Roughly an hour away from the village Naruto and Tayuya were just beginning to search for a clearing so they could get some sleep before they had to get up at night again. Tayuya was slightly annoyed by this; she didn't have the natural adjustment to being nocturnal that Naruto did. The entire time from the moment they left the village she kept asking why they couldn't just walk during the day and stick to the trees. Kyuubi had prepared him for the question and his answer was simple.

"There are no trees in Wind Country." This wasn't technically true, there were palm trees and a few scarce forests around the border. However for the most part Wind Country was mainly desert or salt flats. There was also the problem that walking in a desert during the day was near suicide to two children, it would be much safer to walk at night when it was cooler. Of course the cold posed an equal problem but Kyuubi assured him that she would have a solution by the time they got to the border.

It was drawing closer all the time and Naruto was sending out vibes of pure excitement the closer they got. Kyuubi's estimate was about three more days followed by another week before they reached Suna itself. Tayuya was less happy, although one could generally say she was always less happy than Naruto. One thing she was pleased about were their new clothes, the last time she had actually received new clothing was the year before. Otherwise she had to live out of the rags Naruto had found her in.

She wanted to try them on but Naruto assured her that they would get the chance in the morning; after all there was no point when they were just going to sleep soon anyway. She was disgruntled by this; it always irked her whenever Naruto acted like he actually had a brain. Of course after a few seconds the other him would slip through and everything would go back to normal. However it was becoming increasingly common for Naruto's mask to slip, for some reason he found especially hard to maintain it around Tayuya.

They finally found a decent spot, however as soon as Tayuya reached into her pack to take things out Naruto grabbed her wrist and threw the both of them to the ground. Tayuya was about to round on him and ask what the hell he was doing when a dull thud impacted to her left. Shakily she looked up to see a kunai embedded in a tree, obviously having passed through the spot where she had been standing only moments before.

She looked across at Naruto in awe, he had just saved her life; however he was already standing and looking furtively into the trees. The reason why became obvious when a slow, patronising clap could be heard. Soon after a very thin man with a shaved head emerged from the tree line, exactly in the spot Naruto had been staring into. The man smiled and looked at them, soon joined by his muscled companion, looking all the more intimidating with a massive sword slung over his shoulder.

"Those are some reflexes kid, I'm impressed." Surprisingly Naruto simply snarled at the two men, his eyes flickering between his natural blue and their blood red counterparts uncontrollably. "However reflexes aren't going to save your life, just come with us quietly and we won't have to hurt you..." The man grinned evilly, his hands twitching slightly as he let his words sink in "...too much." Naruto stood his ground and the man sighed in an exaggerated manner.

"Hm, you know I wonder if that has ever worked." He shrugged nonchalantly "Ah well, what would the fun in that be I guess." His wicked smile returned and he quickly motioned with his hand. Kagero stated forward, taking large deliberate steps that made him seem heavier than he already was. Naruto faltered slightly, he was brave but the man's imposing presence was enough to unnerve him, however he didn't move for a second; instead his feet were rooted to the spot. His eyes managed to hold onto their defiant gleam even when the man was only a few feet away.

He raised his hands and made a move to block Kagero from Tayuya but in an impressive display of speed he rushed forward and slammed Naruto harshly with the flat of the sword. Naruto grunted as his whole body was struck with the cold metal and send tumbling across the clearing to impact solidly with a tree. Kagero grinned, he didn't care that it was a kid he hit, all he felt was the satisfying sound of his blade striking flesh.

He watched Naruto painfully slide out of the slight crater his body had made in the bark before turning to a rightfully scared Tayuya, who hadn't moved from her spot on the ground. Seeing Naruto struck managed to pull her out of her frightened paralysis but t was too late as the brute of a man roughly lifted her up with his brawny hands. He tucked her under his arm like a sack of vegetables, making sure to pin her arms to her side, and walked back over to his companion.

"That was kind of boring Mishoto. I was hoping the kid might put up some sort of fight." The smaller man shrugged languidly, a disinterested look settling over his features.

"I'm surprised you expected anything Kagero, he was just a brat after all." Even as he said this he saw Naruto groggily rise from his position at the edge of the clearing. "Although I may have spoken too soon." They both turned to look just as Naruto got to his feet and glared at the two men, his eyes now firmly red. When he didn't actually make a motion to move Kagero looked across expectantly at his partner.

"No Kagero, you have the girl, head over to the meeting point and I'll catch up. I think that it's best I beat a little sense into our young friend over there." The brutish man looked a little disappointed but nodded all the same, turning and walking out of the clearing with a limp Tayuya under his arm. Mishoto turned back around to return the defiant glare Naruto was sending him before cockily strutting over to him.

"You got guts kid but all that means is there'll be more to spread around this clearing when I'm done with you." Immediately a kunai was in both of his hands, apparently dropping straight out of his sleeves. Naruto didn't react, instead slipping into the basic taijutsu stance that he had been taught at the academy and Kyuubi had fixed. He should have known the teachers would purposefully try and sabotage his training but that didn't matter now. Mishoto simply broke out into a grin that once again spoke of his arrogance.

"I had a feeling you might prove to be trouble and wasn't I right? You must be a shinobi trainee and from where we are I'd say you were from the hidden leaf village." Naruto didn't move again, implementing the psychological warfare that Kyuubi had taught him, namely never rising to an opponent's taunts. If anything ignoring them affected the taunter more than it would himself. Mishoto saw that his words weren't having an effect and shrugged, Naruto was caught off guard as the casual action quickly became deadly.

As he shrugged two more kunai dropped from his sleeves into his awaiting hands and in one fluid motion all four were sent flying in Naruto's direction. He reacted quickly, diving out of the way just in time for two of the deadly knives to pass straight over his head. Unfortunately the other two landed slightly closer to their mark. One embedded itself in his thigh as he turned to move and the other caught his shoulder.

The latter knife managed to draw a thin line of blood before catching his shirt and pinning Naruto to the tree behind him. That coupled with the knife stuck in his leg caused him to cry out, sending a few birds flying from their perches in the trees. A steady stream of blood was slowly soaking his pants leg below the wound and Naruto couldn't even reach down to stem the bleeding thanks to the kunai holding him against the wood.

Before he could reach over and pull it out Mishoto was in front of him. Three powerful blows to the stomach later and Naruto was slumped over. He would have dropped to the ground from the pain if it weren't for the fact he was pinned against the tree by both the kunai over his shoulder and Mishoto's fist which was still firmly planted in his stomach. Mishoto wasn't done yet and he drew back his fist only to bring it straight back into the same spot, eliciting a small spurt of blood from Naruto's mouth.

His world was swimming and thoughts wouldn't form coherently in his mind, the pain was too much and he already felt his grasp on consciousness slip. In his mind he was searching for something, anything that could help him. He needed to escape, he needed to help Tayuya; he couldn't let the other man hurt her. He would never forgive himself if somebody else was hurt just because they were travelling with him. That's when a memory slid through his fuzzy mind.


He was in his mindscape, watching with a grin as Kyuubi emerged from the forest around them with a small rabbit held happily in her mouth. She walked over and sat down on her hind legs, plopping the caught animal down on the ground beneath them. Sometimes it startled her just how realistic this place was, if she didn't know the truth she may have in fact have believed this entire forest was real, except for the whole looping aspect.

"So Kit, is there anything specific you wanted to learn about today?" Naruto simply looked confused, Kyuubi had never asked him this before, always having a lesson planned out in advance.

"What do you mean?" Kyuubi gave him a wolfish grin.

"Nothing, it simply appears that you have a question you desperately wish to ask. I would like to get it out of the way before you learn something important." Naruto nodded along as she spoke until he heard the last part.

"Hey, who says my question isn't important?" Kyuubi just shrugged in an infuriating manner, calmly poking her nose at the rabbit for a while until Naruto started to talk again. She had been right, there was something that had been bugging him all day but he didn't want to ask through their mental connection.

"Kyuubi, we talk about my chakra a lot, but what about you? Do you have chakra?" Kyuubi stopped what she was doing with the rabbit for a while, looking at the boy with a little bit of pride.

"That was surprisingly insightful Naruto. I wouldn't have expected you to grasp that this quickly." Naruto smiled at the praise before once again realised there was a veiled insult hidden in her words. He said nothing but his annoyed look made Kyuubi chuckle before continuing. "Mortal attempts to look intimidating truly are pitiful, although in your case I am willing to call it cute." Examining Naruto's unimpressed features she huffed, he really could be no fun sometimes. "But you are right; I do in fact have my own chakra. As a matter of fact I am actually a being created purely from chakra; it is what makes me so powerful." She waited patiently for the inane and pointless question that would surely come next, although she was pleasantly surprised.

"So if you're inside of me, and you have chakra." He took a moment to think again. "Am I capable of using your chakra?" If Kyuubi wasn't as old and as wise as she was she may have hung her jaw in disbelief. That he could come to that realisation so quickly was astounding. Perhaps the red-haired girl was having a positive effect on him after all; and here was Kyuubi believing all he would get from her was her foul language.

"Quite astute Kit. Yes, in time you may be able to access my chakra, with my permission of course." Naruto looked positively ecstatic; he would have jumped about in joy if he didn't have more questions.

"When, when can I start to use it?" He was so happy; while he knew he had large chakra reserves and that they would continued to grow to immense proportions he realised that the Kyuubi's must already be impossibly large. Kyuubi on the other hand looked markedly grimmer.

"Not for a while Kit." That stopped Naruto's celebrating in its tracks and he just stood there looking at her with a frown. Before he could inevitably question her she beat him to it. "My Chakra was never supposed to be contained within such a small vessel. In time our respective chakra's will merge, mostly thanks to the damnable seal your fourth placed on this cage. Until that time my chakra will pose a risk to your health if used."

"When will that be?" Kyuubi took a thoughtful pose, performing a few calculations in her mind.

"Based on how hard you train I would say sometime in your late teens." Naruto's eyes opened wide and he looked at her disbelievingly.

"That long? Isn't there anything we could do to make it go quicker?" Kyuubi had to suppress a laugh at how childishly he was behaving; it actually took her a moment to remind herself that he was in fact a child.

"I'm afraid not Kit, this is just something you will have to be patient about." His shoulders slumped in disappointment, if there was one thing Naruto Uzumaki hated it was waiting. Kyuubi sighed at his almost defeated expression and posture, she was certainly going to regret this but the look on his face was like a kicked puppy.

"There may be ways to acclimatise your body to my chakra if you use it for short periods of time, to get yourself used to it." Naruto's grin returned in full and he rushed forward to hug the human sized vixen. She promptly caught him with a tail to keep him at bay while she explained the rest of it. "However you will still have to wait for a few years; as your body is now, with its underdeveloped chakra coils, even I can't predict what effect my Chakra will have on your body." Naruto looked ready to slump again but he figured that it was still an improvement over their original deal and he grinned before rushing in for that hug.


The kunai in his shoulder finally ripped through the cloth of his shirt, allowing him to drop ungracefully to the ground. He lay there panting with Mishoto over him, smiling profusely, deriving some kind of sick pleasure from seeing his opponent, young and weak as he was, beaten on the floor. He gave him a sturdy kick in the stomach to make sure he stayed down and crossed his arms over his chest; He always liked to taunt an opponent while they were at their weakest, to crush any dwindling hope they might still have.

"Is this all you've got Leaf shinobi? I honestly expected more." Naruto tried to ignore him, instead sensing his thoughts inward. However Mishoto wasn't making it easy, kicking him to punctuate certain words. His world was going increasingly dark and he didn't have much time.

"Kyuubi I need some of your chakra!" He heard a growl from inside his head.

"I already told you Kit, it would be dangerous. I don't know what will happen." Naruto grew increasingly desperate.

"I don't have any other choice. Please Kyuubi, I need to save Tayuya!" There was silence for a few moments before a sigh reverberated in his head.

"This is not going to end well but you are right, it seems there is no other choice." There was another pause and then there was the most excruciatingly painful experience Naruto would ever have the displeasure of living through. Fire shot forth from his core, spreading through his body like there was lava in his veins. It was indescribable, there was no one source of pain in his body, it was simply everywhere; in every cell in every open space in his body like it was being burnt to ashes only to reform again and start the process anew.

He wasn't the only one noting the changes, Mishoto had noticed the slight heat haze that was beginning to form around the quivering child. He also noted the agony on the boy's face, nothing that he was doing should have elicited that kind of response. He went on for another kick only for a hand to roughly grab his ankle. Mishoto looked in shock at the hand that looked as though it should belong to a demon, the fingernails had grown into dark grey claws, extending and ripping into the fabric of his pants, then into his leg.

He cried out from the unexpected pain and pulled away, just breaking the iron grip that was on his now injured foot. He took another look at the boy; the heat haze had become more prominent, actually appearing to turn the very air around him a light red. The strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks had widened and deepened into vicious scar-like grooves. The most worrying was the boy's eyes, they had slits for pupils and irises so red that you might think you were staring into a puddle of fresh blood.

There was an animalistic savagery behind those eyes that Mishoto had never seen before, that didn't even belong on a human's face. It actually scared him, a full grown man scared of a seven year-old. It might have been laughable if anybody else wouldn't have felt the same in his place. Naruto moved and Mishoto expected him to get to his feet, instead he only rose a little of the ground, adopting a more bestial four-legged stance.

That's when Mishoto found there was something to be more scared of than the kid's eyes, when he opened his mouth to snarl and showed off two gleaming elongated canines. They were like fangs and the hunger in the boy's eyes showed that he desperately wanted to use them on him. Mishoto couldn't help but be curious about the change, no matter how drastic or terrifying might be. However he was a trained fighter and any lapse in concentration such a studying your opponent too long could be fatal.

He quickly lashed out with a repetitive volley of kunai pairs, smirking when the kid didn't even move and every knife struck home. Eight Kunai littered his body, sending him reeling back against the tree. Blood poured from the open wounds but Naruto didn't even look phased; one by one he drew out the kunai and Mishoto could only watch in wonderment as the jagged holes they had made in his flesh sealed themselves. Each time they did a small plume of red steam would hiss out of each wound, leaving only the faintest hints that there was a cut in the first place.

"What are you?!" Naruto only growled in response and charged forward at blinding speed. Being an accomplished combatant Mishoto normally would be prepared for such a charge but he wasn't expecting it because of who his opponent was, he was also slightly frozen with fear. In a few seconds Naruto was in front of him, in the few after that Mishoto was halfway across the clearing with four jagged lines across his stomach.

He grimaced and clutch at the wound, desperately trying to stem the seemingly endless flow of blood that only served to coat his hands. Naruto stalked towards him, not even bothering to charge this time, a seven year old kid that managed to look like the Shinigami incarnate. The scrawny man tried to go for some shuriken in the pouch on his belt but his hands, slick with his own blood, couldn't gain a grip on the zipper.

It was too late, Naruto had already reached him and with one clawed hand he grabbed the front of Mishoto's jacket, halting any further attempt to stop the bleeding. The man could clearly see the sunlight reflecting off of the boy's enlarged teeth, his young face seemed permanently set in that ferocious snarl.

"Where's Tayuya!" The voice was truly demonic, gravely, completely out of place on such a young child. It only added to his menacing aura and frightening features, this was somebody you didn't lie to, the eyes told him as much.

"The river! There's a spot at the river we meet at whenever we get split up. It's next to a waterfall you can't miss it!" The words gushed out uncontrollably; it was like Naruto's eyes were actually pulling the information out of him, leaving him strangely hollow. Naruto just scowled, managing to look even more menacing than he had before. Mishoto was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that a seven year old boy was lifting him up with only one arm and didn't even look to be exerting himself.

Satisfied that he had the information he needed Naruto clenched his fist further on the jacket before winding back and throwing the man clear across the clearing. He impacted with a tree heavily, nearly splintering the wood and ripping the tree from its roots. He was unconscious before he even made contact, the power and the malevolence coming from the child proving too much and shutting down his mind from the strain. How could a mere mortal stand in the presence of even a fraction of the Kyuubi's Chakra.

Naruto was moving before Mishoto slumped to the ground, diving through trees and smashing through the ones he didn't want to go around. He left a small but direct path of destruction through the forest moving at speed he never could have dreamed of before. He moved from branch to branch, crashing through thick trunks like they were just another part of the air. His aura of Kyuubi's chakra floated out behind him as he ran like the wake of an enormous boat.

He only had the vague directions of Mishoto to go on but it didn't matter, by now he could smell Tayuya. He had been around her long enough that her scent was practically engrained into his memory; he could probably trace just a hint of it from miles away. The sound of rushing water and the crash of a waterfall meeting rocks was next to come into his sensory range and before long the trees dropped out from under him and he was next to a massive river.

It took him second to locate Tayuya and the slightly less familiar scent of the more brutish of the two men. He reeked of sweat, alcohol and women. Naruto growled loudly at the man who currently had his back turned to him, looking expectantly into the tree line. He turned suddenly, expecting some kind of wild animal from the sound it had made. What he didn't expect was the weakling of a kid that they were there to kidnap, surrounded by a veil of burning Chakra and the most feral expression on his face imaginable.

"H-Hey it's you!" Naruto just snarled a deep sound that even a man as large as Kagero found intimidating. By now Tayuya was struggling to get a glimpse of what was going on, she was facing the opposite direction and could only hear animalistic growling. "Where's Mishoto?" Another growl was his reply; Naruto's attention was on the redheaded bundle under his arms. "What did you do with him!?" By now Tayuya was really struggling to see something, writhing in the man's grip like a snake.

"Hey let me fucking see you dick!" Kagero absent-mindedly slammed the hilt of his massive sword into the girl's stomach, producing a quiet whimper before the girl went limp. Naruto's eyes widened and he let loose what would best be described as a roar. It actually created a wall of air that immediately rocked Kagero, loosening his grip on the earth but not quite knocking him off his feet.

"You hurt Tayuya!" It was Kagero's turn to widen his eyes at the sheer fury in Naruto's words. He had worked out by now that Mishoto was either unconscious somewhere or dead. Both scenarios scared him, Mishoto was the better fighter out of the two of them so Kagero saw no way of coming out of this unscathed.

"H-Hey look kid it's alright, I-I'll give you the girl back..." He very carefully set Tayuya down "...and I'll just walk away. Nobody needs to get hurt. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he took a hesitant step forward while Kagero took one back. Unfortunately for the larger man Tayuya chose that moment to roll over and painfully cough, forcing a small amount of blood to trickle from her mouth. Naruto could now clearly see the bruises on her face from where Kagero had hit her every time she had sworn while walking to the river.

If any of Naruto's more demonic features had dissipated in those brief moments the now decided to return full force.

"You hurt her! You'll get no mercy from me!" Kagero was downright scared now his plan had failed and it now looked like he was going to die for sure. He saw no other choice, as fast as possible he drew his sword and levelled the sharpest part of the blade against Tayuya's neck. He also placed his foot on her body to stop her moving or accidentally nicking herself on the sword.

"Stay there or I'll kill the girl!" Naruto said nothing, not moving an inch; he took one step back, then another before very slowly dropping down onto all four limbs. "Hey I said don't move! What are you doing?!" Again Naruto didn't rely but when Kagero strained his ears he could hear a steady growling from the boy's throat. He should have been more focused on his surrounding as when he looked, one moment Naruto was there, crouched down like he was going to pounce, the next he was right next to Kagero.

In a moment of panic he brought his sword around, forgetting about Tayuya entirely but Naruto rather calmly, despite his feral state, caught the edge of the blade with his own hand. Already the wound was healing itself as he pulled the weapon out of the massive man's hands and snapped it into two pieces. Kagero could only look in shock as the weapon was shattered, leaving his hands empty.

In that moment of hesitation Naruto grabbed the man and threw him into the river. He didn't stop there though; a second later he was sprinting across the surface of the river with the water steaming where his feet made contact. He grabbed Kagero's flailing hand and where skin met chakra cloak there was the sickening smell of burning flesh followed by the bulky man's screams. A few steps later and the man was precariously hanging over the edge of the falls; Naruto was seemingly unaffected by the rivers current and his feet didn't move from their spot.

"Please don't do this! I'm sorry!" The man was actually crying now, the pain in his arm and the fear of the drop beneath him reducing him to a blubbering wreck. The small part of the Kyuubi that had a hold of Naruto's consciousness at that moment was disgusted by the sight.

"I said no mercy" Naruto glared evilly but his hand stayed rooted to the man's wrist, it trembled slightly but the fingers didn't move. He was under the slight influence of a more malevolent being but Naruto was still Naruto and he didn't want to kill anybody, even this wreck of a man. With a dreadful growl he roared again, actually making Kagero soil himself, much to the sensitively-nosed jinchuuriki's chagrin.

He snarled again, quieter this time and violently threw the man back onto dry land to impact sickeningly with a tree trunk in the same manner as his partner only minutes ago. He was already forgotten by Naruto as he dashed away towards the still prone form of Tayuya, the cloak of chakra fading as he took his first step off of the rushing river water. He ran as quickly as he could which now seemed painfully slow compared to when he was under Kyuubi's influence.

He was pale and his legs shook uncontrollably but he made it over to Tayuya's side and hefted her onto his shoulders. It was difficult but he managed to make it back to where they had been about to set up camp. By now even with his immense and near unquenchable stamina Naruto could barely stay awake. He forced himself on, not wanting to lose himself quiet yet, not until he was sure Tayuya was okay at least.

He noticed that Mishoto was gone but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was slump against a tree and allow unconsciousness to take him. His skin still tingled uncomfortably from the oppressive Chakra that had been surrounding him and he felt naked without it. Luckily just as he was on the brink Tayuya stirred and looked up at him with bleary, uncomprehending eyes.

"Sh-shithead?" Naruto let out a half-hearted chuckle, even after all that she was still calling him that name. That was all he had left and after he made sure to give Tayuya a smile he promptly passed out, slumping to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.