Eroninja

Koharu pushed thoughts of her growing family to the back burner as Yakumo and she were led around the back of Homura's mansion. There they found Homura and Udon on a private training field which had quite a few targets for shuriken practice some of which would move behind obstacles or pop up at irregular intervals. At the moment though, Udon was practicing on a standard target set up around fifteen feet from him. Koharu spent a moment as the servant announced them to study it. She was able to ascertain that it was relatively new, and whoever had been using it was quite skilled. There was the odd stray, as even the most accomplished shinobi would sometimes throw a kunai or shuriken off target, but most of the markings she noticed were right on target. However, as if to give the appearance of mediocrity that she believed was just a front, Udon threw a kunai that hit low and well outside the bullseye. The next one was better, but nowhere near the tight knit group of markings in the center of the target which would suggest an expert had been using it.

Koharu watched as Homura shook his head giving the impression of a grandfather who felt his grandchild was not performing to the level he expected. Turning away from his grandson, Homura favored her with a smile as he said, "Koharu, you should have told me you were coming. I would have prepared something."

"I figured you would," Koharu said pleasantly, "which is why I didn't say anything. I've lost count of the number of times I've told you that it isn't necessary to entertain every time I come over for a visit. Especially a visit just meant to pass on my well wishes on young Udon's promotion."

"Ah, and here I thought you may be here to talk village business since Lady Kurama has decided to join you."

Yakumo smiled politely as she replied, "Elder Utatane has been mentoring me in Council Protocol. We decided to take a break and when she said she was coming here asked if I could join her."

"Hmm, I see." Homura said politely, "Out hoping to get a better read on your political opponents."

"Opponents?" Yakumo said questioningly, "I don't see any of my fellow councilors as opponents."

"Ah, to be young and naïve again, eh Koharu," Homura said his tone a little mocking.

"I like to think I'm still young at heart," the female elder replied keeping her tone neutral.

Homura studied his old teammate a moment before saying, "Indeed, still give it time. Unfortunately you'll soon see that despite our abilities to pull together in times of war. In peace times it proves difficult to get anything done as each clan puts itself before the village." Advertisements

"Perhaps things have turned a corner," Yakumo said politely, but her tone made it clear she didn't see things the same way, "Since I have joined, it appears to me that the council has only been working for what's best for the village."

"Perhaps..." Homura said, "Then again things have hardly been peaceful. One could say we've been at war for years and are just now taking the steps to confront our enemies. Akatsuki's killing of Jiraiya will soon have the other villages seeking to test us again. Plus, Akatsuki needs to be dealt with."

"True," Yakumo conceded, "But we have allies in the Sand, and perhaps even Kumo would be willing to aid us now."

"Lady Kurama, please don't be swayed by Tsunade's belief that we have turned a corner with Kumo," Homura warned. "The current alliance with Sand was the dream of the Third and even after years of working together they turned on us in an instant. However, I will concede that lately things have been going well, but you must consider that without their jinchuriki their fighting strength is sorely depleted. You could say that they are simply wise enough to take advantage of our desire for peace in order to prevent themselves from being wiped out by the coming conflict."

Koharu saw that Yakumo was unhappy with Homura's description of events, especially considering that several Kunoichi of the Sand were a part of Naruto's family. Yakumo well aware that each woman was as dedicated to the alliance between Suna and Konoha as they were to Naruto, looked like she was going to lay into Homura as she had done to Danzou once. Not wanting to cause an incident she stepped in saying, "Regardless of what we each think of where things stand between the villages. I think we can all agree that Akastuki is the true enemy. Well considering this has turned into a discussion of politics I think it would be best if we were on our way."

"One moment if you will, Koharu?" The male elder asked, before directing a pointed look towards Yakumo.

The Kurama Head picked up on it and with a slight bow said, "I'll wait out front for you. You have a lovely home Elder Mitokado."

Homura waited for the young woman to leave before saying, "Koharu, it still saddens me about what happened to Danzou. To think that such a loyal and brave shinobi could be capable of such..."

"Betrayals," Koharu supplied upon seeing her fellow elder struggle to define Danzou's actions.

"I only hesitate to call it that as I can easily see Danzou believing he was acting in the village's best interests. There are some who upon learning of certain actions we have undertaken would perhaps label us betrayers as well."

"You're speaking of the Uchiha Massacre I take it?"

Homura nodded before asking, "Yes, tell me....considering your recent alliance with Tsunade and her way of thinking. Do you regret your role in it?"

Koharu had searched her heart on the matter many times over the years. Even more so since becoming Naruto's lover and despite her belief in him and his dream replied, "No, I do not. Considering that it was Itachi that came to us with the plan to eliminate his clan, I have always believed our choice prevented the village from tearing itself apart."

"Agreed, although as I remember it you were the hardest to convince," Homura said seemingly pleased by her admission.

"Why bring this up now Homura? I doubt you would dredge up the past for no reason."

Homura studied her for a moment as if trying to decide if it was safe to bring up what he wanted to discuss. Finally though he said, "I only bring it up because of the recent events in the prison. As you well know there was another Uchiha survivor. We let Danzou keep her in the prison figuring she might be useful as leverage against Sasuke should we need it if he ever learned of the massacre. According to some of the survivors of Danzou's plot she also had become a member of his faction. Her...disappearance... is troubling."

Koharu let the frown she felt appear of her face, although she believed her old colleague would misread its meaning. She believed Homura imagined it was due to the potential threat he likely believed Mikoto represented, instead of it being about her concern that he was already searching for the Uchiha woman. Taking a gamble she said, "It may be prudent to bring this to the Council's attention. I had simply believed that Danzou quietly eliminated her. But if you have knowledge that she is in fact alive, we should find her before she can meet up with Sasuke. The best way to do this would be to use the Village's resources."

Homura kept his face neutral making her believe that was not what he wanted to hear. Cautioning her he said, "Let's not be too drastic in our response. In truth the woman was never identified by name. I was merely concerned since one of the unaccounted for women matched Mikoto's description. I have a few sources keeping an eye out for her and a few of the other escapees. Let's handle it quietly until I can make a positive identification."

Koharu gave a slight nod as she replied, "If you feel that is for the best, I'll follow your lead. Please let me know if you hear anything." She turned to leave but stopped to ask, "Speaking of people we need to find. Have your sources picked up any information about that Root member that wounded Kakashi?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I've directed them to keep me informed should that change." Noticing the frown that appeared on Koharu's face he asked, "Does that bother you?"

Koharu shook off the sudden depression that came over her to say, "Yes, a little. I just have this feeling that she's closer than we think, perhaps waiting for a chance to avenge her master."

"I think that is a real possibility," Homura replied simply.

Koharu nodded as she thought, "I bet you do," since she could feel the young woman's presence under her feet. But deciding that now was not the time to deal with Homura and his working with Root simply bid him a good day. As she left his property able to feel the eyes of people watching her from the shadows, she discreetly searched for a secret entrance to whatever tunnels ran under Homura's home.

*****

The cool night air continued evaporating the sweat that coated Naruko and her lover as she rested her head against his shoulder in the aftermath of their love making. Already looking forward to cleaning herself in the morning, only because Naruto would be joining her, she let her mind wander to a topic that was becoming more and more prevalent as their training neared its end. Giving voice to an uncertainty she felt, the kunoichi asked, "What happens to me once you go back to the village?" From the confused look Naruto graced her with she knew he had no idea as to what she was asking so she explained, "I mean, how are you going to explain my existence to people. Or...or am I supposed to just keep my distance and only visit you in the Den?"

"I'm really not seeing what you're so worried about. Of course you're welcome in the village."

Naruko felt a slight annoyance at her lover for his seemingly in ability to see the glaring problem with her just walking through the village. Lifting her head from his shoulder to give him a good view of her face she said, "And what about the fact that I so greatly resemble you? Not to mention, aren't people going to wonder why I look exactly like that stupid jutsu you created?"

"I figure they might which is why I thought it might be best to explain that you've been a student of the Pervy Sage's for years." Naruto smirked when Naruko realized that he'd been thinking about her situation already, "As to why you look like my Sexy Jutsu minus the marks on your cheeks. Well one time when Jiraiya was checking in or something he brought you to the village where we ran into each other. We didn't get along and me being the brat that I was created a jutsu to embarrass you."

Naruko smiled gently appreciating how Naruto's rendition of events even included how she had not been particularly fond of him in the beginning. However, she wasn't convinced it would fly so said, "Still, minus your whiskers. I look exactly like you. How are you going to explain that away?"

"Easy, we're from the same clan. It's only natural we'd be somewhat similar. Plus we can use it as why Jiraiya decided to train someone outside the village since you resembled his godson."

Naruko was surprised by his declaring her a part of the Uzumaki. Giving voice to it she said, "D-do you really mean it? It's okay for me to call myself Naruko Uzumaki."

Naruto reached out to cup her cheek as he said lovingly, "I do, Lady Uzumaki."

Naruko leaned in kissing her lover as she straddled him. As their tongues danced against each other her hands were busy stroking his cock to hardness. She pulled back as she placed his stiffness against her entrance. She moaned happily as she sat down on it enjoying the feeling of him spreading her insides. Once fully impaled she said, "Let me show my appreciation, Lord Uzumaki. Rocking her hips and basking in the feeling of being connected to Naruto, an increasingly large part of her also felt a sense of gratitude to Kiyomi. The woman that Naruto had once mentioned could be considered her mother.

*****

Nagato started at the Leaf village from the eyes of his Paths after killing the shinobi of a small scouting outpost. Directing his focus from what his Paths saw to what he did he informed Tobi, "We're in position."

"Excellent," Tobi replied his voice cold and competent sounding as he was no longer using his idiotic persona. "Do they appear to be on their guard?"

"The guards at the outpost were at a higher state of alert then I would expect," Nagato answered. "But that can simply be due to the realities of Jiraiya's death."

"It could also be due to Konan," Tobi suggested. "It's readily apparent that her allies had some way of monitoring her. Still if she and her allies are in Konoha, I suppose it won't matter much longer. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes," Nagato said maneuvering his walker to follow after Tobi as the masked man moved to the entrance of the cave that the leader of Ame would be using as a command post during the attack on the Leaf Village. The red-headed shinobi inspected some the metal cylinders lining the cave walls to make sure the bodies they contained were still in good condition. He frowned momentarily as he felt a wave of anger at Konan for her betrayal since normally she would have used her paper abilities to hide him during a large battle. However, upon his beginning to suspect her it had forced him to reconsider his plans for how to secure the hosts of the nine and seven tails.

Fortunately for him, the man that claimed to be Madara Uchiha, something Nagato truly doubted, at least he apparently had a good idea of the terrain surrounding the Leaf Village. Once the cave had been secured, Nagato had allowed Tobi to begin transporting his supply of Paths to it. This had been done during the period were Nagato had used the disloyalty of a minor member of Aktasuki to test out the improvements built into his walker to expand the range and amount of chakra he could channel into his paths. By having Konan tag along on the mission it had allowed him and Tobi to make several other moves in preparation for an attack on the Leaf.

Despite his difficulty in coming to believe his old friend had switched allegiances to some new group. What truly surprised him was his gut feeling that it was in some way tied to the Leaf village. After all, Konan had almost as much reason to hate Konoha as he did. That she would betray him for someone from that village stoked a white hot fury in him that he could not wait to unleash upon the people huddled behind their wall and who felt they were protected by the watchful gazes of their current and previous Hokage.

Nagato's focus was pulled away from the future screams of the people of Konoha by Tobi as he said gravelly, "Are you prepared? Our timing here needs to be perfect, or else we're going to quickly regret having Kisame release it."

"I understand," Nagato said preparing himself by gathering chakra within the mouth of the cave's entrance

Tobi nodded from his spot outside the cave, before using his jutsu to release what he had stored inside his pocket dimension for nearly two months. The spatial tear started off looking rather normal but due to the size of what he had been holding quickly grew massive. Before it was fully released from the dimension it let out a scream of pain and rage that although loud, its true message was conveyed through a different means.

*****

Kiyomi watched her handiwork as the three Taki kunoichi performed the tasks of cleaning she had given them. What pleased her was that they were working efficiently from a list she had given them, without her needing to go into the details of who handled what. She took a sip of her tea as she considered how best to apply the knowledge she had gained from tinkering with their minds. Confident she could even undo her handiwork now, she wondered if perhaps it wouldn't be best to just wipe their memories and be done with them so that things could return to normal between Naruto and her.

She felt a smile threaten to appear on her face as she would have to thank Kushina for the knowledge of how to rid them of their memories as she had recently asked Rin if she could examine what Kushina, her former host, had done to rid her of the time she had operated as Joseki's pawn. With that knowledge, had also come the knowledge that Kushina had performed her mental surgery while Rin and Naruto had been in the midst of making love. Knowing full well that meant the former jinchuriki, and now Bijuu in her own right, had taken to stepping out of the protective barrier Kiyomi had erected to keep the mother from experiencing the pleasure of her son's lovers, Kiyomi wondered how open Kushina would be to removing the seal and allowing Naruto the full access to the powers contained in her original form.

Kiyomi found it somewhat ironic that the measure she had put in place to allow Naruto to access her chakra by waking Kushina was now the biggest roadblock to his continued growth. Her thoughts into the matter were a recent development due to a scroll toad named Gerotora having sought her out. To her great surprise, before entering Ame Jiraiya had signed over the key to Naruto's seal over to her. The fact that the toad sage despite never interacting with her directly trusted her with the responsibility was a great honor. But it had answered for her the question of why upon learning that she was free the Sannin hadn't simply unlocked the seal.

Now though Kiyomi understood that it was because by the time Jiraiya had been made aware of that fact. She had already bound Kushina's soul to her original form. She suspected that the sage realized that should Naruto take full possession of the chakra, then Kushina would have no means to escape the sensations she would experience as Naruto pleased his lovers.

Naturally her insight that this didn't appear to be an issue any further was tempered by the belief that the last thing Kushina would want was people to be aware of her jaunts outside the barrier. Kiyomi found the whole thing to be both amusing and frustrating. Her amusement stemmed from the fact that Naruto was nailing almost every kunoichi or civilian of worth that he had encountered in his journeys, but it had yet to occur to any of his lovers that his mother, who had a front row seat to this would not be curious as to just what kind of lover her son had grown up to be. The frustration stemmed from the same source, but mainly from her hesitance to broach the subject.

Kiyomi recognized that her hesitance was born from her belief that she was not the best candidate to approach the subject. A part of her knew that the reason the other women seemed blind to the possibility was because of the taboo associated with it. Because of that taboo, Kiyomi didn't want to wade into the potential minefield like she normally would and disrupt the stability of her family. She wondered briefly how the other woman would react should Kushina ever officially join the Harem. Truthfully though, she doubted it would make too many waves as there already was a pair of women in the harem that were technically engaged in incestuous actions.

Granted the first time, both Tsume and Hana had been under the animalistic desires their clan displayed during long dry spells or when first choosing a mate. But both women had been present during several orgies or had even double-teamed the man they shared when the situation called for it. Yet, it hadn't raised any moral hackles from the other women. Kiyomi conceded that it may be different should the mother and son become lovers, but believed any issues that arose would simply be due to traditional thoughts on incest, which in turn would be quickly dealt with. Especially since it could be pointed out that as far as the women bound to Naruto knew, people would be just as quick to make judgments about their decision to share the same lover.

As Kiyomi had pointed out to Mikoto, she found such thoughts to be both limiting and pathetic. Her own opinion on the matter was if Kushina and Naruto decided to strengthen the bond they had with each other by adding a physical element then so be it. Yet, she knew that her opinion was born of her simply not having been raised in a societal condition in which such a pairing was frowned upon, so was aware it could be a much bigger issue than she expected it to be.

That thought did give rise to the possibility that perhaps no one would be more disgusted to know Kushina was enjoying her son's efforts then Kushina herself. She frowned at that possibility since she could only imagine how the woman feared it coming to light.

Kiyomi's thoughts on the matter however came to a screeching halt though as a scream reverberated through her. It wasn't something she heard, but she instinctually knew who it had belonged too. Standing abruptly, the chair she had been sitting in fell over causing the three kunoichi cleaning the room to turn to her in alarm. An alarm that Kiyomi could feel beginning to appear in her sisters. Responding to the telepathic yell she thought, "Shukaku, what is it? Where are you?"

However, there was no response leaving Kiyomi to believe that however her fellow Bijuu had escaped from the statue it had been sealed in. The one tailed beast had already been subdued. Certain that Shukaku was nearby she suspected that her fellow Bijuu may be a part of whatever Pain had planned for the village so turned her mental energies to alerting the one kunoichi she felt could spread the word discreetly and quickly.

*****

Shukaku the Sand Spirit fully exited Tobi's pocket dimension. Its body was pierced with giant versions of the black chakra rods that Nagato used to control his Paths and summons. It roared in pain at the violation as it searched for the people responsible. Spotting both Tobi and Nagato it turned towards them raising a massive fist in the air as it prepared to smash them out of existence. However, before it could get its revenge Nagato used the chakra receivers it had been implanted with to arrest its movement. Still the strain to do so was incredible causing Nagato to say, "You must hurry! I can't hold it much longer!"

Tobi stood weakly as he replied, "I'm well aware of the difficulty in keeping that thing in check. I've had to for nearly two months. I'm sure you can manage for twenty seconds." Still despite his words, Tobi leapt up the chakra beast with a great deal of urgency. Coming to a stop in front of its golden left eye he said, "That's quite enough out of you."

Placing the beast in the same genjutsu he had used to control the Kyuubi, he willed the creature into a mental sleep. Upon doing so its golden eyes were replaced by that of the Rinnegan. Tobi smiled beneath his mask as he noticed Nagato straightened in his walker since he no longer needed to fight the beast but was now free to siphon its chakra.

Dropping to the ground the true leader of Akatsuki stumbled slightly as he drew near chakra exhaustion. Approaching the self-styled god he said, "I trust you can handle things from here. Holding the One-tails has exhausted my strength."

"I would be more worried about Sasuke completing his task of capturing the eight-tails at this point," Nagato replied smugly as he began to maneuver his walker deeper into the cave. "With the jutsu at my command now that I've tapped into the One-tails power the Leaf Village will be a memory by the next sunrise."

"Good," Tobi said as he began to warp away to recover his strength, "It may be overkill to have released the One-Tails for this operation. But we can afford no further slip-ups if we are to reforge this world into the one in our dreams."

Before blinking out of existence Tobi watched as Nagato maneuvered the one tails in front of the entrance to where he would be conducting the destruction of Konoha. The chakra beast squatted down blocking the entrance and then seemingly blended into the surrounding rocks. A moment later Tobi appeared in his own base of operations where the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was stored. Desiring nothing more than to rest, he instead pushed himself to find Kisame in order to send him after Sasuke. Although he wanted to believe the Uchiha was capable of handling the Eight-Tails alone, as he had informed Pain, at this junction it was best to ensure results. Confident that soon he would have the Seven, Eight, and Nine tails under his control, Tobi turned his mind to how he would manipulate the Shinobi World's reaction to the events he had just set into motion.

*****

"Mom," Ino shouted upon entering into her family's shop from the greenhouse where she had attending to the flowers.

"What is it Ino?" her mother questioned from where she stood behind the counter.

"You need to get to the shelters. The Village is about to be attacked," Ino warned as she ran to the exit.

"What? How do you..."

"Just promise me you're going," Ino said cutting her mom off. "I need to find Lady Tsunade."

Her mother nodded having not seen her daughter so serious so Ino took off alerting the people she encountered out front before leaping to the rooftops. Alone for the moment she thought, "You're absolutely sure about this. Otherwise I'm going to look insane if nothing happens."

"I'm sure," Kiyomi replied mentally.

"Okay, so then why contact me and not Tsunade directly?"

"I would if I could," Kiyomi replied. "However, my telepathic abilities are rather limited. I'm able to communicate with my sisters because we all started our existence as a single being. Sort of like how twins are said to be able to sense one another. The reason I'm able to communicate with you like this is because your clan has honed their abilities to communicate mentally for generations."

"Alright then what do you want me to do once I reach Tsunade?"

"Just put me in touch with her and then link us to everyone else. We need to plan accordingly. Out of curiosity did you notice anything strange before I contacted you?"

Ino thought for a moment recalling how as she watered the flowers she had a sudden sense of foreboding as she thought she heard a pained scream. Relaying as much to Kiyomi, she was surprised as the Bijuu replied, "That was Shukaku. It seems that you've been honing your skills while you've been away."

Ino frowned at the surprised tone Kiyomi had used since it implied the Bijuu thought that without Naruto being a part of her life she would let her skills wane. Still she did concede that a reason she had been working so hard to improve her abilities was because it helped alleviate the loneliness she had felt. Therefore she simply replied, "I had a lot of free time on my hands."

Despite the seriousness of the situation she felt a small smile threaten to appear as Kiyomi replied, "I bet you did."

Reaching the Hokage Mansion, Ino made her way to the Clan Council Chambers where she barged in before the guards at the door could react. The shinobi present went on guard at her rude appearance with her father being the first to give voice to it as he said, "Ino, what do you think you are doing?"

"I'm sorry Daddy," she replied quickly, "But I believe we're about to come under attack."

"What do you base this off of?" Tsunade asked concerned knowing full well the information could have come from other sources.

Ino wasn't sure how to respond at first since she hadn't considered how to explain the situation without revealing her source. But looking to her father had a sudden inspiration as she said, "Dad, did you feel a sort of psychic scream a little while ago."

Her father frowned making Ino fear that he hadn't since a part of the Yamanaka training did consist of blocking such stray psychic pressure. But after a moment he nodded as he said, "I did feel something a short time ago. But as you know such things happen from time to..."

"I know," Ino said urgently. Knowing that she would need to stretch the truth a little she said, "I...I've heard it before in my dreams...during the Sound Invasion several years ago. At the time I just passed it off as a side-effect of the genjutsu I was under that compelled me to sleep. It would only be after talking to Temari during my time with the Training Force that I realized the dream I had was connected to the Shukaku that Gaara released."

Homura frowned as he scoffed while saying, "Are you telling us this scream you claim to have heard just now is the Shukaku? My dear I don't think I need to remind you that Akatsuki has..."

Ino wanted to smirk as it dawned on the elder that was exactly what she was implying. Tsunade snapped to her feet shouting at the guards, "Have all our outposts check in immediately."

The chunin that had been guarding the door both snapped to attention before running to complete their orders. Tsunade directed her attention to the councilors, "Everyone man your posts. We will treat this as the real thing until we receive proof otherwise. If it is a false alarm we can simply claim it as a surprise drill."

The Councilors nodded in agreement before leaving the room. Ino's father favored her with a warm smile before following Shikaku to the command center where they would direct Konoha's forces should an actual battle take place. Ino followed after Tsunade as Yuugao and Koharu did likewise.

Once they were alone Tsunade was about to ask how the Yamanaka had truly learned her information, but stopped as Ino placed a hand on her back and using the mark that connected Naruto's lovers used that as a means to link her and the other women of his Harem that were in or near the village. "Well done Ino," Kiyomi said over the mental link. "Tsunade, as Ino already informed you Shukaku is nearby. Unfortunately it is not responding to my mental calls. But I believe Akatsuki plans to use Shukaku in an attack on the village."

"Why would they go through the trouble of releasing the one tails?" Tsunade questioned.

"Perhaps as a means of forcing a confrontation between Naruto and it," Temari said from her tent in the Training Force camp. "Naruto was the one to beat Gaara when Suna tried to use Shukaku in a similar matter."

"No," Konan said from the Den's medical bay, "Nagato has positioned himself as a god. Therefore if he is going to destroy the Leaf Village it has to be seen as his victory. I'm not sure why they would let it free of the statue, but we do not need fear Shukaku running amok in the village at least not in the beginning. Should things turn against him though, I would not be capable of guaranteeing that."

"I could handle it," Fu said over the link.

"Fu, don't forget you are likely a target as well," Tsunade said, "Do not get overly reckless."

"Fu understands," the former jinchuriki replied a hint of nervousness appearing in her mental voice.

"What about Naruto?" Hinata asked from her room in the Hyuuga compound.

However, before Tsunade could respond a large explosion sounded in the middle of the village. The Hokage and the others stopped at a window as they saw the cloud of dust rise over the village followed by several others that appeared in different points of the village. Despite wanting nothing more than to hide her lover away she said, "We alert him that it appears Pain is attacking the village."

Tsunade felt Ino stiffen behind her at her statement. She half expected the young Yamanaka to raise her voice in protest of the decision. When no such protest came, she proceeded to lead the women to her office and the messenger toad Fukasaku had left. However, upon reaching her office there was no sign of the toad that had made the room its home. "Where the hell did he go?" Tsunade said angrily.

"Homura," Koharu said her own voice taking on a dark tone.

"What makes you believe he or one of his followers was here?" Yuugao asked although she knew the Elder had been revealed by Komachi's presence under his home as the man that was now in charge of Root.

"It has to be him," Koharu replied bitterly, "He can't take the chance that Tsunade would summon Naruto back to the village. Even if Ino's warning had turned out to be false he could have likely pinned it on remnants of Root."

Koharu turned to leave the office prompting Tsunade to ask, "Where are you going?"

"To deal with Root," Koharu replied her response carrying over the mental link thanks to Ino, "Homura will likely keep most of his remaining forces close to him during this invasion. He can't take the chance of being weakened even further. Therefore this attack also presents us with the unique chance to be rid of Root once and for all."

"Still you won't be able to handle them all by yourself," Tsunade protested.

"I'll lend her a hand," Seven said. "As fun as battling Akatsuki sounds, I was brought on board to aid in the removal of Root. It would be nice to see that task through to the end."

Despite the Bijuu agreeing to aid Koharu, Tsunade was still hesitant to give her blessing. But knowing she would need every available person to aid in the defense of the village nodded as she replied, "You two be careful."

Koharu smiled as she replied, "We will be. Besides, the third member of our party is already there."

Tsunade returned the smile as she realized Koharu was referring to Komachi. "Right how silly of me to forget." The smile disappeared as Koharu took off to settle her difference of opinion with her old teammate. Focusing on the smoke rising above her village, she moved to the window directly behind her desk where she smashed the glass with her fist. She then leapt through the shattered window to defend her village and lover's dream from the man threatening both.

*****

Temari stepped out of her tent as the link closed down. A great deal of the shinobi from the Training Force had already done so as more and more people noticed the smoke rising from the direction of the Leaf Village. She wasn't surprised to find Matsuri, Maki, or Pakura waiting for her to emerge or their sending her looks like they expected her to order them to Konoha. However before she could Asuma ran up to her saying, "Lady Temari, it looks like Akatsuki is making its move. I'll be taking the Leaf forces back to the village. It would probably be best if the Sand returns home. I know you had permission to aid us against Root, but this is an entirely different battle..."

"Lord Sarutobi," Temari said disappointedly, "Do you think so little of our alliance that you believe I need to run all the way back to Suna to ask for permission to aid our friends of the Leaf? This force was formed to defend both our homes from enemies that threatened them. I can think of no one more deserving to face our combined might then Akatsuki, can you?" Temari was proud to see that the resolve her words showed was also etched on many of the faces of her shinobi. Glad for the opportunity to repay the Leaf for its role in saving her brother, she said, "We're merely awaiting your order Lord Sarutobi."

Temari felt a measure of pride in the dream she had become a part of as Asuma was clearly relieved he could defend his home with the full might of the Training Force. Inclining his head to the younger woman he said, "Thank you." Turning to Sand and Leaf Shinobi he barked, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get moving."

Almost as one the shinobi present took to the trees as they moved to aid the Leaf. The women in Temari's squad all shared the same thought as they wondered when their lover would make his presence known.

*****

Kurenai was bumped to the side as a man concerned with saving his own skin ran passed her. She watched him do likewise to several other civilians as they made their way to the shelter. She steadied herself as she restarted her trek to the shelters, but a moment later she learned the rude civilian had just been the vanguard of more as suddenly dozens of more people began to push her from behind. Trying to learn why, she looked behind her to see a large centipede racing down the street towards them. Kurenai was tossed about as more and more people became aware of the danger and began running to escape it.

Due to her pregnancy Kurenai struggled to keep up and seeing a small alley ducked into it to escape the throng of people. She winced at the scene left behind as the scared civilians moved on as several less fortunate people laid trampled in the street. She heard the sounds of exploding kunai hitting their target so peeked out to see a line of chunin doing what they could to distract the strange summons from the fleeing civilians. About to get moving, the Jounin noticed a small child crying having been separated from her parents.

The summons apparently also noticed as it easily smashed through the shinobi killing or incapacitating them, before moving to attack the young girl. Kurenai moved on instinct as she channeled chakra to her legs to help overcome her limits as a result of her pregnancy. She reached the girl and snatched her out of the way just as the centipede smashed its head into the spot she had been standing. Kurenai felt winded due to eight months of being unable to properly train.

She felt a measure of panic come over her as the centipede focused its gaze on her as she cursed her recklessness since it was no longer just her life of the line. As the centipede positioned itself to attack her, Kurenai caught sight of someone approaching from the direction the civilians had fled, recognizing the jinchuriki Fu. She watched as the young woman began to emit a golden chakra which surrounded her as it took the shape of an armored giant humanoid beetle. The chakra appeared to harden to a glossy black as it reached a height of several stories tall.

Fu upon reaching the centipede delivered a massive uppercut that rocked the centipede as it sent it flying down the street and away from Kurenai. However, before the jounin could even thank her rescuer though a tongue wrapped around the upper body of the shell surrounding Fu. The jinchuriki struggled to remain standing as a chameleon with a snake for a tail appeared on the side of a building behind Fu. It began pulling backwards in order to topple the golem like construct.

Kurenai felt guilty as a part of her screamed to get out of there in order to protect the civilian she had already saved and her unborn child. However, as a large multi-headed dog leapt on Fu to pry the woman out of the chitin surrounding her. Kurenai knew that the same instinct that had prevented her from letting an innocent civilian die in front of her would not allow her to turn her back on a fellow kunoichi. Telling the young girl to take shelter in the alley she had earlier, Kurenai darted to one of the shinobi the centipede had killed. Riffling in his pouch, she pulled several kunai that had exploding tags affixed to them. Taking aim at the chameleon, who was not allowing Fu to remain upright; she threw them and was pleased to see that her aim although shaky was still true as the blades impacted the tongue. A moment later they exploded causing the tongue to be amputated. The chameleon roared in pain as it disappeared blending into its surroundings.

Kurenai watched as now free of the appendage that was hindering her ability to defend herself, Fu easily grabbed the summons scrambling to remain perched on her and tossed it into a building. The jinchuriki followed up by smashing its fists into the bizarre dog beast. Yet just as Fu appeared to be gaining the upper hand, she was propelled backwards as the summons separated into several copies of its self.

Pushed backwards by the strange turn of events, Fu found herself facing three of the multi-headed canines. Far from being concerned Fu willed the faceplate of her armor to open revealing that the golden chakra was stilling surrounding her inside the shell. She then sent a concentrated blast of that chakra into one of the summons incinerating it completely. The other two summons realizing the peril they were in appeared to decide to retreat. Fu paused a moment to look back the way she had come and seeing the squad of shinobi she had been with approaching decided to give chase.

Kurenai watched relieved as Fu chased after the remaining summons. Seeing the approaching shinobi she waved at the young girl to join her. Yet, just as the civilian appeared from her hiding spot Kurenai's view of her was clouded as a giant dust cloud was kicked up by something heavy landing in the street. Kurenai searched for the threat, but just caught site of the shimmering outline of the chameleon summons she had wounded before its snake-headed tail slammed into her.

Kurenai was sent flying by the blow and only stopped upon hitting a wall which she slid down. Kurenai blacked out for a moment, but came to seconds later to see the summons being driven off by the approaching shinobi. Dazed from the blow, she didn't really understand what was going on as two members of the medical core hovered over her. Able to hear them though she listened as one of them said, "Her wounds aren't too severe...but there's only one heartbeat."

The other one took a second to look down at her obvious pregnant stomach to ask, "Are you sure?"

A slight nod was all the confirmation the man gave, but it was enough to cut through the fog surrounding Kurenai. The jounin turned her focus inwards and was unable to feel the life that she had been nurturing for the past eight months. Feeling an overwhelming amount of grief she let out a bloodcurdling scream of, "No!" which after her throat went dry she began to repeat over and over again as she tried to deny reality while the medics began to carry her to the hospital.

*****

Nagato watched dispassionately through his Animal Path from the roof of a nearby building as the Konoha reinforcements drove off his summons. Having heard the woman's scream, he felt it as a reaffirmation of his belief that only through excruciating pain would the world begin to seek out peace. Turning his back on the shinobi as they secured the pregnant woman and civilian he directed his dog summons to lead the Seven-Tail jinchuriki on a chase until his Deva path could deal with the annoyance it faced.

Nagato knew that he should probably use the jutsu that had been his reason for releasing the One-Tails. But rather than crush the village quickly he wanted the despair of the attack to sink in. Especially since he had lived with his hatred of Konoha for decades so didn't wish to rush through his snuffing out of their much vaunted "Will of Fire." Nagato was aware that if he wasn't careful, he could in turn be creating the next generation of those who would resist him in the future. Therefore he needed to extinguish all hope and the best way to do that was a long drawn out siege that would slowly crush their spirits. If it lured out the nine-tails as it apparently had the seven then so much the better.

Nagato stopped as one of the dogs that had splintered off from the two that Fu was chasing suddenly picked up a familiar scent. Recognizing it as the woman that had rescued Konan, he directed the summons to follow the trial even as he moved his Animal Path to the same location.

*****

Konan could feel the earth vibrate as large explosions went off nearby. Despite her body protesting her decision she pulled herself out of the bed. She quickly dressed as she made her way out of the Den. Aware of how frightening powerful Nagato truly was. She needed to be ready in case he decided to really cut loose. Knowing that at the moment Nagato was simply toying with the Leaf, she needed to observe how he had arraigned himself through the village so she could choose the opportune moment to strike.

*****

Kiyomi watched as her home battled against Pain. She felt hemmed in by her role as a civilian as she longed for the freedom that both Yoruichi and Seven were displaying. She also wished she could simply teleport to her lover, but since she used the fox mark located on Naruto's lovers to travel could not locate him due to his presence being blocked by the atmosphere of the Toad's home. She had been surprised to learn that it was apparently a handicapped that didn't extend to him. But she reasoned that it was because the Hiraishin was reliant on the seals built into the fox marks or on his kunai, not the sense of presence the marks gave off.

Aware that she wasn't alone she asked, "Can I help you two?"

Miya Asama shrugged as she replied, "Not really. I'm simply watching the fireworks, same as you."

Kiyomi frowned at the woman's words, but wasn't surprised by them as she had made it quite well known she had no desire to protect the village. Not that Kiyomi could blame her considering the Leaf had locked her up for over a decade. But looking at the woman standing next to the purple haired woman, she could see her other house guest wasn't so unconcerned. Finally, Mikoto broke as she said, "Let me do something to help. I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Oh, isn't the sight of the village locked in battle the very thing your clan wanted to bring about."

Kiyomi took some satisfaction in seeing Mikoto wince from her words, but it was short lived as the Uchiha replied, "I...I can't deny what you say is correct. But, to stop such a thing from happening is the very reason why I alerted the Third to my husband's plot. He failed to understand that even if we won...we wouldn't erase the cold stares that we received. We'd only solidify the villagers mistrust and fear of us."

Kiyomi hearing that didn't trust Mikoto any more than she had before, but decided that at the very least it would be a chance to see where the Uchiha stood. Releasing the seal that bound the woman to her property the Bijuu said, "Then go. But upon our defeating Pain, I expect you to return."

Mikoto nodded, before darting out of the room. Miya watched as Kiyomi turned back to the window and asked, "Do you truly believe she will?"

Kiyomi shrugged as she answered, "Honestly it doesn't matter. If she comes back she at least proves she can be trusted. If not, then she'll go in search of her son. I trust that her friendship with Naruto's mother will be enough to keep her silent about the secrets she has uncovered. If not then I'm sure her son will insure that she takes them to the grave."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Miya said finding the Bijuu would make a dangerous enemy.

Kiyomi smiled back at the woman over her shoulder before saying, "If you'll excuse me. I have a guest."

Miya watched as the Bijuu slowly walked out of the room. Making her way to the window she saw what appeared to be a young woman with orange hair. Guessing her to be this Pain, she had heard mentioned by the women of the house she settled in to watch wondering if she should aid the Bijuu to gain some insight on where Kisame was hiding. However, as the Bijuu appeared out of the entrance of the mansion Miya doubted the Bijuu wanted or needed any such aid.

*****

Soifon watched as the smaller dogs that had separated from the larger one her squad had ambushed finished killing the rest of her team. She killed the emotions she felt as one beast removed its fangs from around the throat of her sensei while staring at her. Having recently been promoted to a chunin in the Suna Chunin Exams, the fifteen year old kunoichi waited for the remaining beasts to take notice of her. Willing to trade her life so long as she could incapacitate them, she had set up a Barrier Encampment with herself as the bait that would lure the summons into the killzone.

"Come on you pieces of shit," the chunin said defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere."

The summons all snarled before leaping at her, and as they approached Soifon smiled as the exploding tags she had set around her began to smoke, before erupting in flame. Just before being engulfed she closed her eyes and was surprised that dying felt a little bit like flying.

Feeling like she was being held around her waist while suspended in the air. She opened her eyes to find herself being held by a dark-skinned woman on top of a roof. Upon seeing the kunoichi she had rescued staring up at her the woman said, "Whew that was a close one. If I had been a little slower we both would be extra crispy right now."

Soifon felt her cheeks begin to color as the woman stared down at the kunoichi she was easily holding with just one arm. "W-who..."

"Hold that thought," Yoruichi said as she leapt backwards causing Soifon's stomach to lurch as she was held around the waist by her savior's arm. The unease also stemmed as several of the summons she thought her trap had killed smashed into the area looking burnt but otherwise unharmed.

Upon Yoruichi's landing one of the dogs growled at her before leaping to attack. However, the Bijuu simply raised her leg straight up in the air before smashing it down on the summon's head driving it through the roof until it landed in the basement. Once the dust cleared, Soifon could see that from just the one blow the animal would not be getting up anytime soon although she could see several new heads sprouting from the beast.

"I tell you," Yoruichi said, "It always bothers me when people let their mutts run loose off of their leashes. Well I guess the owner won't be able to raise too much of a fuss about me putting them down, although he's welcome to try."

Soifon was about to point out that physical attacks only seemed to make the summons stronger, but before she could the woman tossed her behind her as the dog she had sent through the roof leapt from the hole. The summons smashed its paw where the woman was standing prompting Soifon to charge forward in anger at the beast killing someone else. However she stopped as the dust cleared and revealed the purple-haired woman easily holding the paw it had tried to smash her with.

Yoruichi smirked into the summons Rinnegan eye as she said, "Aw, you want to shake." Pushing it backwards she quipped, "Now play dead." She then breathed a ball of black fire into the beast's chest that caused it to burst into flames. The flames grew stronger before taking the shape of several large black flaming cats. Yoruichi walked among the jutsu composed of her blaze element as she said, "Opps, I don't think its playing. Oh well let's see if the rest of these flea bags can do any better."

The cats leapt away from her as they smashed into the summons setting them ablaze. Soifon watched amazed as within moments the woman's jutsu reduced the pack of dogs into so much ash. Stretching her arms over her head, Yoruichi moved to the end of the roof looking for another area of trouble. Spotting a dust cloud she was about to leapt away but stopped as the kunoichi she had save asked, "Who are you?"

"Yoruichi," the Bijuu replied and then leapt away.

Soifon watched the woman as she moved to attack a giant crab that easily towered over her. Despite the chaos still going on around her Soifon whispered reverently, "Lady Yoruichi." Her attention was pulled from the angel that had saved her by the cries for help of people nearby. Having to complete her duty to the Leaf, Soifon leapt away to render what aid she could. But once the village was secured promised she would learn everything she could about the woman that now captivated her world.

*****

Sakura directed several less severely wounded civilians towards a waiting are where they would be treated in due time. She paused as her eyes landed on Kurenai, who still stared off into space while simply repeating the word no. Her heart broke for the woman especially as her hands absentmindedly rubbed her stomach despite her deceased child having been removed. Tearing her gaze away, she saw her teacher moving down a hall as if to leave the hospital. Quickly closing with him, she said, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Sakura, I have a duty to perform. I'm healed enough..."

"When did you become a doctor, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said sternly cutting her teacher off, "Your wounds barely healed. Now get back to your room before I forget myself and do something you'll regret."

Kakashi well aware that in his current condition, his student's threat was more along the lines of a promise, sighed in defeat as he followed her instructions. Sakura spared a moment to make sure her teacher did as she said, before moving to help a gravely injured shinobi. As she set about the task of trying to repair the damage she sent a silent prayer out to her lover that he would arrive in time to save the village.

*****

Tsunade channeled chakra to her feet as the Deva path tried to pull her towards it. Resisting the pull until it stopped, she then charged forward hoping to reach the Deva path before it could use its jutsu again. Tsunade managed to succeed, but it was pushed out of the way by the Path that appeared capable of absorbing chakra. Tsunade's fist connected with its face in place of the Deva's path causing it to go flying off where it smashed into an apartment building. In the back of her mind Tsunade realized that the apartment her human projectile had just ruined had been Naruto's.

Turning to the Deva path that was recovering from the rough push it had received she raised her foot intent on crushing it. However, she was blown back as it raised its hand sending Tsunade off to slam through a building herself. Glowering at the path as it stood, she threw off the broken pieces of furniture covering her as she got to her feet as well. Staring down at it from the hole of the second floor apartment she had crashed into, she shouted, "Give it up you bastard. This village is not something someone like you can crush."

The Deva Path stared up unintimidated as it replied, "An ant can rage all it wants at a descending boot heel. But in the end the result is still the same."

Tsunade growled as she ran down the face of the building intent on showing Pain that he had picked a fight with the wrong ant.

*****

Komachi remained in the cell that had been her home for over a month still as naked as the day she entered it. Despite Monkey apparently deciding to spare her, it showed that he in no way trusted her. She could understand his reluctance to do so since even were she still loyal, her upcoming mission to kill Naruto would have had only one outcome for her, death. With the possibility she would be tortured before being killed she doubted Monkey would want her revealing any pertinent information she would learn about his operation if she were free to move as she pleased.

Komachi frowned as she heard the sounds of large scale combat taking place overhead. Despite her chakra being sealed she could still vaguely sense the other women connected to her via the mark she bore, but had been unable to communicate with them. Suspecting the battle was directed at the village as opposed to removing the remnants of Root, she wondered who the enemy was.

Her thoughts turned to her personal safety though as her cell began to shake violently making her believe that on top of a battle the village was suffering an earthquake. But her fears proved groundless as a large stone beetle smashed through the back wall of her cell. It shattered into pieces a moment later to reveal the still henged Koharu and Seven.

Both women appeared shocked to find Komachi completely nude with Seven saying, "Um, sorry...we only brought you some weapons."

Komachi took them wordlessly as she strapped the pouch to her waist and the sword to her back while Koharu removed the chakra restraining seal. She had just finished situating them when the door to her cell burst open. Komachi pulled her blade as she leapt the distance and slashed one of the men across the throat. The second Root member managed to swing at her, but she parried the blade as she dug a kunai from her pouch and buried it in his masked eye socket.

Turning to the two women, Komachi said unashamed of her nakedness, "They are enough."

"Then let's go," Koharu said taking the lead as she went in search of Root's current master and her old colleague.

The three women encountered relatively light resistance since it was apparent that Root had not expected their attack. The three kunoichi learned the other reason was because most of the remaining Root members had gathered in a large assembly hall. Upon their stepping into it Monkey said, "So, it appears my first instinct about you was correct Komachi. I should have simply eliminated you."

Komachi felt no need to respond but Koharu did as she said, "Homura...how could you fall so low?"

"Low," Homura replied removing the mask he wore. Tossing it aside, where it landed next to a jar containing the missing and unconscious messenger toad, he began moving through the ranks of his Root members as he explained, "How is it low of me to do the things that you and the rest of these weak willed fools find distasteful. You see our rebellion as us being disloyal when it is us simply and finally making the village recognize the horrible things that must be done to keep the other villages from snuffing out our Will of Fire? Forget your romantic view of what it means to be shinobi. We try to dress it up, but in the end we are no more than the various Daimyo garbage men."

"How can you say that?" Koharu said sadly, "Sensei taught us to be proud shinobi."

"And how did Sensei die?" Homura replied coldly. "Like a cornered dog as the rest of us raced back to the village clinging to our pitiful lives. Our ideals for peace were used against us to lure us into that trap. Peace is an illusion which cannot become a reality so long as the other shinobi villages exist. But from that experience in Lightning Country, I learned the only true peace we can hope for so long as the current shinobi world exists is the one found in the grave."

"Then why don't you go hurry up and die then," Seven replied. "In case it's escaped your notice your home is being flattened by Akatsuki and yet here you bastards sit huddled together."

"Akatsuki is simply a wildfire that has spun out of control," Homura replied calmly as he came to the head of his forces. "We were aware of them as they fought to establish peace in Ame during the Third Shinobi War. Such a naïve idea of peace had no place in this world which is why we joined with Hanzo in eliminating them. However, it appears we underestimated this Nagato. But looking at what he's become is all the proof one needs to see just how weak his ideals of peace were."

"Don't you see though," Koharu tried to reason, "Your actions then are why our village is suffering now."

"As I said," Homura replied unperturbed, "It was a wildfire that has spun out of control, but one I can use to reforge this village into what it needs to become in order to survive in this world of shinobi. Once Pain has finished in his rampage, we will emerge to lead the survivors forged through the painful reality of this world against him. Maybe after they've had a taste of what awaits them outside the safety of Konoha's walls, they'll be more willing to take the steps necessary to ensure such a thing never happens again? This time there will be no soft hearted Hokage to hold us back like Sarutobi or Tsunade."

Koharu frowned as she said angrily, "You're the one that helped to appoint Tsunade once Jiraiya suggested her."

Homura chuckled as he replied, "True, but I fully expect her to be a colossal failure as Hokage. Little did I imagine the woman that was cheating her creditors and drinking her life away would prove to be such a formidable opponent. She was supposed to be a wreck that Danzou and I could influence or discredit thereby allowing him to rise to the position."

Koharu stared at the ground sadly as she said, "I see...so this is a path you've been on for a considerable amount of time."

"Indeed," Homura replied, "But don't kid yourself Koharu. It's a path you've been on as well. When Itachi came to us with his plan to eliminate his clan, you may have raised the greatest fuss about it. But you still agreed with us in the end. But it was because it took so much convincing to bring you on board that Danzou and I refused to let you in on our greater plans."

Koharu pulled her gaze from the floor as she met her old teammate's cold glare with a steely one of her own as she said, "For that I thank you then. By not pulling me into the darkness you two had surrounded yourselves with it has allowed me to find my true self."

Homura shrugged as he tossed the robe he had been wearing away to reveal his old shinobi armor. Pulling the scroll strapped to his chest down he called forth a sickle and chain. Spinning the weighted end of the chain he said, "In a clash between two ideals only one can remain standing. Let's see if your true self can stand against mine."

Koharu dropped her henge showing off her youthful appearance as she replied, "I'm afraid now that you've seen it, none of you are leaving this room alive."

Homura recovered from his surprise quickly before charging his fellow elder as his Root members followed in his wake. Pulling a kunai she let it fly but wasn't surprised as Homura battered is aside with the weighted chain. Pulling another to parry Homura's sickle, she smiled in his face despite his saying, "You're a fool Koharu. Do you honestly believe the three of you can stand against Root?"

"What can I say Homura," Koharu said as she struggled against her oldest living friend, "We're another wildfire that you've lost control of. Let's see how calm you can remain now that your true home is caught up in it."

*****

Nagato watched through the Animal Path's eyes as the woman that had saved Konan calmly strolled out of the mansion that he assumed was her home. Despite his usual confidence he found her calmness both in the chaos going on in the village and his ability to find her disturbing. Commenting on it he said in the female Animal Path's voice, "You don't seem surprised that I found you."

"What makes you think I was hiding in the first place?" The woman replied condescendingly.

Pain turned his Path's head to where a fireball had erupted due to his Asura Path's battle against a purple-haired Anbu and the squad she was leading. "Perhaps from your remaining here instead of helping this village defend itself."

Nagato found the predatory smile the woman gave him as a result of his words unnerving. She spoke with a finality that caused him to question not only whether or not the woman was human, but his own chances of defeating Konoha. "Take it from one who knows. This village will not be done in by this."

Nagato got over his bout of nerves as he recalled his ace in the hole the member of Akatsuki said, "I'll keep that in mind. Tell me, did Konan survive her wounds?"

"Who can say," Kiyomi replied with a shrug, "Don't tell me you've begun to regret your attacking her."

"I merely wish to ascertain if she still remains a threat to my goal to create peace in the Shinobi World. But no matter, if she's still alive I'll find her in due time. Now I believe you said, there was someone that would determine my fate. Where would this person be so I can show him the futility of challenging a god?"

Kiyomi held back the frown she felt since without her ability to feel him via her foxmark she could not teleport to Naruto's location as her technique worked separately then his. Plus since Homura apparently had captured or killed the messenger toad that had been left to summon the jinchuriki they couldn't summon him that way either. Despite her not wanting to interfere with Naruto's confrontation with Pain, the Bijuu had her own goals in regards to him so said, "I'm afraid he's rather indisposed at the moment. You should have told us you were coming as I'm quite positive he was very eager to meet you. But in the meantime let us do our best to entertain each other."

Nagato had his Animal Path react immediately as it crouched to place its hands on the ground. It summoned two of the creatures that it had yet to set loose in the village. The first was a massive Ox which towered over the woman as it was as tall as her three story mansion. The second creature let out a loud screech as the strange three winged and legged bird flew out of the cloud that had sprung into existence upon its being summoned with the Animal Path riding on its body.

Kiyomi frowned at Pain's choice of summons as the last thing she wanted was to attract attention to their fight. Therefore in order to ensure that they remained alone she placed her hands upon the ground causing a massive red barrier to spring into existence around her property.

Taking the perceived opportunity to strike that Nagato saw he willed the Ox forward to crush the impertinent woman as she established her barrier. To his surprise, she didn't even attempt to avoid the massive hoof as he brought it down on her. It hit the ground with full force kicking up a massive cloud which the Animal Path and bird it rode scoured looking for some sign of the woman. They need not have bothered as from beneath the hoof several red tendrils of energy wrapped themselves around the leg. The tendrils squeezed the leg in a grip that began to crush it, before they pushed the Ox backwards until it fell onto its back.

From the Animal Path's vantage point it could see the woman still crouched as she had been, but now covered in a red cloak looked like it was trying to take on a shape, yet couldn't due to the woman apparently preventing it from doing so. She stood in the hole that had been made as her chakra cloak prevented her from being crushed and began to scan the sky. When she spotted the Animal Path, Nagato saw a small smile appear on her face before she disappeared into flames.

Kiyomi reappeared behind the Animal Path on the bird it was riding as she could use her version of the Hiraishin to teleport to a location she could see. The Animal Path reacted immediately as it lashed out with a kick behind it that Kiyomi's chakra cloak easily blocked. She prevented it from taking its fox shape by cutting her chakra as soon as the threat was ended since she didn't want to supply Pain with too many clues as to what he was facing off against. She tried to retaliate with a chakra fist, but the female path leapt over it and her.

Kiyomi spun to face her opponent but watched as the Path appeared to miss the end of the bird and begin to fall towards the earth. Kiyomi frowned, but learned it was intentional as the bird at her feet disappeared into smoke. Before she could recover, the Ox charged her and rammed her as she was in midair. Hitting the center of its forehead she found herself pinned against it until the Ox smashed her into her home.

Finding herself in her study, Kiyomi's anger spiked and no longer caring if Pain learned what he was facing decided to show him the folly of making her angry. Pulling back her fist, she slammed it forward just as the Ox was beginning to back up in order to inspect its handiwork. A massive chakra claw sprung into existence catching the summons in the head and sent it skidding backwards.

Kiyomi walked slowly towards the hole that had been made and noticed a thick fog beginning to cover her property. Mentally thanking Miya, suspecting her due to her being a Kiri-nin, Kiyomi stepped from the hole. Yet instead of falling to the ground a red fox cloak sprung into being around her. Residing in the fox apparition's head, which was as large as the Ox summons, she watched as the Animal Path leapt atop it's summon's head.

Kiyomi smirked as the Animal Path taking notice of the nine-tails swinging about behind her chakra cloak asked, "What the hell are you?"

"What are your eyes telling you?"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe you are the Kyuubi?" The Animal Path questioned its tone filled with disbelief.

"Why not," Kiyomi replied in amusement, "You wish for me to believe you are a god. Let us see whose boasts appears to be closer to the mark." The Bijuu leapt at the Ox as it charged towards her while the Animal Path leapt away. The Ox hit Kiyomi's cloak in the chest, but its horns failed to penetrate as it was stopped almost immediately due to the heavy nature of the Bijuu's chakra. Kiyomi had the cloak's claws grab the Ox by the horns as it tried to twist the summons head clean off its shoulders. But just as Kiyomi was about to succeed, her cloak was hit from the side by the Bird that the Animal Path had re-summoned.

The drill like beak failed to penetrate as well, but the force of its collision caused Kiyomi's grip on the Ox to weaken enough for it to pull away. The bird scrambled back on the ground as it had been unable to remain airborne after the collision as Kiyomi turned her attention to it. Pulling back her arm which was mirrored by the Fox cloak she prepared to crush the skull of the bird summons. However, as she was bringing her cloak's fist down, something wrapped around its forearm. Searching for the new threat she spotted a shimmering distortion that appeared to resemble a bizarre chameleon of some sort. It revealed itself to show that the snake like tail of the summons was wrapped around her cloak's forearm.

Kiyomi willed her tails to deal with the nuisance as they wrapped around reptile as the Ox tried to rescue it by charging Kiyomi. The Bijuu turned the Fox Cloak's head towards the fast approaching summons. Kiyomi took a deep breath before expelling a fireball from her mouth that grew in power as it traveled through the fox cloak's throat. When it emerged from the Fox apparition's mouth her Hellfire fireball was easily as large as the Ox's head and when it hit caused the front half of the summons body to explode into charred flesh. The rear half collapsed to the ground as it skidded to a halt. Kiyomi then had her tails bring the chameleon in front of her where she grabbed it around its torso and squeezed the life out of it.

Dropping the broken husk to the ground she stepped on it for good measure, before scanning for the Animal Path in the fog. She caught sight of the female Path as it rode the airborne bird. The bird flew as high as the barrier would allow before diving towards Kiyomi. The Bijuu could tell the beak was aimed for where she resided within her fox cloak. However, just before it made contact Kiyomi dropped the cloak. She teleported before the beak could connect and appeared in front of the Animal Path.

Kiyomi struck first this time grabbing the path around the throat and refused to let go even as the summons beneath her feet was dispelled. Kiyomi was prepared so teleported with her prize and reappeared in front of her home as she easily held the shorter Animal Path off the ground.

The Animal Path struggled to speak due to the iron grip around it's throat as it said, "Do you truly believe you have won?"

"This round," Kiyomi replied pleased. "I thank you for your contribution to my plan for releasing my brethren from the husk of the Ten-Tails."

"What are you talking about?"

Kiyomi smirked as she replied, "As I thought...you're just a pathetic pawn in all this as well."

The Animal Path's eyes narrowed at the Bijuu as Nagato replied, "Know your place. If you truly are the Kyuubi, then you're nothing but a power source for the jutsu I'll use to change the world."

Kiyomi's eyes narrowed as well, but then a smile appeared on her face as she responded, "No, I'm afraid you're quite mistaken in that regard. But no matter, you're plans are falling apart even as we speak and you were even kind enough to deliver into my grasp the last element I needed to really muck up that masked bastards plot."

"And what would...."

The question cut off as Kiyomi began to channel her chakra into the Path. First she set about healing the damage that had been done to the body in order to make it suitable to be used as one of Nagato's paths. As a result the black chakra receivers began to be pushed out as the holes that had been created to house them as they closed. The black rods began falling to the ground as the more shallowly inserted ones healed first. Once the last rod came loose the Rinnegan faded from the Path's eyes as the female went slack.

Next, Kiyomi channeled her chakra to stimulating the organs of the soon to be former Animal Path. She could feel a pulse as the woman's heart began to beat and once it had a steady rhythm she ended her artificial stimulation of the organ. The former Animal Path suddenly took a deep gasping breath as its lungs began to function as well. The ex-Path's eyes began to come into focus and zeroed in on Kiyomi's face.

Kiyomi knew the woman would not be the one that she had been before her death, nor would she likely retain any memories of her time as a Path. Therefore, Kiyomi as she returned the body to the land of the living had applied the skills she had mastered through her tampering with the Taki-nin's psyche to give the woman the means she needed to function, but would also leave her as a blank slate.

Kiyomi was pleased as a questioning look appeared in the woman's blue eyes as she asked, "Who are you?"

Setting the woman down she replied, "I'm Kiyomi."

The woman processed the information and despite the confusion she was no doubt experiencing didn't let it show as she asked unemotionally, "Who am I?"

"Perhaps in time you'll be able to answer that," Kiyomi said proud of her work, "But for now how about I call you Sage?"

"Sage," the woman repeated still sounding unemotional. After a moment of thought though she added, "That is an acceptable name. What is my purpose?"

"In the future that will be your own decision to make," Kiyomi said turning towards her home. "Yet for the immediate future your purpose is to help me free my siblings."

"How?"

"All will be explained in good time," Kiyomi said as Sage began to follow her into the mansion. "For now though let's get you somewhere safe. I fear things will get worse before they get better."

*****

Nagato tried to understand what had happened to cause him to lose contact with the Animal Path. He also began to wonder if the woman he had faced could have truly been the Kyuubi. However, he dismissed the idea as ludicrous since that would mean the Nine-tail Jinchuriki would have been dead. Still he couldn't deny the woman's power so decided it might be best to begin the preparations for deploying his trump card.

With a mere thought two of the lids for canisters housing his paths were sent flying as they were punched open. Nagato watched as the two new Paths stood and then ran out the cave's entrance to Konoha. With them on their way he turned his focus back to his Asura Path as it dealt with the Anbu that had been guarding the Hokage.

*****

Hinata ducked down as she performed the splits as one of Pain's dog summons passed above her. Before it cleared her, she jammed her hands up into the air with the chakra that coated them taking on the form of a lion's head. The jutsu hit the beast in the chest causing it to yelp as it was propelled upwards. The dog tried to right itself but was then hit in the side by an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm as several Branch Family members, including Neji, attacked the summons once she was clear of it.

Her Byakugan showed her the animal, which had split off of a larger one sporting multiple heads, slamming into a wall which crumbled atop of it. Rolling back to her feet, she fought back a sigh as her bodyguard Ko said, "Lady Hinata that was far too reckless. You should return to the compound and leave the fighting to us."

"Ko, I know father has left you in charge of my wellbeing during his absence, but it is our duty as Hyuuga to defend this district. A duty I intend to see fulfilled," Hinata said aware of the pile of stones shifting behind her.

Ko more focused on his duty of protecting his charge by convincing her to return to the Hyuuga compound where the other Main Branch family members were residing, did not. Therefore he was surprised as said charge pushed him back as a sizably larger and three-head canine emerged from the rubble of the wall.

Hinata spun to face the renewed threat and began swinging her arms in front of her in an incredible display of speed in precision. The arc-shaped chakra blades formed a barrier in front of her which as the summons hit caused it to get sliced into cauterized cube shaped pieces. Hinata remained vigilant in case the strange creature somehow survived the damage, but when no new beast seemed to begin growing turned her attention away.

Sounding confident and in charge Hinata asked as she helped Ko back to his feet, "Neji, you're eyes are stronger than mine, are there any threats present?"

"None we currently need to deal with. Also, it appears that most of the villagers have been evacuated to the shelters. It'll probably be time for the counterattack soon enough."

Hinata nodded before ordering, "Good, we'll hold position here until it's time to begin." Advertisements

She then leapt up to the top of a nearby tree as she directed her attention to the village as she tried to determine where her clansmen and she would likely be sent in order to drive Pain out of the village. Beneath her those clansmen looked on with respect as well as a few faces of worry since many of them hoped Hinata would assume leadership of the Hyuuga and did not wish for her to fall in battle.

None though was more concerned than the man charged with her safety, who as his charges cousin drew near whispered a little harshly, "Neji, how can you show so little concern for Lady Hinata's safety. I'm sure if you told her to return to the safety of the compound she'd listen."

Neji's face remained impassive as he replied, "Unfortunately there is only one person she would possibly listen to, and he's not in the village at present." From Ko's face Neji figured that they were thinking of two different people. Directing his gaze up to his cousin, he imagined that not only was she scanning for threats, but also for any sign of orange that would signal Naruto's return. Like most of the village Neji had no idea where Naruto was, only that he was receiving some sort of specialized training. Returning his focus to his clansmen he continued, "Therefore, it is our job to make sure no harm comes to Lady Hinata."

Ko nodded his head in agreement an action mirrored by the other Branch Family members present. Neji didn't smile since they were simply reaffirming their duty as Branch Clan members. But he did take pride in knowing that unlike with many who bore the Caged Bird seal, they weren't doing so due to their station in life. But because they genuinely wanted to serve the woman that many considered the only Main Family member that valued them.

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