Whoa, I got pretty pumped during this one. To those of you you think the last chapter was filler, well, you're wrong. I'll let you see for yourselves why that is.

Disclaimer: Is anyone else surprised that Naruto seems to have knowledge of sea life?


A line that has been crossed

Both stood in silence, two figures frozen stiff, shock clear in their eyes. The massive blade of the Ekokaeten stood between them, soundless during this encounter that no one could have predicted. Naruto stared at Rika, his mouth hanging open while she looked back with clenched teeth. The whirring sound continued, but from here, it sounded so very distant.

"Rika-chan?!" Naruto breathed, his body like a statue as it remained immobile. He scanned the woman before him, with her hair tied back he could clearly see that scar on her face. He had little doubt about it, this was her.

"Naruto?!" Rika mimicked, looking up at the blonde incredulously. She was pressed against the wall by Eko's form, the thick collar of her dark grey flak jacket pressing against her neck while the edge of the blade almost touch the underside of her jaw, "What are you doing here?!"

"Huh- I was-" Naruto began, before shaking his head rapidly, "Wait a minute, what're you doing here?!"

After a brief moment's thought he realised that it was incredibly unlikely she was here on a mission. Despite the slashed forehead protector bearing the Ame crest she wore, he had serious doubts Pein sent her here at the same time he decided to send Naruto and Utakata. Whatever the reason, he doubted that Pein had the slightest knowledge of Rika's presence.

"I'm looking for- will you get this off me?!" Rika hissed, trying uselessly to push Eko away. Naruto lifted the blade and moved it aside, but he wasn't ready to put his guard down yet. Though he was fairly certain, he didn't want to risk being mistaken that this was Rika. The lavender haired girl stepped away from the wall, rubbing her neck irritably, "I'm looking for something."

"What?" Naruto asked, his brow creased in confusion. Now that he thought about it, how could this be a fake of Rika? No one here knew of the two of them, and they didn't really have a strong enough connection to be used for deception. Then he was hit with a sudden thought, something he found quite worrisome, "Is Yuuka-chan here?"

"Of course she is." Rika replied, peering around the corner Naruto had come from. She looked into the contents of the vats and cringed, but didn't turn, "She's on the other side, with Haru."

"Shit." Naruto muttered, looking back the way he had come, "That's not good. Yuuka-chan's a Genin, what about the other person?"

"Haru's a Chunin." Rika replied, frowning at Naruto with an uneasy feeling, "What?"

"My partner won't know about them." Naruto explained, as he returned Eko to his back, "And he's ANBU level, he's probably moving faster than I am."

"What?!" Rika exclaimed, with an agitated look. She whipped around and began to turn the corner, preparing to run down the hallway, "I gotta get there!"

"Hold on!" Naruto said, grabbing her wrist. He nearly lost his grip on her, but his fingers curled around on the mesh undershirt she was wearing, which ran down her arms and around the base of her hand around her thumb. She stopped and looked back and glared at him for stopping her, her eyes demanding an explanation, "I'll send a Kage Bunshin to get them, it'll get there faster!"

"Well hurry then!" Rika replied, tugging her hand out of the way. Naruto nodded and formed the seal, called the Jutsu, and sent the clone on his way. Rika watched the copy of Naruto run down the hall, sure enough he was going faster than she could. But she still wasn't completely settled, she turned to Naruto and looked angrily at him, "Why are you-"

She was suddenly cut off as a shrill sound exploded through the near silence, and red light burst from the bulbs on the ceiling. Alarms blazed all around them in a hellish canon that reached a single, troublesome conclusion; they had been caught.

"Fuck!" Naruto swore, whipping his head around in both directions. He then grabbed Rika's wrist again and pulled her in the opposite direction of where he had come from, letting go when he was sure she was following, "C'mon, first thing they'll do is block the exits!"

"Like I don't know that!" Rika replied, running alongside him. The alarms soon came to a stop, and they were left with only the constant light of the bulbs above them, "There's only one way out!"

Naruto grunted, that sounded troublesome. But not long after that he developed a smirk. If there were going to be guards running around, then there was only one possible course of action; they would need to take out every last guard in this damn place.

"Kinda wish Gaara was here." he thought, as a large door ahead of them burst open. Four Shinobi burst through, each one looking like they were competing to see who could look the most badass. Naruto came to a stop, gripping Eko and smirking to himself, "It's no fun when there's no… race?"

He was caught off guard from his thoughts when to his surprise, Rika continued running. She headed straight for the enemy, dipping her hand into the pouch attached to her tight black trousers. She flung a smoke bomb just as the four Shinobi rushed her, before disappearing into the darkness.

"Wha?" Naruto thought, looking incredulously as the cloud diminished. He hadn't expected Rika to run right on ahead, and now that she had there wasn't much he could do. He didn't really know how to fight with another close range type on his side, he'd probably kill her if he tried.

It turned out though that it wasn't necessary. Moments later the cloud diminished, and Naruto was left watching the results. Rika lay on the ground, her arms and legs wrapped around the necks of each of the Shinobi. For some reason the guards seemed almost unable to move, like their bodies were numb or something.

"Is she… absorbing their chakra?!"

"Huh?" Naruto thought, glancing back at Eko, "Absorbing chakra?"

"There're some Shinobi who can use Jutsu that take in the chakra of their opponent. But to do it with so many at once… she's had practice."

"Will you hurry up?!" Rika demanded, as the guards began to grasp at her limbs, "I can't hold them forever!"

"Uh, sure." Naruto replied. He reached into his sleeves as he walked towards the pile of people, throwing his shuriken into the faces of the four Shinobi. He then gave a signal and ran forward, while the guards screamed and reached for the shuriken. Rika slipped out of the hold and out of the way as Naruto somersaulted overhead, throwing his palms to the ground and sending the shuriken the rest of the way through. He then landed on the ground next to Rika, extending a hand to help her up, "That was reckless."

"Like you've got room to talk."

"You carry a sword like that and still move fast, you gotta be able to do something." Rika responded, straightening up and brushing dirt from her clothes, "What the hell took you so long?"

"Like I knew what you were gonna do!" Naruto shot back, looking to the corpses behind them in annoyance. He decided to let it go in the end, his Kage Bunshin hadn't been dispelled yet and he was a little worried about what was going on at the other side, "Anyway, lets get moving."

Rika nodded and the two of them headed through the open doors into a junction of hallways. They came to a stop at the three possibilities, the two on either side were a pair of descending staircases, while the path ahead turned to the right just a couple dozen yards down.

"I came down that way." Rika said, speaking quietly as she nodded straight ahead, "It looked like that was the guards' quarters up there, and the containment rooms are further ahead. Looks like that's where the enemy will come from."

"Great." Naruto replied, stepping ahead of her. He then gripped Eko and drew him out, holding him in both hands before him. He faced the passageway ahead, listening as he heard the first doors crashing open to the distance, "I'll deal with these guys. You go on down there and find your sister. Utakata will help you out once he hears from my Kage Bunshin."

"What are you saying?!" Rika hissed, stepping close behind him, "You can't be thinking of taking these guys on!"

"What else?" Naruto asked, his eyes setting in a determined shade. But then he paused, looking serious for a moment, "You came here looking for something right? You keep on looking, I'll be with you in a minute."

Rika paused, her surprise not even needing to be seen. She faltered for a moment, caught between her pride and her goal. Naruto gave a jerk of his head, and in the end that was the deciding mark. She ran down the staircase to the left, disappearing quickly from view. Naruto glanced over his shoulder as he left, watching the spot for several silent moments.

"Don't pretend you're not glad she's gone."

Naruto let out an inward chuckle as he turned his eye to the path ahead. Eko really did know him to well. As the pounding footsteps began ringing out, he started his way towards them at a slow pace which soon turned into a run. All the while a grin spread across his face, his teeth sharpening slightly and his eyes beginning to turn another colour entirely.

* * * * *

Rika skidded to a halt after several minutes of running and searching. She had just ascended a flight of stairs from one of the vat rooms and now faced a small group in one of the hallways above. She placed her hands on her knees, catching her breath as the group neared her.

"You are Rika-san I take it?" Utakata asked, glancing back behind him. He looked at Yuuka, noticing the almost exact appearances the two shared, minus the slight change in eye shape, the scar on Rika's face and that Yuuka wore no mesh undershirt. The more docile twin stepped around Utakata, heading to Rika with a concerned look on her face.

"You need rest?" she asked, crouching down next to her sister. Rika just shook her head in reply, straightening up while she still breathed heavily. Her eyes locked with the stranger in front of her, she knew who this must be.

"Naruto filled you in then?" she asked, as Yuuka straightened up beside her. Utakata gave a nod of reply, slipping his hand down the back of his collar as he looked up at the burning red lights above him. They had been fortunate enough to avoid any guards, but he felt that fact would change soon enough.

"Yeah, but I think the situation has changed since he sent the message." he replied, watching with a raised brow as a scientist appeared at the end of the hallway before suddenly changing his mind, "I couldn't really say what Naruto intends to do, this is the first mission we've taken together."

"Last I saw he was heading for the guards quarters." Rika replied, her expression remaining serious even though Utakata chuckled, "You think he can handle it?"

Utakata took a moment to think about that, listening out as he heard what softly sounded like a distant explosion. Though he hadn't fought beside Naruto, he had the suspicion that he was this type of person. But there was something else to consider too.

"He killed one of the most wanted Shinobi ever to betray Kirigakure." he said, his eyes distancing for a moment, "So I'll have faith in him, it's the least I can do."

"No, the least you can do is give us a hand getting out of here." said the person behind Utakata. The Rokubi Jinchuriki glanced back at the person known as Haru, a boy with loose red hair and wild green eyes. Like the two girls, he wore a heavy flak vest, but with a thick black jacket underneath it, and dark slacks on his lower half. Also like the twins, his slashed headband was tied in the namesake place. All of their allegiances were pretty clear.

"Sorry, Naruto and I have our own mission." Utakata replied, taking a slight disliking to Haru's presumptuous tone. He got over it however, the circumstances were outstanding to say the least. However Rika and Yuuka both seemed to feel the same thing, judging by the reproachful looks they were giving their team mate.

"We can't leave yet!" Rika exclaimed, glaring at Haru for suggesting something like that, "We haven't even found anything yet!"

"You don't even know if there's anything to find!" Haru replied, just as hotly as Rika, "We could be risking our necks for something that isn't even here!"

"There's no point arguing." Utakata said, putting a hand on Haru's shoulder and giving a sympathetic look, "When it comes to decision making, a woman is worth at least two men, so you're outnumbered four to one."

Haru looked at Utakata with a slightly disgusted expression, but in the end he conceded. He stepped away from Utakata and down the hall ahead, standing with his back to the other three. After a moment of silence he groaned to himself, causing a smirk from Rika and a quiet cheer from Yuuka.

"Let's get a move on!" Haru announced, slipping his hands into a pair of black gloves hanging from his waist. In the light Utakata faintly caught a look at what appeared to be seals embroidered along the knuckles. His brow rose in curiosity, but there wasn't much more than that. The three younger ninja headed off ahead without him, and in the end he decided to follow. He really wasn't the type to take enemies on one on one, so having a distraction nearby could prove useful.

As he ran after them, he carefully searched among the phials in his kimono, deciding which one would be best to use in this situation. When he heard another, slightly louder explosion he smirked to himself; it seemed he could get away with something a little flashier.

* * * * *

Splat!

Three of the guards at the front of the masses took a step back, a disgruntled look on their blood soaked faces. All around them the guards quarters were in ruins, bunks shattered and sliced apart, walls fallen and crumbling. And before them, stood a hulking monster with a bare back and torn slacks. He stood in a slumped position, his back to the others as he grasped at the hole in his chest. Then, like someone who was just too tired to stand, he fell aside, letting out nothing more than a slight groan.

But Naruto wasn't done yet. He darted on and over the shrinking behemoth and straight for the other guards, even as the dust from his last fight still settled. In truth that monster back there had been child's play, but with the numbers he was now facing things could be difficult. The situation could hardly get any better.

As he began slicing through the crowd of lumbering oafs, he finally got a recall as the Kage Bunshin dispersed. It looked like the others were fine, but there was no sign of Rika yet. That wasn't much trouble though, after what happened earlier he was sure she'd be fine.

Suddenly he was stopped as for some reason, Eko stuck hard. Looking to his left, he saw the giant sword partially embedded inside one of the guards, who was gripping the blade tight in his hands. The ugly man grinned evilly at Naruto as the wound suddenly began closing, sealing Eko inside. The longer he waited, the stronger the hold seemed to get, but Naruto had other problems too. It seemed this had been a predicted outcome, as other guards suddenly rushed at him with roars of victory.

"Be with ya in a sec!" Naruto thought, sending Eko a message as he pumped Futon chakra into the base of the hilt. The guard who held Eko trapped grunted in surprise as the blade shot through him. He fell to the ground, sliced in half like so many others.

Naruto whipped around, pumping his palms into the nearest crowd of opponents. The wind shot out with cannonball force, but with such a wide radius its range was shortened, serving only to knock the guards off their feet. Naruto made to run to the clearing, but then he suddenly had to right himself as he felt something grip his leg.

"GET O-" he began, preparing the kick the owner of the hand holding his ankle hard. But he paused in shock as he recognised the person as the one who had gripped Eko with his own gut. To his shock, he was still coming after Naruto even after losing his legs. There wasn't even a trail of blood, the wound appeared to have sealed over in a white flesh of some sort.

Naruto's thoughts cleared for a moment and he looked around. Now that he paid some attention, he realised something shocking. These bulky, lumbering forms that he had had no trouble against weren't guards at all. They were the test subjects.

"… What the hell is going on?" Naruto thought, momentarily stunned from shock. The subjects were all relatively human looking, though each was either bulky or misshapen. They each had yellowing skin, and saliva pouring out of their hanging mouths. Then something came to his mind, an answer in the midst of madness, "The containment rooms!"

Once more the masses converged on him, and he was forced to act. With a blast of wind he threw himself into the air, leaving the newly dismembered arm that had held his leg to fall to the ground. He then pulled out four kunai with tags attached to the end and hurled them in every direction. The tags exploded moments after contacting the ground, resulting in the entire floor caving in to the lower level. Naruto watched from his place on the ceiling as all the victims of the cruel experiments fell down the rubble below.

"Who the hell would do this kind of thing?" he thought, biting into his thumb. He drew a quick seal onto the ceiling and formed a few hand seals, before Eko was removed from his place in the wall and sent flying back into Naruto's hand. The blond quickly turned around and left the room, as the subjects wandered around for a way out.

He left into the hallway, where things had quietened down. It looked like there was no one in sight. He looked through the window to his left down into a large empty room, there was absolutely no one in sight. But that troubled him more than anything, and he began running once more at top speed.

"Where the hell are the guards?!" he thought, as he bound down the silent corridors.

* * * * *

Utakata and the others ran down the hallway, each one listening to the pounding footsteps in the distance. It sounded like the guards had found them regardless of Naruto's efforts, and they would soon be in for a fight. Haru took the lead with Rika behind and Yuuka farthest back. Utakata watched their formation, he already had an idea about which role belonged to which person.

"Here we-" Haru began, as the guards began to appear at the end of the passage.

"GET DOWN!" Utakata yelled, cutting of Haru suddenly. Instinctively the three Ame nin hit the floor as Utakata dipped his bubble blower into his solution and raised it to his lips. Gripping it between his teeth, he flew through a series of hand seals to fast to make out, before settling on the rat, "Bubble Blizzard Jutsu!"

A barrage of bubbles fired from the tip of his tool as Utakata let out a strong exhale through it. The countless bubbles tore through the air, stretching and thinning as the solution made them harden. As the majority of the guards appeared, they were all assaulted by a barrage of glass-like senbon.

"GO!" Utakata yelled, as he prepared his next solution. Haru and Rika wasted no time in getting to their feet, the former rushing the guards that had taken cover behind the wall while the latter disappeared into the vat room to the left. Yuuka and Utakata were the only ones to stay behind, but Utakata was also making his way forward, "You're not helping?"

"Oh, well, I'm only a medic-nin, and not a very good one." Yuuka replied, watching worriedly as her sister and team mate took the enemy on from both sides, "I'd only get in their way."

Utakata frowned at her as he applied some new liquid to his solution, shaking the flask firmly. Haru appeared at the end of the corridor, wielding a pair of spiked brass knuckles that he hadn't possessed before. It looked like he was on the defensive, and had already received a cut to his arm that made Yuuka squeak.

"Come on, you're helping." Utakata announced, grabbing her wrist and making her run alongside him. She gasped from shock, but did her best to keep up as they drew nearer. Utakata dipped his tool in the solution before gruffly thrusting it into Yuuka's hand, "Channel your chakra into your lungs, then when I give the signal pump it all out into this!"

"O-ok!" Yuuka replied, as Utakata released his grip and started running through hand seals. She did as she was told and raised her free hand in a single seal, while the other held the bubble blower in place between her lips. Up ahead, Haru was holding off a pair of guards pressing their kunai against his brass knuckles when he spotted the two approaching.

"Yuuka, what're you doing?!" he exclaimed, as he was pushed further back. But before a response could be given, Utakata hurled a kunai with an explosive tag between them, and the three Shinobi immediately dodged out of the way. There was no explosion however, only confusion was a result. Utakata flew through hand seals as he and Yuuka tore around the corner, the short girl standing in front of the tall boy.

"Bubble art: Great Foam Prison!" Utakata called, quickly placing his palms on Yuuka's head. The girl felt the chakra in his hands and took it as the signal, beginning her sharp exhale as she felt her own chakra mix with Utakata's.

In a mere moment, millions of tiny bubbles burst from the tool, flying at the guards in a torrent of non existing wind. The two guards who were taking on Rika looked back in surprise as she dodged away, realising too late what was going on. The four enemies were suddenly engulfed in a wall of bubbles, trapped inside the growing mass. As Yuuka's breath finally ran out, the Jutsu was complete and the foam had hardened.

The silence felt as solid as the white wall now between the two sisters, there wasn't even any moans coming from the guards. Yuuka lowered the bubble blower from her lips, looking at what she and Utakata had done in surprise. The older boy stepped around her, regarding the foam prison with interest. He rapped his knuckled against it, and didn't even leave an indent in the surface.

"Good job." he said, smiling as he turned back to look at Yuuka. He took back his bubble blower and slipped it into his sash, before placing his hand atop Yuuka's head again. The lavender haired girl looked up at him in surprise, still shocked by what had happened, "If you are a member of a strong team, you can't possibly hold your team mates back."

Yuuka blinked up at Utakata as he removed his hand, she was caught a little by his words. Haru and Rika both appeared not too far away, listening silently as Utakata spoke.

"I'm a hunter-nin." he continued, smiling warmly to Yuuka as he announced this, "If I'm against a team of Shinobi, my greatest worry is if there's a medic amongst them. Because they're the only ones who can reverse whatever it is that I do."

He then stepped past Yuuka, towards Haru and Rika. Though neither gave a clear sign, he was empathic enough to tell what they were thinking. He simply stepped past them, descending down the steps to the room below, "These vats are all getting power from somewhere, there has to be a mainframe or something that's running them. If we get there, this entire place will be open to-"

"Utakata!"

Everyone looked to the doors at the end of the room in surprise. Panting, and covered in sweat, Naruto had appeared with his hands on his knees. Rika, Yuuka and Haru each descended the stairs as Naruto made his way towards them, wiping his brow with his arm in the process.

"Naruto, you ok?" Utakata asked, as the five ninja converged. Naruto gave a nod as he caught his breath, straightening up as he looked past his partner. He spotted the three Ame nin and grinned at them, giving a thumbs up as he finally settled down. But then he turned serious again, looking to Utakata with a creased brow.

"We gotta be careful though." he said, jerking his head to the vats around, "They let a bunch of the test subjects out when the alarm sounded. But something isn't right. Even though I cut them down, they kept on coming."

"What?" Utakata asked, his eyes narrowing in disbelief. But then something sparked in his mind, and his eyes widened suddenly, "What was it like? Their wounds I mean."

"They just sorta healed over real quick." Naruto replied, with a shrug. Utakata didn't appear satisfied with that however, he moved past Naruto and headed towards one of the vats. Leaning against the cold metal, he looked up at one of the subjects hanging suspended within.

It was a woman, with the same ragged look the other subjects had. She was lacking mutations, with flaps of skin on her otherwise gaunt face marking the only change. He raised his knuckled and tapped the glass hard, his eyes fixed on the face of the woman. After a moment, her eyes opened just a slit. But even though it was only a little, it was enough to cause a reaction. Utakata stepped back, his teeth clenched as he stared at the face in near horror.

"What is-" Naruto began to ask, but he stopped short of himself. Utakata's eyes rose to the ceiling, to the network of pipes and wires all heading in the same direction. As soon as he confirmed where they were going, he ran past Naruto and the others to the staircase up ahead. Naruto looked at his partner in alarm before he and the others hastily followed him.

The dark haired boy flew up the steps and past the wall of his Jutsu, up another flight that led to an even higher level. He could clearly see the large metal doors at the top, and judging from the cables above him this was the place he sought. He rammed the doors hard and pushed his way through, suddenly enveloped in the darkness within. Naruto and the others followed him inside, hearing him muttering to himself in a hasty tone.

"Come on, where the hell are the lights?" he murmured, searching along the walls. He must have found something in the dark, because following a grunt from him the lights high above suddenly burst into life. Naruto, Rika, Yuuka and Haru made it into the room just in time to be bathed in light, and a sight that made even Naruto stand rooted to the ground.

Utakata looked around at them as he realised their stance, before seeing that they were all staring in the same place. Slowly, he turned his head around, his pupils shrinking as his fears became true.

At the far side of the room, in the biggest vat any of them had ever seen in their lives, there was a giant red orb floating in the liquid inside. Utakata stepped away from the lever on the wall, his mouth hanging as he stepped towards the giant thing. As he neared it, he came to a stop. The giant orb moved, turning around and revealing an amethyst ring, with a black dot inside. It was then that everyone realised this was no orb; it was a giant eye.

"Orochimaru…" Utakata breathed, his voice failing to carry even to his comrades ears. But then his words rose in pitch, his voice cracking as his iris bled from brown into a golden colour, "I'll kill him!"