Summer's upon us! Aaaaaaand it's gone. Only rain here…yay…

My Mass effect story is on its way but it's going to take some time of course. Expect a little preview next chapter!

I got double the amount of reviews I had from chapter 10…YAY thanks a lot! Let's try that again shall we?

I also greatly appreciate all the followers and fav. Alerts etc I'm very grateful!

Anonymous Reviewers:

To Guest: I'm not Portuguese but….Fico feliz que tenham gostado! (I hope that sounds about right?)

To Trigun: As for the Naruto/Ghost X Hinata pairing, It's a difficult decision because I could have them as a pairing but I'd have to make some drastic changes in the plot. I'll think about it however!

Sasuke and Sakura in the end might get off easily because they got a good life going in Konoha that's very true. But they had a struggle to get there, and I'll let you know that when Ghost finally reveals himself (if he even is going to, hint hint ;p) there will be some chaos, to put it mildly ^^.

To Bankai777: I know you're not anonymous but I forgot to PM you; p. Anyways thanks for the review! When/if Ghost decides to reveal himself I'll hope it will be up to your standards and everyone else's of course.

If there was anyone else who reviewed but didn't get a pm from me or was put above, I'm very sorry and I'll make it up to you!

I said I was going to look for a beta reader but no one was complaining and I want to keep you all supplied with your weekly amount of epic-ness, and this story has the means to do so…yeah…

I will be referring the Land of waves as Nami No Kuni from now on; it fits better ;).

Disclaimer: If I owned the story I would've made Naruto a super badass! But unfortunately I don't own Naruto; I just borrow the Naruto universe for entertaining purposes ;)

I Will Become A Ghost chapter 12

Itachi, Jiraiya, Ghost and Kisame jumped from branch to branch heading towards Nami No Kuni.

Kisame turned towards Ghost. "So, here we are, heading towards Nami No Kuni to halt an invading force that has the strength to utterly destroy the Land of Fire?"

Ghost nodded, "sounds about right."

Kisame shook his head and put his hands up in defeat. "With the four of us…You know I always like fights that are against all odds, but this is pushing it."

"Kakashi is bringing in more men, but it's going to arrive later because of the preparation you blue skinned ugly bastard." Jiraiya said as he butted in, not trusting either Kisame or Itachi one bit.

"What did you say old man? You want me to rip ya to shreds?" Kisame growled as he focused his attention to the Sage Sannin, already gripping Samehada.

Ghost and Itachi ignored their bickering that slowly became louder and louder.

"How much further?" Itachi asked Ghost.

Ghost pondered his thoughts for a moment before speaking, "Can't be long. If I remember right we should arrive at the bridge in two or three hours."

The shouting eventually stopped and Jiraiya jumped next to Ghost. "I feel hurt you know."

Annoyed, Ghost turned to the older man. "What?"

"Did you really think you could hide it from me?" asked Jiraiya with a mocking grin on his face.

Ghost quirked an unseen eyebrow; "Stop talking in riddles and tell me what you mean."

"You look exactly like Minato; you hate every single person within Konoha and your eyes turn into slits whenever you use your 'Gekkei kenkai'. Just admit it, Gaki"

Ghost's eye twitched, "What did you say?"

Jiraiya smirked, and opened his mouth slowly as if to emphasize. "Ga-ki"

Ghost growled and released some killing intent. "I dare you to say that again."

Kisame grinned and even Itachi was amused with Ghost and Jiraiya's interaction.

Jiraiya grinned. "I said; just admit already that you're the Ga-"

Ghost interrupted by slamming his shoulder into jiraiya's side, throwing him off the branch and into one of the many trees that they passed by on their high speed travel method.

The Sannin slipped down and landed on the ground seeing double.

Ghost turned around, still jumping from branch to branch, only now with his back the other way. "And yeah, I was Naruto once, only he's gone and he's never coming back" Ghost shouted, the wind causing his red sash to dance wildly.

Jiraiya regained his composure and nodded solemnly, he quickly caught up to him. "Thought as much, why didn't you tell me? I thought you trusted me, you told me so yourself at Nami No Kuni!"

"And risk Konoha eavesdropping? No thanks," The blonde snorted; he ducked underneath a low hanging branch. "I still trust you Jiraiya, you're one of the last people in Konoha I can actually stand. The rest can go to hell."

He looked at his old student and sighed. He had changed a lot, even more than he had first thought. His hatred for Konoha had run deep, so deep that Jiraiya started to doubt if the Gaki would ever be able to bury the hatchet. "You know that anger of yours isn't quite healthy for someone of your age."

Ghost coughed in disbelief. "And living my entire life alone, neglected and abused is? And stop talking to me like I'm the same 13 year old kid. That was seven years ago I'm 20 now."

Jiraiya cast his eyes down in sadness and shame. "I guess I can't blame ya. But remember, not everyone hated you, you had some good friends."

Ghost scoffed. "The same bastard friends who did nothing against my punishment; and what did I ever do to deserve such a thing? I did Konoha a favor by bringing back their precious Sasuke!" Ghost narrowed his eyes in anger and shook his head. "No, Konoha can burn to the ground."

"Then why are you here?" Jiraiya asked.

"The same reason Kisame and Itachi are here…Orders."

Jiraiya nodded, not believing it one bit. "Yeah, Naruto, while we're on that subject, mind explaining a bit what kind of group you're in?"

"It's Ghost, and the group is simply called The Hunters. They were an infamous movement who were active in Mirarca. They were created shortly after the major cities were fallen and all the countries were left in disarray, it was their job to hunt down every single Reaver they could grab their hands on." Ghost corrected and informed Jiraiya.

"I sense a but coming, k-" Jiraiya said with a grim expression catching his slip of the tongue after remembering Ghost's earlier words.

"You could say that, the sheer force of the Reavers made large assaults impossible. It became Guerilla warfare, and eventually it just became survival. Making sure that the innocent made it offshore and the shelters were warned in case of attack. In the end, it didn't even matter, almost everyone was annihilated, men women and children were all slaughtered, no mercy was ever given." Ghost said between gritted teeth, eyes narrowed in anger. "Eventually the groups were down to two people. Rome and Mayu."

"So they came to us, to prevent from repetition…" Jiraiya said as the pieces of the puzzle fell in place.

"The only problem is…" Ghost began.

Jiraiya looked at Ghost from the corner of his eyes.

"That this isn't the first time that a country has been warned beforehand, this is a cycle that has repeated itself over and over again…and now it's our turn.

Jiraiya just gaped at him, not being able to find the words to respond.

Xxx

Kakashi looked at the group that consisted of 120 shinobi, next to him stood Shikamaru. "Are you ready for this?" He asked the young man.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And here I thought you knew me by now…I'm a Nara, this mission is too troublesome."

Kakashi shook his head and turned his attention back to the large group who were either looking at Kakashi who was standing atop of a small building next to the gate or were chatting with their fellow shinobi. "You all know your orders, we head for Nami No Kuni to defend 'The Great Naruto Bridge' your squad leader has your assigned task. Prepare yourself, we move in 5 minutes."

Kakashi turned to Shikamaru ignoring the chuckles from the shinobi at the mention of The great Naruto Bridge. "Choji was coming along as well?"

"Yeah, you know we work well together, taking him with us will even the odds against some of their stronger Reavers."

"I doubt that this 'Choji' could go against a Holder, even if you are coordinating the attack." A voice intervened.

Kakashi looked down and saw one of the Hunters leaning against the wall of the building they were standing on, he had ruffled black hair. "Care to elaborate…" Kakashi scratched his head and chuckled. "I didn't quite catch your name."

The Hunter chuckled as well. "My name's Hawke. And what is there to explain. As far as we know there are at least two types of shinobi or whatever you want to call their ground troops. You have their regulars who are at Chunin/Jounin strength. And then you have the Holders. Holders have strength that varies from Anbu strength to Kage strength. So it all depends on who you face, if you're lucky you just fight their Regulars, but if you're not…well let's just say that you'd be lucky if you're still alive after going against one of their Holders."

Kakashi thought back to the fight between Ghost and Riadora. "The fight Ghost had a couple of weeks ago in our arena… was that a Holder?"

Hawke nodded. "He was, however, we learned that the Reaver was merely sent to gather intelligence, and only to become a Holder if the chance arose, not when he saw fit."

Kakashi looked at the man with a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean 'become a Holder'?"

"Holders are people who have merged their body and soul with that of a demon. That was the reason why the Reaver attacked your village, however, the man was still inexperienced with the abrupt and tremendous changes made to his body and still had to adjust. This gave Ghost an edge in the battle" Hawke told the Copycat, with Shikamaru listening in.

Kakashi looked at him with wide eyes, this information was invaluable. "Why do we hear from this now and not the moment we made the alliance three days ago?"

Hawke shrugged. "We were still gathering Intel from our previous engagement in Iwa. But if I'm not mistaken, Mayu-sama is reporting this to the Hokage as we speak."

"Description of these Holders?" Shikamaru asked.

Hawke smirked. "Glowing blood red eyes, pupils often turned to slits and either their left or right hand turns into claw of the demon itself. That's all we know so far."

Kakashi glanced at Shikamaru who remembered as well that the descriptions given were exactly what happened to Ghost and Riadora. "Then that means that Ghost is a Holder."

Hawke merely shook his head. "Ghost is a unique case; Ghost has had the trait long before the Reavers came to the Elemental countries. On top of that, Ghost can trigger it; it's not permanent which is with the Holders."

Kakashi nodded in understanding as did Shikamaru.

"Keep this information about Ghost to yourself, very few people know and if the rest knew, they'd execute him on the spot without giving him the chance to justify it." Hawke said sternly and started to walk away.

Kakashi watched as Hawke turned around a corner and turned to Shikamaru. "We can't misplace this information; we'll have to keep this to ourselves for the time being."

"I agree, anyways, let's get this troublesome mission started." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"Shika!"

Shikamaru turned around and saw Ino sprinting towards him, in full Jounin gear.

"Ino, what are you wearing?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief and minor annoyance.

"What does it look like, it's my Jounin gear."

"I can see that, but why are you wearing it? You almost never wear it because of your work at the intelligence division. If you think that you're coming along with us on this mission, you're wrong." Said Shikamaru as he we turning his attention back to the mass of shinobi that was massing at the main gate preparing to head out.

"I'm joining, whether you like it or not!" Ino said as she crossed her arms on her chest, showing how serious and stubborn she was.

"Ino…" Shikamaru began but was interrupted by Kakashi.

"Shikamaru, we could use her mind transfer abilities to interrogate any enemies we may capture."

Shikamaru glared at Kakashi, "I don't want her to come along because I know she won't simply comply with a task that will have her do nothing until we may or may not capture someone."

Kakashi shook his head. "Don't hide behind those lies; you don't want to risk losing the woman you love so you want to keep her out of this fight, Shikamaru Nara that is very selfish of you."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to retort but nothing escaped his mouth. He cast his gaze towards the ground. "I guess you're right, it's selfish of me to want her to stay and live." He sighed and looked at the blue bright sky.

"Shika-kun…" Ino started before she ran to him and enveloped him into a hug.

Kakashi merely smiled and turned away from the two love birds, giving them some privacy. He jumped off the roof and blended himself in the crowd of shinobi saying goodbye to their friends and families just in case they didn't return.

Kakashi knew that the civilians didn't understand, that suddenly a military power had risen that was beyond anyone's comprehension. 'Hell, I'm not sure if I understand, or believe it for that matter.'

Kakashi, what's with the delay? Let's get going."

The Copycat addressed the voice of Sasuke with a turn of his body. "We're just taking Ino with us in case we capture someone."

"Hn, and I take it that making out with Shikamaru is part of that plan?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Something like that." He dismissed any further comment with a wave of his hand.

"Let's get going." Shikamaru said as he joined the two.

Kakashi saw Ino standing behind him and waved at her, Ino noticed and returned the gesture. He then walked forward and stood in front of the platoon sized group of shinobi. "All right, it's time to head out! Stick close to the rest of your squad and don't fall behind!"

With that Kakashi twirled around and sprinted out the gate followed by a large group of Anbu, Elite jounin and jounin combined.

xXx

Pein whom had arrived at Konoha shortly after the demise of Uesari sat in one of the many chairs inside the compound which was given by the Hokage. Akatsuki and the Hunters had gone to work immediately, setting up a command center which was directly linked with the Hokage tower and Anbu headquarters.

The report one of his spies within Iwa had sent gave him the impression that Ghost was wrong and that the invasion had started at Iwa s they initially had suspected.

But the report Ghost had sent didn't lie and that meant that the Reavers had started their attacks on two fronts, and both in full force.

"Something on your mind Leader-sama?" Konan asked as she entered the room.

"Konoha is sending shinobi to Nami No Kuni to stop the attack there. But I'm also concerned about the invasion we stalled. They're advancing through Iwa fast, at this rate they will have conquered Iwa within two to four weeks, depending on the remaining shinobi."

Pein looked up at Konan. "Send Deidera along with Kakuzu and Hidan to slow them down, also send Sasori back to our hideout to grab any relevant data we might have left behind. "

Konan nodded and left the room, leaving Pein to ponder his thoughts. At first he had been annoyed by Itachi and Kisame's sudden departure but accepted it because it was a good plan, even if Ghost had asked for their help purely for revenge on their fellow Hunter

He heard the opening and closing of a door and noticed Rome and Micheru walking towards the map that was hanging on the wall on the far end of the room.

"You think it'll be enough?" Micheru asked Rome as she looked at the miniature flag placed on the spot where Nami No Kuni was located.

"I doubt it; Ghost, Itachi and Kisame are the only ones with perhaps the Copycat that are capable of fighting those bastards, the rest that are being sent are going straight into the meat grinder."

Micheru looked at him with surprise plastered on her face. "What makes you think that? The battle at Iwa may not have been a success but the shinobi we managed to gather were capable of holding their own against the less powerful Reavers."

That is because," Pein said as he joined the conversation, still sitting on his chair, not bothering to get up. "Even though the number of shinobi we were given were few it was more than what Kakashi Hatake has with him. Don't discount the fact that apparently the invasion we faced was a mere diversion to make us believe that what we faced there was the real thing. Your fellow Hunter Uesari may have died, but his sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Micheru's eyes twitched at the mentioning of Uesari. She had taken his death not well and to hear Pein mention him without a tremor of emotion in his voice made her seethe.

Rome placed a hand on her shoulder, as if he knew that she was angered by Pein's input. "Exactly, we don't know what Ghost and the others are facing but whatever it is, it must be incredible powerful. If the size of the diversion is any proof of that."

"Then why aren't we going?" Micheru asked.

"That's because you Mayu and I will be presenting our group during the Kage Summit that is being held in a couple of days."

"I thought we already had the major villages on our side?" the blonde female Hunter asked.

"If you mean that they support us because they sent Shinobi to assist with the battle at Iwa then, no you're wrong. They sent those troops because of multiple reasons, one is of course the threat that we managed to convince them off, but there is more than that. This was also to show their military might and to evaluate the situation, knowing what to expect when an attack eventually comes to their country. They didn't merely do it because they trust us." Pein answered, not once taking his eyes of the pieces of paper lying in front of him.

"Are you coming to the summit as well, Pein-san?" Micheru asked Pein, not sure what title to give the man.

"No, my appearance wouldn't help us in the slightest; it would most likely cause an incident which would only fracture our relation with the other hidden villages."

Rome chuckled. "Not that it would make a lot of difference."

"What would you rather have, that they still brand us kill on sight?" Pein responded easily.

"You're still targeted kill on sight; only word has spread about our alliance with Konoha so they refrained from attacking you outright, at least until after the Summit." Rome said.

"Then, why did the major hidden villages agree to send men to help?" Micheru asked to no one in particular.

"All comes back to what I said earlier, they want to end this threat as much as us. However, they sent their men to evaluate the situation, if it was indeed true than they'd engage the Reavers, but, if the whole story was a fake then the hidden villages just placed their shinobi in in a strategical position." Pein explained.

"How so?" Micheru asked, surprised to see how talkative the leader of the Akatsuki was.

"I grow tired of explaining. What happens when you remove the Reaver threat but leave the shinobi, Akatsuki and the Hunters at the same place?"

"Well….."Micheru began. "You'd have the shinobi of the villages on one side and the Akatsuki and Hunters on the other side."

Pein nodded. "Exactly, the only threat the shinobi world would have are both our groups. They would have hundreds of shinobi and a small group of S rank criminals in close proximity of each other."

"I can understand they hate your people, but us?" Micheru said, turning her head to Rome with a questioning gaze.

Rome walked to the table Pein was sitting and took a seat as well. "Our hands aren't clean, Micheru. We have done a lot of bad things to ensure that the inevitable would never come," Rome rubbed his face and sighed. "A lot of things had to be done to ensure success, and now we're here, with only a couple of us who actually stands a chance against one of those Holders."

Micheru looked at Rome with worry in her eyes. "Can't give up hope yet, we just started."

Rome gave her a reassuring smile. "Who said anything about giving up?"

xXx

"Seriously, I can't believe that anyone with a sane mind would call this bridge the 'Great Naruto Bridge.'" Kisame muttered as they walked across said bridge.

Ghost's eye twitched and gave the blue man a head slap. "What would you rather have it called? The 'Great Sushi Bridge'? Have to admit, it does have a ring to it."

Kisame growled and tried to punch Ghost who ducked and decided to walk next to Itachi.

"I agree with Kisame, the name of the bridge is ridiculous." Itachi said as well, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Screw you both." Ghost grumbled.

Jiraiya watched the casual conversations that had passed around the last hours with amusement; it was mostly Kisame and Naruto who started the conversations. And most of the times it started when either Kisame or Naruto did something to annoy the other, but never once did they dare to pull the same stunt on Itachi.

Jiraiya shook his head and smiled as he watched Naruto casually ducking underneath the weak punch Kisame had thrown. He had asked the blonde why they never tried that stuff on Itachi. It had caused a simultaneous shudder from the two and all they said was that Itachi always emerged victorious at the end.

They had arrived at the other end of the bridge and were met by civilians who were running around, desperately trying to get their families and belongings together.

"I guess they know what's coming." Ghost softly said which earned him a nod from Jiraiya.

As the small group approached the village, the villagers stopped and turned to the newcomer. There was a moment of silence before everyone started shouting and asking questions about the situation.

"Calm down people!" a voice rang out.

Ghost and the others watched as an older male with grey hair and a large beard walked forward.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? Did Konoha send you?"

Jiraiya noticed that Ghost remained rooted to the ground unable to speak so instead he spoke up. "Konoha sent us yes. We're here to make sure you all get evacuated before the attacker reaches the village."

A random female woman spoke up. "But you're only with the four of you, what can you do against a fleet that size?"

"We're merely delaying them, we have more men incoming, but because of the size it's going to take a while."

The man with the beard nodded in understanding. "Follow me" he turned around and beckoned with his hand to follow, the villagers quickly stepped aside to let them through.

They followed the man through the gate that led to the village; he turned his head and looked at them from the corner of his eyes. "My name is Tazuna; I am the builder of the Great Naruto Bridge. I'm also in charge of the evacuation, since our Mayor ran out on us the moment he saw those ships."

Itachi's eyes turned to Ghost who remained emotionless and very silent. "How far out are those ships Tazuna-san?"

"Tough to say, we thought they would've reached shore by now, but they are still hours away." Tazuna answered.

"Perhaps the weather? From what I've heard is that Nami no Kuni often has bad weather, whether it's rain or mist." Itachi responded.

"We noticed them this morning, and by the end of the morning mist began to settle, perhaps that's the reason?" Tazuna told them as he led the way across the small town square.

"That's probably it; the mist obscures our movement here, so they don't want to take any chances by walking into a trap." Jiraiya said as he joined the conversation, tearing his eyes away from the blonde Hunter.

Tazuna walked to one of the many houses and led them inside. Once the entered the living room they saw several people in armor standing, "These are the men that are leading the samurai here."

Ghost snapped out of his thoughts. 'I have to focus.'

"My name's Jiraiya, and the men beside me are, Itachi, Kisame and Ghost," Jiraiya introduced and pointed to his respective companions. "We're here to help you fend of the attack until everyone is evacuated to Hi no Kuni."

One of the samurai with long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. "My name's Nawi, me and my men were tasked with the protecting this village. After the Gato incident and the attack on the village not long after that. Konohagakure was unable to provide the village with the necessary shinobi, because of the invasion during the chunin exam."

"Don't really care for the history lesson, how many men you got here? Ghost snapped, earning a glance from Jiraiya.

Nawi narrowed his eyes and answered. "We have 130 men stationed here. Our plan was to set up the men on the walls that surround the entire village. As you have no doubt seen, it reaches to the bridge."

"Yeah; but those wooden walls are useless, hell! I can probably slam right through it with my sword in two or three blows." Kisame said, already seen the walls once they had crossed the bridge.

"Then what do you suggest Kisame-san, because those walls are the only thing that separates us from those bastards." one of the samurai responded.

Jiraiya stepped forward. "Let's reinforce it with chakra, if we do that than not only will it survive the blows, but also prevent enemies from running up the walls."

Tazuna looked puzzled. "Chakra reinforced? What's that?"

Kisame looked at the bridge builder. "I wonder why you're still here since you clearly have no military knowledge whatsoever, old man"

"Kisame…" Itachi softly intervened. "He has a right to know what's going to happen."

Tazune who looked a bit flustered grunted in agreement with Itachi.

"To answer your question, Chakra reinforced, or better named as Chakra layer is often used on walls and buildings to 'fortify' those positions. Shinobi place their hand on an object and send chakra towards it. The more chakra the person sends, the stronger the object becomes to attacks. But it requires a delicate chakra control." Itachi explained.

Ghost walked around the men and looked outside the window. "Nawi, how many men do you think you can spare, who have larger than normal chakra supply and have decent control over it?"

"Not much, ten at the most."

Jiraiya shook his head, "That's nowhere near enough we need at the very least twenty to twenty five to cover the entire wall."

"I got that covered; I'll provide those men with 30 clones to support them." Ghost answered before Nawi could respond.

"You sure you got enough chakra for that, brat? Even if it is only 30 clones, they need to have a large dosage of chakra. "Kisame asked.

Ghost nodded. "Don't worry, Sushi, 30 I can handle."

Ignoring Ghost's odd yet very fitting nickname for the big blue man, Nawi turned to his men. "You know what to do, dismissed," he turned back to the shinobi and grabbed his helmet from the table. "We already have set every trap we have in the forest that's between the village and the shore. But if you have any extra with you like; exploding tags, please set them up."

Ghost reached into his pouch and gave Itachi his small stack of exploding tags. "I'll stay here and help Nawi-san with spreading the samurai along the wall."

"We'll head into the forest. Don't reminisce for too long" Itachi added the last part with an almost amused look.

"When you set up the traps, please step on one. Kisame, I'll give you 800 ryō if you push him." Ghost remarked with a smirk and turned around, giving a wave.

Itachi smiled before noticing Kisame grinning like an idiot. "If you even try to pull that prank on me, I will Tsukuyomu you for three seconds."

Kisame abruptly stopped grinning and marched out the door, unsatisfied at Itachi's counter.

Jiraiya looked at the exchange with a sweat drop on the back of his head. "Do I even want to know what Tsukuyomi is?"

"No you don't Jiraiya-sama." And with that Itachi followed Ghost and Kisame's path.

xXx

A lone figure stood outside, looking at the opening of a cave which had held hideout of the Akatsuki not long ago. "it seems that the plans have been altered…but to what end? Have our goals been altered beyond recognition? "

Dum dum dum!

Alright first things first:

very special thanks to Tristram Shandy for pointing out a major error on my part by naming the land of wave to Tsuchi No Kuni. It's supposed to be Nami No Kuni!

If people don't like the pairing between Ino and Shikamaru then that's tough luck. Also Jiraiya may be one of the Sannin, he doesn't have a lot of knowledge about the Sharingan, only the Uchiha have that kind of knowledge and I tend to keep it that way, no crap about everyone knowing about all the Sharingan tricks.

So yeah, he has no idea about Tsukuyomi and stuff.

Anyways this chapter marks the beginning of the Nami No Kuni invasion which will last for two, perhaps three chapters.

I hope you enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to hearing about what you liked, or perhaps disliked about this chapter!

Until next time!