Opening - Uragiri no Yuuyake by Theatre Brook

Get it this time, kid.

Naruto's grip tightened on the hilt of his black cutlass, and he activated his Rinnegan once more. It's easy to just say that. To do this right, I need to use less of the Deva Path's power than what amounts to a basic Shinra Tensei, and then I have to combine it with the force of my wind chakra. Otherwise, I'll get that damned cooldown period of five seconds or more from using this jutsu.

He flowed his chakra into the blade, and visible wisps of pale grey wind began to spiral along the sword. Here goes! He raised the weapon over his head and glared at the open field before him as though Orochimaru was standing there. With the smug grin of the unofficial Otokage clearly visualized, he activated his kekkei genkai and brought the sword down. "This time!"

A massive crest of metal generated via the Asura Path shot from the air cut by his sword. The steel wasn't well made, but it didn't matter since the blade was twenty feet long and two feet broad, not to mention intended for a single use. The attack flew forward and carved a deep trench in the earth, flexing but not taking any damage. This left the top half of the blade sticking up from the ground until Naruto waved his hand to dissolve it. "Now... Shinra Tensei."

Nothing. Not a single blade of grass even rustled away from him, and he groaned. "Damn it. Still too much Rinnegan power..."

"I'm sure you'll get it soon, Naruto-kun."

"Hina-chan," he greeted her with a grin. "Thanks for believing in me. Hopefully I'll get it down before Akatsuki finds us, ya know?"

She nodded, then turned to Jiraiya as the older ninja began speaking. "If we find Tsunade fast enough, we might get back to the village without ever confronting those two. We know they're tracking us, but we have a head start and we've been moving quickly."

Gaara drew Kuroshi with his left hand, and held it in front of himself with a reverse grip. Shukaku grumbled, but moved toward the blade and let the seal reabsorb his body. "So let's begin our search of Tanzaku. Even if we don't find Tsunade here, the Akatsuki will have a hard time tracking us from now on. They'll have to determine when we left the village and what direction we headed in." He returned the blade to its scabbard and kept his left hand resting on the hilt.

"It should be impossible for them to even follow our trail at all, once we're in the city. Too many footprints walking over ours, too many human scents and chakra signatures. Populated areas make every form of shinobi tracking more difficult," Jiraiya added, and the team silently resumed their approach to Tanzaku, which was less than half a mile away and visible in the distance.

"Hey, Gaara," Tenten began, "Why are you carrying your sword like that?"

"Hm?" he glanced down at Kuroshi's scabbard, which held the blade with the edge facing down. "I assumed this was the proper way to carry a sword."

"With most swords, it is," she explained. "Take Naruto's saber, for instance. But with a katana, or a similarly styled weapon like a wakizashi, the edge is supposed to face up. Let me show you why." Without being asked, Gaara slipped the scabbard from his belt and handed it to Tenten with Kuroshi inside. She held it against her left hip with the edge up and pulled the weapon forth with lightning speed, lunging forward as she swept the weapon loosely through the air.

"I see... if the sword is kept with the cutting edge up, it can be drawn faster."

Tenten nodded. "There's more to it, though. With a katana, you can draw the sword and swing it with the same motion, potentially killing a dangerous opponent in a single instant." She sheathed Kuroshi and handed it back to Gaara. "I noticed you drawing the sword with your left hand when the blade faced down, in a reverse grip. That could work the same way, but with a reverse grip your swing would have less force."

"Ah." Gaara rested the scabbard on his hip again, and performed the same move as he had before. "Either movement would allow me to draw my sword and release Kuroshi Tanuki in an instant, but your move has the added benefit of being a lethal kenjutsu strike." he paused, and sheathed the blade again, keeping his left hand on the hilt. "On the other hand, keeping my left hand on the sword in this way makes the draw even faster, and it's much less threatening than reaching across my chest with my right hand to draw it as you did."

Tenten grinned. "So the move you used is better suited to your fighting style. I don't think I would've picked up on that, and it's a good idea. Try practicing that move when you get a chance."

"You could also look into a different style of kenjutsu," Naruto threw in. "I starting learning to use this cutlass from Hayate Gekkou. Along with Zabuza-sensei, he's one of the best swordsmen in Konoha. He's studied dozens of kenjutsu styles, and he mentioned specific moves and tactics intended for use with a reverse grip."

Gaara glanced down at his weapon. "That sounds promising. Do you know any of these moves?"

"A couple of 'em, but I never focused on that stuff. If you wanna learn from Hayate-sensei, I can put in a good word for you though."

"Thank you," The sand wielder replied politely.

X

A white-haired old man opened the door to a hotel room, and stepped aside for the five children with him to step inside. None of them were armed, and none of them bore any distinguishing marks such as whiskered cheeks, pupilless white eyes, or crimson lines like blood dripping down their cheeks. To an ordinary civilian's eyes, they had ordinary civilians' faces, until they closed the door and shed their Transformations.

"Ogata Hiroyuki, huh?" Naruto questioned the Toad Sage's alias. "Where have I heard that name before..."

"You probably haven't," Jiraiya replied. "I've been using that alias for decades, but I didn't steal it from anyone. So unless you've been reading my mission reports to the Hokage, you've never heard it before."

"Why keep using the same alias?"

"I can back this one up," the sage replied with a smirk, and pulled out a small brown folder from his pocket. "As far as anyone knows, Ogata Hiroyuki is the heir to a wealthy civilian clan, who's never had to work a day in his life. I've got every kind of ID any civilian security could want in here, all tied to the same alias. Really though, I got all of 'Ogata's' money from writing my books."

"Now," Jiraiya continued as he returned the folder to his pocket, "Make yourselves comfortable, since we'll be staying here until we finish our search of Tanzaku. That'll take us about a week, less if Tsunade actually turns up here, but for now I'm going to send out some Earth Clones to cover our tracks into the city, as well as make false trails leading out of Tanzaku in several directions. Maybe we'll get lucky enough to fool Akatsuki with that. As for me, well..." he trailed off with a subtle smirk.

"Let me guess," Tenten sighed theatrically. "Research?"

"It's a lot easier to spy on civilians than kunoichi," he replied quietly, then shut the door behind him as he left.

"Well," Naruto began, "We're not gonna be seeing him again for a while. How are we gonna kill time while he's gone?"

I've got a suggestion, Kurama spoke up within the Eight Trigrams Seal, surprising Naruto. Come join me in the Tailed Beast Dimension; there's someone I want you to meet.

"The Tailed Beast Dimension," Naruto repeated softly, then sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. "Sure..."

Immediately, his eyes opened wide at a sensation he could only describe as an earthquake. He landed on his feet in a foggy white realm, the ground of which was shaking wildly. Before he could begin reacting to this problem however, the world around him settled down, and he watched Kurama step forward out of the fog. "What the hell was that!?"

"I don't know," the fox shrugged. "I've never brought a human in here, for all I know that might happen every time."

"That's normal for a Jinchuuriki's first time coming here..." a new voice spoke up, and Naruto turned to it with immediate interest. "Don't bother to worry about it, big brother."

"Who..." Naruto trailed off and watched the Tailed Beast emerge from the fog. Since Saiken's entire body was pale enough to blend in with the white fog, it took Naruto a moment to spot him. "You're... the Six-Tails," Naruto counted, and bowed slightly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya!"

The giant slug remained silent for a moment. "...My name is Saiken." the creature's head tilted down slightly, revealing a tall, thin man seated on his head. "This is Utakata."

"He doesn't talk much," The slender Jinchuuriki noted, "So I'll speak for him. That's a shame, since I don't much like talking myself." Utakata shrugged and stood atop Saiken's head. "It's nice to meet you both, but we'll have to make this quick. Two Akatsuki recently attacked us, and we're in the process of finding a new hideout."

Naruto's eyes widened. "That's...!" he ran a hand through his hair and began thinking rapidly. "Damn it, there's a pattern to this. There has to be! Akatsuki intends to go after most of the Tailed Beasts three years from now, but they've already targeted me, Gaara, and now you... Nine, One, and Six. So the pattern doesn't seem connected to the number of tails you guys have..."

"We've already figured..." Saiken fell silent as his brother shushed him quickly. "Kurama?"

"I wanna see if he'll get it," Kurama smirked. "Give him a second."

"Gaara and I are both young and inexperienced, but you're an adult and you've probably had Saiken's power for a while now," Naruto pointed to Utakata briefly. "So the pattern doesn't have anything to do with experience or threat level. That only leaves one theory..." The blond boy scowled. "They're only targeting the Jinchuuriki they're most likely to get away with kidnapping. Gaara and I aren't well liked by our villages. Gaara's killed Suna-nin, and I haven't yet proven my worth as a Jinchuuriki. Most of the civilians in my village actually think I'm the Nine-Tails itself... but then... why were you targeted?"

"I'm a missing-nin," Utakata replied simply.

Again, Naruto froze with wide eyes. "Then there'll be a fourth attack. Yagura's a missing-nin too! There's no village protecting him, and no one who'll even notice he's been captured."

"Very good..." Saiken murmured. "We came to the same conclusion, and were able to contact Isobu earlier today..." the slug trailed off for no apparent reason.

"...We told him to fake his death," Utakata continued after a few moments. "When the Akatsuki attack him. This way, they'll be waiting for Isobu to come back to life as an unsealed Bijuu. If Yagura simply killed their agents or ran away, they'd try to find him again."

"Good!" Naruto exclaimed with a cheerful grin. "So we're already working together to stop the Akatsuki! That's a great start!"

"...Start?" Saiken questioned.

"Yeah!" Naruto flashed his trademark grin again. "Once we all manage to contact each other, we can meet up somewhere and stop the Akatsuki as a team! All nine Bijuu working together... There's no way they'd be able to catch you then!"

"...That's an interesting concept," the slug admitted. "Kurama... is he...?"

"That's right," Kurama nodded. "Naruto, show 'em."

"Right." Naruto closed his eyes briefly, and declared, "Rinnegan." when he opened them again, the purple and black ripple pattern of the Sage's eyes shone in place of his blue irises.

Saiken leaned forward with interest. "There were Uzumaki before him who activated the Rinnegan," he noted. "So does this mean...?"

"Naruto has unlocked all Seven Paths of the Rinnegan," the fox answered proudly. "He's the one Otou-san was talking about. The next Sage of Six Paths." Naruto turned to Kurama and openly gaped. "Don't let it go to your head though, kid. And no, you're not a Chosen One, your proper title is 'Saviour of This World.'"

"...Whoa."

X

Hinata was briefly stirred from her sleep by a knock at the door, but after a moment she murmured incoherently and pulled the blanket up over her upper arms and shoulders, enjoying the sensation of the warm fabric brushing her chilled skin.

The knocking came again, and she groaned quietly. "Mm... no." she snuggled into the blankets and the unnamed source of warmth embracing her from behind. "I don' wanna."

Then her eyes snapped wide open as she realized where she was. I'm... she silently activated her Byakugan to see who was holding her from behind, and flushed crimson when she saw that it was Naruto. This is... his bed. I crawled out of my own bed and into his without even realizing it!?

The knock at the door echoed throughout the room a third time, louder and more insistent, which prompted Hinata to nudge Naruto's ribs with her elbow. "N-Naruto. Wake up."

"Hm, wha?" he sharply drew in a breath when he noticed what position they were in, and relinquished his grip on her waist. "S-Sorry..."

"It's not your fault," she mumbled. "I think I crawled in with you." she sat up next to him and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "That must be Jiraiya-sensei at the door..." she moved to stand up, but his hand locked around her wrist suddenly, and he looked up at her with wide eyes. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"That's not Jiraiya," he said. "The Pervy Sage has the key to the room."

Hinata froze and she turned her Byakugan on the door, peering through it with ease both practiced and instinctual. "Akatsuki," she breathed. "Itachi and Kisame again."

Naruto reached for the bronze ring containing his sealed cutlass, and called, "Haku, wake up!"

"Ugh... what's going on?" the effeminate boy groaned and sat up in his room.

"Get the door," Naruto commanded and quietly added, "With ice."

Haku's eyes briefly widened before he made a seal sequence and whispered, "Ice Release: Ice Wall."

"Now wake up Gaara and Tenten," the blond ANBU continued, and turned to Hinata. "You've got time to change into your armor. If they break through the ice, I'll hold them off myself until you're ready."

She nodded silently, and flitted away to her own bedroom. Meanwhile, Naruto slipped his ANBU flak jacket on over his pajamas, along with his sword belt, weapons pouch, and cloak. He reached for his orange-whiskered mask, and hesitated before remembering that Itachi and Kisame already knew who he was under it. He drew his ANBU sword and stepped into the living room of the suite, eyes locked on the frozen-shut door.

This time, only a single knock came at the door, but it struck with enough force to shatter the wood, revealing Itachi and Kisame through the clear ice. Naruto activated his Rinnegan and glared viciously at Kisame, just as Hinata entered the room with her barrier armor on. She reached over her right shoulder and slipped her staff from its holster before asking, "What's the plan?"

Kisame swung Samehada at the ice wall again, cracking it. "Haku, more ice!"

"On it!" he called back, and added a fresh layer of chakra-laced ice to hold back the Akatsuki.

"The plan," Naruto replied without taking his eyes off the enemy, "is to hold the door shut until Gaara and Tenten are ready. Then..." he interrupted himself to slap his palm to the floor, summoning Kurama in a puff of smoke, "You, me and Kurama will capture Itachi alive. Haku, Gaara and Tenten, you three will kill Kisame unless a golden oppurtunity to capture him presents itself. Gaara, don't use your Bankai unless you have no other choice. His sword might be able to absorb Shukaku's chakra."

"Understood," Gaara called, and emerged from his bedroom with Kuroshi in hand. The other three ninja present all noticed that he was now carrying his katana's scabbard on his right hip, with the edge downward.

"Haku, drop the ice wall when Tenten says she's ready. Gaara, use your sand to destroy the wall behind us. We'll jump out of the hole to a more open area where we can use our full power, without worrying about the building coming down on us."

"Okay, I'm ready!" Tenten declared, and emerged from Gaara's bedroom wearing her black armor. All eyes turned to her, and she blushed slightly while glancing over her shoulder. "...Don't look at me like that," she insisted. "Just because we shared a room doesn't mean we did anything, now drop the barrier."

Haku nodded, and waved a hand at the ice wall just as Kisame swung his greatsword forward again. The ice vanished, leaving him to stumble forward slightly. Itachi activated his Sharingan and glared at Gaara, but the host of the One-Tail averted his eyes and called, "Stain, Kuroshi! Third Incarnation, Oppression!" an arm of compressed, solidified sand punched and obliterated the wall behind the Konoha-nin, and they all turned to jump away. They landed on the roof of a wide, two-story building, and Gaara wasted no time in beginning his counterattack. "Second Incarnation, Plague!"

"Kisame," Itachi cautioned his partner while glaring at the mist of black sand filling the hotel room.

The wielder of Samehada scoffed. "Obviously I'm not gonna charge through that. I already have a better idea..." he glanced upward, and stabbed the ceiling above him with Samehada, then lazily twisted the monstrous blade in his hands while pulsing chakra into it. A ten-foot circle of the ceiling above came crashing down around Kisame, who then jumped up through the hole to the floor above.

"...Ah." Itachi followed his partner with an impassive expression, even as Kisame ripped through the door of the hotel room above the previous one.

"Now it's your turn," the shark gestured to the wall between them and Naruto's team.

"Fire Release," Itachi intoned, "Great Fireball Jutsu."

Naruto's grip on his sword tightened as the wall above their hotel room was obliterated by a fiery explosion, through which two figures in black emerged, unscathed by the flames. Itachi blurred forward, and came to a stop facing Naruto at an ideal distance for a ninjutsu battle. "You could have fled," the Uchiha suggested, "in the time it would take Kisame to break that wall of ice."

"We could," Naruto admitted, "but it's worth the effort to capture one of you."

"You intend to take me alive? That's... disappointing; I expected you to know better. Come at me with killing intent, or I'll destroy you."

"Asuma Sarutobi said something along those lines during our Genin Exam," Naruto replied with a smirk. "That's a fun story, but you can cut the crap, Itachi. Kisame's preoccupied with the rest of my team," he glanced to where the ex-Kiri Swordsman was deflecting and dodging a vast flood of black sand, "so you can drop the act."

"That's enough," Itachi ordered coldly, and subtly glanced to his right. Naruto followed his gaze with an active Rinnegan, and was suprised to see the silhouette of a man underground inside a plant of some kind, both glowing with the same green chakra. He turned his attention back to Itachi, and blinked as a wave of visible chakra shot into his purple eyes, signifying that he'd just been hit with the Sharingan's genjutsu. It was a simple matter to break it when he could see the chakra comprising the illusion.

Naruto sighed quietly. "Fine. And here I thought you were the most rational of the Akatsuki. I thought you, of all people, would have the sense to surrender and talk. Hinata, take the right flank. Kurama, the left. I'll fight him head-on."

In reality, this plan was to get one or both of them behind Itachi, circumventing his Sharingan's enhanced perception and allowing them to do some damage, but it was gracelessly interrupted by a newcomer wielding a fistful of lightning.

"ITACHI!"

The elder Uchiha turned to his brother in the street below with a bored expression. "...Sasuke. You're early. Far too early, in fact. Go back to Konoha and strengthen your hatred. It's still too-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled, and leapt up to the rooftop with Chidori in hand. "I've fostered my hatred for six years now. It's more than strong enough, now DIE!" he charged with a psychotic howl.

"Hn." Itachi caught Sasuke's wrist, neutralizing the Chidori in an instant. The younger Uchiha screamed in pain and disbelief as the elder snapped his wrist. "As I was saying..." he threw his brother aside and stalked toward him, Sharingan blazing viciously. "Foolish... little... brother. You're still too weak." Sasuke mustered a taijutsu assault with his remaining arm, but Itachi dodged each blow before lifting the Genin into the air by his throat. "You don't have enough hate. And you know something?"

Itachi pulled his brother close, locking the gaze of their Sharingan against each other. "You never will."

"Banshou Tenin!" As Sasuke was violently pulled out of his line of sight, Itachi called off his Tsukuyomi at the last possible second, and turned to glare at the ANBU now standing over the younger Uchiha. "Itachi... what the hell's wrong with you!?"

Sasuke cradled his broken arm, and watched the confrontation with wide eyes, even as his Sharingan faded out of them. "Naruto..."

The Rinnegan wielder glanced over his shoulder. "Sasuke, what the hell are you doing here?" he demanded angrily.

"I... I heard Itachi had showed up in Konoha, and he was tracking you. I thought it was my only chance to stop him, to have my vengeance."

Naruto snorted. "Your only chance?"

"Yes! My only chance!" Sasuke roared in anger, then winced at the pain in his arm. "It has to be me that kills Itachi, not you!"

Naruto fell silent. He really thinks I can...? He turned back to said Uchiha, who was watching the exchange with a total lack of expression. "We're not gonna kill him, Sasuke. We're gonna capture him alive. As for you..." he turned to glare at the elder Uchiha, "You were going to kill every single Uchiha, but then you decided to spare Sasuke's life. Why? And why were you about to use your Mangekyou on him!?"

Itachi powered down his Mangekyou Sharingan, and stared back at Naruto without flinching. "Sasuke was the only other Uchiha with the potential to threaten me. I chose to let him live and cultivate his hatred, until he was strong enough that killing him will be a challenge. By killing Sasuke at that point, I'll become even more powerful."

"The Curse of Hatred," Kurama noted to Itachi's right side, and Itachi's gaze snapped toward him. This, however, left Hinata out of his line of sight, and the Hyuuga capitalized by stabbing her spear into his left flank before striking a tenketsu in his shoulder, paralyzing it. "That looks painful," the fox observed. "I'm no expert on human anatomy, but I'd say she's missed your vitals."

"She missed them thoroughly," Itachi replied, and exploded into a cloud of smoke. "Shadow clones have no vitals."

"Damn it," Hinata scowled, and activated her Byakugan to spot the real Itachi perched atop the hotel. She aimed her right palm at him, and called, "Hollow Water Dragon Bullet!"

Itachi's eyes widened subtly, and he formed hand seals faster than a normal eye could see. "Water Dragon Bullet." his dragon collided with Hinata's headfirst, and the two masses of water mixed together before evaporating at Itachi's command. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." an exact duplicate of the Uchiha appeared to the original's right, and both copies drew in a deep breath. "Fire Release: Phoenix Iron Flower Jutsu."

Hinata countered by forming a curved wall of water and chakra threads. "Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!" the dozens of small fireballs fired by the two Itachis struck her defenses, sizzled, and were extinguished to reveal blackened shuriken hidden within. "Hollow Water Dragon Horde!" The wall of water was reshaped into four snarling dragons.

"Water Dragon Bullet," Itachi repeated, and this time his solid water dragon flanked Hinata's flock of four constructs, biting each in two. His Sharingan observed Hinata preparing another water jutsu, but it also observed the absence of Naruto and Kurama at her sides. He grimaced, and heard the Nine-Tails snarl in its approach toward his back. He drew a kunai and threw it above Hinata, then switched places with it at a distance of fifty feet.

"Rasengan!" Naruto roared, and tore through Itachi's Shadow Clone with a sphere of whirling blue chakra. Kurama, meanwhile, landed on all fours where the real Itachi had stood.

"Shadow Clone Explosion," Itachi commanded, and Naruto's eyes widened just before the remains of the clone exploded violently rather than dissipating into smoke. Both he and the Nine-Tails were sent flying, while Hinata spun to face Itachi at close range. The missing-nin drew a kunai, at the same time Hinata slipped her favored weapon from the scabbard on her back, immediately extending the blades hidden within the staff.

Naruto groaned, and tapped into his reserve of purple chakra to heal his wounds from the explosion. He glanced toward Kurama, noting that the fox was already completely healed and sprinting toward Itachi and Hinata. If not for her barrier armor, she would have been wounded many times by Itachi's kunai, but Tenten's masterpiece was doing its job impressively.

"Hn..." Itachi used the Body Flicker Jutsu to retreat a solid distance away from Hinata and Kurama. "That barrier can't be pierced by my weapons, and it would be a waste of chakra to try an unfocused ninjutsu like the Great Fireball. But if I were to use a jutsu that focused all of its power into a single point... Water Fang Bullet."

Hinata deftly drew a kunai and fired it through the air, aiming it to sail past Itachi so she could Substitute with it, He, however, threw his own kunai to strike hers in midair, moving it just enough that Hinata's aim was off and her Substitution missed its target. She grimaced and threw herself to the side of the approaching water jutsu, just barely dodging it.

Naruto appeared behind Itachi in a blur, and slashed open the back of his Akatsuki cloak. Itachi didn't cry out or give any indication of pain, even as Naruto reappeared in front of him with Itachi's own blood on the edge of his cutlass. He parried a barrage of kenjutsu strikes with his kunai, and noted calmly, "You wounded me."

"I'll do much worse than wound you, boy!" Kurama roared, and Naruto vanished with his Empty Wind Jutsu before the fox shot an orange laser beam from his mouth, sweeping it toward the right side of Itachi's head. The missing-nin Substituted with Hinata's kunai, but Naruto appeared in front of him again and resumed his kenjutsu onslaught. "Naruto, do it now!"

Naruto vanished again in a blur of movement, and emerged from the Empty Wind at Hinata's side with his sword raised. He snarled, and brought it down to unleash his unfinished new jutsu. All pretense of calm left Itachi's face, and his eyes widened considerably at the approach of the giant crescent-shaped blade. He created a Shadow Clone out of the blade's path, then retreated from the battle with his Body Flicker.

"The three of you are a much greater threat than we had anticipated," the clone admitted. "I'll have to mention that in my report to our Leader." he turned his attention to Sasuke, who had watched the entire battle with wide eyes. "Foolish little brother, remember what you saw today. Three fighters of this level were unable to stop me, so you'll have to completely surpass them if you wish to kill me. Foster your hatred, cultivate it, nurture it. When you've reached your full potential, I'll come to kill you."

"They made you run away like a coward," Sasuke snarled, then flinched at the sudden flare of crimson light from Itachi's eyes. He screamed helplessly at the images being displayed by Itachi's genjutsu. As Itachi's clone vanished, Naruto lunged forward and struck the prone Sasuke's chest to dispel the genjutsu. The younger Uchiha gasped, wide-eyed, and sat back up to cradle his broken wrist. "That wasn't the same genjutsu," he breathed.

"The same genjutsu?" Hinata questioned.

"When Itachi killed our family," Sasuke began, "He used a genjutsu on me. I watched him slaughter the Uchiha Clan, over and over for what felt like years. Then I woke up, and it was still the same night. Itachi hadn't even made it out of the village, which means that his genjutsu accelerated time."

"More accurately, your perception of time," The Nine-Tails corrected, drawing Sasuke's attention. "That genjutsu is called Tsukuyomi, and it's one of the many powers granted by the Mangekyou Sharingan. In the real world, it only snares you for a single second, but the genjutsu world you experience lasts a full seventy-two hours."

"...How do you know that?"

"Madara Uchiha used it on me, then described its effects after I regained consciousness," the fox answered evenly.

"Never heard of him."

Kurama choked on his indignation. "Madara founded Konoha alongside the First Hokage, thus bringing the past thousand years of shinobi war to an end. He then unleashed me on said village not once, but twice, and today he's the leader of the Akatsuki."

"You're..." Sasuke glanced up to Naruto, then back to Kurama. "The Nine-Tailed Fox!? What the hell are you doing helping Naruto fight my brother!?"

"It's a long story, and now isn't the time to tell it," Kurama replied, and nodded to an ongoing battle in the distance. "Kisame hasn't yet fallen or retreated."

X

Gaara tightened both hands around the hilt of his sword, and silently watched the approach of the blue swordsman. Kisame was grinning, stalking toward the three young ninja with Samehada in hand.

"First Incarnation," Kisame's eyes glittered with anticipation, and Gaara continued, "Corruption." A shallow wave of black sand washed outward around Gaara, covering the battlefield in a thin layer of his chosen weapon. Kisame formed hand seals around the hilt of Samehada, still grinning. "Sand Coffin."

The sand exploded upward, engulfing Kisame and condensing around him in an attempt to crush him. For a moment, Gaara considered the possibility that he'd already won, but then an explosion of water forced his jutsu apart and soaked much of the sand on the ground. "Hm. Second Incarnation, Plague." the remaining dry sand on the ground rose up into a thick black fog. "Stain, Kuroshi," he called to release more sand from within the weapon.

As he wandered aimlessly through impenetrable black fog, Kisame's grin faltered. He laid Samehada across his back and formed more hand seals. His sand doesn't seem to work if I soak it with water. He's a poor match for me. "Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"

Standing outside the cloud of sand, Gaara heard the sounds of water splashing and flowing outward rapidly. "Haku, freeze my sand and everything within."

Haku nodded silently, and held up his right hand to rapidly shape a few seals. "Ice Release: Fractal Ice Lotus." Accompanied by the sounds of crackling ice, Gaara's cloud of sand fell to the ground like rain. This revealed Kisame standing at the center of a massive ice sculpture in the form of a lotus flower the size of a small house.

Kisame frowned at the ice beneath him, since it had encased his feet up to the ankles. "What kind of jutsu is this?"

"It was originally meant to be no more than an artwork," Haku admitted, "But recently I found that it has its uses. No matter the size of the flower I shape with this jutsu, it always takes the same amount of chakra. It could be a glass of water or a lake. On top of that..." he dashed forward into one of the outermost petals of the giant lotus, disappearing into the ice. Kisame drew his sword in response to Haku's image appearing on each petal of ice around him. "I can use the petals to project myself into multiple locations."

Kisame tensed as each image drew and let fly a senbon, and he blurred his fingers through several rapid seals. "Water Release: Water Pulse!" the senbon were immediately deflected by a layer of water radiating from Kisame's body. "This is a pretty useful jutsu," he noted as he reached for Samehada, "but if all you're throwing at me is senbon, it's useless." he smashed the ice around his feet. "Anyone with a good defensive jutsu in their arsenal can counter this."

"You broke through my ice... this is the second time you've done that. I'm mildly impressed."

"My sword, Samehada, can absorb and devour chakra. No matter how much you reinforce your ice with chakra, it won't hold up."

"Thanks for explaining it so concisely," Haku replied, and formed more hand seals within the ice. "Ice Release: Demonic Ice Mirrors." the ice lotus beneath Kisame melted, and the resulting water flowed upward where it froze again into a collection of ice panels. Kisame hesitantly swung his sword at one of the mirrors, but Samehada merely drew sparks and bounced off. "These mirrors aren't reinforced with chakra alone. They're simply made of highly compressed water to create more solid ice. They're about as strong as weapons-grade steel, and with each being a foot thick... feel free to try breaking them as much as you want."

"It still doesn't make a difference, if all you throw at me is senbon," the shark pointed out.

"I've thought of that as well," Haku replied, "and I have a way around it. Tenten." his image vanished from all of the mirrors, and a moment later he was replaced by Tenten, who grinned down at Kisame.

"Hi," she greeted, and pulled open the scroll attached to her belt, letting the sealed paper dangle to the ground. "My name is Tenten. If you survive long enough to fall asleep ever again, you'll have nightmares about me." Kisame chuckled. "And that's probably the last time you'll ever laugh," she added before unsealing a small bundle of explosive tags from the scroll.

Every single image of Tenten performed the exact same motion, the significance of which did not escape Kisame. He swiped his hands through a collection of seals and called, "Earth Release: Underground Shark-"

A cacophony of explosions shook the earth and fractured Haku's ice mirrors, prompting Tenten to jump back out of the formation with her barrier ninjutsu activated. "That was awesome!" she commented gleefully. "I think we got him!"

Kisame burst up from underground, and swung Samehada upward with both hands as he emerged, striking Tenten's belly and sending her flying upward into the air. He snarled, and turned his sword on Haku who dodged away. "Little brat actually wounded me," he noted, and inspected the variety of gashes and burned holes in his Akatsuki robe. "And it looks like she's still alive, too." he smirked at Tenten as she deactivated her barrier and tried to stand. A thin line of blood was trackling from the right corner of her mouth. "I'll have to rectify that, once I'm done with you."

He turned to Gaara, and visibly flinched.

"You... hurt her..." the Jinchuuriki's voice was hoarse and quiet; it would have seemed almost meek if not for the killing intent radiating from him. He glared up at Kisame with psychotic, wide eyes. "That's her blood! I'll..." he stalked forward and raised his sword, pointing it at his target. "I'm going to kill you! Stain, KUROSHI!"

Black sand surged forth from Gaara's sword, and engulfed the battlefield in a swirling hurricane of darkness. Waves of more sand splashed outward over the ground, and Kisame retreated further away. What is this!? He asked Samehada. Is this the One-Tail's chakra? You can taste it, right? Tell me what we're up against!

It's human chakra, the sentient sword replied. He's not any stronger than he was before, he's just far more aggressive. I can taste his killing intent along with his chakra. That unique, delicious taste... that's the taste of hatred...

"Kisame!" Gaara called furiously, and several waves of black sand rushed toward the shark from all directions. "Die, so I can bury you!"

Damn it! Kisame leapt into the air, dodging the waves of sand, but sharply drew in a breath as he realized he wasn't falling back to earth. The fog of sand darkening the battlefield was holding him in place and condensing into a coat of sand over his body. How did I miss this? "Water Pulse!" he washed away much of the sand around him, leaving a void of clear air amid the fog.

A humanoid sand structure emerged from that fog, standing almost twelve feet tall and wielding Kuroshi like a dagger. Gaara swung his sword forward at Kisame's throat, but the missing-nin smoothly deflected the katana with his own monstrous blade. The sand monster's empty left hand reached forward for Kisame, who silently used his Underground Shark Jutsu to disappear safely beneath the surface of the earth.

He could easily search for us underground with his sand. "Water Release," he murmured, forming a single hand seal. "Water Clone Jutsu." an exact copy of the injured swordsman rose out of the ground, fully formed with nothing to reveal its nature as a clone. The clone itself was already set to unleash a jutsu, and was glaring at Gaara with Kisame's own killing intent. "That's right, keep him busy," he whispered, then swam away through the earth with as much ease as a shark in the ocean.

The clone was surprised to see the sand thickening the air being pulled back into Gaara's main reserve of sand, and he was even more surprised to see the boy confronting him directly rather than using that sand creature he'd created, which was nowhere to be seen. "I was only down there for an instant," 'Kisame' noted with confusion, "But everything you made to attack me is gone. Why?"

"I thought you were running away," Gaara replied in a chillingly calm voice. "But you came back. That's a pleasant surprise... hold still for a moment."

"Not a chance in hell!" Kisame sneered, and formed another hand seal. "Water Release: School of a Hundred Sharks!" he slammed his palms down on the ground, and in response a massive collection of water blasts shot upward into the air. They didn't number exactly a hundred, and as a result the jutsu was somewhat flexible. Gaara watched as the great splashes of water shaped themselves into transparent, fully formed sharks, and he sheathed his sword to reach upward and aim both palms at the flock of water creatures.

"Third Incarnation: Oppression." a massive, Shukaku-esque arm of sand shot upward from the hill of sand beneath Gaara's feet, and each arm caught and crushed a single shark until all of them were destroyed. Then, Gaara shifted the aim of his hands from the sky to Kisame, redirecting the flock of almost a hundred arms of sand. "Sand Prison." Kisame scowled upward as the arms joined together, forming a dome of black sand lined with a golden version of the markings on Shukaku's body.

Gaara crossed his arms while still aiming them at Kisame, shifting the sand structure into first a hill of sand, then a clearly defined pyramid that was increasingly covered in golden markings until there was no visible black sand left. "Sand Burial Monument," he named it, and balled his hands into fists calling, "Sand Coffin." The pyramid was rapidly and violently compressed into a much smaller structure, roughly seven feet tall.

He drew the sword at his right hip with a reverse grip, dashing forward and cutting into the pyramid. The instant his sand touched the blade, it was sucked back into the seal on the guard. "...I should've known," he murmured, staring down at the puddle of chakra-laced water left behind by the clone. "A Water Clone." he sheathed his blade and turned away from the puddle to face Tenten. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly as he approached her.

"Shocked and impressed," she replied after a moment with a smirk. "That was awesome, Gaara."

"I was referring to the blow you took from Samehada," he elaborated, but returned the smile after a moment.

"I'm fine, or at least I will be. My barrier took most of the hit for me." she briefly activated her armor to make sure it was still in working condition. "Still, I find it interesting that a strong enough attack can still hurt me through the barrier from the force of the impact alone. It's probably because it's supposed to flex when I move, so a strong enough attack can make it flex inward and transfer the force of the blow indirectly to my body..." as she looked around aimlessly, her voice grew steadily quieter, until Gaara and Haku could no longer make out what she was saying. Then she sighed, and spoke up abruptly. "I'll just have to research all of it later. Let's go meet up with Naruto's team."

"Wait a minute," Haku spoke up. "Gaara, are you okay? What you just did..."

Gaara sighed quietly. "What you saw there was a vast improvement over the mindset I used to have. Still, it seems my mind isn't anywhere near as stable as I thought it was. I understood that Tenten would recover from that blow easily, but I didn't care. I wanted to kill him, that's all. I wanted to enjoy killing him. I can't even bring myself to feel bad about it."

"Gaara, don't beat yourself up over it," Tenten interrupted what he was about to say. "Even if you hadn't been traumatized and driven insane for the last thirteen years, that reaction is pretty normal. If it was you getting attacked and hurt by Kisame, I'd want to kill him too."

Gaara considered this for a moment. "...I see your point," he admitted. "In the Forest of Death, I saw Naruto fighting Orochimaru with swordplay, and I could feel his killing intent. He even screamed that he was going to kill Orochimaru. I later found out that he felt that way because Orochimaru held a sword to Hinata's throat," Tenten and Haku winced, "and threatened to kill her if Naruto didn't surrender his Rinnegan eyes. If someone like Naruto can be pushed into such an emotional state, then maybe my own reaction wasn't so... insane. I suppose it's normal to feel that way, if an enemy is trying to kill the one you love."

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