriki. Naruto's eyes were wide with horror, trying to pull himself away with no success.
As Madara's gloved fingertips were about to grab the boy, he stopped and whipped his head up before snapping the same hand up in front of his face to catch a fist that was about to collide with his masked face. The blow carried a surprising amount of force behind it, causing Madara to skid back a few feet away from Naruto before he got a good look at a head of pink hair.
Sakura managed to work her fist out of Madara's grasp before jumping back away from him, landing back next to Naruto. She kept her eyes down, fighting the natural instinct to look her foe in the eye and focused on staring at his body.
"Well, well, the Haruno girl has arrived herself to stop me eh?" Madara shook his hand that caught Sakura's fist, "So tell me, where is your uncle? He's usually so good about following you everywhere like an overprotective father."
Sakura ignored Madara's words, knowing he was trying to get in her head since she wasn't looking at his Sharingan. The masked man huffed before he waved his hand out to the side dismissively.
"It doesn't matter either way. You can't stand between me and that boy." Madara looked over at Moryo, whose red eyes met his own. "Not even the great Scourge of the West, Moryo could stop me." Madara turned back to Sakura, who had held her ground. The masked man noted that she made no move to free Naruto, likely knowing that it would give him the opening he needed to end her. "Let me give you a little distraction then to keep you busy."
A dimensional spiral came out from Madara's eye-hole. Sakura, giving into her natural curiosity looked up at him, noting that the vortex appeared to be going outward, and soon popped something out from it as well.
Standing before her, a darker skinned boy with familiar blonde, spiky locks of hair, with rough, scale-like skin looked up at Sakura, eyes lifeless and devoid of emotion. The copy only wore a pair of fitting black trousers that were cut off halfway down the shins. Sakura could scarcely believe what she was looking at. A near perfect replica of Naruto stood before her, and had been seemingly created by Madara right before her eyes.
Naruto also saw his copy, shocked and terrified that Madara had somehow at some point captured it. Part of the boy wondered if Madara had something to do with the snakes that created the clone of himself.
"With my Sharingan, it wasn't any trouble to get him to obey me." Madara looked at his new asset and then back to the confused, trembling kunoichi. His eye seemed to gleam with a taunting air, while he carried a sense of superiority while placing a hand on the clone's shoulder. "Honestly he's practically a mindless drone. While under my genjutsu, he only responds to my simple commands like a puppet. Now..." Madara threw his arm forward to Sakura, "Go!"
The Naruto clone shot towards Sakura, his expression not changing in the slightest. The young kunoichi quickly steeled herself as she hesitantly defended against the Naruto clone, avoiding his strikes. Her mind weighed her down with countless questions about who the clone was, or what he could be, but her mind reacted instinctively to the threat Madara's copy of Naruto posed.
Madara watched the fight progress for a few moments before turning back to the real Naruto. "Now, if there are no more interruptions..."
"Sealing Ritual: Encampment Shrine!"
Madara's eye widened as a quick, stifled gasp escaped his lips. The masked man visibly flinched when four walls of light appeared around him before touching at a single point above him. The light faded a bit before creating a shrine-like altar with elegant designs similar in fashion to those from the caster's country.
Shion panted softly, her arms outstretched and her clothes and hair slowly falling down on her body from the releasing of her chakra. The Priestess groaned as she stumbled a bit, feeling faint after one of her more advanced sealing abilities. Despite her fatigue, Shion forced herself to stay up and turn to face her family's oldest and most feared enemy: Moryo.
Though in possession of a woman's body, which had now been decade and dry like a lifeless husk, Shion could feel the immense amount of hatred and evil radiating from the being. The Priestess became nervous at the sight of the demon, swallowing a nervous lump that formed in her throat as Moryo's blood red eyes burned brightly, still paralyzed and defenseless from Madara's genjutsu.
"You...Priestess..."
"I-I have to end this..." Shion told herself as she turned and faced Moryo. The Priestess formed a separate hand sign with each hand and began to cast different ones in an unusual fashion when compared to shinobi hand signs. Moryo's eyes widened with fear as he realized what she was about to do.
As Shion prepared to cast her jutsu, a pained cry was heard from the other side of the cavern. The Priestess turned and saw a large cut on Sakura's shoulder from the Naruto copy. Shion remembered the demonic clone of Naruto's, and how she had sealed the Kyuubi's chakra within it. Shion also saw the confusion and hesitation in Sakura's eyes and grew worried for her.
"Don't worry about me," Sakura shouted as she blocked a strike from the Naruto clone. "Seal Moryo, now!" Despite her barking, Sakura knew she couldn't fend off the false being for long. Her mind raced with countless questions, wondering if Akatsuki may have cloned Naruto, or if maybe the rogue organization was working with Madara. The kunoichi forced her mind back to reality as quickly as she could, only for it to start wandering off again.
Shion hesitated, wanting to help Sakura by sealing the Naruto clone and hoping that she would survive. Her mind went back to Naruto's promise that he wouldn't allow anyone else to die for her, and she doubted herself.
'Naruto was willing to fight to make sure nobody died for me...I...I should be willing to make those same sacrifices as well!'
Shion broke her jutsu and then turned to Sakura as she fended off against her relentless attacker. Shion performed a few single-handed seals, keeping her purple eyes on the Naruto clone.
'Maybe if I just use a smaller sealing jutsu to stop it for a second, that'll give Sakura enough time to free Naruto, and I can still seal Moryo...'
"SHION!" The Priestess's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Naruto's voice as a look of shock painted her face. Sakura's attention was also drawn towards Shion when hearing her name cried out, and saw an arm coming out of a vortex and at the Priestess.
Shion turned her head, catching a glimpse of a black, gloved hand and a single, burning red Sharingan eye appearing out from a single point of origin. A cold chill of fear gripped Shion's whole body before Madara's hand grasped her throat. Shion gagged and tried to cough, but her windpipe was firmly being crushed by Madara, whose body was slowly coming out of the rest of the vortex.
"Now that was quite the effective sealing jutsu," Madara said with praise. "Honestly, with some actual training you could easily surpass your mother." Shion tried to scream as she kicked her legs back and forth and tried to beat on the man's arm. Even when she did manage to land a kick, or pound on his arm, Shion's blows were soft enough that Madara barely even felt them. "Your mother, Miroku was afraid of the power you'd achieve, which is why you were always pampered, never trained." Madara's eye widened a bit as the bell Shion wore rang gently before glowing.
A powerful blast of light pushed Madara back, forcing him to release Shion as she collapsed to the floor. The Priestess started coughing hard as air came back into her lungs. Madara simply looked at his smoking glove and shook his hand again with an annoyed grunt.
"Your sealing ninjutsus are great indeed Shion, but my powers of the Sharingan dwarf even that. However, Miroku's powers as the Priestess were beyond that of anyone else in your family's lineage. Even your grandmother, whom I fought while trying to become Hokage, couldn't compare with your mother's skills." Madara slowly started approaching Shion, as the Priestess simply lied on the ground on her hands and knees, coughing.
'What can I do? I...I can't beat Madara Uchiha...even my grandmother couldn't...'
"Now, it's time to end this party," Madara said as he slowly raised his arm up, hand opened towards the Priestess. "Your sealing jutsus will be quite valuable to me, Shion." The blonde closed her eyes, accepting defeat and whatever horrible fate lied ahead for her.
"You stay away from her!" Shion's head snapped up with a surprised gasp at the familiar sound of a young man's voice. Madara simply turned with a questioning hum to see a newly freed Naruto charging at him, fist drawn back in anger.
As the Jinchuriki threw his punch, it passed right through Madara harmlessly as though he were never there. Naruto stumbled a bit when he caught himself before spinning around to face his enemy and defend Shion.
Madara chuckled and then turned his head towards his two blonde foes and held his arms out, "Well, now I suppose this makes things a little more even, doesn't it?"
"Shion, don't waste your time using sealing jutsus on Madara," Naruto ordered. The Priestess snapped out of her daze that Naruto had escaped as the boy's words hit her. "He's got a weird kind of space-time ninjutsu where he can teleport anywhere he wants. And he can also pass through any attacks too."
"Th-then how do we defeat him?! Someone this powerful, we can't-,"
"You leave him to me," Naruto answered. Fear gripped Shion once again, worried about Naruto's well-being. "If Madara wants me, then he can have a piece of me! And I'll take that stupid mask of his as a trophy!"
The Uchiha ancestor chuckled and crossed his arms disbelieving of the boy, "You'll have to break a few bones before getting through me, boy."
"Naruto, you can't-,"
"Just make sure Moryo gets sealed up!" Without any further protests, Naruto rushed towards Madara and summoned a pair of shadow clones.
Shion sat in place, baffled and confused about the boy's recklessness. She watched as Naruto and his clones continually swung at and passed through Madara one at a time, while the masked man simply stood still. The Priestess pulled her eyes away and stared at Moryo, still bound by Madara's genjutsu. Shion took a moment to mentally praise the man's power that he used in order to keep a being as powerful as that in place.
"I-I have to...for Naruto's sake!" Shion formed her hand seals with both hands, using signs unusual to standard ninjas. "Sealing Ritual!"
Moryo released a powerful, rebellious bellow that shook the entire mountain, gaining the attention of everyone present. The lava pools also seemed to shimmer and bubble at the power of Moryo's roar. Shion stopped her jutsu in a brief moment of fear, but that was enough for Moryo's spirit to shoot out of the current vessel and towards the next available option. As his spirit departed Kin's clone, the body crumbled and fell to a pile of ashes.
Like a dark, ghostly snake, Moryo's spirit flew past Shion, between Madara and Naruto, and straight for the blonde clone.
When the spirit hit the familiar body, the Naruto clone was lifted off of the ground, hovering with a powerful dark aura that surrounded him entirely. The clone lifted up its hands, desperately grabbing the sides of its head and clawing at them, screaming as he struggled to fight against the possessive spirit.
Madara watched closely, his Sharingan reading every detail of what was happening with Moryo and his new tool.
The Naruto clone roared a demonic, echoing sound as it hunched over. Its face appeared to be transforming into something more unholy, as the skin darkened even more on one side, along with his eye glowing bright red while the other half remained fairly normal.
Inside the clone's body, Moryo's spirit struggled to possess the clone boy. He remembered Kin saying that her snakes had cloned the Jinchuriki, and as such believed that the body would be a suitable vessel for him. However, the demon didn't foresee that Shion had already placed a seal on the body, which locked away some source of power.
Moryo's demonic, dragon-like spirit slammed into the seal, hoping to break it and complete its takeover of the clone's body. The more power the beast put into it, the weaker the seal became, and Moryo could feel the energy leaking out from it. Eager to take in this new power, Moryo let out another roar within the clone's body and lashed out against the seal once more, shattering it like glass.
A powerful, heavy and oppressing chakra rushed out from the seal, swallowing the demonic spirit. Despite how hard it fought against the chakra, Moryo couldn't seem to win against it, and felt as though it was swallowing him whole.
"Th-this chakra...it's Kurama's! H-how...h-how can it be th-this powerful?!"
Moryo let out his final, dying cry before being completely devoured by the Kyuubi's chakra that had been sealed within the clone.
The Naruto clone's eyes widened immensely before it threw its whole body outward with a powerful cry, letting out a strong, shattering shockwave of power that dispersed the dark aura around it.
The shockwave threw back everyone in the cavern, including Madara. Sakura quickly rebounded from the blast, but stayed knelt to the ground and covering her face with her arm. Madara flipped backwards, lightly bouncing off of one foot and landing gently onto the ground. Shion screamed as she nearly collided with the stone wall before Naruto appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her in his arms.
"Naruto!" The Jinchuriki smiled at the Priestess before turning back towards his clone.
The dark clone hovered in the air for a few more seconds before falling to the ground all in a heap. Everyone stared at it for a long, silent moment, not knowing what to expect from it.
Before Naruto or Sakura could act, Madara appeared next to the clone in a flash. The masked man rolled the clone over onto its back and stared at it, his eye widening in shock at what he saw. The clone's body had transformed somehow, becoming more of smooth, actual flesh rather than just scales. On top of that, the clone's hair had been dyed black somehow as well, likely a result of containing Moryo's spirit.
Unsure of what to make of this, Madara placed his hand on the clone's chest and activated his jutsu to swallow the clone up into his alternate dimension. The masked man turned his head ever so slightly as he heard footsteps running towards him before he sprung forward. A second later, Naruto's fist smashed through the ground as Madara, again, landed gingerly on the ground. He turned towards Sakura who had started rushing towards him. Madara simply chuckled before turning back to Naruto.
"We'll meet again boy." With his final words spoken, Madara sucked himself up into his own vortex, disappearing through the singular point of his eye before Sakura reached him.
"Damn it," the kunoichi snapped.
"What happened with that thing," Naruto asked quietly to himself.
Shion, overhearing the boy, spoke up, "I'm...not sure. I was about to seal Moryo when he left his old body and tried to possess your evil clone. I didn't think it would work due to the seal I placed on it earlier, but Moryo didn't come back out..."
"Regardless though, Madara has Moryo, right?" Naruto and Shion exchanged silent stares to one another.
Sakura looked over at some of the ashes from Moryo's old body that had been blown her way by the dark shockwave the Naruto clone released. She stared at the ashes questioningly for a moment before turning to the two blondes.
"Moryo is...gone though, right?" Naruto and Shion both looked at Sakura with similar, questioning looks on their faces. "I mean, he didn't reunite with his body, which means that all Shion has to do is make sure his body is sealed, right?"
"W-well...the only one who could have undone the seal was the Yomi Clan leader, and myself," Shion admitted, looking back at Naruto. "And...Moryo was sealed in that fake body, which means that the Yomi Clan leader would be dead...since only he could be a suitable avatar for Moryo's soul."
"And you're not planning to undo Moryo's seal anytime soon," Naruto finished, a wide grin plastering itself on his face. "So Moryo ISN'T a threat!"
Sakura rolled her eyes, Naruto's smile infecting her, 'That's what I just said, blockhead.'
"That's true, since any temporary avatar for Moryo's soul can't sustain it forever," Shion added with a small grin.
"Hell yeah! Another mission accomplished!" Naruto jumped up off the ground before pumping his fist into the air. The two girls present laughed softly at the boy's energy, all of them forgetting that they were all on the sides of opposing factions.
But only for a moment.
An explosion was heard outside, catching Naruto, Sakura, and Shion's attention. The three of them quickly made off for the exit to see what was going on.
Once outside, Sakura immediately saw both Zaku and Dosu holding back a slightly battered Kurotsuchi, who was glaring daggers at a smug looking Deidara. Soon after, she shifted her eyes to her uncle, who was somehow managing to keep Fu at bay with a frightening glare. Anko paced back and forth at the front of the line, ready to attack anyone who made a single wrong move.
Naruto looked to his side, seeing Konan and Yahiko staring down each other intensely with the former angrily lecturing the latter. In front of the two though were Itachi and Obito standing at the ready to defend Deidara if anyone else attacked, while Nono stood next to the artist.
"What's going on," Sakura asked, rushing over to her side as Naruto did the same with Shion.
"Your uncle wants us to make nice with these bastards," Kurotsuchi shouted at the top of her lungs, spitting venom towards Deidara.
"Excuse me, what was that," the artist mockingly called out, cupping a hand over his ear. "We would've been toast without your help Deidara, you say? Oh trust me Kurotsuchi, I know!"
"FUCK YOU!"
"Now isn't the time for this," Rin snapped, somehow effortlessly pulling Kurotsuchi back with one hand. Zaku and Dosu, as well as Kurotsuchi, seemed to be in a bit of shock by this sudden display of strength. "You're in no condition to fight, even if I did heal most of your wounds. Truth be told I'm almost out of chakra healing you and her both." Rin shot a glance towards Fu, who was trying to establish some sort of dominance over Higure in a battle of stares. "Besides, they helped us this time."
"So we're just supposed to forgive their crimes," Kurotsuchi demanded angrily.
"We're in no shape to fight."
"So we go down swinging! Like true shinobi should!"
"Like old man Onoki did," Deidara called out chidingly. Kurotsuchi screamed in rage before lunging past Rin, only to be stopped and held back by Zaku and Dosu once more.
"I'd really wish you'd stop that," Obito said, looking back at Deidara with a half-scolding look. The spiky haired Uchiha turned his head back around, staring at an exasperated looking Rin.
"You can't expect this to go lightly with Danzo," Fu said scathingly, her rage about to boil over.
"I'll handle that situation," Higure replied with a firm tone. "Until then, you follow my orders and stand down, NOW!" The Jinchuriki's whole body shook with anger, blood trickling from her palms as she squeezed her fists tightly.
"One of the Akatsuki brats responsible for the failure of Takigakure is standing RIGHT THERE!" Fu pointed angrily towards Naruto, who simply stared at her with a hard glare. "You expect me to just SIT here and do nothing about it?!"
"Your damaged honor isn't worth risking our lives!" Higure pointed a finger right in Fu's face, "You're too valuable as a Jinchuriki to just be throwing yourself against any obstacle in your way and hoping that you can redeem yourself by dying!" The Commander then snapped his arm towards Kurotsuchi, "And you, don't let your personal feelings get in the way either! You and Fu are beaten to hell, Rin and I are practically out of chakra! If we all fight right now, we all die, simple as that!" The Alliance shinobi remained silent, with both Fu and Kurotsuchi seemingly calmed down. "If you want a chance to fight Akatsuki, there's another time and place for it. Here and now, risking our lives after a successful mission isn't worth it! We have another enemy to worry about, remember? The ones we're actually fighting a war against! Or did you two forget about that?"
The shinobi of Akatsuki even seemed to remain silent at Higure's words, with them all taking his words into different meanings. The Commander stared back and forth between the two hotheaded girls who simply looked at the ground in silence.
Konan turned her head away from Higure and back to Yahiko, "Care to argue with that?"
"They're our enemies, Konan," Yahiko said quietly, bubbling with rage. "They're weak, we can take them all out now!"
"We're weak too, Yahiko." The orange haired man scowled before looking over at Higure, who had just moved to match his gaze. "We're all almost out of chakra, and one us of is wounded like you said. It's not worth it right now."
"What about Orochimaru's servants, huh," Yahiko asked, lowering his head to Konan. "You said your team encountered them, where are they now?"
"All the more reason not to fight them right now," Konan whispered sharply. "If they still have more numbers, then we're definitely screwed. And if they wanted to kill us, they could just call in the Serpent Five to do it. Like Higure said, there's a time and a place."
"Oh, so now we're on a first name basis with our enemies?!" Konan simply closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath through her nose. Yahiko started pacing back and forth, staring hard at Konan before looking back at the Alliance shinobi, who tensed up like cornered animals at Yahiko's outburst. "Why don't we all just get chummy with the enemy, huh?! Come on, we can all just have stupid, childish crushes on each other and hope that our infant romances can change the world!"
"That's enough Yahiko," Konan shouted.
"NO! It's not enough! Our enemy is right in front of us Konan! We shouldn't be holding back because you're worried about Naruto having to fight his Alliance dog of a girlfriend!"
Impulsively, Naruto lunged at Yahiko, screaming at his senior. Effortlessly though, Yahiko grabbed Naruto's arm and spun around, slamming him into the ground. All the Akatsuki shinobi moved to help him, with Konan yanking harshly on Yahiko's cloak, though even she couldn't bring him off of the young boy.
"Stop this Yahiko!"
The Akatsuki founder got off the Jinchuriki and stepped back, glaring at the Alliance shinobi, "Enough of this! I'll kill you all myself!" Yahiko shot forward in a blur that most of the others couldn't follow.
Yahiko raised up his sword above his head, eyes focused on Sakura as he brought his blade down. Before he knew it however, a forearm blocked Yahiko's strike at his wrists. Holding his sword above his head as Yahiko gazed into a pair of threatening emerald eyes.
"Drop the sword," Higure ordered, his tone venomous. Yahiko glared at the Alliance Commander before noticing that he was flanked by Sakura's two teammates, along with Rin and Anko on either side of him.
"See! They can't be trusted," Fu shouted. "We need to kill them all now!"
"Your orders are to stand down! And so help me, if you don't follow that order, you're going to WISH I fed you to Danzo!" The green haired Jinchuriki seemed a bit startled by the threat, as was everyone else. Higure turned back to Yahiko, still holding the sword high above his head while in his other hand he had a kunai pointed right at the man's gut. "You can treat your own people like shit if you want. You can think Sakura is a threat, or a hindrance to Naruto all you want. You can hope and pray that these two may never be together. But whether or not she actually is a threat to you, or to Naruto, you don't threaten her." Higure leaned forward, his face less than an inch away from Yahiko's as he whispered, "Not in front of me."
Konan looked into both Yahiko and Higure's eyes. Both of them were ready to kill one another if it came down to it, and nobody doubted that. Konan saw something else in Higure's eyes, something she connected with. The urge to protect someone close to him, it was the same that Konan would do for Naruto.
"Yahiko, stand down now," Konan shouted. "You gave your word to the other leaders of Akatsuki that you wouldn't attack Sakura, or anger Naruto! You've failed at both of those!"
"I never said anything about not killing Alliance dogs!"
"You should really stop calling her that," Zaku advised, believing that Higure's anger would cause more problems than it would solve.
"Fuck you," Yahiko shot back.
"If you don't stand down now, we're leaving you to die." Yahiko's eyes widen in shock, as well as most everyone else except Higure's.
Sakura and Naruto both looked at Konan, who seemed to remain firm in her ultimatum. The pink haired kunoichi was astonished that Akatsuki would go so far to prevent a fight, especially against their sworn enemies.
Yahiko eased up, letting his body and limbs go loose. Higure released his wrist, letting the orange haired man's arms fall to his sides while lowering his kunai. Yahiko turned and stared back at Konan with a look of betrayal and anger.
Higure looked back at Sakura and nodded for her to get away. He then turned to the rest of his team and motioned for them to leave. The others fell in line and walked away from their enemies as Higure helped his niece to her feet. Sakura stared at Naruto for a moment, giving one final farewell before turning around and heading off with her people.
The blonde Jinchuriki looked out to Sakura longingly, wishing that he could go with her. Obito gave a similar look towards Rin, who had her back turned the entire time as she put an arm around Sakura's shoulder, saying something inaudible to her.
The Alliance Commander stared at the Akatsuki unit while backing away. He gave a final look to Konan, who simply stared down Yahiko. Convinced they wouldn't follow or attack, Higure turned and brought up the rear of his group.
Once the Alliance shinobi were gone, the rogues all looked between their two leaders, the air around them uncomfortable.
"You resort to that much of a low," Yahiko questioned, his tone expressing the feeling of betrayal. "To let me be slaughtered by dogs and force my comrades away."
"Nobody here wanted to fight them, Yahiko."
"No, YOU didn't want to fight them," the founder of Akatsuki shouted, pointing his free hand at Konan. He then shot it at Naruto, who glared threateningly at him. "He didn't want to fight them! We made this organization to fight the Alliance! Am I the only one who remembers this?!"
"Strategically we were at a disadvantage against them," Itachi spoke out. Yahiko and Konan both looked at Itachi, who kept his expression even. "We aren't sure how many numbers they had, and we were in the same shape that they were in, if not worse. That fight would have only ended in death for us all."
"That's the risk we take!"
"We risk the lives of two of our leaders, and Naruto," Itachi questioned condescendingly.
"Don't you dare-,"
"You two are the best minds behind Akatsuki," Itachi stared explaining. "Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade do a fine job of leading, but planning out attacks and missions, that's where you and Konan excel at. Nagato is a fine field commander, but when it comes to planning and staging attacks, he lacks severely." Itachi then looked towards Naruto, who now seemed to be more shocked than anything at the older Uchiha's explanations. "Naruto is the Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi. His value as an asset goes without saying. But he's also a fine morale booster for out people." Itachi then turned to Yahiko, who slowly looked more and more passive as Itachi went on. "The boy who was meant to be a weapon for Konohagakure, now the mascot for our organization...that is Naruto's true value."
Naruto blinked in stunned silence, feeling pride and embarrassment filling him up. He turned to Yahiko, who stayed silent while still looking angry as could be. He finally turned around, sheathing his sword on his back before walking into the woods in the opposite direction of the Alliance unit to pick up Kiriya.
Obito let out a relieved sigh before turning to his younger clansmen with a smile. Itachi's lips pulled upward ever so slightly before nodding to Obito. Konan came up to Itachi and placed a hand on his shoulder, gaining the young man's attention.
"Thank you Itachi," the kunoichi said.
"It wasn't a problem," Itachi replied. "I figured it would be the best option for me to...talk him down instead of you or Naruto simply yelling at him." Konan gave a wary, thankful smile and nodded.
"That was a good call on your part."
Naruto stood silently, staring out as Yahiko walked on. Though he was beyond furious at the man, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what Yahiko was thinking. Pushing his curiosities aside, Naruto turned to Shion, who had simply been watching the entire issue unfold quietly.
"Sorry you had to see all that," Naruto apologized.
"N-no it's um...a-alright." Shion knew she didn't sound convincing at all, but it was the only thing she could think to say.
"Lady Shion," Nono said, approaching the Priestess. Shion gasped in surprise, not even realizing her aid was standing in plain sight the whole time.
"I'm glad you're alright Miko." Nono gave a saddening smile before placing her hand on Shion's back.
"We...need to talk, Lady Shion..." Nono smiled softly and escorted the Priestess away from the rest of the Akatsuki shinobi, her heart weighing heavily in her chest.
Konan, the only one who knew the full story between the Priestess and her aide, watched silently as they walked a fair distance away and began chatting. Naruto turned up towards Konan, whose eyes had glazed over as if she was thinking of something else.
"Hey..." Konan came out of her trance and looked down at Naruto. The blonde gave a worried look towards the woman who was practically his sister. "Are you alright...?"
"I'll be fine dear." Konan flashed a half-assed smile, trying to ease Naruto's worries. The Jinchuriki reluctantly nodded and turned back towards Shion and Nono. "Miko is actually a spy in Akatsuki," Konan said. The four boys around her turned their attention towards their leader, who kept her eyes focused on the two women. "Her name is Nono...I'm guessing she's telling Shion that right now."
"We have a spy all the way out here," Itachi asked, genuinely surprised. Konan simply nodded as the young Uchiha turned towards them as well. "I guess with the Land of Demons holding such a danger like Moryo, and an asset like the Priestess, it would only be natural..."
"The thing is, I'm supposed to be in charge of information gathering," Konan stated firmly. "Which means I have knowledge, if not say, in where our spies end up." Konan didn't voice her worries of even more Yahiko-secrets, brushing the paranoia off as her still being upset with him.
"You think someone else may have sent her out without informing you or any other Akatsuki leaders." Konan turned to Itachi, knowing that the boy's sentence was more of a statement than a question. The bluenette sighed and looked forward again as Shion's face changed to a more depressed look.
Naruto stared out in sympathy for the young woman, wishing he could do something to help. A thought came to the boy's head as he turned around, facing Konan, "Wait! Couldn't Miko, or...uh..."
"Nono," Konan said, helping Naruto's memory.
"Yeah, can't she stay here to protect Shion?" Konan and Itachi looked to one another at the same time Deidara and Obito did the same. Naruto pointed towards Shion and Nono, "I was with her and Shion the entire time. Nono is a killer shinobi, and she's way more skilled than the guards from the Land of Demons."
"She's a member of Akatsuki though," Deidara said, taking a few steps towards his fellow blonde. "And her mission was probably to gather intelligence on the Land of Demons, and then make sure that the Priestess wasn't used to undo Moryo's seal. Since that's been dealt with, there's no reason for her to stay besides protecting your friend."
"But Moryo's body is still here, that's worth something right?" Konan put her curled up finger to her lips, knowing the boy could be onto something. "I mean, he was a freakin' demon. Danzo will probably want that for something, right?"
"That's likely if they can undo the seal," Itachi agreed as he looked to his senior. "But to undo any of those seals, Danzo will need the Priestess to undo them, and even after that, her abilities are great enough that they could benefit the Alliance greatly. Meaning she'd be an asset to them, and a problem for us."
"So, then just bring the Priestess to our side," Obito stated eagerly, as if his solution was that easy.
"Shion is the leader, and a symbol for her country," Konan replied, turning her eyes to the other Uchiha of the party. "We can't bring her into our organization without threatening her country with war."
"So Miko-,"
"Nono," Deidara and Obito corrected together.
"Nono, would have to stay with Shion," Naruto finished with a wide smile on his face.
"If that's what she wants," Konan added, staring up as the two women approached them. Shion had a look of indifference, and Nono seemed to keep a calming air about her. "Did you tell her?"
"Yes," Nono answered. "She seemed to be vaguely aware that I was a foreigner based on a conversation she heard me having with her mother many years ago." The spy looked down at Shion, giving a small smile and placing her hand on the Priestess's shoulder. "She understands why I had to lie to her...and she understands if I have to return to help you all against the Alliance."
Konan looked down at Naruto, remembering the second available option for Nono and Shion. The young Jinchuriki looked up at Konan, tilting her head towards the two ladies. The Akatsuki founder rolled her eyes with a smile at the thought of Naruto ordering her around.
"There is some...concern for Shion's well-being." Both Shion and Nono showed shock to this. Konan cupped one elbow with her hand, placing her fingertips on her cheek. "We believe with Shion's powers of sealing jutsus, and after discovering that the Land of Demons has no real shinobi force to speak of, that they may try to kidnap her and use the Priestess for their goals. She'll need a bodyguard to ensure her safety from any Alliance soldiers being sent back to the Land of Demons."
The two women were struck with silence. Konan turned to Nono, eyes full of expectancy, "The choice to accept this mission is yours Nono."
"I-I can keep the Priestess safe, yes," Nono replied, a grateful smile gracing her lips. "Thank you Lady Konan!"
"Yes, thank you," Shion added with as much excitement and happiness as her protector's. Konan gave a small smile before looking at Nono, who was in the midst of adjusting her glasses.
"By the way, who was it that deployed you out so far into the Land of Demons?" Nono blinked at Konan in reaction as though the question were an odd one. The spy then sighed and put her finger against the side of her head.
"Oh goodness...it's been so many years..." Obito and Deidara looked at one another, both of them wondering how a spy could have such a fickle memory. Nono's mind flashed back to her initial departure as she looked back at Konan. "Ah, yes, it was Master Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade who gave me this mission."
Konan's eyes flickered with surprise. Her paranoia had been completely wiped away from her suspicion of Yahiko, and now her mind wondered why Jiraiya and Tsunade wouldn't have informed anyone of this mission.
"That's...unusual," Itachi pointed out, looking at his senior. Konan nodded in agreement with him as Nono looked worried and confused. Itachi turned to the Akatsuki spy, "What was your full name, Lady Nono? That way it could be more helpful for us to find you in our records when we return."
"I-I'm not in your records," Nono asked, a little surprised and worried. Konan and Itachi both shook their heads, the former lifting up her questioning eyes off the ground. "Wait...so Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya wanted my mission off the books then. Trust me, I've been a spy long enough to know. If I'm not in your records, and if nobody else knew about my mission here, then it was meant to be a secret."
"But why send us out here without mentioning so much as a word about another spy," Konan wondered. Nono's explanation only seemed to raise more questions and doubts in her mind.
"For whatever good its worth, if there are any records left of me, my true name is Nono Yakushi," the name caused Itachi and Konan to snap their heads up, both painted with the same looks of shock, "But I can share with you all my common aliases as well."
"Yakushi," Itachi questioned, "As in Kabuto Yakushi?" Naruto's head rolled back and forth between the adults, growing confused and frustrated that he didn't understand what was going on. Nono's eyes simply grew wide as she placed a hand firmly over her mouth. Within seconds, tears welled up in the woman's eyes before she moved her hand away.
"Y-you know about Kabuto...? Where is he? Is he safe?"
"How do you know Kabuto," Itachi asked, "And more importantly, why do you both share the same last name...?"
"He's my son, w-well my adopted son that is. I use to help run an orphanage before Danzo found me and blackmailed me back into service." Naruto looked to Nono, mentally scowling at the cheap trick Danzo had used on Higure and Nono both. "Did you all finally find Kabuto? Is he safe in Akatsuki like promised...?"
"Nono..." Konan sighed and crossed her arms, "There's no easy way to say this..." Nono stayed silent, growing a bit pale as the worst thoughts of her adopted son crossed her mind. "Kabuto Yakushi is the personal aide and right hand of Sasori, the Kazekage, a seated member of the Alliance." Nono let out a soft gasp. The spy wasn't entirely sure what to be feeling or thinking after hearing the news.
"I've fought with him myself, during our infiltration of Konogakure," Itachi said. "He's a fearsome opponent with powerful medical ninjutsu. He also had a hand in the deaths of the Honored Siblings of Sunagakure, Chiyo and Ebizo."
"K-Kabuto..." Nono's eyes fell towards the ground, gently moving back and forth as she analyzed what had been told to her. Finally, she lifted up her head and looked a bit confused. "But...Danzo took my boy...he forced me to act as a spy for the Alliance for Kabuto's safety, and after my mission was complete he would let him and I go." Itachi and Konan exchanged looks to each other, both of them slowly understanding what Nono was implying. "It doesn't make any sense for him to be acting as the Kazekage's aide..."
"Unless Kabuto is acting as a mole in Sunagakure on Danzo's behalf," Itachi stated.
"He never did trust even his closest allies," Konan added with a sigh. "This needs more investigating before anything else. But it's an angle that maybe we can exploit." Itachi nodded in agreement with her. Konan let out another sigh before looking out to the forest. "Let's start heading back to base. It'll be a few days before we can get there, so the sooner we leave the better."
"Yes ma'am," the four boys called out. Konan turned to Nono, who gave a small nod and a thankful smile.
"Stay safe you two," Konan said before turning her head and taking point to the forest.
Naruto turned around and looked back as Nono said something discernible to Shion. The Priestess smiled and nodded before they both began to walk the opposite direction. Naruto smiled, thankful that Shion seemed happy, and that he kept his promise of nobody dying.
When the Jinchuriki looked back ahead of himself, his mind wandered to Sakura, and her well-being now that she was with her group. Despite the fact Naruto knew that Higure and Sakura's two teammates would do anything to protect her, his natural bias against the Alliance prevented his mind from resting easily on the subject.
To make things worse, Naruto still couldn't peg for the life of him the clone of himself and the Madara situation. Snakes weren't Madara's thing, and fit Orochimaru's schemes much more. Naruto argued with himself, knowing that Orochimaru, nor any of his servants were apart of the group Higure brought with him.
Naruto's memories flashed back to the mission in Takigakure, when Nagato battled the two wood clones of the brown haired man, and the black haired woman working for Orochimaru. The blonde's eyes slowly expanded as the realization started to wash over him. His mind flashed to him, Higure, and Nono battling the squadron of odd, wood-using ninjas, and the snakes that eventually created his clone.
"A woman working for Orochimaru took some of the Hero Water, and intends to give it to him. For what purpose I'm not sure, but it seems Orochimaru is behind the invasion of Kusagakure and Takigakure, lying to the Alliance leaders that we would join the Union against them!" Naruto sat there in shock, rendered speechless before Shibuki turned back to the battlefield where his people fought and pushed back Alliance troops. "My father died in battle against Orochimaru due to the affects of the Hero Water...whatever Orochimaru plans for the Hero Water, it can't be anything good. And from what I gathered, Orochimaru seems to be planning his own schemes, separate of Danzo's or any other Alliance leader. And I fear what may happen if the Hero Water plays a part in his schemes..."
"Guys," Naruto spoke up. The four adults turned their heads, still walking, towards Naruto. The Jinchuriki slowly lifted up his head, eyes full of worry, "How much do we know about Orochimaru...?"
Kin was beside herself with joy at how the mission went. Her various tests were beyond successful, and she was shown as a capable summoner for the Edo Tensei, even with all of Orochimaru's modifications added in. Not only that, but she had the corpse of Yomi, whose abilities could be beneficial for the Alliance, if not Orochimaru himself. What's more, Yomi's body had an an immense amount of Dark Chakra within it, likely from his experimenting on his own body, the chakra snakes his followers used, and being a vessel for Moryo's soul. It was only after the discovery that Yomi's body had Dark Chakra in it that Kin could abandon the mission to ensure Moryo's revival.
The only failures in the mission were the Body Recreation jutsu, which was highly unstable and unreliable in terms of people like Naruto Uzumaki, and beyond that had a limited range of uses. Despite that one setback, Kin was practically giddy with joy, even though the Serpent Five behind her were radiating with anger and annoyance towards her. She had already told the five of them that Orochimaru's goals were below their pay-grade, only agitating them further.
Kin couldn't help but wonder though what happened to the Naruto clone created from the Body Recreation technique. She couldn't sense it on the battlefield after losing the little bit of Kyuubi chakra it had in its body.
Snapping her out of her mindset, Kin looked up as a group of men cut her and the Serpent Five off. The party of six all seemed shocked when they saw five of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist standing before them, all staring directly at the group. In an opening between the swordsmen, a man appeared out of thin air from a strange vortex, revealing to be a masked man in a long dark cloak and spiky black hair.
Kin froze at the sight of the man, knowing just by his presence that he was the man going by the name of Madara. The young woman then smirked, trying to regain her composure and show some confidence before the man.
"Well, this is quite the surprise, Madara was it?" The masked man stood silently, staring at Kin. The woman scowled, unnerved by the man's piercing stare. "What would you want with someone like me? I'm afraid I hold little strategic value to you at all. Orochimaru could find another assistant, as well as replace these five idiots."
"I'm not seeking to kidnap you," Madara stated firmly. "I know Orochimaru wouldn't think twice before letting you die. And if I wanted you all dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Then what do you want?"
"A simple experiment," the masked man replied with a slight jovial tone. "That should be thrilling to someone like you, Kin Tsuchi." The woman growled angrily and then clapped her hands together, preparing the Edo Tensei.
Madara huffed and simply watched as eight coffins popped out from the ground. The heavy wooden lids fell to the ground with a loud thud as the lifeless husks of Gari, Pakura, Hisame, Murasame, Kirisame, Kandachi, Suien, and Shibuki all slumped out of their caskets and formed a first line of defense.
"Hiding behind your little toys are we," Madara called out mockingly. Neither he nor the swordsmen seemed fazed by the opponents before them, despite they were outnumbered more than two-to-one. "Very well, allow me to run my experiment."
Kin and the Serpent Five watched as an odd vortex opened up again around Madara's only visible eye, bringing a new figure out into the open. Kin's eyes nearly popped right out of her head when she saw Naruto Uzumaki with a dull, lifeless look in his eyes.
"That's..."
"Originally yours," Madara stated. "I hope you don't mind if I take him for myself. I'm sure he'll receive much more attention in my care than yours." Kin's fury grew at Madara taunting her, but then noticed that Naruto's hair color was very different from before. The young kunoichi concluded that the Naruto in Madara's possession was more than likely the clone that was created, instead of the real thing.
"Kill them all! Bring me the Jinchuriki alive!"
The eight undead shinobi all charged forward at top speeds. Madara huffed and simply patted the black haired boy's shoulder. The clone straightened up, as though Madara's touch gave him life, and then shot towards the eight targets before him.
The Serpent Five went to join the fray, but Kin stopped them. The older teens looked confused, and a few looked upset, with the younger girl. "What the hell can't we join the action for," Sakon questioned bitterly. "We could stop Madara, or capture the Jinchuriki."
"It's fairly obvious actually," Kimimaro stated as he took a moment to observe the situation. The other four looked to their leader, who nodded towards the other enemies. "Madara, nor any of the Seven Swordsmen have moved from their spots. Meaning if we all rushed in, Kin as the summoner for the Edo Tensei would be left wide open."
Kin smirked, followed with a cocky huff before looking at Kimimaro, "Well, look at you using your head."
The Naruto clone sprung forward, pulling his arms and legs together to fly between Hisame, Kirisame, and Murasame. The boy hit the ground and rolled onto his feet, looking around to see that he was fully surrounded.
The eight undead shinobi all charged the clone, assaulting it with various physical attacks and ninjutsu. The Naruto clone somehow managed to dodge, duck, weave, and block all of the attacks one after another with amazing speed and agility.
Kin watched in rage as the one clone managed to fend off eight undead, unrestrained, unfeeling seasoned shinobi all by itself. 'This is ludicrous! How the hell could such an experimental failure be so powerful?!'
On the other side of the battle, Madara and his men watched in silence. The swordsmen were all impressed with how strong and capable the clone vessel appeared to be, even though according to their master it was little more than a mindless killing machine. Madara's eye gleamed at the clone's potential, impressed with how good it seemed to be just from the simple genjutsu he put on the boy to control and guide him.
"He's quite the little talented brat," Kushimaru stated, arms crossed as he watched calmly. "Though how long can he last against eight targets that never tire?"
Madara formed a single seal with one hand in the midst of the clone's fight. The Naruto copy froze and cried out, throwing his head back and letting out a loud cry as a menacing chakra exploded from around him. The force of the explosion sent the Edo Tensei ninja flying back, and even pushed Kin and the Serpent five away with some force. Madara and his subordinates stood still as the wind simply blew against them as though it were a gentle breeze.
When Kin and the others steadied themselves out, they looked up to see that the Naruto clone had been covered in a powerful, dark colored chakra shroud that took the shape of a cross between a fox and a snake. It had two chakra tails, both of them with snake heads at the tips of them. The clone was then surrounded once again by the undead ninja. The clone simply let out a dark, threatening growl in response.
"He has Moryo's shape," Madara said, his eye narrowing. "But that chakra is without a doubt the Kyuubi's. How very interesting."
The clone roared loudly, the sound echoing for miles. In a flash, the clone had shot across the clearing, cutting Kandachi in half with his claw. The other undead shinobi seemed a bit surprised at the clone's speed. Kin and her entourage were horrified at the blinding pace and unbelievable, deadly power that the clone possessed before it turned and launched another assault on the Edo Tensei shinobi.
"Why the hell is that one taking so long to regenerate," Kidomaru asked Kin, pointing to the two pieces of Kandachi. The pieces of earth slowly formed around the 'wound' that came ever so closer to reuniting Kandachi as a whole.
'Damn it, he is regenerating slower! Did Orochimaru know this and not tell me?!'
Kirisame and Murasame both tried to flank the clone, but they were both caught by his tails. The Naruto clone slammed the two undead shinobi together and then hurled them into the air before springing up high after them and slicing them both in half from their hips up to their opposing shoulders. While airborne, the two tails and two hands of the clone both extended forward, gathering and condensing its chakra into the form of a ball. Madara seemed surprised by this, noting that the chakra was also spinning around between the four 'limbs.' Oddly enough, a secondary ring of chakra formed around the center sphere, spinning at a slower rate than the middle orb. The clone then roared and launched the ball down towards the ground at incredible speeds.
"Run," Madara stated as he stood still, arms crossed.
The five swordsmen looked at their master quickly before back at the chakra ball. As soon as it hit, a catastrophic explosion went off, engulfing a large radius and consuming the nearby Edo Tensei soldiers. The power carried enough force from the explosion that Kin, the Serpent Five, and even the five swordsmen were thrown back like ragdolls.
Once the explosion stopped, smoke loomed over the battlefield. From where the blast erupted, a smoking crater remained. The Naruto clone landed in the center of the destruction, growling as its glowing red eyes looked at the pieces of earth gently falling down like dead leaves, forming and attaching to the remains of the Edo Tensei ninja. At the edge of the crater, a wounded and barely conscious Kin looked down into the crater, seeing the glowing clone standing in the middle.
"What...what did I create...?"
"Don't give yourself so much credit." Kin gasped and slowly, painfully turned her head to the right, seeing Madara sitting on the edge of the crater, right next to her. The man appeared to be untouched by the jutsu the clone had unleashed, and uncaring that Kin was next to him. "He had a lot of extra work done to him since his initial birth." Madara turned his head and stared down at Kin with his blood red Sharingan. Kin felt a shudder of fear as the masked man simply stared at her. Kin didn't even realize that the Naruto clone charged both her and Madara while they weren't looking, and immediately cried out in terror.
After a few seconds, Kin realized she was still alive, and opened her eyes. Standing before her was the Naruto clone, his chakra gone and all his features back to normal with a dull, blank expression on his face.
"It's amazing what one can do with actual power, isn't it?" Kin breathed heavily, raggedly with fear that her death was mere seconds away. Madara stood up and stared at the Naruto clone and motioned for it closer. The clone simply turned and walked up next to Madara, and the two faced Kin. The masked man kept his attention on the clone however, while the copy showed no signs of any emotion. "It has more potential than when I first found it...I have a few third parties to thank for that I suppose. But he'll need a proper name, wouldn't you say?" Madara placed a hand on the boy's shoulder as his space-time ninjutsu activated, slowly swallowing the copy up. "I have the perfect name for you too..."
Kin slowly faded into unconsciousness, feeling the hazy affects of a genjutsu cast upon her, likely with a delayed reaction. As Kin passed out and the Naruto clone was swallowed up, Madara spoke its new name, "Menma."
The swordsmen all groaned and scraped themselves off of the ground. Mangetsu looked up, seeing Madara approaching them all in stride. "Come on, we're leaving now."
"A freakin' experiment," Mangetsu questioned as he stumbled up to his feet. "Remind me not to join you at the science fair..."
"Shut up Mangetsu," Ameyuri groaned, holding her throbbing head.
"Be grateful that our newest ally proved to be of use," Madara stated as the swordsmen gathered around him. "It simply means we're one step closer to our goal." The space-time ninjutsu activated again, swallowing the swordsmen and then Madara himself, leaving nothing behind on the battlefield except a smoking crater, and six scattered, unconscious bodies.
Days had gone by since permanently sealing Moryo's body away thanks to the combined efforts of the Alliance and Akatsuki. Though the cooperation of the two enemies was a large part of the reason why the mission was a success, neither side would like to acknowledge it, and the Alliance team dispatched knew that none of their leaders would even share the truth with the general public.
Higure's had barely stopped moving since they had left the Land of Swamps, reaching the border of the Land of Earth within less than a full days time, and didn't even stop in Iwagakure to rest. Since leaving, it seemed as though Rin had taken over the group, and Higure bellyached about how he wanted to rest, and a few times tried to pull rank on the medical ninja. Needless to say, he didn't win.
When the entire squad grew tired however, they finally decided to rest within the very northern end of the Land of Rivers, setting up a camp. Higure was the first to 'volunteer' to sleep, though Rin ordered him to keep watch, much to the Commander's dismay.
The veteran shinobi sat in a high tree branch, looking odd with a string tied to the end of his hair, giving him a small ponytail. "This is humiliating," Higure called out.
Rin, sitting next to the string which was tied to a kunai in the ground, quietly chewed her rice ball with a dignified look on her face, "We can't have you running off on your own again."
"I had my reasons!"
"Leaving your entire squad without a leader," Rin questioned, glaring angrily at the Commander. "Was that really the best reason?"
"Oh you and Anko handled things fine!" Higure huffed and put his chin in his hand with a pout. "Heck, you made the same calls I woulda made..."
On the other side of the campfire, Sakura ate quietly while Dosu sat next to a slumbering Zaku, legs crossed. The two watched the adults bicker with one another like a pair of children. "It's so weird," Dosu muttered.
"I know...they'd almost make a good couple if he wasn't so old," Sakura said, pointing her chop sticks up to her uncle.
"I heard that!"
"Sorry uncle," Sakura called out, cringing down a bit with a teasing smile on her face. She looked to Dosu and giggled while the masked boy huffed. The two then looked at their teammate who was quietly sawing logs. "I swear, it's like he has no worries at all." Sakura's expression grew to one of worry before looking up at Dosu. "Did he really activate his Curse Mark...?"
"Yeah...he handled the situation though thankfully. He wanted to just see how far he could go was all." Sakura shook her head with disapproval, a notion that Dosu shared with her concerning Zaku's Curse Mark. The masked boy couldn't really say much as he mentally noted his Eight Branches seals tattooed on his arm, on top of his training to use the Eight Gates with Guy and Lee.
"I swear, that kid," Sakura murmured.
"He's gotta learn his limits somehow I guess..."
"Speaking of which..." Dosu trailed off, looking up at Higure who had finished bickering and kept watch with a pout. "What do you think your uncle's limits are...?" Sakura blinked and stared at Dosu. Her mind questioned why Dosu would doubt Higure's capabilities at all. "How long do you think he can ride the fence between the Alliance and Akatsuki...?" The pink haired girl's mouth fell agape as Dosu's meaning sunk in.
Sakura closed her mouth and looked up at her only family with concerned eyes. To say that she had worried about that day in and day out was an understatement. Ever since that day they talked about joining the Akatsuki, Higure had remained elusive and tight lipped about almost everything Sakura tried to talk to him about. At first she passed it off as Higure being overwhelmed with the duties of being a Commander, but her mind couldn't help but wander.
"I'm going to go check on him," Sakura said quietly. Dosu watched as the pinkette jumped up towards the tree branch her uncle sat on. She intended to get some answers out of him. "Hey...mind if I sit here?"
"I absolutely care that my favorite niece wants to sit next to me." Higure patted the area beside him. Sakura then sat in said spot and stared out into the distance with her uncle. She looked to her right, and then to the left at her uncle and just stared at him.
Sakura noticed the darkening circles under the man's eyes, likely due to lack of sleep from the past day or so, mixed with stress. Sakura then wondered why, even before coming out of retirement, he was always so stressed out. She knew virtually nothing about her upbringing, or her uncle's life as a shinobi. Sakura hated not knowing, and before never saw it as a real issue. However, Higure's past now seemed to be catching up with him in the form of Danzo's blackmail, Madara Uchiha, and whatever loyalty to Naruto that seemingly bound the two perfect strangers.
The pinkette had realized long ago that Higure's ties to Naruto extended far beyond supporting him due to Sakura's feelings. She remembered back during the Chunin Exams when she was furious at Naruto for lying to her, and Higure sided with him instead, trying to talk Sakura's anger out of her. And with the more recent mission he worked closely with Naruto to protect the Priestess with no qualms or casualties whatsoever. Sakura could scarcely imagine if anyone else in their squad besides her or her uncle had encountered the Priestess under watch of the Jinchuriki formerly belonging to Konohagakure.
Taking the last bit of courage she needed to build up, Sakura lowered her head and then looked out into the horizon. "Hey, Uncle Higure?" The man gave a soft hum of acknowledgment towards his niece. "What happened to our plan to run away?" Though she said it in barely a whisper, Higure flinched visibly from Sakura's question and shushed her. The pinkette glared at her uncle's overly dramatic reaction, "We haven't said anything of it since that night. I want to know where we stand."
Higure sighed, and looked away from his niece, "Things got complicated..."
"Stop that," Sakura snapped quickly. "I thought we were past the point when you stopped keeping things from me."
Higure closed his eyes and nodded, turning to face Sakura with a half-smile, "I'll tell you another time, okay?" As Sakura opened her mouth to argue, two unknown figures immediately landed on either side of the tree branch.
The young kunoichi gasped and shot up to her feet, realizing that their 'attackers' were in fact Konoha scouts. Sakura looked at her uncle, still in shock, while the Commander kept a calm demeanor.
"Wait, you're Alliance shinobi," one of the men spoke. His voice carried down to the ground where the rest of Higure's squad heard, and looked up. "What're you all doing out here!?"
"Idiot, look, Commander Haruno is right there," the second shinobi said, pointing his finger. The first shinobi looked down and exchanged stares with his superior, who simply waved at him.
"Wait, you all were sent to the Land of Demons...does that mean-,"
"Mission successful, yeah," Higure replied. The Commander then stood up, causing both the scouts to tense up at attention. "So, why do we have scouts all the way in the Land of Rivers? Surely with Suna and Iwa to the west, we shouldn't need men out this far."
"W-well sir..." The team gathered around at the base of the tree, staring up at the four shinobi. The one scout struggled with his words, or so Higure guessed as he simply waited. "The Land of Fire was attacked directly by the Land of Sky...Konohagakure has been devastated."
Sorry about the late update. I know there's only like one day left in the month. It's just been a not so stellar month for me, and this week was actually pretty good for awhile, so I managed to get ahead on a few chapters. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this. There's basically one more arc to get through before focusing on the war, and then we get to the end of the second story methinks. I know the story has seemed a bit...scattered in terms of the plot, and that's my fault. I've been trying to do too much and fitting it all into this jam packed session. But anyway, hopefully you guys liked the chapter, feel free to review and offer criticism. I'll post the next chapter sometime earlier next month, thanks for being understanding.