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Naruto Ultimate 3: Red-X Rising...

Chapter 56: The End Pt. 5…

Normal Talking

Normal Thinking

Radio in use

Demon Talking

Demon Thinking

Jutsu in use

Inner Self-Talking

(Depths of Hell…)

Slade evaded another swing from the Guardian by ducking down, the burly behemoth slicing cleanly through a heavy stone slab. Ducking to the side to avoid another swing, Slade slid to a halt with one hand on the ground. Chuckling in his throat, Orochimaru then jumped onto the Guardian's back and stabbed his twin Wind-Scimitar into his back. Grunting in pain the guardian stumbled back and Orochimaru grunted as his own back impacted with the wall behind him, yet continued to hold on. Seeing a chance to strike, Slade lunged at the Guardian only for the behemoth to grab hold of him by his entire torso with one hand.

Slamming Slade into the ground, The Guardian reared his other arm back and conjured flames over the edge of his double-sided war-ax. However before he could do any damage, Orochimaru sent a snake out from his left sleeve that bit into his arm, holding the ax back as a grin worked its way across the serpentine man's features. "Ku ku ku ku ku. I do believe I'm beginning to see why Naruto-Kun enjoys this world so much… It has so many interesting opponents!" Orochimaru mused aloud and then moved one leg up and yanked back on the snake biting into the Guardians arm.

Seeing his chance, Slade moved his own legs up and propped them against the Guardian's torso. Grunting from exertion, the masked-madman then threw the behemoth into the air and towards the pools of lava nearby. Smirking to himself, Orochimaru then flipped off of the Guardian and landed next to the masked-madman. Smirking slightly, the serpent eyed man offered a hand to Slade before helping him back to his feet, only for them both to look to the side as the Behemoth crawled out of the lava, completely unharmed by it.

"Oh good, I was so hoping that wasn't the full extent of its powers…" Orochimaru noted while Slade backed away and began trying to catch his breath, the serpent eyed man cracking his neck and grinning. "After all, I've only just begun to have my fun!" Orochimaru declared before lunging at the behemoth and quickly dodged a swing from its Battle-Ax. Twisting around with unreal grace, Orochimaru then slammed his legs into the Guardian's side, propelling him to the side where he fell and skidded against the ground before coming to his final stop.

"Wretched Soul, like all other mortals, you cannot escape your ultimate fate." The Guardian declared while using its ax to rise back to its feet, an amused grin splitting Orochimaru's lips at the declaration.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not, either way, it will take far more than the likes of you to put me in my grave." Orochimaru stated while marching towards the Guardian, dodging and weaving around several swings of its ax. Stopping in front of the behemoth, Orochimaru then slammed a fist into its helmeted head, causing it to stumble back, a series of spider-webbed cracks forming on the surface of its helm. Shaking his hand from the minor amount of pain of punching the steel helm, Orochimaru then threw his arms back before throwing them forward.

As soon as he did, dozens of Snakes shot from his sleeves and wrapped and coiled around the Guardian's body. Growling under his breath, the Behemoth then threw his arms and legs out, ripping the snakes completely apart while Orochimaru whistled lightly, still smirking arrogantly. "I will admit, your strength and durability are very formidable, however you lack a certain… something, that would make you a truly powerful enemy." Orochimaru noted aloud and the Guardian merely gripped its ax tightly while rising up from the ground.

"Enough of your blathering on! I will not be bested by the likes of you, body-snatcher!" The Guardian declared as flames formed along the edge of his ax, a deep frown crossing Orochimaru as he rushed forward with surprising speed and sliced the man in half. However, Orochimaru then grinned, snakes shooting out from both halves of his body and pulling them back together. Temporarily stunned by the display, the Guardian was unable to block a quick roundhouse kick from Orochimaru, leaving him stumbling to the side and landing in a heap.

"You seem to be underestimating me behemoth. I am no mere Body-Snatcher, I am so much more…" Orochimaru stated darkly while a sick, cruel grin slowly slithered across his lips. "My name is Orochimary, one of the Densetsu no Sannin. And you should never underestimate me!" Orochimaru stated and then took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out as he then leaned down and opened his mouth, sending out a massive wave of snakes slithering towards the Guardian.

Growling lowly, the Guardian lunged at the snakes, its ax's edge burning a bright crimson red. Swinging the weapon into the mass of snakes, the Guardian sliced through the mass of incoming Snakes for a moment, only to quickly dig its Ax into the ground and brace itself against the wave of snakes. Slade then watched on as the Guardian soon reappeared, wrapped up in a mass of Snakes it quickly ripped open. Lunging towards Orochimaru once more, the Guardian swung its ax at the man only for him to twist down and knock him off of his feet.

Kicking the Guardian away, Slade then smirked while the Guardian rolled to its knees and dug its ax into the ground to slow down. Looking up with the cracks in its mask glowing a fierce red, the Guardian then got up only for Slade to lunge at him with a punch. Grunting lightly, the Guardian grabbed Slade's hand and then bent it back and clenched his fist on it tightly. Slade then grunted as the Guardian ripped off the glove over his hand, revealing the bony limb beneath. Looking to it for only a moment, Slade then looked back to the Guardian only for the behemoth to slap him back where he impacted with the doorway he'd seen earlier.

Doubling over in pain, Slade held his ribs and panted heavily, Orochimaru appearing at his side with an amused look on his face as the Guardian stood opposite of them. "Your days have long since ended mortal, time to lie down with the rest of the bones." The Guardian declared while marching towards Slade, Orochimaru merely smirking as he did.

"You first…" Slade growled towards the Guardian, a single crack in his mask glowing a fierce red as he glared towards the massive warrior. Moving quickly, Slade flipped back and then leapt off of the doorway and over the Guardian, deftly landing behind it. Turning around the Guardian then gave a surprised cry as Slade jumped up, ramming his knee into his already damaged helmet and knocking a chunk of its metal out of place, revealing an unblinking crimson red eye lay beneath it.

Using its distraction to his advantage, Orochimaru then reached up and rammed the head of the Guardian into the door behind him, the behemoth grunting as he did. Quickly rolling out from under the Guardian as he fell, Orochimaru then flipped to his feet with a grin. Roaring out, The Guardian swung his ax towards the serpentine man's legs, only for him to quickly jump over the strike, and then flipped out of the way. Landing to the side, Orochimaru then watched as Slade lunged at the Guardian and slammed his left fist into its gut, only for his eye to widen, as it didn't even seem to tickle the behemoth.

Growling lightly, the Guardian's ax suddenly lit with flames once more before the behemoth swung the weapon at Slade yet again. Dodging the first two swings from the Guardian's ax, Slade then grunted as he managed to tear into his side with the third swing, revealing his bony ribs. Grunting and placing a hand against his wounded side, Slade then looked to the Behemoth as it stood across from him. "You cannot hope to defeat pure evil…" It declared while glaring at him and Slade looked up and held a strange device towards the Guardian.

"Actually… I'm not such a nice guy myself…" Slade growled out while hitting a button on the device, causing it to start beeping loudly. Quickly turning around to see what was going on, the Guardian widened his eye upon seeing a strange device on the doorway behind him, emblazoned with Slades own S shaped symbol. Mere seconds later, the device exploded at point-blank range with the Guardian, causing a brilliant explosion of light to flow forth from the newly opened doorway. As the light flowed outwards the formed into dozens of almost arrow shaped objects that flowed forth.

One of the arrows quickly slammed into Slade, the man's sole eye widening as he felt something form along his bones, a brilliant white light concealing the masked madman from view. Another of the arrows, strangely enough changed into a white raven, which flapped its wings and flew up out of the depths of hell towards the surface up above. Meanwhile, Orochimaru smirked as Slade soon reappeared out of the light, his armor and mask completely repaired. Taking in a deep breath as he did so, Slade spread out his arms and closed his eye while exhaling the same breath.

"Ah, my own flesh and blood." Slade noted while looking to his left hand, then gazed over to where a scorched and half melted helmet lay. "Don't get up. I'll let myself out." Slade offered the deceased Guardian mockingly, while Orochimaru chuckled to himself while walking over to stand beside of the masked madman.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish. A guardian who can't even do his job right and keep people out, isn't even worthy of being called a Guadian." Orochimaru noted aloud and Slade nodded his head in agreement with the Serpentine man, then knelt down and took hold of the Guardian's ax.

"I believe this will make for an interesting souvenir…" Slade mused while flames formed along the edge of the ax, a grin working its way across Orochimaru's face as he gazed at the unique weapon.

"I do concur with you, Slade-San, but I believe that you owe me something for helping you in accomplishing this little endeavor of yours…" Orochimaru reminded the masked madman and Slade leaned the enormous war-ax along his shoulders before looking back to the pale skinned man.

"Sadly, such information shall be useless so long as that demon up above has control of the world. If you want your immortality, we'll need to find some way of destroying that thing." Slade replied and caused Orochimaru to twitch slightly, before chuckling lightly to himself.

"Oh, I don't believe we need to worry about that Slade-San…" Orochimaru declared while turning around and starting up the stairs so they could return to the world up above. "After all, if little Naruto-Kun and his little Karasu are still alive, then they will be more than willing to attack that thing… if one of them doesn't manage to defeat it, I'll be very surprised." Orochimaru told Slade and the masked madman walked up the stairs behind Orochimaru with a frown on his face.

"You sound awfully certain those two will win against that thing… care to explain your sudden confidence in them?" Slade questioned of the serpentine man and a dark chuckle echoed out from Orochimaru's throat as he grinned back at Slade. The look alone was enough to cause Slade to halt as Orochimaru came to a stop as well, his yellow snake like eyes clearly displaying the madness so many before Slade had seen just within his eyes…

"Oh that's simple really, little Naruto-Kun has this habit of defeating anything in his way. Whether they are more powerful or not doesn't matter, he always finds a way to win in the end. And as such, I am confident that he will also find a way to defeat this Juubi up above… and once he does, our own little games with the Titans and him shall continue once more." Orochimaru replied and then started back up the stairs, Slade standing behind him for only a moment before chuckling to himself.

"I see, and since the Titans have the same habit as him, it's twice as likely that they will win this battle…" Slade decided while following Orochimaru out of the Depths of hell and back to the world up above…

(Jump-City…)

Naruto stood on the top of a large building with a frown, Yatagarasu landing on his shoulder soon after. Looking to the bird for a moment and wondering why it was following him, the blond then shook his head and pulled the Kusanagi from his back. Looking downward, Naruto narrowed his eyes on the Juubi as it slept below. 'Oh shit, what the hell did Kyuubi do… absorb Trigon or something?' Naruto wondered to himself while looking down at the enormous monster as it slept silently, clearly without a care in the world, as if it were some kind of unstoppable force.

'And I really have to wonder, why are all the insanely enormous demon's always so arrogant?' The blond haired teen wondered to himself silently before pointing the Kusanagi towards the sleeping Juubi. "Alright Kyuubi, Juubi or whatever the hell your calling yourself! Wake up you lazy ass bag of fur!" Naruto shout out towards the beast with a snarl across his face, a mocking grin lazily splitting both of the Juubi's mouths.

Slowly, its four red eyes then slid open and looked up at the blond haired youth, its grin only seeming to widen as they did. It's fifth eye then opened up, Naruto twitching as he recognized the eye as the same one that was on Madara's final mask. The Juubi tilted its head soon after, gazing at him at an angle and then yawning loudly, Naruto standing against a surprising gust of wind coming from the Juubi's mouth. The beast then crossed its two frontal paws and chuckled while grinning down at the blond.

"So your back from the dead, eh Ningen?" Juubi commented even as its fifth eye began to glow, staring at the blond for a moment, before an amused chuckle echoed from its throat. "And I see you got my old Yin-Chakra from Shinigami-sama while you were at it as well, how… interesting." The Juubi decided while Naruto leaned the Kusanagi against his shoulder with a frown, Yatagarasu cawing towards him loudly.

"Whatever, at least I don't look like something a Neko spit up…" Naruto retorted with a slight smirk and the Juubi frowned towards him, its many eyes narrowing onto him dangerously.

"Be glad that you amuse me Gaki, otherwise I would take great offense to such an insult." The Juubi growled out towards the blond darkly, Naruto merely rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Regardless of how fucking great you think you are, Juubi…" Naruto growled out before turning to glare at the enormous beast furiously. "No matter what happens, I won't lose to you, and I'll make certain you never harm anyone ever again!" Naruto shouted at the Juubi with a glare and it merely chuckled while looking down at him with one of its eyebrows raised slightly.

"Your arrogance is most amusing, yet completely unfounded runt, you may have the power of my Yang-Chakra, but even combining that with your own impressive reserves would too little to match my Yin-Chakra and Trigon's demonic powers." The Juubi said with a sneer before grinning down at the Demon-Raven with clear amusement. "Humph, so I see that a small remnant of you did survive being sent to hell, how truly annoying, why can't you people just stay dead?" Juubi questioned while tilting its head to one side, clearly bored before yawning slightly.

"But, in either case, that no longer matters to me, for you see I am neither Trigon nor Kyuubi." The beast stated and then grinned down at the two teens sinisterly, its eyes glowing with an eerie crimson light. "I am the Juubi no Yami! And while you might've stood a chance against those who combined to form me, you two little runts are no match for my power!" The Juubi declared and Naruto glared at it before crouching down and roaring loudly, as he changed into his Juubi no Okami form and then glared at the Juubi fiercely.

"I don't care who or what you think you are, I'm the Juubi no Okami, and I'm still going to take you down once and for all this time!" Naruto sent out as a mental signal, Raven and the Juubi both hearing the message while the wolf roared, Yatagarasu flapping its wings and flying over to Raven's shoulder.

"Don't forget me, Love. I'm here to help as well." The demoness added as she hopped onto the Okami's back, the Juubi chuckling in its throat before falling into a full bought of laughter. Glaring at the beast as it laughed at them, the two prepared to attack, The Demon-Raven forming a familiar black energy over her free hand while Naruto crouched down. However the Juubi soon ceased its laughter and then looked at them, amusement clearly visible on its features.

"Such… utter arrogance you Ningen possess! If the Rikudo-Sennin himself couldn't truly stop me at his peak, what could possibly make you believe that you two can? Especially since your own full strength only equals to a mere fraction of his full power!" The Juubi demanded even as it lifted its paws, digging them into buildings on either side of Naruto and Raven, then pulled itself up onto its feet slowly. The Demon-Raven watched as it rose up, towering over them like a man would an ant and mentally shivered before gripping onto the mane of fur at the back of Naruto's head.

"Maybe because you're weaker than you were at your peak, which gives me and Karasu-Hime here all the advantage we'll need to take you down!" Naruto exclaimed while spreading his limbs, eyes narrowed onto the Juubi dangerously.

"True runt, I am not at my peak ability, but you lack the experience that is necessary to truly make use of your power in that form. While it is possible that we offset one another in equality, my experience makes every drop of my power count. Not only that but your not even a tenth of my overall size, you're little more than an annoyance no an insect to a being such as me!" The Juubi suddenly countered as a grin split both sets of lips on its head, then roared loudly. The sonic-wave from the roar nearly pushed Naruto back however he quickly wrapped two tails around the Demon-Raven and then dug his other eight tails into the ground, holding himself firmly to the ground.

"But if you must die for me to finally prove my point to you Runt, then so be it!" The Juubi then exclaimed while leaping off of the ground and slamming down into it and creating a gigantic earthquake that managed to shake all of Jump-city. Quickly jumping off of the building he'd been perched on, Naruto then swung all of his tails back to create a burst of wind, throwing him towards the ground below. Running towards the Juubi as soon as his paws made contact with the ground, the Juubi-no-Okami then glared up at the truly enormous demon.

Twitching slightly at this, the Juubi then lifted its tails and sent them all stabbing towards Naruto. However, the shadow from the enormous tails allowed Naruto to steer and maneuver his way around the tails before swinging his tails back for a quick burst of speed once more. Narrowing its eyes dangerously, the Juubi then dug its tails into the ground as a grin crawled over its features. Its many tails then began to rise out of the ground and slam towards Naruto as he twisted and turned around them. Barely managing to evade the enormous tails, Naruto then opened his mouth and gathered a fair bit of Chakra within it.

"Kokuho!" Naruto exclaimed mentally and thus fired off a salvo of miniature "Menacing balls" towards the Juubi's face. However, the beast merely grinned as several of its tails shot forward and took the hits from the attack. However, much to Naruto's annoyance the blasts were so tiny that they barely even managed to singe the enormous beasts fur, let alone damage it. "Well this is just great, looks like we'll have to take this fight and get up close and personal with the Juubi, Naraku-Hime!" Naruto noted while sliding on his paws and lunging towards the Juubi, however one of its tails then ripped its way out of the ground, lifting up the street he'd been on top of it!

"Die runt!" The Juubi exclaimed with an insane grin across its muzzled face as its other tails then lunged towards them. Naruto yelped while flipping out of the way of one of the ten tails as it stabbed straight through the concrete street. Widening his eyes, Naruto then cursed while twisting out of the way of the next few tails as the street was torn apart by them. Looking around, Naruto lunged forward to escape from the tails, dodging and weaving around them as they continued to tear the street apart. Looking back as the tails started to come closer to him, Naruto then looked forward and widened his eyes as he approached the end of the street.

"Love, hurry and just keep running towards that thing, I'll do the rest!" The Demon-Raven ordered and Naruto briefly looked worried before shaking his head. Narrowing his eyes the black-furred Okami then lunged forward, evading the Juubi's many tails once more before lunging off of the street and into the sky. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" The Demon-Raven chanted while holding out a single hand, forming a platform for Naruto to land on. Grinning back towards the demoness, Naruto then flattened his ears against his head as he landed on the platform and slid to a halt. Shaking his head, Naruto then looked back and Demon-Raven silently nodded to him.

Narrowing his eyes, the Okami then lunged across the platform just as a tail came towards them. The Demon-Raven quickly held out her hand, forming a rectangular step, which the black-furred Okami moved over, more steps forming along the way. Growling low in its throat at the boy's approach, the Juubi then lifted up its right paw into the sky, casting an enormous shadow over Naruto. Looking up and cursing, Naruto quickly moved out of the way, pulling all his tails forward and then swinging them all back as one, pushing his Wind-Chakra into them for good measure.

The effect was instant, his tails created a gust of wind that propelled him out of the way in a burst of speed. Feeling his paws connect with another stair, Naruto then twisted on his paws and faced the Juubi's side. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tried to think of something to do against it, but he wasn't sure on how to use the "Izinami" ability he'd used when this form was instinctually controlled. 'Yeah, I'd better make it a priority to learn my abilities in this form…' The blond thought to himself and then opened his mouth, forming a large sphere of Chakra into it as his tails curled forward.

Grinning to itself, the Juubi saw what the Okami was doing and thus lifted one hand just as Naruto fired an Imari towards him. Holding up his hand, the Juubi caught the Imari as if it were nothing but a baseball. Widening his eyes, Naruto then watched as the Juubi crushed the attack in his hand and then laughed to himself. "So you want to fight like a true Bijuu then, eh runt, well then so be it!" The Juubi declared while opening one of his mouths and forming an Imari, only Naruto's eyes bolted open as it completed the sphere of energy in a fraction of the time.

"Oh shit!" Naruto cried out while propelling himself out of the way, Demon-Raven making a quick path for them to cross on. However, the Juubi's second mouth grinned as it turned and fired the blast at the two. Muttering curses under his breath, Naruto propelled himself faster and managed to just exit the radius of the blast. Then looked on with wide eyes as it tore a long deep trench out of the city. 'Okay… maybe it does deserve to be a little bit arrogant…' Naruto admitted to himself, though would deny it if anyone else were to ask him about it later.

Shaking his head of that thought, Naruto then turned to look at the smirking Juubi, its five eyes glaring down at him. 'Oi, what I wouldn't give to wipe that smug look off of his oversized face…' The Okami added mentally before crouching down as the Juubi moved, only to twitch as it yawned loudly. Looking towards the Juubi, Naruto took a quick count of its tails, and then growled lowly as he noticed that they were all swaying behind the enormous beast lazily. 'He doesn't even consider me a threat…' Naruto realized while mentally twitching, some of his old brash nature shining through as he hated anyone who underestimated him.

'No, that isn't the type of thinking I need right now. Being my old impetuous self will only get me killed here. Even when I'm playing with the kids it's because I know they can't actually hurt or kill me. But he's different.' The Black-Furred Okami thought to himself while the Juubi cracked its neck and stretched out its massive body. "Ahh… it's been so long since I've experienced true freedom. Between you, your bitch of a mother, and that other Uzumaki bitch, I haven't been experienced true freedom like this in years!" The Juubi noted another flare of fury working its way into the Okami from the insult towards his mother.

'Calm down Naruto! He's just bating you! He wants you to attack him in anger, you'll be that much easier for him to kill!' Naruto shouted at himself mentally while taking several long deep breaths and glaring at a smirking Juubi. 'Alright think, your human form can use more Jutsu, but those are too small or close range to be effective against this thing. This Okami form is faster, and has access to the heavily damaging Chakra attacks of a Bijuu…' Naruto started thinking to himself while considering his options for a moment.

'Now then, I have my Rinnegan, my "Shiranui", Imari, Kokuho, and a few other basic attacks, but what else can I do? I mean, I know I can use two more abilities in this form, Izinami and Amatsu-Mikaboshi, but I still have no clue as to how they work. And since I have demonic Chakra, well, Kyuubi's Yang-Chakra, I should also have the Sonic Roar and Chakra-Limb ability I had in my Jinchuuriki Forms…' Naruto reasoned to himself while looking at the Juubi, then twitched as mentally listing his abilities really wasn't helping him, not only that but the Juubi seemed to be playing with him… clearly not seeing him as any kind of threat.

'Okay, as for this fucker, it can at least fire two Imari's with those two mouths of its, has Trigon's "All Seeing Eyes" which I'm assuming is what that big fifth eye actually is. All the basic Chakra-Abilities of a Bijuu, is bigger than a fucking mountain… but its body is so big all its attacks are easily visible, and its arms are slow, the fastest thing on it is its tails… and it uses those most… meaning I'd need to target its tails, if I could get around to its back fast enough… but its too big for that to work.' The Black-Furred Okami thought to himself while watching the Juubi as it stared him down as well.

Mentally twitching as his options were more or less nill, the young Okami also considered his other Rinnegan abilities, thus quickly thought of the only way to truly take the thing down. Steeling his resolve, Naruto crouched down and snarled while glaring at the Juubi as it looked down at him. "Think of something yet, Love?" The Demon-Raven questioned and rather than answer, Naruto lunged forward, towards the Juubi. Growling lowly, Naruto then threw a paw forward, forming a hand of Chakra that shot out to a building and pulled himself over to it.

Grinning at this, the Juubi watched as the Okami continued with this course of action, pulling himself between the nearest buildings. Soon coming close to the Juubi, Naruto lashed out with a Chakra-Claw to its fur and grabbed on before pulling himself over to it. Chuckling to itself, the Juubi looked down as Naruto then lunged up the side of his arm. "Interesting tactic, you think your size will help you here? That I won't attack for fear of harming myself? Intelligent, but with me, ineffective runt." Jubbi mused aloud while swinging his tails towards the black-furred Okami.

Seeing the tails heading his way, Naruto narrowed his eyes before taking a deep breath and exhaling in a sonic-roar. The roar temporarily knocked the Tail back, however it quickly slipped towards him. Cursing to himself, Naruto lunged to the side as the tail came at him again and again while lightly slicing into his own arm. However, as Naruto looked back, he mentally groaned when he saw the wounds healing just as quickly as the tail managed to make them.

"Naraku-Hime, follow my lead! I think I know something that'll hurt this oversized demon!" Naruto shouted back to the Demoness, causing her to raise a brow but still got a good grip on the mane of fur at Naruto's neck. Growling to himself as she readied herself, Naruto then took a deep breath before breathing out a torrent of familiar white flames onto the Juubi's arm. Seeing this, the Demon-Raven smirked while forming a crimson fireball into her right hand and then threw it into the white flames, adding it to the mix and burning into the Juubi's arm with the flames combined heat.

As soon as the flames hit its arm, the Juubi's eyes widened in pain and it shrieked, throwing its arm up and throwing Naruto and the Demon-Raven high up into the air. Looking down, the demoness cursed before quickly forming a circular platform for them to land on while the Juubi flicked its arm, scowling furiously as the flames burned its flesh. Looking up to where Naruto and the demon-Raven were, the Juubi's eyes narrowed and its ears flattened against his head. 'Oh shit… now he's really pissed…' Naruto thought to himself as the Juubi let loose with an earth shaking roar, the sonic-roar sending him and the Demon-Raven flying into the air.

Growling as they flipped in the air, Naruto twisted around to right himself while the Demon-Raven formed another platform for them. Looking from its still burning arm and then up to Naruto and the Demon-Raven, the Juubi narrowed its eyes into a heated glare at the two of them. "Don't look now, love, but I really don't think setting it on fire was a good idea." The Demon-Raven noted while looking towards the clearly furious Juubi, and then watched on as it raised a paw high into the air, into the clouds above them.

Watching on in shock as the paw came down towards them, Naruto quickly propelled himself with his tails and lunged out of the way. Twisting in the air, Naruto watched as the Demon-Raven formed several platforms, the Black-Furred Okami jumping from Platform to Platform. Sliding to a halt on the final platform, Naruto turned and watched on as the massive paw suddenly slammed into the ground, causing another earthquake to rock the entire city.

"Love, I don't think our friends can take too many more hits like that… your barrier clearly wasn't designed to withstand against earthquakes." The Demon-Raven reminded Naruto, causing the Okami to grimace before shaking his head as the Juubi narrowed its eyes onto him dangerously. Snarling with fury in its eyes, the enormous beast suddenly spread out all ten of its tails and opened up both of its mouths, the white flames of Shiranui still burning into its arm.

Watching the Juubi in confusion as he continued to run towards it, Naruto then felt his eyes bolt open as a tiny sphere of energy formed at the tip of each tail and within both of its mouths before expanding outwards. "Shit! Naraku-Hime, I need you to stay low on my back and whatever you do, don't let go or look up!" Naruto ordered quickly, the Demoness deciding to do as told as she laid her body flat against the enormous wolf's back and then blinked as his ten tails wrapped around them to form a sphere. No sooner than the sphere was formed did the Juubi suddenly grin darkly.

"Imari Rendon! (Menacing-Ball Barrage!)" The enormous beast's voice echoed out as its tails spiraled inward and fired all twelve Imari's towards Naruto and the Demon-Raven. The spheres of energy also tore apart the city and caused the Juubi itself to fly back from the sheer force of the attack. Gritting its teeth, the Juubi had to use its tails to anchor itself down while Naruto spun in place.

"Shinra-Tensei!" The blond exclaimed, forming a spherical barrier of gravity around himself and the demon-Raven. The shield staved off the barrage of energy blasts sent towards them by the Juubi, causing the beast to scowl as they continued to spin and fall towards the ground. Opening up his tails on his way down, Naruto then flapped them backward and propelled himself forward, his paws touching down with a building that he quickly lunged across. Blinking her eyes open, the Demon-Raven then looked around at the devastation that the Juubi had caused with but a single attack with wide eyes.

"I hate to say it love, but I think we're outsized, outmatched, and plain old outclassed here." The red-skinned demoness noted aloud and Naruto merely grunted while keeping an eye on the Juubi as it turned to them with an annoyed glare. Mentally growling, Naruto quickly lunged towards the enormous beast while the Demon-Raven continued creating pathways for the Okami to run along. Narrowing its eyes onto the Okami in the sky, the Juubi quickly raised its right arm into the air, before swinging it down towards the Okami. Twisting in the air to evade the arm, Naruto then allowed himself to fall through the sky and down towards the Juubi.

Growling low in its throat, the Juubi swung its tails up towards the black-furred Okami, only for it to twist out of the way. Latching onto the tails, Naruto then ran down their length and towards the Juubi's tailbone. Twitching in annoyance, the Juubi crouched down before jumping up high into the air. The velocity of the Juubi rising into the air caused Naruto and the Demon-Raven to fall down, unable to move as they were pressed into the Juubi's back. Landing on the ground while Naruto rose further into the air, the Juubi caused another city-shaking earthquake. Twisting out of the way of the small Okami, the Juubi then swung its tails towards Naruto once more.

This time the tails managed to knock into Naruto sending him spinning back in a roll before The Demon-Raven managed to form a platform, which Naruto's paws came into contact with. Growling lowly, Naruto looked towards the Juubi and propelled himself forward, towards the enormous beast. The Demon-Raven made several pedestals for Naruto to jump from, soon reaching the Juubi where the Okami quickly touched down on its nose and continued to move forward. Narrowing her eyes dangerously onto the Juubi, the Demon-Raven then formed a ball of fire in her hand; she then took the chance and unleashed a torrent of flames towards the beast.

The flames slammed into the Juubi's face, causing it to grunt out in annoyance while Naruto continued running up along its arm, hoping to reach its head. Twitching in clear annoyance, the Juubi quickly threw its arm to the side, tossing Naruto and the Demon-Raven off. Twisting in the air, Naruto managed to land on his paws and skidded back, landing in a low crouch and glaring towards the Juubi. "I'll crush you both!" It declared loudly while raising its tails high up into the air and then sending them all slamming towards the, to it at least, tiny wolf. Growling lowly, Naruto then flapped his tails for another burst of speed evading the falling tails before jumping off of a building and making his way towards the Juubi.

"Dammit, this sucks! Killing it like this will be all but impossible even for me, especially in under an hour. But right now I just need to get to its head for a moment and somehow distract it for my real plan to work." Naruto explained to the demoness and she raised a brow but decided that didn't matter while forming several platforms for the wolf to run along once more. Soon approaching the Juubi, the two looked up and saw its eyes blaze a brilliant crimson while glaring down at them.

"Enough of these games!" It declared while lashed out with a hand and catching them in one of its enormous hands. "I have endured your continued existence for long enough!" The Juubi declared while reeling its arm back and then throwing the wolf and Demoness away. However before they could hit a building, Yatagarasu swooped down and grabbed two of Naruto's tails, quickly beating its wings and lifting him up, only to place him and the Demon-Raven onto the building gently. "Meddling servant to the unworthy Kami! Begone with you!" The Juubi roared out while its many tails lunged forward, lashing out at Yatagarasu.

Flapping its wings with all of its might, the three-legged raven flew around the attacks, evading every single strike from the tails and quickly moving into a dive. Zipping down with impressive speed, Yatagarasu then opened its wings when it approached the ground and flew towards the Juubi. The beast itself frowned as its tails slammed into the ground and yet the annoying bird somehow managed to evade harm yet again. "You must learn, the reign of you pathetic Ningen has ended and that this world now belongs to me!" The Juubi roared out at Yatagarasu while swinging one of his clawed hands towards the flying raven.

Seeing the incoming swing ahead of time, Yatagarasu flapped its wings and rose up into the air. Seeing the Juubi's incoming hand, the raven quickly flapped its wings, creating enough force to push itself out of the way of its enormous claws. Rising up into the air, Yatagarasu then righted itself and flapped its wings once more, pushing its body towards the towering Juubi. Folding its wings flat onto its sides, Yatagarasu then dive-bombed towards the Juubi. Growling low in its throat, Juubi opened its upper mouth and quickly began to form a sphere of energy into it.

"Imari!" The beast exclaimed while sending the sphere of energy flying towards the incoming Yatagarasu. However the bird quickly opened its wings and was propelled up into the air, out of the way of the attack where it then circled above for a moment before flying into the distance, a scowl crossing the Juubi's face. However, below Yatagarasu, Naruto rose back up onto his paws and shook his body for a moment. Closing his eyes and fixing several cracks and holes in his bone-like armor, the Okami then looked back towards the Demon-Raven, who was rubbing her head with a scowl.

"Can we not do that again?" The Demoness pleaded and Naruto merely grunted before lunging forward, off of the building and she sighed. "I'll take that as a no…" She grumbled out while forming numerous black platforms for the Okami to run along towards the Juubi. However, upon spotting them the Juubi grit its teeth and lashed out with one of its hands again. Flapping his tails back, Naruto was propelled forward, out of the way of the enormous hand and continued towards the Juubi. Narrowing its eyes onto the Okami, the Juubi then sent its numerous tails towards Naruto.

Grunting as the Juubi tried this tactic yet again, Naruto crouched down for a moment before rocketing forward. Propelling itself by pushing wind Chakra into his paws, the blond idly noticed a trail of silver light was flowing off of his paws. 'I've really got to figure out what all I can do in this form sometime.' Naruto thought to himself while narrowly evading the first tail and than narrowed his eyes as he saw one heading straight for him. Lunging forward, Naruto bit into the tip of the tail and the Juubi growled while throwing him up high into the air.

Propelling himself with his tails as he did, Naruto shot down towards the Juubi only for one of its tails to lunge at him. Moving to the side just in time to miss it, Naruto then ran along the length of the tail and then yelped as another Tail hit him from the side. Grinning darkly, the Juubi then shot out another tail, which then slammed into Naruto, sending him flying towards the ground. Cursing under her breath, the Demon-Raven formed a protective dome of black energy around them even as they both crashed into the ground, Yatagarasu cawing from above in some vain attempt to rouse Naruto.

Elsewhere in Jump-City, Jinx and the others watched Naruto slam into the ground in the distance from behind the protective barrier created by the Shakujo. Clenching her fists Jinx then turned around and faced the others. "What the hell are we doing just standing around here?" She demanded and Seemore scratched the side of his face with a confused look spread across his face.

"Uh… keeping safe like Temp told us?" The one eyed teen questioned and Jinx huffed while Nightwing frowned.

"I see what she means… why are we all just standing back and letting them do all the work for us… when we should be fighting with them." Nightwing stated while Jinx nodded her head to the former boy-wonder with a glare.

"Exactly! What are we a bunch of fucking kids or something? You titans have collectively kicked more ass than my team combined yet your all just sitting around here while Temp and the Demon chick fight that monstrosity! And you JLU guys aren't any better! You've fought Darkseid and Hades himself, yet here you are with the rest of us! When we should be over there, helping our friend to take that thing down once and for all!" Jinx shouted at them and BB rubbed the back of his neck while looking towards the enormous beast warily.

"I know what you mean dudette, but we're all like the size of ameba's compared to that thing… what could we do against it?" BB reminded and Jinx crossed her arms and gave the green furred teen an annoyed glare.

"Are you saying you can't change into something big enough to at the very least hurt that thing? Like, oh I don't know, a T-Rex and bite its tail, or have Starfire drop you on it while you turn into a Brachiosaurus?" Jinx demanded and BB blinked before slowly shaking his head, as he knew of a few animals that might be able to at least damage it slightly. "Right, then what about the rest of us! What're our excuses for sitting back here and letting our leader and friend get pounded on by that thing?" Jinx questioned of the rest of Tartarus and Gizmo muttered something before glaring at the girl.

"Oi, we get it already. And if I'm going to die I guess I'd prefer to do it helping Temp out against a giant monster… well at least its better than dying in what will most likely be a slow painful death after he's gone, or even being eaten by some random monster that thing conjures up to take over the world." Gizmo mused with a shrug of his shoulders and Dani snickered before giving a thumb up to the pinkette.

"No way am I about to let Sensei die before he can finish teaching me, so you can count me in as well!" Dani said and the rest of Tartarus reluctantly agreed, Nightwing looking to his own team as they did.

"Well what do you say guys, we going to let them take all the glory for themselves or what?" Nightwing asked the other Titans with a smirk and Cyborg scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fat chance of that happening." He declared while Starfire looked to her sister and quickly grabbed the girl into a bone-breaking hug.

"Please sister, if you will go into battle with the enormous monster of badness, then I shall do so also!" Starfire said while hugging her dark haired older-sister, Blackfire merely rolling her eyes before pushing her off.

"I thought we had a talk about all the hugging!" Blackfire reminded the girl and Starfire grinned nervously, before Dr. Fate shook his head with a chuckle.

"Well, I believe I speak for us all when I say that if you all shall face that thing, then so shall we also face it." Dr. Fate agreed while Etrigan snorted and looked at them all with a deep frown across his face.

"This mission is naught but a fools errand I fear, take heart in the moment, for our end surely draws near." Etrigan grumbled in verse, Shayera rolling her eyes before deciding to translate for the demon.

"What I think Etrigan is trying to say is not to think of this as our last stand, live in the moment, and remember that no matter what happens, we've done our best to save this world." Shayera explained and Batman silently nodded his head, Nightwing, Jinx, and Dr. Fate looking to one another before Jinx grabbed Naruto's Shakujo and yanked it out of the ground.

"I hope you all know that it is highly likely that none of us will be walking away from this fight…" Ravager chose to remind the group, only for Jinx and Nightwing to look to one another.

"That's a distinct possibility, but the same could be said if we stay here. Standing around we're assured death, at least we'll have a chance if we help X take that thing down." Nightwing replied while crossing his arms over his chest, Ravager shaking her head before pulling her Katana from her back.

"Well then, if you're all going to walk head first into battle and almost certain doom, I might as well tag along for the ride." The white haired girl decided while the Young-Raven looked at them all as if they were insane.

"How can you all talk so casually about this? You… none of you will be coming back if you fight him. He's stronger than my father was, and he was already invincible!" The Young-Raven reminded and the group looked amongst themselves for a moment before Batman walked over to the girl and knelt down.

"Your right, we probably are going to walk to our deaths. But its not because we're underestimating the threat he poses to us… no. It's because we can't just sit here and do nothing while other's fight on. Hero… Villain… Mercenary… or even Thief… I've found that they all have one thing in common. It isn't that they have powers, it isn't that they have gadgets, and it isn't that they have partners or friends…" Batman started to explain and a confused look crossed over the girl's face.

"Then… what's the same?" She asked and Batman stood up, looking down at her for only a moment before closing his eyes.

"Resolve. The resolve to constantly keep coming back after every defeat. The Resolve to keep on saving lives, even when we're hurting or have lost those close to us. The Resolve to never give up, no matter what the circumstances… The resolve to see whatever we do through even to the bitter end." Batman replied and the Young-Raven looked to the Dark-Knight with wide eyes as he then turned around and walked to the others. "That is what we have in common, that is what makes us the same." Batman told the girl flatly and then turned back to the others. "Alright, lets go, we have a story to see through to the end." Batman stated and Duela snickered into her hands before looking at the Dark-Knight with a grin.

"Oh you really have no idea just how correct that statement is!" She said, mostly to herself, and then laughed loudly while Jinx shook her head in exasperation. Taking a quick breath to solidify her resolve, the pink haired girl then looked around to the large group that was to stand together against the Juubi.

"Alright then, then lets teach that over sized demon it can't mess with our friend and get away with it!" Jinx declared even as the Shakujo seemed to react to the String of Beads that Jinx was wearing, glowing with a feint white light. "Kid, lets get over there and fast!" Jinx ordered and Kid-Wykkyd nodded his head silently before pulling his cloak up and over them all, causing them to vanish into the shadows…

"Get up Naruto!" The Demon-Raven pleads while shaking Naruto, the black furred Okami lying on his side, unconscious and unmoving while the Juubi glared down at him and the red-skinned demoness.

"Now we finally end this runt!" The Juubi declared while moving its arms to the sides and dragging itself closer to the two. Naruto slowly opened his eyes slowly and then growling as he glared up at the Juubi. However, looking up, the wolf then saw the enormous beast's center eye begin to spin, recreating a familiar shape. "Kitsunebi!" It exclaimed with a grin, sending a hale of purple flames flowing towards them when Naruto grinned slightly to himself and managed to get to his feet.

"Sh-Shiranui!" The blond exclaimed loudly as he pushed his Chakra forward in a wave, the familiar white flames forming along the way. The white flames flowed forth like a torrent, quickly consuming the Juubi's "Foxfire" and leaving it to gape in shock. As the fires of Shiranui consumed the Foxfire, Yatagarasu swooped down and began to beat its wings, feeding the flames and causing them to rise up and flow onto the Juubi. Screeching in pain, the Juubi stumbled back as the flames of Shiranui burned into its arms, searing its flesh.

"What again? What is this fire?" The beast demanded while the flames burned into both of its arms before suddenly grunting aloud as several small explosions impacted against the side of its face. Turning its center eye to the side it then saw the group of "Heroes" standing against it and sneered. "So all the vermin finally come out of the woodworks. Good, now I can have the pleasure of killing you all at once!" The Juubi declared however Slade lunged from off of a building and spun The Guardian's war-ax in his hands before roaring out as he threw the weapon towards the Juubi, embedding it deeply into its center eye.

Seeing her chance, Jinx pulled her arms inward and then spread them out, sending a wave of pink hex-energy along the ground. The wave of energy then flowed under the Juubi, causing the road to give way and it to fall onto its side. Shayera then flew forward, her wings beating against the wind as she activated her Mace. Stopping in midair, she then twisted around and threw the weapon with a roaring, sending it flying into the war-ax in the Juubi's eye, and digging it even deeper into the closed orb. Shrieking out in pain, the Juubi thrashed about while clawing at its face to try and stop the pain.

As the Juubi thrashed his tails slammed into anything and everything around them, Kid-Wykkyd quickly forming out of the shadows to grab Jinx, then vanishing and grabbing Shayera out of the way as well. As it did, Starfire and Blackfire flew passed the Juubi, over the ivory flames, and landed next to a Naruto. As soon as she saw them, the Demon-Raven shook her head to clear the shock of them actually standing against the great demon and glared at Starfire and Blackfire. "What are you human idiots doing? He told you all to stay behind the barrier and keep safe!" She reminded the two tameranians angrily and Blackfire rolled her eyes before giving the demoness a smirk.

"Yeah, but we're his friends." Blackfire reminded as she got beside of Naruto, Starfire doing the same, both sisters lifting up the enormous wolf.

"And as his friends, we cannot allow him to stand against this most evil being of Ten-Tails without us by his side as well." Starfire said with a nod of her head then flew with Blackfire over the flames of Shiranui still flowing along the ground. 'Why are they doing this? What are they getting out of putting their lives on the line like this? Why not just stay back and stay where it's safe… I… I don't understand why they'd do this…' The Demon-Raven thought to herself wondering why this didn't make any sense to her, since she had done something similar to prevent the titans from being harmed before…

Meanwhile, Kid-Flash was running along the ground under the Juubi easily moving around its thrashing tails. Growling lowly, the Juubi lifted an arm in an attempt to right itself, grabbing hold of a building and using it as leverage. Seeing this, Kid-Flash lunged forward and quickly ran in a circle under the arm and around the building. Soon enough the speedster created a miniature tornado that lifted the limb up into the air. Soon running out from under the Juubi and releasing the Tornado that lifted it up, thus causing the beast's limb to fall off of the building, the Juubi falling to the ground face-forward when he did so.

Shaking his head and growling darkly, the Juubi opened its four remaining eyes and reached out to grasp Kid-Flash with a deep scowl. However before he could do so, Kid-Wykkyd suddenly appeared and pulled the speedster into the shadows, the Juubi gritting its teeth as they escaped. However it then grunted as a torrent of flames and magical energy then hit the side of its face. Opening an eye, the Juubi than narrowed it as it saw its attackers, Dr. Fate using his magic, Gizmo using a Laser from his Pack, Seemore using his Eyebeam, and Etrigan using his Demonic-Fire. Roaring out in fury, the Juubi sent one of its tails towards the group, only for Kid-Wykkyd to pop up and rescue them yet again.

'I am going to kill that annoying mortal…' The beast thought to itself with a dark frown across its features. Moving both of its arms up the Juubi placed them onto two of the still standing buildings and lifted himself up off of the ground. Shaking his head for a moment, the enormous demonic-beast then started looking around for its attackers, primarily Kid-Wykkyd so he could crush the annoying mortal and so they would stop escaping from him.

As it did BB flew as a Pterodactyle into the sky and towards the semi blinded Juubi as it claws at its own face, trying in vane to pull the tiny Ax out of its enormous eye and only serving to slice through its own face. On the opposite side of BB, Dani is flying intangibly towards the Juubi as well, a grin clearly on her face under her mask. Roaring out in pain the beast's tails thrashed about, the group below making sure to stay out of its flailing tails way while Slade jumped down to the ground, landing next to a surprised Ravager. "Father?" She questioned in surprise and Slade looked to his daughter with his single, slate grey eye for a moment.

"For the record, I'm nobodies servant." He replied before looking back to where BB was flying around the numerous tails that were thrashing about, causing whirlwinds and earthquakes with each swing they made. Dani was merely remaining intangible while approaching the other side of the Juubi's head. Soon both saw their target; BB quickly changed into an armadillo and fell towards the Juubi, while Dani dive-bombed it. Flowing through the Juubi's skull, Dani entered into its left ear while BB changed into a Raven at the last second and flying into the creature's ear as it continued to thrash about.

Flying around in its skull for a short while within the enormous beasts ear, BB soon came to the deepest portion of its ear and changed into a whale. Dani soon reached the same spot in the Juubi's other ear and took a deep breath of air. Landing within its head as a whale, BB then let out a loud groaning sound within the Juubi's inner ear. While on the other side, Dani let loose with a "Banshee's Scream" into the Juubi's opposite ear, ringing both eardrums violently.

As the two sounds echoed within the Juubi's head the enormous beast shrieked in pain once more, rearing back and falling down, back first into the ground. The Juubi slammed into the ground with a mighty slam, shaking the earth beneath it while BB and Dani both flew out of the Juubi's ear and into the sky once more. As the Juubi heard a loud ringing in its ears from the two sounds, it started to get up, only for eight enormous snakes to rip their way out of the ground, then wrap around the beast. "What is this?" The Juubi demanded while gritting its teeth and shrieking when the familiar snakes started to bite into its body.

"Wait a minute… is that, Orochimary?" Naruto wondered to himself while watching the false Yamata-no-Orochi wrap its body around the Juubi. The first of its head then quickly bit into the side of its neck, the next four each twisted around and sunk their poisoned fangs into the Juubi's legs, two more of the snakes wrapping around its ten tails before biting into one another. The tails of the snake then coiled their way around the Juubi, holding it down while its final head spit out Orochimaru. The Serpentine man then shot up and grabbed hold of the Guardian's war ax and ripped it out of the Juubi's eye, causing it to shriek in pain and trash about in the grasp over the false Yamata-no-Orochi that was wrapped over its form.

Twisting in the air, Orochimaru fell towards the ground with Ax in hand and an amused smirk across his face. Seeing the ground approaching, Orochimaru merely twirled the War-Ax in hand before digging it into the building at his side. Hanging on as he slowed down, Orochimaru soon found himself on the ground and chuckled lightly while looking up towards the pained Juubi. "Alright, I'll leave the rest up to you and your little friends, Naruto-Kun… For the time being this should make for an excellent replacement for the Kusanagi…" Orochimaru mused while focusing his Chakra into the weapon, then smirked as its blade burst into flames…

Within the city, watching on with wide eyes as the Juubi thrashed against the bonds of the false Orochi, a sense of hope slowly started to well within her chest. "I don't believe it. They… they're actually doing it… they're hurting it." She whispered and then watched as a furious Juubi roared loudly, the sheer force of its roar destroying the "Skin" of the Yamata-no-Orochi that Orochimaru had left to hold it down. Grunting lightly, the Juubi then got back to its feet, widening its eyes when it saw that it was bleeding heavily.

"Yes, they're hurting it… it's just so amazing isn't it…" The Demon-Raven noted dryly while walking over to her human-half with a frown on her face. Turning to her other self, the young Raven looked away before hearing a loud caw in the distance. Both girls then looked up and saw a white raven flying overhead before dive-bombing. Blinking for a moment, the young-Raven yelped even as the bird impacted with her, creating a blinding light, her demonic-half hissing while backing away. Soon the light faded away and in place of the young Raven, was a full grown Raven, albeit in white rather than blue and black clothing.

Blinking for a moment, the now older Raven looked to her hands for a moment, then up towards the injured, and panting Juubi. "If their resolve can help them overcome something like that… then shouldn't we fight with them?" Raven asked her other self and the demoness scowled deeply.

"Give me one good reason I should work with a goody goody like you?" The red-skinned demoness demanded and Raven crossed her arms over her chest.

"Because if we don't work together, you have to go back to hell when everything is said and done… while I get to stay out here…" Raven reminded the demoness flatly and she suddenly twitched at that tidbit before grumbling under her breath with a scowl. Sighing softly, the demoness then formed a ring of obsidian energy around her body while glaring at the "White-Witch".

"Fine… but I'm only doing this for the fact I'll still be with Naruto in some way. If I had things my way, I'd gladly head back to hell with him, rather than be a part of you." The demoness declared angrily and Raven managed a light smile while forming white energy into a ring around her own body.

"I think that's a good enough reason." She decided and walked into the Demoness, a spiral of black and white energy suddenly shooting into the sky as the two became one complete being again…

"This… this isn't possible! Not even the Rikudo-Sennin himself could truly stop me! You worthless Ningen shouldn't even be able to harm me like this!" The Juubi snarled and Naruto smirked as Starfire and Blackfire landed, Cyborg and Mammoth grinning as they reared their arms back with the girls holding on to Naruto.

"Yeah well your not the old Juubi. Your just a cheap knockoff so shut up about how great you are already." Naruto grumbled out and sent towards the Juubi, a snarl forming on the beast's lips while Cyborg and Mammoth grinned.

"Alright! Let 'em go Mammoth!" Cyborg cried out as he and Mammoth launched Starfire, Blackfire, and Naruto into the air, sending them flying faster than normal. Gritting its teeth, the Juubi sent its tails towards the two girls only for them to dodge and weave around them and then rear Naruto back and quickly throw him straight towards the Juubi. Falling towards the Juubi, Naruto then smirked as the Juubi opened its mouth and lunged up at him. Grinning slightly, Naruto formed his ten-tails around his body into a ball as the Juubi snapped its jaws over him.

However a mere second later, the Juubi shrieked in pain and threw its head back, a ball of white fire flying into the sky. Twisting around, Naruto released the flames of Shiranui and looked down to the beaten and battered Juubi before moving all ten of his tails forward. "Juubi Imari! (Ten-Tailed Menacing-Ball!)" Naruto exclaimed as the energy formed at his mouth, only to be unleashed in a powerful wave, which then slammed into the Juubi, sending it careening into the ground and burning more of its flesh from its body as well. Grinning to himself, Naruto "Flapped" his tails once more, giving himself a burst of speed and flying down towards the Juubi.

"I… won't lose… to the likes of you pathetic little Ningen!" The Juubi snarled, half the flesh burned away from its face as it looked up and opened its mouth to form an Imari of its own. Not giving Naruto the time to put up a defense against it, the Juubi unleashed its Imari directly towards the falling Okami. However, a second before it would've impacted with the Okami, five obsidian black spheres quickly formed around him, each one inside the other, protecting him from the blast. Widening his eyes in shock, the Juubi then watched as the attack passed, blowing a hole clear out of the sky above.

However, the spheres of dark-energy then seemed to melt away, revealing a long haired version of Raven, her body looked like it was back to normal with the blue cloak and black clothing / armor restored, however her hair was onyx black and gave off a violet sheen, her skin was tanned, neither gray nor crimson, instead appearing to be lightly tanned, her two eyes were a blazing crimson red, and upon each hand she had sharp black claws. "Kara-Chan?" Naruto questioned and a smirk crossed the girl's lips, turning around to face the wolf for only a moment.

"Maybe you were expecting someone else?" She quipped dryly and then yelped as Naruto pounced on her, then started to lick her face. "Okay, okay! I'm happy to see you as well! Down boy, heel!" Raven ordered playfully while pushing the happy Okami off of herself, then looked towards the Juubi with a slight frown across her face. "I think you've still got something to take care of. You've got a time limit remember." Raven reminded the Okami and it nodded its head, Raven forming a sphere of dark-energy around him and twisting around, then roaring out while throwing the blond down towards the Juubi with all her might.

Smiling slightly as he moved towards the climax of their "story" Raven then flew down towards the rest of her friends, landing on the ground and then raising a brow as they all looked at her in shock. "Raven…" BB started to ask as he approached the girl with wide eyes. "Is that… is that really you?" The green furred Titan questioned and the girl frowned while crossing her arms and bringing her hood up to shadow her features.

"Does this answer your question?" She asked in her usual stoic monotone, BB grinning widely when he heard her familiar voice.

"RAVEN!" He exclaimed happily while latching onto the girl in a hug, soon followed by a jubilant Starfire.

"Oh friend it is most joyous to have you returned to us!" Starfire exclaimed while picking Raven and BB up off the ground and twirling with them in her arms. Phasing out of their grasp, the dark titan then pulled her hood back and shook her head.

"It's nice to see you both as well, but lets not forget we've still got to see the end of this…" Raven reminded while looking to where Naruto was still falling towards the Juubi however the beast roared out, lunging at the Okami and snapping its jaws over him.

"Die Runt!" Juubi growled out angrily only to shriek out in pain and throw its head back, opening its mouth while Naruto flew out spinning into the air. However oddly enough, his entire body was coated with the white flames of Shiranui, briefly making him look like a pure white-wolf. Twisting around for a moment, Naruto soon righted himself and looked down to where Juubi was spitting out blood, the white flames burning his mouth. Inwardly chuckling at the sight, Naruto then spun around while the Shiranui flames over his body quickly went out.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto propelled himself down towards the Juubi, only for Yatagarasu to fly over him and land on his back when he got close to the beast. Raising a brow for a moment, Naruto then felt a strange yet warm presence suddenly appear in his body. "Chakura-Kusari! (Chakra-Chains!)" The Okami exclaimed as dozens of spiked chains ripped their way out of his back, then wrapped around the Juubi, causing it to snarl and thrash against them as they dug their way into the ground and pulled the enormous ten-tailed beast down to the ground. Landing on the ground with a soft plop, the Okami then looked to the struggling Juubi in shock.

'Wait a minute, those are… mom's Chakra-Chains…' The black-furred Okami thought to himself while gazing at the Chains that had formed out of his back and wrapped around the enormous beast. Shaking his head afterwards, Naruto then grit his teeth as the Juubi lifted up a hand and started to pick himself up from the ground. 'Alright, I've got mom's chains, but I'm just one… wait a second.' Naruto then thought and closed his eyes while focusing on molding his Chakra. Inwardly focusing the Okami then grit his teeth, as a couple of copies seemed to form out of his back.

The Copies shook their heads for a moment, before looking from Naruto to the Juubi then ran towards it, spreading out as they did. Snarling deeply, the Juubi then reached out and tried to grab one of the copies, however it quickly moved out of the way before sliding to a halt and formed its own Chakra-Chains and they shot around the limb and it started to back up. On the other side another Copy did the same thing, a third moving in front of Naruto taking over for him while a fourth and fifth copy used their own chains to hold its legs down, trapping all but its tails, which the body of the fake Yamata-no-Orochi managed to hold onto.

Naruto then smirked as he also quickly returned to his human form taking a breath and looking to Yatagarasu on his shoulder. 'What is up with this bird?' The blond wondered to himself before turning back to glare at the Juubi as his "Okami-Bunshin (Wolf-Clones)" held it down for him. Crouching down for a moment, the blond then lunged forward, Yatagarasu flying from his shoulder as he did. Naruto quickly jumped up over a torrent of Kitsunebi from the Juubi as it breathed it towards him upon his approach. Breathing lightly as the flames passed, Naruto then formed the Kusanagi into his hand, before calling upon the wind to launch himself higher into the air.

Narrowing its eyes, The Juubi lifted one of its arms, barely, and reached out for the Ex-Shinobi. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto launched himself towards the hand and twisted around in mid air while extending the Kusanagi, slicing cleanly through the length of the beast's entire arm, and even one of its eyes as well. Widening its eyes the Juubi screeched in excruciating pain, thrashing about in its bindings while Naruto held out a hand towards it. "Shinra Tensei!" The blond exclaimed while bringing down a mass of gravity down upon the Juubi, pressing it down into the ground, helping the Okami-Bunshin to hold it. Coming down onto the Juubi's back with a smirk, Naruto then turned, swinging the Kusanagi and slashing and slicing through the Juubi's body.

Turning the sword in hand soon after, Naruto then gripped the handle with both hands and stabbed it down through the Juubi's spine, lengthening the blade and causing it to stab straight through the beast's entire form. The Juubi's eyes widened as he did and a pitiful sound escaped its lips as the blond then pulled his sword from the beast's body. Looking at the mass of cuts and lacerations he'd left on it for only a moment, Naruto then turned towards the beast's head while dismissing the Kusanagi. Jumping up to it, Naruto landed with a soft plop and smirked darkly. Widening its remaining eyes as he did, the Juubi tried to see the blond as he placed a hand onto it and frowned deeply.

"You were right about one thing, Juubi…" The blond admitted while quickly "gripping" hold of something that lay inside of the Juubi and holding onto it as tightly as he could. "This is the end!" He then declared while quickly jerking back on his arm, ripping out the familiar red Chakra of the Kyuubi from the beast. The Juubi cried out as he did so, its body turned to ash and began to flow away with the breeze, soon enough leaving only Trigon screaming in its place. Knelt down and in pain, the enormous demon then fell forward with Naruto standing on his head, his powers depleted and his body completely spent from the ordeal of changing into the Juubi.

Naruto on the other hand held out his hand and looked to the brilliant crimson like that was the Kyuubi's soul and Yin-Chakra. However as he did, he felt his eyes widen before putting a hand to his head as a memory from the beast suddenly passed before his mind's eye. Twitching as the memories assaulted his mind, Naruto then grit his teeth and shook his head of them with a deep frown. Narrowing his eyes onto Kyuubi's soul for a moment, the blond then gripped it tightly, watching it as it seemed to squirm in his grip.

'Don't worry Kyuubi, I won't be the one to ultimately kill you…' Naruto thought to himself and then turned on his heel and threw what remained of the Kyuubi's Chakra and its soul over to the side. The energy flew through the air before stopping in midair, creating a spiral of red energy as it did. Watching on silently, Naruto then narrowed his eyes as the beast reformed in the air and then landed in a heap and thus jumped off of Trigon's body and landed on the ground with a light plop.

Letting out a quick breath and brushing off his coat, Naruto then slowly made his way towards the downed Kyuubi. Looking around as he continued to walk towards the downed Kyuubi, the blond then watched as the Okami-Bunshin all reared their heads back and into the air before suddenly howling into the sky. 'I guess they're giving a "Victory Howl" of their own…' The blond haired youth thought to himself while the Okami then retracted their Chakra-Chains back into their bodies. Blinking for a moment at the strange sight, the blond then smirked as the Okami-Bunshin all dispelled themselves, leaving only a faint trail of smoke behind as they went.

Soon coming to a halt, Naruto stood before the Kyuubi and narrowed his eyes onto the beast as it opened its own bloody crimson ones. "You just had to do it, didn't you?" Naruto questioned darkly and the Kyuubi narrowed its eyes onto him while trying to reach its right hand for him.

"W-Worthless… little… runt…" The Kyuubi hissed out in pain while Naruto merely jumped onto its outstretched hand before it could do anything with it.

"Me worthless? Whose the one laid out and completely exhausted around here, Kyuubi?" Naruto quipped in reply while crossing his arms over his chest, the Kyuubi narrowing its eyes onto him dangerously. "Or, perhaps I should call you by your true name instead…" Naruto noted aloud and watched the Kyuubi's bloody crimson eyes widen before narrowing onto him dangerously.

"Be silent runt… that weak little fool is long dead! I am all… all that remains of her now!" The Kyuubi declared angrily and Naruto tilted his head to one side, a look on his face that greatly annoyed the beast.

"Yeah, I'm so sure you are…" Naruto replied and then turned his back onto the beast before jumping back to the ground and landing in a crouch with a sigh. As he did, an evil grin crossed the Kyuubi's face, its eyes showing a sort of mad glee as it did.

"Walking away now… surely you want revenge… to take my life for the things I've done… after all… I did manage to kill your wench of a mother once… as well as your bastard father…" The Kyuubi reminded darkly, Naruto twitching before clenching his fists at his sides as he turned to glare at the grinning beast.

However, just as he did he suddenly came to a halt, eyes widening as a gong sounded out all around him. Feeling a shiver run up and down his spine, Naruto turned around, then watched on, as fog seemed to condense out of thin air. Shivering as the gong sounded yet again, the blond haired youth then watched as the earth split open, a long crack stopping just shy of him. Following the crack, Naruto watched as numerous Hitodama spilled out of it, rising up and floating into the air before hovering around silently, followed shortly by a single hand that reached up and out of the earth itself.

Meanwhile, the Titans and Tartarus felt as if something had walked over their collective graves. A deep and what felt nearly unending feeling of fear and loss echoing out in the souls of each of them. Raven herself felt fear for what was now the second time in her life, the sheer depths of fear confirming what she believed to be coming. Etrigan was only slightly less fearful than the humans, being essentially immortal helped, however even he felt some amount towards the thing that was coming, as the entire world around them was suddenly covered in a dense unending fog.

"D-Dude… like what's going on?" BB asked while shaking in his shoes, Nightwing slowly shaking his head while watching as something slowly rose out of the earth. The being's back was to the Titans, Tartarus, and JLU however its sheer size and the black energy seeming to flow off of its body gave them all a clear indication it was not something that was to be trifled with. Looking to Naruto, the Shinigami then threw its arms to the sides, an evil grin upon its face as it looked to the blond darkly…

"It is time!" The Death-God declared and Naruto took a quick breath of air and then stood up, grimacing slightly as his worn out body protested to the action. Making his way towards the Shinigami, Naruto then fell to his knees and bowed before the beast, panting slightly while holding out his arms.

"Shinigami-Sama…" Naruto whispered while looking up to the Death-God, the said being chuckling as it gazed from the battered form of Kyuubi to Trigon. "I present to you, the dreaded Kyuubi no Kitsune… it is yours to do with, as you wish." Naruto stated while Yatagarasu landed on his shoulder, as if to protect the blond from the Shinigami it then cawed loudly. Tilting its head for a moment while looking to the spiky haired blond, the Shinigami then looked over to the Kyuubi and then watched as Naruto gave him a look. "Our deal is done… now you can take the Kyuubi, and just go." Naruto stated and the Shinigami's sneering grin seemed to widen as it floated away from the blond.

Silently, the being hovered towards the Kyuubi, the multi-tailed beast's eyes widening at its approach. Groaning, the beast tried to pull itself away, only to grit its teeth, the loss of Chakra from forming the Juubi, Summoning the Youkai, and then having his soul forcibly ripped out of Trigon disabling the majority of his motor functions. "At long last… the threat of the Bijuu shall finally be ended." The Shinigami declared while reaching up and pulling its dagger from its mouth. The Shinigami then threw its arm forward, digging it into the Kyuibi, causing its eyes to widen in fear.

"N… n… No!" The Kyuubi somehow managed to get out in a horse whisper before it was quickly dragged to the mouth of the Shinigami.

"Your soul is mine!" The Shinigami uttered darkly while easily pulling the body of the Kyuubi back and opening its mouth. Shrieking aloud as the Shinigami then devoured it whole, the Kyuubi struggled against the pull of the Death-God even as the Shinigami finally swallowed it and then snapped its jaws closed, sealing it away forever… And behind it, Naruto looked at the Shinigami in no small amount of fear, then watched as it turned back around and floated over to stand before him once more, slipping its dagger back within its teeth silently.

"You have done well young, Okami. But be forewarned, this is not the end of your story, this is only just the beginning… you shall be of further use to us, in the future…" The Shinigami warned ominously as it slowly turned into a mist before ultimately vanishing, the mist and fog slowly flowing into the crack they'd appeared from. Soon enough even the crack itself sealed shut, leaving Naruto to shiver before looking to where the Titans and Tartarus were running over to him from.

"Dude! We did it!" BB exclaimed happily while Dani flew over to stand at her sensei's side with a grin on under her mask.

"Sensei that was so awesome! Do you think you can teach me that wicked soul ripping trick?" Dani suddenly asked and Naruto blinked before frowning towards the girl for a moment.

"Unfortunately, I really don't think I can teach something like that… and even if I could, I really don't like using it myself." Naruto replied while Dani pouted and crossed her arms as the rest of Tartarus walked over to the blond and congratulated him as well.

"Ha! That'll teach that stupid thing, and anyone else, not to mess with Tartarus!" Gizmo declared with a killer grin on his face, the rest of Tartarus agreeing with the tiny-terror while Jinx smiled towards Naruto.

"Thanks for the gift. It really did come in handy." Jinx whispered to the blond haired teen and he raised a brow before looking to the String of Beads. Seeing that the beads were giving off a feint white glow, Naruto then blinked before smiling softly to his pink haired friend.

"No problem Jinx…" He offered with a grin on his face, then looked to the side and saw that Nightwing was looking at him with a thin frown across his face.

"So X, are you finally starting to run out of steam or what?" Nightwing questioned of the blond haired teen with a smirk forming across his face and Nartuo merely grinned towards the other teen in response.

"Yeah well, I'm too tired to come up with some witty retort right now… give me a little time to at least catch my breath, kid…" Naruto mumbled while Jinx then offered the tired blond his Shakujo back. Giving a grin to the rosette, Naruto reached out and took hold of the staff, then started to lean against it heavily. Breathing out for a moment, the blond then grimaced when he saw Batman, Etrigan, Dr. Fate, and Shayera walking over to them. However when he felt Raven hug him from the side, the blond smiled and placed an arm over her shoulder, only to frown towards where the injured Trigon was.

"However, I don't think we're really all done here yet." Naruto then said while watching as Trigon was slowly turned himself onto his hands and knees while panting heavily to himself, then slowly pushed himself up to glare at them.

"I think I'll handle this one…" Raven stated while walking from the group and over towards her "Father" with a deep frown on her face. Grunting lightly, Trigon glared at the approaching form of his daughter, even as he bled from multiple wounds inflicted upon both him and Kyuubi when they were combined then separated.

"You… you think you are a threat to me, Little Girl? Even in my weakened state… I am still more powerful than you…" Trigon growled at Raven as he slowly grit his teeth and lifted one of his hoofed feet up and dug it into the ground. "I am your creator! Your master! You exist only to serve me! You survive only because I allow it!" Trigon growled at Raven as she continued to approach, frowning deeply and forming a ring a black and white energy around her waist. "What hope can a mere child like you have of defeating her all powerful father?" Trgion demanded and Raven narrowed her eyes onto the enormous demon dangerously.

"You may have created me… but you were never my father." Raven declared while firing twin beams of energy at Trigon, one black and one white. The beams connected with Trigon's chest, knocking him back where he was forced to brace himself against a building before watching as Raven continued to approach him.

"Wretched insignificant…" Trigon started to say only to cry out as Raven fired another stream of energy into his chest, knocking him back and through the building completely, crushing it under his weight.

"Fathers are Kind!" Raven stated while walking forward and firing another beam into Trigon, sending him skidding to the side where he slowly got up on one knee. "Fathers protect you!" She added while firing again, Trigon rolling back and into a building before glaring at the violet haired girl. "Fathers' Raise You!" Raven added while firing once more, black and white lightning swirling over Trigon and causing him to bow before the girl. Taking a deep breath, Raven then closed her eyes and called upon the power she'd left with her friends.

Nightwing, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast-Boy all looked to one another as they felt a pull and held up a hand, a trail of familiar ebony energy flowing from their hands and over towards Raven. Holding up her own hand, Raven quickly absorbed the power into herself before glaring at Trigon fiercely. "I was protected by the monks of Azarath! I was raised by my friends!" Raven exclaimed while glaring at Trigon, the enormous demon managing to gaze at the girl with one eye. "They are my family, this is my home, and you are not welcome here!" Raven exclaimed while flying into the sky and throwing her arms to her sides.

Seeing this, Naruto closed his eyes and vanished in a swirl of white flames, only to reappear and wrap his arms around Raven from behind, Shakujo still in hand. Blinking in shock, Raven turned to see Naruto over her shoulder and the blond grinned towards her. "Mind if I help you out here, Kara-Chan?" The blond haired teen questioned of the girl and a small smile worked its way across her face. Moving her arms up to form an X over her torso to hold onto his arms, she then turned her eyes back to Trigon.

"Not at all…" She whispered in reply before closing her eyes, Naruto closing his own as they mixed their powers together.

"Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos!" Both Naruto and Raven exclaimed as their combined powers suddenly burst forth, forming a pillar of black and white energy that reached into the heavens. Spotting this, Yatagarasu cawed for a moment before flying towards the pillar and entering into it as well. Soon enough a pair of wings burst from the pillar, looking a great deal like those of Raven's soul-self. Soon enough however, a pair of familiar purple-grey eyes opened up from within the power, causing all of the energy to explode outwards across the world…

Trigon was hit by the wave first, holding up his arms only to scream as his body was simultaneously burned and ripped apart. Soon enough all that was left of Trigon was his dying scream and the power then stretched outward. Forming into a white field that spread outwards in a circle, undoing the damage done by both the Juubi and Trigon. The Titans, Tartarus, and JLU watched on in silence as the wave of energy approached and then flowed over them as well. The energy then stretched out, farther and farther, crossing over the entire planet, and righting what Trigon had done…

(?)

Meanwhile, Naruto head what sounded like wings flapping, from what he could only assume was Yatagarasu. Slowly his eyes fluttered open to an endless blue sky, the sun shining overhead brightly. Blinking for a moment, Naruto found himself spread out, arms outstretched to either side, his Shakujo in his right hand. Looking around from this position, Naruto raised a brow when he saw mountain peaks were completely encircling him on the horizon. He also noticed that, oddly enough, he seemed to be laying on nothing but a cloud, yet he wasn't falling through it, as he should've.

"What the hell?" The blond questioned and then used the Shakoju to pull himself up and gripped it with both hands. "Where am I?" The blond questioned once more and heard Yatagarasu caw, looking up, he spotted the three-legged raven was flying overhead before slowly lowering itself. Turning around to see where it was going, Naruto found a body connecting with his and a pair of arms wrapping around him. Blinking in surprise for a moment, Naruto then widened them when he saw a familiar shock of crimson hair…

"I missed you, Sochi (Son)…" A woman whispered and Naruto widened his eyes before closing them and wrapping his arms around her as well.

"I missed you too, Okasan (Mom)…" The blond replied quietly while smiling faintly as he even recognized her smell from so long ago. 'She still smells just like a warm sunny summer day…' The blond thought to himself absently before taking a breath and pushing back, stepping out of her arms and seeing a tearful smile on her face. "But… how are you here?" Naruto asked and Kushina looked to her left shoulder, Yatagarasu landing and rubbing the side of its head into her cheek.

"My little friend here arranged it…" Kushina admitted while petting Yatagarasu and Naruto noted how odd it was that the bird was acting that way.

"So what, is it your pet or what, and how can a bird bring us here anyways?" Naruto questioned of the woman and Kushina blinked before looking to Yatagarasu then to Naruto with a grin.

"Yeah, you could say he's my pet. And as for how we got here, he's a Summon Spirit, which allows him to bring you to his domain, and all Karasu are tied to death as Spirit-Warders, thus allowing him to bring me here as well." Kushina replied in explanation while reaching up to rub the neck of Yatagarasu once more, the raven cawing lightly as she did. "And the little known fact that I held the Karasu summoning contract when I was alive also helps…" Kushina added with a grin on her face and Naruto blinked before rolling his eyes and looked all around.

"Where are we anyways?" Naruto questioned of the woman and she made a "Hmm" sound for a moment while crossing her arms.

"On the border of life and death, in the realm where spirits dwell. Or just the Spirit-Realm if that helps." She replied with a smile on her face and Naruto blinked then sighed while leaning into the Shakujo.

"Oi… and to think I was actually trying to get here when I first escaped Konoha." Naruto said to himself and Kushina snickered into one hand before grinning towards her son for a moment.

"Your as bad at that Jutsu as I am Sochi! I remember back when I first learned it from the Karasu when I was younger, I actually ended up a couple hundred feet in the air instead of the spirit realm. Sarutobi and Minato only just managed to catch me before I went splat, and then they put it into the sacred scroll as an S-Rank Ninjutsu because of how dangerous it was, dattbane!" She stated with a wide and very familiar grin over her face and Naruto gave her a look.

"At least I managed to break into another dimension… what's your excuse!" Naruto demanded of the red haired woman and she twitched while glaring at her son for the crack, only for both to suddenly burst out into laughter. "Man I sure did miss having you around, Okasan." Naruto said with a true smile on his face and Kushina nodded her head before breathing out.

"Yeah. But you shouldn't Sochi, I do take the time to check up on you from time to time, one of the few things I enjoy where I'm at actually." Kushina stated and Naruto gave her a look, smirking slightly as he did. "Yeah yeah, I know give you some privacy when your with your girlfriend, right…" Kushina stated as she knew what that look meant, then crossed her arms and shook her head. "Teens, they all think they don't need their mother's anymore… it's so disrespectful." Kushina said half seriously, smirking the entire time, causing Naruto to roll his eyes and then shake his head.

"Well look at it this way, Okasan. At least I don't have your annoying Verbal Tic anymore…" Naruto noted with a smirk on his face and Kushina blinked for a moment before grinning widely.

"Oh yeah! Ha! Take that Sarutobi! I told you Sochi wouldn't get it from me! You and your damn seal caused it, ttbane!" Kushina stated while pointing into the sky and Naruto laughed to himself, holding his ribs while Kushina blinked and then blushed. "Er, you know… never mind." She then said while Yatagarasu made a slight chirping laugh as well, the woman pouting towards it. "You little traitor…" She said with a pout and yet Yatagarasu still didn't cease with its laughter. However, Kushina then let out a sigh and looked to the smiling Naruto with a sad look.

"Well… looks like its time for me to go, Sochi." She stated and Naruto stopped his grinning and looked to the woman silently. Sighing he then leaned into his Shakujo and closed his eyes before opening one eye with a sad smile on his face.

"Of all the things I've wanted over the years, the thing I wanted most was just to be able to see you again. And now that I have… well… I kind of wish you could stay and maybe meet Kara-Chan." Naruto replied while rubbing the back of his neck and Kushina blinked for a moment and then smiled as well.

"Oh yeah her… speaking of your girl friend, good work on finding her, Sochi. Even if you did disobey me when you did…" Kushina said with a nod and Naruto raised a brow while looking to his mother strangely. Huffing and crossing her arms, Kushina then gave the blond haired youth a look. "Don't you remember, Sochi? Back when you were little I told you to find a girl like me who wasn't weird, yet somehow you find one whose practically my exact opposite!" Kushina reminded and Naruto blinked for a moment before giving the woman an annoyed look.

"So…?" He asked with a slight growl and Kushina smirked in response.

"So what. It's your life Sochi, besides, she seems like a good match for your reckless impulsive self… sort of like Minato was for me." Kushina replied and Naruto shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to think about that. However he then yelped as his red-haired mother suddenly grabbed him around his neck with one arm and gave him an annoyed look. "But if you ever disobey me like that again, I swear that I'll pound you into the ground, ttbane!" Kushina declared with her eyes narrowed and Naruto gasped while gripping the arm around his neck.

"Alright! Alright! I get it mom! Just, please let me go!" Naruto shouted and Kushina nodded her head with a smirk while releasing the blond, causing him to breath in then exhale, before giving the woman and annoyed glare. 'Jeez, Shikamaru was right… moms really are scary…' Naruto thought to himself while Kushina looked around and a slight sad smile crossed her features as she looked back to him.

"Anyways Sochi, sorry to say it, but it looks like I can't stay here any longer… my time's up. I have to go back now." Kushina then stated and Naruto blinked before a sad frown crossed his face.

"To… Yomi?" Naruto asked with a noticeable trace of fear in his voice, not wishing the fate of those poor souls on his mother, and yet Kushina smirked towards the blond, as a white mist started flowing around her.

"No, no… and before you ask, lets just say I have my ways of staying out of that place. Oh, and before I forget, happy birthday Sochi…" Kushina replied softly, causing Naruto to raise a brow as he could almost swear he saw what looked like several red-orange markings appear over Kushina's face, however before he could check again, the world blacked out, a soft voice echoing in his ears…

(Jump-City)

The world has been saved, all traces of Trigon and Kyuubi's invasion / take over banished from existence. Much like it had been earlier, the sun was shining warming rays down upon the city, birds flew through the sky, chirping happily as they did, the bay shined as the light caused sparkles to dance across its surface, and the wind gently shakes the tree's of Jump-City park, causing them to lightly bend. Also like it was earlier, the people of Jump-City are once again going about their business, walking to and fro to reach their destinations, all save for a familiar group at Jump-City harbor.

"Dude, it is like such a beautiful day." BB stated with a nod of his head, breathing in a breath of fresh air as he did so, only for Starfire to grab him in a hug.

"Oh I do so agree my friend! It is indeed a most joyous day to be alive!" She exclaimed while floating off the ground and BB gasped as he started to turn blue.

"St-Starfire… Air!" He gasped out and Starfire blinked before releasing her friend while Cyborg slapped his face and Duela fell over laughing.

"Oh, oh god that is just so fucking hilarious!" Duela exclaimed before falling into yet another fit of laughter, Tartarus sighing as she did so. Meanwhile, only to the side were Jinx and Raven, both hovering over an unconscious Naruto. Oddly, Raven looked like she was back to normal, for her, having her old grey skin pigmentation, violet hair and eyes, and her nails / teeth were also back to normal… though this somehow annoyed her, mostly because in that form, at least she looked normal enough to blend in with a crowd, and therefore, she could go out with Naruto without drawing attention to herself.

"Naruto wake up!" Raven stated while shaking her blond boyfriend lightly, while Jinx hovered over the unconscious blond nearby. The city was also back to normal, confused People looking around in wonder, trying to figure out what had just happened to them and their fair city.

However, Naruto himself seemed to be unconscious, eyes closed and limbs spread out as he lay on his back. Also around the area, the other Titans were surprised that the world was completely back to normal, as if none of the damage Trigon had caused was real. The JLU were contacting the others on the watchtower to confirm that everything was indeed all right. And finally, several members of Tartarus were passed out from exhaustion, Kid-Wykkyd sleeping on the sidewalk soundly after a long day's work. Of the members still conscious, Gizmo, Dani, Duela, Blackfire, Jinx, and Billy Numerous seemed to be the only ones.

"Tempest, please don't be dead! I…" Jinx started to say to the unconscious blond when Naruto suddenly sat up and blinked his eyes open. Looking around for a moment, the blond then groaned while rubbing his head with a visible grimace on his face.

"Oi… Okasan hasn't changed one bit… she's still a little on a weird side of things." The blond haired teen grumbled with a true smile on his face, while Jinx and Raven latched onto him. "Okay… I think I could get used to this." The blond mused aloud with a smirk on his face, only to blink when he heard someone clearing his throat. Frowning as he did, Naruto then looked to both Jinx and Raven, the girls blinking then glaring at one another as they let him go. Shaking his head for a moment, the blond then used his Shakujo to lift himself up to his feet. "Need something Kid?" Naruto asked the spiky haired youth but before Night could comment, BB sprung forward with a grin.

"Dude! We did it! We saved the world!" BB exclaimed happily, his arms raised into the air with a grin on his face, and Cyborg chuckled to himself.

"Aw yeah baby! Lets say we head back to the tower, I'm making some waffles, and then we're gonna go out and party all night long!" Cy stated with a nod of his head as if that was that, Starfire giggling to herself while Blackfire rolled her eyes.

"It was most joyous to do battle by your side beloved-sister! I would very much enjoy to do so again in the future!" Starfire stated while hugging Blackfire tightly, the older girl twitching slightly as she noticed the difference in their height again.

"Koriand'r let me go…" Blackfire growled out and Starfire blinked before chuckling nervously as she released the dark-haired girl.

"Woowee! We've survived the end of the world Billy, don't that just beat all!" Billy Numerous exclaimed while grinning to one of his clones and it grinned back at him.

"Yeah Billy, I bet Mandy 'll have kittens when she hears we helped beat up an enormous Demon!" The clone added and Billy nodded his head in agreement with his clone while Duela snickered into her hand next to Dani.

"He's such an idiot…" Dani mumbled to herself while shaking her head and Duela slipped an arm over her shoulder. Nearby, Kid-Wykkyd opened one eye and rubbed his face, upon seeing the rest of the team were resting on the ground, either unconscious or asleep, Kid discretely began to slip into his cloak, grab them, and then teleport them back to base while none of the heroes were looking…

"Hey, at least he doesn't have an enormously bulbous nose anymore!" Duela offered in reply to the girls comment and Dani raised a brow while Billy grimaced to himself with his clones.

"Anymore?" The Ghostling-Girl questioned with a raised brow and a visible smirk on her lips only for Billy to quickly rush over and slap his hand over Duela's mouth to prevent her from saying anymore.

"It's a long story little miss, but lets just leave it at that for now!" Billy said quickly before dragging Duela away, the insane clown girl snickering to herself as he did so. 'Hiya folks! Nice to see y'all again, hope the wait for this chapter didn't kill ya!' The girl then exclaimed inwardly towards the "Audience", as per usual with the insane teenager. Shaking his head at the insanity starting to break out around him, Nightwing then pinched the bridge of his nose with a frown.

"Honestly X, how in the hell do you put up with these guys? Especially Duela…" Night questioned with a shake of his head and Naruto merely shrugged his shoulders in response, an amused look on his face.

"Honestly Kid, I'm not so sure myself…" The blond haired teen replied truthfully and Jinx snorted before snickering into her hand, Raven rolling her eyes.

As that was happening, BB was listening in on the conversation when he saw Kitten walking down the street and quickly slipped away from his friends. Sneaking up behind the girl, the green teen grinned as he prepared to surprise her, only to blink as she turned to face him with a smirk on her lips. "Dude… no fair, how come you always know its me?" BB muttered with a pout and Kitten giggled into one of her hands.

"I'm just good at that kind of thing Beasty, so what're you guys doing out here?" Kitten questioned while seeing the Titans, and then widened her eyes when she saw Batman. "Oh crap… he's here." She mumbled to herself with wide eyes, not turning away from the Dark-Knight and BB nodded his head with a sigh.

"Yeah, the Titans, JLU, and even some bad-guys just worked together to save the world." BB explained and Kitten blinked her eyes then shook her head and gave her boyfriend a look.

"Seriously? Bad guys actually helped you and the JLU this time?" She questioned with a raised brow towards her boyfriend and Beast-Boy quickly nodded his head.

"Yeah I know, right? It was so wicked dude, Raven's dad is this big bad demon named Trigon the Terrible, see, so she…" BB started to explain while Kitten listened to her boyfriend with clear interest on her face. Nearby, Cyborg was watching with a raised brow, easily able to recognize the blond girl before picturing her with pink hair, thus causing a smirk to cross his lips. Starfire however was twitching as she hovered beside of the Titanium Teen, glaring at Kitten angrily as she did.

"Please Friend-Cyborg, why is Friend-Beast-Boy speaking with… with her?" Starfire asked with a slight growl, Blackfire raising a brow with an amused smirk at the animosity in the younger Tameranian's voice.

"You mean to say you can't recognize her?" Cy asked with a grin and Starfire gave the Titanium Teen a look.

"No, I recognize the Kitten, but I mean why is she speaking with friend Beast-Boy…" Starfire replied and Cyborg snickered to himself, confusing the red haired alien-princess greatly.

"Imagine her with pink hair." Cy then stated with another snicker, Starfire doing as told and then widening her eyes. Staring at BB and Kitten for a moment she then grabbed Cyborg by the front of his armor and looked him in the eyes.

"This is unacceptable! The Kitten is a mean and cruel girl! We cannot allow this to continue, I must…" Starfire started to say only for Cyborg to grab her and place a hand over her mouth as she started to spew curses in Tameranian.

"I see that little Starfire needs to learn how to let her grudges go…" Blackfire noted with a smirk and the said red haired girl suddenly glared at her sister, clearly trying to remind her of her own grudges that she never let go. "Hey, I've changed." Blackfire stated while crossing her arms over her chest with a frown, Starfire still muttering curses while an amused Cyborg held her back.

"Well personally I'm glad BB's with someone, even if it is her, she's already done her time for that prom stunt, so it's perfectly legal… and besides that, she seems to make BB a whole lot smarter than he normally is, so I'm all for that." Cyborg stated, Blackfire rolling her eyes while an angry Starfire simmered, amusing the dark haired alien-princess greatly. 'So this "Kitten" annoys little Starfire in the same way X annoys Nightwing? This could be most amusing in the future.' The Dark-Haired Alien thought to herself, smirking while Kid-Flash sat next to Donna and both looked confused.

"Any idea why she seems to hate that "Kitten" girl so much?" KF asked his friend and Donna shook her head while cracking her neck, and wishing it wasn't so much trouble to fight hordes of Demon's.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Nightwing where staring at one another, a frown on the dark-haired teens face. "Oi Kid, would you stop with the staring already? It's just starting to creep me out now." Naruto grumbled aloud and Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest with a deep frown.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't throw you in jail, throw the key into a black hole, and then never think of you again, for all the hell you've put me through?" Nightwing replied and a flat expression crossed Naruto's face as he gave the teen an annoyed look.

"It's my birthday for one thing." Naruto started and Nightwing blinked for a moment and then frowned deeply. "I just helped save the entire world, and quite possibly the entire universe, from an enormous demon bent on the utter and complete eradication of a mortals." Naruto then added and Night shrugged his shoulders as if that happened every other week, and with their world, that was a distinct possibility. "And finally, I've not only helped stop Poison Ivy and Harley, I also helped you guys with that Plant-Invasion, saved both Billy and Blackfire's lives, took down that ass hole Orochimaru…" Naruto started to list before a thought came to mind and he quickly looked around.

"Shit, where the hell is that fucking asshole Snake, Orochimaru anyways?" The Teen then demanded loudly and Nightwing cursed as he realized that Slade and Ravager were gone as well.

"Dammit, I turn my back for one second and he gets away again." Night grumbled to himself while Naruto started to mutter numerous curses in Japanese, a deep scowl across his face.

"Well this is just wonderful, now I need to go out and find that stupid Hebi-Teme before he causes more hell for this world than he did in my world… and knowing him he's going to be going out experimenting on every fucking Metahuman he finds, oh and not only that but he'll probably also look for some way to become Immortal in this world as well!" The blond grumbled while rubbing his face with a deep scowl, Nightwing turning back around to glare at him for a moment.

"Unfortunately X, you still need to go to jail for…" Night started to say only to blink as Naruto smirked, Kid-Wykkyd coming out of the street and grabbing him and Jinx before vanishing into the shadows. Looking around, the Dark-Haired teen then scowled when he saw that the rest of Tartarus had also escaped thanks to the teleporting teen as well… "Never mind… we'll catch them next time." Night grumbled out once more while Cyborg snickered into one hand and Starfire continued to scowl towards Kitten and BB. Breathing out a sigh, Night then looked to Raven with a frown, the girl narrowing her eyes.

"Do not start with me right now, Nightwing. I've had a very long day…" She stated flatly while poking his chest and then pulled her cloak in on herself, vanishing in a swirl of black and making Night frown. Shaking his head for a moment, Cyborg then walked over to his friend and placed an arm over his shoulders with a smirk.

"Night just lay off it man, Nar's not such a bad guy, and he and Rae are really good together." Cy stated with a shake of his head, smirking slightly as he quoted the blond haired super thief, though it wasn't the first time.

"Cyborg, he's a villain, we're heroes, we have to take him in jail. It's our job remember." Nightwing stated while giving the Titanium-Titan an annoyed look and Cyborg rolled his eyes before looking to Starfire.

"What do you say Star, should we throw Nar in jail?" Cyborg asked, drawing the red head from her glaring and making her blink in confusion. "I asked if you think we should throw Naruto in jail cause he's Red-X and all…" Cyborg repeated and a look crossed Starfire's features, the girl floating into the air, crossing her arms, and considering that question for a moment.

"Well… it is our duty to protect the city from the villains… and yet I cannot say I wish to do so with the Red-X as he has helped both myself and my sister…" Starfire admitted while looking to her shoes, Nightwing twitching while looking over to Donna and Kid-Flash for support.

"I hate to say it Rich, but besides that one day of non-stop pranks, I haven't seen him do one evil thing… I mean yeah him stealing from you is bad and all, but that's about it since no one else is trying to press charges." Kid-Flash explained and Nightwing had to give the speedster that, and since X's new suit didn't run on Xenothiam, it also meant he couldn't be taken in for possession of illegal materials… wait, he still had the damn belt and actually could be taken in for that instead of Naruto… crap.

"Unfortunately, I am in agreement with Bart, Richard. It seems to me that this is more for the sake of your own personal vendetta against Red-X than it is for justice. Besides that, he has saved us all numerous times already, and I've yet to see him actually steal anything… at least not that we can prove." Donna replied grudgingly while Nightwing muttered something under his breath, and then raised a brow as a happy BB walked over with a smile.

"Yo dudes, what's up?" BB asked and Nightwing turned to the green furred member of his team with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Beast Boy, do you think we need to catch X or not?" Night asked his teammate with a flat expression and BB widened his eyes before looking to either side nervously.

"Uh well… Dude, Nar isn't such a bad guy, and I mean, its not like it's a priority to catch him and uh… villains are people too… and Raven would like, totally kill us if we did and all… er, maybe but…" BB started to say before looking around nervously for a moment, giving a quick salute and then ducked behind a smirking Cyborg for protection from Nightwing.

"Guys, X is a criminal, its our job to capture him and all other criminals in the city, we can't just let him run wild when we're supposed to be protecting the city from villains like him." Nightwing reminded the group with his arms crossed over his chest and BB frowned for a moment while looking out from behind Cy.

"Technically speaking here dude, we're vigilantes like Batman, and since that's the case we're also breaking a ton of laws just by doing what we do. Thereby, seeing as Vigilantism is also against the law, wouldn't that mean you'd have to go to jail with the rest of us going as well…" Beast-Boy retorted and Nightwing blinked for a moment, the rest of the Titans staring at the green-furred teen. "What? Back in the Doom Patrol I learned a lot, one tiny tidbit is for all intents and purposes we're all vigilantes and therefore we're also breaking the law." Beast Boy reminded with a nod of his head and the other Titans continued to stare at him.

"Uh… besides the fact that he's right, you seriously need to chill out Night." Cy stated and Nightwing gave him an annoyed look, Cyborg sighing as he looked to the others. "Alright show of hands, who wants to actively try and catch X, thus ruining Rae's relationship, and probably bringing about her unholy wrath upon us all…?" Cy asked with a smirk while Nightwing gaped at the teen as none of the team raised their hand for obvious reasons. "Looks like the votes are in Night, your on own on this one." Cyborg stated with a nod and Night twitched before muttering under his breath with a frown.

However, before Night could shout at his team about Naruto being a criminal and they were heroes, Batman walked over to them. "Batman…" Night stated darkly and the Dark-Knight merely raised a brow while Dr. Fate, Etrigan and Shayera stood behind him.

"Nightwing." Batman said while nodding to the former boy wonder and then looked to the other Titans. "Congratulations seem to be in order, we've managed to survive and ultimately stop the end of the world." Batman stated and BB grinned over to Kid-Flash, the red haired speedster doing the same.

"And as such we wish to offer you all these…" Shayera said while handing each of the Titans a tiny earphone, handing one extra to Nightwing, clearly for Raven.

"What are these things?" Cyborg questioned while looking at his and Dr. Fate chuckled slightly to himself.

"Those are JLU communicators. Welcome to a select group of honorary JLU members…" Dr. Fate explained then took a thoughtful look, seemingly ignoring the looks on the Titans faces. "However, I do believe that your old friends Speedy and Aqua-Lad are also members." Dr. Fate then admitted and Night grunted for a moment before looking at the earphone and stuck it into his utility belt.

"Dude! We have a membership with the JLU! Awesome!" BB exclaimed and Shayera shook her head before sighing.

"Your honorary members, which means that you're essentially on call, while remaining freelance." Shayera stated and BB blinked before nodding his head slowly, Etrigan mumbling something to himself.

"Anyways, if you ever need our help again, and you will, call us." Batman then stated while giving a look to the teens, Dr. Fate nodding his head in agreement. "This is Batman to Watchtower, four to bring up." The Dark-Knight then said while placing a finger to his ear, the four JLU members vanishing in a flash of light as he did…

"Dude, that is like, so cool!" BB cried out and Cyborg frowned before bopping the green-furred teen on the head…

(?)

A foot splashed against green tinted water while two figures made their way down through the sewers. Looking around with a flashlight in one hand, Slade suddenly narrowed his eye dangerously. "What is it father?" Ravager questioned and Slade turned towards her for only a moment before straightening his back as a familiar ivory skinned serpent man walked out of the shadows, a cocky smirk upon his lips as always.

"Nothing, Rose, just an old snake…" Slade replied and a chuckle escaped from Orochimaru's lips as he walked towards the two.

"So, everything is back to normal… you've gotten your body back… I believe all that remains is for you to complete your end of the bargain." Orochimaru noted while holding onto the Guardian's Ax, Slade twitching slightly as he looked at the wicked weapon for a moment, then to its new owner.

"You are correct, a deal is a deal." Slade agreed while reaching into his utility belt and pulled out a slip of paper from it. "This is the location of the research and formula you'll need to gain my enhanced regeneration ability… however I must make one last request, leave the Titans out of any of your future plans… they are mine to deal with." Slade stated while holding the paper up and Orochimaru merely reached out and took it from the masked man with a cruel smirk across his face.

"Very-Good, Slade-san, our bargain is complete. And do not worry; I have no interest in those children… Naruto-Kun is so much more interesting." Orochimaru replied with a smirk still splitting his face and Slade made an hmm sound. "And now I do believe that I still have some work to do myself." Orochimaru noted darkly while still smirking like a serpent, Slade merely narrowing his sole eye as the other man walked passed him and Ravager. "Oh… and Slade-San…" Orochimaru then said while turning slightly to see the man from the corner of his eye, Slade doing the same.

"Don't try and get in my way, it would be most hazardous to your continued health, not to mention your continued existence in this world… and I'd say you want to keep your skin attached this time." Orochimaru warned darkly, the ax in his hand suddenly setting ablaze, as if to make his point, and then made his way further down into the sewer, Slade narrowing his sole eye as the man vanished into the shadows.

"Father, was it wise to give someone like, him, access to such a high rate of regeneration?" Ravager questioned of Slade worriedly and the masked-madman scoffed while folding his arms behind his back.

"Are you questioning my decisions, apprentice?" The man asked of the girl flatly and Ravager widened her eyes before quickly shaking her head.

"N-no, of course not father." She replied while bowing her head and Slade turned and looked down at her coldly.

"Then it shouldn't matter what I do… besides that, it should be obvious to you that Orochimaru is far more valuable to us as an ally than he would be as an enemy." Slade stated while glaring at Ravager, the girl quickly straightening up before bowing her head to her father.

"Yes… forgive me for not thinking of something so obvious, father." Ravager replied and Slade hummed lightly while turning his back on the girl, eye closed and his arms crossed behind his back.

"Very well… but we must go, we have to ready some plans of our own… the Titans may have new allies, but an old enemy is soon to return." Slade stated darkly while walking further into the depths of the sewers, Ravager watching on silently for a brief moment and then slowly following behind him…

(Metropolis…)

Ayane looked to the sky with a blink of her eyes, looking back to the city around her, she frowned as everyone went about their business as if nothing had happened. 'Then again, how do you explain everyone in the city turning to stone or hell itself suddenly coming to life?' The Magenta haired girl wondered before slowly walking down the streets of Metropolis, slipping her hands into her pockets as she did. Closing her eyes, she decided to leave well enough alone and not ask too many questions when something strange happened in this already strange universe.

'How the hell can you think like that! This place may be strange but being petrified isn't normal by any circumstances!' Sakura shouted in her head and Ayane grunted for a moment, muttering under her breath about annoying head voices as she made her way back to her "office". Her Office of sorts also happened to be an abandoned warehouse, she got the idea to live in it when she saw how often police neglected to check them out, and also because the docks were fairly empty at night. This allowed her to help most villains who wanted medical attention at night, while during the day they'd have to sneak in.

Smirking to herself, Ayane thought about how she'd managed to, in a week, get most of the villains in town coming to her. Helping a wounded girl by the name of "Live-Wire" had been all she needed as the electrically themed villainous spread the word about her in no time. Given her ability to change into electricity, whenever Live-Wire wanted something to be known, it'd get known at lightning faced speed. The amazing fact she'd been able to heal Live Wire's wounds given her, to put it mildly, unique physiology also helped out, as it meant they didn't need to be completely normal for help.

Thus far, her Healing-Ninjutsu even seemed to work well with the wounds of aliens, of course Ayane also realized this was because her techniques just temporarily enhanced their natural healing without modifying anything, however it didn't mean that they had to know that little tidbit as well. Shaking her head for a bit, Ayane then yawned as she walked to the docks and over to the final warehouse in the area. Soon coming to it she looked around for a moment before walking inside and closing the door behind her.

"Hey Bubblegum, where you been?" A familiar nasally and very annoying voice questioned and Ayane twitched before looking to a chair at the side of the room. Sitting within the chair is a woman with bright blue hair standing straight up in numerous spikes, electric blue eyes, pale blue skin, black lips, and has a very slight physique, she wears a black leotard with a lightning bolt cut down the center, thigh length black boots, and blue gloves over her hands.

This was the Super-Villain known as Live Wire, who had unfortunately latched herself onto Ayane after the Magenta haired girl healed her. Why, she didn't know, maybe it was because Ayane was fun to annoy so she stuck around to get a rise out of her, maybe she wanted to stay on her good side so Ayane would heal her for free, or maybe she actually liked her… in any case Ayane had the constant annoyance of Live-Wire being around her. "I told you to stop calling me that! My hair is Magenta, not pink!" Ayane shouted at Live Wire and the blue haired woman merely smirked at her for a moment before rubbing her chin.

"Not pink? Well it sure does look pink to me, Bubblegum." Live Wire retorted and Ayane twitched visibly while crossing her arms over her chest with a scowl.

"Shut it you stupid Blueberry Bitch!" Ayane shouted while removing her coat and tossing it onto a coat-rack at her side, Live Wire looking from her hair, to her skin before rolling her eyes with a smirk.

"C'mon Bubblegum, don't be like that." Live Wire mocked playfully and Ayane flipped her the bird with a scowl across her face. Snickering into her hand, Live Wire then watched the Magenta haired girl make her way over to glare down at her darkly.

"What do you want, Blueberry?" Ayane demanded and Live Wire adopted a mock hurt look while looking at the younger girl.

"I'm insulted, I'm shocked you could ever think I would only come here to…" She started to say indignantly, then smirked when Ayane raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "Eh, alright. I wanted to know if maybe you and that weird "Chakra-Scalpel" thing of yours wouldn't want to help me with ol' blue-boy." Live Wire replied before changing into a bolt of lightning, and then reforming at Ayane's side, one arm slipped over the younger girl's shoulders.

"Cause the way I see it, your scalpel thing goes through the skin right, so if that's the case maybe you can like cut a few of his muscles for me and we could rob a couple hundred banks, I could absorb a lot of energy, and then I could even take over the world and help with that one boy problem of yours." Live Wire offered while leaning over her cheek against Ayane's own, the magenta haired girl reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she does.

"And are Superman's muscles any less durable than his skin?" Ayane demanded while giving the blue haired woman a look, Live Wire merely shrugging her shoulders in response.

"Hell if I know, but the guy runs on Solar Power right, so since his muscles don't get any direct sunlight they got to be a little less durable… right?" Live Wire mused then questioned and Ayane muttered something under her breath before blowing into her bangs tiredly.

"No not right. It's his body that absorbs the rays and his powers are more like some kind of a genetic quirk that makes him as tough as he is since he's an alien who's species developed on another planet. And since that's the case then it's also possible that his muscles are also as hard as steel." Ayane explained to the blue haired woman and Live Wire pouted before shrugging her shoulders. "Besides that, I have to stay out of jail to heal morons like you when you all get hurt." Ayane reminded the older woman and Live Wire nodded her head, knowing well how many villains had started coming to the magenta haired girl recently.

"Yeah yeah Bubblegum, whatever…" Live Wire said flippantly while turning into a bolt of lightning that zipped around the room before landing on the desk in the warehouse. Turning with a sigh, Ayane glared upon seeing Live Wire lying on her side with one arm propping up her head with a smirk.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Ayane growled out in questioned and Live Wire grinned towards her.

"Just going to make the place a little more welcoming is all…" She replied and Ayane palmed her face, muttering something under her breath in Japanese before walking passed the desk and into a series of walls she'd set up as a room. "Hey, where are you going?" Live Wire questioned while languidly turning from her position on the desk and Ayane pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Back here and away from you, if someone comes by tell them I'll be out in a minute or something." Ayane replied while walking over to a medical bed she'd managed to pilfer a couple weeks before and then laid on it and leaned back. Deciding to get comfortable and take a nap, the girl then crossed her arms behind her head and closed one eye, leaving the other half open.

"When the hell did I become your damn receptionist, Bubblegum!" Live Wire demanded while sitting up and a smirk crossed over Ayane's features.

"You're the one sitting at the reception desk, Blueberry." She replied and Live Wire rolled her eyes before laying back down with one eye closed, Ayane sighing as she turned slightly, closed both her eyes, and fell into a silent slumber…

(Tartarus HQ…)

The HQ is literally rocking with music playing at a volume that should be, and probably is, illegal. Inside however, the majority of Tartarus is in Ops, a party going in full swing with Billy handing beer out to all his clones… "Alright boys and gals, we just took down one seriously nasty demon, and proved once and for all that we're a group that isn't to be taken lightly, so lets party!" Mammoth exclaimed with a grin before he and Private slammed their heads together. Shaking her head while sitting in midair with her legs crossed, Dani looked over to Blackfire with a sigh.

"You know, that really explains their lack of intelligence…" The Ghostling Girl noted with a sigh and the alien princess nodded her head in full agreement with her. Nearby, Kid-Wykkyd is somehow sleeping threw the noise, while Seemore was with Gizmo as they manned the music, Duela dancing to the side and laughing as she fell on her face. Absent from the fun are Jinx and Naruto, both seemingly missing while Blackfire got up and strolled over to the boys.

"That's enough of that from you Duela." Blackfire stated while pushing the clown girl down and stretched out her arms into the air. "Now then, move over earthlings, cause the queen of the galaxy is about to show you her stuff!" The Dark-Haired Tameranian declared arrogantly, shaking her hips as she moves to the beat of the music, the boys wolf whistling as she does so. Sighing once more, Dani leaned forward, placing her chin on her hands with her elbows on her knees for support.

"It's official, they're all insane…" The girl said mostly to herself while Duela jumped onto her back with a snicker and a grin.

"Nice one!" The clown girl exclaimed and Dani palmed her face as the more idiotic members of the team, AKA Billy Numerous, Mammoth, and Private, started chugging beer over to the side. Meanwhile, deep in the base, Jinx is sitting in her room with a sad frown across her face, idly looking at a picture of her, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Naruto back when they were in the H.I.V.E. academy.

"Thing's were so much more simple back then…" She mumbled to herself while fiddling with the String of Beads on her right forearm for a moment. Lifting her arm up, she then stared at the single ivory bead, gazing at the crimson red swirl inside of it. "This one is different than the others… those are all made of lacquered wood… but this one isn't…" She muttered to herself while wondering what it was about the bead that seemed to stand out, besides its obvious difference in color, it also seemed larger, smoother, and colder in some way…

"Like a stone…" She mumbled before hearing someone clear his or her throat from behind her. Turning around, the pink haired girl then frowned when she saw Raven standing in her doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. "What do you want?" Jinx demanded while giving the violet-eyed girl an annoyed look and Raven reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"For once, I just want to talk." Raven replied and a "Are you serious" look crossed Jinx's face. "Yes, I know that I usually don't want to talk to you, but this is about something important…" Raven offered in explanation to the girl before walking over and sitting down on Jinx's bed, the pink haired girl turning around, arms crossed and an expectant look on her face.

"Alright then talk, but make it quick." Jinx ordered and Raven twitched slightly before taking a breath and closing her eyes.

"Look, first of all I wanted to know why you risked your life to help us fight the Juubi." Raven replied while looking at Jinx strangely, the pink-haired girl twitching as she drummed her fingers on her arm.

"Isn't that obvious? I've fought you multiple times, gone up against Poison Ivy's evil psychotic plants, a hellish and demonified version of you, a bunch of Ninja, and now I've even fought against an army of Japanese Youkai for Temp, how the hell can't you tell?" Jinx demanded of Raven angrily and the half-demon sorceress merely narrowed her violet eyes onto the pink haired girl dangerously.

"I just want to hear you actually say it for once. I want to be sure this isn't like when you had that crush on Cyborg. I want to know that it's something that won't just fade away after a month or two." Raven replied and Jinx's eyes flared dangerously before she grabbed the girl by the front of her cloak and glared into her in the eyes.

"Fine! I love him! I love all the stupid things he does, hell, I even love how loyal to you he is even when it keeps us apart!" Jinx shouted at Raven and the Violet Haired girl merely weathered it as Jinx released her and threw her arms into the air. "I love that he's a slacker and a bit of a goof at times, but also a great leader! I love how he's able to connect with all of us even given our vastly different backgrounds! I love how he's willing to help each of us with any of our problems no matter what it might be!" Jinx continued while placing her hands over her face and taking several deep breaths.

"I even love him when he purposely pisses me off to get a rise outta me! Hell I can't even stay mad at him when we argue, a few minutes of it and I'm agreeing to whatever he wants!" Jinx stated while glaring at Raven heatedly, the half-demoness merely watching on silently as she did. "I've loved him for… hell I don't even remember when it started anymore! I just know I love him all right! Are you happy now?" Jinx demanded of the sorceress and Raven actually blinked, before slowly nodding her head. Taking a breath, Jinx then sat back and leaned back in her seat, staring at her ceiling intently while Raven continued to gaze at her.

"I told you what you wanted to hear right? Can't you leave me alone now?" Jinx asked the girl miserably and Raven sighed before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Listen Jinx, I'll be honest and say that I really don't like you…" Raven started to say and Jinx looked up with a frown.

"The feeling is completely mutual." She stated and Raven gave her a flat look for a moment before taking a quick breath.

"However, the thing is that I don't know why we don't get along." Raven continued and Jinx raised a brow while tilting her head to one side. "Look, we both love Naruto, so why can't either of us put up with the other for his sake without breaking into a fight? Moreover, why is it that we each like similar things yet we seem to hate each other with a blind bloody passion that borders on the psychotic?" Raven asked and Jinx shrugged her shoulders, she never really thought about it, only thing she could guess being jealousy… "I don't know your reason but as for me… I think it might have something to do with me feeling threatened by your relationship with him." Raven admitted and Jinx blinked repeatedly before giving the girl a look.

"Raven you have got to be kidding me. Your Temp's girlfriend, and I'm just his teammate, like you and Nightwing are just teammates. Besides he thinks the world of you, he'd sooner cut off his own hand than leave you, believe me, he's just that loyal. Not only that but in looks, I hate to admit it but… you have more curves, your more full bodied than me, you have nicer legs than I do, a bigger…" Jinx started to list aloud and Raven quickly stopped her, a slight blush on her face from the indirect compliments.

"Be that as it may. Jinx, he's known you longer, your both criminals, he trains with you all the time, you live together, you know how he thinks and acts better than even I do, and if he hadn't met me when he did, I can honestly say he'd probably be with you right now instead of me…" Raven explained and Jinx tilted her head to one side, her brow still raised and the dark-Titan let out a soft sigh.

"What I'm trying to say is that I attack, argue, and fight with you because… I'm actually scared of the thought of losing him to you, or anyone else for that matter. I love Naruto as well, and I don't want to lose him." Raven admitted and Jinx continued to stare at the dark-titan as she shifted uncomfortably and wrapped her arms over her torso. "Jinx, I know we've had our differences… but for his sake, I want to bury the hatchet for real this time." Raven stated and Jinx gave the girl a look before sighing and leaning back in her seat, eyes closed and arms crossed behind her head.

"We both know that's not likely to happen, Raven. How in the hell can we bury the hatchet when I still resent you for having him?" Jinx demanded of the violet haired girl and Raven looked at her calmly, crossing her legs and sighing.

"Well… umm… that's kind of the thing." Raven mumbled while rubbing one of her arms nervously and Jinx sighed.

"Just spit it out already." She growled out at the violet haired girl and Raven leaned over to Jinx and whispered into her ear. As she heard what the violet haired girl was suggesting, her eyes popped open and she stared at her. "You have got to be joking, I mean how in the hell would that even work?" She demanded of the other girl while giving her a strange look, Raven merely sighing as she reached up and rubbed her face.

"I'm not joking, and as for how it would work, well… its Naruto's birthday so its sort of a gift to him, and don't think you'll just instantly get all the perks. You'll be on probation for a while till I get used to you…" Raven started to explain to the pink haired girl but Jinx stopped her by placing her hand over her mouth and frowned.

"Why am I the one who's on Probation?" She questioned flatly and Raven narrowed her eyes onto the pink haired girl dangerously. Reaching up she then pulled Jinx's hand from her mouth and frowned deeply towards her.

"Because in case you're forgetting, I'm the one who's doing all the compromising here… not you." Raven replied angrily and Jinx looked at Raven with another look. "Unless you'd rather I just forget I even suggested the idea in the first place and we go back to our usual routine of spontaneously trying to kill one another…" Raven then added flatly, Jinx quickly shaking her head before clearing her throat.

"No! I mean… Okay… so then what's this probation thing all about anyways?" Jinx asked quickly while looking away from the girl, Raven silently crossing her arms before sighing softly.

"First of all, you can kiss and hug him as much as you want. That much is a given with this arrangement and I won't need to know how much or even want to know when your off doing that stuff with him. However, I do reserve the right to come on any and all dates with him to make sure you don't get up to any funny business. Also, no feeling him up or "Nighttime activities" with him until further notice." Raven explained to the pink haired girl simply and Jinx blinked at the last bit before looking at her strangely.

"Umm… okay…" Jinx replied with a slight blush on her cheeks as she could easily guess what Raven had meant. Nodding her head, Raven then sighed while getting up and straightened out her cloak for a moment.

"Alright, now that that's settled, lets go tell him about his birthday gift." Raven mused aloud and Jinx slowly got out of her seat while staring at the violet-haired girl when a thought suddenly came to her.

"But… he hates his birthday…" Jinx reminded quietly and Raven nodded her head before grabbing her left wrist, taking special care not to grab the one with the String of Beads on it, and pulled her out of her room and into the halls of the HQ.

"Right, so lets go and give him a reason not to hate it anymore." She replied and Jinx blinked before slowly nodding her head in agreement with Raven. Walking down the halls of the HQ, Raven led Jinx down the halls of Tartarus HQ, and to a familiar door with a crimson X on the front of it. "Nervous?" Raven asked Jinx with a raised brow, the said pink haired girl blinking before shaking her head.

"Honestly, more surprised than nervous. Especially since this was your idea." Jinx admitted truthfully and Raven nodded her head for a moment.

"In my defense, it's a birthday gift for him, and a reward for the fact your willing to fight a giant demon for Naruto… if that doesn't deserve at least a little compromising on my part, then nothing would. Besides, I need someone to help me keep him in line…" Raven replied quietly and then turned to the door and exhaled a quick breath. Reaching forward she then knocked on the door and heard Naruto mumble something inside. A few seconds later, the blond came to the door and opened it up with a yawn, clearly warn out from his battle with the Juubi. Blinking his eyes open, the blond haired teen then looked from Raven to Jinx and raised a brow.

"Uh… what's going on?" He questioned with a raised brow and Raven let out another breath before pushing Jinx into his arms. Blushing heavily, Jinx looked up to see a confused Naruto, who looked from Jinx to Raven with a raised brow. "Kara-Chan?" Naruto questioned and Raven silently turned on her heel and crossed her arms over her chest while closing her eyes.

"I've made a decision." Raven stated and Naruto looked to the blushing form of Jinx in his arms for a moment before looking back to his girlfriend.

"And how exactly does it involve, Jinx?" He questioned and Raven motioned for him to follow her, the blond absently doing so with one arm over Jinx's shoulders.

"I wanted to reward her for helping to fight against the Juubi, even when it was clear she could've died. From my memories, it was actually her who inspired the others to help us fight against it so its her who deserves a reward." Raven replied with a nod of her head and Naruto reached up with his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

"Okay… then what kind of reward is she getting." Naruto asked with his head tilted to one side and didn't see a bright blush appear on Jinx's face.

"You." Raven replied bluntly, causing Naruto to stop and gape at the girl.

"Wait, what?" He demanded and Raven sighed while stopping and turning around to face the blond haired youth.

"I mean we're going to share you." Raven replied and saw the look on Naruto's face. "Look, she really does deserve some kind of a reward, and its your birthday, which you hate. So, I figured I'll kill several birds with one stone. Namely, you get a gift too good to mope about, she gets a reward for helping us, and I get someone to help me keep you in line. Besides, it's also the only way I could think to actually end the fighting between her and me. If we share, I won't feel as threatened about her taking you since we both will have you, in a way at least, and she won't resent me for having you." Raven explained with a finger raised and Naruto blinked for a moment before looking to the brightly blushing Jinx.

"It was all her idea…" Jinx mumbled quietly and looked away from the blond haired teens eyes, Naruto turning back to Raven with a slight smirk forming on his lips.

"Kara-Chan, don't I get a say in this little arrangement of yours?" Naruto questioned of his girlfriend with a raised brow, though the smirk on his face did little to hide his amusement with what was happening. 'Yep, Ero-Sennin is definitely helping me from the great beyond…' The blond thought to himself and could swear that he heard a "Your welcome!" from the deceased Sannin. Sighing, Raven shook her head, walked over to Naruto and pulled his free arm over her shoulders, then wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a look.

"Okay then. If you're sure this is a good idea, then I'm all for it." Naruto replied and walked down the hall with the two girls. Smirking inwardly the blond then looked from one girl to the other and sighed. "However, I have to admit, that something tells me this is going to be a very interesting relationship from now on." Naruto admitted and both Jinx and Raven rolled their eyes before ribbing in his sides the blond for the crack.

"Not funny." Raven stated flatly before a thought came to mind and she looked from Jinx to Naruto. "And before I forget, Jinx is on temporary probation. No fooling around with her until I say so, and I can come on any dates you take her on." Raven stated and Naruto raised a brow with a smirk before snickering to himself.

"Keeping her on a short leash, huh Kara-Chan?" Naruto asked his violet-haired girlfriend with a grin on his face and the girl huffed while turning slightly to the side, her eyes closed and a frown across her face. Looking from Raven to Naruto for a moment, Jinx then cleared her throat to get their attention, both of them looking over to her.

"So… what do we do now?" Jinx questioned nervously, truly having no clue how this odd relationship was ever going to work out, Naruto merely frowning in thought for a short moment.

"Let's go on vacation." He replied and caused both girls to stop, blink, and then give him a strange look. Sighing softly, Naruto closed his eyes and leaned his head back while explaining his reasoning. "The Kid knows who I am now, the city will probably find out soon enough, the JLU will probably either hunt me down or try to get me to join them, and you guys know how much I hate hero work… so I'd just really rather not stick around for all that." Naruto explained and both Raven and Jinx nodded their heads in agreement with him.

"So where do we go for a vacation? I mean face it, a threesome like us isn't exactly inconspicuous." Jinx asked with a raised brow as she slipped her arm around his waist with Raven and smiled slightly to herself. In response Naruto smirked slightly before replying to the girl's question with a grin.

"To some out of the way deserted island out in the middle of nowhere… well at least we would if I knew where one was." Naruto replied and Raven blinked for a moment before clearing her throat to draw their attention to her.

"Actually, I do know where to find one…" She admitted softly and Naruto grinned before looking between both girls and nodding his head.

"Alright. Then how about we all go pack up and head out then. I'll even leave a scroll for Dani and the other's explaining where we are." Naruto offered and Raven gave the blond haired teen a look.

"I've still got my team remember." She chose to remind and Naruto nodded his head, though the smirk never left his face.

"Yeah, but you've also just fought not only your father, but the Juubi, and had the worst month in your entire life… just give them a message saying your going on vacation to center yourself or something." Naruto replied and Raven blinked before frowning in thought for a moment. That could honestly work, and she was a little tired of always saving the city, day in and day out, she could at least have one vacation… beside she really did need to center herself after the month she'd had…

"Alright, I'll do that. Let me go get some things and I'll be right back." Raven replied while vanishing into the shadows, leaving Jinx and Naruto alone. Blinking for a moment before suddenly realizing she was alone with Naruto, a blush suddenly crawled onto the girl's cheeks.

"I'll go get my stuff and meet you at your room okay?" Naruto offered and Jinx blinked before nodding her head as he turned around and ran back to his room. Shaking her head, Jinx then rocketed over to her own room and quickly looked through her closet and dressers, grabbing several clothes and laid them out. Looking around, she found an old duffle bag and then quickly started folding her clothes before stowing them into it. Grabbing a few extra when she realized she didn't know how long they'd be gone she heard Naruto clear his throat and turned around to see him at her door. Frowning for a moment, Jinx then saw a scroll poking out of the blond's pocket and narrowed her eyes.

"You used your sealing thing didn't you…?" Jinx stated flatly and Naruto nodded his head with a smirk. "Care to help then?" She asked and Naruto raised a brow, causing her to pout and look at him with her hands clasped together. "Please?" She asked sweetly and the blond snickered before walking into her room to stand beside of her with a shake of his head.

"Jeez Jinx, chill out already you know I'll help you out whenever you really need it." Naruto replied with a smile on his face then pulled a scroll from his waist when Jinx breathed out a sigh and took hold of his left arm.

"Jill." She stated suddenly and Naruto looked down to her with a raised brow. "My real name isn't Jinx, Temp, it's Jill Manx, so since we're apparently in a triad relationship of some kind… please call me Jill." Jinx explained quietly and Naruto blinked before smiling to the girl and placing an arm over her shoulders.

"No problem, Jill. But my name isn't Tempest, call me Naruto." He replied and a small smile crossed Jinx's lips as she looked up at the blond.

"Alright then, Naruto." Jinx replied and quickly slipped her arms around his neck and stood up to place a kiss on his lips. Blink in surprise for a moment, the blond slowly placed his hands onto the girl's hips and returned the kiss. Soon releasing the kiss for air, the blond smirked when he saw the blushing, goofy look on Jinx's face.

"Oi, between you and Kara-Chan, I swear I'm gonna die." Naruto noted aloud and a cheeky look crossed over Jinx's features.

"But what a way to go." She noted aloud and Naruto nodded his head, and then heard Raven clear her throat as she stood at the door with her arms crossed. Raising a hand before Naruto could try to explain, the violet-haired girl let out a sigh and walked over to them.

"Don't bother, if this Triad-Relationship is going to work, I'm going to need to get used to this kind of thing." She reminded and Jinx quickly extricated herself from Naruto as the blond sealed up her clothes into his scroll and slipped it into the back of his coat pocket. "Now then, I left a message for Night and the others, and packed up some clothes… but when do you think we'll be back?" Raven asked and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before pulling both grey-skinned girls too his sides.

"Probably until you two can learn to play nice with each other… so… eh well we'll see how long that takes before we decide anything definite." He replied with a shrug and Raven rolled her eyes before pulling her power over herself, Jinx, and Naruto, all three vanishing in a swirl of black energy…

THE END…?

(?)

Kakashi sighed as he, Ino, Hinata, and Neji walked across a familiar stretch of country, Sasuke's limp body slung over his shoulders. 'It's strange, he's barely even moved since we got back… he's acting so… defeated.' Kakashi thought to himself while looking to the currently unconscious Uchiha for a moment, then sighed and gave an annoyed look to Neji and Ino. "You do realize we've failed our mission…" Kakashi stated while giving them both a look and Ino huffed while placing her hands onto her hips and glaring at the silver haired Jounin.

"It's not like we could've gotten him back alive, Kakashi. If we tried to take him by force, those JLU guys would've hunted us down. Not only that not even Naruto knew how to get us back here, returning with help from those JLU people was the only way for any of us to return, but it also meant we couldn't attempt to take Naruto…" Ino reminded the man while crossing her arms, even as the massive hole that had once been the gates of Konoha suddenly came into view.

"A-Ano… sh-shouldn't that have b-been r-repaired by n-now?" Hinata questioned while looking to the gate and Ino slowed down and looked to Neji, the white-eyed teen frowning to himself.

"It's been almost two entire years since we left, the village gates should've been repaired by now… unless something happened while we were away." Neji replied while Ino looked to Kakashi and saw the silver haired Jounin narrow his eye on the village.

"Ino… Neji… is it possible that time in that world… moves at a different pace than it does in ours?" Kakashi questioned while looking over to the blond and dark-haired teen, Ino frowning for a moment before sighing.

"Sorry Kakashi, I didn't study any physics while I was in that high-school so I really don't know." Ino replied while they passed the gates, Ino stopping and looking around with wide eyes as people were running around, people with wood and other materials for the gate heading too and fro. "Uh… does this answer your question?" Ino questioned while turning to Kakashi and the man narrowed his eye once more.

"Unfortunately… it does." Kakashi replied quietly, then shook his head and marched forward with Sasuke over his shoulder, the others following him.

"T-this is s-so strange… h-how can t-time move f-faster there, than it d-does here?" Hinata questioned while looking around and Neji closed his eyes before frowning deeply to himself.

"Our two worlds exist in completely separate universes, I highly doubt that time passes at the same pace between them." Neji noted quietly as they soon came to the Hokage tower and made their way up, staying out of the way as Shinobi ran too and fro.

"So whiles its been years for us, clearly only a relatively short amount of time has passed here in the village." Ino summarized and Neji nodded his head, Kakashi frowning as they came to the desk in front of the Hokage's office, Shizune groaning as she sat at the desk, rubbing her head with a headache.

"Shizune-San…" Kakashi stated and drew the woman's attention, her eyes widening for a moment before lunging forward and grabbing him by his vest.

"Kakashi! Did you get Naruto-Kun back?" She demanded and Kakashi grimaced visibly before taking a breath and giving her a look.

"I'm afraid that we need to report in to the Hokage before anything else." Kakashi stated while pushing the woman back with one arm and Shizune blinked for a moment before slowly nodding her head to the man.

"Go on in then…" She mumbled before looking to Ino, Hinata, and Neji, all of whom appeared visibly older to the woman. "Hey… what happened to you guys? You look older somehow…" Shizune noted while looking at the three, Ino muttering to herself as they walked into the Hokage's office. Inside, the group saw Tsunade sitting with her hands on her face while an opened bottle of Sake nestled beside of her.

"Your drinking Sake on the job again, Tsunade-Sama?" Kakashi questioned with a raised brow and Tsunade's head snapped open before she lunged over the desk and grabbed the man by his vest, her left eye twitching as she snarled at him.

"Where the hell have you been?" Tsunade demanded and Kakashi coward before the woman, hey, she could break boulders with her bare hands… he really didn't want to know what she could do to him. "Why haven't you kept in contact with me Kakashi, and for that matter, where the hell is Naruto? And for that matter, where the hell is Sakura?" Tsunade demanded of the silver haired Jounin and he turned to look for aide from Neji, Ino, and Hinata…

"A-Ano, Tsunade-Sama, b-but we were unable t-to retrieve, N-Naruto-Kun." Hinata stated and Tsunade snapped her head over and glared at the girl, Hinata slipping behind Neji as he sighed.

"As for Sakura, we lost track of her around the same time we were forced to abandon our mission… I believe she may still be trying to retrieve him, however that is only an assumption." Neji explained to the woman curtly and Tsunade twitched before suddenly noticing how much older Neji, Ino, and even Hinata appeared to be.

"What… what happened to you three?" She questioned then looked at Kakashi and frowned deeply when she spotted the unconscious Sasuke on his shoulder. "And for that matter, what happened to him?" Tsunade questioned as she slowly released Kakashi, the man breathing out in relief while dumping Sasuke into a chair and tiredly palmed his face for a moment.

"Tsunade-Sama… exactly how long have we been gone?" Kakashi questioned while Tsunade stared at the bandages over Sasuke's eyes.

"Two-Months…" She mumbled in reply and Kakashi visibly winced before looking to Ino and the others.

"Well, where we've been, it's been nearly two years." Neji replied for Kakashi and Tsunade stared at the Hyuuga as if her were crazy.

"No seriously Tsunade-Sama, for us it's been nearly two years. After we were deployed to capture Naruto, we followed him into some kind of silver portal and ended up in another world." Ino explained and Tsunade shook her head for a moment before palming her face with a frown.

"Silver portal… oh great it's his mother's stupid teleportation technique." Tsunade grumbled out and then moved back behind her desk and sat down tiredly.

"You know of this technique, Tsunade-Sama?" Neji questioned of the woman and Tsunade grunted before leaning back and rubbing her temples with her index fingers.

"Yeah… Uzumaki Kushina learned the technique from the Karasu Summons, of whom she was the owner. The technique, when used properly, is supposed to transport its user to the spirit realm. According to Kushina, the Technique was originally used to create the first few contracts, however, due to the dangers for humans in the Spirit-Realm, the summons moved to our world with a reverse version of the teleportation technique. From what Kushina told me, only the Karasu (Crow / Raven), Ryuu (Dragon), and Okami (Wolf) summons remained behind in the spirit realm." Tsunade explained and Kakashi frowned in thought for a moment before an idea came to mind.

"Perhaps with your help we could use this technique and possibly even attempt to recreate whatever mistake Naruto made to re-enter the world he's in." Kakashi noted aloud only for Neji to grunt and Ino to slap her face with a grimace.

"Unfortunately we're on thin ice in that other world, if we attempt to return there is a very real possibility for retaliation. Sasuke did manage to kill several innocent people when he looked for Naruto in that world." Neji stated and Tsunade raised a brow for a moment before letting out a sigh, crossing her fingers and closing her eyes as she did.

"Unfortunately, we really need Naruto back in the village." Tsunade stated and got looks from the team in response. "Do you know that Spring-Country, Wave-Country, Bird-Country, and both the Hidden-Waterfall village and Sunagakure are all still allied to us because of Naruto…" Tsunade questioned and the group was silent, Tsunade closing her eyes with a sigh. "What that means is our village's alliance with those nations and villages hinges solely on, Naruto. Not only that but as the last Jinchuuriki, he poses as a form of deterrent for other villages which may attack us." Tsunade continued and a frown crossed Ino's features as she listened to the Hokage.

"So you mean to say that you want him back because of what his presence will do for Konoha politically?" Ino demanded and Tsunade scoffed while crossing her arms over her chest with a scowl on her face.

"Hell no, I left Konoha for years before Naruto brought me back remember. Hell, if the kid had just asked me for traveling papers to leave I would've even given them to him." Tsunade replied and Ino blinked while raising a brow, wondering what the woman was trying to get at. "However, the new Fire-Daimyo is concerned that since the war with Akatsuki, Fire-Nation has grown weak. As such he also believes that we need Naruto as a way to insure our nation's continued protection from the other Shinobi Nations." Tsunade explained and then muttered something about "Paranoid Teme's" under her breath.

"Wait just a minute… what do you mean by a "New-Fire-Daimyo"?" Ino questioned of the blond haired woman and Tsunade turned her chair around and looked out the window behind her with a deep frown.

"You all might want to get comfortable, it's a long story…" Tsunade replied and Kakashi looked to the others and they all slowly moved to different seats around the room, then waited for Tsunade to explain what ha happened in the time they had been away from Konoha…

To Be Continued…

AN: And it is finally done! I decided to end the story with a bang, so this is the longest chapter in the story for that reason. Now before anyone asks why I'm leaving this as the final chapter, this is because if I continued on, I'd have nearly one hundred chapters in this one story. Now, I know this isn't always the case, but when some people see a story with that many chapters that see it as kind of intimidating to try and read them all. Besides that, I thought this was the perfect place to leave this story off, so I can get back to work on my other stories.

Now then, I will be writing other stories in the Universe I've created here. Among them will be the many ideas I've been given via reviews, so yes I may do them, among the ideas I was given were these.

There have been a couple of requests for a "Different Pairing" from certain reviewers. The Pairing story ideas are "Naruto X Ravager" and "Naruto X Duela". The other ideas people have given me have been like this. The final season of Teen Titans and Trouble In Tokyo, Naruto will go through both, but in a different story, it will basically show how Naruto, Raven, and Jinx try to get along in their new "relationship". Naruto going to Arkham Asylum a second time, during the game, is another. Naruto meeting Danny Phantom, this will be a story to increase character development for Dani basically.

Those are only a few ideas I have for the time being; anyone with other ideas for more short stories / one shots would be appreciated. But, until then I just want to say thank you for reading, and hope that you've all enjoyed reading Red-X Rising as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Anyways until I work on the next part of the RXR series, Ciao!