Eroninja - Chapter 92: Revenge Arc: Operation: Kill Konan Part VI

Nel felt as if the mental fog that had enveloped her since first being rescued by her siblings had finally evaporated. She wasn’t sure if it was a side-effect of her having swallowed Sasuke’s jutsu, or a result of her desperate desire to protect Naruto having effectively forced her to grow up. But, whatever the cause, she was just glad to have her mental facilities restored. Although naturally, she would have preferred them to be under far less dire circumstances.

Still, as she used the sword that Naruto had managed to take away from Sasuke to block one of the blades now protruding from her opponent’s arms, she felt something was off from how her child-like self had perceived the Uchiha, and how she was currently seeing him. For starters, she believed that Sasuke had been much faster and stronger during the fight with Naruto then he currently was.

Particularly as she almost easily pushed him back, and then while he was off balance, managed to take a weak backhanded swing at his neck. Sasuke however was able to get one arm up into position to block the attack as he fell back, and discouraged her from following up by thrusting the other blade out towards her stomach.

Nel leapt back a few steps, while making sure she had positioned herself to be between Naruto and the Uchiha. As she watched him roll back to his feet, she wondered if his apparent weakness was a ruse in order to lure her away from Naruto in order to finish him. However, she ruled that out as a possibility since she felt the wariness that the Uchiha was regarding her with was genuine and so imagined that he was unsure if he could defeat her. Truthfully though, she wasn’t entirely sure that she could best him either, even if he was in a weakened state. Particularly as she wasn’t entirely sure of her own capabilities in her current form, and so was relying almost entirely on the swordsmanship that she had gleamed from being sealed inside some of the best blade masters the shinobi world had fielded.

Sasuke began pacing back and forth before her, giving her the feeling that he was some man-eating beast that had managed to wound the prey it had sought, only to be denied its meal by an interloper, and couldn’t get back to its reward until the newcomer was dealt with. She felt a pang of guilt at Naruto’s condition as she believed it was only because of her presence that he had been so grievously wounded by Sasuke’s trap. However, recalling the Uchiha’s words about Naruto nearly ruining everything for him again, she quickly realized her perception that Sasuke had entrapped Naruto wasn’t right. With that flash of insight, she suddenly realized that Sasuke’s survival had been a desperate ploy on his part. Scanning the walkway, she quickly found what she sought which were pieces of the metal shell that had surrounded Sasuke after taking the full blast of what she supposed could be considered a Wind Clone Bomb. Naruto in effect by creating a Wind Clone and then giving it a Rasengan that he had generated, had effectively created a collaborative jutsu with himself, as the clone would add its own wind natured chakra to the Rasengan before dispersing itself with said jutsu to turn the Rasengan into a primitive Rasenshuriken.

She suspected, considering how a Rasenshuriken had nearly crippled him previously, Sasuke had been particularly wary of Naruto trying to generate one. Which was why his using the Wind Clones among his far deadlier offerings in terms of clones had been so instrumental in getting Sasuke to lower his guard. However, Nel suspected that Sasuke had still considered the possibility that Naruto would tag him with one, and so had developed a means to counter it. Which judging from the thickness of the pieces of the shell this unhealthily thin looking Sasuke had emerged from, she suspected it had still been by a narrow margin that he survived. As she believed the reason he had needed to emerge in the flashy method that he had was because Naruto’s jutsu had effectively killed the cells that had comprised his last-ditch defensive barrier. In essence, she believed that the blades protruding from Sasuke’s arms weren’t actually metal but just hardened and colored to give the appearance of it. Which meant that in all likelihood, Naruto’s jutsu had killed Sasuke’s cells as effectively as ever, and the shell he had exploded from could just have easily become a tomb.

If she was correct in her reasoning, she imagined that the needle-like attacks of Naruto’s jutsu had acted like heat cooking a steak in a broiler. As the jutsu killed each subsequent layer, locking it in the hardened state, Sasuke’s shell had grown thicker and thicker until he could have almost been considered trapped by it. This also meant that the Uchiha had an insane amount of control over his cellular structure, and while his arm blades could attest to such a thing. In truth, they paled in comparison to his effectively using his dead cells as an ever-thickening defense against the onslaught of Naruto’s jutsu.

It also made her realize that in truth, that she was probably at an even greater disadvantage in the battle then she had initially thought. This was due to the fact that if Sasuke even had organs any more, she imagined he could simply shift them or heal any damage she did almost instantly. Yet, before she began to lose heart at her chances to protect Naruto, she realized that due to his emaciated form, Sasuke required genetic material to perform such repairs, so damage sustained from jutsu using fire or a Bijuu Ball would limit his healing ability as he had less and less material to draw upon. But furthermore, his creating a defense that had nearly trapped him, suggested to her that there had been something that Sasuke had needed to protect from Naruto’s jutsu. A core of some sort that he needed to prevent from being damaged, and which she imagined if destroyed would end the threat that the Uchiha posed once and for all.

She quickly surmised that she had the means of doing just that, but would admit to being hesitant to using it since she feared it would revert her back to her child-like form. However, she quickly squashed the selfish desire welling up within her, since if she failed to protect Naruto, she effectively wouldn’t really care if she retained her current form or not. But, she recognized that her desire to retain her current form, also hinted at the drawback of making such a gamble in that she would only have one shot, so would need to make it count.

*******

Naruto felt like a bug in someone’s collection due to how Sasuke had pinned him to a large slab of rubble which had likely fallen from one of the buildings currently burning around them. He tried to pull himself free, while ignoring the additional pain doing so generated as he found the end of the blades sticking through his shoulders were barbed and suspected the portion buried in the cement was similarly anchored. He mentally cursed as he found that he also couldn’t gather the chakra necessary to Hirashin to the tri-prong kunai that he had used moments before as he had tried to avoid Sasuke’s release from the statue he had become after taking his Wind Clone Bomb. Or, to create a chakra cloak using his Bijuu chakra. Unsure why, he suspected that the blades holding him in place may have had a sealing technique written on them which was disrupting his chakra. Which prompted him to frown as he couldn’t recall seeing any seals on Sasuke’s arm blades which would have led him to believe they had any such function. But, then again, Naruto reasoned he shouldn’t be surprised as the ability to form blades out of his forearms was a new addition to the Uchiha’s abilities as well.

Redoubling his efforts to pull free, he cursed, since he felt that if he could just get enough leverage to get his feet beneath him, then he would just tear himself off the blades in a similar manner to removing a bandage. Which was to do it in one quick and painful push. At which point, he would use the mental partition of himself that was controlling his Bijuu and Sage chakra to heal himself much as Kiyomi used to. Unfortunately, he suspected Sasuke had targeted the pile of rubble that he had pinned him to, precisely to make sure he couldn’t. Plus, Naruto realized that if he acted too rashly, and his chakra wasn’t restored after pulling himself free then he would probably damage himself to the point where he bled out in moments. However, watching Nel fight, he decided that he had to risk it since while she was holding her own at the moment. It was apparent to him that her skill with the blade seemed secondhand, as if she knew the correct stances and moves, but having never actually used them before, she was not performing them as sharply as could be.

More troubling to him though, was that Sasuke who had started out rather sluggish and weak, appeared to quickly be recovering his precision and strength. Something the Uchiha displayed as he swung in a diagonally downward swing, that at first appeared rather feeble, but as Nel brought her blade around to block it. The strength Sasuke put into the blow intensified, nearly battering through her defense as she had only intended to push away the attack in favor of blocking its follow-up. Nel managed to recover as she pulled one hand from the hilt and pressed it against the backside of the blade in order to try and stop Sasuke from just forcing his down and through her. However, her problems didn’t end there as while she was busy pushing back against his slowly descending blade, he was busy bringing the one in his other arm up to stab her in the chest.

Nel though hadn’t lost track of it, and managed to use Sasuke’s power against him as she allowed him to win the test of strength by suddenly giving up while turning out of the way. As a result, Sasuke overextended himself as he suddenly lurched forward, and received a slice along his back as Nel completed her spin and ran her blade against it. Sasuke hissed in pain as he quickly spun to retaliated, but Nel slipped back out of range.

Still, despite taking damage. Naruto suspected that Sasuke viewed himself as coming out ahead since he now was standing between Nel and him. Moreover, to Naruto’s surprise the wound on his back didn’t bleed and moments later the damaged flesh seemed to almost reach out to each other before disappearing completely.

Nel sent a worried look back towards him as it was clear that she was afraid that Sasuke would quickly move to finish him off now that she was out of position. However, Sasuke picking up on it, stated back towards his old rival, “It never ceases to amaze me how you manage to make so many fools care for you. What’s even better, is that I know that it is a two-way street. That every person willing to defend you is another means for me to wound you. So sit back and watch as I plunge another dagger in your heart before sending you off to hell for good.”

“You fucking bastard,” Naruto replied as he ignored the pain to try and pull himself free, “I thought I was the one you wanted.”

Sasuke didn’t bother to reply and confident that the Uzumaki was staying put, charged Nel and it was clear that he had recovered much of his stamina as she now struggled to defend herself.

*********

Miya leapt backwards several times as she made room between her and the wall of water that was quickly approaching with a smirking Kisame riding along on its crest. Confident she had created enough room, she dropped into a drawing stance, before quickly pulling her blade free of its scabbard. The shockwave of her pull sliced everything along its path, including the base of the giant tidal wave approaching.

Having returned her blade to its home at the conclusion of her swing, Miya raced along behind her attack and leapt through the opening that she had made in the wall of water. As she passed through, she spun in the air, and drew her weapon again, this time cutting upwards towards where Kisame had resided. Landing smoothly on the other side of the now toppling wave, she searched for any sign that she had connected as she began leaping back to avoid being splashed by the uncontrolled water.

As the wave crashed into the ground, she caught sight of a slight darkening of the water. She quickly raised her sword as some monstrous fish-man hybrid appeared from the water as wave crashed down behind it. Having been in the midst of a leap as it attacked her, she was able to block its clawed attack with her blade, but was sent sailing as it quickly spun and hit her with its tail. Miya hit the ground hard, but managed to recover as she rolled to her feet, before quickly leaping away again as she narrowly avoided its fist which it smashed up the street where she had been standing. It lashed out with its tail again, but having expected as much she managed to deflect it with her sword. Still as she had still been in the air, the force of the hit sent her sailing. However, she managed to get her feet beneath her before hitting the building she had been sent towards, and used it to launch herself at the creature as it straightened up.

Her attack struck true as she cut along the forearms that it had raised to defend itself, but instead of cutting clean through them was rewarded with the sound of metal hitting metal as she sailed beyond the creature. Landing smoothly, she realized the truth of what she was facing as she faced it so stated, “That’s an interesting trick.”

Kisame gave her a tooth filled grin as he replied, “It’s gotten me out of quite a few tough scraps in the past.” He quickly dropped to his knees as he pressed his hands to the water now coating the street as he added, “Although truthfully I prefer to use it where the environment is more to my advantage.”

The water coating the street up to their ankles quickly began to gather back around them as it responded to the chakra Kisame was pumping into it. However, as it rose up to swallow them both, Miya swung her sword about her causing it to blur which resulted in the water being sliced into tiny droplets as the connection to Kisame was cut again.

Kisame having also been hit by the attack as well, stumbled back as thousands of shallow cuts opened up over his body. They quickly began healing, but Miya began adding to them as she pressed her attack by closing the distance to attack at close range. Kisame took several deep cuts although never as deep as she intended, before he managed to catch her blade with one hand, and as he reached out with the other said, “You’re the very definition of an appetizer. It’s only making me hungrier for the main course.”

Miya rather than abandoning her blade or responding to the taunt, quickly pulled her scabbard from her belt with her left hand, and jammed it into Kismae’s throat. Although, she failed to crush it, the blow was enough to cause him to stumble back as he relinquished his hold on her blade. She then moved in quickly as she tried to finish the shark man off as she felt her opponent was at a distinct disadvantage due to the form he had assumed. Which while it had increased his defense, due to his inability to trap her in one of his water jutsu, he lacked most of his form’s offensive capabilities due to his lack of mobility.

It was an assessment that Kisame appeared to share as he managed to avoid her downward blow by spinning away, and as he came back around, he suddenly shifted back to normal. As a result, Samehada appeared in his hand as he spun back to face her, forcing Miya to abandon her follow up strike as she brought her blade around to block.

Although his blow was still powerful as it nearly knocked her out of her defensive stance, Miya could feel the fatigue in the man’s arms as she pushed her blade against his. As their blades pushed against one another, the purple haired woman said, “Looks like you are getting weaker Kisame. What’s the matter, not eating as well these days?”

Kisame gave her an amused smile as he replied, “I think we both know the answer to that. I have to say I’m honored, for you to have developed such a powerful fighting style that doesn’t rely on chakra and allows you to generate those air scythes just by swinging your blade, all in order to kill little ole me, shows that I must have been on your mind a lot.”

Miya found it rather strange that despite being face to face with the man that she had desired and dreamed of killing for years, she couldn’t muster the hate that she had held for him any longer. Instead, she felt a curiosity similar to the one she had felt when he had been assigned to guard her squad, and yet had always remained off by himself. As such she responded, “That was the case for many years. However, in time someone else came along, who gave me something new to live for.”

To her surprise, Kisame gave what passed for a genuine smile as he said, “That’s good. It would have been a shame if you had become some revenge obsessed fool like the Uchiha twerp. It’s hard to believe that he and Itachi came from the same womb.” Exerting himself, Kisame then pushed her back, causing Miya to stumble slightly as he quickly brought his sword up above his head to drive her down into the ground.

However, Miya quickly recovered allowing her to swing her blade resulting in another air scythe being launched from it. Her attack caught Kisame at the elbow causing Samehada and his forearm to land several feet from his body. Kisame didn’t scream in pain, as he just brought his hand to the severed stump looking both shocked and amused.

Miya quickly fired off another one, but rather then hitting Kisame it caught Samehada as it had tried to jump back to its wielder. The air Scythe caught the living sword and carried it off down the street in the direction that they had originally came from.

Not sure where his blade landed, Kisame sunk to his knees as he said with a smile, “Have to say, I always figured it would come to this. But, I’d be lying if in all the possibilities I imagined, I pictured my executioner as being you.”

To his surprise though, Miya removed her belt and tossed it to him as she said, “Use that to stop the bleeding.”

Kisame looked down at the belt lying before him, and said, “You’ve truly have moved on, huh? Whoever it was that got me out of your head did the world a service. It would have been a shame if you could no longer reach out to others as you tried to for me any longer.”

“Then take the hand that I’m offering you now,” Miya said kindly.

“Sorry,” Kisame said as he pulled his hand away from the wound, “I’ve got my own principles to live by.” Opening his mouth, a deluge of water poured out which quickly encased him, at which point he used the blood coating his hand to summon a school of sharks which surrounded him before tearing him to pieces.

Miya didn’t look away as she was rather shocked by Kisame’s sudden end. However, as the sharks began to dispell due to the water collapsing to the ground, she truly came to realize that there had been no hostility contained in his blade when Kisame had tried to murder her. Instead, his actions had been in line with his principles that information was to be protected above all else, and he had demonstrated those principles applied to him as well. Turning away, she still felt a little numb at Kisame’s rather inglorious end, but ultimately felt a new sense of gratitude to the Family that she had joined as it had prevented her from becoming the monster that she had always envisioned Kisame as being. As she had just been shown that while his actions against her and her former squad had been horrendous, he had viewed them as necessary since he had applied them to himself as well.

******

Bee groaned as he found himself laying in a puddle that he assumed was made by him due to the wet clothes clinging to him. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he rested his back against a concrete barrier as he asked his partner, “Yo, Eight, did you get the number of the lady that clocked me into next week.” Not receiving an answer after several heartbeats, he asked, “Hey, what’s the deal with the silent treatment? Cat got your tongue?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Gyuuki replied after letting out a soft chuckle, “But, I’m afraid she got away.”

“Shit,” Bee replied feeling some concern well up at letting the woman get away, “If she doubled back to help Yugito, then Bro is probably in trouble. You should have just taken over and gone after her.”

Before Gyuuki could respond, their conversation was cut short as an unconscious Ay was tossed in front of Bee. Looking in the direction he had flown from, Bee saw Yugito approaching slowly while holding her arms up in a placating manner. “Bro,” Bee said quickly crawling towards his defeated leader. Flipping him onto his back, his eyes were immediately drawn to the cat paw shaped brand that had been burnt into his chest. Focusing on Yugito, he began to channel the rage that he felt into letting him take more of Gyuuki’s chakra.

But he paused as Yugito said, “I didn’t come here to fight you Bee, and as to the mark I gave him. Can you really say it is worse than the fate that awaited me if he won our battle?”

Bee stood and moved to stand protectively in front of the A portion of the A-B combo that he had formed as he said, “Then you best hurry and say your piece quick, as otherwise I’m going to hit you with a flurry of moves that will make you sick.”

Yugito nodded as she said, “Very well. I want to ask you, what are your plans for the future?”

“If you’re asking me, about whether or not I’m going to let you go free then…”

“Your sworn brother can attest to the fact that I do not require yours or even his permission in regards to my freedom,” Yugito replied allowing a hard edge to enter her voice. Taking a more conciliatory tone, she continued, “What I meant was, is this the life that you truly desire for yourself? Because if it isn’t, then you should take this opportunity to follow your dreams.”

Bee looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying, “Come on now Ni, you know better than most that when I go rogue my Bro leaves no stone unturned to drag me back.”

“True,” Yugito conceded before letting a smile grace her lips, “But since I was the one that he often sent after you. I’m fairly certain that this time around, he will have to let you roam free. His actions here are going to have ramifications, and because of that, he will not be able to send anyone after you since there is a real chance war can break out.”

“And you’re telling me to betray my home like you,” Bee said angrily as he again tensed to attack her.

Yugito prepared to defend herself, but countered, “He may see it as a betrayal. Hell, perhaps even the village may. But, if you aren’t there to defend Kumo, then it may weaken Ay’s position so that he will negotiate rather than risk a war. Furthermore, so long as tensions remain high, he will not be free to go after you to drag you back to Kumo either. So therefore, he’ll need to assume the roll that you’ve held for… what… twenty years. I think you deserve some time to pursue your own desires.”

“Not all of us are as selfish as you Ni,” Bee said coldly, and took some pleasure as a hurt look appeared on Yugito’s face.

However, it melted quickly as she began to back away while stating, “But, perhaps you deserve to be. Or, if not for yourself, you should begin thinking of someone close to you other than your brother. You will probably not believe me, but your brother has wronged me by stealing an opportunity to know a family from me. He did this so I could become the host of the two-tails.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe you,” Bee stated as he suddenly charged her intent on hitting her with a lariat.

Yugito easily leapt over him, but as she landed a tentacle suddenly appeared from his back to wrap around her. However, activating her Bijuu Chakra Form, she was suddenly coated in Blue flames which prompted it to quickly let go and disappearing back into Bee. Turning to face him, she said, “Is it so hard to believe that I could be a victim of a plot along the same lines that he tried with the Hyuuga?”

Bee looked somewhat conflicted, since he heard the rumors that his brother had admitted to his role in the Hyuuga debacle, but found it difficult to square with the man that had adopted him as a brother. Still, he couldn’t deny that Yugito’s tone carried with it the weight of truth as she continued, “I can’t say this factored into my decision to leave Kumo, as I didn’t know this was the case until arriving here. But, I did come to see that in your brother’s eyes, I was nothing but a weapon to be pointed at his enemies. I don’t believe this is the case with you. I know your brother genuinely cares for you, as you are one of the few things he puts ahead of advancing his agendas. But can the same be said for the Bijuu you carry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on Bee,” Yugito replied with a sense of exasperation as she pointed to the unconscious Ay, “I know that you can be dense, but you aren’t stupid. Ay might have come after me, but he only was targeting the Bijuu. What do you think he would have done if he got me back to Kumo?” Not receiving a reply, since she was sure even he knew what her fate would be, and so didn’t allow it to remain unsaid as she stated, “He would have attempted to extract the two-tails and placed it into a new host. What do you think is going to happen to you when you can no longer perform your duties?”

“I knew the score when I signed up to become one,” Bee countered.

“Perhaps,” Yugito stated as she once more allowed her blue flames to fade, “But what about your Bijuu, after forming a partnership with you is it just supposed to go from host to host until the end of time. Have you even taken its feelings into account? Does it serve Kumo out of loyalty to the village, or out of loyalty to you.”

“Don’t try to tell me your betrayal was for your Bijuu’s benefit,” Bee said trying to change the subject, since he found that he didn’t really have an answer.

To his surprise though, Yugito smirked as she said, “No, I took that action ages ago. This was solely for me so I could use my abilities to help build the world I desire. But, the Bijuu that I hosted has no interest in serving Kumo for the rest of its existence.” Yugito’s gaze shifted away from Bee as she noticed an iron ship approaching in the distance, recognizing that it was most likely the Kumo-nin’s ride home, she stated, “In any case, it looks like our time is up. You should break off on your own too Bee. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself living a life full of what ifs. A life where you were used up fulfilling other people’s ambitions until you are old and grey. At which point the Bijuu that you host will be forced into servitude to a new partner again, with no thought as to what it desires.” Yugito activated her Bijuu Chakra Form as she suddenly leapt into the air, hovering for a moment, she paused long enough to give a thoughtful looking Bee a small nod before flying off into the city again.

After a moment, Bee’s gaze drifted to where he could see the Iron ship approaching, although it was still far enough away that he couldn’t make out any of the passengers so was confident they hadn’t spotted him yet either. Feeling torn, since he did have dreams that he hadn’t been free to pursue, he asked, “What do you have say on the matter, Eight?”

To his surprise, the Eight-tailed Bijuu didn’t shoot the idea down as it replied, “I don’t know. But, she was right about one thing. If the Raikage is going to be forced into playing this smart, it would probably be best if he felt backed into a corner.”

Bee frowned since while he hadn’t necessarily agreed with his Brother’s decision to betray the alliance to grab Yugito. That didn’t mean he wanted to abandon him. However, figuring that if Kumo and his brother did find themselves in a position where the Alliance planned to attack he could just rush back home, he said, “There was another thing she said that was true. With the mess my brother started, he’s going to be far too busy too hunt me down while I practice mastering my raps.” Not receiving the usual rebuke from the Bijuu that he hosted, he shouted, “Looks like this Bull’s going on long overdue holiday.”

Gyuuki felt a smile form on its face, as Bee moved his brother into a more comfortable position, since Yoruichi had showed it that there was a life it had never dream possible just within reach. Particularly as its greatest rival for Bee’s attention was still on Turtle Island. But, it did feel quite a bit of its cheer fade as Bee said, “But, first, let’s go pick up Aisha. It wouldn’t be fair to leave her behind to face Bro’s anger while we party it up.”

Leaping into the water, Bee waited until the Kumo ship parked overhead and the Anbu aboard began leaping off of it to secure his brother before assuming Gyuuki’s form. He then began swimming away to see just what the world outside Kumo really had to offer, since he imagined for the first time in his life he would be free to enjoy it without looking over his shoulder. At least for a while.

*******

Hiyori placed her Tengu mask on just before she leapt from the Kumo ship “Iron Turtle,” and nearly bumped into the Jounin that had preceded her, but had stopped on the concrete railing of the city’s edge. Nearly falling into the water behind her as a result, which could have been particularly bad for her as the boat was positioning itself to dock where she would have fallen, she was saved from embarrassing herself as the Jounin rounded suddenly to catch her by her shirt. But, she almost would have been preferred to have been crushed between the city edge and the boat as the blond man teasingly said, “Steady there. I’m sure a shrimp like you would be a tasty snack for some fish down there.”

Rather than thanking him, once he had steadied her, she suddenly jumped into the air and kicked the jounin in the face knocking him off the barrier and upon landing said, “Then make some room you baldy.”

“Baldy,” the Jounin Shinji Hirako shouted at the diminutive Anbu while planted on his behind. Running a hand through his long blond hair he asked, “How can you call a man with hair this thick and luminous a baldy?”

“Knock off you two,” Kumo’s current Head Jounin said angrily as he knelt next to a large man who was also on his knees while he held his hands over someone.

Hiyori eyes grew wide as she recognized the person laying on the ground was an unconscious Raikage. Quickly dropping down from the barrier, she ran passed Shinji as she asked, “Who did this? Where are the others?”

“How the hell would we know?” the Anbu Kensei Muguruma said with more than a smattering of annoyance. Currently in charge of the squad due to Tosen’s absence, he continued, “We all arrived at the same time.” He knelt next to the large pink haired man holding his hands above the injured Raikage as he asked, “Hachigen, what is Lord Raikage’s condition?”

Turning his head so that Hiyori could see the black cross-bone pattern dyed onto the top of his head, the member of Kumo’s barrier team who was to have handled the containing and if necessary medical treatment of Yugito until her Bijuu could be extracted said, “He is pretty lightly injured all things considered. Although, I imagine even with my healing abilities the mark on his chest will leave a scar. But, I believe is should answer Miss Sarugaki’s question as to who did this.”

Confused as to what he meant, Hiyori stood on her toes in order to peer over the large man’s shoulder and saw the large paw print burned into the Raikage’s chest, “That fucking bitch, when I get my hands on her…”

“Stow it,” Kensei said as he straightened up, and focusing on several Anbu that were approaching having searched the area as the rest had disembarked, asked, “Love, Mashiro, Rujuro… did you find the others?”

All threw shook their heads in the negative with Love saying, “I found a few signs that would make me think Bee was here. But, nothing in regards to Head Anbu Captain Tosen or Medical Chief Aizen.”

Hiyori noticed that Darui seemed perturbed by Tosen and Aizen’s lack of presence. However, he remained quiet allowing Rojuro to suggest, “I also noticed signs that would suggest Lord Raikage was in some running battle with Yugito. Perhaps she separated him from the others.”

“I don’t think so,” Shinji said, and from his tone, Hiyori could tell he was being serious for a change, “While it was part of the plan for Lord Raikage to lead Yugito here. Tosen, Killer Bee, and Aizen were all supposed to already be here when they arrived or shortly after. It doesn’t make sense for Lord Raikage to be here, but not the three of them. My guess is that Blue streak of flame we saw take off from here was Yugito which would suggest that the Raikage did his part, and from what we just heard it looks like Bee also arrived.”

Darui straightened and faced Shinji as he said, “I don’t like what you’re suggesting.”

Shinji shrugged unconcerned, and Hiyori could feel an unusual amount of tension coming off of both Darui and Shinji. She was relatively surprised by it, since Shinji usually was, and particularly to her, annoyingly laidback. Yet, as he met the Head Jounin’s gaze, she could tell there existed quite a bit of bad blood between them, she got a hint of why as Shinji said sounding somewhat mollifying, “Look, regardless of my feelings about Aizen, and my belief that he had a hand in the Great Kumo Earthquake…”

“You just can’t let that go,” Darui interjected with a hint of anger, suggesting it was a point of contention between them.

Particularly as Shinji continued on as if he hadn’t spoken, “The point remains that neither Aizen or Tosen bothered to show up here. That means either the two of them went off script…

Showing that he was losing his cool in a similar manner as the Raikage, Darui confrontationally added, “Or, they were ambushed by one of the two forces tearing up this city.”

Hiyori could see that Shinji was enjoying the fact that he was getting under Darui’s skin which he showed as his smile returned while he stated, “I was just going to suggest that as an alternative theory.”

Darui’s eyes narrowed, but Kensei stepped in between the two of them as he said, “Regardless, of the why. Our duty should be to first secure the Raikage, and then try to locate the others.” Kensei focused on Darui who nodded, so he pointed to two of the men that had remained on the boat as he ordered, “You two remain and help Lord Darui get the Raikage on board. The rest of us will search the area and try to pick up the others’ trails.”

“Does that include me?” Hachigen asked as he got to his feet.

“Unless you feel coming with us will endanger the Raikage,” Kensei stated, “If they were ambushed and need medical attention, your skills may be needed.”

Although, his face made it clear that he wasn’t looking forward to running through a warzone, Hachigen signaled that he would join them in their search, it prompted Shinji to say, “I guess that means I’m tagging along as well. I did promise the Barrier Corps that I’d be his bodyguard for this mission.”

Hiyori could hear a rare smile in Kensei’s voice as he stepped up to the blond man and in a hushed whisper said, “I wondered why you would volunteer for this mission. It must have been too tempting an opportunity to pass up, huh?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Shinji replied in an equally hushed and amused manner as his eyes traveled to where Darui was directing the two men carrying the Raikage below deck. “You can’t mean to suggest that I joined this mission simply because it presented a rare opportunity to observe our esteemed Medical Chief in one of his rare appearances outside of the village, can you? Particularly in a situation where the higher-ups can’t cover for him if he decided to pursue his own agenda.”

“Perish the thought,” Kensei replied stepping away before shouting to the others, “From the sound of things, there’s still some fighting going on nearby. We’ll search that area first for signs of our missing people.” He turned to the ship captain as he added, “Cast off and get the Raikage back to the village. We’ll secure our own means of leaving the city once we find them.”

Hiyori watched as Kenshin nodded towards her and the others remaining ashore before giving them several hand signs before dashing off. Due to the silent communication, the rest of the squad then set off after him in a diamond formation, with Hachigen and Shinji at the center while Mashiro, Love, Rojuro, and herself were the points of the diamond.

Acting as the point at the end of the formation responsible for making sure their six was clear, Hiyori kept her senses alert, but couldn’t stop her mind from wandering. Focusing on Shinji’s back, she wondered what it was about Aizen that he didn’t trust, or why he believed that he had a hand in an event that those in Kumo felt had been on par or worse than some of the times the Eight-Tails had rampaged in the village. Particularly as the Earthquake had been ruled to be a natural phenomenon, although there had been rumors to suggest it was actually caused by a shinobi.

Thinking over the event, which had happened a little over six years earlier, she recalled the worst of the damage had actually been centered around Kumo’s hospital. Although, the Earthquake hadn’t left any portion of the village untouched. In order to restore order, aid the citizens, and to combat the fires, those in charge had partitioned up the village with all the shinobi being assigned to certain sectors. The village’s elite Anbu unit, Squad Zero, had been assigned to the Earthquake’s epicenter where the damage had been greatest. Although, not surprisingly that had also been where the greatest loss of life had been concentrated.

Looking at her current squad, Hiyori realized that none of those present had actually been Anbu at that time. Although, to her understanding, it likely wouldn’t have mattered if they had been as Squad Zero answered only to the Raikage, and to the Head Anbu Captain, the current one being Tosen. Rumors had it that Squad Zero also was responsible for protecting Kumo’s Vault which was where it secured the legendary artifacts that it had procured over the years.

However, she couldn’t understand why Shinji was so adamant that Aizen had been responsible, or why he felt those in leadership positions were covering for him. Although, she suspected that if Aizen had caused the disaster, it made sense the village would try to cover it up as the earthquake was just the beginning of a series of calamities to hit it, as in the aftermath diseases had run rampant to the point where it would have been more accurate to describe it as a plague. Particularly as it had claimed most, if not all of the survivors from the hardest hit sections of the villages. Rumors also swirled about that Squad Zero had burned an entire medical center in their sector to the ground, with the personnel and patients still inside in order to prevent the disease from spreading. Although to be fair, Hiyori had only heard that particular rumor from one nut of a jounin that was always spouting crazy conspiracy theories. She wondered when exactly Shinji had begun to take stock in such things, but let the matter drop as the sounds of battle grew louder so focused on the present figuring they’d know if Shinji’s concerns about Aizen were valid soon enough.

******

Nel stifled a cry of pain as Sasuke’s blade sliced along the top of her left thigh. Although not deep enough to debilitate her, she couldn’t claim the shallowness of the wound was a result of anything she had done, so much as being due to Sasuke’s sadistic nature as he continued to slice her to ribbons. She cursed while she used the Uchiha’s sword to block his arm blades before she quickly began to backpedal away from him in order to catch her breath.

Sasuke allowed her the time to retreat and to reset her defense before he slowly began to approach. Nel cursed her ineptitude as her skill with the blade was based solely off of what she had gleamed from the hosts that she had been sealed in. Although, she guessed she was receiving one hell of a practical exam currently.

Her gaze quickly shifted to Naruto, who looked as if he had worked one of the blades buried into his shoulders loose enough that he could begin prying them free of his shoulders. Nel frowned as she wondered how much damage he had done to himself to do so primarily as a result of her inability to handle the Uchiha.

Still, Nel felt that provided she survived the encountered, she would be able to offer up valuable intelligence on the Uchiha’s abilities. Particularly as it appeared that he was absorbing Natural Energy, and while he wasn’t applying them to his techniques, she believed it was why he had been able to recover his stamina as well as how he regenerated from the wounds that he had received so quickly. Nel suspected this was something the Uchiha was doing unconsciously, making her believe it was a byproduct of the body he was possession of, and with that being the case, she circled back around to the idea that there was some kind of core within the man that he needed to protect, with the rest just being a fleshy shell covering. She felt this was in essence a boon, since otherwise she would have to eliminate every trace of him.

Not sure that she would be able to, she decided to use his own sadistic nature against him. Particularly, his stated desire to kill her in order to hurt Naruto. Steadying herself, she noticed a couple shadows pass overhead, and focusing on what was casting them saw several purple Zetsu circling overhead like vultures. Hoping it wasn’t an ill omen, she rushed forward with a desperate charge.

Putting everything she had into her offense, she swung wildly, but Sasuke effortlessly avoided her sword strike each time. Almost as if he had grown bored, Sasuke suddenly blocked and repelled a downward blow from her, which forced her arms back over her head. He then spun in place to cut her in half at the waist. Nel managed to backpedal enough to avoid being split open, but didn’t completely avoid it as his blade sliced across her midsection.

The sudden pain stunned her, allowing her fatigue to get the better of her as she sank to her knees. Holding her hand to her stomach, she looked up at Sasuke as he said, “It’s the end of the line. Any last words”

“Don’t do it Sasuke,” Naruto shouted as he began pulling away from the stone pinned to his back, no longer caring if he ripped his arms off to do it.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder to give the blond an amused smirk as he pulled his arm back to slice the woman’s head from her shoulders. However, Nel chose that moment to open her mouth and released the energy of the Kirin jutsu that she had swallowed. Sasuke had just enough time to focus on her and state, “What!?” Before a beam of energy erupted from her mouth and enveloped most of his body. When her jutsu came to an end, Nel smiled as she saw a huge hole in the building behind where Sasuke had stood indicating the power behind her attack. Her gaze then shifted to the portion of Sasuke still in existence, which were the third of his legs which the jutsu hadn’t hit. She frowned though as something seemed off about the badly burned appendages, but before she could figure out what, she noticed a shadow had settled above her and quickly began growing larger.

Realizing that Sasuke had switched positions with one of the Zetsu that had been flying overhead, she rolled out of the way just as he smashed into the ground where she had been kneeling while in a more skeletal version of his Level Two form. The force of Sasuke’s blow carried him through the walkway, which caused portions of it to collapse in an expanding circle from the point of impact. Unfortunately, Nel found that her roll hadn’t carried her far enough away as the ground beneath her gave way.

She caught sight of Naruto looking on helplessly so tried to give him a smile just as gravity took hold and he disappeared from her sight. To her surprise, the fall didn’t last that long before the sudden stop and her world went dark in an eerily similar callback to when her previous jinchuriki host had died.

*****

“Nel, dammit…” Naruto shouted angrily as she disappeared from his view. Recognizing that he had made some real headway in pulling himself free, he slammed his back against the rubble behind him causing almost half of the blades buried in his shoulders to appear. He noticed the symbols etched into them, which he suspected was preventing him from using his chakra. But ignored it in favor of gripping the blade buried in his left shoulder with his right hand down near the wound. He then slammed his left hand into the blade snapping it off. He was about to repeat the process when Sasuke appeared up through the hole he had made.

He paid Naruto no mind as he looked down, and called back to his former teammate, “Ah, how precious. It’s like she made a snow angel out of the concrete.”

“You fucking bastard,” Naruto shouted as he took the piece of the blade that he had broken off and tossed it just as Sasuke turned back to face him.

Somewhat to Naruto’s surprise, the blade caught the skeletal and almost bat-like Uchiha in the chest just where his heart would be. Sasuke looked down somewhat in shock at first, almost as if he was surprised his life would end in such a way. But, he then smirked as the blade lost its metallic glint, and turned flesh like as he reabsorbed it into him.

“How rude,” Sasuke said, before disappearing from Naruto’s sight to reappear in front of him. He then slammed his foot down onto the still intact blade driving the anchor at the end back into his right shoulder. Walking away in an almost carefree manner, Sasuke asked, “Now, what to do? What to do?” Looking back at Naruto, he continued taunting him, “Should I go confirm that green-haired nuisance is dead? No… I think that would almost be too much closure for you. I want you to die wondering at just how completely you have failed her.”

Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan causing the outer edges of his eye to turn black in the shape of a six-pointed star. At the center two black triangles overlapped each other to form another six-pointed star, at whose center sat a single pupil. Sasuke gave him a self-satisfied smile as he stated, “Killing you is a dream come true. Good bye Naruto.”

His left eye then began to bleed as he focused on his hated rival causing the black flames of Amaterasu to appear on the Uzumaki. He heard a familiar voice shout, “Sasuke, No!” But ignored it in favor of using his right eye to fully engulf Naruto in flames.

******

After screaming for Sasuke to stop, Mikoto watched on in horror from the building rooftop behind Naruto, as she and Kushina ran to the edge as her son set her lover on fire. Beside her though Kushina acted as she threw her arm out and a chain appeared which buried itself in the ground near Sasuke. She then retracted it pulling herself to him in an instant where she delivered a shot to his jaw that sent Sasuke flying into one of the buildings on the opposite side of the walkway. Due to her Sharingan the world seemed to slow down as Kushina looked to Naruto and her face contorted into a mask of horror as she began to look for some way to smother the flames.

However, Mikoto knew it would be futile, but before despair could take hold in her as she jumped to join Kushina, she focused on the black flames coating her lover and again felt something within her pulsing as her eyes began to lose focus. Rather than suppressing it, she embraced the feeling and felt a surge of power as her eyes shifted from the standard Sharingan into a Pure Mangekyo Sharingan. Then to her amazement the flames coating Naruto suddenly shifted in color from black to a jade green. At first, she feared her actions had made the situation worse, but almost immediately she knew the green flames weren’t harming Naruto as the pain that had been etched into his face instantly vanished. She got an idea as to why, when Naruto rolled to snap the blade still anchoring him down, and as he got to his feet the flames around his wounds grew brighter as the ones in his shoulders began to heal. The closing wound pushed the broken blade out of his shoulder until it fell free and hit the ground as the flames coating him began to fade leaving Naruto looking as good as new as even his clothes had been repaired.

At which point, Kushina wrapped him in a tight hug as she said, “Honey, I thought I lost you.”

“You almost did,” Naruto said giving her a reassuring smile. Focusing on Mikoto, or more specifically her eyes, which at first glance appeared to be almost completely black. Yet, upon closer inspection he saw that there was some red in them as well, which caused the black portion to almost resemble the Chrysanthemum Seal that was used in a lot of Daimyo’s Imperial Emblems. “I’m guessing that’s a new ability to go along with those eyes. When exactly did you unlock them?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Mikoto replied wondering the same herself, although she recognized that due to her reaction to the black flames during the opening ceremony that she must have unlocked them at a previous point in time. Although, she suspected due to how unlocking the Sharingan seemed to rely on extreme emotions, she felt she had probably done so at the same time her chakra had changed to its current orange color.

Naruto was about to smile, but suddenly said, “Oh gods, I need to check on Nel.”

However, before he could move to follow up on his words, the three of them scattered just before several giant fireballs flew from the sky to the spot where they had been standing before exploding. Landing near each other, they waited for the dust to clear and found Sasuke occupying the spot where they had been as he was flanked by several purple Zetsu. Glaring at his mother, he said, “You just can’t stop yourself from fucking over your family, can you?”

Mikoto gave her son a sad pitying glance, before responding, “I can not stand idly by as you indulge in this hated that you carry, Sasuke. Anymore then I could allow our clan to enslave the people of Konoha.”

“Enslave,” Sasuke shouted incredulously, “We helped establish that fucking village, and what was our reward, huh? To be treated as second class citizens that were always under suspicion of becoming enemies.”

Mikoto shook her head disappointedly, before countering, “I can’t disagree that was the case with the village’s leadership. But, that leadership had the trust and blessing of the village’s citizens and shinobi. If we wanted things to change, then we should have endeavored to earn those things for ourselves, instead of choosing a path of isolation and envy.” Allowing some steel to enter her voice, she added, “The moment our clan decided to use violence to get what it wanted, was the moment we proved all those suspicions about us correct. At that point, even if we had come out the victors, we wouldn’t have been its leaders, we would have been conquerors.”

“So instead you chose the side that wiped us out,” Sasuke said bitterly, before mockingly adding “You should have at least had the resolve to die along with the rest of the clan, mother.”

“Believe me,” Mikoto said sadly, “I wished that had been the case for quite a long time.” Her gaze subtlety shifted towards Naruto as she continued, “But, no longer.”

Sasuke wasn’t sure why, but having noticed the look his mother had sent towards Naruto, he was suddenly filled with an enormous fury. Letting his emotions get the better of him, he shouted, “I’m glad. It would have been meaningless to kill you if you had desired it.” Looking towards the Zetsu backing him up, he ordered, “Make sure the green haired bitch is dead. I’ll tidy up here.”

Sasuke then launched himself at the three, but Mikoto leapt to intercept him as she pulled her blade as well. This allowed Kushina to say, “Honey, go protect Nel, and then join Ino and the others. Shikamaru said its time for you to come in.”

*****

Naruto wanted to protest, but seeing the Zetsu moving for the hole Nel had fallen through nodded. “Be careful,” he replied, as he pulled his chakra blades and then activated his Bijuu chakra. Taking off in a streak of light, he shot through the group of Zetsu before disappearing down the hole. The Zetsu managed to take a few steps, but quickly toppled over revealing that their heads had been separated from their bodies.

He landed next to Nel and breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that her chest was still moving although shallowly. Picking her up gingerly, he noticed that she was still clutching the blade that he had deprived Sasuke of. His focus was pulled back to the hole where his lovers were facing his old friend, and although naturally worried for them, put his faith in their abilities as he disappeared in a red flash.

******

Obito and Black Zetsu proceeded carefully down a tunnel after having appeared outside the old hideout where Jiraiya had trained Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko. It had taken Obito only a few moments to activate the trap door that led down to the shrine Konan had made in order to house the remains of her friends. Entering a large, almost pristine pillared room covered in paper flowers, he whistled appreciatively before walking through the room and coming to a stop in front of Yahiko and Nagato’s bodies at which point the masked man stated, “I knew Konan had trouble letting go. But, this seems to be a tad excessive.”

“It sounds to me like someone is projecting,” a voice called out from behind them moments before the air filled with crackling electricity.

Both Zetsu and Obito spun towards the sound, and were caught flatfooted as Kakashi leapt from the pillar where he had used the flowers to camouflage himself with his Sharingan exposed and its evolved form activated. Flying towards the two with his lighting cutter active, he buried it in Zetsu’s chest causing the creature to scream in pain, as its eyes seemed to fade before melting into a black puddle. Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, as he wasn’t sure he had delivered a killing blow since sticking his hand in the black mass had felt more like a semi-solid gel than a body, but was forced to dodge as a giant windmill shuriken passed through where he had landed.

Facing the man that had summoned it from his personal dimension, Kakashi felt a nearly uncontrollable rage as the orange masked man said sounding as if they were truly facing each other for the first time, “Kakashi Hatake, I’m a little hurt that you felt that I was such a weak threat that you would waste the element of surprise on a mere Zetsu.”

“I’m not so sure about any of that,” he replied trying to bury his anger beneath a veil of composure. However, finding it almost impossible to do so, he let it color his voice as he added, “I just didn’t want this to end too quickly, Obito Uchiha. I’m going to kill you, nice and slow.”

Despite having been certain since originally concluding that the man called Tobi was in actuality his old teammate. Kakashi couldn’t help feeling a profound sense of sadness as the lone visible eye of his opponent widened at the revelation that he knew who it was behind the mask. He could see a hint of resignation in the robed man as he reached for his mask, and paused just before touching it, as if considering denying him the verification. But, after the moment of hesitation, Kakashi could tell his resolve hardened as he pulled it off. Seeing, his former teammate’s scarred visage, Kakashi felt the anger being drained at the visible reminder that the man before him had been thought dead because he had been crushed while saving him from such a fate. With the anger fading, he wanted to ask how Obito about how he survived, especially due to how little evidence of the injury remained. But, that quickly lead into the question of why he was working with the enemy, which quickly brought to mind all the crimes Obito had committed over the decades. Particularly, the crime of betraying the man that Kakashi still idolized on what should have been one of the happiest days of his life, Minato Namikaze. Despite being aware that Naruto, and Kushina felt let down by Minato’s actions that day. The Fourth Hokage, had been the replacement father figure that Kakashi had needed, if not entirely appreciative of at the time. Which was why his death, due to the betrayal of someone he had also come to think of as the annoying younger brother, filled him with a rage that he had never known before and even scared him a little. A part of him couldn’t help wondering where it came from, since he hadn’t even felt it when he had concluded Tobi was indeed Obito, instead just coming to a calm determination that he needed to be the one to kill him in order to spare Naruto the burden. Kakashi felt it was rather strange that he hadn’t really felt this level of anger then, but reasoned that it was because a part of him had hoped it wasn’t the case. But, as they had entered Konan’s Shrine to her comrades, who were also victims of a sort due to Obito’s machinations, he had felt his doubt disappear upon setting his eye on the masked man. At which point his anger had exploded within him like an old bomb that had been thought to be a dud, but had just needed the right conditions to appear in order to explode years later.

Sounding almost awkward, Obito said, “I suppose you expect an explanation.”

“Who the fuck cares?” Kakashi replied harshly as he suddenly lashed out with a straight kick to the chest.

To Obito’s shock, despite activating his intangibility Kakashi kick connected, knocking him off his feet. He landed on his back roughly, and remained still for a moment in stunned confusion. But, he quickly recovered his wits as an airborne Kakashi entered his field of vision. He quickly tried to activated his jutsu to allow him to slip into the floor. But, as his body began to slip through, he found that this time his head remained completely physical. A troubling development as it was apparent that Kakashi intended to drive his knee straight down on it. Forced to abandon his plan, he rolled out of the way just before his former teammate’s knee landed where his head had been. Obito rolled to his feet, but Kakashi was already reacting as he spun into a roundhouse kick that should have took his head from his shoulders. However, to Obito’s surprise it passed harmlessly through him.

Caught a little flatfooted at his ability working all the sudden, he prepared to counterattack Kakashi as he came out of his spin. The Copy Ninja proved to be the faster on the draw, acting as if he expected the kick that he had just delivered to miss as he straightened up with an uppercut. Obito wasn’t too concerned as he figured the previous failings of his jutsu may have been the result of some seal similar to the ones Mikoto had used against him earlier, although a weaker sort as they had to cover a wider area or were producing a field which Kakashi had knocked him clear of. This proved to be a mistake, as Kakashi’s fist solidly collided with his chin lifting him into the air. He landed on his back again, knocking the air out of him. Which surprised him since he had tried to turn immaterial to pass through the floor, something the rest of his body did. But, before he could contemplate what was happening, he felt a few ribs crack as Kakashi having leapt into the air after him landed on his chest with both knees.

Despite his head having turned immaterial moments before it suddenly became solid again as Kakashi began to rain blows down onto his face. In between blows, Obito’s Sharingan locked onto its opposite number which Kakashi was wielding against him. An eye that was locked squarely on his face as Kakashi continued to rain haymakers down upon him. Tasting blood in his mouth, he spit it, aiming for Kakashi’s Sharingan who quickly moved his head out of the way. Although his former teammate was successful in avoiding the viscous projectile, it forced his eye off of Obito who quickly phased from his grasp as he slipped into the floor.

Kakashi quickly went on guard as soon as his former friend disappeared into the ground and began scanning the area for any sign of where he would appear. He focused his gaze on a pillar as Obito called out, “I thought that eye only sucked things in from a distance. How are you doing this? How did you even know it would work on me?”

Kakashi began slowly pacing around the pillar Obito was hiding behind, although his arc was actually taking him further away from it, before replying, “I owe the first part to your interference when we tried to intercept Sasuke when he was fighting Itachi. The way you disappeared after hearing the results made me feel our jutsu were linked.” Reaching what he sought, Kakashi pulled the Windmill Shuriken that Obito had tossed at him out of the wall it had imbedded itself in. He then spun and tossed it at the pillar Obito was hiding behind. Yet rather than colliding with it, the Shuriken began to phase through it. Although it immediately returned to the physical plane as soon as Kakashi’s eye lost sight of it, as two pieces of matter couldn’t exist in the same place it was ejected from the pillar at an incredible speed. Obito rolled out of the way out of instinct and fear as he wasn’t sure if his jutsu would protect him. His rolled him right into a knee from Kakashi which connected with his face and lifted him backwards until he smashed into the pillar that he had been using for cover.

He landed on his feet, only for Kakashi to begin delivering body shot after body shot to his already cracked and likely now broken ribs. The Leaf-nin then sized him up for a powerful left cross that sent Obito toppling over like a felled tree. Glaring down at his former friend, Kakashi stated, “Your reliance on this jutsu sure has made you sloppy. Remove it from your arsenal and its like back in our academy days. You’re just a loud mouth without the ability to back it up.”

Obito worked himself up to a sitting position as he countered angrily, “That’s rich coming from you Copy Ninja Kakashi. You’d be nothing without that eye I gave you.”

Kakashi lashed out with a foot that caught Obito in the side of the head knocking him prone again, and then stomped it down on the Uchiha face before he warned, “Stay down. I’ll kill you if I have to.” Obito glared up at Kakashi, and for a moment the Leaf Jounin flashed back to the cave in Grass Country where he thought his friend had died saving him. The memory doused some of the rage fueling him prompting him to ask with a hint of despair, “Why did you betray us? We all mourned for you. Minato-sensei and Rin both. How could you betray us like this? Betray sensei on what should have been a his most joyous day.”

“Because you failed me,” Obito shouted, “You keep spouting off that I betrayed you all. Well it was you who betrayed me first by killing Rin!!! I should have killed you then instead of just the damn Kiri-nin.”

Kakashi’s eyes grew wide in shock, as he realized that it hadn’t been him that had unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan. But, that Obito had likely witnessed the moment when he had killed the Zetsu pretending to be the third member of Team Minato, and as a result his anger and rage had unlocked both eyes. Yet, before he could truly process it fully, Obito fired a weak fireball jutsu primarily due to his battered and broken ribs making it hard to breathe which caught Kakashi in his flak jacket knocking him off his feet.

Obito was on him in a moment forcing Kakashi to cover himself as best he could while the enraged Uchiha shouted, “I asked one thing of you. Which was to keep her safe, and instead you fucking killed her! Why, you bastard!? Were you prioritizing a mission, and she had the bad luck of being between you and the target.”

Kakashi activated his own intangibility causing Obito’s fist to pass through him. The surprised Uchiha suddenly found himself flipped around as Kakashi returned to the physical plan and used the momentum of his missed swing against him. Wrapping his legs around the man’s torso, and his arms around his neck, Kakashi began choking his former teammate into submission as the Leaf Jounin said angrily, “You stupid bastard! You only saw what he wanted you to see.”

Trying to escape by slamming his elbows into Kakashi’s side, he felt his strength leaving him due to his effort, but asked, “Who?”

Not entirely sure it was the case, but figuring it made the most sense Kakashi answered, “The Broker, or should I say Madara. He was hired to target Rin, and likely figured he could make you a pawn in his plans at the same time, and you fell right into it.”

Obito figuring Kakashi’s ability required his gaze to rest on the part of his body he wanted to keep solid turned his torso intangible allowing him to pass through Kakashi’s legs. He then rolled into a kneeling position above Kakashi’s head breaking his chokehold on him. Pulling his fist back, Obito wheezed, “But it was still your hand that took her from me!” He then brought his fist down just as Kakashi kicked back at him. Both blows landed causing Obito to fall back as Kakashi laid there a moment while hearing bells.

However, both men quickly recovered although Kakashi got back to his feet first, but before he could charge a voice suddenly interjected, “As entertaining as it has been to watch you two killing each other. I believe you’ve forgotten someone…”

*******

Seven smashed a stone encased fist into the face of the shinobi that had tried to step up to her. She frowned beneath the stone helmet that she wore as she considered dropping another Earth Dragon on Sasuke’s forces. But this time, being sure to crush the remaining shinobi underneath it, instead of focusing on trying to crush their spirits as she had with the previous one. She sighed since she figured Naruto was making her soft, although she guessed it was a small price to pay considering the contentment that she felt in regards to her existence now. Although that contentment was tested as a shinobi stepped up behind her and smashed a Warhammer into her back causing her to stumble. The man looked shocked that she had remained standing, at least before she rounded on him and formed a similar weapon out of the stone coating her hand, which she brought down on the man’s head smashing it like a watermelon.

She turned to see a line of shinobi all preparing jutsu to fire at her, but a crystal dragon suddenly slithered between her and them causing the various fire, water, and lightning jutsu to explode against it. Guren landed next to her as she said, “I’ve picked up one of the enemy commander’s earpieces, and it sounds like they’re ordering these shinobi to prepare for something called a smash and grab.”

Seven frowned as she was about to ask what such a thing even meant. But, she noticed the number of jutsu being fired at them had ceased dramatically. Poking her head over the crystal dragon surrounding them, she ended up stating, “Whatever it is. It looks like it is causing them to fall back to the water’s edge.”

“Should we let them go,” Guren asked. “Our goal was to defend the city and if they are leaving, I’d say we succeeded.”

Seven considered it, but countered, “True, but everyone that makes it back is just going to be a future problem that needs solving later.”

While Guren would tend to agree, the discussion was put on hold as the transports that they thought were going to be the final wave flew overhead after having dropped crates along the water’s edge. The majority of them then banked hard right or left as they came around to fly back over them. Guren prepared to take them out as she shattered the crystal dragon they were sheltered behind, and reformed the material into spears that she planned to launch at the transports as they came back around. However, as she lined up her shots, she noticed that one of the transports wasn’t turning like the rest as it instead headed into the city. Frowning as she noticed a pair of men drop from it, she was about to call it in when another transport passed overhead. She frowned as she wondered why it was moving so much slower and lower than the rest, at least until she saw the blueish-grey haired man dressed as a monk standing in the vehicles side doorway. The monk then leapt from the vehicle as another with White hair and a pair of swords strapped to his back as well as a backpack of some sort took his place.

As the monk fell to the ground his body became coated in chakra, which was quickly followed by a fox like skeleton as Sora let his Bijuu out. By the time he hit the ground, the Black Kyuubi was fully formed and towered over the two women. However, Seven was able to sense confusion and panic rolling off of the chakra beast as if it sought to flee rather than fight. At least until the white-haired swordsman landed on its head and quickly applied a seal which caused the beasts personality to fade as a more sinister one replaced it. Giving a wicked looking smile, the Black Kyuubfied Sora stated, “Thanks for the assistance, Suigetsu. This seal your R and D guys developed really makes controlling that dumb beast a breeze.”

“Hey, what are friends for” Suigetsu stated giving a shark toothed smile. “Now, why don’t we show these chumps how the real heavy hitters of the Darkness Village differ from the rank and file.”

“Let’s do it,” Sora said eagerly as he tensed to attack. However, before he could leap towards Guren or Seven. Guren launched her crystal spears which peppered the towering Bijuu’s face and neck just as the Stone Dragon that the Seven Tailed Bijuu had made upon landing at the beach, smashed into its side.

Seven ran alongside it as it tried to push Sora onto his back in order to trample him, before she then began leaping up the jutsu as she made her way to its head. Just as she was running up the neck though, the head suddenly separated from its body as Suigetsu appeared wielding the blades that had been strapped to his back. The shark toothed youth let gravity pull him down to meet Seven, who began to stumble as the damage done to her jutsu caused it to begin collapsing. Seven raised a stone encased arm to block the swords of the descending Shinobi, but before he reached her a crystal mirror appeared in front of her. To Seven’s shock, despite it appearing to be thicker than the mirrors Guren typically created, the swords still managed to cut about halfway down it before coming to a stop. Making the Bijuu realize they would have likely easily sliced through her armor and arm. Leaping from her jutsu as it finished breaking up, she landed next to Guren and quickly stated, “Thanks!”

Guren nodded, as Suigetsu easily pulled his swords free before leaping from the mirror to land in front of the two women. Keeping her focus on the former Kiri and Sound-nin, she said, “You probably already recognize this, but those aren’t normal blades. They’re called Kiba, and can slice through almost anything.”

“That’s not all,” Suigetsu called out to her smugly, “Thanks to their lightning absorbing abilities, it renders me practically immune to electric based attacks.” Adopting a more friendly tone, he added, “It’s been a while Guren. Who would have imagined a cold-blooded killer like you would be fighting on the side of the angels?”

Guren felt a surge of guilt at the reminder of the woman that she had once been. But, pushed it aside as she knew that she could only move forward and so would continue to protect those in needed of it. Focusing on Suigetsu she admitted, “Very few I imagine. But what about yourself, getting locked up in prison after following Sasuke once wasn’t enough for you?”

The former Sound-nin gave a shark toothed smile as he spun his blades stating, “What can I say? Sasuke knows how to offer up some sweet perks. You’re currently looking at the Village Hidden in Darkness’s head Jounin Captain, and the future leader of the Darkness Great Blades.”

“The Darkness Seven Blades would have a nicer ring to it,” Guren taunted, “Although I imagine you’d have to ask Haku for the Executioner’s Blade back. What’s the matter? Afraid, she’d take Kiba from you as well.”

Suigetsu narrowed his eyes at her darkly before stating, “That bitch will get hers the next time we meet.” He charged forward as he shouted, “Besides, that name is too limiting. I have no intention of stopping at a mere seven members.”

Guren prepared herself for the charge, but her eyes widened as the Kyuubified Sora leapt over the swordsmen intent on crushing her and Seven beneath his claws. However, a pillar of stone erupted from the ground and smashing into the Black Bijuu’s stomach as it lifted him into the air. The end of the pillar than turned into a hand, which caused Sora to cry out as it tried to crush the life out of him. Yet, before it tightened its grip to such a point, Seven made the hand toss the Black Kyuubi, just as Suigetsu reached it to cut through the base. Seven ran towards the charging swordsman, but created a smaller pillar beneath her which launched her over him at the last minute to land on the toppling stone jutsu which she reshaped into a giant rhinoceros beetle that flew off after the Black version of her nine-tailed sister.

Suigetsu refocused his gaze in front of him, as he was forced to bring his dual blades Kiba in front of him to block a giant sword made of crystal wielded by Guren. The former Sound kunoichi then said, “Don’t forget about me now.”

The Darkness Jounin gave her a wide grin full of teeth as he said, “Wouldn’t dream of it. Killing you was one of my goals”

He pushed her back using both blades which left deep gouges where his swords had contacted hers. Guren smiled as she repaired the blade, using her Kekkei Genkai before charging as she said, “You say the sweetest thing.”

Seven looked back to see Guren and Suigetsu clash, but her gaze soon traveled pass them as she noticed the retreating Darkness shinobi had reached the crates that the transports had dropped. The shinobi had quickly opened them and were in the process of affixing the backpacks they had stored to themselves. As the first of the shinobi finished, they pulled a cord and a balloon inflated as it emerged from the pack attached to a cord, which then carried the fastened shinobi skyward. Realizing what was happening, her gaze shifted to the transports which were approaching the growing cloud of airborne shinobi with long bars now extending from the sides. Recognizing the bars would hook the cords attached to the balloons to allow the transports’ crew to pull the shinobi inside, she considered turning to give pursuit. But focused ahead as she recognized the Black Kyuubi was the bigger threat.

Focusing forward, she urged her jutsu to go faster just as the Kyuubified Sora was getting back to his feet. Her jutsu smashed into him, and carried him until they both smashed into the crystal and sand wall Guren and Gaara had made to contain her Descending Earth Dragon. They hit hard enough to crack the crystal, as her jutsu also smashed to pieces. The Black Kyuubi cried out in pain, as it fell to the ground. It didn’t stay down long as it struggled to get back to its feet, only for the cracked crystal to shatter as a giant hand of sand emerged and smashed its palm down onto it.

Seven created a pair of chakra wings on the back of her armor which carried her skyward as Gaara floated up from behind the wall, prompting Seven to say, “It’s about time you joined the fray.”

Gaara shifted his gaze from where his jutsu had buried the Black Nine-Tailed fox to the floating Bijuu before replying, “I was forced to deal with some of the Purple Zetsu that tried to attack our own retreating forces.”

“Yeah, so why come back now,” Seven replied quickly, “I have everything in hand here.”

Gaara’s gaze moved to the airborne shinobi that were being scooped up by the transports, as he said, “Pursue the enemy. I’ll deal with capturing Sora.”

Seven frowned, as she wasn’t quite sure why she wanted to refuse. But, felt it was because there had been a hint of something like desire in Gaara’s tone indicating his interest wasn’t in just stopping the threat the monk posed. However, before she could state her opinion on leaving her opponent to the Kazekage, a large hole suddenly opened up in the palm of his sand construct. The Kyuubified Sora leapt through the opening it had made with his air bullet, before landing to focus on Gaara and her. Both of whom needed to avoid several more as Sora began backing up while firing the wind-based projectiles.

Seven dived towards Sora, as she pointed towards the buried rubble of her jutsu which shot out from the sand to fly in front of her. The large pieces of rubble intercepted several of the air bullets, allowing her to close with the transformed Pseudo-jinchuriki, who promptly turned tail and ran. “Get back here you coward,” Seven shouted as she pushed her chakra wings to flap harder and generate more speed.

However, the Black Kyuubi paid her no heed, as it passed Guren and Suigetsu, where it swiped a tail at the two combatants. Guren dived out of the way, but when the dust cleared there was no sign of the Darkness Swordsman. At least until Guren noticed him reforming on the back of the retreating Black Bijuu. Seven flew lower as she took one of the remaining pieces of rubble floating about her, and formed it into a platform which Guren quickly leapt on as Gaara and her flew past.

The Black Kyuubi reached the now deserted beach, where Suigetsu promptly leapt into the sea as Sora rounded on them and began firing more Air Bullets. His attacks missed high as he forced the three pursuing him to fly lower and lower as they closed. As Seven was about to reach striking distance, the water behind the Kyuubified Sora suddenly surged up to create a giant wall of water. Seven and the others came to a screeching halt as the wall of water swept over the Black Bijuu and came crashing down on them.

Fortunately, for them, Gaara and Guren had quickly fashioned a dome of sand and crystal which emerged as the water returned out to sea. Disbursing their jutsu, the three found no sign of the Pseudo-Jinchuriki, at least until they noticed that the lone transport that had flown into Ame was passing overhead as it angled itself so that its catching bar could snag the cord of the balloon that was carrying Suigetsu into the sky, with a badly chakra burned Sora tucked under his arm. The transport caught the Darkness swordsman, who tossed a quick mocking salute, before being pulled into the transport which quickly revved its engines to full speed as it put the City of Ame behind it.

Before the side door of the transport closed though, Seven thought she saw a dilapidated looking man staring back at the city with red-eyes blazing in the darkened cabin. But, the door quickly slammed shut leaving the Bijuu to wonder what the transport mission had been, and who it had been tasked with extracting.

*******

Mikoto charged forward, her Pure Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly as it showed her all the ways which Sasuke planned to counter her. The multiple paths faded away as he settled on one and so she quickly slipped to the right of him forcing her son to recalculate as he shifted to track her. However, before he could come up with a new plan of attack, Kushina appeared in the space that she had just vacated, having used her chains which had been anchored before her to propel her towards Sasuke faster than he could react to the new threat. Kushina caught him in the side with a kick which knocked him off balance allowing Mikoto to slip in to deliver a pair of quick slices into the opposite one. Her first slash struck true although it wasn’t particularly deep, but her second only scraped against his flesh as he hardened it.

She leapt back as Sasuke tried to retaliate against her by slicing her legs out from beneath her, which opened him up to Kushina as she delivered several shots to his back. From the heavy sound resulting from the blows as if she had punched metal, she imagined that Sasuke had purposefully left himself open, counting on his hardened body to do more damage to her fists than she did to him. However, that proved not to be the case, as his face contorted into pain from the punches causing him to whirl on the red-head, who leapt back as the red Bijuu chakra that she had coated her hands with spread to her entire body. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kushina as he said, “You’re proving to be as big an annoyance as your bastard of a son.”

Kushina’s eyes narrowed, but she focused on Mikoto as she said, “That boy of yours really has a foul mouth. What’s say we teach him that he’s not too big for a spanking.”

“Come and try it hag,” Sasuke countered but immediately regretted it as Kushina anger spiked and a tail formed behind her as the Chakra shroud covering her became more fox like. She then disappeared for a moment, before suddenly reappearing in front of him and delivered a shot to his jaw that rocked him bodily despite his hardening his entire body in anticipation of the attack. Kushina landed, but before she could deliver another blow, Sasuke used the momentum of her first to spin him around as he swept her legs from beneath her. Getting back up while she was still in the air, he brought his right arm blade down on her. The blow didn’t penetrate her shroud, although she did hit the ground hard enough to crack it. Sasuke then pulled his left arm back as the blade began to spark with electricity as he tried to stab the prone red-head hoping the straight shot would penetrate.

However, before he could, Mikoto appeared behind him and slashed her blade along the back of his knees. Although, her sword failed to bite into his flesh, the blunt force of it did cause him to stumble allowing Kushina to leap back to her feet and deliver an upwards swing with both fists clenched together to his chin. The blow launched him into the air, but as gravity began to take hold he shouted, “Enough!”

Both women were pushed away as a result of the pressure wave that erupted from Sasuke as purple chakra began to coat him. When he landed, although barely visible through the chakra construct he now resided in, they could see that both his eyes were bleeding due to his activation of Susanoo. The construct was humanoid in shape, with three arms each of which held a weapon of some sort. In the two on its right side, it held a sword in its upper one, and an orb in the lower. While a bow was mounted on the wrist of its sole left arm.

Mikoto upon focusing on the construct at whose center her son resided, felt her eyes again lose focus for a moment. When they refocused, she was suddenly lifted off of her feet by some unseen force as her body began to emit orange chakra which began to take the shape of a Smaurai-Ko wielding a large Naginata. When her own Susanoo fully formed around her, Mikoto was surprised to find that unlike her son’s, her eyes hadn’t begun bleeding from the exertion. Her son noticed her apparent lack of strain in summoning the chakra construct so shouted, “How did you unlock those eyes? How is it that your hate is stronger than mine? Which relative did you use to unlock that power as I still have Itachi’s eyes?”

Shaking her head sadly, she said, “I don’t possess more hate then you. I’m not entirely sure how or when I awoke my Sharingan. But, I can tell you that this power is meant to protect those precious to me.”

Sasuke charged angrily as he shouted, “Too bad your family didn’t make the cut.”

Mikoto met his charge as she used her naginata to block his sword. Straining against his blade, she pleaded, “Please Sasuke! End this madness. Don’t you see, this path only leads to more death and destruction.”

“I don’t care! I will remake this world and do away with the foolish system that lured our clan to its doom with false promises of peace,” Sasuke shouted as he pushed her back, before then lashing out with a kick that toppled her, causing her to land near the hole that Sasuke had opened into the walkway earlier. He then used the hand holding the orb to pull back the string of the bow attached to his left and fired several arrows into the ground around her. The walkway collapsed around her sending her tumbling down to the walkway that ran underneath.

Sasuke moved to follow after in order to finish his mother off, but suddenly found his entire construct rocked as Kushina slammed into him from behind having used her chains to launch herself like a red projectile from a slingshot. Creating a Chakra Claw which coated her right hand, she buried it into the purple Susanoo to latch on and then began punching the same spot over and over again with her left as she tried to break into the chakra coating him. A few cracks began to form, but it became harder to deliver the blows as Sasuke began spinning about while trying to dislodge her.

Finding her dug in almost as bad as a tick, he came to a stop as he tried to stab her from over his shoulder using the blade. Kushina avoided it several times, but was forced to let go when he struck to close for comfort. Landing on the ground, Sasuke spun to step on her like an insect. Yet, before he could Mikoto’s naginata shot from the hole she had disappeared through, and buried itself in Sasuke’s Susanoo chest. The constructed nearly toppled back, but Sasuke recovered and gripping the naginata ripped it free as his mother’s chakra construct leapt back up to the walkway prompting him to shout, “Why won’t you just die?!” His Susanoo began to become coated in black marks, much like when he had first used the curse mark that Orochimaru had given him. The damage his Susanoo had sustained disappeared as he unconsciously applied the the Natural Chakra he had been absorbing to his jutsu. He then fired several black arrows into his mother’s which shattered like glass wherever the projectile struck.

Mikoto was blasted free as one tore through its chest while just missing her. Landing painfully on the ground, she saw her son line up another shot to finish her off. But, was pulled out of the way as Kushina wrapped a chakra chain around her. The Uzumaki then helped her to stand as she asked, “Do you think you can create another one of those things?”

Mikoto nodded, but said, “Yes, but he’s too strong now. I don’t think I’ll be able to get close.”

Kushina smiled, but then stepped behind her as she wrapped her arms around her torso, and stated, “He might be stronger than either one of us at the moment. But, let’s see how he handles both of us.”

Mikoto felt buoyed by the warmth emanating from her friend and fellow Family member. Reactivating her Susanoo, she was amazed at how little strain she felt, especially when she considered how drained Sasuke appeared. Yet, her son wasn’t intimidated in the least as he took aim with his bow as he said, “How do you plan to stop me with eyes that lack hate, mother?”

Mikoto smiled due to Kushina’s hug tightening reassuringly and so she countered, “I may not have mastered these eyes yet son. So, I’ll just rely on the strength of my friends until I catch up to you.” She then began to charge her son, who fired another arrow. Yet, it bounced off harmlessly as suddenly chains erupted from Kushina’s back which wrapped around the Orange Susanoo like another layer of armor.

Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise as the Chain encased Susanoo effortlessly moved through the barrage of arrows he launched. When his mother got within striking distance he asked angrily, “How is this possible!”

Mikoto pulled her construct’s fist back as she shouted, “Because I haven’t closed my heart off with hate, and so will always be surrounded by those who can help me carry the day. Just like Naruto.” She then smashed it into the purple Susanoo’s chest blasting her son free of it. He landed roughly and after bouncing down the walkway several times weakly got back to his feet, while the Chain Susanoo began closing with him. Staring up defiantly as his mother came to a stop before him, he shouted, “Well, do it. Finish the job you started all those years ago by betraying our clan.”

Mikoto pulled the fist back of her Susanoo intending to do just that as she softly said, “Please forgive me.” Although, whether it was meant for the son staring back at her with nothing but hate in his eyes, or a prayer to the gods for the act she was about to commit, she couldn’t say. However, as she brought her fist down, a swarm of insects appeared from both sides of the walkway which quickly surrounded Sasuke and created a dome around him. The fist slammed into it and to Mikoto’s surprised was stopped. Yet, before she could attack again a ball of tags was thrown between her construct and the insect barrier shielding her son which exploded into a blinding light.

Blinking the spots from her eyes, she quickly found her son as he hadn’t moved from the where he had been standing. Although he was now joined by two masked individuals, both of whom she recognized due to their past allegiance to Danzou. The first was undoubtedly responsible for the insects that had blocked her attack due to it being Torune Aburame. While the second was a cat mask wearing kunoichi, who she would only occasionally see in passing as the bluish-black haired woman had patrolled the Leaf Prison for Danzou, and went by the name Hinoto. The two former Root Anbu were affixing a backpack of some sort to Sasuke, who as they finished said, “This isn’t over, not by a long shot. In fact, it’s only the beginning.” He then pulled a cord which inflated a balloon that emerged from the pack and quickly lifted Sasuke into the sky. The two former Root operatives quickly followed suit, as one of the transports passed overhead to collect the three shinobi before turning to fly out of the city as fast as its engines would take it.

Mikoto allowed her Susanoo to fade as Kushina also began to retract her chains. She watched the transport carrying her son sadly, prompting Kushina to say, “Oh Miko, I can’t imagine what it is you are feeling right now.”

Mikoto focused on the woman who occupied her heart as much as her son did, and gave her a soft smile as she stated, “I’m okay K. Today has truly shown me that the Sasuke that I carry in my heart is no longer real. What has taken his place is a hate filled creature that needs to be opposed. He may be right about this world needing to change, but we can’t let him be the one to do it.”

Kushina gave her a wide smile as she said, “That’s right. That’s because our Honey is going to be the one to do it.” Receiving a nod of affirmation from her friend and Family member, Kushina stepped next to her and wrapped a supportive arm around her hip as she added, “With our help of course.”

“Indeed,” Mikoto replied, Kushina’s warmth being the perfect thing to banish the cold bleakness that her encounter with her son threatened to leave her with.

*********

Hiyori was crouched atop of a building near a nearly deserted battlefield along with the other members of her fellow Kumo-nin as they observed one of the transports powering up. She frowned as she noticed a bunch of dead bodies around it what had likely been the source of the fighting they had heard which lead them there. Although not much of a sensor, she hadn’t needed to be as they had spotted Tosen heading up the rear ramp so asked, “What the hell are they doing?”

“It looks like they are getting ready to take off,” Love replied, before asking, “But a better question is why are we over here waiting to get left behind.”

“An even better question though is, what is Aizen so interested in that he decided to go off on his own to get it?” Shinji stated.

“Oh yeah, well an even better, better question would be…”

“Stow it,” Kensei said sternly earning him a pulled down eye from Mashiro who he had interrupted. “The answer to all your questions is about to fly off. So, let’s just go down there and ask him.”

Receiving nods of agreement from everyone, Kensei led them across the deserted battlefield and came to a stop before the still extended lower ramp before shouting, “Aizen, Tosen, we know that you’re aboard. Come down here… now!”

Tosen appeared first as he said calmly, “I do not believe your rank is sufficient enough for you to be giving us orders Kensei.”

“I suppose that depends on how you answer us as to why you’re here instead of with the Raikage,” Kensei replied as he backed up while gripping the hilt of his sword as Tosen moved down the ramp.

“The answer to that is simple,” Aizen said as he appeared at the top of the ramp. “Something of more interest came along.”

“What do you mean?” Shinji asked as he stepped beside Kensei.

“Come now Shinji,” Aizen said chidingly, “After all these years of your suspecting that I have been up to some nefarious purpose, and coming up short in the proof department. Do you honestly expect me to just blurt everything out after you ask me?”

“Yeah, well that was before you went and double crossed the Raikage,” Shinji stated pulling his blade, the action prompting the rest of the Kumo-nin to do so. “Something tells me, he and the others aren’t going to be so eager to cover for you going forward.”

Aizen chuckled as he walked down the ramp of the ship, and pulled his blade. Despite the lateness of the hour, the edge of the blade seemed to glint as if it had caught the sun and momentarily blinded everyone present. As they blinked the dots from their eyes to see Aizen still standing by the ramp alone, and before the Kumo-nin opposing him could comment, they all stepped away from him as a loud roar was suddenly heard coming from within the transport prompting Hiyori to ask, “What the fuck was that?”

Focusing on the small woman, Aizen answered, “That would be why the Raikage isn’t going to stop covering for me anytime soon.”

Shinji’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at Aizen’s sudden openness as he asked, “What prompted your sudden cooperation?”

Aizen shrugged but before he responded, Kensei seemed to shake himself as if emerging from a dream before shouting, “Never mind that. Where the fuck did Tosen go?”

“Who,” Shinji asked knowing the name should be familiar, but couldn’t place it even as Kensei stumbled forward from a sword slash to the back. Turning, to face the threat he noticed that both Love, Mashiro, and Rose were all laying on the ground with similar looking wounds.

Realizing what had happened, he broke the genjutsu Aizen had placed them in when he had drawn his sword and Tosen seemed to phase back into existence. However, rather than closing with him, he was charging Hiyori and Hacchi. “Hey look out,” he tried to warn the pair of the invisible threat, but his ability to speak was stolen as a hand clamped around his mouth and a sword pierced his chest from behind. Aizen chuckled as he answered his previous question by stating, “I’ve decided to be so forthcoming, as I’m going to need subjects to experiment on for what is to come, and you all just volunteered.”

Aizen pulled the sword free, but rather then bleeding out, he noticed the wound was already clotting as he tumbled forward. He wondered briefly what had coated the sword, but imagined that whatever it had been, was also making the need to sleep overpowering. Staring up at Aizen, Shinji slurred, “You won’t get away with this. The Raikage will want to know what happened to us.”

Aizen removed his glasses as he chuckled, giving the man a suddenly more sinister air as he replied, “Oh don’t worry, your precious Raikage is going to know exactly what happened to you all. Provided the experiments are successful, that is.”

He put his glasses back on as Tosen stepped beside him asking, “Are you sure this is wise? The Raikage does tend to draw the line at harming his men or civilians. He only overlooked the Great Kumo Earthquake because it wasn’t truly your fault that experiment escaped containment.”

“Don’t be so naïve,” Aizen said with a note of amusement, “He only gave me that pass because he knew no one else in the Vault would be capable of keeping that Wretched Egg under control.” Turning to the burning city of Ame, he said, “Look at all he was willing to risk just to get his hands on one jinchuriki that went rogue. Now imagine if I can promise him not one, but Seven shinobi on par with a jinchuriki, followed shortly by as many as his heart desires. Do you really think he would reject what it is I’m offering because it cost him seven shinobi?”

“I suppose not,” Tosen conceded well aware that while the Raikage was quick to anger when his shinobi were harmed. His greed for power tended to overcome his more noble traits. “I will secure the test subjects then.”

“Thank you,” Aizen said as he began to proceeded up the ramp. “Soon Tosen, we both will get what it is that we desire. Godhood for me, and the justice that you have long worked towards, for you.”

“I look forward to that day,” Tosen said calmly, although his outside demeanor didn’t reflect the true feelings locked within his heart which he had buried deep in order to facility his climb through Kumo’s ranks. Knowing that one man’s justice was another’s revenge, he proceeded to collect the incapacitated Kumo-nin and stored them on the transport while wondering whether or not should they survive what was to come, if they would oppose him or join him when the day Aizen promise came to pass.

*******

Shikamaru was really sweating now, but did take some solace in Mito still remaining calm despite Naruto also standing in the hallway with them. He was about to go pester her again, but stopped as he heard Kiba say, “Here you go Shikamaru. Just as requested, one Salamander resistance leader wrapped and ready to go.”

Before looking back, he noticed Fuyou’s face turned rather pale. Which he understood as he turned to see that while Kiba was in the process of forcing Mubi to his knees in the hallway. His mother Tsume was doing likewise to a masked kunoichi, who he recognized had been Fuyou’s former teammate Suiren. Moving to approach the kneeling pair, he nodded to the two Inuzuka as he stated, “Well done.” He then waved to a shinobi that was kneeling next to a radio pack which he was using to keep in contact with the secondary command center.

The shinobi placed it before the kneeling pair, prompting Mubi to ask, “What’s this?”

Shikamaru dropped to his haunches in front of the two, and pulling his pack of cigarettes out of his vest pocket began shaking it until one of them emerged. Taking it in his lips, he used Asuma’s lighter to light it, and then answered, “That’s the radio pack you’re going to use to call off this attack. If Sasuke loses your backing, theoretically he moves from hired muscle to aggressor.”

Mubi gave him a contemplative look before asking, “And why should I do that?”

“A few reasons actually,” Shikamaru replied trying to sound calm, “But, the most pressing at the moment would be because if I’m correct. Then when Sasuke attacked our control room, he left behind a little surprise. Namely a kunoichi who has a Forbidden Jutsu named Fury sealed within her. Which is probably going to go off shortly, and will reduce this entire city to ash.”

Mubi’s eyes grew wide, but he quickly stated, “You’re lying.”

Taking a drag of his cigarette, he exhaled the smoke into Mubi’s face before responding, “Why would I do that? You’ve lost already. According to the latest reports your forces are falling back all over the city. Hell, your own pitiful resistance got taken off the board in the opening moves. Konan is going to survive her injuries, and we’ve already evacuated the injured out of the city. The only thing you can do at this moment, is to possibly end the bloodshed and prevent one the greatest tragedies the world has ever seen from being unleashed. I say possibly, because my money is on Sasuke letting that jutsu go off regardless of his having your blessing or not.”

Mubi looked unsure, but asked, “If what you say is true. Why haven’t you evacuated already?”

Shikamaru stood up as he took another drag of his cigarette, before exhaling and answering, “Because, I gave my word that I would defend this city. We’ve already insured that the most important part of it has been protected. But, I would consider it a personal failing if the people of Ame survive only lose their homes because of the spiteful actions of a Leaf traitor.”

Ino smiled softly to herself as she noticed many of the Ame-nin surrounding her fellow member of team Asuma, who had been following his orders because they had been commanded to, began to give the Nara looks of genuine respect. Particularly as Fuyou favored him with a look of longing.

Likely as a result of the atmosphere’s changing due to the Ame-nin present coming to respect the Nara in charge, Mubi seemed to wilt as he stated, “Very well. I’ll call him off.”

Shikamaru noticed a look of betrayal appear on the kunoichi’s face kneeling next to him, but rather than stating anything, she simply looked away in disgust. But, the Nara didn’t comment as he nodded towards Kiba, who produced a kunai that he used to cut the zip ties binding Mubi’s hands behind his back. The leader of the Salamander Resistance pulled the portable radio to him, and after adjusting the frequency said, “Command. This is Salamander One. Come in.”

After a moment, Udon’s voice responded, “Salamander One. We thought you lost.”

“I’m still here,” Mubi replied, “But, I have been captured, and have been informed that you plan to use a forbidden jutsu to level the city. This isn’t what we agreed.” Not receiving a reply, the Ame-nin said, “Come in Command.”

Yet, instead of Udon, Sasuke’s was the one to respond as he said, “I believe you told me that this mission only has one objective. The death of Konan. My little surprise was to insure that came to pass, regardless of the outcome of the actual battle.”

“But she’s already been evacuated,” Mubi stated pleadingly, “We’ve already lost.”

“No, if that is true, then you already lost,” Sasuke retorted dispassionately. “I still stand to gain a great deal. Besides, better safe then sorry. You may have just been fed some line.”

Suiren waited until Mubi pressed the button to talk in order to shout, “That’s right. Purge this forsaken city of false god worshippers, and taken their false angel with them.”

Tsume reacted quickly smashing the woman on the top of the head to knock her out, but the damage was already done as Sasuke chuckled before stating, “Well said. I’m glad to see not all of the Salamander Resistance’s leaders have lost their resolve.”

Shikamaru took the mic from Mubi’s numb hand as he said, “Sasuke, there will be consequences for this.”

Sasuke again chuckled as he replied, “Will there now. Perhaps, but that is only if you have the resolve to force them upon me. I’m not as weak-willed as your precious Hokage that would sell their very souls for peace. If you come to force your consequences upon me, you better have the resolve to burn the world down around you. For that is the price you’ll have to pay. That is, if you somehow manage to survive.”

The radio went dead, so dropping the mic Shikamaru said, “Well he does have a point there.” Looking around the room, he informed those present, “We’re sitting at ground zero for what will probably be one of the biggest explosions the world has ever seen. If you want to try and escape, now is the time.” A small smile formed around the cigarette in his mouth as no one moved so said, “Good, we probably would have needed everyone to fight our way in.” Focusing on the Uzumaki still drawing symbols before the barrier he said, “Well, it’s your show now Mito.”

Mito looked back and smiled before stating, “See, being relaxed in the face of danger is far more rewarding the sweating the small stuff. It shows resolve.”

“Oh, I certainly have the resolve not to be blown to bits today,” Shikamaru fired back.

Prompting the Uzumaki’s amusement to grow as she stated, “Ask, and you shall receive.” Adding a final symbol, the entire formula began to glow as lines of energy grew out from it until they contacted the barrier that was coating the command center. The shinobi present tensed as the lines began to expand on the barrier, which as they expanded further and further caused the portion of it already covered in the lines to open as if being pulled apart. Once the doorway was clear, Mito slapped a tag to it, before sending a look to Shikamaru, who nodded. Forming a hand sign, she ignited the exploding tag causing the large doors to blow inwards.

*********

With a flash of light that was almost blinding in the darkened manmade tunnel and a boom that shook ones very bones, a cavern whose only entrance had resided at the bottom of a salt water lake and had never meant to be found was connected to the outside world. A rush of stagnant air blew over those waiting within the tunnel as the pressures stabilized. Naori who resided at the end of the line waiting to rush in, listened intently as Hanami Hyuuga entered first, and remaining all business despite being the first of the Descendants of the Moon to gaze upon their Holy Mother’s twisted visage in almost two decades ordered, “Sealing Team hurry, and move to your places. We need to cut the thread linking Her to the Rinnegan user that released the Bijuu.”

Naori took her time following the others into the chamber so as not to get in the way of those assigned the task of erecting a barrier to prevent the Rinnegan user they believed had taken control of the Gedo Mazo from teleporting it away should she notice what they were up to. Naturally, she would have preferred to be first, but felt she would have been too overawed to properly oversee the tasks required of them, and so had given that honor to Hanami. It proved to be a wise precaution as upon reaching the entrance they had made into the cavern and looking upon the desiccated form of her Goddess who was being crawled over by acolytes as they affixed barrier tags to her, she immediately dropped to her knees to pray for forgiveness on behalf of the unworthy beings touching her.

After a several minutes, she was pulled from her prayers by Hanami approaching her as she shouted to the other acolytes once a bluish aura had appeared around their Holy Mother, “Good, barrier team, step away. Teleportation team create the counterpart seal to the one already prepared at the River Rock temple.”

Hanami helped her up from her knees, while saying, “It should only be a few moments before she is home again.”

“I will not consider her to be such, until she is resting within the shrine of the main temple.” Naori replied somewhat harshly.

Despite the hardness of her tone, Hanami smiled softly as she said, “Then I’ll amend my statement to be that it won’t be long before she is in friendly territory once more.”

Naori sighed as she said, “Forgive my harshness. Your reasoning for wanting to send our mother to a gathering hub is wise, and the correct one. Our enemies may have other means of tracking her as you said, and it is for such clearness of vision that I put you in charge.”

“You honor me Priestess,” Hanami said inclining her head deeply in respect.

Naori reached out a hand and cupped the woman’s face to raise her head so that her eyes would meet her good one as she said, “I only speak the truth.” She could almost feel the warmth of the Hyuuga’s face increase due to the blush appearing on her pale features. She was tempted to pull the woman into a kiss, but was interrupted from the thought as a male acolyte called towards them, “Lady Hanami, the seal is prepared.”

Hanami straightened as she said, “Excellent.” She held her hand out towards Naori as she said with a hint of amusement, “Milady, your carriage is ready.”

Naori smiled as she pulled her high priestess mask from her belt and affixed it to her face, since the River Rock location, although one of the last stops someone made on of the journey to becoming a true believer, those there still did not yet possess the honor of viewing her face.

Hanami guided her onto the teleportation seal while saying, “Give Jade my regards once you arrive.”

Naori smiled behind her mask as she replied in amusement, “I wonder how I should go about doing that.”

The Hyuuga shrugged playfully as she said, “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

The High Priestess nodded, before taking on a serious air as she ordered, “Collapse the cavern. I don’t doubt our foes will soon notice our mother’s absence from their lives, and it should delay them until we have taken possession of the keys.”

“It shall be done,” Hanami said giving a quick bow, before nodding to one of the acolytes who activated the seal starting Naori and their Holy Mother on their journey of returning the Goddess to her true home.

*******

Kiyomi appeared in a flash of flame within the tunnel leading to Konan’s shrine for her friends. Holding the still unconscious Nel in her arms, she placed her sister down on the ground. Kneeling beside her adult size sibling, she flashed to when Naruto had appeared in the shelter she and Momo were using. She had been surprised as she hadn’t sensed her sister’s sudden maturing due to her keeping her senses trained on the impending conflict between Kakashi and Obito. “What happened,” she asked as much because of her sister’s growth as the litany of wounds coating her.

Naruto had set her down on the cot that Kiyomi had used after collapsing due to her powering the jutsu that had teleported out all of Ame’s citizens. She could easily hear the worry, and anger, although she believed that her lover was directing the latter towards himself as he answered, “She saved me.” He knelt next to the cot for a moment, and gently cupped her face before standing straight. “She got hurt because I wasn’t strong enough,” he said accusingly.

Kiyomi wanted to say something comforting, but figured it wasn’t what her lover needed or wanted to hear so said, “Then get stronger.”

Naruto turned his head to look at her, and she saw that her words were exactly what he needed as his expressive blue eyes were filled with the determination to do exactly that as he gave her a nod. His eyes softened as he said, “I need to…”

“I know,” Kiyomi stated, “I’ll protect her until you can thank her.”

Receiving another nod, Naruto gazed down once more at Nel before disappearing in a red flash.

Ending her short recollection, Kiyomi straightened, and created a clone to watch over her sister and would evacuate her at the first sign of trouble. Although, she trusted Momo, she was taking her word to her lover seriously, which was also the reason she began to head to the shrine as she had felt one of the life signs within the shrine begin to fade. Reaching the entrance, she frowned as although she suspected the winner had been Kakashi due to Obito’s life force being the one disappearing. She didn’t expect the scene that she arrived at, since Obito was a good twenty feet behind the Leaf Jounin, who was extracting his fist from a darkened corner of the Shrine. Furthermore, a quick scan of the room revealed that the preserved corpse of Nagato was missing his head.

Quickly moving to Obito, she flipped him over as she asked, “What the hell happened?”

Kakashi moved to stand over her shoulder as he stated, “Although I hit that Black Zetsu with a Lightning Cutter right off the back. I apparently only stunned it. It came to while I was engaged with Obito, and managed to slice off Pain’s head before informing us. Obito quickly moved to teleport them out, but it stabbed him in the back stating he had outlived his usefulness. It then looked almost as if a portion of his body began withering like a plant that was dying. I…I got tangled up as it tossed Obito at me, and disappeared into the shadows.”

Kiyomi frowned as she suspected the reason Kakashi had got tangled up was because he had been torn between catching his former teammate, and his duty to stop the Black Zetsu. She wondered at the nature of the creature, as she couldn’t imagine a standard Zetsu taking a Lightning Cutter and shrugging it off. However, she pushed such thoughts out of her mind as she began channeling chakra into Obito to scan him. To her shock, she realized the withered portion of his face and right torso had likely been White Zetsu body parts grafted to him. However, she decided not to make use of it, as she began to repair the damage done to his body by remaking the bone, skin, and muscles that had been crushed beneath the boulder all those years ago.

Kakashi watched on in amazement as the dead plant like portions of Obito flaked away, and in its place new bone appeared which was quickly coated by muscle. Realizing what the Bijuu was doing, he placed his hand on her shoulder saying, “Just let him die. He doesn’t deserve to be saved.”

Kiyomi looked back over her shoulder as she said, “I would tend to agree with you. But, your student made a promise, and I am to help him keep it.”

“Why?” Kakashi said with a hint of anger, “You have as much reason to despise him as anyone.”

“As does Naruto,” Kiyomi replied with a smile as she thought of her lover. However, her smile soon grew rather malicious filled as she added, “But, unlike him. It isn’t a belief that your old teammate might be buried down deep in the man that he became which is why I am aiding him.”

“Then why?”

Her smile grew wider as she explained, “It’s because I don’t know what would await him on the other side. But, can imagine that whatever hell he has earned, will pale in comparison to the reality that he will awaken to.”

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask as he said, “Are you sure that is wise. Considering what we already know him to be capable of, do you really want to draw such a target on Naruto’s back?”

Having finished her task, Kiyomi straightened and felt a little light headed as she was dangerously close to chakra exhaustion once more. Kakashi helped stabilize her, and was shocked to see that unlike before the scars that Obito’s face had held were completely gone leaving nothing but unblemished skin in their place. Kiyomi stepped away after thanking the jounin as she answered, “Don’t worry Kakashi. I’ve taken precautions should he ever pose a threat to him and to her.” She moved to where Obito had dropped his orange mask previously, and picked it up before returning to the unconscious man. Kneeling near his head, she applied a seal to his face causing a corresponding one to appear on the inside of the mask before she placed it on him.

“What are you doing?” Kakashi asked wondering why Kiyomi was bothering to hide Obito’s identity.

Kiyomi straightened as she replied with a shrug, “I imagine that if Obito is ever going to have a chance to return to the world of the living, then Tobi first has to die.”

Kakashi wasn’t quite sure what the Bijuu meant, but before he could press her for details. A weak voice said, “Kiyomi. I can’t feel Naruto. Did…did I fail?”

Kiyomi turned her back on the two members of Team Minato as she quickly approached her sister who was being helped along by her clone. Disbursing it to recoup some of her chakra as she took over the burden of supporting Nel, she said, “Not at all. If he’s not in the city then he should be…” She trailed off as she used her fox mark to locate him, and not feeling him in Ame anymore suspected he had teleported the kunoichi they believed was going to unleash Fury, outside the city. However, as it should have only taken him moments, she got a sickening feeling in her stomach as she said, “That damn fool.” Knowing what she intended to do, she quickly rejected leaving Nel behind figuring she’d be wasting precious time arguing with her sister, so disappeared in a red flash.

*********

Naruto was standing in in the middle of the Wind Country desert, and felt as if he was kissing a battery as his lips were currently sealed to the woman named Hotaru whose arms were trapped between their bodies. She was struggling against him, but was growing weaker as he used the Execution by Kiss technique to drain her not just of her chakra, but the Natural Energy which she had absorbed in order to execute the Forbidden Jutsu Fury. His right hand was resting over the middle of her upper back, where the seal that had been gathering the natural energy resided, but was now unable to do so due to the seal that he had applied which Mito had taught him in order to mitigate the damage Hotaru would be able to do once he teleported her away. Although, he suspected his lovers were growing worried due to his failing to reappear.

However, as the door had exploded and he had charged into the room using his Bijuu Cloak to quickly bypass and kill the Purple Zetsu standing between him and the topless woman at the center of the room. He found that the idea of leaving the woman to die didn’t exactly sit well with him, particularly as her face had gone from pained and triumphant, to a look of despair as she realized her chance at revenge was slipping away. Upon reaching her, she had shouted, “No, don’t deny me my…”

“…Revenge.” She had finished as they appeared in a portion of the Wind Country desert that people never traveled through due to its lack of watering holes and other resources. Hotaru rather than attacking him had screamed in despair as she recognized what had happened. Which upon hearing the sound of her anguish, Naruto had decided to try and save her so quickly applied Mito’s seal before pulling Hotaru into a kiss.

He could feel the mass of pulsing flesh which surrounded the seal on her back and allowed Hotaru to absorb Natural Energy begin to settle down as he absorbed what she had already taken in and new energy was unable to enter. Hotaru went slack in his arms as he drained her to the point of chakra exhaustion and allowed her to fall free of him. He nearly doubled over in pain, as he began to feel as if his very chakra pathways were on fire, and recognized that he was probably on the verge of exploding himself. He floated into the air as he activated his Bijuu Cloak which then shifted into a yellow chakra version of the Kyuubi as he began to expel the energy he had absorbed to create a beast ball. His Chakra Bijuu construct swallowed the ball of energy that had formed, before once more opening its mouth to fire a Bijuu Beast Ball which flew into the center of the desert before exploding. The chakra construct disappeared as Naruto suddenly felt drained, causing him to fall to the ground before sinking to his knees.

Sweating heavily as he still felt unnaturally hot, despite the dessert heat, he looked over towards Hotaru. He noticed the seal on her back had faded, and breathed a sigh of relief as she rolled over and her chest appeared to still be moving. Realizing that he was staring unabashedly at her uncovered breasts, he looked away and cursed as he noticed a wall of sand moving towards them as the shockwave from the beast balls explosion closed on them. Naruto managed to get to his feet as he tried to move to Hotaru to teleport them away, but before he could take a single step the wave washed over them and blew him off his feet and upon hitting the ground found that his world suddenly went dark.

*********

Hotaru gasped awake as she found it difficult to breath suddenly, which she attributed to the sand that had covered her. She weakly got to her feet, felt as if someone had poured acid throughout her body as she felt like she was burning up from the inside. She noticed something glittering off in the distance, and her eyes widened as she saw what appeared to be a forest of glass which resided at the center of a massive crater. Wondering what had happened, she looked for signs of the man that had forced himself on her, and noticed unusually shaped mound of sand. Moving towards it, she reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai. Reaching the sand mound, she dropped down to her knees and stuck her hand inside until she contacted a piece of cloth. Reaching deeper, she gripped the man’s arm and pulled him from his side onto his back causing the sand to fall away from him.

She glared down angrily at him as she tightened her grip on his kunai, and prepared to plunge it into his chest for denying her chance at revenge. Yet, she found that although she made several false starts, she couldn’t follow through with it, especially as she recognized that she should be dead, and could only attribute her survival to something he had done. Particularly, as she imagined the glass forest signified that the energy she had gathered had gone off. However, before she could decide what to do next, she registered that the eyes of the young man had opened, and was struck by how blue they were. But, as they took in the sight of her kneeling over him with a kunai held above her, her world went black as he suddenly struck out with a punch to the jaw that knocked her out cold, before he closed his eyes again as well to join her.

*********

A moment later Kiyomi and Nel appeared in a flash of flame. Nel upon seeing the unconscious Naruto quickly pulled away from her sister to close with him and kneel at his side. She breathed a sigh of relief as she said, “He’s okay.” But, not receiving a reply looked back towards her sister to see that she had collapsed as well. Quickly moving to her sister, she checked her over and realized she had exhausted the last of her chakra teleporting them to Naruto. Straightening Nel spotted some nearby rock formations, and so decided to move everyone there to get them out of the sun. As she picked up her sister to begin her self-appointed task, she promised herself that she would grow accustomed to this new adult form she possessed as she would never allow those that she held to be precious to come to harm again because of her weakness.

Next chapter: Revenge Arc: Operation: Kill Konan Aftermath

Author’s note: Hello everyone. To begin let me thank everyone that has taken the time to read and review my stories. They truly are the logs that keeps me going. I hope this chapter proves to have been worth the wait. As to what my plans are in regards to updating my stories. I plan to release the Second Chapter of Antithesis next week. After that, the next chapter should be Kill Konan Aftermath, although I can’t say exactly when that will be ready as I still need to write it. Then it will be the Mabui Limelight chapter, at which point I will begin working on the Pride and the Promise for a few chapters.

Also, when I switch to working on the other stories, I will also begin reuploading my stories on Fanfiction.net. Although to a new account, to be announced later. This is going to be a long process, since I will also be performing some much-needed proofreading. Unfortunately, when my stories were purged originally, I ended up using earlier drafts when reposting since I would perform the final proofreading just before publishing them back on FF. That isn’t to say there weren’t still mistakes, but if I going to go through the effort. I might as well try cleaning them up some. As such, much of the remainder of the year is probably going to be dedicated to this task it might slow down my updates even more, but I will try to do it while also working on them.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my stories and share your thoughts. So until next time, Take Care! Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.