Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Devil's Champion

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Chapter Two

Batting a tendril of sand aside with his armored fist, the metal glowing orange from Fire chakra, Naruto grinned darkly from behind his mask. It was going more smoothly than he originally thought. The extreme heat being produced by his armor sleeve was enough to instantly turn any sand that comes in contact with it into solid glass.

"Hehehe…Are you even trying? I saw what you did to Lee, so I know you can do better than this." Naruto taunted as Gaara's eyes became bloodshot with blood lust and anger. The tendril Naruto had hit had turned completely into glass and didn't even shatter when it hit the ground. Scattered all throughout the arena were nearly a dozen other make-shift glass sculptures lying on the ground.

"Shut up." The Suna genin growled in frustration as he sent another wave of sand at his next chosen victim. Naruto simply formed a ball of fire in his left hand and added a touch of Kyuubi's chakra to it, turning the flames silver with a black hue along the edges.

"Hakunetsu." Naruto whispered quietly as he threw the fire ball. The moment it left his hand, the ball streaked towards the sand wave coming at him in a line of grey and black smoke, striking the sedimentary wall and engulfing it in silvery fire. The fire continued to spread and run down the sand until it reached the source, moving too fast for Gaara to avoid. Instantly, Gaara and his gourd were engulfed in the same silver and black fire as the rest of his sand.

Screaming in pain and fear for the first time in his life, Gaara tried to escape the hungry tongues of fire covering him, but the Ichibi sealed inside of him just wouldn't allow the sand to drop from his body. Within seconds, Gaara was encased in cloudy glass as the sand making up his sand armor and shield fused and hardened, his body having become crystallized glass as well.

"Winner: Uzumaki Nar-"

BOOM!

Genma's declaration was interrupted as Konoha's southern wall was crushed by a giant three headed snake summon, Oto and Suna nin flooding the village through the opening. The Kage Booth was suddenly engulfed in smoke as more Oto and Suna shinobi revealed themselves from among the audience, the civilians and weaker shinobi having been put under a genjutsu just moments before.

"Heh. Just in time, too…" Naruto muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Genma was close enough to hear him and turned to look at him.

"What? You knew about this, Uzumaki-san?" The jounin asked, suspicious as to why the genin hadn't warned them about the attack. Naruto gave him a side long glance as he pulled Kubikiri out in front of him and rested the mighty blade on his shoulder, grinning viciously behind his mask.

"Something like that." The giant responded before moving quickly and dropping Kubikiri down on Genma's neck and shoulder, cutting through the man's torso, killing him instantly. Just as Kubikiri's tip touched the ground, a team of Suna shinobi surrounded him. Naruto turned his eyes to each of them, letting his range finder work its magic.

"Three jounin level shinobi, five chuunin. Each of you has Wind chakra and the jounins have Earth and Fire. The chuunins are all weak in kenjutsu and taijutsu. The jounins are strong in taijutsu, but still weak in kenjutsu…" Naruto grinned as almost all of them flinched slightly, stunned by his accurate analysis. Naruto spun around and coated his armored sleeve in Wind chakra, blocking Baki's Kaze no Yaiba with the palm of his hand. "All of you except for one…"

"You murdered two of my students in cold blood, boy." Baki growled in anger, which only made Naruto grin even more. His mirth showing in his uncovered right eye, Naruto let go of Kubikiri and charged his right arm full of Kyuubi's chakra, his tattoos glowing dark crimson as the Cursed Mark activated and covered his entire body in the same kind of tribal markings as his right arm.

"Your point is?" Naruto asked before throwing a gut punch at the bandaged jounin before him, only for said man to jump back fast enough to dodge the physical punch, but not the spectral chakra arm that kept coming.

Spectral fist met Baki's abdomen, throwing him back and scorching his clothing and flesh from the corrosive characteristics of Kyuubi's chakra. Baki slammed into the glass statue that was Gaara and shattered the crystallized body.

The chuunins lunged for him, but Naruto spun a full 360 degrees as he grabbed Kubikiri and sliced all of them in half. Even as their blood sprayed over him, Kubikiri was growing sharper and stronger with every drop. Naruto turned his gaze back on the three jounin standing around him and started to chuckle darkly.

"You bastard!" Growled a rookie jounin as he started going through hand seals for a technique, only for a glaive to imbed itself in his chest. The other two jounin, one male and one female, looked at the rookie as he fell to his knees, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Fool." Naruto huffed as he appeared in front of the rapidly dying man and ripped his glaive from jounin's chest, wiping it clean and holstering it. The woman quickly performed Kaze no Yaiba and moved to slice Naruto in half, but he ducked just a second too fast for her. As a result, she cut her comrade's head off and received a kick to the stomach that threw her against the arena wall, killing her instantly.

"Tch…Weaklings." Naruto grumbled, annoyed with the lack of challenging opponents. Oddly enough, not a single Konoha shinobi had noticed him killing Genma in all the chaos, which was a good thing and a bad thing. If they had noticed, he would have to fight to get free of Konoha, but that means no good fights since no one noticed Genma's death…

Turning from the slaughtered Suna shinobi around him, Naruto started walking calmly toward the arena exit, slicing apart any ninja that got in his way. Just as he got passed the double doors and down the few steps, Naruto's path was blocked by a Konoha jounin.

"Where do you think you're going, Naruto-san?" Asuma asked calmly as he took a slow drag on his cigarette, his voice holding a slight edge to it.

"Oh, me? Just going for a stroll. Want to join me, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto inquired mockingly as he tilted his head to the side slightly. Asuma stayed quiet and neither moved as the chain smoker finished his cigarette. Flicking the cancer stick away, Asuma drew his trench knives and finally opened his eyes, glaring at Naruto coldly.

"The others might not have seen it, but I did." Asuma stated calmly.

"Oh? And what exactly did you see, Sarutobi-san?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head down slightly, his right eye glinting with a lust for battle. Asuma noticed this and knew what it was. He had seen it before in the eyes of two different missing-nin from Kiri; the Demon of the Mist- Momochi Zabuza- and the Monster of Water Country- Hoshigaki Kisame.

"You killed a fellow Konoha shinobi. You're a traitor, Naruto-san. Do you know what the punishment is for criminals who have killed one of their comrades?" Asuma asked as he channeled Wind chakra into his trench knives, gritting his teeth in anger. He and Genma had been friends for years and to have his friend murdered by a student of his of all things…

"Death…" Naruto hissed in excitement as he let Kubikiri drop to the ground tip first, the mighty blade piercing the stone under his feet. Before Asuma could react, Naruto had appeared before the jounin and batted his hands to the sides before kicking the man in the chest.

Before the jounin could hit anything, Naruto reappeared in his path and brought his elbow down on his chest, slamming him into the concrete pathway. Bleeding from the corner of his mouth, Asuma stayed where he was, unable to move without one of his broken ribs puncturing his lungs.

"Pathetic…" Naruto muttered as he turned from the man and collected his sword before walking away. "To think that you were once one of the Twelve Guardians of Fire Country…"

Asuma grit his teeth as his temporary student walked away. As much as he hated to admit it, Naruto had a point. He had been slacking in his training for the past few years, digging himself a hole and Naruto had shown him how deep he was. Asuma now knew he had just hit rock bottom and he didn't like the kind of situation he had put himself into.

"You…will pay…for this, Naruto…" Asuma growled quietly to himself, vowing revenge on his short-term student. "I'll correct my mistakes and if that means killing you…then I won't hesitate next time…"

Baki, barely conscious, was silently vowing the same thing, only vowing revenge on Naruto for the deaths of his two students and several of his comrades.

"Baki-sensei!" Temari called out as she landed beside him and started checking her mentor's injuries. Just as she called his name, Baki started to lose consciousness completely, his mind dead set on growing stronger after he gets back to Sunagakure and fully recovers.

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Next Day

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Groaning quietly as he stretched his muscles and popped his bones back into place after a long night of rest, Naruto stepped out of the hotel he had stayed in last night. Escaping Konoha had been simple enough; all he had to do was meet the invading forces head on and cut a swath through their ranks in the thinnest area to get past them. Several Konoha shinobi had seen him and helped him with the fights as best as they could, giving Naruto the best chance to escape Konoha.

'Idiots.' Naruto thought to himself in mild amusement as he strolled down the street of the small town he came across. It was mostly a farming-oriented village, but Naruto didn't really care. All he wanted last night was to sleep. He knew that he would have to put as much distance between himself and Konoha by sun down or else he'll have a horde of ninja on his ass by noon.

Once he left the town and entered the forest, Naruto continued on his way at a fast pace, heading due north for Snow Country. He wasn't sure why he picked Snow Country, but Naruto felt something akin to being called toward the snow-covered nation. He'll figure it out later on, but until then, Naruto just continued to high tail it north.

Within a couple hours, he reached the borders of Fire and Rice, but Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew Rice Country was under Orochimaru's control and with the Cursed Mark on his arm, Naruto wasn't so sure he should enter the man's domain. He wasn't so much afraid of the man as compared to putting himself in deeper shit than he is already in.

Having Konoha on his ass is more than enough, but Orochimaru, too?

'No thanks. I'd much rather battle all nine Bijuu at the same time with both hands tied behind my back than deal with both of them.' Naruto mused silently to himself in annoyance before turning east. He'll go along Rice's border until he reaches Lightning, then he'll head north between the two countries. It'll be a pain in the ass dealing with border patrols, but the ANBU patrols in Konoha were much harder to avoid than border patrols and Naruto was a master at avoiding them due to his old pranking fits.

"Che…pests…" He grumbled remembering how annoying the patrols had been. He dismissed those thoughts and let his mind wander. Sighing softly, Naruto knew he would miss Chameleon. The man had been taking care of him for years now, teaching things from manners and calligraphy to battle strategies and taijutsu styles.

He still remembered the first time Chameleon started 'helping' him work on his armored sleeve and range finder-mask prototypes four years ago…

Flashback

Naruto growled quietly out of determination as he bashed away at the red hot metal plate set out before him with a hammer. Soot and coal dust smeared his sweaty body and the furnace glowed white hot with burning embers. Leaning against the wall on the other side of the room was Chameleon, supervising his student's progress.

A week before, Naruto had brought up the idea of creating a perfect defense, but Chameleon tried to set him straight, knowing it was almost impossible to simply create a perfect defense. Naruto's determination reared its ugly head and the rather tall boy rose to the challenge.

Since then, the boy had worked on studying everything dealing with defensive properties, even researching into defensive abilities of animals and types of armor from all over the world. Three days into the week, Naruto had spent every last bit of money he possessed to buy the materials for his current project, an armored sleeve and gauntlet to go on his left arm.

Chameleon knew he had chosen the perfect student when Naruto took the initiative into his own hands and fought to prove himself. Now that he thought about it, the end of next week would be the beginning of Naruto's third year under his tutelage.

If the boy manages to pull a miracle out of his ass by then and finish his so-called 'perfect defense', he'll treat Naruto to something special. Even if it isn't combat ready or fully completed, Chameleon decided to reward his student anyways.

Growling louder in mild frustration, Naruto continued to hammer out the metal plate into shape with great vigor and effort. He never showed Chameleon his notes or the extensive paperwork he had done prior to three days ago, but Naruto had been studying on all forms of seals, focusing mostly of defensive and counter-action seals.

He was still a novice at best, but it was a start. Now, if only he had something that could defend against genjutsu and allow him to see through anything that might obstruct his sight along with defending him from air borne poisons and toxins…

Flashback End

Dropping to the forest floor, Naruto walked the last stretch of land to the shore. A quick glance to either side revealed nothing on the beach except for a small fishing shack with a small pier and a boat in the water. Approaching the small structure quietly, Naruto switched his range finder to its heat vision mode and discovered no one was there.

"Hm…No one's home. Lucky me." Naruto mused quietly to himself as he quickly untied the boat and shoved off the pier, rowing out to sea. It'll be a pain in the ass if he doesn't run across any larger ships bound for Snow Country soon due to the rough seas from conflicting currents and water temperatures.

Letting the fingers of his right hand glide through the cold water, Naruto remembered when Chameleon first started teaching him how to walk on water with chakra…

Flashback

"B-But Chameleon-sensei! It's freezing!"

Thwap!

"No whining. Cold water make good motivator. Cold water slow motor skills. Cold water make harder to think. You left with one option. Walk or freeze." Chameleon lectured in his same crazy little way of speaking as he reattached his sheathed ninjato to his lower back. Although he never said it, Chameleon found it amusing to teach Naruto different things.

It gave him a chance to entertain himself by torturing the poor child with stupid assignments…

That included making the boy run from a pack of starved wolves while wearing a meat poncho, catching an entire swarm of angry hornets with only a pair of chopsticks and sticking them in a box without harming a single one, walking barefoot on hot coals while carrying a pair of buckets filled with ice water across them without spilling a drop to fill an Olympic size in-ground pool, and walking across the bottom of a lake with rocks tied to his wrists and ankles as he tried to catch fish for dinner…

Now that he thought about it, all of his previous training tactics had been rather life threatening…

Shrugging it off, Chameleon dismissed that last thought. The boy had survived, hadn't he? There was nothing to worry about. Snickering quietly as Naruto's concentration slipped and he dropped into the icy depths of the river during the harshest point in winter wearing only a pair of swimming trunks, Chameleon continued watching his chosen mode of entertainment for the day…

Flashback End

Naruto pouted childishly as he remembered that particular day rather vividly. He still hated Chameleon for making him do those stupid things all the time. He then sighed, finding the only thing he regretted leaving behind was his long time friend and teacher behind in Konoha. Naruto knew the man hated Konoha just as much as him, but was still loyal to the Sandaime and stayed to do the old man's bidding whatever it might be out of honor and duty.

'Fool…You'll only get yourself killed thinking like that…' Naruto mused sadly, wishing his teacher good luck in life. Hearing a larger ship nearby, Naruto flipped through vision modes on his range finder to see through the thick mist around him until he spotted the ship. It was a cargo ship. Perfect.

Jumping out of the boat and leaving a small exploding tag on it to sink it, Naruto ran across the water for the cargo ship. All he had to do was hide out in the cargo hold and since the ship was heading in the approximate direction of Snow Country, Naruto knew he would have no problems reaching his chosen destination.

Leaping and attaching himself to the ship's metal hull with chakra, Naruto began to climb to the surface deck, avoiding being spotted and heading straight for the main cargo hold. He had a long couple days ahead of him before they reached Snow Country…

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Three Months Later

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Taking a half step back to dodge the pathetic roundhouse kick, Naruto grabbed the ankle of the pink haired woman before him and tossed her aside, causing her back to slam into the wall and knock her unconscious. At the same time, the brutish gorilla that was her comrade came rushing in, only for Naruto to halt his movements by grabbing the man by the face and smashing him into the ground…face first.

Their third comrade began to perform a sequence of hand seals for an Ice technique before Naruto's glaives came flying in, one imbedding itself in the crystal on his armor while the third was barely dodged by the man, Nadare, resulting in a lock of hair getting cut off.

Naruto sighed. He didn't even have to try. These guys were just high chuunin, low jounin level shinobi. Even Asuma, in his lax state, was tougher than these guys. The girl, Fubuki, was a rather nice looking girl, but she could do with some upgrades in skill. The burly brute, Mizore, was practically all brawn and no brains. Nadare was just an arrogant jack ass that couldn't even handle him fighting at one fifth of his true power.

Blurring into sight beside the man, Naruto back handed Nadare across the face and sent him careening into the wall, snapping his neck from the force of the blow. Their employer, Dotou, was already dead and their target, Koyuki Kazehana, was huddled up in a corner nearby as she waited out the fight.

"Pathetic. I expected more of a challenge from you guys." Naruto grumbled in annoyance as he stomped on Mizore's neck, breaking it. He turned his attention on Fubuki and decided to let her live…for now. Creating a quick Kage Bunshin and giving it orders to bind the unconscious woman and take her somewhere else, Naruto ripped off the remains of Mizore's, Nadare's, and Dotou's Chakra Armor and sealed it all away in a scroll before vanishing in a swirl of wind.

He had already been paid by the young woman's manager a couple days ago out of trust, so Naruto found no need to stick around. He wanted to get back to his own business.

"Sir!" The clone snapped to attention instantly, saluting him as he approached it and the bound form of Fubuki. Naruto ignored his clone and crouched down in front of the unconscious woman, cupping her chin in his right hand as he lifted her head up to get a better look at her face. Ripping off her hat with his left hand and taking out the black ties in her hair, Naruto idly noticed she looked more beautiful with her hair down and uncovered.

"Dismissed." Naruto growled at the clone, which dispelled itself a moment later without hesitation. Picking the young woman up and slinging her over his right shoulder, Naruto walked through the snowy forest towards his hideout, his right hand firmly gripping Fubuki's firm and meaty rear.

"Do you still remember what I taught you, kit?" Inquired his tenant, Kyuubi. Naruto didn't reply, but then again, he didn't need to. Kyuubi knew what he knew, but he could tell Kyuubi was trying to make conversation. Something he wasn't really big on.

"Of course I do, Kyuubi. You know that." Naruto growled at the giant fox spirit through the mental link between them. They had been on neutral terms since they first made contact five years ago and the Kyuubi taught him how to properly control its chakra with the seals on Naruto's right arm.

"Now leave me be. I'm busy." Naruto hissed in irritation at the fox before cutting the mental link, currently standing before the entrance of his hideout. Spreading his fingers wide as he placed his left palm against the stone door, Naruto channeled the proper proportions of Earth, Wind, and Fire chakra into the hidden seal, a set of nine rings made up of dozens of numbers suddenly glowing red on the stone slab in front of him.

Turning the dials to the right combination, Naruto entered his hide out and slid the stone door shut before illuminating the room in light with a small ball of fire resting on the tip of his left index finger and lighting a number of candles with it.

The room held a number of work benches covered in metal plates, papers of all kinds, and various weapons along with a couple chairs. Off to the other side was a small kitchen and a simple table to eat at. In the back room was his furnace and armory.

Kicking open the trap door in front of him, Naruto descended the stairs leading to his bedroom and sealing chamber, Fubuki still having remained unconscious and draped over his right shoulder. Entering the sealing chamber, Naruto lit the candles in the room and set Fubuki down in the middle of the room on the simple futon sitting there and stripping her bare.

He had been studying the Cursed Mark given to him by Orochimaru in his free time and with Kyuubi's aid, Naruto was able to reproduce the seal, albeit not in its original form. Whereas Orochimaru's Cursed Mark had two stages of activation and ate away at the target's subconscious, Naruto new variation of it fully changed the person to his specifications during the sealing process and molds the mind in any given way that Naruto chooses.

"Right hand of the body: Seal." Naruto mumbled to himself as he placed his hands on the outer most edge of the seal and channeled his chakra into it. Instantly, the seal glowed deep red and black markings like cracks in stone formed on Fubuki's body. A thin sheen of red chakra then covered her nude form and condensed, blotting out her features as Naruto began shaping the woman to his preferences.

"Left hand of the psyche: Seal." He mumbled again as the physical changes were finished and he began working on her mind, the chakra shell around Fubuki slowing dissolving in various spots. Her eyes were like Naruto's, black with red slit pupils and crimson sclera. Skin now ashen pale with black tribal markings on her right arm like Naruto's, Fubuki was now about 5'8" in height with pale silver hair tipped with black that draped down to her plump rear and slim waist.

Her nails were now sharp black claws, her canine teeth had become sharp fangs, and a pair of black lines trailing from her eyes like streams of tears were now visible. Her originally D-cup breasts had gone up two sizes, making them F-cup, and her hips had grown a tad wider than before, giving Fubuki a near perfect hourglass figure. The woman's lips were now full and juicy, her eyes permanently ringed with a thin line of black eye liner, making her facial appearance more seductive and attractive.

"Will of the spirit: Seal." Naruto growled out quietly, sweating slightly from exertion. The seal flashed white for a split second as it locked the changes done to Fubuki, making them permanent. Cutting chakra flow to the seal, Naruto hunched over in his kneeling position, panting and sweating from the extreme chakra drain of using the multi-step seal.

"Che…Still passed out, eh?" Naruto scoffed and inquired aimlessly as he glanced up at his new subordinate and possible student. He still had to decide on the last part, but it was quite likely to occur since Naruto felt the need to pass on his knowledge. Some of it, at least.

Standing up on slightly weaker legs, Naruto stumbled over to Fubuki and picked her up bridal style before taking her out of the chamber and into his bedroom. He then laid her down on the black-framed king-size bed and placed her under the black and red covers. As he turned to leave, Naruto caught a glance of a mark in the center of her chest; a black double-sided battle axe with the kanji for 'Devil' resting between the two curved blades.

"Heh…" Naruto found it ironic, remembering how Neji had called him a devil a few months ago during the Chuunin Exams. Fortunately for the Hyuuga runt, Naruto had released the genjutsu over the boy just as he left Konoha.

Heading back up to his workshop, Naruto sat down at a table and unsealed the Chakra Armor sets he had taken from those three fools earlier. At first glance, Naruto didn't see anything special about them, but with his augmented range finder and a little chakra pumped into the suits, Naruto could see the potential they held.

A thin chakra shield capable of deflecting most ninjutsu attacks and cancelling out most genjutsu techniques radiated from the armor. Combined with his current defenses, Naruto knew his goal of creating a perfect defense and counter-offensive style would be one step closer. All he needed to do was reverse engineer the Chakra Armor pieces individually and combine them with parts of his armored sleeve and the defensive seals on it.

"Only one problem with that…" Naruto grumbled quietly to himself as he saw the extensive complex seal arrays twisting and circulating around every inch of the metal plates that made up the armor sets, the crystals acting as the cores.

"Damn it. Its gonna be a long night…" He huffed in mild annoyance as he got up to make some coffer, knowing he'd be up for the entire night just copying down the seals then maybe another week simply translating each individual rune and marking. It'll be quite some time until he'd get finished with the seals and mix them with his own designs…

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