Naruto: Great Clan Days

by Kenchi618

Senju Hashirama's dream to unify all of the warring clans of his country under one village remained just that; a dream. Generations later, the ninja world still consists of pure clan affiliation. Enacting peace through understanding has fallen to the side. A catalyst is needed for any kind of change to occur, and it is all found in a little boy... for better or for worse. AU.

30. Learning To Punch Up

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It's hot as balls outside right now. Goddamn global warming. Just 'Day After Tomorrow' us already, world, so we can get this shit over with. I'm ready for eternal winter. Kenchi618 thrives in cold climates.

Chapter 30: Learning To Punch Up

---

Staring up at the flying form of a woman that could black out the sun with nothing but sheets of paper under her control wasn't as intimidating as one would have expected for a girl like Tenten. She wasn't on Konan's level whatsoever. In fact, Tenten doubted that she would manage to do so with five more years left to prepare for such a fight.

Tenten wasn't a stranger to being face-to-face with people who could devastate her in an instant. Ever since she'd met Naruto, she'd rubbed elbows with the best of the best in the shinobi world, and found herself the enemy of people who could rip her to shreds without question.

For all of her skill, all of her training, all of the time she'd spent sparring with people who could slap her from one end of the continent to the other, she was still the decided underdog in a fight with someone as powerful as Konan, and nothing would ever change that. However, exclusively training with gifted combatants like Naruto day in and day out left Tenten in a unique position.

Tenten had limitations that no amount of hard work would allow her to overcome. She wasn't a jinchuuriki. She didn't have a kekkei genkai. She wasn't a child born to a line of descent that had bred the weakness out of their lineage over generations. She wasn't a natural, a prodigy, or a genius. She was a daughter of nondescript farmers. Just a girl who had really keen eyesight and a good throwing arm. Those had been her sole qualifications to begin down the path of the kunoichi.

She was realistic enough to recognize these facts about herself a long time ago. But Tenten was intelligent, inventive, and adaptive. That allowed her to cover for whatever weakness she could manage with ninja tools. All of the ninja tools. She had a weapon to give her a fighting chance in just about any situation.

For better or for worse, Tenten couldn't think of anyone better equipped to exclusively fight people stronger than themselves than her. And that was why when she looked up and watched Konan lower herself down closer to earth, she wasn't as afraid as she probably should have been.

There was hardly any tension in her body, even as Konan got close enough to analyze her closely, clearly remembering the bun-haired girl, "So, it is you after all," Konan said, "It's been quite some time. You look well."

Tenten glared up at Konan as she remained seated on her origami bird, "Hasn't been long enough for my tastes. I'm surprised you even remember who I am."

"Of course, I remember who you are," Konan said, a small smile on her face, "You and little Naruto were so cute, clutching onto each other for dear life, trying to do your best to stand up to me," Despite how inflammatory her words were, she said them with no malice towards Tenten whatsoever, "Where is Naruto, by the way?"

There it was. Konan was there to target her friend again, "Not here, so you can leave and look somewhere else."

Konan clicked her tongue chidingly, "Lying isn't smart. That's not what Terumi Mei says. She says the two of you were both on the way to this town. And I trust her information more than your word, seeing as how you're more personally invested."

'That bitch!' Tenten thought to herself, contemplating some method of vengeance if they were to get away in one piece, 'Yeah, I'm making sure we go back so Naruto can burn that place down. I hope he lets me do it. That can be my birthday present,' The idea sounded good in her head. But first, she had to get out of her current predicament.

...Easier said than done.

"I'll ask once more; where's Naruto?" Konan said, an edge creeping into her tone, "If I have to ask again, it'll be after making you wish you were dead."

Tenten heaved a great sigh of resignation that she would have to fight the extremely dangerous woman and quickly placed her hands inside of her sleeve, withdrawing it to reveal a crossbow on her right forearm. She fired a bolt at Konan's head, only for the origami bird she was on to collapse and reform into wings on her back that blocked the attack.

Konan mentally gave Tenten points for going all in right off the bat, moving her wings aside to find Tenten gone, and the area around her littered with paper bombs. Given that they were made of something she could control, Konan tried to sweep them aside with her Dance of the Shikigami, only to find them stuck to the ground with a powerful adhesive.

"Hm," Konan hummed as the explosives quickly burned down to detonation, "Aren't you the clever one?"

XxX

(Meanwhile – With Naruto)

The rain had come out of nowhere, not in any forecast that anyone had been aware of. It had definitely thrown off Naruto's plans to use their time on Hashike-gai to give everyone a rest. Granted, they could all rest from the comfort of Tayuya's home, which was better than running around all of Mizu no Kuni, but it was just after noon, and Naruto knew that if he was stuck inside all day, he'd go stir crazy.

Naruto opened a window and stuck his head outside to judge the intensity of the rainfall and get a glimpse of the clouds. For a storm that had set in so quickly, he couldn't see the clouds moving in the sky at all.

Odd.

"What's the verdict, Golden Boy?" A fully clothed Tayuya asked from the bed in the loft of her home, "Any chance of this stuff letting up anytime soon?"

Naruto pulled his head inside and brushed the water back out of his hair, "I really can't tell."

Tayuya let out a hum, kicking her feet up behind herself, "Well, you're about as useful as a manual dildo, aren't you? I have to do all of the work myself to get anything good from you."

By now, Naruto had grown accustomed to Tayuya's vulgar and insulting nature, "I'm not even mad at that, because you know it's not true," After a few weeks of experiencing Tayuya's sparkling personality, Naruto liked to think he was beginning to get a handle on when she was serious or not, "This sucks."

"Well, look at the bright side," Tayuya offered.

"..."

"..."

Naruto waited for Tayuya to expound on her point, but never received any additional details, "...What bright side are you talking about?"

Tayuya shrugged, "I don't know. You're the one who's better with all of that positive shit than me. You come up with something."

"Wow. Thanks," Naruto replied before frantic knocking came at Tayuya's door, "What the hell?" He pointed to the door, silently asking if he could open it. Her irritated expression signified that someone needed to in order stop the racket. Naruto opened the door, only to to have to cover up from being pummeled by Kabuto, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Kabuto, stop!"

Kabuto did as requested and came inside the house, just as Tayuya dropped down from the loft, "Why are you banging down my goddamn door, Cream Puff?" She said angrily, "You're killing my chill!"

"It took a lot of work to get her to chill," Naruto admitted.

Kabuto was confused as to what he meant, only to focus in on the all-important reason he'd rushed back to them, "Naruto! Konan is here!"

Naruto's jaw tightened, while Tayuya remained in the dark as to why that mattered, "Who?" She asked.

Naruto didn't deign to answer at the moment, "...Where's Tenten?" When Kabuto didn't answer, his eyes drifting back toward the town proper, Naruto knew all he needed to and went to grab his gear, "Fine. Game on, then. I've been waiting four years to get that bitch back. Let's go get our girl out of this."

Tayuya raised an eyebrow. He was talking about this 'Konan' like it was someone Tenten couldn't handle. She wasn't some chakra monster like Naruto was, but having seen the girl in action plenty of times over the last couple of weeks, it was hard to consider.

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

At the sharp rapping at Tayuya's door, both Naruto and the girl in question froze in place and turned to Kabuto, "...Cream Puff, did anyone chase you here?"

"...No?" Kabuto replied with uncertainty, "I didn't see anyone else. The only person I saw was the same person Tenten saw. The person she sent me here to tell you about."

The trio looked at each other in silence before Tayuya sighed, grabbing a kunai to tuck away on her person just in case, "...Gaggle of pussies. I swear to God," She muttered to herself as she went to answer the door again.

She was right there, too close to the door for Naruto to stop her. And even if he could, what would it have mattered. The man outside knew they were there. Knew he was there. Because what other reason would such a person travel all the way to a place like Mizu no Kuni?

Tayuya found herself eye-to-eye with the Rinnegan. The imposing stare of a mostly unassuming pale, red-haired man froze her in place. He hadn't even been trying to intimidate her, yet it was clear that power radiated from him.

This man was an Uzumaki, but he wasn't like Naruto at all. Every survival instinct Tayuya had screamed at her to run, not even to fight, because it would be futile to do so. Her flute, her guitar, her chief weapons, were across the room, far out of reach. She would be dead before she could get to them if she tried to do so.

Before panic could truly set in, Naruto set a hand on Tayuya's shoulder and guided her protectively out of the way, "Tayuya, it's okay," He assured her softly, "I'll handle this."

Tayuya eyed the blond as though he were insane. "What the fuck do you mean, 'you'll handle this'? By yourself? I don't know this guy, but-."

Naruto shook his head. Even though she knew she was out of her league, she wasn't going to prostrate and back down. But she had no obligation to stand up and fight, either for her own pride or otherwise, "This doesn't have anything to do with what we hired you for. It's... clan business," He turned to where Nagato waited patiently, just outside, "Don't hurt her, or Kabuto. They aren't in this."

Nagato frowned, slightly offended at Naruto's implication, "I don't want to hurt anyone I don't have to."

"You're here to hurt me, aren't you?"

"I said I won't hurt anyone I don't have to, Naruto."

Naruto scoffed and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. Kabuto and Tayuya needed no part of this, "I've been gone for years and I haven't destroyed life as you know it, the way you all figured I would," He said mockingly, "Why is you wanting me dead still a thing? And don't say it's Kurama!"

Knowing Naruto was referring to the Kyuubi, from how he tried to defend himself in his youth, Nagato responded, "If that's your request, you don't want my honest answer," He noticed the scowl on the young teen's face, "If you still need me to explain to you why this has to happen, you're just being willfully ignorant."

In a flash of red chakra from Kurama's boost, Naruto tried to exploit his close proximity to punch Nagato. A forceful pushing motion of Nagato's arm sent Naruto flying off into the air, over the roofs of the floating homes in the area. Naruto was able to catch himself and land safely on the roof of one of those homes. His body smarting after being smashed by an invisible force, he dropped to a knee, holding his chest.

By now, Kurama was awake and thoroughly invested after watching his container be sent flying. Such a thing hadn't happened in quite some time, "Are you alright? That looked like it hurt."

"It did!" Naruto said aloud, instead of inside of his head. Nagato followed him calmly, levitating himself up and down to where Naruto had landed.

The boy glared at his former clan leader; this time more reserved in how he regarded the man. Nagato was too good for an outright blitz to overcome. Naruto understood why Nagato wanted him dead. He just thought it was stupid. Infuriatingly so.

"Alright..." Naruto said under his breath, seething, "If you wanna do this, let's fucking do this!" He shouted, standing back up, ready for more, "I never did anything to you! I looked up to you!"

For a moment, Nagato seemed taken aback at that admission, "You... did?"

Naruto nodded, his face entirely serious, "Yeah. Do you wanna hear something really fucked up?" He asked, "Before I met the old man, I would have been totally cool with it if you'd gotten together with my mom."

Nagato's entire body posture changed upon hearing that, "What?"

Naruto shrugged, as though it wouldn't have been surprising, "Yeah. Why wouldn't I have been?" Nagato was the clan leader, loved by all in Uzu no Kuni. Nagato had the Rinnegan, the doujutsu of the man that had basically created their way of life. Why wouldn't an impressionable kid want such a man to be around, "Until that point, my dad was just some mythical creature I only heard about at bedtime. You were real. You were there. Even if you didn't like me, you loved mom. I could see that."

To Nagato's surprise, Naruto was completely on the nose about how Nagato had always seen him. Nagato had always figured Naruto to be too young and inexperienced to pick up on such a thing.

Naruto was physical evidence that no matter what he'd pulled himself up to be in the Uzumaki Clan, Kushina would never love him, running around the village every day, the spitting image of the man she chose over him. None of that was his fault, and yet, the man whose mission in life was to work for the betterment of the Uzumaki Clan could never find it in himself to find any real sense of care for little Naruto.

While to the rest of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto was an outsider that had infiltrated their tightly-knit tribe due to half of the blood running through his veins, to Nagato, Naruto was something else more personal. Naruto was living, breathing proof of what a powerful man like him considered to be his one true regret in life. And, much like the Kyuubi being sealed inside of him, it wasn't the boy's fault.

The more he heard and thought, the sadder Nagato felt. The wheels of history and the choices of others had ground Naruto up and spit out what stood before him today. At this point in his life, Naruto was simply trying to take what had been given to him and make his own way with it.

Naruto realized that what he'd said had struck a chord. There were warring emotions all over Nagato's face, enough to almost make Naruto feel bad for speaking his mind. Almost, "Even if you couldn't stand the sight of me, it's not like you were the only one in the clan who was like that. As long as you made mom happy, I could have lived with it, just like I did from everybody else," His blue-eyed gaze hardened on the form of the man standing across from him, "...But then you tried to have me killed. Then you held mom hostage for trying to protect me. Then you exiled us both. All for something we didn't even have any say in. So, you know, fuck you. You had this coming," He said, settling into a fighting stance.

The next swallow down Nagato's throat felt heavy and poisonous, "You're not wrong to feel that way. All the same-," He said, standing arms wide open, beckoning Naruto to him, "-Whatever you think I have coming, I won't be getting it from you. Jinchuuriki or not, trained by the Yellow Flash or not, you're a few years too early to take me on."

XxX

Tenten did her best to remain hidden and outpace Konan. Fighting her directly would result in defeat. If she wanted to win, she had to be smart. Being smart in this case meant waiting for Kabuto to get Naruto off of his ass so someone with some real stopping power could enter the fray and put Konan away.

She felt bad about using the town as her cover, but she didn't choose to start the fight there, or to fight at all. Where else was she to go?

Attempting to avoid alleys with dead-ends, Tenten tried to keep out of sight of the skies in order to negate Konan's obvious advantage in mobility. She'd gotten a decent look at all kinds of streets and paths while she and Kabuto had been searching for the Hozuki Brothers, so she just backtracked.

How much could Konan know about Hashike-gai when she'd only seen the town for presumably a few minutes, and only from above? If Tenten could keep her close to ground level, she figured she had a chance.

She figured that much until she almost made a turn down an alley that she didn't remember having been there before, stopping herself from going a way that would have killed her. That path quickly broke apart into countless sheets of paper, prompting Tenten to flee at a reinvigorated pace.

"Come now, dear," Konan said as she continued her pursuit. Tenten had been able to dodge every sheet of paper sent her way, weaponized or not. Clearly, she vividly remembered Konan's fighting style from when she was younger, "This whole game of cat and mouse is so tiresome."

"You can always give up and leave me alone," Tenten offered, trying to stall as she thought of a way to fight back and buy more time. She was running out of space and opportunity, "I'm not stupid enough to fight you on your terms."

A knowing smile came to Konan's lips as she finally managed to corner her enemy, "You're not stupid enough to fight me at all," She said, "You sent your little friend to find Naruto, didn't you? If he left wherever he was staying to come and get you, Nagato's found him by now."

Tenten froze in place. She had never seen Nagato, but from what she knew of him, it left her feeling wary of leaving Naruto to deal with him alone. Even if Tayuya and Kabuto were there, he would want no part of getting them involved.

"Nothing in the rain escapes Nagato's notice," Konan explained, "So... Naruto won't be coming to help you, and you won't be leaving to help him either."

A chill went down Tenten's spine, not just out of concern for herself, but for her oldest friend, "I see."

The rain continued to fall as the two stood off across from each other. Konan had no need to rush. She was in full control. Tenten couldn't afford to rush. Anything rash or foolish would end her life.

A twitch of Tenten's fingers resulted in her being turned into a human pincushion by shuriken, transformed from Konan's paper. Konan was irritated at the sight of Tenten's body disappearing in a puff of smoke – a Shadow Clone.

"Hm. I wasn't aware she knew that jutsu," The blue-haired woman muttered to herself. No matter. It wouldn't take too long to find Tenten again.

XxX

The blueprint for handling Nagato had already been laid out. Naruto had heard of what had happened when Minato fought Nagato dozens of times since it had happened, straight from the mouth of the man himself. In Minato's own words, he avoided the business end of Nagato's abilities by using his speed to make himself as difficult a target as possible, and struck only when he saw an opening.

Naruto wasn't capable of using Hiraishin, but could mimic the method his father used in his own way. Kurama's chakra let him move faster than most anything could keep up with. Naruto bounced off of the walls of the floating homes that surrounded them, making it hard to follow his path as he worked to get Nagato off-balance. But the man refused to provide Naruto with an opening, avoiding each attempt to hit him by mere inches.

From Nagato's end, the Rinnegan let him see chakra. Even if Naruto moved faster than he could, he could see a trail of red chakra that Naruto left behind, letting him estimate where Naruto would move in his blind spots. It was too direct an idea to outfox someone like him.

Eventually, Nagato got Naruto's timing down and turned just in time to meet him with an extended arm, "Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

Naruto bounced off of the repulsive force suddenly blocking his way, spinning atop the water on unsteady legs before finding his balance once more, "Ugh..." It was the second time Nagato had managed to hit him with that jutsu, and this time, because he had run directly into it, it hurt that much more, "How can hitting nothing feel like running into a brick wall!"

Nagato held the expression of a man lecturing an inexperienced counterpart, "Naruto, seriously. Come on. Did you think it would be that simple? That you could just move faster than me and I wouldn't know how to react."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, "...It worked for dad when he fought you."

"I see," Nagato said before extending his hand, "Banshou Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)."

Despite digging in his heels, Naruto felt himself be yanked off of his feet, pulled uncontrollably toward Nagato, 'Wait. This works. I wanted to get close to him so I could slug him anyway.'

At his core, Naruto was a close-combat fighter. In this situation, he would take any excuse to close the distance and make contact. That in mind, he indulged in a boost of Kurama's chakra to make his next move count, only for his body to fly past Nagato altogether, fly past the floating homes, and slam into the outside of Hashike-gai's exterior wall. His body no impression in the wall. For as hard as he hit it, there had been no give whatsoever... which was a worse fate than if some had cracked off.

"How's that game plan working out for you now?" Nagato teased.

Naruto pulled himself off of the wall, his nose bloody from the impact, "It's not!" He yelled back as he stood on the water.

Nagato chuckled, and Naruto marveled at the sight of the man's right arm transforming into a cannon before his eyes, "Whatever anyone told you, your father was not winning that fight when he left," He pointed the cannon at Naruto and fired.

Naruto went wide-eyed at the blast of chakra and quickly dropped underneath the surface of the water. Nagato's shot missed and exploded off of the exterior wall of the floating town. As the dust cleared, to Nagato's amazement, there wasn't a lot of visible damage. Whoever built Hashike-gai built it to last, "Impressive place," He remarked aloud.

All around Nagato, four Shadow Clones of Naruto burst from the water, Rasengans ready to attack. As they closed in, Nagato seemed to form four extra arms that caught the younger Uzumaki by the wrists.

Nagato recognized Naruto's use of one of Minato's signature techniques, "Also impressive. But again, did you really think this was all you needed to do to stop me?" He asked, only to get smirks in return from the slew of Naruto clones, "Hm."

He drained the chakra out of each one with his bare hands, dispelling them and replenishing his own stores. As he finished off the copies, the water underneath him gave way to a powerful whirlpool that compromised his footing and pulled him down.

Underwater, more Naruto clones with rebreathers on their faces worked, using the principle behind the Rasengan to cause the whirlpool. The original watched as Nagato was sucked farther and farther down.

'Not bad for a plan I pulled out of my ass,' Naruto thought to himself, keeping a close eye on Nagato's body as it was tossed about in the whirlpool, 'Hah! I make actual whirlpools! I'm more Uzumaki than you!'

He was also dealing with an Uzumaki as well though. Nagato was used to the water, and capable of holding his breath for at least as long as Naruto could without a rebreather. That was too much time to hope that he could just hold him until he drowned. He needed some kind of killshot while he had the chance. He'd gotten the upper-hand on perhaps the most powerful member of his clan that had ever lived, and he couldn't squander it.

Nagato didn't sit back and allow himself to be pulled into the depths, 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!'

A massive crustacean overpowered its way out of the whirlpool, killing several of Naruto's clones in the process. It then advanced on Naruto, pincers snapping away as the yellow-haired shinobi found himself on the back foot. Again. Only this time, he was underwater.

His movement was sluggish and slow, even after accounting for being underwater. It was so bad, it forced him to tap into Kurama's chakra to give him more strength to move. Swimming away as quickly as he could, Naruto fled the crustacean that snapped ever closer at his heels, nearly losing a foot at one point. Once he reached the surface, he could make some kind of counterattack. It would have to be something good to break through the creature's shell, but that was something that could wait until he was water-walking safely above the surface.

Kicking and clawing as hard as he could, he eventually broke through, but just barely. He couldn't pull himself out... or in Naruto's case, pull himself down.

He hadn't swum his way to the surface of the ocean. He'd pulled himself out of the center of a massive sphere, a satellite of water, lifted into the air and held together by the power of Nagato himself, who stood down below, staring up, "You fought out of Chibaku Tensei (Heavenly Body Bursting from the Earth). The power of a jinchuuriki is quite sensational."

"What is this?" Naruto asked, fighting to keep himself from being sucked back under the water. Gravitationally speaking, everything transpiring was impossible in nature, "What did you do?"

Nagato's ripple-patterned Rinnegan eyes stared up at Naruto, unblinking, "You tried to drown me. I figure it's only right I return the favor. Speaking of which, Banshou Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)," With his jutsu, Nagato yanked the rebreather right off of Naruto's face, "There. That's better."

The pull of the jutsu that held the orb of water together felt like it was getting stronger and stronger over time. Naruto couldn't battle against it forever, and was pulled back toward the center, back underneath. Naruto held his breath and again fought and clawed, but the force of attraction was too great for him to overcome and he found himself failing.

'Come on!' Naruto thought to himself, as he found himself drifting toward the center of the water sphere, and the awaiting claws of Nagato's crustacean summon, 'Find a way out! There's got to be something!'

Whatever his answer was, he needed to find it quickly.

XxX

Tenten needed a place to hide, and through much effort she managed to find a place where Konan definitely couldn't fly all over and bombard her with endless sheets of paper. As far as the girl was aware, Konan didn't have any kind of special bloodline that allowed her such oppressive power with nothing more than paper, but it could have fooled her.

It turned out that the main floating portion of Hashike-gai had a drainage system. It made sense, given that the power and plumbing of the town had to come from/go somewhere. The entrances were hidden and covered, but they existed, and Tenten didn't hesitate to go down below.

"Okay... creepy underbelly of a floating city," Tenten whispered to herself, treading carefully, lest she round a corner and find herself face-to-face with something undesirable, "Please be good to me and protect me from the scary lady coming to get me."

*BOOM!*

Tenten winced at the sound of an explosion in the distance, back the way she had come. One of the traps she'd set, just in case she was followed went off, prompting her to hurry a bit more.

*BOOM!*

'Not good,' Tenten thought. Konan was tearing through her traps faster than she could get away. She would be on her soon, 'At this rate... I'd say thirty seconds until I'm screwed.'

Running any longer wasn't going to help. She wasn't getting away. She couldn't buy anymore time. All running away would do at this point was present her back to a dangerous enemy. At some point, she had to turn and try to fight. It seemed that the moment had arrived for her to make a go of it.

Konan didn't let her down, the light from the grates leading to the streets of Hashike-gai dimly lit her approach. Her and the countless sheets of paper that accompanied her. Tenten quickly pulled out a scroll and unsealed a deadly surprise, "Bakuryuugeki (Exploding Dragon Strike)!"

A large flaming dragon erupted from the scroll, flying out at Konan. While Tenten was backed into a corner, she had also managed to get Konan in a position where she absolutely couldn't miss. The flame dragon exploded on Konan and all of her papers. It was as direct a hit as Tenten could ask for, but something was wrong and she knew it. The blast didn't carry the way she had expected it to, and her heart sank as she saw Konan still standing.

Lots of paper sheets were burning and being put out by the water at their feet, and there were even damaged layers of paper on Konan's body, masquerading as flesh. However, it hadn't been enough. Konan continued forward, her cold, piercing eyes staring a hole into Tenten.

Even fire didn't do much against a person who exclusively fought with paper. Water didn't make it harder to use. What else could Tenten throw at Konan that could conceivably work? She was at a loss, and feeling disenfranchised as a result, "So... this is just how it's going to go? You hunt us down and kill us because Nagato said so?"

Konan's face didn't change from the stony, impassive expression she reserved for combat, "We're really not so different, you and I," She said, verbally reaching out, "Dear, tell me that you wouldn't do the same thing for Naruto if he asked you to."

Tenten took a step back as the tunnel began to fill with more and more paper, "He would never ask me to do something I wasn't fully onboard with."

"He dragged you to Mizu no Kuni for God knows what," Konan said.

"Naruto didn't want me to come with him," Tenten said with a grim smile, "I wouldn't let him leave without me."

Konan's stony facade cracked, as she returned the smile with one of her own, "Then I guess we're even more alike than I thought. Doing things for both of their own goods," Just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, "It's time to see how he does without you."

The large pipe the two women were in began to shake, as a sound of roaring water began to echo from somewhere farther within. Even with all of the rain that had been falling and drained away, it hadn't been as loud as it was getting now.

Konan turned to eventually see a large wave in the shape of a demonic fish head rushing toward her. She gasped and tried to put up a wall of paper in an effort to block it. Tenten, on other hand, unsealed a heavy metal dome on top of herself to hunker down in, tight enough to the ground to ride her predicament out.

Tenten sat and waited until a series of solid knocks came to her metal shell. She resealed it in a puff of smoke and found one of the Hozuki Brothers standing there. Whichever one it was, she couldn't tell from first glance and one previous meeting.

"Was that bitch bugging you?" The Hozuki brother asked, giving a shark-toothed smile.

'This is the younger one,' Tenten thought to herself. Confused at Suigetsu's presence, she got up from where she'd been taking refuge and looked around, "What the-? What are you doing here?"

Suigetsu was eager to lay his cards on the table, "You still have the Kiba swords. I'm pretty sure we won't get them if you die, so in exchange for our help, you hand those bad boys over. Good deal, eh?"

Tenten was stunned. If they were aware of the fight happening, they had to know how powerful Konan was, "...You would rather fight her than tell us anything about Seigyou-ki?"

Suigetsu didn't hesitate to answer, "Yep."

Tenten had a choice to make. Her life, and it wasn't certain that the Hozuki Brothers could even help, for two swords she'd already thoroughly studied. The decision was a no-brainer for Tenten.

"If can we beat her, I'll unseal the swords for you."

"Deal."

The two shook hands before heading off farther down the drainage system, "Alright," Tenten said, her brain moving quickly to try and formulate a plan, "Just point me to all of the ways out of here."

Suigetsu gave her an odd look, "All of the ways? You kidding? There's only one way."

That certainly made things easier for Tenten, "Oh. Well, that makes this easy then. Show me."

XxX

Ever since Naruto and Nagato had left Tayuya's doorstep, she and Kabuto had been following at a safe distance, keeping an eye on the fight between the two. For as strong as Naruto was, and as tough as he hung in against someone with the eyes of a god, Nagato had slowly started imposing his will.

His will currently existed in the form of a large ball of ocean water hovering above the city, with Naruto trapped inside. Even jinchuuriki had to breathe eventually.

Kabuto was antsy as he and Tayuya stayed out of sight amongst the floating homes, looking up at the prison of liquid that contained his friend, "We have to do something," He said resolutely.

Tayuya quickly turned to look at him as though he'd grown a second head, "Do what? You're watching the same shit I'm watching. That motherfucker's been taking a chunk out of Golden Boy's ass. And he has the Rinnegan!" No half-decent shinobi in the Elemental Nations needed the implications of that explained to them, "What can either of us do against that? Especially you, Cream Puff!"

Kabuto knew this. His going alone would be worthless. He needed Tayuya to have a chance of doing anything useful. He threw his hands up, not knowing how to answer in a way that would spur Tayuya into action, "I don't know! Something! Anything! Don't you like him?"

Tayuya flinched at that. It was minuscule, hardly even there, but Kabuto was savvy enough to pick up on it, even as the girl explained herself away, "Like him better than the rest of you? Yeah. Like him enough to bang him? Yeah," She then pointed up to Nagato's Chibaku Tensei, "Like him enough to fight the guy that can do THAT? It takes more than a few weeks hanging out and and a decent afternoon lay to get me to go up against that."

"He has all of the money, so if that guy kills him, you won't get paid your full commission."

"He's been paying me weekly. I've still been making bank."

For the first time since Tayuya had known him, Kabuto lost his temper in front of her, "Damn it, he would do it for you! Even though he just met you! You know he would!" Jumpiness be damned, he was going to say what he needed to say.

"So what?" Tayuya snapped in return, "I don't owe you shit! I don't owe Golden Boy shit!"

Kabuto looked like he wanted to say more, to argue further. But time was of the essence, and he couldn't spend an eternity trying to convince Tayuya to step in, "You know what? It doesn't matter. Do whatever you want."

Not bothering to give Tayuya the chance to offer a rebuttal, Kabuto went to try and aid Naruto, leaving the musical kunoichi behind with no one to vent her frustrations on, and she had plenty of frustrations.

She looked out at the sphere of water containing Naruto, staring intensely at it. All of a sudden, the anger in her stomach at Kabuto calling her out had a new target. The red-haired man standing on the rampart of Hashike-gai.

"...Hell's bells..." Tayuya muttered before her body started carrying her into action.

XxX

Nagato stared up at the Chibaku Tensei that kept Naruto imprisoned, trapped near its center. Even though he was too far to see with his own eyes, the Rinnegan allowed him to see through the eyes of his summoned crustacean. Naruto continued to live, even though he had been fighting underwater for a few minutes by this time. Still, it was only a matter of time. He was fading.

Despite the dynamic of his relationship with Naruto's parents, it brought him no joy to do something like this to him. Naruto's earlier remarks made it no easier to stomach. But what was already in motion could not be undone so easily.

His attention was drawn away when he was confronted by the purple-clad man with the silver hair that had been present when he'd found Naruto in the first place. He wasn't even armed, and yet, he seemed prepared to do something drastic. Nagato decided to try and prevent two tragedies from happening in one day by his hand. There was no need for more violence than absolutely necessary.

"Naruto asked me not to attack you," Nagato said. He could see the intimidation in every inch of Kabuto's body language. He didn't want to fight, "Are you willing to do something to throw away your friend's request so easily? I have no quarrel with you."

Cleanly knowing he had no chance, Kabuto still stood his ground, "Yeah? Well, what if I have one with you?"

Nagato raised an intrigued eyebrow, "Indeed. What if you have one with me? What will you do, I wonder," He took a moment to size Kabuto up, taking in every detail his powerful eyes could manage, "...What can you do?"

Kabuto gave him no answer. Nagato watched his face as it dawned upon him that despite his intentions, he had no effective way of executing them.

Before anything else could be said, three hulking figures that landed on the rampart wall with a loud crash. When Kabuto turned around, he took a hesitant step back.

Three 'demons' for lack of a better term, four times the size of a regular person, all with their eyes and ears covered and their mouths sewn shut.

One wielded a giant studded metal club wore a dark green bodysuit, with hair covering its entire head and face. The second was shirtless and bald with dark pants. Bandages around its wrists tied claw-like weapons made of thorns in place. The third was armless, and its entire upper body and head covered in bandages, with several needles pinned into its head.

At that moment, Kabuto knew he was a dead man, and these three creatures were what would ferry him into the afterlife, "I thought you said you weren't going to kill me?" He said, turning to glance Nagato's way.

To Kabuto's bewilderment, Nagato was also surprised. He shook his head in response to Kabuto's statement, "Whatever those are, they aren't mine."

The creepy monsters weren't Nagato's? Then whose were they? The only person with unsettling summons that Kabuto knew of was Nagato. That giant crustacean had been something else. But then, these weren't also his?

The playing of a flute spurred the mammoth demons into action. Kabuto flinched in anticipation of his own death as they went to pounce, but all that hit him was the wind from their bodies as they leapt past him and at Nagato.

Threatened by the new arrivals, Nagato took evasive measures, managing to dodge being smashed by a club, and torn apart by claws, "Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

Nagato blasted away the demon with the claw weapons, and saw the armless demon charging at him with its head lowered, intending to gore him with its needles. His repulsion/attraction abilities hadn't recharged yet, so at the last moment, he jumped into the air and landed on the back of the armless demon's head, driving its face into the ground hard enough to crack the surface. The club demon timed his landing with a horizontal swing of its club, almost managing to make contact, but Nagato jumped again, using a burst of chakra from his feet like a jet booster.

Detaching his wrist, a cluster of missiles fired from the opening, exploding onto the club demon and the armless demon. While Nagato's attention was on them, the claw-wielding demon met him in the air, wrapping its arms around him and falling back down to the ground with him in its grasp, flute music playing all the while.

From the smoke created by Nagato''s missiles, the club demon charged out, just as the claw-wielding demon stood with Nagato wrapped up. With no regard for its fellow demon, the club demon swung its weapon and hit Nagato, and the demon holding Nagato, as hard as it could, sending both flying off of the rampart and down into the city proper.

Kabuto stared until he decided to look in the direction of the music and saw Tayuya as the obvious player, "What are you doing?"

Tayuya ceased her playing and took a breath, "What does it look like?" She huffed, "I'm bailing Golden Boy's ass out, just like you wanted!" She turned and looked up to see Chibaku Tensei hanging in the air, "Why is that still up there?"

"Because I'm not dead."

A chill went down Tayuya's spine as she heard Nagato's voice. Over the edge of the wall where he'd previously fallen, he slowly floated up, holding the severed head of her claw-wielding demon. His clothes were wet - a remnant from his underwater battle with Naruto. Other than that, Nagato looked entirely unscathed.

Tayuya quickly returned to playing her flute, spurring her two remaining demons into attacking Nagato again. This time, he held out his hands and intercepted them before they could begin, "Banshou Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)," He repulsed them away, directing them up into the floating sphere that would provide them the same fate as Naruto - to be trapped by the pull of Chibaku Tensei.

Just like that, there was no deterrent, physical or philosophical, keeping Nagato from Tayuya and Kabuto.

"Fuck," Came the very honest, very unladylike curse from Tayuya's lips, "...Cream Puff, if you're hiding some kind of ace up your sleeve for a rainy day, this would be the day to pull it out - both literally and figuratively."

Kabuto froze for a moment, before digging in his equipment and pulling out a scalpel. Nagato raised an eyebrow, while Tayuya palmed her forehead in exasperation, "What?" Kabuto argued, "It's the best I've got! Scalpels are sharp!"

Tayuya shook her head, muttering aloud, "I'm gonna die."

"Yep," Nagato confirmed, lifting his hand. He fired a long, black stake that hit Kabuto in the stomach, impaling him. Kabuto groaned, hands wrapping around the odd weapon that had caused the critical injury. He looked down at his wound in open-mouthed horror, and up at Nagato before slumping to the ground.

Tayuya was stunned, not because Nagato killed one of them, but because the one he'd gone after had been Kabuto, "You shot Cream Puff? Why the hell would you shoot Cream Puff? He couldn't kill a mouse!" She had literally watched Kabuto try and fail to kill a field mouse that had infiltrated their camp and gotten into his gear a few days prior.

Nagato shrugged, "From what my eyes can see, he's more dangerous than you."

Three warring thoughts in Tayuya's mind were the fear of watching an ally die in front of her, the relief that it hadn't been her first, and the indignation at being told that Kabuto was a bigger potential threat.

If she did nothing else before she died, she had to prove that assumption incorrect, if only for her own sense of pride.

"Alright, douchebag..." Tayuya growled, fist wrapped tightly around her flute, "If fighting you is the equivalent of jumping off of a cliff, I might as well make sure I fall to my death in style."

She seemed prepared, and Nagato was prepared to deal with her accordingly, when a massive roar shook the air.

XxX

(Moments Earlier - With Naruto)

Naruto was stuck in the perfect center of Chibaku Tensei, locked in mortal combat underwater with a giant crustacean and its claws. Unable to move much at all anymore from where he was, it took everything he had to use his arms to hold it off.

'This sucks!' Naruto thought to himself as he pushed back against the deadly appendages, 'After everything that's happened... all I've actually lived through, I'm gonna get killed by a stupid crab?'

"If we die in a way that's this lame, I'm never going to let it go when we get to hell."

'Why would we go to hell?'

"You mean other than because of the many, many people we've killed?"

'...Yes.'

"Focus on getting out of this before we drown!"

Easier said than done. Naruto felt he could have defeated the crab by then, even underwater, if only he could reliably move. But even the slightest movement took all of his strength, to say nothing for struggling against a powerful summon creature. He borrowed chakra liberally from Kurama just to do so.

But then, something happened. Two massive figures broke through the plane of the water sphere, attracting the crustacean's attention. As Naruto was trapped and thus would not be going anywhere, the creature decided to make victims out of the two new arrivals that were not dealing with the worst of Chibaku Tensei's effects yet.

'Okay, we've got a chance,' Naruto thought in amazement. Despite the pressure holding him to the black orb of energy, there was still one thing he could do to fight his way free, 'Man, we've gotta get out of here. Kurama, do the thing.'

Inside of the seal, Kurama perked up. Naruto could just about see it in his head, "Wait, you're letting me do the thing? You never let me do the thing."

'Well, we need to get out of here, so I need you to do the thing. Don't make it weird.'

"Oh, I get it. It's all well and good when you want me to do the thing. But when I want to do it, you always say no."

'I can't just let you out to tear stuff up because you want to. Look, we need to get out of here. Can you just back me up on this?'

Kurama clearly wanted to be more petulant, but survival was paramount, "...Alright. But only because we're drowning," Naruto could feel Kurama's chakra pulse, as though he were warming up inside of him, "Do the thing. Loosen up those puny human tenketsu wide. This one will hurt."

'I know. Doing the thing. Thirty seconds,' Naruto grit his teeth as he pushed deeper into his tailed beast mode. His red cloak began to take on the appearance of Kurama, expanding as well to the fox's actual size. Black lines ran over the entire body, beginning from where Naruto was situated, 'Make it quick!'

The standard form of Kurama's chakra cloak took a toll on Naruto's body on its own, but turning into a giant chakra version of Kurama was a different level of agony altogether. So painful was it, that Naruto had to relinquish full control to Kurama just to maintain the form - and even then, he couldn't hold it for very long.

It was the closest thing to freedom that Naruto could give to him, and it came at the price of excruciating pain for the jinchuuriki. Fortunately, Kurama didn't need very long to do what they needed to do.

Nagato's giant crustacean took a break from ripping apart the remaining Doki only to find Kurama in control of a chakra form that utterly dwarfed it. With no small amount of glee, Kurama snapped his jaws around the crustacean, chewing it up thoroughly before 'swallowing'.

He was enjoying himself far too much.

'Kurama, get us out of here already!'

"Fine! Fine! I'm going!"

With his brute strength, Kurama was able to fight his way out of the gravitational pull of Chibaku Tensei, clawing his way to the edge of the water sphere and forcefully pulling his way out. Feeling the air once again was such a relief that Kurama let out an instinctual roar before yanking his body the rest of the way out and plummeting down to the wall surrounding Hashike-gai.

Kurama relinquished control when he felt the strain on Naruto begin to grow to be too much, just before they hit the ground. Kurama's chakra form vanished in a burst of red, leaving Naruto crouched on the rampart, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as he could. He took a moment to catch his breath before straightening his legs and standing.

Getting to breathe air had never felt so good.

Yet, there was still Nagato to deal with. It didn't take long for Naruto to spot him, not too far away from Tayuya and a figure on the ground, "Kabuto?" Naruto rushed over, coming to a stop nearby, standing between his friends and Nagato.

Nagato stood wide-eyed at what he'd just seen from Naruto. Tayuya wasn't much better, but Nagato was the one who actually had to fight him. Regaining his composure, he fired a few black stakes at Naruto from his hand, only for Naruto to dodge them all and rush Nagato with a burst of Kurama's chakra.

Nagato had dealt with this before and could do it again, "Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

Naruto created a clone in front of himself to go ahead and take the brunt of Nagato's gravity attack. Having spent the last few minutes fighting against Chibaku Tensei, Naruto himself pushed through the rest of Shinra Tensei and continued the rest of the way onto Nagato to deliver a crushing blow to his face that sent him tumbling back.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, growing fatigued from the day's ordeal, "Finally! I've wanted to do that for almost five years!" He shook his hand out. For some reason, punching Nagato felt like hitting the metal wall of one of the floating homes.

"Golden Boy!"

Naruto reacted to Tayuya's voice to find her kneeling over Kabuto's seated form. One of Nagato's black stakes stuck through his belly and back, blood pouring freely. However, he was alive and wheezing.

Tayuya didn't know what to do to help him. Beyond basic first aid to patch herself up, she was lost in the healing arts, "Your clan leader guy put a fucking hole in Cream Puff!"

Naruto growled to himself and focused on Kabuto, "Hey. Hey! Kabuto!" Naruto snapped to try and make sure he had the medic's attention, "Kabuto, come on. Tell us what to do to help you."

Kabuto's eyes were listless as he heaved every breath, "...Pull the rod out," He said weakly.

"Is that such a good idea? Won't you bleed out if we-?"

"PULL THE ROD OUT!"

Both Naruto and Tayuya flinched before following the command. The latter held onto Kabuto, while Naruto yanked the stake out of his stomach as smoothly as he could. Kabuto screamed in pain over the sound of torn tissue shifting, despite Naruto expediting the process as best as he could.

Blood splashed onto Naruto's arms and clothes, causing him to wince. But once he had it in him to look once again, he saw less blood flow than he'd expected. Then it started to stop altogether. The wound healed enough on its own that Kabuto could sit up and begin properly fixing what was left of the damage.

Naruto and Tayuya had no idea that Kabuto was so tough, because a weaker individual wouldn't have been able to even begin healing such a grievous injury dealt to them.

He seemed to be okay for the time being, which left the immediate threat of Nagato, who was by now standing up again. Nagato's hair wasn't the only thing that was red on him any longer. Naruto's punch had landed with enough force to tear open the left side of his face. Blood poured from beside his eye, down his cheek and neck.

"You know..." Nagato said, dabbing at his face, "...Your father didn't even draw blood on me like you just did. Even after all of this."

Naruto shrugged in return, "'Water on a frog's face'. Dad and Jiraiya said that to me a lot. It's supposed to mean stay calm, no matter what happens to you," He spared a glance back at Tayuya and Kabuto for a moment, "I'm not the best at it, but freaking out isn't gonna beat you, or help them."

"You staying calm isn't going to beat me either," Nagato said with complete confidence. Naruto had surprised him several times and finally managed to get to him with a significant blow. But it hadn't decided anything. Someone like Nagato wouldn't let anything like that happen twice as long as he had his way.

Naruto was of the mindset that things needed to end. He was starting to feel the effects of the battle, and the pain from his tailed beast transformation hadn't gone away yet.

Nagato, his clan head back before he had been exiled, was the real deal. Naruto didn't know if his strength was comparable to the Sage of Six Paths, but he was a top-notch shinobi on par with anyone in the world regarded as a power in their field.

Another clash brewed, until an odd spacial distortion formed around Nagato. Neither Naruto nor Nagato seemed to know what was going on, and just like that, Nagato was gone.

Naruto looked around, feeling as though it were a ploy – a trick up Nagato's sleeve to gain the upper hand. As the seconds dragged on, and he saw no sign of Nagato whatsoever, it seemed more likely that he had simply vanished.

"What the-?" Naruto verbalized, turning every which way to try and spot his opponent, "Tayuya, did you see him leave?"

The girl shook her head, just as confused as Naruto. Despite her different perspective of the fight, she didn't see anything more than he had, "I didn't see him take a step one way or another. What the fuck was that?"

"I... don't know," Naruto said, walking back over to her and Kabuto warily. An attack could still come from anywhere, "How's he doing?"

"He stopped the bleeding," Tayuya reported, checking Kabuto's pulse, "Doesn't seem like he's gonna croak."

Good. If Kabuto had gotten himself killed over something that hadn't even involved him, Naruto would have never stopped kicking himself over it, "Can you take him back to your place?" He asked.

Tayuya gathered Kabuto up to do as Naruto asked, before realizing that he wasn't coming with them, "Where are you going?"

Naruto looked to Hashike-gai proper. At last check, his friend was still under duress from Konan, "To find Tenten."

XxX

(Meanwhile - Kaze no Kuni)

One moment, Nagato was standing face-to-face with Naruto. The next, he was standing in the blistering heat of the desert. There was no sign of the floating city, of Tayuya, of Naruto, of anything that he had been previously dealing with. There was nothing around but the endless dunes of sand.

What had happened? The last thing that had taken place was that odd ripple of air around him. He'd figured it had been an attack that Naruto had slipped on him, but he hadn't taken any damage.

'Does the boy know some form of Hiraishin no Jutsu?' Nagato wondered to himself, 'Naruto honestly doesn't strike me as the type to pick up on space-time ninjutsu.'

Another vortex formed in the air not too far away, catching Nagato's immediate interest. Instead of Naruto, or someone else he knew of stepping out, an individual he had no knowledge of emerged.

A man with long, spiky black hair, wearing a form-fitting dark blue robe, brown pants, and brown gloves walked out of the portal. On his face rested a solid orange mask with black flames.

Nagato took a moment to size the stranger up, "Who are you?"

The masked stranger shook his head, "That's not important."

Nagato wasn't about to let the mysterious act slide so easily, "I beg to differ, given that you interrupted something very important."

"About that-," The masked man said, "I normally try not to intrude. It's not my style," He said, throwing his hands out to the side, "But you see, I can deal with Naruto dying. I can deal with you dying. What I can't deal with is the two of you both dying at the same time."

"You say that like you have any sort of control over either of us," Nagato said with a bite to his tone, "I know for a fact you have no influence over me, friend."

"Of course not. Of course not," The masked man said, holding his hands up disarmingly, "I'm just an invested observer. I'm a fan of yours. I like you, Uzumaki-san. That's why I had to step in."

"You like me. You say you're a fan of mine. And yet, you stop me from doing my work, and getting rid of a jinchuuriki."

So much power. Whatever Nagato had expected from Naruto as a jinchuuriki had been fulfilled. He could transform into the Kyuubi. Nagato had only seen it in full for a moment, but the sight had been unmistakable.

The masked man laughed, "Naruto is what he was made to be. Just like you are," He stepped away as a vortex opened up behind him, "Enjoy the trip back to Uzu no Kuni. Use the time to clear your head. Get some culture."

Before Nagato could stop him, he was gone. He had left Nagato behind, at least four days away from the coast if he traveled nonstop on foot. By the time he made it back to Mizu no Kuni, Naruto would be long gone. He had been foiled by this individual that had come from nowhere and returned to nowhere.

Staying still would get him nowhere, so Nagato located which direction was east, and started moving. As his feet left their prints in the burning sand, a thought from years ago drifted to mind, 'Kushina said that Naruto told her a masked man had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him.'

A masked man that had come and gone quickly, that no one else could verify the existence of.

Nagato started to laugh to himself, "All these years, and he'd been telling the truth," He said to the open air, as though the gods themselves could hear and would laugh along with him, "Naruto really saw what he saw that day."

And yet, even gifted with that knowledge years after the fact, it still didn't change anything.

XxX

(Mizu no Kuni – Spillway of Hashike-gai)

After being carried away from her prey by a powerful water ninjutsu, Konan found herself cornered by three opponents, as opposed to one, surrounded by an element two of them thrived in. She still wasn't injured, nor was she tired, but adding the Hozuki Brothers to the mix made her fight with Tenten notably more difficult.

Mangetsu and Suigetsu stood on opposite sides of a large vertical drain, while Konan flew above the opening with paper wings. The air around her was filled with sheets of paper she kept at the ready for combat.

"Can you not let any of that fall into the water?" Mangetsu asked respectfully, "Hashike-gai enforces a strict no-littering policy," 'Strict' as in, the brothers got to dismember perpetrators. Harsh? Probably. But they were the law, and they liked a clean city.

Suigetsu was a lot less courteous in his approach, "Alright, here's the deal," He said, pointing at Tenten, "This chick is going to unseal the Kiba swords for us if we help her kick your ass."

Konan raised an eyebrow at Tenten, "Do you think that this means you have the upper-hand, just because you've recruited some help?"

"I sure do hope so," Tenten said with a tired sigh, "Konan, at this point it's three-on-one. I don't want to be here. I want a shower and a nap - like, really bad. So, I'm leaving."

Konan gestured to the two brothers, "You expect these two to deal with me in your place?"

Suigetsu scoffed, "No. We already did what we needed to. From here, there's only one way out... and you can't take it," He pointed down the pipe that Konan hovered above, "If I were you, I wouldn't go down there."

Konan looked down at the pipe where all of the water drained to, "What are you talking about?"

We're security for Hashike-gai. We know this place like the back of our hands," Mangetsu explained, "When we first started working here, we pegged the spillways as a way people could sneak in. We made it so things can go out, but the only thing that can come in is water."

"-And the way out is through there," Suigetsu added.

Konan chuckled and shook her head, "I know how to swim, children," She also knew how to fight underwater, at least long enough to get out, if need be.

"Okay, go for it then."

Konan's eyes narrowed at how easily they were willing to let her try to leave. Konan created an origami creature before dropping it down the pipe. When it touched the water, a telltale snap electricity echoed up, signifying high voltage, "I'm not even going to ask how you did that," She said under her breath before speaking up to Tenten, "If these two are now the only ones who can get out of here, why aren't you concerned about it?"

At that, Tenten's face slowly lit up into a bright smile, "Well, that's because I'm not even here right now!" She chirped brightly, waving farewell, "Bye~!"

Konan was left with a gobsmacked expression, while Suigetsu found himself amused by the interaction, "Yeah, she booby trapped the way out and left a clone with me after I told her how to escape. She must really not like you to leave a Shadow Clone just to tell you to fuck off."

For the second time today, Tenten pulled the wool over her eyes with the use of one Shadow Clone, and Konan had let it happen by overlooking her, "...I'm going to kill that girl," She seethed.

"Not today, you aren't," Suigetsu taunted, "Enjoy your cozy accommodations lady."

Mangetsu also rubbed salt in Konan's wound, "Feel free to find my brother and I once you get out of here, in case you'd like to settle up with us," At that, he smirked, "Of course, we'll have new superweapons by the time you do."

"Also, unlike you, we'll be fed and properly hydrated," Suigetsu said, "So, yeah, bring it on."

With that, the brothers turned their bodies to liquid and began squeezing themselves through the grates and small pipes that would take them back to the upper portion of their town. That left Konan alone in the damp, cold, uncomfortable underbelly of Hashike-gai.

Konan shut her eyes, sighing to repress her own anger at being trapped. She could feel the vein throbbing near her temple with every beat of her heart, "Very well, Tenten. If we ever meet again, I won't make the mistake of underestimating you."

XxX

When Naruto found Tenten shuffling her way back to Tayuya's house, looking very tired, but for the most part unharmed, he couldn't help himself. He gathered his closest friend up in a big hug; a hug that only grew tighter once she recanted the events of her day.

Even when they made it back to Tayuya's home, Naruto didn't let go, "I'm so goddamn proud of you!" He exclaimed, "Do you know how long I've wanted to check that bitch myself? You didn't even need me. You left her stuck under the city all by yourself."

"Not by myself," Tenten admitted, "The Hozuki Brothers helped. A lot," They had earned their offered price of Kiba blades, even if they didn't divulge anything on Seigyou-ki.

"Don't care," Naruto decided, swinging Tenten from side to side, "You beat Konan. I love you. Accept my love."

Tenten sighed tiredly, but smiled despite her fatigue, "I accept your love, Naruto," She said, patting him on the back.

"Good. Now let mom adopt you when we get back, the way she always wanted to."

That was a bridge too far for Tenten, "I'm not doing that," She said, untangling herself from Naruto. She noticed Tayuya across the room, moving around and grabbing anything of value she could find, "What's she doing?"

Tayuya answered, without bothering to even look away from what she was frantically doing, "Packing my shit to get the hell out of here," She said, her face twisted in annoyance, "Golden Boy may have chased off the guy with the Rinnegan, and you might have gotten your person to fuck off, but if they aren't dead and they're still holding a grudge, they'll know where to find me."

After seeing Nagato in action, Tayuya wanted absolutely no part of fighting him. Kabuto was resting on her couch, having just healed himself from the wounds inflicted by the man. If Nagato was out for petty revenge, she wouldn't last very long – this she knew. Life had been comparatively comfy on Hashike-gai, but those days seemed to be over.

"Fuck it," Tayuya muttered, finishing all of the packing that she could hold in one scroll. She sealed her belongings away in a puff of smoke, "I had a good run here. I'll just have to find another safe space. Gotta be somewhere in Mizu, right?"

A silence fell over the house as Tayuya continued getting her things together. Tenten looked at Naruto pointedly, much to his confusion. She gestured with her eyes to Tayuya, still getting a blank look from the boy. She wanted him to say something, but he didn't know what, "Uh…ow!" An elbow between the ribs guided him in the right direction, "Do you want to leave Mizu?"

Tenten shook her head at how hard it was to guide Naruto in the right direction, "What he means to say is, why do you have to stay here?" She asked Tayuya, "Do you even like Mizu no Kuni?"

No. In fact, as long as Tayuya was a safe distance away, the entire country could go up in flames for all she cared, "Hell no. All this place does is make me miserable," She declared, before her shoulders slumped a bit, "…But, it's all I know. I don't think I can make things work anywhere else. At least here, I know the rules."

"What rules?" Naruto asked. The only 'rules' he'd seen since showing up in Mizu no Kuni were 'don't cross Seigyou-ki', and 'try not to die'.

At that, Tayuya smirked, "Exactly," With a shrug, she picked herself back up and continued her work, "Either way, it probably wouldn't shake out well for me."

Naruto and Tenten looked at each other, nodding in agreement, "If you give it a shot, I can at least guarantee you steady work," Naruto said.

Tenten followed up, backing up his claim, "Yeah, Naruto's dad always has stuff he needs doing. And it's not like we're one clan, and you'll be the outsider. There's all kinds of clans taking part, other freelancers too..."

"-There's even another jinchuuriki like me," Naruto butted in, trying to sell his father's unified village plan to Tayuya, "It's like the island of misfit toys! It's great!"

Tayuya's lips quirked upward in a smile, "Well... I guess I deserve a vacation after all of the crazy bullshit you pulled me into," They were managing to convince her, not that she needed a whole lot of it, "Oh, what the hell? I planned to roam anyway. I may as well expand my horizons some, eh?"

Tenten pumped her fist victoriously, "Yes! Alright, let's get the heck out of this country before Kaiza ditches us!"

"I'll carry Kabuto," Naruto was quick to take the cue to get as far as he could away from the site of his battle with Nagato, "Come on, buddy. We're getting out of this place."

"Yay..." Kabuto droned weakly as Naruto hefted him up over his back, "I'm not being sarcastic. I really mean it. I hate this country."

The foreign trio made their way outside when Tayuya followed them out and stopped them, "Whoa-whoa-whoa. Hold your fucking horses, kids. I still need to finish packing my shit," She said, pointing back inside.

Tenten noticed that Tayuya had her travel pack with her that she'd been stuffing with storage scrolls, "No, you don't," She reached into her own pack and threw Naruto an empty scroll "Naruto, do the thing."

Naruto unraveled the scroll and walked past Tayuya up to her house, "Doing the thing."

"Doing what thing?" Tayuya asked, getting progressively angrier as Naruto continued to work, instead of answering her, "Hey! Doing what thing, asshole!?"

Before she could get anymore frustrated, Naruto managed to seal Tayuya's entire home away. He turned around to hand it off to the stunned young woman, "That thing. Here you go," He walked by her with a pat on the back.

Tayuya regained her composure quickly, "...Well, I'm glad I never got around to paying rent while I was here," After everything that Tayuya had seen that day, seeing an entire home get sealed away in a scroll was low on the list, "Fine. Screw Mizu no Kuni. Let's roll."

Naruto shifted Kabuto around on his back, "We've got a stop to make first," That elicited a glare from the two girls with him, "It'll be quick, and it'll be worth it. I promise."

XxX

(The Next Night – Mizu no Kuni Main Island)

All alone, Naruto walked the sole path that led to the castle of Terumi Mei. The moon clearly illuminated his path, yet instead of trying to hide, he sauntered forward, hands shoved in the pockets of his vest.

Along his route, he noticed the trees stirring. Undoubtedly Mei's scouts moving to let her know he was there. That manifested itself in his path eventually being blocked by the woman herself, flanked by enough fighters to block the road entirely. Other than Mei herself, they all seemed ready for a fight.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Mei said, an infuriatingly patronizing smile on her face.

Naruto was able to ignore it for the most part, not letting her smug demeanor get to him, "Come on. You can't be that surprised that I came back after what you did. I even told you what I was gonna do."

Mei chuckled at the reminder of their last face-to-face meeting just over a week prior, "Right. Your cute little threat to kill everyone and burn down my castle. It is rather surprising, given that I figured you would be dead by now. After all, Nagato was very clear with his intentions, and from what I know, he has never lost."

"Don't know what to tell you," Naruto said with a bit of a snarl, his teeth slightly bared, "Maybe you shouldn't make it a habit of selling out people who are doing you a favor."

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto," Mei replied, shaking her head, "We're far enough away from my castle," She gestured to the structure, the top of which could be seen over the trees in the background, "Which means that if you attack me, I don't have to hold back for risk of destroying something important."

Her, and the entire armed contingent she kept stationed with her. Dozens of masked Seigyou-ki operatives stood with the dangerous woman, ready to pounce on Naruto at the nearest provocation or order.

There was a tense moment where Naruto stared her down, everyone frozen in anticipation, "I came here looking a fight," He said, raising the tension further, "...Then I cooled down a bit, and just wanted to know who you guys were and what you were about," The hostility started to decrease as he continued to speak, "Then I realized I didn't care. I did your stupid job, so I don't owe you anything. I'm leaving."

"Oh? And here I thought you would stay until you found what you were looking for."

"I never really expected to find anything from the beginning. I was just following a lead. Chasing a ghost, I guess," Naruto admitted. As tough as it was to stomach, the near month he'd spent in Mizu no Kuni had been a bust. Nothing had come out of it, and he'd risked his friends lives, "Anyway, I just came to let you know I was out of here."

"That so courteous," Mei said, clapping her hands together gratefully, "A distinct change from the young man brazen enough to threaten me in my own home."

"You frog-marched us to your dungeon," Naruto deadpanned, before shaking off any offense he might have felt, "Whatever. When I know I'm a guest in someone else's house, I don't reach into their refrigerator without asking permission. My mom taught me better than that."

"I knew there was a good boy in there somewhere," Mei dripped with such insincerity that Naruto felt she would have risked reaching out to pat him on the cheek had he been close enough, "Very well. Since we weren't able to help each other, and because I did put you in a difficult position, I suppose I can grant you safe passage to the coast."

"Wow. Ain't you gracious?"

Mei intentionally ignored Naruto's snark, "Of course. I'm all for deals working out the best for everyone. This is the best our arrangement is going to get, dear. I suggest you take it," There were teeth behind her proposition.

"Right, right. I get the hint."

"I hope you enjoyed your stay in Mizu no Kuni."

With that dismissal, their business was seemingly concluded. Naruto turned his back and walked away, heading back the way he had come. The situation seemed to have deescalated. As Mei watched Naruto leave, a scout arrived on the scene with urgent news, "Terumi-sama, the castle is on fire!"

Mei's eyes went wide and she turned around. Above the treeline, large black plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the night sky. She could see flames from the top floor. Her fortress had been infiltrated and set ablaze. With fire of her own in her eyes, Mei rounded on Naruto, who was still walking away with his back to her.

There was a vicious grin on the blond jinchuuriki's face as he paid the killing intent directed at him no mind, "My mom also taught me to be a man of my word," He stopped and turned around, using Kurama's chakra to turn his eyes red, "I told you, if you screwed with me or my team, I was gonna burn down your building," He gestured for her to go away, "There's some important stuff in there, right? I'm pretty sure my friend used chemicals to start that. You might want to get on saving as much as you can."

Mei seethed as her accompaniment scrambled off to return to base and begin fighting the fire, "You're going to pay for this," She threatened.

"Not tonight, I'm not," Naruto cheekily shot back, "You enjoy that now," He vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing himself to be a clone, not even willing to grant her the satisfaction of dispelling him herself.

XxX

The memories of Naruto's departed clone hit him and put a giant smile on his face. Sometimes it was the little things in life that made certain hardships worth it. Little things like seeing the look on the face of someone who tried to deceive you after you burned their house down. Or more specifically, after your friend burned their house down.

Was it the most paragon approach in dealing with one's enemies? Probably not. Was it an appropriate response to having one of your most powerful enemies sicced on you by the leader of a shadow organization? Sure, if you had the means to do so.

As Naruto hid in the deep woods, Tenten arrived at his side, having given anyone who might have been after her for starting the fire the slip, "We clear to leave?"

Tenten seemed very pleased with herself, as she should have been. It had clearly been a blast for her to start the fire, "Oh yeah. Yeah, we're clear."

"Come on," Naruto said, prompting the two to take off into the trees, "Let's catch up with Kabuto and Tayuya before these guys get their act together and come after us."

After everything that had happened, fighting a prolonged battle against an entire force of enemies was the last thing they wanted, but Tenten felt it might have been something she could deal with, as satisfied as she was at the moment, "It would be worth it. That felt sooooo good. And I got some loot too. We can split it with everybody later."

Naruto casually glanced over at his friend, "Why? You took it. It's yours," Tenten gave him a surprised look before realizing what he'd said. She bit her bottom lip to hold back a happy squeal, "Happy birthday, Tenten."

---

Alright, friends, that's the chapter.

It looks like our adventures in Mizu no Kuni are over, and our heroes didn't find what they were looking for. It found them, not that they knew about that. I'll let the events speak for themselves and leave you with that.

I'm out of here. I've got a bum shoulder and a bottle of vodka to nurse. Until the next time.

Kenchi out.