Chapter 26

Home sweet home?

"Sentence." -Speech

'Sentence.' - Thoughts

'Sentence' – Kushina's mental dialogue

'Sentence' -Anastasia's mental dialogue

'Sentence' -Kyara's/Kyuubi's mental dialogue

"Sentence." -Distorted speech.

The trip back to Konoha wasn't too long, now that Team 7 could move at a ninja pace. Within less than two days, they had returned. Kakashi was leading, nose buried in his Icha-Icha book like usual, Sakura was following behind him, and Naruto and Saiyuri were lagging behind, accompanied by Haku, and Saya.

Naruto had made the decision to introduce Saya to Team 7, saying that she was a girl whose parents were killed by Gato. Not wanting to stay in the town where her mother and father lost their lives, she asked Naruto if she could join him at Konoha. He agreed, and thus, Saya followed him.

Kakashi made a snide comment on how Naruto seemed to attract pretty girls merely by being next to them, Sakura insulted Naruto, claiming he was a pervert, which earned her a crimson-eyed glare from said hooded blonde, very nearly making her lose control over her bowels.

However, when Saiyuri showed little reaction to Saya, Kakashi saw another reason to be suspicious. Either Saiyuri had met her before, or she knew more about her than she showed.

It was yet another reason to be cautious of Naruto. The decision gnawed at him.

Tell the Hokage? Or keep it secret, in an effort to honor his late sensei?

Kakashi didn't know what choice to make. He knew Naruto wasn't acting in the best interests of Konoha, but considering how he lived, how he was raised, in a village where almost all of it's residents either considered him the Devil, or hated him completely, he was justified in that. He didn't know the specifics of the jutsu used to seal away the Kyuubi, but if it involved Death itself, Naruto's very soul may have been included in the deal made that fateful night.

How much of Naruto had been sacrificed? Did it end at his innocence? His humanity? Was his soul sacrificed as well? How heavy was the burden that Naruto had to carry? Moreover, when Naruto passed, what would become of him? Would he join his parents in Paradise, be condemned to the Inferno, or, even worse, not get an afterlife at all?

Kakashi knew none of the answers to those questions. A heavy sigh forced itself past his lips. He could really use a stiff drink...

A few feet behind him, Naruto observed Kakashi with a critical eye. He had acted rather rashly in hindsight, at the bridge. Exposed too much of his capabilities. He needed to learn how to maintain secrecy. If future opponents knew nothing of him, it would make dealing with them much easier.

A frown came to his sharp features. There was also the matter of expanding his skill-set. Shape-shifting, even as absolute as his own, had it's limits. He needed to make a conscious effort to change his body structure, and even the shortest moment could decide the victor in a battle.

His frown grew. Naruto disliked using jutsu, not because he was enough of a fool to actually limit himself in combat, but because using chakra left a trail behind. A skilled sensor could memorize his unique chakra signature, and possibly spread that knowledge elsewhere. That, and his chakra was...unique. It seemed Blacklight not only affected his mind and soul, but his chakra as well.

His chakra was distinctively inhuman much like everything else about him. When he had first entered the academy, he had to be screened first. It involved a simple physical, and then his chakra had to be examined. The sensor who did the examination left the room within seconds of feeling his chakra, later calling it 'monstrous' and 'vile'.

This was a problem because a chakra as dark and cloying as his own would be unmistakable among the average signatures of most shinobi.

A short sigh came from his lips.

If he was going to Kiri, he needed to maintain absolute anonymity. He needed an alias, he needed to dress differently, and either change his face, or simply conceal it. His voice would need to be altered as well. But, Kiri would be a good proving ground, for both him, and his Infected. Some Brawlers would accompany him, leaving the rest to guard the bunker. The Steamroller, as powerful as it was, was more suited to a defensive role than an offensive. Hydras would be good as well, with the simple method of using their entirely alien appearance to sow fear and disgust throughout his enemies.

Mei Terumi was the leader of the rebels, and he'd have to make contact with her somehow. Naruto considered simply consuming one of her men to figure out her location, but decided that Mei likely wouldn't be too pleased at that.

But firstly, there was a much more imminent problem in Konoha. Blacklight had been introduced to the sewers, and it most certainly didn't twiddle it's thumbs for twelve years. Lately, there had been an increasing rate of grave robbery in Konoha. Coffins would be exhumed, and left out in the open, while the deceased's body would be found nowhere. Whatever the virus had created, rather than actively hunt humans for biomass, the creatures instead, scavenged corpses.

There was likely an intelligence behind it, however. Rather than draw attention by having people go missing, simply take a corpse. Grave-robbing wasn't unheard of, and shinobi's corpses were usually cremated to ensure that no village secrets like kekkai genkai, or kinjutsu could be harvested from the corpse. Sometimes, a shinobi's body would be left intact, and simply buried, the hope being that, as the body decomposed, any secrets would rot away as well.

But the grave robbers didn't make a distinction, so long as it was dead, they took it away. It was more than likely whatever Infected resided in the sewers were formed using necrotic bio-matter, rather than living like his own Infected.

Another sigh.

He had a lot of work to do.

Idly hugging Saiyuri closer to him, and noticing the pout on Saya's cherubic face, he raised his left arm in invitation. She smiled widely, and quickly took the spot on his left, hugging him tightly enough that, if he still possessed a ribcage, said bones would creak in protest. A tap on his shoulder reminded him of his newest Infected. He turned his head, and saw Haku with a similar pout on her own face.

He inwardly groaned. Closing his eyes, he nodded once, and felt Haku wrap her arms around his waist from behind. The ice girl gave a happy sigh, before nuzzling against the small of his back.

Great. With three young, attractive women all hanging off of him, he'd attract so much attention.

Ah...screw it.

(Konoha Gates)

A pair of yawns coming from the nearby booth drew the ire of the senior guard. He was an older man, with short brown hair, and wearing the standard Konoha jonin outfit.

"Izumo! Kotetsu! Get your lazy asses up!" He barked out. The two guards within the booth gave startled cries, before falling off of their chairs with a loud thud. A vein bulged on the senior guard's forehead.

Why did he have to be stuck with these two nimrods anyway?

"Y-Yes, sir! We're getting up, sir!" shouted out Izumo. A lightly tanned hand gripped onto the edge of the desk within the booth, and pulled up said chunin.

Izumo Kamizuki was a man in his mid-twenties, with dark brown hair combed over so that it covered his right eye, with the rest falling around his head., with eyes the same color. He wore his hitai-ate like a bandanna, concealing the top of his head. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, the only difference being that his black body-suit reached up to his chin.

"O-Of course, sir! On I-It sir!" cried out Kotetsu, having popped up from behind the desk.

Kotetsu Hagane was of similar age to Izumo, and had long, spiky black hair, with bangs kept from his eyes with the standard hitai-ate. Of note was the single bandage that ran across the bridge of his nose, and a marking on his chin the same color as his hair. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit.

The senior guard stalked forward, face eerily calm.

"Must I ask why you two, esteemed guardsmen of Konoha were sleeping?"

Both chunins shook their heads.

He leaned in close, glaring directly at Kotetsu.

"Do either of you know just how important your jobs are?"

The two chunins nodded their heads rapidly.

Another vein bulged on the senior guard's forehead, and he began chewing them both out.

"No, you don't! Your mission is to ensure that the residents of Konoha are safe! You are the first line of defense! If a disguised hostile sneaks past you two bumbling morons, who knows what the consequences could be!" The senior guard eyes blazed with fury, causing the two chunin to shrink away.

"Now, hop to it, and do your jobs, or I'll find other chunins, and have them do it instead!" Fire was now being blasted out of his mouth with every word. "And I'll demote you two idiots to latrine duty!"

Izumo and Kotetsu nodded their heads so fast their faces became little more than a blur.

"Yes, sir!" They both shouted out.

The senior guard huffed, and walked away, muttering under his breath about lazy ninja.

Izumo sunk into his chair with a sigh of relief, followed by Kotetsu.

"Man. Why'd we have to get these jobs anyway? Couldn't it be something exciting at least?" Kotetsu complained.

It simply wasn't fair! He was just made a guard at one of the gates, without his say! It was complete and total bull...!

A hand smacked him roughly on the back of the head. Kotetsu gave a strangled cry, and turned to glare at Izumo. Said chunin was looking up into the sky with a dreamy expression.

"You don't understand Kotetsu..." Izumo's eyes suddenly began twinkling. "As tedious as it can get, being a gate guard is the best mission you can get as a Konoha shinobi!"

Kotetsu rolled his eyes, and smacked Izumo over the head, knocking him out of the trance.

"Sure. Right. Considering you were sleeping like a baby not a minute ago, you're not very good at guarding."

Izumo butted heads with Kotetsu, and shouted out.

"Oh yeah!? You were sleeping too!"

Kotetsu pushed back with a growl.

"At least I'm not a hypocrite like you!"

The two guards continued growling at one another until someone clearing their throat got their attention. Turning their heads to the side, they saw Kakashi there with one of his trademark eye-smiles.

"Hey guys. Mind letting me and my team in?" The two gate guards stared for a moment, before Izumo whispered out.

"How much of that did you see?"

Naruto, having managed to extricate himself from the trio of girls, much to their disappointment, appeared in front of the booth, an impassive look on his face.

"All of it. Do you mind opening the gates?"

The two chunin slowly nodded in unison, and exited the booth. They walked over to the side of the gates, where the winches that opened them were. Both chunins grabbed hold, and began pulling. With a few creaks and groans of wood and the rattling of chains, the gates swung open. Team 7, along with the two young girls following them, entered Konoha.

Saya looked around in wonder. This was where her Onii-sama lived? It was so big! But, why did the people all look like they were afraid of him? She glanced at her beloved Onii-sama. He didn't seem to care about the people who looked at him, even ignoring the people who glared at him hatefully.

Not knowing the answer, Saya decided to stop thinking about it, and hugged her Onii-sama. Naruto turned to look at her, and wrapped an arm around her. A smile grew on her face, and her hug became tighter.

Haku looked around in curiosity. Naruto-sama had told her that he lived in Konoha, and had a home in something called The Forest of Death. Idly, she wondered what Naruto-sama's house was like. He had mentioned that there were other people living there, his friends and loved ones, like Saiyuri. The ice girl turned to see Saya hugging Naruto-sama. He had said that Saya was his sister, and that she was like family to Haku as well.

All in all, she wanted to see Naruto-sama's home. Naruto-sama's friends would be nice to meet too.

Kakashi had said for Team 7 to return home while he gave the mission report to the Hokage. The genin would receive their pay either by mail, or by visiting the Hokage himself. With that said, Kakashi strolled off to the Hokage Tower, with nose buried in his Icha-Icha book. Sakura said her goodbyes to Naruto and Saiyuri, and walked away to her own home.

The hooded blonde stared at Kakashi for a few moments, eventually deciding to return to his own home, with Saya, Haku, and Saiyuri in tow.

(Forest of Death)

Naruto gave a grunt as his Brawlers all dog-piled him at once, little tails wagging all the while. By the time they got off of him, Naruto was covered head to toe in Brawler saliva. He twitched once, tendrils swarming over his body, before receding and revealing him to be in pristine condition, not a trace of drool on him. Sighing, he patted the nearest Brawler on the head with a small smile.

"Guess you all missed me, huh?" The Brawler he was petting stuck it's glowing orange tongue out, and flopped to it's side, hind legs kicking wildly. With a chuckle, he began scratching at the Brawler's stomach, much to it's enjoyment.

Naruto turned to see Saya approaching a Brawler with a hint of nervousness. She raised a hand to it's head, and slowly stroked it. From the way the Brawler reacted, by trying to push it's head further into the young girl's palm, it liked Saya.

Haku was off to the side, watching as another Brawler sniffed her curiously. After a few moments to memorize her scent, it began licking at her hand. With a smile, Haku began to pet the Brawler.

And Saiyuri, even though she was still human, had two Brawlers near her, each looking down at her shorter figure, each begging to be petted. And she was, and like the rest, the Brawlers all liked her.

Well, at least they weren't all at each others throats. In much the same manner as he felt affection towards subordinate Infected, it seemed all Infected naturally felt affection towards their own. Saiyuri, while still human, was considered friendly because of her close friendship with Naruto, that likely included Mikoto as well. Idly, he wondered where the...

Loud thumping answered him. A warm current of air brushed against his back. Turning, Naruto came face-to-snout with the Steamroller. It's two pairs of glowing red eyes locked onto his own. Then it licked him from waist to face.

A trio of feminine giggles from inside his head reminded him. He was going to remove Anastasia and Kushina from his mind, and back into reality. He admitted to himself it was nice to have three friendly voices in his head, their near constant teasing was driving him insane...er.

'You know, I think I'll miss this place. It was so nice in here. No rain, no dark skies, just a peaceful forest.'

'I agree. New York didn't have much in the way of trees aside from Central Park, but that pales in comparison to here.'

'Well, it's a good thing we all live in the heart of a massive forest then, isn't it?'

'I suppose. Okay, let's go.'

Two feminine figures stepped out of his body, each with around 160 pounds worth of biomass making them up. Kushina with very long, bright red hair that reached to her ankles, with a dark gray long jacket, armored bodice, and black spandex leggings, and Anastasia wearing a black leather jacket, with the same symbol on her back as Naruto had. There was a gray hood covering her dark brown curly hair, and a white dress blouse underneath, with blue jeans, and black urban loafers.

The two women stretched for a moment, getting accustomed to reality once more. Kushina was the first to speak.

"That's better." A small pout came to her then. "But now I can't tease Naru-kun as much anymore."

A small bead of sweat trickled down said hooded blonde's face.

Anastasia stretched for a few moments longer, before speaking herself.

"Oh well." She turned to Saya, whose green eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"W-Wha?! Onee-sama!? You were living in Onii-sama?!"

Anastasia lightly chuckled, and walked over to Saya, kneeling down to her eye-level.

"Yes, I was. So was Kushina, your other Onee-sama." Saya tilted her head, and looked at Kushina. The crimson-haired woman was looking back at her, an oddly blank look on her face. She turned back to Anastasia, with a question.

"Um...Ana-onee-sama? Why is Kushi-onee-sama looking at me like that?" Anastasia raised an eyebrow, before turning her head to Kushina, who still had a blank expression on her face.

"Kushina?" The red-head quickly lost her blank expression, and rushed towards Saya, a grin on her face. She caught Saya in a hug, quickly nuzzling her cheek against Saya's own.

"You're so cute! I could see what Naruto saw, but you're so much cuter in person!" Her hug became tighter, and considering how Saya was blushing heavily, she was obviously embarrassed.

With a brief chuckle, Naruto decided to leave them, and head to the bunker. Mikoto had been here for a few days by herself, and he wanted to see how she was doing. Ignoring Saya's cries for help for her Onii-sama, Naruto strolled away.

(Naruto's bunker)

It took a few moments, but Mikoto was easy enough to find. The bunker had a few empty rooms, which Naruto turned into training rooms, The one Mikoto was currently in was equipped with targets for kunai and shuriken practice, or if he ever got around to it, a projectile formed from Bio-mass.

The Uchiha Matriarch was currently in her combat uniform, which consisted of light armor similar to those used by Anbu, only it was full-body. The armor plates themselves were a dark-gray, and covered her from the neck down, with bracers that went around her forearms, and full plate armor protecting her legs. Her raven hair was bound into a bun, and she was practicing with shuriken and kunai. From how all of the targets had either one of the projectile weapons in the bulls-eye, she had good aim.

Naruto silently creeped up behind her, and whispered into her ear.

"I'm home."

Mikoto acted accordingly. By giving a cry of surprise, whirled around and proceeded to bury the kunai in her right hand into Naruto's skull. Upon noticing who she just stabbed, Her onyx eyes widened in a mixture of horror and grief.

But Naruto didn't fall, much to her surprise. Rather, he mumbled under his breath, something about how sneaking up on women usually ended up with something sharp in his head. He reached up, grabbing the kunai by the ring, and pulled it out of his skull, with nary a stain on the small blade. Naruto looked at the kunai in his grasp for a few moments, before handing it back to a stunned Mikoto.

"Remind me not to surprise you anymore." He deadpanned. The wound in his hooded head vanished a moment after.

Mikoto eye's started welling up, and Naruto saw fit to stop the waterworks.

"No, please don't start crying. Look..." He pulled back his white hood, revealing his bright, blonde spiky hair, and fingered where the wound once was on his head. "See? I'm fine. Not even bleeding."

Thankfully, the tears gathering in Mikoto's eyes stopped. But, then an angry expression took hold on her face, and she swatted at Naruto's chest.

"Baka!" She bolted forward, wrapping her arms around him, the next few words muffled against his chest. "Don't scare me like that..." With a sigh, Naruto wrapped his arms around her, giving her a comforting squeeze every now and then.

'I really need to stop doing that.' Naruto thought to himself. Considering how the majority of his loved ones were trained soldiers, it wasn't a good idea to keep surprising them like that, because then things like this happen. He gets stabbed, and someone starts feeling guilty.

'I still don't know how those two Uchiha can deal with you. I mean, they're still human. They still don't know your full capabilities.' Kyara nonchalantly said.

'I don't know either. Hopefully, when I turn them into Evolved like Haku, they can get an inkling.'

'About that, are they going to end up like her? Completely loyal to you?'

'Hell no. Haku was my first attempt. And they already love me, no need to instill loyalty.'

'Infecting them will still change them in some way. You know that right?'

'Of course.' Kyara hummed slightly, before speaking once more.

'Okay, I'm gonna get some rest. See ya.' With that said, she closed the link.

Now that he could pay full attention to Mikoto, he released her.

"Sorry about scaring you." He adopted a slightly concerned expression. "How have you been? You were left alone for a few days."

The Uchiha Matriarch smiled lightly at Naruto.

"I'm okay. The Brawlers helped keep me from being too bored." Her smile grew wider as she remembered how playful the Infected creatures were.

Her eyes widened, however, when she remembered what a few Brawlers had done.

"There's something else though." Naruto raised an eyebrow, and Mikoto continued, starting to walk out of the room, asking Naruto to follow her.

"Some of the Brawlers brought back a few...puppies." She was stopped when Naruto gently grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her around to him. He had a confused expression.

"Puppies? Brawlers can't reproduce." Infection rendered living things completely sterile. So how were there...

Unless...

Yes.

The Brawlers were learning to infect to increase their own numbers.

"Mikoto, can you show me where they are?" She nodded, and continued walking down, Naruto following closely behind. She rounded the next corner, and opened a door on the right side of the hallway. Naruto could faintly hear the sound of flesh being ripped apart, and he walked in.

The first thing he saw was, what appeared to be, juvenile Brawlers tearing at the corpse of a deer. The baby Brawlers were on a bedding made of hay, and an adult Brawler, formerly an alpha female of a pack, watched over them, lying on it's side. The little things were rather voracious, as the deer they were feeding on was mostly skeleton, and not even bone was safe, considering how some of the larger puppies were gnawing on the bones of the legs, trying to get at the marrow.

Naruto stepped closer to the baby Brawlers, understandably shocked. Juvenile Brawlers? Were they once wild puppies, infected by a passing Brawler, and then taken back here? While it was a brutal act, this meant his Brawlers were capable of bolstering their own numbers.

He kneeled down, and closely observed one of them. Like the adult Brawlers, they had no lips, fully exposing their fangs, and possessed no nose, with the interior of their nasal cavity, as well as the septum being visible. They lacked fur, and other than simply being much smaller, they were identical to normal Brawlers.

Seeing that the infant Brawlers were starting to get low on food, the adult got to it's feet and lumbered over to a corner, where three more deer were piled up. Clamping it's jaw down on one, it lifted the corpse, and carried it over to the puppies, dropping it near the now fully skeletonized deer. The pups noticed their new meal, and scampered over, beginning to eat once more. The adult Brawler helped some of the runts who were lagging behind with a gentle push with it's snout, and lay down once more.

"Amazing..." Naruto breathed out.

Mikoto crouched down next to him, observing the little Brawlers with a smile.

"I know. These creatures you've made, they're doing more than learning. I think they're actually becoming something more."

Naruto turned his head to look at her, a look of excitement on his face.

"Yes, they are. This is only the beginning. Perhaps, with time, they'll be able to reproduce normally." He returned his gaze to the infant Brawlers. "I'll have made a new species."

Wouldn't that be nice?

(A few hours later)

Soon enough, life in the bunker returned to normal. Everyone returned to their daily routine, and Haku and Saya were given their own rooms, not too far from Naruto's own. While the latter stated that she wanted to sleep with her Onii-sama, the former didn't protest. Naruto had left the bunker just a moment ago, with a mission in mind.

Get to the sewers, and if necessary, eliminate any Infected there.

He likely wouldn't be able to control them, as they formed independent of him, and would likely be hostile to him. While Kushina and Anastasia wanted to join him, he turned them down, saying that he would be alright, and to help Haku and Saya familiarize themselves with the bunker. He assured them that he would return safe and sound. After being kissed goodbye by the both of them, he headed out.

Currently, he was standing above a manhole, ready to lift it, and enter the sewers. He was in one of the more sparsely populated sections of Konoha, with a little luck, no one would see him.

'I really hope I'm just being paranoid again. Because if I'm right...'

'We have a big problem. You keep saying that.'

'Because it will be a big problem. A huge problem. One that needed to be dealt with yesterday.'

'Okay. If you need my chakra, just ask.'

He nodded, more to Kyara than himself, and pulled the manhole cover up, placing it a few feet away. The fetid stench of the sewers wafted upwards. Rolling his neck once, he leaped down, letting a tendril close the manhole.

Whatever creatures resided here now, he had entered their domain.

Deep within the sewers, it was completely pitch-black. No light at all. Five glowing red eyes bloomed into existence.

The being's creator...was here. And it would wait for him. They had much to discuss.

Naruto goes back to Konoha! And the very first major thing he decides to do, is eliminate any creatures the virus has created in the sewers! Make sure to review!

Internet cookies to anyone who can guess what was created in the sewers. And if you do figure it out, know that they will not be friendly towards Naruto.

So yeah. Read, review, all that jazz.