Please have mercy on me. I really didn't intend for it to take this long.

Previous Chapter:

Naruto drew a kunai, and slashed his palm. He stopped the wound from closing, ad placed the bleeding hand on Anko's leg. He began to reach into Anko's body with his youki, grasping the poison, and pulling it back into his own bloodstream where he could safely destroy it. In some places, the poison had already affected Anko's body, and the best Naruto could do was prevent it from spreading further.

After about an hour, Naruto had drawn the last of the poison out of Anko's body. He withdrew his hand from Anko's leg, and allowed the cut on his palm to heal. He looked down, seeing that Anko had passed out. He covered her with a blanket, healing the wound on her leg. "They'll both be fine with a bit of rest." Naruto said. Tazuna nodded, and they all left the room. As Naruto walked out the door, he cast one last look back towards Anko.

Chapter Seven: Ready to Fall

Naruto sat on the roof, thinking about what he had heard earlier. The Onigumo queen's words had troubled him. 'What do you think it meant?' He asked Kitane. Kitane was silent for several moments before he answered, 'I don't know.' Naruto frowned. It was unlike Kitane to sound so quiet.

He hopped down off of the roof, heading inside for breakfast. He had been sitting on the roof the entire night, keeping guard. As he walked inside, he was just in time to see Anko walking down the stairs, a big smile on her face. "I don't know what the hell you did to me kid, but I've never felt better in my life!" she yelled.

There were several changes on Anko's body that were immediately noticeable. First, her eyes had changed to a bright purplish color, with slitted pupils. Her body was taller, and her muscles looked much more sleek. Her fingernails were also much more like claws now, and her teeth were fang-like.

The thing that interested Naruto the most, however, was the clear liquid that was dripping from Anko's fingertips. A drop landed on the floor, sizzling through the wood. "Anko, look at your hand." Naruto said. Anko looked at the appendage, and was surprised to notice the liquid dripping from it. "Holy shit, where'd that come from? What the hell is going on?"

Naruto walked over to Anko, performing a diagnostic jutsu on her. "I thought this might happen." He said to himself. "What? What happened?" Anko asked nervously. "Well, when I was extracting the poison from your system, there were areas where doing so would have caused you great harm, or killed you. So, I had to contain it with my youki, which was in turn bonded to your chakra network. I don't really know how to say this, but…"

Anko glared. "Out with it already!" Naruto sighed. "Anko, you've become a Hanyou." Anko's eyes grew wide, her mouth opening and closing silently. "That is not what I was expecting." She said. She shook her head. "But, at least I'm alive. And I have you to thank for that." She leaned forward, kissing Naruto on the cheek. "Now, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving!"

After they had eaten, Naruto lead Anko outside. "We need to figure out what you can do." He said to Anko. Zabuza and Haku were watching nearby, leaning against a tree. "Let me see your hands." He said to her. Anko held out her hands, and Naruto observed them closely. "Anko, see if you can excrete that liquid again." Anko concentrated for a moment, and soon the liquid was flowing out of her claws. It fell on the ground, sizzling.

Naruto nodded to himself. "This is amazing. You must have picked up traits of the Onigumo. See if you can excrete it from your teeth, too." Anko tried, and sure enough, she was able to produce the liquid from her fangs as well. Naruto took a sample of the liquid, and performed his diagnostic jutsu on it.

Anko looked at him strangely. "So, what's the deal?" Naruto looked up, grinning. "This seems to be an extremely concentrated version of the Onigumo venom. But it's different, too. This is acidic, and it has properties I've never seen before. You'll need to experiment with it, see what you can do before I can get a better picture of it."

Anko nodded. She raised her hand, and the acid began to drip from her fingers. She flung her hand towards a tree, acid flying through the air. The acid hit the tree and burned right through it, toppling the tree. Anko had a huge grin on her face. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun." She said.

Zabuza whistled. "Damn, I'd hate to be on the wrong end of that." Naruto said, "So, I'm guessing your senses have improved?" Anko nodded, "Yeah, everything seems much clearer." "I'm guessing your body has undergone other changes as well. I'd say you're probably stronger and faster than you were before, also. What would you say to a quick spar?"

Anko grinned. "Bring it, foxy!" "Zabuza, start us off." Naruto said, setting his coat and sword aside. Zabuza nodded, moving between the two. He raised his arm up in the air. "Begin in 3, 2, 1…go!" he shouted as he brought his arm down.

Anko wasted no time, throwing a wave of acid at Naruto. Naruto raised his arm, and a wall of water met the acid, creating a large cloud of steam. They both dove into the cloud, meeting each other with a punch. Their fists connected, creating a shockwave that blew away the steam. Anko shook her hand, smirking. "You still punch hard, but I can handle it now." She rushed at Naruto, slinging wave after wave of acid at him. He met each wave with blasts of fire, until Anko finally reached him. He ducked under a punch, attempting to sweep Anko's legs out from underneath her, but she jumped over it, going higher into the air than she had expected. As she came down, Naruto jumped up to meet her, the two of them colliding in midair. They grappled for a moment, and Anko sunk her fangs into Naruto's forearm, her venom destroying his muscle tissue. They landed apart from each other, Naruto watching as the poison eroded his arm. He called his sword to him, and in one quick movement, lopped off the appendage. He threw the severed arm at Anko, startling her, and she flinched for a moment. That was all it took for Naruto to pounce on her, pinning her to the ground with a kunai at her throat. She sighed, and accepted Naruto's hand, pulling herself up. When she got to her feet, she was surprised to see that it was the same arm that Naruto had amputated.

"What the hell? Didn't you just cut that off?" Anko asked, shocked. Naruto grinned. "Regeneration." Anko shook her head. "Damn, that's useful. Can I do that?" Naruto nodded. "To a lesser extent, yes. But remember, you're only a Hanyou. You're only a little harder to kill than a human. But you will be able to heal from most injuries, as long as they don't kill you outright." Anko shrugged. "Good enough, I guess."

As they walked back into the house, Naruto turned to Anko, saying, "So, you seem awfully calm to learn that you're only part human now." Anko shrugged. "I've spent years being hated by almost everyone in Konoha, just because my sensei turned out to be a traitorous bastard. If they hate me that much as a human, I figure it can't get much worse."

Naruto frowned. "So you're not going to hide what you are?" Anko snorted. "Kid, if I started caring what people thought of me just because of this, I'd have to kick my own ass. Besides, you don't hide."

Naruto chuckled. "I pretty much have to when I'm in Konoha. If anyone besides the Hokage knew what I was, they'd piss themselves in fear. Actually, I kinda want to see that." They both laughed at that, walking in to the house and sitting in the kitchen.

Anko looked at Naruto for a moment and smiled. "You know, you shouldn't hide what you are. It isn't fair. You're a good person, Naruto. Human or not." With that, Anko stood and left the room, leaving Naruto with his thoughts.

Things were quiet for the next three days, Naruto keeping watch with Zabuza and Anko. Although Anko kept saying she heard whispers in the back of her head sometimes, nothing of interest had happened recently.

On the morning of the sixth day, Tazuna ran out of the house, yelling, "They're awake! Tsunami and Inari are awake!" Everybody rushed back inside. Sitting at the kitchen table were Tsunami and Inari, both looking good as new. Tsunami stood up, smiling. She walked over to Naruto, saying, "My father told me that it was you who saved me. Thank you, so much." Naruto smiled. "No problem. I'm glad to help."

He turned toward Anko and Zabuza, his face turning serious. "I'm expecting Gato to make his move tomorrow. We'll all go to the bridge, and wait for him to strike." "What about us?" Tsunami asked. "I'll leave some foxes here to guard you and Inari, just in case, though I doubt anyone will come after you." Naruto replied.

Tsunami nodded. "That will be fine, thank you." Naruto nodded, saying to Zabuza, Anko, and Haku, "Well, we should start preparing for tomorrow, though I doubt anything will happen." They all nodded, going off in different directions to prepare in their own ways.

The next morning, they all awoke early, eating a small breakfast before preparing to head to the bridge. Naruto summoned several large foxes, which stood guard outside the house. As Naruto, Anko, Zabuza Haku and Tazuna were walking out the door, Naruto felt a tug on his coat. He turned to see Inari, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking up at Naruto. "Are we gonna be safe? He asked.

Naruto nodded. "The foxes will take care of you. You'll be fine, I promise." Inari frowned. "But what if they're not enough?" Naruto knelt down, drawing a kunai from his belt. He grabbed Inari's hand, closing the boy's hand around the knife. "You're a brave kid. Watch over you're mother while we're gone, okay?" Inari nodded. "Thank you." He ran back into the house, clutching the kunai close to him.

Naruto slung his sword over his shoulder, rejoining the others. After a short walk, the arrived to find the bridge covered in mist. Naruto signaled the others to stop, and they all stared out into the mist. Naruto called out, "Gato! Come out here, you piece of shit!"

They heard laughter coming from the mist, followed by a short figure striding towards them. The figure stepped into view, revealing a short balding man, clutching the stump of one hand close to his body. He sneered at them. "So, you are the pathetic worms causing trouble in my country." He spat at the ground in front of him. "I expected more."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, reaching for his sword handle. "I'll give you more." He growled, his eyes beginning to glow fiercely. In a split second, he drew his sword and was across the bridge, blade poised to split Gato straight down the middle. He brought the blade down on top of Gato's head, a smile of fierce satisfaction coming over his face.

However, the blade was stopped at the last moment. It was frozen, a hair's breadth away from Gato's head. Suddenly, Naruto was thrown back by a powerful force, landing on his feet several yards away. Gato grinned. "You don't think they warned me about you, Kyuubi? You don't think they were prepared for this? You can't touch me. No one can. I am the ruler of this country! I am the most powerful man in the world, and there is no one who can equal my greatness!" He threw his head back, laughing maniacally.

His laughing was interrupted as a fire encased fist crashed into his gut, sending him rolling along the ground until he finally came to a stop. He looked up in fear, seeing Naruto standing where he himself had been a moment ago, smoke rising from his still outstretched fist, his face a mask of rage. Gato backed away fearfully, stammering, "H-how is this p-possible? There's no w-way you should have been able to touch me!"

Naruto grinned sadistically. "This party's just getting started." He walked towards Gato, who was backing away fearfully, until he hit the side of the bridge, his back pressed against the railing. "No! Stay away from me, you monster!" Naruto reached down towards Gato, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. "This ends here and now. Too long have you terrorized the citizens of this country. You are scum Gato, and it is for the people of this country that I end your life. Now die."

"Release him."

Naruto froze, the cold, rasping sound of the voice sending shudders throughout his body. He turned to see a man, holding his arms out to either side of his body. In his hands, he held Inari and Tsunami by their throats. "I will say it once more. Release Gato, or these two die."

Naruto opened his hand, letting Gato fall to the ground. He stood shakily to his feet, gasping for breath. He turned to the stranger, shouting, "You said he wouldn't be able to touch me! You told me I'd be safe!"

The stranger turned a disinterested eye towards Gato, before looking away and meeting Naruto's gaze. "It seems the boy is somewhat stronger than we had anticipated." He turned his gaze back on Gato, eyes cold and hard. "There's been a change of plans. You are no longer needed."

Gato's eyes grew wide with fear. "B-but you said-" he was cut off by a glare from the stranger. "As I said, our plans changed. The boy is too strong to take care of now."

The stranger ducked a sudden attack from Naruto, stepping to the side and kicking him away. Naruto flipped in the air, landing on his feet by the others. Naruto growled. "Let them down."

The stranger looked at the two in his hands. "They mean nothing to me." He dropped them on the ground, and raised his hands in front of him. The ground began to shudder, at first a small vibration, but it soon grew to a violent tremor. Anko suddenly grabbed the sides of her heads, letting out a yell of pain. Naruto ran over to her, holding her steady. "What is it? He asked worriedly. "The voices. They're so loud!" Anko yelled.

Suddenly, dozens of onigumo began to pour out of the forest behind them, swarming around them. Naruto ran over to Tsunami and Inari, carrying them back to the others. The onigumo stopped in a circle around them, hissing and clicking. The stranger had walked out over the surface of the water, which was in turmoil from the way the ground was still shaking. He raised his hands above his head, calling out to the heavens, "Come, my servants! Destroy those insignificant fools who oppose me!" suddenly, a gigantic shape began to rise out of the water, the stranger standing on top of it. It revealed itself to be a gigantic onigumo, hundreds of feet tall. The creature reared up on its back legs, crashing back to the ground with crushing force.

Naruto handed off tsunami and Inari to a clone of himself, and summoned a few more as well. He, Anko, Zabuza and Haku stood back-to-back, weapons readied. "It's them." Anko whispered. "I can hear all of them. So many voices…calling…" Anko's arms fell to her sides as her eyes glazed over, and she began walking slowly towards the mass of onigumo.

Naruto grabbed her shoulder as she walked past him. "Anko! What the hell are you doing!" Anko's eyes came back into focus at the sudden contact, and she grabbed her head. "It's them. They're the voices I've been hearing. Kami, there are so many of them." Naruto looked at her with concern. "Can you still fight?" Anko nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They turned their attention back to the giant onigumo, to see that the cloaked man had vanished. The giant beast began walking towards them, intent on crushing them.

Naruto turned to the others. "Remember, they're naturally armored, so there are only a couple ways to damage them. Their bellies are weak, and so are the joints of their legs. Attack those points, and for the love of Kami, don't get bit!" With that, Naruto vanished, and the onigumo let out an ear-splitting shriek, and began to charge forward.

The onigumo came upon the small group like a wave crashing against a rock. The ninja fought hard, being careful to stay away from the venomous fangs, while Naruto's clones proceeded to wreak a path of carnage through the battlefield. As the battle below began, Naruto reappeared a few hundred feet above the giant onigumo. He began to fall, directing himself towards the behemoth's back. As he fell, he began to spin, creating blades of wind around himself, like a deadly tornado. The speed of his rotations increased until he was no more than a blur, winds howling around him. Naruto crashed into the beast like a giant drill, driving it to the ground and causing it to give out a loud shriek of pain. Naruto hopped off of the beast, landing about thirty feet away, only to be stunned when the giant climbed back into a standing position, seemingly just shrugging the attack off. He cursed to himself. 'Damn! I'm gonna have to use some more power if I'm gonna beat this thing.' From inside his head, he heard Kitane say, 'Just transform already!' Naruto gritted his teeth. 'I didn't want to risk the destruction, but I guess I'll have to. I'll just have to try to keep this battle contained.'

Naruto handed his coat and sword to a clone, which vanished. He closed his eyes, and began to focus. Soon, chakra began to flow off him in waves. Suddenly, his body began to shift and change. He began to get bigger, fur sprouted from his body, and his bones began to reconfigure themselves. The transformation finished, and in Naruto's place was a gigantic red fox several hundred feet taller than the onigumo, nine long tails waving behind it. He let out a gigantic roar, which caused the onigumo to stumble back. Naruto grinned, and said, "This is more like it!" He charged forward, shooting white-hot fireballs that impacted like bombs, forcing the beast back further, and causing it to cry out in pain and anger. As Naruto closed in on it, it attempted to sink its fangs into him, but was batted away by one of Naruto's tails. Naruto sunk his fangs into one of the giant's legs, wrenching it clean off. Before the onigumo could react, Naruto wrapped his tails around it and swung it around, smashing it into the ground a couple times before tossing it high in the air with a mighty heave. As the onigumo sailed upwards, a large ball of energy appeared at the tip of each of Naruto's tails. The balls began to grow, and then began to compress, until they were no bigger than a baseball. Naruto aimed all nine of his tails at the still airborne creature, and the energy released with a massive boom that shook the ground. Nine huge beams of destructive energy crashed into the giant onigumo, and exploded with enough force to level a mountain. The onigumo was completely vaporized by the explosion, not a trace of it remaining. Satisfied with his work, he shrunk back down to his regular form.

Naruto went to rejoin the battle, only to find that the battle had halted. When they had seen the explosion, the onigumo had simply stopped moving, and were producing small clicking sounds. Naruto walked up next to Anko. "What's going on?" He asked. Anko shook her head. "I don't know. They're talking about something, but I can't make it out. There are just too many voices."

After a few moments, a single onigumo walked forward. The group tensed, but Anko raised a hand. "Wait! It's not hostile." Zabuza looked at her funny. "How do you know?" "I can sense it." she replied.

The onigumo stopped a few feet away from the group, and produced several more clicks. Anko's brow furrowed. "It wants me to step forward." She walked up to the onigumo stopping in front of it. it was silent for a moment, before speaking in a barely understandable voice, "You share our blood. You are strongest. You are Queen." The onigumo lowered its front, seemingly bowing to Anko. The rest of the onigumo did the same, all of them bowing to Anko.

The group's eyes widened. "Did that thing just talk!" yelled Zabuza. "I'm more concerned with what it said." Haku replied.

The onigumo clicked again, and Anko, understanding what it wanted, held her hand out towards it. she rested her palm against the creature's head, and there was a small purple glow that lasted only for a second before fading away. Anko removed her hand, and the onigumo clicked once more before vanishing in a flash of purple light, as did all the others.

"Someone mind explaining what the hell just happened?" Zabuza asked. "They made me their queen." Anko answered. Zabuza nodded. "I see. Well, where'd the hell the go?" Anko shrugged. "They just said they were going to wait until I called upon them." Zabuza shook his head. "Whatever."

He turned to Naruto. "That was a pretty awesome explosion, kid. The shockwave almost knocked us off our feet." Naruto shrugged. "It seemed like the quickest way to get rid of the thing." Anko said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they saw that from Konoha. Speaking of which, word is probably going to spread of the Kyuubi showing up in the middle of Nami." Naruto nodded. "Probably, yeah."

Naruto looked to his clones, which were still guarding Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari. "Are you all alright?" he asked. Tazuna nodded. "We're fine. What about my bridge? You didn't smash it, did you?" Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "No, the bridge is fine. I made sure to keep that thing away from it." Tazuna nodded. "Good."

Suddenly, a large group of villagers, carrying all sorts of homemade weapons, came charging up to the group, only to stop in confusion. One man stepped forward, scratching his head. "Ah, wasn't there supposed to be a battle?" Tazuna shook his head. "You guys missed it. Besides, it was a bunch of demon spider things. You wouldn't have been able to do anything. But thanks anyway."

They all sighed disappointedly. One guy shouted, "Hey, what about Gato?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Shit, I almost forgot!" He ran over to the bridge, and saw that Gato was still cowering against the sedge of the bridge. As he saw Naruto, his eyes grew wide with fear. "S-stay back! Demon!" Naruto retrieved his sword and coat from his clone, and continued walking towards Gato. Naruto stood above Gato, who was cowering in a ball on the ground. "Get up, you piece of shit. Face death with some dignity." The short man just whimpered. Naruto rolled his eyes, grabbing Gato by the back of his shirt and dragging the man behind him as he walked back to the group.

Inari, who was now awake, was watching with wide eyes as the man he had feared so much screamed for his life. Naruto stopped in front of Inari, and dropped Gato in front of him. "See, Inari. He's nothing to be afraid of." Gato whimpered as Naruto kicked him in the ribs. Inari stared; shocked that someone he had thought of as invincible could be reduced to begging for his life. "I was wrong." He said quietly. "You are nothing." His face broke out in a huge grin. "You are nothing!" he shouted as he kicked Gato.

Inari felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Naruto, offering a kunai. "The kill is yours, if you want it." Inari looked unsure. "I don't know if I can…" Tazuna placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do it for Kaiza." Inari nodded. "For Kaiza." With a yell, Inari plunged the kunai into Gato's chest, piercing his heart and killing him. Gato gurgled for a moment, and spat some blood before his eyes glazed over, and he died.

The group of people cheered, and Inari's family embraced him.

Finally done. Short chapter, I know, but it felt like a good place to stop. Anyway, I wont be working on this story until I finish my other story, so no updates for a while. Hopefully, it won't take too long. The song for this chapter is Ready to Fall, by Rise Against. So long for now, everybody.

Don't Fear The Reaper,

Kumo no Shinigami