"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech

Demon/Summon thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Author's notes: I'm finally back and with a new story. Now I haven't abandoned my other story I'm just suffering from a massive writers block. Anyways on with the story.

Chapter 1: Missing Nee-Chan!

An agonizing scream reverberated off the dank, damp stone walls of the cave while the flickering light from the fire revealed the four people there. The first was a young woman with long red hair and a swollen belly, this woman's name was Uzumaki Kushina. Her face was contorted in agony as her muscles contracted once again as her body continued to push the matured baby out and into the world. Right beside her was an equally young man named Namakaze Minato his spiky blonde hair disheveled and matted against his face as he poured his chakra into the seal on Kushina's stomach in an effort to strengthen it long enough for her to give birth. When Kushina let out another scream of pain Minato started to panic over his wife's safety. "Can't you two do something about the pain?!" he shouted to the two medic-nins over seeing his son's birth while his panicked mind disrupted his chakra flow to the seal.

"Stop whining Minato! You're the Yondaime Hokage! So pull yourself together and do your job!" snapped the older of the two medics', her long grey hair was pulled back into a ponytail which gave Minato an unobstructed view of her scowl.

A shiver ran up his spine as his mind ran through all the possibilities that she would do to him if he didn't get better control over his emotions. He took a deep calming breath and as he went back to his task at hand he said "Alright, alright. Man Biwako… you can be real forceful when you want to be huh?"

For the next several minutes after their little banter the only sounds that could be heard in the cave were the grunts and groans of Kushina until at last the small cry of a newborn baby reverberated throughout the cave. As Biwako wrapped the baby in a linen cloth her medical assistant looked up at the newly crowned mother and excitedly shouted "Congratulations Kushina-sama it's a boy!"

A big cheeky grin spread across Kushina exhausted and pained face and as tears welled up in her eyes she reached out towards her baby with a shaky hand. "Naruto…my boy… my little baby boy." This happy moment was not destined to last however for not a moment after those words left Kushina's mouth both Biwako and her assistant's eyes rolled into the back of their heads before they fell to the ground to reveal a black cloaked man that wore a red mask with a signal eyehole in it, and this man was holding the baby Naruto in his hands. How he managed to grab Naruto without anyone noticing was a complete mystery.

As Minato reached for his kunai pouch the masked man pulled out a kunai of his own and placed it against baby Naruto's throat as he said "I wouldn't do that Yondaime. Now hand over the Kyuubi vessel or say goodbye to your son."

Ignoring the warning he had just received Minato appeared behind the masked man in a bright yellow flash and moved to take Naruto while at the same time striking the hostage taker. But much to Minato's surprise his strike passed right through the man's body as if it wasn't even there. When his fist passed clean through the assailant's body he noticed that his son had also passed through the man's hand and was falling towards the rocky floor. Minato's parental instincts kicked in at this moment but even as he tried to catch his son the masked man reached out with his left hand and grabbed a hold of Minato's Jonin vest before he created a spiraling vortex from the opening in his mask and sucked Minato into oblivion.

"Minato-kun!" screamed Kushina as she watched in abject horror at the scene in front of her and cursed her weakened state. Meanwhile the masked man grabbed Naruto just before he hit the ground and as he pulled him into a firm grip he said "Now, now, we can't have anything happen to you yet. After all we wouldn't want mommy to get any ideas would we?"

Kushina let out a low growl at the implied threat but when she saw him tighten his grip on the baby's throat she let out a sigh and lowered her head in defeat. The man quickly appeared right beside her and placed his free hand over top of the seal on Kushina's stomach. Excruciating pain coursed through Kushina's body as the Kyuubi was forcibly ripped from her body, and as her world began to fade into darkness she distinctly heard the sound of a newborn baby's neck being snapped.

"NARUTO!" screamed Kushina as she shot up from her sleeping bag, a cold sweat pouring off her face. Wiping the perspiration from her brow she took a few moments to gain her bearings. "…a dream… it was just a dream." She kept muttering to herself for the next several minutes in an effort to collect her thoughts and calm herself down.

Once she was cool and collective she slowly surveyed her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was how the early morning sun seemed to give the simple tan cloth that made up the outside of the tent a warm orange glow. The next thing she noticed were two dark tan traveling packs partially open to reveal all the necessities one would need when planning to be away from home for a while. Then her eyes fell upon an empty sleeping bag that was right next to her. Her eyes widened slightly and she jumped out of her own sleeping bag and ran outside grabbing her Staff on the way out.

A cool morning breeze blew across her face as she exited the tent and surveyed the wooded area they had decided to camp for the night. When she saw no sign of the person she was looking for her worry turned into a deep sense of dread, and as she strapped her Staff onto her back she grumbled "Damn it Naruto! Where the hell are you?"

Meanwhile as the sun started to shine through the trees in another part of the forest, signifying the start of a new day, a young spikey haired blonde no older than sixteen sat perched on a branch that was completely shrouded in shadows. This teenager's name was Uzumaki Naruto and he was covertly observing a lone traveler. The traveler in question was walking along the only dirt road that led safely out of the forest. He watched her with such skill in the art of stealth that it would make most veteran shinobi green with envy.

'She's no ordinary traveler that's for sure.' he thought to himself as his eyes narrowed and he began to study this traveler in greater detail. Her red hair that was similar in color to his mother's was the first thing that drew his attention followed by her blue dress, but what really caught his eye was the fishnet stockings and shin guards indicating to him that she was no simple villager. 'Is she a bandit, a mercenary or perhaps… even a shinobi?' thought Naruto as he noticed that her movements were too fluid and well-timed, and while it did give off the appearance of a relaxed traveler the reality of it was that this traveler was ready to strike at any given moment.

"You know it's considered impolite for little boys to be peeking on older woman." whispered a voice directly behind Naruto, who spun around so fast that a normal person would have gotten dizzy only to see the very same woman he was watching just a moment ago. Quickly turning back toward the road his eyes widened in shock when all he saw was a small puddle of water where the red haired woman once was before he thought 'Mizu-bunshin!? Shit!'

Not one to waste an opportunity such as this the red haired woman immediately moved to strike Naruto only to be surprised when he seemingly faded out of existence. Her eyes instantly moved to her left where she saw that the teen had just landed on a tree branch only a few yards away. 'He's fast.' The red haired lady thought to herself before a smile graced her lips as she muttered "It may be worthwhile to recruit him."

"But just to be sure, I think a little test is in order." Muttered the woman as she appeared beside Naruto and went to deliver a kick to the back of his head, but just as her foot was about to make contact Naruto stepped off the branch.

When the branch pasted by his chest he swiftly twirled around and gabbed a hold of it. Using this momentum to his advantage Naruto swung a full three hundred sixty degrees around and landed a mule kick to the red haired lady's back, which sent the surprised woman sailing towards the ground below. However just before she collided with the ground she twisted her body and gracefully landed on her feet, making it appear as if it was just another day at the office.

Naruto however wasn't impressed with her display, instead he looked at her with a critical eye as he thought to himself, 'Yup definitely a shinobi… and a very skilled one too. I know those hits connected and yet she acts like it didn't even phase her.' His eyes widened dramatically as a sudden realization accrued to him. 'Maybe she's even skilled enough to…' They then narrowed dangerously at that thought and as he glared at the woman he growled "Where's Nee-Chan?"

"What… Nee-Chan?" questioned the woman as her eyes darted from left to right as if she was searching her memory for any recollection of such a person. After only a few seconds of contemplation she turned toward Naruto and said "What the hell are you talking about?"

Her denial of his accusation only seemed to anger Naruto further and as he shot off the tree branch he shouted "Don't lie to me!"

The red-haired woman just barely moved her head out of the way as Naruto's fist grazed her left cheek. Tired of just being on the defensive the woman twisted her body and landed a spinning heel kick to Naruto's back, which sent him stumbling forward. After he recovered his balance Naruto quickly spun around to face his opponent all the while mentally berating himself for letting his emotions get the best of him and not following his nee-Chan's motto 'Only ask questions when in interrogation'.

Steeling himself with this new resolve he shifted his weight so he could easily respond to any situation that presented itself and just started down the woman looking for any sign of her next move. Meanwhile the red haired beauty was making some observations of her own, and when she took a closer look at Naruto's stance she was surprised by what she found. While his style was loose and appeared sloppy, yet somehow oddly familiar, her keen since of observation couldn't detect any openings in it, it was as if he was prepared for any type of taijutsu attack.

A smirk spread across her face as a sudden idea popped into her head. After a quick scan of the area her eyes feel upon a small pond, and as her smirk grew even bigger she thought to herself 'Well if a direct Taijutsu attack won't work let's see how he handles this…'

She flew through a series of hand-seals so fast that if one would have blinked they would have missed it, and once the last seal was formed water erupted from the pond and formed a giant Dragon's head before it arced back around and charged toward Naruto, its watery teeth glistening in the morning sunlight. As the dragon approached Naruto's loose combat stance suddenly hardened and his eyes took on a look of intense concentration almost as if he was focusing every fiber of his being into his next move.

Naruto suddenly jumped into the air and as he came back down he twisted his body so that he did a heel drop to the dirt below. At first the red haired woman thought the teen had lost his mind preforming a move like that against a water dragon, but as she studied him further she noticed an odd distortion moving rapidly toward her own attack. Upon closer examination of the distortion she noticed that though it was small in its width its height was easily twice the size of her, clear evidence that it was loaded with Naruto's chakra. Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. 'Could that be some kind of wind attack or is it strictly chakra based?'

Her question was quickly answered when the two jutsu's collided with each other and for the briefest of moments she thought that perhaps she was wrong, but as Naruto's attack started to cut its way through the water dragon, sending the water spraying both to the left and the right of the attack, she was forced to reconsider that thought.

When the attack finally cut its way completely through the water dragon it didn't stop there as one would expect it to instead it continued on its course of destruction and its course took it on a collision course with the female beauty.

But at the last second she jerked her body to the right and just in time too as the blade of wind blasted right by mere inches from her face; in fact it took a few strands of her red hair in the process. As the hairs floated to the ground she whipped her head back around toward Naruto, a look of awe and shock plastered all over her face as she had never seen such a large condensed blade of wind before.

But before she could even contemplate her next move several segmented pieces of carbon steel pieces connected by chains wrapped around her neck. As she reflexively brought her hands up to her neck she tilted her to the side to see who was attacking her, and when her eyes fell upon fiery red hair and violet eyes her own eyes widened in shock.

However before she could even say anything the newly arrived woman growled "The reason, the only reason you're even still breathing is because I could tell you were only testing my son. Now you're going to tell me just what you were testing him for."

Finally coming out of her shock the red haired warrior just stared at the woman behind her and stuttered "Kushina!? Uzumaki Kushina!?"

"Sorry wrong person. My name's Fujikaze Kikyo." Kushina lied then before Mei could question her about this she decided to add a little bit of true in as well. "And last I heard this Uzumaki Kushina died nearly fifteen years ago after a..., 'Incident' occurred in Konoha.'

As the memories of that fateful event flashed before her eyes she got a solemn expression on her face, but when she reached the end of these flashes her spirits lifted a little. "Though it is said that she took a good portion of the Uchiha Clan with her when she went, including their Clan head at the time Uchiha Fugaku." Then an imaged of Fugaku's expression as he met his end appeared in her mind and she couldn't help but chuckle "I guess the old saying is true after all."

Not really understanding the meaning of Kushina's last words the red haired woman quirked her right eyebrow and asked "And what old saying is that?"

"Never come between a mother bear and her cub." Replied Kushina and as she tightened her odd weapon around the woman's throat, and once she was sure that the woman's airways were restricted enough to cause pain but do no long lasting damage she said "Now why don't you answer this 'Mother Bear's' earlier question and tell me why you were testing my son."

"And let's not forget about Nee-Chan!" shouted Naruto as he spoke for the first time since his mother arrived.

Kushina gave Naruto a sharp menacing gaze that for all intents and purposes told Naruto that they would be having a talk later about his running off on his own before she said "Yes I was also going to ask her about our missing compatriot Fujikaze Asagi."

Quickly assessing all available options the red haired woman took a deep breath as she came to a decision. Turning her head as far as her neck restraint would allow her she locked eyes with Kushina and said "Fine… I'll tell you my reasons for testing him if you come clean about who you really are."

"What are you insinuating?" asked Kushina as she tightened her grip on her weapon ready to cut off this woman's air supply should the need arise.

Keeping her eyes locked on Kushina the woman went into her own mind and dredged up a memory from her past. "I may have only been a fresh out of the academy genin when it happened, but I remember your face… I could never forget your face, not after what happened at Mashin Pass."

Kushina's eyes widened in shock and at the mention of that place, her eyes focused more on this young woman before a memory flashed before her eyes one of a young terrified red haired girl bathed in blood. As she shook the memory from her mind she muttered to herself "…Terumi Mei."

"I see you do remember me Kushina-san." muttered Mei as she shook off her own memories of that fateful day that is forever burned into her memory.

Seeing no point in denying it any further Kushina let out a sigh of defeat before she said "Yeah I remember that day…" Her posture then resumed its previous rigidity and as she tightened her weapon, that's wrapped around Mei's neck, she softly whispered into Mei's ear. "But now that you know who I am. What's keeping me from killing you right here and now?"

Thinking quickly on her feet Mei came to a decision that she hoped would save her life. "You don't need to worry about your secret getting out Kushina-san, because I have no intention of reporting your survival to Konoha." Mei the shifted her eyes so that she was looking at the ground in disgust. "Especially not after the last meeting I had with their Hokage."

Quirking an eyebrow at that last comment Kushina very lightly eased up on the pressure she was putting on Mei's neck as she asked "What are you jabbering about?"

Realizing that it was useless to even try to talk Kushina into letting her go before she explained her situation she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding before she said "Not that long ago I had a meeting with the Sandaime Hokage to try and broker a deal in which Konoha would help us overthrow the Yondaime Mizukage and his tyrannical rule against those how have Kekkei Genkai."

"Let me guess he threw you out before you could even make a compelling case." Snorted Kushina as she remembered her own talks with the aged leader and the problems she and baby Naruto had faced when they lived there because of his platitudes.

With a slight nod of the head to confirm Kushina's words Mei replied "Got it in one. Before I could even say a word he told me that he had no intention of getting involved in our 'internal conflict'."

"That doesn't surprise me." Mumbled Kushina and after she shook her head in a mixture of disgust and irritation she vocalized her question she had ever since Mei started this line of conversation. "But that still doesn't explain why I shouldn't kill you or why you were testing my son earlier."

When she noticed that it was now or never Mei took a deep breath before she tilted her head back so she could look at Kushina and said "Because I want to recruit both of you into helping us deal with the Yondaime Mizukage before he instigates a massacre of the remaining Kekkei Genkai clans."

Not releasing he hold on her prisoner Kushina continued with her questioning. "And what about our compatriot, do you know what happened to her?"

Using what limited neck movement she had Mei shook her head in a negative as she said "Unfortunately I don't, you two are the first one's I've encountered since I left that village a few miles back. If it helps my case at all I was on my way to Wave when I noticed your son observing me from the trees."

At the mention of Wave both Naruto and Kushina stiffened and before Kushina could say anything Naruto shouted "That just proves you had something to do with Nee-Chan's disappearance! She went missing when she was on her way to Wave!"

The harsh glare that Kushina sent at Naruto for his outburst told him all he needed to know. He crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips into a pout before he grumbled "Ok, ok, ok! I get it already. I'll keep quiet until you're finished."

After a quick nod of approval towards her son Kushina turned her attention back towards her captive and said "My son does have a point, it is awfully suspicion that both of you have the same destination. Care to explain that one?"

"It's simple really." replied Mei as she quickly came to a fateful decision. "I've received intelligence the Momochi Zabuza and his gang is doing a job in Wave. Perhaps he's the one that's taken you friend."

"Seems unlikely…" muttered Kushina as she seemed unconvinced of the possibility. "We've been aware of Zabuza's presence in Wave for some time now but have yet to hear anything about him taking prisoners. In fact I'd find it a bit odd if he did take one given his reputation."

Mei thought about this for a moment before she responded "While it's true that he doesn't normally take prisoners. He might have if he's working for someone… then he may have been forced to take her as a prisoner no matter his personal feelings."

Kushina seemed to ponder this for a moment before she said "My sources do have him working for the slimy bastard Gato at the moment. So what you're saying is possible, but still… something seems off. I'm sure I would have heard something by now if Gato had Zabuza take her prisoner."

"Kaa-san, do you think that maybe just maybe he's keeping the knowledge of Nee-Chan's capture between himself and this Zabuza guy? It would explain why we haven't heard anything wouldn't it?" interrupted Naruto hoping that his input might help.

Sensing an opportunity that she could use to her advantage Mei said "I'm sure that's what happened. So I'll tell you what, let's make a deal Kushina."

"Deal?" questioned Kushina as she arced her right eyebrow wondering just what Mei had planned "What kind of deal?"

A smile spread across the captured woman's face. "It's a simple one really. Since we're both heading to Wave why don't we team up? I'll help you find and rescue your missing teammate; all I want in return is for you to fight with us against the Mizukage's reign of terror."

When Kushina didn't outright refuse he proposal Mei's smile got a little bit wider as she asked "I take it that means you're open to the idea then?"

After a few more minutes of contemplative silence Kushina finally said "If you help us rescue Asagi from whoever has taken her, I can guarantee that we will help you recruit Zabuza into your little rebellion, since I'm assuming that's why you're headed there in the first place."

Mei nodded her head in acknowledgement of Kushina's assumption but still had a lingering question swimming around her head. "So what about it will you and your group joining our 'Little Rebellion' against the Mizukage?"

"That decision will have to wait until after we've rescued Asagi. I won't take any action on that front until I've had a chance to talk it over with everyone in our group that will be involved." said Kushina as she started to loosen her grip on her weapon that was wrapped around Mei's neck.

"Deal." Mei quickly replied and as the chained weapon freed her neck she reached up and rubbed the bruises that had formed before she added "So are you ready to head out now?"

Once Kushina's chained weapon had reformed back into a staff and was strapped to her back she said "No we need to head back to our campsite and gather our things before he can head out."

After Kushina gave a quick nod to Naruto to indicate that he was to lead the way the small band took to the trees. Then as fast as any normal person would have seen they disappeared in a swirl of dust in the wind.

Coldness, dampness, a feeling of being trapped in an endless void, these were the sensations that one Fujikaze Asagi awoke to as her befuddled mind tried to figure out just what was going on. But when her mind finally cleared and she could take in her surroundings she knew for sure that she was in deep, for no matter where she looked all she saw was a never ending dark abyss.

The first indication that she was actually in some kind of room was when she felt something cold and metallic wrapped around her wrists. The loud clanking that ensued when she tried to move either of her arms made it pretty obvious that it was a chain and it was securely fastened to a wall that was out of reach.

'Damn this is bad… really bad.' She thought to herself after taking several deep breaths to better hone her senses to figure out where she was. With her sight useless in this darkness and sound being practically nonexistent she used her since of touch to at least get a feel as to what the ground was like. The first sensation her bare knees felt against the ground was the smooth, cool dampness of a man made stone floor.

But before she had a chance to explore her surrounding further a bright burning light flashed directly into her face, which caused her purple hair to almost shine in the darkness. As Asagi flinched at the blinding effect of such a strong light a big booming voice reverberated around the room. "Where's your master hiding?!"

When Asagi didn't immediately respond to the question, do to her still adjusting to the sudden change in lighting, the voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time boomed once more. "I'll say it again. Where is your master hiding?"

Narrowing her eyes at the spotlight in front of her, since that's all she could see in the darkened room, she spat "Go fuck yourself!"

Her agonizing screams reverberated throughout the room as an electrical current ran from the chains that were attached to her wrists and coursed through her entire body. After what felt like an eternity to her the electrical current stopped, but if one were to look close enough one would swear that they saw smoldering smoke coming off of her skin. Asagi took several ragged breaths and did her best to ignore the searing pain pulsating from every nerve ending in her body. Then after only a few moments of a reprieve another jolt of electricity shot through her and once the electrical current stopped the voice spoke again "As you can see back talk will not be tolerated. So if you don't want to experience that again tell me where your master is."

Instead of answering straight away Asagi narrowed her eyes and gave a glare of such intensity that if looks could kill her stare would have done so. She then hurled the biggest wad of spit she could muster just to the left of the giant spotlight in front of her in the hopes of it at least hitting her tormentor. But when she heard her spit hit nothing but the solid stone floor the punishment for such an act was given.

When her screams finally died and the smoke rose from her body the large booming voice spoke once again. "This is resistance is pointless Anko, you know as well as I that you'll eventually break and tell us everything we want to know about your master."

"…Anko?" replied the now identified woman as he head shot up and for the briefest of moments a look of surprised shown in her eyes. Once that moment had passed however Anko put the best smirk she could on her face before she said "Sorry… can't say I know that person. My name's Fujikaze Asagi."

A deep chuckle echoed throughout the room as the voice behind this interrogation had seemed to find Anko's declaration rather amusing. Then after only a moment of silence the voice boomed "Do you take me for a fool? We have already had your I.D. confirmed as one Mitarashi Anko, current C-ranked missing-nin from the village of Konoha, and apprentice to infamous S-ranked missing-nin Orochimaru. Now make this easy on yourself and tell us where your master Orochimaru is hiding."

Anko stared off into the darkness that was behind the spotlight almost as if she actually could see someone back there before she got this look of disgust on her face and practically snarled "That old yellow eyed snake-faced bastard? Don't you think that if I knew where that slimy asshole was I would have killed him by now?!"

The resounding silence in the room made it clear to Anko that whoever was questioning her hadn't expected that response. After only a few more seconds of silence a low chuckle was heard before the booming voice said "You're a better liar than I gave you credit for Anko. I almost bought that, but now that I see that you're going to continue to be difficult I guess we should move on to more… effective methods."

"Do your worst." snapped Anko as she glared into the darkness just waiting for a chance to catch a glimpse of her tormentor. "It'll just make gutting you all the sweeter."

The scoff that Anko heard told her clearly that whoever was behind this clearly didn't believe her. "You honestly think that you'll be able to escape and fulfill your threat?"

Anko got a glint in her eye that would send a shiver down even Orochimaru's spine as she snarled "Of course, because when they come for me…"

"They?" asked the voice in clear bewilderment of Anko's last statement. "Once again, you honestly think Orochimaru will send people to come and rescue you?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the spotlight in front of her as she hissed "Of course not you asshole! He'd sooner lop off his own arm than come to my aid. They on the other hand…"

A sudden hissing noise filled the blackened room, Anko snapped her head left and right in an effort to location what was creating the noise. Then when her eyes fell upon the gaseous cloud that rose in front of the spotlight she let out a gasp as she realized what was going on. As she held her breath in an effort to prolong whatever effects the gas would have on her she heard the booming voice one last time. "Since we don't seem to be getting anywhere with our current method. I think it's time we move on to our more advanced methods."

But after several moments of since the voice seemed to realize Anko was holding her breath in response to the plight the gas filling the room represented so it added "Oh in order to move you to your new accommodations we've filled the room with a simple knock-out gas. We wouldn't want you to get any idea while in transport now would we?"

Anko could swear that she heard the voice chuckle at his own choice of words, but as seconds started to turn to minutes she found she cared less and less about the reverberating chuckles. Then after what felt like hours the person behind the voice decided they'd had enough of Anko's resistance and sent several jolts of electricity through her body. She held it in for as long as she could but eventually the pain became too much and she screamed out in agony. With the knockout gas filling her lungs and her consciousness slowly leaving her only one thought continued to run around in her head giving her a since of hope that she would need to survive her future ordeals.

'They will come for me… They will come.'

Next Chapter: The Marauders!