A/N: Hey there ladies and gentlemen, this is Kurogane speaking again. We're going to focus on another character, but we are still going to have a bit of training for Naruto. Plus, there will be more cameos here. All in all, do read and review would you kindly?

...

{Play: "Maestro" by Kawai Kenji from "Ip Man"}

[Foshan, Baihe Village-a six nights later...]

Naruto stood in the shower, allowing the warm water to wash over him as he felt his aching muscles sting briefly before they started to relax a bit. He then moved his hand towards the shackle on his wrist, placing his fingers over the two raised buttons on the rim, and giving them a press. There was a snap-hiss of a pressurized lock being released as he removed the shackle on his wrist and soaped the area underneath before rinsing it and quickly putting it back on, allowing for the intake of air to sound off before doing the same for the shackle over his bicep. This was the daily ritual whenever he really bathed with soap; according to GSD, as long as he had at least one limiter on, and he was quick, he could clean the areas under the chains. Once he was done with the most important bit first, he began to take his time with the showering, but also reminded himself that Meilan was right outside, waiting for her turn to shower; even though he'd been doing it for the last month, it was still awkward that the two of them massaged each other as per training, he didn't want it to get any worse by bathing with her too. 'Not that there's anything wrong with her body or anything; it's just that I don't think it's come to that point yet.'

Foshan was a location in the outskirts of the Baihe Village that was very hard to miss; it was pretty much the giant buddha statue carved into the cliff face right next to the waterfall that added more water to the hotsprings. However, atop that buddha statue was a temple where people tended to congregate...some were the monks and nuns who lived there, others were regular people who came to pray or pay respects the dead, but all came here to venerate Buddha and his teachings or to get an education at all. There was also another complex nearby the temple where advanced students of the Baihe way were housed and taught with their partners. It was essentially a large motel where everyone was given two-person rooms, one for every pair. But for Naruto and Meilan, they took some essentials such as clothes and toothbrushes, and moved on over to a cottage not too far from the large motel where they were accompanied by Shizi, Fei-Ying, and Xianglin, up the steps.

The last month had nothing on the advanced training he and Meilan had to go through...that's because all the daily chores and stretchings he had to do with her down in the village were still done, only this time, the two of them were to make a jog down the many steps to the soap-makers at the bottom of the cliff. Once they were done, they had to run back up the steps to get in their daily stretch and spar...this time, with Shizi, Fei-ying, and Xianglin jumping in to help with the exercises while Yamato pulled Naruto away from time to time to get specialized training as a shinobi. Simply remembering that Yamato was in the group as well, he could only groan. 'Somebody please kill me now...I can't take any academic work the guy sends me!'

As he was the master Grappler, Shizi taught that one of the most important parts that a grappler had to strengthen was his back; and to demonstrate what happened when someone's back was weak, he got a straw dummy out, hoisted it above his head, and broke its torso in half across his knee. Naruto and Meilan shivered at the thought of that happening, and so they made it a point to emphasize a bit more on training and stretching their backs more heavily. Once that was done, he then taught them basic grappling skills, throws being among them, as well as how to get out of them. Meilan, being more gifted in hand-to-hand combat, wound up throwing Naruto in the air very often. 'I'm pretty sure she was waiting for an excuse to catch me in a bridal carry...'

Fei-ying's training was a little simpler...and yet, just as difficult at the same time; his emphasis was that your hands and feet should not be doing all the work when you're fighting, and that you should also be using your elbows, knees, and shins to add to that. He mostly had the two of them practicing katas to get the form right before sending them off to their sparring practice, but he also made them both dance. It was embarrassing every time Naruto had stumbled, as Meilan was usually the one that picked him back up; and it didn't help that Fei-ying usually moved in to try and trip them up to test how well they kept their line of center. Once, he fell in such a manner that it looked like he was pinning Meilan down by her shoulders; and at another time, he pinned Meilan down, not by her shoulders, but by something...softer. He gently probed at the dark-red handprint on his cheek, imprinted there for touching her chest, even if it was on accident...that would be there for quite a while. It was also another reason that showering together would be a bad idea. 'I keep telling her it was an accident, so how long is she going to be mad at me for?!'

The only part of the training that seemed to be the hardest for Naruto was the fact that Xianglin made the two of them sit down to meditate. Now, what was it about martial arts that made meditation so important? Just the thought of sitting still for a few hours bored him to no end; after a bit of an argument with her, Xianglin called him a coward, a liar, and a hipa-...hippo-...gah! These grownups, they use such fancy words to call kids bad names! They had to know that kids wouldn't understand them! But he supposed what she meant when she called him a hippo-whatchamacallit (critical hippo?) was along the lines of 'promise-breaker', if her earlier accusation of him being a coward and a liar were any indication.

Needless to say, it got him to sit his ass down, and meditate...and she had to add to the challenge that the one who stayed in meditation the longest by the end of the session would get to choose dinner for the night. As usual, Meilan won the challenge and got to pick out something vegetarian, as Xianglin had sworn off meat after being a priestess. 'Damn that Meilan! She's always beating me at everything! Well you know what? I'm going to win that right to choose dinner next time!'

Before long, Naruto heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, startling him out of his thoughts. "Naruto, are you done yet? I really need to wash up!"

"I'll be done in a minute Meilan!" Naruto called out as he finished cleaning up. He towelled off and put on his night clothes before walking out of the bathroom to see Meilan in a bathrobe.

"Sorry about that. It's all yours."

Meilan nodded and entered the bathroom. Naruto then walked to the bed and fell down upon it...Meilan would be slipping into it soon enough, and they would both need their rest for tomorrow.

[Somewhere near the shores of Mizu no Kuni...]

The sound of waves crashing on the cliffs, and sea water being sucked into the sands added to the tranquil atmosphere that GSD was waiting in. He'd just arrived yesterday to meet someone at this very spot, and he'd hoped that this person would still be here...hopefully with a drink from her home country to lift his spirits and warm his heart. It was still cold, after all. "I don't think that campfire's going to cut it," he said to himself, as a wild chicken roasted on a spit over the orange flames. Thankfully, there were herbs and spices he knew of that were nearby to make this dinner even more bearable. If not, then he'd hoped that the civil war he'd heard about hadn't swallowed up his…

His thoughts were interrupted the second he heard the rustle of a branch above him. "Now that smells good," said a lazy voice above him. If he still had the ability to use his eyes, he would've known that the woman crouching on the branch above him had reddish-bronze skin and cream-colored hair...but what he did know from his ability to 'see' through the ground was that she had an inhumanly lithe body frame with a generous bust, and she was looking down on him with what he knew were sleepy, electric blue eyes. What gave her away were the two pointy ears on her head, telling of her elven heritage. "I do hope that I can have some of that."

"It depends, Minet," he said, smirking to himself, "what did you bring for me tonight?"

The elven woman named Minet leaped from her perch, flipped around in midair, and landed silently across from GSD. She then reached into the rucksack at the small of her back, and produced a pair of shot glasses, and a square bottle of a dark golden-brown liquid. "Siusha's signature whiskey," she finally said, "I'm sorry it won't be on the rocks."

"That's fine," he said, "I always did like a challenge."

"So how goes it with the new protégé?" asked Minet as she poured out a finger's whiskey into a glass and handed it to GSD.

"I see your spy network is still operational, even after your country's been caught up in that Civil War in Kirigakure," answered GSD, taking the glass.

Minet waved her hand in a noncommittal gesture. "It's true the Civil War has caused a communications crackdown, but it doesn't stop my nation's spies. Anyway, you didn't answer my question, mon frère."

GSD took a long sip and sighed, allowing the smooth texture and bitter flavor of the whiskey to work its magic. "It is a long process, but I believe that Naruto's full potential is being attained now that he is away from a village that would hold him back from true power."

Minet nodded. "So...what has the curse brought him? Is he the one?"

GSD raised his glass, silently asking for more whiskey. "I have no doubts that he's the one to finally do it," he said as Minet filled his glass, before pulling some of the chicken out for herself, "it won't be soon, and he's likely to go through a very tough road, but once he fulfills the prophecy, nobody will fear the Curse anymore...because once he does, he can teach future generations how to master it. In the meantime, he must master the basics before I can teach him anything."

"Here, here," said Minet, raising her shot to toast with GSD before taking a bite out of her drumstick.

"So, how goes the situation with your country? Are you still neutral in the Civil War?"

Minet grimaced in distaste. "Well, we still would be if that thick-headed idiot Yagura didn't send his shinobi out on to our shores, trying to kill off our people. 'Demons' he called us, 'bloodline-wielding scum', and my favorite, 'seductive harlots'! What's that racist son of a bitch trying to prove?"

"Irony at its finest." The blind swordsman muttered, tearing into his own haunch of meat while taking a slower sip of his whiskey.

"Anyway, in response, her majesty the Queen has openly declared that, until the civil war is over, any and all ships flying the Kirigakure colors would be sunk on sight...and that we would be siding with the rebels. We're doing pretty well too...okay, we're doing really well. We managed to get the bastards in a blockade, but they're still fighting tooth-and-nail." Minet reported rather smugly, "Still, it's only a matter of time."

GSD faced Minet. "If you need a finishing blow, perhaps you can lure them out into the open sea and sink their main fighting ships. I mean, they are needed to bring in reinforcements, and are capable of dishing out heavier damage than their shinobi are capable of alone. They are the main threat."

Minet tapped a finger on her glass. "So, what you're saying is, we should gamble some of our ships to lure the main fleet out to sea and deal a devastating blow that can end the Civil War sooner?" she asked, considering her options, shortly before she grinned. "I like that plan. But I will have to bring this to the Queen herself...whether she approves of it or not, that is out of my hands...but for what it's worth, I think it's a real good idea."

GSD raised his glass in a toast, speaking in the Dark Elven tongue. "Vive le résistance."

Their glasses met with a light 'clink', "Long live the resistance indeed."

[Foshan, Baihe Village-the next day...]

Today was the day. Naruto and Meilan had been told by Shizi that they'd learn something new, and they'd been following him through the forest for the past few hours, haggling him for a clue. "You'll see when we get there." He'd reply patiently, brushing their questions aside with ease.

"We're here," he said, finally stopping before what appeared to be a large outcrop of stone against another cliff. This was very rocky terrain they were in, with large boulders everywhere, and pebbles covering the ground in place of sand.

"Welcome to the Grappler training grounds," he began, "we normally use this place as a quarry to carve statues and the like, as well as to make stone for our buildings, but there are plenty of rocks and boulders around that will serve our purposes well. Now, I'm sure you're wondering what today's lesson is."

"You've been telling us that you're going to teach us something new," Naruto pointed out, "so, what are you going to teach us?"

"Oh nothing, we're just going to destroy some rocks," Shizi said easily as he walked towards a boulder, "but you're not going to turn these rocks into pebbles…" he then took a stance, and landed a very heavy right straight into the boulder. What happened immediately after was burned into Naruto and Meilan's memory; as they watched him punch a hole in the boulder, no pebbles were formed from the impact zone-all that remained was dust. "...you're going to turn them into dust."

Still speechless from what he'd seen, Naruto could only croak. "Uhh...how did…"

"All it takes is pin-point control, a good amount of strength, and lightning-fast reflexes," began Shizi, "normally, when you punch with your entire fist, some of that force does not go into the target and is wasted...which is why when you punch a rock, the rock punches back. But with this training method, not a single ounce of force will be wasted; because when you strike in this manner, you must first strike with the minimal amount of force to break the target's resistance, and then follow through at the exact same moment with the other half of your strength to obliterate the target."

"So what do you want us to do, Uncle?" asked Meilan, finally finding the will to speak after the demonstration of strength and skill.

Shizi had a predatory smile stretching his lips. "I've got the perfect teacher for you. Toph, you can come out now."

The two young kids turned to see a small black haired girl. She was wearing a dark green suit with a cream colored top and had a green and yellow head band. "This is Beifong Toph. One of the premier grapplers in the Baihe village, and my personal student."

Naruto took a good look at her with her face even though it was to the side. "Uh, not to be rude Ms. Beifong...but we are over here."

Toph smiled. "I know. I can hear your voice way over there." She said without looking and pointed at Naruto.

Shizi explained. "You see Naruto, Toph was born blind; but this enhanced her other senses. Her blindness has given her a sort of...sixth sense you could say. But rest assured, she is quite a capable fighter."

After a moment of silence, Shizi turned to Toph. "Do a good job...and please don't kill this pair."

Once he'd said his piece, Shizi got up and left, leaving Naruto and Meilan with the girl before them. "All right then, let's get this started," began Toph with a sigh, feeling around a bit before picking up a fist-sized rock. "Our part of the training starts small. You each have a week to reduce a fist-sized hunk of rock into dust with your writing hand." she did exactly what Shizi did, only she reduced the entire rock to dust. "Every week you fail to do that, I'm going to bury you up to your neck without any food for the rest of the day. So let's get cracking."

Naruto and Meilan turned to face each other with a confounded look on their faces, silently asking a question to each other. A simple little shrug of their shoulders and a weary sigh was enough to show that they knew there was no other way out of their task. They each picked up a fist-sized rock and started punching...they had a week to do this in, and neither of them had any intention of getting hungry for a day.

Grunts of effort resounded through the quarry. Toph hopped on top of nearby boulder and folded her legs, leaning back into a comfortable position with a smirk. She knew that success would be unlikely for a good few hours.

As she relaxed, Naruto and Meilan pounded away at their rocks, knuckles already bleeding.

It was going to be a long day.

[Meanwhile...Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato...]

The day was pretty average for Sarutobi Hiruzen as he looked through the paperwork, smoking his pipe. Some were mission reports; others, contracts that needed to be renewed with certain store owners. Oh, how he wished he could burn it all and be done with it so that he could smoke in peace...but alas, he couldn't get rid of all of them.

After signing off on another mission report, Hiruzen took a break and looked outside the window at the village he loved and continued to protect, even in his advanced age. He began to think back on the day that he confronted Hiashi, Tsunade, and Fugaku one at a time about the Curse of Kazan. Apparently, that man GSD was telling the truth after all; and for all his distrust of the man that day, he was immensely thankful that the blind man took Naruto out of the village...the boy needed to learn how to control the demon within; and if he stayed, there was the chilling possibility that what happened on that dreaded day the Kyūbi got loose would be nothing compared to the horrifying amount of collateral damage and deaths caused by Naruto accidentally going berserk within the village walls. And the tales he'd heard from all three clans were enough to give him nightmares of roaring, red-skinned people with razor-sharp fangs and bloody claws running about with swords, and all kinds of bludgeoning implements in hand, slaughtering indiscriminately.

And the worst part was, throughout the whole ordeal, he noted the desperation in their swings cleaving into flesh, smashing through bone, and spilling copious amounts of blood. He could also see the suffering in their vacant, bloodlusted eyes as they murdered left, right, and center in an apparent attempt to stem the debilitating pain brought on by their affliction, both physical and mental.

According to all three accounts about the Curse of Kazan, everyone related to the Rikudō Sennin carried the Curse in their blood from birth, and it would remain dormant until something triggered the bloodlust. This would mean that his student Tsunade, her grandfather, and her uncle would have had this curse dormant within their bodies, and they have always been in danger of turning into one of those red-skinned monsters he'd heard nothing but horror stories about.

This may also be an explanation for why Itachi snapped the way he did; he could have awakened this 'curse' and in the ensuing moments of bloodlust, went mad and murdered most of his family. But this did not add up; the amount of people killed that day did not match up with the timing. There had to be something missing in the equation, something he was overlooking. That, and Itachi certain both from Shisui's intelligence and his own observations, that there were Uchiha members worth sparing.

His thoughts on the curse soon turned towards his surrogate Grandson, and the fact that he awakened the curse, as well as the fact that he was going on a trip that would hopefully result in the boy gaining control of the demon within. Apparently, according to the tales he'd heard, anyone who awakened the Curse of Kazan and sought to master the power it granted always had to stop at a crossroads as to how to control the demon in their arms; from striking a deal with the damnable thing, to installing a certain addition into their limiters to silence its voice, all the way down to letting go of all inhibition and simply giving in to the 'blood-rage' as they had put it.

And as he thought of the ways in which someone could gain power and wisdom as a so-called 'Slayer', Hiruzen was worried. What path would Naruto choose? Would he take control of the demon, or would he let the demon take control of him? Would he master the dark power, or be consumed by it?

Whatever the result, Hiruzen knew that he needed to have faith in Naruto; to believe that when the time came for his surrogate grandson to choose a path, he would be strong enough, if not wise enough, to do the right thing.

All thoughts cast aside, he took a long drag from his pipe, and went back to work. It's a good thing that the pile was almost done for today.

[Konoha General Hospital...]

With the hustle and bustle of nurses and doctors running about, doing their daily rounds, it was business as usual at Konoha General Hospital. Dr. Kurō Hazama was walking through the halls with an easy stride, a clipboard in his hands. Some of his patients were doing well. Others, not so much...and then there was the patient he was going to see now. Now, he was not a shinobi by any definition of the term, especially since he can't use chakra at all, but he'd participated in the last Shinobi World War as a medic, and successfully saved a lot of patients from varying causes of death; broken ribs from taijutsu techniques threatening to puncture lungs, chakra-laced burns from katon jutsu, fried organs from raiton jutsu, and even a case of self-inflicted blindness caused by a genjutsu misfire.

The patient he was going to see had been hit by a particularly powerful genjutsu, one that had been extremely troubling to to treat, with little success. Yes, he'd been able to stabilize her, and he'd put her on an IV drip for nutrients, antibiotics, as well as a low-powered stimulant that was designed to resuscitate her slowly at one point (given how incompetent many of the herbalists the director had, it was no surprise and so she was taken off of it), and giving her a mask leading to a heart-lung machine designed to keep her heart pumping, even bereft of her natural pulse. He had high hopes that she would be awakening today; if not, then he was afraid that Dr. Kiriko would be coming around to euthanize her...something that he really didn't want to happen; but unfortunately, being that he was living in a shinobi village, euthanasia was actually legal here, not to mention a rather common occurrence, given how many shinobi died a day if the doctor failed to save them.

The adage, 'You can't save everyone' was the first thing any doctor learned in the Shinobi World, besides how to treat poisonings, accidental and otherwise…Hazama knew it was true, but he still wasn't used to having patients die on him-as a matter of fact, it was a blow, to both to his pride and his soul whenever they expired on his operating table. This one however, he had resolved to save her life.

The second he opened the door, Kurō saw that there were people in the room already, surrounding his patient. Uchiha Mikoto was strapped down and handcuffed to the bed on the Hokage's orders...it looked cruel and excessive, but after the stories he'd heard in secret from the old man about the Curse of Kazan, it was safer this way in case she ever awakened it. "You've been here quite often Hiten," he said, "hoping to be the first thing she sees?"

"I don't mind if I'm the second thing she sees, I just want to see her come back to life."

Hazama could only smile to himself. Although he would never admit it, it always warmed his heart and lifted his spirits whenever he saw true love before him...which was another reason why he wanted to help resuscitate Uchiha Mikoto so badly. He also liked it when the person's loved ones are standing by, willing for the patient to wake up...which was the case of Uchiha Setsuka and Uchiha Setsuna. "And I may have the treatment for that," he said with a kind smile, pulling out a syringe, "the cocktail in this syringe is an experimental hallucinogen supposedly able to wake people in a coma." At this point, he frowned. "However, this would mean giving her an extremely bad nightmare. If I'm right, then the fear induced by this drug should be able to stimulate her adrenal glands and jolt her awake."

Upon hearing that, Hiten turned to Hazama with a desperate look on his face. "And what if you're wrong?"

"This is our only shot...if this fails, Kiriko will have to come in and…You understand."

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." Oh, this was not good! Hazama turned around, and had a look at the man in the doorway. He had stark-white hair, and his left eye was covered by an eyepatch. He also had a slightly gaunt appearance to him, with hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes that made him look a little more like a hitman than a doctor...or a freshly-deceased corpse. This was Dr. Kiriko, a fellow veteran of the last Shinobi World War, a euthanist, certified surgeon, and forensic anthropologist.

He looked like a corpse, he studied corpses, and he sometimes caused the creation of corpses; people wondered why such a man that was so tied to death was allowed in a hospital in the first place. It was a fortunate thing then, that he was a doctor first. "Isn't it a little soon for you to be here?" asked Kurō, still irritated that his rival was here.

"Maa, maa, no need to get hostile on me," said Kiriko, raising his hands in the air at the aggression being directed at him, "besides, the director wanted me to come here. Apparently he'd heard of the fear drug you are about to administer to this patient, and wants me on standby to put her out of her misery should you fail." Kiriko then pulled out a second syringe from his inner pocket, containing a vile-looking translucent green substance. "The toxins in this syringe will kill the patient quickly...she won't feel any pain, but she will slip into an endless dream as she dies."

It was at that moment, that Kiriko turned his attention specifically towards Hazama. "Just so you know, you have a lot at stake Kurō," he said, "if this fails, then the director will destroy your career, and make it so that you can never practice medicine again."

There was a reason for that; the director of the hospital outright hated Naruto. He would give orders that stopped doctors and nurses from ever treating the boy (some of whom gladly obeyed that order, despite the Hippocratic Oath forbidding such a thing). Hazama Kurō was not one of them, and because of that, he'd been given the stink-eye by a lot of doctors who wanted to kiss the director's ass for a promotion. But because he was quite possibly the best doctor in the village, save his teacher Tsunade, the good doctor was saved from ever being fired. "As if I will let that happen!"

Kurō walked towards the patient's bed, and found a free IV entry point. The needle punctured the rubberized barrier, and the plunger was pushed. He then turned to see Dr. Kiriko taking a seat and crossing his legs. All that they needed to do now, was wait…

{Play: "Faith of Jevel" by Darren Korb from "Bastion"}

[Unknown location...]

The whole world was twisted, and Mikoto knew it. It didn't help matters that she already knew she was in a genjutsu...far from it, it was almost feckless that she knew that very fact. Everywhere she went, she saw a reminder of her marriage to Fugaku...probably the only thing that he did right was to give her children that didn't turn out like him. She supposed it was also her revenge in a way for what his parents did.

Still, she was happy with her own children...and when Itachi had come to kill her...no, that wasn't Itachi; the Itachi she knew and watched grow up did not have hate in his dead eyes. But everywhere she went, she saw every member of the Uchiha, walking around infected with the curse and fanged, sadistic smiles on their faces. She'd heard them chanting 'join us', and 'give in to the rage' like a mantra trying to convince her to fall to the blood-rage as they have...and much to her horror, her own children had become infected too!

Mikoto knelt to the ground, grasping her head in pain...she didn't want to see any of this! She didn't want any of this to happen! It was then that she felt something odd in herself. 'Wait a minute,' she thought questioningly, 'how can my children have the curse active as well?'

{Play: "Dots and Dashes" by Silversun Pickups}

It was then that she felt a surge of power overtaking her. Mikoto soon stood up, her strength seemingly renewed. This was not going to happen! Not to her daughters! Not if she had any say in it!

Almost as if in response to her increase in strength, Mikoto felt something materialize in her hands...as soon as she looked down, she saw that it was her 'sisters', Kurohime and Shirohime!

Seeing what was going on, the nightmare-Uchihas started charging at her...each of them creating weapons made of blood from self-inflicted wounds. They came like a stampede of wild bloody animals, ready to rend her into shreds, hack her into pieces, and even crush her to death. They knew if she escaped, they would be forced to go into hibernation once again, and the chance of corrupting her would be slimmer in the future!

However, Mikoto was having none of it! She took their shit in life, but not in death, not when she had people to live for! Calling upon memories of her fighting style, she started her counterattack by sliding a bit, to catch one Fallen Uchiha by the calf and swinging upwards, decapitating the demonic abomination and causing it to splash into a pool of blood.

After kicking another Fallen in the face and slicing both arms off, she took a moment to assess her situation...due to what her 'marriage' was like, Mikoto knew that she was going to be a lot slower than before, but that didn't stop her dance of death as she flipped over and stabbed another Fallen Uchiha between the shoulders where the subclavian arteries would be. She wasted no time and energy killing the small fry with the flourishes she remembered; just one cut, one kill per minor Uchiha. She was going to save her best for the toughest one of them all; and she knew he was somewhere in there, just waiting for her to tire out and become easy prey. A bastard in death just as much as he was in life. Like she should've expected any different.

As she continued dancing away with her blades, she found that only a few remained. It was then that she came across the first of her corrupted children; Itachi. He would not go down without a fight. He moved in, and slashed, parrying away her strikes, but she found an opening in his guard that only she knew of and stabbed him through the neck, shortly before she brought her blade back out and swiped the black sister across his throat. He collapsed into a pool of blood with the other Fallen Uchiha. She gave one last look at the pool of blood that her son had become. "I will always love you, my son."

"Still have a lot of fight in you? Now that's a surprise, I don't remember you having that kind of stamina," asked the growling, but familiar voice of her 'husband', with her daughters standing in front of him, their corrupted eyes looking scared of what she might do, their hands trembling. His face was glowing with those vile red eyes, and like most of the Fallen Uchiha she had put to rest, he was naked as the day he was born.

Fugaku then brought the girls closer to him, in a seemingly loving embrace. "Are you sure you're willing to do this?" he taunted, "Are you willing to kill your own daughters to get to me?"

Mikoto frowned at her 'husband'. Seeing him naked in life was bad enough, but now, with his hands on her daughters? She was going to kill him, painfully. "Corrupted or not, they are still my daughters, and I will not let them become you! You sank your claws into Itachi, but I won't let you do the same to them! Now face me! Or are you the same disgraceful little coward I still remember you as?"

Fugaku brushed aside her twins with a snarl twisting his visage. "I'll make you eat those words, you frigid bitch!"

It worked! She couldn't believe it! That bastard let her taunts get to him! And then she watched as he formed a two-handed sword from a nearby pool of blood. Mikoto had her twin katana at the ready in reverse grips...if what she remembered about Fugaku's swordplay still applied, he was a power-type swordsman that enjoyed dirty fighting, so a more defensive and agile stance would be needed.

The fight began as Fugaku let out a bestial roar, and began to charge with his sword at the ready. He brought the blade down, causing Mikoto to take a leap backwards before moving back in an attempt to cut at his arm, only to be hit by a backhand that sent her flying. Using the white 'sister' to stop her from skidding away from the fight, Miko then ran back, sliding between her the legs of her husband, and bounced back up to bring her the katana clutched in her fist down to open a long slash on his back.

Letting out a furious howl of pain, Fugaku swung his blade sideways in an attempt to bisect Mikoto in one pass. He recovered from the miss and reached into the dry ground, digging up what seemed to be blood-spattered sand. Seeing what he did, Mikoto knew she had to be more careful, unless she wanted to be blinded by a handful of earth. She moved back in, weaving through his missed thrusts, and rolling under wild horizontal slashes, trying her best to stay away from his closed fist, waiting for the perfect opportunity to…

There! She moved in close, and was about to slash at his abdomen, hoping to spill his guts to the floor when she felt the wind get knocked out of her, before getting shoved back as she took a knee to her stomach. Taking the time to taunt his opponent, Fugaku laughed cruelly. "Is that your best, wench? Would you like me to tie one of my arms behind my back and actually give you a chance?"

She was beyond angry now...there was no way out of this nightmare until she killed the likeness of the bastard she once called a husband.

Fugaku sneered at Mikoto. "I would've never married a woman like you if i knew you were this weak! I wouldn't have persuaded my parents to sign that marriage contract."

At that, Mikoto chuckled coldly. "And that is your problem. You never married me at all; you basically raped me, and that's how Itachi and the twins were born. If I had my way, I would have married Higurashi Hiten. I knew he was with another woman, but both knew he still loved me. They should have been his kids, not yours, bastard!"

Fugaku cackled madly. "And that is why I took him away! That muscle-bound fool would never truly understand your beauty. But now you are alone...your family is gone...and your love cannot help you now! What are you going to do, Miko-chan?"

Before she could come up with a response, Mikoto felt a strong burning in her eyes...it was like awakening her own Sharingan for the first time, only much worse. Could it be? Did she do it? She opened her eyes, and from then on, the world clarified, and she could see the look of utter horror on Fugaku's face. It's been so long since she had been so satisfied, but she knew that it wouldn't last long! She needed to move now!

Grabbing both of her katana, Mikoto moved in...it was too late for him, but Fugaku refused to allow it to end this way! The second she stopped right in front of him, it was over: with a single turn, she stabbed him in the crotch with Kurohime, then performed an upwards slice with Shirohime to completely emasculate him and slice off his face in one motion. Fugaku let out a death rattle as the front of his face slid to the ground with a wet smack, and collapsed to the ground; disintegrating into blood as he did so.

Mikoto dropped to her knees as the world around her broke down. She closed her eyes, content in the defeat of her nightmares. She'd won...for now.

Conscious World

Mikoto groaned as she regained consciousness. At first, everything seemed blurry...until it gradually began to clear up. The first thing she saw was her daughters, sleeping in the chairs next to her bed.

Her next view was of a very familiar, and welcome sight: Hiten was asleep in the chair at the foot of her cot, with his own daughter leaning against him.

Straining, she raised her hand to stroke Setsuna's hair, only to find that she'd been handcuffed to the bed...it was lucky her head was right next to her hand. Said girl felt soft fingers gently threading through her hair and opened her eyes. She looked to her right and saw her mother's smile and her warm charcoal eyes.

"K-k-kaa-san?" She said with a trembling voice.

"Good morning, my little raven." Mikoto said softly, stroking her daughter's cheek with the back of her hand.

"KAA-SAN!" Setsuna yelled and hugged Mikoto. The shout woke up the other occupants and Setsuka joined her sister in hugging her.

"Good to have you back, Miko-chan."

Mikoto smiled warmly as she turned to face Hiten. "It's good to be back."

"Of that, I'm sure," said the voice of a man she knew very well. After all, this was the doctor who delivered her little ravens when everyone else was too busy. "How are you feeling now, Mikoto-sama?"

She let out a sigh as she turned to face Dr. Hazama. "I'm tired now, but at least I'm fine and awake. I'm pretty sure the Hokage must've told you about the Curse, otherwise there wouldn't be such heavy restraints put on me. Unfortunately, as I am now, I can't afford to get into another coma-if I'd been infected in the first place, it would've been over with once and for all; next time, it'll be way harder for me to come back."

"Either way, you're lucky you made it at all," said Dr. Hazama, still grinning happily, "I'll be back to check on you tomorrow; you won't be released immediately, but it doesn't hurt to check."

She didn't know what the future would bring, but one thing Mikoto knew, with her daughters at her side, and Hiten now back in her life, things would be different this time around. Better.

[Foshan, Baihe Village-five days later...]

It was fortunate that Xianglin's specialist training of Meilan included the art of healing, using the special energy that Naruto had heard being called 'Nen', which seemed to be exclusive only to the Baihe clan. She'd said that long ago, after meeting with priests from another Buddhist sect, the Baihe clan priests and doctors had learned to scale down a particular jutsu so that they don't have to spend a lot of energy to heal one patient with a technique meant to heal a group.

In any case, had Meilan not learned this art of healing, the training that Toph had given them almost five days prior would've left ragged scars on their knuckles. Despite the many failures thus far, both Naruto and Meilan had started getting the hang of the 'Futae no Kiwami' training as it was called, if only just two days ago. At first, they'd had no success whatsoever. Meilan, despite her strength, was more lithe than Naruto, while the blond had problems with his hands, as they were not as strong as they could be, due to the malnutrition that was only starting to get corrected. Naruto had asked himself...what were they doing wrong? Why was the rock not turning to dust?

"Ryo for your thoughts Naruto-kun?" asked Meilan, pausing in her bashing of the rock.

"I'm just wondering," he replied, staring at his rock with a furrowed brow, "we've been pounding at the rock for what, going on six days now? And so far, we've done nothing but smash our rocks into pebbles. What are we doing wrong?"

"I don't know, I've been punching my rock as long as you have. Maybe it's something we're missing here."

Naruto looked at the rock with a scrutinizing gaze. There had to be something to this trick that they weren't getting. It was then that he thought back to the way that Shizi-sensei was punching; it was just like he'd seen Toph punch the rock...with the fingers in their fists raised first, before bringing the other knuckles down on the rock very quickly. He also remembered exactly what else he'd heard Shizi say about the technique in the first place. And then, as soon as the thought hit him, Naruto used his free hand to slap himself on the forehead. "I am so stupid."

"No comment." Meilan giggled.

Naruto pouted at his partner. "I mean, it looks like we are missing something that Shizi-sensei said in the beginning! Do you remember how he and Toph were punching their rocks?"

"Yeah, with their fingers raised first, and then they followed through with their knuckles." Meilan replied, not understanding where the blond was taking his train of thought.

"It's more than that," he added, "the punches to the rock aren't supposed to be one at a time, they're supposed to two punches at the same time! The first punch with our knuckles raised breaking through the resistance first, and then the knuckles on our hand quickly following to smash the rock, which goes back to what he said we also needed for this: lightning-fast reflexes so that we can get the timing of the two punches right."

"Then if you're right, we need to work on both our speed and timing!" She exclaimed happily, glad to be making some progress in their task.

"You think you can do it faster than I can?" asked Naruto, challenging Meilan.

"Damn right! I most certainly won't go hungry for a day!" The Baihe girl shouted back, the glimmer of challenge in her eyes.

"And neither will I! I'll pulverize that rock first, or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto!" replied a determined Naruto, hungry for victory. And dinner.

And the night went on, with both students continuing to punch their rocks at gradually increasing speeds, determined to get the timing down just right. Tomorrow was the day that Toph would be inspecting their progress; if neither of them could pulverize a rock with a single punch, then they'd be buried up to their necks!

...

[Foshan Quarry, the next morning...]

Toph eyed her two underlings with an almost sadistic glee in her smile. Both of them were tired, likely from staying up too late trying to master the "Futae no Kiwami", if the multitudes of rubble covering their sleep-deprived forms were any indication. "Well now, you two look like hell. You think you're ready to show me what you've learned?"

The groggy laugh that Naruto let out surprised the blind girl...especially since its tone had promised that there would be a surprise waiting for her. "Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised."

"Are you ready to see what we've got?" yawned a sleepy Meilan, "I just want to go back and sleep!"

Upon hearing them speaking, Toph let out an evil cackle under her breath. "Okay then, show me what you've got."

Hearing this, both Naruto and Meilan had reached into the ground, fumbling around until each had found a fist-sized piece of rock. After standing back up, the two of them raised their knuckles and prepared for the attack; they each punched viciously into their rocks at lightning speed, pulverizing them with the exact technique they were shown.

Assessing their progress, her face betrayed none of the surprise she felt. "Very good," Toph said in approval, "you've both done something that took me three tries to learn. Unfortunately, given how you're both tired right now, you're still gonna get buried up to your necks."

Both Meilan and Naruto had an outraged look in their tired eyes. "WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL FOR?!"

"Oh relax! It's not like I'm going to bury you in sand for the rest of the day!" shot back Toph angrily, "There's a mud bath nearby where the two of you can take the rest of the day off. Besides, what you've just been through is only the first step."

The two children collapsed in exhaustion and then started laughing off the stress, until they realized the last part of what Toph had just said. They both looked up and saw her walking towards a boulder free of holes and craters, before driving her fist, elbow, and knee into the boulder, and stomping her foot into the ground. There was now a hole where she punched, a crater in front of her knee, a hole created by her elbow in the boulder, and a crater in the ground with her foot in it, with nothing but dust left behind.

"As you can see I expect to see similar results through your elbows, knees, and feet throughout the next few months. Since Shizi is a master, I expect he can also do it with his shoulders and his head too."

Both Meilan and Naruto finally collapsed from exhaustion and exasperation upon hearing that.

Toph was about to drag them away to the mud baths when she'd just remembered something else. "Oh yeah, and by the way, starting next week, you're going to have to do the same thing with your left hand now!"

The second they heard that final remark from Toph, that trip to the mud baths sounded a lot more welcoming…the next few months would be tougher with Toph as a teacher…

...

A/N:

Kurogane: And once again, ladies and gentlemen, we go through another chapter. As usual, do give a round of applause to Soleneus and UnitedOsprey1991. And remember, the polls for Naruto's starting class will end after the Baihe Village arc, so do make sure you vote before it's too late, would you kindly?

Soleneus: Hey people, it's Soleneus, one of the other guys that writes Naruto Fanfiction. Just want to say, it's a pleasure to beta this Kurogane7 story with UnitedOsprey. Read and review, and Stay Awesome!

UnitedOsprey1991: Hey Guys its UnitedOsprey1991. I may not write Naruto stuff yet but doesn't mean I'm not a fan. Anyway I'm the other beta along with Solenus so I hope you like this. Read and review kindly. ~SWOOSH!

...

Vocabulary

Foshan-written as "佛山" in traditional Chinese, the word literally means "Buddha Mountain", and the location shares its name with an actual place in Guangzhou, China renowned for being a center for kung-fu (particularly the Southern Styles)...legends such as Wong Fei Hong (Hung Gar master and doctor) and Ip Man (Wing Chun master, and Bruce Lee's teacher) are extremely well-known in this place.