Conquer Your Demons

A/N: And now we veer off from where we were before. New storyline; not as stupid.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of its contents.

Chapter 3: Civilian with Just Cause

"Hey Naruto" Konohamaru began. They had been traveling towards Konoha for a few hours now at a brisk pace, and would be arriving at the gates shortly. "Why'd you knock down the gates of Iwa?"

"Hmm?" Naruto replied, obviously confused. Konohamaru continued "Back at the bar, you said you'd been to Oto to 'bestow judgment'. Now you're coming to Konoha, and a few months ago it was Iwa. Besides these three 'judgments' what have you been doing?"

"Ah" Naruto adopted a thinking pose while walking. "Well you see, I got lost on the road of life."

Sakura, who had been listening to the conversation, face-vaulted. How typical of Naruto to use a lame line from their sensei. Come to think of it, her sensei was supposed to return to the village yesterday. She wondered for a moment where he'd been.

"Oh come on nii-san. You had to be doing something"

Naruto's face took on a small grin. "I went to enjoy life for a bit. My Kyuubi half may want to destroy most things, but it doesn't mean he never took pleasure in anything normal. Sometimes I just liked sitting in the forest for days at a time, seeking peace. Others… I hunted for prey."

The grin became a tad feral. "You should have seen the way I wiped out so many killers, bullies, rapists – sinners in general. Even if I want to destroy a place, I will still always make time for splendor and glory."

Sakura looked a tad ill at the thought of someone enjoying killing so much. Anko rather took the moment to chime in. "Oh I know what you mean. The moment before a prisoner breaks, right as their mind betrays them. It's so beautiful."

Naruto gave a pleasant sigh. "Although, Kyuubi is an age old demon. It's not enough to just destroy sinners. There are places that must go too. Each great sinful event in history leaves its mark on a place. Kyuubi's duty, as a being of vile chakra, is to absorb that evil within himself. Every time a great sin is committed, it creates an aura for me to absorb. You asked why I visited Iwa? The Gates of Iwa represent not just strength, but a great tragedy. As the villages warred, Iwa used slaves to put together its walls; working prisoners to death to repair them. I would have such a testament to the cruelty of man become mine."

Silence followed for a brief time. Then, not enjoying the uncomfortable silence, Konohamaru spoke up. "So as our honored guest, I have a recommendation. If you want to truly get to know the people of Konoha for who they are, despite their ignorance, you may want to hide your identity. Your jacket really gives you away."

"I was planning on it anyway. Don't worry, Kyuubi has it covered." Naruto flipped through some hand signs then put his left hand to his heart. The hoodie changed to a standard black one, the writing on the back disappeared.

"Do you prefer this?"

"That was easy" Konohamaru commented jokingly, sure that Naruto would remain low-profile perfectly like that. On the other hand, he was an honored guest.

"Don't you think you should look more formal as an honored guest of the Hokage? They don't let just anyone into this village you know." Sakura interjected. She was curious what jutsu he'd used to physically change the clothing.

"Ugh, fine." Naruto grumbled and put his hand to his heart again. This time his clothing morphed into a patterned robe of fine silver and gold, a dragon design across the heart and a fox in blue around the waist.

"Excellent" Konohamaru commented and they continued in silence. When they saw the gates, Konohamaru summoned a toad to leap them past so they wouldn't have to deal with the guards.

"Hi guys!" Naruto said cheerfully over the side, while Konohamaru patted him on the back and shook his head. The young Sarutobi already knew a headache was on its way.

BREAK

Sakura and Anko were pacing anxiously outside the Hokage's office. Naruto, or rather Motto, has just recently walked into the office with a familiar greeting of 'ohayo Tsunade-Baachan'.

The greeting was immediately followed by a chair flying through the air at high speeds, impacting the door and just barely missing the snake and slug sannins. Konohamaru was not so lucky as the chair plastered him to the wall. The two had peeked inside, only to have the door slammed in their faces, followed by a cry of 'get out!'.

Inside the office things had taken a much less intense tone. Tsunade was practically smothering Naruto in a hug with her massive breasts suffocating him. Naruto looked ready to pass out, partly from lack of oxygen and partly from blood loss.

"Naruto-kun, it's been so long. When you said you'd merged with the Kyuubi I pictured someone half-man, half-beast. But you look the same as ever!"

"Neh, neh. Baa-chan, I'm the same old me. I just have a bit of a feral side is all" Naruto replied. It was a bit of an understatement. On the way through the village, riding on the back of the toad, he'd spotted several people he'd known only 6 years ago to be people worthy of sacrifice. He beat back the urge to jump from the toad's back and ambush a young mother, devouring her whole then and there.

"Naruto-kun, no matter what you'll still be like a grandson to me. What kept you away so long?"

"Baa-chan, if I'd come back any sooner I would have been unable to suppress my inner demon. I had to stay away, for the good of Konoha. Although, there is my deal to consider. Understand that this place will face judgment. Not today, but the moment it begins to feel like a home, I'll have to make my decision."

"And if we aren't to your satisfaction, you're going to do to us what you did to Oto?" Tsunade asked in a more serious tone.

Amusement still played on Naruto's face. "Yup, deal with the Kyuubi and all that."

The Kage sighed. Releasing any contact with Naruto, she moved behind her desk and began writing out an order. "I'm assigning the Sannin to watch you 24/7. If we see you make any move against the village, we won't hesitate to use force. Don't expect a ninja village to go down so easily. We may not be able to kill you, but we can damn sure seal you into something."

Naruto simply laughed off the threat. "You can try Baa-chan. I missed this; all official in a ninja village. On the other hand, I think I'll enjoy life as an average guy around her more. You put Kono-chan in a wall so I think I'll go remove him and spend some time around the village. It's been a while."

"Naruto, before you do; take this" Tsunade extended a ring. It had the seal of the Hokage on it, engraved in a red, fiery looking design of gems. "It's my crest and it will tell civilians that you are an honored guest of the Kage. Enjoy your time here. I know when you feel it becomes a home, you'll make the right choice."

Naruto took the ring and put it on, before flashing a foxy grin and setting off to find his favorite place to eat in the whole world. Anko and Sakura looked after him realizing they hadn't contributed at all to the conversation, while Konohamaru peeled himself off the wall, ready to follow his long-time bigger brother.

BREAK

"Hey old man." Naruto said calmly to the first man to ever give him a good meal. "It's been a while"

Teuchi looked up from the ramen he'd been making to see an unfamiliar face peeking out from below a grey hoodie. The hoodies themselves had become quite popular with the kids these days, the younger generation recognizing Motto as a free spirit, doing what he pleased. They didn't know who he was or where he came from, just that their parents hated the way he behaved. It made for inspirational clothing.

At Konohamaru's request, the blonde had layered a demonic illusion over his face, removing the whisker marks on his cheeks and giving him higher cheekbones to make him appear more noble. He'd also gone back to wearing a hoodie. He simply looked like a young man in his twenties with bright blonde hair; and instead of forgetting his face, he just looked different from the Naruto they used to know.

Naruto himself had also chosen a new name for himself, a nickname that had belonged to the respected fourth hokage: Arashi.

"Do I know you?" The old man said. He certainly looked a little familiar.

"I used to come here a long time ago. Forgettable face I suppose." The blonde replied. At that moment, Ayame stepped around the corner and into the bar area. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, roughly 30, with worked hands and a gentle smile.

His inner demon took the moment to voice its resolve. 'We will have to consume her. She looks pure but it's a mask. Breathe in deeply'

Naruto complied, silencing the voice a moment. In a single whiff he smelled it; the stench of sex permeated the air, wafting almost undetectable when covered by the scent of ramen.

'That's right Naruto. Look at the flush of her cheeks, the sweat in her hair and on her forehead, the skew of her apron. You know what just happened.'

Naruto heard a grunt from behind the bar, in back of the shop. Ayame jumped slightly as she heard a grunt and a man exit the back door. She refocused on the blonde in front of her.

"Can I take your order mister?"

"One large miso, one beef, one pork and one chicken please" Naruto said to the woman. She pressed her hands across her apron to search for a notepad and pencil when a sudden look of realization passed across her face.

"Excuse me" she said, as she quickly departed after the man. Teuchi took over the order as Naruto waited, meditating and listening. He heard her catch up to the man and demand something, barely audible were the yells almost a block away.

She was back in no time, and Naruto noticed the money in her pocket that wasn't there before. His sweet, beloved Ayame from his childhood had become a prostitute. During work hours. Her father in the next room.

The ramen arrived in good time, as Konohamaru sat down next to him. He broke apart his chopsticks and claimed Naruto's miso for himself.

"I was assigned to watch you, you know. Off in such a hurry, one might think you miss this place." Konohamaru said between slurps.

Naruto ate in silence, while the demon demanded tainted blood in his head. He began looking at Ayame with hungry eyes, taking in her curves and sleek body beneath her clothes. She looked wonderful with a sheen of sweat across her forehead and hands masterfully working the knives to chop vegetables. She hummed as she worked, a sweet tone.

"Arashi-san?" Konohamaru said, shaking the blond physically out of his stupor. Ayame had glanced nervously at him a few times, his eyes never breaking contact with her body.

"Sorry Kono. I was distracted. What's up?"

Konohamaru looked a little disturbed by the concentration he'd broken, but figured it a side effect of the merge. "What do you want to do today? Want to meet some old friends?"

Naruto snorted. He had no real friends, besides Kono and maybe Sakura. "No, I don't have anyone I want to see. Let's do something else."

"There's a movie playing at the theatre, about Princess Yuki. Remember how we saved her in the land of spring? There's an adaptation. Plus you can see the shopping district, maybe find something you like."

"If I didn't know better Kono, I'd say you were asking me on a date. Let's try something a little less, forward. I'm innocent you know."

"Very funny. Then what the hell do you want to do?"

"What would you have done if I wasn't here?"

"Training. I'm working on a fuinjutsu that just won't come together. You could help me like old times."

"That sounds like a plan. We both know how much I love seals" The sarcasm was evident, but Naruto was in fact pleased. Fuinjutsu problems were like puzzles and were always interesting to figure out.

The two finished their meals in relative silence, then set off for the training grounds.

BREAK

A few hours later and Naruto was getting sick of staring at the symbols. Konohamaru was working on a seal that would turn normal chakra into water efficiently, without having any kind of element affinity involved. Since it only worked for normal chakra, Naruto couldn't test the seal. He'd tried to use his chakra with it, but the whole scroll had incinerated and Konohamaru's withering glare was enough to convince him to not try again. The array was written across the whole 4 by 4 foot scroll and should have produced infinite water. Instead, when Konohamaru tried, the water would be created, then would splash on the seal and wet the ink, ruining the seal. All the young sannin had managed was a puddle.

"This is getting us nowhere Kono."

Konohamaru looked up from a symbol he was drawing and at the same time transposed a runic symbol incorrectly.

"And now you're just making errors." Naruto stated, pointing down at the array. Konohamaru nearly pulled his hair out in frustration. It was almost dusk and they were getting hungry, so Konohamaru began folding the scroll.

"This was fun though. It's been such a long time since I've looked at any seals, even my own is gone.". He lifted his shirt to show the toned abs beneath. Molding some chakra, Konohamaru looked in awe as the seal was gone, a simple circle indicating where the array had been was all that was left.

"Then there's no record of it left. I guess there will never be another container for the nine-tails."

"You better hope not, or else we couldn't be friends anymore. So Kono, are you getting any ladies wet these days or just your scrolls?"

Konohamaru nearly burst a blood vessel at that. "Arashi! That's private."

"So no then." Naruto replied. "Earlier you were talking about Sakura, is she a prude or something?"

"We're just friends. Clearly!" The young sannin replied. At that moment Sakura herself arrived in the clearing.

"Kono, you're off. I have him for the next 8 hours, then Anko gets him in the morning. He try anything funny with you?"

"No Sakura. We were just looking at some scrolls." Kono said. He always got blamed for stuff that wasn't his fault when she was around. Better to not make any trouble. With a sad smile he turned to Naruto: "It was fun. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon?"

Naruto nodded, then looked to Sakura. Konohamaru hadn't been kidding when he;d talked about her developments. He hadn't noticed when they were moving before, but the young pink haired woman had a very tight body. She was muscled and toned, but not bulky at all. Her legs were a little on the beefy side, but clearly for use. Her breasts had become large Cs, maybe Ds, and her eyes had stayed that piercing green that said…

"What are you looking at, pervert?"

Naruto looked her in the eye and noticed about 30 seconds had passed since anyone had said anything. There was nothing he could say to make it better, so why not make it bad for someone else too.

"Konohamaru had mentioned how well you'd developed. I was just confirming it." Naruto said, a perverted smile touching his lips.

Sakura crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up. "Like what you see?" She said. Naruto nodded, not spotting the obvious trap.

She moved towards him ,swaying and bolding her breasts up, and right as she was practically offering them, he received a massive blow to the side of his head. However, he wasn't the Kyuubi for nothing. Her punch struck him and he didn't budge an inch. Instead he heard a cracking sound as her fist broke on impact.

Sakura brought her fist to her side and began healing it. "Right, I suppose I could have seen that coming." She muttered through gritted teeth.

Naruto had the decency to look sheepish. "My bad."

"Rather than put up with this, I think you can take him for the night Kono." Sakura said. She turned a pointed look to the Toad sannin, then leapt away.

"I think you made her mad."

"I think I need a place to stay the night."

BREAK

Konohamaru woke up from a long, deep sleep. Getting up, he realized he was in his home, the Sarutobi mansion and that Naruto must have been right down the hall. He'd given him a room to use. It was small, but had all the necessities, plus some posters and 'cool' stuff they had picked up on their way back to the mansion the prior night after training. Stretching, the warrior got himself out of bed and looked over to see a small breakfast laid out for him. No doubt by his compatriot. Touched by the gesture, he began to dig in.

About thirty minutes later he made his way downstairs to see Naruto and find out how the young man had slept. He was greeted by the sight of a cheery Naruto, a big toothy grin plastered on his face. With a grunt of hello, the Sannin turned on his TV. It was unusual, but the morning news was reporting on a missing person; Ayame from the ramen shop. The Sannin turned to look at Naruto to see how he'd been affected, but found that the blonde wasn't even paying attention.

BREAK

The night before, Kyuubi snuck out of bed and into the streets of Konoha. The blonde was not in control anymore. No, on this night, the demon was out to prowl.

Fading out of existence in bed, and dodging the ANBU by leaving a cloned copy, he escaped undetected into the night. Within minutes he'd found the ramen shop and was lucky enough to see the girl packing up the shop for end of day, pushing the last few clients out the door. Kyuubi blessed his luck.

When they were all gone, he followed her in the shadows, essentially invisible with his kitsune stealth. She walked down the street and slowly into a seedier part of town until he saw her enter a whorehouse. Kyuubi followed her inside.

Soon he was in a dank atrium with pictures of each of the whores on the walls, a register and front desk before him in the room. He found Ayame's picture quickly and approached the register.

"All night for Aya Pleasures Me" He spoke quickly. He set a ruby of considerable value on the desk, for which the woman at the desk traded a key. Looking at the room number he made his way up the stairs until he found the correct place.

He opened the door to the most sinful Ayame he'd ever seen, even worse than the prior day. She was laying on a shoddy bed, lotion on the nightstand next to her. She was wearing black, see-through lingerie and looked bored, reading a magazine. As the door opened she'd barely put it down; aloud asking "Kiba? Another wild ride?"

Kyuubi drew up the image of a 15 year old Kiba from Naruto's mind, then shook his head. Another sinner to punish.

"No milady, but I guarantee we'll do better tonight than you could ever do with that mutt" Naruto's voice took on a demonic edge as he uttered the words.

"Now, suck my dick and like it"

An hour later Ayame was drenched with the demon's seed. She was in the middle of servicing him with her asshole yet again when Naruto finally began to regain control. He'd been watching his childhood mother-figure be abused and sexually violated for the better part an hour with no sign of stopping. 'She's a sinner, not your plaything. If you must do something, do it quickly or I'll end it for you.'

'Yeah? Make me' The Kyuubi challenged. Every so often the Kyuubi's personality would test him like this, to see if he had the strength to maintain their dual personalities. Sighing, Naruto let his mind focus on his body; the sensations of sex, the tingle of his skin, the grunting breaths coming through his throat, and all at once he pushed his consciousness into them.

Naruto stopped mid thrust and Ayame, who had been enjoying it, looked back. "What wrong Arashi?"

'You're done here.' The real Naruto spoke into his mind. He was about to withdraw, when he heard the response. 'We are done here.'

Kyuubi-Naruto brought his fist down on the back of her head. Her skull caved in and she died almost instantly, his member still inside her. He removed himself and vaporized the body with a quick soul technique, a ruby forming in his hand.

Naruto then quickly left the building via the window and snuck, undetected, back into the mansion. It was only hours later that be got up, made breakfast and began to cleanse himself.

BREAK

The two had mourned over ramen at a dango place which simply wasn't as good. Not long after the two met up with Anko to switch, but Konohamaru politely informed her he didn't mind spending his time with the older man. Anko shrugged and jumped away, while the two headed to the park. Naruto saw kids playing happily and the two enjoyed the simple excitement of the children while they played ninja games. That is, until he felt something tap his foot. A ball had rolled over to him and there in front of him was a small boy with pale blond hair and a chubby physique. Rolling his eyes, he handed the boy the ball, then searched around for the kid's parents, quickly seeing Ino and Chouji sitting on a bench together, their arms around each other, Ino leaning on her husband.

Walking over, he decided to chat with them a bit. "Hey guys" Naruto said, plopping down on Ino's right, Chouji on her left. "What's up?"

"Do I know you?" Ino asked curiously. Chouji just held onto her, doing his best to ignore the overwhelming chakra signature the man was making no effort to hide.

"You should. I've seen you naked."

She looked mildly taken aback, while Chouji took a closer look at the guy with anger rising just beneath the surface. Naruto himself beckoned Konohamaru over, where he proceeded to act out a scene wherein he pretended to spank himself. Konohamaru caught on quickly and pretended to pass out.

All in all it was very reminiscent of a time she'd done her best to forget, her eyes opened wide in shock. Upon closer inspection, if Naruto were of noble birth, the man would have looked very much like an older friend of hers.

"Naruto?" Ino questioned. Chouji took a closer look as well. "Uzumaki?" He asked in the pause.

"Believe it!" The blonde replied with a thumbs-up. At this point Ino noticed the hoodie. "You're gone for six years and you come back wearing the tacky hoodie of a madman? I swear, Sakura never taught you any fashion on that team, did she?"

"I think it looks cool." He defended. He turned to Konohamaru for moral support, and received a nod in the affirmative. "See? Kono thinks it's cool."

"Konohamaru was wearing that stupid sage outfit of Jiraiya's for months after he figured out sage mode. You think that has anything at all to do with fashion sense? Red, green and yellow; I'm telling you. Worst outfit ever."

At this point Chouji had to interject. "What do you mean saw her naked?"

"She'll tell you." Naruto said. "Good to see you two. I'm glad you turned out to be such good people. You have a handsome son; he'll be a lady-killer some day. Oh, and by the way, don't tell anyone I'm around. S-Class secrets and all that." He pointed at the ring on his finger and the two caught on. They each made a motion as though to zip their mouths shut.

With that, Naruto sped away dragging Kono by the hand. Ino and Chouji had very interesting conversations to follow.

As they left, he heard in his mind 'They're not as happy as they look. I could tell, she was keeping his hands off of her. You noticed it too didn't you?'

'Marital problems are hardly sins Kyuubi. You don't know what their lives are, nor did we see any sins. Save it for the truly foul why don'tcha'

'Just don't get too comfortable. Remember, we may end up starting the Konoha Massacre in not too long'

'If they are truly sinful, it will show and then we won't be having a discussion. You know I'm not afraid to dole out punishments when they're due'

'Just saying. Don't get too attached. Even Konoha is not without sin. Rather, Especially Konoha is full of sin'

Naruto blocked out the voice in his head and wondered who he'd be in half an hour. A civilian by the name of Arashi, an old ninja friend by the name of Naruto, or a demon punishing the wicked by the name of Kyuubi. His personalities were getting out of hand and trying to manage another in Arashi, he had to hope, wouldn't break him.

BREAK

It turned out that it was time to be Arashi. In a bar full out villagers, he soon found himself arguing with the very same purple haired kunoichi they'd ignored a few hours prior. "Sorry" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I tripped? Think of it as the will of a greater being."

The spiky-haired woman clearly wasn't buying it. 'Ah damn it, this guy again. And I just escaped watching him. Now I have to make sure this bastard enjoys Konoha. Of all the times to be a Sannin.' Getting up with as much grace as she could manage with a slightly sore back, she reached for a kunai. However, just as she was about to give the conniving little bastard a piece of her mind, she noticed something: 'He must have loads of money. Let's see about some payback'

"Well, you owe me the next couple rounds. And some dango. All the dango and sake I want and I'll forgive you" Anko said, though there was a hint of caution in her voice.

"Fair enough" was his only reply; apparently not really paying attention to her and more to the fact that every single person in the bar was staring at him. Though he may have changed to adopt a more serious persona most of the time, Naruto had idolized Jiraiya. The man was a sage and Naruto's ultimate goal in this life was to be a traveler himself: to wander the face of the earth, for all time. Learn all there is to know. Become wise, act as an immortal. However, the old sage had always seemed to love fun, and a good drink.

"One scotch, no ice." Naruto said, pulling up a bar stool. The bartender quickly slid the necessary items before the young man, a glass of water to clean out his mouth between sips and the glass of scotch, cold with no ice.

Taking the water, he took a short sip, moved it around in his mouth and swallowed. Then, took a sip of scotch, his elbow rising to be level with his head, as he tilted back and lifted the glass to his lips, slowly taking in the cold. Setting it down again, he let out a sigh, as the tension of the room had finally seemed to dissipate.

Anko was merely looking on at the man with contempt. She ordered two plates of dango, and another bottle of sake; the most expensive stuff the place had. "Remember, you're paying"

"I think I can manage it. I have enough of Oto's treasury to last a lifetime. But since I'm buying you a drink, answer me this; what keeps you in Konoha?"

"Loyalty to my village." She answered proudly.

"Loyalty? No demon has ever had loyalty to a land. It's a matter of seeing things from a neutral perspective. I mean, why would you work for Konoha as oppose to any other village? Not because this one is better, because then everyone would want to work for it. No, you work for this village because it is where you were born. It is where you were raised, and thus you owe a debt to society. But what about when that debt is erased? When you are old enough to live where you want, you still work for what purpose? Stability? To cause pain to others? Your reason becomes invalid."

Naruto looked at Anko for a response, but saw that she thought little of the opinion. She was too embedded in Konoha and village politics to see the purpose of his words. It left a bad taste in his mouth and he rose to leave.

"Going somewhere?" Anko asked, clearly displeased.

"Home. Kono, we should practice."

"I am a guard of yours, you'll have to be straight with me sometime. You don't really think all villages are the same, or else you would have razed them all. You don't really think it's a debt to society; its about individual bonds you build. You're full of crap."

"You may think so, but judgment-"

"Oh go fuck your judgment. We have good people here. You'll see that and you won't be judging us by our debts to society or our village politics. You judge a village by its people and you damn well better get to know them before you go passing judgment."

Internally, Anko was scared. She knew he could kill her in an instant. On the other hand, he was so full of shit for a demon, he had to be corrected.

Naruto suppressed the urge to rip her throat out with his teeth. This one he'd have to pay special attention to. He only prayed she slipped up so he could ruin her superior demeanor.

BREAK

Kono and Naruto spent the rest of the day snacking and training. By the time they had to sleep, they'd made good progress on the water scroll and they'd run out of stories to retell from their trips together. That night, Naruto managed to fall asleep with his door open just a crack.