I HAVE RETURNED! And I come bearing sunburns and a new chapter for all! Well actually the sunburn wore off already but the new chapter is here for your consumption. I took my dad's laptop down with me and devoted some time to writing you guys a nice long chapter. And my thanks to all of you for the well wishes you gave for my trip, that was very kind. Also much thanks to all those who thought my lovey dovey chapter in L.I.R. was well written. True that is the first time i've published a chapter like that but I have written the like before. I just never thought they were any good. Gah...just enjoy the chapter already!

Naruto watched from the branches of a forest giant several hundred yards from the small encampment. It was a simple thing to boost his eyesight with a bit chakra so he could watch Tomegi bluff her way through her explanation. His pride in his young grand niece knew no bounds as she successfully got them to believe her story.

He watched them long into the night, hours after they'd set the watch and gone to sleep. Around three a.m. he rose silently from his spot high atop the tree and, with a last loving look at the camp, turned and headed back to the inn.

>>>>

Tamaishi knocked on Naruto's door a few hours later and was greeted by a kunai at his throat when the door opened.

The old man gulped visibly and remained stock still. "This how you always treat your guests Makkuro?" He asked while moving as little as possible.

The dark figure just inside the doorway withdrew slightly and retracted the weapon from the older man's throat. A light flipped on to reveal a rather sad and tired Makkuro. His normal luster and bright smile were not in evidence this morning as he motioned for Tamaishi to step inside.

"Sorry bout that Tama," he said as he turned back towards the kitchen. "Wasn't expecting any visitors I got would be nice at this time of morning."

In the brief second before Makkuro disappeared around the corner into the kitchen Tamaishi caught a hint of color disappearing in the normal darkness of his friend's hair. The man blinked quickly and shook his head. 'Was that blond hair I just saw?'

"Expecting ANBU or something after that little incident the other night?" He asked quickly. "What'd you do with those kids you caught anyway? They still here?"

Makkuro reappeared with several cans of dried fruits in his arms. He didn't bother looking at the older man as he moved past and sat down to pack them into a large travel bag sitting on the couch. "Not really but it never hurts to be ready. The kids are gone."

Tamaishi looked surprised. "What? Did they escape? Or did you kill em? I don't wanna have to pull dead bodies out of hot springs Makkuro."

"I would never kill those three," Makkuro said with a hint of a smile pulling at the side of his mouth. "I'd never be able to live with myself if I did."

The surprise on the old man's face didn't slacken a bit. Instead it intensified. "You knew them? I saw that they were Leaf but I didn't think you knew them. I just thought you were being nice to em cause they were from your old village."

Makkuro's eyes flashed to the windows then back to Tamaishi. The warning they held was unmistakable. 'Keep your voice down' Tamaishi had the decency to look ashamed.

"Yes I knew them. I practically helped raise one of them," he said quietly.

Tamaishi blinked but chose not to say anything, instead taking the time to try an guess which it had been. Makkuro, mean while, continued to pack the bag on the sofa full of cloths and other personal items from around the house.

After several minutes of silence Tamaishi spoke again. "So is that why you're packin? Family nearly finds you so you start running again? Gotta say that's not exactly the best way to avoid your problems but it is a way."

Makkuro nodded as he hefted the nearly full bag onto his back and began tightening straps to make sure it's weight was distributed evenly over his shoulders, back, and hips. "I can't risk word leaking to whoever's in charge back home. I don't want hunter nin raiding the place and causing trouble," he said. A quick hand seal and four clones popped into existence around him.

Tamaishi took a step backward in shock at their sudden appearance. He'd seen Makkuro use this trick before but had never gotten a good up close look at the technique since the younger man tended to disperse the copies as soon as Tamaishi got sight of them. This time however it seemed his young friend didn't care about secrecy. Or about what they looked like.

"...Blond?"

Makkuro ignored the comment and addressed his clones. "Make one last sweep of the house and pick up anything I missed. You know what to look for." The clones nodded and, with little glances at Tamaishi, went about their job.

"Why are they...blond? Younger too?"

Tamaishi saw the slight grimace on his friends face as he looked away. "I've never been totally honest with you Tamaishi. But what else do you expect from a ninja?" The older man huffed a bit which made Makkuro smile.

"I saw the blond hair as you turned away," the rock ninja said, pointing to the other ninja's currently black hair. "If that was henge then it's damn good, especially if you've kept it up now for almost two years."

Makkuro's smile broke out from behind the tiredness at his friends comment. "Nah, its better then henge. A masterpiece really. Ever hear of Tsunade of the Legendary Three? The Godaime Hokage." A nod. "She and I developed it together."

Tough meaty jowls dropped in astonishment which, combined with the man's suddenly bugged out eyes, made such a great sight that Makkuro couldn't help but laugh heartily at his friend and boss. The man finally noticed he was being laughed at and shut his mouth with a click but continued to stare.

"She died years ago. I was nothin more than a student when she died. So how could you possibly..." His words died on his lips as Makkuro's eyebrow rose questioningly. Suddenly things began to click into place for the former rock nin. His friend's incredible talent and cunning, his confident attitude and constant smiles, and lastly his hidden blond hair which was mirrored by the four clones that chose that moment to return from their search of the house. The image they formed was a shady one at best but it was enough to make the connection for the older man. No one who lived in the elemental countries could ever forget that face.

The man, young man just didn't seem quite right anymore, standing before Tamaishi gathered the few small things the clones gave him and made them vanish into pockets of his pack. Then, with a wave of his hand, the clones disappeared in four puffs of smoke leaving the original standing in front of him.

"How could I possibly have been alive back then?" Makkuro finished for him, his face neutral. His eyes darkened with memory and age. "Look, Tamaishi... I'm sorry for deceiving you like I did. I would have preferred it another way but it was necessary. My face is still too recognizable, especially among ninja." He took a breath then continued. "You've been a great boss and a better friend then I could have hoped for which is why I'm doing what I'm doing. I don't want you or the inn put in danger because of my presence. If word leaked it could cause problems. There are dozens of groups who would still love to take me out because of the trouble I caused for them in the past."

Tamaishi nodded mechanically, still in awe of the man he'd unknowingly been in the presence of for close to two years. It still seemed like a dream to him. The man before him had been one of Stone villages number one bogeymen. The stories he'd heard about the famous Rokudaime of Konoha were so incredible he'd dismissed them as nothing but tall tales. But now, standing with him, he knew for certain that more then a few of those tall tales were more then likely true. Clones, he recalled, had been at the center of many of these tales. And after watching his friend use them to great effect on more than several occasions he was more prone to believe.

A pair of fingers snapped centimeters in front of Tamaishi's nose, effectively bringing him back from his musings. "Er, uh, sorry," he mumbled.

Naruto smiled and shook his head in mock disgust. "I tend to have that effect on people don't I? And here I never thought I'd have Sasuke's popularity problems."

The older man just stared.

"Hmm, wrong audience. Anyway. Before I leave there's one more thing I need to do." Naruto dug through his pants pocket and pulled out a small card. He looked at it quickly to make sure it was what he wanted then handed it to Tamaishi. He recognized it as a bank card of some sort.

"I've got too much money for my own good. Comes with living below your means for so long. That card will give you access to about fifty percent of it. I want you to invest it in the inn for me. I needed to diversify my investments anyway and I figured the inn was probably a good way to do that. You'll take care of that won't you?" Tamaishi nodded. "I'll put it in the hands of the owner. He'll know how to make best use of it."

"You make sure he does it well," Naruto said with a nod and a smile. He turned and surveyed the living room once more and found that he was satisfied with its appearance. He'd tried to get it back to the way he'd first seen it. With a contented smile he grabbed up the one thing that was out of place, the small travel atlas, and turned to the door.

Once they were both outside Naruto sealed the door with a jutsu and some blood to make sure it would only open willingly for him.

The two of them walked in silence back down to the inn. The sun's first rays were just beginning to enter the valley at that point. Warmth was seeping back into the air which caused a pleasant mist to rise and mingle with the already present vapors from the hot springs making it look like low hanging clouds had settled in the valley. The lights in the entryway to the inn cast a warm halo of light in the mist just outside. Together they stopped in this little patch of light and shook hands.

"Its been fun Tamaishi," Naruto said with a toothy smile. "Thanks for everything you've done for me."

Tamaishi smiled back, forgetting for a moment who the young man before him was, and took the proffered hand in one of his own and shook it gladly. "Can't say I've ever seen such a good worker as yourself, or a better ninja. Take care of yourself…Makkuro."

Naruto chuckled at the pause. "Remember me as Makkuro if you could. It'll make things easier if you're ever asked."

The old stone nin looked off into the mist for a moment then back to Naruto. "So where will you go now?"

The disguised blond returned to being serious. He held up the travel atlas. "I've decided to leave the elemental countries. I want to see more of the world and learn what can be learned outside of this land's borders." Inwardly however Naruto was shaking his head in mirth. 'Like I'd make the mistake of telling even you where I was going Tamaishi. I've already let you know too much about me. No, I'll be staying in the elemental countries for quite a while yet.'

"Well strait roads and clear skies to you Makkuro," Tamaishi said fondly. "Will you ever come by again?"

Naruto's eyes glinted strangely. He didn't answer directly, instead adjusting his pack again before turning toward the road. "Some day I might. Some day when I've rid myself of this curse of mine. Until then I won't look back. I can't. Otherwise I won't be able to move forward for all the pain I've seen." His eyes shifted up to the sky for a while as if remembering something. When he spoke again his voice echoed with the passion only found in voices bringing poetry to life. "'What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? To view each loved one blotted from life's page, And be alone on earth, as I am now.'"

There was a stillness between the two for the barest of moments. Then, like he was shaking off a bad dream, Naruto shifted and put his foot outside of the halo of light and into the semi-gloom beyond. "Goodbye Tamaishi. Thanks again old man," Naruto called as he walked off.

Tamaishi guffawed loudly. "Old man? You've got a lot of things to learn yet you young sprout!" he shouted back.

The answering chuckle and the upraised hand was the last Tamaishi saw as his friend disappeared into the roiling mists.

>>>>

A half hour after leaving the valley Naruto stepped off the road headed north and found a convenient bush. Shedding his disguise as well as his cloths, he transformed into someone completely new. His hair went all silver and his face roughened up until he resembled his thirty-five year old self only with silver hair and without his whisker marks. He donned a pair of brown lose fitting travel cargos, an orange and black t-shirt, and a rough gray and green military style button up jacket which he left open.

When he was done he hefted his bag once more and turned west into the woods. The going was smooth and beautiful. The morning sun pierced the woods in ever shifting columns of light that traveled the forest floor. Birds were out in full force as were all the other woodland creatures, creating a diverse melody of sound and sight into which Naruto trod, never looking back.

>>>>

Over the next thirty odd years Naruto hoofed it across the elemental countries. From the high storm wracked peaks of Lightning Country to the rolling hills of the Grass. His time as Hokage gave him the mental maps of cities from every nation and enough knowledge on dress and custom for him to blend when he needed where he needed.

He skipped from town to town, taking up odd jobs or sometimes not working at all. Messenger boy, clerk, schoolteacher, guard, artist, and gardener were all filled by him at one point and at every age possible, from a healthy sixteen to a decrepit ninety.

Seldom staying anywhere for more then a year Naruto managed to build up an impressive list of visited towns and cities. And at each of those places, whether it be a small hamlet or a huge city, he tried to change his appearance at least slightly. Sometimes it was nothing more than a change of hair color and a fake scar. Other times it was a change across the age spectrum.

And in each place he made friends. Naruto just couldn't help it. His naturally upbeat attitude tended to attract people to him. And since his jobs tended to keep him in contact with people on a regular basis he invariably made a friendly acquaintance or two, usually upwards of a dozen or more. He tried on occasion not to make friends but that never worked out and he'd eventually quit trying to avoid friendships because of the stress it caused.

But making friends meant leaving friends, and there in lay Naruto's problem. His desire to be with people and make friends did not fit well with the life he'd been forced in to. He had already seen so many of his friends die or grow old while he stayed young that he had come to wish for death simply to stop the memories and so he could see Hinata and his friends again. Humans, he decided, were not meant to live as long as he had, or at least not by themselves. Yet his love for life and his love of Hinata kept him from taking his own. And so the cycle continued.

>>>>

And then, thirty-seven years after leaving Konoha, Naruto abruptly got on a boat and left his land of birth and ventured out into the world beyond the elementals. The boat made its way north. Ten days later it put in at Singapore.

Now Naruto had seen a lot of things in his life, but nothing could prepare him for what he saw when he stepped off the boat. There were buildings taller then mountains, vehicles of every possible kind, and people by the millions. He was assaulted by smells and sights so varied that he spent almost half an hour just standing on the dock taking it all in. When he did move he did it cautiously, keeping one eye on where he was going, one eye on his pockets and pack, and all his other senses on the crowd.

After figuring out exactly where he was Naruto tried to acquire money. But after several attempts to convert what cash he had into local currency failed, partly because of language difficulties and partly because everyone who finally understood what he was trying to do laughed at the bills and coins he produced, Naruto went to plan B.

Seeking out the seediest part of town possible Naruto undertook to find an agent for the underworld. Having worked for and busted several underworld operations during his time as a chuunin and jounin Naruto knew what to look for and how to work his way into whatever he found. It took him all of ten minutes before he was threading his way down a dark alleyway following a man dressed in a stylish but dirty business suit.

The man lead him into the office of what appeared to be a warehouse then down several sets of stairs into a sub-basement where the pair were stopped by guards and checked for weapons. After surrendering his pack, which contained his hip pouch and weapons holster, and all but a brace of senbon needles which he chose to hide away just in case, he and the dealer were allowed into the crime lord's lair.

A stocky little man of about fifty sat in a chair behind a large desk. He wore a similar suit to the man who'd led Naruto in only his was white and in perfect condition. Naruto's guide whispered for several moments in the boss's ear before stepping back and motioning to Naruto.

Naruto, currently disguised as a twenty something kid with artificial looking red hair, something he'd seen a lot of since he'd gotten off the boat, and dressed in gray slacks and a button up black shirt, took a deep breath and reached down into his shirt and pulled out his second most prized possession. Tsunade's precious stone necklace swung gently from Naruto's fist, pulling the light of the room into itself and creating its own internal glow. Naruto watched as the man's eyebrows rose in interest. The man motioned him forward and leaned out over his desk to get a better look at it. After almost a minute of inspection the man sat back with a huff and looked at Naruto shrewdly. Naruto stared back passively and merely waited.

The man nodded after a few moments and spoke in a language Naruto wasn't familiar with. Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and tried a language of his own to which the other man shrugged his shoulders. This went on for several minutes until Naruto swore in his native language. The crime boss's eyes lit up and he smiled. "You speak Japanese! You should have said so. It could have saved us much time."

Naruto smiled inwardly. 'So it's Japanese is it? Well that's certainly something. I was beginning to wonder how Jiriaya managed in Tokyo. Strange. I'll have to do some research into why we have the same language as the Japanese.'

"You can never tell who speaks what these days neh?" Naruto asked in a light tone. "So are you interested in the stone?"

The crime boss nodded and held out his hand. "If I may I'd like to look at it closer. Your neck is not exactly the best place to look at it from."

Naruto consented and pulled the stone off his neck and handed it to the other man. Pulling out a magnifying glass the boss began a careful inspection. He mumbled to himself several times about the stone's beauty and cut before holding it up to the light.

"You have a very high value stone here. I would be interested in learning where you got such a thing."

Naruto shrugged. "A gift from an old friend who's long dead. She never told me where she got it."

"Interesting. I do wonder. Things like these don't pop up often. A difficult price I'm sure. I can offer twenty million cash, American, up front. The rest I'll have to gather in from my associates. That will take a week, maybe more. What do you say to one hundred million total?"

Naruto had no idea what 'American' currency meant but it sounded like a good amount to him. He'd be taking the stone right back anyway. "That sounds appropriate enough. I'll take the twenty million now and leave the stone with you. Of course I'll have to have some collateral incase you decided to simply keep the stone without further payment." He looked around the room and his eyes came to rest on a simple strait edged sword displayed with some prominence on the left wall. Naruto would have shouted out in surprise at the sight of this particular sword but the current situation and his iron will managed to keep his surprise in check. "I'll take that until you fork over the rest of the cash," he said, pointing to the sword.

The crime lord thought for a second then grudgingly nodded. "Very well. But please do not misplace it. I am a collector of sorts and that is one of my finest pieces. I wouldn't want to have to harm you if it came back out of sorts, or not at all."

Naruto walked over and reached out a tentative hand for the sheathed sword. Unhooking it from the wall mount, Naruto hefted it and then turned and offered a formal bow to the man. "I will insure it's safe care. No harm will come to it while it is in my possession."

A well dressed associate stepped through another door and placed a briefcase on the desk. The crime boss touched the case gently. "Twenty million dollars. The rest will come within a week. A pleasure doing business."

Naruto bowed again then rose in one fluid motion and released his concealed senbon. One needle pierced the crime lord's left eye and entered his brain, another took care of the man who'd brought in the cash. Each died instantly. Two further senbon cut the cords to the video cameras that were monitoring the room. He calmly stepped over the fallen subordinate, retrieved the stone and the cash, and headed for the door.

The guards outside fell in similar fashion, as did the man who'd led Naruto in. After retrieving his belongings he dug out several explosive tags and placed them on critical support pillars on his way out. A multi-detonation explosion later Naruto was headed back towards the docks to look for a ship headed for Japan. The legendary sword of Kusanagi, formerly owned by none other then Orochimaru himself, tucked safely under his arm.

>>>>

That evening found Naruto contemplating the sword on the forward deck of a container ship bound for Tokyo. He had ditched the red hair in favor of his natural blond but was otherwise in the same dress that he had infiltrated the underground with.

The polished blade lay naked, balanced perfectly on his knees, while he dwelt on the sword's history and evil nature. He had seen the weapon only once before, when he'd found Orochimaru standing over the body of Sasuke atop the Hokage's offices. The blade had been dripping with Sasuke's blood then. Naruto could still see the rivulets of dark liquid running down the deadly weapon in his mind's eye. The snake had dismissed his weapon back to wherever he kept it when Naruto had confronted him. And that had been it. The snake had died. When the Sound was destroyed shortly thereafter the sword had not been found. It was surmised that a Sound survivor had managed to escape with the weapon before the Leaf forces could penetrate into the inner sanctum of the underground base. That theory now appeared to have been correct. But how it had gotten into the hands of an underworld crime boss outside of the elemental countries was beyond explaining.

Naruto traced the evil aura of the weapon with his chakra senses. His lip curled in disgust as he felt the sword's aura surge with killer intent as his hand brushed along the flat of the blade. Even when not held the weapon yearned to feel flesh and blood. It was a perfect weapon, balanced and razor sharp, harder then diamond. Legend had it that a god had created the weapon ages ago. Demons had fallen under its cutting edge and had, as they died, imparted pieces of their rage and blood lust to the weapon until it almost had a life of its own. Staring at it now Naruto could easily see why Orochimaru had sough to own the weapon.

Spitting in revulsion Naruto grabbed up the scabbard and sheathed the sword in one clean motion. Of course the scabbard wasn't much better to look at then the sword. An incredibly intricate snake was carved into the jade and black metal of the scabbard. Its eye slots had, at one time, held emeralds but those were long gone, most likely dug out be whoever had first stolen the sword from the Sound stronghold. But somehow, even without the gem eyes, Naruto still felt like the snake was watching him somehow. And the thought of sightless holes watching him disturbed him more then eyes would have.

"That's some blade you have there man," said a voice from behind him. Naruto looked over his shoulder to see a young man standing several feet behind him. Naruto had understood him perfectly which meant the boy was probably Japanese. "I've never felt such a powerful aura coming from a weapon before," he continued. "Quite impressive."

Naruto nodded and shoved the weapon into his pack, out of sight. "Evil but powerful, yes." Naruto said, standing to face the younger man. He didn't look to be much over seventeen or so but he had the body and grace of a fighter. His black hair was held out of his face by a yellow bandanna. He wore a rough yellow shirt, black pants, and shoes that laced up around his lower legs. He carried a pack slightly smaller then Naruto's own on his back and strapped over its top was a red bamboo umbrella.

The blond grinned roguishly at the young man as he hefted his pack. "I'm impressed. It takes a good martial artist to be able to sense auras, even strong ones, and locate them with any certainty. What do you study?"

The young fighter displayed his own cocky smile and thumbed his chest. "Me? I'm pretty much just a hard style fighter. Self-taught I guess you could say. What about you?"

"Several styles of Taijutsu with a few other forms mixed in," Naruto answered. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the pommel of the sword sticking out of his pack. "The sword is just something I picked up from a fight a while back. I could use it but I'm a bit rusty on the technique."

"I've never used a sword myself. I find my umbrella works well enough for me." The boy's smile faded into a sneer of anger. "Course I never would have even learned that if it wasn't for Ranma. CURSE YOU RANMA! I'LL GET YOU YET!"

Naruto winched at his companion's sudden volume increase but his attention was drawn to a small speedboat that had come along side suddenly and had begun disgorging masked figures.

"I'm sure there's a story behind that curse," Naruto said quickly, "but I'm also pretty sure these guys don't mean our ride any good." He pointed at the hooded men now swarming towards the conning tower at the aft end of the ship.

The other traveler spared a look aft then did a double take. "Pirates! And they've got guns. This is just what I need to work off some stress," he said as he pulled off his backpack and grabbed his umbrella. Naruto grabbed his arm before he could run off and yanked him around to face himself.

"We can't just rush in. I've never encountered a gun before but I've heard what they can do and I doubt charging in would be a healthy idea."

"I'm not afraid of a few guns!" the boy yelled in defiance as he tried to yank his arm out of Naruto's grasp but failed. Naruto simply tightened his grip until his companion winched in pain and stopped trying to escape.

"Now that I have your attention here's what we're going to do. You head up the left side and move towards the rear. I'm pretty sure they'll head for the bridge. I'll head down the right and meet you there ok? OK?"

"Eheheh…sure," he said, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "Whatever you say. Meet at the bridge, right."

Naruto nodded and was gone, dropping his pack in the process. His partner grimaced at the pain in his arm but pushed it away and charged up the left.

As Naruto ran he evaluated his options. It was highly doubtful that any of these bandits had ninja or martial arts training so special attack techniques didn't need to be used. The guns, however, could pose a problem. Naruto had no idea how they worked or what their capabilities were. All he knew was they shot small metal pellets really really fast. Fast enough to pierce strait through even metal. So it would be better to avoid contact and pick them off without being seen.

Naruto grinned a foxy grin. That would be easy enough to do.

>>>>

The pirates that had been left in the speedboat blinked in surprise as a small metal knife thudded into the deck directly in front of them. They looked at each other then together they leaned down for a closer inspection. The small puff of smoke from the paper wrapped around the handle was the last thing they saw.

The explosion alerted the rest of the pirate crew that something was up. The leader, who had just managed to back the ship's bridge crew into a corner with his AK-47, looked out the bridge windows in awe as his own boat was blown out of the water by the explosion. The two other pirates with him turned and ran for the stairwell they'd just come up to see if any of their friends had survived.

Down below on the main deck pirates were rushing everywhere. Some ran to the point of the explosion. Others, smarter then the first group, spread out to search for another method of escape from the cargo ship.

The first group got a neck full of shuriken each for their troubles. The second group heard their companions' shrieks of death. Half of them turned back to find out what had happened now. The other half continued on, now even more desperate to find an escape route.

The first half ran head long into Naruto's waiting trap. Razor sharp wires cut the forerunners throats. Those behind took a mixture of senbon and shuriken and went down with barely a gurgle.

The second half, who had chosen to find an escape route instead of going to their friends' aid, were greeted near the port lifeboat by a whirlwind of fists, feet, razor sharp bandannas, and a beefy umbrella; courtesy of Naruto's companion.

>>>>

The umbrella wielding boy was bleeding from multiple wounds all over his body when he stumbled into the bridge to find Naruto standing over the unconscious pirate leader, the man's gun in the hands of the ship's captain.

The blond looked up in surprise and then smiled lopsidedly. "What took you so long? I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone." Naruto's smile disappeared and was replaced by a grimace as he saw the state his new friend was in. "Looks like you had a bit of trouble on your end. You ok?"

The umbrella dropped to the deck as the boy staggered and leaned against one of the bridge consoles. "Did you…do that? On the stairs up? Did you…kill those men?" The boy's eyes were wide in combined wonder, disgust, and pain. "You killed them didn't you?" he grunted as he clutched at his belly, looking physically sick.

Naruto nodded sagely. "They were common thugs that wouldn't have thought for a second before killing me or you. Where I come from it would have been considered a favor to the state, my loyal duty even, to rid the land of people like these." He kicked the pirate commander for emphasis.

"I thought you were a martial artist," the boy said with as much emphasis as he could manage through the pain. "It's a martial artist's duty to protect those in need, but never to kill!"

The blond blinked at the boy's statement. Somewhere deep inside he heard a deep guffaw of laughter from the fox. He almost did the same but reigned himself in in consideration for the boy and the ships crew. "Opinions like that would get some weird stares where I'm from," Naruto said instead. "I know because I thought the same way. But doing what I did for a living sorta beat it out of me."

Naruto didn't get a response from his fellow fighter. The black haired boy's eyes rolled up into his skull as he fainted, crumpling to a bloody heap on the deck. The blond reacted instantly, moving at speeds far faster then the bridge crew's eyes could follow, he appeared next his new friend and hefted him onto his back in the wink of an eye. "You got a doctor on this ship?" he yelled.

A small bespectacled man rushed from amid the group of crew to Naruto's side and made a quick inspection of the boy on his back. Naruto could feel the man's surprise and amazement skyrocket suddenly followed by an audible gasp. "This young man has been shot at least a dozen times! It's impossible. He should have been dead instantly."

"What? By a gun you mean?" Naruto asked, slightly confused. He had no idea what a bullet wound looked like.

The doctor looked at him funny, like he'd grown another head or something, and simply turned back to his inspection. "Of course by a gun. And how did you manage to get away from being shot young man? We saw at least twenty pirates come aboard before we radioed for help."

Naruto shrugged and tried to shift the doctor's attention away from himself and back to his wounded friend. "Forget them, they're gone. We need to get him some attention now though."

The doctor nodded in agreement and began heading for the door. "Follow me. Lets get him to the wardroom and stabilize him. He needs to last until the harbor authority gets to us. They'll be able to airlift him to a hospital."

Naruto only hoped they'd be able to make it in time.

Well that one was long and convoluted. I've taken Naruto to the nextstage of the story and introduced the firstcrossover. It should have been very obvious to those of you who know me. For those of you who don't just take a look at my bio and figure it out.Hope you enjoyed it.