Chapter 33: Might makes Right Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

"Hmm…."- Bijuu

Chapter 33:

Might makes Right Part II

Another huge explosion rocked the entire palace. But unlike the last two, this one wasn't caused by one of the Jashin members. Oh, no. They had only separated into two teams originally, after all. This third explosion was caused by none other than Sasori himself as he unveiled his next two puppets: the Mother and the Father. They were a personal favorite of his that he had created himself. But that didn't matter at the moment. The explosion had been large enough to take an entire chunk off the palace, leaving the area that he and Naruto were in bare and exposed to the now night sky. Behind him was Kuroari, another one of his creations. Unlike the Father and Mother, however, Kuroari wasn't for combat. It was mainly just to subdue his opponents. For the moment, though, it served as the best place to keep the fire daimyo safe in. That was why he needed to watch out for his opponent in case he went for the puppet.

Hidan was laughing as he emerged from the smoke, his priest robes tattered. But otherwise he was unharmed. Seeing this, Sasori frowned. He had set off a significant amount of exploding tags back there. It would take someone with considerable skills and speed to come out of that unharmed. And Sasori was certain that he had set them off before his opponent had the time to dodge.

'Hmm…how strange…..'

Naruto, though, whistled in amazement as he watched the aftermath of the explosion. The blond had forgotten how deadly puppets could be if used in the hands of a master. And despite his young appearance, Sasori did appear to be well versed in using them. At least, that was how it seemed to the blond.

"It looks like you managed to get the others!"

Sasori nodded ever so slightly. "Yes. But the main problem still remains. I was curious to see who was leading them. And it looks like it has to be him."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement as Hidan pointed his scythe at them.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed with more laughter. "I've been looking for someone to give me a proper offering to Jashin-sama! And it looks like you guys are it!"

Naruto sighed before he glanced at Sasori. "Back me up, will you?"

Seeing the teen nod, Naruto rushed at the still laughing Hidan, bringing his bo staff forward. Behind him, the Father and the Mother flew towards Hidan as well, ready to provide him with any support if need be.

The laughing Hidan intercepted Naruto's bo staff with his scythe, crackling some more. The Uzumaki t'ched before he made a leap over Hidan just as the Father and Mother rushed at him. Seeing this, Hidan stopped laughing as he was forced to go on the defensive as the puppet duo brought out a vast arrange of weapons with them.

Landing off to the side, Naruto admired Sasori's technique as the redhead's hands seemed to be moving at light speed. He had to admit that it looked cool.

"Oi, this is no time to be admiring someone else's jutsu!" Kurama raged in. "You were the lead, remember?"

'You don't have to tell me that twice!'

Hidan began to laugh some more as he continued to dodge the barrage of attacks that the puppets were throwing at him. "That's it! Show me some more!"

His laughter stopped as Naruto came in from behind with his bo staff in hand. The blond send his wind chakra to the staff, amplifying the attack that was about to hit his opponent.

Hidan grunted in pain as the blond sent a powerful slash to his back. This gave Sasori the opening he was looking for. The redhead sent in both of his puppets, which were now both armed with katanas, to the man, stabbing him right through his gut. This resulted in blood gushing out from Hidan's mouth.

Seeing this, Sasori relaxed for a moment, thinking that they had managed to end this before anything worse happened. The same thing was running through Naruto's head before Hidan's laughter reached their ears again.

Despite blood gushing out of his mouth, Hidan laughed as he looked at the two puppets before him. "Yes! Now this is the battle that I was hoping to get! You really will be excellent sacrifices for Jashin-sama!"

Narrowing his eyes, Sasori was about to cover the man with more exploding tags before Hidan brought his scythe towards the puppets. Seeing this, Sasori pulled his arm back in order to get them out of the man's reach. But it wasn't fast enough as Hidan managed to slice one of the Father's arm off before it could get out of range safely.

Twisting around, Hidan once more clashed weapons with Naruto who gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"What do you say, brat?" Hidan said with a smile that just screamed madness. "Do you want to be the first to go?"

'Looks like this guy is no joke,' Naruto thought with narrowed eyes. 'Looks like I'm going to have to unveil more jutsu than I first thought.'

Thinking that he would get a positive answer, Hidan wasn't prepared for the lighting that suddenly exploded from Naruto's bo staff and onto him. He screamed in pain as the lighting coursed through his body.

"You BRAT!"

Naruto's eyes widened as, despite the lightning that should have paralyzed him, Hidan still managed to send a powerful kick to his gut. Not having been expecting this, the blow landed which sent the Uzumaki flying a few feet back. But fortunately, Naruto was able to recover from the shock and landed on his feet instead of his back. But that kick had still hurt.

Sasori was looking at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, though, as both the Father and the Mother stood in front of him. 'So he's able to use two elements already? It's not everyday that you see a genin accomplishing such a thing.' Sasori had already taken notice of how Naruto had sent wind chakra to his staff with his first attack. So he had to give praise to the Uzu genin. Although he still had a few other observations that had been troubling him ever since the blond had walked into the waiting room before all of this mess had gone down. But that was for a later time. Right now, they needed to secure the daimyo. That took priority. Especially since the Kazekage had wanted him to be at this meeting as a show of good faith to the daimyo. So it all worked out really.

For the first time so far, Hidan looked aggravated as he looked at Naruto. "All right. I've decided." Pointing his scythe at Naruto, he declared, "You're going to be my first sacrifice, brat. Even though you don't deserve it. You should feel honored by this, though. I will only get to do it for the first time once my whole infinite life. You will always go down in my memory!"

Naruto shuddered. That was something that Orochimaru would say.

Kokuo sighed in his mind. "Really. You should be serious about this right now."

"I agree," Matatabi added.

Naruto sighed. But he was serious. It was still creepy, though. But now he needed to be aware of something: this crazy guy was still standing despite the fact that Sasori had stabbed him through some vital organs before. The guy looked to be fine already. In fact, Naruto couldn't even see the injury anymore. Only the blood remained.

'Is he another jinchuriki or what?'

"He's not," Kurama answered. "We would have sensed it if he was by now."

It was something else that Sasori was thinking about as he brought his hands forward again.

Sensing this, Hidan turned around just in time to catch the two puppets flying towards him again. Grinning, he brought his triple bladed scythe forward before it suddenly shot out towards the incoming puppets.

Sasori narrowed his eyes at seeing this before he maneuvered the puppets out of the way. It was something that made Hidan grin some more. Sasori understood why a moment later as the scythe continuing shooting towards him.

'So that's what he's after!'

Taking a step back, the redhead was about to jump out of the way until Naruto suddenly appeared before him with his bo staff in hand, blocking the scythe once more.

On the other side, Hidan frowned at this. And here he had thought that he was finally going to see some blood from his opponents. What a letdown.

Sasori, though, was staring at Naruto's back with wide yes. 'He's fast! This is no speed that a genin should have!' Hell, even he had barely been able to catch sight of the Uzumaki before he was suddenly in front of him. It was amazing all right.

'Good. I made it in time,' Naruto thought as Hidan retracted his scythe back to himself.

"Just what do you guys want with the feudal lord anyway?" Naruto asked as he pointed his bo staff at Hidan.

Hidan shook his head. "It's because he's a heretic! Just like this entire damn city and country! He deserves to be punished for his sins against Jashin-sama along with the rest of his other guests! The only way that they can be cleansed is by becoming one of my precious sacrifices to my great Lord! That goes for you two too," Hidan said as he pointed his scythe at Naruto and Sasori. "You're protecting the heretic, which makes you guys heretics as well. But don't worry. Once I've presented you as sacrifices, I'm sure you'll be forgiven!"

If Naruto had been hoping to get some answers from this guy, then he was proven wrong. The whiskered blond held his head with his freed hand, wondering just where the hell that answer had come from.

Sasori was thinking along the same lines as well. But even if the guy was insane, he was strong. So he posed a threat that they couldn't very well allow to go free.

"Katon: Zukokku!"

Both Naruto and Sasori turned their head to the sky just in time to see a weird black creature shoot out a small fireball towards Hidan. Said man looked up just as the fireball touched the ground in front of him, erupting into a giant fire storm that began to spread all around him. Both Naruto and Sasori took to the air just as the flames began to expand towards their position, Sasori's puppets following behind them.

The pair landed a safe distance away from the ranging flames. Debris from what had once been a part of the daimyo's palace were scattered around them. They were on high alert as well, knowing that they now had more visitors on their hands.

"So you guys are the ones with the daimyo correct?"

Naruto and Sasori looked towards the flames to see another redhead, this one a woman, suddenly walking towards them. Stopping a few distance away from them, she placed a hand on her hips as she observed them carefully. Sasori knew in an instant that this woman was dangerous.

Fuka, though, blinked as she caught sight of Naruto, losing the dangerous aura that she had had when she had first appeared.

'Are those…whiskers?' she thought, looking at Naruto's face closely. This made said blond uncomfortable, silently wondering why this woman was so interested in looking at him.

'And he's blond too…..'

Taking notice of his headband, Fuka t'ched to herself in irritation, realizing that she had landed herself in a jam. But this only made her have more questions than before.

Naruto didn't have much time to dwell on the woman's strange behavior as the thing from before came rushing at them from the air. Taking a closer look at it, Naruto realized that the only noticeable feature was the red mask that probably acted as its face. It looked familiar too. But seeing its mouth open, the blond realized what was going to happen.

It was something that Sasori also took notice of as he instantly jumped back in order to dodge the incoming attack.

Naruto dashed to the side just as it fired another fireball, this time at them. Knowing that it was the same technique, Naruto made for the other side of the palace that was also already in ruins. As for Sasori, the redhead quickly ran back towards the palace, his puppets flying behind him. Or where it now began anyway.

Fuka kept her eyes on Naruto as the blond managed to get away safely from the attack.

"What are you doing?"

Fuka didn't need to turn her head to know that Kakuzu had landed next to her.

"It seems like we have complications," was Fuka's answer before she titled her head towards where the palace was. "The one that has the daimyo took off that way. I'll deal with the troublemaker here to make sure that he doesn't cause us any problems."

Grunting in agreement, Kakuzu quickly rushed towards the palace, not minding the raging flames one bit.

"Naruto. That thing. Wasn't it-"

'Yeah, I know,' Naruto said, cutting Kurama off before he could finish. 'I wasn't able to recognize it at first, but that thing reminded me a lot of that Akatsuki guy's jutsu. But what is he doing here of all places?'

"It seems to me like there are a bunch of plots taking place here tonight," Gyuki stated. "In any case, you should be on your guard. That woman from before stayed behind."

'Yeah, I know,' Naruto said back. 'She looks familiar too…..'

Not dwelling on it, Naruto turned his attention to the redheaded woman who was walking towards him.

"Hey, what's your name, boy?" she asked as she stopped in front of him, one of her hands on her hips again.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her irritated voice. "And of what importance is that to you?"

Fuka brought her hand up to her face, feeling a headache coming. "Because you might be the one that I was told to look for," she answered. But if that was the case, then karma really was a bitch.

Naruto simply looked even more confused than before. That didn't make any damn sense! Nobody of this time should know of him other than his family back in Uzu. Oh, and well the teme too. But-

'…you guys don't think that the teme sent her, do you?'

"….this looks like a trap to me," Kurama said, not knowing what to make of this either.

"There's no harm in telling her your name, though," Isobu added.

The bijuu did have a point. Shrugging, Naruto was about to say his name until screaming reached both of their ears. Looking towards the flames that Kakuzu had first launched, Naruto and Fuka saw a figure emerging from them. Realization hit Naruto like a ton of bricks.

'Don't tell me that he survived that too!?'

And true to Naruto's fears, a pissed off Hidan walked out of the flames like it was a walk in the park. His uniform was even more messed up than before, though.

"You bitch!" he roared as he looked at a surprised Fuka. "Something like that can't kill me, but it still hurts like hell, you know!"

"And here I thought that we wouldn't be seeing this guy anymore," Saiken said with a sigh. It was tough to get the bijuu in the dumps. But Hidan really rubbed him the wrong way.

"How did you survive that!?" Fuka asked. Any person should have been killed by that attack. Or at the very least be injured. But this guy was neither!

Hidan grinned. "An attack that weak won't work on me, you dumbass! But you did interrupt my fun. I guess that means you're with this other idiot over here."

Naruto h'mphed before he looked at Fuka. "Oi, you." Catching her attention, Naruto continued, "Just let me ask you this: did Sasuke send you?"

Fuka's eyes widened before she nodded. He had just confirmed for her that he was indeed Uzumaki Naruto.

And she had just confirmed for Naruto that he no longer needed to hold back.

Taking a few steps forward, Naruto created a handseal, an entire horde of shadow clones popping into existence behind him.

"Then I'm the guy that you're looking for," Naruto stated as he stopped next to her, looking at Hidan with a serious look. "But unfortunately, we'll have to talk later as we have someone interfering with us at the moment."

Nodding, Fuka turned her attention to Hidan as well. She would soon get a lot of answers. But first came this guy.

Hidan laughed as he pointed his scythe at them.

"Bring it on! I shall enjoy making you guys my sacrifices!"

Aika knew that they were in trouble when the final chunnin dropped dead on the ground behind her, having been pierced just like the other two before him. Haru landed next to her a moment later, the council member standing behind them with a worried look on his face. At the very least, they had been able to make it out towards the courtyard.

The two Jashin members that had been following them this whole time stood before them, the one on the right retracting his scythe from the chunnin's corpse.

"It's about time that you stopped with your pointless running," the other one said with a smile. This one was a woman. "You need to pay to Jashin-sama for all of your sins that you've committed here tonight."

'It looks like these guys are nuts,' Aika thought. But she shouldn't have expected anything else really. They were the ones that attacked the leader of the most powerful nation in the Elemental Nations, after all. But they couldn't afford to waste any time here either. They needed to regroup with Naruto and Kaito and see what their next course of action would be. These guys in front of them weren't going to make that easy, though. That was for sure.

Haru was thinking the exact same thing as he brought his bow out again, prepared to attack whenever possible.

Aika noticed this before glancing towards the council member. He would be useless in a fight all right. The girl didn't know if he was a shinobi in the past or not, but he was too old to put up a good fight against these guys. They were close range fighters, after all. But that made Haru their worst possible opponent.

It was something that Haru already knew as he prepared to fire one of his arrows.

Having grown tired with the standoff, though, the two Jashin members charged towards Aika and Haru, the woman heading towards Aika while the man for Haru.

Haru instantly jumped back as he fired his first arrow towards his opponent, said arrow already coated with lightning. Aika, though, charged forward towards the female Jashin member, bringing out one of her kunai just as she clashed with the older woman. As for the council member, he had the brains to take off running out of the courtyard and into the palace once more, intent on finding some guards at least so that they could come and help the two genin.

Aika gritted her teeth as her opponent pushed her back before she charged towards the girl again, this time coming in with a fast paced barrage of strikes from her scythe.

Aika worked her eyes and senses to the bone as she dodged each strike by a margin. This woman was fast, and she had great skills with her weapon. Aika couldn't deny those facts. But the girl got too caught up with trying to figure out her opponent's attack pattern that she wasn't able to catch the incoming knee towards her stomach in time. The girl lurched forward in pain as the air was pushed out of her lungs.

Seeing her opportunity, the Jashin member smirked before she brought her scythe towards Aika's head, intent on making the girl a sacrifice for her Lord Jashin. At least, that had been her plan until gold glowing chains shot out of Aika's body and towards her. With wide eyes, the Jashin member wasn't able to react fast enough as one of the chains managed to pierce her side before she was able to jump out of the way.

Landing a few feet away from the girl, the woman held her side as she felt the blood that was already coming out of her wound.

Aika panted slightly as she recalled her chains back into her. She knew that if it hadn't been for the chains, that she would probably be dead by now. It wasn't really a pretty thought.

The woman let out a t'ch as she said, "So it looks like you have some skills, after all. Too bad you're wasting them with these heretics rather than putting them to good use for Jashin-sama."

"I've never heard of this Jashin of yours," Aika retorted. "But I am not scared of him. That goes double for you. I'm not dying here today. So why don't we cut this pointless chatter and get down to business, okay?"

The woman gritted her teeth in anger before she rushed at Aika with a scream, her scything already in front of her. "Pay for your sins, you heretic!"

This didn't faze Aika in the slightest as she ducked down just as the woman sent a strike at her with her scythe. Seeing an opportunity, Aika instantly kicked the scythe out of the woman's hands and into the air. The female Jashin member's eyes widened in surprise before Aika sent another kick towards the woman's stomach, repaying her for the earlier blow. The woman was sent flying back, landing on the ground on her back.

But before she could move another muscle, Aika's chains shot out of the ground around the woman before they instantly wrapped themselves around the woman as tightly as possible. This caused the Jashin member to let out a loud shriek in pain.

Aika sighed in relief at having defeating her opponent. "You shouldn't let your anger get the best of you," she said to the downed woman, recalling the words that Kaito had told her. "Because if you do, then you'll lose sight of everything, making you even more vulnerable. That is why you lost."

The woman let out a string of curses as she struggled even more to get freed from the chains. But it was no use.

Aika smirked before she remembered that she wasn't the only one fighting as she turned her attention to Haru and his fight.

Said boy was in the middle of running across the courtyard as he fired more arrows at his opponent who simply blocked them with his own scythe.

"Is this all you got, boy!?" he screamed out as he laughed. "You aren't even worthy to become a sacrifice for Jashin-sama!"

Haru didn't reply. Instead, he simply reloaded his bow as he fired a triple shot towards the Jashin member who blocked them with his scythe again.

Losing his patience, the Jashin member extended his scythe, shooting it out towards the still running boy. Seeing this, Haru managed to duck just in time as the scythe flew past over him. But this gave the Jashin member the opportunity that he was looking for as he jumped up into the air, retracting his scythe back to him as he shot down towards Haru. Said genin looked up to see the incoming man before quickly loading another shot and firing it. But it was blocked yet again by the man's scythe.

"DIE, BOY!"

Haru gritted his teeth as he rolled out of the way of the incoming Jashin member, escaping certain death as the man's scythe scraped the spot that he had just been in.

The Jashin member sighed in irritation as Haru stood back up again. "Stop moving already, you brat! Just accept your fate already! I'm already being kind enough to you by allowing you to be a sacrifice! You should be thanking my generosity. You're nothing more than that, you worthless brat."

Haru gripped his bow tighter in anger. He couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that this man had a point. He wasn't able to do anything against him except for dodging and running. Was that really all his worth? He didn't want to drag the others down with him. Because at this point, Haru was sure that that was the only thing that could happen. Both Naruto and Aika would move on without him. And he would be unable to do anything to stop it. Unable to stand by their side and protect them if need be. It was a painful thought really.

"So you want the power to protect your friends, correct?"

Haru's eyes widened as the voice reached him. But it wasn't coming from the real world. Instead, it was coming from somewhere within him. But how did that make any sense?

"Don't worry, Haru. I've been watching you this whole time. You've grown to be a strong warrior with an admirable heart. It is something that I have come to respect and recognize. That is why I will offer you my aid in this battle."

Haru turned his attention to his bow as it began to glow again with that mysterious aura, just like the time when he had fought against that puppeteer in that strange temple all those years ago.

The Jashin member narrowed his eyes when he saw this. 'What is he up to now?'

On instinct, Haru reached for another arrow before he prepared to fire it as he pointed his glowing bow towards the Jashin member.

Said man t'sked as he shook his head. "Really now. Haven't we already established the fact that it's pointless? Your meager arrows are nothing compared to the might that Jashin-sama has provided me with in order to take you down here tonight!"

But Haru didn't pay any attention to the man as he focused his chakra on his next and final shot.

"That's it, Haru. Push all of your power into this next shot. I will take all of it."

Doing just that, Haru fired without any hesitation. But to his surprise as well as the Jashin member's, the shot wasn't like the ones before. Instead, it looked as if a powerful canon had just fired a large lighting shot.

The Jashin member was too amazed to move as the powerful lighting shot hit through him like he was nothing, going as far as to the palace walls behind him. Haru shielded his eyes from the giant explosion that took place a moment later. Feeling his strength decreasing, the boy fell to his knees, panting just as the bow stopped glowing.

"This is just the beginning."

On the other side of the courtyard, Aika watched this with wide eyes before she grinned. Now that how her teammate took care of trash all right.

A few moments later, the council member arrived with the guards that he had been looking for. But it no longer mattered. Aika and Haru had taken care of the problem on their own.

Kaito was ducking left and right as his opponent attacked him with incredible speed. Given the man's old age, Kaito had certainly not been expecting this.

On the other side of the room, Orochimaru was having a similar problem as he too dodged left and right from the attacks the Jashin member in front of him was throwing.

"Sen'eijashu!"

The Jashin member gritted his teeth in frustration a horde of snakes suddenly appeared before him. They were fast and nimble, which made cutting them down difficult. He wasn't able to succeed as they wrap themselves around him tightly.

"It seems like you have information that we need," Orochimaru stated as he looked at his new prisoner.

"Go to hell, you heretic!" the Jashin member exclaimed as he struggled to get freed. There was just no way that he could be stopped here. He needed to prove himself worthy of Jashin-sama's blessing!

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes before he chuckled. "There is nothing more that you can do. So I suggest that you sit tight until I've found you a proper prison cell."

The Jashin member h'mphed before he moved his hand that was still holding his scythe.

Orochimaru's eyes widened for a moment as the weapon came flying right for him. Dashing to the side, Orochimaru lost his focus over his jutsu which gave the Jashin member the opportunity to free himself before going in for the counterstrike.

Seeing this, Orochimaru smirked before taking out another kunai as the Jashin member rushed at him. Bringing his other hand in front of him, Orochimaru blew a torrent of fire towards the Jashin member who stopped in his tracks just as the flames began to move towards him. Realizing what was happening, he was about to jump into the air in order to evade.

But Orochimaru didn't give him that chance as he charged through the flames, which in reality weren't there. It was just genjutsu that he had used to trapped the man with. But it had paid off as he caught the Jashin member completely off guard. He wasn't able to react in time as Orochimaru was suddenly in front of him, kunai in hand which he used to stabbed the Jashin member straight through the heart.

Orochimaru chuckled at seeing the wide eyes of the Jashin member. "I did give you the chance to come out of this with your life intact. Too bad that you didn't take it. I'm not generous twice. So now, rot on the earth like the worm you are."

The Jashin member wasn't able to respond as Orochimaru pulled his kunai from the man's body. He fell to the ground on his back, no longer being able to stand. He looked up towards the ceiling before he was no longer able to remain in the land of the living.

Orochimaru smirked before he turned his attention to Kaito who was in the middle of wrapping up his own battle as well.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!"

The old devoted Jashin member cursed as he collided with the water wall that Kaito had just created. He hadn't been able to stop fast enough after he had rushed for Kaito again.

Kaito for his part smirked as he caught on with his opponent's weakness. He was fast on his feet and well versed on close range combat. But that didn't mean that he knew how to fight against a long-range opponent. And while Kaito also excelled much better with close range, he wasn't shy to drag this fight to long range all right.

It was something that the Jashin member wasn't able to counter against as Kaito ran through another series of seals as he continued to keep his water wall up. Sprinting forward, Kaito finished the remaining of his seals.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu!"

The Jashin member's eyes widened in shock as, just as the water wall disappeared, the water dragon took its place as it engulfed him in an instant. He could only scream in pain as the attack hit him dead on before he flew back into the wall and onto the other room.

But Kaito didn't need to follow him as the old man was already down for the count. Not dead, just unconscious.

It was something that Orochimaru picked up on as he walked to stand next to the Uzu jonin. "You Uzumaki are always so soft with your opponents," he commented as Kaito looked at him without saying anything. "You should kill him now before he has a chance to be an even bigger hassle than before."

Kaito shook his head. "He's already been defeated. There's no more reason to do anything to him. As for calling us soft…."

Orochimaru took an involuntary step back as the air around Kaito shifted.

"If you threaten our family, then trust me. We will show you no mercy."

Orochimaru's shock died down a few seconds later, only to be replaced by amusement as he grinned. 'We'll see soon about that, won't we?'

But he didn't say anything else as even more guards filed into the room, intent on making sure the area was clear before they went off and continued with their search for their missing leader.

Kaito, though, looked into the direction where Aika and Haru had gone off to, silently praying for their safety as well as for Naruto's. He would have to scold the blond later as well. What had he been thinking, going all alone by himself. It was too dangerous for that.

But for now, he would have to find his team.

Orochimaru merely watched him go with another smirk.

Sasori knew that he was in a jam as he continued to be chased by this new individual. Things had been troublesome before. But now they were just plain annoying. He had not been expecting this for when he agreed to accept this mission to be the bodyguard for one of Suna's important merchants that had been invited to this party. This was why he considered being a shinobi to be troublesome. Not only that, but he needed to find Naruto again. Even with all the skills that he had shown, he was still a genin. And Sasori didn't want for the boy to die here tonight just because of some terrorists' actions.

Kakuzu grunted in annoyance as he continued to run behind the red haired boy through the hallways of the palace. He had already recalled his fire mask back into him as a way to save some time as he carried on with the chase. But he had to admit that this boy was fast, even with his puppets. That only made him even more annoyed since it would be that much harder to capture him.

Sasori didn't care, though, as he finally found the break he was looking for as he ran out into one of the many courtyards in the palace. Seizing this opportunity, he instantly jumped up into the rooftop, intent on going back to where Naruto was.

Seeing this, Kakuzu acted fast as he spawned out two of his mask creatures this time, one for fire and the other for wind.

Just as Sasori got up to the rooftop, he was forced to jump back down as a fireball, enhanced by wind, was fired at him from below. Landing back on the courtyard, Sasori narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kakuzu with his two mask creatures at his side.

"You have something that I need, boy," Kakuzu stated as he looked at Kuroari. "If you give me the feudal lord right now, I wouldn't mind letting you go. I have nothing to gain from killing you." As in, money wise.

While Sasori did find ninja missions to be a drag, he still had his honor. He had pretty much guaranteed Naruto that he would keep up his end over here. And he intended to keep it.

Taking Sasori's silence as a no, Kakuzu sighed before he signaled for his mask creatures to charge the Suna shinobi. In retaliation, Sasori did the same thing with his puppets. For a few moments, Sasori felt that he had the advantage as the Father and the Mother brought their katanas forward. Unfortunately for him, Kakuzu wasn't as slow witted as Hidan. He already knew about a puppeteer's weakness.

Sasori frowned when he saw the mask creatures go around his puppets rather than face them head on. Knowing what he was after, Sasori quickly pulled out a fourth scroll from his brown robes.

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow as a fourth puppet appeared with a puff of smoke just as his two mask creatures began to make their way towards the boy. The Father and the Mother took this opportunity as a way to charge at Kakuzu himself.

'This boy is talented,' Kakuzu thought as the two puppets made their way towards him. 'He has excellent control over his puppets and is able to control multiple of them at the same time with incredible ease.'

Unlike with Hidan before, the two puppets aimed for Kakuzu's heart. A few seconds before they reached their target, though, Kakuzu's skin darkened. As a result, their katanas snapped in half when they came in contact with the man's skin.

With Sasori, the fourth puppet he had summoned, Karasu, unleashed a barrage of kunai and shuriken from its hands. Seeing no other alternative, the two mask creatures were forced to jump up into the air in order to dodge the barrage of weapons. But Sasori wasn't allowed to relax as the masks both opened their mouths, unleashing a torrent of flames and a powerful and concentrated gust of wind towards Sasori.

The redhead had no choice but to jump out of the way with both of his puppets following his example. Through his peripherals, Sasori also caught how his puppets had failed with their attack.

Kakuzu brought his arm back as he made to punch both puppets into a bunch of pieces. But before he could do so, they immediately retreated back to Sasori's position just as both of his mask creatures landed back on the ground.

'This boy has great visual skills,' Kakuzu thought as Sasori stood back up again. The problem with most puppeteers, other than not being very well versed with close range combat, was the fact that they had to keep their puppet and enemy in plain sight. Otherwise, they didn't know how to react in time with their opponent's counterattacks. But somehow this boy made sure to always be on top of what his puppets were facing as well as reacting well to any attacks that Kakuzu threw at him. It wasn't everyday that Kakuzu came across such a great opponent all right.

'It looks like the shinobi world today really does have its fair share of capable ninja,' Kakuzu thought as he admired Sasori's skills. But now Kakuzu knew that he couldn't afford to hold back here. With that in mind, he prepared his next jutsu.

Sasori, however, was realizing that this wasn't a fight that he could win. His enemy was strong, stronger than the other guy from before. But he couldn't very well hand the daimyo over to him. That would just cause a bunch of other problems in the end. That only left the redhead with one option: a strategic retreat.

Kakuzu paused when he saw two of the puppets, the ones that had come to attack him, disappear in a puff of smoke. The teen had no doubt sealed them back into their respective scrolls. But for what?

Kakuzu prepared himself for an attack as Sasori brought his other puppet before him. In an instant, it launched a dozen or so kunai straight towards Kakuzu, ignoring the two mask creatures that stood to the side.

'Smart,' Kakuzu thought before his skin began to darken again. 'Unfortunately, such an attack won't work on me!'

Kakuzu blocked the incoming kunai with his bare hands. However, something caught his interest: something was dangling out of each kunai. Kakuzu's eyes widened as he realized what they were.

'Smoke bombs!'

Sasori smiled as he set them off, blinding Kakuzu for a few moments. But it was exactly what he had been hoping for.

Kakuzu recalled his two mask creatures back to him, using the wind one in order to disperse the smoke. Once it was cleared, though, he grunted in annoyance when he saw that the boy was nowhere in sight. That could only mean one thing: he had escaped while the smoke had blinded him.

This really had not been a good night for him.

Hidan didn't know if he had been dreaming before or what. But he knew that this wasn't the same brat as before. And why would he be thinking that? Well, the answer was simple. It was because he was getting his ass kicked.

Hidan struggled to keep up as clone after clone came at him with well executed combos with their bo staff. He was able to take care of a few, only for others to take their place. It was really beginning to irritate him.

But Naruto wasn't trying to play with him for too long either. His bo staff, along with the clones', began to glow as he began to pump chakra into it. The thing with Naruto was that, in the four years that he had been training, Fukasaku had told him how it was important for him to master at least one another element. Even if Kokuo did provide him with the ability to use all five elements, it was only possible whenever he used the bijuu's chakra. So as to not rely on him all the time, Naruto had gone to see if he was compatible with any other element. And he was. As it turned out, wind was his main element with lightning being his secondary. The blond fount it oddly amusing that he and Sasuke shared the same secondary element. But he had quickly gone off to mastering it. Which he had.

That was why Hidan screamed in pain as he was assaulted from all sides with strikes of both wind covered staffs as well as lightning ones.

The real Naruto jumped into the air after the clones had delivered a significant amount of damage to Hidan who wasn't able to react in time as Naruto descended on him with a powerful punch that sent him flying back.

Fuka stood off to the side, already admitting that the blond Uzumaki had great skills. But all of this was only raising more questions for her than ever before.

Hidan scowled as he stood back up, looking at Naruto and his shadow clones with annoyance and anger. "You little brat…..do you think that's going to be enough to bring me down!? I have the power of Jashin-sama! You can't stop me with little tricks like that!"

"I guess you're right," Naruto admitted as he closed his eyes.

Fuka narrowed her eyes when she felt the air around the blond change. Something was happening. But what? She turned around just in time to see one of the clones disappearing. Unlike the others, though, it had been in the back and away from the battle. But what purpose did that serve? Knowing that she wouldn't get any answers like this, she turned her attention back to the real Naruto.

Said blond opened his eyes just as he activated sage mode. Two of the clones, now also in sage mode, walked up to stand beside him as they brought their hands together.

"This wasn't something that I was planning on showing here tonight," Naruto began as he formed the Rasengan just as lighting began to gather around it. "But it looks like it can't be avoided."

Fuka shielded her eyes as even more lightning began to pick up around her fellow Uzumaki's hand. It was bright. Much more importantly, though, it was powerful.

Hidan narrowed his eyes when he saw the clones stepping away from their original. Lighting was sizzling around Naruto as he focused it straight into his right hand where he had formed the Rasengan. But the technique no longer looked the same. If anything, it looked like he was holding a lightning bolt with a sphere in the middle.

"This is the first time that I'll be trying this jutsu on a real opponent," Naruto began as he focused on Hidan. "So if it causes any permanent damage, then I'm not sorry."

Hidan scoffed as he brought his scythe forward. A second later, he was rushing at Naruto with a crazed look. "You can't kill me, brat! Now die and become one of my sacrifices!"

Naruto didn't reply as he rushed at Hidan as well. The two met a few seconds later, Hidan bringing his scythe forward in order to meet Naruto's new jutsu. Naruto didn't bat an eye as his jutsu clashed with Hidan's scythe. But Hidan's eyes did widen as the jutsu crushed right through the scythe like it was nothing. As a result, it was left to go straight for him without any obstacles.

"Raiton: Kaiten Raitoningu!"

Fuka shielded her eyes once more as Naruto's jutsu hit Hidan straight on. Less than a second later, an enormous explosion, rivaling that of the Rasen Shuriken, took place as Hidan was sent flying out through the palace walls with lightning sizzling all over the area.

The redhead couldn't believe her eyes as she saw the entire destruction caused by the jutsu. Just how in the world was someone so young able to have such powers?

'If he hit me with something like that, I don't think that I'd be able to recover,' Fuka thought with a slight gulp.

Naruto sighed as the clones dispersed, his sage mode deactivating as well.

"It looks like the first real test went well," Kurama said.

"It'll be best if you practice with it some more before you can count on it all the time, though," Matatabi added.

Agreeing with them, Naruto turned to look at a still dumbstruck Fuka. "Hey, you said that you were sent here by Sasuke right?" he said, moving to get some answers quick.

Fuka came out of her shock at hearing Naruto's question. "Well, not here specifically," she began with uncertainty. "I was supposed to sneak into Uzu, but then I came across you here."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "Just how can you get into Uzu?"

She waved her hands in dismissal. "Don't worry about that. Just know that I'm not planning on selling that information to anyone. Sasuke already questioned me about that. Trust me."

Naruto looked at her with curiosity before glancing at her hair. 'You don't think that she's-'

"Probably," Kurama said, cutting in. "But if the Uchiha already let her go, then that means he trusts her. And you know how hard that is."

Naruto chuckled in his head in agreement. But refocusing on Fuka, he asked, "Then what are you doing here exactly?"

Fuka chuckled uneasily as she looked around, founding a pebble by her foot really interesting at the moment. "Business, I guess you could say. But it doesn't really matter now! I have a message that I need to give you from Sasuke."

Naruto hummed for a moment, finding her attitude suspicious. He hadn't forgotten how she was here with that future Akatsuki guy. But he could ask her about that later. First came the message.

Reaching behind her to her kunai pouch, Fuka pulled out the scroll that Sasuke had given her. She then tossed it to the blond who caught it with ease.

Looking at the scroll curiously, Naruto opened it as he began to read the message. The first couple of sentences had his eyebrows twitching.

Dobe,

If you're reading this, then it means that you're still alive. If that's the case, then I pity those that have to put up with your sorry ramen possessed ass. But such is life.

"Hahaha!" Kurama exploded with laughter. He was then followed by most of the other bijuu save for Matatabi and Kokuo who merely chuckled. "It looks like the Uchiha has great understanding all right!"

Naruto t'ched but didn't reply. He would get Sasuke later for this. But for now, he continued reading.

I don't know what exactly has been going on with you these past few years, but there are great many things that I have to tell you about. I know that you were there during that attack on the Uzu fleet four years ago. I don't know if you're already aware of it or not, but Danzo is the one responsible for that. I don't know why he's doing all of this, but he plans to eradicate Uzu out of the Elemental Nations. So far, I haven't caught wind of any other plots by him. But I wouldn't put it past him planning something else that I have yet to discover.

Naruto frowned at reading this, realizing that his fears had come true. Danzo was indeed up to something. But why? What did he hope to gain from this?

The bijuu remained silent, not having an answer to any of that.

The Uzumaki then continued reading.

Something else that you should be aware of is that Madara, the real one that we fought in the war, is pulling the strings in Kiri. He's acting as the Mizukage there and already possesses the Rinnegan. I wasn't able to kill him when I faced him. He still has that much power. I wasn't able to discover his hideout either. I can only guess that he moved it somewhere else. So I suggest that you be on the lookout for that until we next meet.

Naruto didn't know what was more troubling: Madara or Danzo. While Madara was more powerful, Danzo was such a scheming weasel that he was such a dangerous enemy to have. But to think that Sasuke had been going through all of this…it looks like he had faced his fair share of problems too.

Lastly, I guess you should know that I'm recruiting others to help us. Just like you always like to say: you can't do everything on your own. So far, the Hokage, Jiraiya, Hatake Sakumo, and the woman with you, Fuka, have already joined me. They have all helped me in their own ways. I know that they will come to our aid in the future, something that we both know that we will need.

This made Naruto smiled. He didn't know how or why, but it seemed as if Sasuke had really changed since the last time that he had seen him. But the blond had guessed that when he saw how the Uchiha actually came to his family's aid those four years ago.

Kurama grunted in agreement. He couldn't deny it, after all. He wasn't blind.

Put this information to good use, idiot. Be on the lookout for anything. We have many enemies out there, and we have yet to begin with our true goal. I suggest that you don't message me back either. I don't want to put Fuka in anymore danger than she already is.

Stay safe,

Sasuke

Naruto chuckled at the last part. 'Wow. Sasuke actually showed some concern for someone else other than himself. That is something new.'

The blond then turned his attention to Fuka who was looking at him with a curious gaze. "I thank you for giving me this," Naruto said as he placed the scroll in his kunai pouch. "I needed to read this."

Nodding, Fuka asked, "No problem. But just how is it that you know Sasuke? And why are you blond when you're an Uzumaki? You are an Uzumaki right?"

Naruto grinned as he scratched the back of his head. "I get asked that a lot. But yeah, I am. As to how I know Sasuke….." Naruto paused here. It seemed as if the teme hadn't shared everything with her. Naruto knew that he must have had his reasons. With that in mind, he shrugged. "You're going to have to ask Sasuke that the next time you see him."

Fuka opened her mouth to protest. But Naruto faced away from her as he let a small smirk befall his face. "Now I suggest that you get out of here before the others arrive. Otherwise I'm going to have to turn you in for having tried to kidnap the feudal lord."

The redhead's mouth snapped close at that.

Naruto chuckled as she made to leave. "Don't worry. I won't let Sasuke know about this. But try to be a good girl from now on, ne?"

A small embarrassed blush appeared on her cheeks. Fuka let out a h'mph before she took off running out of the palace, jumping over the walls.

She needed to find Kakuzu.

Naruto chuckled a bit more after Fuka had left, scratching his cheek. 'It looks like Sasuke has been through some interesting stuff all right.' But now the blond had more info to consider.

He pushed those thoughts to the side for now as Sasori landed on the scene from the rooftop, Kuroari at his side.

"It looks like you handled things here," the redhead commented as he scanned through all the damage. He couldn't sense any of their advisories from before. So that could only mean that-

"I appreciated the help," Naruto said as he walked to stand in front of Sasori, bringing his fist in between them. "I wouldn't mind teaming up with you again in the future, Sasori."

Said redhead raised an eyebrow at seeing the action before looking at the grinning Uzumaki. Understanding, Sasori decided to indulge in the action as he brought his own fist to meet with Naruto's.

Naruto grinned wider when they fist-bumped, taking that as a sign that he at least been able to get on the redhead's good side.

"I guess we should get the daimyo back to the guards," Naruto said as he turned to look at Sasori's puppet.

Nodding his head in agreement, Sasori made Kuroari snap open with one shaking daimyo inside just as Aika and Haru came rushing at them from the palace.

Naruto waved at them, glad that they were safe. It had been a hell of a night.

Ty backed up in fear as she gazed at all the destruction that had taken place in the palace tonight. The thing that had frightened her the most was what that blond kid had done in the end. She could never hope to accomplish anything like that. And that was why she was scared. She had come to the palace tonight in hopes of killing the daimyo. But now she knew that, if she had set foot in that room, then she more than likely would have been captured on the spot without even getting close to her target.

"Yo."

For the second time tonight, Ty squeaked in shock at hearing someone's voice coming from behind her. Twisting around, she saw the same blond boy from before looking at her with a grin.

"How did you get up here so quickly!?" she asked with wide eyes before looking down towards where she had seen the blond fighting the other guy. And sure enough, there he was, talking with other shinobi his age.

"Oh," Naruto said as he shrugged. "I'm sure you saw me create clones."

Ty sighed, feeling a bit annoyed with the whiskered blond at how easily he said that. But considering what she had seen tonight, then creating clones was probably nowhere near as amazing as the other things that he could do.

"So are you going to give up on taking your revenge?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, having connected the dots already. He didn't have all of the information yet, though.

Ty t'ched as she looked down at her feet. "Are you going to bring me in if I say no?"

Naruto hummed at the question. "I don't know really. But I'll cross that road when I get to it. Right now I'm just curious to see if you've given up or not."

Ty looked at him with anger in her eyes as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "You just don't understand, do you!? It's not about me wanting to give up or not! This whole time my family has had to suffer because of people like him!"

Naruto didn't respond for a moment as the girl began to openly cry. After a few seconds, he asked, "What happened?"

Ty turned away from him as she looked at the grand palace before her. "We're poor. We don't have much. But that doesn't matter. We're happy with what little we have. Even if we have to work hard for it. But every time, the daimyo keeps raising the taxes on us, asking for more and more money. And for what? So that he can keep living his luxurious life while the rest of us starve? My parents work hard everyday. And yet, we still have barely enough to eat. I have to see them struggle for nothing. It's just not fair."

Naruto sighed at hearing this. Just as he had thought, there had been more to this than just a simple assassination. It pretty much dealt with the same problem that Nagato had spoken to him about when he had confronted the Rinnegan wielder.

"But you did teach me something today," Ty continued as she faced Naruto again. "You taught me that, without power, my words mean nothing. Only when I have power am I going to be heard."

Naruto looked at her with sad eyes before he nodded. "As much as I would like to say no, I can't. You're right. Only when you have power do people actually hear you. But at the same time, you have to have the knowledge of how to exercise that power. What you, your family, and this nation have to go through is the perfect example of how not to use that power correctly."

Ty shook her head. "No, that's not it. If you have the power, then you get to make it right. No one else can stand against you. You become a god."

"That's wrong," Naruto countered with a shake of his own head. "Even if no one can stand up against you, you still won't have their respect. They won't truly be with you. And then one day, they will stand against you, united. It might not happen right away, but it will happen. And then what? It won't matter if you have any power at all. Because then they will bring you down. You might think that it's impossible. But no one is invincible. Just like how no one is perfect."

"Then what am I supposed to do!?"

"Get power," Naruto answered instantly. "But don't shun those around you. Because one day they will be a part of your power too. They will strengthen you. Together, you will be able to overcome anything. That's the first step if you want to change anything. Change the way things are so that everyone is content with it. But don't take it up on your own like you did today. Nor choose these kinds of methods. Because in the end, you'll find yourself being the same thing that you once tried to bring down."

Ty looked down at her hands, taking in everything that she had just been told. "Do you really think that I can do it?"

Naruto grinned as he gave the girl a thumbs up. "You bet! And if you ever need anything, I'll always come to help you!"

Ty looked at the blond with wide eyes, not exactly believing what she had just heard. Never did she think that she would meet someone who would actually be willing to give her a hand. Someone with so much power and yet so humble at the same time. And not only that, but they had just met too. They didn't even know each other's names. And yet, here he was, offering her help when she had no one else.

Nonetheless, for the first time in a while, Ty smiled in true happiness, feeling a new light glow within her.

Hidan scowled as he walked through some of the back alleys in the capital. He was carrying his right arm since it had come off from his body as a result of that brat's attack. He wasn't too sure about what had happened, but it was almost like both his body and chakra had been paralyzed for a few minutes there. So Hidan was sure that he had been dead for a good few minutes before his heart and chakra started back up again. It was a weird experience too.

But now he wanted revenge more than ever before. And thanks to Jashin-sama not forsaking him, he could enact it in the future. But for now, he needed to find a way to reattach his arm before he rejoined with any survivors of the Jashin in this area. The plan had been a bust, after all.

It didn't matter to Hidan, though. He was still Jashin-sama's chosen. And with his blessing, he would overcome anything these heretics threw at him.

'Just wait, you brat. I'll find you one day. And when I do, I will make you into one of my sacrifices! Hahaha!'

Kakuzu knew that something had actually made Fuka of all people flustered. But if he were in a good mood, then he might have considered asking her why she was like this. But right now, he was annoyed with how things had gone down at the palace. He hadn't made any money, after all.

Unlike before, though, it was Fuka who was walking ahead of him as they walked through the streets of the capital where some people were on and about, no doubt curious as to all the commotion that had taken place tonight.

"Where is it that we're going?" Kakuzu asked, not feeling like wasting more time.

"We're going to kill someone," Fuka growled out. "You said you wanted a job right?"

Kakuzu hummed at that. He didn't know what had made her this way, but he could say with certainty that he didn't mind it. It was about to actually help him get some money, after all.

As for Fuka, she was coming up with all the different things that she would to Sasuke once she met up with him again.

That was a promise.

Naruto sighed as he stared down at the capital from the rooftop of the lavish hotel that the daimyo had made them stay in over the night. After all the invaders had been defeated, the daimyo had instantly taken command, ordering all survivors to be put in prison for the rest of their lives. It didn't seem like the daimyo intended to execute them at least. After that, he had personally thanked him and Sasori for having protected him from "the laughing lunatics" as he called them. As a reward, he gave them a free stay in the most expensive and luxurious hotel in the capital. Sasori hadn't been too keen in taking the offer, a feeling that Naruto had shared with him. But in the end, they had taken it as a way to not look like assholes.

The party had been canceled, of course. So Naruto wasn't too sure how things were going to be between Uzu and Konoha from now. They would probably stay the same no doubt. Kaito had also scolded him for going off on his own in the middle of the battle instead of staying with the team. Naruto had rebuked with saying that, if he hadn't, then the feudal lord could have been captured and killed. It was something that Sasori backed up, stating that Naruto had been an immense help in the fight. Naruto had blushed at the praise of course. He just couldn't help it. At any rate, things had happened fast after that. They had left the palace and came straight here. But the blond wasn't really in the mood to sleep at the moment. He wanted to process everything that he had learned from Sasuke. Things were really troublesome all right. So here he was, up on the rooftop as he gazed up at the stars, trying to get his thoughts together.

"I knew that you would be up here, whiskers."

Naruto chuckled as he heard Aika walking towards him. "What are you doing up here, Aika-chan?" he asked, still staring up at the stars as the girl sat down next to him.

"I could ask you the same thing," she shot back.

Naruto shrugged as he finally turned his head to look at her. But just like before, the girl was too close for comfort. It only made Naruto recall what had happened between them at the palace before everything had gone down, which made him instantly blush.

"Um, Aika-chan," he began as his blush got bigger, "don't you think that you're too close?"

Aika hummed as she stared at Naruto, only making said blond even more embarrassed. "Not really. Or do you not like me being this close to you?"

While Naruto stuttered for a response, the girl grabbed a hold of his hand, bringing it up between them.

"I guess you could say that there is a reason why I'm doing this."

Bringing his blush under control, Naruto said, "Is it because you still think that I'm keeping things from you?"

Aika grinned a little. "Oh no. I know that you are. But I'm not talking about."

"Then what are you talking about?"

Closing her eyes, Aika paused for a moment. Then, she opened them again, looking straight at Naruto. "It's because I've finally realized my feelings. And I now realize that I don't want you going anywhere. I always want you at my side."

Before Naruto could get another word in, Aika finally leaned in completely, locking her lips with his.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, not having been expecting this in the least. But feeling the warmth of her lips and the intensity of her feelings, the blond quickly succumbed to the kiss as he too closed his eyes, deepening the kiss as the stars continued to light up the night sky.

Inside his mind, all of the bijuu watched this in silence.

Kurama chuckled fondly as he thought, 'Good job, brat.'

Hagoromo opened his eyes as he felt a new presence appearing behind him.

"What is it, Miyuki?"

The silver haired woman looked at the man who was at one point her master with a worried look. "It's time, isn't it?"

Hagoromo didn't turn around, already knowing what she was talking about. "Yes, it is. Sasuke has already proven himself. Now it is his turn."

"But what happens if he fails?"

Hagoromo was silent for a few moments. That was the most important question now, after all. If he failed…..

"If he fails, then all of this will have been for nothing."