So here we are, with the start of the sequel to the Banished! Like I said, this story WILL be shorter in length, definitely. I hope you enjoy it!

~:~

Her fury is scary.

In the years he'd been alive, Mitsuki had never seen her actually show emotion.

Mitsuki glanced at her. Her eyes had flashed red and were brilliant ruby red.

But then, his mother's most recent order had been scary for even him.

Uzumaki Naruto turned and walked out.

Mitsuki followed her.

"Mitsuki," Naruto said, her tone carefully blank. "Go. Don't give that bitch a reason to punish you."

"She's punishing you," Mitsuki snapped, feeling right in his anger.

The woman that had raised him paused, and Mitsuki wondered if his words had penetrated.

"Well, it is my fault," she bitterly remarked. Mitsuki frowned.

"Your fault for what?"

"For revealing your father was under the control of someone else," she answered. She turned and knelt, the ruby brilliance of her gaze fading to the dull aqua. But it was more human than he'd ever seen it before. "Mitsuki, promise me, whatever you do, that you won't earn your mother's ire." He hesitated. "Promise," she insisted.

"I promise," he said, crossing his toes. That was more information than his mother had given him about his father - she'd only given him a name. A name, spit out like a curse.

"I'll hold you to that," the Edo Tensei hero said with a smile.

She stood and left.

Mitsuki frowned. He hated lying to her. She was like a mother and a big sister. He'd listened to her monotone for years and never felt anything about it - he didn't feel bad, at first.

Not until when he'd summoned his own spirit from the dead and ordered to do his bidding. His spirit looked dead, too.

And his mother was either aware of the aura Naruto gave off - or just didn't care. Both his spirit and Naruto had the aura thing down - they both gave off the same aura.

They were sad.

Suffering.

Mitsuki walked to his room, the place where his mother did not come. She was too lazy.

He began to pack everything into a bag, and his spirit came out from under the bed.

(It had been hard hiding him, at first, because he was a man. But they'd made do.)

"Let's go find my father," he said. "And find a way for you to find what happened to your brother, Izuna."

Uchiha Izuna grinned.

~:~

What Naruto remembered was painful.

"A well-deserved vacation, eh?" Mito grinned, lifting a drink to her. She noticed that there were quite a few Uchihas mingled with the redheads. Mito frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Naruto shook her head. "I suppose not."

The battlefield, her illness... What she'd done had granted her this?

Mito shrugged and moved off, mingling.

Naruto noticed a spirit drinking by himself.

And glaring at Tobirama, who had tons of women draped on him.

Apparently he'd decided on staying behind.

Naruto moved through the crowd, sake grasped in her hand.

"This seat taken?" she queried. The Uchiha blinked up at her.

"This one is," he scowled, bending his head towards the opposite.

Naruto nodded, plopping down on the seat.

"So, how is eternity up here?"

"Boring."

"Uchiha," Naruto sighed. The Uchiha glared at her. "So monosyllabic." He blinked.

"You took my brother away from here," the Uchiha scowled.

Naruto scowled back. "I only offered a second chance to those who didn't have one."

"And you couldn't do that for me?" he asked her, clearly annoyed.

"I don't even know your name!" Naruto defended.

"Uchiha Izuna," he said coolly. "Madara's little brother."

Naruto blinked. "Oh." She had heard the story of the ferocious battles, obviously, but there was no mention of Izuna. "Forgive me, Izuna-san. I did not know you existed." She bowed her head and stood up, allowing herself to be whisked away in the party.

She caught glimpses of Izuna, but that was before she was whisked away to land in a body, forced to do her bidding.

She wished she could have spoken to Izuna more than that once. She wished she had been able to speak to her mother.

She was to stop any witnesses from blabbing about her; well, her and her current job.

To destroy the Hyuuga clan.

The ultimate test.

She walked through the streets of Konoha, eyes down.

Funnily enough, it was a Hyuuga who stopped her.

"You forgot -"

Her hands flashed, but obviously this Hyuuga had been prepared - it was just a bunshin she'd tried to kill. Senbon raced to pierce her chakra points, but she remained undeterred. She kept her head down - only Hyuuga had long hair, right? - and allowed her hands to do the work.

But she didn't try. She didn't want to do as she said.

She ducked a Gentle Fist strike, and heard more ninja arriving.

"I don't want to do this," she whispered.

KILL.

Her voice echoed in Naruto's mind, ordering her.

Naruto dodged a kunai.

The head of her cloak was destroyed, showing her short white hair and her Edo Tensei eyes.

She swallowed.

"Naruto?"

It was choked out from a deep voice. Naruto glanced up, meeting eyes she knew well even as she launched into a kill strike.

WAIT.

She halted, her hand centimeters away from piercing his chest. She couldn't look away from him, her eyes wide with stunned disbelief. Listening to her was basically just an echo.

Allow them to capture you. Do NOT eliminate the Hyuuga.

Kirasaki Shiro sounded very distracted as she ordered Naruto around.

Yet, at least. Become as still as you can, do not react to anything else.

She could feel part of Shiro's order start; she straightened, removing the hand from his chest. He exhaled, his eyes never leaving hers as she closed her eyes.

She allowed one gust of wind to leave her mouth.

"Hello, Neji."

She may have been dead, but her soul seemed to flutter in response to his arrival.