Concerning my upload schedule, I'm going to try for a weekly chapter update (and if I'm feelin' it I'll see if I can get two chapters in one week). I'm hoping it'll work out and I won't get too busy once school starts up again.
Roshi's POV
As Roshi ran down the cliff wall, his fist became encased in molten rock as he slammed it into the Kisame's back. Kisame coughed up blood as Roshi hit him. Yugito jumped back as a cloud of dust erupted from the ground.
"I could've taken him." Yugito said.
"I'm sure you would've won, Yugito but I'm looking to get this done quick and clean." Roshi said.
Roshi used his hands to jump off of Kisame onto solid ground. From up above he saw Naruto and three other ninja fly through the air on clouds of sand and settle right beside him. Although he didn't know who the red-haired fellow and his friends were, he had a feeling they were trustworthy.
Would ya look at that!? It's Shukaku! Didn't think he'd eventually end up with us but hey, coincidences to happen. Son laughed heartily in Roshi's head. Roshi lifted an eyebrow as the shinobi jumped onto the ground and looked at him.
"Hi...um...are you Shukaku?" Roshi asked the red-haired boy. He looked intimidating and depressing, there were black marks around his eyes and a kanji reading "love" on the corner of his forehead. He was dressed in a red overcoat that split at the lower half with vest held in place by a shoulder strap. It took Roshi a few seconds but he realized this boy was the Kazekage.
Roshi's jaw dropped and he immediately tried to find some way to apologize for his inappropriate mannerisms.
"Who are you?" The Kazekage asked.
"YOU!" Naruto's voice interrupted their conversation and everyone present turned to him. Roshi noticed the way his nails were much longer and his teeth were sharper. The whisker like scars on his face became much more darker and fierce.
With surprising speed, Naruto dashed forward on all fours and pounced onto Kisame. Naruto yelled in fury and immediately attacked the Akatsuki. He scratched and punched and kicked and cried as Roshi and the others looked on in horror.
"Stop him! Oh my god, stop him, we need to interrogate him!" Yugito shouted as she darted through the small crowd in front of her and grabbed Naruto by his collar, dragging him away from Kisame's bleeding body.
"W-what's wrong you little brat?" Kisame spat, breathing in heavily and shivering slightly. "You mad cause I killed your little girlfriend and the mutt!?"
Naruto only grew more angry. He squirmed and flailed, trying to free himself from Yugito's grip.
Roshi moved forward to help Yugito as soon as he saw the bubbling, crimson coat forming on Naruto. The other three shinobi followed his lead. The hooded boy and the Kazekage attempted to restrain him using sand and two wooden puppets.
Naruto broke free of Yugito's grasp and retaliated, punching her in the cheek and sending her flying to the hooded boy. Naruto's claws extended and grew in size, crushing the puppets as well.
Roshi slammed his palms together and then pounded them into the ground.
"Earth Style: Earthen Prison!" Roshi said. Immediately after four rock walls surrounded Naruto and a slab of rock covered the open area above him, trapping him in darkness.
Roshi thought he could've bought them a little time to move Kisame but the rock walls immediately shattered into tiny little pieces as Naruto broke free, his target, Kisame.
His claw arm extended and wrapped around Kisame who was desperately trying to escape.
He let out a gasp as Naruto grabbed him and threw him high into the air. Naruto traveled up the rock wall on all fours and leaped off of it, propelling him higher into the air and where Kisame was spinning helplessly. Naruto formed a red chakra sphere in his hand hit Kisame with it.
Kisame began to spin even faster as the sphere hit him and sent him flying down into the large crater, now slowly filling with water.
Naruto landed right beside Kisame and began to beat him relentlessly.
"Stop, Naruto!" The Kazekage shouted at the enraged beast nearby.
Naruto did not stop.
Naruto's POV
Naruto wanted to stop. He wanted to but he just couldn't do it. He couldn't.
"It's best this way, Naruto. Don't you want revenge for Hinata? For Akamaru? For Sai? Let me help you, Naruto. Let me give you power." The Nine Tails whispered into Naruto's ear. He was in the fox's dimension where he sat behind a metal cage. Smiling devilishly and motioning Naruto to come forward.
Stop. Naruto thought but his body would no longer listen.
An image of a disfigured and limp Hinata flashed through him mind and Naruto fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands and crying out for help.
"I can help you. Let me help you!" The Nine Tails said again, this time more forcefully.
"No...No...Get out of my head…" Naruto mumbled. Another picture of Kiba without his hand. Of Akamaru being sucked into the deadly hole that marked the end of his life.
"Oh god...help me!" Naruto screamed into the air.
"Touch my finger, Naruto and I will help you get revenge. I will help them go away." The Nine Tails extended his furry finger towards Naruto who looked at it and without a second thought reached for it.
A sharp pain in his back forced him from the fox's dimension and back to reality.
Naruto fell to ground as sand surrounded him and restrained him. Naruto felt the surge of anger and fury subside as the chakra cloak faded and Naruto's strength went along with it.
"Is he alive!?" A voice asked. Naruto looked over to see Temari and Roshi jogging toward him.
"No, he killed him." Another voice, raspy and low. Naruto looked for the source of it and saw Gaara standing over a mangled body.
"My god...how could Naruto do something like that?" Temari asked.
"Listen, let's get out of here first, we can talk about...this later." Roshi stated grimly.
What? What are they talking about? What did I do? Naruto thought. The sand around him released its tight grip and flew back into Gaara's gourd. Naruto slowly got to his feet and looked at the three shinobi looking at him in fear and pity.
Naruto then saw what he had really done.
Utakata's POV
"It's impossible to get out of here. So many doors, so many tunnels, so many rooms...it's going to take forever to find Hotaru and Yagura and escape without getting caught or killed." Utakata said to Han as they jogged down the corridor, breathing heavily and desperately wishing they could stop and take a short break.
"You have to stay optimistic. I thought you wanted to find your friends?" Han asked.
"I do...but...it's just going to be a challenge." Utakata replied, unsure of what the answer truly was. His heart was screaming at him to leave these three behind and escape by himself but he knew it was wrong. All his life he had learned to rely on himself and himself alone, he didn't let emotions or anything else get in his way.
Now it seemed he had to do this. That saving the former Mizukage and some respectable clan leader's daughter was his duty.
"Try a right here," Utakata suggested.
"How do you know?" Han asked, looking over his shoulder where Utakata was limping along behind him.
"I dunno, my natural instinct?" Utakata answered.
"Hold on," Han said, he paused and Utakata collapsed next to him, his lungs screaming and his body aching. Han kneeled next to him, a concerned expression on his face.
"I-I'm-I'm alright. You do whatever you're doing…" Utakata mumbled, pushing himself up against the wall.
Han closed his eyes and sat down, crossing his legs. Utakata stared at him, pondering just what he could be doing. He knew the clock was ticking so why take the time to meditate? Utakata pushed the thought out of his mind, they couldn't afford to lose more time yet they couldn't afford to travel around this maze like blind fools.
Han's eyes snapped open and instead of his pupils being honey colored, they were bluish green. There was red markings under his eyes and he seemed much more serious and alert than before.
"Han?" Utakata asked.
"I am not Han. I am Kokuo, the beast sealed within Han. He has explained your predicament and I have temporarily taken control in order to lead you to Isobu."
"Isobu?"
"The one you call, Yagura. Now hurry, we have no time to dawdle." Kokuo moved and held Utakata in his arms. He then moved with surprising speed down the hall, making a right, much to Utakata's satisfaction, and then a left.
"Funny, out of all of us I never imagined Saiken being sealed within a human." Kokuo stated.
"You mean the Six-Tails? Saiken is his name?" Utakata was bewildered. He had known the beasts had names but he had never bothered to talk to his. Only when he needed power did the two come into contact, and even then they didn't talk, they only shared chakra.
"That's what you humans call us these days? You can't even take the time to learn our names? I expected at least you would know it, jinchuuriki." Kokuo chastised.
Utakata turned away from Kokuo's disappointed gaze and focused on the path ahead. At least they were getting closer to the heart of the labyrinth.
Kokuo skidded to a stop and looked at the wall beside him. It was brown and bumpy, as was every cave wall in existence. But Kokuo was transfixed with this one, her eyes studied it carefully and she dropped Utakata without warning. She then drew her hand back and it began to give off clouds of steam. She took a few steps back and then charged at the wall punching through it as if it were merely paper and revealing a secret room.
"Whoa," Was all Utakata could say. The room was empty except for two hands rising up from the ground. On some of the fingers, there were wispy figures that were not physical. Behind the hands was a giant head with a neck and part of its chest showing. It's mouth was open and a blue cloud of chakra had surrounded a boy, leaving him suspended in mid-air. Red streams of chakra flowed from his eyes and mouth.
Utakata recognized the boy from the minute he laid eyes on him.
Yagura.
Yagura's POV
Yagura desperately held on to one of Isobu's claws as him and the beast rose up into the air helplessly. Yagura cried out in fear and despair and Isobu screamed in terror. The two were about to be sucked into the dark clouds below. The sea was almost completely drained of water and Yagura suspected when it ran out, they would run out of time as well.
"Yagura, let go!" Isobu suddenly yelled. Yagura looked up into the beast's teary eyes.
"No." Yagura said with confidence. "I...we are partners, Isobu. We depend on each other for survival and we look out for one another. I don't care if you've been sealed inside me just to be used as a tool, you saved me from death, and for that I will forever owe you."
"You're a fool! A stupid, idiotic fool!" Isobu cried.
Yagura smiled as the dark hands shot out of the clouds and grabbed onto Isobu, pulling him up much faster into the clouds.
Yagura closed his eyes and awaited his death with a smile on his face.