I had hoped to get this up a few days ago, but I've been busy and every time I wrote, it ended up exactly like the other battle between Ulquiorra and the Akatsuki in the main story, and so I had to make it different. Plus I needed time to plan how the rest of the plot goes.

And now, without further ado, The Fourth Espada Great Winged Fox, harem version.

Chapter Four: Misadventures with Akatsuki

Ulquiorra stood, leaning against the tree, and above him Anko sat on a branch, dangling her legs over the edge, Hinata beside her with Hanabi as they spoke quietly about what the marriage would mean. Hanabi was having a little trouble with having a polygamist sister. Jugo stood opposite him, a long piece of grass in his mouth, rubbing his hands. Suigetsu and Karin were arguing a little way off. It was beginning to remind him of Ino and Sakura. He would have to purge them of that trait before they got too far along that path. He would not suffer that again.

"Ulquiorra-san, how long do you think it will take for the others to arrive?"

"We moved at a fast pace and they'll have to trace us. I would imagine we will have to wait a few days, maybe less if we are lucky, which I highly doubt considering past experiences."

Jugo nodded. "I'll search around for a good campsite. This place seems a little over exposed."

"See if you can find a cave or some other sort of shelter hidden away. It'll be easier to hide it with some form of genjutsu. If your kekkei genkai plays up, send for me."

"Right. Karin, stop slapping Suigetsu. He needs to be conscious if he is going to help us defend ourselves."

"Shut up! He deserves it!"

"Both of you be quiet, or I'll make sure Anko uses some of Orochimaru's teachings upon you."

Suigetsu, as he did when reminded of the Snake Sannin, froze in place and began to shiver in fear, stepping away from Karin, who likewise fell silent and hurried off to help Jugo.

"You're quite the scary guy, Ulqui-kun," Anko said, hopping down beside him with a grin.

"Out of curiosity, why did you lie?"

Anko looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"In the torture department. I know for a fact you do use torture, not simple beatings."

Anko sighed and shrugged, smirking nervously. "Well, you had first experience of the others in the department. I didn't really want you to think of me in the same light."

Ulquiorra nodded. "I see. I take it those in your department suffer discrimination?"

"To a certain extent. Most see us as a necessary evil. I got more of a reputation because of my sensei. I have to admit, that made me kinda reluctant to tell the truth. I didn't want to upset you or Hinata-chan."

He looked at her with a slight curl of his eyebrow to show what he thought of that. She sighed and glanced over at him. "Sorry."

"It matters not. Besides, your skills will come in useful. I'll doubtless need some interrogation and torture done."

Anko broke into a wide grin. "Well then, who did you have in mind?"

"Konoha."

She burst out laughing. "All of them?"

"Yes."

She moaned in pleasure. "Now that is a wedding present!"

Hinata, who had been listening in, dropped down and folded her arms looking at Anko.

"Thank you for your concern but I am not some naïve child. I do not scare easily."

"Sorry dear, how about a kiss to cheer you up?"

Ulquiorra let out a small sniff of aggravation. Just what had he gotten himself in for?

"I also have another question, Anko."

Anko stopped in the middle of her attempts to get Hinata to kiss her and turned back to him. "Yes, Ulqui-kun?"

"Your reasons for wanting to marry me…There was another reason why you volunteered."

Anko sighed. "You may think it is silly, but you are one of the few people not to look at me like I was me." She shrugged. "Everyone else saw me as Orochimaru's student. Someone who would betray Konoha without hesitation. Sure you found me annoying, and still do, but I'm not Orochimaru's student in your eyes. I'm me."

Ulquiorra did not respond, simply closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh. Hinata glanced at him and smiled.

XXXXXX

Some time earlier

"Deidara-senpai, you sure this is a good idea?"

"Leader-sama sent us to keep an eye on the boy while the Zombie Combo deals with the Nibi. We aren't gonna kill him."

Tobi pointed at his side. "Then why all the extra clay, senpai?"

"Because we may need to keep him off he notices us."

"…I don't know if he knows anything about art, senpai. Particularly of your quality."

"Stop buttering me up! You still owe me forty ryo! I ain't calling it off!"

"…Sorry…"

Deidara growled. Tobi was a good agent. Clumsy as hell, but his time-space ninjutsu helped them move around the enemy. No artistic taste. Ripoff indeed! Stupid bastard.

Despite this, he was just as good to work with as Sasori. Though he and Deidara had argued over art, he had honestly respected the puppeteer. He had raised his share of the glasses in toast of the former Suna-nin. And Tobi, he was fun. In the 'my God, he is a drunken fool' sort of way. Couldn't stand him except for when he was being quiet and polite. Or those rare moments when they told each other jokes.

The time-space ninjutsu combined with armfuls of explosives had proven quite the crazy combo too.

At present the two of them were just south of Konoha, sitting beneath the boughs of a tree, telling each other raunchy jokes. Tobi was in the middle of a rather nasty one about a girl he had known in his homeland that had made Deidara laugh so hard the stitches of his right arm had threatened to break. "…and then, she says, 'No, mother you gotta suck it like this'!"

"By the kami, Tobi, how the hell did you get out of that one?" Deidara laughed.

"I convinced her mother to do it."

Deidara lost it there. "Well, bwahahaha," he had to stop for a while for the laughs to subside. "Well, that puts paid to my story about me and the Daimyo's granddaughter."

Tobi giggled at that. "Well, of course I win."

"So much for being a good boy," Deidara commented as he stood up. Tobi laughed and followed after him.

They walked for nearly an hour when they came across Ulquiorra and his band. They hid themselves the best they could and listened on as Ulquiorra spoke to his fiancé's.

"Pimpin'" muttered Tobi.

"Shut up!" Deidara pursed his lips. "Listen, we have an incredible opportunity!"

"What?"

"You grab his girls and get away, I'll speak to him, try to coerce him." At Tobi's incredulous look, he continued, "We'll have both his fiancé's. He'll do whatever Leader-sama wants without question. What else could he do, hnn?"

"…Well he could rip your head off and come after me and skin me to make a lounge rug before using what was left of us as his banner." Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Or he could lie and follow us to Leader-sama and kill him. We don't know what he'll do."

"Shut up fool! Listen to how he speaks. He obviously cares for them."

"He also dislikes Konoha, so it might be better to convince him to join us of his own free will."

"He hates Akatsuki just as much."

Deidara glared at Tobi hard for a minute or so, until the masked man threw up his hands in defeat.

"Fine! But if this backfires it's on your neck!"

Tobi phased out, his body spiralling into the black hole of his eye. Deidara watched the group closely.

XXXXXX

Hinata folded her arms again and glanced at Ulquiorra.

"Ulquiorra-kun, are you alright?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You just look a bit…ill at ease."

"You do look a tad uncomfortable, Ulqui-kun," Anko put in.

"I sense someone nearby. My Pesquisa is spread over the nearby area, and there is a vague disturbance. I've yet to work out all the issues with sensing chakra."

Hinata activated her Byakugan. She closed her eyes for a moment before muttering, "Unknown ninja forty feet away. Six o'clock. Shinobi. S-Rank I'd guess from the chakra pouring off them."

Anko nodded slightly, cutting her fingers on her sheathed kunai as she slipped her hands into her sleeves and stroked her summoning seals, calling forth her snakes. Ulquiorra's left hand drifted down upwards, ready to fire a bala.

Anko had a brief vision of a strange orange spiral and a pair of arms sprouting from nowhere, grabbing both her and Hinata. Then, a shadow enclosed her, spinning around and about like a whirlpool.

XXXXXX

Ulquiorra started and reached out with his pesquisa, hoping to find Hinata and Anko.

"You'll find it impossible to track Tobi," said the mystery ninja as he advanced.

"Deidara of Akatsuki. You understand you have signed your death warrant."

Deidara shrugged as if unconcerned. "Of course. But Tobi has kunai to the throats of your girls." Ulquiorra's hand twitched, and Deidara continued, "So, how about a deal?"

Ulquiorra sensed Jugo and the others nearby, listening in. He sensed them run off towards the east. He turned to Deidara. "Not too long ago, Karin installed tracking seals on all of us. We can now find each other over great distances. Can you contact Tobi over that distance?"

Deidara blinked owlishly before he growled in annoyance.

XXXXXX

Hinata landed hard on the rough earth, grunting from the sudden pain before rolling to her feet. The masked Akatsuki member hopped from foot to foot as he looked at the pair.

"Oho boy, the plan worked like a charm!" His voice suddenly became depressed and he drooped sadly, "And now your fiancé is gonna kill me."

"Only if we don't first," Anko responded. She opened her sleeves and sent out a snake from each sleeve, the long serpents shooting at the man like spears.

"Yikes!" he yelled, sidestepping the reptiles clumsily. Hinata rushed at him, her Byakugan active as she attacked, her hands moving in dizzying patterns. The man leapt back, avoiding the strikes, only to blunder into Anko's trap.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Two large python's, one a dark red one dark blue, burst from the ground beneath Tobi. The Akatsuki swerved around the snakes, whimpering.

"What is it with people summoning snakes these days?"

Hinata leapt at him, aiming at the tenketsu in his right arm. The ninja spun on his foot, casually avoiding the strike as he stabbed at her with a long slender kunai. Hinata ducked under the blow and Anko threw a kunai at the man, avoiding her companion. The blade san into the mask and came out the other side. Neither of the kunoichi had time to react to this bizarre phenomenon before the shinobi resumed his attack, kicking and punching at them with incredible speed, if little grace.

Hinata soon sported a bruised cheek and Anko was having trouble breathing from a blow to the chest. Leaping back from the man, Anko studied him closely.

'He's got some kind of space-time jutsu. He teleported us here, so he's confident enough to deal with both of us together. Then again Akatsuki is an organisation of only S-Ranked ninja, so he outclasses us both.'

"Hinata-chan," she whispered, "When we attack see if you can get him with the Gentle Fist, try and stop his time-space jutsu."

"Got it. But I'll need a distraction to get close enough to him."

"Leave it to Akaryū and Aoryū. They'll keep him on his toes."

Anko sprinted forward, angling around Tobi to the right, flanking him on his left side. Hinata likewise rushed forward, speeding over to his right flank as the snakes leapt at him again. Akaryū hurled himself at Tobi's chest while Aoryū launched herself at Tobi's exposed legs. Tobi giggled and allowed the snakes to hit him, phasing through the reptiles. Hinata leapt at him, striking at his head and side. The blows seemed to connect, though it was unclear if he allowed them to phase through him or not. Considering he struck her across the face immediately afterwards, it was definitely the former. Anko, seeing he was solid for a moment, hurled herself forward, impaling his left arm before he had a chance to make himself intangible, her kunai drawing blood.

Tobi spun, kicking her away, his foot lodging hard in her gut, making her cough and splutter as the wind was knocked out of her.

'And it looked like such a nice day too.'

XXXXXX

Ulquiorra easily evaded the large number of clay birds as they dived at him, harmlessly swerving around him. Deidara smirked and Ulquiorra swerved again as the birds spun around and attacked again.

'So, they can track a target. Aggravating.'

He batted one aside, only for Deidara to grin and detonate the offending projectile. Ulquiorra was smothered in smoke and flames, burning his clothes and his face. The rest of the flock dive-bombed him, exploding in a violent conflagration, setting the earth around the arrancar alight. Ulquuiorra managed to sonido out of the worst of the blast.

'Remote detonation. I'll have to kill him quickly and head off to the others.'

Deidara watched as Ulquiorra shot towards him, his face stitching itself back together, his muscles reforming as he swept his hand in an arc at his neck. Deidara managed to substitute out at the last minute, and a clay lump appeared in his place. Ulquiorra's hand sank into the putty-like substance, which detonated as Deidara grinned in triumph, hidden deep within the shadows of the trees.

'He may be able to regenerate, but C4 will be able to stop him. Course, I gotta stay alive long enough to use it, hmm…I'll bring out the C2 and keep him on his toes until I can use the C3.'

Deidara plunged his hands into the clay, licking his lips. He clapped his hands together once the mouths had consumed enough clay, smothering the trees in smoke.

Ulquiorra glanced to the smoke as it coiled through the trees, the sound of splintering wood and tearing bark echoing throughout the otherwise quiet forest. He blinked as the giant white caricature dragon stormed through the trees.

"I was under the impression ninja were meant to be subtle," he commented, drawing his sword.

Deidara smirked. "Well, I fight with art. And my art," the dragon reared back its head and vomited a large clump of clay in the shape of a smiliar dragon, "Is an explosion!" The smaller dragon flew towards him, and Ulquiorra swept his sword up in a swift strike, cleaving the bomb in two. He sonido'd away as Deidara detonated the bomb halves as they passed on either side of the arrancar, landing nearby the massive dragon. He swept his hand around, preparing to fire a cero. Deidara smirked as the dragon leapt into the air, flapping its great wings and leaping over the blast and high into the air, circling above the former Espada. Ulquiorra glanced up at the beast once his cero had cut through the forest.

"Hmm. So, that blast once gathered, has to be fired. And it can only go in the direction you point. That's quite the drawback, hmm."

Ulquiorra flew up to Deidara's level, walking through the air, circling the ninja. Deidara blinked.

"I'll admit, that's a cool trick." He hurled a flock of explosive birds at him, the bombs homing in on him. Ulquiorra unleashed a volley of bala's, blasting the birds apart, before swiping his sword up, cutting another dragon in twain. He flew away, diving under the dragon, cutting its right wing off. Deidara grimaced as he held the dragon aloft by forcing it to change form by causing a new wing to burst out by sliming out the rest of the body. He saw Ulquiorra next to the amputated limb and brought his hands together to detonate the limb. He blinked as Ulquiorra vanished. As a shadow covered him, he turned to see Ulquiorra above him, holding the wing aloft.

Time seemed to slow as Deidara's eyes widened as he saw the wavering patterns within the clay, showing the clay was about to explode. Ulquiorra brought his arm down, smashing the wing against the dragon. The clay wing detonated, the explosion causing a chain reaction along the rest of the dragon, smothering the sky with smoke and flames.

Ulquiorra strode out of the smoke; his clothes burned badly, his face stripped down to the bone in various places and his body bleeding from a number of wounds. He dusted himself off and turned away, preparing to fly off in search of the others. He turned as two large birds flew from the smoke, spiralling towards him. He dodged the missiles easily, his eyes tracking Deidara as he flew off atop another dragon, smaller than the last.

He saw Deidara consume a large chunk of clay, chewing it as the dragon turned about with a flap of its wings and sped at him.

XXXXXX

Hinata bobbed and dove around Tobi's strikes, attempting again and again to hit his tenketsu. However, his intangibility made her hokuto shinken redundant. Hinata coughed and spluttered, spitting blood as he hammered his fist into her stomach. Anko leapt to her defence, stabbing at the open eye hole in the mask. Tobi swerved away, hurling a kunai at Anko, who knocked it aside, a snake leaping from her sleeve, aiming at Tobi's throat. Tobi allowed the snake to hit, phasing through the reptile and becoming physical almost immediately afterwards, striking her across the face. Anko smirked through the pain, backflipping with the blow before powering her feet into Tobi's stomach. Hinata leapt to the offensive, hitting his tenketsu in the left arm while he was solid. The man faded away, teleporting in his strange spiral to the other side of the clearing. Hinata and Anko stood close together, Akaryū and Aoryū rising up beside them, hissing. Anko glanced at Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, did Kurenai-chan ever teach you any good jutsu?"

"No. You know how the clans are about learning any non-clan techniques."

"Well, fuck." Anko shifted her weight so she was leaning on her left leg, preparing to react to Tobi's next attack. "Hinata-chan, I want you to get ready to run."

"…What?" Hinata hissed angrily.

"Not like that you silly girl. I want you to run at him. I have an idea." She paused for a moment before glancing at Hinata. "Do you trust me?"

For a few moments Hinata was silent, worrying Anko. It seemed that, as always, no-one could trust her.

"Alright. I trust you. Say when."

Anko smiled with genuine joy for a moment before she became stoic once more, gazing into the blackness in the heart of the spiral of their foes mask. She readied another jutsu.

"Now!"

Hinata sprinted forwards, her Byakugan bulging, filled with raw determination as she lunged at Tobi. Tobi smacked her blow aside before kicking her in the gut, sending her away. Hinata landed on her feet before launching another attack. Anko, running around them, flanking the missing-nin. She winced as Hinata received another blow to the head, splitting her lip.

'Wait…wait…wait…NOW!'

"Sen'ei Tajashu!" She cried. Quick as a flash, dozens of thick and leathery snakes erupted from her sleeves, a great hissing multitude that sped towards Hinata's Tobi's right side, whom was yet unaware of the horde due to the Hyuga that bobbed and wove before him, but who was completely aware of the flinty eyed reptiles that hurtled towards them. With a hasty substitution, she was out of danger, leaving Tobi alone to face the many fanged and hissing maws. In a moment he was swarmed, hidden in a cloud of green scales.

Hinata rubbed the blood from her face and smiled at Anko. "Hopefully we got him that time."

"Yeah, though I doubt-"

Anko coughed. A kunai was lodged in her gut, Tobi standing behind her. Turning his gaze on Hinata, he twisted the blade. In a moment the angry Hyuga had forced him back, her hands moving so fast that they were barely visible as blue tinged flickers in the air. Tobi swung out his leg, striking her side and hurling her away, sending her crashing to the ground. Wordlessly the masked figure advanced towards her, drawing another kunai.

XXXXXX

Sidestepping the dragon as it flew at him, Ulquiorra swept his blade up and around, slicing off the wing, sending the monster spiralling down. And instantly the severed limb exploded right next to Ulquiorra. Deidara smirked as the swordsman was enveloped in smoke and flame. He had ignited the limb as soon as it was severed to get the drop on the snow white figure. Swerving his mount around, he launched a brief salvo of explosives into the smoke, unleashing a new inferno in the sky. Guiding his mount around, he circled the smoke, his eyes fixed on the dark cloud. As the smoke cleared, he saw that Ulquiorra was no longer there. Smiling broadly he glanced around him.

'If he could survive Sasori, he's able to survive me. If he's still here and not gone off after Tobi, he won't be able to resist taking me while I'm gloating.'

And Deidara was right. With a laugh calculated to anger his target, he turned his mount around and flew off after Tobi. Just as he took a swift glance around him, Ulquiorra appeared, swinging his sword in a wide arc, aiming at his neck. It was so swift and sudden Deidara had barely enough time to substitute away, though he still received a horrific gash across his throat, sending a long red trail through the air. He landed on the tip of his mounts tail, which he hurriedly separated from the rest of the dragon, morphing it into a large bird and riding it away, detonating the rest of the body.

Ulquiorra was smothered in yet another gout of roiling flame and smoke, burning away part of his face and the majority of his left arm as he sonido'd out of the explosion, his deathly gaze tracking the blond arsonist as he turned his mount around again. Wordlessly, he sped forward, flickering out of sight and arriving behind Deidara, his finger flickering with crimson light. Without a word, he fired the bala into the man's skull. The head exploded in fountain of clay before once again Deidara launched his trap. Standing amid the trees where he had hidden while Ulquiorra was covered in smoke, he slammed his hands together. The clay clone and bird swiftly morphed, turning into a large sphere, trapping Ulquiorra in its centre. Deidara smirked and swallowed a large junk of clay, chewing it while he waited for Ulquiorra to escape. It did not take long. Ulquiorra burst from the clay, his emerald eyes fixed on Deidara. The Akatuski member quickly vomited up the clay, before fleeing as the C3 took form behind him.

Ulquiorra frowned at the thing before he sped off, following Deidara. As he passed the giant, it disintegrated. Ulquiorra hurried away from it, watching it carefully. When no explosions struck he continued to follow Deidara, stopping as the former Iwa-nin turned and smiled at him.

"If I were you I would surrender."

Ulquiorra charged, thrusting his sword forwards, aiming at the smirking man's visible eye. Then his right hand blew off at the wrist, his sword flying away. Ulquiorra did not allow the amputation to hinder him. By the time he had closed the twenty feet remaining between him and his target, a skeletal hand had regenerated, razor sharp bones aiming straight at the irritating bombers face. Deidara soon bore a set of horrific cuts across his face, blood trailing through the air. Ulquirra staggered as both his arms blew off at the shoulder.

"Remote detonation. I see."

He kicked Deidara in the side, sending him flying from the sculpture's back down into the forest, splitting boughs and branches before he righted himself.

The missing-nin spat up a large globule of blood and glared at the figure above him, before half-heartedly detonating the bird.

'I guess Tobi was right. There's no way to take him alive. What a fucking waste of time, hmm!'

Ulquiorra was soon acutely aware of his regeneration kicking in throughout his body as a slight burning feeling filled his chest. For now his regeneration seemed to be preventing any permanent damage, but he was not in the mood to push his luck. Spotting the bomber, he dove at him, sweeping out to the side to recover his sword before landing in front of Deidara.

Before the blond could react Ulquiorra had cut his right arm off at the shoulder, and punched him into a tree, where he exploded. Rounding swiftly Ulquiorra saw the man, naked from the waist up, a large grinning mouth over his heart and a large lump of clay in one hand.

Ulquiorra frowned for a moment before he advanced again.

"I grow tired of your tricks and techniques. This has been an utter waste of our time. It serves no discernable purpose. Why do you insist on attacking me with such paltry…sculptures. If that is what they are."

XXXXXX

In the years to come, Ulquiorra would still call this one of his biggest mistakes.

XXXXXX

Hinata gasped in pain and flailed at Tobi's hand as he reached down and proceeded to hoist her in the air and choke her. His vice-like grip began to turn her face blue as he drew back his kunai and drove it at her eye, only to stop at the last moment to spin on his heel and throw her at Suigetsu, who had just arrived, sword drawn back. The swordsman stumbled under the sudden weight, before, seeing her appearance, he leapt back and away from Tobi, landing near the prone form of Anko, where he gently laid down the Hyuga and lifted his sword, ready to fight in her defence. Jugo and Karin landed nearby not a moment later, Jugo's fists swollen into blocks of grey muscle as he glared angrily at the masked man. Karin, looking over the others, hurriedly bared her arms and forced Anko's mouth open and close, biting deep into her forearm. Blood trickling from her lips, Anko's eyes opened blearily, her wounds slowly closing over as Karin's blood took effect.

"Hin…at..a…"

"I'm fine, Anko. Keep quiet and rest."

"Where's that bastard?" Anko managed to sit up groggily, wiping the blood from her lips as Karin proffered her arm to Hinata. The Hyuga reluctantly bit the girl, causing the Uzumaki to gasp in a way that made Hinata feel uncomfortable, before her hands glowed green and hovered them above the former Konoha-nin, speeding up the healing process. Hanabi was hiding behind the trees, watching carefully.

"He's over there; fighting Jugo-san."

"And winning," quipped Suigetsu, his blade held at the ready as he watched the masked man dodge and phase through Jugo's powerful lunges and swinging fists.

Tobi swung up and around, driving the kunai right at Jugo's jugular. The young man smirked and hurled himself down the blade, a fountain of blood spraying over the orange mask as Jugo's massive fist powered into the man's gut with a sickening crunch. Tobi was flung into the air, but righted himself swiftly landing calmly on a tree branch.

Jugo, eyes gold and black and his face grey, tore the kunai from his neck and threw it aside, the wound still pouring blood as his body became more and more grey.

The masked man tilted his head.

"So," he said, in a voice as harsh as steel, "You are Orochimaru's Sage boy. I had always wondered what you were capable of. I admit," he casually dodged the next attack, "That I didn't expect inflicting self-harm would increase your power."

He looked over his shoulder and allowed Jugo to phase through him. "I wonder how long it will take for you to bleed out though."

Tobi teleported, landing behind Suigetsu, driving a kunai into Suigetsu's skull, only for the white haired boy to liquefy, the iron blade and fist trapped in the cloying 'water' as Suigetsu spun his arm around, the Kubikiribōchō aiming right at the centre of the mask. Tobi once again became intangible, the massive sword passing through his skull as he removed the blade.

Hinata, seeing an opportunity, leapt forward, activating her Jūho Sōshiken and hokuto shinken around her right hand, driving it into Tobi's back. Tobi, much to her surprise was catapulted through the air, smashing through the boughs of a few trees before landing, his shoulders sagging as the shadowed eye gazed at them, pure malice nearly visible in the air around him.

"Nice shot, Hinata-chan," Anko grinned wickedly at her side. "What did you do to him?"

"I managed to get a nerve which connects the right arm to the rest of his body."

"Nice. Now he can't use any seals."

Jugo landed beside them, the majority of his transformation gone, holding his throat as he leant heavily to the side. By some miracle it seemed that the blow had not hit the internal jugular.

"Karin-san, heal Jugo-san," Hinata ordered, her Byakugan fully active once more as she watched Tobi. What were they going to do now? She may have gotten rid of his arm but he still was powerful enough to…

He tore of his arm. And another grew back. Tobi stood up straight and clenched and unclenched his fingers pointedly.

Hinata knew that they had no way of repeating their success against him. Anko meanwhile was biting her lip, looking very nervous.

"Hinata-chan, I have an idea. Jugo, once you're back up, I'll need your help."

Jugo nodded silently, Karin's glowing hands hovering over his wound.

Hinata's hands glowed as she covered them in her Jūho Sōshiken once more. Anko clasped her hands together and sighed. Her Cursed Seal began to glow, a red and yellow light spreading over her skin, blackness forming over the red marks, her skin rapidly turning brown in places as the darkness receded as the mark reached the second level. Jugo, fully revived, lifted his arms, heavy blades and swollen fists the size of sledgehammers ready to strike. Suigetsu readied his sword as Karin flicked through a few seals, and her hands glowed red with embers.

Anko drew back her hands and leapt over Suigetsu. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The massive fireball shot straight at Tobi, who vanished in the flames, only to leap through them unharmed, his own hands moving through a collection of seals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!b" he cried, his own fireball larger than Anko's even with the cursed mark. Suigetsu and the others leapt over the attack, Suigetsu launching the sword at Tobi who easily dodged the attack, though it left him open for Suigetsu's real attack.

"Mizudeppō no Jutsu," he muttered, his index fingers pressed together. The highly pressurised water bullet spat from his hands and hit Tobi in the shoulder, releasing a fine white cloud as the body puffed out of existence.

"Kage bunshin! Damn it!" snarled Anko before another clone leapt at her.

Hinata suddenly spun her hands around, stabbing her fingers into another clone as it leapt at her.

The others were also swarmed by a number of clones, though they were quickly dispatched.

'He's toying with us. He's more than powerful enough to kill us right now, he's proven that much. What is he up to?'

XXXXXX

This was interesting. Tobi folded his arms as he watched from the shadows, his Sharingan finally active. This was interesting. All in all, it would certainly be useful to have Ulquiorra alive. He certainly would distract Konoha long enough for Akatsuki to make a claim on the kumo jinchuriki. He watched as they destroyed the last of his clones. He only hoped that Deidara hadn't-

A giant pillar of light and energy rose in a towering inferno high into the sky.

XXXXXX

Ulquiorra flew through the trees, smashing his bones to splinters in several places as his hierro screamed in protest, failing to protect him from the explosion, the trees and gale force winds.

He had managed to outpace the explosion, but it was still too close to fully escape the effects.

He landed on his rump, his sword at his side, mishing his left arm and most of the left side of his face and torso, the effects of sonido on his mortal body exacerbating the wounds as blood poured from the rents in his body. He stood up, dusting off his clothes.

Glancing to the right, he saw that he had landed near to the others, on the outskirts of a large clearing. Hanabi was beside him, staring open mouthed. The others were all staring at him as a number of clones of Tobi all vanished simultaneously. Ulquiorra rose, ignoring the terrible pain in his body fairly easily, swatting away a few flies as they approached him, sheathing his sword as he walked towards them.

Hinata and Anko looked as if they had been healed recently if he were any judge, guessing by the softer and rawer looking skin in places. Jugo looked as if he had been impaled in the neck as well.

"Are you alright?" he asked, walking up to his fiancés, noticing that Anko had activated the cursed seal.

His future wives looked at him dumbfounded before they both slapped him before hugging him. Ulquiorra watched them carefully before he turned to Jugo.

"I'm sorry. We arrived too late. They had been fighting for a while by the time we arrived."

"You had to run more than ten kilometres, its fine Jugo. Don't beat yourself up over it," Hinata said, her face still buried in Ulquiorra's chest.

"As for you," Anko yelled, jabbing a finger at Ulquiorra who turned his gaze on her, "What the hell happened to you? What were you doing?"

"I insulted my enemies' art style." After a few moments of silence, he continued. "He then blew himself up. You may have seen a pillar of light a moment ago."

"…That was a suicide technique!?"

"Yes."

Despite everything else, he would give Deidara one thing. His art really was explosive.

XXXXXX

Tobi watched as the group hurriedly informed Ulquiorra of what had been happening, his eye tracking the young man as he drew his sword once again, his eyes scanning the forest. The younger Hyuga ran up to the group and was bundled up in her sisters arms.

These were interesting developments. The world warped as he faded into Kamui.

This had potential.

I hope I satisfied you all. I had trouble writing the Tobi vs H/A fight. I had to make them strong fighters, but...T/O/M is insanely powerful, so I had to juggle a load of chunin/jonin fighting someone who can fight three kage's (Naruto, Kakashi and Guy-if he can be Kakashi's rival he's got to be at the same level-).

Anyway, thanks and I hope you had fun reading.