## Blue (Tobirama) vs. Deva Path ##
"Why do you follow the Kyuubi brat?" the Deva Path asked in his monotone voice.
"Because I believe in his ideals. He and I…we are both realists. We see the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be" Blue (Tobirama) said. "And he, unlike my older brother, doesn't think this world will know peace with friendly talks and by playing nice. He will reach peace, one way or another" Blue finished.
"I see" the Deva Path replied, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked with simple curiosity, no real need to know.
"My name matters not. I'm the man that will support Naruto to the best of his abilities, and if that includes killing you…then so be it" Blue (Tobirama) said, clasping his hands together in a prayer sign.
"Suiton - Baku Suishouha (Great Exploding Water Wave)" Blue (Tobirama) said as spiraling vortex of water appeared in front of him. The vortex exploded from the top, coming down against the Deva Path in the form of a gigantic wave.
"Shinra Tensei" Deva path raised his hand, pushing the wave backwards. The remaining water circled around the repulsive barrier.
"If Nao's information is correct, he should have a small interval between attacks" Blue (Tobirama) thought as he watched the water calm down and the Deva Path lowering his arm.
Blue flexed his right wrist, making a pop sound followed by a small cloud of smoke. Blue took the handle of whatever came out of the storage seals and channeled chakra through it. The handle seemed to roar to life, forming a blade of sparkling yellow light.
"It's the first time I've ever laid eyes on the Raijin no Ken (Sword of the Thunder God). If I remember correctly it belonged to the nidaime hokage of the leaf, Senju Tobirama" the Deva Path said, not the slightest impressed by the legendary sword.
"Not belonged" Blue (Tobirama) said, bringing his hand to his blue mask. "Belongs" Blue said, dropping the mask to the floor and showing his face with three red markings and shaggy white hair.
"Senju Tobirama" the Deva Path simply said, taking in the man in front of him. "I supposed I shouldn't be surprised by your appearance seeing that the fourth is also alive and well" the Deva Path stated.
"Suiton - Suidanha (Severing Wave)" Tobirama spewed a highly compressed jet of water. The jet ripped through the ground like a knife through hot butter as it approached the Deva Path.
"Shinra Tensei" the Deva Path shouted. The water jet collided with the shield, splashing like water on hard floor. Tobirama immediately dropped his attack and threw a few kunais.
"My power isn't ready yet" the Deva Path thought, tilting his head to the side and allowing the kunais to fly by harmlessly.
"Hiraishingiri (Flying Thunder God Slash)" the Deva Path heard a voice behind and quickly turned around, only to catch a small glimmer of yellow as the Raijin no Ken detached his head from his shoulders.
*THUMP*
The Deva Path's head rolled to the floor as Tobirama turned off his sword. "Some god" Tobirama muttered as he walked away to help Kumo deal with the invading force of Zetsus.
## Red (Kushina) vs. Preta Path ##
"Another one" the Preta Path said, his Rinnegan boring straight into the Red Dragon. "You have Uzumaki chakra" the Preta Path commented with slight curiosity.
"I'm related to Uzumaki Mito after all" Red replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I have red hair like the real you. My Uzumaki genes are dominant, but does it matter? Don't expect mercy on my hand just because we belong to the same clan. You want my so-" Kushina stopped mid-sentence as she was about to reveal her identity.
"Forget it" Red said, unsheathing her sword from her back. "Futon no Yoroi" Red said, her body gaining a small blue aura around her, almost invisible to the naked eye but like a light bulb to the Rinnegan.
"Issen (Chakra Wave)" Red flicked her sword, releasing a blue crescent wave of chakra towards the Preta Path who held his ground. The Preta Path allowed the jutsu to hit him head on, only for the technique to disappear upon contact.
"He completely absorbed my attack…he must be the Preta Path" Red concluded in thought, deciding to resort to more physically oriented attacks. It was lucky that she was a more physically oriented fighter, even with her slender frame she still packed quite a punch.
Red took a deep breath and allowed her body to relax, her aura begun shutting down as she dropped her wind armor. No use in wasting chakra when the enemy could simply absorb it into his own reserves. Red buckled her knees and shot forward, leaving a trail of dust.
Red swung her sword, the blade whistling as it cut through the air with ease. The Preta path instinctually ducked and jumped backwards to gain distance from his opponent. He himself wasn't an offensive path but more of defensive one, and against a fast and powerful opponent like the red dragon, the Preta path found himself troubled.
The Preta path quickly found himself on the defensive against Red's unrelenting attacks and vicious strikes. Red narrowed her eyes when she saw a black metal rod appear from the Preta path's hands and parry her sword. Both weapons clashed with a resound bang, orange sparks flying as both metals grinded against each other in a battle for supremacy.
Red took a single hand from her sword and pointed it straight at her opponent. The Preta Path noticed a small glint in her palm. His eyes widened and he immediately pushed himself backwards as a golden chain sprouted from her hand, grazing his cheek and drawing a small line of blood.
"Chains as well. Is she related to the Kyuubi brat as well?" the Preta Path mused in thought, struggling to dodge the incoming chains that seemed to increase in number as time went on.
The preta path couldn't do much against such opponent and in desperate times, come desperate moves. The preta path rushed forward, dodging a few incoming chains as he made his way to Red, who was stationary while using her chains. The preta path spread his arms, making black rods sprout from each hand.
Red raised an eyebrow as the preta path jumped into the air and flexed both rods at her, hoping to end her quickly. Red tilted her head in confusion as two chains shot from near her feet and wrapped themselves around the rods, snapping them like rotten wooden twigs.
Red swung around and smashed her foot into his chest, sending the preta path sailing through the air and landing harshly on the ground. The preta path looked up and quickly rolled on the ground to avoid a volley of shurikens.
"Chain Style" Red said, placing both hands on the ground and looking up towards the preta path. "Chain Forest" Red said as the ground started to rumble ever so slightly. Hundreds of chains burst from the ground near her hands as they made their way against the preta path.
The chains seemed like snakes, slithering their way to their target. The preta path could only look in horror at the incoming amount of chains. He knew that it was the end for him, he could never dodge that amount of chains, not matter on hard he tried so he simply accepted his fate.
The chains wrapped themselves around his arms and legs, ripping him apart in a matter of seconds.
## Green (Hashirama) vs. Animal Path ##
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)" the Animal Path wasted no time in talking to the Green dragon. There was big cloud of smoke as the ground started quaking. A giant rhino burst from the smoke, stomping his way towards the Green dragon who was already going through hand seals.
"Mokuton: Hotei no Jutsu (Laughing Buddha Jutsu)" Gigantic wooden hands erupted upwards from the ground. These hands quickly wrapped themselves around the incoming rhino, halting his progress and pinning him to the ground.
The animal path slammed both hands on the ground, bringing forth more summons. This time a loud shrill filled the air as the summon shot from the smoke and high into the sky. Green was momentarily distracted with the bird summon that he didn't notice the ground beneath his feet start to crack.
A giant centipede burst from the ground, sending Green flying through the air but he landed gracefully a few feet away. Looking at the rhino, Green forced his wood ninjutsu upon his enemy, making the wooden hands clench around the animal. The rhino groaned in pain until he burst into smoke.
The bird gave another shrill as he looked down and plummeted towards Green. He jumped backwards as the bird crashed into the ground, the bird's beak drilling into the earth. Green was still mid-air when he felt the earth rumble. He looked backwards to see the large centipede burst from the ground and open its mouth.
The centipede gobbled Green in the blink of an eye and closed its massive jaw. "Mokuton" From the centipede's mouth came the muffled voice of Green as several spikes of wood emerged from the ground. These spikes impaled the centipede in multiple places, raising him into the air like some piece of meat on a stick.
The summon burst into smoke, letting Green land safely on the ground. Green looked towards the Animal Path who was on top of the bird's head, out of Green's reach for now. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)" the Animal Path muttered. Another cloud of smoke, followed by a large, brown-colored dog with a chakra receiver stuck through its head.
ROARR
The dog barred his fangs and charged forward, the ground shaking with each step he took. Green held his ground, his hands blurring through hand seals faster than the average eye could follow. "Mokuton: Mokuryu no Jutsu (Wood Dragon)" A big wooden dragon with glowing yellow eyes burst from the ground.
The wooden dragon coiled like a snake before springing forward at high speeds. The dragon sneaked through the incoming dog's body, wrapping itself around his legs and bringing him to the ground. The dog howled in pain, his snout meeting the hard ground when his legs were tied together.
To Green's surprise the dog didn't disappear in smoke with that crash. No, in fact the dog somehow split into two and rushed forward once again. Green didn't stop to ponder what happened and sent two more dragons forward, one for each dog, and the same thing repeated itself. The dog crashed into the ground and proceeded to split and slip through the dragon's grasp.
"It seems that I can't defeat that summon" Green mused in thought as fours dogs charged at him. "Mokuton: Shichuro no Jutsu (Four Pillar Prison)" Green said. The ground grumbled and this time not caused by the approaching summons.
Green took his time, letting the dogs approach him until they reached the intended spot. Several timber pillars shot from the ground, forming a perfect square around the dogs. The dogs whined as they crashed into the wooden walls and proceeded to split once again. Although this time they would not be going anywhere as they were confided inside the wooden prison.
"Time to end this" Green thought as he looked at the sky, watching the impassive face of the animal path.
"Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Emergence)" Dozens of tree rose from the ground and this time they didn't stop at that. The trees continued growing into almost impossible heights as they went after the bird in the sky. The Animal Path's eyes widened when he saw the gigantic trees approaching and immediately began evasive maneuvers.
"Excellent" Green thought as he watched the Animal Path getting distracted with the trees. Green clasped both hands together and waited patiently as several red markings spread across his forehead and cheek bones.
"Senpou: Myojinmon (Gate of the Great God)" Two massive red torii fell from the sky. The Animal Path was busy dodging the trees and didn't realized the danger coming from the above. Each torii landed on one of the bird's wings, bringing him to ground level with a loud crash.
The Animal Path jumped as the bird crashed into the ground and disappeared in smoke. He was about to summon more when the wooden trees wrapped themselves around his form. "It's over" Green said, dropping down from the trees and landing in front of the Animal Path.
"Nothing will stop me" The Animal Path said before Green removed as the chakra receivers, making the body fall to the ground dead. He was already dead but this time he wouldn't be a puppet anymore.
## Pink (Nao) vs. Asura Path ##
Nao dropped her mask onto the ground. It was no use hiding her face and identity when Fugaku had just told the world who was hidden beneath it. "The old hag won't be happy about this" Nao grinned to herself at the thought of the old Senju hag rambling.
"Traitor to your own family" the Asura Path said, several mechanical contraptions bursting from his body.
"Fugaku was the traitor" Nao spat back, not appreciating being called traitor. "He killed my sister just because she didn't follow his orders blindly like the rest of my pathetic clan" Nao gritted his teeth. She hoped that Minato was giving Fugaku what he deserved.
"We were great you know?…once…but Fugaku drove us into this quest for power and in the end, he ruined us. It's interesting how a single person can influence the world" Nao sighed sadly before looking up and looking at the Asura Path, knowing that Nagato was listening behind this puppet.
"And he will do the same thing to all of you" Nao warned. "He cares only for himself. He doesn't share your goals Nagato. You want peace. The only thing he wants is control over everything, and he will kill anyone that tries to oppose him"
"I think you are mistaken about me Nao" the Asura Path said, a slow chuckle escaping his lips. "Even I know there are no loyalties in the Akatsuki. Everyone is in there for themselves. Some for art, some for money, power, others just for fun of it, but in the end, they all did what I ordered" the Asura Path replied as his weapons readied themselves.
"Just…like…you" The Asura Path pointed out, emphasizing each word as his head seemed to open to reveal to a cannon. He started gathering energy just before unleashing a powerful chakra blast.
Nao dropped her head, her eyes finding the floor. "I know" Nao said softly, ignoring the incoming missile of chakra. "I have my fair share of sins to atone for…and I think this is a good beginning" Nao said, taking both swords from her back.
Nao raised her head, her eyes bearing a look of fierce determination. She extended both arms forward and sliced the incoming chakra ball with ease, making it explode right in front of her. She raised a single arm to her face, shielding her eyes from the heat of the blast.
Her sharingan caught movement through the cloud of smoke and she immediately jumped backwards. The ground where she stood exploded when a small missile landed on the ground. Nao looked up to see several more missiles heading towards her. She turned around and started running from them.
She looked backwards to see that the number of missiles had diminished but the remaining ones seemed to be tracking her. Nao placed a single sword in her back and used her free hand to take out several shurikens. With precision only the Uchiha Clan was known for, the shurikens hit the missiles, destroying them right in midair.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball technique)" Nao took a deep breath and released a powerful fireball that burned its way towards Asura path. He remained in place as the blast of fire crashed upon him. Nao narrowed her eyes when she noticed that the Asura Path took the jutsu head on but seemed unharmed.
As the smoke cleared the Asura Path stood unharmed. His traditional Akatsuki cloak was ruined, leaving him bare skinned from the waist up. Instead of the traditional pink color of skin, Asura's chest was nearly all silver in color, with several metallic plates.
"Tsk" Nao thought when she noticed that her fire attack did nothing but to melt his clothes. She would need more heavy powerful attacks if she wanted to break through the shell of his. Genjutsu was out, taijutsu was well since she didn't have enough raw strength to break that kind of metal.
"Ninjutsu it is" Nao thought with a grin, her sharingan slowly spinning and her black tomoes blurring together to give birth to her eternal mangekyou sharingan.
She shivered when she felt the usual rush of chakra into her eyes. Only shinobi with doujutsu could ever relate. It was like scratching that itch that wasn't really painful but it was enough to be uncomfortable. Perhaps she was just liked to using the sharingan or maybe it was the enhanced vision that came with it.
She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away. She was in the middle of a battle and even the slightest of distractions could prove deadly. She slowly rose her eyes lids, the world around her lighting up. She blinked slowly as she watched dozens of incoming missiles, courtesy of the Asura Path.
Nao stood her ground, watching the incoming missiles approach ever so slowly, one inch at a time. Her eyes started releasing a soft reddish glow as a purple aura manifested around her body. She took her last sword and cautiously placed her in her back, as if with a too hard of a movement they would break. The swords were one the last remaining links she had to her sister along with her eyes.
It barely took a second for her Susanoo to roar to life, shielding her body from the incoming threat. Nao watched as the first missile hit her Susanoo shield and simply squashed itself like a mosquito in a window. The same fate happened with the following missiles. They didn't even scratch the surface of her ethereal shield.
Nao's Susanoo grew in size, manifesting itself to its full height. A single, vibrant red colored sword appeared in her right hand. Nao flexed her own hand and the Susanoo gripped the sword tighter. Nao cocked her arm backwards and pushed her sword forward at blinding speeds.
The Asura Path dodged to the side and replied with several chakra blasts that crashed upon her Susanoo. While powerful in his own right, the Asura Path didn't have the weapons necessary to break through Nao's ultimate defense. Another swing and the Asura path started running away, letting out small chakra blasts and the occasional missile.
Nao closed her eyes and took a deep breath in deep concentration. She snapped her eyes open, immediately locking his position. "Amaterasu" A wave of black flames exploded on the Asura Path who fell to the ground. Nao narrowed her eyes when she saw his bones shifting under his skin.
The arm burning with the black flames of Amaterasu simply fell to the ground like some disposable object. She watched as another mechanical arm took his place like nothing had ever happened.
"Looks like I need to either destroy his body completely or take out the chakra receivers" Nao mused in thought as she watched the Asura Path point his arm at her and forming a fist. His fist detached itself from his arm before rocketing towards her.
BOOOMMMM
The fist missile crashed against her Susanoo and yet again, nothing but smoke. "This is getting nowhere" Nao thought with disappointment. They were at a standstill. Her only way of winning was with destroy his body with her Susanoo but he was too slippery for her to hit him.
"Kaen Bodi (Flame Body)" Nao thought, dropping her shield and channeling fire chakra through her body, making it explode with fire. She bent her knees before throwing herself forward towards the Asura Path.
"Kasai no Ken (Fire Fist)" Her right fist glowed a dark orange as she swung her arm at her opponent. The Asura Path simply tilted backwards, watching the trail of flames her fist left behind.
Nao thrust her left arm forward. "Hidama (Fireball)" A small fireball exploded from her arm hitting the Asura Path straight in the head. Knowing that such attack wouldn't stop his mechanized body, she rose her leg to kick him. The Asura Path swiftly caught her leg by the ankle and threw her away like some rag doll.
Nao twisted midair and landed safely on the ground. Her eyes started glowing once again and her reddish aura of fire started darkening into a menacing pure black. "Amaterasu no Yoroi" Nao said, standing there with her body completely covered in Amaterasu flames.
"She's feeding her chakra into the flames to stop them from burning her" The Asura Path thought and prepared as Nao blurred forward.
"Enton - Shi o Senkai (Inferno Style - Swirling Death)" Nao arrived near the Asura Path and unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches so fast that the Asura Path was finding himself pushed back. He couldn't block those attacks or he would be hit with the powerful black flames.
"Enton - Hi o Arekuruu (Inferno Style - Raging Fire)" The Asura Path's eyes widened when Nao unleashed a wave of black flames from her arms. The Asura Path pointed both arms forward and released a couple chakra blasts to dispel the attack. He watched as the flames fell to the ground and started eating away the rock.
Nao swung her arms wildly and watched as a ring of fire appeared in the battlefield, trapping both shinobi inside it. It didn't take long from the flames to grow tall and easily block their view of the outside. "You won't be going anywhere" Nao smirked flexing her arms.
The Asura Path scoffed at her pointless threats. He was, after all, a dead body, being reanimated with the six paths technique, and should he ever be destroyed, Nagato could easily put his body back together. "Shura no Kō" The Asura Path unleashed a couple more of chakra bombs.
Nao twirled, avoiding a ball of chakra and swiftly ducked another one. Nao rushed forward, taking out both swords in the process. "Enton - Kasai Surasshu (Inferno Style - Fire Slash)" Nao swung her blade and unleashed a black crescent wave of chakra. Nao watched as her attack connected and chopped off one his arm only for it to regrow once again.
Nao took a deep breath and channeled all the chakra she could into her leg and sword. Her swords took a darker aura, causing the black flames to increase in size and heat. She looked up and locked eyes with her target just before whispering her ultimate kenjutsu technique.
"Enton - Enha Kishuu no Jutsu (Inferno Style - Flame Blade Assassination Jutsu)" Her body shimmered out of existence. The Asura Path's eyes widened when he felt the surge of power and completely lost track of Nao. He felt a small air displacement behind his back and immediately turned back.
All he caught was seven streaks of black before Nao disappeared once again, back to her original position. Nao smirked as the Asura Path fell to the ground in a mix of severed limbs. Seven precise and incredible powerful strikes. One to take his head, one for each arm, one for each leg and two more to his chest, essentially leaving nothing but chunks.
With a final Amaterasu she left his body to slowly burn to ashes.
## Outside of Konoha ##
"This isn't very graceful yeah" Deidara said, tired of waiting in the trees, hidden from sight.
"Be quiet Deidara" Sasori reprimanded. Both Akatsuki members were outside of Konoha walls, waiting for their contact to arrive. The problem was that both of them had rather short tempers and waiting wasn't something either liked to do.
"I'm just saying. These tree huggers have no respect for art" Deidara grumbled. Sasori was about to reply when two shinobi dropped in front of them.
"Deidara and Sasori?" Torune asked.
"We are here. Don't keep us waiting anymore with worthless questions" Sasori replied harshly. Both root shinobi said nothing but merely started walking towards Konoha with both Akatsuki members in tow.
"This way" Torune said, leading his group through a more quiet entrance other than the main gates. Torune and Fu led the Akatsuki members through the barrier the covered Konoha without raising any type of alarm.
"Where are our marks?" Sasori asked, making both root members stop walking and turn to stare intently at Sasori.
"We do not need to remind you of your deal with Danzo-sama, do we?" Fu asked, with a dangerous tone in his voice.
"We will keep our end of the deal. We will draw the attention for the dragons into Kumo in exchange for the bijuu" Sasori explained and Fu nodded, resuming their path towards their objectives.
Minutes later both Akatsuki members and the two root shinobi were standing outside of the Senju compound. They were standing a bit away so they didn't get detected. "My bugs tell me that the dragons are still in there, along with the Ichibi and the Nanabi" Torune said.
"Let's go then" Deidara said, rising form the ground but was stopped by hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be foolish" Fu warned. "There are five seal masters living there. Anyone not authorized to enter the compound would be reduced to ashes before he could even cry in pain"
"We must wait for them to leave. I will interrupt the Ichibi from getting called and from there you will take charge understood?" Torune asked and both Deidara and Sasori nodded.
## With Kakashi ##
Kakashi was jumping from roof top to roof top, his form blurring through the buildings as he made his way to Yugao's apartment. A few minutes later Kakashi found himself standing at her front door. Unlike other shinobi, Yugao had a small apartment in a building shared with civilians.
Yugao was one of the few shinobi whose house building was shared. Most shinobi preferred their privacy and usually lived in single, separate houses. This of course didn't apply to the clans. Then again, clans were usually big families and not random strangers all living together in the same building, split only by a few walls.
Kakashi knocked on the door and waited patiently for a reply. Seconds quickly turned into minutes and Kakashi knocked once more. Getting no response Kakashi leaned in, placing his head on the wooden door and listened for any sounds coming from the interior.
"Strange" Kakashi thought as he kneeled on the ground, standing a few inches away from the door lock. He went to his pockets and retrieved a small case, no bigger than his own hands. He set the case on the stone floor and quickly unrolled the fabric to reveal a few shining metal tools.
Kakashi nearly felt like whistling as he took a thin metallic lock pick and introduced the tool into the lock. Kakashi listened and felt for the clicks as the lock's pins were placed in the right place, allowing the tumbler to rotate freely. Kakashi pocketed his tools and opened the door.
The first thought that came through Kakashi's mind was amusement. Shoes tucked away in a corner, two swords hanged neatly in a nearby wall, a small shelf filled with books, no empty room for more and surprisingly enough, no books lying around the house other than the bookshelf.
"Still the same old perfectionist" Kakashi thought to himself walking towards the room and silently opening the door. His sharingan came to life as he gazed in the darkness of the bedroom and saw nothing more than an empty bed. Kakashi went to check the remaining rooms but found no evidence of Yugao. All of her clothes and equipment were still here so he ruled out defecting.
Kakashi was closing the door out of the apartment when his nose caught a familiar scent. "Hayate...that explains her absence in her home" Kakashi thought with a grin as he closed the door and made his way towards Hayate's house where he was sure he would find Yugao.
It took only a couple of minutes for him to reach his new destination. Hayate's house was an ordinary house but unlike Yugao, Hayate lived alone in the building. Kakashi approached the door and like any good neighbor, he politely knocked on the door and waited from someone to answer.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed when his nose smelled something metallic. "Blood" Kakashi concluded as he took a step back and kicked the door open, blasting the wooden door right of the hinges. The house was a mess to say the least, there was blood everywhere and signs of a small battle.
Kunais and shurikens on the floor and walls, the tables were destroyed along with the chairs, pieces of the walls on the ground. Kakashi quickly searched the house for any signs of Yugao or anyone else. The amount of blood that was sprayed around the apartment was too much for someone to survive.
He chose to follow his nose, trailing the scent of blood to its source. Kakashi quickly reached another door, presumably to Hayate's bed room and decided to take caution. Something had happened here as it wasn't pretty. Kakashi stealth approached the door and slowly pushed it open, the wooden frame creaking ever so slowly
"YUGAO, HAYATE" Kakashi shouted as he saw his two comrades lying on the ground, in a pool of their own blood. He quickly rushed to their side, hoping that they would still be alive. Kakashi gingerly brought a finger to their neck and sighed in relief when he felt a pulse, a weak one at that but a pulse nonetheless.
"K-ka-shi" Yugao muttered weakly, barely able to part her lips. Hayate seemed to be in even worse state, completely unconscious. They were lucky to have fallen unconscious with their wounds facing the floor, somewhat stemming the blood flow.
Kakashi did a quick overall scan of the room and found another person lying in a nearby corner with a sword driven through his chest. "An assassin" Kakashi mused in thought, noticing a single white mask on the attacker's face and simple ANBU clothing.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Kakashi said, making a clone of himself and hoisting Yugao over his shoulders, with one hand applying pressure to her wounds. Kakashi's clone did the same with Hayate as both dashed towards the hospital. During their way, Kakashi made another clone to inform the hokage that someone had targeted her bodyguard.
While Yugao was jounin and one of the best, there were far more likely targets for an assassination inside the village. Everyone knew that Yugao was an ANBU but a mere few knew that she the Hokage's bodyguard. Just thinking that someone had found their identities and made a move on them was troubling enough.
## With Akatsuki and Root ##
"NOW" Torune shouted as the four members stormed the Senju compound.
Gaara was about to respond to Naruto's summon when a swarm of bugs burst from the ground, ripping through the wooden floor. "Fuuton - Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)" Gaara took a deep breath and unleashed a powerful gust of wind, breaking the swarm and pushing the insects backwards.
Without a second thought, Gaara jumped towards the window, smashing the glass and ending on the outside of the Senju compound. Sand started flowing freely from his wrists seals as it started crushing the flying bugs. "Bugs are a specialty of the Aburame Clan and Fu-chan" Gaara thought in confusion as to the person responsible for this attack.
"KATSU"
Gaara's eyes widened when a white bird appeared right in front of his face and started glowing. He barely had time to shield his face as he was blasted back, his sand skin cracking slightly due to the explosion. Gaara cursed beneath his breath as he twisted midair and landed on the ground.
BOOOOM
The ground beneath Gaara's feet suddenly exploded, covering his form in smoke. "All done" Deidara smirked, coming down from the sky on top of his clay bird. His cocky smirk was quickly wiped from his face when the smoke cleared and instead of battered Gaara, he found a solid cocoon of sand on its place.
"Akatsuki is it?" Gaara asked rhetorically as the sand cocoon opened slowly to show his neutral face. "You are either very brave or very stupid to attack the one of the five great elemental nations on broad daylight" Gaara said, stepping on top of a small chunk of sand and started floating into the air.
"Hn" Deidara was not happy his plan hadn't worked. Now he had to actually fight the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. "Looks like my plan failed" Deidara grumbled in disappointment.
Gaara was about to reply when they felt the ground starting to rumble. Gaara's eyes widened when he felt a massive spike of chakra and his head snapped to his left just in time to see a wall of the Senju compound being blasted open by a small bijuudama. "BASTARD" a deep voice came from inside the compound as Sasori came running from inside.
Fu stepped outside slowly, in her five tailed jinchuuriki state. Piercing green eyes, dark blue chakra cloak. The ground cracked as Fu shot forward, heading straight towards Sasori. Gaara's eyes followed Fu as her bijuu empowered fist crashed into Sasori's form, obliterating the Akatsuki member into pieces.
"They are not alone Fu-chan. Be careful" Gaara warned, remembering the swarm that nearly overwhelmed him earlier.
"Let me out…I want to play to" Shukaku yelled from inside Gaara's mind.
"This is no time for jokes. They are attacking us and Konoha isn't responding. Fu's attack should have drawn a lot of attention" Gaara replied and Shukaku frowned.
"I haven't used this body in years" a voice broke Gaara from his thoughts as his eyes turned to the new voice. "Sasori of the red sand. I wondered when you would show your face to us" Gaara said.
"You are well informed Sabaku no Gaara" Sasori replied, stretching his wooden limbs.
"We know more about your organization than you could ever hope to think" Gaara said. Fuu slowly made her way towards his side as more sand started pouring from his storage seals.
"Fu-chan, are you in control?" Gaara asked towards his partner in bijuu form.
"Yes" Fu snarled at the Akatsuki members.
"Go" Gaara said, raising a wave of sand as Fu roared and dashed forward. Deidara's bird quickly flew high into the sky, out of range from Gaara's sand. Sasori disposed of his Akatsuki cloak to reveal his puppet body. From his back came several metal blades that blocked Fu's punch.
ROAAAR
Fu roared, releasing a shockwave that pushed Sasori backwards and cracked the ground from the pressure. Sasori skidded through the ground until he stopped. "Tsk" Sasori sighed beneath his breath as he took his favorite puppet. Things weren't supposed to be like this, there wasn't supposed to be a battle in the first place.
"Satetsu Shigure (Iron Sand Rain)" Sasori's puppet, also known as the Sandaime Kazekage opened his mouth, releasing a cloud of black grains of iron. "Satetsu Kesshū (Iron Sand Gathering). The iron sand started compressing into high-density shapes, the size of small houses as they hovered in the air.
With a flick of wrist, Sasori commanded his puppet to send the barrage of chunks of iron towards Fuu. Fuu watched as the weapons of iron quickly approached and she bent her knees, disappearing from her position with a loud swoosh sound. Sasori took an involuntary step back when he lost track of Fuu.
He caught movement in the corner of his eyes and formed a metallic sheet of iron in front of him, just in time to block a bijuu powered fist from Fuu. Her punch connected with Sasori's defense with a loud bang, the sound reverberating through the air, a testament to both the power of the strike and the sturdiness of Sasori's shield.
"KATSU" Deidara yelled as dozens of white clays bombs surrounded Fuu and exploded. Deidara narrowed his eyes and scoffed when he noticed Fu completely enclosed in sand, protecting her from the blast.
ROAAAR
Sasori's eyes widened in shock when the sand dome opened and a bright glow emanated from the inside. "BIJUUDAMA" Fuu released a tailed beast bomb at point blank range.
When the smoke cleared there was no puppet or puppeteer to be seen. Fuu took a whiff of the air and her head snapped to the sky where she saw Deidara flying on his bird with Sasori next to him…with a missing arm.
"We cannot fight them head on" Sasori said, looking at his missing arm. "They have too much raw power for either of us"
"In that case" Deidara grinned as his hands flew to his bags on his legs. He took out a big chunk of clay and started molding it. "C3" Deidara yelled, throwing his creation into the sky. With a single hand seal his creation increased in volume, taking the size of a small building and started plummeting to the ground.
Gaara's eyes widened at the sheer magnitude on the incoming clay meteorite. "A bomb of that size would destroy a chunk of Konoha" Gaara thought in panic, raising his arms to the sky. Sand started pouring out of his wrists seals like rivers.
"Kūsa Bōheki (Giant Sand Shield)" Gaara said as the sand started covering the Senju compound. A giant shield started forming itself mid-air, right on the path of the incoming explosive.
BOOOOMMMM
The explosion lit the sky and Gaara gritted his teeth, pouring more power into the shield to protect the village from the blast. Once the explosion had cleared Gaara took a deep breath as fell to his knees. He poured too much chakra into the technique to defend the village.
"Give some chakra" Gaara said to Shukaku, huffing as he kneeled on the ground for support.
"NOW you want my help" Shukaku snarled at his jinchuuriki.
"Please" Gaara said and Shukaku scoffed.
"Fine…but it will take a while to replenish your chakra reserves. Even with me helping" Shukaku replied and allowed some his chakra to seep into Gaara's network, slowly refilling his reserves.
"Woah" Deidara shouted, forcing his clay bird to bank left all of a sudden as a tailed beast ball barely grazed them. Deidara started evasive maneuvers as Fu started firing multiple bijuudamas against the bird, trying to bring them to ground level. She looked towards Gaara and saw him slowly regaining his breathing.
"GAARA-SAN" Gaara's attention turned to the incoming voice as two anbu squads arrived at their position.
"Reinforcements?" Sasori rhetorically asked. "It was bound to happen with all the ruckus you made" Sasori said towards Deidara who huffed in defiance.
"Does it matter?" Deidara grumbled. "Let's just take the jinchuurikis and be done with this"
"H-help her" Gaara said, slowly regaining his breathing. Gaara watched as one anbu group dashed after Fuu and before Gaara could explain what was happening, one of the anbu slapped a bijuu suppression seal on Fuu's body. Fuu roared as Chomei's chakra was suppressed and the link to her bijuu closed off.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Gaara yelled as the remaining anbu squad tried to the same with him. Gaara was lucky to have his sand that automatically pushed the anbu back. Gaara's mobility was still impaired by the heavy usage of chakra and he didn't have many options left. Whoever these anbu were, they were in working with the Akatsuki.
Gaara was forced to jump backwards as the anbu group engaged offensive actions against him. "What is happening?" Gaara thought as he dodged another sword strike. His eyes turned towards Fuu's unconscious form, her body being loaded into Deidara's bird.
"Konoha has been compromised. And the rest of the group was drawn into another battle" Gaara thought, pondering his options. Two Akatsuki members along eight anbu members were too much for him now that he was drained. Gaara did the only thing he could in this situation, he channeled what chakra he had available and shunshined away from the battlefield.
"Oi" Deidara yelled when he noticed Gaara disappearing in a tornado of sand. "The Ichibi is running away"
"Forget about him Deidara. We will use the Nanabi as bait, he will come for her" Sasori explained but Deidara grumbled nonetheless before accepting the facts. Sasori jumped on top of Deidara's bird as the two flew away from Konoha, knowing that Gaara wouldn't take long to come after them.
## With Gaara ##
Gaara canceled his shunshin due to lack of chakra, arriving a few miles away from the Senju Compound and collapsing against a tree, taking deep breaths. He looked over his shoulder, scanning his surroundings for any possible shinobi. He could trust very few people if Konoha's ANBU had been compromised.
Gaara looked at the sky and noticed a white bird hovering around Konoha and flying away. Gaara strained his eyes at the bird itself and saw Fuu's limp form on the bird. "I'll need help" Gaara said out loud before dashing towards the only place he knew he would get help to rescue Fuu.
"What's taking so long?" Gaara asked towards his bijuu.
"Well excuse me for not being able to flush your system with chakra like the Kyuubi" Shukaku snarled.
"Just keep giving me what you can" Gaara replied, trying to avoid conflict with the raccoon and his mood swings. Gaara stood up, having regained his breath and run off towards the Aburame Compound. The shunshin was out of the question, he had used what little he had left to get away from the Akatsuki.
## Aburame Compound ##
"Push them back into the woods" Shibi yelled to his clan. All of a sudden his compound was being swarmed by two anbu squads.
"Hijutsu: Mushitatsumaki (Insect Tornado)" Shino said as the bugs surrounded the enemy and started spinning around them at high speeds. As the tornado was spinning, each bug took a bite of each one of the ANBU. It was mere moments later that the ANBU were all but disintegrated.
"It's done" Shibi said taking a deep breaths and falling to his knees. "ARGHHH" Shibi suddenly began yelling in pain and fell to the ground, squirming in pain.
"Father!" Shino yelled, rushing his father as well some members of the clan.
"What's happening?" some member asked, clearly wondering what was happening to their leader. Shino laid his father flat on the ground and ripped his chest's clothes to display a growing purple spot in the middle of his chest.
"Rinkaichu (Phosphorus Destruction Insect)" Shino simply said, ignoring the gasps of everyone around them. Rinkaichu, a rare breed of nano-sized, venomous insects that destroy the body's cells, causing excruciating pain in the process.
"Take him to the hospital"
"It's too late for that. We would never make in time" Shino replied, ignoring the protests of the rest of the clan.
"S-Shino" Shibi gasped, reaching for his son and bringing his closer. "T-the clan…i-it's up to…you" Shibi whispered, dying and his arm dropping limp to the side.
The Aburame Clan, a clan that valued logic above all, a clan that taught each member to bury emotions, to remain objective on the field. Even having been taught all that, Shino couldn't help but let out a small tear. "Dammit" Shino swore, punching the ground.
"Report the attack to the Hokage" Shino said but neither member moved. "NOW" He snarled, startling everyone around him. The members scattered to fix the damaged that had been done to the compound and to report to the hokage.
Shino sighed and picked his father's body. He didn't need to worry about the Rinkaichu since they went destroyed themselves once the host they fed upon had died. Shino quickly made his way towards the compound, a small walk but it felt like miles.
Shino arrived near his house and looked as the door opened. "Shino?" A female voice appeared on the other side. "Nooo" She whispered when she saw Shibi's limp form being carried in his son's arms.
"SHIBI" She yelled, rushing towards them. Shino stopped and lowered his father to the ground, allowing his mother to envelop Shibi in a desperate hug.
"S-sorry" Shino said, his voice raspy and dry. "They took us by surprise and one the attackers was one of us" Shino whispered, watching his mother swallow herself in grief at the death of her husband.
"H-he's a better place now" Shino offered, feeling completely helpless. He had already accepted his father's death and was trying his best to help his mother.
"STOP RATIONALIZING EVERYTHING" His mother yelled, her eyes red with tears. "HE WAS YOUR FATHER AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SPARE A TEAR IN HIS HONOR"
"Do you even feel anything for us?" his mother asked.
"I would sacrifice anything for my family" Shino replied instantly and immediately snapped to attention. "Stay behind me" Shino ordered feeling a presence rapidly approaching the compound. His eyes looked around until he caught Gaara approaching and the first thing he noticed was his state. Sweat dropping from his face and his chest weaving heavily.
"What happened?" Shino asked, shouldering Gaara so he didn't fell to the ground.
"Akatsuki" Gaara replied and Shino was immediately on alert. "They took Fuu" Gaara said softly and Shino's heart sank. First his father and now Fuu.
"Where?" Shino simply asked but Gaara noticed the slight edge on his voice. Gaara looked to the ground and his eyes widened when he saw Shino's father dead.
"You were attacked as well" Gaara said and Shino nodded. Looks like it had been and joint attack on the clans of the village. Gaara could only speculate on the goal of everything.
"Rest" Shino said and lowered Gaara to the ground.
"What are we going to do?" Gaara asked, finally being able to rest for a few minutes.
"We are going after Fuu" Shino simply said and started walking away. "Wait for me to come back" Shino said and Gaara nodded in acknowledgment.
"Moth-"
"Go" his mother interrupted him. "Give them hell for me" His mother smiled sadly and Shino nodded.
## Aburame Hive ##
Shino arrived at the center of the woods surrounding his compound. He slowly entered the room and made his way towards the center of the room. As he walked, he looked around to see several hives all around the room. Here was where they grew their bugs, and where they performed the ceremony on the newborn.
Shino stopped right in front of a large box. It was just an ordinary box, standing in a simple wooden desk. While seemingly plain, this box had etched a single word on the front.
Forbidden
Shino paid no second thought and opened the box, taking the jar out and gently lowering it to the table. Shino placed a hand on the lid and hesitated ever so slightly, before picking up the jar and smashing it on the ground.
As the jar shattered on the hard floor, a large swarm of bugs burst from it, immediately accessing the threat and completely covering Shino form head to toe in a shroud of darkness. Shino gritted his teeth in pain but did not waver for even a second on his decision.
"You took my father from me" Shino said, dropping to his knees. "But with you, I will rescue Fuu" Shino replied, his eyes burning with fire and the bugs seemed to feel his power and determination.
The swarm slowed down and began slowly flying around him. The bugs started landed softly on him and started slithering their away into his skin. Shino dropped his black googles to the ground and slowly stood up. His skin was now a deep purple and his eyes shining a bright silver.
"Let's go hunting"