I do not own Naruto (i am not that smart).

"Talking" will be done with the normal font.

'Thoughts' will be done by Italic.

Big things are going to start happening so this should be fun. I will try and get these out asap.

Chapter 12- Hate of the Uchiha.

"PRIMARY LOTUS!" Kazumu screamed as he slammed Sasuke into the ground. He the stood at the side of the crater he made from the impact.

"Sasuke!" The red haired girl screamed. The smoke cleared showing Sasuke in the middle breathing heavily with a head bleed.

"As I thought. I couldn't get the full force of the jutsu because of the sand." Kazumu realized his mistake.

"Suigetsu! Cover me!" He bolted straight for Kazumu swinging his massive blade which Kazumu again stopped with one hand.

"What the well is wrong with you? How can you do that?" Suigetsu couldn't believe this feat of strength.

"A lot of Taijutsu training." He shook him off and began delivering blows all over Suigetsu's body, doing a massive amount of damage, then Sasuke jumped in between them and pushed Kazumu away. His injuries somehow gone.

"Thank you Karin." He said to the red haired girl standing behind him with her arm showing a series of bite marks.

"Well I guess that didn't work." Kazumu said as Sasuke charged at him again. "Not finished huh!?" He kept swinging his sword but failed to connect because Kazumu deflected every swing with his hands.

"Why...cant...I...hit you!" Kazumu then punched the sword out of his hands, making it land far away.

"Because of a technique I developed." Sasuke didn't care and went to punch Kazumu in the face, which he didn't stop this time, but the punch still didn't connect.

"What!?" He looked to see his hand about an inch away from hitting Kazumu's face but it had been stopped by a small barrier of chakra. "What is this!?"

"Using my mastery of the Byakugan I've created a shield similar to Gaara's sand shield, but mine is made out of pure chakra flowing from my chakra points." Kazumu punched Sasuke in the stomach making him spit out blood again. "This also enhances the Taijutsu I learnt from Might Guy, you can't beat me with Taijutsu or Kenjutsu no matter how hard you try." Sasuke jumped back.

"At least beating you isn't the goal here. I just needed to take your measure. I didn't really expect a clone could handle this." Sasuke smiled.

"What!?" And Sasuke who turned out to be just a clone vanished but his two subordinates remained.

"Just to be clear, we aren't clones. And our mission is to kill you, so no hard feeling pal." Suigetsu said sounding smug.

"Didn't he stop the Executioner's Blade just like Sasuke's sword?" Karin looked at him funny.

"So what!?" He looked really annoyed now.

"Can you two stop being idiots. I just want to avenge the group of Genin you slaughtered and be on my way." Kazumu looked even more annoyed.

"Wait that's the only reason? I thought you would want to stop Sasuke from-" Suigetsu was silenced by Karin.

"He's not supposed to know that you idiot!" Karin hit him on the head.

"What? What's Sasuke up to!?" Kazumu yelled out.

"You're going to have to beat it out of us!" Suigetsu and Karin both ran at Kazumu.

"Don't forget about me Kazumu." Naruto joined the fight, taking Suigetsu and fighting him sword to kunai whilst Karin came at Kazumu.

"I won't let you get to Sasuke!" Karin tried grabbing Kazumu but failed, being kicked in the stomach instead being sent a great distance across the desert and skidding across the sand. She already looked too beaten up to continue but she stood up anyway.

"Look you know you can't win. Even Sasuke knew this yet he left you to face us. He doesn't care about you so why bother?" Karin didn't answer him, she didn't even look at him. "With the power of the Rinnegan I could easily just absorb your soul and I'd have all the information I need, but I'm choosing to ask nicely." She started shaking on the spot she was standing on. "Come on just let me know what you have planned!" He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. "Tell me now or your silence will be permanent." She tried shaking of Kazumu's grip with all attempts failing.

"Kazumu! Stop it!" He looked back to see Naruto, Suigetsu was on the ground incapacitated. "This isn't you!"

"They had no mercy on those sand ninja, why do they deserve mercy!"

"They don't, but if you do this you'll be following the same path as them!" Kazumu snapped and realized what he was doing. He dropped Karin and she landed in the sand coughing and trying to catch her breath.

"I'm...sorry Naruto. I lost it. Seeing them in that state made me want nothing more than revenge." Kazumu fell back, sitting on the ground.

"I know it's hard to control yourself in those situations. Just take it easy."

"Where's Konohamaru?" Kazumu only just noticed he was missing.

"I sent him back to the village. This was too far out of his league." He said knelling down next to Karin. "Where is Sasuke?"

"I'm not telling you. I would never betray him like that!" Karin was stubborn even with Sasuke's obvious neglectful side towards her.

"We just want to talk to him. You have to understand that." Naruto was trying desperately to find out where Sasuke was.

"We were told only he can tell you..." Karin looked away.

"Who? Him?" He pointed to Suigetsu who had been reduced to a puddle of water somehow.

"No..." Naruto suddenly felt a strong chakra getting closer and he got ready for an attack.

"Kazumu! Someone's coming!" They both got ready with Kazumu taking his Strong Fist stance once again.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" They heard a maniacal laugh coming from behind them and they ducked as a figure went over them, smashing the ground after he missed. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" A orange haired man with half his face blackened and his arm morphed and disfigured was the source of this crazy, murderous voice.

"That must be him Kazumu, watch out! I sense Nature Energy within him!" Kazumu nodded and they faced the man.

"...kill...Kill...KILL!" He screamed charging at them and his other arm morphed as well, swinging a punch at Kazumu with his left and Naruto with his right. They managed to stop the blow but struggled to keep him held off.

"This guy's power is insane!" Kazumu yelled.

"I know, just hold on for a second!" Naruto had a clone set up already and he began forming a Rasengan.

"Hi...Kazumu..." Suddenly, Kazumu lost all feeling in his legs and he fell under the pressure of the deformed arm.

"GOT YOU!" He punched Kazumu right in the face making him slam into the ground and slide across the sand.

"What's happening to me..." He looked up at Naruto fighting the man and he hit him with a Rasengan that was shaped like a shuriken. The man escaped the blast but was smashed against the ground.

"I have a feeling we don't have much time left Kazumu. A real shame but this will be the last time I speak with you. May we meet again in the real world someday my darling little Kazumu." The strange source of Kazumu's nightmares gave his farewell and he could move again.

"What happened to you?" Naruto ran over to him.

"He said goodbye..." Naruto looked confused but he froze and realized what he meant.

"Wow..."

"Yeah..." They stayed silent for a while.

"Wait a minute! There's no time for this! Sasuke is going to fight with Itachi!" Kazumu snapped out of his depression and a look of horror melted into his face remembering Itachi's words.

"When that day comes, don't do anything to stop it."

"No... No no no no no! This is what he meant!" Kazumu started shaking. "I can't keep that promise!" He bit his finger and performed the handsigns to summon Helios. He erupted from the glyph giving Kazumu a nod like he already knew what was going on.

"I know Kazumu. We must be quick." Kazumu jumped on his back once again leaving Naruto behind.

"Stop Kazumu! You can't go alone!" He yelled this but Kazumu didn't listen.

'I don't have time to wait around for anyone. I have to stop Itachi!' Kazumu had Helios pick up speed.

"Kazumu, I don't mean to question you but you have no idea where you're going." Kazumu's facial expression turned sour, only just now realizing this.

"Wow, I really didn't think about that. I guess having Naruto with me would've helped." Kazumu weighed his options, trying to think of the best way to find Itachi. "I need to track an Akatsuki member! It doesn't matter which one, as long as I can get information out of them." Helios nodded.

"Where to then Kazumu?"

"There's a hideout to the south-east of here. It's a bit out of the way but it's our only option at this point." Helios sped up once again, flying as fast as he could. 'Ok, I have to find a member of the Akatsuki. The best outcome would have me finding Kisame. With me gone he would go back to being Itachi's full time partner. I just need to find him and fast!'

"Kazumu, I'm sensing two powerful beings up ahead. Should we be cautious?" Helios snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, yes be on your guard, it could be-" Suddenly it felt like time froze as Kazumu saw something familiar pass his eyes. A small, white, clay bird... "Dammit!" The bird lit up and exploded creating a massive shock wave that knocked Kazumu off the back of Helios and hurdling towards the ground smashing into it with a great amount of force. The left half of his upper body was singed with his clothes partially on fire. "Go... to hell Deidara..." Kazumu looked up to see his attacker. It was the young man from the One-tail sealing process who had his blonde hair in a ponytail. Closer observation showed he had some weird looking contraption on his left eye.

"I thought that was you flying on that winged fireball, hmm." As he said this Helios flew down to Kazumu's side. He let out a loud screech directed at Deidara putting him off balance. "Damn, you stupid bird!" Helios then surrounded Kazumu in his flames and when the flames died down Kazumu was standing there without a scratch on him. "What the... Why aren't you injured from my jutsu!? Hmm!"

"Just one of his abilities, he can heal all my injuries but he becomes unusable for a while. Not that I really have to explain myself to you, art freak." Deidara's face filled with rage.

"Shut up Kazumu! You're just another person who has no respect for my art!"

"Calm down Deidara! We have to find Sasuke!" Kazumu looked behind Deidara to see another Akatsuki member he hadn't seen before. He had the usual robe with black hair and an orange mask covering his face, leaving only a hole for his right eye.

"Keep quiet Tobi! With this little distraction we've lost Sasuke for sure. Hmm." Deidara yelled as he placed his hand inside a pouch he wore around his waist. "Because you made us lose our target I'll have to settle for dealing with you, traitor."

"I don't have time to play your little games Deidara. I have to get to Itachi!" Deidara looked furious now.

"Don't mention that name to me like that! Hmm!"

"Like I care what you think. Anyway why are you here? I thought the Akatsuki were putting their plans on halt?"

"Oh we were thanks to your little stunt, but as of last month we're back in business."

"Figures. So what are you all planning now?"

"Oh you're not going to get anything out of us. It's far too late for that."

"So we aren't going to tell him we have seven of the tailed beasts then?" Tobi butted in, spilling the truth that they had captured almost all the tailed beasts.

"What the hell Tobi! Quiet!" Deidara threatened the idiotic sounding Tobi while Kazumu stood there dumbfounded.

'How the hell did they capture four tailed beasts in a month! That's insane!" Kazumu looked back up at Deidara. "So what now?" Deidara smiled.

"Now I'm going to punish you for leaving us like you did!" Deidara jumped back and as he did he threw a dozen small clay birds at Kazumu. Kazumu rushed to the side to avoid them but as they detonated one by one, they got closer to him. As he thought Deidara ran out of birds, four of them that had circled around him a moment before trapping him.

'I can't shake those!" Just as Deidara was about to set them off Kazumu kicked all of them at once sending them flying away and exploding against several trees.

"Damn. So clo-" Deidara didn't even have time to finish his sentence because Kazumu had rushed over to him and landed a massive punch to his stomach. Making him fly out of the forest they were in and into an open field where he crashed against the ground. "I shouldn't have been taking it easy on you. Hmm." He got up and brushed himself off and put both of his hands inside two different pouches this time. "I think I'll try the C2 this time." He took them out and placed his hands together, then afterwards threw a small clay explosive into the air and performed a handsign making it expand into a giant clay dragon.

"What are you up to Deidara? You know you can't beat me." Kazumu said as the dragon took off into the sky with Deidara on it's back.

"That's rich. What do you think the Akatsuki have been doing over this year little Kazumu. Sitting on our asses doing nothing? Playing checkers? No! We've been getting stronger! The Akatsuki you knew had been left in the dust and we have risen up more powerful than ever!" Deidara proclaimed flying higher and higher.

'How could I be so stupid! I wasn't the only one who existed this past year! I've been to concerned with my own growth that I forgot about them. The Akatsuki have grown as well and knowing how powerful they were before... I don't even want to imagine the strength they've gained over this year. Not to mention Deidara right now is flying high above me to avoid my Taijutsu, knowing it's his weak point. Well I guess I'll have to touch the sky then.' Kazumu looked up to see Deidara had launched a salvo of multiple clay bombs going at high speed but they didn't hit Kazumu. They smashed into the ground around him and then Deidara performed the handsign.

"Die!" Deidara set them off causing a gigantic eruption of debris blasting skyward as his view of Kazumu was lost within the smoke and dust of the explosion. "Well it looks like that was too much for him. Hmm." The dust settled slowly and in the corner of his eye Deidara saw something. "Impossible!" Kazumu was very much alive, surrounded in chakra. It seems that he used his Byakugan's Absolute Defence to absorb the impact of the blast.

'That was too close, but I can afford to use anymore chakra through my ninjutsu or dojutsu so I'm going to have to take them off.' Kazumu's shield fell and his eyes returned to normal as he sat down on the ground.

"What are you plotting!?" Deidara yelled. Kazumu rolled up the bottom of his pants to show he was wearing standardized training weights on his legs. "Ha! Is this some kind of joke Kazumu!" Kazumu removed them and held them both up.

"You think it's a joke? Have a try for yourself then." He threw one as hard as he could aimed at Deidara's dragon and as it hit it when through the dragon's clay body seamlessly, tearing through it with no effort.

"What the?" Deidara confused didn't see Kazumu throw the second aimed at the dragon once again but this time when it went through it broke through the other side smashing into Deidara and knocking him right off the dragon. 'What was that made of! I feel like I just got hit by an entire building!' While falling from the sky he began to recover when he noticed a shadow behind him. "How did you do that!?" He didn't receive an answer. Kazumu had readied for an all out attack.

"Gate Three! Gate of Life! Open!" As he yelled this he delivered a brutal barrage of punches to Deidara mid-air Hitting him so fiercely Deidara's clothing was being torn to shreds just from the speed the punches were being launched at him. 'Damn!' Kazumu started to feel the recoil of opening the third inner gate and proceeded to deliver one last punch to Deidara sending him shooting towards the ground making a large dent in the ground as he impacted it.

"You...damn...brat." Deidara ripped off the remains of his cloak and shirt, showing he had a mouth hidden there sticking out of the left side of his chest. "I didn't think I'd have the chance to try this." He took a handful of clay from his pouch and put it in the mouth on his chest. Kazumu landed on the ground finally after the long drop.

'I didn't think opening the third gate would leave me so weak. I did a lot of training with this so it doesn't make too much sense but maybe this is just more effects from my illness. What is Deidara doing right now should be my first concern though.' The mouth on Deidara's chest was chewing the clay and it eventually stopped, it then opened slightly.

"Take this!" The mouth let off a small explosion that launched a clay bomb straight at Kazumu, directly hitting him and detonating as it hit, causing Kazumu to fall to the ground and spit up blood. "You like my new technique? It's basically a cannon using my bombs as ammunition. I detonate the first half of the bomb and it fires the second half like so. A perfect use of my art!" He readied the next shot. "Get ready. This one is going to have three times more kick!" He fired the shot perfectly aimed at Kazumu.

'No way! If that hits me I'll die!' Even with all of Kazumu's strength he couldn't move and the bomb hit it's target, this time causing debris to fly around due to the increase in power.

"I've got him this time. Hmm." The dust settled once more revealing that Kazumu was still standing but he was surrounded by something. "Why don't you just die! Wait a second, that cant be!" Kazumu was surrounded by what appeared to be a ribcage. It was yellow and see-through. Kazumu started running towards Deidara with the ribcage still around him. "How do you have the Susano'o!?" Kazumu yelled as he threw a punch at Deidara that ended up missing but Deidara was still hit by something sending him flying into a tree, slamming against it. It was a hand that had materialized that looked similar to the ribcage, being yellow and see-through. "...I guess I shouldn't be too surprised...Itachi did train you..." He struggled to stand back up.

'Not even Itachi knew I could do this, but he did tell me about the risks of it and I don't even have the Mangekyo so it probably carries even more risk. I've never used it because of this but it was life or death there.' He fixed his attention back to Deidara. "Why bother standing? You can't expect to keep fighting while your beaten up like that."

"I don't need to worry about that. You're about to be killed by my art!"

"You idiot. How could it when you can barely move?"

"Shut up! You have no respect for my art at all! How could you understand!"

"Quit it with all this art nonsense and tell me where Itachi is." Deidara froze. He sighed and placed his hand in his pouch taking out all the clay he had left.

"You shouldn't underestimate me. Hmm." He fed all the clay to the mouth on his chest and his veins began to show through his skin. "This is my ultimate art Kazumu. My C0, giving my life to become art itself. This was meant for Itachi, but..." The veins showed more and more and his skin began to fade away. "You've proven yourself worthy to be killed by my art."

"What a terrible way to die." Kazumu tried to run away from him but fell over due to the recoil of the Susano'o along with the damage he had already suffered from opening the third inner gate.

"It's no use Kazumu. Even if you did have the strength to move this blast will cover a twenty kilometre radius. Meaning you couldn't escape no matter what the circumstance. Hmm" Kazumu's face filled with horror. Deidara's skin was now completely gone and all you could see was his black veins and the black ball that was the mouth that ate the clay in the first place. "That's right! I'm going to leave behind a great scar on the face of the planet while you'll be dead! So go on. Cry your heart out!" The veins all gathered and it all came together in the black ball. "Because my art...IS AN EXPLOSION!" The black ball broke open and Deidara detonated releasing a gigantic explosion. Kazumu began running away but doubted that he could outrun a blast of this magnitude for very long in his condition. The blast got closer and closer and just as it was about to hit him Helios cut off the explosion covering Kazumu in flames, protecting him.

"No Helios! Don't do it!" Helios then reverse summoned the both of them to his realm but as he did he was caught in the blast. When they arrived at the place Helios had been reduced to a flaming feather. "Why? I don't want others to die for me!"

"I'm very much alive Kazumu." Kazumu surprised to hear his voice looked around to see him.

"Where are you then!"

"I am the feather you see before you. I am a Phoenix so I should be back to my former glory in about a week." Kazumu smiled knowing he was ok.

"Can you still get me out of here Helios?"

"Yes of course I can. I shall see you soon Kazumu." Before he knew it he was reverse summoned back to the place where he battled Deidara, which was now a gigantic crater with all the land pushed aside.

"Wow Deidara this is impressive, but I wouldn't call it art..." Mocking Deidara one last time Kazumu made his way out of the crater. "I need to recover the ground I lost, so I should start heading..." He cut himself off after he noticed something in the distance. Storm clouds were gathering but only around one area, everywhere else in the sky was clear. "Wait... One of the hideouts is there!" Kazumu tried running but realized how much damage he had suffered in his fight with Deidara and fell to his knees. "Damn it! Looks like I only have one option left..." He hesitantly activated the Rinnegan. "Deva Path..." He began to float above the ground and started flying towards the storm as quickly as he could. 'Thankfully my body is weak but I have a lot of chakra left, I guess that's the perk of using taijutsu the way I did.' He went up a little higher to see the hideout from a distance. "The black flames of Amaterasu!?" Kazumu yelled as he saw black flames circling the entire area. "I have to hurry! If he's using that jutsu to an extent that insane things can't be going well!" He arrived to see the horrifying scene, floating above the battleground, Kazumu saw Sasuke backed up against a wall with blood dripping from multiple parts of his beaten up body and he saw something else that dwarfed Sasuke in size headed towards him. It was a gigantic entity that looked like it was made from pure chakra. Red in colour and it carried a massive red shield. In the center was a figure. It was sluggishly making it's way towards Sasuke, step by step getting slower and weaker. Kazumu started flying towards the fight and saw that the figure to discover it was... "ITACHI! STOP!" He looked back and the entity roared and vanished into thin air with Itachi falling to the ground as it did. "NO!" He flew as fast as he could but he couldn't hold the Deva Path's chakra consumption any longer, the Rinnegan faded and he fell to the ground sliding along it and just reaching Itachi in time for him to fall on top of Kazumu.

"...you promised...not to interfere...Kaumu." Itachi struggled to say breathing heavily. Blood was seeping from his mouth onto Kazumu's arm.

"If you had told me what you meant I would have never agreed to this..." Kaumu was crying now with his tears hitting Itachi's chest. Sasuke still against the wall fell down knowing he was no longer in danger.

"I knew that...it's the reason why...I couldn't tell you" Itachi's eyes were closing slowly with his words getting weaker. "I'm giving you this...just please don't let Sasuke...meet Madara." Itachi touched Kazumu's chest and a surge of chakra went through him.

"What was that? Itachi?" Itachi's hand fell to the ground.

"You...and Sasuke...you two were the reason I did this...the reason I had to die...let my mirror protect you after I pass."

"You gave me the Yata Mirror...that means-"

"I know you can use the Susano'o...just use all the power you possess to save this world...and the Leaf." His eyes closed and he smiled. "I know you and Sasuke can do this."

"No Itachi! I'm just going to use the Rinne-"

"Then let my dying wish be that you don't try to bring me back...I don't want you to die for my sake...you do realize in your current state, using that jutsu would be lethal..." Kazumu bit his lip hard making it bleed. Just knowing he couldn't do anything about it was painful.

"Goodbye Itachi..."

"Goodbye...brother."

End of chapter 12

Well I'm sorry yet again for delaying this. I've been pretty busy with the family. Regardless it looks like I have explaining to do. I got the idea of the Byakugan's Ultimate Defense from the punch Neji stopped from Naruto in the chunin exams just before he used the palm rotation. (See episode 61 for the inspiration. I thought it really was a good idea.) The timeline ive made has been very warped... ill try and map it out so everyone understands. So we have Kazumu coming into the story at the beginning which is just before the Search For Tsunade Arc of the real series (Episode 81). Then we have our first timeskip taking us to the beginning of shippuden. The story then carries it's normal pace until the end of the the Sasuke and Sai arc. Then halting the actions of the Akatsuki for the next year. By this i meant to keep Sasuke's actions going without moving the story forward. Letting the Itachi Pursuit arc take place before the story kept goingwhich means ive simply put this before the Hidan and Kakazu arc. but i guess it's not that simple. Naruto has already accomplished Sage mode before he even faces Pein. Which is why I have made every Akatsuki member still alive much stronger that they already were before the year gap. Giving them new abilities and strength. which means even along with the difference with the story just from Kazumu's existence it now takes another change with the main battles. everything else will go in the right order but it will be a lot different. I will try and get these out asap because writing them is really fun. oh and just so their is no confusion I looked up that the Susano'o can be activated before obtaining the Mangekyo. (All of this information was received from Naruto Wikia. It may not be correct but it's the best source I have.)

Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.