Disclaimer: Own nothing but Ayame and Sasame.

I KNOW THE NINE BIJUU HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED, BUT THIS FIC WAS STARTED BEFORE THAT SO NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT'S AU

Let's get right to it, shall we?

Ayame's growl cut into the pair's conversation. "Uzumaki Naruto, I'm going to kill you!"

She brushed a hand across her seals and called a pair of kunai into her hands before throwing one and running right behind it.

Naruto drew a kunai of his own.

"Great, here we go again."

The first hurled kunai was deflected in a shower of sparks. Ayame had sent chakra surging into her muscle right as she'd thrown, increasing the force several fold, so much so that Naruto actually stumbled, cursing fluently as he frantically tried to bring his knife to bear and block Ayame's rush.

There was a burst of sparks as the two shinobi's weapons met and scraped off each other, the blond shinobi, already off balance, thrown to the ground in a heap, though he vaulted back to his feet only seconds later.

'Damn! That made my arm go numb!' he noted as he watched the limb tremble and shake, as if his very bones were ringing with the force of the impact. He put a hand on the arm to stop the shaking, then blinked in surprise. 'My arm's hot?' Then he remembered.

"Yumi's poison," he growled. "Dammit."

"That's right," Ayame snarled. "Even if you killed her, Yumi's poison will kill you slowly. Even a person like you has no hope. This poison is specifically keyed to spread faster if it comes into contact with youki."

'She's bluffing.'

'No, she's not,' the Kyuubi answered grimly. 'It's a poison from a bygone age. It spreads slowly at first, but once it comes in contact with a high enough level of youki, it spreads fast.'

'How?'

'It's a poison that was used long ago by demon hunters. In order to even the playing field when fighting a Jinchuuriki, they would poison the host in the hope that the host wasn't suicidal and didn't want to die so the host would be reluctant to draw on his or her demon's chakra.'

'Hey! What about the mixed chakra!' Naruto cried, alarmed. 'Won't that set off the poison!?'

'It shouldn't since the youki is diluted by your chakra.'

'Good. So…how long do we have till it speeds up and we bite it.'

Kyuubi scowled. 'Wow, don't sound so relaxed. My guess is a few hours. Thankfully, the clans that controlled some of the Bijuu way back in the day developed an antivenom. By some miracle, it's been passed into a few of the villages, Konoha being one of them.'

'And who would know the antidote?'

'Probably that old hag.'

'So you're telling me to end this in a few hours then get in to see Baa-chan before the poison reaches the lethal level and kills us both.'

'Simple right?'

'I hate you.'

Then the blond was forced to dodge as Ayame renewed her assault, flinging shuriken, kunai, senbon, whatever she could draw on, as fast as she could, forcing Naruto to start running.

Leaning forward, arms trailing his body and serious cyan eyes fixed on his opponent, Naruto moved as fast as he could, just managing to stay one step ahead of the volley of weapons.

Naruto managed to pluck a shuriken from his holster and he leapt into the air, soaring high enough to get the sun behind him. Ayame was forced to shade her eyes, which the other warrior wanted.

The shuriken flicked from his fingers and Naruto's hands flew through a set of seals. "Ninpou! Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

There was a tremendous burst of smoke and one shuriken became many. Another hand seal later and the hail of steel rained down on Ayame, who was driven back, scooping a discarded kunai from the ground in an attempt to stave off the steel rain. She was, through the use of constant movement and a quick kunai arm, able to stave off the worst, though a few glancing blows did catch her.

Blood ran in crimson rivulets down her arms and one scratch on her shoulder soaked the blue silk of her dress a deeper blue. She skidded backward, stopping her momentum then her red eyes widened when Naruto blurred into being in front of her, a silvery ball of chakra spinning in his hand as he tapped the sphere in random places.

"Fuuton! Rasengan!"

Ayame just managed to clear the charging shinobi before his hand burrowed into the wall then the Rasengan exploded, tearing a massive crater out of the concrete and sending hurricane winds spiraling out from the impact, knocking Ayame off balance.

There was silence as Naruto wrenched his hand free, debris crumbling to the ground as he rounded on his opponent.

Wind whipped over the arena then the pair vanished to all but the strongest of shinobi, showers of sparks filling the air like fireworks accompanied by the ring of clashing steel.

They reappeared at almost the same instant, skidding, as if they'd clashed so hard that they'd bounced apart like a rubber ball slamming into a brick wall. As if to back up the theory, two notched kunai stuck in the weapon-littered ground between the shinobi.

"Not too bad," Ayame quipped as she straightened up.

"What can I say?" Naruto returned with a smirk. "I was taught by the best."

"I tried."

'So, there is some history between the two,' Tsunade thought from her position high up in the box as she watched the duel below. Before now, she'd only thought that Naruto had known Ayame through her hunting him, but it appeared that they'd actually had some kind of relationship before the whole affair went south. 'Something more than a mere policy.'

The kunoichi below and the blond began circling each other.

"Can't we stop this, Ayame?" Naruto asked. "Just once, for old times sake."

"Keh, stupid blond. You know the laws of the village. Once you enter you cannot leave and any deserters must be hunted and killed like the cowards they are."

"Didn't I tell you and Sasame that I had no intent to stay in the village? You knew I was just looking for leads on Sasuke." One eyebrow raised, "Or is it that you're pissed at me for leaving?"

"I'm only doing my duty!" The other shouted, but she couldn't hide the faint color that appeared on her features, though if it was from rage or embarrassment, Naruto couldn't tell. "This is only about killing you and avenging my sister, nothing more, nothing less."

"Yeah right," Naruto murmured, but he made sure it was soft enough that the volatile woman across from him couldn't hear. Ayame was a skilled kunoichi and though she had a vicious temper, she used it to sharpen her skill to a deadly edge. Pissing her off was not a good idea since the madder she got, the stronger and more vicious she seemed to become.

They launched at each other again, scooping kunai from their fallen places on the ground. As he swung, Naruto winced as a hot poker of pain surged its way up the arm that had been poisoned by Yumi. His fingers loosened for just a second, but it was enough and with two deft strokes, Ayame knocked the knife from his hand then laid a long gash over his chest, the orange cloth of the blonde's T-shirt becoming a deep crimson.

They bounced apart, Naruto flinging himself backwards in an attempt to get as much distance as he could in order to look over his injuries and see how much farther he could push it.

'Damn poison,' he hissed in his head as his left hand rubbed up and down his right arm. The skin around the cut was inflamed, hot to the touch, an angry red and swollen. Naruto had had to learn basic and advanced first aid during his mercenary missions, though he never used it himself. It was mostly for the people he captured or his teammates, whoever they happened to be.

"The swelling's gone towards my wrist," he muttered, further prodding his arm. "This isn't good. Twenty minutes, tops, and I'll be down one right arm."

'Better end it soon, then.'

'We could use the tails and end it fast,' the blond Jinchuuriki suggested.

'We could,' Kyuubi said slowly, 'but it would be a big risk. We would have to hope that the old hag can recognize what it is and stop it before it's too late.' The massive demon cocked his head, looking down at Naruto with one angry red eye. 'Or we could use the Rasenshuriken.'

'Or Isukumi.'

"Hey!" Ayame shouted as she launched a volley of shuriken. "Quit zoning out!" Naruto grunted, dropping to a crouch before vaulting into the air with his legs and arms, gritting his teeth against the fire that surged up his arm again. He snatched two stars out of the attack that passed beneath him, grabbed two more out of one of the pouches on his belt then hurled all four back at Ayame.

She ducked beneath the spinning weapons the leapt at Naruto, who was on his way back down and all but vulnerable.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted. There was a puff of smoke and a clone appeared under Naruto's feet which he used as a springboard to push himself even higher into the air and away from the kunoichi below him. Ayame's crimson eyes widened when the clone snagged her ankle as she passed by then wrapped itself around her like a python, pinning her limbs.

'Shit! I'm wide open!'

Naruto summoned another clone which used a Henge to transform into a folding shuriken that opened with a snap of the wrist and left his hand, spinning like a tornado at the kunoichi who was powerless to stop it.

'Damn!' the remaining Kusajishi sister thought, 'I'm gonna die!'

That thought woke up the sleeping power that Kyuubi had sensed the moment they met. The first thing that happened was rage, a scalding tide of white-hot anger, swept over Ayame as she thought of her early years with her sister, living on the street and being attacked by strangers, then meeting Naruto and finally realizing that she wasn't alone in the world, then his betrayal by leaving the village of missing-nin. All the painful memories Ayame had flooded her psyche, making a pained and angry scream tear itself from her throat.

Lavender chakra surged from her body like a typhoon, dispelling the clone and the shuriken and knocking the real Naruto into the wall, a sizeable cloud of debris erupting from where his body impacted the barrier.

The blond was quick to leap from the hole and onto the top of the abused fortification, watching, stunned, as Ayame floated to the ground as softly as a feather in a spring breeze.

"No way!" Sakura shouted, as her sensei and Gaara both leaned forward in their chairs. "That's just like Naruto!"

Indeed, the medic was right. The rage that filled the air like a palpable entity was indeed like Naruto when he drew on Kyuubi's youki. The big difference was that that color was lavender, like Ayame's hair, and instead of a searing heat that could melt even the hardest rock, there was a howling wind that tore at the spectator's body like some massive creature's talons.

Ayame's purple chakra began to take on a shape, slowly forming the outline of some massive creature that most were able to identify as a falcon or eagle once they stared at it for a few seconds. Soon even that was unnecessary as the shape became distinct. The kunoichi crouched in the center of the maelstrom, holding her arms like a bird's wings had replaced her limbs, the head of the chakra standing out proudly above Ayame's own.

"Jinchuuriki," Naruto murmured as he watched, with a shocked, almost horrified look in his eyes. "Ayame's…a Jinchuuriki!?"

'Yes.'

'You knew didn't you.' Naruto said simply. It wasn't a question or an accusation, just a simple statement.

'Yes. I sensed her youki the moment you laid eyes on her.'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Because of who she contains.' Before Naruto could ask who, the fox demon continued. 'She's the host for the Rokubi no Taka, the six-tailed falcon. Rokubi is notoriously lazy, though when she gets pissed, well, it's better not to make her mad.'

'The demon's a girl?'

'Yep, and this might actually be more dangerous because of it.'

'Why?'

'Ever heard the phrase Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?'

'Yeah, and what does that have to do with this?' Kyuubi coughed and Naruto had to blink. The fox was acting awkward and unsure about this situation and that was something that never happened. Then it hit him. 'Did you two have a relationship or something?'

'You could say that. I saw it as an amusing way to waste my time. Somehow she got it into her head that I was serious and when I came out and said she annoyed me…well, it wasn't pretty. Rokubi's vain, even for a Bijuu.'

'But you're Kyuubi! The biggest and baddest demon, right? So we use six tails and fight on even terms.'

'Damn you're stupid,' the demon remarked, ignoring the outraged shouting that followed. 'A demon's tails are only a general indicator. There are other factors in deciding who's strongest.'

'Like what?'

'Like skill with the youki, compatibility with the host, bloodlust, intelligence, luck. You know, variables like what decide human matches.'

'I don't get it.'

Kyuubi sighed, muttering a remark about dumb blondes then elaborated. 'Okay, Shukaku was the Ichibi right? You would think he was the weakest, but he had a host who knew how to use the youki and they both had the bloodlust. Now look at the Gobi. He had no host and was pretty stupid to top it all off. If it came down to a duel between the two, Shukaku would've won. Get it now?'

'I think so. You're saying that it takes more than raw power to be a demon. And with this Rokubi chick's vendetta against you and Ayame's hatred for me…'

'This will not be an easy match to win.'

'Great. And we have to hold off on using youki until we're sure we won't die immidiatly.' As if to reinforce the fact, Naruto's arm, and to his dismay his shoulder too, gave a particularly painful twinge.

Below, the chaos was beginning to abate somewhat, allowing everyone a full view of Ayame. She was almost a shadow in the lavender chakra, which was beyond doubt a falcon now, a falcon with three tail feathers sticking out behind it. The falcon had vivid eyes that were darker than the rest of the chakra, but Naruto managed to catch a good glimpse of Ayame. It chilled him to the bone.

Her eyes were no longer crimson, but a hard violet and they were looking straight at him. For a moment, the blond felt uncertain, and almost terrified, like he was a rabbit being hunted by a bird of prey.

'Is this what Isukumi feels like?' Naruto wondered briefly, before dismissing the thought and working out how to deal with the menace below him. He looked around for the moving shadows that were the ANBU, and he caught fleeting glimpses of them as they moved into position, but to his surprise there was no sudden attack. The blond glanced at Baa-chan, who returned his gaze with her own before nodding ever so slightly.

She was letting him handle this.

"Well," he said to himself, "here goes nothing!"

With that, Naruto threw himself off of the wall, falling towards the stadium floor, feeling Rokubi and Ayame's eyes on him the entire time.

His right hand brushed the gash on his chest, his arm screaming at him the entire time and Naruto noted in the back of his mind that the redness had spread to just above his wrist and just below his elbow. The blonde's hands folded together into the sequence for one of his strongest jutsu, then he thrust the bloodied hand out in front of him.

"Ninpou! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He felt chakra leave him like a rocket, leaving with enough force to actually slow him down a hair before there was an explosion below him and Naruto fell into the cloud.

He landed on something soft but it was still hard enough to hurt.

"OW!" yelped the thing he landed on. "What the hell?"

The smoke cleared and revealed Naruto laying spread eagle on the back of a red toad that was about the size of the Rokubi.

The toad scratched at the pain on its head and dislodged Naruto, who slid down its side and thudded to the ground. Apparently he'd been knocked unconscious by the impact with the toad because he sat up, livid.

"Hey! Who the hell dropped me!?" He demanded, and then noticed the toad, which noted him at the same time.

"Naruto?" The toad asked, looking puzzled before laughing happily. "Naruto! Hey, good to see you again! Dad said you were back, but I didn't believe him!"

"Hey Gamakichi," Naruto answered with a laugh, folding his arms behind his head. "You've gotten bigger." The son of the boss toad had been a small little squirt when Naruto had first met him, then after his three years of training; the toad had grown to a little taller than Naruto. Now the toad was around eight feet tall at the shoulder.

"Yeah, I sure have. So, do you need help with that thing over there?" Gamakichi asked, nodding at the Rokubi, who was sitting patiently, though Naruto was beginning to pick up the small signs of agitation, like a small twitch of the neck, ruffling of feathers, that kind of thing.

"You got it. So, how about it?"

Gamakichi looked like he was having second thoughts as he sized up the demon across from him. "You owe me a lot of candy after this."

Naruto laughed as he vaulted onto the toad's back. "I'll take you to Ichiraku after the exam, how about that?"

"I guess…"

Rokubi let out a shrieking call, like something that would come from a falcon or hawk and flapped its wings, sending a gust of biting wind over the other two, forcing them to hunker down and kicking up a cloud that hid Rokubi and Ayame from view.

Some indescribable force slashed through the smoke and haze, slicing Gamakichi and Naruto up all over their bodies before lifting the heavy toad off his feet and flinging him to the wall.

"Damn!" Gamakichi cursed. "The hell was that?"

"No idea," Naruto answered as he stood, tagged two kunai and got ready to throw. "Split the defense!"

"Right!" The toad's legs coiled then he bounced into the air, clearing even the pinnacle of the Hokage's box. Naruto watched as his partner hit the top of his jump and began to come back down.

"Now!"

His arm flashed and the two kunai went speeding on their way towards the demon that stood with its wings still extended like it was already victorious. Rokubi seemed almost puzzled by the attacks before her wings flapped mightily, creating another hurricane breeze, this one catching the speeding kunai and flinging them back at Naruto.

"Dammit!"

He dove to the side to try and get out of the way but the kunai went off right behind him, catching him in the blast wave and throwing the genin into a copse of trees. That burst of wind was strong enough to lift Rokubi from her spot, then another flap and she took off like a jet fighter, speeding to meet Gamakichi who managed to twist and evade but was knocked off balance by the disturbed air current behind the speeding youkai.

The son of Gamabunta slammed to earth in a massive cloud, obscuring the field in a heavy blanket of dust.

Above it all, Rokubi soared like some creature from the deepest depths of Hades, her violet eyes flicking from side to side as she tried to find her prey again, egged on relentlessly by Ayame's voice, which was almost screaming for Naruto's head on a platter. Normally the kunoichi wouldn't have been quite that violent, but she was caught up in the rush of dark emotions that stemmed from being submerged in youki.

The smoked and chaos below had yet to subside, but that didn't seem to stop the flying demon, who gave another shriek and flapped again, this time sending blades of wind, much like Temari was fond of doing, down into the arena floor, creating a multitude of secondary explosions.

The wind that came with the blades cleared the haze and revealed Gamakichi, his body scored and lacerated with bleeding wounds, laying immobile on the arena floor. Naruto had been spared the brunt of the assault since the trees shielded him from the worst of it, though he still had some new scratches and his right arm was flopping limply, though it was all red and inflamed. It wasn't unusable…yet, but it hurt Naruto too much to move it excessively. Apparently his estimation of how long the poison took to spread was rather liberal. Not fifteen minutes had passed and already his arm was close to gone.

Though, his lifespan was probably even more limited with that purple menace hanging overhead. At least Tsunade had ordered the evacuation of the stadium. Even now, with a predatory youkai hanging overhead, the stands were slowly emptying as the ANBU and jounin in the crowd led the spectators down and out into the street, though it was probable that they would simply find a bunch of rooftops to gather on to watch the finale.

"Gamakichi!" Naruto shouted as he reached his friend's side. "Hey! Wake up!"

Slowly the huge toad stirred, to Naruto's immense relief. Gamabunta would've squashed him if anything happened to his son. One yellow eye opened. "N-Naruto," the toad wheezed, pain clear in every word. Dark blood ran down the toad's sides and soaked the haori he wore with the toad summons' clan symbol embroidered on it. "I'm sorry. T-That thing's just t-to much."

"Yeah. It's alright. Get out of here and take a rest. I'll bring you some ramen when you're better."

The toad smiled weakly then vanished in a burst of smoke.

Naruto felt vulnerable and alone without the summon by his side and purple death hanging overhead.

'Great,' Naruto wondered. 'Now what?' Rokubi was hanging some three hundred feet above the top of the wall. Even if he climbed the Hokage's box and vaulted from the spire that crowned it, he wouldn't make the leap. He could use Kyuubi's youki to latch onto the other demon's belly but that would be unwise as it would speed the poison and that was something that would be very bad.

Gamabunta was an option, but that toad was crotchety on the best of days, though he might be more willing to help since Gamakichi was so beat up. The boss toad would've heard all about the battle and would be raring to have a crack at Rokubi. Or he wouldn't come at all, as he would want to stay by his son's side. No, Gamabunta would be too unpredictable at a time like this.

Maybe he could adapt the Rasenshuriken to be thrown? Nah, that would take more chakra control than he had.

A long range fire jutsu then…No, Rokubi would just blow it out like a candle at some kid's birthday party.

Naruto was running out of ideas when Rokubi, floating high above the arena, shrieked and dove, speeding for the blond like a bullet. Naruto didn't waste any time in turning around and hauling ass the other way, knowing he couldn't outrun the demon, but he wasn't trying to.

He reached the wall and stuck to it, sprinting straight up it and clearing Rokubi by the narrowest of margins. The demon's girth shattered the wall like glass, ripping a massive hole. Naruto rebounded from chunk to chunk until he reached the ground, looking up, horrified, as the demon didn't stop, instead tearing down the street for close to a mile before rocketing up into the air again.

'Why…' then he noticed that Rokubi had grown a fourth tail feather. 'Oh.' Up till now, the demon falcon had seemed content to only focus on him, but now with the addition of the fourth tail, the bird was ready to shred the village since Naruto wasn't providing a decent enough challenge.

The discordant cries of the wounded filled the air like a widow's wailing at her husband's funeral and the sound tore at Naruto's soul. He turned back towards the Hokage's box.

"Baa-chan!" He shouted. "I'm taking this outside the village!" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and sprinted away. Technically, he was disqualifying himself by leaving the arena's boundaries, but if it came down to an exam or the village, the village came first, all the time, every time.

He sped away, flinging tagged kunai at the demon which detonated harmlessly against the creature's chakra, but got it interested enough to pursue Naruto out of the village and into the forest surrounding Konoha.

Naruto burst into the sun again and found himself standing at craggy clearing, perfectly circular, and looking like it'd been drilled out as it had a slight grade to it.

'This is left over from one of Shukaku's air bullet things from my first exam!' Naruto realized as he turned around, hearing the rush of Rokubi's wings as it touched down behind him and regarded the blond with an almost curious gaze. The demon shuffled its wings then flapped, sending the blond tumbling head over heels until he got his feet under him and skidded to a stop.

They were within sight of the village but unless a full size demon appeared, the combat to come would only be barely distinguishable unless they could see a great distance.

"Knives and exploding tags don't hurt you," Naruto remarked. "You can blow away any summon or jutsu I throw at you and you'll slaughter the village without hesitation."

Rokubi had no answer, bird-like or otherwise.

"I guess that this is it," the blond continued. "I have no other choice." He peeled off his tattered orange shirt and let the ragged garment blow away in the wind that swept the barren landscape. The remains of the Yondaime's seal stood out in cold stark relief on Naruto's tan skin, like a tattoo that was natural. "It's time to introduce you to my demon."

That seemed to get a rise out of Rokubi as the falcon let off a rapid series of chirps and shrieks as if demanding an answer.

'So, you're going to put our lives on the line in the hope that we can kill these two before the poison kills us?' Kyuubi asked, already knowing the answer.

'Yeah.'

The fox sighed. 'Well alright. How much?'

Naruto shrugged. 'She's your girlfriend, how much do you think?'

Kyuubi sighed. 'Five tails to start. If we need more then I'll let you know.'

'Right.' The chakra around their feet shifted as blue sank beneath red, signifying Kyuubi taking control of Naruto's body.

Rokubi blinked then shrieked angrily as Naruto's eyes shifted from blue to red as his face became demon-like. Inside their shared mind, Naruto took control of his chakra and forced it to move. Outside, he seemed to be outlined with a thin blue light as he expelled chakra then made it cling tight to his body like a second skin.

Kyuubi sent his chakra an instant later.

Red power blasted outward, roiling and writhing in the air like tails before twisting together and laying itself down on the Jinchuuriki from which it came. The possessed blonde's wounds, including the one on his arm, hissed, steamed then closed. Within his body, Naruto felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach by Lee and Gai at the same time and the heat on his arm and shoulder began to expand in a way that he could feel.

'That'd be the poison activating. Here goes nothing.'

The Shiki Fuuin glowed like molten rock in response to the surge in youki as it took on the form of a fox, complete with paws, long ears, angry red eyes and even the beginnings of a muzzle. The blond slumped forward as if he was willing to fight either standing up or on all fours as a single long tail emerged, stretched to its greatest length then split at the tip like someone peeling a banana, the four splits traveling down the tail and becoming five.

The youki shone even brighter and Naruto's form was lost in the light, becoming nothing but a shadow against a setting sun, though his eyes remained as clear as ever. Then came the low, rumbling voice.

Kyuubi's voice.

"Rokubi. It's been a while."

The other demon let out a shriek in surprise and took to the air before letting loose another scathing blast of wind.

Kyuubi's crimson eyes widened with a maniacal glee and he blurred sideways, reappearing in a skidding crouch. He sprinted forward on all fours, causing a second wind attack to just miss the speeding fox's back.

He jumped into the air, one arm latching on to the ground behind him and the other shooting forward like a bullet to snag Rokubi's neck. A feral grin split the demon's face before he pulled both arms in and sent the demonic hawk smashing into the ground in a great cloud.

Not giving the other Bijuu time to recover, Kyuubi inhaled deeply, his chest bulging before exhaling, a massive gout of flame erupting from his mouth and speeding into to the dust.

The flame was incredible to behold. Gold, vivid red, orange and emerald were all rolled into one massive firestorm that set the sparse grasses alight and melted the very rock beneath it as it ran like a river through the air to the place where Rokubi might've been. When the attack hit, the river suddenly became a pillar light, color, and heat that stretched high into the sky and seemed to scorch the clouds that were drifting lazily overhead, bathing the clearing the pair were fighting in flickering colors and shadow.

The attack ceased, smoke rising in twin wisps from the corners of his mouth with a faint hiss as the demon grinned again, multi colored flames flickering like fiery gemstones all over the place, burning even on the rocks. Such was the nature of foxfire, which was said to be on even terms with the cursed fire of the Mangenkyou Sharingan, Amaterasu.

"Come now, Rokubi," the fox said scathingly, "we both know that you're too powerful to fall to weak little ember." Though his words and attack seemed confident, Kyuubi was in a hurry to end the fight and get back to the village. His borrowed body was waning fast as the now-activated poison spread rapidly through his system. The demon's entire right side was on fire with pain, not to mention his arm.

'How are we doing, brat?'

Naruto's reply was strained, though if was from the poison or the effort of continuously maintaining the buffer of chakra, the fox couldn't tell. 'So far…so…good,' Naruto grunted in response, 'though…a little…speed…would…be…appreciated!"

The fox was unable to answer because Ayame rose from the smoke and haze, without the cloak of her youki. Then the kunoichi's mouth opened and she spoke in a voice that didn't belong to her.

"Kyuubi, still full of hot air I see."

"So," said the other, "your host has given you total control has she?"

"Yes, and with this control, I will end your legend here and now!" Purple chakra burst from the ground beneath the other demon's feet, swirling and rippling like wind currents that had become visible, the light making the woman become a tattered shadow before she was lost in a whirl of chilling wind and youki.

Well that's that. Damn, for some reason these past few chapters just don't wanna come together, it's a pain in the ass! Anyway, despite whatever this chapter's lacking, fear not, the next chapter will end this and change the scene, which I think we would all enjoy. Oh, if you haven't checked my profile recently, I'm back at school and it's gonna be a wild ride, so don't worry if the updates don't slow down. I'm probably slaving away over a hot textbook.