Tried and Fail

by Foxcomm

A collection of stories that never got off the ground. Up for adoption.

4. Second Vampire Hunter version

Naruto looked through the book store, looking for the latest material for his Ninja Centerfold. The store owner didn't mind him all too much, just so long as he wasn't a bother, making this store his second favorite in Konoha. He was passing through the fiction section when something caught his eye. It was a book different than everything else in the store. "Vampire Hunter D?"

"What was that," the owner called.

Naruto pulled the book from the shelf. "A title of a book over here. Vampire Hunter D."

"Oh, that," the man said. "It comes from the land to the east of the Elemental Continent. The one without ninja. Apparently, it is a big seller there but no one here likes it."

"No ninja," Naruto asked. "What's it about? Is there fighting?"

"Fighting? Yeah."

"So...this would have how they fight there then."

"I guess. But, again, no one is interested in it. Look at the price."

Naruto did, "Wow, practically giving it away."

"Yeah."

Naruto looked at the cover. It showed a man with a wide brim hat on a horse with two back curving horns, holding a woman with long blond hair. The man had a gem on his hat and a blue gem necklace. On his back was a large sword as well. "...Mind if I skim through it a bit?"

"Go ahead."

Naruto thanked him and opened it to some random page. Lee lunged at D with the sword, going for the kill. Before the blade stabbed him though, D caught the blade in his hands, a reverse of their earlier fight. He broke off the end of his sword, driving the rest of the blade into the wall, and throwing the end he held at Lee. It was driven into his chest, reaching his heart. Lee, coughing up blood, stumbled backwards. "I know that move...cough, cough. That is the same attack I begged our lord, the Noble Count Dracula, to teach me but he refused. Who, who are you?" Lee got a good look at his face, then the picture behind him. 'Could it be? Could you be the son of my Lord?'

Naruto stared, fascinated at what little he read. The thought of breaking a sword with only your hands and still being able to use the piece you broke off as a weapon was cool. "I'll take it!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! D is really cool!"

He shrugged, "Alright. No refunds."

"I'm not returning this," Naruto said adamantly.

—oo000oo—

Naruto was lying on his bed, slurping some ramen as he read. He hadn't been able to put the book down, and most people had found it odd that an eight year old was so drawn into a book. "WHAT!? HOW COULD THEY KILL HIM!?" D had just been stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake. "No, no, no!" He got back to it. "The hand's alive!" He kept on reading as the hand reattached itself to D before eating some earth and air. 'Two of the Big Four will have to do' the hand said. Naruto held his breath as the hand pounded on D's chest to get him up before the Mist Monster ate him. 'What would you do without me? Don't answer that.' Naruto began to yawn, a sign that it must have been late. He looked out the window and saw he had read right through the afternoon again. It was time to go to bed already. He put his book on his dresser almost revere like. "This book is so cool!" He looked up at the stars. "I wish I was like D. At least then, I would know why I'm hated. Well, except for the drinking blood part, but everything else would be so cool. Ah, if I'm going to be like him, I better get a wide brim hat first." He stretched before laying down.

—oo000oo—

"WHAT!? No, keep reading!" Kyuubi began to pout. It was the first interesting thing to happen since she had been sealed and the child kept stopping. But then, she heard his wish and that made her smile. "Why not? Hehe, watch out world, but the Gaki better make sure to get more of those books."

—oo000oo—

Six Months Later

—oo000oo—

"Ah, my best customer," the book store owner said when Naruto entered. "Let me guess, you want more Vampire Hunter D, don't you?"

"You know me so well," Naruto said, lifting the brim of his hat up.

"Well, I got something special for you this time. Just a second." He reached under the counter and pulled up two plastic containers about as thick as the books. "Here we are, Vampire Hunter D, the Movie and Vampire Hunter D, Bloodlust." He set them on the counter as Naruto rushed to look at them. "I also got you a DVD player for them."

"You're awesome, Jiji! I'll take them!" Paying for them, Naruto took them back to his apartment. He plugged the DVD player into his TV and put the first one in. While the story was off on some things, to finally put a face and voice to the characters excited Naruto to no end. When it was over, he put in the second one immediately. This one was even better. Granted, Countess Carmella wasn't in the book but that was alright. The ending was a little better. Putting the movies away, Naruto laid down to go to sleep.

—oo000oo—

"The Gaki is right on this, D is really cool," Kyuubi said, laying down. "If I'm stuck inside a mortal, I should be stuck inside one as strong as him!" She started shifting through Naruto's memories on it, checking to see if there was enough details yet. She figure the hand would be the hardest to duplicate but with an ability like that, it would be worth it. Breaking through dimensions, restoring life to a body, capable of eating anything and everything. "Hmm. That's everything. Heightened strength, superior balance, slow aging, physically fit, not to mention just damn hard to kill. This is going to take a lot of effort." She would never have done something like this if she wasn't so damn interested in that book series.

As she started planning it out, there was a cough from the gate. "Kyuubi, what are you up to," said the one voice that could infuriate her besides that damn Uchiha.

"You," Kyuubi growled, turning to the Fourth Hokage. "Go away, you already made both our lives hell."

"I ask again, what are you doing?"

She brought a paw out, trying to squish him. "None of your damn business!"

"I think it is very much my business," Minato countered, jumping out of the way. "What are you planning to do to my son!?"

She turned her nose away from him. "You are lucky, mortal, that you took my evil side with you when you died," she told him. "Or else, I would tear this boy apart, just to hurt you in the afterlife."

"Which is why I left you here," Minato growled back.

Kyuubi looked back at him. "As for demanding me what I was doing to 'your son', I believe you gave up any right to call him that when you cursed him like you did. Hell, you don't really know what his life is like, you are just a remnant, a shadow, and the real you will never know."

Minato lowered his head, what she had said was true and it hurt. "Please, just tell me."

"Hmph. He is fond of a character in a book series, a man named D, and wishes that he could be like him. I'm going to help him out in that."

"Even if you are the good half of the Nine Tails, you still don't do anything without a reason. What is it?"

"...I happen to like the book series as well. So much better than the garbage you ninjas call literature."

Minato blinked, "You are doing this because you like the books?"

"I enjoy reading, I'll have you know!" She began to swat at him again. "Go. Away. You. Annoying. Ningen. Honestly, how a woman could put up with you long enough to have a child, I have no clue. And I am including one night stands on that statement."

"Ouch, that's harsh," Minato muttered.

"Now go. You found out what you wanted!" She looked out the cage, away from him. "There he is." A tail snaked out of the cage and wrapped around something Minato couldn't see. Before his eyes, Kyuubi shrunk down to a tall human woman with red hair, red eyes, and nine fox tails. She was holding in her arms a sleeping Naruto. Whenever Naruto shivered, she began to sooth him. "I'm here, kit, don't worry."

"Naruto," Minato asked surprise. "Let him go, Kyuubi."

"I will not," she growled. "Like I said, you have no right to act like a father to him. I am the one with him when he cried. I am the one that holds him tight when he has nightmares. So you leave my son alone. Leave or I will make you. Don't forget, I have to be channeling chakra for you to even appear."

"Don't yo..." Minato vanished and Kyuubi smiled. She sat down, leaning against one of the bars, still holding Naruto. He had no idea she was there yet, and she didn't want him to learn of her. He was only here because when he slept, he appeared here.

"Sleep, o babe, for the red bee hums a silent twilight fall. Aoibheall (E-val) from the Grey Rock comes, to wrap the world in thrall. Leanbahn o, my child, my joy, my love and heart's desire. The crickets sing your lullaby beside the dying fire.

"Dusk is drawn and the Green Man's thorn is wreathed in rings of fog. Siabra sails his boat till morn upon the starry bog. A leanbhan O, the paly moon hath brimmed her cusp in dew, and weeps to hear a sad sleep tune, I sing my love to you.

"Faintly sweet doth the chapel bell, ring o'er the valley dim, Tearmann's peasant voices swell, in fragrant evening hymn. A leanbhan O, the low bell rings, my little lamb to rest, and angel- dreams till morning sings, its music in your breast.

"Sleep, o babe, for the red bee hums a silent twilight fall. Aoibheall of the Grey Rock comes, to wrap the world in thrall. Leanbahn o, my child, my joy, my love and heart's desire. The crickets sing your lullaby beside the dying fire." Kyuubi gently rocked him back and forth, letting him sleep a good dream like he deserved. Like always when she sang that lullaby, Naruto began smiling. "Time to help you, leanbahn, my child," she whispered before her chakra began to spread through his body. He began to scratch his hand in his sleep.

—oo000oo—

Naruto got up and stretched, humming a tune. Walking into the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and got ready. "Looks to be an interesting day."

"It does," Naruto agreed. He stopped mid brush, his eyes wide. "Who's there," he asked, tooth brush still in his mouth.

"Over here," Naruto spun to the left. "No, over here." He spun back to the right. The voice sighed, "Lift your hand." Naruto did and saw a face in his palm. "Hello."

"...AAAAAAAAGH!" He passed out and started foaming at the mouth. The hand stared at him, wondering if that was the tooth paste or not.

"This is going to be an interesting relationship," the hand mused.

When Naruto finally awoke, he looked at the hand and found it a normal hand. "Okay, I am never using this tooth paste again." He dropped the tube in the trash, rinsed his mouth out, and got dressed. The day went as any other at the academy, he was too busy reading to really pay attention. It was when evening came that things changed. He was walking home when he suddenly became aware that it got too quiet. His instincts screamed for him to get out of there so he started running.

"Going somewhere," a cold voice said from the shadows.

Naruto spun to see a ninja standing there with a cocky grin on his face. "What do you want?"

"You like those books about vampires, right," the ninja asked. He pulled something from his shuriken holster and held it up. "A wooden stake, that's how to kill them, yes?" He touched the point of the stake.

Naruto was shaking. "Y-Yeah... I'm gl-glad someone else has taken an interest in th-them. I should b-be going now."

"Tell me, Naruto, do you appreciate irony?"

Naruto swallowed the dryness in his throat, "Yeah..."

"Me, I find it ironic that a demon in the form of a human reads about monsters in the form of a human. So, would it also be ironic to kill that demon like the monsters he reads about?"

"I guess... I really should be going home."

"Not before we do something," he said.

"Do what," Naruto asked, afraid.

"We are going to reenact a scene from one of your books," the man said, still looking at the stake. "The one where they drive the stake into the vampire and then dump the body into the river."

Naruto tried to run before a kunai was driven into his leg. He dropped to the ground and pulled it out. He tried to get up but was grabbed by the collar of his shirt. "Please, don't hurt me."

"Now that is irony," the man said, leaning forward. It was one of his instructors. "How many people asked you, Kyuubi, not to hurt them?" He pressed the stake over his heart. "And so, I guess I am now Demon Hunter Yakuzu." He threw Naruto to the ground, pushed the stake to his chest, and then... "Time to die." He raised a foot and stomped onto it, driving it into Naruto's chest and heart. "And now," he picked the body up, "the river." He started walking, "Take me to the river, drop me in the water," he sang as he stood over the bridge. "And...here...we...go." He dropped Naruto into the water and watched as he floated downstream. "That is for my brother, demon."

—oo000oo—

Kyuubi opened her eyes, she was still in the seal, and no Shinigami was there to take her to hell. "I can barely believe it worked," she stated before looking out the seal at the spirit she summoned for the hand. "So, Fenix, how did you do it?"

The fire bird looked at her, "I am his lifeline now. I must admit, this is extremely interesting."

"Everything is interesting to you. I think it is time to wake him back up."

"I agree. But shouldn't you finish the rest first?"

—oo000oo—

Fenix raised his face from Naruto's hand. "Let's take a look." The hand came up and pulled the stake out. "That had to hurt. Well, lets get to the interesting part." Pulling back a little, he saw that Naruto had grown in height a little. In a few months, Naruto should be close to six feet tall. The hand then grabbed some of the sand Naruto was lying on and ate it. It then dunked itself in the water, drinking as much as it could. When it came up for air, it began sucking it in as well. "Have to do it without fire." It looked back to Naruto's chest to see the wound close. "Come on, Naruto, wake up." The hand started pounding on his chest, trying to give it a jump start. Thump, thump. "That's right." Thump, thump. "Keep beating." Thump, thump. "Beautiful, interestingly beautiful." Thump, thump. "Wake up, Naruto." His eyes stayed closed so the hand slapped him.

"AAGH!" Naruto jerked forward and pressed a hand to his chest. "How am I alive," he asked the air.

"Me," Fenix said. "Lift your left hand up to your face."

Naruto did as instructed and he saw the face again. Unlike before, he didn't pass out. Why should he, when he had just faced death and survived. Somehow. "You...are you the Face? The one in D's hand."

"No, he is fictional. I am the face in your hand."

"So you saved me, like D?"

"Right down to eating the Big Four."

Naruto shook his head. "Yakuzu," Naruto suddenly growled. "He tried to kill me."

"Consider me your helpful parasite, Fenix."

Naruto stood back up, grabbing his hat as he did and putting it back on his head. He looked at the sun and saw the academy had already started class for today. "Time to put what sensei taught me last night to use."

—oo000oo—

Kyuubi watched as Naruto picked up the stake and ran back to Konoha. Then she used her chakra on the seal to summon Minato. "So...do you still think it was worth the sacrifice," she asked him. Minato tilted his head, reminding her that he didn't see the things Naruto did like she could. "Let me bring you up to speed, last night, one of your ninja tried to kill Naruto."

Minato was shocked by that. "At least Sarutobi stopped him."

"You are wrong," Kyuubi replied. "If it wasn't for me, he would have killed Naruto. He drove a wooden stake right through his heart before dropping him into the river to rot. That is the kind of people you ruined the life of my son to save."

Minato swallowed, "He's my son, not yours."

"If all three of us ever speak together, we will see what he says."

Minato looked to the ground, wondering. "For what little it is worth, thank you, for saving him."

"I couldn't let my kit die," she replied.

—oo000oo—

"Once you have your chakra drawn out," Yakuzu said to his class, "you must shape it with handsigns and a thought of what it will be."

"Sensei," a voice the man thought he would never hear again said from the door. Everyone turn to it to see Naruto standing there, tears in his clothes, a scar over his heart, blood covering the front of his shirt, and a wooden stake in his hand, also covered in blood. "How about instead of jutsus, we go into how to kill a person through impaling them on a sharp object through their heart. Like you did to me just last night."

"It isn't possible," Yakuzu said. "Not even a demon could survive that!"

"What did you do, Yakuzu," Iruka demanded of his assistant teacher.

"I, I tried to kill the demon last night," he said, backing away from Naruto. "I stabbed him in the heart! He can't be alive!"

"I'm alive," Naruto said to him, taking a step forward. "But as for me being a demon, you are the one that stabbed me, doesn't that make you a demon?" His fist tightened around the stake.

"You still have plenty of energy from the Big Four," Fenix whispered. "Use it." Naruto did. He ran forward, slamming him through the wall and out into the training field. With the hand holding the stake, he raised it into the air and stabbed down. Yakuzu caught the arm in his hands and tried to hold him back, but Naruto was too strong, his arm broke both of his before the stake found his heart. As blood shot out, Naruto stood back up, looking down at his instructor, suddenly sick at what he had done. Without a word, he began to walk home. He heard Iruka-sensei call for him to stop but he didn't.

Reaching his home, he began to grab things, anything he could use later. Making sure to grab Gama-chan and all of his money, he left his apartment and headed for the gate. He stopped at it and looked back. "Sorry, Old Man, once is once too many." Yeah, out of all the hatred he felt, only one person actually tried to kill him but no one bothered to help him either. He could feel the hatred on him even now, especially with the blood on him, fresh and old. He could hear them whispering too, wondering if he killed someone or if someone failed to kill him. "Uzumaki Naruto is dead, there is only D now." He turned and left Konoha, planning to never return.

—oo000oo—

"Wake up, my son," Naruto heard from the voice. The same one that always sang to him in his dreams.

"...Mother," he asked, hoping against hope.

"Open your eyes and see."

Naruto did and he saw a woman with red hair and fox ears. "Good evening, my kit."

Naruto was staring, "...You're the person that is always singing to me."

"I am," she said, pulling him close to her. "I'm sorry, Naruto, I couldn't keep that from happening to you."

"Of course not, this is only a dream."

"True, but it also isn't. Naruto, we are inside your mind right now. And I'm afraid that I am the reason you are so hated. I was sealed inside you at birth, Naruto."

"Why," he asked.

"Because she is the Kyuubi that attacked Konoha," a voice said behind him. Naruto turned around and saw the Fourth Hokage. "Naruto, I'm Namikaze Minato."

Naruto stared between the two, but not in disbelief, just surprise at seeing them. He had a face in his hand that helped him kill the man that tried to kill him, he'd believe anything now. "...Why are you here," Naruto asked him.

"I placed part of my soul in the seal," he tapped the bars that separated him from Naruto and the Kyuubi. "So that if it ever weakens, I can fix it even being dead."

"So...Kyuubi is sealed inside me as well as the soul of a dead Hokage, plus I have a parasite living in my hand. I am a murderer and without a home. And not twenty four hours ago, my own teacher tried to kill me. Why does you two being inside me not startle me? Because I wouldn't be surprised if Kami was here as well!"

"Well said, my kit," Kyuubi told him. "I'm sorry, for how your life has gone until now, and I can't make up for it."

"Naruto, you must head back," Minato said. "I know things are harsh for you but you have to."

"Why the hell should I?"

"If the seal weakens and I can't fix it, you will need to be there. There are those that can help you in Konoha."

"Like they helped me last night," Naruto asked.

"Please son, go back. After all we have sacrificed..."

"Wait, did you just call me your son," Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kyuubi answered. "Biologically, you are the son of the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto looked between the woman and the man. "So, who was it that saved me," Naruto asked. "Did you give me Fenix," Naruto asked Minato.

"...No, I did not."

"I did, Naruto-kun," Kyuubi said.

"...Why did you attack Konoha," Naruto asked Kyuubi.

"A man named Uchiha Madara used his Sharigan to hypnotize me. He ordered me to."

"...And why did you sing to me all these years," Naruto asked her.

"The Fourth split my soul in two when he sealed me. He took the evil half with him and left me here. I hurt that you were hurt so I decided that it was the least I could do to comfort you. Eventually, I started consider you my son because I had grown to love you like one."

Naruto looked to Minato and back to her. "And what do you want from me?"

"I don't," she replied. "I want you to be happy."

"...You want me to return, you want me to be happy." Naruto was silent as he stood looking at them. "I'm sorry, Namikaze Minato, as I said when I left Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto is dead. I am D." He walked back to his mother. "And this is my family, not you."

"Naruto, you don't know her..."

"I'm D, damn it! As for not knowing, I don't know you! But I know the voice of the only person that cared for me! I know what Konoha tried to do!"

"They will need your help one day, my son," Minato told him. "They will look up to you and ask you to save them."

"And I will say no," Naruto replied.

"No," Kyuubi told him, shocking both. "That is not who you are, D. It would hurt you too much to ignore their pain." She knelt down and hugged him. "You would help if they ask, but now, there is a price. If you are to be D, you better learn to fight like him. I gave you the body for it, now, you must learn the skill."

"What will you do, if not head back," Minato asked, desperate.

"There are still many monsters in the world, not just Bijuu," she told him. "I will train D to be a Demon Hunter. So he can do what he is meant to, help people."

"His name is..."

"I am D," he interrupted him. "Go away, the seal isn't in danger of breaking."

Heart broken, Minato nodded and vanished. Kyuubi rubbed her head against his, "Again, I am sorry, my son."

"...Kaa-san," D said, hugging her. "What do I do next?"

"Next, I will teach you what I know," Kyuubi told him."Those stories about vampires aren't completely fictional. There are vampires and many other things that go bump in the night. You will be what goes bump back."

—oo000oo—

Eight Years Later

—oo000oo—

"Again, we thank you, D," Yahiko, the mayor of the village Jima, said to him.

D took the offered money, far less than any ninja village would charge them to deal with the wraiths of the marshes to the north. "You do not need to thank me, I simply did as I was paid."

"You saved my life," a girl, Lang Doris, said to him. "You are our savior, Hunter."

D nodded, "If you insist on calling me that, you may. But I am little more than a paid hunter." He turned and climbed up on his horse. "If you have need of my services again, do not hesitate in summoning me." D turned his horse's head and started riding, the sound of his gold ryu clinking. He may have been cheaper than a village, but it was still expensive. And that sound was enough to call bandits out of the woodwork.

"You, surrender your gold or die," the lead bandit said to him.

"...If you value your lives, you will let me pass," D told them.

"You're a dead man if you don't," another bandit told him.

"Humans never seem to learn," Fenix told him.

"They don't," D agreed. He climbed down from his horse and began to move his hand to his belt. He pulled out two wooden needles. "Last chance to just leave."

"Kill him," the leader of the five said. As they ran at him, D jumped to the side, throwing a needle. The heat made it catch on fire and go through the head of the closest. As the next came, D rushed him, driving this needle through his heart. The rest were too close for more so D pulled his sword and cut them down. Looking around and seeing no one else, he sheathed his sword and climbed back on his horse. He hated killing bandits away from their camps. He didn't get paid for it. He rode his horse until he came to a village not far from Konoha. As he sat down in a restaurant, he looked at his reflection. His hair was long and straight, his face thin and attractive, his body lean and tall. And he wore the clothes that D wore from Vampire Hunter D, Bloodlust.

"You have a look of a warrior," a man said to him. D looked up at him.

"I'm a hunter," D replied. "The best."

"What do you hunt?"

"Monsters. I am Demon Hunter D."

The old man suddenly swallowed but he straightened. "Then I might have a job for you, D." D motioned for him to continue. "There is a man attacking my home. I came to get ninja to protect me but, since I have the chance, I would also like you to come as well."

"...You have heard of my skill, you must have also heard of my price."

He nodded. "Yes. But I swear to you, I will find a way to pay you the money you are owed if you do."

D considered it, "First, what is the job?"

"Gato of Gato Shipping is trying to take over my country. He is doing so by strangling the life from it. We are starving because we have no way to and from it except by ports. I'm building a bridge so we will have a way to get food pass his monopoly."

D nodded, "So I am to protect you and kill Gato then?"

"Yes. If you can, my whole country will forever be in your dept."

"...And the Konoha ninja?"

"Extra protection until we get there."

"Fine."

A waitress came up to them. "Are you ready to order?"

"I am," D stated.

"And you sir," the waitress asked the old man.

"I don't have enough money," he told her.

"I'm paying," D stated.

"...Uh, I'll have what he's having."

"Steak, bloody, three eggs over easy, and hash browns with a glass of orange juice."

"Two orders of bloody rare steak, easy eggs, hash browns and some cups of OJ, coming right up handsome." She smiled at D and walked away.

D turned back to the old man. "Your name?"

"Tazuna."

"Well, Tazuna, I am not going inside Konoha to help you choose your ninja. You get them on your own."

"I understand."

"No you don't," D told him. His hand went to his chest, "No one could ever understand. Not with what they did to my mother and I." Tazuna was confused by the cryptic message from the famous hunter but the arrival of the best meal he had seen in what must have been years distracted him.

—oo000oo—

D stopped just outside the gates of Konoha. "This is as far as I go, Tazuna. I will await you here."

"I will be back as soon as I get a team." Tazuna walked into the village while D continued to wait outside.

If there was one thing that his mother taught him, it was patience. He had to have it with some of the things he had fought and killed. "Are you just going to stand there all day," the guard asked.

"If I must," D replied.

"Just come in the village, not like we bite." D just nodded as he continued to glare at the face of the Fourth. "You got something against ninja or something?"

"Yes."

The guards glared at him, "Just who do you think you are," the one on the left demanded.

"D." They widened their eyes at that. "Now, leave me alone."

"Actually, I have a better idea." D looked to a man walking to the gate with his one hand holding a cane. He was missing an eye as well. "D, your reputation precedes you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Danzou."

"And I am not interested," D replied.

Danzou's aid snarled at him. "You will show respect to Danzou-sama!"

D leveled his gaze on the man. "No. I know the kind of man Danzou is. Joining forces withHanzo of the Hidden Rain, making a man kill his best friend, all so he would be in a better position to steal the title of Hokage away from the Third." D turned back to the four faces on the mountain. "All you ninja are alike. You cause pain without restrain, nor thought of who is hurt by it."

"I see, you are one of the many orphans left behind by ninja," Danzou stated.

"You couldn't be farther from the truth," D said, shaking his head. "My biological father was a ninja, and I hate him. There isn't a ninja in this whole village save one that I don't hate."

"Meaning you have been here before," Danzou stated.

"Though it pains and shames me to admit it, yes, at one time, I could be found within the walls of this village. Now, leave me be."

Danzou followed his gaze. "The Fourth do something to you? You are glaring at him awful hard."

"My hatred of anyone is my concern." Danzou looked at him a moment before turning around. "And don't think I don't know what you are thinking."

"What would that be," he asked, not looking at D.

"The same thing that you normally do to a power you can't take for your own and can get away with it. Killing the person that has it. You can try, you will fail, and then, you will die." Danzou said nothing before walking away again. And an ANBU dropped down in front of him.

"Hunter D, the Hokage would like to talk to you."

"You tell your Hokage I am staying right here."

"He is not a man that is denied something," the ANBU stated.

D looked him in the eyes. "I am not a ninja, I am outside your village walls, I don't fall under the jurisdiction of this man or any other. If he wishes to talk to me, he will come here. And my fee for any job he could possibly have for me will not be cheap."

"You are a mercenary, are you not," another ANBU asked him.

D nodded after a moment. "More of bounty hunter."

"Then why not meet with a potential customer."

"More like the competition," D stated. "Fine, it will not hurt in the end." He nudged the flanks of his horse, urging it forward. He drew quite a lot of attention, his looks, cloths, and riding a horse being the cause. He walked in the office where the Hokage, Tazuna, and a team of ninja waited. "I am here, Hokage. What did you wish to talk to me about?"

"Of course. I was wondering if you would be interested in a position once you are done working for Tazuna-san here."

"No," D replied. "I have not nor will ever work for ninja."

"Surely, there is someway to convince you," this one eye jonin with silver hair said to him.

"There is nothing that could change my position on this."

"Ignore him," a black haired genin with a fan on the back of his shirt said. "I doubt he is that dangerous anyway."

D looked to the genin there. "Tazuna-san, you would be better off just having me protect you there."

"Why you," a pink haired kunoichi shouted. "We are a hundred times better than you could ever be!"

All the adults looked at the teenager and then D. "How many have you killed, child?"

"I...haven't."

"You barely qualify to be a ninja then," D stated. "How many times have you put your life on the line?"

"I haven't."

"You don't know danger. Have you ever shed the blood of another person at all?"

"No."

"Then you have no experience. I have killed humans as well as monsters. I put my life on the line with each job I am given. I have fought countless battles now. True experience can never be gained in a controlled environment. A classroom will not tell you things like how is it possible to kill a banshee. Or destroy zombies. Or see through the illusions of sirens. I am Demon Hunter D, I have seen things that few live to tell about. You are green genin, you wouldn't last a minute against me, your entire cell. The jonin would be bogged down with having to protect you three while you three couldn't stop me."

"You underestimate us," the other black haired ninja, Sai, stated.

"No, I judged even you fairly."

The Jonin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm sure you will change your mind on ninjas after you see my team in action."

"I doubt that. Is there anything else, Tazuna-san?"

"No, they are the ones coming."

"Then we should be going." He turned to Kakashi. "My job begins once we reach Wave, your job ends there."

"The mission calls for us to protect him until the bridge is finished."

D said nothing, he just turned around and walked out. "I will meet you beyond the village walls." Outside once again, he climbed up on his horse and trotted out of there. He could feel their gazes again, it made him mad. They hated him and his mother but admired his looks now. How fickle.

—oo000oo—

D looked around as they headed to Wave. He already knew they were there, two ninja, and of course, the genin didn't notice. A glance at the jonin said that he was still reading his book. He looked up and at the puddle after a minute. "Finally noticed," D whispered.

"If you are so good, handle them yourself," Kakashi replied.

"Protection to Wave is your job," D told him. "Granted, should you fail, I will step in. Though, I won't shed tears for your deaths. Nor dig the graves."

"Aren't you a bastard."

"I am but what others cloth me. When I should have been a saint, I remain only the devil," D quoted.

"So it is only against ninja, not us personally."

"Of course it is," D told him. "I know none of you, nor do I care to." D positioned himself between Tazuna and the ninja. A hand went to his sword, should he need to interfere. Despite what he said, he knew he would help them. That was who he was, just like his mother had said when he met the ghost of Minato.

Two Mist ninja revealed themselves and attacked, wrapping a chain around Kakashi. They pulled, appearing to cut him to pieces. The two boys attacked them, the girl jumped in front of D and Tazuna. Sasuke and Sai easily apprehended the first. The second slipped by them though and headed for Sakura. A glance told D that Kakashi would wait for the last second if he does anything at all, that Sakura had about frozen in fear, and the weapons were poisoned. He acted first.

Sakura blinked, a person now standing in front of her. It was D. She looked around him and saw he had the ninja on the ground, boot on his gauntlet hand, and blade point almost touching his eye. "Whoa..."

"If you were off a moment, Kakashi, she would be dead," D called.

The jonin walked onto the road. "I had it in hand," he stated.

"First rule, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong," D told him. "You were playing with her life for information you could have asked for." He then stopped paying attention to him, and started speaking to the ninja. "Are you here to assassinate Sharigan Kakashi, Demon Hunter D, or Tazuna?" When the man didn't answer, D sheathed his sword, took out one of his wooden shenbon, and lit the end on fire. He blew it out and held it over the eye. "Answer."

"No."

"Fine." D pushed the still glowing shenbon into the eye, making him toss in pain as he tried to dislodge D from him. After a minute, D pulled it out and tossed it aside. He held out another shenbon, "Answer."

"Tazuna," the man said weakly.

"So you work for Gato then," D stated.

"Yes."

"Do you have an antidote for your poisons?"

"No...we grew an immunity to them long ago."

D looked at Sakura, then Sai and Sasuke. Seeing none of them were injured, he then turned to Kakashi. "What the hell were you doing?"

"I was trying to gather informa..."

"I meant with her training," D interrupted. "These two knew what they were doing, the girl only knew to get a kunai and protect the client. More over, Sai is obviously not your student, which means you have only bothered with training Sasuke."

"I don't need criticism from someone not a ninja." The two glared at each other for a moment. "Doesn't matter, we're heading back. The client lied."

"When," D asked.

"When he gave the details of the mission. He didn't mention that ninja were after him."

D looked at Tazuna, "Did you mention I was your body guard?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell them that you needed protection from Gato?"

"Yes."

"Did you know he had ninja?"

"No. I'm not surprised with how much money he has but I only knew he had bandits, thugs, and ronin."

D looked back to Kakashi. "He told you what he knew. When that isn't all there is, it isn't lying."

"It wasn't supposed to be dangerous."

"What did you think I was here for," D asked him. "The sun and pleasant company? You are abandoning the mission. Go already, but make sure you do your job and train her." D got back on his horse and looked to Tazuna. "Did you pay them in advance?"

"Only half."

"I am not going back there, take the amount from my pay." He started his horse walking.

"Wait," came from Sasuke. "Teach me to do that." D looked at him a moment before looking forward again and continuing. "Don't ignore me!"

"You have a sensei," D stated, "and he isn't me."

Sakura looked from Sasuke to her savior, torn on which to side with. "Let's just head back," she said. "If we aren't continuing the mission..."

"Who says we aren't," Sasuke growled.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told him.

"Like hell," he replied before starting to follow.

Only to be pinned to the ground by Sai. "Uchiha, you need to learn two things right now," he said stoically. "One, you will find not everyone will give a brat like you what you want. Two, he would have no problem killing you if you become a problem. Cut your losses."

Sasuke threw him off. "I always get what I want."

Kakashi sighed, it would be easier to let him have his way or else, he would be impossible to be with. "We'll continue, D has a point. The client didn't lie."

Sakura turned to the men farther up the road. "Hey, we're coming too!"

D looked behind his shoulder before looking back to the front. If they could see his face, they would see him frown for a moment before his face returned to being impassive.

—oo000oo—

D got off his horse when they reached the ocean. He took off the saddle of his horse and sealed it in a scroll. "I hardly would have thought you would know things like that," Kakashi mused.

"Only a bigot would ignore special skills simply because of one's views about them. I can't take my horse across the water, it is better to leave it." He then slapped his horse on the rear, making it run off. He looked down at the water and got in the boat.

Sasuke got in after him. "Teach me," he demanded again.

"No. You're going to over balance the boat, sit on the other side." Before Sasuke could say something, D cut a glare to him, making him drop to his seat. "Now stay there until we reach shore." He turned back to look out over the water.

When finally they reached land, D stood up and looked away. "I believe this is where I am to begin my job." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "Tazuna, with you returning, it is likely that we can expect an attack on you soon. After it comes, I will deal with him. Lead the way back to your home."

After a few moments of walking, Sakura spoke up. "Mister D, sir...what is it like to hunt demons?"

He remained silent a moment. "Lonely. What no one ever thinks about is the isolation you receive for being that strong. It isn't normal and people fear what isn't normal."

"Is it strength you were born with or can you train to get it?"

"...I received it from my mother," D replied after several moments.

"Did she have a bloodline or something?"

"Or something."

"What was it," Sasuke asked. D didn't answer nor even looked at him.

"Is it a touchy subject," Sakura asked.

"Yes," he replied. "She is a demon." He stopped and looked at them all, pulling back his lips, revealing his fangs. "Meaning I am half human, half fox demon. I will never die like you can. Never have a family like you can. All I exist for is to kill my own kind. Now, any other questions?" Like he thought, there was none. He turned back around and continued walking.

As the fog got thicker, D felt someone was out there. "This fog...it isn't natural."

"So someone is going to attack now," Kakashi muttered, putting his book away.

"Reminds me the time I fought the Barbaroise," D muttered.

"What is a Barbaroise," Sai asked.

"Not what, who," D told him. "They are demon mercenaries on another continent. Very powerful. I have nothing against them, in fact, I commend them for their loyalty."

This made Sasuke interested. "Demon mercenaries?"

"Don't even think of it," D told him. "While yes, for the right amount, they will do as ordered, even teach you, I doubt you have that amount. And if you approach them and you don't... Well, I wouldn't even say there would be left overs for breakfast. Stop." He knelt down to the ground. "Tracks... Fenix." He put his left hand to the dirt.

"Let me see... Male, total weight two hundred, eighty two pounds," the hand said. "At least a hundred of it is from a single weapon, he leans to his left side. There is a young woman with him as well. A hundred fifteen pounds. Okay, I'm suffocating now."

Standing back up, he held out his hand. "I want you to eat this fog."

"Slave driver." Fenix opened his mouth and began sucking the mist in. It soon lost thickness and vanished altogether. D lowered his hand as Fenix retreated back inside his body.

"So, I don't even get to make the opening move," a voice shouted. "I applause you stranger. Not many are able to get rid of my mist." From behind a tree, a man stepped on a branch. On his back was a sword eight feet long, two feet wide, and an inch thick. "Tell me your name, so I may carve it on your headstone."

"Well, well, if it isn't the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momichi Zabuza," Kakashi muttered.

"Ah, Sharigan Kakashi," Zabuza replied. "You got a bunch of brats with you. And you with the sword...you're not like them. You are like me and Kakashi, a killer."

D said nothing to him. "D is a hunter," Sakura told him, "not a killer."

"The hunter D... Ah, so you're him. Kakashi and D, in the same place, no wonder the Demon Brothers didn't stand a chance."

"Good luck, Kakashi," D said before he went over by Tazuna.

"What, you're not going to help?"

"My job isn't to kill him. It's your job to defend Tazuna until we reach his home. Honestly, if I could trust you to do that right, I would have left already to kill Gato."

"Ah," Zabuza muttered, "I'm like that myself. I have no interest in what I am paid to do beyond what I am paid to do. Honestly though, I doubt this would be a fight I could win, not against you two. I'd have no problem against Kakashi but to face him afterwards..."

D smirked, "He means, Kakashi, take your team on ahead while we fight. Once I finish with him, I will deal with them."

"I thought you had no interest in what you were paid to do beyond what you were paid to do."

"This is the fastest way to do it." He pulled the sword from his back and stepped forward. "Go."

"You heard him," Tazuna said. "My house is just up the road, D. Once you're done, meet me there." Tazuna started walking, making the ninja follow him.

Zabuza looked after Tazuna and looked back to him. "Barely a person on the continent hasn't heard of your skill."

"...I can't let you kill him," D stated. "Nothing personal but he is my client."

"And my client is promising me ten million when I kill him, nothing personal."

"I don't suppose there is a way to convince you to give up your hunt."

"Well, maybe if you can match the price. Do you have that kind of money."

"And if I do?"

He laughed, "I was one of the Seven Swordsman of Mist. We never back down though if we did for anyone it would be you. Tell me, would you be willing to back down?"

"No, as a hunter, my word is my reputation. If I don't keep it, than I won't get clients. More over, it was never about the money."

"Oh, what is it then?"

"Its about doing the job better than any ninja can do without charging an arm and a leg. I assume you heard some of the stories?"

"Yes, who hasn't. You killed the monster of Barrier Peaks."

D nodded, "I have never charged more than a thousand. This job is only worth five hundred ryu to me."

"Five hundred!?"

D nodded, "Five hundred ryu, to your ten million, it's obvious who gets paid better but the man that pays me usually wins."

Zabuza rubbed his head, "Well, must say, I'm impressed, never though I would see this. Oh well." He pulled his zanbatou from his back, "Let's begin." They rushed forward, crossing swords. Zabuza honestly expected the diachi that D wielded to break under the strain but it didn't. They pressed against each other until the blades started to turn red. Zabuza jumped back and started doing handsigns until D pulled one of his shenbons out and threw it, going through Zabuza's hands, interrupting the jutsu. He broke off the shenbon and swung his zanbatou wide, forcing D to back away from him. The tip of the sword dug into the earth and Zabuza used it to pole vault into a kick to D's chest. The kick sent D out on the water. While in the air, he twisted and pressed his boots and left hand to the water, slowing himself down. Standing on the surface, he saw that Zabuza was gone. A moment later, he spun, swinging his sword, killing a mizu bunshin. As the water started falling, two hands reached up from the water and grabbed his legs.

'You are half fire-fox demon now,' his mother had said eight years ago. 'Water will douse your flame, weaken your strength. Be careful of it.'

Zabuza held him under as he fought hard to escape. "No one beats a kiri nin in the water," he said. When D stopped struggling from lack of air, Zabuza thought it was over. But D opened his mouth and his fangs extended. He sunk them into Zabuza's wrist and began to drink his blood. "What the hell!?" The rate he was doing it, you'd think he was dying of thirst. Zabuza quickly lost his balance and started to fall back into the water. Losing his grip on him, D changed positions to where he bit his neck. Now that he started, he couldn't hold back, he drank until Zabuza's life was gone, and his veins dry.

He came up from the surface with a roar and his eyes dilated. After several moments, his eyes returned to normal and his fangs shrank back. "No matter what, you always show your fangs in the end," Fenix said.

Panting as he pulled himself up top the water, he said, "You're out of line."

"Fine, my lips are sealed but don't forget the kid."

D reached down into the water, grabbed Zabuza's arm, and pulled him to shore. There, he closed Zabuza's eyes, ridding him of his final look of horor. "Zabuza-san!" D stepped back when the child ran to him. The girl checked to body and instantly found he was too far gone to save. "You...You son of a bitch!" She threw several shenbons at him only for D to knock them aside. The girl grabbed the Zanbatou and tried to lift it. Her arms somehow did and she swung it at him only for D to catch it in his free hand. "You son of a bitch," she yelled again. When she pulled and found it held like iron, she stepped back and started doing handsigns. D grabbed her hands and pulled them apart. "Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU," she cried.

"Why do you cry so hard?"

"You killed him! You killed the only person to care for me!" Unable to break free, she kicked him. "THE ONLY ONE WHO CARED! THE ONLY ONE THAT GAVE ME A REASON TO LIVE!"

Sheathing his sword, he pulled her close. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"You son of a bitch," she cried again, straining against him.

"I'm sorry."

"I'll kill you! When you die, it will be at my hands!"

"I'm sorry," D said again, trying hard to comfort her, not an easy thing as he is the cause of her distress. The fifteen year old beat her hands against his chest, kicked him, anything she could think of to hurt him and D took it. When finally she cried herself out, D just held her a while. "...I'll help you dig his grave."

"Why," she said weakly.

"Because in those moments as we fought, I respected him." D walked away and reached down to the ground. He drove his hand right through the hard earth and started digging.

After several minutes of watching, Haku said, "I know an earth jutsu that will..."

"No," D interrupted. "He deserves to be buried by hand." It took D an hour before he had a hole big enough. Then he picked Zabuza up and laid him down it. Picking up his sword, he set it on his chest with his hands over the pommel like the knights of olden. Pulling himself out of the hole, he walked over to a large rock and cut it into a tombstone with his sword. "Fenix..."

"I'm on it," he said before being pressed against it. When his hand came away, 'Momichi Zabuza' was carved into it.

"Is there anything you want on it," D asked her.

"...Swordsman and Father, you will be missed." Fenix carved that on it as well. Lifting up a stone that must have easily weighed a hundred pounds, he placed it at Zabuza's head. He then began to bury him. When he was done, Haku said, "He always said that when he would die, he wouldn't get an honorable death." She swallowed and continued, "He said he would be left to rot out on some field if he was lucky. More than likely, he would be quartered and the parts of his body put on pikes around Kiri. I would always reply that it wouldn't happen, that I would save him from that. He would laugh and say that wasn't likely to happen..." Her tears started anew. "Why couldn't he back down!?"

"What's your name?"

"Haku."

"Haku, if you need to cry, let it out, all of it. Because once you are beyond this grave, you will be in for some harsh times. You will no longer be allowed to be a child, so cry, let out all the hurt. And when you are done, leave childhood behind with no regret. Remember what Zabuza did for you and honor that." Haku nodded and D waited around.

She let it out all the harder but when they finally subsided and she only sniffled, he turned. "D, wait!"

"Yes," he asked, turning back to her.

"...Let me come with you, please."

He shook his head, "My path isn't that for a child."

"I'm leaving childhood behind," she said, repeating his words. "Please, I have nothing now."

Still he shook his head. "I can't, to go with me is death."

"Because you are a fox demon," she asked.

"You heard me," D muttered.

"No, I can smell it." She swallowed and turned her face away. White scales began to cover her skin. "I'm a dragon half, that's why I can control ice." She looked at him and said, "My flight is dead, my mother killed by my father. Now my adopted father is dead too, please don't send me on my own again."

D looked at her with a critical eye, being a lone dragon half was a death warrant. Their scales were often used in armors, giving them an almost magical protection against the element they were of. That was why dragons were almost all extinct here. He could barely believe one had been hiding in Water though. Why would she honestly risk finding a human mate? "...If you have anything you wish to keep, go get it. Return here at sunset. I must go kill Gato." He turned and left. Haku waited a moment before walking away as well. She had to believe he wouldn't leave her.

—oo000oo—

Haku was sealing everything up into scrolls when she heard footsteps behind her. Looking, she saw the Gato and his two guards. "What do you want?"

"Planning on leaving with the job unfinished," Gato asked. He looked around and said, "Where's Zabuza?"

She looked away a little. "He fought someone too strong for him and died."

"Hmph. I guess Kiri ninja aren't all they're cracked up to be." He suddenly grinned at her and looked her up and down. "I wonder what you're hiding under those clothes."

She snapped a glare at him, "Don't even try it," she growled.

"Find out," he ordered his men. Before they could move, she was between them, their swords in hand.

"Move, and I will kill you," she growled. "As for you, Gato, you shouldn't be worrying about the bridge builder anymore. You hired us to kill him, he hired Demon Hunter D to kill you." She slapped the swords back into the sheaths and knocked them back. "And he told Zabuza-san that when he finished with him, he was coming to kill you. That you would be dead by night fall."

"You lie!"

"Do I?" She walked pass him and finished up. "If you don't believe me, ask him yourself, he is coming through the front door."

All three spun around and saw him standing there. "Gato," he said evenly before drawing his sword.

"...Kill him," he shouted. His two men ran forward and were cut down in a single strike. Gato stared in shock a moment before turning to Haku. "You've got to do something! I hired you!"

Haku looked up a moment, "Yes, you did and you're right, I do." She turned to D, walked over, picked up one of the fallen swords, and walked back. She lifted it up and glared balefully at him. "Those responsible will die." She tried to swing and found she couldn't. Looking, she saw D held the tip. Behind her, she heard gurgles and found that D's sword went through Gato's throat, he was drowning in his own blood.

"Revenge will eat up a person from the inside out," was all he said, denying Haku even a little of her vengeance. "Let it go, Haku." She dropped the sword and picked up the scroll. D picked up Gato's cane and walked away. "I will see you again at sunset."

—oo000oo—

D walked up to the house and entered. "Mister D," Sakura asked, seeing the door open. "It is you! I thought you died!"

"No," he replied. "Finishing up my job. Tazuna, it's done." The old man went up to him and D held out a cane.

"This is really it... Thank you, sir," Tazuna said, bowing. "We owe you everything."

"You're welcome. My payment?"

"Yes, of course, right here. It took a while to scrounge it together from the villagers but when they heard it was you, we pooled everything we had. Over a thousand ryu," he said, setting a bag on the table.

D walked over to it and carefully counted out five hundred. "If you ever need my services again, do not hesitate in summoning me." He turned and left.

"What about the rest," Tazuna asked, shocked.

"I have what the job cost, I won't take more."

Tsunami looked from the money to D. "...Won't you at least accept a meal?"

He stopped, not that he was hungry, but because it would be rude. And sunset was hours away. "Alright," he consented, "if you insist."

He sat at the table and waited. "I don't think I can thank you enough," Tsunami told him. "First you saved us all then you did it for so little."

"I accepted it as to the danger. Which there was hardly any."

"Including Zabuza," she asked.

"...He was unexpected but I won't hold that against your family."

She sat down across from him, "You are too kind, sir." She started blushing a little, "I feel so silly, blushing like a school girl. And you, a saint and a beautiful one at that, if you don't mind me saying."

"You wouldn't be the first on that second part. I'm not a saint, ma'am."

She shook her head, "You are, no matter what you think."

"I have my reasons for doing this."

"So does everyone for everything they do." She leaned across the table and kissed the man. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"...You're welcome," he replied, shifting his coat lips to hide the blush that was fighting to form. He ate the meal and politely excused himself. Going outside, he headed back to meet Haku.

"D," Kakashi said, going after him. "Have you thought any on the Hokage's offer?"

"No," was his reply.

"So that's it," Kakashi said. "You're refusing to join out of some baseless prejudice?"

D stopped, fighting to keep his temper. "Baseless?" He turned back to the man. "You think it's baseless?" He saw Sakura, Sai, and Sasuke come out but he didn't care. "My hatred for that village is far from baseless! Every year, you all celebrate my mother's murder! BASELESS!? I am D, the son of the Kyuubi no Yokou!" He took a deep breath, calming himself while the genin took a step back. "And as if that wasn't enough, you not only killed her, you sealed her soul inside a human boy. A human boy that stayed a human boy but was neglected and hated until finally, he was stabbed in the heart by one of his own instructors. Baseless?" Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked away. "Worst, Hatake, I know it was the boy's own father that killed my mother and ruined his son's life, your sensei."

Kakashi would've gaped at him for that if not the mask he wore. The son of the most powerful demon on earth hated his home, and with good reason. He charged them with the wrongs they had done not only to him but also Naruto. "...That's not true, is it," Sakura asked. "Could he really be the son of the Kyuubi? And what about the boy he spoke of?"

Kakashi swallowed before saying, "...Legends says that long ago, several men and women made pacts with lesser demons for power, abilities that would pass on down their line. What we now know as Kekkie Genkai. How it was done is argued but some say it was from having half-breeds with those demons. If this is true or not, I don't know, but I do know that though they are rare now, half breeds do still exist. That Kyuubi has a son scares me, more so that I should have seen it with his fox like looks and his hatred for the Fourth.."

"What about the boy," Sai asked.

"Naruto...is or was the only son of the Fourth Hokage. He went missing after that attack, his sensei admitted to doing it. Naruto would've been fine but as he walked away, he never stopped walking and we never found him."

"How old is he?"

"You're age, he was just hours old when the attack happened." Kakashi already knew that he wasn't going to like giving his report to the Hokage.

—oo000oo—

Haku looked at the sun as the bottom touched the ocean. D had yet to come. "...He lied," she said despairingly. "Figures."

"Oh ye of little faith," D said, sitting down next to her. "I said sunset, I meant sunset."

She looked at him and began to smile after a moment. "Couldn't you have done that a bit sooner?"

"I am never late, nor early." He watch the sun vanish and day turn to night before moving again. "If at any time you don't want to continue, say so and you may leave." He stood up and headed for a dock and a boat to take him back across the ocean. Haku fell in behind him and waited for him to say or do something. During the whole trip across, he said very little, as well once they were ashore. He spoke enough to get them across is all. On the opposite shore, he called out a whistle and his horse trotted up to him. Returning the saddle to it's back, He climbed up behind it and held out a hand for Haku. "Go on, grab a hold." She did and he pulled her up behind him. Turning northwest, he nudged the horse forward.

"So what's this way?"

"...Don't know. But that never matters, we will find a job there."

—oo000oo—

Sarutobi listened carefully to what Kakashi told him on his return. He hardly expected the Kyuubi to have a son yet it fit perfectly with what he was told by Danzou. The boy hated the village, the Fourth especially, because Minato took his mother away. Yet how could he know about Naruto? They didn't exactly go bragging about what had happened to the son of the Yondiame, it was a public shame that many tried to forget existed. Sarutobi had tried to find Naruto, had tried hard, and for a while, he found traces of him. But always Naruto was a step ahead of the hunters, then the sightings of him became fewer until finally, he was just gone. For a moment, he wondered if maybe D was Naruto but threw that out. He was too old, too different. Yet, those blue eyes of his... Hiruzen sighed. "Has he made any indication that he will come back for revenge?"

"No sir, but there is something. I...I made a kage bunshin to watch the fight between him and Zabuza. His vendetta against ninja is only against Konoha, he fought Zabuza respectfully and without hatred. The clone got released out of shock when he saw D drink Zabuza's blood until after death. He is a half demon like he claims and..."

"What?"

"I'm not sure I could beat him, sir. He's monstrously strong, stronger than Gai, nothing phases him either. The life of those against him mean little. Looking back, I see we were lucky he tolerated us, especially Sasuke with how the boy angered him. I...should have been afraid of him."

"Kakashi, are you saying this because he is the son of Kyuubi or because of his skill?"

"...Both."

"...He knows secrets of the village, he knows something about Naruto. I want him found and brought back. Place him in the bingo book, wanted alive, reward of a hundred thousand ryu."

"Yes...sir."

—oo000oo—

D stopped for the night in a clearing in a forest. Looking around, he noted a circle of mushrooms and looked around for anything else. "Here is safe. We will sleep for the night and continue in the morning."

"Yes, D-san." He gathered the wood for a fire. "Should I get us something to eat?"

"If you like." Haku nodded and looked around. Seeing the mushroom, she went over to check to see if they were poisonous. Seeing they weren't, she reached to grab one. "Don't."

"Why? They're not dangerous."

"Look at the circle." She did, and saw it was nearly perfect, nature didn't grow them. "That is an entrance to the fairy world. Picking one or entering it and you would be lost forever. Notice not even animals tread inside it. Or the woman looking at you from inside."

Haku widened her eyes and looked back. She didn't see anything for a moment until her eye looked past right in front of her. Then the image of a woman with leaf like hair staring into her eyes right in front of her appeared. "Agh!" She stumbled back, her arms wheeling. The sound of the wind changed to sound like laughing. "Wh-What was that!?"

"A dryad, a tree spirit" D said, looking to her. "Perfectly harmless as long as you don't harm her tree. Good evening lady dryad." The woman stepped out of the circle, fully appearing. Her eyes were hazel brown and her robes like grass.

"Good evening, sir. Not many in the world today still know of us."

"Its my job to know. Plus we are relate, distantly." He pulled off his high collar cloak, revealing whiskered cheeks.

"Ah, a fox spirit," the dryad said.

"Half," D corrected. "Will you mind if we camp here?"

"Hmmm." She walked around him and said, "Maybe. Any chance I could get you to come to my tree?"

"Sorry, I don't want to spend decades as your concubine. As wonderful as it would likely be."

"You're no fun," she said. She looked to Haku and smiled, "I'm sorry for startling you, drakeling. I was merely waiting to see if you would enter."

Haku stepped far from the circle and looked to D. He was staring into the fire he just made before doing a cross shape handsign. A kage bunshin appeared and he nodded to the original. D took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Red chakra covered him a moment before he opened his eyes again, revealing them red and slitted. He then did a handsign and henged into a woman in a blue kimono with fox ears on her head and nine fox tails from her lower back. The clone D then did something that startled Haku, he smiled. "Mother," he said before hugging her.

"My little boy," she said to him, returning the hug.

"Huh," Haku asked.

"Hello," Kyuubi said to her. "I am D's mother. My soul was sealed inside his body by the Yondiame Hokage."

"This is the only way we can meet in the real world," D finished. "But I'm working on transferring her soul to another object. Once I can do it with a clone, I'll be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"My body still lives, child," Kyuubi said, sitting down in the grass. "Once he can, I can return to my body and truly hold my son to me."

The dryad knelt down in the grass and rested her chin on her hands, "Wow, a greater fox spirit. Never thought I would see one. Your name?"

"I am Kyuubi no Yokou," she said. "One of the nine Bijuu."

Haku stumbled back at that, not expecting it. "...Incredible. So...D is the prince of the Fairy world?"

"That's one way of looking at it," Kyuubi said, laughing a little. "So, little dragon, what does that mean to you?"

"He is my leader, I his tool."

"My friend," D corrected. "Ladies, I'm tired so I'll go rest." Bundling his cloak under his head, he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

"Why doesn't he just release the clone," Haku asked.

"To get the sleep," Kyuubi told her. "The clone experiences what he does." She knelt down in front of the fire, smoothing the kimono out as she did. She breathed in the night air and smiled. "This exhaust him very badly but he does it often so I can get out and about a little."

"He is going to get hit by heat syndrome at this pace," Fenix told her.

"I'll make sure he rest soon... Actually, Haku, that will be your job."

"Huh?" She tilted her head confused.

"D...maybe my son but he is more closer related to a vampire in strengths and weaknesses. Though sunlight doesn't impede him, running himself endlessly, always in the sun will cause what is called heat syndrome. If he gets it, he will have to bury himself to survive." She looked at him, sighing. "My poor, poor kit. He isn't that much younger than you, my dear."

"What? But he looks... Forgot, he's a half spirit. Nothing is what it seems with them."

"True," the dryad said to them. She leaned over his face and smiled wistfully. "Oh how I wish I could just whisk him away with me. The long days we would share together." She held her arms around herself, blushed, and giggled warmly.