Kaibunkage

Arc III

Chapter IV

"I've realized that everyone is given life for a reason. Everyone has something important to accomplish. And it's the quest to discover what that is that is the only freedom we humans have been given."

- Kaguya Kimimaro

Despite the sun not being up, it was still morning. And that meant another day that she would be miserable. And why would such a lovely woman be miserable, you may ask? Well, before calling it a night last night, she received word that her two teammates were dead and unable to be revived by any jutsu known to man.

"It's a little too early to be drinking, Baa-chan." Tsunade ignored Naruto, taking another swig of the sake. She was going to down most of it until his hand pushed it down from her lips.

Sneering, she glared at him. "What are you doing gaki?"

"Stopping you from making a mistake." responded the Kaibunkage.

Tsunade rose to her feet. She was not as drunk as she would have liked to be, but that was alright. She had more stashed around the area.

"Listen here, not everyone can just run off at the first sign of trouble!" Naruto lifted a brow. While the insult met its mark with his guilt, he wanted to remind her that she did the same thing first and her grandfather started the village she abandoned. "You have no idea what I'm feeling right now! Dan… Nawaki… And now Jiraiya?" Tsunade's eyes grew narrow and angry. "Wait until something like this happens to Sakura. Then you'll know."

Again, Naruto took the jibe because he knew that Tsunade was just experiencing something painful, more painful than a Shinra Tensei through a house, that's for sure.

"Tsunade," spoke Naruto. "I know exactly what you're feeling. Losing someone that you loved, but they loved you more, and you could never bring yourself to love them on the same level."

"Yeah right." Tsunade retorted.

Naruto chuckled. "It's true. I had a daughter with her, remember?" Tsunade's face lit with realization and then became something akin to embarrassment. "I know that you're angry with yourself, but I can't let you drink yourself into a slumber."

Naruto heard the bottle crash into the ground before Tsunade embraced him. He quickly hugged her back. Mind going through several flashbacks that Naruto shared with Jiraiya, Naruto turned his attention towards the sky. He never had the opportunity to meet Nawaki or Dan, but he realized that they must have meant a lot to Tsunade. However, he did know Jiraiya. And while he did not care for the man in the same sense that Tsunade had, he still cared for Jiraiya a lot.

Smiling a bit, Naruto swore he could hear Jiraiya calling to him about all the beautiful women that he now saw. It would seem that the frog in the well found the ocean after all.

Aku stopped his team. They included the Sound Four, Mōryō, and Shinnō.

"You four," Aku said pointing to Sakon and his team. "Take the western entrance. We'll go through the eastern entrance. While Shoru and the main forces take care of what little defense that they have out here, we should be able to sneak inside and take the priestess and jinchuriki."

"Hai." Sakon said. "Alright team, let's go."

None of the other members of the Sound Four argued, taking off with their leader. Aku then motioned his team to follow him, heading for a large wooden door. Doing strange hand seals, the former priest of Demon Country pressed his index finger on the door, watching seals appear. Smirking, Aku pushed the door opened, only to be knocked back by a strong gust of wind.

After toppling on the ground, Aku glared at the attacker before frowning.

"Tatsuhiro Kuroma and Hyuga Hinata…" Aku said. "This is new. You were supposed to be with your forces attacking in the fields."

"Your spy was wrong." Kuroma replied.

Shinnō smirked. "So they're not as dumb as you thought." Aku did not respond, rising to his feet. "Well then, it's time to wipe out the next Demon Country heiress!"

"I'd like to see you try." Hinata dared, her Byakugan activated.

"Hinata-hime," Hinata turned to Kuroma and noted the changes in his appearance. "Allow me!"

Kuroma took off for Shinnō, his Dragon Blade drawn for battle. Shinnō began backtracking, avoiding the strikes of the well-adapt swordsman while Mōryō moved for Hinata. Hinata settled in her Gentle Fist stance before throwing an assortment of palm strikes at the revived demon. Her eyes could see the dark chakra that radiated off of her opponent and wondered just how powerful he was.

"Now that they're busy I'll-"

Aku was stopped by Kuroma, the General of Demon Country holding a seal that read "Fire" on it.

"Fire Release," Kuroma called. "Great Fire Annihilation!"

Aku was shocked that such a strong technique came from such a small tag, but dismissed the thoughts as he used his newly acquired Attack Prevention Technique to blend into the ground beneath him, allowing Shinnō to take the attack head on.

When the attack ended, Hinata had regrouped with her husband-to-be, staring at the damage.

"At least one of them is gone." she said as she stared at the burnt corpse of Shinnō.

"Not exactly," responded the deceased Sky Nin as he rose. Hinata and Kuroma watched in awe as his injuries began to heal instantly.

Mōryō crossed his arms. "You should not have even used your Body Revival Technique. This cursed jutsu automatically heals any wounds."

"I wanted to show them how futile this is. Even if I was alive, they would still fail. But now that I can't die… I'm indestructible!" Aku slowly rose from the ground behind Shinnō as Shinnō gloated.

"You're already dead." Aku said before channeling some Black Lightning around his body. "Now, quit fooling around. The longer we wait to retrieve the priestess, the worse things will be."

"I agree." Mōryō said. "They will pay for what they have done to me!"

With that, Mōryō's body began changing. Hinata could see it clearly as the dark chakra she saw engulfed his entire body. His eyes, now red, glared at the two as he transformed into his true form. A large, multi-headed dragon.

"Kuroma-kun." Hinata said.

"Hai," Aku noticed that the two were a lot closer than people realized if just one word and look could get the man to do so much. "Summoning Jutsu!"

"Well I'll be… The Genryu…" Aku muttered as all five dragons were summoned, shaking the ground by their immense size and power.

"I am Tatsuhiro Kuroma, the general of the Land of Demons," Kuroma spoke. "And I vowed to protect it to my dying breath. And with the power of the Genryu… I'll achieve that goal!"

"We'll see!" Aku called running for the walls again, Shinnō right behind him.

"Let's go hime." Kuroma said taking off for his opponents, Hinata right on his heels.

The Battle of Tatsuhiro Palace had just begun.

His body acted on its own accord, sneaking in the palace without a hitch. However, he still had his right to think. And at the moment, he was thinking of one thing; What did Naruto do? Itachi knew Uzumaki Naruto's crafty thinking first-hand and therefore believed that Naruto had some failsafe plan to protect Shiori. However, with the jinchuriki currently in a small training session underground and most of the guards falling for a simple genjutsu, it didn't look that way. In fact, Itachi was now outside of Shiori's room.

"Here we go." Itachi said opening the door.

"Uchiha Itachi…" Mei said before smiling. "Even after death, you're still as handsome as always."

"…" Itachi stared at the woman before looking at the girl that slept peacefully behind Mei. "Wake her."

"What?" Mei questioned.

"Wake her." Mei had no idea on what sick and twisted plan Itachi had conjured up, but she would be damned if she went along with it. "I promise I won't kill her. I just have to see if he hid it with her."

"…" Now it was Mei that was silent before she spoke quietly. "So you know."

"Hn. We both figured that one or the other would happen. Either Sasuke or Tobi would come for Shiori… Or I would." Mei nodded, gently shaking Shiori awake. "You must hurry… Kabuto isn't focusing on me now but…"

"I understand." Mei said as Shiori's eyes fluttered. "Shiori-chan, I need you to do something for me."

"I'm sleepy!" whined the girl, burying her face into the pillow as much as possible.

Mei sighed. "Just do this for me. Show my friend your new trick so he can tell your dad."

Shiori groaned as she sat up. It was then that Shiori's eyes met Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan. Mei saw the Seal of the Nine Tomoe appear on Shiori's forehead. The girl's left eye then began to morph into the familiar Mangekyo Sharingan, the pattern taking that of Shisui's.

"So he did do it…" Itachi said as his Sharingan met Shiori's.

Mei could only watch the stare off between the two, Shiori's right eye now a bright, glowing white, signaling that the girl was restraining some foreign chakra. Soon Shiori's eyes faded to their normal purple hue and the young priestess dozed off. Mei then turned to Itachi, who was gasping for air.

"Did it work?" Mei asked after it appeared he had regained his breath.

Itachi grinned. "I never doubted Naruto's words for a second." Mei gave a sigh of relief as Shiori snuggled into her sheets more. "I'm going to stop the others from sneaking in before going off to find Kabuto. Shiori is safe for the moment."

"Thank you, Itachi." Itachi gave Mei a small bow before dispersing into a murder of crows and flying down the hall.

Mei then looked at Shiori and sighed heavily. She knew Itachi, no matter how great he was, could not defeat everyone that was coming for Shiori. At least, Mei thought, she bought Shiori enough time to rest.

Hinata moved gracefully, dodging the blows Shinnō threw at her. Despite his speed, Hinata was much faster and able to dodge his strikes with ease. Her Byakugan gave her many needed advantages, such as being able to see how Kuroma was doing with his opponent without fully taking her eyes off of her opponent.

Hinata then saw a dark sphere form in Shinnō's right hand as he thrust his palm forward towards her chest. With the flexibility that she possessed, Hinata bent backwards, her hands touching the ground, before executing a flip. The end result was her right foot connecting with Shinnō's chin as she flipped backwards.

Shinnō growled. Had he connected with his Super Revival Fist, then this match should have been over, or closer to the end. However, the Hyuga proved to be a lot stronger than she looked. Hearing a roar above him, Shinnō braced himself as a red dragon above him spewed a sea of flames from its snout. Shinnō felt his burns healing after the fire ended, only to feel Hinata's palm press into his sternum, sending him toppling backwards.

Kuroma was forced to backtrack while Aku used his Black Lightning Body Armor. The former guard and priest of Demon Country had upped his strength and speed due to the Black Lightning obtained from Darui.

Holding a tag in front of him that read "Wind" Kuroma held a strange one-handed seal, channeling chakra into the seal.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Kuroma called as the tag released a strong gale that pushed Aku backwards.

Aku fought against the strong winds. His feet dug into the ground in attempt to keep his balance. Grunting in annoyance, Aku waved his hands in front of him, ending the attack immediately. While the display of power shocked Kuroma, the leader of the Tatsuhiro Clan did not flinch at all. Instead, Kuroma clutched the Dragon Blade and leapt towards Aku. The older man was forced to backtrack as Kuroma pursued him with strikes and swings with his blade.

Hinata sat atop of the blue dragon's head, the beast firing wave after wave of water towards the even more massive Mōryō.

"Keep it up. We almost have him." Hinata encouraged.

The dragon continued, the other four attacking at different spots on Mōryō. Hinata could only inhale quietly. If she was to survive this, it would take all of her strength to do so. And while she was a bit hesitant to get close to Mōryō, she knew she could probably get Shinnō down for a while. She just had to remember her nindō: Never Give Up. Just like Naruto, just like Kuroma, and just like the rest of the Shinobi Alliance.

Gathering chakra into her fists, Hinata could see her chakra take the shape of a dragon's head around each fist. Eyes glaring at Shinnō and Mōryō, Hinata took off with one thought in her mind.

The Shinobi Alliance will prevail.

"Gah!" screamed another knight as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Well, that was fairly easy." Kidomaru stated.

"Only because we can't die again." Ukon responded. "The jinchuriki are behind this door with the brat above us."

"I know." Sakon said. "Jirobo, take the door down."

The large teen nodded before charging for the door. The rest of the Sound Four watched intently as Jirobo neared the door. It seemed as if time itself slowed as the door exploded into fragments. Killer Bee's chakra-shrouded fist connected with Jirobo's jaw, the large teen being outpowered and sent backwards.

"Tayuya…" Sakon stated.

"Right." the redhead said. "Let's see you deal with them, shit-stain." Biting her thumb, Tayuya slammed her hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Killer Bee stood still as Jirobo stood on his feet. The man's eyes then turned to see what Tayuya had summoned and froze. She had not summoned three demonic creatures as her files stated, no, she summoned four more deceased shinobi.

The former jinchuriki…

There in front of the Hachibi jinchuriki stood the Yugito, Roshi, Han, and Utakata, the former jinchuriki of the Nibi, Yonbi, Gobi, and Rokubi respectively.

"I don't think you can take us all, Kumo-nin." Sakon said with a smirk.

"Bee-san," Yamato said standing behind Killer Bee. "I'm waiting for your orders."

Killer Bee stood silently as he assessed the entire situation. Here were the deceased jinchuriki of four biju, added with the Sound Four. He realized that there must be others in the palace searching for Shiori.

"I guess it's time to end my rhymes and get serious." Yamato blinked. He had never heard the Hachibi container speak so seriously before. "Send a Wood Clone for back-up. And until they get here, we'll handle them."

"Hai." Yamaato said moving to do what he was told.

Killer Bee eyed his opponents through his shades. Ē had given him clear orders to protect the jinchuriki and Shiori with his life for obvious reasons. But his brother also warned him of going over-the-top with it and ended up captured himself.

"Remember," Ukon said to the team. "We need to take the jinchuriki alive. Even this one."

"Killing them would be much easier." remarked Tayuya.

"At least he could give us a challenge." Kidomaru mused.

Despite her hate for Kidomaru's game references, Tayuya nodded. With the aid of four jinchuriki and the fact that they would regenerate from any attack, they had an advantage over most. But this was the only jinchuriki remaining that had complete control over his biju as well as an accomplished swordsman. All in all, Killer Bee would definitely give them a challenge.

Shimura Udon grunted as he was forced to defeat another Ishi shinobi. He told himself that he had to make their defeats appear to be fatal, but it was getting harder and harder. Apparently, some of the Rain and Stone shinobi did not pull their punches when fighting Udon and fought with all they had. And that was making Udon angrier by the seconds.

"Hell yeah! Long live the shinobi!" Udon heard a random Rock Nin shout.

Udon sneered slightly. He hated Iwagakure, not as much as he did the Hidden Smoke, but he still hated Iwagakure no Sato. They were Konoha's enemies, not allies. That was written in stone somewhere. However, he was force to side with them momentarily while he continued to spy on the allied forces.

"Udon," Udon casually looked to his left, a bit shocked that Sai would contact him in the midst of battle. "I take it that you have some more news for me?"

"I do." Udon said. "They know. Go to the Land of Waves and destroy their infirmaries."

Sai nodded before leaping into the air, a bird of ink being summoned beneath him and flying off.

"Hey! Did you see that?"

"Yeah, he's the Akatsuki spy!"

Udon only pushed his glasses up before his body disappeared in a puff of smoke, signaling those around that he was merely a Shadow Clone.

"Send a word to HQ. Tell them that we know who the rat is." Sasame stated. "The sooner we have him captured, the better."

"Hai!" the two men stated.

Hanzō dropped to a knee. He had been careless and that gave Mifune the time to react and slice open the salamander sack that Hanzō had implanted in himself.

"You've improved." Hanzō stated. "Now is the best time to attack."

Mifune pulled on a gas mask. "Indeed it is."

With that, Mifune charged for his temporarily paralyzed opponent. He knew that he had to finish it here or be put at a terrible disadvantage if Hanzō were to recover. However, Mifune's hopes were nearly crushed once the large salamander, Ibuse, emerged from the ground.

"Ibuse!" Mifune hesitated. The salamander's mouth was inches away from incasing the samurai, yet it froze upon hearing a voice. "Down."

Shockingly, Ibuse backed away from Mifune, hissing while doing so.

"S-Sakura-san!" a few samurai called as the woman walked towards Mifune.

"What is this?" Hanzō questioned angrily.

"This is Sakura of the Salamander." Mifune announced. "She now holds the salamander summoning contract." Hanzō stared at Sakura in awe. "She is also the student of Tsunade of the Sannin."

"Mifune-san," Sakura spoke. "I'm going further back to rescue Kakashi-sensei and the others that weren't sent to the infirmary. Kageno is waiting to regroup as soon as possible."

"I understand." Mifune said as Sakura hopped onto Ibuse's head, rubbing the salamander in an affectionate way.

"Alright Ibuse, time to go save Kakashi-sensei. Let's go!" And with that, the large salamander dove underground once more.

Mifune turned to Hanzō.

"Forgive me, Hanzō, but this is where I end it." Mifune stated as he raised his blade above Hanzō. "I promise to give you a proper burial this time."

Hanzō said nothing, idly wondering about Sakura. The woman had such control over Ibuse that just by calling its name stopped it from attacking. Hanzō did not have that control until years of training with Ibuse, and even then whenever the salamander was on a rampage it was hard to control it. Now the only thing Hanzō regrets is that he will not be able to see Sakura in battle. He would have loved to see her use Ibuse in ways he had never imagined.

Mei could hear the sounds of battle around her, but kept her main focus on Shiori. The blonde was begrudgingly going through another lesson in her training. Shiori was a little peeved that Akari was not here to do the training with her. However, after much talk from Mei, Shiori agreed to continue without Akari teaching her.

Though the young priestess was still heated about the whole thing.

"Lady Mei," one of the Demon Country tutors began. "She is complaining about a 'funny feeling'. Do you think it has something to do with the containers training so close to our proximity?"

Mei shook her head. "No. Shiori would know what that feels like." Mei then turned to Shiori. "Tell me, Shiori-chan, what does it feel like? Is it a tummy ache? A headache? Show me."

Shiori pointed to her forehead, more importantly where Naruto had placed, and hidden, the Seal of the Nine Tomoe. The little girl looked to be in a great deal of pain, though being a child of one Uzumaki Naruto she continued with her training.

The room shook with a loud booming sound.

"The jinchuriki!"

Mei was not paying attention to the Demon Country representatives in the room, her eyes locked on the doorway. Apparently Itachi was not the only person that broke inside.

"This training session is over." Mei said suddenly as she reached for Shiori. "Come, Shiori-chan. It's time to go."

Shiori did not argue, only moving with Mei. Mei briskly walked out of the room and down the halls to the safe room, the knights guarding Shiori behind her. With the building shaking every second, there was no telling when they would appear, but Mei had to be ready.

"Lady Mei," one of the guards stated. "Lord Tatsuhiro is battling in the front against Aku." Mei nodded at the information. "We had a small breach in the lower levels where the jinchuriki are."

"Any word from HQ?" asked Mei.

"Hai. The spy within the alliance has been revealed. Udon of Konoha." Mei's brows furrowed.

Udon was present during one of the meetings between Naruto and Tsunade. He knew a lot about their defenses and battle strategies. The only problem Mei saw was why the boy did what he did. Surely there was a reason for his betrayal, right?

And then she remembered how Ranmaru introduced Udon and Konohamaru. He called them both "Honorable Grandson" when Mei first met them. Konohamaru was clearly the Third's grandson and a proud member of the Sarutobi Clan. Udon was too young to be the grandson of the First and Second Hokage, he had no direct lineage to the Third, Naruto was the only child of the Fourth Hokage, and Tsunade, the Sixth, did not have an heir to have grandchildren. That left one person.

"Has he been found?" Mei finally stated.

"No. He fled from battle." the man said.

Mei nodded. "Keep me posted."

The guards agreed as Mei entered the safe room with Shiori. As soon as the two doors were secured, followed by Mei activating a seal, Shiori began to scream in pain.

"Shiori!" Mei called. "Shiori, what's wrong?"

The girl only dropped to her knees, holding her ears as if she was hearing something loud. Mei went out to comfort the girl, but a pink shield shoved Mei away. Mei sat in awe as Shiori's screams slowly died before the girl turned to face Mei, her left eye revealing the Sharingan.

"Sh… Shiori." Mei stammered.

"They're here Baa-chan." Shiori whispered, tears falling down her face. "Please don't leave me!"

Mei was going to respond until Shiori quickly moved to embrace Mei. Mei held the young girl tightly before rethinking Shiori's words.

They were here.

Kuroma dashed at high speeds, his target being Shinnō. The former Medic Nin from Sky Country. Shinnō made a last-minute attempt in hitting Kuroma with his Super Revival Fist, but the leader of the Tatsuhiro Clan was much faster. With a simple dodge and a slice of the Dragon Blade, Kuroma had completely sliced off Shinnō's left arm.

"Kuroma-kun!" Kuroma turned towards Hinata. His bride-to-be was currently in an intense battle with Aku and the demonic Mōryō. The Genryu were aiding her, but the stone soldiers and priest were starting to overwhelm her.

"Damn…" Kuroma muttered before feeling a pain in his gut.

"Don't take your eye off of your opponent boy!" Shinnō shouted as his fist folded Kuroma over his arm.

Kuroma could feel a former rage building inside him, one that he had long since buried before taking over the clan. He figured that now would be the best time to use this anger.

"Bastard!" Kuroma said swiping Shinnō with his clawed hand. Shinnō staggered backwards as Kuroma held up two tags in front of him. "Water and Lightning Release," The two tags began to glow. "Shockwave!"

Shinnō was blasted away by a spray of electrified water, the force knocking him many yards away. Kuroma ended his attack, grabbing his blade from the ground, and went to aid Hinata. He was stopped by several of chains wrapping around his body. Hinata, seeing her fiancé down, quickly dashed to free him of the restraints.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Hinata did not know who called out the attack, but she soon saw an extremely large flamethrower coming for her and Kuroma.

Within seconds, a large wall of water protected the duo from the attack. Hinata's eyes caught Akari, holding a hand seal.

"Kuroma-nii, Hinata-chan, are you okay?" Akari asked as she ended her technique.

"H-hai." Hinata said as the chains around Kuroma retreated to their owner.

"Who are you?" questioned Akari as Kuroma rose to his feet.

"My name is Uchiha Shoru. I am the son of Tobi." the blond boy said, his black Mangekyo Sharingan glaring at three defending the palace. "And you three are trash."

Hinata was in awe. Here was a mere boy ready to strike them. Yet, from the reactions of Aku, Shinnō, and Mōryō, this boy had to have some power as they were now frozen.

"K-Kuroma-kun," Hinata stammered. "H-his chakra… It's…"

A dark cloak of chakra surrounded Shoru.

"The power of the Reibi…" Shinnō muttered.

"You are all in my way," Shoru said. "Be gone!"

The front of the palace collapsed as Shoru blew it away with one Shinra Tensei. Ally and enemy alike were also caught in the destruction, causing Shoru to slowly put his right hand down. A redhead woman approached him from behind.

"Make sure that no one interfere's in my battle with Uzumaki Shiori." Shoru told the woman.

Begrudgingly, Uzumaki Kushina nodded.

"Hai, Shoru."

Itachi continued his trek towards Kabuto. He knew that if he wasted any time, Shiori would pay for his mistakes. And whether he liked it or not, it was her survival that ultimately decided this war. She was the only one who could potentially detain all the biju at one time. But that power was not present to her now. She would have to live years to eventually wake that potential.

Itachi stopped immediately once he saw a horde of White Zetsu in front of him and grunted.

"I'm too late…" he said to himself as he prepared for battle.