Black Aria

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Naruto halted his group the moment Kyuubi announced he scented blood. A lot of blood, judging from he strong order that Naruto could pick up without Kyuubi’s help. The blonde jounin directed his genin to lay low, to keep quiet. No sense to expose them to danger before Naruto was positive of what the danger was. Slowly, Naruto crept closer to the source of the blood-smell, carefully placing his feet to avoid leaves and branches. True, it would’ve been easier to teleport right here, but it would have left a trace of chakra, something to be followed.

Kyuubi appeared beside him, his face slowly twisting into a vicious snarl. Naruto almost asked what was the matter, but he felt the heat of anger and hate through their link and kept his mouth shut. A few minutes more of careful positioning, and Naruto no longer needed to ask Kyuubi why he was on the killing edge.

Against a tree lay a body. Broken and bloody as it was, life still struggled to keep a hold on it. Sharingan eyes glared defiantly at Kyuubi, the head tipped back to offer the throat in a dare. Kyuubi would have taken the dare – and probably would have finished off Madara – had not Naruto stepped in front of him, slowly approaching the dying man.

“Uzumaki,” Madara wheezed out.

“Madara,” Naruto replied in a colourless tone, stopping a good arms’ length away. Not that it mattered, really, as the Uchiha seemed hardly inclined to move. “What are you doing, besides dying?”

“Hm? Oh, admiring the forest.”

Naruto gave the older man a skeptical look. Kyuubi just snarled. Madara flicked his gaze from Naruto to Kyuubi and back again, humming quietly.

“Short story is that I betrayed Sasuke,” Madara began. He paused to breathe for a few minutes. “He’s planning to destroy all of Konoha, all the shinobi.”

“A genocide,” Naruto whispered. Madara watched those unnatural sapphire eyes darken and did his best to hide his grin when he saw the ghost tomoe curling gently around the pupil.

“I manage to release one biju. Sasuke has the rest, but I doubt he knows how to get them. Naruto, you need to stop him.”

Naruto’s eyes darkened even more as the blonde rose, looking to Madara and then to Kyuubi.

-Leave him.- Naruto ordered. Kyuubi looked scandalized. -Look, if we kill him, chances are we’ll get hit with the jutsu he’s prepared. Take the kids and get to Konoha. Tell Sakura to begin an evacuation. Only jounin are to return. Don’t take them to the caves; Sasuke will be expecting that. Take them to the tower in the center of the Forest of Death.-

-And where are you going?- Kyuubi snarled.

Naruto cocked his head. -Suna.-


Gaara paced in his office, well aware of Shukaku’s amusement. The creature hadn’t once tried anything strange, but Gaara could feel the ichibi getting comfortable in his head again. It was a little distressing, after all. Two years without the beast had been a gift from God and now the smug asshole was back and acting like he owned the place.

Gaara’s punch was well aimed, but Shukaku had been expecting it. The biju’s hand caught Gaara’s wrist and twisted, pulling his arm behind his back and forcing Gaara to bend over his desk, Shukaku pressing against the redhead to keep him in place.

“I think I need to teach you a lesson,” Shukaku snarled.

Gaara snarled louder and the demon felt a cord of sand wrap around his throat. Without warning it constricted, cutting off Shukaku’s air. The demon snarled without sound and flung his jinchuuriki from him, across the room. Gaara hit the wall hard, managing to keep his head from cracking against the wood somehow, and dropped to his knees, lips pulled back into a snarl when the sand noose was broken.

“Am I interrupting something?” Naruto asked mock-jovially, staring at the other pair.

“It’s the Uzumaki brat.” Shukaku snarled in perverse delight. “I owe you pain, don’t I?”

“That was your own damn fault. I won fair and square and you know it.”

Gaara snorted and got to his feet, brushing debris from his clothes. “What brings you here unannounced?”

“Uchiha.”

Sadly, Naruto didn’t have to elaborate.

“What’s his plan?” Gaara asked, casting a sidelong glance at a fuming Shukaku.

“What else? Destroy everything, rule the world.”

“Kill moose and squirrel, huh?” Shukaku asked in a laugh. “Sounds like an Uchiha all right.”

“So what do you want us to do?” Gaara led Naruto to his new couch, offering the blonde a seat. Naruto shrugged and nearly sprawled on the cushions.

“Same thing I’ve gotten Konoha to do. He’s going after the powerhouses first. Konoha being number one on the list and Suna a close second.”

“An you don’t think we’re capable of defeating him?”

Naruto sighed. “I’m sure you can, but I’m thinking about those who will die. Sasuke’s gone insane, if my source can be trusted, and he’s gathered enough to him to grind every shinobi village to dust.”

Gaara was silent for a while. “Your plan?”

“In Konoha, the jounin are the only ones staying to fight, not that they’ll see much combat. Sasuke’s focus is Konoha. If we concentrate all our jounin there, we’ll be able to beat him.”

“The civilians and chuunin?”

“Get them out. Abandon Suna. Take them to a safe house that only you would know about. Konoha’s taking theirs to the Forest of Death. It’s the last thing he’d be expecting.”

“And us?”

Naruto’s lips slowly split into a smile. “It’ll be dangerous and we’ll probably get a lot of shit for it afterward.”

Gaara looked at Shukaku who only grinned. The redhead finally shrugged. “Let’s do it.”

“Start the evacuation. Order the jounin to regroup once the evacuation is complete and set lamps in the windows of houses. Right now surprise is out best element. If he does split his army, they’ll come out when they see the lights before attacking.”

“If we’re lucky.” Shukaku quipped.

“We just need to give him an incentive to be stupid.” Gaara said quietly. Finally he nodded, rose, and moved to call his siblings. “You’ll wait?” he asked Naruto.

The blonde jounin nodded. “I have to show you something anyway.”