Chapter 39: The Enemy Within


'I exist solely for the mission.' Sai thought about this for a long time. To him, fulfilling them was what molded him. It sculpted him to be who he was today. But the concept of the self has always escaped him. He did not have any desires, any wants, any sense of fulfilment. To him, nothing matters but the mission.

Root doctrine has thought him to throw the self and to always accept death as if it was nothing more than a mere consequence. Failure was not an option, for failure of one is the failure of all. The collective's needs and interest must come first before him. Lord Danzo taught him this. He could not recall a time where the man's logic did not ring true. He dared not question his leader's motives, nor his purpose for his actions. All he had was what Danzo would give him, his mind swallowed by the shadow of this man's words and his upbringing.

Emotions stir the mind, cloud and disrupt it. There is no benefit to let these things remain, only irrationality. And irrationality, led to failure.

Failure meant death.

Death was the end. Nothing can change on one's death. You were buried, nothing more. You could do nothing, feel nothing see or hear nothing.

That is why he did not fear death. There was nothing to fear. It is only meant to take those who could not go further.

But just even a glimpse of what he had faced during his time as a substitute member of Team Seven, even with all of Lord Danzo's doctrine on shinobi conduct. He still could not understand why almost all of them could fight beyond of what they can do. Act with their emotions intact. And they somehow defeat him with some just with mere words.

He wanted to know, so badly.

His first encounter with them was with the Jinchuuriki, he was humiliated. Not even a jutsu to be made and the vessel proceeded to beat him down with just taijutsu. And the vessel of the Kyuubi merely looked down on him with pity. To him, death was more than just a mere event. He didn't want to put down a docile creature that had no sense of self. This air of superiority that he had when Sai was beaten by this boy rattled him like no other. It did open his eyes for a brief second until he realized, that even with his death, he could not do something about a monster that looked down on him and stated that he was not worth killing.

Does it mean that death meant something? That was his first thought. But he scrubbed it out at first. But he did not die, does that mean that he did not fail? But that wasn't clearly the case. He had been let go to live another day, but he still failed. Danzo did not show disappointment in him but more so on the vessel that remained defiant against the leader of Root. Soon after, he was reassigned to something else, something that was much easier to do. Clearly, Lord Danzo had seen his stock and surely made it known to himself that he was not the operative that could very well fulfil the mission that he had in mind.

So, he did fail, but he was not dead. That meant that Lord Danzo still sees value. Or at least, still see the usefulness of an able-bodied shinobi.

Tirelessly working as an operative with his set of abilities, Danzo had called for him once more, this time, not to act directly but merely observe the threat of the last Uchiha against him.

Danzo still considered his stock low. He was merely tasked to observe by the side and gather information. No assassinations, no sabotage, no subterfuge, nothing.

Still, he performed as he had been asked to, but he was still a failure. He had been found out by the last Uchiha and he was threatened. The boy knew about 'Root' and he spoke about them more as a nuisance rather than a threat. Danzo would have merely ignored this boy's warning. But even he, the man who had promised to kill him should he cross the line, did not act on his threat. Merely mimicking what the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi had said that he was not worth the effort to kill.

Both looked down on him, one with pity, the other in disgust. To them, he was nothing more than a lowly creature. For what is there to kill for a man who has never truly lived?

But it matters not, anyway.

He had given his all for 'Root' and for 'Root' shall he give his life.

Even if it meant consuming him whole.

Sai could not feel anything, could not see anything, could not hear anything.

He let the darkness come to him, his consciousness remained while the Leader of Root used his very being as he pleased.

Outisde himself, Kiba, Tamaki, and Ino were all facing him from different sides. The black eagle from his right shoulder spreads it wings outward, coming out of the tattoo as it came to life. It squawked loud and powerful. But no plumage could ever be seen. It was as if the creature was made of nothing more than the ink on the man's body.

But still, it behaved like a real eagle and with a flap of its wings once more. Only this time, the raptor took flight.

Kiba looked surprised at this as he dodged quickly seeing the sudden speed of the creature before it went up again and had decided to bite his thumb. Kiba rolled up his sleeves, Tamaki noticed immediately another kanji tattooed on Kiba's left arm. Quick to act, Kiba wiped a drop of his blood on the kanji

"Hidate no Heiki: Sokyu (Left Arm Armament: Crossbow)!"

A puff of smoke from Kiba's left arm later, a crossbow appeared atop his forearm, attached to it. This new weapon for his arms were from one of the more seasoned Inugami summons from Yaiba's pack, Sokyumaru had granted him this weapon only a scant few weeks ago. Kiba only knew enough of the basics for it to work but he was by no means a master of the weapon.

There was a problem though, the crossbow was not loaded with an arrow. Tamaki noticed this immediately and was about to warn Kiba when the Inuzuka grinned.

No one in his group knew about Chikuseki no Buso, the final creation of the Kinzoku Sennin, the Sage of Metal. Said person created such a wondrous feat of Jutsu that it remained in perpetual activation for a span of at least thousands of years.

Including, according to Sokyumaru, for a crossbow that will never run out of ammunition.

Kiba could hear the coiling of the string back as a small arrow appeared on the groove and soon heard the tension of the string snap as it let loose the arrow and aimed it at the eagle. The arrow flew straight, much faster than what a regular bow would fly as the eagle managed to dodge by a hair's breadth just under the talons and embedded itself on the wall. Kiba growled at this and went on all fours, chakra swirling around him as he activated the Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique) and ran towards their assailant.

Taking cue of what Kiba was doing, Akamaru left Ino and Katasuke's side as the dog increased his speed to keep up with Kiba as Tamaki went in as back up. Ino brandished her sword, throwing away the Tsuba as she went into a thrusting stance.

Her senses flared, trying to scope out the chakra of their enemy. It felt like it was burning, or rather, spreading out all over his body a familiar feeling escapes her, it was like Lee activating the eight inner gates.

Her eyes widened at this, she shouted to Kiba, "Kiba! Don't fight him head on! He's already activated the first three gates!"

He would not heed her words as immediately, the assassin had reacted in kind, much faster than Ino could warn her friend and he was met with a vicious punch that staggered him to the side, with Akamaru jumping up to take the man down by the neck only for the masked assailant to duck, letting Akamaru pass over the assassin with his black blade drawn.

The assassin stepped forward, aiming to thrust the black sword in his hands towards Kiba but Tamaki was just in time to parry the blow meant for him with her Tekko-kagi opening the assassin up as Kiba retaliated with a slash at the man's throat.

The assassin leaned back slightly, trying to dodge the blow but was a few centimeters short with Kiba letting three scratch marks through the neck as blood spilled out.

But that did not seem to deter the assassin, as in fact, instead of backing off from such a cut, the figure merely recoiled back and spun around to kick Kiba on the sternum as that sent Kiba flying forcing Tamaki to dodge by ducking out with Tama doing the prudent thing to stop the man's advance by unsealing a set of Makibishi spikes on the ground before she jumped back just as Akamaru was about to intercept their attacker.

Akamaru, deciding that this person was more of a threat than he seemed, landed on the ground, turned around and instead of incapacitating, went for the kill. Akamaru's first job now was to disarm the opponent. Akamaru wouldn't have to worry about the man as he was soon attacked by the black eagle circling around from above with its sharp talons. Akamaru managed to evade in time and made a strategic leap back, now standing beside Kiba who had just gotten up and Tamaki who was still in her guard.

Kiba flinched. This man may not kick as hard as Lee, but the added strength of the outpouring of the three of the eight gates certainly brought forth more power than that kick should.

The assassin began to twitch and a low growling sound escaped from him as brandished his sword again, stomping on the floor with his left foot, the makabishi spikes that halted his progress earlier scattered around, leaving his quickest path open to Kiba and Tamaki.

The man then grabbed a scroll from his pouch and tossed it above the black eagle, unwrapping the scroll as he did so as multiple seals lined up written on the paper. It was here that Ino chose to strike.

"Magen: Yasha no Suijaku (Demonic Illusion: Breakdown of the Yaksha)"

The assassin stopped, the world seemed to waver around him, as an image of a blue four-armed warrior flooded his eyes. The warrior stood several feet above him, with spirit burning like flames in his image as it bore down on him. The warrior all pointed its weapons at him as he leaned down and about to strike him. This warrior carried a bow in one hand, a sword in another, a spear in one and a shield in another. This was an invasion of the senses, the nerves reacting to the vision and the auditory hallucinations that the jutsu was projecting, the air around him suddenly felt like a burning field, too hot to move around like a mere movement would scathe his skin in boiling water.

The assassin knew he was in a genjutsu by the time warrior had invaded his senses and with a smash of the shield, he felt like he was slammed into a large object as the illusion debilitated him, his left arm hung limp to the side, he could not make it move. The spear and the sword were about to finish him off when he heard the black eagle gave a loud squawk from up above and let unsealed the contents of the seals from them.

The shout of his familiar got him out of the illusion in time as Ino was about to skewer the side of his head, only by leaning back by several centimeters was he able to dodge just in time, nicking his mask, shattering a part of it.

Time stood still in between them, Ino watched as part of the mask shatters, revealing a part of the man's face. A man that Ino could recognize.

'No…'

But before she could utter the attacker's name, a hail of Kunai had spread out from the scroll, all wrapped with explosive notes.

Kiba watched with wide eyes as the rain of iron fell to the floor and a split second later, everything exploded with Ino being at the center of it all.

BOOM!

The Research and Development Department then collapsed.


In another part of Konoha, Shino and Fuu were at the forest training once more. This time, Fuu and Shino were with Kurenai as she lectured Fuu on misdirection tactics, a style that fit well with Genjutsu users. Their lecture was soon interrupted when a loud explosion rocked the entire village. Alarmed, the trio decided to jump to the trees to get a better vantage point and Fuu managed to take a step further by leaping higher and manifested her bug like wings on her back.

"What on earth was that!?" Kurenai shouted and Fuu, with her beyond human sight, pinpointed the source of the smoke.

"Isn't that the place where Kiba and Akamaru went to?"

Kurenai paled at the thought. Hinata's sister was with them too, along with Konohamaru's team!

"Fuu! Go ahead and see if there are any injured that needs immediate attention! We'll follow you shortly!"

This was the first time Shino had shouted in command as Fuu obeyed and zipped towards ground zero.


Moments earlier:

Ryuugamine had sent out Katasuke to give Inoichi's daughter the equipment he had been fascinated with a side project earlier, but he hasn't yet returned. It was strange. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong as Shiho tended to the Genin while the sealing team had been helping her out, often acting strangely chummy to her.

Ryuugamine ignored that train of thought and went back going towards the door when he heard shouting. The R and D head, now alarmed, was about to run at the door when a concussive blast broke the walls of the building as he was suddenly pushed back, and multiple pieces of shrapnel entered his stomach, chest, and neck with the rest of those inside the room either were blown back from the explosion or were suddenly buried by the rubble. Hanabi's teammates were among those unfortunate enough to be buried into the rubble with one whose legs were crushed by falling concrete.

Konohamaru, being the one who felt something was off immediately and seeing Ryuugamine being ripped apart by the shrapnel, quickly bit his thumb and performed a summoning jutsu as the giant monkey behind him transformed into the Kongoro (Adamantine Prison) and found himself, the Fuinjutsu team, Moegi and Udon inside his prison as Hanabi had managed to protect herself from the rubble with the Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Heavenly Spin).

Shiho, fortunately, was blown back and a sturdy table fell on top of her as she was protected by the falling debris above them. They were all surprised when five sets of large staffs assembled around and above them to protect them from the falling debris of the building.

When the chaos died down, Moegi was the first to see around the damage dealt all around them, with her seeing Ryuugamine-sensei on the floor, bleeding all over the place.

"Ryuugamine-sensei!"

She shouted, the fuinjutsu team started to frenzy to get out of the prison Konohamaru had conjured but Konohamaru shouted to everyone.

"CALM DOWN, EVERYBODY! If I dispel the jutsu now, the rest of the ceiling will collapse on us! Hanabi, can you check on over the injured? Moegi, Udon, get rid of the debris as fast as you can, and I'll figure out a way to get us out of here!"

Hanabi had ceded command over to the Sandaime's grandson and nodded. She approached the first of the obvious of the injured. She checked over to Ryuugamine and her eyes widened.

"Ryuugamine-san has no pulse…"

Ryuugamine was dead.

Konohamaru cursed while the fuinjutsu team were filled with sorrow.

"No… Ryuugamine-san…"

Shiho managed to get up, her hair now more disheveled than ever, she looked at Ryuugamine lying down on the floor unmoving with several pieces of metal piercing him by his back and lying in a pool of blood. She was suddenly shaking as her eyes widened, bile threatening to come out of her stomach as she started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Udon! Moegi! Get cracking! We need to get out as soon as possible! Hanabi, is your team okay?"

Hanabi activated her Byakugan, finding her team stuck in the rubble with one barely alive.

"Hijire is unconscious with a blow to the head, Kanzaki has a broken leg."

Suddenly, a large slab of debris was lifted above with the Godaime standing at the very edge, seemingly carrying a large piece of concrete with one hand while Fuu was scattering about clearing all the easier debris to help digging out her friends.

"All earth jutsu users, clear the debris immediately! Shizune, tend to the injured! Anko, Ibiki, find out who did this!"

She looked down, seeing the faces of the shell shocked genin, the Fuinjutsu team and Shiho, her eyes drifted over to the downed form of her R and D head and saw the fatal wounds that had taken his life.

Tsunade gritted her teeth. Another life wasted.

An hour later, they had managed to extract the remaining people inside the downed building. They found Kiba, too injured to move, had shielded Tama and Tamaki from the blast. A slab of wood and concrete fell on them and Kiba seemed to have suffered a fracture to his ribs. They found Ino, surprisingly alive as she was covered in puncture wounds and several third-degree burns. Inoichi grew hysteric at the sight of his daughter as the medics carried her over to the stretcher. Katasuke, the teen who recently joined the department, with his luck persevering, as he was sent flying outside the building and into the streets, unconscious but very much alive.

Throughout it all, Tsunade's fists were shaking in fury.


Two days later:

Team Seven and Team Gai were back in Konoha and those at the gate were notified that they were in a state of emergency. Hinata had greeted them at the gates and rushed towards Naruto in a hug as she told him about what happened earlier, stressed out that her sister was almost buried alive and her peers were hospitalized due to the attack that occurred.

The feeling of dread escaping them, Sakura was the first to rush to the hospital with Sasuke following suit as Team Gai had to remain at a much more sedate pace due to their injuries. Naruto decided to walk with Hinata briskly towards the hospital asking her more about what occurred.

At the hospital, Sakura was the first to arrive, tired and possibly running on fumes, the girl's adrenalin kicked in and rushed towards the familiar halls of the building and ending up in the ICU. In one of the holding areas, she saw Ino's parents sitting there, asleep and supporting each other with a blanket surrounding them.

She could feel the temperature drop, confirming her suspicions as she approached them.

Every step she took felt heavy, as only the sound of her sandals were escaping now within the hallway. When she entered the holding room, Inoichi and his wife awoke. Sakura closed the door behind her and Sasuke watched behind the glass windows as Ino's mother broke down in front of Sakura while Inoichi looked down as he held a scroll in his hand. Sasuke quietly left the ICU area to look for his cousin.

In another part of the hospital, Naruto accompanied Hinata to one of the rooms as they saw Kiba sitting on his bed while Akamaru sat beside his bed.

"Didn't know they allow pets here." Naruto trailed off as Kiba nodded.

"Special Inuzuka privilege, we can't be separated with our partners for long."

Deciding to lighten up the place, Naruto had jokingly added, "I was talking about you."

"Har, har, very funny, Naruto."

"Naruto-kun." Hinata had warned with as stern voice and Naruto raised his hands playfully with a smile.

"I was only joking. You know we're chummy, right Kiba?"

"Yeah, this is just banter. You should see us when we were kids, Hinata." Kiba replied with a smile of his own.

By this time, Naruto looked serious, "I heard from Hinata what happened. You say that this assassin was targeting Ino?"

Kiba nodded once more.

"Yeah, he was definitely going for Ino back there. His intentions were clear with that first attack. They didn't find the body of the guy so I'm assuming he got away."

"From that?" Naruto asked, looking incredulous that an assassin had managed to slip away from a village filled with shinobi.

"I was sure that Ino got him, but unfortunately, he managed to dodge just in time before he let loose all those paper bombs from his jutsu. Katasuke is lucky to be alive but Hanabi's team and Ryuugamine-san…"

Naruto remained silent as he sat down on one of the chairs in the room followed by Hinata.

"Did you see what this guy looked like?"

Before Kiba could answer, Sasuke walked in the room. The Uchiha looked at Kiba who looked back at Sasuke curiously.

"I managed to talk to my cousin. I hear you shielded her from the rubble. I guess I have you to thank for that."

"It was nothing. She got involved and wanted to help. I'm sorry she went here in the first place."

Sasuke shook his head, "No, you have nothing to apologize for, she decided to be involved on her own free will. She's been meaning to join Konoha for a while and asked permission from Neko-ba. I have you to thank for that as well."

Kiba tilted his head at this, "She never told me that."

Sasuke crossed his arms, "Because she was going to surprise you before all of this happened."

Kiba flinched, he had been found out.

"Guess I can't hide it anymore, can I?"

Sasuke merely approached Kiba and bonked him on the head, "You never should have in the first place."

Kiba rubbed his head, "Hey! Injured person here, you dick! What was that for?"

"For thinking that I would be mad about my cousin dating you, dog boy. Don't take me lightly. I know that you can be a pervert but not a coward. What makes you think I would be mad about her decisions? She's a distant cousin. I don't have any authority to be angry at you. What makes you think I care?"

For good measure, Sasuke hit Kiba on the head again.

"Ow!"

"That's for hiding this behind my back, Kiba."

"Alright, that's enough. We have other important matters to discuss here." Hinata was surprisingly the one to end the conversation that was losing track.

Naruto nodded, "Back to the matter at hand, Kiba. Did you see what he looked like?"

Kiba crossed his arms, trying to remember what happened. He recalled Ino almost impaling the guy to the head when the mask shattered.

"I couldn't, but before the explosion, I saw Ino's posture changed a little, she was looking surprised and stopped her follow up. It looked like she knew him."

The three people to his front all looked at each other then back at Kiba.

"So, the one who can answer all our questions then…" Sasuke trailed off as Hinata nodded.

"… It will be Ino. She most likely did recognize her attacker."

"Do you remember the guy's scent, Kiba?" Naruto asked and Kiba nodded.

"Yeah, I wanted to track him down as soon as I woke up, but the scent has all but disappeared. I didn't expect him to be able to hide his scent. But he's really good in keeping his tracks hidden."

Naruto leaned back and began to think.

"If his job was to kill Ino and he failed, then my best bet is that he'll come back to finish the job."

Sasuke and Kiba looked at Naruto with his insight, surprised to see the blonde be so thoughtful of what might happen next. Naruto then continued.

"But that would be out of the question. The intelligence division would have thought of that would be the most obvious choice. So, he's probably still prowling."

With that, Naruto remained still, letting the natural energy enter into his system as he activated sage mode.

Inside Sasuke, Indra was looking at the blonde intently.

Naruto entered sage mode to note if there were any disturbances around the hospital, trying to get the feel something that something might be off. Sensing Sakura, it must mean that she was with Ino currently.

Naruto then added, "Although it's the most obvious choice, I think our assassin here is surveying the rotations and ins and outs of the hospital on how to do the deed and looking at exit points."

"He'll be back, huh?" Kiba leaned back as he looked up at the ceiling and clutching his sheets tightly. He remembered being outclassed so easily by this assassin not just in the power department but in skill as well.

Naruto nodded, "He most likely will. He hasn't done his job yet."

Naruto then turned to Sasuke.

"Sakura just visited Ino. She's alone with her right now trying to get through Ino. There are six ANBU members currently stationed above the hospital with two with direct connection to Ino's room. Sasuke, you need to go there. I'm not confident about the protection being offered. Either way, finding our attacker is our top priority, I don't need to remind everyone else of that problem."

With that, Naruto stood up and left the room bidding his farewells to Kiba and Sasuke as Hinata followed suit.

"He's taking this uncharacteristically calm, even for him." Kiba commented on Naruto's posture as Sasuke nodded.

Perhaps he was, Naruto may have only known the head of the research and development head for a few weeks, but he had come to know the man favorably since he's knew Ryuugamine. His death may have affected him badly.

When he got out of the hospital along with Hinata, Naruto was suddenly met with the Fuinjutsu team who all were patched up at the hospital. One of them gave Naruto a poorly kept notebook filled with notes that Naruto could tell from Ryuugamine's writing. Naruto looked down at the notebook and then looked at the sealing team.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Naruto asked and the team nodded as one of them spoke.

"Ryuugamine-san always did love his experiments, Naruto-san. He always kept notes on what he did and kept his unique sealing formulations there. His last notes were all about the sealing techniques you sent him. He never managed to complete his work."

Naruto opened the notebook and found countless notes on seals that Ryuugamine had been working on and researching, all of them led to countless discoveries that Ryuugamine had been making with one last weapon design that he would give to Tenten and another seal that his team had been toiling for weeks.

Still, there were missing notes, formulas that didn't add up, at least half of the sealing formula remained unsolved, but Ryuugamine had paved the way to a seal that Naruto could suddenly see a roadmap to where it led.

He had found his power source.

He had to go to the Hokage's office.

With that, he said his thanks to the group and bid them farewell. He looked at Hinata asked her, "We need to go to the Hokage."

Hinata looked at Naruto and noticed his determined expression as if he had found something serious.

When they reached the Hokage tower, he was met with Tsunade talking to an unfamiliar face to Naruto. The Godaime looked serious and seemed to be showing no signs of stopping.

"Katasuke, I know this may be sudden, but I want you to be the new head of the R and D group. Ryuugamine did a fine job and has left casting a shadow on the department, but his work remains undone. The Fuinjutsu team there will be able to help you in some way, but for the others, I'll patch up a team for you to get you up to snuff. One of my shinobi has a forge with her family as the owners and smiths, they'll help you there."

"B-but Godaime-sama… You can't just give me the position, my tenure has only been a few weeks and Ryuugamine-sensei still only gave me a fraction of what he knew, aside from that, my best field is on engineering, I am far below than a novice on other fields like Ryuugamine-san was. Ryuugamine was a true scientist compared to me… I can't replace him… This village can't replace him."

Tsunade nodded, "I know exactly how you feel. The Sandaime was like that to me too, yet I was chosen for this job. In many aspects, compared to Sarutobi-sensei, he was a lot more well-rounded. He knew almost all the jutsu within this village and has learned all that he needed to learn in his life. But I'm sure he felt that way too when he was given this job. We have a lot of big shoes to fill. But we must accept that if no one can do the job better, then no one will be sitting here."

It was here that Naruto made his presence known, followed by Hinata.

"She's right, you know."

Naruto remarked now standing beside Katasuke. The blonde then continued.

"Somehow, we need to be able to step up. Because those left behind can't afford to stay inferior. One day, we will have to fill up the space left behind by our seniors, no matter how difficult it can become. Because sometimes, we don't have a choice BUT to take that step."

"I'm sorry, you are…?" Katasuke trailed off and Tsunade nodded.

"Katasuke, meet one of the heads in the Research and Development Department, specifically, the head of the Fuinjutsu branch. He's about as young as you, but he was given that role since he's currently the most available Fuinjutsu user we have right now, Uzumaki Naruto. You'll be working with him on seals after they get you up to snuff. He doesn't have a lot of experience in leading a team this specialized, but he's worked pretty well with the team so far."

Katasuke suddenly felt at ease, knowing a teenager like him managed to grab a high position in Konoha's organization.

"Oh, Naruto-san, Ryuugamine-san told me a lot about you. You were apparently given the position a few weeks ago as well. He told me that the Fuinjutsu team has been gaining a lot of traction. But the members are still short staffed even now."

Naruto gave the young scientist a smile and shook Katasuke's hand as he handed out his own.

"Let's talk about that later. Right now, I have a report to make."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "If you're talking about your rescue mission, Kakashi and Gai filled me in. Shikamaru just submitted his report. Right now, you need to rest."

Naruto shook his head and handed Tsunade a used and unkempt notebook with a lot of page clips for references on the side.

"I didn't come here for that."

Naruto then motioned to dismiss Katasuke for now and Tsunade nodded, thinking that the matter was sensitive.

"Then what did you come here for?"

Naruto then motioned to the notebook and placed his hand on top of the cover.

"This has Ryuugamine-san's notes here with reviews and seal specifications for what I think is the solution to Takamagahara's power source. He's already completed at least half of the work needed to be done."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this. She had indeed authorized the R and D section with the project that Naruto and Jiraiya wanted to finish. This was the first time she had received an update ever since she greenlit it.

Tsunade was fascinated on the notes left behind by her late scientist. His notes were detailed and precise right down to every matrix construct that came with the seal design and proposal.

A knock soon came from the door and Tsunade was met with Ibiki who had a scroll in his hands.

"Ibiki, I assume that you found out who destroyed the department building, injured my ninja and killed my staff?"

Ibiki shook his head. "One of my agents had stumbled upon something you might be interested in, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade raised her eyebrow at this.

She unfurled the scroll and her eyes widened.

She immediately closed the scroll up and placed it under her desk.

"Is all the information in this scroll true?" Tsunade asked and Ibiki nodded. "It's from the same archives that they usually snoop in. Apparently, Danzo isn't as thorough as he would have hoped. We managed to clean-up the redactions that he had placed in there. But the account has been authenticated and verified as Uchiha Itachi's handwriting."

Tsunade scowled and Naruto was surprised by the name being dropped by the intelligence agent that Ibiki had spoken of.

"What's this about Sasuke's brother?"

Ibiki was about to speak but Tsunade raised her arm and told the older man to let her speak first.

"We speak of this tomorrow afternoon, Naruto. Prepare the jutsu to get us to Takamagahara. Bring Team Seven with you, it concerns Sasuke."

"Does this involve the massacre?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, and more."

With that, Tsunade hurriedly dismissed the blonde to inform Kakashi as Ibiki looked apprehensive of Tsunade's decision.

"Is it wise to let Uzumaki learn of this? Better yet, is it wise for Uchiha Sasuke to learn of this?"

Tsunade nodded, "Secrecy is a necessity in this profession, but we need all the help we can get. If Sasuke reacts badly, then at least he'll have Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura to contend with and calm him down. Bring Falcon here as well, I want to brief him of what we have to do tomorrow."

Ibiki kneeled and affirmed of what the Hokage ordered before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.


Konoha hospital:

Sakura monitored Ino's vitals set on her screen. She had been brought out of the cubicle by Sasuke earlier to remind her to take care of herself and shoved her into one of the staff quarters in the hospital to take a bath and sleep for a moment. She had agreed to the former but refused the latter. When she had heard what happened to Ino, a well of emotions stirred within her, particularly, terror. She was terrified. She had patched things up with her three years ago and had been slowly building their friendship back again to what it once was, only for this to happen.

Sasuke had told him about Ino's encounter in much better detail than what Ino's parents told her. But to hear about it in excruciating detail only hurt her more. The members of the Yamanaka clan had tried earlier to probe her mind to at least get an answer about the identity of the attacker, but it had somehow remained shut. Inoichi had said that Ino had developed a resistance against mind probing techniques being part of the T and I team and was personally trained by her father to resist all forms of mind projection and probing to the point of doing so unconsciously.

It was ironic, really.

If Ino did not survive, she would be taking that secret to her grave.

No, Sakura shook her thoughts. She would not allow herself to think about such things. Ino was a fighter. She would survive this. She had to.

"Sakura-san, you should take your rest. Your mission has tired you out and you've been dozing off trying to monitor Ino-san's condition. These things don't happen immediately." One of the nurses shook her by the shoulder but she slapped herself on her cheeks to stay awake.

"No… Ino, I need to help her. I need to make sure she wakes up."

The nurse, seeing as she couldn't force Tsunade's apprentice to budge, only gave her a blanket and a mug of coffee on the desk to keep her awake. She was clearly distraught. Sakura needed help.

Sakura had tried to reach out to her earlier, but she got no response.

A bitter chuckle escapes her. Of course, there wouldn't be a response in her current level of consciousness. She was comatose, her bodily functions were operating at a minimum that kept her alive. She had been hooked to multiple drips, some of what she could tell, was only given to post-arrest patients. That meant Ino almost didn't make it.

Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Dopamine, Dobutamine, Hydroxyethyl solutions, they were all given to her, yet the machine could only tell her that this was her current state of equilibrium.

She held her hair and crumpled it in frustration and grit her teeth as she closed her eyes. Her mind was telling her that she is close to death, but her heart told her to keep reaching out.

She quietly sobs. Hoping against all odds that she would make it.

"Sakura."

Sakura turned around and saw Sasuke standing there, now wearing civilian clothes who also freshened up. He sat down beside her and quietly let Sakura let out her frustrations.

"It's happening again." Sakura started and Sasuke remained motionless as he let her speak.

"I'm powerless to do anything. I've tried reviewing her chart, see if they missed anything, see if there was any other solution to help. But it said the trauma Ino suffered isn't just the burns, the wounds, the broken bones, there was also head trauma. Her brain was rattled, multiple bleeding points, she lost a lot of blood, she went into shock almost immediately… She was handled as best as they could. Tsunade-sama saw to it personally, I just made sure to keep her heart beating."

She cried once more.

"But why isn't she waking up?" Sakura asked to no one, she wiped her tears as Sasuke placed a hand on her head.

"Just as when we've been getting close again…"

It was here that Sasuke finally spoke, "I… Never knew the feeling of seeing people close to me surviving only to see them slowly fade away."

"Naruto…" Sakura had cut off Sasuke but he beat her to the punch.

"… As far as I knew back then he died almost immediately."

Sasuke did not like dwelling in the past, especially now that he had a better perspective on things. Sakura had helped him see through most of it. His team did, as a matter of fact.

"But I know what it feels like to lose them. To see their faces every night, dying in front of me. The nightmare… Never goes away."

Sasuke closed his eyes, remembering the feeling of that emptiness within him, those days of solitude and suffering. The pain remained, but in time, he healed. His hatred never went away, but he was different now. He never held on to his hatred again like he used to. But his purpose remains, to seek out justice for the things he had suffered.

"But I know that for those that are still alive, we still have to hold on. Grasp everything that we can and hope for something, like a prayer."

Sakura leaned into Sasuke, she let her tears fall once more as Sasuke continued.

"Even if there is a tiny chance to survive, even with all of those facts, then you have to keep fighting."

It was here that Sakura nodded she hid her face again once more from Sasuke and throughout her sobs, she could finally smile.

She had to fight for Ino's life. She can't wallow in despair again. Not now, she had to give everything she has for her friend.

For once, Sakura finally found her comfort. She was not giving up again, she wouldn't, or rather, she couldn't. Not anymore.


Outside Konoha, undisclosed location:

He once more failed. Even as a sacrifice, he couldn't finish the mission. At the very last moment that he had unleashed his plan, Sai had every intention of killing Yamanaka Ino. But none of the explosive notes managed a direct hit, only Kunai, as Ino, not only was mindful of her position even if it was sudden and managed to deflect away some of the explosive notes around him with a natural grace of an ANBU armed with a blade. And even with the building collapsing around them, Ino had managed to survive, just barely, by falling to the side in between large parts of the debris to shield her from the falling concrete, wood and metal as she hit her head on the side of the large debris. He had looked at her, her eyes remained fixed on him even as she lost consciousness.

Sai sat by a tree, near the roots as he looked up. He had his left arm broken or so he thought, he couldn't feel it, it could barely move, and the pain was quite unbearable. Probably due to a strike that he had not seen under the influence of Ino's genjutsu.

Sai was breathing heavily. The injuries he had sustained had left his body on the brink of its limits. The forced opening of the gates brought him more pain, and his body was catching up to the abuse that he had subjected himself into. Sai felt his neck and his head, it was hot, he was suffering from a fever.

He had to rest. He was so close to the base. He was debating with himself if he should fulfil his mission or report his failure.

Sai grabbed a pill from his back pocket. Danzo had given them supplements to act as first aid just for contingency purposes. The man had managed to glean in on the medicinal pills that the Akimichi clan purposely used aside from the three pills he knew. It would help alleviate his symptoms.

Sai popped the pill in his mouth and almost immediately, he felt some relief as the pain slightly died down and his body temperature slowly normalized. His breathing controlled, Sai took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His mind still questioning if he had to continue his mission or not.

If he were to fail again, then even Lord Danzo would be inclined to decommission him.

Death would only be his reward, never having to fulfil a mission.

And the mission came first.

With a grunt, Sai stood up from the tree and decided to continue his mission. He would kill Yamanaka Ino, but this time, he was going to make sure that she was dead.

For if he failed Lord Danzo, he would fail Konoha.

The seal reacted once again, and Sai growled lowly as chakra began to move. His chakra was reaching to dangerously low levels.

The mission MUST come first.

With that in mind, Sai turned his back to his supposed destination and went back to Konoha, for the first time, he would indulge himself and not let the contemplation of his failure get into his head.

'Let not fear dictate you from your objective. If death must come, accept it.'

This was one of Root's doctrine. He has yet to fulfil his mission. He must succeed, no matter the cost. With that in mind, Sai dons once more, his broken mask.


The next day, Naruto and Team Seven had arrived at the Hokage's office in the afternoon. They were greeted by Tsunade who was standing alongside Jiraiya who had gotten word of his team's discoveries and rushed back to the village. Along with him was the current head of the ANBU, Falcon.

Team Seven stood in front of the Hokage and her former teammate. With the necessary people now present, Tsunade looked at Naruto and gave him permission.

Naruto grabbed a scroll from his pocket and gave it to Tsunade. With that, the Hokage had unfurled the scroll and bit her thumb before she smeared her blood on to the seal.

Jiraiya wasn't concerned about this, Tsunade, after all, had the blood of the Uzumaki flowing through her veins as well. The effect was immediate. A large cloud of smoke escaped from the office as the space in between the two parties began to contort and be swallowed by something that Kakashi could tell was a distortion.

Kakashi's eyes widened. His vision turned into a blur just as much as his students, particularly Sasuke and Sakura as he looked at Naruto who looked like he was used to such things.

"Welcome to one of the Uzumaki clan's greatest secrets. This is the Kuchuu Yosei Takamagahara (Flying Fortress Plain of High Heaven)"

Those unfamiliar with the placed looked around and saw nothing but steel sheets as walls with multiple tiles that seemed lightweight compared to the walls.

When everything was settled and everything didn't look like soup, Kakashi turned around and found out he was not at the office anymore, but rather, something like an assembly room, reminiscent of the ones the jounin had when the Hokage wanted to announce something and had an assignment for her forces.

"I'm sorry that we had to go here of all places, but we cannot trust the eyes and ears within Konoha that may lead to our current problem."

Sasuke's eyes flinched a little, picking up that the Godaime Hokage could not entrust what she needed to say to them around others. To involve him meant that he was being entrusted with a secret that could spell trouble for the rest of the village.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

His attention turned to the Godaime and he complied, turning to the head of his village as Tsunade had another scroll in her hands.

"I want to say that whatever it is that we discuss today that I am giving you an opportunity that you will not want to refuse."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What is it that you need me to do?"

Falcon nodded, months of grueling, unforgiving and hellish attempts to make the Uchiha less likely to desert showed itself within his subordinate. Sasuke looked at his former teacher and recognized the man as affirming his abilities, a form of respect earned from endless toils and hardships.

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya then to Falcon as she looked back to Sasuke, "A chance to seek justice."

Sasuke's eyes widened, his heart beating a mile a minute. Justice? What is the Hokage talking about.

"What is going on? Is there something about my clan that I should know about?"

Jiraiya nodded, "It actually concerns all three of you members of Kakashi's squad. But hear out the Hokage first."

Tsunade graciously and silently thanked her teammate, "I'm sure you're all familiar with Sarutobi-sensei's old teammate and rival, Danzo, correct?"

The three nodded and Tsunade continued, "Shimura Danzo has been a thorn on my side since my inauguration. The man has been responsible for a lot of problems that Konoha is having internally, he acts as an independent force within the village with his indoctrinated shinobi. And he has possibly wronged all you three with his schemes."

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and digested her words. She was establishing Danzo as dangerous man that Konoha wanted to do nothing with. Perhaps he was, his organization was an open secret to Konoha's shadow ops unit. The ANBU, the Hokage's personal unit, knew of its existence and its operations. Many deemed questionable as many of the missions they undertook were never authorized by the Hokage.

"All of us?" Naruto asked, as Sakura's eyes widened.

"Did he order a hit on Ino?" Sakura scowled. The question was why.

"Possibly. I've been tailing one of his agents for the past few months and the intelligence division suggested Ino be the one to monitor and gather the necessary information on Danzo's network and structures. Somehow, Ino's target managed to get away from her and never returned, she was the ideal candidate, she had training from Kurenai as a genjutsu expert, training from Anko and Ibiki on interrogation methods due to her sensor abilities and her ability to invade the mind. Danzo must have known this and acted to remind me that I shouldn't snoop around his business."

Sasuke stepped forward, "So, he targeted Ino so that he couldn't be probed and to deter the intelligence division from acting out against him. Why do we even have this unit?"

The question was legitimate to Sasuke's view. Why have a unit so independent from the direct command of the Hokage? It sounded ridiculous to him. Someone with that kind of force would be considered a threat for it would turn around and will bite the hand that feeds.

It was Kakashi who answered Sasuke,"We're supposed to not have them. Sandaime-sama disbanded them years ago in his reign. But complacency and that old War Hawk's stubbornness and ideals simply did not stop the man from indoctrinating children to his program. By his return to continue his reign after Yondaime-sama, Root had become far too large to simply be brought down by diplomatic means. Danzo had usurped some power over Sandaime-sama."

Falcon stepped forward, "Correct. Danzo has grown far too powerful with his division that stopping him meant imposing a large enough conflict that would be considered as an open civil war."

Jiraiya then continued, "So Sarutobi-sensei had to make concessions. Danzo gets to keep his unit, but the Sandaime would not allow Danzo to be involved in policies concerning the village, as an act that would be considered as mutually assured destruction should one violate the rules imposed by the other. But that ended with the Sandaime's death. Which leads us to what we suspect as his hand when Naruto was taken away."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You mean this bastard was the one who placed me in that hellhole for months?"

Naruto's voice was on edge, his knuckles turning white with how tight he tight he had closed his fists. Sasuke was slowly piecing the puzzle from what he could gather with this meeting. Jiraiya nodded grimly.

"Possibly. The man was bold and confident enough to have struck amidst all that chaos three years ago. He had a replacement prepared just to delay us enough and put you in his hands. It would have worked too, I shudder to think what would have happened if we didn't find you there, Naruto."

Tsunade sighed, "We were lucky. And as a bonus, Naruto destroyed one of their bases as a consequence of letting the Kyuubi out in such a fashion."

Tsunade then turned to Sasuke looking down and contemplating what he just heard. If this man could scheme to this extent, even to the point of getting under the nose of the Sandaime Hokage…

"I'm sure I won't have to spell it out for you, Sasuke. What this could mean and his involvement to THAT day."

Sasuke was shaking in fury, trying to control his own rage at this point.

The question remains, though, "Why?"

He had asked and Tsunade gave another sigh and replied, "Yesterday, there was new information concerning what our people at the intelligence department dug up in the ANBU archives. It concerns your clan, Sasuke."

Falcon then continued, "They were planning a coup, Sasuke. The Uchiha clan decided to usurp the reigning Hokage in order to install a new that was under the Uchiha. We don't know the exact reasons why they were scheming to remove the Hokage, but certain actions had to be done. The Sandaime chose to act and had wanted to act diplomatically and was planning to place either Uchiha Shisui or your brother as Hokage but before those concessions were done, Danzo had most likely meddled and had your brother do the extermination."

"Sandaime-sama's plan was hatched a tad bit too late. Appeasing the Uchiha through his method would have possibly resolved the conflict. In fact, he was planning to train either your brother or Shisui to take the mantle once they were ready. Unfortunately, Danzo chose to strike first."

By now Sasuke's was blinking, the haze on his mind about revenge, justice and retribution all seemed to run in his mind in a blur.

"With that in mind, Sasuke, we have come to a conclusion now." Jiraiya added as Tsunade was now the one to step forward and placed a palm on Sasuke's right shoulder.

"Danzo meddled in Sarutobi-sensei's affairs. What my teacher couldn't do, I will correct that mistake. Sasuke, we are about to perform an extermination ourselves. That or considerably weaken Danzo's powerbase and give you the opportunity you longed for."

Sasuke now knew what the Hokage wanted from him. He felt as if a road had been paved a way for him. A chance to finally seek retribution.

"We want you and your team to be part of this assault we're planning and remove Danzo, permanently."

It was an offer that fizzled out his current state of anger. His rage suddenly went out and doused by ice water. He was shaking in anticipation, mind going blank at the realization that internal politics ruined his clan out of the multitude of reasons that involved something black and white.

Zero. Zero. Zero.

Nothing in it made sense to Sasuke. Nothing gave him an answer. But Sasuke knew what must be done.

Sasuke, without question, wholeheartedly agreed with a nod.

Naruto looked down his fists still clenched in anger. This only reminded him that as Hokage, he would be making decisions far too difficult than anyone in the village would decide on themselves. The burden of Hokage was indeed too heavy for lesser men.


The Hospital:

'The shadow is your ally therefore the night is your ally, do not be seen and you can perform your duty with less trouble.'

Another of Lord Danzo's doctrine. To strike in the shadow and leave nothing behind. He repeated that as he got closer to the hospital and hid in the shadows to observe the hospital, to where he would enter and exit once the deed was done. He would not fail this time, he would right his wrongs.

By the time that the guards that were about to change shifts, Sai began to move. Remebering their pattern, Sai had transformed into one of the staff members and entered the building. His first order of business was to find the room that his target was in. Sai would assume that Ino was in the Intensive Care Unit. The assassin quietly walked around the hallway his steps slowly growing silent as Sai managed to conceal his presence. He had arrived at the intensive care unit and snuck into the station, noting dozens of monitors placed in there and found his target.

Sai began walking to the room and noted that the target's parents were nowhere to be found as he saw the glass cubicles empty.

Sai casually walked inside and readied the kunai with his right palm. As he approached the bed filled with tubes and machines trying to keep Ino alive, Sai silently poised his Kunai above his head.

This was it, this was the moment he had been preparing for. He was going to do it!

His heart was beating fast, he could feel it thumping in his chest his eyes turned into pinpricks as he was about to bring the blade down on Ino's chest.

He found himself stopping just a few inches above Ino's heart. Sai, stopped, he couldn't move. The adrenalin building up for the moment had soon vanished and the pain in his left arm returned in full force.

"Good thing I took Naruto's advice coming here in the last minute or else Ino wouldn't make it." A familiar voice had said behind Sai's back. The assassin turned around and saw Shikamaru with his right hand in a handseal as his shadow stretched from him to the assassin.

In truth, he had already figured out that a return was a high possibility and began to prepare. When he visited Kiba who was getting antsy and nervous telling him about Naruto concurring with his suspicions only confirmed it. He just didn't know when he would dare to try his luck.

And he struck while the iron was hot.

Shikamaru noted the assassin, instead of focusing on him, instead turned around and turned his attention to his objective. His good arm shaking as he tried to resist the constraints being placed on him. He noticed the veins on his arms engorging, his muscles bulging at the strain of fighting against the shadow user's hold.

Sai would accomplish his mission!

His chakra suddenly went into flux, going mad with his sheer stubborn will and the seal that Lord Danzo had given him, granted his will, empty as it is.

Red streams of chakra soon escaped from his eyes, spilling over his broken mask like a red lightning streaking about.

Shikamaru could suddenly feel it, he could hear something primal from the assassin, it the howl of a rabid wolf.

A low growl and a menacing howl escapes Sai's mouth as he fought against his restraints, Shikamaru's shadow suddenly changing into small, thin, prehensile tendrils as they pierced Sai on multiple points, forcing him to bleed all over, but he would not be deterred. He had made the mistake of taking out the ones who meddled with his mission at first, this time, he was going directly for the kill. Sai, for all the emptiness in his heart and mind, found himself a will that would push through this hell he had put himself through and for that split second, he had broken free from his bindings and his only able hand slammed down on to the bed like a hammer of the gods.

"Chouji!" Shikamaru shouted and a large boy with a huge and hulking physique appeared in front of Sai as he enlarged his right fist enough that it would sail over Ino's prone form but would land a direct hit towards the assassin.

"Get. OUT!" Chouji shouted, as he channeled all his strength into that one punch and immediately scored a direct hit, breaking Sai's remaining good arm and then a powerful hit that pushed him back from the room and then outside.

Outside the hospital:

Shino, Hinata and Fuu were just going to visit their teammate and Ino just as they made their way towards the hospital. Throughout this, Hinata had her thoughts still lingering on the grim expression that Naruto and Team Seven showed when they got outside of the office with Naruto telling her to prepare and gear up without much fanfare. He then told her to call for Shino and Fuu and have them prepare as well. All members of Team Gai were currently injured, with what Naruto had in mind, he was going to be short on manpower. He then made his way towards Training Ground forty-four.

She complied when Naruto had worryingly told her of what was going to happen. He mentioned that they were going to drop a boot on the neck of someone.

She had never seen him so angry before. She had assumed his hotheaded tendencies were slowly disappearing and that he was improving in controlling his temper. He was, but this cold and unfeeling rage that he displayed reminded her of Sasuke. She couldn't help but be worried when she held her arm. Instead of pushing her away, Naruto pulled her closer and whispered into her ear with that faraway look in his eyes.

"Hold tight, Hinata, I promise you this. I will bring down the bastard that ruined our lives and I'll make sure that he would not touch you, not anyone else. This ends here."

Though she would appreciate his protective and promise. Hinata couldn't help but feel frightened of what Naruto was resolving for her.

A sudden burst from the window had drove her out of her thoughts as she saw the window near to the ICU unit shatter with the wall surrounding it, with someone being thrown out of the window, landing on another roof, destroying it before hitting a water tanker and destroying it as well and hitting the ground causing dust clouds flying upwards and cratering the road this person landed on.

From the smoke of the window of the ICU unit, Shikamaru and Chouji stood. Shikamaru brandished his black Katana strapped on his back while Chouji brought out his staff.

Sai's world was spinning, his vision blurred and as he forced himself to get up, rolling on the ground and forcing his whole body to get up.

Pain was everywhere, everything hurt. But the haze of the Arayashiki overtook him as if pain was a mere afterthought.

He growled once more and the tatoos imprinted on his body came to life once more.

Fuu was about to charge in, but Shino held her back.

"Get Kiba. He is not as injured as he seems. Get him and Tamaki."

Fuu slowly nodded and flew into the hospital and looked back as she noticed Shino was letting his insects crawl out of his body while Hinata activated the Byakugan.

Shikamaru and Chouji landed beside Shino as the four of them faced off against their assassin, who now had his black eagle encircling above him with a scroll in its talons as it dropped it directly below its master and Sai forcefully used his broken arms and removed his mask biting the scroll with his mouth.

Shikamaru scowled, "So it was you, Sai. You're the one that did this, you're the one that killed Ryuugamine. I assume you work for that bastard Danzo."

Sai did not give a reply, instead he forced his broken arms into a handseal as he grit his teeth from the pain, almost destroying the scroll in his mouth. He could not outrun them anymore and escape, it was far too late for that but he had succeeded.

'Pain is a hindrance, the mind is the caster of the jutsu, not the hands. Ignore the pain, destroy your body if you must, but fulfill the mission. For your success is my success and my success is Konoha's prosperity. I am the will of fire. I am Konoha.'

Those words echoed in his mind. Sai will destroy himself to succeed on Danzo's behalf.

He was sure of it. His resolve was plain to see.

His eyes once more turned red as if crimson lightning made for a veritable storm around him, an unnatural one that disobeyed the law of nature.

"Ninpo… Choju Giga (Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Scroll)"

Five lions then sprung up from the scroll as did two giant black spider, three large birds of prey and finally, a dragon made of ink. The four shinobi prepared themselves.

Sai then dropped the scroll and grabbed the mysterious trinket from his bag, black ink swirled around him as it began to solidify at the tip of the handle and long, black blade made of ink formed from Sai's ink and placed the blade in his mouth.

Eyes crackling like mad from the red color of electricity as he let his life burn.

It was here that Hinata stepped forward, the wind howls around her as Byakko appears at her side in its full form. Tongues of chakra then appeared around her as she commanded the winds to be with her. The wind complies recognizing its master.

Now poised to take the front, Hinata's form was surrounded by a white chakra form that solidified to a pair of tiger ears and a tail, nails elongating and three sharp whisker marks appearing on her cheeks. Though feral looking, she remained her grace and poise as would a dignified queen. Her words held a tone of command and expectations.

"Your path ends here, Sai-san. It is time we put a stop to your master's schemes. Surrender and you shall live to see another day."

Thus, the world bears witness to the birth of new legends.


Original Jutsu:

Hidarite no Heiki: Sokyu 左手の兵器: 桑弓 (Left Hand armament: Crossbow)- B-rank- Kiba summons the weapon of Sokyumaru. A crossbow that automatically loads a round into its hinge and can fire continuously and quickly faster than the use of normal bow and arrows. Blessed with the Chikuseki no Buso, this weapon is a bow that will never run out of arrows. Its automatic firing mechanism is largely in part due to the user unable to fire with opposable thumbs and thus cannot be gripped normally. Thus, it attaches itself on the forearm and its rapid fire mechanism is made in part of a triggering key that Sokyumaru has near his muzzle or with Kiba's hand as he gestures the handle down 'pulling' the trigger.

Magen: Yaksha no Suijaku 魔幻: 夜叉の衰弱 (Demonic Illusion: Breakdown of the Yaksha)- A rank- A jutsu that invades the senses all at once. In the illusion, a four armed warrior takes form and holds within all of its hands weapons or equipment that symbolize four things, the shield emphasizes blunt force, the beginning phase of the illusion, Ino strikes the opponent first with a kick to induce pain and destroy the enemy's ability to perform a guard if he manages to break out of this illusion first, the bow, symbolizes a piercing strike to the target, the spear symbolizes the immobilization of the target by Ino performing a debilitating stab through the abdomen while the final strike, the sword, symbolizes the beheading of the target.

I've been reviewing a lot of my translations and works, so I'll most likely edit the names that I've been doing for my past chapters once I have time.

Next, I would like to apologize about not showcasing Ino and Kiba. I simply thought that it was not their moment yet. They'll be more complete as time passes as well as the rest of Naruto's peers. For Ino, I've been scraping and rewriting her concepts as far as I can remember when I made this. As for future concepts with other characters, they are not done evolving. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata will be our main players as I have always thought about years ago BUT it doesn't mean that I will not showcase the others now, especially Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo and a new team I've been thinking about, I'll hold on to that a little longer.

As always, read and review