Chapter 25

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Ninja Gaiden or DOA

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

A few things; I actually made it to the 25th chapter so it's a bit of a milestone.

I'm a little behind on the updates because my concept story Naruto: Journey to Lyonesse took a good two weeks out of my schedule. I'm back to working on my 3 main stories now.

I've received a lot of PM's asking about the Fiend Asuka's appearance. I based her general appearance on the character Shizuku Sangō out of the anime/manga Kampfer. Kampfer has a wiki if you want to see her appearance. Just imagine Shizuku with red eyes. I also like Shizuku's dagger/chain weapons so I may incorporate some variant of them as well. That remains to be seen.

Also, an updated list of current ages of the characters for those keeping score:

Ayane: 15

Naruto, Hinata, Kasumi, Aoi: 16

Momiji: 17

Ryu, Kureha, Hayate: 22

Here we go! Here's chapter 25:

Last time:

Detective Arii Maya:

It has come to my attention from both your reports and those of others that recent the activities in the Sky City Ward have been the direct results of ninja activity. As you know we can simply not have this happening in our fair city. Since it escalated so quickly I am authorizing you as our Specialist in Ninja Affairs to contact the Uzumaki Clan and get their expertise on these matters. Since you two handled the Yoru Clan Case together I'm assigning you to once again work in concert with Inspector Otaki Seburo. You both proved efficient before and I'm counting on you being efficient again.

I expect great things from you in the future Detective Arii; don't let me down.

Signed,

Commissioner Kobayashi

Maya read it twice and her excitement was palpable. Maya was looking forward to seeing Uzumaki Naruto again. She called Inspector Otaki and confirmed he'd received a letter as well before she decided to contact the enigmatic Uzumaki Clan. She had absolutely no idea this was just a precursor to a fiend invasion….The bizarre events taking place in New York City simply couldn't happen in Tokyo, could they?

The Hayabusa Village

It had been ten days since Genshin's forces and the fiends had been driven away from the Hayabusa Village. The death of the giant Cyclops fiend seemed to cause the Black Spider Clan to go into hiding. The village's outer walls were repaired for the most part and Naruto had just received a message from Detective Arii Maya and was discussing what to do about it with Hayabusa Jô-sama. The Hayabusa patriarch sized up the situation well and said, "As mercenary as it sounds Naruto; your clan is in need of money for self support and other ninja groups would gladly take your place for this opportunity. I know Hayate-sama isn't angry but several members of the Mugen Tenshin Clan were less than thrilled about losing such a lucrative contract as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. I think you should go and look into this."

Naruto sighed. "I worry for the safety of the Hayabusa Village Jô-sama. Also, we Uzumaki's caused all the slaughter in the Sky City Ward in Tokyo so I feel kind of responsible for this mess."

"So you think the fiend activity in Tokyo has been eliminated?" asked Jô.

"I'm not that naïve Jô-sama but I really doubt this Karasu Clan will amount to much unless they are part of Ishtaros' network." replied Naruto.

"Then examine the Karasu Clan and see if they have any connections with the fiends." said Jô with a tone of finality. "Let's face the facts Naruto; when you summoned a fifty foot long kitty-cat that ripped their most powerful weapon to shreds the Black Spider Clan fled in terror. I assure you the village is quite safe. Do you doubt my abilities to protect the village?"

"Of course not Jô-sama!" answered Naruto quickly.

Jô smiled. "Then head to Tokyo. As clan head your decision should be final. Are your wives upset or something?"

"No, but Momiji-chan will want to stay here to protect the Eye of the Dragon and Aoi-chan isn't up to it. Having to kill Obaba all over again really tore her up emotionally. I'm sure Hinata-chan, Kasumi-chan and Ayane-chan are all good to go though."

"Well then, it sounds like leaving Momiji and Aoi here to help and taking your other wives with you will show your support in both areas." said Jô.

Naruto nodded. Everything made sense now. "Thank you Jô-sama. I'm once again in your debt for your advice."

Jô shook his head. "You're still awfully young to be a clan head Naruto. I will always be available to give you advice should you need it. As for debts; the Hayabusa Village owes you more than we can ever repay." He slapped Naruto on the back and said, "You'd best get going; I think you have a trip to plan."

Tokyo, Asuka's Penthouse

Asuka had carefully been setting up her chessboard for the Uzumaki Naruto's arrival. Her contacts inside the Police Department brass informed her that Commissioner Kobayashi had made the call to send for the Uzumaki Clan so it was just a matter of waiting now. She'd also manipulated the Karasu Ninja Clan to step up their activities through her criminal contacts. They'd been disobedient and would know their place. (And if they got completely wiped out it would serve as a good lesson to others). Asuka also had many low and mid level fiends at her disposal thanks to Elisebet's foolishly trusting Lady Ishtaros to actually help her. They were all fodder in any case. The information that Eclissia coughed up on Sage Naruto after Lady Ishtaros had a talk with her was quite enlightening as well. It seemed Uzumaki Naruto was even more formidable than the fiend captain of Tokyo had imagined.

Still, Asuka was torn. Naruto's face was the same as the one she'd seen in her visions when she was human so very; very long ago. She'd actually married the man she loved because of the shocking resemblance between him and her visions. It shook her to her core. Deciding to end the foolishness once and for all Asuka decided to go to a hidden vault that contained the one thing that remained from her human past. It was a charm that was said to have been passed down from Mother to daughter and daughter again since time immemorial by her clan.

Legend had it that the charm was supposed to have existed even before the time of the fiends and Dark Dragon. She had been the last to inherit it before her family was wiped out and she was bought back to life as a fiend. At the time Asuka considered destroying the holy object to show her contempt towards humanity but she couldn't bring herself to do it….Having set up her pawns and double checking that they were all in place Asuka made the decision to go see the charm for the first time in nearly five hundred years….perhaps it would put her troubled mind at rest….The last time she even looked at the locked chest it was in was right after World War Two ended some seventy years ago. It was a strange object though; other fiends were injured or even ignited by it because it was a holy object but it didn't hurt Asuka at all….

Uzumaki Compound, Hayabusa Village

Naruto was once again tinkering with the temporary chakra seals on each of his wives. The performance was improving and he'd balanced Momiji and Aoi's after a great deal of work. They'd discussed things over lunch and they all agreed that Kasumi and Ayane's seals were combat ready and they should go on the mission to Tokyo. Naruto sent a return message to Detective Arii saying the Uzumaki Clan agreed to take the case and they would need a safe house for four members of the clan (contract pending). Momiji and Aoi were actually happy to stay at home (for different reasons) but didn't want to be away from Naruto-kun.

For their part; Naruto and the three other girls were chomping at the bit to see some action after days of sitting idle. Once they a received confirmation message from Tokyo they'd be off. Naruto, Hinata, Kasumi and Ayane checked their gear, weapons and supplies that evening to make sure they were armed for total war. Naruto knew from experience that underestimating your opponents could be a fatal error. Many of his own foes learned that the hard way.

For their part, Ayame and Kasumi were excited to be able to fully use scrolls like Naruto and Hinata and packed for a month's trip worth of food, supplies and weaponry. Hinata did the same although to her it was much more mundane. She'd been using scrolls for years after all….she was happy that Kasumi and Ayane Mastered the tree walking exercise though. That would permit all kinds of tactical advantages for them. They still needed to adjust to fighting on vertical surfaces or upside down but that would come with time. Hinata would move them to water walking when they got back from their mission.

The next morning the Uzumakis received a confirmation message of the mission and the instructions on where to meet Detective Arii. Their new safe house was once again in the Shinjuku Ward although it was in a different location from the last. They were also looking over the data they had on the bank accounts of the fiend Asuka that served Ishtaros in case they needed to link things to the case they were on. The mission details were scant (Detective Arii was going to inform them in person) but the gist of it was to hunt down and eliminate the Karasu Clan's operations in Tokyo. Looking over the computer tablet (Naruto was still learning how to use it) it looked like this Karusu Clan was a ninja clan that mainly contracted from the Yakuza and other criminal groups. They'd been around for decades according to what little captured information the Tokyo Police Department had….On the positive side they weren't known for human sacrifices.

Armed with knowledge, Naruto, Hinata, Kasumi and Ayane set out in their combat gear in the afternoon with the intention of making it to Tokyo by nightfall.

Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward

The twenty six year old Detective Arii Maya was sitting in the back of an unmarked car with two of her younger male subordinates that were acting as her 'bodyguards' in the front seat. They'd never even seen a real ninja before and were quite full of themselves. She'd wanted to come by herself or with Inspector Otaki but Otaki's twentieth wedding anniversary was today so she could hardly begrudge him for taking the day off. At any rate, her two 'guards' thought they were her knights in shining armor and she couldn't seem to dissuade them that she wasn't their princess that needed to be rescued. 'Men.' she thought. She stewed for awhile until nine o'clock rolled around when Naruto just appeared in full combat gear and knocked at her window. It scared the hell out of both her and her two guards but the detective managed to keep her composure and rolled down the window. Naruto said in an amused tone, "Good evening Detective, did I wake you up?"

Maya attempted a withering glare at Naruto for scaring her to death but it obviously had no effect on Naruto judging by the mirth in his blue eyes. Her two guards were still trying to draw their pistols but Maya turned to them and said, "No guns! This man is our ally." She turned back to Naruto and said. "Hello Uzumaki. Sorry, I've been assigned bodyguards. They are a bit nervous. Did you just get here?"

"No, the others and I have been monitoring you for the past forty five minutes." answered the ninja.

"Why didn't you come out sooner then?" asked one of her guards incredulously.

Naruto shook his head. "A ninja should never be too early or too late. They should always appear right on time. Besides, you looked like you were having lots of fun with that dating sim that you were playing on your phone out of Detective Arii's line of sight."

The guard blushed bright red at being caught and then cringed at Maya's glare that he was slacking off instead of being alert and guarding her. Even his slicked back hair seemed to be standing on end in fear. With a glower that made him whither in fright Maya said, "We'll be talking about this later officer Kimura."

"Y-yes Ma'am!" squeaked Kimura.

Maya shook her head. "It's good to see you again Naruto. Here are the keys to your safe house, it's a street over at-"

"It's over on the south side under the mini mart on the corner of fifth street, yes?" asked Naruto. At the detective's dumbfounded nod he said. "We already picked the lock and let ourselves in." seeing the bug eyed look of Maya and her two guards he said, "Never underestimate a ninja. Just meet us over there and we'll discuss the contract." He then vanished in a body flicker.

Maya rolled up her window and turned back to her guards in the front seat. Sparing Kimura a sharp glance, she turned to her taller driver that had a flat top haircut. "Drive us over to the corner store on fifth officer Yamada, and be quick about it." Nodding quickly Yamada looked over at the embarrassed Kimura for a second before shifting the sedan into 'drive' and heading over at street to the corner store.

Ten minutes later the unmarked sedan pulled smoothly into the parking lot behind the mini mart and Maya led her to guards over to the hidden entrance. Using two keys simultaneously the door opened silently and they entered only seeing a single light dimly coming from the kitchen area. The door closed with a 'click' behind them to their surprise and they quickly turned around to see Kasumi standing behind them in the darkness. Kasumi said, "Good evening Detective Arii. Please have your two guards hand over their firearms as they look easily frightened and might hurt themselves."

Maya shrugged. "Nice to see you too Kasumi; give me your guns boys." They hesitated but the Detective said, "Yamada; Kimura, that was an order, not a request." The two men reluctantly relinquished their weapons to Maya who handed them over to Kasumi. Seeing Kasumi still standing there expectantly Maya asked, "Something else, Kasumi?"

"The taller one with the flat top has a one shot pistol in a holster on his ankle. That also is a firearm." said Kasumi. At Maya's nod Yamada handed it to Kasumi as well. Kasumi then walked past them and said, "Follow me."

Maya watched as Kasumi led them on and said, "Do you want my pistol, Kasumi?"

Kasumi shook her head, "We trust you won't use that 9 millimeter because you know the possible consequences could be fatal Detective Arii. Incidentally, isn't a Berretta M9 a little non standard for a Japanese Police Officer?"

"I like my Berretta." said Maya defensively. "You have Hinata with you, don't you?"

Kasumi chuckled and smiled under her mask. "Yes, you should have figured that out when we saw your officer Kimura playing a game on his phone. Are you slipping Detective Arii?"

"No, I'm just having a rough evening." griped Maya while thinking. 'Damn ninjas and their abilities to do the impossible.'

Maya's two guards were completely stunned for different reasons. Yamada was shocked they'd found his concealed weapon and couldn't figure out how they'd done it. Kimura had a totally different train of thought as he watched Kasumi's voluptuous body gently sway as she walked. 'She's….she's better than anime girls! No, not yet. I have to see her face.' He was a dedicated otaku through and through. Kimura wouldn't be so easily swayed to give up on his beloved 2-D girls that easily.

Kasumi led them into the kitchen where Naruto, Hinata and Ayane were. Motioning the detective in; Kasumi put the three guns by Naruto on the table and stood out of the way opposite of Ayane in the doorway behind their guests. Kimura took a good long look at each of the three kunoichis and was basically drooling. 'If only I could see their faces!' he thought sweating. He noticed Hinata's eyes looked like pearls but rather than thinking she was blind he was trying to think of which anime character he'd seen eyes like that on. Poor Kimura was painfully erect looking at Naruto's wives. He wondered if he should switch to 3-D girls after all.

Maya sat down in the proffered chair across from Naruto and saw Hinata was at his shoulder. Maya didn't know their relationship but it was clear to her that Naruto trusted Hinata implicitly when it came to making decisions. Naruto said. "You might want to tell your man Kimura to put his tongue back is his mouth before he irritates one or all of my kunoichis." as he motioned over to Ayane whose red eyes seemed to be burning holes in Kimura.

The detective sighed and smacked Kimura to get his attention. "Eye's forward officer Kimura!" She nodded to Ayane and Hinata. "It nice to see all of you again. Please forgive officer Kimura's actions. He's very new to this kind of work." 'On the positive side they are all wearing their face masks. If they weren't he'd probably do something stupid and wind up dead. Yamada's been eyeing the kunoichis too but at least he hasn't been openly salivating like a dog over fresh meat.' "Well, shall we get down to business Uzumaki?" asked Detective Arii as she put her briefcase on the table.

Naruto and Hinata were soon going through the rather grisly photos and crime reports and were quietly separating them into various piles. After a while Naruto motioned Kasumi and Ayane to join them in sifting through the reports. Yamada whispered to Arii, "Why are we trusting them with such classified information Ma'am? This could be dangerous."

Maya knew all the Uzumakis had easily heard his whisper but replied quietly, "The Uzumaki Clan has my complete trust and that of Commissioner Kobayashi. If it's good enough for him then it's good enough for you. They can connect the dots in ninja activities in ways we can't because they are ninjas."

After about a half an hour there were four piles of reports. One was the Sky City incident and the other three were divided into three two equal piles and a much smaller one. Hinata handed the Sky City incident to Maya. "This was a fiend related incident that involved the Black Spider Clan. The party that did this is not a concern to the Tokyo Police Department as they are known to us. Everyone killed there was a Black Spider Ninja who are known for international criminal activities anyway Detective Arii." She said with a tone of finality. Hinata's eyes said 'Don't ask.' and Maya quietly nodded.

Hinata held up the second group of papers. "These actions all seem to be criminal activities from one group. According to what you've sent us we will go with the supposition this is the Karasu Clan's activities. The third group of actions was committed by the same group but is very blatant. It is obvious they were announcing who they were and challenging others to come face them. It smells like a trap to me."

"And the smaller fourth pile of papers?" asked Maya.

"They were done by imitators." said Ayane. She pointed out several details in the photos. "Whoever did these three crimes obviously knew how the Karasu Clan worked well enough to frame them but the methods used were amateur at best. I would suspect members of a Yakuza group that watched them work or someone who was involved in the crime investigations is behind it. There's no way the Karasu Clan would be this sloppy judging by the other reports. The methods are simply too crude."

"So the Sky City Case is unrelated and these three cases you had in the fourth pile are copycat crimes." said Maya. "What about these fiends? I've heard of them but I know little about them."

Naruto sighed. "They've recently been very active causing chaos around the world. You know that bizarre set of events in New York in the United States a week ago? That was a direct result of fiend activity."

"That was claimed to be a mass hallucination!" exclaimed Kimura in disbelief.

"Believe whatever you like." said Naruto dismissively. "Fiends are real and exist in human society. I believe that many legends of magical creatures such as vampires and werewolves can be attributed to fiend activity over the centuries. Whatever the case; our focus is on the Karasu clan. Do you have any further background on the Maya? We need to know everything we can if you want them terminated."

"T-terminated?" asked Kimura. "I thought we wanted to arrest and jail these criminals."

Maya put her hand on her forehead to ward of a headache. "Kimura, do you remember the horrors of the Yoru Clan a while back?"

Kimura nodded rapidly, "Of course I do Ma'am. How could I forget? In the end none were taken alive because the special government agents sent in couldn't reason with them to surrender."

The detective explained, "Those special government agents were members of the Uzumaki Clan and the Yoru Clan were determined to be too dangerous to be allowed to live in our civilized society. The powers that be determined that eliminating them was the solution to our problem. The Yoru weren't given the chance to surrender; they were wiped out to the last man by the Uzumaki Clan at our behest."

Yamada and Kimura both gasped. "Then…."

Kasumi's eyes flashed dangerously. "Yes, we are assassins just as the ninjas before us have been since ancient times. We do not take arrest people or even prisoners unless it benefits us in some way and the reason we were called in is this Karasu Clan has gotten too out of hand and too powerful for the Tokyo Police to deal with them. Our job is to do what you can't within the law; terminate them."

There was a pregnant pause as the two younger officers looked at the four Uzumaki ninjas that looked incredibly dangerous yet totally relaxed at the same time. Maya said, "Now do you two understand why I didn't want 'bodyguards' gentleman? This is classified information and your heads will literally roll if it leaks out. You must realize the reason we hire ninjas is because there are criminal groups that we cannot deal with by following the rules. They can because they operate outside the rules."

"Damn; I had no idea." said Yamada.

Kimura said, "Then you Uzumakis are the real deal? You are real, genuine ninjas like in the legends?" At their nods he had stars in his eyes. "Can I have your autographs?"

The Uzumakis all sweat dropped. 'Great; just what we need - a ninja fan boy.' was their collective thoughts.

Arii Maya cringed, this was not the impression she wanted to give Naruto. "I have an external hard drive with all the data we've collected on the Karasu clan including the reports that you read already. I can leave it in your hands to examine on a laptop if you have one. I'll return tomorrow to discuss a contract with you along with Otaki. Is that agreeable?"

"We'll review the information and be ready tomorrow then." said Naruto.

"I'll show you to the door." said Ayane. She smoothly returned their weapons to them as they left.

"Alright, until tomorrow then." said Maya with a tight smile. After they got back in the car Maya reinforced her earlier speech. "Not one word will ever be spoken about this operation. You two are sworn to secrecy. If anything leaks the Commissioner himself will have your heads. Remember how you were all sworn to silence when you joined the Special Investigations Division under my command? This is why. We see things and are involved in things other divisions can't imagine. When I saw what happened to the Yoru Clan at Spa Laqua I got sick. If you want out or can't stomach it then I expect your resignations on my desk at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and you will be discharged with no questions asked. If not report in for your regular shifts at noon. Do you have any questions for me before we head back to headquarters?"

Both officers answered with a crisp, "No Ma'am!"

"Good. Take us back to headquarters Yamada." said Maya sternly. "I'm rather frustrated right now so keep it quiet."

Yamada nodded and drove them back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters. He was 22 and recently got out of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces. He always considered himself to be a tough and courageous man. Yamada had been fine until he looked into the hard eyes of the Uzumaki clan after the word 'terminate' was brought up. He had seen hardened killers that didn't scare him half as much as these people. '"Is this a true ninja?' he wondered. It frightened him but having seen various crime scenes labeled as 'ninja activity' he knew that such operations were necessary. He decided to see this through and wondered how Detective Arii Maya got this job. It seemed she was far stronger than he ever gave her credit for.

Kimura was torn. His otaku side was fantasizing about those beautiful, tsundere kunoichi that were sure to lighten up once they got to know him. He so wanted to see their faces! If they were half as beautiful as their bodies they'd make him switch to 3-D girls….even if they were so scary he nearly pissed himself. Detective Arii was really angry at him and he was going to have to be extra careful if he wanted to keep his job. Kimura wondered if he should go back to college and major in something other than Criminal Justice….ninjas were scary even if they were totally cool. He just wished he could get some pictures of those incredible babes. Pushing all of that aside he decided to see if there weren't some adult oriented ninja dating sims he could download on the web when he got home tonight….

Arii Maya was furious. What could have been a smooth transaction was a disaster thanks to that idiot Kimura. She had a right mind to strangle him. The moron actually asked for autographs! She would have preferred it to just be her and Naruto (with his mask down) so she could stare into those beautiful blue eyes of his. At any rate, as embarrassed as she was Maya had retained her composure and presented the business deal to the Uzumaki's in a professional manner befitting of her rank….even if she wanted to drag Kimura out in the street and shoot him execution style. The child in her wished Naruto would sweep her off her feet and take her back to his ninja village but the more realistic side of her was beginning to understand why so many officers turned to drinking. After seeing Kimura in action tonight getting totally wasted seemed like a welcome idea….

With the Uzumakis….

"Okay, so our favorite detective was horribly embarrassed and the Yamada guy was terrified of us." Kasumi summed up nicely as she sat down with her sister.

"Don't forget that Kimura guy was eye raping all us kunoichis and maybe Naruto-kun too as well. I couldn't tell on the last part." grumped Ayane.

Kasumi continued to smile so much that her eyes were starting to squint. "I'm in total denial. I have no idea what you're talking about Ayane-chan!"

"Let me be your reality check Kasumi-chan." said Ayane in a scary voice. "That dude looked like he was going to expose himself and start whacking off at us like we were his porn star fantasy mates."

The elder sister's face fell and she said in a hollow tone. "I really didn't need that reality check of yours Ayane-chan. Naruto-kun is going to be busy with Hinata-chan going over the case details for hours you know. I want my Naruto-kun."

"Let's just get him to make some clones for us then!" said Ayane brightly.

Kasumi nodded, "Now there's an idea I can get behind!" Soon the sounds of Ayane and Kasumi with their respective clones echoed back into the kitchenette where Naruto and Hinata were trying to work. Seeing the lust in each other's eyes the young couple went back to the room that was designated as Hinata's. Very little sleep occurred in the safe house that night and the perverted Kimura was the last thing on the three kunoichi's minds….they could always figure out the case tomorrow….

Tokyo, Underground Vaults

Asuka made it down to the catacomb like vaults deep under Tokyo. They'd been built as bomb shelters in World War Two but were long abandoned and forgotten. She remembered the fleets of American aircraft firebombing of Tokyo that razed most of it to the ground in 1945. At any rate she eventually found the vault she'd claimed as her own decades ago and opened the rusty door that made a god awful squeaking noise that hurt her sensitive ears. She found the place was still in good order inside as she'd left it in. Going over to a locked chest from the warring states era she pulled it out and opened it with her key she wore as a necklace. Opening it with a soft click she saw a much smaller locked case within that contained the protective charm her Mother left her.

Asuka gingerly opened the case and it glowed softly. The charm was a simple bell from ancient times. She would meditate on it and see visions of her past ancestors and hopefully it would give her the answers she wanted to know about Uzumaki Naruto. Closing the case again she slipped it inside her jacket and locked everything back up behind her. Seeing everything was sealed again Asuka began the long trek back to the surface and hopefully some answers….

Karasu hidden Headquarters

The head of the Karasu Clan was Karasu Ichiro and he was frustrated. He was a middle aged man that had led his clan successfully for the last twenty years. His people had been stirring up trouble for over a week now and there were no signs of the enigmatic Uzumaki Clan. He'd been hesitant to take on the Uzumaki Clan knowing what happened to the Yoru Clan but the amount of money offered to him was obscene and passing it up was something only a fool would do. He'd also been told that fiends would be helping him. He didn't know how that came to pass but he met the leader of the fiends that would be assisting him. The man(?) was well polished and finely dressed. His name was Akiyama. Together they discussed what little information was available on the Uzumaki's and how many losses the expected to incur.

The general idea was the Karasu ninjas would draw the Uzumaki's individually out into an ambush where they would be overwhelmed by the fiends. Ichchiro also learned this was part of a much greater scheme set up by the Greater Fiend Elizebet. Akiyama revealed the local fiends were acting in concert with Lady Elizebet's vision but ultimately were on their own. The army led by Akiyama was sworn to Elizebet rather than the locals they were cooperating with. The Karasu Clan head had kept in close contact with Akiyama to coordinate with the fiend but he didn't trust Akiyama in the least. He just hoped that the fiends would give them enough leverage to wipe out the Uzumakis. Seeing the Yoru clan slaughtered to the last man chilled Ichiro to the bone. The Yoru Clan were truly monsters but it seemed that the Uzumakis were even worse….

Uzumaki Safe House Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo

Naruto and his himes got up the next day feeling happy and content. After some breakfast the group determined there were around three hundred members of the Karasu Clan interspersed throughout Tokyo. This was going to be a long and tedious job for the four of them. They determined that 10 million yen in advance and seventy million yen once the job was completed would be enough for this contract. They knew the Karasu Clan certainly ha quantity but they didn't know about quality. They would find out soon enough.

That evening….

Detective Arii Maya returned to the Uzumaki safe house with Inspector Otaki Seburo in tow. He was in a good mood and had a very happy anniversary with his wife and family. They left Yamada and Kimura in the car and went down to negotiate a contract with the Uzumakis. Otaki quietly entered with Maya right behind him. Looking around they saw no signs of life but the kitchen light was still on. Looking behind and in front of them they saw no one so they carefully walked into the kitchen and found Naruto sitting there working on the laptop. Naruto said, "Go evening Inspector; Detective. Glad you made it."

Otaki said, "Isn't it a little dangerous to leave your front door unguarded Uzumaki?" with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Try looking up. You are completely surrounded." said Naruto without removing his eyes from the screen.

Otaki and Maya looked straight up and saw Hinata above them on the ceiling. They also saw Ayane had appeared from nowhere behind them and Kasumi appeared down the hallway. Naruto was right; they were surrounded on all sides. Otaki looked a little pale seeing he was taken fully off guard by Naruto and his clan once again. "I guess I stand corrected Uzumaki."

"It's no matter." said Naruto. "Please come in and have a seat."

Maya and Otaki walked into the kitchen and the kunoichis came in after them. "I'm glad to see that Officer named Kimura isn't with you Maya. He was a bit disturbing." said Kasumi.

The Detective growled. "Yes, I had a few words with him about his behavior. He wasn't acting professional at all and I apologize."

"Well, as long as that's all sorted." said Hinata. "I presume you have a contract Inspector Otaki?"

"Yes I do but I haven't filled out the amounts yet or signed it yet." answered Otaki. "I wanted to have you read it over before we got to that point. I also wanted to ask you about these fiends as there have been several spottings of them lately."

"Fiend spottings? That's highly unusual. They usually stay hidden or hide in plain sight if they can assume a human form." said Kasumi with concern in her voice.

"Have they killed anyone?" asked Naruto.

"No, but it's obvious they want to make their presence known." answered Maya.

"This changes things considerably." said Hinata. "Fiends are far more deadly than ninjas. Do you think the fiends and the Karasu Clan are connected Naruto-kun?"

"You've dealt with fiends before then?" asked Maya.

Ayane answered, "They recently made and assault on our home village along with elements of the Black Spider Clan. I don't know about the Karasu Clan but the fiends need to be exterminated. Do you think they are all serving the Greater Fiend Ishtaros?" she asked the others.

"It is well within the realm of possibility." said Kasumi. "This seems too coincidental to me."

"I agree." said Naruto. "It looks like fiend hunting just got added to our mission." he added with sigh.

"Wait a minute; just how much is this going to cost?" asked Otaki. "We have a budget you know."

"10 million yen in advance and 70 million yen once the job is done to wipe out the Karasu Clan." said Hinata

Otaki winced. 'At least it's in budget.' he thought. "What about the fiend issue?"

"It's our duty to take care of them regardless." said Naruto. "We would like Police support in addition to use of various safe houses though. This is going to take awhile."

Maya let out a sigh. "Unless Inspector Otaki has reservations I'm sure that will be no problem."

Otaki nodded. "It's no problem at all. Do you want it added into the contract?"

"No, it is a separate issue we will deal with though I have a feeling they are linked." said Naruto. "Just add the Police will support us until the fiend issue is resolved."

"Done. I'll type it up right now." replied Inspector Otaki. Soon, everyone reviewed the contract and Inspector Otaki and Naruto affixed their signatures.

"When do you start Naruto?" asked Maya.

Naruto answered in a dark tone. "We start tonight. Once we find them this is going to be a bloodbath…."

POSTCRIPT:

Not any action this chapter but a lot of setup now that we are fully in the Ninja Gaiden II Arc. Now the Uzumaki Clan is hunting both the fiends and the Karasu Clan. The fiend Asuka has carefully laid a trap for them but she has doubts. What about this mysterious charm left by her ancestors? Most importantly, will Officer Kimura give up on his 2-D lovelies and switch to real women or will he remain faithful to his otaku roots? The next chapter is tentatively named Cloak and dagger. See you next time. Blue out. 4/16/15