Longer chapter this time. Well, okay, not that long.

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, but all the other stuff you haven't seen before does. Oh, and that bottle of booze you're drinking right now.

warning: colorful language ahead.


Naruto, surprisingly, had awoken before the woman huddled in his arms. He pondered on whether or not to go back to sleep or stare at her peaceful features when his stomach made his decision for him. He gently released Hinata so as to not wake her and made his way out of the tent to eat something.

He was met by the lone Uchiha sitting on a log cooking… something over a small fire. Uzi sat on a cold rock opposite his dark follower.

"What's cookin'?" The blonde inquired.

"Rabbit," Sasuke answered blandly.

"Sweet," he flatly replied as he reached for one of the skewered animals and took a bite. "Hey," he broke the silence between bites. "Why do you want to kill your older brother?"

The avenger said nothing for a moment. "He slaughtered my entire family for power."

Naruto didn't skip a beat in his feasting. "Why'd he do that?"

"For power."

Uzi looked at him and raised an eyebrow as he chewed. "Power?" He asked as soon as he swallowed. "How so?"

"My clan possesses a bloodline ability; the Sharingan."

"Oh, yeah. It's that eye thing, right?"

He nodded. "My brother and I are a rare generation. Both of us are capable of using another level of our blood limit; the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What's the difference?"

The Mangekyo Sharingan has the ability to essentially take over an opponent's mind for the purposes of torture. In addition, it enhances the normal abilities of the Sharingan."

"Messes with your mind?"

He nodded again. "However, I am unsure how it would affect the red-eyes. You all seem to garner some form of mental power from each other through telepathy, and I have never seen the Sharingan interact with a mind capable of such things."

The blonde merely shrugged as he took another bite. "So you want to kill your brother," he changed the subject. "But what happens after that?"

"I will restore my clan."

Naruto almost choked on his mouthful of meat when he burst out in a laugh. "So you're settling down?" A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "With about eight or nine women?"

The Uchiha's normally impassive face slipped, and the ends of his lips curled ever so slightly to form a smile. "Not really. I'll most likely settle down with one woman and have as many children as possible so when they marry the clan will expand."

"Dude," he was still chuckling hard, "I feel sorry for your wife. She's gonna be so sore!" His beaming increased.

"Shut up!" His eye twitched; a recent physical manifestation of his annoyance. "What about you? You seem close to the Hyuuga woman."

His good humor declined and he stared into space with a light smile. "Yeah, she's cool. I've always made a point of never getting too close to anyone, though, you know? Ever since I got kicked out of Konoha," his mood darkened at the stinging memories, "I've pretty much done it alone."

"Your recent actions seem to indicate otherwise," Sasuke referred to Hinata's death at the hands of the priest.

"Well," he sighed, "Let's just say she's not like most people…"

As if by command, Hinata emerged groggy-eyed from the tent. "Good mornin'," she yawned.

"Morning!" Naruto grabbed another charcoaled rabbit and pointed it at her. "Dead animal?"

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The sun was well in the afternoon sky at this point in the day. The easterners had been walking all day along back roads and occasionally hiding as an unusually large number of military patrols passed by along the way as well. They were currently heading towards a large town in which there was a red-eye safe house.

They arrived on the main road without incident. All the civilians and even the stationed troops were going about their daily business without want of interruption. There was no news of a red-eye 'outbreak', meaning friendlies were still around. All in all, conditions were favorable.

Per usual in such situations, the non-red-eye easterners fell in line with Uzi leading them on. They bobbed and weaved through a series of alleyways and down a short flight of stairs to a thick door located deep within the shady part of town, home sweet home for people like Naruto and Hinata.

They were permitted entrance swiftly, as their hosts were expecting them well in advance. They casually strolled from the dimly lit front room into a spacious chamber which closely resembled a bar. As soon as they appeared they were met with a loud cheering.

"Hey Uzi!!" called a familiar nearby voice. "Great job takin' out that asshole!!"

"Hinata!!" yelled out another familiar voice. "So glad you made it!!"

"Uh…" Naruto and his Hyuuga companion were stunned. It was like a reunion in here. Well, almost.

"Get over here and drink!" Trench loudly invited the blonde over as Shades repeated the order to the blue-haired easterner.

The duo made their way through the sea of partying red-eyes. As they passed, each and every western specialist lifted their drinks, saluted, or gave an equally cheery greeting. "At least Sheila isn't here…" Hinata thought, not wanting to deal with another episode of unique greeting habits.

Trench and Shades walked over to a table and cheerfully ordered its intoxicated inhabitants to move. The inebriated red-eyes looked up to see why they had to give up their seats and spotted Uzi and the White Eyes of Death, so giving up their small table transformed from an annoyance to an honor. The eastern duo took a seat across from their joyous hosts.

"Dude," Trench said enthusiastically, "I can't believe you found that bastard so fast! You pounded his ass!"

"Ehe, thanks," Naruto responded while scratching the back of his head.

"You two should be proud!" Shades lifted her mug. "You both took down the guy who was takin' out all our people!"

"Yeah," Trench agreed, "You saved our asses big time! C'mon, drink up, drink up!"

Mugs were passed around and the eastern duo obliged their mildly drunken friends. When the bottoms of the bottles hit the table again, they started talking.

"So what are you guys doing here?" The Hyuuga asked.

"I'm here on business," Shades answered first.

"I came here once I realized Uzi here took out that hit guy from the capital." The other red-eye spoke up.

"We didn't expect a welcome like this," Naruto said as he glanced behind him at the full bar. "This can't be for us, could it?"

"You better believe it, man! All for you and the white-eye's victory!" Trench yelled before taking a long swig of his beer. His head came back down with his mouth ready to speak again. "I see you two lovebirds finally found each other!"

"That's so cool for you," Shades said as she leaned across the table and pinched Hinata on the cheek. "You cute little thing, you."

"Uh…" the duo simultaneously responded.

"C'mon!" Trench was in high spirits. "Drink more! This is a party, damnit!"

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After a few more hours of conversation with their increasingly intoxicated friends, Naruto and Hinata retired with spinning heads to the quarters set aside for them. Once again they were confined to a small bed, this time due to the large number of inhabitants in the structure. As the duo settled down in their familiar pattern of sleeping, the blue-haired woman felt a sudden urge to voice a concern of hers.

"Hey Naruto," she began, "There's something bothering me."

"What's up?" He asked, looking down at her and refocusing his eyes.

"I know you have the fox sealed inside you, but… is there anything else?"

He thought about this for a moment, his slightly inebriated gaze shifting all over the place in the process. "No. Why?"

She looked down so as not to betray her disappointment. "Is he lying?" She wondered. "If he is, then why would he hide it? But if he isn't… then what could be wrong?"

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by light breathing sounding off from above her. She looked up and saw that the object of her affection had nodded off. She decided his approach was best for the moment, so she pushed herself up, gave him a light kiss, and snuggled herself back inside his warm arms to embrace slumber.

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After sleeping for a while but having no memorable dreams, The Hyuuga opened her eyes and found herself, once again, in the dank prison of the nine-tailed fox. Per usual, she made her way to the cell of the demon and stopped short of it as it appeared to grudgingly welcome her, if one could call it welcoming.

"Why are you here again?" He asked with annoyance. "I'm starting to see more of you than I'd like…"

"How rude," she replied. "It's not like your going anywhere and I'm sure my company is more preferable compared to… those others."

The fox's head bobbed in a nod. "This is true. My tormentors…"

"Who?" called the thousands of screaming and hushed voices. "Has the demon fox decided to insult me?"

Hinata was startled; she didn't expect to hear the voices again. She turned to see the glossy yellow eyes glaring outwards from every possible shadow in the prison.

"It's not just you, you know," a chorus of varied voices that sounded bored spoke up in response to the first.

"Shut it you lazy bastard!" The first ensemble yelled in an arrogant tone. "The fox knows not to mess with us!"

"We're only supposed to discipline him when he gets out of line, Superbia," a third set of voices said. "But he sure does have a lot of freedom…" it added in a jealous tone.

"What I'd like to know is who this new girl is." The first 'voice' referred to the Hyuuga. "She must really think she's something compared to me!"

"Leave her alone!" commanded a feisty set of hushed whispers and fiery yells. "It's not our job to keep an eye on her." It redirected itself towards Hinata. "Did you bring anything with you?! Can I have it?!"

"Avaritia is right for once," a fourth feminine chorus spoke. "As much as we don't want to, we have to follow the master's orders." The voice seemed to move behind Hinata and stroke her gently across the back. "It's too bad," 'she' added in a seductive tone, "This girl is certainly… enticing…"

"Can we kill her?!" yelled a fifth series of whispers and screams that produced the most bitter, hateful voice the blue-haired woman had ever heard in her life.

"No Ira," the pathetic third voice answered. "Leave the pretty girl alone…" it trailed off and Hinata felt thousands of envious eyes staring at her.

"How 'bout eating her?!" yelled a deep boisterous sixth voice. "She looks tasty!"

"No, Gula," the second ensemble rebuked lazily. "You can't eat her…"

Hinata was desperately afraid of the arguing chorus of untold thousands. However, even through her fear she noticed that each voice, despite being made up of thousands of whispers and yells alike, had a distinct tone. Something even seemed familiar about each of them, although she couldn't put her finger on it. As soon as her terrified mind had logically separated the entities, the primal part of her brain took over and she backed against the fox's cage.

"You see what I have to deal with?" The nine-tailed demon animal said in what was his equivalent of a whisper. "I'd leave now before one of them looses it. If anything happened to you, they'd blame it on me…"

As if she considered the suggestion a command, The Hyuuga suddenly woke from the hellish scene.

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The chamber of the murderous ruler was as empty as it always was. Only the king and his 'advisor' Lorsvall occupied the room in silence, waiting for a certain individual to appear.

Itachi Uchiha had been offering his assistance only for a short time, but his constant updates on the location of Uzi had been accurate to the mark every time. His latest report, delivered mere minutes ago, told the tyrant king that the local rebel powerhouse was heading east to the strongholds of the vampires. Since the outlaw could not be intercepted before he reached his destination, a… special kind of soldier was needed for the job.

Said specialist entered the vast hall and marched attentively towards the throne. Upon reaching it, she saluted swiftly, her long wavy silver hair fluttering in response and her golden eyes regarding her master and commander with respect to his position.

"Silba," addressed Lorsvall, "At ease." She obeyed, her arm slamming to the side as she took a relaxed stance. The shadow continued with a grin, "First off, I should thank you for retrieving that sample from Hive City. Very impressive. It's very handy."

Silba did not respond to the sleezy gratitude. She simply stood her ground and regarded her commander with brilliant eyes.

"Because of your success, I feel as though I should reward you. Now tell me, what is it you want?"

"Sir," her soft voice spoke, its tone faltering to one of anger and resentment regarding the subject matter. "I wish to take revenge on Uzi!"

"And why is that?"

"Because he slaughtered my troops and…" her sentence trailed off as her facial features betrayed sadness. "He deserves to die for his crimes!"

"Excellent!" Of course, Lorsvall already knew of her wishes. "I am pleased to inform you that… others like you," the silver-haired woman perked up at that fact, "Are being assembled into a special unit for the sole purpose of hunting Uzi down in the vampires' homeland." She was unfazed at the mention of the supernatural creatures. "We are offering you leadership of this unit should you accept it."

"Yes, sir!" A look of fiery determination broke out on her face.

"Good, good!" Lorsvall lightly cheered her on. "Your squadron moves out soon. Please go join them in the barracks."

"Sir!" The golden-eyed woman clicked her boots together and saluted. She turned and swiftly exited the chamber, her buttoned tan overcoat fluttering slightly in her wake.

"Do you think she can handle it, my lord?" Lorsvall's phantom turned to the specter of his ruler.

He smiled. "Even if she can't, she will disrupt the outlaw's plans. All is well."


Well, there ya have it! I've named a few of the 'others' in the shadows of the fox's prison. You now (literally) have everything you need to piece together what the hell's going on regarding the fox and the voices by yourselves before I reveal it (I'm not joking, you really do!).

As for updates! I have a massive project due on Mon. that will take HOURS (mannnnnnnyyyyyyyy hours) to finish, so expect an unusual flux in chapters (aka: don't expect one a day, I have things to do). But you do have my word that I'll try to get y'all as much content as possible, time permitting.

C j00 l8r!