Gift of Fire

By: Black Saint

Well, its seems its time for chapter three already, hopefully you enjoyed the last chapter and the cliffie I left you (shouts in head: See you never break your word 'cause that's your writer's way). Anyways, this chapter is where the foundation for the plot starts and for lack of better words, has a lot of talking. Some of my fellow action crazed, adrenaline junkies can't stand to much taking, but know that it is for the betterment of the plot and for that, I'll do anything. Other than that, enjoy and review, as your thoughts and predictions do make writing more fun.

Onwards toward victory!! (You should have known it was coming ;) )

Summary: Gifted. A term commonly used with the Hyuuga or the Uchiha, but after one faithful night involving both families, a new name will be associated with the word. That name is Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage, and inheritor of the Gift of Fire.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Demon Talking"

'Demon Thinking'

Don't own Naruto, never will yadda yadda yadda

In addition, I added another section to the end of last chapter, I decided it fits better there than in this chapter, so make sure to check it out before starting this chapter

--

Chapter 3: Learning Curve

--

Naruto found himself floating in a sea of red, so vast that if someone told him that the crimson ocean stretched to eternity and back, he would have believed it. However, it would be rather difficult to contact anyone in his current predicament, given that he didn't have a body to call his own. No, Naruto could only describe himself as being… he was like a sentient mass of blue stranded in a scarlet desert in which there was no end to…

'Sentient…when did I learn that word?' Naruto marveled apathetically as he floated on, no destination in mind and no end in sight. It was strange, but the lost blonde found that even though he was adrift and confused, he had never been able to think more clearly in his life. It was as if a veil had been lifted over his mind, and in being completely stripped of all direction, he found that whatever intelligent part of him that hid away from him for more than a decade finally came to life.

'I guess I am as much a paradox in myself as a human body housing the soul and essence of a demon,' Naruto chuckled humorlessly as Mizuki's words wrung painfully in the back of his mind. Pieces of his past fell together like a completed puzzle and the mystery and hurt that surrounded all the missed birthdays, cold stares, and whispered insults finally made complete sense. It made so much sense that Naruto felt pained that he hadn't figured it out earlier. Even if he was Uzumaki Naruto, whatever that amounted to, he was bound to the spirit of the kitsune, the essence of his home's destroyer, like a falling man is bound to gravity. Upon that realization, Naruto had never felt more crushed in his life.

'Maybe Mizuki was right, maybe… I am the Kyuubi…,'

'Then what would that make me?' a small voice called from the fiery abyss. Inquisitive in nature, Naruto's mind worked overtime to discover the origins of the voice in hopes to find the intruder to his solitude and possibly an escape from this sea of blood.

'It seems you still have some fight left in you. I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't make it, especially once you started to get all philosophical on me,' the voice continued, irking more of Naruto's curiosity into action.

'Who are you?' the blue mass called out, tentatively testing his connection to the other being. Frustrated that his, now clearer, mind had ran into an obstacle, Naruto resorted to his old ways and confronted the being upfront, fearing that nothing could be worse than the lonely world he had been cast into.

"Why the Kyuubi no Kitsune of course," the voice answered mischievously, before the red ocean contorted violently and all went black.

--

Sarutobi sighed into his pipe thus exhaling a larger than normal plume of smoke. A deadly habit smoking was since it: blackened the lungs, weakened the heart, and overall made a field shinobi far less effective. However, to the stresses of the village leader, chain smoking seemed to be the least of his, and his family's, sins, and in this case, those stresses seemed to be a direct result of one of his past transgressions; he had turned a blind eye to the Uchiha and their activities.

Before him laid out Uchiha Itachi's official reasons for destroying his clan and becoming the greatest nuke-nin behind his former apprentice Orochimaru himself. However, unlike the Snake Sanin before him, Itachi's reasons weren't so selfish. In his confession, Itachi claimed that his clan had been planning a coup and an assassination on his very own life! Details included that he, Itachi, would be the clinching piece as his Anbu status would give him crucial information on the Hokage's personal guard and allow the Uchiha more maneuverability around their age-old watchers. Re-reading the confession, many things crossed the Hokage's mind. One being that the boy was a genius of nearly unprecedented caliber, because to be able to thwart a plan spanning over a decade in preparation required skill, possibly even more skill than killing a clan of copy-cat ninja. Sarutobi almost regretted losing a ninja of that capacity.

However, the second and far more foreboding thought that came to Sarutobi's mind was the window in which the Uchiha were destroyed. The boy may be a genius, but he held neither the power nor the position to pull as many strings as a job such as this required. Itachi chronicled six years of changes in Anbu security as well as the warding of the Uchiha Complex; both of those pieces of classified information that only the Anbu Commander and Hokage could lay eyes on. Sarutobi knew that he couldn't touch any fellow conspirators due to Itachi's confession.

'Damn you Danzo…,' the Hokage thought wearily as the thought of an enemy as old and powerful as the Root commander made his bones ache with age. In this battlefield, physical prowess wasn't enough, one needed to be one-step ahead to survive and two steps ahead to win. Currently, Danzo had three steps on Sarutobi.

Rising from his chair, Sarutobi's mind wandered to the grim aftermath of the prior night's chaos. In his hands were two files, each containing a thorough update on each of its subject's current condition. Opening the first portfolio, Sarutobi's eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the contents yet again. Uchiha Sasuke would be undergoing a month long, rehabilitation session with the village's leading psychiatrist in order to evaluate his mental health and to find whether or not he was suitable for military service. Sarutobi cringed slightly when he recalled what put the boy in such condition, but then again it was either this or death, as there was no subtly when dealing with a fully powered Tsukiyomi mind assault. Inwardly, Sarutobi marveled at his namesake's fortitude, as for one so young to survive and not fall into a terminal coma was a miracle in itself. Alas, he doubted that anyone, especially Sasuke, would see the light in that. Closing the folder with another larger than normal plume of smoke exiting his pipe, Sarutobi opened the second portfolio that was significantly larger than the first.

'And the headache it's causing seems proportional to its size as well,' the Hokage joked to himself as he tried to lighten his mood as he read over the files yet again. Uzumaki Naruto, container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, had been hospitalized shortly after the dubbed Uchiha Massacre. Has was found alongside one fatally poisoned Umino Iruka, academy chunin and ex-Anbu agent, on the scene of the massacre, unconscious and body overflowing with youki. Hadn't the chamber the two been found in sealed with some sort of energy suppression wards, the wizened Hokage knew that the whole village would have Naruto overloading his tenketsu with youki and he'd be dealing with calls for the boy's death, as well as the current situation among other things.

However not having to deal with ignorant fools seemed to be one of the only few silver linings that came with this situation, because Naruto now entered a delicate position. Essentially, an outside force shattered the thirteen year old seal the Yondaime had died grafting onto Naruto. That force was a chakra altered, poisoned kunai, which was intended to not only kill Naruto but also release the Kyuubi from its bounds while doing so. It was clear that whomever they were dealing with was incredibly informed and had access to highly sensitive and secret intelligence. However, what disturbed the Sandaime the most was that attempt failed, and given the side report he received from the recently revived academy teacher, something smelled even fishier than the whole situation.

"Hokage-sama how long have you been here?" a voice called from behind the Kage. Despite the fact that he hadn't been aware of the person's presence until he was behind him, Sarutobi had nothing to fear, since the owner of the voice was one of his most loyal Anbu and personal protégé to himself, Umino Iruka. The ex-Anbu turned chunin, was heavily bandaged around the torso and his head was wrapped with a tight layer of gauze over it.

"Not long Iruka-kun," the Hokage replied as he looked down at the boy in question. Naruto's body had long since stopped glowing in that eerie red light that forced both of the shinobi to recall one of their greatest fears. However, the relief that had come over them when the red haze vanished had been quickly replaced with worry when the boy's body started undergoing radical changes.

"I see that the convulsions stopped," Iruka muttered lightly, belying the worry he had for the blond he had come to see as a younger brother. Shortly after the youki receded into Naruto's body, the blond began having strange muscle contractions, or as the med-nin called it 'controlled seizures'. For the greater part of the night, Naruto's body would spasm out of control as his muscles compacted repeatedly, before he would stop, rest, and start the process all over again. Between the 'controlled seizures,' med-nin would come and check on the boy, hoping to find some sort of answer for the bizarre phenomena, only to find that the boy's physiology altered exponentially after each contraction.

With each contraction came something new, starting with incredibly malleable muscles. This change was compounded with every following change, and before the medical experts could even begin diagnosing Naruto, they found that the blond's body was something in which they've never seen! It was as if the blond's body was made to be a shinobi. He had nerves that formed clusters within his four main appendages resembling ganglia for increased reaction time, a denser bone structure to withstand more punishment and carry heavier loads, an incredible circulatory system that not only carried more oxygen but also did it with nearly twice as much efficiency as any normal shinobi, let alone a normal human! Those were just the obvious things, and from what the med-nin predicted, Naruto's hormone and other bio-chemical activities had been altered as well, which could produce unforeseeable phenomena in times of stress, growth, or other activities...

"Yes they have, and just in time to as you would have probably died if it weren't for the seal cracking the way it did," the Hokage added while recalling another change the blond had endured. As a result, of the Shiki Fuin collapsing, many subsequent seals under it gave way, resulting in various chain reactions as Naruto's tenketsu overloaded with youki. Many of the effects were harmless, and a few life-threatening ones, however, the youki purge settled almost all of them save for one. The Fourth had put a conversion seal under the Shiki Fuin, which was intended to harness the restorative properties of youki and align them for normal chakra usage. It was the reason Naruto healed so fast, without the direct aid and use of the demonic energy, however, when that seal broke and the youki flowed into Naruto's system a strange phenomena occurred. The seal created another set of tenketsu within Naruto's normal set that specifically made to channel highly refined, medical chakra! It was as if the surge of youki combined with the conversion seal, burned another set of chakra 'wiring' into Naruto's existing set, which then resulted in another pool of chakra forming! Albeit the chakra pool was smaller than the boy's normal reserves, about the size of a healthy chunin at the moment, mainly due to inactivity, but the use of a chakra pool solely for healing would be a godsend to any shinobi, especially one built as uniquely as Naruto.

'Good thing the boy can heal himself now, because I doubt anyone other than Tsunade would have the expertise to help him now…,' the Sandaime mused as his mind traveled to the other benefits of Naruto's new chakra. The healing chakra, as it was dubbed by a few of the younger med-nin, was incredibly sensitive, to not only manipulation, but what was happening in the boy's body as well. Therefore, upon its formation, it immediately went to counteracting the poison coursing through Naruto's veins, neutralizing it without any of the boy's active engagement. Yet another marvel many would think, but that wasn't the half of it. The chakra encrypted the poison's antidote into codons in the boy's DNA structure, granting him immunity to it, giving the doctors a stocked antidote for others housed within the boy's body! It was because of that fact alone that Iruka was still alive, and one of the main reasons why so many of the med-nin leaders were demanding the boy trained to become one of them.

'If they knew who the boy's mother was, they wouldn't have to worry about that,' Sarutobi added, sparing a brief moment to remember a woman with a fiery attitude and the hair to match, before a foreboding thought made its way into the forefront of his aged mind. Despite all the good the incident had done for Naruto's body, essentially giving him a clean slate, doctors found that the reason Naruto hadn't awoken yet was because of a chakra imbalance in his head. Particularly in a pocket of youki lingering in the areas where higher thought took place.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sure he'll pull through, Naruto has the greatest will out of anyone in Konoha," Iruka attested, catching onto the reason for the Hokage's sudden change in temperament. It was only natural that Iruka understood the man like a son; he had spent several years learning from the great Kage after his parents' deaths during the Kyuubi's rampage.

"Yes, I know as well as you that Naruto's will is one of a kind, but given the recent circumstances…," the Hokage said before cutting himself off, unwilling to finish his sentence.

"I know your duty as Hokage will call you to make any sacrifice for the village, as mine as a shinobi of Konoha will call me to do the same. However, I have the utmost faith in Naruto," Iruka finished, knowing if Naruto didn't pull through then it would be up to them to make sure the fox didn't return to finish what it started.

"For ours and Naruto's sake, I hope you're right Iruka-kun," the Hokage muttered as he expelled another plume of smoke and continued to stare at the sleeping blond.

--

Plop, plop, plop…

Naruto's face contorted into a scowl as the ever-increasing annoyance of water dripping on his forehead continued to aggravate his weary mind. Trying to force the annoyance in the back of his mind with no avail, Naruto rolled over and nearly drowned himself in the process. Sputtering on the water that choked him to death, Naruto sat up – eyes remaining shut – as he did his breathing exercises in hopes to reign in his raging temper. He got to about three before he blew his stack…

'Not again! How many times do I have to ask my damn landlord to fix that hole in the roofing before he finally gets off his ass and does it?!' Naruto asked no one in particular, thus venting off some of his frustration. He endured the steadily growing hole in his roof for over six months now, and each time he brought it up to the landlord, the old man would just give him a creepy glare and rant on about how busy he was. Which was a lie, seeing as Naruto saw him nearly everyday drinking himself to sleep while on his way to the academy in the wee hours of the morning.

Cursing again, Naruto realized that something was strange about his room, then again it wasn't everyday that he heard his thoughts bounce off the walls as if he shouted them to the Hokage's Monument. Tilting his head to the ceiling, Naruto's eyes fluttered open, and it was then that he realized he wasn't in his room. Hell, he wasn't in his apartment complex, or even any housing structure for that matter, he was in a godforsaken sewer and after doing a quick overview of himself he found that he was naked on top of that as well!

'Great, just great…first I get knocked out my by that bastard Mizuki and next I find myself in a sewer. What's next, I find myself in the company of all the past Hokage's and find that I'm related to all of them either someway or another?' Naruto asked himself only to find that his thoughts were once again echoing around him mocking, much to his growing irritation.

"Well, you'll have to settle for meeting me," a familiar voice called out. Breaking his neck, Naruto's vision snapped onto the darkened half of the sewer. Letting his eyes take in the sights, Naruto immediately noticed the damp floor and walls that housed the cracked blue pipes and large red pipes running through both the illuminated halves of the sewer. As he speculated what the pipes were, or after careful consideration represented, a lithe figured slipped out from the black abyss and into Naruto's line of sight.

The blond's attention shifted immediately, and his ninja training kicked in. Paying no mind to his current situation, his lack of gear and more importantly clothes, Naruto's eyes scanned over the being in front of him, searching for anything that may help him identify what he could be up against. He quickly concluded that if the person in front of him was a threat, they must have been from outside the village, because no one in Konoha had bright auburn hair, russet eyes, and such a large cup size. Pausing at the last trait it finally occurred to Naruto that his opponent was naked, and female. Embarrassment quickly filled the boy, and instead of preparing himself for a fight, he quickly attempted to cover himself from view.

"Modest are we? Endearing as that may be, I've lived long enough to know the secrets of a body such as this. However, I will add that I've never seen a body quite as much… potential as yours," the woman called out with a chuckling as she raised an eyebrow to Naruto's antics.

"'A body such as this'… you speak as if you aren't human," Naruto uttered quietly, so quietly that the woman actually had try to hear him as he mumbled to himself. In the very short period since he woke up, Naruto once again found himself noticing things that would have eluded him otherwise. Not to mention that he was using words he had only heard in context and never really took the time to fully understand what they meant. Unfortunately, his widened vernacular was the least of his worries as an amused sigh emanated from the woman in front of him, beckoning his attention back to her.

"Yes, I am not human; in fact, I am probably one of the furthest things from human. I am a youki, and as I've said before, I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune," the red head stated with a smirk, her eyes looking into Naruto's defiantly. A gaze Naruto eagerly returned, the only thing was that his had a surprising amount of venom behind his.

"So, this is your doing then kitsune-ikeike (fox-bitch), just like all the other harm you've done to me!" Naruto accused heatedly. He didn't shout, but his words held as much fire and passion as if he had; the only thing was that instead of hot anger he normally displayed to anyone and anything in his way, Naruto's face, eyes, and aura were that of cold fury, a trait reserved for those who truly deserved it. And in Naruto's book, destroying half the Leaf, orphaning hundreds, and taking the life of his hero and inspiration definitely qualified Kyuubi for his rage.

"Don't be so presumptuous to believe that your life is the only thing that was at stake. Yes, you and your village suffered because of me, but have you ever thought why that may have happened?" Kyuubi countered, quickly throwing Naruto off guard. The blond had expected angry shouts and dramatic shifts in appearance to fit the demonic image he had in his head, but there was nothing of the sort. All that was there was a tense silence that lingered after the question, more like challenge, that Kyuubi stated and Naruto's subsequent confusion.

"I'll take your silence as an apology for calling me something so heinous and frankly unwarranted. If anything, you may call me Kyuubi as for someone I've know for so long shouldn't have to use pretenses and honorifics with me," the fox woman uttered, confusing Naruto yet again.

"Known for so long? I've only met you minutes ago!" Naruto refuted vehemently, the mere idea of being associated with the demon turning his stomach.

"You misunderstand, you may not have known me, but I have known you ever since your birth and my imprisonment. I've watched your every move Naruto, your every prank, your every meal, your every laugh… However, I have also been there for your every lonely tear, every cry for help, and every saddening thought as well. Honestly Naruto, if anyone can say they know you it's me…," the fox demon said evenly. As strange as it may seem, Kyuubi was telling the truth. She could honestly say that she knew Naruto better than anyone, because unlike the rest of the world, she was there for both the few high times and many low times, she had seen him at his highest and she had been there watching silently during his lowest moments.

Fear gripped the blond's chest as he stared at the woman's face before him, hoping beyond all hope to find some trace of deceit or malice in her features so that he could disprove the terrifying accuracy of the words she just uttered. However, there was nothing but truth emanating from the fox woman – a trait he rarely ever saw – and Naruto found himself more confused than ever.

'How can this be? This must be a trick, she wants to escape and nothing more… I can't trust you," Naruto finished aloud even though his thoughts bounced off the walls around him like faint echoes. They weren't enough to annoy the blond, but it did remind him of his vulnerability and managed to make him feel incredibly small in the presence of the Demon Lady.

"To someone like you, trust is something earned and is not given lightly, no matter how hard you may try to believe otherwise. And as a token of good faith and a step towards earning your trust, I believe I should tell you that it was I who saved your life," Kyuubi said to Naruto, and by the almost pained look on his face, she managed to read him again.

"Why? What do you have to gain by saving my life? Wouldn't your freedom be assured if I died and the seal was broken?" Naruto asked as he recalled hazy images of the event that transpired before he found himself here or adrift in the crimson sea.

"Yes and no, if you were to die, I would be taken along with you and we would be judged as one soul by Kami himself. My soul would drag yours to hell, or Makai, and from there, I would be able to escape after losing a substantial amount of power. Thus, leaving you stranded in Makai with half my power and no way to defend yourself from the many demons who live up to your interpretation of them," Kyuubi answered as Naruto gulped at the thought of being left in hell, alone…

"However, young one I chose to save your life because despite the circumstances, you are a mortal I have come to respect. You, like the Fourth Hokage before you, would give anything to this village, and that type of devotion is to be admired," Kyuubi answered, and once again her aura exhibited nothing other than truthfulness to the cautious blond As much as Naruto hated to admit it, Kyuubi had proven to be more truthful and forthcoming than all the citizens in Konoha put together, and she was the only person who actually gave him a straight answer when he asked for one.

"Let's say for some reason I believed you when you said that, how exactly did you save me if the seal shattered?" Naruto asked, recalling more and more of the prior night's escapades. He could still feel the cold bite of the kunai's blade from when Mizuki stabbed him, as well as the searing pain that followed after the hot surge of youki overflowed within him and burned his chakra coils inside and out.

"I could get into all the details now, but I won't as we can go over the specifics in detail another time. However, I will say that only because of some extraordinary abilities your part were you able to survive your system's purging, as well as begin able to adapt the sundered seal so that you could allow me to heal your body as you rested. In all my years of existence I've never seen anything quite like it" Kyuubi answered Naruto, leaving the boy irritated that he hadn't gotten the answer he wanted, however he did manage to tie the Kyuubi into at least one more conversation by her word alone.

'Since when does talking to the fox mean anything to me?' Naruto asked himself, and noting that he could stop his thoughts from broadcasting if he concentrated.

"So you saved me, but that still doesn't mean I can trust you," Naruto countered. He was a bit irritated Kyuubi dodged his initial question, but he figured that he could probably get the rest out of her one time or another seeing as their souls were bound together until their judgment.

"I suppose it doesn't," Kyuubi added compliantly. Her voice wasn't accusing, in fact in had almost an airy tone to it, as if she was politely disagreeing with him rather than trying to plead her case. Once, the demon fox struck Naruto as out of the ordinary, she completely defied all the stereotypes he had consciously and subconsciously used to define her.

'She isn't sadistic, conniving, and deceitful, she seems more human than the rest of the bastards in the village even,' Naruto concluded, unaware that his thoughts were being overheard by the demon war mistress across from him. As humble as his words were, Naruto had no idea what those simple words meant to Kyuubi. People told Naruto for as long as he could remember that he was all those things he listed and up until recently, he sometimes considered himself all of those things, but by simple reason that Kyuubi wasn't all those things, he inadvertently defended her from the words of the ignorant villagers. The simple, unintended but honest gesture made Kyuubi feel somewhat secure about herself, a feeling that had been absent from her for over dozens of millennia.

Eying the small blond as he continued to contemplate where they stood with one another, or more specifically if he really put any stock in her words, Kyuubi relented that it felt nice to be protected. Not that she would ever admit it aloud, as she loathed the thought of being reliant on someone else, but she couldn't muster up the energy to hate the blond for what he did. Part of her reasoned it was because she had seen his life through his eyes and that she had gained a sort of empathy for the boy. Another part of her figured that whenever he did it, he wasn't trying to fulfill some sexist role, and the last – and biggest part – of her realized that Naruto did it because he was Naruto, a person who could see past all pretenses and find out the truth, and whatever it amounted to, for himself.

"However, I believe trust can be earned and out of good faith if you hear my story, I will concede to whatever decision you make afterward," Kyuubi uttered, cutting through Naruto's thoughts. The blond wanted to ask how he could trust she was telling the truth, but he realized how foolish he would sound. However, he knew in his heart of hearts that it was Kyuubi's aura, it being truthful as well as serious, that convinced him to agree to hear the woman.

"And what decision will that be?" Naruto asked, conceding to the fact that he would listen to the demoness; however he would not be a fool. He wanted to weigh his options as he listened to the kitsune's argument so that he could have a better feel of the situation when it finally came time to make his decision.

"Whether to dissolve barrier between the chakra and youki current circulating throughout your brain, thus reconnecting your spirit to your mind and body, or if you think I'm untrustworthy, then you can finish us both and sacrifice yourself for the good of your village," Kyuubi explained, knowing how the situation must've sounded to the young one. It would make convincing him all the harder to trust her, if it seemed like she was using his death as blackmail to let her live. However, she knew what she was getting into, and besides, the Kyuubi always liked a challenge.

"So, what are you going to explain to me? How you are a good demon, your reasons for attacking Konoha, or better yet, how you will grant me power beyond my wildest dreams," Naruto deadpanned before slightly snorting at his last comment. In a way, it was Naruto's way of showing his irritation for the perceived predicament Kyuubi had placed him in. However, Kyuubi could also tell it was Naruto's way of telling her that if that's what she was trying to say, she'd better do a damn good job of doing it, otherwise they would both be in Makai before even one of them could blink.

"Possibly, because all of those things can be explained in what I am about to tell you, however, to say that those things encompass the entire essence of my tale would be a severe misjudgment on your part. In truth, I am about to tell you about my greatest error as well as the history of the world as you know it…," Kyuubi explained before getting a perplexed look from Naruto.

"How is that going to convince me to trust you? Wouldn't telling me your faults be counterproductive to your goal?" Naruto asked accusingly, wondering if this was just a game to Kyuubi, a game he may have already lost…

"Possibly, however experience has taught me that learning the faults of a person is one of the only ways to truly understand someone, and it takes true understanding to be able to completely trust someone," Kyuubi explained evenly, once again throwing Naruto for a loop. Taking his silence as a cue to begin, Kyuubi began to morph the cell around her to help as a visual aid in retelling her tale. The cracked cobblestones contorted into red again and Naruto found himself wrapped in an aura of blue yet again, only this time, both he and the fox queen were visible, and Kyuubi stood not more than a few yards away but encased in the vast redness around them.

'So that's what the red must have been, it was Kyuubi's chakra all along!' Naruto concluded, and for once, he let awe settle in his mind. He always knew he had large reserves, nearing the level most elite jonin reached during their prime; however, he was only a drop in the bucket compared to Kyuubi's ocean surrounding him. It was quite humbling in fact, and it added to the kitsune queen's testimony about gaining his trust, because surely a being of her power could have easily killed him with the way the seal's current state.

'The boy's intelligence is expanding, or more accurately, the constant influx of chakra and youki in his body is starting to let his mind expand. His heightened intelligence is in fact his mind being able to process information normally, instead of struggling to churn out disjointed bits and pieces. However, to be able to piece the visual clues together so quickly without my direct inference is impressive, especially given his prior situation,' Kyuubi thought, after once again noticing Naruto thoughts. The blond raised a curious eyebrow to the Yomi Queen when he realized that she was radiating an aura of pride mixed with satisfaction as well as her normal honesty. Strangely enough, Naruto didn't find it foreboding, because he got the odd feel that she was feeling that way because of him, and instead of being put on guard, the blond relaxed as he listened intently to the red-headed woman's words.

"I am a being of perpetual chakra manifested into your realm, the Ningenkai, as flesh and blood. However, before that I was a being of another realm, the spirit realm Tenkai, a spirit of sentience and great power serving under the High Lord Kami himself," Kyuubi begin, as the sea of red shifted, becoming an exact replica of Tenkai. The gargantuan trees there put the forest of Konoha to shame, everything seemed crisper and cleaner, the whole world around him seemed to be beating, moving, and living to one harmonious heartbeat.

Naruto stood rooted in spot, astounded at the marvels his senses were soaking in. This place was greater than anything he could think of in his wildest dreams, simply put, the place was heaven. Smiling at the boy's reaction, Kyuubi actually felt a bit relieved when Naruto's tension faded and the boy finally started to relax around her. She climbed the first hurdle, and now there were only dozens more ahead of her until she reached her goal.

"Here, in the land where the summon creatures make their home, I, along with eight the other of my brethren were considered to be the right hand of Kami and one of the principle governing bodies of the plane. We were known as the Council of the Nine, and would be known as the Nine Biju if our home was threatened," Kyuubi continued before Naruto's gaze snapped back to her, a curious gleam accompanying the shining blue in his eyes.

"Your home, threatened? Isn't this place supposed to be where souls go to rest?" Naruto asked, once again amazing himself that he had caught onto a detail that minute. As strange as it seemed, all the lectures he had endure, albeit half-asleep, seemed to be popping up with astounding clarity at just the right times. It shocked him that he remembered the things he tried to forget with the same amount of detail as his most elaborate and praiseworthy pranks.

"Yes Naruto, our home can be threatened, just as your home can be threatened. However, unlike Konoha who has to worry about other villages, the beings of Tenkai have a much bigger foe to worry about. Mainly, the inhabitants of Makai and the Demon Kings that led them," Kyuubi said anger evident in her voice. She recalled many battles against the forces of Makai; however, none more violent and bloody than those fought against one more of the demon kings. The mindscape shifted, and Naruto laid eyes on each prominent demon king, and the sheer havoc they wrought. Their appearances varied wildly, ranging form hulking giants to lithe succubi with seducing smiles. However, despite their vast differences in aesthetics, they all had one thing in common, a large repulsive aura that radiated hate and bloodlust.

The stark contrast of the images shook Naruto's core, and it was then that it truly dawned on him how ancient and how powerful the female before him was. She had seen both the peace and harmony of Tenkai, as well as the hellish realities and bloodshed that accompanied the scarred battlefields of Makai. However, the revelation didn't strike fear within Naruto, no, the truth of the matter was Naruto could only look in awe at the kitsune queen as her accomplishments belied her carefree attitude. Naruto then realized that the fox had done the same thing he had, buried his seriousness under a face of happiness in order to suppress the pain of unsavory experiences. The parallel had reluctantly forced him to recognize that if anyone understood him, it was Kyuubi.

"Sounds like you loved that place," Naruto murmured quietly, thinking if Kyuubi was anything like him, Tenkai must have been her Konoha.

"With all my heart, but the truth is that it is because of my mistake that I am forever banished from my home," Kyuubi continued with a sad smile. Her aura couldn't be explained by anything other than forlorn, and Naruto could understand, because if he was ever banished from Konoha, he doubted he would know what to do with himself.

"Why? What could possibly banish you, one of the highest powers in your whole, from your home?" Naruto asked genuinely perplexed.

"In a moment of stupidity and pride, I sacrificed everything and abandoned my home," Kyuubi answered truthfully, not shocked at all when Naruto's aura turned from empathetic to enraged. How could she blame him, because in his eyes she had commented the one cardinal sin, and that was abandoning one's bonds.

"… I can't believe I actually thought you were like me…," Naruto uttered quietly. Although he had the strength to yell he didn't, this way, he could show the seriousness he buried and with that seriousness, show Kyuubi how he really felt about her.

"Surprised are you? Well as I said before, to truly trust someone you must know all of their faults, and I have revealed to you my greatest fault. Judging by your reaction, you feel that you can never trust me, but let me continue and we'll see if the rest of my story won't change your mind," Kyuubi amended, thus getting Naruto's, begrudging, attention.

"I was foolish, plain and simple. My eight brethren and I had sealed, killed, or otherwise neutralized all the Demon Kings save for one, the Tengu King. The Tengu King was in a class of his own, his power trumping any of the nine, including myself, in one on one combat. However, even knowing that we were still confident in our victory, because who was left to answer his call? Who was possibly strong enough to turn the tides against us? His comrades were, either dead, sealed, or far too injured to be of any help, and because of that we thought we had him cornered. Little did we know that we were just playing our distinctive roles in his twisted puppet show, because if the Tengu King was anything, he was crafty. He saw into our hearts almost as well as Kami himself, then again he was the first being in all of creation as well as the first to turn his back on Kami, an example we would - in our pride - soon follow," Kyuubi stated before pausing and visage of her greatest downfall appeared around the young blond.

'So that is the Tengu King?' Naruto concluded as he stared into the cold, calculating eyes of a human male. Humanoid would have been a more accurate statement. The being's eyes were black like coal, and held a glint of sharpness within them that reminded the blond of polished obsidian. His body, although lithe, was a tightly coiled massive of muscle that not only looked as if it could lift the heaviest of demons with ease, but could manage to make it look as graceful and effortless while doing it. Adorned on his back were proud wings that reached out as wide as he was tall, making him larger than he really was. Not that it mattered, seeing as his intimidating aura did it for him, for it managed to make the air around him seem as suffocating as water. Noting the beads on his neck, as well as the fan in one of his hands and the blade in the other, Naruto could only stare as the man lifted off the ground with the slightest flapping of his wings before hovering in front of the nine biju, gi flitting in the wind that his wings were producing.

"He called to the darkness in our hearts, playing to our pride and using our naivety to lead us to our destruction," Kyuubi continued on, as Naruto listened intently to the words the Demon King was saying. His voice was seducing and his tone commanded power, and before the nine knew it; there they were, agreeing to his claims that they had run Tenkai without Kami! That his help wasn't needed! That they were gods themselves!

"We were like children really, even in all our millennia of being. We were too young to really understand what was happening, and like the puppets we were, we followed him to Makai forsaking our bonds to pursue a position we rightfully thought was ours. We had no idea how wrong we were…,"Kyuubi concluded shamefully as the mindscape played out the following scenes. The tengu's prayer beads split and hovered around him in a circle as if possessed. The nine beads flashed with a blinding amount of youki, before binding themselves into each of the respective biju. Slowly, each of their heavenly forms began to corrupt into the demons they were known as to this day, each sporting their respective tails and each becoming twisted by a power they truly didn't understand. Thus was the birth of the demon biju and thus was the birth of Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Yomi Queen…

"After our defection, the war between Makai and Tenkai raged with renewed passion. Makai had nine new generals to command their armies while, the forces of Tenkai had lost its governing body as well as its strongest frontline soldiers. In the midst of the chaos, the Tengu King managed to create an opening in the barrier that blocked the war from spilling into Ningenkai, and thus the battle moved their was well," Kyuubi said as the results of that filled the mindscape. The sky was black from massive amounts of residual youki flitting in the air, the earth itself scarred from the clashing forces, and the blood of the fallen pooled into the wounds, forever spoiling the ground beneath it.

"The age of chaos, it was from this age that ninja were given birth, to protect the people from the horrors of that era. This was the era before hidden villages and records from this time have all been lost, I never suspected it would have started like this…," Naruto commented, thinking of how well that boded for Kyuubi's argument. The woman was being truthful, even painfully so, and for the most part her truth wasn't helping her case for why he should trust her. Well, at least at first glance, but with the more he heard and the more she shared, Naruto found that he could read the fox woman easier and easier,thus making it harder and harder for him to hate her when he saw all the emotions that were coursing through her underlying each painful and shameful experience.

"True. This was the age of warring states for you humans, where demon kind ran almost unabated throughout Ningenkai, killing, looting, and plundering the land with their taint. It was during this time that the human race was forever altered as demon blood slowly began to mix into the human world, creating the first kekkei genkai," Kyuubi explained, much to the shock of the blond. To believe that all the special powers that he saw throughout Konoha, were through a direct relation with some sort of demon or another. The irony of the situation did not elude him, and for everyone that accused him of being a demon may have very well suffered the same fate as he did.

"I see the irony is not lost on you, but during all of this madness, the avatars of Tenkai finally came up with a solution to both end the war with Makai and purge the evil that tainted the human realm. They would seal the biju, and thus judge the betrayers. The plan, although simple in theory, would span over many ages, reaching far beyond the warring era and into this era, thus ending with my sealing. However, much transpired between the execution of the plan and its completion, one such thing was the binding of Tenkai's warrior clans to you humans, or to put it simple, create the first of the summon contracts. With it, Tenkai's warriors were able to create proxy bodies to not only to combat us biju and our followers without risk of dying, but now they could also teach humans the ability to mold chakra, and with it put their plan in motion. It was from that plan and those contracts that the first ninja were born and with that, it spelled the doom for much of the demon's invading force," Kyuubi said, before pausing and watching as Naruto silently assimilated all the information. If the boy didn't believe any of it, he didn't voice it, all he did was continue to stare, and the flashing images on the walls whilst piecing together his thoughts silently. Taking his silence as cue to continue, Kyuubi shifted the image yet again, only this time the images were in Makai and specifically on that of the Tengu King.

"Unknown to us, Makai's main fighting force, our fearless king was sitting behind the frontlines plotting against us all. Despite all the pretenses he put up, he knew that Makai had no chance of winning against Tenkai once the humans started summoning the heavenly guardians to the human plane. How could we? Our bodies took damage, no matter how miniscule, while their bodies were only projected onto the battlefield. We may have had the power advantage, but it was a war of attrition, and our forces were constantly dwindling. However, he kept that fact rather well hidden and instead had us run special 'missions', to capture the few humans who were the original holders of the summon contracts. Given this was a few centuries after the war began, it came as a shock to me and my colleagues that they were still alive. So, the nine of us set out, each of one moving to capture one of these humans, however the reason these humans were still alive was because the contracts they signed were different then the signing rituals today. For instance, a fox summoner today would only have to sign the fox contract and they would be able to summon foxes, bar the boss because the position is still incumbent; however, back then the first summoner had to tie his soul to his souls as they did to him. This resulted in an affect similar to when demon blood infiltrated the human gene pool; kekkei genkai, this time of divine origin, were born. These humans would go on to sire children and those children would spread their bloodline limits through the gene pool, much like the demons did centuries before them until their bloodline limits were firmly established on Ningenkai. At the time, the massive horde that once composed the Makai army dwindled to about half of its original size, and of the nine generals, only five remained including myself, so with the introduction of these newer bloodline limits, the battle took a turn for the worse. The average infantry demon could easily best a full-grown man and put up a fight against a partial trained ninja, but with bloodline limits of demonic and heavenly origin everywhere, the likelihood of a demon actually begin able to kill a small child dropped considerably. Over the next few decades, the forces of Makai were beginning to be pushed back as we generals were scrambling to find the last of the original contract holders, all the while being hunted and sealed ourselves. Finally, after the sealing of the Hachibi, I managed to catch a break and catch the last remaining contract holder. He was the leader of fearsome clan of warrior monks whose frightening control over chakra gave them mastery over both human and demon energies. However, their eyes are what stood out the most since their eyes were as blank as the Hyuuga that would eventually settle in this land, as they were their ancient ancestors…," Kyuubi revealed, not surprised when Naruto looked up at her in shock.

"You mean to tell me that you captured the very first Hyuuga? And that all bloodline limits are of either demonic or divine origin? Although it would make sense, seeing as people with Kekkei Genkai are normally a lot stronger than the rest of us, but how would you tell the difference between a divine bloodline limit and a demonic one?" Naruto asked, yet again taking a profound interest in what Kyuubi was telling him.

"It's not clear and cut as I'm about to tell you, but generally, demonic bloodline limits affect the elements of nature somehow, whereas divine bloodline limits affect the body, altering it somehow to house a distinct advantage or trait that they gained from their contract. However, there is one clan that is a mixture of both and that clan lives here in Konoha today, that clan is the Uchiha clan," Kyuubi added, only to get a piercing look from the blond. She, of all things, knew of the boy's feeling for the clan. However after hearing this, his opinion for the clan may change forever and, all things considered, it would probably be for the worse…

"Continuing from where I left off, I was the last biju general alive and I just completed our tasked mission of capturing all of the contract holders. None of us knew what our leader was looking for when he demanded we retrieve them or what he did with them once they were captive, all we were told was that they would be the tools to end the war as we knew it. That day our transgression caught up with me as it did my kin, only I would pay a price far worse than that of my brethren…," Kyuubi muttered as the mural around them told the story. Naruto watched the scene play out as a stony-faced Kyuubi looked on in silence. The man, blank eyed and regal, stood defiantly in face of the great Tengu, however slowly but surely he was tortured and twisted by the demon's youki. His old body became young once again and his humanity was all but lost, the Tengu King had possessed a new body. The now possessed man turned his eyes to past-Kyuubi with a wicked grin as his aura flared, rooting the demoness in spot.

"It was then I realized my folly, I was all alone in the face of the strongest demon ever. And even though his youki was decaying the holy bonds that kept him alive, he still had more than enough power to subdue me and then carry on with the rest of his plan…," Kyuubi said, and for the first time she turned her eyes away from the depictions. Naruto continued to look on curiously before it dawned on him. Bile built up in his stomach when he saw the insane, but powerful Tengu possessed man stand over the prone and defenseless Kyuubi before descending down on her and the images go black. Naruto was smart enough to know what happened, and seeing as how the age-old demon repressed the memory; the ancient wounds were still fresh in her mind.

'That bastard! How could he do that to one of his own followers!? I can't believe him, I'll rip him apart if I ever…,' but with that Naruto paused. When did this protective feeling for the one who ruined his life worm into his head? It was then he realized that what Kyuubi had said was starting to make sense, the more he found out about her, the more he was letting himself trust her. Fuming slightly, in irritation of the Tengu's actions but yet not of the revelation, Naruto continued to listen as the mural changed yet again.

"Fleeing from Makai as soon as I gained consciousness, it was then I realized that I was truly trapped. Because of my betrayal, I could no longer go to Tenkai for aid, and because of the Tengu King, hiding in Makai was out of the question. So I was in Ningenkai, stranded and carrying a child that was being mutated by the Tengu's youki. It was then that I realizing that this was his goal from the beginning. I cursed my foolishness and I cursed my pride, but above all else, I cursed that damned Tengu. However, cursing would not set things straight, so I did the only thing I could do, I disguised myself as a human and let the Makai army crumple on top of itself. With no leadership to guide them, the demons began to fight amongst themselves, making it easier for humans and the allies from Tenkai to finish the war, and in the confusion, I was successfully able to disappear. I took the name Kasumi as I wandered, never staying anywhere long enough for anyone discover who I was or what I had done, and so I explored the world I had once set out to conquer. Time passed, and the child carrying my blood and the blood of the tengu possessed Hyuuga was born, and even though I knew the child carried some significance to the Lord of Hell, I couldn't bring myself to kill him. I suppose the Tengu planned for that, knowing that as a mother I could never kill my own child, but I wasn't going to let him win at whatever he was planning. So I hid the child away, utterly erasing as much of the Tengu's presence on his child as I could. The process drained me to the point where I needed rest, and from then on, I slept until the events that led to our fateful meeting," Kyuubi finished, as the scene changed once again, showing the picture of Kyuubi's child after the change. The once winged half demon was now human. His body was lithe like his father's and his hair black as coal, however the tainted aura around him was all but gone, hidden away by Kyuubi's doing, and unlike his father, he received a gift from his mother. His eyes were like that of blood; almost matching Kyuubi's perfectly if it weren't for the three-point star in the center.

"Many things happened while I slept. The era of chaos ended and the land settled into peace, long since forgetting the hectic age before it, as well as the demons that wrecked havoc over the land. During that time, my child sired a line of fearsome warriors. Warriors blessed by the kekkei genkai of heaven, but cursed by the Tengu's twisted chakra. Over the generations, my disguise slowly faded from line to line until it came to both the attentions of both leaders of Tenkai and the Tengu King that these warriors were in fact the clan they were looking for. The tengu made his move and contacted his children directly, while Tenkai contacted me in my sleep, offering me the one thing I wanted most. My redemption…," Kyuubi paused yet again and let the motion pictures do their work. Watching as Tengu King's twisted the brightest star of the Uchiha into a monster and his subsequent defeat by the first Hokage, Naruto could only wonder how this played into the Kyuubi's attack.

"Tasked with destroying my own children, I at first resisted and the scene you just saw was the outcome. That was my tormentor's first attempt to carry out his plan, and the destruction it wrought rested solely on my shoulders. Reluctantly, I took my task and made my way to my children's current home, Konoha," Naruto could only watch silently as Konoha caused as much destruction as possible on the way towards his home. Before he would have thought that it was a mindless demon enjoying the pain and destruction it could cause on a whim, but Naruto now knew better. It was Kyuubi trying to warn those in her path to leave, that she only had one target, and that target meant the most to her. She skipped over the attack, and Naruto thanked the fox silently for sparing him the image of seeing his home destroyed, and the blond was impassively as the Fourth Hokage sealed the great beast into him, leaving he and the fox biju in their current situation.

"As you can see, my mission failed and I suppose that this is my penance for my transgression. However, I know that he is still out there and with me in here, his taint will never leave this plane. So Naruto, I ask you now, do you see my reasons? Do now understand that you can trust me?" Kyuubi asked as the images slowly shifted back into the visage of the damp cellar, leaving both Naruto and Kyuubi standing opposite of another.

"Yes, I see your reasons, and although lengthy and complex, I can understand why you did it. Konoha was just caught in the crossfire of a conflict too old for it to comprehend; a conflict you started," Naruto said accusingly. Kyuubi flinched on the inside, the blond was right, but her pride would be damned if she let him know he affected her.

"Yes, this is my fault and I shoulder full responsibility. However, that doesn't answer the other question, can you trust me?" Kyuubi asked again staring hard at the blond in front of her.

Naruto stood silently as he weighed his options, on one hand, he could trust the one demon responsible for much of the bloodshed and strife in the world, whether it be his, demon, heavenly; or he could condemn them both and see what would happen to the world without Kyuubi to interfere any longer. With that in mind, Naruto made his decision and the mindscape went dark…

--

No sooner than when the words left the Hokage's mouth, Naruto vitals began to plummet. The device monitoring his brain's chakra/youki activity began to flare uncontrollably.

'Is the demon trying to take control over Naruto?'the Hokage wonderedbefore he threw a worried look to Iruka, who returned it with twice the intensity. If anyone would feel the impact of Naruto's death, it would be his academy instructor, and above and beyond everything else, his older brother.

The chakra and youki spiked, and Naruto's vitals all died; apparently Naruto took the Kyuubi with him, sacrificing himself to save the village that scorned him. As noble as that was, neither of the two surrounding the boy felt elated. No, a haze of sadness washed over them for Konoha had lost that which was most precious to them, the one carrying on the Will of Fire. Cursing his luck, Sarutobi swore if had one more chance, he would tell Naruto everything, starting from birth and spanning all the way to whom his parents were. He owed it to them, and most of all to Naruto, to accomplish at least that, but as it stood he wouldn't get a chance…

Beep-beep

The device monitoring the boy's heart came to life once again, startling both shinobi. It had almost been a whole minute since Naruto's vitals died, and now they were all starting to come back to life, getting stronger and stronger with each passing moment. Hope filled the two, well at least until they looked at the flickering monitor that showed the chakra/youki activity in Naruto's brain.

The packet of youki that had been in Naruto's head spread, encompassing it as it had his body only hours earlier. Fear gripped the hearts of both shinobi as their worse fears were coming true, the Kyuubi was returning, and to their knowledge, it had come back from the grave after Naruto had given himself to destroy it. The boy's eyes fluttered open, revealing two deep blue eyes before a feral smirk spread on his face, the two men stood ramrod straight, trying to will themselves into the ready position, but it was to no avail. Memories of the beast's power resurfaced into the forefront of their minds, paralyzing them at that one crucial moment.

"Why so stiff jiji-san, you aren't going to die on me are you?" Naruto uttered sarcastically. The two shinobi relaxed as confusion spread through them, that wasn't what they were expecting.

"Why are you two looking at me like that, is there someone wrong with my face?" Naruto asked, before turning his body and setting his feet on the ground, not noticing that he came in contact with it far sooner than he normally did, before pitching his body forward onto his feet. He got about halfway there before his body collapsed over his new legs and Naruto got a close inspection of how clean the hospital floors were.

'Defiantly not what I was expecting,'an amused Iruka thought as he helped his surrogate brother into a wheel chair before following after the Hokage. They had much to discuss.

--

The world as Naruto knew changed drastically. Literally everything that he once perceived as fact was irrevocably altered by his enhanced senses. Things like scents in the air and hues of color, which never bothered him before, now stood out in a great amount of detail and contrast. Hell, he could goes as far to say that his old senses were like night to this new one's day, a day in which all that was hidden from him had been illuminated.

Feeling no end to the intellectual stimulation via his new senses, Naruto was almost relieved when they arrived at the Hokage's office and the vastness of the world seemed to shrink down to one office. Absorbing in all he could of the office in one go, Naruto felt his curiosity settle down and finally give his mind a chance to relax. It would not be for long, because once the smell of fresh tobacco hit his nose, he knew he was in for a long talk.

"Naruto, I need you to recount everything that you experienced while you were asleep," the Hokage asked. To anyone else, the statement would have sounded like the demand of a responsible leader trying to ensure the safety of his home. However, to Naruto, the Sarutobi head's words were like that of a worried grandfather, trying to ensure that he was all right. The thought brought a bright smile to the blonde's face, one that would eerily remind the two around him of the boy's father.

"Get comfortable you two, because a lot happened while I was in my head, but for the most part, Kyuubi's story is the most important and her tale will probably answer many of the questions you have now," Naruto said, noting the surprise he not only saw on his elder's face, but also smelled in their change of scent.

"The Kyuubi is a GIRL!" Iruka shouted, much to the amusement of his little brother.

Much to discuss indeed…

Read and Review

A/N: Betrayals, plots, new bodies, and wait, did I see the origin of bloodline limits in there as well?! I now understand what J.K. Rowling said when she said book six and seven were like two halves a coin. This chapter and the next could be done together if they were so long, and I doubt anyone wants to sit through another 10000 plus words. And I am sorry about congested this chapter was as well, I know this chapter was a lot to digest at once, but as I said above, its all of the plot, and as you can see, I have much to work with (hopefully I can do the muse in my head justice). I hope that I kept you entertained and asking for more (especially about the Tengu King, because I have big plans for him. Oh ho ho, BIG plans for him lol.) Personally, I hadn't wanted the Kyuubi explanation to take so long, but as it panned out more and more, I realized that explaining the back-story would be just as important as the next part in the story. Be ready for more surprises is my only warning, and stay tuned because I'm itching to write the next chapter (although I can solemnly swear that DOAD is on the forefront of my mind right now, so watch out for that update within the week okay?). Anyways, 'twas a pleasure and I thorough enjoy writing for you guys.

Completed 8/20/2008

Edited 8/25/08

Black Saint