A/N: And now we have a new chapter, after so long.

As this is a soft "Arknights" cross, expect a lot of the characters to fall under the category of "Jūjin" or "Beastmen" for those not familiar with Japanese, and they'll still be considered Yōkai (i.e. our favorite rabbit-girl Amiya would be categorized as a Rabbit-type Jūjin).

Now, to answer the Guest reviewer who asked about Hoshiguma: in the original story of "Arknights," Hoshiguma is noted to have a large collection of motorcycles. So instead of being a motorcycle collector as she is in proper canon, she is instead a horse collector.

…

[Konohagakure no Sato, twelve years later]

Hiruzen took a deep drag off his pipe as he savored the lull in the dreaded paperwork.

Quite a few things had happened in the years since the Senmori Tribe moved several of their members into the village. As per the agreement, Naruto's return had come with the condition of sending in a few Senmori tribesmen and women to live in the village, taking up residence near Training Ground 44.

Surprisingly enough, the Senmori expatriates adapted quite well to living in a Shinobi village. Among those that moved in, Daichimaru sent in one of his tribe's prized smiths to set up shop in the village, along with a few of his best warriors to protect the boy. He was however, more than wary of the shaman that moved in; Oni warriors were very deadly as it were, but Oni shamans were not too far in that regard, if not more so. Luckily, this particular shaman was more interested in running his tattoo parlor and ensuring the Senmori rituals and customs were being honored.

With respect to caretakers, it was a no-brainer; Hoshiguma was more than willing to take time off to raise Naruto from the start, but bouts of horse-thievery aside, she was too valuable a warrior to the tribe. So the mask-collecting bard Kurokaku and his wife Yato were allowed to adopt him—and they'd done a good job raising him too, seeing as that mischievous look he had in his eyes seemed to be tempered by the discipline they drilled into him at a young age. Not a surprise given that the Oni were a warrior race.

As expected, many of the villagers weren't exactly thrilled about Oni coming to live among them…even less so that the "demon-child" was coming back to be raised by them. It didn't help that someone was spreading the rumor that the Senmori expatriates were only feigning civility to destroy the village from within. Hiruzen had seen firsthand the bloody and violent aftermath of Oni revenge, and heaved a sigh of relief; both for Senmori tolerance, and the fact that the Uchiha were there to stop the mobs before they got out of hand.

Speaking of the Uchiha, it was a bold move for them to come to the defense of the Oni in spite of the blood feud they had with their tribe during the Sengoku Period. Even more of a surprise considering the criticism they'd been experiencing because of a rumor accusing them of causing the Kyūbi Attack. Then again, Fugaku and Mikoto were big proponents among their kin in favor of burying the hatchet with the Senmori, so that may have had a hand in the clan's decision to keep the mobs away from their district. Still, it was a big move towards the goal of reconciling with the Makai…given enough time, it would not have been surprising if the Konoha Military Police got their hands on some Oni cops sometime in the future.

Looking back on it, Hiruzen had a pretty good idea who had been telling these lies, and he could only chuckle quietly at the irony of the situation. There was no doubt these rumors were spread with the intention of doing harm to both parties, but the fact that they wound up doing the exact opposite made the culprit into a total laughingstock in his eyes. As both parties managed to form a rapport with each other because of these rumors, the fool that let that rumor fly wound up inadvertently helping him to build better relations with the Makai.

Thinking back on the first attempt at peace talks with Daichimaru, a part of him wondered how things would have changed if the assassination attempt had never happened. If his assumptions were correct, the Oni chieftain probably brought his daughter along to arrange a marriage to one of Hiruzen's sons on that day. If that political marriage had gone through as planned, then that bridge he wanted to build would at least have had a good foundation in Konoha a lot sooner; albeit at the expense of potentially selling out his sons, but worth the cost for peace in his mind.

As far as Naruto was concerned, he was out of the village in the middle of the Oni "Walkabout", a maturation ritual wherein Oni children between the ages of 10 and 14 were to spend up to six months in the wild learning how to survive on their own, earning their first tattoo on success. What success entailed was a secret the tribes never discussed, beyond the fact that Naruto had to survive up to six months in the wild. In a way, it did the boy a lot of good in that he was taught to be more self-sufficient while he was out of the village, especially since this maturation ritual would help straighten the boy out after flunking the Ninja Academy twice. Not to mention that he'd have an impressive story to tell on his birthday as soon as he returned.

It was getting closer to the day that he was supposed to come back, but Hiruzen could not help but wonder where Naruto had gone, and what he was doing at the moment.

…

[Unknown Location]

He was tired, after cutting down his last opponent.

"AND THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS MOMOCHI ZABUZA!" called out the announcer, his voice booming from the speakers, "TRULY, IF HE WERE ANY BETTER, HE'D BE A REAL KIJIN!"

Almost as soon as he'd finished, huffs of exhaustion were drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

It was his first day as a gladiator, and he found it not to his liking.

It was karma in a way. Here he was, Momochi Zabuza, the "Kirigakure no Kijin" fighting in an underground arena all because he thought the Makai was a good place to lay low after his attempt to assassinate the Mizukage. No dice, as it seemed that the Makai underground had even better eyes than the Jinkai…while Haku was out looking for firewood, he went hunting and gathering to sustain them until they had the strength to leave. He was sucker-punched while he had a big, brown rabbit in his sights; next thing he knew, he woke up in a prison to the faint noise periodically echoing through stone walls, bereft of his greatsword Kubikiribochō.

Before long, he was dragged out of his cell by Yōkai guards who quickly overpowered him with nary an effort before throwing him into the arena with a human opponent. A quick look around told him that he'd been captured and sold as a slave to an underground arena, fighting to entertain stands filled to the brim with predominantly Yōkai patrons. He was also quick to notice his sword mounted on the wall among a large selection of weapons.

The first opponent Zabuza fought was human as well…and not a nobody either. It was Enma Rasetsumaru, a psycho that everyone wanted dead for a whole list of offences, but mostly because of his reputation for rape and cannibalism—it was not easy, but he'd fought worse things than a bloodthirsty psychopath. And when he finally defeated his opponent with a neck snap, he heard the crowd thundering with applause, asking for more fights.

Any other day, he would have relished in the cheer of the crowd…he would have drank in the high of elation, matched by that he found whenever he satisfied his bloodlust. The only problem was that Zabuza had bigger dreams than to simply fight it out for the entertainment of the Yōkai; he also had someone looking for him.

He looked up at the highest balcony to see a Yōkai woman looking down at him. By her apparent command, Zabuza had been fighting almost nonstop; sometimes against other humans, sometimes against Yōkai opponents until he'd defeated seven opponents altogether. It was entirely possible the boss-lady was doing this to see how their latest acquisition fared in the arena while giving him the bare minimum of time to recuperate, therefore preventing his escape. This was doubly so since the frequency of the opponents he fought went up drastically almost as soon as he retrieved Kubikiribochō from the wall, prompting his first fight of the night against a Yōkai.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR ARENA, A HUMAN HAS MANAGED TO MAKE IT TO OUR TOP FIVE!" continued the announcer, "THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS!"

Seeing no other option, Zabuza simply took the opportunity to catch his breath as he waited for his next opponent; there would be a time to plan his escape, but his first priority was to survive. If what the announcer said was true, he had five opponents to fight before he would be allowed to go back to his cell.

"YOU KNOW HIM, YOU LOVE HIM! THE FIRST OF OUR TOP CONTENDERS, SHICHIRŌJI!"

The trapdoor to the arena opened, the new opponent rising up from the floor with a kama-yari in webbed hands, half-naked with his body covered almost entirely in silvery scales with a dark back. His muscular body was sculpted from a lifetime spent in the water, and was built for speed and high bursts of power with the addition of a large collar around his thick neck, which was attached to a special tank strapped to his back. It was quite easy to see from his movements that he was a veteran of quite a few bouts…a champion of the arena.

Being from an island nation, Zabuza had recognized his opponent Shichirōji as a Ningyō, having fought a number of raiding parties in the days before he became a fugitive. Stories of how their flesh granted immortality to those that consumed it may have been debunked as myth, but they were a long-lived race, with some living past 150 years of age. From the pointed appearance of his opponent, Zabuza surmised he was fighting a Kōjin, a shark-type Ningyō that was a usual suspect in a lot of pirate attacks. And as befitting of their type, they had triangular teeth with serrated edges that they could replace on the fly, and so sometimes their weapons were studded with said teeth.

Zabuza took a deep breath, and readied himself for his next fight. Before the announcer could announce the start of the fight, he saw the guards running towards a particular entrance in the stands. Almost as soon as they neared the doorway, a body was thrown out, and into the arena, followed by the familiar, uplifting sight of ice senbon flying out of the doorway. More ice shards flew out of the doorway, trapping Shichirōji in a cage of giant ice spikes before two figures broke through the crowd and landed in the arena.

The first one he knew all too well; a girl in a blue kimono over a tan turtleneck and beige hakama landed on the arena in a pair of geta, senbon clutched in between her fingers. Her ebon hair was done up in a covered bun behind her head and her face was concealed by a faceless white mask flying the Kirigakure crest on the forehead. His partner-in-crime and adopted daughter Haku, had come to his rescue, senbon and a chakra-laced ice sword in hand.

She was accompanied by a blond boy who was lightly dressed, wearing only a hakama and a set of hand wraps, along with an improvised cuirass and pauldrons made of overlapping pieces of wood. In addition to that, he wore wooden prayer beads around his left wrist, and a metal oni mask that was hinged at the sides like a welder's helmet. He was dragging around an unconscious security guard by the collar with one hand, and in the other he carried a large, heavy branch that he wielded as a makeshift club. There were also signs of combat on his person such as gashes cut into his mask and armor, the telltale sign of a near-miss at his vitals, even his club was bloody; signs that spoke of a greenhorn warrior on his first battle.

"Zabuza-sama! Quickly!"

Without preamble, Zabuza scrambled up the wall of the arena, fighting his way past the guards to reunite with his charge and her erstwhile partner. The Oni-boy threw the hapless security guard at his colleagues before breaking both his improvised club and a security guard's leg and headbutting his victim in the nose. With his opponent down, the boy quickly ripped off his shield and a jō roughly in between a katana and a wakizashi in size before joining the two of them in their escape from the colosseum, running down the hall towards the exit.

As the three of them made haste, Zabuza took the opportunity to glance at Haku's accomplice, taking in more details about the boy. As the newcomer was shirtless under his wooden armor, he could see that while the boy was quite muscular for his age, there was a subtle, but particular emphasis on the development of wrist strength. Whoever trained him really knew what they were doing, and he seemed to have started off earlier than most kids given how buff he was.

Freedom was near as Zabuza and his rescuers found the exit, and the apparent boss-lady was already waiting for them, surrounded by more security guards, some with obscenely large bows aimed at them. Now that she was here in person, he could see in the moonlight that she had golden-brown hair, chestnut eyes, and a slender, muscular body with dark skin. She was dressed in a haori over an old-fashioned men's kimono and hakama, with shortened legs and sleeves so as to allow better freedom of movement, while also revealing her powerful legs. From the pair of short, rounded wedges on top of her heads for ears and an elongated tail covered in fur the same color as her hair, it was very clear that she was a Jūjin, a very common type of Yōkai that had both bestial and human features.

"Did you kids think you were gonna make off with my newest fighter so easily?" she asked.

After turning to run back to the arena, Zabuza and his rescuers had found Shichirōji had caught up to them, not at all happy.

"Luckily for you, I'm not completely without mercy," continued the boss, stretching her neck in anticipation, "That, and being the boss kinda gets boring when you've got nobody that can challenge you, so I'll tell you what: Zabuza, if you and your rescue squad manage to last three minutes against me, you go free. Fail, and the three of you are gonna fight for me for the rest of your lives free of charge." She then looked over Zabuza's shoulder to regard the Ningyō behind them. "That's not a problem, is it?"

Shichirōji chuckled menacingly with serrated teeth in full view, his voice a low rumble as he readied his spear to prevent anyone from escaping. "Have fun, boss."

Zabuza watched the Jūjin woman stretching before taking a moment to regard the newcomer in a low voice. "Are you any good with that shield, kid?"

"I'm not as good as my dad, but I know my way around one," answered Oni-boy, rotating his shoulders.

"I have a sneaking suspicion she's not gonna let us go, one way or another," said Zabuza, "Either way, we have to fight our way out; and since I'm still a bit tired out, that means you and Haku have to keep an eye on my blind spots. If she takes me out first, we're all gonna be fighting in that shitty arena for the rest of our lives, so keep your eyes open, and your guards up."

The second she was done stretching, the Jūjin woman readied herself in a bestial stance, flicking her nose with her thumb as her nails hardened into claws. Her pounce was lightning quick, leaped over the three of them just for Oni-boy to intercept her at their back, attempting to slam her with his shield only for her to leap over him. As her claws were ready to dig into his flesh, the Yōkai woman found herself at the business end of Haku's Senbon aimed upwards and forcing her to abandon the offensive in favor of avoiding the salvo of ice needles. However, not a single movement was wasted as Zabuza heard the telltale whistle of Fūton chakra gathering in her claws before slashing into the air to send air-blades flying in their direction. Oni-boy's quick thinking enabled him to raise the shield while reinforcing it with his chakra, absorbing the worst of the damage.

As soon as the boss-lady landed, Oni-boy relaxed his stance, waiting for their opponent to make her next move. Zabuza's mind ran through the trade quickly…being very common, a typical Jūjin would normally try to finish a fight in the first few shots, mostly because unless their bestial features were obvious, they were a lot easier to identify by their fighting style. The fact that she was able to fire off Fūton blades quite easily had revealed to him as to what type of Jūjin she was. "Oi oi oi! Kinda bloodthirsty for a Kamaitachi aren't ya?" he asked tauntingly.

Mostly considered bottom-tier as far as Yōkai were concerned, the typical Kamaitachi were mischievous, but good-natured pranksters; considering the bloodthirsty nature of the boss-lady, it was apparent that outliers existed. They were not the strongest among the Jūjin, but they were among the fastest, especially given that they were known for their affinity for Fūton jutsu.

The boss-lady shrugged nonchalantly in her stance. "What can I say? I was probably an Ashura in one of my past lives—not like that's gonna improve your odds!"

The Kamaitachi woman charged, claws outstretched, sharpened, and reinforced with whistling wind blades, opening with a flurry of swipes forcing the boy and Haku to stay on the defensive. Zabuza joined the fight swinging Kubikiribocho over Haku and Oni-boy's head and down at their opponent, forcing her to disengage, but not before firing another salvo of wind blades at them. Thankfully, the Oni-boy was able to keep up with Haku, giving Zabuza some valuable breathing space while giving him ample room to analyze the fight. From her movements, he saw that her fighting style revolved heavily around using a tactical approach and a dancer's grace to avoid taking a real hit followed by a devastating counter to any openings in any defense.

Throughout the fight, Zabuza was able to analyze the boy's movements, watching him the few times he traded blows with the Kamaitachi woman. Whoever taught the boy how to use a shield had pretty basic skills, but it was enough to reinforce the fact that the shield was equally useful in both attack and defense, whenever he countered with a shield bash. He could also see that the boy was no stranger to the use of a weapon, given how well he handled his truncheon in tandem with his shield, answering her claw swipes with strikes aimed at her arm. Overall, while the Oni-boy's skill was quite rough, he still had a great foundation to get even better…that he was brave enough to help Haku out for whatever reason only improved Zabuza's opinion of him.

Frustrated with her apparent lack of progress, the Kamaitachi woman rushed Oni-boy, her claws found a weak point in his shield and tore it to pieces with a well-placed Fūton jutsu, leaving him only with his jō. Grinning savagely at the opening she'd created, the Kamaitachi woman slipped through Haku's defenses, diving for Oni-boy, who simply gathered chakra into his clenched fist, rearing back to throw a heavy left straight, aiming for the Kamaitachi woman's face.

"Futae no Kiwami!"

The Kamaitachi woman was forced to abandon her attack and duck under the punch. However, the movement hadn't stopped with the boy's punch, inadvertently sending a pulse of chakra from his knuckles that hit Shichirōji in the snout and knocked him over from the impact. Where most saw a single punch, trained and experienced eyes allowed Zabuza to see that it was, in fact, a double-blow: the boy punched using the knuckles of his fingers first, followed by the rest on his hand. The finger-knuckles would have overwhelmed the resistance of the object, then the hand-knuckles would follow mere milliseconds later to deliver the killing blow before it could recover. By his estimate, had the boy trained longer with this technique, and both punches had connected with something solid like a rock, the rock would've been pulverized on impact even without chakra-reinforced knuckles.

The fight drew to a close when kunai with explosive tags attached streaked through the air, digging into the ground between the Kamaitachi woman and the Oni-boy. The boy and the Yōkai dove aside before the explosive tag detonated; before long, Konoha Shinobi rushed the area, arresting security guards while fighting off the Kamaitachi woman with all their might. Even more of them were focused on newly-recovered Shichirōji, but were forced to combat him at a distance to avoid becoming a snack after a careless Kunoichi's head was bitten off.

Seeing the crackdown as an opportunity to escape, Zabuza sheathed Kubikiribocho, then grabbed both Haku and Oni-boy before barreling through the chaos. "This ain't over, Zabuza!" declared the Kamaitachi woman, over the commotion of the crackdown, "I've got your scents memorized! When I'm done with this crackdown, I'll have the three of you fighting in my next arena!"

Zabuza shoulder-tackled a Konoha Shinobi that jumped in front of him, knocking him aside before running deep into the nearby forest. When he was confident that they weren't being followed, he lowered his rescuers to the ground, allowing them to settle down to catch their breath. From the look of things, he and Haku could not afford to stay long—Kirigakure Hunter-nin he could handle, but a large number of Konoha Shinobi meant that Konoha was fairly close, otherwise the crackdown wouldn't have happened.

"Well, at least we got out of that okay," Zabuza surmised, savoring his small victory.

"You could say that again," added the Oni-boy, lifting the faceplate of his mask, earning him a look of surprise on Zabuza's face. Under the mask was a pair of cerulean eyes on a young face that was pretty easy on the eyes for his age, though the whisker-marks on his face made him look more like a buff Yokō than a greenhorn Oni warrior.

Zabuza regarded the boy sincerely. "I guess I owe ya kid."

"Thanks, but you really ought to thank your friend," Oni-boy replied, "She was so worried about you that she threatened me for your location."

"Yep, that's Haku all right," Zabuza confirmed, glancing at the girl in question as she shriveled slightly in place under his gaze before turning his attention back to Oni-boy. "That said, you fight well for a kid your age."

Oni-boy smiled confidently. "Thanks, you're not too shabby yourself, old man."

Zabuza snickered in amusement at the boy's gall—very few people had the stones to be cheeky to him and lived. "Anyway, the name's Momochi Zabuza. You've met my friend and partner Haku."

Oni-boy nodded. "Uzumaki Naruto of the Senmori Tribe."

…

A/N:

And there you have it.

The chapter's done.

Probably not the best chapter I've done, but at least the ball's rolling.

Hopefully there's still interest in this story.

I give credit to all my friends on Discord for every bit of assistance and shouting board work throughout the chapter.

…

Translations:

Kurokaku and Yato—Kurokaku literally means "Black Horn" which is the Japanese translation of the French name Noir Corne; Yato is just Yato. Both are 2-star operators from Arknights.

Senmori—Literally means "Thousand Forest" in Japanese (千森)

Ningyō—Basically, a Japanese mermaid…though unlike your typical Western mermaid, these tend to be ugly. It is believed that by eating the flesh of a ningyō, you'll be immortal but you'll be cursed for it; as a matter of fact, you'll be cursed in general for hurting one in the first place.

Kōjin—A specific type of ningyō, basically a shark mermaid. These tend to be a lot more malevolent than your standard fish-man.

Kamaitachi—a yōkai that takes the form of a weasel, though I believe it could be any mustelid in general. The boss-lady in particular, has a lot more in common with wolverines (not the superhero) than regular weasels…basically, she's Sett from "League of Legends."

Futae no Kiwami—Yukyuzan Anji's special technique from "Rurouni Kenshin."

Ashura—imported into Japanese mythology from Buddhist (and by extension, Hindu) mythology, the Ashura (阿修羅) is a bellicose, six-armed being with three faces. It is believed that to be reincarnated as an Ashura is bad, but not as bad as reincarnating as an outright demon.

Yokō—no, not like John Lennon's wife, this literally means 'spirit fox' (妖狐)