58 Bones in the ocean

New chapter here and it picks up from Naruto's POV first. Will he get to Gaara in time or not?

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'My father is a heartless bastard that I shall never forgive for doing this.

He has, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the money offered by the Hyuga clan head to make a 'security seal' for their Dojutsu can't be passed up. He ordered me, a sixteen year old who is one of the best seal masters of our clan, to make the seal.

Naturally, I refused. I read the request from the stiff with a stick tickling his esophagus and I know what he wants. He wants a brand to control the Branch house of his clan. I heard whispers among the elders and they said a few members of the Branch house broke away and the Main house had them hunted down and slain by the Uchiha, who were contracted to do it specifically because the Uchiha consider their own Dojutsu superior and won't steal the eyes.

Uchiha Fuji is a complete sadist. He's probably the most dangerous Shinobi I've heard of and he killed the strongest Senju of their generation over 15 years ago. He was the one sent to murder the Branch members.

And my father doesn't care. He won't listen when I say we need to take a more adversarial stance against the Uchiha clan.

I hate the world. I've been blessed with prodigious skill in Fuinjutsu, and yet my father demands that I use this gift to enable the enslavement of others.

The seal is too dangerous anyway, even if I didn't have reservations about it. The request wants every Main house members to be keyed into the seal's activation matrix to begin attacking the optic nerve and internal workings of the eye in the event of a Branch member defying them.

All it takes is the blood of a person keyed into the activation section to kill every Branch member, not the member themself. I could technically do it by getting a drop of blood from the clan head. But a teenager exterminating a clan in a single night is not something I want to live to see.'

END NOTE: Another Uzumaki was contracted to design it and teach the Hyuga Main house in how to paint it on the Branch's foreheads. It is not lost to me that several of my notes on how to plant a seal on the nerves around the ocular region, originally meant to fight Uchiha, went missing and found their way into the hands of the Hyuga after my father asked to have a look at my notes after he mentioned absent-minded lately about how the Uchiha 'might' need to be contended with in the future.

I will find a way to fix this, even if it takes me years to do it.

Personal Journal of Uzumaki Ashina, Uzumaki clan heir, Warring States period.

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I kept myself at a pace the others could keep up with as we ran through the streets towards the outskirts of the village.

Tracking Itachi was impossible from all the chakra flaring throughout the village from the clashing of Jutsu, so it left me with going towards the forest around Konoha and circling around.

'Who is the red haired Edo Tensei?' I wondered, assuming it was an Uzumaki based on the Bloodline ability he had. He had to have been extremely dangerous for Orochimaru to be willing to bring him back alongside the Kages.

"To our left!" Hinata shouted, her Byakugan active.

Three Oto nin came around the corner and spotted us, charging straight for us.

I ran forward and slashed at one of them with my sword drawn, aiming for his head.

Rin and Sasuke worked together to fight one and Hinata rushed forward to engage one in taijutsu with Ino right behind her.

I growled under my breath and I twisted my blade off of my opponent's and stabbed at him, trying to break through his defense. I kept attacking, increasing my speed to trap him in place and pulsed chakra into my blade almost to the point of it being painful, the normal steel blade shattering under my swing, my own sinking into his shoulder. The man barely managed to widen his eyes before I pulled it out and swung at his head, killing him instantly.

I turned to help the others, but it looked like they handled it.

Shikamaru had bound Hinata's opponent with his shadow and his chakra was disrupted like his tenketsu were struck, while the other had several slash marks all over him from Rin's blade and his eyes were rolled back from a Genjutsu, courtesy of Sasuke.

If we get to Gaara first, I'll tell Sasuke that Itachi is here. The only way I could realistically get Itachi to focus on me instead of Rin or Sasuke, because I was now certain that the one who trained the two of them was Itachi, was something genuinely horrible for a human being to do. But Itachi deserves it, even if it gets him extremely pissed with me.

"Let's move." I said, running towards the edge of the village again.

More than one ambush from Oto and Suna nin followed, each of them focusing on killing me while trying to avoid hitting Sasuke.

This angered Sasuke so much that he circled back and kicked one of the enemy nin he killed, his eyes flashing.

"Am I not dangerous enough that you'll target my friends!" Sasuke shouted at one of the slain Shinobi, holding the kunai that did it while standing over the corpse.

"Sasuke," I said irritably, "Talk later. Run now."

"I have a cut on my shoulder." Ino cut in, gesturing towards one of the downed Suna nin and wincing as she rotated her shoulder, "I think it was poisoned."

I had my head on a swivel from the constant clash of Shinobi all around us, only a one block radius of clear area from us fighting to clear it out.

'Where the hell are the Jonin?' I thought, wanting to know where the clan heads and the Jonin Senseis were.

"Hinata." I began to say, but the quiet girl was already walking towards Ino, her eyes looking at her wound.

"It looks poisoned," Hinata said as she looked at the blonde Yamanaka's shoulder, her pressing on the area causing Ino to hiss under her breath, "I can remove most of it but some already got into your bloodstream."

"Just do it." Ino gritted her teeth, whimpering as Hinata pulsed chakra into her hands to treat her.

As that was going on, I focused my sensing to extend the range, wanting a better picture of what was going on.

Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza were a few hundreds yards away, several Shinobi around them, and it felt like the three were handily kicking ass from all the signatures being touched by the chakra of the Yamanaka and Nara clan heads.

"Shika. Ino," I said, smirking slightly, "Your dad's are fine and winning their fights."

I felt their chakra become less turbulent and I went back to feeling out everything, something causing me to pause.

The Hyuga evidently had their own bunker for evacuation, because there was multiple signatures clustered underneath the compound, but that wasn't what had my blood freezing.

A familiar signature was there and the chakra of what I assumed were the Hyuga were almost vanishing from my 'sight' as he moved through the compound.

"Change of plan!" I shouted getting their attention, "Someone is attacking the Hyuga compound."

Hinata gasped and started shaking, tears already beginning to form in her eyes.

"Hanabi!" She screamed, shooting forward immediately.

The rest of us followed her and I overtook Hinata slightly, planning on striking first and asking questions later.

We got there after weaving through different streets and I kept feeling flashes of my own chakra throughout the different winding roads of Konoha, confusing me constantly.

I noticed the gates to the Hyuga compound were sliced clean off their hinges as we got to Hinata's home and I made several Kage bunshin, sending them out to scout the area.

A waist height level of mist was floating lazily around the area, making the sight of the area foreboding.

Several Hyuga members were restrained with seals and were thrashing around as they looked at us, trying to speak.

One of my bunshin managed to break the seals on one of them and the kunoichi started screaming.

"He can turn invisible," She managed to say clearly, her entire body shaking, "We couldn't even see him."

As she said that, I felt a flash of chakra a split second before I turned and swung out a chakra blade to my left, twisting away.

A golden blade appeared from nowhere and clashed with mine, disappearing again.

The Hyuga all started trying to get out of their restraints even more frantically, while my 'squad' got into a defensive formation.

"Try and see his chakra, Sasuke," I barked, my sword out in a defensive position as I looked around, "And I was able to sense him, Ino."

All of us were on guard and Shikamaru concentrated and expanded his shadow, trying to feel out the ground.

I heard Sasuke shout at me right as I felt movement next to me.

5 glowing flames of chakra that were the size of the pads of someone's fingers shot towards my stomach, right where my seal was.

The speed was too much and I was struck, the impact winding me.

I fell to the ground and I heard Rin scream my name, the individual still remaining invisible.

"Who the hell are you?!" I demanded, glaring at the extremely faint signature.

"Of course you were wearing chakra resistant armour," A voice came from above me, the man totally invisible, "That's sensible for you and Rin. You're rather delicate compared to others. You're like Mito and Kushina."

The person popped, meaning he was a Kage bunshin, and I felt something else in the building itself.

Neji, who evidently had been taken back to the compound to unlock his tenketsu closed by Hinata, was bodily thrown out the door, hitting the ground hard.

Next came a stack of papers bound together by a rubber band.

"I'm declaring the deal void, Hyuga!" The same man shouted from inside, still obscured, "Intellectual property of my clan is to be returned to my heirs and a cease and desist order is in place. Break it and I'll activate the seal!" The man then blew a raspberry and disappeared in a pop.

"Neji." Hinata rushed to her cousin, the boy clutching his forehead and groaning in pain.

I ran towards Hinata and kept my senses open, internally freaking out at how easy this guy just stormed through the Hyuga compound on the fly without any planning whatsoever and the ease in which he basically landed what would have been a kill shot on me if he intended to.

A quick glance at the papers bound together had my eyes widening in shock. They were the notes from the Hyuga library that had all the schematics for the Caged Bird Seal.

"Neji, please talk to me." Hinata asked desperately, "Where's Hanabi?"

"He wasn't interested in Hanabi," Neji said tightly, his eyes shut and his hand on his forehead like he was in agony, "He was interested in me."

Hinata slowly pulled Neji's hands away from his head and I actually heard her squeak in shock.

"I-it's," She stuttered, "It's gone! Your seal is gone."

I rushed towards Neji, looking for myself.

"Oh my God, it is." I said, the boy's forehead completely cleared of the mark.

His forehead was almost cherry red from what looked like a chakra burn and I saw what appeared to be some dirt on his skin. I brushed it off, but it seemed to pull some skin away that caused him to hiss in pain.

'It petrified bits of skin!' I thought, realizing only one thing does that to people.

This guy knew Senjutsu.

Hinata grabbed at the papers, but she yelped as it shocked her and she dropped it.

"Back up!" I shouted, grabbing ahold of Neji's arm and dragging him away, hoping this thing didn't explode.

All of us looked at it for a moment, but it just stayed there. I eventually made a shadow clone and had it try and mess with it, the clone pissed that it was picked as a test dummy.

The clone picked it up and nothing happened, much to its relief.

The clone then investigated the seals placed on the front of it, pulsing chakra into it. A puff of smoke appeared and the clone's eyes widened, before the papers glowed brightly from something happening.

The clone popped to give me the memories and I realized why it reacted that way.

The seals responded to my chakra, meaning this guy got ahold of it somehow, and the message that appeared freaked me out. It was addressed to Rin and me.

'Tobirama's notes aren't worth wiping your arse with on the different details and organization of the Hiraishin. A linked matrix of chakra receivers are needed for a water affinity to work. A pity your main affinity isn't lightning, Naruto.'

'Both of your seals are exemplary. I hope you don't mind that I stole all of them when I broke into you apartment.'

'And your Icha Icha book in a storage seal under your bed is now on Rin's dresser. Sleep with one of those pretty blue eyes open, grandson.'

"Oh God." I mumbled to myself, my hands shaking.

The notes left on my table were left by him. Someone broke into my home and left all those things to send a message to me. What kind of sick asshole plays mind games like that?

My grandfather.

Orochimaru resurrected Uzumaki Ashina to fight people and all the stories I was told about him meant hundreds of people were going to die.

This was when I truly wished I was reborn in the canon timeline, where stupid BS like this didn't happen. Orochimaru wanted me, Itachi was here, and now somebody who could evidently throw hands with Hashirama or Madara and not get ripped apart was now rampaging through my home.

Since his clones had personality, it meant he probably found a way to sever the control Orochimaru had on him, but this was still bad.

I turned to the others and cleared my throat.

"We have to get going," I then turned to Neji, "Are you able to fight?"

Neji activated his Byakugan and visibly froze.

"Yes, I can fight." He said, still looking around, "My vision is different. More clear."

Lovely. The seal evidently hampers vision somewhat. Don't know if it was intentional or not.

I nodded and gave Neji a very quick explanation on what we were doing and I ran towards the broken gate, leaving several bunshin to remove the seals on the Hyuga Shinobi.

"How is Hanabi?" Hinata asked Neji worriedly, her voice extremely shaky.

"She is in the secure room." Neji assured her, actually sounding civil for once. "He never tried to enter it."

Hinata looked unsure, but she managed to clear her mind and looked at me, along with everyone else, for orders.

I gave the order and the group of us, plus one more, raced towards the edge of the village, not slowing down.

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Several bunshin of mine that had Shunshined outwards to sense for Gaara or the others were still out roaming, the rest of us in the forest immediately north of the wall around Konoha.

A few clashes occured with some enemy Shinobi in the forest, but plenty of wind and fire combinations from Rin and Sasuke, as well as me tearing across the area with the Shunshin, helped make it a walk in the park for everyone else that was basically acting as defense for us.

I held up my hand and flared my chakra to signal the others to stop when one of my eventually bunshin popped, giving me information.

"West side. Edge of the forest." I said simply, getting a read on Gaara's chakra.

"What do we do if they break the seal?" Ino asked worriedly as we ran towards where my bunshin popped.

"If the Ichibi breaks out, we run. No looking back. Only two people can take down a tailed beast in Konoha." I didn't elaborate further on who, given that Jiraiya and Hiruzen were fighting Orochimaru and the Kages.

Everyone in the group got quiet at my flat honesty on what will happen if we don't stop Baki or the other Suna nin doing something stupid, the prospect grim.

"Don't go slow," Rin said to me, "Nobody is out here that we can't handle. You can get there faster without us."

That scared me. If I wasn't with them, I couldn't protect them. They were vulnerable without me.

'You warned them of the danger and helped them prepare.' A voice that sounded like my own said to me. 'You must trust them. You can save Gaara. Save the boy you could have become without Rin.'

It hurt me. I looked at my friends, my baby sister, and I felt like I was at a crossroads.

I had to trust that they could stick together and get through this. I needed them to stand on their own two feet or I'll become some overbearing bastard that will only drive them away.

I won't be that.

"Okay." I managed to say, my chakra shifting with my emotions, "None of you have permission to die. You hear me?!" I demanded, "We're all gonna look back on this day when we're all old and grey!"

I heard multiple 'yes' replies and I pulsed chakra into my legs, giving them one last look filled with emotion.

"Try and keep up." I disappeared in a swirl of leaves, the world a blur as I sped across the landscape to try and save Gaara from both the Akatsuki and his own village.

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I got to the area where I had felt Gaara's chakra and I sensed flashes of chakra ahead, indicative of combat.

Trying to Shunshin even faster, I started feeling my legs start to ache, but I pulled a little on Kurama's chakra to heal the small micro tears in my leg muscles as I ran. My sense of smell sharpened and the whistling of the air through my hair got a little louder.

I heard a feminine scream on the air and a faint scent similar to what Temari smelled like so I ran faster, trying to get to them.

Right as I got within sight, I saw a blur of black as Itachi Shunshined away with Gaara in tow.

With a tight pull on my chakra, I stopped in place and looked at the Suna Shinobi, the sound of crying coming from Temari.

Baki had an arm that was broken in two different areas, his eyes unfocused from the pain. Kankuro looked like he'd been hit by a Genjutsu and was extremely pale and shivering. Temari looked the worst though. She was crying and she kept mumbling Gaara's name, rocking back and forth.

I ran towards them and grabbed ahold of Temari.

"What happened?!" I demanded, trying to rouse her.

The blonde looked up at me with teal eyes and she hiccuped, trying to steady herself.

"We didn't even see him move," She whispered, "His eyes." Her breath quickened.

"Hey. Hey," I said gently, trying to calm her, "I can save your brother. I just need you to take deep breaths and calm down."

It took Temari a minute, but she managed to calm herself and was able to stand up, but she still looked much paler than she should have been.

"Did he say anything?" I asked, needing to know if Itachi laid any breadcrumbs to follow.

"He," Temari tried to say, clearing her throat, "He said he needed to hurry up and meet his partner. They were trying to capture another."

'Another?' I thought. 'Who else other than B and Yugito were there that Itachi was willing to target?'

I refocused on Temari and kept looking into her eyes.

"You know there's only one other Uchiha that isn't Sasuke, so you know how lucky you are to be alive." I just stood there, realizing I had no chance of saving Gaara.

Itachi would refrain from attacking me with no witnesses, but Kisame would take a limb or two off me. I hated dismemberment, so screw the idea of being near the fish man.

As I was thinking on what to do next, I perked up and felt a familiar chakra presence, specifically an echo of it attached to an unfamiliar one.

'Why is one of Orochimaru's servants out here?'

Immediately turning to Temari, I made my statement quick.

"If you want to live, you and your brother need to head east to a group our age. It's us Konoha genin. Tell Rin that you came across me and that you're on our side, alright?"

"She won't believe me." Temari said irritably, almost like she were insulted by me saying something stupid.

"Tell her these words, and she'll know you're not bullshitting her," I snapped back, my patience non-existent from Kabuto's signature being felt as well right next to curse mark freak.

I looked at her and actually managed a smile despite the storm about to drop in my lap.

"I have the High Ground."

Temari blinked and rolled her eyes and huffed.

"That's a stupid code term."

"You're gonna follow though," I said flatly, "and who's more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?"

Temari managed to help Kankuro up and the two began to run away, leaving me alone with Baki and the rapidly approaching enemies of mine.

They arrived a minute later and I flipped them the bird, my entire body tensing when I saw the tall teenager next to Kabuto.

Whitish hair. Green eyes. Pale skin. And red birthmarks on his face. Not to mention how freaking weird his chakra felt as it circulated through his bones.

"Kabuto-chan!" I shouted, thinking through a couple ideas on delaying the trash so my chakra could at least replenish slightly from Kurama acting as a stimulant for my natural chakra recovery. "You brought your lovely better half. Does he rearrange your guts like Rin did with a Rasengan?"

I then made a Kage bunshin and tossed a suppression tag and an exploding tag to it, ordering it to run at Baki. The Suna Jonin was in too much pain from getting beat down by Itachi to fight back and was promptly incapacitated so Kabuto couldn't heal his broken arm to fight me.

"Orochimaru-sama didn't say anything about you having a wit, Naruto-kun." Kabuto smirked, his glasses flashing in the light, "But I'm afraid this isn't a friendly visit. Orochimaru-sama has ordered your death, and he," He gestured towards Kimimaro, "was selected to kill you. You are quite the Shinobi."

My mind was running at a mile a minute, lightning coursing through my nervous system to buy more time for me to think of a plan.

Thinking of something, I made a gamble that I had no faith in working, but the delay could be enough for me to figure out a better combat plan to not fight the two.

"Orochimaru didn't send you to kill me, Kabuto," I lied while having a smirk laced with cruelty on my face, "He sent you to die."

Kabuto laughed, his gaze turning to Kimimaro.

"You may be able to match me with the Kyuubi's help, Naruto-kun, but that is why I am not alone."

"I never thought I'd meet you in person, Kimimaro." I bowed respectfully, not breaking eye contact, "I'm grateful that I've been able to meet a Kaguya."

Kabuto and Kimimaro both stiffened in surprise, the former taking a step forward.

"How do you know his name?" Kabuto demanded, his eyes flashing.

"The same way I knew you were working for Orochimaru from the very beginning since I met you," I replied smoothly, "The same way I knew Mizuki was also spying for Orochimaru when I killed him when he wanted the Forbidden Scroll for himself." I kept up the ruse, planning to put some meta knowledge to good use to ensure I didn't get killed.

I could kill Kabuto at this point if I used a couple Gates and some of Kurama's chakra. I had no idea if I could beat Kimimaro on my own though, even at full strength. I had no hope of killing two A-rank, including a high A-rank, Shinobi without help. So I used a tried and tested tactic that existed for millennia.

Divide and conquer.

"I am also working with Orochimaru."

Kabuto threw his head back and laughed, clutching his stomach as he did so.

"Very funny, but I am Orochimaru-sama's chief lieutenant. I would know if he had an agent as illustrious as you."

"Then how do I know Kimimaro by name?"

"Simple," Kabuto said, maintaining a guarded stance, "You are an Uzumaki. Orochimaru-sama spoke of how your clan had uncommonly skilled sensors. You could sense how Kimimaro's bones felt different and deduced that he was a part of the Kaguya clan. You are a genius that hid your brilliance from most people."

"His first name," Kabuto continued, his brow furrowing, "Perhaps it's from the time you encountered Momochi Zabuza. I wouldn't put it past Kiri to have a list of potential survivors of such a powerful clan as the Kaguya."

"A bit of a stretch." I pointed out, continuing to delay.

"Less so than you being a loyal servant of Orochimaru." Kabuto said clearly, pacing slightly, "You are quite crafty for coming up with a rouse like that on the fly. Quite respectable, but it won't work."

The next thing said by Kabuto had my chakra flaring in anger and fear.

"I have a special task while Kimimaro is supposed to kill you and regroup with the ones sent to bring Sasuke to Orochimaru," Kabuto said with a devilish grin, "Whether willing or not. Anybody with him currently isn't important enough to spare."

The kid gloves were off now. I'm going for the throat.

"You are a former ROOT agent." I said coldly, causing Kabuto to lose the smile on his face, "And you were there when Itachi nearly killed Orochimaru when he betrayed the Akatsuki."

Those last two parts had Kabuto completely unbalanced, his mouth opening and closing in shock.

"I, uh. Ho-" Kabuto tried to say, his face rapidly paling.

"Orochimaru came to me with information, telling me that Danzo leaked mine and Rin's identity as Jinchuriki," I said fiercely, not faking the rage I felt at the now dead leader of ROOT, "Orochimaru sent a Shinobi to 'Assassinate' me," I used air quotes, "To send a message to Danzo that his plans to turn Rin or me into a weapon will not be permitted by our master."

I thought of that little part from how Itachi threatened Danzo about sharing Konoha's secrets. Thanks, you red eyed bastard.

"You lie!" Kabuto said sharply, his hands glowing as chakra scalpels formed. As he began to step forward, Kimimaro spoke for the first time.

"Kabuto." That one word had a coldness to it like a glacier, the boy only a few years older than me trailing his gaze between Kabuto and me. "Stay put."

The silver haired Iryo-nin blinked for a moment, trying to think, from the looks of it.

"You can't honestly believe him?" Kabuto asked incredulously, "Orochimaru said he was just as crafty as Itachi when they fought."

Kabuto looked unnerved by the part I said about Itachi, which had me amused.

"Is that what he told you?" I asked sarcastically, genuinely grinning at what was happening, "Orochimaru tested my progress to see where I was at. He was impressed and we set up a rouse to convince my friends and the Hokage that I truly was almost killed by Orochimaru."

"I treated his injuries!" Kabuto snapped, his fist clenched, "He was suffering from acute chakra exhaustion."

"He had to sell it, especially to you."

A calculating look danced across Kabuto's face, before his eyes narrowed.

"You are trying to divide us," Kabuto snarled, turning to Kimimaro and forcing his voice to lower back to normal, "I have been loyal to Orochimaru for years. I have no reason to betray him, nor does he have a reason to kill me."

Kimimaro looked at Kabuto, slowly turning towards me.

"Explain why Orochimaru wants you to kill Kabuto," Kimimaro demanded softly, a bone blade slowly sliding out of his arm and into his hand, "And why my presence was necessary. If the answer is not adequate, I will kill you more painfully than I planned to."

'That last part is a blessing.' I thought. I might be able to convince him to actually back off if I pull this off.

"Our master wants Kabuto dead because he has been leaking information to Sasori of the Red Sands." I answered, grinning toothily as Kabuto started shaking.

Kabuto was extremely pale the moment I said the name Sasori, that knowledge not being known by Orochimaru, or at least I think he didn't know. It basically meant that Kabuto was a potential dead man walking.

And it looked like he knew it.

The best thing is; There is a rational way that I could know all of this stuff that doesn't involve reincarnation.

Jiraiya knew about the Akatsuki from his spy network. It's in the realm of possibility that Itachi was giving him information, that Itachi discovered Sasori had an agent spying on Orochimaru, and gave the info to Jiraiya, who was my godfather and would want me to be well equipped to fight the Akatsuki.

The lightning enhancement for the mind is broken. I basically had 5 minutes extra of planning out what to say throughout this entire exchange.

"As to your second request," I continued, looking at Kimimaro, "Orochimaru wants you to get treated for your terminal illness."

Kimimaro raised a brow, a scoff escaping his lips.

"And how did he plan that? Kabuto is correct in how you could create a rouse, but his reaction to the name 'Sasori' has me questioning his trustworthiness. But," He added, "That could be because he is a member of the Akatsuki, as you say, and is after Orochimaru-sama."

"Well," I replied, "Orochimaru was unable to find a cure for your illness. But he is aware of an even better Iryo-nin than Kabuto. Someone who might be able to cure you."

That seemed to get Kimimaro's attention slightly.

"Who?" Kimimaro asked, a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Senju Tsunade."

Kimimaro reacted with a narrowing of his eyes.

"She would never cure a loyal servant of Orochimaru's affliction."

This might actually work.

"Ah, but you're not a loyal servant of Orochimaru," I smirked, my tone a leading one, "You escaped from one of his bases, after being experimented on and being branded with that horrible seal," I kept laying it on thick, my gaze turning towards an extremely tensed Kabuto, "You knew you were going to be his new vessel, but Kami seemed to bless you with a terminal illness that made you unsuitable as a host."

The way I was saying it was with a sarcastic tone to show that this was the supposed cock and bull story Kimimaro was supposed to sell to Konoha to get treated. This type of thing is actually plausible enough for Orochimaru to try if I actually was an agent of his.

Kimimaro's eyes remained on mine, unwavering.

"You decide to try and escape to save someone else from the hell you went through and you come across me," I pointed to myself, " during the invasion and you practically beg me to take you in. With me testifying that you're just a scared kid that doesn't want to die, my cousin Tsunade will treat you, hopefully cure you, and we cause widespread destruction in Konoha months later as we leave to rejoin Orochimaru, with my blood and equipment left behind to make it look like you killed me."

Kabuto's chakra was flexing with his heartbeat, which was running a mile a minute. He was genuinely scared now.

'I might've convinced him of the lie.' I thought amusedly, still focusing on Kimimaro.

"Your sister wouldn't have gone along with it," Kabuto said almost desperately, "And your friends wouldn't have either."

"Friends?" I laughed, "Sister? Hah! A mentally broken Uchiha that will never achieve an ounce of what his brother could? A stuttering mess of a girl that would have been more useful as a broodmare for Kumo?"

I wanted to vomit at the words I had said...and what I was about to say.

"My sister is a gullible little girl that refuses to accept that I have outgrown her," The words felt like ash in my mouth, "She isn't even useful enough to expand my clan because she's a Jinchuriki." That last sentence had me feeling ill at the thought of saying something so harsh, even if I didn't believe any of this.

Kimimaro turned his focus towards Kabuto, his eyes no longer on me.

"So your loyalty to Orochimaru-sama is greater than to your sister?"

"It was Orochimaru that made me strong," I said sharply, "He made me powerful. He is why I have survived the tender mercies of the civilians who tried to murder me as a child. He gave me the chance to forge my own destiny! He broke my shackles and freed me from my Fate!" I shouted the last part.

Kimimaro now had his back to me, facing a combat ready Kabuto.

"Another question," Kimimaro said slowly, another bone blade slithering out of his left arm and into his hand, "Who is my friend, the one I am supposed to keep in line?"

I smirked.

"Jugo."

"Name the Sound Four."

"Only one really matters to me, but there's technically 5 because of the brothers."

A pause, then another question.

"Which one matters to you?"

"Tayuya." I reply with a smirk, "I have a thing for foul mouthed redheads. And she plays wonderful music."

"Another question." Kimimaro seemed to think of another one, his body tensed.

This was likely hard on him because I think he and Kabuto were buddies, and all the stuff I've said so far makes it sound like a friend had betrayed his master.

"I will answer to prove my loyalty." I replied softly.

Kimimaro, without looking away from Kabuto, spoke once more.

"What was your position to be when you and I were to return to Otogakure?"

"I was to be what your position was if you didn't get cured," I replied, "I was tasked with convincing Sasuke to join me so Orochimaru could possess his body. You were deemed too important to be his vessel if you were cured once Sasuke became an option."

"Otogakure will become a shoe in to be a Great Village with a Jinchuriki in its ranks," I continued, praying that this will work, "And with you acting as Orochimaru's chief lieutenant alongside me. I will be appreciated and respected by Oto, instead of the hatred and scorn of Konoha."

Several long seconds passed, the only sound being the wind and the chakra of both people in front of me continuously shifting.

I didn't see Kimimaro's face, but I did feel his chakra sharpen and his bones hardened, Kabuto's body tensing and I assumed his eyes had widened because I couldn't see his face.

Kimimaro swung his bone blade at Kabuto's face, the silver haired Oto nin blocking it with a chakra scalpel.

"I'm not a traitor!" Kabuto shouted, backing away as Kimimaro reined down attacks upon him with his bone blades.

'Wait for it.' I thought to myself, wanting Kimimaro's back to be turned and both his arms to be occupied fighting Kabuto for when I'd ram a Rasengan into his spine.

Kabuto was every bit as quick as I feared and managed to deflect the hits away from him with his scalpels, eventually catching one in his left hand.

Kimimaro slashed with the other one and Kabuto pushed himself up with his grip on the one blade and twisted his legs to catch the other between his thighs, pulling Kimimaro forward with his body weight.

Before I could rush forward, Kabuto managed to twist and avoid the ribs that shot out of Kimimaro's chest to impale him and dropped a smoke pellet, disappearing from sight.

I formed a Chidori and planned to hit Kabuto from a distance by lengthening it, but he managed to evade Kimimaro and started running.

"Damnit." I muttered, rushing to pursue.

Kabuto needed to be killed. If I could kill him and stop Kimimaro from going after Sasuke and my friends, I could save them and avoid getting myself killed.

Just as I was about to extend the Chidori to hit him, Kabuto blurred through hand seals, planting his hands into the ground as he flipped forward.

Doton: Mud Wall.

The ground rose up and formed a sizable wall that covered Kabuto's back and obscured my line of sight.

I snarled and shifted the shape of the Chidori and drove it forward as fast as I could.

Chidori Eiso.

The blade of lightning pierced through the wall and I heard a scream of pain, a grin appearing on my face.

But Fate, in its infinite cruelty, robbed me of my victory.

Several projectiles whistled through the air behind me and struck my back, my armour barely withstanding the hit. I gasped as the air was driven from me and I was propelled into the Earth Wall, my head striking it hard enough to loosen my Hitai-ate on my head. Kabuto's chakra vanished from my sight as he took off even faster.

Kimimaro came rushing towards me from behind and slashed at my head, trying to take my head clean off. I ducked under it and rolled to the side, pulling out my sword.

Kimimaro spun and swung his legs out, bone protruding from his feet as he directed them at me. The shock at the turn of events had me on the back foot and my blade was pushed out of position from the dual strikes, his body twisting and the bone sword in his hand swung down at a speed too much for me to avoid.

The blade cut into the right side of my face, down my cheek, and all the way down to my collarbone. I let out a scream of pain and felt a foot drive itself into my chest, the impact feeling like a solid steel hammer hitting my ribs. I got launched and was sent tumbling across the ground, my whole body hurting.

I managed to pull myself up and I realized, through the pain, that my vision was less. I grabbed at my right eye and started panicking, not being able to see out of it.

'No. No no no.' I started screaming, trying to clean the blood from my face to make sure my eye was still there.

After several seconds, with Kimimaro standing still, I managed to clear the blood away enough for me to open my right eye lid forcefully, while closing my left.

I could see. It was foggy and red tinged, but I could see. But blood kept leaking into my eye, obscuring my vision constantly until the slash in my face could heal.

The loosening of my Hitai-ate probably saved my eye from being torn out of its socket from the slash. I bluffed and lowered it further to cover up my eye, making me look like Kakashi.

"I'm gonna pull your spine out of your ass and strangle you with it for taking my eye!" I roared convincingly, raising my blade up in a guard position.

"You cannot defeat me." Kimimaro said simply, his own posture matching mine, "Orochimaru-sama warned us that you had immense knowledge about things you had no business knowing, but neither he nor Kabuto were aware of how much."

I froze for a moment, realizing that I gave away that I knew quite a lot of things to the biggest secret holder in arguably all the Elemental Nations.

"Like I said-" I started, but Kimimaro flung his hand out at me, a loud cracking noise coming from his hand.

Teshi Sendan.

Five of his finger bones shot at me with a frightening speed and I focused lightning chakra into my nerves, the bones slowing to a crawl. A swift turning of my body and an upward diagonal slash had me avoiding three and intercepting two with my blade as they came towards my stomach and shoulder.

The two clinked against my sword and deflected to the side as I glared with one eye at Kimimaro.

"Do not lie!" Kimimaro snapped, the bones beneath his skin shifting slightly like something alive was underneath his skin. "Orochimaru-sama warned us that you will possibly say things to make us turn against one another. He said you were receiving information from an outside source or a mole!"

That killed any chance of me convincing Kimimaro to chase after and kill Kabuto. They already knew I would try something like that.

But Orochimaru was off the mark. He probably suspected that he had a mole leaking information to either me or Jiraiya, instead of me knowing about this stuff from having seen all of it.

"Ask me who my source is," I said, still keeping my blade ready and my chakra ready to be unleashed, "And I'll tell you if you're right.

Kimimaro didn't say anything, only stalking around me.

"And why isn't Kabuto back?" I asked, trying to sound almost insulted by Orochimaru thinking it would only take Kimimaro to kill me.

In truth, I would undoubtedly be killed if I didn't know anything about Kimimaro's Kekkai genkai. My knowledge of what it can do is what will save me after the fight with Gaara and all the other Shinobi me and the others clashed with ate into my reserves.

"He has another mission, remember?" Kimimaro smiled, still circling me like a predator stalking its prey. "You shouldn't feel like you failed in telling your lie though. If I hadn't been forewarned and had a plan with Kabuto before we came here, I would have believed what you said and tried to kill Kabuto. You are an excellent talker."

"Why thank you," I nodded my head, "But flattery won't stop us from trying to kill one another, will it?"

"No," He replied, "It won't."

Itachi was still out somewhere with Gaara. Kisame was probably waiting for him so they could attack Yugito or B...

'Wait. Yugito and B are with Ay. The only other is...Rin.'

I had to get to them. Itachi would pick this point to mindfuck Sasuke again. I can't let Itachi be forced in a situation where he'll possibly sacrifice my sister to keep his cover secure.

"How do you plan on capturing Sasuke?" I demanded, crossing my fingers to make several Kage bunshin. Multiple copies of me puffed into existence, ready to fight.

"The Sound Four." Kimimaro said simply, his legs tensing in preparation.

I have to get to them! They won't be in any shape to delay Kisame or Itachi after a fight with them.

"Your wretched clan was known for its battle rage." I spat, shifting my blade in preparation for the 3rd fight I was going to have with someone either equal or stronger than me. My chakra reserves no longer mattered, I was going to kill Kimimaro and use Sasuke as leverage to get Itachi to back off from Rin. "Come! Show me what passes for fury among your misbegotten kind!" I roared, pulsing golden chakra into my blade.

Kimimaro shot forward and engaged me and my clones, our weapons clashing.

Kimimaro started immediately stabbing at me, bones shooting out to protect him from probing attacks by my clones. Both arms of his were coated in bone and started speeding up his attacks, trying to break through my guard.

I'd underestimated his speed and I was progressively losing ground, barely twisting out of the way of a slash that would have taken my head off when his second bone sword caught my blade in a lock.

One of my bunshin saw that I was struggling and dove forward, yelling at me to stab forward in English.

Without hesitation, I stabbed forward and impaled the clone just a second after it pulsed two chakra blades to stop Kimimaro's stabs. The clone popped and I lunged further, pulsing chakra into my sword to lengthen the reach, a golden glow surrounding it.

My blade connected with his chest, but Kimimaro managed to twist enough to prevent him getting stabbed, but it still opened up a gash that stretched from his front rib to the side.

His counter slash at my throat was ducked to avoid getting beheaded again and I jumped and spun over the second bone sword, twirling my blade to ward off a blind swing.

Kimimaro frowned at the cut before he came at me even faster, stabbing at me instead of slashing.

The new pattern of attack was working more effectively against me and I started resorting to using substitutions with a few of my clones to prevent from being stabbed, but it wasn't enough. I mistimed one and I got my blade twisted out of position, his other stabbing at my chest. My armour stopping it from completely penetrating, but it still sunk an inch or two into my chest and I hissed in pain, twisting hard to snap the edge of the sword off.

The clash resumed as he kept up his attack, trying to get another breakthrough.

I kept slowly backing away and twisted one of his downward slashes away as I backpedaled and pivoted to put my blade in a position to block his other sword in his off hand.

One of my few remaining clones started stabbing at him with a Chidori Eiso to keep its distance and he started backing away from me, unable to take both me and the collection of bunshin on.

That small opening gave me the chance to boost my speed, a portion of my chakra getting redirected to forcefully open a certain tenketsu.

Gate of Opening: Kai!

I felt chakra flood through my tenketsu and my speed increased, my blade whistling through the air and clanging against Kimimaro's bone swords.

The two ways I could increase my speed of movement was to either open the two Gates I had no difficulty in opening, or try out the Lightning Cloak. The part that sped up my body movements was still inconsistent and would only last a short time before I hurt myself. The Gates didn't hurt my nerves, so it was better against someone that didn't have a weakness to lightning, like Gaara.

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes and blocked the blur of attacks, catching the last attack between his blades and his chakra shifted, causing me to back away.

Several bones came shooting out of his body and managed to impale the clones that pounced as I started to match Kimimaro's blows, popping them.

I ran towards him again and kept on attacking, trying to get through. With a shout, I managed to twist his right arm to his left, bringing my left hand down with a chakra blade to strike his wrist.

I made contact and saw a flash of red as he started bleeding, but his hand wasn't sliced off.

A kick to my ribs from him slipped through and I fell to one knee, trying to not groan in pain from the hit. His one blade came down towards me and I blocked it by holding my sword horizontal, my free leg kicking at his knee to knock him to the ground.

Kimimaro pivoted out of the way of the kick and pulled away, letting me stand back up.

"You are extremely fast and skilled." Kimimaro said simply, glancing at the deep cut in his hand. "It is a great pity that our paths hadn't crossed earlier. Orochimaru-sama would have made you even greater than you are now."

I just scoffed and focused on the chakra pulsing through my tenketsu like a churning river, my entire body struggling to remain still.

"I don't need to sell my soul to get power, Kimimaro," I said flatly, ready to fire some Jutsu at him, "I'll never submit myself to a traitor and a monster."

"Orochimaru-sama is no monster." Kimimaro said coldly, readying himself. "He brought stability to where Otogakure is and he will discover the secrets of the world."

"He kills children and experiments on innocent people," I snarled, spiking my Killing Intent, "None of it will be worth it, in the end. Orochimaru will die before he discovers the secret of reality."

With that, I made a hand seal and concentrated chakra in my gut.

Suiton: Teppodama.

A ball of water shot towards Kimimaro and I Shunshined to the right over 100 meters, making several more Kage bunshin.

"Stay out of range and hit him with Jutsu." I ordered in English, shooting towards Kimimaro again.

The last Kaguya came at me, soaked from tanking the hit from the water, and clashed blades with me, his eyes focusing on me.

//////////////////

"Someone's coming from my direction." Hinata said, her Byakagun active, "The two Suna genin." She added after focusing on them.

Rin scowled and made several more Kage bunshin, taking off her Hitai-ate for a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

It was practically boiling in the forest and there had been Oto Shinobi that had tried to continuously escape from the village, being easy targets for even skilled genin do to them being either wounded or exhausted.

Several of them were visibly shaking when they saw her eyes, which confused her. It's not like she was using the Kyuubi's chakra that made her eyes turn red.

"Is their Jonin Sensei with them?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed.

Hinata squinted her eyes, extending the range.

"No, he isn't."

Rin's clones were circling around the six of them, constantly giving her feedback on any of the enemy nin near them. Naruto hadn't gotten back yet, which was enough for her to start to be uncomfortable, and she planned on getting any information she could from the two Genin.

After a few minutes, the two got to them and Rin immediately rushed towards the Suna genin.

"Where is Naruto?" She demanded, her tanto in her hand and a Rasengan formed in the other, "Where's my brother?"

Temari, her fan strapped to her back and looking a little pale, held up her hands to placate her.

"He told us to run if we wanted to live." Temari said, her face paling as she glanced at Sasuke, whose Sharingan was active.

"I don't believe you!' Rin growled, ready to beat the information out of the two.

Hinata and Sasuke had her back, while Neji, Shikamaru, and Ino were at the flank, also ready to jump in.

"Naruto told me a code phrase because he knew you wouldn't believe me." Temari said irritably, her eyes narrowing at her.

"And what is it?" Rin asked the other blonde sarcastically.

Sighing, Temari replied to Rin's demand.

"I have the High Ground."

Rin rolled her eyes at the uniquely 'Naruto' thing to say. But she realized what Temari said before that about Naruto mentioning that the blonde Suna girl needed to run if she wanted to live.

"Why did Naruto say you needed to run?" She asked, her heartbeat quickening in worry.

Temari seemed to pale and looked at Sasuke, swallowing a lump down her throat.

"His brother is here." She whispered, looking at Sasuke.

Rin's eyes widened and she heard Sasuke let out a strangled gasp, until she shivered as his chakra flashed his Killing Intent.

"Don't lie!" Sasuke growled, marching towards her with a kunai in his hand, "Lie to me again and I'll melt your brain with Genjutsu until you tell the truth!"

"His eyes are exactly like yours!" Temari shouted back, closing the distance between them.

Rin stood ready to intervene, along with the others, but all of them were still reeling from Temari saying that one of the most notorious traitors in Konoha's history was here during a full scale invasion.

"He had those three black dots in his eyes and he said that his partner was trying to capture another Jinchuriki like my brother!"

Only Rin and Sasuke understood the implications of that last part, although Rin didn't realize Sasuke knew about her and Naruto.

Rin was about to demand that they run to meet up with Naruto, when she felt one of her bunshin get killed.

She only got back a flash of memory, but it was a kunai being driven through the back of her head.

"One of my clones was killed." Rin said frantically, looking towards the direction it came from.

Sasuke rushed towards her and stood next to her, his eyes darting along the treeline.

"Not again," He was whispering under his breath, practically chanting it like he was panicking, "Not again. I won't let you take them."

Rin saw a flash of movement and so did Sasuke.

"Spread out!" Rin shouted to the others, taking charge since Sasuke wasn't in the emotional state to lead currently. "We don't want to get hit by one jutsu."

Temari and Kankuro stuck together, heading left. Hinata stuck to both Rin and Sasuke, while Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji moved right, Neji taking a temporary replacement role for Choji.

"Don't look into his eyes!" Sasuke shouted desperately, his own eyes blood red and three tomoe spinning.

"Show yourself, Itachi!" Sasuke roared, demanding his brother come out.

But it wasn't Itachi that came out of the forest, it was four different Oto Shinobi that did, each one looking different.

A girl with pinkish red hair, a boy with six arms, another stocky boy with orange hair, and a blue haired boy that looked like he had a second head behind his first.

"We're lucky that one shithead isn't here." The girl said, her gaze sweeping across them, "He's probably dead now."

"Who?" Rin demanded, her chakra flaring under her skin.

"The redhead that screwed up the plan by beating the Suna Jinchuriki." The girl replied, smirking as Rin's face twisted into a wrathful one.

"That's my brother," Rin growled, "And it's gonna take more than a bunch of idiots like you to kill him or us!"

"Orochimaru personally selected someone to kill Uzumaki Naruto," The blue haired boy laughed, "And he could take all of us on at the same time."

Rin needed to get to Naruto, so she made as many Kage bunshin as she could, preparing for a fight.

"You don't know my brother." She said, ready to start the battle without care, "And why are you here?!"

"To drag duck ass somewhere and kill all you other Konoha pissants!" The girl laughed, looking straight at Sasuke and winking.

Rin heard Sasuke mutter something about killing all of them, but she cleared her throat to snap him out of his thoughts, which was causing him to leak Killing Intent.

The blue haired boy spoke next, sounding a little more authoritative than the girl.

"Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro," The teenager said, looking straight at them, "You are supposed to be helping with the invasion. Why are you not?"

Rin and the others turned towards the two siblings, the older of the two glaring at the Oto nin.

"I'm not going to just listen to you on what to do, lackey." Temari gritted out, maintaining her glare. "The way I see it, we've been captured by these Konoha Shinobi and we could do nothing while another Konoha Shinobi protects a key asset of Suna, my brother."

Rin visibly relaxed when Temari said that. The last thing they needed was to have themselves outnumbered and fighting against 4 unknown Shinobi.

"You will regret this." The boy said, whistling towards the others.

"Bite me!" Temari had her fan out, Kankuro taking out his hastily patched up puppet, courtesy of Rin's windblade and Rasengan.

Not taking her eyes off of the Oto nin, who are undoubtedly very good, judging by their lack of worry in fighting 7 people, Rin kicked Sasuke's leg lightly as she signaled him and went through hand seals.

Rin finished her jutsu right before Sasuke did.

Futon: Daitoppa.

Kaiton: Gokakyu no Jutsu.

Sasuke's fireball struck her gust of wind and expanded to being a colossal ball of fire, completely obscuring their opponents.

"Plan 8." Rin shouted to Hinata and Sasuke, the three of them rushing forward. Two of her bunshin ran towards the others and explained the strategy on what to do, cohesion the key to them winning.

Her bunshin would rush towards the Oto nin to scope out how they fought, while her bunshin that stayed back would relay the information to the others so they didn't go in blind.

With her two closest friends beside her, Rin zeroed in on the isolated redhead in front of them, the fireball forcing the others to scatter.

The girl put her flute to her lips and started playing it, walking backwards and sticking to one of the trees with chakra to walk up it.

Rin felt her vision spin and she heard both Hinata and Sasuke stumble, the two of them seeming to react worse.

'What kind of Genjutsu is this?' Rin thought frantically, struggling to break it.

She felt a kunai strike her chest and bounced off the armour she had under her shirt, thanking Naruto silently for harassing her about wearing it.

"Wearing armour, I see!" The girl laughed, her voice seeming to come from everywhere but nowhere, "So you're not a stupid blonde bitch, just a blonde bitch!"

A kunai was flung and almost hit Hinata, but the girl managed to hear it whistling towards her and she shifted out of the way, her sleeve getting cut.

Sasuke ended up figuring out what was going on, because he shot a fireball towards a random area and spoke to Rin.

"Drop a flash tag," He said, "she's using a sound based Genjutsu with her flute. We need to flash our ears."

'I'm glad you're perceptive, Sasuke.' Rin thought gratefully, pulling out a tag.

"Close your eyes!" Rin shouted, dropping the tag and triggering it.

Her ears were filled with a loud whine and she could hear nothing, her vision now returned.

Jabbing at Sasuke and Hinata's shoulders, she ran towards the now visible girl, her eyes widened in shock.

Rin flung a kunai laced with wind chakra at her, the blade cutting through the air. The redhead avoided it, but the tree she was standing on had a chunk torn out of it, the tree shaking.

The girl jumped from the tree and to another as she glared at the three of them, her eyes blazing.

Flipping them off, the girl's face started to be obscured by black marks dancing across her body, her features changing.

Sasuke stepped forward and evidently thought he could take her on and Shunshined towards her.

Sasuke immediately had the upper hand in taijutsu against the girl, driving her back. The markings on her face spread and she actually caught Sasuke's punch, throwing him to the side. Rin and Hinata rushed towards her and worked together in their attacks, trying to bring the girl down before whatever she was doing it reached its goal.

The girl made hand seals that Rin recognized from Kakashi summoning his dogs before they reached her in time.

Kuchiyose no Jutsu.

Three giant things appeared in a puff of smoke right in front of her that started moving as she played the flute.

Rin's hearing had returned a few seconds before and jumped over one of the summons, swinging her wind blade at it. The sharpened wind chakra cut into its shoulder and she kicked at the tree trunk in front of her to backflip, swinging again. The hit struck it in the face and it roared, the movement of it matching the tone of music.

"Sasuke!" Rin shouted, trying to now run from two of them while Hinata was doing her best to evade the one. "A little help!"

She caught a blur of black and blue as Sasuke Shunshined towards one in response, swinging a kunai at it.

The summon stopped focusing on trying to crush her and went to go after Sasuke.

'These stupid things have separated us.' Rin growled internally, avoiding a giant meaty fist from the summon trying to kill her and slid underneath its legs, smashing a Rasengan into its thigh.

The beast roared in pain and toppled over, its leg no longer able to support its weight.

Rin jumped over it and saw that Hinata was holding her own by evading the one after her, while Sasuke was leaping from tree branch to tree branch in a blur of speed as he tried to land hits on the summon, several slashes in its legs and hands already.

Rin made hand seals and concentrated on her aim, timing it for when Sasuke evaded an attack.

But before she could, Hinata who had her Byakagun active and was facing away from her, screamed out a warning.

"Rin, behind you!"

Rin didn't turn around fast enough to avoid what felt like a building striking her as the summon that she thought she incapacitated swung its arm at her, sending her flying from the tree and flailing towards the ground. The Jutsu she had built up still shot forward and ended up cutting a tree in half as it tore through it, but she didn't see it.

She struck the ground screaming in fear, landing back first and she temporarily blacked out from the pain, her entire left side burning.

Trying to breathe without crying out, Rin rolled slightly to try and get up, but her back protested the movement.

Sasuke jumped down and ran towards her, his expression fearful.

"Rin! Rin! Can you hear me?" He asked desperately, his eyes wide in near terror as he looked down at her.

"M'okay." She managed to say, trying to wave him off, but her reassurance didn't make the pain go away.

Rin couldn't control the Kyuubi's chakra to the level that Naruto could to speed up her healing without messing with her head, so she just laid there for a moment.

The summon that Sasuke was fighting jumped down, while the one Rin had taken down stayed in the tree, its leg useless.

"You want me?" Sasuke demanded, hitting his chest in challenge, "Come on!" Sasuke Shunshined straight at it, kunai drawn again.

The summon was already weakened, but Sasuke's rage seemed to make his attacks faster, stronger, and more deadly. With just a kunai, Sasuke was tearing at the creature, his face tight and vicious as he kept landing hits on it.

Eventually, Sasuke slid under its legs, backflipped, and spun midair to latch onto its head, stabbing his kunai into the summon's neck from behind.

The creature flailed around and roared as Sasuke was screaming as he stabbed it over and over again, the lumbering giant eventually falling to its knees.

Jumping off it as it fell forward, Sasuke spun midair and drove his kunai into the crown of its head, twisting until the blade snapped off in its skull.

With a large puff of smoke, it vanished back to where it was summoned.

Sasuke breathed in and out heavily as he came down from the rage wave, before running back to her.

Rin managed to sit up, her back feeling better after just a short while.

'Thanks, fox.' She thought, Sasuke's eyes wide in concern.

"Rin," He said uncomfortably, "Your shoulder."

The blonde girl looked down and her eyes widened in realization of why she was struggling to move her left arm.

The joint was dislocated.

"Please, pop it in place." Rin begged, not wanting to be in her current state.

"Ok," Sasuke nodded, grabbing ahold of her arm gently, "On three, alright?" His eyes were on hers.

"Yep." Rin managed to say, looking away.

"One." Sasuke jerked her arm back in place with a loud pop.

"Gah!" She screamed, grabbing at her shoulder, "You said three!" She growled.

"You would have tensed and it would have hurt more." Sasuke said, standing back up, "We need to get to Hinata."

Rin lifted her right hand out to Sasuke to help her up, which he did and yanked her body weight upward. The ache in her back returned and she tried to stifle a moan of pain.

"I think I broke something." She grimaced, feeling at a swollen part of her back.

"Worry about it later." Sasuke said stiffly, his legs bent and his eyes towards the trees in preparation to reach Hinata.

Rin bit down her reply, not knowing why Sasuke would be acting that way to her.

Sasuke jumped towards the closest tree, sticking to it and running up it. Rin followed, but at a slower pace.

Rin spotted Sasuke shooting a fire ball almost absentmindedly at the summon that was still mobile, racing towards the girl controlling them.

The blonde Jinchuriki stood still to ease the aches she still had, focusing on her two teammates.

Grimacing, Rin made a few Kage bunshin to help Hinata, her head aching from the amount of chakra she had split up to help everyone.

She was getting some of the chakra back from the killed ones, but the memory flashback of dying repeatedly was giving her a headache and had her on a short fuse.

She saw as Sasuke managed to reach the girl, trying to lock her into a taijutsu fight. The redhead managed to leap to a different tree, followed by another.

Realizing where she was going to go next, Rin went through hand seals as fast as she could and swung her body and slashed her arm to the side, biting back a whimper.

Futon: Juha Sho. (Beast Tearing Palm).

A blade of wind tore through the air with a screeching howl and ripped clean through the tree branch that the red haired girl landed on, her and the branch plunging to the Earth.

The girl screamed in shock and Rin ran to Hinata, trying to assist.

"Sasuke!" She shouted, "Stay with us!"

Rin made only one bunshin, sending it to keep an eye on the girl on the ground while Team 7 finally linked up and took on the last mobile summon, Hinata struggling to decisively put it down.

A Shunshin assisted kick from Sasuke striking its head, combined with a Vacuum Palm from Hinata had the summon staggering enough for Rin to run forward, driving a Rasengan through its chest.

Her father's jutsu tore through it's chest and it toppled off the branch and fell from the tree, puffing into smoke as it hit the ground.

Rin's bunshin that was watching the redhead popped, giving her the exact location.

"Follow me." Rin said simply, running down the tree by sticking to it to get to the ground.

Their opponent was trying to limp away, her injuries similar to Rin's, but she didn't have a Bijuu sealed inside of her to increase her healing speed.

The three rushed forward and took the injured girl on without issue.

A Juken hit from Hinata struck the girl in the side before she could throw up an arm to block, while Rin drove a fist into her face.

The girl shouted several curse words, swinging at them.

With her blade in hand and a tag in the other, Rin charged her again and managed to extend her tanto's reach with wind chakra, cutting the flute in half.

The girl looked down in shock, her flute now gone. Rin slammed the tag into her forehead and shoved her, Hinata using a Vacuum Palm to send her flying towards a tree, with Sasuke blurring behind her and closelining her in the back of the head, the girl slumping to the ground unconscious.

Sasuke walked towards the two girls on his team, looking at their opponent.

"How many bunshin do you have active right now?" Sasuke asked Rin, still staring at the unconscious girl.

"Dozens," Rin replied, "I've figured out what the others' abilities are."

The blue haired one was actually two people, the orange haired one could use earth release very effectively and was strong, and the six armed one could make webs and summon spiders.

As Rin explained this, she saw a massive shift outside the village, her eyes blinking as she tried to make sense of it.

"What th-" She tried to say, completely frozen in shock.

A massive hurricane had formed outside of the village and it seemed to fly towards a red blip in the distance. A massive boom that caused the ground beneath them to shake lightly occurred, causing them to all look at each other.

"We have to beat these guys and find Naruto." Rin said, her team following her as they raced towards Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji, the three of them fighting three of the Oto nin.

//////////////////

'I hate spiders !' Ino screamed internally, cutting herself out of the web that snared her.

The six armed kid, Kidomaru is what the one guy, Jirobo, called him, had repeatedly made it difficult for her or Shikamaru to restrain him because he was flipping through the trees with his webs and Jirobo was an absolute pain for the sand siblings to handle, who weren't moving as quickly as they otherwise would have been.

Ino didn't know how Team 7 was doing, but she'd need to thank Rin for the bunshin helping them currently stay in the fight.

Just as a blade of wind from one of the bunshin struck the tree Kidomaru swung to, Ino made a couple hand seals for a jutsu.

Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu.

Using another portion of her noticeably lower reserves, Ino blasted water out of her mouth at the boy, managing to hit him.

"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted, hoping he understood.

Shikamaru, who was covered in sweat just as much as she was, managed to shoot his shadow forward and wrapped it around the six armed boy, his partner held up by an evasive Neji assisted by a few of Rin's bunshin in fighting the blue haired guy that seemed to be two people from how the chakra felt.

"Bunshin!" Ino shouted, realizing she would get dangerously close to chakra exhaustion if she used her clan technique.

The one's that still had enough chakra in them blitzed towards the boy restrained by Shikamaru, but Ino could see the shadow waver.

With a growl building in his throat, Shikamaru yelled and forced all his will into holding Kidomaru in place, the shadow stabilizing once more.

Rin's bunshin smashed into the shadowbound boy with a Rasengan in their hands, three of them striking him.

With a cackle, Kidomaru was replaced with a log, the limb getting shredded by the multiple Rasengans.

They couldn't keep this up. Her chakra was too low for a sustained fight, and Shikamaru was almost tapped out on his strength.

Kidomaru didn't look like he was in the best of shape, but he still looked better than they felt.

A flash of gold had Ino's eyes flicking towards a spot behind Kidomaru and she almost shed tears in relief.

Team 7 won their fight and were coming back.

Kidomaru noticed her relief and he turned around, swearing as he spotted them.

"Tayuya is useless." He growled to himself, "Sakon! We gotta bug out!"

"Not yet!" The now named Sakon shouted, keeping himself dead even with Neji, "We can do this."

"Tayuya is down and they're coming at us."

Kidomaru then took off, shooting some webs at Team 7, Sasuke blasting a fireball at it and continuing to take the lead, his eyes flaring crimson.

Ino and Shikamaru saw the opening to help Neji now that Kidomaru took off, the Hyuga boy's face was covered in sweat and was struggling to prevent himself from getting killed by the weird feeling Sakon.

The last of Rin's clones helping him dispersed after they had started to grow pale and wobbled, their chakra signature being extremely faint already.

Ino and Shikamaru ran even faster, trying to get to their fellow Genin to help.

Ino lashed out with several senbon, taking out a kunai with her other hand.

A second signature flared and a hand shot out, smacking them aside.

'I was right.' She thought, slashing at the arm. The three of them fought the one/two? and it was fairly even, the Oto nin slowly retreating back.

The two sand siblings were still battling it out with Jirobo, but Ino focused on this.

A Juken hit from Neji managed to slip through and struck the teenager in the leg, causing him to grimace and stagger.

Ino slipped a senbon in her hand and flung it as she threw her kunai, Shikamaru throwing one of his own as well.

She saw four arms shoot out and he leaped away, avoiding the attacks.

Shikamaru, who hadn't lost a drop of intelligence from exhaustion, managed to manipulate his shadow when they were all focused on taijutsu, his breath ragged as he managed to restrain the two.

"Hit him." He gasped, his entire body shaking.

Ino flung a set of senbon with poison on them while Neji raced forward and landed several devastating Juken hits on him.

Two of the senbon hit and Neji's attacks sent the two to the ground, not getting back up.

Shikamaru fell to his knees and was gasping, trying to steady himself.

She turned to intervene to help the Suna genin, but her eyes widened as she sensed Jirobo's chakra twisting into something ugly. He looked downright monsterous now and with a chakra assisted punch, he caused all the bunshin Rin had helping the two to be popped when spikes of earth rose up to impale them.

Kankuro managed flip up and over Jirobo to avoid the spikes, but Jirobo's reactions were faster from whatever he did and was able to grab at him, pulling him by the hair as his hood was torn away.

As the puppeteer screamed in pain and called for help, Ino ran as fast as she could to stop him from being killed.

Temari kept flinging wind jutsu after wind jutsu at the boy to free her brother, but it wasn't enough as she started screaming for him to let her brother go.

She knew she wouldn't get there in time. Jirobo cocked his fist and aimed at Kankuro's head, the boy trying to use his one free hand to manipulate his wobbling puppet to help him.

Neji, out of the blue, wheeled around and shouted at Shikamaru, who was close to chakra exhaustion.

Sakon had gotten up, limbs twitching slightly and blood coming from his mouth, and was holding Shikamaru, the boy having a kunai to his throat.

Just as Ino was about to scream Shikamaru's name, her hair stood on end and she felt like a lightning bolt was shooting through the forest.

She barely caught a glimpse of silver and blue before Hatake Kakashi, his eye uncovered, drove a blade of lightning through Jirobo's chest from behind, the boy gasping and dropping Kankuro.

Without hesitation, Kakashi lifted Jirobo up and flung him as hard as he could away, flinging an exploding tag at him without looking back.

Ino looked away from the explosion, expecting it to be bad and focused on her teammate and friend.

Kakashi rushed towards them she had to suppress the urge to scream and run from the unmatched rage coming off of the man like a cloak of death.

Sakon kicked Shikamaru away and made hand seals, slamming his fist in the ground.

Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Rashoman Gate.

A massive gate appeared to protect Sakon from Kakashi, the boy turning to run.

Kakashi didn't slow down, only making a single hand seal with his off hand as he raced forward at a speed Ino had no hope of following.

The student of the Yondaime sank into the ground and under the gate, shooting up a fraction of a second later and slashing his lightning blade at the retreating Oto nin.

The enemy they had struggled to kill was bisected in an instant, his top and bottom half falling in different directions.

Kakashi deactivated his jutsu and closed his eye, opening his original one and rushing towards them. Spotting Neji, he looked at his now bare forehead.

"I'll ask later," He said quickly, turning to Ino and an almost wheezing Shikamaru, who had been constantly using his shadow to bind opponents, "Where is my team? Where's Naruto?" He was extremely frantic, judging by his voice and body language.

Before Ino could say anything, Kakashi gasped and stared through a clearing of trees and gazed at the village.

Curious, Ino focused her sensing and was almost floored by what she was feeling.

"Oh, Kami, what is that?"

The chakra signature of one person was spread out across the village and it was so thick that she couldn't feel anything else, the thought frightening to her.

"Where's Rin and Naruto?" Kakashi asked again, his voice tightening.

"Rin is with Sasuke and Hinata on the north side of the forest," Ino replied fearfully, scared of whatever it was that had the Copycat nin scared, "Naruto went to stop Gaara getting his seal tampered with."

Ino felt Kakashi's chakra fluctuate violently.

"No no no," Kakashi grabbed at his hair, trying to calm himself, "I need to get to him before-"

"We know Itachi is here." Shikamaru cut in, trying to stand steady. "And something about him hunting Jinchuriki."

Kakashi's eye narrowed at the two of them.

"Team 7 is to stay together and not go after Itachi," Kakashi's voice was as cold as ice, "Tell them they are to stay here!"

With that, Kakashi Shunshined away, trying to find Naruto.

///////////////////

I felt Kimimaro's hand wrap itself around my throat and I started choking, the boy pushing me downwards with his face just inches from mine.

The two of us had multiple wounds all across our bodies, Kurama ensuring that my injuries weren't debilitating while Kimimaro's organs were still protected from my attacks.

The only reason I hadn't been skewered as he was choking me was because I had managed to slip a chakra suppressant tag on him, preventing him from spiking his bones out properly.

His other hand wrapped around my sword arm and slowly twisted it to get closer to my throat, pushing forward.

Choking out a gasp, I fixed him with as much hate as I could muster as his sweat covered brow creased as he gritted his teeth in exertion.

With a weak keen coming from my throat, I managed to kick his back as I was almost bent backwards, Kimimaro having overextended.

He fell forward and I managed to roll to my side and stand up, my vision spinning from lack of oxygen as I was sucking in lungfuls of air.

'You're not dying.' I managed to think to myself, my heart rate even higher from the feeling being all too familiar.

As I tried to get my vision to stop swimming, Kimimaro started coughing, blood coating his hand as he put it up to cover his mouth.

He recovered enough to sloppily kick me backwards, causing me to fall and lose my grip on my sword.

The older boy came towards me again, but I was ready this time. I jumped and wrapped my legs around his head, twisting my body to hurl my body weight in the opposite direction to throw him to the ground.

Not even reaching for my sword on the ground, I formed a chakra blade and swung downwards towards his face, hoping to end this.

In an act of desperation, Kimimaro threw his left arm in front of him, taking the hit to the arm. My blade bit into his arm, but the superhumanly strong bones of the Kaguya clan held up just enough so his arm wasn't cut off.

I felt his chakra spasm and the chakra suppressant seal I had slipped on him to prevent him from spiking out bones was broken. Black markings appeared across his body and I disengaged, rolling to the side and grabbing my sword before I Shunshined away.

'Stage one curse mark. That can't be good for his health.' The chakra he was pulling in felt disgusting.

I made more Kage bunshin and ordered them to keep their distance and hit him with water jutsu while I would be moving across the battlefield to try and kill him.

"I will kill you, Uzumaki Naruto," Kimimaro growled, riding the adrenaline rush of new chakra in his system, "I am unable to serve Orochimaru-sama as his vessel, but I shall not fail my last mission in killing you."

My only response was making a hand seal to shift my chakra around, stabbing at a specific tenketsu in my head.

Gate of Healing: Kai!

More chakra became accessible to me and I started shaking, feeling completely energized.

"I defeated Momochi Zabuza!" I shouted, "I survived Orochimaru cutting my head off! It'll take more than a dead man that can pull his spine from his ass to kill me! It's going to take the Kyuubi getting ripped out of me to put me down. And I'll still drag whoever does it to hell with me!" I went through hand seals and reined in my shaking chakra and pooled it into my stomach.

Suiton: Water Severing Wave.

The blade of water shot forward and Kimimaro barely avoided it striking his chest, his shoulder taking the hit.

It tore a chunk of flesh away, but I could see bone underneath it, meaning he already had the subdermal armour in place.

'Chidori it is.'

Kimimaro's chakra sank under the ground as he planted his hand into the ground, the bones in his arm visibly moving downward and I felt the earth rumble.

'That's not good.'

I jumped and flipped backwards, avoiding the spikes of bone that shot out of the earth to try and impale me. A Shunshin assisted by two Gates being opened had me blurring out of the way of the bones stabbing up through the ground and Kimimaro seeming to teleport through the bone and slashing at me.

My clones were doing the same thing, evading the attacks while trying to assist me in killing Kimimaro.

"Use all your chakra to make mist and water!" I screamed at my clones in English, focusing so hard with my sensing to feel for Kimimaro that it was making my head hurt.

They followed their orders and the dozen or so remaining ones used their remaining chakra to flood the area, while I made hand seals for my jutsu.

Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu.

I expelled a massive cloud of mist from my mouth, coating my chakra with it so I could feel when Kimimaro would pop up.

I'd noticed, from how Kimimaro had been intercepting me, that he could probably feel anything that was touching the forest of bones underneath our feet, so it was pretty much a trap for me or my clones to use our speed advantage to fight him.

But what do you do when you know it's a trap?

"Spring the trap." I smirked, a plan forming.

I stabbed my sword into the ground and stood on the hilt, balancing myself to not touch the ground.

I could feel Kimimaro periodically move around through his bones and attack my bunshin, all of them putting up a decent fight if they couldn't Shunshin away.

If I kept dragging this out, Kimimaro might just fall over and die hopefully.

"You cannot hide from me, Uzumaki." Kimimaro said, managing to kill one of my bunshin. "I can still see you with this mist hiding you."

Focusing on twisting the water in the mist, I made two hand seals and shaped the mist where I could sense Kimimaro into a Mizu bunshin.

Kimimaro was struck in the back and he impaled the bunshin instinctively with a rib jutting from his back, killing it and it exploded into water that I could use later.

"Interesting technique." Kimimaro called out, "But your Kage bunshin are more capable of hurting me than a Mizu bunshin."

I flicked the chakra in the mist to a certain pattern, hoping my bunshin got the ANBU code.

Bunshin. Bait. Lightning. After.

My clones seemed to get the message and charged at him, firing water Jutsu to get his attention. Predictably, he 'teleported' between the bones of his and started tearing the last of my clones apart, flashes of memory coming back to me.

As the last one was killed, I made a Mizu bunshin several meters away from me, letting its feet touch the bone jutting from the ground.

Kimimaro seemed to take the bait and thought it was me, racing towards it with his chakra flaring as he sunk into the bones underground.

Right as he rose from the ground and reached it, I used the same jutsu that I used against Orochimaru, this jutsu being the fastest one I could use and shot in a straight line.

Raiton: Gian.

The bolt of lightning shot directly at Kimimaro as he stabbed the clone, my sensing feeling him.

The bolt struck him with a deafening boom and sent him flying out of the mist, his signature fluctuating.

I hopped off my blade and pulled it out of the ground, rushing towards him with a Shunshin.

With the lightning enhancement always on when I was moving at rapid speed, I could see Kimimaro in extreme detail as I shot towards him.

He was struggling to get up, a scorched black mark where his right shoulder was and the bone armour he had underneath was gone, blood flowing freely from that spot due to it being hit by the blade of water and the bolt of lightning.

This was it. I could kill him.

Channeling a Chidori through my sword in my right, I formed a Rasengan in my left and charged at Kimimaro, lunging as I reached him.

With a shout of fury, I drove my sword into the left side of his chest. My Rasengan smashed into the spot where my lightning jutsu hit him, tearing into the weakened area.

Kimimaro screamed in pain and fell to his knees, but I didn't relent. The Rasengan eventually tore through his shoulder and my arm sank through the hole, his arm going limp.

I kept the sword in his chest and pulled my left arm out of his shoulder as I started punching at his face, trying to smash it in. My knuckles started hurting as I struck him, but I was done with this fight.

My chakra reserves were low from making so many clones, using massive amounts of Jutsu to take down Kimimaro's bone armour, and the 2 Gates I opened were only masking my fatigue. Eventually, I stopped punching and stared at Kimimaro, the Chidori dissipating as my sword was still buried almost hilt deep in his chest.

Kimimaro coughed blood onto my chest, his swollen eyes looking at mine.

"How the hell aren't you dead yet?" I asked, trying to pull my sword out.

A fist sized hole through his shoulder, multiple slashes and shallow stab wounds throughout our fight, and a sword buried in his chest were the grocery list of injuries he'd incurred.

My own injuries were even more numerous, but they had healed well enough where they were just shallow cuts or bruised bones instead of cracked.

Kimimaro just looked at me.

"Conviction." He then grabbed at my arm weakly, trying to pull my sword out.

I let him do it, simply twisting the blade to try and pull it out.

His weakness turned out to be a ruse when his chakra flared even more disgustingly, his grip strengthening.

I felt his left arm, the only functioning one after I shredded the nerve that went through his shoulder and into his arm that governed most movement, clamped down on my right arm, trying to crush it.

I growled and sank a chakra blade into the open wound of his shoulder with my left, twisting it as I did so.

Kimimaro howled in pain, but it turned into a growl as his seal turned into its second stage, his body mutating.

I felt my bracer give and my forearm broke under his grip. We both screamed as I twisted the blade again and he kicked me away, a death grip still on my hilt.

I heard a snap as I got knocked back and I glanced at my right arm as I stood up shakily, my eyes widening.

My sword was snapped off from the kick, a little less than a foot of the blade still connected to the hilt. The rest was still buried in Kimimaro's chest, who was in his complete curse mark form.

"I've heard of a face only a mother could love," I managed to say, cradling my right arm as the break in it tried to heal, "But that don't apply to you. You are uglier than the devil's ass cheeks." I did something pretty damn stupid and grabbed at Kurama's chakra, forcing it into my tenketsu.

The two Gates I opened in my brain felt like they were lit on fire, my injuries no longer hurting from how much my head was screaming at me in comparison because of Kurama's chakra flowing into a forcefully hypersensitive portion of my chakra network.

A red shroud of chakra formed around me, a single tail swishing behind me, and I felt the chakra gnaw at my mind.

With twin animalistic roars of rage and agony, the two of us crashed into each other in a blur of speed, Kimimaro having pulled his spine out and was wielding it with his off hand.

I slid under his swing as my foot smashed into his face, his head jerking back. I jumped on top of him by grabbing at his hair, holding on as he started flailing around.

The tail he now had whipped up and slapped at my back, pain lancing up my side and ribs. I refused to let go and leaned forward, sinking my now long teeth into his shoulder and stabbing at him with a chakra blade that was flickering in and out of existence because of the influx of Yin chakra from Kurama.

Kimimaro continued to flail around, but managed to swing his spine whip around and caught my arm, yanking as hard as he could.

The whip tore my sleeve off and cut me in several areas up my arm, my shoulder popping from the force of his jerk.

I screamed, more like howled, and fell off him, kicking him in the ribs as I fell. The hit missed and hit his useless arm instead, causing it to be jarred.

Kimimaro turned to try and swing his whip at me again, but his eyes seemed to fog over and he coughed again, blood spewing from his mouth.

His curse mark receded and he fell to his knees, his entire body wracked by coughs.

With instinct controlling me, I jumped up and ran straight at him, my one good arm raised to strike him.

With my vision blurring, I smashed my fist into his face, sending him to his back. I jumped on top of him and started punching him with all the force my thirteen year old body, assisted by two open Gates, Bijuu chakra, and my own rage mixed with the multiplying effect from Kurama's fury, could manage.

I thought I could hear Kurama's voice, but it could have just been my own screaming as I kept punching Kimimaro.

Punch after punch. My vision was red and spinning as I beat him to death, losing myself in the rush of fury and agony that was trying to tear my head open.

After I don't know how long, my punches stopped and I saw what I did.

Kimimaro was dead.

His head was completely gone, only a splattered mess of blood-soaked hair and bits of skull that got washed away with the standing water from all my Jutsu remained.

Kurama's chakra dissipated seconds later, leaving me with the worst headache I'd ever experienced.

I fell forward and was sobbing from the pain, my vision going white. Gai had warned about how opened Gates were more sensitive to chakra, which was why Neji and Lee were not to spar with Lee's Gates open without Gai being present. A Juken hit to a Gate would forcebly shut it and could cause a brutal backlash on Lee.

And Gai explicitly warned me to not channel Kurama's chakra while doing it, or I'll have a headache so bad that I'll be useless.

I tried to fight it, but I started puking from the pain, falling forward and still crying.

'Please, stop.' Was all I could think, trying to ride through it.

Eventually, after what could have been minutes or hours, the pain lessened into a manageable throb that let me take stock of my situation.

The Gates had closed when Kurama's chakra slid back into the seal, leaving me feeling exhausted from the entire day of fighting.

I pushed myself up and fought the urge to dry heave at the state and stench of myself. I was completely drenched in Kimimaro's blood and my hair was laying flat against my head from how wet it was.

I slicked it back with a grimace, realizing my Hitai-ate had fallen off.

I looked around for it, along with my broken sword, and eventually found it, noticing the large chunk of metal torn out from the slash that almost took my eye.

"Not sure if I should thank you or just count my lucky stars." I glanced up at the sky, looking back down to find my hilt.

I eventually did and hissed as I bent forward, my head hurting more and my left arm getting a spike of pain through it.

What are the odds that my shoulder got popped out of socket, but didn't tear anything?

I sighed as I put my broken blade into my scabbard attached to my back and walked towards a bone spike in the ground that was as tall as me.

Glancing at my shoulder, I grimaced as I prepared myself.

"You're a lunatic, Riggs." I said in English, smashing my arm into the spike to relocate it.

The joint popped back in place with a wet crunch and I growled at the impact, clenching my teeth, and fighting the urge to start swearing like a sailor.

Staggering towards Kimimaro's corpse, I knelt down and yanked the broken blade out of his chest, putting the broken part in my scabbard after taking the hilt out and putting it back in.

I then pressed out my sensing, immediately stopping when a lance of pain went through my head.

'Bad idea. Sensory ability hurts right now.'

The only thing I got through the muddled image I was able to feel was the massive amount of mist across Konoha, obscuring everything else from sensing.

If I couldn't sense out to the forested area where Rin and the others were at, I would just need to make my way there instead.

A massive boom had occurred a distance away from me, which had caused me to look at what looked like a massive hurricane flying at a small red spot right before Kimimaro had wrapped his fingers around my throat after I tagged him with a seal.

"I don't care." I straightened up, turning towards the direction Rin and the others were last at. "I'm not fighting another murder happy lunatic today."

As I went to take a step and start running, I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey." A male voice said in casual greeting, his chakra may as well be non-existent from me being unable to sense anything without it hurting.

I slowly turned and I started hyperventilating at the sight of the person who spoke.

A masked individual, his face covered, but his hair was visible, and who everyone knew was dead, stood right behind me, not a single care in the world.

I narrowed my eyes as I pressed out my sensing to feel him, but it was pointless. It hurt too much.

"We really should talk, Uzumaki Naruto."

////////////////

*Encoded*

.

The time has come for me to do something that will have me ostracized by my father and a likely banishment if I am caught. Ever since I was little, gazing at how a pencil's grip would refract through a glass of water, I wondered if it were possible to refract the light around an object with water chakra. A visual Genjutsu in all but name, and unable to be dispelled through proper means.

I write this account because of the news I received from a friend of mine amongst the Senju...Uchiha Fuji was wounded in battle against Senju Batsuma, the new clan head of the Senju. Fuji is nearly 50 years old. He won't recover as quickly or as well. This is my chance to head off the threat of the Uchiha from lashing out at us if they get the upper hand against the Senju and target their cousins. Us.

I've already tested the water refraction Jutsu and it works as I envisioned. I just need to ensure that they don't know who I am as I slip into their encampment. Not sure what disguise to use.

Personal Journal of Uzumaki Ashina, Uzumaki clan heir, Warring States Period.

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END CHAPTER:

This is officially the biggest Cliff hanger I've made and yes, I'm a bastard for it.

I hadn't planned to have a detailed fight with the Sound Four, but I decided to put it in there.

Ashina's POV comes up first thing next chapter, along with Jiraiya and Itachi.

The next chapter is already half complete, and there'll probably be one after it to tie up the final meeting and aftermath.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Comments, even small ones, are welcome. Later.

Raging.