Disclamer: I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

Date: 07/16/08

Summary: While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

Reviews: Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox
Chapter 11: Border Trouble

It had been two weeks and the group had finally made it to the border. If they'd traveled straight to their destination, then it would've only taken a day or two, but they'd zigzagged around the entire northwest side of the country making stops at smaller villages to deliver needed supplies. Many towns were regulars who had standard supplies, and even bought specific medicines from Takuro. The cart drivers were well versed in medicine, and were able to teach the child guards various medical techniques.

Keiji proved to be the best client they could ask for. The man may have been scary but he was kind in his own ways, and being a former ninja he even trained them in order to, as the man said, "Raise the quality of you stupid guards". He taught them the tree walking exercise, which they all practiced when they stopped at night or when they were in a village. Sakura had mastered the exercise first, and Sasuke and Naruto finished after a week of practice. Both Kakashi and Keiji were suspicious though, there were times when Naruto didn't seem to be trying, the child even seemed to be bored while practicing. It was the attitude of someone who already knew the lesson and was only wasting his time.

Kakashi thought it was possible, the boy was highly surprising. The kunai and shuriken handling he'd shown during the bell test was far better then his test scores indicated, the scarecrow was beginning to think his student was better then anyone first assumed. There was also the strange jutsu that he knew as well, someone had taught him a new kind of light technique, one which created pure light without using fire or lightning as a medium. They had needed to find a specific herb in one of the wagons, but it had been at night and they couldn't use a fire lantern without the risk of catching the contents on fire. Naruto had just hopped up on the wagon and created a small ball of light and asked which plant they needed. Not only had Kakashi never seen a jutsu like that before, he'd never even heard of something like it. The boy was secretive too, he wouldn't show his sensei or his employer how it worked. He didn't even show the secrets to Sakura when she asked about it, Sasuke hadn't bugged him at all but even he was curious about the technique.

When they got to the boarder forest, nobody was surprised to find nothing special. There was only a wide road, wide enough to fit three, maybe four wagons on, which wound through the forest. Just before they were about to enter the border area, Keiji stopped their caravan and gave them a short lecture. "All right brats, the forest we're about to enter is part of the border for the country, we may have been attacked once before but chances are we'll get hit a lot harder in there, anybody know why?"

Sakura raised her hand and said, "Diplomatic complications. Police and army forces of one country can't pass into another without permission. All the bandits have to do is strike on one side of the border, then move to the other to avoid persecution. As long as they never strike someone or something too important, the country can't send troops into another without it being an invasion. It's a good strategy except when two countries are trusted allies."

"Correct," The gruff man gave Sakura a smile as he continued, "The actual border is the river which runs through the forest, all a bandit group has to do is cross the river to avoid being caught. If anyone is going to attack us, they'll do it there. Most bandit groups only cause trouble on one side then have their base on the other to so they never commit a crime in their home. Keep your guard up and have weapons ready, if we're lucky then we can be on the other side of the forest by nightfall."

Naruto raised his hand and asked, "Won't it cause trouble to have us cross the border? We're Konoha nin going into Kusa."

Kakashi answered that question, "No, right now we've been hired by Takuro as guards and are being paid to protect him until he reaches the first village in Grass Country. We have a purpose there, and once we've completed our mission we'll leave. There's no need to fear so long as you don't attack any of the Kusa Shinobi."

"All right, bring on the bandits." Naruto seemed excited about fighting, both Kakashi and Keiji worried that the blond might start a fight if he wasn't careful.

--

According to Takuro, they'd were a third of the way through the forest and still hadn't been attacked and that was not normal. "We usually get attacked by some group about now, even if they aren't that strong. We may not have anything special, but most bandit groups attack anything that looks of value. Something's wrong."

Just as he said it, someone began walking toward their group. He was a teen, probably only a year or so older then Naruto and the others. His red hair was short and striking, he stood about three inches taller then Sasuke and his body was well muscled. His posture said he could use the two katana strapped to his waste, as did his eyes. They were a hazel color but cold and malicious.

In an instant, Kakashi was in front of the boy while the others kept a look-out for an ambush. The Copy Nin fixed the boy with as cold a glare as he could and said, "How many others are in your group?"

The child didn't seem to be affected by the glare and replied, "I don't work as a group, only alone. I hate bandits, and I've taken care of most of the ones in the forest."

So that's the reason we haven't been attacked, Naruto thought.

Kakashi just looked at the teen and said, "If you're not a bandit then you're not after these supplies, what do you want?"

Naruto's sensei suddenly jumped back to avoid the boy's slash. The child had drawn out his swords and attacked faster then any of the team could believe. He wasn't as fast as the jonin, but his strikes were at least at a high chunin level. "I'm known as Keitaro Juino, and the caravan can leave. The only thing I want is the lives of all the ninja's here. If there's one thing I hate more then bandits, its shinobi."

The sound of his voice was just as cold as his eyes, he meant what he said. Kakashi looked at the boy, then glanced back at his group. "Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto." The three jumped forward to join their master. "Go ahead of us Mr. Takuro, I don't think this boy is lying, so you shouldn't have any trouble. We'll meet you at the bridge."

The merchant looked concerned, but he signaled his drivers to move forward. As he passed them by, he said, "Be careful Kakashi. Something about this kid makes me worried." Soon the man had turned a corner and was out of sight, the ninjas began appraising the swordsman.

"What village are you from?" Sasuke asked. He didn't see any indicator on the teen, but he wanted to be sure.

Keitaro just looked over at the raven-haired boy with pure hate in his eyes and replied, "I was planning on giving you a quick death, but thinking I'm from one of those disgusting villages ensures a slow and painful end." Hearing their home talked about so disgracefully caused everyone, even Kakashi, to narrow their eyes. "I'll chop you up piece by piece from the legs up."

"No, you won't." The jonin stated. He rushed the red head and slashed with a kunai, but the child used one of his swords to turn aside the strike and lashed out with the other. The Copy Nin was forced to pull back as the boy began attacking with everything he had. He's good, but I'm better. With those swords in his hands, he can't make any hand signs to use jutsu. It's impossible to be this good without being a ninja. The jonin quickly made the signs for Replacement, everything went perfectly until he stopped to activate the jutsu while the teen hit him, then he found that for some horrifically unexpected reason the technique failed to activate. All he got for his trouble was a shallow chest slash, not enough to be life threatening, but it did hamper his movements slightly.

Trying to figure out what was going on, the man tried to focus some chakra into his legs so he could get some distance, but found that he couldn't access his reserves. What the hell? Where'd my chakra go? This is like the time's I've fought with a Hyuga, but he doesn't have a Byakugan. The jonin was so surprised that he let his opponent slice fairly deep into both is left arm and his right leg. Keitaro was about to stab his opponent in the chest, but was forced to jump back as several shuriken were thrown at him.

Naruto and the others rushed forward to protect their sensei. They'd been watching from the sidelines and couldn't understand the turn of events. One minute Kakashi was dodging his opponent's strikes, and the next his jutsu had failed and he was getting hacked to pieces. "Sakura," said the blond. "Try to patch up Kakashi-sensei the best you can, we'll take care of this loser." The girl nodded and began wrapping her master while her team began their fight.

"A couple of genin, this should be easy." The red head had one of his swords resting on his shoulder as he looked at his new opponents. "I probably won't need my Kekkei Genkai against you two."

Naruto looked on with suspicion. A Bloodline Ability? Did he use that to freeze Kakashi or something? He began racking his brain, trying to think of what ability he could have while Sasuke just rushed forward and began attacking. The boy pumped chakra into his legs and started off with taijutsu, punching and kicking as hard as he could, but his opponent just dodged or blocked strikes with his swords. Sasuke wasn't slow, his opponent was too damn fast for him. Sasuke's taijutsu jumped to a high genin level when he used chakra to boost his speed and strength, and mine jumps to a low chunin level with chakra. This guy's speed is at least at a high chunin level.

The raven threw a few shuriken at his opponent, made the signs for his family's technique, then… Out from his mouth shot a blazing ball of flames, the Uchiha's Grand-Fireball Technique. Keitaro dodged to the left, which Sasuke anticipated as he threw a handful of shuriken to meet his opponent. What wasn't expected was when the red-head calmly used his swords to bat away most of the projectiles. The teen had a bored expression as he asked, "Is that all you can do?" It got Sasuke angry, but he didn't have anytime to retort because his opponent began his offense.

The guy was just too damn quick, for every one slash Sasuke was able to block, two more got through. Luckily, the teen was serious about their slow deaths. None of the wounds were critical, most of them were shallow and the blood wasn't flowing too much. Suddenly, the raven fell down to one knee and Keitaro was about to strike his opponent's back when Naruto rushed forward with three clones to support his teammate. The red head moved back to avoid the bunshin as the real Naruto stopped in front of Sasuke and completed his jutsu. He launched a non-lethal Wind Blast at his opponent, hopping the swordsman wouldn't be able to dodge the wide area of the shockwave.

However, the teen proved his skill not by dodging the attack, but by grabbing one of the clones and throwing it to intercept the blast. As he used his swords to dispel the other bunshin, Sasuke charged again only he was much faster then before. He was able to match the swordsman blow for blow and as the two broke apart Naruto could see why, his teammate's eyes had transformed into their Sharingan form. With those, he could predict his opponents moves much easier then before.

However, despite the turn of events, the carrot-topped swordsman only looked at them calmly, "Hmm, I'd heard most of the Uchiha had died off, I didn't expect to meet a Sharingan here. Also, meeting a genin who can use Kage Bunshin is rare, I underestimated you." That didn't bode well for the shinobi. He was kicking our asses and he wasn't trying his best? Both Sasuke and Naruto had the same thought. "I guess I'll just have to use my bloodline ability against you."

"I'm not going to give you the chance!" Yelled Naruto. He made his familiar hand signs and yelled, "Shadow Doppelganger", except nothing appeared. It wasn't just that, he couldn't feel his Chakra at all. Glancing over at Sasuke, Naruto found the Uchiha's Sharingan had deactivated, and judging from the boy's confused look it hadn't been voluntary. Then it finally hit him, he remembered an entry in Yoshi's Kekkei Genkai book and realized what they were facing. It seemed impossible, that bloodline was suppose to have been wiped out, but there couldn't be another explanation. We've got to get out of here and regroup. Naruto quickly thought of a plan, he turned to Sasuke and whispered, "Buy me a few seconds, OK?"

For his part, Sasuke didn't know what his teammate had up his sleeve, but he was ready to trust the blond. Sasuke took out a handful of shuriken and threw them at his opponent while Naruto bolted into the forest. Keitaro just looked on and gave a smirk. "Looks like your teammate up and left you to die." His tone was mocking, and if Sasuke hadn't know Naruto any better, he would've agreed with the red head. Just as the teen was about to attack, several kunai were thrown at him by both Sakura and Kakashi.

"We need to hold him off until Naruto gets back," the jonin said to his students. While smirking, Keitaro began to walk forward, but he was forced back again by another distraction, Naruto. Actually, it was a ton of Narutos, at least thirty of them were charging the sword wilder. There were so many that they couldn't see the teen anymore, which was exactly what the blond haired ninja wanted.

Suddenly, Sasuke and the rest of his team found themselves being carried away by various Naruto bunshin, while doubles of them all stayed behind to act as decoys. Sasuke tried to complain, but Naruto kept a hand clamped over his mouth while he whispered, "We've got to regroup with Keiji and discuss this guy. Those bunshin will run another direction and hopefully he'll follow them. Keep quiet so he doesn't notice us." The team merely nodded and let themselves be carried, both Kakashi and Sasuke were injured and Sakura wasn't nearly as fast as the blond. Naruto only hoped that they could find some way to counter their opponent's power.

--

The halfway point had a bridge over a river, there was space cleared on the sides of the road for people to make camp or rest without blocking the way for others. The land formed a small cliff next to the river which made a six foot drop into the water. There was only a regular wooden bridge crossing the river's gap so the expanse wasn't huge but it wasn't small either, it was also too fast to swim making the bridge completely necessary. Their employer was waiting for them with medical supplies, and he didn't seem very surprised that they'd only escaped their opponent. While the drivers were patching up their guards, everyone was discussing the red-haired teen. "All right," began Kakashi. "We need to figure out who that kid was and how to beat him. Any thoughts?"

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, "Well? You're the one who seemed to know something."

He didn't want to give them the bad news, but someone needed to let them know what they were fighting. "There isn't much new information I can give, you guys all felt it didn't you?"

"Felt what?" Asked the merchant.

Kakashi answered, "While we were fighting, we lost the ability to access our chakra. It caused our ninjutsu to fail and we couldn't increase our speed either."

The blond just nodded. "That's his bloodline, the Negation power. He can form a field around himself where chakra can't be created or used by people."

The others didn't want to believe it, but the way they couldn't tap into their chakra… "Do you know any details, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

With a nod, the child continued. "He doesn't have the ability to turn the field off, just to expand or contract it. He is always at the center, so he can never use chakra or jutsu himself, but that just means he can focus on improving his taijutsu and kenjustu, and his opponents become unable to use their ninjutsu against him."

"Impossible." Sasuke was being his obstinate self. "There's no way an ability that powerful could exist."

"It shouldn't still exist," replied the blond. "According to what I read, that bloodline appeared about 200 years ago and the entire shinobi community united to wipe it out. I don't know how it still exists, but it does."

Kakashi eyed his student and asked, "Where did you learn about this, Naruto? I've never even herd rumors about this bloodline."

The child gave his sensei a look before replying, "I disappeared for four years before entering the academy. In those years, I trained with a man named Yoshi Ichihara and he had me read a book about various bloodline abilities. Part of the information was whether or not the Kekkei Genkai still existed, and the Negation section said it had been wiped out."

Keiji decided to ask a more practical question. "Kid, do you remember what that book said about weaknesses?"

Getting into a thinking position, Naruto responded, "Weaknesses… The ability is tied to his own will and stamina, so he needs to use his own energy to expand the field. If he's unconscious then the field shrinks down to only his body and he can't maintain it if he's exhausted. However, a grown adult can affect an area with a radius of 15 meters without too much trouble.

"The biggest weakness is that it can't negate chakra itself, only it's creation and use." The confused looks of his companions forced Naruto to elaborate. "You saw it didn't you? My clones were able to get in close without dispelling. We can't activate a jutsu while inside his Negation Field, but we can form ninjutsu outside the barrier and bring them inside. Something that uses a continual chakra flow wouldn't work, but a jutsu which is formed from a set amount of power can be used. If we can get him to hold still, we could hit him with a distance attack."

Suddenly, Naruto got a dazed look in his eye and before saying, "He just got rid of the decoys. He's coming here. Should we run or fight?"

Kakashi turned to the merchants and said, "We're the only ones he's after, you guys could try to run and get to the next village."

Keiji only looked back to his drivers. They all gave determined nods, causing the head to smile and reply, "It's decided, we'll stay to help. You four are part of our group now, temporary maybe but still a part. My old ninja training doesn't let me leave behind a team member without good reason. I may not be able to do much anymore, but I've still got good speed and my fighting is top notch."

Within another minute, Keitaro appeared with his swords drawn only to find Sakura and the two injured shinobi at the wagons. "Where's your friend? You know you can't win with a weak little girl and a couple of injured losers, I don't care if one of them is a jonin." The group glared at him, but he kept his distance and a faint rustling alerted him to an attack from the left. He got his swords up to block a kick from Naruto only to find another Naruto had hidden on his other side and quietly attacked there. Fortunately for the swordsman, the child only punched his arm, he didn't stab it, and with a couple of slashes his opponents dispelled.

Another rush came, this time in the form of real opponents. Both Naruto and Keiji were attacking with kunai and fist, trying to wear down their opponents at the very least. Keitaro seemed to have a small amount of trouble with this pair, the real Naruto didn't just dispel with a single slash, and his taijutsu style was extremely strong, and the merchant was even more powerful, he'd been a former mid-level jonin and his years in retirement hadn't deteriorated his skills too much. The red-head was still able to hold his own, even if he wasn't able to be offensive.

Suddenly, Kakashi rushed into the fight, and threw a single kunai at their opponent. The other two jumped back as far away as possible and it only then that Keitaro noticed the blade had a yellow handle. The swordsman was able to knock the knife back, but was seemingly caught by the resulting explosion. They'd activated the letter bomb outside the Negation Field, from what Naruto had told them it was a good plan that had a high chance of working. Just when they thought he was done for, something rushed out of the smoke left by the bomb. Somehow the teen had survived the blast with only a few scrapes, Kakashi was caught off guard and let himself be kicked in the gut. The blow was more powerful then before, the swordsman seemed pissed at his near death experience, and it gave him an extra boost in strength.

As the Jonin fell from the blow, he'd hit the area where the jonin had been slashed and it hurt like hell, Keitaro rushed over to Sakura and Sasuke to ensure there wouldn't be any more sneak attacks. The two tried hitting him with shuriken and kunai, but the projectiles were batted away effortlessly. Naruto could only watch as his teammates were knocked out by a couple of blows to the head. Damn it! This guy was tough enough to win against when he was calm. He's even more powerful when he's in a rage like this.

With the others out of the way, the teen began walking back to his opponents. He had the gall to kick Kakashi in the head on the way back, while they had time Keiji said, "Kid, I'll do everything I can to beat him here, but you need to run back to you village as fast as you can and tell them about this guy." Before the child could complain, the merchant elaborated. "He may not be a threat now, but with a few years of training he could beat a Kage. Tell your leader about this threat and make sure he's found and taken care of. Your still under my employment, so that's an order."

Naruto gave Keiji a nod before running back down the trail. In truth, he was afraid of their opponent. If it had been anyone else, he'd have fought, he trusted his strength. However, they were facing a man who could take their power away. After running for a minute something his sensei said floated back into his mind, "Those that abandon the mission are trash, but those that abandon their friends are even less then that." Remembering those words, Naruto stopped and looked back. None of my sensei ever trained me to be a coward and leave behind a friend, I need to find a way to beat that guy. The blond began running back as he thought. If need be, I can use my necklace to escape, but I can only take others I'm touching with me. There are too many of us spread out for us to escape that way. I might be able to take Keitaro with me, but that might just get me killed and the mountain might send him back right here.

The boy arrived back before coming up with a plan, and he found everything exactly as he expected, Keiji had been able to get a few hits in but his opponent was in better shape. Hell, the merchant was on the ground while the swordsman held his blades up to land a finishing blow. As he was going to stab he merchant, Naruto jumped in the way to take the blow for the man and the sword became imbedded in the boy's abdomen. Keitaro was surprised the blond had come back, but was also pleased. It meant he didn't have to hunt anyone down later. Before the swordsman could strike again five Kage Bunshin began attacking, forcing the man to abandon the sword in the blond because Naruto refused to let go of the weapon.

As the red head was forced back, Naruto pulled the sword out of himself. He could feel blood in the back of his throat, but he knew a simple stab wound would heal quickly thanks to the Kyuubi. Keiji, on the other hand was completely livid. "What are you doing here brat! I told you to run!"

Naruto just smirked and replied, "I'm a ninja too, and I'll never abandon my friends even if it means going against orders. I'll protect the people who are precious to me."

"If you think you little act will save you, then you're mistaken." Keitaro had finished with the clones and had listened to their conversation.

"Act? What do you mean act?" Naruto was confused by his opponent. It was strange, the swordsman didn't seem the type to try confusing his enemy, just to go for the kill.

"The whole 'protect people' crap. I know what ninja are, blood thirsty killers for hire. Murderers of the lowest kind who only find pleasure in taking life. When you can't find a job for killing, you go around slaughtering random people. Genin are just killers in training." The look in his eyes said the red haired teen believed what he was saying.

"What the hell are you talking about?! That's insane!" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only is he trying to kill us, he's doing so under false assumptions.

"It's not insane, its fact," was Keitaro's reply. "All ninja's are murderous bastards who deserve death. That's why I'm going to wipe them all out. Both the ninjas and their ninja villages will become extinct, nothing will be left to remember you killing bastards. This world will become a much better place without you disgusting freaks."

The teenager's words only got Naruto angry. Even the blond knew that ninja weren't need in the world, that the planet probably would be better off without them. But to say that all ninja were murderers who enjoyed killing, that they went on random killing sprees for no reason. The garbage Keitaro was spitting out only pissed Naruto off, far more then anything even Yoshi had done to him.

"After I'm done with you, I'll be slicing up your partners and there'll be five less shinobi infesting this world."

"NO YOU WON'T!" The wounds on Naruto began healing over as the boy let his rage overflow. His eyes became feral and the whisker like scars on his face elongated and grew darker. What surprised the swordsman most was the feeling of chakra that came off the younger boy, it was dark, foul and appearing despite being within his Field. Keitaro also found the chakra was much more powerful then before, the blond surprised him by rushing forward and grabbing his remaining sword while kicking him in the chest. The teen was forced to let go of his weapon as he was sent flying back, Naruto just to dropped the weapon as he rushed forward and began striking with his fists alone.

Kakashi looked on, wondering what to do. He was afraid of the power inside Naruto, that seal was breaking, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it. His wounds hadn't healed, and he was still in the swordsman's Negation Field. Keitaro was still strong without his weapons, but Naruto was better in hand to hand fighting, even when he lost control, his body remembered how to fight. For every two strikes the red head block, another got through his guard and the punches had become much more powerful. Taking even one out three hits was hard, and blocking the others was quickly causing his arms to go numb.

Eventually, the red head had to drop his guard, it was just too exhausting. He didn't know what was up with the blond or what happened, but the kid didn't seem tired in the slightest. After his guard was down, the blond struck hard with a punch. It was simple but his opponent was too tired to dodge, the attack not only knocked the boy unconscious, but also sent him flying back to ledge above the river. Seeing the threat out cold calmed Naruto down and as the blond walked up to his opponent he began noticing something was different.

Keitaro seemed to be surrounded by a strange glow, and now that the boy had his mind back he noticed other strange feelings too. He could 'feel' Kakashi and the others, the boy seemed to know where everyone around him was. It wasn't like he was seeing or smelling on a different level, it was something else entirely, as if he'd gained a new sense… Is this spirit sense? Naruto looked over to Kakashi and he saw a glow, An aura the boy thought, around his sensei. It was different then Keitaro's just like how no two people were the same. However, Kakashi was awake and emotions were playing across his aura, and if Naruto guessed, he'd call the main emotion fear. Keiji's aura was filled with amazement and curiosity, likely from how he'd just transformed and beaten their adversary.

Sasuke and Sakura were both unconscious, but they had unique aura's too. When he looked away, Naruto found he could distinguish between the feelings he got from the others, so that in the future he'd always be able tell which direction someone was at the very least. He was only a foot away from the fallen swordsman and when he looked down at his opponent, his heart clenched. What he saw was something far different then he'd ever expected from the bastard. Back when he first begged Yoshi to teach him spirit techniques, the man had tried to explain how difficult it was to kill when a person gained spirit powers. Now Naruto had experienced the why, and he found it to be absolutely horrible.

Suddenly the cliff beneath the blond's feet began to move. The land had been damaged from damage, and the combined weight of the two young men caused the ledge to crumble. Naruto could've easily have jumped and let his would-be killer drown in the river, and if his Spirit Sight hadn't activated then he would have done so. But the ability had awakened and now Naruto found himself reaching out to save the carrot-topped teen. He was able to gab onto the boy just before they hit the water.

With only the ability to watch, Kakashi looked on as Naruto fell down with the swordsman. Though Kakashi could now use his chakra again, he still had his wounds to deal with, and by the time the jonin got to the riverside, Naruto had already been washed away. The river wasn't just fast, it seemed to be so fast that a person could get swept down at least a mile within just a minute, and that cliff would make it hard to get himself out of the water.

As Kakashi watched with a worried look, his employer came up beside him and said, "That kid will be all right. The river might be fast, but there aren't any sharp rocks in there. Naruto seemed too hardy to let himself drown, so lets get you fixed up again. It may take until tomorrow or the next day, but that kid will come back soon."

Kakashi let himself be lead away, because he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't case after them or swim with his injuries, in fact there was only one thing he could think of in this situation. The man quickly bit his finger and smeared blood on his hands, and after a few hand signs he placed his palm on the ground and out popped a nin-dog. The animal looked up and awaited orders, Kakashi finally said, "Go down river and try to find Naruto. We don't know where he'll wash up, but it'll happen eventually." With a nod, the dog raced down the river side and the jonin watched until it was out of sight. He'd considered using the dogs against Keitaro, but decided no to. With the boy's power and skill, some of them could easily be killed, so it wasn't advisable. Kakashi walked back to the wagons where Sakura and Sasuke were being treated, and the man could only hope.

(TBC)

--

A/N: What do you think of the ability? It might be a little cheap, but Sharingan is thought of as cheap too, and the Bone Pulse ability is near unbeatable. I tried to give the ability a few weaknesses, but there's only so much I can do without completely ruining the power.

I haven't done a real cliff hanger in a long time, next chapter we'll get to know more about Keitaro, and we might reach the end of this Negation Arc (I feel good about calling it that.)