Chapter 07: Revelation


Naruto raced along the road with as much speed as he could muster without burning Jiraiya with his chakra. Fields of short yellowish grass and copses of spindly trees flew by in the periphery of his vision. He came upon a traveling merchant caravan. He leapt, landing right in the middle of the group. A couple of grass genin were on him in an instant with kunai drawn.

"Is there a doctor or a medic nin here?" he asked, ignoring the hostilities of the weaker ninjas.

"There is." A woman disguised as one of merchants brought a short sword to his neck. She was probably the genins' jounin sensei. Naruto stepped forward, allowing the blade to cut into his neck.

"Please have the medic heal my sensei."

The jounin seemed disturbed by his apparent lack of regard for himself.

"And why should I do that?"

"Cause if you don't, I'll kill everyone but you, and leave you laying here paralyzed, forever regretting that you failed your mission, lost your genin, and can never be a ninja again."

"For all I know, you could be an enemy nin, and you plan on doing that anyway."

"Who's the medic?" Naruto asked.

"You're looking at her."

Naruto knelt down slightly and lay Jiraiya gently on the ground with the tails which had securely fastened him to Naruto's back. "We were resting at a hot spring. One of the seven swordsmen came after me. He's been cut bad, from his shoulder into his chest."

"And the swordsman?"

"Is dead. Impaled, then eaten by a wild beast."

The woman tried to unmask him. Naruto grabbed her wrist.

"Do not do that. The smell of blood, and some other things, will make me lose control and everyone here will die. Enough people have died because I couldn't keep myself in control."

"Move then." The woman shoved Naruto out of her way and began to inspect Jiraiya. "You did this?" she asked, indicating the shoddy healing job he'd done.

"It was my first time and I have too much chakra to have good chakra control," Naruto explained.

"You did almost as much damage as you healed, but it looks like you saved his life, barely."

"If you take care of him, I'll make sure that nothing happens to your genin"

"More threats?"

"No, a promise. I don't want you to be distracted." Naruto made a few dozen shadow clones. Before the medic could react, they raced off ahead of the caravan, which had stopped upon Naruto's arrival. "You won't see any bandits for the rest of the trip, short of their corpses lying at the side of the road."

"Thirty shadow clones? Or was it more?" The jounin was impressed. "You're not even tired. Even a kage level..."

"Kage level? I have at least four times the chakra of any kage." Naruto wiped the thin line of dried blood from his neck. Not a scratch was left.

"That's impossible."

"No. It isn't impossible. In terms of chakra, I am the most powerful thing in the world. All I lack is self control and some training."

"You're the one who destroyed Konoha!" the jounin realized.

"No! I... I didn't want to do it. She didn't deserve to die. Most of them didn't deserve to die."

"I'd rather die than help you."

"I'm not asking you to help me. I am asking you to help him. He is the only one who has any chance of controlling me if I lose control. I already have the destruction of two major villages on my head. My conscience would not be weighed down any more by adding your pitiful village to the list," Naruto growled angrily.

The woman rapidly began working on healing Jiraiya.

"What was the other village."

"Suna. I lost control and killed the Kazekage's family before Kumo invaded. The Kazekage was weakened and was unable to intelligently defend against the sneak attack which would never have happened if Konoha was still around."

"H.. how. What... you did." Jiraiya was just barely conscious.

"I couldn't help it. I went to bed without my mask and gained another tail of the Kyuubi's chakra. I could handle it before, but I woke up to a smell. I couldn't resist it. Temari was moaning my name in her room. I went inside. She was naked... She didn't resist at first. But my chakra was too strong. It hurt her, burned her from the inside out. She was screaming. I tore her throat out to shut her up. I didn't know what I was doing. Gaara found me there in the morning and released Shukaku. I had to fight him. You know the rest."

Naruto waited for the condemnation. He waited for Jiraiya to realize that he was even more of a monster than he had admitted too being. Jiraiya said nothing. He was unconscious again. He looked at the jounin who was healing Jiraiya. She was purposefully avoiding his gaze.


"Hwahehehe... What you told that medic nin today was pretty rich, kit. Four times a kage's chakra – Your tails don't work that way. Each one is not a kage's worth of chakra. Each one doubles the amount of chakra you have. You are currently using only about a third of my power, but that is not a third of my chakra."

"I don't understand." Math was not Naruto's strong suit.

"The growth is exponential. Why do you think there was a hierarchy of the bijuu?"

"A kage has a lot of chakra. One kage level ninja can turn the tide of a battle, or even take an entire army on their own."

"An army of genin or samurai. If two kages fought, there is no telling which would win. In a two on one fight, even if the one was twice as powerful, the two would have an advantage. That is why your shadow clones work so well you. There are only a few ways to beat an opponent. One is to be more powerful. This is only the last consideration though. A skilled fighter will always beat a powerful fighter. A smart fighter can beat a skilled fighter. Only if both the fighters are close enough in skill and intelligence will power be the deciding factor unless you have an advantage of numbers. It takes twice as much skill and intelligence to beat two fighters and gets more difficult with more opponents."

"So you're saying that my shadow clones are the only reason I've been winning fights."

"Can you remember a single fight against another ninja where you did not use any shadow clones to win?"

"I beat Haku without using shadow clones," Naruto answered hesitantly.

"No you didn't. You used shadow clones then as well to learn Haku's strategy and distract him. In the end, I was the one who beat him. Even in the fights you won, you usually needed to use my power. You couldn't win without help. It takes a considerable amount of power to defeat a skilled and intelligent opponent when your only ability is being more powerful than him. The tailed beasts were not always as were are now. Once, we were a single powerful creature known as the Juubi. The Juubi had the strength of all the tailed beasts combined. He was sealed within the first jinchuuriki, and before he died, that jinchuuriki released the power a little bit at a time, spreading it across the world and creating the nine tailed beasts."

"So you weren't always the strongest."

"I was a part of the Juubi. I was the strongest then, and I am still the strongest now. We were wild and uncontrollable. We fought each other for supremacy. We had all the skills and intelligence of the Juubi, making us essentially equal. We had so much chakra that a single kage's worth of chakra would have barely made any difference in a fight between us, but the difference in power was obvious. Each tail we have represents a doubling of power. The growth is exponential. When you had no tails, you already had a kage's chakra. Now you have three. The first was two, the second wad four, and now eight kage's of chakra. Your next tail will give you sixteen kage's of chakra. With nine tails you will be equal to five hundred and twelve – an army – of kage level nin. If you somehow managed to acquire the other tailed beasts and add them to yourself, you would have ten tails and be almost unstoppable. You would be able to split yourself into a thousand, and each would be more powerful than any kage," she rambled, imagining the possibilities.

"I suppose I should absorb them and take over the world." Naruto sighed.

"That's the spirit," Kyuubi grinned happily as if Naruto had meant it.


Naruto woke to see the jounin's blade about to pierce his throat.

"That's not enough to kill me. Nine days ago, I was impaled with five swords. They got nearly every vital organ in my body."

"I'm not trying to kill you," the jounin responded.

"Then what are you doing?"

"Siphoning off your chakra to weaken you before I kill you."

"Be careful with that. My chakra's poisonous. Why do you think I had so much trouble healing Jiraiya? Besides, I have enough that you couldn't put much of a dent into it anyway."

"I could take it all at once."

"Only if you wanted to die."

"You can't be that powerful."

"How is he?" Naruto growled, letting his eyes glow bright red behind the eye slits of his mask. The jounin's blade trembled.

"He's resting," she responded vaguely.

"Will he recover on his own now?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. This isn't a hospital."

"Then I can't leave yet. Let me get back to sleep."

"Did you really kill a woman you were having sex with?"

"Twice. It could have been more. Sometimes, I don't remember things too well when I lose control of myself."

The jounin backed away.


"That bitch is such a liar." Kyuubi chuckled.

"I know. I could smell her."

"She was going to cut your clothes right off your body. She was pretty horny over you."

"I suppose you did something to me to make that happen?"

"Maybe, you are just one foxy man..."

"So you didn't just change my appearance."

"She was reacting to you, the same way you react to me. It's the pheromones flying through the air. Did you really think I'd leave you smelling like a weakling?"

"Another trick to get me to kill more people."

"Listen kit, until you have at least as many tails as me, I am the alpha. You don't get shared with anyone."

"And if you could, you'd have a whole harem around yourself."

"Of course. It's a sign of power – and I have power."

Naruto sighed. He could smell that Kyuubi was trying to make him have a submissive night. He sat down, facing away from her.

"Jutsu don't work here, right?" Naruto asked.

"Of course not. It's all in your head. If we could cast jutsu, we'd fry your brain," Kyuubi answered warily.

"I guess... That means that theres no fun for you tonight." Naruto turned around. He had transformed into a girl as if he had used his sexy jutsu.

"So you learned a trick. I can still have fun with you."The Kyuubi performed a transformation opposite to Naruto's.


Naruto was glad that what happened in his mind scape did not affect his real body in the same ways. The Kyuubi had punished him mercilessly for trying to preempt her fun. But then, the regeneration factor would have probably healed him by the time he awoke anyway.

"Are you ready to go?" the jounin asked. She was watching him warily. Naruto could tell that she had not slept at all that night.

"You need to sleep. I don't know how long it will be before we reach a hospital, but I know that if you don't sleep before then, you'll be in no shape to protect your genin"

"I'll have plenty of time for sleep when you're dead," the jounin replied.

"Assuming that no one figures out how to kill me... You're going to be awake for a long time. Make sure nothing happens to Jiraiya. I'll be back after I... eat."

"You're really going to entrust him to me?"

"You know what will happen if you disappoint me." Naruto turned and ran off in a direction perpendicular to the road, leaving a shadow clone behind to guard the caravan and Jiraiya.

It wasn't long before his nose found an animal hiding in the bushes. It was a white rabbit. He knew what this meant. It was a captive rabbit. It was a decoy. Whoever had left it had meant to fool him. It was their own fault though if they didn't run.

He threw some kunai, pinning the rabbit to the ground without injuring it. He retrieved the rabbit, rolling it onto its back and pinning it to the ground by its neck. Using a claw, Naruto sliced cleanly through the skin of the rabbit's soft belly, exposing the quivering organs inside. Even through his mask, the smell was amazing. The warm flesh cried out to him. He continued flaying the rabbit, spreading the fur out around it like a blanket on the ground. He did this slowly and carefully until he could stand it no more. He removed his mask, cracked open the rib cage, and tore out the still-beating heart before tearing at the delicious pink muscles of the chest and thighs.

He was almost done his meal when he heard it. It was a faint trickling of water through the soil below him. The ninja were about to spring a trap. He put on his mask and stood, licking the blood from his lips. He formed his tails into chakra and plunged them down into the ground as a spear of water shot up between his legs. The water destabilized before it could strike him. Naruto had disrupted the chakra flow controlling it. He was glad he did. Even though it would likely not kill him, he would still feel the pain.

He could not tell where the attack had come from. He would flush them out. He began a complicated series of hand signs.

"Kitsune-Bi: Yoko Goei!" Naruto expelled a long fox of blue fire. He spun it around rapidly in concentric circles, rapidly widening the area. It was only a few seconds before some ANBU from Mist leapt out of their hiding places and ran with all the speed they could muster.

"Kitsune-Bi: Furiya!" To the fleeing men, it looked like the flaming fox had spewed a jet of flame from its mouth. It wasn't large, but it was fast and precise, hitting both of them. Naruto knew that most ninja worked in teams of three, which meant that one was most likely behind him, about to launch a sneak attack. He abruptly reversed the direction of the yoko goei and dropped to the ground as a pair of kunai slammed into his shoulders. He lost control of the jutsu and it flew over him, the closeness searing his flesh, his clothing catching on fire. His attacker was not so lucky. He dodged the fire itself, but then it hit a tree and exploded. Naruto was caught in the blast and sent flying through the clearing he had burned with his attack, slamming through trees and breaking bones on the other side.


Naruto didn't even dream while he was unconscious. He supposed that the Kyuubi had been too busy putting him back together to commune with him. She probably still was. His body was wracked with pain. He couldn't move, but he was moving. The steady bumping of riding on a cart. There was pressure on his chest, making it difficult to breathe. It was a person laying on top of him. He couldn't see them though. His eyes were covered in bandages as well. He could smell though, clearly. It was the the scent of a woman, sweaty and exhausted. It was the medic. She had found him... Or perhaps his clone had found him. No, it would have been dispelled when he was unconscious, wouldn't it?

"Are you awake?" His voice was raspy and bubbled. He was not sure, but he thought there might be a hole in his throat.

"Mmmhm?" The woman groaned tiredly.

"I told you that you should have gotten some sleep..." Even this small effort of talking was exhausting for Naruto.

"You're voice..."

"Doesn't sound nearly as cool without my mask on, I know," Naruto joked weakly, "Did you get it? You need to put it on me before I can move again."

"Your mask was destroyed." The woman stirred, waking from her half conscious state. "I thought you wouldn't be able to speak. Your entire throat had been burned away, and your arm and..."

"It'll take a few days to heal, that's all."

"You weren't joking about your ability to survive or your power, were you?"

"I don't joke when it comes to people's lives. I've lost too many people who were important to me. You need to find a way to stop me from smelling before I have the strength to more. It would only take one drop of fresh blood... to make me... kill... everyone... here." Naruto lost consciousness again.


"Damn you, kit!" Kyuubi no Kitsune roared furiously, "You almost killed us both. It took everything I had to stop you from being completely destroyed. Even worse, you weren't even hit by the enemy's technique, it was your own that took you out. You're damn lucky that your pheromones have that medic too horny to consider killing you or she could have finished you off with a rubber kunai!"

"Heh. At least only enemies were killed," Naruto replied. The supreme effort that Kyuubi was putting into their regeneration had limited her ability to subdue his mind. For the moment, she was no stronger than him.

"I swear I'll rip out your own guts and feed them to you if you ever let us get like this again. Do you have any idea how bad it was? Your bones melted! Your entire arm's flesh was burnt off and the bones were warped and liquefying from the heat! If our chakra did not give you such an affinity to fire, not even your bones would have been left. It would just have been ash. Just ash scattered by the winds of the explosion!"

"I get it. You're in heat aren't you. Thats why you're so pissy."

"I am going to rip off your limbs an-" She was silenced by Naruto's lips. "Bastard!" She panted when he relented. They were both weakened, but his concentration was not divided. He had sensed her weakness. For this moment, he was the alpha. He kissed her again, surprisingly tenderly.

"I act like a monster... But if I can help it, I'll never become one. What would I be if I hurt you now? You made me your mate, remember." He kissed her again. "I am stinger than you now, but I don't need to prove it. We both know that you would favor survival as a loser over winning. You're immortal as long as I am alive."

"So what are you going to do?" Kyuubi asked.

"What would a man do in this situation?" Naruto asked, "I am not a fox. I am not a demon. I am not a human anymore, but that is all that I know, all that I remember and everything I've been taught to be. I have your instincts, but they're not pure, they're mixing with my own. I want to hold you, comfort you, enjoy your very presence, but I also want to fight you, to bite down on your neck or flank until you beg to serve me, to assert my dominance over you. You're weakened enough now that I can do either, or both, or neither as long as my strength holds out."

"And you decided to be a human."

"I decided that I don't care what I am, but I'll do what's right if I can. You've seen through my eyes. You know how cruel people can be. I don't know which set of urges is the human one anymore. You've seen through my eyes, haven't you? How many times has a ninja come home from a failed mission only to beat his wife until his pride feels restored?"

"There's one problem with your analogy, kit, I'm not a wife. That's a completely useless human custom."

"You want me to do that then. Make up for my feelings of helplessness by taking it out on you the moment I see a weakness?"

"Don't be a fool! I'm not your friend. I would kill you if I had half a chance!"

"You could kill me at any time. Right? You know what I think? I think you actually love me. You've protected me for my entire life. If anyone was about to kill me, you'd give me the power to beat them. How log can you protect something before its actual value no longer matters, when the effort you have spent nurturing it is worth more than the cost of keeping it and protecting it?"

"Your life is my life. I protected myself."

"Then answer this: Why are you still in my arms?"

"Because I am too damn weak to move!" Kyuubi snapped angrily at Naruto.

"You do it because you think it will make me happy? Or because it will make me easier to control later? Because being in my arms when you're weak makes you feel safe? Or maybe you're just a horny little bitch without the strength to get her rocks off?"

"Definitely the last one." She growled.

Naruto laughed, reached down between her legs, and began stroking her gently, slowly moving his fingers in the ways he knew she enjoyed. "Okay, now you don't even have to move. Why are you still here?"

Kyuubi merely growled for an answer, hips slowly gyrating back and forth. She let out funny little whimpers and mewl as he pushed deeper, much to his amusement.

"You know theres one difference between you and me," Naruto said, "It's the only reason that I'll become even stronger than you. You want to know what it is?"

"You're too stupid to know when to quit?" Kyuubi moaned.

"No. It's that I know how to debase myself. Every person in my life, including you, has hammered into my head how worthless I am. Unlike you, I am not to proud to beg for what I want. If I want hot steamy sex, I won't just sit here like a spoiled child throwing tantrums. I can get on my hands and knees," Naruto lowered Kyuubi onto her back,. "And beg for it in whatever way you demand for it." He plunged into her just in time to catch her first orgasm of their encounter.

"Stupid, kit, that's why you're weak. I am strong enough that I don't need to beg."

"Begging isn't so bad."


When Naruto awoke, he could barely breathe. His nose had been stuffed with wads of cotton which had been soaked in some sort of perfumed liquid. He had to breathe through his mouth, the odor of the cotton wads stuck to his tongue, diluting everything around him.

His shifted position, painfully. Fortunately, he was no longer on a hard cart's surface, but on the more lenient surface of a cheap straw mattress. He guessed that it was some sort of hotel, not expensive but clean enough.

There was another bed against the wall on the opposite side of the room where Naruto could see Jiraiya's wild white hair. He seemed to be breathing steadily and strongly. That probably meant that the worst was over and he would probably recover. Naruto tried to get up and check on him, but found the pain of lifting himself up caused his body to burn excruciatingly as fresh flesh was strained before it could be properly formed. A pair of feminine arms were wrapped around his bandaged chest, making movement even more difficult. His movement was just enough to see the three bodies curled up on the floor next to the bed.

"You need sleep," The medic sounded extremely tired and almost lustful as she forced him down into what she thought would be a comfortable position for him.

"How long since I got injured?" Naruto asked.

"Three days, were in a small village we came across this morning. We haven't stopped moving in case whatever got you..."

Naruto laughed, "What got me is me." His body spasmed painfully.

"The blue fire was you?"

"My specialty."

"I've never seen such a large explosion."

"The third one got behind me when I finished his comrades. He got a minor hit on me and I lost control of my jutsu. I've never used it in battle before. I thought I should try it before..."

"Before what?"

"I've already said too much."

"You're planning to get revenge. I've seen that look before."

"And many innocent people are going to die in the process." Naruto admitted.

"You can't be thinking..."

"I am. Kumo destroyed Suna. I am going to return the favor." There was resolution in his expression that the medic could not argue with.

"You can't do this alone," she insisted.

"If you come with me, you will surely die. Even Jiraiya can't be nearby when I actually attack. I am going to unleash every scrap of power I have, break down their gates, and flatten their village in a single day."

"You can't fight an entire village!"

"No, you don't want me to fight an entire village. You know that what I am about to do is even more monstrous than the destruction of Konoha or of the leaders of Suna. This time, I am doing it with forethought and intent. I will kill every ninja; every man woman and child; the royalty; the civilians; the merchants; and even the travelers who do not claim the village as their own."

"Don't do this on your own."

"She was right, wasn't she. You can't help it. I really am irresistible. No matter how terrible I am, you desire to be with me as Temari did, even if it will kill you... even if it will kill your genin and make you a traitor to your village."

She sat silently for several moments, "Who is 'she'?"

Naruto laughed. His body shook from the pain of it. "Even if I tell you that you are irresistibly under my control, you don't even fight it. If only I had had such ability before. Maybe Sakura would have gone out with me when she wasn't trying to get me to do her a favor."

"Sensei?" Her genin were now awake with shocked looks on their faces.

Naruto suddenly let loose a wave of killing intent directed at the medic who was distracted by her charges. The sudden onslaught of his chakra knocked her unconscious. She had not had any barriers up at all. She had trusted him implicitly because of his pheromones which had steadily bound her to him.

"Take you sensei and go. Get her as far away from me as you can. Hopefully she will come to her senses and I will not have her blood on my claws as I do so many of the people I loved."

The genin did not move. The killing intent had not been directed at them, but they had caught the edge of it and it was enough to lock up their bodies in fear.

"NOW!" The imperative stirred them into motion, not daring to disobey his command for fear of his wrath, no matter how crippled he may currently be. They rushed forward and dragged their sensei out of the room. Naruto sighed in relief. It was one death he would not have on his conscience.


"Sending that woman away was probably the smartest thing you've ever done." Kyuubi was sitting in the magma which was boiling brightly at the entrance to her lair. Steam wisped up from her skin under the heat of the melted rock. Her skin glowed from the heat and the radiance emitted from the red hot liquid.

"Smarter than accepting your bargain?" Naruto stopped at the edge of the pool, feeling the heat searing his flesh.

"You think this is a good bargain? No wonder the merchants of Konoha always ripped you off. You had all the leverage and all you did was give me things that I would not have otherwise gained. Every time you make a bargain with me, you give yourself over to me a little bit more." Kyuubi grabbed his ankle and, for a moment, Naruto thought she was about to finish him off by dragging him down to melt under her claws.

"And that's a bad thing? Certainly not for you. I wouldn't have survived otherwise, right?" he replied defensively.

"Exactly! You wouldn't have survived, and neither would I. You could have demanded anything of me and I would have had no choice but to obey. Look at you now, though. You've regained you will to live. You haven't threatened to kill yourself in a long time. You have goals and aspiration which I will enjoy immensely, even if I can only watch events unfold through your eyes."

"In other words, my friends are still dying and you're getting to enjoy it."

"You know, you could easily walk across the room and finish him. It would sever all your ties to this world. You could be free. You'd no longer have to worry about your friends dying. Then, I could let you drink all my tails in one shot."

"Like I'd ever do that again." Naruto scowled. He didn't intend to receive any more tails. He didn't even have the filter which had held him back anymore. He would never be able to control himself.

"Really?" Kyuubi raised her hand towards him, pricking her finger with a claw. Naruto grabbed her wrist in a sudden unrestrained attempt to drink of her. The next thing he knew, his head bounced off of the stone floor and he tumbled into the molten rock.

Naruto screamed in agony for a moment before Kyuubi kicked him in the gut, bringing him back to his senses. He wasn't actually burning, in fact, the heat felt rather refreshing.

"You thought you were going to die, didn't you?" Kyuubi smirked playfully.

Naruto growled and glared at her.


A quiet rustling woke Naruto from his sleep. In an instant, he reached up and grabbed a wrist that was coming down upon him with a kunai, aimed at his eye. Naruto squeezed and twisted the arm, causing it to drop the blade next to his head, burying itself in his pillow. Moving was still terribly painful, but now it was bearable, as if every movement was only passing through the blazing heat of a furnace instead of like his arms were being torn apart by a cheese grater.

"Jiraiya..." Naruto growled angrily. It was his own mentor who attacked him in the dark of night. "I still have things I need to do. You cannot kill me yet."

"I heard what you said. You killed the sand siblings." Jiraiya staggered back as Naruto released him. The damaged arm hung limply from Naruto's rough treatment.

"I didn't want to kill them..."

"It's not your intentions that determine your worth but your actions. Evil is often done in the guise of good, and treachery is best done in helping. Naruto, you broke your word, you lied to me. I did not hold Konoha against you because it was the Kyuubi who had control of you, but this was done of your own free will."

"I do what I don't want to do, and what I don't want to do I do," Naruto replied, "Isn't that the way we all are, pervy-sage."

"Our vices have consequences, some more than others."

"Do you really think that would kill me? My eye would regrow and, for all I know, my brain would as well."

"But not your memories. You would forget all the ways of violence that you had been taught."

"And what then? Become a mindless beast? Is that what you want? Look at the scars you carry. You've seen that before. Is it really any better than what I am now?"

"At least then we can be sure of which side you're on."

"The winning side." Naruto's glare was terrible and frightening, "Do you want to know what the Kyuubi just asked of me? She told me to kill you. She wanted me to sever all ties with the human world and live by my instincts. She wanted me to take another tail, even though I don't have the mask that protects everyone around me. I could have doubled my power, and my regeneration would have healed me by now, but then I'd be feasting on your steaming entrails while I gloated over the burning trash that remained of this village."

"You could probably kill me now," Jiraiya said, lowering his blade, "But it seems like you have some control at least. We'll need to get you a new air filter."

"That's it?"

"That's as much as I can do. I just hope I'm making the right choice."


Naruto and Jiraiya decided to head west towards Amegakure. It was the only place that Jiraiya knew of that used them other than mist which wanted them dead and was hunting them. The journey was slow. It took them six weeks to travel while they recovered – Naruto recovered much sooner thanks to his demonic powers, but used the extra time to train himself. By the time they got there, Naruto was so used to the urges that he was doubting that he'd need to use it at all, except whenever he was going to receive a new tail. His wind infused rasengan, however, was making little progress.

"Did I ever tell you how the Sannin came to be?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, all you talk about are your lecherous habits unless I force you to teach me something," Naruto responded.

"It was during the Second Great Ninja World War. My team – me, Tsunade, and Orochimaru – was fighting a man called Hanzo the Salamander. He was a powerful ninja and never lost a fight and he was also the leader of Amegakure. The three of us were young and inexperienced at the time, but we fought Hanzo until we were all exhausted. He had won the battle, but just barely. He told us that he saw great things in the future for Konoha and our team in particular and decided to let us live. Then, he names us the Sannin."

"But, the title gave you so many privileges. How could a title an enemy gave you..."

"The fact that we survived Hanzo meant that we were powerful shinobi. After the next war, the Third abdicated his position to your father. I was your father's teacher. The title stuck and people associated it with the privileges I received from being so close to the Hokage, and the leeway I required to perform my duties."

"So being called Sannin really only made you famous, it didn't actually grant you any special privileges."

"Not until Sarutobi-sensei made it official, giving us permanent passes and the like, except for Orochimaru who had defected by this time because your father was chosen instead of him to be the Fourth Hokage. The rains up ahead are the borders of Amegakure. Let's henge into something a little less conspicuous."

Jiraiya henged into an old man who carried a large basket on his back, taming his hair and adding a mustache to looking like a traveling medicine man bearing herbs. Naruto made himself look younger, hiding his fox-like features and making his hair white to match Jiraiya's so he could pass of as his teacher's grandson.

"Be careful not to show yourself. I've received some nasty rumors about Amegakure recently. I hear that Akatsuki has a base here, and perhaps it is where Akatsuki originates."

"If that's true, then this may become a practice run for Kumo," Naruto seethed as the memories of the Konoha massacre he had committed were clearly recalled in his mind.

His unstable emotions almost destabilized his disguise as they approached the bridge that led into the village. Naruto could smell the scent of old blood in the water collected by the continuous rainfall around the village. He could see dark man-sized shadows flitting through the water in well ordered patrols of the moat. He had a sudden urge to scoop them out of the water like fish, but resisted.

"Jii-chan, let's just go somewhere else. I hate this rain," Naruto complained loudly as they approached the gates.

Jiraiya cuffed him on the back of the head lightly in response, but Naruto allowed himself to be knocked down by the blow, howling in mock pain. "Show some respect, boy. This is a large village. If we can't find someone here who'll buy the herbs you collected, they won't last until we reach the next village. The air's too damp to dry them properly."

"Then boil them yourself and make some medicine that will last. You've done it before."

"Only with what we cant sell. It takes a lot of precision to make medicine and the people who need it can't afford it. We're better off selling the herbs."

Naruto scowled, shaking his head so that the water in his hair sprayed Jiraiya, getting water on the ninja who were screening the people at the entrance. A kunai whizzed towards Naruto, thrown discretely by one of the gate guards who had taken exception to getting wet in this manner. Naruto pretended to trip over his own feet, causing the kunai to miss him and embed itself into a traveller behind him who was knocked into the water.

"Clumsy oaf!" Jiraiya scolded, digging the heel of his sandal into Naruto's back, "This is why you're so useless." He was obviously pretending not to notice anything had happened. Those who had been in position to see the attack were too afraid to say anything. The rest didn't notice anything amiss. "Since you're down there, you might as well apologize to the people around you for spraying them."

"Why should I. They're already wet," Naruto responded petulantly.

"Thats not the point you insolent brat. Besides, these two gentlemen waiting here were perfectly dry before you got here."

"Fine, then: Sorry for making you experience the damnable weather of your stupid village."

Jiraiya kicked him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. If Naruto hadn't known it was an extremely light kick for Jiraiya, he would have torn off the man's leg right there.

"I apologize for my grandson's behavior. He doesn't see to learn that his actions have consequences."

"Or maybe the consequences aren't harsh enough for him to remember them." The Ame nin stamped two day passes and ushered them through.


"You enjoyed that a little too much," Naruto and Jiraiya were now appearing as two very different rain nin. They were both wearing all black and an Amegakure hitai-ite, but while Naruto chose to look as he once did, Jiraiya appeared to have ballooned up like a member of the Akimichi clan.

"What can I say. It was all true wasn't it?"

"Sometimes I wonder which sensei is crueler, or whether they're the same person," Naruto said.

"This is a good place." Jiraiya said, angrily grinding his teeth, "Why don't you get your own mask. I'll be in the bar over there."

Naruto shrugged and walked into the store. It was a high class establishment. Everything was extremely expensive and most of it was of high quality. This store obviously catered to the highest ranks of ninja. Floor models of the equipment were shielded behind what appeared to be glass cases, but there were obvious seals on the display surface to discourage any theft. The entire store was neat and polished. The only thing that stood out was a paper figure attached to the doorway. Naruto ignored it. The ninja here probably all knew the significance and he didn't want to give himself away.

"A little help jii-san?" Naruto asked the old man behind the counter. It was a former ninja, most likely the owner since stores selling ninja tools were usually operated by the children and retired ninja of a family.

"I'd be happy to help. What are you looking for?" The old man smiled. His long, bushy eyebrows raised slightly, revealing beady little eyes that sparkled merrily.

"My uncle was recently fought a puppet user who used a poison gas when his puppets were destroyed. He's getting out of the hospital today, and I wanted to get him a gift. I thought one of these could filter out any poison gases so that this won't happen again."

"Well, not every poison. There are many poisons that are absorbed through the skin or eyes, but for inhaled poisons, or even for breathing in dust or smoke, a filter can be an asset. Were there any special features you're looking for?"

"Something where the filter will not need to be replaced. He had one of those a year ago, but it was damaged in a battle. Also, it has to be easy to take on and off. He is good at tracking by scent."

"Just like an Inuzuka."

"Exactly."

"You know, if your village hadn't been destroyed, I'd think you were a spy," the old man laughed, "Leaf ninja are a rarity these days, not that I have ever had one come into my shop before."

"What... I am not a–"

"Don't play dumb with me runt. I fought plenty of those dogs in the war. Did you think I wouldn't notice the markings on your cheeks. It's a little weak, so I'd say you're only half Inuzuka, but I'm betting your 'uncle is the real deal. That is, unless those are a part of your henge."

"Actually, they are," Naruto relented.

"That was rather easy. I once captured a Konoha shinobi in disguise and he didn't give up his cover until we killed him."

"So, we have two options then. I hope you choose the one where you sell me exactly what I need."

"Maybe I will if you tell me why you really need it."

"I go crazy at the smell of blood and kill everything. If I filter out the smell, no more of my friends die."

"Well, there are rules against selling weapons to civilians and ninja who aren't are allies, but then this isn't a weapon, is it?" The old man pulled a mask out of a cupboard and handed it to him. "Try this one."

The mask was a lot less cumbersome than the one he had had before. It was shaped like the front of a person's face and was held on with a vacuum seal. The only marks were a spattering of filtration holes on each side.

"This is the latest model we have. It is expensive, but you won't find any of better quality at this time. It will filter out all particles larger than two atoms, so pure air will be able to enter. This is not recommended for use all the time though. There is a gauge on the inside which you can reach with your tongue, or you can take the mask off to adjust it between the open, half filer, and full filter settings. It will not allow you to breathe underwater without an additional apparatus."

"How does it stay on?"

"Inside the membrane around the edge is a chakra conducting filament which will create an attractive bond to anything that had chakra flowing through it. Just put it on and it will stick to your face."

Naruto put it on. Immediately, it seemed like the entire world disappeared from his nose. Only the smell of the materials and mineral oil remained, along with something he couldn't identify. He reached forward with his tongue. There was a nob there. It seemed sharper that it should have and he felt slightly dizzy. The feeling passed quickly.

"Not very effective," Naruto said.

"You can still smell?"

"I mean the poison on the toggle. Sasori's poison at least took me out for a few hours, but I was weaker then."

The old ninja tensed, ready to spring into action at any moment.

"How do you take the mask off?" Naruto asked, "Never mind I think I know." Naruto disrupted his chakra as if trying to dispel a genjutsu and the mask came right off. On the toggle, he found a small, partially-melted crystal that blended with the color of the metal. He licked the rest of the poison off while the storekeeper watched. "I'll take this one if you don't mind. I don't know if anything else you give me will have effective booby traps."

"If that is what the customer wants," the old man replied, rubbing his hands together nervously, "That will be twenty-two thousand ryou please."

Naruto was shocked at the steep price. It seemed much higher than the value could possibly be. He saw one of the same model in the display case. It was marked as only eleven thousand ryou. Naruto frowned. In either case, he had not picked up any money from the people he'd killed since he had been caught in his own attack. Any money he may have had then was now burned and melted.

"I don't think I can pay that much. But luckily, you're going to give be a fifty percent discount for trying to poison me, and another fifty percent for trying to make me pay double for an item you had booby trapped."

"I'd rather have the wrath of Pein smite my store than have you leave with that mask!"

A woman screamed in a way Naruto knew all to well. In Naruto's moment of distraction, the shop owner threw a kunai, slicing the paper at the entrance to his store. Naruto sighed and put the mask back on. Using the claws hidden by his henge, Naruto spun his fingers against the glass, cutting out a circle of glass. He formed a shadow clone of the display copy of the mask he was wearing, replacing the real mask with the clone before the seal could activate.

"In case I need another spare." He let the clone mask disperse. A jet of flames shot up from the base of the display. "I'll have to learn that one..." Naruto said, "It looks useful." He stuck the second mask onto his shoulder. It stuck there just as well as on his face. "Oh, yeah, you wanted to see my 'Inuzuka' markings didn't you." He chuckled. "I am afraid I am going to have to disappoint you. I am not from the Inuzuka clan but from the Namikaze clan." He released his transformation. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, but you can call me Kyuubi-sama." His tails flared behind him.

"What are you?" the shopkeeper trembled under the pressure of Naruto's released chakra.

"What am I?"

"You're getting out of here before we're surrounded." Jiraiya ordered, slaughtering a chunin who had come to investigate the strange chakra and commotion.

Naruto sniffed. "It's too late, isn't it," Naruto said, addressing the old man, "You called for security forces when you destroyed that paper figurine. Jiraiya, get out of here before I cause a commotion. After all, the home base of Akatsuki deserves no lenience from me. Isn't that right? The poison you tried to use on me is one you got from Sasori, and thats why you reacted when I mentioned his was stronger. You thought he had sold you his best."

There was a sizzling sound as a piece of paper like the one that had been in the doorway slammed into Naruto's chakra cloak and burned to a crisp The things were fluttering around all over the place. More tried to attack him, only to meet the same fate.

Jiraiya froze. "Naruto, be careful."

"I am practically immortal, what's to fear from paper."

"I know this jutsu. It belongs to one of my old students. Isn't that right, Konan?"

The paper swirled to form a woman wearing an Akatsuki cloak. She had shoulder-length blue hair with an origami rose in it.

"That means Yahiko and Nagato are probably here as well."

"Yahiko is dead," Konan said.

"And Nagato?"

"All that is left is Pein," she replied.

"Pain is Nagato isn't it? Only someone with the rinnegan could convince an entire ninja village that he is a god."

Naruto began to laugh.

"You find that funny?" Konan asked serenely, "He is a god. He has power you could never even dream of."

"Power? I AM POWER!" Naruto's roar made the building tremble, the iron construction creaking fitfully under the vibrations. "If your Pein is god, then I am the greatest demon of hell."


"Don't be a fool! The sage of six paths is the one who tore the Juubi into nine different bijuu. He had the Juubi sealed inside him. He had the rinnegan. It is a legendary kekkei genkai. There was only ever one instance of it. If there is another, we must destroy it!"


Naruto was shaken for a moment by the Kyuubi's forceful interruption, but wasted no time pouncing on Konan. His chakra wrapped around her, and then her body exploded into thousands of pieces of paper.. Several of them were incinerated.

"This isn't a good match for you is it?" Konan had appeared several meters away, hovering in the air on wings of paper that made her resemble an angel, a burned and bloody angel.

"Naruto, stop."

"She will try to stop me. I will stop her first!" Naruto took a deep breath and prepared to blast her with a cloud of fox fire. Before he could launch his attack, something slammed into him. He fell to the ground. Whatever had hit him had been big. He turned, but could not see it anywhere. He was struck on the side and sent flying, almost falling off the spire this store had been built on. He grabbed the edge of the platform before he could fall.

Naruto scrambled back up, flicking the toggle on the filter with his tongue to let all scents in. He could smell it nearby. It smelled like some sort of lizard. He spun towards the scent, striking out with his claws. His arm pushed through a soft, rubbery substance with pockets of liquid all the way up to his elbow. A chameleon, half the size of Gamabunta, was there. Naruto formed a rasengan in his buried hand, releasing it to blow a fountain of gray matter out the back of the summon's skull as if to be absolutely sure that it was dead. He pulled his arm out, shaking the liquefied eye and brains off of it. This was one summon who would not return for another round.

"Nagato? Is that you?" Jiraiya was looking at a man with orange hair and large, metal, bar piercings. The eyes were the most striking feature. They were a pale violet-gray with a ripple pattern.

"That's the rinnegan?"

"Nagato is no more. All that remains is Pein," the man replied, no emotion betrayed by his tone.

With Naruto and Jiraiya distracted, Konan attacked Jiraiya from behind with a flurry of paper shuriken.

"Gamayudan!" Jiraiya spun, spraying toad oil over the flying papers and coating Konan. The papers clung together and fell, rendering Konan's jutsu useless.

"Return. These are beyond you," Pein said, "I will deal with them myself."

Konan used a shunshin and left the area.

"Two on one. God or not, you don't stand a chance."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Pein's response was to summon a rhinoceros-like creature that charged towards Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Naruto, keep him busy," Jiraiya called, leaping away from the charging beast. Naruto reached out with a chakra arm, grabbing the charging creature by the horn. He had intended to spin the creature and throw it back at its summoner, but the rhino creature was much heavier than its immense size implied. Naruto barely managed to deflect it, smelling another summon that had been brought forth in its wake. A giant three headed dog appeared from the blind spot behind the rhino. Three sets of slathering fangs snapped around him. Naruto could barely keep up with dodging the three of them with so little room to maneuver.

"Two can play at that game!" Naruto made a mad dash out between the dog's paws before the rhino came back to trample him. "Gamabunta! Gamaken! Gamahiro! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" It used a lot of chakra, but the three of them would wreak havoc. That was exactly the kind of state Naruto liked on the battlefield.

"All three of us?" Gamabunta exclaimed, "What have you gotten yourself into now?"

"Jiraiya asked me to stall for time. Keep these bastards off my back while I take out their summoner." Naruto turned when a rancid smell penetrated his nostrils. Pein had just summoned some sort of gigantic bird of prey. "I guess I'll take out two birds with one stone." Naruto breathed out a cone of fox fire. "Kitsune-Bi: Furiya!" The bird was roasted to a pile of ash, but when the flames cleared, there was another person standing in front of Pein. He was awfully similar to Pein. He had the same large piercings, orange hair and deathly pale skin.

"There's another one?" Jiraiya was standing on the side of a building with his hands clasped together and two old toads flanking his head.

"How did he stop my attack. Nothing has ever survived being his by it?"

"He has the rinnegan," Jiraiya pointed out, "How is that possible?"

Naruto rushed towards the new opponent. "Rasengan!" The red ball struck some sort of barrier and was absorbed. Naruto grinned madly. "That is the worst thing you could have done."

Something slammed into him from the side. It was another one of the Pein creatures. It had a thick neck that widened until it merged smoothly with his shoulders. It felt like a building had just fallen on him. This new Pein was strong.

Despite the severe bruising from the hit, Naruto could not help but laugh. The Pein who had absorbed his chakra was now suffering its effects. Demonic chakra was deadly to anyone who was not a jinchuuriki, and even then, the Kyuubi chakra was especially potent. Jagged burns were appearing across Pein's body. Before the chakra could be fatal, the Pein suddenly dropped down dead.

"Naruto, look at the others." More Pein creatures had appeared, each one different. Burns were slowly spreading over all of them, expanding from the metal bars embedded in them. "All their chakra is connected. They shared the demonic chakra."

"He just dropped dead! Like a hand cut off from a body!"

"The real one's not here!" Jiraiya realized, "He's controlling them like puppets."

"Find him then! I'll take care of his lackeys..." Naruto raced towards one who had hair that reminded him of his own. When he got close, the Pein raised a hand and Naruto was blasted backwards. It was as if his momentum had been instantly reversed. The sudden change of direction knocked the wind out of him.

Naruto sensed that the Pein who had struck him earlier was in his path, preparing to strike him. He whipped his tails backwards, forming a giant rasengan at the tips. The two attacks collided, creating an explosion that blew Pein off of the side and Naruto back towards the other Pein bodies who were preparing to fight back. This was perfect.

"Kitsune-Bi: Furiya!" He was flying directly towards them. His attack burst out over a wide area. When the flames cleared, no one was there. It only took a moment to realize that they had used kawarimi to get out of the way long before his attack had struck. He found himself thrust down, creating a crater on the platform where he landed. That hurt, but not as much as the body that landed on top of him moments later, deepening the crater. It was the wide necked Pein. Naruto's stomach gushed blood. It had burst from the strength of the impact. He couldn't move his legs.

Some creature flew by in a blur, knocking the Pein violently off Naruto before dispersing in a cloud of smoke. It was Gamabunta's work. He had defeated one of the summons. Naruto performed hand signs. He couldn't move, but he could feel his muscles and spine knitting themselves back together. He just had to keep fighting until Jiraiya got the real one though. He tried to lift himself with his tails, but they were not responding either. A familiar Pein stood at the edge of the crater. His presence made Naruto's gut feel more scrambled than it actually was.

"It can't be... You're dead!" It was the chakra absorbing Pein. Naruto stretched out a red chakra claw, hoping to force the Pein to absorb his chakra and poison the rest. Pein dodged. Another hovered over Naruto and Naruto saw a giant head hovering behind him. "Another of those damn summons..."

"We will have to take drastic measures. We wanted to keep you alive, but the Kyuubi is all we want."

"And Kyuubi will be happy to rip your throat out and feed you your own feces hen you shit yourself in fear!" Naruto growled angrily. He wished he could move. If he took any more damage, he would have to risk another tail, or fall unconscious.

"Tell us. How many others came with you?" Pein asked slowly and clearly, then waited for a response.

"As if I'd tell a freak puppet like you!" Naruto gagged. A thick tongue of energy burst from his mouth and hands came out of the giant head's mouth to grab it and began to pull. As it pulled, Naruto felt himself weakening. His body felt cold in his extremities. The creature was not just pulling out chakra, it was pulling out his life. He was dying.