The Devil's Progenitor - Remake

by crazylony

Naruto always knew he was different, but no one ever told him why. For ages Shinobi fought each other, while Demons preyed on Humans, and it all seemed to connect to him. But how? And what does his blood have to do with it? OOC Naruto, OP Naruto - Multiple Anime/Games/Sources.

22. Chapter 21: Chigiri no Sato!

Disclaimer: This is purely a Fanfiction story. I don't own any of the Characters present, nor DMC or any other concepts from existing works.

Author Note: Note at the end!

Demon Talk: "Sparda."

Demon Thoughts: 'Sparda.'

Human Talk: "Sparda."

Human Thoughts: 'Sparda.'

---

Chapter 21: Chigiri no Sato! (Bloody Mist!)

---

"Is that the one who will help us?"

"He doesn't look like much..."

"Why is he so special? He's just one man."

"More importantly, why does he have an unconscious girl with him?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's a slave or a trophy. Who knows?"

Naruto almost snorted at the last comment, steadily ignoring the mutterings of the Rebels around him. Honoka had yet to awaken, even a day into their trip in Mizu, and three days since the events of the mysterious island. He had gotten used to carrying her with him while following behind the two Kiri shinobi, easily keeping up with them. Not like Honoka was going to make much a difference with her thin teenage frame.

The trip to the Rebel camp had been peaceful, between him and the other two experienced shinobi, they had managed to evade all of Kiri's patrols, traveling undetected through the misty terrain of Mizu. The reason why he called it Rebel Camp was because it was just that, a large expanse of pitched tents and men and women walking about freely. Though, from the chakra permeating the area, he had a feeling they were all shinobi and zero civilians.

"I will go ahead and speak with Mei-sama," Tsurugi abruptly announced. "I will inform her of our return, as well as the terms we have discussed. She will want to meet with you after. Zabuza will take you to your temporary lodgings. You can leave your...passneger there," Tsurugi said, momentarily looking at Honoka, who was now being carried in Sparda's arm. The second later, he vanished in a Shunshin.

Zabuza grunted out a follow me, then began heading in a different direction, to which Naruto followed, his eyes taking in the people around him. Sharp eyes were also regarding him closely, though the emotions behind the eyes were different.

The younger shinobi seemed disappointed that he was the only one sent to help them. They were probably expecting an entire army sent that would immediately change the way the war was going for them. The older and more experienced shinobi regarded him closer, scoping out his chakra, his stance, and trying to get a closer look at his face, probably trying to identify him.

They knew that they shouldn't count on quantity over quality. The Bloodline users had no qualms admitting that they were severely outnumbered by Kiri's main forces. The Kiri rebels were in the late hundreds, including non-fighting Bloodline users, while Kiri shinobi boasted thousands. They stood at the odds of 8 to 1, which even with their unique abilities giving them an advantage, were still difficult odds.

What they needed to win, was to get rid of Yagura and his Bloodline Hating supporters as fast as possible to unite Kiri once more.

Some moments later, they arrived at a large tent a small distance away from the main camp, secluded from the rest. There was nothing special to it, just a simple fabric tent big enough to comfortably fit a single person. A single Futon on the floor, with a table and a chair on the side.

"Here we are. This used to be mine, but Mei arranged another for us and will give you this one." Zabuza announced, standing by.

Naruto, however, got the underlying message. The location of the tent made sure that whoever used it would be isolated from the camp. Before him, it was Zabuza, and now that he was being hired for them, it was him.

'Which reminds me...'"How is Haku? I actually would have expected her to be with you at all times." He asked the man while walking into the tent. Seeing a single Futon in the room, he went ahead of placed Honoka in it. He then made a single clone to guard Honoka and to prepare whatever seals he would need in his temporary lodging.

"She is fine. Mei, the leader of the Rebels has her along with the other younger shinobi acting as messengers and surveillance. We have a few other bases around Mizu, and we need to keep a steady line of communications with them." Zabuza explained. "Unluckily for you, all the other base commanders are popping in today to see you. So you better be ready for that."

"Well then. Best not to keep them waiting. Lead on," he said gesturing for Zabuza to lead ahead of him.

---

"Are you sure we can trust an outsider like this, Mei?" a voice whispered inside the tent he and Zabuza were about to enter. The tent was bigger than all the others in the encampment, with shinobi guards surrounding it.

Traversing through the camp again, he had garnered many looks from the shinobi around, which he had ignored. He was getting used to the attention since his garbs drew the attention and with the information that he was from the S-rank group that was supposedly going to aid their faction, it was normal for them to be curious.

Zabuza continued walking past the guard shinobi, who scowled at the swordsman's mannerism in walking in unannounced. "Mei-sama," he greeted upon entrance.

Entering after him, his eyes met the staring shinobi in the room, pausing minutely on each person before moving to the next. There were about five people in the room, one female while the rest were all males.

Tsurugi and Zabuza he recognized, while the other two men he didn't. The first was a tall man, even taller than him, with an eye-patch on his right eye, with the other being a clear blue. He estimated him to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties, based on the grey hairs in his blue hair. He wore a talisman in each ear with a kanji written on them twice on each side. He was wearing a standard striped, grey suit, with a flak jacket above it.

The other man was wearing a navy tank top along with Kiri camouflaged pants, and shinobi sandals. He was tall, extremely so, and thin. A roll of bandages was rolled around his neck, leading up to his shaggy pale blond hair, and a mask. On his waist, was a thin needle-like sword with a small hole at the end.

Finally, the woman was, to be completely honest, stunning. She was slender, seemingly late twenties or early thirties. Long ankle length auburn hair in a herringbone style with a top-knot tied with a dark blue headband, and four bangs that covered her face, two reaching her eyes with one covering her left, and two more that reached her chin. Her face was perfectly heart-shaped, yet had the strength of a leader. She also had emerald green eyes, and a light shade of purple lipstick on her supple lips.

She wore a long-sleeved dark blue dress that fell just below her knees, and left her slender shoulders uncovered, with a mesh bodysuit underneath it. She was wearing shorts a slightly darker shade than the dress, which showed from the split in her dress, with high heeled sandals with shinguards.

He was thankful for the straw hat that he got from Deidara now since it hid how his eyes had widened from seeing the woman. His distraction only lasted for a moment, and he managed to recover before anyone could notice.

"You must be Sparda-san from the Akatsuki." She said. He was sure she was the one they called Mei, the leader of the Rebels of Kiri.

"Yes, I am at your disposal, Mei-sama." He replied, slowly and intentionally taking off the hat from his head, revealing his white locks and blue eyes.

While Mei was taking in his features, the tall man in the mask snorted. "A kid? That's the shinobi they sent us."

"Careful, Kushimaru. This 'Kid' crossed blades with me and won. If I were you, I wouldn't underestimate him." Zabuza said, defending him.

"Ha, as if that is something to brag about. When you came back to us you were barely as good as a grunt Jōnin. You lost your balls, Zabuza. You get them back when you came here," Kushimaru taunted.

Zabuza growled, his hand reaching for the handle of Kubikiri. His Ki began to rise, Kushimaru doing the same and reaching for the handle of the blade on his waist. The glint of shinobi wire reflected then, and he noticed the wire extending from the hilt into a roll of wire on his waist.

'It sort of looks like suture thread,' he thought. The bloodlust rolling from the two kept growing, and he faintly felt the guards outside begin to choke and sweat. 'I guess I should get used to this. This is, after all, the Bloody Mist.'

Before the two could come to blows, a third, stronger, and heavier presence made itself known. The pressure weighed down on the shoulders of the room's occupants, the two swordsman buckling and blanching. Naruto, being the least affected, turned impressed eyes to the source. The leader of the rebellion forces, Mei.

"The two of you," she began, whispering menacingly. "This is not the time or the place to do something like this. If you want to have a dick measuring contest, you do it on your own time, am I understood?" she asked. Seeing them nod and draw their hands away from their weapons, she nodded in satisfaction, lowering her intent. "I am sorry you had to see that, Sparda-kun." She said, politely turning to him.

Naruto shook his head, amusement, and respect in his stare and met Mei's. "No issue, Mei-san," he replied, ignoring the eye patch man's glare at the casual suffix. "As I said before, I am at your disposal."

"Much appreciated, Sparda-kun. Though I have to say, I am somewhat disappointed. I hope you don't feel offended, but I do share my subordinate's sentiments. When we requested to hire Akatsuki, we were hoping to get an...Old Acquaintance of ours."

"Oh, so you were expecting Kisame then?" he questioned, already guessing that it was the shark-man they wanted. A subtle nod was his answer. It would have made sense to have hired the Kiri rogue. His status as a Nuke-nin of the village would have ensured that they wouldn't double-cross the rebels and side with the Loyalists, since Kisame himself was a member of a Kekkai Genkai clan.

Furthermore, Kisame's prowess and skills in assassinating high figure personal were famous, so he would have been the perfect person to dispose of Yagura, especially since his blade, Samehada was able to absorb Bijuu chakra. Kisame was also a previous Kiri soldier, which meant he was no stranger to fighting in the heavy mist of Mizu. He did think there was another reason why they wanted the blue-skinned man.

"Well... When we knew he was in Akatsuki, we were sure he would be the one sent here. It would have been the most logical step for your organization." The man in the eye-patch said.

Mei cleared her throat, glaring slightly at the man. "What Aoi meant to say, is that Kisame would have been the best man for the job. He is familiar with the terrain, and he is already a criminal in the eyes of Kiri, so him siding with us wouldn't have raised suspicions."

"I understand your concerns, Mei-sama. I apologize for disappointing you, but I assure you, you will get the same services out of me that you would have gotten from my colleague, Kisame. Whatever it is that you need, you can point me in the right direction, and it will be done." He reassured.

Slightly skeptic, but willing to put her faith in the young man, she shared a glance with her two most trusted, Ao and Tsurugi.

Tsurugi seemed to be of the same mind, immediately nodding in agreement. Ao was a different story.

"Now hold on, Mei! You can't be serious! We are still trying to plan how to go about the Shinku ana. You can't just send him to do an operation that we are still trying to study for the past week!" Ao exclaimed.

"If you have any other ideas, Ao, then I'm all ears. But I won't delay a minute more. If he is as good as he says, then we have a chance of doing it successfully. If not, then he will at least give us the necessary distraction we need. You know what is at stake in this!" Mei said, a stern expression settling on her face.

Ao clamped his mouth shut, trying to think of a reply, but not able to reach one, while Zabuza, Kushimaru and Tsurugi stood to the side.

Whatever this 'Operation' they were talking about, it seemed like it was a risky mission. He didn't know who this Shinku anawas, but from the way they were talking they made it out to be a one-way mission.

"So be it," he said, surprising them all with his words. "If this Shinku ana is causing you problems, then leave it to me. Whoever it is, I will take care of them for you."

"Not quite, Kid. Shinku ana is not a person. Its a prison. Kiri's most defended and isolated prison." Zabuza said.

Tsurugi then chose to continue. "Yagura began the Bloodline Purges by eliminating every single bloodline user he could find. That continued for several years and would have continued now. However, what recently began to happen is that they would take Kekkai Genkai hostages, both shinobi and civilians. They are all then sent to the Shinku ana."

"The warden is one of Yagura's most trusted generals, his name is Tsuyoshi Koyama. We've stopped attacking Kiri's forces and bases ever since the bastard began killing the hostages. So our plan next was to assault the prison itself. Unfortunately, Yagura has a significant part of his shinobi guarding the prison. We are talking about at least several hundreds of shinobi. Furthermore, the design of the prison itself is another issue." Mei said. Naruto noticed that she also threw a glance towards Tsurugi as if expecting him to continue.

With a grim face, he did. "The structure itself is three stories, which contains the medic wing, shinobi barracks, and the administrative offices. The real prison is underground, hence the name 'Sinkhole.' A single entrance and exit from the underground holding cells, which is one metal gate reinforced with all kinds of seals and barriers, rendering it indestructible. Behind that gate..." he trailed off.

The Kiri shinobi remained quiet and tense. The tension was so thick, Naruto was sure that a simple knife wouldn't have been able to cut it. There was a haunted look in the veteran shinobi's eyes. A look that spoke of personal experience.

Shaking his head, Tsurugi was able to pull himself out of the trance he was in, his face settling into his normal blank visage. "You will find at least five-hundred cells inside. All prisoners have their chakra locked away with Fūijutsu. Lastly, they have guard animals."

"Guard animals? What kind? Dogs? Wolves?" Naruto asked. So far, it seemed pretty forward to him. Chakra suppression, a large guard force, and the strategic location advantage. What else could they have?

"Hyenas," Tsurugi replied.

Silence reigned. The Kiri shinobi who were already informed were looking at Sparda's face to gauge his reaction. From the lack of expressions on his face, they thought he didn't quite believe them.

"Smart. Hyenas are nocturnal scavengers. So in the event of riots, they don't need to do anything. Just to let the beasts bring back control of the prison." He muttered. "Still, this changed nothing. I stand by my earlier suggestion." Sparda declared firmly.

Mei narrowed her eyes at the younger shinobi. "Sparda-kun, I would implore you to take this seriously. Not a single hostage can be harmed, otherwise, the entire mission is a failure. We stand to lose the moral of our shinobi if we let their families die in there. I, myself, have family in there."

"Mei-sama! This is sensitive infor-"

"Enough, Ao! I need him to understand how serious this is!" Mei replied strongly. "I have a sister. She was captured by Yagura's forces ten days ago. She was leading two squads of shinobi on a supply run. Raiding one of Yagura's convoys for food and weapons. It was supposed to be an easy mission. They were supposed to face three squads of Chūnin. Instead, they were met by thirty Jōnins." She explained passionately.

Naruto was listening raptly, but a flash of emotions caught his attention, turning to the source. Raising an eyebrow in interest, he didn't comment, instead returning to face Mei.

"She was taken there, along with most of her squad that weren't killed in the battle. The bastards advertised the fact that they captured them, taunting us. They said that if we launch a single attack more, they would kill her and the rest of her squad."

Sighing in dismay, Mei took a seat on a nearby chair, clasping her fingers in front of her face. "I understand that I can't show favoritism to her or her squad. We are shinobi. We go on missions, we die on missions, and in the cases we don't die, then we are tortured until we wish we were dead. That is the reality of the situation, and I know that Rina-nee-san would think the same. But, if we can do something about it, then I have full intention to take the chance. We can take that prison out of the equation, free our people and weaken Yagura's army all at once." She said, finishing her speech.

A chuckle drew her attention to the white-haired shinobi, who seemed to have a grin on his face.

"Beautiful, strong, and a passionate speaker. I can see how you earned your place as a leader." He said, causing Mei to smile at the compliment, while Zabuza smirked. Tsurugi only raised an eyebrow in interest. "Mei-sama, Kindly don't consider my aloofness as disregard to the situation. If I say I can do something, know that it is confidence that pushes me, not arrogance. Once again, all I need you to do is to point me in the right direction. I will bring down the entire fortress on their heads if you wish it."

---

(A Few Minutes Later)

Exiting the tent, Naruto made his way through the camp, heading back into his designated tent. They had settled with a rudimentary plan of action for the attack on Shinku ana. He would proceed on foot, along with a small squad consisting of him, Zabuza, and a young man called Kiri.

The two would secure the nearest harbor to the prison, where Mei and her forces will approach with ships meant to transport the people from the prison. Since he had claimed that he could handle shinobi in the fortress itself, they would leave clearing out the shinobi to him. Should he fail, which he assured them he won't, they would fill the ships with a substantial attack force and take the fortress by force.

A burst of chakra alerted him to the incoming Shunshin; Zabuza appearing next to him. "Kid, you sure you want to do this? I know you're good, but I don't think you're 'Fight-an-entire-army' good. That kind of stuff is for Kages." He said, keeping pace with the younger white-haired shinobi.

"Is that worry I sense from you, Zabuza? I didn't know I left that kind of an impression on you." Naruto shot back with a smirk.

Zabuza chuckled, "Not in this life, brat. Just making sure you're not biting off more than you can chew."

"I am well aware of what I am biting, rest assured of that. Though, I do have a question. What is up with that Kushimaru? You did not seem to be on good terms with him, but I would have assumed you would be considering you are both apart of the Seven Swordsman." Noting Zabuza's stare, he clarified. "his sword was...Unique."

Zabuza grunted in agreement. "Yeah, he's part of the organization. Kushimaru Kuriarare, wielder of the Nuibari. We were always at odds, since I was one of the latest additions to the Seven Swordsman, while he was one of the older generations. I got the Kubikiri from Yagura after he managed to kill my predecessor, a rogue shinobi called Jūzō Biwa. He was part of the Akatsuki now that I think about it." He muttered, his eyes shifting to the shinobi next to him.

"Interesting," Naruto replied, motioning for Zabuza to continue.

"Anyways, I became arrogant when Yagura entrusted Kubikiri to me, and I guaranteed my place in the Seven Swordsman. Afterward, Kushimaru and I never saw eye to eye." He continued. Stretching his arms to the back of his neck, Zabuza held the handle of Kubikiri. "Kubikiri and I were always in sync, even managing to best most of the other swordsman in the organization, Kushimaru included. His Nuibari was never able to beat Kubikiri, and the rivalry between the swords shifted to the wielders."

"That seems petty, but I understand. The rivalry between finesse swords and brute swords is...everlasting," he thought out loud, remembering the stories Vergil used to tell him about the constant clashes between him and his brother. Yamato, the Enma Katana, and its rival, the broadsword, Rebellion.

"Exactly that," Zabuza replied nodding, glad that he was able to get the message across. He expected Sparda to understand him, considering he was also a swordsman.

Finally reaching his tent, Zabuza stopped. "We leave tomorrow at dawn. That should give you enough time for any preparations you need. I haven't seen you use any shinobi tools, but if you need anything, let me know."

"I have my own weapons, Zabuza. Although, I do need one thing. If you can send me that guy, Kiri, now. I need him to check over something since he is an Iryō-nin." Naruto asked.

"For the girl?" Zabuza asked, receiving a nod in return. "I'll have him pass by in a few."

"Much appreciated," Naruto replied, watching as the nin body-flickered away.

Going into the tent, he found his clone leaning on the tent's center pole. "Anything to report?" he asked the clone.

"Nop, all good." The clone replied. "So, what's the plan?"

"Dispel. We stay till tomorrow, and I will make another one tomorrow." He ordered. The clone saluted, before dispelling into a cloud of smoke. Naruto received the memories of the clone. Honoka hadn't shown any signs of waking up, but he had managed to set up a silencing barrier in the tent, as well as some chakra concealment seals. So long as he was inside the tent, no one would be able to listen in or sense the signatures inside.

Nodding in satisfaction, he took a seat on the floor, leaning his back against the pole. The rough terrain didn't bother him, since he was used to sleeping on the floor. Comfort was not a necessity to him, so he was fine with his seating.

Seeing as he was free, he decided to meditate for a while, perhaps even check up on Rōshi, Fū, or even Gaara. Before he could do that, he was interrupted by a person approaching the tent. Based on their apprehension and reluctance, he had a guess who they were.

"Ano...Excuse me, Sparda-san? Zabuza-senpai asked me to come to see you." a hesitant voice asked, and he could make out the shape of a man standing outside.

"Yes, please, come in." The flap of the tent was moved to the side and a young man entered. He seemed to be about eighteen or nineteen, placing him several years older than him. He had black spiky hair, kept off his face with a headband around his head. Brown shinobi flak jacket with pin-striped pants and arm-guards. "Kiri-san?"

"Hai, Sparda-san. I look forward to working with you on our next mission," the man replied, bowing at the waist.

"Likewise. I require your expertise if you don't mind. My friend here," he said, pointing to Honoka's prone body. "has been in a coma for a while now. I would like for you to check on her, make sure that she is healthy."

"Hai, sir." He replied, taking a few steps next to the young woman, and sitting on his knees. He felt Sparda's eyes watching him, causing a few droplets of sweat to pool on his forehead. Going through the hand seals, he activated the mystic palm technique, the green glow encompassing his hands.

A few moments later, he dispelled the technique, shaking his head. "There is nothing wrong with her physically. Her chakra was low, but she is regenerating it quickly. Already, she had more than half her chakra back. There's nothing for me to heal I'm afraid. She will wake up when she can. I am a field medic, so I can heal most wounds, but this is too advanced for me. Sorry."

"That's fine, thank you. At the very least, I am reassured that she won't die on me all of a sudden." Sparda replied.

With a sigh, Naruto resigned himself to wait, dismissing Kiri, and reclining on the pole. He would just have to wait and see for Honoka to woke up on her own time.

---

(Later that Night - Suna)

A flare of chakra behind him had Gaara's sand to rise to his defense, only to calm down a second later once he recognized the chakra signature. Since he was a sensor nin, Gaara had always been able to detect people around him, but the sudden appearance did cause his eyes to widen.

"Still can't sleep at night, Gaara?" Naruto asked, moving forwards to stand next to the Suna nin. The boy still looked the same as the last time he had seen him, though, upon closer inspection, he noticed that there were a few differences.

For one, the rings around his eyes had reduced, now being a little more faded, but there were still there. He supposed they weren't actually from his lack of sleep, but more like marks from Shukaku himself, same in some way to the whisker marks he had from Kurama.

Another thing was that the boy did not radiate bloodlust anymore, instead, he had a calm and focused vibe emanating from him.

"Naruto Sparda. I am glad to see you again," the younger boy called. The sand around them returned to the earth once it was sure that Gaara's life was not in danger. "As for your question, I can only sleep for a few hours, and only at midnight."

"I see. Has Shukaku been bothering you?"

"No. Not since you sealed him away." Gaara replied, turning to the older shinobi.

A smile spread over Naruto's face. "That's good. Also, feel free to call me Naruto, or Sparda, there is no need to use both. And how is Karura-san?"

"Kaa-san is fine," the red-head replied. he paused for a minute as though listening to a voice only he could hear, before continuing. "She sends her regards."

He awkwardly nodded, not sure how he was supposed to reply to that. He hadn't ever thought he would be dealing with a dead woman sealed in her son's body, with her speaking through him. "To her mine, as well. Anyways," he said, clearing his throat. "I was wondering if you would like to try again with Shukaku. I believe we gave him enough time to settle down, don't you think?"

Gaara tilted his head, contemplating the words of Naruto, before slowly nodding. "I guess that should be fine. As long as you are here, you can deal with the seal should something happen to stop him from escaping."

"You have nothing to worry about, Gaara. I won't let Shukaku hurt you, or escape and kill you." Naruto reassured.

Gaara, surprisingly, shook his head. "It's not that. I don't want him to escape and endanger the village. "

"You're...worried...about the village?" Naruto asked, confusion clear in his tone.

Gaara was silent for a minute, his head turning to look at the village around him, before returning to Sparda. "Yes. I have...changed, and so did they. Things are...getting better."

Happiness, Acceptance, and Complacency radiated from Gaara, and Naruto found himself stunned into silence. He was surprised at the emotions reflecting from his younger counterpart, and the fact that they were aimed at the village – the same village that had scorned him and tried to kill him, he should add! – threw him for a loop.

That did not mean that he was not happy for his brother. It was completely Gaara's choice to try to rebuild his relationship with his village, and he would be amiss to stand in his way. If it made him happy than Naruto would support him, regardless of his own personal thoughts on the matter.

Gaara probably had Karura to try to integrate him back into the village, and from the way Gaara's emotions were, he guessed the woman was doing a good job at it. As long as it was his choice, Naruto would support it. It wasn't like he had a say in the decisions of his fellow Jinchūriki.

"I am happy for you, Gaara. If this is what you want, then I am sure you will be able to do it. Prove to them who you are." Naruto said, reaching out and placing a supportive hand on Gaara's shoulder.

The red-headed nodded, and Naruto removed his arm. A few minutes of awkward silence followed, Naruto trying to weigh the pros and cons of Gaara reconnecting to his village, mainly the fact that he would probably refuse his offer of joining him in new Uzu, while Gaara was staring at the white-haired shinobi and waiting for him.

Finally noticing Gaara's quiet stare, he slapped his forehead lightly, before shaking his head to focus on the topic at hand. "Alright, are you ready now?"

Gaara nodded, and closed his eyes, expecting Naruto's hand to get in contact with the seal.

---

(Shared Mindscape)

He didn't feel any different, but when he opened his eyes to ask Naruto what he was waiting for, he found himself in the expense of his mindscape, the same as the last time he had met the shinobi. And once again, standing faithfully behind the white-haired shinobi was the strongest of the Nine, Kyūbi.

Knowing better than to be disrespectful to the Bijū, Gaara, bowed slightly to the beast, acknowledging him with a nod that was surprisingly returned by the orange furred beast.

"Now then, time to see if Shukaku's attitude improved since then," Naruto said, pulling Gaara with him to the giant Tori gate that held Shukaku behind.

Kurama snorted, a gust of wind pushing over them from the giant beast's exhale. "I doubt it. The Tanuki was always this way. This is nothing he is not used to." He said, deciding to lay on his haunches.

Naruto stopped, blinking at the truth behind his partner's words. He frowned at the realization that he probably hadn't helped Shukaku's mood by sealing him away, just like everyone else had done before him.

'And I said I am different from the rest of the people who are sealing away Bijuu into Jinchūriki and I go and do the same to Shukaku. Damn, that was stupid of me.' he thought. A mental nudge and he turned, meeting eyes with Kurama's red orbs.

"Don't worry yourself, Kid. Shukaku sort of deserved that treatment. The sand rat should have known better than to try to kill you that way." He said, mentally communicating with his host.

'Really...I seem to recall that you tried to do the same thing the first time we met, Kurama. Even Son Gokū tried to crush me under his fist. You Bijū are all self-entitled.' Naruto replied with a smirk.

Kurama grumbled, turning to the other direction, but keeping one eye on the proceedings. He didn't answer, knowing that anything he said would only further prove that he was being hypocritical.

With the two shinobi, they now stood opposite of the Tori gate, but before they could touch the gate, a mass of sand formed next to them, taking the appearance of Karura.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Her voice held a tinge of fear and apprehension.

"We are going to try to talk to Shukaku again. You have nothing to be afraid of, Karura-san. Shukaku can't touch Gaara even if he is released from this Tori gate. You have my word." Naruto assured.

Karura still wasn't convinced. "Are you sure you want to do this Gaara?" she asked her son. "You don't have to ever deal with Shukaku as long as he is like this. He can stay sealed like that forever, and he won't ever bother you again."

Naruto held his tongue, refraining from speaking against Karura, for the only reason that she was Gaara's mother. She had a right to try to protect her son from dangers, and Bijū were at the top of the pyramid of threats.

Thankfully, he didn't need to. Gaara himself had the situation handled. "No, Kaa-san. I will not ignore Shukaku. Like Naruto Sparda said before, Shukaku is as much of a victim in this situation as me or you. The least I can do is to co-exist with him." Gaara said. He then turned to Naruto. "And like you said, he can't affect me anymore, so we can let him be in the mindscape if he doesn't want to cooperate, right?"

"True. You can do that."

Still hesitant, Karura gave in to the two shinobi, taking her place behind her son. When they were ready, Naruto channeled his chakra to the gate. There was a sudden clicking noise, followed by the gate disintegrating and fading away. The sand underneath the gate rose, coalescing into the form of the One Tail from the ground up, and ending with its ears.

Shukaku's star-shaped pupils glared at the humans beneath him, contempt and anger prevalent in his gaze.

"Hello again, Shukaku. I hope you are more willing to talk this time around?"

"What do you want from me, you abomination?" Shukaku asked, ignoring Kurama rising to his feet, his maw stretching into a snarl. "What exactly is your purpose here? If you think you can make me submit and give my chakra to this pitiful brat, then you have another thing coming! I won't be tamed by mere children!"

Before Naruto could reply, he was silenced when he saw Gaara step forward, garnering Shukaku's attention to himself. "I don't want your chakra, Shukaku. In fact, I don't want anything from you. I won't ask you for your power, but as long as you are here in the seal, we need to learn to coexist. We are stuck together, so we should make the best of it."

"Oh, it seems the little brat has grown some balls. Do you think I believe you, brat? Without me, your nothing! Your just a scared little boy! The entire village hates you! Your own father tried to kill you! That blasted woman might have been the one to control my sand to protect you, but it is MY chakra she is using! Without me, your both nothing!" The mad tanuki shouted.

Sand floated around the giant beast, picking up speed until he was surrounded by a massive dust storm, swirling around him. The generated wind caused Karura and Naruto to take a few steps back, but Gaara stood firm, keeping his eye to eye contact with Shukaku.

"You're right, Shukaku!" Gaara shouted, attempting to get his voice over the storm raging in his literal mind. Shukaku was stunned, the volatile sand slowing down until it was now floating in its place. "You are absolutely right, Shukaku."

The beast did not reply to the redhead's words, and Gaara had no intention of stopping now that he had the Bijū's attention.

"You are the one who made me into the person I am, Shukaku. If you hadn't been with me this whole time, I would have been dead a hundred times over now. If it weren't for you making me into the bloodthirsty person I was before, I probably wouldn't have survived for as long as I did. You might not have done it from the kindness of your heart, but you were the one who raised me. For that...I owe you a debt of gratitude..."

"Thank you, Shukaku, for everything you had done to me." Gaara ended his speech with a bow to the Bijū.

Naruto grinned, happy to see that Gaara had taken his advice to heart about the way to treat his Bijū. If Shukaku wanted to be a brat about it, carrying a grudge, then that was his choice. As long as Gaara was willing to try, then the rest was in the hands of the beast.

Karura was also smiling in pride, feeling accomplished with how her youngest was showing his maturity with the Bijū. Since Naruto had separated her from Shukaku, she had been spending as much time as she could with her children, but mostly with Gaara, trying to make up on the lost time.

Trying to integrate her boy with society again had been a challenge, but she was mostly successful in her endeavor due to how mature Gaara was for his age. Granted, that maturity came from the fact that he was a Jinchūriki, but it had worked all the same. She was relieved to see the village giving Gaara a second chance, which he had been working hard to prove to them that he deserved it.

It was for that reason that Baki had informed Gaara that he was a possible candidate for the position of Godaime, which made her pride skyrocket in her boy, hugging him tightly when he came to her for advice. She told him that it was his choice and that no matter what he decided, she would support his decision.

It was rare to see Gaara smiling, but that day, he had given her a smile that would have brought her to tears if she could.

Shukaku was still trying to see if Gaara was lying, not quite believing that a human, and a child at that, was behaving this way to him. Suspicious yellow eyes rose to stare at red slitted ones, and he saw the fox smirking in amusement and approval.

Huffing, Shukaku turned away from the human and one other Bijuu. "Whatever. I still don't trust you, any of you. Leave me be." He said, before making his way into the darkness of the seal.

"Wait, Shukaku," Naruto called, the Bijuu stopping in his steps. "Someday, I hope that you would be willing to put your trust in Gaara and I a little more. We don't have any ulterior motives. We are all in the same situation."

Grunting, the beast continued, slowly vanishing into the darkness. Turning to the shorter red-head, Naruto nodded in approval. "You did well, Gaara. Just give him some time. Bijū are...difficult beings to deal with. It's going to take him time to adjust that he can't control you, but instead to act as partners. Just, don't give up on him, ok?"

"I understand, Naruto Sparda. I will keep trying with him." Gaara replied.

"Gaara, just Naruto or Sparda is fine. You don't need to use both." He stressed. It was lengthy and annoying to be called that way by Gaara, and he wanted to be on friendlier terms with the one-tailed Jinchūriki.

"I understand, Naruto-san."

Sighing in dismay, Naruto settled. The use of the -san suffix would make do for now. "Anyways, I have something interesting I have been wanting to do, Gaara. Would you be willing to try?"

"What is it?" Gaara wondered.

"I'll keep it a surprise. Though, Karura-san won't be joining," he said, sending the sand construct an apologetic smile. The woman nodded in understanding.

"It's fine, Gaara. Take care of him, please, Naruto-kun." She asked.

Nodding, he turned to Gaara and placed his hand on his shoulder. There was a flash of light, and they both vanished.

---

(Mindscape)

Gaara blinked from the sudden change in surroundings. Whereas before they were in a dark shadowy area, they were now in a bright area. If he could compare it to anything, he would say it was exactly how some would describe heaven.

Bright blue skies, soft pillowy white clouds under his feet. But the best of all was that he felt absolutely at ease, as though nothing in the world could touch him now. He was sure he was somewhere that only a few people would ever have the privilege to be.

'This is...Nice,' he thought, his wide eyes roaming around the skies, then settling on the form of a grinning Naruto.

"Having fun, Gaa-Omph" he was cut off by a blur slamming into him, his body folding over the projectile that impacted against his midsection. He realized it wasn't actually a missile, but a person, a petite girl tightly hanging on to the white-haired man.

"Naruto-kun!" she shouted while hugging the life out of his fellow Jinchūriki. A chuckle sounded nearby, and he turned to see another person, a much older man with red hair and a beard, smiling at the two, then turning to him.

"Hello there. My name is Rōshi. Who might you be?" the man asked, reaching a hand for him to shake.

"Gaara. Gaara no Sabaku," the younger red-head replied, staring at the arm held out for him. He had never actually shaken someone's arm before. He remembered when his uncle was alive, he used to hold his arm back when his automatic defense was much less protective of him.

Seeing the boy's hesitant features, Rōshi withdrew his arm, grinning sheepishly while putting his hand in his pocket. "Maybe some other time then. A pleasure to meet you, Gaara. Since you are from Suna, I assume you are Ichibi's boy?"

Gaara tensed, his eyes narrowing in suspicion while glaring into the older man. A hand on his shoulder caused his head to snap to Naruto's, who was smiling, while the girl, a mint-haired girl with orange eyes was looking curiously at him.

"It's alright, Gaara. You don't have to be so guarded. I probably should have given you a heads up, but I honestly wanted to keep this a surprise for you." Naruto said a smaller smile on his face. "Let me start the introductions again. My name is Naruto Sparda, and I am the Jinchūriki of Kyuubi." Behind Naruto, there was a red flash of chakra, before Kurama appeared in all his glory, towering over the area. There was a giant shit-eating grin on his face.

"I'll go next," the red-head, Rōshi said. Puffing his chest, he plastered a pleasant smile on his face. "I am Rōshi, but my favorite title is Yōton no Rōshi, and I am the Jinchūriki of the Yonbi no Saru!" next behind Rōshi, the earth itself shook and split open as Son Gōku appeared from the chasm in the ground, releasing a howl and beating on his broad chest with a giant grin on his face.

"Show off," Kurama muttered to his sibling.

"Like your one to talk, Kitsune!" Son shot back, crossing his legs and taking a seat behind his Jinchūriki.

"Oh-oh! I'm next!" The mint haired girl said, raising her arm and trying to get everyone's attention. Once they all turned to her, her wings extended from her back and she took to the skies. "I'm Fū! My partner is Nanabi!" from the skies behind her, Nanabi slowly descended with its massive wings.

"You all should feel lucky to meet me! I am, after all, 'Lucky Seven'," Nanabi said. His – for he was male – voice was slightly high-pitched, but they could all tell that he had some of Fū's hyperactive personality.

'Or is it the other way around?' mused Gaara to himself. Noticing that the area had gone quiet, he blinked and looked to see that they were all staring at him, seemingly waiting for his turn. Noticing Naruto and Rōshi's encouragement nods and Fū's smile, he relaxed, a small smile coming over his face.

"Gaara. I am Gaara. And, even though I am not on best terms with him, my partner is the Ichibi. I hope to one day improve my connection with him, but I know it needs more time." Gaara quietly said. A scoff sounded in the area, but Shukaku did not make an appearance.

"Don't worry, Kid. I'm sure he will come around." Rōshi said. He looked back at the monkey behind him. "Even me and Yon only recently became on speaking terms. These things take time."

"Yes. Some of the Bijuu can be a bit pompous," Fū whispered, but she was intentionally loud that they all still heard what she said.

Three more grunts met her statement, one from a non-existing source, while the other two were from the red and orange Bijuu, while the green one only seemed to buzz in amusement.

"She's not wrong," Naruto said, raising an eyebrow at the two existing ones. "Anyways, Gaara. How did you like your surprise?"

Gaara's eyes turned to each of the people standing, from Rōshi and Son to Naruto and Kurama, then finally ending on Chōmei and Fū, lingering on the last person who was smiling widely at him.

He felt his face heat up from the girl's intense orange eyes before he turned towards the man that had brought them all together.

"It was... odd, but also...pleasant."

---

(Next Day – Mizu no Kuni)

"This is the place then?" Sparda asked, crouching behind a boulder. Next to him was the Kiri team of Zabuza and Kiri.

The three shinobi had left the camp since they would need to travel for about seven hours to get to the target area and wait a few more for nightfall where the mist was at its heaviest. Informing Mei of their departure began the count down for their mission. Mei and her troops would leave immediately after them, but they would take a little less than a day to follow after them through the canals of Mizu's waterways.

That would give Naruto, Zabuza, and Kiri about four-to-five hours to complete their mission before their reinforcements arrived. Naruto would attack the prison itself, clearing it from Yagura's main forces, while Zabuza and Kiri would secure the close by docks, allowing Mei's ships a foothold into the island to extract the prisoners and, if necessary, invade the prison itself should Naruto fail.

It was a solid plan, and Naruto once again had to admit that Mei was only impressing him and more every time he met her.

"Yeah, that's it," Zabuza replied, his eyes scanning over the building in the distance. They were still a distance away from the structure, well out of range of Kiri's sensors and staring at the pentagonal shaped fortress. Mizu's terrain was similar to that of Kumo and Iwa's in that they both had mountains, which is where they were standing now, looking down at their objective.

Five watchtowers were on each of the corners of the building, with long cemented walls with barbed wires on the top. A single giant metal door stood between two of the towers, the only way to enter or exit the complex. They counted at least four shinobi on each tower, with spotlights roaming in the darkness.

"There has to be at least one sensor between them," Kiri whispered, using a pair of binoculars to shift between the towers. "Any idea of how many shinobi they have?"

"We're too far out of their range to sense them. And the same for them," Zabuza replied to the younger shinobi. He didn't expect the younger man to understand why they had stopped where they were.

"There is a total of 936 people in the base and below it. I expected much more when you warned me about this mission before." Naruto blurted out.

"You can sense them? How?" Zabuza asked, bewildered.

"I have a special sensing ability. My range is also significantly higher," cross-country higher, but they didn't need to know that. "About 620 of them have their chakra sealed, so I assume that they are the prisoners. That leaves 316 as Kiri shinobi. I can handle that number." Naruto said, turning to Zabuza.

"I'll take your word for it. Any chance you can tell me how many are there lower? To the south of the complex? That should be my target." Zabuza asked. Naruto wasn't sure if the Kiri shinobi was simply disregarding his confidence, or simply didn't care.

Shrugging, Naruto did as told, tracking the shinobi signatures in the area. "There are around 30 shinobi south of the complex. 5 Jōnins and the rest are Chūnins."

"Good enough numbers. So what's your plan? How are you going to get in?" Zabuza asked, flicking his hand to the complex.

"Well... I was thinking about doing from the inside out. Get to the prisoners first, then empty the rest of the building. Tsurugi said that there is only one way in, which is a sealed door in the middle of the fort. If that is correct, I shouldn't have any difficulties or casualties." Naruto replied.

Sharing a glance with Kiri, Zabuza tried not to sound too slow, or sarcastic. "And exactly how are you going to the bottom level first? You know, to get to that level you have to go through the big sealed door in the middle of 300 Kiri shinobi."

"Easy, Zabuza. I'm going to do this." Naruto replied, before slowly sinking into the ground beneath him, the earth swallowing him and rippling as he descended. Kiri recoiled, before feeling the earth where Sparda was, only feeling the dirt.

"Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu," they heard his voice, but couldn't see him. Being a sensor himself, Kiri focused his chakra and tried to find him. The second he channeled his chakra, Kiri flinched as he felt Sparda appear behind him.

'His chakra is massive. It's on a league of its own!' The Kiri medic thought, sweat forming on his forehead as he released his sensing Jutsu. That one second had been more than enough to cause his entire body to shake.

"Clever. But will you be able to reach there undetected while using this?" Zabuza asked.

"I should be able to reach just fine. I have enough chakra to travel the distance, and can hold my breath long enough." He confirmed. The use of this particular Jutsu depended entirely on the user's physical conditioning.

As long as the user was submerged underground, then they had to hold their breath for the entire duration, which for most shinobi can only be for about five minutes. Furthermore, it required a constant flow of chakra to be channeled over the entire body, similar to the Surface walking exercises, except this one was to be channeled over the entire body outwardly.

Since he had the chakra necessary and was able to hold his breath for a full hour with chakra, he was sure he could reach the inside of the prison. Most likely though was that he would be detected, but by then, he would already be inside, and that would only work against the Kiri loyalists by having them come to him instead of the opposite.

"Alright. You have any flare Kunai?" Zabuza asked. Naruto stared at him, then shook his head. Shaking his head, Zabuza gestured for Kiri to give the man his kunai. Kiri retrieved two kunai from his pouch, both of them having a seal tag on them. "it's simple. You channel chakra and throw them into the air. One for mission success and two as an SOS. Let's hope you won't need the second one." He murmured at the end.

Pocketing the two Kunai, he nodded to the veteran. "Best get going then. Time's a-wasting." With that, he sunk into the ground again, the dirt rippling in place before settling again.

---

"Kami dammit shut those mutts!" a Chūnin shouted, from his place laying on a crate amidst the cackling of the Hyenas. The beasts were tumbling together in their cage, wrestling and playing with each other. Their alpha was leaning on its side near the door cage, dark eyes chasing after every shadow's movement.

"Y'know Doshi, Hyenas are actually from the feline family, not from the canine family. So technically, they're more cats than dogs," Another Chūnin added, retrieving several pieces of meat and throwing them into the cage.

The beasts abandoned their playing, tearing into the meat. Even the bones did not survive, their teeth chomping and crushing the bones in their powerful jaws. The Chūnin threw a few more pieces of meat, doing his best to ignore the alpha's dark stare. The beasts were always slightly quieter with their bellies full.

The Chūnin turned to his superior, sweatdropping when he saw the glare aimed at him.

"I don't care what they are. Felines, Canines, whatever the fuck, Kensuke, just make sure they stay as quiet as possible. I need to get some shut-eye! Fucking hate this shift," grumbled Doshi as he rolled to the other side and tried to sleep.

No one enjoyed having this particular shift, the night shift guard in the lower levels of the Sinkhole. He even preferred having guard duty back in Kiri over this shithole. But he was always stuck with it since he was one of the higher level Chūnins in the village.

Shrugging helplessly, Kensuke grabbed the bucket and placed it against the storage door where they kept the beast's meals. Checking the time, he saw that it was time for one of his patrols.

After making sure that he had his Kunai holster and headband secured, he strolled down the stone steps. Cells lined the walls of the structure from each side lit by faint candle lights, the people inside either cowering and backing away from him, their rags shuffling on the dirt floor, meaning they were civilians or glaring hatefully at him, the shinobi side in them wishing they could escape and probably wring his neck.

Not that they would be able to, considering they not only had their chakra sealed away, but they were also bound in chains on their hands and feet, with their hands tied behind their backs.

Some minutes later, he found himself in the wide clearing where it opened up to a larger cell. This particular cell housed a hundred people or so. They were all free to move in the level since they were all civilians only, with not a single shinobi amongst them. They were small fry, only incentives to keep the other prisoners from rioting. All the prison cells had a small window from the inside, showing this particular pseudo arena. He gestured to the other two Chūnin standing on Kunai launchers that he was on patrol, with them nodding in confirmation.

It took him about ten minutes later to reach the end of the winding path, another lower level under the main area locked with a heavier set of gates. It was here that they kept the more dangerous shinobi.

No one usually dared to come down to this level, since the shinobi sent to this level were either extreme VIP's that Yagura wanted to make sure they never saw the light of day again or Shinobi that were kept for a specific reason, ie. public executions or for directly opposing the Kage.

Moving past the first few, he stopped to glance at one of their newer captives. The woman inside was lithe red-haired woman, with green eyes. Her hair was straight and long, going down to the middle of her back. Milky white skin contrasted with her naturally darker colored lips. Lips that were currently sneering at him. She had a scar on her left eye, but it did nothing to hinder her beauty or the level of danger from the femme fatale.

They had all been shocked beyond belief when their comrades had come strolling in, chest puffed in pride and dragging behind them a squad of Kiri rebels, with the Rebel leader's sister in their midst.

The sight of their new captive had almost excused the Jōnin leader of that mission from Yagura's wrath for losing more than half of their squad in the capture. Almost. Yagura had still personally taken the man's head, but the rest of his squad had been giving some time off back in Kiri.

Knowing better than to stop and stare for too long at the 'Sinister Blade,' Kensuke continued on his patrol. There was one more prisoner to check on. The most dangerous, and deadly shinobi, and one that Yagura himself ordered complete isolation for.

At the end of the path, stood one heavily fortified door. The key itself was not even with them, the holder of that being Yagura himself. This was one person he never wanted to see but was too valuable to kill.

Reaching the door, Kensuke unlatched the peephole and took a peak. There she was, on her knees, and chained to the four corners of the room. Her hair, a light shade of purple that was not quite red falling over her face and covering her petite body.

She seemed to sense that someone was looking at her, as she raised her head, her sharp teeth glinting in the darkness while black eyes bore into his souls. Terror spread through his body, and he was quick to shut the hole, taking a few breaths to calm himself down.

A few of the other inmates, Sinister Blade included seemed to find his predicament amusing, as they chuckled or laughed at him. Feeling his face burn in humiliation, Kensuke quickly vacated the area.

Shutting the gates after clearing the level, Kensuke's eyes glinted in malice. 'I'll teach them to laugh at me. They will know better the next time the animals get hungry,' he thought in anger.

He turned to go back up but froze at the sight of two glowing blue eyes, and then, he knew nothing more.

---

Katarina Terumī sighed in agitation as she slid back to the floor of her cell. The way the Chūnin had scurried away from the last cell had been the most entertainment she had in the past week or so since her capture. At least, she thought it was a week. It could have been more or less, but she wouldn't know. One of the side effects of being trapped underground she would assume.

She shouldn't have let herself and her team fall captives to Yagura's forces. She should have known better than to let down her guard when the mission had felt so easy. They had just managed to secure the supply caravan when suddenly they were ambushed by the Jōnin loyalists.

She was stronger than the average Jōnin, but she was still nowhere near as strong as her sister. Terumī in blood, she was, but she had been born without their clan's bloodline, the Yōton, or the Futton. So instead, she had dedicated herself to Kenjutsu and was proudly one of the most dangerous shinobi in Kiri with the use of a single Kunai. In fact, she had been an aspect to join the Seven swordsmen along with her teammate at the time, Mangetsu Hōzuki.

Then, Yagura had changed. And all of Kirigakure went up in flames.

The screeching of the gate drew her attention along with the light from the outside area. The sound of footsteps followed before the Chūnin returned.

"Back for another scare, brat?" she asked, taunting the man. The man didn't reply, only staring vacantly at her. There was a glow in his eyes that she had not seen before. The man moved to the side, and she noticed that there was another man with him.

A man wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it, with a straw hat on his head.

"And you brought a friend with you. Lovely," she continued, wearily glancing at the dazed shinobi and the new one. She flexed her arms, once again trying to free her arms from behind her back.

"She's the one?" the man in cloak asked, and she could tell from his voice that he was on the younger side. At least, younger than she was, and she was 20 years old. The Chūnin wordlessly nodded. "Open the cell."

Surprisingly, the Chūnin obeyed, reaching from his belt and withdrawing a set of keys. He unlocked the cell door, then stood back, seemingly waiting for any other commands.

Katarina quickly rose to her feet, taking a corner in the cell. The other inmates, many of them that she knew – and they knew who she was – started screaming and shouting threats towards them.

"Stay away from the Taichou!"

"Oi, Bastard! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

The man in the cloak ignored them all, closing the distance between them.

"I'm not gonna make this easy for you, fucker! You can bet on it!" she snarled, tensing her body for a fight. She knew she wasn't much of a threat. She couldn't punch, she couldn't kick, and she had no chakra. The best she could do was to try using her own body, shoulders and knees with what limited movement she had.

But she had no intention of making it easy for the bastards. If they wanted to kill her, or worse, have fun with her, then they would have to work for it.

The man stopped three feet from her, motionless. She couldn't see his face under his hat, and the ruckus from the other inmates was starting to annoy even her. A tense moment later, he raised his arms in a surrendering motion.

"Mei Terumī sent me here to save you and all the others." He revealed, shocking her and all the other inmates into silence. She froze, a flash of hope coursing through her body, followed by suspicion.

"Prove it!" she said, trying to glare into his eyes, and failing from the straw hat on his head.

"How?" he asked, a chuckle escaping him.

"I don't know. Do something that proves your not just some asshole lying through his teeth." She shot back.

Tilting his head, the man was silent for a moment, with the other inmates also trying to listen in. Getting an idea, he turned to the Chūnin. "Kill yourself," he ordered.

The Chūnin did not even hesitate, reaching for a Kunai from his holster, and stabbing himself in the throat. The pain seemed to take him out of whatever trance he was in, his eyes going wide as he gurgled, blood flowing from his mouth. He backed away and tried to run only to trip and fall, the kunai piercing through to the back of his throat.

Watching this, Katarina had an eyebrow raised in interest, before turning to stare at the shinobi. "How?"

Meeting the woman's eyes, Naruto took off his straw hat, the hat vanishing as he pulled it into his cloak. Blue met green, and the woman felt her breath hitch in her throat. "I have some special abilities. He was hypnotized to listen to my commands through a special Genjutsu. That was the first time I used it actually. Anyways, do you want to be freed or not?"

Rolling her eyes, Katarina pulled on the chains making them rattle, letting him know her position. Shrugging, he went behind her, grabbing the cuffs and tearing them off with his bare hands. She was stunned for a minute at the feat of strength, only to blush when he went lower, doing the same to her leg shackles.

She quickly moved away from him before he could raise his gaze since that position would place him on a level with her behind. Quickly getting back her composure, she coughed. "So, how exactly is this happening? Is Mei-nee storming the prison while you're here to get us?"

"Nop. It's just me for now." He replied, stressing the 'P' while moving past her. He reached down to the Kiri shinobi and unstrapped his holster, then pulled the kunai with him. Katarina quickly followed, a bewildered expression on her face.

"What do you mean just you? Where is everyone else? Are you going to attack the entire building alone?!" she asked.

"Yes." He replied, turning to her and handing her the kunai. "I can unseal all of your chakra, but it will take some time to do that. For now, just free everyone and have them ready to move. Keep that just in case."

With that said, he created a clone. The clone already knew its mission, took the holster from his hand and retrieved another Kunai. The Kunai was then engulfed in a layer wind, the weapon glowing with the energy, and proceeded to cut the locks on the bars, then doing the same to the shackles of the shinobi.

The real Naruto meanwhile, was moving towards the giant door at the end of the hallway. Grabbing the door in both arms, Naruto pulled with his full force, the metal groaning in protest, before buckling to his strength, leaving a gaping Katarina and a small dust cloud from the ripped metal door.

Walking into the darkness, Naruto – with Katarina following behind – stared at the prone woman. "I wonder why they have you in this place, and sealed in this way." He asked.

The woman turned her eyes to him, a wide smirk extending on her face. "I'm special," she replied. Her voice was slightly deeper than he expected.

"Special in a way that would aide Mei Terumī?" he asked.

The woman scoffed, turning her head to the other direction. "I have no interest in Kekkai Genkai users or their war." She said. "But," she continued, turning her eyes towards him. "I want Yagura!" she replied, and he could feel her bloodlust and hatred covering the area, along with a side emotion of something else. Love, if he wasn't mistaken.

"Ameyuri Ringo. The 'Strongest Fang' and former wielder of the Kiba blades." Katarina said, having recognized the woman from her powerful bloodlust. "A previous member of the seven swordsmen, and considered one of the strongest to ever use the lighting blades." There was a hint of respect in the way she was describing the woman.

Ameyui smirked, "So, Kiri shinobi still remember me. I thought you all would have forgotten about me after I got ill and replaced." She bit back.

"The Kiba blades, eh..." Naruto mused. He unsealed his private sealing scroll from his mark, then unsealed the blades he had gotten from killing Raiga. Katarina and Ameyuri's eyes widened at the sight of the blades. Grabbing the two swords, he flicked one of them towards Ameyuri, the blade barely stopping at her throat. "I'll ask again, and think carefully about your answer. Lie to me and you're dead. If I free you, are you an ally on Mei's side, or Yagura's side?"

Gazing almost reverently at her old swords, Ameyuri turned to meet his eyes. "I want Yagura. He left me here and threw away the key. I will side with whoever gets me close enough to stab Yagura in his heart!" she angrily replied, shooting forward as much as her chains would allow. The Kiba blade's bit into her skin, drawing blood.

Nodding his head, Naruto withdrew the blades, channeling lightning chakra through them. Yellow electricity began to arc over the blades, and he swung, Ameyuri closing her eyes in the belief that she was going to die right then and there. Instead, the swing cut through her chains, the entire room lighting up in chakra as the seals in the room vanished.

Falling to the ground with her binds destroyed, Ameryuri gasped as a rush of energy flowed through her body. She had been imprisoned for such a long time that to feel her chakra again made her feel as though she was breathing for the first time.

Unlike the other prisoners, her chakra seals were on the chains and the room itself, not on her body. It was done on purpose, to make sure that she was never to be released from her chains and unable to move.

Her feistiness and bloodlust were famous in Kiri, so drastic measures had to be taken with her.

Getting to her hands and knees was a struggle for the proud kunoichi, but she managed it after a few attempts. Her muscles were atrophied from disuse, so it was expected. What she didn't expect, was to have a stone-faced Katarina next to her, pulling her arm around her shoulder.

Snarling, she tried to push her away, only for the younger woman to turn a glare towards her. "Listen, I don't like this as much as you do, but we have to work together to get out of here in one piece. We are going to be fighting on the same side against Yagura, so until then, we have a truce. When he is gone, you can do whatever you want, got it?"

While reluctant, Ameryuri knew that the younger woman was not wrong. Deciding to be civil for once, she nodded her head in acceptance. "Fine, Girlie." She then faced forward, "And how exactly did you get the Kiba? Last I know, they were handed down to that coward, Raiga." She spat.

"I ran into him some time ago in River. After I killed him, I took the swords. Not like I was going to leave them as a grave marker or anything. No, these are two fine blades," he said, admiringly examining the prongs on the swords.

He drew them back when Ameyuri tried to snatch one, her face going red in anger. She didn't seem like she accepted him holding her old blades.

"Give them to me. Only a Seven Swordsman should ever handle one of the blades." She explained.

"You'll have them, don't worry. You can't use them, and holding the blades now in front of the Kiri shinobi will paint a bigger target on your back. For the moment, I need them to be focused on me, so that all of you can escape." He said, sheathing the weapons on his back and using chakra to make them stick. Unlike his weapons which already had his chakra imprinted in them, these swords would need to be stuck to him intuitively.

Seeing reason in his words, Ameyuri relented, begrudgingly allowing herself to lean against the younger woman. They all left the cell and saw that his clone had done his job, all the prisoners freed from their cells. They were various expressions of happiness and relief on their faces.

"Right then. Stay here with my clone, and listen to his orders. The clone will let you know when its safe to proceed to the higher levels after I take care of the other shinobi here." Naruto said, turning to the red-head. When she nodded, he went to his clone, who had taken a position leaning at the entrance between the ground level with the giant cage and the lower level.

"There are two shinobi only, one on each Kunai launcher. They have them trained on the people inside." The clone reported. Naruto nodded, already expecting as much. "We could probably hit them at the same time, but it's gonna be hard to avoid detection after."

"Then it's a good thing we don't need to avoid detection. The second those two guys are down, we need everyone's eyes on us." Naruto replied. The clone shrugged, agreeing with the original. "You get the closer one, and I'll go far then continue up. Good?"

The clone nodded, and they sprang to action. The clone ran and jumped high, landing behind one of the shinobi manning the turrets. The sudden movement drew both of their attention, and the closer shinobi tried to scream, only to have his head grabbed and twisted, a loud crack signifying his death.

"Shit! Intruder!" the other shinobi shouted, pointing his launcher towards the other turret. A burst of chakra and one Shunshin later, and he followed his ally in death. The real Naruto dropped the body, the shinobi falling to the ground near the cell, and nodded to his clone.

The people in the cell were now wide awake and staring at the scene, crowding near the bars of the cage. Katarina peaked from the corner, seeing that the coast was clear, and went out to join them, the other prisoners also walking behind them.

Unfortunately, the shinobi's shout did not go unheard, and they all heard the blaring sounds of an alarm blazing through the underground extension. The alarm was then followed by the sound of a stampede and the howling and cackling of animals.

Grimacing at the sound emanating from the next entrance, while the other prisoners were flinching at the mad cackling Hyenas, she calmed when the two men landed next to her.

"Stick to the plan. I'll start clearing the corridor from here on out." He ordered the clone. The clone then went to the cell door and using the same Kunai cut through the main lock, the cell door swinging open.

It was then that Katarina realized something. She had never asked for the man's name. This whole time she had been so wary of him that she hadn't bothered to get his name. And yet, now that he was about to risk his life for their sake, talking about taking on the entire fortress head-to-head, and she was still referring to him as 'Him.'

"Hey," She called out to him before he could keep going in the darker space. "I never got your name."

The howling was getting loser every minute, and she could see several civilians backing back into the cell with fearful expressions on their faces. Except for one young blue-skinned boy. The boy was staring with wide-eyes, bloodlust shining in his eyes. The resemblance he had to another legendary Kiri shinobi causing even her body to shiver, and she could see that Ameryuri was amused by the boy but the grin sliding on her face.

"Ha...True. I never did tell you my name," Naruto mused. "My bad. You can call me Sparda," he replied.

When he left them, they all quieted down, hearing the sound of whimpering animals. The sound was followed by deep growling before the stampeding happened again, but this time, it was going away.

---

(A Few Minutes Earlier)

"-! Intruder!" Doshi's eyes snapped open, tumbling off the crates he was napping on when he heard the shout. Quickly getting to his feet, he peeked through the small window in the wall, cursing when he saw that the two Kunai launcher sentries were dead, and someone was freeing the prisoners.

He ran to the alarms, quickly pressing the button. With the alarms now active, he locked the metal door separating between the inside of the prison and their booth. He then went to the Hyena cage, the Alpha beast's dark eyes following his movements, while its jaw was clenched in a snarl.

"Time to be useful, you mangy mutts! Get moving!" he shouted, flipping another switch near the cage. The cage door opened on the side of the prison, the screams of woman and cries of children as two dozen beasts rushed out of the cage, maws slobbering and drooling. They only took a few steps before waiting out of the cage, terrorizing the nearby prisoners, but not moving without their alpha's command.

The bigger animal kept staring at the Chūnin, its fangs covered in its saliva, before slowly rising to its feet and left the cage. It howled, followed shortly by its pack, then went pacing down to the darker tunnels. Their powerful noses picked up the smell of blood, and their steps quickened, their pace turning into a run as they rushed past around the corner.

His task completed as protocol, Doshi retreated to the entrance of the prison, getting out and finding every single able shinobi that showed up after the alarm system was sounded standing at the gate to the prison. The six shinobi guarding the steel door quickly closed it, locking several bars and pins to the ground to keep the door shut, then channeling chakra in the designated seals, chakra coursing through the curse marks on the door, and locking it shut.

"Doshi! What happened?"

Turning to the one who called for him, Doshi flinched, his back straightening at the sight of the high commander. One of Yagura's closest confidants and trusted shinobi, and one of the most brutal, and fanatic supporter of the war in Kiri.

Doshi swore the earth itself shook with every step the giant of a man took. Standing at seven feet, with a muscled build, the man called Tsuyoshi 'Oni' Koyama stomped towards him.

Tsuyoshi was a large muscular man with black hair with two graying patches near his temples. He had an unusual hairstyle with four ponytails or braids on the back of his head wrapped in white cloth. A large star-shaped scar was over his missing left eye, while his remaining eye was a pale red. His teeth were quite sharp, similar to the tradition of the fabled Seven.

He was wearing a chest plate of armor that was rumored to be one of Snow's Chakra Armor with a black mesh undersuit that revealed his muscled midsection where the chest plate did not reach. For his lower body, he was wearing black and white camouflage pants with a black belt, a single-edged broadsword, also known as a Falchion, but more proportionate to his size, making it seem like a small Zanbato on his waist.

"S-sir! There was an intruder! He just appeared in the lower cells and started freeing the prisoner! All of the others are dead, Kensuke, the sentries, everyone is gone!"

The 'Ogre' snarled in rage, grabbing the Chūnin around his throat and lifting his body clear off the ground. The young man began to choke, sweat pouring down his face as he struggled to breathe.

"How the hell did he get in the lower levels?! There is only one way in and out from the cells, and that's the gate behind you!" Tsuyoshi shouted, spittle practically flying from his mouth and splattering the shinobi.

"I-..dont...know...sir. He-... just...appeared...out of...nowhere!" Doshi rasped, his hands clasped over Tsuyushi's in an attempt to stabilize himself and breathe less he suffocates to death.

Growling at the useless answer, Tsuyoshi threw the man away, sending him skidding a few meters away with his strength, and took a few steps forward towards the gate separating them from the rogue.

'Damn. How the hell did he manage to sneak through the entire complex and get down there with none of us being the wiser? Some sort of Summoning Jutsu or Space/Time Jutsu? You are one of a kind, Sparda-san!' he thought, his face turning into a dark grin as he crossed his arms and stared at the gate separating him from the famous shinobi.

It was, after all, all part of the plan. They already knew about the Rebels resorting to the mercenary group Akatsuki, and they knew that with how desperate they were to retake the village that they would send their strongest to capture the prison. But the pure arrogance of the bloodline users, and the man himself to think that he would be able to take the prison on his own simply boggled Tsuyoshi's mind.

You may ask how did they know about the mission in the first place?

Easy. The simplest, oldest trick in the book. A double agent. A mole that would feed them information on all Rebel plans. Yagura knew everything. They had a suspicion that the Rebels knew of the possibility, considering they had planed the entire attack and executed it within to time-frame of a single day. But if they knew, they showed no indications.

Their spy had barely managed to send the heads up on the attack. But they were still able to prepare a counterattack. It was why he had rotated the shifts, and left only four of his men, the bare-minimum in the cells, while the rest were all posted on the walls of the prison, to detect the incoming shinobi.

Yagura would also be showing up, a massive armada at his back in a pincer maneuver to trap and end Mei once and for all. It was too perfect. They would end the war once and for all, and Chigiri no Sato would be united again under Yagura's rule, Bloodline free.

Not that Tsuyoshi was ever bothered by the Bloodline Users. None of them did. Not him neither did Kagura or Kaneda. They all had their personal reasons to support Yagura's war. He didn't care for the manipulative Kaneda or the sexy Kagura's. All he cared about, was his own.

For him, when he saw a Kekkai Genkai, all he saw was Kumo, or Iwa willing to pay big bucks for some of them. Other human traffickers also like Gatō from Gatō Shipping, Bando, En Oyashiro, and Orochimaru of the Sannin.

And what better way than to control the place where all of the bloodlines were, standing guard over them. No one would be the wiser if one or two went missing now and then.

Of course, that would be ruined for him if the Rebels were to die in this battle. But something told him, their death wouldn't come so easy.

"Stand your ground, men! These freaks will not leave this place alive, understood?!" He shouted. The yard around was filled to the brim with shinobi all holding different weapons ranging from Kunai to Ninjatō's to Katanas. The roofs of the complex were also populated with shinobi, all awaiting the command of their superior.

Crossing his arms, Tsuyoshi waited. And waited.

And then grinned viciously when he heard a thud against the gate. Followed by another. Another thud sounded but this one was accompanied by the rattling of the metal door as it shook in its hinges.

The shinobi around him began to breathe harder, adrenaline getting pumped through their system. He didn't blame them. That metal gate needed six people to open or close it, but whoever was inside was shaking the whole damn thing.

There was another bang, except this one was followed by the sound of cracking glass. The shinobi closest to him gasped as the black curse mark on the gate began to collapse, the seals breaking and shrinking.

Three more thuds and the clearing was filled with the sound of breaking glass, the Jūin destroyed and vanishing. Silence reigned for a moment, only for it to be broken by a massive thump against the gate, an indent forming as the metal bent outward.

'Impossible. He's punching through the gate?!' Tsuyoshi thought in bewilderment. The shinobi around him shared his disbelief, staring at the gate. Unfortunately, they couldn't stare at it anymore, as with another smash, the entire thing fell forward, blown off its hinges and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The Kiri loyalists tensed, waiting for the stampede of prisoners and the one who had set them all free. They kept waiting for the impending attack to happen, only for the dust to begin to settle, and no attack to happen. There were only the footsteps of a single person as they walked on the fallen steel gate.

A single man, wearing a black cloak with red clouds. His white hair and blue emotionless eyes were clear for them all to see. The man's eyes roamed over them, then finally settled on 'The Ogre.' The giant man took three steps forward, standing on an even height with the unknown shinobi who was standing on the steel gate.

"So your the rebel's new attack dog? They know they don't have a chance to win this war on their own, so they resorted to hiring foreign shinobi. How disgraceful!" Tsuyoshi spat, a grin settling on his face.

Naruto shrugged, not bothering to rise to the man's taunt. "Why they hired me is their business. For me, I am being paid to do this, and that's what I'm going to do. Such pathetic taunts won't work on me, Oni."

Snarling, the man swept his arm to the side, "You fool! You act so bravely, but do you realize that you are facing an entire battalion on your own! Do you think you can defeat all of us? What are you, crazy?"

"How about we find out?" Naruto replied, tilting his head, and motioning forward.

Tsuyoshi stopped in his tracks as he heard the treading of paws on the dirt floor. Small glowing spots appeared in the darkness of the entrance before the snarls of the guard Hyenas was heard, the Alpha poking its head out of the darkness and standing next to Sparda's leg, while it's pack followed, circling the person who subjugated their alpha, but standing near him all the same.

"I do believe you should keep your animals fed. Keeping them on the brink of hunger to make them more vicious is not cool," Naruto said. His eyes met the alphas. "Itadakimasu."

With a cackle, the Alpha charged, followed shortly by the rest of the pack. Tsuyoshi jumped back, allowing his troops to engage the felines, all the while staring at Sparda. He flicked his arm down pointing towards the rogue, the Kiri shinobi on the higher levels responding to his command, throwing a hail of kunai with hissing notes towards the shinobi.

Naruto looked at the incoming attack and responded by throwing his hands forward, twin blasts of Fūton: Reppūshō blasting forwards and changing the trajectory of the projectiles. Some were blasted back to their owners, while a few more were sent careening upwards, blasting harmlessly in the air. The few that were left were redirected to the ground, blasting and killing several shinobi and even a Hyena or two.

Naruto caught the gaze of several shinobi from the upper ranks in his eyes, casting his hypnosis on them, and sending them to combat their own allies. Five were affected by his left side, while only four were captured on the right, and he found that his eyes weren't able to control anyone else. There was a sudden confusion in the ranks of the Kiri shinobi as traitors appeared from their ranks, and began attacking them,

'So there is a limit to how many I can use this thing on. Ten, for now, the alpha and nine Shinobi.' He mused. Nodding in satisfaction, he looked at the shinobi surrounding him, charging at him with Kunai and swords.

He reached behind his back, pulling the signature Kiba blades, and channeling lighting through them. The shinobi hesitated, recognizing the legendary blades of the Seven, and paid the price for their hesitation, as Naruto blurred forwards, cutting them to shreds.

Raising his eyes, he met the gaze of the Ogre, smirking at the man's gritted teeth. A wordless message was exchanged between them.

'You will die a painful death!'

'You're next, Oni.'

---

(Short distance Away)

The sound of a short scream, followed by the ripping of flesh resounded in the heavy mist blanketing the area, followed by the mist lifting and revealing Zabuza flicking the blood of his sword from the last shinobi he had killed.

The mist was lifting around him, but he could still barely see the bodies strewn all over the docks. They were no match to his Sairento Kiringu technique. Not a single one of them posed a threat to him, which was to be expected.

Kiri shinobi were not known for their tenacity or strength, so on the village scale, they were always tied with Suna for weak shinobi. What Kiri shinobi had, was pure bloodlust and the will to the fight till the end. They were some exceptions of course, but those exceptions would always be drafted to better locations in the village, such as the Seven or the ANBU. The rest were usually fodder.

It was why Kiri used to rely on Kekkai Genkai users. With the diversity of their abilities and the fact that most Bloodline users had stronger bodies and more chakra than regular forces, they were an advantage against the other villages. Of course, it was due to those differences that the 'Bloodline Purges' began.

Since they were stronger, they were also more bloodthirsty than the regular forces, and that manifested itself in arrogance and pride, which created a divider between the regular shinobi and bloodline users. Then, of course, the Kaguya Clan happened, and Yagura used that event to trigger the civil war.

Once the mist was all gone, he whistled, paused, then whistled again.

Kiri dropped from the trees at the edge of the village and joined him, blanching and almost hurling from the remains of the bodies on the floor. He did his best to hold it within as he went to stand next to the veteran.

"Can you sense anyone else around us?" Zabuza asked, crossing his beefy arms over his chest. Kiri shook his head after using scoping technique. "Good. So our part of the mission is a success. Now we just need to wait for Mei to arrive." He said,

There was a boom of an explosion, followed by the ground shaking beneath their feet. They both turned to the chakra source, the prison complex. Zabuza did not need to be a chakra sensor to sense the fluctuation of chakra in there.

"Sparda-san must have been discovered." Kiri deducted. He turned to his superior, who seemed to be completely at ease. "Was it wise to let him go there alone?"

"He said he can handle himself, Kiri. So let him be. Besides, I've seen his work before. I experienced it first hand. That brat won't have much of an issue with anyone. The warden might pose a challenge, but Tsuyoshi never could beat me, so he has no chance of beating Sparda." Zabuza replied.

"Are you saying you fought them? Tsuyoshi and Sparda?" Kiri wondered.

Nodding, Zabuza answered. "Yeah. I fought Tsoyushi long before the war began. The only thing that gorilla has is his strength, but Sparda is on a whole other league…"

"- the only question is how merciful Sparda will be to the man and his troops."

---

(Further Away – Mizu ocean)

Mei sighed, leaning her forehead on the palm of her hand as the younger girl trekked nervously in front of her. She had been that way since she had returned the day before from her mission, only to find out that her surrogate father – who she had gotten to admit that fact to her – had been sent on one of the most dangerous missions they had.

A mission that they had been hesitating for a whole week because they were unsure how they to go about it. And yet, with a single new variable added to the mix, Mei and her advisors had decided it was time to go through with it. A variable that had her heart beating in her chest when she learned about.

Sparda. 'Blue Blade'. 'Demon Terminator'. And the man who had stomped on both her and Zabuza simultaneously and was the cause they decided to return to Kiri and joined the Rebel Forces.

She wouldn't admit it, but the chill that had gone down her spine when she heard his name again had been almost an equal to the heat that had rushed through her body. Mei, of course, had noticed, but Haku had managed to throw her attention towards the fact that she sent three shinobi to fight against three hundred, at the very least.

Mei had corrected it. She said that she sent one to fight against three hundred.

"Haku, if you don't stop your pacing, so help me, I will melt your feet into the surface of the ship!" Mei said, her voice a clear sign of her agitation. Sighing, the girl decided not to provoke Mei and took place behind her leader.

They both ignored the amused Ao, and Haku's partner, Chōjūrō who was sweating at the tension between the two females.

Chōjūrō was a young man, only a year older than her, marking him as sixteen-years of age. He was a short blue-haired boy, with black-rimmed glasses and black eyes. He was wearing a blue striped shirt, with the standard Kiri white and black camouflage pants. He also had a Katana on his back.

"I'm sorry, Mei-sama, but I don't approve of you sending them out like this!" Haku said. "What if they were killed, or worse, captured and are now in the prison with all the others including Katarina-chan?"

"You will understand if you're ever in my place, Haku. It was not an easy decision, but I will do it again all the same." Mei replied calmly.

"I wouldn't send them to their death if I was in your place!" vehemently shot the ice user. Ao's smile dropped off his face, Chōjūrō's mouth clamped shut from trying to calm down his teammate as a dark aura covered Mei. Haku sensed the dangerous energy around her leader but was not willing to back down.

Mei turned to her, her green eyes narrowed on defying brown. "You will stand down, Chūnin! What I do as commander of this faction is my call. You have no right to question it. If you have a problem with it, then you deal with it until the mission is complete and we are back in the base. Until then, you keep your comments to yourself, understood?!"

Knowing that she was treading on thin ice, Haku straightened her back, standing at attention. "Yes, Mei-sama. Understood."

"Good," Mei replied, relaxing slightly. Sighing, she decided to throw in one last comment. "Look, Haku. I didn't want to do it this way. Strong or not, I was sure that sending Sparda-kun alone was a suicide mission. But he was adamant about it. I have no interest to sacrifice him anytime soon. He is an asset to us, the same as any other shinobi in our faction. But he was confident that he would be successful, so I let him be. Zabuza also took his side, saying that between the two of them, they would make things work."

Approaching the younger girl, Mei placed a hand on her shoulder, gazing into her worried eyes. "We are all shinobi. We live and die on a whim. I know that you understand that, you are mature for your age, but you also need to remember why we are fighting. For our people." She said, an image of her younger sister flashing in her eyes. Katarina was, after all, the closest remaining relative she had.

Haku nodded in acceptance, knowing that Mei had an equal share of tension riding on the success of this mission.

"Mei-sama! Land in sight! E.T.A one hour!" one of the shinobi on her ship shouted. Mei nodded in appreciation, the man returning to his place on the top of the crow's nest.

"Now come on. We all need to focus and put our game faces on." She said to Haku. She then turned to Ao. "Signal the others. Make sure everyone is ready." She ordered.

Ao nodded, heading in the direction of the back of the ship. He then began to flare his chakra in small chakra bursts, knowing that the sensors in the other ships would understand. There were a total of four ships assigned to this mission, with a total of two hundred shinobi distributed on the ships. They would be the force assigned to take the island and guard the escapees.

Haku could only hope things would end up working the way they needed them to be. As they were on the sea, they were considered easy targets for Kiri's forces.

---

(Short Distance Away)

"Sir, the Rebels are near. Our sensors managed to confirm their presence entering the range of the prison. They should reach the docks within the hour." Reported one of his subordinates.

The man hummed but didn't answer, his pink irises focusing on the horizon before him. He was rather short for his age, standing at four-feet six, the sight of the shinobi wasn't very intimidating. But those who knew of him knew better the truth. Yagura Karatachi was considered to be one of the worst tyrants to ever exist in the Elemental Nations.

He wasn't always like this, as many of Kiri's denizens would confirm. But one day during his rule, he had changed. One thing led to another and within the same year, all of Kiri suffered, entering what became known as the 'Bloodline Purges,' one of the darkest times in the history of the 'Bloody Mist.'

Yagura had short, messy, grey hair, which fell over the right side of his face and spiked up on the left. He also had a stitch-like scar running from under his left eye, all the way down his cheek. His attire included a grey, sleeveless shirt with the Kiri forehead protector attached to the front, as well as short-sleeved mesh armor, with a green poncho over it. He also wore a turquoise sash around his waist, paired with a matching green apron over his pants and a pair of brown boots. Along with it, he had a club with unevenly sized hooks, which bared a green flower on the larger end.

His emotionless gaze swept over the sides of his ship, gazing at the armada he had mobilized to end this war once and for all. Eleven ships total, packed with his loyal shinobi. A total of a thousand men. They would surround Mei once they docked on the port, preventing escape, then end them all. Kiri's war would end on this day.

---

(Back in the Prison)

Naruto tilted his body back as a sword flew over him, the shinobi's blade missing him by a hair's width. Rising back, he flipped his hold on the Kiba and stabbed backward, tearing through the shinobi's stomach. Drawing the sword, he left the crying shinobi to fall to the ground, holding his gaping wound and walked away from him.

He heard a whimper as the last Hyena passed and tumbled on its side, Kunai and Shuriken piercing its body. The animals had put up a good fight, managing to take down double or triple their numbers before succumbing to their wounds. The Alpha had been killed a few minutes back, burning under a Katon Jutsu. That seemed to only anger the rest of the pack, sending them into a frenzy and sending more shinobi to the Shinigami. He had not been idle, using the beasts as a cover to take down even more shinobi.

Already the ground was bathed in blood, half chomped and ripped bodies all over the place, while the ones he killed were cut and stabbed by the lighting blades. He estimated that at least a third of their numbers were killed. The other shinobi were also occupied dealing with their own hypnotized comrades.

He had been cycling through shinobi, using his Genjutsu eye to switch between targets. Whenever he lost one of the shinobi, he would move on to another with a good vantage point to take down more shinobi, and so on. Half the shinobi in the base were dealt with and still counting.

That only seemed to piss off Tsuyoshi, who was glaring at the spectacle of a single shinobi bringing down his impenetrable fortress by his lonesome.

"You worthless lot! If you want to do something, you're better of doing it yourself!" he grumbled drawing his blade and waiting for the right moment. The second Sparda turned his back to him to block an attack from a Kiri shinobi, Tsuyoshi pounced.

Naruto rolled under the swipe from Tsuyoshi as the man tried to charge him from his blindspot. He smirked at the man, watching as the veins in his temple popped.

"What's wrong, geezer? Can't even fight me in a straight-up fight, so you're trying to get some free shots with my back turned? You already have your army around you, and still, you want a sneak attack?" he taunted.

"Cheeky brat," Ogre snarled, pointing his blade towards him. The rest of the Kiri shinobi regained some of their courage as their commander joined them, crowding around the two. "You are talking to a commander in the army of Kirigakure. What makes you think I have to sneak attack you to kill you?"

"Yes, I can clearly see that I'm on the back ropes with your competent shinobi. Can you see me shaking in my boots?" he replied sarcastically. The Kiri shinobi colored in rage, their chakra fluctuating with their anger, but Naruto paid it no mind. The angrier they were, the sooner they would make mistakes and end up losing their lives for them.

"Enough with you. You have cost me too much to be left alive. Even taking you a prisoner is a lost cause now. There is only one choice left for you. Death!" Tsuyoshi declared, then charged forward, locking blades with Sparda who hastily raised a block.

The two entered a stalemate, Naruto managing to output just as much force as Tsuyoshi to keep them even, which surprised the Ogre. "Have it your way then," Naruto replied, before meeting the eyes of a few shinobi surrounding them. It was then that Tsuyoshi saw Naruto's eyes glowing, followed by the cries of his men attacking each other.

"You Bastard! You're the one causing my shinobi to turn against each other!" he shouted in rage, drawing back his blade and aiming a series of attacks at him. Naruto deflected the strikes, pushing them away from him with ease while launching his own attacks.

He had the advantage since he was dual-wielding, while Tsuyoshi had the reach advantage since he was much taller and had longer limbs than he did. Jumping back, Naruto made some distance between then, he created a dozen clones and had them spread out to thin the numbers, before engaging Tsuyoshi again.

The entire battle had been fought in close quarters, the Kiri shinobi not knowing who to trust among them since they were being attacked in random, not knowing who was an ally and who was an enemy.

Naruto, on the other hand, was enjoying the melee battle, but with Tsuyoshi getting involved, he wanted to get rid of all the others around him so he could enjoy the duel with the larger man.

---

It was this scene that Naruto's clone accompanied by Katarina, Ameyuri and the rest of the Rebel prisoners stumbled to as they left the entrance of the 'Sinkhole.'An all-out battle royal between Kiri shinobi fighting each other, clones of Sparda taking down even more, while in the center of them all, was who they assumed to be the original engaging Tsuyoshi himself with tens of bodies of men and women as well as the Hyenas strawn all over the field.

All in all, it was clear pandemonium. None of the shinobi even paid them mind, too busy trying to survive in the onslaught.

"What the hell…" Katarina mumbled, with Ameyuri nodding alongside her.

"Keep moving, and don't draw attention to yourselves. We can use the chaos to slip by without them paying attention," the clone with them whispered, before heading to the nearest wall next to the underground entrance.

Placing his hand on the stone wall, the clone pushed, channeling Doton chakra through the wall, and making a tunnel. The other end of the tunnel was on the other side of the island, the foliage barely hiding the blue expanse of the sea behind it.

For the prisoners, that sight tasted of freedom, and they quickly rushed into the tunnel. A larger male prisoner stood next to Katarina and asked if she wanted him to take Ameyuri on her behalf, to which she refused, stating she was fine.

"I suppose you won't be able to lead those people out of here while carrying Ameyuri. Hand her to me. I can take her." The clone asked. Katarina glanced at Ameyuri for her approval, to which the older woman nodded. The clone took Ameyuri, placing her on his back. Considering her smaller size, it was either that or carrying her bridal, and she had refused the latter. "You will find Zabuza and Kiri at the docks, fifteen minutes to the south of here. Mei will arrive there to pick you all up. You go first, and I will make sure no one is left behind."

Nodding, Katarina followed the rushing people, sprinting down the tunnel to try to outrun the fugitives to better guide them. Adjusting Ameryuri, all the while ignoring her warning growls, he kept gesturing for the people to move quietly, telling them not to rush and they would all escape.

One of the children caught his gaze, and he looked at the short boy. The similarity to Kisame was astonishing and extremely difficult to miss. It was the same boy that had even Katarina pausing in her steps earlier.

The boy was standing next to a pillar, wide eyes focused on the battle in front of him, but his focus was mainly on the original who was cutting down the shinobi around him, while also combating Tsuyoshi.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, he saw the boy coming out of his trance, and look up at him.

"Hey, what's your name kid?" the clone asked.

"Shizuma Hoshigaki, sir." The boy replied.

"Shizuma. Shouldn't you follow the other? This is no place for a kid." The clone chastised softly. It was only a child, so he was treating him as a child should be treated, regardless of the boy's family name.

The boy's features already told him that he was related to Kisame, but still, he was a young boy.

"H-hai, Sparda-sama," the boy replied, offering a small bow, then running off to the join the crowds of people.

"You know what that was, right? Bloodlust. That kid is going to become the next 'Kisame' when he grows up. Our kids are all phenomenal, aren't they?" Ameyuri chimed from his back.

Naruto glanced at the woman, seeing her fanged smile as she looked at the boy running with the crowd. "If that's what he wants, then good luck for him. You could probably take him as an apprentice or something since you're a former member of the Seven."

"Hah!" she crowed. "Former member my sexy ass. I'm going to be a member again. The only reason I stopped before was that I had a disease that crippled me. By the time I was cured, they gave the Kiba to that moron, Raiga, and I relapsed. Seven years later, Raiga ran away when Yagura started this war and took Kiba with him, and I was left to rot in that jail. And here we are, two years after that. But now that Raiga is dead, and with you giving me Kiba, I will be joining the Seven again. You will give it to me for sure, won't you? I'll be sure to make it worth your while," she whispered huskily in his ear.

The clone clenched his teeth as a chill went down his spine, which Ameyuri felt, causing her to smirk wider. Doing his best to control himself, the clone deadpanned at the woman, doing his best to ignore the two tipped mounds he was suddenly made aware of on his back.

"Maybe later. You can take that up with the boss, not with me." The clone replied, turning to check as the last group of people escaped. Just in time, actually, as a large explosion, followed by a rush of hot air blew behind him. Sensing that there was more still to happen, the clone quickly sprinted into the tunnel, slapping his hand on one of the walls and causing a slab of the earth to close the entrance behind him.

---

"Zabuza!"

"Kat?" Zabuza barely had a moment to look at her, before she punched him in the face, sending him stumbling back. "Yea, that's Katarina alright." He mumbled, rubbing his jaw and already feeling the bruise beginning to form.

"Took you long enough, asshole. What were you waiting for, for us to die of old age?" she chuckled, standing with the older man. The rest of the rebel refugees were now crowding around the port, most of them on their knees and trying to breathe after sprinting the distance to safety. They were still incoming, more and more people arriving. The shinobi amongst them had taken to form a perimeter around the civilians since even with their chakra locked away, they still had a responsibility to protect the civilians.

It was a stark contrast to how they were before, Katarina mused. All around, people were sweating but laughing in joy, children who had been sobbing ever since she had been captured were now chattering excitedly.

"Sorry, Kat. Mei-sama had to do it right so she didn't want to risk your lives. Besides, Sparda barely joined us yesterday. The second Mei met him, there was a conversation between them that ended with her dispatching us here. We barely planned for the damn thing before we were sent here." He revealed.

"You're kidding…" She replied, stunned at that piece of information. "She literally dropped him here the first day he showed up?! How sure was she that he would be able to do it?"

"She wasn't sure of anything," He replied, scratching his face. "It was more of a leap of faith, believe it or now. I vouched for him, but I was surprised that she would have so much faith that she would drop him here alone. But, looking at things," he trailed off, gazing around them.

He could see there were already a couple of hundred of people, way more than he or Mei anticipated. They had thought there would be maybe a hundred or two, but there was a lot more than that. It gave credit to Sparda when he said he counted around six-hundred people before.

'Damn, I don't give that kid enough credit,' he thought, shaking his head. "Were there any injured, or anyone lost?" he asked.

"No, as far as I saw, everyone was good. He got us an escape route from the side. We never engaged any Kiri shinobi. He took them all on, by himself. Full frontal assault." Katarina said.

Zabuza whistled. "Damn. He stormed them all at the same time? What was he thinking?"

A series of explosions drew their attention to the fortress, Zabuza reflexively grabbing Kubikiri's blade as giant clouds of smoke billowed into the air. A shockwave followed, a gust of hot air blowing the trees, and sending some of the kids tumbling to the floor, while the adults steadied themselves to the ground. Silence followed, for a minute or two after, until Sparda suddenly appeared in a Shunshin, with one of the last people Zabuza ever expected to see on his back.

"Ameyuri Ringo?!" he shouted in disbelief, his eyes going wide from shock.

"That you, Zabu-chan! Its been a long time, Gaki!" Ameyuri said, grinning widely. She was lowered to her feet, and Katarina came closer to help her stand as she limped to the taller swordsman. "Well well well. Looks like you finally earned your sword, Zabuza. Always knew that you'd end up with Kubikiribōchō ever since that bloody show you gave in your exam!"

"How the hell are you alive? Scratch that, why the hell are you here? Weren't you and Yagura lovers or something?" an incredulous Zabuza asked.

"What?!\ What?" asked both Katarina and Sparda respectively, the first in a higher pitch than the latter.

Scoffing, Ameyuri crossed her arms over her chest. "That is non of your business who I love and fuck. Now, more importantly, how are you going to get us away from here?"

"Zabuza-sama! Incoming ships!" Kiri said, suddenly appearing from the trees, and jumping down behind his superior. "Oh, Katarina-sama! Your safe, thank Kami!" Kiri said, a giant smile lighting his face.

"Kiri, its good to see you." Greeted Katarina. She then turned to Ameryuri, "Does that answer your question?" she jibbed.

Ameyuri shrugged. "As good of an answer as any. Now come on. I want to get somewhere so I can shower. It's been two years since I showered last," she said, moving her head to the pier. After Kiri announced it, they could all see ships arriving, four ships moving towards the dock.

With the ships, they also saw droves of shinobi jump from the vessels, and water walking towards them, and at the front was none other than Mei herself.

The second the shinobi reached the shore, Mei went to Katarina, glancing momentarily at Ameyuri, but paying more attention to her sister.

"Are you alright, Rina-chan?" Mei asked, tracing her hand on her sister's shoulder. She frowned at the scar that was over her eye, which wasn't there the last time she had seen her but was relieved to see that she hadn't lost her eye for it.

"I'm fine, Mei-nee-chan. We are all fine." She said, gesturing with her free hand to the people around her.

Nodding, Mei quickly swept her arm to her shinobi behind her. "Look for any injured, and help them. Load everyone on the ships! On the double!" she called. Once they confirmed the order, she turned to Ameryuri. "And it seems we have another swordsman in our ranks. How are you doing Ameyuri?" Mei asked, narrowing her eyes on the shorter woman.

At some point, back before Yagura lost his way, they were both colleagues and some of Kiri's strongest shinobi. Of course, when she got sick, Ameyuri was forced to stop her career and until she was cured, and had eventually been replaced, while she had stayed as a Jōnin. She had not heard from the woman since. But from what she remembered, Ameryuri respected strength and had never been accepting of Bloodline users who depended solely on the power of their bloodline, which was why she was cautious of the woman.

"Relax, Terumī. I'm on your side. Already had that conversation with that shinobi you hired." Ameyrui said, rolling her eyes at her the auburn-haired woman.

"And why exactly should I trust you? You were never one to willingly work with a team. You always went solo, and preferred to fight alone." Mei shot back.

"One, Sparda told me I'd have a chance to get to Yagura. Two, he said he will give me Kiba again. That's enough to win my loyalty." Ameyuri shrugged.

"Kiba? Where would he get the Kiba?" wondered Mei.

"He had the Kiba blades, Mei. He was using them when we left that place," Katarina said, and she realized from Mei's widening eyes that she had not known that.

"Interesting. It seems there is more to our friend than we realized," Mei lowly said, narrowing her eyes at Zabuza who raised his arms in surrender, then shifting them towards Sparda.

"I had no idea he had them. So leave me out of this!" Zabuza said.

"I'm just a clone. Boss is still up there, mopping up the rest of the Kiri shinobi," the clone said, pointing to the building in the distance. "You can talk to him when he's done and joins us." 'Sorry, boss. But I ain't gonna take the blame for that. You can take care of that yourself.' The clone thought with a small inner grin.

Hearing a cry of his name, Zabuza turned to Haku as she came running to him. "Haku! Why are you here? Why did you bring her with you?!" Zabuza asked, glaring accusingly at Mei.

"She wanted to come. And I figured she would be helpful with her medical knowledge in case anyone was injured. But she was also supposed to stay on the ship," Mei replied, staring at the younger woman.

Haku flushed, stuttering slightly, but then answered. "I- I just wanted to make sure that Zabuza-sama was alright."

Seeing a chance to get back at the young girl for her earlier defiance, Mei smirked. "Worried about Zabuza? Or worried about Sparda?"

Cue awkward silence, and hilarious reactions. Mei almost laughed at the red face that Haku sported now, but managed to hold herself. Zabuza's reaction was also funny, as his eyes stared blankly at Haku before he seemed to reboot and started glaring at her. Her sister had a raised eyebrow, while a grin was slowly growing on her face. Ameryuri was already grinning, so she didn't see any difference in her expression. Her least favorite reaction was of Sparda's clone, as he had only raised a single eyebrow.

Her face coloring, Haku gulped as she felt Zabuza's eyes on her. She then turned to the man in question, steam almost coming out of her ear at his expression. She knew he wasn't a very emotional person as she was sure he was as cold as her ice, so for him to show that emotion was the equivalent of a normal person's jaw-dropping.

She tried to glare intimidatingly at Mei, knowing that this was her retribution, but her red face probably didn't give her much credence.

"I..- I mean…- she-…what she meant-…" Haku tried to clear her throat, but the high pitched noise that came from her throat only served to make things worse.

The Sparda clone felt the air shifting, barely evading a swing from Kubikiribōchō and a pissed off Zabuza. That seemed to break them all from the trance they were in, Haku jumping to hold back Zabuza, who wanted nothing more than to attack the clone.

Ameryuri burst into laughter, while Katarina was also snickering to herself. Mei stuck to smiling in amusement.

Seeing that no one was going to stand to help him, the clone decided a simple 'Nop' and dispelled, sending the feedback and leftover chakra back to the original.

It was in that moment that a giant explosion of yellow lightning rocked the side of the building, creating a gaping hole through one of the sides, and flying into the distance, passing over the ships in the pier and going further away.

The light from the Jutsu, whatever it was, revealed something that they hadn't been anticipating. Something that planted pure terror in their souls. A blockade of ships was revealed, blocking the sea with a single ship standing at the front. An on the bow of that ship, was the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura.

---

(Shinku ana)

Walking over to the Ogre's corpse, or what remained from it after his Raikōhō had made short work of the man, Naruto cut off the man's head, his burnt flesh still crackling with leftover static electricity.

His eyeballs had already popped, blood seeping from the holes and his ears. Glancing around, he found the exact thing he wanted. A Naginata. One of the many weapons that had been used against him. Useless, but he had enjoyed the short battle, no matter how overwhelmed they were, they kept fighting till the last man, and that was something he commended.

Behind him were the corpses of every single Kiri shinobi that had been guarding the prison. All three hundred of them. He didn't see a reason to let them live. Not after he learned one small fact.

That fact was a question he had asked himself and regretted finding the answer to.

Since they had guard Hyenas…what were they feeding them?

He later found out the answer. And he didn't like it. Not one bit. It only cemented his belief that demons could exist even in humans. A person could be born human, they could be born a demon, but in reality, it was their actions that decided what they were. And every single person in this prison was no better than demons.

Even if they hadn't participated in the act, they at least knew it was happening, which made them guilty by association.

That was all he needed to know. All he needed to see. And it was done now.

Sighing, he gazed at the horizon. His eyes couldn't see them in the mist, but he could sense them. More Kiri shinobi. But more importantly, leading them was a fellow container. The first evil one he had met until now.

It left a bad taste in his mouth, but Naruto knew he had to do what was needed of him. And he would. Somebody had to.

"Come on, Ogre. Let's go greet your boss." He said, speaking to the head in his hand. He threw the head into the air, then stabbed the polearm into it, effectively placing his head on a 'Pike,' then vanished in a Shunshin.

---

Post Author note:

BOOOOMMM! Shots fired! How do you like them characters, eh?

So just to be clear, Tsuyoshi is Ogre from Akame Ga Kill, the name I used for him instead of Ogre is actually the name of the Japanese actor.

Katarina is LoL if you didn't already know. She will replace Mai and Erza from my previous story since I decided to keep Erza for another plot. As for Twin Mai, she just became younger Rina-nee-chan lol.

Ameryuri…. Just realllyyy wanted to have her in the story.

And…Hyenas and the prison, took the concepts from Chronicles of Riddick. That's the same level design and the animals.

We have two more names that didn't show up, Kaneda and Kagura. Gonna meet them next chapter! And I guarantee…You will love them! At least, the important one between them!

Hope you all liked this! Next chapter, same time. Two weeks! See you then! Just to put it in perspective for you all, this chapter was 44 pages long. 44! 20,500 words. Damnnnnnn!

Pls, let me know what you thought of these characters!

Thank you for reading till the end of this chapter, and I hope you are all enjoying the story.

Well, hope you all enjoy life, and stay safe. Until next time.