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

46. Land of Demons Arc - All in a Day's Work

Author's Note: And another chapter I was able to squeeze out of my busy schedule. I'd say it's coming along nicely.

Just a few things I have to say about this before anything else. As you will soon find out, a part of this chapter touches on the origin of Naruto's sword. Since it's only a small part, if any of you are familiar with history then they might know where the inspiration for the sword's origin came from. More will be revealed about it later onwards, but for now you can indulge in the small portion I've provided.

Furthermore, Naruto gets a little bit of free time before returning to Yuki no Kuni, along with everybody else that'd been involved in the Moryu debacle. Enjoy.

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NARUTO

Drifting

All in a Day's Work

Flashback…

A long, long time ago…

Behind a large clan building, one not so different from the dominions used by the great shinobi families of present, a young man could be seen kneeling underneath the midday sun. Adorned in a white kimono, his hands covered in dirt and fingers buried in the thick, moist soil beneath him, the man was currently in the process of tending to his garden of flowers and cherry blossoms, with a line of potted plants and a water can sitting alongside him.

Humming a gentle tune as he occupied himself with his work, the cheerful gardener then reached over and picked one of the plants from the row, a small sapling with what appeared to be a large rose bud growing from its top. After making sure the conditions were right and that the plant wasn't frayed in the slightest, he then set the tiny thing in the ground. Once it was standing upright, he proceeded to fill the hole with fertilizer and soil. As soon as he'd patted the ground down and made sure the sapling sat perfectly with the feng shui of the rest of the backyard, he then leaned away and admired his handiwork.

A gentle sigh escaping his lips, the man with the dashing visage and long blonde hair tied into a ponytail was then interrupted from his hobby by a lighthearted chuckle filling the air. When he looked over his shoulder and toward his backyard patio, he saw a man dressed in a purple kimono with long black hair tied into a high knot, standing there with his arms folded. When the gardener's eyes landed on his visitor, a gentle smile pulled across his face.

"You always did love planting things," the newcomer spoke with an amused grin.

"Sengo," the blonde spoke, a little snicker leaving him as he edged to the side, where he then grabbed the watering can and held it gently between his hands, "I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

"Yeah, well, my daughter was getting restless and… she wanted to see her favorite Godfather so badly," the raven haired man spoke, at the same time strolling down the stairs and into the yard, "I swear, my kids love you more than they love me. It's almost criminal."

"Ah that's not true. Your children love you very much. They just… show it in a different way," the cheerful blonde replied while sprinkling water over the newly planted sapling, watching its leaves drip and the bud seemingly respond to the shower.

When Sengo approached the man and saw the sapling he was watering for himself, he stopped dead in his tracks and blinked in surprise, "Is that a… Shinju?"

"A Tree God? Yep," the man answered, pulling back the watering can and setting it back down on the ground. After which he ran his hand over the tiny leaves and beamed down at it, "It's one of the last of its kind. I found this little guy growing alongside the forest trail underneath some weeds and decided to bring him home with me."

Staring at his friend silently for a moment, Sengo then frowned and gave the guy a dead-panned look, "You do realize that if this thing grows to its full size it's going to cover this entire village, right?" Forget the village. It was going to cover the entire mountainside the town was on and more.

"Meh, when it happens, it happens. We'll just need to make some extra extensions to the property," the smartly dressed worker responded, at the same time shuffling back to give the plant some space. "I'm surprised you were able to identify it from where you were standing. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've got quite a keen eye for flowers as well, Sengo-kun."

"Well," the visitor replied with a laugh, slipping his hands behind him as he moved around, "After spending so much time with you, I've managed to pick up a few things about various flora and fauna. It's… actually quite scary how much I know." Strolling into view, the raven haired man then gave his best friend a smirk when he saw the blonde simply shrug off the fact that he'd just planted a God Tree sapling in his backyard, "Don't say I didn't warn you, Goro-kun."

Patting the soil down once more, Masamune regarded his plant one last time and spoke, "It's funny, isn't it? That something so enormous can start out so small. But I guess we all have to start out as saplings at some point in our lives." Running his fingers along the dirt, he then pulled his hand back and rested it on his lap, "With the right amount of care and with the proper nourishment, even something as little as this can become as big as a mountain. I just need to tell my kids not to eat its fruit, lest they want to anger the poor thing."

"Heh… yeah. That's something you don't want to do. The last thing either of us wants to deal with is another angry Deidarabotchi." Those things could be really annoying, especially when they were pissed off and in groups. "Nothing good ever comes from angering Mother Nature."

Laughing at his friend's remarks and dreads over another monster problem, the blonde haired Masamune rose to his feet and smiled in his direction, "So… how's that project for the daimyo I heard you got coming along? Has it got your fires stoked or are you struggling to meet the customer's order?"

"Oh man. Where do I begin?" Groaning and scrubbing the back of his head, the black haired visitor gave a half-smile to his host and rolled his shoulder, "The lord asked me to make some personalized engravings along the blade for him, as well as on the handle… AND to have the scabbard decorated with his clan's seal. He said it would help 'raise him to a higher plain of enlightenment'. To top it off, he also wants all the extra additions in gold. I don't know… I think he's asking for way too many embellishments if he's just going to end up displaying this thing on his clan's dining table."

"Heh. I suppose if you're going to ask for a sword from the great Sengo Muramasa, then you may as well go for the whole package," Masamune replied while patting the man on the shoulder, at the same time leading him back towards his backyard pagoda, "No sense in wasting such a glorious opportunity to have a weapon crafted by my rival. I'm still a little bit bummed out that he picked you over me in the coin toss. I would have made him a lovely centerpiece for his eating area."

Slumping over slightly at being reminded of that, the now downtrodden Sengo turned to the sword master with a grin, "Oh, so you're saying that your sword-making skills are better than mine?"

Masamune chuckled and reared back with his hands up. "Hey. I didn't say that. I'm just saying that if I was given the opportunity, I'd be able to do the daimyo a piece that is just as good as yours."

"Alright then," Muramasa said loudly, turning to his friend and placing his hands on his hips, "Since it's been a while since we've last competed against one another, how about we have a little competition to see who can make the best sword?"

"A craftsmen's duel?"

"Is there any other kind?" Muramasa shrugged with a grin, at the same time poking his friend in the chest, "Once I've finished with the daimyo's project, we'll both make one katana each and meet up at the forest's creek to compare them. Then maybe afterwards, if we've got the time, we can have an actual duel."

Masamune cocked his to the side and raised an eyebrow toward his friend, "You do remember the last time either of us fought against an opponent of equal strength and skill we reshaped the entire country, right? Do you really want to do something like that so close to home?"

"Come on! I'm bored as hell and I've got an itch I need to scratch. I haven't sparred with anyone in ages," Muramasa replied while clapping his hands together pleadingly, "Please, Goro-kun. Pretty please. I'll buy you ramen."

"Alright, alright, fine," Masamune chuckled while waving his friend's pitiful looking gesture down, before then holding up a finger, "We have one month. On the thirtieth day we meet up and compare our work. Deal?"

"Deal," Muramasa nodded, getting the answer he was so desperately wanting and performing a fist pump, "Yes! I can't wait!"

"Jiji!"

Hearing the sound of a girl's call and rushing footsteps, both men looked towards the steps leading down from the house to see an eight-year-old child in a flower style shirt and shorts running towards them, before immediately leaping into the arms of the blonde. The master sword craftsman let out a good-natured laugh as he lifted the brown haired girl up and propped her on top of his arm, where he then saw her beam across at him gleefully.

"Aki-chan. Good to see you. How is my little firefly doing?"

"I'm good," the little girl chirped happily.

"Did you miss your Godfather?"

"Yes. Very much," Aki said, nodding affirmatively before bouncing on the man's limb, "My mummy missed you too. She's in the dining room talking with Kanzaki-chan."

"Ah. Well, I should probably go in and say hi, shouldn't I?"

Her head bobbing up and down, the child then beamed and grabbed her favorite 'uncle's' robe, "Ne! Ne! Can we play a game, jiji?"

"Haha. Of course we can. Why wouldn't I want to spend time with my favorite God child? Hide and seek or shogi?"

"Mmm… shogi!" Aki replied almost instantly.

"Alright then. Shogi it is. Should we invite daddy too?"

Aki pouted and shook her head, "No!"

Muramasa rolled his eyes and slapped the man on the arm when he got close, drawing his companion's gaze back over to him. "See? She despises me."

Watching his best friend take the lead drew another laugh from the blonde sword master, as well as a pleasant smile, "Ahh, that's because I spoil her too much. This thing doesn't count."

End Flashback…

OOO

Waking up with a start, Naruto quickly found himself staring up at the blue canvas of sky above and the light scattering of cloud overhead. With his arms and legs sprawled out and body covered in leaves and dirt, the boy came to the realization that he'd crashed on top of a random hillside somewhere in the country, with a lone tree standing directly beside him.

Due to the fact that no crater had been formed, even with his position on the ground, it quickly became clear to the young Jonin that he'd managed to land safely following his high-altitude scrap with Moryu, and had keeled over from exhaustion. Judging from the position of the sun and the clarity of the heavens, it looked as though he hadn't been out for too long either, which was a relief.

That meant that ants wouldn't be crawling all over him this time.

Having insects of various kinds marching on his face and disturbing his free time though was the least of his concerns at this point. What really stuck out for him now at this hour were two very important questions he needed to have answered?

Where had he landed and what the hell was that vision he'd just experienced?

The faces he'd seen playing out in his mind had belonged to two strangers- important strangers from what he gathered- and considering the architecture as well as the location he'd been able to make out in the dream, it looked as though it'd come from a country not too far from theirs, but in a time that was long forgotten. The clan symbols, the flora, the mountains; all of them were completely unfamiliar to him. Not to mention he didn't know of any Masamune or Muramasa… though their names did appear familiar to him.

Maybe he'd heard about them from a history book or something, he didn't know. Either way, it was weird.

But since the memory did not belong to him or anybody else he knew, then what the heck could have triggered it?

Blinking in bewilderment and shaking himself out of his stupor, the wounded jinchuriki glanced over to his side, where he saw that his hand was still gripping his treasured katana. Seeing the flawless blade shine brightly under the light of the sun as if it were brand-spanking-new, Naruto considered the weight of the weapon and the emotional connection he felt with it. The bond between him and it was almost tangible in nature.

His fingers squeezing it a couple of ties to get a better bead on it, the Jonin gave it a few more moments of thought before a smile slowly crept across his lips.

"Tsubaki-chan was right… this sword really is something else." The things she'd said about it all those years ago were now starting to ring with a sort of truth… and today of all days.

Making sure that he was still in one piece and that his nerve endings were attached, Naruto gradually managed to push himself off of the ground and, with a loud groan, face the ruined landscape. Eventually managing to get to his feet, the youngster saw the peak-missing mountain the majority of the Moryu battle had taken place on standing about a kilometer away and breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing when he felt the wind whip past him and watched the sky completely clear.

At that moment, Naruto was shortly joined by his beloved companion Swift fluttering down from the sky above to land on his shoulder. Sharing a smile with his lifelong friend and hearing her sing, the boy began to walk, at the same time ignoring the sting of the wounds racking his body from the greatest and toughest battle he'd ever fought.

In spite of changing the maps several times over, the jinchuriki knew exactly where he was going and what he needed to do.

After all, he still had to get back to his princess…

OOO

Meanwhile…

The frontlines…

The past few days for the shinobi forces had been pretty hysterical, especially for the hidden leaf side. With the stone army marching across country and Moryu's shadow looming over them in the distance, the alliance's main objectives had consisted of attempting to corral the seemingly indestructible stone soldiers and keeping them far out of the way of any and all villages as much as possible. This involved a bulk of their forces breaking off into smaller groups to mount ambush attacks on the stone soldiers, using every means available to stop them. When those attacks failed, the shinobi eventually rallied into a single line to fight off the thousands of troops encroaching upon their respective homelands.

Suna, Iwa and Kumo had all been involved in setting up blockades to stop the soldiers from continuing their advances. Hell, even Kiri had lent a hand to her allies when they'd heard Moryu's Ghost Army had once again been summoned to wage war upon the world. Within hours, over fifty thousand shinobi from the five great nations had assembled to combat the imposing force. Sticking to their respective borders, shinobi and kunoichi left and right prepared for battle, one that was sure to shake the very foundations of their world.

But then, all of a sudden, without any warning or reason, Moryu's army just disappeared. After two days of assembling their forces along the 'trenches' and forming up walls to repel the invaders, Konoha and her associates were confounded when they suddenly saw the stone warriors just up and vanish.

Scouting parties were sent out to check and see if Moryu's army was still on the march toward their lines. But upon scanning the woods, forests, canyons and deserts the invulnerable troops had previously been sighted the only remains the allied forces could come up with were piles of dirt, stone and ash. Indications that they had previously been Terracotta soldiers were obvious. However, this unexpected turn of events immediately raised the question amongst the ninja that'd discovered the remains of the stone army were what the hell had just happened and what'd they just missed?

Was the army suddenly struck down by some sort of cosmic force when their explosives and traps did nothing to even budge them? Did Moryu cut off his connection to his warriors? Did they march out of range of their master? Was there some sort of anti-chakra pulse or something?

Hundreds of inquiries and yet no answers.

This of course was all from a frontlines perspective. All of the shinobi that'd been sent out to scout couldn't put words to reason. For the shinobi in the background working in Konoha's Sensor Division though, it was an entirely different story.

The shinobi charged with analyzing the changes on the battlefield had setup their Kanchi Shisutemu Jutsu (Sensing System Technique) to watch out for any sudden changes and anomalies across the country. For most of the time following the establishment of the device in the reserve areas, it'd been pretty easy-going with no abnormalities whatsoever taking place. The sensing water ball remained unchanged for the most, with only the Ghost Army and the shinobi they were fighting against registering on its surface.

But then, out of nowhere, the unthinkable happened. The water sensing ball suffered its first and most dramatic change in history when the sensors were suddenly hit with a colossal chakra surge. Stunned by the signal they received from the entity emitting that chakra, the sensing ball was completely distorted when it looked like a second one sprouted from its head like a tumor. This second sensing ball that appeared not only messed up the shape of the original water ball, but it eventually became so large it turned the original water ball into a moon that orbited it as opposed to the foreign chakra source.

No matter how they looked at it, the sensors were completely baffled by the development and immediately began trying to figure out what the problem was and where the hell this enormous chakra signature was coming from. However, after forty-five minutes of running around and having their senses flooded by the outrageous abnormality, a second orb appearing on the radar alongside the other one nearly knocked the entire sensor crew out. This second anomaly, which was much bigger than the first and making a total of three interlocking planets, lasted for only a few minutes before vanishing moments later. Then, several minutes after that, the intruding chakra signature, far greater than the entire shinobi alliance combined, also disappeared into thin air.

While in the midst of investigating the phenomenon yet still reeling from the shocking development that'd appeared on the sensing globe, Inoichi Yamanaka and his crew were shortly interrupted by the arrival of Shikaku Nara and Tsunade. Both having just been in conference with the Hokage back in the map room, the pair had now come by the sensing department to check on the team's progress. Upon entering the building, the two of them made their way over to the main desk, where the heads of the division were still in a row over the irregularities they'd been able to record and were apparently still in the process of sorting through.

"Well… anything?" Shikaku asked his companion of years past, who was currently piling over the documents that'd been thrown over the table.

Acknowledging his teammate's arrival, the blonde haired man murmured uncomfortably and turned around, sheets in hand, "That all depends on what 'anything' is."

"Just give it to us straight then," Tsunade spoke, hands on her hips as she glared back at the still winded-looking head of the sensor division. After spending countless hours moving between the medical departments to check on their progress, you could tell the Sannin was knackered and in desperate need of a break.

Hell, everyone was in need of a break at this point. After a week of constant fighting following the resurrection of the Ghost Army, every single shinobi who was on the frontlines was due for a rotation.

"Compiling the information we were able to gather over the past few days, we were able to identify the source of the enormous chakra spikes on our radar," Inoichi informed, while at the same time looking down at the report he'd written up, which he would later present to the Hokage and his war staff. "The cause of the irregularity originated from way inside enemy territory in Numa no Kuni (Land of Swamps). The first massive chakra signature came from the leader of the Ghost Army and the demon Moryu. From the facts we were able to obtain, we assume that he was somehow reunited with his body and managed to regain his full power."

"Ugh… well isn't that a real kick to the crotch," Tsunade cringed, scrubbing the top of her head and giving this piece of news a sour look.

"The indent his chakra made to the radar was off the charts, unlike anything we'd ever sensed before. The second enormous chakra signature, which appeared some time after this one and dwarfed the opposing orb completely, took a bit of time and effort to figure out. But after reviewing the data and what we already knew, we learned that this second chakra signature belonged to none other than the priestess of Oni no Kuni (Land of Demons)."

This news had Shikaku raise an eyebrow, "Hm… that's interesting."

"Yeah. We couldn't believe it ourselves. But there is strong evidence in the readouts that suggests that it had in fact been the priestess that was the cause for the second anomaly," Inoichi continued while looking down at the information in his hand. "They were strange too. The frequencies of both sources didn't coincide with any types of chakra outputs we're normally used to dealing with in shinobi or biju. The two figures were registering in a completely different range, yet were still able to distort the sensing ball and create their own planets."

"Did you manage to pick up anything else while you were looking into it?" Tsunade asked, out of both concern and curiosity.

The Yamanaka pursed his lips thoughtfully, "Well, looking at the two chakra spheres and the patterns we were able to receive from them, we believe that two things have occurred. One: the priestess has powered down from her fight. Two: Moryu has been defeated."

Seeing the smile appear on the man's face eventually drew a tug from Shikaku's lips, "Really?"

"I assume that that's a good thing and that we should be expecting to see home sometime in the foreseeable future," Tsunade spoke, crossing her arms under her ample bust while giving an excited grin of her own. Though her expression reflected nothing but unadulterated professionalism, on the inside the woman was hoping against all hope that this was indeed the case and that she would finally be able to indulge in some long-awaited alcoholism.

Honestly, all of this war stuff was a really grating experience, especially on a veteran like her.

"Of course," Inoichi replied affirmatively with a nod. When the two commanders under the Hokage turned to smile at one another, the head sensor then pulled up the page and his expression became serious once again, "There… is another matter I should probably point out to you, seeing as how we're still on the subject of the ridiculous protrusions that'd formed on the sensing sphere."

"What is it?" Shikaku asked.

"It turns out there were three other blips that appeared on the radar directly underneath the anomalies," Inoichi stated, at the same time looking up to the other two people in front of him. "In comparison they were faint, but there was one that stood out above the other two. While we couldn't exactly identify the other pair due to them being smothered by the opposing chakra spheres, the third one did make a startling bulge on the main sphere."

"Human?" Shikaku asked for clarification.

"Human… or demon, we're not quite sure," Inoichi murmured, at the same time looking across at the First's granddaughter. "It was weird. The results showed that the chakra signature belonged to a human… but the spike was so massive we assumed it belonged to a biju… like the Kyuubi or something."

"A human with a chakra level comparable to a bi-" Tsunade murmured before her eyes suddenly widened in realization. Expression reflecting her surprise, the blonde haired woman then made an 'oh' sound and a grin steadily formed across her full, red lips. Looking off to the side, the Sannin's gaze turned west, where she suspected the chakra signatures had been coming from. While this sudden stumble in her attention would have perplexed some, she eventually gave reason for her switch in focus to the two me standing in her presence.

"It seems the little runt has gone and grown some over the years."

Inoichi, blinking in surprise, turned to look at his friend, who was also giving the Sannin his undivided attention, "Runt?"

At that, a smirk developed on Shikaku's face, "I think I know who she's referring to."

Oh yeah; a certain, blonde haired hell raiser with whiskers on his cheeks.

How could anyone forget that face?

Tsunade's eyes twinkled, showing just how impressed she really was underneath.

"Not bad, Naruto."

She was certain that all across the continent, his and the priestess's battle with the demon Moryu could be felt in every sensor division of the five great nations, as well as by every shinobi who was adept in the art of chakra reading.

OOO

Meanwhile…

Somewhere in the wilderness…

Needless to say, Hidan had experienced much better days in the past.

On a scale of one to ten, this would probably be his worst.

After a fight that lasted for quite a while, he didn't know exactly how long but it'd still lasted a considerably long time, the immortal hunter and homicidal maniac soon found himself at the mercy of his quarry. In the hour following his engagement of the two Konoha ANBU that'd appeared on the edge of the clearing, his battle started off strong. Locking onto one of the enemy shinobi, the man pursued him through the forest, mercilessly slicing and hacking away at him with his scythe, trying to land a blow that would allow him to perform his ritual. However, as with a lot of Konoha ninja, the man found it quite a chore trying to catch the guy, as the figure in the Neko mask was making it his mission to stay out of reach of his triple-bladed weapon.

It was almost like he knew what was going to happen should the guy get even a single drop of blood from him.

This contest lasted throughout the entire duration of their battle, with Hidan chasing down the two ANBU and swinging away with his blade like there was no tomorrow. Sure he took a few blows for his trouble, but like with every other fight he strolled through their counters like they were nothing. Hell, the guy he was focusing on throughout most of the fight even produced a shield of wood to deflect his weapon, which was weird.

Eventually, after a long and drawn out scuffle in which no side made any headway, Hidan suddenly found himself facing off against the red-haired captain and her 'magical flute'. At first baffled by the fact the girl was playing a musical instrument in the midst of a duel and even sending her a few derogatory insults as a result, the mass murdering psychopath then charged her down in an attempt to bisect her with a single blow.

It seemed like an easy kill; the kunoichi standing as still as a statue atop a tree branch and playing a sweet melody with absolutely zero concern for her safety. But the moment the man came within range and swung at her with intent to kill, the next thing he felt was a stinging pain, a split second before his body was quartered and cut to pieces. As if being thrown into a meat slicer, the man's diced up body parts were scattered across the clearing, his legs, arms and torso going all over the place, leaving his head being the only thing left in one piece.

Bleeding from the mouth and neck, the man groaned as he glared painfully ahead of him, his eyes pulsing with veins and showing just how much agony he was in. Of course, any and all seething on his part was put on hold the moment he saw his two Konoha adversaries step into view; the brown haired one sheathing his sword and retracting the wooden shield he'd produced, while the red haired one holstered her flute.

Gritting his teeth, Hidan fumed through his teeth, "Ah… you've fucking done it now, cock suckers. Look at me… I'm all over the place…" Eyes glancing across the clearing to see his foot and hand lying several meters away, the now disembodied head huffed furiously and locked his gaze on the masked individuals looming over him, "That's just great… and I thought after the first time this fucking happened to me I would be over this shit. Guess I was wrong."

"You're finished… Akatsuki member Hidan," Tenzo spoke, his eyes narrowing behind his mask.

Spitting in annoyance, the silver haired butcher gave a bloody grin, "Former Akatsuki member, if you please. I don't work for those uptight ass-wipes anymore. My membership was forfeited with them the moment I was sent on a fucking one-way trip up to Yuki no Kuni."

"Former?" Tenzo murmured.

"Heh. It doesn't matter. Now that it's come down to this, there's not really much I can do except spit curses at you. So… to put it as delicately as I can for you fuck-wits… go ahead and finish me off, you mother fucking, limp-dicked sacks of anal excrement," Hidan replied, at the same time shooting the ANBU pair a tormented smirk.

"Not before you tell us who you're working for," the redhead spoke up next, at the same time stepping forward to look down at the severed head. "You said you're no longer in cahoots with the Akatsuki. However, judging from your garb and the fact that somebody has gone through the effort of putting you back together from whatever accident you may have had, you've obviously sold your allegiance to somebody else." The multitude of scars he had crisscrossing him was clear evidence of that fact.

Chuckling venomously, Hidan leered at the young woman, "Heh. You're a smart little cum gusher, aren't yah. Not bad for a common, hidden leaf whor-" His words were cut short by the girl lifting her foot up and stomping down on the side of his head with a loud crack, "AH! WHAT THE FUCK, BITCH?!"

"Two things. One: I don't like being insulted," the captain said, grinding her heel into the man's cranium, eliciting a series of yelps, before continuing boldly, "Two: there's not a fucking cock-stain on this piss-ball of a continent that can fucking out curse me, even on their best day, you worthless, putrid, incestuous, anal-sucking, dick-worshiping scum."

The string of curses had Tenzo sweat-drop behind his mask while at the same time stopping Hidan dead, who only stared up at the girl silently for a few seconds before a grin pulled across his bloody lips.

"Touché."

"So… are you going to cooperate with us… or do I have to start cutting more things off to loosen your tongue?" the ANBU captain asked while tilting her head down at the former Akatsuki subordinate, while her form was overshadowed by her partner.

Flaring at the nostrils, Hidan considered the kunoichi for a minute. Looking her over and giving the heel digging into his temple a second thought as well, the man then huffed in displeasure and closed his eyes, "So you want to know the names of the pricks that are currently pulling my strings?"

"That's right," Majo replied affirmatively.

Giving a momentary giggle, the silver haired individual glared at her once again, "Well, lucky for you two, I don't like those fuckers anymore than I liked the last group I was working for… bunch of jumped up freaks. Hell, they're the ones that gave me these scars… fucking experimenting on me and all that shit. Ever since my head was unfrozen from that God damn mountainside, it's been nothing but stitch-there and fucking knife-me-there."

The masked redhead lifted her chin. "I'll take that as a yes then?"

"But…" Hidan suddenly interrupted, cutting the two ANBU off from any further questions, "as much as I would love to be spilling my guts for you Konoha scum, I unfortunately don't have any more time. You see… the motherfuckers who sent me on this mission to watch the priestess from a distance and to make sure she got to the sealing shrine in one piece, also slapped a cursed seal somewhere on my body. No sense in having a wild dog if you don't have a leash wrapped around its collar, am I right?" His words surprising the two black ops members, the insane shinobi then gave them a more manic grin, "The seal has some sort of audible link between me and the fucker who placed it on me or some weird shit like that. It's how he's been able to survey the five great nations from the drones he's got walking around. He and his people can hear every fucking word. If they know that I'm lying here all fucked up and dying about to tell you everything… do you think they're going to let me fucking live?"

The second he uttered those words, Majo and Tenzo got the shock of their lives when they unexpectedly saw every body part he had lying around the area and his entire head burst into flames. With all the surgical scars he had tattooing his form, it made sense that somebody would've implanted combustible material inside of him. However, his individual body parts exploding into orange flames still caught the two Konoha ANBU off guard, with the captain stepping off of the severed head to watch as his scattered remains flared into an inferno.

"SEE! I SO FUCKING TOLD YOU!" Hidan laughed out loud, his eyes bugging out from their sockets as he felt his skin and brains start to cook from the inside out. As his flesh started to blacken and crumble away into ash, the man locked his sights onto the two ninja and flashed them his most menacing grin, "WELL… SINCE I'M FUCKED… HOW ABOUT I PISS A LITTLE WISDOM ON YOU DIPSHITS? YOU CAN TAKE THIS ONE… AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASSES!" Sticking his tongue out, the man gave one last smirk before uttering his last, "BEWARE… THE LAND… OF SKY…!"

And that was it. The next thing the ANBU could be seen staring at was a flaming pile of ash and Hidan's head crumbling away into nothingness. The inferno that'd once enveloped his individual pieces ebbed away moments later, leaving both Majo and Tenzo looking down at several smoldering heaps scattered across the clearing, before their expressions became serious behind their respective veils once again.

Silence reigned.

Head lowering, the redhead clicked her tongue and looked across at her partner thoughtfully, "The Land of Sky?"

"It seems the identity of the shadow organization we've been searching for has been revealed," Tenzo replied, also feeling a sense of dread fall over him. "If that's the case… then it looks as though things are going to get a whole lot more troublesome for us."

"Agreed," the musician replied, before turning to look out of the clearing and towards the enormous clouds of smoke rising in the distance.

From their position, the pair had been able to feel every tremor and land-shaping explosion that'd been taking place over by the sealing shrine. When the country had been bombarded from above by nukes, with one coming in dangerously close to their position, they'd done their very best to pay it little to no mind to focus on the immortal shinobi they'd been stuck fighting with.

Now that he'd been done away with, they could now direct all of their attention to the next problem at hand.

However, judging from the feel of the atmosphere, the clearing of the sky and the way everything was slowly starting to settle down now, the two of them believed there was nothing else to worry about…

OOO

Elsewhere…

Lying in a distant field of boulders of what used to be a mountain, there sat an enormous crater. In it, smoldering from head to toe in the tattered clothing that had managed to stick to him after freefalling thousands of meters from orbit, there lay the battered and bruised form of Kakuzu gazing up towards the sky. For several minutes since landing he'd been laying there, arms and legs splayed out and giving him the shape of a human star. Eventually though, when consciousness finally caught up with him and he'd been able to process the full extent of the events that'd enveloped him, there was only one thing he could really say as he continued to stare up at the white clouds in the heavens drifting slowly overhead.

"Ow…"

Feeling every nerve ending and bundle stinging from the ferocious beating he'd suffered at the hands of what he would consider the most powerful foe he'd ever faced, someone who'd made even Hashirama and Madara look like a joke, the man decided he'd had enough of lying out in the sun. Fingers and toes twitching when his brain reconnected with the rest of his body to give him movement, the old bounty hunter gave a loud groan and sat up, at the same time reaching up to grip the side of his face and massage the pins and needles out of his cheeks. Realizing he still had his mask on, the red and green eyed man cracked open his lids and looked around to see where he was.

All around him he could see the long reaching mountain ranges and countryside had been completely rearranged. There were barely any forests of edifices left standing and entire slabs of earth had been moved about, giving shape to an entirely new country. Even the valleys had had their once beautiful rolling hillsides replaced by craters.

Judging from the extent of the damage and how nothing seemed to matchup anymore, whatever ungodly battle they'd been wrapped up in had clearly been one hell of a party.

Groaning as he rested his arm over his leg, Kakuzu remained sitting in place for a moment and surveying his new surroundings, before a shadow falling over him drew his gaze up. When he looked, he saw an equally damaged and beaten Misora standing beside him. With her Akatsuki cloak in perfect condition and her cloth fanning around her, the girl not only had her arm in a sling but was also propping herself up on a makeshift crutch she'd fashioned from the same material. In spite of the bruises, her condition looked slightly better off than his, mostly because her outfit looked brand-spanking new.

"I see you're still alive," the young woman chirped with a warm smile, "That's a relief."

"Hmph. I've been in this game for too long to be put down by some wannabee God of Destruction," the masked man replied, sparing a smirk to the youngster when she suddenly brought a brand new Akatsuki cloak from behind her and tossed it over to him. Having obviously made it using her signature jutsu, the girl had no hesitation in handing it over to him free of charge, something that Kakuzu had absolutely no problems with. "You look like hell though."

"Yeah. I know. It's going to take a shit ton of facials to cover this mess up," Misora murmured, reaching up and gently touching her cheek, before wincing when she felt the sting of multiple burns reverberating from the point of contact, "Ow. Damn it. Remind me to apply some extra coating the next time we get into a fight like that. That was just brutal."

"No arguments here," Kakuzu replied, giving another grumble as he stood up. His body voicing its complaints in the form of trembling and stinging, the man rolled his shoulders and stretched out his spine, a series of audible cracks ringing out when he did.

"And how are you doing?" Misora asked, looking the man from head to toe when she saw him massage his neck. "Considering the amount of torment I had to go through… you're probably worse off than I am."

"Damage report?" Kakuzu responded, earning a nod from the girl before he patted his chest down with his hand and looked at himself. "Three of my hearts suffered attacks." He then looked up towards the girl to see her give him a weak grin, "Among a few other things. I may have overexerted myself on this one." Especially when he and an entire mountain had been nuked and he got baked by a blast of raw chakra at pointblank range.

"Well, what can you expect? We did just save the world from an all-powerful demon and everything. Losing a limb- or in your case- an organ or two is basically a prerequisite to something like that," the girl replied cheerfully.

Upon looking over the countryside and watching the rays of sunlight break through the remaining cloud cover to warm the land from horizon to horizon, the two Akatsuki members breathed a collective sigh and looked across at each other. After sparing a momentary thought to the hell they'd been put through as well as the damages they'd both suffered, there was only one thing either of them could do at a time like this.

"What now?"

"First…" Misora replied, pointing between her and her partner a couple of times, "You and I… are going to go to a bar, grab a few drinks, and get smashed. After that, we're both going to split and take a month or two off to get our shit together. I'm going to go lie in a hospital bed and scream in pain for several days… and you can go do whatever the hell you want to do. Deal?"

Remaining silent for several moments and mulling over what his partner was suggesting, the masked hunter then took a second to look at his options before glancing at the brown haired super model once more.

A nod soon followed his meditation on the matter.

"Done."

OOO

A couple miles away…

Shion, having marched her way down the side of the absolutely ruined mountain she was on and up to the top of another distant hill, found herself looking back at what was the end result of the battle with Moryu. With the top of the sealing shrine gone, and the shrine itself having been blasted into nonexistence at this point, the priestess then began scanning the horizon and taking in all of the changes made to the country. What were once sweeping mountain ranges covering hundreds of miles in all directions with forests growing at their bases, were now either vast stretches of open, scorched fields and smoldering craters grander than any gorges currently on that content.

With only small patches of woodland remaining and with eighty percent of the edifices in the immediate area gone, it was quite obvious that several maps were going to need some serious redrawing. Judging from the amount of destruction that'd been inflicted upon the nation's countryside, there was no doubt that the conflict that'd been fought today completely outshone the battle between Hashirama and Madara decades before several times over.

Seriously. Even just watching from a distance it'd been a terrifying spectacle and Shion had had the good fortune of being caught up in the middle of it.

With the wind whipping at her hair under the clear blue sky and as she watched the smoke rising from over the newly crafted, rolling fields dissipate as their sources burned out, the priestess brought a hand to her chest and rested it over her heart. Closing her eyes and breathing in, Shion could feel her once latent powers, which had previously been held back by her sacred bell, flickering brightly within her. It was as if a dam had been lifted from within and allowed the spring it was holding back to burst forth. The feeling she was experiencing from it and the new strength she'd gained was both overwhelming and liberating, like a bird finally finding her wings.

Now she felt as though she could move forward and face her future without any fear or hesitation.

Curling her fingers and sprouting a smile, Shion's gaze was then drawn up when she felt a tremor followed by a loud rumbling sound. Moments later, she saw the top of the sealing shrine explode and vast quantities of lava start gushing out of its peak. Spewing fumes into the air in the form of thick, black, ember filled clouds, the priestess looked on as the once dormant volcano awoke from its slumber and wiped whatever was left of Moryu's tomb off of the face of the map. After which, the lava that started splashing over the structure started to flow down into the nearby river, which was miraculously still intact despite all the abuse that the surrounding country had taken.

Marveling at the erupting volcano for a good, long minute, the girl then jerked upright in surprise when a clearing of a throat startled her and she turned to see Naruto strolling up the hill towards her position, with his sheathed katana propped over his shoulder.

"Ugh. What an ordeal," the Jonin groaned, scrubbing his head when he eventually stopped at the priestess's side. Getting close enough to her for both sides to survey the other properly, the young man could see that Shion, aside from the dirt on her knees and rips in her jacket, was perfectly fine. This at least filled him with a sense of relief that she was alright, "You're still here, Shion? That's a surprise."

Said priestess beamed up at the Jonin as he stepped in closer so that they both shared the same peak, "I was waiting for you, Naruto-kun."

"Heh. Well, I appreciate it," the jinchuriki replied, placing a hand on his hip and gazing out over the countryside just as the heiress had been moments before.

Taking a good look at the man who'd just saved the world and how he stood confidently beside her, Shion saw that he wasn't just absolutely riddled with dirt and grime, but he was also sporting a ton of bruises. It was almost as if he'd just been pummeled into submission by an octopus with fists, which was hilarious considering he had in fact been fighting a multi-headed dragon that then transformed into an invulnerable half-human, half-demon hybrid. His pants were ruined, with one legging torn away and his jacket was practically shredded, exposing his arms and more of his chest. The blonde had actually had to roll up one sleeve to try and trim his appearance up a little.

Aside from any scars and cuts, which were absent from him thanks to his momentary transformation into his Seven-Tailed Kyuubi mode, Naruto looked as spry and as healthy as ever.

"I'm glad to see you're okay," Shion spoke in a soft voice, her eyes fixating upon his dashing visage when he glanced down at her in response.

"Same here. That was a pretty wild ride, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. No kidding," the priestess giggled, turning towards the volcano as it continued sending jets of smoke and bits of earth into the air, "It was close… but we finally managed to defeat Moryu and save everyone. And we all have you to thank for that, Naruto…"

"Me? Shoot no. It wasn't just me," the Jonin chuckled while looking at the girl again, "If you hadn't been there, then that bastard would have turned this entire planet into dust and debris the moment he lost his shit. The three of us were getting nowhere with the guy and you just cracked his jaw with a single blow. Stop selling yourself short, Shion-chan."

Giving a momentary snicker, the slightly blushing priestess then threw him an approving gaze, "I nearly passed out trying to stop him. Even though my chakra was far greater than his, if you hadn't been there to help me, there was no way I could have pulled it off." She then laced her hands together and massaged them uneasily, at the same time looking at her feet with a bashful expression in play, "A-And… if you hadn't been there, Moryu wouldn't have just killed me… but everybody else as well."

"Well… good thing I had this old girl here to help me out when it really mattered," Naruto said, swinging his sword off of his shoulder and tapping it against the floor. Giving his weapon an appreciative stare and a look of consideration, the Jonin then breathed a sigh and held it up, "Tender Hands, huh?"

It was clear that there was much more to this sword than meets the eye. He made a mental note to look more into it when he got back to Yukigakure and Koyuki. Maybe after consulting the spirits and the toads of Mount Myoboku he would be able to get some more insight into this matter.

Sheathing the weapon at his side so that it hung off of his belt, Naruto and Shion then stood side by side and looked out across the battlefield. Watching the rays of sun hit the crater covered nation, fallen mountains and whatever forests remained standing in the wake of their epic conquest, the pair remained in peaceful silence while contemplating the events leading up to this very moment. Hell, looking back at everything they'd been through the past couple of days, what they'd seen, what they'd learned and the events that'd transpired, all of this made the sight of the end that much more spectacular in their eyes.

Racked by the memories of their ordeal, a smile formed on Naruto's lips, "Guess this means your priestess days are over, huh?"

Shion lowered her head slightly and shook her head, "No. There will always be a need for one." Her words catching the jinchuriki's eye, the girl took a step forward and lifted her gaze. "I realized something in there. It was the evil inside of men's hearts that gave rise to Moryu. So who's to say someone like him won't return to this world again and again?" Her smile then widened that much more, "And I also realized I have to be especially careful of a certain shinobi."

Staring at her a little while longer, a grin then formed on Naruto's face when he understood what she was getting at.

"You don't have to worry. I won't curse my fate anymore," Shion answered, glancing back around at the blonde and sharing a similar smile of enthusiasm with him, "Now that Moryu is gone… nobody will have to give their lives for me anymore. As long as I'm careful, watch where I step and trust in the people standing next to me, no one will have to be sacrificed ever again. I have the power to do something now… and I intend to do the very best that I can to use my power to protect all those closest to me. I'm a priestess. That is my mission. Isn't that right, Naruto?"

"Yeah," a pleased Jonin responded merrily.

When the pair exchanged gazes, Naruto moved forward to join the girl at her side once again, their eyes landing on the volcano to see another spurt of lava boil over and begin flooding over the side. The sounds of its drums echoing up to them gave the pair an atmosphere to appreciate and one they were not inclined to waste.

Shion still had more words she wished to have spoken and she was adamant in expressing them to her protector. "And of course, there's one other matter concerning my power. It has to be passed on to the next priestess too." A sly smile forming on her face, the priestess then looked across at the Jonin to see him turn to her as well, where he quickly saw her mischievous expression fix upon him, "How about it, Naruto? You wanna help me with that?"

Now, had his mental state been in a more degraded condition, this question would have flown completely over his head. However, after spending the past several months learning how to read between the lines in more ways than one, the jinchuriki's immediate response to this inquisition was for his eyes to widen and his body to nearly buckle in shock, "Huh? W-Wh…?" Swallowing heavily, the blonde raised a weak hand in shock, "C-Could you run that by me again, Shion-chan? I think I may have misheard you."

Damn, talk about déjà vu. Those were almost the exact same words he'd used back when he first met the priestess in her throne room.

Giggling at the look on his face, Shion gazed fondly at the Jonin and turned towards him slowly. When she closed the distance between them with a few tentative steps Naruto straightened up immediately, just in time for her to stop an inch from his chest. The moment his eyes met hers, he saw a primal emotion burning deep inside of them that had his breath catch in his throat. "Oh, I think you heard me just fine, Naruto-kun," she whispered gently.

Remaining speechless as he watched the girl's face inch closer, Naruto stood in place while his mind worked a mile a second over the memories of what had happened over the past several hours and how it'd wound up like this.

It was baffling. He'd only just met this girl no more than two days ago and for most of that time, the only part he'd ever seen of her was the pushy, princess side of her; the false exterior that Shion had created for herself to protect her from hurt, anguish and loneliness. It was only on the second day of being her escort that Naruto had gotten to see the honest, true side of the teen. Yes, on the majority she was still a stuck-up, timorous product of a spoilt childhood. However, she'd also shown that she possessed a strong spirit; a sense of what she believed was right and, during the fight with Moryu, displayed the qualities of a bold and determined individual.

On a superficial level they'd bickered constantly in the two days they were together, displaying two opposing and very noticeable ideologies. Naruto even went out of his way to protect this argumentative girl, who at the very beginning of this journey expressed nothing but distaste and a willingness to surrender herself to her fate. But try as she might, the Jonin would not allow her to throw in the towel so easily, and through hell and high water he'd managed to drag her all the way out here, kicking and screaming. In the end, even she'd helped them in pushing that titanic boulder up that final stretch of hill.

After all the time that'd passed between then and now, something must have snapped somewhere around the middle that had resulted in this, and Naruto could not for the life of him figure out when it'd happened. All thoughts on the matter of course were silenced seconds later when he felt Shion press her lips against his in a tender kiss and time roll to a standstill. Moments later, she disengaged, and Naruto found himself staring down at the deeply blushing priestess, who continued to regard him with a sense of longing, a warm gaze and with her hands held behind her back.

"I don't think I need to repeat myself."

Blinking a few more times, Naruto then gave the girl a half-smile and tilted his head at her, "My first question at this point would be; what brought this on all of a sudden? Considering how we've been speaking with one another in the past couple of days, I figured you would think of me as nothing more than a royal pain in the ass."

Shion shrugged, "Those were merely formalities that needed to be rubbed out. Besides, I think you rather enjoyed the little arguments we got into."

"Hm. True. But my initial question still stands."

"Well, if you really must know… I think your 'weirdness', as you like to call it, has finally started to grow on me," Shion replied, putting his words right back into his mouth.

"Is that so?" Remembering what he'd said to her much earlier that morning while they were still onward bound for the sealing shrine, Naruto let out a lighthearted chuckle and scratched the side of his nose, "I didn't think it would have such an impact this time around."

Shion's eyes shimmered as she stared at him, "You're the first person who's ever spoken to me like a normal person would, with an open heart, and without restraint or fear. Yet at the same time you showed me great kindness and fortitude. No matter how much I tried to push you away, you pushed right on back and kept on coming. How can my heart not be swayed?"

"Heh, when you put it like that I guess it makes a little bit more sense," Naruto chuckled, reaching up and gently running a hand through her bangs. "But still… you're not afraid that you might be moving into this a bit too fast?"

"A lot of things have happened in my life that I regret… stuff that I wish I could go back and start over. But this is the first decision I've ever made that I know I will never come to regret and there's nothing anyone can say that will convince me otherwise," Shion replied with absolute certainty in her voice. As she stared into his eyes, she moved closer to him and straightened up, showing she meant what she had to say next, "I love you."

If her asking him to help her father a child wasn't a clear enough admission of her feelings for him, than this definitely was.

Feeling his heart skip a beat, Naruto remained silent for several seconds. Staring into the deep, shimmering eyes of the girl standing before him, completely captivated by her conviction and the firmness which she'd used to utter her response, the jinchuriki's expression softened and he stepped in closer, "You really are amazing, Shion-chan."

Moving uneasily beneath his shadow, the priestess's look fell somewhat and she gazed at her hero with worry. Part of her was afraid that he was going to shoot her down outright, while another part of her was hoping against all hope that he would reciprocate her feelings. Nevertheless, in spite of these conflicting emotions swarming around in her head, she continued on boldly, willing to face her future without trepidation. "Do you… feel the same way? I mean… is it okay…?"

Naruto, lowering his head momentarily, then looked at her with a slightly more browbeaten air about him, "I care about you a lot, Shion-chan." When he saw the girl's expression brighten, he frowned, "But… I don't think you would want to spend the best years of your life with someone like me. I may seem like a cool, okay guy on the outside, but I'm also scatterbrained and prone to getting into a lot of trouble-"

"Oh, I don't mind," Shion interrupted, a beaming smile in play and her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm.

"And my tact is sort of lacking-"

The princess shrugged, "Nobody's perfect."

"And I can also be incredibly arrogant and blunt-"

"Hmph. So can I," Shion replied with a smirk forming on her face, one that drew an amused smile from the Jonin in front of her, "You think a big ego really bothers me that much?"

Remaining quiet for a moment as he considered her words carefully, the whisker-marked blonde then placed his hands on his hips and raised his head a little higher.

It was time for the final hurdle.

"I'm also in a relationship with several other girls," Naruto stated, stopping the ball right there and bringing a surprised look to the priestess's face. This sudden revelation had Shion pause for thought. It also had the whisker-marked blonde tilt his head and give the priestess a look, "Now you can see why I'm prone to getting into a lot of trouble. I don't know whether it's because I'm selfish or stupid, or maybe because I don't like hurting other girl's feelings. All I really know is that I just can't say no to anyone. It's a real double-edged sword for a person like me, but that's who I am on the inside and there's no way I can change that." He then lowered his head again and looked across at the girl worryingly, "Well… since you know a bit more about who I am, do you still really want to b-" And was promptly shut down once again by Shion leaning up and kissing him.

This one was longer than the last one and just as surprising, and when the time came for it to end the priestess lowered herself back to the ground and beamed, "If you're already with a few other girls, then I don't mind one bit if I have to share you." A sly smile then reappeared on her dazzling expression and she gave a light chortle, "Besides… you do know how selfish and stubborn I can be, don't you? I won't take no for an answer."

Looking slightly perplexed, Naruto grinned, "You don't have the faintest idea what you're getting into… do you?"

Cheeks still warm from her previous actions, Shion giggled, "Try me."

Grinning, the Jonin leaned in to kiss the priestess full on the lips. Shion responded in kind, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, while he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her in. The pair remained like that in tender embrace, deepening the kiss and feeling their chests press against one another. The many seconds that ticked by felt like minutes as the pair's show of affection became a little bit more passionate. Eventually, the duo ended up breaking away for air, their chests heaving as they kept their arms around one another.

Staring back at the other person's flushed face and reveling in the warmth in their bodies, the pair then heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and looked to the side with a start. They'd been so caught up in embracing one another that they didn't even sense the arrival of several more people to the scene. This meant it came as a bigger surprise to the Jonin when he saw Samui standing there with her arms folded, and Omoi and a squad of Kumogakure shinobi behind her. Not only that, but she was also accompanied by a team from Sunagakure being led by Temari and Kankuro.

It didn't escape Naruto's notice either that there was also a squad of Iwagakure shinobi hanging off of a branch of a tree nearby, whom he quickly recognized as Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi and Shirotsuchi from previous meetings with the team.

All three groups were looking at the pair with interest, which had Naruto and Shion freeze in place at the sight of the crowd. When the priestess eventually realized that they were no longer alone, her face turned bright red and she gave an audible 'eep', before eventually scuttling behind her Jonin protector to hide from their thoroughly entertained audience.

"Looks like somebody's enjoying himself," Temari spoke, grinning across at the hidden leaf ninja when he turned to face her with an expression of his own. "You don't waste time, do yah, Naruto."

"Seducing the priestess of the Land of Demons over the course of your mission; shame on you," Kankuro chided teasingly.

While the sand siblings looked on in amusement, with the former shaking her head and resting it on her hand, Kurotsuchi cackled as she swung her legs back and forth from where she was positioned, "Oh, don't mind us, blondie. Just keep doing what you were doing. Pretend like we're not here."

Shirotsuchi, her white Iwa uniform blowing on the wind and the lantern on her head burning away brightly, giggled and smiled across at her teammate, "I think we may have disturbed a rather tender moment between them. Wouldn't you agree, Kurotsuchi-chan?"

"No duh. Why do you think we're sitting here?" Rolling her eyes, the raven haired girl then grinned down at the Konoha ninja standing on the precipice of the hill. "Try to keep your public displays to a minimum, you lump of desire you."

Once the identities of those who'd suddenly arrived on the scene finally got through his head, the jinchuriki then spared the newcomers a smile and waved in their general direction, "Hey guys." His gesture had Shion shift a little bit further behind him, an action that drew a few more laughs from those who were watching. "What brings all of you all the way out here?"

"Not much," Samui spoke up, smiling that gorgeous smile of hers as she ambled forward with a hand on her hip, "Although, headquarters did manage to pick up several strange anomalies taking place in this region and sent us over to find out what was causing them." The kunoichi eventually coasted to a stop a few inches in front of the blonde to smile up at him, before her gaze momentarily cut towards the ruined landscape and the volcano behind him. After which she then beamed at him mischievously, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about these anomalies would you, Naruto-kun?"

This had the jinchuriki grin sheepishly at the proximity between him and the kunoichi and the way she was now sizing him up, "Well, it was crazy. You probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Samui's smile widened and she folded her arms under her chest, "Well… the war is over and I've got time to spare. So why don't you regale me in your epic tale of heroism and I'll let you know whether or not I believe you." She spared a momentary glance to the priestess peeking out from behind the man, before looking up at him once more, "I'm sure you won't disappoint me."

Naruto let out a laugh, "You're on." With his chuckles eventually subsiding with the moment, he regarded the girl standing in front of him for what seemed like hours. Taking in her new look, shapely form, silky hair, beautiful face and gorgeous eyes, he soon gave an admiring nod to the young woman before a much softer expression fell upon him, "It's good to see you again, Samui-chan."

The kunoichi responded with a warm visage of her own, "It's good to see you too, Naruto-kun."

OOO

Meanwhile…

Amegakure…

Back over in the storm covered state of the hidden rain village, the leader and the most mysterious resident of the community was going through what could only be described as a phase. Having been keeping an eye on the chakra signatures he could sense battling it out in the direction of the Land of Swamps, the orange haired man had spent the better half of the past few hours perched on his balcony listening to the winds, if you will, and getting a bead on his surroundings. For a majority of the night nothing major took place and even when he sensed Kakuzu and Misora arrive on the scene, the boss didn't have any reasons to be concerned.

That was until Moryu's chakra levels suddenly went through the roof and the Akatsuki member found himself on his feet and staring towards the horizon line on the other side of his country in disbelief. Unable to form words in his mouth, all the man could do from that point onwards was stand there with a small glimmer of bewilderment in his ripple-patterned gaze, while at the same time using every last bit of his willpower to keep himself from passing out from a freak tumor.

Not only were there two Akatsuki members he could sense in the vicinity of Moryu's resting place, but also what he identified as the Kyuubi's jinchuriki, and the energy reading of the most powerful force of nature to ever grace this big, blue ball of water and earth.

Electricity rushed through his brain as he sensed the battle with the ancient demon Moryu escalate to an outrageous degree, moments before the entity's chakra signature was unexpectedly eclipsed by what the organization's leader deduced was the priestess's.

Two presences that completely dwarfed every other soul's on this planet soon found themselves squaring off in a battle to the death. After several minutes of reading the ether and figuratively gripping the edge of his seat in anticipation of the final showdown, the Akatsuki boss then felt the priestess's energy level decline and the demon's life force vanish into thin air. When the sky cleared and the tremors in the earth finally subsided in the wake of the last, decisive exchange, the leader of Akatsuki relaxed shortly thereafter, and slowly came to the conclusion that the world's biggest threat had finally been vanquished.

The shock had been enough to send his head in a downward spin.

All frustrations and concerns over the matter however were then promptly swept under the rug when the Akatsuki member was suddenly interrupted from his meditation by the arrival of another. Eyes glancing to his right, he saw the blue haired form of his partner Konan step out from under the tower's arch. The woman, adorned in a black cloak with red clouds on it like every other group member's attire, nodded to the man with nothing but seriousness reflected in her eyes.

"Pein… he's here."

Nodding in understanding, the Akatsuki head turned and marched across the balcony. Ducking back into the tower via its wide entrance, the ruler of the rain village and his blue haired partner turned to see a man in a black cloak and an orange swirl mask step into view. Recognizing the Sharingan eye underneath his guise as he glared through the shadows of the room, the two figures stood to full height and waited for his greeting.

It came shortly afterwards in the form of a question.

"Did you sense it too?"

"Yes," Pein replied without a single hitch in his voice.

"Then I'm sure you've become aware of the problem," the masked man continued, his eye noticeably narrowing through the single hole on the right side of his face cover.

The standing leader of the group nodded with a grim look suddenly falling over him, "The Kyuubi's host… Naruto Uzumaki."

Oh yeah. He was well aware of that problem.

"It seems that he's no longer the troublesome brat he once was," the visitor stated while lowering his head. "He's gotten strong… very strong…"

And to the people who were tasked with hunting him down in the future, that was a seriously big issue…

OOO

Some time later…

Elsewhere…

In another country far out of the way of the conflicts taking place further to the west, another figure was presently hard at work. Having resigned himself to the lower levels of his base and the confines of his laboratories, the pale-skinned form of Orochimaru could be seen going over the various documents related to his next sinister plot, project or insert-obligatory-villainous-material-here. Obviously having something to do with possessing another body for his own heinous ambitions, the man was surveying a collection of storage tanks with mutilated cadavers of human beings floating around inside of them.

Eyes fixed upon a corpse with vines and stalactites growing off of it, the Sannin heard the footsteps of another person entering his midst. The tapping echoing to a stop a few feet behind him, the black haired snake looked over his shoulder, turning away from his writing pad to see his loyal servant Kabuto kneeling behind him. Upon recognizing the presence of the spy, with only the top of his head and purple uniform visible under the flickering room light, Orochimaru glanced back around and returned to his writing, before a smirk formed across his face.

"What do you have to report, Kabuto-kun?"

"Forgive my intrusion, Orochimaru-sama," the grey haired man murmured before looking up, his spectacles flashing as he looked towards his master, "But I think you'll be happy to learn that the Moryu crisis has finally lifted."

"Has it now?"

"There's chatter coming in from all over," the man informed as a wide smile formed across his own face. "I was working with the medical staff in the Konohagakure camp when I heard about the final battle taking place in the Land of Swamps. They say that the priestess and a team of shinobi hired to protect her has managed to destroy the conqueror after a battle that lasted for well over two hours."

"Oh good," the Sannin spoke with an even more delighted smile coming into play, "After all, the world isn't big enough for two rulers. With Moryu out of the way, I'll be able to focus all of my attention on getting rid of Akatsuki and the newly resurrected Land of Sky that still continues to elude us."

"Of course, sir," the glasses wearing man answered, moments before rising to his feet and pushing his glasses back up the length of his nose. "But there is… something else that's come up that I'm sure you'll be interested to hear."

Orochimaru absently looked at the tank in front of him while at the same time responding to his assistant's statement, "And what is that?"

"It's regarding the information I was able to obtain from the sensor division about the battle with Moryu," Kabuto informed, slipping his hands into his pockets and lowering his gaze. "The two chakra signatures that appeared on the sensing orb completely distorted the central hub. The blip belonging to the demon himself grew to such a ludicrous size it turned the primary sensing orb into a satellite. It's like Moryu's chakra signature became its own planet, while turning the original sensing orb into a moon." This information had Orochimaru cease writing in order to lend his ear to the rest of what the spy had to say to him. "The second chakra signature that appeared alongside it afterwards became even bigger than the demon's chakra. I have reason to believe that this sphere belonged to the priestess of the Land of Demons."

The Snake Sannin, processing this news carefully, lowered his writing pad to the surface of his desk.

Taking this as his sign to continue, Kabuto inhaled deeply and pressed on, "It's obvious the priestess and the demon came to blows before both their signatures dissipated, with Moryu's vanishing completely from the radar. The other blips that appeared alongside the two during the battle were also substantial in comparison to others. According to my sources, two of those readings belonged to Akatsuki members Kakuzu and Misora. The third one, which was comparable to that of the Kyuubi's, belonged to one Naruto Uzumaki."

Fingers twitching while he remained standing in place, Orochimaru continued to glare ahead of him in silent contemplation. At first Kabuto believed his master was experiencing a form of shock, unable to comprehend the information he had just been given. But then, just when it seemed like he was going to witness the Sannin lose his composure for the first time in a long while, he then observed the man closely as he slowly turned and flashed him one of his signature, menacing grins.

"My, my, my… that is interesting."

Oh ho, the leaders of every organization from here to Kirigakure must be somersaulting at this point.

OOO

With Naruto…

A couple hours later…

After informing the shinobi teams of what had taken place in that part of the country and sending a couple of them back to report to their respective frontlines, Naruto and his friends decided it was time for a little break. With the threat of Moryu gone and the mission of escorting the priestess pretty much over and done with, the Jonin captains now had a completely empty schedule that needed to be filled. In guiding the groups back to their separate homelands, the blonde haired jinchuriki chose to take a 'shortcut' with them back towards the Land of Demons. This basically meant a quick hop and a skip down to the nearest highway where, upon following the road for a few solid miles, eventually led them to a small town in a neighboring country. There, the blonde wasted no time in locating a bar and, in the spirit of the season, treated all of his friends and the priestess to a few rounds at the counter.

While the other shinobi in the three squads were given some downtime from their hasty cross-country excursions and went to chill out at the various tables inside of the bar, this left Samui, Kankuro, Temari, Omoi and Kurotsuchi time to hang out with Naruto and to catch up with him. Being the team leaders of their individual groups and able to recognize the crushing strain of their assignments, the squad heads were well within their rights to decide when the members of their teams needed a break based on mental, physical and emotional needs. Now that the war was over, some much needed R&R was in store.

"So that's what happened, huh?" Kankuro murmured upon hearing Naruto's story in full, before shrugging his shoulders and giving a look that conveyed a sense that he was deeply impressed, "I guess that's why they classify those kinds of missions as S-Rank, huh?"

"Hell, I don't even think you can call it an S-Rank mission anymore," Kurotsuchi interjected, adding her own two cents on the matter while holding up a sake shot, "Judging from what you've just told us, it sounds to me like it was more like a triple S-Rank mission than anything else."

If that was an actual thing, then yes it was.

"When high level shinobi are being beaten into the ground by an ancient, multi-headed demon of destruction that was more than capable of deciding the fates of every single person on the planet and bending reality to his will, then you'd expect things to get a little bit out of hand," Omoi concluded with a shrug. Pulling his trademark sucker out of his mouth and holding it between his fingers, he then used it to point across the counter at their blonde haired host, who was currently sitting between Shion and Samui, with Temari also positioned directly beside the Kumogakure girl. "It takes a special kind of skill to actually pull through something like that."

"There aren't many people that can fight biju or demons single-handedly anymore. Most of those shinobi are either dead or on the wrong side of the chess board," Temari added off-handedly, before throwing Naruto a wide grin, "Aside from the Kage, there're also guys like you."

The jinchuriki gave a short laugh, "I suppose I'm kind of a weird exception, huh?" He then held his arms out casually. "Hey. It would give me one hell of an epithet to tack onto the other ones I've earned." He then drew a metaphorical banner in the air above him, "Naruto Uzumaki: The Biju Wrestler!"

A snort inside of his head let him know what Kurama had to say about that, "I could take you, bound, gagged, and with every single one of my claws filed blunt, you smart aleck brat."

"Oh, we'll see about that, fur ball," the Jonin thought with an amused grin coming into play, "Once I open up those golden gates and let you out of my stomach, it's just you and me, one-on-one, no-holds-barred… deal?"

The Kyuubi smirked while his head rested comfortably across his arms, "Heh… deal."

Samui giggled at the whisker-marked blonde's response and beamed across at him, "You wouldn't believe how big of a blip you made on the sensing globe when you and the priestess were fighting in tandem against Moryu. It completely stunned every single man working at the radar station."

"Is it even humanly possible for chakra levels to get that high?" Kurotsuchi asked out loud, her head shaking as she took another shot of sake, "I figured the higher-ups were just pulling our legs when they sent us out here to see what was up, but damn…"

"Well… I'm pretty sure most of that outrageously strong signal came from Shion-chan over here," Naruto added, at the same time looking over at the priestess to see the girl gripping her sake cup uneasily and trying to look as small as possible. When she noticed the Jonin looking at her, the young village ruler gasped and looked away, her face turning a bright shade of scarlet. "She took out that bastard with a single kick and beat his ass in a good old-fashioned tug-of-war. Without her, I doubt any of us would be sitting here right now."

The priestess, getting dizzy from all the blood rushing up to her face, smiled warmly and gazed at the jinchuriki fondly.

Samui and Temari noticed the girl's affectionate gaze directed towards the Jonin, which prompted the former to stifle a laugh and the latter to shake her head and return to her drink. While the fan user took a swig of alcohol, the kunoichi from Kumo seized that opportunity to saddle up closer to her favorite hidden leaf shinobi. Linking her arm around his, she pressed her ample chest into his shoulder, which quickly drew the boy's gaze to her with a blink of surprise.

"It's so good to see you again after all this time, Naruto-kun," Samui whispered, a wider smile creeping across her lips and a more mischievous air forming around her. Her actions causing Shion to bristle in surprise, the kunoichi was not only pressing her incredibly large bosom further into the boy's arm, but was also accentuating the juncture between her breasts and making them even more pronounced than they already were. "You really should drop by to visit Kumogakure more often. Sending letters to let me know how you're doing every few weeks isn't enough anymore."

"Yeah. Running errands for the princess is really taxing, especially when you're her advisor-slash-partner, and you're needed all over the place. Still, being busy all the time is a pretty lame excuse to not pop in and see my favorite Kumogakure girl. I'll try and put aside a few days to visit you over the week."

"That will be just fine." Tilting her head towards him, Samui made a thoughtful noise and raised her free hand up to him. Brushing back his ruined jacket and exposing his bare front, she then began tracing her finger up and down his abs in a contemplative manner, before bringing her nail up to his chest. This gesture drew an even more bewildered look from Shion and a slightly staggered one from Temari. After which, the blonde girl from the hidden cloud village gave an appreciative murmur, "I always enjoy your company… especially when you take some time out to give me one of your excellent backrubs."

"Well, these hands weren't just made for picking up stuff and punching people in the face," Naruto chuckled, raising his left and wiggling his fingers. "They have other uses too."

"Uh-huh," Samui nodded lazily, before then splaying her hand over his hard stomach and running her fingers down till they were resting on his lower abdominals. "Perhaps I can name a few more if you decide to come visit me."

While Shion blushed behind him, Naruto gave the Kumo girl a sly grin, "Oh? Do tell."

Looking as cool as ever, Samui then leaned over to whisper in his ear; a conversation that went on unheard by a majority of those at the bar. While Omoi, Kurotsuchi and Kankuro didn't seem to take any notice of them, Temari and Shion did, both of whom tried to move in closer to listen. After the two blondes exchanged a few intimate words with one another, with Naruto ending what he had to say with a devilish grin, the Kumogakure girl pulled away with a slightly redder face and her eyes shimmering with excitement.

Tucking some hair behind her ear, Samui beamed at her man and winked. "I'll be waiting."

"Cool," Naruto answered, using the girl's favorite word to elicit a fonder smile from her.

After flirting and exchanging pleasantries with the beautiful Jonin from the hidden cloud, the jinchuriki was pulled away from her shortly afterwards by someone else tugging on his arm, and looked across to see Shion scowling at him with a defiant expression in play.

"I think you're getting a little too close to her, Naruto-kun," the priestess said, wrapping her arms tightly around his left and hugging his limb to her chest. When she did, she intentionally pressed her own chest into his shoulder, much like how Samui was doing to his other, "Don't forget, I'm here as well."

"Hey. How can I ever forget about you?" the whisker-marked Jonin asked, leaning in and pressing his forehead against the girl's, causing the priestess to shiver, "I'm just mingling with the people I consider closest to my heart. That's all."

"Hmph," Shion grunted, looking back at him defiantly, "Well, whether you like it or not, you're still going to have to take responsibility for this. There's no backing out of it now; you're mine." A small smile then framed her face, one that had the Kumogakure girl looking over the pair tilt her head curiously.

Naruto laughed, "Whatever you say, Shion-chan." He then felt a tug on his other arm and looked right to see his other companion leaning forward to smirk across at the priestess.

"This fine man belongs to me as well," the kunoichi replied in her usual cool tone, something that had the jinchuriki blink as he was able to detect a sense of competition in her strains. "Since you've been with him for the last two days, I think it's only fair that I get to spend some quality time with him."

Shion frowned at her 'opponent', "But you've known him longer than I have, so I should be first in line."

This had the Kumo girl smirk even more, "You want to fight me for him?"

"If I have to."

As a friendly, verbal feud started up between Samui and Shion over who got to spend some alone time with the jinchuriki, Temari, who was sitting close by, had heard everything Naruto and Samui had whispered to one another earlier.

Her fingers gripping the sake cup in front of her and a bright blush illuminating her face, the fan user shifted anxious in her seat before giving a very quiet and very uneasy mumble. "Sh-She wants to do that with him?" Baffled by the audacity of the girl from the hidden cloud village and wondering where in the world an idea like that had come from, Temari spared a furtive glance in the pair's direction. When her eyes landed upon Naruto, who was now in the process of negotiating with the two young ladies fighting for his affections, the kunoichi developed a warm smile and exhaled slowly, relieving herself of any unnecessary stress. "Well… I can't blame her…"

The celebratory swing inside of the bar proceeded from that point onwards. When the Jonin from Konohagakure was able to talk the two girls pulling on his arms down to an arrangement they were both happy with, he then joined them in another round of sake and spent the next half hour chatting and having a blast. Wanting to join in on the festivities, Temari also accompanied the trio, catching up on time she'd missed with the wild haired blonde from the hidden leaf and telling him about everything that'd happened in his absence.

At the same time all this was going on, Kurotsuchi wandered over to the table where her fellow Jonin Akatsuchi and Shirotsuchi were sitting to make a toast and mark this momentous occasion where all of the villages came together to successfully fight off and defeat a mutual enemy. After all the shinobi hurray they'd had to go through in the past week and what not, it was clear to all those present that everyone was intent on making every second of this timeout count.

Entertaining the girls the best way he knew how, Naruto then divided his hour catching up with Kankuro and Omoi, asking them about how things were going in their respective villages and if there were any significant changes that'd taken place. In his time speaking with the two, he learned that Karui and Omoi had both been promoted to Chunin, and that Gaara had also been promoted to Jonin. This bit of information thrilled the advisor from Yuki, as the blonde learned through his time speaking with the older siblings that his fellow jinchuriki was doing well and that he was finally getting along with the villagers of his homeland. He made a mental note to drop in and see him again soon, but for now he just wanted to relax and hang out with everyone here.

Bouncing over to Kurotsuchi and laying his charms over her for a few minutes, at the same time saying hello to Akatsuchi and Shirotsuchi, Naruto then headed back over to the counter. Serenading with Shion, Samui and Temari for a little while longer, he then moved to another section of the bar to order a few more drinks.

After picking his poison and paying the bill, the jinchuriki looked off to his left, absently taking in the appearance of the pub surrounding him. It would only be a few seconds afterwards did he realize he was now standing directly beside Kakuzu and Misora, both of whom had been sitting quietly on their end of the serving area and had been listening in to the shinobi's boisterous celebrations.

Staring at the still thoroughly battered pair for a minute in silence and vice-versa, the Jonin with whiskers then gave the two Akatsuki members a hard stare and nodded to each of them in a cautious manner. "Yo." A temporary truce had been formed between them while they'd been fighting Moryu. However, now that the demon was gone and his evil had been wiped clean from this world, whatever alliance they had was now null and void.

How this will affect the three of them now was all up to the fates to decide.

Kakuzu frowned, "You again, huh?" The bounty hunter then gave a wary glance toward the other shinobi scattered throughout the bar behind them. Despite wearing their signature cloaks, red clouds and all, nobody seemed to take any notice of the two Akatsuki members and gleefully continued on with their celebrations. Maybe everyone was so caught up in their drinking games that they couldn't really care about anything else in that place. Either way, after the rogue spared the potential enemies behind him a momentary look over, he then slowly turned back to the jinchuriki in front of him and gestured to them, "Your friends I assume?"

"Yeah, they are," Naruto replied, barely even registering to the two new bottles of sake that the bartender placed in front of him.

Silence prevailed for another minute, with the Akatsuki members staring back at the equally stiff Jonin with frowns all around. Eventually though, once the tension between the two sides had reached its highest point, the fist the jinchuriki had formed eventually loosened, as did the one Kakuzu had in play.

The moment they relaxed, Naruto smirked, "That was some intense shit we had to go through, wasn't it?"

The masked bounty hunter grunted, "Obviously."

"My leg still hurts," the hooded Misora chimed, even though her most noticeable injury was her broken arm.

Chuckling, the bruised and still healing young male took up one of the sake bottles he'd been given and a glass. Pouring a shot, Naruto then did the same for the Akatsuki member next to him, before holding up said glass and extending it in a toast, "As much as I would like to knock heads with you two, I think a fight between us now would be more detrimental than beneficial for us, wouldn't you agree?"

Hearing this had the rogue Takigakure shinobi nod, "Of course." Though a fight between them now was an interesting prospect, as the two of them alone would probably level the entire block before they even started getting serious, the veteran knew that neither he nor Misora were in any kind of condition to finish a fight with the jinchuriki. On top of the injuries they'd sustained in their private war with Moryu, they were also in a public place filled with a dozen other shinobi. If a fight was to break out between them now, not only would all three of them be killed, but the entire village would be razed to the ground. Deciding on a course of action that would not result in a loss for him, Kakuzu wisely picked up his sake glass and held it up towards his would-be target in respect. "I'll back off for now. But as soon as I've recovered, I'll be coming after that bounty over your head… so watch yourself."

Clearly Kakuzu had completely different things on his mind right now. Money really did have a way of blinding one to the truth.

Not to mention both he and his partner were in no mood for a fight. After the whole Moryu fiasco, their hearts just weren't into it… at least not for today.

Nevertheless, it looked as though that truce was holding out after all.

Naruto smirked, "Looking forward to it." Saluting with his alcoholic beverage, the Jonin then took a quick swig, at the same time the bounty hunter beside him pushed the cloth over his mouth up and took a hearty swig as well. Clapping their glasses down, the pair squared off once again with a more pleasant air coming between them, before they were interrupted by Misora standing up and approaching the jinchuriki.

When the blonde turned to face the brown haired woman, he saw the kunoichi shuffle nervously on the spot while at the same time holding something behind her. After staring at her feet for a few seconds, murmuring anxiously and trying to muster enough confidence to continue, the sheet-style assassin then looked up at the jinchuriki and beamed, "Umm… w-would it be possible… if it isn't too much trouble…" Sucking it up, Misora brought the item she was hiding forward and bowed, "M-May I have your autograph, Sanada-san?"

Blinking as he stared down at the diary the woman was now holding out to him, Naruto slowly recalled his previous conversation with the kunoichi. Upon remembering what they'd said to one another back at the sealing shrine, the blonde soon sprouted his characteristic grin and gladly took the hardcover from the woman's hands. "Sure thing." Pulling out a pen and clicking it, he then pressed the tip of it to the page he opened the book up to and looked towards the kunoichi with an amiable smile in play. "So… what's the name of the lovely young lady I'll be addressing this to?"

Grinning ecstatically, Misora gave a very childish giggle, a response that earned a headshake from her partner before Kakuzu turned back to his drinking.

Honestly, kids these days…

TO BE CONTINUED…