The women milled around in the empty room, there at Obita's request and growing impatient with the wait. "This is fucking bullshit!" Hida ranted and Kakuza sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Deidara was holding one of Sasori's puppets as the redhead adjusted some weapons; Itachi read quietly, leaning against Kisame's back while she rewrapped Samehada. Is this all that is left? Obita wondered as she looked over the scene.

A thud! and a muffled "Ow, fuck!" alerted them to someone's presence. They all dropped into battle stance and stared at the room's entrance. Rubbing his head and grinning sheepishly, Ryuu entered the room. "Sorry I'm late," he said and Obita smiled and blushed beneath her mask when she saw him. "My favorite asshole!" Hida yelled and threw her arms around Ryuu who looked terrified. "Waddya say we leave these idiots and go commit sins?" She purred in his ear. "Uh-" he was cut off by Obita forcibly pulling Hida away and throwing her against the rock wall, causing it to break and crumble around her.

"What the FUCK?!" Hida yelled from her place among the small boulders and rock pieces. "Not for you!" Tobi screeched back. The rest of them watched, confusion on their faces as they sorted out what was beginning to look like a complicated love triangle. Getting to her feet and brushing the dust and shards off her robe, Hida strode over to Obita and began yelling about her conquest in Jashin's name and Obita/Tobi began yelling back.

"They're fighting over him, un? He's not even cute, hm!" Deidara remarked to Sasori who shrugged, "he has his uses. And he's good with his tongue." "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW, HM??" Deidara shouted at Sasori, panic tinting her tone. "We had a deal once. He fulfilled his end of the bargain" she replied boredly, sealing her puppet into a scroll and tucking it into her robe.

Now it was Deidara's turn to round on Ryuu, demanding to know what he did with Sasori and when. Obita's and Hida's voices adding to the mix created headaches for everyone. "If- if I could-" Ryuu tried speaking but no one was listening. "ENOUGH!" He yelled, his body engulfed in flames that burned and flared brightly with his anger. Everyone stopped to look at him.

"First of all, that's all in the past so let's move on. Second, if you want to survive Shinjo, Madara and the Tailed Beasts, we all need to train. Thirdly, that's what you're all here for: to train me and get me up to speed. The who-fucked-who shit can wait till we're done! Got it?! Dismissed!" He finished his lecture by leaving the room and heading back outside. Slowly, one by one, they followed.

They only had four days left to train before Madara would unleash her plan on the World. They all needed to hone their skills, work as a team, solidify their partnerships, if they wanted a hope to be alive at the end of the battle.

Days passed and Ryuu quickly remastered his skills and picked up a few new ones from the women. He worked hard with Kisame on his sword proficiency; Deidara taught him Earth based and Explosion based jutsus and the two of them set off bombs and paper tag explosions like little children; Sasori helped him with tactics, utilizing her 100 Puppets technique to illustrate the battlefield and run simulations on proposed plans, often pronouncing him to be an idiot when his ideas failed; Itachi worked with him to endure, and eventually escape, genjutsus; and finally, Obita prepared him for time-space manipulation and showed him how to use the inter-dimensional plane to his advantage. 

After a final day of training, Ryuu bowed and thanked them for their teachings and their hard work. "Go back and prepare for tomorrow. Let them think you're on their side and fight for their ideals. At the right time, you will turn on them and we will end this war." They nodded and left. Kakuza stayed behind, wanting to speak to Ryuu before he disappeared to wherever he was spending his nights.

"Do you think that once we eliminate Madara, that Shinjo will return to his normal self?" She asked. Ryuu looked up from counting his senbons and weapon scrolls to glance at Kakuza. "It's hard to say," he said, after several seconds of thought, "it would eliminate her influence over him, that's for sure." "What about his eyes?" "I could stab them and blind him. He can't use a Sharingan if he's blind." Kakuza's five hearts stopped beating for a moment as she thought about inflicting pain and torture on him. She sighed heavily, "if it needs to be done... I just want him back. Before all of...this."

Ryuu glared at her before speaking. "You encouraged him to become powerful, to give into his hate and anger. Don't come bitching to me because he's not the fun loving Shinjo you knew. You could've stopped all of this, at any point, and you chose not to." Her summering rage came to the surface and Kakuza wielded her tendrils.

"You could've done the same! You decided to make yourself an enemy! You could've ignored the brutalities and stayed because he was your friend, your partner! But no! You chose the high road and decided to try and kill him! For what? A misguided sense of revenge? He needed you!"

"Lissen here, you tanned fuckstick! It's YOUR fault! Way back then! Why didn't you come clean?! Why did you have to keep hiding everything?! WHY DID YOU EVEN HAVE TO EXIST?!" Ryuu shouted at her, his index finger pointing rudely in her face. They glared at each other, daring the other to make the first move so they would have an excuse to commit murder.

Do it, you ginger hypocrite! Whining about ideals when you fucking left! Make a move, dust cunt, and I'll slice you into ribbons!

"Let's see how tomorrow plays out" Kakuza finally snarled, her tendrils going back into her body. "Fine" Ryuu growled, putting his kunai back into his pouch. With a final glare, they turned away from each other and began heading back to their homes, Kakuza to Ame and Ryuu to a small camp hidden in a hedgerow.

Kakuza undressed and crawled into his bed. She pressed against Shinjo and he sleepily wrapped an arm around her. She stroked his face with her fingertips and smiled. Tomorrow will be hers and everyone's chance at redemption.

Ryuu hummed to himself as he slid under the blankets of his bedroll. He punched his pillow a few times and laid down, crossing his arms beneath his head and looked at the night sky. "I know you're there" he said softly to the night. With barely a rustle of the branches, Obita stepped from them and took off her cloak, laying next to Ryuu. He turned and wrapped an arm around her waist and leg around hers, and kissed the back of her neck before settling down to sleep.