Dear readers, no, I'm not dead. It's just my current schedule is killing my free time. Updates will stay irregular until my next break I'm afraid.

I admit, this chapter was written during stressful events, so it's a little rushed. I'll make up with the next two I swear.

Thanks ABitterPill for betaing and all readers who support this story!


Chapter 15:

The Breakout

Amegakure, Sasuke's cell, 11:00 P.M.

Amegakure's jails were dark, humid, uncomfortable, and ominously silent. The guards had left for a brief break, confident the prisoners couldn't escape by themselves. Slightly angered at being so blatantly underestimated, Sasuke had decided to find a brief relief from his humiliating situation by taking a nap… only to wince when someone kept shouting nonsense near him.

"The Han was born from human parents, but his divine origin was obvious in the events surrounding his miraculous birth!" the giant shouted, apparently to himself, "The sky was covered with rainbows! Birds and flowers sang his name! Dolphins crawled out of the sea to watch his birth! People fell in love with his baby face-"

"I'm going to regret asking," Sasuke shuddered. "Han-"

"The Han. With a the."

"… the Han, what the hell are you talking about?"

The armored man beamed with pride. "The Han is imagining the Book of the Han. He only needs paper and a pen to start writing it down so that he may enlighten mankind."

Sasuke stayed silent an instant, the time to digest the news. "You're… going to write a book about yourself?"

"The Book of the Han will be faith put into words," the Jinchuuriki confirmed. "A manuscript narrating the story of the Han, and the truth about the cosmos shall be revealed to the unbeliever. The Cult of the Han deserves to learn how the one true god came to be."

"Wait… how could you know what happened during your birth?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "And, what about the dolphins, and the… why am I even discussing this insanity?"

"Because your faith has awakened," the Han said happily. "Embrace this godly revelation! Believe in my divinity!"

Ignoring his crazy cellmate, Sasuke turned to the only other sane individual in the vicinity. "Yugao, how can you manage to keep your calm?"

"Meditation mostly," he hear the woman reply from her own cell. "It does wonders, I assure you."

"We've been trapped like rats for months," Sasuke grumbled, "And with no means of escape. I can't even access the Sharingan!" Itachi would have found a way to escape by now, he thought bitterly. Whereas I can't even find a way to pass time.

"Konoha will find us, Sasuke," Yugao replied in a vain attempt at comfort, "Or Naruto will find a way to have us released. Since they haven't extracted Han's Bijuu by now, I guess we're being kept as hostages to ensure his cooperation."

"That's even worse," the Uchiha replied. He hated being so powerless, so weak. All of his training, all of that work, all of that effort and here he was chained like a pet.

In the end, he was nothing compared to Itachi.

"The Han is pretty sure somehow, everything is going to turn alright. It will be… my first miracle!"

"Why don't you just shut up?" Sasuke snapped angrily. "How can you act so frivolously when we're in the worst possible situation?!"

Han didn't reply anything. The silence disturbed the Uchiha, who wasn't used to this from the Jinchuuriki. The giant later spoke again. "The Han is aware how fucked up this mess is," he said, "But the Han is no pessimist. Stay strong. Stay cheerful. Keep hope. It's only when you give up that all is lost."

Sasuke didn't have the time to ponder the wise advice, for Yugao's next words caught his attention. "There's a problem," she whispered, "The guards should have came back by now."

"It might be a trap," Han pointed out. "Maybe they want to spy on us discreetly. Or maybe-"

"Or maybe, just, maybe," a new, yet familiar voice echoed through the jails, "Some lone handsome hero decided to save the poor damsel in distress! Oh, and her two boys. Mustn't forget them…"

"This voice…" Yugao blinked. "Jiraiya-sama?"

"The one and only," the toad Sannin said, as he appeared before the cells' doors with a Shunshin. "I apologize for the delay, but the guards didn't want to have you released diplomatically. I had to… rough them up a little."

"Wait," Sasuke cut in, "How can we be sure you're the real deal instead of a fake?"

Jiraiya smirked, before destroying the jail's doors with a series of Rasengan. "Who else could know this technique?" he shrugged. "Anyway, we've got to hurry. I'm pretty sure we'll have the entire Ame ninja corp after us within a few hours."

Yugao frowned, as she walked outside her cell alongside her comrades. Damn, it feels good to be free. "They confiscated our weapon and battle gear… well, except for Han's armor. I've no idea why."

"Because seeing the Han naked makes everyone fall in love with his sexy body," the giant replied with a matter-of-fact tone, "Even Pain didn't want to take the risk. That, and the armor is useless with my chakra seal."

"I see…" Jiraiya trailed off. He brought a scroll from under his robes and unsealed it, allowing three ANBU uniforms and a wide array of weapons to pop into existence. "Take your pick. I take it Pain found a way to suppress your chakra and Bijuu?"

The trio nodded, showing various seals on their neck or shoulders. The toad Sannin examined Yugao's, before touching them with his index. They instantly vanished, much to the woman's astonishment.

"A rookie's work," Jiraiya shrugged, "Pain is good, but not that good." He focused next on the two men, and destroyed their seals. Sasuke in particular seemed radiant, as he regained his power. The Sannin briefly ogled at Yugao, hoping to seeing her undress, until he realized she had already put the ANBU uniform on herself when he wasn't looking. Damn it!

Yugao narrowed her eyes upon guessing Jiraiya's thoughts and seized a tanto among the weapons. The pervert didn't need a memo to understand the implicit warning and glanced away. Sasuke traded his ragged clothes for the second ANBU uniform, but Han decided to keep his armor, confident it would far more useful than any battle gear. Jiraiya coughed and started explaining them his plans.

"Since you're all ready, let me explain you what we're going to do. Team Gai should be freeing Naruto as we speak. We're going to free Fuu, meet our allies outside the city, then reach the frontier. Mei Terumi should be waiting at a rendezvous point to escort us outside this country." He crossed his arms. "So let's go."

The escape was short and almost boring. The group stepped over the dozen guards Jiraiya had previously killed, but faced no ambush or resistance. Yugao instantly guessed something was wrong, as no plan as risky as this one could go without a hitch.

When they arrived outside the building, her fears were confirmed.

"Sensei," Pain's Deva Path whispered, standing in the snowy street alongside what appeared to be fifty ANBU, "How nice of you to pay us a visit."


Amegakure, a building's roof, 11:00 P.M.

"This is insane," Fuu said, as her savior set her down on a building's roof.

"What, you don't believe me?" Kisame Hoshigake snorted. "Some of Akatsuki still have sanity, girl. Better leave the organization and enjoy the world as it is rather than rule ruins."

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. The fact the man had slaughtered her guards, freed her, and carried her outside her prison didn't mean she trusted him. Especially since he pretended to have been fed up with his own organization, which she found doubtful. "Then why didn't you leave Akatsuki long ago?"

"Because I'm doing this as a favor to a friend, and if I didn't have that friend, then I wouldn't be stupid enough to defy Pain." Kisame shrugged. "I thought you should be a little thankful for my brief moment of suicidal overconfidence."

Fuu shut her mouth. Truth to be told, she was thankful the man had freed her, even if it had been completely unexpected. But he was still a ruthless criminal, and she was wary of him. That, and the others are still in danger, she thought. "Thank you," she finally admitted.

"Glad to hear it."

"So what's next?" the girl asked.

"First you're going to show me the seals Pain used to restrain your Bijuu." Fuu obeyed and showed him the designs on her shoulder. Kisame observed them for a time, yet didn't do a thing.

"Aren't you going to remove them yourself?"

"Do I look like a super-intelligent sealmaster to you?"

"Because Jiraiya looks like one?" she countered sarcastically.

"Point made… but luckily," Kisame shrugged, bringing a sheet of paper from his pockets and applying it to Fuu's restrains, "My friend is good with seals. Hell, he's good with everything except staying out of troubles."

The restrains vanished and reappeared on the paper sheet, transferred away. Fuu suddenly felt a familiar voice resonate in her head. At last… the Nanabi whispered. At last I can feel and speak again! What did I miss?

Many things. I'll explain later. "Thanks," Fuu told her unlikely partner. "So what's next?"

"We go meet your boyfriend." Kisame chuckled at the Jinchuuriki's glare. "What, the lovebird is sensitive about it?"

"That's not like that, you old fish fart!"

"I'm only thirty, girl," the shark man replied amusedly, before he tapped her shoulder gently. "The two of us are going to get along perfectly." He glanced at the sky, frowned, and waved his blade. "Prepare yourself, we've got company."

Fuu glanced at the nightly sky, and noticed a form descending in their direction. It looked like a giant bird from afar, but a closer examination revealed it was in fact a woman, with wings of paper waving in her back. Her face was emotionless, as dozens of paper tags swirled around her threateningly.

"Kisame Hoshigake," Konan whispered emotionlessly, "You will pay your betrayal with your life."

"Well, I was never really on your side, so you can hardly call it a betrayal," the shark man deadpanned, waving Samehada, "Can you fight, girl? There's going to be a lot of property damage."

"Oh yes," Fuu said, as she felt the Nanabi's power flow through her veins, "I've been waiting for that moment for months!"


Amegakure's Memorial of the dead, 11:20 P.M.

Inside Pain's tower, in the morgue where bodies were stored before being turned into paths of Pain, a humanoid creature was doing its best to locate a corpse among dozens. It had been extremely difficult to infiltrate the place, and to evade Pain's notice. But now that the god wannabe was occupied with his former teacher, the creature had seized the opportunity.

It quickly found its target. The creature had never met Danzo Shimura in person; only its template had witnessed the man's death and the master's capture. Yet, the original and its clones shared a mind link, a bond allowing them to share their memories.

The creature knew what it had to do. It put its hands on the man's belly, and proceeded to undo the seal on it. It was a complex array, but the creature had studied the technique beforehand. In a few minutes, the seal broke.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and the creature wondered where it had failed… until a breach in space opened, allowing a humanoid to emerge, his face twisted into a cruel sneer.

"Out!" Tobi gloated. "I'm finally out!" He glanced at Danzo's corpse and snickered. "Your eulogy means shit you old fart! I'm out! Out!"

"Master, it would be wiser to keep quiet."

The Uchiha suddenly noticed the presence of someone at his side. A white clone of Zetsu, to be precise. Since it was talking, it was probably one of the smartest specimens. "Where's your original?" he suddenly asked, confused.

"The original is dead," the Zetsu clone said, much to Tobi's astonishment. "Pain killed him and usurped control of our army. Or at least… we let him think he does. We are still loyal to you, master."

"Is that a joke? I was sealed only a few hours ago-" Tobi's eyes widened. "Wait… how long was I sealed?"

"Around six months," the Zetsu clone replied, causing the madman to massage his temples. "Master?"

"Six months… but it felt only like a few hours! Unless… time must pass differently in that parody of a pocket dimension." The Uchiha frowned. "So Pain betrayed me… what about the rest of Akatsuki?"

"Sasori and Orochimaru were killed during the invasion of Konoha. Itachi and Kisame have betrayed the organization for their own purposes. Konan, Kakuzu, and Deidara are still alive… as is Pain."

Tobi chuckled. So this Uzumaki rabble was losing control of his own men? This could work to his advantage. "I made this ungrateful bastard Akatsuki's leader, and this is how he rewards me," the Uchiha snickered. No matter, I will crush him like I crushed Minato, Danzo, and everyone else who stood in my way. The ground shook a little. "What's happening?"

"Pain captured the last Jinchuuriki, Han of the Hidden Rock, Fuu of the Hidden Waterfall, and Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf, alongside Sasuke Uchiha and an ANBU. Jiraiya of the Sannin, Itachi, and Kisame are trying to free them, and are currently fighting Pain and Konan in the streets of Hidden Rain."

"What? There's a giant free for all brawl of legends and nobody invited me to participate?" Tobi chuckled. "This has to be corrected."

"Master, there is a last issue to be addressed." The clone pointed at one of the corpses. "I think it might interest you."

The Uchiha glanced at the corpse, and blinked. He carefully examined it, and was forced to admit the evidence: it was the real deal.

Kakashi Hatake, Obito's former best friend and later sworn foe, was dead.

Not only was he dead, but it was obvious Pain had been starting to turn him into one of his paths. The jounin's corpse was covered with piercings, and while all his hair hadn't turned orange yet, a few of them had. It was disturbing to see Kakashi turned into this… this doll.

Tobi's blood was boiling with fury.

"Master… are you sad?" the Zetsu clone asked.

"Yes," the Uchiha admitted, "He was mine. Mine. How dare you, Kakashi! I was supposed to kill you, after destroying everything you loved! I've been robbed of my revenge!" Tobi sighed, calmed himself, and slowly opened his old teammate's eyelids, revealing the Sharingan - his Sharingan. Thankfully, Pain hadn't replaced it yet with one of his pseudo-Rinnegan.

"Now…" Obito muttered, as he moved to extract the eye. "Let's take back what's mine…"


Amegakure's streets, 11:25 P.M.

Jiraiya couldn't believe his eyes. "Yahiko?"

"No," Pain replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Yahiko is dead, and his body is now a vessel to my will, my Deva Path. He shall exist forever through my Rinnegan's power."

"Jiraiya-sama, you know this man?" Yugao asked incredulously. Suddenly, she realized they had been tricked. Pain intentionally ordered the security to be lax tonight, so he could bait Jiraiya into making his move, she thought, He wanted to catch him himself.

"If he is the man I think he is, then I… kinda trained him," Jiraiya admitted, deeply shamed, before glaring at Pain. "Nagato, seriously, what the hell? Why are you doing all of this! I thought I had taught you better!"

"You taught me well, Sensei," Pain corrected. "Don't you understand? I am applying your teachings. I am bringing peace to the world, as the prophesies foretold. All these sacrifices were made, all this blood was shed, so a new, better world could be born through suffering."

"I never taught you that!" Jiraiya snarled angrily. "I told you love was the key to peace, that I believed there was hope to surpass the ninja system and its spiral of death! I never told you to kill thousands and try to take over the world!"

"I found it too hard to make your ideals a reality without necessary sacrifices." Pain shrugged. "Sensei, I have transcended human limitations. I have become a god. It is not too late for you to join the right side, to be free from Konoha's illusions, and see the truth."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "The only thing I see here, is another mistake of mine I have to correct." He adopted a fighting stance. "You are no longer my student, Pain. I regret it came to this, but I will not surrender to you, you self-righteous brat!"

"Me neither," Sasuke whispered, his Sharingan activating, "No way I'm going back to your cells. I'll live or die on my feet!"

"I thought our last fight had taught you just how outmatched you are," Pain pointed out.

"You took us by surprise last time, when we were exhausted and divided," Yugao shot back, readying her tanto, "This is not the same." The boast was hollow. The only reason she hadn't tried to attack yet was that it was suicide. We must stall for time, she thought, Until we can seize an opening.

"Look at you," Pain began, "We are legion, and you are four. And what four. A genin barely out of the Academy, an ANBU, an old man past his prime and a Jinchuuriki having deluded himself into believing in his own divinity. The odds are pretty one-sided."

"Yeah," Jiraiya admitted, before turning it into a boast. "The odds are grossly in our favor!"

"Divinity? Nah, the Han was just messing with your head. He was born to transcends the gods…" The giant started producing steam. "Not to die as one!"

The god wannabe appeared genuinely disappointed for an instant, before his voice echoed with cold indifference. "So you will make your last stand... how pitiful." Pain raised his fist. "Ame-nins, attack-"

The world exploded in black fire.

Jiraiya paled in surprise, as the entire ANBU corps was set ablaze and screamed, leaving only Pain and his enemies untouched. Then, the inferno surrounded the Ame leader, who frantically joined his palms together. "SHINRA TENSEI!"

The shockwave turned the entire area into ruins. The buildings collapsed on themselves, Jiraiya and his group were blown away, and the inferno was extinguished by the blast. When the Sannin rose back up, imitated by his allies, they only saw Pain glancing in rage at the remains of his army.

"The Amaterasu…" Pain glared at a new figure, who had leapt next to Han. "You little backstabber…"

"Jiraiya-san," Itachi Uchiha whispered, his body surrounded by orange chakra, "Would you mind if I lent you a hand?"


Amegakure, Naruto's apartment, 11:20 P.M.

"You've got to open the door!" Naruto's voice resonated through his apartment's locked door. "Pain is going to kill someone! You have to let me out!"

The two guards ignored him superbly. Their god had brought the blonde here forcefully, raging and kicking, before ordering his men to keep him there until he told them otherwise. As consummate professionals, they stayed silent, although it was getting increasingly difficult to ignore the blonde's attempts at breaking the door.

After a time, the noise ceased. For a brief instant, the duo thought their prisoner had given up.

Until they heard a loud sound, awfully similar to someone breaking a window.

Both ninja exchanged a worried glance, put themselves on guards, and opened the door. They heard the wind from outside, which increased their doubts. "If I don't come back within two minutes, lock the door and call Pain-sama," the first guard ordered, as he walked inside the apartment.

"Maybe it would be wiser to just keep our post."

"He's just a guy with no ninjutsu, no genjutsu, no taijutsu," the first guard snorted, as he went on to investigate inside the apartment, leaving his partner to keep the open door. "What could he do? Spit on me?"

The guard, a kunai in hands, advanced carefully through the apartment, reaching the source of the wind: the cocktail bar. The room's windows had been broken, and the prisoner had apparently turned his bed's blankets into an improvised escape rope... worse, he was nowhere to be seen. Did he try to escape to the floor below? the guard wondered, approaching from the windows. He won't get far-

It was at this moment Naruto jumped from behind the cocktail bar, a shard of glass in hand… which he promptly shoved through the man's throat and carotid.

The man's scream was muffled by his blood, and he collapsed to the ground. Naruto didn't even wait for him to die to steal his weapons and equipment. "Oboro?" the guard's partner called frantically, panicking over the lack of answer.

When someone finally entered his line of sight, it was a blonde teen whose hands were covered with blood, and who was aiming at the guard's head with a kunai. The ninja promptly realized the danger and attempted to close the door.

You can do it, you can do it! Naruto thought frantically as he threw the kunai as fast as he could. The weapon pierced the guard's right eye before he could close the door, causing him to scream and collapse on his back in shock. Naruto raced toward him, grabbed a second kunai, and then promptly finished the man by stabbing his face, repeatedly.

It was a very messy way to go.

"You should have opened the door." Stealing the guard's equipment, the blonde briefly considered taking the Ame uniform as well, before realizing without makeup anyone in the city would recognize him on sight.

Think, think… he told himself, reaching the building's stair and frantically descending. They hold Fuu in an apartment at half an hour from here if I run really, really fast… maybe I can rescue Fuu before the guards there find their murdered friends and call the alarm. Assuming, of course, Pain didn't move her already. Then I must find someone who knows about the location of the others, interrogate him, and then rush at them before Pain realize I've escaped. Then we can run the hell out of this city. With luck, Itachi will help.

Anyone with half a brain would realize this insane, desperate plan was doomed to failure, and Naruto was painfully aware of it. In all evidence, it would end with Fuu dead anyway and the blonde under bigger scrutiny. But this was the only plan he had, and if Pain thought the Naruto Uzumaki would let him murder a friend without fighting back, then he didn't know the blonde at all.

You've beaten worse odds, you can make it work, Naruto vainly reassured himself. You must make it work!

When he finally reached the end of the stairs, he entered the building's entrance hall. Four guards were waiting there, all wearing Ame's standard Chuunin uniform. They all glanced at him in surprise, and adopted fighting stances.

They will always underestimate you, Naruto remembered Yugao's lessons, They will attribute your victories to blind luck, and they will never see you as a threat. To them, you are a mere civilian or canon fodder. This is your strength. They will never go all out like they do against renowned ninjas, which means you will have the advantage of surprise. You have to hit hard and fast, before they realize they're fighting for their life.

Quickly examining the hall in a split second, Naruto elaborated a plan on the fly. He memorized the guards' location, before grabbing a flash bomb and as many kunai as he could.

There's a reason why ninjas carry things like flashbombs, smoke bombs, Shuriken and kunai, when they're trained from birth to shoot fireballs, Anko had taught him, the stuff seems boring, but… eighty percent of the ninjas don't die because of flashy jutsu, but from wounds caused by Kunai and explosive tags. They're the real weapons of mass destruction of the ninja world. Shuriken are awesome to distract an opponent. Smoke and flash bombs can help you escape to fight another day… but you know, with your good memory and reflexes, I think you could use them offensively…

Closing his eyes, Naruto threw the flash bomb, and the room was filled with bright light.

While the ninjas shrieked out of surprise and temporary blindness, Naruto launched a volley of kunai at their rough location. Half the guards were killed on the spot, as the weapons pierced their chest and head, but two of them managed to dodge on instinct. The blonde heard one of them approach.

Opening his eyes again, Naruto raced forward his newest opponent. The Jinchuuriki raised his fist and smashed the Ame-nin's face as hard as he could, successfully dislocating the jaw. The man grunted and retaliated by trying to punch the teen's chest.

But the Chuunin was no Lee. Not as strong, and nowhere near as fast.

Dodging the blow, Naruto unleashed a low, semi-circular kick, targeting the man's inside knee. The surprised ninja lost his balance and landed to the ground. Naruto, wasting no time, stomped on his skull with his foot, repeatedly, until the man stopped moving. In the heat of the battle, Naruto didn't even bother checking if he had killed the man or just knocked him out.

With his companions dead or incapacitated, the last Chuunin executed a series of hand seals, and fired a powerful water stream at the blonde. The ninja dodged it with some difficulty, before throwing three smoke bombs at his opponent. The man was surrounded by smoke and began to fire his Jutsu randomly, unable to perceive anything.

Then he felt someone grabbing his hair. The next second, Naruto smashed his enemy's skull against the nearest wall. The man's life ended with a loud, sickening cracking sound, his corpse falling to the ground.

Panting heavily, Naruto glanced at his bloodied hands, then at his work. He briefly felt disturbed by his own brutality, but quickly brushed the issue aside. You'll feel guilty later, he thought, as he regained his composure. You've got to-

His brain exploded.

Or at least, it felt like it. A powerful, high pitched sound ravaged his ears, and a terrible headache nearly brought him to his knees. It was an atrocious experience.

He was so caught in his shock and pain he didn't fought back when a strong hand grabbed his neck. Naruto was quickly sent flying through the building's door, landing on the snow outside.

He was almost knocked out by the sheer shock, yet managed to stay awake. Feeling nauseous and confused, he still managed to rise up to his feet. The air felt cold, and the street's neon lights blinded him, slightly blurring his vision.

A big, bulky form exited the building, a strange device equipped on his arm. "Sorry, Naruto," Dosu Kinuta whispered calmly, "I saw your breakout attempt coming from a mile away."

"Dosu… Pain is fucking insane!" the blonde protested. "He's going to kill someone, no, everyone on this damn planet if he isn't stopped! You have to let me go!"

"I don't think you get it yet, so let's put it simply," Dosu took his breath, "I'm not paid to care."

"If so, I'll just kick your ass," Naruto replied, although with his nausea and headache the boast sounded hollow.

The other ninja quickly noticed and snorted. "My melody arm has screwed up your senses, and I'm not one of these grunts, Naruto. You're lucky the ANBU were sent to capture Jiraiya, or else you wouldn't have made it this far."

Naruto managed to keep a poker face, while inwardly, he was completely astonished. Jiraiya is here? "How convenient."

"Don't play innocent!" Dosu snarled. "This was your plan all along, was it not! You had your friends start a diversion so only grunts were left to keep you jailed, and then you could escape on your o-"

While Dosu was occupied ranting, Naruto had managed to fight the nausea long enough to grab four Shuriken, and aimed for the ninja's eyes. With luck they would pierce them so Naruto could make a quick getaway, without wasting time with this loser.

However, before he could launch the projectiles, four strong hands grabbed his shoulders and forearms from behind. The Jinchuuriki was quickly tossed to the ground, and pinned on the snowy ground in spite of his frantic resistance. Moving his eyes, Naruto paled upon realizing he was surrounded by at a least a dozen Ame-nins.

"Did you really think I would face the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails without back-up?" Dosu mocked him. "I know you're good, pal, so I ain't gonna underestimate you." He glanced at a hooded figure. "Kabuto, paralyze him."

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun," the man whispered with a cheerful voice, as his hand became clad with a chakra scalpel, "Sure, you won't be able to move for a long time, but hey, it'll be mostly painless."

"No, no!" The teen snarled, struggling to free himself, without success. "Let me go!"

"Shut up!" Dosu raised his foot, ready to stomp over the blonde's head. "I said shut up you little piece of-"

A green blur hit the madman and sent him flying to crash into a neon light.

Two seconds later, the Chuunins pinning Naruto to the ground were promptly killed by a volley of projectiles, releasing their grip. The blonde quickly freed himself and rose up, surrounded by chaos. His former tormentors were attacked by four individuals wearing ANBU masks, one of them rotating on himself and releasing a dome of blue chakra, forcing the Ame nins to back down.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Neji?"

"Next time, Naruto, please try not to get captured and taken to a foreign country," the teen replied with a familiar voice, "It was a pain to find you."

"You can thank us later," Tenten added, throwing a metal sphere at this 'Kabuto'. "For now, please could you focus on our enemies?"

The blonde nodded, throwing a few shuriken. "Guys, they're going to kill Fuu, we can't-"

"Jiraiya-sama is taking care of it," Neji cut him, "We must defeat these guys before the entire city is alerted- Naruto, at your left!"

The Jinchuuriki barely had to time to turn his head, as a mass of muscle and rage tackled him and threw him a few meters away. Naruto quickly rose to his feet and dodged a powerful uppercut with a small leap.

"Alright," Dosu whispered with bloodthirst seeping into his voice, "I wanted to deal with you without maiming you too much, but now I'm gonna beat you within an inch of a life!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Bring it."


A/N: indeed, it's quite the mess.

The two next chapters will detail the battles (Dosu/Kabuto and co vs Naruto and Team Gai, Jiraiya and co vs Pain, Konan vs Kisame and Fuu) and the fallout, but due to my little free time it might take me some time to update again. But hey, it's going to be worth it, trust me.

By the way, I've been listening to Metal Gear Revengeance's soundtrack (which is awesome), again, and I've found a pretty good theme song for Atlas' Naruto: "I'm my own master now." Plus it foreshadows some later character development for our favorite blonde...

I want to point out the fact that security was lax with all prisoners was all part of Pain's plan: he wanted to bait Jiraiya into making his move, so he could catch him, but since he didn't know which one Jiraiya would go after first, he had to lessen the pressure on all prisoners. Since he didn't foresee Jiraiya's back-up nor Itachi's betrayal, it backfired.

Anyway, don't forget to vote for your favorite character on the poll. It's going to get closed after the Ame arc ends. The five most popular characters will be the stars of a special chapter in a later story arc.

Thanks for reading (and please tell me how you felt about the chapter, as always).