AN: SO here we are with the next chapter. Sorry for a bit of a wait, I wanted to finish my Road To Hell chapter before I continued this story. Which by the way I have done, and it is now with my Beta.

SO other than that I just want to thank everyone for all of the support I really appreciate it and hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint.

As always if you have any questions or suggestions please PM me or leave a Review and I will try to get back to you. Though it is more likely in regards to PMs for me to answer immediately.

So onto the story, I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. As always this is my own version of Panory Bro's story, Dawn's Sage.

( - )

(Last Time)

"This kid's Doujutsu." Naruto said with a frown as he looked up at Kin, noting the curiousity on her face as she looked at the kids red eyes. "It was some kind of variant of a Sharingan or a Byakugan I am not sure. Either way it allowed him to see through this bag in all directions and help Raiga in tracking my movements and predicting my attacks. It also apparently could cast genjutsu, though I didn't see him dong it"

"Poor kid." Kin said as she looked down at the boy a bit of pity in her eyes. "Do you reckon Raiga forced him to help him?"

Naruto shrugged at that. "Can't say for sure but the kid seemed more than happy to help Raiga, or at least that was what I heard."

Kin sighed at that before nodding. It was a shame someone so young had to die, but if he had been willingly helping a monster like Raiga, someone who buried people alive and took pleasure from it. Then maybe it was better of that they were dead.

"What do we do now?" Kin asked as she once again looked around the area, before looking back at Naruto.

Naruto hummed at that, a thoughtful expression crossing his face, before he swung his blade up and down, decapitating Raiga's dead body. With that done he then pulled a scroll from out of his coat pocket, unrolling it as he did so before he first sealed up Raiga's decapitated head for the bounty. Then he walked over and grabbed the Kiba Blades, seal them inside the scroll too. With that done Naruto rolled the scroll back up and then shoved it into his pocket.

With that done Naruto then turned to Kin, a curious expression on his face. "Hey Kin, how good are you Medical Ninjutsu skills?"

Kin frowned at this question, not sure where it was coming from, but answering it anyway. "They're decent enough… why?"

Naruto paused for a second, looking down at the corpses of Raiga and the Ranmaru for a second before looking up at Kin a determined expression on his face. "Because I am going to implant those Doujutsu, and I want you to help."

( - )

Chapter 4

( - )

(With Kin)

Kin rolled her shoulder irritably a scowl on her face as she looked around the heavily wooded forest she was currently in. It had been a month and a half since she and Naruto had taken down Raiga Kurosaki and cashed in his head. In the end it had turned out the money they had gained from claiming his bounty was very useful. After all Naruto had gotten it into his head that it would be a good idea to implant some random Doujutsu into his head. Putting the pressure on Kin as he did so, as he had also asked her to do the implanting, something she had no prior experience with.

Of course this hadn't bothered Naruto which meant that the moment they had cashed in Raiga's bounty they had gone back to Clover Town and used some of the money to rent out a room in the Lusty Leopard. Once there Naruto had insisted that they do the implantation, after all he didn't have a sealing scroll that could preserve human remains for long, maybe a week at most and even then there would be some deterioration.

Well either way they had gone ahead with the implantation, Naruto lying on the bed gritting his teeth as he stoically bore her removing first his right eye, a surprisingly clean thing if done properly. Not that it was any less unpleasant for Kin, but she bore it. After removing his right eye she had then implanted the boy, Ranmaru's eye, the smaller orb easily fitting within Naruto's empty socket.

Surprisingly Kin had needed to do very little healing after that, as Naruto it appeared had some kind of healing factor. Whether that was to do with his Sage Mode or something else Kin wasn't sure, all she knew was that the moment she inserted Ranmaru's Doujutsu in Naruto, his body had begun to start healing, immediately assimilating the eye into Naruto's body. In fact Kin had needed to do very little after that, which was probably good as she only knew how to do blunt force healing and not the more complicated things. She was only adept at Medical Ninjutsu at best after all.

After she had done the first eye the second one had been just as easy, though still a less than pleasant task. No, the implantation of the Doujutsu had not been that bad, it had been quick and relatively painless. It was the part after that had been a pain, when Naruto had sat up after his healing had finished he had become very very disorientated. At first he had struggled to control the eyes as he now found that he could see through walls and could in fact see chakra, an effect that was only made worse by the fact he could also sensor chakra due to his Sage Mode as now his senses were being totally overloaded.

In the end it had taken Naruto close to three weeks to get a handle on the eyes, even if it was just the basics like activating them and deactivating them. As well as handling their latent abilities like the ability to predict movements and ability to see through practically anything, he hadn't even tried to cast genjutsu with then yet. This in itself wasn't bad, as it made Naruto only more deadly than he already was. Which was both frightening and brilliant. Though she would be interested to see how he would develop once he learned how to cast eye based genjutsu.

But it did mean that Naruto hadn't been able to work for three weeks, which meant they had had to dip into their savings to pay for the room, and the food and drink. Which considering just how great Naruto's metabolism was, meant they ended up blowing through a large chunk of their savings. Living after all was by no means cheap, especially when you were having to rent out a room and eat out most nights.

Still they had eventually gotten back to work, the two of them pretty much working nonstop. Naruto wanting to master his new eyes as fast as he could, so that he could begin to hunt down larger prey. Which basically meant that he was feeling antsy and wanted to try his hand against stronger Shinobi, i.e. High A-class and S-class Shinobi.

It was because of this that Kin currently found herself crouched on the branch of a tree, her muscles feeling sore after having spent the last two weeks constantly taking on missions. All of which were part of a military campaign that they had been hired to assist with.

Naruto through his mercenary contacts at the Lusty Leopard had gotten them what at first had seemed like a pretty sweet gig. They had been hired alongside another few dozen mercenaries, bounty hunters, exiled Samurai etc. by the Daimyo of the Land of Woods to help him 'liberate' the Land of Woods from some kind of enemy Shinobi incursion. As apparently a group of mysterious Shinobi had been causing a ruckus and he had somehow found out and now wanted them gone.

Suffice to say when Kin had first heard of the mission, she had been excited. After all this might have given her some leads as to who had been the 'Master' of the Shinobi who had murdered her family and kidnapped her. So far though she had had no luck. The few enemy Shinobi she had managed to ensnare with her genjutsu had died before they talked. They had some kind of seal on their tongue that stopped them from giving away information, it was something that neither Kin nor Naruto knew what to do about. It had been frustrating for Kin, which had only made the weeks on nonstop fighting and missions even more annoying.

Mostly what she and Naruto did was protect the Daimyo's soldiers from the skilled Shinobi, who a Missing-nin who had worked with them had called 'Roots'. Apparently some former Konoha Black Ops group who were supposed to have been disbanded decades ago, but obviously hadn't.

Either way whilst Naruto, Kin and the others protected the main army, the Daimyo's elite group of chakra trained Samurai and normal soldiers methodically destroyed the Root bases with massive amounts of explosive notes. Naruto, Kin and the others taking on the Root Shinobi, whilst the rest of the army fought the bandits that the Root ANBU had stirred up and equipped.

Kin had to admit that the Root ANBU she had fought were skilled, more than once she had been put on the back foot. Having to struggle as she found herself fighting against multiple, quickly moving silent opponents. In the end though she always triumphed, her well-honed genjutsu skill allowing her to disorientate them long enough for her to strike them down with her tanto. Others amongst them though had not been so lucky, of the thirty odd mercenaries the Daimyo had hired at least twenty of them were dead now and another couple had left claiming the mission was too dangerous or not worth the money that was being offered.

Of course whilst Kin and the others struggled, Naruto did not seem to have the same problem. Bulldozing through any Root Shinobi stupid to get in his way. None of their attacks being able to keep up with his speed, durability and his new ability to predict attacks. His constant use of the eyes, which his unique healing factor had seemed to seamlessly assimilate had gotten so fluid he had become an almost unstoppable juggernaut.

Kin was soon broken out of her memories by the call of one of the Samurai that served in the Land of Forest's army. His sudden shout almost catching Kin by surprise as she had been stoically gazing out at the surrounding forest acting as one sentinels. A job Naruto had volunteered her for, claiming it would help fine tune her sensory skills. Of course what he had meant actually was that he didn't want to sit on a branch all day, and so had instead volunteered her to do so he wouldn't have to. Suffice to say she would get him back for this.

"Hey, Kin! Zaji wants to see you in the command tent, Naruto is already there." Suzaku shouted up to her, the brown haired Samurai not knowing the meaning of subtlety as he stood below the tree wearing his bulky green Samurai armour. Smiling up at her as he casually gave away her well-hidden position.

Rolling her eyes in irritation, Kin repressed the urge to snap at him. Knowing as she did that he didn't know any better and her taking out her irritation at her weariness on him wasn't fair. No that was what Naruto was there for. Though knowing the Sage he likely wouldn't notice or care, which took away most of the satisfaction, not all of it though.

"Thanks Suzaku, I'll go find Naruto and see what he wants." Kin replied as she rolled her shoulder again before she leapt down from her perch in the tree. Falling the fifteen feet to the leafy ground without a sound. After which she proceeded to sweep past Suzaku and into the camp, easily wending her way through the rows of tents and occasional patrols as she headed for the main tent in the centre of the camp where both Naruto and Zaji the commander of the Daimyo's army were waiting.

( - )

(With Naruto)

Grumbling irritably Naruto once again turned to look out of the tent, his amber eyes turning red as he activated his Doujutsu allowing him to see through the thick canvas and through another twenty or so tents. A slight smile passed across his face as he saw Kin approaching, his attractive partner confidently moving through the crowds and tents as she approached the command tent.

The girl was quite comfortably wearing a cuirass and right pauldron she had taken from a dead Samurai, over the top of her mesh undershirt and her black over shirt. Her now knee length silky black hair now plaited and fell down her back. Her tanto was still belted to her waist along with her kunai and senbon pouches. A confident look was also present on her face as she walked through the camp of older and more experience soldiers and Samurai, not at all daunted as she knew herself to be on the level or higher.

Cutting off his chakra to his eyes the glowing red colour faded to his usual amber colour, signifying that he was still using his Sage Mode. It appeared that even though he had replaced his eyes with those of another they were still a glowing amber, unless he activated his Doujutsu at which point they became a glowing red colour. This was no doubt due to the fact that the vulpine features, claws shaggy sliver hair and amber eyes were all features brought about by his constant use of Sage Mode and his connection to the Direwolf Clan through their Summoning Scroll. To the point at which it had permanently begun to mutate his body.

Not that Naruto was complaining, he always thought his amber eyes were badass. Far more striking than the baby blue colour they had been in his youth, before he had begun training to be a Sage. They certainly added to his intimidation factor, something that was useful when it came to corralling prey.

Turning back to Zaji, a very tall, heavy set Samurai in his early thirties, a mass of muscle and power clad in incredibly ornate sliver armour. Not that his size really bothered Naruto, as he instead gave the impatient looking army commander a bored look before saying. "She's just coming."

"Good." Zaji replied impatiently, not bothering to ask how Naruto knew. Naruto was an odd one, not that that bothered Zaji. As long as he could fight and obey orders that was all that mattered, and Naruto could surely fight the man was an absolute monster. Obeying orders though, he was not quite as good at that, still though as long as the Daimyo kept the money coming and Zaji phrased his commands the right way they made do.

Still though the man could be a pain in the arse, he refused to do solo missions and always insisted on bringing his partner Kin along. Not that that bothered Zaji, the girl was formidable in her own right plus she was a lot easier to deal with than the brusque and stubborn Naruto. The fact she was quite the looker was only a bonus, though considering he had seen Naruto rip a Shinobi's spine out with his bare hand he might keep that opinion to himself.

A minute or so later found Kin entering the command tent, sweeping past the two Samurai who guard the tent entrance without stopping. Instead she just walked up to where Naruto, Zaji and a couple of others were waiting around a table covered in maps. Idly sidling in next to Naruto, making sure to jam her elbow into his ribs as she did so. Not that Naruto showed any sign of noticing.

Instead he just gave her a faint smile his sharp canines just poking out from the bottom of his lips. A smile that grew when he saw the sour face Kin gave him, no doubt a bit pissed off that he had volunteered her to sentry duty. To be fair though he had wanted to sleep, whilst she had insisted on training. Kin having wanted to try and practice her genjutsu on someone with Doujutsu, even if the two of them didn't know the full capabilities of the ones Naruto now carried.

Normally Naruto would have humoured her, after all he always did love a good fight even if it was a spar. Unfortunately though he had just come back from a brutal mission and was looking forward to a nap. Hence the fobbing her off and making her sit on a branch staring out at the forest for three hours.

"So what's the new job?" Naruto asked bluntly, cutting straight to the chase now Kin was here. Already impatient to get on with it, he had rested and was now completely reenergized, and now Kin was here there was no more need to wait.

"Yes, one last job," Zaji said sending Naruto a sour look this time, after all it was his insistence on waiting for Kin that delayed them for five minutes. Still though he didn't see the point in getting into an argument over something so trivial. Especially with someone so prickly and stubborn.

"We are currently this close" Zaji continued as he held up two fingers not even an inch apart to signify just how close they were, "To purging those accursed Root Shinobi from the Land of Woods, thanks in no small part to you two. But their last base is heavily defended. Too heavily defended for any of my men, and probably even you two. That's why I've hired some more outside help for this one. He came highly recommended as a demolitions expert from a good friend. He should be joining us shortly."

With that said Zaji strode out of the tent, the others following him as it appeared he was going to meet this new hire.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard how Zaji had hired more help, after all he was pretty confident he and Kin could deal with this last base. Still though as long as the Daimyo kept paying he would deal with it, after all this was just a job to him. He had not special connection to this country or these people, they were just clients and would remain so until the job was done.

A few moments later Naruto suddenly frowned, his eyes flashing red as he channeled chakra to them before turning around, his brow furrowing even further as he sensed something strange approaching. His sensory abilities courtesy of his Sage Mode were pretty considerable, not quite on a par with the Toad Sages from what Akela had told him, but far better than those of a normal sensor Shinobi.

The chakra he was currently sensing was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was clearly human in nature, but was shaped vaguely like a bird. A very large bird. This was an oddity in itself, especially since the chakra felt incredibly unstable.

Narrowing his eyes Naruto glanced up, his Doujutsu focusing on the large than normal mass of chakra approaching, allowing him to see that the new arrival was riding on top of some kind of bird. At first Naruto thought it could be a summon, or some similar creature but as it drew closer he began to doubt that it was a summon.

It didn't feel like a summon though Naruto did begin to think that the unstable chakra he could sense could very well be how this demolitions expert… well, demolished things.

Besides him Zaji and Kin followed Naruto's gaze as he looked up, the two of them only seeing an empty sky. A minute or so passed before a large hawk appeared out of the clouds, the bird continuing to grow as it approached them. The creature a startlingly white colour that stuck out against the backdrop of the light blue sky.

As the bird drew closer revealing its size and colour to the rest of the group, Naruto instead focused on the person who he both sensed and saw was riding atop the bird. It was a man, who looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, not much older than himself.

The teen had very long blonde hair that went halfway down his back, with one long bang covering the left side of his face. He was wearing a red coloured jacket over the top of a mesh shirt, with grey Shinobi pants and simple black sandals. Most notably to Naruto though was the Rock Shinobi forehead protector he was wearing, the symbol for the Rock Village having a line gouged into it, signifying that he was a Missing-nin, a rogue Shinobi.

As his ride descended the teen crossed his arms in front of him, a distinctly confident look on his face as the bird swooped lower to the ground. The look turning smug as he saw how many people in the camp were staring up at him in awe.

Naruto however just looked distinctly unimpressed, Kin who was by his side, shared his opinion. After all the teen might be a Missing-nin but neither of them had ever seen him in any of the Bingo Books, so he must either be very new or just not that important. Either way he had no right to look that confident. Not until he had made his way onto Naruto's list of soon to be prey, which nowadays only consisted of S-class Shinobi. Shinobi who he had not quite worked his way up to hunting yet.

The moment the bird came within hearing distance the teen called out, his voice loud and brash. "I'm here for the job, yeah. Are you Zaji?"

Naruto and Kin shared a look of amusement at that, it seemed the boy was confident, it would be interesting to see if he could prove that his confidence had merit.

"Indeed I am. Are you the Deidara that my friend recommended?" Zaji responded not at all bothered by the youth's brashness, after all he had to deal with cocky mercenaries all the time. The Land of Forest often branching out and hiring them, after all as a small Country their armed forces was only so big.

"Of course I am, yeah. So you decided to buy some of my art to cause some havoc? Smart move yeah." The newly introduced Deidara said as his 'art' continued to descend. Before with a cocky smirk Diedara stepped off of it and onto solid ground so he was now facing Naruto, Kin and Zaji.

"Art?" Kin spoke up a bemused expression on her face as she heard Diedara's manner of speaking.

"That's what my ninjutsu is, a noble and refined art." Deidara replied a large spreading across his face as he focused in on the pretty black haired girl, ignoring the others for now as he saw an opportunity to show off.

Holding his hand out he revealed a small clay spider that lay innocuously on his upturned palm, which oddly enough had a mouth embedded in it, teeth, tongue, and all. Much too all three of their surprise as the saw the mouth on his palm grin at them. "Look. Such refined lines, and a form that pursues two-dimensional deform. This is art! But that's not all there is to my art! My creations flow, yeah! Like this, it's simply molded clay. But my art explodes! And when it explodes it becomes sublime, and for the first time, the essence of my creation appears, yeah! That instant of sublimation is when true art can really exist! True art, is an EXPLOSION, yeah!"

Naruto blinked as he heard that before turning to look at Kin, the girl immediately interpreting his expression to say "I want to punch this little shit in the face." Seeing the look Kin shook her head before sending him a pointed expression of her own that he interpreted to say, "Man up and don't lose your temper with the weirdo."

"Now as much as I love explaining 'art' to the uneducated, we should probably have this schmuck leave so you can tell me what needs an artistic renovation yeah!" Deidara loudly, flamboyantly gesturing to Naruto as the uneducated in the room. Naruto's once amber eyes flashing with annoyance, even as his clawed hands curled into fists.

"The eye candy can stay though." Deidara unwisely tacked on, oblivious to Naruto growing temper.

Kin cocked an eyebrow as she heard that, quite amused to be referred to as eye candy. Though knowing she would be even more amused when Naruto lost his temper. After all whilst on a hunt or on a mission Naruto might be a cold, calm killer, when he wasn't as patient or as calm.

Zaji winced slightly as he heard Deidara's comment, warily eyeing Naruto as he did so. Luckily though the feral man seemed to be keeping his cool.

"Actually, Naruto here will be working with you, as will the girl, Kin. Your job Deidara will to be destroying the physical structure of this base." Zaji said as he gestured for the group to follow him into the tent, before he approached the map and pointed at the location of the Root Shinobi's last base. The others all following him, Kin and Naruto side by side and Deidara strutting forwards in front of them, apparently unconcerned about how he was coming across with his new allies. Instead he merely looked at the location of the base before glancing at a few rough sketches the scouts had managed to make of the parts of it they could see. The teen forgetting about his ego for the moment as he instead focused on the job at hand.

"Whilst you are doing that Naruto and Kin will be in charge of the personnel in the base. Can you three handle it?" Zaji continued looking between Deidara who was still looking at the maps on the table and Naruto who had seemed to have reigned himself in and was simply standing at the edge of the table a bored look on his face. Finally he glanced over at Kin who had also approached the table, where she had begun leafing through what information they had managed to gather on the enemy.

"I can, but I don't know about these punks, so don't come crying to me if they end up as an artistic smear on the ground yeah!" Deidara said offhandedly as he glanced away from the table, all the information now carefully filed away in his memories.

A look of dark amusement crossed over Naruto faces as he looked over at Deidara, his canines protruding from his mouth into an amused smirk. "If this fool can so much as scratch me with his 'art', I'll give him all the money I make for this job."

Deidara's lips quirked in amusement at that, a lazy look on his face as he looked Naruto up and down noting his large muscled form, feral features, sinister glowing amber eyes, claw like nails and the hilt of a sword he could see just poking out over his shoulder. Yes the man looked formidable, but he also looked like a common berserker. Deidara didn't rate Naruto's chances against his 'explosive art'.

Kin seeing the way the two were acting, just rolled her eyes muttering under her breathe "boys…"

"I'll take that as a yes." Zaji said carefully as he looked between the cocky looking Deidara, the exasperated looking Kin and the darkly amused Naruto. "I'll leave you to it. Remember though, if the job isn't finished, you won't get paid."

"Yeah yeah, no problem." Naruto said as he glanced over at Kin, the two sharing a look before he set off heading for the nearby woods, Kin quickly following after him.

Deidara scoffed as he saw the two run into the forest heading for the base. Shaking his head in amusement, before he once again mounted his clay bird and followed after them.

( - )

(Within the Root Base)

Torune would be frustrated, if Lord Danzo's harsh training hadn't removed all emotion from him. He had been sent to this backwoods country to quell a sudden move to oust Danzo's influence in this country. It should have only should have taken around fifty Root ANBU to stop the move by assassinating key figures in the government and military.

The Daimyo's army didn't even have a single Shinobi among them and barely one hundred Samurai. Most of the troops didn't even know how to use their chakra and the ones that did were weak and only used bastardized techniques that had been scavenged from the Shinobi Villages. Against a trained and experienced Shinobi the forces were paltry. After all Lord Danzo had ordered Torune and Fu to personally wipeout any powerful groups that could resist them, when they had first begun to extend the Root Organisation into the Land of Forests.

No, Lord Danzo's elite Root ninja were currently fighting Samurai, mercenaries and commons soldiers and worse still they were losing. While the Land of Forest's forces didn't have a single ninja, ryō was apparently no object to the surprisingly well funded country. So much so that they had hired Missing-nin and the like, to guard both the Daimyo and to assist in the assault n the Root forces.

Torune couldn't even be angry at the Missing-nin that the Land of Woods had hired, both because he literally couldn't and because even Missing-nin had to earn money. This of course did not translate to mercy when in combat. The mission comes first after all. And it was because of those same Missing-nin that Torune and fifty other Root Shinobi had been assigned to join the forces stationed in the Land of Forests on this pathetic little assignment in the middle of nowhere, when he would be of more use serving Lord Danzo back in the Hidden Leaf.

Torune had tried to muster the forces and just end this charade already so he could return to Lord Danzo's side, but they had apparently hired some rather competent Shinobi. So much so that a large chunk of Lord Danzo's forces had been wiped out and the Root's grip on the country was almost lost.

Still all was not lost yet, all it would take would be to kill the Missing-nin and then the rest would fall. To do that though he would have to contact Lord Danzo and request reinforcements. Something his master would not appreciate as he had already sent more Shinobi here than he had wanted too.

Torune was just thinking over how he could use the forces he still had to lure them out and into an ambush when the ceiling suddenly shook dust falling from the ceiling and cracks beginning to appear overhead.

Realizing that this either meant an enemy attack or an earthquake, Torune was forced to make a quick decision. If it was an enemy attack, they would want to stick to the base, but remaining underground during an earthquake would kill them all as surely as an army of enemy Shinobi.

Deciding that the rebels couldn't have the kind of firepower required to make him feel the shock several dozen feet below the earth, Torune quickly order his fellow Root members out of the subterranean base. As Torune arrived at the entrance to the Root's last base in the country, he noticed that the others had yet to exit the doors.

"What seems to be the issue?" Torune asked his voice coming out cold and monotone as he tried to determine what the issue was.

"Sir, one of the sensors detected several large chakra sources outside. We determined that they are the source of the tremors. Awaiting further orders." One of the more experienced Root members informed him, his tone of voice almost indistinguishable from Torune's a she turned to look emotionlessly at his captain.

Just as Torune was about to order the squads back to defensive positions to repel the enemies, the doors crashed inwards and crushed a couple of the less alert Root members. This left Torune down to only himself and ten other Root.

That being said Torune couldn't fully blame the two dead Root members for being crushed by the large metal doors. The doors had after all been reinforced by a Dual Iron Bar Seal, anyone capable of destroying them, even with repeated barrage was a not force to trifled with. The power and strength it would take to so easily brake through meant they were facing a potential S-class Shinobi.

Before the dust could clear, a black blur exploded forwards a set of glowing red eyes clearly visible through the cloud of dust. What followed next was a sudden swish of metal followed by a gurgle and a sudden thud. A spatter of blood hitting the Root ANBU as one of their number was instantly decapitated.

'Make that nine Root ANBU left.' Torune thought as despondently as someone without emotions can.

The other Root ANBU reacted instantly, three of them weaving through hand seals before bringing their hands to their mouth and sending forward a wave of fire at the entrance. The others all moving back and preparing for battle, taking note of the narrow corridor they were currently in.

Not that this did them any good as a figure suddenly barreled through the intense flames, seemingly not affect by them as he instead collided with the three Shinobi. A clawed hand tore the throat out of the first Shinobi, a blur of black metal cleaved another in two and the third Shinobi received a clawed foot in the middle of the chest. Shattering his ribs and pulverizing his organs. In a matter of moments all three of them were dead.

Torune seeing this calmly raised his fist before commanding his men to retreat back into the base, this was a powerful opponent. The Root Shinobi did not excel at facing powerful opponents straight on. They were trained to be true Shinobi after all, they were suited to fighting in the shadows using speed, skill and subtlety. The dark corridors deeper within the base would be much better terrain for them to face down and kill this new foe.

Torune himself also retreated deeper into the base, despite the fact that he knew that no matter how strong the individual was, one touch would be enough to end him. With that in mind Torune shed his gloves and shirt, his skin taking on a vibrant shade of purple, not exactly as stealthy as one would like for a profession based on sneaking around, but its effectiveness more than made up for it. One touch of the venomous insects crawling over his skin would put down any enemy. Of course its lack of subtlety didn't matter since if Torune had taken off his shirt and gloves, he wasn't trying to be stealthy. After all someone would need to bait the enemy deeper into the base and get them in a position that would allow his other troops to act. The time had come to die for the mission if needed.

Turning to retreat into the base, Torune and the six remaining Root ANBU didn't get far as a sudden low whistling sound could be heard. The sound invading their inner ear and manipulating their senses. Before they knew it the group found themselves instead of retreating deeper into the base, instead running back at the entrance.

"Wow, only thirteen enemy Shinobi! When Zaji said that this base was well defended, I thought he was serious." Their mystery attacker said as he stepped out of the settling dust cloud, a smaller figure visible jus the side of him, before with a blur it disappeared. "It's a shame I was looking forward to having a bit of fun." The man continued a vicious grin on his face, as Torune felt something rising up within him, that he had never thought he would feel again, fear.

Torune pushed that aside for now, instead pulsing his chakra and dispelling the genjutsu that had gotten them turned around. It was too late to retreat, as in the time it had taken for Torune to assess the situation and break the genjutsu their opponent had already moved. His body a blur as he shot forward, the ground cratering slightly under his feet as he appeared in the midst of the group. His glowing red eyes standing out in the darkness.

Reacting immediately two of the Root ANBU drew swords and slashed at him, one from either side. It was useless though as the silver haired warrior avoid both blades with supernatural ease, weaving between their rapid thrusts and lunges. As he was doing this one hand thrust out and closed around one of the Root Shinobi's heads, clamping shut like a voice and crushing his skull, a dull crack sounding as bone and mask alike broke. Whilst he was doing this, the blade in his other hand batted away his other opponents strike and continued on through his throat, killing him in an instant.

Grimacing Torune darted forward towards his opponent, his four remaining subordinates at his side. That is of course until a high pitched whistle sounded, upon hearing it Torune immediately fluctuated his chakra leaping to the sealing and attaching to it as he covered his ears with his hands.

The other Root Shinobi were not so quick on the uptake, all four Shinobi found their muscles seizing up freezing their movements for a moment, making them stumble forwards. Before any of them could recover, a smaller figure detached themselves from the side of the darkened corridor. A lithe girl, with long black hair and a slight smile on her face as she darted forwards, a tanto in her hand as she hamstrung three of the Shinobi before they even had a chance to recover.

Her body low to the floor as she swept around, her tanto flashing again as it slit one of the Shinobi's throats and dug into the side of another's forehead. The girl pulling the blade out as she rolled to the floor avoiding a barrage of kunai from one of the now recovered Shinobi, and a blast of condensed water from the hamstrung Shinobi.

Falling from the ceiling, Torune aimed to take the girl out whilst she was distracted. The wind whistling in his ears as he descended on her, his hand closing around the back of her before he used both his physical strength and momentum to slam her head into the ground. Or at least he thought he did, until her body dispersed into mist and a sudden gurgling sound made him look up.

The hamstrung Shinobi fell to the ground, a red smiled opened up on his throat. The girl standing behind her bloody tanto in hand as she looked down at the surprised Torune.

"Another genjutsu." Torune muttered his tone empty as he stood back up a look of faint irritation on his face as he stood up, falling into a ready fighting stance.

The other remaining Root ANBU also fell into a fighting stance, a tanto held in his hand.

"Take the girl." Torune said to his companion before he turned away to face off against the amused looking man.

Torune ran at his opponent as the other Root member moved at the same time, heading for the confident looking girl. As he charged in Torune noticed that the man glanced over his shoulder, a slight smirk on his face as he made the mistake of looking over at the Root ANBU charging his companion, taking his eyes off of Torune in the process.

'The last mistake he'll ever make.' Torune thought to himself as he rapidly got in close and went to punch his opponent across the exposed skin of the face, releasing his swarm of venomous bugs in the process. Instead of the fist making contact though, the silver haired man reached up and caught the punch in a palm that didn't give an inch. His sharp nails piercing Torune's skin, and his grip crack the bones in Troune's hand.

As well as the sudden feeling of pain what truly startled Torune was the fact that his opponent hadn't looked in his direction at all.

"Somehow I expected more. I mean you are the one giving the commands are you not. I would have thought that the leader of the group would be the most dangerous one." The silver haired man said, a faint note of his appointment in his voice as he turned his glowing red eyes onto Torune. His sword held lazily at his side.

As he saw the glowing red eyes, Torune felt another shiver of fear. Those eyes, it was like they could see through him. Jus the feeling he got form the made him know that they weren't natural. Still though that didn't matter, what did was that he had made contact with the man's flesh, the man was already dead, he just didn't know it yet.

"Ah well, might as well finish it- Wait what!" The feral looking man said in surprise as he looked at his hand.

Torune grinned as he saw that his opponent wasn't wearing gloves. Even among the Aburame, Torune had been unique. He commanded a swarm of microscopic insects that inhabited his body. Through physical contact, he could 'infect' his opponents with these insects, which were poisonous to everyone but himself. The insects would feed off the chakra of their opponents like regular parasitic insects, but the poison the bugs released was what killed them far faster than chakra exhaustion. The poison would take longer to spread if it started in the hand, and the limb could be amputated to remove the poison but Torune had more or less won. Still, one didn't become one of Lord Danzo's most trusted by taking risks and assuming things. Torune swept out his tanto for a quick slice to the neck for the kill.

His tanto made clean contact, but somehow failed to penetrate the skin. Not only that, the tanto shattered as if it were made of glass. An amused look crossing the man's face, his eyes becoming an amber colour as he released Torune's hand and watched him jump back.

His opponent's eyes became red once again and suddenly flashed with glee and challenge as he lashed out with his infected fist. Driving his closed fist into Torune's stomach and sending him staggering backwards. Rather than follow through with his strike, the now red eyed man then stared at his left hand in interest, an act which surprised Torune he had been expecting horror and a sudden realization of impending doom. Torune had won after all.

Then the strangest thing began to happen. The purple skin on the man's hand began to turn stone gray from the original point of contact and quickly spread, overtaking the microscopic insects. The poison had only spread halfway up the forearm before it stopped entirely. The silver haired man idly shaking his gray hand, breaking a thin layer of actual stone that had formed over his left hand and forearm. The interest on his face turning into a smirk as the man looked up at Torune, smirking as the Root ANBU took a couple of steps backwards.

"I take it you didn't know? Absorbing Natural Energy is dangerous for those untrained in its use." Torune's opponent said as he absentmindedly as he brought his attention back to him. A smile passing over his face as he slashed his sword through the air before he darted forwards. Not pausing for a second as he crossed the distance between them in moments.

Luckily, Torune managed to use the Replacement Technique to switch with a log, the wood shattering into splinters of wood as the man tore through it. Not pausing for a second as he unerringly found Torune, charging forward and engaging the Aburame in close combat. As he did so Torune unleashed his entire swarm, using the chakra eating bugs as a distraction as he control them and made them swarm his attacker.

Now any normal Shinobi would try all the harder to overcome this foe, but Shinobi trained as Root ANBU weren't governed by their emotions. Torune knew when to cut his losses and inform Lord Danzo of his discoveries. Torune performed the Body Flicker Technique to put as much distance between himself and the much stronger rogue Shinobi that had attacked the base and butchered the rest of Torune's team. He had put enough distance between himself and the base that he felt safe tree jumping instead of using the Body Flicker. He was glad, the Body Flicker was known to aggravate injuries received after all he had a number of broken bones and damaged organs from fighting that monster of a Shinobi.

Torune didn't even wait long enough to see his fellow Root Shinobi cut down like a dog, the man's female opponent idly cleaning her blade as she stood over his dead body. Nor did he see the flash of irritation that passed through the silver haired man's eyes as he fought through the swarm of toxic chakra eating bugs.

No instead Torune leapt into the surrounding forest, swiftly moving from tree to tree. As he did so he was surprised to notice a large, white spider on one of the tree limbs he jumped past. Almost as if it responded to him noticing it, the spider jumped from its perch and latched onto his face. Right before the spider exploded, Torune heard the last words he would ever hear. "With this, become art! Katsu!"

( - )

(A few minutes later)

An amused smirk passed of Deidara's face as he looked down at the last of the Root Shinobi. The one who had tried to flee only to have his head blown to pieces by his art. Looking up from the man's ruined remains, he instead looked over at the shattered remains of the enemy's base. The underground bunker now fully exposed, courtesy of his bombardment of explosives.

Looking over at the shattered entrance to the bunker, he saw Kin and Naruto leaving the base, the two of them having likely wiped out all of the Shinobi taking refuge within. As it turned out the two of them weren't as hopeless as he had initially thought. Of course in the end they still needed his help to kill the one that tried to get away. But still they were decent enough. Even if their fighting styles were crude and artless, they got the job done and in the end that was all that matters. Who knows he might let them tag along on his next job.

Stepping of his flying clay bird as it descended to the ground. Deidara smirked slightly as he saw the other two approaching. "Not bad for a single days hard work yeah!?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he heard that, before shrugging. "I was expecting a bit more excitement."

"I think we've had enough excitement for the last few weeks. Now our job here is finished can't wait to get back to some normal bounty hunting." Kin spoke up, sheathing her tanto and move so she was walking directly besides Naruto.

"It wasn't that bad." Naruto replied, his tone softer than when he spoke to Deidara, a note of fondness in it.

"For you it wasn't, you love roughing it in the wilds. Me, I prefer a bit of comfort now and then." Kin replied a sour look on her face as she saw Naruto send her a grin.

"Well if you two love birds are finished let's head back to the camp and inform them of our success." Deidara spoke up, an amused smirk on his face as he saw the both of them give him irritated looks.

"Fine then, but you are going to give us a lift on your pigeon." Naruto said brusquely, making it clear that Deidara had no choice in the matter.

"It's not a pigeon it is a hawk, you cretin." Deidara snapped back.

"Really?" Kin asked, furrowing her brow.

"Yes!" Deidara snapped back.

"Think you might need some art lessons." Naruto replied bluntly, as he swept passed Deidara.

"Fuck you!" Deidara cursed, as he saw both Kin and Naruto mounting the clay hawk. Getting on It himself, as he willed it to lift off and begin flying them back to the armies camp. Before they could fully take off though, the bird exploded. All three of them leaping off before the bird exploded.

Naruto scowled as he crashed onto the ground, his eyes narrowed as he instantly locked on the incredibly powerful chakra source that suddenly appeared in his vicinity. It appeared with no warning, like one minute it wasn't there, then the next it was.

It was a man, a striking one at that. Who the moment he showed himself caught the attention of all three of them. He had orange hair that blew slightly in the wind and dozens of black piercings across his face and arms. The other striking thing about him was the cloak he wore. It went from a high collar down to his ankles, colored black accented by blood red clouds on the outside while the inside was the same colour as the clouds.

The man's sheer presence was overwhelming. Even Naruto who was very confident in his skills and ability knew that he couldn't take this man on right here and now. At least not until he knew just who and what he would be going up against. There was just something about him that inspired dread, as Naruto straightened himself, his sword in hand. He sensed Kin appear next to him, the girl obviously picking up some of the same thing Naruto was, though maybe not to the same degree. Either way she obviously knew she was out of her depth.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked bluntly, squaring himself as he moved so he was just shielding Kin. His amber eyes flashing to red as he activated his Doujutsu, almost immediately being taken aback as he saw the sheer power this man exuded. Being able to see it, was a lot more intense than just being able to feel it.

The orange haired man looked Naruto in the eyes as he heard that, revealing to Naruto for the first time the purple ripples that his eyes seemed to be made of. The eyes radiating with so much power, that for Naruto it looked like the man had two suns in his skull. It seemed the source of the man's power might be a set of Doujutsu.

"I am god. I am the one who will bring peace to this pathetic world. I am Pain." The man introduced himself, his voice deep, catching their attention immediately. While the man's claim to be god was ridiculous, something about the way he carried himself and the power he exuded made Naruto wary. "I am the leader of a group known as Akatsuki, comprised of a select group of powerful individuals. We cooperate for our own purposes, but my ultimate goal is to bring peace to this world. I am offering the two of you a place within the organization." Pain continued in a tone that brokered no argument.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard that. "And how would you go about doing that?"

"Peace shall be achieved through the Jinchuuriki, or more specifically, the Tailed Beasts. Akatsuki shall hunt them down and capture, before controlling them to create an era of peace." Pain said with absolute conviction in his tone. "Will you stand alongside us?"

"So you are hiring people to hunt down Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked in interest, ignoring the fact that he himself was one. After all his constant use of Sage Mode allowed him to complete mask the Bijuu sealed within him. Instead he focused on the chances this opportunity held, if he took this 'Pain' up on his offer.

"Yes, now will you join me?" Pain asked, his ringed purple eyes locked on Naruto's own.

( - )

AN: So things are really moving now eh? I hope you all like the chapter, I had the first part of the chapter done quite early, the latter part was a bit more difficult. Luckily though I got it back on track.

At the moment I am working on the next chapter of Dead Man Walking. I am in the midst of the chapter, so I am making good progress. I can't tell you exactly when I will update, but it will hopefully be before Christmas.

SO what do you all think, would love to hear from you all so please leave a comment or a review.

See you all later.

Seagate.