In Spite of it all (BOOK TWO)

Chapter 3

Naruto POV~

We got through the night without much hassle. I awoke curled up in a comfortable nook in the tree branches.

'He hasn't come after us?'

"I think he's regrouping. He probably didn't expect us to be this difficult. He will definitely approach with more caution later."

'Hm. Well, you are the strongest Bijuu.'

"Heh." Kurama blew off the flattery, though I knew it got to him, "I'm not some pushover like my siblings."

I smiled at him, 'None of you Bijuu are exactly what I'd call pushovers. The Akatsuki are all above S-class, for sure.'

Kurama soured. "Yes. I don't know what they're planning, but I don't want the Tailed Beasts to have any part in it."

'Me neither.' I sighed and dropped down from the tree. 'From all the chakra we used, I'm pretty sure someone noticed us, too.'

Kurama groaned, "What a pain in the ass."

'You can say that again.' I looked around, scanning the area as far as I could reach. Not a single person, as far as I could tell, but unless I used Kurama's chakra I wouldn't know for sure. I sure as hell didn't want to risk using Kurama's chakra now, not after yesterday.

"So, what's our plan?"

I sat down heavily, putting my face in my hands. 'We should find their base. How many Bijuu were captured?'

"So far, it was just Shukaku and Matatabi."

'Shukaku, huh? And two-tails, too. They might try to go in order, so they would go after Isobu next, right?'

"It's strange, though. He came after us."

'Why?'

"It wouldn't make sense to capture the strongest one first. Not if my suspicions are correct. He probably wasn't even aiming for us, he just stumbled upon our location."

'What suspicions?'

Kurama sighed. "I was thinking, while you were asleep. There's a good chance he's using this thing called the Gedo statue to extract the Tailed Beasts from the Jinchuriki."

I narrowed my eyes, 'That sounds familiar. Have you mentioned it before?'

"Maybe. Anyways, the Gedo statue is an empty vessel of the Ten-Tails."

I felt the blood rush out of my face, 'You think they're trying to summon the Ten-tails?'

"It's the best explanation that fits with this."

I didn't answer, trying to digest this information. 

'How do we stop them?'

Kurama frowned, "We could free the Bijuu and defeat the Akatsuki, but unless we find out why they're doing this, who is really in charge, and how they know these things, there isn't much we can do long term."

'Who is really in charge?'

"I don't know. This Pain fella doesn't seem to know exactly what he's gotten himself into. He might have the Rinnegan and be the leader of the Akatsuki, but he's not the only leader, I don't think."

I pondered on this. 'That makes sense. We should do recon, then. Gather as much information as we can without getting caught, get the Bijuu out of their hands, and uncover as much as possible. All without being discovered by the Hidden Villages or the Akatsuki.'