Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

39. Pre-Gap Arc - Unfinished Business

Author's Note: Thought that I was going to leave it like that, huh? Not a chance in hell. I'm just getting started and I'm not even half way through. This story is too fun to leave it at a bullshit ending like that.

If you thought I just put in Naruto's death because people were complaining, well you can chuck those thoughts out the door because I'm following a very specific formula in writing this story. Unlike Kishimoto, I've planned and written the entire Drifting story in the form of a summary from start to finish, meaning I know exactly what events will take place from this point onwards all the way to the very last chapter like I've done for every single one of my stories, so prepare for the ride of your lives.

Before we move on, I feel the need to address some things people may have issues with, mainly concerning the strength of the characters.

To all those who think Tsubaki was defeated too easily by Temujin because he was overpowered, that is not the case. Temujin is exactly the same strength as he was from the movie he was featured in (and he was quite strong to boot), save for the new, tower shield he wields in my story. As it was addressed countless times before, Tsubaki is absolutely vulnerable against wind release attacks as it's her Achilles heel, meaning her lightning and magnet release attacks have no affect on opponents that are able to nullify her lightning style chakra. As shown in the movie, Temujin uses a powerful wind style type of energy with his Gelel stone that he can use to coat his armor and weapon, and like Chojuro, can smack Tsubaki out of the air with a wide spread attack and inflict incredible damage on her.

It wasn't a case of another over powered character being matched against another. To all those who guessed right in their reviews, she was sorely mismatched.

Guren on the other hand is a little bit different. In this story, to coincide with the time changes I have made in Drifting, Guren has been sent on a mission by Orochimaru to hunt down the Sanbi for him. This being the case, it is to be expected by everyone that she's trained a lot more than in the original story and has the strength to possibly subdue the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle should she happen across it by accident. I'm sure everyone who is reading this fic has noticed that many of the other characters have also changed over the course of this story compared to canon.

In the anime canon, it showed Guren was able to hold her own against the beast in its full form and fight it for quite some time, even subdue it temporarily. I also noticed there is a big difference between a jinchuriki using a three-tailed cloak and the actual Three Tails itself in its full grown form, so Naruto being beaten by Guren isn't that big of a stretch, especially the Guren in this story. Naruto would get squashed by the Sanbi if he was fighting against it in his three-tailed mode, since I'm sure a fully formed biju, no matter the number of tails they have, is a lot stronger than a jinchuriki only using a couple of tails or doses of their biju's chakra.

That doesn't mean Naruto didn't give her a hard time.

I am also aware of the fact that there was the issue of bijus not being as strong without a jinchuriki host, as they're not smart enough to use their abilities effectively. However, according to the manga, and because the tailed beasts have been revealed to be actually intelligent, free-thinking beings with their own consciousness and can use their powers effectively, this has proven to be false.

Again, this Guren is different in my story. She has four additional jutsu on top of her already vast arsenal, including the ability to break apart her body into crystal particles and use the sun's rays to fire a beam of sunlight. The solar attack I was inspired by the Criminal Brother Renga from the Naruto filler series, who in the copy that I own says depending on the position of the sun, he could amplify the sun's rays through his glass style ninjutsu and wipe out an entire country with it. It's a technique I gave to Guren, since I saw a lot of potential in that move.

For the most part, a lot of the other characters have remained unchanged. And after the bullshit that's taking place in the manga at this point, I'm sure all of you are looking forward to some changes, so I won't keep you waiting any longer with this next installment. Enjoy.

---

NARUTO

Drifting

Unfinished Business

"W-Where am I?" Naruto murmured quietly, his voice echoing out into the dark and being sucked into the void that surrounded him. Giving a few tired blinks to the blackness hanging in front of his face and shaking his head to rid himself of the dizziness, the jinchuriki quickly did away with the exhaustion racking his form and, upon finally finding a sense of physical equilibrium with himself, began looking around his plain of realty, searching for something, anything, that could give him a clue as to where he was. But after a few minutes of trying to pierce the shadows encroaching on his person, the boy emerged with nothing. Not even a speck of dust. "I… I can't see anything. What is this place?"

This was a place he'd never seen before. Nor was it somewhere he remembered venturing to in his dreams, although it did feel very familiar.

Cold.

Unforgiving.

Dark.

Empty.

There was absolutely no light whatsoever. Hell, there wasn't even a horizon the boy could make out, even through his eagle-like gaze. Seeing nothing but an unending darkness stretching all around him, the confused jinchuriki from Konohagakure closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought back to the very last moments he could remember leading up to his eventual awakening in this unknown realm.

It was a perplexing thing. As he pondered, Naruto could feel his skin touched by a light breeze from a nearby ocean and his toes edge across solid ground beneath his feet, sensations that had him step forward and reach out in an effort to find the source of these elements. However, when he opened his eyes and tried to see where these feelings of a tangible world were coming from, his expression sunk when he couldn't even see two centimeters past his nose.

Without any light, any and all efforts he made trying to find out where he was, was rendered useless.

The feelings of loneliness attributed to his perplexity and his fears, but being one who frequently ventured out into the unknown, the boy sucked it up and continued digging through his thoughts, in hopes of finding some clue that could help him arrive at an answer. With his sense of balance finally returning to him, things were looking good.

Soon enough, his mind was able to work through the jumble of memories plaguing his head and after some thorough sorting and well-executed perseverance, eventually came up with flashes of his last conscious thoughts before his fall into this dark world.

It became as clear as day to the blonde haired warrior. Naruto recalled fighting a great battle on a distant island, a mission that he and a team had been sent on with friends from another village. There were faces too. Familiar faces. Tayuya. Samui. Hinata. Choji. Tsubaki. Kiyoko. Omoi. Karui. He remembered a woman, crystals jutting out of the earth, and a flash of white light when he tried to close in on her. Then he remembered words and then… nothing. Just a sharp jab of pain to his chest and sleep. Considering the memories flooding through him, the outcome of whatever catastrophe he'd been involved with wasn't that bad. Sure, he'd been in searing pain moments before blacking out, but then all of that just vanished when he allowed his eyes to flutter closed and he was able to escape to this… this…

Wherever the hell he was now.

Still, finding himself befuddled by this strange place and not having the faintest idea where he was, the blonde, still clothed in his orange uniform and vest, wandered across the floor towards what he hoped was the distant horizon. However, with nothing but the night sky with no stars surrounding him on all sides, Naruto had no clue as to where any of the vanishing points were or where the curvature of the planet was. In the end, all he did was end up wandering aimlessly for several minutes across a vast plate of nothingness.

Eventually though, after what felt like hours of walking, the determined young male suddenly stopped in his tracks and, feeling a warm glow of an unknown source beating against the side of his face, turned his head and looked to see what it was. When his gaze eventually landed on the cause, Naruto quickly identified a camp fire in the middle of a circle of fallen logs, which had seemingly been setup behind his back.

Immediately enticed by the sight, the blonde wandered over to the orange fire burning away in the center, where he quickly stopped and watched the embers drift into the sky above before his brow furrowed curiously.

"Where did this come from?"

His question went on unanswered for some time.

But then, just as he thought he was going to end up wandering this endless desert of solitude all alone for the rest of eternity, Naruto's eyes suddenly looked over his shoulder when he heard a pattering of loud footsteps behind him…

…and nearly jumped in shock when he saw the Kyuubi's enormous form emerge from the darkness. His entire body wrapping around the glowing fire in the middle, the gargantuan mass of the Nine-Tails came to rest on the cold floor sitting upright, with his blood red eyes looking down at the boy staring up at him with a bewildered look on his face.

Seeing the youngster's shock reflected in his expression, the fox was all set to throw a smart-aleck remark his way. However, after everything that had transpired in the past hour and after seeing the shit that the kid had to go through, for once in his immortal life the demon didn't feel like taking any jabs at his container, and instead gave the young Jonin a look of utter despondency.

"F-Furball?" Naruto murmured.

The fox, staring into the boy's confused face, frowned sadly. "I'm sorry… kid…"

"Where are we?" the jinchuriki asked while looking around the place once more. "Th-This isn't my subconscious, is it? Because… if it is…"

The Nine-Tails shook his head. "No… it isn't."

"Then… what is this place?" Naruto continued quietly, fixing his gaze up at the entity whose face became illuminated by the campfire burning away in front of them.

Blinking at the teen's lack of sense and awareness, the large demon then breathed a sigh and, crossing his arms on the floor in front of him, laid his head to rest on it. "This is the place that souls go to the moment they die. It's also the place that I and the other biju come to hang out for a little while until our bodies disappear and reform back in the land of the living." This announcement immediately had Naruto's attention, the blonde's eyes visibly widening as he looked up at the demon staring down at him. Seeing realization flash across the young man's gaze, the nine-tailed fox gave a slight smile before frowning once more. "In other words… this is the waiting room to the afterlife."

Baffled by this information, Naruto turned away slowly with a look of disbelief and incredulity forming on the canvas of his face. It took several minutes for him to process the storm of thoughts flooding into him at the outset of the great reveal, but after giving the whole thing the necessary amount of pause and contemplation required, trained his eyes downwards and fixed his gaze upon his hands, which he began to turn as if checking for anything out of the ordinary. But knowing exactly how the boy acted in times like this, the Kyuubi knew right away what was going on with him.

"Y-You mean…" the jinchuriki gulped with a weak tremor in his voice, "I'm dead?"

"You and me both," the Kyuubi murmured, also looking away before coming back around to see the boy running his hands over his face in shock. Figuring he was about to freak out, the fox leaned over slightly and nudged him in the shoulder with his nose. "Hey… don't let it get to you. It happens to everybody eventually. You just got called in early."

Still overwhelmed, Naruto gazed up at the fox for several moments, before then turning his eyes back towards the fire burning away in the center of the formation. Staring into the flames and the embers floating up into the infinite atmosphere above, the blonde lost himself in the moment, his teeth and hands clenching, and his brow furrowing as the true weight of the fox's words was finally realized.

"I guess I… just couldn't hash it this time… huh?" Naruto spoke again, at the same time glaring into the smoke floating up from the burning wood.

The Kyuubi, frowning even more so, fixed his attention elsewhere that was not on the boy.

Though he was displeased and pissed off that he'd copped it too, he couldn't blame his container for any of this. Naruto was strong. There was no way he could deny that. The only thing was that he'd run into someone who was much stronger than him. As much as the Kyuubi prided himself as being the most powerful of all the biju, there was only so much he could do when sitting inside of a child behind one of the toughest, most complex seals ever made by the Uzumaki clan. The Fourth practically ensured that.

Hell, his physical body was still trapped behind the bars inside of his jinchuriki's body. So until it completely dispels when the last sliver of the kid's life force finally ebbed away, he was going nowhere.

Since they couldn't do anything while they were here, except walk across the blackness of the void, the fox decided right then that he was going to spend his next few months of wandering through limbo chatting with the blonde who'd spent every night for the past year since discovering he was a jinchuriki bothering him. His gaze fixing on the fire as well, the Kyuubi once again engaged in conversation with the youngster still trying to regain his bearings.

"I'm very sorry, gaki… really… I am," the fox murmured, knowing how badly this whole thing must be affecting him. "But this is how it is in life. Only the luckiest and most determined of shinobi ever see their dreams through to the end. While I'm not going to deny that you've definitely had both of these pushing you forward up until this point, sometimes all it takes is one little thing, just one bump in the road ahead of you, to mess it all up."

Naruto had had goals he wanted to live up to; dreams he wanted to see through to the end of his days. The Kyuubi knew this, as he'd been there with him for every spirited declaration and ludicrous action he'd made in his life. The blonde troublemaker had been the gutsiest, most unpredictable and damn near indestructible being the fox had ever met, and perhaps the best container he'd had the entire time he'd been forced to serve as an asset to the hidden leaf village.

But this boy didn't treat him anything like the weapon or beast other people made him and his kin out to be, nor did he even spare any lingering thought over the idea for selfish reasons.

The blonde had treated him as an equal, a friend, and somebody whom he could share a genuine conversation with and look squarely in the eye without even a hint of fear or hesitation. It was what surprised the fox the most about the young Uzumaki, and gave the Kyuubi more than a few moments of pause over, especially now.

Naruto was a person who could connect with people's hearts and make friends with even the most stubborn of mules. Sometimes it took a bit of time and sometimes his charm got you on the first swing. He had people that he loved deeply and whom loved him in return…

And, thanks to the most recent of circumstances to befall them, the young Jonin had unwittingly left all of them behind in the wake of his defeat at the hands of Orochimaru's right-hand woman.

It was something that had the Kyuubi cringe at as he saw the sad eyes of his host turn back to him. Of course, when he saw the blonde look in his direction once again, as if to give him another one of his energetic declarations that he wouldn't let something like this get to him or that he wasn't going to give up now, the fox balked when all he saw were unshed tears glistening in the boy's irises, which shimmered with both hurt and dismay. It had the nine tails stare at him in silence for some time, before the Jonin then cracked a shaky smile as a couple of tears finally fell freely down his cheeks.

"Tayuya-chan… is going to cry… isn't she?" Naruto murmured in a hoarse voice, "Samui-chan… and Isaribi-chan too… right?"

Hearing the break in his vocals, the fox stared in bewilderment for several seconds before looking down once again. After a minute of deep contemplation and hearing the crackling of the fire echo out across the plain of nothingness, the nine-tails nodded sadly and gazed up once more. When he did, he saw Naruto wipe his tears away and move around the log in front of him to sit on it. When he plopped his backside down and crossed his arms over his stomach, the youngster stared into the heart of the fire, a blank look on his face as he thought back on everything he'd done in his life.

Now that it'd come to this, there was only one thing he could really say.

A smile tugging on his lips, Naruto expressed a harsh chuckle to choke back the tears and shut his eyes, "Guess the next thing I have to do is try and find a way out of here." This had the Kyuubi's eyes snap to him in surprise, where the fox then saw the boy turn and throw him his trademark grin, albeit with tears at the corners of his eyes. "For both of us. Yeah? Furball?"

Ears twitching as he stared the child down, watching him move back around and face the fire once again, the fox then looked at the ground for a good, hard moment. Pondering over the storm of thoughts and emotions now whirling inside his head as his tails whipped about behind him at their own pace, the enormous entity of chakra then fixed his firmest look on the child and, breathing in deeply, spoke up again.

"Kurama…"

The word bouncing off of him like a shot to the head, Naruto stared up in surprise before turning back to the giant fox resting behind him with an astonished visage. When he did, he saw the biju crack a genuine smile his way and nod his head from where it was resting.

"You asked me what my name was at the Chunin Exams. Well… seeing as that this may be the last time we ever get to speak with one another… I think I'll honor you with this one allowance." His expression didn't falter in the slightest. "My name is Kurama."

Stunned that the Kyuubi had finally divulged his real name to him, the blonde gawked at the fox in silence, leaving them suspended in darkness for a good, long while. When his head finally did the lap that was perhaps one of the biggest revelations in his life to this point, the jinchuriki's grin widened and life returned to his sad eyes once more. His characteristic smile flashing in the night, he nodded to the fox and giggled ecstatically, at the same time rocking back and forth in his seat.

"It's nice to meet you… Kurama."

As if saying his name was just a regular, everyday occurrence for him, which it wasn't, the fox merely grunted in response and closed his eyes. However, just as he was about to drop out and take a nice long nap, the Kyuubi suddenly felt something crawl up the side of his body and cracked an eye. When he looked, he saw the blonde haired runt of a Jonin clamber up onto his back and sprawl out across his fur when he eventually got to the top of the mountain. Surprise at first dominating his reaction, the Nine-Tails watched as the teen let out a hearty breath of air before a chuckle escaped his lips, the expression on the Uzumaki's face showing just how pleased he was at making it this far.

"I've always wanted to do this… ever since I met you," Naruto laughed, listening to his words echo into the distance and the tails of the fox whip above him in the night sky.

Staring for a moment, Kurama then cracked a smirk of his own and closed his eyes again, making sure his head was comfortably laid down before drifting off into his regular day dreams. Since there was nothing to do in this place except talk and rest, he chose to go with both options.

"Just a word of warning… if we get out of this… and if you ever tell anyone I let you crawl on top of me… I will eat you. Got it?"

This earned a boisterous laugh from Naruto as he rolled over and ran his hand through the fox's fur. After getting comfortable as well, an honest smile then formed and the young upstart stared back towards the Kyuubi's napping head with a happy glow radiating off of him.

"Yeah… I got it."

Man. He couldn't wait to get out of here.

OOO

Meanwhile…

On the beach…

Tsubaki was livid.

She just didn't know how to explain it. She had tears running down her cheeks and a sad expression on her face, yes. But as a whole, not only was she clenching her fists in anger at their group's loss, she was also angry at how easily Naruto, the boy whom she'd come to view as one of her closest friends and allies, and respect as one of the strongest shinobi she'd ever come across, could just keel over so easily.

You could understand her frustrations as she glared down at his body and saw both Tayuya and Samui crying over it. There was a point in her life not so very long ago when she remembered being the strongest ninja of her generation. When she became a Genin of her village and trained herself in the ways of the kunoichi, not only did she become confident in her ability to do the impossible, but she also grew to believe with absolute certainty that she would be able to defeat anyone willing enough to face her in battle. It was this assurance in herself that shone above all others when she entered the Chunin Exams and passed through every single test she was confronted with effortlessly, to the point that when she entered the third and final stage of the testing period, she believed she would make it to the end uncontested and undefeated.

However, just when she was so close to reaching the absolute height of her glory, the peak of the mountain and the position coveted by many as the seat of invincibility, this blonde haired, whisker-faced, blue-eyed boy wonder suddenly came screaming out of nowhere with an iron fist, knocked her off her high horse and sent her plummeting over the edge. A boy, who wasn't even totted to be a genius of any kind and who seemed unremarkable in comparison to the other contestants, walked out onto the field, and showed her that she wasn't invincible, that she was a kunoichi with flaws and weaknesses just like everybody else, and that she wasn't above any of them.

He was the first to show her the light, that it wasn't power that earned you the respect of those around you and a place in life, but the people whom you filled your life with; friends, individuals whom you could share your adventures with, speak with, and love and be loved by in return. He showed her that she wasn't alone in this world and that with hard work, practice, patience, and by never giving up and getting back to your feet no matter how many times you get knocked down, anyone could do anything in this world.

Having watched him throughout that entire tournament, seeing him reach the end of that path and hearing of all his adventures on their excursion here, she saw a boy with the capacity to do anything; someone who could push through the thick of it, no matter the obstacles, and come out the other side to show the world that he meant business and he was there to take it on.

What happened to that indomitable spirit? Where was that bastard now? Lying here dead at her feet?!

Her sad expression giving way to one of anger, Tsubaki stood up, startling the group of kids in front of her when she stepped forward and slapped her hands together to form a seal.

"No!" Her shout drawing Tayuya and Samui's gazes up to her, the team then saw electricity start to course between her palms as she separated them, the sparks flashing and flickering when she funneled her chakra to a single point. Pressing them together and rubbing them, the Jonin from Kiri glared down at the boy's body and nodded. "You're right, Tayuya. Something as pathetic as this can't beat him. Not a chance in hell. I won't let it." Seeing the startled looks come upon their red-eyed, tear-strung expressions, the orange haired girl gestured to them. "Samui, cradle his head. I'm going to jumpstart his heart."

Shocked at what she was proposing, Choji stepped forward, "C-Can you really do that?"

"Yeah. Since the spear missed the primary organ, with a big enough charge I should be able to resuscitate him."

"But… can your lightning style chakra really help him?" Karui asked, quickly feeling doubts about the method of revival she was proposing.

The Jonin nodded affirmatively. "When he was conscious and fighting against me, he could completely nullify my electricity. But since he's out of it and doesn't have his wind style chakra protecting him, I'd like to see him try and stop me this time," Tsubaki stated, at the same time limping forward as jolts of lightning shot off of her palms.

Registering to what the girl was intending to do, Tayuya, her determination reigniting instantaneously, looked down at the jinchuriki searchingly for a moment before her gaze perked up in sudden realization. "His pouch." Moving down, the redhead quickly opened up the shuriken pack on his belt and began rummaging through the items inside. When Hinata and everybody else looked to see what the girl was doing, they saw the redhead's hand reemerge holding a small bamboo shoot container. Taking off the top, she emptied it out and three pink berries fell into her palm, which she rolled around and clenched between her fingers. "These are eastern fire berries."

"Fire berries?" Chojuro murmured, before remembering exactly what kind of fruits those were.

Tayuya shuffled back over to Naruto's mouth and opened it up, "These should keep him from falling out if this works. I'm sure it'll be more than enough to keep him awake." Once she was certain she'd opened his jaw enough, she placed a berry right on the back where his molars were and forced him to bite down on it. Once the fruit was chewed and the juices went down his throat, she then turned to Hinata and pointed at her. "You! Get over here!"

Obeying the red head's command, the Hyuuga quickly dropped down next to the Jonin to see her bring up a finger and point at the blonde's chest. "Can you open up the tenketsu in his body so that we can restart his chakra circulatory system?"

Understanding what Tayuya was asking of her, the Genin kunoichi nodded her head vigorously and moved forward. "Y-Yes. Yes! I can do that." Activating her Byakugan, Hinata then looked the boy over from head to toe, concentrating hard as she searched through the nerves and bundles making up the body's energy pathways. Upon marking out all the key points she needed in order to achieve the desired results, the young girl then brought up two fingers with one hand, pumped chakra into the tips of them and, with surgical like precision, fired several shots into separate markers along the young man's body.

What they intended to do was not just resuscitate the blonde, but make sure he regained consciousness as well. Considering the amount of energy this kid burned, they not only needed to restart his heart, but with the same charge kick his chakra circulatory system into gear to assist in the process.

Dull thuds rang out when Hinata closed up the necessary tenketsu in the jinchuriki's body. Once she'd done that, she nodded toward Tayuya who then gave the 'thumbs-up' to Tsubaki.

Taking a deep breath, the orange haired girl dropped to her knees next to the boy's chest and, once Tayuya and Hinata backed up, and Samui relinquished Naruto's head on instruction, the Jonin brought her hands up and took aim.

"Here goes nothing." Electricity crackling from her palms and fingers, Tsubaki furrowed her brow and, making sure the position was right, shoved both her hands into the youngster's chest and fired away, "CLEAR!" A shot of lightning chakra from her limbs impacting his pectorals ran right through the teenager's body, stimulating his nervous system and momentarily moving him with the jump.

The sudden shock had Naruto's chest rise and fall sharply with a loud thump, his face twitching when his chakra levels revved. Once the electricity died down and Tsubaki pulled back, Hinata, bringing her two fingers up again, then slammed them into the center of the boy's chest. Once she hit him, she opened up all the necessary pathways, allowing the buildup of chakra to flow out before then pulling back and allowing the Jonin from Kiri to continue.

Hands igniting a second time, the girl thrust her palms into him once more, "CLEAR!" Another loud crack and a shot of lightning ran through the boy's motionless form, the sudden charge causing another sharp movement in his chest, which prompted Karui, Omoi and everybody else to flinch as they watched with baited breath and wondering what was going to happen next.

The electricity Naruto was taking looked painful. Every time he was hit, they could actually see all the muscles in his body twitch in response to the blasts rocketing through his system. With the amount of chakra they'd seen this kid use in the past; everyone knew that it would take a great deal of effort to restart the factory that was his body, especially when it'd been shut down so completely. There was little concern that a bit of punishment to his nervous system would do him any harm. However, with Tsubaki's accuracy and control over her kekkei genkai, the girl knew exactly what she was doing and what amount to use to get the correct results.

It was only a matter of time.

"Naruto," Choji growled, fists clenching in determination.

Karui, cringing at the sparks of electricity flying off of the whisker-marked blonde, gritted her teeth as well, "Get up you stubborn bastard." It was a set of words that she mentally shared with Omoi, who rolled his sucker around his mouth uneasily as sweat dripped down the side of his head.

"Don't quit," Chojuro also voiced in support.

Gritting her teeth with tears still in her eyes, Tayuya furrowed her brow as her thoughts carried nothing but hope that the boy who saved her twice would be alright. "Come on, shithead. You can do it."

Samui, her fists also clenching in the sand, fixed her gaze firmly on the boy lying before her. "Come back to us… please."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata also thought, fingers lacing together as she watched the electrical sensations dancing across his chest sink into his skin.

With everyone sucking in air, Tsubaki, giving one last click of the tongue and concentrating hard, willed even more lightning chakra into her hands before holding both over the boy's chest and took aim for what would be her third shot. "Well, you blonde haired son of a bitch? WAKE UP!" With a loud zap, a current of electricity shot through the blonde's body, blasting through his chakra network and organs, and lighting him up like a bulb.

At that exact moment, Naruto's eyes flew open and a loud cry of shock escaped his lips as the electricity coursed through him. In the blink of an eye, the jinchuriki hurriedly scrambled to his feet and, like a mad man in the midst of a panic attack, ran screaming across the sands.

It was obvious his legs were still recovering from the damage he'd taken, but it was his sudden awakening that shocked the squad of ninja the most.

The group of teenagers surrounding the jinchuriki had to spring back for space as the blonde broke out, running across the dunes yelling out to the sky before tripping over his own feet and falling flat onto his face. He was actually moving so fast that he unintentionally plowed a trench through the sand, before coming to a grinding halt several meters later, a cloud of dust settling around him. The face plant had Omoi, Chojuro and Karui sweat drop, before they saw the youngster crawl forward and leap to his feet again.

Spinning around in circles and eyes shooting about in paranoia, the tripping-balls Naruto panted erratically when his gaze eventually fell upon the group behind him and gripped his chest painfully. Feeling over the makeshift bandages and the sealed hole underneath the patch, the blonde gulped and started to speak in a delirious and frightened tone of voice, "I was having a dream… a terrible, terrible dream. I was going to the shops with Tayuya-chan and our pet fox Kurama, and the person serving behind the counter was some ugly, purple-skinned motherfucker with shaggy white hair, carrying prayer beads and a knife. When I went to buy something from the desk, he asked if I wanted some mints for an extra four ryo. FOUR RYO!" The fact that he shouted that had the people standing in front of him lean away at the crazy look in his eyes and the way his hands ran over his face with a hysterical expression in play. "FOUR RYO IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!"

Owlish looks appearing on all their faces, the one that chose to speak up first was Omoi, who blinked a few times before shaking himself out of his daze. "Uhh… okay?"

Breathing and whimpering out in a feverish manner, the blonde ran his hands over his face before patting himself down. With his eyes blinking away the haze and his focus training downwards, the jinchuriki saw the beaten state of his body, his clothes wrecked but vest still miraculously intact, and the amount of bruises and burns he'd been inflicted with. When his hands began to run up and down his midsection, his breathing calmed and the madness in his eyes slowly left him as he came to the realization of where he was, who was in front of him and what must have transpired in his period of spiritual absence.

Swallowing, the jinchuriki looked up, eyes reflecting his disbelief and astonishment, just as it did for the teenagers standing several meters in front of him.

"W-W-What happened to me?"

Looking from one owlish face to the next, before the blonde could get any sort of audible response from the audience in the lineup, he suddenly caught sight of yellow and red blocking out his entire field of vision when he was unexpectedly tackled to the ground by both Tayuya and Samui jumping at him at once. A startled cry escaped his lips as a result.

With their arms snapping around him like bear traps and their weight dropping right down on top of his battered body, the pair embraced the jinchuriki tightly, with the flute player pressing her face into the base of his neck and the girl from Kumogakure smothering his chest. Their impact with the sand rang out with a dull thud, with Naruto letting out a shout from the bolts of pain that shot through him a split second later.

"Ow! T-Tayuya-chan? Samui-chan?"

"You bastard," Tayuya whispered to the boy as she hugged him into the sand, a smile on her face despite the words she started cursing his way, "You stupid, insensitive, unpredictable, thickheaded, stubborn, glorious bastard." After speaking her mind, she then looked up at his bewildered face with her eyes red with tears and cheeks still stained from the sadness she'd expressed beforehand. "Didn't I tell you never to scare me like that ever again?"

Mouth opening and closing a couple of times in a silent stammer, the boy glanced between both girls to see Samui with her cheek burying into his chest and the musician glaring furiously in his direction. Upon drinking in all of their emotions and all of their words, he calmed himself down, ignoring the pain racking his body to give the redhead an apologetic look. "I… I'm sorry… Tay-chan."

Choking back tears of joy, the redhead shook her head before practically leaping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Fuck it. Come here." Without another word, the kunoichi all but smashed her lips against his in a searing kiss, stunning the blonde at its intensity and muffling his exclamation of surprise. It was a gesture of affection that had the rest of the group staring with wide eyes, which lasted for well over a minute until the girl parted from him to allow their lungs air. Smile forming, Tayuya gazed at the boy with the happiest smile ever seen on the musician. "Do that again… and I'll kick the shit out of you. Understand?"

Grinning back at the beaming visage she wore, Naruto nodded, "Yes." Just as he was in the process of gazing into the girl's brown eyes and brushing a finger through her hair though, he then felt his head pulled around to Samui, the blonde haired girl moving up to beam at him. Seeing the tears drying in her own eyes, the young Jonin stared back at her quietly when the kunoichi smiled and shook her head.

"Never leave us," the Jonin from Kumo said, "A lot of people will miss you otherwise."

Remaining still for a moment, the jinchuriki shortly gleamed back at her and nodded, "Including you?"

Samui giggled, "Especially."

Chuckling weakly, the youngster then shared with the blonde kunoichi a bright grin of his own, "Don't worry. I promise I'll never leave you like that ever again."

Satisfied with his response, Samui then, much like Tayuya before her, wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and gave him a searing kiss. Quickly getting over the shock, the jinchuriki returned it just like the one before, with the red haired kunoichi lying right beside him and looking on in surprise, before a smile formed on her face. However, her awe was nothing compared to the shared bewilderment of the group standing nearby, with Hinata and Tsubaki blushing, Choji and Chojuro balking, and Omoi and Karui's jaws dropping, with the latter turning around to hide the red on her face when the scene before them became rather… shameful.

The way Samui was lying on top of the boy alongside Tayuya, embracing him in their fervent lip lock was proof of that.

Not to mention from the way they were positioned in front of the group made it look like the three of them were getting it on right then and there.

"Whoa…" Chojuro murmured, adjusting his glasses and subconsciously leaning forward in response to the heated exchange.

A minute or so later, but much too early for those involved, Tayuya and Samui rolled off of Naruto, allowing him to sit up with an exhausted exhale. He then placed a hand over his chest and patted it several times, breathing a few times before furrowing his brow in confusion and glancing at the two girls on either side of him. "Who's been dancing on my chest?"

Giving a playful laugh, the red haired kunoichi raised a meek hand, "That would've been me."

"Me too," Tsubaki spoke up immediately after escaping her daze, drawing the boy's attention over to her to watch as she raised her hand and sent currents of electricity running up and down her limb. "Since hitting your chest wasn't working, we had to try a different approach."

Oh? So that's what being hit with lightning chakra felt like?

Tingly.

Staring at her momentarily, Naruto then cracked a smile before glancing down at his side. When he opened up his vest and lifted his jacket, he saw several red dots moving down from his chest to his abdominals. Baffled at the sight of these strange markings, as he didn't remember them being there before, he then raised an eyebrow and looked over at Hinata, where he saw the girl recoil and lower her head guiltily, before rubbing her hands together in a nervous manner. Piecing together what he was able to take away from his examination and the reactions of his friends, the blonde beamed in the Hyuuga's direction and nodded to her.

"You saved me," he said, getting Hinata to look up in surprise. When her gaze fell upon his and saw his sincere outlook directed towards her, the kunoichi slowly produced a smile of her own and beamed right back. After which, the blonde Jonin looked around at the others, starting from Tayuya and then moving over to Tsubaki. "All of you. Thank you…"

Feeling enlightened, the Kirigakure Jonin waved her hair away and grinned, "You're welcome."

Snickering in amusement, Naruto then looked down when he remembered something else of importance and grabbed the side of his stomach. Focusing his chakra, the black markings making up the Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Seal) appeared across his belly, unbroken and undamaged. The sight of it had everyone stop for a moment and glance down at the fancy looking tattoo, before the jinchuriki closed his eyes and dug deep into the parts of his subconscious where he knew the tenant of his body was holed up.

Well… would be… but now, after what had happened to him, he wasn't entirely sure.

OOO

Venturing into the sewer of his mindscape, the youngster quickly sought out the massive iron gates that he knew contained the imposing form of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside of his stomach. Looking through the darkness as light slowly bled back into the picture as his chakra was restored to the rest of his body, the blonde raised his knuckles as if to knock and then, realizing it was probably a pointless thing to do, spoke up instead.

"Hey. Kurama… you oka-?"

"DAMN IT! WHY IS ALL MY FUR STANDING ON END?!" the fox's scream suddenly echoed out of the dark and down the corridor, the howl of his vocals nearly blasting the mental form of Naruto off his feet and back the way he'd come.

Apparently, as a result of everyone's combined attempts to bring him back to life, Tsubaki's lightning had not only resuscitated the jinchuriki, but the nine-tails as well.

Talk about reviving two birds with one shock.

Rubbing his ear, Naruto glared through the iron gates and into the shadows beyond, "What the hell, furball? Why are you yelling at me all of a sudden?"

"Because my hair is all frizzy! That's why, gaki!" Kurama shouted back, his red eyes breaking the dark of the cage to glare at the kid on the other side of threshold. After several moments of waiting, light eventually seeped into his lair and the form of the orange behemoth loomed into view. It came as a bit of a surprise to the whisker-marked Jonin on his end to see the giant fox with static hair. Emerging with his fur all fluffy and sticking out, he really did look like a giant furball, with long, flexible feather dusters for tails. "You'd be pissed too if you woke up looking like this! It feels like I've got a colony of fire ants crawling all over me! On top of that, my body's all numb and my skin is all prickly!"

"So is mine, but you don't see me bitching about it!" the blonde snapped back, scratching his head afterwards and shutting his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, the youngster then stepped forward and looked through the bars towards the entity renting out the lower dungeons of his mind. Upon seeing Kurama relax along with him, the pair could once again engage each other in civilized conversation. "Anyway, I just came by to see if you were still around. I figured if I'd died, you would have disappeared and the two of us would've been separated."

He heard the fox scoff immediately afterwards and saw his hulking shadow stomp further towards the gate. "Well… obviously that didn't happen. Since my physical body and a tiny sliver of my chakra, as well as your own, had been left behind and compressed under your Uzumaki patented seal, I was dragged back to this world along with you when your friends decided to use electro-shock-therapy to restart your heart. Since I didn't suffer any damages in the fight and there was still a connection lingering between me and my body, it's not surprising I ended up back here after the kick start. It was like waking up from a deep sleep." He then cracked a smile when he saw the intent stare of his container looking back at him, and nodded to the boy in momentary reverence. "One way or another, the two of us are back."

Blinking at the look Kurama gave him, Naruto grinned and scrubbed his head bashfully. "Y-Yeah. We are…"

Chuckling at the youngster's playing off the entire thing, the nine-tailed titan shook his head and allowed the tension to settle once all of the facts had been explained. "You're really lucky to have friends who'd go to such lengths to save you, kid. It just goes to show you how much you mean to them."

Wow. Kind words about humans from a biju whom the blonde knew hated quite deeply. Naruto never thought he'd hear something like that from the fox. However, considering the amount of time he'd been spending with him and the amount of changes that had taken place since they first met, it didn't come as big of a surprise as it should've been. Nevertheless, the jinchuriki was happy that both he and Kurama had been brought back, and while he was certain the fox would've rather been set free, it seemed that there would be some time before that could be made possible.

All that mattered to him right now was that they were alive and well.

The method in how they were revived however still came as a bit of a shock to the fox and its jinchuriki.

Looking the fuzzy entity over from head to toe, Naruto then allowed an amused chuckle to escape his lips and grinned at him, "That afro really suits you."

Growling at having that new aspect about his fur pointed out, Kurama quickly managed to pat it down with one of his hands before turning his ire on his host once again. "Tell your lightning friend if she ever pulls a stunt like that as a practical joke, I won't hesitate to bite her head off."

Waving aside Kurama's annoyance like he did every other time, the jinchuriki nodded. "I'll let her know. See yah soon, furball." He then turned heel and walked back in the direction he'd come, snickering when he heard the continued mutterings of the giant fox behind him trying to get his head on straight.

It was always a joy to see the guy lose his composure… almost as fun as watching Sasuke lose his shit.

OOO

Deciding to leave on his own accord, the cringing blonde returned to the real world and looked up at all of the other kids gathered around him. Taking note of their puzzled and inquisitive expressions, the energetic young Jonin gave them all a hearty laugh and poked at his stomach, where the markings of his seal then faded into his skin and vanished. "Just making sure all passengers are accounted for." Looking around at those present, he saw that the only ones who appeared confused were Hinata and Choji, whereas Tayuya, Samui, Omoi, Karui, Chojuro and Tsubaki were content with his explanation as to what he had just done.

The flute user knew, because her boyfriend had straight up told her back when they first became Genin the moment he found out he was a jinchuriki. Tsubaki and Chojuro also knew, one having been aware of it since the exams and the other from experience with their own jinchuriki, and Samui, Omoi and Karui knew on sight what they were dealing with. After all, their teacher was a jinchuriki, and though this would have come as a bigger shock to other people, it didn't seem to surprise them one bit.

In fact, the blonde Jonin from Kumo looked more pleased and excited than anything else.

"There is no question that you carry a lot of weight with you wherever you go," Samui said with the fondest of smiles.

Upon returning the girl's comment with a bashful expression, the hidden leaf shinobi then turned to his companions, where he saw the two Genin from his village recover from their silent reveries with respective physical gestures. The first to recover of the two was Hinata, who simply gave the whisker-marked boy's stare a lively one of her own, her hands coming together and a smile pulling across her glowing visage.

"I-I'm so happy you're okay, Naruto-kun," the blue haired kunoichi chirped vibrantly.

Choji, positively beaming by this point, gave the blonde a thumbs-up. "It's great to have you back."

Throwing them his trademark grin, the jinchuriki's body suddenly jerked upright and his head snapped towards the ocean beside them. His reaction causing Tayuya and Samui sitting next him to blink in confusion, they too followed his gaze out across the shallows, shortly before being joined by the others. When the entire squad found their eyes set on the horizon, all of them wondering what had suddenly drawn the boy's focus, all of them received a massive shock as to what they saw sitting out in the water and watching them a couple dozen yards away.

Appearing to them almost like one of the surrounding islands silhouetted against the afternoon sky due to its sheer shape and size, an enormous creature with a crab-like shell, red muscle tissue between its spiky armored plates, and a large, clam-shaped head with a single eye protruding out of it, could be seen glaring across the waves towards them. To go along with its fearsome appearance and humungous size, which could dwarf an entire neighborhood in Konohagakure, the giant turtle had three, shrimp-like tails waving around behind it, one of which moved to eclipse the sun behind it before it swished out of the way.

Its shadow falling over them, the group of teenagers could only stare and gawk as the armored titan glared at them. It took them a few seconds for them to process any conscious thoughts, but when they eventually did a minute or so later, a handful of the group's members were quick to recognize exactly what that creature was.

"I-Is that…?" Karui choked out, before being quickly followed up by the Chunin from Kiri.

"The Sanbi…" Chojuro murmured, eyes shimmering in astonishment as he stared back at the turtle that had surfaced out of the ocean across the way.

Apparently emerging from its hiding place at the bottom of the sea to investigate what all the commotion on the surface world was about, the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle glared across at the group for a full minute in silence. The amount of chakra it emitted and the presence the creature radiated was so palpable, that even those who could not sense energy recoiled at merely being in sight of the damn thing. Those that did have a sixth sense however, Naruto and Tsubaki in particular, could only gaze wide-eyed in horror at the demon as it sized them up and snarled, the two young Jonin unable to withstand the crushing effect it had over their team due to their depleted chakra reserves.

However, just when the stunned group on the beach thought it was going to lunge in to attack them, the teens suddenly heard it give a low, audible growl, which echoed out across the island before it turned around and dove back into the water. Its armored form vanished into the depths with a large splash, its tails being the last things to disappear underneath the waves.

The water's surface settled several moments later.

Gawking for a minute longer, the group eventually processed the fact that it was now gone, allowing everyone on that beach to relax or settle down wherever they were. Karui and Choji collapsed to their knees, Tsubaki hunched over in exhaustion, and Naruto fell flat onto his back, whereas everybody else gave a sigh of relief.

That was a near-death experience they weren't expecting to have… and one they didn't want to repeat in the foreseeable future.

Chojuro, shakily adjusting his glasses, glanced over at Samui and Tayuya planted in the sand on either side of the jinchuriki and gave a wry smile.

"Well… we've accomplished one thing… we know what the bad guys were after."

The blonde haired kunoichi from Kumo nodded, "Yeah."

Lying there under the sun in silence, Naruto spent the next several seconds gazing up into the sky and wearing out the shock that had run right through him. After a few moments of careful deliberation and feeling his nerve-endings reattach themselves to the rest of his beaten form, the whisker-marked Jonin then decided on a course of action he was sure everybody else there would be willing to take. After the hectic day they'd just had, they would be foolish not to comply.

"I think… I'm ready to go home now."

Tayuya nodded, raising her hand in the air, "Second."

"Third," Samui added without a moment's hesitation.

"Alright then," Chojuro breathed out in response to the unanimous agreement, glancing over at Tsubaki to see the girl's tired eyes fall upon him and her arm still wrapped securely around her waist where the sword wound was. Taking stock of all their bruises and bandages, the Chunin from Kirigakure and head of his half of the detachment addressed the entire group while looking between each member with a serious gaze. "After performing a sweep of the island, we've determined that there have been two enemy factions present here; one under the banner of the Sannin Orochimaru and the other aligned to an unknown enemy force, with one of the two we believe being responsible for the disappearance of the squad sent here from our village. Since we've collected the remains and proof of these factions encroaching upon our soil, we'll be able to put out warning notices to the other nations to be on the lookout for these organizations and to detain or dispatch any and all members should they encounter them." He then looked across at Naruto to see the boy sit up between his two girlfriends and listen in carefully. "Considering the close calls we've just had, I think it would be best that we pull all of our forces in the area back to a safe distance, dig in, and mark this place for hostilities."

The jinchuriki, understanding that the Chunin wanted to get all the teams safely off the island to setup a defensive base back at the lookout, the boy gave a nod of concurrence and massaged his sore chest, "I think that's a good idea." Seeing the supportive looks from the others, including the Kumo team, Naruto then began the process of clambering back to his feet when his body once again jerked to a stop, as he then remembered something important.

What with all the stuff that'd taken place in the past half hour, it made sense that all of them would have overlooked this fact.

"Wait a second… what happened to Kiyoko-chan?"

OOO

Meanwhile…

On the other side of the island, far out of the way of the other disputes that had taken place between the other combatants, the fight that had started between Kiyoko and Kimimaro had transformed from a sublime display of incredible taijutsu skill, to one of the bloodiest, cringe worthy grudge matches anyone had ever seen. Needless to say, even the expanse of beach surrounding the pair as they had at each other suffered under the wrath of their fury, as little by little, the landscape was changed from a normal, beachfront property, to what could only be described as a setting from a surrealist's worst nightmare.

However, this was mostly done on behalf of the bone growing Kaguya, who'd gone to great lengths to defeat his opponent.

After Kimimaro had jumped to the Second Stage of his Cursed Seal and charged in to meet his opponent in the center, who'd also adorned her impenetrable battle armor to meet him blow for blow, the two engaged each other across the beach in a full-on scrap to the finish. It was essentially a challenge to see who had the strongest attack and defense, a contest which inevitably unraveled into a hitting match that saw a lot of blood drawn from both warriors at the sheer amounts of blunt-force-trauma exerted upon one another. While Kimimaro had enhanced his arms by wrapping them using the massive drill bones of his Tessenka no Mai: Hana (Dance of the Clematis: Flower) to contest with the black steel armor he was faced with, Kiyoko did the same with her fists by layering her knuckles in sheets of metal utilizing her Koton: Tekken (Steel Release: Iron Fist), and countered each of his attacks swing for swing. It was one hell of a boxing match, but try as they might, the pair just could not lay any serious or permanent damage on the other, which turned their bloody showdown into a stamina match.

It pretty much transformed into a case of the 'unstoppable force' meets the 'immovable object'. One way or another, both of them were eventually going to have to call it quits.

Soon enough, getting annoyed at the sheer persistence of his foe and how his efforts were getting him nowhere and vice versa, Kimimaro decided to put an end to their little contest, which had been going on for well over a few hours. After being knocked through the dunes for the hundredth time in retaliation for trying to impale the girl, the white haired shinobi then summoned the last dance in his arsenal to finish her off. Using his Sawarabi no Mai (Dance of the Seedling Fern) technique, the Kaguya raised an entire forest of bone right up out of the ground, which went on to cover, not just the entire coastline on their side of the island, but the jungle as well in an indiscriminate wave of death. The sheer size and scale he used this technique changed the landscape just as much as Naruto and Guren's fight did, and soon enough, much of the forested areas covering the rocky mass of land had been subverted and replaced by a thicket of white protrusions stretching high like rocky tors in a canyon.

The attack completely enveloped Kiyoko, locking her down and silencing everything on the battlefield. Upon finalizing the execution of his technique, the white haired Kaguya then staggered out of his artificially erected jungle through one of the enormous bones on its perimeter by the beach, where he quickly reverted back to his normal form and looked upon his creation. The sweat dripping down his face and the fact that he was panting raggedly showed just how much energy he'd had to burn during his fight, with the effects of the Second Level Cursed Seal also coming back to bite him for the prolonged struggle.

After standing there and breathing heavily for a minute or so, Kimimaro then looked to the side to see the familiar face of Guren land behind him. Upon touching down, the blue haired woman looked across at his jungle of misery and raised her eyebrow at the spectacle.

"A little bit much, don't you think?" the kunoichi asked as if the sight wasn't at all unnatural.

Kimimaro gave her an annoyed scowl in return. "You're one to talk." His eyes shifted over the island, where he took note of the mountain peak that had been replaced entirely by her crystals, as well as the crystal forests he could see over the treetops. "I see you spared little to no expense trying to get rid of the opposition on your half of the island. Must have been a bit of a drag for you." His voice showed absolutely no sense of amusement whatsoever.

"Hmph. Touche," Guren looked back at him with her hand on her hip and eyes narrowed. Giving the teen a once over, the kunoichi's lip twitched, "You look like hammered shit. Any particular reason why?"

Taking a glance down at his battered state, noting his torn pants, shirt, which was practically gone at this point, and the black bruises and bloody cuts he had all over, Kimimaro breathed a tired sigh and faced the woman once again. "My adversary proved to be a lot more stubborn than I originally thought. Her kekkei genkai barred me from piercing her armor and causing any permanent damage, so I had to take drastic actions. Am I to assume that the enemies you encountered weren't that easy to eliminate either?" He asked this because not only did Guren look even paler than when she first arrived on the island, but she also had noticeable black bags under her eyes. That was all the reason the Kaguya needed to tell that she was pretty exhausted too.

Acknowledging that she'd been putting on a brave face the entire time, the blue haired kunoichi sighed and rubbed a hand over her shoulder, at the same time stretching her neck out to get rid of the tension. "The one I ended up fighting was tough as hell… a kid from Konohagakure. I actually had to dig into my life force three times just to keep fighting at full power."

"Did you defeat him?"

Guren nodded, "He's done and dusted." She then opened her eyes and, looking across at the boy, jabbed a thumb towards the pillars of bone beside her. "What about yours?"

In response, the second kekkei genkai user gave the woman a blank stare, before inevitably speaking up. "She's been done away with as well, albeit with great difficulty. Her impenetrable black armor did pose somewhat of a problem for me… and I'm severely disappointed that I allowed myself to get hit as many times as I did. I'll be sure to polish up on my combat skills once our mission in this country is completed." The fact he had no tell on his face whatsoever made it really hard to determine whether he was being sincere or not.

Balking, the blue haired woman than turned to the forest in front of her and pointed at it, "So… you got her with this?"

Kimimaro frowned and glared towards his construct. "She was becoming a real irate, so I finished her off inside of my last dance. I doubt we'll be seeing her anytime soon."

The team leader gave the information a sour look before once again rounding on the white haired young man and leader of Orochimaru's elite bodyguards. Seeing his expression still had no hint of amusement whatsoever indicating that he was probably pulling her leg, Guren then breathed a heavy moan and gestured down the beach. "Whatever… let's just get out of here."

Nodding, the Kaguya then looked over his partner's shoulder with a searching glance. "And Jirobo?"

"Dead," the crystal user replied without a hint of emotion, shaking her head at the same time. "His opponents were too much for him to handle… so we'll be carrying on the rest of the assignment without him."

Giving an understanding gesture, Kimimaro turned heel so that he was standing side on to the woman and gave her a hard glance. "That's a shame. However, even though he was killed in battle, he still died doing our master's good work. Jirobo should feel proud that he was able to give his life for such a noble cause." Turning his back on his partner, the white haired albino began walking away, leaving the blue haired kunoichi to stare at his shoulders as he proceeded to march across the sands with purpose burning in his eyes. Without even sparing her a second glance, the boy spoke, "Come. It's time we move on to the next island."

As he was striding away, the Kaguya then became aware of the fact that his companion wasn't following after him. Failing to even blink, the young warrior turned around and threw Guren a questioning look, where he quickly saw the woman staring down at the sand at her feet with doubt reflected in her expression. Recognizing the senses of hesitation, contemplation and uncertainty flashing through her eyes, Kimimaro paused as well, followed shortly by him turning on the spot to stare harder at said woman.

"Guren… is there something wrong?"

Jerking upright, the kunoichi looked into the cold eyes of the man she was working with and the broken-down individual she saw behind his irises. Her own eyes shimmering in the light as she looked Orochimaru's most ardent supporter from head to toe, Guren then swallowed heavily and took a deep breath. Her chest heaving, she furrowed her brow his way and shook her head. "No. Just… lost in thought."

Kimimaro nodded in understanding, "There will be a time to grieve for our fallen comrades. But for now, we have work to do. Try to keep up with me." Without spouting another word after that, the boy turned heel and disappeared in a shunshin, with the kunoichi following after his shadow with a noticeably troubled gaze.

Dawning on her thoughts for a few moments longer, the woman glanced down at one of her gloved hands and flexed her fingers. Feeling the fatigue of her prolonged engagement bouncing back on her as well as the damage, Guren allowed the final moments of her match to fix directly in front of her eyes and, with a pained look, recalled the last words spoken to her by her foe. It was something that reverberated throughout her entire body and dug right down to her core, like a shot of electricity had been fired through her. It was something that had her clench her hand into a fist when his voice then echoed inside her head.

A distant, haunting echo…

"I can see it in your eyes. I'm sure that… somewhere deep down… there is something that man made you do in the past… that you regret… even today…"

"Damn it," Guren cursed under her breath. Shaking her head fiercely to rid herself of the voice, she then crouched low and vanished in a crystal shunshin as well. Chasing after her retreating compatriot and partner in crime, the kunoichi was allowed a few minutes to dawn over the parting words of what she now believed to be the late jinchuriki of Konohagakure, which had her face scrunch up impatiently as she began leaping across the dunes at a hurried pace.

Even though she acted like the boy's efforts didn't affect her physically during their fight or his words didn't strike a chord with her emotionally, the truth was that they had… and they frustrated her to no end.

The pair from Otogakure eventually left their area of the beach, and the sound of waves hitting the sands quickly filtered back into play, drowning out all other sounds. Several minutes after vacating the premises and leaving behind a path of utter destruction and ruin, the combined group from Konohagakure, Kirigakure and Kumogakure soon arrived at the site they remembered parting ways with Kiyoko, where they then coasted to a stop and found their gazes drawn to the forest of bones. The sheer size of the rib-like monstrosities towering over the dunes had their full and immediate attention, as well as some of the team members gawking and wondering what kind of fiend could have erected such an incredible landmark out of nothing. Naruto compared this to the last attack Guren had used to flash freeze the entire jungle they'd been fighting in, only this one seemed more of an attempt to impale than anything else.

"Well, now there's something you don't see every day," Tayuya murmured uneasily as she stepped over to the forest and tapped her knuckles against one of the pillars. Feeling it jitter, she nodded her head. "Oh yeah. That's real bone alright. Fuck me…" Whoever did this had been strong… REAL strong.

Way above her league, that was for sure.

"Did that white haired guy do all this?" Karui asked, finding it hard to believe that the guy that'd tried to block their path earlier was capable of something like this.

"Don't be fooled by appearances, my dear teammate. You never know what kind of feats some people are capable of," Omoi spoke up, at the same time gesturing to the blonde admiring one of the bone trees with his hands on his hips; a remark that quickly pulled his eyes over to the Kumo group. "I'm sure you remember how many times this guy has surprised us with his come-from-behind wins and the ability to defy the laws of causality at any given moment. The person Kiyoko was thrown up against was probably one of those kinds of characters."

The red haired swordswoman sighed and glared across at her snowball haired partner, "If you start trying to evaluate this person, I will cut you down the middle in the same manner."

Adjusting his glasses, Chojuro moved forward to run a finger down one of the ivory tusks, with Tsubaki also coming to join him in his examination, albeit at a more labored pace and with a heap of bandages wrapped around her side to cover up her gruesome sword wound. "Kiyoko-chan must have been fighting pretty hard to push him this far." He then crinkled his brow and turned to his lightning user companion questioningly. "Where is she? Can you sense her?"

Also wanting to know what'd happened to her friend, Tsubaki furrowed her brow and closed her eyes. Using her ability to read electrical currents in the air, she began feeling out for a chakra signature within the forest of bone. Considering the fact that the bones that'd been sprouted out of the ground were in such close proximity with one another, it would be impossible for any of them to walk through it for a group search. It was a sight that did not bode well for the squad of teenagers, as they'd already had the pleasure of experiencing the near loss of one of their companions. They didn't want to lose another.

While Naruto and Samui also began taking a closer look at the wall of white before them, the sounds of cracking and snapping approaching their group had the youngsters look at each other in confusion. Moments after the sounds started to drift onto the scene and grew progressively louder, everyone formed up in front of the towering pillars jumped in surprise when, several meters down the line, they saw the trees of bone on the perimeter get snapped in half and blasted away. Emerging from the dust and smoke, Kiyoko came stumbling out seconds later, having cut a path right through the labyrinth with a great deal of difficulty.

"Where is that white-haired son of a bitch? I'm going to skin him from head to toe and hang him out to dry for that!" the Chunin from Kirigakure shouted as her eyes darted across the beach angrily. Her infuriated exclamation as well as her dramatic appearance on the scene had the gazes of the others widen in bewilderment, and stare at her with owlish expressions in play.

Reverted back to her normal form but with her hands still incased in black metal, Kiyoko staggered out of the smoke kicking and screaming. It took the team of ninja a few seconds to shake themselves out of their dazes, but when they eventually came too, they saw that their comrade in arms had faired just as well against her opponent as the others had.

She was a complete wreck. Despite being impervious to physical damage, the bone user had apparently gone through a great deal of effort to actually hit her through her armor using the strength of his kekkei genkai. Kiyoko was bruised all over, like she'd been struck repeatedly by a sledge hammer, with visible black bruises and welts covering her flesh. Not only that, she also had a few nasty cuts she was in the process of healing from her initial bout, and a fresh one over her eye and forearm. She'd obviously gotten away from their fight scathed, and despite being held up by the forest of bone, was still raring to go as indicated by the intent burning in her eyes.

Panting heavily like a wild bull, the girl in armor continued searching the beach for her foe. However, unable to find him, Kiyoko's anger was quick to subside and, soon enough, she went back to standing normally. Still exhausted as fuck, the kunoichi blinked away her rage and murmured in surprise. "Oh… he's not here anymore. That sucks." Finally coming back to her senses, the blonde turned her head to see the rest of her group standing several yards away, all of them still appearing quite stunned. When her gaze landed on all of them, a smile quickly spread over her lips and she waved. "Hi gang!"

In response, everybody calmed down.

Chojuro shook his head in amusement, Tsubaki breathed a sigh of content, and everybody else smiled pleasantly. Naruto, letting out a chuckle, rubbed the back of his head, winced at the stinging pain still shooting through his body and threw the Kiri girl across the sand a grin.

"Well… at least one of us had fun on this trip."

OOO

Meanwhile…

On another island…

Sitting on a log with his feet kicked up and gazing across the ocean towards the large island he could see smoking in the distance from the many battles that had taken place on it, Ishidate, having apparently arrived there much earlier, allowed an amused grin to cross his lips before bringing both his hands up and clapping in a slow, methodical beat. His gesture almost sarcastic in nature, he then gave a hearty laugh of enjoyment to go with his expression of praise, before eventually slowing his applause and speaking up to comment at the show that had finally come to a conclusion.

"Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous," the orange haired mercenary with the stone gauntlets chuckled, before ceasing his clapping and folding his arms over his chest. "You can't pay for quality entertainment like this. This was fantastic."

Obviously having watched the multiple fights that had taken place on the isle, Ishidate was clearly impressed at the awesome displays of power and ingenuity he had been able to witness from the distance he sat. The place he'd secured ensured he was not only far enough away to avoid detection, but was safe from being caught in the crossfire. From the solar beam that was able to wipe out an entire island of limestone rock in one hit, to the storm of wind and lightning, and the forests of bone and crystal that'd jutted out of the trees in the blink of an eye, the whole thing had just been a sight to behold. It was clear that there was a lot of potential in the various candidates that had taken part in the occasion. However, having only been sent here to watch over Temujin and see how things went, the man had no intention of getting himself involved unless instructed to by his boss.

Sure he was tempted to mix himself in with the kids, he reframed from doing so and simply held his ground as Temujin and Fugai carried on with their assignment.

Breathing a tired sigh and rising to his feet, the mercenary then allowed a groan to escape him as he dusted down his arms and slipped his hands into his pockets, stretching his back at the same time.

"It was a good show," Ishidate chirped, before his eyes suddenly panned over his shoulder to the figure he sensed materializing out of the air directly behind him. Feeling the creeping sensation of killing intent also wash over him, the still relaxed and steadfast wandering ninja allowed his grin to widen even when he felt the person's fingers edge toward his neck. "You think so too, don't you?"

Without even having to look behind him, Ishidate was able to duck under the hand that would have wrapped around his neck to snuff him out before spinning around in a well-timed counter. When he did, he swung out with a backhanded haymaker, managing to catch his would-be assailant in the side of the head, a loud crack ringing out on impact when his knuckles struck something hard and solid. Counter landing successfully, the mercenary sent his cloaked adversary flying across the clearing at the top of the cliff he was sitting on and watched the man bounce once before colliding with a nearby wall of rock.

When the attacker hit it he disappeared in a cloud of dust as he punched an indent into the rock, a sight that had Ishidate smirking. Several moments later, when the dust settled, the mercenary was able to see his attacker rise up out of the ground and was able to get a good look at his face… or… what was supposed to be his face… because the man was wearing some kind of weird, orange mask with a swirl pattern converging around a single eye hole on the right.

The cheek he'd hit him was also cracked from the force of the blow.

On top of the full black cloak, plating and orange whirlpool mask, the man also had short cut, black spiky hair, which was a feature that did not go amiss by the ever vigil Ishidate. When he saw the individual stand up from the ground, covered in crumbs and dust from the rock he'd smashed into, and looking a bit winded, the mercenary ninja that had put him there then murmured in interest and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh… you're pretty tough. Seems like I'm going to have to do something about that," Ishidate spoke to the slumped assailant, before turning his gaze to his left and thrusting his hand out casually. Clenching his fingers and muscles, the man focused his chakra on some rock lying several yards away and, in a manner akin to telepathy, was able to will the massive slabs of stone from the ground to levitate in the air. It was a sight that had the masked assassin jerk up in surprise, before the orange haired mercenary sent the hail of debris flying his way.

With a wave of his hand, Ishidate tossed the two dozen levitating rocks at the masked individual, expecting him to block or dodge them in some way. A split second later… that was exactly what the stranger did, but not in a manner that the wandering ninja expected. One by one, the rocks slipped right through the man as if he were a ghost, the bullet-fast rubble instead striking the rock face behind the individual and peppering it in rapid fire succession. Dust flying as the shards of boulders struck the cliff side repeatedly Ishidate then had the pleasure of seeing his adversary rise up to full height and begin marching forward, as if the barrage had done nothing to him.

Because it didn't. He just fazed right through it.

"Interesting," Ishidate murmured, also straightening up with one hand still in his pocket. As he watched the man strode towards him undeterred, the wandering ninja smirked, "You're able to slip through physical attacks like that Tsubaki girl can. That's quite a freaky ability. However…" He then allowed his smile to widen and eyes to narrow darkly, an expression that was well spotted by the masked individual. "You're not completely impervious to attacks aimed for the body, are you?"

The moment he asked that question, he saw the man suddenly draw a kunai and charge towards him at blinding speed. A smug grin replacing his previous smirk, Ishidate saw the individual swing at him with intent to impale. However, just as the blade was sailing through the air, the orange haired mercenary's form shimmered out of view at speed, stunning the attacker when his knife hit nothing before he felt his extending wrist grabbed roughly from the side and saw the confident man standing there and smiling at him. Clearly shocked at being caught, the masked individual attempted to pull his arm out of his target's grip, but found he was unable to due to the vice of the person's strength.

"H-How are you able to hit me?" the masked assailant choked out in a deep voice while glaring at the wandering ninja.

Grinning at the sight of his struggling quarry, clearly amused, Ishidate let out a chuckle, "It seems that my new kekkei genkai is working out just fine." All of a sudden, the gauntlet on the hand he was using to hold the individual's wrist suddenly lit up with pink fracture lines and a bright orange eye opened on his gauntlet. It was a sight that had the masked man recoil in surprise. "You tried to take me out while my back was turned. Allow me to return the favor." As soon as he said that, he fired a blast of chakra into the person he was holding onto and, in the blink of an eye, the assassin's arm started transforming into stone, a sensation that ran all the way to the tips of his fingers right up to his shoulder.

Alarmed at the sight of his freezing limb, the masked individual quickly responded to the danger of being petrified into stone and threw a kick at the man. His counter forced Ishidate to block and release him from his grip, allowing the masked assassin to jump away for space and recover. Stopping several yards away, the enemy ninja gripped his arm, which had been entirely turned to rock, and glared hatefully across at the person that had done it. Seeing the orange haired rogue stand back up to full height, he then looked down at his arms to see him raise a stone gauntlet and flex his fingers, as if testing the weight of it.

"I'll have to thank doctor Shinno properly for this later," Ishidate chuckled, before glancing up at the masked individual. "Being able to petrify anything chakra based is a wonderful thing indeed." The man he was fighting could somehow make himself intangible to any and all physical attacks by allowing separate parts of his body to overlap with an object as it passed through him the very instant it made contact. He seemed to accomplish this by temporarily displacing bits and pieces of his form with said object until it slipped through him completely, thereby avoiding the damage that would result from being struck by the attack. This effect seemed to apply to all attacks except his, since the orange haired mercenary could stop chakra dead by merely being in close proximity with the source thanks to his body's new modifications…

… and the guy's body became perforated with chakra whenever he allowed attacks to slip through him.

No matter their class, color or creed, a shinobi needed chakra to perform ninjutsu, including the one this man was using.

Spitting in annoyance, the masked assassin rose up to full height and spoke again. "It seems that I may have underestimated you a bit."

The Jonin with the orange hair chuckled, "Don't feel bad about it. There are many who've made that mistake in the past."

"Nevertheless, I cannot stand idly by and let you and your compatriots go about doing whatever you please," the assailant continued while lowering his head towards the individual with the stone gloves. "I know what you're here for… and I'm afraid I cannot let you have it."

"So… you've been tracking the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle as well?" Ishidate exclaimed in realization, raising an eyebrow as his eyes then glanced towards the woods to his right, "Both you and your organization." When his eyes landed on the branch of a tree several yards away, he saw hidden within the brush a giant Venus fly trap with a half-black and half-white head sticking out of its mouth. As soon as his gaze landed upon it, the mercenary then watched the head duck back down and the jaws of the planet close around it, before the creature sunk into the wood. It was a sight that had Ishidate laugh in amusement. "You were able to find me through the shady friend you have skulking around these islands. Very astute."

The masked man, narrowing his eye on the orange haired mercenary, stepped further forward. "What are your people planning?"

Ishidate chuckled as he once again faced the assassin now trying to juice him for information. "That, I'm afraid, is something I cannot tell you. It's a surprise after all, and both you and the rest of the shinobi world are an essential part of the process… the… guests of honor if you will." When he saw the man scowl at him through his mask, the orange haired nin shared with him one last smile before glancing across at the island across the ocean. Giving it a moment of consideration, the wandering shinobi then clicked his tongue and looked down at the metaphorical watch on his wrist. "But… as much as I would like to stay here and play around with you a little while longer, it's time for me to split. The job's done and Temujin and Fugai have moved on." He then beamed back up at the masked individual still gripping his petrified arm. "It's been a real pleasure."

This statement had the masked man harden his glare, an act that caused his eye to glow red… literally. When Ishidate saw this, the wandering nin blinked in surprise when he spotted a Sharingan glaring back at him through the hole in the assassin's mask. Upon seeing the tomoes spin, the gauntlet wearing individual gave a quiet snort and, raising his hands, slapped them together to form a hand seal.

"And it looks like the fun is just getting started."

All of a sudden, two massive slabs of earth shot out of the ground on either side of the mercenary. When they appeared, they then slammed together with an earth-shaking crack, incasing the man in stone by sandwiching him before the single boulder got sucked back into the ground, where it then vanished down the rabbit hole. Seeing his adversary disappear in an instant had the masked man mutter a curse and relax his shoulders, moments before the ground beside him stirred and the same Venus fly trap from before wormed its way out of the ground.

The jaws of the plant peeled open to reveal the black and white head of Zetsu, who then glanced up to look at the masked figure with the frozen limb.

"He's gone," the raspy voice of the black half said.

"I know," the assassin replied in an impatient and exasperated tone of voice.

"These people are getting bolder. They've even got their sights set on the biju… both them and that snake Orochimaru," the white side of the plant-person said with a creasing brow. "If they continue meddling in our affairs, they're going to ruin our plans for the future."

"Should we alert the other members and tell Pein to hurry things along?" the black half asked with a sense of urgency in his voice.

Pondering over it for a minute, the masked man then shook his head. "No. It's too soon to act now. We need to wait until the conditions are right and all the pieces are in position before we make our move. I won't diverge from our plans just because a few upstarts are causing trouble around the shinobi nations." This statement had Zetsu nod in understanding before the man's solitary Sharingan eye fixed on his subordinate. "I was overzealous in my approach. Next time, if anything problematic should come up, I will step in and take care of it myself."

The white Zetsu smirked, "Onward and upward, then?"

With one final nod from the masked assassin, the man then vanished through a small vortex that opened up around his eye, his form getting sucked into the hole like water in a drain and vanishing completely from the scene. His superior jumping to another dimension was also the cue for Zetsu to get a move on too, the Venus fly trap closing around his head before he sunk back into the ground.

Once all parties had vacated the cliff side, silence returned to the region…

OOO

Two days later…

Following the incredibly hectic events that took place on the island that the soldiers of North Wind Tower dubbed 'Crystal Peak', due to the fact that the entire top of the isle's mountain had been replaced by crystal thanks to Naruto smashing his opponent into it, the team was quick to retire back to the base. Upon instructing the soldiers to stay on high alert and to keep watch over the affected area, while at the same time forwarding a message to Kirigakure informing the leader of the events and problems that had unfolded during the assignment, the group then decided that their out-of-town allies had done enough to call the mission complete.

While their job to recover the bodies of the missing Kirigakure team had indeed ended in failure, the only consolation the group could take away from this was that they knew who the intruders were, one faction anyway, and had the bodies of both groups to prove that there was trouble afoot.

The remains were divided between the three parties so that the villages could individually examine the carcasses and try to identify the enemy forces they'd encountered.

However, while these proceedings were all well and good and standard practices they all had to follow, the main concerns that the team held for the majority of the return trip was the safety and well being of all of their group's members. That meant as soon as they got off of the island, the joint, three-village squad's first order of business was making sure that all of their injuries were tended to and that none of them died during the night. While Samui, Chojuro, Karui and Omoi were fine for the most part, save for some bruising and sword marks, the others were far worse off. Tayuya had been mauled, slashed, beaten and thrown through several trees, and not only was she physically exhausted she also needed a ton of stitches and bandages, which would hopefully be fixed up by the time she returned to Konohagakure. Hinata and Choji both had chakra exhaustion, with the former suffering a few cracked ribs, bruises and a great deal of cuts, and the latter nursing some serious shinning, a cracked shoulder, cut knuckles, gravel burn on his back, and heavy bruising to the body and arms. Kiyoko had a ton of cuts and bruises, Tsubaki was still woozy from taking a great deal of wind based attacks to the face and a sword across her body, and Naruto held a grand total with chakra exhaustion, burns, bruises, scars, and cracked bones, which, by the time they returned to the watch tower, had mostly healed.

When the squads eventually returned to the island town where Kiyoko and Chojuro had met with Samui's team, Naruto was as healthy and spry as he started the mission, which helped to lift everybody's spirits while the entire operation was wrapped up.

Their mission, which had turned out to be one of the biggest cluster fucks any of them had been a part of, was something all of them took to heart, especially the whisker-marked jinchuriki. With the impact of its completion still reverberating through his head, the blonde took to a lot of thinking on the return trip to the small island port where the team would be parting ways, and spent the last remaining hours together with them hitting the small town's streets and stores.

To cut loose and to rid his head of the debilitating haze he'd been subjected to, the jinchuriki invited them all to an all-you-can-eat establishment, and spent the next hour after that pigging out. It was a need that was shared by all the other chakra monsters of the group that'd suffered through hell on the job and soon enough, he, Tsubaki, Kiyoko, Choji and Tayuya were sitting side by side at the same table devouring all of the food that was being put down in front of them, while the other half of the squad sat on the other side with their own reasonable servings of one or two dishes, gawking at the five as they plowed through the restaurant's stocks.

The fact that they'd ordered so much meant that the customer service agents had to be constantly moving between them and the kitchens to keep their table full. The sight actually drew a great deal of attention from the other patrons.

It was quite a thing. Not only did Naruto have a pile of empty plates and bowls next to him that only grew more and more with the number of items being laid out in front of him, but the same could be said for the others alongside him as well. While he ate in the usual manner, picking up the dish in front of him and shoveling the food into his open mouth with a pair of chopsticks, Tsubaki ate with more reservation, with her plate on the table in front of her and a spoon in hand, but was still eating at a remarkably fast pace. Tayuya, Kiyoko and Choji on the other hand mimicked what Naruto was doing, the former having adopted his style from living with him, and the latter having turned it into an art form from decades of clan practice.

As the sounds of utensils hitting plates and the group gorging in unison drowned out all other sounds in the area, including the horns of the ships out over the waters, the team pretty much owned the moment. In spite of the bewildering sight, Samui couldn't help but look across at the jinchuriki leading their group with her chin propped on her hand and a warm smile on her face.

Obviously, this didn't bother her.

Watching Tsubaki and Kiyoko shovel food into their mouths to feed the enormous tanks that fueled their insane chakra levels, Chojuro sweat-dropped and set his fork down. "Ugh… you know I… don't think I'll ever get used to this." He'd seen Tsubaki, Kiyoko and Utakata pig out before… many times.

It was not a pretty sight.

Case in point, watching Tsubaki, he saw the girl pick up a chicken, a WHOLE chicken, and start ripping it to shreds with a fork and knife, and shovel each individual piece into her mouth. Choji seemed to imitate this by collecting a lobster, snapping it in half in an almost brutal fashion, before beginning to devour its guts like he was eating an apple.

The sound of slurping filling the air was almost poetic.

"Boy, this is… really hitting the… spot," Naruto exclaimed between mouthfuls, setting down a massive bowl that used to be filled with fried rice and moving on to a bowl with seafood ramen in it.

"You said it," Tayuya also chirped, picking up a handful of shrimp and, not even caring that the shells were still on them, shoved them into her mouth, and began chewing on them with loud crunching sounds ringing in her ears. "Fuck me… this is high quality stuff."

"You can expect nothing less from this restaurant. The chefs in our country are some of the best in the world. They specialize in delicacies from all corners of the globe, north, south, east and west, which isn't surprising considering the number of ships we have coming and going from our ports. It contributes to our economy," Kiyoko informed and beamed across at the jinchuriki sitting directly beside her. "How are you liking our seafood style ramen, Naruto-kun? Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Oh yeah, this is great stuff," the blonde replied, beginning to shovel and slurp noodles like a river through his mouth. Upon groaning in satisfaction, he swallowed the contents between his teeth and felt the warmth of the broth flood his belly. "I've got to try ramen from Kirigakure more often… maybe introduce the recipe to oji-san and get him to try it out." He finished this by scooping up the rest of the egg strands and meat, and swallowing it up in one gulp.

Karui cringed and gritted her teeth in response, "Tsk. Disgusting."

"And I thought Bee-sensei ate a lot," Omoi thought to himself as he continued to observe the spectacle. He even noticed how Samui was still gazing across at Naruto in what looked to be amusement, which had the boy raise his eyebrow at her before turning away to gingerly tap into his own serving.

"Hey, if you're ever in the hidden leaf some time, I have to take you to Ichiraku's ramen. Their noodles are the best," Naruto said with the utmost confidence and sincerity in his voice. Prodding his chest with his knuckles, he then held it out to the kunoichi to receive. "I can guarantee you will love what the old man has to offer you. I've given his goods the Uzumaki seal of approval."

The girl with the mane for hair and band aids slapped over her cheeks grinned and pointed her chopsticks in his direction. "I'll hold you to it." Sharing a fist bump with the jinchuriki as well as a hearty giggle, Kiyoko then turned back to the table in front of her. Giving it a momentary blink, she then rounded on the waiter standing by their station and grinned. "Excuse me, more dried noodles please!"

"And bring some more eggrolls while you're at it," Tsubaki also said through a full mouth.

"Pork rib soup for me!" Choji called while waving a hand, earning an affirmative bow from said customer service agent, at the same time the jinchuriki alongside him stole a barramundi from right out under the group's noses.

Instead of eating his fish with care, Naruto simply picked up the sea creature by the tail, opened his mouth, put it in, and when he pulled it out, it'd been stripped to the bone; the meat of which he swallowed immediately afterwards. He then dispensed of the skeleton and began plowing through the pork buns, picking up one in both hands and tossing them into his mouth. He then collected another one and, after swallowing the two he was currently chewing, fanned out his fingers and magically produced three more, before shoving all of them into his waiting gullet. Tayuya beat that by collecting a whole roast beef and beginning to dig through it with her mouth, at the same time turning it with her hands like a carousel. She ate a trench all around the lump of meat till she'd devoured it right down to the bone, with only a few bits left sticking to it. Choji eventually got his soup and skulled it in one shot, Tsubaki picked up a whole tray of kebabs between her fingers and got them all in a single bite, and Kiyoko finished an entire stack of dumplings by allowing them to roll into her mouth directly from the plate, with more and more unbelievable events taking place right up to the end of their lunch period.

Needless to say, it'd been one hell of a feast.

At the end of the session, when all of the squad's members were now standing out on the street directly beside the dock and the boat that would be taking the Konohagakure contingent home, the individuals gathered for one last farewell. While the four Jonin converged for discussion and Choji and Kiyoko met up with Hinata for a chat, Karui, Chojuro and Omoi stood at a distance and stared slack jawed at how easygoing the five beasts were acting following their raid on the restaurant. After what they'd seen, it wasn't surprising.

"They each just ate thirty full course meals respectively," Karui remarked with a weak voice.

"Really? I lost track around twenty," Omoi also murmured.

Still overwhelmed by the sight, Chojuro uneasily adjusted the glasses on his nose and shook his head. "I can't imagine what their grocery bills are like." They must have been through the roof.

He made a mental note to check on Tsubaki and Kiyoko afterwards to make sure they weren't broke; otherwise they were going to be in serious financial trouble.

Cash problems however were the least of the worries the four Jonin had, as Naruto was just wrapping up the last of the business he had with his friend from Kirigakure. Not forgetting that he had his own parcels to deliver, the blonde drew a scroll from the pouch on his belt, unfurled it, and summoned the Blast Sword Splash he had sealed within its confines. When he propped it in front of him on the tip, he handed it out for the orange haired Tsubaki to see, and watched with interest as all three of the girls surrounding him admired the weapon. Aside from its impressive size and form, it was also a legendary artifact, one that the people of the hidden mist knew all too well and have been searching for quite some time.

It definitely had the latter's attention. That was for sure.

"I'm sure your Kage will be very happy to have this back, don't you think?" Naruto asked good-naturedly, before allowing the orange haired kunoichi to take it. When he saw the teen effortlessly raise it and swing it about, his smile only grew as he watched one form on her face. "It'll be good to have this returned to the family. Make sure to put it to good use and give it to somebody you believe is worthy to carry it over their shoulders. The title of an elite swordsman has some weight to it, after all"

Upon balancing the legendary sword she'd not seen in ages in her grip, the orange haired teen beamed at the jinchuriki and nodded, before dropping the tip of the blade into the ground with a sharp thump. Even though it weighed a bit, she didn't have any problems at all in lifting it, and simply gave her gratitude and approval to the one who'd returned it to her country. "Our village leader will be extremely grateful for this. For that I am certain." Taking the scroll from the boy as well, Tsubaki wasted no time in sealing the weapon up again and tucking it into her pouch. Once she was certain it was secure, the kunoichi gazed at her rival in speed for the last time that trip. "I'll make sure to send you the reward once I've passed this by Mizukage-sama."

Grinning brightly, the boy rubbed the back of his head bashfully, "Aww, you don't have to do that."

"Of course I do. It's a matter of principle," Tsubaki stated with a hard look coming to her face. "I won't be able to look myself in the mirror if I don't make an effort to compensate the person who returned one of our village's most treasured artifacts… especially the one who has done so much for me and my home." When he saw the young elite blush, the kunoichi smiled and stepped forward, resting a hand on his shoulder at the same time. Seeing him glance up at her, the teen nodded gently. "I will always consider you one of my closest friends and allies. If you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

Blinking at hearing the sincere tone in the young lady's words and feeling the smiles from Tayuya and Samui directed towards him, Naruto smiled and gave his trademark response. "No problem." He then looked down at the kunoichi's side where he saw the bandages wrapped around her wound, before then giving his fellow Jonin an expression of worry and concern. "Are you sure you'll be alright? You took a really big hit from that guy you fought on the island… and nearly wound up drowning afterwards."

Tsubaki answered with a grin of her own, "Don't worry about it. The base doctor said I didn't have any water in my lungs and that the damage I suffered wasn't life threatening. Believe me… I've taken far worse in the past."

At that, Naruto's expression became serious once more, and he shared with the girl a tone that did not go missed by any of the group in the space they were sharing on the edge of the wharf. "So it's true… you and Tayuya-chan really did get into a fight with two people dressed in metal armor?" When he saw the teen's visage also become solid, the jinchuriki clenched his jaw and glanced away. "I thought the person I faced off against was pretty far out… but it sounds like you two had just as much trouble as I did."

The Jonin from the hidden mist looked down at her feet, "The reason I lost that fight was because I was matched up against the worst opponent imaginable. None of my lightning or magnet release attacks had any effect on him because he was able to cancel out my jutsu with this weird wind style chakra I'd never encountered before. Even though he wasn't as fast or as strong as you… the guy could hit me wherever I went by blasting his chakra outwards in a sweeping arc. That explains how I got these." She placed her hand over her stomach where she'd suffered third degree burns, and was now healing thanks to her body's natural make up. Clenching her fingers around the area, the girl continued. "The composition of his weapons and armor was also unusual… definitely not something made by an ordinary blacksmith from this continent. This boy was prepared to fight people like us." Tsubaki fixed her eyes on the boy once again and frowned deeply. "And we have no idea who he's working for."

"But we do know who some of the others are in league with," Naruto stated with a hard scowl, "That big guy Hinata and Choji killed, the bone user, and that Guren lady… all three of them were working for Orochimaru." When he looked around at the others and saw the serious responses shared by Tayuya and Samui, he turned back to the Kirigakure teen and gestured to her warningly. "The Three-Tails popping up near that island was no coincidence either. All of those guys we ran into in that place… they were all after one thing."

"The biju," Tsubaki murmured uneasily, at the same time acknowledging that as something incredibly troublesome.

"We all know what Orochimaru is trying to get his hands on… and that's power. The other group we encountered has their eyes set on the same prize. Those assholes have got something cooked up for us, and if the enemies we're likely to encounter sometime in the future are even stronger than the ones we encountered two days ago, then we need to be ready for them… and the Akatsuki. Tell Utakata to be on the lookout for them," Naruto said, giving the girl a once over before his eyes met hers again and he spoke to her earnestly. "Promise me you'll keep training… and take care of yourself."

Nodding in understanding, the orange haired kunoichi gave the boy one last smile and stared into his shimmering sapphires. "Don't worry about me, Naruto. I won't let anything happen to me or my friends. You just worry about keeping yourself out of trouble." She said this while pointing at him.

This had the jinchuriki shrug and grin sheepishly, "Can't make any promises."

"Of course," Tsubaki replied, rolling her eyes at the cheeky look he gave her before raising a hand to him. "I'll see you soon then."

Words spoken, Naruto took the teen's palm in his and shook it, the pair sharing a nod of respect at the same time. Upon releasing each other, the Jonin from Kirigakure turned heel and returned to Kiyoko's side, where Hinata and Choji stood waiting patiently for their companions. As soon as she was out of earshot, Samui stepped around and came to stand in front of her hidden leaf hero. Their eyes meeting, the girl from Kumogakure beamed at the young male and stepped closer, cutting the space between them to about a couple of inches as her breath hit the tip of his nose.

"Don't be a stranger now," the blonde with the fair eyes exclaimed and tilted her head towards her crush. "I expect to hear from you very soon."

Naruto returned her hopes with a firm nod and a pleasant reflection, "No problem. I'll be heading off on an extended assignment to Yuki no Kuni for the next three years… so I'll be sure to message you whenever I can."

Batting her eyes and visibly relaxing in content with his response, Samui then glanced around her momentarily to see who was watching. Seeing Tayuya, Hinata and Choji were still eyeing them, with the former standing directly beside the pair, the Jonin decided what the hell and went for it. However, the moment she turned back around, Naruto beat her to the punch and kissed her full on the lips before she could move, causing her to recoil in surprise before responding chastely. The sight of them locking lips had the red haired flute player next to them laugh, not out of amusement of watching them but at seeing the Hyuuga's hair bristle from a distance before a black aura of ill intent started wafting off of her.

After a minute, Naruto relinquished himself from the embrace, seeing Samui hold her position with closed eyes before she eventually realized he was no longer kissing her. This had the jinchuriki chuckle and gaze fondly towards his girlfriend from out of town.

"I intend to keep my promises… both of them," he whispered.

Satisfied, as indicated by the shimmer in her eyes, the Kumo girl tucked her hair behind her ear and moved off. Giving a very rare giggle as she stepped away, the Jonin placed her hands behind her back and moved on, allowing the jinchuriki to return to his own team with Tayuya.

With the squad breaking up into their respective teams, they all shared with each other a fond farewell, before the Kumo and Kiri contingent saw the Konohagakure lot off at the docks. Chojuro, Karui, and the others escorted the four down the walkway, where they then waved to their allies and wished them all the best for their safe return home. Once all of the crew and supplies had been loaded up and the members of the hidden leaf were lined up on the deck, the ship shortly thereafter pulled away and started for the mainland.

As the port island faded into the distance, the team under Naruto's wing could slowly go back to feeling at ease and returned their attention to the horizon beyond. It wasn't just the trip home that gripped and held their intent, it was also the time after that, and the plans that each of them had that they needed to see too as soon as they returned to their places of residence.

"So you're really going to do it? You're actually going to go to Yuki no Kuni to work with the daimyo there for three years, Naruto?" Choji asked curiously from his seat by the mast, a bag of chips in hand as he watched the blonde and his red haired girlfriend prop their backs against the railing. When he saw the squad's captain nod and Hinata slide up alongside the Jonin with a nervous yet fond expression in play, the Akimichi allowed a chuckle to escape his lips, "Don't forget to take a ton of photos while you're out exploring the world and raising hell for the bad guys. The rest of us will be looking forward to hearing all about your trip when you get back."

"I'll chronicle my adventures and publish them all in novel form for everyone to enjoy," Naruto said with a grin, feeling Tayuya rest her head against his shoulder and gaze up at him warmly. When he looked back at her, with band aids slapped over his cheeks and nose, the young male beamed brightly. "However, I'm not just going to be hanging out having fun and slacking off. I'm going to use those three years in the north working with Koyuki to get even stronger… much stronger. Because if the opponents waiting for me up ahead are as tough as the one I just fought… then I need to get all of my shit sorted and fucking make this whole thing work."

Tayuya, her own expression solidifying, responded to him with a nod of agreement. "Don't fall behind, shithead… because I'm not going to be taking it easy either. I intend to beat you the next time we spar and race you to the Hokage's throne." From the cheeky smile she wore, you could tell that she meant what she said.

Feeling a hand rest on his arm, the jinchuriki looked to his right to see Hinata gripping his limb tightly and looking up at him with a firm expression in play. Seeing all of her woes and concerns reflected in her gorgeous eyes, the blonde remained quiet as the girl voiced her opinion too, with a small smile of her own forming. "W-We'll all get stronger, Naruto-kun… so that we'll be able to support you when you return."

Grin sprouting up again, the jinchuriki allowed a nod of appreciation to be passed to each of his friends and looked around at the smiles they all shared with him in return.

"You know what?" Naruto asked, his trademark expression coming back into play. "I think I'm really looking forward to this."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Author's Note: Well everyone, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The last one before the three year gap will be posted next.

I'm very restless at the moment because of a lot of the crap that's happened in the latest manga chapters. Every time Madara says anything, I just want to punch him in the face. The guy is so overpowered; I consider any and all characters that display even remotely landscape destructive abilities and comments about them being overpowered irrelevant. The guy is just one big hax. I want to see that smug expression smacked in, and I hope soon.

There will be a bit of a gap between now and my next update, because I'll be going on a two week holiday before starting on my Masters degree at university. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, wish you all the best, and I will see you as soon as possible.