Night of the Vulpine Moon
*Naruto doesn't belong to me or I would have joined the Akatsuki*
(A/N: These are the main members of the clan: Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Anko, Konohamaru, Konan, Matsuri, Sasori, Nagato, Yahiko, and Deidara)
(They still have to find: Itachi and Kisame; more will be joining soon)
Chapter 11-"Harder Better Faster Stronger"
"So as soon as we find Itachi and Kisame we're going to go live in the hidden whirling tides country, awesome!" Konohamaru said bouncing up and down in excitement as he thought about the new home. They had already left the hot spring country behind and was steadily getting closer to lightning country.
"Slow down Konohamaru, it's only a suggestion that we look for the deed to the country and then maybe we can make a home for ourselves."
"He's right besides the whirling tides country was targeted so long ago for the Uzumaki clan specialty in sealing so we will have to be careful also to rebuild the whirlpool village will take money...LOTS of money." Nagato said as Konohamaru sighed and pouted, knowing they were right.
"Well at least we're almost done...wow we've been through so much together" Konohamaru said as he looked around at the strange group of people. His eyes soon stopped on the Hyuugas who everybody noticed was quiet and tense.
"Eh Hina-tenshi, Neji what's wrong?" Naruto asked as he sensed the dark thoughts from Neji and feared thoughts from Hinata.
"Sorry be we're not exactly thrilled to be in lightning country since we have a bad experiencing with cloud nin in the past" Neji said when Hinata didn't speak. Curious, the group asked how so and with Hinata's permission Neji explained about Hinata almost being kidnapped and the result being his dad's sacrifice. Everybody could literally feel the sadness, fear, and anger emitting from the two Hyuugas in which Naruto apologized for making them remember and state that they needed to find Itachi fast.
"I hope he wasn't caught by the cloud nin" Matsuri said softly while the Akatsuki let out a small chuckle, shaking their heads.
"Trust us, Itachi is way too smart to get caught that easily, heck he's a genius so there's nothing to worry about the weasel" Deidara said as the rest of the Akatsuki agreed which calmed Matsuri down.
"Now that's settled...where do we look first?" Yahiko said making some of them jump as they forgot about the quiet rain nin. Realizing that he had a point they group together and looked out a map that Sasori kept down with his tail while the group huddled together, one closer than the others.
"Ah Anko-san, what are you doing?" Naruto cried suddenly as Anko snuggled closer to him, ignoring the struggle as he tried to push her away.
"I'm freezing and you're warm end of discussion" Anko said as she moved closer that she was almost sitting in his lap. Anko still gave a shiver then grew still as is if lost in thought before there was a pop sound and Anko changed into a purple snake. "Ah much better" the snake said before she slithered up Naruto's shirt as he gave a yelp at the cold touch.
"Now what are you doing?" Naruto asked as he felt Anko coil around his stomach and stay there. Naruto's only response was "you're warm" and then the sound of light snoring as Anko fell asleep while Naruto's eye twitch at the weird feeling. Hinata giggled while Gaara explained to Naruto about reptiles hibernating when it got cold and explained Anko's behavior. Naruto just sighed as they got back to the map and looked at the area around the lightning country. While they were reading they noticed something white fall on the map and melt before it was followed by more and they realized that it was starting to snow as the air turned chilly.
"Brr, now I see why the snake kunoichi did what she did it's freezing up here" Kankuro said as he rubbed his shoulders to keep himself warm. Everybody started to complain about the cold and the poor choice of clothing for the weather except for Naruto, Hinata, and Konan who were walking heaters and Neji who was using fire chakra to keep warm. The rest of the clan could feel the heat radiating off them and decided to take a leaf from Anko's book and huddled closer not in their laps but close enough to be warm too. Nagato and Yahiko cuddled closer to Konan, same with Temari and Kankuro to Naruto, and Matsuri and Konohamaru to Hinata. Deidara used his tails to keep him and Sasori warm while Gaara didn't feel the cold due to the sand keeping in body heat.
"Ah, much better" Konohamaru said as he rubbed his cheek against Hinata's chest, earning an punch to the head by Naruto who told him to cut it out. After 20 more minutes and no further incidents the snow and wind started to pick up before they spotted something in the distance that made their turn to the map.
"Three Wolves Mountain found deep in the land of iron" Neji read as he looked down at the map that showed the mountains they were slowly approaching said landmark.
"So we be in the land of iron" Naruto said, stating the obvious as Neji rolled his 5 ringed eyes and muttered about saying that as he rolled up the map that threatened to blow away. Once the map was away, they had to hang on for the wind and snow suddenly picked up violently shaking the bird back and forth. "Hey Deidara can't you stir this thing?" Naruto yelled to be overheard over the roar of the wind while everybody huddled even closer as to not be blown away.
"The blizzard is making it hard to control, un. We're going to have to find shelter from the storm" Deidara screamed back as he willed the bird to dive as to get out of the heart of the snowy weather. Deidara kept the bird slightly upright as they dived down toward the ground fast and landed clumsily near the mountain as everybody slid off the clay bird's back. Shivering violently from the cold, they tried to use the bird as a shield from the cold but the wind was blowing from all directions, leaving no room for the bird to be used as a shelter.
"H-how b-bout w-we h-head f-for t-the m-mountain. T-there h-has t-to b-be a-a c-cave t-there t-to s-stay t-the n-night." Yahiko stuttered out due to the cold and not fully adjusted to being alive after so long. They all agreed and started to walk until Naruto stopped when he noticed that the others were too cold to move very fast. Naruto signaled to Hinata, Konan, and Neji as he told them his idea and they agreed before they changed into their animal, grabbed the clan members with their tails, deposited them on their back, and took off faster than they could have moved if they were walking. As not to get sick or sicker, they used their tails to shield them from the biting chill as they ran, the only thing on Naruto and Hinata's mind was to get their clan to safety.
"Almost there everybody we're almost there" Naruto said as the blizzard started to blow colder, cold enough that he could feel it and knew the rest could too. After another 10 minutes, the 4 large animals saw a door getting closer and slowed down as not to spook whoever was there. As they got close they were surprised to see two samurai in armor standing out side the door, blocking it as they approached. Naruto, Hinata, Neji, and Konan stopped 50 feet away and used their tails to move the clan from their backs all the way to the samurai as to not make them walk before they changed back and quickly joined them at the door.
"State your business" one of the guards said coolly as he looked at Naruto who clearly seemed like the leader when he stepped forward.
"We're just trying to find shelter from the storm, we don't mean any harm to anybody" Naruto said kind of quickly as he saw Konohamaru turning a nice shade of blue as he sneezed, body shaking with each sneeze. They heard a voice behind the samurai and they moved to show Mifune who had a slight frown on his face.
"You are the escapees from the fire nation and sand nation. You have made quite a name for yourselves in fire, wind, and earth country and now are known as the kuni no akuma no shizoku (demon nation clan). Now explain to me why we are beckoned with your presence." With those words Naruto quickly explained how they just wanted to find their friends and a place to call home all the time thinking about how cold the rest of his friends were as he used his tails to keep them warm. Mifune face expression didn't changed as he stated that the land of iron was a neutral ground and that he wanted to stay neutral so he couldn't let them stay and risk a war of the nations.
"We understand...sorry for bothering you" Naruto said regretfully as he turned towards the others, shivering a bit at the cold as they huddled together, trying to figure out what to do next. Mifune noticed this and spoke up once more saying that they could still until the stormed pass but then they would have to leave. Naruto and the rest quickly turned around, thanked him from the bottom of their hearts, before Naruto ushered everybody in before he stepped through. They quickly embraced the warm of the room before they were ushered to a giant fireplace as to help them warm up.
"Arigato" they all cried as they got as close to the fire as they could , sighing in happiness at being out of the cold. Naruto let out a small yelp when he felt something in his shirt stir and Anko poked her head out of the collar before she slithered down next to him, flickering her tongue around as she turned her head in confusion.
"What's wrong Anko-san?" Hinata asked as she watched the purple snake transform back into the purple haired jonin, surprising some of the guards as she looked at Hinata.
"I sense another animal and it seems so familiar but I'm not sure from where..." Anko sighed before she moved closer to the fire, a smile on her face as she warmed up her cold body. Neji asked what she meant to see if he could pick up the scent (remember Neji is a wolf so strong sense of smell) but before Anko could answer they heard a soft poof sound a fox appeared in front of them. This time it was Iruka's fox as he gave them the message that the teams were returning from water country after talking to the Mizukage who said she would think about releasing Kisame who turned himself in and explaining about what happened. Naruto sighed and thanked the fox before Sasori and Deidara talked to the fox.
"Has there been any word on Itachi's last location within lightning country" the two artist asked and received a head shake from the fox as Deidara cursed and Sasori thanked the fox before he said he could find out and disappeared back home to Konoha. Seeing nothing to do but wait until its return the group at a quick lunch of chilled onigirl before they headed to the rooms they were given and all took a nap as to refuel their chakra and energy. A couple hours later, the storm hadn't passed but everybody was well-rested and decided to meet up to see and plan where to go next. As they went back to the room with the large fireplace, looking at a map, there was another poof and Iruka's fox appeared in the middle of the map.
"Sorry about sitting on the map but I have news on the one called Itachi. It seems he was last seen going toward the land of iron about 2 days ago." They thanked the summoning and he disappeared again while the clan digested this new piece of information. As they were thinking a guard entered the room and informed them that dinner was ready which surprised them as they got up and followed the guard.
"Great now that were in the land of Iron that means Itachi has to be close" Naruto said as they walked into a large room with a table before they heard a chuckle come from behind them.
"Closer than you think Naruto-kun" the figure said as they turned to see Itachi smiling at them with his sharp weasel-like features. The group greeted the weasel as they took in his 6 lightning shaped tails and congratulated him on unlocking his animal. "Truthfully my animal was unlocked before we even got separated" Itachi stated as they took a seat at the table and dug into the food presented in front of them. As they started eating, Deidara asked how Itachi was doing as they watched him give a weak smile and say better which sparked everybody's curiosity.
"What you mean better? Did you have a rough time or something?"
"Yes, I had to flee from cloud nin and battle with Madara which-" Itachi didn't finish as the group got all excited as they remembered what Pain had told them.
"So you actually defeated him, I got to say I'm impressed on how you took him down by yourself" Nagato said but everybody grew quiet when Itachi shook his head while a ice-like feeling crept through everybody.
"Why you shaking your head like that Itachi, un? You mean you didn't take him down by yourself?" Deidara asked having a feeling he knew why but was hoping it wasn't. Everybody suspicion was confirmed by Itachi's next words.
"I didn't defeat or kill Madara...he's still alive." The room grew real quiet to the point you could hear the fire crackling from the fireplace as somebody tried to find something to say. Konan finally managed to ask how as Itachi sighed and went into and explanation on what happened to him when they had separated.
"After I was shot off, I landed in a valley where there was a cavern with tools, maps, and food. I found that I was in the valley of clouds and lightning in somebody's training room. Since I had no way of getting out I decided to stay a few days as to train in my new demon form which happens to be a six-tailed weasel." The group started to smile at this in which he muttered that the irony wasn't lost on him before they asked him what he can do. "I have the ability to control lightning around me and create both fire and lightning around my body which I can use to fly around in, interesting enough".
"Really, that's cool" Konohamaru spoke up as he imagined flying around in a ball of fire or lightning.
"Yes it was as I flew away from there and found my way near Kumo to gather information on what has been happening and any news of the clan. While there I met Yugito and explained to her where I had been staying in which she told me it was 8 tailed vessel Bee's place and introduced me to him." Itachi stopped and got a strange look on his face mix between amusement and surprise as he tried to figure out what to say next. "Bee was...interesting to say, there is really no real way to describe him." Naruto chuckled as he knew what he meant as the group ate some more of the food before they decided to ask Itachi about Madara.
"So how did you come to running away from cloud nin and facing off with Madara?" Nagato asked as the Akatsuki paid closer attention when Itachi started to explain.
"I saw Zetsu on the outskirts of Kumo and knew that Madara had to be nearby so I waited to see what he was up to. Turns out he was still after the biju, not believing that the 1, 2, and 9 tails were gone and wanted proof for himself." Itachi smirked before he continued. "The second I recognized Zetsu I had Yugito send a letter to Bee and told him hide before Yugito went to the Raikage and told him that Madara was after the biju which help foiled Madara's plan of supposedly getting two biju in one place." The group congratulated Itachi on his plan when Mifune entered the room and sat at the table with them a stoic look on his face as he asked to here the rest in which Itachi continued. "With that problem solved I was going to try and find Madara myself secretly because I thought I was in the clear but it turns out I was wrong. One of Bee's students recognized me talking to Yugito and reported back to the Kage who thought I was controlling Yugito to get to Bee since he knew about my sharingan. So when Yugito told me they were coming after me, I told her to stay with be while I fled and to make matters worse, Madara got word that I was in Kumo and followed the nin after me. I managed to avoid the cloud nin but Madara confronted me near here in an intense battle that drew the cloud nin to my location. Thankfully they were helping me fight Madara instead of trying to capture me."
"Sounds like you had an shocking surprise" Konan said jokingly as the group laughed while Itachi smiled and said that Madara had more of one than he did.
"That's how I almost defeated him, I had hidden my new form under a henge so when I let it go he was shock, pun united, to see my 6 tails and my ability to use electricity which I used to my advantage and almost had him down. However he had his own secret weapon in the form of one of Deidara's landmines which he threw at the cloud nin and set fire to it, causing a large explosion." Everybody but Deidara gasped while Deidara took a sip of his tea to soothe his throat, not use to talking this much to anybody. "I shielded the cloud nin with my tails and body so that I took most of the hit and when the smoke cleared there was nothing left but a tattered cloak. The cloud nin thought he was dead but I knew better but before I could gather more info on the scene I was once again forced to flee as the Kumo nin tired to capture me for questioning. And that is how I ended up here because I had collapsed in the snow from injuries and passed out but Mifune found me and brought me in." The group turned to Mifune who was quiet, listening to the story until it was his turn and went into his part of the situation while the table was cleared in front of them.
"I was out on patrol with a guard when we found him lying in the snow seriously injured so under the oath of a samurai we took him in and cleaned him up. We were surprised to see the ears and tails on him so we kept watch of him until he came too. A day later he awoke and explained what had happened which we learned to be truth in traveling news from lightning country. We allowed him to stay until his injuries were fully healed while he went out to try and find this Madara person again.
"Did you find him Itachi-k, Itachi?" Konan said with a slight blush while Yahiko looked at Nagato who shrugged before Itachi spoke again.
"Yes, it turns out he never left iron country and sent letters to Kumo to provoke the Raikage and demand he hand over Bee and Yugito. Thankfully they're still hidden and he doesn't know where they at...yet" Itachi said with a sigh as he looked at the rest of the group. "That's where I will need your help."
"Need our help with what?" Itachi-kun, er" Konan blushed brighter as Itachi coughed before he continued noticing the strange looks on Nagato and Yahiko's faces.
"I need your help in taking down Madara since he knows I'm here and I don't want to draw Iron country into this battle" Itachi stated simply as Mifune handed Naruto a letter which he skimmed and read to the group.
"Dear Mifune blah, blah, blah, hold dangerous criminal blah, blah, blah, challenge against land of Iron?...surrender or attack in 3 days! This idiot has lost his mind" Naruto yelled as he passed the note around so everybody could read before it was handed back to Mifune. The demon clan looked up at Itachi and asked if they had a chance at defeating Madara in which he smirked and said they did.
"I believe we have the power to defeat him but we will need some more help."
"From who?"
"Some old friends."
With that in mind the group finished their dinner and went to bed to rest up to prepare for the next three days. The next morning the sky was clear and the ground white with fresh snow as the demon nation clan (DNC) set up a meeting on who was staying and who was going to find Yugito and Bee. In the end the chosen group was Naruto, Hinata, Gaara, Neji, and Itachi to retrieve and the rest were to stay in case Madara didn't keep his word. With the promise to be back before the 3 days the group took off into the sky, Neji riding on Gaara's sand, toward the valley of clouds and lightning. With a map and Itachi's sense of direction they manage to find the valley within the hour then spent another hour looking for Bee's training home. When they found it, they landed and changed back before Naruto ran up and knocked on the door, happy to see Bee and Yugito again.
"Bee, Yugito it's me Naru-" Naruto never got to finish that because the door suddenly opened, knocking him back toward the stairs but before he could slip he was glomped, yes glomped by Yugito who had grabbed him.
"Naruto it's you, it's really you. Hey Bee Naruto is here along with some of the rest of the clan. Oh Naruto I'm happy you okay and I heard all about your escape, oh the Raikage is furious when I returned and-"
"Yugito give the boy some room, or he will pass out from lack of air soon" Bee rapped as he stepped out of the room to greet Naruto who was finally let go by Yugito. Naruto was taking in deep breaths from lack of oxygen while Hinata, Neji Gaara, and Itachi came forward to greet the 2 cloud nin. Naruto greeted Bee with a fist bump letting him know all that was happening while the others talked with Yugito about their adventure. When they finished they asked if they would help they both nodded, saying they always be there for their clan which Bee asked if he could join but Naruto was already unsealing a necklace before he had even asked. Bee was handed a star necklace with the 8 tailed snake and put it around his neck which glowed for a second before the snake changed into a chibi form of the Hacibi.
"Wow, that's strange, I guess since you still have your biju you can change into that form" Naruto said as the group looked in interest until Neji's ear twitched and he looked off in the distant.
"Naruto, somebody is coming fast and they sound happy" Neji said as Hinata turned into a small 9 tailed fox and took off to go see with her byakugan. 5 minutes later, she came back flying at a fast pace, a scared look on her face. She started to explain what she saw when Naruto told her to explain to Bee through a fist bump which she quickly did and he saw who was coming.
"This is not good, oh no, my bro is coming, we got to go" Bee said as he grabbed a key from the room and locked the door as Yugito cursed when she saw the Raikage and his bodyguards hop from the valley beside them to land on the one they were on. "Naruto we need to move, that you can see, get us out of here, A.S.A.P."
"Yea there is, everybody hang on!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed the group with his tails before he activated the rite on his arm and warped them back to the 3 wolves mountain leaving behind an enraged Raikage who thought Naruto had kidnapped them Bee and Yugito. Naruto and the rest suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, surprising all of them until they saw Yugito and caught up with her as she introduced everybody to Bee. Mifune entered the room and frowned when he saw Yugito and Bee before he turned towards Naruto.
"I don't tolerate kidnapping" Mifune started to say when Bee and Yugito quickly corrected him on how they volunteered to go with him because they wanted to help and owed it to them. Mifune nodded as Naruto thanked them before he tensed and looked around, everybody else doing the same.
"Yo Naruto, what's the matter, you acting strange, is your brain in a scatter?"
"Grr, Madara's here, I can sense him and I think rest can too" Naruto said as he noticed how on edge everybody else was as they moved Konohamaru, Matsuri, and Yahiko closer within their circle as they looked around trying to pinpoint Madara's location.
"Where is he, cause we got a plan, he should know better than to mess, with the biju clan" Bee said as Yugito nodded and got into a fighting position as her features became more feline as the love for her clan changed her.
"How about you check behind you" a voice said close to Bee as he turned to see a masked figure step backed to avoid Naruto's rasengan. They all turned to face him and heard Itachi tell them not to look into his eye since he had the sharingan which shocked everybody but they listened as they looked at the orange mask.
"So you finally came out of hiding Madara. It's time to end this now. We won't let you get Yugito nor Bee" Itachi smirked as he got into a fighting position along with the rest of the clan.
"I don't care for the previous biju anymore, I want the stronger power in front of me. After I seen what you could do and I bet the rest of the 'friends' are the same I will be unstoppable in ridding the world of war."
The demon nation clan knew exactly what he talking about and growled that he wouldn't control them and that they would fight for their freedom with all they had. Madara chuckled at their "famous last words" before he summoned a ganbi (war fan) on his back and used the chain attached to defend himself against the samurai who tried to attack him.
"I don't tolerate fighting in my home" Mifune said, anger heard in his voice, directed at Madara who laughed as he defended himself against the samurai's swords and used his kama on the end of the chain to attack the samurai. The biju clan quickly split, Naruto and Anko picking up the fallen and moved them over to the other kunoichi for healing while the rest of the clan defended the samurai until they could retreat.
"This will not stop me" Madara said as he threw the chain that suddenly wrapped around Mifune's neck and warped over to him before he brought his kama to slice Mifune's neck from his shoulders. "Die!" Madara yelled as he went to behead Mifune but was stopped when a tail wrapped around the blade of the sickle drawing blood but not letting up. Naruto ignored the pain as Sasori used his four scorpion tails to force Madara back from Mifune but started to choke him as he tightened the chain.
"Kuso Sasori, Anko use some kind of poison or acid to stop the chain" Naruto yelled as he held onto the sickle, knowing if he let go it would fly forward and slice his head off. Neji and Itachi were busy trying to battle Madara while he was busy while Bee and Yugito pulled on the chain to keep it from completely choking Mifune. Anko and Sasori let a yellowish liquid fall from their fangs and stinger that made a hissing sound as it touched the metal chain and melted it breaking the connection to Madara. Bee and Yugito quickly removed the chain from Mifune's neck as he took in deep breaths while Madara jumped back to avoid Itachi and Neji. The duo moved back to Mifune from another attack as Madara faced them, a smirk behind his mask.
"Impressive, I see you are indeed stronger than the rest of the biju, good thing I haven't started collecting them yet or I would have wasted my time" Madara said as his arms twitched and the group saw something shot from them right at them. Before they even had time to blink, the chains wrapped around Naruto and Hinata binding around their arms, tail, and neck forcing them forward and draining their chakra at the same time. The two biju clan leaders struggled to escape as the clan tried to figure out how to save them.
"You can't fight me, you will obey me" Madara yelled as he forced Naruto and Hinata in front him but they weren't giving up without a fight. Naruto head-butted Madara and Hinata kicked him in the crotch making him gasp out in pain before Naruto and Hinata rammed into his with their shoulders pushing him back but was soon grunting in pain as Madara tightened the chains. With them further restricted he forced them to look into his eye as they continued to struggle before their bodies went limp from lack of control.
"Damnit" Itachi cursed as he tried to go attack and save the leaders but before he could move more than 3 steps a group of Zetsu popped out of the ground and grabbed them all while Madara casually walked toward Itachi and punched him in the stomach. Itachi cough before he glared at Madara, eyes changing as his sharingan turned yellow with red tomoe and a slit iris surprising the masked Uchiha while Itachi snarled at him, electricity surging off his body as he changed into a 6 tailed weasel, forcing the Zetsu on him off.
"So you reverted back to that form" Madara stated emotionlessly until he saw the rest of the group start to change forcing the rest of the white half of Zetsu back. "So the rumors were true" Madara sounded surprise before he let out an evil laugh that sent shivers down Matsuri and Konohamaru's spines. "This is even better. I have 8 of the 9 strongest biju right within my grasp and I will use you to make my dream of world peace come true" Madara said still laughing while Itachi took a step forward.
"Over our dead bodies" Itachi snarled as the rest of the clan muttered in agreement before they tensed when Naruto and Hinata stepped in front of Madara, chains finally removed as they waited for his command.
"Don't try anything Itachi or did you forget I got your leaders under my control. Also with the rite on the brat's arm I can force you anywhere I want so I don't even have to battle you or the rest."
The clan members tensed and growled as they looked at Naruto and Hinata who had their heads down, silent.
'Come on you two, you're stronger than this' Neji thought as he activated his byakugan to see if there was anything he could do but noticed that the two kitsune's hands barely twitched. Thankfully Neji was the only one to notice this and realized what was happening as he kept his byakugan activated and slowly fueled chakra to his hand all the while tapping the group around him in morse code about what was about to happen. The rest relayed the message on to the others before Konan growled and shot out a barrel of blue flames at Madara who used Hinata and Naruto's tails to deflect it.
"With these two under my control you have no chance soon all you will be under my control and won't be able to defeat me" Madara laughed until he noticed Neji's smile which made him frown. Before he could figure out the reason for the smile Itachi shot lightning from his tails at an arch to hit Madara who fazed part of his body to avoid it and reformed only to have Matsuri's Jōhyō wrap around his waist while Nagato, Yahiko, Anko, Matsuri, and Konohamaru held on. "Do you think just because you have me tied up for now that you still have a chance?" Madara asked until he heard three different voices laughing.
"Yes-" Neji said as he stepped forward and summoned his staff.
"We-" Hinata said as she jumped away from him and beside Neji, summoning her sais at the same time.
"Can" Naruto said as he looked up at the clan who noticed his blue eyes had changed silver with specks of blue and red before he summoned his sword and stabbed back into Madara's stomach. The masked Uchiha cried out in pain before he felt his 5 minutes were up and warped to the far side of the room, hand trying to stop the flow of blood seeping through his Akatuski cloak. They sensed the aura of surprise and anger as he looked at them, sharingan spinning as he noticed the smirk on Naruto's face.
"But how, how were you able to escape the control of my sharingan?" he asked as he noticed that Hinata's eyes were the same color except with specks of lavender and red.
"Why Madara, hasn't anybody ever told you that a mere mortal can't control a deity of any level, especially ones that have the blessing and soul of Inari." Hinata said in a child-like way as Naruto jumped back to join Neji and Hinata while they smelled the anger radiating off Madara before he threw his chakra chains at them once more but they were prepared this time. Naruto and Hinata blocked the chains with their tails and grabbed hold before Neji used his staff to send flames down the chains that burned Madara's hands, making him drop the hot metal. The trio took up another fighting position as the rest of the clan stepped back, Bee, Yugito, and Mifune watched in amazement at the power they all held.
"You won't escape Madara" Naruto said as he sensed the anger and tiredness from Madara who smirked behind his mask.
"But I can" he said before he started used his time-space warp to retreat, leaving the rest of the group to curse at his escape.
"Now what are we going to do" Kankuro asked until he and the rest noticed the way Naruto and Hinata were smirking.
"We start training and then we will go after him."
"How do we do that? We don't even know where he is?" Yahiko asked while the grin on Naruto's face grew bigger.
"Do you think I head-butted his mask and rammed into his shoulder for nothing?"
"What do you mean?" Gaara asked until they heard Bee laugh and say he figured out before he broke out into a rap.
"Yeah, that's my boy, he used his might, he marked that masked guy, all over with his rite. That masked freak think he can run, but he can run, but he forgot that you're your father's son. Yeah"
Naruto chuckled as they watched him fuel chakra to his body and watched as the rite appeared on his head then disappear and reappear on his shoulder through his clothing before disappearing again. They all realized what Bee meant as they stated that he attached it to his mask and stomach in which Naruto nodded, smiling all the time. They congratulated Naruto on his smart thinking until Temari spoke up and asked what happened if he removed the mask and through it away or found a way to remove it from his stomach.
"If he does manage to do either he is still traceable because I applied a third rite to the tip of my sword so when I stabbed him I had it go into his bloodstream so he can't escape unless he is able to drain his body of blood and live. However this is only 1 drawback to this and that it requires either his blood or a relative's blood to find him."
Everybody looked at Itachi who nodded and said they could use his blood to find him when they were ready in which they thanked him before turning toward Mifune who was seeing the last of his samurai been taken care of. When he turned toward them, they apologized for fighting in his home which he waved away saying that the apology wasn't necessary.
"You have not only saved my men from dying, you have saved me and we are forever in your debt. If you would like you can use our training arena to get stronger for your next battle with him." Naruto and the rest of the clan thanked him as he showed the arena but turned to them with a serious look on his face. "I advise that you train hard and leave as soon as you can before the next week. The 5 Kage are holding a meeting here in one week to discuss what do about your clan."
"Thank you for the heads up, Mifune-san" Naruto said as he nodded and left to check up on his guards as Naruto looked at the rest of the clan. "Alright so we have about a week to train so let's get started" Naruto said a fist in the air as the rest of the clan cried out in agreement before they went into the chamber to get started on one of the biggest battles of their lives.
Elsewhere, Konoha nin consisted of the rest of the teams, the sensei, and the 2 sennin were resting as they were on their way to lightning county toward the land of iron for the 5 Kage summit. The teams were tensed as they sped forward, Sakura making things worse as she talked about what they would do with the clan.
"I mean they should be forced to come back, don't you think Sasuke-kun...Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called out when the Uchiha didn't answer as he was quiet since the beginning of the trip. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out loudly before she was at blade point with Sasuke's katana, his sharingan activated and spinning widely.
"Shut up and leave me alone you pink-haired slut" Sasuke growled shocking everybody as Sakura started to cry before she grew angry and asked what she did wrong. "You're way of thinking is what you did wrong. No I don't think they should be brought back but free to let them live their life. At least they have a better reason than I did to leave" Sasuke muttered that last part before he walked away from the gaping pink-haired kunoichi while the rest of the teams secretly smiled.
'It's about time that stubborn Uchiha grew up' they thought as Tsunade told them it was time to move again as they got into formation and took off toward their destination.
In Kumo, the Raikage was beyond furious as watched Bee and Yugito "kidnapped" by Naruto and taken somewhere far away. Bee's students tried to talk to the Raikage about Bee maybe volunteering in which he didn't listen. To make matters worse, he said he was going to declare war on Konoha at the summit which had Bee's students sweating bullets as they wondered how Bee would take it when he learned of the news.
"We're moving out next week so I want my strongest warrior to be with me too" he told C and Darui as they nodded and went to get him while Omoi and Karui sighed before walking away back to Bee's place. When they got there they were surprised to see a tanuki sitting on his doorstep, looking up at them.
"Are you Omoi and Karui?" the tanuki asked as they nodded before he related Bee's message non-rap about his location and what he was doing. "Bee wants you two to know that he and Yugito are fine, they volunteered to go with Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, and Itachi back to the 3 Wolves Mountain. They will be staying there until they defeat Madara who is still alive and trying to capture them now. They will be moving on before the week is up." The two cloud nin were shocked and quickly relayed a message back to the tanuki to tell Bee before he the raccoon-dog disappeared.
"Oh let's hope they have some kind of plan to deal with this problem. Those Konoha nin better know what they're doing are we all are going to have a problem on our hands" Karui cried as they went inside to claim their swords that Bee was sharpening for them before they went home to get ready for the week. Unknown them somebody had overheard the tanuki's message and was shocked at what he heard until he heard his name being called to find C and Darui approaching him.
"There you are H, the Raikage wants you to join him on the trip to Iron country" C said with a slight frown on his face while Darui told him to lighten up. H nodded and walked away with the two bodyguards, ignoring the look C kept shooting at him while he was deep in thought, shades not giving any of his thoughts away while his long braided hair slapped him in back with every step.
Sitting in a Kiri jail cell in the water country, Kisame sighed as he tried to get comfortable on the small bed that couldn't fit his large frame. "That's what I get for trying to do the right thing" Kisame muttered before he sighed and sat up, not finding no way to get any sleep. He was thinking about how the group and wondered how they were doing since the last thing he heard of them they were on their way to lightning country where Itachi was. While he was thinking about the clan he heard footsteps getting closer to his cell as he looked at the door. He heard the sound of a key opening and the Mizukage appeared as she opened the door, her guard Chōjūrō, looking at Kisame with a surprised look.
"Kisame, is that really you?" the short blue-haired man say as he looked at the shark man who resembled even more of a shark complex after he unlocked this necklace. (think like when he combines with Samehada with the tails and fin on his back but have same hair style.)
"Yea it me you little shrimp" Kisame said smiling his usual shark gin as he looked at his fellow swordsman. "So what honor do I have to have the lovely Mizukage come visit me?" Kisame asked as he looked at the auburn haired woman in front of him who was smiling as she asked him to tell her the truth.
"I want to hear from you mouth what the clan intentions are before I head off" the Mizukage said as she looked at Kisame who said with seriousness that their only intention was to find the clan and look for a home.
"So who all is in this clan, hmm?"
"That I know of so far, the ex-Kazekage Gaara, I heard his siblings joined, Yugito but she in lightning, Konan from rain, me also, Sasori from wind, some Hyuuga name Neji, Itachi, kunoichi named Anko, another Hyuuga name Hinata, and Naruto, all from fire. Although I heard they picked up some more along the way, heck guess they live up to the new name: demon nation clan."
"Who is the leader of this clan?"
"Well we never got that far but I would have to say the strongest ones which would have to be Naruto and his Hyuuga mate Hinata."
"What makes them the strongest?"
"Maybe because they hold the strongest spirit within them, the blessings and part of the soul of their fox deity Inari, the 9 tailed kitsune. Not only that they also have become the two strongest kitsune supposedly known to man, the kitsune of light and the vixen of dark."
The Mizukage stared at Kisame who stared right back as everybody around process this information before the Kage nodded and gave Kisame a small smile. "Thank you now stay in cell while me and my guards go off to the summit to learn what to do with the clan." Kisame's eyes grew wide as he stood up, staring at the Mizukage making Chōjūrō tense. Kisame noticed this, sighed and sat back down, a knowing smirk on his face that didn't get pass the Mizukage as she asked him about it.
"I just figured out the reason for the meeting but let me ask you this...do you know the reason why non of the other nations caught them yet or why Konoha gave up trying?" When the Kage shook her head, Kisame gave a smile chuckle as he continued. "It's because that clan, especially their leader, is too stubborn to go down or call it quits even when things seem grim. That blonde brat and the clan will fight for their freedom no matter what is thrown at them and will find a way to succeed in the end because as Naruto would say, that's our way of the ninja." The room grew quiet as that hung in the air while the 5th water Kage blinked and nodded, saying she would remember that before she closed the door and walked away with her bodyguard back to her office to get prepared for departure.
"I really wish she would have let me go but she's the Mizukage like that's going to happen" Kisame muttered before he laid back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Kisame frowned when he realized how quiet it was when there was usually a guard or two by the door and nearly jumped when he heard a soft creak sound. He looked toward the door to notice it was slightly ajar as if someone
Forgot to lock it behind their visit. Surprised etched the sharkman's face before he smirked as he got up and walked toward his freedom. 'I knew she had a heart' Kisame thought as he opened the cell door further to see his sword sitting next to it on the wall. "Aw, did you miss me Samehada, now let's get the hell out of here" he said as he attached his sword to his back and left the jail room behind. (A/N: It's an underground cell so he could easily sneak away and people won't know for days)