Out of the Unknown

by axellon2008

Naruto discovers a crashed starship outside his village and his life is forever changed. Under the unorthodox tutelage of a Sith Lord's spirit, he will learn the technology and history of a larger galaxy that he, and no one else from his planet, ever knew existed.

17. Chapter 17

AN: I don't own Naruto, or Star Wars

AN: Another longer than average chapter

x-x

36.5 BBY – Current Year

Chapter XVII: Almost ready to leave when problems arise

The next day

x-x

Juugo looked up at the two in front of him as he tried to calm himself down. He was slightly nervous at the prospect of showing off his power to the man known as Plagueis. The nervousness came from the possibility of losing control of himself. The fits that he usually received had stopped ever since Naruto had suppressed his transformation, however that didn't mean that he hadn't had problems with his bloodline. Every once in a while he felt it starting to try to take over him but he had been able to keep it in check so far.

Despite Naruto being the reason why Kimimaro was gone, he didn't fight him or try to escape. This was mostly because he had nothing else and nowhere else to go. With the death of Orochimaru, it wouldn't have been very long before the prison facility was abandoned by the guards. Then he would have either been stuck in the cell to die or released and on his own with his bloodline acting up.

At least with Naruto he was around someone that he knew was able to control him. The cloaked blonde also wasn't scared of him and didn't care that he was potentially dangerous. Despite nearly killing the blonde, Naruto held nothing against him and neither did Suigetsu. The two demon brothers also didn't seem to care how dangerous he was and didn't keep their distance or were wary of him at all. However he could tell that the others were at least hesitant to be around him.

Despite that, it was...nice.

For a little over a week he had as close to a normal life as he had ever experienced. Something told him or at least he had the feeling that he could trust Naruto. True he had basically been kidnapped or forcibly transported to somewhere he had never been before, but it wasn't all that bad. He was no longer stuck in the cell with nothing to do and suffering from frequent bouts of temporary insanity. He was even able to go to places he had certainly never been before and experience snow for the first time.

Kimimaro was gone but in a way Naruto was right. His friend had been dying and he knew it. It was something that he would have to accept. A part of him wanted to be furious with Naruto but he had mixed feelings about the whole situation. He had a few moments on the boat when he thought about killing Naruto and his thoughts nearly triggered his bloodline but he had worked through it because there was a chance he could make a friend in the new group he was now a member in. Perhaps he could even have more than one friend, which was something that he never had before. Kimimaro had been his first and only friend.

He did accept the fact that he might be used as a test subject again. There would be needles and tests. Maybe a few individuals would become copies of himself but he had gotten used to that kind of treatment with Orochimaru. It wasn't new and he knew what to expect. Orochimaru promised him a cure or a way to suppress his abilities but after waiting and hearing nothing, he asked Kimimaro and found out the truth. Orochimaru had no intention of ever helping him get better or letting him have a normal life. He would have been in that cell for the rest of his life.

He just hoped he could finally be useful and accepted, which was really all he ever wanted. Maybe he could finally be rid of his curse or at least manage it better. Just in the previous week he had made great progress.

Plagueis glanced at the next person that his student had decided must go with them into the galaxy. So far the previous three he had no problem with the test. Despite the danger, he could see a use for Kabuto and he certainly liked the abilities and mindset of Suigetsu. Karin's test was a little bit different as only her sensing ability was tested to see if she could feel him using the Force and not just his student. The redhead passed and that was it.

Juugo, he felt, may not really be needed. He could just take samples from teen, however Naruto was adamant that having Juugo would be worth it. Plagueis gave an unseen signal and Gozu came out of the shadows to stand in front of Juugo.

"You'll be facing Gozu for this exercise. Its just a spar as I want to see what you are capable of, so you don't need to go all out." stated Plagueis in a reassuring voice but Naruto knew that the 'exercise' would involve a little bit more than just a simple spar as Plagueis was leading Juugo to believe. Gozu would likely be going at Juugo with the intent on injuring him.

While the others were trained to be ninja, Juugo was not. He only had extremely basic instruction and if it wasn't for his bloodline, he would not be able to defend himself at all. Naruto just hoped that Juugo didn't completely lose control again.

Naruto watched as Plagueis gave the signal to begin and Gozu charged Juugo. The Kiri ninja closed the distance between them and Juugo wasn't even able to dodge before he took a hit to the stomach.

Juugo's bloodline quickly activated as parts of his skin began darkening and his arm began changing. Plagueis watched intently as one arm, and then the other, began mutating before his eyes. The arm enlarged and darkened.

Despite several strikes, Juugo's punches did little to hurt the smoke demon and Gozu was able to dodge several of them. This only served to frustrate Juugo and his arm began to change again into the chakra powered jet arm that Naruto had seen firsthand.

Chakra flared out of the teens elbow and he shot off like a rocket. Gozu was caught by the punch and they both smashed into one of the walls of the empty dining room they were using.

The dust cleared from the impact and Juugo stood with his arm pinning a chuckling Gozu to the wall. The laughing only further enraged Juugo as he began losing control. His arm formed what looked like a piston and it pulled back and then smashed into the wall with incredible force, sending Gozu through the wall and into another room.

Juugo laughed maniacally until Gozu came out of the hole and delivered multiple punches to the orange haired teen. Juugo's other arm began changing as well and it formed what looked like an axe on the forearm. Gozu could have moved but decided not to and he was cut in half by the swung axe-arm.

Smoke came out of the severed abdomen and formed tendrils that linked together, pulling the two pieces of Gozu back together. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the technique as it reminded him greatly of his fight with Orochimaru.

Juugo snarled and was about to continue when Naruto heard Plagueis say, "Enough."

Gozu's body turned to smoke and then tendrils as he began restraining the roaring Juugo.

Naruto frowned at the scene, not because he was angry but because he now saw that he really could have used one of the demon brothers help the last time Juugo was in that state. He was about to go and help calm Juugo down when Plagueis walked over and did it for him.

Juugo tried to struggle and was in the process of forming chakra thrusters on his back and front in order to shoot Gozu off when Plagueis placed his hand in front of Juugo and began using his Force powers. Even diminished, Plagueis was still able to calm Juugo down.

The darkened skin retreated and left Juugo the way he looked before before the fight. The teen slumped and Plagueis told Gozu to talk him to a room and then watch him until the teen woke.

Watching them leave, Naruto tried to figure out what his Master was thinking and whether Juugo would be allowed to stay.

'Impressive.' thought Plagueis as he recalled everything that he had seen and examined every detail again. It was almost as if he had watched a person turn into a Sith spawn and then back again. The possibilities with such a controlled mutation were incredible and it was no wonder that Orochimaru was so interested in it.

'I will have the to let the teen stay with us. Taking a mere sample certainly wouldn't be enough. It wouldn't even begin to tell me what the bloodline and transformation are truly capable of.' he thought as he had only seen part of Juugo's transformation but the fact that the teen could change and modify himself to such a degree made him think that with more practice and training the boy could take the transformation even further and create other unique weapons and abilities.

"He stays as well." Plagueis finally said and Naruto silently exhaled the breath that he had been holding.

All that was left now was to test the last person that Naruto had brought with him.

x-x

If there was one thing Tayuya hated, it was being nervous and helpless. These were however two feelings that she currently couldn't rid herself of and she really wanted to punch something.

She was waiting outside the room where the testing was going on. The others had already gone, each of them passing and now it was her turn. Well, her turn after Juugo. A moment ago the floor and walls shook and she wondered if Juugo was completely going out of control. Even without a sensor ability, she could feel the foul chakra emanating from the room but it did stop eventually.

She didn't think the others really knew the meaning behind the test as Naruto had told her that their lives were based as the results. It was information that she hadn't been willing to give anyone else. She wasn't about to trust anyone else or give them the advantage of knowing. She also hated the fact that out of everyone else there, she was apparently the worst off.

The doors opened and one of the smoke duo came out while dragging a unconscious Juugo.

'Great, even he passed the test.' she thought with worry and knew that it was now her turn. She got up from her seated position on the floor with her back and against the wall and walked into the room. The doors closed behind her as she walked to where the two were standing and she had a feeling it was their strange powers that did it.

"As you already seem to know..." Plagueis began and Tayuya started feeling more uncomfortable than she had been, "...this will be a test to see what you know and how useful you could be to us. For some reason my student already decided this on his own but I have yet to be convinced. Therefore you will be having a simple spar with my student to prove your worth." said Plagueis as he motioned to Naruto who was surprised as he had no idea he would be facing Tayuya.

'The brat is his student. I don't get how a fat civilian could possible train a ninja. Maybe it has to do with those special powers of his.' she thought and still didn't like the idea fighting to prove herself. She had already done something similar with Orochimaru and was not keen to do it again. Her life was going to be decided by a whiskered pig that could talk.

Naruto attempted not to show any outward sign of what Tayuya had just thought. He wanted to sweat-drop or tell the girl that both of them could read the thoughts she just had. 'I have no idea how Master Plagueis will take to being called a 'whiskered pig'. I doubt he will take it in stride.' he lamented at the fact that Tayuya was already hindering her chances. His lip did quirked slightly at the comment despite his self control and he tried to get a sense of what his Master was feeling at the remark.

Plagueis kept his feelings to himself but he was actually quite amused. He thought the very same of the body when he took it but it was needed for his plans. 'Now I just need to test her abilities and loyalty to Naruto and by proxy, myself.' he thought and spoke to Naruto, "I believe in order to be properly tested that she would need the instrument that she normally uses." he stated to Naruto and tried to keep the devious smirk off his face.

Naruto glanced at his Master and then back at Tayuya while his hand reached for the flute that was at his belt. He was worried that if he gave it back to her, she would try to kill him or Plagueis. It was obvious to him that it was another test and likely, if he gave anything away to Tayuya concerning the test, Plagueis would not approve and she would fail.

Pulling out the flute he used the Force to send it to her along with a standard ninja pouch and she reached out and grabbed both. Tayuya attached the pouch and then examined her entire flute looking for any damage. After she was satisfied, she then tested out a few notes before doing anything else.

'He gave it back to me?' she questioned, as Naruto had mentioned that she wouldn't get it back until after she proved herself. She spent quite a bit of time learning genjutsu from him but now she had what she wanted and could use her summons as well the normal jutsu she relied on. With that she might have a chance at defeating both people in front of her and getting away.

But why were things suddenly going her way? Things had never gone her way.

She readied herself and looked between the two people in front of her. She wondered why her opponent didn't show any emotion while the man identified as Plagueis had a smirk on his face.

She was about to start and summon her three Doki to fight both of them when she stopped and her brown eyes met his blue. It was at that moment that she realized why. 'This is another test. Similar to what had happened to Kabuto.'

Was one of those demon brothers hiding and waiting to devour her? It was not a thought that she liked but she decided that being so predictable was not something she liked. Instead of using the flute, she put it away and began going through handseals to start the fight.

Naruto's eyes widened as he prepared for the jutsu but he recognized the seals as one of the genjutsu that he had taught Tayuya. She quickly disappeared in a swirl that distorted her image and concealed her in the genjutsu.

Naruto tried to find her using his life-signs ability but it was too late as his hands had already been caught by the illusion of roots that spontaneously grew from under him. The roots formed into a trees that held him tightly against the trunk. Tayuya quickly appeared out of the trunk with a kunai and Naruto bit his lip to stop the genjutsu and free himself.

He ducked her strike and unsealed his sword. He swung at Tayuya thinking she would duck but he realized before the sword struck her that she was no longer there. The sword cleaved through the redhaired girl but instead of blood there was an ink-like substance. The two halves quickly formed into two separate Tayuya and other Tayuya's began coming out from the floor around him.

Naruto recognized the genjutsu as one of the lower ranking techniques that he had taught her and searched for the real Tayuya in the sea of fakes that had begun coming up from the floor. It was called the Mist Servant technique and created apparitions that would confuse the person trapped in the genjutsu while the real individual hid themselves among the group and attacked whenever they found an opening.

He quickly found Tayuya and raced through the fakes to attack her directly. He soon found that was easier said than done as he nearly ran himself into a wall. His life-signs ability told him that Tayuya was behind the wall which didn't make any sense as he knew she couldn't move through a wall.

He stopped running as soon as he reached the wall. Frowning he tried to figure out what was going on. The longer he wasted, the more time Tayuya had to plan her next move.

His eyes widened as he finally realized that the room he was in had changed. The walls were still the same but the dimensions of the room had altered. It was now shallower than it had been, 'Which means that this wall I'm standing in front of is a fake, the False Surroundings technique.' he realized and dispelled the technique with a handseal and calming as well as focusing his chakra to suppress it enough so that the technique no longer affected. The wall shimmered and then dissolved as he found at least ten additional feet of the room had been hidden by his opponent with the technique.

He came face to face with his opponent but knew from his sensing that this also wasn't the real Tayuya it was just a regular bushin. 'That means I'm still trapped in the genjutsu. A Double False Surroundings technique.' he reasoned and formed a kinetite in his hand, then sent it hurtling near where he knew the real Tayuya to be.

The technique passed through the second fake wall and exploded, sending chunks of debris out of the dispelling technique. Naruto's eyes followed Tayuya as she ran out of the fake wall just before it exploded. She threw several shuriken at him to slow him down and then pulled out her flute.

Naruto used the Force to alter the path of the shuriken and he lamented the fact that he hadn't had much experience fighting genjutsu users. It was more of a weakness than he thought it would be and the worst part was that he had instructed her in all the techniques she had just used on him.

He saw her put blood on her flute and jumped back to give some space as a large cloud of smoke erupted in the room. Naruto stared at the newcomer and frowned even more.

'Oh, great. It just had to be one with a gigantic metal club.' he thought as he stared at the Doki. Tayuya began playing her flute and he began sizing up his opponent and looking for weaknesses. The Doki was dressed in green clothing with a similar purple rope that Tayuya had worn tied at its waste. Its eyes and ears were covered with white bandages and he knew that it would move with notes from Tayuya's flute.

He was about to begin his attack when the area around him started to swirl. The area he was now in had a red sky and black ground. It seemed to have no limits to its vastness and he found his limbs bound by strong metal wire. Unable to move he felt the with the Force the movement of the Doki and before he had a chance to bite his lip again, a jolt of Force lightning came from his sword and broke the illusion for him.

Naruto lunged to the side as he heard the Doki's club strike the ground where he just was. 'Shit! She's really trying to kill me!' he realized and decided to end the spar before he actually got injured.

'Take that you pint-sized bastard. I'm not going to lose here.' Tayuya thought and continued to play her flute to animate her Doki. It was true that she wasn't out to kill him but she did want payback for the kidnapping and other things he put her through. That was why she only summoned one Doki and not the other two as well.

'Now to activate my Doki's special ability.' she thought and the tune of her flute changed.

Naruto heard the change and thought it was going to be another genjutsu so he attempted to immobilize the Doki. Dodging a strike of the club, he ran up the Doki's arm just as it's mouth opened and something began coming out. Instead of attacking it, he used to Force to create a bubble around the Doki's head and began removing the air from the bubble, creating a vacuum. Just as some kind of technique began coming out of the Doki's mouth, the beast stopped moving and the technique stopped as well.

'What the hell?!' Tayuya thought as she continued to play and her Doki stopped responding to her commands.

She was about to summon another Doki when she was forced to dodge a grouping of shuriken.

Naruto jumped off the Doki and charged Tayuya directly while the bubble began to fade. As long as he got to her first and managed to stop her from playing the flute, he wouldn't have to worry about the Doki.

Seeing the running blonde coming at her, Tayuya put more blood on her flute and summoned another Doki as Naruto neared.

Thinking fast, and not knowing about the new Doki that was still covered by the smoke of the summoning, Naruto tossed his sword up in the air and went through two handseals. His mouth bulged with water and he spewed an uncontrolled stream of it.

However he wasn't aiming for the Doki, but the floor. Diving forward onto the water he just created, Naruto put chakra in the front of his chest so he would stay on top of the water and he slid right through the Doki's legs.

Tayuya's eyes widened at the tactic and she began playing new noted to get her Doki to turn around and protect her. Naruto's slide took him away from the Doki and he stopped before he reached the wall. Reaching into the air, he looked right at Tayuya as he stood and his sword flew into his outstretched hand. Not missing a beat, he again charged after the redhead.

Tayuya put as much space as she could between them as she ran parallel to the wall. Her flute was still being played while she moved and her Doki were moving to protect herself.

Naruto outstretched his other hand and a giant shuriken appeared after the smoke dispersed. He spun the shuriken and then threw it at the retreating redhead.

Tayuya moved to dodge the shuriken but she wasn't prepared when it went up in smoke to reveal a copy of the cloaked blonde. Her notes were interrupted by the surprising turn of events and she stopped her playing to deal with the new threat that was closing fast.

Her hand reached for a kunai and jabbed it into the clones throat before it managed to get her. She turned back to the real threat and wasn't able to dodge when the real Naruto tackled her. He had apparently closed the distance faster than she expected.

The pair rolled on the floor as each fought to disarm or incapacitate the other.

Naruto managed to get the flute away from Tayuya but was unprepared when the redhead bit his hand and forced him to drop his sword. The pair continued to roll around on the floor as they both tried to get the upper hand and dominance of the situation.

Naruto managed to get on top of Tayuya and pin her arms to floor. He smiled in triumph but was caught by surprise when Tayuya's legs wrapped around the middle of his torso and she began squeezing his rib cage. The triumphant smile left his face and appeared on Tayuya's.

Naruto struggled to breathe in as he felt his lungs being compressed so he moved her pinned arms enough that he could hold down both with one of his hand. His now free hand latched onto her throat as he began choking her.

Plagueis slowly walked over to the pair of ninja. The entire match had truly been a surprise. He was finally able to see genjutsu used by a skilled individual. He found it difficult to break the illusions but he knew the trick to it and wiped the blood off Gatou's lip. It was now clear to him that the redhead might be useful to them and she certainly didn't give up easily.

Though at the moment he wasn't really sure what had come over his student. He could have ended the match but he honestly wasn't sure if Naruto would even listen to him. His student was hell bent on finishing the match and defeating the opponent but he could tell Naruto wasn't out to kill the girl.

'Perhaps it is a struggle for leadership as much as dominance. If my student does not win, then the girl may not take his orders or for that matter my own. If she won't follow orders, then she will be a liability to us and won't live very long. Naruto obviously knows this and wants to defeat her.' Plagueis gathered and decided against stopping them.

If an acolyte or servant did not follow orders then that individual was to be punished until they understood or outright killed for insubordination. That was something that he had taught Naruto. The others were willing to follow Naruto or, in the case of Kabuto, had been subdued but the redhead was different. While his student wanted to show off the girl's abilities he also wanted to put an end to Tayuya's disobedience, get her to follow him, and thereby allow her to live longer. Up to that point, the two had never fought before.

It was obvious to him that Naruto had gone out of his way to make sure the girl was brought with the group and survived. Was it possible that his student had feelings for the girl? The fact that both females in the group were redheads was also not lost on him.

'Definitely something I will have to look into and monitor.' he thought as relationships for a Sith could be very dangerous and cause uncontrolled emotions. He had a feeling Naruto wouldn't seek out a relationship at that point in time. Naruto was too young for that sort of thing and was socially inept when it came to dating or the opposite sex. Though he recognized that it could still cause problems and might occur in the future.

His thoughts returned to the fight as he noted that it was coming to an end. Tayuya's eyes began rolling in her head and she passed out. A moment later Naruto collapsed on top of the girl with his head on her chest. Plagueis quickly checked them both and found that they were still alive and breathing normally. Neither had killed the other.

'Perhaps I'll just leave them here for now. Too bad I won't be around to see what happens when they wake up. It would be quite amusing.' he thought as he left the room and the Doki disappeared in smoke as they unsummoned themselves.

Plagueis walked down the hallway heading to his study as his thoughts took over and the body moved automatically.

The girl would have to stay. She had some kind of hold over his student and her death could turn Naruto against him. At the same time, it would provide him a means of controlling his student should Naruto ever turn on him. He wasn't sure Naruto would ever betray him but his past experience with his Apprentice made him overly cautious. It was one of the reasons why he had trained Naruto differently from how he would a Sith Apprentice. He didn't want Naruto to eventually kill him and become Master of the Sith.

In his mind, Sidious was still the Apprentice and he was still the Master of the Sith. His Apprentice had failed to comply with the Rule of Two and failed to completely kill him. Ascension in the Rule of Two required that the Apprentice face the Master in a duel. If the Master was defeated then the Apprentice rose in position and if the Apprentice was defeated then the Master found a new Apprentice.

Sidious had killed him in his sleep which was a not something he had taught. Such an act of cowardice was not something he could stand. Despite being a spirit, he would not let Sidious get away with it. He was also still around and not truly dead. Therefore he justified it as they were still in conflict and their battle was not over. The conflict would only end when one of them was killed permanently. Perhaps it was foolish to still hold to the Rule of Two but that was how he was taught, though not what he taught Naruto.

His inadvertent discovery of the planet whose people used chakra had brought back his motivation and interest. No matter what, he wasn't willing to give up all the new research avenues that had been shown to him and the possibilities of new discoveries. He would not die again, no matter who the opponent was. However he was still weakened and a spirit, so he needed someone that he could explicitly trust and that wouldn't betray him while he was at his weakest. The Force had seemingly provided such a person in Naruto and he wasn't going to make similar mistakes as he had made with Sidious.

The advantage was currently his as Sidious had no idea he was still alive. He just needed to return himself to a proper body that could hold his spirit and then complete the ritual that his student began. Plagueis the Wise just needed to stay 'dead' until the time was right.

x-x

Plagueis waited for at least ten minutes before he felt Naruto coming down the hallway. The door opened and Naruto walked into the study with a bright red cheek that had the unmistakable imprint of a hand. The boy sat in the chair with a rather dumbfounded look and he could feel his students confusion over what had taken place minutes before.

"You lost control of your emotions in there. It was only supposed to be a simple spar." Plagueis commented and Naruto frowned as those words were somewhat true. It wasn't just a simple spar, however, he wasn't sure what came over him. He did know that if Tayuya was to live, then he couldn't let her beat him, though he wasn't willing to seriously injure her in order to defeat her.

"Did you make a decision?" Naruto asked after a brief moment to collect his thoughts and Plagueis could feel Naruto shielding thoughts from him.

"They can all stay. There is just room enough on the ship, but you will be responsible for them and for their actions. You will have to make sure that they follow orders and don't cause trouble. There is now much more to do. You will need to create an underground bunker system near the castle but far enough away to stay hidden. I want it to be large enough for everyone, our supplies, and the ship. We will stay there until the ship is ready to leave. I won't have any more setbacks. The ship needs to be repaired and in addition, the new...acolytes...need to be taught in the ways of the galaxy.

They will need a basic understanding of technology and language before we leave. However I am not unreasonable and won't place this burden entirely on you. You already have much to do whereas I don't have very much to do at the moment. I am willing to educate them while your are working on the ship." stated Plagueis.

"I understand, Master. I'll get to work on the bunker right away." said Naruto with a bow and he left the room.

'Finally, my plans are coming to fruition.' Plagueis thought and while he was satisfied he was also wary. The galaxy could have changed greatly in the years he was gone and he couldn't come up with a plan for what would happen or what they might do once they got back to the Known Galaxy. With so many variables, there was no plan that he could come up with that was feasible and he didn't like not having a plan.

The ultimate goal was revenge but how to go about that revenge was not something he hadn't been able to work out. The only initial plan he had was to start gathering resources, funds, and creating a power base in which to use later on. This would be the majority of what they could do in the short-term but he had no long-term plan.

It all depended on what Sidious had been up to. For all he knew, the galaxy could already belong to his Apprentice or perhaps the Jedi had discovered Sidious's existence. He doubted either of those had actually occurred but they were not possibilities that he could simply ignore. Anything was possible in the galaxy and until they knew more, he might have to rely on Naruto's ability of getting by without a set plan. That was one thing Naruto had that he didn't. The boy was flexible and quick thinking in any situation.

To simply throw caution to the wind and act on impulse or instinct, and with little guidance from the Force was not something he was used to but it was something that Naruto excelled at. Perhaps it was Naruto's chakra that provided the boy with something else that he couldn't completely figure out, even after all his time watching and analyzing his student.

x-x

The group stayed in Doto's castle for two days before Naruto had finished the underground bunker system that Plagueis had wanted. Such a large castle that was known to all the inhabitants of the island was not the ideal area that Plagueis wanted to have for such sensitive and secretive projects.

He didn't want any of Doto's scientists or anyone else to get wind of what was going on or what the real project was. Their function would be to create bits and pieces of the new reactor or fuel injection assembly that Naruto would require while never knowing what the final product was or what it would do.

Installations were made in the bunker to give it proper heating and all of the infrastructure and other things that Naruto would need to rebuild the reactor on the ship. Accommodations were made for each person, lighting was installed, and several training rooms were even created. They would basically be living in the bunker for the next several months. Naruto had made sure to put fuinjutsu as well as Sith runes in the system to keep them as safe and secure as possible.

Currently he was in one of the largest rooms in the bunker. It was a dome shaped room and made in order to maximize the usable area while providing good support for the ground above. The size would easily fit the ship and allow him enough space to work for the next several months. A large shadowed hallway was also attached to the dome. It was down this long hallway that the ship would travel once it was complete. It stretched for several hundred meters before exiting inside an isolated location in the valley between the mountains. From there the ship could head out to the ocean, unseen by the local population, and begin the ascent into the atmosphere.

But he was getting ahead of himself. There was so much to do first.

His eyes glanced at the door again. In just a few minutes the others would arrive and he would reveal to them why they were all there and where they were going. He found himself pacing back and forth as he wasn't sure how they would respond to the information. It was definitely not something that they would expect or be prepared for. He even had a holoprojector set up on a small platform on the floor in order to visually show everyone what he was talking about so hopefully they could understand things easier.

Going over what he was going to say ended up being pointless. No matter how many times he went over it, each time he ended up with a very different speech. There was so much to say and he had trouble figuring out what to leave in and what to leave out. 'Public speaking is not a strength of mine.' he acknowledged and wished Plagueis had taught him more about the finer points of oration.

Feeling the approaching group, he stopped his pacing and stood near the entrance of the room. The doors to the room soon opened and everyone in their group walked in. Naruto decided to remove his cloak and he tossed it on the table next to him. A silence ensued which Naruto knew he had to break first.

"Up until now, I haven't given any of you much information about what our plans are. Master Plagueis has decided that all of you will be staying and therefore you will need to be informed. You should know that there is no turning back. From this point on, you will be part of our group. We are called the Sith. Master Plageuis is a Sith and I am a Sith but you all will be termed 'acolytes' for now. Perhaps that will change, perhaps it won't. I suppose you could categorize our group as mercenaries at this point but eventually we will be much more.

You will follow Master Plagueis's orders first and foremost. Then my orders. There is no subdivision between all of you as you are all equal in status. The goals of our organization are quite simple. At this point we have only one goal that concerns a single object. Once that is completed then our goals will change. Ultimately the goal of the Sith is conquest and we will make many enemies but we will also need to make allies. Your participation, skills, help, success, and loyalty will not go unrewarded.

At this point, giving you Ryo would be meaningless in the long run as it will have no value where we are going, but I can promise you money, power, and perhaps even fame or infamy. The more loyal you are, the more we can trust you and the more you can gain. In time, just about anything you want can be provided. All we ask is that you work for us and don't even think about betraying the group. Don't believe you are expendable though. I didn't go to the trouble of bringing all of you here just to have you get killed in the next few months. I also don't accept failure and neither does my Master." said Naruto and he took a short break to let it all sink in.

Searching the feelings in the room he tried to get an idea of what his audience was thinking. Most seemed rather curious and interested. A few seemed rather wary but none of them seemed to be backing out at this point, so he decided to continue. The next bit of information would be the turning point and produce the strongest feelings.

"As many of you may have already guessed, coming to Snow Country was only a temporary measure. The country is really just a stopping point. Soon we will leave the Elemental Countries altogether to something...bigger, better, perhaps more dangerous, and with limitless potential." Naruto revealed and before anyone could talk he began speaking again.

"I can feel all of you are wondering where we will be going. Leaving the Elemental Countries does seem like a strange goal. Perhaps you're thinking of backing out or that this is getting interesting. Or perhaps your thinking I'm 'out of my god damned mind and completely bat-shit insane'." he stated with a look of derision at Tayuya. The redhead looked slightly embarrassed before looking around and noticing that the others were all giving quick glances in her direction. Scowling she glared back at them.

Naruto continued a moment later while still giving Tayuya a mild glare, "What do all of you know about the galaxy?" he questioned and the others looked a little confused.

"The galaxy?" questioned Juugo.

"Yes, tell me something that you know about it." responded Naruto and no one spoke.

"Well that's not really surprising. Its alright if you don't know very much about it. The most that any of you probably know is that there are stars and planets in the night sky. This planet has a sun that it orbits and a moon that orbits it as well as several other planets in our local solar system. Perhaps that is just about it for most of you. Now, let me tell all of you about the galaxy that I know." Naruto suggested and dimmed the lights in the room while activating the holoprojector.

A blue light emerged and took the shape of a three-dimensional galaxy. The group members were quite surprised and put their surprise in a few choice words. A few noted that there was a gap or lack of points in one half of the picture, as if portions of information on that area were missing.

"This, is the galaxy that we live in. It is approximately 120,000 light-years in diameter. That means that if you traveled at the speed of light, it would take you 120,000 years to make your way from one side of the galaxy to the other. It is estimated that our galaxy holds approximately 400 billion stars. From that number, it is also estimated that half of those stars, 200 billion to be exact, may have planets capable of supporting life on them. Perhaps one tenth of that number, 20 billion stars, have had planets that developed life in the 13 billion years since the galaxy formed. Of that number, a thousandth of those stars could have planets that contain sentient life on them. For those that are still keeping track, that is around 20 million stars with possible planets that contain sentient life."

"You said could have life forms. Does that mean there is life on other planet and different kinds?" questioned Kabuto as he interrupted. He found himself completely immersed in the information and had to know the answer to the question that was burning in his head.

"Yes of course. Life formed on many planets and still continues to form on others. There are humans, humanoids, many different species, and trillions of other life forms. Plant, animal, bacteria, and perhaps even more. They are likely too numerous for someone to count or document. As you can see from the map, the galaxy isn't completely explored and even in the areas where it has been explored, planets and even entire solar systems have been lost over time or perhaps still haven't been found yet." explained Naruto to the stunned audience.

"How the hell do you even know that?!" questioned Tayuya.

"That will be explained a little later. You'll have to patient." said Naruto with a smirk as he knew Tayuya hated to be patient and he continued on while the girl's glare at him intensified.

"We however live outside of this known area of space." he stated while walking up to the emitter and pointing to an area of space in the Unknown Region. "This is approximately where we are and this..." he switched to a view of their star system, "is what our star system looks like. We are likely not one of the 20 million that developed sentient life, however."

He could feel the confusion in the room and elaborated, "Humans have moved across most of the galaxy and probably an unknown amount of time ago, a ship came to this planet with passengers in order to colonize it. I have no idea where the ship is or when this might have happened but its very unlikely that we simply evolved here.

Now, as to the goals of our group and how I know about the galaxy.." he said while turning back on the lights and turning off the projector. Moving to the other side of the room, he positioned himself and then went through the seals for the summoning jutsu. Slamming his hands into the floor he said the jutsu name and there was a huge eruption of smoke.

A torrent of water rushed at the group but its level lowered the farther it got from the epicenter of the summoning. By the time it was near them, it had almost all gone into the drains that Naruto had specifically created for that purpose. Their attention was taken back to the summoning as the smoke cleared and revealed a very large metal object.

Most of the group just stared at it while a few decided to move closer.

Naruto walked down the length of the ship and once he reached the cockpit, he jumped off of it and back down to the ground. He stayed there as the others eventually gave in and began moving closer. Plagueis merely watched from the sidelines as his part would come eventually.

"What is it?" asked Karin as she looked up at the huge metal object which looked slightly familiar.

"Its a ship. A starship that travels between planets and stars. With enough fuel it can travel the length of the galaxy in a very short amount of time. While this planet is still at a low level of technology. The rest of the galaxy is possibly centuries or even thousands of years ahead of our planet. We would actually be considered a backwater planet and primitive to them." Naruto informed her and the others.

"How old is it?" questioned Kabuto and Naruto thought about it for a second before answering, "The ship crashed on this planet about 14 years ago. Its age beyond that could be upwards of several decades."

"Kinda dirty." Suigetsu commented and Naruto just replied, "Its been at the bottom of a lake for 14 years."

Karin heard the comment and she finally knew why the lake outside of Konoha was so important. 'I never would have thought something like this was at the bottom.'

"Can we go in?" asked Juugo and Naruto quickly replied, "Not right now, but later of course. I have quite a bit of work to do on the ship but I can give all of you a tour in the next few days. We will be using this ship to leave the planet and traveling to the Known galaxy."

The others stopped looking at the ship and now realized what Naruto meant earlier. They wouldn't just be leaving the Elemental Countries but the planet itself. For most, everything Naruto revealed was an incredible amount to take in and accept. Knowing that they were just one planet in a much larger, incredibly populated, and more technologically advanced galaxy was hard to fathom.

Meizu ran his hand over the ship and wondered something so he decided to ask, "Then the rest of the galaxy must be pretty strong or at least advanced in ninjutsu."

The others turned to Naruto and he answered, "No, they aren't. In fact our planet and we ninja are quite an oddity. No one else in the galaxy has or can use chakra."

"They don't have chakra?" Karin questioned and Naruto nodded.

"Then how do they live without it?" questioned Kabuto as he sought for more information. His mind was still trying to wrap around all of the information that was being revealed and while earlier he thought it was some kind of joke, he was now starting to believe what Naruto was telling him. It was too elaborate to be a hoax and he knew Naruto didn't tell lies.

"The inhabitants of the galaxy have small organisms in the cells of their bodies that, in high enough numbers per cell, allow for the sensing and controlling of an energy field known as the Force. This energy field and the organisms are present in everyone of the Known galaxy and without them they would not be alive. Instead of producing energy like our chakra, the energy field, known as the Force, flows in and around everyone. Only those with a high enough number of organisms can be manipulate the Force and only a fraction of the sentient species in the galaxy can do this. Still, you shouldn't underestimate anyone in the galaxy." explained Naruto and he guessed Kabuto's next question.

"And you are able to use this 'Force' as well?"

"Yes. In addition to producing chakra, I also have the organisms in sufficient numbers to manipulate the energy field. I however gained this power by accident and nearly died. It may not be something that can be replicated, but I don't really know. Perhaps you can bring up that question with Master Plagueis. You will be working with him after all and I'm sure he could answer your questions better than I could. After all, he is from another part of the galaxy and has studied the Force for decades." revealed Naruto and everyone in the room looked to the short man.

"I thought you were Gato of Gato shipping?" questioned Kabuto and the short man smiled.

"This is merely a flesh body that I control. Though this form is completely dissimilar from my original, it has had its uses on this planet." Plagueis said and he began to move his spirit outside of Gato's body to show them his true form.

A dark apparition appeared above and even around Gato. The cloaked spirit looked at everyone in the room and spoke to them in their minds, 'Though you know Naruto far more than you know me, I am the leader of this group. My goals extend beyond merely getting back to the galaxy I came from and just so you all know, your chakra and attacks won't work on this form of mine. It's pointless to try. I should also add, if you lie to me I will know it and if you seek to subvert my goals, I will destroy you." he finished and Gato pulled off the glasses so they could see his yellow eyes.

The feeling was unlike anything they had felt before. It was fear that they felt, radiating off the apparition and completely different from killing intent. 'Why can't he teach me that.' Naruto thought with a frown.

The feeling however soon passed and the figure of Gato spoke again, "There is much to do while the ship is being fixed by Naruto. Teaching all of you about the galaxy, the language, the technology, and the weapons will not be an easy task. We will begin immediately." Plagueis finished and then walked out of the room, expecting them to follow.

x-x

36.4 BBY – Current Year

Nearly one month later

x-x

Sitting at a small cafe, Kakashi relaxed in his seat and sipped his tea while reading his little orange book. His team had just saved the country from a ruthless dictator, saved a princess, and helped activate a generator that changed the season to spring. He deserved a break to enjoy the new weather Snow Country was experiencing.

His students were likely exploring parts of the village or at least he told them they should. With the country safe and their mission over, he decided to take a few days off before they headed back. He sighed in contentment and glanced up from his book to see some people pass by the shop.

Staying alert was something that he had been trained to do, so his eyes again looked up above his book as he noted two dark figures pass by. They were nearly completely covered by clothing or a hat and he noted several things about them. The red clouds on black cloaks was not something he had ever seen but the large bandaged weapon on one of their backs was something to be concerned over. There was something familiar about them and their presence gave him a bad feeling.

Discretely, he payed for his drink and left the building to follow the pair. Two strange figures turning up just as the country was liberated was suspicious and pulling up his headband, he determined with his sharingan that both were definitely ninja. Stepping into a nearby alley, he created a shadow clone to continue following them and then summoned one of his ninken to round up his students.

x-x

Kabuto sat on the bed in his room and sulked. His current mood had nothing to do with his situation but everything to do with his own foolish actions. After being nearly devoured by the two altered demon brothers a month ago, he had covertly used his snake summons to send a message. He was concerned over his own life but also the fact that he didn't know what Naruto was really up to. At the time he thought it was smart but now he couldn't believe how stupid it had been.

The message had no doubt eventually reached the intended recipient, his previous Master, Akasuna no Sasori. He knew Akatsuki were after the jinchuuriki and they would likely send someone after Naruto if they knew a location. He merely provided that information. Now however he regretted it.

Once he had been told about the goals of the 'Sith' he still didn't care about what he had done. However, that all changed once he learned about the galaxy.

'I still have trouble grasping it. That in parts of the night sky are areas of a large galaxy that this planet is a infinitesimally small part of. Other species and life exist on many of these other planets. An entire galaxy to learn about. A near infinite number of lifeforms that I still cannot imagine and that certainly don't exist here. Incredible technology centuries more advanced than anything else on this planet. He offered me more than I could possibly image and all I did was put that amazing future in jeopardy.' he thought solemnly.

Under Orochimaru he never had the choice of what he worked on but he did like the work itself. Experimenting and learning about everything there was to know concerning the mysteries of chakra and ninjutsu. However then someone came along and opened his eyes to so much more. An entire galaxy of samples, species, and possibilities. It turned out that 'everything there was to know' was nothing compared to what would be available to him through Naruto. How could he pass it up? Access to all of that and no real restrictions on what he could research. And yet he technically had thrown it all away. He told Akatsuki where to find Naruto before he learned about it and now it was likely that a pair of strong ninja were heading their way.

'If only I'd waited. I wouldn't have sent that message.' he lamented and grit his teeth.

It was true that he still hated and wanted revenge on Naruto but after learning all that he had in the past month, his revenge could wait at least a little while. Once he got situated in the galaxy, then he could have revenge and still have access to everything Naruto talked about. In a galaxy that large, he could easily hide from anyone that came after him. He wanted to see the galaxy. He wanted to learn more about it and obtain the power Naruto and Plagueis had. It was obvious to him why Naruto wanted to leave the planet so badly and he felt very much the same way.

Fear of death had led him not to tell the others about the message. Plagueis would have killed him on the spot, of that he was sure. So he kept it quiet, but they might find out eventually. The ship might be taken by Akatsuki, perhaps it would be further damaged or the only people that can repair it would be killed.

His mind struggled to figure out what he should do but he was still at a loss. Keeping that information hidden deep inside his head and not thinking about it was taking its toll. Though he wasn't completely sure how, he could tell that Naruto and Plagueis possessed some form of mind reading or at least being able to sense the foremost thoughts in a person's mind. He'd spent the month doing everything he could to hide that information away so neither could read it.

Plagueis wasn't a fool and neither was Naruto. If by some miracle they survived, one of the two would likely figure out that he had been the reason why Akatsuki had been led there. The only thing he had going for him was that Naruto had hidden the base very well. There was still a chance that Akatsuki would not be able to find them. It was a small chance though, especially given the resources and skills that group had at it's disposal.

x-x

Stopping and looking over his progress, Naruto sighed as he still had a lot of work to do despite being well ahead of schedule. Both he and his Master had underestimated just how much work his shadow clones could do in a short amount of time when he was determined to complete something. Leaving the planet was definitely something he was determined to do so he had his clones work almost nonstop on the ship.

Parts of the ships reactor and injector assembly were spread over the floor of the circular room that the ship was in. The hull had already been coated in the sealant to prevent further crack propagation and now he was focusing on the power source for the ship. Every part on the floor was placed there for a reason and he knew where every part was. He had disassembled everything and now he just needed to build his own reactor from the parts he had and the few parts created by the scientists of Snow Country.

He hadn't been the only busy one, however. Plagueis had been teaching the remaining group about the galaxy. His Master had began with implanting the knowledge of how to speak Galactic Standard into their heads and then spent the majority of the time them about technology and general information about the galaxy. Inputting so much information into a person's head was incredibly dangerous but if it was only the language then they should be fine. A new language would take the longest to teach so it was a necessity to implant it into them.

In less than a months time they learned the basics about common species, droids, weapons, vehicles, factions, and a small amount of information on just about everything else that they would need to know.

Plagueis then began on weapons training and taught them all how to use the blasters that were hidden in the ship by the smugglers. Suigetsu was immensely interested in the different weapons of the galaxy and in order to get the white haired boy to stop pestering him about his sword, he agreed to create a blade for Suigetsu once he got the chance.

The group had then each gotten a tour of the ship and his clones went over the basics of how most common devices worked on the ship. Teaching them something as complicated as piloting or working with the advanced technology was still beyond them but he could teach them about everything else. Kabuto and Karin had been very interested in the small infirmary and Kabuto had been having many 'chats' with the medical droid. Plagueis had also spent time going over Orochimaru's research with Kabuto and also working with Juugo on meditation to help keep the boy as calm as possible to prevent any 'outbursts'.

All in all, just about everyone had been busy with something or another. The jutsu that he had collected from Konoha was also placed in a room where any of the group could go and see it, though few had free time to learn from the scrolls in addition to everything else. That however didn't stop them from at least browsing through several of the scrolls.

Getting back to the matter at hand, Naruto tried to blink away his tiredness and rubbed his sore eyes as he continued to stay on his feet, working on the ship well beyond what his body could likely take. 'How long has it been since I slept?' he wondered and couldn't remember. With so much information going into his head from his dispersed shadow clones he sometimes had a hard time remembering other things while he worked.

He was about to create more clones when he felt Karin's life-signs heading towards the room. Extending his senses as far as he could, he could feel distress and worry coming from her. He was also receiving an ominous feeling through the Force. Sighing, he moved away from his task and moved to the door in order to meet Karin there.

The last thing he needed, nor wanted, was bad news but it seemed inevitable with the success and progress he had made.

x-x

Following a set of metal tracks that apparently were for a vehicle known as a 'train', the pair of Akatsuki made their way to the destroyed castle that only a week before had belonged to the dictator of the country, Doto. They had yet to run into the Konoha ninja responsible but Itachi had managed to find out that Sasuke was part of the team. He thought about using the chance to see how his brother was progressing but decided against it.

Kisame also thought someone might be following them, which Itachi surmised as being Hatake Kakashi. He however didn't tell Kisame about his guess as he wanted Kakashi to follow them. He didn't want to capture the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and thought it was also best for the boy to remain in the village. Allowing Kakashi to hopefully see the boy would let Konoha know Naruto wasn't dead and where they could find him. Then they could send send ninja to capture him. The only problem was that he knew Naruto would likely be captured by them. If the situation called for it, he would have to turn on Kisame to prevent Naruto from being captured.

While Sasori had given them information on where their jinchuuriki was supposedly hiding, thus far they hadn't found a single trace of the boy. Snow Country was an interesting place for the jinchuuriki to supposedly head. On one hand it was very isolated and provided anonymity, however it was also too isolated. Anyone going there was trapped on the island without means of easy escape except for the few ships that traveled to and from the island. There was no way for anyone to make it to the island without a ship or a summoning animal. Should they find Uzumaki Naruto, which he hoped they wouldn't, the boy had nowhere to run.

The island could prove to be more of a prison than a hiding spot. Naruto would have to fight them both, which would result in his defeat. Though they needed the Kyuubi last and couldn't seal it until the other eight Biju were sealed, that didn't meant that they couldn't keep the boy prisoner. Most of Konoha didn't even know the boy was still alive so it provided perfect cover and a perfect opportunity for them to take him.

Itachi's thoughts were broken when Kisame stopped walking again. "Have you found something?"

"No, Samehada hasn't been able to find much of anything. If a jinchuuriki really is here then they're doing a good job of concealing their chakra." Itachi merely gave a 'hnn' in reply and they proceeded on. Over the course of days worth of searching the island country they had yet to find anything. Both were beginning to believe that Sasori's information must have been wrong. Itachi hoped it was wrong, however that had never happened before. Sasori's information was always correct.

The spy had not mentioned anything about Orochimaru's death but Sasori had confirmed that the rumors which had just recently been spreading around the Elemental Countries were indeed true. Since Orochimaru was dead, the former Suna ninja had no idea what his spy was up to or involved in, only that it concerned the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

At some point the pair would leave the island but Kisame was persistent in his hunt for his first jinchuuriki. Though they actually wished that they brought Zetsu with them. However, when they left Snow Country was still supposed to be covered in snow, which apparently greatly limited Zetsu's abilities.

Itachi was once again brought out of his musing when Kisame stopped again.

"I think Samehada has got something this time." he said and Itachi looked in the direction that Kisame was pointing the sword to. It was in the direction of the ruins they were approaching. According to what they had found out in the city, the castle had only been destroyed a few days ago by the Konoha ninja.

Both ninja jumped off the tracks and ran down the side of the mountain they were on. It shouldn't take long to reach and search the ruins for any sign of the jinchuuriki.

x-x

'Great, two unknown chakra signatures heading for us, one of them several times larger than my own.' Naruto thought as the others gathered. 'We have no idea what they're after or even if it involves us.'

Everyone had come prepared with ninja gear and everything they would need for a battle in case whoever was headed in their direction was really after them. His thoughts created a list of all the possible people that might want to come after him. It was however a short list. Given that Konoha likely still thought he was dead, the only other people he could think of were the Akatsuki.

The two ninja weren't in his range yet so he also couldn't tell anything about them. The best thing he could think of was to send Karin to the surface to investigate, given that she could completely conceal her chakra. The only real entrance to the bunker was through the destroyed castle but they had cleared a path to the hidden entrance. Naruto was currently waiting just inside that entrance to his bunker system, where he should still be concealed. He was also waiting to hear back from the two-way radio he gave to Karin.

Tensions in the hallway between the bunker system and remains of the castle where high except in a few of the occupants, namely Suigetsu and the demon brothers. Tapping his radio that was at his ear, he checked in to see how Karin was doing.

x-x

'Karin, can you hear me?' Naruto's voice came through the receiver in her ear and Karin whispered back to acknowledge him.

The ruins of the castle provided good cover to sneak out through and the new entryway that had been created to look as if it was a part of the ruins. She still had several portions of the outside wall in which to hide and conceal herself from view.

Peeking through a hole in the nearly destroyed wall, Karin removed something that Naruto had given her. It was a 'scope' from one of the blaster weapons. Putting it to her eye, she zoomed in on the figures.

Pushing the radio, she described them to Naruto, "Two figures. One tall, one short. Black trench coats with red clouds. Can't see the faces because of hats. One has a big sword on his back and...blue skin?" she said with skepticism at what she was seeing.

"Where are they headed, Karin?" Naruto questioned as he needed to know. Her description told him that they were Akatsuki but it didn't tell him exactly who they were. He had a feeling that the tall one was Hoshigaki Kisame from the bingo books he had looked through but he didn't know about the shorter one. Kabuto knew information on Akatsuki but not individual members besides Sasori.

"They're headed to right above where the bunker is...no...they changed direction. They're headed right for me?!" she panicked and made sure to move behind the debris and not let them see her. It was difficult to see their eyes and where they were looking but she was relatively sure she hadn't been seen. That however did not explain how they were coming right for her.

"What should I do?" she questioned and Naruto quickly responded, "Stay where you are for now."

x-x

Despite his application of Sith runes and seals in the bunker, it was likely that it was his chakra that was being felt by whatever means the two were using to find him.

'They also may have some method to track jinchuuriki that I know nothing about.' he reasoned as he had no other explanation at the moment for how two member of Akatsuki had basically tracked him down to a specific area on a remote island.

He'd just have to sit and wait. If they got closer then they would have to come out of hiding and fight. He couldn't be sure of their chances against two possibly S-ranked nuke-nin but with the smoke brothers they might still have a chance at catching the enemy off-guard. Unfortunately there was no simple solution to the problem that he could see.

'Even if we kill them, it would only bring more of their group to this island in search of the missing members and if we let them go then the same might happen.' he realized and there seemed to be no solution that wouldn't bring further trouble upon them.

Looking to Master Plagueis, he received only one mental order, 'Don't let them near the ship.'

x-x

Karin began shaking as the two chakra signatures grew ever closer to her position. She still couldn't believe how large one of them was. Her chakra was still hidden but that didn't stop her from having horrible visions of her own death at the hands of the two.

She closed her eyes when they were within ten meters of the damaged wall she was hiding behind. They were even close enough that she could hear their voices.

"I'm not sure, Itachi. Samehada is having trouble picking up anything. Its just so faint. Its possible that someone was here but left." said the one with the monstrous chakra reserves.

"Does that mean he left a trail that we could follow?" questioned the other.

"No, I don't really understand but whatever Samehada is picking up is just right in this area. It doesn't move off in any direction but it can't get a reading on an exact location."

"Doesn't that just mean that he is suppressing his chakra and hiding in the ruins of the castle?" questioned the ninja with the smaller reserves.

"I don't think he's really in the ruins. Maybe there's something beneath us?" suggested the other but Karin didn't hear anymore of the conversation as she was brought out of her trance by movement in front of her and several words spoken in a low voice.

"Fuuton: Shinkugyaku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)"

x-x

Itachi's sharingan alerted him to the disturbance coming from the building wall and he saw a small sphere of wind chakra shoot by him and leave a stream of disturbed air in its wake. It missed his face by several inches.

Kisame was in the process of telling him that the his sword had finally found the chakra when the attack began. Fifteen more spheres exited the wall creating small holes in it and traveling at several different trajectories but all of which were well guided.

Itachi began dodging as Kisame used his sword to absorb the chakra and nullify the attacks. Despite their efforts, one sphere pierced Itachi's cloak and created a shallow wound on his side while another scored a glancing blow on Kisame's shoulder.

The numerous holes created in the wall damaged it enough that it crumbled and fell outward, revealing a cloaked figure and several others that had apparently been hiding in the rubble as Itachi suggested.

The attack had caused their hats to come off and Naruto quickly examined his opponents, recognizing exactly who they were. He was right about Kisame but he was surprised to see Uchiha Itachi.

'Given how poorly I fought against Tayuya's genjutsu, I wouldn't be well suited to face Itachi.' he knew and decided to face Kisame instead. Using his telepathy, he contacted the other members of his group and told them who they would be fighting. The demon brothers and Tayuya would fight Itachi while himself, Suigetsu, and Juugo would fight Kisame. Karin and Kabuto would stay back and help deal with any wounded while Plagueis would remain at the entrance to the bunker, just in case anyone made it by them.

x-x

Both Itachi and the demon brothers went through handseals to launch jutsu at each other.

"Katon: Gyokyo no jutsu." said Itachi as he launched a large fireball from his mouth.

"Suiton: Mizurappa. (Water Release: Violent Water Wave)" said the demon brothers in unison as they launched their simultaneous water attacks at the fireball.

The two attacks met and produced a large amount of steam. Itachi's fireball ended but the demon brothers continued to use their jutsu. They moved their heads back to angle the technique into the sky. Water droplets rained down as Itachi quickly released a volley of shuriken at both brothers but they ignored the attack in favor of more handseals.

In unison, both brothers announced their technique, "Kiragakure no jutsu." right as the shuriken were several feet from impact. A thick mist quickly formed from the steam and the water source they had provided. Though Itachi couldn't see the shuriken hit their mark, he was positive that they had hit.

Frowning, he wasn't sure why either of the ninja didn't try to dodge. He knew of them from bingo books as C-ranked threats so he thought perhaps they had underestimated him. His shuriken had no doubt hit several vital areas, so the mist should begin to subside.

His assumption was proven wrong however when he was attacked by the same two figures. The mist did not subside and he was forced to fight at a disadvantage. His sharingan could not distinguish anything in the fog given that it was filled with chakra by the two individuals that were attacking him. His genjutsu was also useless in the fog.

The attacks were incredibly strong and coordinated. As he dodged one set, the other would attack an opening in his guard. He didn't have time to form any handseals or properly fight back. He blocked most of what was coming and retaliated but the onslaught left him taking several hits. His taijutsu also didn't seem to be doing anything against them as they just took his hits and came right back after him.

It had been a very long time since he had to fight in mist and it was painfully obvious that the two he was fighting were well versed. 'Are they herding me somewhere?' Itachi wondered and decided he needed to get out of the fog. Crouching down, he put chakra in his legs and feet and jumped as far as he could. Once he landed, a shadow clone puffed into existence and he then jumped again coming out of the fog. The shadow clone would hopefully keep them busy while he he used a fire jutsu on them.

Itachi barely had time to get a single breath and form his first handseal before he heard music being played.

x-x

'Suigetsu what do you know about him?' Naruto questioned as the three ninja stared down the lone Kiri nuke-nin.

'Kisame-sempai can drain chakra and so can his sword. It can also help heal him and even merge with him. He has a lot of powerful water jutsu.' Suigetsu thought and Naruto frowned at the information.

He also possessed powerful water jutsu but given the difference between their chakra it was possible that Kisame had the advantage. He'd have to rely on earth jutsu if it came to it.

Kisame stared down the three and chuckled at the fact that he would be fighting children.

'Then again, the entire group is made of brats.' he noted. Although he was confident of victory, he wished the area had been chosen a little bit better. They were currently on a very flat plateau that the castle had been situated on with mountains around it and with valleys on either side. There wasn't really an enclosed area and his water jutsu wouldn't be nearly as effective if they were washed away into the valley. They were more effective in areas of lower or flat elevation where the water would sit around for a while and enable him to use more jutsu. There also wasn't a nearby water source, but he didn't necessarily need one.

Kisame hefted his sword and rested in on his shoulder. Despite the age difference and the fact that he was fighting brats, he might be able to get some enjoyment out of the fight. The blue nuke-nin just laughed and then charged the group of three.

The group of three scattered as Naruto unsealed his sword and then unsealed the Kusanagi for Suigetsu. 'We'll create an opening for you Juugo.' he said and Juugo nodded while backing off.

Suigetsu attacked with the Kusanagi from one direction while Naruto attacked with his ninjato from another. The physical strength difference was rather obvious from the start as Kisame's swing would nearly topple over the attacking swordsmen.

Naruto knew it was best to separate the pair of nukenin so he planned to push Kisame over the edge of the plateau and fight in one of the valleys instead. Giving the unseen signal to Juugo, Naruto helped Suigetsu try to immobilize the sword with both of their strength. Suigetsu used his strong water arm technique to more than triple the size of the muscles in his arm and with both of them, they stopped one of Kisame's swings.

The blue nukenin just laughed at the pair and removed one his hands from the handle to punch the closest brat when he felt an incoming attack.

Juugo rocketed toward Kisame with his hand outstretched and part of his bloodline activated. The augmented fist smashed into Kisame's side and the pair were propelled near the edge of the plateau. Juugo stopped himself before he got near the edge and jumped in the air to avoid Naruto's incoming jutsu.

Kisame was in the process of getting up from the surprisingly hard hit when his ears heard a jutsu being completed.

"Suiton: Suishoha (Water Release: Water Shockwave)"

A huge vortex of water formed around the cloaked figure and out of the top poured a torrent of water that headed right at him. 'Shit.' Kisame thought as he tried to jump over the technique but was hit by the wall of water and taken over the edge of the cliff.

x-x

Itachi dodged a heavy blow by an incredibly large person or summon and he put distance between them. He glanced over at the girl playing the flute and realized she was controlling it. Reaching for kunai, he was stopped when another large creature came at him. This one had arms that were bandaged behind it's back and he tried to dodge but its moves were hard to predict as the head seemed to be improperly attached to the body.

He put his arms up to block the kick from it but was still propelled backwards until he skidded to a halt on the rock. His sharingan instantly picked up movement and he rolled to dodge a huge metal club that came down and caused a crater right where he had been standing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the demon brothers heading straight for him out of the nearby mist and used genjutsu to hide his real position. The former Kiri ninja however was not fooled at all by the genjutsu and lashed out with his clawed hand.

Itachi, taken by surprise as his crow genjutsu had rarely failed him before, wasn't able to dodge the slash but did manage to jab a kunai into the ninja's throat. Itachi put more space between himself and his opponents but made sure to be wary of the slowly moving mist. The Kiri ninja collapsed on the ground and Itachi looked for the second one.

He glanced at his wound and then at the claw of the ninja he had just killed, 'Poison.' he noted and knew that he needed to remove the poison before it became a problem. The second Kiri ninja came out of the mist behind him and now he was trapped between the summons of the red-haired girl and the second ninja from Kiri.

'I'm starting to think this was a well laid trap and not a hunt for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The three chosen to fight me are well suited to face me. Perhaps I was wrong before. This island isn't just a prison for the jinchuuriki in terms of escaping, its also a prison for us as well.' thought Itachi and used another genjutsu to hide his location while he switched himself with a shadow clone.

Hiding behind some debris, he pulled out a kunai to bleed his wound and hopefully remove as much of the poison as he could. Right when he was about to begin, his head shot up as he felt an incoming attack. He threw the kunai behind him and it was blocked by an oddly shaped kunai held by the person that was supposed to be Sasori's trusted spy.

x-x

Kisame was in the process of getting up out of the shallow crater he formed on impact when he felt another incoming attack. 'Little brats just don't let up.' he thought but had to admit that it was a good strategy so far.

He glanced to see the incoming attack and mistook it for another wind jutsu from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Putting Samehada in front of him he was confident the attack would be absorbed. The attack impacted his sword but it didn't stop, nor was it absorbed. Instead, Samehada was forced backwards into Kisame toppling him over and forcing him even farther into the crater he made earlier.

The ground smashed beneath him and the force of the technique causing a small amount of debris to come up.

Naruto smiled as his Kinetite impacted the former Kiri ninja. He and his two companions were nearly to the bottom of the valley when he felt an immanent attack. Kicking out, he pushed off of Juugo and sent them both going in different directions. The partially transformed Juugo was about to say something when he saw Kisame appear between them and smash his large sword into the cliff-side, right where they had been.

The Kiri nukenin had two short trails of blood coming out of his mouth and was very pissed. He couldn't understand why Samehada wasn't able to absorb the technique. Even if he was healing thanks to his sword, both he and his sword were injured and he wanted to skin the Kyuubi brat. His sword shaved into the cliff-side and he landed on the side of the cliff only to jump again in the direction the jinchuuriki had just flown.

Suigetsu frowned at being ignored and also jumped in the same direction as Kisame. He was determined to get that sword from the member of the Seven Swordsmen.

In midair, Naruto used the Force to maneuver Kisame away from him and thereby dodge the first swing. Kisame swung again before they hit the ground and their swords met in the air. Kisame saw a trail of blood and smirked as he believed he had given a good shave to the brat.

Kisame landed on the ground while Naruto smacked into the ground from the force of Kisame's swing. He had activated the vibration feature on his sword just before the two weapons met.

Kisame stood and looked over to see what injury he had done on the jinchuuriki that was getting up but but saw none. Looking down he found blood on the still partially wrapped Samehada. However it wasn't just blood on his sword, it was blood coming from his sword.

'That little brat's sword cut Samehada.' he realized but had no idea how something like that had happened. If the boy had used chakra flow or wind chakra to augment the blade, then his sword should have absorbed it. 'Could it really be that sharp?'

He scowled at the thought and decided to change tactics, tossing his sword in the air to use some ninjutsu. Before he was able to use any handseals, he had to jump over Suigetsu's swing at his legs. He immediately rounded on the boy and punched him in the face causing it to splash everywhere and slowly reform. Kisame then caught Juugo's punch and that sent him skidding backwards but he still stopped it.

"You can't use that same trick against me twice, brat." he said as he began draining Juugo's chakra. Suigetsu quickly chimed in from the ground in a half-water and half-solid state, "How about a new one?" he said with his hand in the shape of a gun. Kisame's eyes widened at the familiar technique but he couldn't completely dodge as a small bullet of water ejected from the tip of the outstretched finger. While he managed to prevent the water bullet from hitting any critical area, it still pierced straight through his chest.

Dropping Juugo he went to grab Suigetsu and drain the brat of his chakra when he felt the jinchuuriki coming from behind him. Quickly, Kisame dodged several strikes by the strange ninjato and then jumped in the air to catch his sword. Not wanting to risk further damage to Samehada, he tossed it up into the air again.

"You brats just don't give up, do you." he commented.

Naruto mentally ordered the others to put some distance between them and Kisame as he unsealed a discblade and threw it at his opponent. Kisame dodged the blade and continued with his handseals. At the same time, Naruto quickly created a shadow clone as he kept his concentration on the discblade while the clone started going through seals for an earth jutsu.

Kisame finished his jutsu before the clone did and the man's throat and chest bulged as he spit out a huge volume of water from his mouth. The water kept rising in its place and shot Kisame up into the air. Soon the water had begun filling part to of the valley and forming a huge wave.

Naruto's clone finished the mud jutsu and spat out a long stream of mud. The clone waited until the huge wave neared and then finished the jutsu. The mud began expanding at a rapid rate and formed a thick and extremely tall wall along the line of mud the clone had created. The three ninja all moved close to the wall to prevent the water from getting them as it traveled around the wall.

Kisame grimaced as he saw the wall. 'That brat!' he thought and jumped off his water jutsu to stick to the wall. He thought he would be able to trap the three in his large water prison.

x-x

Karin ran back through the rubble as she temporarily left the fight to report something she had felt to Master Plagueis.

Reaching the entrance to their hideout she stuck her hand out and then moved through the genjutsu like barrier that hid the entryway. Plagueis was standing right at the entrance and could feel she had something to tell him.

"I can sense another chakra signature. They seem to be watching the fight from a short distance away." she reported and Plagueis thought for a moment. He knew that they were facing Akatsuki and that they traveled in pairs. 'It must be the Konoha jonin that is still on the island.' he surmised as there were only so many ninja in Snow Country at the moment.

"How is my student's fight going?" he idly asked as he went to one of the cases that Naruto had brought to the entrance and opened it to reveal a row of blaster rifles.

"They seem to be alright for now. I don't think anyone is injured yet. Kabuto went out to fight with the one that is still near the ruins." she responded.

Plagueis nodded as he grabbed one of the rifles and walked out of the hidden entrance and into the remains of the castle. Naruto brought the weapons as a last resort. Neither he nor Naruto wanted anyone else to see them and each person in the group only had moderate training to use them, so he felt it was more likely that in a battle situation that someone of the group would shoot someone else in the group and not the enemy.

"Where is the ninja that you felt?" he questioned and went to the outer edge of the wall in the direction that Karin pointed to.

Resting the rifle on a section of the wall that was missing, he searched out for the target as Karin gave him more direction. Gato's eyesight wasn't what he desired for that kind of work but it was better than nothing.

Karin guided him right to the ninja and he was right in his guess that it was the Konoha jonin, Hatake Kakashi. Looking at the ninja, he put the reticle on the man and adjusted it for the distance. Controlling his breathing he fired at the right moment and saw the red bolt of plasma strike the Konoha ninja in the side. However the body went up in smoke and he frowned at the fact that it was a shadow clone.

Moving the weapon, he searched for where Karin told him Naruto was and found the boy about to be killed by a blue skinned ninja with a sword.

x-x

Itachi dodged several strikes from the chakra scalpels formed on Kabuto's hand as he was forced back into fighting. His clone had just been destroyed and he knew the last remaining Kiri ninja would be after him as well as the summons from the girl. He thought through what he could use in close combat but didn't have that much that would be effective except his ninjtusu. He knew he could use his Mangekyo sharingan but he didn't want to use it, especially when he was facing so many opponents. He may be able to take out one or two but the rest would take him out after he was weakened.

With the poison to think about, he was now considering retreating, however that would likely prove difficult.

Kabuto knew that the only chance at salvation was to join the fight. With the chaos of being attacked, they might not even think about how Akatsuki managed to find where Naruto was. He just needed to escape being suspected and that meant fighting along with the others.

'Perhaps I should even try to get injured.' he mused despite his situation. He kept his eyes away from Itachi's sharingan and waited for help to arrive. He could break most of the genjutsu that Itachi threw his way but he knew how powerful those eyes of Itachi's could be.

He didn't have to wait long as Meizu, or at least he thought it was Meizu, joined the fight. Itachi jumped back and launched more projectiles at the girl with the flute to slow down the summons and was about to make his escape when he felt a hand grab his leg.

Looking down he saw the supposedly dead Kiri nukenin holding his leg. The ninja laughed and said, "Gotcha." despite having a kunai still clearly sticking out of his throat. Itachi for his part was speechless at the sight but his survival instinct kicked in and he quickly tried to free himself.

Before he could remove the hands that were holding him, the music coming from the flute changed and he found himself trapped in an auditory genjutsu.

Having never encountered that type of genjutsu before, he actually found it difficult to break free using his sharingan. It took a few moments and by the time his doujutsu had pierced the genjutsu, he found his feet still trapped by the demon brother and a metal club heading right for him from above.

x-x

The wall held and Naruto focused on his discblade as large amounts of water came around the edges of the wall and continued moving down the valley.

Feeling for his opponent's life-signs, Naruto ran up the side of his mud wall to meet Kisame at the top, leaving Juugo and Suigetsu. He still had one trick up his sleeve.

Kisame stuck to the side of the wall as his water all began flowing around the mud wall. 'I'll flay that brat.' he thought and could feel the boy running up the mud wall to the top. He smirked and ran up to the top as well. As the two reached the top, Naruto concentrated on guiding his still airborne discblade. He could feel Kisame following his movements on the other side of the wall and worked out the timing.

Both ninja reached the top and continued moving through the air vertically as they also moved closer horizontally. The wall was made to be quite thick so they had almost ten meters before they met in midair. Kisame smirked as he would finally be able to get the brat and noticed that the jinchuuriki didn't seem to be wielding the ninjato to fight him or even defend.

He frowned at the action but understood when he heard the sounds of an incoming weapon. Turning his head, he saw the large shuriken and thought, 'Sneaky brat.' Twisting his body and moving his arm, he reached and grabbed the shuriken out of the air before he it could slice him.

"I'll kill you with your own weapon, brat!" he said out loud and swung at the boy with the shuriken, intent on sending it flying at such a close range that the boy wouldn't be able to dodge. Naruto however only smirked and using the Force, as well as his connection to his weapon, he pushed the weapon and changed its trajectory. Kisame's elbow ended up bending in mid-swing which caused him to stab himself in the gut with the shuriken he was about to release.

Naruto quickly realized that he missed his intended target, which was higher up on the man's chest and a mortal wound. Seeing the man turn back to him, Naruto raised his sword to slice into Kisame but was promptly kicked in the side.

He grunted at the hard kick which sent him into the top of his mud wall. He smacked into the surface of his wall and stopped. He struggled to get up as Kisame landed on the wall as well. The blue ninja pulled the discblade out of his gut and tossed it over the edge of the mud wall. Kisame gave Naruto a murderous look and ran at the boy, intent on cutting his appendages off.

Naruto rolled backwards from his still prone position and the sword shaved through the hardened mud where he had been sitting. His mind registered the distinctive sound of a blaster being fired but he wasn't paying attention to it. He unsealed his other discblade and used it as a shield to protect himself from the toothed weapon.

Naruto ducked under stabbing strikes and blocked others but he was quickly losing ground. The onslaught of stabs by the toothed weapon left him unable to counter or even strike back with his sword. Kisame was evidently wary of his sword and never swung the Samehada at him but simply jabbed at him which deprived him of the chance at getting a good enough swing to cut the toothed sword down to size.

Naruto was still able to do quite a bit of damage to the front of Kisame's sword which only seemed to further enrage the man. He also noted that the sword was healing. Moving back again, he quickly realized that the was nearing the corner of his wall. He turned back to meet a another hard jab by Kisame that sent him to the ground and sent the discblade out of his hand, falling to the wet ground below.

"End of the line." Kisame said to the frozen jinchuuriki and raised his sword to finish him when he heard a noise and registered an intense pain running through his chest. He gritted his teeth at the pain and crumbled to the ground. The edge of the wall was close enough that the ended up falling over the edge and down into what little water remained below.

Naruto had seen the red plasma bolt go right through Kisame's torso and looked around but couldn't tell where the shooter was. He knew it was likely his Master so he figured it must have come from the ruins. 'Hopefully the battle at the top is going better than the one below.' he thought as Plagueis wanted to use the blasters as a last resort.

Grabbing his sword, he got up and went to the opposite edge to see where Suigetsu and Juugo were.

"You okay?" yelled a normal looking Juugo and Naruto responded that he was fine.

"What about Kisame-sempai?" asked Suigetsu. "I really wanted his sword." he added and Naruto just frowned at the statement. He was about to respond to Suigetsu when he felt through his life-signs ability that Kisame was still very much alive.

Feeling an incredibly large amount of chakra, so much that he could clearly feel it despite not being a sensor, he cursed and yelled down for the others to get to higher ground.

x-x

Itachi's eyes changed to his Mangekyo sharingan and Susanoo began to form around him to protect him from the attack. He could see no other way to evade the club except to use his advanced doujutsu. At first, only the mirror formed around him and repelled the attack but the arms and part of the body of Suanoo also began to form and removed the ninja holding his legs as well as forced back the others. He didn't want to try and hold the form for very long or continue to develop Susanoo as it was still something he didn't have much experience using.

The form began to degrade as parts of it began to disappear. Itachi readied several smoke bombs and used them once he the technique was no longer protecting him. Going through handseals, he finished his jutsu, 'Katon: Hosenka no jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire technique)," and fired numerous small fireballs through the smoke at the summons while he headed for the edge of the cliff to find Kisame.

At the same time, he felt his teammate's chakra flare and knew that Kisame was getting serious. He also found himself slowing down a bit. Pulling out a kunai, he began bleeding his wound to remove as much of the poison as he could while he ran under cover. Given how much activity he had been through with the fight, the poison would soon start affecting him.

He was nearly to the edge when he felt someone come up near him. 'Kabuto.' he realized and dodged a chakra scalpel swipe by the white haired teen. He performed a sealess genjutsu on the teen and continued running while Kabuto was temporarily frozen. Reaching the edge, he ran down the cliff-side.

Kabuto took a second to break the genjutsu and then went through several handseals. He completed his earth jutsu and slammed his hands into the ground by the edge of the cliff. The edge began to break apart and large chunks of rock came loose and fell down the side.

Feeling the incoming debris, Itachi began dodging the large rocks along his descent and saw the large sphere of water that Kisame was using to trap Naruto.

x-x

Naruto jumped off the mud wall and used the Force to slow his descent. Once he landed, he ran in the same direction as Suigetsu and Juugo, which was the cliff-face of the plateau. His teammates were ahead of him and nearly there.

Behind him he could feel the amount of chakra being used increase and glanced back to see a huge amount of water being formed behind his wall. Parts of the wall began to crack and then break apart. It soon gave way to a huge wave filled with sharks made entirely of chakra.

'They must have chewed through my wall.' he realized as he made it to the cliff and began running up the side. The water volume increase substantially and moved towards the cliff they were climbing. In the water, he could see a very different looking Kisame but couldn't find the sword the man had been carrying.

'Suigetsu said he could merge with it.' he remembered and decided that must the reason for the changes.

As water smashed into the cliff face, Kisame completed the jutsu and the water began forming an immense dome just beneath them. Keeping the sphere shape wasn't difficult for him and he began going through more handseals in order to get his prey into the water prison.

"None of you will get away from me. Suigton: Suikodan no jutsu." (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique).

Several thick streams of water erupted from the top of the dome with sharks forming on the tips of the streams. They targeted the three ninja running up the cliff-side. One struck right by Juugo and destroyed part of the rock, sending the teen falling back to the dome of water just short distance below. Another of the shark bullets hit near Suigetsu next and the last one hit right by Naruto.

Despite being able to recover and not fall below, Naruto decided he couldn't leave both of them behind and released the chakra in his feet, letting himself fall to the sphere below. He pulled out his re-breather mask and put it on right as he reached the top of the dome.

To prevent them from sticking to the surface of the water and not entering the dome, Kisame opened a large hole at the top to have them fall into it and then closed it once they were deeper in to the sphere. The trio were engulfed by water and pulled down past the middle of dome's height.

"Welcome to my Suiro Sameodori no jutsu (Water Prison Shark Dance Technique)." said a voice to all three and they could see the transformed Kisame swimming in a shark-like manner beneath them. The man now had a tail, webbed claw-like fingers, and three fins, two on his forearms and one on his back.

Naruto looked around his new prison and realized that while Suigetsu and he would be fine to fight inside the dome, Juugo would not.

'Juugo, you need to get out of here. Suigetsu and I can stay in here for a while, you can't.' was the message he sent to the orange haired teen and Juugo had no objections. The teen began swimming for the edge of the dome but he never seemed to reach it.

'Shit, he's moving the dome around.' Naruto realized and he could hear Kisame saying, "I'll never let you reach the edge of the dome."

Getting an idea, Naruto contacted Juugo just as Kisame made his first strike at them, 'Juugo, don't go horizontally, swim up.' he said as he dodged the very fast and agile shark-man. As Juugo began swimming upwards, Naruto and Suigetsu covered him.

Suigetsu partially merged with the water and held the Kusangi like a dorsal fin as he and Kisame made several runs at each other. While both were very fast in the water, Kisame was more maneuverable.

Seeing that one of his prey had discovered the method to leaving his prison, Kisame stopped fighting with Suigetsu and made for Juugo. Naruto went to try and put himself between them but Kisame just went around him.

Both began a race to reach Juugo first as the orange haired teen continued to swim to the very top of the dome.

'Juugo, you have to swim faster!' Naruto urged and the teen turned to see the shark-like man that was catching up to him. Thinking fast, he activated his bloodline and two chakra boosters began forming on his ankles.

Right when Kisame reached Juugo from below, the boosters fired and sent Juugo rocketing to the top of the dome while the force of the blast slammed into Kisame. Juugo quickly exited the sphere and found himself flying vertically through the air before he began trying to control his descent and landed roughly at the top of the plateau.

Still inside the dome, the three remaining occupants were playing a cat and mouse game. Kisame had many advantages considering that the closer he got, the more chakra he was able to drain from them. Naruto knew that if either he or Suigetsu were touched by the man then they would likely be completely drained in just a few seconds. Neither could also match the man's ability in the water. Suigetsu was close but every time they clashed, more of his chakra was being lost to the transformed nuke-nin.

Jutsu were, for the most part, useless. Naruto could use a lightning technique but Kisame would just absorb the chakra before it did any damage and most of the other techniques he had were useless as well. Naruto only had a few he could use that might help in the situation given that it was Kisame's water jutsu. Had the water been from a source, then he could use it much better, but because it came from Kisame, it was full of the man's chakra and much harder to use for his own jutsu.

If anything, Kisame was just as interested in outlasting them as he was attacking right at that moment and ripping them to shreds. The longer the battle went on, the weaker they would get. Kisame was the only one with gills and he was also stealing their chakra. Both he and Suigetsu would give out at some point.

'Suigetsu, we should both move for the top to make it seem like we're trying to escape and then one of us will need to be the distraction.' Naruto informed his fellow group member and he could feel Suigetsu's acknowledgment. Both then began moving to the top of the dome.

Kisame of course followed and a new race began. The person who would be the distraction would be the one that Kisame chose first. Naruto had a feeling that since he was the jinchuuriki that Kisame would definitely choose to come after him instead of Suigetsu.

Thinking they were trying to escape, Kisame began shrinking the dome's diameter and trying to increase its height in order to stop them. It took far more chakra to increase its height than moving the dome around but he didn't want them escaping. They were the only ones that had ever figured out the weakness of his dome. Despite his efforts and chakra expense, he was only able to increase the height by a small margin and not enough to offset how fast the two teens were traveling.

As Kisame neared the escaping prey he remembered what they were really there for and moved to following Naruto. Suigetsu noticed this and began moving in another direction to escape Kisame's view and come up behind him.

Naruto kept his course and took a deep breath before removing the re-breather. He would need to use at least one jutsu in order to be the decoy and needed his mouth to do it. Sealing his sword, he slowed down a little bit and went through handseals.

Kisame smiled as he saw the jinchuuriki slow down and increased his speed to maul the boy.

Spitting out water from his mouth and into Kisame's water, Naruto formed a water prison around himself and then expanded it outwards from him, forming a bubble in the center. A moment later, Kisame impacted the sphere. The two were carried quite a distance in the dome and began to sink. Kisame tried everything he could to claw and bite through the sphere but quickly realized he still had the advantage and began draining the jinchuuriki's chakra through the shell of water.

Despite being in a bubble, Naruto still had to keep constant physical contact with the protective shell in order to keep it up. Therefore Kisame was able to begin completely draining him.

Suigetsu attacked right after the distracted Kisame started and the Kusanagi sliced into the shark ninja's back. Kisame turned and swiped at Suigetsu. Though the attack did not hurt Suigetsu physically, it did drain him of more chakra.

'Damn it.' Suigetsu thought as he began losing his form from lack of chakra. His hydrification technique stopped working due to his chakra levels and he began turning into a more viscous substance that was a blueish-white. He could no longer be of any use to Naruto. Despite the failed attempt, Naruto used the opportunity and unsealed his sword as well as moved it outside his protective bubble without Kisame noticing.

Kisame chuckled at Suigetsu's attempt to finish him and turned his attention back to the jinchuuriki. "You can only stay in that shell until your chakra is depleted. Once its gone, you're mine." he finished and Naruto didn't respond. His face remained neutral as he used the Force to move his sword into position.

As Kisame reached for the protective shell of water to completely deplete the rest of his chakra, Naruto sent his sword shooting at Kisame's back. The blade struck the nukenin in the back and protruded out of the front where the man's heart was. Kisame lurched in the water and looked down to the see the sword. Even with such a wound, as long as he had Samehada bonded with him, he could still recover from it. Reaching back to remove the sword, he didn't notice when the blade began to spark.

Naruto poured the last of his chakra into feet to enhance his shell and form a chakra barrier between himself and his water. Before Kisame could pull the sword out, Force lightning erupted from the weapon and engulfed Kisame. The shark ninja writhed in the water as the lightning continued to shock him for several seconds. He still couldn't understand how a jutsu was able to hurt him and why Samehada wasn't absorbing it for him.

The lightning stopped a moment later and Kisame's body began sinking in the water. Acting quickly, Naruto put his re-breather mask back on and ended his technique. Reaching with the Force, he pulled his sword to him and then went to find Suigetsu as Kisame's technique began to lose its shape due to his lack of concentration.

x-x

Itachi ran along the cliff and approached the dome as he watched out for more falling debris. He didn't have many choices now that Kisame had used that jutsu. He would have to wait until Kisame was done before he betrayed him and prevented Naruto from getting captured. Though he did see one of the ninja inside come out, he wasn't sure Naruto could make it. Kisame told him that no one had ever survived his shark dance, though he had no idea what ability the orange haired boy used to propel himself out. Kisame was also supposed to go after Naruto as the jinchuuriki was their target.

Itachi waited for a minute or so before the dome finally began to lose its shape. He expected to see Kisame with the jinchuuriki but he was surprised when the boy came to the surface of the destabilizing water and then jumped to the cliff-side with what might have been the other boy in his arm.

Looking back to the water, he could tell that Kisame wasn't dead as even if the dome was losing consistency, it should have already been flowing through the valley by now. Taking one last look at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, Itachi jumped into the water. The last bit of surface tension and chakra that was keeping the water stationary broke, and the dome changed into a wave of water that washed down through the valley.

A tired Naruto clung onto the cliff-side as he looked at the rushing water. He could tell from the fact that it seemed very controlled, and that he saw Itachi jump into it, that Kisame was still alive and controlling the water. On that route through valley, they would go straight to the ocean. He thought about taking the speeder bike and going after them but he was too tired to continue fighting.

His thoughts then turned to the people up above him. If Itachi was down in the valley, then had they been killed or injured?

Looking up, he noted the people on the top of the cliff looking back down at him. They seemed fine and though he didn't want any help, he didn't think he had enough chakra and strength left to carry himself and a weakened Suigetsu up the side of the cliff and back to the ruins of the castle.

x-x

Heading to the main harbor of Snow Country, Kakashi was completely alert and looking for any possible threats. From what his shadow clone had seen of the fighting before it was somehow destroyed, he noted several people that he could recognize. The first was Yakushi Kabuto and the others were Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigake Kisame, and one of Orochimaru's bodyguards.

'If Kabuto was there, then does that mean Orochimaru has a base on Snow Country? Is Orochimaru here right now?' he wondered and knew he wouldn't be able to face the Snake Sannin in a fight by himself. Orochimaru was after Sasuke and had given his student the cursed seal as well as the offer of power.

Did Orochimaru come to Snow Country to get Sasuke. It was a very isolated country and if that was true, then there was little he could do about it. The best thing to do was actually to leave the country as soon as possible. They were supposed to stay for another day or so but he told Koyuki-sama that they had to leave due to something coming up back in the village. He could tell his students were all suspicious but he wasn't about to tell them.

The situation was far too much for him to handle on his own. From what Jiraiya had told him, Orochimaru was once part of a group called Akatsuki and apparently he had just seen two of the other members of the group. Jiraiya said they were interested in the Biju and jinchuuriki but could they also be after Orochimaru for leaving the group?

Why else would too infamous nukenin be there? He didn't actually see Orochimaru but it was likely that those he saw were all working for the Snake Sannin. He needed to get back to Konoha and report this as soon as possible to Jiraiya and the new Hokage.

Please Review

AN: Please remember that Orochimaru's death is just spreading in the Elemental Countries and so Kakashi and his group, being on their mission, would not have heard about it. Tsunade is Godaime but I wasn't able to write anything about it in this chapter. Also Kakashi doesn't put together Naruto being in Snow Country because he believes the boy is dead. Naruto wore his cloak throughout the battle and Kakashi was quite a distance away from the fighting in the valley, so he couldn't recognize Naruto and he really hasn't had much contact with Naruto in this story as opposed to canon.

I plan to have them leave for the galaxy in the next chapter. I had planned it for this chapter but the fight took up too many pages. I wanted to update as fast as I could and already had more than enough for a chapter.

Responses to reviews:

Reviewer: fanfic-addict

I really like this story so far and the way you try to compare chakra to the Force is quite interesting. I hope however that you don't try to give Naruto a sub-element because I think powering him up any further jutsu-wise would be plain overkill.

Regarding this chapter and the previous one I have to point out one flaw :

If Naruto creates Shadow Clones in an injured state the clones would be injured to the same degree since they are exact copies of the users body during their creation. You even used that fact when Jiraya checked Naruto's seal. OTHER clones wouldn't necessarily be that way of course.

Response: I'm still thinking about the ability of plasma and it won't be a sub-element but something else. The idea was mostly because I thought some ninjutsu may not be able to break through materials in the star wars universe as they are so much stronger than anything on Naruto's planet.

I'm not sure as the shadow clones were really a flaw. The seal is something that can't really be changed but the condition of the clones is something that could be. I would think that he should be able to create a healthy clone, despite him being injured, but as for altering the seal on a shadow clone that he creates, that would be something far to complicated for him to do. Jiraiya checked the seal on a clone that was created before Naruto broke or loosened the seal. So it wouldn't change. Creating a new clone would ultimately show a difference because the seal is much too complicated to alter when creating a shadow clone. I would think that creating a clone that is healthy would happen no matter how badly Naruto was injured as the clones aren't able to reflect serious injuries. All he would have to do is concentrate and create a clone that isn't as injured as he is. It seems relatively simple.

Reviewer: Peter Kim

Like Orochimaru,Plagueis has a limited time to possess a body since the Dark Side will cause the body that Plagueis uses to decay and with Kabuto and Karin's healing skills it is possible to delay the decay. I think Kabuto is perfect as Plagueis's next body with Kabuto's healing abilty,Kabuto's medic nin jitus, and Kabuto's knowedge as a medic and they should slowly prepare for the possesstion of Kabuto's body for Plagueis and find a way to slow the decay that the Dark Side does to the body.

Response: As I mentioned earlier in the story. Plagueis took Gato's body because it isn't the body of a ninja and therefore would be easier for him to take. Gato's mind was also rather weak and easy to manipulate. Taking Kabuto's or Karin's body wouldn't really help him at all. Kabuto's healing ability is just used before he is injured and helps him recover. I really don't think it would be useful over a long period of time or possible to continusouly use the technique. Karin's blood only has healing properties for others. That does not mean that it would heal her body as well. Plagueis should be able to possess a body from a person in the galaxy for much longer than Gato. Possessions like that have even occurred for up to several decades before the body degraded.