Hey. I'm glad you all enjoyed my latest chapter and my rant. Some of you seemed to have misunderstood the point for the latter though. It wasn't really a defense of NaruSaku; I was just trying to shoot down the most ridiculous arguments the other Naruto fans make. Granted, we all share different opinions, which is fine, but it really annoys me when someone uses an argument to support his opinion that is just ridiculous. It's not WHAT you argue, it's HOW you argue it.

Also, I looked back at my AN at the beginning of the last chapter, and all I can say to myself is WTF? I knew I wasn't in a particularly good mood, and it was 3 in the morning when I posted it, but DEAR GOD DID MY GRAMMAR SUCK! At least the story (mostly) was spared. It's been fixed now, but I'm sure I scared a few readers away with that, cause if I was one of the readers of just an authors note like that, I'd be hesitant to continue reading at least. From now on, I'll post when I'm in a more proper mindset.

On another note, I forgot to give credit to AzureBalmonk for giving me the idea of Kenji's back-story. His fic, "Where Do I Belong?" , had Naruto deal with a similar incident like Kenji's back-story (don't worry, he did not become as fucked up as my character), and I did take 2 minor lines from it because I couldn't think of anything better. I meant to do it last time, but now will have to do: Thank you for the inspiration, AzureBalmonk . I apologize for not giving credit to you sooner.

Recently, I was reading the American release of Volumes 19-21, and I'm starting to think that there is a good possibility that Kishimoto will end the story with a pairing. There were several illustrations by Kishimoto's assistants congratulating him for keeping Naruto going for four years and for his marriage (I assumed he was already married when he started the series). It doesn't PROVE he will, but if he was single when he started, he probably will approach whatever little bits of romance we get with a different mindset now that he's married (assuming it's happy). Time will tell.

For those of you demanding NaruSaku interaction….wait. When I get back to it, there will be lots, but for now, it will have to be on hold. Are you expecting Sakura to confess her love to a wounded Naruto in the jungle and suddenly ride him like a pony despite the fact the bad guy could come any minute (aaaakward)? Sorry, some writers may want to go that way, but I want to build everything up.

Rickp2006: Sorry about that, I hope you're feeling better. I must warn you, if you want to continue, I suggest bringing some pepto for future chapters (you're not going to need them for a while, but be ready). As for the fourth point, I was just expressing how fans outside of Japan believe that Kishimoto listens to them when it's his native fan-base that he would be concerned about. How much they influence him in terms of pairings remains to be seen.

Leneypoo: My apologies about the spelling (more proof that MW's spell check sucks!). I was upset over school, and didn't take the time to proof-read. I'll be sure to post when I'm in a better mood. Also, I won't change the way I spelled "Raikage" in the past chapters, but I will use the correct spelling from now on. Let me know if I write anything else incorrectly.

Spurious-verisimilitude: Could you post that again, please? It didn't show up. If it won't work on reviews, just PM me. Thanks for the help anyway.

IronicEnding: Well, I don't think he's original, but I felt it would be interesting to make a "Dark Naruto" different from Garaa. Garaa was what Naruto may have become, Kenji is what Naruto COULD become. Don't forget how his team parallels Team 7 in many ways. As for the rant, I just wanted to get my opinion in. That's all.

Full-metal sousuke: Thanks, that's going to come into play this chapter. I don't think I'll really need to know the other Biju from this point on, but thank you for the link.

One more thing:

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. If I did, the poor guy would loose 90 percent of his fanbase (it does seem NaruSaku is both the best and worst thing for the series).

Sakura's slug finally made it to shore. She, Neji, and Kakashi jumped off, touching down on the beach.

"Well, that was relaxing." Kakashi said.

"Shut up." Sakura muttered. She didn't sleep during their journey, so it was only natural that she was a bit cranky. She dispelled her summon, and collected herself. "Let's find the locals of this place. We'll look for either Naruto or this Raikage those ninja were talking about. We'll split up."

Kakashi felt it a bit odd to be taking orders from one of his students, but it did give him a sense of pride how far one made it. "She's become quite the ninja…I feel terrible for neglecting her." Back then, Kakashi really did think that while loyal and brave, she was a waste of time. Her crush on Sasuke always kept her from training, and though Kakashi made note of her smarts and her superb chakra control, he honestly did not think she would amount to much. However, after Naruto's battle with Sasuke, Kakashi realized just how much he truly neglected the two of them. He knew Naruto had all the potential in the world, but after Jiraya arrived, he felt he was better off. It actually made him feel surprisingly happy that there were still things he could teach Naruto after he returned. As for Sakura, he initially thought she was upset over Sasuke leaving. But it was much deeper than that; she simply did not have the power to stop her comrade from making a terrible choice, and she could not help her peers when they set out to get him. After the battle, it tore her apart that so many genin nearly died because of her helplessness…

Sakura sat on a bench crying. She saw medics carry in Chouji, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru towards the ER. "They…they were nearly killed…all because of me!" If she had stopped Sasuke in the first place, none of this would have happened. Her admiration of him, in fact, was suddenly becoming something else…something that made her want to throw up, to scream, to….beat Sasuke senseless.

She struggled with her emotions until she finally accepted the fact that she no longer loved Sasuke the way she did before. She also had to accept that she may have contributed towards his fall. She thought Sasuke was so cool, wanting to live his life to kill someone. But she slowly saw his anger exposed, how he was willing to throw away everything. If she only took time to understand the situation and snapped out of her fairy tale dream, things would have turned out differently. For some reason, she also could not stop thinking about Naruto…

"Hey." Sakura looked up and noticed Kakashi. She didn't say anything at first.

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to apologize to you." Sakura didn't say anything, but looked at him curiously. "I'm sorry I never gave you the teaching you deserved. I had a lot of reasons for focusing on Sasuke. The fact he was like me. To prevent him from giving into the curse mark. To make up for my failure to my best friend…" Silence followed for a minute. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that I paid no attention to you and Naruto. Neither one of you may have had as much natural talent as Sasuke. But you have both demonstrated a drive that is not seen in most ninja today. That is all you need in order to become a great shinobi." Then Kakashi got up. "Naruto has found a great teacher. Better than me. And I know of someone who is perfect for you."

Sakura jumped off the bench "Who, sensei?"

"Tsunade, the last of the three sanin."

Sakrua was shocked "But, there's no way the hokage will take someone like me! I'm weak! Training me would be a waste of time for someone like her!"

Kakashi then grabbed Sakura's chin and brought her face to his, his eye giving an angry look. "Unless you are willing to do whatever it takes to change that, you will always be weak! Crying for nearly getting your friends killed will only insure their deaths. Lacking the courage to try is worse than failure. Never believing in yourself…will kill you." Kakashi let her go, and his look softened. "Tsunade needs a medical nin on par with her. One with exceptional chakra control. Someone like you."

Sakura didn't know what to say. Sure, the speech had an impact on her. But his mention of the hokage needing someone with great chakra control got to her. Maybe…just maybe…

"After the others are out of danger, pay her a visit. I already recommended you as an apprentice."

Six months before Naruto had returned, Kakashi was on a trip to the bookstore. He hoped Jiraya had finally gotten around to making the new Icha Icha novel. "It's been so long, it's eventual release is driving me CRAZY!" Suddenly, he heard crying. Very familiar crying. He turned around to see Sakura crying on that same bench again. This really concerned Kakashi. He hadn't seen her cry since that incident. And things have been going so well for her, minus that one incident that scared her for life. However, she still managed to move on with her life . Tsunade told him herself that Sakura was becoming a great ninja and had the potential to surpass her, and she had been a Chunin for over a year now. Kakashi ran up to her. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

Sakura looked up, her nose runny and her face puffy. She hiccupped for what seemed like an eternity before she was finally able to speak. "K-Kakashi sensei, I found out something really terrible."

Kakashi said nothing, but nodded for her to go on. However, he had a feeling that he knew what it was Sakura was crying over. "You know how Naruto has been alone all his life? Why all the adults never helped him?"

Silence. "I've been wondering that for some time now, ever since he left. None of the theories that I came up with on my own made any sense. So I snooped around the office…" Sakura hyperventilated once, then yelled "Naruto is not a monster! He was just a normal kid, like me! He was one of the kindest people I have ever met, he inspired me, he saved my life….He was even willing to sacrifice his heart just so I could be happy!"

Kakashi could only hang his head down. He agreed with everything Sakura had said, but hearing it verbally made the atmosphere more than uncomfortable. "And I looked down on him, like everyone else! All because of Sasuke! He may have lost his family, but he had everything! Praise, you as a teacher, and a bunch of girls that would have been happy to be with him! And yet HE was the one to give up on us and betray us in the end! Not only that…"

Kakashi's eye widened. "It seems the Kyuubi isn't the only secret she found out about…"

Sakura shouted "How can they treat the fourth's only child like that? If Naruto still had a father, he would have been worshipped…he wouldn't have to go through so much…"

Kakashi pulled Sakura in a reassuring hug. "Sakura…I know just how bad things have been for Naruto. I was part of the problem too. The fourth was my sensei. I should have adopted Naruto as my own back then, but I was so caught up with my own issues…" Kakashi partially let go in order to look Sakura in the face. "We are ALL to blame. But Naruto has not sought retribution even ONCE. He is the type of person we all want to be." Kakashi turned his eyebrow up, showing that he was smiling " At least, in terms of how we treat others." Sakura giggled slightly. At least Kakashi could insert some humor when it was appropriate. Sakura then nodded for him to continue. "Naruto loves us, all in his own way. Believe it or not, he considers you one of his best friends, and his desire to save Sasuke is genuine. His promise to you is only part of it."

Sakura got up, giving him a genuine smile. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. I needed to get that out of my system."

Before she could leave, Kakashi said "Sakura, remember this: we've all done terrible things. But what matters is that we accept our mistakes, do everything we can to make up for them, and move on with our lives. Dwindling on the past, a past that I'm sure Naruto has learned to deal with, will do no good."

Kakashi snapped back to the present. He was proud of Sakura now. He wished he spent more time taking her seriously as a ninja, but that was in the past. Now, he had to do his best to help both her and Naruto as their comrade.

"We'll split up!" Sakura shouted. "We'll meet back here in six hours! Go!" The two ANBU and ANBU retiree went off in separate directions.

Kenji and Orochimaru stood atop a cliff, looking for any signs of rebels. "Any luck?" the Raikage asked.

Orochimaru replied "No…wait…"

Kenji turned his eyes towards the sanin, whose eyes seemed to be wide with alarm. "What?" Kenji asked.

"It's a slug." Orochimaru replied. "A very big one."

"One of the other Sanin?" Kenji asked.

"No, Tsunade is the Hokage now. She would never abandon her post unless it was total war. She must have an apprentice…but who?"

Kenji just cracked his knuckles. "It doesn't matter. The power of a wanna-be sanin does not compare to that of a jinchuriki." Soon, a cloud ninja appeared before them, but not as a rebel.

"Raikage-sama, we have found the remnants of a rebel camp. It's faint, but our ninja hounds have picked up their scents."

Kenji turned around. "Were there…any unusual ones?"

The cloud ninja said "N-not that we know of. The dogs claimed they picked up a fox, but I told them to forget about it…"

Kenji's face suddenly changed from impassive to enraged. "You fool! That was the nine-tails! He could be anywhere now!"

The cloud ninja panicked "I-I'm so sorry Raikage-sama! I'll send some more troops to…"

Kenji didn't listen. He formed a green orb and squeezed it. The poor cloud ninja screamed in pain, tearing at his forehead before finally collapsing. "I don't know why I even bother with these fools." He turned to face Orochimaru. "Go get Kabuto. We will probably need to split up."

Orochimaru then said "Your father alone is sufficient back up for you. I want Kabuto to check out the beach. Up until now, only Tsunade was known to have a contract with the slugs. I must find out who this new summoner is."

Kenji just shrugged his shoulder, saying "As you wish."

Naruto looked at the forces that Mana was gathering. Naruto knew he would need help, but he only planned on having them fight any other ninja that may pop out and make his fight several on one. Even so, he needed exceptional ninja for this. Most of them were average fighters. When Mana came to his side, he said "They're not good enough. We'll never defeat him with ninja like these."

Mana's face scowled and she retorted "These are the only cloud ninjas I have managed to free. Do you have any better suggestions?"

"Yes." Naruto replied curtly. "Let me do all the work."

Mana grabbed his collar and nearly shouted "I cannot allow that! Strong as you may be, you will not defeat Kenji by yourself!"

Naruto's eyes flickered red for a moment, than returned to normal. "If you try to help me, all of your comrades will be killed. I will not allow the Kumogakure's last hope to go up in smoke. Even if I die, Kenji will be gravely weakened. That will be your chance." Naruto reached into his pocket and threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

Mana hacked and coughed, cursing herself for being so stupid.

Yuji, Shiguri, and Iori walked through the forest with their escort. They were reluctant to go the entire trip, and their guardian foiled their first few attempts at escaping. They tried to whisper to each other for better plans, but he immediately reprimanded them whether it was idle chit-chat or another plan to escape.

Just when they had given up hope, Iori grabbed her crotch and hobbled towards the adult.

"Mister, I have to pee."

The guard got annoyed and said "We're almost at the shore. Hold it."

"But I can't!" Iori screamed.

"Too bad!"

Iori turned to her teammates for any suggestions. Then, Shiguri just motioned his hands as if telling her to go on. At first, she had no idea what he was trying to say. But once she did, she looked at him in anger and horror. She mouthed, without saying a sound "No!"

Shiguri just mouthed back "Do it!"

Just as the guard was convinced there would be no more escape attempts, he suddenly heard the girl crying. He turned around, and his eyes bulged. Iori was rubbing her eyes and crying hard, but what got his attention was the wet spot around her shorts.

"BWAAAHHHH! I told you I couldn't hold it, mister! BWAAAHHHH! I think I got diarrhea from drinking the water here too!"

"Okay!" The guard yelled, holding a rope that was tied around Iori's waste. "You've got five minutes to relieve yourself in the bushes there! You better make use of it!"

Iori ran into the brush, holding her butt cheeks together. As she disappeared, Shiguri nodded at Yuji. Shiguri, looking like he was holding his hands behind his back bored, was in fact doing hand signals from behind.

"Doton! Quicksand no Meiun!"

The ground gave way beneath the guard, and he was waist deep in quicksand. However, before his arms could be submerged, he made hand signs of his own.

"Reiton! Heki no Jutsu!"

The soft ground exploded around him, sending the two genin flying. However, before he could touch down on the crater he had created, something wrapped around his leg, and suddenly, he was hoisted up a tree.

Yuji smiled, gave the victory sign and said "Wires! The most underrated weapons in shinobi history! I never leave home without them."

The escort fumed, and made one hand signal. "Fools! You think that this can hold me?"

Just as he was about to call out an attack, Iori came back, jumped and kicked him in the head several times until he was black, blue all over and unconscious. Yuji than lowered him down, and the three proceeded to break his fingers before hoisting him back up again. That's when Iori turned around, her eyes glowing white, and staring at Shiguri.

Shiguri knew what she was mad about, as he started sweating profusely. "Um…sorry, that was kind of a last minute thinking sort of thing. This will just be a secret between the three of us, all right?"

Shiguri tried to smile as innocently as possible. No good. Iori only seemed to get angrier, then her fist connected with his face.

Tsunade, meanwhile, was going through her paperwork as fast as possible. She wanted to go out and have a drink before it got too late. However, this thought only distracted her instead of motivating her. Yamato and Sai just returned from a mission, and she was about to hear their report, when suddenly Ino burst through the door, with her mask on.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama!" Ino said. "But Naruto may be in danger!"

Tsunade, who at first looked annoyed, widened her eyes and stood up. "Akatsuki?"

Ino said "No, someone else. You know that Naruto and his team had a mission to Monsoon Country, right? During our mission, we interrogated some cloud ninja to find out about their new Raikage. It seems that the previous Raikage's own son overthrew him and took over! He has seals placed on his own soldiers, which allow him to kill them even hundreds of kilometers away! Before they died, they told us that he was heading to Monsoon Country to deal with rebels. I think the client you took was a part of this rebellion!"

Tsunade knew what this meant. But still, she didn't feel any need for this to be an alarm. "I'm sure he's strong, but Naruto can surely hold his own against him."

Ino nodded no. "There's a problem! The new Raikage is a jinchuriki! He has the five-tails inside of him!"

Now this spiked an alarm in Tsunade's mind. "Where is the rest of your team?"

Ino replied "They went off on their own to help Naruto. I was ordered to come back here and request aid!"

Tsunade nodded towards Yamato and Sai. "Your report will have to wait. Since the two of you seem to be in fair condition, you shall accompany her. I'll gather as much forces as I can. Until then, you three will head to Monsoon country."

Sai, showing no visible shock, said "I can use my artistic skills to make a bird big enough to carry the three of us. That way we can all rest and be ready for our enemy when we get there."

Yamato then pulled out a seed and handed out to Ino. "Swallow this. I'll be able to know where you are in case we get separated." After all the preparations were made, they headed out.

Itachi sat in his chambers meditating. It was all he ever did back at the base, besides eating and light sleeping. Then he sensed a presence behind him. He made no emotion as he turned to face his master. He bowed humbly; after all, if Itachi had a superior, you knew he commanded respect.

"The five-tails has been located. You and Kisame shall head to Monsoon country and capture him."

Itachi said nothing but nodded affirmatively. As he walked past the Akatsuki leader, the man said "One more thing. You know of the shichibi, correct?"

Itachi didn't turn, but replied "Yes. Kisame and I ourselves captured him. He shouldn't be of any concern."

The leader replied "That would be true. But it seems that he had a child. The child of a jinchuriki just might be useful. As soon as you are done you shall capture her as well. Also, I think I may have found a much more efficient way of capturing a jinchuriki." The leader leaned into Itachi's ear and explained. Though he gave no reaction, Itachi nodded, and went out to find Kisame.

Sasuke left the temporary compound that Orochimaru had set up on the island, deciding to take a walk. He had not changed much since he saw his old team again. "Funny I should be thinking of them when my goal is Itachi." Perhaps he missed them? "No, impossible. I've broken my bonds with them a long time ago." More likely, it was because if he got near them, he would loose any hope of killing Itachi. Either he would be brought back to Konoha and never be allowed to leave, they would kill him…or his brother first. "I mustn't allow that to happen." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sky, and turned, walking into the dark jungle.

As Sakura hopped through the branches, she noticed someone struggling. When she finally touched down, they saw a man trying to cut through a wire wrapped around his legs.

He noticed the two, and asked "You're a leaf ninja, right?"

Sakura nodded and said "I'll get you down from there."

The man thought that she was simply going to untie him from there, but Sakura simply turned around to leave. The man panicked and yelled "Hey! How is this helping me?" His question was answered when Sakura kicked down the tree that supported the wire. He fell, but not too hard or far down, as he wasn't very high to begin with.

"Untying it up there would have been too much work." Sakura answered. As the ninja got his bearings straight, and had his fingers popped back into place, he began to explain everything. "We already know about the Raikage." Sakura stated. " Just tell me, have you been contact with anyone named Naruto? He's got blond hair, blue eyes, and whisker marks on his cheeks."

The ninja said "Yes! He promised to help us, on the condition one of us would escort his team back! But those little monsters gave me the slip!"

Sakura just stood up, and muttered "No wonder Tsunade-shishou picked that team for Naruto. The three of them are as bad as he was." Sakura then asked "Which way did they go?"

Yuji, Iori, and Shiguri, who now had a black eye in place of his sun glasses, tree-hopped like mad through the forest. They weren't sure the wire would hold him for very long.

"Yuji!" Iori yelled. "What are we going to do once we get there? We're still just genin!"

Yuji looked back and said "We'll just lie in wait! We'll let sensei do most of the work. If it goes bad, we'll pull him out again!"

Shiguri then added "We could also stab the other guy in the back. After all, we are ninja. No code of honor, just get the job done the best way possible."

Though Yuji did agree, his friend had always been…dark.

"Hold it right there!" The team looked behind them to see a blur of black and white, along with a hint of pink, catching up to them quickly.

"Hey, isn't that the medic-nin who healed me?" Iori asked.

Shiguri looked behind him and said "I-I think you're right! C'mon, we've got to double-" Just then, Sakura jumped in front of them all. "-our speed."

Sakura moved her mask to the side, stared down at them, and then yelled "Bakas! What do you think you're doing?"

Both Shiguri and Iori backed down terrified, but surprisingly, Yuji remained calm. He took a step forward, holding his fist as he said "We're going to help our sensei. Got a problem with that?"

Sakura just replied "This is way out of your league for the three of you. This person your sensei is fighting is nothing the likes of which you have never seen."

"No kidding." Yuji replied. "We had to pull our sensei away from the fight last time. I don't think he's strong enough to stop this guy. We have to help him."

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and calmly replied "You three are returning."

"No."

Sakura punched a nearby boulder, shattering it. "Oh yes you are." she hissed.

Shiguri and Iori had looks that screamed 'Panic!' Surprisingly, Yuji remained as calm as before. "You'll have to do better than that to scare me."

His inner self was acting differently. "We're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die…"

Yuji jumped back towards his teammates and yelled "Grab on!" The two genin did what he said, and Yuji threw a wire upwards. "Going up!" he said as he and his team were pulled upwards.

Sakura did not react in time, and was forced to follow them through the trees. She touched down on one branch, certain that she caught up with them. But they were nowhere insight. She looked all over, making sure that not one direction was overlooked. She still couldn't find them. Little did she know, Yuji stealthily moved apart the bushes a few branches above her, and climbed the branches quickly but without making a sound. His teammates followed suit, but Iori showed she needed more work on her chakra-climbing. A piece of bark fell through the little gaps below, and on to Sakura's head. Sakura immediately charged up.

"Okay, Plan B!" Yuji screamed. He threw another wire to the side, and got on. Just when Sakura caught up to them, all three of them began to grind on the wire.

Sakura followed suit, but she was way behind. She could have done more tree hopping to get ahead, but she would've lost sight of them.

The three finally reached the end, but Sakura would be on them within only a few seconds. Yuji cut the wire, and yelled "Run!"

Sakura jumped off and swung from branch to branch until she was at ground level with the kids. She ran forward. It would only be a matter of time now…

Yuji and his friends ran for a while. They did not know how long. But Sakura wasn't in their eyesight the whole time.

"Could we have outrun her?" Shiguri thought. "No, not that easily. Perhaps she's trying to ambush us? Maybe, but why the wait? Did something stop her?" He checked his surroundings to make sure the other two assumptions were not correct. "Option 3 right now seems the most likely. But what in the world could delay a he-woman like her?"

"Shiguri." Yuji said. "Did we loose her?"

Shiguri replied "I don't know how we lost her so easily, but we did."

Iori finally stepped in and said "Let's go get sensei." The team continued their sprint through the jungle.

What stopped Sakura was a kunai. It didn't hit her. In fact, it's target was the ground right in front of her. Under normal circumstances, she would have continued with a bit of caution. But not this time. She saw the owner of the kunai, and knew she could not be careful enough: Yakushi Kabuto.

Kabuto hadn't changed at all. He smirked as he touched down. "Haruno, it's been a long time."

Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously, and circled Kabuto with a kunai in hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you." Kabuto replied as he pushed up his glasses. "But I'm a polite guy, so I'll answer your questions first. You do know about the situation here between Lightning and Monsoon, right?"

Sakura's eyes widened, as she said "You and Orochimaru are allies with the Raikage."

"Precisely. We have been for quite a while really. The poor guy was rejected from his village as a monster, so he came to us. He promised us right off the bat before terms could be reached that he would use his country's economy to fund us and provide the villagers as both soldiers and experiments."

Sakura now felt more torn than ever between what she got from the cloud ninja and from her experiences with Naruto

"Besides," Kabuto continued "it will be handy for us to have a jinchuriki on our side. The both of us will have to face the Akatsuki in the end."

"This is bad." Sakura thought. "Orochimaru is in allegiance with someone who could become even more dangerous than him."

"However, this is not the reason I'm in here really." Kabuto said. "Tell me, Haruno; can you summon slugs?"

Sakura at first did not know what to say. She could summon slugs, but if she said yes, he would kill her. "He'll try, anyway…" she thought.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smirked. "That's a yes if I ever saw one, which means your master must be Tsunade. She was quite formidable, but if it wasn't for Naruto, she'd have been dead. Nonetheless, she is still a great threat to Orochimaru's plans. Two Tsunades cannot be tolerated."

Sakura immediately knew what was coming next, and she held her kunai in the guard position.

"Which means I must kill the weaker one while I still can!" Kabuto popped in a food pill and charged.

Kenji finally reached a clearing. He wasn't really looking for anything; he just got away to have time to think. He then heard a rustle in the bushes. He knew it wasn't Naruto. His inner demon would have been setting off alarms if it was. He wasn't worried at all but nonetheless, he dove into the bushes with a keris in hand. He pinned the intruder down, intending to kill. But when he saw her face, his mind froze.

"Mana?" It was his former lover, pinned beneath him. She only looked back at him, the same emotions going through her. Kenji silently got up, and simply sheathed his weapon. He stared at her wide-eyed in disbelief, his breathing heavy. Just the other day, he was ready to kill her. Why was he so uncertain?

Finally, he turned away.

Just when he was about to leave, Mana shouted "Wait!"

Kenji came to a halt, but when he turned to face her his face was much more hostile. "What more do you want from me?"

Mana stayed silent, more out of uncertainty than fear. However, she managed to say "Of all the people you promised revenge on, you never hunted me down once. Why?"

Kenji didn't turn to face her, but said "Does it matter?"

Mana cautiously took a step forward. "I know there is still some good in you. You've done terrible things, but only because terrible things have been done to you."

"And you were part of them."

"Kenji! I was so young, I didn't know what I really wanted! And not even my younger self would've swooned over Kyo when he revealed his true colors!" Kenji took a step away, but Mana grabbed his shoulder. "Kyo forced himself on ME! I was sent to prison for punching him, he killed our child! I got out only because you came back!"

"Then I suppose you should thank me."

"Not under the condition you kill our families and enslave our home!"

Kenji screamed "Just what do you want, huh? Every time as far back as I can remember, I tried to give you everything! Praise! Help! Love…and you spat at all of them!"

Mana then embraced Kenji. "Kenji, let's run! We'll leave this all behind! Start over, just the two of us!"

Kenji felt all of his love and rage colliding. Then, he descended into darkness...

Kenji woke up in jagged tunnel with rotting vegetation. He stared straight ahead, looking his biju right in the eye. It was held down by vines, with a seal placed on its back.

"Just when things were going so well, you back down again!"

Kenji retorted "I..I can't."

"Do you believe what she told you?"

Kenji hesitated "Partially."

"She used you as a replacement, and she'll use you now! Have you forgotten how your own people denied you your birthright? How they tortured you before you even knew I was inside of you? Dare I say, that you've forgotten what your father did to your mother?"

Kenji yelled "I never even knew my mother!"

The beast then displayed an image right in front of him.

Two people, a man and a woman where walking down the hallway. They were both carrying two babies, twins it seemed. The man was tall, and had green hair shaped like a palm tree. The woman had stunning red hair.

"Is that…" Kenji thought. "…my mom and dad?"

The woman said "Kintaro, whatever do you intend to show me, my love?" "Something special, my dear. You'll see." Soon, the Raikage opened the doors to reveal a caged beast: The Gobi! The cage was surrounded by seals, draining its chakra.

"You mean…you were already imprisoned when dad put you inside me?"

"Here it is dear, the Gobi!" The Raikage announced. The woman was clearly frightened. "It's…it's amazing you were able to imprison a powerful beast. What are you going to do with it?"

The Raikage looked at his wife solemnly. "We need a weapon for lighting country. His chakra is perfect, but he cannot be controlled. We need something that will help give us the element of surprise." The Raikage set the child he was carrying down, and took the other from his wife. He set the latter down right in front of the beast.

"Kinataro!" the woman screamed. "What do you think you're doing?"

The Raikage said nothing. He simply made several hand-signs, and yelled "Nibai Gisei Fuu no Jutsu!" A transparent oni came out, and grabbed the beast. However, it wasn't done yet. It's other hand grabbed the woman.

"Kintaro! Pleas don't-" She never finished. Instead, both she and the beast were pulled into the belly of the infant. "I'm sorry, my dear." The Raikage said. "But it was a necessary sacrifice to make Kumogakure's ultimate weapon."

The Raikage stamped papers in his office, thinking it would be a day like any other. Suddenly, a cloud ninja burst through the door.

"Raikage-samma! There's trouble at the nursery!"

The Raikage ran towards the said location, and gave a look of horror. Kenji, the one with the demon, was crying. He had a bruise on his knee, evidently the cause. The two year old, at the same time was sprouting electricity all over his body, frying everything it touched. Later, the Raikage came to an agreement with the runner of the nursery: By five, the child would be tossed out, and he would not raise it.

"Father…you bastard!" Kenji screamed.

"Now do you see?" the dog sneered. "Your mother was betrayed by the village and the man she loved. You shall become her revenge! Take my power, and use it! Make all the humans who try to use Biju as weapons pay!"

Kenji didn't respond the beast wanted to though. "I still love her." He said.

"LOVE HER!" The demon screamed. "She always looked down on you! She merely thought of you as a replacement. Do you think that if your wretched sibling had not left, that she would fall for you?"

Kenji said nothing. Then the demon played more images in front of him, this time involving Mana; every scene involved an insult, looking down, even being struck. But one scene got to him the most; one day after getting turned down for a date again he said to Mana that he was the son of the Raikage as well, so why did Mana have to go for just Kyo?

"Why do you live in a shanty?" Mana shot back. "If the Raikage makes his own offspring live like a bum, there's obviously a reason for it. And I think I know why: You're weak, untalented, dimwitted, and you're a coward. If I were in his position, I wouldn't take you in as my son either!"

Kenji remembered that day well; he didn't speak to Mana after that until Kyo defected. It was that statement that even when they finally became lovers, it tore him to his core.

"Now you see! Let's take their hope away!" the demon screamed.

Green chakra began to surround Kenji. "Power…Give me more power!" Kenji screamed.

Kenji snapped back to reality, and the deadly chakra surrounded him once more. Mana fell back in pain.

"I made a promise to myself to take revenge upon you. I wanted it to be a bit more savory, but I'm afraid we're out of time." Kenji was about to bring his clawed hand down, but a kunai hit it before it touched Mana. The young man winced in pain, but did not cry out.

"Let her go." A voice said.

Kenji smirked "Impressive, Uzumaki. You learned to conceal yourself rather well I must say."

Naruto emerged from the bushes, discarding a cloak. "A trick I picked up from Kiba. The cloak has the scents of many different animals, in order to make other ninjas who have sensitive noses think nothing of it." Naruto and Kenji stood facing parallel to one another. "Everything she has told you is the truth, Kenji. It's time to let go of your hate. If you don't…I'll have no choice." Naruto said with a hint of malice on the last part, as he readied his kunai.

"Oh no. If I let go of it now, they'll never learn. The will know nothing of my pain, my anger. And what do you think will happen when another jinchuriki comes along? They'll repeat the same cycle. You should be thankful. I will teach everyone everywhere to make sure they will respect people like us."

Naruto then started to grunt uncontrollably. His eyes flickered red and back to blue again and again. "No…' Finally, he calmed down. "Don't you see? You'll only make it worse. I won't lie, Konoha wasn't exactly very nice to me. But the village was nearly destroyed by the Kyuubi. Can you really blame them that they have to put up with the fact that a monster who killed so many was still living among them, even if he was safely imprisoned?"

Kenji replied "But don't you think it would be odd to see the so-called murderer of their families smile innocently, to want to play, to even love? Apparently, neither of our people quite caught on."

Both were about to charge, when suddenly, the two heard a scream. It didn't sound human. "Ah, father must have found something." Kenji said.

Naruto could only stare at him in horror. "Y-your father?"

"Yeah. I originally wanted to kill the old man. However, since he treated me as an experiment, I thought giving him to Orochimaru as one would be a much more fitting fate for him."

Naruto wasn't sure if he could take anymore stories of cruelty that this guy made. Then three other screams caught his attention. "That's not…"

"Shiguri!"

It was his team! "Sorry, Kenji. I'm afraid I don't have anymore time to play with you!" The two combatants charged, when some whirlwind came between them.

"Who the hell are you?" Kenji yelled.

"I am Hyuuga Neji."

Kenji squinted, and then smiled. "Oh, NOW I remember. You were the one who fought Naruto back in the Chunin exams."

Neji at first looked shocked, then Naruto explained.

"He was one of the spectators during our battle. I'd be careful if I were you." More screams, from both the monster and his team.

"Neji." Naruto said. "I need to ask you a favor. My team is in danger. I need you to-"

"I will be the one to deal with this 'so-called' Raikage." Neji answered as he prepared to face off against Kenji. "You go and help your team."

"But-"

"Yuji!" Iori screamed.

Naruto growled. "Okay. But if you die, I'll never forgive you!" The unpredictable ninja leapt away into the bushes.

Kenji changed back to his natural state and confronted his new nemesis. "I suppose a warm-up would be good. But may I ask why you wish to fight me?"

Neji simply replied "I know about the seals you put on your people."

"So?"

Neji removed his headband, revealing his mark. "The Hyuuga clan has two branches: the main branch and the cadet branch. The cadet branch serves the main branch, and to make sure we do, this seal is placed on our foreheads."

Kenji circled. "So, you feel sympathy towards the cloud people, despite the fact we at one time tried to abduct one of your own?"

"No one deserves to be controlled like this. Not like me. Also, since I know of your inner demon, surely you must know of Yugato." Kenji did not respond. "She was the jinchuriki of the two-tailed cat. She was also from Kumogakure, and did not experience the hate you probably did. If she could find happiness with your people, couldn't you have done the same?"

Kenji just replied "Oh, her. That actually got to me too; you see, she was a jinchuriki, but Kumogakure believed her to be a savior. You see, we used to worship cats; therefore, in Yugato's case, she was treated not as a demon, but as a gift from the gods. It sickens me how Kumogakure would mourn her loss, but never mine."

Neji started to pity this man, he truly was not treated as an equal. "Regardless, I shall defeat you."

Neji activated his Byakugan and charged. Neji thrust his palm forward, but Kenji dodged it. Neji caught him off guard with a foot sweep, and tried to stab him on the ground. Kenji rolled to the side and tried to side kick his opponent. However, Neji used his rotation technique and blew Kenji away.

"You will never land a hit on me as long as I have this technique!"

Kenji then made bushins and charged. Unlike his fight with Naruto, Neji didn't beat them away as easily as last time. This opponent employed various forms of strategic thinking. One clone charged at him, and as he got ready, another appeared underground, aiming for his chin.

"He's using the same strategy as Naruto!"

Neji was forced to draw two kunai to defend himself from the various blades that the clones tried to land on him. He managed to dispel some, but one managed to make a slash across his left eye.

"AAARRRGHH!" yelled Neji as he grabbed his eye.

"Hmm, I suppose it was a waste of time for us to go after your Byakugan." Kenji commented, using footwork similar to a boxer.

Neji wrapped his headband in a manner similar to Kakashi's and turned around to face the Raikage. "As long as I have one eye, you will never beat me!"

Kenji then snickered. "Then how about this: I'll beat you while you still have that one eye?"

Neji just said "Do as you wish. But you will not achieve it. It will only make defeating you easier!" Neji charged, planning to use his 128 palms. "One pal-" As he made contact, a sudden pain raced through him. The next thing he knew, Kenji was on top of him, and his Byakugan was loosing focus.

"You managed to seal a fraction of my chakra. But be warned, every time you use the gentle fist against me, you will pay a price. My body has been designed so that every time you damage my tenkatsu, my body releases an electric current. "

Neji struggled up. "Pain will be a small price for stopping you."

"I'd reconsider that if I were you." Kenji said, waving his finger as if to say no no. "That jolt you felt was the same amount you'd get from touching fifty thousand volts. It doesn't just cause unimaginable pain; it will destroy your nervous system."

Neji grunted. "Okay. Then I'll show you a variation of my rotation that I have been working on!" He fell to his side and began his rotation. A sideways whirlwind started. But instead of standing in place, it moved towards Kenji. Before he could dodge, Kenji was thrown forward. He landed right onto the trunk of a tree, smashing the bark. Kenji didn't have time to lick his wounds; the rotating Neji was coming straight for him. Kenji retreated as fast as he could but Neji was hot on his heals. Neji collided with him, but the thing turned out to only be a bushin. Neji stopped to survey his surroundings, because he could not see clearly when rotating. However, that would prove to be his downfall. Neji saw it coming, but not in time; Kenji was right behind him, and grabbed his hair. Kenji then swung the Hyuuga around like a rag-doll, bashing him against trees and bushes.

"The Hyuuga indeed is one of the strongest ninja of Konoha! But they all pale in comparison with me!" Kenji shouted as he continued to thrash Neji.

Neji managed to grab a kunai in his pouch and stab his assailant in the knee. "AAAAA!" Kenji screamed and threw Neji into the vines. Kenji pulled the weapon out; the wound began to close immediately. "You fight well and honorably. But the one I really planned on fighting was Naruto. So how about this: We'll settle this all with one move!"

Neji broke free from the tangled mess and once again got ready for his ultimate attack.

Kenji calmly replied"You remember what I told you; if you attack me like that…"

"If I can rid the world of you, then it will be worth it."

Kenji said nothing and formed his Rasenzan. Out of nowhere, water started to surround it.

"Hakke Hyaku Ni Ju Hashou!"

"Suiton Rasenzan!" Kenji's technique flew and ripped apart Neji's side. Neji ignored the pain and struck Kenji as many times as he could.

Both fighters then collapsed. Kenji lay still, but Neji twitched uncontrollably. Finally Kenji rose. "One more and I would've been a goner." Kenji stared at his fallen foe. "Houkou, I'll need some extra power."

Naruto ran through the forest, and finally onto a barren cliff. He checked to see if his students were still alive. He saw Shiguri holding his left arm; it seemed to be bleeding quite badly. Iori was clearly scared but looked okay. Yuji appeared unconscious. Then the same monstrous howl was heard. Naruto looked in the opposite direction of his team and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The thing's face looked like an old man's, complete with white hair around his bald scalp and a beard. But his skin was green, and two fangs were protruding from his mouth. His shoulders blades looked more like organic armor. His left arm was nothing but a snake, moving with a mind of its own. His right arm had hideous claws, but in his palm was an eyeball, also moving independently. His torso had all of its internal organs exposed, showing them working. How it could stay alive was beyond Naruto's understanding. Its legs looked more like a Dragon's, and its tail ended in a spiked club. Then Naruto remembered what Kenji told him about this creature.

"How could anyone do this to his father?" he thought in horror.

Suddenly, the creature turned towards his direction. Judging by the look in his eyes, all of his humanity had left him. The creature charged, flinging its snake arm. Naruto jumped up, not anticipating that the snake would stretch. Naruto side stepped only to be flung back by its claws. The scratches on his back hurt like hell, but it wasn't serious. Naruto took one of his kunai, and slashed the abomination's internal organs.

"Sensei, don't!" Iori screamed.

Too late. A strange bile poured out. The substance made contact with Naruto's headband…And started eating away at it. Naruto reluctantly flung it off, and avoided the rest of the substance, hoping onto a rock. "Orochimaru…damn you." Naruto quickly formed the Kage Bushins, and surrounded the beast. Naruto could tell that this monster had lost a good deal of intelligence from when it was human. "Here! I'm over here!" one of the bushin waved. The monster charged, making a sickening thud with each step. It threw a claw at Naruto, only to be met with little resistance. Another clone jumped on its back and stabbed it with a kunai. It was a good thing it was a clone, because the monster then turned its head one-hundred and eighty degrees and sprayed poison into its eyes. The clone clutched its eyes in pain before being dispelled. The real Naruto gritted his teeth. "Orochimaru has made something so twisted. This thing has got to have a weakness."

Naruto looked at its body to figure out a sign that it was vulnerable. Before he could finish, the creature charged again. Naruto readied a kunai, but the snake arm grabbed it and flung it away. Naruto back flipped and grabbed a piece of stone. The move was out of sheer desperation, but he had to find something. He slid past it's front, and stabbed the beast in its hindquarters, causing it to howl in pain. Not only that, but its skin was breaking apart. Naruto stared back at the stone, wondering what about it made it so special.

"Devil stone." Kenji's voice said.

Naruto turned around, staring at his nemesis. "What happened to-"

"Your friend is out of commission. I warned him not to use his gentle fist against me, and now with the shock I gave him, I wouldn't be too surprised if he will bite his tongue off in a minute or so."

Naruto clenched his fists, getting ready to fight.

Kenji crossed his arms and continued. "As to answer your original question, father seems to suffer an unusual reaction to Devil Stone. Imbed it in his flesh, and it starts a chemical reaction that breaks his body down. However, whatever fragments you use on him will be used up to."

Naruto looked at the stone he held, noting that it was indeed a lot smaller than when he first had it. "Well, I'll just go and find more-"

"If it was that simple, do you think I would even bother telling you?" Kenji replied, smiling. "Devil Stone on the surface is extremely rare. Normally, it's located miles beneath the earth's plates. Even skilled Doton users have immense difficulty summoning it. The only thing that had the ability to summon it with no problem was the Shibichi, the seven-tails."

Iori's pupils widened at the thought. She remembered her father's killers mentioning him being the seven-tails. If that was true…

"But the time you had to save your genins is up. You cannot defeat father without using your best techniques. And you cannot defeat me without calling Kyuubi." Kenji began to transform in front of Naruto. "I think 3 tails of power should do it for now." The green jinchuriki cracked his clawed fingers.

Naruto looked back at the monster which had just recovered. "I'm going to have to waste chakra to save them!" Naruto readied his Rasengan, but Kenji tackled him and the two fell off a cliff.

"Your students will die, and all because you refuse to acknowledge your true nature!" Kenji yelled as they fell down. "But don't worry, I'll give you a chance to atone: transform!"

As Kakashi tree hoped through the forest, he came to a clearing and knew he had to touch down. Once he did however, he stopped dead in his tracks with fear. In front of him was the dark sanin Orochimaru. His back was turned to the copy ninja. Kakashi took a chance by reaching into his shuriken pocket…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Kakashi."

Kakashi stopped right there. Orochimaru turned to face him, giving his trademark sneer. "It's been so long. Tell me, what are you doing here on this island? Or better yet…did you get here by that slug that crawled to shore?"

Kakashi said nothing, prepared for the worst.

"Who is the new slug summoner? Anyone I-"

"I'm not telling scum like you a thing! I bet you are in allegiance with the Raikage!"

"One of convenience anyway. He's been helpful, but so are all men who have blinded by hate. So easy to manipulate. And dangerous. I know as soon as he gets everything he wants, he will turn on me. But don't worry. I will deal with him eventually."

Kakashi nearly yelled "Where's Sasuke? Did you-"

"No, not yet. His body still has not reached its full potential, and I was forced to switch to another body when Naruto-kun transformed on me. The little pest managed to blow my arm off! Of course, I was toying with him at the time, and under those same circumstances Uchiha managed to do worse. But the chakra of the Kyuubi was spreading like a poison. Even when shielding my body from that chakra ball, it acted like radioactive material. Just being close to its presence caused my body to decay."

That made sense. Kakashi heard from Yamato that Sakura got scratched by Naruto's four-tail form. She was sick for several days afterwards. The damage Orochimaru must have taken was worse. Kakashi was brought out of his thoughts when he heard someone approach from behind the bushes. His eye widened at the sight of Sasuke stepping out! He grew, but his face changed. Sasuke was never emotional like Naruto and Sakura. But he never looked incapable of expressing emotions. His hatred for Itachi was visibly showing as well.

"You see, Kakashi? He's right here!" Orochimaru smiled as he placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke himself did not respond. "Sasuke, why don't you and your former master have a chat? There is business I must attend to." With that, Orochimaru vanished.

"Sasuke! You have to-"

Sasuke said nothing as he extended his chidori blade. Kakashi side-stepped in time.

"Don't do this! You will never avenge your family like this! Orochimaru will-"

"As I told Naruto and Sakura…whether Orochimaru takes my body or not does not matter. It will still be by my hands that Itachi dies." Sasuke ran towards Kakashi at an incredible speed that the copy ninja barely saw coming. He flipped to avoid a fatal stab by Sasuke's kusunagi, but it still managed to graze his chest badly. "Back in Konoha, I could not get one hit on you. Now it is you who is on the run. Can you still say staying in that weak village would have given me the strength to kill Itachi?" Sasuke said. Kakashi pulled his sharingan down and began making hand signs. Sasuke's eyes activated their sharingan as well.

"Suiton! Suiryudan no Jutsu!"

A dragon formed from the shore close by, and charged straight at Sasuke. Sasuke countered with his own technique, one Kakashi did not see coming.

"Katon! Ryu Yofun no Jutsu!"

Kakashi for some reason was nervous. Countering a suiton jutsu with a katon was madness! Suddenly, pores opened up in the exposed parts of Sasuke's body, and white flames shot in every direction. The water dragon was more like a vapor dragon then.

"It's true that certain elements are superior to others. However, all that really matters is strength. When you put cold water over a heater, it begins to vaporize. Throw the same amount into a volcano, it will disappear all together. In other words, if the said element is concentrated enough in power, it can overcome that weaknesses."

Kakashi took out a kunai and charged.

"Apparently, you have not consulted your comrades on their previous experiences." Sasuke blocked the kunai with his sword, shattering it to pieces. Kakashi had to back flip once again. Sasuke made more sword strikes, and Kakashi continued to dodge. Hand-to-hand was not an option against an opponent armed with such a long-range weapon.

When Sasuke stopped swinging, Kakashi panted. Sasuke stared at him, ready for anything."You've improved Sasuke. I admit, you've come farther than I ever could have led you. But I will bring you back!" Kakashi formed his Raikiri. "I won't kill you, and I will make sure you will not face the death penalty. But you will see the error of your ways."

Sasuke didn't even smirk. "I'm not the same person I was back then." Sasuke created his chidori at the same time. For a second, they just stared into each others' eyes. Finally, they charged, and the Raikiri and Chidori collided.

I was planning on making this longer, but I think I'll stop here for now. Since I've got more free-time (not quite the way I wanted though) I'd say I can get the next chapter up eventually. Don't know when, late October or beginning of November. Otherwise, continue to enjoy.

Quicksand no Meiun-Quicksand of Doom

Heki-Burst

Nibai Gesi Fuu-Double Sacrifice Seal

Suiton Rasenzan: Water release swirling disc

Ryu Yofun-Dragon Rage