Sasuke POV~

Well, fuck.

I have no idea where we went wrong, but suddenly our entire plan of action was thrown out the window. 

We should've waited. I knew that. We all fucking knew it and we still attacked a couple members of the Akatsuki. Now, I was separated from the team, the bitch Kakuzu was giving Kakashi a hard time, Shikamaru and his team were cornered and locked in a stalemate with Hidan, and I was currently running to save Team Asuma's asses -

What the fuck.

I realized, then, that there was a very high probability of me going insane what with all the circumstances I've been in during my life, but this was a real low blow, even from my own brain.

Was it a hallucination, or did Itachi just run right past me without even sparing a glance in my direction?

Something overcame me then, and I gave chase without knowing what the hell I was doing. 

This was an asshole move for me, turning and chasing a ghost when certain idiots I needed to protect were in trouble, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what I was doing, but I felt this need. I needed answers, I needed to stop running goddamn circles around my own mind.

Why was I chasing a possible illusion? 

The word "Wait!" ripped out of my throat. Here I was, calling for a dead person. Somehow, I didn't have it in me to stop.

I did the first thing that came to mind and activated the Susanoo. I don't even remember doing it.

Only to have my Susanoo knocked away by his Susanoo.

The cloud of confusion only grew from there.

"Itachi!"

He kept running. If me calling his name registered to him at all, he didn't show it. It was like he was deaf or something.

Highly probable, considering how he was probably a hallucination. 

Only what hallucination would be able to knock away my Susanoo?

That is, if any of this is real in the first place.

I shook my head and kept going. I really needed to help Shikamaru, but my dead brother just appeared out of nowhere.

It's a shitty excuse and I know it.

"You've developed your Susanoo already. Impressive."

What the actual fucking -

"You ignore me when you're alive and when you're dead?" I glared at Itachi, "Are you dead?"

He didn't answer, instead opting to speed up and what the fuck where is he.

I ended up at some cave area, not too far from where we were. There was a dark tunnel leading into the mountain, the whole place smelling damp and cold.

I went in anyways. I could sense Itachi's chakra descending, the presence familiar in a way that twisted my heart into my throat but still much fainter than I remember it being. At this point I was willing to bet it wasn't a hallucination.

My footsteps resonated in the tunnel. I could sense more chakra there, see it trailing across the walls from deeper within the tunnel with my sharingan activated. 

At last I reached an entryway into a large room. In that room was Itachi and...

The other guy looked familiar. If I didn't have my sharingan on I probably wouldn't have noticed it was Kabuto.

Stupid bitch.

"Finally." I grumbled when I caught sight of Itachi looking at me. 

"Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha. What a pleasure." Kabuto said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to stop the edo tensei."

"Oh? You can try, Uchiha. But you can't stop the edo tensei. It's a perfect jutsu. It has no weaknesses."

Edo tensei? 

Things were starting to make a hell lot more sense. Somewhat.

"Every jutsu has weaknesses." Itachi, who I now know is the real fucking Itachi,  said. "This Jutsu's weakness...is my existence."

Shikamaru POV~

Fuck fuck fuck fuck -

Panic had already woven its way into my bones, shooting electricity into my blood. Fear and adrenaline were the only things keeping my shadow possession intact.

I couldn't let go. I couldn't fucking let go.

I never felt more helpless. Dammit, Asuma-sensei was about to die and the only thing stopping Hidan from killing him was me, and I didn't know how much longer I could hold on.

Hidan, the crazy fucker, just laughed at the situation. He knew it was only a matter of time before I couldn't hold him anymore. 

The least I could do was move him out of the boundaries of the symbol on the ground. It took a great deal of effort at this point, and I only managed a few inches. The moment my shadow possession loosened, there was nothing stopping him from -

Stop.

I was already panicked, but the moment I lost my cool, Asuma-sensei was dead. We were dead.

We'd run into Kakuzu and Hidan knowing the bare minimum of their abilities. Whatever Naruto had managed to glean. It wasn't much, considering we ran into battle only knowing that Kakuzu had a bunch of hearts and Hidan "refused to die" as per Naruto's words. More specifically he said Hidan couldn't be killed of normal means, but of fucking course we try that.

Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid even that much information should've been enough to form a proper plan. Now here we were.

Asuma-sensei was about to die, and it would be all my fault.

"You can't hold on much longer, can you?" Hidan drawled tauntingly. 

Choji and Ino couldn't even help me because they were fighting Kakuzu with Kakashi-sensei. I was on my own.

What could I do? Let go and possibly let Sensei die? Hold on until I wear myself out and can't stop Hidan from killing Asuma anyways?

I slipped out the last inch. Hidan was no longer in the circle.

"Asuma sensei!"

He stood and whipped out a shuriken, nicking Hidan in the ear.

His own ear stayed intact.

Hope shot through me like lightning. 

Bingo.

Instantly, my shadow possession shifted.

"Shadow stitching jutsu!"

The shadows on the ground lifted, becoming long dark bands that whipped expertly under my control. Moments later, I stabbed them into every part of Hidan's body, effectively holding him in place.

In a flash, Asuma-sensei grabbed his chakra blades and flickered straight over to the now-vulnerable Akatsuki member. An expert slice, and his head was cut clean off. 

I sighed, relief washing over me as I released the shadows. I sat there panting, unable to feel anything but glad that things didn't turn out worse.

Oh, how wrong I was.

"What the fuck! That hurt!"

My head whipped up at the sound of Hidan's voice. 

"Beheading? Really? This is the worst!" the severed head on the ground was shouting.

Asuma-sensei and I could only stare, dumbfounded. At least without a head he couldn't do anything. 

Well, until Kakuzu came out of nowhere.

My vision blurred tried to catch my breath for a second. The shadow possession was wearing me down, and I couldn't afford that right now.

By the time my sight cleared, Asuma was on the ground and Kakuzu was stitching Hidan's head back on.

No -

Hidan made his way back to the symbol on the ground with a spring in his step, and even from here I could see his eyes, wild and gleaming.

Oh fuck no no no no -

He raised the long pointed weapon towards himself. Asuma tried to stand and failed.

A scream tore from my throat just as he plunged it into his own chest. 

Naruto POV~

I made sure to drop off Anko at Konoha before leaving. It was a quick journey, at the speed I was going, and there was no way they wouldn't find her at the gate.

Then I proceeded to search for the Gedo statue.

'Can you contact Shukaku and Matatabi?'

"Already on it, brat."

I ran for a while more. My senses were on overload right now, as widespread as they were. It was hard to filter through what I wanted to find, considering how I could sense literally everything. 

But Bijuu chakra was distinguishable, and I've met Shukaku before. 

"I've contacted them. Get into the Tailed Beast Psyche plane."

'On it.'

I paused on a tree branch, casting out my senses to make sure no one was around, then sat cross legged beneath the tree. 

'Okay, I'm coming.'

I went into my mindscape. When I opened my eyes, I was once again in the dim yellow area, Kurama's massive form behind me. In front of me, though, were Shukaku and the blue-and-black fiery cat that was Matatabi. Matatabi flicked its two tails at the sight of me, and Shukaku gave me a contemplative look.

"Hey, I remember you. You're the brat that tried talking to me a few years ago."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, 'Uh, yeah. Hi, Shukaku. And hello, Matatabi. It's good to finally meet you.'

They stared at me for a moment, then Matatabi rumbled, "Why have you and the fox contacted us?"

I smiled, 'Well, we're gonna bust you out of there.'

They stared at me, surprise wiping out whatever confusion and doubt was there.

A few moments later, Shukaku barked out a laugh.

"You're joking, brat. What can you do, huh?"

His voice was defensive and laced with fury, as if he thought I was taunting him. It was an understandable response, considering how I was human and, in most of the Bijuus' eyes, I was hated by default.

'I'm not.' I said, 'I'm going to need your help if you wanna get out of the Gedo statue.'

Matatabi growled, low and mistrustful, and Shukaku glared at me, no longer laughing sarcastically. 

"What bullshit is this, huh? Is this a ploy by your stupid - "

"Shut up, Shukaku." Kurama snarled, his voice low and heavy, so filled with authority that the air grew weighted and the two Tailed Beasts in front of us fell dead silent. 

"What exactly is happening, Kurama?" Matatabi lashed her tails again. Absently, I remembered reading somewhere that cats flicked their tails when they were upset.

"Naruto and I are your only shot at getting free. Don't waste this opportunity, because finding another human like him is rare."

Matatabi's eyes widened slightly. "You've befriended your jinchuriki. How unlike you, Kyuubi."

"If I recall, you were not exactly on terrible terms with your previous jinchuriki either."

Matatabi's tone changed at this, becoming subdued and hard to read. Unrecognizable emotions flickered over her when she said, "No, I suppose I wasn't."

"Ha! So the stupid fox has become a pet to his human. What does that have to do with us, eh?" Shukaku growled abrasively. 

"Everything, actually." Kurama snorted, "You don't have to do much. Just leak out as much chakra as you can, and stretch it as far as possible. That should be enough to pinpoint your location. After all that we've gone through to get to you, it's the least you could do."

Kurama's voice was woven with so much weight that, despite Shukaku's annoyance with him, neither of the two Bijuu dared argue. I guess that was part of why Shukaku hated Kurama so much. Against Kurama's protective nature and power, his undeniable authority when he demands it, everyone is powerless. Intimidation was something Kurama was really good at, after all.

There was a bit of silence before Matatabi spoke.

"We will do as you ask, if you really are trying to free us. There's nothing much we can lose at this point, anyways."

Kurama huffed. "That's the difference between us, right now. Unlike you, I have everything to lose."