I don't own Naruto, now enjoy.

Chapter 13: Darkness Rising!

The next morning, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Bee ran across the battlefield, fast approaching the darkness Naruto had felt. They had brought a small team of ANBU to handle minor threats along the way. After they had been running for a mile, Naruto told them to stop, saying that he felt the darkness nearby.

Seconds later, a giant emerged from the trees. He must have been seven-and-a-half feet tall. He had black hair which reached down into his short, thick beard. He had brown eyes, and wore only a pair of worn pants. He was heavily muscled. Naruto had never seen someone so large. His size made Bee look like a child before him.

He turned toward them and laughed. "So this is all they send to fight me? Pathetic!" His voice was deep and rugged. Naruto looked at Bee, who appeared to be too stunned for words.

"I am the Seventh Hokage! You will surrender!"

The man laughed some more. "Right! And I'm the Queen of the Western Continent! You're just a boy! You can't be the Hokage!"

"What was that!" Naruto screamed.

"You heard me runt! Now go get the real Seventh Hokage! He is the only one who will be a match for me, Mammoth, master of the Ancient Taijutsu!"

At this, Shikamaru froze. "Naruto," he said, turning pale, "this guy can't be serious. The real Mammoth died hundreds of years ago. It's said that he was unstoppable. Imagine Lee with superpowers, and here you go. If he's serious, we're in trouble!"

Naruto glared at Mammoth, ready for a fight.

"Come, brat. Let us do battle! I can feel your energy rising. This will truly be a glorious display of my massive strength!"

Naruto looked bewildered at the statement, but it didn't last long as Bee pulled him away from Mammoth's attack. Naruto turned back to see the ground beneath Mammoth's fist shatter.

Mammoth rose and ran toward Naruto, his fist ready. Naruto jumped over the brute, creating a Shadow Clone in the process. The Shadow Clone appeared behind Mammoth, a Rasengan already forming. He slammed the attack into Mammoth's back, but Mammoth didn't even flinch. He spun and backhanded the clone into a tree. The clone disappeared, and Mammoth began to search for the now-missing Naruto. Naruto appeared from the side and rammed his fist into Mammoth's jaw. Mammoth's head didn't move. Instead, his hand latched onto Naruto's arm and he threw Naruto into the same tree his clone had hit. This time, the tree broke. Naruto got to his feet, but he was too slow, as Mammoth smashed his fist into Naruto's gut, breaking his ribs. Naruto fell to the ground, moaning in pain.

At this point, Shikamaru got involved. He reached his shadow under Mammoth, paralyzing him, but much to Shikamaru's surprise, Mammoth jerked his head to the side, and the jutsu was broken. He sprinted toward Shikamaru, but was blasted away by a lightning bolt from Bee. He crashed into a rock, and dust rose to cover the scene. When the dust cleared, Bee and Shikamaru were surprised to see that Mammoth was already gone. He suddenly appeared behind Bee, slamming his fists into the sides of Bee's head. Bee fell to the ground, unconscious. Now Mammoth set his sights on Shikamaru again. Shikamaru knew he didn't have time to play around. He formed a rapid succession of hand signs, and his shadow expanded to a three foot diameter.

"I summon you: Skrag of the Seven Shadow Beasts!" A dark, bird-like figure rose from the shadow. It rose into the sky, a thin tail of Shikamaru's shadow keeping it tethered. It lunged toward Mammoth, its intended prey.

Mammoth's eyes went wide. "You're one of those!" he said in astonishment as the bird-like shadow met him midway. He grunted as the impact took the air from his lungs. The bird retreated, landing inside Shikamaru's extended shadow. Mammoth rose, muttered something in a language Shikamaru didn't understand, and disappeared.

'Weird,' thought Shikamaru. "Skrag, return to your prison!" The shadow began to shrink as the bird fell down into its depths. Shikamaru collapsed to his knees as the jutsu was released. The jutsu had a terrible cost for him. He was now totally exhausted, on the verge of unconsciousness, and both of his friends were already there.

/

Shikamaru awoke to find Lady Tsunade looking him over. He looked to the side and noticed that he had apparently been brought back to the summit building. He looked to the window and saw that sunlight was now pouring in. At least he hadn't been out too long. When he voiced his observation to Tsunade, however, he learned that he had been out for about three days. The samurai had found Shikamaru and the others on the battlefield and brought them back to be healed. Naruto and Bee had woken up the same day. They had held off the enemy who finally left yesterday. Shikamaru was surprised to hear that they had managed to successfully defend themselves from Mammoth. Tsunade, however, informed him that no one had seen or heard from Mammoth since the fight. Even Naruto had been unable to detect him.

Shikamaru yawned and got out of bed. He rose to his feet unsteadily, but became sure of himself after his first step. He left the room and went to find Naruto, who was currently in a meeting with the other kages. When Shikamaru entered, everyone clapped for him, even the Raikage. Shikamaru acknowledged them with a nod and took his seat next to Naruto. They all began asking Shikamaru how he had defeated the terrible brute, but Shikamaru just shrugged.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," he told them after a few moments. They all smiled and continued the conversation. They were discussing the topic of what to do about the attack. The Raikage and Tsuchikage were adamant about a counterattack, but the Kazekage and Mizukage were not so enthused. Naruto seemed to be caught in the middle. He didn't really want to fight, but he saw no other option. Shikamaru told him that some kind of punishment was necessary. They could not let the deeds of the Rain and Weed go unpunished. The Alliance could not show weakness, and the Rain and Weed Villages were much smaller than the Leaf. Naruto finally agreed with the sentiments.

The Raikage would be in charge of the counterattack. He could lead a force against the two villages. He grinned when told to "teach them a lesson." He immediately left to meet with other villages in the Leaf Alliance to build an attack force. The Leaf Village and Sand Village both promised a hundred men each. The Raikage himself would give two hundred. Because of the Metal Villages, the Stone Village would not give any. The same would go for the Mist and Lake Villages. The Wave Village, a village in the Land of Waves agreed to send a hundred of their own ninja as well. Another fifty from the Village Hidden in the Dark, a village north of the Land of Waves cemented the force. The Raikage would then circle around to attack the Rain and Weed Villages.

In the meantime, the Leaf Village would put together a plan to attack the Sound Village. The Stone and Mist Villages would also plan to attack the Metal Villages. The remaining villages would prepare to meet with the counter-offensive.

Shikamaru was to be a key part in the tactics. He was to meet not only with the leaders of the Leaf to plan the attack on the Sound, but he also had to discuss preparations for the attack on the Weed and Rain Villages with the Raikage. He would even have to accompany the force to the attacks. After his campaign, he would return, and after the Leaf Village was prepared, he would go to the Stone Village and help with their plans. He was surprised to learn that he would not actually oversee the Leaf Village's attack.

The next day, the Raikage left, and the remaining kages met in the conference room one last time. They were discussing their future endeavors, when the doors slammed open. A man stepped into the room. He was a man of average height, and he was pretty slim. He had spiky black hair that reached to his shoulders. His eyes were green, and they had an aged look about them. Naruto knew that even though the man was young, maybe just a little older than himself, he had definitely seen his share of hardships. Naruto didn't think that the man appeared to be much, but he noticed that the other kages, besides Kari, had all calmed down since he entered.

The man moved to the end of the table and spoke with a calm voice. "Kages of the Leaf Alliance, as you probably already know, I am Zane, Grandmaster of the Eight Dragons. I am here to discuss with you a coming danger. The Darkness that the Dragon Monks fought so hard to keep imprisoned has escaped."

Tsunade gasped. "What? How did it escape?"

"I do not know, Tsunade, but it has. The monks have sent me to discuss the coming battle."

"How many?"

"All four. They are all loose. I heard that you've already met Mammoth."

"Even him?" asked Tsunade, who appeared to be turning pale.

"Yes."

"No. He was gone for good. Jiraiya made sure of that!"

"He did everything he could."

"What do we do?"

"Prepare yourselves. The end is coming. He will want to take his power back from those that ended his reign."

"Those items are too well-protected. Even with his power, there is no way he will manage to break through," said the Mizukage.

"It does not matter. He will go to any length to get what he wants. Much like Sasuke Uchiha."

"Master Zane, may I remind you that Uchiha's friend is here," said Onoki.

Zane turned to regard Onoki. "Where is he?"

Onoki and the others pointed to Naruto, who was still very confused, and he appeared to be slightly pained at the mention of Sasuke.

"Huh?"

"Forgive me, Naruto Namikaze. I spoke before I realized you were here."

"Who are you?" asked Naruto.

"As I said, I am Zane, Grandmaster of the Eight Dragons."

"Cool! What's that mean?"

"It means I am the Grandmaster of a temple that is only a three day journey east of here."

"You see, Naruto, Zane is the only one who mastered all jutsu based on the eight dragons, like the Water Dragon, Fire Dragon, and Mud Dragon. He mastered them all, and their derived jutsu."

"Wow! That's awesome! So who escaped?"

"A very evil man named Vallen. He is said to be unstoppable when he possesses all of his power."

"How do we stop him?"

"We must defeat him before he finds his five scrolls that are hidden in each of the five major villages."

"You really need to explain more."

"Very well. I will tell you the story, but I warn you, it will take a while."

"That's fine. Just hurry up. I'm anxious."

"It all started over two hundred years ago…"