Tondemonai Kami

by Epsialpha

What happens when an attempt to end Naruto's life when he is a child fails? Forces far stronger than any one could hope to comprehend are set in motion, and once they are, no one can prevent the consequences that are to come. This story is almost entirely AU. For the moment there are no pairings, though that can be amended. Rate T for language and violence. May change ratings.

Okay, so this is my first story, so please, bear with me. There will be mistakes, that much is understood. I hope that you readers will help me with any mistakes you may see, and it would be appreciated. Any criticism is welcome, as long as it is constructive. If you do indeed notice any mistakes, I will fix them upon notification. This story will not be going along the lines of Canon for its majority, and there will be some OCs. Any other details that are needed should be in the description. If your required answer is not provided, I would be more than happy to answer any questions regarding the story. Thank you for reading, Epsialpha out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other affiliated titles and or brands associated with this story.

Chapter 1: The Fox and the Hound dog

When people think of the Village of Hidden Leaf, better known as Konoha, they tend to have two general lines of thought. The first line consists of its majestic beauty, the beautiful views, the grand markets, the tall trees, the gentle winds that just happen to make everything better, or even the massive iconic walls that surround it. Then there is the second line of thought, the one that every good military tactician manages to see at a mere glance. That line of thought sees the powerhouse that Konoha truly is. Those iconic walls were for more than just a pretty view, and it took a truly skilled strategist in order to bring them down. Konoha was the most powerful ninja village in existence, that much was certain, producing some of the most legendary ninjas to have ever lived. In the past century, more living legends had come out of Konoha than most would care to think of, especially for enemy villages. It would be suicide for a full frontal assault to take place at Konoha. That isn't even including the formidable clans, such as the Uchiha and Hyuga, who waited for any opponent to present themselves. No, attacking Konoha was the worst of mistakes that an enemy nation could make without the power of Kami at their side.

Yet, when these two mind frames process the potential of Konoha, they fail to recognize the anger that held within each of its citizens, and how that could affect every aspect of their lives. They fail to recognize the how divided Konoha truly is. These views do not distinguish the ever growing chasm that divides its clans, destroying relationships between one another. They do not see the arrogance of the Uchiha and Hyuga families. They cannot so much as glimpse the corruption that lies within Konoha's council. And they do not perceive that there is a hate that is singled at one specific individual for crimes committed by another. No outsider could even begin to comprehend the boiling hate that simmered just below Konoha's beautiful surface that was directed at a ten year old boy that went by the name Uzumaki Naruto. And no one could perceive how much danger that boy was at this very moment as he went about his life, just as he did, day after day. No one would remember this day as the day that Uzumaki Naruto was brutally murdered, but as the day that the demon was killed once and for all. This would be the day known as the beginning of the end.

The child ran for his life as what little adrenaline that his young body could scrounge up began to pump through his veins. His small feet made a pitter patter like sound as his shoeless feet beat against the ground in attempt at escape. They had caught him off guard this time. He had been careless, hoping that this day would be different, and maybe they would cut him a break. But that was just hopeful thinking, as was evident seeing as he was being chased down even now. Yet, that didn't matter at this point. All that mattered was making it out alive. Pushing his body harder, the boy continued to run down the streets of Konoha, hoping that he could make it to Jiji's tower before they caught him. It wasn't likely, but a boy had to dream sometimes. Left turn, right turn, continue straight, it all became a blur as he ran. The tower was growing closer in his view, but the sound of footsteps grew louder in his ears. They were close, and if he continued to run like this, there were would be no chance at making it in one piece.

Seeing an alley way up the street on his far left, the boy knew it was his only chance at escape. The problem, however, was making it there. By now, the footsteps beat into his ears like a war drum, pounding ever so loudly as his pursuers continued to gain ground. Knowing his time was running out, the child put on an extra burst of speed, allowing him to flow around the traffic in the street like water. Yet, the footsteps continued to increase in volume, whether it be because of added chasers, or that they were becoming faster. In the end, it didn't matter, as he had finally reached the alleyway. Turning down the passage, the young boy pushed everything onto the road behind him, hoping to delay his pursuers. Boxes were shoved into the street, trashcans turned over, all in the hopes that it would give his flight a little more time. And as he continued to run, the footsteps became less defined, the noise beginning to fade into the wind. Yet, he didn't stop, knowing the chase was not over. No, if it were truly over, he would have to hide, as he had done so numerous times in the past. It was time to hide.

So, the boy continued through the back streets, pushing forward towards the tower for what seemed like hours on end. The footsteps were gone now, replaced by the shouts of his pursuers to "Find that brat". Looking up from his path, the child realized that night had fallen, and that now the real hunt would begin. Ninja activity decreased on the roads at night, shrinking the amount of protection that he truly possessed. The only solution to his blight was to press forward while remaining out of the sight of his hunters. That meant hiding out for the night. But where could he hide? The orphanage was out of the question, seeing as how they would turn him over to anyone who they saw fit to deal out his daily beating. Ichiraku's would be closed, so that was no longer an option. The Uchihas and Hyugas would never accept him, for reasons the kept close to themselves. He may have to try the Inuzuka's, but that may be too far away for his little legs to carry him. No, he had to stop and think, and then he would find an appropriate hiding spot. Coming to a halt, the boy began to sit on the floor in thought, hoping to find an acceptable hide-a-way for the time being. However, as soon as he touched the ground, pain tore through his body. Every fiber of the child's body ached from running constantly. This occurred every time the villagers gave chase, yet for some reason it was far worse this time. Liquid flowed over his feet, making the boy stare at them in the darkness. When the moon broke through the clouds, a shuddering cry ran through his body. The bottoms of his feet were gone, torn away from running across the rough ground for hours on end. The pain became even worse as the child laid his eyes upon his wounds. His feet had never been like this before, making the child wonder as to how long he had been running. Surely it hadn't been so long that his feet were in his current condition. But then again, he had been running since noon, so there was no telling just how long they had been like this. Looking at his feet, another shocking revelation came to the boy. They would find him. The street was covered in bloody feet print, providing a clear map as to his current location. He had to keep moving if he was to survive the night, or who knew what would happen to him.

Damasu Yowai was having a bad day. It had started off well enough, with a good morning from his beautiful wife accompanied by wonderful weather. Then, after that, things went from amazing, straight to terrible. For starters, when he was going on his way to the tower in order to start his daily patrol, he forgot his forehead protector back at home, forcing him to go back and retrieve it. Upon reaching his current residency, he opened the door to find his wife in the arms of another doing "the tango" with their tongues. After almost killing the offenders, only to be held back by a few of his fellow chunin, he was given orders to go to the northeastern entrance for guard duty, the blight of the shinobi world. Luckily, it was only a two hour shift, allowing him to get off close to four p.m. However, his day was soon to get better. You see, upon going down the road to his house after guard duty, a certain blonde haired child pushed past him in a rush to get away from the following mob that continued to give pursuit. Seeing as how he needed an outlet for his frustrations, Yowai decided to give chase as well, only concealing his efforts in an attempt to get a chance at the boy by himself. Then he would show the demon what it was like to suffer as they did six years ago. All that he had to do was wait for the right moment to strike.

Hours passed as Yowai continued to trail the boy from a safe distance. The demon continued to run as if its life depended on it. Yowai couldn't help but laugh as the mightiest of bijuu could not escape his genjustu. Who would have figured that the mighty Kyuubi was susceptible to genjustu. The demon seemed to believe that the mob continued to give pursuit, even though it had managed to outrace them almost three hours ago. If he was to take on the beast, he would need to make sure that it was physically exhausted before his assault began, or else he may fall as hundreds had before him. Oh yes, today would be glorious day for years to come. And who knew, maybe if he managed to kill that demon, they would elect him the Hokage instead of that delusional old bat Sarutobi. Yes, today would be a glorious day indeed.

Naruto finally managed to stand up on his feet as he pushed with all of his strength. It was a monumental task, but it seemed that all of his stamina was drained, leaving him open for attack. He knew that if he continued to sit there like a good little target, than that is what he would become. No, he did not feel like becoming a pincushion on this day. The moon shone brightly overhead, illuminating the dirty alleyway. Naruto had no idea how long he had sat there, but no matter the time, he was still tired. However, his feet had stopped bleeding, allowing him to continue on his way once more. There was only one safe haven for him this late, and with what little energy he had, he was sure that he would make it. He just had to push himself a little harder.

Looking around, Naruto noticed that there was no one in sight, and took his first step to safety. That was a mistake, because as soon as his second foot left the ground, his other leg began to crumple under the weight of his body, causing him to fall to the dirt floor once more. Naruto looked up from the floor, tears springing from his eyes. Would this be how he died, staring at the night sky without a single friend? Upon thinking that, a flame sprouted itself in Naruto's heart as he thought of Jiji, and how he could not fail his only living friend. If he died here, who would become the next Hokage? NO, he had to push on, no matter the pain, no matter the cost. Pushing himself off the floor once more, he began the tedious task of learning to walk with such little energy.

He continued his way through the alleyways for some time, crawling through spaces too small to walk through, and jumping over fences that blocked his passage. It was hard, to say the least, with what little energy he had, but he pushed on, willing his way through the turbulent journey. As Naruto continued, he couldn't help but get his little six year old side tracked.

'I wonder if the Hokage gets special things, like gifts and stuff. I'm sure he does, I mean, he is the Hokage and all. I think that would suck if you didn't get some cool stuff.' Naruto pondered when a sudden thought occurred to him. 'I bet the Hokage gets as much ramen as he wants, and doesn't even have to pay for it! Just imagine all that Miso ramen, sitting there, waiting for me to become Hokage. I can't wait!'

As Naruto continued to walk, now salivating from the thought of all that ramen waiting for him at the top of the ninja food chain, he didn't notice the shadow that followed, copying his movements almost perfectly, making sure that not a noise was made from his movements.

Finally, the thought of all that ramen waiting for him broke Naruto's silence, causing him to shout for joy in anticipation of his precious miso ramen. "I am going to become Hokage, believe it! And when I do, all the Ramen in the world shall be mine! DO you hear me? MINE! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, hysteria breaking loose within his brain as he pondered just how much ramen he could confiscate from the world. Meanwhile, Yowai silently shuddered at Naruto's evil laugh, hoping to Kami that the demon was merely playing with him, and not actually planning to destroy the entire elemental continent just for ramen.

"Sheesh, ramen isn't even that good. Dango is where it is at." Yowai muttered to himself as he continued to listen to Naruto chuckle evilly.

Three blocks away, Mitirashi Anko was enjoying a nice bowl of Sake with her dango when she sneezed, forcing the dango all over the floor, and the sake to coat the counter top of the bar. The killer intent of that bar when to an all new high as Anko swore to Kami that she would hunt down the blasphemous fool who dared to make her dirty her dango. All she had to do was wait for the time to strike.

"Hey, you gonna clean that crap up?" Said an unfortunate bar man. His screams could be heard for miles around as Anko placed a well-aimed kunai strike in his groin, coated with a poison to induce shrinkage.

Unfortunately with that last comment, Naruto picked up on Yowai's presence, forcing him to run in a mad dash to get out of kunai range. Almost immediately upon Naruto's dash, a hail of shuriken came down on his previous position. The attack missed by a hairs breath, forcing Yowai to continue to give chase, now at a much faster pace. He silently cursed himself for making such a stupid comment, forcing him to give up the element of surprise. The demon was fast, that much Yowai was certain of, though it seemed to be playing him, not unleashing its full potential until the opportunity arose. He would just have to up the ante if he wanted to win this game of fear.

Meanwhile, Naruto was just about to shit himself, seeing as how close that last attack came to ending his life. He was used to ninja attacking him, but the masked men always came before they ever used their weapons like that. He would have to be extra careful if he was to live from this experience. He only had two weapons as of this moment, his prankster side, and his layout of Konoha due to his wanderings, but luckily, they were infinite in opportunity.

Soon, another wave of shuriken flew down from the roofs onto the street, passing around the blonde headed boy. Unfortunately, one smashed into his shoulder as the boy continued to run, forcing blood to surface.

'Good, so the demon can bleed. Well, you know what they say. If it bleeds, it can be killed." Yowai thought to himself as he began to pull kunai out for his next attack.

Naruto cried out in pain as the shuriken embedded itself into his shoulder. The bastard managed to strike him with one of those shuriken. But in the end, it wouldn't matter, because the grand market was fast approaching, and then, Naruto would strike back. All he had to do was buy himself some time, and then it would be over. Just a little more time, that was all.

Seeing the demon beginning to speed up, Yowai took to the streets, hoping to end the fight fast before anyone interfered. He alone would kill the demon brat, and the honor of doing so belonged to him alone. He would not share, and then, he would get his reward, and all the power that came with it. Yes, being Hokage would be fun. He could only imagine what it would be like. All that power, money, justu, and women, who could think of all the possibilities? Oh yes, the women. How could he ever forget about such an important aspect of the highly esteemed job of Hokage? Women would flock to him, but who to use first? That genjustu user Kurenai was quite easy on the eyes, and who could forget about Anko? She was a beauty, and would be fun to play with for a while, only to leave to another plaything when he got bored, each time better than the rest. Oh yes, being Hokage would be fun.

Yowai continued in his diluted fantasies for quite some time, allowing Naruto to gain some ground, and finally reach the market center. It wasn't much to look at, consisting of a square plaza with some booths spread every five feet. That wasn't what made this location so desirable for Naruto however. It was the objects that remained near the booths that interested him. That ninja would arrive at any moment, and he would have to set his trap fast. Looking around the area, Naruto took note of all available materials within the area. There were a few open booths with kitchen utensils within them, a cart of melons, a few saplings, some curtains, and a couple of cords form some streamers that were on the ground. Inwardly, Naruto gave an evil chuckle as he knew just what to do for his prey, and upon setting the trap, decided to lay in wait.

Yowai cursed himself for his foolishness as he realized that he had lost track of the demon brat. Looking around, there were no alleyways for the demon to hide itself, so he pushed onward down the dark road. Upon continuing forward, he came across the market center, and knew this was where the demon waited for him. Caution had to be implemented if he wished to live the encounter with the beast, this much he knew. Being sure to be observant of his surroundings, Yowai noticed something that almost made him leap for joy. The shuriken had done its job, it seemed, as a blood trail could be seen across the ground, leading to a red booth about fifteen feet to his right, and about five feet forward. Still happy at his luck, Yowai settled for a smirk as he slowly walked towards the red booth. As he approached the stand, Yowai was certain that he could make out an orange outline from between the curtains, signifying that the demon lay within. Slowly pulling out a kunai, Yowai grabbed one of the curtains on the booth, and yanked sideways as he stabbed downward onto the orange shape with all of his might. Upon feeling no flesh beneath his stabbing, Yowai knew that he had made a grave mistake, and his fear only grew with a sound that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Snap!" A rope that was hidden by the curtain broke with one of his downwards thrusts and the whirring of rope could be heard as he felt something tighten around his feet. Looking down, he could make out the shape of a noose around his ankles, yanking him off his feet as he was dragged towards a tree. Yowai knew that if he was caught in that tree he would be open towards a counter attack and decided to act. Using the kunai to slice the rope that bound his feet, Yowai let out a sigh as he was no longer being dragged across the ground, only to gulp as another trap was triggered. No sooner than a second after he cut the rope, a counter weight was released, shooting a barrage of melons at the unsuspecting chunin. The barrage devastated Yowai as he was hit with one melon after another, coating his body with bruises. It lasted for around twenty seconds before the melons stopped falling. Yowai silently thanked Kami as he realized the assault was over. His gratitude was interrupted by laughter, however, coming from a highly amused Naruto.

"Oh man, you should have seen your face! I can't believe you fell for that! I can't wait to tell Jiji about this one!" Naruto laughed at the other exit of the market center, rolling on the dirt crying as he did so. Due to his distraction, the blonde didn't notice the angry chunin get up from the ground, pulling the kunai up to throw as he did so. Upon seeing Yowai looking quite angry, however, Naruto quickly sobered up, and a look of fear replaced his look of amusement. Looking at the man that stood with the kunai directed at him, Naruto could only let out one phrase. "Uh oh?"

Yowai's eyebrow began to twitch at the sudden shift in the demon's behavior, yet, the only real thought that he had was which way to kill the blonde prankster. Glaring at the boy, rage boiling just beneath his skin, Yowai let out one response. "Uh oh indeed you little demon!" And with that, the enraged chunin let loose a hail of kunai.

Seeing the immediate danger, Naruto took off in a sprint as the kunai impaled his previous position, missing him by mere inches. He still had one trap left, but if that didn't work, he was officially screwed. Looking back, Yowai was gaining ground fast, and he had to end this if he wanted to live the encounter. Looking forward once more, Naruto continued to run as fast as his legs could carry him. However, Yowai would be looking for traps, so he had to distract the man even more.

"I bet you sucked as a ninja! You can't even catch me!" Naruto shouted back at the Chunin that gave pursuit as he ran through the streets, antagonizing the Chunin even further.

Once more, a spike of killing intent could be felt in the city as Yowai became even more enraged than he was preciously. "You want to see a ninja work, huh? Well, here we go!" And with that, Yowai pushed chakra to his feet, increasing his speed even more. This was a double bladed sword in the end, however, due to the fact that it caused to things to occur. The first thins was for him to ram right into Naruto, causing the two to trip and fall forward onto the road. Then, it triggered the trap that Naruto had set, while they were both in its grasps. It didn't look like much at first, with just a ninja on top of a six year old boy, beating him into a pulp. But then, the whirring of rope could be heard once more, and the air seemed to take a dangerous shift to it.

Looking down at the bloody blonde, Yowai grasped the child's throat and squeezed, forcing Naruto to scream in pain. It came out as a pained gurgle, however, as Yowai crushed his windpipe. "What the hell have you done?" Yowai hissed at the boy. The blonde beneath him could only chuckle, however, as a whistling could be heard in the air and a defiant look appeared in the boy's eyes that clearly said one thing.

"You'll see…"

Yowai understood that look very well and could only shudder in fear as he got to his feet. He was too late, however, as a bombardment of kitchen knives were shot from down the road, crashing into his side as he got up. A silent scream rang out from his lips as the knives cut through his rib cage, decimated his left lung, and sliced through his heart. Looking down at the blonde boy as the life faded from Yowai's eyes, he knew that he had to finish. He had to complete his task, even if it killed him. Taking out the last kunai in his possession, Yowai stabbed down on the small body, causing a sad and painful gurgle to erupt from the boy's throat. Yowai couldn't help but feel proud that he had finally done it, he had killed the demon. Ii may have ended with his death, but that didn't matter. He had avenged those who had died to fight the beast, leaving countless of families behind

Naruto continued to scream in pain as the kunai lay in his chest, his blood gushing out. He would normally heal from such a blow, but he was far too tired for his healing factor to take effect, and he knew these were the last moments of his life. He silently cried to himself as the darkness began to enclose him. It was over. He wouldn't become Hokage. He wouldn't get his unlimited pile of ramen. And deep down, what hurt the most was that he would never have the admiration of the village. They would always look down on him, and in the end, that was what hurt the most. Sadly, the boy knew his time was over, and he let go. His eyes began to close as the light faded. And then, and noise awoke him from the darkness, from the abyss that was death. People were talking over his prone form, and he could make out at least two of them. The first was as soft as the wind, but nurturing, and that was what grabbed his attention. This voice gripped his life as hard as it could, and began him out of Shinigami's grasp. The second voice was far rougher than the first, easily identified as a man's. It leaked a small amount of concern, but besides that, it gave no hints as to who its owner was. All that mattered was the concern in their tones, however, showing Naruto that he wouldn't be left to die out here in the middle of an abandoned street all by himself. That thought comforted him to a certain point, but could not dispel every ounce of his fear. He just prayed to kami that they could help him somehow. It was a lot to pray for, but maybe someone in Heaven would look down at him in pity and take mercy on his poor soul.

"Hang on little one, your time has not come. Help is on the way, just hold on for one moment." The more feminine motherly voice said, soothing him through the darkness that began to consume him once more. It sounded so close, yet so far away as death made one final assault at his life, pushing to bring about his end. He just had to fight it even harder, as he could feel a pair of hands touch is small chest, fiddling with the kunai lodged in his chest cavity.

Opening his eyes as much as was allowed by his body, Naruto could see the fading outline of a woman and a man, the former bent down close to his small form, trying to pry the kunai out of his rib cage without causing too much damage. Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through his body as the kunai was yanked out, causing another gurgle of pain to come out of his crushed windpipe. The woman bent down closer to his face, reached out with one hand, and began to rub the whisker marks on his face, causing his chest to purr in relaxation. In any other situation, Naruto would have been embarrassed to have one of his true weaknesses revealed, especially by a girl no less. But now, all that mattered was the way the hand soothed his cheek in a motherly way, making him relax, pushing the worries about his wounds to the side as the hand continued to caress his cheek. He was almost certain that the woman calmly laughed at his reaction, while the man merely chuckled in return.

Opening his eyes to the outside world once more, the blonde child could make out the women's features far better than he could moments ago. She had pure black hair, a few golden highlights accompanying her raven tresses, which fell down to her shoulders. Her face possessed fine eyebrows that matched her dark hair, a sharp, yet small, nose, and blazing golden eyes. What was most shocking was the pure porcelain like skin that she had. It seemed as if she had never stood in the sun for more than five minutes. Yet, if she were to be judged by her facial looks alone, the correct assumption would be that she was the manifestation of femininity, beauty radiated off of her form. However, the rest of her person told a different story. She was decked out in a Jounin combat vest, being of the darkest of blacks. The scars of battle could be seen lying across its tattered surface, showing that she was no stranger to war. Beneath that lay a plain red shirt, looking to be the color of blood, with a strange bronze medallion consisting of a single kanji hanging from her neck. Below that, she wore simple black cargo pants that were bandaged in multiple areas, possessed multiple kunai holsters, and were caked in dirt. Her small feet were adorned in black shinobi sandals, probably a size to big from the look of them.

The man still stood quite a distance from him, leaving the majority of his features to Naruto's imagination. He was definitely tall, standing easily at six foot five inches in stature. He looked beefy, but Naruto couldn't tell. What really grabbed the boy's attention was the cloak that the man adorned. It concealed the majority of his features from sight, but couldn't hide his most predominate feature. From beneath the cloak's hood, two golden eyes shown with the intensity of the sun, matching the woman's eyes in every way, save that these pair were far more masculine.

Another wave of pain raked through Naruto's body as the woman continued to tamper with the injury, making Naruto wonder if she was truly attempting to heal his wound. Agony tore through his frame once more as she pulled out a vile of green liquid from one of the containers on her flak jacket, and unceremoniously dumped it into the wound. The green concoction felt like molten magma as it began to settle into the wound. Naruto had gone through a massive expanse of beating in his short life time, but nothing he had endured in the past fell anywhere close to how painful this experience was. To make things worse, the time that went buy, the worse the pain seemed to get, spreading through his body like and army would a conquered country. He gurgled in pure agony, his screams no longer coming out with his larynx crushed.

Suddenly, the large man moved from his position, pushing the women aside as he strode towards Naruto. Anger was easily evident on his face as he looked down at him in pity, and then turned on his companion in anger. Naruto couldn't hear anything, as the pain deafened him to the world around him, but he could have sworn that the mysterious man was screaming at the woman from the look on his face. Something wasn't right, that much Naruto could understand. How else could a man go from being absolutely stoic, to fully enraged within a matter of seconds. Then, the man turned back to him, tears evident in his golden eyes. He seemed to be muttering something as he continued to ignore Naruto's pained gaze, doing everything in his power to avert his eyes from the boy. Then, the man suddenly looked him straight in the eye, and muttered words that could easily be read on his lips.

"I sorry…"

And with that said, the man pulled out a needle from his cloak, and injected it right into Naruto's neck, surprising the clueless blonde. As soon as the needled punctured the artery on his throat, darkness invaded his peripherals, pushing its way into his vision.

"Sleep, child. It will all be over in a few seconds…"

To Naruto, that sounded like wonderful advice. His body was sore, and a good rest would really help. Yet, something seemed wrong about sleeping at a time such as this. Maybe it was because he had almost died mere moments before, but he couldn't tell. All that Naruto could do was fight the slumber that invaded his mind. It was a worthy battle, but in the end, Naruto caved in from exhaustion, and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

The man in the cloak stared down at the boy; sadness filled his soul as he knew the coming times for the boy would be difficult. He had experienced them himself when he was around this child's age, and would never wish the trials on even his worst of enemies. He hoped that the blonde would be up for it, but luck had never favored him. Slowly, he crouched down towards the child's sleeping form, and gently picked him up from the cold dirt road. He was under weight, as was evident from how scrawny of a child that he was. The boy's blood puddled on the street, sure to leaves stains as to what happened on this night for days to come. It was an ungodly amount, that much he was certain of, and he couldn't figure how the boy was still alive. It must have been an act of kami himself for the boy to have stayed alive for as long as he had before they found him. If only they hadn't cursed what would be left of his existence. So, holding the boy close to him in a tight embrace, fearing that he would lose the child, the man began to walk down the road towards Konoha's

"Tsuyo-kun, wait up! Look, I'm sorry, but I couldn't-" The woman began, but she was easily cut off by Tsuyo.

"Save it Kokai, because I really don't care. We don't have time for your apologies. We have work to do, and if you truly wish for the boy to live, you will shut the hell up, and follow my lead." Tsuyo practically growled at her. His patience was reaching its limits, and he didn't want to snap at her again. He knew that she meant well with her actions, but Tsuyo wasn't a fan of the trials, and hated to see people go through it.

Kokai took a step back at his aggression towards her, unused to the hostility that he was displaying. She knew that he disliked the trials, but she hadn't been expecting that reaction. But, she sucked it up, knowing his anger would fade soon enough, and stepped in stride to catch up with her companion, who was currently traveling down the road at a moderate speed.

"So, how are we getting out of here? I have a feeling that they aren't just going to let us out of here with that boy in your arms." Kokai questioned, hoping that Tsuyo had a real plan for their escape instead of the usual run and gun techniques that they tended to implement when it came to tactical retreats.

"Oh, I have a plan. Don't worry about that, my sweet Kokai-chan, don't worry at all…" Tsuyo let out with a chuckle as he headed towards the middle of the town. This would be the most fun that he had in quite some time. By the time that Konoha realized that it had been fooled, it would be too late to impede their journey. And then, the real problems would begin.

Thank you for reading this chapter of Kumo no Gadian. I appreciate anyone who actually read this far, and if you could please give some constructive criticism, it would be very much appreciated. Anything that you readers think should be changed should be brought to my attention so I may amend any errors that impeded you reading. All questions that are asked will be answered to help clarify the story. Once more, thanking for reading this selection, and may you continue to read on this little AU adventure.