The Brutal Riposte (Part 3)

'Son of a bitch! All of my seals in the village are inactive.' Kaname swore, standing on top of the Hokage's Mountain and looked upon the Konoha. Her place of birth was being flooded with indistinguishable white clones. The smoke rising from Konoha's all three main gates was a clear indication of a big-scale attack. Her eyes instantly turned towards an enormous toad repelling the enemies close by her mom's house.

"!"

"Kaname-san?" a house-sized red butterfly poofed into existence beneath her feet.

"Matsu-kun, quickly, fly me near Gamabunta."

"As you..." her summon jumped down the ledge, "...wish!". They soared above the buildings in mind-boggling speed.

From afar, she noticed Jiraiya at the barrier's border, fighting off a literal army. Multiple wall breaches of her mother's house and several white silhouettes in the garden didn't bode well for what she would find inside, "Help Jiraiya and Gamabunta."

"What about you?"

Without replying, Kaname jumped off her summon's back. Knees first, she crushed through the roof tiles. The kunoichi landed on top of one of the clones, instantly killing it.

"Ka-?!" White Zetsu wasn't able to finish crying out her name before Kaname decapitated him.

"Huh? Hami-chan?"

"*Woof*!" The ninken greeted her by waving her enormous tail.

"Where are they?"

"*Crunch*" the giant border collie mashed two heads between her teeth and pointed her nose towards the bedroom.

"Good girl, make them pay."

"*Woof*!"

Kaname bolted into the room.

"Mommy!" Two torpedoes instantly slammed into her.

"Took you some time, my Little Butterfly." The blind woman walked towards the commotion.

"I'm sorry, are you all okay?" She hugged her children. "Blood!?" Kaname noticed a patch of red smears on Haru's back.

"No, no my, mommy."

"Not yours?" Haru turned his head towards his grandmother.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Yeah, one of those idiots sneaked in and tried to kidnap my grandchildren. He thought that a blind old woman must have lost her bite. Now he knows better!" The old woman groaned, "Hmph, I may be retired, but I'm still a shinobi!"

"Hehe, granny cool! She jump out of nowhere and bam!" The young girl described, wildly gesticulating with her hands.

"As if I would let a bad man touch you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, mom."

"You don't have to be. Where is my son-in-law? I requested a new grandchild to pamper before he left."

"Mom..."

"Ah? A baby bro?! Heard that Haru?!"

"Take it easy, Kushi-chan. It's only your grandma's wish, nothing more." Kaname stroked her daughter's head.

"Ugh... But I wanna one!"

"Heh, heard that, Little Butterfly?" Sachi smirked in victory.

"... I don't know where Utakata is, I don't even know where to begin looking for him. As I feared, the seal I put on him disappeared the moment as those in here." Kaname replied sadly.

"So he needs your help. Go, find my son-in-law, please."

"Utakata has several tricks up his sleeve. I have to weed the Konoha out first. I can't let anything happen to any of you."

"Haaa... As always, you're taking everything onto your back, Little Butterfly."

"Someone has to, mom." She leaned towards her children, "Stay with grandma, okay? Mommy has to punish some baddies and find your papa."

"... Beautiful. Ugh, I'm sorry." Haru whispered, looking into her eyes.

"Hmm?" she hummed in question.

"Your eyes, mommy. So cool!" Kushina seconded her brother.

"Ah! I'm sorry, it seems that my Mangekyō Sharingan activated unwillingly. I wanted to wait for you two to be a little older. You aren't scared?"

"You not angered at us, mommy." Her son stated.

"Mommy is mommy! Red eyes, more cool mommy!"

"Pft... Hahaha! And I was worried about showing the Sharingan off to the two of you." She hugged the siblings.

"We will wait for you and Utakata-kun. Go kick some ass, Little Butterfly."

"Mom! Language!"

"Hehe... Kick ass!" Kushina repeated.

Kaname sighed, "... It's on you. Be right back." Pulling out her trusty sword, Kaname bolted down the corridor. She passed Hamimaru, the ninknen was playing around with a white clone in her maw. Reaching the garden, the woman noticed Jiraiya still fighting on top of a small hillock of corpses.

'I should finish this quickly... Utakata can hold off a pair of Akatsuki for some time, but something is wrong here...' She thought as red chakra wings slowly formed behind her back.

----

'Huhuhu, now that's interesting! It seems I thought wrongly of this boy. Utakata-kun is truly worthy of being Kana-chan's second half. Once again, I underestimated her - No, I underestimated Them.' Orochimaru watched the jinchūriki and the tailed-beast fight off now three of Akatsuki's members. 'No, they're not fighting...' The Sannin smirked at the barely moving mass of black tentacles near his feet, 'Ah... it would be so easy to finish off Kakuzu, but he is necessary for my plans.'

"Are you going to stand here, Orochimaru?" Pain inquired.

"Fufufu, I believe you can see what I do. Young Utakata-kun is getting slower. I'll wait till he tires himself out, thank you very much, Nagato-kun."

'Ouch... This part will take Hidan a long time to regenerate. That will certainly take him out of the fight.' Jiraiya's late teammate almost laughed out loud when the self-proclaimed immortal's family jewels and left leg exploded in a bloody gore after a single but accurate kick from Utakata.

'Hmm, should I take Utakata's body for myself? I got bored of this one. Testing a body able to gather Senjutsu should greatly help me in my research.' He appraised the young man in front of his eyes. Utakata, while slim, had perfectly developed muscles - a body formed for long and arduous battles. His face developed lime-green markings around his eyes - the clear sign of becoming a Sage. Utakata's eyes changed as well, they lost their white sclera, shifting into dark yellow, almost gold, orbs. 'Huhuhu, a true shinobi, a perfect host for me! Kimimaro's body, as strong and versatile as his kekkei-Genkai is, he spent his last couple of years in bed. I feel a little sluggish moving around in it.'

"GAH!" Obito groaned out in pain. Konoha's betrayer was full-body slammed by six massive tails making his orange mask explode into pieces.

"Interesting way of fighting, don't you think, Nagato-kun?"

"..."

"It would be realistically impossible for the Six-Tails to notice Obito coming from its side. Utakata-kun might have seen it, but he never alerted the beast of it. Someone must have taken lessons, fufufu." Despite the glare from the group's leader, Orochimaru laughed out.

"Are you implying something, Snake?"

"Kana-chan knows the way you're fighting, Nagato-kun. We don't know if there is a connection between a jinchūriki and his beast. But if there is one, who said they couldn't protect each other by looking over themselves and sharing information of coming dangers?"

"... You're becoming too dangerous to keep close, Orochimaru. Watch your words."

The Sannin smirked, "I have a good memory, Nagato-kun. The first time we met face to face, I instantly recognized you as one of those Amegakure's orphans. Snakes are very good at sensing the body's heat - Yahiko is dead cold. It didn't take me long to deduce everything else, especially with Konan-chan showing up in our meetings."

"Are you threatening me?" Pain growled.

"No, Nagato-kun. I don't care about what happens with Konan-chan - that girl would be a hassle to get to with you at her side. I'm just worried if you know what're you doing. You may think of Kana-chan as a nuisance, but what Utakata-kun said in her name is most likely true. I hate Konoha, but I reject the destruction of our entire world - all of my research would become useless. You were always a smart kid - I believe you know who is controlling us from the shadows."

"... So this is how she plans to destroy Akatsuki." the purple eyes turned towards the slowly getting back up Uchiha.

"By casting the light on our shadows and speaking the truth? Fufufu. Truth and facts are the worst that could happen to Akatsuki, Nagato-kun. We're all strong individuals with different goals, frequently clashing ones. Only the power of your Rinnegan is still holding this group together."

"That deadman's influence must still be present in our world. If he wants to control Akatsuki, then we will use his plan to create the everlasting peace that this world deserves."

'We? Huhuhu, I got myself a new shōgi piece. What a gullible fool.'

"Kuro-Zetsu!"

"Yes, Pain-sama?" a black man-plant grew from the ground, leaving Utakata just a moment before the jinchūriki hit the plant-man.

"How is the situation in Konoha?"

"I send my clones as you requested. The leftover Root agents somehow obtained our plans and aided us in attacking the village. Unfortunately, as we expected, Kaname Uchiha showed up."

"And the outcome, did you take her children?" the leader asked.

"... After she got bored of decapitating white Zetsus, hundreds of my clones got splattered across Konoha. It seems she might have found Snake Sannin's seal bearer in Konoha and destroyed it. The rest went as expected."

"Fufufufu, Kana-chan is always so creative."

"As predicted... It's time to start the second phase. I'll show Kaname Uchiha why she should be scared of the power of a god!" The moment the Rinnegan user put his hands together, Orochimaru felt the gravity shift, lightly pulling him towards the orange-haired man.

-----

"Haaa... I'm tired." After intense kenjutsu combat with Kisame, Kakashi fell onto his back.

"Good job. Are you okay?" Pakura sat next to his head.

"I'm okay. It was stupid of me - I accepted a fight against a great sword wielder, one of the best swordsmen in Elemental Nations. Wrong tool for the job." Kakashi groaned out, looking at the short sword in his right hand.

"It's Yūra!" Chiyo shouted out, inspecting the corpse. "Impossible, he was one of the top jonin in Suna. He couldn't have betrayed the village."

"I'm sorry, Chiyo-baasama. But it would have explained the trap set for Temari-chan and Kankuro-kun. Someone must have tipped Akatsuki off of their route." Pakura replied.

"It's not like it's the first time Suna works with Akatsuki..."

"Sasuke-kun, Konoha had its share of dark Akatsuki secrets as well." Hinata whispered.

"Gaah! I don't care ~ttebayo! We need to find Gaara-kun as quickly as possible!"

"Heh, Kana-chan was right. You fought with a henged clone, Kashi-kun."

"I know, Pakura-chan. In the beginning, it was pretty easy. But in the end, more and more of Kisame's real power showed up." Kakashi moaned. "His last three strikes were... brutal, to say the least."

Pakura moved her lips next to Kakashi's ear and whispered something. Five seconds later, he nodded in agreement. "Good." she smiled seductively. Standing up, she loudly proclaimed, "I'm taking the command. Naruto-chan, give me some clones please, carry Kakashi with us."

"Sure thing, Paku-neechan! !"

"Thanks. Now that Kakashi-kun took care of one Akatsuki, we have to move quickly and find Gaara-kun."

-----

Kaname was flying upon the back of a butterfly, frantically looking for any traces of Utakata. She knew the route he always took, but there was a lot of ground to cover.

"Have you got anything, Kaname-chan?"

"Not yet, Psyche-san."

"Are you sure your method will work? It's rather farfetched. I don't really like flying so low above the trees."

The woman nodded, "From what I know, Orochimaru wants to revel at his victory over me. That bastard would leave a way for us to talk." Kaname constantly checked her seal and waited for it to stop working.

"You know each other very well."

Kaname let this comment slide, concentrating on her seal. Five minutes later, the signal of her seal wavered, "Stop!" Kaname shouted.

"You got something, Kaname-chan?"

"Yeah. Just now, we must have passed it. Circle around."

After flying over the forest for several more minutes, Kaname approximated the location of Orochimaru's counter-seal and jumped down into the area. She didn't have to wait long - a couple of seconds later, one of the white guys from Konoha grew out of the ground.

"So that's how Akatsuki knew of Utakata's position? How many of you are there, huh?"

"Hehehe... Legions." The white plant-man laughed out, "This is for you." He extended his hand with a familiar disk in his palm.

Kaname glared at another duplicate of Konoha's invaders, "... Do you feel pain, little clone?"

"I'm not a clone - you may call us Zetsu. You wouldn't hurt a messenger, would you?" He replied with a smirk.

"A messenger, no. A spy?" Kaname's hand blurred over the hilt of her sword.

"Wha-?!" Zetsu fell to the ground, his arms and legs following soon after.

"As I thought, you don't feel pain. Pity. Wait here." She shrugged, leaving a limbless body crawling on the ground. Ripping out the communication device from a white palm, she activated it. The disk expelled lights, forming the surroundings into a rocky cave.

"Kaname Uchiha." Akatsuki's leader greeted her.

"Where is he?!" She yelled out, inspecting the place. What took her attention was an enormous humanoid-demon-like statue she stood in front of. An auburn-haired young man floated in front of it, massive amounts of chakra drifted away from Gaara into the statue's opened maw.

"You're too late, Kana-chan."

"Zip it, shit stain. I asked where is Utakata?! Answer me!"

"You wanted a war - we gave it to you, Kaname Uchiha." Pain replied matter-of-factly.

"I will find you. Amegakure will burn if you don't tell me where I can find him!" she demanded.

"As I said, Kana-chan. You're too late." Orochimaru chuckled, "Look below your feet."

Kaname's heart stopped - looking between the monster's stone fingers, she noticed a broken-up body in blue kimono thrown aside like trash.

The Snake Sannin watched happily as Kaname's body trembled in pain. "Fufufu, this is what happens when-" his voice drifted off when she promptly cut the communication by crushing the device in her hand, "... What an impertinent child, she wouldn't even allow me to gloat at Our victory."

"Snake, we need to evacuate!" Obito growled at Orochimaru, "She is on her way, knowing her she will scorch everything."

"Not so fast. We need to talk, Mada-... Obito!"

"No, we do not, Nagato. I can always take back what was previously given - never forget that!"

"Huhu, soo much anger, Obito-kun. I have something that will cheer you up."

"Where are you two going to?!" Pain admonished the Konoha's missing-nins, "You're required to seize the Ichibi out of its host."

"What do you think, Obito-kun, is Ichibi important to Akatsuki's plan?"

"Motherfu-" the Uchiha cursed under his nose. They all knew who's plan was being discussed, "No. Ichibi isn't important. This Bijū's chakra reserves are not much bigger than a boss summon's."

"See, Nagato-kun? We will be back in just a moment."

"No." Their apparent leader disagreed, "I can't trust either of you."

'Perfect...' Orochimaru purred with delight, "Then come with us. Kuro-Zetsu, where can we find him?"

"Him?" Obito inquired as black Zetsu grew out of the ground.

----

"Someone is down there." Naruto reported, "A young red-haired man in Akatsuki's uniform."

"Another one?" Pakura groaned.

"Red hair? It may be my grandson. I'll take care of him." Chiyo proclaimed.

"Are you sure, Chiyo-baasama? Even if Sasori is your family, he won't hesitate."

"Bwahaha! Who do you think I am? I was the one to teach Sasori-chan all the tricks."

"He may have learned new tricks," Sasuke's commented on the side.

"What are your orders, Pakura-san?" Hinata asked politely.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. Kana-chan would kill me if I let you do this. You and Sasuke-kun will act as our backup. Three of us will quickly deal with Sasori."

"But I want to help ~ttebayo!"

"You will help us by staying aside, Naruto-kun." Pakura replied, "And you, Sasuke-kun. Have you got a problem with my order?" she smiled at the Uchiha.

"Hmph." Sasuke sat down on a nearby rock, knowing well that this type of smile on a woman is translated as 'just try to contradict me.'

"Good choice, Sasuke-kun." Pakura smirked, "I'm sorry, Chiyo-baasama. We're going hard and heavy - I can't let one of Akatsuki counter-attack us. We will do it the proper way. I'll start - you two will follow, is that understood?" All shinobis nodded their heads.

The trio sneaked by the tree-line, trying to get as close as possible without being found. Pakura gave a signal and flickered towards the Akatsuki member standing in front of a massive boulder.

With a single strike of scorching ball from above Sasori's heads, Pakura erased his existence. "That was easier than expected... Another henged clone, maybe?"

"My Sasori-chan wouldn't go down that easily!" Chiyo reassured.

"No, Pakura-neesan, Look!" Hinata pointed at the burned corpse, slowly regenerating.

"Edo Tensei?! It must be that Snake's trick! Get back!"