AN: Here is the next chapter sorry for the wait was a bit of trouble to write this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 8

( - )

(Last Time)

Pushing himself to his feet Naruto was able to see the surprise on Clemintine's face before he charged her, aiming to tackle her to the ground. Only to receive a boot in the face as the girl leapt back a step before kicking forward taking advantage of Naruto's uncoordinated attack. Once again Naruto hit the floor, but unlike last time though he didn't stay down long as he hit the ground in a roll and made his way back to his feet. Thrusting is arm out in the direction of Clementine as he did so.

What happened next truly surprised Naruto. A chain like construct made of pure chakra erupted from Naruto's hand, it was reminiscent of the Chakra Chains he had seen his sister and mother make; only his was made up of his unique grayish chakra. Naruto it appeared wasn't the only one taken aback by the chains appearance as Clementine to was shocked. So much so that she didn't even try to dodge as the chain came swinging at her, catching her in the mid section as it catapulted her a few metres back.

"Arghh! Dammit that hurts like a biitch!" Clementine shouted as she got back onto her feet, her pink eyes lock on Naruto as he too was on his feet now facing her. "You can make a weird chain thing, that's not fair."

As she said that she broke eye contact with the blonde opposite her and looked down at where the chain had struck her. The parts of her shirt that had been touched by the grey chakra was gone, the edges of the fabric showing that it had rotted away. The flesh beneath though looked like it had also started rotting, as it had become dry and grey, the skin already falling off to show the decaying muscle beneath.

Instead of looking horrified or angry about it though Clementine let out a loud cackle of laughter. Looking down once more she could see one of the aspects of her bloodline were already at work, the flesh had begun to regenerate, the new flesh driving back the rot that had been caused by that chain like chakra construct. Looking up she could see the boy's eyes behind the mask, the sclera had turned black and the irises had turned crimson. What was more noticeable about them though was that they were widened in surprise, as though the boy had no idea how he had just done what he had done.

Jumping up and down slightly in excitement now that her previously festering wound had been healed, the blonde girl sent the masked boy a feral grin. "Finally a kid my own age that can fight back! So what's you name then kid? Or should I just keep calling you Ugly?"

As Narito heard what Clementine had just said he had to blink in surprise, after what had just happened to her he thought that she would either be crying or raging, but instead she seemed happy. His surprise however only lasted until he heard what she called him, it seemed she recovered from that really painful looking and borderline life threatening wound very quickly. Looking up he looked her dead in the eye seeing the hidden glee contained within, he decided to say the first thing that came to mind. "My name is Pain bitch!"

( - )

(Three Years Later)

It had been three years, Naruto thought to himself as he walked through the winding streets of Kirigakure. Three years since he had fled his home in the night, fled like some kind of criminal. Three years since he had come across Victor, the bizarre boy who would later become one of his closest friends. Three years since he had come to the Land of Water to join the Rogue Clans in fighting alongside the Rebels in the Kiri civil war

In those three years Naruto had changed a lot, so much so that he doubted anyone would recognise him as the frail boy who had first arrived at the camp. He now stood at just less than five foot ten inches, with broad shoulders and muscled arms. His previously spiky hair was now cropped very short, after all having long hair in a fight was just stupid in his mind, it just gave the enemy something else to grab onto. His skin was still pale, but no longer an unhealthy shade, instead it just looked like he hadn't been in the sun enough, which considering the climate of Water Country was relatively true.

Also gone was his mask, the crude thing had been destroyed by Clementine in one of their many spars. Instead he kept his face bare, no longer caring to hide it behind some mask when he was in Kirigakure his home. Luckily though he no longer resembled his father as much, with his hair cropped and his face slightly fuller and rounder, no doubt due to his mothers genes, the resemblance was no longer so close. Which when added to his eyes, which now had constantly black sclera and crimson red irises made him look completely different. In Naruto's mind this was what he looked like; he saw no point in hiding it anymore, not now he had found happiness in his new home.

What had also changed was his style; he now wore a pair of standard Shinobi sandals with mottled grey and black Shinobi combat pants, specifically designed for him. On his chest he had a mesh shirt, and an open grey waist coat. On each of his wrists was a tattooed kanji, a permanent storage seal on each of his wrists that made the need for pouches or pockets pointless.

Thinking back on the last three years Naruto could not think of one thing he would do differently. When he thought of what is life would have been like, either trapped or isolated in Konoha never allowed to be a Shinobi, or dissected in some laboratory. His body dissected to try and see how his abilities work.

No he was far happy where he was; his life before in Konoha was now nothing more than a distant memory, becoming more and more distant every day.

The last three years for Naruto had been quite fun all things considered. The war in Kiri had ended within a year of his arrival. Not that he played that much of a part in any of the fighting. No, despite his unique abilities he was still just an untrained kid in the Rebels eyes, he along with Clementine and the other kids at the camp had mostly played minor roles in the war. They had run messages sometimes through enemy territory.

They had acted as support for the main forces, going in after to clean up the remaining existence, with some of the more unique Outcasts like Naruto taking advantage of the opportunity. Naruto had tended to gorge himself on the souls left over from the multiple skirmishes and battles that occurred throughout the Kiri civil war. He had managed to find his niche in their society, where some like Victor collect organs and limbs from the fallen to act as replacements, and others like Clementine ate the flesh of the dead a rather grim aspect of her own kekkei genkai. Naruto was the only one who devoured their souls, this meant he had an endless supply to eat, an all you can eat buffet.

Of course this was not free; he had to do his part. This for Naruto meant more than just running errands and acting as support for the main force. No thanks to his unique abilities he was the Rebel's main interrogator, drafted in along with Furui to find out the enemies secrets. How he did this was a secret known only to a few, including Mei Terumi the new Mizukage and his closest companions, Victor and Clementine.

Letting out another sigh as he felt the rain patter down around him, join the constant fog that surrounded this land in soaking him to the bone. Naruto continued to think about the past. With Naruto's help in extracting information the tides of war soon turned as the loyalists soon found that their operatives could no longer hide their secrets. Panic had begun to spread as the Rebels now seemed to know their every move, their chain of hierarchy and even their hidden bases.

This panic had turned into fear and suspicion as the loyalists began to believe they had a traitor in their midst. The Rebel's took advantage of this and soon began to drive the loyalists back, working in tandem with the Rogue Clans to push the enemy back. Victory had not just become possible for the rebel forces, it had become likely and Naruto had played a big role in this. Not through the traditional method of combat, though he did fight even if it was just in support of the main forces. No Naruto aided the rebel forces to victory through providing information, and in the end it was which side had the best information that won the war, not which side had the flashiest Jutsu or the largest army.

Hundreds maybe thousands died in battle during the war, mostly the loyalists, but also many Outcasts and Rebels died, giving their lives on the same battlefield for their comrades and for victory.

Some good did come from this though, as bonds soon began to form between the Rebels and the Outcasts. Bonds formed through mutual understanding of what it meant to be persecuted for having a bloodline. Bonds formed on the battlefield through sacrifice and bloodshed. What also helped was the fact that the less liberal members of Kiri were loyalists, and these people were getting butchered by the united front of the Outcasts and Rebels. With the strongest voices against the Outcasts lying dead in the ground, it was no real surprise that after the war ended an agreement was made with the Outcasts.

An agreement that the Outcasts who fought in the war were invited to join Kiri, offered funding and aid in establishing their own Clan's and Clan Compounds within the Village. Most accepted, after all they had lived by the code that there was always safety in numbers and so as a black almost ninety percent of the Outcasts joined Kiri.

It wasn't an entirely one-sided deal though, as Mei had made the offer for a reason when she had been named Mizukage after the Fourth Mizukage was deposed. After years of brutal war and purges the population of Kiri was almost halved, with multiple Clan's and bloodlines either extinct or on the verge of extinction. Kirigakure was on the verge of collapse; with it being very likely that the Village would just die or become a second rate minor Village. That was of course until Mei made her offer, at which point the beleaguered population of Kiri doubled, with new and unique bloodlines flooding in.

This led to the Shinobi of Kirigakure being happy that their Village would not only survive but also come out of this possibly stronger. And it also led to the Outcasts being happy after all they now had the support and protection of a Shinobi Village, a village in which they had nearly a majority in. This opened up opportunities for them to lay down roots, and create a proper society.

There was of course some opposition, with some Shinobi looking down on the Outcasts or not wanting them there at all. Of course they tended to be in the minority and were quickly stamped out, after all, having just come out of a brutal war over the subjugation of bloodlines that kind of thinking was not welcomed.

In a way it could almost be seen as over correction, having just come out of the war the Shinobi took things like prejudice to the other extreme, welcoming in a number of new Clans that had not been invited into Shinobi Villages for a reason. These problems were soon solved however by the new Shinobi Council that was formed to advise the young Mizukage Mei. A Council made up of both former Outcasts and former Rebels. Giving a voice to all residents of Kiri.

Naruto snorted to himself at that. Thinking about it like that always made it all seem so grand and simple. Unfortunately though it was not even now two years later there were still tensions, still division. Although most of the Shinobi had now just accepted it and some even welcomed it, Shinobi being a pretty adaptable. The civilians in the Village were not so welcoming; some shops refused to serve former Outcasts, as to, did some of the bars not let them in. However at the same time establishments run by former Outcasts did not allow civilians in so it was not a one-sided thing.

It was towards one such bar that Naruto was now heading, looking to meet up with some friends and also get out of the damp Kiri climate. The bar he was headed to was a particularly grim one called the Poisoned Rat. It was a regular haunt of his, Naruto having taken a liking to it due to its rough atmosphere.

Approaching it Naruto grinned slightly as he saw a reddish puddle just in front of the door, 'looks like some unfortunate fucker picked a fight with the wrong person.' Naruto thought to himself as he stepped over the bloody puddle and into the noisy and sweaty bar.

As he did so Naruto looked around his tongue flicking out of his mouth and wetting his lips as he did so.

"Well look who it is!" A voice called out over the noise of the laughing and shouting patron's of the bar. "If it isn't that fucker, Pain!"

Some of the drunken Shinobi cheered at that, the alcohol slopping out of their mugs and onto the dirt floor as they did so. Others however gained distinctly uncomfortable looks, back away from him as they did so.

"Mina! A doll as always!" Naruto called out to the woman who hailed him.

Her name was Mina, she was a small child like woman with bright white hair and twinkling crimson eyes. At first appearances she looked like a little girl, easily able to pass for a child of maybe eight or nine. In reality though she was a woman in her sixties, a former Outcast who like Naruto did gained a unique bloodline or ability that caused her to leave her home.

Where that home was or how her ability manifested Naruto had no idea. He only knew what she had told him and she was never the most open of people and Naruto knew enough about her to know that pushing for more information from her would likely be fatal. As despite her innocent and child like appearance Mina was not only deadly but also a massive bitch. She was a sadist who took pleasure in other people's misery. Her unique ability allowed her to feed off of another's life energy, all she needed was to touch you and she would suck you dry, and not in the fun way.

This was how she maintained her youthful appearance; she was a parasite who fed off of others. The stolen life force also healed her of any damage she might receive, which made her pretty much immortal. Her other Shinobi abilities and fighting skills were no better than a chunins, but that did not really matter considering she only needed one touch to drain someone of their life.

"Oh you, you sure do know how to be charming don't you Pain." Mina replied coyly a slight flush on her cheeks as she looked shyly away. It was all an act of course, an act to make people let down their guards or underestimate her. But for Naruto who had seen what she was capable of, it would never work, she may be sweet and innocent on the outside, but on the inside she was a monster.

"Your little friends are all by the bar, go have a drink, on the house." Mina replied as she gestured across the crowded room and towards the bar.

"Thanks Mina" Naruto replied with a wink as he walked past the table she was sat at, a number of laughing and drinking men around her, men who were probably going to wake up tomorrow unable to move after having most of the life drained from them. Like he said, she was a bitch.

"Anytime honey!" Mina called back before looking away, her eyes wide and glistening as she innocently looked up at the big men around her. "So can any of you help me find my mummy?" Was the last thing Naruto heard her say before he was swallowed up by the crowd.

Walking through the bar Naruto couldn't help but grin as he saw how people got out of his way. Some out of respect, his contributions in the war having not been kept a secret, even if his methods of interrogation and spying were left to speculation. Others however got out of his way because they were scared, embarrassing as being scared of a fourteen year old maybe it was not unwarranted. This was due to what Naruto's current job was. Naruto was one of Kiri's Hunter-nins, a Shinobi who hunts down and kills other rogue Shinobi.

It was a job that Naruto did alongside two others, Clementine and Victor. Together they made up one of Kiri's most feared Hunting teams, the Ghouls. A team perfectly equipped for hunting down and butchering rogue Shinobi and then completely disposing of the remains.

This was helped by all of their individual abilities; Clementine's bloodline gave her enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, durability and senses. This along with her regeneration and her unique chakra made her the perfect hunter. The downside of her bloodline though, was that the changes to her body meant she had to use more energy which meant she had to eat more than a normal person would. This alone would not be a downside, but that wasn't all, due to her altered body she was unable to eat normal food, in fact doing so made her sick. The only thing Clementine could eat without throwing up was flesh, and not just any but human flesh. Her bloodline had made her the perfect predator, unfortunately though it had made humans her perfect prey.

This downside of her bloodline was what had led to her and her Clan being excluded from the Shinobi Villages; it had also led to many of her kind being hunted down and killed. This was mostly their own faults for giving into their hunger and feasting on humans without restraint.

Clementine though was smarter than that, she restricted her prey to those outside of her Village, taking on the position of being a Hunter-nin as it fit well with her natural skills of hunting and killing humans and also gave her an endless supply of fresh meat.

Victor too was also uniquely adapted to being a Hunter-nin. With the threads he used as his weapon he had become a master of traps, able to turn any environment into a deadly maze. He to, like Clementine also benefited from the number of dead bodies they create doing their job, with him having an endless supply of body parts and organs that he could use. Of course he did have to fight Clementine off sometimes in order to stop her from eating his prize.

Then finally there was Naruto's contribution. Like his teammates he benefitted from the dead bodies of the Shinobi both local and foreign that they hunt, though unlike them he doesn't have to fight over the choice scraps. No, he gets the souls all to himself. Plus the fact that his abilities were ideal focused on death was useful to.

His chakra devoured life, rotting and decaying anything that it touched, be it flesh wood or anything living really, it even devoured chakra. But more than that his chakra didn't just damage a person's body it could also damaged their souls if he wanted. As unlike with the primary nature of his chakra, which was to rot and decay anything it touched something he could not turn off, his ability to touch, eat and damage souls was something he had absolute control over.

Of course more than once he had gotten in trouble with his teammates for going over the top with his abilities when on the hunt. Neither of them after all could make use of a rotted corpse, this meant that most of the time he only used his chakra internally when hunting individual targets, using it to enhance his speed, strength and durability, which when wielded in conjunction with his axe made him a true fiend on the battlefield even without his most deadly abilities.

Suffice to say, the ghoulish nature of their team had become something of a legend to the people of Kirigakure and a nightmare to their enemies and rogue Shinobi. Already each of them had a high bounty on their heads from the some of the other Villages, as although there were no current wars, there were constant skirmishes with other Villages. Skirmishes that more often than not ended with all the enemies of Kiri dead, the skirmishes were a regular thing for all Hunter-nins as they did not just go after rogue Shinobi from their own Village, but those from other ones to, this led to a lot of competition in the field.

Luckily for Naruto and his team though the fact that they wore masks when in the field meant that there were no pictures of them to put on the bounty sheets. So although their abilities and code names were well known and feared, their names and appearances were completely unknown. Well to those outside of Kiri, there were many in Kiri who did know them or at least know of them, but they were smart enough to know that if they blabbed Kiri's secrets to enemies they would not last long. This was common across every Shinobi Village in the Elemental Nations.

"Oi Pain get over here!" Naruto heard as he reached the bar, looking up with a sight grin he soon found himself looking at Clementine, or Lady Clementine as she still liked to be called. In the last three years Clementine like him had grown up, she still had her shoulder length, golden blond hair and her pink eyes. But now she looked older and more mature no longer as innocent or childlike as she had. A point she made by what she chose to wear.

As she stood by the bar Naruto could help but let his eyes wander up and down her lithe form. Currently she was wearing very revealing silver armour, that included spiked gauntlets, and armoured greaves. The rest of her armour though was pretty much an armoured bikini, made from the head guards of Shinobi she had slain. Her light armour a patchwork of symbols from different Shinobi Vilages

Walking up to her Naruto leaned on the bar, making eye contact with the bartender as he did so. "I'll have bourbon neat. Been told it is on the house"

Nodding the bartender turned to the shelves of spirits behind the bar, reaching for a clear bottle full of amber coloured liquor. Grabbing it he then grabbed a small glass from under the bar and began to pour the precious liquid out.

"Make it a double." Naruto commented absently as he kept his attention on Clementine.

"So trouble, been awhile." Naruto said a slight grin on his face. "Done anything I wouldn't do?"

"Not really just cleaning up after our last job." Clementine replied with a shrug. "Tying up loose ends you know."

"Loose ends?" Naruto asked with a slight frown, barely acknowledging the bartender as he handed him his drink.

"Yeah apparently Subaru that ugly fucker from Otogakure had a son." Clementine replied with irritation. "Had to check to make sure he didn't see anything he shouldn't."

"Did he?" Naruto asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, apparently he saw me rip his daddy's throat out with my teeth." Clementine said with a feral grin showing off her pearly white teeth as she did so.

From behind them they heard the sound out shattering glass.

Looking round Naruto saw the bartender staring at them in horror, a glass having fallen out of his shaking hand.

'Hn must be a newbie.' Naruto thought to himself after all the denizens of this bar were all Hunter-nins, ANBU and former Outcasts, they talked about some pretty brutal shit. "So did you kill the kid?" Naruto replied curiously.

"Nah, little shit never saw my face so don't see any harm in letting him live. If anything it will help to spread our infamy." Clementine replied once again shrugging as she lifted a cup of cheap red wine to her lips before draining it, grimacing slightly at the nasty taste.

Naruto was not fooled though, he knew the real reason she didn't kill the kid. It was her way of maintaining her humanity. The life of an Outcast was hard; even now they had a Village to call their home. Especially when you had a bloodline that made it so you had to prey on others to survive, that kind of shit would make anyone go insane. But not Clementine, for all she claimed she was a monster she still had her humanity. Showing the occasional mercy when she could was simply her way of holding onto her humanity.

"What about you? It's been two days since our last mission?" Clementine replied as she glared at the bartender, shaking her cup expectantly at him. Paling the man grabbed a nearby bottle and filled it up before he backed away.

'Yeah I doubt he will last long.' Naruto once again thought, feeling sorry for the man, as Mina the owner of the bar was not the kind of person who knew how to be merciful.

"Doing some interrogation work for the old hag." Naruto replied, which told Clementine that Mei had a valuable prisoner she wanted information from.

"Get anything good from him?" The blonde girl asked with interest.

"I'm not sure." Naruto replied with a slight frown. "What I got from him didn't make much sense to me, but Mei seemed to know something."

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you?" Clementine said, genuinely surprised. Mei had a very soft spot for Naruto, letting him get away with most things and often confiding in him more than she would with most. This was probably due to how grateful she was to Naruto over his contribution in the war. So for her not to tell him meant that it could be something big.

"She doesn't tell me everything you know." Naruto replied with a mock pout.

"Well she tells you what colour of panties she is wearing so I would say she tells you a lot." Clementine mocked as she took another swig of wine, only to gag a second later.

"If it is so revolting why do you drink it?" Naruto sighed as he saw her reaction. Knowing that due to her bloodline, normal food and drink tasted vile to her so much so that she could barely stomach it.

"It's alcohol isn't it." Clementine replied shrewishly. "Even if it makes me sick it gets me drunk."

"True but that buzz only lasts a few minutes due to your regeneration." Naruto replied without much sympathy, making sure to sigh in content as he drank his own liquor.

The girl gave him a death glare at that before she kicked him in the shin.

"Asshole." She muttered, even as her lips twitched. "At least I can heal."

"Ohh low blow." Naruto said with mock hurt. What she was talking about was a draw back in his bloodline ability, due to the nature of his abilities being based on death Naruto had lost the ability to heal naturally. He could still force his body to heal with chakra which made it a bit small drawback, but still Clementine found it very amusing for some reason.

"Pain, Clementine. Up to no good again I see." A familiar voice said gaining both of their attention.

"Ahh if it isn't patch, the patchwork scarecrow." Clementine said as she turned to face Victor.

"Funny," Victor said as he walked up to them.

Out of the three of them Victor was the one who had changed the least. That is to say his overall personality and appearance had changed the least, his actually body though had gone through a number of changes, him having now replaced all of his organs at least once and his limbs probably half a dozen times now. Amusingly enough he was currently sporting a pale white arm, taken from a particularly annoying Iwa Shinobi who they had fought on one of their missions, on his left side. But a dark skinned arm from a Kumo Shinobi on his right side, which truly did give him the look at a patchwork man.

Looking at his dark skinned hand Victor raised it and flipped Clementine the bird.

This only succeeded in getting her more excited though. "So tell me Victor because I am curious."

"What now?" Victor asked wearily.

""Have you still got your original cock or have you replaced it now?" Clementine asked bluntly.

Victor and Naruto just stared at her in surprise, the sound of shattering glass telling them that the bartender had dropped yet another glass.

Turning to Victor an eyebrow raised Naruto asked. "Have you?"

"Why the fuck would you ask that?!" Victor said completely taken aback.

"Well I always heard that men from Kumo had bigger dicks than men from Konoha or anywhere else in the Elemental Nations. So I thought you might have decided to get yourself a new dick while you were there." Clementine said with a shrug, before looking over at Naruto. "No offense for saying you have a little dick though Pain."

"Offense taken" Naruto replied as he clasped his hands over his crotch at the thought of Victor going around steeling dicks.

"How the fuck did we even get onto this topic?!" Victor shouted conspicuously avoiding answering as he did so. "I did come here for a reason you know."

"Course you did. You came to drink with your best mates!" Naruto said as he drained the last of his drink and slammed it down on the bar.

"Here here!" Clementine shouted as she drank her own drink, only for her mouth to bulge as she tried to force it down.

"No I am here to get you two for the next mission." Victor replied his voice still a little shrill as he took the goblet of wine out of Clementine's hand before draining it. "Well that was disgusting I don't know how you drink that cheap swill."

"Well if it is all going to taste vile I might as well buy the cheapest and most alcoholic one I can." The blonde said trying to justify herself.

"So what's the mission?" Naruto asked trying to get the mission back on track.

"No idea, that's why I came to get you, Lady Terumi wants to give us the briefing." Victor replied as he began to make his way out of the bar.

"But I only just got here." Naruto complained his black and red eyes looking pleadingly up at the tall Victor.

"So you won' have had time to get comfortable, now come on." Victor replied as he made his way through the crowd of other patrons, most of who back away as they saw Victor's hideous scars and stitches.

"Has anyone ever told you, you are a bit of an asshole?" Naruto replied as he followed along behind Victor.

"Speaking of which Victor have you ever stolen anyone else's asshole?" Clementine asked slyly as she too followed the grey haired man.

"Fuck off!" Victor called back even as Naruto laughed and Clementine giggled to herself.

( - )

(In the Mizukage Tower)

Looking on with a slight grin on his face Naruto could barely keep from laughing as he saw Ao, Mei's right hand man glaring at him from where he was standing at Mei's shoulder.

Currently they were in Mei's office, with Mei sat behind her desk in a form fitting blue dress a slight smile on her face as she looked at Naruto, Victor and Clementine all of whom were standing in front of her desk.

Around the room currently hidden from sight were her retinue of ANBU, elite Shinobi that acted as both her bodyguards and her secret police. Not that she need protection considering she was a Kage, one who had killed her predecessor to get the position.

"I am glad you made such good time getting here." Mei said with a smile. "I had been expecting to wait for sometime whilst Victor collected you."

"And leave you waiting here alone, with only that grumpy Cyclops for company? Perish the thought." Naruto said with a look of horror on his face, even as his eyes flickered over to Ao, hiding a smirk as he saw the man tense.

"Cyclops! Why you little…" Ao began glaring at Naruto with his single good eye.

Raising her hand Mei cut off his reply. "Do try to be nice to Ao Naruto."

"I'll try, but it will be hard. What with him being a massive dick and all." Naruto sad as respectfully as he could.

"How dar…" Ao began again only to be interrupted by Mei laughing softly to herself.

"Don't rising to it so much Ao and maybe he won't get as much satisfaction from baiting you." Mei said in amusement. "As amusing as this is I did call you here for a reason."

"Yeah I know. So who do you want us to kill?" Naruto asked standing a bit straighter as he did.

"Well I would prefer it if you brought them back alive, but somehow I think these two might put up some resistance." Mei replied with a slight frown.

"You would prefer them alive?" Naruto queried, justified in his question as they were a kill team, they did not bring back prisoners.

"Yes, but like I said I doubt they will come quietly. What is more important than their lives however is what they are currently carrying." Mei replied as she brushed away Naruto's concerns.

"Who are these guys?" Clementine butted in impatiently. Not caring as Victor shot her a warning look and Ao hissed silently in displeasure.

"Do not interrupt you Mizukage!" Ao snapped as he glared at the blonde girl, only for Clementine to glare back, her pink eyes flashing dangerously.

"Their names are Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi. I presume you know what they carry?" Mei asked looking at Naruto.

"The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?" Naruto questioned a frown on his face. "Are you planning to reform them?"

"Yes, I have decided that the time is ripe to rebuild them. Kiri is stronger than it has been in decades. Our forces are battle hardened veterans and but due to the infamy we have received from having the old Outcasts Clans we are not getting as many contracts as we should be. Both Kumo and Konoha are receiving more, whilst Iwa and Kiri are trailing behind. This is not acceptable." Mei said a frown on her face.

"So reforming the Seven Swordsmen is some kind of gimmick?" Naruto questioned scratching the back of his head.

"Yes and no, the Swordsmen were a powerful fighting force, but more than that, they were also a symbol of Kiri's might." Mei explained.

"Ok so you want us to hunt down and either recruit or kill the current Swordsmen, but either way bring back the swords." Naruto summarized getting a nod from Mei as he did. "But wouldn't that leave us one blade short? After all Kiri only had four of the blades at present."

"Three of which are already in the hands of the next generation in training. " Ao added in.

"What about the other one?" Naruto asked ignoring Ao.

"Samehada, currently wielded by Kisame Hoshigaki. My agents are trying to get a location but have been struggling at the moment. But rest assured when we do find him I will be sending you after him to." Mei replied a scowl on her face as she thought about their lack of success in tracking down the rogue Shinobi.

"Ok sounds like a good fight!" Naruto said with a grin on his face at the thought of the mission to come. He loved travelling and he also loved fighting. "Where do we start looking."

The answer he received was two folders being dropped on Mei's desk by Ao.

Scooping them up Naruto nodded. "We'll get to work then. But what if someone gets in our way?"

"Depends who they are and what they are doing." Mei shrugged before gaining a hard look in her eye. "But if they get in the way of your mission terminate them with extreme prejudice."

"Understood." The three Hunter-nin said in unison.

AN: So I hoped you like it. I know some people may be a bit confused about why there was a timeskip. The reason for that is simple. Naruto was a kid, an untrained kid wouldn't have a lot of responsibility. They would clean up after the end of battle, run messages, and act in support. Similar to what Nawaki did during the Shinobi wars.

Events during the Civil War will be shown. Some in flash back some in explanation. I just don't want to do a montage. Never been a fan of montages in stories.

Naruto's abilities will be shown in more detail next chapter as will what has happened in Konoha.

Anyway please leave reviews and comments for the story. I would really like to hear from you. Also I am getting more and more into this story again. I go through phases with stories so yeah I am hoping for some good comments and suggestions.

See you all later.

Seagate.