Between Worlds

Chapter 1 – Destinies

By: volrath77

Disclaimer: Naruto™ and Naruto: Shippuden™ (including its characters, places or whatever stated in the manga, anime, movie, etc.) is/are owned by Masashi Kishimoto (or Kabushiki Kaisha Shūeisha [Shūeisha, Inc.] whichever is relevant) and not me. This piece of work is only for purposes of entertainment…and for some exercises in creative expression with no profits derived from it in any way whatsoever.


Deep inside the Sacred Sealing Cavern, Numa no Kuni…

"Too hasty, priestess…too hasty. You should have waited until my vessel died before summoning your barrier." A grating laugh resonated through the air. "Did you forget to check or was it simply blinding overconfidence and arrogance just because you presumed that no demon can ever pass your sacred barriers, even when one is being carried by a vessel?" The demon Mouryou chuckled evilly and broke free of the now stilled and desiccated form of its former vessel. Her knees shaking in pure terror, Shion could only watch as thick purplish black smoke erupted from the body.

The sarcophagus! Shion jerked with a start and her pale purple eyes darted to the intended target of the demon. She willed herself to move, rose to her feet, ran and threw herself in one smooth motion over the ornate stone coffin in the middle of the sacred sealing array, hoping that what she knew as a futile gesture would somehow prevent the now freed demon from rejoining its physical body.

No sooner than second after her body landed on the sarcophagus when the demon reacted. The young priestess had to close her eyes when she was suddenly assailed by the dark cloud, fierce winds lifted her up and she was thrown back into the barrier which she had created around the sealing array. The energy of the barrier coursed through her body and bolts of energy arced, nearly electrocuting her in the process. Shion fell to the ground and landed face-down in an undignified heap. The body of the vessel Yomi, discarded by Mouryou like a cheap shirt had also been propelled into the barrier by the winds but unlike her, it was incinerated.

The foul black cloud hovered and two glowing red eyes appeared within which narrowed as if on afterthought. "But then again…it matters not." The disembodied voice came through the thick black cloud. "My vessel had no more energy to break the seal but you had finished what he was supposed to do. I'll be taking my body back now…and for this, you have my thanks."

Defeated, Shion could not even utter a single word as she was simply overwhelmed by the terrifying knowledge that she had unwittingly unleashed upon the world. She could only watch as the dark cloud resumed its flow into the sarcophagus but she could not lift a finger, let alone her body from the floor to stop the process. All she could think was that she had failed. More than that, she had failed him. The dreaded visions of her accursed gift of foresight played in her mind. Unless she was able to do something, anything, the boy she had grown to deeply care for would die.

Unfortunately, where earlier she had managed to summon her courage to try and stop the demon no matter how useless the act appeared to be, now she could only watch, paralysed as the coffin opened and she saw that there was no emaciated, horrifically deformed or monstrous body within as she had imagined. Instead, there was only darkness so deep, it seemed to absorb all light and warmth. She could only watch as the demon gave one final laugh and disappeared into the coffin, knowing that at last the end of the world had begun.

The sacred barrier and sealing lines on the floor which had glowed bright purple moments ago slowly faded and died with the demon Mouryou's successful repossession of its body. Slumped in defeat, Shion's fingers clawed through the dirt of the shrine floor and her eyes started unseeing upon the shrine floor. Unable to stop the flow of tears, she sobbed in despair.

"What have I done?"


Naruto heaved a sigh of relief as he ran through the narrow tunnel cut into the base of the mountain which was supposed to lead directly into the chamber where the demon lay imprisoned. He didn't know how long he had been fighting the seemingly endless rows of the stone army outside. He ventured that it was only a few minutes but it sure had felt like hours and despite his infamous stamina, the stone army had ran him ragged. He had lost count on the number of Kage Bunshin and Rasengan he had to perform against the unliving warriors thus to say that he was tired was an understatement. He felt that he had practically exhausted his quota of Kage Bunshin and Rasengan for a whole week!

Luckily, before he was about to be overwhelmed by the stone army, help finally arrived in the form of his teammates Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and his all-time childhood crush, Haruno Sakura. If that was not enough, Maito Gai, Nara Shikamaru and his "not-girlfriend" Suna kunoichi, Temari had also arrived. His former sensei, Hatake Kakashi completed the line-up and had entered into the fray with style, subjecting a line of the stone warriors to the business end of his Raikiri jutsu and shattered them into little chunky pieces. With the arrival of his trusted friends and allies, he had taken off into the tunnel leading into the sealing shrine, without as much as a single word, confident that the others were more than sufficient to carry on the battle.

However, as relieved as he was at the timely intervention and rescue, Naruto cursed to himself at the same time. Giving himself a mental kick to the shins with every step, he wondered whether he was too late. He was assigned to protect the girl and had to order her into the sealing shrine since he had to deal with the stone army but as time passed, there was nothing but silence. No sounds whatsoever came from the direction he was heading and he hoped that the girl was unharmed and had managed to complete what she was supposed to do.

Naruto wondered whether he should have asked Shion to wait within the tunnel when he fought the army earlier but it was too late to second guess the decision at this time. Given the circumstances at the time, they had been besieged by the stone army summoned by the demon before the sacred sealed cave and he had to engage the stone army with his Kage Bunshin to give her time to perform the sealing ceremony. For Kami's sake, he had even scolded her by saying that she was an idiot when she asked which was the real him amongst the mob of clones he had summoned.

All he knew was that that had been the best option available since they had no idea of how close the demon was, which the young priestess was supposed to reseal, to its resurrection.

The light at the end of the tunnel grew closer and with it, Naruto could feel the heat and hear the bubbling noise coming from the other side. He could hear her voice as well. For a moment, his heart jumped in his chest, glad in the knowledge that she was safe. Yet, as he drew nearer to the end of the tunnel, Shion's voice echoed louder and he could hear her crying.

"What have I done?! What have I been doing all this time?!"

That's Shion's voice! What is going on in there? Naruto thought to himself and he poured more chakra to his legs increasing his speed, intent to reach the priestess as fast as he could. After all, if she was in trouble, he had given his promise to protect her. Where Uzumaki Naruto is concerned, every promise was a binding oath and when one was made, it was meant to be fulfilled. That was his nindo and there was no way he would break his self-proclaimed 'way of the ninja' after they had made it this far!

Then as he exited the tunnel, Naruto spied the priestess in the middle of a raised platform right in the very centre of the chamber. From appearances, she was slumped and sitting sideways on the ground with her back to the tunnel from which he had just emerged but his great relief, she was apparently unharmed.

"SHION!" Naruto cried out, his face broke into his trademark closed-eye wide smile as he broke into another run. Startled, Shion turned to face the boy that she had come to genuinely adore in the short time they had spent together on the journey, her face was still wet with tears, a fact that she was grateful to whatever gods that were still listening that the opening of the tunnel and the platform was far enough that Naruto couldn't see clearly that she was crying. Naruto stopped right before the narrow passageway that winded through the various pits of molten rock that led straight to the sealing platform.

"Did you get him? You sealed him away, right?" His voice rose and Naruto pumped his fist in the assumption that Shion had succeeded in her own task. That made her even more unable to look at the blond Konoha genin. He had so much faith in her abilities and she had failed him and worse, he would be the first to pay for her failure.

"Naruto…" Shion's faint voice came through the distance.

Naruto suddenly stopped smiling and his expression turned serious. No, anxious would be the correct term. "Shion, what's wrong?" However, the serious mien dropped a second later as he jumped to the simplest conclusion and he broke into a wide grin. "Oh yeah, you're tired right? Just wait there! I'll come to you." Naruto was about to take a step when Shion's voice stopped him.

"I…I don't deserve to be protected by you…or by anyone!" This time Naruto's trained eyes caught the glint of a single tear in the yellow orange light from the pools of the molten rocks around them. As it fell, it glittered like a diamond before splattering on the ground.

"Shion!" Naruto frowned, sensing that something had gone terribly wrong and he began to run towards the stricken priestess but a sudden tremor shook the cavernous chamber of the sealing shrine, causing him to nearly loose his footing. As he fought to stabilise his footing amidst the quake, purplish-black serpentine shapes tore free of the ground around the sealing platform and their tips blossomed into dragonheads. Unholy shrieks and roars reverberated in cacophonous symphony heralding the rebirth of the demon Mouryou. At the same time, the centre of the platform crumbled into a bottomless pit and swallowed the priestess into the darkness.

"SHION!" His heart constricting with fear for the priestess, Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran towards the pit like a madman, heedless of the danger posed by the demonic constructs around it. Baleful red eyes flared in hatred as they tracked every movement of the young Konoha genin and like gigantic unholy cobras, the long serpentine necks reared as each dragonhead prepared to strike.


Shion drifted downwards in a slow freefall, the darkness of the demon enveloped her in a smothering embrace. However, just as it was about to engulf her entirely, bright purple light burst forth from the bell charm she wore and stopped her from falling any further. Suspended in the middle of the demon, she was surrounded by nothing but an ever shifting mass of blackness and Mouryou's laughter echoed around her.

"I see the charm protects you still. As long as you have that light, I cannot absorb you but is that what you want? After all, we are one and the same. Once, we WERE one!"

Shion had been temporarily knocked out cold after the fall. However, the light and the clear ring of the bell charm brought her quickly back to consciousness but she kept her eyes closed as tightly as she could. She had never been so afraid in her life, never before had anything and everything appear to be so hopeless. In the darkness, she could neither see nor hear anything. She was not even be sure whether she was still alive.

Mouryou continued its relentless taunt. "Whether you open your eyes are not, it doesn't matter. Soon, you will witness all that you have tried to prevent…like the end of the world!" The demon laughed again.

High above on the remains of the sealing platform and circled by the massive snake like bodies which had punched their way out of the ground mere seconds ago, Naruto fought a desperate battle against the dragonheads. What the hell? Naruto thought to himself. A-are those things dragons? Hecould not be sure whether the dragons were part of the demon's body or merely chakra constructs. Even worse, he had no way of knowing whether the priestess was still alive or already dead.

One of the sinuous necks arced and snapped forward at tremendous speed, the fanged maw of the dragonhead opened wide as it punched through a rock formation with such ease as if it wasn't even there. The burning red eyes gleamed with hatred and the dragonhead skimmed just above the ground forcing Naruto to jump up high. He managed to clear the strike but just barely. Having missed its target, the earthbound dragon swiftly bent and twisted itself preparing for a second strike.

The blond Jinchūriki breathed a sigh of relief at the narrow escape and quickly noted that the other dragon or constructs or whatever had not yet joined the first. Perhaps that damned demon had deemed him to be nothing more than an annoyance. Either that or his luck was still holding out. Perhaps it was both.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the rest of the dragons joined their brethren in trying to rip him into shreds, Naruto did the only thing he was able to do. He screamed out Shion's name and hoped with everything he had that she was still alive.


"SHION!"

The scream, so loud and clear, jerked the priestess out of her terror-induced stupor.

"I…I'm still alive!…" Shion looked down at her hands, marvelling that somehow she was still alive despite having fallen into the demon itself. "But…that means Naruto is…if this goes on…at this rate, Naruto will…" She could not finish the fearful knowledge that she had seen in her vision would soon come to pass. Suddenly, as if in answer to her fears, the bell charm pinned to her jacket shone with a brilliant purple-white light.

Shion could only watch in stunned silence as images wavered into focus within the light and she saw a memory of an argument. It was not hers but she continued to watch, she saw her mother and the then mortal, human form of Mouryou. It was then she realised that it was her mother's. "Kaa-sama…" Pale purple eyes widened and Shion breathed out the name that she hadn't called…one that she had missed for nearly a decade. The hazy images of the argument then shifted to one which brought tears to her eyes. It was the image of her five-year old self with her head lying on her mother's lap.

The images shifted again, showing her mother giving orders to the shrine guards not to teach her any jutsu whatsoever. Why? Shion asked the bell charm silently. Why are you showing all this to me?

As if reading her mind, it showed her more memories. The gift of the bell charm when on her fifth birthday, sitting with her mother under the tree where she had promised to always carry the bell with her, that it would watch over and protect her for all time. The images shifted further and Shion was faced with words and visions that had haunted her since the day where she thought all light and warmth had disappeared from her life forever.

"Shion, whatever happens to me, you mustn't let your heart waver. Someday, I will disappear from your sight forever for we are all transient…fleeting, as the world we live in…"

"Why?!" Why are showing me all of this!" Shion screamed.

The shifting images changed once more and this time, it showed the very thing which the young priestess had tried to forget since the day it happened. Shion saw her infant self crying out for her mother who had then stood bravely before her facing black formless cloud, the same hateful eyes…the same the demonic essence which now enveloped her. Shion could only watch helplessly as the memory replayed to its fullest. She had forgotten to carry the bell on that fateful day and her mother had sacrificed herself by allowing herself to be absorbed by the demon to protect her infant daughter.

"It-it's all my fault." Shion whispered as she felt her tears began to fall once more. But apparently that was not what the bell charm wanted her to see and it rang, the sharp tone bringing Shion back to focus.

"Do not underestimate the powers of a high priestess!" Her mother's voice was carried clear through and before Shion could question further, she heard the words of the demon. Words that she had not understood back then but now came into clear focus…to risk one's own life to traverse through time…

That's it! That's what I must do to save Naruto! Shion realised with a start. She closed her eyes and willed for the charm to somehow grant her wish. I know what I must do now. Please help me…

Filled with a new determination, the priestess focused her energies into the charm and the small artefact flared to life…


"Don't worry! I have a plan and it'll work! This time, everything will be fine. Trust me!"

What? That's Naruto's voice! What is going on? Startled, Shion opened her eyes and found herself at the same lake where she and her brave Konoha genin had fallen into earlier during their journey to the sealing shrine. She looked left and right. Everything was just as she remembered but when she looked down to her hands, they were ephemeral and so was her entire body. Instantly, she realised that her prayers had been answered and travelled back through time. This time she would do what she should have done. She looked into those clear blue eyes again, his strong back beckoning her to climb on to carry her to her destiny. Her destiny…

"Destiny cannot be changed…" Shion could only manage a pained smile but she lowered her head immediately so that he could not see her expression. Her gaze fell on the bell charm and she pulled it out from her jacket. Rising fully, she walked towards the waiting blond genin.

"Are you still babbling about that? What did I tell you? I told you I have a plan and we'll make it, you'll see."

Shion did as she had done earlier. She rose from the tree and draped her body onto his back. Just like before, once satisfied that she was secure on his back and her arms around his shoulders, the Naruto of the past timeline straightened, ready to continue their journey. But this time, she quietly fastened the bell to the tail of his headband. She knew that he knew of the charm's protective powers and the headband was the best place to hide it. It would remain undetected until the time when it would be needed. Otherwise, the stubborn baka would vehemently refuse and hand her back the charm even though it would be the only thing that would save his life.

"Naruto…" Shion whispered into his ears. Faint and intimate.

"Hmm…"

A drop of tear trickled down a pale cheek and splattered on the shoulders of the black and orange jacket.

"You must live…" Shion sniffled and the small motion was felt by the boy she had come to care so much in the short time they had been together. He glanced over his shoulder and she could see concern reflected in those eyes.

"Shion? You're crying...is there something wrong?"

There, it was done. The timeline had been altered. The river would now take a new course. Shion let out an inner sigh, a mixture of relief and despair. Her Naruto would be safe. On the other hand, she would continue on to meet her destiny. The tone of worry was evident in his voice but she could not, would not let him worry about her now.

"I-it's nothing. Let's go."


The flow of Time rewound, shifted and the once-history replayed itself once more…

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the rest of the dragonheads joined the first one in trying to rip him into shreds, Naruto did the only thing he was able to do. He screamed out Shion's name and hoped with everything he had that she was still alive.

Uzumaki Naruto continued on his ascent and his eyes were fixed on the first one as it twisted in the air, seemingly coiled around the long bluish-black neck before it lunged again. The dragonhead opened its jaws letting a loose a scream of triumph and hate while the burning red eyes blazed in anticipation of the kill.

This time however, he was ready. Swiftly drawing a kunai from the pouch strapped to his thigh, Naruto twirled the kunai around his fingers and shifted his body in the air. The evasion was successful as the dragonhead passed harmlessly for the second time beneath him. This in turn allowed Naruto to plunging his kunai deep into the head. He hadn't needed to use his full strength anyway. The speed of the dragonhead's lunge had practically guaranteed that the kunai would bury itself into the abomination's head without much effort. That and it was hard to focus much strength into a blow when one was suspended in midair anyway.

"Hah! Too late!" Naruto let out a thunderous shout. Dark ichor spurted as the entire blade vanished inside the head and was lodged there. It was only then Naruto found that he had to hold on to the kunai handle for dear life as he was dragged high upwards into the air from the sheer momentum of the dragon's movement. The head thrashed left and right in its death throes. He then glanced downwards and saw the distance between his current height in the air and the ground below. Or those lava pools. He thought to himself.

Either way, falling would hurt…a lot.

A purple glow at the centre of the sunken sealing platform suddenly tore Naruto's attention from his current predicament. From his angle dangling high above the ground, he could see it grew until a brilliant white light shone from the middle of it. At the same time, he heard her voice which seemed to surge and echo with the light itself. Unfortunately, the shining light distracted the genin from a dragonhead in his peripheral vision which had already uncoiled and lunged from below like a speeding cannonball, the fanged maw wide open for a fatal strike…

"Naruto…"

"Huh? Shion? W-where…?" Naruto looked left, right, up and down trying to ascertain where Shion's voice had come from but in doing so, he utterly failed to notice the dragonhead coming directly from below.

"YOU MUST LIVE!" The bell charm hidden in Naruto's headband burst into life and rang as the dragonhead impacted against him with murderous force. However, as it was charged to do by its mistress, the bright purple light emitted by the charm formed a shield in the shape of the charm itself around the blond genin and fully deflected the blow, protecting the young genin from the danger. Unfortunately, the impact also tore Naruto's grip from the kunai still lodged in the dragonhead he had stabbed.

"What the…?" Naruto blinked in confusion as the second construct streaked past him in his fall. He turned his head to the left and noticed that two more were coming up the same path as the second. Naruto tried to twist his body in the air trying to get his feet connected to the neck of the second dragonhead that had looped for another attempt but it was too far.

Shit! They're too fast! The thought flashed across Naruto's mind as he tried to scramble to safety but the two demonic constructs were too fast and their massive fangs were too close to be stopped. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact. The sacred protective wards, instilled into the bell charm by the soul and will of a deceased high priestess intended to protect her young daughter from harm, came to life once more and another ethereal shield was thrown up. Twin peals rang crystal clear as the demonic constructs struck the shield but Naruto was completely protected from the demonic fury.

When he twisted in the air looking for the next incoming threat, it was only then that Naruto noticed the bell charm pinned to the right tail of his hitai-ate headband after it smacked him square in the nose and nearly whipped into his left eye. The charm! How did it get there? Despite the shield, he was dazed from the impacts and worse, his mind was invaded by thoughts and images which he was sure were not his own.

Naruto's inattention to his predicament cost him as the body of one of the dragonheads which had tried to rip him into shreds a second ago sideswiped into his body and propelled him to a violent and very painful crash back on the baked ground. If the earlier impacts had left Naruto dazed, being introduced to the ground at high speeds and nearly landing on his face at that positively stunned the boy, akin to having his head and face being rammed against a wall. He had managed to somewhat slow the impact by trying to get hold of the ground at the last moment but the rolling motion introduced by the momentum of the fall certainly caused him to feel as if his brain was spinning wildly in his skull.

High above the prone ninja, one of the dragonheads which was stabbed with the kunai earlier exploded and showered the ground with purplish-black ichor.

His head was still spinning but Uzumaki Naruto was shaking in anger at the demon for toying with him. Swiftly recalling the events that happened seconds ago, he replayed the memories displayed in his mind by the charm. He saw the high priestess Miroku and her self-sacrifice to protect her daughter from Mouryou and Shion's early life and childhood. He saw her memories of loneliness and isolation as the villagers and their children had avoided her due to her powers to foresee the deaths of others. In one way, Shion…what she'd gone through…so similar...to what I've been through. Naruto realised with a start. More and more memories flashed through and finally, the fall off the mountainside into the lake and the subsequent conversation at the lakeside.

"But…but this is different from what I remember! W-what is going on?" Naruto mumbled numbly and the charm answered him with another series of images flashing through his mind. "Travelling through time? I promised Shion that I'll protect her? I don't remember that, I honestly don't but that's what actually happened, isn't it? I don't remember that promise because she had changed things, didn't she? A-and she gave you to me because she really thought…no, because I was really supposed to die back there?"

The charm was silent, no further images flowing into his brain. The blond felt a sudden warmth in his chest in the realisation that the priestess valued his existence that much that she was willing to die in his place. Just like Iruka-sensei. Naruto thought to himself. Just like… He stopped and shook his head before the thought finished. No, this is not the time to think about these things.

With his mind set on the next course of action, the initial warmth was quickly replaced with increasing anger at his current situation.

Knees wobbling as he rose to his feet, Naruto firmly decided that he was not 'angry'. If anything, he decided that 'royally pissed off' would be the most accurate descriptor of his current emotions. Most of them directed towards the demon Mouryou but a little bit of it was towards the young priestess but he would verbally chew her later…once he got her out of the belly of the demon.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as he shook his fist furiously towards the multitude of demonic dragons which swayed left and right at his every movement. Shaking his head to clear it, Naruto slid the pin of the charm off his hitai-ate headband and fastened it at the front of his jacket. He immediately broke into another run towards the edge of the sinkhole which Shion had disappeared into. As he suspected, once he got into range, the dragonheads exploded into action.

Kuso! Naruto cursed internally. "HANG IN THERE, SHION! I'M COMING!" The self-styled Number One loudest, hyperactive, knuckleheaded, unpredictable ninja of Konohagakure no Sato resolutely ignored the charging dragonheads other than dashing aside and evading a few that came too close for comfort. The genin charged relentlessly towards the gaping hole in the ground even as his fingers crossed into the seal of his favourite jutsu.

You protected me back there. At your mistress's bidding perhaps but you protected me all the same. In Kami-sama's name, I'm getting her back so help me! Naruto mentally shouted to the charm but if it heard him, it gave no response. Not waiting for any signs and not caring for any to come forth from the charm in actuality, Naruto dove headfirst into the abyss with a loud battle cry, heedless of consequences and all cautions thrown to the wind.


"Interesting…I have seen that power before. Giving your charm away to another person? What a foolish act. But then, foolishness had always run in your blood." There was no mistaking the taunt in Mouryou's voice and the demon cackled in glee.

Hugging her knees to her bosom, Shion sat in the darkness, waiting for the inevitable. Her hands reflexively gripped her jacket tighter as the demon's words hit home.

"Have you nothing to say?" Mouryou paused and waited for answer from the defeated figure of the priestess. There was only silence.

"Hnh, how disappointing…" Despite the words, there was no trace of any regret whatsoever in the demon's voice or the laughter that followed. "Very well then, as it should have been, it shall now be done. We will fuse together into one being and together we will witness the deaths of those who had tried to protect you! They will make a fitting beginning to the end of this world!"

However, despite all the taunts, Shion had come to a realisation that despite everything that demon had said or insinuated, there was still one task left ahead for her to do and with it came unbridled despair. She cried bitterly for all those who had sacrificed themselves to ensure that she lived to face this day.

"T-this is how it is supposed to be." Tears flowing freely, Shion lifted her head and whispered to the darkness. A pinprick of light emerged and grew before her. "The villagers…none of them had to die! Isn't that right…kaa-sama? She held her hands towards the light and in doing so, her mother's memory flashed through her mind. At long last, Shion finally understood her purpose and what her mother had tried to achieve and failed.

Miroku had intended for herself to be the final sacrifice to stop Mouryou once and for all but her powers were only to seal to demon but not destroy it. She had intended to keep her daughter from unlocking her true powers that if used correctly, was sufficient to truly end the menace of Mouryou forever…at the cost of her daughter's life. She also saw her mother's fear that the power, if misused, would cause her daughter to be an even worse threat to the world than the demon itself.

The soothing voice of the high priestess Miroku came forth from the light, bringing calm to her despairing daughter. Shion's eyes adjusted to the light and she saw the graceful form of her mother's soul. Without a word, Miroku gathered her daughter in a warm embrace. Burying her face in her mother's shoulders, Shion closed her eyes as she felt the familiar soft hand gently stroked her tresses.

"Forgive me, Shion. I only wanted to protect you…to believe in you…to give you a peaceful life. This burden should have been mine to bear but I failed. Forgive me. You must hate me…"

Shion opened her eyes and interrupted her mother before she could finish such an unthinkable notion. "There is nothing to forgive. I love you, Kaa-sama…"

"Wha…what is this?"

Radiant purple light blossomed within the darkness and for the first time in millennia of existence, the demon Mouryou knew fear. More than that, wherever the light touched, the demon felt pain. In the middle of that burning brilliance was the figure of the young priestess, her light blond hair billowed wildly around her as if caught by storm winds.

"I understand now…what I should use this power for. RELEASE!" With that single command, various marks appeared on Shion's face, arms and body and her clothes were somehow transformed into a gossamer-like material but none of that mattered to the priestess. Raising her hands close to her face, she gazed at them sadly, thinking of all the priestesses who had been lost to the demon before her and the people who had died for her so that she would be able to make it this…the final confrontation with Mouryou. Waves of sealing chakra, concentrated to lethal levels, be it to demons or humans alike, erupted from her body.

"I-I see now! The bell….it suppressed your true powers…i-it burnsss!" Far above on the surface, the earthbound dragons being part of Mouryou's body writhed and twisted, their agonized screams shook the sealing cavern.

"This is the end, Mouryou." Shion whispered softly but surely, her voice unwavering in resolve. Unbidden, her thoughts then drifted to the blond Konoha genin she would leave behind and her eyes began to water again. "Naruto…can you hear me? From now on, you'll be safe. You must carry on and protect the world. Do not grieve for me…This is my destiny." Her voice faltered as she began to cry unreservedly. The true memory of the lakeside promise flashed before her eyes.

"I'll protect you. Trust me, Shion."

"You promise?"

"You bet! I swear this on my nindo."

"You liar…" The anguished whisper escaped the priestess's lips and she closed her eyes, one she was sure would be for the final time. This time, she would ensure that she would be the last. Mouryou had lived long enough and too many innocents had been lost because of it. The gathered energies spiked and flared in all directions and the demon howled in agony.

Having given in to her despair and the resolve to end the menace of the demon for all eternity, the young priestess of Oni no Kuni was only a hair's breadth from oblivion when her concentration was suddenly and rudely interrupted by the sharp, clear ring of the same bell charm she had given to the blond Konoha genin. Before her mind could even register the impossibility or the sheer audacity involved, she was roughly and very much rudely yanked upwards by one royally pissed off Uzumaki Naruto.


"YOU STUPID PRIESTESS! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Despite an overwhelming need to scream into Shion's ears until her ears bled, inwardly Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he yanked Shion out of shifting blackness of Mouryou's body and back into the light. With a hard tug, the young genin heaved the stunned priestess like she was a mere sack of potatoes into his arms and drew her close into his arms as the long string of his Kage Bunshin which had acted as an improvised lifeline yanked both of them back to safety.

"OPEN YOUR EYES! I SAID OPEN YOUR EYES!" Shion struggled against the insistent commands for a moment and then her eyes snapped open. "NOW, BREATHE!" Another imperious scream and the young priestess complied, gasping like a landed fish as she furiously gulped in precious air into her burning lungs.

Deeply relieved that the girl that he had, in another time, sworn to protect was awake and breathing, Naruto leapt up after his feet landed on the edge of the sinkhole which housed the body of the demon. Their purpose done, his Kage Bunshin clones dissipated in a chorus of pops and white smoke which served to further mask both his and Shion's presence from the writhing dragons.

Bringing his face as close to hers to stare her down in the eyes, Naruto began to vent. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS?!" He even jostled the terrified Shion is his arms for good measure.

Shion could only stare unblinkingly into the blue eyes of her saviour which now reflected the orange light emanating from the lava pools below. She saw her own reflection in those furious orbs and she saw something else in them. A maelstrom of emotions seemed to swirl within them. Anger and fury was dominant but there was also warmth, concern, something akin to affection…and mottles of swirling red?

"DO YOU SIMPLY WANT TO DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT?!" Another rough impatient jostle followed.

"I..." Shion's voice stuck in her throat at the sheer intensity of the young Konoha genin.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, SHION! SAY IT! SAY IT OUT LOUD!" Naruto screamed out loud, baring his fangs in the process.

"I…I…I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Shion screamed her denial at the top of her lungs, expelling all her emotions in that single scream of defiance and Naruto's expression immediately shifted from anger from jubilation.

Not waiting for the dragonheads to begin a renewed assault on their precarious position they were in, Naruto hefted the still shaking body of the priestess into his arms, bridal style, while he gathered as much of his chakra as he could into his legs and began to run and jump, alternating between using the writhing necks of the dragonheads and the rocky walls surrounding the sealing chamber as impromptu anchoring and jumping points, rapidly changing his trajectories with each jump in a vertical slalom course to the highest point he could to get them to safety. Seconds, passing agonisingly like an eternity passed, and suddenly both of them were clear, high above from the thrashing body of the demon…for the moment.

Struck by a sudden inspiration, Naruto shifted the still recovering priestess to nestle in the crook of his left arm and pulled the bell charm pinned to his jacket with his right hand. The charm, seemingly aware of the purpose, somehow disassembled itself from its pin and hovered precisely in the centre of blond genin's palm.

Without a lapse in thought or even checking the position of the charm, Naruto began to pump his chakra into the charm. Blue streams of chakra swirled and as they contacted the surface of the charm, transformed into brilliant purple. However, having never truly completed the mastery of the Rasengan, the swirling build-up of chakra rapidly destabilised and dispersed. He had to do this a different way and he quickly racked his brain for idea. The only option was clear: Shion would have to provide the chakra while he would spin and control it at the same time.

"Shion! Wake up and help me!" Naruto shook the shell-shocked Shion into awareness and she turned a dazed, uncomprehending gaze to him. "Just cup your hand over mine and the bell. Not too close though and pour in your chakra as much as you can! Quick, we don't have much time!"

Shion nodded and began to do as she was instructed. Reaching out to cup her left hand over the hovering bell charm, she poured her own sealing chakra into the charm and watched as the chakra began to swirl and a shrill whine began to emanate from forming jutsu. Grunting in concentration, Naruto moulded the chakra into the familiar ball of swirling maelstrom, this time purple with tendrils and motes of blue chakra leaking out. However, he realised two critical facts: the Rasengan was far too small against the demon below them and it was a matter of time, perhaps seconds left, before gravity finally caught up with their ascent and reverse their direction downwards.

"More, Shion! We need more! Give it everything you've got!" The girl gave only a small grunt of determination at the encouragement and her pale violet eyes narrowed as she concentrated and poured more of her sealing chakra into the rapidly enlarging Rasengan.


Back on the floor of the sealing cavern, the newly reborn Mouryou managed to overcome the waves of tremendous pain that tore through its body when the sealing chakra erupted from the body of the priestess. Its dragonheads which had wavered back and forth when they shared the agony of the main body moments ago stilled as the great demon refocused its hatred back at the two humans now suspended high in the air above it.

Baleful gazes tracked the ascent of the teens and followed their every movement. The great demon heard every word spoken and it saw the orange-clad boy, the same one who had earlier torn its prize away from its innards, began to perform some sort of jutsu which it had never before encountered in its millennia of existence. Then it felt massive outpourings of sealing chakra erupt from the priestess and it all coalesced into swirling scintillating ball of purple-blue energy which rapidly doubled in size with every second.

It was at that moment that Mouryou knew fear. Fear of its total and permanent destruction at the end of that sphere of accumulated energy. All the power it had so carefully hoarded throughout the centuries would be destroyed and dispersed. More than that, its very existence would be wiped out of existence. However, at the same time a cold malevolence rose from within. A dormant intelligence, ancient, powerful and reeking with insidious evil awakened within the demon and it felt something a torrent of sensations aside from the soul-crushing fear. Emotions of joy…exultation…Triumph…and co-existing with them all was the all-too-familiar emotion of true, unlimited and unbridled Hatred.

Before Mouryou could even begin to analyse the puzzle of these new sensations, the unidentified intelligence took over its body and began to redirect its energy towards the very core of the demon's soul. An ebony prick of darkness, blacker even compared to the soul of the demon Mouryou flickered into existence at the centre of the demonic core. The prick of utter blackness grew, doubling in size with every second as if in response and matching to the growing power of the ball of sealing chakra suspended high above it.

"A portal!" Mouryou's mind turned in upon itself and attempted to make contact with the overriding intelligence. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

However, if the intruding entity understood the demand, it gave no answer and Mouryou watched in stunned disbelief as its body continued to operate independent of its mind. Only scant seconds passed before Mouryou realised with growing horror, if such a phrase could be applied to a demon, that its body was relentlessly tearing itself away from the very grounds where it had lain imprisoned, rising from the earth as if in challenge to the growing power of the strange jutsu employed by its intended prey suspended in mid-air.

"How dare you?!" Concentrating back into his inner core, Mouryou tried to will its body down but every part of its newly reborn body seemed hell-bent on throwing itself to destruction. Even more alarming was the portal which had grown from a mere speck, a pinpoint of blackness to one quarter the size of one of its dragonheads. However, the size of portal was now sufficient to allow the now panicking Mouryou a feel…a glimpse…of the intended destination. Makai!

At that point, if there was a word that could accurately describe the emotions coursing through the black soul of Mouryou, it would be gratitude. Perhaps whoever or whatever had opened the portal within its body intended to save it. Perhaps the intruding intelligence intended for its body to engage the boy and the priestess to buy time for the formation of the portal. Even if its body was destroyed but as long as its essence…soul survived, the inherent energies swirling in Makai, its home dimension would regenerate it back in time. Decades might pass before its full regeneration would be completed but it would survive and then return to wreck vengeance on this pathetic world. However, the portal was still too small to allow its essence a safe passage through…

The sudden feeling of gathering energy stopped and forced Mouryou to turn its attention back to the real world…

Whatever it was that the two humans were attempting, it was now complete. The gigantic swirling ball, pregnant with catastrophic amounts of both normal and sealing chakra, hung above the demon like an executioner's blade and the demon knew that unless it made its escape through, it would be completely obliterated both body and soul without any chance of regeneration whatsoever.

Desperately, Mouryou recoiled back into itself again as it sought the intruding intelligence like a man dying of thirst given a glimpse of life-sustaining water. However, whatever entity that had so intruded into its core and gave birth to the portal was gone. Quickly turning its attention to the portal, Mouryou discovered with growing horror that the portal in the centre of its being had stopped growing entirely. Oh, it was still there…a sphere of infinite blackness but the aperture was still too small for it to fit its essence through, let alone its gigantic body.

Growing even more desperate by the second, Mouryou turned its mind into the portal and saw that the planes depicted within the portal wavered and shifted into entirely new vistas of terror even if only for scant heartbeats…if the demon had a beating heart to begin with. Makai?…No, Yomi! W-what? How?!

Unbidden, the previous intruding intelligence revealed itself again and Mouryou felt that its entire body rallied once more to the invisible, alien command. The gigantic body with the flailing serpentine dragonheads finally broke free of the confining earth and rose slowly with broken chunks of hard-baked earth and cooled lava falling away from the glistening reptilian hide.

And through it all the demon Mouryou, the self-styled immortal conqueror and destroyer of the world, was essentially trapped in its own body, too stunned and terrified beyond its mind and utterly helpless to stop its own impending, inescapable mortality.


"HAH! YOU'RE TOO LATE!" Naruto shouted in triumph as he felt the Rasengan in his hand held up above his head completed in its formation. Glowing brilliant purple and blue, the madly swirling sphere was as large as he was tall, far bigger than his Ōdama Rasengan and simply the biggest yet that he had ever executed since he had mastered the technique. Despite the triumphant tone, his cerulean blue eyes narrowed ominously at the rising form of the massive demon beneath him, tracking its every movement like the eyes of a hungry hawk.

So rapt was Naruto in his observation of the demon that he only vaguely noticed the young priestess that nestled to his body snuggled even closer as if in anticipation of what was to come.

The truth was Shion was only too glad to have been freed from the jaws of death when Naruto had sprung her out from the innards of the demon and settled into snuggling even closer, if that was at all possible, to the body of the blond genin. She had done what she was asked by injecting her sealing chakra into Naruto's jutsu and all that was left was for her was to accompany the boy with whom she had become deeply attracted to in the short time they had been together to the conclusion of the journey, whatever it might be.

And so, the two teens reached the apex of the jump and the priestess tightened her hug even more around the young Konoha genin's shoulders as Naruto suddenly shifted the balance of gravity by pitching his body forward and finally allowing gravity to work its pull.

"TAKE THIS, DEMON! CHŌ CHAKRA RASENGAN!"

Naruto lowered his arm forward in a forceful thrust with the brilliant purplish-blue maelstrom leading the way. His left arm reflexively tightened around the priestess's waist as their previous ascent was abruptly turned into a rapid descent in a suicidal head-first dive aiming right into the core of the writhing, lumbering mass of demonic flesh on the cavern floor.

Shion closed her eyes, partly in shielding them from the brilliance of the Rasengan and partly in relief and gratitude, and whispered her mother's name in a silent prayer hoping that with the demon's destruction, her mother's long imprisoned soul would finally be free.

Mere moments, measurable in a breath, separated them from the impact and suddenly the bell charm, still attached to Naruto's jacket, rang once in a shrill tone. Glowing complex geometric patterns formed on and in Shion's pale violet irises as her gift of foresight awakened at the warning and it showed her of the future events to come. Events which would surely happen if the Rasengan made contact with the demon…

It seemed that Fate or Destiny or whatever it is called was truly a fickle mistress.

"NARUTO, STOP!!!" The warning shout came too late, the Chō Chakra Rasengan impacted dead centre against the doomed Mouryou and detonated, instantly flooding the massive cavern with an unearthly and impossibly bright glare of white light.

...

...And simultaneously as if in answer of the catastrophe to come, deep within the deepest recesses of the mind and soul of Uzumaki Naruto and sheltered within the thick blanket of darkness behind massive bars, a gigantic pair of black-rimmed, red slitted eyes snapped open and shone with an eerie crimson light as blood-red, bubbling demonic lifeforce flickered and burst forth in a torrential flow like the raging waters from a broken dam...


At the same time, early night-time, Konoha…

Tsunade stood before the large windows of her office, her gaze focused to the far horizon where a faint reddish glow was visible just above the hills and mountaintops far beyond the forests surrounding Konoha signifying that the battle between the combined forces of village and the samurai of Hi no Kuni's Daimyo against the advancing yurei guntai of the resurrected Mouryou was already under way. The fact that the glow was visible all the way from the borders of Hi no Kuni to the Hokage Tower underlined the fact that the invading army was already far too close for comfort.

To make matters worse, she had no inklings whatsoever whether the teams that she had dispatched to Oni no Kuni to escort the priestess Shion to the sealing caves in Numa no Kuni where the physical body of the demon Mouryou was sealed had succeeded or failed in their mission. No in-mission missives or messages from her ninjas…nothing.

The blonde Hokage's thin brows narrowed for a moment as she heard the quick footsteps beyond the door of her office and recognised them as those of her long-time apprentice, Shizune.

"Come in, Shizune." Heh, she didn't even get to knock on the door, Tsunade snickered to herself.

The door opened only slightly and the head of the young medic-nin and personal assistant of the Godaime Hokage appeared first between the crack as she peeked into the room. She was all too familiar with the short temper of her long-time master and as she had learned many times over, it was prudent to always check whether the Godaime was in the midst of hissy fit or not unless she wanted received a shout, or a stack of documents or worse to the face.

"Oh, for the lo-…just come in already!" Tsunade snapped as she turned from the windows and faced her apprentice.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune stammered into attention. She hurriedly stepped into the room, closed the door softly behind her and quickly approached the desk. She offered a quick bow as well to placate the sometimes unpredictable older woman just in case the latter was in a mood to throw something heavy in her way.

"Well? Is there anything…" Tsunade started but was cut short by her apprentice.

"Tsunade-sama, we've just received report from Sunagakure that the yurei guntai has also appeared on their borders. Just like us, they've mobilised their shinobi and are currently engaging the enemies as we speak. According to this report, they are still holding on but for every part of the army they destroyed, it kept reforming and pushing forward through Kaze no Kuni's borders." Shizune hurried handed the allied report scroll she held in her hand to Tsunade who snapped the scroll open and proceeded to devour the contents.

"Also, apparently Godaime Kazekage-sama knew that his sister has joined the support team for Team 7's mission and requested information on the current situation, if any, from any report that we have received from Oni no Kuni."

"Huh." Tsunade gave a soft snort. "So he knew…Temari must've alerted him about the mission before she left with Kakashi, Gai and the rest. At least, there's no request for reinforcements yet from Suna so I guess Suna and Kaze no Kuni must be holding on quite well as a whole. Speaking of which, any words from our borders?"

"Not since the last communication from Asuma-san, Tsunade-sama. Any new ones might still be on the way though."

Tsunade sank into her chair and sighed, her chocolate brown eyes closed for a few seconds before they opened again. "Anything from Team 7, Kakashi or Gai?"

Shizune shook her head slowly and her face bore its usual pinched, pensive expression whenever she was disturbed or concerned.

Tsunade let loose another soft sigh and reached for a blank scroll. "Well, as for Gaara and Suna, we'll tell them what we know so far of the mission. Nothing..." The blond hunched down a little as she wrote in her fluid script onto the scroll. Her pale hand flew swiftly and surely as her fingers guided her brush across the parchment before they suddenly stopped.

"Wait. Did you send my earlier message to Jiraiya?"

Shizune nodded in affirmative. "Yes, Tsunade-sama. I sent it before getting the message from Suna. However, since Jiraiya-sama always keeps his location a secret, it might be days before our messenger hawk reaches him and days more before he arrives back in the village."

"I know." The older woman replied without even looking up as she continued on the last sentence she had stopped on the scroll. "I just hope he comes back. If things go wrong, I have no doubt that we'll manage to hold that army at the walls. It's just that having him and Gamabunta can be really handy if worse comes to worst."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama." Shizune offered her agreement and nodded but one glance at her old mistress's face and she knew what or rather who the Godaime was actually worried about. "You're not actually worried about the village, aren't you Tsunade-sama? You're more worried about Naruto-kun."

Another sigh escaped through Tsunade's lips. "Hnh. Well, you know that loudmouth gaki has a tendency to complicate things and on this mission, I might have just sent him to go up against an ancient yōkai. Kuso! If I don't know any better, it's very likely that he'll actually go up against that yōkai head-on and chattering his mouth all the way!" The blond woman gave an exasperated grunt.

"So yes, of course I'm worried about him! Look, I don't know but I just had a feeling something bad, really bad is going to happen…" Her fears voiced, the blond Hokage rested the brush on its holder and skimmed through the scroll to ensure that the message she had just written was accurate.

Shaking her head, Tsunade reached to a side of her desk and applied her official seal to the bottom of scroll before neatly rolling it with a flick of her wrist. She even applied the requisite security seal without even a pause. Once done, she looked up to face Shizune once more and wordlessly handed over the scroll to her apprentice's waiting hand.

Shizune quickly tied the roll with a piece of twine. "I'm worried too, Tsunade-sama but I know Naruto-kun will be fine. Neji-san, Kakashi-san and Gai-san will keep him safe. Sakura is with them as well and like always, she'll keep Naruto-kun in line."

The black-haired woman knew why her mistress would worry so much about their favourite hyperactive genin. To the young medic-nin, Naruto was akin to a younger brother she never had but to her mistress, he would be more than a surrogate brother, more than a simple replacement of her beloved and lost younger brother, Nawaki. Naruto would be, if one were to argue enough, more akin to a pseudo-son to the blond Hokage. After all, was there any other shinobi in the village who would or could dare trade jabs about Tsunade's actual age in public or call her openly and affectionately as his or her 'Baa-chan' or generally act in her presence with as much cheeky (or suicidal depending on perspective) irreverence without being punched clear across the village? None at all, none whatsoever.

Tsunade momentarily froze at a mental picture of the irreverent gaki kneeling and pleading for mercy from the punishing blows of an irate Haruno Sakura and managed a light chuckle before rising from her seat to slowly turn to face the windows again, back towards the still burning horizon. "Indeed. There's always Sakura, so I guess…" The statement died suddenly before Tsunade glanced back at her apprentice. "Is there anything else, Shizune?"

Shizune was startled at the sudden address before quickly composing herself internally and allowed none of her reaction to register on her expression. There was another thing she was supposed to deliver to her mistress but it would have to wait. "There's nothing else, Tsunade-sama. I'll send this to Communications right away."

Tsunade nodded without even looking away from the windows. "Good. Keep me informed of any messages. If there are any action reports from the borders or from Team 7 or Kakashi or…" She didn't manage to finish the order as her apprentice, in complete understanding, cut her in mid-sentence.

"Of course, Tsunade-sama. If there's anything, you'll be the first to know." With that, Shizune bowed and excused herself from the Hokage's office, her robes shuffled softly around her ankles as she quietly exited the door and closed the door so carefully without even so much as whisper of a creak from the joints.


On the way, Shizune frowned as she felt the piece of paper in the pocket of her robes. It was a letter from an associate of the Godaime Hokage in Tanzaku Gai, back when she was only known as 'Tsunade' or 'that blond Sannin' or, in a less reverent reference, 'Densetsu no Kamo' prior to her ascendancy to the position of Hokage of Konoha. Shizune had opened the letter after seeing the return address and knew what was actually contained in it.

She knew that her mistress, despite managing to almost stop her gambling activities after becoming the Hokage, still indulged in some betting from time to time although it was always skilfully hidden. None of the bettings were of anything major other than sweepstakes, lotteries and the likes. And today of all days, the letter had arrived from the gambling town containing the message that Tsunade had indeed won one of the monthly sweepstake draws and with it, a large sum of money.

However, given that her mistress tended to view any of her wins as premonitions of bad omen, it would not do to unnecessarily worry or aggravate the older woman. Yes, she would break the news of the win to her mistress in time but it would not be tonight.

Dismissing sudden disturbing thoughts at how often misfortunes fell in the wake of any winnings made by Tsunade even in the simplest of bets or wagers, Shizune quickened her steps towards the Communications building.


Note:

Testing 123…testing 123…*cough*

Right….ok, this is my first attempt at a fanfic so my humblest apologies if the ideas or flow of the story doesn't exactly jive together. This is actually a rewritten piece since the original version I had worked on was lost along with my laptop back in mid-December 2008 (along with my written notes, overall general storyline, chapter storyline, prepared jutsu list, character list and all). Unfortunately, I forgot to make even one backup of the original version so I'm still trying to reconstruct the general storyline, chapter plots, etc. – basically trying to remember as much as I can and rewriting everything. Simply put, the whole reconstruction thing sucks bad, really bad…

Adding to that, since this is my first work, I've got no idea on how fast the story tempo should go and I'm not entirely sure if I got the characterization right. Also, since it's a combination of word processor spell-checking plus eyeballing the story from start to finish, I apologize in advance if there are lots of grammatical or spelling errors up there…or convoluted sentence structures since my spoken/written English can be convoluted at times. Heh heh heh…

I also intend to use/retain the Japanese names of the existing jutsu in Narutoverse as well as new ones I'm creating for this fic. So…if there's any error in the translation, please inform me of the correct translation or if lots of people actually prefer English names (which are actually easier for me and for all of us :P), inform me accordingly and I'll change the names to English. No problem.

As for updates, I'm not sure on the rough timing for updates on new chapters. I'm thinking of updating once a month but then again, since I'm still arranging/remembering/reconstructing old ideas in my head and on paper plus balancing writing this with RL work, I'm just not sure on the updating frequency. I'll try to post new chapters as soon and as best as I can.

Thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated and by the way, don't worry about flaming me in the reviews as long as you can point out things that you don't like or things which you think should be improved.

I think I'll cut my babbling now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Glossary:

Baa-chan – Granny / Grandmother

Chō Chakra Rasengan – Super Chakra Spiralling Sphere

Densetsu no Kamo – The Legendary Sucker

Gaki – brat

Godaime Hokage – Fifth Fire Shadow

Godaime Kazekage – Fifth Wind Shadow

Hi no Kuni – Fire Country

Hitai-ate – forehead protector (I found that it is also known/spelled as Hitaigane)

Hokage – Fire Shadow

Jinchūriki (alt. spelling Jinchuuriki) – power of human sacrifice

Kage Bunshin (no Jutsu) – Shadow Clone Technique

Kaze no Kuni – Land of Wind

Kazekage – Wind Shadow

Konohagakure no Sato –Village Hidden in the Leaf / Hidden Leaf Village

Makai – Demon World / Demonic Realm

Nindo – way of the ninja

Numa no Kuni – Swamp Country

Ōdama Rasengan – Great Ball Spiralling Sphere

Oni no Kuni – Demon Country

Rasengan – Spiralling Sphere

Sunagakure (no Sato) - Village Hidden in the Sand / Hidden Sand Village

Yomi – Underworld / Hell

Yurei guntai – ghost army