April 5th 2005:

Moonlight shone through the clouds above the log-cabin. Suigetsu Hozuki and Kimimaro Kaguya were fast asleep on their seats. Ryomen Sukuna and Utakata were both wide awake.

It had been a short month since the Hidden-Leaf had neutralized Deidara and Kakuzu. There was also more dire news from Utakata's information network — Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin had perished.

Sukuna pressed his lips into a thin line, looking at the scroll in his hand that had contained the information about the result of Jiraiya's fight against the Akatsuki's leader. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Nagato was much too powerful for Sukuna to face off in battle at the moment. Sukuna wasn't confident enough in himself to believe his strength was enough to crush someone who had the Rinnegan.

Jiraiya and Sukuna had seldom talked to each other back when Sukuna had been a Genin in the Hidden-Leaf village. Though—he had helped Jiraiya and Naruto in convincing Tsunade to return to Konoha.

"I know this game." Sukuna had flattened the scroll in his hand. "But I'm nothing compared to people like Madara and Obito Uchiha."

"Sukuna, are you alright?" Utakata lifted an eye-brow in mild concern. "I didn't think you would get so emotional over the Toad-Sage's death."

"I'm fine." Sukuna tossed the scroll onto the table. "It's Naruto that I'm worried about. Jiraiya was his teacher, so he's the real one affected."

"He'll want revenge." Utakata pointed out. "It's natural. The Akatsuki have been targeting him and his mentor was killed in the middle of it."

"Like Sasuke."

Sasuke Uchiha had kept himself under the radar for the last month. Utakata had speculated this was because he was focused on tracking down Itachi Uchiha and killing him. Either Itachi lived or Sasuke died.

"But you do realize the repercussions that Jiraiya's death will have?" Utakata pinched the bridge of his nose. "The Five-Kage will meet."

"You know that a Five-Kage-Summit won't be called until the Kage themselves feel like it."

"I forgot how stubborn each of them can be." Utakata shook his head in disbelief. "What's our chances of beating the Akatsuki's leader?"

"Low, I'd reckon." Sukuna grimaced. "It took Sasuke, Naruto, and me to beat Orochimaru at a weakened level. Maybe we could defeat him."

A full-on Domain-Expansion on Nagato would deal at least some major damage if they fought, but the Six-Paths-Of-Pain were tenacious. The Naraka-Path of Pain had the ability to heal all damage.

"We all have to become stronger." Utakata folded his arms. "I'll have to find a way to get Saiken to let me control some more of his chakra."

"Kimimaro has to learn how to use his Dead-Bone-Pulse on a more versatile level." Utakata said. "Suigetsu has to get a better weapon."

"Samehada would suit him." Utakata scratched his chin. "But that would mean taking it from Kisame and we can't risk a battle just yet."

"And—you—Sukuna." Utakata sighed, glancing at his teammate. "You could become the strongest out of the four of us if you train enough."

"The strongest, huh?" Sukuna's grimace worsened. "I want to become the strongest, but I've never even given that goal a second thought."

"Your bloodline limit is unique." Utakata told him. "You can control blood, summon creatures from the shadows, and slash at everything."

"It was pure luck that I had gotten so many Cursed-Techniques." Sukuna mused. "My Dismantle and Cleave used to be so weak."

"And—of course—Mahoraga." Sukuna clenched his fist. "I've kinda been hesitating on taming it, but there is going to be war soon…"

"The four of us will have to train to not lose." Utakata placed the scrolls on the table into his pouch. "I have a bad feeling about all of this."

(-)

April 6th 2005:

Naruto sat in the corner of his bed-room, leaning against the wall. Dark circles from his exhaustion marred his whiskered features. A half-eaten cup of Ramen had been tossed across his bed-room.

Jiraiya's death had blindsided him. The Sannin had spent most of his time teaching Naruto the basics of Senjutsu until he had recieved detailed information about the leader of the Akatsuki's whereabouts.

The leader of the Akatsuki dwelling in Amegakure had been a mere suspicion until Jiraiya had gotten more concrete evidence about it. Jiraiya had set out afterwards, then lost his life against the Akatsuki.

Anger coursed through Naruto's veins. Naruto blamed himself for his weakness, wondering if he could have helped Jiraiya against the leader of the Akatsuki. Was this how Sasuke felt? Naruto sighed.

According to Fukasaku, the leader of the Akatsuki was called Pain and he had used multiple bodies to fight Jiraiya somehow. Naruto rose to his feet, left his room, slipped on his sandals, and exited his home.

Stepping out of the entrance of his apartment, Naruto realized that Kakashi Hatake had propped himself against the wall. Bored blue eyes looked at Kakashi and Naruto grunted. "What is it, Sensei?"

Kakashi flipped his book into his other gloved hand. "I wanted to check up on you, Naruto. You left lady Hokage's office in complete silence."

"Pervy-Sage is dead because of the Akatsuki." Naruto remarked in a tired tone. "And I wasn't able to help him out whatsoever, Sensei."

"Don't blame yourself, Naruto." Kakashi responded. "Trust me, I understand how easy it must feel to put all of the blame on yourself."

"The Akatsuki are after me, Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto gritted his teeth, blue eyes flickering an enraged crimson. "How is it not my fault?!"

"Lord Jiraiya knew the risks, Naruto." Kakashi said. "He was meant to just gather information for Konoha, but it devolved into a battle."

"I know this must sound cliche, but lord Jiraiya wouldn't want you moping around on his account. He'd want you to keep on training."

"I know that!" Naruto wiped the tears in his eyes, feeling more and more frustrated. "Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to do, huh?!"

"Train and master Senjutsu." Kakashi answered. "I heard from Fukasaku that Jiraiya had taught you the basics at Mount-Myoboku."

"Yeah, he did teach me the basics of Sage-Mode." Naruto nodded. "That geezer Fukasaku wanted me to return to finish my training."

"And that's what you'll do." Kakashi took out a picture of the code that Jiraiya had drawn on Fukasaku's back. "But help me decode this image, please."

(-)

Obito Uchiha materialized on the top of a crumbled building on the outskirts of Amegakure in a swirling portal. Black-Zetsu unearthed itself from the surface of the building and waited in eerie silence.

"I assume that you have heard of the Toad-Sage's death?" Obito asked Black-Zetsu. "Konoha has become quite weakened."

"Let Nagato handle the nine-tails situation." Black-Zetsu rasped out. "Your focus should extend to that foul creature—Ryomen Sukuna."

"He has helped the six-tails Jinchuriki." Obito spoke, lost in thought. "They will be the last of our concerns. How fares Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Itachi and Sasuke will clash soon enough." Black-Zetsu's golden eyes peered at Obito. "Do you intend to tell him the truth afterwards?"

"If the situation calls for it." Obito's Mangekyo-Sharingan gazed at Black-Zetsu in return. "But let Sasuke and Itachi battle it out."

"Nagato will pursue the nine-tails." Obito adjusted his gloves. "Sasuke will fight Itachi. Though, the eight-tails has been hidden away."

"Despite his temperament, the Raikage makes sound decisions." Obito chuckled. "I believe there will be a Five-Kage-Summit."

A twisted smile crossed Black-Zetsu's face. "I have no care for that. How will you handle the capture of the eight-tails Jinchuriki?"

Obito looked uncowed. "I will see to it myself. It is quite an issue—however—that the Raikage has hidden him so well."

"I still believe that Ryomen Sukuna is a concern." Black-Zetsu's smile dulled. "Do you think the Infinite-Tsukuyomi will even ensnare him?"

"He is immune to Genjutsu." Obito replied. "But the Infinite-Tsukuyomi is grander than any Genjutsu imaginable. It will ensnare him indeed."

"This blasted world will crumble." Obito thought and vanished in a swirling portal. "The Infinite-Tsukuyomi will put everything into order."

(-)

April 20th 2005:

Sasuke waded through the bushes of a forest, blade sheathed. Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki had split up and had gone their separate ways. It was how Sasuke realized that Itachi had detected his presence.

Maintaining his emotionless and blank demeanour, Sasuke looked up at the remains of one of the Uchiha-Clan's fallen hideouts and entered it. The long hallway around him had the door to a room at the end.

Itachi had disappeared through the entrance to this place earlier.

Traversing the hallway, Sasuke pushed open the door to the room where Itachi had stationed himself in. Sitting on a throne, Itachi stared at Sasuke in complete indifference. Sasuke tilted his head in return.

"You will not survive this fight, Sasuke."

"So be it, Itachi, but neither will you." Sasuke unsheathed his blade, activated his Sharingan, and chuckled. "I can accept that outcome."

(-)

April 22nd 2005:

Kimimaro drew out a blade-like bone from himself, rushing at Sukuna in a distortion of speed and stabbing it into his shoulder. Sukuna twisted around, embedding a vicious punch into Kimimaro's chest.

A surge of cursed-energy soon followed, resulting in a second impact. Kimimaro let out a harsh cough, felt the sharp stout bones that protruded from his chest shatter, and stumbled several feet back.

Pulling the blade-line bone lodged into his shoulder out of it, Sukuna tossed it aside and cracked his neck. Reverse-Cursed-Technique healed his shoulder and his mangled hand. Those bones were dense.

"It's incredible." Utakata watched the spar from the sidelines. "Any injuries that Sukuna receives can be healed in a matter of seconds."

"Kimimaro hasn't used his Curse-Mark." Utakata mused. "His physical power and chakra levels increase whenever he activates the mark."

Kimimaro was more used to handling weapons rather than pure hand-to-hand combat. Utakata intended for him to learn how to incorporate a mixture of his bloodline limit and Taijutsu into his skillset.

Closing in on Sukuna in a flash of speed, Kimimaro conjured a sharpened bone around his entire arm and drove his elbow into Sukuna's rib-cage. Spinning in a circle, Kimimaro lashed his leg out.

Orochi's upper-half emerged from the shadows, blocking the kick. Sukuna dismissed his Shikigami, then shot forward and smacked a haymaker into Kimimaro's jaw. The bones set on his face broke.

"Stop!" Utakata yelled. "I think that's enough fighting for one day. Good work, but all four of us still have skills and abilities we could improve."

Kimimaro dispersed the bones coated around himself. Suigetsu hopped off of his chair, leaving a random scroll on top of it. Utakata grabbed the scroll, sliding it into his pouch. Sukuna stretched a little.

Utakata had retrieved his newest batch of scrolls from his information network this morning, but hadn't read through them yet. Opening a scroll up, Utakata widened his eyes. "Sasuke has killed Itachi Uchiha!"

"Not surprising." Suigetsu snorted. "Itachi obliterated the rest of the Uchiha. You think he'll be going back to the Hidden-Leaf now?"

Sukuna shrugged. "No clue."

Kimimaro and Utakata went into the log-cabin to discuss the topic. Suigetsu entered the log-cabin to find some food to eat. Sukuna sat on the wooden-platform constructed around it, sighing to himself.

Since Sasuke had killed Itachi, there was a chance Obito had told Sasuke the truth behind the massacre of the Uchiha-Clan. Utakata had also learned that Naruto had ventured off to Mount-Myoboku.

"Nagato will attack the Hidden-Leaf." Sukuna was hunched forward. "I'm still not sure if I'm even powerful enough to fight Pain yet."

Was he underestimating or overestimating himself? Once Naruto mastered Sage-Mode, he would stand a decent chance against Pain. Scratching his hair, Sukuna rose to his feet and sighed again.

"I've been too lax." Sukuna thought. "Kabuto is still out there. Obito will convince Sasuke to seek Konoha's destruction. And Pain's attack…"

Sukuna released a third sigh. "Damn it."

(-)

Sukuna strolled through an empty dirt path in a more isolated space in the woodlands where the log-cabin had been built to clear his mind. However, he felt an amused gaze fall on him and then stopped.

A Dismantle tore through the forest, slicing into the trees on his left side. Kisame Hoshigaki leaped from the shadows, mouth stretched out into a nonchalant grin. Holding Samehada, Kisame chuckled.

"It took ages to find your little hideout." Kisame said. "I'm sure you already know my plan — kill you and capture the six-tails Jinchuriki."

Sukuna flared cursed-energy into his muscles and balled his hand into a fist. "The Akatsuki was bound to go searching for Utakata, huh?"

"No answer?" Kisame faked his disappointment and his grin widened. "Whatever. Besides, I didn't want to waste much time fighting you."

Kisame launched himself forward, leaving a massive crater in the soil. Samehada reached out for Sukuna and slashed his right arm off. A thread of blood reattached the arm to its body and Sukuna smirked.

"This is the perfect opportunity." Sukuna flexed his clawed fingers. "I haven't had the real opportunity to go all out in a fight for a while."

Casting a few hand-seals, Kisame unleashed a flood of water from the river next to them in the shape of an army of sharks. Sukuna flicked his hand down—Dismantle scattered the Jutsu into specks of water.

Clasping his hands together, Sukuna shot a blast of blood in Kisame's direction. Samehada sliced through it. Kisame blurred in front of Sukuna and smacked Samehada into him so it could drain his chakra.

"Huh?" Kisame lifted an eye-brow in confusion, realizing Samehada hadn't absorbed any chakra. "Samehada didn't absorb his chakra?"

Sukuna endured the strike to the stomach from the blade, then elbowed Kisame in the jaw and roundhouse kicked him backwards. Kisame scratched his jaw, lowering Samehada and grinning at him.

"So that mutated chakra of yours can't be absorbed, can it?" Kisame slipped Samehada into his other hand. "You're quite unnatural."

"Samehada not being able to drain his chakra is kind of an issue." Kisame tossed Samehada up, performing hand-seals. "But not much."

Numerous bullets created from water flew at Sukuna. Dismantle dispersed the ones closest to him. Some of the undisturbed water bullets smashed into the trees and boulders, obliterating them.

"Long-ranged attacks are useless on him." Kisame tilted his head. "I'm assuming that he used those invisible pulses of destruction on them."

Sukuna stepped back when Kisame body-flickered at him and slashed Samehada in the spot where he had stood. Unfazed by this, Kisame blurred forward and cut his left arm off. Kisame kicked his chest.

Rolling through the bushes, Sukuna rejoined his left arm to his body, readjusted his footing, redirected Samehada aside, and buried his knuckles into Kisame's nose. Kisame had crashed into the dirt.

In an instant, Kisame returned to his feet, performed a hand-seal, and spat out a spike of water from his mouth. It drilled across the air like a missile, impaling Sukuna's solar-plexus. Sukuna looked unworried.

"That wound should slow him down."

Healing the wound to his solar-plexus, Sukuna rolled his shoulders. Kisame blinked, but laughed in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. Sukuna rushed towards Kisame in a distortion of unbridled speed.

Deep gashes tore into Kisame's skin from Dismantle. Blood poured from the cuts on his hand and his hold on Samehada faltered. Sukuna drove his foot into Kisame's nose. Cursed-energy soon followed.

The second impact of the kick broke Kisame's nose. Kisame dropped Samehada, then bashed his elbow into Sukuna's jaw and threw him higher into the air. Kisame's less injured hand picked up Samehada.

Kisame deflected Piercing-Blood, leaping at Sukuna and thwacking Samehada into the side of his head. Sukuna fell into the soil and the ground beneath him dissolved into an ocean of multiple cracks.

Sukuna returned to his feet, cracked his neck, and blurred forward. Kisame yawned, parrying a punch and a roundhouse kick. Samehada cut into Sukuna's shoulder, but he healed himself in a mere second.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to beat him." Kisame mused. "He's like an unstoppable creature. No damage will be able to stop him."

"Madara wanted me to capture the six-tails Jinchuriki." Kisame was punched into the bushes. "But I think I'll make a retreat for now."

Turning around, Kisame body-flickered out of the area. Sukuna watched him leave, not interested in going after him. Deciding to return to the log-cabin, Sukuna trekked over to the dirt path.

(-)

Utakata placed each of his scrolls into his pouch, sitting himself down on a chair and checking the Kunai in his second pouch. Suigetsu ate his sandwich. Kimimaro read a book in his usual corner in the room.

The door opened and Sukuna stepped into the log-cabin. Dirt and grime covered his face and clothes. Suigetsu bit into his sandwich, leaning back in his seat. "And what the heck happened to you?"

"Kisame tracked Utakata down." Sukuna responded. "We'll move to a different cabin in the Land-Of-Fire since they know about this one."

"And get into the same situation?" Utakata face-palmed. "The Akatsuki will track down our other hideouts in due time. It's pointless to move."

"I've been thinking." Utakata set his pouches aside. "How about we head to the Hidden-Leaf for assistance? They could help us out."

"He does have a point." Kimimaro closed his book. "The Hidden-Leaf could provide us accommodation. It's an idea worth thinking about."

"I don't really care." Suigetsu finished his sandwich. "You three can decide what you want to do. But Konoha doesn't sound that bad."

"I'm a Rogue-Shinobi from Konoha." Sukuna snorted. "And Suigetsu and Utakata are also Rogue-Shinobi. It's not the best idea."

Kimimaro tucked his book into a shelf. "At least think about it."

"Pack your belongings." Sukuna stepped outside of the log-cabin. "We'll leave for one of the other cabins in around three hours."

(-)

Sukuna went on another stroll to clear his thoughts. Utakata, Suigetsu, and Kimimaro had been a little intent on seeking help from Konoha. Strolling down the dirt road, Sukuna looked at the trees and rocks.

"I'm not sure..."

He sighed.

A/N: Thanks for reading.