Chapter 13

-Iwagakure's Streets-

Kurotsuchi yawned as she made her way to the Tsuchikage's tower. She and her father had been summoned for a mission briefing at first hour in the morning and she was definitely feeling the lack of sleep.

She would really like to know what could be so important that her grandfather needed them so early. They were two of his finest ninja, so she doubted it was for some trivial task, at least she hoped so. Having to get up at such an hour was bad enough, but having to endure walking with her father so soon after their argument the day before was too damn awkward for her.

As they were arriving, she noted more Shinobi besides them entering the tower too. She wondered if they had been called for the same thing. Kurotsuchi and her father also entered and went up the stairs, and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw a considerable amount of ninjas gathering outside her grandpa's office. What really caught her attention was that most of them were Jounin. There were a few experienced Chunin and a bunch of Tokubetsu Jounin, but generally, all of them were highly competent Shinobi. ''What is going on here?'' thought the girl, puzzled.

After a considerable amount of ninja arrived, they were called into the room. When they entered they could barely fit into the Tsuchikage's office even though it was relatively big.

And Soon, Onoki with his trusted ANBUS entered the office

-Unknown Location-

Tobi once again sat alone in a cavern, going over the current situation in his mind, and so far everything was going according to the plan. The Tsuchikage had sent a large elite force with a lot of his most skilled shinobi in pursuit of the Upcoming Second Generation of Yellow flash, and among those in the force were most of the ANBU patrols usually guarding the Yonbi and Gobi. Now getting close to the Jinchuuriki wouldn't be a problem with the meager defenses left protecting them. All that was left was for Zetsu to confirm when the assault unit went too far past Iwagakure's border that they wouldn't be able to help once the Akatsuki made their move.

Speaking of the devil, at that moment the flytrap-like man materialized out of the ground. He turned to Tobi, ready to inform his leader of the development of their scheme. ''The force hunting the Kyuubi is already on the seas of the Land Of Lightning giving chase to the Jinchuuriki. At this point even if they were to turn around and come back they would not get here in time to save the Yonbi and the Gobi'' reported black Zetsu in his deep monotone voice like always.

That was what Tobi had been waiting for. It was the moment to start making their move. ''Now is the time. Inform the others to be ready to act. But have them wait for our signal. The attack has to be a coordinated effort if we want to capture both Jinchuuriki at the same time''

''Will do, Tobi. They are already on standby, some of them are restless to start'' Said White Zetsu with his usual cheery disposition before submerging himself and his black half on the ground after just arriving.

Tobi stood up, ready to leave too. Even if he wasn't part of the operation he still wanted to see the performance of the Akatsuki members, albeit at a safe distance of course, as it still wasn't the moment to reveal himself to the world.

-Sea of The Land of Lightning-

The cold breeze of the foggy night could be felt on the ship, but Kitsuchi didn't even pay attention to the uncomfortable weather. A lot was at stake on their success to pay any mind to it.

The Iwa commander stood motionless on the railing of the wooden ship, showing an air of confidence and authority to help the morale of his troops. For Iwa Shinobi like them who were used to always fighting on dry land, the climate conditions were unfavorable.

Not only was the environment bothersome, but most of the time they didn't even have land for their earth-based Jutsu, and the only times they did was when they passed by the occasional small island. This meant that they were fighting at a slight disadvantage when it came to their Jutsu repertoire.

Still, even with that handicap, most of them were Jounin, and that meant that almost all the Shinobi in their unit were proficient in more than one element, and some Shinobi like Akatsuchi could expel rocks from their mouth created with chakra. Also, they had members of the Kamizuru clan, and they didn't use a lot of element-based Jutsu because their clan techniques were based around manipulating insects, not unlike Konoha's Aburame clan, except that they specialized in the use of bees. And speaking of which, some members of the Kamizuru clan were using their insects to scout the location of the Konoha's scout to ensure that they were still on the right track. With the mist covering their advance, they were safe to get close and get the upper hand with a surprise attack.

A member of the Kamizuru clan was just receiving some of the bees he had sent out to scout, and after gathering the intel his small Summon had brought him he went straight to Kitsuchi. ''Captain Kitsuchi, we are only half an hour away from our target, if it wasn't for the mist we could have a visual already''

Kitsuchi gave out a deep sigh, knowing that a battle would soon break out. He quickly composed himself and called out to his men in authority. ''All of you, prepare for battle! We will soon reach the Konoha's scouts. we are not aware of their skills yet, so If you have anything you need to do to properly equip yourselves, now is the time!'' Everyone started digging through their ninja tools and grabbed any weapons they thought they may need.

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi were on the lower deck finishing their preparations. Akatsuchi was nervous about the mission, he had never been against a foe such as this one, he wasn't even a part of such an important mission in his career either, it wasn't too appealing for the plump boy, so he tried to relieve some tension with small chat. ''What do you think of this, Kurotsuchi? Aren't you a bit tense, or scared for that matter?''

The tomboy turned to look at her friend with an excited grin. ''Scared? not a chance. This is the biggest mission I have ever gotten, and if we succeed we will deliver a fatal blow to Konoha. Besides, we have a large force of strong Shinobi with us. Even just you, me, and dad would be a force to be reckoned. With these many people here there is no way we can fail. And on top of that our targets are an old man and a single brat, how hard can it be to beat them with our forces?'' said the girl with the confidence she was known for.

Unknown to her, her father was listening to her from the shadows, as he walked away shaking his head

She is underestimating her enemies before the fight even took place in the first place, her Pride will be her demise... she is not fit to be a shinobi of her rank yet.

The girl gave an unconcerned huff. ''We'll be fine, you worry too much, Akatsuchi'' Said the girl as she finished strapping her sword to her waist.

Akatsuchi decided to drop the subject, knowing that he obviously wasn't convincing his friend about the dangers of the mission. He instead focused on something else that caught his attention. ''By the way Kurotsuchi, that's not your usual sword is it? I have never seen it before'' he said pointing at the sword on her hip. It looked like it had seen some use as the handle was worn out even if it still seemed solid.

Kurotsuchi put a gloved hand on the handle and took the weapon out of the scabbard. ''Oh this. Yeah, this was my mother's. I had it stored away. I didn't want to use it until I became Jounin and was skilled enough to honor her memory'' She explained while examining the blade with a tender look as the blade showed the reflection of her pink eyes.

Akatsuchi looked at her with a kind look, imagining how much the blade had to mean to the girl. ''Don't worry about a thing, you are a great Kunoichi. I'm sure you will have no problem honoring her memory''

Kurotsuchi put away the weapon and coughed in her hand, knowing that she probably showed more vulnerability than she intended. ''Well, that's enough of that. This is not the time to be getting mushy. Come on, we are just about to engage the Konoha bastards. We can't be down here when that happens'' She said as she started going up the stairs to the upper deck.

Akatsuchi went after her and soon joined everyone, with his worry returning at remembering the upcoming fight.

Taiga shivered in the cold air. He was getting tired of this weather. ''Old man, are you sure that the giant turtle was around here? It's cold as hell out here and I can't see a damn thing'' Said Taiga before sneezing loudly.

Old Konoha Shinobi was leaning on the railing, trying in vain to spot anything around them using the small telescope that he usually used to peep at girls with. ''You heard the man that lent us this ship. He said that he saw an immense island around these parts that seems to come and go as it pleases. If that's not an island on a turtle I don't know what else could explain that. Unless it's a haunted island or something''

*Badump

Taiga looked at the side...

"What's the matter?", asked Old Konoha Shinobi

"A Huge amount of Shinobis are coming here", replied Taiga

"Then let's get out of here... Use Flying Raijin, we can't fight with Kumo yet"

Taiga shook his head, "I can't, old man"

"What do you mean?"

"Something is wrong here, I can't remember a thing about the route or scenery that led us here"

!!!

Old Konoha Shinobi tried to remember himself, but failed... there really is something about this place

"Can you take care of them using Flying Raijin?"

"To use this technique I need to see things, to imagine where I wish to teleport in a split second, I can't see beyond 20 meters ahead of me, because of the mist, it will slow my reaction time, and in the end, the technique will fail"

The old man gave an exasperated sigh, ''Can you still defeat them?"

Taiga smirked, "Defeat?... this small army of there was never my match... You go and hide for a bit, you will be in my way otherwise"

"Very well... I will be nearby"

Taiga nodded

The Old shinobi jumped inside the water, creating a bubble around his head and swimming down at a fast speed.

Taiga now could see a silhouette through the mist. However it wasn't big enough to be what they were looking for, but it was still rather big, but that was probably because whatever it was, it was close. Soon the silhouette revealed itself to be a large ship, at least ten times the size of their own.

"Here they come"

He stared at it for a moment before they heard the ship's crew yell. ''Charge!'' ''Get this Konoha scum!'' suddenly a large squad of Iwa Shinobi started raiding Taiga

-Iwagakure no Sato-

Onoki was restless knowing the delicate mission that he had entrusted his son and granddaughter could put Iwa in a terrible position should it go awry. It made his nerves eat him from the inside, he didn't even care about his stacking paperwork for his mind was so clouded with worry over the success of such a delicate task. He only hoped that Kitsuchi's fears didn't come true.

Suddenly one of his Chunin entered through his door with urgency. ''Tsuchikage-Sama! There's an emergency, you should come immediately!'' the young man was so worked up that he didn't care to ask for permission to enter.

Onoki jumped in his chair at the intrusion. ''What's the meaning of this? You better have a good reason for barging into my office in such a manner,'' said Onoki, angry at the disrespect of his subordinate.

Even his leader's foul mood didn't deter the young man from his haste. ''It's Han and Roshi, sir! Something is wrong with the Jinchuuriki.''

The Tsuchikage got upset upon hearing that. ''What do you mean about that?'' demanded the diminutive man.

Onoki followed the Chunin to the roof, and he could, in fact, see a great amount of smoke coming from two different locations in the distance: Roshi and Han's cabins. ''They are battling, they wouldn't be using that much strength otherwise.'' Said the Tsuchikage in worry. For them to be fighting just when he had recalled their ANBU patrols had to mean that someone was waiting for the perfect moment to go for both of them at once, it couldn't be a coincidence; someone planned this.

''Call all the available Shinobi we have, we need to protect the Yonbi and Gobi! I'll be personally going to help Roshi, you and the rest help Han!'' said the Tsuchikage in a hurry to the young man.

Before the man could reply, Onoki noticed two small white clay spiders crawling on both sides of the Shinobi and widened his eyes, recognizing that particular Jutsu.

The small man floated away with his gravity Jutsu just as the small arachnids detonated on the Chunin he had just been talking to. The resulting explosion was big enough to blow a good part of the roof they were standing on, and the only sign that the young man had been there was a shower of blood and gore. Onoki looked with shock at what just a second ago had been one of his Shinobi.

''Long time no see, old man. Did you miss your old student, un?'' called a cloaked figure in the sky, riding what appeared to be a giant white dragon made of clay

If Onoki hadn't been angry before, now it was a certainty. ''Deidara. I knew it was you, I could recognize your Jutsu anywhere.'' The small man glared at his former pupil.

The blond man grinned mockingly at the old Kage. ''And here I thought that you would be happier to see me. I was in the neighborhood and decided to take a moment of my time to visit my old home. Everything's looking good over here, you have done a great job of keeping things in check. However, this place is missing my touch. But no matter, that's nothing a couple of C1 won't fix, un.''

Onoki leveled himself with his attacker using his gravity Jutsu and took a glance at the attire of his former student. ''That cloak... so You are a member of Akatsuki now?''

''A little slow on the update, old man. I have been a member for a while now, un.'' Said Deidara, careful to keep his distance. He knew better than anyone that you shouldn't underestimate Onoki.

The Tsuchikage knew about the Akatsuki, they were a mercenary group that always performed splendidly and practically never failed an assignment, and they were incredibly cheap to boot.

Onoki himself had used their services several times in the past, as he couldn't argue with the results they delivered. But being under attack by them made him feel like a fool for ever associating with the bastards. The undersized man crossed his arms over his chest and demanded answers from his former soldier. ''Stop fooling around! what do you and your accomplices hope to gain from this? Why are you targeting our Jinchuuriki?''

Deidara gave a dry laugh at Onoki's questions. ''Ha, like if I would tell you something like that. But enough chatter, weren't you going to help your precious Biju right now? Come on, don't mind me, you go ahead. Well, that is if you don't care to leave me here while I give Iwa a new makeover.'' Said the blond man while he started molding more explosive clay with the mouths in his hands.

The small Tsuchikage's eyes narrowed in barely contained rage at the actions of the man. ''I always hated your cowardly way of fighting, Deidara. But I never expected you to fall this low.''

''See how much I care. Try to keep up, old-timer, un.'' And so Deidara gave a sharp flip on his dragon and quickly started circling Iwagakure, all while dropping his bombs on civilians and ninja alike, their screams of terror and agony filling the air.

''I'll have your head for this, Deidara!'' Yelled a now vivid Ohnoki, and started giving chase to the mad bomber, maneuvering through mountains and buildings as the self-proclaimed artist continued to bomb the city. ''Take this, you fucking traitor! Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu! (Dust Release: Detachment Of The Primitive World Technique)'' a small conical light started forming between the old Kage's hands, before expanding in a straight and large beam of light going directly for the terrorist.

Deidara halted brusquely the advance of his giant clay dragon, barely dodging the beam. Relief washed over him at avoiding such a deadly Jutsu. As the Tsuchikage's former student, he knew that technique destroyed at a molecular level. If he was hit by that there was no chance of surviving. ''Damn, that was a close call. Way too close for comfort. I think I really pissed off the old man this time, un.'' he didn't plan to stick around for long anyway. He just needed to buy some time for Sasori, Kakuzu and Hidan so they could finish capturing the Yonbi and Gobi. Thanks to the missing patrols usually guarding the Bijus they were discovered only after they were halfway done with their fights, but they still needed just a small distraction to avoid any risk of anyone getting there in time to save the Jinchuuriki or give chase once they got them.

And that task had fallen onto Deidara, as he had the best mobility out of all of them, and was also the most slippery. He just needed to keep Ohnoki and the rest of Iwa busy for a short while. But at least as long as he stayed in the skies the rest of the Iwa ninja couldn't do anything but defend themselves from his explosives.

Onoki knew that Deidara was stalling for his comrades, but he couldn't leave Iwagakure unprotected to the assault of the crazy blond. If he had to choose to save his village or his Jinchuuriki, he would choose his village a thousand times over. ''You'll regret ever showing your face here again. The next one won't miss.''

Deidara clicked his tongue in worry, if he kept running away he would eventually be caught, so it was time to start defending himself. ''Don't think you can't take me on so easily, you old bat. Let's see how you like a taste of the greatness of my art, un.'' The large dragon turned around and went straight for the old Kage. The clay creature started spitting small birds made of clay that started homing on the small man. Deidara also started making exploding birds made of clay, and soon a large flock of the small creatures started swarming Ohnoki until he couldn't keep dodging for long and few of them managed to reach him. Deidara made a single hand seal and yelled ''Katsu!'' causing a large explosion.

However, instead of the charred remains of Iwa's beloved leader, what fell was a rain of small pebbles. ''a Rock Clone. Where did he go?'' while looking around for any sign of the Tsuchikage he caught sight of a bright light coming from down below. He widened his eyes and quickly did a barrel roll, but was just a bit too slow and the next Jinton beam obliterated the left side of his dragon, along with his arm.

The mad bomber started a free fall while yelling bloody murder due to his missing limb, but he quickly got his bearings and made a large bird of clay with his remaining arm holding on to it. He couldn't afford to get to the ground or he would get ganged upon by all the Iwa forces. ''screw this!

This is long enough, I'm getting out of here.'' Deidara started gaining altitude for his next and final Jutsu, pulling out a small clay statue that had an open mouth and wing-like arms wrapped around it. ''I'll make you pay for taking my arm, old man! or rather, your precious village will! I have a special gift just for you. My C3 will make a burning crater out of Iwa because art is an explosion!'' The Akatsuki member proceeded to drop the statue over the village, and as soon as he did, the statue became huge and extended its arms as it continued its free fall.

Onoki looked in horror at the large figure. Fearing for the safety of his people he used the Jinton once more and fired it at the statue, tearing a huge chunk of it. However, the rest of the statue detonated soon after and the inferno that enveloped the sky could be seen for kilometers.

Once the explosion died off, The old Tsuchikage took to the air once more to evaluate the damage done. He managed to trigger the explosion high enough that the radius of it damaged only the taller buildings, but still the shockwave was so strong that most of the surrounding structures got big parts of them blown off, and adding the rest of the C1 bombs Deidara had been using, there was virtually no building in Iwa that hadn't received some sort of damage. And speaking of the mad bomber, there were no signs of him anywhere, obviously, he used the last Jutsu as a distraction to cover his retreat.

Onoki's ire was palpable. He had been unable to protect his Jinchuuriki, his village, and his people. He continued to watch the damage done when one of his ANBU reached the roof of the building he was floating over. ''Tsuchikage-Sama, we suffered heavy casualties in the center and west side of the village, and we still don't know the status of the Jinchuuriki! Your orders sir?'' Asked the masked Shinobi, anxious for the answer of his leader.

''Gather all the able Shinobi you can find and look for wounded. Forget the Jinchuuriki, we must have lost them by now; attending the injuries of our people is more important at the moment.'' said the diminutive man in resigned anger, knowing that they lost and the enemy had gotten what they wanted. The hatred in the man's eyes could have chilled to the bone anyone that met his gaze. ''Akatsuki, I'll paint the streets red with the blood of your members, that I promise you.''

-Sea of The Land Of Lightning-

The ocean was littered with the remains of what used to be a fishing boat, and there was the occasional Iwa corpse here and there.

*Huff*Huff

Kitsuchi was on his knees huffing alongside all his comrades

Taiga was just standing there, from start to finish he injured nearly 100 shinobis without a single movement or a scratch, not to mention the boy refused to kill his men.

Kitsuchi was impressed. He knew of Taiga's strength, his father, Tsuchikage told him of this but he never had expected it would be such one-sided battle, he had never expected Taiga to be this strong.

''All of you, keep them on the defensive! I refused to believe he can't be beaten'' All his troops reorganized themselves and started preparing another round of attacks.

Kitsuchi eyes widened, he didn't give this order, he looked at the side to the one who gave this order, he gritted his teeth and muttered, "Kurotsuchi"

Taiga shook his head, what a stupidly proud woman she is... but the things going on at this rate, he might need to kill in order to live, he needs them to know the difference in their strength, and why not start with that stupidly proud woman.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon"

"Earth Style: Large Boulder"

"Lava Style: Magma Spew"

Countless, nearly 500 Shinobis attacked at the same time in all directions, he was sure to be doomed, any other shinobi would have died in this assault as well.

He kept standing there, with his arms folded, his eyes never even once left her, Kurotsuchi was her name, and she was stupidly proud like an Uchiha

"Void"

In an Instant, countless Pocket dimensions were created... and all the attacks got sucked in those Pocket Dimensions

!!!

!!!

!!!

The Countless attacks coming from all directions disappeared...

"What the..."

"What's going on?"

"My turn", he said as he brought his index finger and his middle finger together

*Snap

"Ame-no-Ukihashi"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON"

AAGHHHHHHHH

KHHH

The attacks got reflected...

Kurotsuchi was in awe at the raw power that the boy in front of her was showing, she hadn't expected the man to be this powerful. ''Everyone Calm down and retrieve back, form defensive measure"

"What are you saying dad, I can do this, I can---

"IDIOT", Kitsuchi Shouted

!!!

"Do you really wish to kill him so much that, you refuse to see the sufferings of your comrades?... Do you--

Taiga took a step forward

!!!

!!!

!!!

This was the first step he took since the start of the one-sided battle

"There are two types of speed in this world", Taiga started

"What", she alongside everyone was confused

"The first one is when...", he appeared near her in a red flash

!!!

"You hop around pursuing the pinnacle of momentum, rendering your opponent incapable to do any type of reaction"

She jumped back trying to keep the distance

Kitsuchi alongside everyone was running towards her, to save his sole daughter...

"The second type of speed... is when your level difference is so high that your opponent is unable to do a thing", he snapped his finger yet again

*Snap

"Space Release: Muti Void Walls"

!!!

Every person on the ship was immobilized, unable to move, as thin walls are making a sandwich of them.

He casually with his arms behind his back, walked towards her in a relaxed motion.

She tried to struggle and yet, she couldn't move

"YOU BEAST STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER... IF SHE HAS EVEN A SINGLE HAIR LOSE, I WILL KILL EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR", Kitsuchi kept yelling and yet Taiga ignored him

He just kept moving forward... with a smile on his face

Her eyes widened as she barred her teeth...

That's when Kurotsuchi knew she messed her first big mission a big time

He raised his hand

She closed her eyes

And he caressed her head...

!!!

"Next time, do not show such pride in a life and death battle, again"

She was shocked... this was her first big mission

And she met with her biggest enemy... Konoha's Second Generation of Flash... The Flash who took her mother from her, and yet, the one who inherited that Ruthless man Jutsu actually spared every single Iwa Shinobi in here... he is kind-hearted and she knows she should be grateful to him, but whenever she sees his face... all she could feel is the immense hatred towards Konoha.

And this is how the two eternal rivals met each other for the first time ever. And this is the story of how they fell in love with each other.