Hey there, folks. Sorry for not updating, but you know, the term started.

And here it is, after so long, chapter three, soon to be followed by chapter four.

And once again, thank you much to those who reviewed. I like that people like my writing…and it encourages me. Thank you!

And about those reviews…I'm sorry I don't reply, but I barely even have enough spare time to type this bugger up. Not to mention, I am working on a few other fictions. But as for those who want to know about Sasuke's wife…Hi-mi-tsu! And for those who are asking about pairings…I suppose you must have read my profile, but either way, the answer is the same as my last answer. Secret! Sorry. But I guess you could call this fiction my pairing playground…even if I am trying to keep it realistic. But I tend to drop a lot of innuendo, and sometimes it is not even intentional. However, this fiction is not open-ended. I know what I want, and I have it all planned out. But I don't know if my plan will change in the future—but it may just happen. You never know.

PS: you may not like this chapter, depending on who you are…just giving you fair warning.

Here, I am going to restate the warnings:

Just FYI: this will contain shonen ai. Maybe even yaoi.

Don't know the meaning? Don't bother reading.

I don't like killing stories with posting the pairing at the top of the page, so if you read my profile, you'll get a feel for what I like. Then, figure if you want to read it.

For those of you who want to know, this story will have some spoilers if you aren't up-to-date with the Naruto manga, probably angst, random shots of minor fluff, maybe even death of people, and in case you didn't get it, this is an alternate timeline.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all it comes with does not belong to me. It's all Kishimoto. This is fiction, don't confuse.

Part I

Chapter III

The landscape was a blur as Naruto ran. By going as fast as he could and keeping a constant speed, he would get to the demon's location in only a few hours. He had to get there soon; the demon should be no less than thirty miles from the village by now, and in the country, too, threatening its citizens. Now it was truly the job of the shinobi village—to defend its country. Who better to do the job than their leader, the most powerful, the Sixth Hokage?

Leaping from branch to branch, he realized now what the disturbance he wondered on earlier had been. It was a shift in power, an awakening. He was disappointed that he did not notice it before, because he could now. He could feel it.

Naruto was moving to fast, it looked to him like it was the land moving and not he himself. And as the hours rushed by, he prepared himself physically and mentally for the upcoming battle. He had no doubt that he would need to be prepared—it had been a while since he truly learned the advantage of stealth and preparation. True, it was his nature to rush in and dazzle everyone, but as a professional shinobi, he had learned to suppress that nature when it was necessary.

Naruto figured he would stop some distance before the demon and prepare some jutsu, as well as take a rest. For though he could cover ground so fast, it was no less tiring, even with breathing techniques. And sometimes, the art of surprise suited him well, unlike the past.

Feeling he was nearing, Naruto spotted a tall tree and dashed to the top.

Indeed, he was close. Maybe a half-kilometer or so away stood the squat, yet still towering demon, pulsing with chakra. And—it was attacking a small village.

Shit!

No time for preparation, Naruto thought, as he began leaping form treetop to treetop, heading straight for the demon.

As Naruto neared the demon, he kept silent, sneaking behind it, and began performing seals for a binding technique—only to be almost beheaded by the swinging tail of the demon. Leaping a good distance backwards, Naruto took a good look at it.

From afar, it had look a myriad of greens, browns, and grays, but up close, he could see the large spikes running down the length of the demon were covered with layers of layers of jagged rock. From its snout, down its back to its tail, the demon's scales were encrusted with sediment. Hanging from crags and snagged along its back and snout, were long ropes of seaweed. All these were remnants of the Wani-akki's long sleep under the ocean.

Naruto vaguely wondered if there were fish somewhere in there, too.

From its smiling crocodile maw lolled a long serpentine tongue, and the end of its snout curved a short horn—and though short, it still looked lethal. It's misty red-and-yellow eyes rolled about in their sockets, gazing at Naruto uncannily.

Suddenly, the demon burst out in laughter—a sonorous demon's laugh that rumbled through the body and pounded the ears. "I knew if I followed it, I'd run into you—look, what a puny prison! Ha ha!" Wani-akki bellowed.

Being that stealth didn't work, Naruto decided to warn the remaining—cowering—villagers. Turning toward to them, he shouted to those frightened onlookers, "Leave! Flee to another town," but, even as he said it, he realized that there was scarce a trace of the village that was once there--he could hardly call this a town, now. Those few were lucky to be alive. "Hokage deals with this!" Naruto felt better, saying that, as if he were announcing it to the world.

And announcing that, however, brought naught but laughter from the demon. "So this puny host is the Hokage!" The demon boomed. "Though it would be befitting of you to have none but the strongest. It must troublesome for you."

Wani-akki leered, turning his head to the side, peering at Naruto with one clouded gold-and-red pupil.

The demon looked for a good and long time, and Naruto wondered just what it was doing, just staring like that. Was it stupid? Naruto's gut itched—and he, getting impatient and more confused by the minute, was about to launch and attack, but the demon spoke once more.

"So docile…where is your anger? I hold a grudge against any dancing shadow…I want to kill this Hokage…" Yes, Naruto thought, he would hold a grudge. It was only about seventy years ago that the Raikage almost defeated Wani-akki, causing the demon's long sleep in the sea. "…but in doing that, would it kill you, I wonder, or release you?"

It was that moment that Naruto truly realized the demon was not talking to him, but the Kyubi inside him. Words bubbled up in Naruto's throat, ready to be said, but the urge instantly died, and with it the knowledge of what Naruto had wanted to say.

Unwilling to tell the demon that killing him would in fact kill the demon inside him; Naruto closed his eyes, and began summoning chakra.

"Yes, it would kill you, wouldn't it?"

Naruto decided he would go all out. It would not do to underestimate his opponent, though it was considered a lesser one. Even so, he didn't want to have to summon Gamabunta unless he had to. Even if underestimating this demon was a sure failure, Naruto had a demon's power, and had confidence he could win this fight.

If worse came to worst, he would use that final jutsu.

As Naruto readied to attack, he found he could not. The demon staring him down must not have only been to observe…he must have used genjutsu.

Shit. Trapped so easily…I shouldn't have listen to it. Naruto berated himself for listening to the damned monster. The demon came for a reason, and now had it in its mind to destroy Naruto. Stupid. As if it could kill me. Naruto closed his eyes and focused on dispelling the illusion.

Focusing, eyes closed, Naruto could feel the demon's cool tendrils of chakra holding down his body, like chains. He could feel the illusion, and he concentrated on his chakra to blow the invader's own away.

Naruto imagined his body, flowing with warm yellow chakra like a river, a highway. He felt the heat, and felt it grow within him. He felt the demon's chakra—chains—around him like he had hands, tying him to his spot, bearing the demon's mind down upon him.

Break the chains, he thought.

With that one thought resonating in his mind, Naruto felt the heat double, and his mind shook. He tapped the chains, and they broke like brittle things under the hands of his mind.

But not soon enough. Through his concentration and the small battle within himself, the demon had attacked, and though Naruto did quick work, it was not enough. The demon left a gash along his left upper chest and shoulder with its monstrous teeth, just barely missing decapitating the new Hokage.

Shit! So careless…and here are the results. Naruto grasped his shoulder, and heard his flesh hissing. He could feel steam rising, soft and hot, between his fingers, thinner, hotter than the blood. An effect of the Kyubi, he now knew. Something others assumed was a quick healing jutsu, in battle. Something that seemed like a sweet gesture, especially if the wound were big, like this one.

Breathing slowly, claming his blood down, Naruto stared at the demon, but not the eyes. He watched its mouth. As he did, it spoke to him once more.

What a damned talky demon.

"Not so fast as you once were, eh?"

The bastard of a bigmouth demon was going down. Naruto tapped into his chakra, and he felt himself bleed with power, charged by a sudden anger. No matter, he thought, reaching for that chakra, and letting it fill him, surround him, concentrating it and letting it form as he wished. Moments later, as he opened his eyes, his vision was framed in red. Ignoring it, Naruto kept his eyes on the demon, and leaped high into the air.

"Yes, bring me a good fight. I'll spill your blood and kill you slow…and be known for slaying the Kyubi!"

Naruto could feel rage burn though him like fire on dry grass, and, still in the air, released his jutsu—

"Naruto Special Secret Enhanced Jutsu…Rain of bullets!""

The Rasengan, created by Yondaime, was a very complicated jutsu; one Naruto needed more than a pair of hands for, at first. He trained himself more and more, so that he would need no shadow clones to create the Rasengan, and so the attack was more concentrated, effective, and deadly. That progress helped much during the war for the short while he had been working as an anbu.

Later, he had decided he would make the Rasengan more powerful, and had tried to find a way to enhance it.

Making it larger would only make it harder to control, and was useless. Turning it into an elemental jutsu had not been all that hard, only performing seals along with the technique, but doing so did not necessarily make it stronger. Naruto though, had wanted, childishly, to strengthen the already massively powerful attack, and what better a way than to multiply the number of bullets? It was a perfect attack for larger opponents you wanted to obliterate.

Though that did not change the fact that it took up a massive amount of chakra to perform the attack, as even one chakra bullet did. He could scarcely perform the 'enhanced' attack of this size more than once—and never had he come across the need to use so many in battle, except for on one of Orochimaru's snakes. But over the years, his already high stamina had increased, not to mention he had strengthened. And he always had 'backup'. All this was the greatest disadvantage for his opponents—that he seemed to have never-ending chakra flow.

Bringing his hands down, the chakra bullets were released form their held position in the air above the demon—a tiring feat—the bullets' motion fueled by each bullet's own power and pressure, showering down and leaving hundreds of spiraling wounds. The powerful attack easily ripped through the crocodile's layers of sediment and tough skin. The bullets that cut clean through the demon exploded as they hit the ground, causing clouds of dust to arise. Those that did not, burst inside the demon, leaving gaping wounds oozing with black blood.

As the dust settled, the demon could be seen, dark blood running from its mouth and wounds. Despite its defeated appearance, it laughed once more.

It was really starting to annoy Naruto.

"What a frightening attack…Surely it would kill any lesser being. But you must have forgotten my prized ability. It's pitiful; you can't defeat me as you once could have. Weak," the demon gurgled, and steam rose from its body, a show of its fast regeneration.

For an instant, Naruto felt a surge of anger and power, his head ached, and vision blurred. How dare he! Blinking, he told himself to focus. I've got to attack it all at once so it can't regenerate. There is a point that there is so much damage, that such an ability is null…that battle with Kabuto should be proof of that…

More power, Naruto thought. I need more power to kill it off!

He certainly acknowledged the Fox, and in fact, craved its power. Though he truly did not need to, it was perhaps that he craved that power that kept Naruto asking the Fox to lend it to him.

Hey, Fox…! Lend me your power!

Naruto felt that red burning sensation that came with the Fox's chakra, and—

"It's sickening," the demon suddenly spoke—again. "Look how easily you lend your power. You are weak. You are no better than those Sannin's pets."

Naruto felt uncontrollable anger fill him at he demon's words--a rising hatred.

"You know nothing of which you speak! What would you presume to know of me?" Naruto hissed. "Insolent fool! You call me weak and you call me pitiful…you forget to whom you speak. I, the greatest of the youma, and you, you could be defeated with the power of this prison." Naruto ran a sharp hand along his chest; his features curled into a vulpine smirk, canines glinting. "A lesser entity dares to speak to me so—I will settle for nothing less than bloody suffering."

Naruto's words came with such ease it was almost frightening, had it not felt so right to say, and had it not been for the immense power that came with it. Such great power his voice had been so sonorous as the demon's. Naruto could feel the power pulsing within him. All he could think of was how good it felt, and how it had been such a long time since he felt this free.

He could put this demon through hell and destroy it—hell, even the entire world!

Even the demon, so sensitive to chakra because of his poor eyesight, could feel the vast shift in power. The demon spoke no more, and Naruto could feel its fear, he could taste it—and it was so good.

Naruto could not keep the smile off his face—it all felt so good! Flexing his fingers, wiggling his toes, even the hair on his head—he could feel it all moving, pulsating with life, no, power! Throwing his head back, he let his laughter roll forth, and didn't stop until he heard the shifting of muscle, of wind. It was coming toward him. Smiling to himself, he brought his arms up to block his right side, bracing his legs on the ground. And not a moment too soon, the demon had swung its tail once again toward Naruto, thinking he could get him unawares!

As the tail hit him he was still grinning, and, unable to completely stop the hit, Naruto went skidding about twenty feet. Using the grip he had used to block the attack, Naruto sunk his claws into the demon's tail and the chakra flared in his hands and arms as he used the demon's tail for leverage to swing it hard as he could; a feat Naruto could accomplish with his power.

There was, however, one problem. "My body feels so small…were it larger, I surely could have thrown farther…" Naruto looked at the demon, who crouched fifty feet from where it once stood. Naruto flexed the muscles in his arms. "So much power, I could burst in this small body…" He closed his eyes and relaxed. "Well, that can be fix somewhat," He exhaled slowly. "Just let it go…"

As the demon watched, Naruto's aura multiplied. It grew around him, at least thirty feet all around. The demon could not believe it, the boy was increasing his 'presence' with chakra, his body was at the center of it all, but he still 'took up' space. Almost the same as having a body of that mass…to have so much power that he could do that—and it didn't even seem the maximum the boy could do.

"Hmm…just a bit." Naruto said to himself. Extending his right arm, he said, "Okay! Let's give it a try!" Naruto concentrated on his arm, focusing his chakra there. As the chakra gathered, his arm was delightfully hot, he could feel a pleasant burning, and he giggled. There was no denying how lovely this all felt. Naruto watched through slit eyes, as the chakra around his arm became more and more visible, swirling dark orange.

Facing the demon, Naruto ran towards it full speed. Circling around to the demon's face, Naruto's smile widened as, in panic, the demon opened its jaw—maybe so that Naruto would run into it. Naruto kept running, and as he neared the demon's open mouth, he moved to the side and let his arm rip through the corner of the demon's mouth, it giving way easily with a delightful tearing sound and sending blood flying—and Naruto kept running.

Splitting and burning the demon wide open the whole way, Naruto ran. The demon surely felt the weight and fire of his closeness. As Naruto circled around before the demon's tail, its scorched yellow fat and blood-tinged winding entrails spilling out of the wound caught his eye. Running alone the back of the demon toward the head, he did the same to the demon's other side, blood and innards gushing out, pooling on the ground beside it.

As Naruto neared the demon's head, he ran down the middle, and ripped open its neck, head, and snout-- thick, black demon's blood splattering on Naruto's face.

All so fast, the demon didn't even have time to make a sound.

Thick blood now covered Naruto's arm and he felt it sliding down his arm and dripping off his fingers to the ground. The blood covering his neck itched, and it was trickling down his collarbone, a continuous flow, trailing down his body and soaking his clothes.

Leaping off the demon's nose and landing dome distance away, Naruto turned around to look at his handiwork.

Sometime during the attack, the demon had collapsed off its short legs, and lay on its belly. It was still alive and obviously in pain. Naruto watched as its wounds began to regenerate, slowed down, and finally stopped. Yes, it had reached that limit. Bringing his black-bloodied arm up to his face, he licked the length of it, and wondered aloud, "Now, how shall I finish you off? Something painful; slow," He knew just the thing.

It was a simple violent thought; that was all it took. The demon burned, and not from flame. With pure, malevolent chakra, the demon's flesh ignited. Raw power ate away at it, giving rise to the nauseating smell of burning flesh. Naruto was sure it had to hurt more than anything…it pleased him.

Walking up to the demon, he went for it's askew and split jaw, ripping from it a sizable tooth. A souvenir, he thought.

Sniffing the air, Naruto smelled spies.

He wanted to go…but he did not want to have to concentrate on this place. He wanted to thoroughly enjoy himself.

Smiling, Naruto decided to finish the job, the demon was only just alive.

After performing a long row of seals, Naruto spread his feet apart and focused his chakra. More power! More! Naruto smiled, seemingly kindly at the demon. "Since I have too small of a mouth to eat you, I'll make something eat you."

Deep orange chakra circled and flared high around Naruto. Bringing his circled fist up to his mouth, Naruto took a deep, deep breath and blew steadily through it. From his fist flew a large burst of deep red, black-tinged flame straight at the incapacitated demon.

The demon had to have been in some sort of shock before, because as the unstoppable flames hit, it let out a grating cry of pain, which it faded into an unsteady groan.

Turning his back from the carnage he left behind, Naruto closed his eyes, and listened. He could hear the rustle of nearby animals, and those trying to flee as they witnessed the end of the battle. Oh, why didn't they listen to me? He tsked. They really should have left when he told them to.

Nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air, he thought, let the hunt begin…

+

Everything was a blur.

Naruto ran.

He ran and ran, and had been running. For how long, he didn't know. Minutes? Hours? Days? Years? He couldn't tell. He just had to get far. Far away from that place, that place he did that. He could still taste the blood in his mouth, feel the tear of skin beneath his claws. That he could not stop it—scared him.

That it excited him scared him the most.

He must have been running for while now, for he was feeling the physical strain. He had been running through forest, on roads, through and along rivers, maybe even over mountains. But just now, He had burst free of a forest, and ran now on flat fields of tall grass.

Looking up at the sky, he stumbled and dropped to his knees. The whole field was visible, the silhouette of mountains could be seen on the horizon, and the tall grass shimmered with moonlight as the breeze ran through. But all Naruto saw was the moon, the full autumn moon.

A blood red moon.

++

So there you have it. Don't hate me, I guess. This chapter upset my test reader or "beta reader." So I don't know about the reaction of the rest of you.

But once again, reviews are welcome and much appreciated. So do it!