Chapter 63

[Shikamaru Nara]

This was bad. Very bad.

They were fighting a losing battle. All of them, their combined efforts, their plans, all of them for nothing. The red chakra from the woman kept coming out of her, kept giving her strength to push through their containment attempts. At this point, she was still down due to Naruto adding more and more weight on her. At the pace they were going, he'd run out of paper and ink before she ran out of power.

Worse still, they were getting weaker and weaker as time went by, and that was without taking into account the chakra they were spending trying to keep that woman still. Shino had, indeed, come through with a plan to use his Kikaichu to drain the woman of her red chakra. The problem was that his bugs couldn't take too much of that chakra without dying.

Thus, the Aburame had come up with a plan to deal with that issue. Instead of sealing the chakra and keeping it in themselves, the bugs were transferring it through the group. The problem with that was that the chakra was still dangerous to them. They all could feel it burning their chakra coils, but it was the only option they had.

That woman had to stay where she was, at all costs.

There was no help coming their way, he knew. Shikamaru could hear the war going on around them and was suddenly reminded of the chat he'd had years ago with Eiji. He'd talked to him about what'd happen if a war ever started while they were Shinobi. To think it would come true so soon…

There was also nothing else they could do now. The Nara had thought about trying to kill the woman, but how? They couldn't get close because they could be affected by Naruto's seals, since the boy had been forced to make them in a more simple way, affecting the area around them instead of just one target. They could use long range techniques because whatever they had tried had failed to do enough damage to take her out or had too wide an area of effect that they were risking messing up the seals, which they couldn't afford to do.

"Ha! The cavalry's here!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice sounding somewhat strained. Shikamaru supposed it made sense, the boy was still making more seals as time passed.

The exclamation made the Nara turn his head a bit, his body still laying flat against the ground as his shadow bound the woman in that position. His jutsu might not have the strength to completely contain her, but he wasn't about to leave his friends by themselves. Besides, he needed a way to burn the chakra Shino's bugs were feeding his system. He didn't want to think what that energy would do to him if it remained inside him.

Immediately, Shikamaru caught sight of a bunch of spiders the size of a human being appearing from one side. He'd seen Eiji's gigantic summons appear, of course. Who couldn't, with how big they were? However, he hadn't thought he'd still have enough to send some their way. 'You are not playing even more of a sacrificial role here, are you, Eiji?' Shikamaru wondered anxiously.

Because he knew that the Satou had taken a damn big risk going by himself against someone stronger than the woman they were containing. That man had looked older than the woman, bigger too, stronger for sure. The Nara didn't want to think about it too much though, because everytime he did the chances of Eiji being alright were right in front of him and they didn't look good.

"The Contractor sent us here," One of the spiders announced then, before they all took some sort of stance. A moment later, a splash of liquid shot out from their mouths. Poison, if Shikamaru had to guess. He didn't have much information to go with, but Ino had already tried poisoning the woman and it hadn't done much. He supposed it still was better than nothing. Anything that helped them weaken her was good in his books.

If anything, the added 'people' seemed to enrage their target even more. Chakra starter pouring out in even greater quantity. Some of Shino's bugs got caught on that and fell to the ground, probably dead. The red cloud seemed to expand more and more, and Shikamaru realized after a moment that it was gathering in some sort of tail behind the woman.

He narrowed his eyes.

That couldn't be good… at all.

Then the woman moved. Her arms dragged themselves into a position where they could push her up. It didn't matter that she was under the effects of his Shadow Imitation jutsu. It didn't matter that she was under the effects of Ino's Mind Body Numbing technique. It didn't matter that Shino was draining her chakra. It didn't matter that Naruto had placed who knew how much weight on her.

She still pushed herself up. Slowly, but even didn't last long, she pulled herself into a standing position, her movements growing faster and less hindered with every second. Eventually, she stood in front of them all, her expression the picture of wrath.

Shikamaru gulped, readying himself to stand up and help his friends fight.

Sure enough, the woman twisted her body, the tail of red chakra behind her sweeping the ground and destroying all the seals.

They had failed.

Just when he was sure she would leap at them, intent in enacting her revenge upon them, a figure appeared in the scene. A wet sound echoed through the place and the woman was sent flying, leaving a man standing where she had once been. Their target then hit a wall, causing a small person-shaped hole to appear on it.

Shikamaru saw a huge gash appear on her chest, straight from one of shoulders to her hips on the other side. Blood flowed down her body but, disturbingly enough, she pushed herself off the wall, as if the mortal wound on her was nothing but a paper cut. She cracked her neck, and the Nara watched in dread as the wound seemed to close itself slowly.

"People have been calling me a demon for years..." The figure that had just appeared spoke. "Always wanted to see how I would do against an actual demon," The man said, as if he were having a casual conversation with the woman he'd almost cut in half. His gigantic weapon came down to rest against the ground on his side.

'So, Eiji's plan worked, huh?' Shikamaru thought, more than a little relieved by what had happened.

Zabuza Momochi had joined their fight it seemed.

"Naruto!" The Nara called out, snapping his friend out of his surprised state. "Start making those weight seals targeted," He told him, immediately getting a nod from the blonde. "Ino, Shino, keep it up," Both simply frowned as they continued their efforts.

And then, Shikamaru felt useless. Everyone had something to do, even the spiders continued spitting out poison towards the woman, who was now moving, as if the attacks she was receiving were nothing but a light breeze. Which, they might have been, actually, since the arachnids attempts barely got past the red chakra cloak.

"Brat," The Legendary Sword wielder called out and Shikamaru's back straightened. "Make sure nobody interrupts, my brats will help too," He told the Nara, before concentrating on his opponent, who dashed towards him and met the famous blade with suddenly long, very sharp nails.

He looked at the two battles for a long moment before snapping out of it and looking around. There was no one close to them, but the sounds of the invasion seemed to be closer. His eyes narrowed and he started planning. He had time. He could ensure that nobody would interrupt the fight or, at least, nobody that wasn't friendly.

"You," He snapped at the Genin that had joined his sensei, the blue-haired one that had been part of the Third Test with him and the one that had lost against Ino in the preliminaries. "What can you do? I need to know so that I can plan how to let your sensei fight without distractions."

Shikamaru was grateful that they just told him, instead of causing a fight.

As he strategized, his eyes moved towards where he could see the Lightning that signaled Eiji's presence and fight. With some luck, his other plans had worked too… hopefully.

[}-o-{]

[Kurotsuchi]

Her back hit one of the arena's inner walls and she was surprised that blood didn't come out of her mouth as she coughed.

She'd had the fight under control, her opponent had been almost easy. A few more minutes and the guy would have been trapped inside quicklime. That would have been it. Then, she would have been able to help out the Uchiha and rub it in his face that he'd needed help.

Instead, the white-haired boy in front of her had transformed into a creature with bone spikes. From there, the fight had spiraled out of her control. He'd gotten faster, stronger and, more importantly, his bone constructs had gotten much harder. Kurotsuchi's techniques didn't damage him anymore, apparently.

Now, the roles had reversed.

Worse still, she'd been watching the Uchiha's fight, because she would have reluctantly appreciated some help. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing much better himself. His hadn't gotten worse, at least, but it still didn't look like he would anytime soon, and that was concerning.

Turning back to her own opponent, Kurotsuchi cursed herself for getting distracted. He was rushing at her and was already almost there, his shield/lance arm raised and ready to skewer her. Before she, and more importantly her opponent, could react, something decided to interrupt their one on one. Not that she minded.

Stunned, the girl looked in front of her, where something had now replaced her enemy while the boy himself was sent to one side. There stood a spider the size of a human with blades on its front legs and lance-like tips on the rest of them. 'Does it have something to do with the gigantic spiders from before?' Kurotsuchi wondered.

"Thanks for the save," She heard the Uchiha tell a spider that had helped him too. Looking around, the Iwa nin realized that there were much more than a few spiders around the arena now. "Remind me to thank Eiji later."

'Eiji Satou,' Kurotsuchi realized. 'He is behind this then?' Her eyes widened then. 'He was behind those huge spiders too? Just… how far ahead of me is he?'

She couldn't stop that last thought from forming. After all, if he could summon things like these… Her eyes moved back to the spider that had helped her, which decided to engage the bone user once more. It seemed to hold its ground much better than Kurotsuchi herself…

The girl frowned.

No, she wouldn't be left behind. More importantly, she wouldn't be saved like some… princess. If she didn't know better, she would have thought Satou had planned all these to tease her some more.

Bristling, she readied herself to join the fight once more. She was far from done, that was for sure. Just before she jumped back into the fight, however, something else happened.

Two somethings, actually.

One was that the woman the Uchiha had been fighting had someone else joining in on their battle. This time she recognized it instantly. It was the puppet the Suna nin had used during the Third Test. The other thing that happened was that Kurotsuchi's opponent was hit by a blast of wind that smacked him against a wall, not unlike how the Iwa nin herself had been just a moment ago.

'What are they doing here?' She thought, wondering if this was how war was all the time. Her grandfather had often told her that a war battle was often unpredictable, but this was just insane.

Still, much better than how things were a minute before, that was for sure.

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

[Cursed Seal: Second Stage has gone up a level.]

In other circumstances, I would have been happy. At that moment, however, that screen felt like a death sentence. Not because it meant anything bad by itself, really, but because I had run out of chakra. Thus, I had to deactivate the Cursed Seal, both stages of the Cursed Seal, in fact.

Without the first stage's Cursed Chakra and the second's increased stats… I was done. No more Sacred Flock to pelt Killer B's Bijuu cloak. No more Flicker spamming to attack and dodge. No more Living Thread to cover myself with Nuibari's wire.

My chakra had run out.

There was little I could do anymore.

As I stood there, in front of the glowing red shape of the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki, I knew the fight was over. My body returned to normal and I gazed at the man, who now just stood there, looking in no hurry to finish me over. I remembered what I had written about him. There hadn't been much complimentary really, I hadn't been much of a fan of him, it seemed, what with his silly rap schtick. That had been the most important thing I had noted down besides his Bijuu and his prowess with it.

I had learned about a different man while in this world. In the Academy, I had studied how he had earned the respect of the Fourth Hokage himself, how that had given him the title of "Killer B". We had been told many things about the Hero of the Cloud, indeed. Enough to respect him, just like our late leader had, and enough to fear him, for the power he wielded.

Now, having faced him, having 'fought' him, if it could even be called that. I didn't think or know I had to respect and fear this man. I respected and feared him, period. It sounded the same, yes, but it was so different it wasn't even funny.

"Young man, you fought well," Killer B said as he walked towards me. Meanwhile, I stood there. What chance did I have to escape or fight now? No chakra points left and no energy points left. If I had barely held on with everything I could use activated, what could I do now that I barely had anything? "This is a fight I shall never undersell."

I snorted weakly and looked up at the sky. I was almost disappointed that I was dying on a sunny day. Was it too much to ask for it to be like with Jiraiya in the series? With rain all over as if the world itself mourned me? Maybe it was. Pretentions too, I guessed.

"With that said, any last words?" He asked then, with only one sword raised. He was far, was he going to throw it at me? Was that how I was going to go? "I shall remember your birds."

I smiled as the sword flew towards me.

'Inventory,' I thought, and the sword disappeared right in front of me. Killer B's eyes were hidden from me by his glasses, but by the way he paused, I was sure he was blinking in confusion.

"How did you do that?" He asked then, sounding more curious than anything else. "You never use it in combat."

Of course I hadn't. The opportunity had never appeared for that to play its part. The Jinchuriki had never let go of the swords, despite his weird style. I had expected him to, but, evidently, I had been wrong.

It wasn't much. Maybe it was even just a petty attempt. However, I was somewhat happy that I would take one of his swords with me. Although, I didn't know what would happen with my inventory once I died… Still, it was worth trying.

As I looked at Killer B, he pulled another sword, and this time looked intent on just dashing towards me. This time there was no escaping, I was sure. He charged, the blade moved horizontally, intent on beheading me.

Nuibari met the blade, because I refused to just stand there, even if I knew fighting him was a fool's errand at this point. Twisting the sword, I tried to stab him, scratch him, something. Instead, the legendary sword was parried by his hand guard.

[Nuibari Mastery has gone up a level.]

'It's like you are mocking me, Game,' I thought with an internal grimace.

I let out a resigned sigh, staring straight at his obscured eyes. He pulled both of his arms back and besides his body, his sword still pointing towards me. His chakra cloak was touching me, I noticed. It felt like a slight burn, uncomfortable, but overall irrelevant compared to what was going on. With another sigh, I stabbed Nuibari on the ground and let go of its wire.

When he lashed out again, I parried with the tanto that I took from inside my inventory and twisted it again. This time, I seemed to actually catch him off guard because I managed to make a deep cut on his right arm. The chakra cloak around him immediately started to heal him though and soon, that little wound would be nothing but a memory.

"I'm not done," I told him with a grimm smile. "I still have some fight left in me."

"That's good."

That last part was said by someone that was neither me nor Killer B. The sound of it would have unnerved me some time ago. Now though, it made my smile turn slightly relieved. I considered that maybe I was making the wrong assumption, yes, but I could hope.

My hope, as it turned out, was well placed.

When the Jinchuriki in front of me turned to regard the new voice, he was immediately hit by a wall of sand that sent him towards a wall far on my side. That was all the proof I needed, my shoulders slumped and took a deep breath in, for once being able to relax since the first explosion. Turning slightly, I saw the red-haired boy standing some distance away with his arms crossed.

"You can't be my friend if you are dead, Eiji Satou," The Suna nin told me and I chuckled wearily. Those were definitely not the words I had expected to hear from the boy, at least not just yet. Yes, I had sent that message to Temari through Shikamaru but… I hadn't expected him to actually help us. It was more of a bet, really.

Evidently, I should bet more.

"Sorry about that," I chuckled, turning to look towards Killer B, who was currently buried in sand. Powerful as he was, Gaara stood no chance against him and I was out of chakra so…

I froze.

[Chakra Points: 1328/920]

[Chakra Points: 1336/920]

[Chakra Points: 1344/920]

'What the fuck is going on?!' I screamed in my mind as I looked at the screen in front of me in disbelief.

[New Skill Acquired: Tailed Beast Chakra Resistance Lvl 1]

'Let's worry about this latter,' I thought, trying to push my concerns regarding that last skill for later. So what if the Hachibi's chakra was affecting me after coming into contact with it? I had greater concerns at the moment.

Like fighting the Hachibi's container, for one.

Cracking my neck, I reactivated the Cursed Seal. My chakra immediately started going down again, but much slower than it would normally do so with the Seal. Evidently, whatever the Tailed Beast Chakra was doing to me, it was also boosting my energy reserves. Shame that it didn't do the same for my Energy Points.

But, with the Seal came back the Cursed Chakra and that meant that the birds would fly again.

'Sacred Flock,' I activated mentally just as Killer B broke free from the sand in a huge explosion. My eyes grew wide as I saw another tail in his cloak. 'Four tails… We can't win this fight if he keeps adding more… Everyone, hurry up...'

That thought gave me pause though. Why wasn't Killer B just going all out on us already? Why not use the eight-tailed cloak? Was there something I was unaware of? A drawback to using that? However, he was also much less annoying than I remembered him being…

Was something going on here?

'Doesn't matter,' I thought, pushing all the questions aside. What mattered was that I had to face him, that was all. I could worry about motives and reasons and what not after my village and my friends were safe.

I snapped out of it just as my lightning birds hit the man, followed a second later by another sand tomb. Neither attack would do much though, I knew that. Now that Gaara was here though and, more importantly, now that my chakra was regenerating like crazy…

I deactivated the second stage of the Mark.

"What are you doing?" Gaara demanded to know, a snarl forming on his face. "Giving up already?"

[Tailed Beast Chakra Resistance has gone up a level.]

"No," I replied with an anxious smile. I hoped this would work. Otherwise, this could be a very, very bad idea. My hands started running through hand seals.

I knew Genjutsu didn't work very well with Jinchuriki that were in tune with their Bijuu. That was because the demons would help disrupt the techniques for the containers. However, Wit's End was anti-dissipation… So…

Would it work?

It wasn't like I had many options, that much was true. However, if this backfired, then I could very well have a rampaging Jinchuriki, or worse a Bijuu, on Konoha. We couldn't win this fight though, so…

"Keep him contained!" I told Gaara, feeling like I was going in slow motion instead of as fast as I knew I was going. It took mere seconds for me to make all the hand seals, I knew. However, so much hung on this, so much could be ruined if Killer B escaped and interrupted me, or if this didn't work, or if we were defeated...

'Time for another bet,' I thought, finally getting to the last seal.

The Jinchuriki, who had been pushing through Gaara's sand, suddenly went still. The sea of diminutive stones gathered around him and formed a tight sphere, not unlike the Suna nin's protective technique. For a tense moment, I expected all hell to break loose.

Instead, there were only the distant explosions of the invasion. 'Are there less of those?' I wondered then, as I heard them, my eyes locked on where Killer B was hidden from sight. 'Is everyone ok?' My mind asked then, desperately.

'Everyone better be alright,' I thought to myself with a scowl. 'Or I'll learn the Impure World Resurrection or whatever the fuck that Jutsu is called so that I can kill them again.'

"Thanks for coming, by the way," I told Gaara when a moment passed and our opponent didn't break out like a massive beast coming straight from my nightmares. "I'll be honest, I didn't know if you would."

"Just be sure to keep your end of the deal," He told me, which would have been much more intimidating if what he was talking about wasn't friendship. Instead, it was almost adorable.

[Yin Release: Wit's End has gone up a level.]

"Sure," I told him wearily. "I'll invite you over for dinner and everything. Your siblings can come too," I continued, taking deep breaths. "I'll invite my friends. I think you'll like them… at least some of them…."

I amused myself with the thought of how everyone would react if Gaara showed up at our house to hang out. Now that would be a sight to behold. I was fine with that though. It would be almost like Naruto all over again, but much more edgy… Actually it might be like having a mix between Naruto and Sasuke… which was even funnier, not gonna lie.

[Tailed Beast Chakra Resistance has gone up a level.]

I didn't know what that was about, really. The Tailed Beast Chakra thing didn't seem to be doing much, really… I didn't feel any different really. Maybe a little tired but… that was normal, wasn't it?... I had been fighting for a while, after all…

That also explained why my vision was swaying a little.

It was fine though. Killer B was contained, Gaara had accepted my friendship and was helping. Temari and Kankuro were probably somewhere helping too, if I had to bet.

Everything was going great.

[Tailed Beast Chakra Resistance has gone up a level.]