Well, here's the next chapter of Death Perception. Updating is difficult, now that school's picked up again, but I'm going to try and do so at least once a month.

Mystic Eyes of Death Perception rant: Okay, I've gotten a couple of questions about whether Naruto will be affected like Shiki Tohno/Nanaya, so here's the response to those, as I see it.

Shiki Tohno's weakness came from his inability to cope with the fact that everything he sees will die. He literally sees the death of EVERYTHING he looks at. It was only because of his glasses that he avoids going insane Shiki Ryougi (from KnK) has even stronger eyes and, after adjusting (she does try to put her own eyes out at one point), is fine with it. It's probably because of Ryougi's issues, but she doesn't seem to have much of a problem with them. That might be something to do with her Origin being the Void and her being linked to Akasha, but still… Naruto's willpower (judging him by canon standards) is on a level that he would get over the problem quickly, so he does not suffer any strain, just like Ryougi, if not better. Naruto was not only in his coma for a lot longer than either protagonist. He was even clinically dead at one point. I'll get into that in a later chapter, probably two or three down the line.

To quote the TYPE-MOON wiki "Her MEoDP allows her to perceive the death of more or less anything that exists. Whether it is a person, an object, a ghost, a disease, a thought lingering in someone's mind, magecraft, a ward, a psychic attack, etc., so long as it exists, she can kill it." That's what it says about Ryougi's eyes, and what I'm placing the level of Naruto's eyes at.

Sorry you for the rant. If there're more questions, please ask.

Thanks to: NarutoLuver896, grimangel163, Mzr90, blackspiritfire, Tobi Fan 321, Naginator, JAKdaRIPPER, ddcj1990, dayfox96, and TigrezzTail for their reviews. For those with question reviews, thank you, and look below.

ZeoRangerFive: In canon, there isn't. Fanon has invented the idea of one, and I'm using it, or I couldn't have done the battle scene later this chapter.

GaijinSamurai: The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception are featured in two TYPE-MOON works, the Tsukihime visual novels and the Kara no Kyoukai movies. I seriously suggest looking them up, along with their Fate/ works. However, they're all M-rated. As for the pairing, I'm still thinking about it. This chapter will feature a little Naruto x Kasumi (just a kiss), but that doesn't mean a lot. It's mostly testing the waters, along with plot. I'd agree with you on the Naruto x Koyuki being unfortunately rare. I have an idea for that pairing in the works(its title, were I to write it, would be Godhand), assuming any of my current stories don't go in that direction.

ShadowStorm666: Take a look at the MEoDP rant above… Either way, he's powerful, but not too much so. Yes, he'd be S-ranked as a ninja, and there are some ninja on that level with insanely unfair abilities. Naruto is powerful, but not on a 'no one else stands a chance' level. Besides, he's pretty much a melee fighter. I think I'll be able to give him some decent opposition, even with the eyes as they are.

blakraven66: They might sound like it, and I do see a slight connection, but they're not, really. With Zero Lancer, each of his weapons was limited to one ability. Shiki's knife will be more effective against things like genjutsu and many ninjutsu, while the sword will work better on physical objects. However, both work against any kind of target. For example, against something like Itachi's Tsukiyomi, he'd use the knife, as a genjutsu on that level would require it. However, despite the non-physical status of Susanoo, Shiki would fight with Kanesada, as it would allow him to stay at a further range. I wasn't really thinking about it, but you have a point about the Origin bullets. Hmm… Maybe I should call him the Shinobi Killer as a reference to one of the most badass magi to ever live?

Rennerd: See the MEoDP rant above for your question about his eyes. The answer to your question about him in snow will come next chapter, but I will say that Naruto will keep his promises, no matter what.

Anyway, here's the second chapter. I hope you like it. Pairings are still undecided, though, as I said last chapter, I'm leaning towards Naruto x Kasumi. The fact that they kiss does not mean that they are the pairing. Let me know if you hate the idea. I know absolutely nothing about politics and diplomacy, so please don't quit out when you see the horrible example below.

Chapter 2

It's been about four months since Koyuki retook the throne. She offered Konoha a alliance in friendship, in thanks for the whole 'helping her get back her country' thing. I didn't mind at all. There was something about that Kasumi girl. Something that told me she was both interesting, and could be trusted. I wasn't sure what it was, but my instincts were usually right.

Anyway, Koyuki had finally gotten the country stabilized under her rule a couple of weeks ago, so we were heading to Konoha to set up the treaty. It was relatively smooth going. Only the strongest or stupidest bandits attacked a travelling royal. They were simply too well guarded, often by ninja.

Koyuki had been working on reestablishing Yukigakure (Village Hidden in the Snow), although she was considering changing the name, since we were now the Land of Spring. The Village was mostly intact, but Doto had assimilated those that chunin and higher that remained into his personal forces. Most of them, however, had fled the country, holding loyalty to Sosetsu. She was trying to recall as many as she could, in order to actually return it into a proper ninja village.

The other two people she had brought with her, Fubuki and Reiko, were two of the three jonin rank ninja she'd recovered. She'd left the last nin to oversee the village. Fubuki specialized in the use of rare water techniques that turned water to ice and snow that could be manipulated, similar to the old Yuki clan bloodline from Kiri, but less versatile and more chakra intensive. Without that bloodline, it was only through those techniques that ninja could use Hyoton (Ice Style). She was possibly the last recognized master of those techniques, and was the current instructor on them. She was skilled with the use of ice ninjutsu and several powerful genjutsu as well. Reiko, despite her petite stature, was a demolition specialist. She used a staff, with explosive seals on both sides that could be triggered with her chakra or on contact, as well as various fire and earth ninjutsu. Her most famous ninjutsu combined earth and fire to create a fissure, either on or under the ground, and fill it with fire, which could be released from the slightest crack in the ground. She was in the Bingo Book as the River of Fire for that reason. She was also a sensor ninja.

Of course, she had me as well. In the months since her ascension, I had become known as her shadow. It was well known that, as long as I was present, she was untouchable. Assassins were dead before they even managed to see her. Poisons failed to affect her. There was one attempt at a public assassination, where a noble who had made a great deal of money off of Doto's policies had attempted to stab her. I had impaled the man on Kanesada. It certainly frightened a number of people, especially other assassins and their possible employers.

Suddenly, Reiko froze, knocking me out of my reminiscing. "What is it, Reiko?" I asked, my fingers reaching to Kanesada. "Is someone coming?"

She shrugged, before raising a hand to point off in one direction. "Two ninja with strange chakra. Powerful and clashing." She was a woman of few words.

I processed what she said quickly. "All right." I turned to look at Koyuki. She needed to learn to deal with these situations. "How would you like to deal with this, Lady Koyuki?"

"Allow me to deal with those ninja, milady." Fubuki requested, her gauntleted fingers twitching. She was rather bloodthirsty, wasn't she?

"No, I think Shiki should deal with it." She decided. "He's the fastest of us, so he could catch up if it turns out to be nothing. If it is a threat, he can neutralize them quickly."

I nodded. It was probably the right decision, and I trusted the two here to guard her for a couple of hours. "Very well, my Queen. Be safe." I bowed my head, before racing into the trees.

I came upon a valley two minutes later. There were indeed two ninja here, each standing on a tall statue. One of them was wreathed in burning orange power, while the other was some sort of demon. Kanesada slid out of its scabbard, the edge gleaming. I recognized the two ninja. Kasumi and Sasuke.

"You're coming back to the village, Sasuke!" Kasumi snarled, a sphere of blood red power in her hand. "I don't like you, but you're a ninja of my village and my teammate. You're not going anywhere, especially not to Orochimaru!" I noticed a hole in her outfit, right over her chest.

"You can't stop me, Kasumi! I always knew there was something special about you, but as you can see, I'm more special than you!" He roared, his hand filled with crackling black lightning.

"You wish Sasuke." She said with a laugh.

"You know what, I think I'll bring you to Oto with me! Orochimaru would be ecstatic to start the Uchiha clan there. I don't think anyone would care if I brought you with me as a pet bitch!" I resolved to stab the asshole as soon as possible.

"I'm going to fucking slaughter you, bastard!" Kasumi roared, leaping at Sasuke, who flew towards her with his disgusting wings.

I would not let this happen. I shot forward, cleaving through a line that brought one of the statues crashing down, distracting the ninja and causing their attacks to sputter out, as I did. Before Sasuke or Kasumi could react, I pushed my blade through one of his lines. I couldn't kill the jackass, as that might hurt Koyuki's democratic efforts. So I pushed my blade through his line. I didn't cut it, as that would cleave him in half, but my blade sank easily through him, impaling him but leaving him alive. Pushing through the line neutralized any defenses or resistance his strange skin might have had, even though I wasn't cutting it. I twisted the blade in the wound, leaving a decent sized hole in him.

My eyes pulsed as I drew out Nanatsu and cut through an invisible line on his skull. He slumped over, completely out, his body changing back to normal. I had killed his conscious state, knocking him out. I suppose I could have done so from the beginning, but it had pleased me greatly to stab him.

I grabbed Kasumi to keep her from being hurt as we fell. I wasn't sure what the orange chakra was, but her lines were even further distorted. I looked down at her.

"Are you O-" She cut me off as she aggressively kissed me, shocking me.

- Kasumi

Kasumi was rather pissed. Sasuke had run off with those idiot sound ninja, planning to defect to Orochimaru. Now, her friends were hurt, possibly dead, and she was in the middle of a life or death fight with her teammate. She didn't really like the moron, but she couldn't let him leave.

She'd tried to reason with him, until he shoved a Chidori through her. The Kyuubi had regenerated her almost instantly, as well as pushing her into the stage 1, one-tail cloak. Then, Sasuke had transformed into some gay looking demon. As stupid as he looked, it did give him some rather drastic boosts to his physical abilities and chakra, not to mention those wings.

She'd stood atop the Shodaime, while Sasuke stood on Madara's head, both of them pumping their power into one final attack. She formed a Rasengan entirely out of demon chakra for the first time.

"You're coming back to the village, Sasuke! I don't like you, but you're a ninja of my village and my teammate. You're not going anywhere, especially not to Orochimaru!" She declared, her Rasengan enlarging slightly as she fed it even more power.

"You can't stop me, Kasumi! I always knew there was something special about you, but as you can see, I'm more special than you!" And there was that god damned arrogance again. It wasn't like her status as the Jinchuuriki was a secret or anything. Her mother and father would have slaughtered anyone who tried to treat her like containers normally were. Yeah, he knew. He was outright told! And how the hell was he special? His thief bloodline? The power he was given by Orochimaru? So, if special meant having power from another source, she was pretty sure the Kyuubi beat the Uchiha and Orochimaru combined a thousand times over. She mentally shook her head to clear it.

"You wish Sasuke." Her amusement must have carried into her voice as she could hear her own laugh. He grew visibly angry.

"You know what, I think I'll bring you to Oto with me! Orochimaru would be ecstatic to start the Uchiha clan there. I don't think anyone would mind if I brought you with me as a pet bitch!" Okay, now the asshole was going to die. She enlarged the Rasengan even more. She would blow his damn head off. She could always claim it as an accident. Sure, the council would be pissed, but when were they not a hassle?

"I'm going to fucking slaughter you, bastard!" She roared. Okay, so maybe using so much chakra was a bad idea. It was fucking with her head. She'd just kill Sasuke then shut down the cloak. Maybe go have some fun first? Blowing stuff up was fun... No! Bad Kasumi!

Everything descended into a red haze as she focused on Sasuke, using the demon chakra to bolster her body and senses. They both leapt into the air, but suddenly, a sword was rammed through Sasuke, causing him to lose control of the Chidori, even as a knife cut into his head, but left no wound. Who? What?

Kasumi's breath caught in her throat as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a man's chest, as they both plummeted to the ground. They hit the ground with almost no effect, so she looked up slightly to see the face of that man, Shiki. Everything was still hazy to her eyes, and, for some reason, he seemed to be getting closer.

Wait a second, what was that feeling on her lips? Oh, that's right. The demonic chakra enhances her reactions, taking almost all of her actions and reactions to the extreme. So she was acting on that attraction she felt, and kissing him. Of course, all of this thinking was performed by a tiny, distant portion of her mind, while the majority of her mind was focused on enjoying the feel of his lips on hers.

That distant portion of her mind began to panic as she felt herself begin to deepen the kiss, before everything suddenly went dark.

-Shiki

I grabbed my knife and struck her in the back of the head, knocking her out. I would have preferred to have killed her consciousness, as it tended to have less chance of a concussion, but it would be dangerous, considering how distorted her lines were beneath that red light. I didn't want to risk killing her by cutting the wrong line. Cutting someone's head in half is generally lethal, even if they did have a powerful regenerative ability. I wasn't really sure what was going on, but this seemed rather out of character for her.

I lifted her up onto my shoulder carefully, before wrapping my other hand in Sasuke's shirt, to drag him along as well. It would have been pretty slow going, but Kakashi showed up about two minutes later.

"Sasuke! Kasumi!" He shouted, before freezing. "Shiki? What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "Koyuki was on her way to talk to your Hokage and Council, when one of her ninja, a sensor, detected a ninja battle. She was curious, so she sent me to investigate. I found Sasuke and Kasumi about to kill one another, so I disabled them."

Kakashi frowned momentarily, before nodding and smiling. It really was amazing how well he could convey his expressions with only a fourth of his face visible. "Thanks for the help. Here, let me take Sasuke."

I lifted the male, grunting slightly. He was pretty heavy, especially when I used my off hand! I basically threw him at Kakashi, who lifted him up into the same position I'd had Kasumi in. I moved the girl into my arms, holding her bridal style. Together, Kakashi and I made our way to Konohagakure.

It took us about an hour and a half to get back to the village. Kakashi led me straight to the Hokage tower, where I soon found myself meeting with Minato Namikaze himself.

"So, that's your story?" The blond hokage asked me. I nodded respectfully at the living legend. I could feel his power. His chakra capacity was much larger than most jonin, and he had strange lines extending from his body in many directions, all of them linked to a new point somewhere on his chest. I figured that they must be from the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) technique.

"That's what I saw. You can get your daughter to confirm later."

"Very well." Minato Namikaze nodded, finishing what remained of the form. "Assuming that Kasumi confirms your story, we owe you a debt of gratitude."

I shrugged. "Would you mind telling me where the Queen is?"

He nodded. "Yes, she decided to get the beginning negotiations started with the council. Nothing can be done without myself there, of course, but…"

"I understand."

Minato nodded. "Very well. Please, follow me."

He led me through the tower, until we reached a wall covered in strange lines . He removed a small object and touched it to the wall, causing the seals to fade away. He opened the door and I followed him in.

"Ah, Lord Hokage." Koyuki said with a smile as we entered. "It's an honor to meet you."

"You as well, Queen Koyuki. Tell me, has my Council treated you well?"

I noticed something flicker across her eyes, before she spoke again.

"I am ready to begin negotiations with yourself." She said, avoiding the question entirely.

"Very well. Before you set out to meet us here in Konohagakure, we had agreed on a basic treaty with…"

I had to hold myself back from yawning. This was the part I hated the most about working for Koyuki. Politics bore me. Two hours had already passed. I was rather irritated with the way that the elders on the Council were treating the queen. They were acting as if they were doing us a favor by signing a treaty.

"Now, really." An old man with one arm and one eye covered said. "The only thing that makes sense is a full technological trade…"

"Oh really?" Koyuki said, her eye twitching once. Something told me that the man was responsible for her discomfort before we had arrived. "And you believe that you have something worth trading for our technology? Technology that is famous the world over for its power? This is a pact of friendship, not servitude."

"My dear girl," Condescending prick. "What you have to understand is that working with us is-"

I cut him off, Nanatsu cleaving through the air in front of the queen, severing a line of power that stretched towards Koyuki. With a second flowing motion, I returned the knife to my waist, unsheathed Kanesada and took a combat stance, shocking the Council.

"If you try to use that cursed chakra on my queen again," I hissed, the blade thrumming with power in my anger. "I will destroy your very existence, abomination!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Minato demanded, brandishing his famed three-pronged kunai. I prepared myself. Fighting this man would be extremely difficult. I think I could pull it off, but I might not be able to survive the exchange.

"This man was attempting to use some form of jutsu against the queen. There is something beneath the bandages on his face that emitted a dark chakra." My eyes blazed with rage. If there was one thing I hated about shinobi, it was the way they tried to warp minds with genjutsu.

"Who allowed this boy into the room?" The man, Danzo, I think was his name, demanded, trying to change the subject.

"I did, Danzo." Minato hissed. "What do you mean, abomination, boy?" He demanded of me. "I don't take lightly to those who draw weapons in this chamber."

"There is something deeply wrong with his arm." I replied. The lines were twisted, and there were ten points along it. "I've only seen something this distorted on lab experiments."

Danzo looked slightly shaken for a moment, before straightening his features. "Minato, I demand-"

"Remove the seal on your arm, Danzo." Minato ordered. "If this young man is wrong, I will demand that he apologize in full, but there is no harm in removing the coverings on your damaged arm."

I could see the man contemplating his options. Everyone was looking at him with suspicion now.

"Fine!" The man spat. With a touch, the bandages fell away, exposing three golden braces, which he removed. "Root!" He roared, as he exposed the arm, and the ten eyes mounted on it. A number of the Council members had been caught in some sort of illusion, not having expected it. Even Minato was not immune, though he quickly recovered. A team of ninja wearing masks appeared, attacking the ninja council members that were not caught in his trickery. The room seemed to grow, seals hidden in the walls causing it to grow larger to accommodate the larger number of people.

First things first. I picked up the shocked queen and made my way to the wall. A single slice of Kanesada caused it to fall away. As I expected, Reiko was already waiting, standing on the wall below. She'd been paying attention to the meeting, and had detected my chakra pulse. I carefully handed Koyuki to her.

"Go. Get her to safety." I ordered, and the stoic kunoichi nodded, vanishing in a flurry of snow crystals.

I turned back to see that Minato and Danzo were engaged in battle, the room having expanded to a rather enormous degree. I supposed that it was designed to be used if there were a number of large delegations in the room, but it was also useful to make a battleground. I was surprised to see Minato already driving his infamous Rasengan through Danzo's chest, only for the wounds to vanish a moment later.

I cursed as the man used the moment of surprise to hit the Hokage with a cutting wind jutsu that send him flying with a spray of blood. Thankfully, it seemed that the Yellow Flash had mostly avoided the attack, being hit in the arm and nicked on the side, instead of being bisected at the waist.

I threw myself forward, unwilling to let the bastard that had tried to warp my Koyuki's mind get away. Kanesada's edge gleamed with power as I slashed another wave of chakra-infused wind away.

"I'm going to kill you." I informed the man, who smirked.

"Please! You saw that even the Namikaze brat failed to harm me! My jutsu, Izanagi, allows me to turn wounds I take into nothing more than illusions! What could a brat like you do? Now you will die for spoiling my plans!"

I smirked as Nanatsu clove through a wind bullet. "Didn't anyone tell you? The name's Shiki Sendo. My reputation? It's well founded." I drove my blade through his point and smirked as he gasped. "I can kill anything." I finished, as the man fell.

His jutsu reversed any wounds he took. In all honesty, it might even have fixed him, had I cut his lines. But by piercing his point, I ended his very existence. He could no longer do anything, because the concept that was 'Danzo' was already gone. It was as if he'd never existed at all.

I turned back to see that the Root members were incapacitated. Regardless of what else people said about them, Konoha was strong. Even caught by surprise, the council members, who had probably spent years without anything more than some light training, had been able to subdue over a dozen ninja.

"Thank you for that. He got me by surprise." Minato groaned. His hand was clasped tightly around his injured arm. He'd removed a seal tag from his jacket and slapped it onto the wound on his side. "I should really get around to making a few more wound seals." He chuckled as he noticed my gaze. "Well, I guess we should get the medics in here, before we can get back to negotiations."

Wound seals, huh. That says a lot. They were called 'Paper Medics' by a lot of mercenary types, even if only a few could afford them. Just put one onto a wound, and it'll both partially heal it and put it into stasis. With enough, a person could theoretically fight though almost any wound. The problem with them was how difficult making them was. It's said that it takes a true seal master days of work to craft one. His casual mention of making them reminded me of just who this man was.

I shook my head. "No, you should rest. We can resume negotiations tomorrow, when you've all had a chance to recover. It's what the queen would want. I insist."

Minato chuckled. "All right, if you insist. But, just so you know, you'll be taking the heat from from this if she isn't happy about waiting."

Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I know I was stretching it a little with having the whole battle inside the council chamber. I'm trying to emphasize just how badass with seals Minato is. Konoha is going to be a lot more powerful than they were canon. Oh, and did I mention that there hasn't been an invasion? Orochimaru didn't manage to gather enough support, since Minato's much stronger than Sarutobi.

Shiki does have a reputation that even Danzo would have heard. It'll come up later, but he is a serious badass, and a lot of people know it. Hopefully that line didn't come out as lame as I thought it did when I read it a second time.

Review please. What do you think? What do you want to see? Any questions? Let me know.