Naruto snarled. The scent trail he'd been following vanished again, disappearing beneath the stench of men. He could feel the entire mountain quaking under his feet, reverberating with the rage that blazed within him. The red haze that glazed his vision brought into focus every single detail, even with the extreme lack of light.

He was standing in a triangular-shaped cavern, taller than the previous tunnel he'd been traveling though, and wider as well. Three tunnels, including the one he'd just exited branched off, leading into utter darkness that even his demon-enhanced eyes couldn't penetrate. He could hear footsteps behind him, but they were familiar - Havoc's. Some rational corner of his mind wanted to wait for the Lieutenant, but the louder, more passionate part, demanded that he continue on.

'Waiting for Havoc-dono will only slow us down,' the Fox whispered, though its tone was slightly uncertain.

'Fox...?'

'… Go.' the unease was gone. 'He will have brought others, so be careful that you don't harm them.'

Sweat dripped into Naruto's eyes and he wiped it away absently as his three chakra-tails lashed.

"The only ones who will pay are the bastards that took Edward."

Inside, the demon grinned with human teeth. Perfect.

'Yes, but will you have enough power?'

Naruto began to move toward one of the tunnels where the tang of metal was strongest. 'What are you talking about? I have more than enough to take care of these assholes.'

'But these men have weapons that you haven't been able to learn how to defend against. And I'm certain that they won't pull their shots like Hawkeye- san does.'

Naruto frowned, not liking the way the conversation was going. Liquid trickled into his mouth and he suddenly realized that he was sweating blood. 'I'll just have you heal me.'

'I can only push a small amount of chakra through this seal, definitely not enough to cure any sort of mortal would. Even what I'm pushing through now is hardly even a fraction of what I've had before.'

Naruto's steps faltered, but he refused to pause out of fear of what would happen if he stopped. 'You want me to release the seal.'

'If we continue this way, you will die. Human bodies were not made to handle the pressure of a demon's magic. If you were to create me fourth tail, your blood would boil your heart in your chest, and then who would help Edward?'

Naruto trudged on, thinking. He could remember a time, hardly a month ago, when he would have been overjoyed to let the Kyuubi loose and lose his mind to the darkness that was sure to follow. He would have welcomed the destruction of whatever soul he had, but now...

Havoc cared for him. Had specifically told him that he cared if Naruto lived or died. And Alphonse seemed to rather enjoy his company. And then Edward...

'What will happen to me? What are you going to do to Edward? To anyone else?'

The Fox's bitter, sardonic laugh was negated as it came out sounding like tinkling bells. 'Moments ago you didn't care whether you lived or died and now you worry about what I'm going to do?' Before Naruto could comment, the Fox continued. 'I swear on the soul of my love that I will never harm anyone you care about as long as they pose no threat to you.'

There was a man suddenly standing outside the entrance to a tunnel and shining a light that would have blinded Naruto had his pupils not contracted as quickly as they did.

"Holy shit! What the fuck are you doing here?!" the man cried, staggering back a pace. He pulled out a gun from his waist and fired, hitting a rock square where Naruto's heart would have been had the boy not activated a Kawarimi no jutsu in time.

"What the hell's going on out there?!" A half-naked man emerged from the tunnel, holding the front of his pants together instead of zipping them up. "If you want your turn, then don't fire off your - argh!"

The man keeled over as the first's head exploded in a gush of red fire and gore. The body collapsed heavily, leaking all over the trembling ground and a bay - obviously no older than eighteen - stood there, glowing a freaky red. He gaped at the blood-drenched boy said seemingly to no one, "What do I have to do, Fox?"

He reached for the gun that the dead man once held as the boy clapped his hands together. A terrified though suddenly entered his head. 'Oh, crap - another Alchemist!'

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto screamed at the same time that the Fox howled a spell in its ancient language. The bars of the seal collapsed, turning bright red the moment they hit the den's boiling water. Chakra flowed through Naruto's body, burning his insides and scorching his chakra pathways raw. He screamed in pain as a single clone appeared beside him, dressed in his old clothes and dripping with bloody sweat.

Naruto forced himself not to collapse, watching as his clone suddenly morphed. He watched his own scrawny body lengthen and soften, clothes melting away and featured rearranging until they formed a young woman with sharp, foxy features and gloriously naked. From what had once been the clone's hitai-ate, a small, pear-shaped ball grew, glowing a peaceful yellow, and dropped to the bloody ground. The woman - the Kyuubi no Kitsune - extended her arms, grinning wickedly as she flexed her fingers. A chuckle began in her throat, oozing through her body until she trembled with laughter.

The man aimed his gun, stunned by her immobilizing beauty. His mind commanded his finger to pull the trigger, but he couldn't move. Her very nakedness seemed its own weapon, disarming any opponent that would have looked upon her. His breath caught in his throat as she suddenly looked at him with blood red eyes, pupils slit like a cat's.

"Dear child," she spoke, voice crisp and cool like the first steps on fresh snow, "I think we should gather information now."

The bloody boy took a staggering step forward, almost collapsing before the woman grabbed onto his shoulder. Red fire passed between them and the boy stood straighter, voce gravely as he demanded, "Where's Ed- kun?"

He continued to aim the gun, realizing belatedly that his hand was trembling, making a mockery of his bravado. "W-who?"

"He sounds like Hinata-chan," the woman mused as the boy's hands connected. Light flared on his body and a giant throwing star of red fire appeared, sinking into the man's leg.

"Where's Ed-kun?!"

The man screamed as his leg fell off, detached at the knee where the weapon had wounded him. There was the sound of his fellow men rushing in, only to be crushed by a flare of red expelled from the woman's palm.

"My child's mate," she demanded, looking at the scorched bodies that suddenly appeared. "Where is he?"

"The blonde," a man gasped, the only of the group whose vocal cords hadn't been burnt away. "He's in there."

Her eyes flashed and she looked to the boy. "Naruto?"

He held the chakra-shuriken, feeling the swell of power the Kyuubi lent him, soothing his injured insides. He hesitated, torn between vengeance and the need to find Edward. He could hear behind him the shouts of the military. They would stop him, he knew. Stop him and keep him from his mate, as Kyuubi had so put it.

He slammed the shuriken into the man's stomach, watching as the Fox touched the chakra to transform it into steel. The man was quivering, crying and coughing blood into his naked chest. Naruto knew he would live for minutes longer, but eventually his ruptured organs would bleed him dry. He noticed out of the corner of his eye the Fox pick up the glowing ball and, without even a shimmer of jutsu, a blue and red kimono draped over her body, drooping low over her chest and swishing around her thighs like liquid.

"Will you lead, child?" the Kyuubi asked, her smoldering eyes focused on him. "Or will you wait for Havoc- dono?"

Naruto pressed onwards, uncaring if he stepped on any of the burnt men in his way. Several, he knew, were already dead from lungs that had burst into flame upon the Kyuubi's attack. He wished that they were still alive, just so that they could feel pain.

"Havoc-dono will stop us," he told the Fox. "I need to find Ed- kun." He suddenly realized that his bones had stopped aching and his sweat was free from his own blood. "Let's go."


Edward was grateful when the men suddenly left. He wasn't sure that his body would have been able to take all the abuse they had promised him. He'd heard the gunshot and he'd heard the screams. He hated admitting it, even to himself, but he was scared.

He was scared that they would come back. He was scared that he would die. He was scared that they would force Alphonse to have to continue on his own.

He was scared that he would never seen Naruto again.

He wished, not for the first time, that he had a god he could pray to, but he shook that though away. Even if there was a god somewhere, they were probably the reason that he was here. Tears welled in the back of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Even now he would never allow anyone to see him so far fallen.

His still-flesh arm and leg had long been forced into numbness, but he attempted to move them if only to try and prevent a need for amputation. A noise was suddenly at the door and Edward froze. Surely the men had dealt with whatever had happened and now, as he feared, they were back to cause him more pain.


"Naruto!" Colonel Mustang called loudly, stepping pat the mess of half-dead bodies. He could see the blonde ten yards away along with a tall woman dressed in Eastern clothing. He rubbed his fingertips together, feeling the rough flint sewn into the fabric grinding together. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use the gloves on Naruto. "Halt!"

The woman looked up at him, delicately juggling a glowing ball between her hands. "We aren't moving forward anymore," she called back to him cheekily, "so there's no need for an ego trip."

Naruto's hands flew together and a ball of light formed between his palms, pulsating between deep red and bright blue. He screamed a single word and then hurled the light into a wooden door, flinging it off its hinges. Colonel Mustang stepped forward, fingers snapping automatically. No matter how much he liked the boy, he couldn't let him get away with when it was possible he had something to do with all of this.

The spear of fire Mustang had commanded flew at Naruto, but the woman's fingers connected and a wall of red appeared, harmlessly deflecting the flames away. She moved toward him a single step as Naruto bounded into the room with a cry of, "Edward!"

Naruto almost collapsed at the sight before him - Edward tied down to a broken-down bed, naked. His automail limbs had been removed and tossed away, and there were bruises and dried blood running up and down what remained of his body. His gold eyes were bloodshot and full of fear.

Naruto's hands clenched and he spoke softly, "Ed-kun...?"

"Naruto..." Edward croaked, voice harsh from lack of use.

The bloody blonde staggered forward. He could hear the Kyuubi speaking, but ignored her, instead choosing to remove the chains that bound Edward. He knew he was crying - what little he could see now that the demon-induced haze had left his vision was blurred.

Edward flinched away as Naruto moved to his arm, the action looking more unconscious than purposeful, but it still pained Naruto deeply. 'They did bad things to you, didn't they?' Naruto thought to himself. 'They did the same thing to you that I did to Sasuke...'

"Don't worry, Ed-kun," he spoke, trying to sound reassuring. "They won't hurt you again. I made sure of it."

He was suddenly aware of a presence behind him and he turned into the Kyuubi's side, feeling her wrap her arms around him. Chakra passed from her body to his and he heard her speaking, "Be careful with Edward - he's just been hurt." the she hugged him close and whispered to him, "Now sleep, child. We'll take care of Edward."


Wow, we're almost at the end. The rest of this story is all written up and it just waiting to be typed. I'm very pleased with myself, actually - this will be the second ever multi-chaptered thing I've completed.

I don't own Naruto nor FMA, so, till next time!