Naruto 1. And So it Begins

**OK, this is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic, though I have always meant to write one. It will be Naruto/Hana Inuzuka and it will be a powerful Naruto. Expect time skips early on.**

**Bold is Kyuubi or my AN**

_Italics is thought and conversation w/ Kyuubi_

And So it Begins

The wind whipped past the face of Namikaze Minato as he stood atop Gamabunta's head on the way to fight the Kyuubi. Konoha was nearly in ruins by now. Fire was everywhere. People were dying left and right. His people were dying. He had sworn to protect them as the Yondaime Hokage, and here they were dying.

And there was nothing he could do about it except…

Tears came to his eyes as he realized what he had to do.

"Gamabunta, keep him busy. I have to go get Naruto."

The old toad's forehead creased in confusion.

"Why would you get your son? He's only a few moments old. Why would we need him?" Then it clicked. "Minato, please tell me you're not going to do what I think you are."

"I'm sorry old friend, but I have to. There is no other way."

"Very well, I'll keep him busy. Do what you have to do."

With a flash of bright light, Minato disappeared and returned with a baby in his arms.

"Get me close to the demon, Bunta. I'll do what's necessary."

With a nod, they were off. The demon, Kyuubi no Kitsune, was frightening to behold. The creature itself was taller than the Hokage's tower and the nine tails swinging behind it were nearly as long as the beast was tall.

"I love you, Naruto. **SHIKI FUUJIN!**"

With that shout, Minato summoned the Shinigami to the mortal realm; a dangerous feat that would cost the noble man his soul. If possible, the creature was more gruesome than the Kyuubi. It was definitely larger. Time stopped for all but the Hokage, the Kyuubi and the Shinigami.

"Kyuubi!" rasped out the voice of death. The sound of his name sparked something in the beast and his eyes changed. It was as if he had come out of a trance. Then he saw the Shinigami.

"**Shinigami-sama, why are you here? Where am I?**"

The Hokage looked on in shock. The creature had no idea it had done so much damage. Unbelievable.

"My servant, you have been weak. You allowed Uchiha Madara to enslave you. He made you his tool to exact his petty revenge. The only reason you have stopped is that this mortal summoned me to bind you to his son. The price for this, as you know, is his soul. For better or

worse, you will be bound to his son. You are now charged with his protection. When he needs it, you will grant him your chakra and when he is ready, you will leave him your chakra as a kekkai genkai and return to Makai."

The great red beast bowed his head as he answered.

"**I understand, Shinigami-sama. Bind me to the kit and**-"

"Silence, I am not finished. Your son Shikon will be his familiar."

"**As you wish, Shinigami-sam, but he cannot immediately bond the kit. This child must first accept the animalistic side to him before a bond could form. The Inuzuka's are the same way.**"

"Very well it is settled. Namikaze Minato." The Hokage perked up now that he was finally mentioned. "Your sacrifice is noble. I am afraid that you must be devoured by me, but I can can make for a set time instead of eternity. The better you do fighting the other souls, the sooner you will be released."

And then the Shinigami went silent. He grabbed the Kyuubi and pushed him into the boy. The ghostly hands glowed brightly and it was done. As the Death god went towards Minato, the Hokage smiled. His village was safe and his son was being protected by a demon. He could live (or die as the case may be) with that. His son would be a hero, or so he thought.

— Time Skip to Land of the Waves—

Thirteen year old Uzumaki Naruto, no one had bothered to tell him of his heritage, was lying on the ground with blood pouring out of him. This was nothing new. The villagers had been causing this kind of thing for years. The difference was that his injuries were caused by ninja.

Naruto had thought that becoming a ninja would make others respect him more. He leapt for joy when he made gennin. Perhaps his teammates would respect him. Fat chance of that.

Uchiha Sasuke was the golden boy of the village. He was the last of a massacred clan with a legendary doujutsu known as the Sharingan. Because of a pair of eyes he couldn't even use yet, the village worshipped him. He hated Naruto and thought the boy was inferior to him in every way.

Haruno Sakura was no better. She was book smart, but pretty much useless as a ninja. She was obsessed with the Uchiha heir. By extension, she hated Naruto.

His sensei seemed alright. At least he didn't seem to openly despise the young blonde. Hatake Kakashi simply ignored him in favor of the Uchiha.

The mission they were on had seemed simple enough. They had to escort a man to the Land of the Waves and prevent ordinary bandits from harming him. Then ninja had gotten involved. They were outclassed, but their sensei thought it would be a good idea to keep going. The result was technically a success. The bridge builder was safe.

However, there were problems. Naruto had finally found someone who understood him, an ice-wielder named Haku, but had been forced to fight him and then watch him die defending Momochi Zabuza, the boy's sensei.

Oh yeah, and Naruto was almost dead. He had gone berserk when a strange red chakra enveloped him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his sensei come over to him. He grew worried however when the man just crouched in front of him and gave an eye smile. He spoke in that patronizing tone he often used.

"Well I guess demons can die. The report will read that you died well in battle with a high class opponent. More than the killer of my sensei deserves, but you will be gone. Goodbye."

And with that he left, leaving a shocked and dying Naruto on the ground. He didn't know what to do. Then he felt a tugging on his mind and he was pulled inward.

— Mindscape—

Naruto found himself in a kind of sewer. At least he thought it was a sewer. There were water and pipes everywhere. He walked down the main corridor until he stood before a large gate. Inside the gate was darkness. He couldn't see more than a few feet. The he heard it. The sound was a low rumble. When he listened for a moment, he heard its rhythm. It was something breathing.

"**Well, it seems that my container has come to pay me a visit. What is it**?"

The voice was deep and grating, but the tone wasn't one of pure evil or anything. It shocked the boy to find something in here.

"Who are you and what do you mean by container?"

"**Well, I could wait until you guess or tell you. I'm not exactly patient so the first one it is. I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune. To answer your question ahead of time let me show you this. Look at the wall to your right**."

The wall in question lit up like a movie screen and the events of the Kyuubi's sealing played.

"**Any questions kit**?"

Not surprisingly, the boy was stunned. The Yondaime was his father and the Kyuubi was sealed inside of him. Oh and by the way, he wasn't evil. The Kyuubi shook its head whe his question was met with silence.

"**Alright, ask me later. I'm putting you into a coma for a few hours. When you wake up, you will be healed. Goodnight.**"

A tendril of red slinked out and tapped the boy on the forehead. He dropped to the floor unconscious.

—Outside World—

Naruto woke up outside of his mind to find himself alone with masses of dead bodies. Slowly he got up and stretched out his incredibly stiff muscles. His long legs were especially- Wait long legs?

**Oh so you noticed the changes, did you? All I did was reverse some of the damage your abuse has caused you. I was unable to help until you were aware of my presence. You should be able to think slightly more clearly. The longer limbs will help you later with my style of combat. Trust me, you'll appreciate it later.**

Kyuubi was right. He was thinking more clearly and it seemed as though his mini coma had helped him digest the massive revelations. Getting up and walking around he wondered what he was going to do.

_Hey, Kyuubi when do I get to meet Shikon and what should I be doing now?_

**You're not ready to embrace the animal side yet. Right now, your personality would be lost and a mindless animal would take control. When the time is right, I will tell you. For now focus on finding a good sensei. Zabuza would have been ideal. His ferocity was admirable, but oh well-"**

A groan interrupted the thought/conversation. Naruto looked around and saw Zabuza's form stirring underneath the other corpses.

**Help him kit. He is bound by the Nukenin code. If you save his life, you can demand that he teach you in repayment.**

And that's what he did. The blonde knew all about recovering from injuries and he helped the so called "Demon of the Mist" to regain his strength. Zabuza didn't speak for two weeks. Memories of Haku plagued him and he didn't know what to think of the blonde genin helping him. What did he want? One day he asked.

"Kid, why are you helping me? I tried to kill you remember?"

Naruto looked at him and answered him straight.

"I want you to owe me so that you'll take me as your student."

The nukenin stared.

Then he grinned.

Then he chuckled.

Then he laughed.

This kid had balls! He was a straight shooter and he told a formidably nukenin that he was intending to blackmail him.

"Well, you got spunk kid. I'll give you that. You just passed the initiation a few weeks ago. If you want to I'll train you. But," he paused, he face grew grin behind the wrappings. "You won't be the same person afterwards. You won't be open. You won't be cheerful. You will answer to no one and fight for your own reasons, whether they are to rob or to protect. You will be like me. Is that what you want?"

The blonde boy thought for a moment. There would be no turning back from this.

_What do you think Kyuubi?_

**Don't ask me, kit. This is your choice.**

Naruto looked up.

"Hai, Zabuza-sensei."


	2. Priorities

**Here's chapter 2. Wow! You guys really liked this so far. I hope I can live up to expectations. Here we go.**

Training

"Hai, Zabuza-sensei."

"Good, I'll grab Kubikiri Houcho (from now on referred to as KH for brevity) and we'll go. This was your first killing at the battle right?"

A nod.

"Damn, you have some kind of will power. You're going to crash soon. There's a safe house within a day's travel. Let's get out of here."

With that, Zabuza grabbed the massive sword, swung it over his shoulder and they were off. They spoke little. There was almost nothing to say. They didn't know each other. Haku, their only common ground was still off limits. So there was silence.

To keep Naruto's mind off of the killing, he used the same tactic he'd used while Zabuza was healing up. He taught Naruto everything he should have learned at the academy. That ran out soon as the information was going directly into the boy's brain and Kyuubi was getting desperate. At any moment, Naruto was likely to break down a little. Then an idea hit him.

**Hey, kit. Have you ever heard of the Beast Warriors?**

_Beast Warriors? You mean like the Inuzuka and their dogs?_

**Not exactly, but close. The beast warriors fought with demons as their familiars. They weren't so much a clan as a tribe. They never joined one village. They simply couldn't survive like that. Demons need room or they go mad.**

_So they left their homes to take care of their familiars?_

**Yes and no. Yes they did leave for their partners, but also for themselves. To truly bond with a demon partner, you must embrace the bestial side that resides in your mind. The need for room and open space is a common side effect. They used to be more common back in the days when demons walked on the earth.**

_Why only back then? What changed?_

**Well, to answer that question, you need to know how they exist. The only way to become a beast warrior was to suitably impress a demon lord for him to allow one of his children to travel with you. The time of demons has passed and you will be the first in over a millennia.**

_Me? What did I do to deserve that?_

**You didn't do anything at first. I agreed to allow my son to bond with you as recompense for my weakness. You saw the memory. But I have changed my mind. You more than deserve it. You show ferocity in battle and you hold back when necessary. You are fiercely loyal and your word is your bond. You could be one of us with a little work. Between my tutelage and that of your sensei, we'll refine those things.**

_Refine?_

**You'll understand later. I think you should tell Zabuza about me. He won't ask, but you owe it to him as his student. He can't train you otherwise.**

_Are you sure? Most people don't react well to that sort of thing._

**Don't worry. He'll take it fine. Jinchuuriki are usually well respected. Most of the time, the demon hasn't killed most of the ninja before it's sealed.**

_If you're sure…_

So Naruto told his new sensei his story. Zabuza didn't react. He didn't ask any questions. He just listened quietly to his student as he recounted his story. He wouldn't admit it for quite a while, but his respect for the boy increased. He'd had to deal with more crap than the Demon of the Bloody Mist.

The "Demon" smirked. He'd have a real demon with him. This could be interested.

"Alright. This helps a lot. Kyuubi can take care of the information. I'll train you in chakra control, movement and how to be a nukenin." As expected, the kid didn't quite understand.

"What do you mean movement? Aren't you going to teach me a style or a lot of jutsu or something?"

"I will eventually teach you jutsu, but a set style won't work for you when you get your partner. You'll need to be unpredictable. Your style will be speed, accuracy and ruthlessness learned at the knees of Momochi Zabuza and the Kyuubi no Kitsune himself. Enough talking. We're there."

Naruto looked up and…

Wasn't impressed.

The building was a rundown shack. He'd been expecting some sort of elaborate house with training grounds or something. Zabuza noticed and gave a low chuckle.

"Not quite what you expected huh? OK, lesson number one. You have a load of chakra, but you can't control it well enough to dispel genjutsu normally. I want you to push out a wave of chakra around here. Try putting chakra on your palms and clapping."

A slightly confused Naruto did as he was told. He gathered chakra into his hands and crashed them together.

The first thought that went through Zabuza's mind was "Yeah, we need to work on control."

A massive surge of chakra exploded from Naruto's hands. Trees were knocked down. Animals went running. Birds took flight. The only thing that kept Zabuza from flying away was the chakra on the bottom of his feet. This kid was something else.

It worked though.

The genjutsu was dispelled.

In front of the pair was a moderate sized house in top condition along with a large, well-equipped training ground.

Normally our blonde friend would be bouncing off the walls. Not this time. He suddenly felt drained and he swayed on his feet. He started to fall only to be caught by Zabuza.

"This is what I meant when I said you were going to crash. Let's get inside."

He carried his student into the house and sown to the basement. If worst came to worst, nothing would be broken at least. Naruto just sat in the middle of the room face to face with Zabuza.

Neither said a word for a while. Then tears started to pour from Naruto's eyes.

"I killed them. I killed them all. All those people are dead because of me. Why am I alive? If I had died then they wouldn't have had to."

SMACK

Naruto's face stung where Zabuza had hit him.

"Listen to yourself. What would have happened if you had died? The bridge-builder you had sworn to protect would have died. Your team would have died. The town would have been burned to the ground and the women and children would have been raped and killed. Is that what you want? Is it?"

A dark gleam came into the demon container's eyes.

"If I recall correctly, you fought on that side. You fought with them and you would have helped even more if we hadn't stopped you. What makes you different?"

"Lesson number two, everything has a reason."

"Huh?"

"Everyone does everything for a reason. Everyone fights. Everyone kills. Everyone dies. Never evaluate based on the act. The motive is everything."

"Oh yeah? What motive did you have?"

Silence came between them then. If Naruto didn't know better, he could have sworn that a single tear fell from the "Demon's" eye.

"Haku"

"What did you say?" asked Naruto in disbelief and anger. What could Haku have to do with it? There was no way he would have wanted slaughter and rape like that.

"It was all for Haku. He didn't know it, but he was sick. I was slipping medicine into his food. It wasn't cheap either. I was getting desperate when we got the mission order from Gato. The money was good and Haku would have died if I turned it down."

He paused and looked his new protégé in the eye.

"Look over your life. Find the people who have been important or kind to you. They are people who make your life worth living. Those are the people you fight for. Do you have any?"

Naruto paused. He bit back his initial response of Sakura and gave it a lot of thought. He thought back over his short life and found the few he knew fit the question. First was Sarutobi-jiji. He always took care of Naruto; always supplying a kind word and some food or money. Next were the Ichiraku's. They kept Naruto alive when other's wanted him to starve. Iruka was another obvious one. He was the only teacher who _taught_ Naruto anything. He even took a giant shuriken to the back defending Naruto.

That was when it got harder. Everyone he could think of was considerably older than him. He thought he was done when another name came to mind.

Kiba Inuzuka.

The boy was loud and insulted Naruto and pretty much everyone else at every turn, but he had befriended Naruto. They pranked together and were good friends until they had been sorted into teams. Yes, Kiba was on the list.

Seeing that Naruto had thought over it, Zabuza spoke up.

"Have you come up with any?"

"Hai, I can think of five people like the ones you spoke about."

"You're lucky kid. Haku was all I had for years. Now pay attention. This is important. You have to live and fight for something or someone. Are you sure about these people?"

A nod.

"OK, from now on, whenever you do something, do it for them. Train and get stronger to protect them. Fight to help them. Live to be there for them. That is how you will become strong. Do you understand?"

The answer came after a long moment. It didn't seem right to hear a voice so low and serious come out of the boy.

"I think so, sensei. My life needs purpose. I can't live to serve a village wants me dead, so I must live for the few that matter. They are my family; my parents, grandparents, and siblings. I take care of my family."

Zabuza shook his head in admiration. The boy got it. His student would be great. He had the drive, the motivation and the power to become the best. But not now. Right now he was a boy on the brink of collapse after the events of the last few weeks. He needed to rest.

"You've got it. I want you to go to sleep. There's a room upstairs for you on the left. I'm not sure if this is possible, but I want you to meditate with Kyuubi about what I've said while you sleep. Sleep as long as you need. Trust me, you'll need it."

With a tired nod, the blonde headed upstairs to rest and his body succumbed to sleep.

But not his mind.

**It seems you made the right choice, kit. He's a good teacher. Listen to him and you'll go far.**

Naruto was once again in the dank sewer that was his mind. Now that he thought about it, he found that offensive. Oh well.

_I am listening to him. He makes sense. What did he mean by meditating on it?_

**I'm going to help you reinforce what he was talking about today. If you let me, I can force your mind to focus specifically on those people who you consider family. Your mindscape here, as you noticed, is a sewer right now. This is because your life has almost no structure and no real reason to be made better. Your mind will focus around those people and the mindscape will change to reflect that your support structure. Trust me; it'll look a lot better after this.**

_Alright, let's do this._

A glob of red came from the cage and surrounded Naruto as he settled on the ground. He went into a meditative position as Kyuubi did his work. Slowly, the sewer began to change. The ceiling and walls broke down and down and left the two in an open field with a clear sky. Kyuubi was impressed. Mindscapes didn't normally have skies. It was usually too vast for a mind to handle. Then structures began to appear. The field turned into a training ground and five pillars rose up out of the ground. They came up around the edge of the training ground. From those pillars, everything started rushing out. A library came from one, plants and animals came from another and so on until it seemed as though a whole world was made for Naruto inside his mind.

The Kyuubi was stunned. When he had said that the boy's mind would rely on those five people, he hadn't expected it to this extent. Everything flowed from them.

**Kit, you might want to see this.**

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. He jumped up in shock.

_Where did all this come from?_

**Well, I think all of this comes from the fact that you finally realized what you learned from these people and what they meant to you. Everything came from the pillars. You saw the old Hokage as an example of wisdom and knowledge. You learned loyalty from your friend Kiba. Compassion came from the Ichiraku's and it looks like you got a sense of commitment and sticking things out from Iruka and what he risked for you. Everything comes from these Kit. They really made you who you are. You're going to be one hell of a ninja, kit.**

This clinched it for Naruto. No matter what, he owed these people everything and he was going to repay them. They were his new reasons.


	3. A Deal Completed

**Sorry guys, I have been really busy and I haven't updated in more than a week. Things have been rough. For example, the death of my grandmother. Things should be getting better though, so let's see what happens. Here's chapter three.**

Training Part 2

—1 year later—

It had been about a since Zabuza had started training Naruto. In this time, Naruto changed. He wasn't the bubbly orange clad buffoon that had been the terror of Konoha. He had learned discretion. He knew firsthand how too much noise could be harmful. That was a lesson he would never forget.

"_Naruto, be quiet!" came Zabuza's voice in a coarse whisper. "The Rock-nin are nearby. They could attack at any moment-"_

_Then a katana came down on Naruto's face._

That had been eight months ago.

Both of his eyes were hit.

The Kyuubi had saved them…after Naruto had been in a two week long coma. When he woke up there was a burning pain across the top of face.

_Kyuubi! What's going on? My face feels like it's on fire._

**You stupid boy! Your arrogance and noise almost cost you your sight! I have managed to repair them, improve them eve, but they will never look the same again.**

_What do you mean?_

**Come take a look.**

And Naruto was pulled into his mind. His mindscape had already changed since the introduction of the pillars. A ring had appeared, connecting all five of the obelisks. The ring represented Zabuza and his teachings and how they brought Naruto's being and focus together. When Zabuza found out about it, he disappeared for a while and was quiet for several hours.

Naruto willed a bowl of water to appear and looked in.

He gasped in shock.

Instead of regular pupils and irises, he had a horizontal stripe going through the centers of his eyes. It looked like a black strip was trapped between two that were cerulean blue.

**This is what your foolishness has cost you. I managed to keep your eyes together by reorienting them along the line carved by that katana. They look quite different, but I have made some enhancements. Because of the new shape, you know longer have a problem with focusing on multiple targets. Your pupils don't have to move left to right. I also improved your vision somewhat. What were you thinking? That katana might have killed us! Zabuza almost died fighting alone after you were hit. Is that what you want? Do you want the only person in this world that cares about you, to die because you are an idiot?**

Naruto just sat staring in the reflection. It was one thing to hear a tongue lashing like that, but because they were in the mindscape, he _felt_ it. He could feel the waves of disgust, disappointment and anger coming off of the demon lord. It tore him apart. He had almost lost his sensei.

It would _**never**_ happen again.

And it hadn't

He trained harder than any human had before or was meant to. He pushed his body to the limits of human endurance and beyond.

While Zabuza slept, he ran.

While Zabuza ate, he did pushups.

When Zabuza trained him, he listened and memorized every word.

The enemy was never underestimated.

The enemy was always destroyed.

Period

He became the epitome of a ninja in training and his master noticed. He didn't say anything. Praise wasn't his style. Naruto simply got an approving nod when he managed to evade the missing-nin for an hour inside of his kirigakure no justu.

"You're ready?"

"What?" asked a somewhat surprised Naruto.

"You're ready for a weapon. You've trained your body for speed and agility. You are strong, precise and ruthless. You need a close range weapon. Ask Kyuubi what he thinks."

_Kyuubi?_

**I heard. Give me control for a minute. I need to talk to Zabuza.**

Naruto groaned. This felt weird as hell. He let the Kyuubi's consciousness slip into control.

"**Zabuza, are you sure he's ready? If he gets a weapon he needs to get his partner. They need to learn their style in tandem for it to work. Are you certain?"**

A sigh.

"Yes, Kyuubi." He said irritably. "We've talked about this before. I will never recommend him something I'm not sure he's ready for. I'd make him wait if I had any doubt."

"**All right, I'll trust your judgment. He needs clawed gauntlets. I'll pull them from Makai with my son. I'm giving him back control."**

"I hate when he does that," muttered the blonde. "What did he want?"

"It's time for you to meet your familiar, Shikon, If I remember correctly. Begin drawing the seals."

"Hai"

He didn't question about the seals. Kyuubi had literally drilled them into his mind. It was also a bad idea to question Zabuza.

He went to his pack and withdrew his ink and brushes. This would take hours to do correctly and one mistake could cost him his life. He picked a clear spot several minutes away from the camp and began writing.

He finished almost nine hours later. His hand was cramped and he was exhausted, but he was done.

**It's finally time.** He sounded somewhat saddened. It confused Naruto.

_But, Kyuubi, shouldn't you be happy? You will be reunited with your son after all. It's been quite awhile._

**If only that were the case. It's time for me to leave. As part of the deal I struck with the Shinigami, I must return to Makai and leave you my chakra. But enough of this useless drivel; before we begin, you must bond with your animal. Get in here.**

Naruto was getting annoyed. Getting pulled in and out of his mind was quite annoying. He just sighed and waited. He was shocked to see that instead of his field and training grounds, he was looking at the sewers again.

_Hey, Kyuubi, what gives?_

**This is the other half of your mindscape. You exercise complete control of the other half, but this is the animal side of your mind. This is the side that takes control when I give you too much chakra, though you don't use it much anymore. We are here to find the animal you. You must defeat him and then you will have to make a choice.**

_A choice? What do you mean Kyuubi?_

**You will see when the time comes. Now you must hunt him. I cannot help you here. This is for you and you alone. He is your instinct, but you are your reason and will. You must overcome him. Now go.**

And Naruto was alone.

He paused and took a deep breath. He needed to analyze the situation. He was alone in hostile territory with no weapons. His enemy was strong and had incredible instincts. This was his ground. That wasn't good.

He called on the tracking lessons that Zabuza had drilled into him.

_You can't rely on sight, though you must look._

_You can't rely on hearing, though you must listen._

_You can't rely on smell, though you must smell._

_You can't rely on touch, though you must feel._

_You can't rely on taste, though you must taste_

_You must rely on all of your senses in tandem, favoring none, if you wish to survive._

Naruto calmed himself and focused intently on his senses, amplifying him with chakra. Thankfully, it being his mind, there were few distractions. He stayed there for several moments until his ears picked up a small _splish_. His opponent had made a mistake. He had disturbed the water. Naruto now knew the general direction of his opponent. Focusing on his sense of touch, he managed to detect the ripples made by the enemy.

_Gotcha_

Using a thick layer of chakra on his feet, Naruto ran silently on the surface of the water, racing towards his goal. He managed to catch a glimpse of his target as it ran around a corner.

The race was on.

The enemy was a creature of pure instinct. He took turns in an instant in the nearly perfect way to throw off his pursuer. He felt that his pursuer was too strong willed to be fought head on, yet it began to dawn that he would not give up the chase. Where he had been turning randomly to avoid chase, the reasoning Naruto had been keeping track. He catalogued each turn and each dead end, hoping to be able to force his target to fight on his ground.

At a four way intersection, the animal Naruto turned and darted towards Naruto for a quick attack which was fended off with an expert sweep of his arm. He retreated into a tunnel and tried the same thing from a different angle, but it met with the same result and the game went on. He was retreating quickly after every attack, but he had no idea he was being set up. Naruto was controlling his opponent's retreats and they were headed for a dead end.

After what seemed like hours of the repetitive action, it happened. The bestial Naruto turned to run only to find himself face to face with a wall.

"It's all over. Just give up!"

The beast turned his sharply at the noise. Words were new to him. He was a thing of the wild. Communication was through posture and tone. This strange creature, this intruder intended to win. He was alpha. He was stronger and managed to stop every attack. Sniffing the air, he followed his instincts. He slowly slunk over to Naruto and bared his throat in a sign of submission.

A rush of power came over the real Naruto, or rather, the conscious Naruto.

He had done it!

He had defeated this creature of instinct.

Now all that was left was to make the kill and he would win. He could just reach out and break his neck. It would be so easy…

Wait a minute.

Where did that come from?

Then he looked down.

The thing that had appeared to be an animal to him just a few hours earlier, had taken on a more human appearance. Then he looked at himself in the water.

He was shocked to see that he had taken on a more feral look that before. He looked like something from the wild.

Then he understood.

He understood what the Kyuubi meant.

He was becoming one with this creature. He could retreat to his old self by killing it or he could take control and make it his own. He could take the strength of the wild and tame it with reason, but he would be forever changed for it.

He chose the latter.

He grabbed his other half and pulled him to himself. Surprisingly, they began to merge.

A light emanated from the pair and they merged. The light expanded and swallowed up the dank sewer, depositing a single Naruto in the regular mindscape. But it was different. Instead of a world with just plants, his now keener senses could detect animals and life in the woods. It seems that his animal mind desired them, or his mind now.

He felt amazing!

There was a sense of freedom that he never felt before. He didn't care what anyone thought about him. He was strong. He could feel the strength of his instincts working in perfect tandem with his rational mind.

Using his control over the mindscape, he called down a rain of Kunai, responding to an urge to test himself.

The difference was incredible. He could _feel_ where the kunai were going to be. He just trusted his gut and he dodged all of them. Then he had his mind create several opponents and he fought them, using his instincts along with the tactics he came up with.

The Kyuubi had been watching the whole thing and he was amazed.

The kit was stronger than he had thought. Most of the Beast Warriors of old had taken years to reconcile themselves with their animal halves. Naruto just absorbed it straight off. He perfectly integrated instinct with tactics and it was devastating. The boy was attacking with lightning fast strikes in several directions using the kunai all over the place. He didn't need to focus on just one person because of his new eyes.

When he got his Kekkei Genkai, he would truly be unstoppable.

**Kit, I am impressed. Come back outside. It's time.**

He nodded and forced himself back into his body.

**Sit in the seal circle and I will begin the summoning. Shikon will come with your weapon and I will be gone. Do not say anything. There is nothing you can do. You will be gifted with a new Kekkei Genkai. It will be two-fold. First, you will receive my chakra. Your bond with my son will make you able to withstand it. The second part will come to be known as Yajuu no Kankei. You will be able to call natural creatures to your aid. They will recognize you as one of their own. You will be able to sense them and call them with your chakra. My son will bring with him what are to be your weapons. Be proud as you will be the first mortal in millennia to wield demonic weapons. My final gifts to you are clawed gauntlets known as the Bijuu Tsume. Shikon will teach you to use them. Fairwell, Uzumaki.**

As the demon lord finished his speech, Naruto activated the seal. The first thing it did was to rip open the seal on Naruto's stomach. Red chakra came forth and seemed to rip a whole in the air above the blonde. It slowly grew wider and wider until it was larger than Naruto himself. Through the light and intense pain, Naruto managed to make out the shape of a black fox with seven tails, carrying something in its mouth.

Over the inter-dimensional din, a booming voice was heard.

**Shikon, my son, this is Uzumaki Naruto and your partner from now on. He is one of the best mortals I have come into contact with. Show him respect as you would me. Serve him well and bond with him.**

The black fox, who seemed to be in shock at the sound of his father's voice, went over to the prone form of Naruto Uzumaki, his partner. He sliced open his paw with his teeth and ripped the skin on the boy's chest. He placed his bleeding pad in the open wound and allowed the blood to mingle.

The wound sealed almost instantly. And in its place, a mark formed. It took on the shape of a black fox with seven tails with its claws extended, ready to do battle. The shape covered most of his chest.

The bond was complete.

The Kyuubi sighed. Yes, the great demon lord sighed. He would miss the kit and this would hurt like hell.

He took all of his nearly infinite chakra and forced into the now partly f=demonic Naruto. He had expected the red chakra to simply overpower the child's own blue regular chakra, but something different happened.

The chakra fought back!

A blue light came up and slammed against the wall of red that was descending on the boy. They struggled back and forth, fighting for dominance. Then they both pulled back…

And slammed together right over the center of Naruto to.

The two chakras forced themselves through each other and mixed until they stopped as a single color. It was maroon.

The red chakra had been far more vast, but the blue had refused to just die off. This was shown in the now missed color.

The massive amounts of chakra swept through Naruto's body, entering the chakra pathways. There was too much to go back through all of the Tenketsu and much of it was absorbed directly through the body. This caused the chakra to actually become part of the boy's genetic code. He would now be able to regenerate even more quickly and it would be passed onto his children. The chakra just couldn't all fit in that young undeveloped body though. As the Kyuubi was sucked back into Makai, he saw the boy's body changing.

He seemed to stretch out and grow. It was like watching years of growth taking place in an instant. His muscles hardened to the strength of steel, but they didn't grow much, allowing him to remain quick and spring-like in his movements. His canines elongated slightly, but the last interesting changes were to his face. His hair had grown to the length of a main and his eyes had changed to the maroon of his chakra. The final changes were to his whisker marks. They weren't whisker marks anymore. They had changed in to three maroon stripes on the sides of his faces.

The changes to his body were incredibly painful and as they finished, so did his strength. He passed out.

The first thing that greeted his eyes upon his waking was a large black fox.

**Master Naruto, Are you alright?**

He passed out again.

Translations:

Makai no Yajuu: Hell Beast or Beast from Hell

Kekkei Genkai: bloodline limit

Shikon: fang

Bijuu Tsume: Bijuu Claws

Yajuu no Kankei: Beast Connection or Connection of Beasts


	4. Gaining a Friend

**Sorry for the wait guys. Lots of crap happening to me. But you don't want to hear me complain, so here's the next installment.**

Gaining a Friend

**Naruto-sama, are you alright?**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to look directly at the large black fox in front of him.

"I feel like I was hit with a kaiton jutsu, you're Shikon right?"

The black fox bowed towards the boy.

**That is correct Naruto-sama. I-**

"Cut the sama. We're going to be working to gether for quite a while and I'm nothing special…yet."

Naruto could have sworn he heard the fox snort.

**Naruto-sa- Naruto, you are something special. Call on some chakra. Make it visible.**

Confused, Naruto summoned a large amount of chakra to his hand. But it was a little more than he thought. He had called what would be a fair amount of his chakra before. Now, after the ritual, a massive ball of chakra shot off of his hand.

It was maroon.

"What the hell was that and why is my chakra red?"

**Your chakra is not red. It should be, but it's not. When my father returned to Makai, he left his chakra with you. Youkai is more than enough there. The chakra should have overpowered yours and transformed it into pure demonic chakra. Somehow your chakra fought and merged with my father's. That also explains the amount.**

Naruto groaned. A year ago he would have been yelling and screaming about how cool he now was, but he knew what this meant.

He looked over at Zabuza who was still a little stunned by everything.

"I'm going to have to relearn charka control, aren't I?"

A nod

"And it's going to be a lot harder this time, right?"

A nod

"Crap"

**Actually Naruto, **said the demon. **That's not true.**

The blonde looked hopeful.

**You'll never be able to relearn chakra control. It's just not possible with that much chakra.**

The blonde looked crestfallen.

**Luckily, my father decided to give you Bijuu Tsume. Because they are demonic weapons, you can focus your new chakra to them, but we need to know what your chakra affiliation is.**

"Why would we need to know that? Isn't demonic good enough?"

A wry chuckle escaped the kitsune.

**And don't you forget it, but your chakra is a combination. You could use each part separately if you wanted, but you need to understand your chakra for both to work together.**

Finally, Zabuza decided to speak up.

"Hey Naruto, before you work this out and get pissed because I never tested you for affiliation, Kyuubi said not to. I think he didn't want you to have to relearn elemental manipulation. There are some sheets of chakra paper in my pack. Go get 'em."

Grumbling, Naruto stretched himself out and got up.

"Stupid, lazy sensei. Won't get the stuff in his own pack. I oughta-what the hell happened to my body?"

He had finally noticed the changes. He looked like a twenty year old. He had long, wiry arms and legs, surrounded my steel like muscle.

It's pretty unnerving for a fourteen year old.

"As best as I can tell, the chakra forced your body to expand to contain all of it. Don't complain, it's an advantage. Shikon, what else happened to the kid?" asked Zabuza.

**Probably increased speed, reflexe-**

Zabuza had whipped out a kunai and launched it at an incredible speed towards the back of Naruto's head. Before Shikon could warn his partner, the former jinchuuriki had turned around, jabbed his finger through the hole at the back of the kunai and launched it back at his sensei even faster than it had gone at first.

Zabuza only escaped because he pulled up Kubibkir Houcho.

Naruto seemed surprised by what he had just done.

"How did I do that? I felt it coming towards me and then my arm just reacted. It was so fast!"

**That was your animal instinct taking control of your new reflexes with knowledge from your reasoning side. Instinct told you to react, reason told you how, and reflexes did it. Quite impressive. I've never seen a human react so well.**

"Nice! Imagine what I could do with Bijuu Tsume."

Zabuza hopped up from his seat, still wondering how the kid had managed to dent his sword with a stupid kunai.

"Kid, stop calling those claws Bijuu Tsume. The warrior uses the weapon. The warrior defines the weapon. The warrior names the damn weapon."

The fox seemed affronted.

**But Zabuza-san, he should be honored to use Bijuu Tsume. No human in a millennium has used them. And you think he should just change the name?**

"Yes. A weapon is an extension of the user. It is part of the user. Everything about it has to fit the user. The name counts too. Heck, I renamed Kubikri Houcho. It seemed to fit. Naruto, ignore the furball this time and rename the claws."

Shikon kept a glare for a few seconds, but then slumped in defeat.

**You are right Zabuza-san. He should rename them. Forgive me; I have little experience with mortals. When you are eternal, names become quite important.**

"Shukumei"

Both of the others turned to look at him.

"I name them Shukumei. Fate. Now we're getting sidetracked. I'm going to get the chakra cards."

While Naruto walked back to the camp, Zabuza had a few things to say to the fox.

"You know, if he can't learn jutsu that require control, I don't have much left to teach him. He'll learn his fighting style from you and I can't teach him how to use his wind affinity."

**You have taught him well I think, if my father gave him such gifts and- wait did you say wind affinity?**

A nod

**Then why did you send him to get the cards and how did you know?**

"I tested him pretty soon after I accepted him as my apprentice. I needed to know if I could teach him my water jutsu, but it didn't work out. The reason I sent him off is this."

Zabuza slowly reached up and unwound the bandages on his face. He hated doing it, but he wanted to look the fox in the face.

"I'll never tell him this, but that boy is a son to me. I will _not _let anything happen to him if I can prevent it. I don't care if you are a demon, I will find a way to kill you in the most painful way possible if you cause any harm to him. Understood?"

Shikon gave a thoughtful nod.

**Hai. I understand. I think my father and Naruto made the right choice by appointing you sensei. Put on your bandages, the boy's back.**

"Hey sensei, did I miss anything?"

The Demon of the Bloody Mist looked over at the demon fox.

"Nothing important, now pump some chakra into a card. If it's fire, the card will burn and-"

"And if it's earth it will crumble, get wet if it's water and cut in half for wind. I remember sensei. Geeze, you'd think I never listened to you or something," he said with his foxy grin.

Zabuza groaned and sweat-dropped.

"Just get on with it. Wise cracking blonde…"

Naruto let out a chuckle and pumped some of his now maroon chakra into the card.

The results were…unique.

At first it was normal. The card cut in half for wind, slightly unusual for someone from fire country, but at least the reaction was normal.

Then the normal ended.

Each half of the card had a different reaction. One turned the cerulean blue of Naruto's old chakra and the other turned the dark red of the Kyuubi's demonic chakra.

But that was still not the weird part.

The card halves…started fighting with each other.

The two halves, apparently powered by Naruto's chakra, bounced at each other around the clearing. It was rather entertaining to watch. Naruto, Zabuza and Shikon formed a sideline and watched, with eyes like pin balls, as the pieces of paper flew around trying to cut the other.

Then, in a move that could only happen in anime/manga, the pieces hit each other at full force and merged into a piece of purple paper.

For a minute they were all in a stunned silence until slowly, Zabuza started chuckling, then Shikon joined in. Soon they were rolling on the ground laughing until they ached. Naruto glared at them for a second, but couldn't resist a chuckle himself.

**Naruto, if your chakra is any indication of your personality, I won't be bored as your partner.**

After Zabuza managed to get a hold on himself (it's not often the Demon of the Bloody Mistt laughed), he managed to be confused.

"So what the hell did that mean? I get the wind part, but the rest?"

Before Shikon, the walking repository of knowledge that he was, Naruto looked up.

"Let me take a crack at it. I'm wind natured, that's obvious. The two halves that changed color represent my human and demonic chakra. They fought just like my real chakra, but they merged too. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say I can use both separately if I want, but in tandem they'll do more damage."

Shikon looked impressed. This mortal had intelligence.

**Very good, Naruto. Yes, you can use them separately, but there isn't much point. If you can't do jutsu, there aren't any real advantages I can think of.**

A triumphant gleam appeared in the blonde's eye. Zabuza cringed when he saw it. Normally, that look meant a lot of mischief or brilliance. Sometimes both. Just to be safe, the "Demon" sent off a quick prayer to kami. Couldn't hurt.

"Oh come on, oh wise and powerful demon. You can't think of anything? Imagine what a exploding note charged with demonic chakra would do? What about guiding shuriken using wind chakra? No advantages…sheesh."

Again, the fox was shocked. He had just assumed that the mixture would be better, but the boy was right. The mixture would be two volatile for tags, but a pure demonic charge would simply make the explosion amazing, and guiding shuriken? The metal would melt if demonic chakra was involved. The boy was brilliant when it came to tactics.

**Most impressive. I stand corrected, though I can't see you using either of those often. Those claws are close quarters weapons. Speaking of which, why haven't you put them on yet?**

"Well, I didn't see a reason to. I can't wear Shukumei all the time. How would I function when whatever I touch will get cut up?"

**Just put the things on.**

"Geez, fine. Hold your horses."

Naruto grabbed Shukumei and pulled them on over his hands. At first they were too large for him, but as soon as he pulled the gauntlets down his forearms they tightened quickly over them and retracted into black, hardened leather braces.

"Huh? What happened, Shikon?"

Shikon let out a sigh. The kid could figure out how to use chakra in ways a demon couldn't but he didn't manage to figure out the gauntlets?

**Push some chakra into the bracers.**

Still a little confused, the blonde pushed some of his chakra to his forearms and there was definitely a reaction. The black leather seemed to spread up his hand and formed overlapping scales of black metal.

Naruto looked at the weapons on his arms. It felt _right_, as if he was supposed to have them. He could barely feel that there was something over his skin. He flexed his grip and observed the movement. The claws weren't too much longer than his finger, maybe an inch. The metal covered his fingers in several jointed pieces, completely covering the digits. Oh, using these would be fun!

**I see you approve of the weapons. To retract it into the bracer again, just pull away the chakra. Now for the next few months we'll be training you to use your combination chakra around the claws. The wind element will make them incredibly sharp and the demonic chakra will be corrosive against other humans. You have a most powerful combination.**

And train they did. Naruto worked for weeks with a dedication that was soon to become normal for anything he deemed important. He was able to cut trees and rocks into pieces with little effort. His chakra was almost limitless. Shikon took him hunting with him and taught the boy to stalk his prey and to use his now heightened senses to his advantage. Zabuza continued to teach the boy in anatomy, specifically, where to aim for with his claws. Fairly soon, the nukenin had to admit that the boy was at least as good as him. Who was he kidding? He couldn't compete with Naruto at all. His speed was too great, and that instinct combined with his sharp mind?

No competition.

He had only one weakness.

The kid wouldn't fully allow the instinct to take over and work unless he was in a corner. He still clung to his old self unless he was near death, and quite frankly, that didn't happen too often. Sure, they gathered a lot of fights as nukenin, but when he fought in tandem with Shikon or Zabuza, there weren't many who could stand up to them. He just wouldn't let go.

Until that terrible day

—1 year later—

"Kisame, Itachi, I have special mission for you."

Uchiha Madara, the head of Akatsuki, was in a good mood. He had received intelligence that would greatly aid his plans to capture the Bijuu.

"I have heard reports of a pair of nukenin who are worthy of our attention."

Itachi blinked and answered slowly.

"But sir, we don't have room for any other members, and none of the jinchuuriki have abandoned their villages that I know of."

"You think I do not know this? I need no new servants, but this shinobi has a companion. A black seven-tailed fox."

That got Kisame's attention.

"But the fox demon has nine tails. Does the information check out?"

"Of course it does! Do you think I would be so foolish as to bring it up if I was not sure? Besides. The Kyuubi container was killed two years ago. This would have to be another demon. Not as powerful as the Kyuubi, but powerful enough to be in our realm. I want you to capture it."

The shark man spoke up.

"Leader-sama, I understand why emo boy is going with his clan's connection to the foxes, but why me?"

A grin spread across the ancient man's face. It was creepy to see.

"Oh, didn't I mention? The other shinobi is an old friend of yours. Momochi Zabuza."

Kisame's body went rigid. That fool was still alive? Impossible.

"But he was reported dead by Konoha, sir. Surely-"

"The report was wrong. It's him."

Itachi decided to ask a question this time.

"If the swordsman is still alive, the cold the other one be the supposedly dead jinchuuriki? They were supposed to have died at the same battle."

"Impossible, the boy would have to be a lot older than he is to be this man, and he is too skilled. This one had gained a reputation. Konoha's records say that he was the worst ninja put through the academy in ages."

"So you want us to capture the demon?"

"Hai."

"And Momochi?" asked Kisame.

A cold smile passed over the leader's face.

"He is of no use to us. Kill him."


	5. Losing a Father

**Hey, guys. Welcome to chapter five. For a nice change of pace, I'm going to update within a couple days instead of weeks. You also get the first real action scene I've ever written. Enjoy.**

Loss of a Father

"Naruto, get your butt over here! Bring that giant furball with you!" shouted Naruto's sensei as he fended off a vicious attack from a gang member. He swung his Zanbatou around and cut the shinobi clean in two; only to be faced with five more.

"And hurry up! These guys are getting annoying!"

Another head fell to the ground.

"I'm a little busy over here sensei! Hold on a sec," replied the blonde.

The boy ducked under a kaiton jutsu that still managed to singe the ends of his hair. While the ninja was preparing another go, he darted in slashed his claws along the man's stomach. Blood gushed out and as the victim tried to hold his stomach together, he saw a huge black fox dart in and bite out his throat.

"Alright, I'm heading over. Watch out!"

Zabuza responded with a grunt. He tried to keep as still as possible. He knew what his apprentice had in mind.

A figure, moving so fast that it blurred, flashed through the group of enemy shinobi. Naruto was slashing with his claws outstretched, as he ran through his foes. Blood and pieces of intestines flew through the air. No one was spared. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over and 8 ninja were left holding their necks and stomachs or lying dead on the ground. The latter group was larger. Feeling a little left out, Zabuza brought his cleaver around, beheading those left standing.

"You know, Naruto, if you're going to get us into fights like this, the least you could do is let me kill more of them."

**I concur with your sensei. You hardly leave any for us anymore.**

The blonde sheepishly scratched the back of his head.(Every author has to put this in somewhere)

"Sorry, guys, but I kinda get caught up in the moment. And you guys did get me strong and fast enough to do that."

It was true. The time under his teachers had certainly had its effect. The blonde was incredibly fast and his lean muscles contained a huge amount of strength. His long blonde hair fell into a long mane. Like Zabuza, he didn't wear a shirt, but neither did he wear the bandages his teacher seemed to like. He wore only loosed fitting black pants, his special bracers on his forearms and an additional pair on his upper arms. He was quite a sight, especially because of the large black fox emblazoned on his chest.

"OK, I'll buy that. They do call me the Demon of the Bloody Mist for a reason, but did you have to piss of the local crime lord?"

"Hey, it's not my fault his daughter hit on me. I wasn't interested, but try telling that to an enraged father when he finds you right after his daughter tackled you on your hotel bed. Sheesh, why do all these women atrack me?"

**Master, perhaps if you wore a shirt, you wouldn't have this problem until you find your mate.**

Naruto took a look over his clothing.

"What? I like this. It gives me free movement. If the chicks can't control themselves, that's their problem."

"Actually, as this little fight shows, it is our problem. Now get your lazy butt over here and help me collect some heads. A couple guys here have bounties."

The blonde walked over muttering under his breath.

"Why do I have to do this? Your sword is called head cleaver for kami's sake…."

Suddenly, Naruto's body went stiff as a board as he sniffed the air. Using his incredibly strong senses he strained to get a read on whatever it was that set off his danger senses. Shikon, being a full demon, notice and used his still stronger senses to aid his partner.

He could make out two distinct scents making their way towards them. Listening closely, both managed to make out that they were coming from the north and one was carrying something heavy if the sound of his footfalls were anything to go by.

Zabuza looked at Naruto questioningly and asked Naruto using their sign language,

_What is it?_

_Two figures. One, I can barely hear, but the other seems to be carrying something heavy. He breathes loudly, as if he was using a respirator or gills. He smells like fish._

Zabuza went cold at the description. From that description, it could only be his former partner, Hoshigake Kisame.

_That one is Hoshigake Kisame. He is carrying Samehada. Watch out for that sword. It eats chakra and works like a cheese grater on your skin. He was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and he is really dangerous. I don't know who he's with, but they mean business. Here they come._

Just then, two figures entered the clearing, wearing strange black cloaks with red clouds over them. They also wore some stupid looking straw hats. The taller one seemed to have blue skin and looked shark-like with a huge sword on his back.

Hoshigake Kisame

The other one was shorter and smaller, but something told Naruto that he was more the more dangerous of the two. Something seemed familiar about him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The blue one spoke up.

"Ok, brat, we need your demon. If you give up now, we'll kill you quickly. How's that sound?"

"You're not touching my apprentice, fishface," Zabuza was not happy.

"I'll deal with you late, Momochi. Itachi and I are here for the demon fox. Isn't that right, partner?"

A deep sigh came from Itachi.

"Why did you tell them my name, Kisame-kun? Now they might know something about my abilities."

As soon as he heard the name Itachi, it was a lightning flash in his brain. He had heard that name, and that face….

Uchiha!

Uchiha Itachi

Sasuke's brother

The one who killed his entire clan by himself.

Crap

"Itachi Uchiha, wielder of the Mangekyou Sharingan."

The man seemed surprised, but he recovered quickly and seemed to have a ghost of a smile flicker across his face.

"And how do you know this?"

"Your brother wouldn't shut up about how he was going to kill you because you killed your whole clan."

"How are you still alive, Naruto-kun?"

Shock was evident on the former jinchuuriki's face when he heard his opponent say his name.

"How do you know that name?"

"I keep tabs on my brother, Naruto-kun. His former teammate was blonde, an unusual feature, presumed dead, and bound to the ninetailed fox. I connected the dots. Now we really have to kill you. The Kyuubi is very valuable to our organization."

Naruto gave a low chuckle.

"He's also back in Makai and Shikon is useless to you."

"And why is that?"

Now Naruto was nervous. He had to lie to an Uchiha. An Uchiha who had just activated his Sharingan. How could he hide the deception he needed?

Of course.

He started leaking demonic chakra.

"Shikon is only bound to this plain by his bond with me. I can sever the bond and send him back to Makai."

The Uchiha was confused. His Sharingan couldn't get a read on the boy. Something was interfering with it. But what?

Then the intelligence that made him a genius at thirteen went to work.

He got a sense of malevolence filling the air and instantly refocused on Naruto-kun. There was a light film of something over the boy. It had to be demonic chakra.

Clever

Now the man was faced with a choice. Did he call out the boy and kill him? If he could manipulate demonic chakra, his Sharingan was weal against it. And personally, he didn't want the Bijuu. No, it would be prudent to let them go.

"I see. Kisame, we're going. The demon is useless to us."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. He had bought it.

Kisame, however, was not pleased.

"But, Itachi, I was told I could kill Zabuza. What about that?"

"You will receive no help from me. Fighting him is not necessary anymore. Let's go."

With a sharp glare, the blue man turned to follow his partner out of the clearing.

Then, in his relief, Zabuza made a mistake.

He took his focus off of Kisame.

Naruto was still watching the pair leave when he saw it.

Kisame's arm twitched.

Naruto tried to shout out a warning, but it was too late.

Samehada came flying towards Zabuza and struck him in the chest.

The sword wasn't sharp, but it was huge, blunt and thrown with incredible.

Zabuza didn't stand a chance.

"Sensei!" came the anguished cry of the student.

Itachi started cursing to himself. His partner was an idiot. A demon in a blood rage was not something he wanted to face. He needed to appease the boy.

"Naruto-kun, I didn't have anything to do with this. I ask that when you have killed my partner, that you not attempt to kill me, but you may take something as punishment. Do I have your word?"

Already starting to go into a blood rage, Naruto agreed.

"You have it. Get out of the way. Shikon!"

**Hai, Naruto-taichou.**

"He's mine, do you understand? You may wound, but the kill is mine!"

**Understood.**

Kisame, not knowing what he was up against, laughed outright.

"You actually think you can beat me? Bring it on, kid."

And so the lamb came to the slaughter.

Naruto crouched low and extended his now clawed hands. He felt the blood rage and animal side begin to take effect. He didn't fight it. He embraced it. He welcomed it like an old friend. He destroyed the barrier between it and himself completely. With a beastlike snarl, he lunged towards the swordsman. As the enemy brought down his sword, Naruto did a handspring to flip over it and raked his claws along Kisame's chest. The skin was like iron! Even with his wind chakra, he only made what appeared to be a deep cut on the man.

Kisame smirked.

"What? Did you think I would be that easy to kill? Give me some credit."

Crap! This wasn't good. What to do? What to do? My wind chakra didn't do anything…that's it! My wind chakra won't work! But what about Demonic?

"Shikon, it's time to use the special ability of my infused chakra!"

**Hai!**

Then the pair came upon the sharkman like a hurricane. They were swiping, and slashinf while trying to dodge the giant sword that came at them. They scratched his skin and put out as much demonic chakra as possible. Soon there was enough demonic chakra in the fish to make his insides burn, but there seemed to be no effect!

"That was pathetic! I just had my sword absorb that weird chakra. At least give me a challenge."

Naruto clenched his teeth in anger. That sword was ruining everything. Somehow it could handle demonic chakra. It shouldn't have been able to do that! Only demonic weapons really could. There had to be something?

_Wait, that could work. It's suicidal, but it could work. Time to give it a whirl._

He took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he was about to do.

Damn, it was going to hurt.

Kisame saw him stop moving and assumed he was giving up. He quickly brought down his sword in a large down swing towards the blonde's head.

Only to have it caught in the boys clawed gauntlets.

"If you want to absorb chakra, fine, let's see how well your word can do it."

With that, he pushed every ounce of demonic chakra he could muster into the sword. Maybe it could handle a little absorbed through its user, but a flood was too much!

The sword flashed red and then….it exploded!

The shards form the unusual blade went flying and went in every direction.

**NARUTO! **cried out Shikon.

Then the dust settled. Kisame's body was riddled with pieces of his sword. They protruded from nearly every portion of his body. His strength failed him and he slumped to the ground.

Then he looked at Naruto.

If Kisame had been bad, he was worse. There was almost not skin visible on his body. It was covered in shards and blood poured from him. The pain was intense. But he would not go down!

He took slow, unsteady steps towards his foe, yanking out pieces of Samehada with every step.

"You killed my master. You killed my father. You killed my friend. You killed him with a trick. You didn't dare to face him in a fair fight. Now I will kill you."

Naruto now stood directly in front of the monster. Slowly, he reached up to his chest and pulled out a large fragment of the sword and jammed it through Kisame's arm, pinning him to the ground.

The murderer screamed out in pain as more and more shards were driven through his limbs, pinning completely to the ground. Finally the blonde stopped impaling him.

"S what are you…going to…do? Leave…me?"

A wicked smile crossed Naruto's face.

"No, that would be far too kind."

Without explaining himself, he tilted his back and let out a primal screech.

He activated the first level of his kekkai genkai.

Yajuu no Kankei

He cried out in the language of beasts.

_Come, my brothers! Come and taste flesh! This one had killed pack! He must be dealt with! Destroy him utterly! He does not deserve anything less!_

Silence reigned for a moment.

But only for a moment.

The cry was soon answered by a chorus of predators.

The bears' roars echoed through the forest.

The cries of Hawks shrieked through the air.

The lesser creature joined in and the sound was so horrendous that even Itachi was scared.

They all came upon Kisame.

They attacked his pinned form and stripped the flesh from his bones. The birds pecked out his eyes and he screamed until a raccoon ripped out his tongue.

It was over in minutes and the animals left with something that looked like a bow towards the one who had summoned them.

As Naruto approached the corpse, if it could be called such, he saw that the bones were completely bare. Nothing was left. As he inspected the body, he noticed that on one of the fingers of the skeleton there was red ring that had somehow not been displaced.

"Itachi! Get over here!"

The Uchiha obeyed.

"Remember our bargain, Naruto-kun."

"I remember, but before I give you your punishment, what is that ring and how did it stay on?"

_The kid has a sharp eye._

"That is his Akatsuki ring. We each have one and they are irreplaceable. The ckara infused with it kept it from being removed by those beasts you control."

Naruto nodded and walked over to the corpse. He pulled off the finger that had the ring and sealed the bones together with a burst of demonic chakra. Silently, he withdrew a strand of leather from one of his pockets, drilled through the finger with his claw and slid it onto the leather. The ring was still in place.

"This is your punishment. Remove the finger with your ring on it. I will collect all of them. I will not stop until all of the fingers and rings are around my neck. You will be the only one to survive the event because you told Kisame not to kill my sensei."

Worry actually became apparent on the traitor's face.

"Don't even think of backing out now. Do you think you could beat me? Maybe, but look, my wounds have already healed. I could take more than a finger before I went down."

The man was right. Steeling himself, Itachi withdrew a kunai and severed his finger without even flinching. He handed it to Naruto, bearing the pain stoically.

Naruto took the finger and burned the flesh off of it and sealing the bones with some chakra. It joined Kisame's finger on the strand which he donned like a necklace.

"A wise choice. I respect you Itachi. You have strength and you are intelligent. Never give me a reason to regret not fighting you. Now leave."

He turned to obey, but he turned back with one last thought.

"You are savage in battle and use powers from a ruler of hell. You fight with beasts at your side and you don't feel pain. You will have name now. I give you the name Makai no Yajuu, for you are truly a Beast of Hell. My time with Akatsuki is over. I suggest, if you want the others, to head to Sunagakure. There is another jinchuuriki there who will soon be targeted. Good luck."

And then Naruto was alone with Shikon. He demon had no words of comfort to offer. He was a demon and death was not something he had to worry about for his kind. But he knew his partner was hurting.

**Naruto, check Zabuza's pack. He left something in there for you.**

Looking like a zombie with no life of his own, Naruto went to his master's pack and rummaged through it until he found a sealed letter.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you're reading this, I've died. I have nothing to give you but my money and my sword. I know that you don't use a zanbatou, but keep it in a seal scroll. Find someone worthy of it. I'm not good at anything emotional so I'll just say it. You are the closest thing to a son I ever had. I am proud to have been your master and to have known you. I have only one last request. If you agree, I would like you to take my name and become Momochi Naruto. Carry my name well, _

_Goodbye, son._

Then, for what he swore would be the last time, Momochi Naruto wept. Swearing to put down the rest of the accursed organization responsible for his master's death, he sealed kubikiri Houcho into a scroll and gave his master, no his father, a warriors funeral with an uncontrolled burst of fire.

In stony silence, Makai no Yajuu walked off with his partner.

It was time to go to Sunagakure.

**So what did you think? One more thing, who do you guys think should get the Zanbatou? I won't add an OC and it can't be anyone from team 7. I'm thinking Gaara right now, but what do you guys think? Please don't just review with ideas. I want real feedback too.  
**


	6. Sunagakure

**Have no fear! This story is not abandoned. Welcome to the long awaited Chapter 6 of Makai no Yajuu. Real life distracted/got in the way of me updating. A few quick points. I chose Gaara for the sword. If you don't like it, tough. Hana enters in the next chapter as well, if anyone was wondering when the love interest entered. And lastly, I need a beta. I just reread my story and I'm not happy with my grammar mistakes, but for some reason I fail at fixing my own work. The beta would also be responsible for translating names for things into Japanese, something else I'm not good at. Anyone interested should send me a pm. One more thing, if any of you guys are artists, I think it would be cool for someone to draw Naruto and Shikon.**

Sunagakure

_Journal Entry 1_

_It's been two weeks since Momochi Zabuza, my father, was killed by Hoshigaki Kisame. Two weeks since I swore to avenge my sensei's death by annihilating the criminal organization Akatsuki. Following the advice of Uchiha Itachi, Shikon and I decided to travel to Sunagakure to search out a jinchuuriki that lives there. At first, I'll admit that the main reason I held for finding him was to find Akatsuki, but as time has passed and my rage subsiding somewhat, I look forward to meeting another of my kind. Will I find a friend or an enemy? I cannot use my own experience to answer that question because my circumstances were far from normal. Whatever the result, this person is one of my kind and I _will _do my best to protect him. Isn't it strange that all of my companions for the last several years have been demons? Zabuza was the Demon of the Bloody Mist and Shikon is a true demon. Now I search out another. Shikon, what would I do without him? Without my partner, I am sure I would have succumbed to the rage inside me. He says it would have destroyed me because of my demonic chakra. Does this make me a hanyou? Am I a half-demon? Whatever the case, I will fight to protect those precious to me. Would Zabuza-sensei be proud of me?_

Naruto looked up from his journal into the night sky. The man and his fox were in the middle of the desert on their way to Suna. Unless they hit a sandstorm, the pair would arrive tomorrow evening.

Out in the wilderness, away from any semblance of civilization, the stars shown with a brilliance that was awe inspiring. There, surrounded by darkness and the vastness of the void, those celestial bodies dared to continue to shine and refused to give into darkness.

"That's gonna be me, Shikon."

**Hm? **asked a somewhat drowsy fox.

"Up there, the stars. They shine and never stop, even in the day when no one can see them. I'll never give in."

And with that, Naruto fell asleep, leaving a very confused Shikon looking up at the stars.

—Two Days Later—

"Name and reason for visit?" asked the shinobi stationed at the gate, eyeing the stranger in front of him.

"Momochi Naruto, seeking the jinchuuriki of Sunagakure."

Instantly, two Suna ANBU dropped down behind Naruto.

"Momochi Naruto, you are to come with us immediately."

Both of them missed the infinitesimal smirk on the former jinchuuriki's face.

Everything was going according to plan.

—With the Kazekage—

The most powerful man in the village of Sunagakure slumped into his chair. He absolutely despised his job, but when that lying snake, Orochimaru, had murdered the previous kazekage, Baki was left with no choice but to take over.

After the failed invasion of Konoha, the sand shinobi had all returned home to lick their wounds, but then it started.

When it became clear that there was no successor for the kazekage, civil war broke out in the village hidden in the sand. Dozens of factions fought over the right to rule the shinobi village in a bloody conflict that resembled gang violence more than war.

Seeing that order was needed, Baki, an old veteran who had the respect of most of the populace reluctantly decided that he needed to step in.

The man had two main advantages.

One, he was very powerful and experienced with a ruthlessness that would serve him well in the harsh village.

Two, and perhaps more importantly, Sabaku no Gaara would only take orders from him.

The unstable jinchuuriki was a killing machine with one flaw.

He usually killed anyone near him. The only exceptions seemed to be his brother and sister and his sensei.

Baki.

Slowly but surely, he gained support and took over control of most of the factions and was able to force peace upon the village. His name was praised in the streets as the savior of the village and everything returned to normal. But they wouldn't let him resign.

He was jerked abruptly from his reminiscing by two sharp knocks on his office door.

"Kazekage-sama, we have apprehended a ninja looking for Gaara."

A cold feeling spread in the kage's gut. So the other villages were after a weapon.

"What village is he from?"

"None, sir."

Baki's brow creased in confusion.

"So he's a nukenin?"

"No, Kazekage-sama. He isn't on any of the other villages' missing list."

"Hm, bring him in."

The door opened quickly and two of his ANBU walked in holding the "prisoner."

The man in front of him was…impressive. Standing six feet tall he exuded an aura that demanded respect. His long main of yellow hair combined with his face marks and lack of shirt gave him a kind of feral look, but his eyes were something else.

They weren't circular, but looked like black and maroon stripes. However, that wasn't what interested him. They seemed to smolder with passion, but carried the gravity of tragic loss combined with a gleam of intelligence that brought everything together.

Whoever this stranger was, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Baki decided to end the farce.

"ANBU, stand down. If he wanted to kill me, you two would have your thoughts cut before you realized he was trying something. I'm a big boy. I'll take care of myself."

After a moment's hesitation the pair nodded and shunshined away.

Surprisingly, as soon as the ANBU were gone, the blonde nin gave a bow.

"Kazekage-sama, my name is Momochi Naruto. It is an honor to meet you."

Surprise crossed the older man's face.

"Momochi? The only Momochi I know of is Zabuza, but he never had children and the reports say he was killed recently."

Naruto's entire body tensed and a look of anger and pain swept across his features.

"Do you see this necklace, Kazekage-sama?"

A nod

"These fingers belong to Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi. Only Itachi is alive."

Shocked disbelief was evident on Baki's face. This guy, strong though he looked, claimed to have killed Kisame and Itachi?

Naruto saw the look and continued.

"Only Kisame is dead, but I'll get to that. Both of them belonged to a criminal organization known as Akatsuki. Their purpose is to hunt down the jinchuuriki and harvest the bijuu. They were after me because my companion is a demon fox and they thought he might be useful. I convinced them he wasn't and Itachi ordered Kisame to leave with him. In a shameful attack, Kisame murdered my sensei and I killed him. Because Itachi ordered Kisame not to I spared him. Now I am hunting Akatsuki. I took Kisame's finger along with his ring every member has and Itachi's finger was my price for his life. I came here to find a jinchuuriki and kill the Akatsuki when they inevitably come for him."

This entire speech was delivered in a tone that made it almost impossible to doubt its authenticity. But Baki still had a question.

After a long pause and exhaling slowly, the kage spoke.

"I believe you. I shouldn't. I should throw you out, or better yet in jail to keep knowledge of Gaara form getting public, but I believe you. You have the look. You're a true shinobi and lying is beneath you. If you wanted to get anything without approval you would just do it, not waste time with an old fart like me. But the part about a demon companion is kinda hard to swallow."

Nodding and appreciating the respect he had receive from a kage, he focused to some chakra to a tattoo of the kanji for fox located on his left pec.

Instantly, it lit up and a huge black fox appeared in the office.

To his credit, the kage didn't move a muscle, but his eyes did widen.

"That thing rides around in that little tattoo on your chest?"

Shikon looked at the man in front of him and gave him a haughty snort.

'**That thing' is named Shikon and I am the son of the Kyuubi no Yoko, king of Makai.**

"And the next time we are in Makai that might gain you something, but we are in Sunagakure and you just insulted the kazekage."

The big fox was instantly contrite.

**My apologies. I did not mean to embarrass you, Naruto-taichou. Kazekage…sama, I ask your forgiveness.**

Baki didn't know whether to smirk at the difficulty the beast had sating sama, or to question the whole crazy thing.

"Apology accepted, Shikon, and I'm not even gonna ask about the Kyuubi. It has nothing to do with Suna, right?"

Nods

"Then I don't wanna know. But why do you keep him sealed in a kanji?"

"That's simple," Naruto said with a small smile. "How many foxes his size do you see walking around? Normally he's out with me. Trust me; the kanji is a big improvement. It _was_ a huge tattoo of a fox. It didn't really suit me."

"I'll buy that, but you say you came for Gaara? Well, good luck with him. I'll have Temari take you to him. You'll see what I mean. ANBU, get Temari here on the double."

In only a few minutes there was a knock on the door followed by the entry of blonde kuniochi who couldn't help but eye the shirtless piece of manmeat in front of her.

"Helloooo, muscles."

Naruto just groaned while Shikon was fighting back a laugh.

**Naruto, I keep telling you that we could avoid this if you just wore a shirt.**

"I know, but I like it this way."

He paused and looked at the female nin.

"Temari, right? No offense, but I'm not interested."

Before she could move to throttle the other blonde, her old sensei stopped her in her tracks.

"Temari, you will not try to hurt him in any way. I'd rather you not be killed because you do something stupid. You are to take him to Gaara and answer any questions he may have. Dismissed."

"B-but," she started in shock, "That's not-"

"I gave you an order, Temari," he said with iron in his voice. "You will obey it."

Then his face relaxed and he added in a softer tone, "I know you care for your brother, but this stranger could help him and he's strong enough to hold his own if anything happens."

Now Naruto finally chimed in.

"Wait a minute. Help? What's his problem? I'm just a fighter, so unless he has someone he wants me to deal with I don't know how I can help."

"Trust me, Naruto-san. You might be the only one who can help him. It's a problem of a…demonic nature. There's nothing _we_ can do about it. Temari can brief you on the way. Now get out of here. I have work to do."

Baki watched as the pair walked out of his office and waited a few moments before tentatively reaching into a drawer of his desk and extracting that universal kage vice.

ICHA ICHA PARADISE: You've Never Seen Sand in These Places Before!

—With Naruto and Temari—

The blondes left the kage office in a stony silence that Temari refused to break. Normally, Naruto wouldn't care, but he needed to know what was going on. So, taking a deep breath he tried to break the ice.

"Hey, Temari-san, I'm sorry if I pissed you off by shutting you down, but really it's not like I don't think you're attractive."

"Then what is it?" she said with a derisive tone. "Come on, don't waste my time patronizing me."

"No, seriously," he said. "I find you incredibly attractive. You don't see many blondes in the Elemental Nations. But I've bonded with a demon fox. We have a connection with our mates that is spontaneous. I mean, we don't know by just looking at them, but we can tell who isn't if we try. Most of the time I don't even check, but you're not it."

He said the whole thing a low tone that sounded to Temari…well, truly mournful, as if he really hoped she could have been.

_I guess he's not that bad_, she thought.

"So this is the ultimate in the 'it's not you, it's me' thing, huh?"

Naruto let out a low, dry chuckle.

"I guess you could say that. Though I really wish it could have been you. Odds are I won't ever find her. Besides, who would want me? I'm bonded with a demon for crying out loud. Combine that with the fact that I can't join a village and you've got a big problem."

In that moment, Temari's heart really went out to the guy. He was almost totally alone. Damn that stupid mate thing cause he was just what the doctor ordered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a demonic cough.

**Not to interrupt, but I don't think it's wise for me to stay out any longer. The people are starting to stare.**

Sure enough, everyone in the street was staring wide eyed at the feral looking man with a huge black fox by his side.

After channeling some chakra and a poof, Shikon was back in the seal.

The blondes walked in companionable silence before Naruto remembered why he's bothered to break said silence.

"Hey Temari, what's the deal with Gaara? And where are we going."

Temari grimaced as she walked and began to explain.

"Gaara is my little brother and the container of the Ichibi. He's incredibly powerful and skilled, being able to control the sand with his will. But…something went wrong with the sealing. He's not in control of his actions at times, he doesn't sleep and he's dangerously unbalanced. In one of his few moments of lucidity he asked Baki-sensei to imprison him a chakra draining cage to keep him from hurting anyone. I-I thought that the fact he managed to ask that meant his will was finally winning against the demon, but it seems as though it took the last of his willpower. He's worse than before. I don't know what Baki thought you could do though."

Even though she ended it offhandedly, when she turned she saw the blonde deep in thought.

"Baki thought that because I'm bound to a demon and the fact that he can be put into a seal, I can help with Gaara's seal. Well, I might be able to do something. I know a lot about seals, but I'm afraid my chakra's too unstable to make most of them. I'll see what I can do."

He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice that Temari had stopped walking. He was surprised when he heard her voice from behind.

"Do you mean it?"

"Hm mean what?"

"That you can help my little brother. Please be telling the truth. I don't think I could take it if I got my hopes again only to…"

"Temari-san," he said quietly. "My word is my bond and I tell you right now that I will do anything I can to help your little brother. He's one of my kind and I protect my kind. I protect pack."

"Y-your kind? What do you mean?"

"Because," he began with a grim smile, "You're looking at the former jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Then he received the universally understand "explain what the hell you just said" look.

Needless to say, it worked and they spent the rest of the long walk through the village talking about Naruto's past. When he finished his tale Temari looked at him with a mixture of respect and sorrow.

"Naruto, if there's anything I can do to help, please tell me."

"Of course, but let's get to your brother."

It wasn't long before the pair entered the police headquarters and worked their way down to what looked like a high security vault in the basement. The guard barred their way at first, but after hearing that they under the kazekage's orders, let them through with little to no fuss.

Inside the vault, they saw Gaara.

The boy was young. He looked to be about Naruto's true age with red hair and deep black circles around his eyes, contrasting sharply with his blood red hair. The kanji for love on his forehead was also striking.

He seemed to be awake, but there was a kind of crazed look in his eyes.

"He can't speak or move," Temari said. "The seals prohibit it. He asked for it this way. I think he was trying to protect me from seeing what was happening to him."

Nodding slowly, Naruto walked up to the boy strapped to the wall. He ripped open his shirt and began looking at the seal on Gaara's stomach. After a moment he spoke with a tone of absolute disgust.

"Who was the bastard who did 'seal' and I use the term likely? He completely messed up the balance between the life energies and…what the hell is this? There's a whole other soul in there. That is sheer stupidity. Yeah, it makes him stronger, but he can't control it."

"So," Temari asked with trepidation, "do you think you can fix it."

"This mess? No. Not in a million years."

Temari started to break down. Her baby brother was doomed.

"Hey, stop that. I didn't say it was hopeless. This seal is shot to hell so I'm going to blast the whole thing away."

"You can't do that! Won't it release the Shukaku?"

"It could, but it won't," he said as he pulled out some ink and a calligraphy brush. "What most people don't know about these seals is that they cause an overlap between Makai and the human mind. The overlap is the place where the demon is kept. That's why it requires the Shinigami himself to make it. By using my demonic chakra combined with Gaara's willpower, I should be able blast the soul of Shukaku and whatever that other one is straight to Makai."

"But Gaara is paralyzed. How can we get him to help us? Besides, the demon is probably in control. We can't do anything."

"Wrong," said Naruto as he marked the spots for his fingers on the seal. "Everything you've told me about this guy screams that he loves you. There is no stronger motivator than that. Trust me, everyone needs to fight for something and it seems like he thinks you're worth it. Turn off the paralysis seal. The bonds will hold him."

With a quick prater to Kami-sama and muttering "I hope you're right" she deactivated the seal.

Instantly, the boy started thrashing around, trying desperately to get free.

"Gaara, Gaara, listen to me. I can help you. I can help you be free from all this, but I need your help."

A cruel grin came across the redhead's face and a clearly demonic voice rang forth.

**You fool, Gaara is gone. That pathetic mind gave way a year ago. This body is mine. Why should it matter you anyway?**

He stopped suddenly, apparently sniffing the air.

**Well this is interesting. You're the one that held Kyuubi and you have his whelp with you. Come on out Shikon and say hello to uncle Shukaku.**

"He's not coming out, you damn Tanuki. I can deal with this myself. I just have to get through to Gaara and I know he's in there."

**You idiot. I just told you he was gone and yet you persist. Go ahead. It is useless.**

Completely ignoring the demon he began calling out loudly to the boy he knew was in there.

"Gaara, this isn't you! Look, at Temari! She's terrified of you! Is that what you want? She loves you and I know you love her!"

—Gaara's Mindscape—

Deep in the back of Gaara's mind was tiny sliver that was still his own. There he was. A small boy completely surrounded by oppressive white in all directions. The Ichibi had taken everything else from him. He couldn't even see what was going on or get anything from his senses. Most of the time, he just slept.

But something woke him up.

The demon was upset about something and the room world was shaking.

Looking around, the boy tried to figure out what was going on.

Then he saw it, or rather heard it.

The demon's blockade was weakened a little because he was so upset.

He could hear something.

"Look….Temari….sister………………..love"

Temari? That name meant something. Something from long, long ago.

He thought hard, focusing all he had to just try to remember what that name meant.

Thoughts flashed by and after what seemed like hours he got it.

"She's my sister. Why is she here?"

Then it all came flooding back.

When everyone abandoned him, Temari was there to still love him. It didn't matter that he hurt people. She still loved him.

Love

He pushed harder. Slamming into an invisible barrier, trying desperately to take back control of his own body, his own soul.

—Real World—

"Gaara!"

**What did I tell ya he's not in the-**

"Temari" came a human voice from the boy's throat.

"I'm here Gaara!" she shouted with tears of joy streaming down her face. Listen to the nice man. He can help you."

"Ok, what can I-"

**This is my body! And you meddlers will pay! I swear when I get free, I'll kill the both of you! The girl first!**

He had just sealed his fate.

The threat against Gaara's sister rallied everything he boy had. He would do anything to protect his sister. He had to!

"GET…OUT…OF….My…HEAD!" he roared.

Naruto leapt on the chance.

"Ok, Gaara, I can help you, but I'm gonna need you do something for me. Push Shukaku to the back of your mind. Visualize the very back of your thoughts, behind everything. I need you to push him there. Can you do that?"

Obviously in pain, Gaara gritted out "For…………..Te…..mari!"

"Atta boy, Gaara, here I go!"

Naruto summoned out one of his gauntlets and lined up his fingers on the point sof the seal he had drawn.

"Let's see how the one tails deals with the might of the nine combined with my own!"

With a primal scream he began pumping massive amounts of demonic chakra into just the right points of the seal. The maroon chakra entered precisely where he wanted it to and it swirled through the pathways, avoiding any natural chakra until it got to the source.

The mind

Obeying the will of its master, the chakra, almost sentient searched out the greatest source of energy in the mind. It quickly found a titanic struggle between will and a demonic presence and slammed into it as hard as possible.

Suddenly a huge whole appeared in the mindscape and the demon was forced into it along with its chakra, but it wasn't draining fast enough.

In the real world, golden chakra began to swirl around Gaaras body as it was forced out by Naruto's it. It grew to a large size, nearly filling the room when suddenly, it shot straight up in an enormous golden column of chakra, cutting through the entire building and lighting up the sky of Suna.

Then, as quickly as the anomaly had formed, it vanished.

Temari ran over to the pair screaming,

"Naruto! You did it! You really did it!"

Just as she got to the blonde, he managed to raise his head and he said,

"I said I'd do my best and my best is pretty damn good."

With that, the man slumped to the ground and passed out form exhaustion.

**So, what do you think?**


	7. Another

**That's right, I'm not dead and the story is being continued. I just haven't been able to bring myself to write this chapter for a while because what I have planned for it at the end ended up being kind of personal/painful. In fact, you'll probably understand why I have said I've been an emotional wreck. I know I promised that I would introduce Hana in this chapter, but that's unlikely. It will probably be next chapter which I swear will be sooner. Probably in the coming week. I'm looking for a beta still. Hopefully one who can do Japanese translations for me. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

Another

"Wh-where am I?" asked a groggy and sore Naruto.

He was in an unfamiliar room all in white. He had to assume it was some kind of hospital. He hadn't been in one before.

**You're in the VIP section of Sunagakure's finest hospital. Though I don't know why. You should be dead after that incredibly stupid stunt you pulled yesterday.**

Naruto was completely taken aback. He was used to Shikon scolding him for being brash, but there was a different tone this time. It sounded like…..fear?

"What's wrong, Shikon? I've been in tighter spots before this and-"

**No you have not! **he snapped. **You took on the might of a full blown Bijuu WITHOUT MY HELP!**

There it was again. That fear hidden within the anger. There was something else to this.

"Shikon, we've been through too much for this. Tell what the hell you're talking about. And don't feed me some worry bullshit there's more to it than that."

Shikon gave a low growl and slumped to the floor, leaving the pair in silence. Neither would say anything. This was a contest of will. Unsurprisingly, Naruto won.

**You're not my first master.**

The former jinshuuriki's eyes snapped open in surprise, but he didn't respond. He knew that saying something would only make it harder for his friend.

**I know my father told you some of the history and purpose of the Beast Warriors. The Bijuu honored them with demonic partners and such. This is true, but that was only the beginning, the time when my father was partnered. His original partner was a great warrior who fought honorably and lived a long life. According to his experiences, Kyuubi accurately described the history of your kind. I was partnered at least a thousand years later. The world had changed drastically. No longer were the Bijuu the guardians of this world. They sought to possess it. However, if they fought openly, the world would be destroyed by their power. The Beast Warriors were used to fight in their stead. Most of the great ones had forgotten what it was like to be partnered with a human. They forgot the honor of these warriors and how proud they were to be by their sides. My father was one of the few who did not forget. His warriors fought valiantly to stop the war and bring peace. My partner was the greatest of them all. He was incredibly strong and he was the leader of the Kyuubi's forces. He led them into battle again and again, victory after victory. To see him fight was like was like watching an inferno in action. He was incredible, but there was a problem. In their desperation, the other Bijuu formed an alliance against the Kyuubi under the leadership of the Hachibi. We couldn't possibly win against such odds. So my master challenged the Hachibi to a duel to end the war. He knew he couldn't survive. He was mortal. But he wouldn't listen to me. Worse, he forbade me from coming with him. I could do nothing. The others held me back on his orders. In a few weekes we received word of his victory. It was incredible! A mere human had bested the second strongest Bijuu without help! We celebrated and waited for him to return…..He did not. If only he had let me help him. He would have lived. But no, he didn't want to risk my life.**

There was a long pause as the weight of Shikon's word set in. This was the most he'd spoken at one time since he had joined Naruto. Naruto was about to speak up when the black fox spoke once more.

**Never do that again, master. I can and will lend you my power to aid you in anything you desire, but you must let me know when you are about to do something like that. I don't know what I would do if you died too, master.**

There was nothing more to say. Nothing else was necessary. They made there a silent vow to each other. Naruto would rely on his partner and Shikon would help his master in any way he could.

—A Week Later—

"Naruto, you've got to get him to stop. If he keeps this up, he's going to collapse."

Temari was a little worried. Ever since Gaara had woken up, all he had done was train. It was no secret why.

_I need to be able to serve Naruto-sama, but I don't have a demon to help me anymore. I need to be able to keep up._

So he was working himself into the ground. However, Naruto didn't share the other blonde's concern.

"Don't worry, Tem. He'll be fine," he said nonchalantly.

Temari's eyes hardened. Her little brother was (in her eyes) killing himself to help this man and he didn't care?

"What the hell do you mean 'he'll be fine?' No human can keep up with this kind of training and besides, you shouldn't expect this much from him! He hasn't been able to train since-"

"I have to expect it," he said. His voice now hard and commanding. "My enemies are some of the strongest shinobi in the world. It takes everything I have to survive and that's with the help of Shikon, a demon. Your brother is hell bent on joining me. You can't stop him. This is part of the aftereffects of demon chakra. His word is his bond and nothing can change that. He's coming, and if he doesn't get strong enough, he'll die. In fact, I probably will too. He would get in the way and that would be worse than no back up at all. So he has to train himself beyond the point of human endurance. He's probably closer to a Hanyou now anyway…"

He trailed off, obviously lost in thought and Temari stormed away. He was right and worse, she knew he was right. Time to cut her losses.

Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking about what he had said about Gaara being a Hanyou. The massive amounts of demonic chakra had to have an effect; not as much as what happened to him, but an effect. That had….interesting implications.

_Shikon, is there a way we could get a demonic weapon for Gaara? It would really give him a leg up._

_**Hmm. Not that I know of. The one-tail could have but that's not a possibility….Wait, I have an idea. I want you to focus on your gauntlets and let me have your eyes for a second.**_

Naruto gave silent consent and turned over control of his eyes to the demon in his chest.

_**Aha! I was right. These gauntlets have a unique property. They were made long ago, when the Bijuu were still around on the planet. Humans who lived near them realized that the demonic chakra was influencing there's. Not really a problem until you try to channel that chakra into a normal weapon. The metal will melt. With this in mind, my father made these with the ability of regeneration. If you snap off a finger from the glove it will grow back. Quick note here, if you actually have a finger in there, it will not grow back. Anyway, if you have someone put that piece of the gauntlet over there finger, it will bond to them. The next weapon it touches will be changed into something demonic while retaining its basic shape.**_

_So I break off a finger, give it to Gaara and whatever weapon he wants will be demonic?_

_**Essentially, but bear in mind that only he will be able to touch that weapon. It will not respond well to others trying to wield it.**_

With a grunt and a nod, the man leapt from the building he was on, down into the training areas, landing without a sound. He followed Gaara sent and the feel of his chakra until he found him.

What he saw…impressed him.

The red-haired guy was lifting boulders with his bare hands and his muscles already looked a good deal larger than Naruto's own.

_Shikon, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure he shouldn't have been able to build this much muscle mass in a week._

_**Incredible, he has an instinctive knowledge of how to use chakra on his muscles. He's practically just running chakra through his muscles and forcing his body to make new blood vessels and expand the muscles.**_

_Isn't that painful?_

_**Extremely.**_

_So he managed to keep his sanity and has an incredibly high thresh-hold for pain? I like this guy. Heh, sensei would too._

_Sensei….._

His face became grim as he strode towards Gaara.

_Alright, Sensei, let's see if Kubikiri Houcho will have a new master._

"Gaara"

His head snapped up and he dropped the boulder. He didn't say anything.

"Gaara, I am leaving Sunagakure. You may not come with me."

_Kami, forgive me for this. But he has to be sure._

"D o you understand? I order you to stay."

The moment of truth.

For a moment there was nothing. Gaara bowed his head and it seemed like that would be the end of it.

_Well, that was easy I gues-_

"No"

Naruto spun around to look at him.

"What was that?"

"I said no, Naruto-sama. I go with you."

The two men stared each other dead in the eyes. Neither moved for an eternity. A contest of wills had begun.

Suddenly, Naruto's gauntlet clad hand snapped forwards and sliced down Gaara's arm, leaving four deep, harsh, bleeding trails from his shoulder to his hand.

"I said you will stay here."

"No, I go with you."

The gauntlet came down again, this time on his other arm and again Gaara bled. He only grunted slightly.

"You will stay!"

"No, I will not!" A small amount of anger had slipped into his voice.

The gauntlet came again, slashing cruelly diagonally across Gaara's chest. This time he gasped in pain but maintained his composure.

"You will stay or I will keep doing this until I kill you!"

"My place is with you. My life is yours."

The gauntled quickly rose and fell, the bleeding gashes making an x on Gaara's chest.

"You fool! Your life is your own! No one can take that from you. The day you give it to them, you cease to exist and become nothing more than a tool!" _Like Haku. _"You will stay."

Gaara said nothing and Naruto turned away. He took too steps before he heard footfalls following him.

He turned around and lashed out with what would have been a fatal blow.

"I told you, I will kill-"

Gaara grabbed the hand and flung his attacker over his shoulder. Naruto landed on his feet and looked at his adversary. Gaara was bleeding heavily from his arms and chest. He looked like he would fall over from blood loss any second, the demonic nature of the gauntlets stopping his latent jinchuuriki abilities from healing him. But there was something different now.

There was a flame in those pale eyes.

There was a resolve.

A purpose

A will to live

Naruto's lips formed a feral grin as he stooped into a combat position.

"Prove to me that you have what it takes to go with me. Not as a slave, but as an equal."

No more words were necessary.

It is said that between to warriors, words are unimportant. Every twitch of the opponents body tells a story and his eyes show you his soul. This has nothing to do with that.

Naruto and Gaara were not warriors. They were survivors, beasts, killers…

ALPHA

They had no need for words because instinct told them long ago that words were at best a distraction. Instinct told them to kill or be killed. Make the other submit.

Naruto launched himself forward, hoping to take his now much larger friend by surprise. He reached out his left arm to slice through Gaara's throat. Victory seemed too easy. The red haired man was already on his last legs. There was no way.

His wrist was caught in a vice. Naruto hadn't even seen the hand move, but he was stopped inches from his opponent's face.

With a grin he used the position to swing his legs into a brutal kick to the sternum.

Gaara staggered back, obviously fighting to stand up. There was no way he could win. The fight that is, but he would be damned if he didn't at least earn the blonde's respect. He took a deep breath and summoned his chakra to form a sand shield around himself sticking to his skin like glue, but lacking the appearance of flesh it had before Shukaku was exercised.

With an explosion of strength, he tried to land a punch on his much more agile opponent, but to no avail. Every time, he seemed to swerve out of the way, as if he knew where the blow would land. Like something was telling him when to dodge. Gaara realized he wouldn't have a chance like this so, closed off his stance to go on the defensive. And waited for Naruto to make the first move.

Taking the change of stance as a sign of weakness, the blonde charged in with another powerful strike from his gauntlet to the red head's arm.

But it stopped.

Instead of slicing cleanly through the skin, the sand was slowing it down so only the tips were sinking into the flesh of the raised arm.

He pushed harder.

Forcing chakra into his arm and hand to disable the block.

Gaara felt it and fought back. Pushing the sand together.

Forcing more and more chakra around his body

Infusing the sand with strength and fighting to make it more dense.

The attacking hand slowed further

It felt odd to Naruto. It didn't feel like sand anymore.

It was harder and began to gain a gleam.

Then it happened.

With a massive burst of chakra, Gaara forced his remaining reserves into the sand.

Or what was the sand.

It turned to shining clear glass.

The intense pressure and chakra had transformed his shield into something infinitely stronger and more useful and had he had more chakra, he might have won, but he didn't

Gaara's strength faded and his arm slipped…

Causing Naruto's chakra charged gauntlet to slam palm first into Gaara's chest, burning a red hand into the flesh.

Gaara's teeth gritted in pain and he managed to stare defiantly into Naruto's eyes. But the defiance turned into confusion as Naruto stood over his prone form.

The blonde retracted one of his gauntlets and used his unarmored hand to snap off the armor from pointer finger of his right hand.

"You may come with me. I pray you will forgive me for what I did, but I don't want a tool. Welcome to the club. Your life will be full of death, suffering and fighting until we die what will probably be an early death. Congratulations." The bitterness in his words was clear. He had really hoped Gaara would submit.

He reached into a concealed pouch in his pants and pulled out a scroll, unsealing it to reveal an enormous sword.

"This is Kubikiri Houcho. It served my master faithfully and you have proved yourself worthy of it."

Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand, slammed the piece of gauntlet down over the finger and forced the hand to grip Kubikiri Houcho's handle.

The effect was immediate.

Gaara's chakra, which had been normal looking ( if anyone could see it), formed a cocoon arounf his body and fazed into a brown color. The latent, gold demonic chakra, integrating itself into the regular chakra.

He contorted in pain as smoke rose from the bleeding wounds being cauterized, sealing the scars to his appearance forever. The red hand on his chest burned deeper into the skin as his own chakra worked to expunge Naruto's hybrid chakra.

Slowly, the chakra seeped over Kubikiri Houcho and flashed blindingly. The blade turned midnight black, matching his now permanently black finger. As the chakra evaluated the weapon, the finger forced it back into the body to turn the body into the perfect user for the sword.

Bones could be heard cracking and rapidly regrowing ands the body reformed itself into a larger form. Skin ripped as the bones and muscles grew faster than could be accommodated, but healed instantly.

The final change was an additional gold ring around Gaara's eyes and then the light faded, leaving an exhausted Gaara.

_**Well it seems he passed your test. But why didn't you let him be your subordinate? Surely your instinct told you to.**_

_Because I'd have to tell him to do everything. He is intelligent enough to make is own choices and added creativity helps…..That and Temari would kill me._

_**Haha that she would. She is a feisty one. Speaking of which, why did you lie to her about mating? She would be a good one. Strong, independent, unarguably attractive. She'd bea good mother to your kits.**_

_You damn well why. Don't meddle with this Shikon. I won't go through it again._

_**Kit, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You need a mate and kits. I am inside you. I can tell.**_

_My mission is vengeance. I can't have a family in tow._

_**Don't be ridiculous, I know you can't have kits yet, but your mate would be loyal to you and comfort you. Something I cannot.**_

_Loyalty? Don't make me laugh. She wasn't. She left. I'm not going through that again. The betrayal is too painful._

_**Then you admit, you have feelings for her?**_

_No, you forget how good my control is. She is a friend. Maybe a sister in time, but nothing more._

_**Fine then, but the day will come when find someone you can't block.**_

_Not for a long time yet, and definitely not Temari._

_**Speak of the devil, here she comes with half of Suna. You have some explaining to do.**_

_Hai._

The next few minutes were a whirlwind of Suna ANBU accompanied by Temari whisking Gaara away to a hospital and two guards escorting Naruto to the Kazekage.

___

"So Gaara is like you now?"

"No, Kazekage-sama. He is similar, but his chakra is almost completely demonic. Mine is a mixture and I can manipulate both parts separately if I wish. Gaara can't."

Baki leaned back in his chair and considered what Naruto had just told him. In just over a week, he had transformed Gaara from a danger to everyone to something useful. Something else entirely. Then there was Naruto himself. He was incredibly strong and could probably take the Kazekage in a fight. He could be a useful ally.

"What are we to call you two then?"

Naruto looked at him quizzically.

"What do you mean sir?"

"Well, you're not jinchuuriki, that much is obvious, but you're not demons either. From what you've told me, the demonic chakra has affected your DNA, so you are not quite human and somehow, you are not hanyou. What do we call you?"

Instantly, Naruto's keen deciphered the meaning behind this. If it was known that there were two powerful shinobi allied with Suna that weren't human or junchuuriki, the other nations would be fearful.

"I would advise no change of status yet."

Baki's eyes opened his eyes a little wider.

"And why is that?"

"You want my services, or at least support. Correct?"

A nod

"Then I have a price. First, when I leave Sunagakure, which I will have to eventually, Gaara comes with me and we don't go on the nukenin list."

"Done. Anything else?"

"Advertise that Gaara is a jinchuuriki."

That peaked Baki's interest.

"Why would you want that? It would just encourage assassin's."

"Exactly. My business is with the jinchuuriki hunters, Akatsuki. They will come for Gaara when they learn of him. They probably already do, but they have no reason to hurry. They need to get the jinchuurki that others know about before they are killed. You would force their hand and I get my revenge. In return for these conditions, I will serve Suangakure until Akatsuki come or two years, whichever is sooner, and I will be a sworn ally of the village."

The Kazekage looked over the man in front of him. He was impressed. The offer was more than fair. Gaara would follow Naruto with or without permission and Naruto was offering his services to protect the village. But at the same time he was getting what he wanted. A trap for his enemies. A tempting offer.

"I have one condition of my own. You cannot take the Land of Wind as your territory."

Baki could feel the questioning eyes on his face.

"I can sense the animal side of you, Naruto. You have blended it well with your human self but it is there. You seek a territory to claim, but you must swear you will not take mine."

With a grim look, Naruto spoke in a low voice, allowing his animal side to slip in.

"**I swear."**

And he walked away.

That night, before he went to sleep, Naruto pulled out his journal. It was time for a second entry.

_Journal 2_

_ Today was interesting and draining. I created another of my kind. Part of me feels proud, almost like a father, but the other feels disgusted that I am subjecting someone else to the loneliness of my existence. But at least I am not alone anymore. What Shikon said today had more effect than he knows. The desire to take a mate is almost overpowering, but I cannot. Not after last time. I gave my heart to her, but I guess it wasn't enough. I came back from a month's journey to find a message telling me that we needed to speak. Then it was over. She destroyed "us" and gave no reason. Did she ever care? Was it because she didn't want to share me with those closest to me? Did someone work to turn her thoughts against me? Perhaps she couldn't understand my bond with Shikon. He is my partner, a part of me. Few can imagine what that means. Maybe it scared her. I guess I'll never know for sure. That part of my life is over. No amount of prodding from Shikon will change my mind. I am meant to be alone._

_ The Kazekage is a wise man. He recognized my desire for a territory almost before I did. It grows strong. I am an alpha; that much is certain. But what good is an alpha with nothing to protect? Perhaps in my travels I will find a place to protect. Ha, maybe I'll find a mate too. That's just as unlikely. For now, all I have is revenge and Shikon, Temari and Gaara. That will have to be enough._


	8. Life

**Okay, here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Time to introduce Hana! Also, I apologize to all of the Neji fans out there. He is going to come off as the devil himself in this chapter. Be warned, this should be a fairly long chapter with several flashbacks. Here's the chapter.**

**UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED THE CHARACTERS LOOK THE SAME AS THEY APPEAR IN SHIPPUDEN**

—One Year Later—

"I'm sorry, Momochi-san, but I can't let you see the Kazekage without an appointment."

"Don't give me that crap, I gotta see him NOW!"

Listening to the muffeled argument through his office door, the Kazekage didn't whether to chuckle or groan at his strongest ninja's actions. When he wanted to do something, he did it. While it could be a pain in the butt, it also made him an invaluable asset.

Leaning back in his chair, Baki closed his eyes and called out, "Let him in before he busts down the door again. I want to avoid the paperwork if at all possible."

The door flew open and an irate Momochi Naruto stormed into the office. Marching up to the Kazekage's desk, slammed down a folder in front of his boss.

"What the hell is this, Baki?"

Apparently, Naruto was incapable of being polite too long. Baki missed those days…

"Those are orders, Naruto. Is there a problem?"

Naruto snarled at the man.

"Damn right there's a problem. Why are you sending me out of the village again? I quit the hunter-nin gig to work on my training."

It was true. For the past year, Naruto had been the most successful hunter-nin Sunagakure had ever seen. Every single one of his targets was destroyed. Some people said he just used his nuke-nin connections from his days with Zabuza to cheat it. THeyclaimed he didn't deserve his reputation or the massive bounties he claimed

Those people were stupid and Baki knew it.

If you took one look at Naruto you could see scars tracing their way all along his body from the fights. Naruto had decided to let scars form so he wouldn't look like a tenderfoot. His skill in controlling his mixed chakra was now good enough to do that sort of thing. Even without the scars, he looked like a fighter. He had added to his armor from the Sunagakure armory and the effect was noticeable.

In addition to his bracers/gauntlets, he had added chakra conducing arm gaurds made of a silverfish metal to his biceps and a large plate of the same material, molded over his left peck and strapped over his shoulder. As soon as he put in on the first time, the fox kanji on his chest burned itself on the plate. When asked why he only put it on the left peck and not somewhere else, he said, "It's the only place that I can heal fast enough to survive if I'm hit."

Probably the most fearsome addition to his appearance, was that one of the straps for the chest plate ran from his right shoulder to his hip, and up again as a loop. It had been widened and attached to it were a row of kunai across the whole thing. They were securely fastened, but Naruto could get one and out and kill you before you could blink.

There was one more reason the idea was absurd. Of course you had to actually know Naruto to understand it.

The guy would never think of doing that. He was strong and knew that fighting others would make him stronger. He would never admit defeat or humble himself to ask for the help of others on a job.

He quit after six months with more take downs most shinobi could get in three lifetimes, shocking everyone because they knew how much he preferred not to be trapped by walls. He said he had to work on combat training and the ANBU reported that he just worked on fighting styles.

Looking lazily and Naruto, Baki said, "Why are you working on combat training? You told me yourself that your style is just reflexive movement."

Naruto's scowl hadn't lessened.

"That's not the issue. Can't we-"

He was interrupted by the Kazekage raising his palm. He wanted an answer.

Scowling harder, Naruto answered.

"Fine. You're right, I fight by reflex and instinct, but reflex is your body doing something it knows how to do without your direct control. You have to know how to move before you're reflexes can move that way. I've been practicing other styles to broaden my range. Happy, you nosy old coot?"

Chuckling at Naruto's attitude Baki finally got to the point.

"Yes, yes, it makes sense. Now about the mission, you know as well as I do why you have to leave the village. The civilian council wants you gone for good. You're too popular for their tastes. I think I can get them to calm down as long as you're not around while I do it."

Some of the anger left the blonde's face, but it was soon replaced with disgust.

"You're getting political, aren't you? Those idiots should be thanking me for cutting down the crime rates, not trying to kick me out."

"Well, you know the old saying, 'no good deed goes unpunished.'"

During his time in Suna, Naruto had managed to earn the grudging respect of most of the shinobi. The same could not be said for the civilians.

Naruto had done a brief stint in ANBU and he had done his job well.

And ruthlessly

—Flashback—

_At the time, there had been a rash of disappearances in Suna. Children were vanishing off the streets and Naruto was selected to investigate. After a few weeks, he had come across enough evidence to point towards a member of the civilian council as the one responsible. Somehow, the councilman found out and the blonde received a visit from the man himself with a proposition._

"_I have heard excellent things about your work and investigating skills, especially regarding the disappearances of these children. Please, take this gift as a supplement to your efforts."_

_The man was a sleaze and he looked it. Old, bald and oily looking, he had the guts to come in Naruto's office and offer a bribe._

"_I'm not sure I understand your meaning…sir."_

_He almost gagged on that, but he wanted to know for certain what was going on._

_The man tried to give a kindly smile, but failed._

"_It is customary for the aristocracy to give…gifts to the ANBU to help continue aour way of life as we please."_

_Gotcha_

"_Are you trying to bribe me, _sir._"_

_All pretense of kindliness vanished from the man's face and he started to turn red._

"_You know exactly what I mean. Don't act so innocent. I'm on the council. You won't touch me. I'm giving you this money so that there's no excessive embarrassment. You get money, I get my fun with the urchins and everyone's happy."_

_Something snapped inside Naruto._

_This man was talking about…with CHILDREN and expecting him to take money and turn a blind eye._

_Kits are the most sacred thing in the pack. They are protected at ALL costs. This man crossed the line._

_Before the councilman could blink, he was forced against the wall, staring an angry Naruto in the face._

"_By my authority as an officer of ANBU I find you guilty of kidnapping, rape, attempting to bribe an officer of the law and obstruction of justice. The sentence is death._

_His screams could be heard across the village._

_Naruto put the word out that anyone who tried that kind of crap of again would share his fate._

_The same would go for anyone who took bribes._

_A few didn't listen._

_That didn't last long._

_Because of Naruto's reputation, crime rates plummeted because everyone was terrified of an avenging demon destroying them._

_The council's reaction?_

_Hatred._

_They couldn't get away with anything anymore._

—End Flashback—

"You know it's not just the crime rates. Their kids look up to you, at least the ones who joined the academy. Maybe I should reassign you as a teacher of battlefield psychology. That'd be a laugh. You scared the crap outta those kids," Baki said while laughing at the memory.

Naruto finally gave a small smile, something rare for him those days.

"That was fun. You may not have as many shinobi this generation, but they'll be better than a lot of past groups."

—Flashback—

_Naruto, working on a new martial art that he hadn't quite mastered, had gone to the Suna academy to borrow some training kunai and maybe someone to throw them at him. Sure, he's heal fine from regular one, but he'd have to re-sharpen them and the punctures still hurt._

_He was walking through the hallway when he heard the start of a lecture on the psychology of a shinobi._

'_Should be interesting,' he thought as he stood outside the door._

"_Shinobi are the men and women who fight for Sunagakure. You are training to join their ranks. Your loyalty should be undivided and only focused on the village. This will avoid distraction and conflicting interests. From this, you have a moderate sense of loyalty with your comrades, as they are important to village and the mission. But the mission takes precedence over that. You cannot question orders. You cannot stop because you're comrades might die."_

_A young girl raised her hand and the teacher paused._

"_Do you have a question?"_

_She nodded and said, "Do we have to kill a lot as shinobi?"_

"_Ah, good question. The answer is no. Most of the time, you can incapacitate the enemy. One of the goals of a shinobi is to get strong enough to disable an opponent without killing them."_

"_Could someone shut this idiot up?"_

_The class gasped and stared as a somewhat pissed Naruto stalked into the room._

_Swallowing loudly, the teacher gathered up what courage he had._

"_W-who are you a-and why are you interrupting me?"_

_Naruto grinned widely._

"_I'm Momochi Naruto, also known as the Makai no Yajuu. Now get the Hell out of here. You'll get these brats killed if they listen to you. What are you waiting for? Shoo!"_

_With that, literally threw the man out the door and locked. He knew he didn't have long before the teacher gathered his wits and reported him._

_He looked at the class and noticed that they were terrified. He didn't really blame them, but tried to allay their fears._

"_Calm down, you little squirts, I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you guys out, honest."_

_They seemed to calm a little, but they were still kind of anxious._

"_I'm going to tell you a little about the real mindset about shinobi. I'm going to start with a tough one. Loyalty. That joker said the only have it for the village. That is bull."_

_He paused and enjoyed the shocked expressions._

"_It's true that once you become a shinobi, you swear allegiance to the village. It also true that words are practically meaningless. You, with the blue vest, why do you want to become a shinobi?"_

_The kid looked around uncomfortably and mumbled something under his breath._

"_What's that, I didn't catch it?"_

_The boy took a deep breath and said, "To protect the village."_

_Naruto donned an exaggerated look of surprise._

"_Really? The entire village? You care about each person so much that you're willing to die for each for one?"_

_One kid in the back started laughing and whispering to the other kids, presumably about the "stupid answer" the boy gave._

_Naruto's eyes hardened._

"_Would you die for him?" he asked while pointing at the bully._

_The boy,knowing he was stuck didn't know what to say._

"_Would you die for the pickpockets on the street? Would you die for the homeless people you ignore as you walk around the village? Would die for your competition?"_

_He paused and took a deep breath._

"_If you would, then you're a better man than I. Does anyone else have an answer? Why do you want to be a shinobi?"_

_There was silence, until the boy with the blue vest raised his hand._

"_Want to give it another shot?" Naruto asked._

"_I…I…I want to be able to protect the people I care about."_

_Naruto affected an unimpressed look._

"_You want to protect them? Why not just train at home and be a body guard? As a shinobi you'll be out of the village a lot. What about then?"_

_The boy took a deep breath. He was contradicting this scary teacher._

"_I'll stop the bad guys before they get to my home. And, I have friends who are shinobi. I'll get strong and fight with them," he said as his voice gained confidance. "Don't tell me it's stupid, but I'll train and fight until I can stop the enemy before they take away my friends and family."_

_Then Naruto got up in his face in a flash._

"_Why would you risk your life for a person? Why not stay safe at home or alone so you don't get hurt?"_

_The answer was almost a shout and it was angry._

"_Cause I don't got a real family and my friends are all I have! Without them, there's no reason to be here. Life wouldn't be worth and I'll do whatever it takes to keep them alive!"_

_Now Naruto was grinning in approval, but he wasn't done._

"_Ok, how are you gonna stop 'em? Knock em out so you don't have to kill?"_

_There was a pause as the kid thought about it. His answer wouldn't be popular and he didn't have to confidence to shout it out. The voice low but definitely audible._

"_I'd kill them so they can't try again."_

"_YES!" Naruto shouted with a full blown smile._

"_As long as your opponent is breathing, the fight is still on. They can pretend to be unconscious and get you with your back turned. They can try again later for revenge. As a shinobi, this is crucial. You have to be willing to kill anyone that's a threat to what you value. If you can't do it, go home now. We fight, we kill, we die. The only choice a shinobi has is why. There's no two ways about it. You, kid, are going to be one Hell of a shinobi. You know what you're doing and why. When you graduate, look me up. I'll happily work with you."_

_Then there was a pounding at the door._

"_Looks like my time is up, remember what I said."_

_Then he left through the window._

_That incident hadn't helped his position with the civilians. He had basically told them that they didn't have to be loyal to them. They tried to run damage control, but it was too late. Several kids dropped out and the rest quoted that lesson like scripture and trained, waiting for the day to prove themselves._

—End Flashback—

"The point is, you need to get out of here so that tempers can cool. Besides, I thought you'd be bouncing off the walls for this one."

Naruto gave a snort of disbelief, which confused Baki for a second, then his face fell.

"You didn't read the whole thing, did you?"

The blonde suddenly looked abashed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, not exactly aaaallll of it. I kinda.."

"Moron, it's in Fire Country. The betrothed of the Hyuuga heir is being taken to the Fire Temple to be prepared for the wedding and at the last minute, they asked us to send some men to join up with them on the way. There are apparently some really powerful black market bounty hunters in the area. They are reported to be wearing black cloaks with read clouds."

Naruto's eyes snapped up.

"Now you're getting it. Grab Gaara and Temari and get outta here. You might wanna hurry. They decided not to wait for the back-up. They figured they could handle themselves for most of the journey. The Hyuuga didn't want any help, but the family of the bride insisted."

Naruto snorted.

"Typical Hyuuga. They think that their eyes make them gods."

Baki's eyebrows raised a little.

"That's dead on. How do you know?'

Naruto looked around and then walked over and closed the door to the office.

"This doesn't leave the room. Are we clear?"

Baki nodded.

"I'm from Konoha originally. I was left for dead on a mission before I joined up with Zabuza.."

Baki's face was blank, calm and composed.

Then he started laughing hysterically.

"You mean that Konoha was stupid enough to leave a jinchuuriki out in the field without seeing if you were really dead?"

Naruto's cold glare returned.

"It wasn't so funny when my sensei told me to my face he'd let me die, called me a demon and blamed me for my own father's death."

The Kazekage was straight faced in an instant.

"I apologize, Naruto. I meant no offense. Now get your team and get out of here."

Naruto smirked as he left.

"No need, they're outside the door. Later, Baki."

As Naruto walked down the hallway, Gaara and Temari fell in stride with him.

"Fire Country, huh? Should be interesting. I needed a reason to stretch my legs anyway," said Temari.

Gaara, who now stood a good head taller than Naruto with a fair amount of muscle, spoke in a low voice, "Akatsuki, huh? Looks like Shoukyaku will get a fair test run."

Naruto had told Gaara about Zabuza's belief in the naming of weapons by the user and had chose Shoukyaku because he fought by Naruto's side for his redemption. After all the training and the demonic influence on his body, the redhead could wield the zanbatou like an ordinary katana. It was still unnerving to watch a piece of metal that large moving that fast.

As they walked out of the building Naruto muttered, "Get ready, Akatsuki, because fate is catching up with you."

—Somewhere in Fire Country—

"How can this be!?! The Hyuuga are superior!"

It was frightening. The Hyuuga guard were escorting the betrothed of their heir to the temple when these two…monsters appeared and started decimating their men. They didn't ambus, they just walked towards them and began fighting. The Gentle Fist style wasn't doing anything to these things. Now, out of the fifteen elite Hyuuga guard, only two were left, desperately defending their charge.

One of the assailants, who was using a large scythe called out to his partner,

"Kakuzu, why the f--- are we doing this? The pansies aren't a worthy sacrifice to Jashin-sama. They can't even make me hurt."

Kakuzu, who was fighting hand to hand, with incredible speed and accuracy called out slowly,

"We need the money. Money is important and we can ransom the princess here. I don't really care about your faith in that weird god of yours."

His head snapped to the left.

"Hidan, three incoming shinobi to your left. Fifteen seconds."

"Fine, fine, Kakuzu, I'll stop playing then."

Then he ripped his scythe through the Hyuuga guard like butter.

—Team Momochi's POV—

"Naruto-taichou, I sense two enemy combatants with substantial chakra ahead. They appear to be aware of us."

Since Shukaku had been expunged, Gaara had discovered a unique relationship with chakra. He could control it in his own body to an extant through his muscles, and he was very sensitive to the chakra signatures of others. It was a very useful ability.

"I see them, Gaara. You take the one with the scythe. I'll take the other. Temari guard the woman, her guards are down. Go!"

Kakuzu looked up to see the blonde and the huge fox charging towards him. Judging by the number of scars on his body, the way he held himself and the fluidity of movements, the boy was a close range fighter of considerable skill.

Analysis: Short fight. Confident in own abilities.

Then he saw the necklace around the boys neck.

The two Akatsuki rings.

Secondary Analysis: Powerful opponent. Defeated At least one Akatsuki member, possibly two. Do not hold back.

He raised his hands and, to the surprise of his attackers, they shot towards them, connected to the body by a mass of chakra controlled strings. Naruto ducked low to dodge the first attack then jumped into a sideways corkscrew to avoid the secondary one.

His acrobatic skills were put to the test and twisted, contorted and jumped his way to his enemy.

As they got close, Shikon grabbed the strings in his teeth to occupy them as Naruto charged forward, intent on a quick killing blow.

Kakuzu was amused.

"I assumed you were smarter than that. My body is hardened beyond anything you can break through physically."

"Shinku Kiri!"

Naruto, as he ran, was enveloped in his chakra until all that was visible was what looked like a swirling crimson drill heading straight towards Kakuzu.

It was a technique modeled after the Inuzuka's Tsuuga attack, which is just an incredible burst speed combined with lightning fast attacks.

Shinku Kiri is much stronger. It is pure manipulation of Naruto's unique chakra. Because of the amount and type of chakra, he technically couldn't perform jutsu, but after intense training he managed to force the chakra out of body to form a an actual drill combined within which, Naruto spins with his clawed gauntlests outstretched, making the drill even more deadly with the shreading power of his claws.

And it slammed into Kakuzu's chest.

Naruto's arms went through the man's body and shot out the other.

Kakuzu was dead.

Or at least, he should have been.

"_That was too easy," _he thought.

Then he felt it or rather, them.

Somehow, there were multiple heartbeats in this guys body after he had completely annihilated the man's heart.

Well, when in doubt, be thorough.

Instantly, the former jinchuuriki began pumping demonic chakra into the body, expecting the corrosive nature of the enemy to destroy him.

Then all Hell broke loose.

Two massive black…things exploded out of Kakuzu. One of them, right into Naruto, stopping him from putting anymore chakra out.

Taken completely off guard, Naruto flew back several feet before regaining his footing and taking his battle stance next to Shikon, who had since dropped the threads.

The watched in shock as the black masses, made of strings, formed vague bodies with a mask on each.

Then Kakuzu stood up.

"Very impressive. I underestimated you and you took out two of my hearts and you would have gotten more if I hadn't stopped you. It is no small feat to damage Kakuzu of Takigakure. I'll have to take yours as recompense. I've never had a demonic heart before."

Naruto's fine strategic mind went into high gear. The enemy had provided several bits of information. He had to decipher them.

Two hearts killed

Two out

Probably one in kakuzu

Demonic element wanted in relationship to heart

Element in a heart

That's it.

"Shikon, each of his hearts is connected to an element. My guess is that each of those masks lets that thing control one element and Kakuzu has the third in his body. They are held together and made of chakra so chakra attacks would probably be absorbed. We need to destroy the hearts which are probably behind the masks."

**Naruto we can't risk one of those things or Kakuzu getting the woman. We could probably use Temari's help as well.**

"Hai. I hope Gaara's doing ok with the scythe guy."

—With Gaara—

"WHY WON"T YOU F---ING BLEED!"

Gaara was fighting this lunatic with Shoukyaku and easily blocking the wild patterns of the scythe.

He wished he had full control of his sand again so he could just crush this guy, but he couldn't control it more than a foot away from him anymore without Shukaku's help. That's why he kept is as a thin, but extremely strong glass armor. It was practically invisible.

Sighing in boredom, the redhead rushed forward and stabbed the maniac in the gut while ducking the scythe.

"_There,"_ he thought. _"That wasn't that hard. Akatsuki aren't that bad."_

He pulled out his sword and waited for the body to drop.

It didn't.

After a moment Hidan's head came up and he screamed, "Glorious pain! I will sacrifice your soul to Jashin and bathe in your blood!"

Things just lot a lot more difficult.

—With Naruto—

A few moments of fighting and dodging revealed that the masks were the Earth and Wind element respectively, while Kakuzu was the Lightning element heart.

"Temari, take Kakuzu. Your wind affinity gives you the advantage. Shikon, take wind and I've got Earth."

The plan was for each to fight off their target individually so that the hearts couldn't gang up on any of them.

It didn't take long for Kakuzu's keen mind to figure it out, but the opponent he was facing were very good.

Naruto and Shikon were managing to twist and dodge around every attack thrown at them, while Temari was keeping him on the defensive with incredibly powerful wind attacks.

_I'll prove to Naruto and Gaara that I'm strong enough to hold my own if I don't have demonic chakra._

She had trained incredibly hard to try to keep up with her "siblings." Naruto was practically family. He filled the spot where Kankurou was supposed to be. He never got over his fear of Gaara.

She wielded her battle fan and sent barrage after devastating barrage against her opponent. He didn't get a chance to attack because he was too busy defending.

She knew she couldn't keep it up forever. She was draining her chakra with all these attacks so she decided to go for broke.

While Kakuzu was recoiling from one of her attacks, she Formed a wind attack and her battle fan behind it, launching both towards her opponent. She quickly henge'd a rock into her fan prayed for the best.

It worked.

Kakuzu blocked the visible attack but missed the fan which slammed into his chest, shattering his ribs and shredding his heart.

"Way to go Temari!" yelled Naruto, as he ducked an earth attack from his opponent.

Shikon turned his head to congratulate his comrade.

He didn't notice the tendril of strings heading right towards him.

Naruto did.

"SHIKON!" he screamed.

He dove towards his friend, managing to slide in just between the attack and Shikon.

Time stopped.

Different stages of a Kekkai Genkaiare unlocked when certain things happen. The Sharingan will activate in a life or death situation and the Mangekyou Sharingan when you kill your best friend.

Naruto had met the requirements for the next stage of Yajuu no Kankei. By willingly offering his life to defend his familiar, he activated stage two of the bond.

Naruto's park purple chakra exploded out of him, knocking away the masks.

Suddenly, he fell to his knees, screaming, with his face in his hands. Temari watched in shock as Both Shikon and Naruto let out howls of torture before their bodies began to convulse. Naruto's skin turned completely black, matching Shikon's fur, and his hair turned the maroon/crimson color of his eyes. His armor plates seemed to fuse into his body leaving him with shining silver patches. His eyes went black.

Both of skeleton seemed to restructures themselves. Naruto's both twisted and snapped and changed until he down on all fours, looking like a demon with his coloring and the fact that his body seemed to be just right for sprinting along the ground on all fours or standing up to use his hands. Shikon's body did the same and he looked the same except for the fact that their heads remained the same shape as before and Shikon had no silver patches.

For Naruto, time seemed to move at a crawl around him. It looked to him, as if his opponent was moving in slow motion before. He could hear the heart beats of everyone around him. He could feel Shikons intentions in his mind, allowing them to sink up their attacks perfectly.

They shot off towards the hearts, slashing and hacking their way through the threads until they reached the heart, tearing it to shreds.

Nothing could touch them. The enemy was fling chakra and physical attacks towards them, but to no avail.

Both Masks were destroyed in seconds.

Temari could barely see them move, it was so fast. All she saw was a blur of black and purple.

And then it was over.

Naruto and Shikon slumped to the ground exhausted as their bodies regained their normal shapes. There were none of the strange contortions this time. It was seamless this time, as if their bodies knew what to do.

Breathing heavily, Naruto said, "I hope… Gaara's not… having this much…trouble."

—With Gaara—

"I can't believe I'm having this much trouble," Gaara mumbled under his breath.

His opponent was skilled, yes, but Gaara was better when it came to weapons. The problem was that the guy just wouldn't die. No matter what he did, nothing would take him down. It seemed like everything would heal.

Kami, how he missed his sand. Stupid range limit. He'd have to be practically touching to…

That's it!

It was stupid.

It would leave unguarded.

If it didn't work, he was dead, but at this rate, he'd be dead from exhaustion anyway.

Once again, he lunged forward, strapping Shoukyaku in place on his back, he grbbed Hidan by the ankles and laid there, praying his plan would work.

"HAHAHA You surrender to the might of Jashin at last! HAHAHA"

The he started scream.

"PAIN! SO MUCH PAIN! GLORIOUS!"

Gaara had taken his thin layer of class and changed into a killing machine make of a million razors. He channeled it along his hands and shredded Hidan's body into dust.

"JASHIN-SAMA, SAVE ME!"

And then he stopped talking because he didn't have lungs anymore.

Hidan the Immortal was dead.

After replacing his glass armor, Gaara staggered back to his team, exhausted and greeted his equally exhausted comrades.

Gaara eyed his leader and said, "Anything interesting happen?"

"Nothing much. Just unlocked a new stage of my Kekkei Genkai and got a new finger for my necklace. You?"

True enough there were three fingers with rings on the necklace, each separated by a not.

"You know the phrase 'grind him into dust?' Pretty much what happened. Here ya go. Pretty eyes by the way."

He tossed him the finger which Naruto caught deftly and added it to the necklace. He then went to catch his reflection in a bowl of water they were using to clean out their wounds. His eyed were now completely black. It was probably a side effect of the second stage. He also noted that his necklace looked better with four fingers than two.

"Well," Naruto said as he stood up. "Let's see if the woman's ok. Temari, check the bodies for something useful then destroy them. We don't want to risk war with Konoha because we let someone get the Byakkugan."

She went off and the two men opened up the carriage.

They found an unconscious woman in there. Figuring that the shock from some attack had knocked her out, he saw that she had a cut on her cheek. He ripped a piece of cloth from the curtains in the carriage and wet it with his water canteen. Then he started to clean out the cut.

Something washed off of her face, revealing a tattoo.

A red fang tattoo.

Naruto looked sharply at Gaara.

"This is an Inuzuka. Why would they intermarry with the Hyuuga? They hate the Hyuuga."

"I think I can answer that, bro," Temari said as she walked over. "Read this."

Naruto snatched the paper from her hand began reading.

_While transporting Inuzuka Hana, keep her heavily sedated. We have managed to impare her enough that she is safe when in the village and temple, but she may try to escape on the journey. She has not yet understood the honor of being the chosen of Hyuuga Neji._

The paper disappeared in his hand after an overdose of demonic chakra.

Temari knew what he was thinking and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, we can't afford to make this an international incident. Iniuzuka Hana is the betrothed of the freaking Hyuuga heir. We can't kidnap her."

He shrugged off her hand and started humming in a low register. After a few minutes, a small squirrel came down from a tree. Naruto began to make odd noises to the squirrel who responded in turn. Naruto bowed to the squirrel and then it left.

Naruto turned back to his companions.

"There's a cave a mile north from here. I'll get Hana. Gaara, you get the luggage. Temari, walk with me."

Gaara shrugged and went to get the bags while Naruto scooped up the unconscious woman. He couldn't deny that she was a beautiful woman. She had a feral look to her that was enticing, but something seemed….off. He shrugged it off. She was practically a princess in her clan and he love wasn't for him.

The group walked in silence for a moment with Gaara slightly behind. What Naruto wanted to say was for Temari to hear. Not him.

Naruto looked over at his adoptive sister and said, "You know about Kiba right?"

"Your friend from Konoha? Yeah, what about him?"

"He's more than a friend, Temari. He was friends with me when most everyone else was trying to kill me. Part of my psyche is literally based on the loyalty I saw in him. This is his older sister."

Temari stopped walking she was so shocked, but she quickly caught up.

"I see, but what can we do about it? They'll notice she's gone and we can't kidnap her for fear of war."

Naruto gave her a small grin that usually meant he had a plan.

"Inuzuka Hana was dead when we arrived on the scene. We eliminated the bodies on the spot because of risk of attack. This person is a wanderer like myself who we ran into along the way. Right, Temari?"

Temari scowled a little. _You're playing fire, Naruto, and our whole village could be burned because of this._

They continued on in silence until they reached the cave where they set up camp.

Hana came around a few hours later and groggily sat up.

"Wh-where am I?"

"AH, our guest is finally awake. We have some food for you if you're hungry."

She looked around and saw the blonde in front of her shirtless, covered in cuts and looking positively animalistic. Something she couldn't put her finger on started in the back of her mind.

"Arigato, but where am I? The last thing I remember was being prepared to go to the Fire Temple."

Naruto scooped some stew out of a pot on the fire and gave her a bowl.

"Your guards drugged you on the way. They were killed by enemy ninja and we rescued you."

Waking up a little more and the smell of food, she noticed the others around the fire.

"Domo arigato, then for rescuing me. Who do I have to thank for my rescue?"

Naruto was suspicious. This was way too formal and polite for an Inuzuka.

"My name is Momochi Naruto, but once upon a time, you knew me as Uzumaki Naruto. I was a friend of your brother's."

Her face flashed with something akin to happiness at the mention of her brother and a brief smile played over her lips.

"I remember. You were a troublemaker then, but you're supposed to be dead…and a lot younger."

He matched her smile and said, "That's a story for another time. Let's just say my body caught up to my mind. I'm surprised you remember me actually."

"How could I forget my brother's partner in crime you were-" Her face suddenly changed. The pleasant face and tone disappeared behind a mask of resentment.

"The jinchuuriki of the nine-tails. You were beneath us back then."

That did it for Naruto. The change was too abrupt, more like a twitch, to be natural. They talked on and off for a while, noticing this strange quirk several times. The personality would change suddenly from nice, to Naruto it was magnetic, to cold and proud. In the former, after a while, she even showed her Inuzuka nature in her reactions to the account of the battle, bloodlust evident. But then she would seem to be disgusted by the fact that they had had to rescue her.

After a while, she was starting to shake visibly and thin layer of sweat covered her.

"M-may I be e-excused?"

Naruto nodded and she left quickly, but he nodded to Temari to follow her. She nodded back and left quietly.

Gaara looked quizzically at his friend who louched his fingers to his lips and motioned for him to listen.

"LET GO OF ME! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!"

Temari returned, dragging a near hysterical Hana back into the main area of the cave.

"I caught trying to swallow these. Any idea what they are?"

She tossed Naruto a bottle of pills that he quickly opened. He took a tablet, snapped it in half and licked it, quickly spitting it out.

"Bastard Hyuuga. This is a special kind of drug used to help in brainwashing or controlling mentally ill patients. It's also highly addictive. Hana was starting to feel withdrawal."

Hana was curled up on the ground in a fetal position, begging for the pills back. It disgusted Naruto to see it. He couldn't believe that the Hyuuga had dared use it on the Inuzuka heiress.

Naruto walked over to the supplies and made a pallet for Hana and got her to lay down on it aand spoke calmly to her.

"Shh, sh, it's ok. I'm here to help you. You know me. I won't hurt you. It's going to feel bad for a while but it'll get better. Sh."

She was still shaking, but she had stopped yelling for the drugs. For some reason, it hurt to watch her like that. He felt like he would do anything to stop her feeling that pain.

Shikon, who could feel a little of what his master felt, smirked to himself. His master had found someone.

Without looking up, Naruto softly said, "Temari, Gaara, head back to Sunagakure. Temari, give them that report and I'll be back in a while. Tell Baki I'm calling in on my leave time. I can handle this. It's bad enough that one person she sort of knows sees her like this."

Temari started to object, but grabbed his sister firmly and started packing. They left after an hour or two and Naruto was alone with Hana. It was getting late so he decided to try to get some sleep, but her hand shot out and grabbed his arm. She was shivering terribly, so Naruto pulled her to him, trying to warm her up in the cool night air. She relaxed a little and eventually fell into a fitful sleep. Naruto followed her.

—Next Day—

Naruto woke to the sound of Hana screaming at the top of her lungs and thrashing wildly as if trying to escape some unseen enemy.

"NO! Not my dogs! Not my dogs! Please, no, oh Kami!"

Naruto's hatred flared at that. The Hyuuga killed the Haimaru Brothers. To kill a familiar was unforgiveable. The Hyuuga must have been desperate for an alliance between their clans to do this. If it got out…

Hana was sobbing heavily and broke away from Naruto, throwing up on the ground. Stepping off for a second, Naruto got her some water which she took hungrily.

The day passed in a pattern like that. She would hallucinate and struggle, cry out, and sometimes have painful seizures.

All Naruto could do was to hold her tightly to keep her from hurting herself. He couldn't figure out, though, why it felt so right that he was helping her.

In the late afternoon, she had seizure so bad that she began to pass out. Just before she went under, into merciful darkness, she said, "Thanks…trust…you."

The next morning was worse, but it seemed as though the toxins in her system were almost done. It was like a final push. She seemed to be in her right mind, though she couldn't talk. Her eyes seemed to recognize him. Shikon calmed her down a little because she was so used to being around animals, but what seemed to do the most were the stories Naruto would tell her about his young life, especially the ones with Kiba.

"There was this one time Kiba and I managed to convince Iruka sensei that Ibiki wanted to see him because of a joke he made the day before. He ran home so fast…"

He smiled at the happy memories of his old home. He wouldn't trade what he had in Suna, but he did miss his friend.

Naruto had misjudged the length of the withdrawal period. Apparently it had been a long engagement and there was a lot of junk in her system. It was torture for both of them. Hana was crying out in pain and anguish while Naruto had to watch as this beautiful woman suffered. He just placed her head in his lap and stroked her, helping her through the pain.

Eventually he ran out of happy stories and just talked about his life. His voice seemed to help a little. He figured that she couldn't understand it all, so he just told her everything.

His hopes and dreams as a kid

His betrayal at the hands of his sensei

The joy he felt when he found a father in Zabuza

The happiness when he got Shikon

The devastating heartache of Zabuza being ripped from him

The love he felt for his new siblings

The loneliness he always felt, that tortured him constantly

Everything

Eventually she would fall asleep and the cycle would start over again. Then one morning she didn't wake up. Her body had shut down from the constant strain, focusing all the energy on expunging the poisons. Naruto was worried sick. He only had rudimentary medical knowledge. It was better than most regular ninja, because there weren't many medic nuke-nin, but he had almost no experience with withdrawal.

He almost cried when she woke up two days later.

She was incredibly weak but she opened her eyes slowly, raised her arm and gently touched his cheek.

"Thank…you. Saved…me." Her voice was dry and cracked, but it such a relief to hear her speaking.

When someone helps another person out through a hard time or struggle, a bond forms. You know you can rely on that person. You have invested emotionally in them and they become more important.

Her recovery was slow. It was almost full day before she could talk close to normally again, but she worked at it with an Inuzuka's tenacity. Naruto cheered her on, every step of the way…well, in his own way. He wasn't so much into cheering anymore.

In the mean time she enjoyed being able to talk with Naruto. He was such an odd combination of gruff, kind, closed off, and vulnerable. And his past…she felt like she'd known him her whole life. He'd gotten the poison out of her. She wanted to do the same for him.

In the weeks she was recovering, she never mentioned what he'd told her. Naruto assumed she never heard him. She had heard, but she wanted to return the favor. Hana spent hours talking about her life until then. She went on about her little brother and life as an Inuzuka. Naruto seemed to take joy from hearing about families that really loved each other. She talked about her training as a medic/veterinarian and her relationship with her familiars, the Haimaru Brothers. That was when Naruto started asking questions.

"What happened, Hana?"

It was vague but they both knew what it meant. She went quiet for awhile, composing herself.

"You've been away from Konoha a long time, Naruto. A lot has changed. The Third Hokage was killed by Orochimaru and a man named Danzou took over. He was harsh and pushed the shinobi, but we got stronger and he led us well, but then something changed. We stopped seeing Danzou in public. It was like he vanished but someone was still making decisions. Whatever happened, the leader made an alliance with the Hyuuga. They practically run the village. They also decided that an alliance with the Inuzuka would be profitable…You know what they did after that. The drugs, killing my…my dogs, they wanted to control, but you saved me."

He blushed slightly and looked away. "It was the right thing to do."

"But most people wouldn't have done because they're scared of the Hyuuga."

He chuckled and said, "The Hyuuga are dangerous, yes, but they are so arrogant they would never dream of someone lying to them. Why didn't you just run away at the start?"

Something seemed to snap in back of her mind. Her eyes widened and she sat straight up, which was still painful.

"They have Kiba! They locked up Kiba and said they'd kill him if I ran! Oh Kami."

Naruto scooted over and wrapped his arm around her.

"Hey, as soon as you're better, We'll go bust him out."

She was practically in tears. The detox had left her emotions uncontrollable.

"But they'll catch you! You can't do it."

He didn't know why she was so worried he'd be caught or why she was blushing when she said it, but he smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Are you forgetting who I am? I painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight while wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. I've gotten better. We can do it."

She paused then relaxed against him.

"I believe you, Naruto-kun"

Exhausted from the excitement, she was out like a light.

—Next Day—

"You know, I heard everything."

"Hm?" Naruto said, understanding instantly what she was talking about and secretly worrying she'd be upset with him for dumping on her like that or worse….pity him.

"Your stories…about your life. Thanks for telling me. It gave me something else to focus other than the pain. You're very strong."

Now Naruto sat up straight. If an Inuzuka called you strong it wasn't an off-hand compliment like other people could use it. It meant that your mind, heart, instincts and body were…there's almost no words for it. It was a sense of being complete in yourself. It had profound implications.

"Thank you," he whispered. "But I'm not sure I deserve that."

"Why not? You've done things that kages would have trouble with."

"Hehe," he chuckled bitterly. "But I'll never have what I want."

Shikon, sitting across the cave stared intently at the two. Naruto was being incredibly open with this girl. If this continued, his partner might finally have a shot at happiness.

"What is it that you want?" When he didn't answer she took his hand in hers and said, "Come on, you can trust me."

Naruto looked straight into Hana's eyes and the pain in the blonde's was exceptionally clear in the black depths. He wanted to tell her, but opening up that much…

"I…I want…I don't want to be alone anymore," His voice a barely audible whisper.

Knowing there was more, Hana clasped his hand encouragingly.

"I-it's not like I don't Gaara and Temari and Shikon, but I've never had someone that…I…I want to be needed. I want to be necessary to someone, to be chosen by someone over the rest of the world."

He looked away, ashamed of how weak he sounded before he continued.

"I want someone to love me, but that won't happen. It can't happen."

Naruto sat stock still; anxiously waiting for the mockery he was sure would come. Hana on the other hand managed to see through what he saying.

"Someone hurt you didn't they? You loved someone and they broke your heart?"

He nodded but didn't say anything for a moment.

"It was a few years ago. She was a girl I met in a small village. I saw her every time we passed through and we started going out. I fell in love with her I was so excited to see her again and tell her. I got back from the mission to find out that she had decided to break it off. She didn't say why. I left and that was that. I guess…I'm just not good enough."

She scooted over a little and stared at Naruto. Then she said, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Good,"

She took a deep breath and then…

She alpped him right across the face and exploded.

"Momochi Naruto, I never want to hear you say that again! That girl wasn't worth your time if she did that! You are definitely good enough."

Now, no guy likes being yelled at told he's wrong, especially if it was hard to say in the first place. He got a little pissed.

"Well I don't exactly see a line outside my door. A girl would have to be an idiot to be interested me. You've heard my story. I'm damaged goods."

Then she got right up in his face.

"Are you calling me an idiot, Momochi!?!"

"No..wait, what?"

She leaned in and kissed him firmly on the mouth and pulled away quickly, leaving Naruto in a daze.

"When we get back to Suna, and I AM coming with you, you are going to take me on a date. Got it?"

He nodded.

"Good," she said, sounding tired now that the rush of energy was gone. "I am going to take a nap. Go get some water, we're running low.

He just nodded dazedly and walked out of the cave thinking '_What the hell just happened?'_

Shikon chuckled inside the cave. He liked this girl. Just what the doctor ordered.

—Place Unknown—

Darkness

It was everywhere

Inescapable

Pervading everything

With no sight, sound is magnified, almost painting a picture for the mind's eye.

Smells add the color to the sketch and hearing, the details.

It was driving him insane.

"I need to escape. I swear, whoever rescues me, I will serve you to my dying breath. Free me from this hell."

**So there it is. This was the longest chapter I've ever written, clocking in at 8.5k words. Please review. I want to know what you guys think.**

**First person to guess who the guy at the end is gets a cameo. R&R**


	9. Intel

**Alright, I know it's a shock to hear from me in a reasonable amount of time, but I really wanted to keep writing this. The JP was the only reviewer to guess the identity of the man in the cell. IT WASN'T KIBA!!!! Sorry, but I got SO many reviews telling me how obvious it was. Well, only one of you did. He has asked that his cameo be under the name of Sora, so when you see it, that's the cameo. Well, here ya go.**

Intel

Hana slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep and the brightness of the morning sun. She stood up and stretched before heading over to the fire for breakfast, there was just one problem. No fire. She huffed slightly in annoyance. She was by no means a girly girl who needed someone to make the fire for her, but Naruto always did it and being pampered was nice.

"Naruto!"

**He's not here. He went to go get some intel.**

Her attention went to the large black fur ball who looked like he was still sleeping.

"You look tired. What's got you so exhausted?"

With something akin to a groan, Shikon rolled over to face and looked her lazily in the eye.

**Naruto didn't come back last night, so I went to look for him. Took me all night. He's gotten pretty good at hiding. I don't think he'll be back for a while.**

Knowing exactly what that meant she lumped down against the cave wall next to Shikon with an exasperated groan.

"He doesn't believe me, does he?"

The black fox gave an amused chuckle.

**The boy is a genius when it comes to tactics, but give him a woman and he's a babe in the woods. No, he doesn't believe you. It'll be hell for you to convince him otherwise. It won't be fun, trust me. I've been there.**

Hana chuckled lightly at the demonic pun before they lapsed into silence, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She was serious about Naruto. That was almost as surprising to her as it was to Naruto. She had a really dominant personality that most guys couldn't deal with. Either they wanted her to be submissive or were spineless. She had no time for the latter and she'd only submit to the best. Naruto, she knew, would be a challenge. He had a kind of inner strength and fire to him that she wanted to test. She had no doubt he'd win, but it would be oh so much fun.

What also got her was how comfortable she was with him. She was generally uneasy around men because she didn't have much experience with them. Her mom had scared off her dad at a young age so Kiba was it. She loved her kid brother, but he just that: a kid. Somehow, though, she just knew she could trust Naruto. He was dangerous, that was certain, but unless you hurt someone he cared about, you would be safe. He kept his loved ones safe. He made sure of that.

She wanted to be one of those people. To be that important to someone was just…the thought was intoxicating. Did she really have a chance?

She cocked her head towards the dozing fox.

"Do you believe me?"

**Huh, what? **he said, blinking himself awake.

"That I'm serious. Do you think I mean it?"

Shikon just chuckled again at the question.

**Haha, girl, if I didn't believe you, I would have already killed you for trying to play with Naruto. He's my partner and my friend. I do what I can to see that he doesn't get hurt too bad. You're the real deal. You'll make a good mate.**

She instantly blushed almost the color of her tattoos, and looked away.

"We're not even dating, you ero-fox. I'm not sur-"

Shikon gave a dramatic role of his eyes and outright snorted at that.

**I dare you to tell me you weren't thinking it. Don't shut out those instincts, they're an asset. Your subconscious is screaming at you to take him and never let go. Most people don't have that ability. It's what makes people like you and Naruto so different.**

"Wait, I thought you said he didn't believe me. Are you saying he knows?"

**Of course he does. He just doesn't believe it. He has trained his psyche to believe that he's going to be alone for the rest of his life. He's just gonna run from it and you're going to have to have to chase him or you'll never see him again. Now let me sleep.**

Hana leaned back and thought to herself,

_You're not getting away from me, Naruto-kun_

—With Naruto—

Naruto was making good time towards his source. He wouldn't normally go as fast as he was, but he was hoping the physical exertion would get his mind off of….

He shook his head. It couldn't true, besides, it was time for business. He needed a clear head.

He quickly entered the small town and made his way for a seedy looking bar on the west side. He got in unmolested and made his way to the bar and sat down.

"Barkeep, something to drink!"

A big man with a scar across his scowling face, broke off from a conversation he was having with another patron and walked over to the blonde.

Well, he was scowling until he saw who was calling him.

"Naruto! You son of a bitch, how have you been? Decided to finally ditch that prissy job in Suna and join the real men again?"

Naruto grinned at him and clasped the outstretched hand in front of him.

"I wouldn't call being a hunter-nin prissy. Well, I shouldn't be surprised that you know about it. Sorry, but I got another year in my contract. Nice place you got here, Sora. You've improved on your staff since I saw you last."

Sora threw his hands up, feigning innocence.

"I don't know what you mean, pal. I'm just the barkeep. What employees would I have?"

Naruto snorted and replied without looking up,

"Young guy, two seats to my right, drinking a scotch; Black jacket, two tables right and one to the left; the guy "passed out" on the floor by the door. You should give him a raise by the way. I almost didn't feel him frisk me. I'm impressed, you've got a decent amount of muscle in here, Sora. Now give me that drink."

Sora laughed and poured Naruto a beer.

"I should have known I couldn't fool you. You sure you want the beer? Mr. "my only drink is the blood of my enemies."

"I got some stuff on my mind," he said, tipping his glass to his friend.

He took a long draft and sighed contentedly and looked up to see Sora with an expectant expression on his face. He quirked an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

Smiling lightly, Sora leaned against the bar.

"You and I both know you didn't come all the way out here for a social call. What do you need?"

"What, I can't say hello to old friends?"

A hard look.

"Fine, I need to call in a solid. If someone were looking for a friend who had vanished in Konoha, where would he look."

Instantly, Sora was all business.

"Well, that depends on the kind of company he keeps. Any preferences?"

This was how the game was played.

"He would be a trouble maker, like a good scrap. But more who he doesn't like would be more important."

"And who wouldn't this person like?"

"He's not too fond of white eyes and they aren't fond of him."

The barkeep's eyes shot up before he adopted a serious expression.

"Does this person have a name?"

Naruto froze. Up until this point, it was technically all hypothetical. He could leave with no repercussions. He shook his head slightly. This was Sora. He could trust him. That's why he came.

"Inuzuka Kiba"

Sora nodded in understanding. He knew about the engagement.

"Are you sure you want this information? 'Cause, as soon as you mess with the Hyuuga, they're gonna mess with you. You better be damn sure before you pull some crazy stunt."

Naruto fell silent before taking a swig of beer and answering.

"It's something I need to do. Can you help or not?"

Naruto heard his friend take a deep breath and place a hand on his shoulder.

"If you're sure…yeah, I can help. Give me twenty-four hours and I'll have everything you need to know."

Naruto finished off his beer, slammed it down on the bar and stood up, slapping Sora on the back.

"I'll see you in twenty-four hours then. It was good talking to you."

Sora chuckled and wrapped the shinobi in a bear hug.

"Anytime, my friend, but we're even after this. Don't care how many times you've saved my butt, this is a big favor."

Naruto nodded and walked out of the bar with a wave.

Sora shook his head at his client's foolishness. Only idiots messed with the Hyuuga. Oh well, not his problem.

He started cleaning Naruto's glass before his head shot up.

"Naruto, you son of a-.., get back here and pay for this beer."

—Konoha Gates—

A sense of nostalgia washed over the former jinchuuriki as he approached the gates of his old home. It was the first time he'd been back since he was twelve. He wasn't too keen on going back, but he needed to know what he was up against. At least no one was looking for him. They all thought he was dead.

"Halt, state your name and reason for your visit."

Well, the gate guards had gotten better.

"Momochi Naruto, reporting to the Hokage on a joint mission between the forces of Konoha and Suna."

The guard looked down at his checklist.

"That mission is supposed to still be ongoing. Why are you here?"

He was definitely suspicious.

"That is information only for the Hokage."

The guard snorted.

"No one sees Hokage-sama. You'll go to the director of the Missions' Office. It's on the bottom floor of the old Hokage Tower."

Giving a slight bow, Naruto thanked the man and made his way towards the Missions' Office.

As he walked through the city he couldn't help but notice how different everything was. The streets were incredibly clean and none of the old abandoned buildings were left. It looked great, but there seemed to be something off.

There were no people.

That was it. There were almost no people in the streets. There were no children playing and laughing, no people shopping from the vendors, heck there weren't any vendors.

It was ghost town almost

There was something else too. It looked like all the side streets to the west side of town were closed off. It was strange. Something wasn't right.

He shrugged it off and made his way to the Hokage tower and entered the door marked 'Missions' Office.' The area inside was exquisitely decorated in tradition Japanese decorations that seemed more suited to a mansion than a place shinobi got jobs from.

"Excuse me, shinobi-san, can I help you?"

At the end of the room was a secretary behind a desk. He walked over.

"Arigato, yes, my name is Momochi Naruto I need to give a mission report on a joint operation between Suna and Konoha. Is the director available?"

She smiled brightly at him in that way only paid secretaries can.

"Of course, please give me a moment."

She pressed the buzzer on her desk.

"Director, a Momochi Naruto is here to deliver a mission report."

There was a pause and then a cool, aristocratic voice answered,

"_Send him in."_

The megawatt grin returned.

"The Director will see you now"

Desperate to get away from the creepy secretary, Naruto bowed and headed on in.

The actual office much the same as the waiting area: lavish and over the top formality.

"Come in, Momochi-san and deliver your report."

"Of course…Hyuuga-san."

It was all Naruto could do to keep his composure. Something primal wanted him to lash out at this man with white eyes. They had hurt Hana. The hypocrisy of his doubt of her and his concern didn't even register.

"Give your report, Momochi-san, my time is valuable."

Smug little…

"I regret to report that Inuzuka Hana and her escort were killed by members of a group of missing-nin called Akatsuki. They are a collection of S-class shinobi. My team arrived just in time to watch the group decimate your guards and Inuzuka-san. My team managed to defeat the enemy and we disposed of all the bodies to prevent the risk of the Byaakugan falling into the wrong hands. We would have reported sooner, but we sustained serious injuries and required the time to recover."

The Hyuuga looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. The intended of the heir was dead, an elite Hyuuga guard squad was killed and this…boy claimed that his team defeated the enemy where the Hyuuga had failed. Unbelievable.

"Momochi-san, I find it hard to believe that a three man cell succeeded where an entire guard squad of Hyuuga failed."

Naruto allowed himself a proud smirk. Outclassing Hyuuga was fun.

"Hyuuga-san, I assure that I am telling the truth. Perhaps if you knew my alias you would not doubt me. Some call me Makai no Yajuu and one of my team members is Onikisuken (Onix Blade). Does that help?"

Swallowing the bile in his throat, the Hyuuga slumped back into his chair. He couldn't even blame Suna for their failure because they sent the best. It didn't help that they had ignored Suna's advice to wait for the escort.

"Very well, domo arigato for giving me the report in person. Are you returning to Suna immediately?"

"No, I haven't been to Konoha in quite some time. I intend to take in the sights. If I may?"

"Of course, thank you again, Momochi-san."

Naruto left the room quickly leaving a very disconcerted bureaucrat in his wake.

"ANBU-san, follow him. I don't trust him."

"Hai"

—With Naruto—

Naruto hadn't walked a hundred feet down the street when he sensed someone following. It was one the things he loved so much about tapping into his animal instincts.

"ANBU-san, if you're going to come, at least be useful and answer some questions for me?"

In a flash, a woman in ANBU uniform with long purple hair was walking beside him. Despite her seemingly collected composure, Naruto could sense her surprise at being found out.

"How did you know I was following you?"

Chuckling at her curiosity Naruto pulled out a kunai and started playing with it.

"Now, now, I won't have a conversation through a mask. Take the damn thing off, it can't be comfortable."

She was watching with interest as he tossed the kunai into the air and managed to have it land tip down on the end of his finger. It was pretty impressive.

"I am not allowed to remove my mask while on-"

Suddenly she felt air blowing on her face and her widened in shock as she realized she wasn't wearing her mask anymore. She looked frantically for it before noticing it fastened tightly to her belt. Though slightly annoyed at the blonde stranger, she gave a look of grudging respect. He had managed to remove her mask and place it correctly on her belt without her seeing. How he did it was still a question.

As if reading her mind he pulled out his kunai again.

"I knew you'd be able to follow my movements if I just tried to take off your mask. You're wearing a non-regulation katana which tells me you're a sword expert. You're used to fast blows. So, I distracted you for an instant with this little guy here and used my other hand to unfasten the mask. You're a sword user so you pay more attention to blades. It was a simple trick," he said with a shrug.

"_His speed must be something else," _she thought.

"You're pretty good Momochi-san. You seem to know something of sword users."

He snorted as he put the kunai away again.

"You pick up a few things when your master is Momochi Zabuza."

Interest gleamed in her eyes.

"YOU studied under Momochi Zabuza? How? He died three years ago, just a bit before the invasion. He had an apprentice then, but…well if the reports are accurate; you're not androgynous to be him."

A somewhat wistful expression fell over his features as if remembering some fond memory.

"Yeah, that was Haku. For the short time I knew him, he was a friend."

He shook his head as if clearing his mind.

"Zabuza didn't die three years ago. He survived the battle that you're talking about and we met up after that. He took me in, trained me, and when he died, made me his heir. I gave Kubikiri Houcho to my partner Gaara. You've probably heard of him, Onikisuken?"

"Do you just attract swords masters or something? That's gotta be some kind of record."

"I don't know, but they're dead useful, that's for sure. Not to be rude, but what's your name, ANBU-san?"

She paused for a second. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone her name in connection to ANBU. Then again, she wasn't supposed to take off her mask either.

"Yuugao, Uzuki Yuugao."

"Pleased to meet you, Yuugao. Now, can you explain to me why half the streets are blocked off and no one is in sight?"

"It was part of Danzou-sama's reforms when he became Hokage. He cleaned up most of Konoha and that was it at first. In the past two years, though, people tend to stay off the streets because they fear being arrested. The Hyuuga are a little over zealous in their policing duties."

Alarm bells went off in Naruto's head.

"The Hyuuga took over the Uchiha Police Department?"

"Yeah, they were well suited to it because of the range of their eyes. However, they completely ignore the privacy of other people. It's one of the reasons the streets are blocked off. Some districts try to keep the Hyuuga out. It's not as nice in there as it is out here in the rich district, but it is a little more protected."

They walked in silence for a while as Naruto thought over this new information. Escape with Kiba would be difficult if the Hyuuga were policing the streets. Whoever gave them that amount of power was an idiot. Hyuuga were too ambitious. To give them a job with that much leeway was stupid.

After a few minutes of following Naruto, Yuugao noticed that the only thing in the direction they were headed was the shinobi cemetery. Her semi-good mood evaporated quickly.

"Naruto-san, why are we headed to the cemetery? Only Konoha shinobi are buried here."

"My parents are buried here," he said in a very quiet voice. "I grew up an orphan, but I found out who my parents were a few years ago. This is the first time I've had a chance to pay my respects."

Despite the flood of questions she wanted to ask about his parents, she instantly shut them out. That would be incredibly disrespectful.

"I see. I'll just leave you alone with your family."

She turned to leave, but he quickly reached out and snatched her wrist.

"Stay. I'm not the only one who has someone to mourn here."

Shock showed all over her face.

"That katana wasn't made for you. The grip is too long. It had to belong to someone else first and you flinched when you realized where we were heading. Who was it? Father? Brother?"

By this point they had reached the monument to fallen shinobi and a faint tear made its way down her face. She reached out and traced over a name.

Gekko Hayate.

"M-my fiancé. He was killed during the invasion three years ago. H-he was killed by their current Kazekage. I-I want…I hate that man for taking Hayate from me."

Looking back over at Naruto, she expected his face to show pity or sadness or something. She wasn't expecting an expression of disapproval.

"Never hate your enemy. It makes rational thought a lot harder. If you ever get a chance to kill Baki, you'll want to be able to face him with a clear mind."

"You're giving me advice on how to kill your boss?"

Naurto settled down in front of the obelisk and closed his eyes.

"We all mourn in different ways. You chose to honor the death of your lover by avenging him. Whether or not you succeed will affect people's memories of him. I honor those who died in service to their values. Baki is my boss, it's true, but the line between friend and foe can change easily. The council in Suna wants my hide and he can't shield me forever. It's probable that one day we'll have to fight. At least this way, there's a reason for him to be killed. Just think on this. An avenger's path is hard. It'll destroy who you are if you let it. Never forget who you are and why you want to kill that man. Kill him because he threatened everything Hayate-san stood for. Kill him because he took away the chance for you two to have children. But do it with control of yourself. Let Hayate go. Anger doesn't help him where he is."

And that was it. There was nothing else to say.

Naruto stayed around for a few moments to remember the sacrifice his parents and the Third made for him and he left.

It didn't escape his notice that Uzuki Yuugao stayed behind.

—Sora's Place—

Naruto had gotten back to Sora's bar and sat down to listen to the ensuing tirade on his apparent foolishness.

"You can't just go traipsing around a police state and giving everyone your name before a heist!"

"Sora"

"I mean, you're either raving mad or have the balls the size of boulders!"

"Sora"

"Now they'll pin it all on you when the crap hits the fan; which it will. Sun won't…be able…to protect…"

Naruto patted the big man on the back and leaned against the bar.

"Now you're getting it. I can't take much more city life. I need to get outta there. Technically, my contract is done because I fought those Akatsuki clowns on a mission, but I doubt they'll let me go that easy. Unless…"

Full understanding showed on the information broker's face with just a hint of admiration.

"Unless they have no choice to avoid a war with Konoha. You manipulative bastard! No wonder I like you so much."

"And here's reason number two."

He put a bag of money down on the bar in front of Sora. The barkeep picked it up slowly and jingled it a little to gauge its weight.

"You sure you want this info? You bust this guy out and there's no going back. You'll be persona non grata for life."

"I know the risks. Lay it on me."

"It's your funeral," he said with a shrug. "You'd better appreciate this. I had to use up a lot of favors for this one. Your friend Kiba is in the bowels of the old dungeons. Not the prisons. We're talking really ancient stuff developed to hold really powerful enemies. There are chakra dampeners everywhere. That means the guards have to be taijutsu specialists, probably Hyuuga. It could be a tough fight, but their Byaakugan will be messed up from the seals. Dog boy is dead center, all the way down. They really don't want him coming back up. They even got his dog down there so he couldn't come trying to find his master. There are only two entrances to the complex that I could find. One is the front door. It's a hatch on the bottom floor of the regular holding cells. It's highly guarded, so you'll probably want to avoid that. Option two is a little more practical. The river that feeds the local lake runs underneath this place. They use it to get rid of waste and occasionally inmates. Just hit the lake and swim upstream until you find a tunnel. Take a deep breath and try to find the hole where the trash comes through. That's all I could get and as far as I know, this conversation never happened."

Naruto stood up, slapped Sora and the back and headed out.

"Thanks for everything, Sora. I gotta get outta here."

The scar faced man shook the blonde's hand in a crushing grip and looked him in the eye.

"Good luck. I hope you get him out. It sure would be tough to explain to your lady friend that you couldn't save her brother."

Naruto's whole body tensed up and he stared into Sora's eyes.

"How did you know?"

He grinned in response.

"I didn't. Thanks for the tip."

He felt cold black metal touching his throat accompanied by a low growling voice in his ear.

"I don't care if someone offers you enough dough to buy Fire Country. If that info gets out cause of you, I'll kill you."

Then he was gone. If Hana wanted to come along, she'd need to some serious training to get her strength back up.

—In the Darkness—

_I've done it! I have found a way to see in this eternal darkness! Ever since I was stripped of the light I have been lost. The light and what it revealed to me was everything. Now the means to experience light have been taken from me. But, my friends have taught me well. Now I will be of use to the one who saves me. I do not stumble in the oppressive blanket of black any more. It is now my cloak and my guardian. It is all thanks to my friends………_

**Ok, that's this chapter. I NEED A BETA! If someone wants the job, then by all means take it. **

**Well, since only one person got the correct answer for the person in Darkness, I repeat the challenge. The first person this chapter gets a cameo. I've even hidden a serious hint in that last section. Remember, it's not Kiba or Kimimaro. **

**Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Hey, guys, I'm sorry to say that this is not a new update. There won't be one. I'm cancelling Rescue and putting Makai on hold. In Rescue, there are a lot of things I really liked, but I didn't develop my characters enough. I just can't do as much meaningful things with them because of it. Makai was better, but I've hit a roadblock with that one. Hopefully, working on a new story will get the juices flowing again. If someone wants to pick either of these stories up, go ahead and ask. I'm really sorry but this is the way it is.

My new story will be a crossover between Harry Potter and the Addams family. It is an odd concept but it has been driving me nuts not writing it. The Harry in this story will be slightly insane and will be paired with Wednesday Addams. Expect life, love, hate, death, insanity and frightening reality with some acromantulas thrown in for good measure. I hope some of you will not hate me now and read the thing.

Please don't flame me. This is hard enough for me already. I hate wasted work.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Romance