60

Jinchurikki Battles

The town of Kifka normally took two days to reach if one traveled from Konoha. For a ninja, it only took half that time. Usually.

The Second Division had to move more slowly than normal thanks to how many of them there were, but they still managed to reach Kifka in a little over a day. However, they didn't set foot inside of Kifka itself. No one wanted to worry the locals.

Kakashi had them set up camp about two kilometers from the village. Several tents were erected, fire pits were prepared, and a perimeter was established to defend against intrusion. Naruto also helped set up the perimeter. He used a form of monitor seal that would alert several ninja with the corresponding seal on their hands to any intruders who weren't a part of their army. This was a seal of his own design. He called it Monitā Fuin.

"Naruto!"

Looking up from the seal he'd set into the ground and hidden with a camouflage sheet, Naruto glanced at the person who'd called his name. It was Kakashi.

"What's up, Kakashi?" asked Naruto as the man walked up to him.

"I'm heading into the village to wait for our friends from Kirigakure to arrive," Kakashi said. "I don't think it will take more than another day or two, but I need you to remain here and keep an eye on the camp. Also, send out some Shadow Clones to scout the surrounding area."

"I can do that." Naruto nodded, and then tilted his head. "What about Kumo? Should I see if they are still located near Taizuki Gei?"

Kakashi cupped his chin and pondered that. "There is a chance they could have moved by now, and we wouldn't know it… if they have moved without our knowledge, then we'll definitely be in trouble. That said, their forces are a lot bigger than ours. It will be difficult for an army of one thousand to move without being noticed…"

"Unless they decide to split up their forces," Naruto said.

"That is true." Kakashi sighed. "I hadn't considered that. All right. Send out more clones to scout the Kumo army. If you find them, try and keep us updated on their movements as much as possible. Let us know if there's any suspicious activity or movement."

"Will do."

Kakashi thanked him and left soon after, heading toward Kifka, where he was supposed to meet with their allies from Kirigakure. Naruto returned to camp to see that everything was mostly set up. There were several dozen prefabricated tents. Most of them were a drab gray. Two of them weren't.

The first one that wasn't gray was the command tent, which was about twice the size of the other tents and made from camouflage material. Other than the command tent, the makeshift hospital that Sakura was in charge of was about three times the size of everything else and pure white. It had to be large, though. Naruto heard that the hospital had twelve beds for injured patients.

There were 80 tents in total, and all of them were scattered across the semi-open clearing. He couldn't see all of them because trees were in the way. Given how many people were in this division, their encampment was about half a square kilometer. Naruto had been forced to divide his seals between several different squads since it would be a pain for him to trek across such a large space if an intruder entered their camp from the opposite side.

As Naruto reached the tent he was sharing with Akane and Team 10, he found Choji, Shikamaru, and Asuma getting everything ready, while Akane and Ino chatted together.

Team 10 did not know who Akane was yet. Only a few people like Kakashi, Tenten, and Sakura were aware of her real identity as the creature who had attacked Konoha 16 years ago. To everyone else, Akane was just an exceptionally beautiful and skilled mercenary who Naruto had grown close to during his travels. That was their cover story.

"You're not serious!" Ino was shouting as the two of them sat on a log and talked. "Then you and Naruto have…" Her face turned a fierce shade of red.

One of Akane's fangs poked out of her mouth as she smiled. "Naruto and I have sex most nights."

Those words caused Ino's blush to spread across her face. At the same time, she leaned in as though she wanted to hear even more of the juicy details. Naruto almost sighed. Not even time could change this woman into less of a gossip.

"But… what about Tenten?"

"Tenten has had sex with us too," Akane said.

"Bwa?!"

"That's quite the reaction," Naruto said as he walked up to their tent.

"Naruto! How long have you been there?!" asked a surprised Ino.

"Long enough to hear your conversation about my sexual proclivities," Naruto said, much to Ino's embarrassment. "Anyway, Ino, you can't leave all the work to your teammates. Why don't you help them out by setting up the sleeping bags?"

Ino looked like she wanted to argue, and in fact, her mouth was halfway open while her face was set in an expression of protest. She paused before speaking. Glancing at Shikamaru, who was helping Choji set up the tent, and Asuma, who was cooking some food in a heating pod, the blonde woman allowed her shoulders to slump.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll help out." Then, as if doing a complete 180, she pointed at Akane. "But you are going to tell me more about what we were talking about later!"

Akane shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you want."

Nodding at those words, Ino walked off to begin setting up the sleeping bags. Naruto watched her say something to Shikamaru and Choji as she went inside the tent. Then he turned to Akane and raised an eyebrow.

"Making friendly by telling her stories about our sex life?" he asked.

"Ino said she was curious about our relationship," Akane defended herself with a smile. "I was merely giving her some of the details." She glanced at the tent. "It always surprises me that no matter the era, young girls like her always long to gossip about the same thing."

"And that is?"

"Boys, relationships, and sex."

"I should have figured that."

After making sure Ino was doing something instead of just sitting around and gossiping, Naruto grabbed Akane and headed further out. He waited until they were about a kilometer from the camp. Then he found a place where he could create over one hundred Shadow Clones. Half of them were ordered to spread out and transform into various inanimate objects. They were gonna be his eyes and ears, the camp's first line of defense, as it were. The other half was ordered to head for Taizuki Gei and scout out the movements of Kumo's army.

"You know, you didn't need to take me with you if that's all you were going to do," Akane said as they walked back toward the camp.

"You're right." Naruto admitted with a nod. "I didn't. However, I figured it would be nice to get away from everyone else for awhile. We're not gonna be sleeping alone this time, and I get the feeling we won't have many chances like this for awhile."

"Good point."

As they traveled, Naruto had the strangest feeling they were being watched, yet he also knew for a fact that no one was around aside from them. His clones would have alerted him to the presence of anyone in the vicinity. He tried to shrug the feeling off, but the closer they got to camp, the worse the feeling became.

Maybe it's one of the Konoha ninja?

It didn't feel quite hostile, but he also couldn't shrug it off as belonging to one of his fellow shinobi. In the end, all he could do was remain on alert.

XoX

Naruto's clones reached Taizuki Gai in less than half a day. The Kumo army was still present around the city. Fortunately, it didn't appear as though they had harmed any of the civilians. His clones dispelled themselves one by one, allowing Naruto to have a clearer picture of what they were doing. The only thing that seemed off was he couldn't find anyone who looked like their commanding officer.

The first sign of trouble came during dinner. Naruto and Akane were sitting around with Asuma, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru, eating a tasty meal of soup prepared by Choji. They had been quietly conversing amongst each other while looking at the numerous other fires spread across the campsite.

During that time, several of Naruto's clones were instantaneously dispelled. It happened so fast that none of the memories sent back to him were able to tell him who or what had dispelled them. Seconds after several of his clones were killed, the seals on his hand began warming up. This let him know that foreign chakra signatures had entered the campsite. Screams soon came from the west barely a second after that.

"Everyone get ready!" Naruto ordered as he stood from the log. "Hostile forces have entered the western side of the campsite. Asuma and Shikamaru! Check the perimeter on the other side. There's a chance they might attack in multiple directions. Ino, head over to the hospital and help Sakura. Choji, I want you to alert everyone who isn't under attack about what's happening. Tell them to be on the lookout for other intruders!"

"Yes, sir!"

Team Asuma quickly went off to do as they were ordered. Meanwhile, Naruto had Akane follow him as he raced toward where the intruders were located.

"Do you know how many there are?" asked Akane as they ran past several trees.

Naruto shook his head. "The seal doesn't tell me how many intruders there are. It just alerts me to when a foreign chakra signature enters the field set up by them."

"Well, that's lame."

"At least I can know when there's danger."

It wasn't hard to figure out where the fighting was; all they had to do was listen to the screams. Naruto and Akane darted past a series of trees and into a small clearing. That was when they arrived at the scene of a shinobi battle.

There were over one dozen attackers. None of them were bothering to hide their identities as Kumo shinobi. Their headbands were proudly on display, their outfits were the traditional ones of Kumo ninja, and they were using a combination of lightning jutsu and sword techniques to fight against the Konoha ninja.

Fortunately, it didn't look like they had the upper hand. The Konoha ninja had responded to this threat as though they had anticipated it. Naruto was glad he'd decided to tie several other ninja to the monitor seals.

"Let's help them out!" Naruto said.

"I suppose we should," Akane muttered with a reluctant sigh.

Naruto recognized several of the Kumo ninja attacking. There was Darui, a Jonin who possessed the powerful Ranton Kekkei Genkai. He also spotted Team Samui fighting against a squad of Konoha ninja some ways off.

"Help the ones dealing with Samui and her team," Naruto instructed Akane. "Try not to kill the Kumo ninja. Capture them, if you can."

"That's an awfully tall order, but I'll see what I can do," Akane said as she leapt forward and raced across the ground toward where Samui, Omoi, and Karui were battling.

Once Akane was engaging Team Samui, Naruto used a quick shunshin to appear directly in front of Darui. The man's eyes widened in surprise. However, he was smart enough to make quick use of the substitution jutsu. The rasengan Naruto had created in his left hand pulverized a log instead of a person. As wood splinters flew around him, Naruto looked at the injured ninja who'd been battling against Darui.

"If you're still good to fight, then help your fellow Konoha ninja. If you aren't, head to the hospital. Leave Darui to me."

At his orders, the other ninja dispersed, and Naruto turned his gaze from them to Darui, who now stood on a branch several meters above him.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" said Naruto.

Darui's face was like a combination of a grimace and a smile. "Yeah, it has. I haven't seen you since you and Jiraiya arrived in Kumo last year to train with Kirabi."

Naruto's expression morphed into a frown. "Why is Kumo attacking us?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that myself," Darui muttered as he went through a series of hand seals. "All I can say is that our Raikage has ordered us to attack Konoha. Ranton: Reiza Sakasu!"

A bright halo of chakra spread out from Darui's outstretched hands as the technique activate, encircling his hands before firing off over a dozen beams of lightning that curved toward Naruto. It looked like Darui was attempting to attack him with an overwhelming barrage of firepower. However, Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and channeled wind chakra through his body.

"Fuuton: Tatsumaki no Jutsu (Wind Release: Tornado Jutsu)!"

A giant tornado formed around Naruto. The powerful beams of mixed water and lightning based energy slammed into Naruto's tornado shield and dispersed as the winds ripped them apart. While the tornado kept going, obscuring Naruto from Darui's gaze, he created a shadow clone and had it use a substitution jutsu to replace itself with a small leaf a meter above Darui.

Darui looked shocked to discover that a clone had appeared above his head, but he quickly canceled his jutsu, grabbed his cleaver sword, and defended against the Naruto clone's swift kunai attacks. Several loud clangs echoed from the pair as they battled. During that time, Naruto dispelled his technique and leapt at Darui from below.

Knicking the clone with a kick to the knee, Darui dispelled it and turned his attention to Naruto. The two engaged in a fierce close-range battle. Darui had begun channeling lightning chakra through his cleaver sword to increase its cutting power. Naruto countered it by channeling wind chakra through his kunai. Since wind was strong against lightning, not only did this negate Darui's advantage, but his kunai began cutting into the cleaver sword, forcing the Kumo Jonin to disengage.

"Raiton: Kuropansa (Lightning Release: Black Panther)!"

After generating black lightning from his body, which took the form of a panther, Darui manipulated it to attack Naruto, who clicked his tongue and swung out his hand, creating a massive wind sword in the shape of a crescent. His attack normally would have sliced the beast in half, but then Darui enhanced it with another jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizu Bakufu (Water Release: Water Blast)!"

The power of the black panther suddenly increased exponentially, as did its size. It became so large that it easily towered over Naruto. While his wind blade managed to slice through the jutsu's front leg, it didn't destroy the black panther, which swiped at him with a powerful claw.

"Fuuton: Jūdan (Wind Release: Bullet)!"

Channeling far more chakra into his technique than normal, Naruto sucked in a lungful of air as he leapt backward to avoid the claw swipe, and then expelled it. What came out was a very small sphere about the size of a fist. It didn't look like much. However, the small bullet tore through the black panther's body, dispersing the jutsu, and continued on toward Darui.

The man dodged and the bullet struck the tree he'd been standing on. Of course, that was just as bad. A massive explosion of powerful winds caused the entire tree to detonate, and the force of the explosion threw Darui away like he was a ragdoll. The man struck the ground hard… and then disappeared and was replaced with a log.

Another substitution jutsu.

Naruto expanded his awareness by creating a large sphere of wind around himself, using it as a sonar. He made it large at first. This allowed him to see more of the battlefield. It looked like the Konoha and Kumo shinobi were more or less evenly matched. Akane had also done exactly as he'd asked. He didn't know how she'd done it, but every member of Team Darui was knocked out and tied up.

Good.

Now Naruto just had to capture Darui. Maybe then he could get some answers.

Darui was trying to sneak up behind Naruto, seemingly unaware that he could see everything thanks to his jutsu. Knowing that a trap was best countered at the last possible second, he allowed the Kumo Jonin to get close and initiating his attack, and then spun around and blocked the downward strike of Darui's cleaver sword with a kunai. His kunai, enhanced with powerful wind chakra, sliced straight through the cleaver sword like wheat before a scythe.

Leaping back in shock, Darui tried to gain some distance, but Naruto didn't let him. He pressured the other ninja with a series of swift punches and kicks. While Darui managed to block some of them, a good number of bruises soon formed on his face and probably his body too.

Just when it was beginning to look like Naruto would win, something descended from the sky at an incredible speed. Naruto leapt back. The thing slammed into the ground and sliced through the spot where he'd been standing. As he looked at it more closely, he realized it wasn't a thing but a person—a blonde-haired woman with dark eyes and beautiful features.

"Yugito?" Naruto murmured.

Yugito Nii looked at him, but then quickly looked away.

"Our surprise attack failed. We're retreating," she said to Darui.

"Right. This mission was a dull bust." Darui climbed to his feet.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you get away?" asked Naruto as he readied himself for battle.

"I do." Yugito nodded. "You see, I'm not the only Jinchurikki here. Killer Bee is also here. If you don't let us leave, he'll turn into the eight-tails and rampage through your camp."

Naruto couldn't tell if she was bluffing or not. There was nothing in her voice to suggest a bluff, but he was well-aware that the Raikage did not let his little brother leave Kumo very often. In fact, ever since Akatsuki began their operations, Kirabi had been confined to the village.

That said, if she wasn't bluffing, then he was curious to know why they hadn't just rampaged from the start, but he assumed it was because they knew he was present. Turning into their Jinchurikki forms would basically mean fighting to the death. Naruto was also a seal master, so they would be the ones at a disadvantage. However, they would cause massive harm to his forces before he could seal their powers away. It was a lose-lose situation for both of them.

Knowing that he couldn't afford to attack when there was a possibility that what she said was true, Naruto didn't go after them as they disappeared into the shadows. As if their retreat was the signal, all of the other Kumo shinobi sans Team Karui also retreated.

"We've beaten Kumo back, but don't let yourselves grow complacent!" Naruto ordered as he began directing their forces. "There's a lot of work to be done, so let's get to it."

The first order of business was getting an estimate on the number of injured and dead. Konoha had faired fairly well in this battle. They'd only lost one squad of four, bringing their total forces down to 496. Two squads had been injured, but their injuries weren't grievous enough to be fatal. Similarly, only a squad of Kumo shinobi had been killed. He didn't know how many had been injured. However, they also had Team Samui in captivity thanks to Akane, so he would have to say they came out better than Kumo had.

After getting an estimate on the damage done to their forces, Naruto created a Shadow Clone to inform Kakashi about what happened. Then he made for the command tent. As he opened the flap and stepped inside, he found Akane standing guard over Samui, Omoi, and Karui. They were awake. None of them looked very pleased. Not only were their wrists and legs bound in such a way that they couldn't move at all, but Naruto had placed chakra restraining seals on them. They wouldn't be able to use chakra at all. Even if they somehow broke free of their bonds, there was no doubt they'd end up captured again.

"Have they said anything?" asked Naruto.

Akane shook her head. "Not a word."

"Hmm…"

Kneeling down, Naruto stared at the trio. While Samui looked at him with calm poise, Karui was glaring like she wanted to bite his head off, and Omoi was staring at the ground in silence. After another few seconds of staring, Naruto sat down and crossed his legs.

"I don't suppose any of you know why Kumo suddenly decided to attack Konoha?" he asked.

While Karui just glared harder and Omoi barely stirred, Samui shifted her shoulders a bit. Because there were several bands wrapped around her chest and torso, the movement caused her breasts to shift and bulge.

Naruto sighed. "Do none of you find it strange that your Raikage decided to suddenly attack Konoha out of the blue like this?" When none of them said anything, he frowned. "If you don't talk to me, then I will just have Ino mind rape you until all of your secrets have been revealed."

"We have no idea what the Raikage is thinking," Samui finally said. "Ever since the Chunin Exams you and Yugito participated in, Lord A has been striving to make inroads on our alliance. However, a few months ago he suddenly changed his mind and said we were going to war with Konoha. It does seem strange, but we're shinobi. We follow the orders of our Raikage regardless of what they are."

Naruto nodded several times as he listened, but his thoughts were firmly on something else. "It sounds to me like the Raikage is being manipulated by someone."

"There's no way that's possible!" Karui snapped. "Lord Raikage would never allow anyone to manipulate him!"

"Then how do you explain his sudden change in international policies?" asked Naruto.

"That's…" Karui looked uncertain. Even if she was a hothead, she also understood how out of character it was for the Raikage to suddenly switch from working hard on building a stronger alliance with Konoha to going to war with them.

"While I understand why you might think Lord A is being manipulated, I must remind you that not only is he surrounded by powerful ninja, he is also our Raikage," Samui spoke in a calm, collected tone. "There are very few ninja in this world that are strong enough to fight on even terms with him."

"I understand what you are getting at," Naruto allowed. "However, I think it is precisely because of that confidence you're displaying that my idea has merit."

"If what you are saying is true, then who would be capable of controlling a kage?" asked Samui. She seemed skeptical. Her expression suggested she didn't believe him at all, though he supposed her confidence came from knowing how strong the Raikage was. Either way, he couldn't really blame her.

"I have a few guesses, but nothing concrete yet." Naruto uncrossed his legs and stood up. "However, if any of my hunches are correct, then it spells a lot of trouble for everyone."

Naruto left Akane to guard Team Samui and headed for the hospital tent. Four of the twelve beds had people on them. It looked like most were suffering from electric damage; one of them was being healed by Sakura. Judging from the gash running down his chest, he'd been cut by a sword.

Nodding at Sakura, Naruto traveled over to Ino, who was currently relaxing on a chair. She stood up the moment he approached.

"Naruto, what's up?" she asked.

"I want you to interrogate Team Samui," Naruto ordered. "I want you to find out everything you can about Kumo's army, including information about their forces, any special Kekkei Genkai users we need to watch out for, and what their plans are. Use drugs to make their minds more malleable if you have to, but do everything in your power not to damage them either mentally or physically. If what I'm thinking is correct, Kumo may be victims even more than we are."

While Ino was clearly confused by his last statement, she told him she'd begin interrogating them later tonight. Naruto said she could have Akane help her. While the immortal woman wasn't an interrogation specialist, she was incredibly talented at manipulating humans, having well over several hundred or maybe even several thousand years worth of experience.

After leaving the hospital tent, Naruto found a quiet place far from the campsite. He created several more clones that took the place of the ones that had been dispelled. Then he found a tall tree to climb up. Reaching the highest point, Naruto stuck to the top with chakra and gazed at the forest spread out before him. Somewhere within this vast forest was Yugito Nii. He narrowed his eyes.

What am I going to do about her?

Naruto didn't have an answer.

XoX

Given the nature of the situation, Naruto had decided it would be prudent to expand his patrols. He created several hundred more Shadow Clones and had them spread out. The idea was to set up a perimeter and also locate any Kumo shinobi long before they arrived at the campsite. Kakashi was still in Kifka, waiting to meet with their allies from Kiri, which meant he was in charge until then.

Two days had passed since the sneak attack by Kumo. Samui, Karui, and Omoi had been put under constant guard. There had been no further attacks, but Naruto had discovered via his clones that Kumo's army was no longer in Taizuki Gei. He wouldn't admit he was worried, but, well, he was worried.

"Naruto," a voice called out to him just as Ino entered the command tent. Naruto and Akane looked up as the girl saluted. "I've finished interrogating those three Kumo ninja."

"Did you find out anything?" asked Naruto.

"I discovered a bit." Ino paused as though collecting her thoughts. "They confirmed that Kumo's army is one thousand strong. It consists mostly of Chunin, but there is one Jonin for every squadron. The person in charge is Darui. His second in command is Yugito Nii. I couldn't find out their plans, but it that is because those three don't know them."

"I see." Naruto frowned for a moment before asking, "And what of Kirabi? Do they know if he's with the army?"

"He isn't." Ino shook her head.

Naruto leaned back and sighed. "So she bluffed me. Damn it. I should have gone after them." When Ino looked at him uncertainly, he waved her off. "Thank you for the report. Get some rest."

As Ino left, Naruto rubbed his face.

"What's the plan now?" asked Akane.

"Now?" Dragging his hands down his face, Naruto eyed the woman sitting beside him. "Now we wait. We don't even know where Kumo's army is, so we can't do anything else but wait."

"Waiting, huh? I once heard from an old soldier several centuries ago that waiting was the worst part of any war," Akane mumbled. Her tone was conversational, idle even. "I think I'm beginning to understand what he meant. Waiting for something to happen sucks."

"Yeah…" Naruto sighed as he stared at the map of Hi no Kuni. It was marked in several places. Kifka and their campsite was marked in red. There were also several Xs to mark where his clones were patrolling. "I hate waiting."

"Do you mind if I ask why you are using clones to patrol the campsite?" asked Akane. "Shouldn't you use your shinobi? There are five hundred ninja under your command. It would be easy to make them patrol the perimeter for you."

Naruto looked up from the map. Akane was staring right at him with her carnelian gaze. He considered her words for a moment, then grinned.

"I could order them to go on patrol for me, sure, but that wouldn't be using my soldiers efficiently." Naruto glanced at the map. "We have five hundred ninja to face off against a force that is twice as large. I can't afford to needlessly waste their strength doing something that I can easily do myself. Besides, Shadow Clones were made for reconnaissance purposes. I get all their memories when they dispel or are killed, which means the information is transmitted to me faster, and our forces won't suffer any losses."

"I suppose that is true," Akane agreed easily enough.

Naruto went back to work. He was trying to figure out how far he should set up the perimeter and whether he should focus his forces on one side or not. Given that the Kumo army had been stationed north of her before moving, it was logical to have most of his clones patrol the north, but that could be what Kumo wanted, to lure him into protecting one side and attacking from the other. Then again, he could just be overthinking this.

Sighing, Naruto realized he couldn't make a decision when he didn't have enough information.

"Come on." Akane suddenly stood up and grabbed his hand.

"Huh?" Naruto muttered as he let the woman pull him to his feet.

"I said come on." Akane pulled him behind her. "You're not going to solve anything like this. I think you need some fresh air."

Naruto was about to oppose her suggestion, but then he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

The camp looked no different now than it always did. Naruto saw a number of ninja standing around and chatting, while some were making lunch and others were just relaxing against the trees. None of them looked worried. He didn't think it was because they were unaware of what was happening, but perhaps using his clones to patrol had put them under a state of false security.

As the thought crossed his mind, Akane led him through the camp. Several ninja greeted them. He waved back and smiled, but his mind was elsewhere as the two of them walked.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Naruto.

"Nowhere," Akane said, still holding his hand. "I just thought you could use a walk to clear your head."

Naruto accepted that with an easy nod. She was probably right anyway. He'd been trying to think of what Kumo would do after their sneak attack failed, but he hadn't been able to come up with anything. His mind kept going in circles. Getting outside and not thinking about what their enemy will do next was a good idea.

And yet, the moment this thought crossed his mind, he froze as several images blasted their way into his brain. He held a hand to his head and tried to sort through them. It seemed several shadow clones had dispelled themselves. Grimacing, he began separating the images into something more coherent, but when he did, the vision they created made him pale.

"What's wrong?" asked Akane.

Naruto looked at her and felt his lips tremble. "There is a large army of Kumogakure ninja heading right for us."

"Oh." Akane paused. "That is not good."

"No, it's not good at all."

Knowing that Naruto needed to get everyone ready, he created several Shadow Clones and had them quickly order all of his forces to prepare for battle and meet in front of the command tent. He also created another Shadow Clone and had it inform Kakashi of what was happening.

The command tent was located in the largest clearing within this section of the forest. All 500 ninja were able to stand in this place. That said, it was impossible for people in the back to see Naruto if he just stood on the ground, so he used wind chakra to levitate himself above the heads of everyone else and projected his voice.

"Kumogakure's army is on the move," Naruto informed everyone. "They are currently heading this way, which means they plan on confronting us. Their army is large. We're outnumbered two to one here. That said, we still hold every other advantage aside from numbers. This our homeland. Our turf. We know it better than them, which means we can use the terrain to our advantage."

None of the ninja said anything. Of course they didn't. Maybe they would be more willing to talk in an informal setting, but they were currently on the cusp of battle. Unnecessary chatter was unbefitting of a ninja.

"I have a plan to deal with their forces," Naruto said. "Our ultimate goal in this fight is not to kill them, but to stop them from killing us. That means we need to be clever."

Naruto felt his lips curl into a grin as he began informing the Konoha ninja of his plan.

XoX

Yugito Nii marched at the head of Kumo's army alongside Darui, the Jonin in command. His expression was grim. Of course, he had a reason to be. Karui, Samui, and Omoi were captured during their failed midnight assault.

Thinking on it in hindsight, Yugito should have realized the moment she destroyed those clones that the mission was a failure, but there was little they could do about that now. Hindsight was always 20/20.

"I don't think I need to remind you… but you and I will have to engage Naruto together if we want to win," Darui said.

Because their army was 1,000 strong, they were being forced to move through the forest slowly. That meant what would normally take less than an hour for a small squadron to reach was going to take several. Taizuki Gei and Kifka were about six hours apart.

"I know," Yugito said. "You and I are going to engage Naruto in combat. Meanwhile, our army will overwhelm the Konoha forces and destroy them. Once that is done, if we haven't managed to kill Naruto, our army will surround him and unleash a barrage of ninjutsu. Not even he will be able to withstand such an attack."

Darui nodded. "Of course, should he unleash his Bijuu, I'll be relying on you."

"I know."

"Are you really okay with this?" asked Darui. "I know it's too late for us to do anything now, but you are being ordered to kill someone you are close to. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn you were in love with Naruto."

Yugito did not like the thought of killing Naruto, but she tried not to think about it. This was an order from her Raikage. She was a ninja. She couldn't disobey orders.

"Of course I dislike the idea, but orders are orders," Yugito said.

"That's dull."

Given that Kumo was a mostly mountainous region, it was hard for Darui to figure out where exactly they were going. All of the trees looked the same. They were fortunate Yugito had so much experience in Hi no Kuni. Thanks to the alliance they had—used to have—with Konoha, she had spent almost as much time in Konoha as she had Kumo, which meant she knew her way around the nation.

They soon arrived at the clearing where Konoha's campsite was located—should have been located. Yugito and Darui both stared at the now empty camp. The tents were still there, several fires were still going, and it even looked like a couple of people had left their cookware out, but there was no one present. The campsite was empty.

"What the… did they all move out already?" asked Darui.

"It's possible Naruto received an advanced warning," Yugito murmured as she looked around with a sense of unease. "I bet you anything he decided to create more Shadow Clones after the attack and have them remain on guard for us. He probably knew we were coming for several hours and had his forces abandon the camp."

"But why bring out such a large force if you aren't going to fight?" Darui wondered out loud.

"Knowing Naruto, he probably has a plan, and we definitely won't like it."

Darui pondered her words with a thoughtful frown, and then ordered the army to spread out and search the camp. A third of their forces were ordered to retreat to a safe distance in the event of an enemy ambush. He didn't know if they would find anything. However, Yugito was sure the Jonin commander was hoping to discover where they had gone somehow. The problem was that no one found anything. There was no indication that anyone had ever left, not even footprints to mark someone's passage.

Yugito found that disturbing.

While all ninja were trained in erasing their tracks, a large army numbering in the hundreds couldn't erase their tracks or presence so easily. It took time. And Yugito knew for a fact that Konoha's forces had not been given the time necessary to remove all trace of their passage. Even if they tried, there were sure to be some clues that they missed in their haste to leave. A stray footprint, a chakra signature, a scent that wasn't erased. There should have been something.

She had a really bad feeling about this.

Just as a cold chill swept through her body, several hundred voices screamed in unison. Yugito spun around to find that a good portion of their ninja were buried up to their necks. She couldn't get an estimate of how many had been caught in this simple trap, but while the vast majority had escaped it, there must have been at least several dozen that hadn't and were now trapped in the dirt.

As if the sprung trap had been the signal, several hundred shuriken and kunai suddenly flew through the air from above them. Yugito realized with some shock that a number of Konoha ninja were hidden in the trees. She and those who managed to avoid getting buried underground defended the ones who were trapped, but that also left them open to surprise attacks.

Almost before the long-range barrage had stopped, a number of Konoha ninja emerged from beneath the ground and attacked. The Kumo ninja tried their best to defend, but then several more ninja appeared from the surrounding forest. Among them Yugito could see an Inuzuka tearing through their forces alongside his dog companion, a Hyuuga girl slowly decimating the unprepared ninja with her Juuken, an Aburame who used his bugs to drain Kumo ninja of chakra, and the next incarnation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

On their own, none of these ninja would have posed a threat, but together, and when combined with how effective their surprise attack was, the Konoha ninja were able to decimate their ranks very quickly.

"Raiton: Kanden Haribari (Lightning Release: Electric Shock Needles)!"

Darui went through a number of hand seals and then threw his hand into the air. A number of blue needles like tiny lights surrounded him, but then they quickly flew into the air. Darui made another hand seal and shouted "KATSU!" and the needles exploded as if they were fireworks.

That was the signal for the ninja who had been held in reserve, and they poured into the clearing seconds later to engage the Konoha ninja. What had once seemed like a one-sided battle now became more even. However, that would change soon. Konoha was already outnumbered to begin with. Now that their forces had been reinforced, Kumo was able to simultaneously engage their enemy and help their allies who were stuck in the ground, thereby increasing their forces power through numbers.

Just as it looked like the battle would turn in their favor, a flash of blond appeared in front of Yugito and slammed into her. She grunted as she flew backward. Sliding along the ground, she tried to stop her forward momentum, but then something slammed into her again and again, pushing her back before she had a chance to recover. Oddly enough, the attacks didn't really hurt. They stung a little, but she had the feeling their intent was not to damage her, but to get her away from the main battle.

Recovering her wits enough to concentrate, Yugito coated her body in lightning chakra. A yelp echoed from her attacker. The figure backed off, allowing her to finally see who she was fighting.

A part of her wished she hadn't.

"Naruto…"

XoX

It had been a really long time since Akane had battled someone in one on one combat, but time hadn't dulled her senses in the least, nor did her weakened state mean she was at a disadvantage.

"Raiton: Kuropansa!"

Darui generated black lightning from his body, from which a panther took shape and leapt at Akane. She silently watched as the beast tried to shock her with lightning. Raising a hand, she calmly erected a red shield of energy, which the black lightning splashed harmlessly against.

"What sort of jutsu is that?" Darui wondered out loud as he went through a number of hand seals and manipulated the black panther to leap at her.

"It's not a jutsu at all," Akane replied as she released the barrier.

The black panther leapt at her as she channeled chakra into her fist, reared it back while twisting her body, and then thrusting it forward. She slammed her fist into the panther's nose. The beast exploded, causing lightning to arc out everywhere. Wearing a smirk at the flabbergasted expression on her opponent's face, Akane deigned to answer him.

"It's just chakra manipulation," Akane said.

Darui looked a bit nervous. "You must have some seriously insane chakra control to manipulate it like that."

"I'm even better at controlling my chakra than Tsunade." Akane smiled.

"Well, that's pretty dull for me."

Darui created a shadow clone, and both he and the clone went through the same hand seals simultaneously. Akane recognized the jutsu they were going to use since they had just used it.

"Raiton: Daburu Kuropansa!"

Two black panthers leapt at Akane, appearing from within Darui and his clone's hands. Akane slid her feet across the ground as they pounced at her. Then she lifted her foot and swung it around, cutting straight through the first panther with ease. Planting her foot back on the ground, she lifted her other foot and pierced the second panther's face with her heel.

Her legs were glowing in the same red chakra as before.

"That isn't normal chakra," Darui muttered. "I feel like I've seen this sort of chakra before, but… it couldn't be."

Akane almost smiled. He probably recognized that the chakra she was using was the kind all Bijuu used, which was generally referred to by the ignorant as youki, but he couldn't accept it because that would mean something he likely had no desire to contemplate. On the off chance that he did accept what he was seeing, he'd probably assume she was a jinchurikki like Naruto.

"Since you were kind enough to show me some of your techniques, allow me to show you one of mine," Akane said.

"What?"

Darui only had a moment to contemplate her words before something wrapped around his leg. He looked down. Jutting from the ground was an ethereal red tail. He turned his head and stared at her, and then his eyes widened. Akane finally smiled. He must have noticed the red tail emerging from her back.

"Oh, this is so du—"

He wasn't able to finish that sentence as Akane hurled him into the air, and then slammed him back against the forest floor. She frowned when his body didn't form a crater. That was when Darui disappeared and was replaced with a log, causing her to click her tongue and summon another dome of red energy to protect herself. A bolt of lightning slammed into her barrier just as it solidified.

Tracking the lightning to its source was easy. She turned around and pointed at Darui, hidden within the trees. A beam of red energy shot from her fingers and forced him to move. As he leapt out of the tree, the beam tore through it like it was made of paper and continued on. Darui looked back and whistled as her attack blasted several more trees apart.

"Not only do you have an odd way of using chakra, but you're quite the powerhouse." Darui turned back to look at her. "I've never heard of a ninja with your unique talents. A person of your strength should have been famous by now."

"I like to keep a low profile," Akane said, and then she disappeared.

"So fast!"

Darui barely had time to remove his cleaver as Akane suddenly appeared in front of him and attacked. He blocked her clawed strike by grabbing the weapon with both hands, but then Akane disappeared again and attacked him from behind, forcing him to roll forward to avoid it. As he skipped back to his feet, something powerful wrapped his arms, legs, torso, and neck. When he glanced at them, he saw that they were…

"Tails?"

Indeed, the objects wrapping around him were tails, long and furry tails that sprouted from Akane's backside. Furthermore, a pair of fox-like ears were twitching on her head. His eyes widened.

"There's no way. Are you…"

"Correct." Akane's smile showed off her sharp canines. "I am indeed the Kyuubi, and if you know what's good for you, you'll order these forces to stand down."

Darui looked indecisive, but as he was silently trying to determine what the best course of action was, several more ninja came out of the forest. These people were not Konoha ninja. They wore a pinstriped material as bracers and greaves, which merged into their sandals. Underneath this was a black shirt and pants, over which they wore a gray flak jacket. The gleaming silver headbands on their heads, which had the symbol for water, marked them as Kirigakure ninja.

"Oh, my. It looks like our reinforcements have arrived." Akane's smile widened. "Now you really don't stand a chance."

Darui looked at their new situation and sighed. The strength fled from his body. However, just as it looked like he would capitulate, a massive surge of chakra made everyone freeze.

The battle between Naruto and Yugito was going strong.

XoX

Yugito had decided to go all out the moment Naruto appeared before her. A dense shroud of chakra had formed around her in the shape of a large cat with two tails. Not only had her chakra taken the shape of a cat, but her eyes had become even more narrow and catlike, and her pupils now had the same slit-like crescents of one as well.

Before Naruto could even try to speak with her, Yugito had launched her tails at him, forcing Naruto to leap backward as the tails increased in size and slammed into the ground. Large dents formed in the earth.

Landing back on the ground, Naruto slashed out with his hand and generated a wind blade that cut into Yugito's tails. They must have been stronger than he had realized. The wind blade didn't cut through it. He frowned and rolled across the ground as Yugito tried to smack him in the chest with her tail.

As Naruto came to his feet, Yugito stretched out the chakra claws and grabbed onto a pair of trees, which she tore from the roots and threw at him. Grimacing as he dodged, Naruto tried to think of a plan to take her down without killing her. However, Yugito seemed determined to do him in. She ripped several more trees out by their roots with both her hands and tails to use as makeshift projectiles.

Gotta think of something.

Naruto dodged her attacks as he tried to close the distance. While moving toward her, weaving left and right, he attempted to talk some sense into her.

"Why are you doing this, Yugito?" he asked. Yugito said nothing. "Why is Kumo attacking Konoha?" He ducked underneath a tree, and then spun around to avoid another one. "Are we no longer friends? Do you no longer like me?"

That last comment made her twitch.

"It is not that I no longer like you," she admitted quietly. However, her eyes were hard as steel. "I must simply follow the orders of my kage. We ninja are weapons for our villages to wield, jinchurikki even more so. I am only doing what a weapon is supposed to do."

It was a surprisingly Yugito answer, but at the same time, there was a sense of dissonance in her words.

"If that's true, then why are you crying?" asked Naruto as he pointed out Yugito's tears. "Weapons don't cry."

"Shut up!"

That seemed to make Yugito mad, for she quickly forsook throwing trees at him and suddenly reverted to the next stage in a jinchurikki's transformation. She converted the Nibi's chakra into a humanoid shape. Using her body as a sort of endoskeleton, a dark red, nearly black layer of chakra enveloped her, making her look like a humanoid cat with two tails.

Yugito bent her knees, and then pushed off the ground at a speed that would have put even Jonin-level ninja to shame. She tried to slash at Naruto with her claws, but he avoided it by rolling onto his back, bringing his knees into his chest, and slamming a powerful kick into her torso. He added wind chakra to his attack, which caused the jinchurikki to soar high into the air.

Perhaps this had been a mistake. As she flew through the air, Yugito opened her mouth and numerous black and white orbs of chakra suddenly gathered around her. The orbs quickly combined into a single black sphere with white light shrouding it. Yugito chomped down on the orb, which caused her stomach to expand, but then she opened her mouth and released an attack in the form of a massive burst of energy that threatened to destroy more than just their battlefield.

Just as it looked like Naruto would have to do something drastic, a massive red barrier appeared in front of the bijuudama. A loud rumble made the air vibrate as the bijuudama exploded against the barrier. However, the worst of the effects were blocked.

"Well, now. This is problematic," Akane said as she stepped out from between a pair of trees.

"Not really," Naruto said. "I could have blocked that as well."

"That's not what I meant." At that moment, Yugito fell back onto the ground, her heavy landing causing the ground to crater. In her version 2 state, Naruto couldn't even see her eyes. They were just white. "That girl is under the influence of a very powerful and very subtle genjutsu."

"What?!"

Naruto's surprised shout caused Yugito to release a fierce roar that made the very air molecules vibrate. Gritting his teeth, he shielded himself from the effects by generating a wind barrier. However, that was when Yugito burst off the ground and charged straight at him.

"I can probably release her from the genjutsu, but you have to knock her out of that version 2 state. If you can knock her unconscious, that will be even better."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Naruto shouted as Yugito slammed into him. He gnashed his teeth together as he locked hands with Yugito and tried not to let her push him back. However, momentum was on her side. His feet skidded along the ground as his knees buckled from the intense pressure of the woman's charge. "Snap out of it, Yugi! I said… SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Naruto surged chakra through his body, lifted Yugito into the air, and slammed her into the ground. However, this didn't seem to do any damage. The woman opened her mouth and prepared to fire a bijuudama at point blank range.

I guess I've got no choice.

He hadn't used his hybrid form in a while. To be honest, he was a bit afraid to since it looked like Yami became stronger when he used it. What if he activated his hybrid form and Yami came back? He didn't want that. However, in this situation, there wasn't anything he could do. He had no choice.

Naruto could feel the change taking place as he activated his hybrid form. His muscles became stronger, his eyesight became better, and he knew that his body was undergoing an intense physical transformation, even though he couldn't see it.

With this newfound strength, Naruto slammed Yugito into the ground, disrupting her ability to create a bijuudama. As she struggled to get up, Naruto stomped on her head to keep her down. A crater formed under her. Raising a fist, Naruto channeled as much chakra as he dared into it, and then brought it down on Yugito's lower back.

"HA!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHhhhh!"

Yugito unleashed a monstrous scream. However, as the scream continued, it became more and more human. Even as he remained there, his fist embedded into her lower back, the dark layer of chakra receded, revealing soft white skin underneath. A second after the transformation had ended, Yugito's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she went limp.

Waiting for a moment, Naruto slowly rolled the woman onto her back. As he knelt next to her, he pressed a finger against her neck, checking her pulse. It was steady. Next he closed her eyes and gestured for Akane.

"You said you could undo the genjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Akane knelt as well and placed a hand over Yugito's head. "I have first-hand experience with this kind of genjutsu. Just leave it to me."

As he wondered what she meant by that, Akane channeled chakra into Yugito and closed her eyes.

XoX

Akane glanced around at the dark space she'd found herself in. She wrinkled her nose as the scent of wilted flowers and dead grass greeted her. Taking a step forward, she grimaced as her bare foot crunched against what felt like dried up vegetation and dead soil.

The area she'd found herself in looked like an alpine prairie gone wrong; it was like a wasteland that had once held a beautiful splendor. Numerous rolling hills greeted her vision. Had they been covered in grass and flowers, they might have been scenic, but covered as they were in dead flora that had long since withered, the scene before her was more like something out of a nightmare.

Given that she had no idea where to go, Akane began wandering in a random direction, using her feelings and senses to guide her. She traveled over hills, passed gnarled trees that were every bit as dead as the grass beneath her feet, and wandered alongside a dried up river bed through which water no longer flowed.

She eventually stumbled upon a person. They were crouched on the ground by a dead tree, their knees curled into their chest, hugging their knees to themselves as they buried their face between them. Even from far away, she could see how this girl's shoulders shook.

"Excuse me, little one," Akane said. However, the moment she spoke, the girl's head snapped up. Cat-like eyes stared at her, wide in fear. Before she could so much as take another step forward, the girl leapt to her feet and bolted off, disappearing into a forest of dead trees.

Akane sighed as she watched the girl take off. Great. Now she had to chase the girl.

Wandering into the forest, Akane sniffed with distaste at all the dead plants surrounding her. She tried to ignore the way dead grass, flowers, and leaves crumpled beneath her. The sound was grating. Not only that, but the sensation they left on her feet was gross. If she didn't hate the idea of footwear, she'd have worn sandals at least.

It wasn't very hard to find the girl. She couldn't hide her presence well. Akane found her huddled behind a tree, crouching low and covering her face with her hands as though that would keep herself from being found.

"I'm not here to hurt you, you know."

The girl squeaked as she spoke. Bright eyes stared at her in fear before flicking around as though trying to find another hiding spot to run to. However, now Akane had her trapped against the tree. There was no way she could escape now.

Akane wasn't one for gentle smiles, so she didn't bother to give one as she stared into the frightened child's eye. This girl had blonde hair like Yugito, and the same cat-like eyes, but her body was immature. At a guess, she would have put her age at somewhere around 11 or 12 years old.

"Is your name Yugito?" asked Akane. Still wide-eyed, Yugito silently nodded. "I see. That's good. I'm here to help you." While Yugito tilted her head as though she didn't understand, Akane subtly frowned. "It looks like you're only a small piece of Yugito Nii, perhaps her youth or maybe part of a memory from a long time ago. I wonder where the rest of you is…"

As if her words had jolted the young Yugito, the girl stood to her feet and grabbed Akane's arm. She tugged on it.

"Are you telling me you know where the rest of you is?"

Yugito didn't say anything. She nodded and tugged harder.

Deciding there was no harm in following this girl, Akane stood up and let the young Yugito drag her through the forest. Now that she had a more clear understanding of the person pulling her, she also understood more about this place and why it looked like this.

"This is inside of the seal, but thanks to the genjutsu affecting Yugito and Nibi, it's become rather desolate." Akane hummed as she wandered past a tree whose dead bark was flaking and chipped. "Without Nibi and Yugito to maintain the seal together, this place is falling apart. It could also be a good indication of her mental state."

The young Yugito looked confused. She was definitely the immature side of Yugito, which had never grown up. Akane doubted this child understood what she was talking about.

"Well, let's not worry about that and find the rest of you."

Yugito nodded emphatically as she led Akane further into the forest.

It didn't take long before they reached the mouth of a large cage, which Akane could tell even at a glance was bad news. The cave was dark. There also seemed to be an ominous presence hanging in the air.

"Yugito is in here?" asked Akane. The young Yugito nodded.

Left with little choice but to travel inside, Akane and young Yugito stepped into the cave and were soon wandering through it. Water dripped from the ceiling. It echoed all around them as they walked. The damp air made Akane feel oily as moisture clung to her skin and clothing. Dang it. Had this been her seal, she could have changed this so she didn't feel the humid moisture. It was even worse because this cave was so cold.

Akane let young Yugito lead her as they traveled through the rounded passages of the cave. She had noticed it already, but this gave had a slight decline. They were traveling down. Would they find Yugito and Nibi at the end of this?

The area up ahead began glowing. Yugito pressed herself against Akane as though afraid. She frowned at the girl, but then she looked at the glow and realized they were coming to the end.

A fairly massive, cavernous space spread out before them as they reached the end of the tunnel, stretching out for several dozen meters at least. There were several crystals located throughout the cave that dimly glowed. In the center of this cave was Yugito and Nibi.

They looked like they had seen better days.

Yugito was suspended in the air by a series of chains, which wrapped around her like a psychopath's idea of bondage. The chains held her arms above her head, bound her breasts, wrapped around her legs, and even went between her thighs. While her eyes were open, they were also dim. The lights were on but nobody was home.

Nibi was in even worse shape. Her fur had grown bristly and tough. Bright yellow eyes glared at anything and everything as she hissed, a feral sound that caused young Yugito to hide behind Akane in fright. The giant, two-tailed cat prowled around Yugito like a guard dog.

"I see," Akane murmured. "The genjutsu has locked away Yugito's mind, which has made Nibi revert back to her normal behavior before she was sealed. What to do? What to do? I suppose I will just have to defeat her before undoing the genjutsu." She pushed young Yugito off her. "You stay here while I rescue those two."

Akane didn't wait to see how young Yugito responded. She stepped into the cave proper, alerting Nibi to her presence.

The giant cat hissed at her as it crouched low, though describing it like that was something of a misnomer. Since the Nibi was so huge, "crouching low" was impossible from a human standpoint, but the massive cat was definitely getting ready to pounce on her.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" asked Akane as she strolled forward without a care in the world. "If that's the case, then come over and show me what you can do."

Akane wasn't really a fighter. Of course she had overwhelming amounts of power as the Kyuubi, but she preferred not to fight because fighting was barbaric and something stupid humans did. She took greater pride in her ability to manipulate the emotions and thoughts of others. That said, it wasn't like she couldn't fight.

As the Nibi leapt at her with a vicious and feral growl, Akane held out her hands and channeled her chakra. Power crackled between her hands as a small red orb appeared. It didn't look like much, but then she tossed it at Nibi, striking the giant cat right in the face. The orb exploded with enough power to throw the cat backward. Even Akane found her feet skidding across the cavern floor as the force of the detonation pushed her back.

Nibi landed on the ground with a loud crash. It didn't stay down for long. With a hissing sound, it stood up and opened its mouth, getting ready to unleash a Bijuudama.

"Oh, no you don't."

Mimicking what she'd seen Naruto do thousands of times, Akane channeled chakra into her feet and exploded forward. It was almost like she had teleported. One second she was several meters from her foe, and the next she was directly underneath Nibi, punching the cat with a powerful uppercut that caused its jaw to snap shut.

Crouching down, Akane sent all nine of her tails toward Nibi, wrapping one around her muzzle, one around her neck, one around her body, another around her two tails, and then binding up her legs with the rest. Nibi fell to the floor with a powerful thud that shook the cavern. It struggled to break free from Akane's bondage, but her tails were more powerful than they looked. Akane then channeled chakra through her tails and created powerful bindings that remained even after she retracted them. Nibi struggled some more, but there'd be no escaping from that, at least for a little while.

"Now then."

With that nuisance taken care of, Akane wandered up to the still bound Yugito, stopping in front of the woman and studying her closely.

It didn't look like Yugito was aware of her presence at all. She waved a hand in front of the woman's face, but she got no response. Not even poking her cheek gave her a response. Frowning, Akane cupped Yugito's left boob and gave it several firm squeezes, but still there was nothing. The woman didn't even so much as twitch.

"This genjutsu is exceedingly powerful," she muttered. "It reminds me eerily of the genjutsu that had been used to control me and make me attack Konoha. Does that mean the person who cast it is the same one who got me?"

Akane didn't know, and she couldn't remember how the genjutsu that had forced her to attack Konoha worked, so she had no conclusive evidence pointing toward the person who attacked her and the one who attacked Yugito as being the same person. All she had was a hunch.

Something tugged on her sleeve. She glanced down at the young Yugito, who stared up at her with an imploring gaze.

"Yes, yes. Do not worry. I will break the genjutsu now."

Releasing a soft sigh, Akane grabbed the chains and unleashed a strong surge of destructive chakra through her hands. The chains became a burning red before, like glass being shattered by a strong punch, the chains broke apart and faded away. Yugito fell forward without anything holding her. Akane grunted as the jinchurikki's face landed on her chest, but she wrapped her arms around the girl and gently lowered her to the floor.

"I believe it is time I left this place," Akane said as her body started to fade.

As she disappeared, the little girl waved goodbye with a bright smile on her face.

"Thank you, Miss!"

Feeling her own lips curl into an involuntary smile, Akane waved as she faded from view.

XoX

The command tent had never been this crowded before. Naruto had removed the table so all of them could stand together. With him were several prominent figures, including a man named Chojuro and Zabuza, the two ninja in charge of Kirigakure's forces, which consisted of 250 ninja. There was also Kakashi and Akane, along with Darui, who was currently bound in chains as he stood between him and Akane.

"What's going to happen now?" asked Darui. "My ninja and I have surrendered. Do you plan on keeping us as prisoners of war, or killing us?"

"I personally vote for killing you," Zabuza said, and even though his face was covered in bandages, Naruto could the see the bloodthirsty leer in his eyes.

"We don't plan on killing you or your ninja right now," Kakashi said. "Naruto here believes someone manipulated you guys into attacking Konoha."

"Manipulating us?" Darui frowned. "That… isn't impossible."

"You think someone could be manipulating the Raikage?" asked Naruto.

Darui sighed but nodded. "Something seemed off about the Raikage when he told us we were going to war with Konoha. It wasn't just the order itself that was strange. While there was no outward change in how Lord A acted, I know how much the alliance with Konoha meant to him."

"That genjutsu on Yugito is also a strong indicator that someone is pushing events behind the scenes," Akane added. "It is very similar to the one that was cast on me and made me attack Konoha."

At these words, everyone turned to look at the redhead. Akane was still wearing her usual clothes and refused to wear shoes. Her ears and tails were currently hidden under a genjutsu like usual.

"Who are you again?" asked Zabuza.

"Someone who has a lot more power and experience than you," Akane replied with a smile .

"Tch!" Zabuza's left hand twitched as if longing to pull his sword from his back, but he resisted and eventually settled down. "Sounds like you picked up a rather troublesome woman, brat."

Naruto shrugged. "I like my women troublesome."

Zabuza snorted. "I'll bet."

"The only concern I have is that I can't figure out who would be able to manipulate Lord A like this," Darui said, getting their conversation back on track. "It can't be one of our ninja, but if it isn't, then it means our security is incredibly faulty. There's also the fact that Lord A is the strongest shinobi in our village. I can't imagine someone being able to manipulate him."

"You should," Zabuza said. "Our last Mizukage was being controlled by someone from the shadows. Even now, we don't know who, but whoever it was, they were able to cast a powerful genjutsu over Yagura. While we have no clear evidence, we have a strong reason to suspect whoever had done it was an Uchiha."

"Was Yagura a jinchurikki?" asked Akane.

Zabuza glanced at her, and then nodded. "He was."

"Then an Uchiha could very easily have manipulated him if they had the Mangekyo Sharingan." Akane wrinkled her nose as though smelling something distasteful. "There was a man long ago named Madara who was able to manipulate even the Kyuubi, forcing her under his yoke and making her attack the First Hokage. I would not be surprised if the person who made me attack Konoha was also an Uchiha."

As she spoke, Akane's hands had clenched themselves into fists. She bit her lip, blood welling up and dripping down her chin as her strong emotions boiled over. An intense aura enveloped her. The others backed away from the red chakra bubbling from her body, all of them except Naruto, who grabbed her hand and rubbed it. Akane took several deep breaths and calmed down.

"Are you…" Zabuza muttered, but Kakashi cut him off.

"I don't know if there are any Uchiha left who can manipulate someone like that… except maybe Itachi." Kakashi's one eye narrowed in thought. "We haven't heard anything about him in a while, though. We also haven't been able to find Sasuke."

"Do you… think it's one of them?" asked Chojuro. "The one manipulating the Raikage and who cast the genjutsu on Yugito?"

He was a short man and not very muscular. His tufty blue hair and dark eyes also lent him a meek quality, which contrasted with his pointed, shark-like teeth; a common trait among the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He wore a pair of square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors. Meanwhile, his outfit consisted of a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage patterned pants. Strapped to his back was a massive sword wrapped in bandages.

"I don't think it's Sasuke," Kakashi said with a frown. "He doesn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan, and to get it, you need to experience a strong loss. The intense emotional trauma from losing the person you cherish the most is the trigger to unlocking the Mangekyo. Given that Sasuke doesn't really have anyone he treasures, I can't see him ever unlocking it." He paused. "That said, Itachi does have the Mangekyo Sharingan. He might be able to cast a genjutsu strong enough to manipulate the Raikage and Yugito, but Akatsuki has gone silent and we don't know where he is."

Everyone grew contemplative at his words. Naruto glanced at the others as he thought about the situation. It was obvious they needed to do something. However, it was equally obvious that they didn't have enough information about what was happening to make a decision. That said…

"I think right now we should focus on the Raikage," Naruto said. Everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Darui.

"If the Raikage really is being controlled by a genjutsu, then our first priority should be breaking it," Naruto elaborated. "If we do that, then whoever was manipulating him should reveal themselves once they realize their plan has failed."

"That, or they will just go underground," Zabuza said. He crossed his arms. "A person who manipulates others like this isn't likely to reveal themselves when their plan fails. When our current Mizukage killed Yagura, the person manipulating him from the shadows never showed themselves. The only reason we even knew Yagura was being controlled is because the medical division found trace amounts of foreign chakra centered around his brain."

Naruto shrugged. "That is also a possibility. However, we currently have no way of figuring out who is doing this anyway. If we don't do something, then nothing will change."

"True." Zabuza nodded at his point.

"Then what do you propose?" asked Kakashi.

"I propose sneaking into Kumogakure and confronting the Raikage directly," Naruto said, wearing a fox-like grin.

Everyone looked at Naruto like he was crazy, but then Zabuza began laughing. He held a hand to his gut and laughed so hard tears appeared in his eyes.

"You're a riot, brat! That's the most audacious plan I've ever heard! Then again, I'm not much better!"

"You do realize how dangerous that is, right?" asked Kakashi. "First of all, how would you even get into Kumo? Second, even if you did sneak into Kumo, you would still have to find a way to confront the Raikage, who will be surrounded by numerous elite ninja. Then there's the Raikage himself. I know how powerful you are, Naruto, but the Raikage isn't someone you can just confront."

Nodding as he listened to Kakashi, Naruto waited until the man was finished to speak. "Those are all valid points. I won't deny any of them. On my own, I'm probably not strong enough to confront the Raikage and all of his ninja. That's why I won't be going alone. I'll sneak a team of us inside, and we'll confront him together."

Kakashi still looked skeptical. Naruto didn't blame him. In fact, most of the people in the room looked like they couldn't figure out what he was planning. The only one who didn't look like he'd gone off the deep end was Akane, whose eyes shone with a knowing light. She probably knew what his plan was.

"Okay…" Zabuza began in a voice that was skeptical but humoring at the same time. "Let's say I go along with his idea, how do you plan on sneaking yourself and a squadron of ninja into Kumo?"

"Sneaking a squadron in will be easy." Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out a scroll. "This is a summoning scroll. It's very simple to use. We connect the seal in this scroll to a summoning seal that I made based off the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. It will automatically summon whoever is standing in the summoning seal, and it can summon up to six people at any given time."

Everyone stared at the scroll that Naruto was holding like they couldn't believe what they were hearing, but it wasn't like this was a complicated technique. There were plenty of summoning and space-time ninjutsu that could accomplish the same thing. Of course, space-time ninjutsu were, in and of themselves, rather complicated jutsu. The summoning jutsu was also something that only a few people in the world understood.

"Okay. That tells us how you plan on sneaking everyone else in, but who is going to take the scroll into Kumo and summon everyone?" Kakashi asked as he crossed his arms. It looked like he was willing to go along with this plan.

Naruto tilted his head. "Isn't that obvious?" Raising a hand, Naruto pointed at Darui, who suddenly wore an expression Naruto would have expected from a person staring down a fire dragon jutsu. "Darui is going to do it."

XoX

It was later at night and the details for the coming operation to infiltrate Kumo had been worked out. Naruto relieved the two guards entered the extra tent that had been prepared for Yugito. They had originally put her in the hospital, but since she wasn't injured and just unconscious, they decided to move her into another tent.

Yugito was still unconscious when he entered. She'd been that way since Akane had undone the genjutsu on her. According to the ancient being, the genjutsu had been so powerful that the backlash to being broken had forced her mind to shut down.

Sitting before the sleeping bag that Yugito was resting on, Naruto stared at the woman's face and wondered how long it would take for her to wake up. Akane hadn't been able to give him an estimated time. According to her, it depended on Yugito's own mental dexterity and strength.

As he sat there, Naruto allowed his mind to wander. He thought about the upcoming mission. Darui had agreed to it, though not everyone trusted him. They'd been forced to modify the plan a bit to accommodate for that lack of trust, but Naruto couldn't say he was dissatisfied with the end result. The only real issue was whether or not the Raikage really was being manipulated. If he was, then that was good, but if he wasn't… well, Naruto didn't want to think about what would happen should that be the case.

"Nnnn…"

Naruto looked down as Yugito's eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking several times as they tried to focus on something.

"Finally awake, Neko-chan?" asked Naruto.

His voice must have startled her. She glanced at him with wide eyes, but soon settled down. However, just as quickly as this change took place, another change came over her.

"Naruto…"

"What's wrong?" asked Naruto. "Why do you look like you're seconds away from crying."

Yugito sniffled and turned her head. "I'm sorry."

After a prolonged pause, Naruto ran a hand through his hair and released a deep breath. "I'm guessing you are aware of everything that happened while you were under that genjutsu?" Yugito nodded. "Can you tell me who placed it you under it?"

Yugito shook her head. "While I remember what that person looked like, I'm sure it wasn't their real face."

"So they were under disguise." Naruto bit his thumb and thought for a moment. "Can you at least tell me what happened?"

"I can do that," Yugito said softly before informing him of what happened when she returned to Kumogakure.

According to her story, upon returning to Kumo, she had been called to the Raikage's office, where Kirabi, the Raikage, and another man who she didn't recognize had been waiting. The man had been very nondescript, literally the kind of person most people wouldn't look at twice. However, when she entered, Kirabi and the Raikage had pinned her down, and the person who didn't look like much had cast a genjutsu on her, which didn't just force her to obey every order the Raikage had given but was so much more than that.

"It made me think I absolutely had to follow those orders, no matter how wrong I knew they were," Yugito said as she looked at her hands. "Not only that, but when the Raikage gave me an order, I didn't even question whether it was right or wrong."

"That sounds like a pretty powerful genjutsu," Naruto admitted. "Was there anything else about it that you remember?"

"Yes." Yugito nodded. "There is one important thing that I remember. The person who had cast the genjutsu had a doujutsu I had never seen before. It was red like the Sharingan, but there was a pattern inside of his eyes instead of the typical tomoe. It looked like a star pattern with a three-sided shuriken inside. It was… very odd."

Naruto didn't know much about doujutsu outside of the Sharingan and Byakugan, and he didn't know much about those Kekkei Genkai either. Was this a new doujutsu, or was it a variation of the Sharingan? Maybe it was that Mangekyo Sharingan that Akane and Kakashi had been talking about.

"I'll tell Kakashi about it and see what he says," Naruto said.

"Okay," Yugito said softly. Naruto sighed as the woman looked at the hands in her lap. Reaching out, he flicked her forehead. "Ouch!"

"Stop moping," Naruto ordered.

Yugito rubbed the mark on her head and looked at him. "But I…"

"I don't want to hear it." Naruto cut her off. "We've finally met again after a long time apart. This is supposed to be the happy reunion where you smile, tell me how much you missed me, and then I make passionate love to you."

Yugito gave him a wan smile. "You never let yourself get depressed over anything, do you?" she asked before pausing. Her face quickly morphed into something resembling shock. "Wait. Did you just say something about passionate love making?"

"I did." Naruto nodded. "It had been my plan for about a year now to seduce you the moment I got home from training with Jiraiya."

"I-is that so…?" Yugito looked down at her hands, but now instead of appearing depressed, there was a massive blush staining her cheeks.

Naruto leaned over to look at her, but when she turned her head to avoid making eye contact, he leaned back.

"Do you not want me to?" he asked.

"It… it isn't that I don't want you to," Yugito admitted. "It's just… embarrassing."

"So I should seduce you?" Naruto asked.

Yugito squirmed a bit as she continued to avoid looking directly at him, though she was glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"I… wouldn't mind it if you did…"

"That's good. It would have seriously sucked if I couldn't do this."

Since she had given her permission, more or less, Naruto placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her face so she was forced to look at him. Then he kissed her. There was no subtlety to his kiss. He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers, enjoying the way they felt regardless of how chapped her lips were.

"Mmm… hrrnnnn…"

Yugito eventually kissed back after the initial shock had worn off. However, Naruto pulled back. She looked at him, unsure, but he just smiled.

"Do you mind if I take things further?" he asked. Yugito stared at him for a long moment, and then slowly nodded. "Good."

Naruto went back to kissing her, but this time, he probed the entrance of her mouth with his tongue. Yugito didn't seem to understand what he wanted at first, but then she opened her mouth and allowed him inside. Her mouth was warm. As his tongue became encased in the warmth of her mouth, he took great pleasure in stirring up the saliva between them and playing with her tongue. The cute meowls Yugito made as he kissed her were just a bonus.

Yugito was only wearing a shirt and shinobi pants. It was easy for Naruto to slip his hand underneath her shirt. A low meowling escaped Yugito's mouth as he placed a hand on her stomach and slowly worked his way up, consequently causing her shirt to rise as well. It did not take long for Naruto to reach her breasts. He cupped the one furthest from him, the right, and kneaded it between his fingers. Her nipple quickly stiffened underneath his touch.

"Ha… nya… Nyaruto…" Yugito said, mixing his name with a cat-like meow.

"Ohhh. I like the way you said my name just now," Naruto muttered as he stopped kissing her and began licking her neck.

"Ah! W-wait! I'm all smelly from fighting and haven't taken a bath!"

"I don't mind." Naruto placed his tongue against her skin and licked her all the way up to her ear. His actions elicited a shiver. "Actually, I really like your scent."

A deep scarlet color appeared on her neck and face as Naruto proceeded to lick and playfully bite her. Yugito could do nothing but squirm and release soft noises like a cat being pampered. He couldn't be sure, but he was almost positive she was purring.

"Let's take this off," Naruto suggested as he grabbed her shirt in both hands. Yugito shyly raised her hands above her head and allowed him to remove it. She then laid down as Naruto moved to straddle her. He took off his own shirt, and then lowered his torso until their noses were touching. "That's better."

As Naruto kissed Yugito again, he reached out and started fondling her breasts. Her nipples had grown fairly stiff, so Naruto pinched them and gave them a firm tug. Yugito cried out into his mouth as her body bucked against him.

Since he wanted more, Naruto stopped playing with her breasts and kissing her. Instead he attacked her nipples with his mouth, swirling his tongue around them, giving them playful nips, and tugging on them with his teeth. This was their first time together, so he tried to figure out what she liked by listening to her voice and body.

"Nya! Ahn! Nya! Nyaruto! Your tongue! Don't flick my nipples with your tongue like that! I'm gonna lose my mind!"

So that's it…

Naruto quickly flicked her nipple between his tongue, back and forth several times. Yugito's body jerked as though she had muscle spasms. Her nipple was quite engorged. It was hard and pointed and was even pulsing. It shuddered against him when Naruto sucked it into his mouth and continued flicking it.

As he paid homage to her breasts, switching from one to the other, Naruto slipped his hand inside of Yugito's pants. Her panties were wet. They weren't drenched, but there was a definite damp spot where her pussy was located. Naruto almost snorted as the thought that he was about to pet Yugito's pussy entered his mind. He held himself back, but just barely.

"NYAAA! NYYOOOTT THERE!"

Yugito's loud cry made him realize everyone in camp must know what was happening by now. There was no way to mask that cry. Yugito herself began twitching as he rubbed her slit over her panties. The damp spot quickly became even more wet, until it clung to her plump lips.

"You know, I've always wondered what you tasted like," Naruto said as he stopped playing with her nipples and moved back. He slid her pants off, leaving her in just panties. He placed his hands on her knees, which were currently closed, and looked at her with a dazzling grin. "Mind if I have a taste?"

Yugito flushed from the roots of her hair down to her chest. Her breasts were jiggling as she breathed deeply several times. She covered her face with her hands, completely embarrassed, but she still nodded.

Once more receiving her permission, Naruto moved her legs apart and leaned down. He pulled her sopping panties away from her skin, and then pushed it to the side, revealing her pussy. Aside from glistening with a coating of sweat and love juices, her plump lips were completely smooth and had obviously never received a man before. He wondered if she had even played with herself.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said.

"Don't you Itadakimasu me, you—Nya! Nya nya nyaaaaaaa!"

Yugito nearly smothered Naruto as he pressed his mouth to her nether lips and penetrated her folds with his tongue. She thrust her hips against him so hard that his nose grazed against her hood. Realizing she was reacting more strongly than he'd expected, Naruto grabbed her hips and lifted her until he was on his knees. From this position, Naruto could see her snatch, breasts, and face as he dined on her.

"Ah! Nya! Nyaaaaa! What is this feeling?! Is this what sex is supposed to feel like! Nyaa! So good! It's soo good!"

Yugito's words, moans, and meowls encouraged Naruto as he ate her out, lapping up all of the nectar she released with his tongue. She tasted kind of citrusy. He wondered if that had something to do with her diet, but he wasn't sure. To be honest, he kind of expected her to taste like milk or something, but he also knew she enjoyed eating a lot of citrusy fruits.

"Nyaruto! Something is coming! It's building up! I feel like I'm going to explode! I'm… I'm going to cum!"

Hearing that, Naruto pulled back just a bit so he could peel her lips apart and work out her clit. He quickly went to work, sucking the small bundle into his mouth and stimulating her with his tongue. Yugito screamed as her upper body jerked and shuddered. Her hips would have too, but Naruto had a tight grip on those. An increased flow of juices surged into Naruto's mouth as Yugito shuddered and screamed until, all at once, her body became limp and pliant.

Naruto gently set Yugito's hips and legs back on the ground. He took a moment to lean back and admire the young woman as she basked in what he was guessing had been her first orgasm. Her skin was flushed a healthy shade of red. Covered in sweat, it glistened in the low lighting provided by the lamp a few meters away. Her face had also become quite a mess. Her eyes were glazed over, sweat beaded along her forehead, and drool was leaking from her mouth.

"Nya… Nya… ha…"

As Yugito came down from her high, Naruto rolled the woman over until she was on her stomach. She had an absolutely luscious backside. Her back muscles were slender, but her ass was firm and had well-defined muscles as well. As he grabbed her hips and lifted her butt so he could position himself near her entrance, Yugito looked back at him.

"N-Nyaruto?" she questioned.

"Is this position okay?" asked Naruto. "Sorry. Did you want me to do this in a different position?"

"N-nyo," Yugito's speech slipped. "This position is fine."

"Okay. Then I'm going in."

"Um… um… please be gentle."

"I will."

Naruto took a deep breath before slowly pushing his cock into Yugito's love canal. He groaned when her lips parted around him. Yugito also groaned, though again it sounded more like a cat's meow. As a virgin, she was really tight, and that was made even worse by her being a jinchurikki. Also, perhaps because she was a jinchurikki with an incredible healing factor, her hymen was intact.

"Yugito," Naruto said.

"H-hmm?" asked Yugito.

"This is probably gonna hurt."

"I-I know."

Naruto retracted his dick just a little, waited for several seconds, and then pushed himself back in. He broke through her hymen quickly. However, Yugito cried out in pain as a result.

A frown crossed his face as tears leaked from Yugito's eyes. He realized only now that this position was no good for their first time. He couldn't hold her or lean over and wipe her tears away. However, even as he thought that, Yugito soon settled down and wiggled her butt against him.

"Y-you can move now," she muttered.

"Oh. Right. Then here we go."

Keeping a firm grip on her hips, Naruto began thrusting into her at a slow pace, though he increased his speed when Yugito asked him to. Her walls were incredibly warm and wet, and the way they pulsed around his dick caused him to bite his lip.

His speed apparently wasn't enough for her. Yugito soon began timing his thrusts and thrusting her butt back against him, creating a loud, wet slapping sound as their skin came together. This increased the friction between his shaft and her rigid interior, enhancing the sensations rushing through him.

"Nyaaa… so good… this position… what is this? W-why… why does this feel so good?!"

"I-I think it's because you're the Nibi's jinchurikki," Naruto grunted as he tried to keep up with Yugito. She was increasing the speed of her butt thrusts, and it was making it hard for him to concentrate.

"W-what does that have to—nya! What's that got to do with anything?!"

"Well, you know. Cats are animals and stuff, so a position like this would obviously be their favorite."

"Nibi isn't a normal caaaAAAATTTTT! NYAAAA!"

Yugito's spine arced as Naruto stroked a spot near her lower back, exactly where her back and butt met. Her reaction allowed him to lean down and reach around her. He grabbed her breasts and firmly groped them as he pulled them both back.

"W-what the—Nya! This is—this! I can't! Nya!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he fell onto his back but continued to thrust inside of her. This new position was sending all kinds of crazy sensations through his cock. As he fought against his own impending orgasm, he began a coordinated assault on her neck and shoulder, adding a third manner of attack to the previously two-way assault.

"I'm gonna lose my mind! I—nya! This is—it's too much! Nyaruto! It's way too much! I can't… can't… I—I'm gonna cum!"

"T-then hurry up and cum," Naruto grunted. "I'm not gonna last much longer either."

"Ah! Nya. Nya. Nya! I… I… I'm cuuuUUMMING!"

Naruto groaned as Yugito's walls tightened around him as though sucking the life out of him. He couldn't fight even if he wanted to. He unleashed his load inside of her.

"I-IT'S POURING INTO ME!"

His actions only increased the power of Yugito's orgasm, causing her thighs to twitch, spasm, and tighten before relaxing again. As she fell on top of him, Naruto grunted. She was heavier now that she was dead weight, but he didn't roll her off him and let the woman take several deep breaths.

"You okay, Yugito?" asked Naruto after several seconds of silence.

"N-Nyaruto…" She still sounded like a cat. "That was… that was… nya…"

He felt his lips twitch. "Is 'nya' good?"

"Yes. Very good…"

"I'm glad."

Yugito eventually recovered enough to move off him. The sleeping bag was a mess, so she didn't crawl under it. Naruto unsealed an extra from his scroll, and the two of them snuggled underneath that.

Perhaps because this was her first time, Yugito fell asleep barely a minute later, but Naruto remained awake. They were lying on their sides and facing each other. He had a perfect view of her adorable sleeping face. He reached out and tenderly moved a bang that had fallen into her face behind her ear. Yugito smiled as she nuzzled against his hand.

"I forgot to tell her about the mission I'm going on tomorrow." Naruto yawned and closed her eyes. "Oh, well. I'll tell her… tomorrow…"

In the waning hours of the morning, Naruto fell into a fitful sleep.

He would be incredibly grumpy when Akane came to wake him up several hours later.

I'm not sure how many more chapters this fanfic is going to have. I know the basic plan, but I like to play my writing by ear. The next chapter will be the infiltration into Kumo and subsequent battle against the Raikage. I hope all of you are looking forward to it.

I know I mention this a lot, but if you want to speak to me, your best bet is to follow me either on Twitter or Facebook. I don't respond to private messages anymore since so many people message me for the same reason: asking when I plan on updating X story, demanding that I update X story, or telling me I should accept their writing challenge. My twitter profile is BrandonBVarnell, while my Facebook is AmericanKitsune.