Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ When Old Dreams Shatter, New Ones Emerge ❯ Part Five: Battles and Revelations ( Chapter 5 )

Part Five: Battles and Revelations

 

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Okay, first a review response: tell-me-more—You were wondering who Inutaisho was, right? He is Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's father on Inuyasha. They never really say his name but most people call him that (kind of like people used to do to the Fourth Hokage before we knew his name). So don't feel bad about not knowing who he is. I think that the name means `Great Dog General' or `Great Dog Lord' or something like that. Kinda like Sesshomaru is a tai-youkai. I really don't know for sure. You also asked about Naruto's whisker marks. I'm going to say that joining with Kyuubi made them disappear, along with the seal.

 

About the mask/eating thing: A couple of you reviewed with questions about how he could eat with the mask covering his face. I meant to answer this question in the chapter after the one with him eating at the ramen stand, but I forgot. Well, this is going to be my official answer. I'm going to say that there is a hole in the mask that he opens when he eats. I'll probably go back and fix it if I ever get around to editing this story. I would like to tell everyone that I had this explanation in mind when I was writing that scene, but I have to admit that I am hopelessly absentminded and I just completely forgot about the mask. (I think I fixed this.)

 

Now, on with the story!

 

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Part Five: Battles and Revelations

 

Naruto lay on his bed that night, thinking. He hadn't agreed with Tsunade's plan to keep Sasuke in the mansion. He told Sasuke that he didn't want him leaving the house at night anymore because of the incident in the training field. Sasuke, of course, had argued that he could take care of himself. Naruto said that he obviously couldn't because he certainly hadn't earlier. Sasuke knew that he was good and had confidence in his abilities. However, someone had gotten awfully close to killing him earlier and he didn't like having that fact rubbed in his face. They fought and Naruto made sure that Sasuke was too exhausted to move, much less leave the house that night. Of course, Naruto had a backup plan for the rest of the time too. He told Sasuke that if he tried to leave the house without him, then he would follow him wherever he went. That had shut Sasuke up. Obviously he didn't want him to know where he went. And that was what Naruto was currently thinking about. Where did Sasuke go when he left the mansion at night? Since Tsunade didn't seem too happy with whatever he was doing when he left, Naruto could only conclude that it didn't have to do with any Anbu secret duties. And he didn't see Tsunade getting too worked up over the bastard's love life. So what could it be? What had Tsunade said? “I don't think what he's doing is all that healthy anyways.” What did she mean `healthy'? Could he be going out and getting drunk every night? But then wouldn't he have hangovers? Sure, no one would ever make the mistake of calling Sasuke a morning person, but he didn't seem to be suffering from any headaches from Hell either. And he didn't think that Sasuke was the type to go for whores. So the question remained…Where did he go?

 

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Naruto got up early the next morning and went down to the kitchen to have some cereal. He estimated he had about an hour before Sasuke got up. Naruto shook his head. Sasuke usually did get up early, but not any earlier than he had to. And it was wise not to talk to him for a couple hours until he completely woke up, even if he didn't act all that different from usual, you could practically feel the menace rolling off of him and you could only hope he ignored you if you were stupid enough to actually ask him a question.

 

Just as he finished his cereal, he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and saw Kakashi standing there. “Hello again, Kakashi. Would you like to come in?” he said, stepping to the side to give the Jonin room to pass.

 

Kakashi sauntered into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, whipping out a book. Thankfully, he had decided to go back to his Icha Icha books while around Naru, considering his reaction to the other one. “The Hokage would like to see you. We are to go to Hokage Tower and report. I believe she has a mission for us.”

 

Naruto frowned. “But I thought that I wasn't allowed to leave Sasuke?”

 

Kakashi glanced up from his book. “There will be other Jonin watching the house until he wakes up, just in case. Then the Hokage has a mission for him and Neji. She feels that he will be safe with him. Plus, I trained Sasuke so I know he can take care of himself, now that he knows to be on his guard. I told Tsunade-sama this and she agreed, though she still wants you to continue to stay with Sasuke here. You will be given separate missions occasionally but not any extended ones.” He snapped his book closed and made his way to the door. “We should get going.”

 

Naruto looked at his ex-sensei in surprise. Had Kakashi really changed so much? “You are actually worried about getting somewhere on time?!” he exclaimed before he could stop himself as they started in the opposite direction of Hokage Tower.

 

Luckily Kakashi thought nothing of it. He scratched the top of his head sheepishly. “Actually, I was hoping we could talk about all your adventures. I was wondering if anything that I read was the truth?”

 

Naruto scowled as they jumped over rooftops. “If you're referring to the stuff about the women, then no. I have no interest in women in that way any longer.”

 

“So you're gay then?”

 

Naruto almost fell off the roof. He glared at Kakashi. “I have no interest in men in that way either. I don't have time for relationships.”

 

Kakashi nodded, pretending to believe him for now. For some reason, even though he now knew that most of the stuff in his books were false, he still found this guy really interesting. He had heard him compared to `the Great Copy-nin Kakashi' many times in the past, which was one of the things that had gotten him interested in the books in the first place, since he had never really read anything other than the Icha Icha books. But now he found himself wanting to get to know the actual person, not the legend. And he also wanted to know why he seemed so damned familiar.

 

Suddenly, Naruto stopped. Kakashi was so deep in thought that he almost bumped into him. He stepped back, chagrined to have been caught being so inattentive to his surroundings. “Why did you stop?”

 

Naruto walked over to a tree to sit down against it. “Isn't this where you wanted to go?” he said, gesturing to the black memorial stone. He knew this was where Kakashi used to spend the time when he was supposed to be meeting his team or at a meeting. As he lay back against the tree, he closed his eyes and decided to do a little light meditation in order to give his old sensei some semblance of privacy. He also didn't want to see the new names that were bound to be there given the time he had been gone and the continued war with Sound.

 

Kakashi was surprised. He hadn't even realized he had been headed in this direction. He guessed his feet were so used to coming here that they just automatically carried him here without him even realizing it. He walked up to the stone and bowed his head. Obito, Minoto-sensei, Sandaime…Naruto. I wish you were all still here. I'm sorry I failed to protect you…Especially you, Naruto. I failed in my duty, as both your teacher and as your friend, to see how much you were hurting, how close you were to losing hope. I never put all that much effort into being your teacher and I now know just how much of a mistake that was. I'm glad we, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka, and I, were able to persuade the Council to allow your name to be on this stone to honor you. At least I was able to do that much for you. Even though you were leaving us, you still died in battle and it was because of the damage you were able to do to the demon that we were able to defeat him. And for that you deserve to be honored. Not to mention all the other times you saved the village, even if no one ever thanked you properly any of those times. You were hated, beaten, yelled at, and shunned all your life and still you found the courage to smile and make the most of each and every day, protecting with all your might the very ones who caused you so much pain. You will never know how much I admire you for that. Or how much I regret not telling you so while I still had the chance.

 

Kakashi raised his head. “Let's go,” he said quietly, and they resumed their journey to Hokage Tower.

 

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The Leader of the Akatsuki regarded his minions with interest, wondering how they would take this newest assignment. It would be interesting to see if any of them survived and what kind of damage they could do. It was really quite funny. None of them realized just what the real purpose behind this organization was. They were going to give their lives without ever knowing the real reason why. How amusing.

 

And if any of them were unfortunate enough to survive…he would just have to kill them himself.

 

The Leader cleared his throat to get all the members' attention, eager to see their reaction when he told them just what he wanted them to do. “I have a mission that requires all of your participation, except for Itachi as he is on a mission of his own at the moment. Konoha has been a thorn in our side for too long. The current Hokage keeps sending people to gather information on us and Konoha nins have foiled too many of our plans, especially when the Kyuubi holder was alive. It is their fault that we were not able to harness the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Now that we are almost ready to proceed to an advanced stage of our plan, we don't need them interfering. Although it could prove costly to us, we need to…eliminate them.” He paused to let this sink in, ignoring the murmurs. “Every man, woman, and child, no one is to be spared whether they be shinobi or civilian. We don't need some crazy annoyance trying to get revenge at some later date. The only one you are to try to refrain from killing is Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke. I don't like it but Itachi wants to torture the brat a little more before killing him too. This isn't to say that you should avoid engaging him in battle; just don't kill him.” He paused again, considering something that had just occurred to him. Then he decided it wasn't worth it. It wasn't as if they would actually succeed in this mission anyway. But maybe he could kill two birds with one stone. “As an added precaution, I shall send the Neko if it looks as if you are having trouble. I doubt you will as Konoha has had a shortage of shinobi and will have a number of them on missions at the time of the attack. I want you to infiltrate the Hokage's office and get a list of all ninja on missions. Then I want you to hunt them down and kill them. As I said before, I don't want any loose ends. You are dismissed. Make sure you are ready in a week's time for the attack.”

 

The members left, reassured by the Leader's confidence and his pledge to send the Neko if they got into trouble. There was no way they could lose with the demon on their side. Tobi was the last to leave, looking confused and slightly alarmed.

 

The Leader chuckled evilly once they had all left the chamber. Of course he would send the demon…once they were all dead. Then the Neko would be let loose to destroy Konoha, or at least greatly cripple it, getting rid of a major obstacle in his quest. Only he could control the demons, only he was their master. And he had plans for them all…they just didn't include world domination as the other Akatsuki thought. Unless by domination you meant complete and utter destruction.

 

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Tsunade was ready to leave. After this meeting she planned on getting rip-roaring drunk, just like she did after all the other Council meetings. She just couldn't stand these old assholes. They were the very reason that she never wanted to get old and had spent a great deal of time and chakra finding a way to avoid facing the fact that they weren't all that much older than she was. But lately she had been feeling her age. She just didn't have the patience or passion for the work anymore. Oh, she would continue being Hokage until she found someone who she approved of for the job, someone who would love this village just as much as she did, but she was tired. Her entire family was dead and the only person she had that really gave a damn about her for some reason other than the fact that she was the Hokage was Shizune, and maybe Sakura, too, but she thought that was more because she had taught her so much. She would gladly work in the hospital to help the next Hokage if he or she desired it, but she really didn't want to stay in Konoha; it held far too many memories and not enough living attachments to bind her to it. Sure she cared about everyone in the village, but as the Hokage. The only person other than Shizune that actually knew her was Jiraiya, and he wasn't even there most of the time. He was either off doing his `research' or trying to find some word of the Akatsuki's plans and whereabouts, as the Council had vehemently protested spending Konoha resources in order to defeat an organization that, as they saw it, now had nothing to do with them as the Kyuubi was dead. The Clan Council saw things differently, but calmed when they heard Jiraiya would be looking into the matter on his own time. The Council had protested this too, but they couldn't tell Jiraiya what to do so they just gave up. They couldn't see that what the Akatsuki were doing would greatly affect their future if they were just left alone. They were stupid, only seeing what was right in front of them, fearing things and people who were not the real threat. Like Naruto.

 

Tsunade felt her heart clinch at the thought of him. He was like a brother and grandson, all rolled up into one. Sometimes he would be so immature that you would wonder how he got to be a shinobi in the first place, and then he would turn around and say or do something that you would never expect to come from a genin. He loved this village more than anyone…and he had been the one most hurt by it. Despite the fact that most of the village despised him, he still wanted to protect the village and would have given his life in a heartbeat. They wouldn't have even had to ask. This was one of the reasons she was having such a hard time deciding on the next Hokage. And the Council had come up with a LOT of candidates…Kakashi, Asuma, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, and even (in desperation) Sakura, to name a few. But none would do in Tsunade's mind, not that any of them would accept as they knew they were not cut out for the job. Being Hokage was about more than simply being strong and being willing to give your life for the village…you had to completely give yourself over to it, love it with all your heart and soul. You had to want it, with all that you had…which was just one of the reasons Tsunade felt she wasn't meant to be Hokage forever. She had never wanted the position, had even fought against accepting it. She did it only because of one boy…who had reminded her of just what being the Hokage meant. But now he was gone and she could feel herself forgetting more and more with each of these stupid meetings. She had only meant to be Hokage long enough for Naruto to grow up enough to take over; she hadn't meant to be Hokage this long. She didn't know how much longer she could last-

 

“Hokage-sama, are you listening?” Utatane Koharu, one of the most respected elders of the Council, asked disapprovingly.

 

Tsunade almost growled at her, but stopped herself. There was something about this woman…she reminded her of a hateful, ugly, sadistic, mean old grandmother that you hated but were too terrified of to disobey. Not that Tsunade didn't think that she could beat her in a fight, though the old bat could probably give her a run for her money; she just gave off that kind of aura. She forced a polite smile on her face. “I'm sorry, Utatane-san, I'm afraid I let my mind wander to all that paperwork I have to finish after this meeting.”

 

Koharu humphed, but let the matter drop. “We were just asking you what you know about the two ninja you seemed to acquire after the attack. They are both causing quite the stir in the village.”

 

Apparently they were more out of touch than she had thought if no one had told them about Inutaisho being a demon. She was puzzled though. She had thought they had spies everywhere that kept them abreast of all the important stuff. Or were they just testing her to see if she would tell them the truth? She would have to feel them out first before deciding whether or not to tell them about Inutaisho. “Naru, one of the two, is the one who defeated the demon that attacked. He offered to stay and help out, as he needed to replenish his funds before going on his way. Since he saved us from the demon and we need all the ninja we can get, I thought it would be a win-win situation.”

 

Danzo, another Council member who she couldn't stand and didn't trust, leaned forward and condescendingly said, “Did you ever stop and think that this could just be a setup to get you to let him stay in the village? He could be a spy from another village.”

 

Tsunade glared at him angrily. She still couldn't figure out why they had made her Hokage if they all thought her a simpleton. She had to bite her tongue to keep from calling him every foul name that she could think of and instead reply calmly, “I gave him a special truth serum I made myself. He answered my questions of his loyalty to my satisfaction.” Danzo opened his mouth again but Tsunade cut him off. “Is my satisfaction not good enough for you Danzo?” Tsunade asked so coldly that the rest of the Council shivered.

 

Danzo had to fight the urge to shiver with them. They were all reminded forcefully that this was the Hokage they were dealing with, not some inexperienced ninja under their control. No mater how much they tried to forget, they were the one's under her control. But they tried to put that out of their minds by treating her as if she was a child. But no one in their right mind would ever try to control Tsunade, not if they valued their life. And they had to remember that, despite her appearance as a young blond woman, they were dealing with one of the legendary Sannin who had over half a century of experience under her belt.

 

Danzo was finally able to answer without his voice shaking. “Of course, Hokage-sama, your assurance is quite enough.” The rest of the council sighed in relief when Tsunade appeared to relax.

 

Of course, Tsunade wasn't really relaxed, but she let them think that she forgave Danzo his insult. “Naru also seems to be a famous demon slayer, among other things.” She held up the book Kakashi had given her and passed it to the council member on her right. “The young women of the village are going crazy and most of the shinobi are anxious to see him in action, even the Jonin and the Anbu. Anko is chomping at the bit to be let loose with him.” She debated whether to tell them of the attempt on Sasuke's life but in the end decided that they didn't need to know everything that went on in the village. They would probably freak if they thought someone was trying to kill their precious Uchiha. Although for the most part what she had told Sasuke after Naruto's death was true, she couldn't deny that a small part of her continued to blame him.

 

While she was debating what to tell them, the council was talking among themselves. Most of them had heard of Naru and were excited to meet him, although some were skeptical of his power. It seemed the council had been more interested in what was going on outside the village than inside. Now that the demon brat was gone, they didn't need to worry as much about the internal security of the village. They could now concentrate more on the outside threats to the village. They had heard of Naru and some of them even wished he had been around ages ago to kill the brat, or, even better, the Kyuubi himself. Then they would have their Yondaime, Konoha would be peaceful, the Yondaime would have killed Orochimaru during the first attack, and Sasuke would have never had a reason to leave the village. Everything was the fault of that demon brat. Maybe this Naru was just what the doctor ordered? They would have to turn their spies inward to Konoha to investigate this possibility.

 

Tsunade's ears perked up when she heard this last part. So she was right in thinking that they had been ignoring what was going on inside the village. They didn't know about Inutaisho…but they would if they started snooping. She would have to instruct him to make himself scarce for a while. She was pretty sure he wouldn't be willing to leave just yet though. But this development with Naru was interesting…for now she would ignore what they had said about Naruto, but she wouldn't forget. Were they were actually considering an outsider for Hokage? Were they really that desperate? Tsunade had read numerous books about `the Demon Slayer' and many of them talked about how other villages tried to get him to stay, but she had never read of a village offering him the position of leader, much less Kage. Could this offer sway him? Sure she trusted him, but she really didn't think any outsider could care for the village and all it's inhabitants in the way that Hokage should. She had seen what had happened when the wrong person was chosen as Kage in other villages, such as the last Kazekage. It brought the village nothing but misfortune and she would not let that happen to Konoha, even if she had to put up with that damn paperwork and this damn council until she died. But she wouldn't totally reject this idea as she had nothing but respect for Naru. She would just wait and see until it was clear, one way or another, whether or not he had what it took to be Hokage. She opened her mouth to say so but then had a sudden thought. She grinned evilly. This will teach the brat not to call me baa-chan!

 

Tsunade cleared her throat only to be ignored as the discussion continued. Tsunade scowled. Why is it that the council always treats me like a child? She winced as the volume got even louder as the book was passed to another council member. And a nearly deaf one at that. “I'M TRYING TO TALK HERE!” the room immediately quietened. “Thank you.” She smiled deviously again, humor restored as she thought of ways to torture Naru for his disrespect. “I think that we should test him before we make any rash decisions. Just because he's strong isn't enough of a reason to consider him for Hokage. There is more to being Hokage than simply being strong. Although that is a big part of it.” Her smile got even more evil, almost rivaling Orochimaru's. “I think we should let Anko have him.”

 

The council shivered at this statement. Many of them made another note to never get on Tsunade's bad side (which they would automatically forget when they decided to do something that Tsunade wouldn't approve of or when they looked at her when she wasn't in one of her moods). Anko was like a force of nature…a tsunami, totally devastating anything in her path. Unless she was feeling playful and then you had really better watch out.

 

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Anko was feeling playful.

 

Naruto shivered, remembering the chuunin exam. She is still completely insane…and, strangely, I find that extremely sexy. The Kyuubi side of him found her fascinating and, if Naruto was completely honest with himself, so did he. Now that he and Kyuubi were merged, he saw in her a kindred spirit. He found himself wanting to play back. He stared at her in interest. No, he wasn't really attracted to her, but he would have had to be blind not to appreciate the work of art that was Mitarashi Anko, both in looks and in personality. And foxes always appreciated beautiful things.

 

Anko almost fell on her face when she found herself on the receiving end of the seduction that she had started. She had just pressed herself up against his broad back and was about to slice at his chest with her nails, when he had moved so fast that he appeared to have teleported behind her. He leaned down to whisper, brushing his lips against her ear as he spoke, “You shouldn't let an enemy get behind you. It could prove hazardous to your health.” Then he leapt out of the way as she spun around with a kunai in each hand, a barrage shurikin soon following.

 

Anko was smiling with delight; she had finally found a playmate! Everyone else in the village besides Kurenai (and even she had her doubts) thought she was crazy, and, privately, she admitted that they might be right. But that made almost everyone afraid of her. Of course, the curse seal Orochimaru gave her that was still on her neck could have something to do with that fact. Or the fact that she was the snake's student in the first place and developed a couple of his sadistic tastes. Whatever the reason, it wasn't everyday she found someone that fought back with her brand of fire and who seemed to enjoy this kind of fight just as much as she did. She settled back into her fighting stance. Might as well have as much fun with this guy as possible before he became too afraid of her to play anymore.

 

And she tried. But he didn't seem freaked out at all. In fact, he seemed to be relishing the fight just as much, if not more, than she did.

 

Why was I ever afraid of Anko again? Sure she's scary and slightly insane, but that just makes the fight better. She tried some of her sluty tricks, but he turned the fight into more of a erotic dance. It must be the kitsune in him that enjoyed this type of thing. From his memories as Kyuubi, he remembered the lightning-quick mood changes, going from deadly to playful in seconds, just like Anko only on a much grander scale.

 

The stadium was completely silent and Naruto took a moment to look over the people gathered to watch the match. Most were chuunin and Jonin, but Tsunade, the council of elders, and the clan council were there also. Which made sense as they were the ones to arrange the fight. Some of the old geezers looked scandalized, the rest just looked either disgusted, disturbed, embarrassed but interested, or a combination of all these. Some of them even had thin trails of blood running from their noses, which they were trying to hide. Then his eyes found Sasuke.

 

Naruto stumbled slightly resulting in Anko slicing his shirt open, leaving a thin cut going across his chest that healed before it could even bleed. Naruto quickly got his head back in the fight but couldn't help glancing at Sasuke again. Sasuke's eyes were on his chest and he had the same look in his eyes that he had had when that girl ripped his shirt.

 

Now, Naruto knew he was a little dense at times, but he was by no means stupid, no matter what his old teammates or anyone else in the village might say. The first time was after finishing a few hundred D-ranked missions so it could be explained as anger at having to do missions he felt were demeaning or that his little scheme didn't work. Sasuke had been looking at him like this at other times too, but the look was often gone before he could blink, leaving him to believe he had imagined it. But Sasuke didn't have any reason to be angry this time and he didn't think Naru could be watching now so he had no reason to hide it. Plus there was the way that he was looking at Anko's and his fight. He looked like he didn't like the way she was rubbing up against Naru, but didn't know what he could do about it. He had almost the same look he had had when they were younger and he had thought Naruto was getting better than he, the great Uchiha prodigy, was. But this was more intense somehow and seemed to be a different kind of anger. The ancient part of him that was Kyuubi remembered that look. Jealousy mixed with desire?

 

Naruto was slightly dazed. Sasuke was attracted to him and jealous of Anko? How did he feel about that? He put himself on autopilot and retreated into his mind to think about all the time Sasuke and he had spent together, both past and present. How could Sasuke like him when he acted like he hated him? Did Sasuke even know what he was feeling? Did he feel the same way? He knew nothing he had ever felt for anyone in his life compared to the way he felt about Sasuke, but was that the best-friend type of love or was it lover-love?

 

Naruto forcefully pulled his mind away from the topic. Sasuke probably only felt lust for him anyway so it didn't matter what he felt. And it wasn't like they could have any type of real relationship anyway as he would be leaving soon and Sasuke had to revive his clan. And, since the tailed demons couldn't have children in the regular way, Naruto couldn't help him with that. To even have any kits at all, he would have to be in Kyuubi's body and he didn't think the villagers would take too well to that if they ever found out. He stopped himself again. Why was he even thinking of this? It wasn't ever going to happen so there was no point in even acknowledging Sasuke or his feelings for him. He was slightly depressed at this but, as his eyes lingered over the audience again and saw the looks of disgust and shock on the Council of Elders' faces at his and Anko's playing, he grew mischievous again. It had been a long time since he had pulled a prank. It would have been even funnier if he had been able to pull out his Sexy Jutsu and use it, but that would ruin everything so he just had to make do with what he had.

 

He maneuvered Anko so that her legs were wrapped around his waist and leaned forward to whisper in her ear with a jerk of the head toward the council. “Want to see just how badly we can freak out the old farts?”

 

Anko glanced at the stands and smiled wickedly. “I knew I was going to like you. If they thought this was bad, we'll just have to step it up a notch. You game?” She asked, rocking her hips forward and delighting in seeing Ebisu faint out of the corner of her eye, splashing some of the people in front of him with blood from his nose. She was ecstatic that she had at last found a kindred spirit. She wasn't interested in serious playing and didn't think he was either, but it was always fun to see just how much they could dirty people's minds up. To bad he wasn't a girl; then it would have been really fun to watch the council have heart attacks. Either that or die from blood loss, depending on just how stuck up they really were.

 

She felt some killing intent radiating from the audience and her eyes found Uchiha Sasuke, one of her fellow Anbu captains and cursee of Orochimaru. She hadn't worked with him often, but she remembered wondering just how long that stick shoved up his ass was. She would have never thought he would have lowered himself to feeling any type of human emotions such as jealousy and lust, both of which she was familiar with and knew when she saw them. And Uchiha was definitely in the throes of both. She glanced back at Naru. “You do realize that Uchiha over there has the hots for you?” she watched him blush, surprised he was capable of it after all that they had been doing. She grinned wickedly. She had always loved living dangerously. That love of danger had gotten her into trouble more times than she could count. She leaned closer to Naru and whispered in his ear, “You want to see just how jealous we can make him?”

 

Naruto gritted his teeth and ran forward with her legs still locked around him and slammed her back into the wall, knocking the breath out of her. He pinned her arms above her head and leaned forward to whisper furiously, “I don't care about that. I just want to show this council of yours it can't hope to control me.” So maybe he was still a little resentful of the council.

 

When Anko got her breath back she grinned evilly. “Well, count me in. I do that every chance I get so I'm a pro!”

 

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They managed to put most of the audience out of commission in a manner similar to Ebisu, outrage the less perverted members of the council, and make Kakashi completely ignore his book for about thirty minutes before the attack came in the form of a huge explosion. This managed to rouse the shinobi who had fainted. The left side of the stadium was completely blown off and, as the dust cleared, they could make out seven figures. Their cloaks billowed in the breeze and no one could make out their features because of the straw hats that were pulled so low that they were hidden. But many of the audience had fought these people before. And, although he hadn't seen them in eight years, Naruto knew he would recognize these people, no monsters, anywhere. He glanced up at the council bitterly. The Akatsuki were more like monsters than he would ever be, even in Kyuubi's beast form.

 

Deidara, Kisame, Zetsu, Konan, Hidan, Kakuzu, and finally Tobi. Naruto absently wondered where Itachi was as he studied the members who were there. He hadn't known all their names before he left, but he had picked up quite a lot of information about them in his travels. He had actually been planning on going to look for them when he had gotten distracted by Inutaisho's problem. At least now he wouldn't have to now that they had evidently decided to come to him. Although he really didn't know why they were here. Konoha didn't have another Jinchuuriki, not even one of a lesser demon than the tailed beasts. There was only two other tailed beast that had not been captured by the Akatsuki, Yonbi and Hachibi. And they would never find them; they was too well hidden.

 

And so, of course, was Kyuubi. Naruto smirked under his mask, absently unwinding Anko's legs from around his waist. Anko had a similar smirk on her face, slightly more evil but way less smug. “At least now I can kill someone without getting yelled at.”

 

The majority of the upper level jonin were busy herding people out of the stadium and getting the council members to safety. Only a few made their way to stand with Anko and Naruto. Inutaisho made a move to join them from where he was staying out of the sight of the council, but Naruto shook his head. Leave. We don't need them getting any more upper level youkai than they have already.

 

Inutaisho nodded. Knock their heads in Kit. He turned and vanished, knowing he would just be in the way. The kit had more of a grudge with these people than he did and he could certainly handle them. If the humans knew what was good for them, they would just stay out of the way and let Naruto handle this. But humans almost never knew what was good for them, Kami love them.

 

Naruto turned his attention to the group beside him. Anko, Kakashi, Asuma (AN: In my story he is not dead!), Kuranai, Tsunade, and the whole of Rookie Nine and Team 10. He would have said it was overkill if they had been any other opponent. He knew he could take them but there was no telling what surprises they could have up their sleeves.

 

Sasuke kept scanning his surroundings methodically, most likely looking for Itachi. Kisame laughed when he saw this. “If you're looking for Itachi-kun, he's not coming. He has more important matters to attend to than decimating his home village. After all,” he taunted, swinging his now uncovered sword in an arc in front of him, “it's not as if there is anyone here who can challenge him.”

 

All Sasuke did was grit his teeth at this. Naruto was surprised. In the past he had always been extremely touchy when the subject of his brother came up. The Sasuke he remembered would have already charged Kisame and tried to use Chidori on him. This Sasuke just got into his fighting stance and then got a look of calm concentration on his face.

 

Deidara got out several of his explosive clay birds and let them fly around his head. “I wonder if I can cover this entire stadium in a pink mist, mmm.” (AN: Is it pink mist or red mist? I can never remember.)

 

Tobi beamed at Deidara from the other side of the line of Akatsuki members, his one visible eye forming a `U'. “I can help you with that Deidara-kun!” he pulled out two canisters and started shaking them. “I have some air fresheners and I think that they are pink.” He started skipping around the group, spraying the canisters as he went. The Konoha shinobi sweatdropped.

 

The veins in Deidara's forehead started pulsing wildly. Suddenly, the birds circling his head scattered as he leapt towards his skipping partner and tried to strangle him before he was pulled off by Kisame.

 

Kisame straightened and sighed. “Tobi, didn't I tell you to stay at your end of the line for just this reason? We don't need you two fighting right now.” He paused. “And I don't even want to know why you brought air fresheners to a battle.”

 

Hidan sniffed. “Barbarians.”

 

Kakuzu sneered at his partner out of habit before turning back to their opponents. “Let's get this over with so I can get back to counting my money.”

 

Zetsu stayed silent, watching the interaction between the other members but he too got ready for battle, as did Konan. Then, suddenly, Zetsu wasn't there anymore. He reappeared behind Hinata but fortunately she had already activated her Byakugan, allowing her to see him appear behind her. She blocked his kunai with one of her own and soon all the others were engaged in battle.

 

Shizune came back from guiding others to safety and almost screamed in frustration when she saw Tsunade right in the middle of the fighting. She cleared a path with her poison needles and came up behind the Hokage. “Tsunade-sama!” She yelled even as she threw needles at the lackeys that the Akatsuki had brought with them, making them jump back to try to avoid them. Not all were successful. She grabbed Tsunade's arm. “We have to get you to safety!” Tsunade opened her mouth to protest but Shizune cut her off. “Because you are Hokage we have to make sure you are safe. Only if there is no other option will you be allowed to fight. We can't risk you dying. Think about what would happen if the council had to name another Hokage in the middle of this war. We have other shinobi perfectly capable of defending the village.” She paused to block another attack. “You are to important to risk unnecessarily-” she stopped suddenly. “I don't know why I'm bothering to explain this to you! You know all this already, so get out of this damn battle and get to safety before I drag you!”

 

Tsunade soon found herself being dragged toward the entrance of the stadium. Deidara saw this and sent a few of his special clay birds after her. They were a new design and much faster than his regular ones and packed almost five times the explosive force. Tsunade and all those within thirty feet of her would be dead when they exploded.

 

Tsuande wasn't a sannin and the Hokage for nothing. She noticed the birds and sent kunai flying in their direction. What she didn't expect was the extra explosive force they packed. She and Shizune were blown back hard by the resulting explosion. Luckily none of the Konoha shinobi were injured by the explosion, but some of the Akatsuki's lackeys were blown apart.

 

Tsunade sat back up with difficulty, shaking her head to clear it. She was enraged. She had almost been killed by CLAY BIRDS! So what if they were explosive and powered by the chakra of a S-class missing nin; it would still have been humiliating. As soon as she was able to get up, she was going to rip that Deidara guy's head off. With that thought in mind, she looked around for the guy, just in time to see more of those stupid clay birds flying towards her again. Then she noticed the blood surrounding her and froze.

 

Shizune was out cold, having hit her head on a rock when they were blown back. Tsunade was out of commission. Five highly explosive clay birds were flying at extremely high speeds towards them. They were as good as dead.

 

Naruto wasn't going to have it. He was still a Konoha shinobi, even if he didn't wear the forehead protector anymore. He would protect the old hag, not just because she was the Hokage, not just because she was a member of this village that he had sworn to protect, but also because she was like the mother, or maybe grandmother, he never had. Even if she didn't know who he was, she was the closest thing to family he had, including Iruka, Jiraya, and his team. Kakashi was strange, but even he fit in there too. Like an annoying, perverted uncle. So there was no way he was going to allow anyone, especially some girly-boy asshole, to kill a member of his family. Especially not with little birds. Tsunade would come back and haunt me if I allowed her to be humiliated like that!

 

Naruto was fighting Konan but he immediately went to Tsunade's and Shizune's rescue. One second he was there and the next second he seemed to have disappeared. Konan looked around for him frantically but couldn't find him. Then she saw a flash of yellow and black out of the corner of her eye and turned just in time to see Naruto appear in front of Tsunade and run straight towards some of Deidara's newest creations, forming the hand signs for a jutsu that she wasn't familiar with. Konan was slightly alarmed. Those birds were far bigger than the ones Deidara usually used. Even as this thought entered her mind, she was running and yelling for the others to do the same. Not that she cared if they lived or died personally; it was just that their chances of success were greater if they could all fight. She also didn't want to go through the trouble of training a new partner. Pein had paired her with Zetsu a few years ago and while she didn't particularly like him (she didn't really like any of the Akatsuki other than Pein), he didn't irritate her and he knew when to leave her alone. She really appreciated that and would be extremely pissed if he were killed.

 

As Naruto ran towards the explosive birds he formed a barrier type jutsu to trap the explosion, then he directed the entire explosive force toward Hidan, using the barrier like a giant slingshot. Unfortunately for the supposed immortal, Naruto had very good aim. When the dust and smoke cleared, only ashes were left. Every living cell was destroyed.

 

This completely pissed off Kakuzu. HE wanted to be the one to kill Hidan and would have already if he had managed to figure out how to accomplish it. Now this upstart who he had never even seen before managed to do what he had been trying to do for years. Well, the idiot had deserved it. He let his guard down after Kakuzu had told him to be cautious. Now the Leader would be forever displeased with him for killing his partners again. Kakuza grew even angrier at this thought, sending out threads, killing several unimportant shinobi and wounding Kiba in the shoulder. The masks on his back combined their power and headed straight for Naruto.

 

Naruto turned and saw this and slowly took out Tetsusaiga; he had to do this right, to pack as much power into the attack as possible. “Kaze no Kizu!” Of all the Akatsuki, Kakuzu was the one that he was most worried about. Hidan had been immortal, yes, but there were ways around that. If you completely destroyed his body so that it couldn't be pieced together again, his immortality would mean nothing. Fortunately, they didn't even have to worry about even the remote possibility of him being put back together because the contained force of the explosion had turned every cell in his body to ash. Kakuzu, however, had the most battle experience, seemed almost psychic when it came to reading his opponent, and was virtually immortal, probably just as much as Hidan had been, just because he was more cautious and could draw upon the people surrounding him to replace any vital organ that he lost. And should he be dismembered, his threads would reattach the body part in question almost immediately. So, he had to be taken out as soon as possible to keep this from happening.

 

The destructive power of the Kaze no Kizu completely obliterated the masks, ripping them apart without any pause at all, continuing on its path toward Kakuzu. Kakuzu immediately sent out threads to the people nearest him, which, unfortunately for the Akatsuki, included Zetsu and Deidara. Now, Kakuzu couldn't care less about Deidara (He's just stupid. I hate him.) but he really didn't like that he had just killed the only member of the Akatsuki other than the Leader that he considered his superior. He regretted it, but he wasn't one to dwell on things not of a monetary nature. The waves of the Kaze no Kizu slashed through him and he instantly replaced the organs that were damaged and sowed himself back together with his threads. He now had only two spare hearts as one of the hearts he had taken had been too diseased to be useful and Naruto's attack had destroyed one of the hearts he had taken.

 

Naruto cursed under his breath and got ready to attack. This was not going to be pretty. He would have to draw him away from the rest of the fighters so that he wouldn't be able to draw on them for more hearts.

 

Meanwhile, Sasuke had killed Kisame with his own sword after using a new hypnotizing jutsu with his Sharingan he had developed. It was the first time that he had used it on an opponent in a real battle, but it worked like a charm since Kisame was too surprised to do anything. Sasuke was fighting Tobi when the explosion startled both of them. It knocked Sasuke to his knees and sent Tobi flying backwards when a stray rock nailed him in the forehead. Sasuke immediately went to take advantage of the situation but was caught in the Mangekyo Sharingan.

 

A few seconds later had Sasuke gasping for breath on the ground. He knew that he would be alright in a few hours but he needed strength now. He was probably the only person in the world that had built up a somewhat immunity to the Mangekyo. He had been caught in it so many times by his brother that it was a wonder he had not been driven insane. He couldn't believe he had been fooled by his brother's disguise, even if it was a remarkably good one. Who would suspect the Great Uchiha Itachi to be masquerading as an immature idiot? But the Sharingan did not lie and only one other Uchiha was left alive other than Sasuke.

 

Sasuke sneered. “Are you resorting to hiding now, big brother? After that stunt do you really think that no one knows it's you? Have the decency to at least fight me face to face and not hide behind that disguise and mask.”

 

The one visible eye behind the mask stared at Sasuke coldly. “Boy, you know not to whom you are speaking to. You'll show respect to your greatest ancestor! I'm not Uchiha Itachi but the Great Uchiha Madara!”

 

Sasuke looked at the man who he was sure was his brother warily. “So you're not just insane, you are an insane idiot if you think that I'm going to believe that.” Although, he is talking an awful lot. Is it possible another member of my clan survived? Did he help my brother murder our clan and that is why he was allowed to survive? He does have the Sharingan and I can't imagine my brother acting like this even for the benefit of a disguise. That's the only explanation.

 

`Uchiha Madara' continued to look at his `descendant' coldly. “I can see why your father favored Itachi. You show no respect to those who are responsible for your very existence. I chose this body, first, because the person inhabiting it was an Uchiha and, second, because it was near death and thus easier to enter. Too bad Itachi is so disgustingly healthy or I could take over his body.” He paused and seemed to consider something. “Maybe, I won't have to kill you. I could just take over your body. Orochimaru must have had some reason to want it.”

 

It was all Sasuke could do not go into a blind rage. What was it with all these crazy old people wanting his body? He hadn't thought about it much when he was younger because he had been so intent on his revenge that he didn't bother thinking about it but, now that he was older, he found it greatly disturbing. He had long since stopped caring that his family had favored Itachi. He brought his rage under control and, after taking a deep breath, smirked. “Well, I'll just have to educate you then, won't I?” That said, he attacked.

 

Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Lee, Neji, Hinata, and some others had been dealing with the seemingly endless lackeys that the Akatsuki had brought with them so that their fellow Konoha shinobi could concentrate on the S-Class missing-nins. Anko had been helping but had gotten tired of all the easy kills and had gone after Konan and was currently battling, snakes vs. paper. Both had numerous cuts all over their bodies and Anko's shirt was about to fall off but she still had that evil grin on her face that struck fear into the hearts of genin (and men) everywhere. The older jonin were guarding the Hokage and Shizune, silently watching the younger generation take care of the Akatsuki, ready to jump in at a moment's notice if they were needed. But it didn't look like that would be the case. It was obvious to all of them that Konoha would emerge the victor.

 

Konan must have come to this conclusion, too, because she yelled, “Pein! We need the Neko!”

 

Anko looked at her like she was crazy (which is really saying something coming from Anko). Why would she need a cat?

 

Konan laughed at the look on Anko's face. “You will all die now. There is no way that you can withstand the power of-”

 

It happened so fast that no one was prepared. One second Konan was laughing, the next she was literally in pieces. When the dust cleared the air surrounding her body, they saw a small two-tailed cat (AN: Picture Kirara from Inuyasha, except black and red). Sakura and Ino actually started forward to pet the thing, even though it was licking claws that were stained with Konan's blood. It was obviously a demon, but every person watching would have been hard-pressed to kill something so cute.

 

Except Naruto.

 

When Sakura and Ino started forward, their intention obvious, he was instantly by their side, preventing them from taking one more step toward the creature. The cat looked at the three shinobi with disinterest, eyes devoid of anything, including hate, as it finished cleaning its claws. When they were completely clean, it surveyed the remainder of its intended victims. When its eyes came into contact with Kakuzu's, for the first time something shone in its eyes. Hate. Again, it was done before anyone could blink and before Kakuzu could react. He died before he could even think to summon his extra hearts or use his threads. The cat seemed to take more pleasure from this kill than it had from Konan's, though.

 

The cat seemed to get bored with its current form. Slowly, its limbs lengthened and its hair receded back into its skin. In place of its fur, a skin-tight, black cat suit molded to the form of an inhumanly beautiful woman. Flaming auburn hair flowed down her back and blood-red eyes stared at the gawking shinobi. The cat ears perched on top of her head twitched, her hands flexed, and her nails lengthened into three inch claws.

 

This time it was Kakashi who Naruto had to hold back. He was actually drooling.

 

Naruto thought fast. Of all the biju, Nibi was one of two (well, three if you included him) that had actually liked most humans. Not as much as Inutaisho, but she liked them well enough (the rest of the biju tolerated humans for the most part, except Shukaku ever since he got fused with that crazy monk). He knew that she wouldn't be doing this if she had a choice. He had only to look into her eyes to know she wasn't in control. When she was free, she was so full of life and mischief. As Kyuubi, they had gotten into so much mischief when they were younger. She was like his older sister. He would kill her if he had to, but he would rather break the hold of whatever, or whoever, was controlling her. As the ruler of the biju, it was his duty to release them all, or kill them if they couldn't be released or if they refused to submit. And he knew that Nibi would rather be killed by him than controlled by the Akatsuki.

 

Naruto came to the conclusion that, if he was to keep both the Konoha shinobi and Nibi alive, he would have to take the fight away from Konoha and into the forest.

 

With that goal in mind, he turned to Sasuke, whose fight with Tobi had stopped with the appearance of Nibi when Tobi had collapsed in the middle of a flame jutsu. “Don't let anyone follow me. Most of Nibi's jutsu are fire-based and I would rather her get away from the village. Although the majority of the buildings are mostly fire proof, Nibi's jutsu are more potent than most and would probably burn the entire village down. I'll try to get her as far away from the village as I can.” Without waiting for Sasuke to respond and as fast as the Neko, he rammed her and they were gone from sight, uprooting numerous trees in their wake.

 

Sasuke turned to the other shinobi. “Ibiki, take him,” he pointed to Tobi, “to the interrogation room. He seems to be an Uchiha and claims to be possessed by my ancestor, Uchiha Madara.” Ibiki did as ordered. “Sakura, Hinata, Ino, you will get together some volunteers to gather all the injured and take them to the hospital. Make sure that the Hokage and Shizune get priority. We will need them to help with all the other injured people. Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru will come with me to find Naru and the biju.”

 

Shikamaru sighed. “How troublesome. However, at least it's not the nine-tails we're tracking. Then we would all be dead by now.” But at least then I'd hopefully get some peace.

 

The four shinobi set off, following the trail of fallen trees and turned earth deep into the forest.

 

*********************************break*************************** ******

 

Naruto made sure they stopped in a clearing that was far enough away from the village to give him at least ten minutes before Sasuke showed up. Even though he had told him to make sure no one followed him, he knew Sasuke. He would never trust anyone else—especially someone who he didn't know very well—to protect the village when he felt he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. After all, no one could possibly be better than him. Oh, intellectually Sasuke knew this wasn't true, but Naruto attributed his attitude to Uchiha arrogance and pride.

 

Naruto pushed Nibi away forcefully, putting several feet between them. “Now that we're alone…” Naruto's voice changed subtly, becoming silkier, and his pupils became catlike. He felt his vocal cords change slightly and he spoke in a language that no human was capable of speaking as his youki permeated the clearing, insuring that whoever was controlling his old friend would not be able to interfere. “We don't have to fight you know.” Something flashed in her eyes, but they quickly grew vacant again and she tried to attack him with her claws. She was slower than before though and Naruto was able to dodge easily. Naruto's voice softened even more, taking on a faintly pleading tone. “Nibi, don't make me kill you. I can protect you from whoever is controlling you and together we can free the rest of our brothers and sisters from the Akatsuki's control.” Naruto could practically see the struggle taking place behind her eyes even as she continued to attack him. A black and red seal appeared around her neck, almost like a collar. The longer the fight continued, the more prominent the seal became until it seemed to glow. The skin around the seal became an angry red color and he could finally clearly see something in her eyes…

 

Pain.

 

Naruto felt anger building up inside him. How dare these monsters do this to Nibi! No matter what he had to do to accomplish it, he would break their control over her! With that thought in mind, he did something he hoped would be strong enough to break the seal connecting her soul to the sealing statue. His voice hardened and took on a commanding tone. “As the acknowledged ruler of the biju, a title given to me by the very gods themselves, you owe me your obedience. This bond has been in place for millennia, far longer than the length of time that this seal has stained your body and soul. Your first loyalty is to me, not these bastards. I COMMAND YOU…” Nibi's eyes widened and the glow of the seal was building, “AWAKE AND SHOW THESE BASTARDS THAT THEY CAN'T HOPE TO CONTROL NIBI, GREATEST OF THE NEKOMATA!”

 

With these words, Nibi's eyes glowed even brighter and the seal fractured, then broke, in a burst of blinding light. Naruto thought that he heard a distant roar of rage, but he couldn't be sure. Nibi fell to her knees, breathing extremely labored. Naruto knelt beside her, concerned for his friend. She was pretty weak and her chakra was almost completely exhausted.

 

Nibi'b shoulders started to shake and Naruto started to put his arms around her to comfort her but stopped when he realized the reason they were shaking. The bitch was laughing hysterically! Naruto stood up and started muttering to himself about crazy bitches that didn't even have the courtesy to thank the people who rescued them.

 

Nibi sobered immediately and would have leapt to her feet in anger if she had had the energy. She settled for glaring murderously at her friend/sibling/tormentor/savior. “Don't call me a BITCH! I don't care how much Inutaisho would wish that I was one, I am not a filthy DOG! Can you imagine?” she shuddered, but grew serious. “Thank you for saving me though. I don't think that my spirit could have stood being under their control much longer, especially if they had made me kill an entire village like they did Shukaku. Although we both know that he didn't really have to be forced. He would probably join up with the Akatsuki just for the opportunity to spill all the blood he wants if he didn't know that you would kill him for getting out of hand. Speaking of which, how did you get those vile humans to believe you were dead? All of us knew that you couldn't be or we would have felt it but we were able to gather from what little we overheard that they thought you were dead.”

 

Naruto was puzzled and just shrugged. “I don't know why they think I'm dead. It's possible they thought I was dead just because no one has seen me in eight years but I would have thought they would have had spies in Konoha to tell them differently. Maybe they thought I would have come back to Konoha if I had been alive. Still, I wouldn't expect for them to just give up without proof.” Naruto decided to put it to the back of his mind to ponder over later. “We don't have much time left before the other shinobi get here. I want you to hide in my old den. All the old wards should still be in effect so, while you will have no trouble getting in, no one else should even be able to sense that you are there, much less get in. It will be the safest place for you.” Naruto paused, considering. He tossed her a kunai. “Spill some of your blood all around this clearing and set fire to some of the trees. Make sure that it doesn't get out of control but I don't want anyone to suspect that there wasn't much of a fight here. I'll summon some of the ashes of Soretsuchi so that they don't get suspicious when they don't find a body.”

 

Nibi laughed delightedly. “So you finally killed the bastard? I'm surprised you haven't done so sooner. Although he was much more discrete when you were at large and outside of your jinchuuriki. Speaking of which, how did you gain control without killing him? I thought there was a seal to prevent that from happening.”

 

Naruto shook his head. “It's a long story. I'll be sure to tell you the details when I come to see you tonight, but for now just know I didn't take control away from my jin. I merged with him.” Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. “It feels strange talking about myself in the third person but I expect I will have to get used to it. Suffice it to say that I have the memories of both my demon self and my human self. So, I am the same fox you knew, it's just that now I have another human identity also. I'm just lucky that we had such similar personalities or the merger would never have worked.”

 

Nibi's eyes shone with incredulous interest. “You actually merged with a human? And you're still alive?” Realizing what she just said, she yelled, “Wait a sec, what the hell-”

 

Naruto put a hand over her mouth quickly. “I don't know how much longer we have, but I don't want anyone to hear us talking. I can feel Sasuke's chakra and by my calculations we should only have at most a couple more minutes. Leave quietly…and at least try to keep your curiosity in check until I come tonight. I still have some preparations to make before the others get here.” Naruto turned away from Nibi and muttered, “And I still have to find a way to get away from the house without Sasuke finding out. That man certainly seems to have an instinctive knack for finding me even when I don't want to be found. I wonder if he's always been like that or if it's a recent development?” he pondered, lost in trying to remember if he had shown a similar knack when they were kids as he scratched and scorched a few trees so it would look like a vicious fight had taken place.

 

Nibi had turned to go when she heard his mutterings. A sly grin spread across her beautiful face as she turned around to follow him. She snuck up behind him without his notice and whispered in his ear, “It sounds as if you like this human. Is there something you'd like to tell me, my dear? Do you finally have a fuck buddy?” she vaguely recalled the exquisite man that Naruto had been talking to just before they had left the village. She licked her lips. “If it's the guy that I'm thinking of, I can't blame you. I wouldn't mind trying him out when you are finished.”

 

An inhuman growl filled the air and Nibi jumped back just in time to avoid the swipe of a claw. “What was that for?!” she yelled, surprised to have drawn such a serious reaction. He must care for this human more than I thought.

 

Naruto glared at Nibi, eyes glowing red with youki. “Never talk about Sasuke like that. He was my best friend before I left Konoha and I still consider him such. He deserves much better than what I can give him.”

 

Nibi was confused. “What's wrong with you? You are the ruler of the biju. If anything, he doesn't deserve you.” Nibi hesitantly hugged Naruto. “Even though I didn't know you in your human form, I can tell that you are still the best friend that anyone could have. I would have died if you hadn't saved me. And this isn't the first time either. You have a huge heart. Whether you were human or demon, I would follow you to the ends of the earth. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be with you. If he doesn't love you for who you are, then he is the stupid one.”

 

Naruto closed his eyes, not even aware of Nibi leaving, finally accepting what he had been fighting ever since setting eyes on Sasuke again. He loved Uchiha Sasuke. And not just in a friendly type way either. This was the forever type love that poets wrote about. He had never thought he would ever feel this way about anyone, as Kyuubi or as Naruto. As Kyuubi, he was the only one of his kind and as such would never find a mate. As Naruto, he was considered the same as the fox and would never be allowed to. And who would want him anyway, even if he had been allowed to be happy? Once they found out about his past, they would hate him anyway. Either that or fear him. Either way, he wouldn't have been able to stand it. He was better off alone. He wouldn't allow himself to fall in love. Not for real.

 

But then Sasuke came along. He hadn't understood when they were younger. He had felt something when they had kissed on their first day as genin, but he had thought that was disgust. Now he didn't know…but he did know that the thought of kissing Sasuke now that they were grown up inspired something that was definitely not disgust.

 

So where did that leave him? Sasuke would never see him as anything, even a friend. Even if he did, the council would never allow him to let the Uchiha line die, and Naruto didn't think Sasuke would allow that either, no matter what his feelings. Even if the impossible happened and Sasuke felt the same for him, Naruto couldn't stay here. Sooner or later it would come to light just who and, more importantly, what he was. And it would get even worse when they figured out the seal was no longer keeping Kyuubi at bay. No one would want him there and he knew Konoha wouldn't fail to tell every other village about him, thus making it more difficult for him to keep helping people.

 

One thing was perfectly clear: nothing could come of this attraction but heartache. Either Sasuke rejected him now or he rejected him later. He couldn't see any possibility that allowed him to be happy. It would be better to just cut his losses now and leave.

 

He was snapped out of his self-pity when the object of his thoughts jumped down in front of him. Sasuke looked around the clearing, scowling as he took in the scorched trees and the deep scratch marks that had been left by Naruto's claws. Nibi hadn't covered her tracks until she had left the clearing. Naruto knew that if Sasuke tried to follow her, he would only get a few feet before it would be as if she had just vanished into thin air. There was no way for Sasuke to track her; only another biju would be able to.

 

Sasuke turned his attention back to Naru, still scowling. “How could you let her get away? She's probably making her way back to the Akatsuki right now. How long has she been gone? Maybe we can head her off and finish her between the five of us.”

 

For the first time Naruto noticed Shikamaru, Neji, and Kakashi. He couldn't believe that he had let himself be so distracted that he totally missed their presence. “There's no way for you to catch up to her. I've heard a few things about her in my travels and you've seen her speed for yourself back in the village. She's probably already wherever she was going. And, even if you did find her, you saw what she did to Konan and Kakuzu, and they were on her side.” As he said this, he wondered. Why had she attacked them first? Sure the control that the leader of the Akatsuki had over her wasn't perfect, but Naruto didn't think she would have been able to kill two Akatsuki members in a row if that hadn't been the intention of her controller. He would have to remember to ask her about that tonight.

 

Neji stared off into the forest and activated his Byakugan. Sasuke waited impatiently for his findings.

 

Neji deactivated his Byakugan and turned back to the group. “She's long gone. I can't find a trace of her anywhere. I can't even tell what direction she went.”

 

“Damn!” Sasuke didn't like it when anyone got the best of him. He could still feel the adrenalin rushing through his veins. Every nerve on his body was tingling, anticipating the battle that was not to come.

 

Shikamaru sighed. “Can we go back to the village now?”

 

Sasuke ground his teeth, but nodded his assent. Neji and Shikamaru left. Kakashi soon followed, but not before he gave Sasuke a sly look. He hoped that all those years as his sensei had taught the boy something. If he was correctly interpreting the vibes between the two men, in Sasuke's current state there was no telling what could happen. He didn't discriminate; as long as it was something perverted, he was all for it.

 

The minutes passed in silence as Sasuke tried to calm his nerves and Naruto tried to ignore his feelings. But neither succeeded. Sasuke couldn't seem to calm down no matter how deeply he breathed and Naruto's knowledge of his feelings was still too new for him to put out of his mind.

 

Sasuke finally decided nothing short of a no-holds-barred fight would help. “Why did you let her get away? If I would have known that you couldn't finish her, I would have taken care of her myself!”

 

Naruto fell back on his old habit of fighting to keep others from guessing his feelings. “You think you could have beaten her? I doubt you could have beaten a lesser demon, much less one of the biju! You have the chakra of an infant compared to her! Not to mention that she has thousands of years more experience than you do!”

 

Sasuke growled and took a swing at him. Naruto let him land that hit, hoping the pain would lessen the effect of Sasuke's nearness.

 

Sparks flew through the air as kunai met and were deflected. The fight was raw. No chakra was used; it was strictly Taijutsu and weapons. Anyone watching would have been amazed at the skill the two showed. But the village was miles away and no one was around to see. The two fighters were alone. Even the animals had long since vacated the area.

 

Sasuke's nerves refused to be calmed no matter how long the fight progressed. Instead, they seemed to be growing more sensitive with each minute that passed. He felt hot, too hot even with all the exertion that he had been doing. He wanted something, but he had no idea what it was.

 

Naruto wasn't much better. He wasn't used to this feeling. He had never desired anyone, not really, unless you counted those times with Sasuke when he hadn't known what he was feeling. Now that he did, it was all he could think about. Which was probably why Sasuke was getting so many hits in.

 

Naruto pinned Sasuke against a tree. All he wanted to do was get away from Sasuke before he did something that he would regret. “Sasuke, let's just stop. This is getting boring.” This is anything but boring. I'm surprised lightning didn't strike me right there.

 

Sasuke growled, his Sharingan automatically activating in his anger. He pushed Naruto to the ground and straddled him with his hands holding Naruto's wrists beside his head.

 

Both of them froze.

 

Slowly, their eyes met. Both saw surprise and another emotion that neither had ever seen with such intensity on another's face.

 

Desire.

 

Naruto closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip. He had to fight this. There was no future in it. He could tear his hands out of Sasuke's grip right now and nothing would happen. He didn't need this complication in his life. But why did it feel so right?

 

Sasuke stared at the masked face, transfixed. He slowly raised Naru's hands above his head so that he could hold them down with his left hand. Then he reached for the bottom of the mask.

 

Naruto didn't stop him as he raised the mask, halting only when his lips were exposed. Naruto clinched his eyes tighter, still biting his lip. When Sasuke's fingers glided across his lips, he bit harder, drawing blood.

 

Sasuke's hold on his hands tightened. His free hand went behind Naruto's head and he slowly lowered his head until their lips met.

 

*********************************break*************************** ******

 

I don't really know all that much about the Akatsuki so don't kill me if I'm not 100 percent accurate (or even if I'm not 50 percent accurate). I just needed to get them all killed off that I wanted killed off so I could get on with the story. I hoped you liked the second part of this chapter. I'm not really good at battle scenes but I did my best. The only thing that gives me more trouble than battle scenes is sex scenes and the battle with Anko had a little bit of both. Well, maybe not actual SEX but definite sexual situations.

 

I don't think that I have to tell you that, although I'm aware of certain developments in the manga, most of those facts will not be true for this story. I have only read up to the beginning of Part II and, since I don't remember all the details, use Wikipedia for most of my character information. So, although Tobi is said to actually be the immortal Uchiha Madara, he will not be in my story. I'm going to interpret the immortality of Madara in another way. He is going to possess various members of the Uchiha clan and take control of their bodies in order to achieve his ends. I think that I'm going to have him want to destroy the world. (Mwahahahaha!)

 

Thank you to all reviewers.