A/N: We're back baby!

ϟ—Chapter Fourteen — Preparation For The Invasion—ϟ

"Ka'rai, are you ready?"

"You fucking bet I am," boasted Ka'rai with a smirk.

Arasei shook her head. He laughed at her. "Whaat? I really am ready, mama! I didn't train so hard for these past couple months for nothing!"

"I know you didn't, but people usually have reservations about entering a life-or-death war-zone."

"Well, I'm not the usual person!"

That made Arasei laugh. "That's right…" She took a breath, a beat passed, and Ka'rai was wrapped in a hug. "Stay safe, love. I love you!"

"I love you too, mama!" beamed Ka'rai as he reciprocated the hug, tight, but not too tight. "You don't need to worry about me, either! I'm strong! I have Yugito and Nibi to help me too!"

"I know, I know…" She pulled him in closer and whispered. "Please, Yugito," into Ka'rai's ear. A wave of protective and assuring intent radiated through Ka'rai.

He grinned at his mother. "She said she will."

With a breath of relief, Arasei finally pulled away from the hug. "Well, I won't hold you up anymore! I'll see you…" she trailed off. "During the invasion."

"See you there!" he called before running out of his apartment. "I'll make the fire all blue and pretty for you!" was the last thing he said to his mama before shutting the door. Ka'rai channeled just a bit of the Nibi's chakra to make himself faster. His eyes shifted into the dichromatic hue of the Nibi's as he gripped the hellish Katana at his waist.

I'm happy you're enthusiastic about the invasion, said Yugito warmly.

Ka'rai smirked. Yeah! I get to burn shit down! Plus, there's going to be a lot of dead people for Nibi to get stronger off of… so I'll get to use even more power!

Indeed, Yugito confirmed with a chuckle.

What remained unvoiced and locked away in the depths of his mind were his Uzumaki brethren. Whenever he thought about them and their possible fates, it made him sad. So, he didn't think about them! He hated being sad…

But, thinking about all the fire and all the destruction made him happy—it excited him. He wouldn't die! He was too strong to get hurt! On top of that, he was strong enough to kill anyone who dared to attack Hane, Yowui, Cirru, Sami, and even Clowui!

Another smirk crossed his face. I'm already stronger than a lot of Jonin in Kumo… He snorted. Yeah, imma fuck everyone in those exams up.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

So, this was it. Today was the day that everything started. Hane attempted to laugh… at least she'll be leaving this cramped prison cell called a dorm. She heard Konoha was warm. She'd enjoy the weather there, probably…? Now that she thought about it, she was never in any place warm. Just in good and cold Kumo. Well, Ka'rai's fire was warm, and she liked that. But she didn't know whether that was because it was from him or because it was warm.

Hane searched for more on the bright side, but only ended up finding darkness. She let out a heavy sigh as she gripped her blade. I became a Shinobi to stop bad things from happening… and now, I'm making a bad thing happen.

This was the first time she ever truly regretted her decision to become a Shinobi? Yeah, it was. She'd just… try not to hurt anybody terribly. As long as she made sure no Konoha Shinobi passed, that should get the point across, right? Yeah, right.

She didn't honestly care that it was going against orders—direct orders, at that. Her moral compass was telling her that this was terrible and that she couldn't do it. If I ran this place, everything would be so much better. Another sigh ragged at her breath.

There would be no more procrastinating. Hane hauled her stuff from off the bed and onto her person. Then she walked out of her dorm and made her way from the camp of Nibasu all the way down to the outskirts of the village.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Every fiber in Yowui's being told him to quit, to give up, and to forfeit. His parents never discouraged him from becoming a Shinobi. They told him that it was a good opportunity since it was peacetime. Oh, hell how they didn't know how quickly it would change. But he was too far in, taken too far under—too much time invested. He couldn't quit now—hell no.

But, by all things in existence, he was never so terrified in his life. He wasn't all that strong in the grand scheme of things. Maybe he could beat a weaker Chunin? Yeah, he trained his ass off for months, but for an entire invasion of the only village to rival Kumo was far above his pay grade.

He let out a deep breath. Well, the invasion would be in a month from now, during the final tournament of the exam. That was what the spies told them, at least. Yowui clenched his fists. The Chunin Exams would be before the invasion. If he performed well during the exams, then maybe—just maybe he'd feel ready for the invasion.

Yowui calmed himself more with his breath. Then he looked around at his desolate and dull apartment. Hopefully, his hotel would be better than this place. It would never beat the farm, though… A dejected sigh moved the cold air. I wish I could see my family before I go…

With that, he gathered the resolve to walk out of his apartment and toward the outskirts of Kumo.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

It was habit at that point. Filling the needle with the liquid, then injecting it into his skin. Months of it. Every other day, right before he slept. Barely took a minute out of his day. That Orochimaru said it would make him stronger. It was what Bee needed, the strength. He felt it. His muscles were harder, maybe even a bit bigger. The chakra churning in his system was more powerful. Even his senses were enhanced.

Everything about his body was ten times better than it was before the drug.

His brother called him desperate, but he didn't care. He told him Orochimaru was not to be trusted, but again he didn't care. All he cared about was being strong—living up to his title. He'd rather die than have a repeat of Yakedo.

Every time Bee looked up at the overcast sky, all he could think about was the pain of his failure—how he wasn't strong enough. The Strongest Man Alive, not strong enough… It was an oxymoron, yet it was him. Thanks to this drug, it would never happen again. Gyuki's chakra never moved so smoothly throughout his system before.

It felt amazing, but what felt even better was knowing that he was finally strong enough. No one or no thing would stand in his path because he would knock them down. Konoha will fall the moment he stepped foot on the battlefield.

Not another possibility existed in his mind.

Not… one.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Another day, another mission. This time… both her family and her village had an objective for her. Kumo needed Konoha to be infiltrated and burned to the ground; with support from the rest of the village, not exactly difficult. Her family, however, wanted her to break into Konoha's treasury and steal every single Ryō in there.

That objective would be a challenge. It would be different, make her think… Would she use the chaos of the invasion as cover? Well, first she would need to find out where it was located. Konoha became something of a second home to the Uzumaki; there had to have been some sort of complex jutsu formula guarding it. Training her eyes to look for Jutsu Formulas would be something she needed to do.

Many many more possibilities and strategies whirled in her head. But Kay had to put it on the back-burner for now. For now, she needed to be the stand-in sensei for Team Bee, since Konoha reasonably refused to have a Perfect Jinchuriki in their village. Well, it would be called Team Kay under her watch.

It was on the outskirts of her village when she finally saw her three "students." They trekked down the stairs. Ka'rai was lively as ever, trying and semi-succeeding to cheer up his teammates. Yowui seemed to be more receptive, surprisingly.

Following that, it was time for them to leave Kumo. However, they had one stop to make before reaching Konoha.

⁑ —ϟ— ⁑

Ka'rai hated the smell here. As much as he covered it, and took away Nibi's chakra, his nose was still filled with the awful stench. Nibi's chakra rose when he was in there as well. That meant there was plenty of death.

"I don't like it here," he murmured.

Cirru scoffed dismissively. "Deal with it, you feline."

"Be happy you don't have the nose of one," mumbled Ka'rai, futilely covering his nose.

Cee narrowed his eyes on the many Genin in front of him. "Pay attention."

Ka'rai and Cirru quieted down. Clowui stood at attention, as if she'd done this a hundred times before. Sami stood close to her, face straight to contrast her posture. Yowui was next to Ka'rai, grabbing his pants to stop himself from shaking. Hane let out a dejected sigh and stood as close to Ka'rai as she could.

Beside Cee, there were other Jonin. Kay was there, and presumably the sensei of the other Genin Teams there. Genin from Kusa, Iwa, but most importantly, Suna. Suna only had one team, but only one person on that team drew his interest. His hair was red, his skin was pale and he smelled of heat… like a desert. On his browless forehead, he had the Kanji for love branded on his face—and that was where he knew he was sealed.

Shukaku, said Nibi. So, that's his new Jinchuriki.

I'm so going to talk to him.

I encourage it… try to get me to meet with Shukaku as well.

You bet! Also… do you sense anything suspicious here?

If there was a threat, I would've told you.

Ka'rai hummed in response. At that same time, Cee spoke. "To prevent any possible leaks of the invasion plan, I will only be telling you Genin your part in the invasion. You are to infiltrate the Chunin Exams and kill as many Konoha Genin as you can. Of course, all of you do have the opportunity to earn a promotion during the exams. During the finals, you, Gaara, are to transform into Shukaku and cause havoc. Gaara is the one in this exam who must get to the finals no matter what.

"The large gathering of both Shinobi and civilians will cause a massive blow to Konoha. Once the invasion starts, your goal is to simply cripple Konoha as much as you can. Kill Shinobi, civilians, destroy architecture, supply lines… anything. As long as you're doing something that'll harm Konoha, then you're doing well."

Cee allowed his words to weigh down on the Genin. An excited chuckle broke from Ka'rai's breath. Afterward, Hane let out a dejected sigh. She grabbed Ka'rai's hand and squeezed. His chuckle stopped… he squeezed back.

"Alright, all of you are dismissed. Good luck during the exams, and do not fail your objective."

The teams headed out, led by their senseis. "How can you be excited about this, Ka'rai?!" questioned Hane as she squeezed his hand harder. "It's sick."

"Uhh…" He shrugged, the claws of guilt tightened their grip on him. He ignored them. "Just seems cool. The fire… the fighting… it gets me excited." Despite his words, he didn't sound the slightest bit excited.

Which Yowui commented on. "Don't sound so excited…"

"Hane's sad, and that's making me sad."

"You should be sad about this, too," she said with a huff. "What about the Uzumaki that live there? Are you seriously okay with destroying their home?!"

"Don't remind me… please don't." Ka'rai hung his head and guilt's claws had his throat. With an inward growl, he threw them off. "I just like explosions and violence!" he announced with his usual bravatto. "War has plenty of that, so I'm excited!" boasted Ka'rai with a smirk.

Hane didn't buy it a bit. She pulled her hand from his grip and stuffed it in her pockets. Yowui distanced himself and pretended not to notice. Kay, however, spoke up. "War is a vital part of being a Shinobi. You signed up to do atrocious things for the sake of your village the moment you became one. If you can't stomach it, then quit. It will be better for both yourself and the village."

"I'll try…" she murmured with a sigh.

The heavy atmosphere weighed on Ka'rai. It felt like he could barely breathe. He cleared his throat. "Nibi wants me to talk to someone… Gaara! Yeah, Jinchuriki stuff."

"He seems scary," mumbled Yowui.

Ka'rai gave him an unamused look. "If a kitten looked at you the wrong way, you'd be scared."

"Hey!" he yelled, offended—because it was true. But, more importantly to Ka'rai, it got something of a laugh out of Hane. It made it easier to scurry off to the Suna team. They were only a few paces away.

All three of them looked at him, but some dude in a hoodie with terrible face paint looked at him. "What the hell is on your face?"

"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" yelled Ka'rai. "Your face looks like a three-year-old took its shit and slid it across your face."

The hooded guy scoffed with utter offense. "Excuse you! This is a traditional art that's been passed down for generations!"

"Still looks like literal shit."

The girl on the team laughed quite hard at that. Gaara, though, remained unamused. He looked Ka'rai dead in the eyes. Ka'rai walked forward to face him. The girl's laughter stopped and was replaced by a tense silence. Both of them seemed quite uneasy.

"Hey, Gaara." greeted Ka'rai with a smirk.

Gaara's voice rasped to life. "Ka'rai Uzumaki… I hate the look in your eyes."

"Well, am I just going to be insulted by everyone here?!"

"Your very existence is an insult to me."

Ka'rai huffed, and Gaara continued to speak. "You have a beast like me, yet the look in your eyes is so bright, untainted. Even still… the power behind your eyes matches mine. It sickens me to no end." Sand rose and shifted around Gaara.

"The power you have, you do not deserve. By ending your existence, mine will be proven to be correct."

Ka'rai tilted his head at the threat. The heterochromia of the Nibi shone through and his breath became accompanied with blue flame. "Is that right…?"

"Today may not be the day that I end you, but watch for the day where I make my decision." With that, Gaara turned his back to him and walked off. "Because my existence will forever be beyond yours."

Ka'rai chuckled. "Alright, I'll be waiting, Gaara of the Sand."

ϟ—Chapter End—ϟ