Hey. Just getting by, nothing else going on, other than downloading Human Weapon off ITunes (a very cool show, and the only reality tv I have EVER liked). Thanksgiving was nice, but it was a pretty small party for once. Oh well. In other news, it looks like InuYasha is finally going to end. I'm barely past chapter 400, but I look forward to reading the rest.

Also, just one thing about the last chapter: If you thought I portrayed Ino as being too slutty…I'm sorry. Since I see Ino still being boy-crazy as an adult, I thought the whole set up would be funny.

Thanks for the reviews as always, but there's something I want to ask: I'm sorry if I'm sounding mean here, but could you please say more than "Cool, update soon!" I look forward to constructive criticism and comments about my story. I get excited when I get a new review, then I get bummed out if all it says was what I quoted. If you're going to take time to give me a review, all I ask is that you tell me at least one part you liked, one part you didn't like, and possibly what you hope for…and something more specific than NaruSakuness, cause that could mean anything involving the two. It just makes me look forward more to reading my reviews, that's all.

Mrfipp: Yes, it's a badger. One of my reviews posts a link to all the biju if you want to see them. It really wasn't a debate, but quite a few think that Naruto will end up paringless (which is likely if it ends when Naruto is still 15), and some think it should so that everyone can enjoy every pairing they like without having it contradict cannon. I was obviously in favor of NaruSaku, but I argued for why it should end with A pairing. ZetsuXHinata…Ewwww. On the 2nd generation Garaa…it seems you and I think alike! I don't see Sasuke having kids anytime soon though.

Starlight Wild Koneko: She'll get better, when I won't say.

Razgriz05: Glad the fights are as good as ever. And I have to agree with the GodNaruto thing: The whole point of the series was that he's the underdog. In my story, under normal circumstances he's a bit more powerful than Kakashi..

Mistywaterflowerhasyou: If this is the best story you have ever read, the rest must suck! But I'm glad you think so nonetheless! I'm glad you enjoyed Kenji's back story, though I wouldn't put KenjiXMana above NarutoXSakura, since they're essentially the same thing, only one went horribly wrong! But that's just me. Heck, I'm flattered you like some of my OCs better than the main characters! Just one thing…please, for the love of GOD don't spam me. I'm getting these chapters up as quickly as I can!

Infernal Malestorm: Sorry, my bad.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, this is exactly what would be printed in Shounen Jump. How cool would that be?

Itachi and Kisame entered the cave.

"We're here, Kizu-sama." Itachi said. A table then shot up from the ground.

"Place her on there." The deep voice said. Itachi did as he was told, and strapped the unconscious girl to the table. "Madara wishes to see just how much power she has. Wake her up."

Though he was not known for it, Itachi had some knowledge of medical ninjutsu. He placed his hand on her forehead, and it glowed green. Iori's eyes fluttered, and she would have shot up had it not been for the restraints. She looked around in fright, and saw Itachi.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" she screamed. Itachi said nothing. Iori just yelled "Then why did you kill Daddy?"

Kisame came forward and laughed. "Forgive him, little girl. Itachi-san is not much of a talker. Not the type of characteristic you'd look for in a man who killed his entire family."

"Kisame…enough." Itachi said. If one would listen closely, one would hear a bit of anger.

"Anyway, I'll tell you. What do you know about the biju?"

Iori just said "The wha?"

Kisame chuckled. "Nothing, I see. The biju are tailed beasts, each possessing an incredible amount of chakra. They're nine of them, starting with one tail and then up to nine. They're also well known as being harbingers of death and destruction. They are greatly feared. Our organization has spent years capturing them!"

Iori snapped "And just what has this got to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, there are two ways to capture them. One is to simply get them in their free state. The second is a bit more complex. There are certain people who contain the biju within, called jinchuriki. They tend to posses the incredible power of their inner demons. Like your father."

Iori was about to refute back, but suddenly, it made sense! Her father was looked down upon and always called a monster, and if what they were telling her was true, then that would explain everything.

" Normally, this would impede our goal of capturing the biju. Fortunately, we have a device that extracts it from the container. The beast is contained within the statue as pure chakra…and the jinchuriki that contained it dies."

Iori's eyes widened. "Then…"

Kisame screamed "That's right! We killed your father after his fight! Itachi merely used the same genjutsu he placed you under a while ago!"

Iori's silver chakra began to overtake her, and fangs started to grow. "Then what do you want with me? I don't contain a monster!"

Itachi replied this time. "That remains to be seen. As the offspring of a jinchuriki, you might contain incredible power. I've already seen you use it. How much you have is what we're going to find out." Itachi once again looked Iori straight in the eye. "Tsukiyomi!"

Naruto and the others ran across the water. He was getting worried that they may have made a mistake. "Kenji! Are you sure we should be heading this way?" Naruto yelled.

Kenji yelled back "I'm positive! My hawk has incredible vision! It would have signaled me to change directions by now!" Suddenly, a squawking noise was heard. A hawk was circling above. Kenji then pointed Northeast. "Okay, he says they are on an island that way!"

Everyone ran in the new direction. Naruto suddenly ran up to Kenji. "I have to ask you: Why are you helping us?"

Kenji at first said nothing. "Why do you want to know?" he asked.

"You were a complete maniac when we fought. I know about what happened to Mana, but I don't think you would be in any condition to do anything in less then a week. What is it that's making you want to help us?"

Kenji sighed. "Remember our little argument? About how by acting like a monster they would respect people like us?" Naruto didn't like where this was going. "The cloud ninjas passed a new law to treat any new jinchuriki that are born as equals. But they're not doing it as a way of preventing someone like me coming into existence." Kenji sighed sadly. "It's their way of thanking you. In the end, it was doing good things for a people who would otherwise shun you that got them to change for the better."

Naruto was shocked. Sure, he did say Kenji would only make things worse, but Naruto had doubts that his way would make things any better. A small smile came to his face…and he suddenly had to kneel.

Yamato stopped running and yelled "Naruto! What's wrong?"

Naruto held his side and winced in pain. His head was throbbing too. "I guess I'm really not fully recovered."

Sai then said "Maybe you should head back. Your injuries-"

"Are a handicap he will have to deal with." Kenji finished. The two leaf ninjas looked like they were about to argue with him, but Kenji said "One of his own students was captured. It's a responsibility that he must oversee, one that cannot be placed on the shoulders of others without him. Besides, he made a promise. Even if the three of us managed to retrieve the girl, by heading back he will break that promise." Naruto could only stare in awe of how well his rival understood him. Though Yamato and Sai still had their reservations, they got the message. Kenji grabbed Naruto's arm and wrapped it around his shoulder. "We must hurry. If Akatsuki is as dangerous as I hear, we need to get to their layer before the girl dies." Once again, they raced towards the hideout, guided only by the hawk.

"Iori. Iori. AAAAAA" A man screamed, strapped to a table. Something that looked like fog was coming out of his mouth, into a statue.

Iori recognized this man to be her father. "Stop it! Make it stop!" she screamed.

Iori transformed further on the table, screaming and pulling on her restraints. "If she were a true jinchuriki, she would've grown one chakra tail by now."

"She's not quite as powerful as her father, I see." Kisame noted.

Itachi said "The torture has only just begun. We'll see just how far her power goes soon enough."

The Akatsuki leader made his way through the hidden fortress. Many people assumed that the Akatsuki took orders from no one. But that was not the case. The leader, known as Kizu, opened the door, and saw a man apparently devouring chakra from the statue they used to capture the Biju.

He kneeled, and said "You wished to see me, Madara-sama?"

Madara stopped his activity, and coughed. "Six years…" he said. "Six years I have been waiting for my immortality. That's too long. You gathered what you told me were the best ninja you could find. Yet we only managed to capture 6 of the 9 required biju. The time to find them once again is now. I refuse to wait another three years."

Kizu humbly said "With all due respect sir, the Biju are no weaklings. I gathered these ninja because they were the most likely to capture them. Even then, it will take time." Madara said nothing. Then, the Kizu said "But the good news is, we may have two in our grasp soon. I have set a trap for both the Houkou and the Kyuubi."

Madara then said "And what about the child?"

Kizu replied "Itachi has begun the experiments. I will give you a full report soon."

Madara looked out the window, and said "Very well. Dismissed."

For an hour, Iori screamed and struggled against her bonds. She showed the same signs of possessing an inner demon as the others. However, there was no change in her chakra level, and she did not develop a single tail.

"Perhaps you're not trying hard enough Itachi?"

Itachi replied "I have used Tsukiyomi on her every fifteen minutes. I feel this is as far as she can go."

Just then, both Akatsuki ninjas felt something. "We have visitors." Kisame growled. "I'll go check it out." Kisame ran out to the entrance, leaving Itachi behind.

Then, Itachi put his hand over the screaming child. One second she was screaming, the next she calmed down. She changed back to her natural state, and finally, Iori drifted off to sleep. Itachi then rubbed his hand over her forehead. "I'm sorry." Itachi said, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I'm so sorry."

Kenji looked up at the sky, and found his hawk. He stopped running on the water. Sai and Yamato looked up, and saw it.

"Is it here?" Sai asked. Several small outcroppings surrounded them. Though most could be ignored, some were large enough to support breeding colonies of birds.

Kenji replied. "Yeah. It just doesn't know where exactly they went. It will look for any possible entrances, but they're definitely within this area."

"Perhaps I can help you with that!" a voice said. Everyone turned around to see the water behind them take a distinct shape: Kisame Hoshigaki! "It took you much shorter than expected to find us! Although, I suppose that's not saying much since we didn't expect you to find us at all!" Everyone tensed up.

"Where is she?" Naruto yelled. "Where is Iori?"

Kisame grinned and said "Itachi is experimenting on her right now. We're trying to see just how much Biju power she has. She hasn't made much progress, but I told Itachi we should keep going. If she doesn't advance, she'll be of no use to us, and I think you know what will happen next." Kisame grinned at the last sentence. Naruto growled, and broke away from the group.

"Naruto, wait!" Kenji yelled.

Naruto charged at Kisame, only to be batted away. He sunk as soon as he landed on the surface, and Yamato had to bring him back up. Kisame laughed. "Itachi told me you weren't quite up to par. But I didn't expect the nine-tails to be this weak."

Sai came up to his wounded comrade and said "Naruto, you should stay back. You're not at full strength, and you need every little bit you can get if you want to defeat Itachi."

Naruto could only nod. Kenji took out a scroll, and summoned a sword that resembled his krises. "Let's do this." He said. Yamato and Kenji charged.

Kisame made hand signs and yelled "Suiton! Tsunami Buryoku no Jutsu!" Waves rose from the ground without moving forward. Kisame thrust his hands forward, THEN they moved. Kenji and Yamato shielded themselves from the water, and disappeared. Wave after wave, there was no sign of them. Kisame grinned, but it quickly faded away when he saw something coming out of the water.

"Suiton Rasenzan!" A disc came out, and cut Kisame on the leg. Luckily, he managed to step away in time to avoid loosing it. When the waves settled, all of the ninja were found under a wooden shelter, with Kenji holding the disc. "Though I once claimed the title 'Raikage', my affinity has always been water." Kenji made hand signs of his own. "Suiton! SuiPiranha no Jutsu!" The water formed into fish with razor sharp teeth, and leapt at Kisame. He struggled with the ones that snapped on, and tried to pry them off. "Go ahead. You'll just tear bits of your own flesh off." Kenji stated.

Kisame screamed and made another move. "Sution! Nettou no jutsu!" The surrounding water, including the piranhas, began to rise drastically in temperature.

"Retreat!" Sai yelled. Everyone backed away before they were fried. Sai then took out a vial from his vest. When Naruto looked at him, Sai explained "Waterproof solution. For my artwork."

Kenji screamed "How can you think of painting in a time like this?!"

Naruto shushed him and said "Watch."

Sai drew something, and the next thing they knew, something fell into the water. Kisame ran at them, planning to rip them apart. However, he fell face first in the water instead when a tentacle grabbed him. A squid emerged, and was squeezing the life out of Kisame. Sai turned and yelled "Finish him off, Yamato!"

Yamato made his hand signs, and from the small islands, branches came forward and impaled Kisame. Unfortunately, the bases of the plants were too far, and the branches didn't go deep enough.

Kisame ripped the branches apart, and screamed. "How dare you make a fool out of me!" Kisame tossed Samehada, which despite its size, was advancing towards everyone at an incredible rate.

"Look out!" Kenji yelled. Everyone ducked, but Yamato caught a good portion of the blade on his shoulder.

"NNN"

Like a boomerang, the strange sword returned to its owner. Kenji handed Naruto to Sai, and said "Take him and hide. I can beat this freak, now that I've seen at least some of his abilities."

Naruto said "Kenji…"

"Do as I say." The other two leaf ninja took Naruto and hid.

Kisame said "You're either very brave or very stupid. It doesn't matter to me. You seemed to have trouble even with the two of them helping you. Just how do you plan on beating me by yourself?"

Kenji crouched, and smirked. He twirled his sword, and said "Just watch me."

"Shisui! Shisui!"

Shisui Uchiha turned around to see his best friend, Itachi, run up to him.

"Itachi! It's been a while!" The two uchihas walked side by side, joking until they finally came to a river.

"Let's sit down here." Itachi suggested. Both ninjas lazily took their chosen positions, and stared at the clouds.

"I still find it hard to believe you're already in ANBU." Shisui said. "It just seemed like yesterday you were trailing behind me by a hair. Now we're equals."

"No. You've always been better than me, Shisui. It's because of you I've come this far. I always wanted to surpass you…" Itachi sighed. "…but I realize it's not meant to be."

Shisui then looked at Itachi. "How have things been with your parents?" Itachi asked.

This was a sore subject for Shisui. His parents were ridiculously strict and unsympathetic. Though he had achieved some of the best grades in the academy, his parents felt it wasn't good enough. He went from genin to ANBU in the blink of an eye by most standards. They said he could've done it even faster. The other clan member said his parents were just trying to motivate him. Even if that was the case, Itachi knew that it tore Shisui apart inside.

"Same as ever. Sometimes, I don't know what I really live for." Shisui then looked back at Itachi, who was facing the other way. "Itachi?"

Itachi said "Shisui. You've always been my inspiration. You looked out for me on missions, you helped me improve my skills, and whenever there was something I couldn't talk to my parents about, I could confine in you. You're the best friend I ever had."

Shisui was confused, and grabbed Itachi's shoulder. "Itachi! Is something wrong?"

Itachi finally snapped back to the present. "It's been so long." Itachi banged the wall next to him. "Sasuke…please save me."

"Suiryudan!" both the shark man and the jinchuriki screamed. The two water dragons collided, neutralizing one another. "Suikodan no jutsu!" Two geysers erupted, with the same results.

Kisame yelled "Just what do you think you're doing, fool? You can't beat me by using the same techniques!"

Kenji just smiled. "True. I just wanted to see the look on your face."

Kisame finally cracked a smile. "Ohh, I'm going to enjoy killing you." The missing nin dove under the water in a flash.

"Ba-dum." Kenji hummed. "Ba-dum. Ba dumdumdumdumdumdum…right about…"

Kenji leaped up just as Samehada erupted from the water. In the air, he flipped and slashed his curved sword. The two blades collided, and Kenji pushed against Kisame. Kisame grinned and toyed with him, allowing Kenji to push his sword to within an inch of his body. Then he swung, sending the young man flying…who vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Oh…" Before Kisame could finish, the real Kenji erupted out of the water and kicked the shark man right in the chin.

Kenji then made his hand signs. "Suiton! Takko Dekisui no Jutsu!" Water like tentacles emerged from the sea and wrapped themselves around Kisame. He struggled, but despite his great strength, could not budge. "We're not finished yet!" Kenji yelled. More water erupted in a geyser, and then aimed straight for Kisame. The tentacles squeezed tighter, forcing Kisame to open his mouth. The water poured straight in. Though the shark man did have gills, they only functioned when he was underwater. At the surface, he could not get them to work, and with his normal passage of air being blocked, he was for the first time experiencing drowning. Just when it looked like the end, Kisame waved his fingers. Samehada flew towards towards Kenji!

"Look out!" Naruto yelled from behind the rocks. Kenji turned around, and ducked. Not in time, though. The sword ripped apart Kenji's shoulder, and returned to Kisame's hand. The water surrounding him dissipated, and Kisame managed to catch his breath.

"I'll gut you to pieces!" Kisame tried to cut down the jinchuriki with his sword, but Kenji dodged and countered with his own blade.

"One arm is all I need!" Kenji yelled. He made various strikes at Kisame, but none connected. Kisame did the same thing, and Kenji dodged each one. Blocking Samehada was out of the question due to Kisame's strength. Kisame made a vertical strike, but Kenji twirled around and swung his blade at the back of the man's head. Kisame ran forward to avoid it, but still he got a slight cut.

"You!" Kisame backhanded Kenji several meters away, and made more signs. "Suiton! Goshoku Zame!" Before Kenji could get back up, a shark made of water grabbed his ankle and pulled him under.

Sai and Yamato watched as their ally was pulled under. "Shit." Yamato cursed.

Naruto nearly screamed "We have to save him!"

Yamato put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said "We'll try. But the odds don't look so good. It will probably take me and Sai combined to stop him. Normally, we would have you dive under, but the sea is now filled with those things. Besides, in your current condition, we don't want you to drown."

Naruto hung his head down. "For the first time in my life…I really can't do anything."

Sai got ready to go. "Yamato-sempai, we must hurry."

Yamato nodded and whispered to Naruto "Wait right there."

Kisame looked below the surface, seemingly satisfied with the job he had done. Just then vines erupted from the surface and immobilized him. Kisame just rolled his eyes. "Not this again." Using his inhuman strength, he simply broke free of his bonds. Before he could walk over to investigate, a dragon that looked like it came out of a painting erupted from the water, and breathed its fire at the Akatsuki ninja. Kisame dodged and sliced it in half with his sword. Kisame raised it up, and blocked an incoming slash by Sai. The shark-man got so focused on Sai that he didn't notice Yamato running up behind him and received a round kick by the ANBU ninja. Kisame grunted, and got the man in a choke hold. However, it solidified to reveal it was nothing more than a wood bushin. The real Yamato was on one of the higher cliffs preparing the real attack.

"Akikaze no Jutsu!" Leaves in his palm gathered up in a tornado, and touched down on the surface.

Kisame saw it, but did not retreat. "They're just leaves! What's the worst that could happen?" Kisame swung Samehada, but it just passed through. The leaf tornado finally hit him, and then he understood the danger: Each leaf was as sharp as a razor. Though Kisame was more or less intact, he was bleeding all over. Kisame ignored the pain to block kunai attacks by the two leaf ninja. Kisame tried to throw them off balance, but something was wrong. Though Sai and Yamato were clearly struggling, Kisame could not push them back. "What's happening to me? I'm weaker than usual…there's no way their attacks could have…" Then Kisame remembered one cut: The one Kenji gave him. "That sword must have been poisoned!" Kisame fell back, and took several deep breaths. He evaluated his body, and calmed down to an extent. "Okay. My senses are not going haywire, and I'm in no pain. So, the toxins must have a tranquilizer affect, nothing more. I didn't get enough to make me pass out, or else that would have happened long ago." Kisame continued parrying Sai and Yamato's attacks. The two managed to land some cuts, but Kisame got both of them with his sword as well. Sai clutched his side, but he still managed to make more ink creations. They latched on to Kisame and tried to tear him apart.

"In your current state, you will not be able to just toss them aside." Sai said.

Yamato followed up as well. "Kishi no Jutsu!" A tree sprung from an outcropping near the shark-man. Unlike most of the other ones Yamato created, this one looked quite dead. Despite that, it continued to grow. It extended itself to Kisame, and wrapped its branches around him. Kisame then began to feel his chakra being drained, and fast.

"W-What's happening?" The trunk opened up, resembling a mouth with jagged teeth.

Yamato explained "That tree grabs a hold of the most sinister chakra in the area and captures it. Then, it will devour all of the chakra until the container dies."

Just when it seemed like they had finally won the battle, the paint-beasts and the tree were destroyed in an explosion. Sai and Yamato flew back, barely able to concentrate their chakra in time to avoid drowning. They looked at Kisame, and their eyes widened. He was standing on top of a giant unusual shark! It had six fins, and dinosaur-like feet that allowed it to stay on the surface. "When all else fails, use a summoning jutsu!"

The shark-thing charged at the two leaf ninja. Yamato leapt to the side, but was smacked by one of the fins and sent flying. He hit the water hard, and began to sink. Sai summoned more paint beasts, but the shark thing gobbled them all up. Before the root ninja could react, the shark sprayed water right from its mouth. The water pressure was so intense, it ripped his skin, and he could not breathe. When the water finally let up, Sai was on his knees, his body barely able to stand the immense pain, and the fact that he was out of breath did not help either. Kisame sat on top of his shark in a meditative position.

"I must borrow some chakra from him, and cleanse myself of the poison before I pass out."

His concentration was broken when he heard a scream. "Enough!" Kisame turned around to see Naruto lunging towards him with a kunai in hand. Naruto landed on the summon, and attacked. Both seemed to freeze. Kisame grabbed hold of Naruto's wrist, stopping the kunai from attacking his heart by a hair. Naruto tried to push further, but Kisame's strength began to return. He tightened his grip on his opponent's wrist, causing Naruto to scream. Kisame punched the jinchuriki off his summon and watched Naruto fall to the ocean surface. "You can't hope to stop me! You're two comrades are no sanin. For some reason, you do not seem to be at your best. And that one guy-"

"Needed to take a breather." Kisame looked down to the other side, and saw Kenji standing right there. Though it was clear from the cuts and gashes that he didn't escape unscathed, he was still very much able to fight. "Naruto!" Kenji yelled. "Get your friends onto the rocks ASAP!"

Naruto knew what was coming. He forced his aching body to retrieve Sai and Yamato, and climbed on to an outcropping until they were beyond the reach of the waves.

Kisame only grinned. "That was quite clever of you to poison your sword like that. Those people almost had me because of that. Please, tell me your name." Kenji's face didn't even crack a smile. "By the time you're in pieces, you will care less about my name."

Kisame only growled. "We'll see about that!" The shark monster ran forward, its mouth open wide. Kenji closed his eyes…and opened them again to reveal jet black ones. Green chakra surrounded him, a single tail formed, and electricity traveled through the water. The beast screamed in pain, and collapsed. Kisame felt the electricity as well, but not enough to do the same damage. He looked quickly, and hopped on to the nearest rocks he could find. Kenji made it there the instant Kisame found his footing.

Kisame grabbed Samehada and panted. The two charged, beginning their sword fight. It was fast and furious, neither one seemed to have an edge over the other. Due to the power of his Biju, Kenji could match Kisame in strength now, and nearly threw him off balance several times. Kisame pretended to fall off the edge, but when he saw an opening, he immediately side jumped and cut Kenji across the right shoulder. The jinchuriki yelled in pain, but his wound started closing, so he pressed on.

As the battle dragged on, Kenji noticed that Kisame seemed to be gaining more of an edge on him. In fact, Kenji was beginning to feel winded. Kenji finally felt himself collapse. "What's wrong with me? I put myself through worse and didn't get spent so easily before!" Kisame side kicked the jinchuriki, who hit the far side of the outcropping so hard it stabbed his left shoulder. Kenji struggled back up, clutching his wound. "Your sword…"

"So you finally figured it out. Yes, my sword took about 80 of your chakra." Kisame charged forward. "And now I will break you and take your power!"

Kenji at first looked afraid, ten smiled. "Lucky for me, 20 is all I need." Kenji wrapped his torn sleeve around the hilt of his sword, grabbed the other end, and threw it at Kisame. The shark man did not see it coming, and by moving sideways to avoid a fatal strike, the curved blade his wrist, forcing him to release his sword. Before Kisame could react, Kenji formed his Rasenzan and threw it. The disc severed the man from both of his legs, and his upper half went flying up. Kisame was about to scream, but Kenji leapt at him and sliced his head off. Kisame's body landed with a thud. Kenji landed near it, and swung his sword horizontally, cutting his fallen foe's head in half. The green chakra dissipated, and Kenji collapsed on all fours. "Oh man…"

Naruto stared in awe of the battle that took place. He was surprised that Kenji had such control over his inner demon. "Wow." Naruto climbed down the best he could, and went straight towards his rival, who was panting like crazy.

"Got a soldier pill there?" Kenji asked. Naruto took out the pouch from earlier and tossed it over to Kenji. "Even with Houkou healing me…for his own preservation really…I haven't fully recovered from the attack you gave me the other day. That was something." Kenji got up and stretched. "Besides, that guy's sword took almost all of my normal chakra. Anyway, how are your friends?"

Naruto replied "They're unconscious. We can't take them with us."

Kenji swallowed the pill and began to feel some chakra being replenished. The hawk Kenji summoned squawked again, and the two jinchuriki turned around to see circle a small cove. "The entrance is somewhere in there." Kenji said. "Are you ready?" Naruto nodded, and the two headed towards the location.

"By the way." Kenji said. Naruto turned around. "Thank you. You know what it really takes to win the hearts of people, and what it really means to care. You showed me how I should have lived…and how I must live now…"

Naruto didn't have any visible expression, but was glad that Kenji finally realized his mistakes. "Come on." Naruto said. "She won't last much longer." The two jinchuriki raced into the cave.

Itachi sat down in his meditative position, trying to calm himself. After a while, his breathing returned back to normal. Then, he opened his eyes and activated his Magenkyo Sharingan. "They're here."

I'll get the next chapter up whenever I can.

Also, just so you know, the Akatsuki leader is another OC, not Pein. I thought of my own version of the AL before he came along. It's not that I don't like him; I just want to experiment with my own story is all. Sorry to all the Pein fans that I may have pissed off.

Random Rant #3:

Is Sai gay? I don't mean that in a character bashing way…I'm just asking based on what I've seen. I usually don't go in and automatically label a character as gay, but there are some things about him that get to me:

1) He's obsessed with the word "penis" when he should be obsessed with the word "vagina/pussy/whatever you call it."

2) If he thought of two girls as ugly, it can't be a coincidence.

3) Wearing a midriff shirt. Usually a girl thing.

4) He reacted to the double knockout jutsu with him and Sasuke. I kind of think he actually liked it!

I don't mind if he is or isn't, but it just makes me want to go hmm…

Tsunami Buryoku-Tidal Wave Force

SuiPiranha-Piranhas of Water

Nettou-Boiling Water

Takko Dekisui-Octopus Drowning

Akikaze-Autumn Wind

Kishi-Tree of Death