Here's the next chapter for you all! Thanks for your patience! I'm not getting as many reviews as I used to, so please drop me a line and tell me I'm doing a good job. Or not; just make sure if you really hate this chapter, use as many ridiculous insults as possible and give me a good laugh. But seriously though, no flames.

Iori only stared at the man Echiro Taka, if what the dark-haired teenager was telling the truth. Never knowing his name, she didn't imagine he would be anyone she knew. Until now...

It was a faint memory, one which was eventually buried in Iori's subconscious, the man's reappearance bringing it back to life. She must have been 3, maybe 4. It seemed her mother, a tall, beautiful woman with curly red hair was putting her Pj's on. As she lay her on her futon, the door suddenly knocked. Her mother seemed startled; it must have been fairly late for visitors, among other things. She turned back to Iori, and smiled. "You rest here, sweetie. We'll have to do the bedtime story another time."

As her mother left, Iori tried to do what she said. But as most toddlers were, she was restless. She got up, and walked to the edge of the wall, curious about who was interrupting her bedtime.

Her mother opened the door. "Echiro! What are you doing here?" Iori could tell by the way she spoke, she wasn't happy to see this person. Iori edged her head out for a closer look. In the doorway was another man, but not Daddy. He looked to be a bit older than her mother too.

"Sorry to disturb you. I came to offer you a proposition." the man explained.

"It can wait until tomorrow. I'm putting my child to bed." her mother said with authority.

"You don't understand!" he suddenly hissed. Realizing how he sounded, he took a moment to regain his composure. "Sorry. Let me start over." A moment of silence passed between the two adults. "May I come in?" Iori's mother remained still for a second, and let him inside. He casually looked around the house. "I'd be lying if I said this was a nice place you have here."

"Taka. I could care less about what you think about my cabin. Either say what you came to say, or get out." her mother said like a commander.

"You could do so much better then this." Taka continued as he looked on. "Had you chosen me over him, you would have more than you could have ever dreamed of." He turned back to look at her. "I remember back when you were a genin. Love-struck, blind to everyone else around you. Your entire world revolved around me." He smiled in a way that scared Iori as she watched. "You'd put on make up, you gave me gifts, and you did everything you could that you believed would please me."

"I've changed."

"So you have. And look at what it's got you. You should here what the villagers say about you. I'd tell you, but that would be very rude of me. My point is...you deserve so much better."

Iori didn't understand what he was talking about. But her mother did. "You're right. I do deserve better. WE deserve better."

Taka only looked at her in shock. "What!?"

"You heard me. MY FAMILY AND I DESERVE better." she repeated.

"Damn it, woman! Think! You used to be a lower class citizen. Now you're viewed as something worse, ever since you've bedded with that demon..."

A resounding slap suddenly filled the room. Faster than Iori could see, Taka was on the floor, rubbing his struck cheek. "HOW DARE YOU!" Iori's mother screamed. "I did want you once." she whimpered. "But you never acknowledged me. Hori did. And as I got to know the real him...I got to know the real you. And it disgusts me now that I realize the kind of person you really were all these years." She breathed deeply, and looked at him straight in the eye. "Go away, and don't come back. If you do, my husband will be the least of your worries." Taka scrambled halfway up, confused. "I SAID GET OUT!" Her mother suddenly side kicked him out of the door and slammed it shut.

As if anticipating what he would do next, her mother held the door shut, preventing him from coming back in. A banging on the door showed that Taka was most persistent. "THIS ISN'T OVER! YOU HEAR ME, BITCH! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER...I'LL HAVE YOU! I SWEAR IT!"

Iori's mother braced herself against the door until Taka left. She sighed, bringing her hands to her face as she sagged down to the floor.

Iori's wide eyes slowly narrowed. "You." Her fists clenched. "So, it was you this whole time. You, who let Akatsuki into our village to take away my father." She took a step forward. "You, who got the villagers to fall in line like your little puppets and cast me out." She took another step towards him. "Anything else I should know about?" She bent her knees, ready to pounce.

Taka was only speechless at the sight of Iori before him. Whether it was from surprise or fear, he couldn't say. "I don't believe it! Churippu's spawn is alive! But how did she find me!?"

"Well, it looks like you two have a lot to catch up on." Susanoo commented as he observed the two with great interest. "I'll leave you two alone, then. I've got a more...interesting opponent several floors up. Oh, and miss." he said, directing his attention to Iori, though she didn't turn away. "Please don't kill him; I have other plans for him. But do feel free to pulverize him to your heart's content if you can." With that, he ran up the stairs at top speed, leaving Taka alone to deal with her.

"Well, everything that could go wrong has today..." He raised his guard and got into a fighting stance. "Fine! No more hiding! I'll snap your little neck...and maybe..." He didn't get a chance to finish as Iori...the real her or a bushin, he wasn't sure at the moment...pounced behind him and flipped him off the wall. He managed to right himself and reattach his feet before he shattered his neck far down below. He braced himself as what seemed to be two Ioris rushed towards him, their intent to kill crystal clear. "This is not going to be easy...especially if she truly has Hori's blood in her..."

Kakashi, as a matter of fact, was running down the skyscraper as well several stories above, running towards the previous person of interest mentioned above. "I won't let you get away that easily!"

He reacted in the nick of time as Susanoo suddenly got in his face, brandishing a kunai. Kakashi blocked with his own, and the two dueled while defying gravity, using the glass walls as a battle ground. "I can see why you're called the Copy nin." Susanoo commended. "That sharingan certainly does you some good."

"And I'd gladly give it back to the person who gave this to me if I could!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Where's Obito!?"

"That's his name!?" Susanoo asked as he grabbed Kakashi's wrist and pulled him into his knee. "I think I know where he is."

Kakashi recovered and quickly made hand signs. "Raiton! Raikiri Arashi!"

The Raikiri formed in Kakashi's hand, but he didn't charge like he usually did. Instead, he cocked his hand back and made a motion like he was throwing a baseball. Shards of electricity flew towards Susanoo. Though the clone managed to avoid any fatal blows, the lightning cut through his skin like glass traveling the speed of sound. Susanoo nearly lost his footing from the pain, and couldn't react in time to block Kakashi's uppercut.

The Uchiha clone flew in the air, and losing contact with the wall, began to fall several stories below, gravity finding him once more. Acting quickly, he turned so he was falling feet first and facing away from the building. "Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!" He spewed a fireball, the blowback enough to send him flying through a window. He rolled, making sure to shards of glass touched nothing vital. "He's good." Susanoo rose just in time to see Kakashi flip inside. Kakashi didn't miss a beat and threw shuriken, but Susanoo dodged easily. "Listen, if you want to see him, I can take you there! That wasn't smart what you did earlier; one mistake, and I'd be a splat on the sand."

"Then tell me where he is and I'll stop chasing after you." Kakashi warned him, cracking his knuckles

"No you won't." Susanoo replied smugly. "You'd be a fool to let me go just like that. But enough talk; follow me...and catch me if you can!" Susanoo made a break for it, the copy nin hot on his tail.

"I assume this is acceptable?" Amaterasu asked as they settled inside.

Naruto scrunched his face. "You could get rid of the cubicles. Still not a lot of room for either of us."

"No deal." Amaterasu responded. "We fight here or we both take our chances on the ledge outside again. Your call."

Naruto sighed, and stretched. "So, Sakura-chan? Shall I take the guy on while you take the girl?"

"Don't think I can handle the man? I still owe him for that weapon that nearly tore my arm off." Sakura growled, pounding her fist.

"Two things." Amaterasu said, holding his fingers up. "First, I didn't fire that cheap weapon. Second, the one who did is dead."

"What!?" the opposing pair yelled in surprise.

"He failed, so I burned him."

The surprise on both Sakura and Naruto left them as their faces turned angry. "That's harsh." Naruto growled. "What's stopping Tigre from taking you out?"

"My sister and I, in his eyes, are a more...'precious' commodity. But enough of that. Are we here to fight? Or would you rather chat? Perhaps Tsukiyomi can heat a nice cup of cobra tea for you."

Naruto drew kunai, as did Sakura. "Fine then. Sakura-chan, I've got your back."

"As do I yours."

The two charged, as did the two "Uchihas." Naruto's kunai met Amaterasu's tanto; Amaterasu quickly proved to be the better weapons expert as he flinged Naruto's kunai off. Before he could cut him, Naruto quickly kicked him into an empty cubicle. Amaterasu quickly recovered and raised his arm defensively. "You ARE good."

Meanwhile, the two kunoichi were having similar results. Sakura tried her Cherry Blossoms impact technique; Tsukiyomi dodged, leaving a large crater where she once was. The floor here also proved to be incredibly shock absorbent; there was no resulting shock wave. In all that time, Tsukiyomi wrapped her legs around Sakura's neck, pulling her down to the floor. "Shit!" Sakura quickly reached into her pouch and tossed a smoke bomb right in her face; her mask prevented her from breathing any noxious fumes, but the smoke still teared up her eyes, forcing the masked woman to let go. As the two kunoichi put distance between themselves, Tsukiyomi commented "It seems we underestimated you."

"Don't feel bad." Sakura teased her. "Our opponents have a tendency to do that."

"A mistake we will not make again."

Naruto and Amaterasu engaged once more in combat. They shot out several strikes, each of which were blocked. "You don't have the sharingan, yet you can keep up with this speed!" Amaterasu exclaimed.

"I've had practice fighting people like you!" Naruto suddenly leaped in the air, delivering a round house kick to Amaterasu's side. Though the clone stumbled, he got back up and elbowed Naruto in the chest. As the jinchuriki crashed into another cubicle, Amaterasu took to the air, pulling out another tanto. Naruto acted quickly. "Kage Bushin Chuuseki no Jutsu!" Suddenly, a whole row of Narutos appeared in front of him towards Amaterasu's direction, the lead clone extending his arm in a fist. Having no where to dodge, Amaterasu suddenly found himself flying in the opposite direction. Naruto wasted no time as one bushin transformed into a scythe as Naruto used it as a weapon to do what Amaterasu couldn't.

But the clone had other plans. "Katon! Uchiha Kaenjin no Jutsu!"

Suddenly, a pillar of fire engulfed him. Naruto pulled back as his scythe disappeared, not to mention as his hand got burned. Naruto stifled a yell as he soothed the worst part of his burn. "Shit!"

"Here I come." Amaterasu warned him. "Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Naruto easily dodged the fireball as he threw more shuriken at Amaterasu. Amaterasu dodged most of them, but clearly became annoyed as a red stripe formed across his cheek.

Like the two men, the kunoichi were having similar results with escalating their battle. Tsukiyomi, proving to be the more agile of the two, twisted in the air as she delivered a kick to Sakura's ribs. Sakura protected them with her chakra, but it didn't stop the pain. Good thing Tsunade's training involved ignoring pain. She retaliated with her own fist, aiming for her opponent's stomach. Tsukiyomi dodged, but Sakura still grazed her kidney. And a graze from Sakura was still a serious wound. Tsukiyomi put distance between themselves as she clutched her sides. She wouldn't be surprised if her entire right side was black. Sakura charged for another attack, but Tsukiyomi had something else planned. "Katon! Haisekiso no Jutsu!"

Sakura found her self enveloped in a cloud of ash. The pink kunoichi temporarily felt a moment of panic as it reminded her of her fight with Tobi. "Not this again!"

"As you can imagine, my mask doesn't allow me to shoot literal fire from my mouth. However, things like smoke and ash are perfectly doable." She clicked her teeth, and the smoke around Sakura exploded. Luckily, she cartwheeled out of the cloud before the flames could do any major damage. She reached into her back pouch for a kunai, and wrapped a tag around it. She threw, and Tsukiyomi dodged. Tsukiyomi prepared for it to explode, but instead of fire, she was met with a purple smoke. "Poison? Nice try; why do you think this mask is here?"

"You don't get infected by breathing." Sakura warned her. "It goes through the pores in your skin and other such openings."

Tsukiyomi was thankful she was covered nearly head to toe in black, but her eyes were still exposed. She immediately felt herself going numb, but rolled out of the way before the smoke could do any further damage. Sakura ran over to drop kick her, but Tsukiyomi stepped back and then forward, punching Sakura away with surprising force. As Sakura crashed into a cubicle, she improvised and kicked one of the computers towards Tsukiyomi like it was a soccer ball. Tsukiyomi, not expecting it, took the hit right to the temple. Though she was still standing, blood trickled down her head. "Amaterasu!" Tsukiyomi called. "We really have to go all out for this couple."

"Yes." Amaterasu agreed. "Together then." Amaterasu concentrated and closed his eyes. Suddenly, one opened.

Black fire separated both Naruto and Sakura. "Sakura, don't get near it!" Naruto yelled.

"I know!"

Naruto turned back to Amaterasu. "I thought you said you were attacking together. This is just more of the same; we just can't help each other if we need to now."

"More of the same for you." Amaterasu replied. "But our plan has only just begun."

Tsukiyomi's mask then exhaled what seemed to be a greenish smoke. The flames carried it into the air as it dispersed. "You did well so far. But now, that's about to end."

Sakura couldn't begin to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this...

Somewhere down near the docks, a metal door suddenly sported a huge dent from the other side. Another blow sent the door down, revealing Yuji and Tazuna's family. Yuji, not used to punching metal, rubbed his fist rapidly as he led them outside. "Owowow...ok. The boats should be right...shit. This isn't good." What little boats there were had been broken in half, their pieces bobbing in and out of the water.

"It looks like Tigre didn't want us to escape." Tazuna groaned.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have thought he'd gone this far." Yuji sighed. "He must be desperate to make sure none of you make it off this atoll alive. But why?" He tapped back into the mental link between his friend and leader, hoping for some support. "How's everything on your end, guys?"

"A LITTLE BUSY, CALL BACK LATER!" was the reply.

Yuji groaned. "Well, that's just perfect." He plopped himself down, legs and arms crossed, pouting. "God damn. My friends are fighting bad guys and I'm stuck with guard duty it seems."

"It's okay." Tazuna tried to assure him. "Go help your friends; we can help ourselves from-"

"No." Yuji replied quickly. "As long as you're here, you're not safe, and none of you will make it off here alive without help. I'm not running from anyone who needs my help; that's the ninja way Naruto-sensei helped me find." He paused to think. "Besides...up until this point, getting away with you all has been too easy. Surely, Tigre had some kind of counter measure for such an event..."

Suddenly, his eyes widened. He leaped in front of Inari and caught a shuriken aimed for his throat. "Ow!" Yuji threw the offensive object away as he put himself in front of the family. "Well, at least it wasn't poisoned!" he exclaimed as he sucked on his finger.

"It looks like this one has some skill."

Yuji saw his opponents. Two girls, identical twins it seemed. Each had smooth, shoulder-length midnight blue hair and dark eyes. They appeared about Yuji's age, and were slim, similar to Sakura's build. Their faces were also quite exotic looking; Yuji would've called them cute had it not been for the bad vibe he was getting from them. "I don't presume you're here to help me out."

"On the contrary; we're here to relieve you of your burden."

Yuji only twitched his eyebrow in response. "Uh, no thanks. I'm good."

"But we insist." one of them chimed.

"And I insist you stand down. NOW." Yuji threatened as he pulled some shuriken of his own out of his pouches.

"I'm afraid we can't comply. By the way, I'm Izanami."

"And I'm Izanagi."

"Please forgive me, but I've a hard time with names. Especially those of people who are about to die!" Yuji said in an unusualy threatening manner.

"We shall see!" the twins shouted in unison. Before an attack was made, Yuji drew a scroll and pulled from it a net of iron mesh and threw it at the family behind him, cocooning them. There were gaps, of course, and they had enough room to move but it would take extreme precision to land a fatal blow through them. Not to mention the hooks embedded in the concrete would be hard to pull out. If he engaged these twins until help arrived, they shouldn't have a chance to make such a precise hit.

"Just sit tight." Yuji told the family. "I've a feeling this could take a while."

"Yuji!" Shiguri shouted in his mind. "I think I finally got away! You needed help with something!?"

"Bottom floor! NOW!"

"Bottom floor!? What the fuck...never mind! I'll be right there!"

"I sure hope so." Yuji hissed.

"If you're not going to make a move..."

"...then we shall!"

The twins threw their shuriken, while Yuji countered with his own. "I really hope these two are bottom of the barrel!"

He leaped backwards towards the wall and fired his gauntlet wires. The two kunoichi simply evaded, spinning like missiles towards him. Quickly, Yuji blocked the strike of one with his knee, the other with a kunai in his hand. "You're fast." one said.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" he exclaimed.

Yuji swept one off the wall, and tried to nail another with his elbow. She too, however, dodged. "Edan!"

Yuji ducked as the sudden stream of fire flew over him. As he righted himself, one suddenly got him in a full nelson. "Gotcha."

The other made a beeline towards Tazuna and his family. "Oh no you don't!" Yuji flipped one sister off his back, the impact causing the concrete floor to crack. Using his wires again, he impaled the nearest solid surface and pulled himself forward with lightning speed. "AHHH!"

Yuji pulled out his kunai and made a slashing motion. Izanami...or Izanagi, he couldn't tell which was which...pulled away at the last second. She smirked, feeling proud for dodging it...then a cut suddenly exploded across her nose. She glared at him with rage. "First blood...don't get too proud of yourself."

Yuji tensed as he prepared for the worse. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Taka knew he would have to stand and fight eventually. It was either in the middle of the samurai below, or inside the building. Common sense dictated he had the advantage in his own territory. Quickly retrieving a tool that looked like spiked knuckles, he punched the next window in front of him and somersaulted inside. Before Iori appeared, he vanished from view. Iori, much like a feral animal, jerked her head to her sides in a desperate attempt to find him. The hall was dark, and there seemed to be nothing but tables and office chairs. And the plants; Iori recognized some of them as being related to vines.

"So..." his voice called. "...Hori's seed survives."

Iori knew she was heading for an ambush. "Let him come then." "If I remember correctly, my mother meant something to you." Iori said.

There was silence all around her. Shuriken came her way, but she quickly blocked them by summoning two tonfa. "So, you remember that night after all? I thought I saw you around the corner. But, no, your mother herself meant nothing to me."

"Then why did you visit her!?" Iori yelled in confusion.

The sun was setting, darkening the room even further; a slow interval between light changing to dark was when shinobi were most vulnerable, their eyes failing to stabilize in constantly changing light. "Though Vines was not one of the five kage powers, it was still a fairly prosperous ninja village. I was one of the academy's best students when I graduated, and I eventually became one of their top jonin. Your mother always had an annoying teenage crush on me..."

Suddenly someone, whom Iori assumed to be Taka, got her in a headlock. Iori quickly elbowed the assailant and broke his hold. Taking a kunai, she followed through and stabbed his jugular. However, the person quickly became a tangled heap of thorns. Iori backed away, noticing the blood trickle down her arms, her arm going right through them when she stabbed. "Kami how I hated that." Taka continued.

"THEN WHY!?"

"I'm getting to that, little girl. Assuming you will stay alive..." A large bang suddenly echoed, and Iori felt something hard, small and hot rip her side. Iori fell against the wall, and pressed against her side. It wasn't serious; she could already feel her "other" chakra at work. "The aims on those things always were lousy. Anyway, your father...that's more personal. Do you know what your father truly was?"

"A jinchuriki." Iori replied as she stood. "I already learned it from the very men who kidnapped him that night."

"Interesting. I suppose you've gotten over the shock of that. May I ask, do you know how he became a jinchuriki...assuming he wasn't born one?"

Iori tightened her fist as she dug into her pouch. She and Naruto worked together to uncover as much jinchuriki history as possible. It wasn't easy; villages liked to keep those things under wraps. But they did discover one disturbing pattern: to seal a biju inside a person, one had to sacrifice a life. His own...or another's. "Someone you loved was sacrificed to make it possible." Iori whispered.

"Brilliant deduction, little girl." Iori reflexively jumped back as a trap door sprung. As she hit the wall, she rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a katana stabbing her from behind the wall. "My father was a master of seals. Somehow, we managed to get the shichibi under control. Your father, back when he was a boy, was selected as his prison, and my father died the night the deed was done. Need I go on?"

"I kind of get the gist of the rest of it. You hated my father for that, and you and the other villagers treated him like crap. I know the pattern. But what does my mother have to do with all this?"

"Your mother...what was once an annoying brat of a girl became a beautiful kunoichi right under our noses. I knew I had to have her...I figured it would be an easy task. I was from a wealthy family, my reputation as a ninja and an upcoming politician had placed me in the highest of honors in my village. I figured she would be an easy catch. But, in all the time I ignored her...she spread her legs for that low-life jinchuriki!"

Suddenly, Taka came down from above with a katana. Iori quickly caught the sword between her palms and rolled with the slash. Rolling on her back, she brought her foot up to the man's stomach and flung him off into a chair. She rose to face him, but he retreated back into the darkness. "Well, according to you, you cared nothing for mother anyway." Iori huffed. "So why did it bother you so?"

"I didn't understand; I still don't understand." Taka hissed. "She only wanted me when she was your age. What did that demon have that I didn't? I didn't want her when it first started, but by the time I decided to give her a chance...she turned me down. No hesitation, no regrets." Iori could hear a low growl. "That was the second time that demon had taken something from me; something that was rightfully mine. Even when she was shunned, it was not enough to make her leave him. I couldn't understand it..."

"It doesn't surprise me you can't."

"Shut up!"

Iori flipped over some shuriken heading her way. "When you mentioned your father died because of making dad who he was, you didn't stutter or choke up. It was so...nonchalant. You never had love for your parents, or anyone for that matter, did you? For you it was more a question of honor, though looking at you now I doubt you have any. Maybe you just have a strange need to possess people. And that's why you couldn't stand to no longer have mom's love, isn't it? You just don't like things taken from you." There was no response. For the first time in a while, Iori grinned. "I struck a nerve there, didn't I?" A figure suddenly moved into her line of sight. She sidestepped to avoid one strike, and retaliated with a powerful punch. Though her cheek was cut, she was satisfied with [barely] seeing Taka stumble and clutch his stomach.

"I suppose you could say that. That's why she had to die." Iori's pupils narrowed as her shock gave way to fury. She screamed, charging with her fist cocked back, but Taka quickly shot sebon needles out of his sleeve, piercing her throat. She then evaporated in a puff of smoke. Taka growled in annoyance, but assured himself that he was still pushing the right buttons. "I thought your mother's death would be enough to break your father, but once more life disappointed me. He was beginning to be acknowledged in the village, albeit slowly. I couldn't act directly, the council thinking he was a valuable asset to our community. And what's more, he protected you rather...fiercely. So, I had someone else do the deed."

"Akatsuki. You let them in."

"Yes!" Taka exclaimed. "But his death wasn't enough. Seeing you was a constant reminder of what I lost, and what mark that Hori bastard left on this worl. Using a variety of political tactics, I convinced the village you were the second coming of the demon. When no trace of you could be found, I was convinced that you were burned to ashes alongside your home."

Iori smirked. "Must hurt your ego to see me here now. This is why you should really do these things yourself." Iori then threw several kunai everywhere into the walls.

"That was a bit pointless, don't you think?" Taka asked. "You didn't even come close to hitting me."

Quickly, Iori put her hands together and made the sign for the tiger. "I wasn't aiming to hit you; not just yet." She concentrated her chakra, and the tags attached to her kunai lit up like fireworks. They illuminated the room, and revealed Taka, crouched under a desk with a dagger in hand. Quickly, Iori attacked. Taka tried to block with his dagger, but he was too late to go on the defensive by then. Iori punched him across the face, once more sending him rolling across the floor.

Wiping the blood from his lip, he gave her sickening grin. "It seems you've done well for yourself, wherever you live. I wonder what would happen if whatever backwards village that took you in discovered the truth?"

"They're fine with it."

"Oh, a few maybe. But everyone? I doubt it." Taka sneered.

True; only her sensei, the Hokage and Sakura knew. Maybe a few other important people she wasn't aware of. But she couldn't think about what ifs right now. Quickly, she pulled out two sai. "Well, believe what you want to. You won't make it out of this alive anyway."

"I promise you, I will. In the meantime...I think I'll finish you the way I finished your mother."

Iori blinked. For some reason, the way he said it sent a chill down her spine. "Wh-What do you mean? How did you kill my mother?"

"Oh, the killing itself was rather mundane." Taka replied, giving her a sickening smile. "A little slit to the throat, nothing more. But what came before...ohhhh...I don't know what gave me more pleasure. Her quim...or her suffering. Actually, I have to go with suffering; your bitch mother deserved that for spurning my offer."

Iori's eyes only widened in horror. "No...you didn't..."

"I did." Taka only laughed. "It didn't have to be that way if she only recognized what I was giving her. But seeing her helpless and shamed was a good enough consolation prize. If not me, I would have gladly gotten someone else to do the deed as well. I even imagined having scores of men line up for her..."

Tears suddenly flowed down Iori's eyes. "This whole time...it was all him..." Iori never remembered her mother until this day. It was as if some primal instinct blocked out the trauma of losing her. And seeing this man before her suddenly brought those repressed memories back. And to think how she suffered before her death. "Mama...I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you then..." Taka pulled out a tanto from behind his back, approaching Iori. "...but I can avenge you! Both you...and Dad!"

"Once I've beaten you here, I think I'll give you the same fate as your mother. Or, half of it at least; no need to worry about witnesses. You'll die when I say so." Taka chuckled. "I like to make my whores last if I can help it."

"BASTARD!" Iori screamed as her beastly features returned, staring at him with a death glare. "DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF MY MOTHER AGAIN!"

Taka jumped back in fright, to the other side of the hall, but quickly regained his composure."So, this is what it means to tap into a biju's power..." Taka observed, not caring for Iori's outburst, but still proceeding with caution. "...part of it at least. Still, I better remain on guard." Taka only taunted her with his finger to come, figuring the tricks he had up his sleeve would be enough.

"Raiju Hashiri no Jutsu!" Kakashi's Lightning Blade took the form of a wolf, aimed for Susanoo. However, the seemingly teenage ninja kicked up an office chair in it's path. Though he blocked the piercing blow, the force was enough to throw him through a wall. Kakashi leaped inside...and stopped at the sight of what he saw.

Tubes upon tubes of babies. Or more precisely, what would be babies. These were clearly fetuses, none ready to be welcomed into the outside world. He was no medical expert, and as a result couldn't tell how far they were along. But judging by the visible organs, he had to guess these would be present in the early stages of pregnancy. "Astounding, isn't it?" Susanoo asked, making no attempt to hide as he walked into Kakashi's line of sight, completely relaxed. "I would almost call it beautiful had I not known what this would all be for." Kakashi also made no motion to attack. "Let's call a truce for now; I've something to show you."

Susanoo walked away, while Kakashi followed. "It seems you have no love for Tigre...or rather, whoever he is."

"Taka. His name is Taka Echiro. Found out his name a while ago, though I'm not clear on his history. This cute red-head seems to have a grudge against him."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Iori's here?" Kakashi pushed it into the back of his mind; he couldn't turn back and help her now if that's who it was.

"Anyway, I don't love Tigre, or Taka, or whatever you prefer to call him in any form." Susanoo continued. "In fact, I rather despise him. Seeing all these embryos here, I bet you can imagine why."

"He literally sees you all as only tools."

"Excellent deduction. For each child born, they are put through extreme education, both mental and physical. Brainwashing really. Normally, I wouldn't give a damn, but I was part of that system too. Can't say I like not being given a choice about my life."

"I don't blame you." Kakashi agreed. "But it seems you're free now."

"Only after years of careful planning. There's more to it, though. Let's see, he was either left of right..." he said as he came to a fork in the road. "Left. I'm sure of it." Kakashi followed him left as Susanoo continued with his story. "I may not look it, but I'm the oldest of all the clones here; the first. And before you ask, as the first the cloning process was still very much untested. When I was born, I already looked like this." he said, indicating himself. "And I've remained in the body of a 13 year old boy ever since; I don't age externally. Some shallow people may see that as a blessing, but to me, it's a reminder of the life I could never have." he growled. "I'll be about 17 soon in terms of chronology since I came into the world." Finally, they came upon a door. "And here, is the source of all my troubles."

The door was thick, probably made of steel, but with a few good kicks he dented it and brought it down. Susanoo stepped aside, silently inviting him to take a peak. Kakashi walked in, not sure if he could be ready for what he was about to see. When he did, his eyes widened in anguish. "Obito..." A cylindrical tank before him held what Kakashi, despite the years and changes underwent, recognized as Obito, suspended by wires and some kind of fluid. But all was not well. Obito was almost completely emaciated, and while he had grown as old as Kakashi, his growth was stunted. It seems most of his bones that were crushed by the boulder never healed properly, giving his body grotesque shapes and forms underneath his skin.

Susanoo finally walked in and spoke "Forgive me, but just so you know, I may have some facts about history...a bit backwards. From what I understand, Orochimaru found him during the 3rd Shinobi War. He recognized the potential of an Uchiha, and chose to keep him alive. So, much like he did the Senju clan, he experimented with placing cells into subjects. However, the efforts were even less successful than his Senju experiments. While the Senju clan's cells had the potential to revitalize individuals, the Uchiha bloodline had a far greater destructive potential to new hosts. Needless to say, Orochimaru hit a wall. The eye remaining on this poor bastard was no good; crushed along with the rest of his face. You probably already know this, but he instead sought to possess the so-called "last" of the Uchiha. While his assistant...I forgot his name...proposed this idea, Orochimaru shut it down. Too dangerous, he said. A whole group of people who could copy all jutsus...? Not good idea; can't say I blame him. Anyway, Taka at the time was working with them. Upon learning about what they were planning, he saw great potential in it. He stole it, and began this program."

"Orochimaru would have killed Taka before he got a chance to make all these." Kakashi interrupted. "He must have had protection."

"Actually, from what I understand, he was indeed planning to kill Taka. But you Konoha shinobi kept hunting him down, and as time went on, his priority was rather low on Orochimaru's to-do list. So, in a way, I have to thank you and your village. Without your constant hounding of Orochimaru, neither me nor my 'family' here would be alive. Anyway, Taka preyed on the real Tigre with promises of power, disposed of him and eventually took his place. He wasted no time with his new found fortune, and used the best geneticists on the continent to make this all possible. Using this husk as the template, he had a nearly unlimited supply of Uchiha DNA."

"And Obito?" Kakashi asked, his fist trembling. "If I free him..."

"I'd imagine he'd die. He's been in a chemically-induced coma for so long...I'd imagine there's not much left there, and even if there was, I don't think he'd want to be awake for this. But if you make it out of this alive, you may consult a doctor or medi-nin for a second opinion."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he turned to face Susanoo. "Very well." Susanoo walked out, as Kakashi followed. Susanoo may have been a devil inside Obito's body, but at least he had some sense of honor. "But answer me one question. I know Taka had to put in some of his own DNA to complete the code...why?"

"Very astute of you." Susanoo said, smiling. "You see, Taka has an interesting...Kekkei Genkai. If you're strong enough, maybe I'll show it to you."

"So be it." Kakashi backed away, briefly glancing back at the room containing Obito's preservation tube. "Obito, I'm so sorry. I failed to save you; I failed to protect Rin. But mark my words, I WILL get you out of there!" Once more, a Raikiri formed in his hand.

Amaterasu spewed more flames at Naruto, who rolled under the fireball. Launching a volley of shuriken, he managed to buy himself some time and close the distance. The two traded strikes, Amaterasu being faster but Naruto stronger. Naruto caught him in the chin with a kick, but Amaterasu used a kenpo push technique to send him flying across the floor and almost into the black flames. "Ow!" Naruto clutched his stomach, realizing he did more than push him. "I think I heard something about a Taijutsu style like this." Naruto commented.

"There are only two ways out for you." Amaterasu said. "Either face me again, or throw yourself into the black flames."

"Then the choice is obvious." Naruto grinned. He charged again, this time brandishing a kunai while Amaterasu continued to fight barehanded. Naruto slashed and slashed, but Amaterasu blocked each strike with his wrist. In fact...he seemed faster than before.

"What's wrong? Are you getting tired?" Amaterasu taunted him.

Naruto didn't bother shouting something back, like he usually did. But those words seemed to have struck a cord with him. "Come to think of it...I am getting tired!" Naruto noted that he could go on much longer than this usually. And yet he was slowing down. But why? He fought and persevered under much worse circumstances than this. Suddenly, Amaterasu elbowed him, knocking the blonde ninja back. Naruto breathed deeply, realizing he was out of breath. "What's wrong with me!?" Naruto quickly held up two kunai as Amaterasu attacked with two hidden needles. Naruto managed to kick his face, and flip away. Quickly, he made the sign for the Kage Bushins, summoning a couple clones. Naruto could normally summon much more, but his exhaustion was getting to him. He feared he'd drain himself entirely if he summoned anymore.

"At the rate you're going, four of you should be equal to one of you a couple of minutes ago."

"Shut up." Naruto huffed. One made a charge for him, but Amaterasu punched right through him. Another did the same, but leaped into the air before the clone could touch him. The bushin (or the real one, he coudn't tell which was which) pulled out a scroll, summoning a giant shuriken, and threw it. Amaterasu dodged, but still got a bloody cut on his cheek. He was tempted to wipe it off, but Naruto didn't give him a chance. Transforming one of his bushin into a war hammer, he took a swing at Amaterasu. The dark-haired thug flipped over, and threw shuriken to counter. However, Naruto's hammer then transformed into a shield. Amaterasu prepared for another attack, but was caught in a full nelson by the other Kage Bushin. "Gotcha!" Quickly, the weapon-clone transformed back, took the real Naruto and spun him off the ground and into the air, straight into Amaterasu's face.

Amaterasu tumbled across into the floor, and almost into the black flames he created. "Ugh..." Amaterasu wiped the blood from his face, no doubt from a broken nose. He only stared at the blood in wonder...and then in rage. Clenching his fist, he growled "You will pay for that, Uzumaki Naruto."

Though it seemed Naruto had won that round, he was hunched over and panting heavily, sweating profusely and nearly losing his clones. "Something's wrong! I don't get tired so easily!"

As Amaterasu set his nose back into place, he pulled out a windmill shuriken, much like Sasuke used to own. "Get ready...it's about to get hot in here..." The weapon started to glow red, yet Amaterasu's hand showed no visible signs of burning. He threw it into the air, right above them. Judging by the trajectory alone, it looked as though it would hit nobody. Then Amaterasu made a series of hand signs, ending with the sign of the Tiger. "Katon! Ryukaa Taifuu no Jutsu!"

Suddenly, a rain of flames fell all over the area. Naruto frantically dodged, his black jacket catching flame. The Uzumaki was forced to rip off the burning sleeves to save himself from being burned, all the while avoiding more projectiles. When it seemed the firestorm was over, one of the blades of the windmill shuriken launched at him, cutting across his shoulder. "AHHHH!" Naruto fell down to his knees in pain; not only was the cut deep, but the heat of the metal must have done far more damage as well.

Amaterasu stepped forward threateningly. "If you admit defeat, I will make it painless."

Naruto growled as he pressed his hand against the wound. At least his Kyuubi chakra was closing the wound and healing the burns, but it was not fast enough. "If there was ever a time I'm happy to be a jinchuriki-!" Naruto shakily stood up. "Yeah, you're right. It's time we ended this. Sakura needs me."

"Shannarro!" Sakura once again made a punch for Tsukiyomi, the kunoichi missing by a hair. Sakura instead impacted the floor, leaving a huge hole in its place. Tsukiyomi unleashed a kunai from her sleeve and tried to stab her colorful opponent in the back. Sakura leaned to the side; it still cut her, but at least it was only skin deep. Sakura fought back with a back knuckle which Tsukiyomi dodged again. Or so it seemed. Judging from her eyes, as she took the time to smirk (Sakura couldn't be sure) Tsukiyomi doubled over and clutched her stomach. Judging by the coughing, she was experiencing hemoptysis; for those who don't study medicine, that's coughing up blood. "Even if I miss by a slow margin, I can still get you; Super Strength doesn't end with direct contact." Sakura explained to her.

"Yes...I can see that." Tsukiyomi seemingly recovered and stood straight. "Try it again."

Sakura hesitated. "She's confident she can counter my next attack. But with what? If it's genjutsu, I should be able to sense it. And I'm prepared for most forms of ninjutsu. So what can she possibly have up her sleeve?"

"What's wrong?" Tsukiyomi teased her. "Scared?" Sakura didn't take the bait; she was no hot head like Naruto was (in his youth...at least not to that extent), and it was best not to attack the enemy if their advantage lied in defense. Sakura proved to be patient...and it seemed it paid off. "Fine." Tsukiyomi growled. "I was hoping to humiliate you, but I'm tired of staying like this forever."

Tsukiyomi rushed forward with a kunai, trying to open up Sakura's mid-section. Sakura side-stepped her, and brought her fist down once more. Tsukiyomi avoided the blow, this time with no apparent injury. "What's the matter? Feeling a bit slow?" Sakura threw shuriken, easily deflected by the clone's own weapon, and Sakura brought her foot up in an ax kick, aiming for her head. Tsukiyomi disappeared from sight once more as Sakura's heel obliterated the floor beneath it. Tsukiyomi didn't even seem to be grazed when she leaped into Sakura's view again.

Sakura stopped to stare at her. "What's going on!? I'm not even hurting her anymore!" Sakura tensed up for a brief moment as she quickly analyzed the situation. Her opponent had suddenly become a lot faster than before; how she couldn't guess. But Sakura was still the stronger of the two, by a large margin. Which meant she had to slow down her opponent down so they could connect. "If fighting one one one won't work...I have to trap her!" Sakura smirked as she figured out just what to do.

Pulling out a scroll, she suddenly summoned two large battle axes. They were clumsy and unwieldy, even with her strength. Tsukiyomi had to snicker. "Hah! Even with your ridiculous strength, there is no way you can use those things effectively, especially in this environment!"

"Wanna bet?" Sakura asked innocently. She gripped the handles by her fingertips, still struggling to balance them.

She charged Tsukiyomi, who dodged easily. "Missed!" Sakura threw one of them; something of that size was hard not to avoid for a ninja. "Missed again!" Tsukiyomi said playfully as she dodged it like it was nothing. Sakura only seemed to become more furious, as she leaped to grasp both ax handles and throw the blades. If she used some skill in her previous throws, it was deteriorating rapidly. "My my. Such a big temper for such a cutesy woman like yourself! You should learn to control it; that can help you a lot..." Suddenly, out of her sleeve, Tsukiyomi summoned a pair of steel bolas attached by a chain. Wasting no time, she threw them.

By the time Sakura noticed they were there, they wrapped themselves around her feet, the weight and surprise just enough for her to lose balance. "Wahhh!" Sakura fell to the floor, a hair's breadth away from the black flames. "That was way too close!"

Sakura rolled away to see Tsukiyomi coming right at her with a dagger. "I am your end!"

"Wanna bet?" Sakura smirked. She pulled out a kunai, not to defend her person, but just pulled as far as she could.

Suddenly, Tsukiyomi screamed in pain as something tightened around her, lifting her off the ground and forcing her to drop her weapon. "You-!" She huffed furiously. "I see; those strikes...that wasn't blind fury. You missed on purpose! Those axes were bound by a wire. With each strike, you ensnared me deeper into your web without me knowing it."

"Somehow, you've gotten faster than me." Sakura agreed. "But I could still predict how you'd move with ease." Sakura removed a poisoned dagger from her back sheath. "This is the part I hate." she groaned

"On with it, then." Tsukiyomi goaded her, unafraid of what was coming.

"No." Sakura said. "As long as there's another way, I won't. If you surrender now, I'll let you go. I'll even make Naruto spare your brother. Just promise me you'll put your skills to better use elsewhere and never go out of your way to hurt someone."

Tsukiyomi only narrowed her eyes. "I'd totally spit in your face if my mask allowed it."

Sakura sighed sadly. "So be it. Forgive me...but I must finish you now!" She thrust forward...and Tsukiyomi suddenly caught Sakura's wrist, stopping it dead from hitting her heart. "Wha-?"

Sakura's eyes widened. She pushed forward, but no matter how much effort she put into it, she couldn't budge any further. "What is this!? Super strength!?"

Sakura didn't know how she knew, but she just knew Tsukiyomi was smiling underneath her mask. "Indeed."

She kicked at Sakura, who back flipped out of the way. However, Tsukiyomi retained the dagger, and cut the wire loose. Setting the blade aside, she creaked her neck. "Where in the world did you obtain the same strength as I and Tsunade-sama!?" Sakura demanded.

"Round two; ready?" Tsukiyomi asked as she ignored Sakura's question. Suddenly, she was in Sakura's face. Sakura nearly fell over in shock, but avoided Tsukiyomi's punches and remained standing. Sakura tried to counter and throw a punch of her own...which collided with Tsukiyomi's fist. Sakura hissed in pain as she drew her throbbing hand back. If this girl had strength like hers, Sakura could match her any day, but she could not receive as well as she or her opponent gave. "HAH!" Sakura ducked, avoiding a roundhouse kick by Tsukiyomi which made the wall behind her buckle like paper.

Sakura saw an opportunity, and used it to knee Tsukiyomi's core. "YES!" A blow like that would be devastating to most opponents. If anything, in Tsukiyomi's case, it would be fatal. Or so Sakura thought. Though Tsukiyomi briefly keeled over in pain, it was clear this was a blow she would recover from. "No way!" Tsukiyomi pulled out a pair of cat claws, and slashed Sakura's legs. Though the cuts weren't deep, they caused Sakura an enormous amount of pain. "How did you survive that!? That should have killed you."

Tsukiyomi snickered as she flicked the blood off the claws. "Good question. Maybe that strength you and your teacher like to brag about isn't up to par."

"Impossible!" Sakura exclaimed. "If you had that kind of strength naturally, I would have felt it!"

"There's a lot of things you don't know." Tsukiyomi charged, coming at her with the claws.

Sakura managed to avoid each one by the skin of her teeth, as a blow from either fist or claw would be the end. "There has to be a trick to this! Her speed, her strength, her durability! She's too good! It has to be something else! What am I not seeing!?" Frantically, she soft-blocked all of Tsukiyomi's hits, being careful not to rely on brute strength. Tsukiyomi caught her off guard, throwing shuriken point-blank and actually managing to cut Sakura's cheek. Sakura rolled out of the way, but as soon as she stood, Tsukiyomi was upon her. She punched, and Sakura instinctively used her shoulder to guard. Sakura screamed in pain as she felt her shoulder joint shatter like glass.

"Suiryudan!" Kakashi unleashed a wave of water out of nowhere, bombarding Susanoo with water.

Though the clone went down, he wasn't out. Kakashi seemingly came from above, brandishing a kunai. "How cute!" Susanoo stabbed Kakashi with his own kunai...and the bushin dissipated. Kakashi was directly behind it, trying to punch Susanoo. But the seemingly younger ninja parried his blow and followed with a kick to the stomach.

Though Kakashi grunted in pain, he crouched down and swept Susanoo off his feet. Before he could come in contact with the floor, Kakashi kicked him up and followed him. Quickly wrapping his arms around him, Kakashi began to spin with him like a power drill. "Primary Lotus!" The two spun around in the air like a missile, crashing though many unborn clones' chambers; Kakashi made it a point to avoid Obito at all costs. Finally, they came in contact with the steel floor, putting a large dent into it.

Kakashi quickly jumped back to survey the damage. Susanoo was bruised, but he could still fight as he kiyupped up immediately. Kakashi was not given time to figure out how he survived it as Susanoo came at him with an attack he was all too familiar with. "Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

Kakashi quickly pulled down his mask and countered with the same technique. "Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Both shot fireballs, engaging in a duel of who had the better fireball. The two fireballs were at a standstill, and both ninjas knew they couldn't waste chakra like this.

Susanoo was the first to break the standoff, charging right into the flame. "Hayabusa Keri!" Like the falcon from which the technique was named, Susanoo dove right into Kakashi, spinning his entire body and nailing the copy ninja with extraordinary centripetal force.

Kakashi rolled across the floor, doing his best to get his bearings straight. "Ohh..."

Susanoo suddenly jumped on top of him and began to choke him. Kakashi tried to push his arms off, which in most traditional martial arts was ill-advised, and pointless as Susanoo had superior leverage on him. "Is that really all you've got? Is this all you can do against the face of your friend!?" Susanoo taunted him.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "There's a lot of things I couldn't do to Obito." Kakashi choked out. "But as long as your not really him, his face won't do you any good against me!" Kakashi dropped one arm to the floor, pulling out a shuriken. He charged it with lightning chakra, and threw it. Though he didn't have enough room for proper momentum, the energy he put into it allowed it to fly towards Susanoo's face at acceptable speed, fast enough that he couldn't see it out of the corner of his eye.

"Ahhhh!" Susanoo released Kakashi, stepping back and clutching his left eye. As Kakashi rolled away, Susanoo took a deep breath and released his face. A large trickle of blood covered his face, but his sharingan remained intact. "Huh." he smiled. "I'll need a good story to go along with this scar."

Kakashi threw more shuriken, which Susanoo cartwheeled away from. Kakashi rushed him, grappling him. Before Susanoo could employ any counter measures, a kunai suddenly pierced Kakashi from behind, through his mid-section and towards Susanoo's face. Though it just broke the skin above his nose, Susanoo escaped, chuckling. "Impressive! I didn't even see you use any signs for a kage bushin!" Susanoo spun in the air trying to round kick Kakashi, who blocked. Susanoo's strikes began to increase in frequency significantly, until Kakashi caught a punch to his stomach. He didn't have time to heave though; Susanoo punched along the same line at increasingly impossible speed. "Raikou panchi!" The final blow sent Kakashi rolling like a marble and into the wall. "Fought someone in a foreign land." Susanoo explained. "He had a very quick and precise Taijutsu style; I just had to copy it for myself."

Kakashi rubbed his chest, thankful that no bones were broken yet. "Well, it is impressive. But you're no Might Guy."

Kakashi tossed a smoke bomb, seemingly vanishing to the naked eye. But for someone with the sharingan, his steps were easy to trace. "Such a mundane maneuver may work against many...but not the Uchiha! You of all people should know that!" Susanoo prepared another fire jutsu. "Katon! Gouryuka no Jutsu!" Susanoo unleashed fireballs resembling dragon heads, their power hot enough to melt steel. Kakashi was forced to retreat from his hiding spot in the walls, dodging each fireball. He tried to throw something at Susanoo, another smoke bomb by the looks of it, but missed. "What was that!? Not even a genin could miss that bad!" Susanoo uppercutted Kakashi, sending him spinning. Kakashi quickly recovered, and charged again. He tossed more objects, Susanoo dodging each with ease. "You cannot be serious!" Susanoo laughed. "If it didn't work before, it's sure not to work again!" Susanoo struck Kakashi again with his palm, sending him falling to the floor.

Quickly, the clone pulled out a dagger. "I'm disappointed; you were hyped up in the ninja world, but as usual, you were standard at best. I'm not even going to bother keeping a piece of you for a souvenir." He moved to behead him...and found he was stuck. "What the-!?" Looking down, he saw the entire floor was covered in a tar-like substance! "Those things! He wasn't aiming at me!"

Kakashi kiyupped, and brushed himself off. "I had to render you immobile to make sure I defeated you; those with the sharingan are rather tricky. Naruto and I were swapping ideas to improve our ninjutsu. This was one of his; of course, we needed Sakura's help to come up with the right mixture of chemicals."

Kakashi prepared to make his hand signs, but hesitated. "What?" Susanoo asked, unconcerned.

"You're right; this is harder than it should be."

Susanoo chuckled as he stroked his face. "Guess this really does come in handy."

"You were raised as an assassin with no choice in the matter, not even to make an identity of your own. I'm sure that's caused you some resentment." Kakashi titled his head slightly, looking at him with his sharingan. "Tell me the truth; I can see the twitches of your facial muscles and eye movements with this." he said, pointing to his sharingan. "My hearing can hear your heartbeat as well."

"Ah. A living lie detector." Susanoo said, amused instead of intimidated.

"If I told you you could give up the life you had now, and leave Tigre or whoever it was to me...would you live your life peacefully? Maybe join a legitimate village?"

Susanoo only sneered. "Thanks for the offer; that's mighty generous of you. But my answer...is no."

"And why is that?"

"You should understand the sharingan. Everyone will only see the eyes, and not the person behind them. It is a weapon to be coveted and feared. And those with power will always want to control for more power. I'll either be somehow forced to serve someone...or my eyes may be taken from me and rendered blind. I'd imagine not even in your village was that eye easy to hold onto."

Kakashi knew that all too well; he always suspected the attempts on his life in ANBU were from Danzo's influence, but he never had proof. It was only due to his skill today that allowed him to stay alive. "So...you would prefer death?"

"In a battle in which I loose, yes."

Kakashi sighed sadly. "Very well then. I'm sorry...but this is what you requested." Kakashi completed the hand signs and formed his Raikiri. "May you find peace in the after life." Kakashi charged, and thrust his Raikiri...but he met resistance inches from Susanoo's heart. "What's this!?"

Some force was blocking him. It began to become visible, as a purple chakra surrounded the clone. Soon, it took form. Like a living skeleton with samurai armor, though the skull looked rather demonic. "You wanted to know what that fake Tigre was doing!? Mixing his blood with the Uchihas!?" Susanoo yelled. "THIS is his power! His Kekkei Genkai! Jiton!"

Suddenly, the behemoth's arm cocked back, aiming for Kakashi. Quickly, Kakashi leaped back, avoiding becoming nothing but a splat on the floor. "Jiton!?" Kakashi looked at the fearsome beast encasing Susanoo. "Impossible! A kekkei genkai like that would have never gone unnoticed!"

"Under most circumstances, you would be right." Susanoo concurred. "But...well, it's rather complicated. His bloodline is thought to be a diluted form of a powerful ninjutsu...the history's rather sketchy. Anyway, the chakra can become more solid, infect enemies...however, it's application in combat from what I understand, was limited."

Something clicked in Kakashi's mind. "I see. He studied it, wanted to make it more powerful, and became a genetic expert. That's how he met Orochimaru..."

"Exactly. And through Orochimaru's own dark studies, he concluded the sharingan was the key to unlocking its full potential. Even then, there were only a few successful outcomes; perhaps a flaw in the cloning process. It doesn't matter; as you are about to see, I was his greatest success!"

Susanoo retrieved a vial from his sleeve, and smashed it onto the floor. The tar melted away, and Susanoo walked again, coming menacingly close to Kakashi. "And I should congratulate you. I've perfected this jutsu, but never had a chance to use it in combat. I wonder: how long can you last...against this?" Like an animal, Susanoo charged and flung his arm back. The arm of the chakra skeleton did the same, looking to slash Kakashi like paper. Kakashi rolled out of the way, the skeleton's claws leaving it's mark on the floor. Kakashi threw an explosive tag straight at him...but it had no effect. "If Raikiri didn't work...well, I'd imagine nothing else you've got works now."

Suddenly, a sword formed in his spectral hand. Kakashi dodged every strike, but with a weapon that large traveling that fast, there was little room for error. "How!? What can I do against this thing!?" The sword suddenly transformed into a bow, and formed a thin arrow inside. Too fast for even his sharingan, the arrow fired, piercing his side with enough force to pin him to the wall. "Ahhh!" Kakashi withered in agony. Though he tried to pull it out, he felt is strength pouring out of him. It was moot as the weapon turned back into a sword, and pierced his mid-section. Kakashi's mask quickly turned a dark red as he vomited blood.

"How disappointing." Susanoo hissed. He suddenly dragged the copy ninja against the wall with his sword and threw him off, Kakashi crumpling like a rag doll. "I was hoping you would last longer...oh well, no helping it now. I suppose forcing me to draw out my real power is praise enough." He walked over to Kakashi, and raised his sword arm. "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer anymore..."

None of this reached Kakashi as his world went black...

Yuji was kicked down as the twins attacked at once; as one of them pinned down Yuji, the other went straight for Tazuna. "No!"

Yuji fired a wire, impaling the young kunoichi in the back. "Argh!" Though it stopped her, it missed her spine and did not pierce anything vital. Yuji quickly kicked up his captor, and though she cracked the roof on impact, it seemed she was fine in a moment. Yuji attacked the one closest to the Utoxas, using a myriad of kicks. "My, such spirit." the kunoichi said as she dodged his kicks. "I can't afford to have those hit me!" She clenched her fist, and two metal claws sprung from her wrist.

She slashed Yuji's side, and though it tore his vest, no physical lacerations were visible. "I'd ask where you got a tool like that if you'd let me!" Quickly, he punched the concrete, the shock wave sending the kunoichi flying. Before the spectacled ninja could gloat, the other twin got her legs around his throat and slammed him to the ground. "Ohh..." Yuji pulled a kunai hidden in his leg and slashed at her, but the kunoichi released him and cartwheeled away without any damage as she joined her sister.

"He's good, sister."

"Yes, that much is clear. But, not good enough I suspect."

"I agree. Shall we do it? Together?"

"Yes. Together, truly." the other agreed.

"Oi, the way you two talk is way too creepy for me!" Yuji yelled as he got into a defensive position. The two rushed him, one reaching him first. She punched, Yuji blocked. However, her sister followed her perfectly, her punch outside of Yuji's defense range. Yuji shouted in pain as it connected with his kidney, not even his kekkei genkai acting fast enough to warn him. He stumbled, and leaned back to avoid a kick from one of the two aimed for his head. Again, he dodged that one, only to be nailed by a similar but differently angled kick to his sternum. Yuji fell, breathing heavily. He rolled away before two heel-stomps could get him. "They're perfectly in sync with one another..." He got ready for battle, but continued thinking. "No, that's impossible in battle. No amount of training can get you to follow your partner's moves so perfectly in a real fight. Too many variables."

Yuji jumped back as the two attacked as one. However, the one that was normally attacking a little bit behind jumped forward, smashing his ribs with a double-palmed strike. "Ack!" Yuji flew into the wall, leaving a few cracks behind him. "Ohhh...I think she cracked a rib..." Yuji quickly tossed a smoke bomb, disappearing from sight.

The two sisters looked to the Utoxas. "He abandoned his quarry. Shall we?" one asked, unleashing her claws.

"No." her twin sister warned her. "It's obviously too easy. He must have had some plan for them if we got too close. Let's find him first; he couldn't have gotten far..."

As she predicted, Yuji was actually right outside on the beach, having draped a sand-colored blanket over him. It wouldn't last long, but he hoped it would work long enough. Underneath, he healed his injury as best he could. "God damn, I'm not good at this if I'm hurt myself!" He took deep but silent breaths. "It would've helped a lot if they took the bait..."

Suddenly, the blanket was lifted off his back, the two sisters looking down on him like irritated predators. "Damn. I was hoping you two were a lot dumber than you look." he replied sarcastically.

"We can assure you, you're as dumb as you look." The drew their sharp weapons, both preparing to stab him. Yuji tossed what seemed to be another smoke bomb onto the sand. "That won't work twice!" The smoke enveloped them, and they planned on fighting through the stinging tears to impale him. However, it was more than that; they felt their own muscles going numb.

Quickly, they backed away from the cloud, immediately feeling better. Quickly, Yuji came from behind, grabbing one in a sleeper hold. Wasting no time, he activated a chakra scalpel, and dug into her side. As the one he had screamed, the other attacked, this time with ninjutsu.

"Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!" The fireball ran towards them. Yuji's prey elbowed him before the fireball reached them, and Yuji tried to clear the line of fire (so to speak).

However, he wasn't fast enough, as the flames caught his ankle. "OH, SON OF A-"

"Quick! Before he heals!" The two rushed him in perfect precision. And this time, Yuji was taking each of the hits. His burned ankle kept him crippled, the pain and ferocity of their attacks broke his concentration, and his slo-mo sense had worn off. "This..." An elbow streaked across his face. "...looks..." A side kick hit his ribs. "like..." A standard punch across the face. "...the..." His last thought never came, as two kicks from opposite sides but identical angles caught his throat. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the sand.

"He was more resourceful than he looks." one of the twins said to her sister.

"Yes. Let's kill him now." The two sisters unveiled two ninjato, deciding whether to go for his heart or his head...

"DIE!" Iori jumped, sending her shin into Taka's nose.

It connected, as the aging ninja stumbled back and clutched his face as it was about to become a geyser of blood. "You! You'll pay-" Taka didn't get to finish as Iori reversed punched him across the chin. "You-!" Taka jumped back as Iori tried to knee him. Taka took the time to calm down, a demented grin appearing on his face...

Suddenly, Iori grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. Taka only choked out a smile as he and Iori stared at one another. "What? Go on; finish me." he goaded her.

Iori seemed like she wanted to, desperately, but something held her back. She pressed harder on his trachea, his smile refusing to disappear. "Are you telling me you feel nothing?" Iori asked. "Not the slightest tinge of regret!? No desire to repent for all you've done!?" She gulped down a deep breath of air. "Is there any redeeming quality to you at all!?" she suddenly screamed.

"And why should I feel bad about anything?" Taka choked out. "Your mother turned against me and spat in my face. I'd say I gave her what was coming to her." Iori silenced him with a punch to the stomach. "You think I'm evil? Perhaps; quite frankly I don't give a damn. If there's anything I regret, it was not going after you when you were just a little girl, if only to make your father suffer more..."

"SHUT UP!" Iori clocked him from the side. He just lay there, while Iori stared off into nothing and clenched her fists, ignoring everything she learned as a ninja. "I see." Iori began to tremble. "You feel nothing for anyone or anything but yourself." Tears stroked down her cheeks, though she didn't know why. "Fine."Iori pulled a kunai from her back. "I'll finish this now." She didn't want to say it out loud. But she had to acknowledge to herself she thought it. "Forgive me."

She brought the kunai down...and suddenly spectral chains emerged from her arm, pinning her down. "What the-!?" Iori tried to pull her arm back, but it held fast.

Taka, meanwhile, only got up and laughed. "My Kekkei Genkai." he replied. "Until recently no one in my family for 3 generations has been able to tap into it. But thanks to my experiments here, I've found out how to activate it."

"Ughhh!" Iori screamed as she tried to rip her arm away. "What the hell is this stuff!?"

"Jiton. Gives the chakra physical mass. My Ibara Bushin made small cuts in your arms and deposited minute amounts of my chakra into your bloodstream. I then activate it, and it takes form. I only wished I figured out how to use it sooner... " He suddenly pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing a thick scar. "Your mother gave this to me. It wouldn't have been so unpleasant for both of us if she simply didn't resist. Now that I have it...I think I'll make up for my lack of usage years ago..."

Iori's eyes widened, changing from rage to horror. Time seemed to slow down for her as she saw his hand close in on her chin. "What's this?" He's not..." His words echoed through her head again; she could no longer deny the truth about her situation. "He is..."

Suddenly, she screamed in terror. She brought her kama down, slicing his hand and shattering the anchor point of the chain.

"Damn!" Taka yelled as he gripped his hand. Iori made a break for it, her fear overwhelming her need for revenge. However, the chain began attaching to another part of the floor. "I'm afraid it's not so easily destroyed my dear. As long as my heart beats, it will stay. It takes tremendous force to shatter it...force I doubt you have."

Iori frantically yanked her arm back and fourth in a desperate attempt to unshackle it. "How does it feel?" Taka asked as he approached ever so slowly, toying with her. "Powerless? Good...it should. It's always better to submit and keep some of your freedom, instead of resist and have it all taken away..."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Iori found her kama and frantically sliced at him. Despite the chain weighing her down, her movements managed to carry her towards his face.

"AHHHH! YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Taka screamed as he clutched his eye. Blood poured down, but Iori instead used what time she had to slice the chain off. "Hack at it all you want." Taka hissed. He slowly removed his hands from his eye, revealing it was still intact; all Iori left was a scar. "It's almost impossible to break with brute force. By the time you're finished, I will be too."

Iori trembled in fear, as she frantically did everything in her power to release her bonds...

"Shannaro!" Sakura cocked back her fist, Tsukiyomi doing the same. Their fists collided, creating a shock wave that nearly put out the flames around them. By all means, it should have been a stalemate. But suddenly, blood squirted from Sakura's fist, and a finger bent the wrong way. "AHHH!"

Tsukiyomi threw another punch. Sakura moved to the side, the fist grazing her arm. However, when their strength was at play, even a graze meant serious injury, as Sakura felt her humerus split in half. Her hands were now crippled; not even her medical jutsu could save her now. The loss of balance brought her to her knees, her arms hanging limply from her body.

"It must be a fascinating feeling." Tsukiyomi commented as if she was witnessing an apprentice. "When was the last time you felt this helpless? Not since childhood, I bet."

"Actually..." Sakura panted. "It was a couple years ago. Long story" She hoped talking would delay the masked kunoichi enough for her to figure out a plan.

"Interesting. It's certainly not a feeling I would want to deal with. But, I digress..." A kunai slid from her sleeve, and into her hand. Twirling it playfully, Sakura guessed she smiled underneath her mask. "I think it's time we end this."

Sakura moved her foot back, a movement that did not go unnoticed by Tsukiyomi. "What's wrong? Worried I'm going to kill you?"

Sakura gave her a puzzled look. "If you weren't...well, you sure fooled me."

"I sincerely apologize for giving you the wrong impression." Tsukiyomi hissed with her demon-like voice. "I was only trying to break your back and keep you around as my little plaything!"

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "That's the last time I ask the bad guys about their motivation!" Sakura quickly ran off using nothing but leg power. Tsukiyomi seemed amused, and decided to play cat and mouse a little longer. She kept her speed just below Sakura's, one that would have let her be easily caught by a more serious ninja. Tsukiyomi threw shuriken in front of her prey, throwing her off at each turn. Sakura managed to maintain her agility, but sacrificed her balance with her useless arms. Quickly, seeing a piece of flaming debris, Sakura kicked it up like a soccer ball and kicked it towards the other kunoichi. When it got near her, Tsukiyomi vanished.

Before Sakura could guess where she was, an arm wrapped around her neck. Tsukiyomi prepared to squeeze the life out of her. However, Sakura proved to be more flexible than expected as she spat paper across Tsukiyomi's face. The paper was a group of mini-explosive tags, covered in her blood (from biting her tongue) which acted as the trigger. The scraps exploded in Tsukiyomi's face, forcing her to release Sakura. "AGGH!" Sakura, seeing only one chance, balanced herself on one foot and did a spinning kick, sending Tsukiyomi several offices down the hall.

It seemed she wasn't getting up; Sakura collapsed onto her knees in relief. "That was pretty clever of you." Sakura panicked as she saw Tsukiyomi walk into the flames. "If it wasn't for my chakra control, that would have turned my ribcage into gravel." Sakura trembled in fear. There was no escape now. Despite her lost hope, she tried to stand.

Weak from the fight and trembling in fear, she could not gain balance, and before she knew it, Tsukiyomi stood behind her. "Your body's broken, just like everyone else that's ever faced me. But, I'll give you this much. Your spirit was a lot tougher than I expected it be. But it won't save you now." Sakura felt Tsukiyomi grab onto her lower back, and lifted her off the floor. She nearly begged for mercy; what little pride she had left would not allow her to plead for her life, and the logical part of her brain also dictated that begging would be useless against these killers. "Sayonara." Tsukiyomi brought Sakura down on her knee, and she felt the bones in her spine crack.

There was an enormous spike of pain, and then...nothing. Everything went numb. Sakura commanded her body to move, even just her fingers. But nothing responded. "No..."

Tsukiyomi knelled down and patted her pink head, delivering the final insult. "Oh, don't worry now. It won't be so bad. You'll never have to work again, you can stay in bed all day, people will take care of you around the clock, and even clean up after you, just like I bet your mommy once did." A single tear crawled out of Sakura's eye. " Well, I better get going. I'm sure Amaterasu can handle your boyfriend...but, better safe than sorry."

Sakura couldn't even tilt her neck to see where Tsukiyomi was heading. She didn't know what was more terrifying; either being a rag doll the rest of her life, or being helpless to aid Naruto when he needed her. "Naruto..."

Naruto blocked Amaterasu's strikes as best he could. However, his exhaustion and wounded shoulder were doing him no favors. Amaterasu suddenly flipped around and kicked Naruto in the face, sending him sprawling. Naruto tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out, the muscle still not fully healed. Amaterasu only looked over him coldly. A clapping noise could be heard, as Tsukiyomi walked into their side of the ring, the black flames parting to let her pass.

"Bravo, brother. Bravo."

"Tsukiyomi...I told you to stay out of my fights."

"I am." Tsukiyomi replied defensively. "I'm still entitled to watch, aren't I?"

Amaterasu rolled his eyes. "Siblings...anyway, I think it's time we wrapped things up; if you've a way to win, now's the time." he said to Naruto.

Naruto took a deep breath, supporting himself on his knees as he rose. "I'll make you regret suggesting that!"

Naruto summoned two bushins, and tossed a smoke bomb, allowing them to disappear from sight. "Not much of a grand finale." One bushin attacked Amaterasu from the side, but the genetically engineered ninja kicked him into the fire. Suddenly, Naruto emerged from the black flames, a rasengan in his hand. "Impossible!" Though the fire was burning his skin asunder, Naruto still charged at full speed, ignoring the pain and what would become irreperable damage. Amaterasu pulled out a kunai and prepared to intercept him. Calculating speed and distance with his sharingan, he concluded he would win decisively. As he raised the kunai above Naruto's neck, an explosion occurred behind him. He leaped into the air out of instinct, as Naruto suddenly vanished in a poof of smoke. "That wasn't the real one!"

Indeed, the real Naruto was right above him, having punched a hole through the floor earlier while the bushins distracted him and placing an explosive tag behind the false Uchiha, allowing him to leap back into the main floor. Now, the jinchuriki had him right where he wanted him! "Rasengan!"

Quickly, Amaterasu tossed a lit cherry bomb towards Naruto. Though it missed, it was close enough to throw his rasengan off course. Amaterasu shot a fireball directly at Nartuo, while the rasengan only grazed his face. Amaterasu screamed in pain as he kicked Naruto off. Somehow, the blond ninja not as badly burnt as he should have been, but now he was definitely out of the fight. Naruto struggled to sit up, but Amaterasu was upon him and impaled his legs with two kunai, to which Naruto screamed in pain. "It's done." Amaterasu announced, huffing.

Amaterasu carefully ran his hand over the area Naruto's rasengan had scratched. His skin was stretched and twisted in that area...he narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "Tsukiyomi." he said sharply. "I know you're not a medical ninja, but can I get your expert opinion on this?"

Tsukiyomi quickly looked it over. "I'm sorry, brother. I...I fear it's permanent."

Amaterasu rubbed his face again, as Tsukiyomi held a small mirror to his eyes. At first, he was irritated, but slowly showed a sadistic smile. "You know, I may actually grow to like this."

Tsukiyomi smiled under her mask as well. "There's the brother I know."

"And what of your opponent?" Amaterasu asked. "What became of her?"

"It's one blink for yes and two blinks for no, right?" she asked.

Amaterasu smirked, catching her drift. "To be honest, I hope you got that wrong. It'll be amusing if her nurses keep feeding her soup that's too hot."

"What..." Naruto panted, struggling to stand, but he was pinned to the floor by the two kunai. "...what did you do to her?"

"Oh, nothing much." Tsukiyomi said. "Just shattered a vertebrae or two. The ones in the cervical region; cuts off function and sensation to all 4 limbs."

Naruto tried to stand again, but was still helpless. "I'll kill you!" he screamed, tears flowing down his face. The twins jumped back in fright as his blue eyes turn red with animalistic pupils and fangs in his mouth. However, it quickly faded as he fell back to the floor, exhausted from heat stroke and blood loss.

"What was that!?" Tsukiyomi exclaimed, shaken at what she just saw.

"I don't know." Amaterasu answered. A trickle of sweat slid down his brow. "But we should kill him now." he said with certainty.

"I dunno." Tsukiyomi insisted as she calmed down. "I'm almost tempted to let them live. If only to see them suffer. Watch their dreams fall into oblivion and curse the day they chose to become ninja..."

"Tsukiyomi!" Amaterasu interrupted. "You wouldn't be able to see that suffering for yourself! Let's put an end to this. I can't describe it...but I fear if we drag this out, we will unleash something we cannot stop."

Tsukiyomi rolled her eyes. "Fine. You make a good point anyway..."

Naruto growled, trying everything he could to force his body up and lash out at them physically. Despite Kyuubi's chakra increasingly flowing through his veins, he still maintained the core of his sanity. "Sakura! Whatever happens...I promise I'll make it alright! I swear it!"

I figured I'll leave it here and have you all hanging. Don't worry, things are going to work out, I can promise you that much. Also, I know I'm updating way too slow, and I promise to strive to improve on that. Anyway, thanks for reading, whatever reviews you give me, and I hope you all continue to enjoy!

Hori-Digger

Churippu-Tulip

Arashi-Storm

Chuuseki

Ryukaa Taifuu-Dragon Fire Hurricane

Hayabusa Keri-Falcon Kick

Raikou Panchi-Lightning Punch

Jiton-Hell Release

Ibara-Thorn