Konoha forest, nightfall

"It's strange how often clarity and insanity coincide with each other,"came a voice speaking to no one.

A lone figure leapt from branch to branch. His clothing was all black, yet a belt decorated in a silver that glinted in the moonlight that pierced the canopy. A small shine of hair joined in at its own accord should the moon's gaze fall upon it as well. On his back lay a sword and a case large enough to fit a lengthened scroll.

"Of course one must first define insanity.For like treasure, value, and the meaning of life, insanity actually differs with the person and more often than not its definition changes as well when used.Not by much yet changes nonetheless."

Other figures join in and give chase to the first figure. They're forms hinted by patches of moonlight, and their positions clued with the thuds of wood, the screeches of birds disturbed from their slumber, and the forced wafting of specks only seen in the pale light.

"I digress of course though it may have been a factor that molded my decision.At the very least it gave me an answer to a question forced upon me that was left unanswered for a year, perhaps close to two years since time was of little issue to me."

One of the pursuers grabbed at something lashed to their back and whipped it out. An object of four blades unfurled themselves and was sent at the fleeing figure before it, only for the thrower to have poor aim. A branched suffered in the place of the one retreating though left behind but two hops beforehand. The figure cursed vehemently, revealing himself as a man, as it just so happened to prove to be the very branch he was soon to land on as well.

"Why me?I'm innocent, so why me?!" That was my question," the voice spoke up once again, though painted lightly in pained memories being drudged up.

With a ear splitting crack, it gave way as soon as the pursuer's weight was upon it. Cursing again, he leapt to a lower tier of branches and gave chase from underneath. He glanced up at the one he chased and snarled while an arm uselessly trailed behind him.

Inspired and based on (to a degree) NU:RedX Rising by 26-Lord-Pain...with permission of course...

"The answer was quite simple when I heard it, and given the seemingly endless time I had I understood it."

Two of the chasers jumped to a higher set and tried to gain ground. They tripped on wires hidden by the night of the forest and became entangled in a mess of a virtual webbing lying in wait for such victims to fall into it. Eagerly they struggled and found it vain till another chaser that lagged behind freed them in the passing with spear forced into existence with a distinctive pop of its sudden summon.

"They did not care for me..."

The two crashed into the underbrush below, only injured as their groans were heard to the ones darting through the trees with nothing but experience to guide them outside of the light of the moon.

"True, there are the rare few who can controvert this answer.Yet compared to a whole they are but a grain of sand in a gale."

The light only the night can bring shown brilliantly the end of the forest that rapidly approached the group. Yet for reasons the ones in pursuit could only guess at, their target sharply turned and ran towards the bowels of the oppressive atmosphere.

"If they did care for me, they wouldn't have stolen from me.If they loved me, they wouldn't have shunned me let alone made known their hatred both uttered and given."

In a unspoken burst of speed, the man who is chased gained ground on them before smacking both feet onto the side of a branch. He turned to those who chased him and brought his hands together in a cross shaped symbol...

An act gone too far, and expectations left to ruin...

"If they respected me, they wouldn't have put me behind bars for a crime they knew I couldn't commit till I granted myself my own freedom...at the cost of allies and enemies alike, even if they were so for only a fleeting moment no matter how the dice rolled in the end."

Startled gasps arose from the team as they came to a stop to defend themselves from the coming onslaught. To their confusion, they only made out but three bodies that now awaited on the branch before them instead of an army. Where was-

The rustling of leaves settled what questions arose and yet to be called. They braced themselves to counter an army. Four figures descended upon them, though not in the forms they were most familiar with. Undoubtedly at least two were clones of the other, both of whom were only hinted in their poor night vision. Whoever they were, one of them was large enough to have but the tallest member of the pursuit team only have his shoulders reach up to what may have been the waist in the darkness of night. The other was of a regular height, no other features could be discerned without a light. Then the clones of their target jumped in...

"For once as long as I could remember before and after my 'epiphany' if you will, I cried without shame, without care for who found me in this state.I was broken."

The original slipped past as his apparent allies engaged those who hunted him. A couple more clones were made as a precaution rather than an insurance. They took to the shadows as the original took to the previous exit with haste. Even though his trackers proved to be matched by his comrades, he simply charged forth from the route of the trees to a lake of immense girth. In the distance stood two statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, garnished in armor as ancient as they were, stood side by side of a waterfall that served as a division in their standoff against each other. This, he knew by heart, was the Valley of the End. It was almost poetic in a sense that his path had to trek across the aptly named valley.

"Eventually I was remade.Given new life.A new chance to find a new purpose that I can obtain instead of a farfetched dream of what never will be."

He walked forward and lets his features be revealed to the world around him. He wore all black save for the belt's buckle of silver. In fact he what he wore was not of the attire most would expect him to wear given the acts he performed just recently. Boots, jeans of a worker or craftsman, a fairly loose T-shirt, and plain gloves without tips. As if to clash against the attire despite its own color was a harness of lacquered leather that held two items: a hard leather case, and a sheathed katana-like weapon that stood out the most with its weathered, bandage-like grip of a cloudy day and the blackened combination of a ring and chain bearing what appeared to be a blank talisman at the very end at the end of the grip. One article of clothing stood out the most by comparison to the other fabrics: a cloth wrapping about his head to cover his left eye that threatened to cover his ear in its width, partially obscured in lengthy blond hair that spilled all over him and the upper half of the band.

"I spent what may have been a year going over what I should do in the event I ever escaped.I even fought a dying battle to return to those who felt I was better off here regardless of my innocence at the time.I ultimately had but one choice after taking everything into account."

He came to a decision that will mark him forever...

He gives only a glance, though out of respect or hesitance he does not know why his eye lingered on the statues of the two eternal rivals frozen in memory and stone, before he sets out across the water as eagerly as he had in the forest.

"This choice they had thought buried and forgotten...they were proven quite wrong regardless if they knew it or not."

The shinobi jumped up and landed on the rock wall of the Senju side with ease and continued his unnamed journey unabated. Without worry he reached behind him and undid a clasp holding that held the case close and fished out a scroll. He meanders towards the statue during his sprint in favor of lessening the risk of ruining the parchment as he reads them during his traveling, and continues to read them even when he was forced to run on normal ground once more that held a small gathering of two people awaiting him.

"With enough time and effort, very few things are impossible to do."

The first one, or rather the closest to the cliff from which their partner approached them from, was a man in a slightly scruffy pinstriped suit of a forest green and a jade green. His oak colored hair was lanky and slightly a mess as if he just awoken from bed as it reached his shoulders and covered his right eye. His left eye was covered in what appeared to be a monocle attached to a simple brown leather eye patch of sorts, the glare of the moon kept his eye hidden underneath the glass. Shinobi style sandals were all that hinted to his profession behind the suit. A rose sat in his left breast pocket, and a pair of brown gloves without the tips of the thumbs adorned his hands.

The other man was sitting but even that did little to diminish his size; only the body shifting powers of the Akimichi clan could rival in natural height, let alone out eat given his evident stomach. He was completely bald and haggard. On his face grew a variable bush of grayed hair that covered everything beneath his nose, including his mouth. His eyes were but slits in a constant squint at his surroundings. He was dressed in the robes of a monk, however ragged it was upon closer inspection.

None of them said a word. Images of a battle failed, coupled with the ever dulled thunder of a technique unseen, filtered through their minds. The monk grunts upon getting up, and gives their third member a polite nod in passing to the pinstriped man who ventures to the cliff beyond. The latter man adjusts his monocle at the sight of several shinobi traversing the lake below. The monk seats himself as close to the edge as possible.

"Fourteen, fifteen minutes tops right?" the pinstripe asked boldly.

Lines will drawn and wills to be tested...

"Yeah," came the loud reply from behind.

The suit wearer sighed as he peered down at the shinobi below. The monk was already at work with a jutsu, hence the sudden pulsation of chakra being gathered, stored, and molded from him. The level of fame and insider information was more than enough to determine the identities of the oncoming shinobi, that and most shinobi who reach Jonin status or at least considered as such have poor records in keeping low profiles.

Leading the pack was Kakashi Hatake, the Sharingan user and master of one-thousand techniques. Following behind him was the "eternal rival" of Kakashi, Might Guy. After him was...

He bit back a whistle. Aside from only a handful of unfamiliar faces, it seemed that only one missing in their company was the very man they were chasing if the information was spot on. That and Asuma Sarutobi who was said to have died in a conflict involving the Akatsuki. One less worry for them however, with due respect of course.

The monk finally came to a halt and raised his right hand up high from his seat to which he slaps the ground and the nearby river that made up the waterfall gurgles fiercely. The giant of a man grunts upon standing, and again when he leaps back without looking with both hands locked in a seal. The pinstripe wearer glances at the nearing shinobi once more before fleeing the scene in the same manner as his partner and observes.

The river continued to gush forth like any other, but a giant ball of water soon rose that continued to grow to sizes too immense even when compared to the monk who undoubtedly caused its formation. The ball only continued to grow till it reached three times the caster's hieght, and certainly several times his girth before the monk calmly uttered, breaking the silence of the world save for the waterfall, "Water Release: Typhoon's Assault."

Nothing proved louder than the onrush of the waterfall's expansion combined with a wave from the remaining mass of liquid formed on top.

If there was a scream, it was unheard of due to the water's roar. If there were orders or even a yelp to warn the other shinobi of Konoha, it was drowned alongside the anyone who tried to overpower the wave that fell off the cliff.

As if on a whim, the pinstriped man brought a hand up to jostle the monocle on his face. "Jump."

Two pairs of hands reach up from the dirt to find purchase on shins or even feet, but find their search fruitless with the distinct lack of their targets' ankles. The ground rumbled and the hands frantically dug into the dirt after their elbows came through only to be dragged back in by an unseen force. In a matter of seconds later the shinobi of the arms came crashing through to the surface with their limbs entangled by vines thicker than limbs and given a wooden appearance that thrashed about wildly, serving only to heighten the screams of the hapless Leaf shinobi.

Pasts will be called into account, and decisions to be questioned...

"Sēji Muyomora," someone growled. The pinstriped man looked over his shoulder at the only other man on the scene with a hidden eye who was armed with a kunai. The brown haired man tilted his head slightly and smiled. "Oh good, I was partially afraid the world forgot about me," he said playfully.

Kakashi's eye flicked towards the massive monk as he defended himself against the former Team Nine further reinforced with Choji Akimichi and Shino Aburame. "And Riko Bunkai..." he murmurs, his grip tightening as the kicks from Might Guy and Rock Lee were blocked by the forearm of the massive man.

Sēji wipes a tear from his eye hidden in the hair, or at least made the gesture. "It's so refreshing to know the world hasn't forgotten its little outcasts," he cries in mock relief in spades.

"Does the world even need to remember scum like you two?" Kakashi countered.

A hand folds over his heart in faux pain as Sēji speaks up in a fitting false tone of anguish. "Oh how hurt I am! We are human beings, are we not? Do we not deserve the right to be acknowledged for what we truly are rather than what the world has proclaimed us to be?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "You two were in the Blood Prison for a reason," he countered once more.

"True, so true," he readily agreed with a grin. "But," he cups a hand under his chin in thought with a pout, "while my own reasons are more justifiable given my reputation and my company in unsavory people, to which I cannot say I didn't belong there with a straight face. However..." He turns and paces about in a small circle, seemingly ignoring the Leaf shinobi that surrounded him while bracing themselves for a sudden attack, they only tensed further as Sēji looked to be even deeper in thought rather than worried. "I am given to understand that dear Mister Bunkai was only there for his status as a Elder Monk when someone 'borrowed' his name without asking and pilfered quite a lucrative deal of gold from the Temple's coffers, the charges of which were never abolished afterwards. For shame, after all these years too and the gold was even found alongside the culprit." A sad "tsk" escaped his lips.

"Last but not least did not your own student go there as well?" The shinobi of Konoha stiffened as he continued his walk. "You know he was a bit of a screamer, then again almost everyone who enters those walls are at first. You just get so sick of the same ol' line being screamed over and over again till they are too hoarse to even whisper "I'm innocent!" that you just learned to ignore them so well that you can write a haiku and swear you never even a word long before they actually stop." He stopped and faced Kakashi again with a twisted smile. "Could it be that when you failed to account the third of our little party that your village still considers him of use?"

"That's not true!" a teenage girl shouted behind him, the one dressed in red and the pink hair that was named Sakura Haruno if he wasn't mistaken. His smile only got wider as he turned about, his pose yet to be dropped. "Oh? On that token then why is there about..." he stopped to look about in all the arrogance he could muster under the circumstances without dropping his 'guard.' "Roughly twenty or so shinobi here to collect just one man?" Sakura was taken aback before she bit down and snarled out her reply. "That's not what I meant."

"Funny." Her brow perked up in agitated curiosity at this man's comment. "Well I suppose that is true. In fact that led to some confusion between my customers and I back in my glory days, yet let's consider the facts shall we?" Everyone scooted back an inch or so when Sēji dug a hand into the folds of his pinstripe suit and pulled out what appeared to be a leather bound notebook with a pen wedged between the covers and opened it with the barest bob of his hand. "Naruto Uzumaki, host of the Nine-Tailed Fox-"

"How do you know that?!" a shinobi quite literally barked. With the same smile, Sēji turned to face a feral boy with a large dog of white fur who were snarling at him respectively. "My, my. Was that suppose to be a secret? It certainly wasn't back then. In fact that was probably one of the best days in my life as a salesman when the Fox attacked Konoha. Oh how many people were screaming for knives, swords, daggers, quite frankly anything sharp and pointy with a dash of poison to them!" he spoke with restrained glee before a glowering frown marred his face, however brief it was before changing back to his grin. "Sadly I didn't get to sell as much as a liked to have but the pay was considerable. Which reminds me..." A thumb quirked and flipped the pages back and forth at speeds only a trained thumb to move at. "Say Kakashi," he spoke up without looking, "did you ever use that tanto you purchased from me?"

"Pity," her murmured with an unfaltering smile while listening to the choked silence before closing the book.

"Now where was- Oh! Yes!" He clapped his hands as an afterthought. "As I understand it, our dear little Uzumaki was left to rot in our quaint little dungeon for nigh three years without so much as one visit from anyone that he knew from Konoha which I also understand never told anyone of his imprisonment outside the village's walls." He tilted his head to the side, and Kakashi swore the man before him, though not facing him, had both eyes closed despite their respective veils preventing such an observation to begin with. "All for a 'secret mission' too. Tell me," his smile got a bit darker, "was that really the purpose behind the false information behind the Raikage's so called 'assassination attempt'?"

Teeth were clenched, and growls were given. "Of course I do believe I must thank you all, or rather we all must thank you." Kakashi's lone free hand slowly curled into a seal all the while Sēji straighten himself. "If you hadn't sent dear Mister Uzumaki out way, we would most likely still be in that dungeon everyone called a prison. So," abruptly he deeply bows before them all with his hair covering his face, "I thank you for your generous donation of such a valuable ally."

"Screw you! Fang Over Fang!"

"No! Don't!" Kakashi cried out yet was too late to stop Kiba and his partner Akamaru from charging at the still bent man. It was a pose that wasn't sacrificed as Sēji leapt straight up from his spot to let the Inuzuka team have his spot, with a gift of course.

A lone rose, the same one from his breast pocket, spun harmlessly on the pulverized ground yet emitted a strange flowery odor that smelt of a rose yet amplified to great lengths that even those who weren't near it could smell it. "Wild Art: Rose Seduction," Sēji said quietly with an evil grin on his face. What light there was in Kiba's and Akamaru's eyes dimmed and what rage and tension there was in their faces slackened to a dull, sleepy demeanor that gone unfazed as Sēji landed next to them in his upright manner with his unchanged smile that he kept even after stooping to collect the spinning rose.

"Kiba, are you alright?!" Though without a stutter, and dripped with concern, it was a voice as timid as can be that asked. A glance afforded Sēji the knowledge of the only other Hyuga in the gathering, Hinata Hyuga. Of the known and named shinobi he knew, he could only find five surrounding him if he counted the Inuzuka pair as a single person. A light "tsk" escaped him as his hand returned to his chin, and the ground continued to rumbled once more...

Meanwhile a Bug Clone was obliterated in a torrent of flames cast by the one known as Riko Bunkai. The man turns on his heel and unleashes a spinning kick which knocked Neji Hyuga away, an act that was followed by flipping backwards to avoid a barrage of kunai and spears to which lead him into the awaiting expanded arms of Choji Akimichi.

"Gaah!" Before he knew it, a mule kick was delivered to his chest by the bigger man that too sent him away much like Neji, yet unlike before, Riko dug into his robes and fished out a rag.

"Double Dynamic Entry!" the Green Beasts of Konoha cheerfully exclaimed as they rocketed towards the former monk. From away Shino perked up an eyebrow when the elderly man's hand dove into his robes once more all the while vigorously rubbing the rag across his hairless head moments before jumping over the duo... and whipping out a flashlight during which.

The green clad duo could only watch in curiosity as they sped towards the man even as he flipped over them while vigorously rubbing his hairless head with the rag... before turning on the flashlight.

With a mild case of hilarity...

"My eyes!"

"It's brighter than the flames of Youth!"

Both, blinded with terrible pain, failed to keep themselves from crashing into a tree much harder than their now faltered kicks.

"Guy-sensei," Rock Lee groaned, "I don' think this has been our best night yet..."

"Unfortunately my youthful student, we still have a mission to do... as soon as the dark spots go away."

Rock Lee heartily groaned in agreement.

XVX

A third team tore through the nearby woods in a desperate search for their rogue, formerly spearheaded by the man known as Yamato, who seemed to have taken to the nearby woods while the others battled the escapees of the Blood Prison.

They're search wasn't without resistance however: traps preset with kunai, pitfalls, exploding tags, and even the flora...

"Now I regret my stance about weed killer!" cried Ino as she dodged a wooden vine laden with wicked thorns.

The agent of the Anbu had to bite back a snarl as he pierced a bulbous plant with whip-like extensions for arms with a wooden spear that was his arm, yet he had his complaints. "What could Muyomora gain from all this?" he growled out loud.

"Who's Muyomora?" Ino screamed as she continued to dodge, this time from barbs being shot out in rapid succession from a large flower with royal purple petals with red stems that swiveled its head in pursuit. It too was destroyed by the improvised wood weapon of Yamato.

"A black market weapons dealer with more than enough knowledge in the shinobi profession. Never trained or allied with any of the Villages including his home country of the Land of Grass. He was imprisoned—"

He dodged an incoming blow from behind from a monstrous moss covered creature that moved about with only two arms. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

"He was imprisoned in Hōzuki-jō years ago, though no one knows why he went there of all places," he continued. The moss creature fell apart soon after a trio of earthen spikes tore it asunder to reveal its contents to be the moss it looked like and some stones.

"Since when doesn't it make sense on throwing obviously dangerous criminals in maximum security prisons?" Ino shouted in panic as another such creature lumbered towards them with the addition of the barb shooting flowers planted onto its back.

"That's not what I meant," he stated as he released the same Earth jutsu from before and destroyed the main body as well as the flowers. "He turned himself in at that place."

"Huh?" Ino intelligently gasped.

"Yeah. No one really knows why though there have been theories. The most prominent one was that he went there to avoid becoming a test subject for Orochimaru before he died." His eyes brightened in an epiphany. "That may also be the chief reason he escaped too!" Without another word, he took to the tree with Ino close behind him. The glance of an eye told him what he needed to know in what was ahead.

"Excuse me captain but what are you talking about?" she asked almost worriedly.

"Sēji Muyomora has a bloodline," was his terse answer as he whipped out a kunai and slain a oncoming vine. "In short, his bloodline allows him to mutate and to an extent control flora to suit his needs such as these creatures that are literally coming out of the woodwork." he chuckled slightly at the small pun.

"What do you mean "to an extent?" Ino gulped.

"He can't control their precise movements per se unless he's very close to them or actually touching them. The plants he wills into the life you see now act sort of like guard dogs obeying a preset order such as "attack everyone on sight" or "guard this spot." The one downside to this however is that the bigger they are, the less control he has over them even if he's touching them. With that in mind, keep an eye out for any 'rogue' flora in here." Ino gulped once again.

"Wait, how would I know what they look like?" she anxiously asked.

"You'll know one when you see one!"

Ino's brow twitched in newfound annoyance.

XVX

"Just give up ,Loser!"

Blades viciously clashed against one another with the wielders embodying the often clashing elements of the world since times immemorial; the battle of fire and ice.

Sasuke Uchiha's seething rage grew higher and higher he kept trying to breach the defense of a pair of kunai wielded by none other than Naruto. He jabs, the blond dodges with a sidestep. He chops, a pair of kunai blocks if one of them doesn't deflect. He swings, and it too is blocked.

Even blows more savage or thuggish in nature like a head butt were avoided with an ever standing, ever silent one-eyed stare that continued to bore into him without hesitation let alone emotion. Naruto was as apathetic as can be... and it only fueled Sasuke's ire further alongside each attack that was performed in vain and each second that had passed, coupled with Naruto's own condescension it only grew worse.

"Aren't you suppose to be in the hospital?"

Clang!

"I thought you were suppose to be the best of the best."

Smack!Clang!

"Could it be perhaps Itachi took pity on his fledgling brother?"

"SHUT UP!"

Teeth threatened to crack under the strain as his chokutō futilely clashed against two kunai, only to be whipped away the very second before lightning coated the blade and a knee lodged into his gut. Bile and spittle forcefully rose up from his bowels and sprayed the air in front of him, even as they arced alongside him as he sailed away from the once hot blooded shinobi. Questions kept pouring into his mind only to be rejected and burnt in his mounting fury with each act against him no matter its intention.

"How did he get so strong?"

His foe crept closer at a measured pace.

"Has he been holding back this entire time?"

The one-eyed blond took to circling him like a patient wolf awaiting a wounded bear's death.

"Is he-"

"Do I have to give you a greater handicap with one kunai as opposed to two? Surely the Sharingan and your skills don't require such a luxury."

"Graah!" The Uchiha took to his feet and turned with a blade out to slit his former comrade's throat only to find air as opposed to flesh. Even with the eyes of the Sharingan, Sasuke failed to note that Naruto had long ducked, had the kunai held in reverse grip, and both clenched fists but an inch away from hitting their mark: his stomach. Sasuke's second found wind was forced out of him by right of the blow and he fell prey to an uppercut to his jaw, followed by another assault on his abdomen that forced his body to bow away, sequentially succeeded by a third fist to his gut as an afterthought.

Naruto charged forth to the forced retreat of Sasuke and planted both kunai in the ground without letting go, and flipped over without losing his grip to grab at the Uchiha with the use of his heels catching themselves at the back of his shoulders from underneath his pits and brought him arcing down 'behind' Naruto, with his head smashing into the dirt with a muffled smack of such a attack. In his daze, Sasuke was struck twice in a quick succession of kicks followed by a brutal third that repelled him into the brush and whatever lurked behind it.

Throughout their encounter, Shikamaru groaned as he looked on from the his perch on the branches above alongside his late sensei's lover.

"You'd think he'd learn by now," he mumbled to himself without any form of recognition from his current partner as Sasuke took to the scene once again like a beast. He casts a glance towards Kurenai as she too peered upon the 'battle' beneath them while her all the while her hands were locked in the ram seal. The only symbol of their ensured safety.

Minutes earlier the entire search party dedicated to the retrieval of Naruto Uzumaki was forced to divide themselves into three groups to handle the sudden and undeniable factor of two accomplices that have more than proven they were in league with their wayward comrade. In his own team's pursuit they unfortunately had to deal with creatures that appeared to have been made from the wild itself... as well as Sasuke Uchiha. A still injured Sasuke Uchiha.

"Ironic," was his thoughts of the current situation. Years before it was Shikamaru as well as at least three official team members that now partook in this task force that bounded through the forests to bring back the most aggressive 'shinobi' Konoha had to offer, aided by at least four others who weren't a part of the official pursuit team at that time. Now it was reversed through and through, with only minor details to take note of.

Even with all that has happened, it was bizarre to think that now it was Naruto they chased. At least a Naruto in name...

A minute twitch from Kurenai brought him back. Her chakra was forced to flare to keep back the now massing army of the flora-like creatures from mossy two armed balls, bulbous green pumpkin-like creatures with vines in the multitudes as their weapon, and even creatures that appeared to be made of thorny vines that was headed by a blossoming flower. What they were, no one seemed to know, but they did operate on the same functions a human needed in order to be fooled by a genjutsu, difficult as it was though. They, the plants, both knew and did not know where they were as made evident of their milling about as some gathered by at the very border of the two dueling shinobi, what they waited for could only be guessed at by the Nara.

On one hand they could possibly be some kind of ally hesistant to possibly injure Naruto, if they were capable of such advance thought, since he has yet to be attacked throughout the fight and the depths of the forest that have been traveled, yet on the other hand it could be that he only slipped by them till Sasuke caught up with him and it was due to Kurenai's efforts that they held back to assess what was happening. With their mission in mind, trying to use Naruto as a test subject for the second theory was a plan written by a fool. Being on a team with a Flouriest, or at least worked with one regularly, had its benefits after all.

So for now he and the mistress of genjutsu had to wait and see how the events played out. Even in his crippled state Sasuke could tire out their rogue friend enough for him to slip up somewhere; between the Uchiha's fury and the numerous creatures in the way, shadow possession techniques were ill advised.

The sharp and almost faint whistle prompted him and Kurenai to look to their side in time for the dim glint of blackened steel to whiz in between them and strike at the ring of one of Naruto's own kunai held up in defense with a solid and crisp "ching!"

His lone blue eye darted towards the source of the kunai, soon it was followed by his head and body save for a outstretched foot that smacked into Sasuke as he faces a new threat.

Without warning Yamato burst through the soil before with his cheeks puffed and at the ready. "Water Release: Water Bullet!"

The velocity was too great for the blond to withstand and as a result he rocketed back and away from everyone in a daze from the attack, incoherent enough to not notice the numerous kunai sent his way as he skidded to a halt. Vines upon vines from the plant army behind him sprouted and formed a semi-cocoon to protect him. "Where's the real Naruto?"

"Huh?" Sasuke drawled in a growl as the others, now joined by Ino, gawked in confusion.

A soft chuckle emerged from behind the vines as they slowly rescinded, but never left. Naruto stood before them armed with a smile... a smile too devious to belong to a trickster, former or not. "Seeing as Kakashi is here, alongside the fact that you were able to tell the real from fact." 'Naruto' disappeared in a cloud of smoke to give way to Sēji Muyomora with the moon's glare still obscuring his monocle. "I have to assume that you are Tenzō, are you not?" he continued. Silence was his only answer... from Yamato at least.

"Where the hell is the Loser?!"

The ever present smile faltered only by a fraction with the turning of the perpetually glaring eyepiece towards the Uchiha. A light "tsk" predates him before his thoughts were given a voice. "And why should I answer a question from a rude little boy such as yourself?"

Just as the dark haired avenger twitched his lips a humorless reply cried out despite the smile of the man behind it. "Rhetorical question!"

"He's only buying time! He specializes in distracting his opponents for his attacks amongst others things," Yamato hissed lowly through clenched teeth to Sasuke. An actual frown of a joy temporarily adorns Sēji's face as a more pronounced and morose "tsk" escapes him.

"If that's the case..." Sasuke starts as he readies his weapon of choice. "Then let's end this!" With a battle cry he starts a charge on the pinstripe wearer. It was a short lived one. A hand composed of vines erupts from beneath the earth and grabs the shin of the Uchiha all the while the only caster of such a creature voiced his complaints. "Now why did you have to kill the fun dear Tenzō? You're village has learned to live without your precious container for so many years, would it kill you and your protégés to enjoy a nice fight with an unfamiliar opponent? Besides," he twirls an arm and grimaces in faux discomfort as he rubs the shoulder of the mobile limb, "I need practice! It's been far too long since I myself enjoyed a good fight! Oh what has the world come to that won't allow such a simple wish!" he cried mockingly with his hands now covering his heart to dull the 'pain.'

During which a humanoid of plants slowly emerged from below with its captive held securely while being hacked at with a blade coated in furious lightning, assisted further with the aid of Kurenai as she dropped down to free the caught man while Yamato hesitated in favor of watching the arms dealer as his smile slowly returned. His worry worsening upon the act of a gloved hand reaching into the breast pocket holding the rose aloft only to retrieve a rather simple pocket watch without a cover for its glass encased face.

"Ah. Apparently our fun has to be cut short no matter my desire," he said wistfully before pocketing his watch in its original resting place. "Pity," he says once more as he slowly rolls up his sleeves one by one to reveal thick bronze arm guards with no shine to them. Decorating them are holes leading inside them, two fingers in length each.

"Wood Release: Piercing Forest!" An outstretched arm explodes in a sudden fury of rough hewn stakes seeking the monocle wearer's life, yet opposing vines of many varieties sprouted and intercepted them with their own ferocity while a different set formed a barrier between the man and the Leaf shinobi.

"Wild Art: Invigoration." A fine mist of a dull green dust slowly and lazily rose into plain view above the wall of vines...

XVX

"Lightning Blade!" A lightning coated hand torn Sēji Muyomora asunder through his sternum, and effectively ripping the man in half to reveal his innards to be made of thick flora. "A plant clone?!" Kakashi gasped before dodging a flailing limb belonging to an enthralled Kiba.

From afar he heard Riko bellow out his own technique. "Earth Release: Earthen Forest of Spires!" Spire after spire made of chakra enhanced stone arose from the ground, some appearing in the forest behind him and his enemies as well as the river nearby.

"We don't have time for this," Kakashi muttered as he forced the Sharingan of his hidden eye into action.

Even in the heat of battle, his blood ran colder than ice in between jumps from large bulbous attacking flora as he takes note of a large man jumping into the forest below from atop one of the pillars of rock as another man of his size traded blows with his quarry on the side of another such structure...

The screech of a creature far too humane yet bestial all the same thundered out of the forest, followed by the crashing of trees and the terrified squawks of birds and other creatures native to the forest as they fled in panicked alarm as a darkened giant emerged from the bowels to stand up on two legs.

"Muyomora..."

XVX

Deeper in the forest sat a lone blond haired teenager intently staring at a scroll revealing itself to anyone with an eye to spare as he mimicked hand seal after hand seal as shown before him. Behind him and even surrounding him were several stones disturbed from their rest that played host to seals that glowed intensely in white runes of an older dialect of Kanji. They were not a concern for him.

A faint glow of a silvery light emanated from the hands of the one-eyed shinobi as more and more chakra surged through his body in a mounting build up for the event to come, and soon will happen as another seal made the count of forty-sixth turn into forty-seven with not a sign of stopping even has guests started to arrive.

"Are you just about done?" Sēji Muyomora called out as he casually strolled through and in between the altered stones. A shudder slowly crept up upon him as he felt the increasingly brisk waves of energy emitting from Naruto as he sat there, energy unfelt till he passed the rocks and strolled ever closer to him with a sickly sweet grin gracing him.

If the one-eyed shinobi had thought to answer him as he molded his hands once more, he was interrupted by a more rumbling voice carried by the only other member of the trio of rogues. "Is the giant truly necessary to force your own enemies to give up in their own chase of you?" Riko Bunkai asked as he emerged from the cover of the forest.

The sickly sweet grin turned to the approaching bald former monk. "Perhaps not. But it does make for such a wonderful distraction, does it not?"

A pair of hands slammed into the ground with enough force to draw their attention to the blond member of their party. Curiosities were raised as they looked on as the shinobi furled the scroll once more and placed it in the confines of his case, his lone eye watching as a portal shimmered into existence bearing the same substance color that once coated his hands.

No words were exchanged, only the cracking of bones as they entered the portal one by one without question though with a slight hesitance beforehand. Had they stayed awhile longer they would've stood strange witness to a strange occurrence.

Come Hell or high water...

Tendrils of ethereal white slowly protruded from the glowing Kanji and snaked their way to the portal as it began to close, and fed it life in exchange of the dimming of their own.

It was this scene that the pursuing team of shinobi came upon minus Choji, Yamato, Might Guy, and the Inuzuka pair if a forced slumber was to be counted.

"What is that thing?" Sakura called out, giving voice to the collective thoughts of those present save one.

"Damn it!"

"Sasuke, wait!"

"Not again!"

Without prompting from anyone, the Uchiha Avenger charged and dove into the silver portal without a second thought in the pursuit of his target.

"Damn it," Shikamaru muttered again as he casts his gaze from the portal to the giant now being combated by an equal sized Choji before turning his attention to the nearly dead seals on the rock.

Teeth were gritted in frustration between what to do... and who to send.

Silent as the...

A/N:I do not own Naruto or Teen Titans!This story is for entertainment purposes only.

I will admit that I have not seen nor really heard much of the Naruto movie Blood Prisonto which I can accurately draw a base from so the version hosted here will, in all likelihood, be different in contrast from deductions I can gather from other sources.With that in mind, I will be trying to actively avoid going into it too much unless I believe it is required or at worse mentioned.

As I said, this story is based on the story NU:RedX Risingby 26-Lord-Painso in essence credit goes to him in terms of originality while this is my own version.I would also like to make note that I thank him for giving me permission to use his story as a base for this.

I would also like to thank the following for taking the time and effort to Beta Read this chapter alone:

J.R. Uzumaki, author of Red-Cloud Gentle Fist.

MistressWinowyll, author of the Get What You Wanted series as well as the aptly named 'book' which started said series.Her current book, at least as this page is concerned, is Take What Is Yours.Please do not complain about it as neither story follows canon should you take the time to read it.(To those who prefer a light hearted (in comparison) version, lord of the land of firehas his own version of the first book known as Careful What You Wish For.)

I would also like to say she is a partial inspiration to this story with her story Get What You Wantedto which she had on multiple occasions answered.But to not waste your time I will leap into the thick of it in what I had taken in as advice."If you do not like the story written as is, then write your own."

And out of courtesy, 26-Lord-Painhimself, though admittedly he did not read this as a Beta.I had asked, he had accepted, but no connection was made and given his current rate of responses I am not that patient.I hope you forgive me in this regard Lord.

On a sour note, this story as well as one other I will unleash soon will be held back in favor of my stories Assassinand Path of a Monkwith some, though little, work on other stories.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are willing to wait.

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention!No refunds.