5 Tails

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Soooo...been awhile, huh? Can only blame my laziness mixed with real life getting in the way. Can only say sorry and move on. Anyway, here's more Tailed Beast Tango! A version of this story is already being done by a good friend, Soulful Ginger, who generously took up this challenge a few years ago under the name Steam Powered Naruto. As with all my challenges, however, I am not opposed to multiple writers trying their hand at the same concept. But please, if any of you are going to use material from either Soulful's story or my own, please be sure to give credit where credit is due. I know a lot of people try to rip off other people's work and pass it as their own, but have some respect people. Everyone who writes on this site is talented in their own way, so there is no need to plagiarize. On with the show!

Tenchi Bridge

Naruto knew this mission would be tricky. Orochimaru was a slippery snake both literally and metaphorically. The boy narrowed his red ringed eyes (1) as he stared at both Kabuto and Orochimaru while flanked by Sakura, his temporary teammate Sai, and his new team leader, Yamato. Despite being outnumbered, the rouge Sanin and spy seemed more amused by their situation then worried.

Chuckling softly in that oily voice of his, Orochimaru said, "Well, there's a familiar face. The Gobi boy is here as well...I suppose I'll play with you all for a little bit, then. It'll give me the pleasure of seeing which of you is stronger now...you or Sasuke."

Naruto grit his teeth at this, anger welling up in his being. 'Th-that bastard!' he mentally growled at the taunt. He was about to snap at the missing-nin to give Sasuke back when he felt a familiar presence enter his mind.

"Calm down, boy. The snake is obviously trying to bait you," the voice of the Gobi echoed in his mind, the voice steady and firm.

'I-I know that!' Naruto mentally snapped back, 'But if I don't do something, that bastard will-!'

"Force you into using more of my chakra then you can handle, endangering not only yourself but your teammates as he most likely uses the confusion to slip away. Honestly boy, did your training with that joke of a sage teach you nothing? If you let your emotions control you, then you'll lose one way or the other," the dolphin-horse hybrid chided. "While you've improved in using my chakra, you still can't handle more than three tails' worth. Even then, you usually forgo strategy while doing so and focus entirely on brute force. Especially in the emotional state you're in. That tactic won't work on this foe, so think! Use what you've learned these last few years and show me you're a worthy container for me! If you cannot do that, then do not expect my help in the coming battles."

Piece said, the Tailed Beast retreated back into the confines of the seal, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts (2).

"Stupid horse," Naruto grummbled, but acknowledged that the Tailed Beast had a point. If he lost control here over such a simple provocation, not only will it show that he hadn't grown at all in the last two years, but he'd put the entire mission and his teammates at risk. And while he didn't care much for Sai, Kakashi's teachings about teamwork were firmly set in his mind. So, taking a calming breath, Naruto snapped his eyes open as he felt the lingering remains of the Gobi's chakra leave his system, clearing his mind.

Noticing the calm anger instead of the boiling fury he'd been expecting from the blonde, Kabuto chuckled. "Well, it seems you've grown up a bit now, eh Naru-?"

The spy/medic was cut off courtesy of a steam powered knee to the nose, shattering his glasses as causing him to tumble back.

In his place, Naruto stood with steam wafting from his form, courtesy of his Boil Release. Parts of his jumpsuit had been torn away, showing an elaborate array of bronze tubes and pistons hidden under his clothes. Instead of showing concern for his right-hand man, or surprise at the sudden sneak attack, Orochimaru seemed even more amused then he'd been before. Sakura, meanwhile looked in surprise at her blonde teammate while Yamato seemed torn between worried that his temporary charge had put himself in harm's way without orders and impressed that even he, an Anbu, had trouble following the boy's movements. Sai, meanwhile, kept up his emotionless facade, but mentally he was taking notes on the battle that he'd report back to Lord Danzo on the jinchuriki's improvement.

Kabuto leapt to his feet and straightened his broken nose with a CRACK! before looking at the blonde with his usual condescending smirk. "Not bad, Naruto. It seems you've learned some new tricks since we last met, eh? Still, not at the level of Sasuke but-"

"You talk too much," Naruto's voice came from...behind him?!

Turning quickly, Kabuto saw another Naruto with his fist coming towards him, steam shooting out of a piston located at his elbow. Acting quickly, the medic was able to just barely leap back in time to avoid the full punch. The force behind it though, along with the billowing steam, pushed him back further than he intended, making Kabuto apply chakra to his feet, least he fall over the railing of the bridge they were still on. Looking to where the original "Naruto" was at, Kabuto saw him disappear in a puff of smoke.

'I see. After landing that first attack, Naruto created the Shadow Clone to keep me distracted while using his increased speed to get behind me. Clever if somewhat simplistic,' Kabuto thought.

Naruto took this opportunity to jump back towards his team, his expression cool but a spark of anger still lingered behind his eyes, letting his true emotions be known. Sakura was the first to recover from her surprise at the sudden shift in the situation (considering that it'd only been a couple minutes ago that it looked like the mission was about to go up in flames), asked the question that had been on her mind since the fight had started, "Naruto, how did you move like that?"

Instead of responding, Naruto slightly rolled up his sleeve to give his team a better look at the steampunk esque outfit hidden by his orange jumpsuit. "During my training trip, I got this idea on how to better use my Boil Release to increase my speed and strength. Asked Koyukie for a favor, and her country was able to whip this up for me to better channel my steam. Now, instead of just the wide range attacks I used before, I can focus the steam to give me boosts. Pretty neat, huh?" (3)

Sakura was actually impressed that her knuckleheaded teammate had come up with an actually clever idea to improve his jutsu. One question still bugged her though, "Why did you wait until now to use it?"

At this, Naruto sheepishly chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I'd accidentally damaged the suit during the final months of my training, so I had to send it back to Snow to get it fixed. I only just got it back before we left for the mission."

Sakura guessed that was a believable enough reason. Although… "Why didn't you mention it when the mission started?"

At this, sweat started to show on Naruto's face as he didn't look at her. "I...forgot?" he tried weakly.

Sakura, her expression flat, stated, "You just wanted to show off at the last second, didn't you?"

Naruto flinched at the accusation before hanging his head in defeat. "...yes."

"I told you it was a stupid idea," the Gobi decided to pipe up, making Naruto mentally grumble.

Sakura sighed at that before the pair were broken out of their conversation by amused laughter coming from Orochimaru. "Amusing as always, Naruto. Truly, it seems as you've grown more than I had imagined. Still, compared to Sasuke…"

Naruto growled at that before calming his irritation and turning back to the Snake Sannin. With as much intimidation as he could muster, the young Leaf ninja shouted out, "Give Sasuke back!"

With that, the blonde ninja clasped his hands together and started channeling his chakra. The air soon grew humid as the chakra turned into steam and began flooding the area. Naruto, with the steam billowing off him like a cloak, then yelled out, "Or I'll take him from your boiled corpse!"

With that, the battle of the bridge began anew.

1. Since it was Kokuo sealed in Kushina instead of Kurama, I gave Naruto one of the Gobi's traits instead of fox whiskers. Since Kokuo was shown to have red rings around its eyes in the anime, I went with that. Basically, Naruto's eyes look kind of like they do when he enters Sage Mode on a daily basis.

2. Kokuo is described on the Naruto Wiki to be both respectful and quiet, as well as a bit of a pacifist. Way I see it is that this would lead to a different relationship than what Naruto had with Kurama, but I didn't want to make it too OCC. I figure the two would have a passive aggressive type relationship, with Kokuo willing to help out Naruto but still voice their opinion on Naruto's actions, mostly criticizing him into not making mistakes. Naruto, meanwhile, would initially be hostile towards the Tailed Beast, but would come to realize over time (most likely faster than in canon) that Kokuo wasn't just some mindless demon who ruined his life. Perhaps leading to them having a positive relationship as soon as the Pain Invasion Arc.

3. During the 2 year gap, I figured that Jiraiya would also want Naruto to train his Boil Release as well, so they would look for scrolls and tools to assist in training, seeing as I don't believe anyone in Konoha has that Bloodline Limit. While researching, Naruto remembered the steam powered machines used in the Land of Snow in the first movie, so went to Princess Koyuki for help. What she gave him was a suit used to help direct his Steam Jutsu. While not Chakra Armor, the suit Naruto has allows him to move even faster than Han did in canon, as it isn't as bulky and is more suited towards speed rather than power. Its also light enough for Naruto to hide under his clothes, allowing for sneak attacks.