Hey Guys! I know this update is much sooner that the previous one. Anyways first I want to say thanks to my two reviewers: animerockchic and HikariNoTenshi-San. You can thank them for me getting this chapter out quickly. Reviews motivate me to write faster as I know people care. Keep in mind I'll still update things, its just that they come faster if I get reviews. I also want to say thanks for the 9 new favorite story tags from the last chapter.

If anyone hasn't noticed I have another new oneshot Titled Which One's For You. It was the by product of so much positive response to my story Only to You. If you like my writing, please go check these out. Anyways enjoy the chapter.

******WARNING CHAPER CONTAINS GORE AT END*******

*** CONTENT RATED M! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ***

Chapter 7: Betrayal from the Dark

It was completely dark by the time he made it back to the compound after making sure he hadn't been followed. Fox couldn't see anyone out, not even the normal guards as he walked around the base entrance and first level.

'That's odd. Where is everybody? I'm not that late am I?' He knew the hour wasn't that late by the moon's position. Even if it was someone would have still been on duty here. Gatou was a paranoid little man if nothing else. Something just didn't feel right as he headed towards the rooms that Zabuza occupied taking the longer civilian friendly route opposed to the wall jumping he preferred. As he neared the room two levels up he paused as his instincts screamed at him. Even after climbing two flights of stairs and going thru several hallways, he still sensed and saw nothing. That's what got him worried.

'I should have at least seen some bugs by now. I mean this is the middle of the forest close to a river, there is no way this place can be devoid of all life.' The blond thought stopping in his tracks as he glanced around for anything. His sense of smell was nearly worthless with all the damn air fresheners that Gatou had around his base. Growling at himself in irritation Fox made himself calm down and continue walking.

'Relax you're being paranoid. That fight took a little more out of you than you realized and you haven't been sleeping for the past few days…hell I'm probably having a psychotic episode considering just how much sleep I really get.' He mused with a silent chuckle as he let his shoulders relax. 'There is absolutely nothing wrong here. There's no bugs because the fat bastard constantly sprays and kills them regularly. The guards are poorly trained street thugs and most likely are either asleep or screwing one of the whores Gatou keeps on staff.' He thought just as he reached the door to Zabuza's quarters.

'See, you're gonna go in that room and see that everyth-' he thought opening the door only to immediately dive to the side as he heard a wire snap inside, narrowly avoiding a barrage of sharp kunai.

'What the hell?' He could see the razor sharp gleam from the moonlight hitting the blade as three passed just inches from his face before the thudded deeply into the wall across from the door. He almost breathed a sigh of relief but the traps didn't end there. Fox's eyes locked on the near transparent wire that was sliced into by one of the many knives. He waited several seconds for the next trap only for there to be silence and no movement in the hall. It was over.

As he stood up to catch his breath he heard the snapping of another wire from the dead end to his right. His eyes widened drastically as he saw the spears launched from the other end of the hall. 'Shit!' His hand instinctively wrapped around the hilt of his sword as he swung while using his draw technique cutting one of the first spears in half. Using his sword, he continued to block most of the oncoming projectiles. He missed three of the last spears as they launched in a different pattern than the first three sets giving him a shallow slice on his left hip, right shoulder and trimmed a small bit from his long blond hair. This time there was nothing else. Fox remained frozen as one wrong move here could get him killed. A cold sweat rolled down his back as the situation really hit him. Either Zabuza had trapped the room to kill Gatou and hadn't told him or someone was trying to kill the group. 'I need to get out of here first…..I can worry about who rigged this shit then.' Closing his eyes he focused, trying to remember what Zabuza and Haku told him to do in a trap-infested area. His mind quickly recalled the time when Haku and Zabuza had been training him.

Fox hit the ground hard as Zabuza cut him down from the simple rope snare trap he had fallen into. The child tried to curl into a fetal position at his teacher's feet, if only to protect himself from anymore physical pain. He didn't have to look up to know that the man was glaring in disappointment at him.

"You are pathetic." he growled out in disgust. Zabuza's words cut the small boy worse than if he were to use his fists. "That was the simplest trap there is and you fell for it. Do some training if you want to eat this week Fox." The former mist-ninja said walking off leaving a battered and bruised blonde lying on the ground in pain.

'I'm doing the best I can. What more does he want of me?' he thought struggling to stand up. He was determined not to cry as he held back his tears. His whole body was aching from the regime of brutal exercises the swordsman put him through that morning on top of his trap identification training…that he'd just failed.

"Fox…" he heard behind him. Turning around Fox saw Haku. The child sighed and turned away from the older boy. Being around Haku after Zabuza yelled at him always made him feel worse, because in Zabuza's eyes Haku was the best. And right now he wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"What Haku…" he asked with a dejected voice. He could still see Haku from the corner of his eye as the boy moved closer. The older boy sighed and shook his head. 'I bet he's laughing at me, because he's better. Why can't I be like him and be really good too?' He thought sourly.

"I wanted to show you a trick for avoiding those types of traps." Haku said turning to leave, "But if you don't want me here now…"

"Wait!" he called out reaching out to the teen. He mentally smacked himself for seeming so eager. "I mean…what trick? How do I do it?" Fox asked almost nervously. It hurt his pride to ask for help from the perfect student. He shoved the feeling down. 'Anything is worth it if it gets me recognition, even tips from Haku…' he thought with a look of determination in his eyes. He knew that Haku lured him into asking, but at the moment he didn't care.

Haku motioned him forward and put his hands into a ram seal. A small flare of chakra outlined his hand briefly. Fox watched in amazement as the brunet then proceeded to walk up the trunk of the tree behind him. The blond looked up at him with almost wonder on his face.

"Sugoi!" Fox said as Haku landed back on the ground after doing a graceful flip. "How do I do it Ni-san?" he asked excitedly.

"You channel chakra to your feet and use it to stick to the surfaces of walls and trees. That way you can avoid traps and it will increase your chakra control." Haku told the ten year old while showing him how to do it. The whole while there was a smile on his face from Fox's comment.

Fox jumped up on the wall careful not to touch the floor or anything that might trigger another trap. Using his chakra he clung to it with his feet and palms, listening for the next attack just to be safe. Whoever was behind this little surprise, they weren't a ninja he figured since the timing wasn't fast enough to catch trained shinobi off guard, but that didn't mean they couldn't get lucky.

'I never did thank Haku for telling me how to avoid traps.' with that thought he crawled along the wall down the whole length of the hallway. He stayed up there once he reached the stairwell. There was yet another tripwire, this one set strung between the two railings in the open space that extended the height of the building going from the floor below him to the base of the stairwell. Looking up he almost missed the wires that crisscrossed the upper two levels. He couldn't see just what the wire was attached to, but if he were to venture a guess he'd have to say it was some type of explosive. He sat there staring at the trap for several minutes. It hadn't been there when he'd swept the base defenses several days ago. If it weren't for all the incense in the building and ventilation he might have been able to tell how recent. Why had this been added? More importantly, why to a route most ninja would use without a moments hesitation.

'I need to find Zabuza and Haku. Something's not right here. I'd say our mission's been changed and I have no idea what our objective is any more. Or if we're even on the same side any more.'

The blond proceeded slowly and carefully, the process doing a number on his chakra reserves as he had to stop and plan every movement lest he trigger something potentially lethal. Just as he reached the entrance floor and thought he was home free, his luck and chakra ran out. He lost his grip on the wall and fell to the floor. His hand tripped a wire, which sent a kunai off into the dark behind him. In a daze he looked back through the dark as he crouched defensively. He saw a small flash of light that could only mean one thing, Fox realized as his eyes widened in terror.

'Oh shit!' and he took off running forgetting caution because if he didn't get farther away caution wouldn't matter.

The explosion blew him out the entryway just before he reached it with enough force to stun him completely. Shards of the wood struck him as he hit the ground hard several feet away from the now burning double doors that lead inside. He was alive but that didn't mean much. Groaning he pulled himself partway from under the wreckage that had landed on top of him before his muscles quit in protest from the shock of the blast. His vision swam dangerously leaving him operating in a blind fog of blurriness and smoke. Fox could feel splinters of wood digging into his back and his skin tingling from burns though. Arid smoke clogged his nose and lungs taking the place of all the damn incense from earlier.

"Well, well looks like he was better than we thought sir. The blast didn't kill him." He heard someone say as the ringing in his ears started to disappear. About that time someone or something grabbed him by the hair and pulled him the rest of the way out of the wreckage. Fox hissed in pain as they jerked on his scalp, his own hands unable move at all at the moment. Other hands grabbed his arms and hauled Fox to his feet. With his vision slowly coming back into focus, he recognized Gatou and the normal thugs accompanying him.

"What's going on?" Fox asked hoarsely, his head still swimming from the hit he took to it. His back stung from the small pieces of wreckage imbedded in it. He could tell he was bleeding from a few small cuts while his chest was bruised from where he landed on it. When the small greasy man moved closer to him, Fox gagged over his cheap cologne that was used in an attempt to cover his foul body odor when the man got only an inch from his face.

"To put it bluntly I don't have a use for you and your boss anymore. So I'm going to get rid of you. You're too costly to pay off so this was the next option." Gatou said bending to eyelevel with Fox. One thug held him by each arm since he could barely standup from the shock of the explosion and also to ensure he couldn't fight back.

"That reminds me, there's something I meant to give you." Gatou said straightening up. He drove his knee straight between Fox's legs. Blue eyes widened in pain as the air was driven from the boy's body. His eyes clenched shut on reflex while he choked on air. The pain was excruciating and it didn't help that the thugs let him go, letting him hit the ground full force. His vision was spotted and blurred as his eyes watered from pain now. Listening was pretty much his only option with how messed up he was.

"You guys take care of him and then meet us at the bridge like we planned. We'll get rid of Zabuza and Tazuna. Who knows we might get lucky and get the Konoha ninja killed too." Gatou said his voice getting more distant.

'Iie.' He thought willing his muscles to pick his body up. The blond didn't like what he was hearing. Gatou had turned on them, and Zabuza didn't know. This compromised everything. Fox knew that if he was going to have any chance of survival or escape he had to start moving now. But unfortunately to his ire, his body still wouldn't respond to his urgings.

'Kuzo! Come on move!' He thought looking towards the trees through narrowed eyes trying to see. It was getting clearer as the smoke was drifting the other way….but it wasn't quick enough. One thug planted their foot firmly in the middle of his back to keep him from moving. A cold sweat built on the blond's back, knowing things were about to get much worse.

"Come on he's totally helpless. Let's just kill him quick and get this over with. Besides aren't you supposed to go grab the builder's daughter and grandson?" Another said almost lazily, obviously not wanting to waist his time killing a child. Fox nearly winced as a psychotic chuckle sounded over him.

"Where's the fun in killing him quickly? There'll still be plenty of time to grab the woman and brat. Besides I want to hear him scream, it's the best part. Consider this the insurance that Gatou will get the other two in one piece." The thug said drawing Fox's sword from it's sheath. The blond growled as the man took his weapon, they simply ignored him with an air of superiority. "No, I want to break his spirit and make him want death." They said settling into a crouch while grabbing a fist full of Fox's hair looking into his face and putting the sword against his throat. There was a small trickle of blood that came from the precision edge of his own blade. Fox could see the sadistic gleam of blood lust in the man's eyes and smelled the alcohol on his breath. The man released him and stood over him once more.

"I want him to realize just how worthless he really is, and realize that no one cares about him." As he was speaking, something at the back of Fox's mind surged forward…..

.

"Hey Naruto what's wrong?" Kakashi asked the 6 year old. Naruto sat on his swing in the park with tearstains on his face. He sniffed and stubbornly wiped the offending marks away trying to hide them but he gave up as new tears just rolled down his whiskered cheeks.

"Why does everyone hate me so much? I just wanted to play with this little girl but her mom pulled her away from me. She was mad at me….and she called me a demon." He said before he looked up at the masked man with unshed tears in his eyes. "I'm not bad am I Kakashi? It's not like she says right. I'm not…I'm not worthless right?" he said crying again as he was unable to hold back his tears. Kakashi pulled Naruto into a hug then and comforted the small boy whose body was racked with heartbreaking sobs. The jounin comforted the child by rubbing his back. When he had mostly calmed the man spoke to him.

"No Naruto you're not a demon. That woman is the one that is acting like a demon." Then he held Naruto at arms distance from him so he could look Naruto directly in the eye. Naruto was looking at the ground rather than into his caregiver's eyes. Gently, Kakashi grasped Naruto's chin and looked into his sad blue eyes.

"You are not worthless, Naruto. Don't you ever forget that. No matter what anyone else tells you, there will always be someone here that loves you very much." Naruto's face brightened then as he smiled as he hugged Kakashi as much as his tiny arms would allow.

"Like you and Sasuke-nii right, and Iruka-nii too." Naruto said looking up at the masked man. The jounin tousled the child's golden hair fondly as he stood up.

"Yes Naruto." Kakashi said smiling. "Them too." he said swinging the blond up onto his shoulders as the 6 year old laughed happily, his troubles forgotten for the moment.

"I'm not worthless." Fox said defiantly, his voice hard and cold. His bangs cast a shadow over his eyes hiding them from view. 'I did forget, but I won't again. Kakashi, Sasuke thank you.' He thought as he felt a massive surge of power flow through his body. It was red hot and comforting filling him with strength and energy.

"Did you say something brat?" the man asked in a mocking tone that quickly turned dark. "Are you saying I'm wrong? Well let's see how you like this!" He yelled getting ready to hit the child with his own sword. Fox's hand shot up snapping the thug's wrist with a loud crack. The thug screamed in pain and staggered backwards as Fox's chakra spiked wildly spiraling around his body in blue and red swirls in the shape of twin helixes. Fox looked up into their faces and the thugs could see his glowing blue eyes as the shadows vanished. As his energy spiraled around him, Fox pulled himself back onto his feet.

Fox's victim held his wrist with his good hand as he watched energy pour off the child's body. His mind instantly went back to what the mist demon had said. "That boy is far from normal." He remembered as he felt the malevolence of the unnatural energy that poured off the boy in waves.

"I…am…not….worthless." Fox said again from the center of the vortex as he shifted to an upright position. The group of hired thugs could see the wooden shards dislodge themselves from the boy's back. They gripped their weapons tighter and braced themselves. A few of them got excited at the idea of a little challenge.

Their leader smirked in a sick way. "Looks like there is still some fight left in him, this might be fun after all." The first said still gripping his wrist. "Kill him!" he ordered. 'I'm getting that bounty on your head Gatou promised good money for it.' His men drew their weapons but remained hesitant to charge Fox while the mass of strange energy still surrounded him.

Fox bent down and picked up his sword from where it had been dropped, then settled into an unusual stance where he held the sword in an inverted grip with the blade out in his right hand and held his left hand palm out in front of him about level with his chest. With the swirling chakra around him now fading away he looked vulnerable now. Several men decided to take advantage of this and charged blindly at Fox thinking he was easy prey. Instead of running to meet them head-on, as most would expect the boy to do, he calmly did a series of one-handed seals using his left hand.

"Senmoufuu." He whispered with his voice like the wind where no one could hear him ending on the bird sign. Then he drew his right hand across his chest with the blade pointing outwards. With the moon shining down through the gap in the trees, the blade glowed silver. The thugs were only ten feet away when Fox's hand moved with the sword in a swinging motion back the way it had come. Many were confused until a second later when a blade of wind contained inside a whirlwind slammed into each and every one of the charging attackers. Those closest to the blond were thrown backwards about 15 feet with gapping holes in their chests and blood coming from their mouths. The luckier ones were blasted back but not cut to pieces in the process, most still coughed up blood.

The thugs didn't waste time now knowing that the blonde could do serious damage. However, they soon realized that Fox wasn't called that for no reason as he was up in the middle of the standing group before they realized that the boy could move that fast. Two men then swung their swords downwards to attempt the killing blows. One met with his inverted sword grip. Instead of blocking the second strike, he allowed it to graze his forearm and the slashed across the man's throat using his claw like nails, cutting his jugular vein, killing him and spraying blood everywhere. The man emitted a gurgling sound as his lifeblood drained away. His partner was then enraged and thus fell into the trap Fox had woven and ended up with Fox's sword planted in his stomach. He screamed in agony as the steel of the katana cut and twisted in his intestines. Crimson liquid dripped from the corners of his lips as he grit he teeth in pain.

'I may die but I can hinder this little bastard.' The dieing man thought as he tightened his stomach muscles as he breathed his last breath falling backwards taking the boy's swords with him as he fell into a tree. Fox felt his sword be pulled from his grasp. Cursing the blond grabbed the hilt again and proceeded to rip it through the man's stomach and slice the nearest attacker's leg.

At that moment, one of the attackers stabbed the back of Fox's left shoulder. He yelled in pain and in blind furry turned and ripped out his attacker's throat using his feral claws. The dieing man noticed the boy's slightly elongated canines. In that action, Fox had to release his sword in order to keep from being killed as he dodged the first's counter strike. The result was a cut across his right leg just below the knee. Fox landed about five feet away and found he could not put much weight on his leg without having to drop to a knee. With his burning blue eyes, he surveyed the last three opponents. One picked up his fallen sword and Fox fought to keep the growl forming in his throat down.

"My my…..this is a nice blade." The leader said admiring it. "I think I'll keep it when I kill you." They said poising themselves to attack with it. Fox's eyes narrowed and shifted to red briefly as he was charged by the man using his own sword. He didn't move but waited for the attack to come. At the last second Fox ducked under the blade and in the process cutting himself above his left eye badly. Too late the man realized his mistake and was then run through by Fox's bare hand as it plunged into the man's chest. He could no longer breathe and began coughing blood as the sticky red fluid quickly filled his lungs. Many drops of it landed on Fox's face as they tried to pull away.

'What is this boy? He's…not…human!' They thought seeing the boy's now demon-silted eyes turn crimson as his blood, which now splattered child's face. Using his left hand Fox ran through a quick series of one-handed seal and whispered in the voice of a reaper so only his target could hear.

"Kaze Kiri."

The results were instantaneous. The leader was cloven in half vertically by the force of the wind blade, which was then sent to both sides by refracting off the man's body and cutting into the last two thugs at the same time. The battlefield was quiet then and none of the thugs were moving that he could see. In pain, Fox fell to his knees in exhaustion. He took many deep breaths as the scene finally reached his mind. He couldn't stop himself as he vomited up everything in his stomach. 'I need to get to Zabuza and warn him.' He thought as he forced himself not to go into shock. To his left Fox saw his sword lying where it had been dropped. Grapping it he wiped the blood from it, using the leader's shirt pulled himself up using his most trusted blade.

Not one thug was left to oppose him as he continued to head for the bridge on the forest paths. He'd made his first kill and then some. However to say success meant he'd escaped harm was not the case. For his efforts, Fox was fighting near dangerous chakra exhaustion, several cuts that could prove mildly lethal if not dealt with, and other numerous minor cuts and scrapes. Should he meet another group of thugs that were fresh, the outcome would not be in his favor.

He paused to wipe the blood from his eyes so he could see more clearly and leaned heavily on his sword before he forced his feet to carry him to the bridge. Even if that one memory wasn't much…..it was all he needed to know that someone truly cared about him. Struggling onward, he kept moving. Even if it killed him, he would protect his family.

'Wait for me guys…I'm coming…..'

Cool. So happy with this chapter. Anyways there's only two more chapters to go roughly. All the jutsu here are in the actual Naruto series. Look in the Actual Naruto episodes (not Shippuuden) 217-220. It's the whole Garra arc right before the time skip. Senmoufu was used by the chick with the soaring short swords (say that five times fast). I think she may have used Kaze Kiri too, if not its used by Temari.

Ok since I've hinted at this to a few reviewers I'll go ahead and tell you. There will be a sequel. I'm actually writing part of it now and have outlines for a few chapters. Here's the fun part. I need help with a scene that will take place in the second chapter. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME OUT ON THIS ONE! At the end of the last chapter or even as an epilogue type thing I will outline the limitations on the scene and give a peak at the new story. THE ONE THAT I FIND THE BEST WILL BE PUT INTO THE STORY! I WILL GIVE CREDIT WHERE DUE! Also I'll give all entries a short scene from the actual story as a consolation prize.

Review please. It makes me write faster.