I dont own Naruto. I own several games, a PSP, a DS, a Itouch, a PC, two External HDDs, a PS2, a Gamecube, and a boombox.

Chapter XVIII: Fallen Power

Naruto grimaced as his fist collided with Josh's gauntlet of unyielding metal. "Just as hard as ever. I need to start wearing gloves."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you started fighting. You know I don't pull my punches in spars."

"Then I should stop pulling mine. Katon: Phoenix Flame!"

Josh didn't even blink as he parried the powerful fire attack with one hand. "Phoenix Flame? You know full well that a technique of that caliber can't touch me. You can barely put a dent in my shield with an enhanced Phoenix Inferno."

"Yeah, well. Try the fact that I'm sealed and can't quite remember how to use the firestorm without blasting my soul to bits. Also think that I've never even been close to you with a sword."

"Speaking of swords…"

"Sonofa-"

Before Naruto could even react, his old friend had drawn his blade and used the hilt of it to knock him clean through the side of the dojo, through the ground, and through the external seal. Twisting in midair, he managed to expel enough chakra to control his flight, only to see Josh right behind him, sword in mid-swing. This time, he had enough time to react.

The clash of metal on metal could be heard clearly throughout the village. Anyone who bothered to look up would have seen two blurred figures clashing repeatedly with large pieces of sharpened metal. They would also have heard the green one shouting faintly, "Goddamnit, Josh! I'm no swordsman, and you know that!"

Then they would also hear, "It's not my fault. You've had seven years to do nothing but sit around. Should have worked on your swordplay!"

Or some variant thereof.

For six hours, the clang of metal, fireballs, lightning strikes, gusts of wind, and small explosions could be heard for miles around. By the fourth hour, the entire village was paying attention to the skies, hoping for another spectacular clash.

Finally, just as everyone was wondering how they could stay airborne so long, they phased back into view above the Hokage's tower.

Josh had, and Naruto had no idea for the life of him why, turned on the megaphones so that their voices could be heard all throughout the village. "Not bad, Blondie. I take back what I said. You have gotten a little better. I'd say High Class B, maybe a Low Class A if I stretch it a bit."

Naruto wiped some blood off his cheek, the result of him blocking a slash way to close to his face. "You're unstoppable as always. Have you been promoted yet?"

The armored guardian slipped off his helmet and shook out his hair. "You bet your ass. I'm a Mid Class S now." And at this, the biggest grin anyone had seen for the last ten years split his face. "And I'm Four."

"Are you… you're joking me, aren't you?"

"I shit you not. Though I may shit on you later…"

"Well, speaking of shit, let's end this. I don't know about you, but I can't keep this up much longer. I've almost drained my stash."

"Already?"

Naruto snorted. "I'm sealed. There's no way for me to replenish it. That's why I couldn't use it unless I had to. I have just enough left for one final technique."

"I'm guessing it's not Orange Lightning?"

The blond shook out the kinks in his hands and put his sword away. "I wish. But I've also got a theory, but that can wait for another day." He formed a Rasenshuriken. "Last attack settles all?"

Josh grinned, slipped his helmet back on, stuck his left arm out, and formed his own ball of energy. "I'm in. On the count of three?"

They both nodded.

"THREE!"

Naruto threw the Rasenshuriken straight up, quickly sealed, caught the ball of energy, threw the vortex, and spat a fireball right after it. "Katon: Fiery Rasenshuriken!"

The armored guardian, on the other hand, had clasped both hands on his sword and was now chanting rapidly under his breath. Nobody could hear what he was saying until he raised his blade, shouting, "Initial Guardian Art: Blazing Ice Blade!"

For Hinata, Lee, and Gai, the amount of energy expelled in that one attack was breathtaking. With the elegance of a fencer, but the energy of several dozen angry samurai, Josh charged the flaming projectile and slashed at it.

For the briefest of seconds, it looked like a draw. Then, as the external rotation slowed, the blade cut through it like a hot sword through a very big chunk of butter.

Josh was moving so fast that even Kakashi couldn't keep up with his Sharingan. The only thing that he could see was the moment when sword and energy shuriken collided, then nothing but a blur.

Naruto, however, after regaining a small portion of his memory, which included spars with his partner, knew enough to raise his sword to block the slash.

The armored guardian collided with the blond, sending him careening through the air halfway across the village. Before Naruto could do anything else, Josh had his sword at his neck. "And that's game."

Naruto sat back with another bowl of ramen, slurping away. "You know," he muttered into the broth, "You didn't have to go all-out with the swords. I was saving that for a rainy day."

Josh glanced up from his beer and holopanel. "Do you want me to make it rain? Because I can do that now."

The blond shifted to the next bowl. "Let me guess. Does this involve dropping a nuke in the atmosphere?"

"Why yes, it does."

He shook his head and continued eating. "I'll pass. If you want to go clean up the radiation, then go right ahead."

"Your loss. I was going to make it snow."

Naruto shook his head. "I've spent enough time around ice to last a lifetime. Hang on… how would you get it high enough? You told me you couldn't fly in this dimension."

Josh rolled his eyes. "There's a major difference between not wanting to fly and not being able to, idiot. Besides, for something that low, I don't need to use the jet or even the launcher now."

"Can you throw it that high, then?"

"Next time you throw a five-hundred pound nuclear warhead fifteen miles straight up in a standard G, tell me, would you? I've been getting new enhancements, dumbass."

"What did you get? A methane collector? Or maybe a muzzle for that mouth of yours?"

"Shut the fuck up. No, I got a handful of new neural implants, some more bio-enhancements, and a little trick I'm going to save for later."

"Seems like I'm not the only one hiding something."

"I'm a ninja. We hide things."

"And I'm a sworn member of the ten. Plus a whole bunch of other things. Did you finally get the promotion?"

He poked himself in the chest. "What do you think? That I was going to remain a genin forever?"

"You're too stupid for a promotion. In fact, if it wasn't for-"

"N-Naruto-kun? Josh-san?"

Josh clenched his fist around the butt of his rifle and had it pointed between Hinata's eyes before the blond could even react.

"HEY! Watch where you're pointing that thing, will ya? These walls are too expensive to put random holes in! That's why there's the dojo underground!"

The brunette ignored the outburst. "How the hell did she get in? Even I can't do that without a sample of your blood."

Naruto shrugged. "No clue. She's been able to get in no matter what I've done to the front gate and door. I've changed the seals. I've strengthened the seals. Hell, I've even applied new ones so that even my dad couldn't get in. She still gets in somehow."

The armored guardian slowly lowered his rifle, clicked on the safety, slung the said weapon, and turned back to his documents. "I know how she's getting in."

"How?"

"Figure that one out for yourself. It's your house, after all."

"Tell me."

"Nope." He said easily. "Figure out all your stuff. I'm trying to figure out a way to protect you from the RGs so that you won't get gutted like a fish when they come calling."

"Josh-san-"

Josh growled. "How many time do I have to tell you! I HATE HONORIFICS! It's always San this and Kun that and Chan this. Goddamn it!"

Naruto threw a plastic fork at his guest, who blocked it with a gauntlet without a second glance. "Do you want me to kill you? Because I've got your specs right here, and they're not looking too good."

"Nah. Just want a quiet meal is all. After a sparring session with you, a guy's gotta eat."

Josh sighed, and leaned back in his chair, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that. It's just that after a mission I went on with Naruto, what, sixteen hundred years ago now?"

"I have no idea. I have no idea how long I've been gone."

"About twelve hundred years. Running solo missions aren't nearly as fun as they were with you. You could always get into a fight with someone. Anyway, on this mission, we were sent to a world not too different from this one. Thanks to the idiot owner of this house, we forget to pack accordingly and wound up eating nothing but ramen for eight years. I already didn't like ramen much, throw in the fact that we were called san and kun wherever we went… let's just say I don't want to think about it."

"Just don't yell at her or yell indoors. I like a relaxing afternoon with my ramen."

With two finger gestures and as upwards jerking his right hand, Josh had a medical chart of Naruto floating in midair. Alongside this were a series of graphs, pie charts, and the big letter F floating at the top next to his name.

"Alright. Here's what I've got from our sparring session." He gestured to the medical charts. "You're in pristine health, with the exception of that seal. Kyuubi's also doing fine."

"Good. Good. I knew the fox was good for something."

"Yeah, well. Don't get too comfortable just yet. Here comes the bad news."

"B-bad news?"

"She's got a Double SSS?"

"D-Double SSS?"

"Super-Stuttering Syndrome and Single-Syllable Syndrome. Single-Syllable is standard wherever we go. No matter how well we control it, without something like Shadow Suppression, we're going to be leaking energy. Throw in a spar or two, and you've got a potent combination."

"Just give me the bad news."

"The bad news? You're about as useful as a plank of wood right now in a combat situation. Your energy-" he pointed to a graph that seemed to ebb and flow with every passing second. "is below trainee status. Considering the fact that you once ranked third in terms of energy capacity without taking into consideration of the ERGs, that's quite a fall. As a matter of fact, if I didn't know you better, I could technically classify you as a swordsman right now."

"I'm not one of your metal-toting, steroid-munching, egocentric toadies."

"I know you're not." Josh said mildly. "You look nothing like my fellow swordsmen. Come to think of it, neither do I. I'm the only one of us under three hundred pounds unarmored. But that's not the point. What I'm saying is that once you read all this data, you get the rank of Class F Guardian."

Naruto was confused. "But there is no Class F…"

"Precisely. Congratulations, you're the only one of us in the Class Fucked. I had to drop to a new low for you."

"Well fuck you too."

The armored guardian grinned. "Oh, the irony. I think I'll quote you this time. 'I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way. Try next door.' Is that about right?"

The blond threw the bowl at his friend, made a shadow clone to prepare a firing range for Josh, and then turned to Hinata. "So, what can I do for you, Hinata?"

She poked her fingers together. No matter how strong she got, the ex-heiress could never get over this without her inner self. "Ano… My father wants to know where Hanabi went. She still hasn't come back yet."

Naruto leaned back and scratched the back of his head, thinking. "Hanabi… Hanabi… Ah. Yes. Well, um… ah… she's still in Suna, see."

"How the fuck could you leave someone behind?"

The blond turned to look at Josh. "Since when have I cared about my fangirls? Well, other then running away from them, that is."

"Never. In that respect, all your personalities are like that. Even him."

The jonin snorted. "In his respect, he'd blow up the whole planet if someone was pissing him off."

"Fair point."

"So, anything?"

Josh looked back at his documents. "I don't know what to tell you. My energy levels have never been above Class B. If that wasn't the case, I could try to break the seal, but if I don't apply enough energy, all it's going to do is tighten even faster. I don't have any spare sets of armor with me, and even if I did, your Neural Implant is horribly out of date. There's no guarantee that it's even going to interface properly. I could build you some new bio-enhancements, but you don't have the technology to implant them here, and I don't think my portable machine shop is a good sterile surgery. Your current bio-enhancements are way overdue for an inspection, but I can do that easily. In truth, if we don't break that seal and get your memory back, you're gonna be dead in eighteen months; twenty if we take drastic measures. So, any suggestions?"

Naruto stood up and formed two shadow clones, instructed them with some rapid finger signals, put on his sunglasses, and sat down next to his old friend, looking, not at his medical chart, but at some of the other documents. "What's this?" he said, pointing at a space in midair.

The armored guardian flicked the questioned document down, causing the medical charts to disappear. It looked like the plans for some sort of weird square monocle. "This? Nothing much. Just a concept that I worked on for a few decades. After you told me about the Sharingan and after seeing what they can do through your memories, I tried to build a mechanical variant. No luck so far. Some guardians move fast enough that they develop superior eyes then these. Others don't need them, seeing as they're support types that don't need any real speed. These sync wirelessly with your neural implant and give your brain a slowed down picture of the situation and choices for analysis. It's better then natural eyesight in the respect that it bypasses the optical nerve in favor of a direct link into the vision part of your brain. That helps to boost its speed and your reaction time. Unfortunately, I've had problems getting a quality lens in any significant amount, there's little demand, and the few prototypes I've managed to build are little more then scrap metal. I'm considering abandoning the project."

"Well, don't. Could you build me a pair?"

"I suppose. Wait, why a pair?"

"One for me. One for the pretty girl standing next to me."

Josh shrugged. "I could build them, but I've got two problems with your plan."

"Shoot."

"Well, first of all, I don't have any lens…"

"Done." He handed over his sunglasses. "These ought to do. The old man gave them to me a while back."

"What the hell?" the swordsman wiped a thumb against the edge of the lens. "What is this?"

"Transparent metal. It's quite rare, so don't fuck this one up."

"Ok. Now my second problem."

"Go."

Josh pointed at Hinata. "Even though yours are horribly out of date, the 'pretty girl standing next to you' doesn't have a Neural Implant. I can boot in some new firmware, but I don't have any chips with me, and I'm no field medic even if I did."

"Hinata, do you trust me?"

Oh yes! Quick, Hinata! Answer his question! Tell him that you trust him with your life! Instead of doing all that and quite possibly scaring the blond off, she settled for a shy nod and a blush.

"Then I've got a plan."

"Then I've got another question."

"Yeah?"

"Why does she need one?"

Naruto stared at his friend and solemnly replied with one word. "Fangirls."

Josh stood two hundred feet away from a target, rifle up to his shoulder, snapping off bursts into a concrete target.

To the average bystander, had there been any in the underground dojo, it would have seemed like the guardian was focusing on shooting. Anyone who knew him well would tell you a completely different story. Two hundred feet was nothing. The average distance for him to actually focus with a rifle was about half a mile while snapping off bursts. And for distances like that, he generally swapped out barrels for the sniper variant.

He was actually thinking about a whole host of things. Experimental designs, beer, his next meal, and how to deal with high-powered seals.

"How's the range?"

Naruto landed right next to Josh, tapping his helmet with a can. "It's fine. Thanks for the beer, but I'm kinda concerned about you right now."

The blond shrugged and threw two shuriken, nailing the targets. "Don't get your hair in a knot. I'll be fine."

"No, you won't. It's not just for me. You heard that oracle-"

"Yeah, yeah. Silver, Yellow, Blue, Black. Thou four shall seal thy power of devils with thou light and shadow. Yeah, I know. I'm yellow, you're silver, but we never found blue or black. How many years were we searching? How many times did we go through the guardian rosters?"

Josh shrugged. "Your memory is surprisingly accurate for someone who lost all of it supposedly. But I think I may have a way to break the seal. It won't be pretty."

"If you're talking about letting it out, you're crazier than those fangirls outside. You know very well that it can't be controlled. Or did you forget the memory that you showed us?"

"I know that. But timing is of the essence here. If I can get it back under control before it rips off your PI…"

"You would have about fifteen milliseconds."

"Yeah… maybe not so smart in hindsight."

Before they could get any further, a huge explosion rocked the house. "What the hell was that?"

As they rushed upstairs, Josh slotted on his helmet, drew his rifle, clicked off the safety, and loaded a round into the chamber. Naruto slotted out a double handful of kunai, ready to throw at a moment's notice.

They exchanged a quick look and both nodded. At a silent signal, Josh jumped, tucked, rolled, and assumed a firing position next to the door. Naruto leapt to the side as he threw off his load of kunai, pinning whoever it was to the Hyuga Estate wall.

Just as Josh's hand tightened on the trigger, Naruto waved him off. "It's just a Chunin. Not a threat. I'll handle this."

The blond drew his sword and cautiously approached the front gates. He knew that nobody from Konoha could forcibly open those gates, but transforming into a nondescript chunin would be no problem for a Bounty Hunter. "Yes?"

"Umm… Uzumaki-san, I have been ordered by the council to give you a summons."

Naruto eased open the gates, poked his head out, and after making sure the coast was clear of fangirls, unpinned the poor man's arm so that he could hand the blond a scroll. After scanning the scroll, he raised an eyebrow and lit the paper on fire. "Tell the council that I'm not interested."

"But… but… the council was adamant. They insisted that you come immediately to-"

"And I'm insistent that I'm not interested in whatever they have to say. If they want me to see them, they'll have to make an order from baa-chan."

"Ah. I have that as well."

"What? Give me that!"

The jonin rapidly scanned the second scroll, sighed, and put it into his kunai pouch. "My orders only instruct me to report to the council when ready. It doesn't say when or how I should do so."

"The council won't be happy."

"The council also doesn't have a secret worth dying for. I might have some obligation to follow their orders, but my guest sure as hell doesn't. I'm guessing that he's the one they want to see?"

Before the chunin could respond, Naruto snatched up his kunai, gave a terse nod, slipped back inside the gates, sealed them, and then went back inside.

"Problem?"

"Just a messenger from the council. Apparently, you're enough of a threat to warrant their attention."

Josh grimaced, ejected the round, pulled the chamber open, and clicked on the safety. "I'm ready whenever you are. So… don't kill them?"

Naruto pondered it for a few seconds before replying. "As much as I would like to get rid of the windbags, killing them won't do anything for my image in the village. If they're a threat, eliminate them."

"And if not, can I still scare the shit out of them?"

The blond pulled out a handful of Hiraishin Kunai, threw them toward the Hokage's Tower, then phased out of existence, Josh quickly following. "Of course. This would be too boring otherwise."

Naruto cautiously approached the front entrance, escape kunai at the ready. "Coast's clear. Let's get going… What?"

Josh wordlessly pointed behind them to a rapidly approaching dust cloud.

"Well, shit."

Before the horde could get any closer, the jonin slipped inside and sealed the door behind him. "Too close."

Josh didn't say anything, merely sliding another rod into place. "Could have been worse."

"Damn. Forgot you really hate formal meetings. This won't take long."

"For their sake, it had better not." The brunette's fingers drummed a tattoo into the hilt of his combat knife. Despite the fact that Naruto didn't have his entire memory back, anyone with half a brain knew that this was a bad sign.

"Umm… are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Josh snorted. "Of course not. But, being an unregistered visitor already, I might as well comply with the local authorities. I just hope this place has a high ceiling so that the shit doesn't hit the fan too soon."

"Are you sure you won't kill them?"

"No guarantees, but I'll do what I can."

"That's really reassuring…"

"Naruto Nami-"

"For the last goddamned time, Jiji, the name is Naruto Uzumaki. If you call me that one more time, I'm gonna walk out of here."

"But the Namikaze blood flows in your veins-"

"The same goes for Uzumaki. I was named Uzumaki to protect me, and I don't want to go worrying my parents, now do I?"

Shukaku waved him off. "Naruto, if there's anyone in this village that needs less worrying about then you do, I have to meet him."

The said blond jerked a thumb at the silver-clad man sitting in a bench on the side of the room. "You've just met one."

"Could we please get back to the matter at hand?"

"Sure. As soon as you start calling me by my given name."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"And why the hell not?"

Before Naruto could say anything, whispers came from the civilian side of the room. Inaudible to most present, but the ninja picked it up just fine.

"Who does the demon think he is talking to?"

"Such impudence. And the women falling for this bastard?"

"Let's poison his next meal. Get rid of him. We should have done it years ago."

The blond sighed, gave Josh a glance and two finger signals, and rocked back on his heels. Everything was going to be taken care of.

The brunette flashed across the room, knocking papers and ANBU alike from his path, and in the space of half a second, knocked out the offenders and dumped them next to Naruto, who prodded them with his toe. "Damn. They're out cold."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair, representing the Jonin of Konoha. Normally, Shikaku filled this role, but as there was a full meeting, he had to take up the position as the head of his family. "Non-lethal hits, I presume?"

"You would be correct."

"HOW DARE YOU! ANBU, SEIZE HIM!"

"No, wait! That's a really bad-"

Before anyone but Naruto could do anything, Josh blazed into action again, disabling all ANBU before they could even move, then proceeding to drop their unconscious bodies next to the councilors. "Anything else you want to try?"

"Idea… I tried to warn you."

Upon seeing how easily their elite guards were taken out, all the civilians bolted for the exit. Josh didn't bother to move. Then again, he really didn't need to. "Don't bother. I've sealed the door myself. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out. Until we finish, anyway. I really don't want to make a return trip."

Anko smirked from her spot in the shinobi section. "How did you knock them out? Personally, I would find this quite useful in some of my more… personalized… missions."

The armored guardian snorted, pulled his knife from its holder, and began twirling it like a bored student would a pen. "Simple. This knife has four hardened impact points. I can use them to hit someone, depending on how much damage I want to do."

Kurenai looked closely at the knife. "What kind of knife is that? Asuma's… knives were different."

Josh scratched his head for a minute before seeming to find the memory that he was looking for. "Ah. Yes, well, from what I've seen in Naruto's memories, those were trench knives. Basically a set of brass knuckles with an extended blade. This, however," he said, catching the blade and balancing it on one fingertip so that all could see, "Is a purely dedicated combat knife. It's got a handle made of energy-hardened Desert Ironwood, fourteen-inch toughened titanium/carbon-steel blade with two sharpened edges, is shatter-resistant, and as a added bonus, the tip and edges are one molecule wide, allowing it to cut through anything near its density level. Had to get this custom-made. Naruto can eventually testify to how many these things have broken over the years."

Naruto nodded before going on. "He could have easily killed them. For everyone's sake, let's just get this over with quickly."

"Very well. Nami-"

"That's it. I'm gone. Josh, unseal those doors."

"Naruto-"

"I told him. I told him that if he called me the wrong name one more time, I'm leaving."

"Just get it over with."

Naruto scowled and formed a Rasenshuriken, the sudden burst of energy sending the few papers left flying in random directions. "I'll say it again. Let me out of here, or I'll-"

"You'll what? Hit me with a technique that can't even scratch me?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes." The armored guardian took off his helmet, tucked it under one arm, and then let his other arm fall to his side. "Go on. Hit me with your best shot."

"FIRE AWAY! FUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!"

Josh didn't even flinch as the attack struck him in the chest. However, instead of detonating into a huge ball of energy, it pinged right back at its thrower, who punched it straight up into the ceiling, where it detonated in a huge ball of energy.

"Are you finished yet? I don't like being here any more than you do. Just get the damn thing over with and we'll get something to eat."

"You're paying."

"I don't have any local money. You're paying."

"Ramen, then."

"Fuck, no. If going to give me ramen, I'll just kill everyone here. Save me the trouble, and I'll shoot a couple of deer or something."

Before he could do anything else, Shikaku had locked shadows with him and was holding him firmly in place. Inoichi had his hands ready to enter the brunette's mind, and Choza was raring to go. "As troublesome as this is, if you kill my deer, my dear wife will have a few words with me about my job, and that's even more troublesome than holding you down."

The swordsman's eyes twitched as he saw his current predicament. "Ah, the Kagemane no Jutsu. Quite interesting. However…" Nobody saw the following explosion of light. However, by the time it faded from everyone's retinas, Josh was sitting down, eating something from a metal tray. "Not quite enough power to hold me down. It would be quite nasty if it was infused with Guardian Energy, but that's water under the bridge."

"What did you-"

"Triple-S. Great. Well, to put in simple terms, I detonated my shield. I'm surprised that you're all still here, as a matter of fact. Any more energy; and you would all be fried chicken right now."

"NOW!" Homura readjusted his hat and spoke loudly, "Let us return to this meeting. Naruto Namikaze-"

"I TOLD YOU! THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

"-Has been summoned here on his guest, abilities, and future."

"I think the guest has been introduced." Shikaku rubbed his wrists, mumbling about how he was getting too old for this.

"You are correct, but we know nothing of his abilities. This council demands that he show them-"

Josh chuckled. When everyone looked at him, he just coughed. "Oh, that's a good one. Just how do you expect to back that up? Naruto's seals still have you baffled, and I'm a far better seal master than he is. You could try forcing them out of me, but the results would be… mixed."

"That is why we have offered you citizenship in our village, with the option to immediately start a clan."

"Can't."

"And why not? You should be-"

"Against standing orders. Besides, I've gotten better offers. I'm only here because of Naruto."

"You are a guest-"

"Of Naruto Uzumaki. Last time I checked, he's a jonin that reports directly to the Hokage. You civilians can try to order him around, but the Hokage has the final say. The same goes for me."

"But you're not a Konoha Shinobi."

"I'm working as a bodyguard for Naruto Uzumaki, and so I'm working under his rules, alongside the rules for ninja of this village. Besides, any technique I use are completely unusable unless you're a guardian. You try it otherwise, all you're going to do is kill yourself, or lose a couple of limbs if you're extremely lucky."

"We insist-"

"Forget it." Josh said flatly. "Just drop it. You'll live longer and be happier."

"Very well. We will now move onto the second item of business."

Naruto stiffened. There wasn't anything about anything else on the message.

Homura cleared his throat. "The issue is about Naruto Namikaze's potential wives and heirs."

Josh actually paled. "Oh no you didn't." he breathed, reaching for his sword.

The blond's hand clenched tightly into a fist.

Pain looked up from his seat at the edge of the tallest building in Ame.

"It is time. Kakuzu and Hidan, go after the Kyuubi. He is weak right now. There will be resistance. Try not to die."

"Did you hear that? Don't be such an idiot.

"Yeah, right. I wish someone could kill me... wait, come back here! Jashin-sama will smite you!"

Pain rubbed the bridge of his nose, nudging the chakra receptor rods in the process. "Why do I put up with these two?"

Author's Note.

And that's a wrap!

Hey, everyone! It's hard to believe it's been a full year since Timeless was started. I've come a long way as a writer since then, if you've been paying attention.

I will write more often now. The ACT, SAT, and PSAT were taking a huge bite out of my time, but not that it's pretty much over, i'll have some more time.

On the topic of reviews, i got one measly review for my last chapter. Rose Tiger, thanks for sticking with me through thick and thin.

Now, i want more reviews.

More reviews = faster chapters.

Less reviews = slower chapters.

So, to the announcement part.

"What will be Naruto's Next Move? What will the council attempt to force? Why do they want to force him into a marrage? How will Akatsuki attack? Find out next time on Timeless, a Naruto Fanon!"

So that's pretty much it. PLEASE REVIEW! I FIND REVIEWS ENCOURAGING! THE MORE YOU REVIEW, THE FASTER I WRITE.

Until next time,

Xingster