Chapter 26 : A Double Surprise

Darui's eyes darted around the destroyed residential district as he searched for a sign, any sign, of their current enemy. That chameleon summons they had been set to fight just disappeared several seconds ago after using some kind of transparency jutsu or something and now he had no idea where it was.

A good shinobi would normally be able to notice small discrepancies within the landscape that marked an invisible enemy; movements in the dirt, the sound of footsteps, a spike in killing intent from someone who was about to attack. There were all manner in ways for a skilled shinobi to detect another even when they couldn't see their enemy.

Not that this meant anything to Darui at the moment, who couldn't detect a thing; no footprints in the dirt, no sound of footsteps, no spike in killing intent. It was almost as if their opponent had disappeared into thin air. Even with all his prodigious talent in the ninja arts, Darui couldn't detect his enemy's presence anywhere. Their enemy was simply better at hiding than he was at tracking.

Good thing he wasn't a tracker ninja or he would be embarrassed.

"C," he spoke to his partner, his hands prepared to either start making seals or grab his sword. There was no telling what an enemy like this was capable of so he wanted to be ready for anything. "Can you sense him?"

"I'm having a bit of difficulty," which was a mild way of saying he couldn't. "There's just too much interference from the other summons and enemies running around Kumo. The strange thing is, all of them have the same exact chakra signature as the one we're fighting."

"That shouldn't be possible." Chakra signatures were unique to each individual. No two people had the same chakra signature. Even identical twins would have different chakra signatures. "Are you sure you're sensing them right?"

"Of course I'm sure," an annoyed vein throbbed on C's forehead at Darui questioning his sensing abilities. He was one of the best sensors in Kumo while Darui couldn't sense his way out of a paper bag. His normally relaxed partner really had no right to talk. "And I'm telling you that I'm sensing nine chakra signatures that are all identical to each other. It's interfering with my ability to sense our enemy. Now stop questioning me!"

"Alright, alright," Darui mumbled his apology. "No need to be so drab."

"Darui! Behind you!"

The quick and sudden warning had Darui spinning around to face whatever C was warning him about. He was taken back for a second when he saw nothing, however, and this gave their invisible opponent the opportunity to get a clear shot at him before he even realized what was happening.

Darui's eyes widened as something long and fleshy wrapped itself around his leg. He looked down, but couldn't see whatever was gripping him. He did, however, see the creases in his clothing as whatever wrapped around him tightened. His clothes were also getting a tad wet. A tongue?

"This is not good."

Without warning and before he had time to cut the invisible tongue off him, Darui was yanked into the air. Tsking in annoyance as he tried to reach for his sword but kept failing due to how hard he was being shaken, Darui decided it would be easier to simply use one of his jutsu.

Fortunately, he had a number of jutsu to choose from that would benefit him in a situation like this.

Rabbit. Dog. Boar. Ram. Rat.

"Raiton: Kangekia (Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration)!"

Channeling as much chakra as he dared to his hands, Darui felt the flow of his chakra reverse and polarize as it was changed into lightning-natured chakra. Garlands of crackling electricity arched and skittered across his hands like living creatures, coating and covering both appendages with their blue glow. Acting with speeds that most people would not expect from such a laid-back guy, Darui grabbed onto whatever was attached to his leg.

He winced a bit as his own technique sent a shock through his system, but his pain was secondary to his primary objective. The lightning on his hands went down into the thing gripping him, lighting up the appendage which he could now see was definitely a tongue as it traced a path towards the owner of said fleshy, pink appendage.

The summons released a shrill scream as it became visible again due to the lightning chakra currently shocking it breaking its concentration. It let Darui go, allowing him to fall back to the earth. As he fell, his body spun and righted itself so that he would land on his feet. At the same time, his hands were already going through several hand seals in preparation for launching another technique.

"Raigon Raikōchō (Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar)!"

While Darui was preparing his own jutsu, C had already gone through the hand seals needed to use one of his opening techniques. The Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar was a supplementary genjutsu that had no range, meaning it could be used at close, middle, or long distance and still affect the enemy all the same.

Like the name stated, it was a lightning-release genjutsu that blinded people by making it appear as if a bright light was emanating from the one who cast it. It generated an electric light directly from C's body, which increased to blinding proportions within seconds after it's been cast. With his opponents blinded, C would then be able to cast more illusions on his enemies before they even realized it and finish them off while they were distracted.

Or allow his partner to finish them off, as was the case here.

"Ranton: Reizā Sākasu (Storm Release: Laser Circus)!"

As Darui held his hands out in front of him, a halo of lightning chakra surrounded and spread out from them. The technique quickly encircled his hands before several beams shot out from the center of the halo where most of the chakra was being concentrated.

The beams of light blue, electrified chakra tore through the air, all of them heading straight for the chameleon. In response, the summons animal turned invisible just as the beams sliced through the spot where it was standing. They continued on to strike the ground not even half a second later, obliterating a small chunk of the earth and causing smoke, dust, and debris to get launched skyward as a miniature explosion occurred, further obscuring the area in a veil that Darui could not pierce.

Not that it mattered, really, because his sight was practically useless right now anyway.

"C?" he called out, not taking his eyes off the cloud of dust as he looked for any sign of movement. While he wouldn't be able to see the Chameleon summons, he would see the dust that got displaced in the air when a creature that big moved. Provided it hadn't been sliced apart by the piercing power of his Storm Release technique.

"It's to your left!"

Damn! Darui had been sure that he had gotten it with that last attack. They'd had the creature dead to rights and hit it with one of their better combos. How had that thing managed to move fast enough to avoid his attack and not disturb all that dust in the air?

He would have to think about it later. Right now, there were more important things to worry about and any hesitation on their part could easily end with their lives.

Not wanting to present an easy target, Darui began moving as quickly as he could, dodging debris and bodies alike as he began running in a zigzag pattern. It was a good thing he reacted to C's words so quickly. Not even a second after he had darted away did something invisible strike the ground hard enough to crater it. Had that hit him, it might have very well left him as a bloody smear on the ground.

Beginning more hand seals, Darui prepared to use another jutsu while C looked like he was already in the process of casting one of his genjutsus. Hopefully, his partner's illusion would distract that thing for a little longer than it did last time.

"Raiton: Unzeji Nidozumu (Lightning Release: Jaded Edge Two Times Prism)!"

Black lightning erupted from Darui's body, covering him in skittering garlands of dark electricity, which soon shot off his body and into the air. Higher and higher it soared until it was completely out of sight, seemingly piercing the heavens.

Not even a second later, the black lightning descended towards where C had last said the summon animal's location was, splitting off into four bolts that struck the ground in four different locations that when looked at from a birds-eye view would have been marked as the points of a prism. Not even a second later, the four points of black lightning shot inwards, striking at the center in between the four points.

The explosion created from the attack was most impressive. A large, black ball of condensed lightning and chakra over six meters in circumference. It looked like all the power behind the attack was being contained within that sphere. Only a few small arcs of lightning managed to escape it, lashing outside of the sphere and striking the gravel, rocks, and buildings with enough power to blast whatever it hit apart. When the attack died down, there was a large crater sitting on the ground.

"You didn't get him, Darui!" C called out, alerting the dark-skinned and normally laid-back man to the fact that their enemy was not dead. "He's moving again! To your left!"

"Tch! This guy is really drab," Darui swore as he made to move. Before he could, something clamped down on his right shoulder. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to easily pierce his clothing and flesh. Blood began pouring down from the wound, which looked to be multiple puncture marks of varying size.

Biting back a scream of pain, Darui was lifted off his feet and tossed into a wall, which crumbled upon being forced to receive his weight and kicking up a lot of dust and smoke.

A second later something managed to wrap around C's torso and arms, bringing them together and forcing them to constrict. The Jonin level shinobi tried to break what could only be this summon's tongue, but it was surprisingly durable and no matter how much muscle he put into his effort or how much chakra he pumped into his body, nothing seemed capable of breaking the insanely strong appendage that had managed to get a hold of him.

The situation was made even worse because his arms were being held against his torso, meaning he couldn't use his hands, and without the ability to make hand seals, he couldn't use any of his jutsu. Even the simple Kawarimi was out of his reach with his arms restricted like they were.

Before his situation could become any more tenuous, Darui appeared before him in a blur, his right hand already gripping the sheath of his sword, which he yanked out quickly.

Flowing from the action of unsheathing his blade, Darui continued swinging it downwards towards where he accurately guessed the invisible tongue was. His blade, charged with lightning chakra and glowing a light blue as electricity danced across its surface, sliced into something, presumably the tongue, with impunity.

There was an outraged shriek as one half of the tongue, the half that Darui had cut off from the rest of the summon's body, became visible. Darui smirked in satisfaction. It wasn't much, but it looked like they had found at least one weakness.

"Took you long enough," C grunted as he was finally free from his constraints. Shaking his arms, he tried to get feeling back into his arms. "Did you have to wait so long to attack after using Kawarimi?"

"Sorry," Darui didn't sound all that sorry. "I was waiting for the best opening to do the most damage. This guy's slippery. I haven't been able to get a lock on him, and since you haven't been casting any genjutsu on him, it's harder for me to hit him than usual."

"I have been casting genjutsu on him," C told his partner in annoyance, surprising Darui. "It's just not that none of them seem to affect him."

"A summon animal that's immune to genjutsu?" Darui sighed. "This is so drab."

Before C could scold his partner on using that stupid catchphrase of his, a loud shrill, screech caught their attention. Craning their necks up, the pair saw a giant bird with a drill beak heading towards them at speeds that almost seemed to break the sound barrier. The pair were soon forced to jump out of the way as the monstrous bird summon dropped several dozen eggs from its rear end that soon exploded against the ground.

The large explosions from multiple detonation points not only sent up large amounts of earth and debris but also caused hot winds to shoot upwards towards the pair of Kumogakure Jounin. Both were jostled by the winds that lashed against them and pushed them further away from each other, separating them. As the two began to finally descend several dozen meters from where they had been originally, C found himself getting smacked in the back by something invisible.

"Guh!"

Having already been falling, the Jonin of Kumo was sent towards the ground at an increased rate that made him look like a streak of white in the air. He soon ended up hitting a building face first, smashing into and through the ceiling to what had, at one point, been a small house. He ended up lying face down on the ground, in a small crater just a little larger than his body, groaning in pain.

While he had been hit with attacks that were a lot more painful, he would admit those were few and far between. His back was burning from where that thing had hit him. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his spine. To top it off, he had practically belly-flopped through that roof and the concrete of the floor. He likely had bruises on his bruises.

He tried to push himself up, but all he managed to do was turn himself over so that he was lying on his back. When that happened, his eyes widened as they met a pair of Rinnegan eyes set within a man with long, orange hair.

C was pulled to his feet by the man before being forced onto his knees. A hand was placed upon his head and the Kumo Jonin found himself incapable of moving. No matter how hard he struggled, or how much his mind told him to attack this man, he wasn't capable of doing anything other than kneeling there. It was like his body had completely frozen up.

"Where is the Jinchurikki for the Hachibi?" asked the man as C's mind screamed at him to move. He didn't say anything that would betray the location of the Raikage's adoptive brother. He was one of the Fourth's most loyal shinobi, and he would never betray his leader.

Too bad for him the human path did not need to hear him speak.

"I see, so the Hachibi Jinchurikki is currently residing at a place called Unraikyō."

C's eyes widened in both shock and fear. He was an intelligent ninja, preferring to analyze his opponents and come up with a plan before engaging. A shinobi like him was easily able to read between the lines and realize that this man had just read his mind.

But how was the question. Was this an ability granted to him by the Rinnegan? The legendary Doujutsu was certainly one of mystery. What very little text existed on the Rinnegan only spoke of its ability to control all five main elements and that it was a power originally used by the Legendary Rikudou Sennin. Everything else from its abilities to its origins was wrapped in a veil of mystery.

These questions and more fled from C's mind, as did everything else seconds later when the man pulled his hand away, taking the Kumo Jounin's soul with it.

XXXXXXXXXX

A blitzed towards the spiky-haired Rinnegan wielder, his body moving so fast it did not even leave a blur. One moment he was standing several meters away, the next he was right in front of Pain, his left arm extended and covered in the electricity from his Lightning Armor as he prepared to strike the man who had dared attack his village with a Lariat.

Just before A's attack could touch Pain, the Raikage once again found himself being sent sailing backward, only this time the attack was even more powerful than before. The last time the attack had hit him, it had felt as if a strong force was pushing him back. This time it felt like his entire body had just taken one of Senju Tsunade's legendary punches without having his Lightning Armor protecting him, only instead of a concentrated area like his stomach or face, it felt like he had been hit by the fist of a giant.

Rather than ending up buried under a pile of rubble, staring at a ceiling of a home he had been busted through, the attack was powerful enough that A was blasted through several buildings, tumbling end over end like a rag doll before managing to right himself.

His feet soon skidded along the ground as he was forced to channel chakra into them in order to stop his backward momentum. Even then, he ended up skidding back for several more feet, leaving two long trenches where his feet had been dragged through the ground to signify his passing through.

Standing to his full height, A frowned as he tried to figure out what had just happened. The man before him hadn't even moved an inch, he had him dead to rights, and yet, somehow it was him who had been blasted away like he was a fifty-pound weakling.

Unfortunately, A had never been a very deep thinker, especially when in battle. He was the kind of guy who relied more on his instincts than anything else when in combat.

Which was sad because right now he couldn't make heads or tails of what just happened to him. All he knew was that this guy apparently had some kind of special jutsu that he used to shove him away with the kind of strength expected from Senju Tsunade, and he didn't even lift a finger to do it.

For those who knew the Raikage, they knew that he was hot-headed and easily angered, especially when something happened that he didn't understand. Right now, he was just not getting how this guy had been able to launch such a devastating attack on him without even making so much as a twitch. It was even worse than when he faced Minato and the bastard managed to dodge his fastest attacks.

Naturally, A decided to charge at the man again so he could wipe that blank look off the idiot's face. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to charge right in from the front. No, while the Fourth Raikage was quick to anger and even quicker to action, he was still an intelligent man with a keen sense for battle and tactics.

This time he came in from behind the man. He decided to go with something simple. An Aian Kurō. Meanwhile, while his hand was clawed and ready to grip the back of his enemy's head, A was going to observe his opponent and see if he could not determine some kind of weakness to whatever technique was being used against him.

Once again it happened. Just as he was about to hit Pain with his devastating attack, the man seemed to have sensed his approach and quickly reacted by ducking under his Aian Kurō, spinning around to face him. This time, Pain held out both hands towards him, and again, A felt himself getting propelled backward at incredible speeds.

This time, he was prepared for it, however, and when he felt himself getting launched backward, A began to crank up the juice and added more power to his Lightning Armor. Soon, the two powers began a fight for dominance that neither seemed capable of winning. The Raikage, with speed, maxed out beyond what most humans should be capable of accomplishing was unwilling to give an inch even though keeping his body running at such a high level was beginning to put a strain on his muscles and bone structure. On the other hand, Pain seemed completely emotionless as he continued pumping more and more chakra into his attack.

It was a battle of attrition, with neither side willing to give the other an inch yet both wanting the other to lose. In a battle such as this, the one with the strongest will, or just the one who was more stubborn, would be the victor.

A was one of the most stubborn bastards anyone would ever see.

With a final roar of defiance, the Fourth Raikage managed to break the stalemate. It seemed that Pain could not hold whatever technique he had been using for very long before it just stopped working. On the other hand, A could use his Lightning Armor for as long as he wanted, though the longer he used it the bigger the strain was on his body. Still, it was a small price to pay for finally getting a good hit on the bastard who had destroyed most of his village.

Because there was no more resistance in the form of whatever power Pain had used to try and push him away, A's body followed the laws of physics. The speed at which he had been running had already been quite outstanding and the only reason he had not moved was due to Pain exerting an equal amount of force to keep him in place. Without that, the Fourth Raikage not only shot forward and closed the distance incredibly quick, but he also did so in less time than it took to blink an eye. This time, there would be no way for the Rinnegan wielding bastard to dodge his attack.

A found his body halted when something sharp and painful stabbed him in the stomach. His body folded over the offending object as it ground against his Lightning Armor, which protected him from most of the damage whatever had stabbed him would have done, though it did nothing to prevent the blunt force trauma of having something rammed into his gut.

Grabbing the offending object as he folded around it, the Raikage let out a titanic roar of anger and pulled whatever was on the other end to him. He soon discovered that the thing trying to pierce his stomach was a long, prehensile-like, serrated tail and that the person on the other end was a really unusual-looking bastard with six arms and three faces. Not that this person's looks mattered to A, the guy was dead either way.

The strange three-faced man soon came into contact with Ē's Lightning-infused fist as it smashed against his chest. The Fourth Raikage did not have the incredible chakra enhanced strength of Senju Tsunade, but with his Lightning Armor, that really didn't matter. Under the incredible power and strength granted to him through this technique, this strange new enemy may as well have been made of paper.

Even though it was only a single attack, Asura found itself being completely destroyed by the lightning-coated fist to his chest. His body literally exploded into thousands of shards and gizmos, revealing that he was actually some kind of robotic doll similar to, but nothing at all like the puppets of Sunagakure. As pieces of his body scattered and bounced along the ground, his head hit the dirt several meters away and rolled to a stop next to Pain, who had finally moved away from his original position.

"That was a very deadly attack," Pain admitted as he stared down at his Asura Path with emotionless eyes. He looked back up at the Raikage to see him huffing and puffing in anger. "I dare say that would have killed me had it hit."

"It was supposed to kill you, you bastard!" A growled in annoyance and anger. He had been so close to finally showing this guy why he shouldn't have attacked his village when that jackass had shown up out of nowhere. And just who the hell was that guy anyway? Some kind of robotic puppet? These Akatsuki freaks were the weirdest bunch he had ever seen.

"I am not one to be done in as easily as that," Pain stated, "Though I do applaud you for your effort."

Before Ē could make any kind of retort, or just attack the man, which he had planned on doing, another person appeared before him. This one was a man with a pudgy face, the same orange hair as the other two, and the same Rinnegan eyes.

"What the hell!?"

A's eyes widened. What the hell was going on here? The Rinnegan was supposed to be a legendary doujutsu that was so rare only the Rikudou Sennin was said to have possession of it. Now he had met not one, not two, but three people who all had the Rinnegan. What the fuck was going?

In his surprise, A could not react in time when the Preta Path grabbed onto him and began to drain him of his chakra. The crackling electricity that surrounded his body soon dispersed as the chakra he put into the technique was absorbed by this new enemy.

Thankfully, the act of having his chakra drained was enough that he finally managed to gather his wits and used the immense strength granted to him through years of lifting weights in his office to break Preta's hold on him. This was followed by a powerful headbutt that had the Rinnegan bearer stumbling backward.

Rather than do what most shinobi would do in this situation, which was jump backward to put some distance between them and bombard the enemy with long-range ninjutsu, A did the exact opposite and grabbed this new guy by the face after making his hand into the shape of a claw.

"Aian Kurō!"

Lifting Preta up by his face, the Raikage barely gave the path a second to realize its situation before smashing him down headfirst into the gravel. The results were very pleasing. Preta's head was literally crushed underneath the clawed hand.

Even without his Lightning Armor active, A was still someone with immense physical strength as suggested by his powerful frame.

"Banshō Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)."

Before A could even think of attacking Pain again or congratulating himself on his kill, he was quite suddenly jerked off his feet and sent flying towards the Deva Path!

His eyes widened as he moved closer and closer to the man who had his hand outstretched towards him as if beckoning him over. The move had been so unexpected that there was very little he could do to counter against it. Due to the force being exerted on him, he could not bring his hands up to use even the most basic of jutsu and because his feet were nowhere near the ground, he was not even capable of channeling chakra to the bottom of them so he would stick to the ground. He was, for lack of a better term, a sitting duck.

At least, that's what Pain thought.

With determination flowing through his veins, A did not try and fight the pull on his body, which would have been an exercise in futility anyway. Instead, he watched as the man using the strange technique that seemed capable of attracting and repelling objects pulled him closer and closer.

It was a good thing he was used to moving at such high speeds. Because his eyes were well adjusted to spotting fast-moving objects, the Fourth Raikage was able to see Pain pull out some kind of black metal rod and pull his arm back in preparation to stab him.

Not that A would ever allow such an obvious attack to do him in. He was not only a kage but one that specialized in close-range combat. Taijutsu was his forte, and only someone like Senju Tsunade, Namikaze Minato, and now Namikaze Naruto had ever been able to match him in that arena.

This Pain character seemed to be primarily a Ninjutsu user. Granted, he had only displayed two abilities so far, but it would not surprise A if the man only had a few more centered around his ability to attract and repel objects. What's more, he had managed to catch Pain off guard with his taijutsu. It had only been thanks to the timely intervention of those other two that this Rinnegan wielder had been saved.

When Pain thrust the metal rod forward to stab A through the stomach, the Raikage was prepared. Activating his Lightning Armor, not even a second after the attack was made in order to increase his physical prowess and speed to incredible levels, A's left hand lashed out, grabbed hold of the black metal rod, snapped it in half, then launched a powerful right hook at Pain's face.

This time, there was no path around to save Pain from getting hit this time. Like the sound of thunder cracking against the ground, the noise from A's Lightning enhanced fist striking Pain's face was loud enough that it caused the earth to rumble.

The punch did more than just make a lot of noise, however, it also shattered Pain's jaw and sent him flying backward in the same manner he had been doing to A for the past few minutes. Like a lightning jutsu gone out of control, his body spinning like a top, Pain struck the ground, digging up massive amounts of rock and dirt as he created a large trench along the path he was thrown. He struck one of the buildings in his way, going straight through it and coming out the other side. The building collapsed in on itself like a house of cards and still, Pain traveled further.

The Raikage glared at where he had last seen his enemy. He was sure that would put an end to him. A had struck out with everything he had in that last attack. Not even someone of Tsunade's strength would have been able to survive a hit like that without being liquidized.

Nodding to himself, the Raikage prepared to find the rest of the enemies attacking the village and protect his people before his entire body froze. His eyes widened as he felt his chakra being leached from him. Looking down, he found Preta gripping his calves tightly.

His Lightning Armor went out as he no longer had the chakra to sustain it.

He was still alive!? A had been sure he'd killed the bastard. He could even see its face was still caved in where he had crushed it beneath his hand.

With a growl, the Raikage made to yank one of his legs out of the idiot's grip and stomp on his head when an indescribable pain pierced his abdomen. A blinked several times as he stared down at the bloody tip of a serrated tail. Still in shock, he craned his neck to look behind him and saw the mechanical enemy he had annihilated a little while ago standing behind him, a grin on all three faces.

"What... the fuck!?" A grunted as he went down to a knee. He tried to stand again, but the chakra being drained from him by the Preta Path was leaving him incredibly weakened. All he could do was shake and heave as he tried to push his body beyond what it was capable of.

"What an amazingly strong attack." A looked up, disbelieving as he saw Pain walking back towards him looking no worse for wear. There didn't seem to be any damage done to him at all! "You truly live up to your title, Raikage. An attack of that caliber would have killed most people."

"You..." A coughed as blood began welling up in his lungs. "How are you still alive?"

"A pointless question," Pain said in his usual monotone voice. "There is no need to answer it when you are going to be dead soon," A growled as he tried to stand again, but was too weakened. His vision was beginning to blur from a lack of chakra and blood loss. "You fought valiantly, but in the end, it wasn't enough. You now know pain, but it is too late. I cannot let one as dangerous as you live."

A flash of black was all that the Raikage saw before a rod of black metal was stabbed all the way through his neck and out the back. A gurgled as he bled out, his eyes glazing over and his body slumping. A single second passed, then two. Finally, the Raikage stopped breathing.

Pain looked at the body of the Raikage, then raised his head to look at the rest of the village. There was no more need to stay here now that he had the location of the Hachibi Jinchurikki. All that was left to do was use this village as an example of what would happen to those who defied God.

Using his powers to lift himself into the air, Pain floated high above the hidden village. From his birds-eye view, he could see how much damage he had caused. More than half the village was nearly destroyed. Not that it mattered. This village wouldn't be around at all for much longer.

Raising his hands high above his head, Pain's gaze sharpened as his chakra surged in preparation for his technique. In less than a second, Kumogakure would be no more.

"Shinra Tensei."

XXXXXXXXXX

Within the darkened bedroom that was lit only by the few streams of light that managed to sneak in through the curtains of a nearby window, Namikaze Naruto felt himself begin to stir. It was a slow stirring, the kind where one still felt a bit groggy from the events of yesterday and needed a few minutes to adjust from that moment of restful peace to complete awareness.

Blinking several times as his eyes adjusted to the darkened room, the young man took absent note of the décor. He easily recognized the master bedroom of the Namikaze estate. He also easily recognized the female body snuggled deeply into his side.

Smiling slightly, Naruto reached out with a hand and began to gently run his hands through Konan's beautiful blue hair. Rather than fan out like the other girls' hair did, Konan's was too short for that and thus was arrayed in a typical bedhead fashion, with numerous strands sticking up chaotically sort of like his own. An amusing thought escaped him as he wondered if their children would look like that, their mother's hair color but his style.

He shook the thought off. While an appealing thought, children weren't something they could afford right now. Not with Akatsuki, and more importantly, that guy claiming to be Uchiha Madara still on the loose. The last thing he wanted was for his wife and child to be used as a hostage.

Wanting to get his mind off the dark place his thoughts were taking him, the last Namikaze heir found himself gazing appreciate at Konan's beautiful figure. The blanket he had used to cover them had fallen a bit and was only covering up to their waste now, so Naruto had a decent view of some of the woman's bountiful chest, blocked only partially by the way her right boob was mashed against his torso, but also by her angelic face as it rested against his shoulder.

Though he could not see, Naruto could definitely feel the way their legs had entwined sometime during the night. It was something he always enjoyed, waking up to the feeling of a pair of soft, smooth, and downright sexy legs hooked around his own after a night of passionate lovemaking.

Then again, he loved everything about moments like this, from the way Konan's breath felt hot against his skin to the way her body was pressed so closely against his there wasn't even enough space for one of her paper jutsu to slip through. Call him sappy, but one of the best parts of having sex was waking up next to the woman you loved.

Or would that be women in his case? Well, whatever. He could think on that later.

As Naruto spent his time just enjoying the feeling of waking up with one of the people who meant the world to him, Konan began stirring.

Noticing a change in his angel's breathing, he looked down just in time to see Konan raise her head and blink her beautiful amber eyes several times. After a second or two of looking like they were still asleep, those half-lidded eyes sharpened and focused on him.

"Morning," Naruto greeted warmly. Konan gave him a smile that matched the warmth in his voice.

"Good morning, Naruto," Konan mumbled as she leaned up enough to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as Konan laid her head back down on his shoulder.

"A little sore," Konan admitted, not quite managing to suppress a shiver as her lover let his fingers trail along her back, leaving goosebumps in their way. She pressed her lips against the skin of his shoulder in return and smiled when she felt his breath hitch slightly. "But a good kind of sore."

"I'm glad."

Silence reigned for a few seconds as Naruto continued to stroke the woman's bareback. They would need to take a shower eventually. He could feel the dried sweat sticking to her frame, and he doubted he was much better.

"Last night..." Naruto looked back down to see Konan staring up at him, her chin resting against his shoulder. "Last night was incredible. I'm glad we shared this moment together." Her eyes became soft as a small smile crossed her lips. "For some reason, I feel much closer to you than before."

"Almost makes you wish we had done this earlier, huh?" asked Naruto, which earned him a light smack to the chest. "Joking, just joking..." he saw the look he was getting and grinned sheepishly. "Well, sort of. Anyways, we should probably take a shower and then head down for some breakfast." On cue, Naruto's stomach rumbled like some kind of ravenous beast. "Did I mention I was starving?"

Konan giggled at Naruto's antics, then stopped as she realized she was giggling. She looked back at Naruto, her eyes narrowing as she saw the grin on his face.

"You didn't hear anything."

Naruto's grin widened.

"Sure I didn't."

"You didn't hear anything."

"Hmmm... how about this." With movements that were swift and sure, Naruto rolled the two of them over so that Konan was pinned to the bed while he was hovering over her. "I'll pretend nothing happened if you give me a kiss."

Konan smiled as her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled his face down to hers.

"I think I can do that," she whispered, before pulling him into a passionate kiss.

XXXXXXXXXX

After several minutes of not quite going all the way but certainly doing more than just kissing and fondling, Naruto and Konan mutually decided to adjourn to the restroom to get clean. Having never been this intimate with Naruto until then, Konan realized that there were things about the blond that she had not known.

For one thing, Naruto was a very attentive lover. She had known that he was capable of supporting her emotionally, as well as how able he was at supporting her physically, but she had not known about his skills at supporting her intimately. Her time last night had made her realize that Naruto was a very skilled lover, but it was their time in the restroom that made Konan truly aware of how attentive he was to her needs as a woman.

She had sat between Naruto's legs while they showered, shivering and moaning in delight as he gently and lovingly washed and kneaded her back, working out any and all knots she had while at the same time getting her clean. He had spent the same amount of attention to her breasts, stomach, legs, and feet, messaging and worshiping her body as he cleaned her up. By the time every part of her had been washed, Konan was more than ready to get dirty again.

It was a shame she had been too sore to commit any acts of debauchery.

Getting out of the shower, the pair decided they wanted to relax for a little while longer. Naruto made a shadow clone and had it transform into a dry, clothed version of himself. After ordering it to make breakfast, which the clone left to do while grumbling under its breath about 'lucky bastard originals', Naruto and Konan found themselves lounging in the large bathtub, relaxing as steam rose from the water's surface.

In what had become practically par for the course as far as Naruto's love life was concerned, Naruto was sitting at the end of the tub with his back against the tub itself. Meanwhile, Konan sat in between his legs, her firm, shapely rear pressing against the obvious sign of his arousal. Her back was resting against his chest, her head laying back so that she could press her cheek against Naruto's as his arms wrapped tightly around her, making her feel like she had been encased in a loving cocoon.

"We haven't talked much about your's and Ero-sennin's battle against Pain," Naruto said after several moments of comfortable silence. "How are you feeling?"

Konan sighed as she turned on her side and lowered her body so that she could rest her head on his chest. If they were going to have this conversation, she wanted to be comfortable, and listening to Naruto's heartbeat was surprisingly comforting.

"I... I don't know," she said at last. "I'm not sure how I feel. For the longest time, Nagato had been my best friend, my world. I was his biggest supporter and his goals and life were what held me up. Now that he has fallen to darkness, I feel almost like I no longer have a purpose."

Naruto did not say anything as Konan spoke. Rather, he listened and let her express herself through words.

"And even though you and I got together, and I knew that you were at odds with him, I had always hoped." A few cold droplets of water splashed against Naruto's chest. They presented a stark contrast to the heat coming from the bathwater. "I always thought that I would be able to save him. That if I stuck close to him, I could subtly influence his decisions down a less destructive route. Then maybe the three of us could have worked together to bring peace, but now..."

"I understand," Naruto said, running his hand through Konan's hair. "It's hard watching someone who meant so much to you fall and realize there is very little you can do to stop it."

Naruto's own mind went to Sasuke, the person he had thought of as family that went on to join Orochimaru. He knew exactly how Konan was feeling, having already experienced such an event himself.

"I wish I could say something that would help you cope with this, but the truth is, I never really got over Sasuke's betrayal. Even now, a part of me hopes that he can be redeemed, while another still feels the sting of what he did to Sakura and me. I truly don't know what I can say that would make you feel better."

"Just be here for me," Konan murmured as lifted her head to look up at him. "That's all I need."

"I'll always be here for you," Naruto responded earnestly, causing Konan to smile as she leaned up and claimed his lips in a kiss. Naruto's hands tightened around her waist, pulling Konan flush against him as her own arms entwined around his neck and made to pull her up so she could have more access to his mouth.

A moan escaped her lips as one of Naruto's hands moved from the small of her back to her perfectly peach-shaped butt and began to grope it. Konan responded by moving her ass in time to his squeezes and caresses, grinding it against her lover's increasing proof of her lover's arousal.

Their tongues soon broke through each other's mouths and began moving together. They pushed and rubbed and hooked against each other as they played that age-old game in which everybody was a winner and no one was a loser. Konan thought it was one of the most enjoyable games in the world.

Eventually, Konan's grinding led to the pair's mutual release. A low groan came from Naruto's mouth as Konan let out a breathy sigh of content and sank deeper into the water. Her head to came rest against his chest once more and she spent a number of minutes just laying kisses on his pectorals as her blond lover began running a hand across her back while she came down from the post-orgasmic high.

"We should probably get out," Naruto said after several minutes of silence. "My clones finished making breakfast, and I really should formally introduce you to Yugao. Plus, if we stay in here any longer we'll start to prune."

"That's the one in the ANBU, right?" Konan asked, her eyes drooping a little as they both stood up. She was feeling a bit tired, not just from staying in the water so long, but also from what they had just done. All she really wanted to do right now was drag Naruto back to bed and snuggle against him while she slept.

"Yes," Naruto nodded, "You never met her before since we didn't get involved with each other until after the Chunin Exams." He paused. "She's currently eating breakfast, so now would be the best time."

After drying off and getting dressed in a pair of civvies, Konan and Naruto made their way out of the room and into the kitchen. There they found Yugao sitting at the long table, eating what looked to be an omelet with a side bowl of fruit. As soon as the pair entered, said purple-haired beauty looked up and gave a slightly mischievous if strained, smile.

"The next time you two get up to the kinds of antics you did last night, you may want to think about applying a silencing seal on the door... and the walls... and maybe the ceiling, floor, and window for good measure."

"Y-You heard that?" Naruto asked in surprise while Konan blushed at hearing that her debauchery had been heard by someone. Yugao nodded.

"I heard it all the way from the basement," she looked at the pair, her eyes showing a mixture of amusement and jealousy. "You must have been pretty amazing to make her scream that loudly."

Konan's cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red, creating a very stark contrast against her blue hair. Naruto shook his head and smiled as he grabbed Konan by the hand and led her over to the table. After moving her being gentlemanly and helping her into a chair, the blond walked around the table towards Yugao, absently creating another shadow clone to grab two more plates and put the food on the table.

"I think you're just jealous," Naruto smiled slightly as Yugao twitched. Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around her and leaned in so he could place a kiss on her cheeks. "But you know you shouldn't be. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here waiting."

Yugao's countenance relaxed. Her eyes softened and she smiled at him before turning her head and placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," she said with a grateful smile.

"You never need to thank me for something like this," Naruto told her as the clone set both his and Konan's food on the table and dispelled. Sitting down in front of his own plate, Naruto decided to finally get the official introduction out of the way. "Yugao, this is Konan, she was a spy for me within Akatsuki and the reason Gara's still alive. Konan, this is Uzuki Yugao, one of the youngest ANBU in history and a well-known sword junky."

"I hope you know," Yugao began with grace and poise, only the slight twitching of her eyebrow letting on to what she thought of being called a sword junky. "That I am going to get you for that comment later on."

"And I'm looking forward to it," Naruto grinned, causing Yugao to sigh and turn her attention onto Konan.

"So, welcome to the family, I guess," she said. "It's nice to officially meet you."

"Likewise," Konan felt a little weird knowing that this woman was also one of Naruto's lovers. Being from Amegakure, she only knew of the laws Konoha had towards clans, specifically clans that were nearing extinction, through Naruto. It still felt strange to share the person she planned on marrying with several other women. "Naruto has told me a lot about you."

"Oh, he has, has he?" Yugao sent a sidelong glance at Naruto, who was whistling an innocent tune as he periodically placed food in his mouth. When he got the woman's attention, he immediately turned and looked away, causing her to narrow her eyes and look back at Konan. "And just what has he been saying about me?"

"I don't really think it's necessary for you to know what we've been talking about, do you?" asked an embarrassed Naruto.

"Oh no," Yugao gave Naruto a small grin. "It is very necessary." She turned back to Konan, ignoring the way Naruto began to sputter. "So, care to share?"

Konan looked over at Naruto for a brief moment, watching as he waved his hands across his face in a 'no' gesture, then turned back to Yugao. "He used to speak very often about how you were constantly protecting him when he was younger, and how he always used to think you were the most beautiful woman in the world," she told Yugao succinctly, though with a hint of amusement and envy in her eyes.

Both Naruto and Yugao blushed.

"H-He really said that?" asked Yugao, her eyes moving over to Naruto before the color staining her cheeks deepened and she looked away.

Konan nodded. "He did. He also mentioned how when he was younger he wanted to marry you, and would constantly fight your... boyfriend every time he came over."

It was a testament to her recovery that the indirect mentioning of Hayate didn't even so much as to cause her to flinch, though her chest did feel a tight ache when she thought of him. This time when she looked over to see a red-faced Naruto pouting at the two of them, her eyes softened and a smile crossed her lips as she remembered those very simple times.

"Yeah," she chuckled warmly, "He was always going on about how he would beat up Hayate-kun and then make me fall in love with him. Of course, then he went to the academy and fell in love with that Sakura girl." Yugao crossed her arms and gave a mock pout. "I felt like I had been replaced."

"No one could replace you," Naruto said slowly, his face turning red when the other two looked at him. "Ah, I mean, I thought I should aim lower. You know, cuz it was clear that Hayate had an advantage over me."

"So you gave up," Yugao teased. "What happened to never give up and never going back on your word?"

"I didn't give up," Naruto puffed up in mock indignation. "I was simply making a temporary retreat until a better opportunity to sweep you off your feet arose. And I thought that since Sakura was cute and had a unique hair color, she would be good practice for when you finally realized I was the man of your dreams."

"You mean the boy of my dreams," with a teasing smile, Yugao watched as Naruto gave her a pout. "And it doesn't look like you ended up getting much practice. You never even managed to get a single date with Sakura."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Naruto moaned.

As Konan watched the small byplay between the two, she couldn't help but smile. "You two seem to get along very well," she noted, looking over at Yugao with a smile. "I'm actually kind of jealous."

"Yeah, well..." Yugao trailed off unsurely. "It's just because I've known him for so long."

"Perhaps."

Light banter continued throughout the rest of breakfast as Konan and Yugao learned a bit more about each other. They seemed to get along fairly well, which Naruto was glad for. The last thing he wanted was for these two to start fighting each other like Mei and Yugito had when they first met. Dealing with that kind of situation once was more than enough for him.

Near the end of breakfast, the doorbell to his estate rang out. Frowning, Naruto created a shadow clone their plates and wash them off while he, Konan, and Yugao walked over to the door.

The person on the other end was an ANBU member with a lizard mask covering his face. When he saw Naruto standing there, he snapped off a salute. "Namikaze-san, Hokage-sama has requested you in her office."

"Did she say why?"

"I am not privy to her reasons, sir," the ANBU replied dutifully. Naruto nodded, figuring that the woman probably just wanted to speak with him. He looked over at Konan and Yugao, both of whom understood his expression.

"Don't worry about us, Naruto," Yugao said. "I'm off duty right now, so I can use this time to show Konan around Konoha while waiting for you to get back."

Naruto smiled at the pair, before turning back to look at the ANBU. "Lead the way, lizard-san."

The ANBU nodded as he grabbed Naruto by the sleeve of his shirt. Together, the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade leaned back against her chair, sipping at a saucer of sake in order to keep from becoming a nervous wreck. These past few days had been very hectic since Naruto came back from the successful mission to capture Sasuke. She had tried working up the courage to tell them about their relationship but Jiraiya's battle with Pain had interfered. Then she had to personally keep Jiraiya from dying on them, even then, he was still left with just a single arm and had been put into a coma.

Now there was nothing left getting in her way. Jiraiya was out of danger, Sasuke had been retrieved. Pain was an ever-looming threat but not one they could deal with right now. Even the paperwork was complete, which was a rarity for her.

All of this led to one thing. It was time to tell Naruto of their relationship with each other. She was nervous, frightened even, but he deserved to know.

She had sent an ANBU out fifteen minutes ago, so all that was left to do now was wait for Naruto to arrive. Which was why she was sitting there, contending herself with sake so that the passing of time did not increase her nerves. If she got any more nervous, she wasn't sure she could go through with it.

A brief wind kicked up, followed by a swirl of leaves. A few seconds later, Naruto appeared alongside the ANBU she had sent to get him.

"You called, baa-chan?"

"Yes, I did," Tsunade said, causing Naruto to frown. "Thank you for getting here so promptly," she informed the ANBU, who gave a nod and vanished upon using the Shunshin again. "Sit down, Naruto."

Still looking a little unsure, Naruto did as told and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here," Tsunade said after a moment before taking a quick sip of her sake. Naruto, still confused, nodded. "A while back we managed to acquire some information on your blood test that can and likely will cause a good deal of commotion if it ever gets out. It also changes a good deal between us."

"Then what I have is a bloodline?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," Tsunade said, "it is a bloodline. I believe it came from a combination of your Uzumaki blood and your father's blood."

"My old man," Naruto frowned. "What does he have to do with this? As far as I am aware, he was not a part of any clan."

"And as far as we were aware, he was not either," Tsunade said. "Recent information from your blood test, however, has shed some light on things. Namikaze Minato was an orphan as far as anyone knew. There are no records of his parents in any of our files, however, I am beginning to believe that is because they were stricken from his profile by Sarutobi-sensei."

"It must be pretty important if Hokage-ojisan needed to erase the information," Naruto noted.

"It is," Tsunade took a deep breath, then blew it all out in a sigh. "I'm not going to beat around the bush, Naruto. When we ran the blood test, we did a much more extensive test than the one to simply see if you had a bloodline. This test showed us information that goes beyond blood type and genetics. Through it, we would have been able to find out who your grandparents and great grandparents were so long as we had a sample of their blood on record."

"I take it this has something to do with my grandparents, then?" Naruto frowned in thought as he was finally given a bit more information on what this meeting was about.

"Just one of them," Tsunade informed him, "Your grandfather on your father's side. You see, I discovered that your grandfather is, in fact, my deceased younger brother, Senju Nawaki." Naruto's mouth dropped. "Naruto, you're father was actually my nephew, which makes you my grand-nephew."

With the bomb dropped, Tsunade waited for the other shoe to fall. She expected a number of things to happen after Naruto recovered from his shock. Anger at leaving him alone for so long, rage at how he was treated by the villagers. She expected him to shout at her, to yell and scream about how she should have been there for him, and she felt he would be right to do so.

Clearly, she let her own anxiety get the best of her.

"You do know that you can no longer complain about me calling you baa-chan, right?"

Tsunade blinked. "What?"

Naruto grinned. "You can't get upset when I call you baa-chan anymore. Technically speaking, you kind of are my baa-chan since we're related and all."

"Naruto," now it was Tsunade's turn to gawk, "I just told you that you are and I are closely related and all you can say is that I can't complain about you calling me baa-chan?"

"So?" Naruto looked at her, confused. "I don't really see your point. This doesn't change anything."

"Doesn't change anything?" Tsunade parroted in shock. "Aren't you... you should be mad? You're related to me and I wasn't there for you! I've known about this for months, but kept it from you because of my own fear and selfish desire to keep the status quo!"

"I'm still not seeing the problem," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "As far as I can see, you only found out after I returned to the village, which means you did not know we were family before then. I'm not sure how I can blame you for not being there for me when you didn't even know we were family."

"So you're not mad at me?" asked Tsunade, still reeling from shock.

"Of course not," Naruto scoffed, "Being upset at you for not knowing something is stupid. Why would I blame you for being ignorant? That would be like how the villagers blamed me for everything the Kyuubi did when I was younger."

"Thank you," Tsunade whispered, trying not to let the tears fall from her eyes. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't get all wishy-washy on me. Aren't you old hags supposed to be tough?"

His question was answered when Tsunade threw an empty sake bottle at his head.

"Watch it, brat!" Tsunade scowled. "I may let you get away with calling me baa-chan from now on, but there is no way I'm going to let you call me an old hag without suffering the consequences."

"Geez, you're so violent," Naruto muttered, "Aren't the Senju supposed to be peace-loving hippies or something."

Tsunade snorted. "Only when you don't piss us off. Then we become the devil incarnate."

"Right, right," Naruto nodded his head, pleased to see that he had dispelled the aura of doom and gloom surrounding Tsunade. "Now, this information is interesting and all, but I do have a question."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"How did Nawaki have a kid? Wasn't he, like, twelve or something?"

"Thirteen," Tsunade corrected, "And yes, he was too young to have a child. However, Orochimaru was his sensei."

"And you believe that he may have taken samples of Nawaki during that time?"

"Or sometime after," Tsunade replied. "I don't want to believe that he was experimenting that early on, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility that he injected a woman with Nawaki's seed and tried to observe her when she got pregnant. It's also very likely she died at childbirth, as there are no records of who Minato's mother was. She was likely a random civilian that Orochimaru had selected for that very same reason. Less chance of people noticing her that way, especially during times of war."

"Makes sense," Naruto nodded his head.

"Naruto," Tsunade began again, a tremor in her voice. "Are you really okay with this?"

"Eh?" Naruto looked confused, but then shrugged. "I don't see why not. I mean, we're already pretty much family, right? Might as well make it official."

"I see," Tunsade had to smile at his words as she remembered another reason she liked the blond so much. He didn't just remind her of her little brother and late lover, he was also an amazing person capable of accepting others no matter what and always tried to look on the bright side of things.

She was about to say more, but before she could even open her mouth, the door to her room was blasted open and one of her ninjas was leaning against the door jam, huffing and puffing as if he had just run a marathon.

"You had better have a good reason for barging in like this!" Tsunade scowled at the man, who shrank a bit but did not waver.

"It's... It's Kumogakure!" The man rasped, his breathing still heavy. "We just received news that it was destroyed by Akatsuki!"

"WHAT!?"