Opening - Resistance by High and Mighty Color

"I can do it."

All four Genin breathed out a sigh of relief, including a subtle one from Gaara. They were standing in front of a women's bathhouse, but at least Jiraiya had managed to recognize the gravity of the situation, and stopped 'researching' for the time being. "What seal are you going to use?" Gaara asked hopefully.

"The Eight Trigrams," Jiraiya said solemnly. "It's the strongest seal known to Konoha, but just as importantly, it's an even-numbered seal like your own Black Lions Seal. If I tried something like the Five Elements Seal, the even-numbered Black Lions would interfere with the odd-numbered Five Elements, which would wreck your chakra control immediately, and in the long term, make you sick and potentially kill you."

"I understand," Gaara replied with a nod. "So what happens to the seal I'm already wearing?"

"The Black Lions Seal is..." Jiraiya laid a hand on Gaara's abdomen to double-check, "still functional," he confirmed. "It's really sloppy work, though, and it shows. The seal point on the left is close to failure."

"How bad is it?"

"Not that bad," Jiraiya said hopefully. "See, I'm going to lay the Eight Trigrams over the Black Lions. The two won't interfere with each other, but I intend to redirect Shukaku's chakra flow to the eight points in the new seal, leaving the two in the Black Lions Seal completely freed up. It's like I'm redirecting the flow of a river from one dam to another, leaving the first one to hold back nothing but the dry riverbed. Then I'll remove the Black Lions Seal altogether, since it won't be doing anything anymore. Theoretically, it'd give you more proper access to Shukaku's chakra, without it damaging your mind. You'll be able to sleep."

"Thank you," Gaara breathed. "That's what I've always wanted."

Jiraiya smiled sadly, and gestured to the rings around Gaara's eyes. "It can't have been easy for you, but it's over, kid. Come with me; it's time to save your life. When we get to where I'm staying, I'm gonna sedate you so Shukaku can't interfere with your mind while I work. It'll take several hours; fuinjutsu is an intricate subject."

The sage led them to an apartment building, which Naruto noted was similar to the one he'd previously lived in. Countless loosely-bound stacks of pages were scattered over the entirely of Jiraiya's apartment. "Icha Icha Tactics," the Toad Sage declared proudly with a wave of his arm across the room. "It's a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely."

"Oh, that's right," Tenten growled, and the sage blanched. "You're the writer of those damned peverted books." she glared at him, and continued as he stepped back, "Since you're gonna be saving Gaara's life over the next few hours, I'm not gonna beat the crap out of you like just about every girl on the planet wants to, but let's make something incredibly clear..." she grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him down to her height, then whispered in his ear.

"I'm such a huge fan, your work is impeccable!" She hissed, and Jiraiya's eyes widened. "I'm sure this third book is gonna be even better than the last two."

"Alright, fine, I promise," Jiraiya replied shakily as she released him. She knew he was only feigning terror, but that was exactly what she'd been hoping for. "Just don't ever go through with that plan."

"Like I said," she answered with false menace, "You've gotta replace Gaara's seal, so I can't do anything to you. But if I ever catch you spying on me," she added, and made it clear she was serious this time, "all bets are off. I'll forge the biggest zanbatou ever, just to shove it up your ass."

"R-Right." the sage reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a tag with a fuinjutsu on it. "This isn't an exploding tag," he clarified. "It's called a Suppression Seal. Gaara, lay down so I can use it on you." The Jinchuuriki nodded, and stretched out on the cold wooden floor. Jiraiya pressed the tag into Gaara's forehead, knocking him out almost immediately. "Summoning Jutsu," Jiraiya called, and slapped his hand down onto the floor.

A cloud of white smoke marked the arrival of a soft white bed, just barely large enough for Gaara. Eight candles appeared around the bed in an octagonal formation, already lit and flickering. Jiraiya hefted the young ninja and laid him on the altar. "Minato would've been able to lay this seal on someone in a single moment, and he did with you, Naruto, but it'll take me a few minutes..." Jiraiya formed a long hand seal sequence, and declared, "Eight Trigrams Seal." He resumed making hand seals, slowly to avoid mistakes.

"Take damn good care of him," Tenten ordered, then turned to leave. "I'm gonna put together his get-well present."

Jiraiya finished his second chain of hand seals, pulled up Gaara's shirt, and began tracing his right index finger over the skin around the Black Lions Seal.

X

"Don't think this changes anything."

Gaara opened his eyes wide, and looked around. He was laying down on a bed of cracked, pale brown sandstone and grey-white sand that stretched to the horizon in all directions. The moon overhead was full or nearly so, and was surrounded by an exact replica of the star patterns Gaara had memorized over the years. When the Jinchuuriki sat up, he saw the fully formed One-Tail glaring at him from within a black iron cage that was badly rusted in places.

Around it, a new golden cage was growing up out of the desert, bar by bar. "The Eight Trigrams Seal," Gaara guessed correctly.

"I'm still gonna tear out of this... these damn cages," Shukaku declared. "And when I do, the first thing I'm gonna do is step on you!" the monster laughed with giddy anticipation. "All you did today was buy yourself some time."

Gaara folded his arms, and glanced down at the sand around him and Shukaku. Almost immediately, it responded to his mental command, and swirled up around him. "Can you do this?" Gaara asked.

"Control that sand? No. Fuck, I want to though. I could just build a new body out there, and let this one fall apart."

"I see." Gaara gathered more sand into an elongated replica of Shukaku's forearm, and flexed it experimentally into a fist. "And my mother isn't here?"

"Karura?" Shukaku laughed. "And I thought you were so sure that it was me talking, all along. Well it was. Karura's dead, punk. Mommy's been in the ground for thirteen fucking years." Gaara lost his temper, and directed the sand arm toward the cage. The bars of both seals passed cleanly through the sand, and it struck the demon's grinning face, knocking him back across the cage of the Black Lions Seal. The monster chuckled through the pain, and crawled back to its feet. "Did I hurt your feelings, fleshbag? Did I piss you off? Good!" it cackled again.

"Silence," Gaara commanded forcefully, and the entirety of the desert around them rose up into a humanoid form that dwarfed the Tailed Beast and its cage. "For thirteen years you've been in control of me, but no more. I'm simply making it clear that the tables are turned now. I will take your power, whenever I want it, and you'll do nothing to stop me."

Shukaku stared up at the sand construct behind Gaara in total disbelief. Not only was it at least a dozen times taller than anything Shukaku could manage at the height of his power, but it was also a rather familiar face. "What... the... fuck."

Gaara turned and looked up at his mother's godly display of power, his eyes wide in shock. "M-Mother!?"

"Be strong, Gaara," she replied. "I'm always here for you."

"Well, that explains some shit," Shukaku muttered. "Kid, it was never me protecting your feeble little fleshbag body with the Shield of Sand. If I had a choice, I'd let us both fuckin' die so I could come back in my true form, completely free, in a few years. Now I finally know what the fuck was going on out there, that took the matter out of my hands."

"Mothers protect their children," Karura announced with a faint smile.

"This still doesn't change jack shit!" the demon roared. "Bitch, you remember how the fleshbag and I made you cry away your dying breath? You remember that feeling of helplessness?"

"You look rather helpless yourself, all the way down there," she replied. "I should watch where I step." Shukaku remained silent at that.

The bars of the Eight Trigrams Seal grew together into a complete golden cage around the Black Lions. The gates were locked shut by an ornate, swirling golden lock, over which a piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' was laid. "It's time, Gaara." the boy looked back up at his mother, who explained, "Go to sleep. You've waited long enough."

Gaara began to cry, but he managed to shakily nod, and closed his eyes.

"I wonder what your first dream will show you," Karura smiled as her son faded out of his mindscape, and the first small piece of the Black Lions Seal broke away from the rest of the cage. Jiraiya was dismantling it in the real world outside, since Shukaku was now being contained properly by the Eight Trigrams Seal. "I hope it's a happy dream," she continued, talking to no one in particular. "Better yet, dream of happiness, then reach for it in the waking world... I know you'll make your mother proud."

X

"It's done," Jiraiya declared, an hour later. "Well, my part of it is. I've applied the Eight Trigrams and removed the Black Lions. Shukaku's chakra is safely flowing through the seal into Gaara's reserves, and he can't damage Gaara's mind any more. Now all that's left is for his mind and body to adjust to the changes. He should wake up in a few hours."

"What about the seal key?" Naruto asked carefully, after a moment's consideration.

"The... seal key," Jiraiya repeated. "And just what do you know about the key to the Eight Trigrams Seal?"

Naruto winced. If I tell him now, he'll probably think Kurama's manipulating me, so he'll fix the seal so we can't even talk. "I've seen the inside of my own seal a few times. There's an exposed lock on the gate, I just assumed that meant there was a key."

"There is," Jiraiya replied, and cast a wary look at Naruto. "I'll write the key into a scroll when I'm alone, and then I'll give that scroll to a toad summons for safekeeping. There's no way in hell I'd ever want this kid to be able to open his seal and release his Tailed Beast."

Naruto blinked. "I get the distinct feeling you were talking about me there, not Gaara."

"I meant both of you." Jiraiya stood and glared down at the twelve-year-old boy. "Do you honestly think it's a good idea for me to give you the key to your own seal? You'd end up releasing the strongest demon currently living on this plane of existence, killing yourself in the process."

"Kurama isn't gonna..." Naruto winced. Screw it, i'm just gonna tell him. "The Nine-Tails' chakra is completely sealed off from me. I want access to it so I can fight the Akatsuki."

"No way." Jiraiya scowled. "Even if, through some miracle, 'Kurama' ended up giving you its chakra instead of destroying you, you'd just end up dying by getting trigger-happy with the power of a Tailed Beast. You'd poison yourself to death with it."

"It's not like that! Kurama's trying to cooperate with me!"

"Is that what it's telling you?" the sage replied coldly. "Give it up. You'll never talk me into giving you the key." he closed his eyes for a moment. "I knew your father. I trained him myself, and I know that the Eight Trigrams Seal he developed was capable of containing more than one chakra source. There's a trace of his soul in you, isn't there?"

Naruto nodded. "I haven't seen him since the night after you and I met."

"Well the next time he shows up in your subconscious, tell him about this stupid idea of yours. After that, if you can get his support on this craziness, and get him to tell you the name of the toad that has your seal's key, I'll give you the key."

The Jinchuuriki grinned. "That's good enough. I'll find some way to contact my dad again."

It was a nice try, kid, but I don't think you're ever gonna pull that one off, Kurama said with disappointment. The Fourth is never gonna trust me.

You said that about Hina-chan and Ino, Naruto replied. Look how that turned out.

I admit, I underestimated mortals' capacity for compassion and forgiveness, but I killed your mom, the Fourth's wife, right in front of him! Kurama growled. He'll never trust me.

He'll trust ME. Naruto smirked. "Well, this has been fun, Pervy Sage," he addressed the fuinjutsu master, "but Hina-chan and I should really go meet up with Kiba now. We're supposed to be sticking together over the next month. See ya 'round."

Naruto made for the door, and Hinata sighed as she watched him leave. "Jiraiya-sensei, for what it's worth, I've talked to Kurama as well. Under the influence of a jutsu that prevented him from lying, he told Naruto-kun, myself, and a third party his entire life story. One of us broke down crying at it. I for one completely believe that Kurama is willing to cooperate with Naruto-kun." she followed Naruto out the door, and glanced at his face, noting with relief that he didn't seem to be upset. "Naru-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm actually doing pretty good," he admitted. "My heart's still in my throat, 'cause I honestly thought I could convince him for a moment, and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't, but he told me a way to change his mind. For now, that's good enough. And I can't forget, Pervy Sage just saved Gaara's life and suppressed his Tailed Beast. Right now he's back there, sleeping for the first time in his life. So I'm not angry 'cause he wouldn't give me the seal key. He's doing what he thinks is right, and he's giving me a fair chance to prove him wrong." he paused, then asked, "So where the hell's Kiba, anyway?"

"Byakugan," Hinata promptly activated her doujutsu, and quickly scanned Konoha for a glimpse of the Hellhound. After checking the Inuzuka Clan compound and some of Kiba's preferred training grounds, she spotted him. "He's at Ichiraku's... Ino's with him." she deactived her eyes, and immediately headed in the direction of the finest ramen in the Land of Fire.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed, "That was fast. You're getting better at that, Hina-chan!"

"I've been working on it a little," she admitted. "I couldn't find any documents that concretely proved there was a limit to how far the Byakugan can see, so I've been extending my range as far as I can. Right now, I can see for about a kilometre. We're lucky Ichiraku's was within that range... come on."

"Right." Naruto ran a short distance to catch up with her.

X

Kiba sniffed. "Lovebirds at six o' clock."

"Eh?" Ino set down her chopsticks. "Lovebirds?"

"Naruto and Hinata are coming," the Hellhound clarified. "Pretty quickly, in fact." he slurped up another mouthful of ramen, then spun his seat around to watch the two approach. He was surprised to see the two leaping over rooftops at an impressive rate. "Ah, I get it. They're trying to stick with a group, since that's the order Hokage-sama gave us, and they're alone right now, so if Mizuki pops up out of nowhere, they might still defeat him, but their report will show they were alone at the time, when they were told not to be."

"Huh." Ino took a small bite of her ramen. "So they're here to see us, then."

"Yeah, but how'd they know we were here?" Kiba frowned. "Was it Hinata's Byakugan? I never knew she could see this far."

"Maybe it's got something to do with Naruto's... condition," Ino suggested quietly.

"Condition?" Kiba blinked. Right. The Nine-Tails. Bastard kept it secret from us until the Forest of Death, and even then it was Orochimaru who let it slip. "You mean 'it' might be enhancing his senses. He could track us by scent?"

"Speak for yourself!" Ino giggled. "I don't smell."

"Oh?" Kiba set down his chopsticks, and leaned over to sniff her neck.

Ino went bright red as his hair tickled her neck and shoulder. "K-Kiba, what are you doing!?"

"Roses," Kiba said simply, then sniffed again. "Cherry blossoms, violets..." he lifted his head to sniff her hair. "Strawberry shampoo and vanilla conditioner." he brought his face close to hers, and gave one more quiet sniff. "That smells like... cherry lip gloss? Does it taste as good as it smells?"

Ino blinked, then smirked. "You tell me." Kiba's eyes widened as she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.

As they arrived, Naruto wolf-whistled, prompting Hinata's faint blush to deepen slightly. "Kiba, you dog! No pun intended."

"Way to kill the moment, Naruto," Kiba grumbled.

"Forest of Death," the Jinchuuriki reminded him.

"Can you two just let that go!?" he groaned. "Hinata already got me back for it at the beach."

"You did?" Naruto asked her, wide-eyed, and she nodded.

"Hey, hold on." Kiba turned back to Ino. "How'd you know about Naruto's 'condition,' anyway?"

"They got me to put Hinata in Naruto's mindscape, but to do that I had to go in too. We talked."

"How come I wasn't invited?" Kiba asked angrily.

"Originally, it was just supposed to be Hina-chan, me, and Kurama," Naruto admitted. "It's an S-rank village secret, so we didn't even want Ino to know, but there was no way around it." Naruto paused. "Kurama says he wouldn't mind having guests again, though."

"Who's Kurama?" Teuchi and Ayame asked curiously.

"Sorry guys. Like I said, S-rank village secrets. Ninjas get killed for telling that kind of stuff to civilians."

"Oh, I see!" Ayame exclaimed quickly. "Then don't worry, we won't mention that name!" Teuchi nodded solemnly behind her.

"Thanks," Naruto replied with a grin. "So, Kiba, Ino, I thought you guys might wanna know Gaara and Tenten are out of the hospital, and Pervy Sage fixed Gaara's seal."

"Seal?" Kiba repeated quietly. "As in, the same way you have a seal?" Naruto nodded, and he groaned. "Come on, is there some kind of rule against telling me this stuff?"

"Actually, yeah. There was a rule against telling me too, apparently. I only found out I was number nine after the Land of Waves. By the way, Gaara's number one." Naruto avoided mentioning Jinchuuriki and Tailed Beasts for the benefit of the two civilians in charge of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" the Hellhound asked half-heartedly. "Next you two are gonna tell us you're engaged." Naruto and Hinata exchanged glances. "You're kidding me."

"You two can't tell anyone!" Hinata declared frantically. "This is so much bigger than an S-rank secret. Hokage-sama doesn't even know yet." she glanced at Ino worriedly. "If you tell anyone, people will end up dying."

Ino gulped and nodded, along with Kiba. Both of them had mistaken it for a threat, and if Hinata of all people was threatening to kill them, it was obviously a serious matter. "Y-Yeah," they said in sync, "No problem."

The two sighed in relief. "Thanks," Hinata breathed. "I'm sure we can trust you."

X

Gaara opened his eyes slowly, and found himself still laying atop the sealing altar used for the Eight Trigrams Seal. A glance out the window showed him that it was late afternoon, and the sun was approaching the horizon. He sat up, and yawned. So that's what it feels like.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

His eyes went wide, and he pulsed his chakra, searching for his sand gourd as he whirled to face Mizuki. "What do you want with me?" Gaara asked calmly, not showing how vulnerable he was without his sand. "I thought Orochimaru ordered you to retrieve Naruto's and Sasuke's doujutsu. I have neither a Sharingan nor Rinnegan."

"Change of plans." Mizuki scowled. "I was training to fight Naruto in the invasion, but I got a little impatient, and I came up with an actual plan this time. I'm gonna start by using you as a hostage, since you're so conveniently unarmed and helpless. Then, when the demon brat shows up to save your ass, I'll get him to let me isolate the two of us in a Diamond Dome. I've got two Oto Chuunin set to take you to Orochimaru at that point, then I'll kill Naruto, take his eyes, and bring them with me back to the hideout."

"Why bring me to Orochimaru?"

"Apparently the snake's in some kind of pact with Sasori no Akasuna. Sasori gets you and your One-Tail, and Orochimaru gets soldiers to destroy Konoha with."

"Sasori..." Gaara mused aloud. "The Scorpion of the Red Sand..." he stood up. I have no access to a source of sand right now, so I'll have to be careful about my next move. I could use the sand in Konoha's roads, but... "Let's go, then. Do you know where to find Naruto?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Mizuki smirked as an exact duplicate of him blinked into existence, then exploded into smoke, relaying its memories to another clone watching Naruto stealthily. Said clone then popped to relay its own memories to Mizuki, telling him that Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Ino were in Training Ground Forty-Two. "Yep, I've got him. Come with me, and don't bother trying anything."

Gaara's face remained impassive, and he folded his arms calmly before following Mizuki to the door. "Where is Jiraiya?" he asked after a moment.

"How the hell should I know? Where does he usually go when he's got free time?"

"Ah." Gaara nodded. "I should have known." He assumed I was safe here, and went back to his spying.

"Come on," Mizuki prompted him again, and opened the door to lead Gaara out of the apartment building. The Jinchuuriki immediately tested his control over the sand in Konoha's dirt roads, finding that it sluggishly responded to his commands. Hm... this sand isn't laced with my chakra, and it's a poor material to work with, but I can still shape it into a new layer of sand armor. It's better than nothing. He pulled the traces of sand up his sandals as he walked, forming it gradually upward into a layer of hardened sand.

It was slow work, but after several minutes it covered his whole body. Gaara began leaking his chakra into the sand to increase its durability, and as he did he felt the sand in the roads responding more quickly. The dirt itself isn't a weapon I can work with properly, but if I pour enough chakra into it, I might be able to raise a pillar of it to signal Naruto...

"Twin Rising Dragons!" Tenten screamed with fury, and a barrage of various peculiar weapons assaulted Mizuki from behind, with sufficient precision to avoid striking a wide-eyed Gaara. The missing-nin poofed into a familiar cloud of white smoke, revealing that he was a Shadow Clone.

"Tenten!" the disarmed demon host exclaimed with surprise as she landed. She was carrying a katana in a black sheath on her back.

"Gaara, are you alright?" she asked while glaring at another Mizuki who appeared on a rooftop ahead of where his clone had been walking.

"I'm unharmed, thank you," he replied.

"Good." Her eyes narrowed, and never left Mizuki's smirking face. "I know I can't take this guy alone. I'm not Naruto or Hinata, and even they fought him in a group, but you..." she smirked coldly, and whipped the katana off her back, sheath and all. "I brought this so you could destroy him."

She planted her free hand on the scabbard and slid it slowly off of the dull silver blade. The weapon's guard was a circle of iron with four tomoe sculpted to swirl away from the blade's base. The hilt was wrapped in black leather over rayskin dyed a deep crimson. She pointed the weapon at Mizuki. "The seal on the guard is set to release its contents when a certain passphrase is spoken by anyone. An ally can release it if you give them the command, but an enemy can't open it to tamper with the sand... let me show you."

She dropped the scabbard to the ground and grasped the weapon itself with both hands. "Stain, Kuroshi."

A wall of black dust shot out away from the outer edge of the guard, for twelve feet in all directions or until it hit something like the ground or a wall. Gaara immediately ducked behind the defense and used his chakra to hold it up before it could fall. "Black Death," he repeated. "It's a menacing name."

"You like it?" Tenten grinned, and pulled the sword free of the sand wall. "Go ahead, try it out."

Gaara shook his head. "This diamond sand will be the perfect weapon, but I haven't yet infused it with my chakra, and that takes time. It's my chakra that made my old sand fast enough to kill so easily with. It's best we stay on the defensive, which should be easy enough with this." he turned his attention from the sand to her. "You saved my life by coming here. Thank you, Tenten."

The weapon specialist blushed very slightly, but grinned. "It's not like I was planning some kind of awesome rescue moment," she admitted, "but it was pretty cool, huh?"

Gaara nodded. "Your timing was impeccable. My control over sand wavered when I first woke up, but it's strong again now. I was about to use the dirt in the road instead... How did you know I was here?" He asked, as he curved the sand wall around them to protect them from behind as well.

"I didn't. I went to Jiraiya's place to give you Kuroshi, and when you weren't there, I went looking for you. I spotted Mizuki with you, and there was no way in hell I was gonna let him take you, so I used my biggest weapon technique to buy time and release Kuroshi."

The wall finished curving into a dome, cutting off all light. "Right now, it's incomplete though. It still needs your chakra, and certain Fire Release jutsu can burn the stuff," she added quietly, "so I was gonna use a fuinjutsu to prevent that tomorrow, and over the next few days, seal a lot more diamond dust into the guard. It's got room in there to hold about fifty times what was in your gourd; any more than that and the seal would've been too big for the guard."

"Fifty?" Gaara repeated with a trace of shock in his normally calm voice. "Amazing," he murmured.

Tenten channeled Fire Release chakra into her hand, giving off a slight, warm orange glow from her palm to illuminate the inside of Gaara's new defense. She retrieved the scabbard, and handed it along with the weapon itself to Gaara, then blinked in surprise as the dome shook from an apparent attack from Mizuki. "So what do we do now?"

The dome shrank slightly to make up for a section of it splitting off and engulfing Gaara. His half-finished sand armor crumbled away to be replaced by the diamond dust, while the dome continued to shrink as a floor formed for it. "I can't defeat Mizuki," he said simply, "not like this. We'll need to signal Naruto and the others if we're to defeat him." The black sand faded into his normal skin tone, and he slid the sword back into its scabbard before slipping it into his white sash.

Tenten yelped in surprise as the structure of diamond sand shook and floated into the air. She stumbled, but managed not to fall over. "Are we flying!?" Gaara nodded silently. "Have you ever done this before?"

"When the situation called for it, yes," he replied, then glanced at the kunai strapped to Tenten's left forearm. "We've each given the other a weapon now," he noted. "This rather outdoes an ANBU kunai, however, doesn't it?"

Tenten grinned. "Another happy customer," she sighed. "I oughtta start exporting my weapons to other villages."

"I'll see to it that Suna buys from you," Gaara replied. "Now... we're currently fifty feet above the ground, in a dome of black sand. If that's not enough of a signal to draw Naruto's attention, I'll make some noise as well. Third Eye Jutsu." he closed his left eye to use the artificial one outside the black sand dome. Mizuki was shaping hand seals for the Fire Dragon Bullet. "You said this diamond sand is flammable?"

"It's pure carbon, so yeah," Tenten replied. "It's got some resistence to flame from the fire jutsu I made it with, so a D or C-rank jutsu isn't going to set it off, but anything above that..." she trailed off meaningfully, and made a gesture with her hands to imply an explosion.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" Mizuki called, and exhaled a breath of fire that his chakra shaped into a half-sentient dragon. The dragon opened its jaws to roar, then shot toward the shelter of diamond sand.

Gaara pulsed his chakra into the dome, opening a hole in it to allow the dragon to pass cleanly through without touching the sand, him, or Tenten. When the flames emerged out the back of the dome, Gaara raised a cloud of sand and dirt from the road to strike the dragon. "Sand Coffin!" he called, and crushed the flames out of existence. "Now it's your turn," he growled, and directed a second flow of dirt and sand toward Mizuki.

As expected, the missing-nin dodged easily, and began the seals for his counterattack, "Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Gaara scowled, and redirected the stream of sand he attacked Mizuki with to catch the flames. "Konoha shinobi specialize in Fire and Earth Release ninjutsu," he repeated what Orochimaru had told him in the Forest of Death. "They're the most common affinities here, and Mizuki is using solely fire jutsu out there. I don't know how long I can keep up in this state."

Tenten frowned. "I already used my Twin Rising Dragons. That's my strongest, largest attack, but I've still got three more scrolls' worth of weapons. We don't need more offense, though. You said we're just holding him off until the others get here, so what we need is something that'll stop a Fire Release jutsu..."

"Burning Blood Sacrifice." Mizuki slashed a kunai across his forearm, and the blood that splashed out burst into crimson flame. It grew into an ethereal red serpent that coiled and drew back its head to lunge at the dome.

"Tenten, that's an A-rank fire kinjutsu. If it hits..."

"Yeah, I heard him," she replied. "I've never heard of this one before... can you fly us any higher up?" Gaara nodded, and guided the sand structure containing them further into the sky. "Keep at it! We might be able to get out of his range, but if not... for now, open a hole in this thing."

The black sand crept away from a single point on the wall to create a circular opening. Tenten breathed in sharply when she saw how high up they were. The fire serpent above Mizuki was still growing as he bled. "All right, Gaara, how good are you with the Substitution Jutsu?"

"I know it well enough," he replied. "Why?"

"When Mizuki sends that fire thing to attack us, you switch with this kunai." she drew a dagger from her weapons pouch and fired it toward Mizuki, missing on purpose by ten feet to the left. "I'll switch with a shuriken." to accentuate her point, she threw one to the right of Mizuki. "This sand is gonna explode, but that's okay, I can make more."

Gaara nodded. "Then, we'll both attack him at close range down there?"

"I know it's not your style, but if we get close we can keep him from using fire jutsu, and-" her eyes widened as the fire attack above Mizuki finished forming and lunged at them. "Now!"

"Substitution."

"Substitution Jutsu!"

The fire serpent touched the diamond sand, and it promptly exploded into a massive orange and red fireball. Gaara and Tenten reappeared on either side of Mizuki, and Tenten drew her ANBU kunai. Gaara slid his new sword from its scabbard, and they both closed in on the missing-nin, who responded by drawing his first two Fuuma Shuriken from his back, blocking both attacks.

Gaara removed his left hand from the sword's hilt, and directed some sand to attack Mizuki while he was preoccupied with their blades. "Sand Coffin!"

"You're too slow," Mizuki snarled, and shoved Gaara back with one arm, then dodged into the space the Jinchuuriki had previously filled, sidestepping the sand. "And weak too, whoever taught you kenjutsu was a fucking idiot."

"Gaara," Tenten called, "swordplay with a katana takes both hands!" she dodged a swipe from Mizuki's weapon, and added, "Using both hands gives the blow its power! With only one, the weapon's too clumsy with that long hilt!"

"Interesting." Gaara returned his left hand to the sword's hilt, and directed his sand with only his mind, still getting nowhere against Mizuki with it. He experimentally swung the katana with both hands, and was suprised to find that it hit Mizuki much harder, and the older ninja was unable to push him back. "Would you mind teaching me this, when we get a chance?"

"No problem!" she called, and ducked Mizuki's next slash, then countered by swinging her kunai upward and grazing his extended arm. She crouched lower, then launched herself upward with her dagger aimed to pierce his heart, but the missing-nin dodged and grabbed her side, throwing her past him and toward Gaara. "Shit!"

Gaara's eyes widened, and he pulsed extra chakra into his diamond sand armor, letting her kunai scrape along his left arm and give off yellow sparks. He glanced past her to see Mizuki grinning and rapidly forming seals. He dropped his katana, caught Tenten, and pulled her to the ground, at the same time he forced his chakra and will into the sand he'd previously used to attack Mizuki. With no time to spare, he found himself sprawled on top of Tenten under a tiny sand shield that held back a breath of fire from Mizuki.

"N-Nice save," she gasped, grateful for the total darkness inside the dome that hid her blush. "Um... m-maybe you could get off me now?"

"No room," he replied bluntly. He blinked in the heat and darkness, noting that Mizuki was still breathing fire onto his shield. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "This situation could easily be taken out of context..."

"Out of context?"

"You read one Icha Icha book, and you can't look at anything innocently, ever again," she grumbled. And it doesn't help that they're so damn addictive... "N-Never mind. How long do we have until he cooks us in here?"

"He'll need to stop and take a breath," Gaara realized. "I can open the shield away from him then, and we'll have to move quickly..." He slid his arms under her back, prompting her to squeal in complete shock and disbelief. "I've never done this before," he admitted. "I hope it works like I've imagined."

"D-did you have to make that sound so dirty!?"

"I still have no idea what you're talking about." Mizuki cut off his attack to breathe, and Gaara's grasp on Tenten immediately tightened as his sand dome opened into a curved wall between the missing-nin and the two Genin. With no room to stand up, Gaara resorted to manipulating the sand he was wearing as an unstable form of flight, rocketing himself and Tenten to relative safety twenty feet away.

Gaara released her, noting the rather dark blush on her cheeks. "Oh," she mumbled as she comprehended what he had been planning. "T-Thanks," she added, and sat up as Gaara stood and retrieved Kuroshi by grasping it with a small cloud of sand. She stood, and drew a scroll from her pouch. I don't think I'm gonna get anywhere with my remaining three scrolls, but I've gotta try...

She laid the scroll at her feet and released the fifty assorted blades from within. Mizuki smirked and resumed making hand seals. She pulsed some chakra into her fingertips, connecting a chakra string to the hilt of each weapon.

"Chakra strings," Gaara recognized them. "Your technique is similar to a Suna puppeteer's, but since you're controlling the entire collection as a single attack, you can connect several weapons to each of your fingers..." Kankurou would be rather interested in this...

"Manipulated Tools," Tenten called, and whipped the various weapons together at Mizuki, "Iron Storm!"

Mizuki scoffed at the oncoming wall of razor-sharp metal, and countered, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ten copies of Mizuki appeared in front of the original, blocking the weapons with their own bodies. His Cursed Seal of Earth spread over his skin, and he sneered, "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Horde!" Tenten paled as a dozen fully formed Fire Dragon Bullets flew out of his open mouth and swirled around him. "This is my ideal jutsu," he announced. "Sure, I have stronger ones, ones that affect a wider area, but this one is truly perfect for me to use, now that I have the chakra for it."

"Tenten, I can't possibly gather enough sand in this environment to stop them all at once," Gaara called. "Do you have anything?"

"N-no, I've got two scrolls left but nothing in 'em can stop twelve Dragon Bullets," she admitted. The dragons snarled and hissed at their targets, then lunged.

Gaara dropped his sword to free up his hands, and tried desperately to gather enough sand for a proper defense. He watched the dragons split into two groups of six, one group aiming at each Genin. I never imagined my existence could actually come to an end, he mused silently, and aimed what sand he could gather into a final attack on Mizuki. And so soon after I slept for the first time... I dreamed... Gaara closed his eyes. It was just the way I'd always hoped.

"SHINRA TENSEI!"

Mizuki's, Tenten's, and Gaara's eyes widened to see the twelve dragons blown into fiery bits by a wall of invisible force. Gaara's last arm of sand struck home on Mizuki's chest, and the Jinchuuriki recovered from the momentary shock in time to call, "Sand Coffin!"

"Damn it!" the missing-nin snarled, and triggered the second level of his Cursed Seal, just barely in time to withstand being crushed to death. He shook off Gaara's sand, and clapped his hands together into a seal. "Naruto fucking Uzumaki! You're early, demon brat!" he grinned viciously.

"Really?" Naruto grinned. "Looks to me like we had perfect timing!"

"...We?" Mizuki asked after a moment, frowning.

"Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!"

"...Shit." Mizuki turned his attention to the electric-green bladed arcs of chakra that Hinata sent his way. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" The chakra blades sliced deep into the wall of stone Mizuki raised, but failed to reach the traitor himself.

"Rasengan!"

"Drilling Air Bullet!"

Naruto and Hinata let their strongest non-bloodline jutsu fly, watching with satisfaction as Mizuki's defense was blown to bits. "Gaara, Tenten, are you two hurt?" Hinata called as she formed another Rasengan in each hand.

"We're unharmed," Gaara replied.

"Thanks for the save," Tenten added. "We were pretty screwed for a moment there. We're out of chakra, and just about done with equipment too."

"Then get out of here, both of you," the host of the Nine-Tails replied, with a startlingly serious tone, never taking his eyes off Mizuki. "Hina-chan and me can deal with Mizuki ourselves, and Ino and Kiba are both getting us backup anyway. Get yourselves to safety."

"Right. Come on, Gaara, let's give them some space." he and Tenten retreated away from the battle.

Within Hinata's protective chakra structure, Naruto's Rinnegan eyes gave off a flare of purple light. "All right, Mizuki. You're not getting away this time!" he swiped his hands through a few rapid seals, and called, "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"That's all!?" Mizuki taunted, and easily dodged the sphere of wind. "You're gonna need something faster if you wanna hit me, and stronger if you wanna do any damage!"

"Like this?" Hinata replied, and threw her two Rasengan, one after the other. Mizuki dodged the first, but the second slammed directly into his chest and sent him flying. "That didn't kill him," she realized. "These Cursed Seals heal their bearers, nothing short of a one-hit kill will stop him!"

"I overcharged my Shinra Tensei to stop all those fire dragons," Naruto admitted. "I won't be able to use it for a solid two minutes. I don't think the Drilling Air Bullet can finish him when that seal's reinforcing his body, and if a Rasengan won't do it..."

"I can lure him in," Hinata decided quietly after a moment, and let her chakra grid fade away. She watched Mizuki slowly start moving again, trying to get to his feet. "There's only one jutsu either of us has, that's absolutely guaranteed to finish its target. You know you need an opening to get in close and connect with it."

"Hina-chan... you want me to use you as bait?"

"A diversion," she corrected. "This is the only strategy we have that can finish him in an instant. Trust me, Naruto-kun." she smiled warmly. "He won't land a killing blow on me."

"You've said it," Naruto grinned, "and you never go back on your word, right?"

"That's my nindou," she replied. "Now go."

Naruto nodded and leapt away, then used a Transformation Jutsu to turn himself into a chunk of rubble on the road. He watched with concern as Mizuki stood and drew a kunai. "Where's Naruto?" he demanded. "I can tell he'd never just run away and leave you here, so he's planning an ambush."

"It doesn't matter." she poised herself in the most common Gentle Fist stance. "I'm the only opponent you can see, so I'm the one you'll face."

"I hope he's still watching every second of this," Mizuki replied with a smirk, then lunged at Hinata with his kunai. "I hope he sees me gut you!" Hinata twisted to the side of the blade, just barely dodging it, and stepped back away from the former Konoha Chuunin's next swipe, which narrowly missed her throat. "That's why I'm coming at you with a knife," he declared. "He won't see the light leave your eyes if I end you with a fireball!"

He's fast, but his strikes are too wild. There's no skill to his attacks at all; I can still dodge. Hinata backpedaled away from Mizuki, prompting him to advance and follow her for several steps, with the Genin barely dodging each swipe of his blade. After eight successful dodges, she broke the pattern she'd been following and slapped Mizuki's armed hand with an open palm, deflecting the kunai from her vital organs but intentionally letting it sink into her hip. "NOW, Naruto!"

Mizuki's eyes widened, and he tried to pull his blade free of Hinata's belly, but she whimpered and grasped his arm, preventing him from escaping. With his heart pounding in sudden fear, Mizuki felt Naruto's hand slam down onto the top of his head, grasping his scalp. "Die," Naruto ordered him coldly, then added, "Human Path." he pulled his hand away from Mizuki's head, and took with it the missing-nin's soul and memories.

"Hina-chan!" he exclaimed, and caught her as she stumbled, gently guiding her into a comfortable laying position.

"I'll live," she replied, and winced. "I made sure he missed my vital organs and blood vessels, so a medic-nin can heal this, and I won't bleed out before we get to one, not if we leave the kunai in the wound."

"Thank Kami," he breathed, then added, "Naraka Path." The King of Hell appeared behind Naruto in a burst of purple flame, slightly startling Hinata. "Enma, can you heal her?"

"Enma-sama can heal this one easily," the demon rumbled, and opened its mouth wide.

"Hina-chan, I have to pull out the kunai. Are you ready?" she nodded, and just barely choked back a scream as he carefully withdrew the weapon. He quickly picked her up bridal-style and laid her into the demon's mouth, then crawled in as well. "Heal her," he commanded, "Then take us to the Hokage."

"As you command, Enma-sama shall make it so." the King of Hell closed its mouth around them, then vanished with them inside.

"Hina-chan..." in the darkness, he heard her sigh in relief as the pain from her wound vanished. "You're the bravest person I know."

X

Kimimaro knelt formally before his lord, with his head hung low. "Orochimaru-sama."

"Hm?" Orochimaru turned away from his latest genetic experiment, and asked, "What is it, Kimimaro? Shouldn't you be beating some sense into Mizuki?"

"...That's exactly the problem," Kimimaro replied. "This morning, Mizuki never arrived for our training session. Further investigation showed that he went AWOL, and according to a note he left in his quarters, he intended to capture Naruto Uzumaki once again, in addition to the One-Tail and possibly Hinata Hyuuga."

"Hm? And how did it go?"

"He apparently took two... questionably loyal Oto Chuunin with him, whom I went to Konoha and retrieved. They informed me that Mizuki was apparently killed this afternoon. They were watching the confrontation from a distance, and they claim that Naruto Uzumaki pulled Mizuki's soul out of his body."

"Hm..." the Sannin chuckled for a few moments. "I told the fool he wasn't ready. Clearly I overestimated his usefulness and competence. What of the Chuunin you extracted?"

"Still alive, and mostly unharmed. Interrogation revealed they planned to flaunt their assistance to Mizuki if the plan succeeded, in order to get promoted to Jounin. In my personal opinion, they're idiots on the same level as Mizuki himself. I can either kill them now, release them, or deliver them to you. Whichever you prefer, Orochimaru-sama."

"Hm... bring them to Kabuto as sacrifices," the snake decided. "I have no use for ambitious idiots in my army, and Edo Tensei soldiers are mindlessly loyal killing machines. It's certainly a trade-up."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." Kimimaro bowed slightly lower, and coughed quietly before he left.

"Kabuto."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto emerged from a shadowed corner of the cave. "I should let you know, I'm merely a shadow clone. The real me is currently preparing the Second Hokage's DNA."

"No matter. Your ability to relay memories to the original will suffice... Kimimaro's sickness is getting worse?"

"Rapidly," the medic answered. "By my estimate, he has two months to live."

"Such a shame. He was always so useful and loyal." Orochimaru sighed, then turned to Kabuto with a serious expression. "So tell me, Kabuto, why are you spying on me?"

The clone shrugged. "For amusement, I suppose. At this point I have nothing to gain from betraying you."

"And what if you did have something to gain?"

"I'd ask you what more you could offer me, and if I didn't find that answer satisfactory, I'd stab you in the back, brutally."

"Hm. Your honesty will be the death of you one day, Kabuto."

"I wouldn't concern yourself with it too much. I have so much more to gain through cooperating with you. It's unlikely a better deal will ever come along."

"When you do make such a move, Kabuto, be ready to die." The medic pushed up his glasses nonchalantly, then his eyes widened as a kunai struck him in the forehead, dispelling him.

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