Naruto Ultimate Chapter 16: Entering The Realm of Pain, a naruto fanfic

Lord Pain: Finally we get to the next chapter! Soon I'll be free of the damn Chunin exams arc! And the readers will FINALLY learn a little about the Guardians of Pain! Right Sorrow? Hey, you jerk of a dead angel! Are you ignoring me? Fine then go with the disclaimer already...

(26 blinks in surprise then frowns at his boss before turning to the audience.)

26 Sorrow: If you've seen any of the other disclaimers you already know what I'm going to say... So just leave me alone...

Lord Pain: Okay... I think we stole this disclaimer from the last chapter or two but no matter, on with the show!

Naruto Ultimate...

Chapter 16...

One month to train! Raven Summoning Pact and Guardian of the Pain of Loss!

"Those who give themselves to pain... Can no longer play a mortals game... To no longer need a mortal name... To never have to feel a mortals pain... Yet still we live through this endless game... For this is it our greatest shame... That we gave up hope, and succumbed to pain..."

Poem of Pain, Verse 2... 26 Lord Pain...

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Talking "Yo"

Thinking 'Stupid Fox'

Demon/Summon/Madness Jutsu Talking "Grrr..."

Demon/Summon/Madness Jutsu Thinking 'Stupid Kit...'

Inner Self Talking/Spirit of Vengeance talking "CHAA!!!"

Jutsu "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Guardians of Pain "Now you will come with us Child..."

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(Konoha Hospital...)

Kisara sighed as she laid back in her hospital bed, a bored expression on her face clearly visible since the doctors forced her to remove her mask. What was surprising was that under her mask, where many expected to see scar's or some kind of disfigurement due to being Kakashi's daughter. What was under her mask however, was simply pale yet beautiful features she hid because it made her feel somewhat closer to her dad. When she was little he was always off on some mission so it was rare that she'd see him. So she started wearing the mask to be more like him...

"Hey Kisara!" Came Naruto's voice as he entered the room with a bouquet of flowers in one hand. Kisara smiled to the boy and he seemed to halt in his place looking at her strangely... "You... Your not wearing your mask..." The boy said in surprise and Kisara giggled to herself seeing the look on his face.

"So, I do have a face under it ya' know." She said with a smile and Naruto chuckled lightly, placing his flowers in a vase nearby.

"Sorry, just never seen you without it. Guess I'm just too used to it... Plus... Your hair looks different..." Naruto said and Kisara sighed and pushed the hair from her right eye only for it to fall into her face once more.

"Without my headband, my hair falls into my face... I'm used to it only covering one of my eyes..." She muttered annoyedly then smiled to Naruto again. "So whats happening outside?" The girl asked and Naruto sighed.

"Not much, I'm fighting Sasuke in the finals, then that Gaara kid..." Naruto said and Kisara grimaced to herself.

"That won't end well..." She said and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck then looked at her sheepishly.

"So, no hard feelings about beating you up... Right?" Naruto asked with a slightly worried grin while look to Kisara who just giggled to herself. She was in a black sleeveless midriff baring shirt with mesh under it, and black shorts her somewhat lack of natural attire was making the poor boy a little nervous around her. The rest of her normal ninja wear was folded and/or laid out on a chair nearby.

"Yeah, no hard feelings, though you can probably make it up to me later." Kisara said sweetly and Naruto blinked then tilted his head.

"Uh, sure, what would you like?" He asked and Kisara took a mock thoughtful look.

"A date." She said aloud and Naruto nodded his head to her.

"Oh a date..." He said then blinked and gawked at her making her giggle to herself. "Wait... A DATE!" He shouted and Kisara's giggles turned into laughter. Naruto just stared at her for a bit and soon Kisara calmed down and smiled to the red haired boy happily.

"Yep." She said simply with Naruto continuing to gawk at her in disbelief.

"What brought this on? I beat the hell out of you and you want a date? Are you a masochist or something?" Naruto questioned of the girl and Kisara rolled her eyes with a coy smile still planted over her face.

"Nooo... Actually, I've always thought you were cute, and you've been my best friend since we we're both really little. Not only that but you treat me like I'm a person and not some kind of commodity like most boy's would." Kisara said and Naruto still gawked at her. "Uh, you okay?" She asked and waved her hand in front of the red haired boy's face only to giggle seeing as he seemed like he was unable to move. 'Kisara... Thinks I'm cute... She wants to go on a date with ME... The hottest girl in our class wants to go on a date with ME!' Were the only thoughts going threw the poor red heads mind as it went into temporary shutdown mode...

"Wow, not even been on our date or had a kiss yet and he's already speechless." Kisara said then snickered to herself, just as she was about to speak again, Kakashi walked into the room and blinked. "Oh hey Tousan..." Kisara said and Kakashi looked at the still dumbstruck Naruto.

"Whats with him?" The silver haired Jounin asked and Kisara whistled innocently.

"Nothing." She offered and Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Right... Tell the truth this time." The man stated and Kisara huffed.

"Oh alright. He wanted to know if he could do anything to make up for beating me in the exams. I said he could take me on a date and he pretty mush stopped moving..." She stated and Kakashi was silent for a few moments...

"Oh is that all. I was afraid it was something bad." Kakashi said with a shrug then looked to the flowers on the desk. "From him?" He questioned pointing to the still out of it Naruto and Kisara nodded her head yes. "Hmm... I suppose I could have worse son in laws..." Kakashi mused with a smirk on under his mask while Kisara's face heated up.

"Tousan! I'm just going on a date with him! Not getting married!" Kisara shouted and Naruto suddenly moved.

"Married! What do you mean married!" He shouted then looked around and saw a snickering Kakashi and blushing Kisara. "What I miss?" He asked looking around and his sensei eye smiled.

"Oh nothing much. Just talking to Kisara about your little date..." Kakashi said and Naruto blushed also. "Oh before I forget Naruto, It looks like I'm going to be training Sasuke for the finals." Kakashi said and Naruto sighed.

"Yeah, I figured as much... Hopefully I can get Nissan to help me train a little..." Naruto said and Kakashi nodded his own head.

"Now that thats out of the way, I'd like to talk about this date your taking my daughter on..." Kakashi said with his eye's looking at Naruto darkly, an evil glint in his eyes. "I have only one rule for when you court my precious little girl..." Kakashi said stone serious and Naruto nodded his head slowly looking slightly fearful of what the man would say... "If you get in late, try not to wake me up..." He said and got up leaving Kisara to blush realizing what he was talking about.

"DADDY I'M NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL!!!" Kisara shouted towards Kakashi's retreating and snickering form loving to play with the kids heads. Besides, he trusted his daughter, and he knew Naruto wasn't a pervert or lech like he was... So he wouldn't threaten the poor boy... This time at least... Back in the room Kisara was blushing furiously while Naruto just gawked...

"Your dad is weird..." He said simply and Kisara huffed and nodded her head in agreement. "But when should I take you on that date?" Naruto asked and Kisara blinked then smiled.

"Not sure... I'll let you know when though... Don't need you worrying about making everything perfect when you need to be training for your match." Kisara stated and Naruto nodded his head, arms behind his back. "Oh, and don't do anything really outrages on our date Naruto. Something simple will work just fine." The girl said and Naruto nodded his head and then walked out with a thoughtful look on his face, heading home...

(Naruto's home/ Nindo Hotel...)

Naruto walked into his home and his eye's widened in shock. The place looked brand new, the wall's were finally clean, the sealing had no holes in it, the floor was covered in a nice new carpet, basically the inside was no longer a mess! "Whoa... Niisan's been busy..." Naruto whispered to himself then saw Sable walking from a hall, Crow's usual goggles on his own head instead... "Why are you wearing those?" Naruto questioned and the black clad ninja looked at him.

"I like them..." He said with a shrug and walked over to a desk and started to dig around.

"What are you doing?" Naruto questioned and Sable sighed.

"I'm looking for the registry book, Master Iyoku wants me to make sure it's ready when all those feudal lords and such want to find rooms. He went into overdrive fixing up the place, just so we could "Milk a good cash cow" without waiting for the next exam in Konoha." Sable explained while pulling a book from the desk and laying it out, he then walked into a storage room and moved a chair behind the desk and sat down.

"So he's made you manager or something like that?" Naruto questioned and Sable nodded his head to the boy. "Why?" Naruto asked confused with the logic and Sable shrugged his shoulders.

"Haku's our medical worker, Zabuza's is always going on missions, Luna, Setsuka, and Tira are our maids, Master is cooking, so we basically needed me to be the one to manage who gets what room..." Sable said and Naruto raised a brow in confusion.

"Who the hell are Setsuka and Tira?" He questioned and Sable flinched beneath his mask.

"Shit... Wasn't supposed to mention them..." He muttered to himself quietly. "Well, Setsuka's one of Master's original students, and Tira is another of his servants..." Sable offered and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"Then why don't I know them?" He asked and Sable gulped but was saved by Crow as he answered from a hallway.

"Because it was on a need to know basis... And now you know." Crow offered and Naruto turned only to raise a brow seeing the new attire his brother was wearing.

His headband was changed too now have two horns coming off the sides and pointing backwards, two pads coming down from it over his cheeks, the same black shirt he had before with his mask still on, and the same mirror he found in the forest around his upper chest. Armored gloves with his gauntlet 'Madness' on his Left arm, Dark Seed hanging on his back its eye closed, a pair of black leather shoulder pads with straps around his chest and back to hold them on. His blue sash remained only now he had black leather armor on his hips with a weapon pouch at the small of his back, black shorts that go below his knees, a kunai case on his right thigh, black leather armor on his shins, with his normal black and blue sandals.

"Uh... Crow... Whats with the new look?" Naruto questioned and his brother looked at himself and then at Naruto and shrugged.

"Felt like a change was in order..." The teen replied then walked over to Sable who flinched under his masters gaze. "You can go help Luna with making the rooms presentable..." He said simply and Sable let out a relieved breath and walked off. "Now then, I'm sure you have some questions Naruto, so fire away..." Crow said and Naruto nodded his head.

"Yeah, whose Tira?" He asked and Crow pointed to a girl walking out of a hall whistling a tune with her ring blade slung over one shoulder and the bloody head of some animal in hand... "Uhhh... Whats wrong with her?" Naruto asked and Crow sighed.

"She's crazy, bi-polar... And likes to kill things..." Crow said and Naruto winced.

"Yikes... Not a good combination huh Niisan?" Naruto asked and Crow shook his head. "Okay, then whose Setsuka?" Naruto questioned and Crow sighed.

"My first apprentice, she's asleep at the moment or I'd introduce you properly. However she was very tired after I went and brought her to the village..." Crow explained and Naruto made an O with his mouth and looked around.

"How did you finish the place so quickly?" He asked and Crow smirked.

"My Jigokugan." The boy said and Naruto raised a brow as he looked at his brother.

"Jigokugan?" He questioned and Crow chuckled.

"Blood Cross Eye is too... Long and annoying to say. So I decided for Jigokuugan (Hells Eye) instead." The boy explained and Naruto frowned but didn't make a comment on the name. "But enough about that, what can I help you with Ototou?" The teen asked and Naruto blushed.

"Well... Besides needing training for the Chunin Exam finals... Kisara asked me for a date after the finals..." He said and Crow grinned widely.

"HA! Now that is a good idea, you really need to get out more, and she's like the cutest girl in your age group... Well... She and Hinata... Maybe Ino... But you get my point. Good job!" Crow said giving a thumbs up and Naruto gave him a strange look.

"Uh... yeah... Problem is I have no idea what to do with Kisara on a date... I mean, most places won't even let me in, so how am I gonna take her someplace nice?" Naruto questioned making Crow chuckle.

"You won't." He said and Naruto let out a sigh. "Instead, I'd say bring her here and make dinner yourself." The teen said and Naruto raised a brow. "You know how to cook right?" Crow questioned and Naruto nodded his head. "It's more romantic to make a girl dinner yourself, not to mention we could clear the place out or find you a... Private... Room for your special evening." Crow suggested and Naruto smiled.

"Sounds good... But we're not doing anything perverted so get that out of your head Niisan..." Naruto said thoughtfully then stated and Crow sighed to himself looking disappointed.

"Can't blame me for trying..." Crow said and Naruto smirked.

"Wanna bet..." he said and Crow chuckled to himself.

"Oh alright. But as for your training, I think we should head over to the bath houses. I know a guy who'd be perfect for the job." Crow said and Naruto blinked and remembered the note from Axel.

"Oh right, Niisan, do you have my family Summoning Contract?" The red head asked and Crow blinked and took a thoughtful look before nodding his head.

"So thats why mom had it... Yes I do." Crow muttered to himself then told the boy who grinned.

"Cool. Then we need to stop by some other places on the way to the hot springs. My clan scrolls are being held by some friends." Naruto said while turning to the door and Crow shrugged, grabbed something from a desk and then shouted at Sable to come get back to the main room while he was out.

Later found Naruto and Crow going around the village, gathering the scrolls from the people who had been holding them. Mister Ichiraku was all too happy to help, and while it took some coaxing, getting the one from Tenten's dad was a bit more troublesome as they had to actually show him the Kamigan, however after he did, the man told him he'd need some grieves if he wanted to fully utilize the Uzumaki clan style, which Naruto would have to buy later seeing as Crow didn't want to waist too much time at the weapons shop. Naruto figured it was because he didn't want to spend money when he could make a pair easily enough.

And getting the last one from the old Hokage was the most annoying part. Seeing as the old man had said for him to master all the family Taijutsu before trying to learn the family Jutsu's. "I still can't figure out why you want us to go to the bath houses... What kind of teacher would be hanging around at a place like this..." Naruto mumbled while Crow had the five scrolls, which included the one from himself and the Onikage of course, all of which were tied to a rope and hanging off his back.

"Like I said there's a man here that could help train you... Thats why..." Crow said with a bored tone and looking off into the distance before eye smiling. "Ahhh... The bath houses... Good times..." Crow said with a nod to himself and Naruto frowned looking at him with a glare.

"How do you even have Fan girls? Your the most perverted guy in all of Konoha!" He asked then exclaimed and Crow shrugged.

"Really, it's because of the fact they think I'm cute, and really strong, kinda like Tira who wants to ravage me in my sleep or something... What... Konoha Girls may all look hot but almost all of them are really just superficial..." Crow said and Naruto blinked then glared at him angrily. "I said most... Kisara and the clan girls aren't... Save Haruno... she's just a bitch..." He said then added as an after thought and Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"Got me there... Though Sakura isn't THAT bad..." He said as they entered the bath houses and looked around. "So where is this guy?" Naruto questioned and Crow's eye's widened as he lunged forward and knelled.

"Jiraiya-Sama!" He said as he knelled behind the man who turned.

"Huh?" An old man with long spiky white haired pulled back asked, red tear like marks coming down his face, a horned Hittai-ate with the Kanji for oil on his head. He wore a mesh body suit under green robes, green plates on the back of each fist, a long red vest over top it, wooden sandals, and a large scroll was tied to his back. The man turned around and grinned seeing Crow before slapping him on the back.

"Hey Crow! Long time! Nice seeing ya again!" The man exclaimed then both looked around while Naruto wondered what the hell they were doing... "No angry girls here. So what brings you to the hot springs today, more research?" Jiraiya said lowly then asked with a grin and Crow shook his head then looked around and pulled a scroll from somewhere on his person.

"Info on some really cute girls..." He said simply and handed it to a grinning Jiraiya who put the scroll into his vest. "But I'm really here because the Sandaime sent us here to train. He said there was a teacher around here to help me with Naruto." Crow said and Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a frown before cupping his chin in thought.

"Is he like us?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto finally remembered why Jiraiya sounded familiar!

"Wait a minute! Your the bastard Perv who made Niisan more of a pervert!" Naruto shouted and Jiraiya frowned.

"I'm not just any old Perv boy! I'm A MEGA PERV!!!" Jiraiya said then exclaimed while striking a pose and suddenly Crow had a little orange book out while Naruto gapped at them both. "Hey are you even listening to me Crow!" The Sannin questioned and Crow blinked then looked at him boredly.

"You say something?" He questioned in a Kakashi type style and both Naruto and Jiraiya fell over backwards while the boy put his orange book somewhere in his sash. "Now then Jiraiya-Sama, this is Naruto Uzumaki, Minato's son..." Crow said and Jiraiya sat up to look at Naruto thoughtfully.

"Really now, thats Minato's kid..." Jiraiya said looking at the red head who flinched with a slight pained look thinking of what had become of his father...

"Um-hm... And I was bringing him here because I couldn't think of anyone better to train him that the man who trained the Legendary Fourth Hokage himself..." Crow said while inwardly chuckling as he stroked the Sannin's ego to get what he wanted.

"Well of course! No one is greater than I, the great Gama Sage Jiraiya himself! Legendary for winning the hearts of ladies from all over the world!!" Jiraiya exclaimed and Naruto growled at him angrily still hating most perverts... Crow wasn't included because he controlled himself to looking and not touching like Some perverts couldn't seem to help...

"Shut up pervert... Niisan why do I have to train under this Ero Sannin?" Naruto questioned and Jiraiya balked at him and looked at him angrily.

"Oh yeah, and I suppose you know someone better suited to teach you huh?" Jiraiya questioned with his arms crossed and Naruto nodded glaring into the spiky white haired mans eyes.

"Well Niisan has been teaching me since I was six, I bet I can learn more from him than you!" Naruto stated and Crow cleared his throat and the two turned to him.

"Actually Naruto, I'm going to help Hinata a little more. You're more than strong enough to take down most enemies. But your gonna need to sign your Summoning Contract and learn your family Jutsu. Jiraiya may be the worlds biggest pervert, but he's also a great teacher and he's better suited to teach you than I am..." Crow said while thinking of his plans for the future, and the gift he was working on in the basement...

"Alright... But I don't like it. So whats my summon anyways?" Naruto said then asked and both men spoke at the same exact time.

"Crows/Toads..." After which the two blinked and glared at one another heatedly.

"What do you mean Toads? Sorry Jiraiya-Sama, but Crow's could kick their slimy asses any day of the week." Crow stated with his arms crossed and Jiraiya growled.

"No way! Toads are the greatest, they can crush any foe, besides his father used toads!" Jiraiya exclaimed and Crow felt a vein bulge in his forehead.

"But Crows are his family's Summon!" Crow stated and then both looked to the red head who sweat dropped seeing the intense looks they were giving him...

"Alright Ototou, looks like your gonna have to pick between the coolness of the Crow summons..." Crow said then Jiraiya came in to push Crow out of the way.

"Or the sheer size, power, and usefulness of the Toads Summons!" Jiraiya exclaimed and Crow and he both glared at one another while Naruto took a thoughtful look, eyes closed in thought as he wondered about each contracts ups and downs...

"What Element does each use? And what kind of abilities?" He asked and Crow sighed.

"Crow's are Wind and Metal users. They can use their wings to create massive gusts of gale like winds that can even make a hurricane. If they have metal feathers, they can be heated with Dark Fire to make flaming projectiles and some have four wings so they can fly and throw Feather Shuriken at the same time... If they have another body part made of metal they can use that more effectively to attack by cutting or stabbing an enemy... Obviously they can fly and make great scouts and spy's, also being useful for travel over water..." Crow explained and Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Toads are Water and Earth Summons. The toad contract gives you some exclusive Jutsu like being able to make a large swamp to engulf the enemy. Or summon the stomach of the great mountain toad to devour them! Or even have them shoot out balls of water or oil which you can set on fire! Toads are also generally more combat oriented than some bird brained crows." Jiraiya stated and Crow glared at him for the shot at his favorite animal and primary summon.

"Okay... What ups and downs do Crows and Toads have?" Naruto questioned and Crow sighed.

"In order to summon Crows, you have to face the darkest part of yourself, you have to confront your deepest inner most fears and doubts and beat them back into the darkness forever. However once done the Crows grant you a special weapon like my Murasame and if your an Uzumaki I here they awaken the true form of Vengeance, making him even more powerful and useful in combat." Crow explained then smirked smugly towards Jiraiya.

"Oh brother! With Toads you can instantly summon the smaller summons. They can carry you around if their the medium sized ones like my own and they sometimes even have weapons to use against enemies! Only the boss needs a test unlike those picky Crows! But Bunta ain't no fool, his test's are always supper hard, and if you manage to pass he'll make you his subordinate!" Jiraiya exclaimed loudly and Naruto frowned...

"I'm going with the Crows..." He deadpanned and Crow made a victory sign with his hand and grinned at the sulking Jiraiya who muttered something intelligible.

"Alright Ototou, just prick your finger and sign your name on this Scroll, then add a little chakra too it so they recognize your signiture." Crow said unraveling the largest of the Uzumaki clan scrolls to show a long list of names, with Iyoku Onizuka being the last name below Kushina Uzumaki... Naruto looked sadly to his mother name for a few seconds and wondered what she was like... Naruto shook his head as he then bit his thumb and wrote his own name down on the scroll and applied some chakra to it.

"Now what?" Naruto asked as Crow rolled the scroll up and placed it with the other Uzumaki Clan scrolls.

"Now bite your finger and follow these seals..." Crow said and then bit his own finger, slowly showing Naruto the seals. "Then you add some chakra, try to use as much as possible but retaining some in your reserves..." Crow said before placing his hands on the ground a seal of some kind appearing beneath his hands. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He called out and a large plume of smoke appeared as the same black bird he summoned to fight Orochimaru appeared behind him, its four wings folded and its eyes trained on Naruto who gawked.

"Cool..." He said and Jiraiya muttered something about Toads still being better. "So then... I follow these seals..." Naruto muttered to himself forming the seals he had watched Crow use and then placed his hand onto the Ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He exclaimed and in a puff of smoke they all looked down and Jiraiya snickered while Crow backed away slowly his summon doing the same and Naruto frowning.

The "Crow" Naruto summoned was actually a Raven, it was approximately ten inches long from Tail tip to beak, and twelve inches tall from its talons to its head. With four blood red eyes and no other visible feature, the individual feathers were all indistinguishable from the beak or the talons as the whole damn bird was just solid black save its eyes... "Damn, whys mine so much smaller than Niisan's?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya knelled down and grinned at the bird.

"See, with the amount of chakra you just used to summon this puny little thing, You could have summoned a massive..." Before Jiraiya could finish the "Puny" Raven flew into the air and beat its wings once, the winds that came off them however were strong enough to send Jiraiya flying into the steaming waters of the Hot springs only to jump out screaming about how hot it was while Naruto gawked.

"Who's puny now..." Came the monotone drawl of a female's voice and Naruto looked at the Raven with a dumbfounded expression. "You the new summoner?" It asked and he nodded with a jerking movement as the Raven then flew towards him and landed on his shoulder. "Okay... An Uzumaki... Good, I was getting sick of that pervert Iyoku anyways... My names Branwen, Mother of most of the other Crows and Ravens... Save my mate Negrado and a few others..." Branwen said and Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Your that guy's mom... But your so..." Naruto said looking to the large bird behind Crow and Branwen nodded her head and sighed.

"Small? I get that a lot... Let me slip into a more comfortable form and I'll explain about the test you'll have to take to become our true summoner." Branwen said then flew into the air and spin into a black twister, soon the twister stopped, and where Branwen had been, was now a beautiful woman.

She had pale alabaster skin, with full lips colored the deepest red possible, her eye's were like twin pools of blood with thin black lines trailing down her cheeks like ebony tears. Her long black hair had some black feathers weaved into it almost like they were coming off her head. She wore a long black cloak with a skull broach that held ruby eyes, some feather coming off the shoulders of the cloak, much like her hair seemed almost like they were apart of it. She wore a black shirt, with a black leather corset that had silver trimming in the shape of thorny vines, thigh high black boots with three inch metal spiked heels, a pair of long black fingerless gloves with silver bracelets that had rubies in them also, feather coming off the back of the bracelets up her arm. Her finger and toenails were painted dark red near black liker her lips, with a short skirt over her hips and a jewel encrusted chain belt with dark rubies in it also...

"OH MY GOD!! I WANT THE CROW CONTRACT NOW!!!"Jiraiya shouted seeing the girl a perverted glint in his eyes and Branwen frowned and folded her arms over her well endowed chest.

"Karasu, please get rid of him for me..." Branwen asked and the only other Crow in the area nodded its head to its mother and flew into the air with two of its wings, then began throwing metal feathers with it's extra set towards and now screaming Jiraiya. "I hate perverts..." Branwen said with a frown even as Naruto continued to gawk at her

"How did you turn into a human?" Naruto questioned and Branwen simply looked at the boy.

"Thats easy enough to do, I WAS Human once... At least I was a long time ago..." Branwen said with a pained tone and Naruto blinked looking at her sadly.

"Sorry." He offered and Branwen shrugged.

"Your not the first to ask, you definitely won't be the last... I'm used to it..." She said and Naruto sighed looking at the ground. "Still, thats not why I'm here. I'm here to give you your test... Well... Sort of... The Test actually takes place in a world called the "Eternal Plain" better known as the "Realm of Pain"..." Branwen said and Naruto's eye's widened.

"Uh uh, no way! I'm not going anywhere NEAR that place! I already had to deal with three of those immortal sons of bitches! I'm not taking them ALL on at once!" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes and Branwen raised a delicate brow then sighed.

"Sorry, but as soon as you summoned me you had to. Plus, as luck would have it their not immortal in their own world..." Branwen offered and Naruto gave her a what the fuck look on his face. "Yeah, turns out that their only "Immortal" so long as someone suffers from their pain. Which in a world like this one, is pretty much assured, in their world Pain no longer exists for them. So their actually no more powerful than a normal human there..." Branwen explained with a smirk and Naruto could only gawk at her.

"So let me get this straight... They feed off of Pain, in order to become more powerful in the mortal world... Right?" He asked and Branwen nodded. "But in their own world, their no more dangerous than any other humans... Right?" He asked and Branwen took a thoughtful look...

"Yes and No... Lord Pain himself is more powerful than anyone else in that Realm... But thats because of the fact that he's the "Devil of Pain" created by Kami for some reason or another..." Branwen said her arms crossed and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Alright, so their boss isn't affected by the rules of his world, figures, but what I want to know is can I KILL them in that world?" Naruto questioned and Branwen placed a hand on her chin in thought while Karasu landed behind her and pecked at her check. The woman lifted hand and pet Karasu on the side of his head, the bird making a soft sound as she did.

"Yes your a good boy for helping... Yes you can go home now... And yes you can kill them Naruto... It's just harder to kill a G.O.P. than it is to kill a normal human..." Branwen said first to Karasu, then to Naruto as the bird vanished in a plume of smoke. Before Naruto was to speak again Branwen glared at the retreating figure of Crow and snarled. "Move one more Inch Lech and I personally castrate you with a rusty kunai..." Came her deadly voice and Crow stiffened before turning to look at her and chuckled nervously before sitting down with a sullen look.

"You don't have to threaten me you know..." Crow grumbled and Branwen narrowed her eyes on the boy.

"Maybe, and you could have given Naruto this Contract a long time ago... Why the wait? We told you we're the Uzumaki clan Summon when your mother let you sign..." Branwen stated and Crow looked at her with an annoyed look.

"I was six... How the hell am I supposed to remember what the hell you told me?" He questioned and Branwen managed a sheepish look.

"Point Taken... I won't hurt you then. But make Naruto some grieves right this instant. It's bad enough he probably doesn't know how to use his clan style, he will need them for this test if I know those bastard guardians..." Branwen said then ordered and Crow looked around and shrugged. "Use these..." Branwen said with a sigh, tossing some feathers at Crow that hit the ground with a clinking sound. Crow mumbled about bossy Bird-Bitches but then concentrated Chakra to his eyes activating the Jigokugan's first state and looked at the feathers then clapped his hands together his eyes changing to the second state, he then placed them on the ground and quickly switched them to the third state allowing him to change the feathers into a pair of grieves.

These were like his gauntlets in that the three frontal more deadly blades were inside of thick red plating that would sit on the top of his foot. Another obsidian colored blade was located at the back of his foot that was shaped like a half moon with thick red plating there, with black armor plating covering the sides of the grieves to protect the feet but leaving the sole bare to keep traction up. "Hey, those match my gauntlets..." Naruto said surprised and heard Vulpina in his head saying something about that being obvious making him frown.

"Of course they do, if they didn't you would look silly wearing them..." Crow told the red head and Naruto growled angrily.

"Enough about fashion... Got enough of that from my best friend when I was human..." Branwen ordered then muttered to herself annoyedly. Crow shrugged and scooted the Grieves over to Naruto and the boy muttered something intelligible while pulling them on over his sandals. Naruto then focused some chakra to the Grieves and the obsidian blades from the front came out, looking like three claws just like the blades in his gauntlets, only with the middle blade longer and thicker than the two on the sides. "Now then Naruto, your test begins now, it's simple really, you go into the Realm of Pain and face the fear and doubt in your heart... Then we strengthen Vengeance and you get a little tougher... Yeah..." Branwen said while sounding less than enthused and then started forming hand seals and placed one onto the ground. "Netherworld Gate, Open !" She called out and a black vortex appeared and pulled Naruto in, then closed and Branwen let out a sigh.

"So... What now?" Crow asked and Branwen smirked looking at him evilly. "Aw shit." Crow muttered to himself and jumped to his feet and ran, Branwen smirking as she turned back into a raven and flew after him...

Naruto groaned in pain as he sat up rubbing a bump on his head with a grimace. "Thats the last time I let myself get pulled into weird portals..." He muttered to himself then opened one eye only to open the other in surprise. "Oh my god..." Naruto said softly while getting up to his feet and looking around his mouth slightly agape and eyes widening in horror.

The place he found himself in was beyond abnormal, the land was broken up into small patches floating around the vast expanse of an near endless void of black and purple fog or shadows of some kind. The ground itself was a dark brown color, near to black but just lacking, with gray stone pathways that stretched until the end of each mass of land, dead trees that were white and curved, skeletons and still rotting corpses hanging from their branches. The bushes were mostly thorns of some kind, with flesh hanging off some of them with blood seeming to sustain them instead of water, much like the trees. Naruto turned around with a grimace, and wished he hadn't when he saw the home of the Guardians of Pain looked like itself, at least what he could only guess was their home...

It was a massive village, hence it was no doubt Garandougakure, The Village hidden in the void... Naruto nearly groaned when he realized that they had been literal when they named the place. However even that wouldn't prepare a person for the way this village looked. There were numerous towers surrounding the village, resting upon their own mass of land each, the towers were made of obsidian it seemed, with white marble columns resting around the base of the towers and forming a door on each, a twisted window being the only signs that it had any other color, the windows each having a horrific depiction of some form of torture. At the top of each of these towers was a chain however, each chain made of the blackest metal Naruto had ever seen that stretched to the center of the Village, with other chains forming a circle at point to connect them all like a spider's web where they finally drooped down into the large building in the center of the Village.

An enormous Colosseum of some sort near the center in place of a Kage-tower. The Colosseum was made like the towers, being of primarily black obsidian but this had white marble columns lining the doors, and windows, one on each side instead of surrounding the base of it. Then hanging from pedestals of the Colosseum were ghastly statues depicting tortures no man, woman nor child should ever have to face. The buildings of this horrid place were far worse off than those of what Naruto guessed belonged to each individual Guardian of Pain. They were all burnt, or from what Naruto could make out, in pieces, some even having an impossibly twisted and gruesome design.

While Naruto continued to look at the place with a horrified fascination a cawing sound brought him back to reality while a black bird landed on his shoulders. Its beak and talons were made of black steel, with soft black feathers and two luminescent green eyes. "Who might you be?" Naruto questioned while reaching up and petting the bed only to hear a voice in his head. "Azreal?" He questioned and the bird nodded its head once and he heard something in his head once more. "Your named after the Angel of Death?" Naruto questioned and Azreal nodded his head to the red head once more... "Your mom has a thing for the Gothic and morbid huh?" Naruto asked and Azrael nodded his head to the boy then looked over to "Garandougakure" and flew into the air. "Hey, wait up!" Naruto shouted and ran after the bird.

The Crow flew into the village, passed a large gate that had two statues carved from obsidian that looked like fallen angels, their wings made only from bone and grizzly wounds visible on them. Naruto grimaced just passing them then felt his eye's widen as he looked around the world of the Guardians of Pain a little more closely. All in all it wouldn't seem like much, but now Naruto could see that several of the doors on these buildings had a name, not the first name but a surname for some reason, almost like...

"They hold Family dishonor an' shame..." Came a voice and Naruto skidded to a halt Azrael flying down to land on his shoulder. Naruto looked around for the voice then jumped back when something appeared from the darkness of his own shadow. The being was wrapped entirely by black leather bands, with it's entire right arm and some of the shoulder and neck, were covered by black ice, a pair of Kunai embedded in its back directly at the shoulder blades. His posture was somewhat slouched, his arms hanging down farther than they should, with his head tilted to one side.

"What the hell..." Naruto wondered seeing as he felt like he knew this person, the sense of Deja-Vu starting to creep him out. "Who are you?" Naruto questioned and the person looked at Azrael which cawed at him angrily.

"This one has no name... We are simply called Number 10 the pain of Loneliness..." The GOP said simply and Naruto shook, this one he knew a little too well... "You Uzumaki..." The GOP stated and Naruto nodded his head warily, not quite trusting this pain. "You head to tower of Loss... Loss you first test... Then Hope... Last is this one..." Loneliness said simply then pointed to the Sixth Tower on the left of the entrance. "Go now... We fight soon enough... Then you die..." Loneliness said then dropped back into the shadows leaving Naruto to look at the tower he had pointed to...

"Well... That was creepy... But... I might as well check it out..." Naruto said more to himself than anything then ran towards the tower, Azrael taking flight as he did and following the young red haired boy. As Naruto came closer to the building he started to notice that some of the houses had chains, barbed wire, or other such things covering them, making Naruto wonder exactly what they did... He shook his head of that thought however and continued on towards the tower. When he reached it he grimaced as the depiction above the door showed someone being devoured by darkness.

"Pain of Loss... Figures..." He muttered to himself and walked into the tower and looked around only to see a vast tower with numerous stairs. "Great, not only do I have to fight this thing, but they expect me to walk all the way here, then walk all the way up this damn tower... Who built this damn place?" Naruto wondered with an annoyed scowl but walked towards the stair anyways only to step back as the air cracked around him and eight Hell-Dancers jumped from the air and twisted their bodies into an unknown beat. "Hmm... So then, I've got to deal with you guys, fight the Pains of Loss, Loneliness, and Hope, all in order to summon the Crows?" Naruto wondered and felt his eye twitch. "Damn toads are starting to sound better by the second!" He growled forcing the claw like blades on his Gauntlets and Grieves to unlock as he crouched. "Okay then, show me what you skull heads can really do!" Naruto shouted and lunged towards the Hell-Dancers.

Naruto rolled under the dance like strikes of the first few Hell Dancer's then kicked one in the lower jaw, making it smash the disk in it's mouth and turn to dust as he flipped backwards and dropped down to sweep the feet of any nearby Hell-Dancers. However the beast's jumped away from him in time and then lunged at him striking out at him with their sharp hands. Naruto cursed and jumped over one of the Dancers then brought his foot down smashing another's head in and crushing its own disk. Just as one was coming at him from behind Naruto lifted his hand, smashing the disk in its mouth with an annoyed look on his face as the five remaining Dancers all swayed towards him and made the red head smirk. "You guys really don't know when to quit huh?" Naruto quipped dryly and leaned back as another Dancer tried to swipe him and he unlocked the blades in the front of his grieves and gauntlets while he then went into a rolling flip kick that smashed the disk in its mouth.

Naruto then ducked under another Dancer's strike and cursed as another started that damn spinning attack from the side and he had to roll out of the way. The boy grunted as his right shoulder was pierced from behind and the boy elbowed the one behind him with his gauntlets reversed blade. Naruto then spun on his heel and slammed his fist into the disk in his mouth, the bladed claws of his gauntlets shattering the disk and leaving only three Hell-Dancers for the boy to deal with. Naruto smirked to himself but grimaced as the cut in his shoulder ached, that is until Volpina's Chakra came and started it's healing process. "Thanks Vol..." The boy thought to the fox living in his stomach.

"No problem." The girl answered as Naruto leaned back to avoid a sharp hand from one of the Hell-Dancers then side kicked it in the face smashing its own disk. The boy then jumped over another and ducked when the other tried to slice him from the front. The red haired boy then flipped up and punched the Hell-Dancer in the stomach, then punched the Dancer in the chin smashing the disk in its mouth as it like its brethren fell turning back into sand. Naruto then turned one eye to look at the last Hell-Dancer and raised a brow as it started to bulge. "What the fuck..." Naruto said softly to himself as then the Hell-Dancer's skin started to stretch it head also changing.

The skull like head turned pitch black, with two deep red jewels now resting in its skull and violet carvings throughout its skeletal body. The Disk in its mouth seemed to spin then vanished, reappearing on its back and stretching into some kind of obsidian body armor that only covered its upper torso and had glowing violet carvings in it. The cloth it had been wearing before had now stretched the hood covering the back of the creatures skull and trailing down its arms and back. With its skin seeming to have melted away and new strip's of cloth wrapped around its forearms and shins. Its feet and hands were too long to be normal, with tight bands wrapped around them forming sharp blades out of its own bony limbs.(1)

"What the fuck is that..." Naruto wondered as the creature then started to stretch once more before lowering down on all fours and letting out a long moaning sound as a dark mist began to surround the transformed Hell-Dancer. Before Naruto could ponder what was going on the creature jumped up above Naruto and climbed the wall before vanishing into a dark mist. "Okay... What just happened?" Naruto questioned and he heard Vulpina pipe in her two scents.

"I think that what just happened is that particular Hell-Dancer just changed into the second stage of its life cycle..." The Hell fox explained and Naruto raised a brow in confusion.

"Uhh... Life Cycle?" The boy questioned and Vulpina sighed.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting that you wouldn't know about that. Basically a Hell Type Demon of this breed has a Life Cycle. Hell-Dancer's change into what you just saw, a Hell-Abyss. Hell-Blade's turn into Hell-Knight's. Hell-Raiser's change into Hell-Shaman's. Supposedly there's even a final stage of life for them beyond that but it's either rare or never happened before... But I suggest we find this Guardian and get out of here, this world creeps me out..." Vulpina said and Naruto smirked as he could almost feel her shiver.

"Alright, but I wonder if that Hell-Abyss thing will show up again..." Naruto wondered aloud and then heard Vulpina shout at him. "Alright I'm going, sheesh..." Naruto muttered and walked around the room, then Azrael flew in and up to a lever up above the stained glass window and pushed down with his body weight. The lever came down and with it several stone slabs began to move out of their positions in the tower and formed a stairway that went up into the tower and Naruto blinked. "Man... Who made this place?" He wondered and then shook his head and walked to the stairs, Azrael flying down to land on his shoulders as he ascended the stairway.

The young man soon found out that while the tower was large, the climb to the top was surprisingly short, not even a single Hell of any kind popping out of nowhere, nor any of the Guardians themselves coming out from the shadows... "This is weird..." Naruto said to himself and Azrael said something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth. "Maybe, but wouldn't they have attacked by now? I mean they DID chase me around the Forest of Death after all..." Naruto countered and the bird told him that it was better nothing happens rather than something bad happening. Naruto let out a breath and nodded his head, crossing his arms as he came out into a strange room, the whole thing illuminated thanks to a massive hole in the side, old beams looking ready to cave in on themselves barely held the roof up, and what looked like claw marks lined the walls and floor...

Then Naruto saw a small hole in the wall, with what looked like a makeshift bed, in it was a simple black orb with several black chains wrapped around it. Naruto would have ignored it had not Azrael flew over to the orb and pecked it with his beak. "You want me to take it?" The red head asked and the Crow nodded his head yes. "Well okay, but shouldn't we be looking out for this Guardian of Loss?" Naruto questioned while walking to the hole in the wall and reaching down to take hold of the orb only to feel a strange pulling sensation until total darkness filled his vision...

(Flashback...)

A man with long Silver hair stood over the barren wasteland of the Eternal Plane. He moved his pain filled eye's over the land's and lowered his head bloody tears falling down his cheeks as he placed a serrated sword into the dirt. "I have failed... I couldn't obey him..." He muttered pitifully and then looked around the empty world silently. "I'm all alone now..." He said and then touched a gaping wound on the left side of his chest and placed a hand on it. "But I won't be for long..." The pain filled voice drawled as he grimaced, pushing his hand into the wound and taking out his own rib, then reaching for his serrated blade and chopping his ponytail off.

He wrapped the hair around the rib and placed it onto the ground, his black blood oozing from the wound on his chest to drip onto the rib and hair. The person then muttered to himself incoherently and placed a hand onto the blood, hair, and bone. Power seeped from his hand, into the pieces of his own body and slowly the blood bubbled, the hair spiraling with the blood while the bone stretched out. Soon the blood changed shape, becoming Darkness, the hair darkened into some form of leather robes, and the bones formed a figure hidden in the deeps of the robes, face and body hidden by the robes.

The man looked silently at his creation and took an old spiked plate from his bloodstained armor and placed it onto this new beings right shoulder. He then took some black leather manacles and placed them over the wrist's of the robed figure, then a pair over its hidden ankles, and finally he placed a black leather collar within the darkness of the new beings hood and the figure glowed with a pitch black aura for a few seconds before jerking its body and sitting up. The creature looked around then too the figure which created it and it bowed, getting on its hands and knee's.

"Master... I live to serve you... Command me, and I shall obey..." The feminine voice of the creature came and th first figure placed a bandaged hand on what was probably female from the voice.

"You are the first..." He said softly rising up to his feet and bringing the girl with him and looked at her with pained eyes. "You are the first Guardian of Pain... To symbolize all that I have lost... You are my Pain of Loss..." The figure said and then looked around the empty void around him. "Soon, more will come Loss... Soon... neither of us will be alone..." The being said and "Loss" looked at her master from within her robes awaiting for his first command...

(End Flashback...)

Naruto dropped the orb to the ground after the vision faded and panted slightly. "So thats where Loss came from..." He muttered to himself then heard a mirthless chuckle and looked around to see a figure wrapped in tight leather bands, easily showing the feminine figure hidden beneath. Although she had a white, blood stained shoulder guard on her right shoulder with spikes coming off it, that being the only difference to the other Guardians in their "Sealed" state as he figured it was seeing as you couldn't see anything of her face or skin.

"Why do you invade my home... And my memories?" The melodious yet whisper like voice of the Guardian came and Naruto frowned.

"I didn't mean too, Azrael wanted me to take that thing..." Naruto stated and Loss looked at the Crow which was now sitting on one of the beams of the nearly collapsed wall. The Guardian was silent for a short while, simply looking at the bird, then raising her hand from the side as a massive Serrated Zanbatou appeared in her hand as she effortlessly slung it over one shoulder the Hilt of the blade shaped like some form of dragon biting the base of the blade, its tail making the handle and pommel... "Oh shit..." Naruto said gawking while Loss cracked her neck loosening the muscles there before popping the knuckles of her left fist and moving her legs into a crouch as she slung her blade's handle into both hands.

"Shall we dance Child of the Crow?" The Ancient Guardian quipped softly and Naruto frowned slightly, the blades unlocking from his Gauntlets and Grieves as he did while the Guardian simply tightened her grip on her own weapon of choice. Azrael looked onto the two with his glowing green eyes trained on the two watching silently. Naruto crouched as Loss moved forward with amazing Speed and Grace considering the amount the sword she was wielding must weigh. Naruto flipped back as that same sword was swung only to crack the floor beneath them with its weight and the girls strength. The boy landed on his feet as the ground shook, Loss spinning into a swing, and Naruto backpedaled away from her attack as she then slid into a crouch.

Naruto frowned at the Guardian then lunged forward swinging his own blades at Loss, but she vanished into the shadows and reappeared behind the boy who ducked when she tried to take his head off. Naruto then spun around and swung his own blade's but Loss used the massive blade of her "Saw" shaped weapon to block even as it pushed her back slightly. It didn't deter her as she then crouched into a pose with one leg extended farther than the other and the blade of her sword pointed at her side. Naruto didn't get to wonder what she was doing as she then slashed the massive blade along the ground sending a wave of dirt and rock towards the boy.

Naruto cursed to himself as he flipped and dodged the pieces of rock, a few of the smaller one's managing to hit him. It was then that Loss appeared and swung her blade, nailing Naruto in the back and the boy gritted his teeth and yelled out as he was flung from the sword and regretted that the damn blade was dull yet hurt like hell when it connected. Naruto got back to his feet and locked his blade's back into place, then let his chains coil down and he ran at the Guardian with a roar, swinging the chains towards her and she evaded the first, but Naruto spun and flung the second, catching the blade of her strange "Saw-Sword" and pulled her in only for him to smash his head into her own knocking her back from him stumbling slightly.

The Black clad girl then lunged forward once more, only she vanished right before she would have slashed Naruto and reappeared behind the boy who jumped up evading the Saw-Sword as he spun, lashing out with his chains and catching one of her arms with the obsidian links of metal. Naruto pulled himself towards the girl and kneed her in the face, knocking her off balance as he smacked the Saw-Sword out of her hand and to clatter onto the ground someways into the darkness of the room. "Impressive for a Child... But still... Now I will fight with my true power..." Came Loss' voice as she then started to glow and Naruto crouched into a fighting stance while her Leather bands began unraveling and revealing her true form...

-----------------------------------------------N---------------------------------------------

TBC...

Next time on Naruto Ultimate!

The Realm of Pain unleashed!

Facing The Guardians of Loss, Hope, and Loneliness!!

Current Guest Characters...

Link: Master Sword and Hylian Shield...

Vincent Valentine: Cerberus...

Authors note...

Hope you injoyed the chapter, sorry for the cliffie but don't worry, next chapter holds secrets and surprises for everyone. Here are the names for the crows seen thus far...

Branwen: Welsh for "Fair Raven" thought it was appropriate for her...

Karasu: Japanese means Crow, but also can be translated to Raven...

Azreal: The Angel of Death, Nuff said...

Negrado: Literally means "The Crow"...

(1)

Bingo Book Record:

File Number: 121-666

Name: Hell Abyss

Type: Mid-Class Demon

Threat: (Multiple: )

Element: Shadows

Synopsis: One more of the Lesser known "Hell" series of Demons. A Hell-Abyss is a step up from the usual Hell-Dancer. Capable of more coherent thought a Hell-Abyss is strengthened in the ability to use it's demonic Energy, taking away the weakness of the disk located in its mouth as it forms into a chest plate of some kind. The primary attack of a Hell-Abyss, is to appear and disappear through the shadows around them, then attack with the knife like blades their skeletal hands have formed into. While not as numerous as a Hell-Dancer, and less simple to control, a Hell-Abyss makes things easier for larger Demons by always challenging and thus weakening other Demons...