Chapter 01: Resetting the Board, a Bijuu's Plan

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it is the property of Masashi Kishimoto

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War surrounded him, everywhere he looked. Shinobi of the Alliance fell left and right, fighting men made of the Mokuton and summoned souls, forcefully bound to a mortal vessel. Yet he passed each unheeded despite his size. Each battle he passed grew more significant as he watched in passing. He saw an elderly samurai struck down the bound soul of a powerful leader. He watched as three young shinobi worked their way through their grief to send their mentor's soul back to his eternal rest, and the defeat of the two false vessels of Gold and Silver that tried to draw upon himself.

It was because of his own presence at these events, whether darting past in his bound vessel, assisting through his vessel's duplicates, or observing through the eyes of the Gold and Silver vessels that he could see everything that was going on, as was his power. For he was Kurama, The Kyuubi no Kitsune, and the most powerful of the Bijuu. Kurama never made this claim lightly. Before he had regressed into a mindless beast, years before when he was first sealed, he was able to perform great acts of destruction. Smash mountains, create tsunamis, incinerate forests, and level human settlements with just a swipe of a single tail! He could do it all, and much more, but then that blasted Madara had ensnared him. He had been summoned to the field of battle, under an illusion strong enough to control him. He had been enslaved by a human.

When Madara had been defeated, Kurama had tried to press the attack, but the blasted Senju had suppressed his power. Then Mito Uzumaki had taken him into her body, turning herself into Kurama's first prison. She had suppressed him with her strange chakra, one that returned something that had left him only decades after his father, The Sage of Six Paths, had died. His intelligence, his cunning and his hatred. Many years he was kept in that prison, but at least he had space he could move around in.

Then Kushina had come along. He had actually preferred Mito ignoring him over his imprisonment inside of Kushina. His prison within her consisted of him being chained to a sphere with stakes driven through his paws and tails, and one large stake in his stomach, every stake interconnect with the others by chains. It was torture, one he repaid with growling death threats and Kushina's worst fears into the back of her mind, loud enough for her to hear. She returned this with visits where she taunted him and restricted his movements even further. All in all, they made each other their own worst enemies.

Then he had been yanked out of the seal and placed under another illusion strong enough to control him. An Uchiha had snared him once again. A battle was fought before he felt the control over him break, and he turned his hatred of humans onto Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and the home of his captors and prisons. Kurama attacked them in vengeance for his imprisonment. The denizens of the village fought back, holding him off as the blond monkey his second prison had mated with finished off the masked Uchiha. Soon the monkey had arrived and he realized that he was going to be sealed away once more. He struggled as his Yin Chakra was ripped away when he saw the bundle, his next prison. He struck out in blind panic and rage, only for both his former prison and the blond monkey to stop his claw short of his intended target. The world slowly went black after that.

Kurama had woken up when he felt the ripples in the time stream, and he delved into this memory he now walked, sent to him by his future self. He wondered why he sensed an attachment to the boy he was now contained in. Then he saw it. Son Goku, giving him his name, as well as Kurama's own. Matatabi, Isobu, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, and Gyuki all revealed the one piece of information they had held so close to their hearts, the name given to them by their father, as only Shukaku's name was known because only insanity held its sway over him. The one thing that could truly control them. And he had laughed it off, saying he never wanted to control him, but it was Kurama's own actions that had forced him to do so. And then he unlocked the cage completely, proving his word, and he had gained their trust.

But it was all for not. Kurama had been ripped from his host, leaving the boy dying even as the pink haired healer and the resurrected blond monkey tried to save him. It had been at the moment of removal that Kurama had executed his last defensive measure, attempting to save himself and the boy.

As the memories of the possible future faded away, three figures appeared in front of his cell, two ready to contain him, while the third stayed in the shadows, knowing what he had seen.

"Kyuubi! What have you done!" the copy of the blond monkey yelled as he watched in horror as the bars and seal shifted. Kurama slipped back into his Kyuubi mask, neither of these humans deserved to know his true name or face. Only Naruto would when he once again gained the right to do so. He pulled Naruto's sleeping consciousness into the seal, watching as the boy was pulled into the shadows by the third figure.

"Minato," Kyuubi said, looking at the blond, then turned slightly to the redhead "Kushina. Do you know what type of life you condemned your only child to as you lay dying from my claws? Had you only left him, you would have survived. Had you taken me with you into death, one of you could have raised him."

Naruto was shaking as he slowly realized that the Kyuubi was taunting who he had determined to be the Fourth Hokage and the man's wife or girlfriend. He was slowly beginning to understand that the Fourth hadn't killed the Kyuubi, but had put him in a prison of some sort. Maybe one in the afterlife? Was he dead as well? Kyuubi flashed a malicious grin as he kept the two splintered souls attention on him.

"No, you had to seal me away into another prison, the flesh and blood of your own son binds me now, along with the Shinigami's power. What was his name again? Well, Kushina Uzumaki, tell me the name of the boy you locked me away in! The son you condemned to the scorn and hatred of the village he protects! The young boy that makes an idiot of himself to get some attention, no matter how negative! They boy they go out of their way to ignore or belittle!" Kyuubi chuckled darkly as Kushina shakily whispered something under her breath. Both of the adults were horrified at what the Bijuu was insinuating about what had happened to their son, "What was that, my dear little Habanero? I couldn't quite hear you. Did you say, perhaps, Naruto?"

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Naruto had been watching as the Fourth Hokage and his wife grew more horrified at each mention of past abuse. The older version of him stood there whispering why the Kyuubi was doing this, that everything was important. He then saw the red-haired woman whisper something and then the Kyuubi had called out his name, looking straight at him.

Slowly both the man and the woman turned around, with looks of fear and desperation on their faces. Naruto slowly processed everything. He was a hands on learner, more street smart than book smart. He might not be able to do some of the advanced math problems others in his class could do, but even he could put all the clues together when they stood in front of him. When he did put them together, he knew that these two people where his parents. The Kyuubi laughed proclaiming the blond man as the one who had sealed him into Naruto, and said he should have listened to Kushina and taken him to the afterlife instead of splitting him in half.

Naruto's feet started moving forward, his older version releasing their hold him go as he ran to his father. Minato knelt down ready to grab the boy, when Naruto lashed out with a kick to the older blonde's cheek that sent him rolling.

"You bastard! You're the one to blame for why they hate me? Why they ignore me and act as if I don't exist? The insults that get hurled at me every day? All because you didn't take him down with you when you died?" Naruto yelled, tears running down his cheeks as Minato sat up, stunned.

"I definitely deserved that if that is how you were treated." Minato said. Suddenly he was tackled by Naruto, who was soon joined by a sobbing Kushina as they forgave each other and truly bonded for the first time.

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"Just like what happened with the boss back when we met them, just we met them both separately." The older Naruto said as he leaned against the gate of the seal. Until Naruto could beat his inner darkness and take Kurama's chakra again, the splintered version of his jinchuuriki's future self had modified the seal just enough to suit their plan.

"So you're a chakra imprint just like them." Kurama gesture to the bonding family, though he was looking at the copy.

"Yeah, I'm gone as soon as I reassure Mom and Dad."

"Hopefully he will be like you, and earn the right to my true name."

"Of course he will, he's me." the chakra imprint said, "Just younger and slightly stupider."

"Am not!" the younger Naruto yelled across the room, pulling himself away from Minato and Kushina to charge the older copy. The imprint grinned as he began tossing the child around like Jiraiya used to do with him.

"Face it kid. We are pretty stupid when we're not pulling a prank or in a fight. Hell, I have to count the tentacles to be sure of the difference between an octopus and a squid." Naruto collapsed in a heap as the copy smiled. He wasn't even winded, "You just need a teacher that doesn't care about your Jinchuuriki status. Like the furball behind me."

"No!" Minato cried as he grabbed Naruto away from the 'Kyuubi made' copy, "All the demon will do is corrupt my son!"

The copy chuckled, "It's the other way around actually. We were at war, the enemy was winning, people were dying, and I was captured. That damn Uchiha was about to extract the furball from the seal when Kyuubi told me his last resort for keeping us alive. He decided that my chakra imprint would accompany his memories as warning to his past self. The reason he did that is simple. He never succeeded in corrupting me. I corrupted him, with sunshine and lollipops."

The Kyuubi reached through the now expanded bars and smacked the copy with a tail, "Shut-up you idiotic monkey spawn."

"Ow!" The copy grunted while rubbing the back of his head, "Besides, it's not up to you, as all three of us are going to fade away soon after we're done here. Start thinking of what you need to tell him by the way, you have about six hours at most to be with him."

Kyuubi laid down with his head on his front paws, facing Naruto, "So brat, your future self here managed to do what I thought was impossible, he learned my longest kept secret, only my brethren and our father knew that."

"Father? What are you talking about demon! You are just a mass of chakra and hatred that has no sentience unless you're sealed away!" Minato roared, trying to drown out the Kyuubi.

"My Father is only called such as he is the one that created us, the Bijuu! When he split the Juubi's chakras into nine beings, The Sage of Six Paths, the creator of the ninja way also created us! I have always been sentient, and it is because of our mistrust in humans that abuse our power that we act as we do!" Kyuubi roared back, pushing himself halfway to a standing position, "Sealing us away, keeping us as pets, attacking us on sight! Most of us now have containers worthy of our power! The idiotic Ichibi doesn't care and the Sanbi is killing mist monkeys over his container's demise! Do not speak to me of the hatred of demons!"

The Kyuubi snorted before laying back down at the younger Naruto, "I want you to do so again. Learn my best kept secret. You must obtain total control of my power, but I will not go easy on you. I am willing to gift you with abilities suited to your future abilities as well as grant a power boost to others. If they prove they are worthy of my power."

"Don't take it sweetie, it's trying to get free..." Kushina whispered into her son's ear,

"Freedom? I will acquire that in due time, after all, this one and my future self charged into battle side by side, as much as him using my power or riding on my head could allow. That is my freedom, to feel the deaths of my enemies once more. No, what I want is much simpler, I want to be feared as I once was. Once your precious Naruto begins his shinobi career, people will start to realize who and what he is, and I will not have a weak vessel. The other condition for this power, restore the Yin Chakra that your male genetic donor stole from me, the more power I regain is more power available to you. It will not be easy, but I will ensure you that the Shinigami will not take your soul for summoning him. This I swear," Kyuubi said while finishing the thought in the back of his mind, 'No, he will never take you because you interest him, one of the few humans to be able to tamper with and reform his power for their own uses. Like the changes you made in the seal before the war, and the ones your duplicate made to allow this accord to be carried out.'

"Be gone with you, I've said my piece. You have six hours to talk with them, and seven before your exams tomorrow." Kyuubi said, turning away from the bars, "And one week to think about my offer."

As the Kyuubi's eyes closed, the other four occupants of the room disappeared in a flash of light.

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The young boy and chakra imprints suddenly appeared on a plain of white, nothing else around them.

"I'm fading now, but my job is almost done. Before I was sent back, I learned and perfected the art of Senjutsu in order to counter the corrosive effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. I learned from the Toads, but if you decide to take his offer, you should get the Owl Summoning Contract. They have Senjutsu capabilities and they will be a better fit for the power he plans on giving you. You will have to find our ancestor's home land, as one of the minor allied clans had the contract. Be careful when seeking it out mini-me, Uzushiogakure is a dangerous place, even if it is in ruins." The chakra imprint said, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"You make it sound as if you would have taken that horrid deal if you were given the offer," Minato said, not liking the way the older version of his son thought.

"Well considering that one of you students is currently hell bent on world domination, as well as the reason this is happening in the first place, you can bet your ass I would take the deal. But why would you care bastard? You left me your mess to clean up." the copy said, watching as Minato paled as the man realized what he was saying. Kushina, on the other hand, didn't like the imprint's choice of words.

"WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE YOUNG MAN! 'TTEBANE!" Kushina roared as her hair rose into several tail-like bunches as she closed in to punch the imprint in the face, only for him to fade out of existence the moment before it could connect.

"If you take the deal, make sure it is to protect those you care for, because our nindo was to never go back on our word and to protect those we care for! DATTABAYO!"

Minato and Kushina looked horrified as their young son shouted the final word back at his former future self. Turning to face his wife, Minato pointed an accusatory finger at her and shouted in a horrified tone, "Your verbal tick corrupted my son! Everyone will think he's a spaz!"

Kushina roared at the indignity that her husband accused her of and Naruto turned around to see his mother beating his father in to the ground, "What happened?"

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Naruto sat quietly on top of the Academy roof. He had failed again. He tried to get Kyuubi to help him, but the stupid fox had said that until the week was up, he would not talk to Naruto unless it was to accept the deal. The only way Naruto could deny it was to wait the week out.

He had disappointed Iruka, he saw it in the chuunin teacher's eyes. He had also wondered if he had disappointed his parents as well. Then Mizuki had told him of the extra test for those that could still possibly pass if they had too much or too little chakra for the techniques. He still had a few minutes before he needed to leave, so he leaned back to watch the stars come out. He didn't even notice three people his age watching him. They had all noticed the change in his behavior today, despite his best attempts at acting like he always did. They saw him turn his head to the Hokage Monument, gazing at the Fourth's face.

"Dad, you chose me to contain your greatest failure. You and Mom died because you weren't strong enough to save yourselves, but it was in your power to save me. But if I don't pass this test, would you still be proud of me?" the blond troublemaker asked himself, before getting up to leave. He took off faster than they could follow, so they began separate searches.

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'So he is like my clan, shunned because he contains something, but what?' A young boy with a high collared coat and sunglasses stretched his finger out for a beetle to land on it. He had found Naruto.

Thinking back to why he had followed the blond, he remembered the sudden spike of malevolent chakra directed at him and several others in the class coming from the whiskered blond. Only two others had felt it and decided to act on it, but Naruto himself didn't seem aware of the event. It must have been caused by whatever he contained. Whatever the boy's father had sealed into him.

Shino stood up and began moving towards Naruto's location. If he was similar to the Aburame Clan in any way, he wanted to know more, and perhaps find a comrade.

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'Troublesome,' was the lone thought of a lazy boy as he waited, hidden, beside an abandoned shack in the woods. He had heard Mizuki-sensei tell Naruto to come here after completing a make-up test for failing earlier. Only, there was no such test. He had heard what Naruto said, and put the connections together. The Fourth Hokage was his father, and his greatest failure was that he couldn't kill the Kyuubi.

Shikamaru remembered what his father had said about Naruto. To make friends with the blond troublemaker and not listen to what anyone else said. But the lazy Nara and the loud Uzumaki were just too different. Between their very different interests and personalities they became friendly acquaintances that hung out every once in a while. It was time to change that.

'Hmm, Shino and Sasuke are here as well, and there's Naruto.'

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'Naruto, just how strong are you really? To live alone since the day you were born. Never know the love of a mother or father. How would your type of strength fair against mine, the one who watched helplessly as his family was taken away from him. Who is stronger? A Protector, or an Avenger?' Sasuke wondered as he looked over a photo in his hands, while watching Naruto from the corner of his eye.

He had found the picture in his mother's sitting room, the picture was of two women, his mother and a woman that had the name Kushina Uzumaki written on the back. Several of Naruto's facial features matched this woman, with slight differences from his father. His hair and eye color were probably from his father as well. Sliding the picture into his pouch, he saw Iruka-sensei appear in the clearing where Naruto had been practicing that complicated clone jutsu.

'It's time to find out the truth.'

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"Hey Iruka-sensei, I found you!" Naruto said, huffing as he pointed at the teacher who was slowly losing his temper.

This was when Kyuubi took a presented opportunity. With those three others around, he could limit the boy's supply of chakra, leaving him with just enough so a few shadow clones and to tire him out. As Mizuki appeared and started running his mouth, Kyuubi waited until he got to the good part. As the two teachers squared off, he knew this was the first turning point in the time line. Now to see how the white haired monkey reacted to Naruto knowing about his 'tenant'.

"Do you know why everyone hates you, Naruto?"

"Mizuki, don't do it! It is forbidden to speak about!" Iruka yelled.

"Shut up!" Mizuki yelled, throwing another kunai, missing Iruka's head with little room to spare, "Did you know the Fourth Hokage didn't kill the Kyuubi, he sealed it away instead. YOU ARE THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE!"

Naruto cocked his head as Mizuki laughed, "Are you done yet?"

Mizuki glared at the boy, shouldn't he be in denial over this?

"The stupid fox refuses to help me unless he gets something from it. He doesn't give me any powers. I mean think about it. I'm an Uzumaki, so that means I have large chakra reserves and I heal fast, Old Man Hokage said so." Naruto snorted, "Besides, not even the Fourth could kill a Bijuu, no human can. They can't even kill each other."

Mizuki roared in rage as he threw his giant shuriken at the irritating boy, only for his target to move. Naruto suddenly lurched to the side along with Iruka who had pried himself loose to jump in front of Naruto. A buzzing noise had filled the air and a fireball roared out of the forest, colliding with the shuriken.

Looking down, Mizuki realized that an Aburame was in the area as a cloud of beetles surged towards him. As he leapt away, a fist connected with his chin as Naruto appeared in front of him.

"So demon, it seems as if you've brainwashed the clan heirs into helping you." Mizuki sneered as he saw the three boys land next to the jinchuuriki as they leapt from cover.

Rolling to his feet, while thinking, 'Five on one, I need the formula. Good thing I made a batch beforehand.' Mizuki pulled a glass vial from his leg holster, popping the rubber stopper out of it before brandishing it, "Look well, demon. This will grant me the power to kill you!"

Mizuki swiftly gulped the contents as the boys charged forward trying to stop them. He dropped the vial as Sasuke lashed out with a kick to his head, and caught Naruto's fist before it could reach his ribs.

"To late boys," Mizuki growled. Mizuki lurched forward as foul chakra began rolling off of his form. His upper body muscles bulged, tripling in size, destroying the chuunin vest and shirt he was wearing. As his muscles compacted into a denser state, Mizuki cracked his neck, showing off the new black stripes on his face. Fangs and slit eyes formed next, stopping all four children in their tracks. The man screamed predator.

"Here I come." Mizuki roared before blurring out of sight. Naruto gasped as the silver haired man reappeared in front of him, feeling the heavy fist as it collided with his jaw. Sasuke was the next target with a vicious kick to the midsection that left him doubled over as Mizuki towered over his hunched form. A loud buzzing sound alerted Mizuki to Shino's attempt to interfere, and the man blurred out of sight once more.

Iruka watched helplessly, having several kunai still in his body, as Mizuki grabbed Shino by his jacket and threw him at Shikamaru who was trying to capture his shadow. Both boys collapsed in a heap as Naruto and Sasuke stood up once more, angry and unfocused.

"Big mistake bastard." Naruto said as he held his hands in a cross shape, "You'll fall to my new jutsu! Kage Bunshin!"

With a plume of smoke, six more Narutos appeared on the battlefield. All seven looked worn out and were panting, and Sasuke noticed.

'That technique... it must be an extremely advanced jutsu to leave Naruto of all people tired after practicing it.' The raven haired avenger thought as he ran through a short sequence of hand seals himself, "Katon: Great Fireball!"

Mizuki watched as the Rookie of the Year utilized a chuunin level technique and tried to move, only to find himself, frozen in spot and realized Shikamaru had tagged him with the Nara clan's signature technique.

"Hrrrraaaaahhhh!" Mizuki roared as he forced his body into the next stage of the transformation to break the boy's hold.

"I can't hold him for much longer!" Shikamaru yelled as Mizuki slowly started to overpower his shadow's grasp. Sasuke was pumping more power into the already large fireball to try and take the man down in one hit, and Shino couldn't help without compromising his hive to the flames. Four of Naruto's clones latched onto Mizuki's limbs and torso doing their best to hold the limbs in place.

Mizuki let out one more roar as Sasuke let the fireball fly forward. As the technique exploded against the man, Shikamaru withdrew his shadow and the clones dispelled. As the flames engulfed the surrounding area, Mizuki smirked. He stepped out of the flames, once more changed. Thick orange fur covered his body, his feet and hands changed to a half paw shape with long claws tipping each digit. Feline ears twitched as he let out a true animalistic growl.

"Time to put you little punks down." Mizuki growled. The tiger-man's following attack was devastating. Shino was taken down first, Mizuki's claws biting deeply into his back.

"Argh!" The sound was the loudest thing anyone had heard the Aburame boy utter, scaring each of them more. As he tossed the stoic boy away, he advanced on Shikamaru, who threw down a smoke pellet to cover his escape.

"That won't work slacker!" Mizuki snarled as he appeared behind Shikamaru, grabbing him by both of his wrists, "Let's keep those hands tied up."

Mizuki wrapped an enlarged hand around both of the young Nara's hands to completely immobilize them, and hoisted him into the air. With a feral smirk, Mizuki drew back his other fist and began beating Shikamaru around the head and shoulders. Naruto and Sasuke were stunned at the ferocity of their teacher's attack as he tossed the limp Shikamaru into the side of the shed next to Iruka.

"Naruto, send those clones to distract him, I have an idea." Sasuke said as he leaped back, gaining some range on their traitorous teacher. Mizuki wasn't fooled, he tore through the clones and knocked Naruto aside when he tried to step in the way. Naruto collided headfirst with a tree, shattering a lens in his goggles. As he lay the bleeding from a gash in his side from where Mizuki's claws had swiped him, he saw Sasuke trying helplessly to fend of the monstrous man, only to have his right leg broken in two places.

Mizuki grinned as he grabbed the downed Uchiha, the perfect gift to complement the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing for his Lord, Orochimaru of the Sannin.

'But,' He thought as he grabbed Sasuke's left arm, 'It would be best to snap a few more bones to make sure he can't attack me.'

Sasuke's scream rang out across the woods as Mizuki broke all of the fingers on his left hand. Naruto slowly pushed himself off the ground. They had come to his aid when he had needed it. They had learned about the Kyuubi judging by the nods they had given him when they appeared, and they hadn't hated him for it. Now, they were injured badly because of this monster in front of him, a man he could safely say he hated with his entire being.

'I need power.' Naruto slowly thought as he began to steady, wounds healing, "I need power to protect them. I need power to beat him. I NEED POWER TO KILL HIM!"

Mizuki turned around at the roar Naruto let out, dropping Sasuke in a broken heap, 'What? Guess I didn't put him down hard enough. Time to change that.'

'Fox give me your power,' Naruto thought, hatred for the tiger-man welling up from deep within him.

"Is this your answer? The power to protect them? The power to kill those who harm them?" Kyuubi growled, knowing that everything had followed his plan, and was feeling especially pleased with himself.

"Do it." Naruto whispered. Red chakra began circling his body, healing his wounds. His eyes turned blood red, pupils slitted like the Kyuubi's. His whisker marks darkened and thickened, his hair spiked out in a wilder degree. The chakra fully encircled his body as a construct appeared above the young boy, a Kitsune's head. It roared in tangent with Naruto, sending the red chakra hurtling across the clearing, bathing everyone in its power. Each of the boy's eyes went wide with pain before passing out because of the potency of the chakra entering their bodies, but Iruka was another matter entirely.

When the wave of chakra washed over Iruka, it was the worst thing for him to experience. He saw the black ball of chakra that killed his parents descending from the sky all over again. The suffocating malice and hatred that the tainted chakra carried awakened a thirst deep inside of him, an instinctual thirst that he had thought to have quenched the day his genin squad had been butchered along with his sensei. A thirst for blood.

'No, I can't control it!' Iruka thought in despair as his eyes burned, a sign they were filling with the red haze, 'Got to focus it, I can't hurt my students!'

Iruka panted hard as he ripped the last kunai out of his shoulder with more force than necessary. He was regressing fast, but he needed to focus it, aim it, or he would kill everyone that he came across. A crazed grin spread across his face as his eyes glowed blood red, the retina, pupil, and iris all a uniform color. But he had his target.

Mizuki was having a difficult time holding off Naruto, as the Bijuu empowered child fought like a wild animal, but so did he. He was completely taken off guard when someone jumped on his back, wrapping their legs around his torso, and began repeatedly stabbing his left shoulder with a kunai.

Mizuki roared like the wounded animal he was, throwing the man off. The kunai remained buried deep within his shoulder, rendering his arm useless. Turning, he saw something he had only seen once before, nine years ago when his team was sent as back-up on a mission that had gone south. Those eyes haunted him and solidified his hatred for Iruka. Mizuki didn't understand why someone would throw that kind of power away. He snarled as he turned to face them, knowing that he faced the full wrath of the Umino clan's madness.

The two charged him as he fell back. Their fury was palpable, and was enough to stagger most people. Mizuki knew he was in trouble. But he saw an opening that would help him escape. He grabbed Naruto with his one good hand, ignoring the burns he received from the Kyuubi's chakra, and bit down on Naruto's neck. He felt the flesh and muscle give away easily as he ripped a large chunk of the boy's skin and muscle away from where the shoulder meets the neck. The boy cried in agony as he fell, the wound rapidly closing with the amount of the Kyuubi's chakra that flowed through him. As the blond fell and he dodged Iruka, Mizuki made a break for it.

He barely made it more than a few strides before the power Orochimaru gave him begin to fail. As his body started to revert, Mizuki's muscles started to shrivel up. As he fell, he saw Iruka standing over him, crazed smile still splayed across his face. The chuunin slowly raised his foot above Mizuki's head before he said the last thing Mizuki would ever hear.

"Good riddance," Iruka hissed as he slammed his foot down on Mizuki's head, splattering gray-matter across the forest floor. As the boiling rage slowly ebbed away, Iruka looked at the ANBU squad that had just appeared as he executed the traitor, "Are you guys ever on time?"

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Author's Note: All right, several things about the rewrite.

1) I have split all current chapters in half, the actual story parts should be between 4000-5000 words on average. I did this to see if, now that my muse is coming back to me, I can post shorter chapters faster.

2) When I use a Japanese word that isn't commonly known in the Naruto fan base, I will have the meaning directly after it in parentheses. I hate writers that make you look up half of the words in their fic just to understand it. As for honorifics, mostly sensei is going to be the only one used, others very sparingly.

All right now that is out of the way, I'll start reworking the new Chapter 2.

This is Dingo saying goodnight!