Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and you all know it

Chapter 4:

Strange Encounters

The world turned to an insignificant blur as Naruto speed through the forest once again. Not gracefully like before, but faster, much faster. He does not move like a shinobi, but then again he is no shinobi. He is one of the Jinchuuriki, he holds the power of human sacrifice. Naruto sneers as he feels the chakra of the Kyuubi Kitsune, mightiest of all the mythic youmas, course through his body. It's the most delightful pain he has ever felt, and over the last few years he has learned to welcome it. It's something he will never tell anyone, but the pure powertrip of having demonic powers is delightful. He can hear his own heartbeat in his head, thumping wildly and the crackling sound of demonic chakra escaping his body in his mad dash to reach the ones that have wronged him. He grins, reaviling his canines, as he thinks of how he will slaughter everyone of those helpless bastards. In the back of his head he can hear the maniacal laughter of the great fox, and he laughs with it.

Branches crack under his feet as the red chakra rips through them. Naruto can feel his own sanity slipping away, like sand in the palm of your hand, as the demon in his belly gradually takes over. Naruto enjoys those moments greatly. The world turn black and white, all his worries slip away. In a world driven completely by instinct, he is the master of everything. He is right, the enemy is wrong. He is strong, they are weak. The meaning of life seems simple. Kill those who oppose you, protect the ones you love. It's simple and easy. The circle of life seems complete. In his head he can hear a twelve year old blond boy screaming at him to stop, but his weak little voice drowns in the thundering storm that is the demon's laughter.

Koji was back in the column. The comforting line of men transported like cattle from one place to another. They were outside of known shinobi teritory now and only half a day's walk from one of the many outposts scattered all over the country. It was a fortified stronghold, in which they could be safe from shinobi attacks, get ammo and supplies, and some well earned rest. The fear and anxiety was lifting, and he could spot careful smiles, and low smalltalk among the men. He even saw lieutenant Hakenshou smile, if only for a fleeting moment. Koji looked back over his shoulder, and could see the forest they exited a day before in the distance. It sent chills down his spine, so he quickly turned away, and focused on what was lieing ahead. Focus on the good things. They were few and far apart, but if one lingered at all the bad things that happened, you could never make it out of the mess this war was. The only thing bothering Koji at the moment was some of the gravel that somehow got from lying on the ground to beeing in his boot. It was currently making it's way into his foot, and it kind of hurt.

"Lieutenant Hakenshou, sir!" he called out.

Haukenshou halted along with the rest of the men. "Yes, private?"

"I have gravel in my boot, sir. Can I have permission to remove it, sir?"

"Yes, private, but be quick about it".

Hakenshou turned away and ordered the rest of the men to follow him, as Koji sat down to take of his boot. He quickly took off his backpack and sat on it, while starting to undo the laces. He took the opportunity to stretch his legs a bit, after all they had been walking all day. Turning his discarded boot upside down two little pebbles fell out and bounced a bit on the ground. To Koji's surprise they did not stop bouncing, in fact most of the pebles on the ground were moving ever so slightly and he could hear a slight trembling thunder. He looked up and saw the men 30 meters infront of him had stopped and was equally bevildered as himself. As quickly as the trembling had started, it vanished, and Koji in his mind shrugged it off as a possible minor earthquake. As he looked down at his foot again to put on his boot, he could feel a shockwave blow his hair back as a red streak hit the midst of their ranks.

Naruto watches the world rush by with the eyes of a demon. Everything has taken on a red hue and the colours of the world has faded. Little specs of dull blue radiate from every living organism he catches in his tunneling vision, and he hates them all. He can feel the need to extinguish them all, to make the world all red. Red, the only colour he likes. The dull blue is disturbing, but at the moment he does not care. He sniffs the air, and abrubtly changes direction. There they are...

He exits the forest in a great leap forward and grins even wider when he spots his prey a hundred meters or so ahead of him. They appear as little dull blue specs that tarnish his red world. He grits his teeth, feeling even more chakra bubbling up in his body along with his rage, as his body hardens and his fangs grow longer.

"They won't even know what hit them, it will be like swatting gnats." is the last rational human thought that goes through his head before completly giving in to the demon.

In moments he is upon them.

His first strike hits like a hammer swung by an ogre. In this state Naruto feels like the world slows down and he is hyper-sensitive to his surroundings. He can feel the bones fail in the face of the man he has struck, the warmth of the fresh blood that covers his hand and sprays out onto his face. He takes in the sickening sound of the crushing skull and he loves it. The victims have yet to realize what is happening. Naruto twists into the little crowd again, and with a slash from his now razorsharp fangs he disembowels the man next to him. He could have cut off his head, but the Kyuubi Kitsune grants him more power if he makes his victims suffer. In seconds he has killed off almost everyone, without giving them enough time to even reach for their guns. The world is almost back to the way it should be. Red and quiet. He is covered in blood and guts, and licking his lips, he feels the copper taste of death. Naruto turns to the last one standing, and takes a moment to examine him, coking his head sideways. He does not look as scared as the others, no sign of panic on his face, but Naruto can smell the stink of fear under the mask of bravery. He finds it quite amusing that this man actually has convinced himself that he can survive this, and find it in him resist the abomination that has slaughtered those around him. Narutos amusement quickly turns into anger as the fox in him thunders against the insolence of this mere human that thinks he can stand up to a God. Enraged Naruto charge him as the man raises his rifle to take aim, but Narutos fangs finds their way to his wrist and lops off his hand before he can fire. As Naruto is about to deliver the final blow, his head suddenly jerks back, and pain shoots through his body. The pesky human was faster than he thought and had managed to shoot him with his sidearm. Naruto can feel the bullet being pushed back out of his forehead, thanks to the amazing healing powers the fox has granted him. He grabs the man by his troath and lifts him off the ground. The mask of bravery fails, revealing a visage of fear, and Naruto grins widely as he plunges a hand into the mans chest and crushes his heart.. The eyes of the man roll back into his head as he goes limp. It was good fun to break his spirit

Naruto exhales and relaxes somewhat, but something is still wrong, he turns and finds that some distance from the others there is another one sitting on the ground. He is different from the one he just killed, fear oozes off him in waves. Annoyed that he thought he had finished before, Naruto plunges towards him only to see a bright white light.

Koji stared mouth agape at the living nightmare that unfolded before his eyes. It was not like anything he had ever witnessed before. He had encountered many shinobi before and had been awestruck at their abilities, but it had never been anything like this. When asked what shinobi fighting styles was like by curious and scared villagers, he usually answered that it was like a dance of death, graceful and deadly. And that was about as accurate a description as he could give.

This time it was different. There was no grace in the thing that moved before him. A thing, it couldn't be human, it was too fast, too ferocious, and cutting it's way through the men in his unit with utter brutality and godlike strenght. In seconds their unsuspecting column had been transformed into a picture of hell; guts and blood everywhere.

It could not be real, Koji thought. Monsters did not exist, but here it was, like a wild beast, with a wicked lust for blood, and it was currently holding the remnants of Lieutenant Hakenshou's heart in his fanged hand looking at straight at him. Blood red eyes, with slithed pupils. It was the one thing that convinced Koji that the thing in front of him was not human at all. It looked rather displeased, and Koji froze in fear when he realized that he was the source of it. The beast in front of him paused for slight moment before it lunged at him with lightning speed. The last thing Koji saw was a bright white light.

It was a big surprise to Koji when he was actually able to open his eyes. In his frenzied panic he had done the thing he was trained to do. He had fired a flare, but this time the flare had still been strapped his west. He was lucky the flare did not take his head clean off. He was even luckier that the blinding light the flare produced, had made his assailant miss his target, if only for an inch or two.

The claw that had been aimed for his head was buried in the ground a few inches from his face. As he looked up, Koji saw something he would remember for the rest of his days.

The monster from before was gone, and in it's place there was a pair of blue eyes

A pair of human eyes, so full of sorrow and regret, pain and suffering, that Koji felt he was looking into a mirror. Koji could feel the warmth of the man's breath on his face, yet strangly enough he did not feel scared. The man before him cast a confused glance at the carnage behind them and visibly winced. Koji looked into his eyes once again, and suddenly felt compelled to comfort him. Reaching out to touch him, the man jerked his head back and got on his shaking legs.

Naruto walked backwards eyes fixed on the only survivor of his attack, scared but not at all confused. He knew exactly what he had done, and why. He felt so bad, but knew that he had only killed the enemy, and noone of his comrades would hold that against him. He was an instrument of war, an extremely efficient tool. He had become a tool, just like that boy Haku so many years ago, and at that time he had sworn to himself that he would never become one. Childish nonsense. He did and had done what was expected of him, and had fulfilled his purpose as a shinobi.

His actions were just, but still tearing him up inside. His training would have him kill the man before him, but a part of him, however small, wanted to embrace, save and comfort him. Turning his eyes away from the last survivor, he dragged his feet just to to get away from the conflicting feelings, although he felt like lying down and crying.

Koji watched his assailant stumble backwards away from him, with an expression on his face Koji could not read. He looked so human; scared and torn, but at the same time, determined and jaded. The only thing Koji felt he could disipher from the man's visage was guilt.As the man turned and started to walk away Koji did something unbeliveable. Of all the things he could have, he did the single most illogical and idiotic thing he could have ever done.

He got up and followed him.

Koji would question that decision time and time again for the rest of his days.

Naruto walked from the battlefield, not really knowing were he was heading. He felt tired, so very tired. Not really physically tired, but mentally he was exhausted. Physically he was all but perfect, he did not have a single battle scar on his body on accont of the Kyuubi. It was his mind who took the damage each and every time. After the delightful rage, he was always jerked back into reallity, and it seemed crueler every time. He made a half consious desition to head for a village he had seen in the area before, not noticing the man trailing behind him.

Koji followed Naruto a good 30 metres away, his head filled with a whole bunch of nothing. He had not been able to form a coherent thought since he had witnessed the slaughtering of his squad. Some sort of morbid fasination drove him to follow, even though he could not put words to it. He let his head hang and just occationally lifted his gaze to make sure he was on target. After doing this for quite some time he looked up, and for a second time that day he looked straight into the eyes of Naruto.

"Oh...shit.." he thought as his brain scrambled back into action. He had no clue what to do, so he just stood still, staring, like an animal freezes under the gaze of a predator.

"Oh shit, he's going to kill me, I'm gonna die right now! He is gonna tear me apart just like he did the others!"

Koji could hear his own voice in his head screaming at him to run, but the rational part of his brain told him that it would not do him any good. So he just stood there and stared, petrified.

Naruto cursed under his breath. In his groggy state he had not noticed the soldier that had followed him. How very not shinobi-like. And why the hell had he followed him? It made no sense whatsoever. He should have killed him when he had the chance. Not that the chance had escaped him, he could kill him now.

"Why the hell are you following me?" he half sneered at Koji

Koji cringed, beliving that he was looking into the eyes of the grim reaper himself.

"I...I don't know..." came the weak reply. "Please don't kill me.." he added not really beliving that his request would be accomodatet.

Naruto cursed again. He should kill the soldier right now, but he knew that he could not do it. Almost every kill he had ever made was partially or fully under the influence of the Kyuubi. He hated killing people, and that was really rather pathetic considering his way of life. He really did not know what to do, and felt kind of acward just standing there staring.

"You know I should kill you, right?" Naruto asked in a menacing tone

"Please don't" was the only thing Koji could squick out as he took a step back.

Naruto's attempt to scare the man away had failed, as he realized it was not possible to scare the man more than he already was. The situation was very weird, and was about to take a weirder turn. Naruto was dumbstruck, and after a moment of silence he felt he had to say or do something. He looked at the soldier again and asked a rather wierd question.

"Uhm, what's your name?" he blurted out, not really knowing why he asked

"What? I...my name? Koji..It's Koji" Koji answered confused

The fear was starting to loosen it's grip even though it was still very much present.

"I'm Naruto" Naruto found himself stating. As weird as the situation was, Naruto found it strangely furfilling.

"You should really get that looked at" Naruto continued refering to the scorched wound on the side of Koji's face.

"Huh? This?" Koji said confused bringing his hand up to his face, and for the first time realizing that the wound hurt like hell.

"Can't stay here sprouting roots, or that wound will fester like crazy" Naruto stated matter of factly. "Gotta get out of here right?"

Koji's mind was as cluttered with nothing as before, and the logic of Naruto even in the morbid situation they found themselves in, seemed to make very much sense

And so they started down the muddy road in silence

This chapter has come along quite slowly due to personal issues back in the real world, but I feel that it's back on track, and the next chapter will follow shortly.