Naruto: Tango with Death

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[Raikage's POV]

"Don't look so gloomy Bro! We'll get them next time, Yo!"

I grunted quietly in annoyance at B, how could I not be annoyed?

Konoha had grown strong in the past few years, ever since the Third World War, and even though they weakened slightly after the Kyuubi Rampage, they didn't take long to pick themselves back up.

That's why all four other Great Nations had come to an agreement, to start the Fourth World War by sending simultaneous attacks from all four countries, all aiming for the heartland of the Land of Fire, Konoha.

And on paper, it was all but won. We had many times their numbers, and while the Yellow Flash was strong, he couldn't possibly take on Four Kages at the same time. The Uchiha couldn't either. Nor could all the clans banding together protect from four attacks at the same time.

At first, this was how things were supposed to go. But that's when an unknown variable entered the field. The fucking Owl.

We still haven't found their identity, but the reports of the survivors of our army pointed toward a woman. A woman, who single-handedly foiled our war attempts.

I still don't understand how she appeared out of nowhere, we already know for sure she isn't any of the top fighters of Konoha we already know about as those were all already used on different fronts, so she appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

It all started with the affair in the Land of Forests. With Kumo's secret support, Kiri had managed to place a puppet leader in that country, to ensure a proper way to attack directly Konoha.

But in a single week, the entire country was brought to its knees, some of Kiri's strongest were killed, and their second most powerful ninja, Kisame Hoshigaki, deserted his village, taking away with him the credibility of Kiri in the Land of Forests.

And while at first it may have looked like a simple treason, upon closer inspection it was obvious there was a hand behind everything that happened in the Land of Forests. Nothing had been left at random, everyone there had been manipulated to act a certain way, pushing the bubble to burst.

The Akatsuki, whom I had hired to help deal with the Yellow Flash and his wife, also lost a member in that place, and not to Kisame Hoshigaki, their newest member. He wouldn't say who it was, but there definitely was someone who manipulated everything. Someone from Konoha.

And then, we launched our attack. Although Kiri's forces were now blocked, it still was the attack of three Great Countries at once, and even that shouldn't have been something they could have countered.

Still, since Konoha was always a danger, I had decided to take further precautions, by hiring the Akatsuki to help against the Yellow Flash, thus sending Yugito with our foot army to pierce deep into the Land of Fire.

Yet again, our plans were foiled. Not only did both Suna and Iwa fail to invade, so did we. The Yellow Flash and the Nine Tails Jinchuriki got away scot-free, and our army was brought to its knees, Yugito even losing an arm from the encounter.

And was it not because it was C himself who reported this to me, I wouldn't have believed it, but it wasn't one of the S Rank fighters of Konoha who stopped them, nor was it a large army. Instead, it was a single girl, who took out half of our army on her own, scaring the other half shitless, and cut off Yugito's arm.

Yugito herself admitted feeling a greater danger from the girl than from anyone else.

This was highly abnormal, and caused our efforts to lose. Then, as we investigated, Konoha pretty much openly admitted that the Owl was also responsible for what happened in the Land of Forests.

So while I don't know who the Owl is, it was obvious the war would take a very different trajectory than we first thought.

But if there was one thing I was sure of, and the sentiment was shared by all the other Kages, it was that the Owl had to die.

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[3rd POV]

In a dark, damp cave, a group of individuals stood on a strange rock formation. All of them wore the same long black cloaks with red clouds, and numbered at 10.

The leader, a red haired man, looked around the room and said, "Orochimaru, Kisame. I heard you failed your mission."

Orochimaru, snarled, "The Yellow Flash isn't so easily harmed."

The leader replied, "What about the Raikage?"

Kisame said, "We didn't find a good opportunity to kill him either. The Yellow Flash mostly kept away from us, and the Nine Tails mostly did the same."

The leader nodded slowly, before saying, "It is… unfortunate that Konoha managed to defend the assault so easily. So many people died, yet none of the important people did."

Hearing this, another man with light brown hair, and who also was certainly the most normal looking of the Akatsuki, said, "Eight Tails and Nine Tails are the last two we will be hunting for, it doesn't matter whether they were harmed or not. What I find more interesting is what happened to the One Tail and Two Tails."

A burly, almost round man, who went by the name of Sasori, said, "Suna did not even dare use the One Tail for their attack. Even if we wait for a few years, he shouldn't be able to become a problem, to any of us."

The leader nodded and added, "The Two Tails was also injured, losing an arm. Since she uses her claws as her primary weapon, this results in quite the handicap. But I'm more interested in the one who dealt said injury…"

His eyes trailed over to Kisame, and he asked, "The Owl. She was the mysterious ninja who killed your predecessor, Juzo, right?"

Kisame nodded slowly and said, "She was."

He had hidden that information until now, never revealing who had killed Juzo, but since Konoha had pretty much revealed to every spy they had that the Owl was the one who orchestrated the events in the Land of Forests, it was useless to keep the secret any longer.

Ironically, only the country concerned, the Land of Forests, didn't know the truth, since Konoha hadn't really yelled on every roofs they were the ones behind the attack, they simply made the information easy to find for the other powerful forces.

The leader asked, "Do you think she could join us?"

Kisame remained silent for a moment, thinking of what he would actually feel if that were to happen. In the end, he shrugged and said, "She could definitely be a great asset, but it would also be hard to convince her to join."

At that moment, another of the members, who had remained silent until now, lazily proposed, "We can go test the waters out if you want."

Kisame replied, "You may supposedly be immortal, I wouldn't test that up with her. She is a fearsome killer, and she very well might have a way to kill you, Hidan."

The man rolled his eyes but remained silent, finding this whole thing to be very boring.

The leader thought about Kisame's words, and eventually said, "Fine. Although the beginning of the war did not go as expected, our plans remain the same. You all are to move around and accept missions to help weaken the Five Great Lands, Konoha especially. And once they all have been weakened enough, then we shall strike to capture all 9 Tailed Beasts."