"Normal" – Spoken word

"Italics" – thoughts/flashbacks

"Bold" - Demon/ higher being spoken word

"Bold Italics" – Demon/higher being thoughts or Kyuubified Naruto spoken word

AN: a quick edit, I'm sick so the new chap will be delayed till at least tomorrow evening if not monday depending on how I feel. there's a little extra dialogue in the middle so you'll probably want to read that.

Slaying Mountains

Prologue

By OS

It was over.

He had lost, and he was broken.

Sasuke's betrayal at the valley of the end had utterly destroyed him. He had broken his promise, to himself, to his friends, and most importantly, to Sakura. He now lay bandaged, damaged in the uncomfortable cot. Sifting over the last charge in his mind, trying to understand when and how they had changed.

Flashback

"Why Teme! We're supposed to be friends!"

"We are, in fact I consider you my best friend, it'll give your life more meaning when I take it"

"Chidori!" "Rasengan!"

The attacks had clashed… violently

Flashback end

CRASH! His head snapped up from where he'd been watching his hands absentmindedly fray his bandages, to the door to his hospital room. He saw the godaime (sp?) standing in the doorframe looking defeated. Tsunade was trying in vain to keep the tears from falling out of her eyes.

"Baa-chan? What's wrong?"

"The council, Naruto, they're lobbying for your exile from the village"

"Really? I can't really say I'm surprised. Do the temes want me gone forever, or for a set time?"

She schooled her features into 'hokage mode'

"They're calling for 'indefinite suspension' but I managed to get your sentence reduced to 1 year, they agreed… with conditions they want to temporarily strip you of your title, so that means no pay, and the bastards said 'Konohagakure cannot afford to spare ninjas to baby-sit you'"

He was in shock

"Bu-""I know, just think of it as a vacation to round your skills as hokage, now they want you out of the village by dawn. Jiraiya can't accompany you, but he left this with me to give to you" she tossed him a scroll "and he said that you should travel north out of Hi No Kuni (elemental countries), the people there are kind, and they will have much for you to learn"

"So go pack and say your good byes"

She grabbed him in a tight hug and headed for the door, "oh and Naruto" "…yeah?" "I'm sorry."

He sat for a good five minutes before the reality of everything hit him; for the next year, he was going to be alone, the thought of it terrified him, he sat paralyzed in fear for around an hour before Kyuubi galvanized him into action.

"Kit, get moving, leave happy and come back strong enough to fulfill your promise to your 'Sa-ku-ra'"

That jolted him, the fur-ball had actually made the effort to refer to her by name, not only that, but the fox could now communicate with him in his head. He figured it was due to the massive amount of chakra he'd called upon during the fight.

Nearly an hour later he'd packed everything worth taking besides his ramen collection into his travel backpack, and gathered the sand siblings, team Gai and the rookie nine (minus he and Sasuke) into the room that Neji, Choji and Kiba were staying in. They were all mulling around wondering why he wanted them there so badly, when the door opened and Naruto had walked in, they were surprised by his gait and the overall way he carried himself. Where before he'd been unshakable in his happy-go-lucky attitude and his happiness, now he looked defeated, tired; true, he still gave off that vibe that made people into better people, but he seemed… sick, to say that those who knew, or had even briefly encountered him were shocked was an understatement.

Naruto, wearing his normal orange outfit, albeit the jacket unzipped, revealing a blue t-shirt, walked over to the window and threw it open to lean out and enjoy the setting sun. He stood up straight, reached up to his hitai-ate (sp?) and untied it. He seemed to be studying it for a moment before he put his foot on the window sill.

"I'm leaving" was all he said

And before anyone had a chance to question him, he had thrown his hitai-ate over his shoulder and jumped out of the window, heading for the northern gate of the village.

Before anyone could do anything he yelled "take care of that headband, I'll be back for it in exactly 1 year!"

His friends and acquaintances had taken some solace in knowing that he'd be back. But Sakura, still reeling from the loss of Sasuke had taken his departure harder than the others.

Sobbing, she somehow made it over to the discarded hitai-ate, and picked it up. A piece of paper had fallen out, it read "Sakura, I'm leaving this and a gift to you, go to my apartment and look underneath the underneath, tell everyone that I'll be fine

Naruto"

"Naruto no baka" she mumbled with a small smile on her face while clutching the letter to her chest.

Meanwhile, Naruto had started his journey north.

Slaying Mountains

It had been eight months since he left, and six months since he'd found the village of northern people that Jiraiya had told him about. The village itself was a northern fishing and trade village, with seas on the west, rivers to the east, and mountains north. It was situated on and in a large mountain of its own and surrounded by forest. They had indeed made him strong, along with continuing his own training, they'd taught him the basics of their swordplay, which involved a heavy one handed sword, archery with a short bow, he felt he was still better with kunai, he'd taken to horseback riding like a fish to water, and after 3 weeks they'd given him his own horse, a young, fiercely loyal and laid back pure white draft with a diamond shaped gray mark on his head, whom he'd fondly named Kinaga. And an eccentric old man had even taught him to "jump good" (I'll do my best to grant one request to whoever can figure out this reference first).

With his strength had come maturity, he'd picked up an extraordinary amount of tact traveling through Hi No Kuni, the Kyuubi had also triggered a growth spurt in the youth, making him almost six feet tall. His hair had grown longer and hung down around his neck, still unruly as ever. With his new growth, he'd been forced to find new clothes; he'd bought a baggy blue jacket with orange adorning the shoulders, and blue pants with an orange stripe running down the sides of the legs. He kept the jacket unzipped, revealing an orange shirt, and he wore his necklace (Tsunade's necklace) out for the world to see (think his original clothes, but blue where orange should be, and orange where blue should be, and an orange stripe running down the legs)

On the second night he'd been there, he'd been introduced with the village shaman's daughter. A woman around a year older than him by the name of Yoi, she had flowing black hair and striking green eyes, she was just slightly taller than him (post growth spurt), she had a nice figure and a smile that radiated joy. Her kindness and courage had given him a crush on her to rival the one he had on Sakura.

But recently, there had been a plague sweeping the land, the forest near the village was dying, the normally docile animals were going wild and the water was making people sick. The village elders had seen this before and advised the ritual master to 'make a sacrifice as pure as fresh snow' because that saved the village the last time the plague struck.

After thinking long and hard about this, the beleaguered shaman came to a heart-wrenching decision; he would sacrifice his own daughter Yoi, to save their home. He could not expect another family to bear such a burden, and he knew Yoi would selflessly agree.

Yoi and Naruto meanwhile had become attached to one another, and when her father told her that she was to bear the burden and save the village. She couldn't bear to see Naruto, so she didn't tell him about the ceremony. The day of the ceremony, Naruto was to fish and explore the sea floor and she knew she would be gone by the time he got back.

Two weeks later, the preparations were done, a twelve foot by twelve foot stone slab was placed in the center of the dying village, and intricate runes were carved into it, Yoi, dressed in a flowing white dress, laid down on the slab. Yoi crossed her hands over one another and closed her eyes. Her father stood over her, reciting the ancient chant from an old dusty tome covered in runes. The shaman placed his hand on her forehead, and Yoi's life force was drained from her and funneled into the land. The grass got greener, the forest came back to life, the animals calmed down and the waters became clear and drinkable again.

There was much rejoicing, even as the one who cast the life-saving spell degenerated into a sobbing mass of flesh, the people were cheering and making music, and dancing. Naruto came to the center of town grinning, knowing that the ritual he'd heard people speak of had worked like a charm. But why did he feel a growing sense of foreboding? As he made it to the center of town, his world shattered once again into a million tiny pieces.

Yoi, pale and white, lying on a slab of stone, the village elders standing around it. Her father, kneeling over her, wailing. He ran to her

"Yoi? Yoi? What's going on? Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?"

Her father just looked at him, tears falling town his face, facial features contorted in an expression of paternal pain.

"I'm afraid not my son" one of the elders said in a weary voice

"We've sacrificed her for the village" another stated quietly, voice consumed with guilt.

For the first time in almost a year, Naruto saw red, his hair got shaggy, his whisker marks more prominent, and he grew claws and fangs.

"Tell me how to save her!" he yelled

"There's nothing you can do my son" another elder said shaking in fear.

Naruto grabbed an elder by the collar with his left hand, right hand poised to stab his claws into her face

"There must be a way! Tell me!" Naruto shouted desperately

The elder cringed "T-There i-is one way, Ride north over the bridge to the end of the world, there will be a temple. P-Place her o-on the altar there and make your wish."

Naruto's eyes softened to their usual sapphire hue "thank you" he said, letting the elder go.

Then he rushed over to Yoi, picking her up gently murmuring "don't worry, it'll be okay" more for his own sake than hers.

He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled for Kinaga. When his horse got to the village square, Naruto put Yoi on his back and made a wild ride to his home where he gathered his arrows, kunai, shiriken, sword and saddle. Then with Yoi on his back he rode north through a canyon with narrow ledges and across the bridge to the end of the world. As Kinaga crossed the threshold from the canyon to the bridge, he felt weak as though something was torn from him.

"It's our chakra kit"

"what?!"

"Its our chakra, now step back over the threshold"

"what like this?" Naruto stepped back over the barrier puzzled.

Kyuubi let out a huge breath, "what happened?" "Kyuubi?"

"Just catching my breath kit, that... place, was killing me."

"w-what d'ya mean?"

"It drains chakra kit, I'm made almost entirely of chakra, thus any drain is like physical injury"

"well what should we do? about it, I won't kill you fox, but I gotta say Yoi"

"I think I may have a solution, just pump most of your chakra into the seal, and I'll create a barrier until we can find a better solution"

"you won't betray me will you?"

"I give you my word, we're in life together after all, and besides, I like the vixen too"

"alright, here goes" Naruto pumped chakra into the seal until he felt the start of exhaustion, Kyuubi then made the excess chakra into a protective barrier around himself and the seal.

"alright kit, until I find a better way to protect us, we wont be able to communicate, conventionally or this way, once you pass the threshold. I'll still know what's going on, I just won't be able to give you any insight"

Naruto nodded grimly. "how long do you think?"

"what're you gonna miss me or something?"

"No you jerk! I just don't know what I'll be facing, and I might need your help"

"depending on how powerful the drain is, at least six hours, so try not to die"

"will do kitsune-teme"

"don't call me that... and kit?" "yeah?" "good luck"

Naruto crossed the bridge and nothing changed, he was already running on a bare minimum of chakra the only difference was a sense of loneliness when he realized that he was truly alone. without Kyuubi, who'd, up till now, been a constant companion.

At the top of the fifty story temple he traveled down through two gardens and a spiraling ramp, across a shallow pool of water. Through a great stone hall housing sixteen statues to an altar where he placed Yoi's body and screamed to the heavens

"I WISH FOR HER TO BE ALIVE!"

He waited

And the he got a surprising response from the ceiling

"Well small one, to grant your wish, you must do a favor for me"

"Show yourself! Who are you?!" Naruto shouted, drawing a kunai and looking frantically around

"I am Dormin."

Slaying Giants

A.N. Well, I hope that wasn't too bad, it's my first fiction. Kyuubi will have more of a role next chapter, because the whole fic is basically Naruto, Kyuubi and Kinaga. There will likely be about eight more chapters in this fic. And I'll fix this chapter as well as likely post a new one next week. Everyone's going to be at least a little out of character.

As for pairing, this one will be NaruxOC with hints of NaruxSaku

Oh, and I sincerely hope you know what this is crossed with. The summary will show it next chapter, but for this one guess. Please review and leave constructive criticism.

Thanks

OS