I think this is one of the shortest chapters I've written for this fic, but it's still over ten pages, don't worry about not getting your fix. Enjoy.

Elementary

the story of a genius

His Last Bow I: The Case of the Black Heart

After returning to his headquarters after a successful operation and two more Akatsuki members dead, the Detective should've worn the smile of triumph. But that vanished in an instant when he passed a few people discussing a terrorist attack that had destroyed a restaurant in the town's centre.

He hadn't even heard them mention The Spiralling Sphere by name, but he already knew.

And as he finally rounded the last corner to the district, he saw the wreckage, roped off already, but no law enforcement around, in fact, the street was empty. In the centre of the debris, a black flame still burned.

Naruto's hands curled into fists, nails digging into the palms, nearly drawing blood. His body shook as he approached what had once been a place he could finally call his home. He felt heavier with each step, as though he was walking across a swamp, each foot sinking into the mud and threatening to drag him under.

And as he finally reached the ruins, his hands grasped the rope, eyes soft, lips trembling.

He screamed.

And then he jumped over the ropes, heading to over where the underground base had been. He intended to find his companions, even if he had to dig them out of the earth with his bare hands.

The ground had been torn away, easily revealing the staircase that led down to the door of the base. But to Naruto's surprise, the door was just ajar, with not a single trace that it had been forced with strength or jutsus. He stopped outside the doorway, keenly investigating what he could.

"Two people were here," he said to himself. "Itachi and Kisame, obviously. But they knew the code to the door-"

They'd captured someone. Naruto suspected it was Kenta, who had been away for a while, but they could've just as easily got someone else. But if it was Kenta, they must've held him for some time; the ruins looked like they had occurred in the last week, judging by the burning of the Amaterasu, while Kenta had said he was going away for a week, and that would've been nearly three weeks ago.

Unless they'd tortured him for longer, but then again, surely Itachi would only have had to use one genjutsu and that would've been it. But on the other hand, it was possible Kisame had been put in charge of it.

Naruto entered the destroyed room. The furniture was all shredded, the great table was broken into pieces, the fireplace had collapsed, and there was a thick smell of liquor permeating the air from all of the broken bottles at the bar.

And although there were splashes of blood here and there, he saw no bodies. It was possible that they had been found and taken to the hospital or morgue, but Naruto had seen no footprints that would've belonged to any others.

Then he heard a crash above, as though had someone had also entered the site.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

It was Takahiro's familiar voice, and Naruto ran to the doorway. "Takahiro! I'm down here!"

Takahiro appeared at the top of the staircase. One of his arms was in a sling, while he had bandages wrapped around his head, masking his left eye, but it was him and he was definitely alive. He hobbled down the stairs with his own cane until he stood eye to eye with Naruto.

"Thank-"

He was cut off as Naruto drew him into an embrace. "Hey, watch the arm!" He cried out, and Naruto released him.

"You're alright," said Naruto, relieved, until he remembered his other companions. "Wait, what about the others? Tell me they're alive as well! For God's sake, tell me they're alright, Takahiro!"

"They're fine," said Takahiro. "Or at least, I think they're all fine."

"What does that mean? Has someone been taken?"

Takahiro looked past Naruto to the room. "Should we sit and talk in there?"

Naruto caught his breath. "Yes. Yes, that'd be fine," he said. He had to control himself, and if someone had been kidnapped, prepare himself to go rescue them and take down two of the most powerful members of Akatsuki.

They entered the room together. Naruto found a few chairs that hadn't been torn apart and righted them as Takahiro reached into his pocket, finding a pouch of tobacco. They filled their pipes and lit up, although Takahiro required some help with an arm in a sling.

"So how did you know I was here?" Naruto asked.

"I was coming to the base and I heard your scream," said Takahiro. "Anyway, I'll start from the top. This was a good few days ago. Kenta hadn't returned yet, so we were starting to get a little worried about him. Still, we were a little distracted, because Yuzuki had just given birth-"

"What?" Naruto said, almost rising out of his chair.

"Yes," said Takahiro. "A little premature, as the doctors feared, but the twins are perfectly healthy. So, we hadn't really paid much attention to Kenta's disappearance-"

"There's more to it than that," said Naruto.

Takahiro paused. "Well, yes. It was my fault. I was spending all my time in bars and I was causing Michiko and Hishou too much trouble. So they were usually busy spending the days looking after Yuzuki and the nights looking after me."

Something flashed across Naruto's face; Takahiro wondered, was it scorn?

"And then, one day, when I heard the door open and assumed Kenta had returned."

"Hey, Kenta-" Takahiro's voice died away as he stared at the two men before him. He'd never encountered them before, but he knew full well who they were from Naruto's words.

"We are here for Uzumaki Naruto," said the shorter man, Uchiha Itachi. "Please ask him to come out."

Michiko had looked up from where she had been poring over Naruto's chemistry scrolls while Hishou had sprung up from the sofa, approaching them, his hand already at the hilt of his sword.

"He's not here," said Hishou. "Sorry that finding your way here was a waste of time."

"Can I?" asked the blue skinned man, Hoshigaki Kisame, looking down at Itachi.

"I will ask once more," said Itachi. "Please ask Naruto to come out."

"He's not here," Hishou repeated. "Don't you think he would've come out by himself if you two had shown up?"

Itachi's Sharingan eyes blazed, but Hishou stared dead into them with no hesitation. "Now leave."

What happened in the following few seconds was too quick for Takahiro to keep up with.

He vaguely recalled Hishou's sword clashing against Kisame's, and as he drew his shikomizue, a blinding pain awoke in his arm as he heard bones crunch, followed by a sharp pain going through his head and sending him crashing against a wall.

Hishou had put up a good fight, and it was the result of that which had caused most of the destruction. Michiko had thrown in her explosives, but she was too easily overpowered and knocked out.

Then he had lain there, barely conscious as the two searched the rooms, Kisame being unnecessarily destructive. And then, when they'd finally left, he'd seen them take Michiko, and as he opened his mouth to cry out, he heard the building rumble above them.

He had finally managed to get to his feet in a sudden rush of adrenaline, and help Hishou up, and the two had managed to get out before the restaurant was destroyed. Itachi and Kisame were long gone, and they passed out in the street outside, and were rescued by people who'd heard or seen the explosions.

"They took Michiko as well? Why?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Takahiro replied. "But they had to know Kenta's her uncle. Maybe they think he's withholding information from them and want to use her. Or they just might've wanted bait, but then I don't know why they left Hishou and I behind."

Naruto exhaled smoke as he extinguished his pipe. "I'm going after them."

Takahiro nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Naruto. "You're in no condition to fight, and from your story, you weren't able to keep up with them before."

"Just-"

"Be reasonable," said Naruto. "You would only die if you went up against them once more."

Takahiro sighed. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. It's just that- I just- god's sake- I fucking hate this! They came here- and there was nothing I could fucking do! They're mortal men just like me, but there's no way I can even harm them!"

His outburst finished, he leant over, breathing heavily.

Naruto watched him, silent. He'd known for a long time about Takahiro's insecurities about being unable to keep up with ninja- after all, it wasn't like he hid it particularly well. Often he'd wondered if he ought to help him try and bridge the large distance, but at the man's age, it was simply too late through natural means- and artificial means would all have potentially fatal drawbacks.

"Come on," said Naruto, rising from his chair. "I need to collect a few things before I go."

"Your scrolls?" Takahiro asked, as he followed Naruto to his room. "You might have some trouble getting past all the security checks considering how much they smashed this place up."

"No need, I have a failsafe," said Naruto, removing a remote from his pocket and pressing a single button.

Takahiro gaped as the safe appeared in the wall, opening. "What? All that crap- the nine digit code for the remote in the fifth from the left coat in your wardrobe, the button under the desk, the second code and a retina test were for nothing?"

"Well, obviously sometimes I'd be in a hurry," said Naruto, packing all the scrolls and journals into a satchel. "And since I always carry this remote around with me, there was never any real problem."

Once the safe was emptied, they headed back into the main room, Naruto briefly stopping before the broken pedestal that had held Anselm's gear and prosthetic arm. He sealed the numerous items away into a scroll, before looking around curiously.

"Where's the arm?"

"Michiko had it with- oh, there it is," said Takahiro, picking it off the floor. "I could have sworn it wasn't here before."

Naruto placed the arm and the sealing scroll into the satchel, before he passed the bag to Takahiro. "Pass the scrolls around to Hishou and Yuzuki, have a good read. We'll need them for afterwards."

"Afterwards?"

"War, Takahiro," said Naruto. "War is here and even with our losses we have to strike back. Come."

He led Takahiro out of the room, sealing the metal door behind them. "I may be gone for some time. I trust you'll tell Hishou and Yuzuki I was here?"

"Obviously," said Takahiro, and Naruto turned away. "Wait!"

"What is it?"

"You see, the twins haven't been named yet," said Takahiro. "Yuzuki thought you might want to do it. They're a boy and a girl."

Naruto still did not look back. "Give one a name from Anselm's homeland, to honour him. And name one after me, to honour his wishes."

"I don't know any foreign names," said Takahiro.

"Yuzuki will know. Tell her to name him after the man who taught Anselm the sword, one of the few men he respected. Arkell, the fencing master."

"Arkell?" Takahiro repeated it, the foreign word hard to pronounce for him. "That's a boy's name, isn't it? What about the girl then? She gets named after you?"

"Naru is a fine name," said Naruto, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "If Yuzuki disagrees with any of them, tell her the final decision lies with her."

He walked forwards, and disappeared in a gust of wind that left leaves falling to the ground.

"Good luck," Takahiro said to the empty air.

He found their tracks on a slope overlooking the town. They had been there twice; evidently they had once stood there to look out at the town, and then returned to admire their handiwork after they'd destroyed The Spiralling Sphere.

Or they had returned to leave a clear trail for him.

He followed them regardless.

They quickly went to a road, to Naruto's distaste. The tracks were not fresh, and they would be hard to see with all the others who had passed over the road. But here, he managed to make out the presence of a third person.

Kenta. But where was Michiko?

Perhaps he was carrying her. Too scared to run away, but that didn't sound like the Kenta he knew. More likely he was hypnotised as a result of genjutsu.

But where did they go? If Akatsuki wanted to force a confrontation with him, they would pick an isolated place that would be good for an ambush.

Naruto racked his brains, thinking about the geography of the region around him. There was a valley nearby, but it could hardly be isolated, as there was a small village located there. But then again, the village was certainly on this route.

He had to think about for less than a second.

If they were not waiting for him at the village, then they certainly would have at least passed through it. It was decided, and he broke into a run. His dark boots kicked up dust behind him as he tore down the road as though he was running on hot coals. If they'd hurt Michiko and Kenta-

No. He couldn't think about it. He had to keep control, and restrain his emotions. Now he was cured, the last thing he wanted would be to let the fox slip out again.

And as he thought that, he felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach.

He rounded the last bend in the road before the village. The valley was just up ahead, and now he had a much better view, he came to a halt. He plucked a pair of binoculars from a pocket, and looked through it at the village.

No sign of Itachi or Kis- actually, there was no sign of anyone. Naruto frowned, and readjusted the focus as he looked around. No people, no people, no- ah! There was one, lying in the street in a red blanket-

Naruto froze.

With a shaking hand, he looked around for people. It was as he feared.

The entire village had been murdered.

He instantly returned the binoculars to his pocket and sprinted the rest of the way. This did not look good for his teammates. As he came even closer, he was hit with a foul stench of blood and flesh, and it was nauseating enough for him to cover his nose and mouth with his hand.

Despite his initial urge to want to find the two as soon as possible, he went on with caution. He still had yet to sense the presence of these two, as well as any genjutsu or any ambush. Was it possible they had simply slaughtered the village's inhabitants and passed through the village itself?

But that could not be possible with Akatsuki's usual secrecy.

Itachi and Kisame had to be near, and so did Kenta and Michiko. Of that, he was sure.

Naruto walked through the empty streets, until he came to a great clearing in the village's centre. There was some sort of temple there, with pillars in front of it. And there they were. Kenta and Michiko.

Michiko lay on an altar between the pillars, her body bloodied, herself unconscious- or at least, he hoped so. On a wooden chair next to the altar, Kenta sat, his head hung low, without making any movement or reaction to his presence.

He ran forwards to them. He detected no genjutsu or traps around them, to his surprise, and that meant Itachi and Kisame were probably lying in wait nearby.

"Kenta, can you hear me?" Naruto said, shaking the man by the shoulders.

"You came," said the Blacksmith, his voice flat. "I was waiting."

Naruto moved over to Michiko, leaning forwards so he could check her for a pulse. "Where's Itachi and Kisame? Why are they not here? What trap are they planning?" He said, finding a pulse on her wrist and sighing with relief.

"Naruto-"

"When they show up, I'll hold them off," said Naruto. "You have to take Michiko back to the town."

"Why would I?" Kenta asked. "After all this."

"Because-" Naruto cut himself off, as he realised.

He had blinded himself, once again as he had refused logic for the sake of emotion. But now, no amount of denial and emotion could stop the pieces of the puzzle from being completed, and the chain of thought was finished.

And it was then, as he realised it was his emotion that had been responsible for all of this, he was overcome by anger.

Naruto pulled Kenta up by his collar, despite that the man was bigger than him. "You! You're the spy!" He screamed. "You're the traitor!"

It was then he realised, just how much had he blinded himself? Kenta had sold him out to every enemy, Konoha, Orochimaru, Akatsuki. He recalled all of the missions that went wrong, and how Akatsuki had known their location, the code to the door- they hadn't tortured Kenta! He just gave them the information because he was working for them!

On his way back to the town, Kakashi had sent Pakkun after him to tell him about how Kakuzu had mentioned that Naruto wasn't supposed to make an alliance with Konoha "yet". Kenta's information had been false, as he'd been away on that "trip" to get materials. That was why Michiko's radar machine had kept picking up his location as still in the town, he'd never even left! He'd just hidden himself and waited for Akatsuki to show up.

That was why he'd never been able to completely clear Uzumaki Inc. of spies- the traitor had been at the top, and could've easily brought in more.

And Naruto's breath caught as he recalled the last mission that had gone badly wrong as a result of the enemy being informed in advance. A mission, coincidently, Kenta had been nowhere near, and Akatsuki had shown up to boot- because it was all planned.

Anselm was dead because of Kenta.

That was it.

Naruto's eyes turned crimson, as he hurled Kenta to the floor, and activated the cane-blade. He approached, only to see light reflect of some glass in Kenta's hand. It was a syringe, and Kenta injected himself in the neck.

If it was poison, Naruto wasn't going to let him get off easily. He advanced; intent on driving the cane-blade into the man's black heart- only for Kenta to grab the cane before the blade penetrated his chest.

This newfound strength was enough for Kenta to swing the cane back, releasing it at the end to throw Naruto away overhead, and he rose to his feet, picking up a large hammer that had lain beside the altar.

"That was your reward from Orochimaru, I take it," said Naruto, rising to his feet. "Methods of putting you on par with ninja. Takahiro would be quite interested. But you're a fool if you can't realise such a method will have drawbacks."

"And you're a fool for thinking I'd do such a stupid thing," said Kenta. "With a few upgrades from Akatsuki, the drawbacks are minute."

"Good," said Naruto. "I wouldn't want you dropping dead in any manner that wasn't a result of me disembowelling you."

While none of the Kyuubi's chakra had leaked through yet, he could not suppress its bestial mind, and his crimson eyes remained, slit pupils glaring at the Blacksmith.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," said Kenta.

"Do you still blame me for the death of your wife?" Naruto asked. "You killed the man who killed her, and yet you'd still seek to punish me and all those who counted you as a friend and comrade?"

Kenta growled. "You took my wife, and you took my niece."

"What?"

"I'm not a fool like the others," said Kenta. "Even though you care for us a little, I can see you pull us around like puppets, using us like tools to ensure your survival."

"I'm not-" Naruto paused. Somehow, he was reminded of his duel with Hishou. "I am no longer that man you speak off."

"And you used Michiko's infatuation with you to turn her into your slave," Kenta continued. "There's nothing she wouldn't do for you in exchange for a kind word and a smile."

"So you've done this for her benefit?"

"Well, let's see," said Kenta, placing his hand to his chin in mock thought. "Ally myself with the bastard who got my wife killed and uses me and my niece like puppets, or the group of powerful shinobi who we'll probably get killed by if we remain like this."

"You think Akatsuki aren't using you? Can you even hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth?"

"Shut it, you-"

"If you've done this then for Michiko, then explain who hurt her," said Naruto, indicating her wounds.

Kenta snarled. "She wouldn't listen, wouldn't understand what I did for her-"

"She is a stronger, better person than you," said Naruto. "She is my friend, one of six people I deeply cherish. And that is why I will save her from you and Akatsuki."

"Six?" Kenta asked. Michiko, Takahiro, Yuzuki and Hishou obviously made four, but Anselm was dead and he doubted Naruto considered him his friend at the moment.

Naruto shifted into a stance, twirling the cane-blade around his body before holding it ahead of him like a spear. "Pick a spot. I'll make sure to bury you there."

Kenta tightened his grip on his hammer. Then he lunged forwards, a scream escaping his lips, the hammer held over his head ready to swing down.

The cane-blade went forwards as to stab the exposed torso, but already Kenta had moved. His hammer swung from the side, and Naruto ducked, his blade going up to try and stab the arm.

Once again, Kenta had moved already.

Judging by the time in which he avoided his stabs, Naruto estimated Kenta's speed to be around Hishou's, give or take a few milliseconds. His reflexes had improved as well, although not to the same degree.

Kenta came forward with the hammer again, but this time, Naruto did not seek to counter attack, choosing to leap back. Kenta pursued him as Naruto ran through the narrow streets and alleys, his hammer smashing through walls and any other obstacles as though they were made of glass.

Naruto led him up to the rooftops, carefully evaluating the man's skills. His strength could now easily rival Anselm's, robotic arm and all. So far, clear increases in speed and strength, but somehow Naruto suspected there was more to it than that.

But the only way to find out the man's other powers would be through battle, and Naruto took up his stance once more.

"Got tired of running away, did you?" Kenta asked. "Well, it's time to-" He cut himself off as Naruto leapt at him, this time taking the offensive.

"Do you want to see real power, Kenta?" Naruto asked him, his voice deathly quiet with silent rage as he forced Kenta to do little more than parry and dodge his blade.

"Fuck you!" Kenta shouted, as he brought his hammer up to knock away a stab at his forehead. He barged into Naruto, forcing him away as he tried to find some distance, but Naruto kept at him, refusing to give an inch.

They fought for frenzied seconds almost right in each other's faces, neither being even able to swing their weapon properly due to the lack of space. Eventually both simply dropped their weapons and brawled with their fists, finding it far more satisfying to beat the other bloody with their hands.

Naruto's head snapped back from a particularly solid punch that shattered his nose, but he kept moving to deliver a flurry of chain punches to Kenta's chest while his guard was down. While the Blacksmith staggered away, Naruto grabbed his legs and forced him to the ground in a takedown.

He grabbed the man's face, his thumbs digging into Kenta's eyes with a sudden brutality he'd never had before.

Kenta screamed, closing his eyes as he did so, his hands in turn lashing out, punching out at Naruto's face, trying to claw at his throat, or trying to pull back Naruto's hands, but all of it was for naught. He managed to reach out and grab his hammer, and swing it at Naruto's head.

Naruto was knocked across the rooftop, rolling away, bleeding now from his nose and the side of his head. Kenta blinked a few times as though testing his eyes, before he took up his hammer in both hands.

Naruto snapped his nose back into place with a sickening crack. His hands came down, and then his claws burst forth from his gauntlets. He leapt forwards, but once again the hammer swung. This time, not for Naruto's head.

It smashed through the claws on Naruto's left gauntlet, but Kenta didn't expect to see Naruto pluck one of the broken claws out of the air and stab it into the Blacksmith's shoulder. As Kenta screamed, the other clawed hand went for his face, and Kenta barely caught his arm in time.

The claws just touched Kenta's face, and Naruto managed to rake them across the skin, cutting down from his cheek to his chin.

Kenta tried to kick out, but his knee met Naruto's, and the Detective tried all the other harder to make the right claws dig in. The left hand was starting to twist the broken claw in Kenta's shoulder, as Kenta's right hand grabbed his left arm as well.

They grappled with each other there, both refusing to budge. Kenta felt the ground under his feet and waited till he had more grip, and spat in Naruto's face. In that second, he used to shove forwards, wrenching the broken claw out of his shoulder, knocking Naruto's right hand away and forcing the Detective to the ground.

Naruto's knee went up, and then his leg, flipping Kenta over him.

He climbed to his feet and retrieved his cane, as Kenta climbed up as well. Naruto turned around to face the Blacksmith; his eyes still crimson, his face streaked with red.

Kenta shifted in his boots, adjusting his grip on his hammer.

Naruto stared at him, and returned the cane to his belt, carefully strapping it against his leg. He then sheathed the claws on his right hand.

Kenta blinked. "What are you-?"

Naruto charged him with the speed and strength of a bull, and crashed into him as Kenta had just raised the hammer. The two went flying off the rooftop, and Kenta felt the full impact as he crashed onto his back.

Naruto's fist smashed into his face, stopping him resisting, and then he was hoisted into the air, Naruto's left hand holding him by the throat.

The crimson eyes turned blue, and for a moment, Kenta almost saw sadness in Naruto's eyes.

"Rasengan."

The ball of chakra slammed into Kenta's torso as Naruto released his throat.

Kenta screamed as he went flying through the air, the chakra burning him, destroying his insides. He crashed through buildings, and still the Rasengan kept going. It took him all the way back to the temple and he finally came to a stop as he crashed into one of the pillars near Michiko, slumping down amongst the rubble, a bloody mess.

Kenta lay there, only twitching as Naruto approached. "The Rasengan has destroyed your insides," said Naruto. "You are already dead."

"No!" Kenta said; his voice a strangled mix between a gurgle and a snarl. "It's not over!" He clawed at the pillar, trying to climb up again, but it was useless. His hand dove into his pockets, searching for another syringe, but when he finally got it out, it slipped out of his trembling hands, and fell out of reach.

"I'm afraid Naruto-kun's correct, Kenta-san."

Naruto looked up to the temple's roof, and there they were. With their show finished, they had finally stepped in.

"Hey, Itachi-san, the brat looks like he's gotten a little bit tougher than last time," remarked Kisame, leaning against Samehada as he looked down on them.

Itachi did not reply as he gazed over the scene, his face betraying no emotion, as ever.

"You!" Kenta gasped. "You said- if you were here, why didn't you help me?"

"While Akatsuki very much appreciates your hard work, Kenta-san, our interests are only mutual for so long," said Itachi. "You forget we do not actually wish Naruto-kun dead; we are after the demon sealed into him. His death is only an unpleasant side-effect of what will occur when we actually capture the Kyuubi."

Kisame chuckled, evidently having thought Itachi funny. But his laughter only served to infuriate Kenta.

"Then why did you leave me here to face him?"

"Well, there was never any danger of you killing him," said Itachi. "Even after we gave you those boosters, it was still apparent that Naruto-kun is simply superior to you in battle."

"What a wonderful compliment," said Naruto offhandedly.

"But, you insisted on fighting Naruto-kun yourself," said Itachi, continuing as though Naruto had never interrupted. "So we decided to let you, thinking you may get lucky and at least weaken him and hopefully make our job a little less difficult. Sadly, although Naruto-kun did not defeat you unscathed, when you consider his healing ability, none of his injuries look like they'll be hampering him."

"So where the fuck does that leave me?" Kenta screamed.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought that obvious. You're dying. Out of respect for the fine work you did for us, we'll refrain from silencing you and let you live as long as it takes for you to bleed out and your body crashes and shuts down from the damage done to your innards."

Kenta fell back into the rubble, shattered.

Naruto spared him one last glance before looking back at Itachi and Kisame. "Well then?"

In a whirl of their cloaks, the two disappeared and reappeared on the ground, one on either side of Naruto. Naruto took his time to unstrap his cane and activate its blade, while he unsheathed the claws on his right hand.

"Do you want me to fight both of you or one after the other?" Naruto asked.

"Kisame, we'll try and finish this quickly," said Itachi. "If he keeps up for too long, leave it to me. We can't risk you injuring him too severely."

"Sounds good," said Kisame. "Well kid-"

Naruto ducked under the first swipe of Samehada. He'll swing again, and then a third time vertically.

He stepped back to avoid the second swipe, and as he predicted, Kisame pulled the sword over his head to bring it down with power.

Itachi came forwards in a step as though to stab Naruto in the back, but Naruto trapped the kunai between his claws. He twisted around Itachi, placing him in the path of Kisame's sword, and as Kisame stopped, he stabbed Kisame over Itachi's shoulder with the cane-blade.

Just as he did that, Itachi's hand struck him in the face as the Uchiha twisted around, and Naruto jumped back to avoid a strike to the gut.

He moved forwards, taking care to not look into Itachi's eyes, and attacked Itachi, but his cane and claw were unable to get past the kunai. As they locked in stalemate, Naruto aimed a low kick at Itachi's leg, and as Itachi stumbled away, Naruto grabbed his arm.

He kicked him into Kisame.

"You don't feel as powerful as last time I saw you, Itachi," said Naruto. "In fact, have you actually grown weaker?"

Itachi gazed at him, his face as ever, emotionless. "It is true. I am no longer as physically capable as I once was. But you know as well as I do that is not where my speciality lies."

"Genjutsu," said Naruto. "But that won't work on me anymore. Not after what happened before."

"Really? Perhaps you'd put that to the test."

"Of course," Naruto replied, and he raised his head, looking up from Itachi's torso to his eyes.

Then Naruto was trapped in the vines of a tree that had appeared behind him, but he did not react in the slightest, nor did he change the assured look upon his face.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, his only indication as to his bemusement about Naruto not doing anything to dispel the genjutsu. He shot forwards with his kunai, but once again, Naruto caught with his claws.

He did so, despite not having done anything to stop the genjutsu, resulting in that his arm now appeared to be going through the vines.

"How did you do that?" Itachi asked.

Naruto smiled. "I'm so grounded in logic and reality that I'm fully aware that this is not real. As such, I don't even have to do anything to stop it. My body knows this isn't real, even if my eyes see different, and I can still move through it."

Itachi backed away, dispelling the genjutsu anyway. He looked over to Kisame, who had walked away, going around in a circle to surround Naruto.

"So, you've learnt quite a bit over these years, then," said Itachi. He returned the kunai to its holster, his hands forming the shape of a hand seal.

Kisame ran forwards, with Samehada, and as Itachi only made the second seal in the sequence- the ground rumbled, cracks appearing beneath their feet as the earth shook viciously beneath them.

They both jumped away to escape the tremors, landing side by side.

"What the hell was that? Earthquake?" Kisame asked, glancing over to Itachi.

"No, he's doing it," said Itachi, frowning as he seemed to search Naruto's appearance with his Sharingan.

"Some kind of Earth jutsu without seals then?"

"Not quite," said Itachi.

Naruto smiled, and then it was like the entire earth slanted down, sending them back into the midst of the village. The houses shook as they took began to take the effects of the tremors, and what was first only a fight to keep balance suddenly became a struggle to avoid the falling debris.

Itachi blew a falling house out of their way with a powerful Fire jutsu, and then Naruto appeared through the burning wreckage, his cane-blade and claw readied.

They fought through the collapsing buildings, using chakra to cling to any surface that could give them any temporary foothold. Having to put up with both the falling houses and the earth that shook any time they gained the advantage, Naruto was getting more hits in on them then they would've liked, although they'd defend well enough to avoid any fatal blows.

Eventually the two had cleared the main village and made it back to the temple despite Naruto's efforts. They stood once more in the clearing, and if not for the numerous wounds dotting all three of them, there was little that could've shown their fight to even have happened.

"What the fuck was that?" Kisame asked, once again looking over to Itachi.

Itachi's face, despite being mostly blank, held both shock and even the slightest hint of awe. "Impressive. Most impressive."

"Mind filling me in?"

"Naruto-kun is using no chakra for his technique," said Itachi.

"How is that possible?" Kisame demanded, the man completely taken aback. "If he's not using chakra, what is he using?"

Itachi continued. "Chakra consists of both physical and mental energy." His Sharingan eyes glinted. "Naruto-kun has succeeded in manifesting mental energy by itself."

Kisame's eyes widened, as Naruto gave a thin smile. "You've figured it out, as I would've expected, Itachi."

"How the hell do you only use mental energy?"

Itachi then did something very strange for him; he shrugged. "I am not the one who created this technique, Kisame. But my theory is that due to Naruto-kun's intelligence, he has considerably higher mental energy than the average shinobi."

"But unless his physical energy is negative, his mental energy can't be stronger than chakra," said Kisame.

"That would be the beauty of it," said Itachi. "Despite how much mental energy he has, it is still too weak to be manifested as anything other than movement. To be precise, vibrations. The vibrations pass through his body and to the earth."

"So what? He's creating earthquakes with his mind?"

Itachi nodded. "More or less."

Kisame looked back to Naruto. "Fuck."

"But it is not a perfect technique," said Itachi. "Even this technique has flaws. I should imagine he cannot use it whilst moving, or at least to not such a degree of power. Hence the technique being just only enough to shake the ground when we just fought, even though Naruto-kun managed to use it to shift all the earth in the village before."

"An accurate and valid theory," said Naruto. "But just seeing through this technique does not mean you have defeated me. As you've noticed, I'm full of surprises, and I've been preparing to face you two for a long time."

"That much is apparent," said Itachi, stepping forwards. "Kisame, I shall handle this."

Kisame shrugged, and disappeared. Naruto did not have to look back to tell he had reappeared atop the temple to get a good view.

The ground shook and Itachi leapt up into the air, his hands completing the seals for a complex Fire jutsu in mere seconds- as Naruto shot forwards, raising his cane so Itachi would be pierced by the blade as he fell.

Itachi landed on the blade's point with one sandal, with perfect balance.

Even he did not expect Naruto to shake the ground beneath himself, and as Naruto slipped, so did Itachi, the blade piercing into his foot before it was knocked away by the quake.

"You plan for everything, don't you," said Itachi, as he landed on the ground, unconcerned by the blood coming from his foot.

"Including how you managed to wipe the poison from the blade while we fought through the falling houses," said Naruto, and Itachi looked vaguely surprised. "It explains why you're not rolling on the ground, clutching your foot in agony."

"You have a tendency to overthink things, Naruto-kun," said Itachi. "You must be simple, efficient and brutal."

"Such is what a shinobi strives to be," said Naruto. "But I'm not a shinobi."

"Is that so?" Itachi asked. "You use the techniques of one, you fight like one, and you were trained as one. Why hide from who you are?"

"And you do the same?" Naruto asked. He attached the cane to his belt, keeping the claw on his right hand. His left hand went into a pocket, and came out with his fist closed around something.

Judging by his knowledge of Naruto's fighting style; Itachi estimated that the chances of it being some sort of explosive was high, but then again, Naruto would not go to the effort of hiding it.

"I am Uchiha Itachi, the man who killed his family," said Itachi. "That is who I am."

"Please stop wasting my time," said Naruto. "I have precious little time to kill you and your teammate, and I'd rather not have to make any more idle banter."

Itachi actually gave a light chuckle. "That I can agree on."

Shuriken appeared in his hands, but Naruto had already realised it to be a distraction tactic and leapt out of the way of a Shadow Clone bursting from the ground. As he dodged its strikes from a kunai, he already calculated that Itachi was using this as a setup for a ninjutsu.

He caught the kunai between his claws, before falling backwards to launch his foot into its chin, dispelling it just as an incredible rush of flames ate up the earth as it shot towards him.

Just as he was about to dodge, he realised that the temple, and by default, Michiko was behind him. Itachi, that bastard-

He activated the Chakra Shield on his left gauntlet, his forehead breaking out in sweat as a result of the high temperatures that he was weathering, and jointly with fear- being forced to remain stationary against Itachi?

And just as he had finished bearing the flames, he felt Itachi's left hand on his shoulder.

His right hand stabbed Naruto in the back with a kunai, punching through with enough force it was like the breastplate was made of paper.

"Konoha's Silencing Poison," Naruto heard Itachi say into his ear. "The lips, tongue and jaw are all paralysed, preventing the person from talking, if the poison or wound fails to kill. The hands are forced into fists and lose all feeling, preventing someone from writing down anything in their last moments. The poison itself is very painful, filling a man's mind with pain so even his thoughts cannot betray anyone. In this case, it will serve to make it too difficult to concentrate your mental energy, rendering that ability useless."

Naruto knew this poison, he'd even been writing about in his scrolls lately. It could be treated with another poison- he had it on his person. But with his hands forced into fists, there was no way he could apply to himself.

He fell to his knees, the pain starting to get to him, making it too hard to think. He tried to defy Itachi's words and focus his mental energy, but there was no such luck.

"This kunai has punctured your lung," said Itachi, and as he said so, Naruto could feel blood rising up in his throat. Itachi shoved Naruto forwards, one hand opening Naruto's mouth, although he could not force apart his jaws unless he was intent on breaking them. The blood drained through Naruto's teeth, spilling to the ground beneath him.

"While such a wound would kill a lesser man, with your healing ability, you should be able to survive it," said Itachi. "In a few moments, you will pass out. This fight is over, and you have lost, Naruto-kun."

AN: Yes I'm such a dick. We got one big cliffhanger last chapter, and we end on an even bigger one this time.

Okay, time to clear some shit up before you start badgering me.

I did not pull Kenta's betrayal out of my arse. I've been foreshadowing it for ages and I even tried to explain most of it. Although I didn't plan his character out with the betrayal in mind, it later became necessary to find something to do with him other than keep him as "Michiko's gruff uncle who hangs around in the background". I'm sorry, I know many of you were interested in... *goes back to the poll he once made when asking for which OC sounded most interesting*. Huh, Kenta was the least voted for coming second to the one sap who had a better idea for an OC. I guess no one ever gave him any of that sweet Blacksmith love.

Naruto's introduced powers- genjutsu resistance and earthquakes from his mind. The former, although not foreshadowed as much, was created from Naruto's fear of Itachi's skill with genjutsu. In the earlier chapters, sometime after their encounter, it's explained Naruto discovered Itachi had placed a genjutsu on him. It's not perfect, as you could see Naruto still tries to avoid the Mangekyo's Tsukuyomi. The latter, was from an earlier idea I had that I discarded originally in thoughts that it would be too superpowered. The original plan was telekinesis, which would've been superpowered. In this, Naruto shakes the ground, with varying strength depending on if he's moving. He can't exactly open up massive chasms, or destroy entire islands, he's not FUCKING WHITEBEARD ...sorry, but when you mention someone like FUCKING WHITEBEARD, you've got to put all that in capitals and put the word "fucking" before it. Since he can only really use it to either throw people off balance and on their arses (which is handy if they're trying to charge you, make seals or if you want an opening for your attack), or try and crush them with debris depending on the environment, it's not really as powerful as it sounds. You'll notice he used the earthquake trick against Kakuzu last chapter to stop his attack, except Kakuzu was too pissed off at the time to try and figure it out.

Oh, and points to whoever spotted Naruto quote Kenshiro and Itachi quote Darth Vader.

OMAKE: Anselm Fights On (not really that funny, I wrote it in a rush to get out the next installment of Anselm's amazing ghost arm thing)

What happened in the following few seconds was too quick for Takahiro to keep up with.

He vaguely recalled Hishou's sword clashing against Kisame's, and as he drew his shikomizue, a blinding pain awoke in his arm as he heard bones crunch, followed by a sharp pain going through his head and sending him crashing against a wall.

Then Kisame jumped back as something flew through the air, narrowly missing him and landing on the table.

"What on earth?" Itachi said, staring at the object. It appeared to be a prosthetic hand and arm, all made of metal.

The hand then displayed the "wanker" gesture to them, before it jumped forwards, punching Itachi in the gut, sending him to the ground. It then jumped up and grabbed Kisame's face, causing him to scream like a girl.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" He shrieked, batting it away with his hands, knocking it onto the fallen Itachi.

Itachi groaned and looked up, the pain in his stomach great enough to cause him not to notice the metal arm on his chest. "Kisame, what are you doing?" He asked, as Kisame loomed over him, holding a chair.

"Itachi, don't move," Kisame whispered as he approached.

"Kisame, what are you-"

"Don't move."

"No, Kisame- listen to me-!"

Kisame brought down the chair, but the arm jumped off Itachi's chest, avoiding the chair completely. Itachi was not quite so lucky.

"Did I get it? Did I get it?" Kisame shouted, waving the chair around like a lunatic as he searched for the arm.

Itachi got up, enraged, his eyes glowing with the Mangekyo Sharingan. "Kisame! Seventy-two hours of being made into shark fin soup again!"

While Kisame started flipping out and screaming about evil Chinese chefs, Hishou looked down at the arm. It seemed to be quite proud of itself, as much as an arm could be. "I'm not saying it," he said, but he swore to God that somehow, the arm managed to glare at him. "No, I'm not saying it."

The metal fingers formed a fist.

Hishou groaned. "Thanks for your help, B- Anselm. And my assassin costume was made for me by my mummy."

The arm fell back, the fingers flailing as though it was laughing itself silly.

"You are such an idiot."