A/N: Nothing much to say here. Just please leave lots of reviews.

Last time:

"Hello? Anyone out there?" Naruto called out into a deep darkness. The only illumination being a spotlight focusing on the blonde. Outside of the spotlight there was nothing but darkness far as the eye could see… figuratively speaking.

"Naruto-kun? Is that you?" called out the Voice of Sheele as she stepped into the blonde's light, followed shortly by Leone.

"Leone? Sheele? You're both okay! I'm so happy that you're okay!" Naruto spoke as he hugged them both, crying tears of joy.

"I know! I thought I was a goner! Then I felt… I dunno… I felt something pulling me back. And, I came to here." Spoke Leone as she rubbed her forehead. Sheele adjusted her glasses then asked "Speaking of ehich…. Where IS here?"

The three looked about in the black empty void and knew… that it might take a while to find the exit.

Chapter three: Hopeless situation! The General descends!

Standing atop the Hokage Tower, General Esdeath smirks as she looks down at the village. "Konoha. The strongest village in the Elemental Nations eh? How interesting." She muttered as she sharpened her rapier.

Behind her was her subordinates Kurome, Wave and Run. All of them doing their own thing as they waited for the arrival of their comrades. Their activities were interrupted as indistinct shouting came from the street below, however they recognized the voices of their comrades. "Hmm? Seems they brought my prize." Muttered Esdeath with a grin, however she frowned upon seeing her subordinates had returned empty-handed.

Dr. Stylish and Seryu were yelling up at their leader, their voices overlapping making it hard to tell what it was they were saying. She silenced them with a raised hand and spoke "One at a time. You had better have a good reason for not bringing me the Jinchuuriki? Well? Bols, what happened?"

The masked man gulped and saluted the General replying "Well Esdeath-sama, we made contact with the Jinchuuriki and were prepared to apprehend him, as per your orders. However we met interference from his friends and things spiraled out of control. Then… well… after we thought to have killed his friends… something weird happened!"

At the end of his explanation the General adjusted her trademark cap and asked "Something weird? Tell me more."

Elsewhere.

"Ummm. How long have we been walking?" asked Sheele as she adjusted her glasses. A worried look on her face.

"Dunno. Minutes? Hours? Days? It is impossible to tell time in here. Especially since it's nothing but darkness. I can't even tell where the hell we're going." Replied Naruto with a frustrated sigh.

"Forget that. I wanna know how me and Sheele are alive! If I recall, she was eaten by some dog monster, and I was stabbed through the chest by Extase. Yet here we are." Spoke Leone as she scratched her head.

"Maybe we're zombies?" asked Sheele in a worried tone, the images of her and Leone slowly rotting into shambling corpses filling her mind.

Naruto took their wrists and pressed his fingers against it and then asked "Zombies don't have pulses do they?" at this the Purple haired girl blushed in embarrassment at her own airheadedness and lightly slapped the side of her face.

With that done, they continued wandering about for a while longer, the only light they had was the spotlight that seemed to follow them everywhere they went. "Grr! This is useless! How are we ever gonna get out of here if we can't see where we're going?" growled Leone in frustration.

Naruto crossed his arms and looked up towards the source of the spotlight then spoke "I think the answer was never that far from us." He reached up, feeling the air around the light, then his hand brushed against something. He latched onto what was touching his hand and found it to be a thread. Then he yanked on it, and with a click the black void changed to white.

Sitting a small ways from them was a woman with horns on her head. An amused expression on her face "Welcome. I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that out."

The three yelped in surprise and shouted in unison "AAAAH! THE SHINIGAMI!"

The horned woman waved them off and spoke in a casual tone "No. I'm not the Shinigami. My name is Kaguya Otsutsuki. I have brought you to Limbo, so that I might explain things. Sheele, Leone. You two have regained your memories yes?"

At her question they both stiffly nodded causing Kaguya to continue speaking "I thought as much. " a sly grin crossing her face.

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto as he scratched his nose.

The Rabbit Goddess replied to him "Heheh. Allow me to explain your friends…. All of them… are not originally part of your 'reality'. Leone, Sheele, Lubbock, Bulat, Mine, Akame, and Chelsea. They all come from a lost chapter of history from long before Chakra ever entered the world. A time where an Empire that stood for a thousand years had taken root. An Empire mired in corruption because of a child Emperor and his Prime Minister who took advantage of the Emperor's youth an naiveté.

They were all part of an Assassination group known as Night Raid. Dedicated to ending the life of the Prime Minister. One by one, they fell during their campaign. Leone herself was tragically murdered by the Prime Minister Honest. When the dust had settled… there wasn't much left to salvage.

Then my attention came to you Naruto-kun. Let me make this clear, you are important to a lot of people. For you carry a powerful and lost heritage that is worth more than all the treasures of the Elemental Nations, you also carry a powerful entity, the Kyuubi, the most fearsome of the Tailed Beasts. There are many who would take advantage of you. So I took the souls of Night Raid's members and inserted them into your 'reality' so that you might have friends you can rely on and can protect you."

Naruto was stunned into silence, he heard those people that wanted to capture him kept saying the word 'Jinchuuriki'. He had a gut feeling that his birthday and the Kyuubi attack being the same was no coincidence. But he never imagined being it's container. Or maybe he was just fooling himself.

"Oi now! I can understand you bringing us back! But what the Hell is Honest and the Jaegers doing alive?" asked Leone with a growl.

The Rabbit Goddess smiled and replied to the question "I freely admit that Esdeath being brought into the picture was intentional. The others, were not. I didn't place them there. You brought them with you. Your regrets, your grudges, your despair brought them with you when you were reincarnated. For a while I thought about removing them from the Equation… but then I thought 'Why let unfinished business remain unresolved?' so I let them stay so you might hash out Justice where Justice is due."

"Both my friends died. Well… again. Did you… bring them back?" asked Naruto once the Rabbit Goddess had finished her explanation.

Kaguya's lips pursed for a moment, as though she were contemplating an answer. Finally, she grinned widely and answered him "No. I had nothing to do with that. I try to keep interference to a minimum if I can help it. It was by your own power that you brought them back. Anyway, as much as I would love to chat further. I'm afraid your time here has been used up. By the way, if you pass this next trial, then I promise you and your friends will be given safe passage out of Konoha. Bye bye!" once she finished speaking she snapped her fingers and everything went dark.

In the Inuzuka compound.

"AAAAAAAAAGH!" screamed Naruto, Leone and Sheele as their eyes snapped open and they quickly sat up in shock. Their friends also screaming with them while holding up crosses, salt, stakes, and more weapons you might use to slay the undead.

"VILE DEMONS! RELEASE MY FRIENDS! HOW DARE YOU TARNISH SHEELE'S BODY BY POSSESSING IT!" screamed Mine as she threw salt into the purple haired girls face.

"Wha? Mine-chan… I'm not possessed or anything." Spoke Sheele in confusion as she adjusted her glasses.

"Liar! Mine told us what happened to Sheele! There's no way you can be her!" yelled Chelsea while pointing an accusatory finger at the spectacled girl.

"Guys! Everyone! Calm down already! I know we are having a crazy ass day, but this REALLY is Sheele. I don't know what happened but… this is big. I mean really big." Spoke Naruto as he tried to ease his friends panic.

They still gave the resurrected Sheele a suspicious glare… but they decided that if Naruto said so, then it should be okay. "What the hell happened out there? Who were those guys? Why were they after you bro?" asked Bulat as he combed his pompadour.

"Before I answer, I gotta ask. Did you gather our friends in the Shinobi ranks?" asked Naruto hoping that they'd get some backup.

Bulat shook his head answering "Sorry. Their hands are tied. Martial law has officially been declared. And they gotta lock everything down."

The Jinchuuriki sighed in disappointment, regardless, his friends deserved to know the truth. About their past lives, about what is happening now, his status as a Jinchuuriki, everything. Before he could open his mouth to speak a female voice called out from outside "NARUTO UZUMAKI! GET OUT HERE!"

The group all stiffened and peered out the window, outside Esdeath and her group were waiting outside. The blue haired woman grinning almost in a feral manner as she called out "Naruto Uzumaki! Come on out! Let's talk. You can come out quietly or my associates will drag you out. They tell me you're full of tricks. I came to see for myself! You have two minutes!"

Naruto looked at his friends and clenched his fist, steeling his resolve to go out and meet her. He was stopped by Leone who whispered to him "Naruto-kun! Don't! She'll kill you! That is General Esdeath! Even in our time she was a nasty piece of worked that dogged us at every turn! She is merciless! Please! Just… just go. Run as far as you can! We'll buy you time to get away and…" she was interrupted by a slap to the face from her fellow blonde.

"No. I won't let you throw away your second chance at life. I'm going and you can't stop me." He spoke harshly to her, and marched out the door, sweat slowly seeping out of his pores.

Leone put a hand to her cheek, a lone tear dripping down her face "Naruto-sama… I love you." She whispered to herself as she watched his retreating form, wondering why he hadn't brought up her earlier confession. Was he still in shock? Or did he believe it to be an inappropriate time to address it? Only time would tell.

Outside Naruto marched forward, his friends reluctantly following him as well. Stopping a short distance away behind the blonde. The whiskeref boy cleared his throat and spoke "General Esdeath. You wanted to talk to me?"

The blue haired woman adjusted her cap and looked him over for a moment, as if sizing him up. "You know who I am bouya?" she asked with a grin.

"I heard about you. You're here to capture me huh? On whose authority?" he asked the Samurai, however his question was answered by Mine.

"My dad Kizashi sold you out to the Prime Minister! I heard everything! My old man told the Minister about you to gain his approval and worm his way into the inner circle!" yelled the Pink haired girl, causing the blue haired woman to applaud.

"All true. But regardless, I have my orders. Tell me bouya, are you afraid of me?" asked the General with a malicious grin.

'Put on a brave face Naruto. Don't show fear.' His friends thought together, hoping that he wouldn't lose his nerve.

"I'm downright terrified right now." Naruto answered Esdeath in a blunt manner.

Esdeath was silent for a few moments, she'd seem a lot of people put on a brave face and tried to act all big and unafraid, but all those Shinobi lost their nerve when they ultimately faced her. There was something different about this one, he gave an honest albeit blunt response, but he's looking at her square in the eye without even flinching. "HAHAHAHA! HONESTY! I LIKE THAT!" she yelled out while laughing.

After a few moments she cleared her throat and began to speak "Here's the thing bouya, I have orders to bring you in alive. So one of two things will happen, either you can come peacefully and we forget about your friends over there. Or you can struggle as you like and we'll kill them all, and this time we'll make sure they STAY dead. What's it gonna be?"

His friends waited with bated breath, knowing that this was a no-win situation. There was no way to get out of this. Naruto shook his head and spoke in a determined voice "I pick a third option! I'm challenging you to a duel!" the sound of glass shattering echoed in the minds of both sides as they wondered if he was in his right mind.

"Oh? How interesting. Mmm. You don't seem to have a headband. I'm guessing you must still be in the Academy. Hmmm, I'll tell you what, I'll be a good sport. If you win, I'll let you and your friends go. If I win then you're coming with me as my new pet." She spoke with a malicious grin then tossed a knife at his feet.

He hesitantly glanced between the knife and the General. She chuckled and rubbed her palms together before speaking "Go ahead. The challenge is simple, All you have to do is land one solid blow on me, and I'll concede defeat. To make things more fun for me, I'll be fighting you bare handed, I'll even give you three chances to get a shot in before I fight back. I'd say I'm being more than fair."

He nodded and picked the knife up, giving it a few practice swings. Sheele appeared behind the blonde boy and whispered to him "Be very careful Naruto-kun. Esdeath is brutal and vicious. She's toying with you. Whatever you do… make your shots count."

Naruto looked back at her with a small smile and whispered "Understood Sheele-chan. And don't worry, I've got an idea. You were all an Assassination group right? A good Assassin… only needs the one shot." He stepped forward leaving behind a puzzled Sheele.

"I'm ready." Naruto spoke as he stretched his arms, his friends silently cheering him on, their eyes intensely focused on their friend.

"Good. Come at me however you like." Spoke the Blue haired woman as she got into a readied stance.

'All I need… is just one shot.' Thought the Jinchuuriki in his mine. A small smile formed on his face as he began walking towards the bluenette at a casual pace, like he was just walking through a garden. A question mark blinked over Esdeath's head as she wondered what he was playing at.

He continued walking forward until she stopped him with a light shove from an open palm to his chest, a frown forming on her face because of how boring this match was… then she saw it. A gleam in his eye that showed deadly intent, he attacked her outstretched arm with his knife forcing her to pull it back. He then thrust the knife up to her face forcing her to lean back.

With a grin he used his free hand to grab the back of her shirt and pull her down to the ground, didn't take much effort since gravity was doing the work for him. She then felt it, a dark and deadly presence. The visage of a fierce looking canine staring at her with burning red eyes, snarling at her with bared fangs, it then snapped it's jaws making her flinch and slam her eyes shut.

She then felt cold steel cut across her cheek, warm blood beginning to spill out onto her pale skin. She huffed and wheezed as she found herself in a half-nelson, the blonde having cut her cheek with the blade. He licked off the droplets of blood and proudly proclaimed "I win!" with that said he released her from his grip.

The General stared at his back with wide eyes, never before had she been bested in this manner! She had stared down A and S Rank Shinobi and never batted an eyelash at them… but this kid made her lose focus, and ultimately used her own hubris against her. She noticed that her comrades were in disbelief as well. She sighed and got up from the ground, adjusting her cap, she then applauded the blonde and spoke "Very well done. I accept defeat. As promised me and my comrades will stop bothering you. However… there's just one problem. I promised we'd let you go… but how do you plan to escape from Konoha with the Martial Law in effect? One way or another, the Prime Minister will get you and your power Bouya."

"Actually, they'll be going now." Spoke the disembodied voice of the Rabbit goddess who was pleased that Naruto had gotten one over on the General. At the sound of her voice, one by one, Naruto's friends were enveloped by a bluish colored bubble and then sent flying off in different directions.

"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU SENDING THEM? THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU PROMISED!" yelled Naruto angrily as his friends flew high into the sky.

"Isn't it? I said I'd give you and your friends safe passage out of Konoha. I never specified where you'd be going!" replied the disembodied voice as Naruto was sent flying off as well, high into the sky.

The Jaeger's jaws dropped to the ground in disbelief at what just happened. Esdeath however ran her thumb over the wound on her cheek, and for some reason… the scar wouldn't stop itching. She sighed and ignored it so she may address her subordinates "Seems like we've been duped. We'll sort this out later."

"What do we do now Esdeath-sama?" asked one Kurome as she popped a candy in her mouth.

"Nothing for now. We don't know where they've gone. But they'll turn up again. And NEXT TIME, I WON'T be so easily felled by that little brat." She muttered excitedly at the end, her tongue licking her lips in… arousal? Her comrades couldn't tell what she was thinking right now, but it wasn't good.

In Limbo.

"That was entertaining. Naruto-kun has passed with flying colors." Spoke Kaguya with a broad grin on her face. Sitting across from her, was her son Hagaromo a deep frown on his face.

"Yes yes, impressive. But just what are you playing at mother? What's your endgame? If you keep meddling with the timeline, the consequences could be catastrophic." He spoke while slamming his Shakujo to the floor.

"Fufufu. Too late for that. Even with or without my interference, IT is coming. And there's no force on Heaven or Earth that can stop IT from coming." She spoke with apparent glee.

"It? What is 'it'?" asked Hagaromo with a raised eyebrow.

"Fufufu. You know, for someone who is so allegedly wise, you're awfully short-sighted. Take a closer look at the current state of the world." The Rabbit Goddess replied while pointing at the window to Earth, that allowed them to see everything that was happening.

Hagaromo looked down and saw that the Various villages were in deep shock as news of the Fire Daimyo's death spread like wildfire. It was then he noticed… something was happening. The Kages of the Major villages were preparing their Shinobi for whatever reason. The leaders of the Minor Villages were sending messenger hawks to and fro, sending dozens of letters.

A puzzled expression crossed his face, prompting his mother to speak "Is there REALLY a ruling force in the Elemental Nations? The Daimyo's care not for anything except lining their own pockets. Who is really in charge of the Elemental Nations? Is there anyone at the top of the mountain in all the Nations now? Is it one of the Five Kages of the Major villages? A coalition of Minor villages looking to carve a bigger piece? The brats from the Next Generation who must bear the mistakes of the previous? Is it the Akatsuki as they blindly follow the ambitions of a man-child who never got past his childhood crush? Or maybe the Child of Prophecy who still has yet to learn that he is responsible for the turn of a new era?

The Uzumaki 'Family' has been hidden in the shadows of history. When and where are they going to show themselves? Who shall side with who? Who shall betray who? Who will fire the first shot and ignite the War to end All Wars? The Daimyo's, the Uchiha's, the Senju's shall all be cast down into the abyss of history that has been erased and forgotten.

It has been centuries since I first ate the forbidden fruit and ruled this world with my power, that is, until I was corrupted by it and fell from grace. You, Hagaromo, didn't take the throne, you merely stood in front of it and took the reigns, but then you lost control when you began to share Chakra to the world for your 'Ninshuu'. What about now? Fufufu, the number of Shinobi has been multiplying as of late, and the Throne still remains empty, waiting for the next person to sit in it. Someday soon, it will start. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe a month, a year from now… It. Will. Start. The biggest struggle for supremacy ever, THE THRONE WARS!"

The Rikudou Sennin, swallowed hard. If what his mother said is true… then may Kami have mercy on the Elemental Nations. He had dreaded that the Throne Wars might come, he had hoped the balance of power set in the Nations among the Villages might prevent it… but now there was nothing, not even his mother could stop it. It didn't even matter if she reset the timeline. The Throne Wars were coming fast, and there can only be ONE victor.

In Nadeshiko.

In the All Kunoichi village said to contain some of the most beautiful if not fearsome Kunoichi in the Elemental nations, a Ronin was sharpening her spear on a bench in the village square. She was Balsa, a former Samurai who failed to protect her Daimyo in the land of Snow. Now she was a Ronin that lived in Nade.

The sound of a whetstone, scraping across her spear's blade rang out. "Hiya Balsa-san." Spoke a voice behind her, making the Ronin jump and turn seeing a masked face of a Hannya "Ah! Onibaba!" yelled the Ronin in surprise.

The masked woman was the Chief advisor to Nade's leader. No one knew who she was or what she looked like under the mask, so most people referred to her as 'Onibaba'. Some rumors circulated that she was raped by a Shinobi who then carved up her face beyond all hope of healing. To hide her shame, and express her hatred, she donned a Hannya mask. She also had the habit of quietly sneaking up on people and scaring the hell out of them.

"Oh. It's just you. Please stop doing that Onibaba-san. That's creepy." Spoke Balsa with a sigh.

"I will never stop doing that. Anyway? I thought I'd put up these wanted posters. Care to help?" asked the masked woman as she held up a small stack of papers. The spear user took one and looked it over, a large sweatdrop formed as she saw it was a picture of an underdeveloped penis and pair of testicles, with a smaller picture of who it belonged to.

'Wanted! Castrate on sight! Thirty million ryo reward for the genitals of Jiraiya of the Sannin' the poster said, along with a list of crimes that includes trespassing, attempted sexual assault, public indecency, peeping on public bathhouses, theft of private property (Including but not limited to Ladies undergarments.) And various other crimes that made him the most hated male in Nadeshiko's history.

"Wow." Was all Balsa could say as she plastered one of the Wanted Posters to a wall.

"Ya know Balsa, you're a strong and attractive woman. You should leave Nade. Go find yourself a nice husband to pamper you. Live the comfy and cushy lifestyle. Pop out some adorable babies." Spoke Onibaba with a perverse giggle.

The spear wielder chuckled and replied casually "No thanks. I don't deserve to live a life like that. I'm just a humble Ronin. I refuse to take a husband until I find a worthy lord to grant me leave for marriage."

"Oh, you and your principles. You know that no Daimyo will hire you after Snow country. What a damn mess. What're you waiting for? Your liege lord to fall out of the sky?" asked the Hannya masked woman as a small gleam escapes from her eyeholes.

A sharp whistling sound was heard, and it became steadily louder and louder and louder. They looked about but could find no trace of whatever was making the noise. Finally… they looked up amd saw something falling right out of the sky.

"DUCK AND COVER!" yelled Onibaba as she and Balsa hid around the corner of a building…. But no sound of impact occurred. Peering around the corner, the two noticed that a boy with blonde hair and whisker marks was floating just inches above the ground. By the looks of it he was asleep.

They slowly approached him and poked at his face making him snort in his sleep but otherwise he didn't react. "Who is this?" asked the spear user.

"I'd say it's your new lord." Spoke the masked woman with a chuckle.

"What?! I didn't agree to that!" yelped Balsa in surprise.

"Too late. He's your charge now. Bring him to our Lady's palace. I think this boy will have quite the interesting story." Spoke Onibaba, the light reflecting off of her violet colored eyes. With that said, she walked off. A spring in her step as she knew things were gonna get interesting.

End chapter three.

Next time: Friends divided! Where are they now?