Strength of Fist and Heart
by Darklion74

A/N:

An early start to Chapter Five means hopefully it can come out earlier. This is hopefully going to be a longer chapter than previous ones. Kyuubi is back and he just saw the number of reviews so far. We're going to try to revive him in time to go into reviews.

Chapter Five
The Rage Within

Upon being hit from the Rasengan, time seemed to slow down, as the orb of high level hurricane winds struck squarely in the center of Haku's chest. The ten-year-old shinobi, one trained by three of the finest sensei known to the Hidden Villages, was hurled mercilessly into the air and through one of his own ice mirrors, shattering it into a million pieces. The broken boy landed on the ground seconds later with a sickening thud, motionless upon impact.

Two young boys look into the scroll provided by Hakate Kakashi just a few days back. It was a complex scroll, but Haku seemed to go through it without any problems whatsoever. "Naruto-kun, let's learn this one next, Kage Bunshin. Are you ready?"

Naruto, eager as ever to learn something new, nodded vigorously. "Ready, Haku-neechan!"

Naruto was stunned speechless. The Sannin who tried to take his life less than a decade ago, just took away one of the things most precious to him, his beloved foster brother. Haku just lain on the ground, his eyes lifeless, his body still and unmoving. No final words, no final goodbyes, just an abrupt end to his life.

As both of the children took a bit of a rest on a hill overlooking the resort they were staying at, Naruto glanced over at his brother, a surprisingly uneasy tone in his voice. "You're never going to leave me onee-chan, are you?"

Not sensing the unease, Haku went into an easy and sincere smile, just as he always did. "I'm not about to abandon my little brother, Naruto-kun."

The fury refocused in itself, and increased a thousand-fold, he turned his murderous rage to the Sannin, as he began to take on a soft red glow, his face becoming feral, almost, inhuman. Jiraya merely shook his head and stood quietly, his body recovered from the paralysis after the needles were removed.

"I remember the tales of the boy taken from the village, left to die from the attack of a shadow wolf, a kageurufu. I was left to believe that boy died, and through that, a terrible curse was lain upon the village. Now I see that boy alive and in front of me. Uzumaki Naruto."

The chakra emanating from Naruto increased as his eyes slowly changed from blue to red. And as his nails enlongated ever so slowly from human fingernails, to lethal claws, brimming with a dark energy all of their own.

"I began life with no parents, no love, no life. I'm happy I have a family now..."

"...a family now..."

"...a family..."

"Oneechan."

The Sannin looked at the transformation with a calm countenance. "No good will come of this fight, Naruto-kun. I'm saddened and sorry for the loss of your brother. But this battle will lead to more unnecessary blood, and if you continue, you will regret it for the rest of your life. I am not your enemy, Naruto-kun. I never was. I don't know why you want to kill me..."

Naruto's voice came back, as if it were his own, but an intellect not his own, it also seemed somewhat amplified, with a level of malevolence that was beyond belief. "You tried to kill me seven years ago, when you sent your possessed underling to take me to the forest, and end my life there. Your possession failed, but you nearly succeeded, you nearly had the job done. If that wolf bit me harder in a more vital part of my body, I would have died. So sad you were so careless, Jiraya."

"That's right, Naruto. He tried to kill us, both of us. He cannot be allowed to live for the crimes committed against us, and for the crime committed against your brother."

Jiraya stepped back in shock. This wasn't Naruto's natural voice, and no nine-year-old child could speak with such dark intellect and lucidity within his voice. "I didn't try to kill you... wait... am I speaking to Naruto or am I..."

Naruto chuckled, and it was an amused chuckle of an evil that was sealed nine years ago in his own body. "You are speaking to me, though at this time, you can refer to me as Naruto, or by my, other moniker, little toad."

Jiraya paled as his face went from nervous to terrified in an instant.

It was also within that instant that Tsunade entered the scene, with Shizune close by. They had heard the commotion and sped there as fast as they could, but too late to be of any real intervention. Tsunade was somewhat shocked to see Jiraya there, but then her eyes turned to Naruto's semi-transformed state. No sooner had she seen her little blonde boy, her eyes locked onto the broken body of her elder charge, Momochi Haku. Upon that sight she ran past Naruto and Jiraya, her eyes fixed on that horrible sight.

"No. No, it's not true. It's not! Tell me it isn't true! Tell me you're just sleeping, Haku! Tell me! Come on! Wake up! Wake up! Your mother is telling you to wake up! Wake up now! Don't tell me I've lost someone else I love! Don't tell me, that I've lost... a s-son!"

Tsunade collapsed upon the broken body of Haku and wept, shuddering, blocking out everything else from her awareness. She only knew of being here next to her son, and that Haku was nothing but a broken lifeless shell.

Jiraya turned to Naruto, his face furious. "Kyuubi! I know not why you desire vengeance against me, nor why I deserve it. I NEVER sent anyone to try to kill Naruto, no matter what the boy may believe."

Naruto's enhanced voice cracked like a whip and was of a far deeper tone than before. "LIAR! I heard you, the boy, the fox, whomever you think you speak to, 'I' heard you. We are now one and the same, thanks to your betrayal. And I will enjoy rending the flesh for your bones for this treachery!"

Naruto vanished in a blink and struck into the side of Jiraya with his demonic chakra enhanced claws, leaving a bad gash into the side of the Toad Sannin. The Sannin was quick to respond with a quick evasive maneuver to avoid a second serious injury. The gash did it's job though, Jiraya was most definitely slowed down, weakened by the slight poison of the demonic chakra.

'I don't want to do this, but if I need to put Naruto down in order to protect the innocents, then... damn it all to hell!' Jiraya reopened the cuts on his fingers, performed quick seals then performed the summoning technique once more. This time, it used up almost all of his remaining reserves, leaving him open for a lethal attack. However, what he summoned was of immediate concern to the demoniacally possessed boy.

The toad summoned was colossal: easily thirty feet in height and fifty in length. It's weight was in the scores of tons. He growled at Jiraya in an annoyed fashion. "Jiraya! What's the meaning of this summoning? Why did you wake me up?"

Jiraya coughed, signifying his weakened state. "Sorry, old friend, but we have a bad situation. You remember Yondaime, don't you? Well, meet his kid, Naruto. He's got a major problem at the moment."

"Oh really? Jiraya you can do better than that. And you brat, are you trying to hurt the dummy here? Not that I care, but I can't allow you to kill him. And kid... why do you smell like fox? I HATE that smell with a passion."

"Take a wild guess, you ugly toad. I remember you, and how you annoyed me time and time again. It's time I ended your miserable existence, Gamabunta!"

The toad croaked angrily, or the best a toad can do in representation of a growl. "Kyuubi! You're in that kid? Well I guess I know why I was summoned. I feel sorry for the kid, he's the innocent one in all of this."

"And Jiraya is the murderous one, trying to kill me many years ago, and me along with him!"

"Enough, boy! Enough, damned fox! ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!"

Both demoniacally charged boy and gigantic toad sprang into battle, as their first collision sent a tremendous explosion crashing down on the area.

As the battle waged in the small resort town, close by to the leaf, two people were looking over the combat with a fair deal of interest. One was a teenager, about fourteen years of age with a straw hat covering his face, and a scarf covering his mouth, painted toenails and a relatively dark outfit. The other was in a similar hat, but if anyone could see his skin color, it was a pale shade of blue, and there were gills on either side of his throat. He carried a gigantic sword on his back which was covered in heavy wrappings. They watched the level of power in the contest with respect, and perhaps the slightest amount of awe.

The blue skinned shark-man broke the silence. "Damn, whomever they are, they're going right at it. Isn't that Gamabunta, Itachi?"

"Hai, Kisame. There's no doubt that the toad boss is in presence, which must only mean that Jiraya is nearby. But the other chakra seems to either match the toad boss, or possibly even surpass it."

"Eh? That kid down there is even stronger than the toad king?"

"Hard to say, but it should be reported as soon as possible. Though we can wait for the end of the contest. I must say I am interested in finding out more about what created this contest, what lies yet unseen, even to the eyes of the Akatsuki."

And silently, from across town, the young boy with the red eyes of the Sharingan watched patiently, hoping to see more fighting and knowing more of what two of the three legendary Sannin were doing there.

The battle between the frog and the fox-boy raged on as half of the town was destroyed. Tsunade was still stricken with grief over the loss of of Haku, and Shizune was mesmerized by the battle at hand. The sannin's aide simply did not understand why Naruto and Jiraya were fighting one another this fiercely. And what did Kyuubi have to do with any of this?

Shizune remembered when she had to tell Naruto about the curse and what was inside of him, and she remembered it wasn't a pretty picture. And even then, she never had the opportunity tell him everything, something always interrupted.

"Aunt Shizune, what do you mean that the Leaf Village is cursed?"

"When those that were there tried to kill you, the fox cursed everyone through that wolfbite scar on your arm, giving everyone an injury, dependent on how close they were to the incident or how similar they were to you, in this case, age."

"Nani?"

"The children back in Konoha who are about your age, and the sole survivor who tried to kill you were cursed the worst."

"This isn't true! It can't be true! I didn't hurt anyone!"

"We know you didn't, but it was the Kyuubi. The demon that was sealed inside of you as an infant."

Naruto looked at the spiral mark on his chest, and started to shudder.

"But Aunt Shizune? Who would have done that? Who would have been so cruel as to seal such a monster inside of a baby."

Shizune dreaded this moment worst of all, telling him who ended up cursing him most of all, even for the sake of the village. "The only person who thought you stood a chance against the beast, the Yondaime Hokage, your father."

"M-my father? Why? Why did he hate me so much?"

"He didn't hate you, Naruto. He loved you, and he wanted to give both the Leaf and you a chance. He gave you a chance to be a hero for being the one to take the Kyuubi forever out of their lifes..."

"Until they tried to kill me..."

"Yes... until they tried to kill you. In doing so, they weakened the Yondaime's trust and the seal enough for Kyuubi to let out one powerful curse: Kageurufu Arashi noh Kitsune Ryo (Shadow Wolf Wind of the Demon Fox)."

Tsunade called out. "Shizune-chan! Naruto-kun! Dinner!"

Shizune grunted but sighed as Naruto took the cue to leave quickly, not really wanting to hear anymore. She didn't even get to the part who really tried to kill him.

And she never did, as she witnessed the battle that raged on. 'Wait, I can still tell him, I can still get it out before it gets any worse than it is!"

"Naruto-kun, it wasn't him, it was..."

An errant blow by Gamabunta's gigantic whip-like tongue struck Shizune in the head, knocking her against the ground with tremendous force.

Naruto's voice cried out, amplified by the Kyuubi. "Shizune-sensei! THAT DOES IT, fox, NOW YOU DIE!"

Naruto performed a complex series of seals within a blink of an eye, thirty-two of them in less than one second then combined both his chakra with that of the demon's. "Kuchiyose no Kinjutsu: Seimeisatou Youkai - Kyuubi Fuukaku!"

With this, a grayish phantom appeared with a red shadow, which resembed a Naruto-sized version of Kyuubi. The toad, realizing the power of the style, tried to jump away, but was overtaken by the demonic wraith-like being as it caught him and sank right into him.

Gamabunta convulsed as the poisonous energy from the realm of the dead went into his system and his colossal form began to shudder and shiver. The frog's eyesight was never very good, but his other senses began to dull as his head tipped toward the ground, as he grew more and more tired by the moment, the negative energy inside of him reaching lethal levels.

The toad king's voice was very weak, as he could only whisper in a wheezing voice. "J-Ji-Jiraya... I'm sorry. I c-can't stay here... forgive me..." With that, the gigantic toad vanished into ninja smoke. Gamabunta was utterly defeated, and Naruto was looking at the exhausted Jiraya, and could literally taste the death of the Toad Sannin on his tongue.

It was a bitter taste as he faltered slightly in his resolve. The Kyuubi sensed this and tried to urge the boy along. "What's wrong, Naruto? You have your vengeance in the grasp of your claws! Rend his life from him, and make our revenge complete!"

"This doesn't seem right, Kyuubi. I don't know why. He seemed awfully surprised that we would attack him at all, save for a brief pummeling for his perverted ways. And this death, for some reason it tastes bitter. I don't know why but I see my father in him."

"That may have been the case, boy, but he must pay for the crimes he committed. He must be slain, and slain now, while we have the chance!"

"Yes. Yes, I s-suppose you're right, fox. He did try to kill us, he did kill Haku, he needs to be put to..."

Something in the corner of Naruto's eye stopped his thoughts in an instant. Kyuubi's mounting voice at vengeful desires was all but silenced, limited to a light buzzing in the back of the boy's subconscious. Kyuubi wondered until he too looked through Naruto's eyes with a bit of shock.

Shizune slowly rose, holding her head as she laid down on the blasted earth, suffering from what appeared to be a moderate concussion, a non-lethal injury. This wasn't however what caught the fox-boy's attention. Momochi Haku, who's body was completely unmoving underneath the grieving form of Tsunade, just twitched his finger. He was still alive!

Naruto and fox wasted no time, and ran over to his foster brother, confusing all involved, especially the wounded Jiraya, and the slowly recovering Shizune. He quickly analyzed the injury and found it would take all of his own chakra and then some, the remaining chakra of Kyuubi.

The fox grumbled a bit at the situation, but then sighed, deep within the imprisoned seal. "My vengeance is important to me, but this broken body is more important to you. I'll lend you my powers this once. Tsunade should be able to take care of the Toad Sannin from here. Good luck, kid."

With that, Naruto summoned all of the chakra he could into his hands until he could literally smell them burning from the raw amount of power he held within them, and summoned a massive force of healing energies straight into Haku's broken body. Bones that were shattered beyond repair began to mend, and mend perfectly. Muscles that were torn to shreds were reformed and reinforced as before. Blood that was spilled was cleansed and replaced back into the repaired veins and arteries from within the broken body, which itself was made whole again.

Naruto's hands were partially blackened by the restoration jutsu, reinforced by the demon fox's own chakra. He looked into the slowly opening eyes of his brother, then slowly prodded his foster mother to look. Tsunade gave a firm hug to the son she thought she lost, and wept with joy as Haku smiled wearily. Naruto on the other hand, even in the semi-transformed state he was in, beamed with joy, then fell to the earth, unconscious.

Tsunade gasped as Naruto fell, immediately worried at the condition of the boy. Finding out that he had merely burned his hands and fell to a mild case of chakra depletion, she healed the blonde boy, so that his hands were not only healed, but returned to normal, and the feral state was dispelled. Naruto opened his now blue eyes slowly, exhausted, and unable to move, but alive and relatively well. He tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Shhh... don't try to talk. You need your rest."

Jiraya merely got himself up to a seated position and whistled admiringly. "Damn. That's some kid you raised there, Tsunade. I'm amazed he could..."

Tsunade merely gave a cold look to the Toad Sannin and interrupted. "Jiraya, please explain why you tried to kill my sons, and why I shouldn't tear you limb from limb?"

Jiraya gulped and slowly explained the situation, that the boy was at first just beating him up for being what he was, a pervert, but in more self-flattering terms as far as the Toad Sannin was concerned. He then explained once he identified himself, they tried to kill him. As the story went on, Tsunade was wide-eyed with disbelief. 'Naruto thought that Jiraya tried to kill him? How could he have thought that?'

It hit her then, he overheard one of the discussions she had with Kakashi, or at least part of it. She never mentioned the name of the Snake Sannin, the one who really tried to have Naruto killed. She looked at the blonde boy with nothing but love in her eyes. "Naruto. My dear dear boy. It appears we were all victims of a huge misunderstanding. I never mentioned the name of the one who truly wanted to have you dead, because I truly cannot stand the very thought of that snake!"

Naruto blinked in a confused manner. 'Snake?'

Jiraya tiredly nodded. "Orochimaru, I could never stand him either, and it seemed he wanted vengeance for not being named the Fourth Hokage after our sensei retired."

Naruto nodded, and blushed lightly, embarrassed that he could have made such a bad mistake. Even the fox within was somewhat flushed, then the rage came back. "So, it's that damn SNAKE! He fooled the boy... HE DECEIVED ME, HOW DARE HE! I'LL REND THAT SNAKE SCALE FROM SCALE AND SEE HIM BURN FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE I LET HIM DIE, that filthy, ominous, retched..."

Naruto once again muted out the murderous rants of the fox within him. It was obvious that the seal was somewhat weakened, but he remembered everything, even the forbidden technique that the fox made, though it would be difficult for him to do it alone. Another weapon, but one of ultimate last resort, one to use when all other methods had failed.

Jiraya slowly made it back to his feet, his body sore, but able to walk away. "Well, now that's all settled, I wish everyone well." As he turned to leave, he saw the angered faces of Shizune and Tsunade blocking his path.

"Not yet, pervert. You did after all attack my sons and nearly killed my dear Haku! You have a tab to pay up. And I'm not letting you out of my sight until it is paid up!"

Jiraya sighed, as he was in no condition to fight Shizune, much less a fully-rested Tsunade. He was left with no other choice. "So, what do you intend for me to do?"

"Help teach the boys what you know. Start with the Rasengan."

Jiraya scoffed. "The Rasengan! These kids aren't even genin yet... well... they did a number on me. And they seem rather bright. But you really think they're ready for such an advanced technique?"

Tsunade merely grinned viciously as she hoisted the Toad Sannin in midair with barely an effort. "Make them ready, they're going to need it."

A/N:

Good news, Kyuubi is revived and ready for the reviews! The bad news is that he wants a raise in salary. Since when do muses get paid? Just explain the jutsu this chapter.

"What? I gotta give away MY trade secrets, but you get to keep... fine, fine, just keep that cat away from me! Who knew that little kittens would be so vicious? Anyway, the glorious technique that squashed that retched little froggy this chapter was something of my own design, which seems to once again be stolen by Naruto, little thief. Kuchiyose no Kinjutsu: Seimeisatou Youkai - Kyuubi Fuukaku (Forbidden Summoning Tenchique - Demonic Wraith - Kyuubi Style!). This thirty-two seal technique summons a miniature version of me that once it hits its target, starts to drain the life out of it, until it leaves a dead husk. Gotta love it."

Yes, lovely, now, onto the reviews.

"You need someone else to handle these newcomers, still, Blazer6 returns with his hatred of Sasuke intact. Good, someone needs to hate him. Can I be part of the Sasuke-hater club?"

Don't you hate just about everybody?

"That's not the point, Dark! Karibanu also made a point of not making Hinata a tool, but reminding you that without the brat, she's not going to have a source of inspiration.

Yes, and no. He's not there, in body, but in spirit... well, go on.

"TriAce-Gaara mentioned that you could work on the length of the story. Compared to other tales, your chapters are rather short and skimpy."

I'm working on it, as this is the longest chapter to date of pure story.

"Plumwarrior37 seems to like the originality of the fic scoff. I'M THE MUSE, I'm the one that gives him the inspiria... KEEP THAT FELINE MONSTROSITY AWAY FROM ME! He's also worried that you tried to kill Haku."

Well, I didn't and why are you afraid of Mister Snuggles? He's so soft, purrily and snuggly; ignore the razor sharp teeth and the psychotic tendencies, and he's the perfect pet.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Perfect (for a Manson Family Reuinon). Lita of Jupiter again gives a long review praising you for whatever reason, and threatening to put... a WHAT? A PINK LEASH! LET ME AT HER, I'LL..."

Continue this rant and you'll continue your discussion with Mr. Snuggles! You will not be treating one of my best reviewers in such a fashion!

"EASY, easy. Okay... I'm fine, I'm cool. She continues in agreeing that NaruHina or NaruSaku wouldn't work, nor would Yaoi. She especially enjoyed 10,000 years of pain. I could demonstrate that for her if she would only..."

The cat is presented near the face, where the cherubic face of a white cat is replaced with a demonic hiss and three layers of teeth, as well as a pale yellow glow in the cat's eyes.

"BACK! BACK! The Power of Christ compels you! The Power of... oh who am I kidding? I'm no exorcist, I'm another bloody demon! Peter Kim has some delightfully fine ideas and... hey, stop writing notes! You're supposed to be writing this and not the reviewers! Lynn Lee wants you to be nice to Hinata. MWAHAHAHA! That and Kale Ironfist noted that it's MOMOCHI, not MOMICHI, you blockhead!"

Okay, okay, fine, it's been corrected in this chapter. There are many other fine reviewers, but Kyuubi is only taking the most detailed ones as he. I can't promise that I'm going to be nice to anyone, but things are to be considered. Aww, look, Mr. Snuggles is playing with the fox, and look he's batting his little paw into the nose of the fox, as the fox slams painfully into...

The author looks with a morbid fascination as the cat attempts to literally eviscerate the fox, and as the fox is slowly being torn limb from limb.

Umm, while I try to save the fox from certain death at the hands of my deranged pet, we will close for another day. Keep the reviews coming and I'll try to get the fox to the ICU of Konohagakure as soon as possible!

"HELP ME!"

"REOW! HSSSST!" FSSSSssssssssssssst!