Naruto Shippuden - part 25

One week after Naruto's defection.

Tsunade sighed to herself as she leaned back in her chair and stared at the pile of paperwork in front of her. Not that the paperwork was really a problem since Naruto had told her about the shadow clone cheat on it, but she just didn't feel like doing it.

She had just recently finished Naruto's bingo book entry and in a few weeks or so, every shinobi in the Elemental Nations was likely to know him. He had already garnered something of a reputation before going missing-nin, but it was nothing compared to what he would have now. That was mostly because they had managed to keep the full breadth of his power and ability hidden since he hadn't gone on that many missions.

With that in mind, she had deliberately made his bingo book entry as imposing as possible, while revealing little in the way of relevant information. The skills revealed in it were mostly things that had already been known and the things that weren't known weren't going to help anyone if they knew about them. She was hoping that everyone would get the idea that he was simply too dangerous to be messed with.

She had been sorely tempted to note his marital status to the Kyuubi in there as well, but caution demanded that she keep that fact hidden as much as possible. It would hardly be the first time that a seemingly irrelevant piece of information led to disaster. Oh, she certainly expected that it would be impossible to keep a lid on the fact that Xanna was free indefinitely, but it was better than blurting it all out openly. Every civilian that lived in a hidden village knew that they weren't supposed to discuss such things with outsiders, but they were civilians in the end...it was bound to get out. His personal relationships were also kept secret for the most part, in an effort to prevent anyone from going after the people close to him.

Ever since her conversation with Xanna about Naruto's mental state, she hadn't been able to shake a sense of resentment towards the village and it was making her reluctant to even continue being Hokage. It was no wonder that Naruto wanted nothing to do with the hat if this was what she felt after learning just a part of what he had gone through. The idea of protecting Konoha with his life must have been laughable.

Tsunade had to wonder just what had happened to Konoha that it's people would be able to do something like that to a child. Oh sure, looking at just the actions of a single individual, it wouldn't be anything too bad, but taken as a whole it was terrible. Her grandfather would never have tolerated that kind of behavior. Despite the fact that the man had been one of the kindest and most generous people you could meet, he would have kicked anyone that did that kind of thing to a child half to death.

Not that it would have ever come to that under his watch. She thought to herself with bitter irony. Though he had died when she had been very young, she could still remember the way that the man had drawn people to him and inspired them to follow him. His charisma had truly been something to behold. No doubt he would have found a way to have Naruto respected and seen as a hero for protecting the village by containing the demon...False though the claim would have been, since Xanna apparently didn't care about Konoha one way or the other.

And that was the crux of it wasn't it...why the village was in such a sorry state compared to the time when the Shodai had ruled. Charisma...Except for the Shodai and Yondaime Hokage's, no other Hokage was particularly charismatic.

The Nidaime and Sandaime had been highly intelligent men, but they couldn't reach the hearts of people. Both had clutched at the shadow of the Shodai's vision and teachings, but couldn't truly measure up to the man as Hokage. They had been effective leaders, but not good ones. They would have made for extraordinary advisors, if only there had been a man or woman out there that could have been Hokage in their place. Senju Hashirama had been a man that had wanted peace for the world, while those who came after him only wanted prosperity for Konoha. It was staggering, how much that kind of thing had influenced and shaped the mindsets of those that called Konoha their home.

The Yondaime did have that charisma and vision, though perhaps not quite on the level of the Shodai. Either way, they wouldn't know since the man had died so young. It was even more tragic to learn that it had been entirely pointless. Though Tsunade had to admit that Xanna could definitely have handled it better than just stomping up to the village in the form of a giant fox. Seriously, what had she expected other than panic?

As for herself...well, she didn't delude herself into thinking that she was a terribly charismatic person. The near rebellion over Xanna being outed as the Kyuubi proved that quite well. If it hadn't been for Naruto directing all the attention to himself with his flashy exit, it was highly likely that she would have been either ousted or found herself in the middle of a civil war.

Either way, she hoped that she could find a successor that would be able to undo the hidden damage that decades of leadership under men who were willing to harm and steal from others in order to benefit Konoha had done. Tsunade would do what she could, but the task would no doubt take longer than she had left in this world, not to mention that she didn't really know where to begin.

Naruto would probably have had some idea though. She thought wistfully.

And there was once again the thought of how much she would have liked to make Naruto Rokudaime. Her fellow blond understood people in a way that she didn't, which was clearly obvious by how well prepared he had been to leave the village. He must have known more or less exactly what would have happened if the secret of Xanna's true nature were ever revealed. Given time, he might have been able to get the village back to it's former glory. Despite his well hidden mental issues, Naruto had a force of personality and will that very few could match.

Though he probably wouldn't have the patience to deal with any politicking and would no doubt have dealt with any delicate situations with the same crude methods that he often employed. The funny thing was that it usually worked for him.

Only now that things had settled down a bit was she able to fully appreciate how effectively he had gutted many of the problematic elements of the village. It had been a chaotic week, but it had been relatively simple without certain people causing her trouble all the time.

The Hyuuga were suddenly much easier to work with now that the main house wasn't constantly pushing for some kind of advantage.

There was no more Danzo to undermine her authority from the shadows. The issue of him using Mokuton and having that many implanted Sharingan brought to mind some very disturbing implications which she would need to get to the bottom of. There was no way that Danzo would have been able to harvest that many eyes unless he had known in advance that the Uchiha would be slaughtered.

The elders were sitting in retirement and couldn't keep irritating her with their aggressive and militant opinions. She really should have listened to Naruto and gotten rid of them years ago. It was remarkable how much less stressful the job was without them. There was absolutely no way that she was ever allowing those two to get involved in village affairs again.

As for the general shinobi population...they were humiliated. One man had run roughshod over the village and completely dismissed them as a threat. He had used their efforts at stopping him to amuse himself and then mocked them openly with that scary roar. Many hadn't even dared face him after that and those who did had been shown that Naruto was as far above them as the sky was above the earth. Just as Naruto had predicted, it had spurred many of them to train harder, though there were also a few that had apparently gone into bouts of self pity, which kind of pissed her off to be honest.

He really had pulled the whole thing off masterfully. The Hyuuga had been neutralised before he'd even started, The Nara couldn't do a damn thing with their shadows at night, the Yamanaka didn't dare use their techniques on him while he was sharing his body with the Kyuubi, he had far too much chakra to be bothered by the Aburame and the Akimichi would only cause more damage while inside the village. The Inuzuka were honestly the only ones that could have acted against him, but they had been rather conspicuously avoiding him, which was cleared up when she learned that Ayame had explained things to them and thus convinced them of the wisdom of avoiding combat with Naruto.

As for the civilians...They generally seemed to have convinced themselves that Naruto had been driven off. Idiots, they didn't have the slightest idea that the only reason that the streets weren't full of blood and corpses was because the demon they so hated and a ramen waitress had managed to counteract the worst of the damage done to Naruto. The truth would likely circulate to them as well soon enough, but whether they believed it or not was the real question. Civilians had trouble understanding that sometimes, a single shinobi could be more dangerous than an army of them.

Tsunade sighed again and raised a bottle of sake in salute."Here's to you, you crazy bastard. I hope you'll be happy with your demon wife and that you get a kick out of your bingo book entry."

She had to snort at the fact that in any other case, that would have been seriously insulting to the wife in question.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji felt like tearing his hair out in frustration.

The situation was simply maddening and he wasn't sure how much longer he could tolerate it. How did anyone do this without going mad? How the hell did the Hokage deal with all this paperwork?!

"Such a fierce scowl is unbecoming of you Neji-sama." The amused tone of voice was clashing horribly with the scolding words.

"How many times have I asked you not to call me that Hiashi-ojisan?" Neji asked in frustration. It felt good to be able to refer to his uncle in a more familiar manner, but the overly respectful way that the man was addressing him in return was really irritating.

"Many times no doubt, but it would be unbecoming of a humble advisor such as myself to refer to the head of my clan in any other way." Hiashi replied, much amused.

Not very long ago, Tenten had finished learning how to remove the Caged Bird Seal and then proceeded to remove it from every Hyuuga. The branch house had been elated, but didn't know how to move forward from there.

Hiashi had known that his days as a clan head were over the very moment that the seal was removed and swiftly renounced his position in order to prevent any lingering resentment towards the main house from destroying the fragile peace. Even though everything had been explained to the former branch house members, including his attempts to get rid of the seal, to them he had still been a reminder of their enslavement and that was not lightly forgotten.

After some discussion, Neji had been nominated as the next clan head due to his role in the removal of the cursed seal and his undeniable genius with the Hyuuga clan techniques(along with the fact that he was the most prominent member of the former branch house). This was a matter of great consternation for the young man. Apparently he had not foreseen this happening, since he knew nothing about leading a clan.

Hiashi had offered himself as an advisor, being the only one that actually knew anything about leading a clan. This had caused Neji even more consternation, because it took the wind out of his arguments as to why he couldn't be clan head.

"Yes, I'm sure that's why you're doing it." Neji muttered sourly.

Apparently now that he wasn't under so much stress all the time, Hiashi had discovered that he had a sense of humor. How...delightful...

Neji's dark muttering and frustration was put on hold when Hinata walked in...and she was carrying more paperwork.

"This just arrived for you Neji onii-sama." She said with a giggle at his despairing look.

"Not you too Hinata-chan! What happened to nii-san?" Neji protested.

"He moved upwards in the world." She said and gave another demure giggle behind the sleeve of the casual kimono she was wearing.

Neji's head thunked onto the desk in despair. Was this some kind of revenge from fate for defying it?

The fates were cruel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uzumaki Naruto

Gender: Male

Birth date: October 10

Age: 21

Height: 201 cm(6'7'')

Weight: 110 kg

Family:

Uzumaki Kushina (Mother, Deceased)

Namikaze Minato(Father, Deceased)

Jiraiya of the Sannin(Godfather)

Clan: Uzumaki Clan

Classification:

Missing-nin

Kyuubi Jinchuuriki(Full Synchronisation)*

Sage

Fuinjutsu Master

SS-rank

Affiliation:

Konohagakure(Former)

Myobokuzan(Former)

Academy graduation age: 17

Chunin promotion age: 21

Rank upon defection: Chunin (Primary candidate for Rokudaime Hokage)**

Bloodline: Uzumaki Dense Chakra(Extreme level), Uzumaki Strong Body(Extreme level)

Nature Type:

Wind Release

Water Release

Yin Release(Speculated)

Yang Release

Yin-Yang Release(Speculated)

Known Techniques:

Shadow Clone

Rasengan

Hiraishin

Needle Hell

Needle Jizō

Eigth Gates

Uzumaki Secret Art: Chakra Chains

Uzumaki Secret Art: Body of Iron

Water Release. Armor of Water

Water Release: Water Encampment Wall

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

Red Yang Barrier

Tailed Beast Bomb(Speculated)

Various Fuinjutsu

(Note that Uzumaki Naruto has proven to be highly secretive of his techniques and is known for experimenting to find new ways of using them. Expect his most dangerous ones to still be unknown. )

Tools:

Space-Time gloves

Unique Traits:

Superhuman Durability

Superhuman Strength (Can be enhanced further with Fuinjutsu)

Superhuman Chakra Capacity

Advanced Healing Factor (Suspected ability to Regenerate lost body parts)

Superior Sense of Smell

* Though only observed using the Kyuubi's chakra once, Uzumaki Naruto showed no strain from using it. No obvious weaknesses have been observed in this state.

**Prior to his defection, Uzumaki was considered to be the most desired candidate to succeed Senju Tsunade as Hokage, though he himself did not wish the position.

Cause of defection:

Massacre of the Hyuuga main house.

Murder of Shimura Danzo of Konoha.

Murder of Konoha civilian councilor Akiyama.

Personality:

For the most part, Uzumaki Naruto is a laid back individual with an eccentric sense of humor that is unlikely to act aggressively unless provoked. If he is provoked, he will not hesitate to make use of lethal force and is unlikely to give second chances. Attacking him directly will in most cases only amuse him if the opponent is not on his level, but attacking anyone that he has taken a liking to will result in brutal retaliation.

He has been noted to have a soft spot for children(girls especially) and women. This is likely due to the fact that he is a pervert of the highest order. Any kunoichi attempting to attack him should expect anything from dirty jokes to mild molestation.(aside from the usual dangers of injury and death). Additionally, while he despises rapists and will instantly kill any he comes across, he sometimes refers to rough sex as rape in order to provoke an emotional response.

Addendum: Kunoichi attempting to seduce him in order to impregnate themselves with his children should note that he has rendered himself temporarily sterile through the use of Fuinjutsu. He is the only one capable of deactivating the sterility seal.

Combat Ability: EXTREME

He has shown the capability of fighting against multiple S-rank opponents at the same time on even footing without resorting to the Kyuubi's chakra. In the only known instance of using the Kyuubi's chakra, he was completely untouchable.

Recommended course of action if encountered: Walk away calmly, if you run he might decide to chase you for fun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One month after Naruto's defection.

Kumogakure

"Whoa, mister nine sounds like a badass, but I wonder if he has any class?" Killer Bee rapped, having read the bingo book entry over A's shoulder.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Bee?" A demanded. "Actually, never mind. I don't want to know. What I do want to know is if we could get him to join Kumo now that he's defected from Konoha."

"It would be mighty fine to have mister nine, but what if he steps outta' line?"

A recalled the times when he had clashed with Namikaze Minato, also an SS-rank shinobi. He hadn't been able to even touch the man because he was so fast. The man's son didn't sound like a speed demon though. If anything, he was a power oriented fighter, considering his size and weight. Then again, A himself didn't look very fast either and he was the fastest man alive.

A grimaced at the thought of what fighting him would be like. Kind of like fighting his own father, but with the addition of super fast healing. That would really suck.

And all this wasn't even taking into account the fact that he was apparently fully in control of the Kyuubi's power. The demon fox was a mysterious entity even compared to the other Bijuu, rarely seen and never before sealed. There was no telling what kind of powers Uzumaki could bring forth with the greatest of the tailed beasts fully under his control.

A looked at the picture next to the information and wondered if the man's feral appearance was a result of being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki or something else entirely. Bee didn't look any different, despite having the Hachibi sealed in him after all, so A suspected that it was more likely the result of being a sage. There was very little information on Senjutsu available to Kumo unfortunately, so all he had was guesswork.

His personality profile insinuated that there was no danger in simply asking him if he wanted to come to Kumo, but immense danger in trying to take him by force. It was also implied that his sudden killing spree in Konoha had been caused by some kind of provocation. A had no idea what that provocation might have been, but it had either been severe, or the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had no sense of restraint.

"That won't be a problem if we just want a meeting, as long as neither side does anything aggressive. We can decide if we even want him in Kumo after talking to him." A decided. It was more diplomatic than his usual methods, but it wouldn't do Kumo any good to make an enemy out of someone that powerful.

A had to admit that he had been tempted to send a kunoichi to seduce him when he had read that the man was a pervert, but that was quickly forestalled when he had read the addendum. The idea itself still had some merit as an incentive to get the man to join Kumo, but it was unlikely to work. To get that powerful, you needed something to drive you and driven men weren't swayed that easily by a pretty face and easily parted legs, even if they were perverts.

Of course there was also the option of attempting to just take the Kyuubi, but A wasn't confident enough in the sealing abilities of Kumogakure to attempt that one. It had been attempted only once in the past and it had been a disaster. Rumor had it that the crazy Yondaime Hokage had needed to summon the freaking death god of all things in order for the sealing to properly hold the great demon.

"That sounds cool, but how are we gonna get a meeting with this fool?" Bee asked in rap format.

That was a good question. They had no idea where the man was.

"We'll just have to keep our eyes open in case any of our shinobi come across him. I'll have a team with a kunoichi on it on rotating stand by at all times to act as messengers." A answered.

"That's pretty slick, tryin' to get him to think with his dick, but if the ladies get wind of this they'll think you're a prick." Bee rapped with a grin.

"Goddamnit Bee, cut it out with the rap already!" A yelled, losing patience with his tone deaf brother.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunagakure

Gaara put down the bingo book, deep in thought.

Being one of those who actually knew of Naruto's close relationship to his Bijuu, he had an inkling that 'full synchronisation' didn't quite mean what everyone else was going to think it meant.

The young Kazekage was also quite sure that Naruto would not have killed all those people without a good reason. He couldn't claim to know the blond all that well, but he felt that he knew him well enough to assume that.

In any case, Gaara had no intention of reacting to this event. If Naruto wished it, then there was a place for him in Sunagakure. He didn't think that the blond powerhouse was going to come around, but he would be welcomed as a friend on the off chance that he did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kirigakure

"So Uzumaki went rogue did he? I gotta say I wasn't expecting that, he didn't seem like the type." Zabuza said after they had finished reading the newest bingo book entry.

"Ah yes, that's right. You did mention that you've met him before haven't you?" Terumi Mei commented idly, running a finger over the photograph in the bingo book. This Uzumaki Naruto was quite the interesting sounding man and she would have liked to meet him.

"Yeah, not long before I returned to Kiri, though he didn't look like this at the time." Zabuza confirmed.

"What do you mean?" Ao asked curiously.

"Well, his eyes were blue and he didn't have claws. He didn't have those black marks on his face either." Zabuza explained.

"What about his teeth?" Mei questioned.

"Those he did have, though I have no idea why. Probably something to do with the Kyuubi." Zabuza answered with a shrug. He'd been wondering about those teeth himself and it finally made sense when his Jinchuuriki status had been revealed.

"Perhaps he left Konoha because he wanted a...younger Kage." Mei purred to herself, not really expecting an answer.

"I don't think age has anything to do with it Mizukage-sama." Ao said with a sweatdrop.

Mei's eyebrow twitched slightly as her selective hearing kicked in. Age...old? Old Mizukage?

"I'm with Ao on this one. He seemed like a womanizer even then and the little bit of intel we've had on him only supported this. He supposedly goes after every pair of breasts he sees and then drops them just as fast." Zabuza added, annoying Ao slightly with his crudeness.

Mei twitched again. Breasts...drop? Drop...sag? Sagging breasts?

"Besides, we don't have even the slightest idea of where Uzumaki might be, so we can't even offer to let him join Kiri." Ao continued.

By now, Mei was shaking with suppressed anger. Old Mizukage with sagging breasts has nothing to offer Uzumaki?!

"Ao, Zabuza..." She said in a deathly half-whisper, instantly catching both men's attention. "shut up, or I'll kill you."

Both men looked at each other in baffled frustration. What the hell had they said?!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Iwagakure

"Hah! So the monster son of the monster father has betrayed Konoha." Onoki crowed gleefully.

He had been quite infuriated to learn that Namikaze Minato had a son, but hadn't been able to really do much about it. By the time he had learned of it, Jiraiya had taken him out of Konoha and vanished for three years.

It kind of pissed him off to know that the son was also an SS-rank shinobi now and at such a young age to boot, but the fact that he had defected from Konoha made up for it.

"Should we send assassins after him gramps?" Kurotsuchi asked with a smirk.

"No, don't be ridiculous. Anyone other than me wouldn't stand a chance against someone like him." Onoki refuted.

Onoki was old enough to have at least heard of the prowess of sages. That alone was not something you messed with lightly, never mind everything else listed in the bingo book. While Onoki didn't believe that this brat had the same skill with the Hiraishin as his father, there were plenty of other things to make him pause, him being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki being at the top of that list.

"You getting scared in your old age gramps? Konoha is probably just exaggerating his strength to make themselves look better." Kurotsuchi argued stubbornly.

"I doubt it, besides even if they did do that, there's no benefit for Iwa if we go picking a fight with a powerful missing-nin." The old Tsuchikage countered.

Kurotsuchi was silent for a moment as she considered that. It was a valid point, she had to agree.

"How about getting him to join Iwa then?" She asked, smirking again.

Onoki nearly choked on his own spit at the suggestion, having never even considered it. A quick consideration of the idea later and he discarded it. The sudden defection was just a bit too fishy to be trusted. For all he knew, it was part of some kind of ploy/coverup to infiltrate another hidden village and wipe it out from within with the Kyuubi's power. Seriously, who had ever heard of a Jinchuuriki defecting?

The thing with Kirigakure and the Rokubi Jinchuuriki didn't count, because that had been during a civil war.

"It's too risky. Even if he doesn't have any nefarious plans, he can't be trusted. We have no idea what kind of goals a man like that has." The tiny old man declared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sighed contently as he ran his hand gently over his sleeping wife's naked rear end. They were currently lazing about in a hammock, one of the only items that they had left their hidden sanctuary for, but even that was just a quick Hiraishin teleportation to a town and then back.

Naruto hadn't been sure what to expect out of the hunting grounds of the wolf tribe, but he was most impressed.

It was a vast valley that could only be reached through a well hidden maze of cave systems. The valley still bore the scars of Xanna's rage, but it had healed over well. According to her, after she had been done with it, the valley had been a burned and cratered hellscape, but now it was a natural paradise once again.

Most of the craters had become filled in, either with water to form circular lakes or with earth and vegetation. Even animals had eventually found their way back to it, once more making it vibrant with life. There was more natural energy here than was normal for the world, though not as much as Myobokuzan. He hadn't absorbed it though, seeing no need for that considering that he could now measure his life span in centuries. He didn't want to take all the excess natural energy in the world after all.

It had been two months since they had come here and it was the most relaxing two months that Naruto could ever remember. Neither one of them bothered wearing clothes anymore and spent their days making love, swimming, sleeping or any number of other things. Xanna was also teaching him that chakra skating trick at his request, but it was turning out to be a lot harder than it looked.

Not that Naruto had completely stopped training, because he really hadn't, he was just taking it easy in comparison to how he had trained before, he had all the time in the world after all. He kept up the resistance seals, because there was no way in hell that he was letting himself lose any muscle tone. He had worked too hard to bring his body to the peak of physical perfection to allow it to deteriorate.

He had also managed to bring down the time he needed to lock onto a Hiraishin beacon considerably, instead of nearly a minute it was reduced to about ten seconds. Still not enough to make it truly combat worthy, but worlds better than before.

One other project he had been working on had nothing at all to do with getting stronger and that was to create a true water bed. Condensing water and increasing it's surface tension enough that it would be able to support their weight and then using Fuinjutsu to keep it that way was tricky but he felt that he was close to finished. It should be fun to be able to sleep on a bed of water. That line of research no doubt also had combat applications, but he'd try that out later.

His research into finding a way to become truly immortal hadn't made any progress, but that was alright for the moment. He had an indefinite amount of time to figure it out as long as he didn't die in battle, which was looking ever more unlikely. Aside from the fact that nobody could find them, there was also nobody strong enough in the world to match their combined power. He knew that Xanna wouldn't just watch if he was ever threatened now. He belonged to her and if anyone wanted to take him away, they would need to be strong enough to get past her first. He felt the exact same way and would see anyone that tried to seal her dead at the end of his claws.

The small piece of her chakra that she had entrusted to him way laying dormant in a sectioned off part of the Reaper Death Seal so that it wouldn't interfere with his ability to place natural energy in there. It served as a constant reminder of their bond and worked far better than a wedding band and he often reached out to touch it, finding the feel of her chakra in the seal to be very reassuring.

"Good morning." Xanna murmured, not raising her head from it's place on his chest. It was too comfortable.

"Morning." Naruto replied and continued his fondling of her posterior.

Neither one made any move to get up, despite being fully awake. They would get up when they felt like it and no sooner. They would eventually leave this place, but for now, both were content to simply laze around and enjoy each other without anyone getting in the way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zetsu simply could not believe how lucky he was.

Considering how much trouble Uzumaki had caused for Madara's plan, this sudden strike of good fortune was almost too good to be true.

The Sanbi and Nanabi had been sealed, leaving only the Hachibi and the Kyuubi. Remarkably, it had turned out that having the Sanbi unsealed and napping on the bottom of the ocean was actually a good thing in the end. If that idiot Obito had still been alive, Zetsu might actually have been tempted to be slightly nicer to him.

Before his death, Madara had theorised that it would be possible to use the Rinnegan's Outer Path to summon the Bijuu if the Rinnegan bearer was connected to the Gedō Mazō. Madara had been far too old to attempt it though and had instead settled for his original plan of extracting the Bijuu from their Jinchuuriki. It was deemed to be safer that way, instead of summoning a completely unrestrained Bijuu.

Left with no other choice but to try it, despite Madara's wariness about it, Black Zetsu had convinced Nagato to allow him to merge with him and then connect him to the Gedō Mazō.

They had been prepared to do battle with an enraged Bijuu, but it had turned out to be remarkably simple in the end.

Being made entirely of chakra, the Sanbi had been unable to do any harm to the Preta Path and it was highly vulnerable to the Outer Path black chakra rods. Apparently sensing the close proximity of a piece of its lost power, the Gedō Mazō had impaled the Sanbi with its Outer Path chains and swiftly devoured it. The only danger had been getting Nagato's crippled body out of the way fast enough. Fortunately there was a slight delay in the summoning, so it could be done.

The remaining three members of Akatsuki had been rather shocked at how simple it had been. They might have been done sealing the Bijuu already and the world could have been sleeping peacefully in the Eternal Tsukuyomi if Zetsu had known it would be this simple to stuff an unsealed Bijuu into the Gedō Mazō. Or maybe not, considering the fact that every Bijuu aside from the Kyuubi had been sealed in something or other for over a hundred years.

Well, it didn't matter in the end, because the plan was close to completion in either case. Especially since they had learned that the Kyuubi was in fact free.

Pain had been incredibly frustrated to learn that Naruto had gone rogue. This was because he had just about been prepared to launch his assault on Konoha, only to find out that his quarry was no longer there.

Zetsu had gone to discreetly spy on the village, hoping to find out if they might know where he was, but had found out something far more valuable. The man had gone rogue because he was apparently in a relationship with the Kyuubi! Absurdity of the situation aside, Zetsu knew that the Kyuubi was sentient, unlike the other Bijuu, so he didn't disregard the information.

It rankled him that it had taken so long to find this out, especially as he had managed to overhear that it had been free for years now. They could have long since sealed the demon already and Uzumaki wouldn't even have been a factor.

That was unimportant however, what was important was the fact that the mightiest of the Bijuu was free, which meant that it could be summoned and sealed easily. After that, it would be time to betray Nagato and Konan in order to revive Madara.

Technically, it might be possible to revive his creator right away, but he didn't want to risk it. It would take truly insane amounts of Chakra to bring back someone that was long dead, not to mention Madara's body was pretty badly decayed, which was another thing that would suck up tons of chakra to reverse.

If Zetsu forced Nagato to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life now and it failed to properly revive Madara, then Nagato would die for nothing and the plan would be set back even further.

Either way, it was time to do this and hope for the best. He was already merged with Nagato and linked to the Gedō Mazō by way of the Mokuton. The Six Paths of Pain were prepared to subdue the Kyuubi, each holding two chakra rods created through the Outer Path, with more stacked nearby, while Konan was ready to move Nagato out of the way. With the element of surprise on their side, they should be able to defeat the mighty demon before it could bring it's power to bear.

Judging by what he knew of Uzumaki, they could expect retaliation from him, but since he wouldn't know where they were, it would be entirely useless.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kyuubi(Summoning Technique: Nine Tails)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Xanna's head suddenly jerked up and she went wide eyed with shock. Before Naruto could ask what was wrong, she suddenly vanished in a poof of smoke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having a naked redhead appear when you were expecting a giant nine-tailed fox was something of a shocking development, but all the shinobi present were far too experienced to be off balanced by it for very long and immediately attacked.

Xanna too was not the type to let surprise stop her from reacting and instantly launched herself at the closest enemy, only truly registering that they were wearing Akatsuki cloaks.

Unfortunately, that closest enemy was the Preta Path and her hand dematerialised as her chakra was drained by its ability. Only after this happened did she notice the six pairs of Rinnegan eyes in the room. This was a sight that caused her to freeze in shock. The Rinnegan was supposed to be lost! She couldn't understand how there could be even one person with it, much less six at once.

The moment of distraction was more than enough for everyone else in the room to throw the chakra rods at her. Most were dodged, but three of them hit her, causing her to lose control of her human form.

With a loud roar she transformed into her giant fox form for the first time in decades. The vibrations from her roar were strong enough to deflect the chakra rods out of the air and she instantly went back into the attack, hoping to overwhelm her enemies.

She avoided the bulky one with slicked back orange hair, correctly deducing that he had a chakra absorbing ability of some kind that would render all of her attacks against him useless, because even her physical attacks were nothing but chakra given form and momentum.

If she had the time for it, she would have lamented the fact that she had only a basic understanding of the Rinnegan's powers. The old sage had not seen any reason to go into depth when explaining the powers granted by those eyes, believing that it would be forever lost to the world along with him.

Her massive paw descended on another Rinnegan wielder with speed incongruous for something so big and smashed the man with long orange hair into the ground.

While she had done this however, more chakra rods were thrown at her, causing further destabilisation of her chakra. The Preta Path was also taking the opportunity to weaken her further by draining her power with impunity.

The Naraka Path took the opportunity to summon the King of Hell and revive the destroyed Human Path.

Xanna took advantage of her already unstable chakra and dissolved her body in the places where the chakra rods had struck her, causing the black poles to clatter to the ground. Immediately afterwards, she shot a laser like beam of crimson chakra from her mouth towards the giant head surrounded by purple fire, hoping to destroy whatever that thing was, along with the two Rinnegan wielders around it.

Her attack was blocked by an invisible shield of gravitational force generated by the Deva Path, causing the beam to curve around them and smash into the wall.

Seeing that her attack hadn't worked and wanting to get away from the annoying pest that was persistently draining her chakra, Xanna jumped backwards and fired another beam into the ground in front of the chakra drainer, blasting him backwards in the explosion.

Now that she had some breathing space, she started charging up a Bijuudama, fully intending to fire it directly under her feet and blast everything in the surrounding area to dust. The chakra drainer might well have been capable of absorbing even something as powerful as a Tailed Beast Bomb, but the resulting explosion would have absolutely nothing to do with chakra.

Her plans were interrupted by a Rinnegan technique that she was familiar with.

"Shinra Tensei(Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

The powerful gravitational push had her skidding backwards even further, her balance only kept due to the fact that she was now a quadruped.

Seeing that any big attacks were likely going to be continuously interrupted, she turned her head upwards, fully intending to collapse the large cave they were in.

The purplishly glowing chains that pierced through her chest from behind put an end to that plan as she suddenly felt weaker than she had ever felt before and even more alarmingly, her chakra was being drained far faster than what the Rinnegan wielder had been capable of.

Taking a look behind her, she saw a massive, dried up looking creature with nine eyes. The chains were extending from its mouth and her chakra was clearly being eaten by this thing.

Unable to fight back any further Xanna instead focused her attention on preventing her chakra from being stolen any more than it had been already. It was impossible, the creature had a powerful hold of it and the best she managed was to slow it down.

Next to the statue was a crippled and sickly looking man with red hair and Rinnegan eyes. He had multiple chakra rods stabbed into his back and half of his face was completely black. Next to him stood a woman with blue hair.

"Success, we have captured the Kyuubi and soon it will be sealed into the Gedō Mazō. Only the Hachibi remains before a time of peace can begin." The red haired man spoke portentously.

Xanna narrowed her eyes at the words, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened and was still happening.

Now that the chaos of battle was over, she could clearly sense the virtually infinite life force of the thing they were calling the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, as well as its hunger. In addition, she could also sense the chakra of her siblings in there, though it was all mashed together without any distinction between individual Bijuu. Of what remained of their minds, she could sense nothing. Instinctively, she knew that this creature would destroy her if all of her chakra was pulled into it.

With a sinking feeling, Xanna realised that this had to be the physical shell of the Shinju. When the old sage had explained their origins to the newly created Bijuu, he had made no mention of any such thing, but over time Xanna had speculated that it had to exist somewhere, or else all the minor demons plaguing the land wouldn't have been able to exist.

Another realisation that suddenly struck her was the fact that neither she nor Naruto had ever asked themselves just what exactly Akatsuki was sealing the Bijuu into. Neither one of them had really considered the organisation to be anything more than a bunch of idiots playing with fire and had simply assumed that they were sealing them into objects or something.

For the first time in countless ages, she was truly afraid. There had occasionally been periods in her life when she had wished for an end, but this was not one of them. In fact, she had never wanted to live more than she did now. The thought of what her death would do to Naruto did not make her feel any better.

She been too quick to think herself invulnerable.

Her careless dismissal of Akatsuki as a threat had been picked up by Naruto, who had followed her lead and instead treated them as an amusing diversion and a source of ideas for possible immortality.

For thousands of years, there had been no threat to her existence and that feeling of invulnerability had never left her. Despite Jashin's briefly successful attempt at stealing her power and her being sealed for the first time, she had still thought herself to be above anything that the world could throw at her.

They could have wiped these fools out long ago if only they'd taken them seriously, but now she was trapped in a really dangerous position and would need to rely on Naruto to save her. The thought of it was a serious blow to her pride, but that really wasn't important right now. She wanted to keep enjoying her new life with Naruto, not end up as lunch for this dried up carcass of a god.

Though, to be fair...the reemergence of the Rinnegan was not something that she had ever expected to happen.

It was an unfortunate fact that they had prepared themselves well for combating her. The chakra drainer was immune to any direct attacks from her and the black rods weakened her severely. They had also summoned her into a cave, which while more than large enough to hold both her and the statue, was still an enclosed space that prevented escape. All of that had however been just a diversion for the Gedō Mazō until it had started feeding on her chakra. The feeling was very similar to what Jashin had attempted, but far more powerful.

The crippled Rinnegan bearer would find Naruto to be too strong for him, she was sure of it. This was especially true as she had already deduced the secret behind there being seven Rinnegan wielders, it hadn't been too hard to figure out once she realised that there was absolutely no life in six of them. The cripple was feeding his chakra into the others through those black rods, animating their corpses with it and channeling his power to them. It was a clever workaround for his disability, but it was ultimately just a crutch. Naruto might in principle be a great deal weaker than her, but he did not have her particular weaknesses either. Being made up completely of chakra prevented any true physical harm from being done to her, but it also rendered her weak against things that worked directly against chakra, such as Fuinjutsu and many of the Rinnegan's abilities.

That being said, she was still sure that she would have come out on top in this battle if it hadn't been for the Gedō Mazō.

She could only hope that her and Naruto's arrogance in presuming themselves untouchable would not end with her spirit destroyed inside the Gedō Mazō and her chakra once more made as nothing more than a piece of the One Eyed God.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was already dressed and focusing on the mental connection to his wife, trying to find out what was going on. He could clearly sense that she was in battle and that something had shaken her badly.

Soon after, he knew that the battle was over and judging by the fear he was sensing, it had not ended in Xanna's favor.

Xanna, what's going on?! He asked urgently.

There is a Rinnegan wielder here! He is in possession of the Juubi's physical body and is intending to seal me into it! Find me! I do not know how long I can resist its pull and if it succeeds, I will be destroyed! Was the answer and it caused his blood to freeze with fear.

A second later, a vague sense of which direction he needed to go manifested in his mind and he wasted no time in locking onto the closest Hiraishin beacon and teleported to it. It was still much too far for his tastes, but it would have to do.

As he ran, Xanna described the fight to him and told him everything that she knew of the Rinnegan to give him an advantage. It wasn't as much as he would have liked to know(mostly just the names of the Paths and what she had been able to observe of their abilities during her short battle), but it did contain the most crucial bit of knowledge...the fact that the real Pain was merely controlling the others like puppets. It was good to have that information, because he might otherwise have lost far too much time in figuring out that six of those bodies were just puppets.

The information on the chakra drainer, which Xanna had by now identified as the Preta Path body was especially important, because he doubted it could absorb Senjutsu chakra without actually being a sage.

With this in mind, he stopped his run and went still to absorb some natural energy for the battle, having not filled up the seal in the past two months.

Unfortunately, Naruto was not even close to being in a calm state of mind right now. He was frantic with worry and boiling with rage, making it impossible to properly achieve the state of stillness required for the natural energy to enter his chakra network.

I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT! He roared in his own mind, frustrated beyond measure at the delay. With every second he wasted, Xanna was closer to being taken from him forever and he wasn't in the mood to play this stupid game just because the natural energy didn't want anything to do with him while he was in this state of mind.

So, instead of calming down and waiting for it to enter his coils, he wielded his powerful life force like a weapon, using it to pull on the environment and forcibly rip the natural energy around him out of it. The world twisted in a way that only one deeply attuned to it would be able to sense, but Naruto wasn't paying attention to that right now, nor did he care. Instead, he brutally forced the natural energy he had taken into submission and locked it away.

Now in Sage Mode, he continued his run towards the place where his wife was guiding him. The aggressive, predatory nature of his Senjutsu only made his rage burn hotter and darker.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why is it taking so long? The Sanbi was sealed into the Gedō Mazō almost instantly." Konan asked in her standard monotone, no sign of her confusion showing.

Zetsu had already left Pain's body, seeing no further need for the possession at this particular moment. He would possess him again and revive Madara soon. Only the black half of him was present at the moment, due to White Zetsu having been sent to the Mountains' Graveyard, where Madara's body was.

Before either Zetsu or Pain could offer up any theories, Xanna decided to speak up.

"You are fools if you think me to be the same as my mindless siblings." Though the facial expression was a bit hard to decipher in her fox body, the disdainful sneer in the voice was clear.

"You can speak?" Pain asked, slight surprise making its way through his usual portentous monotone. Though he had to admit in the privacy of his own mind that he should have expected it after seeing her transformed into a human woman.

"Of course I can speak you worthless cripple. I see that despite having those eyes, you are just as idiotic as the rest of your species." She snarled in answer, the deep and booming voice of her fox form making her sound like a male.

"It does not matter, you are a necessary sacrifice so that the world can have peace through understanding of pain." Pain droned, disregarding the knowledge of the Kyuubi being sentient as irrelevant.

"You are a fool and you will never know how it ends. By attempting to harm me, you have invited the wrath of my husband and you will find him lacking the weaknesses that allowed you to defeat me." Xanna replied scathingly, the rapidly approaching presence of Naruto serving to calm her fear slightly.

"You speak of your Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto? He too will fall before the power of god. None can stand in the way of Pain."

Xanna snorted derisively in response. "If you are a god then what is he? Think on that as he tears you apart."

After that she went silent and instead focused on the niggling strangeness she could sense in those Rinnegan eyes. There was a sense of familiarity in them that she couldn't place. At first she had thought that it was something that reminded her of the Sage of Six Paths, but she had already discarded that idea.