Eternal Legends: Konoha's Transcendent Ninja

by Arashi the Solar Phoenix

Naruto befriends Sasuke and Sakura at an early age by an act of fate. The three then set on a goal: Together they will transcend the Sannin as the strongest shinobi team and uncover a secret to Naruto's ancestry that goes beyond even the borders of the Elemental Nations that will alter the course of history forever. AU Strong/Smart Naruto Strong Sasuke/Sakura Family Team 7 R&R

8. Amaranthine Massacres and Insurrections

Eternal Legends: Konoha's Transcendent Ninja

Chapter Eight: Amaranthine Massacres and Insurrections

This is it, the final chapter of the year before I leave. Since a lot of time is going to pass between now and the next update, you guys are being treated with this monster-sized chapter to tie you over until then.

It's come to my attention that chapter one needs a complete makeover. A recent review, while having some flawed criticisms, did have merit. So, instead of bitching about it, I'm simply going to recognize the shortcomings and fix them. I didn't update chapter two until a year after I first posted this story and wow. The difference in writing is tremendous and in need of a 2011 standards overhaul. Some may agree with the review, some may not. Either way, chapter one is getting a re-shine that would make a boot-polisher proud.

Full Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, ViZ media, and all other related companies. I make no claim of any characters from the manga and anime and own all OC's that may appear from time to time. I also make no claim of elements used from certain video games such as Ninja Gaiden, Call of Duty, and Uncharted which are under the copyright ownership of Team Ninja, Infinity Ward, and Naughty Dog as well as the publishing rights of Tecmo, Activision, and Sony Computer Entertainment America/Europe, respectively.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Uchiha Estate, Mid-February, 1200 hours)

Naruto stood in a stance, panting hard as Mikoto stood away from him about ten meters away, also in the same stance. The blond Uzumaki had a kodachi in his hand, but it was far heavier than the blades usually were. Due to his age, he wasn't quite tall enough to wield a katana. Instead of moaning about it, he found an ingenious loophole. It was to make the short blade as heavy as a katana by infusing it with a chakra core that increased its overall density. It would make the transition from short-blade to long-blade almost completely painless.

The Uchiha matriarch looked at her pupil with pride. He had a natural talent for swordsmanship. It was uncanny, really. If the Uchiha were completely honest with herself, she'd expected the blond to take more after his father in terms of fighting style. That couldn't be further from the truth. The only thing he shared with Minato was his utterly insane reflexes and cunning tactical mind. He wasn't like the Nara clan who planned moves ahead of battle. No, Naruto planned moves and analyzed you even while he fought you head on.

Mikoto simply smirked and, within seconds, eight shuriken whirled through the air. As if his body had moved on its own, Naruto sliced through all of them. The other halves were sent through the air toward his two friends who were sitting. They didn't even move a muscle as they looked on stoically as the shuriken halves embedded themselves in the wall behind them.

"Very good, Naruto-kun," Mikoto praised while smiling at the novice swordsman. "I thought you let your guard down."

Naruto grinned back at her. "Didn't you always tell us to never let our guard down? You'd be a terrible sensei if we're coming up to a year under your tutelage and we still have that problem."

"So, I see your point," she conceded. "I must say, though," she looked at him in wonder, "you're starting to get the hang of that kodachi despite its weight. Sure you still want to use a katana?" she teased the young jinchuuriki.

She heard Sasuke scoff. "Give it a rest, Kaa-san. You can't change his mind."

"Really, Sasuke-kun? Coming from you who said you wouldn't use a weapon, but what's the thing on your side, hm?" Sakura chimed sweetly, causing the Uchiha to grumble. Naruto and Mikoto both shared a laugh at that particular memory….

One month ago…

"So, Sensei, who's this guy you're taking us to?" Naruto absentmindedly asked as he led, naturally, center of the trio with their sensei, in full blown Konoha jounin garb, not too far behind them. The Konoha populace, as a whole, had gotten so used to seeing them, that days where they weren't seen together was when the heads started turning.

"Ah, yes. His name is Muramasa, Naruto-kun," Mikoto answered the blond.

"Muramasa?" Sasuke exclaimed in surprised. "Are we thinking of the same—?"

"Yes," Mikoto interjected, confirming her son's suspicions, "the very same Muramasa who forged the swords used by the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and Hakkō Chakura Tō (White Light Chakra Saber) which belonged to the White Fang, himself."

Naruto's cerulean eyes blinked at that particular revelation. "Wow…a blacksmith that legendary residing in our village? What are the odds?"

Mikoto shook her head. "Don't pat yourself on the back too quickly. Muramasa has many shops all over the Elemental Nations, including here. I guess you could say Konoha is his…home base, so to speak. He's simply here to take care of business. How he manages to run all of them at his age is anyone's guess. Then again, considering how strong Hokage-sama still is at his age, I guess it stands to reason."

"It's a wonder the village hasn't made any offers or…" Sakura frowned a bit, "forced him to stay to make weapons for the village." Although it was a solemn thought, even Sakura wasn't naïve enough to foolishly believe that Konoha wasn't above playing dirty to stay ahead. They were shinobi; they never played fair.

"Who's to say they haven't?" Mikoto rhetorically countered. "Anyhow, Muramasa's wellbeing is of no concern to us, within reason. You don't forge legendary weapons and not know how to take care of yourself or have a deterrence at your disposal to keep potential enemies from exploiting and milking you for all your worth. Let's just worry about getting you three proper tools." She smiled, ruffling the three's hairs, much to their embarrassment.

A few more minutes in content silence, the Uchiha matriarch led them to a part of the village unfamiliar to them. It was near the Hokage Mountain, oddly enough, and the blond, even during his pranking days, couldn't recall ever seeing this place. The building stood at about two stories high, looked plain, and hanging from the roof were the symbols standing for "Muramasa's Weapon Shop."

Naruto breathed in and out and gathered the courage to walk in first. An audible bell sounded as soon as the doors were pushed open. Despite expecting such a display upon entrance, the three academy students couldn't help but marvel at the sheer sight. Everything from katana, wakizashi, rapiers, naginata, kodachi, staves, broadswords, bows and arrows, shuriken, kunai, and various other miscellaneous weapons of war kept their eyes glued to them.

"Wow…" Naruto said whistled in awe. There were armaments here to last a small battalion half a decade!

They heard shuffling in the back as an old man, about the same height as Naruto, slowly made his way toward the counter. It was clear that he was hunched over from old age. His eyes were narrowly open, as he wore an old faded blue kimono with a white beard. His expression seemed to be joyful once he laid eyes on their sensei.

"Ah! Mikoto-san," he softly greeted, his voice squeaking a bit. It was clear that he couldn't raise his voice another decibel even if he wanted to.

Mikoto smiled at him and bowed. "Muramasa-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you again. It's been a while," she replied cordially and respectfully. While the three nine-year-olds—well two on a technicality—were obviously confused that their sensei seemed to know a renowned swordsmith, they decided to inquire that particular query later out of respect.

"Indeed it has, Mikoto-san. What? Twelve, thirteen, years?" he pondered, scratching his chin.

"Fifteen, sir," she corrected with a smile.

"Ah, right, right," he waved her off. "You know how the mind gets when you get to be my age. Blah! I'm digressing. What can I do for you…or them, rather?" he inquired with a knowing glint in his eye.

"Well, I'm looking for weapons for these two," she pointed downward at the jade and cerulean eyed-children. Said children nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ah…and what of the young Uchiha, whom I'm to presume, is your son?" the aged blacksmith asked curiously. Sasuke was a bit creeped out at the old man's intuition, but Mikoto paid it no mind and kept her smile.

"Actually, he doesn't want a weapon," Mikoto explained.

There was a small twinkle in Muramasa's eyes again. "So he says…" he spoke softly with a small smirk. "Very well, then," he acknowledged, hopping off his seat. "What kind of weapons are the young ones looking for?"

"I'd like to see if you have any staves that fit me, sir," Sakura answered a bit shyly.

Muramasa nodded and turned to Naruto. "And you my dear boy, my guess would be you're looking at a sword, hm?" he asked rhetorically.

Naruto's eyes widened. How the hell did—?

"You've been eyeing them since you walked in, my dear boy; do not think too much into it. Just call me an old man who's highly observant," he grinned at the young man nearly eight decades his junior. Naruto returned his expression with a smirk of his own.

"Muramasa-san," Naruto began, "I'm looking for a kodachi…" He saw Muramasa nod in understanding, "but…I plan on switching to a katana when I…as sensei puts it…get taller," he grunted. That earned a snicker from his raven-haired best friend. Even if he was shorter than Naruto, that never got old. Mikoto and Sakura simply shook their heads.

"Hmm…" the blacksmith pondered. "So, it would seem you would want a kodachi for a length appropriate to the reach and height ratio, as well as the weight of the longer blade you plan to switch to in the future all in one," he observed.

The blonde wasn't even fazed by Muramasa hitting the nail right on the head. He simply bobbed his head in the affirmative.

The blacksmith allowed a husky chuckle escape from his lips. "Well, you're in luck…." Muramasa drew a blank as he blinked owlishly, finally revealing his chocolate brown eyes. "Oh, dear, I'm afraid I didn't catch any of your names," he replied, embarrassed he didn't ask before.

Mikoto palmed her face, berating herself at forgetting such a simple gesture "Sorry about that, Muramasa-sama. I'll let them introduce themselves."

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said aloofly. He wasn't getting a weapon, so why was he here?

"Sakura Haruno, sir," she bowed, blushing a bit.

"The next Legendary Ninja of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki, at your service!" Naruto grinned with thumbs up.

Muramasa's eyes went wide at the mention of Naruto's surname and his eyes turned sharply to the Uchiha Matriarch. A quick glare from her shut the blacksmith up right then and there. The look was an obvious "I'll-explain-later" glance.

He drew out a small hum. "Ah, what fine names," he complimented going back into business mode. "Now then, as I was saying, Naruto-san, you're in luck. Believe it or not, you're not the only one who's asked that request before."

Now the blonde was curious. "Really? Who else?"

"I believe his name was Hayate, if I recall. But, that's not important. Anyhow, I have several kodachi for whom they can choose."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like as if Naruto-kun doesn't have a choice in the matter."

Muramasa smiled. "Ah, yes, Sakura-san, you would be correct. You see, my weapons are special. The wielder doesn't pick the weapon. On the contrary, actually. The weapon picks the user," he sagely intoned while sparing a small knowing glance at the Uchiha scion.

"Um…okay?" Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that statement, but for now, he'd just quietly accept it for what it was.

Their sensei, on the other hand, had to shake her head. These three had a lot to learn. Thankfully, she was there to guide them every step of the way.

"All right, Naruto-san, come with me to the back. Why don't you three take a look around, see what you think you like," Muramasa told them, leading the young blond to the back of the room.

"Okay, Kaa-san, I'll admit, that guy's intuition is downright scary," he admitted with a shiver.

His mother actually laughed and patted her son on the head. "It's okay, Sasuke-kun. You'll get used to it. Muramasa-sama is older than Hokage-sama by at least a decade. He's as wise as they come," she praised.

"If you say so, kaa-san," he shrugged her off as he began to tour the shop with mild interest. Sakura, meanwhile, had decided to check out the staves. They were all intricately designed with various patterns of kanji of various meanings, illustrations, and the like. Above the staves was a red naginata. Curiosity got the better of the youngest of the golden trio and she ran her finger across the edge of the blade, delicately.

"Wow," she said looking at her index finger. There was a small cut where she had run her fingers along, and she began to bleed already.

"Those blades are extremely sharp, Sakura. Don't touch the edges," Mikoto warned, coming up behind her.

Sakura looked at her curiously. "Sensei…if these things are so sharp, why would you trust us not to cut ourselves when we train? I just ran my index finger across the damn thing and I bled."

Mikoto smiled at her. "You remember what Muramasa-sama said about the weapon choosing the wielder and not the other way around?"

Sakura frowned. "Yes….but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," she admitted.

"Well, Sakura, let's just say a weapon won't hurt its user…and leave it at that," she remarked cryptically.

The eight-year-old, going on nine, sighed. "That doesn't make any sense," she flatly replied.

"Muramasa-sama is a man of many talents, and this is one of them," she explained. Sakura groaned in frustration as her logical mind couldn't accept what Mikoto was telling her at all. She required hard, concrete evidence for any of this. However, she didn't want to argue with her sensei and simply chose to comply and keep her sanity.

Both females' eyes widened in a split second as they both ducked as a blade with a chain sickle attached to it flew right over their heads and embedded itself into the wall. Mikoto's eyes followed the chain back to its source….her son.

"Gah! Sorry!" Sasuke apologized profusely. Mikoto narrowed her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun! What the hell were you thinking?" the Uchiha matriarch scolded her youngest son. His pink-haired, younger companion sent a small glare toward him. Sasuke looked down in shame.

"Well…I was just looking at the weapons on this rack and as I initially thought…they weren't all that interesting to me…until I found this," he explained holding up said weapon to her.

Although still angry at her son's recklessness, her interest was piqued. "A kusarigama?" she blinked in surprise. "Of all the weapons you pick, a kusarigama is one of them?" She smacked her forehead. Things were complicated enough as is with two out of three of her pupils had elemental affinities which were completely foreign to her. Now her son had to pick a weapon she, admittedly, had little experience in?

The Uchiha scion sighed. "Yeah, I know, kaa-san, but…when I picked it up….it just felt…right. Like it belonged in my hands. So…by accident, to see how it feels, I threw it. You guys just so happened to be in the way." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Mikoto sighed and nodded in acceptance. No one said being a sensei was easy, did they?

Sakura couldn't help but smirk at him. "I'm happy and all for you, Sasuke-kun, but you do know what this means right?" If possible, her grin got even wider.

Sasuke groaned as realization dawned on him. Naruto would likely never let him live this one down. Once again, the blond proved to be right…again! Mikoto sent a smirk at him as if saying, "That's your punishment for your recklessness." The Uchiha sulked while his mother forcefully ejected the bladed weapon from the wall near her.

Sakura turned her attention back to the staves behind her. Now that she thought about it, she had the same problem as Naruto did. These staves were about twice her height. She was taller than the average girl for her age, and probably would give some guys a run for their money when she turned twelve. At the same time, though, these staves being that long did nothing to benefit her.

"Hmm?" she noted curiously as her eyes lay upon a silver staff. The rosette-haired girl ran her palms across its entire length getting a feel for it. She felt…bumps…ripples within the design, almost as if….

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Is this…adjustable?" she asked herself, picking it up.

"Indeed it is, Sakura-san," Muramasa spoke softly, coming up from behind her. Sakura jumped a bit, startled. "Force a bit of chakra into it and watch what happens."

She raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless complied with the old blacksmith's request. To her surprise, the staff started to shorten itself. She could hear the inner mechanisms inside the staff rotating and folding in on themselves until, finally, the staff was now no more than, by Sakura's rough estimate, a foot-and-a-half long. She blinked in surprise.

"Wow…" she uttered probably for the umpteenth time today. She then beamed at Muramasa. "Thanks, Muramasa-san! It's perfect!" she thanked and bowed graciously.

He smiled and waved her off. "It's not a problem Sakura-san," he insisted. "It's what I do for a living." He perked up as if remembering something. He crouched down under the tables as much as his feeble body would allow him and seemed to be going through some boxes. Standing back up, he presented Sakura with what seemed like a rounded, cylinder-shaped sheath with a strap buckle. It was about the size of the miniaturized staff Sakura had in hand. The pink-haired girl took it, blinking.

"This will allow your hands to be free when you go on missions. Just strap it on your lower back. I've obviously designed it so it can adjust to your waist size as you get older, but please, try not to grow too large, now," he advised with a giggle. Sakura laughed at the old man and bobbed her head.

"Ha! I win, Sasuke! Hey, Sakura-chan! What I tell you?" came and all-too-obvious voice. Naruto was grinning like a mad man as he was milking Sasuke's failure to stay true to his conviction for all it was worth. The blond had a kodachi strapped to his back. There was nothing truly special about it, save for its pitch-black handle and a strange, stone-like object attached to the bottom of the handle which blended in naturally with the color of the fabric covering the entire hand guard. Had Sakura not been eyeing the blade carefully, she would've easily missed it.

"You know…I decided to help your blond friend out more than I should've," Muramasa joked, giggling to himself to the only female of the golden trio.

"More than you should've?" Sakura asked, his humorous tone lost on her.

"Ah, I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he assured. "However, I did observe you eyeing the stone on Naruto-san's kodachi. To put it simple, it's a chakra core. Not in the traditional sense, mind you. That blade isn't designed for elemental affinities. Its only purpose is to increase the weight of the blade. It can even go further past the normal weight paradigms of the katana and other blade types."

Sakura blinked as realization hit her. "Wow…so not only can he have it weigh as much as a katana…he can increase the weight to go even further while he's training? If he gets used to all that weight and can use it decently…when he takes it off…." Sakura trailed off at the implications and shuddered a bit. Adding Naruto's reflexes into the batch potentially made him an extremely deadly swordsman.

Muramasa nodded and grinned. "If the boy takes up iaidō, I feel sorry for the poor soul who goes up against him when he grows up," he envisioned. 'A boy whose descended from both the Namikaze clan and the Uzumaki clan! By the gods, that's an utterly frightening combination,' the blacksmith thought with a shudder. Muramasa was a man who had little-to-no fears, but the idea of one child possessing the natural gifts of both legendary clans terrified a man of his status and prestige. He almost felt sorry for Naruto's future enemies. Poor bastards.

"Ah, I see," Sakura retorted, bringing the blacksmith back to reality. Mikoto, Sasuke, and Naruto came up to the two of them. Sakura rejoined her two best friends as they made idle conversation about their new weapons. The Uchiha matriarch smiled at them and walked up to Muramasa.

"How much?" Mikoto asked a bit lamely and directly. She inwardly winced. How could a woman of her stature forget her manners that quickly?

Muramasa stroked his beard in thought. "Well…normally all three of these weapons, plus their sheaths would be pretty expensive, but—"

"You mean they're on the house?" Naruto exclaimed, seemingly overhearing them.

"No," Muramasa said flatly, and the blue-eyed nine-year-old looked at him in horror. The late-responding octogenarian grinned at him. "What? I may like you three a lot, but hey, an old man has utilities to pay." A wave of disappointment shot over the bewhiskered jinchuuriki. His two friends patted his back in mutual sympathy.

Mikoto rolled her eyes. "I don't see why you're disappointed, Naruto-kun. You're not paying for it," she dryly reminded him. Naruto seemed to beam up at that, completely forgetting. She groaned aloud.

Muramasa silently shook his head at the antics. "It'll be about eight thousand ryou, Mikoto-san," he offered.

Mikoto blinked. "Wow…that's…cheap," she commented, unsure of what to say. She expected to pay triple that number, honestly.

"It'll pay my rent," he said offhandedly. Not one to turn down an inexpensive payment, Mikoto wasted no time at all and pulled out eight one-thousand ryou notes from her jounin vest pouches. Muramasa graciously took it as they both bowed to each other.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Muramasa-sama," she thanked cordially.

"Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine," he assured.

She smiled and turned back to her pupils. "All right, guys, you're officially owners of your respective weapons. You ready for training?"

"Hell yeah!" they chorused together, nearly bolting out of the door in excitement. She had to shake her head. Even with all their training and how mature they were for their age, they were still kids at their core. It was a fact that she was eternally grateful for.

Mikoto turned backed to Muramasa who had a deadly serious look on his face. Being as intuitive as she was, the Uchiha matriarch had a pretty good guess where their conversation was heading. She began to make preparations for a silencing jutsu, until Muramasa stopped her.

"That won't be necessary, Mikoto-san. This entire building has silencing seals. No one will be able to hear us," he allayed her initial concerns.

"So, you know, then," she uttered. It wasn't a question; just a statement of observation of fact.

The weapons smith actually scoffed. "Of course I do. Imagine my surprise when you brought Minato-kun and Kushina-chan's son into my weapons' store. How the vast majority of the village hasn't figured out something so utterly obvious, I'll never quite understand."

Mikoto looked amused. "Well, to be fair, you were one of the few to know about his birth, just as I was. You were the one who created Minato-kun's special tri-pronged kunai, after all."

"Right, right," he conceded with a huff. "But, even still…they're practically clones of each other. I digress. It's not something that we need to worry about. I already have a good idea of why you're not telling him about his heritage, so I won't even bother treading down that line." His eyes then narrowed. "You do realize just how much potential he has, correct?"

"I'm well aware of that," Mikoto replied. "So far, there have been no signs of it acting up. Not now or anytime soon."

"You're not referring to the Kyuubi," Muramasa observed, scratching his chin. Mikoto nodded in confirmation. "I see. Indeed, and let's hope so. Even if Naruto-kun wasn't a jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails, the amount of chakra and stamina he would possess would still dwarf all others. You're going to have to teach him how to control his reflexes."

"I know that, but he's been doing a damn good job at that, himself," the Uchiha matriarch smiled as pride in her pupil swelled within her.

"Be that as that may, it's only a matter of time before his neurons go haywire when he reaches puberty. His body will need to adjust to the change and he'll be thinking at paces almost to the level of the Nara clan. It was how his father was such a brilliant tactician."

Mikoto nodded, as this information was a bit new to her. "Will it be obvious?"

"It may…or it may not. Since Minato was the…." He paused a bit as if unsure if he should say that tidbit of information.

"The what?" she pressed him.

Should he tell her? Ugh. He'd settle for telling a half-truth as a compromise with his conscience. "The last of the Namikaze clan…he barely knew about it, himself," he lied…sort of. He hoped to the gods that whatever Minato left Naruto, it would be explained in full detail. "It affects different members of the clan differently. Hell, for all we know, we'll get lucky and his impulses and reaction times will transition smoothly when he reaches puberty. But, that's wishful thinking at best, so it's better to be prepared."

"I see," Mikoto neutrally responded. She was about to ask advice on how to prepare for it, but a nagging inquiry ate away at her. "Muramasa-sama…how do you know all this?"

He had a downcast look in his eyes. "Let's just say Minato-kun and I had an… interesting relationship…and let us leave it at that." She saw the pained look of grief in his russet-colored eyes. She frowned, feeling a bit guilty for likely bringing up a sore spot. "And to answer your next question on how to prepare for this, you simply need to take care and watch over him. That's really all that advice I can give."

She sighed. "All right. I understand." Her job was never easy.

He then looked at her, smiled, and waved her off. "Now, then, go. Your son needs you."

A wave of confusion swept through her. Her son needed her? "What? Sasuke-kun is—"

"Who said I was talking about Sasuke?" Muramasa rhetorically asked, smirking a bit. Mikoto's eyes went wide with shock.

"Don't even try to deny it, Mikoto-chan," he told her forcefully before she could even think about protesting. "I may be more intuitive than most, but even a blind man can tell you love that boy as if he were your own son, the Uchiha clan be dammed."

Mikoto bit her lip for a few seconds. She then sighed and nodded in confirmation. "I do, Muramasa-sama. Admittedly, at first, I partly took a liking to him because of my promise to Kushina-chan I made a decade ago, but…" she trailed off as tears rolled down her cheeks, not out of grief, but the emotional ecstasy she was feeling for her surrogate son.

"As you got to know him, you slowly forgot about that promise and you began to love him as if he were your own child," Muramasa reasoned, getting a reactionary agreement his way. "Hmm…I see. Am I to assume that the only reason you haven't told Naruto-kun this is because you feel that you would be trying to take the place of Kushina-chan."

Mikoto nearly choked on her own saliva as the old man had, once again, read her like a book. "I do," she admitted. "I don't want to trample on her legacy."

"It's perfectly fine, Mikoto-chan," Muramasa reassured her. "I think this was what she would want. Unfortunately, Kushina-chan is not with us to take care and love Naruto-kun. So, in short…that responsibility lies with you. You only recently retired from the shinobi ranks, so now, you have no excuses." He certainly was right there. Her duties to the clan and the village took a toll on her and she couldn't have raised both Sasuke and Naruto from birth without sacrificing one. Now that she was retired, she could correct all those wrongs.

"I know…I don't think he'll ever call me kaa-san…but he'll always be my son," she spoke with conviction.

"Ah, I don't think you'll have to worry about that. I think that time we'll be sooner than later," the blacksmith noted with a faint smile.

Mikoto let some more tears fall down her cheek and she nodded. "Thank you, Muramasa-sama, for the advice. I think I needed to hear all of that."

"If I didn't share my wisdom with you youngsters, I might as well drop dead," he huffed, causing the retired jounin to laugh. "Go on, now…your children are waiting." Mikoto didn't know it, but he was referring to all three of them.

"I know," she said, feeling free from worry. "I'll see you later, Muramasa-sama. I have a team of legendary ninja in the making to train." Without another word, the Uchiha matriarch turned on her heel and let herself out of the door.

Muramasa scratched his chin in wonder. "Naruto Uzumaki….Sasuke Uchiha…and Sakura Haruno. My, my, what an interesting trio you three are. Your road will be long and arduous." He then looked off into the distance. "Especially since he's still out there," he uttered in disgust and contempt.

With a heavy sigh, Muramasa turned to go to the backroom. What better way to keep him occupied then by making a few scimitars? He smirked to himself. Yeah, that sounded perfect.

(Present)

Sasuke gritted his teeth and stood up. "All right, Naruto, you're pissing me off about me picking this thing up. I'm tired of it, and now, I want a piece of you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as rested the kodachi on his shoulder. "You sure, Sasuke? You're still not used to that weapon," he said a bit cockily.

"Damn right, I'm sure," Sasuke insisted. "Time to kick your ass." Mikoto sighed, knowing that no matter what she did, there was no stopping them.

Naruto made a wide grin appear on his face. "All right, then, let's go, but…" he pointed his kodachi at Sakura, "just to make this interesting, Sakura-chan, you're in this, too."

The other female's eyebrows soared to the top of her hairline. "Really, Naruto-kun? A three-way battle? This is between you guys."

"No. I want you and Sasuke at the same time against me," Naruto declared, dead serious. Sasuke and Sakura looked at him in shock as if he had grown a second head.

"Ar-Are you serious?" Sasuke asked, unsure if he heard that right.

"Damn right, I am. Let's go!" Naruto affirmed, jumping backward a few meters and getting into a stance.

Sasuke looked back at Sakura. "He's just asking to get his ass kicked, isn't he?"

Sakura smirked and jumped up as well. She pulled her staff from its sheath, which was on her lower back horizontally. She surged a tiny amount of chakra through it and it grew to about her height within seconds. She spun it around stylishly and held it behind her in a stance. "Well, Naruto-kun, you asked for it."

Mikoto couldn't help but grin. She could already tell how this match was going to end. Naruto had been getting a bit cocky. It was time he tasted some humble pie.

There was a silence over the training field as no one moved a muscle as the three best friends stared each other down. The wind slowly picked up around them, blowing foliage and loose articles of clothing.

All of a sudden, Naruto threw a plethora of kunai and shuriken at the two. Sasuke jumped high in the air to avoid them, while Sakura blocked all of them by spinning her staff in a propeller-like motion.

Sasuke used his increased height to his advantage as he spun his kusarigama like a helicopter and aimed it at Naruto. Said blond didn't even have to dodge, as it missed its target completely. He grunted. 'Damn! I still have to work on my accuracy with this thing!' he thought in frustration.

Sakura, meanwhile, had rushed the blond and swung down. Her staff was blocked by his kodachi and he effectively had locked weapons with her. He was pushing her back, but Sakura was no slouch, not making it easy at all for the bewhiskered kid.

"Heh, Sakura-chan, when did you get this strong?" Naruto questioned, impressed she was holding him back like this.

"Same time you forgot about my most talented area," Sakura smirked. Realization dawned on Naruto as 'Sakura' started to vanish into thin air.

Were it not for his insane reflexes, Naruto would've been in for a world of hurt, as he narrowly blocked a kick from the girl that sent him flying backward a good twenty meters. The whisker-marked jinchuuriki found himself stunned. When the hell did Sakura get this tough? A frown adorned his features. He had truly underestimated her.

"Using a genjutsu to think I was fighting the real you. Clever, Sakura-chan," he praised while getting up. "I should've known you would never charge me head on without a plan."

"You know me, Naruto-kun, I always have a plan," she grinned at him. Naruto smirked and began a mad dash toward her, nearly catching Sakura off-guard. He was about to slash at her before a chain wrapped around his left arm.

"Nice work, Sakura," Sasuke smirked as he held Naruto's dominant hand in place. Sakura didn't verbally respond; she only dashed toward the blond and brought her staff down vertically. Naruto dodged on instinct, the attack hitting the ground instead, kicking up dust. Naruto cursed again. Sakura had once again used a genjutsu to hide Sasuke's presence. Of course, any chuunin and above could've seen through them with ease, but even still, they caught him off guard. She had never really used them in their spars before. Damn it! How the hell could he have gotten so arrogant?

His inner berating of himself was cut a bit short, as Sasuke threw the sickle at his best friend. Naruto instinctively dodged, yet again, and looked at him.

"You missed," he noted dully.

"Wasn't aiming at you," Sasuke smirked. Naruto looked up and saw Sakura throw two shuriken and aimed them at the torus-shaped openings of the chains in Sasuke's kusarigama. They embedded themselves into the tree behind him, effectively making him stuck.

The cerulean-orbed genin was trapped and he knew it. Desperate times called for desperate measures as he tossed his kodachi in his left hand. With all the might he could muster, the blond brought the sword down on his chains. It was a clean cut. His victory was short-lived as he saw the two going through very familiar hand seals.

His eyes widened. 'Oh, fuck me.'

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)," he heard them both call out as they both sent two large fireballs that seem to combine. Naruto flew through the hand seals himself and spent a great deal more chakra than necessary to simply match the sheer size of their combined Katon techniques.

Mikoto looked on in interest as the two fireballs struggled for dominance. While Naruto was effectively using what was akin to brute force, Sasuke and Sakura kept theirs cool, precise and in control. She shook her head. 'Your chakra coils aren't ready for that kind of force, Naruto-kun. You're overdoing it.' She thought disapprovingly. Oh, well. Some lessons were best learnt the hard way.

It didn't take long for Naruto's fireball technique to start to run out of steam as it grew smaller and smaller by the second while the combination attack from the Uchiha scion and the Haruno were dominating. The blond decided to cut his losses and simply let go and he was blown back into a tree….hard.

He groaned as he looked up and saw Sasuke and Sakura standing above him. The rosette-haired nine-year-old had her staff aimed at his neck. "I'm afraid you lose, Naruto-kun," she smiled sweetly. Sasuke smirked at him and offered a hand. Naruto took it graciously as his best friend helped him up.

They had heard clapping as their sensei came up to them with a serene and satisfied smile on her face. "Well done, Sasuke-kun, Sakura. You actually managed to best Naruto-kun in combat," she praised. Despite the fact that she knew the outcome of the match beforehand, it was still a tremendous achievement, in and of itself.

The raven-haired Uchiha and the rosette-haired Haruno both bowed toward Mikoto and she returned it. The blond, however, had a slight downcast look on his face. Mikoto noticed them and sighed a bit. It was his first loss, so he probably wasn't going to take it well.

"Naruto-kun," she spoke out, causing him to gaze up at her, "do you know why you lost, just now?" She didn't expect an answer in return. Predictably, Naruto stayed completely silent. Mikoto continued, "You have become too cocky and borderline arrogant, lately. Yes, you are the strongest member of the team, and no one is questioning that. However, that knowledge clouded your judgment. In the past, you've defeated them both while facing them at the same time, but that was simply because they were taijutsu matches. This was the first time they were allowed to use all of their skills.

"Despite this, you still took them on at your leisure as if you were facing them in hand-to-hand combat. Had you not underestimated them, you would've put up a better performance, and possibly even won. However, you didn't and you paid the price for it. I won't sugarcoat it: frankly, you got your ass handed to you."

The blond visibly cringed as his sensei laid it out completely on the table of why he had failed. He couldn't deny it all. He had become cocky, thought that the other two best friends couldn't hope to match him a battle, even together. Even if the sentiment was there only subconsciously, it still needed to be corrected. The blond nodded, finally humbled.

Naruto spun his blade stylishly and sheathed it with a clank. Sakura had to shake her head. The guy was still a showoff. She sighed and made her staff return to its normal foot-and-a-half length and sheathed it as well.

"Sorry about the chain, Sasuke, I couldn't think of another way to get free," he apologized.

"Don't worry about it. As long as the sickle is fine, it doesn't matter. The chain is replaceable," Sasuke assured waving the blond off. Naruto sighed in relief.

"All right, now that Naruto's lesson of humility has been learned, you three…how does lunch sound to you guys?" Mikoto inquired with a grin. She got a trio of knowing smirks as they all exclaimed in confirmation. She laughed as they made their way back into the Uchiha's estate.

Unbeknownst to all four of them, including Mikoto, Itachi sat in on a branch watching the display with a sense of awe and regret. This would be the last time either of them would have a 'normal' life. There was nothing he could do. The council had ordered the perpetrators of the coup be killed…tonight. No exceptions.

The Uchiha prodigy let out pained sigh. Today would be his last day as a member of the Hidden Leaf Village. He'd forever be on the run, effectively becoming a nomad in a sense. A thought ran through his mind of maybe leaving the entire continent and head west to start a new life. That idea was dismissed almost as quickly as it had become.

There was no way he could simply leave his brother behind and just hope whatever happened turned out for the best. Itachi grunted again. Those bastards had put him in a lose-lose situation…but he had no one but the clan to blame. For the sake of the village he would put a stop to this plot, once and for all.

He only hoped his mother and brother could forgive him….someday.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Hokage Tower, 2000 hours)

Hiruzen sat at his desk in deep, reflective thought. His eyes were closed and his breathing was concise and controlled, despite his heavy heart being filled with regret and melancholy. The smell of sake dispersed throughout the air. It was obvious to where the wizened Fire Shadow was taking his desires.

The Hokage's hands shook as he took another small swig. He cursed that he wasn't able to properly drown out his sorrows. The Uchiha clan would be wiped out tonight…probably little less than an hour from now. Or hell, they could be slaughtered at this very moment. He was already making plans to hire new shinobi for the police force. Unfortunately, that meant some chuunin and jounin who had retired 'early' would have to come back to active duty.

"It's sad to see you like this, Hokage-sama," a voice said in front of him, causing his head to jerk up. He recognized the character immediately, and he frowned.

"Itachi…" Hiruzen spoke softly as his eyes gazed toward the Uchiha prodigy. He then sighed and gave a downcast look. "Itachi, once again—"

"Stop apologizing. It's neither needed nor wanted," Itachi interjected and, while unintended, his voice came across a bit cold. "I simply wanted to send you my last regards before I complete this one…and final mission."

Hiruzen let out a huge breath. "I see. Well…what is it?"

"As you know, the perpetrators of the planned insurrection are nearly all male," he began. "I think you're smart enough to figure out the implications of this."

The Sarutobi clan head grimaced. "I know…After tonight, the Sharingan as a tool for Konoha essentially dies with them."

The cherished of the Uchiha bobbed his head in the affirmative. "Indeed. Despite the fact that most of my clan are traitors, they were extremely valuable assets. However, in that knowledge, my clan became arrogant…resentful…rightfully so, but resentful, nonetheless. They believed our fabled bloodline made them invincible, when, in reality, their overreliance made them weak. I lost all hope for this pathetic clan."

Hiruzen frowned. "Itachi…why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Hokage-sama…someone needs to know my last inner thoughts as a Konoha shinobi. You're the natural choice," he explained.

The Hokage interlocked his fingers. "You're a strange one, Itachi. One minute, you say you hate what the village has done to your clan, and in the next, you're lamenting on your hatred for their arrogance and pride. Explain this dichotomy to me." It was in one-part curiosity, and in another, he wanted the Uchiha elders to enjoy their last meals, if possible.

"Heh," Itachi huffed, seemingly amused. "Am I that hard to figure out, Hokage-sama? It's simple. I'm a realist and I see things for what they really are. Just because my clan has been wronged, does it take away from the wrongs they have done and will do, if I don't do this? That is why, when I eliminate these traitors tonight, the punishment will be twofold, for both sides of the equation. My brother will be the only one who will have the right to use the legacy of our clan."

The Fire Shadow's eyes widened in alarm at the implication of Itachi's words. "You mean, you're going to—!"

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Do you think I'm stupid, Hokage-sama?" he rhetorically asked in slight anger. "I know the minute the cleansing is over, Danzo will most likely try and secure a collection of Sharingan eyes. I refuse to let that kind of power be disgraced upon by such a foul extremist." The doted talent of his kinsmen then scoffed. "For that reason, I will destroy the eyes of every single traitor tonight, denying anyone the power of the Sharingan."

"Very well, then," Hiruzen agreed with a pained heart.

"Hopefully, Sasuke will rebuild the Uchiha clan into its former glory. In the unlikely chance that he doesn't….." he then sighed, "even I'm not completely lost in the ways of the heart." That brought a smile to Hiruzen's face, despite the grave situation.

Itachi then turned away from the Hokage. "For what it's worth Hokage-sama, it was an honor," he told the senior sincerely as a lone tear ran down his face.

"No, Itachi…the honor is all mine for having such a selfless ninja to serve under me," he replied back. "You're truly a diamond in the rough."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. Once I complete this mission, I'll leave the village immediately and head….somewhere. I don't know," he told him honestly.

"I will try to keep the ANBU off your back as discreetly as I can," the weary Fire Shadow promised. Itachi bowed his head in thanks and acquiescence.

"I will put the civilian females—what little we have, anyhow—to sleep. My mother is with her pupils eating dinner and training, so they won't be back for quite some time." The Fire Shadow nodded, yet again. "I bid you farewell, Hokage-sama, perhaps, for the last time, in person. If you do not live to see me again, then, perhaps, we can meet in the next life."

"It would be my pleasure, Itachi," Hiruzen told him with a heavy heart. "May the gods be with you."

"I pray they will, too," the Uchiha prodigy uttered before vanishing from the room completely, leaving the Sandaime Hokage to his own devices.

The Sarutobi clan head simply leaned back in his chair as he allowed the tears to freely flow, completely unashamed. He had just sent a fourteen-year-old kid to kill his own family. No matter how much he tried to justify it, the old monkey simply couldn't shake that feeling of guilt slowly eating at his conscience.

He hoped that he could atone for his sins in the next life.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Uchiha Clan Estate, 2100 hours, aka "Zero Hour")

Fugaku stared at the pale moonlight of the sky as he reflected on its beauty. It had been nearly a year. Nearly a whole year since he had that argument with his wife over their sons. It was funny how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. In an ironic twist, he had pushed away both his sons; either by choice or necessity, the clan head wasn't entirely sure himself.

In the end, he decided that he'd be able to give Sasuke and Itachi what they needed by bringing the Uchiha back to their glory days before they even joined this ungrateful village! In one week's time, they'd right the wrongs of the senile old monkey and his two advisors. The only thing that was left was—

His inner thoughts were cut off as he heard footsteps behind him. Fugaku turned around swiftly to see…nothing. His eyes narrowed as his Sharingan flared. "Come out, I know you're there."

Slowly, he saw his eldest son step out of the light, dressed in full ANBU gear with his Sharingan activated. He was staring just as frigidly toward his own father. "Itachi?" the clan head blinked in surprise, softening a bit. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission!" he asked a bit suspiciously, biting tone and all.

"On the contrary, father, I'm carrying out my mission right now," Itachi unemotionally replied as he stared right into the eyes of the man who he once looked up to as a role model. Now, all he saw was a madman who couldn't be bargained or reasoned with.

Fugaku's eyes narrowed at the proclamation. "A mission that involves the clan? What are you—?"

Itachi never gave him the chance to finish as he stabbed his ninjato all the way through his stomach and out through his spine, ensuring absolutely no chance of survival. The Uchiha clan head looked shocked as he looked at his son. He spit up blood to an apathetic hope of the Uchiha.

"I-It-Itachi…yo-you….bastard….traitor…" he stuttered out, coughing up volumes of blood with each pause.

"Truly ironic words for someone who wishes to seek glory for a clan that does not deserve it. Your actions and insurrection would've caused great instability on the entire continent, plunging us into war, yet again. I cannot and will not allow it. The rest of the clan who participated in this act of treason will follow your fate. What I do now is for the good of the village. Call me a traitor all you like, but it still doesn't change the fact that you are on the receiving end of my blade and will soon die. May the gods have mercy on your souls, for tonight…I shall not."

Fugaku looked at Itachi in pure hatred and anger, before the Uchiha heir pulled out two kunai and jammed them into both of his eye sockets. He covered his mouth to muffle his screams of pain. Simultaneously, he pulled both kunai out of his sockets and his ninjato out of his stomach and let his father's dead body fall to the floor.

Itachi began to walk away without, seemingly, a care in the world as he left for his next targets: the Uchiha Elders.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Konoha streets, 2130 hours)

"Aww man! That was totally delicious, Sensei!" Naruto grinned as mentor and pupils walked down the quiet and tranquil streets of Konoha. It was nine-thirty and most of the residents had already turned in for the night with the exception of a few.

"Glad you enjoyed it, Naruto-kun," Mikoto smiled at her surrogate son.

"We rarely go out in town to eat dinner, so it was bound to be special," Sakura reasoned with a giggle.

"Yeah, totally beats kaa-san's cooking," Sasuke snickered, which earned him a bop on the head from a slightly irate Uchiha matriarch.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun, you know, since I'm the only one who's nice enough to prepare your meals, I could stop that and let you fend for yourself. How does that sound, hmm?" she chimed sweetly, causing the scion to sweat bullets.

"No, no, no, no! I like your cooking, kaa-san! Best in the whole wide world!" he tried to smile, but it came out more awkward than anything.

Mikoto grinned at him triumphantly. "Damn right I am. Don't you ever forget it. Otherwise, I'll just have to let you starve," she joked. Sasuke simply grumbled, while his two best friends laughed at his expense.

As they were coming up to the gates of the Uchiha clan estate, Mikoto stopped cold. Naruto, who wasn't paying attention, bumped into her and nearly fell over. "Hey, Sensei, why did you stop?" he asked while looking up at her. The Uzumaki was taken aback by the look of dread on her face.

"No…." she uttered to herself, before turning to her three pupils. "Stay here," she said firmly. "Do not come in until I come back. Is that understood?"

"Kaa-san, what's going—?"

"Damn it, Sasuke, just do as I say!" she nearly yelled as she was nearly losing all of her composure. Her son gulped and nodded weakly as she kissed his forehead. Mikoto gave one last look at the three before she headed inside.

(Inside the Estate)

Itachi stabbed an Uchiha police officer in his jugular, blood oozing from his neck like a fountain as the prodigy severed the carotid artery. Itachi, once again, gouged his eyes out and crushed the soft organs as if he were cracking an egg. When he said he was going to deny Konoha the right for a non-Uchiha to use the Sharingan, he was not joking around. Every single corpse in the entire room had empty eye-sockets with the retinal blood vessels, the 'string' that attached to the back of the eye and sent information back to the brain, hanging from the empty holes still bleeding fresh blood.

Itachi opted not to use his Sharingan unless absolutely necessary. The bloodline allowed an Uchiha to memorize virtually anything with near perfect recall and accuracy. It was one of the main mechanisms that allowed them to copy jutsu and techniques and add them to their own arsenal. However, it was both a blessing and a curse. With such perfect recall akin to an eidetic memory, if they were to see a friend die in battle, they would recall that traumatic memory in vivid detail. Considering Itachi was slaughtering his own flesh and blood, he'd rather avoid having such detailed images of this particular night.

He wiped the blood off of his ninjato and began to walk through the estate, nearly satisfied. Not in what he done, of course. He was just thankful to the gods that it was now over. All of the clan members who tried to stage a coup and inadvertently plunge the continent into a fourth great war, were all dead. Not only dead, but any hope of recovering their eyes was all but impossible. He had destroyed them all. As of now, he and the Copy Ninja, Kakashi, were the only shinobi in the world who possessed the Sharingan. The task of rebuilding the clan into something respectable now lay with his smaller brother.

"I hope you can forgive me….Sasuke…mother…"

Itachi stopped cold as he felt a familiar chakra signature enter the estate grounds. His eyes widened a bit. He wasn't expecting her to be back so soon! Itachi sped off in her direction.

(-x.0.0.x-)

Mikoto Uchiha ran through the estate grounds, fear and dread consuming her entire being. She smelt blood…and a lot of it. "Fugaku!" she called out to her husband to try and locate him. She was met with silence. That was strange. There was no way in hell he'd be asleep. It was about three hours too early for that.

When she turned around the corner, her hear sunk to the absolute bottom of her stomach. There in front of her…was the body of Uchiha Fugaku. The ceramic floor was covered in blood, some of which had already dried up. It was clear as day: the Uchiha clan head was dead.

She slowly made her way to him as she struggled to stand up right. Her husband….the man she loved…was lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes had been gouged out and he had a single stab wound in the pit of his stomach. Her breathing came to a near halt as she saw the mutilated body that was once her spouse up close and personal. She finally collapsed on her knees near him and held his body, not caring about the blood getting on her.

"Fugaku…." She cried out, somehow hoping in a vain attempt that he would hear her. "Fugaku…." She repeated softly as tears fell down her cheeks and dripped into the sockets of his eyes, the saline liquid turning a shade of red as it mixed with the clan head's blood. "FUGAKUUUUUU!" she finally screamed out to the heavens as she cradled her husband's corpse in her arms and she openly wept to her heart's content.

The heartbroken and grief-stricken Uchiha matriarch's vision turned extremely blurry as she was nearly blinded by the amount of tears pouring out of her eyes. She was sniffing hard as her left nostril stopped up.

"It's a shame you had to find him in such a state…Mother." Mikoto was brought back to reality by a voice she was all too familiar with. She looked up to see her eldest son staring down at her with apathetic, cold, and lifeless eyes. The Uchiha saw that her son was covered in what seemed like fresh blood. Her eyes widened to their greatest extent in both shock and denial. Mikoto was nearly on a full-blown mental breakdown.

"No….no….no…you…couldn't have…" Mikoto shook her head in denial, once more. She refused to believe that!

Itachi closed his eyes and said, "I did. I killed him, Mother. He is joined by the Uchiha police force and the clan elders. I killed them all," he told her with chilling indifference. If it was even possible, her eyes elongated even further.

"Wh-Why…" She struggled to ask that inquiry, as the idea that Itachi committing patricide along with killing most of the police force was…inconceivable!

"It's quite simple, Mother," Itachi remarked with nary a hint of emotion in his tone, although, inwardly, his heart was shattering into pieces. 'If there are any gods out there, please forgive me for what I'm about to do,' he thought with bitter sadness. "I did it…as a test of the limits of my abilities," he smoothly lied, a fact that which scared even him. How the hell could he say that with a straight face? Was he a monster, after all?

"To test….your abilities," Mikoto repeated softly. A few seconds passed as rage entered her eyes that rivaled when she found out that Sakura's stepdad was molesting her. "TO TEST YOUR STRENGTH?" she roared with fury as she gently laid her husband's corpse to the ground. She looked at her son with absolute murderous intent. "How could you, Itachi? You thought that slaughtering the clan would be a reasonable litmus of your skills as a shinobi? What the fuck is wrong with you?" she shrieked.

The Uchiha's eyes widened once again when she felt three signatures enter the estate and headed her way. Oh, no…if he killed their father and the clan males, would he…? Absolute terror filled her entire being at the thought of her eldest….no…she couldn't even bare to call him her son, anymore. What he had just done was completely unforgivable.

"I won't let you lay a hand on those three!" Mikoto roared as she drew her kodachi, fully prepared to lay down her life just so they would live. She knew very well that she stood no chance in hell at beating him, let alone killing him. However, she'd be damned straight to Hell if she let her psychotic son lay a finger on the three of them without going through her first.

"Kaa-san/Sensei!" she heard the cries of her pupils—no, children— as they came around the corner. The fallen hope of the Uchiha looked at all three of them with apathy.

Sasuke stopped cold when he saw his father's dead body. "Father!" he cried out and was about to dash toward him, before Mikoto stopped him.

"Stop, Sasuke-kun! You three need to run! Itachi has betrayed us all! I'll hold him off as long as I can!" she vowed, keeping a close eye on her eldest son. All three of their eyes collectively widened in disbelief. Itachi….betrayed them? They all looked at the body of Fugaku and it all clicked together. Itachi had killed his own father! Naruto clenched his fists. Sakura covered her mouth in absolute horror.

"Hold me off, you say?" Itachi asked, seemingly amused as he walked slowly toward his mother. "When will you fools realize that my power…" he blurred out of sight and then appeared behind Mikoto, "far outclasses yours."

Mikoto stood shell-shocked as she looked downward toward her chest. As if time had slowed down, she could see the diagonal cut across her chest slowly tearing the fabric of her jounin vest in half, reaching all the way toward her shoulders. A red liquid started to drool from her mouth. A vast amount of blood was spewed from her shoulders that rained on the ceramic floor like a fountain. Mikoto's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell unconscious on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Now, there stood no barrier between Itachi and her three children.

"KAA-SAN/SENSEI!" all three collectively cried out in horror and shock. Itachi turned towards the trio who were glaring at him with complete and utter fury. If looks could kill, Itachi would've been further than six feet under.

"It seems that my power wasn't worth testing on this weak and pathetic clan. How sad," he uttered in a regretful voice. "Instead of wasting your pitiful anger and hatred on me, why don't you try in a vain attempt to save your sensei?"

"You bastard! How could you do that to your own mother?" Naruto roared as his eyes were shifting from cerulean to crimson.

"What I did tonight….was to preserve the peace. Their deaths will guarantee that peace," he spoke cryptically. It was obvious that the three were so enraged that they barely heard him. "I did not strike her vitals…but if you don't hurry, she'll bleed. I have high hopes for you three in the future. Don't disappoint me," he told them. 'So then, I can atone for what I have done tonight by your hands. It would seem fitting…poetic, even, but that time will come. I will just have to wait for it.'

Sasuke charged at his brother with the intent to kill, but the moment his fist was about to connect, it was met with air. Itachi Uchiha had vanished. "Come back, Itachi!" Sasuke cried out to the heavens in vain as he collapsed to his knees and felt tears roll down his cheek.

"Sasuke-kun! Pull yourself together! We have to save Mikoto-sensei!" Sakura cried out as she ran over to the unconscious adult. Her vest was the only thing keeping her from bleeding faster, but it was only a matter of time before she'd bleed to death.

Sasuke nodded and he and Naruto both, carefully lifted the Uchiha matriarch into a position where she wouldn't bleed out on the journey toward the hospital. Satisfied that their sensei was secure, the three leapt off with their master in silence.

They all knew it. Tonight, their lives had changed again. Forever.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Kumogakure, 3rd District, 1200 hours, one week later)

Obano stood as his young pupils sat a bit aloofly as they stared at their sensei while he gave them a debriefing. It'd been about a month or so since they had returned from Yuki no Kuni and everything had continued as normal as possible. It seemed that their plans were about to move up in dates.

"So…" Omoi began with a slight smirk on his face, "it seems everything is going better than expected and we take over the village in less than a week? Well, I'll be damned."

The Emerald Fang nodded. "Indeed. We even have the Black Lightning heir on our side now," he revealed. As expected, the two females' eyes bulged out of their sockets, while Omoi simply regarded the revelation with dull surprise.

"Wow…I thought he was the Raikage's right hand man." Karui mused aloud, a bit shocked and disturbed. Hideyoshi-sama was good; that much she had no doubt about, but to be able to swing over, arguably, the top shinobi in the United Cloud to their side?

The vaunted and feared jounin only let out a huff. "Was the right hand," he corrected the redhead. "Let's just say the Raikage betrayed even him. Now, he wants revenge, so he reasoned to join us."

Omoi snorted and crushed the lollipop in his mouth, sucking on the flavor left on the white stick. "Don't lie to us, Sensei. You and I both know damn well that there had to be something in it for him. Darui is a proud jounin who's known to have no political allegiance. Hideyoshi-sama obviously offered him something of high value. What that was, I frankly don't care. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that he's joined the right side, but don't sit here and try to say Darui joined solely for revenge. If anything, he'd probably outright try and kill the Raikage for whatever transgressions that he wronged him by."

Obano had to smile. That was Omoi for you; always seeing things for what they really were. Of course, him growing up on the streets had to have a lot to do with it.

"Indeed, you are correct," Obano nodded. "In fact, I'm one of the few to make sure that our part of the deal holds up."

"You mean, in case it fails and he turns on you?" Samui noted offhandedly. The jounin raised an eyebrow. Since when did his students get so intuitive? The blonde scoffed, seeing the puzzled expression contorting on his face. "Don't be so surprised, Sensei. You're the one who taught us to think and read between the lines. I'm starting to think you adults don't expect much out of us, in terms of lateral thinking."

"So, I see your point," Obano conceded. It just went to show that even he didn't know them as quite as well as he wished. It was still a learning process. He had as much to learn as they did.

"I still wonder, though," Karui said out loud, curiosity taking her tone. It was clear she was changing the subject, much to Obano's delight, "how the village will be like once Hideyoshi-sama takes over as Raikage."

It took everything in Obano's willpower to keep a complete straight face. 'They still believe that Hideyoshi-sama will be the Raikage after the coup? Wow…' He was then inwardly snickering to himself. 'Well, at the very least, I'll have that over their heads once everything comes full circle.'

"It will be…interesting, won't it?" Obano rhetorically countered, neither really confirming nor denying her statement about the Ultranationalist leader.

"Hey, can we get some last minute training in? I want to be at my maximum before I spill some UC blood," Omoi hissed with venom with his two teammates nodding in agreement with hatred in their eyes.

"A bit bloodthirsty, are we?" the jounin retorted in amusement. He was now certain that the trio wouldn't feel the slightest bit of remorse at killing any who supported the Raikage in any fashion. 'Good,' Obano dwelled a bit evilly.

"Very well, then. I have somewhere to be, so, in the meantime," Obano clapped his hands together as if he were praying. Small green crystals—obviously, made of emerald—started to coat his entire body as if it were a shell. After a few seconds his entire body was covered in the reveled mineral.

"Rock on, sensei," Karui joked, earning chuckles from her teammates.

"Laugh it up, Karui," Obano snorted before concentrating. He squeezed his arms together as if he were trying to bear hug a person, and he "shed" the emeralds from his body as they fell to the floor, piece by piece creating a large echo in the room. He stepped back from the pile and made a ram seal.

Omoi had to watch in fascination. No matter how many times his sensei did this, it was still pretty damn cool in his book. He made an uncharacteristic grin. The pile of scattered jade-colored minerals seemed to be drawn into a larger pile as if they were being sucked up by an unknown force. Slowly, but surely, the crystals began to pile on top of one another and began to take shape…into a man. Standing there was a perfect replica of their jounin sensei.

"Ah, I'll never get tired of seeing you do that, Sensei," Omoi admitted with a grin.

"Yeah, it's pretty convenient when I have to meet with Hideyoshi-sama and still want to keep you guys on your toes, " Obano replied, returning his pupil's expression.

"So…how much chakra you put in it, this time?" Samui asked.

"I'm standing right here you know, and I prefer not to be called an it," the doppelganger snorted. Samui simply rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

Obano ignored him. "It should be enough to last about four or five hours. I doubt you'll be able to destroy him."

Omoi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is that so?" he inquired in a challenging tone.

The jounin smirked at him. "Damn right, it is," he retorted confidently. He looked at the clock. "Anyhow, I must be on my way. Can't be late. Otherwise, Hideyoshi-sama might kill me." All three shinobi present knew he wasn't using his latter statement as the everyday common expression, and he meant it, literally. They nodded collectively, and the jounin vanished in a blur of raw speed.

Meanwhile, the doppelganger got an evil grin on his face. "You know, since you guys called me an it, I think I should make your training extra brutal today," he said while cracking his knuckles. All three, including Omoi, gulped.

"You just had to insult the clone, didn't you, Samui?" Karui snarled with sarcasm. Samui groaned in frustration. She couldn't wait till their real sensei got back.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Kumogakure, 4th District, Darui's residence, 1215 hours)

"Are you sure about this, brother?" Ayasaki asked for what seemed like the millionth time already. Darui had finally told Ayasaki about the betrayal of the Raikage and what Hideyoshi and his cronies—which, if this worked, he'd become one, ironically—offer to save the, now, fourteen-year-old girl. To his immense surprise, his sister took it well, having never really trusted the Raikage in the first place. The Lightning Shadow was cutting losses and burning bridges that couldn't be rebuilt. Even if his sibling wasn't a factor, the Black Lightning heir wouldn't have felt a shroud of sympathy for the man. He, along with the rest of the United Cloud, brought this on themselves.

"Yes, Ayasaki," he replied dully, "it's the only way. The Raikage's doctors won't save you. That much, I'm sure of. If anything, they'd make your disease worse…like they did with those supposed pills they gave me," he growled with venom. He decided to experiment and stop giving his sister the pills just for the final litmus test of Hideyoshi's words. Sure enough, she faired far better than usual, actually able to stand and walk around normally, even if only for an hour or so. He kept her neurological disease at bay by surging lightning chakra through her entire nervous system, just as the sodaisho had done.

Thinking about the BOLT commander was a sore spot for the jounin. He hadn't seen him well over four months. Darui then sighed. 'Probably too busy making sure the village is safe,' he thought bitterly. He hoped he didn't have to face the Hayasaka in combat when the Ultranationalists took the village by force. That gap in power between them was probably about as large as the entire village was and then some.

"I know," the dark-skinned girl solemnly replied after a pregnant pause. "Brother…I knew you promised to become one of them to save me but…" she bit her lip, "could you promise me that you'll always do what you feel is right and not just blindly follow their orders?"

Darui nodded without hesitation. "Believe me…I will. I won't become a monster, sis." He gave her a smile and thumbs up. Ayasaki beamed at him and gave him a tight hug. Inwardly, though, the jounin felt conflicted. Could he really keep that promise? He had promised Hideyoshi, essentially, his mind, body, and soul if he could save his sister. Which was worse? Breaking a promise to your sibling who you loved more than life, itself? Or breaking the promise to the person who saved your sibling from certain death, who then wouldn't have a promise to begin with? Ugh! Life truly wasn't as black and white as the fairy tales made it out to be.

A knock on the door broke his inner dwellings. He sighed. "They're here," he noted dully as he sat up without another word. Ayasaki frowned slightly, but simply lay back down on her pillow.

Darui walked through his living room at a slow and even pace, not wanting to dawdle or feel overtly anxious or nervous. He did a quick intake of breath and slowly turned the knob on his door. As expected, the Ultranationalist leader stood in his doorway and behind him, five medical shinobi. Oddly enough, every single one of them was female.

"Good afternoon, Darui," Hideyoshi began cordially and he received a slight nod in return. "Shall we come in?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow. The Black Lightning heir bowed his head in acquiescence and stepped to the side. The Akechi clan head bowed back slightly as he and his team of medical shinobi stepped into his humble abode. As the last med-nin came in, he was about to close the door before a force stopped him.

"Damn, Darui, going to close the door on me like that? I'm hurt," Obano grinned as he stepped into the house.

"Obano!" Darui blinked in complete surprise. Okay, he totally wasn't expecting that one.

The jade-eyed jounin smirked at him. "Come on, now. After all these years, is that how you greet your old teammate? That stings, bro," he faked being hurt.

Darui couldn't believe it. Obano Kouseki was here, after all these years. He hadn't seen him personally since the day the Sandaime Raikage…his eyes widened a bit and then became solemn.

"Look, Obano, about when sensei—" he began, before the Emerald Fang interjected by waving him off.

"Don't worry about it, Darui. I've long since gotten over the fact that Sensei chose you to teach his prized techniques to," he told him honestly. "I can't really blame you for a decision he made. Plus, in hindsight, those techniques really wouldn't have fitted me. Black Lightning and emeralds kind of clash, don't you think?" he grinned and covered his arm in the verdant mineral for emphasis.

"Heh," Darui smirked. "I guess you're right. I never expected you to join…Hideyoshi…" He refused to add the "-sama" suffix until his sister was cured. Obano winced a bit at the disrespect, but let it slide for now.

"A lot has happened over the past twelve years, Darui. I'll tell you what happened…but not now. We have to save your sister first," he intoned, brooking no room for argument. Although the dark-skinned jounin was still curious about what exactly happened to his old teammate and rival, his sister had to come before his inquisitiveness.

Darui seriously nodded, before the two old teammates began to walk over to where Hideyoshi and his team were setting everything up. The medic-ninja were drawing a five point pentagram on his wooden floor with some type of strange paint.

"Um…what are they doing?" Darui asked bluntly.

"Ah, apologies about the floor, Darui, but this seal will be the most effective way to treat her. I'm sure a few marks on the floor is a small price to pay," the Akechi clan head explained. Darui sighed and then bobbed his head. "I hope your sister doesn't feel….uncomfortable."

"Why?" Darui inquired a bit edgily.

"She'll have to be naked for the process to work, Darui-san," one of the med-nin, presumably the head one, explained.

'I see. So that's why he didn't bring any male doctors here, just so my sister wouldn't feel violated. Heh, I guess you might not be so bad, after all,' Darui approvingly thought. He nodded. "I'll explain to my sister when I fetch her." With that, he went back to her room to get her prepared for the lengthy process.

Obano took his chance to walk up to his leader. "Hideyoshi-sama…how confident are you that this will work?"

The Ultranationalist leader chuckled, seemingly amused at the preposterous assumption. "I know it will. By the end of it, Ayasaki will be free of this neurological disease and we will have another brother among our ranks." His voice dripped with confidence, as if he had absolute faith in the five females who sat cross-legged at each of the five points of the pentagram. "Have a little faith, would you?"

The Emerald Fang nodded and stepped toward the back of the room. Darui soon came back out with his sister, barely walking as is, in a bathrobe to cover her naked body. Although a bit shy, Ayasaki was not about to pass up the chance to be free from this hell by being a prude. One of the nurses gently took her from Darui's hand and led her to the middle of the intricate shape carved out in the floor. As the girl disrobed, all three males in the room averted their eyes out of respect for the fourteen-year-old's dignity. She now laid flat on her back, naked as the day she was born.

"Ayasaki-san, we will not lie to you: this will cause a lot of discomfort, if you have to scream, don't hesitate to do so," the head nurse told her. Although not thrilled at the idea of being in pain, she swallowed hard and simply nodded in compliance. The nurses bowed to each other and began to go through various hand seals in sync with one another. They all stopped on ram and began to chant words in a language neither Darui nor Obano could understand. The pentagram seal started to glow a bright lime color and it seemed to 'lock' down the dark-skinned girl, as the seal appeared on her navel. On the five points on the seal on her navel, lines of green chakra traveled back at their respective points on the larger seal on the floor.

"You think this will work?" Darui asked with a frown, his eyes squinting a bit at the bright light the chakra was giving off.

"It will," Obano assured. "Have a little faith." How ironic. He was saying the exact same words Hideyoshi had told him, a few minutes prior.

The Black Lightning heir sighed and nodded dumbly. "I just wish the sodaisho was here to see this," he said more to himself than anything. Obano nearly choked on his saliva at the mere mention of the BOLT commander. Darui was none the wiser.

Ayasaki started to grunt in pain as the green chakra started to surge through her nervous system. Her moans of anguish alarmed her older brother, but he was stopped by the green-eyed jounin who shook his head. Noticing that the girl's screams were only going to get louder, Hideyoshi immediately performed a sound barrier technique.

Not even a second later, the dark-skinned brunette screamed to the top of her lungs as the chakra overflowed through her. Her nerves felt like they were on fire and the nurses were doing little to alleviate the agony she was feeling. Despite expecting her to shriek at such a high volume, even the medic-ninja couldn't help but wince.

Darui had to force himself to turn away. He couldn't stand to watch; otherwise he might have stepped in and stopped the process prematurely. He felt his fellow revered comrade grip his shoulder reassuringly. The ashen-haired jounin, somehow, calmed down after this action.

After a few minutes of hearing his younger sister's wailing, she finally calmed down as the green chakra started to return to the seal on the ground. With one final bright shine, there was an audible chime in the air. The seal on the floor started slowly vanishing akin to sand being blown by the wind. Ayasaki was breathing heavily as the nurses put her robe back on to cover her up. She sat up on her own, wordlessly panting.

"Did it work?" Darui asked, frozen in place, strangely, by his mounting anxiety. He stared at his sister who gazed at her hands in wonder. She briefly looked at her older brother and smirked. Without warning, she pulled a kunai from the pouch of one of the medical-nin and threw it straight at her brother. His eyes widened as he dodged, barely, as it embedded itself in the wall….by Obano's head. The Emerald Fang raised an eyebrow as his eyes shifted to the kunai that could've killed him, without turning his neck.

"Does that answer your question, nii-san?" Ayasaki asked, giggling. Darui blinked, while the Akechi clan head smirked.

"It would seem that you five have succeeded, so well done," Hideyoshi praised the five medical shinobi who bowed deeply from the compliment.

"Nii-san!" Ayasaki cried, standing up straight and jumping up and down in place. "I feel so great! I can move so freely!" She made her point by jumping to a nearby wall and sticking to it. All of her training before she fell ill was coming back to her. She was laughing in joy as she bounced around the entire apartment complex…literally. "Now, you can go back to training me and showing me all those techniques!" she excitedly envisioned.

Darui was in such a good mood, and all he could do was give her teary-eyed thumbs up. "Of course, sis, no problem," he choked out in joy. His sister was cured. His sister was actually cured! That statement seemed to repeat in his mind over and over again.

Ayasaki grinned and hopped down from the walls and ran into her room. Not even a minute later, she came out dressed in full shinobi garbs, from when she was a genin. Darui felt a wave of nostalgia hit him as he saw her in the outfit.

"Nii-san! I'm going to explore the village. I won't be back until after a while, okay?" Ayasaki told him as she couldn't shake the feeling of excitement. She could run, jump, and be a shinobi again! She was about to run out the door before she stopped in front of the Akechi clan head. Then she did the last thing everyone expected: she embraced him tightly. Seven pairs of eyes widened to their greatest extent in shock. Did this girl just have the gall to actually hug the leader of one of the most ruthless organizations in the entire Elemental Nations?

"Thank you so much, Hideyoshi-sama. I will never forget what you've done for me," she thanked as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. While at first disturbed a bit by the contact, the Ultranationalist leader's face softened a bit, before he—awkwardly, even—returned the girl's embrace.

"You're welcome, Ayasaki. My goal from the very beginning was always to right the wrongs of those who were betrayed by the Raikage," he informed her with an awkward smile. Obano found it extremely weird seeing his master actually trying to smile. Ayasaki growled at the mention of the Raikage, vengeance swelling up within her.

She let go of him and clenched her fists. "I'm going to kill that bastard," she hissed.

"No…you won't," Darui intoned, looking at her sternly. "That is my prerogative…not yours." His tone brooked no room for argument. The newly-cured kunoichi simply scowled, but said nothing further. Her brother then smiled at her. "Now, then, don't you have a village to explore?" She beamed at him, before heading out the front door and taking off to the rooftops without a second thought.

With his sister finally gone, the Black Lightning heir dropped to his knees and bowed as low as he possibly could at the Ultranationalist leader's feet. "I cannot thank you enough…Hideyoshi-sama," Darui intoned deeply in absolute gratitude. Strangely, to the student of the Third Raikage, saying that actually felt…right. Hideyoshi smiled evilly. Obano smirked, too.

"Do not think anything of it, Darui," Hideyoshi waved him off. "It was only right of me to cure your sister when I had the ability to do so." This was actually true, for the most part. Something about that girl, the clan head couldn't help but feel sympathy for. Hell, he never showed that kind of kindness to Akira and she was his own daughter!

Darui nodded and raised his head up, still on his knees. "I am yours to command," he spoke without hesitation.

"Good…so, then, I must tell you, now. We take the village within one week," he told him suddenly. Darui's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he stood back up in astonishment.

"One week? How the hell do you plan to do that? You have to deal with the Raikage, Killer Bee, and Yugito, and, not to mention, all of BOLT! Do you truly have shinobi capable to pull this off? I mean, I'll help and all, but…." To Darui, it seemed as if they were walking into a slaughter.

Hideyoshi had to maliciously grin, yet again. "Darui, let me tell you about a certain organization called…Akatsuki."

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Amegakure, three days before the revolution in Kumogakure, 1400 hours)

Rain fell on the leader of Akatsuki as he watched water descend from the heavens to the land he ruled with an iron fist. His hypnotic, vortex-shaped pattern in his eyes held no emotion—only true and raw power. He felt a presence behind him.

"What is it, Konan?" he intoned emotionlessly and evenly. He didn't even turn around toward the blue-haired female. She wore a standard Akatsuki cloak and had an aqua-colored flower in her hair. It did nothing to match her grey-colored irises.

"It seems as that we're finally needed to complete the task set out before us by the Ultranationalists. They have both payments, ready and in full," Konan replied simply and directly to the point.

"I see," the leader said, hopping up from the ledge upon which he sat. "Very well, then. We shall move out and head towards the Hidden Cloud at dawn. Tell Kisame, Sasori, and Kakuzu to head that way and meet us there."

"Nagato…" Konan spoke softly, "are you taking all of the Paths?"

The leader, presumably named Nagato, actually scoffed. "Of course I am. The Raikage deserves nothing less than to feel the entire wrath of God for his sins. In the future, do not ask such foolish inquiries."

Konan simply nodded. "As you wish, Nagato," she retorted submissively and took her leave. She left the shinobi with a messianic complex to his own devices.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Outskirts of Kumogakure, Ultranationalist base, hours before the Coup)

Hideyoshi, Obano, and Darui stood in the middle of a meadow waiting for the members of the organization to arrive.

"So…you're sure that BOLT will not interfere?" Darui had to ask for the umpteenth time. Despite being genuinely fully committed to what was about to take place in the next couple of hours, he was still a bit nervous about the entire thing.

Obano rolled his eyes. "Relax, Darui. We've got everything under control. You won't see any interference from those guys."

"And the sodaisho?" Darui inquired a bit solemnly.

Hideyoshi smirked. "He's already been taken care of." Darui's inner shock barely registered, for, before he could ask him to elaborate, they felt five chakra signatures. The Emerald Fang and the Black Lightning heir were on full alert, just in case things went south.

"Ah, you're here," Hideyoshi stated the obvious. Five figures appeared in the meadow all dressed in the exact same outfit. All three of the Kumo shinobi present recognized most of them instantly.

"Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasori of the Red Sands, and Kakuzu," Obano noted with a bit of an edge to his voice. He knew he was good; that much he was certain of, but these guys were S-ranked criminals that even he had to take precautions with.

"Well, well," a dark-skinned man intoned amused. He had on a white hood and a black mask, with his eyes being the only visible part of his face. His eyes were truly the most striking with green irises, red sclera and no pupils, "I'm honored the Emerald Fang of the Hidden Cloud knows of me so well. You have quite the bounty on your head as does the heir to the prestigious Black Lightning. How interesting. Both apprentices of the Sandaime Raikage in my presence?" Both of them growled a bit, but said nothing.

"Don't scare the little twerps, Kakuzu," a large man with light blue skin and gills on his neck bemusedly chided. He had a large sword on his back, easily almost as wide as he was. He made a wide grin that showed off shark-like teeth.

"Kisame….Kakuzu…once again you prove you have no respect for true art." This time the voice came from a man who was more scorpion-like in appearance, and he was shorter than the rest, although it was clear he had a hunched back, upon further glance.

"Quiet, all three of you," Nagato intoned as he and Konan appeared before Hideyoshi. He was using the same body, the Deva Path that Hideyoshi had met a year prior. Konan, like always, kept silent as she watched her Leader negotiate with the Ultranationalist leader.

"I see. You have a distinguished crowd of shinobi serving under you….?" Hideyoshi trailed off, not sure what to call him.

"Pein," he spoke simply. "You may call me Pein. Now, then, what is your plan?"

"I see," Hideyoshi acknowledged neutrally. "Very well, then. It's simple: we resort to open warfare. All the shinobi on our side will know not to attack you. We will simply kill all members of the Virga and the United Cloud. You will take out the Raikage, as planned. Obano will help one of your subordinates take down Yugito as he has a similar contract with felines. She shouldn't be too bad. However, Killer Bee lays the main threat. He's extraordinarily powerful. I doubt even I could kill him in a fair fight," the Akechi clan flat-out admitted.

"Oooh, sounds like a challenge," Kisame grinned with excitement. Pein and Hideyoshi ignored him, but took note of his interest.

"Your plan sounds interesting," Kakuzu had to admit, "but I see a problem. Why would the village side with you after openly declaring war, essentially?"

Hideyoshi gave him an evil smirk. "There have been machinations that have been going on behind the scenes, my friend. You truly underestimate how many people truly hate the Raikage. He doesn't have many friends, if any. Just throw a little controlled chaos, play on their hatred, and you have those who will support a mutiny, even if they didn't know about it ahead of time."

"I see," the bounty hunter-nin scoffed.

"I'm heading toward the hospital," Darui declared as murderous intent filled his entire being. He was going to make sure each and every one of those bastards who gave him the medication for his sister suffered a long and agonizing death. Hideyoshi nodded to him, and Darui vanished. They knew he wouldn't start anything prematurely until the operation had begun.

"Kisame…Kakuzu…go after the Eight-Tails," Pein ordered. "Bring him back alive, understand?"

"Can I cut off his legs, Leader-sama?" Kisame asked hopeful.

"Do as you wish, as long as the jinchuuriki remains alive for extraction," he detachedly replied. Hideyoshi looked a bit alarmed. Extraction? Did they plan on releasing the two tailed-beasts? A smirk brought itself on his face. Ah, well, the problem of resealing them was their problem, not his.

Kisame grinned as both he and Kakuzu set out to find Killer Bee. Now, the only people left in the meadow were Konan, Pein, Obano, Hideyoshi, and Sasori.

"Konan….when the operation begins, assist their subordinates in rallying the population to join in on the revolt," Pein told her. Although truthfully he didn't care if the coup succeeded or not; they needed the jinchuuriki badly. Speeding up the process could only help them in the long run.

"As you wish," she submissively conceded. Her entire body started peeling apart into what appeared to be paper. Each individual piece of paper then folded in itself, turning into an origami bird, which flew off into the distance as a flock.

"Sasori….go with the Emerald Fang and capture the two-tailed beast," the orange-haired leader told the master puppeteer. Sasori bowed to his leader and Obano nodded toward his temporary ally. The jade-eyed jounin sped off in the opposite direction, keen on finding Yugito's hideout. Sasori wasn't too far behind, his stature not at all having trouble following the panther summoner.

"I shall lead you to the Raikage," Hideyoshi offered toward the Akatsuki leader who looked at him and smirked.

"Really? Aren't you already there?" Pein rhetorically asked. Hideyoshi's eyes widened in shock. "Don't be surprised, Hideyoshi. You cannot hide anything from God. My paths will attack as soon as you give the signal."

'Hideyoshi' nodded a bit nervously as it vanished into white feathers. Pein stood as still as a statue as he waited.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Raikage's Tower, 1st District, a few minutes earlier)

Killer A stood watch over the village that his father had passed on to him to protect. His fists were clenched as a wave of regret and remorse swelled within his being. As much as he hated to admit it, they had won. The Ultranationalists had fucking won! The Virga and United Cloud were a dying ideology, and he knew it. All of those bridges he had burned, the people he had betrayed…it was all for naught. In the end, the gods above decided to favor those bastards.

"Well, well, if it isn't Killer A wallowing in self-pity?" a familiar voice mocked from behind him. He turned around and glared daggers at the man in front of him: the Akechi clan head.

"Hideyoshi…you bastard," he spat venomously.

The clan head seemed amused. "Oh, I'm the bastard, huh?" He then glowered at the man who didn't even deserve the title of Kage. "Coming from a guy who was going to sacrifice Ayasaki for the sake of Darui's loyalty, that's rich."

A looked at him in complete shock, completely flabbergasted. "How'd do you—?"

"You moron," he insulted in disgust, "did you really think you'd get away with sabotaging his sister's health? There are some lows even I'm not willing to stoop to, and yet, you crossed the line multiple times, and yet, we're the genocidal psychopaths? What hypocrisy." An evil sneer contorted on his face. "But, you know what…? Darui is on our side now."

A actually slammed his fist on the desk, causing it to split in half as his temper flared. "You lie! Darui would never join you!"

Hideyoshi simply shook his head. "Of course he wouldn't…well, not under normal circumstances, anyhow. But, when I offered to save his sister, he couldn't refuse. Guess what? I did. His sister is free from her disease, all thanks to me. He belongs to us, now." A's eyes widened to their greatest extent.

"You were a fool. Had you been thinking, you would've offered to save her. You had the means to do so. However, you foolishly tried to kill her, instead. Had you made the order to cure her of her ailment, Darui's loyalty to you would've been tenfold." Hideyoshi enjoyed mentally breaking down the Fourth Lightning Shadow as he realized his tactical error.

"Damn it!" he growled. How could he have been so stupid and blind! Had his hate and paranoia been that large that he overlooked the most obvious solution?

"You gambled and lost, Killer A," Hideyoshi smirked evilly, yet again. He looked off into the distance suddenly. "So, it seems they have arrived."

A glared at the Akechi clan head with suspicion latent in his eyes. "What are you talking about?" he asked edgily.

A dark look contorted on Hideyoshi's face. "After today….no longer will the United Cloud and Virga stand in our way and you…will no longer be Raikage," he finally revealed.

A's chakra spiked suddenly in anger and lightning surrounded his entire body as he glared murderously at the Ultranationalist leader. The force of his jutsu was so strong that it blew the entire window behind him outward, causing the glass contents to fall a great height towards the ground. "I'll kill you for treason! I'll never let you become the Raikage!" The enraged Lightning Shadow raised both his arms and sent a double lightning bolt from his hands straight at Hideyoshi. Screw collateral damage, he was killing the bastard right now! The lightning jutsu struck at the walls destroying and collapsing everything behind them.

"Is that so?" he heard from behind him. A turned swiftly around to see Hideyoshi on standing on top of an eagle who hovered outside of the damaged tower. "How amusing. It's true that after you die today, there will be a new Raikage…but," he then grinned darkly, "no one ever said that Raikage would be me."

"What?"

Hideyoshi simply shook his head and went through several hand seals. "Raiton: Byakurai (Lightning Release: Pale Lightning)," he called out; sending an utterly massive white thunderbolt into the air so large the entire village could see it. In the distance, various explosions and war cries could be heard as the Ultranationalists outright attacked the village. Those who were loyal to the Raikage were already being slaughtered by their more disciplined, battle-hardened, 'comrades.'

"Witness as the sun sets on the village whose legacy you and your bastard father trampled on for decades on end," Hideyoshi scorned with absolute hate as his eagle summon began to fly higher in the air.

"Get back here, Hideyoshi! I'm not done with you!" A growled as he prepared to jump after the Ultranationalist leader. He was stopped by six figures appearing in front of him, with the Deva Path in the middle, seemingly their leader. To his left were the Asura and Animal Paths. To his right were the Preta Path, the Human Path, and, finally, the Naraka Path.

"Who are you?" A inquired, ready to fight. It was obvious that Hideyoshi had hired these guys to take him out, so there was no point in asking such a pointless query.

As per usual of being the group's collective voice, the Deva Path stepped forward. "To us, you are simply more than an ant. To you, I am a God who's here to take your life. You have sinned and must repent!"

Already annoyed by the mysterious groups' arrogance, the Fourth Lightning Shadow increased the amount of lightning chakra surging through his nervous system and his hair began to spike considerably. He was about to charge at the Akatsuki leader before the Deva Path held out his hands in a halt motion and uttered two simple words.

"Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)," he uttered emotionlessly. Before A knew what hit him, he was repelled backward by some invisible force. Deva Path had put a considerable amount of chakra into the attack as it had sent the Raikage flying through his own tower towards the mountains and valley behind the Raikage Tower.

A was caught completely off guard, having never seen, nor had heard of such a jutsu before. He landed in a clearing, creating a crater of considerable size. He hit the ground with such force that his Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor) had vanished completely.

"Ugh…okay…that hurt," he admitted. For the first time in a good long while, someone had actually caused him to feel physical pain. Firstly, he was likely the fastest shinobi alive, so it was hard to hit him, regardless. Even in the off-chance they did get a lucky strike in, his muscular build allowed him to tank many jutsu. Not quite as well as his father did in his heyday, but close enough.

The Yondaime slowly picked himself from the ground as he, not in the least bit surprised; saw all six of those...whatever they were. It was clear to the kage they weren't human…or at least not entirely so. If anything, they seemed more like reanimated corpses.

"Very good," Deva Path spoke nodding to himself as he surveyed his surroundings. "This place will be perfect for you to face judgment." As much as the Akatsuki leader was apathetic about Hideyoshi's plans, that still didn't change the fact that he had made a deal with him worth a hundred million ryou plus two jinchuuriki. It would be in bad taste, in his eyes, to wreck the village just to complete the assassination he was hired to do.

"Why would you help that monster?" A decided to ask, in both curiosity and to give his body time to recuperate.

The spokesman of the small cluster of six seemed amused. "If you must know, then it's simple. We want your two jinchuuriki. In exchange for killing you, I get the Eight-Tails and Two-tails for myself."

The Raikage's eyes widened in anger. That bastard had sold out Bee and Yugito for a taste of power? If it was even possible, his loathing of the Akechi clan head grew even fiercer. "You will not leave this village with Bee or Yugito, nor will any of you leave alive," he seethed as he activated his lightning armor again with even greater intensity.

"Your words are as empty as your fate," Deva Path declared. "You are a simply a mortal. You touch my mind, ignorant of true pain and understanding. There is a realm of existence beyond your comprehension. Your life is measured in years and decades. We are eternal; the pinnacle of existence. Before us, you are simply an ant. As Gods we impose order on the chaos that is human nature. You exist because we allow it, and you shall end because we demand it. You shall be one of the first victims of my wrath as I judge the shinobi. We are the vanguard of your destruction."

The Lightning Shadow simply snarled at the delusional fool. He had an aura of arrogance that made the Uchiha clan seem tame by comparison. "How boastful of you to think you can threaten war with the entire Elemental Nations."

"Threatening war?" Deva Path's voice traced amusement as he snarled. "No. I'm promising you outright annihilation. There's a difference."

A vanished from their collective line of sight, causing all six of the paths of Pein to widen collectively. Animal Path was the first to be sent flying as the body flew through the air from a right hook. The body hit a nearby mountain with such force it caused it to collapse in on itself.

The Raikage turned toward the other bodies and slammed his fist on the ground to shock the entire ground. All of the remaining Paths, with the notable exception of the Preta, leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting electrocuted.

The Preta Path smirked at Killer A as he strolled casually through his field of lightning as it was seemingly being absorbed into his body as if he were a human sponge.

"What?" A was in shock. Just what kind of shinobi was he dealing with?

"It's quite simple," Deva Path responded simply, floating in midair using Shinra Tensei. The rest of the Paths were simply standing casually away from him. Animal Path, strangely, had yet to return. "Preta Path has the ability to absorb copious amounts of chakra. There is no jutsu that he cannot absorb."

"Is that so?" A inquired challengingly. "We'll just have to see how much he can take." In a flash he was instantly in from of the hefty, chakra-absorbing corpse. Before the body could even react, Killer A had him in an iron grip bear hug. All of the other paths, including Deva, looked on, shocked. Even their dojutsu could barely keep up with the Fourth Lightning Shadow's speed.

"Take this!" A roared as he used the extreme close proximity to surge as much lightning chakra into Preta Path, who was desperately trying to absorb it, as well as take the pain.

Suddenly, A sensed an object coming toward him as he held on to Preta Path. Was that a rocket fist? It was coming from the Asura Path, who had somehow detached his forearm as a rocket that was headed straight for the dark-skinned bruiser. The Raikage didn't want to risk tanking such a technique with these shinobi when he barely knew about their abilities to begin with. So he opted for the best thing: he moved the Preta Path in its way.

Deva Path's eyes widened considerably as he used Shinra Tensei to knock the rocket-propelled fist off course into the valley. The explosion that followed nearly blinded A due to its intensity.

"So…it would seem I have to get serious to take you down," the Akatsuki leader conceded as a black blade extended from his jet-black cloak. "You should be honored to be slain by a being of my power." He made a 'bring it' motion with his left hand. "Come and embrace eternity."

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Outskirts of Kumo, Valley of Clouds and Lightning, 1400 hours)

Kisame and Kakuzu had finally tracked down the general location of the eight-tails host, Killer Bee. It turns out the Raikage, for unknown reasons, had forced the jinchuuriki to stay in the village and was to never leave. Ironically, this allowed them to easily pick up on the chakra of the host and once again, Killer A had made a tactical error he couldn't have ever seen coming.

The Monster of the Hidden Mist looked up to see the pale lightning strike in the sky and grinned. "Well, it seems that was the signal. Shouldn't be too long before Leader-sama kills the Raikage," he stated a bit bemused.

"Indeed," Kakuzu replied simply. He was mostly excited about getting paid after their deal was done. However, they needed to get this blasted jinchuuriki first. Sighing a bit, the two S-ranked shinobi came upon the edge of a cliff and then saw a large cave.

"I can sense him…he's there, all right," Kisame grinned drawing his large sword. "Samehada will have a feast to last it for months."

Kakuzu's eyes widened a bit. "Kisame, move!" he warned before they both jumped from their current positions. Not even a second later an extremely large octopus tentacle came crashing down on top of the cliff, completely destroying their former spots.

The two landed near the cave and the tentacle that just attacked them receded itself back into the dark cavern. A lone Cloud shinobi stepped out from the pitch-black darkness. Clearly, he was male, dark-skinned; about six feet even, and was dressed in a standard Cloud jounin outfit. Dark sunglasses draped over his eyes, white hair, and strange of all, was the fact that he had seven swords strapped to his back.

"Well, well," Kisame smiled, "it looks like he saved us the trouble of looking for him. That's good, because that would've gotten boring." He pointed Samehada at the Jinchuuriki, ready for a fight.

"The name's Killer Bee, greatest rapper alive. You two had better leave now, if you want to survive!" Bee rapped eccentrically. "And you two clowns want to drag me in a fight, knowing damn well I can't stand the sunlight? Mothafucka!"

"…." Kakuzu said nothing, but it was clear he was already annoyed at the man. "Oh, Kisame, while you take off his legs, seal his mouth, too."

"…With pleasure," the shark-man said, grinning, while rushing the jinchuuriki. The battle was on.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Unknown Location, Kumogakure)

Yugito Nii was not having the most pleasant of days. The blonde-haired jinchuuriki was awakened suddenly from her usual afternoon cat nap when an explosion rocked her inner sanctum. She didn't like this one bit, at all. The kunoichi promptly got dressed as quickly as she could to try and go investigate.

While she ran down the long narrow hallways toward the outside, multiple theories ran in her head. Was the village under attack by foreign shinobi? No, that couldn't be. The village was far too large to be taken in any sort of invasion. Nothing short of an allied coalition effort could they hope to have the logistics of securing any kind of foothold that was worth a damn. The odds of that scenario, considering all the political turmoil in the Elemental Nations, were extremely low.

Then, the second, chilling possibility came to her. Were the Ultranationalists finally making their move by taking the village by force? Were they suicidal? Her questions were soon answered as she came outside to an inner dome where dozens of Kumo shinobi, who belonged to the United Cloud, lay dead. Their bodies were mutilated with slash marks, burn marks, and even bite marks?

"Well, well, Yugito, you finally showed up. Took you fucking long enough," Obano complained as he stepped out of the darkness. He was completely unscathed, a testament to his skill.

Yugito growled at the jounin. "You bastard! What the hell have you done?" she roared with rage-filled eyes. Some of these guys she knew personally and were always willing to help out whenever she, somehow, lost control of her jinchuuriki powers. Now they were lying on the floor, slaughtered like complete animals!

The Emerald Fang looked at her with indifference. "It's pretty simple. Today, the United Cloud and Virga will no longer have any sort of power within this village."

Yugito's eyes bulged in shock. "You bastards! When the Raikage-sama hears of this—"

"I'm afraid the Raikage won't do a damn thing," Obano interjected, drawing his jade-colored sword from his back. Strangely enough, it seemed chipped on the end as if it were broken. He tossed it in the air and caught it in his right hand and held it in a reverse grip. "He's already in the process of being executed."

"Over my dead body!" the two-tailed host howled. She was stopped dead as she picked up multiple scents in the room. A smirk twisted on the Ultranationalist jounin's face as six panthers, larger than even Daisuke, finally revealed themselves. Their fangs and claws were nearly blood-red. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had killed her subordinates and friends.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you because you hold value to some clients we hired. We will honor that agreement, but I'm going to enjoy spilling your blood. Those who side with the Raikage deserve nothing less," he spoke frigidly as his eyes turned into slits. "Pounce," he commanded and his panther summons obeyed without question.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Kumogakure)

There was complete pandemonium within the entire village. Dozens of dead bodies were lining the streets from all sides, both Ultranationalist and United Cloud. The vast majority of the civilians were ideologically sided with the Ultranationalists, and as such, got no interference whatsoever.

The Angel of Amegakure, Konan, had helped the extremist shinobi considerably. She was a naturally gifted motivator and public speaker. Her time in the Village Hidden in the Rain only honed her skill of propaganda and deceit. She had traveled to all in the districts of Thirteen all the way down to Five and somehow had convinced a good majority of the shinobi and populace that this was their chance to fight and regain some of that lost honor which was loss during the reigns of the Sandaime and Yondaime Raikage. The Ultranationalist jounin commanders didn't know how she did it, but the blue-haired female convinced them. The size of their brotherhood had practically quintupled in size in a matter of hours. Now a good four-fifths of the entire shinobi population officially sided with Hideyoshi. Effectively, it wasn't a matter of if they would win, but when.

To say she was godsend would be a vast understatement. Slowly, but surely, with the extra manpower, they pushed back the Loyalists who were slowly losing their ground. They were fighting a lost cause, and they knew that much. Considering how neither Yugito nor Killer Bee had shown up to save the day, it was obvious they were either occupied, captured, or worse, dead.

Omoi sliced through a chuunin without remorse, cutting him nearly in half. He simply kicked his dying body away as if it were trash on the street. "Piece of shit loyalist," he spat in disgust. He looked around to see that his teammates were doing a number on the less-powerful chuunin and genin who valiantly tried to defend their home. It didn't matter. Karui and Samui killed, just as he did, without mercy.

The trio was smart enough to avoid the veterans. They only had a year's worth of training. Yes, they were talented and Obano's training was brutal and effective, but even that was worthless to shinobi who had years of experience.

"Fall back!" they heard another loyalist shout as they were being overrun by their tactical strength and superior firepower.

Karui snorted. "Look at those cowards. Just from what you'd expect from a Loyalist." Her sensei had told her all about the moments of cowardice from these spineless weaklings. Once again, he had been proven right, after all.

Omoi smirked. "Samui…you know what to do."

Samui returned his expression and raised her bow and aimed it at the Loyalist ninja who had called for the retreat. "A coward deserves nothing but death," she hissed, pulling back the string. She let go and the arrow traveled through air at blazingly fast speeds. It entered through the back of his neck and out of his throat, killing him instantly. Since he was in a mid-jump he fell to the ground with a thud. He died with his eyes completely open.

Omoi nodded approvingly. "Nice shot," he praised. "Let's go. We have to meet Sensei. The rest of them will take the village. We're not strong enough yet to deal with the vets." Both females acquiesced and they jumped off with Omoi in the lead.

Amongst the chaos, not even a single BOLT operative was found. Neither defending the village nor joining in to retake it…

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Kumogakure Hospital 4th District)

Inside the Hidden Cloud's general hospital there was absolute chaos. The Ultranationalists were pushing forward at an absolutely incredible pace. Despite the size of the village, it seemed as if district after district was falling under their control. The worst part of it all being that the actual citizens were letting it happen! The hospital was filled with the injured, the dead, the near dead, and the staff was stretched thin almost to a breaking point.

However, not all of the staff was busy trying to save lives. Five medical ninja, affiliated with the Raikage were busy on the top floor burning document after document. Unfortunately, they knew no Katon jutsu and they had to resort to the old fashion way. That process was taking entirely too long, however.

"Kenji-sama! We have to get out of here! Cut our losses! The village is lost!" a frantic brown-haired medic-nin shouted as he fumbled with the documents the head of staff wanted to burn.

"NO!" Kenji replied a glare. "I will not allow these bastards to have any of the medical knowledge we possess. It will die along with this village."

His subordinate was about to retort when a large sword stabbed through his stomach, causing him to cough up a gargantuan amount of red fluids. The staff that was helping Kenji burn all of their medical records looked on in terror. The blade twisted, cutting inner organs to ribbons as it did so, causing him to scream out in pain. The screams died out in an instant when the sword was brought up suddenly, effectively cleaving the poor medical ninja in half…lengthwise. As both halves of the corpse collapsed to opposite ends of the floor, the attacker was quickly revealed to be…Darui. The jounin had a deadened, calculating, uncharacteristic murderous look in his eyes as he tightly gripped his giant sword. One on the left tried to run, but Darui put a stop to that by cleaving his legs clean off. Despite missing the limbs he needed to walk, the medical ninja was crawling in a vain attempt to escape. The Ultranationalist jounin simply stabbed him right in the spinal column, and quickly decapitated him not even a second later. He then threw his sword like a kunai towards the last of Kenji's subordinates. He was hit with such force that he was embedded on the wall, effectively dying by a bastardized version of crucifixion. Darui then turned his attention to the leader and walked slowly toward him

"Darui! What have you done? You of all people? Helping them? How could you betray Raikage-sama?" Kenji shrieked in absolute horror at seeing his team die.

"No, Kenji. You fucking tell how the Raikage could betray me! Or more importantly, my sister, you sick fucks!" Darui bellowed, trying to keep his anger under control. He was failing miserably.

The head medical ninja's eyes widened. "Yo-you mean.." he stuttered, gulping.

"Yes, I know. I know the Raikage ordered you to sabotage my sister's treatment and, in some cases, even deliberately make it worse! How the hell could you? She means everything to me!"

"We…we…were just following orders and—"

The jounin snarled before grabbing Kenji's head and slamming it against the desk. "Don't get me that just following orders bullshit! You're a doctor! You took a Hippocratic Oath! You betrayed your very principles! You showed no remorse for nearly killing a then-thirteen-year-old innocent girl!"

Kenji coughed up blood as he looked up at the jounin shock. "Ne-nearly…?"

An indifferent smile split Darui's face. "Yes, nearly. Hideyoshi-sama saved my sister when he didn't have to. He could've left her to die out of apathy simply because, in his ideology, she would be dead weight. But you know what? He didn't. He actually offered to save her, in exchange for me being loyal. That was it! All he wanted in return for saving the most important person in my life was loyalty and nothing more. So I took it, and as promised, he healed her. Ayasaki now can live a normal life. No thanks to you or that bastard!" he growled and punched Kenji repeatedly. The head medical ninja could do nothing as he was beaten to within an inch of his life. Finally, Darui simply threw him on top of his desk.

Kenji was in extreme amounts of pain, and thought that the jounin would leave him be and to let him die from blood loss. He was sadly mistaken. The Black Lightning heir wasn't done. Not by a long shot. A curious look made its way on his face as he looked at the medicinal cabinet in the side room. After a minute or two of searching, Darui came back with a sixteen-ounce bottle filled with a strange transparent liquid that could've been mistaken for a clear soda and a syringe.

The minute Kenji laid eyes on, his eyes widened in horror and shock. "Th-that's—"

"Yes," Darui chillingly remarked, "this is the same medicine that you gave to me. The same drug that you said was helping my sister! When, in fact, all it did was make it worse and speed up the process of her death." He then gave the doctor an unsettling smile. "Funny, though, you always told me to give it to her in small doses. Knowing this…I wonder what would happen if I took this syringe and injected all of this bottle's content into your veins and nervous system, what would happen. Hmm…small drips of it were killing Ayasaki slowly…but in large doses, however…."

Kenji shook his head in terror, realizing what the jounin was about to do. "No…you can't! Please don't do this! Have mercy!" he tried to plead. His pleas of mercy fell on deaf ears as Darui used the syringe to draw out as much of the liquid 'medicine' as possible.

Darui simply strolled toward the doctor at an even pace the full syringe in his right hand. He grabbed the doctor by his throat. "You didn't have a shred of guilt about what you did…and neither will I. Call this poetic justice." He then stabbed the syringe in his arm and squeezed every drop in him. "Have a little taste…of your own medicine," he mocked a bit psychotically. He pulled it out and dropped it to the floor and unceremoniously dropped the doctor to the floor.

Almost immediately, the drug started to take effect as he started convulsing in a seizure. His veins, arteries, and nerves felt like they were slowly being burned away. Which, in a sense, they were. His pain receptors were receiving so much information that they were effectively collapsing. The synapses in his body were snapping in two, breaking down little by little.

Darui pulled the blade from the wall and kicked the corpse off and wiped the blood with his shirt. He sheathed it on his back and casually walked out of the room. Before he left, though, he put up a silencing jutsu. The only sounds Kenji would hear as he died a slow and painful death were his own.

The Black Lightning heir felt a heavy weight lift off his shoulders as he walked downstairs toward the main lobby where shinobi were being treated. Finally, Ayasaki had been avenged and justice had been served.

"Listen up!" Darui roared to the crowd of nurses and doctors treating those loyal to the Raikage. All eyes and ears turned toward him as everyone stopped dead in fear. They had heard reports of Darui joining Hideyoshi, but they had dismissed them as rumor. Now it seems that the hearsay actually turned out to be correct.

"I have nothing against all of you, and I'd prefer not to kill any of you if I could help it. Those who wronged me have been dealt with. You are all smart people. You have lost…Hideyoshi-sama has won. So, I'll offer you this. If everyone in this room lays down their arms and swears loyalty to the Ultranationalists, you will all be spared," he promised. Murmurs swept through the crowd, but Darui could tell that they were seriously considering his offer.

"I was once like you, fearing and hating Hideyoshi-sama. But now, I have no reason to. He saved my sister. My sister was going to die from a terminal disease…and the Raikage had ordered the top brass in this hospital to speed up the process," he revealed to them. A wave of shock passed through the crowd. On one hand, they couldn't possibly believe that the Raikage could do such a thing. Then again, this was his former right-hand man who joined the Ultranationalists. What reason would he have to lie at this point in the game? They had already practically won, and they could kill them at their leisure if they wanted to. There was literally nothing more to lose.

Darui smiled as they all decided to pledge their allegiance to the new regime one-by-one. The Black Lightning heir's smile turned into a full blown grin. Hideyoshi would be pleased.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Valley, Pein vs. Killer A)

The Yondaime Raikage fell towards his knees panting heavily as he could barely stand. Once the Akatsuki leader had gotten serious, he started kicking the Lightning Shadow's ass six ways to Sunday. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't stand up to that dojutsu and having to fight six people at once. They simply kept reviving every body he took down, ad nauseum. There were limits even to his mighty stamina.

"Damn it!" he cursed collapsing on the ground, barely holding on to consciousness. He was bleeding profusely with cuts and bruises everywhere on his body.

"So it would seem you have reached your limit," Deva Path simply noted as he stared at the Raikage's pained and regretful eyes. "I offer you no pity. Your sins are too great."

"Indeed they are, Pein," came the voice of Hideyoshi as he strolled through the clearing with a smirk on his face. He was unscathed, which indicated he hadn't even participated in any fighting. The Raikage looked up at the Ultranationalist with absolute loathing.

"Hideyoshi…" Pein noted as he looked at the Akechi head curiously. "I was about to finish the job."

Hideyoshi shook his head. "No. That won't be necessary. Your men have captured both jinchuuriki successfully." A's eyes widened in shock. They got Bee and Yugito?

"I see," the Akatsuki leader neutrally intoned. He caught a hefty bag that was tossed at him.

"That's the rest of the money we owe you. Our deal is complete. We'll take the rest from here."

Pein nodded and turned back towards the near-dying Raikage. "So it seems fortune shines on you. You avoided the wrath of God. Well, then, I shall be on my way. A pleasure doing business with you, Hideyoshi," he non-sincerely thanked and all of the Paths of Pein vanished in an instant. Now the Raikage was at the Ultranationalist's complete and total mercy.

A gritted his teeth. "Are you happy now, you bastard? You got what you wanted….you beat me at my own game."

Hideyoshi snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player."

A tried to crawl toward him, but he could barely mold chakra, let alone move. "So, tell me Hideyoshi," A stated more casually, as if he was now resigned to his fate, "what will you plan to do, now? You have the village all to yourself," he said in a dejected manner. He was slowly starting to accept that he had finally lost.

The Akechi clan head smirked. "You still haven't figured it out, have you? I told you before: I'm not the one who will be taking over as Raikage."

A sighed, a bit tired of this cryptic nonsense. "Then who will, then?"

"That….would be me," came a familiar, yet disturbing, voice said as he phased in sight in front of Hideyoshi.

"Everything has been completed as you planned, " he informed in a completely submissive tone of voice.

"Very well, then," the shinobi replied as he looked back at the Raikage who nearly paled at seeing him. "What's the matter, Raikage-sama?" he mocked with an evil smirk on his face. "You seemed shocked to see me."

Indeed the Raikage was. Because standing in front of him was the true Ultranationalist leader….Hideyoshi's superior and his most powerful shinobi in his ranks:

Aisu Hayasaka, the Supreme Commander of the Black Operations and Lightning Tactics, was the mastermind behind the entire coup d'état and the Ultranationalists coming to power and surrounding him was the entire BOLT division, its Captains, as well as the Lieutenant Commanders ready to follow his orders to the letter.

(END)

Yes, I'm being evil and leaving you on a massive cliffhanger. Muhahahahaha.

So the cat is finally out of the bag, Aisu is the true leader of the Ultranationalists and Hideyoshi has been the Dragon to him the entire time. Find out next year as the BOLT commander explains his reasoning, motivations, and just how flawlessly he pulled off gambit after gambit after gambit.

Sad to say, though, this will be the last update for the year. Fear not, though, I will be back, and have an update by late March or early April. Even if it's only a 10k-word update, I'll try and get it out as soon as I finish with my training in the military.

I'll be gone for about four to five months, so can you give a brother some love with some detailed reviews? :D

Until 2012, this is Arashi the Solar Phoenix signing off.

Regards,

Arashi.