I DON'T OWN NARUTO
"So, he says their base is in Ame? Not easy to get into but I can manage. Guess I'll be leaving soon."
"Not alone you won't."
"Yes, alone. I work alone. Hell, I've never even ran a mission with Naruto, I just trained the brat."
"Jiraiya you are not going there alone, that is final."
"Why so insistent? You starting to fall for me?"
"If you didn't have a mission to go to I'd pound you into the floor." she said, shaking her fist.
"Fine, fine, "he said, submissively waving his hands, "I'll go with one other person but no masks."
"What's your problem with ANBU, they'd be ideal for this level of infiltration."
"Because they're weird and I always feel left out."
"I'm surrounded by idiots." responded Tsunade before face palming
"What about Anko?" Jiraiya asks, trying to get back on track.
"She's been going hard at our guest, needs a rest." then Tsunade has an idea, "how about an Anko trained former mask?"
Jiraiya takes a moment before who Tsunade is referring to.
"She's a clan head."
"Since when does being a clan head mean you aren't a ninja? Besides, she's one of my best infiltrators and can hold her own in a fight if need be."
"Fine, let her know we leave tomorrow.
"I'm never travelling by toad again."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It was entirely that bad." activating her byakugan, "and this isn't normal rain, likely some type of detection jutsu. Whoever created it knows we are here."
"Shit, then scan for the largest chakra reserves, that'll likely be where we need to head."
"If they've already been alerted, shouldn't we not press our luck? Element of surprise is gone."
"Normally, but two of the members Hidan described sounded familiar, I need to see if it's really them. I may be able to talk to them."
"Ok, I can see eight chakra signatures, in that northwest tower. Seven of them are… weird but I don't know how to explain it."
"Guess we'll just have to figure it out once we get there."
"Yay" she said not bothering to hide the sarcasm.
The battle was fierce, doing a significant amount of damage to the tower. Jiraiya had managed to subdue all of the false bodies, sealing them so they couldn't be reactivated and was standing in front of his former students, Nagato and Konan, who herself looked worse for wear while she was holding a, hopefully unconscious Hinata.
"Konan, did you really have to use that many explosive notes?"
Konan scratched the back of her head, "She was tougher than I was expecting, kept soaking me or shocking me. Kinda surprised I only knocked her out, honestly."
"Ah, understandable. Hey, sensei, you defeated my paths, you're still pretty strong for an old guy." Nagato said.
"I'm not that old, brat. But what is this, what happened to you and why are you doing this?"
"We were set up by Hanzo and one of your elders named Danzo. It is what killed Yahiko and my response caused me to require this setup. Not ideal but we moved one. As far as why I'm doing this, it's for peace. You can't have each major village contain a super weapon or two and think you're going to have peace. But if one nation had all the superweapons and had the potential to cause a great deal of pain, everyone else would share that pain. They couldn't bother fighting amongst themselves when a larger threat existed. They'd bond over that shared threat and learn to work together, learn to see the boundaries between villages as imaginary, and see the shared humanity within each other."
Jiraiya was struck by his student's words, understanding the merits of his goals and conceding the logic in the plan.
"Nagato, that isn't the worst plan for peace I've ever heard but I can't allow you to do this. I won't allow you to sacrifice my godson. There are other ways than threatening the elemental nations with the combined power of the nine biju."
"Like what? If you have the answer Sensei then tell me. With two of the biju needing to reform and three yet to be extracted a change in our plan may be necessary so tell me your plan."
"I don't have it but callously sacrificing those who are some of the greatest victims of the shinobi system is wrong, they deserve peace as much as anyone."
"I don't disagree but once again, you have no alternative. I don't enjoy hurting these poor souls, being sacrificed yet again but I see no other way. I've yet to see another way and I've wanted to, sensei. But it eludes me at every turn."
"Fine, Nagato, just give me some time. Put a pause on this plan and we can come up with something together."
"Sensei… Ok. Take the girl and go, we'll… Madara stop!" Nagato shouts but to no avail as the kunai had already entered Jiraiya's neck, the sannin quickly bleeding out.
"Why did you do that? That was senseless."
"Shut up, just shut up. There will be no change in plans, we will extract the biju. All of the biju and that's final. Konan, lock her up with the seven tails. ZETSU."
"Yes, Madara-sama?"
"Come, I have a message for you to deliver to Konoha. It's time for my favorite pet to be returned to me. Nagato, make sure your shinobi are ready for an assault, Uzumaki will be here in a few days time."
Outside of Ame stood five Konoha shinobi.
"They are clearly expecting us, given the amount of squads stationed there." said Neji
"Have you spotted Hinata yet?" asked Naruto
"Yes, she's in a tower but getting there won't be easy."
"I'll make sure you can get there, just get there. Also, be cautious of someone wearing an orange and black swirled mask. He likely will be coming for me but just in case don't try to fight him."
"Yosh, when do we begin our youthful assault?" asked Gai.
Naruto began performing a series of hand seals before stopping for a moment and performing some more,
"Sandaime style: Vacuum Bomb" Naruto said before unleashing his original jutsu upon Ame shinobi. But he wasn't done yet, "Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu" he said, creating 400 shadow clones. Team Gai didn't have time to gawk at the extensive damage done by that jutsu nor the amount of shadow clones created by Naruto before he started giving orders.
"I need six of you with me, the rest go with Team Gai. Get to that Tower, get Hinata back and retreat. Don't wait for me."
"We aren't leaving without you!"
"That's an order, Tenten. Now, you know what to do." Naruto said and then shunshin'd away. Gai quickly got command of his team and his clone arm and they marched on Ame, surprising all when each clone activated their own Raijin no ken.
He trusted that Team Gai would make it to the Tower while Naruto headed toward the center of the village, cutting down any Ame nin that crossed his path. Their formations were lackluster, they clearly had never planned for an attack on the village and that disorganization allowed Naruto to dispatch the squads with minimal effort. Once he made it to the center he was greeted by his target.
"Little fox, so nice of you to make it. Come to give me what's mine, I see. Come to die like a good boy."
"Your end will be ugly, your end will be undignified and you will die on your knees, Uchiha" Naruto warned before he and his clones covered the area with hiraishin kunai.
"Your father couldn't kill me with that what makes you think you can? I thought you'd have something different for me, Little fox."
As he was gloating, the Naruto clones flashed away, surrounding Madara and started performing a series of hand seals. Madara too amused by what he was seeing didn't attempt to phase away from the potential attack. "Oh, what is this, Little fox?" he said and soon found himself surrounded in a dome of fuinjutsu seals large enough to cover the roof they were occupying. He put his focus back on the original Naruto and saw the blonde dashing toward him, his kodachi drawn. Madara could only smirk at the foolishness of the boy and decided to wait to the last minute to demonstrate that head on physical attacks will not touch him, only to find himself stabbed on the right side of his body and receiving a spin kick to the head, hard enough to shatter his mask.
"You know, to manipulate time and or space one must do so from a stable point of time and space. But if you were to somehow make an area unstable, then you cannot say using the hiraishin nor that cheating ass bitch eye of yours to avoid punishment. I know where I stabbed you didn't do much damage, it was a warning. I could have ended this in one shot, curious why I didn't?"
"Because you're stupid." Madara said before removing the kodachi and throwing it away.
"No, Obito-nii, it isn't that at all. See, you will die screaming, that is assured but I need you to understand the depths of your failure. Ours is not a story of me facing and falling against insurmountable odds. Ours is not the dynamic of a scrappy underdog against an overwhelming force. Ours is the story of a sad, little bitch that allowed the single greatest threat to his existence to mature. To allow the kunai meant for his throat to become as sharp as it could for as long as it could. It's the story of a failure and a coward that will die how he lived. Rin isn't waiting for you, Obito. She won't be there, failures don't get to be comforted by their dreamgirls in the Pure World. There is nothing but unrelenting darkness. You will not even be a footnote to history. So, come, little Uchiha. Come and embrace your end."
"How?" the now identified Obito asked shocked that Naruto had figured out his heavily guarded secret.
"Kakashi used to talk about you and how much he regretted concerning you. Figured since I killed a teammate I could relate, for one. I've seen your ability. I've seen Kakashi demonstrate a similar one, for two. You both have one sharingan eye, opposite sides of your face, for three. But no more talk, niichan, death awaits you."
Hearing this, Obito performs the hand seals for the Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu to only have it met with Naruto's Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu. Obito attempts another jutsu, only to be interrupted by Naruto's charge, his single remaining kodachi looking to gravely wound the former Konoha nin. Obito matches Naruto's strikes with aid of his sharingan but a wind chakra extended blade on his blindside leads to a gash on his left shoulder, which Obito responds to with a kick to Naruto's abdomen.
The two renew their exchange, Naruto managing to cut but not critically wound Obito with Obito landing counters but not really hurting Naruto. Obito does manage to disarm Naruto of his last kodachi but takes a right high kick to his neck for the effort and rolls away from Naruto, trying to understand how he could be losing to this kid.
"Is this it? No wonder you need the bijuu, you can't accomplish anything on your own, Obito-nii. Is this why Rin-chan preferred Kakashi-nii. Did you know those two got close before Rin died? You know, closer than she would have ever been with you. Her best friend. She problem didn't even see you as a male, just some genderless clown that amused her."
Feeling a new level of rage, Obito launches another katon jutsu, Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation Jutsu. Seeing the massive flame headed for him, Naruto unrolls a scroll and activates the fire suppression seal. Taking advantage of the momentary distract, Obito stabs at Naruto, managing to plunge a kunai in his left shoulder.
"I should have put a kunai in your head instead of placing that explosive note on you." he said as he takes a series of follow up swipes at Naruto, each failed attempt making him more and more unhinged. Obito tries for an overhand stab with his left hand but it is blocked.
Thinking quickly, Obito drops, the kunai, and catches it with his right hand but before he can continue his assault, Naruto rotates to his right, stabbing Obito in the back of his left leg. Not easing up for a second, he quickly forms a rasengan and hits Obito in the back, tearing through the man's artificial body and launching him near the barrier surrounding them. Focusing Kurama's chakra, Naruto manages to heal the stab wound before he readies for another exchange, deciding to taunt the missing Uchiha.
"Just as I thought. That eye allowed you to avoid responsibility. No attack could touch you, no defense could stop you so you let everything else slide, didn't you? 60 clones, ten hours a day for two and a half years. That's how long it took me to come up with this barrier, with the ability to take away your greatest advantage. But that wasn't nearly enough. No, not at all." As soon as Naruto said this, the symbols started to change and then began to flow toward Obito, condensing as it did. Moments later Obito starts clutching his shoulder in pain. His sole onyx eye looks up to a pair of blues.
"What did you do to me?"
"I sealed your chakra. Seriously, had my dad just put a chakra suppression seal on you he could have saved us some trouble but it is what it is. So, any last words?"
"We could have had true peace, you selfish little shit."
"Well, I never intended to remember them anyway but your last words suck. Now, to make good on my threat. You know, I was able to view my parents' memories along with Kurama's on that night. When you ripped Kurama from her, something that would have been incredibly painful I noticed she didn't scream. She knew it would kill her but her only concern was for me." Naruto said with a single unshed tear. "So, how best to dispatch her killer? To show him he wasn't half the ninja she was, to give away that final lie." Naruto starts to walk behind Obito a kneeling Obito, "Your life is defined by your failures, as an Uchiha, as a shinobi, as a friend and now as a man. You were never going to succeed, you were always going to fail."
"So, you believe in fate now?" the neutralized Uchiha asks.
"Ha, no, asshole. A failure can be more if they have the guts to face themselves and never give up. You turned away from the world, ran from your pain instead of living through it. However, I do have to take something back, you'll actually succeed at something the Uchiha did best."
"What's that?"
"Being killed by a Senju" Naruto replied before activating the Raijin no Ken and beheading the traitorous nin in a single motion. Releasing the barrier, Naruto sees dozens of fallen Ame nin around his shadow clones. Seeing the massacre surrounding them he can only quirk an eyebrow as if to ask, "are you for real?"
Seeing the unasked question one clone respondes, "They just kept coming, boss. We didn't have much choice."
"Granted but three of you did all that?"
"We're you, how are you surprised?" another clone shot back.
"Fair enough." he said as they continued toward the tower faintly hearing the screams of a broken, dying man.
Team Gai plus the clone army pushed their way to the tower. Once there the team cleared a path for Tenten to get to the holding cells in case they were guarded by any defensive seals. Once there, and noticing a lack of guards, Tenten managed to free Hinata, who was relieved to see her friend and the jinchuuriki Fuu, who had been captured by Itachi and Kisame but had yet to have her biju extracted. Hinata made her way to the armory while Tenten directed a half starved Fuu toward her team. Hinata returned to Tenten, having retrieved her ninjato and start back toward the team before Hinata interjects,
"Tenten, we can't leave yet. I saw it, the statue they've sealed the biju in and we need to do something to it before we go."
"Our mission is to get you out of here, that'll have to wait."
"But Jiraiya died for this information, we may never get another chance and Akatsuki is weak."
Weighing following orders vs preempting future issues, Tenten reluctantly agrees and follows Hinata to the statue. As the two are running toward the statue both get a sense that they are being followed, seeing an empty room up ahead, Hinata directs Tenten there in hopes of bringing the threat out into the open. Tenten unseals the kiba blades and Hinata unsheathes her ninjato as they prepare for their tail. It is Hinata's activated byakugan that allows her to narrowly dodge the strike from behind and see the assailant merge with the ground.
"He can merge with the ground and once he does I can't see him anymore." Hearing this Tenten drops her blades and retrieves six kunai throwing them so each lands on a wall, the ceiling or the floor. Uzumaki Style: Six point Lighting Barrier Tenten activates while Zetsu was being attacked by Hinata.
Seeing his ability to merge with services inhibited, Zetsu starts forming wood vines and spears attempting to impale the Konoha kunoichi but is foiled as each manages to avoid a fatal strike but have received superficial damage.
Realizing an extended battle will not favor them, Tenten forms a plan. "Hinata, throw your ninjato at him" Tenten says. Not quite understanding her plan but trusting her nonetheless, Hinata sends raiton chakra through her blade and immediately throws it toward Zetsu, only for him to tilt his head to the side, easily avoiding the blade. He was not, however, prepared for the substitution Tenten made with her blade, nor was he fast enough to prevent her from beheading him with her kiba blades.. Running through a series of hand signs, Tenten drops the lightning barrier just in time to be forced into a bear hug, one she had to share with Hinata.
"Tenny, you did it!"
"You know I hate when you call me that, right?"
"Pfft, our love is too strong for you to hate anything about me, Tenny."
"If my arms were free I'd stab you."
"So hurtful" he replies relinquishing the hug. Turning to check over Hinata he can't mask the relief he feels that she appears to be ok.
"You had me a little worried there, hime." Naruto said cupping her cheek.
"I had things handled, I was just about to make my move." she replied.
"I told Tenten as much, she just looks for reasons to use those damn swords."
"Swords you got me!" Tenten said.
"I really am fine but we need to end this."
"Agreed. But you two need to get back to the team so I can finish this."
"No, Naruto, you don't have to face this alone."
"I know I don't have to but if I have to go all out then being around me won't be safe." Both kunoichi wanted to fight him on this but ultimately decided to head back to the other Leaf Nin as Naruto ran toward the final members of the Akatsuki knowing this could be the end of the organization. Reaching the chamber the two were stationed, Naruto blasted the doors down with a rasengan while having another formed and ready in his other hand.
"Naruto Uzumaki," the pale and sickly looking man started, "I believe we need to talk."