63

Chapter 63

Rebuilding

Naruto woke up to find himself in a strangely enviable position. With a soft pillow against his head, he craned his neck to the left and looked at the blonde woman whose hair, normally done in a series of four braided ponytails, slept soundly against his shoulder. Then he looked in the other direction, at the cute brunette who slept peacefully, eyes closed and mouth parted. Finally, he looked down. Akane and Yugito were sleeping on his chest, somehow able to curl around each other on top of him. They were kind of heavy, but he would never tell them that out loud.

As the warmth from four beauties surrounded him, Naruto slowly gathered his thoughts, which were muddled from the body heat emitting from the naked bodies enclosing on him on all sides like a cocoon.

A month had passed since Orochimaru manipulated Iwa and Kumo into attacking Konoha. One month since he had attacked the village, put Tsunade into a coma, and killed a man called Danzo. Repairs to the damaged infrastructure had been completed. The village itself now looked as it always had. However, the loss of life could not be masked.

So many people had died in the attack from Oto that numerous buildings now lay abandoned. The old bakery that Naruto would buy bread from no longer had its baker. A small shop selling musical instruments had lost all of its employees and was now vacant. Apartment buildings, houses, condominiums… all vacant because the people who used to live there were gone.

Naruto had been working himself to the bone, contacting all of the individuals in Jiraiya's spy network, which he was now maintaining, in order to locate Orochimaru. It was a slow going process. Communication with the network was done through code. While Naruto had been taught how to decode messages from each person, it took him longer than it would have if Jiraiya had been the one doing it.

Tsunade still hadn't woken up. That said, they had at least discovered the means through which Orochimaru had implanted moles into Konoha. Chakra needles with powerful seals were embedded into the spinal column. These needles redirected signals sent to and from the brain, overriding the brain's commands and sending their own commands to the body, allowing the one who made the seal to control a person. It was like puppetry without the use of chakra strings.

As a side note, the needles were destroyed when a person died, which was why Inoichi Yamanaka had missed them the first time around.

As Naruto let these thoughts wash over him, a soft groan alerted him to one of the girls waking up. He looked over and saw Temari slowly blinking her eyes.

"Morning," he said softly.

"Good morning." Temari smiled as she kissed him, but then she pulled back, and sat up. Heedless of the fact that her perky breasts were on display, she stretched her arms and groaned again. Naruto let himself admire the way her nipples stiffened from the chilly morning air. "I'm really sore. You were a beast last night."

"Er… sorry?"

Shaking her head, Temari smiled at his apology. "That was a compliment. I don't know any man who can have sex with four women at once."

"The benefit of Shadow Clones, I guess." Naruto shrugged. "Can you please help me wake up everyone else?"

"Sure." Temari graced him with an amused smile.

Naruto and Temari woke the other three women on their bed, and each one reacted similarly to Temari, expressing how sore they felt. Tenten was even walking with a pronounced limp. Fortunately, none of them seemed to blame him, which he guessed was good.

After taking a shower, getting dressed, and having a quick breakfast, Naruto and the others got a start on their day.

Temari was currently staying here with a token force from Suna. Gaara had expressed his concern given Konoha's state and ordered two hundred of his ninja to remain in Konoha. Likewise, as an expression of apology, the Raikage had sent one hundred of the ninja who'd helped repel Iwa to protect Konoha indefinitely. Yugito, Darui, Samui, Karui, and Omoi were a part of that group.

Since Temari and Yugito were needed at their respective posts, they left after giving him a kiss goodbye. Tenten and Akane, on the other hand, were staying with him. Tenten was even taking time off from her active ninja duties to help him.

"I'm guessing we have more letters to decode?" she asked as they were on their way to the Information and Receiving Centre.

"Yeah…" Naruto could not help but feel tired as he thought of the work ahead of them. A deep ache permeated his bones at the thought. He wanted to go back to sleep. "There are still several messages that need to be decoded."

"You mean several dozen." Akane shook her head. "That Jiraiya had a massive spy network. I've never been so sick of letters."

He gave her a graceless smile filled with his own annoyance. "You're not the only one."

Every day since Konoha's near destruction, Naruto had been sifting through reports sent to him from spies all across the Elemental Nations. He received numerous reports every day. The network his sensei had created was working overtime to send almost weekly reports on anything strange going on.

The Information and Receiving Centre was a modern structure that was four stories tall. Longer than it was wide, the building had stairs on the outside leading up. There were six stairs in total. The innermost stairs close to the main entrance where people who wanted to hire were received led to the second floor, while the second set immediately outside of those ones led to floor three. The last set of stairs led to the fourth floor.

Naruto, Akane, and Tenten headed to the fourth floor.

Several ninja were already present when they entered, but it looked like most of them were there to receive missions. Naruto greeted a few when they spoke up. However, his mind was currently focused on thinking of the tasks ahead of him.

His destination was not the mission receiving desk but the communication station. He walked up to the station in question, which an older ninja was manning. When the man saw him, a wry smile formed on his lips.

"Here for another load?" the old ninja asked.

Naruto almost groaned. "That's right."

"Wait just a second. The haul today is a bit bigger than usual."

Naruto grimaced as the man wandered over to the back and unlocked a container. He grabbed a small circular knob, pushed it in, turned it, and then pulled. The contained came out and the man hauled it over to the station. Looking at the container now revealed that it was square-shaped with rounded edges and filled to the brim with scrolls and letters.

"Here you are," the man said.

"Gee, thanks," Naruto mumbled as he lifted the box and wandered off with Akane and Tenten.

Since they weren't allowed to take these containers back home, Naruto, Akane, and Tenten journeyed into one of the unused rooms and sat down at a long table.

"All right," Naruto released a heavy sigh as he stared at the container. "Let's get to work."

"I'm not looking forward to this," Akane muttered in distaste as she grabbed a letter.

Tenten followed suit. "I'm not very good at decoding, but I can at least help sort them for you."

"Thanks."

Tenten and Akane were working together since they weren't as skilled at this as he was. Akane knew how to decode the letters thanks to Naruto, but Tenten was still learning.

All messages were written using a form of code. To solve the code, one would have to figure out what coding method was being used, and then use the corresponding decoding method to reveal the contents of the message.

Jiraiya had drilled all of the decoding methods his informants used into him, but that didn't make decoding them any easier. None of the messages had names attached to them. Naruto had no idea which letter had been sent by who. This meant that he had to apply each coding method to a message until he got a match, which meant decoding even one message could take anywhere from five minutes to an hour. There were, after all, over one hundred different decoding methods used by Jiraiya's informants.

Time passed slowly for them, but they eventually were able to finish decoding all the messages. Sadly, none of them contained the information they wanted. Orochimaru's whereabouts were still unknown.

"Well, that was useless," Akane mumbled as she stretched her arms.

"Orochimaru certainly knows how to hide," Tenten agreed. "No wonder he's called a snake."

Since they were finished decoding, Naruto, Akane, and Tenten stopped to get lunch before heading off to the training ground. They weren't eating at Ichirakus this time. Akane and Tenten had vetoed his proposition before he'd even had a chance to propose it. The restaurant they ate at today was owned by the Akimichi Clan.

This restaurant specialized in sukiyaki, a hot pot dish that consisted of thinly sliced beef, which was slowly cooked or simmered, alongside vegetables and other ingredients. As such, there was a large pot in the center of this table. A cooking unit underneath the pot caused the ingredients to simmer inside, releasing steam from which the scent of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin wafted.

"I wonder where he could be," Naruto pondered out loud as he leaned against the booth. "Jiraiya's informants are spread all across the Elemental Nations. They're literally located in every country. Surely with all these people, one of them would be able to find information on such a powerful individual."

"It looks like Orochimaru has abandoned a lot of his bases, though," Akane pointed out. "We've already ransacked several and found nothing."

While Akane said "we", she was really talking about the Anbu. After discovering the location of several bases used by Orochimaru, Kakashi had sent out a team of Anbu to infiltrate sixteen bases that had been discovered by Jiraiya's informants. Sadly, all of them had turned up empty. According to the teams sent out, each one had been completely cleaned out, leaving no trace of Orochimaru.

"This is beginning to feel like a pointless endeavor," Naruto said.

"In that case, maybe we should do something different." Akane placed her hands on the table and eyed Naruto as she and Tenten sat across from him. "I've been meaning to bring this up, but I think it's about time you confronted Yami."

Her words startled him, causing Naruto to close his eyes and take a slow, shuddering breath. "Why do you say that?"

Akane gave him a look that all but screamed, "don't try to play ignorant."

"Naruto, even if you did find Orochimaru, as you are right now, you do not have the strength to defeat him," she said. "According to the Raikage, Orochimaru now has a Mangekyo Sharingan. If that is true, not only is he going to be a great deal more powerful than he used to be, but my abilities will also be limited. For whatever reason, that blasted eye has the ability to subjugate me, so I won't be of much help battling against him."

A woman wearing a kimono soon came up to their table. In her hands was a tray filled with numerous dishes. She down several bowls of raw beaten eggs in front of them, and then placed two jars of sake on the table. They thanked her as she left.

The three of them began eating once the woman vanished. Naruto snapped his chopsticks in half, and then went straight for the beef. He grabbed a small bit of thinly sliced beef, dipped it into the raw eggs, and placed it in his mouth.

As the burst of flavor filled his tongue, Naruto decided that while sukiyaki was nowhere near as good as ramen, it wasn't bad either.

"So, you think I should confront Yami," Naruto restarted their conversation.

"I think you need to gain full control over your abilities," Akane said as she snagged a piece of tofu. She dipped it into the raw eggs, blew on it, and then stuffed it into her mouth. After swallowing, she continued. "You won't be able to bring out the full power of your Hybrid Form unless you can subjugate your other half. And if you want to stand a chance of defeating Orochimaru, you are going to need to master this power."

Naruto knew she was right. He knew that. However, he still didn't like it.

"How would I go about defeating him?" asked Naruto. "The seal is gone, so it's not like I can enter it and fight him anymore."

"Why don't we ask Yugito if she knows of a way to help you?" asked Tenten. "I know you aren't a jinchurikki anymore, but maybe she and Kirabi know something that could help."

After pondering her words for a minute, Naruto gave a slow nod. "Yeah. Okay. We'll ask her after training."

To keep his skills sharp, Naruto trained with Yugito and Temari in the afternoon. Tenten sometimes joined them, but she also had to man her father's store. Akane never joined them. He'd asked her why she didn't train once, and she said there was no need to since she already had perfect control over her powers. She would simply sit underneath the tree and watch.

Training often consisted of Temari and Yugito teaming up to fight him. They would use teamwork to attack him in unison. What's more, Naruto would always have a handicap such as not being able to use jutsu or only being able to use ninjutsu, which forced him to push his abilities to the brink. By the time his training was over, Naruto was exhausted.

As he lay on the grass with his eyes closed and his head on Akane's lap, Naruto vaguely remembered the conversation at the restaurant.

"Hey, Yugi," he said suddenly.

"What's up?" asked Yugito, who sat beside them underneath the tree. Temari was also present, but she didn't have their stamina and fallen asleep after training. She was resting her head against Yugito's shoulder.

"Do you know of a way to battle one's dark self?"

"Um, what?" Yugito looked at him in a stupified manner.

"Er… what I mean is… say there is someone who has a dark version of themselves sealed away inside of them. Do you know of a method to confront this dark version?"

Yugito crossed her arms and lowered her head, her brow furrowing for a moment. Naruto glanced at Akane. The woman sensed him looking at her, and looked down at him, though he could only see her eyes because her boobs were in the way. She shrugged and went back to looking at Yugito, whose face had finally cleared up.

"I think I know what you are asking," she said at last. "I don't know if this is what you want, but there is a place where Killer B and I trained to control our bijuu. It's called the Falls of Truth. It's a waterfall that can reflect one's true self, forcing them to confront and overcome their own darkness. This is actually the first step in learning how to control a bijuu."

"Can you send a message to Kirabi and ask him if he'd be able to take me there?" asked Naruto.

"I can."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Yugito said before she looked at the darkening sky. "It's getting kind of late. We should probably head home."

"Yeah…"

Removing his head from Akane's lap, Naruto scooped Temari into his arms and stood up. The blonde woman's legs swayed a bit, but she didn't wake up. She just shifted around until she got comfortable.

With Yugito and Akane in tow, the four of them traveled back to Naruto's place.

XoX

Two more months passed. During that time, sixteen of Orochimaru's hideouts had been found, but each one appeared to have already been abandoned. All of the messages from Jiraiya's informants had likewise been useless in helping discover the man's location.

Tsunade still had yet to awaken. Kakashi was acting as interim Hokage until she woke up. As Naruto entered the room alongside Akane and Yugito, he found the man in question sitting behind the Hokage's desk, reading over various reports and signing documents.

"You called, Kakashi?" asked Naruto as they stepped into the room.

"I did." Kakashi eye-smiled at them, though there was a dark circle under his eye. "I remember a while ago how you mentioned wanting to conquer the darkness inside of you. As you know, we sent a message to the Raikage. We've finally received a reply from him, which grants you permission to head for the Falls of Truth."

Naruto felt his shoulders slowly ease as Yugito graced him with a smile. Akane didn't smile, but she at least appeared satisfied.

"That said," Kakashi continued, "the location to the Falls of Truth is apparently a well-kept secret of Kumogakure. While you are being granted special permission to travel there, we're not being allowed to send an escort with you. You'll be traveling alongside Kirabi and Yugito."

"What about Akane?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"She will have to remain in Konoha," Kakashi said.

Akane did not look pleased to hear that, but she also didn't say anything. Remembering her stories, Naruto was sure she would have tried to manipulate or force Kakashi into letting her go until recently. That she wasn't showed she had probably changed a lot.

"When do we leave?" asked Naruto.

"You'll be leaving tomorrow," Kakashi said. "Yugito and Team Samui will escort you to Kumo, and then you, Yugito, and Kirabi will travel to the Falls of Truth."

"I understand," Naruto said.

XoX

The next morning was a rush to get ready. Naruto ended up oversleeping because Akane, Tenten, and Temari had decided to keep him up all night. According to them, it wasn't fair that Yugito would have him all to herself. They'd thoroughly exhausted him.

After a light breakfast, Naruto, once more dressed in his black and orange clothing, headed for the gates of Konoha. The girls did not come with him. They said the idea of saying goodbye after a night of passionate sex was kind of pointless, so Naruto went there himself and met up with the members of Team Samui and Yugito, who had not joined them last night.

"Why the hell do you look so worn out?" asked Karui the moment he arrived.

"Do you really want to know?" asked Naruto.

"Let's not get into that," Samui said. "I'm pretty sure I can guess what happened. Karui, stay cool and don't say anything stupid."

"I wasn't going to say anything stupid!"

Omoi, a lolipop in his mouth, frowned. "Now that Karui has said it, I'm kind of curious to know why you look so tired too. Were you up training late last night? I sometimes get jitters myself when I'm about to go on a mission of great importance, so I occasionally go out and train in the middle of the night."

"Er… no, that wasn't it," Naruto said. He didn't speak up again. His sex life was a very private affair, and these people had no need to learn about it.

Smiling as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, Yugito gestured for everyone. "All right, people. Let's get a move on."

The trip from Konoha to Kumo took exactly one month. Not only was Hi no Kuni a large nation, but to reach Kumo, they had to travel through Otogakure and Kaminari no Kuni, which were both located north-east of Hi no Kuni. There were fortunately no problems on the way, which meant the group arrived in Kumo without incident.

It felt a little weird coming back to Kumo after so little time had passed. The village wasn't completely repaired from the battle that Naruto and Akane had with the Raikage, but repairs were a bit more difficult when the buildings were built into a mountain. It wasn't like Konoha's buildings, which were made from a combination of wood and bricks.

"Yo, yo, yo! Naruto! How's it go?"

The moment he entered the Raikage's office, Naruto was given an enthusiastic greeting by Kirabi. A, who sat on the bench and lifted weights like always, looked annoyed by his brother's bad rapping habits. However, he ignored that in favor of focusing on Naruto.

"I've heard about your problem already, so I know what's going on," A said. "There is a darkness inside of you that you need to master."

"That's right." Naruto nodded.

A grunted. "We do have a method for confronting one's own darkness and overcoming it. Tomorrow, I'll have A and Yugito take you to the place where you can do that. For now, you should get some rest."

"Rest isn't what he needs," Kirabi suddenly said. "A nice hot meal and some good drink is how a ninja relaxes when in town, and then we can come up with some new rhymes. Ya feel me, fool?!"

"Don't call me a fool!"

Naruto, Yugito, Samui, Karui, and Omoi winced as the Raikage leapt to his feet and performed a Lariat on his brother. The direct hit to Kirabi's chest created a loud bang that echoed around them. Following this, Kirabi was slammed back first into the floor, where he began twitching and moaning.

A glared at his adoptive brother before glancing at everyone else. "Yugito, I'll leave it to you to show him where he can stay."

"Yes, Lord Raikage." Yugito gave him a smart salute before tugging on Naruto's hand. "Come on. You can stay at my place tonight."

"Yeah… okay."

Naruto let himself be pulled out of the Raikage's office. He didn't look back. It was probably a good thing because it meant he missed the shocked looks on Karui and Omoi's face.

"Did she just say he was staying at her place?" asked Karui.

"That's what I heard," Omoi said.

Samui just sighed.

XoX

"Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!"

Naruto grunted as he pistoned into Yugito from behind. The woman was pressing her hands against the wall as he held her hips, pushing his dick into her sodden entrance. Every time he shoved his throbbing cock into her, she would cry out his name, and the walls around him would tighten as though trying to keep him from leaving.

"Fuck. You're so tight. Is this is jinchurikki thing?"

"H-how should I know—OH!"

Yugito's back arced into his chest as Naruto leaned over, removed his hands from her hips, and began fondling her breasts. Her shirt hadn't been removed. However, the blouse had, and the black shirt she wore underneath it was rolled up to expose her breasts to the cold air of Kumo.

Her tits were slick with sweat. While they weren't massive, they were still too large for him to hold completely, which meant his fingers sank into the elastic flesh. The combination of their current slickness and bouncing made it a bit hard to really feel them—at least until he grabbed her nipples between his fingers.

"Ahn! D-don't pinch me like that! You're going to drive me craaaaaaaznnnyyyaaaaa!"

Naruto smiled as he pinched Yugito's nipples, and then pulled on them. "I want to drive you crazy, though."

"Ha… ah! Ha! Ahn! I can't… I can't take much more of this!"

By this point, Naruto and Yugito were releasing heavy, nasally gasps as they tried to suck in oxygen. From his position, Naruto had a perfect view of her firm back muscles and tight ass. Her breasts weren't as visible since he was behind her, but he could feel her hardened nipples as he played with them.

"Naruto…" Yugito craned her neck to look at him. Her eyes were clouded over and hazy. "Kiss… I want a kiss… now… please…"

Naruto didn't speak as he leaned over and kissed her. Now back to chest, there was no space between them as they shared a sloppy kiss. His hips smacked against her tight tush every time he thrust himself inside of her. Neither of them were bothered by the drool their actions released, nor were they concerned with the juices flowing from Yugito's pussy as he continued churning her insides.

When he felt his end coming, Naruto stopped kissing Yugito and placed his hands underneath her thighs.

"Naruto?! What are you—"

Yugito's words were cut off when Naruto lifted her into the air, spread her legs apart, and fucked her from this new position. She released a loud cry as she fell backwards against him. He grunted and turned around to use the wall to stabilize himself, and then continued to thrust his hips. The sound of their skin slapping together mixed in with his and Yugito's moans and grunts, until—

"AH! NNNYYYYAAAA!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he pressed his face against Yugito's shoulder. The almost unquantifiable tightness as she milked him caused Naruto to release everything he had. Their bodies shook in unison for a moment, but then, as their strength ebbed, Naruto slid down the wall and onto the floor. His now flacid dick slid out of Yugito with a wet plop, and their combined juices spilled from her pussy and created a small puddle.

As the two of them caught their breath, Naruto slowly relaxed.

"You were pretty agressive today," he muttered as he kissed Yugito's shoulder.

She turned her head to smile at him. "I haven't been able to sleep with you during our travels thanks to the others. Let's just say I wanted to make up for lost time."

"Mmm… that's as good an excuse as any."

After remaining on the floor for several minutes, the two regained enough strength to rinse off in the shower and crawl in bed. As they snuggled underneath the covers, a thought occurred to him.

"What's the Falls of Truth like?" he asked.

"It's just a waterfall," Yugito muttered in a drowsy voice. "It isn't even that big. However, for some reason, it can transport a person into their own mind. That's how they're able to confront themselves."

"I see. You did this, right? What was it like for you?"

"For me?" Yugito shifted against him as though getting more comfortable. "For me, it was… it was like… funyaaaa…"

"Fu-what?" Naruto asked. No one answered. "Yugito?" When the woman didn't answer him, he looked down and discovered that she had curled up against him like a cat. "She's asleep."

Realizing he was not going to get any answers out of her today, Naruto closed his eyes and drifted off.

XoX

Akatsuki had numerous hidden bases scattered throughout the Elemental Nations. Of course, they weren't using them anymore, which was why Orochimaru had decided to use them for himself.

Konoha had been trying to track him down ever since his attack on their village, and it seemed that Naruto brat was using Jiraiya's spy network to search for him. He'd been careful not to tip the network off by leading them to his bases. He wondered if the Anbu who'd ransacked them were disappointed when they discovered that each base had been abandoned? The thought made him chuckle.

As he wandered down the winding tunnel, he pondered his next move as the footsteps of himself and his subordinate rang out.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto began, "What should we do now? Konoha is after us, and I'm pretty sure that both Kumo and Suna have joined forces with them…"

"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded, unconcerned as he turned a corner. The tunnel they were following wound around and around like a coiled snake as it led deeper underground. "I will have to deal with them eventually if I want to finally find the time to study all the jutsu in the world."

Ever since he'd been denied the seat of Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru's goal had been discovering all the world's jutsu. He was a researcher at heart. He loved discovering new things. That was why he experimented on all those people and himself. However, it had never been enough, and sadly, he couldn't overtly begin kidnapping too many people or the leaders of the world would catch on. If he could just wipe them all out, then maybe he could take over the Elemental Nations himself. That would be nice. Then he could experiment all he wanted.

The pathway finally came to an end. A large cavern opened up before him. Orochimaru gazed around the space, which contained the massive roots of a tree. The Demonic Statue used by Akatsuki to seal away the Bijuu was also there. However, what caught Orochimaru's attention was the bed located several meters from the tree. Cables ran from the bed to the tree, but they weren't attached to anything.

"Hmm…"

He reached out and placed a hand against the tree, studying it with both his chakra and his vision. Now that he was looking at it more closely, it resembled more of a flower than a tree. He sensed Hashirama's chakra within it as well. Also, it looked like there were pods, or maybe cocoons, hanging from it. A smile rose to his face as he realized what this was.

"Yes, I think this will do nicely."

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto questioned.

"It's nothing."

Orochimaru pulled his hand off the tree and continued walking. He eventually came into a room that looked like a laboratory. It was a fairly plain room that had been sterilized. There was a single bed in the center. Inside the lab was a massive wall with the Uchiha clan symbol on top of it. As he eyed the wall, which contained a massive collection of Sharingan eyes, laughter bubbled from his throat.

With this… yes, with this lab, he would easily be able to study all the world's jutsu.

And he would also be able to wage his war on the Elemental Nations.

XoX

The ship Naruto was on rocked across the water, back and forth, back and forth. It was a damn good thing he didn't get motion sickness. Poor Yugito was currently wholed up in their room. The last he saw of her, the girl had been leaning over their toilet.

He had no clue where they were exactly. After leaving Kumo, Kirabi had led him and Yugito to this coastline, where a boat was waiting for them.

The boat they were on wasn't very big, but he wouldn't call it small either. From stern to bow, he would have said it was probably twenty meters long. Aside from himself, Kirabi, and Yugito, there were the ninja who manned the boat. It was a single squad of four, three Chunin and one Jonin.

A thick fog surrounded their ship. As he leaned against the railing and tried to look into the fog, Naruto found himself squinting. Nope. He couldn't see a damn thing.

"I wonder how long it will take to reach this place where I'm going to be training…"

"It won't take long now," one of the ninja said. "Just be patient."

Naruto sighed. "I am being patient."

"Hey, ya fools! Killer B is in the house! We better get there soon cuz I'm waiting for my chance to shine! Gonna help Mr. Nine, ya!"

As the loud voice rang out across the boat, Naruto turned his head to see Kirabi strolling out of the ship's interior. A sickly Yugito was trailing behind him. She looked like she'd seen better days. When compared with Kirabi, who was bright as sunshine and spouting rhymes like they were going out of style, the poor girl looked like she'd taken one step into the grave.

"We're coming up on it now," the ninja from before said. "Take a look."

At those words, Naruto turned around and glared into the fog, which soon cleared up to reveal… an island that looked like the back of a gigantic porcupine. All he could see were massive stakes jutting from the island. Several creatures that had an avian appearance were impaled upon a few of those stakes. There were also a number of corpses floating in the water. As he gazed upon the place, which looked very much like the Forest of Death back in Konoha, an unsettling knot tied up his stomach.

He turned back around. "This is where the Falls of Truth is supposed to be?"

The ninja just grinned. "That's right. Don't worry. I know it looks rough, but so long as you don't provoke any of the animals in there, it'll be alright. There's just one creature here that you need to worry about?"

Naruto gave the man a dubious look. "And which creature is that?"

Before anyone could respond to his question, the water beneath their boat was disturbed. Several bulges appeared like someone was using a water jutsu. However, when the water broke, what appeared before them was not a jutsu but numerous massive tentacles. Each one easily towered over the boat. They had suction cups that were about the same size as him. In other words, they were really. Freaking. Big.

The waves created from the tentacles rising above the water's surface caused the boat to rock. Yugito, who was quite pale, suddenly turned green as she stumbled across the boat. Naruto rushed over to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping the woman from going overboard.

"You okay, Yugi?"

"Ugh… I've been better."

As the massive tentacles rose from the water, another, even larger bulge suddenly appeared before, like a fire dragon breaking through the sky, a massive head suddenly burst out of the water. It was long and sleek. Staring at the massive body, Naruto realized that it was a giant squid.

"You guys have giant squid here?" Naruto asked.

"Obviously!" the man shouted. "Damn, and this is the one I was going to warn you about!"

The massive squid looked quite angry. Several of its tentacles shot out as though to try and smash their ship apart, but before that could happen, eight tentacles suddenly emerged from Kirabi's back and smacked the tentacles away.

"Quit squidding around, ya fool. Go back to the deep and fall asleep!"

Without warning, Kirabi leapt into the air, and then his body transformed. Having seen this several times already, Naruto wasn't too shocked when the man was engulfed in chakra, which then solidified until it became the massive body of an ox with eight tentacle-like tails.

The now fully transformed Kirabi rushed through the water, creating waves that slammed into the boat. Naruto groaned when Yugito suddenly vomited all over his shirt. However, he merely rubbed her back as her fellow jinchurikki slammed a fist into the squid's face, pushing it down into the water and forcing it to retreat.

"S-sorry, Naruto," Yugito mumbled as she dry heaved.

"Meh, I'll wash it when we climb ashore," Naruto said.

With the squid gone, the journey continued. Naruto changed shirts. Sadly, he couldn't get rid of the smell.

As they drew closer to the island, a voice suddenly shouted from far above them.

"Welcome, everyone! I've been waiting for you!"

The man who appeared on one of the spikes had dark-brown, spiky hair and dark eyes. He wore the standard outfit of a Kumogakure ninja and a light gray scarf around his neck. While he didn't look that unusual, he did have a dark green mark that ran down the bridge of his nose.

"I am Motoi. I'll be your escort from here on out! Allow me to show you to the rooms you'll be staying in for the duration of your time here!"

The boat soon came ashore, and everyone climbed off. Naruto lifted Yugito into a princess carry as he left the boat. Despite how he smelled a little like vomit, she didn't seem bothered as she borrowed her face into his neck.

Once they entered the forest proper, Naruto could see that it really did look a lot like the Forest of Death. There were thick trees that would require at least twenty shadow clones to wrap around the trunks of. These trees had large roots that crawled out of the earth, twisting around each other to form odd shapes. Above their heads were numerous vines, twisting, turning, and warping around each other. Grass covered much of the path they walked on.

A loud roar echoed around the group as they stepped further into the forest. Naruto looked up with the others and gawked when he found a gigantic gorilla easily ten times his height glaring down at them. The mighty beast smashed his fists against his chest. It looked seconds away from attacking them.

"Don't worry, King." Kirabi stepped forward. "These guys are with me."

The gorilla that Kirabi called King paused. It looked down at Kirabi, and then hopped off the branch it stood on, landing on the ground. Kirabi walked up to it and held out his fist. Oddly enough, King proceeded to fist bump the eight-tailed jinchurikki as though they were best friends.

"What's going on here?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Kirabi came here to train in how to use the Hachibi's power," Motoi said. "During that time where he was mastering the Hachibi's power, he tamed all of the beasts here. So long as he is around, none of the monsters will harm you."

"Is that so…" Naruto muttered.

Their journey soon continued uninterrupted, and it wasn't long before they reached the place where they would be staying. It didn't look like much. Made of a really old and worn looking wood, if Naruto didn't know any better, he would have said it had been carved out from a tree. Just above the entrance was a single feature of the Hachibi's head protruding outward like it was trying to break free. Naruto didn't fail to notice that it was missing one of its horns just like the real one.

The inside wasn't much better. Naruto wouldn't say it looked shabby out loud, but it definitely reminded him of the shabby interior of that training hall in the Forest of Death. Several tiles on the floor were broken. The paint on the wall was faded. Likewise, the doors were unadorned with any features. He guessed blandness was a trait for buildings like this, whose only purpose was to serve as a testing ground for the Chunin Exams.

"All right." Motoi looked at everyone. "You may choose whichever rooms you like. There's a dining hall downstairs and you can eat whenever you want. I heard you're here to train, so I'll leave you all to it."

"It's been a long journey," Naruto said. "I suppose that means we should get some R&R first."

"That's right. Rest and relaxation is important for people who are on a vacation, ya fools," Kirabi said. "Ima go up to my own room. Naruto, ya fool, you take Yugito and get her all groomed."

Naruto, Yugito still in his arms, watched as Kirabi wandered off on his own. He looked down at the woman he was carrying to see her tired expression. He chuckled.

"Let's rest up," he said to her.

Yugito looked up at him, smiled, and nodded as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes. Let's."

XoX

After sleeping for an entire day, Naruto woke up bright and early the next morning and went down to the mess hall with Yugito. There wasn't anybody else there. However, as they conversed and ate together, several of the ninja who'd been with them on the boat did arrive eventually.

"I see the rumors are true," the man from before, who'd talked about the squid, sat down beside them and grinned. "I'd heard that you two were in a relationship, but I wasn't sure I believed it until now."

Naruto and Yugito glanced at each other, and then looked back at the man.

"It's true," Yugito said. "Though it hasn't been long since we started dating. I'm surprised rumors spread so quickly."

"Well, you know…" the man shrugged. "There was a rumor that several people who live near your apartment heard you screaming in ecstacy one night, and the next morning, you two left together. That's where the rumors all started."

While Yugito's cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red, Naruto did his best not to feel embarrassed. It was shameful that several people had heard them having sex. That said, what they had done wasn't something he was ashamed of.

"People need to mind their own business," he muttered quietly.

The man just chuckled before settling down. "In all seriousness, it is pretty strange to everyone, you know. A Konoha ninja and a Kumo ninja in a relationship? Until the Chunin Exams in Konoha several years ago, our villages were always at war with each other. Even though we're allies now, it's still weird to imagine two ninja from different villages dating, especially after what happened to our Raikage."

Naruto nodded as he listened to the man, but the fact remained that he and Yugito had bonded before she, Kirabi, and the Raikage were manipulated by a genjutsu. His feelings weren't going to change because of that.

After finishing breakfast, Naruto and Yugito decided to wander outside. They were going to begin training soon, but Yugito said she wanted to show him the island before that happened. Naruto didn't object. It would be good to familiarize himself with the place.

As they were wandering through the forest, a loud crashing noise echoed all around them, causing the two to stop. Naruto cocked his head to the side, listening. Yugito merely pressed a hand to her face and sighed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"It sounds like Kirabi is wrestling right now," she said.

Naruto frowned. "Wrestling? With who?"

"Follow me."

Yugito turned around and began walking off, and Naruto followed her. As they walked past several large trees, the space around them opened up, revealing a massive clearing where… several bears were sitting around a circle? Naruto blinked several times. Kirabia was in the center of that circle along with what appeared to be a giant panda. Well, it was black and white like a panda. He didn't really know if it was a panda or another bear.

"I'm ready whenever you are, ya fool. Don't hold back or this lord jinchurikki is gonna make you feel regret."

At those words, the panda rushed forward, claws out, and tried to smash into Kirabi. Naruto crouched on the ground as two tentacles shot out from behind the jinchurikki's back and clamped down on the panda's hands. A brief struggle took place. However, it was clear from the onset who would win, and just as he expected, the panda was shoved out of the wrestling ring, which Naruto realized was actually a sumo ring.

"Kirabi is sumo wrestling with giant bears," he mumbled.

Yugito shrugged. "Didn't Motoi already tell you? Kirabi befriended all of the animals in this forest."

"Yeah, he did." Naruto shook his head. "I just never expected to see something like this."

As the two of them spoke, the bears seemed to notice their presence and suddenly stood up. Bristling fur gave them a dangerous appearance. A slight killing intent filled the air as the bears glared at him and Yugito. However, this also caused Kirabi to notice them. He grinned and, after patting the panda on the leg, he walked over to them.

"I see you're up and at em. Looks like Yugito is feeling refreshed. Would that be your doing, ya fool?"

"All we did was sleep," Naruto said. He looked back at the bears, who seemed to have realized they were with Kirabi and sat back down. "Having fun?"

"In the sun, you know it," Kirabi turned his last question into a rhyme.

"We're about to begin training," Yugito said. "Are you going to stay here, or will you be heading to the Falls of Truth with us?"

"Hmm…" Kirabi looked back at the bears, all of whom tilted their heads, and then turned back to them. "Since our mission here is to help Naruto make his dark half appear, I'll travel with you to the Falls of Truth and watch out for him, ya feel me?"

"Sounds good." Yugito nodded. "Then let's head off."

With Kirabi now joining them, the trio made their way through the forest, until they reached the Falls of Truth. It really did look just like a regular waterfall. It wasn't very big. A small pond spread out at the bottom of the waterfall, and a single piece of land emerged from within the pond like an island.

"This is where you can face your dark self," Kirabi said. "All you gotta do is sit on that island and stare into the waterfall. Then you'll enter your mind and face the dark, but be careful that you don't fall, ya fool."

Naruto looked from Kirabi to Yugito, who nodded at him. Seeing this, Naruto walked onto the water, and then stepped onto the island. He sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.

Time seemed to stand still. It was inconsequential. What was probably only a few seconds seemed to extend into hours as he sat there with his eyes closed. However, all too soon and all too late, a voice emerged from within the darkness of his mind.

"You finally came."

Naruto opened his eyes to find a dark shadow standing behind the waterfall, an indistinct silhouette that he nevertheless recognized.

The area around him had become thick with fog. He couldn't seen anything beyond this pond and waterfall. Did that mean this was merely his mind creating a representation of the waterfall?

"I didn't have much choice," Naruto said as he stood up. "I can't leave something like you hanging over my head."

"Something like me?" the voice snorted. "Yes, I'm sure you hate seeing something so dark and disgusting inside of you. You never could admit that you're actually a horrible person. You could never admit that you hate the village and the people who live there. So dishonest with yourself."

"That isn't true at all!" Naruto scowled. "Konoha is my home. It's true that I didn't get along with the villagers at first, but I worked hard to prove myself, and now I've finally earned their acknowledgement and respect."

The voice snorted once again. "Don't lie to yourself. You hate them. Even now, you wish you could kill all of them. Those idiots who only ever saw you as a monster. They never gave you the time of day when you were younger, yet the moment you display your strength, they suddenly have a change of heart. This is why Akane hates humans, you know. It's because they are all, without exception, superficial and shallow."

As the voice continued talking, the water split and the figure walked out from behind the waterfall. He looked just like Naruto. His face, his height, his clothes, his build. It was like staring into a reflection. However, the reflection was distorted. While this person looked almost identical to Naruto, his eyes contained nothing but hatred and darkness. The normal whites of his sclera were an inky black, and his pupils were a dark red, a vibrant crimson that glistened like blood.

Naruto scowled at him. "Do not talk about Akane. You have no right!"

"I have every right!" Yami shouted. "It's her fault that we were turned into monsters! If she had never attacked the village, we would have never been forced to endure the pain of being hated! While I hate the village for how we've been treated, I hate her even more!" A sickening grin spread across Yami's face. "Don't deny it. You hate her as much as I do."

"I don't!"

"You do! You and I are the same! All of your emotions are also my emotions!"

"I'm through listening to you." Naruto's chakra surged from his body. "You and I will never come to an agreement. I'll just destroy you."

"You can't destroy yourself!" Yami shouted as his own chakra surged.

The two of them glared at each other for a good while, but then, on some unspoken signal, they shot forward. A ferocious battlecry tore from their lips. The sounds were identical.

Meeting in the middle, the two of them slammed their fists together. A ripple spread out from the point of impact. The disturbed water forced them to send more chakra down to their feet. However, that didn't stop them from beginning their battle.

Yami threw a powerful punch at Naruto's middle. The fist was so fast the air around it rippled. An attack like that would have struck an average Jonin hard, but Naruto twisted his torso and brought up his leg, knocking the fist off course with his shin. Using that same leg, he launched a kick at Yami's side, but his dark half blocked it with a forearm. The meeting of leg and forearm echoed across the pond like someone kicking a training log with their full strength.

Realizing that his attack had done nothing, Naruto retracted his leg, but he didn't move back. Instead he moved forward one step, brought up his other leg, and tried to kick Yami again. The attack was blocked. Another dull thudding noise echoed around them.

Yami, not one to let this opportunity slip by, grabbed his leg. Naruto winced as the bones in his shin creaked. With a grunt, Yami lifted Naruto off the ground, spun around several times, and flug him through the air. Before Naruto could even regain his bearings, several Yami clones appeared around him. Pain erupted in his back as a foot slammed into his spine. Then he received another sucker punch that lifted him higher into the air. At the apex of his ascent, Yami appeared above him, his body spinning on an axis as he extended his leg and slammed his heel into Naruto's head.

Naruto's body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

What Yami had hit was a log.

"Rasengan!"

A loud shout echoed from above, causing Yami to look up just in time to see Naruto descending, a rasengan in his hands. Glaring, Yami created his own rasengan and thrust it at Naruto. The two jutsu met in the middle and exploded with cataclysmic results. Both of them were flung away like ragdolls.

Naruto flipped himself around several times and landed on the water. He glanced up. Several meters away was Yami, who also stood on the water. The two of them glared at each other, hatred burning in their eyes, and then they released another battlecry and launched themselves at each other once more.

XoX

Yugito stood at the shore of the small pond, watching Naruto with a worried expression. She bit her lip, tapped her foot against the ground, and crossed her arms.

"It's already been twenty minutes," she mumbled.

"Yo, yo. It seems he's really hashing it out with his own darkness. This situation is quite the mess," Kirabi rapped.

Yugito sighed. "Do you think he can really defeat his own darkness?"

"Does the kitten lack confidence in her man?" Kirabi asked.

"It isn't that I lack confidence in Naruto." Yugito turned to look at the man who was even now sitting cross-legged on the small island before the Falls of Truth. He hadn't moved from that spot. In a soft voice, she finished her thoughts, "I'm just worried."

"Hmm…" Kirabi crossed his arms and stared at Naruto for a while. Yugito couldn't see his eyes since they were covered in shades. "I don't think we need to worry about Naruto. He's a stubborn one, yo. He won't let a little darkness beat him. He'll devour that darkness and sing a hymn. Oh, that was pretty good."

Kirabi pulled out a notebook and a pen, crouched down, and began writing something while mumbling to himself. Yugito didn't even spare him a glance as she watched the blond man, who was battling his dark half.

Please be okay, Naruto.

XoX

"Senpuken!"

"Senpuken!"

Naruto and Yami thrust out their fists at the same time. A powerful blast of wind shot from their extended fists, traveled the distance between them, and exploded against each other. Powerful force winds collided and were pushed outward. The two identical figures were thrown back. Skidding along the water's surface, they covered their faces as wind and water lashed out everywhere.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto went through a series of hand seals before shouting out the name of his jutsu.

"Futon: Renkudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)!"

Naruto inhaled a deep breath, which caused his stomach to expand, and then pounded a fist against it. The external pressure forced a highly compressed ball of air from his mouth. It tore through the airspace, this sphere of pressurized air, moving so fast it left wakes in the water.

Yami didn't return fire with the same jutsu. A swirling blue ball of chakra appeared in his hand, which he slammed into the air bullet.

"Rasengan!"

The Rasengan tore through the air bullet like it was nothing, blasting the jutsu apart. The moment the wind disturbed, Yami created a clone, which began feeding chakra into the Rasengan, making it grow even bigger.

Seeing what Yami was doing, Naruto also created a clone, then created a Rasengan and had the clone feed chakra into it. As his jutsu grew to the size of his head, Naruto rushed forward at the same time as Yami. The two met in the center. They thrust out their hands, their jutsu colliding with each other, creating a massive explosion that sent them both flying.

Naruto grunted as he hit the water's surface. Skipping along like a pebble thrown by Maito Gai, Naruto rolled through the air and across the water before hitting it for a final time with a brilliant splash. As he sunk beneath the surface, he shoved chakra into his hands and used them to climb back on top of the water. Yami did the same several meters away.

The two of them stared at each other, rage and anger filling their eyes.

"This is getting ridiculous," Naruto mumbled out loud. "Neither one of us is able to get the upper hand here. We have the same jutsu, the same strength, the same tactical knowledge. How am I supposed to beat this guy?"

"Feel free to give up any time," Yami said with a grim smile as he stood up.

Yami's face was covered in scrapes and bruises. His clothing was torn in some places. Blood leaked from cuts on his arms and legs where one of Naruto's jutsu had hit him. Of course, it wasn't like Naruto was in much better shape; he was also covered in cuts and bruises.

This battle had been going on for a long time, though Naruto didn't know how long since time seemed skewed in this strange place. That said, in all the time they'd fought, neither he or Yami had been able to claim the upper hand. It was just as Naruto said. Their fighting style, attack patterns, tactics, jutsu… all of it was the same. Fighting against Yami was like fighting a reflection of himself.

A reflection of myself…

Naruto frowned as he thought about that single sentence. It was just one line. However, the more he thought about it, the more he thought this line encompassed him and Yami.

He's a reflection of myself. He's me. He is… my inner thoughts…

Gnashing his teeth together, Naruto recalled his past, all the times he'd been scorned, the times he'd been ignored, the way people spoke about him behind his back, telling their children not to go near him. Back when he'd been just a brat, his existence had been a lonely one, and all of it was thanks to the village. It was thanks to Konoha.

"It seems you finally get it, huh?" A dark grin spread across Yami's face. "All of my thoughts, all of my feelings… they are all a reflection of you. I am you. My thoughts, my feelings, my desires… they are yours because I am you! You can't defeat me!"

"You're right." Naruto smiled as something within his mind clicked. "Defeating you is impossible. You can't defeat yourself. That's why I won't defeat you."

"So you're giving up?" Yami asked as if he couldn't believe his words.

"I'm not doing that either."

"Then what?! Are we just going to stand here all day! Are we just going to stand around here in perpetuity?! Two identical figures locked in a never ending struggle? Give me a fucking break! I have no intention of remaining here, and I have no intention of being locked away in the dark again!"

"Then it's a good thing I have no intention of locking you up," Naruto said.

"Then shut up and give me your body!" Yami shouted as he rushed at Naruto, prepared to strike. "Let me take over! Then I'll show those people in Konoha what true fear is! I'll make them suffer like they made us suffer!"

"No," Naruto said as he spread out his arms, "you won't."

Yami's eyes widened as he slammed into Naruto. The force drove him back a little, but only by a step or two. Naruto embraced Yami, who remained stiff as a board, as though the action had stunned him. It looked like he was able to fool even himself. The thought made Naruto snicker.

"There's no need for either of us to go anywhere," Naruto said. "You don't need to disappear or be locked away and neither do I. I've been thinking about it for a long time now, ever since you first showed up, and I realized that you and I are the same. That's why… I accept you. Your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions… I accept all of them. I'm not going to let you remain in that dark space where I locked you away. You're staying here."

Yami was silent for a long moment, unable to talk, unable to move. His arms remained at his sides.

"Then…" Finally, he spoke. "You won't lock me away again?"

"I won't lock you away."

"I can remain here?"

"You're staying right here with me."

"I see."

Yami sniffled. It was the only sign he revealed that he was crying. As he shed silent tears, his body soon wavered like a ghost. It became translucent before finally disappearing.

Naruto opened the eyes that he had closed and stared at the Falls of Truth, the real Falls of Truth and not the illusionary world that he had journeyed to when facing Yami. After staring at the waterfall for a few seconds, he raised his hand, glancing at it as he clenched and unclenched it.

"I don't feel much different than I did before."

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but he figured that after accepting the darkness within himself, he would feel slightly different, like maybe he'd be more angry or something. But no. He felt no different really. Well, maybe a bit more irritable. However, the hatred and anger he'd been expecting never came.

A sigh escaped him.

"Naruto?" a gentle, unsure voice called his name.

Standing up, Naruto turned around and smiled at Yugito, who stood by the water's edge with a grinning Kirabi. The worried look in Yugito's eyes did him a world of good.

"Hey." He swiped his nose with his thumb. "I'm back. You know, fighting my own darkness was easier than I thought."

Yugito stared at him for a moment longer, then clutched a hand to her chest, took several deep breaths, and gave a relieved sigh. She looked back and offered him the brightest smile he'd seen yet.

"I'm glad you were able to accomplish what you came here for."

"Ya did it, ya fool! Beaten' your own darkness is the sign of a true man. That's cuz it means it was all in the plan. You be fightin' on land, making a stand. Fool ya fool!" Kirabi began rapping, ruining the moment between Naruto and Yugito. The look on the Nibi Jinchurikki's face made him snicker. She looked very much like she wanted to punch the guy's lights out.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to stay here for a few more days to test out my Hybrid Mode," Naruto said to them. "I haven't used it to its full potential yet because of Yami, so I don't know what it can do."

"That's fine," Yugito said after a moment of thinking. "There's a training ground close to here that we can use. A spar should give you an adequate chance to learn the extent of your abilities."

"Right."

"Now that we're all ready, let's go and get heavy. We're gonna slam it down, go all out, make some noise, and scream and shout," Kirabi rhymed.

Yugito could only release a heavy sigh as her fellow jinchurikki rapped.

XoX

Naruto stayed on that island with Yugito and Kirabi for two more days, testing the limits of his Hybrid Mode. He was pleased to discover that he no longer had a time limit. Well, he did, but it wasn't because he could only keep it going for a certain time before losing control. His control was perfect. Now he only had to worry about running out of chakra. That said, his reserves were so large that Naruto could maintain his Hybrid Mode for six hours before they ran dry.

After learning more about his powers, Naruto, Yugito, and Kirabi left. The several day journey at sea was rough on Yugito, who really didn't enjoy sailing, or rather, had no ability to handle the rough rocking. Naruto spent most of his time comforting the woman as she leaned over a toilet. Once they arrived on land, the three of them, plus their entourage of Kumo ninja, began traveling back to Kumo.

The sun was going down. One of the Kumo ninja glanced at the sun, and then looked at Naruto and the others.

"Let's camp here for the night," he said. "We should be able to finish our journey tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," Naruto said.

"A night under the stars, gazing from afar. What could be better on this journey together," Kirabi added.

"Please stop rapping," Yugito sighed.

"Don't be dissin' my rhymes, ya fool!"

The group quickly and efficiently set up camp. Several ninja went off to catch some fish, another built a fire, and the rest spread out the sleeping bags they'd be using. Since Kaminari no Kuni was rough and the ground was uneven, they couldn't set up a tent. Naruto and Yugito set their sleeping bags together near a large boulder.

"Those two sure are late," one of the ninja said.

"Think they got lost?" another joked.

"How many times have we traveled down this path?" asked the other. "There's no way they could get lost." His stomach grumbled. "I hope they're not having trouble catching any fish."

As if the man's words were magic, the two ninja who'd gone out in search of food finally came back with a string of fish. They apologized for being late.

That night, after everyone had eaten their fill, the ninja separated and went to sleep. Two people stayed up to watch the camp. The plan was to take turns watching the camp in shifts. Naruto and Yugito slept together, away from the others.

Some time during the night, Naruto woke up instantly when a brief killing intent surged around him. His eyes snapped open as a shadow appeared above him. Even while startled, he reacted swiftly, cutting through his sleeping bag with wind chakra and attacking the person hovering over him.

"Senpuken!"

His fists slammed into the dark figure. A surge of wind chakra sent the figure spiraling through the air before striking the ground with a harsh crack. Yugito, who had also sensed the killing intent, leapt to her feet, her long nails coated in dark purple fire.

"What's going on?!" a shout came from one of the other ninja.

"Naruto?" Yugito questioned.

"I'm not sure what's going on either."

He shook his head before slowly traveling toward the body he'd launched in the air. The other ninja also came closer to the body, only to discover…

"This is Matoba!" one of the ninja exclaimed.

"The one who went to catch fish?" asked Naruto.

"The very same." The ninja frowned. "What was he doing? Why did he try to attack you?"

"I don't know, but…" Naruto's hand flashed out just as the other ninja who'd gone with Matoba tried to leave. A small bullet of wind slammed into his leg, sending him to the ground. "I have a feeling this guy knows why."

All of the Kumo ninja looked shocked by what happened. However, they didn't have time to do anything as Naruto pinned the man to the ground. He'd already channeled chakra into his eyes, which caused them to become a dark amethyst. He glared at the ninja and sent a wave of killing intent this man's way.

"Who are you?"

"W-what are you talking about?" the man asked. "You know who I am! Why are you attacking me?!" Seeing that Naruto's cold face remained unchanged, the ninja looked at his fellow Kumo ninja. "What are you all doing just standing around?! This Konoha ninja is attacking me without provocation! Help me!"

"Do not think that's going to work." Naruto narrowed his eyes as he sneered. "I'll admit, your disguise is almost perfect. Even with these eyes of mine, I can't tell the difference between your chakras. It's the exact same as the guy who went to get fish. However, while you seem to have the incredible ability to change your appearance and chakra, you can't change your scent. Who are you?!"

His words caused the Kumo ninja to glance at each other. Naruto ignored them as he placed a hand on the man's chest and shoved his chakra through the person, jolting them. As the man screamed, all the Kumo ninja except Yugito and Kirabi pulled out their weapons as if to attack him, but then they paused as the man suddenly transformed. His dark skin became a pasty white. His body was deformed. The entire left side from his foot to his face gave him a plant-like appearance. He had green hair and yellow eyes.

"This is… Zetsu?" Naruto blinked. "No, Zetsu is supposed to be black and white. Who is this?"

"What's going on?" asked Yugito.

"This person…" Naruto gestured toward the struggling man. "He looks almost like the man called Zetsu, a member of Akatsuki. However, Zetsu has one black half and one white half, and his body is supposed to be surrounded by a Venus flytrap. This person looks like what Zetsu would if someone tore him in half."

"I'm not sure I get it," Yugito admitted.

"Neither do I." Naruto thought for a moment before turning to one of the ninja. "Hey! Go to where these two were catching fish and see if you can find anything unusual!"

"What—er, I mean, yes!"

While the man appeared startled that Naruto was ordering him around, he quickly did as he was asked and rushed off. Naruto and the others waited for the man to return. While they did, Naruto knocked the person beneath him unconscious and sealed both him and the deceased body of the other imposter into a scroll. The man who'd gone out returned several minutes later.

"It's just as you said," he reported. "We found the bodies of Matoba and Aishiki. It looked like someone had slit their throats from behind."

The words startled everyone present, and Naruto didn't doubt they all understood the implications. Not a single one of them had suspected these two were imposters. Even Naruto hadn't realized it until he sensed the negative intention of the one who tried to kill him. Of course, now that he knew what to look for, he would rely on his sense of smell to sniff out any imposters.

"Let's return to Kumo and report what happened to the Raikage," Naruto said.

"Yes!" Everyone agreed.

Since they had no designs to stay the night anymore, Naruto and the others packed up their camp and began racing off again. They made good progress. None of them slept or ate as they ran through Kaminari no Kuni, all to reach Kumo in record time. However, when they arrived, it was to find Kumogakure in a state of emergency.

"What's going on here?" asked Yugito.

"Looks like something serious happened, yo," Kirabi said.

They were right. Ninja were rushing all around the village when they arrived, and it looked like several buildings had been destroyed. Naruto looked over at what appeared to be relief efforts to help people who'd been trapped by rubble. Several ninja were removing large chunks of sediment away from a group of civilians. There were also even more ninja patrolling the village.

"Lord B. Lady Yugito. You've both returned." One of the passing ninja recognized them and rushed over. "The Raikage said he wanted to see you the moment you came back from Turtle Island. You should head over to his office."

"We'll go there now," Yugito said without pause.

The group quickly traveled up to the Raikage's office, where the leader of Kumo was currently having a heated discussion with a dark-skinned young woman. Naruto didn't know what they were talking about. The moment he, Yugito, and Kirabi entered the room, A quieted down and glanced at them.

"I see you three have come back," he said with a heavy grunt. "The situation here is pretty serious, so I won't ask for your report. Several of our own ninja have betrayed us. We don't know why, but a number of them planted explosive tags at some of the residence to our more prominent civilians. Right now, Kumo is in an uproar over what happened. We're trying to calm everyone down, but things aren't looking good."

Naruto and Yugito glanced at each other when they heard this. Given what happened to them on their trip here, both of them were sure that what happened here wasn't a betrayal.

"Actually, Lord Raikage," Yugito said. "We don't think the ninja who planted those explosive notes are traitors. In fact, they might not even be your ninja."

"What?" A narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean? Speak clearly so I can understand."

In response to this man's words, Naruto pulled out a scroll, set it on the ground, and unsealed the two bodies. The Raikage's eyes widened when he eyed the dead Kumo ninja. However, it narrowed when he saw the strange white person who didn't look quite human. As Naruto took a step back, Yugito explained what happened when they were traveling home.

"So you think these… things have disguised themselves as my shinobi to perform acts of terrorism?" A said as the dark-skinned woman behind them gazed at the two bodies in shock.

"We believe it's more than likely," Yugito said.

The Raikage grunted. "This is just great. It seems we're having to deal with one problem after another." Giving the bodies a displeased glance, he looked at the dark-skinned woman and gestured to her. "Have the corpse analysed and send the one still living down to the interrogation chamber."

"Yes, Lord Raikage," the dark-skinned woman said as Naruto resealed the two bodies and handed it to her. The woman grabbed the scroll, bowed to the Raikage once more, and then exited the room.

"Ha…" After releasing an intense, deep breath of air, A looked at the three of them. The grave look he wore caused even Kirabi to straighten. "It seems there are numerous problems occuring around here. I don't like this situation at all."

Naruto frowned at the Raikage's words, which implied that something more than just the current problems they knew of had happened. He remained silent. Even Kirabi wasn't talking, which was a clear sign of how serious the situation was.

"We're not the only one who's having this problem," the Raikage said at last. Naruto's heart leapt into his throat, but A didn't seem to notice as he continued speaking. "Konoha, Kiri, and even Suna have all had the same issue. Several of their ninja appear to have gone rogue and caused damage to their villages. However, if what you said is true and it's actually these strange creatures that are infiltrating the village, then it means someone out there is gunning for us. The problem is I've never seen anything quite like this. I'm not sure what to make of it."

As the Raikage became silent, Naruto glanced at the other two. Yugito and Kirabi were both silent as well. Not only were they unwilling to speak, but they both had a grave and fierce demeanor. It seemed they had no idea what to do about this situation.

He took a step forward. "I think we should contact the other villages. Let everyone know what we know. If we can pool our resources and intelligence together, then we might be able to discover where these white plant-like people are coming from. If we can follow their trail, I'm sure we'll also discover who is behind this."

A nodded. "I don't have any other ideas, so we'll go with that."

"I'll be heading back to Konoha," Naruto added. "I'll get in contact with Jiraiya's spy network again and have them focus on discovering more about these white people."

"In that case, take Yugito with you," A said. "The two of you make a great team, so it would be a shame to split you up."

Yugito placed her hand against her chest and gave the Raikage a swift bow. Naruto nodded. As their goals solidified, he began thinking of what he needed to do: Report to Konoha, contact the spy network, locate where these white plant-like people who resembled Zetsu were coming from, and discover the location of Orochimaru. It was a tall order. However, somehow, he believed that all of these incidents and tasks would lead him to the same place.

Call him crazy, but he was almost 100% positive that these White Zetsu-like beings were somehow related to Orochimaru.