Hey, BillyMayes here with another outstanding product! Chapter 14 is up! Thanks again to all you guys who are reading/reviewing, I love the feedback, and I'm glad that so far you guys seem to be enjoying the story! Keep all hands inside the ride at all times though folks, this is gonna be a long and bumpy ride and we're not even close to the end.


Chapter 14

The Price of Peace


A young blonde-haired child sat angrily on a tree stump, having run off from his caretaker in a fit of tempered, childish rage. It had been a short couple years since Naruto had been taken in by Jiraiya, who for all his faults was throwing his best effort into raising the young child. It was proving to be quite difficult though, for the small boy was prone to fits of anger, and had very little control over his own emotions. It wouldn't take much for the impulsive child to attempt to fight, no matter the opponent, and Jiraiya had to at least acknowledge the boy's heart.

Naruto was currently in the middle of one of them, having been in the middle of a talk with his Godfather about the demon that resided within his body and the choice's his father had had to make to save the village. They had recently come from Kumogakure, and Naruto had witnessed firsthand the way that their own citizens revered and near-worshipped the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi and Nibi. Noticing this, the Last Uzumaki had asked his Godfather what the two people had done to be loved and respected by so many, prompting Jiraiya to take him aside, and finally explain to the eight-year old his heritage.

To say that the young boy was excited when he learned of his father, the late Yondaime, was an understatement. Naruto had been nearly bouncing off the walls, finding out that his idol was his in reality, his Dad. But his joy had turned to anger when he learned of the true reason he had been neglected and tormented for his early years in the Leaf, the true nature of his tenant. Suffice to say, the young boy had been unable to immediately come to terms with it, but then again, finding out that you had one of the most powerful demons in existence sealed inside of you wasn't necessarily something to scoff at.

Naruto hadn't understood why he had been hated, loathed, and looked down upon, not knowing or understanding the differences between Kumo and Konoha, or the way that their Jinchuriki had come about. It didn't matter to the young boy that the demon fox had killed hundreds of men and women, or that the grieving attackers were few and far between, and almost always inebriated. To a small child, the negative affects had seemed constant, while in reality, for most of his time in the village, Naruto had simply been treated as another orphan.

It was still an unfortunate turn, and though the Sandaime had done an amiable job of attempting to give the boy an unbiased upbringing, until Jiraiya had come along that is, he simply could not be everywhere at once. All the child could think at the moment though, was that he wanted the people who had hurt him to be hurt just as much. This was the current train of thoughts that he was upon as Jiraiya walked up to him in the small wooded area, taking a seat next to him, and speaking softly to the young child, stifling his tears, momentarily.

"In the shinobi world, it's not about how you live, its how you die. A shinobi's life is not measured by how they live but rather, by what they manage to accomplish before their death. Once you've been hurt you learn to hate. But if you hurt another you become the object of their hated. On your shoulders, you now bear the burden of guilt. But it is because one understands such pain, that the generosity toward others will soon become second nature. That's what makes us human. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be angry with Minato, or the Sandaime, or even the village itself, because what they've done to you was truly terrible. But…" The Toad Sage trailed off, looking down at his young charge and smiling sadly as the little blonde boy looked up at him, with red puffy eyes and wrinkled nose, before he continued. "If you were to go back and hurt the people who hurt you, their family will gain hatred themselves. The cycle just breeds even more hate and that's the way it will always be, unless we can learn to forgive."

The large man paused, before ruffling inside his jacket and retrieving a small popsicle, breaking it in half and handing one side to the small blonde at his side, who despite his young age was enraptured by every captivating word the perverted, but wise Sennin was saying. "I don't know how to stop this but without a doubt we will have peace one day. As long as there are those who believe peace is possible, there still is hope. We as shinobi, especially need to adhere to this, and maybe one day… one day we can see ourselves as a shield, instead of as the sword."

With that, Jiraiya stood up, having finished his small and cold treat, and began walking away from his young protégé, turning once over his shoulder, and speaking softly, in his deep and experienced voice, his eyes taking on that of a faraway look as he did so. "The true ninja is one who endures no matter what gets thrown at him. Let me explain something to you: There's only one thing that matters if you are a shinobi. And it isn't the number of jutsu you possess, or the techniques you master. What you need is the guts to never stop."

After that, the man walked away, waving his right hand in farewell as he headed back to the room he and Naruto were staying at, leaving the blonde to ponder his words as he sat on the stump, staring at the frozen treat in his hands. He wasn't ready to let go of his anger just yet, but maybe, one day he would be able to look past his hatred.

End Flashback


Naruto awoke with a start, his eyes blinking rapidly in the fluorescent lighting of the medical tent. He sat up slowly, not being at all surprised that he was only slightly sore after his fight with the Last Kaguya. The blonde groaned out softly as he raised himself to take in his surroundings, the first thing he noticed being the redheaded and bandaged form of Tayuya, laying near him on a bed of her own. He smiled, the grin not reaching his ears as he briefly closed his eyes, thanking Kami that he had gotten her back in time, knowing she had been injured in her fight against her former comrade.

Turning his head, Naruto also saw the sleeping form of who he could only assume was the battered and bruised Shino, if the slight buzzing noise he was hearing from across the room was anything to go by. He sighed to himself, angry at his own actions. The Aburame Heir was one of his oldest friends, dating back to when he had first joined the academy, and the second he had thought that Tayuya was in danger he had abandoned his friend, who was very clearly in a very poor state, flashing an incredible distance to his girlfriend. Naruto leaned back, laying his head on the pillow and bringing his hands up to rub his eyes briefly. He really needed to get the impulsive side of himself under control, or someone would get hurt. The blonde was just lucky that this time, everything worked out in the end.

He had been lucky… again. He had only just barely saved Tayuya from death, and even then she had been hurt. The former Oto-Kunoichi was right, he couldn't be everywhere at once. The blonde sighed to himself, making a mental not to work on his Fuuinjutsu more. It would have been easy to subdue the intensely strong Kimimaro, had he had time to prepare the battlefield and lay some traps in advance. For all of its power, Fuuinjutsu had one major drawback, and that was the time it took to prepare the seals.

The Kanji for whatever seal you were writing for example, had to be perfect. One flaw in the spelling of a word or even a slight miss-stroke and the seal itself could go horribly wrong, exploding in his face or worse. It took time to write out the seals, and in combat, especially single combat, it was difficult to find enough respite to write out the necessary seals to accomplish such a task. Had he done it before? Yes, but that was also when he had had a team with him that was able to distract or relocate their enemy long enough for him to complete the sealing matrix. It was hard to do in heated combat, but not impossible.

This is where pre-prepared seals came in, however, they also had a drawback. A pre-prepared seal only worked if you knew exactly what you were going to be facing. When the blonde had gone to face the Sanbi, he knew what he was going to be facing, and was able to create the according sealing matrix that would achieve the necessary result he was looking for. When he had moved to fight the wayward leader of the ANBU Forces, Shimura Danzo, his goal had been to prevent the man from escaping, and he had managed to bar his path with a barrier sealing method. However, when Naruto had gone to fight the 'prodigal son' of Orochimaru, he had only a vague idea of what the man could do and how he fought.

The last thing he would have wanted to do to a man like that was seal them both into a small area, where the pale skinned Kaguya's outstanding Taijutsu and Kekkie Genkai would have torn him to shreds, him unable to escape. No, he had handled that fight as best he could with what he had, pinning the man down with mid to long range Ninjutsu until he had battered him so much that he could barely move, before he was able to fall inside the man's defense and deal the only lasting hit of the conflict. Had he more time, the blonde Jounin knew he could have come up with a way to seal the man away specifically, but he still had a long way to go before he could simply write out exactly what he needed in a fight.

As Naruto laid in his bed, watching the slow rising and falling of his Redhead's chest under her covers in rhythm with her breathing, he sighed softly to himself, mentally chastising himself over his recent thoughts. There was no point in lamenting over things and events that had already occurred, there was nothing he could do to change them. He did hold power over the future though, and if there was one thing that could be said about the Last Uzumaki, it was that he learned from his fights. And what he knew now was that while he was good, he still wasn't anywhere near good enough to save everyone.


"Kusagakure is pulling out?"

The Godaime Hokage, Hatake Kakashi gave his signature eye-smile from behind his mask, watching as the blonde in front of his desk, crossed his arms, before giving the masked Hokage his trademark grin. "Yes, apparently they've had enough, and whatever honeyed words that Orochimaru had been slipping them to provoke them into attacking us in the first place have long worn off. I'd like to think that you a factor in this. I've heard reports of your exploits on more than one occasion." The Godaime finished, even going as far as to place his favored orange book down, addressing Naruto face to face.

"Just doing my duty, Hokage-Sama." The Uzumaki replied, his visage back to that of a professional shinobi in the presence of his absolute leader. "I just want to do my part in ensuring that this war will end, sooner rather than later." The Hokage smiled behind his mask, this was going in just the direction he had hoped, just a little bit more of a push, and the man would probably even volunteer for the next mission that he had planned, a vital one to the war effort.

"I'm glad you said that, Naruto, because as it happens, there's one particular mission that you of all people would be suited to take on, with the talents you possess." Naruto merely quirked an eyebrow at that, he had been on an evaluated leave of absence as he recovered from his bout with the now dead Kimimaro for three days, and though he was happy with his time off that he spent happily with Tayuya, the blonde was itching to return to the field. "We've received intelligence that Taki has finally brought their Jinchuriki to the front, intending to retake the land they have been steadily losing since Kusa fell a few days ago, their official surrender pending."

Naruto nodded, taking in the information with practiced ease as he listened, already figuring where this conversation was probably going. "If we can either capture or kill their Jinchuriki, then there is a very high chance that Takigakure would fall just as quickly as Kusa, with their trump card being neutralized. This could be considered an S-Class mission, due to the high likelihood of contact and probability of failure, though if at all possible I'd prefer you to not kill her, no need for a rampaging Bijuu on the loose."

The blonde Jounin brought his hand to his chin, lowering his head slightly as he thought. The Hokage was right, there were only a select few people in the village who even had a prayer of going up against a Jinchuriki, even one who didn't have full control over their Bijuu, and there was little to no intelligence on this one. The Leaf had nothing on this woman or her abilities, knowing only that she had lime green hair and often carried a red canister on her back, contents unknown. Now, of the several people in the village who could probably fight a Jinchuriki in a tailed beast form, even less of them had ever actually done it, the list dropping down to him alone, none of the other having actually faced one of the monstrosities.

The former ANBU Captain was the only currently alive member of Konohagakure who had faced one of the Nine Bijuu, and he had come out on top against the Sanbi. However, were he to face this woman in combat, it would be much different, and for several reasons, the largest being that the woman would be actively trying to fight him, instead of just standing by and letting its strength be sapped away as it fell victim to a sealing matrix. No, this would be a helluva fight, especially if things didn't go with him from the start. Naruto raised his head, looking his Hokage dead in his visible eye.

"I'll need a few days, I'll have to prepare the appropriate seals, make more Hiraishin Kunai…"The blonde counted off a few things on his fingers, before coming to a conclusion. "Give me four days, and then I'll head out to the Taki front." The Hokage merely nodded, wishing the man a quick 'good hunting', before the man before him disappeared in a flash of cobalt.


Naruto paused on the tree branch he landed on, looking around him slowly and for a brief moment, enjoying the sight of the forest around him, calming his restless heart slightly. It had been twelve days since he had been given the task of hunting down and capturing Takigakure's Jinchuriki, who he had discovered to be quite elusive, and eight days since he had set out from Konoha, arriving at the Taki front a short three days after that, meaning he had been in the field, attempting to track the elusive woman down for the last five days.

After he had made it to the front, he had quickly gone to the command's Forward Operating Base, and gathered all the intelligence they had on his target, though there was very little of it to begin with. He still had no idea as to her whereabouts or abilities, but now he had a baseline of where she was more likely to be, and he had decided to begin his search there. The blonde had thought about gathering a team suited to tracking, such as an Inuzuka or Hyuuga, but he had decided against it. The blonde had seen it as an unnecessary risk, for even if they were able to help him track the offending Bijuu, and then had them retreat during the conflict, there was no guarantee he would be able to prevent the Jinchuriki from stopping their escape.

Besides, it wasn't as if Naruto wasn't a skilled tracker himself, in ANBU he had lead a number of search and destroy missions, as well as capture and tag ones as well, so he was no novice to the task. He currently had some number of clones out in the surrounding forest as well, all of them with the same task he had given himself. The woman appeared to be constantly on the move, receiving her orders via summons, as far as he could tell. He had also gathered that she was working alone, which didn't bode well for him, as it meant she was competent enough to handle herself, and was trusted by her village to some extent, considering she had no handlers.

The blonde sighed, shaking his head. She was doing the same thing he had been, bouncing around the lines of the front, appearing here and there, helping her shinobi fight their largely defensive battles, but even then the Taki shinobi were being pushed back. Naruto ran his right hand through his hair as he leaned against the tree. Even though the Konoha forces were still pushing their enemies back, they were still losing people in droves, especially when this woman took the field. Hell, since Naruto had begun tracking her she had attacked his forces on three separate occasions, with him arriving shortly after her departure. But he was closing in on her, the former captain could almo-.

Naruto's head snapped to the left, his eyes widening in mild surprise as he flashed to the Hiraishin marker his clone had made on one of the trees near its location before it had dispelled itself. The blonde appeared at its location, immediately kicking off of the tree and sending himself hurtling through the trees to the left, dispelling all of his searching clones in the process. The clone who had made the marker had caught sight of the elusive Jinchuriki, and he was determined to not let her escape. Catching a brief flash of green to his right, Naruto clipped the side of a tree, using the momentum, launching a kunai as hard as he could, and flashed to it.

Appearing on the top of the branch of the large, rocky opening, the blonde shinobi looked over his left shoulder, his eyes narrowing at the spectacle that was before him. On the ground below him, and staring up at him defiantly was the petite form of the Seven-Tailed Jinchuriki. The young woman was actually quite attractive, with her sun-kissed skin and orange eyes providing a great contrast to her seafoam green hair that stopped just above her shoulders. The girl didn't seem to be one to care much for modest either, if her chosen choice of clothing was anything to go off of.

Though she had been in combat numerous times, the bold woman was dressed in a near pristine white outfit, consisting of a slim fitting white top that just barely covered her breasts. Allowing his eyes to trail down her body, Naruto also idly noticed her white armguards, and the short white combat skirt she wore, once again, it barely covering her modesty. Underneath it all he was able to see the peeking's of some fishnet armor, but the vast majority of her tanned skin was left open for the enjoyment of any who decided to look. Somewhat alarmingly though, was the absence of the large red scroll she had last been reported to have been wearing, but he'd worry about that later. He inclined his head slightly to the side, before jumping down to stand a few paces away from the woman he'd been chasing.

"Am I to take it you're the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi?" He asked simply, crossing his arms over his chest, looking the woman dead in the eyes as he spoke. He gave nothing away as he allowed himself to fully regress into his ANBU training, becoming in every sense of himself Lynx, though his mask had long been taken from him. His tone was clipped, his eyes narrowed, and while his tone wasn't hostile, it wasn't friendly, either. While his form appeared relaxed, his muscled were tense and poised, the man was ready to jump into action in a heartbeat.

"What's it matter to you?" The minty green woman asked, placing her hands on her hips and jutting them slightly to the side. Honestly, had the blonde not been in a committed relationship and not about to either capture or kill this woman, he might have even commented on it, she was quite pretty. The man let a quick sigh escape his lips, not at all looking forward to the coming battle, but steeling himself for it just the same. Her response had all but confirmed it for him, it was definitely her.

"Don't suppose there's any way I could convince you to let me seal your chakra, and then have you come along peacefully with me back to Konoha, where we'll set you up in a confined area until Taki surrenders?" The Last Uzumaki asked, his tone light even though he already knew the answer to his question, it was pretty asinine, anyways, but there wasn't any harm in asking. You never knew with some people, and a part of him was really hoping that this could end without bloodshed.

"Not a chance." That was all the warning Naruto would get as the Jinchuriki of the Nanabi flew across the short distance that separated the two, the blonde dodging her moves somewhat easily, neither of them employing their demon chakra yet, though for quite different reasons. The blonde Jounin ducked under one of her blows, dropping his weight before he pivoted on his left foot, spinning and driving a crushing fist into her abdomen that had the woman forced a few feet back, her looking up and glaring at him, a cold look in her eyes.

"What's your name?" The woman asked as she stood to her feet, falling into a ready stance as she began molding her chakra inside herself as she waited for an answer, the blonde shinobi falling into a similar stance. She idly noted that the man now had held an odd looking three pronged kunai in his hand, and though she knew the stories of this man taking out many of her own allies, the verdette was still pretty confident she could win. At his questioning look, she elaborated on her question. "I like to know the names of people I kill that are worth my time."

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde answered slowly, reaffirming his grip on the kunai in his hand, his mind already working on a way to implement his plan into this fight. "And you are?" He asked, his tone just as laid back as before, his eyes widening slowly as he watched the green haired Jinchuriki manifest her chakra, it forming into four wings that sprouted from her back. 'That… might be a problem.' He admitted to himself, watching her as she slowly lifted herself off of the ground, a slight buzzing noise breaking the silence of the area.

"Fuu." And that would end up being the end of the conversation, as the now named Fuu accelerated forward at an alarming rate, her speed quite impressive having increased a great deal from before. However, when she had closed in on the blonde he had vanished in a spark of cobalt, appearing behind her and delivering a kick to her back that sent her into the ground. The girl merely rebounded off the ground sending her back towards her adversary feet first, the blonde pulling the same trick he had before, appearing in front of her.

"Don't…underestimate… me!" Fuu didn't scream, she full on shrieked as a dark orange cloak of rancid, noxious, chakra enshrouded from her body. Two antenna came into shape, sprouting from her head, as three tails that appeared to be comprised entirely of the energy that covered her body. The woman's wings also took on a more ragged look, going from a pristine and precise look to one of pure strength and energy. She turned her head over her right shoulder, glaring at the blonde through wide eyes, the orange pupils glowing almost menacingly in the afternoon light.

Naruto didn't even have time to mutter the brief 'shit' he had in mind before the woman had crossed the clearing faster than he could notice, not able to Hiraishin out of the way in time, and took an absolutely destroying blow to the blondes chest, sending him flying before he came to a stop at the base of a large oak tree. Groaning, the blonde pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head, before he quickly ducked, flashing to the kunai he had left in the original clearing, just dodging the fist that an enraged Fuu had launched at him. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, the blonde shinobi made several clones that jumped into the nearby trees, before he himself began throwing kunai all around the clearing, waiting for the container of the Nanabi to return to the clearing.

And return she did, flying into the clearing her antennae twitching as they flew, her wings blurring faster than the eye could follow, but this time Naruto was ready for her. Breathing heavily from the solid blow he had taken, the blonde shinobi began flashing around the clearing, however he couldn't get close to her. Every time he'd disappear only to reappear in a new location, the Jinchuriki would already be facing him, her chakra enhanced antennae apparently able to sense the surrounding area around her and reveal his location.

Naruto flashed into existence behind her, two Kage Bunshin appearing next to him before he flashed to another position again, but by the time he had moved the crazed woman had already moved to and destroyed one of his clones. The blonde flashed one more time, his hands already a blur of hand seals as his clone did the same, them both calling out the name of their technique in unison with the Jinchuriki in between them. "Fūton: Fuujin Seiken! (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!)"

Both Naruto's thrust their hands out and forward from their bodies, the clone forcing all of its chakra into the attack, the air compressing and blasting across the clearing, both forces slamming into the green haired woman in unison, crashing into each other with her body caught in the center. Had it been a normal person, they would have been completely crushed by the impact, the forceful jutsu literally compressing their body to an unforgiveable degree, and had they survived, they would be living through nothing short of a sheer miracle. As it was, all it did was take the already enraged Nanabi and infuriated it more, spinning it into a completely new dimension of pissed off it had never been before in its life as it found itself in an excruciating amount of pain, its body reforming as the jutsu wore down.

The blonde shinobi landed on the ground a short distance away, not at all surprised that all it did was anger her, leaving no lasting damage. This could work to his favor though, for as angry as she was Fuu wouldn't be thinking clearly, and that meant that she could play right into his hands. Naruto took stock of his options as he began flashing around the area again, the smaller, normal kunai he was stabbing into the ground going completely unnoticed by the Nanabi Jinchuriki as she chased him from one side of the clearing to the other, the small pieces of paper on each of them fluttering in the breeze he made with his movements.

Naruto flashed into the dead center of the clearing, the kunai he had placed marking the location he need to be almost perfectly. Once he appeared there, the blonde didn't have long to wait until Fuu followed, the girl having been almost completely taken over by her tenant, making a beeline straight for the man, the buzzing sounds of her wings lacing the air. As soon as she was in the designated area, the blonde Jounin activated his snare, and hoped against hope it'd word as he began desperately dodging around the woman's blows, keeping her in a small confined area while not counterattacking, not unless he wanted to lose a limb to her near suffocating chakra.

As the real Naruto flashed around the clearing, managing to keep the enraged Jinchuriki completely occupied, three clones of himself leapt out of their hiding places in the surrounding forestry, their previous job having been completed, as all three began flashing through hand seals, finishing them at three separate intervals and calling out one after the other as they did so, dispersing when their chakra had been spent and technique completed. "Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi (Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop!)" "Katon: Suyaki no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Fried Pottery Technique!)" "Raiton: Jūrokuchū Shibari! (Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Bind!)".

Before the two battling Jinchuriki hand the chance to move, sixteen large pillars composed of light itself were launched into the area from all angles, effectively trapping the two inside from any escape, save for the open top. Two fighters quickly became one though, as Naruto himself flashed out of the 'area' his clone had created, while Fuu had the sense of mind to look confused for a split second before she began flying for the open roof of the construct. Her hopes of escape were dashed though as a hole was torn open directly above the opening, an incredibly large amount of liquid mud falling from it, down into the construct, covering the green haired kunoichi from head to toe in the mud, and sending her crashing back down to the earth below.

Then the final act of the three part combination jutsu was performed as the third clone called out his technique and the top of the box made of light enclosed. A fire alit inside of it, and turned it into an oven, Fuu's eyes widening as the mud coating her quickly became clay, hardening around her body, holding her stiff. Each of her wings had been coated and trapped, and the only part of her still thrashing was her three tails. The fire kept up for some time, the chakra from her tails finally dying out until she simply laid there.

Naruto stood off to the side, already flashing through a long list of hand seals as the constructed oven before him began to quake and crack. The blonde had known that at best, this would only slow the demon container down, Jinchuriki were known for being impossibly hard to capture, after all. The oven shattered, pieces of it flying in all directions, as Fuu, or what had been Fuu, stood in the epicenter of the blast, her dark orange chakra covering her from head to foot and beginning to take on the visage of the beast itself. The former ANBU Captain grimaced, this was going to be close, but he needed just a few more seconds.

The beast, for that is what she had become, fully loosing herself to her tenant in the face of defeat, reader its head back and roared, and this ultimately would prove to be its downfall, as it gave the Last Uzumaki the required time to finish the incredibly long string of hand seals he had been rushing through since the start of his clones massive combination jutsu. Grinning up at the enraged Bijuu, Naruto launched himself straight at it, chakra powering his leap as he forced himself to through the burning mass of chakra that was licking at his skin, scorching him as he passed briefly through, before he appeared in front of Fuu and smashing his hand into her stomach, his fingertips glowing with a bright purple flame.

"Uzumaki Fūin Gijutsu: Tengoku no Yattsu no Kyōi no Mon! (Uzumaki Sealing Technique: Eight Menacing Gates of Heaven!). As soon as he called out his technique, Naruto flashed back to one of his kunai that had been specifically placed outside of the dubbed 'kill zone', doing his best to ignore the burnt flesh he had from more or less jumping into a vat of acid and hoping that he moved fast enough he wouldn't get too hurt, and he had been more or less correct, his skin only suffering minor second degree burns that his healing factor was already going hard to work on, something he supposed he could thank his own demon for.

The blonde Jounin leant back against the tree, holding in his grunt of pain as he watched as one after one, a large two pronged gate fell from the sky, each one falling upon one of the great wings of Nanabi, trapping them to the ground, one fell around its tail and held it to the ground as well, as the eighth and final pillar crashed down around the Bijuu's neck pinning it to the ground completely, rendering it unable to move as the sealing matrix that Naruto had created on the ground activated, seven clones appearing from their own camouflaged spaces, each one manning a separate and different point on the matrix, pouring their amassed chakra into the mix.

It hadn't taken long for the woman's chakra to be forcefully sealed inside her, maybe a few minutes at best, and the injured Leaf Shinobi walked over to her, limping slightly from the burns and damage he had taken. He wasn't concerned, the sealing matrix he had created would not only seal off all her chakra, but as of now it had also restricted all her movement, rendering the woman barely able to speak as he closed with her, a small piece of paper clutched loosely in his hand, multiple Kanji already written across it. Naruto knelt next to her, and was about to mutter a small word of apology, when he heard the girl whisper something. "You didn't even have to use the chakra of your own Bijuu…"

If he was surprised that she knew what he contained, the blonde man didn't show it, simply shrugging and leaning down to roll her over on her back, his seal needed to be applied to his targets forehead to be completely effective. "Why didn't you use it?" He heard the green haired woman mutter, almost under her breath as he flipped her, cerulean eyes meeting auburn ones in the wake of the woman's defeat. Naruto looked over her prone and paralyzed form sadly, but happy on the inside that he had managed to take her alive, and without her hurting him too badly.

"Because I can't." Those proved to be the last words the petite verdette would ever hear as the Last Uzumaki brought his hand around, placed the sealing tag onto her head, and applied just enough chakra to activate it. The girl's eyes widened briefly, before they rolled into the back of her skull, her body convulsed once, more from shock than pain, before lines of kanji briefly spread from the tag all over the girls tanned skin, disappearing almost as soon as they appeared. The seal was a simple one, blocking all signals to and from the girl's nervous system, and rendering her in a pure comatose state until released. She'd feel no pain, and wouldn't wake up, would be able to channel no chakra or do anything at all until the sealing tag placed upon her head had been released.

As the victorious blonde stood up, preparing himself to grab the woman and leave the area, every fiber of his being screamed at him to move, dodge, to escape, but they all came a second too late. Too late did he notice the small, unassuming little spider crawl underneath his sandaled foot, exploding a split second later and launching the blonde away from the immobilized Jinchuriki, the former captain now placed on high alert as he righted himself, landing on his feet, his eyes already searching for his newest assailant, and it didn't take him long to find the man. But then again, a large, white bird landing on the ground and eating the Jinchuriki he had just fought his ass off to beat and then subsequently subdue wasn't exactly subtle, either.

"I'm sorry, but I'll be taking this, yeah?" The blonde haired man spoke, Naruto recognizing the man instantly from the Bingo Book as Diedara, an S-Rank Missing Nin from Iwagakure. The wounded shinobi cursed under his breath. There was no way he was in any shape to fight a man like this, right after he had expended almost all of his chakra in a massive sealing array, multiple clones, and an excessive combination jutsu, maybe if he were fresh, but right now he didn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

"Aww, don't pout at me! Don't worry, little Mr. Jinchuriki, we'll be coming for you soon enough, yeah!" Diedara laughed, taunting the his fellow blonde as his large bird-shaped construct quickly took off from the ground, a large bulge evident in its 'stomach' from the captured form of the Nanabi Jinchuriki, Fuu. Naruto cursed lightly to himself, under his breath. The bastard had probably been watching his fight the entire time, letting him do all the hard work of subduing the demon container, before 'literally' swooping in and taking the spoils. The blonde Jounin was pissed. The Hokage wasn't going to like this, but as it was, he had absolutely no way of fighting this guy.

He sighed, shaking his head and clearing his thoughts. This was the third time he had run into the organization that had dubbed itself "Akatsuki", and all three times they had been vying to get the Jinchuriki. It was evident they weren't trying to kill them, no, the group always sent out members in the hopes of subduing the hosts, so they were obviously capturing them for a specific reason. What that was, he had no idea, but he figured he had better find out soon, because sooner or later just like the newest confirmed member of the organization had just warned him, they would be coming for him and his own nine-tailed tenant. As Naruto began his long, and now solo walk back towards Konoha's Forward Operating Base in Taki, he sighed softly to himself.

Silver lining? Takigakure no longer had a Jinchuriki, so with any luck the conflict on this front would be over quickly.


Flashback

"What?"

Tsunade sighed. She'd known that this would likely be happen, especially with what information Jiraiya had given her regarding her long-distanced nephew's current situation. Apparently, from what she could tell, the boy's chakra coils were too dense for the potent youkai chakra to properly flow thorough them, to condensed for it to pass along the pathways in the proper way that it needed to. This meant that no matter how much the boy trained with it, no matter how much he tried to hone its use, he's never be able to master it. Hell, as he was now, he couldn't even utilize anything more than the smallest amount.

The busty Sannin had talked to Jiraiya about it, and the Toad Sage had confirmed for her that he had tried to train the boy in the usage, but every time that Naruto was able to call on anything more than a single tails worth of the chakra, he would double over in great pain, his body burning from the inside out as the chakra forced itself along his narrow pathways. Jiraiya had finally decided against training the young blonde in the usage of his demonic chakra, refusing to sacrifice his Godson's wellbeing for a power boost, no matter how significant it may be.

So when, during the blondes physical, she had brought it up, he had been understandably surprised to learn that he not only couldn't use the chakra of his tenant now, but that he would never be able to use it in anything more than a passive sense, that being his already accelerated healing factor, his Uzumaki Blood gaining a slight boost from it. "You heard me, Naruto. I said that you can't use the Fox's chakra, ever. Your chakra coils and pathways, they're far too dense for the massive youkai to flow through. It's like trying to force a bowling ball through a garden hose, you are more or less expanding them at an insufferable rate whenever you try."

The medical professional of the Sannin sighed to herself, crossing her arms under her bust, and looking her blonde charge in his cobalt blue eyes as she spoke. "If you were to try and force this training on yourself, you will destroy your ability to mold and release Chakra, and you'll lose nearly all your ability as a shinobi, and you still wouldn't even be able to harness the demonic chakra."

Naruto held himself together, though on the inside he was furious, though at what, he wasn't sure. He was a goddamn Jinchuriki, who couldn't use his tenant's chakra? What the fuck kind of shit is that? The blonde wasn't going to lie, this dashed his hopes quite a bit for getting stronger-he'd heard stories of Kumo's Jinchuriki, 'Killer Bee', a man who had full command over his Bijuu, and the former captain was honestly very impressed. But now? Those hopes had been dashed. The blonde chucked to himself slightly, muttering something about 'how it could never be easy' before he thanked Tsunade, and left his Hokage-Mandated checkup.

He'd just have to train his ass off and become stronger another way. Plenty of other Shinobi had become legends in their own right without a demon sealed inside them, so he would become stronger despite his burden.

How hard could it be?

End Flashback


Naruto flashed inside of his home, having just come from the Hokage's office upon his failed mission to capture the Taki Jinchuriki, Fuu. While he had succeeded in defeating and then sealing the girl, he had been unable to prevent her capture/stealing by the newest confirmed member of Akatsuki, Diedara, formerly of Iwagakure. His masked Hokage hadn't been upset with the turnout, but frustrated. Overall Kakashi had just seemed happy that his ninja had managed to come out of it all alive, considering the threats that had reared their heads while he had been gone.

As the blonde walked through the small but homely Namikaze Estate, he thought on the events that would soon be happening. With their Jinchuriki gone, taken off to some corner of the world nobody knew, Takigakure was almost certain to pull out of the war, paying their concessions of loss to Konoha and surrendering in the process to the standing military power. It wouldn't be long after that before there would likely be a large assault on Oto, likely with the standing orders of no prisoners. Orochimaru was sure to fight tooth and nail there, but the Konoha forces would stop him, or at least his bastardized military and ending the war.

That last part is what concerned the blonde Jounin, but it wasn't concern for himself, but rather for his redheaded girlfriend, Tayuya. She'd be facing her old comrades, and kami forbid, possibly even her own sister Guren in combat. That's something that no matter what one does, they cannot prepare for, the fighting of one's own kin. He'd talked with her about it, tried to convince her to not run missions in Oto out of his concern for her, but she hadn't listened. The fiery woman insisted upon it, and to a degree, at least in a tactical mind set, it did make sense. She had formerly been a shinobi under charge of Orochimaru, and the woman knew the area.

It was selfish of him, he knew it, but he couldn't help but be worried about it all the same. Naruto shook his head briefly, clearing his mind as he opened the door to his room, and was happy to see the sleeping form of the woman that constantly ruled his thoughts under the covers in his bed. The blonde quickly changed out of his mission gear and into his sleepwear, before walking over to the bend, briefly raising the covers and sliding under them. He wasted no time in snuggling up to his lover, wrapping his arm around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck, taking in the scent of her hair and body, loving every second of his being with her.

"Shithead…?" The blondes eyes remained closed as he pulled his girlfriend's body closer to his, his arm tightening around her waist as he did so. Naruto leaned up slightly, moving his body over hers to kiss her lightly on the cheek as he listened to her sleepy voice breaking the silence, absentmindedly thinking that it was one of the most adorable things he had ever heard in his short life. The redhead leaned her head back into the blondes broad shoulder, raising her hand out behind her caress his face softly, before pulling it back down under the covers to hold his hand below them as the soft throes of sleep threatened to claim her again. "I'm glad you're home. I missed you."

Naruto chuckled softly as he held her. Tayuya was definitely still half asleep, it was one of the only few times she showed her kind and caring side, instead of the usual tough as nails kunoichi most knew her as. It never failed to surprise the blonde at the turn of events that had led the woman into his arms, but he would never complain about it. He had truly believed that he had found a diamond in the rough, and the blonde shinobi was going to do whatever it took to protect. The former captain had finally come to terms with it when he had faced down Diedara, more or less staring death in the face in the state he had been it.

The first thing that had flashed through his mind was that he was scared, not necessarily for himself, but that he wouldn't ever see her again. That he'd never see her beautiful brown eyes staring back at him in the morning, that he'd never hear her laugh at his antics or jokes again. He was mortified that he'd never be able to hold her again, or to tell her that he loved her. The blonde knew that his girlfriend knew about how he felt, but it was different, he had to tell her. So, after living together for so long, and then being together for even longer, Uzumaki Naruto leaned up, placing his lips near her ear, and whispered softly in it. "I Love You."

The blonde, feeling quite happy with himself at this point, laid back down on his bed, and closed his eyes, hopefully for a good and decently long sleep, only just barely catching the words that left Tayuya's mouth as he slipped over the edge, the woman still very much half asleep by the tone of her voice.

"…Love you too, Shithead."


Author's Note:

Annnnnnnddddddd that's that! It's been revealed why Naruto can't use the fox's power, so that should throw a wrench in some things! Did my best on the whole fight with Fuu, Tried to write her as a typical 'berserker rage' Jinchuriki, and I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. In this world, the Bijuu are fuckin' mindless crazy beasts that aren't to be fucked with. There is no communicating with them. No talking to them and cuddling with them and shit. You poke a bear it'll kill you or die trying.

That's all I got. Out.