Disclaimer: Neither I, nor my writing partner Lord of Daemons owns Naruto or Diablo…Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto…Diablo is owned by Blizzard

Oc's and Concepts: The Original characters and concepts of this story were created Lord of Daemons and myself, we worked very hard to create the original characters and the concepts, and we would appreciate that you do not use our Original Characters or our concepts without expressed permission from BOTH of us.

Notice: In case any of you are wondering, or have not noticed this story, along with just about any other story made by myself, and Lord of Daemons will be AU, the characters will be OOC, and above all else, we will NOT be following canon. We will extract elements FROM canon, but we will not be doing a rewrite of the canon storyline.

Apologies: Well, here it is, the third chapter of Malevolence Rising, after almost a year hiatus. I am honestly appalled that I let this story go on hiatus as long as it did. Neither myself, or Lord of Daemons, ever intended for this to happen, however, life does go as we plan.

In addition, I no longer have access to the Internet at my home, I presently must go to the library in order to post anything, also my computer is beginning to physically fall apart.

Please show your support...read, write, review, PM, or if you absolutely must, flame with LEGITIMATE reasons...

Nearly a year had passed since that fateful day, when Minato awoke from his coma, and was forced to kill members of his own village, people who had one time he had called ally, even friend.

But what was a father if he did not protect his children?

After he had killed those who had called for the death of his children, he had made sure that any possible dissent, any possible remnants of those who demanded the head of his progeny were quickly found and immediately ended like the vermin they were.

He gave no mercy, and those who held power within the village, leaders of business and guild masters, anyone with any semblance of authority who thought it wise to suggest his removal, or to entertain the thought of his children being killed for the 'good of the village' were quickly dealt with.

He ensured every last one of them remembered that Konoha was not a democracy, it was not a republic, it was a dictatorship, and it was he that made the laws here.

Yet, Minato was merciful in comparison to the cruelty and wickedness Kushina had shown to the ones who called for her childrens heads.

The ones in the mob that fateful evening had been the first to suffer her wrath, their homes were stained with their blood, Kushina having killed each one as slowly as possible, making sure the whole of Konoha heard their screams.

The next were the ones who questioned her methods, suggesting she had gone too far in killing the ones who threatened her babies. They had a cleaner death, though the coroner who was tasked with identifying the remains disagreed.

The last were Shinobi, who had been amongst the crowd, or those who had agreed with the sentiment that the death of her children was a good idea, even when discussing hypothetical pragmatism.

Kushina spared none of them, and many questioned if Kushina had killed those Shinobi, who simply wisked them away in the night and hidden them in some dark dungeon, where she ensured none of them ever died, and none of them ever got used to the pain she inflicted upon them.

Nobody could ever confirm it, but in the night the wails of agony kept many up at night, though nobody was courageous enough to seek out the source.

Only an immortal would have such courage, and none in Konoha were immortal.

Within a year, the people of Konoha, nay, all of the Elemental Nations, learned a valuable and deadly lesson, that Minato and Kushina would burn Konoha to the ground for their children, and they loved their village, which made many a nation question what they would do to them if they even considered any harm against their children was caused by them.

Even the Daimyo had been nervous to confront Minato in regards to this. A faded letter, written in a disturbingly red ink, had been enough to make the Daimyo turn the other cheek, and keep a much closer eye on his children, who had become increasingly less free as of late. The last time any had seen the Daimyo's children leave the confines of their palace was months ago, and now the Samurai Guards were on a 24/7 watch, with a much more rigid discipline instilled in them.

It was clear to anyone who the true master of Hi no Kuni was, in function if not in name.

Which left Minato with only a single concern, the raising of his children.

As it stood, they had already begun the process of ensuring that Natsumi was not overcome by the toxic power which her father had stored within her.

Kushina examined the scrolls that Jiraiya had provided for them, as Minato held their daughter, a series of paper seals attached to her, the bubbly one year old having to get them reattached as she began to tear them off, playing with them as she began to rip them apart, making 'confetti'.

Minato had been forced to make an assortment of replacement seals, which did little to aid him at present, while his daughter was awake, even the surplus he had created was running low, and he only had so many of them to work with, but it had helped to allow Natsumi's body to get used to the Kyuubi's power.

The scrolls Jiraiya had provided had told him that the essence of the Kyuubi needed to be filtered through the bodies, and that without the soul the Youki of the Kyuubi would begin destroying the cells of the host until the body shut down, it may take months, and in some cases it took years, but it would happen eventually.

The method they were using, seemed to be most effective at inhibiting the power of a Bijuu, thus allowing the child to gain a resistance to it. However, this method had not been used on anything at the level of power that the Kyuubi possessed, so for the sake of caution, they utilized what they calculated to be the most effective number of seal tags necessary to suppress the power of Kyuubi enough to allow Natsumi to gain a resistance to it.

Kushina stared up from the scrolls, regarding her husband, "According to what Jiraiya brought us, Natsumi should only have to wear those seals for under the assumption our calculations our correct." she added in the last bit as she looked back at the scroll.

Minato smiled at his wife, "We should probably keep them on for an additional month just to be safe." he frowned, "Or, would that affect her growth as well?"

Kushina looked over the scroll, "The most it says is that puberty will be delayed, but beyond that I don't know."

"Kuso…" Minato cursed, causing Kushina to glare at him.

"Watch your language around the children Minato!" she snapped.

Minato sighed heavily, "Kushina, she isn't going to repeat every word I-"

"Kuso!" Natsumi suddenly yelled, giggling as she waved her arms, "Kuso! Kuso! Kuso!"

Minato became deathly silent as he felt the cold gaze of Kushina on him, "I-I…"

"Put Natsumi down and start running." she placed down the scroll, and began to flex her fingers, stalking towards him.

Minato obeyed, placing Natsumi back in her crib, "N-Now Kushina, I know I messed up b-but."

"You have five seconds…four…three…"

Minato wasted no time as he suddenly bolted out of the room, much to the amusement of Kushina, who leaned down and picked up Natsumi from her crib, "There's my little angel." she began to smother the young Natsumi with kisses, "Yes she is, yes she is." she cooed as she held her daughter to her bosom.

Minato didn't know how far or fast he had run, all he cared about was avoiding Kushina's wrath as much as possible.

Finally though, he stopped, gasping for air, as he looked around.

He felt a bead of sweat trail down his brow, only now realizing he was still in the Hokage tower.

"Oh shi-"

"Yondaime-sama."

"Gah!" Minato shot upwards, turning around with his arms crossed over his face, "Please not the-Hiruzen?" he questioned as he saw his predecessor standing before him.

The aged former Hokage smiled as he looked Minato over, "Let me guess, you said something that Natsumi or Naruto caught onto, and now Kushina is livid?"

Minato's face curled into a downcast position, was it so obvious?

Hiruzen chuckled as he leaned in to whisper, "Not all of my battle scars came from war Minato, some of them were given to me by my wife when I had said a few too many things to the children." he shivered, "I still get phantom pains after what she did to me when Asuma started smoking."

Minato blinked, "Didn't he only start smoking a few-"

"Phantom pains Minato." he said matter of factly, favoring his right side as he began to walk, "But enough about my children, tell me, how are Natsumi and Naruto doing?"

Minato became silent as his hands entered his pockets, "Natsumi is well, though we have had to spend day and night watching over her in the off chance our protocols for the Kyuubi Youki fails, but beyond that she is well. Naruto on the other hand…" he became eerily silent, as Hiruzen awaited an answer.

Minato's mind whirled with thoughts, guilt and self-loathing commanded these thoughts, as he thought on how he hadn't been there for his son like he should have.

His reasons may be legitimate, but that didn't relieve the sting of hate he felt for himself for not being the father Naruto needed.

His wife was having similar thoughts, always trying to find as much time as possible to be with both of their children.

Such a luxury was not afforded to him however, between Natsumi and his duties to the village, he barely had time to tuck his children in.

Hiruzen was silent, "Minato, you're doing your best, nobody can fault you for that."

Minato simply snorted in response, "Maybe I should start doing the best of somebody better."

Hiruzen frowned at the Yondaime's derisive comment, "Putting yourself down won't fix this situation."

"No, perhaps not…" he agreed, "…but perhaps it will encourage me to do better." he spoke with finality, as he looked at Hiruzen, "Was that all you wished to speak to be about, Sandaime-sama?"

The aged Sarutobi frowned, shaking his head, "No, I actually came here to report some news to you."

Minato raised a single eyebrow as he crossed his arms, "And what is it that required you to come see me yourself, instead of sending an ANBU or one of your clansmen?"

Sarutobi became silent, his head turning to each side, his chakra flaring briefly, before his gaze shifted to Minato's, "It is about a certain cult with which we are both quite familiar."

Minato's eyes narrowed, "The Zakarum?" he asked, though it was less a question and more asking for confirmation.

His predecessor grunted, "Yes, it is, I fear that we may not have been as thorough as we anticipated in dealing with them previously."

Minato's fingers curled into fists, his pupils dilating as the very veins in his neck began to pop, "That damn cult is like a nest of cockroaches, do I need to burn the villages foundation for us to be rid of them?" he asked harshly as he began to march towards his office, with Sarutobi in tow.

Two months after he awoke from his Coma, a new 'religion' began to pop up, a group which called themselves The Zakarum, who preached many fantasies, fantasies which had managed to attract many of Konoha and Hi no Kuni's citizens.

Its doctrine was supposedly simple, its faith was the worship of 'The Light', and its commands were as such; The Light exists within all living beings, regardless of race or origin, embrace The Light with total devotion, trust in the glory of The Light for its power supersedes all in the mortal world, and resist all things evil.

Supposedly simple, but its followers were fanatics, holding the last two doctrines with rigidness that made negotiations and talks with this religion impossible.

They refused to obey the laws of Konoha, nor the orders of Minato or any other, not even the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni could compel them to stop. They held their third tenet so closely that they viewed obedience to any of the mortal authorities to be tantamount to evil.

This is where the fourth tenet became a problem, 'resist all things evil', and Konoha's laws, the Hokage, the Daimyo, and even the Fire Temple of Hi no Kuni was deemed evil, and was worthy only of destruction, and destroy they did.

When the riots first occurred, it had just been destruction of property, but within a fortnight the riots had devolved into murder and worse.

He could still hear the cries of those the Zakarum had chosen to let live, but not out of mercy, what they had done to them was worse than death.

Women and Children had been the primary targets of the Zakarum, those unable to defend themselves as the cult raped and pillaged their way through the countryside of Hi no Kuni, and the residential districts of the Capital and Konoha.

The body count had been tremendous, but the injured and broken were almost three times that.

The cult had then turned their attention on the Fire Temple, where the blood crazed cult had lead a massacre on the monks in training, successfully killing two elders, along with several other members of the Fire Temple's priesthood.

This had led to an order of 'no quarter' to be given, every last member of the cult was to be executed on sight. Their remains were to be disposed of immediately, their artifacts destroyed and their scriptures and teachings burned. After a month they thought they'd clear out the last remnants of this cult.

Hiruzen's words said otherwise, "Where are they located Sandaime-sama, and who amongst these cult members survived?" Minato asked with an edge of steel in his voice.

Hiruzen frowned in response, "That is the difficult part, it isn't members who came here that are our concern, it is the converts that have been popping up recently."

Minato became deathly silent, his eyes turning to steel as he snarled, "What?"

Hiruzen began to explain to the clearly enraged Yondaime, "It would appear not all of the Zakarum artifacts and scriptures were destroyed, some were saved by would be converts within our own forces."

Minato's blood chilled as those words met his ears, it was one thing if members of the original cult converted his citizenry into the cult, but it was entirely another if members of his forces began to willingly choose to reform the cult, it would give them far more legitimacy than they ever had before because his forces chose to reform the group, rather than be manipulated into joining it like what the original cult had done.

With that legitimacy would come adherence to its doctrines, and then they'd be right back to square one, only this time it would be more difficult to stamp out because it had gained a following based off of choice, not manipulation.

"This could lead to a Civil War." Minato whispered as he began to pace back and forth, "The resulting conflict will weaken Konoha, and then our enemies can simply swoop in like vultures and pick us clean." he snapped his gaze towards Hiruzen, "Who has been identified as reforming the cult, if we can deal with them now we might be able to prevent further catastrophe."

Hiruzen became silent, looking down, away from Minato's gaze.

"Well?" Minato demanded, as Hiruzen looked back up at him.

"Minato, I only have one name…it's my oldest son, he is the one who saved the scriptures and artifacts."

…

…

…

Minato's eyes lit up in fury, "What?!" he roared, making the Sandaime flinch as he beheld the concentrated fury emanating off of Minato like a Tsunami crashing upon the shores, and he could not blame him.

Hiruzen's son, first in line to take up the mantle of Clan Head of the Sarutobi, was a charismatic individual, capable of turning enemies into allies with his words, and making neutral parties into sycophants with ease. His words would inspire and regale, keeping the attention of a crowd for hours.

To hear that such a person had been reforming such an organization no doubt made Minato's blood boil, "Minato please I-"

"Did your son not see the carnage and devastation this cult brought with them? Was he so regaled by his own reflection in the mirror he didn't see the corpses littering the streets, or the children that the Zakarum had mutilated? Answer me Sarutobi!" Minato's killing intent was enough that Hiruzen felt his bones begin to creak under the weight of Minato's anger.

"Minato, I-I came here to ask for your help, my son-"

"Your son is a traitor Hiruzen, and will be treated as such!" Minato snapped to his right and began to head towards the exit of the Hokage tower, but before he could reach the stairs to the entrance, Hiruzen grabbed onto his shoulder.

Minato responded by grabbing Hiruzen's hand and twisting it behind his back, and slamming him against the wall, "Do not get in my way Hiruzen, I will not-"

"Please Minato, just hear me out!" Hiruzen practically begged as Minato's killing intent crashed against him, "M-my son can still be saved, please, I am begging you, there has to be another way."

Minato frowned, before releasing Hiruzen, crossing his arms, "Speak." he commanded.

Hiruzen caressed his wrists, as he spoke, "My son has only been able to make a handful of duplicates, the original copies are still with him. If you can acquire these scriptures and the copies, as well as those he has converted, then your problem will be solved. He is the only one who has any copies that I am aware of, if you can stop this now you likely will never see the Zakarum in Hi no Kuni again."

Minato's eyes narrowed, "You still haven't given me a reason to spare your son."

Hiruzen frowned, "Minato please, he is my son."

"He is also a traitor, one who would have pushed Konoha into a civil war the likes of which would have destroyed this village, tell me, Sandaime-sama, why should I spare him when anyone else I would already have them on the execution block by now?"

Hiruzen's voice was quiet as he implored with Minato, "I am not asking as the Sandaime Minato, I am asking as a father, please…spare him."

Minato was silent, turning away from Hiruzen, his gaze shifting to the floor.

All the while, the Sandaime's gaze remained fixed on him, before Minato took in a deep breath and spoke.

"Your son will be interrogated by Ibiki and Inoichi immediately, after we have gotten the information we need from him, the location of the items as well as the names of those he has converted, I will have Inoichi wipe his memory. He will be removed from the Shinobi corps, never to be reinstated, his chakra will be sealed, and he will never again be allowed into any form of office with power over another, if he attempts to unseal his chakra, if he attempts to reenter the Shinobi corps, if he holds any power over anyone aside from his children, I will have him executed. You will not tell him why, you will order him to accept his new lot in life, that is all I am willing to give you and not an ounce more." he turned to Hiruzen, his eyes hard as his voice pierced Hiruzen like a thousand needles, "Is that understood?"

It was phrased as a question, but there was only one right answer.

Hiruzen lowered his head, and whispered, "Yes, Yondaime-sama, I understand."

The blonde Shinobi turned away, "See that it is done Hiruzen, do not delay, not even for a second, or the deal is off." he glanced back at the Sarutobi clan head, "And no, I am not joking." he turned away and marched towards his office.

He had execution orders to ready.

After several minutes, he had found himself at the entrance to his office, pushing open the door as a glowing seal verified his identity, locking the door behind him, he shot to his desk and immediately began to pull out a stack of paperwork. He pulled out his chair, sat down and reached for a pen.

Only for his eyes to catch something that shouldn't be there.

Or rather, someone.

Standing in front of the vault in the office, was none other than his son, who stood before it, staring quietly, still wearing his onesie as he tilted his head.

"Naruto?" Minato shot up from his desk and ran to his sons side, looking him over, "Naruto, how did you get in here?"

Naruto blinked, his eyes unmoving, his hand pointing towards the door, "Open." he said softly, making Minato frown.

It would appear he needed to fix the seal on his door if Naruto was able to get in when he wasn't there, by all accounts Naruto shouldn't have been capable of entering, but apparently the blood seal registered him since he had both his and Kushina's blood running through his veins.

Though his eyes hardened as he picked him up, Jiraiya was supposed to be watching him.

He lifted him into his arms, sighing, "Come on Naruto, let's get you back to your mother, I have words for your Godfather you really shouldn't hear." he shivered as he imagined the wrath his wife would unleash upon him if he taught Naruto how to curse.

As he exited his office, his son looked over his shoulder, his small hands gingerly reaching out towards the vault, his expression emotionless.

'Naruto.' as that voice kept whispering into his ears.

Even as the door closed behind them.

Okay, not a very long chapter, but it was important this chapter got out to show the direction that this story is soon to be taking. And unfortunately we can only put forth so much padding before it just seems like filler.

Attention!: I am asking those of you who read my stories, and read the stories of others, to hear me out.

I have been on FanFiction for a long time, so long that the only reason I remember when I got on FanFiction is because the day I started FanFiction, an important event happened in my life. Over the years I have seen so many authors publish great works, wonderful and elaborate stories that I tried to emulate as I tried to perfect my own writing style.

At the same time though, I saw many stories and many authors go unappreciated. I have seen authors give up on FanFiction because they receive so few hits and reviews. Now note, I understand many of you don't have the time in a day to read every single story on FanFiction, I dedicate hours of my day to FanFiction and I still don't get to as many stories as I would like to get to. But some of these authors I feel are working so hard on their Fanfics, and aren't getting the praise and fanbase that the amount of effort and careful detailing they put into their work deserves.

Hell, I know of at least a couple Fanfic authors who are considering leaving the site because they are unappreciated.

I know, I know, many of you will say that you shouldn't write for anyone other than yourself, I get that. However, I can admit that although I write for myself, I feel down whenever my work isn't appreciated by others, especially when I put so much time and effort into it.

Here are stories I personally recommend…I have followed these stories for a while, and I feel they deserve more recognition for the amount of work the authors put into each of them.

-The Heroes And The Queen-Robot Overlord

-Journey: Rise of the White Wolf-The White Wulf

-InFamous Salvation-JAYSEN

-A Simple Mission-Leaf Ranger

-Legacy-Greatcow

-Altered Fate-KorKor11

I surely will recall more stories that I feel deserve more recognition for the work their authors put in them, but for now, please check out these stories, they are a fantastic read, and deserve more attention than they are getting.