Finally! The next chapter is up! Sorry it took so long. How ever this chapter contains slight spoilers on who Naruto's parents are. It doesn't really matter but thought I'd say that anyway. Oh, and the song at the end is Breathe No More by Evanescence. Now read on!

Several gasps could be heard around the table. The Council of Nine had not been summoned since their parents were in charge, when a civil war threatened to destroy the demonic realm. In fact the Council of Nine was usually gathered before times of great crisis. So, naturally all of the demons were concerned by this. Though there were accounts that the council was gathered to discuss one thing or another but those were few and rare. But they all remembered the last Council of Nine meeting that was gathered, not a single demon would forget.

Within the demon realm, there are a total of nine major prefectures. There were other minor ones placed under the protection of the major ones. The nine major prefectures are; the Tanuki, Neko, Turtle, Bird, Wolf, Dragon, Panther, Snake and finally Kitsune. Under these nine are the lesser demons and summon animals. Ruling over everything are the nine demon lords, and their mates. These demon lords made up what was known as the Council of Nine.

For a time there was peace, but like all things, something has to happen that ruins everything. Within the clans of the lesser demons there were some that didn't get along with the summon animals. At first it was nothing more then street fights, started by the lesser demons and eventually ended by one of the major ones. The council did its best to stop all of the fighting but the clans formed allies with others and soon a civil war threatened to break out. However things did not stop there. Many of the lesser demonic clans were beginning to loath the higher demons. So began the first three way war; higher demon vs. lesser demons vs. summon animals.

Now one would expect that the more powerful demons would have been able to win. And they would have if the lesser demons always didn't attack in such large groups. These large packs as they were known overwhelmed them and soon all of the members of the council feared the worst. So Kyuubi's mother came up with a plan. They would send their heirs to the human realm where they will remain in hiding until this civil war could be ended. So, wanting to protect their heirs, the lords quickly agreed to the plan and sent their children into the human realm.

They planned to have their heirs cross over into the human realm and remain together until the portal reopened and they could return to their own realm. But the heirs quickly realized that the portal used to transport them landed in different areas. Shukaku ended up in the desert, Nibi found herself in the mountains of Lightning Country and Kaihei was found in the sea near Wave Country. Meanwhile Yotaka was teleported to Grass Country with Hakugin ending up in Snow Country and Shunrai was in Rain Country. Tokoyami landed in Earth Country, Karasuhebi popped up in what would later become Sound Country and Kyuubi found himself in the forests of Fire Country.

For the most part no one bothered the demons and years past. But there were still a few pesky humans that just had to get involved. These humans wanted the demons sealed into a human to make said human a weapon. A blood crazed priest found Shukaku and tried to merge their spirits together. Fortunately the priest made a mistake and Shukaku remained in control, albeit much crazier and bloodthirsty but otherwise fine. Nibi would be past down from jinchuriki to jinchuriki in the Hidden Cloud Village. Kaihei wouldn't let any human near him since he destroyed any ships brave enough to get close to his underwater cave. Yotaka was very peaceful by nature only fighting if she was forced and for a time she protected Grass Country. But eventually a greedy and corrupted human lord wanted to make the bird his weapon and sealed her.

For the longest time Hakugin remained far out of reach from the humans in his own little ice cave. Only six years after Kyuubi himself was sealed did someone make it to the wolf lord's den, resulting in the wolf's sealing inside the little girl. Shunrai remained among the clouds, keeping out any and all human affairs. Tokoyami was always the fiercest and most ruthless of all of the demons, so killing any human stupid enough to get close to her was one of her favorite past times. Karasuhebi eventually came to Konoha, were she became the protector of a clan of snake users. She gave this clan the snake contract and for a time everyone was content. But eventually the head wanted the ultimate snake user, so the clan head sealed Karasuhebi into his own son, Orochimaru. It was also partly Orochimaru's clan that pushed him into his obsession with immortality and learning all jutsu. The other part was just because Karasuhebi would not have a weak container and just didn't want to die when Orochimaru grew old.

When Kyuubi first appeared in the forest he did nothing more then protect it. When the first humans moved in and created their hidden village he protected the forest and the animals. Every once and awhile he would enter the village and speak with the Hokage. Only the Hokage knew of him and what he did, everyone else just thought he was nothing more then a myth. He never knew how but Madara Uchiha found his den and tried to use him to attack Konoha, supposedly for revenge against the First and Second Hokage. But because of the chakra that surrounded Madara, Kyuubi declined and reported what happened to the First Hokage. It wasn't until the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was elected that someone found his den a second time. Orochimaru again wanted to use him to have revenge against Konoha and once again Kyuubi declined. What Kyuubi didn't expect was Orochimaru using a demonic genjutsu, forcing him to attack the hidden leaf.

What happened next Kyuubi never could fully remember. He vaguely recalled facing off against the boss toad, Gamabunta. Then the next thing he remembers was waking up in a sewer behind a cage. By the time Naruto visited Kyuubi demanding some of his chakra, the genjutsu that Orochimaru used had worn off. However Kyuubi was beyond angry that he was sealed into a human, so he was never kind to the young blonde. Since Kyuubi didn't really have anything else to do he went through every single memory that Naruto had, looking through them to see what he missed out on. It was during this time that Kyuubi started to have more respect for the blonde. It was also the time when Kyuubi started to see Naruto as the fox kit he never had. But now the demon lords must face the most important challenge of their lives.

"What is the meaning of this, Kyuubi!" yelled the ever impatient Tokoyami.

"Have any of you ever heard of the group called Akatsuki?" Kyuubi asked the gathered demons.

"Don't remind me, Kyuubi. I barely managed to get Yugito out of there alive," Nibi said. It really was the only time she had ever feared death. Luckily though, Nibi was able to get herself and her kitten to safety before the Akatsuki members could capture her.

"The reason why I mention them is because of the threat they pose to us. Countless times I have seen their statue that they use to seal us in. If they succeed then we all would be sent back to the demon realm. However, we would be powerless. Our power would remain in the statue, where any human would be able to use it for short amount of times without killing themselves."

"Once again, why did you bring this up?" asked Tokoyami still being impatient as ever.

"Because if we aren't ready then we will fall to them. This is not a group to take lightly, Tokoyami." One could feel the annoyance dripping off his voice. "In order to deal with this threat we must stand together. We must lure them away from where they seal the demons, and we must kill them. If we do not then we will fall."

Nibi always found it encouraging listening to Kyuubi when he talked. Kyuubi could rally an entire army to him with a few choice words. And now was no different, though she guessed it was just a kitsune thing since Kyuubi's father had the same ability. Tokoyami, being the impatient panther that she is, just wanted to skip to the fight and kill humans. Gaara wasn't very interested but he would fight along side his best friend if he had to. The other demons seemingly agreed, nodding their heads. With that, Kyuubi went into his explanation of how to take down this threat.

Meanwhile outside the kits were still playing, though Naru and Yugito couldn't seem to hold eye contact for more then a few seconds. Sasuke was still sleeping dreaming of whatever he does when he sleeps. And Hinata and Sakura were talking about many different things. Though conversation eventually turned to what happened to Hinata and why she hated the Hyuga Clan so much. Sighing to herself the vixen explained everything.

"This is all my bastard father's fault. If he had only seen how much stronger I got over the years then he never would have branded me with the Hyuga Curse Seal. As if that wasn't enough he set the whole kidnapping thing up himself. If he didn't want me in the Hyuga clan then he could have just disowned me and I would have been happy to move in with Naruto-kun." As Hinata was remembering all of this, her fur started to stand on end showing her anger. The massive amount of killer intent coming off of her was enough to not only stop the kits from playing but also drew the attention of Sasuke.

"But no. I was such a 'disappointment' to him and the clan that the council didn't want to take the chance of me falling into enemy hands. So they set up the 'mission' and the attack all so that they could get rid of me for good. The only thing I hope is that they suffered when Kyuubi-kun finally destroyed that pitiful excuse of a village."

"That's a little…harsh. Don't you think?" Sakura said a little unnerved by the whole story.

"Of course it is. But it wasn't like my father," one could taste the venom when she said it, "Wasn't always hard on me. Always belittling me. Always degrading me. Constantly beating me if I wasn't perfect in what I did. I hope he rots in the lowest level of hell." Again, one could taste the venom dripping off her voice as she said this.

"Hn. And now you know why I left that village," Sasuke said.

Hinata turned to him, the veins around her eyes bulging out adding to her already fierce glare. "Don't test me, Uchiha. The council gave you everything! They offered you everything they had! You were their savior who was better then any one else and viewed as though you could do nothing wrong! They would have put you on a throne and worshipped you like a god if they could! And yet, even though the entire village loved you, you ran off to gain strength to kill someone you never had the chance to!"

What happened next was a blur to everyone. Sasuke used his new found speed and charged at Hinata. Hinata used her flexibility to dodge Sasuke's attacks. Sasuke twisted around and tried to sink his fangs into Hinata, who simply jumped over him. Sasuke, becoming angrier with each passing second, became more frenzied and less organized in his attacks, while Hinata remained calm and collected in dodging all of his attacks. The two were forced apart by a wall of sand, and turned to see Sakura controlling it. Sakura was trying her best to keep the sand from falling apart, it was after all her first time manipulating sand.

Luckily when the sand wall crumbled away Sasuke had clamed down and once again choose to ignore people. Naru, Yumi, Yugito and Shirayuki were begging Hinata to teach them all how to fight like that. Trying to calm the hyper kits down, Hinata promised them that she'd train them sometime later. After that the kits soon got back to playing with each other, though Hinata and Sakura couldn't help but talk about how cute a couple Naru and Yugito made. The two little demons constantly stuttered out protests every time they overheard them, but this only caused the elder demons to laugh harder.

By nightfall both Naru and Yugito were equally embarrassed, having lost the ability to speak to each other without stuttering every other word. Sasuke had gone out hunting for himself and Hinata went out to get food for every one else, leaving Sakura to watch over the kits. Watching the hyperactive kits made Sakura feel far older then she really was. And several times she had to use her rapidly growing control of sand to make sure the kits didn't get too far out of hand in their playful fights.

Not long later Sasuke came back with a bulging stomach signaling that he ate a rather large deer whole. Hinata came back with four deer; one for herself, one for Sakura and two for the four kits to share. Yumi and Shirayuki both shared one deer forcing Naru and Yugito to share the other one. When Naru complained about this to his mother, Hinata said that there simply wasn't enough deer for everyone to have one for themselves. Of course, what Hinata didn't tell the little kit was that there were plenty of deer but she just wanted to make her kit more embarrassed then he already was.

Kyuubi walked out of the cave, still in human form, and went over to Hinata. Seeing this she too transformed into her own human form. Like all other female demons she was wearing a kimono, lavender in color. Two navy blue fox ears were poking out of her mid-night blue hair, which still reached all the way down her back ending just above mid thigh, her seven tails swaying gently behind her.

"I need you to find someone for me," Kyuubi said.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, "I thought I got everyone for you?"

"True, you did. However while we're dealing with Akatsuki someone will need to watch over the kits. I'm sending you to find her," Kyuubi replied.

"Who?" Hinata asked.

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Kushina Uzumaki, or as she should have been called Kushina Namikaze, was having the worst life a wife and a mother could ever have. Her husband, Minato Namikaze or the Yondaime Hokage, died after defeating the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Now one would think that she would have remained in Konoha in the Namikaze estates, with her son Naruto. But nooooooo, the Konoha Council in all its 'wisdom', had decided that she could not remain in Konoha and effectively kicked her out.

The bastards even denied her the right to hold, much less see her son. She had half a mind to kill anyone that stood between her and her son. However she was still weak from giving birth and knew that she wouldn't be able to get to her son. She may have been the best ANBU in the former Land of the Whirlpool, but even she knew that she wasn't immortal.

So then, why did she never return even when she was back in top condition? It might have something to do with the fact that the council, once again, in all its 'wisdom' had told all border patrols to kill her on sight. So hoping that she would be able to return to Konoha, and her child, one day she returned to the ruins that was once the Land of the Whirlpool. There she stayed in what remained of the old Uzumaki Clan estate. Many a time, throughout the past seventeen years, she lost count of the many times she thought about taking her katana and ending her own life.

I've been looking in the mirror for so long.

That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.

All the little pieces falling, shatter.

Shards of me,

Too sharp to put back together.

Why would she do this? Well who wouldn't? Having lost everything that she held dear… her husband, her only son. The damn council of Konoha took everything away from her and wants Kushina to do exactly what she's been thinking of doing. But that's what the bastards want, wasn't it? To break her soul into nothing? To shatter her heart into so many pieces that she couldn't put it back together?

Too small to matter,

But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.

If I try to touch her,

And I bleed.

I bleed,

And I breathe,

I breathe no more.

Well, if the damn council wanted to break her then they succeeded in doing so. Her soul was shattered the moment they denied her a chance to hold her own son. It was shattered when they all but kicked her out of the village. And the pain. The pain felt like she was bleeding. Not physically, but that's what she felt like, constantly, always bleeding…bleeding, never ending bleeding. She was bleeding until she could no longer breathe. Often there were times at night when she would lay awake at night unable to sleep, always thinking about the son that she 'abandoned'.

Take a breathe and I try to draw from my spirits well.

Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.

Lie to me,

Convince me that I've been sick forever.

She wanted to believe that it would all work out. That she would be able to see her son again. That she would be able to return to Konoha and live with her son as a family, as they always should have done. Or at the very least her son would somehow find her here. But she knew that all of these possibilities were just fantasies that she tried to use to cheer herself up. But all these did was make her feel that much more in pain.

But what added to the pain was the knowledge that her son had the right to hate her for not being there for him. It was the fear of what Naruto might say to her. Would he be angry at her? Would he yell at her? Well he certainly did have the right to hate her. And she wouldn't be able to bear it if he really did hate her. All of this just made her feel so sick. So sick in fact that she sometimes even cried herself to sleep.

And all of this,

Will make sense when I get better.

But I know the difference,

Between myself and my reflection.

I just can't help but to wonder,

Which of us do you love.

How many times has she glanced over to the special kunai that Minato gave to her? How many times has she held it in her hands? How many times as she pictured herself plunging it into her chest? How many times has she felt that weak? How many times has she felt so sick of everything that she just wanted to end it?

So I bleed,

Something snapped within her. And she reached out to hold the kunai.

I bleed,

As though her hand had a mind of its own, it arched towards her chest.

And I breathe,

She sucked in her breathe as the blade met flesh.

I breathe no…

She dropped to the floor, crimson blood flowing from the wound.

Bleed,

How long had she been lying here? Waiting for that last breath.

And I breathe,

She was too weak to look out the corner of her eye, when she thought she saw something move.

I breathe,

She didn't have enough strength to look at whatever was coming towards her. And yet part of her wished that whatever was coming would just leave her to die, to just end the pain.

I breathe-

She had no time to ponder the four furry legs, nor did she see a single tail glowing a slight green, before her entire world turned to nothingness.

I breathe no more.

And that is that. So Why did I do that to Kushina? It fit with the story. Is Kushina alive? You'll have to wait to find out. No review, really, just review. Press it and leave any kind of review you wish.