Chapter 35

"Very well." He said. He went through hand signs and in a flash that Menma and Minato knew all too well, the Kazekage and Iwa's lone Jonin appeared in the arena.

The Tsuchikage ran forward and put her hands on the barrier. "Hey… Hey! What the hell are you doing! He's no match for a Kage!" she yelled. "Akatsuchi!"

The Kazekage was looking at the man in question. It was a very hefty looking man with a big nose. He then turned and looked up to the masked man. "What is the purpose of this?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just want to see what happens." He replied portentously. "Don't wait on me. Start whenever you wish."

Nobody moved a muscle. "I have no quarrel with this man." The Kazekage said with his arms crossed. He refused to fight a man who had done him no harm.

"Of course you do." Naruto said. "This man here is keeping you from retrieving your prize." He said pointing over to the Kazekage's nephew. Everyone grew alarmed seeing that the explosive tag was burning.

"Wait!" The Kazekage yelled raising his hand up to him. "WAIT! I'll fight!" he yelled trying to get the man to stop the burning of the seal.

Naruto shrugged. "Oh I'm sure you will." He said casually. "That seal is a slow burning tag, it will blow in two minutes unless I stop it. Sadly to say, as long as this man is still breathing, I will not do so." Everyone grew horrified at the implication. The Kazekage's eyes were burning with rage.

He was trying to weigh what would be the right thing to do. From the deathly stare he was getting from the Tsuchikage, he just knew there would be hell to pay for this. "Gaara!" yelled Kankuro. "Gaara! Please!"

He looked across at the man who now held a shaky Kunai in his hand. "I-…" he looked back up to Kankuro and then over to the worried look on the Tsuchikage's face.

"Wow, a minute wasted." Naruto said staring at the half burned tag.

Gaara looked back over to his begrudging opponent and the sand from his gourd busted out of the top. "I'm so sorry…" he whispered lowly sending wave after wave towards the man who did his best to dodge the flood of sand. Losing his footing, he fell to his back and was engulfed completely. Gaara tried hard to kill the man, but for some reason he couldn't crush him.

Suddenly a hand of stone burst from the sand. "Thirty seconds Kazekage." Naruto said. Gaara grit his teeth and shut his eyes. Suddenly, his sand took on a much more demonic look with cracks covering its surface. His right eye turned black with a golden iris. With the help of the Shukaku, he was finally able to crush the man with ease.

"No!" yelled the Tsuchikage beating the barrier with all she had. "Fuck!" she bellowed out as she dropped to the ground. Gaara felt remorse for his action, but relief seeing that the tag stopped its burning. A flash of light blinded him and he was back next to Kankuro.

Everyone remained silent, staring at the mutilated body of the Iwa shinobi. Naruto eyed the Tsuchikage whose eyes were on the ground beneath her. He was waiting for the outburst and sure enough he received it. She hit the barrier with all the strength she could muster. "Let me out of here! I'll fucking kill you!" she yelled. "I swear on everything! I will fucking kill you!" she yelled, whether the threat was for Naruto or the Kazekage, no one knew.

Naruto was not fazed by her worthless threats, he simply shrugged it off. A hand popped out of the ground within the arena and dragged Akatsuchi's body down. "Well, revenge seems to be on your mind." He said going through hand signs. The Tsuchikage appeared in the arena, staring over to her opponent.

"Shit." Kankuro whispered softly to himself.

"No!" The Kazekage yelled seeing the danger. "Wait!"

Naruto just stared out wondering what the Tsuchikage would do. Her hate filled eyes pierced into the Kazekage's worried gaze. "When can I start?" she asked suddenly.

Naruto shrugged. "This ones on you… if you don't want to do it, you may return to your barrier." He informed her.

Kankuro released the breath he didn't know he was holding. His heart skipped a beat when a rock spear popped out of the ground and nearly punctured his chest. He jumped back just in time to avoid it. "Hey! What the hell!?" he yelled out to her, pulling his favorite puppet from his back.

The Tsuchikage went through hand signs and spit out some kind of strange lime concoction that covered Kankuro's prized puppet. The slime also covered his feet, holding him in place.

"Hey! Wait!" he yelled out throwing his hands up.

"Tsuchikage! Please!" the Kazekage yelled out, begging for his brother's life. "He has a family… please don't…"

The Tsuchikage stared at Kankuro's trembling body intently. Slowly, a rock spike rose from the ground next to her and she snapped it off. "…So did Akatsuchi." With no mercy, she threw the spike forward, impaling the helpless man. It tore through his head with ease, splitting his skull in two. Silence rang through the area with everyone's eyes on either the dead body or the ghastly look on the Kazekage's face.

"Let me out…" The Kazekage said lowly, trying to draw on the powers of Shukaku. Naruto just stared at him. He knew at this point there was a blatant hatred resting between the two. It was an inevitability. "I said, let me out." He repeated with a disgusted look on his face.

"In time Kazekage." He said looking back to the Tsuchikage. "The Tsuchikage hasn't truly played yet." He said going through hand signs. In a flash of light, Kakashi appeared in the arena.

"h-Hey! No!" Menma yelled out until Minato put his hand on his shoulder.

"Menma, he'll be fine." He said.

Naruto stared at Kakashi, knowing full well what was to happen. "Now." He said, looking towards the Tsuchikage. "Your revenge is out of the way. You fight for the survival of your prize." A muffled cry of desperation left the gaged mouth of Makatsuchi seeing her tag lit aflame. "Your time begins, Kurotsuchi." He said using her real name.

Without hesitation, she chunked spikes of rocks at the Sharingan wielder. Kakashi jumped to the side, kicking off the barrier to avoid the next barrage. When he landed, he leaned back avoiding the next strike. Quickly, he jumped up, dodging the slime she used against Kankuro. Figuring the only way to survive was to fight back, he rushed her with a kunai in hand.

Kurotsuchi pulled one of her own and clashed with him. She began slashing at him like a woman possessed and Kakashi was able to avoid all of them thanks to his Sharingan. Feeling desperate, she yelled out in anger. "Argh!" Kakashi got her off balance and kicked her away. He slipped in between the two spikes she shot out at him. Immediately, he had to dodge another that shot out of the ground. Going through hand signs, he slammed his hands on the ground and a wall of mud shot up in front of him, blocking the slime.

He jumped away before the spike that jutted from the wall pierced his neck. Losing his footing, he rolled back and scrambled away from the airborne Kage coming down on him with another spike in her hand. To the horror of the Konoha individuals she drove it straight through his chest. Naruto chuckled seeing the clone burst into a cloud of smoke and the real Kakashi pop out of the ground delivering a round house kick to the Tsuchikage's face, sending her into the side of the barrier.

"One minute." Naruto informed the frustrated woman. She growled again and went through hand signs, puffing her chest full, she spit out big balls of lava that Kakashi had difficulty dodging. Jumping up, he was caught vulnerable in mid-air. She spit a ball of lava at his unprotected form. Thinking quickly, Kakashi packed his left eye with chakra and opened it, displaying his Mangekyo Sharingan. The ball of liquid flames was sucked into a portal in thin air.

When he hit the ground, he covered his eye and nearly fell over from the backlash of using that technique, quickly he had to roll forward to avoid the spikes shooting out of the ground. He was cut alongside the back of his calf in his escape, inciting a yelp of pain.

"Ten seconds." Naruto said, upping the adrenaline factor once more.

The Tsuchikage's panicked look stared up into the eyes of her best friend in desperation. Like a child begging for something, she squealed out a hollow, "Please!" that was either directed at Naruto or Kakashi. She threw everything she had at the silver haired man who dodged each attack as best he could. He was just too hard to hit within the confines of two minutes.

"Five, four, three, two…" An explosion rocked the area as the Kunai next to Makatsuchi shot off. A barrier shot up around her space, protecting the others on the ridge, but they all felt the violent tremor. None more so than Kurotsuchi who froze in horror and stared at the smoked out barrier that slowly cleared revealing nothing but bits of what used to be her friend.

Her face contorted into a look of true and undeniable pain. She hit her knees and covered her mouth to hide the silent scream that was stuck in the back of her mouth. "….Argh!" she yelled out in sorrow. "Maka…!" she hit the ground beneath her and the surrounding viewers could feel her sadness from a distance. Kakashi more so than anyone as he sat back, trying to catch his breath.

"It would seem that your prize has been eliminated. That means you have lost. If you so wish, you are free to go." He said preparing to send her back to the platform her barrier once stood. She shook her head causing him to stop to see what it was she would do.

With tears still streaming down her eye's she looked over to Kakashi with nothing but pure hatred. "Hey! No wait!" yelled Menma, being somewhat mimicked by Minato and Kushina seeing that she was going to kill him.

Kakashi scrambled back, in her last series of attacks she was able to mess his leg up more than just the cut to his calf. He grit his teeth seeing her charge towards him. He was completely helpless at this point. He put too much chakra into that Mangekyo technique and now he was left helpless. Naruto watched on in interest.

In her rage filled sprint towards the man that refused to die to save her friend, she pulled a spike from the ground. All she saw was red at this moment. In the span of an hour, she lost two of her closest people. She had long been sent over the edge and she just had to kill someone. She had to.

Bringing her hand down on the silver haired Jonin with a war cry, she was surprised when her wrist was caught by an unexpected man. It was the masked assailant responsible for all of this. He was here! Looking back up to his throne she noticed he was gone, so this was the real one! "I cannot allow you to kill a participant. You have failed your task so I give you two options. Either leave or die…"

She grit her teeth so hard they ached within her mouth. Seeing this as her chance, she drew a Kunai from her pouch and swiped at him. In other words, she just agreed to die. Naruto hit her in the throat before her arm even came in range, then with absolutely no mercy, he kicked her back, impaling her on a spike that she herself had made. Kurotsuchi gasped at the rock sticking out of her chest and she brought a shaking hand up to grab at it. She could feel her body slowly descending further down the earthen spike and every second of it hurt.

Naruto walked up to her and grabbed her by her hair. "You've done well Tsuchikage. Your people would be proud." He said. "Well, what's left of them." With that said, he snapped her neck with no mercy.

Now, the others finally witnessed what it was they were dealing with. This man just defeated a Kage with such ease. Some of them just wrote it off as her being too emotionally distraught to fight properly, but Menma knew. He knew now more so than ever. Kakashi as well, but as for Minato. Who knew what was going through his mind.

"I apologize for this minor hiccup." Naruto said turning around to Kakashi going through his hand signs. Kakashi appeared back in the barrier with the others. "It was of course expected as human emotions are a delicate thing." He went through hand signs again and the area inside of the barrier returned to normal as if no battle had even taken place. "Now that such a hiccup is out of the way, let's continue." He said flashing back up to his thrown.

"Hokage." Darui called out eyeing Naruto suspiciously. "There is no longer any denying it. You know this man."

Menma looked at him in worry, it was an inevitability though. He refused to speak on it. Thankfully, or unluckily, he didn't have to.

"I know who this is." Said a voice that had not yet been heard. One of the members of the Mizukage's group stepped forward. He was a much older man with blue hair and an eye patch. "Years ago… during the rise of Konoha's popularity due to the growing fame of Itachi Uchiha… there was another name that arose throughout the nation as well… The Second flash…" His statement hung in the air and everyone had their gazes split between the two Hokage and their masked oppressor. "… Is that you?"

Naruto chuckled beneath his mask. "Heh, I'm a bit flattered. I didn't think that little title stuck enough for people to remember it." He said with a shrug.

"He is from Konoha…" The Kazekage said, drawing everyone's attention to Menma who was staring at the furious redhead. "He is a shinobi of yours… and he has caused all of this…" His hands were clinched so tightly on his sides.

Menma had to say something. "…Kazekage… I am… I'm sorry."

"Who… who is he…" he asked lowly, he couldn't even bring himself to lift his gaze. That's where Menma froze. He couldn't spit it out, even if he tried. "Who… is he…" he replied finally staring the blonde in the eyes. Menma's gaze did not shy away, he just shook his head.

With a chuckle, Naruto decided to instigate the situation. "Heh, oh come on Otouto. Don't be ashamed of me now." He said shocking the whole group. Everyone was staring at the Konoha group at this point. This was their family member? "What? You didn't think just anyone could learn the Yondaime's most prized possession did you?" he asked rhetorically.

Finally, the red headed woman that had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal finally stepped forward. "…Naruto…" she called out softly. Tears were already brimming in her eyes. Her heart had been broken one too many times by the man in front of her. Most of it was self-inflicted shots of pain, but this was on a whole new scale. This… this monster couldn't be her son. "Naruto… what is this for?"

"Ah, Kaa-san." Naruto said somewhat softer than he had been all day. "Being an Uzumaki definitely has its benefits huh?" he asked completely disregarding her question. "You haven't aged a day."

Even now he was… "Naruto… please stop this…"

He stared at her for a few seconds before standing up. He turned to look out towards the sea. The day was absolutely beautiful to him. It was a cloudy day with slivers of sunlight shining through the cracks in the clouds, causing streams of light to shoot down on the water. There was a feint clap of thunder that made its presence known every few seconds and brief sparks of lightening that didn't break the clouds. "It is a beautiful day… isn't it Kaa-san?" he said, completely disregarding the others for the moment. "It would seem that my hair color isn't the only thing I inexplicably acquired over the years that I share with you." He said with a chuckle running his hand through his blood-red hair.

Kushina didn't know what to say. Everyone else was at a bit of a loss of words as well. He seemed to be acting somewhat civil with her as opposed to his cryptic badgering of everyone else. He seemed, in a way, much more gentle.

"I guess that goes to show that I was right." He said strolling back to his seat. He sat down and took Ino's hand. "Tou-san and I are more alike than I had imagined. Just as he put his books down for you, I put mine down as well." He said looking at Ino. "Well, sort of."

Ino slid her mask off her face. "Awe, babe." She cooed as she slithered over her throne and into his lap.

Naruto chuckled. "What a pair of beautiful young ladies we have on our hands Tou-san." He said as Ino snuggled into the side of his neck. "Menma as well. I guess we've just got a thing for powerful women." He said with yet another chuckle.

"Please… Naru-kun…" Kushina said as she shook her head. She couldn't understand what this was. Why he was doing what he was doing. None of it made sense. He was mentally assaulting her with compliments? After everything he's said he still had the nerve to speak to them like everything was just completely normal. "Please stop this." She said again, desperation pouring from her tone.

Naruto just stopped altogether. He just stared at her in wonder. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, he went back to normal. "I can't do that Kaa-san. You know I'll die if I do." He said casually. "I'll die if I don't as well, but since I've already begun, I may as well have it mean something."

Her pleading face continued to stare at him in confusion. "Wh-… why are you doing this? Please, just… just tell me why." She begged.

Naruto sighed and looked up to the sky in thought. He was trying to weigh his options right now. "Kaa-san… I am doing this, because I want this all to end… I want someone to create a world… better than this." He explained. "In order for that to happen, it has to destroy itself."

Kushina was confused along with everyone else. Before she could speak up, the Raikage butt in. "If it destroys itself, there will be nothing left for creation."

Naruto just shook his head. "No Raikage, actually that's wrong." He said tilting his head, shamelessly Ino was kissing his neck aggressively as if she were trying to tally up how many hickey's she could give him. "You see, creation and destruction go hand in hand. Think about how a man would cut down a tree to build a home, or a group of men would cut down a forest to build a village, it's all a cycle of destroy to create again. Erase a man's mind and he's a new person. Erase the world and it has a second chance at life. Regardless of what you believe, this world is doomed to fail."

"The world is not doomed." Said the Mizukage with a bit of an edge to his tone. "For sick people like you, it is doomed because it doesn't allow you to control it." He argued.

"For sick people… like me…" he said slowly, examining those words. "Hmm, ironic how wrong you are." he said carelessly. "I mean, if you think about it, there is more wrong with a man who resigns to being like everybody else… It's truly disturbing how each one of you are currently fighting for the right to walk around like dead fish floating down a stream rather than being an individual… Synchronization and normality have become the new social norm, but if you were to go back years ago during the days of the clan wars, they would have laughed at such a thing." He said. "That's the real issue. I mean, you laugh at me… because I'm different… but I laugh at you because you're all the same." *wink*

"Your theories are derived from a psychotic mind and they will only make sense to you and that dumb bitch on your neck." Came the smooth feminine voice of the wife of the Raikage who hadn't said much yet up to this point.

Ino's head popped up instantly and she stared at Naruto who just threw his hands up in an 'I don't know' kind of pose. Ino quietly got off his lap and began walking towards the edge. It looked like she was going to step off, but right as she took that last step, there was a flash and she appeared inside the arena. Simultaneously Samui appeared in there as well. She was much more alert now though seeing the intense look in the blonde's eyes briefly before she slipped her mask back on.

"Well." Naruto said. "This should be interesting."