Forgot to say in the last chapter's Author Note that the bit of conversation between Anko and Shikaku was meant to explain the time irregularity presented in the original story, about Jugo's age at the time he was captured by Orochimaru and the time when Anko received her Cursed Seal.
Thanks for the reviews and support. Here's #19.
Chapter 19 - A Colossal Battle
"Shinobiiiii...shinooobii...we endure...shinoobi supress their sooooobs..." The small man passionately sang, causing both his partners to sweatdrop. The three were travelling on the top of the head of a giant raccoon.
"I can't endure this for much longer..." Shi whispered, a painful look on his face.
"At least we don't have to travel by foot. Ponta allows us to have a very nice trip. Besides..." Darui chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "...the lyrics Sabu-chan sings are quite interesting."
"Huh? I can't believe you of all people would enjoy this!" Shi shouted with blank eyes. To his shock, Sabu appeared right in front of him with a raised fist and a scary look on his face.
"You can't just sing Enka. Enka requires a passion-filled soul!" Shi and Darui could both swear they were seeing flames in Sabu's eyes. "You lack passion! Passion! Darui though has quite some inside him. He takes enka seriously!"
"That's right." Darui smiled and made a victory sign with his fingers, causing Shi to sweatdrop.
"He did it on purpose to look good..." Shi concluded.
"As the characters in enka imply, it's important to act out the world in the song with passion! Then, the vibrato..." Sabu was so enveloped in his explanation about enka that he turned his back on Darui and Shi.
"You said that just to look good, didn't you?" The upset Shi whispered.
"I have to assure our ride." Darui lazily answered, causing Shi to slap his own forehead. "What can I say? Sorry, I'm just too dull..."
"You're always saying that!" Shi angrily stood.
"That's it! Passion! Now sing!" Sabu supported the blond. "Shinobiiii..."
"Where did I get myself into?" Shi sighed in defeat.
"How is he?" Chojuro asked. The little young man held his sword in front of him, ready for Kisame's counterattack.
"Very tired and with a broken arm. He still as a lot of chakra but his body is pretty banged up." Ao informed his partner.
"Who are you?" Killer Bee asked.
"Shinobi from the Mist who are here to help you. We received information from Konoha that you were close and we were sent to find both you and Kisame." Ao explained.
"You're fools to join in. Thanks for the help, Hunter-nin." Killer Bee stated as he saw the clothes that Ao was wearing. The host stood and looked to the little young man wielding a huge sword. "Hey sword fool, are you a Mist Swordsman too?"
"Yes Killer Bee-san. Do you still have enough energy to release the Eight-Tailed Ox?" Chojuro asked.
"Of course I do, bakayarou...but with you here, the bull doesn't need to appear."
"I hope not...Hiramekarei Unleashing" The sword's bandages fell, revealing its true form while Chojuro looked around the lake. "You can come out, Kisame-senpai."
"Eheheh, what a nice surprise kohai." Kisame grinned after seeing his former partner. "You really think you can defeat me? You couldn't even beat Zabuza."
"We won't know unless we try!" Chojuro shouted to the Mist renegade.
"Good Chojuro! That's the way to go!" Ao grinned, by seeing the confident look in Chojuro's face. The Hunter-nin focused on his task, releasing a small pulse of chakra from his body, in an amount that only a sensor could detect. Then, he made that chakra travel a distance, like in what is done with genjutsu. The direction it took however, was towards Northeast, in the hopes it would be found by a sensor from Kumogakure's searching teams. "I'm sure the Raikage has already sent people searching for him. Let's just hope they are near..."
"Eheheh, do you think I'm stupid?" Kisame swung Samehada and the handle stretched, so that the blade would go after Ao. The Hunter-nin dodged the attack but, by doing so, he lost control over the released chakra. "It's true that Samehada only wants to go after large amounts of chakra, but she can sense every amount of it, even that ridiculous amount you released, Ao-san."
"So you were on me, huh?" Ao seemed upset by his intentions being so quickly discovered. "I guess I'll leave him to you then, Chojuro."
"Hai." The younger swordsman nodded and charged in Kisame's direction, before both swords clashed. Kisame used his amazing strength to push Chojuro's blade away and raised his sword before letting her come down on Chojuro.
"Oh, the kid is bye bye!" Killer Bee shouted.
"Just watch." Ao calmly said. Chakra came out of Hiramekarei's holes in the form of a pair of scissors that trapped Kisame's blade. Knowing that the Greatsword would absorb the chakra blades, Chojuro dropped Hiramekarei and jumped to hit a pair of kicks on Kisame's chest who staggered back.
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu" Three clones of Chojuro appeared and started to hit punches and kicks on Kisame from every side. Kisame managed to block or dodge most of them but Chojuro managed to hit him sometimes. Kisame then grabbed one of the clones by his left leg and swung him against the other three but all transformed into water.
"What? Where's the real one?" Kisame looked to both sides and then turned back. Having bought enough time with his clones, Chojuro went through the complex combination of hands seals.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu" Kisame was hit right in the chest by another water dragon and was sent underwater. Chojuro put both hands on the water surface and a whirlpool formed and engulfed Kisame. "Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu"
"Wow, the fool is doing great! In 10, I would give him 8!" The surprised Killer Bee complimented.
"He can't deliver the same amount of damage that you can but he knows Kisame way better than you. He's ready for him." Ao explained.
"I'm using too much chakra." The panting Chojuro thought about what to do for awhile. "Ao-senpai, tell Killer Bee what to do and quick."
"Alright." While Chojuro grabbed his sword and watched the movements underwater, Ao came closer to the Jinchuriki.
"I'm surprised kid! You're stronger than I thought but there's still no way you can beat me." Kisame told Chojuro who noticed that the Akatsuki was already behind him. Kisame hit a kick on Chojuro who was projected a few meters before he grabbed Samehada and started to run towards the Hiramekarei holder. The Samehada holder was forced to stop when he had to use his blade to block Ao's kick. "Eh, long time no see, Ao-san!"
"Hmph, and to think that only one member of Team Yagura would end up being on the side of good." Ao, who had his Byakugan eye activated, hit Kisame's right arm with his left elbow and he dropped Samehada.
"Are you talking about her? What did you expect? All the others weren't good to start with." Kisame remebered before they both started a taijutsu battle. Ao was taking advantage of Kisame's fatigue and was winning. After sending the Monster of the Hidden Mist away with another kick, Ao kept a hand in front of his chest and raised the other one above his head.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu" Kisame couldn't see his opponent through the thick mist around him. Ao used his Byakugan to find him and hit him with two hard punches followed by a spinning kick that send Kisame a few meters back. The ANBU drew a kama and tried to slash his opponent with it but, to his surprise, Samehada appeared out of nowhere to block the blade. The Kirigakure missing-nin once again broke the chakra flow on his feet and went underwater, pulling Ao by his ankle, trying to do the same he did to Killer Bee earlier. Chojuro, using a Underwater Motion Jutsu, hit Kisame with an hard headbutt to the gut, making him release the older shinobi. A hand gesture was enough to make Samehada dive underwater and block the path for Ao, who was already struggling to breath. While Chojuro helped his superior in avoiding the sword's attacks, Kisame had enough time to reach the surface and perform the needed hand seals.
"Water Style: A Thousand Feeding Sharks" After putting both hands on the surface, a thousand water sharks advanced in the direction of the two Mist shinobi. Chojuro used his Underwater Motion Jutsu to swiftly pick Ao, avoid some attacks and jump out of the water. While in the air, Ao pushed Chojuro out of the way and got hit by a hard knee to the gut. Chojuro performed some hand seals and when Kisame landed back on the water, he wrapped the missing-nin's neck with both arms and wrapped his legs around his torso.
"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu" Water came from under both swordsmen to trap them in a shpere of water.
"What are you thinking Chojuro? We're both from the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, we can both breathe underwater. This is useless." Kisame remembered his junior.
"Do it now, Bee!" Chojuro shouted and to Kisame's shock, Killer Bee started to run towards them with a large amount of lightning chakra around his right fist. He then punched the water prison, shocking both Kisame and Chojuro.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a Bee!" Killer Bee grinned. Ao tried to shout but he was still trying to regain his breath after Kisame's blow. Kisame and Chojuro both fell into the water. Both were getting deeper and deeper until Killer Bee reached for Chojuro and brought him back to the surface with his good arm. He brought him to where Ao was and he took a quick checkup on his partner with the Byakugan eye.
"There are no internal injuries. He's exhausted, but otherwise fine." Ao said before frowning in pain and grabbing his own torso.
"You in bad shape too, bakayarou." Killer Bee was also holding his broken left arm.
"Some broken ribs, nothing special." Ao said before noticing the water in the lake trembling. "What the-?" He couldn't complete his sentence as an enormous dark blue shark-like monster appeared from underwater. "T-That's what Chojuro told me! He fused with Samehada!"
"Hey, are you seeing this Lord Eight-Tails?"
"Yes, I am. I guess it's time for me to come out."
"Your other half is going to take long?"
"No, he's almost here, Tobi." White Zetsu assured his leader.
"I need both of you to be swift on this one. Have you prepared the medicine I told you?"
"Yup." White Zetsu picked up a bottle with some pills. "Does that mean that you convinced target 5 to join?"
"Exactly. I'll take these to him and you'll stay here. In fact, there's a change in plans." Madara said, confusing Zetsu. "We're not moving to Amegakure, but to Otogakure. I'll be moving our new partners there. When your other half arrives, you will go after Kisame and bring the Eight-Tails to the new hideout. Your other half will be guarding Sasuke. Tell him to watch out for visitors."
"Alright, Tobi." White Zetsu nodded, but he had a frown on his face. "May I ask you why don't we just leave this hideout and take Sasuke for the new one?"
"Because many of our new members are anti-Sasuke. I still have to talk with them about him." Madara explained. "The other reason is that, considering Konoha's movements lately, I'm hoping the Nine-Tails brat could be one of our visitors. To catch him, we'll need Sasuke here as a bait. It doesn't hurt to try."
Ao stared in shock at the size of the two huge demons in front of him, as the Eight Tailed Ox and the shark-like demon started to battle. Chojuro was still out, layed against a tree. "Byakugan" Ao shouted before opening his mouth in awe. "H-how is this possible? I've never seen such amazing chakras! What the hell is going to happen?"
"I knew that Bee should have taken care of you when he had the chance. What are you, Kisame Hoshigaki?" Hachibi demanded an answer as the two demons locked in a power struggle.
"Eheheheh, I'm not Kisame." The shark's demented laugh could easily remember people of the One-Tailed Shukaku. The demon had the same features as a regular shark, expect for the fact it possessed a pair of arms and legs. "My true name is Samehada. Have you forgotten me, Hachibi? After all, you were once in Kirigakure's possession."
"The sword? Explain yourself." Hachibi asked, but he already had some idea about what was going on.
"This is my true form. I'm a demon shark that was sealed in a sword by the First Mizukage, but I can merge with the owner of the sword if he's willing to. It's just like your host letting you out!" Samehada's high-pitched voice made it sound like a banshee.
"So that's why Samehada is the eighth sword, the one that isn't supposed to be used. Living inside a sword...that should be fun..." Hachibi mocked Samehada before avoiding her razor teeth that aimed to the the Ox's neck.
"Don't you dare to mock me, Hachibi! I can't lose this fight, so I'll make sure that you suffer as much as I can dish it out! Grand Water Excavation" Samehada opened her mouth and blasted a powerful water stream.
"Lightning Hack" A lightning stream came from Hachibi's mouth and clashed with the shark's water stream, both nullifying eachother. Samehada rushed towards Hachibi but the bull picked her up with the help of his horns and threw her to the lake. Unfortunately, Samehada bite his shoulder and he was dragged to underwater as well, raising a massive wave.
"What a colossal battle!" Ao couldn't believe what he was seeing. Luckily, the wave advanced in the opposite direction to where they were. The power struggle was still continuing underwater with neither side gaining advantage. "It would be better if I took Chojuro out of here but I can't even breathe right..."
Hachibi threw Samehada out of the water and buried his horns into the shark's torso, causing her to screech in both pain and fury. The Eight Tailed Ox then compressed a huge amount of black chakra and lightning in his mouth and fired it in Samehada's direction. "Eight-Tailed Ox Menacing Ball"
"It's over!" Ao shouted but once again to his shock Samehada didn't even tried to dodge. The demon shark opened her mouth and swallowed the entire beam of black lightning.
"What did you do?" The shocked Hachibi asked. He was panting as he used about three quarters of his chakra to finish his opponent.
"My ability allows me to absorb chakra by swallowing it and then..." Samehada maniacly laughed, before firing the Menacing Ball back to the Eight Tails who took a direct hit.
"The Mist shinobi are...safe..." After taking the hit so the blast wouldn't reach Ao and Chojuro, Hachibi's thoughts were broken when he felt the bite of Samehada on his neck, before both of them crashed through the water, raising huge waves.
"Water Style: Water Tornado" The awakened Chojuro shouted and a spinning water vortex formed around him and Ao. The waves were deflected by the barrier and Chojuro fell to his knees as soon as the jutsu ended, panting heavily.
"Are you alright Chojuro?" Ao worriedly asked.
"Yeah...but I'm...almost out of chakra." Chojuro continued to pant.
"Oh no..." Ao whispered as he watched Kisame come in their direction with Killer Bee on his right shoulder.
"Chojuro got a lot stronger, good for him. They're exhausted but so am I..." Kisame thought as he tried to decide what to do with both Mist shinobi.
"Ki-Kisame..." Chojuro struggled to get to his feet. "I, I can't let you..."
"You fought well Chojuro, I'm proud of you." Chojuro and Ao stared at Kisame, confused by what he said. "I'm sorry but I have to deliver the Jinchuriki to Madara. It's the only way I can complete my mission."
"Mission? What mission?" Ao asked.
"I won't kill you but I can't let you follow me. Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave" The huge wave that came from Kisame's mouth washed Ao and Chojuro away, before he turned to leave with his prey captured.
"So you're still alive, huh? You're not the ones that I was looking for but you'll do fine. Let's comeback to our new hideout." Madara said to the two former members of the Akatsuki. Karin took two steps back as she saw the man with the orange mask in front of her.
"Tell us what happened to Sasuke!" Jugo demanded.
"Huh? You know what happened. He fought amazingly against the Kages but eventually lost so I had to take him out of there. I'm sorry that I couldn't take you as well but time was short."
"You were controlling him somehow weren't you?" Jugo continued. Madara thought for a moment.
"And if I did? What are you going to do about it?" Karin shivered and held Jugo's arm. She knew that they weren't a match to the immortal.
"You take us to Sasuke NOW!" Jugo shouted, his fury activating his kekkei genkai that instantly reached the second level.
"Calm down Jugo! We're no match for him." Karin tried to calm down her partner.
"I'LL KILL YOU!
"If you're not helping me then you won't see Sasuke and if you're smart enough you'll stay away from Akatsuki from now on." Madara threatned, while he stared into Jugo's eyes. The charging monster stopped and he turned back to normal as fast as he first transformed. The killing intent released by Madara didn't allow him to move a step. Without any other word, Madara used his space-time jutsu to go away, leaving the terrified Jugo and Karin behind.
"We're almost there guys." Nawirama told his team. "Do you see something, Hinata?"
"No, not yet." Hinata shook her head, but continued to search with her Byakugan. "Wait! Almost 12 miles to north. I'm seeing somebody's chakra...It's Sasuke's!"
"What?" Naruto stopped to look to his partner. "Are you sure Hinata?"
"Y-yes, it's him but there's no one nearby. He's all alone."
"That's in the Land of Bears." Sakura concluded.
"Pakkun, you know what to do." Nawirama told the ninken.
"I'm on my way Nawirama." Pakkun left to inform Team Asuma.
"Hm, it seems Kabuto's directions weren't that accurate. Lead us to Team Nawirama, Pakkun."
"Of course, Kakashi. This way!"
"Kakashi-sensei, it looks like they have a trap waiting for us." Shikamaru said to his team leader.
"You're right, Shikamaru. It's too suspicious that Madara would let Sasuke all alone."
"So what do we do?" Ino asked, eager to reach Sasuke's location.
"We'll keep with the original plan but be prepared for every scenario." Kakashi told his partners.
"Here they are!" Choji shouted, pointing in the direction where Team Nawirama was.
"Hey guys! Are you ready for this?" Naruto asked Team Asuma.
"Of course. It's troublesome but whatever." Shikamaru grinned. "We joined together so we could go through the plan again."
"We already know about it." Naruto remembered.
"It's never too much with you. So, listen..." Shikamaru didn't acknowledge Naruto's sulking mood after what he said and quickly repeated what everyone was supposed to do. "We'll keep a distance from you guys, so go always on the same pace. It will be troublesome if we can't reach you."
"Yeah, we know! C'mon guys, we'll get him this time!" Naruto shouted before him and his team followed Hinata's lead.
"What the hell happened here?" Shi mumbled as he watched the destruction in front of him. Sabu had his mouth wide open and Darui had a strange feeling in his gut.
"Can you find them?" Darui asked.
"I sense two chakras...one is almost gone. This way!" The Cloud shinobis swiftly ran towards the direction where most trees had been destroyed by some sort of Water Jutsu. There they found two shinobi that they recognized from the Kage Summmit. "The Mizukage's bodyguards! What the hell happened?"
"You're from the Cloud... Heal Chojuro first he's the one who fought the most." Shi changed his Healing Jutsu towards the Mist swordsman who was still unconscious. "It was Akatsuki."
"Those bastards!" Darui angrily said. "What happened?"
"We were sent to find the Hachibi's Jinchuriki." Darui and Shi looked at eachother with an apprehensive look. "When we found him he was already engaging Kisame Hoshigaki. We fought together and for a moment we thought we had won but Kisame merged with his sword and turned the tables. Not even the Eight Tailed Ox could beat him."
"They caught Bee..." Darui put a hand on his head, looking in desbelief to the Mist Shinobi while he gave some more details about the battle.
"The Raikage is going to be furious like never before." Sabu remembered, while Shi started to heal Ao. "We have to tell him."
"I'm sorry but we can't go with you. We still need to report this on Konoha." Ao slowly stood as Shi finished the treatment. "I know I'm asking too much but can one of you come with us? Chojuro is in no condition to travel and I don't know if I can take him by myself."
"You go with them, Darui, Sabu. I'll report this to the Raikage." Darui nodded and picked Chojuro over his left shoulder, while Sabu helped Ao to climb to the back of Ponta, the raccoon.
"Go Shi, be quick!" Darui shouted and Shi soon left. "Kirabi..."
"So we'll have new friends eh?" Kisame grinned after Zetsu's white half told him about their new partners.
"I'm not sure about them but oh well...Nonetheless, good job Kisame. Finally we caught him." Zetsu stopped to look to Kisame for a moment. "You're pretty banged up. Was he that strong?"
"It has been awhile since I had to fought in such a way. I had to merge with Samehada to beat him." Kisame sat down against a tree and Zetsu noticed his comrade's irregular breathing. "It's a shame that you can't take more than one person with your jutsu. I could use a ride."
"Take your time Kisame. We won't be able to extract the Bijuu until the kid is ready. Join us later when you feel better." Zetsu picked Killer Bee and a hole opened below him.
"Fine. See ya later Zetsu." Kisame said as Zetsu disappeared. The Mist renegade closed his eyes and sighed while he thought. "I need to join them quickly. I can't waste my time here or he will..." Kisame's thought was broken when he felt something going through his chest. His vision started to blur but he still recognized the young man with white hair and sharp teeth standing over him. "I failed...Itachi..."
Next Chapter: Naruto's Chance
-WIKIA (from Chapters 18 and 19)
1. Characters:
1.1 HÅmaru - Jugo's older brother, was imprisoned by Orochimaru so he could research on their clan's kekkei genkai. This resulted in his death, by the time Jugo was still a baby.
1.2 Killer Bee - Bee's real name is Kirabi Yotsuki. Killer Bee is the alias he adopted.
2. Jutsu:
2.1 Lightning Style: Lightning Swords - the jutsu responsible to add lightning chakra flow to a weapon, in the shape of a sword.
2.2 Water Style: Underwater Motion Jutsu - the user uses chakra to propel himself underwater. It's a sort of underwater Body Flicker Jutsu.
2.3 Menacing Ball - in this story, the Biju's ultimate jutsu won't be called Tailed Beast Ball, but Menacing Ball like it was previously done. That's because Tailed Beast Ball hints towards the same attack for all Tailed Beasts, while I want each one to have a unique attack. The Eight-Tailed Ox Menacing Ball is composed of the Hachibi's chakra combined with black lightning.
-Nawirama13