Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

43. Land of Demons Arc - Demon Hunting

NARUTO

Drifting

Demon Hunting

Later that morning…

Elsewhere…

For some parts of the continent, the concept of peace was a far gone conclusion. This was because the shinobi charged with the protection and security of their homelands were currently caught up in a war against an army that was fast marching across their borders unimpeded, destroying everything in their path and clearing across lands and villages with every meter they covered. The future of the defenders' world and the lives of their families rested on those shinobi that'd been dispatched to guard their borders and to stop the stone army from encroaching any further upon their soil.

However, in a lot of other places, the lands remained quiet and untouched by the chaos and turmoil of war. This was made especially so in the country known for having the largest river of the five great nations flowing through it. With a village sitting on its banks on both sides, flanking the main highway leading across the enormous bridge, which could be seen for miles, the people here were experiencing a long and prosperous tranquility amongst themselves. Thanks to all the changes and improvements that had been made to their lifestyles in recent years, you would think that there was no war going on for them.

For now, the Land of Great River remained completely out of reach of Moryu's army.

But, in one particular spot, an enemy still lurked well inside of its borders.

Sitting on the edge directly in the center of the colossal structure crossing over the impressive tributary, taking in all the sights and sounds of the surrounding countryside, a cloaked figure was making himself right at home. With slicked back silver hair, purple eyes, and wearing a black, hooded coat with red trim underneath, purple sandals, and carrying an enormous red scythe with three blades on it, former member of the Akatsuki and mass murderer Hidan could be seen glaring out across the waterway while at the same time munching on a stick of delicious dango.

Looking even more miserable than he normally would due to the multitude of stitched up scars crisscrossing his body and face, making him look like some sort of Frankenstein masterpiece, the man sat with his legs dangling over the side while quietly contemplating over what his next mission would be. Having been stationed here for a couple of weeks now with nothing much to do except wait, his concerns were justified as he was eager to get into some action and start killing people. But knowing who his boss was and what he would do to him if he stepped out of line, the man was obligated to wait until he received details of his next assignment.

Finishing up his last kebab, the man grunted and tossed it over the side, watching it fall the many stories down to the base of the former Mugen River Dam and vanishing into the rushing water far below. "Fuck… I can't take this suspense any more. I need to do something soon … otherwise I just might have to take out my frustrations on the people living in this fine place."

Oh yeah. He was pissed alright. Not only was he involving himself with this group against his own will on account of the shit they'd done to him, he was also being forced to wait on them and play along with their little games. Surely something good was bound to happen to him sometime.

But of course, all good things came to those who waited and sure enough, Hidan's patience was rewarded by a messenger hawk suddenly swooping down from the stratosphere above to land beside him. Blinking at the sight of the bird, the silver haired man reached over and took the scroll it had tied to its leg, before letting it go free and opening it up.

Reading the information that sprung up the second he accessed its contents, the scarred immortal made sure to drink in everything inscribed upon the document. Upon getting a good bead of the instructions as well as the details regarding his next job, a smirk then pulled across his lips before he rolled the thing shut. Pocketing the scroll, he then stood up and stretched, groaning loudly towards the sky while rolling his neck exhaustedly, "It's about fucking time. Any longer and my ass would've started to chafe." Upon working out the kinks in his frame, Hidan then turned heel and began making his way in the direction he was supposed to go. Following the mental compass he had instilled inside of his cranium, the man made haste for the west, where he knew all of the fun was taking place, "Time to go hunt and kill me some shinobi."

Though that wasn't what his mission was instructing him to do, the man still had high hopes about killing somebody on this trip. He couldn't wait.

After several minutes and eventually getting to the other end of the bridge, the rogue shinobi then stopped and looked up. When his gaze fell upon the archway that served as both the access and exit point to this edifice, he saw the name of the structure emblazoned in bold text above him, letting him know the significance of the landmark he'd just been sitting on. Narrowing his eyes, Hidan read, 'The Naruto Uzumaki Big Bridge', which was the title this fine marker had been christened with.

Rolling the name around in his head a few times and allowing it to slide off of his tongue, the former Akatsuki member tilted his head and murmured, "Huh… where have I heard that name before?" Unable to wrap his mind around it and unable to comprehend the importance of that name, Hidan eventually gave up and continued onwards, following the highway out of the village and away from the country.

In a few words, his leaving ensured the continued safety and well-being of the entire village, and the lives of those within it.

Even so, as he continued to march away, he couldn't help but wonder where he'd heard that name before.

Naruto Uzumaki?

It just kept clawing at the back of his head in the most irritating way possible. Weird.

OOO

Meanwhile…

Back in the Land of Demons…

Naruto had to admit, the soldiers of this fortress castle were really incredible people.

Following the intrusion of the Gang of Four and their eventual defeat at the hands of the Konoha shinobi, survivors of the raid quickly went about collecting the wounded they had scattered across the area and cleaning up the courtyard from all the chaos that had ensued. What astonished the jinchuriki the most as the villagers and soldiers on station were fixing things up was that those that'd been wounded during the attack were also helping in moving the dead as well as the rubble. Even when racked by serious injury, they were still willing to help out wherever they could, all for the sake of their priestess. That was steadfast dedication if the blonde ever saw it.

Hell, they even disposed of the bodies of the enemies, being extra certain to toss them onto a fire to ensure that they were actually dead. Since one of them had had the top half of their cranium chopped off and the other had his cut into quarters, they were absolutely certain that there was no way in hell that they would be coming back.

Anyway, once the injured were cycled out with a new regiment of soldiers, all of whom immediately got to work repairing the damages, Naruto was called up to the priestess's main chamber to meet up with the woman he would be escorting. With the hectic events that had been the morning assault done away with, the blonde could now focus on getting on with his assignment and that meant starting from square one; officially meeting the person who was going to be under his charge of charge.

Having suffered no injury or exhaustion during his battle whatsoever, the jinchuriki was pretty much set for a long journey ahead. With the plans he had, he was sure this wouldn't take him very long.

While sitting casually in the main hall at the foot of the stairs leading up to Shion's throne, the Jonin watched on with vested curiosity as Taruho gave a low bow and the veil curtain concealing the seat from view was raised. When it finally lifted, it revealed a beautifully dressed princess, complete with crown and shrine maiden like robes of a unique design, kneeling at the top of the platform with her eyes closed. It was truly an impressive sight, especially since the throne room itself was so extravagant and the cliff and waterfall the palace was constructed next to was sitting right outside.

Apparently somebody in this place had a really keen eye for details.

"Allow me to present Lady Shion: Priestess of the Land of Demons and the ruler of our people," Taruho announced, eyes closed as he slowly pushed himself up from the floor.

Still sitting casually in his place, gazing up at the blonde haired young woman with his best friend Swift perched comfortably on his shoulder, the jinchuriki and leader of this mission nodded in approval and saluted, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki: Jonin of Konohagakure and chief advisor to Princess Koyuki Kazahana of Yuki no Kuni." He was proud of that epithet. For sure. Getting a job as the right-hand guy and attendant of the country's ruler certainly had its benefits, aside from the excellent pay, connections to the movie industry, and opportunities for travel.

He also got another title to attach to his name… and that was always great.

Wanting to make nice, the blonde greeted the young priestess in the usual, Naruto Uzumaki manner, "How's it hangin'?" and sent a beaming grin her way. However, when all he got in return was a twitching eyebrow in response to his smile trying to worm its way through her defenses, the jinchuriki soon dispensed of the effort and pulled back. "I've come to escort the young lady to the sealing shrine. I hope that won't be a problem."

"No. Not at all. We're more than happy to accept the services of our allies from the east, especially the hidden leaf," Taruho replied, looking towards the spiky haired Jonin and momentarily drawing his gaze. "Your reputation precedes you, Naruto Uzumaki. I hear your name gets passed around quite a bit inside of the smaller countries and even more around the great five. Most impressive."

"Ah, shucks," Naruto replied with a bashful grin before turning his attention back to the priestess in front of him. "That stuff's all just a bonus. What really matters is what I'm able to bring to the table to make sure the mission is successfully completed." He then nodded his head towards the young woman, "I'm… very sorry for your losses. Those were some really good men out there. They fought bravely against a really tough enemy and fell to the might of their blades. My deepest respects and wishes go out with them."

Taruho smiled at the boy's admission of deference to those that had passed and straightened up, "We lost many good people in that assault… friends, comrades, and brothers. Just as Shion foretold, my dear friend Susuki also perished in the midst of that battle, as he gave his life to protect her from the devils that attempted to trespass upon our soil."

To the blonde, hearing this about a man whose skills revolved primarily around close combat and archery with very little to no chakra involved whatever, was an admirable thing indeed.

However, his moment of expressing high esteem toward this great man Susuki was spoiled when the princess, still seated up high on her podium, decided to speak.

"Naturally…"

This very word had Naruto's thoughts stop and his eyes lock firmly on the woman at the apex of the stairs.

"But as you can see, I still breathe. I'm sure they shoulder no regret."

Gaze widening and reflecting a sense of shock, the jinchuriki then narrowed his brow and rested his knuckles against the floorboards in front of him. Closing his lids and taking a deep breath to compose himself, the young male then looked back up toward the teenager above them and forced a smile.

"Umm… pardon me, hime, but… I think I may have misheard you there," the blonde spoke in an unnervingly calm voice, "Did… you just say…"

"It was exactly as you heard, Uzumaki-san," the young woman continued, cutting the blonde off and closing her eyes evenly, "Those men died for a fair and noble cause. They should feel proud at the opportunity to have been able to lay down their lives for me. There's nothing more that needs to be said."

CRACK!

Gaze turned downwards, Naruto didn't even register to the fact that he'd literally shoved his fist into the floor and split the entire chamber from end to end out of suppressed anger. Needless to say, his sudden and violent reaction had Shion and Taruho look at him in shock, before the boy exhaled steadily and rose to his feet. Pulling his fist out of the hole, he then leapt forward and landed in front of the princess, taking her by the scruff of her robes and yanking her up so that her stunned gaze met his stone cold one in a shocking confrontation.

"You've got some nerve," the blonde male hissed as he glared down at the arrogant flower with outrage burning in his eyes, "All those people out there… they gave their lives for you and you shrug them off like they were nothing? Who the hell do you think you are?" It was painfully obvious that Naruto did not like what this girl had just said.

Not only did she shake off the sacrifices of all of those brave souls that'd attempted to fight of those four shinobi, but she also said it in such a way that it almost made the blond want to throw up. The manner in which she spoke and the way she disregarded the lives of those men outside was like stomping on a loved one's ashes. What kind of person spoke like that about others, especially about the people who defended them?

Shaking the girl and causing the bell pinned to her robes to fall free, Naruto's actions prompted Taruho to rise to his feet in alarm and approach the podium in concern for his priestess's safety. However, while the Jonin continued to hold the girl at point, Shion's eyes shimmered in surprise as the blonde shinobi's face resonated with one of her memories.

It was a vision she'd seen quite recently; one of a man with the exact same bearing standing against a powerful force inside of a distant fortress. The flashes of battle crossing her line of sight in montage, she then watched the boy keel by the helm of the flying city, before it went up in a brilliant explosion that lit up the entire sky.

The memory replayed inside of her head several times over, before the man holding her by the collar shook her again and snapped her out of her reverie.

"Well? Say something."

Expression calming as she stared back at the Jonin from her recollections, Shion remained quietly where she was being held for a good long minute. Eventually, the stillness of the moment was broken by the priestess, who said something that had the jinchuriki freeze in place.

"You're going to die."

Jerking back slightly, Naruto continued to stare straight down at her, while at the same time spotting Taruho's expression change through his peripherals. Upon processing her words and giving her face a good look over to make sure she wasn't playing games with him, he then decided to chase up on her no nonsense visage and frowned.

"Excuse me, but… do you mind repeating that?"

The girl blinked. "You're going-"

"Yes?"

"You're going to-"

"Uh-huh?"

"You're going to di-"

"Speak up please. I don't think the people on the other side of the room can hear you." Completely disregarding the fact that there were only three people in the room; himself included.

An irritable exhale from the princess soon followed, "You're going to die!" Shion said, loud and clear, finally managing to get her message across in spite of the insufferable blonde's constant attempts to disrupt her. With her proclamation made, she then saw the Jonin's expression switch and her own visage calm in the wake of his stubbornness. "There will be a war, many moons from now, and in it you will fight a great battle, win, and perish inside of an exploding fortress above the planet."

Immediately after that, a deathly silence fell…

OOO

Meeting with the priestess Shion and having an up-close encounter with her personality had left Naruto in a bit of a sour mood. After managing to storm out of the chamber without breaking any doors on the way out, the young Jonin eventually ended up waiting in one of the many rooms in the palace specifically reserved for clients moving in to do business with her worshipfulness. From his place over by the window and frame, Naruto could hear the waterfall outside crashing away into the meditation pool, which helped him to calm his irritable nature in the wake of his meeting and realign all of his priorities.

Honestly, the last time he'd met someone with problems of that kind had been two years ago, and Koyuki was doing just fine now.

In fact, she was doing better than fine. The snow princess was generous, kind, thoughtful, beautiful, and if he dare say so himself, she was incredibly fond of him too.

Perhaps a little too fond to call them acquaintances.

Thoughts of her actually brought a smile back to the jinchuriki's face.

Naruto's meditation leading up to the beginning of his mission however was short-lived, as he was shortly interrupted by the arrival of Taruho. The Jonin acknowledged the man when he entered his temporary quarters and dropped down to his knees in front of him. His actions had the blonde step off of his post to give the guard captain a proper reception, one that he wished to return in kind. Upon seeing the man's greeting, the jinchuriki pretty much guessed why he was here and what he had to say, which had him chuckle in amusement.

"Geez. I've met some hard boiled eggs in my time, but she just takes the cake," Naruto remarked, massaging the back of his head uneasily. "That's the first time in a while since I've actually gotten mad at someone."

"I hope you will forgive her, Naruto-san," the glasses-wearing officer spoke, at the same time rising from the carpet with his hands placed upon his lap. "Lady Shion often sees visions of other people's deaths."

This piece of info had the blonde glance up curiously. "Visions?"

"But you shouldn't let something like this worry you. It'll only upset the mission."

Staring back at the man on the ground for a moment or so, Naruto then nodded and looked away, arms still folded as he set his eyes on the waterfall outside. "Oh, so… she always gets it wrong then, huh?"

"No," Taruho replied with a solemn shake of his head, "So far, she's been a hundred percent accurate."

"Well, there you go," Naruto sighed, stretching his arms out and moving across the room, "Just a bunch of hooey. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bleed the lizard." He then disappeared round the corner to the chamber lavatory.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?!" Naruto roared while his head shot back into view.

"In some cases, the actual deaths of the people she envisions are only off by a second or two," Taruho replied, despite how morbid it sounded. As the closest bodyguard to the high priestess and her most loyal servant, he was obviously willing to give up his life at a moment's notice. The jinchuriki on the other hand was not. He was still new to this setting after all. "But in the end, Lady Shion's foretelling has always been correct."

Gawking in abject shock for the next few seconds in silence, the Jonin then slumped where he was leaning against the wall frame and groaned, "Well… that fucking sucks."

"It's been nice knowing yah, gaki," the familiar, booming voice laced with an air of self importance, belonging to a thoroughly amused Kurama spoke up from inside the blonde's mind, letting him know that it wasn't just Taruho that was lending an ear to his grievances. "Be sure to collect the bill on the way out."

Bristling, Naruto then punched himself in his rock hard abs and retorted, "Fuck off, furball! You're not helping!" Seething at the rim as he heard the fox cackle away safely behind the confines of his cage, the blonde turned his attention back to the Captain of the Guard, who was staring across at him oddly for his sudden break in attention. The shinobi made sure to give his host his full and undivided focus once he'd managed to reestablish his bearings and continued, "So… you're saying that these visions of hers are the genuine article?"

The glasses wearing individual nodded, "Yes."

"And she actually foretells people's deaths?"

"Correct."

Shaking his head and breathing out a long sigh, the boy ran his hand through his spiky locks before leaning against the side wall and knocking his fist against it a couple of times. Clicking his tongue thoughtfully, a very cynical chuckle then came from him and he closed his eyes, "Man, just when you think life can't get any better, the universe drops a massive roadblock to try and throw you off the path. Looks like I'm going to need some serious firepower to clear this one up."

Taruho smiled, "I'm surprised. You seem to be taking this news quite well."

"Heh, I've crossed paths with death before," Naruto replied with a careless wave, before holding up his hand to look down at his palm. "Considering the amount of times I've spent in his company… you might even say that we're casual acquaintances."

This drew a light laugh from the man still kneeling in the middle of the room, "I can't imagine what kind of life you must have lived to view death as any sort of companion of yours."

"Oh, you have no idea…"

OOO

Getting a bit of cheering up from his one-on-one meeting with Taruho, despite the fact he was still contesting with the news of his impending doom, Naruto was then instructed to wait while the captain readied a contingent of his forces for their mission. Despite the potential danger of the assignment and the enemies they were expected to encounter on it, the ever humble and loyal officer was insistent on taking more men with them to help to help in protecting the priestess. While the jinchuriki would have been more than happy to have an extra platoon of shinobi with him, the troops Taruho had in mind were just regular army soldiers.

No matter how good their intentions were and how strong their hearts held out for their beloved leader, they were still regular troops. Based on what Naruto garnered from the job details as well as judged from his battle with the Gang of Four earlier that day, this situation went above and beyond what the regular forces could possibly dish out.

This was an assignment specifically tailored for shinobi and nobody else.

It was a good thing Naruto could function as a one-man-army, so this mission was right up his alley.

Still…

"Dying from an explosion inside of a flying city above the planet's surface," Naruto murmured, shaking his head as he lay there on the floor of his room, his katana and small orange backpack lying next to him, and his hands resting comfortably behind his cranium, "I gotta say… there are worse ways for a person like me to die."

The grunt of the resident inside of his stomach resounded in the back of the jinchuriki's head, making it clear that he wasn't just talking to himself, "If I wasn't stuck behind these irons bars right now, I would slap you upside the head."

"What? Don't tell me you're starting to feel worried about me, Kurama," Naruto spoke, scrunching his face up in surprise. "That's so unlike you."

"Well, you may not have realized this by now kid, but after all these years of spending time talking with you and working together on the field, I've actually grown to appreciate your company," the Kyuubi responded while still lying comfortably on the floor with his chin resting on his arms. Tails waving behind him in a magnificent display of gargantuan size and stature, the orange, fur-covered beast breathed a heavy sigh and rolled his head to rest it on the other cheek, "Counting the number of people I've met in the past hundred years and the cells I've been stuck in, you're by far the best prison warden I've had so far."

"Thanks. I still can't believe some of the places the villagers put you in while they were cycling you through contenders in the jinchuriki system," Naruto murmured, at the same time absently scratching his stomach, "I mean… chained to a giant ball of chakra while suspended inside of a seemingly endless void? That's fucking harsh, man."

"Tell me about it. Not to mention the seal of that particular one was of your mother's own design. She fashioned it from Mito's previous model… though in that one I was held down to the floor by enormous tori and not by enormous stakes bound by chains," the fox replied with a careless swing of his tail, "Since this was before I had my other half sealed away by your old man, I was even stronger back then compared to how I am right now. Those seals were double-standard… enough to keep even a handful of the other tailed beasts in check."

Expression changing to convey a sense that he was impressed Naruto then kicked a leg up and propped it on top of his knee. Bouncing it in place, he then took a moment to think before speaking again. "Well, one way or another, life still finds a way to screw you over."

"No shit. But I don't see how any of your past misgivings would make you want to try and find a bright side behind all this. You know; the whole future-death thing and going down in flames and glory."

"Look I'm just saying that if you're eventually going to go out, then at least make your exit from the stage memorable. The last time I nearly kicked the bucket, I got a spear made out of crystal shoved through my chest after changing the shape of two thirds of an entire island. The time before that I was strung up between two trees by some crazy, Cursed Seal powered chick and her body-splitting, cross-dressing teammates like some new-art masterpiece… and the time before that I got rained on by a fucking lightning storm during the Chunin Exams."

"And your point?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely fucking grateful to be alive and kicking ass right now. I live life like every day would be my last; I eat my vegetables, bathe every night and appreciate all the little things the universe has created for us. But if you're eventually going to meet your maker sometime in the forseeable future, then wouldn't you rather come barreling in through the front doors of his office in a ball of flames, striking the most awesome victory pose ever… or come lumbering in with a kunai shoved through your stomach and a miserable look on your face?"

"Well… only you would care about useless things like that. I'm kind of impartial to the whole concept of death."

Naruto snorted at that, "Yeah. You're an enormous, all-powerful, nine-tailed immortal fox and I'm just a poor, sack-of-flesh human-being with a ridiculously long life-span and massive chakra reserves. But still, you've been in the position of death a few times before, so you should understand a little bit of where I'm coming from."

"Only a couple of times, brat… and yes, that does count the time you got impaled through the chest and nailed to the sand by that blue-haired chick on that island." Kurama then murmured thoughtfully and looked up through the gates of his seal again. "I guess you've got a point. 'Going down swinging' kind of is your motto."

"Never giving up is my motto. Going down swinging is my worst case scenario," Naruto replied before cracking a smile. "Considering what I know about you already, lying around and not giving a shit is yours."

"Damn straight," the Kyuubi snorted, closing his eyes and adjusting his head's position across his arms. "So… you're not worried about the prediction at all?"

"Not in the slightest," Naruto said, closing his eyes as well and grinning brightly. "Nothing is set in stone in this world. Eventually you're going to end up hitting a curb in the road ahead of you that'll throw all of your perceptions of reality into question and render all absolutes null and void. Hell, facts and figures can only give you so much when you're up against the wall and fighting to stay alive. I believe that in order to make the best with what you've got, all you have to do, is make the right choices… and keep moving forward."

"Hmph, yet another motto you so honestly live by," the giant fox remarked while rolling the words around on his tongue a few times. "You really are a persistent bastard."

"Takes one to know one."

"Ah, touché."

"All the same, it makes me wonder how a guy like you can respawn every time you're killed. I don't get it. Is there some kind of trick to it or is it just a built in feature to being a chakra entity?" Naruto asked curiously, wondering how the tailed beasts were able to come back to life after being put down. In the blonde's mind, when you died that was sort of it for you. There's no turning back… unless there was something outside of the equation that managed to bring you back after biting the bullet. However, there seemed to be something more as to how the biju did as opposed to some of the other would-be miracles that existed in their plain of reality.

The fox gave a light chuckle at his host's inquiry, "That's a story for another time, kid. All I can really say right now is that thanks to the way I was born into this world and where I originated from, my existence has been made a fixed constant in this plain of reality. I'm sure you've heard the stories…"

"Yeah. About you being the harbinger of disaster, a force of nature, and an anomaly that pops up wherever human's hatred has accumulated in vast quantities. Ero-Sennin made sure to use a lot of big words in his lectures, particularly the ones regarding you," Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Consider myself flattered then," Kurama replied with a casual twitch to his ear, "However, I wouldn't go so far as to consider us biju immortal. There's no such thing as absolute immortality. There are ways to kill us off permanently… but too few of those exist in the hands of humans. Since we're demons as well as entities composed entirely out of chakra, you should be able to see why it's so hard to destroy any of our kind. This Moryu character is exactly the same as us, if not worse… only we know that the key to his permanent demise lies in the chakra of the priestess."

"An Achilles heel, huh?"

"Everyone's got one… even you."

"Heh. Hey, maybe Shion's stuff could work on you too, furball. Who knows, if I was to pit you two against each other in a one on one fight, there's a good chance even someone as ordinary as her could kick your ass."

"Oh, please. Like I'm scared of some little girl and her magical chakra," the fox responded while rolling his eyes at the absurdity of the idea. However, the fox couldn't help but spare a moment of thought to the priestess's abilities, as well as question his immortality's limits in the possible face of them.

It was enough to give him a long moment of pause.

Instead of pressing the issue, since he sensed the giant fox was a bit hesitant, Naruto just gave a laugh and rolled his back into the floor to massage a particularly itchy spot, "Be careful. There's always a first time for everything, Kurama."

Chuckling a little at the jinchuriki's teasing jab, the Kyuubi then paused in mid conversation for a moment before looking back through the bars to where he knew the blonde was conversing with him. "By the way… why did you let those other two nuisances go?" Fair question, seeing as how they'd identified themselves as the enemy and were out for the life of the priestess. Those Gang of Four characters were a wild bunch, no question. "They were dead in your sights back there. You could have easily killed them like you did their comrades, yet you chose to spare them. So why'd you let them off the hook?"

Pondering on it for a moment due to the significance of the inquiry, Naruto shut his eyes and let out a murmur. "I didn't just do it out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness or for my own conscience's sake. If I'd have killed all four of them in that courtyard, I'd have been branded a pretty fucking terrible person. There's no doubt about that. But that's not the only reason I spared them." He then opened his gaze and fixed it on the ceiling once more, where a smile then crept onto his cheeks, "I have a few bird friends keeping an eye on them and chasing the pair back to where their boss is hiding."

"Oh?" the Kyuubi muttered before his eyes flashed with realization, "Ooh… you mean…"

"Yeah. Moryu still hasn't regained his physical body yet. That means he's still stuck inside of another vessel, which is probably doing everything he can to stay out of sight. I need to find out how many more men he has working for him, if any, flush them out and, by extension, I also need to find out where the boss is so I can keep track of him. When I do, if the situation becomes worse, I'll be able to intercept him and kill him myself if necessary, and those two goons will lead me straight to him."

He loved being able to talk to animals. They were such a good medium to have when you wanted to find something out there in the wilderness.

"I see," Kurama murmured to himself, before his brow crinkled in thought and he fixed his gaze back on the jinchuriki, "That's really taking your mission one step further, isn't it?"

"If all else fails, it's always good to have a backup plan," Naruto replied. If he could kill the head honcho helping Moryu, he could at the very least prevent the demon's spirit from returning to its original body and stop the world from falling into war. By also eliminating every single one of the subordinates working under him, he could also prevent a third coming from occurring.

A smart shinobi doesn't kill recklessly. The blonde knew he needed to find out as much about the situation as possible, even if it meant sacrificing a few pawns by giving away some of his abilities to the survivors.

The skills he displayed back in the courtyard were only the tip of the iceberg. He had plenty more tricks up his sleeve to fall back on if necessary.

"And… what happens if you can't find Moryu's carrier and the two decide to change course?"

"Then… if those two goons come back to finish things off with me, then I'll kill them myself." Getting comfortable and preparing to continue the conversation for a little while longer until it was time for him to hit the road, the blonde was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts by a shadow of a person falling over his face. Cracking an eye open to see what was blocking out the light, he saw the blonde haired priestess herself standing over him. Blinking at the odd look he was getting from her, the jinchuriki gave her a grin, "Yo!"

"Who are you talking to?" the priestess asked, at the same time looking him over strangely.

Naruto took a moment to notice that the princess was no longer dressed in her shrine maiden robes or crown. Instead, she was now wearing a bra-like white top, an open, mustard-yellow jacket that looked a few sizes too big for her, and red baggy pants. Her uniform left her barefoot and meant that a bit of her skin was showing and from his position, the jinchuriki noted how gorgeous she actually was.

It also helped that her legs were as smooth as silk, her stomach was taut and her chest was quite ample for her age. These were big pluses for someone of her position, though the blonde personally would have preferred if her personality were a bit more cheerful, kind, and matching of her appearance.

"Oh, I'm just… talking to myself," Naruto replied following his quick survey, standing up and turning toward the girl with a smile, "It's something I usually do before a mission. It helps to settle my nerves." He then started limbering up by doing a few squats and stretches, going through the motions while continuing to give the priestess his friendliest of smiles. However, unlike with other girls, his normally charming exterior didn't seem to be working on this one from the way she was glaring at him. A real challenge indeed and one that Naruto was eager to test, "You should give it a try too… you know… before confronting Moryu and all that."

Scrunching her face up at the odd pre-mission exercises the young man was going through, Shion then shook her head before smirking at him, "You seem awfully calm for someone who's just been told they're going to die sometime in the near future. For the soldiers working under me I can understand… but for an outsider…"

"Hey, I'm always calm. Well… not in the normal sense, but… you know what, let's just say I'm always positive," Naruto replied, returning to a normal standing position and placing his hands on his hips. "How can you expect to do the impossible if you're not positive? Besides, I don't believe in all of that fortune telling stuff being concrete anyway. Fate doesn't exist in my books."

"Well, it does in mine," Shion replied while stepping toward the boy, poking him in the chest and prompting him to act like a rocking horse, which had her smirk in amusement, "And whether you want to believe me or not, I saw you die. No matter how much you try to fight it, you can't escape death."

Naruto looked back at her confidently, "Nobody can escape death. It's a fact of life, your worshipfulness." He then wordlessly flicked the sword lying on the ground next to him into the air with his foot and caught it with one hand, before hooking it under the belt at his side. After adjusting it, he smiled toward his host, "But that doesn't mean I can't kick his ass when he tries to come after me. The future isn't written yet, so there's always a chance we can change it. Now, seeing as how we're both ready and waiting to go, why don't we skip the small talk and crack on?"

Staring back at him defiantly, the blonde haired priestess huffed, stuck her nose in the air and turned heel, "You're such a stubborn fool." She then began walking for the exit. "Okay then, hidden leaf shinobi… let's go."

Watching the priestess exit round the corner, Naruto stood in place for a few more seconds before shaking his head and collecting up his bag. Once he'd slipped it on, he grunted and moved for the door as well, "Heh. I can see where this mission is going." From the sarcasm laced in his voice, you could tell he was experiencing his own moment of clairvoyance.

Hopefully this won't turn out like his previous job with Koyuki. That one had been a real shot to the shins.

Following the woman through the hallways of her castle, at the same time avoiding any guards that happened to be walking around, the pair of them eventually made it down to ground level. However, instead of heading towards the front of the castle where the courtyards were, the blonde haired priestess led the jinchuriki toward the back. Figuring Taruho or his priestess client had a plan, Naruto just followed after her silently, shouldering both his bag and katana at the same time as they moved in step for the gates.

"So… I'm going to assume nobody else is coming along with us?"

"I specifically requested a small team from the hidden leaf to be sent for this mission," Shion replied haughtily with her eyes closed, not even bothering to dignify the blonde with a glance. "Any more than three would likely draw attention to us and I'd rather not rely on my soldiers to protect me on such an important quest. They would more than likely slow me down."

While Naruto could agree with that last part, he didn't like how the woman was speaking so condescendingly about her loyal troops. It had him frown distastefully when they eventually arrived at the gates leading to the next yard over. "You really don't have faith in the people that serve you, do you?"

"Hmph. Hardly," the priestess replied, waiting for the blonde to unlatch the doors and open them for her, which he did, "I have absolute confidence in my subordinates to do everything in their power to protect me. After all, you've seen their commitment to their work… so you should know how much I can depend on them for their services."

Scowling in disgust at the young girl but choosing not to voice his opinion due to the fact that he'd just started his mission, Naruto begrudgingly allowed her through into the yard behind the gate, only to realize then they were out near the waterfall again. Wordlessly closing the doors in their wake, the boy moved to walk beside the priestess again and watched her approach the spring, "Isn't this like, a dead end? What gives?"

"This waterfall is where I purify myself," Shion informed, eyes still closed as she moved forward, "It also hides an escape route."

"Oh," Naruto murmured and stopping in his tracks. Staring up at the towering pillar of cascading water for a second or two longer, the blonde then smirked and brought his hands forward. He popped his fingers when he stretched them out and rolled his neck, "Well then, why don't we just avoid this altogether and get to the sealing shrine my way?" His words causing the princess to stop in midstride and look back at him, the jinchuriki then moved his hand to his lips, bit into his thumb and slammed his palm into the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

With a burst of chakra, a white cloud of smoke exploded around him, which quickly lifted to reveal the enormous form of a giant swallow standing before the Jonin. The creature's appearance prompting Shion to back up in surprise, Naruto moved around and petted his black and white feathered partner, and directed his gaze towards the princess. Throwing her a grin, he then thumbed up at the avian.

"Hop on. We'll be there in no time." He then balked when he saw the priestess retreat a few more steps while giving the bird a wary look. Blinking a couple times, Naruto moved forward, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I… I refuse."

"What?"

Shion frowned and childishly stomped her foot into the ground, "Didn't you hear me? I said I will not ride upon such a filthy looking creature!" Her exclamation had the giant bird's head snap in her direction and glare.

When the large critter stepped around in preparation to attack the girl that had referred to it in such a derogatory manner, Naruto responded by placing a hand on its beak and petting it soothingly. Upon seeing the swallow settle down, the blonde turned back to the girl with a displeased visage, "Try not to insult my friends. They're very respectful animals and have a very short temper, your highness-ness."

Huffing indignantly, Shion looked away, "I don't care. I'm still not going."

"Why?"

"I already told you! It's a filthy-"

"No. Really. Why?" Naruto pressed forward, frowning at the girl and seeing her look back at him, confounded by the harshness in his tone. "The world is on the brink of war and you're refusing to take the quick and easy way to the only place that can prevent it. So why? And mind you, if you don't answer me in the next twenty seconds, I'm going to grab your selfish ass and toss you over my friend's back whether you like it or not." This statement had the swallow behind him chirp in satisfaction.

Meeting the other blonde's gaze head on, the priestess looked away defiantly for a moment. After feuding with her innermost pride as well as with the knowledge that if she didn't answer quickly she was going to pay, the country ruler gritted her teeth and glared around at the jinchuriki angrily. The tint of blush on her cheeks showed just how conflicted she was about revealing this, "B-Because…"

Sensing her hesitance, the jinchuriki glowered, "Go on."

"BECAUSE I'M AFRAID OF RIDING ON ANIMALS!" the girl shouted back before clenching her eyes shut. "HAPPY?!"

Jaw dropping at her startling admission, Naruto then turned to his swallow summon and saw the bird also look at him. Both baffled by her answer, they then looked at the girl to see her quivering on the spot, possibly in anticipation of being hoisted onto the bird's shoulders and taken for a flight across the continent. Seeing her wrap her arms around her waist and her trembling continue, the jinchuriki's arm dropped in defeat.

"Are you serious?"

OOO

Half an hour later…

As it turns out, she was.

Shion ended up admitting to the Jonin of Konoha that she was terrified of directly using animals as a primary mode of transportation, on account of a horse throwing her when she was little and just learning how to ride. The result was her nearly splitting her head open and being hospitalized. This was probably the reason why Naruto didn't see any stables around the castle area and that she probably had her attendants carry her in a rickshaw or something. She was fine with horses towing a wagon, but when it came to riding an actual animal, that was an entirely different story.

He contemplated knocking her out and taking her, regardless of her disposition. However, since this girl was so delicate and wasn't as strong as other people due to not learning any ninjutsu or alike, Naruto dismissed the idea, partly because he didn't want to smear his good name and mostly because he didn't want any side effects from the attempt affecting the sealing ceremony. The last thing he wanted to be was an accessory to starting a world war.

So that he didn't end up having to give his swallow a scrub down should the girl get sick on the way or something, or have any other issues with noise or alike, Naruto begrudgingly sent his summon back to his realm and ended up going cross-country. With the priestess on his back, the boy soon found himself sailing through the trees, having to slow down some due to the fact he had a passenger onboard.

The flight through the forest was pretty smooth sailing for the most part, with the branches providing excellent jumping points. During which time, the jinchuriki couldn't help but acknowledge how light the priestess was, as well as how nice she smelled. She had a very pleasant air about her, despite the fact that she had a rather foul personality underneath.

And she was continuing to highlight this fact with every mile they covered.

"Are you sure you didn't want to bring Taruho with you?" Naruto asked while looking over his shoulder curiously.

The girl nodded and closed her lids, "I am the priestess of the Land of Demons. If I want to leave my attendants behind, I will."

"That's kind of a harsh thing to say about the person in charge of your security, don't you think?"

A smirk followed shortly afterwards, "If there was something loutish about the way I speak, then my servants would have pointed it out to me."

This remark had the jinchuriki chuckle weakly, "I seriously doubt that."

His little back and forth had the priestess scowl at him, "This isn't something I would expect a commoner like you to understand. It is between me and my soldiers, and no one else."

Naruto rolled his eyes, deciding right then and there that he didn't want to push the issue any further than that. Seeing as how he was already being forced to carry this girl on his back across a vast and largely unchecked wilderness, there was really so much he wanted to do with his time right now. The only plus side he could find in any of this was that he was giving a piggy-back ride to a very attractive girl whose abundant chest was currently pressing into his shoulders. It was the only plus he could actually find… and this was his Jiraiya-side talking to him.

Damn Ero-Sennin and his subliminal brainwashing. It was ruining him. Naruto made a mental note to grill his perverted teacher the next time he came around the Yuki no Kuni capital.

Any other benefits he would probably be able to garner from this particular assignment would have to involve him getting into a fight with an enemy to blow off all the steam he was building up trying to trade pleasantries with the person he was escorting, because none of his Uzumaki magnetism was having any effect.

Yet…

"Ugh, your back is so uncomfortable. What am I sitting on? Rocks?" came Shion's annoyed question several hundred meters later.

Eye twitching, Naruto forced a grin back at the teen and spoke with as level a voice as he could possibly muster, "Those would be my deltoids and rhomboids, your highness-ness." He saw the girl recoil when his eyes flashed a dangerous coloration before he continued on daringly, "If she so wishes, I could remove my jacket and go bareback for her. Maybe then you would be a lot more comfortable and I'd have some semblance of peace around here."

Blushing at the tone of his voice, the prospect of him going commando and the seriousness in his eyes, Shion shut her gaze and looked away with a grunt. After which, she tightened her grip on his jacket and shook her head, "How you are now is just fine, thank you very much."

"Tsk, whatever," Naruto muttered, glaring back ahead of him with a childish pout.

Kurama actually snickered at how alike the two of them seemed.

It was like his host was arguing with a female version of himself…

Who looked very much like that Hinata Hyuuga girl, only with blonde hair? Odd.

However, before anymore time could be invested in pondering over this realization, the snapping of twigs followed by a flash of metal prompted Naruto to dive for the forest floor, barely avoiding the arrow that impacted his branch moments later. Flipping to slow his descent before touching down lightly, the blonde rose up and gripped the handle of his sword, at the same time glaring towards the canopy. When he did, he then expectantly saw a shadow drop down and land in front of him, the mysterious attacker revealing themselves to be the all too familiar, captain of Shion's guard.

"Taruho," Naruto spoke, a smile forming, "Boy, am I glad to see you."

The determined soldier smiled as he approached them to make his greeting, only to be met with the infuriated glare from Shion when he stopped beside her.

Swinging a fist out, the girl cursed his way, "What are you doing here?!"

"No matter where you go, it is always my duty to watch over you, Lady Shion," the young man replied while facing his leader's fury with an unwavering gaze. Even when the girl gave a frustrated snarl, he did not shirk.

"You'll only be a burden to me!" the priestess shouted and pointed at him, "Now go back to the village!"

Taruho steeled himself against the raging tide, "I will not."

"Go home!"

"I will not."

"Go! Back! Home!"

"I will not."

"Go! I mean it!"

"I will not."

"Leave!"

"I will not."

And so the long argument began, much to Naruto's annoyance as he was still carrying the priestess and had his ear well within whispering distance of her.

Kami. What did he do to deserve this?

OOO

Many hours later…

Eventually, Shion gave up on convincing her most loyal subordinate Taruho to return home. His broken-record of a defense held true and the girl surrendered from a combination of exhaustion and frustration. After which, the three of them then set off for the sealing shrine, one following the other and the other party member being stuck to the first escort's back. The mood following the palace guard's arrival turned frosty for a couple of the squad's members after that and spoiled a lot of the pristine wilderness they ended up traversing past. This included the long stretches through evergreen forests and over the high mountains.

With the light of day fading into night, the convoy eventually stopped in the forest by a cliff overlooking the entire region. When they did, the jinchuriki took the time to scout ahead, communicating with bats to help get a bead on the approaches ahead of them as well as to check to see if there were any enemy forces nearby. He also utilized his clones as extra warning devices, sending them in all directions to warn him if there were any unsavory characters converging on their position.

For now, the blonde saw that they were safe.

Making audible clicking noises that sounded very bat-like, the jinchuriki held out a finger and allowed one to land atop his arm. Communicating with the pigmy bat for a moment under the curious watch of Taruho, the Jonin then let the creature fly and turned around to face his clients, both of them were sitting by a pool where the priestess had her feet submerged and was currently washing them. "There's no sign of any enemy shinobi in the area. We should be alright for the night."

Taruho nodded in understanding, not at all put-off by the boy's ability to communicate with animals, "Good."

The jinchuriki smiled as he stepped over, slipping his hands into his pockets and adjusting his katana at the same time, "If it was just me, I would be able to carry on for several more days without sleep. But since I've got you two as passengers, I expect we should arrive there in another day or so without interruption."

Growling angrily, Shion spun around and flashed the spiky haired Jonin a glare, "I told you, I'm fine!"

"Lady Shion, please," Taruho spoke in a calming voice, removing his hands from scrubbing the girl's feet to trying to ease her impatience, "The sealing ceremony is very taxing. You need to make sure you get enough rest tonight so that you have the strength to perform the jutsu tomorrow."

Gritting her teeth, the girl growled impatiently again and turned away, sticking her nose in the air like she normally did, "I'm hungry. Make me some food!" This was a demand that had the jinchuriki behind her recoil in disbelief at how childish and selfish she was sounding, which inevitably brought on a very displeased look from the Jonin.

Taruho nevertheless bowed, "As you wish."

Seriously, whatever happened to please and thank you?

Maybe this girl murdered them.

And so, with orders received, that's what Naruto and Taruho went about doing. They made the girl a quick spot of dinner from the supplies they'd brought with them, including soup, rice cakes and bread, all of these items not requiring fire due to the fact they wanted to try and keep a low profile. A bonfire would easily be spotted by the shinobi that'd attacked them earlier that day and that was the last thing any of them wanted, in spite of Naruto's conflicting feelings over the matter.

However, when the food was presented to the priestess, Shion was obviously unsatisfied with their efforts and chucked the food to the floor, complaining about how it was cold and what not. "I can't eat any of these!" The girl then stuck her nose in the air and looked away, appearing severely irritated.

Naruto, having been the one to make the soup, stared down at it like he'd just dropped an entire jug of milk and mumbled a sad and quiet, "I would have."

While the priestess sulked, Taruho got down to his knees and apologized to the young village leader unreservedly, "I'm very sorry Lady Shion, but lighting a fire to cook any food would alert our position to the enemy."

Exhaling once again, the girl stood up and walked off, heading towards where her subordinate had set up her sleeping gear. "I'm going to bed." She then ducked into the brush, where she was quickly followed by a couple of shadow clones Naruto produced to watch over her.

OOO

Silence eventually fell over the region for the final time that night, giving way to the breath of nature and her sumptuous vocals to soothe the pains of the weary travelers. The forest chimed with the song of crickets and the stars shone brightly in the veil of night overhead. It was perhaps the most perfect setting any hiker and merchant could ask for, one that the determined captain of the guard wished to enjoy before they continued their excursion the very next morning.

Finding a comfortable spot on top of a fallen log, the young man in glasses sat looking out over the valley. It was relatively quiet for the most part, with the only sounds being the chorus of insects and the light breeze drifting down from above. Eventually though, Taruho had his attention drawn to the disturbance of rustling bushes and approaching footsteps. Glancing to his left, he saw a chipper looking Naruto Uzumaki step into view with a grin on his face and two rice rolls in his hands. When he arrived at the guard's side, he promptly handed one of them over, "We're gonna be running all day tomorrow as well. Your body will need the food to keep going."

"Thank you," the glasses wearing soldier responded with a smile, "That's very kind of you." Gladly accepting the blonde's offering, Taruho peeled back the leaf and dug right in, at the same time the Jonin alongside him did as well.

The two males proceeded to sit and eat quietly from that point onwards, with Naruto acting as both guard and lookout, and the head of Shion's security also doing everything he could to make use of his own skills. They both functioned to their utmost capacities as officers conserving as much energy as possible, as there were only two of them on this assignment. However, not wanting to dwell in complete silence and in the wake of recent events that had given him cause for concern, the jinchuriki decided to speak with the close friend and companion he found in Taruho.

"So, hey… about these predictions and all, I'm just curious…"

His half-asked question drew the man's gaze for a moment, after which Taruho then looked ahead of him and gave it a split second of contemplation, "Lady Shion can only see someone's death if they are an attendant or someone close to her."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And you can't ever avoid it, even if you know what's going to happen?"

"That's correct," Taruho nodded and turned his gaze to the sky, "Based on the laws established by Lady Shion's predictions, no matter what you do, death cannot be cheated in the end. However, every vision that the priestess has ever had, has always centered on the people who were honored to die for her and did so without question. If they had fought fate and tried to live, I am absolutely certain their actions would have resulted in the death of Lady Shion." This bit of information had the Jonin next to him look towards the man in surprise, which allowed him to proceed once he'd acknowledged his audience was listening, "Lately, many of the people in our land have begun to fear her foresight and have been going to great lengths to avoid her. Whenever I take her out onto the streets, the villagers clear out… and nobody dares to approach her ladyship, not even to say 'hello'. Now, I can't say for certain if all of her visions will come true, but so far, of the dozens that have already died in her stead, it has been a hundred percent accurate. Perhaps it all depends on the people who are revealed in them."

Taking this all in, Naruto looked away with an expression of forlorn coming over him, "I… see."

Well, that certainly explained a few things for him.

Shion acted bratty, snobbish and spoiled, and had very little human contact in her palace as far as the jinchuriki could tell from his brief trounce around the grounds. Really, the only person who he could see that has stuck by her side this entire time without any intention of leaving has been Taruho. However, considering how the man described the young woman's situation, he was basically stating that the people of their homeland have begun to regard her as something of a bad omen; a black cat, a crow, and something not to be crossed, even on the best of days. This was mainly due to the terrifying power she possessed: the ability to predict another person's end.

To most, this would unnerve a lot of people. After all, it also sounded like an unconscious action, something that went far beyond the girl's power to control. She couldn't help it, just as much as she couldn't stop the sun from setting. With this in mind and upon analyzing what Taruho had just said to him, the jinchuriki couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl.

"She must be lonely," Naruto murmured, at the same time his mind played back to him similar memories from his own past… the days before his coping mechanisms settled in. This went double to the months before he'd met Tayuya, where his life had hit rock bottom, "I guess… that's why she acts so spoiled then."

"Her story isn't a kind one," Taruho replied, closing his eyes. "Though to some her power is viewed as a wonderful gift, to others it is a frightful curse." He then trained his gaze across to the jinchuriki, who he saw was still looking ahead of him in deep thought. "It's rather remarkable. You're probably the very first person she's ever envisioned that was neither a servant of hers nor someone who was closest to her. You weren't even in the same country and she had a vision about you."

Naruto smiled slightly at that, "What can I say. I have that kind of effect on people. Mostly girls though… which I think is really weird." His relationships with Tayuya, Isaribi, Samui, Tenten and Koyuki could definitely attest to that. Those girls could not leave him alone.

He still received his two telegrams a month from Isaribi whenever he was in Yuki and returned them in kind, bless her heart.

His previous statement had the young guard chuckle, "So… you really aren't worried about her visions at all?"

"Nope," the jinchuriki groaned, stretching his arms out and placing them behind his head in his characteristic manner. Turning to beam at the man, his own cheerful demeanor clashed head to head with the honest one worn by his teammate, "Like I said, I don't believe in that kind of stuff. So what's there to be afraid of? All I know is that this world works in mysterious ways. There are surprises around every corner and even more interesting stuff hiding under every rock. If I let myself be grounded where I am because of some prediction, than how can I expect to accomplish anything great in my life?"

"You really do place an incredibly high value on one's actions," Taruho said with a pleasant gleam in his expression. "That goes without saying; you also have a very interesting philosophy."

"Yeah. Some people might call my opinions straddling the fence in a way, but really, the only side I'm speaking from is my own… and it all comes from here," Naruto replied while thumping himself in the chest, right above his heart, "Everybody else owns property, right? Me? I'm just a humble drifter going wherever the wind takes me."

The glasses wearing man smiled at his metaphor and turned back towards the horizon, where the stars could still be seen twinkling high up in the sky. "I hope this course you've taken brings you many more adventures and good fortune to come."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled, before then tilting his head towards the officer, "And… you?"

"Hm?"

"What if Shion said you were going to die?" was the question the jinchuriki asked with all sincerity in his tone.

Without even having to stop and pause, another warm smile tugged at the corner of Taruho's lips, "My clan is deeply indebted to Lady Shion's mother. If I can repay that kindness by safeguarding the priestess's life, then I would gladly give up my own. Nothing can change one's destiny, as long as the heart remains true."

Acknowledging the man's declaration with a beam and a nod, Naruto slapped his hands against his thighs and rose to the occasion. Stretching his back once more as well as his arms, the blonde sighed and gripped Crow's sword hanging at his side, before turning heel and heading back into the woods. He spared one last glance at the man to see Taruho smiling towards him respectfully, after which the blonde moved on and leapt into the dark of the woods.

OOO

Many hours later…

Waking with a start at the sight of bloody murder and death, the once peacefully sleeping Shion gave a gasp of horror and panted heavily with a tremor in her hands and sweat dripping down her face. The chime of the bell ringing in her ears to conclude the hallucination she'd just been plagued with, the blonde haired priestess gritted her teeth and looked about her surroundings.

From her spot under the covers of her sleeping bag, the girl saw the bags belonging to Taruho and Naruto lying beside her, but nothing else. All she was able to make out afterwards were the dense shrubbery of the forest's undergrowth as well as the many oaks and evergreens towering around her and blocking out the morning turning sky. From first glance, it looked like the girl was all alone, with no sign of her protectors anywhere.

However, just as the priestess was starting to come around from the 'nightmare' she'd been woken out of and began adjusting to the cool of the morning, she gave a light 'eep' and a jerk when she suddenly saw Naruto drop down from the canopy to land directly beside her. With leaves cascading all around him, the young adult Jonin gave the girl a welcoming smile and held out a giant leaf with small food items inside of it.

At first baffled by his appearance, Shion then regarded the material he was offering her. Upon taking in the sight of cooked meat with vegetables, and considering the person offering it to her, the girl gave a frown and turned away.

"I don't want it."

"Come on," Naruto said with a smile, "I promise it'll be good. You haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday. If you don't eat anything today, you won't have the strength to be able to perform the ceremony to stop Moryu. Hell, you might even collapse from hunger before we even reach the sealing shrine."

Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists around her sheets, the aggravated blonde haired priestess snapped back to him and shouted, "You're so stubborn. Didn't you hear me? I said I refuse to eat that pigswill."

It was this that had the jinchuriki frown before he held the leaf further out to her, "Listen, princess, you're lucky to be getting any food at all. The places that I've been to over the years had villagers who only ate twice a week and drank from shitty water. Hell, some families only ever got this much throughout the entire day… so suck it up already and eat." His firm words and the tone of his voice had Shion turn and stare at him with a slightly startled gaze, which in turn caused the Jonin to hold his offering out a little bit further. "I don't want anything to happen to you… alright?"

Looking between the boy's serious face and the food in his hand a few more times, Shion quickly meditated on his words. When she heard her stomach rumble and placed a hand over it in response to its irritated call, the priestess soon came to a decision with her pride and stubbornness, and eventually conceded defeat. She took the leaf from him, placed it gently in her lap, and began to eat from it with her fingers. Her actions were slow at first and filled with caution, but she eventually picked up speed when she got a taste of his forest-cooked meal and was soon groaning in satisfaction.

Her facial expressions and change in tone had Naruto smile, "Like it?"

Seeing the boy grinning at her and quickly realizing what she was doing, Shion blushed to the roots of her hair and looked away, "It… It's alright."

"Ah, good," Naruto exclaimed, beaming positively at the teen and rising to his feet, "I thought I'd fallen out of touch in making bush tucker, but it seems it's become a life skill of mine." He then gestured to the girl as she continued to eat, albeit at a more reserved pace this time, "Be sure to finish that quick so that we can get a move on. The sun should be coming up shortly."

Pausing in her eating, Shion then lowered her hands to her sides and stared down at the blanket in front of her. Ignoring her breakfast for but a moment and allowing her face to become filled with worry, she then turned toward the blonde with a look of discontent coming into play, "So… Taruho is still here?"

"Uh-huh," Naruto replied with a nod, at the same time slipping his hands into his pockets, "He hasn't left his station since you went to bed. I gotta say… he's one hell of a bodyguard."

Gritting her teeth at the news, the young girl then looked up at the Jonin speaking so candidly with her to see his expression switch to one of confusion. When he got a look at her eyes and the way she seemed to be focusing all of her frustrations and woes on the one subject, the jinchuriki soon processed what she was trying to say to him. Her silence as well as her current visage was enough for the emotionally in tuned male to get what she wanted to say and balked in surprise.

"You've… had a vision of him… haven't you?"

Shion looked away, an action that more or less confirmed Naruto's fears.

OOO

Many miles elsewhere…

Overlooking the valley along the same route that Naruto's squad had taken, a pair of shinobi dressed in black uniforms and wearing masks could be seen perched atop a large evergreen. Able to see the entire region from one vanishing point to the next with the mountainous areas not too far behind them, the figures held their spots and watched as the sun rose over the distant hills to greet them for another long day ahead. However, while these figures appeared puzzling and sinister in nature, their presence here was only in the capacity of support.

They were both hidden leaf shinobi. To be more precise, they were both shinobi of Konohagakure's ANBU black ops, and the two of them apparently meant business. One of them, standing on the lower branch, was an adult male with short brown, spiky hair. Aside from wearing the standard uniform of the village's special force, consisting of dark pants, arm guards and a padded vest specifically outfitted for their kinds of missions, he also had a sword strapped to his back and wore a Neko mask. This helped conceal his true identity.

His partner and obvious leader of their two-man team was a young woman who stood shorter than him and looked to be around her late teens, with long, flowing reddish-pink hair that she let loose and grew down her back. While she wore the same uniform as her partner fitted especially for her, she also had on a tanto strapped horizontal to her lower back and had two leg holsters, one on each thigh, with the left being designed for kunai while the other held a different kind of instrument. Instead of a cat mask like what her teammate was wearing, she was instead wearing a kitsune mask that did well in concealing her identity just as well as the other.

The young woman was currently writing something in a notebook she had on hand, and would occasionally look up to survey the landscape before returning to its pages to continue her research.

After maintaining silence for a good several minutes, the man sitting on the lower branch looked over at the red haired young lady with an obvious query, "Are we on the right trail, Captain?"

With a few more checks, the kunoichi clapped the book shut and stood up, pocketing it in the pouch on her back, "Yes. The priestess and her bodyguards came by this way on route for the sealing shrine. They seemed to have slowed down a bit… probably due to the person they're escorting. We'll keep tabs on their progress and make sure they're not being followed by any other 'interested' parties."

Tenzo nodded and looked ahead of them again, the wind descending upon their position and gently ruffling the leaves of the surrounding forest, "I believe they're already being followed… only this particular pursuer has chosen to stay ahead of them as opposed to tailing them."

"Mm. They're a smart fucker, whoever they are," the kunoichi replied, placing her hands on her hips. "By keeping downwind, they're able to avoid being detected through conventional means. I think it would be best for our side if we catch up to this guy and take care of him before they cause anymore problems for the escort group."

"Agreed," the other ANBU member nodded before glancing back at her, "How should we proceed from here?"

"We'll hook around and cut across the highlands. That way we'll be able to hold an advantageous position even if we're found out," the Captain replied, earning an understanding nod from her compatriot.

"On your go then, Majo (Enchantress)," Tenzo replied, before watching the girl vanish in a shunshin. He too disappeared in a flicker, the two leaving their lookout point and heading back down into the forest to continue their trek across country.

As far as they knew, they were making good progress.

OOO

Later that morning…

"Gah! S-Stop! W-What are you-AHHHH! P-PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! STOP! STOP!" Shion's cries echoed out across the chasm as her carrier and current mode of transport, Naruto, hopped the two of them from tor to tor up the river they had found cutting through the valley. With his drive set on forward, the priestess in the meantime remained comfortably perched on his back with a perfect view of the scenic route the jinchuriki had decided to take them up. "Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!"

Well, all manner of comfort and relaxation was completely lost when the jinchuriki started traversing the land via the canyons making up the territory they were in. Due to having to jump from pillar to pillar in order to avoid swimming in the rushing waters below, the blonde was inadvertently making life extremely frightening for the ruler of the Land of Demons, who in turn was making life incredibly unbearable for him thanks to her shrill cries of terror. After traversing for several hundred meters more and having her speaker blaring incessantly in his ear, the Jonin just couldn't hash it anymore and stopped on the next widest tor he came across.

"Damn it! Would you please keep it down?!" Naruto shouted, feeling the girl punch his back before forcing herself off. Turning to face the panting teenager, the jinchuriki frowned and massaged his shoulder, "Man, you're noisy!"

"What can you expect?! I thought you were going to take the long way around, not take a shortcut through the cliffs!" Shion shrieked back at him, catching her breath while turning all of her ire on the young man. "Geez. Are you trying to get me killed?"

"No! In fact, I'm trying to do the exact opposite, your worshipfulness," Naruto shot back in a very smuggler-like manner (wink) while clearing out his ear. Damn. Even though this girl didn't possess the same physical dexterity and fitness that he and his other shinobi friends possessed, she certainly more than made up for that in her voice. "This path will lead us to the sealing shrine much faster than on level ground. We'll also be able to keep out of sight of the enemy and avoid the high passes where we'll be exposed. But if you keep screaming the way you are, then we'll be found out for sure."

"Well, I'm sorry. But I just didn't know you would be taking me up such a dangerous way," Shion replied, exhaling sharply and turning away. "Warn me next time."

Giving a sigh of his own, the spiky haired man stepped towards the girl, at the same time checking to make sure his katana was still on his person. "We're not that far from our rendezvous point with Taruho. Since he isn't able to travel this way, he had to take the long way around. As soon as we get there, we'll follow the last road leading towards the mountain."

"Hmph," the priestess responded expectantly while fixing her gaze back onto her guardian, "Just go slowly this time. The last thing I want to do is fall."

"Believe me, priestess, there are even worse things you have to worry about around here than falling," Naruto replied, crouching down and allowing the girl to clamber back onto him. Once he'd shouldered her high enough so that the position was once again comfortable for both of them, the jinchuriki then turned his gaze toward the path they'd been following, "If you don't know what they are, then you and I are…" He then stopped dead in mid-step, the whistle of a bird reaching his ear when a couple of swallows swooped past him… warning him.

Sensing his sudden hesitance, Shion looked around at his face to see the jinchuriki staring ahead of him in shock. Wondering what was up, she tried to seek out what he was probably looking at, but found nothing. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Damn it!" Naruto suddenly shouted and jumped, startling the girl at his sudden increase in speed and direction.

At first screaming and wondering what the hell he was doing, the priestess then saw the reason for his sudden leap into the air when the tor they'd been standing on suddenly exploded in a shower of rubble. The blast sent debris and smoke flying in all directions, but the pair were able to avoid the brunt of the anomaly by mounting the cliff and starting to ascend it. Leaping from rock to rock, the jinchuriki kept his gaze sharp as he made his way to ground level, at the same time looking back to see more rock faces he was passing detonate one after the other.

There wasn't any fire, so they were not mines or paper bombs. However, in spite of this, the earth seemed to be combusting all on its own and sending stones pelting in all directions. Not wanting to get caught up in any of them, Naruto picked up speed and eventually arrived at the top seconds later. Leaping into the air once again, he barely avoided a huge slab of the earth suddenly split before jutting upwards in an enormous tower, startling the young man at the sheer size at the piece before he landed safely away on another flat patch of ground.

Even Shion was looking on in surprise, "W-What's going on?"

"It's them," Naruto replied, setting the girl on the ground and going for his sword, "Shit. I was hoping they would lead me back to Moryu, but it looks like their boss doesn't approve of failure in his ranks. They moved a lot faster than I thought they would."

Hearing the remark the blonde responded with, the priestess balked, "What? Them? I… I thought you said we wouldn't get spotted if we followed the river."

"I don't know how, but somehow we were," the Jonin replied, keeping his eyes glued on the monolith and ignoring the girl's comments from behind. "They must've been waiting for us."

"So then… they knew that we would be coming this way to get to the sealing shrine," Shion said, catching on to what the blonde was saying.

"Yeah."

"Well that's just great," the priestess cursed, narrowing her gaze on the rock formation in front of them. "Now that your plan's shot to bits, what are you going to do now, smart guy?"

Sensing the ground begin to tremor again, the blonde gritted his teeth and formed a cross-fingered hand seal. Focusing his chakra, a puff of smoke exploded beside him and an exact copy of him emerged to collect Shion up in its arms. The girl gave a yelp of surprise when she was suddenly scooped up by the shadow clone and she looked across at the doppelganger in bewilderment.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Ignoring her, the Naruto copy then turned to the original for orders, which the Jonin did without question or hesitation, "Get the priestess to safety. I've got this."

"W-Wait… what?!" Shion babbled in surprise, before then giving a yell of shock when the clone took off for the woods at high speed, vanishing within seconds. "HEY! What are you doing?! Slow down, you jerk!" The girl's cry echoed into the distance, allowing the original to concentrate on his new problem.

Responding quickly, the jinchuriki leapt backwards and out of the way when a series of stone spikes shot out of the ground all around him. Quickly dashing out of range, the blonde then skidded to a halt and looked to the top of the tor that had jutted out of the ground in front of him. It was then he quickly spotted the form of a familiar opponent appearing on the apex of it.

Emerging out of the monolith in the same manner it'd sprouted from the earth, the masked, white-robed form of Gitai stood giggling before the blonde, at the same time bearing the markings and enlarged fists of his transformed state.

"Hello there! Ready for another round, you blonde haired prick?" the man asked loudly, a grin visible through the cloth he wore over his mouth as the markings on his skin flared a dangerous blue.

Taking a stance, Naruto prepared to take the man on head to head for another sure fight, only to then notice something off about the person at the top of the small cliff.

Gauging the robe-wearing man for several moments in silence, the jinchuriki then balked in shock at what he sensed coming off of the guy and a bead of sweat formed on the side of his face. "Whoa, hold on a second."

The last time he faced those four gangsters back at the castle, they each only had the chakra equivalent of a Tokubetsu Jonin, obviously enough to take on the regiment of foot soldiers stationed there. Aside from having a few impressive tricks up their sleeves and good teamwork, their individual prowess as shinobi had only been superficial at best.

However…

"This guy's chakra was only about as strong as those other two the last time I met them. So why the hell is his energy level through the roof all of a sudden? What the heck's going on here?"

Taking note of the Jonin's change in expression and the bewilderment reflected in his gaze, Gitai snickered in amusement and held his arms up, "Oh. You can feel it, can you? How strong I've become?" Raising a hand, the man balled his fingers into a tight fist, an action that caused the sounds of rocks grinding to reverberate throughout the area. "Well, you can thank the generosity of my brother for this one. After you took care of Shizuku and Setsuna back at the priestess's castle, I had Kusuna give me a jump using all three of the chakra snakes. Now I'm even more powerful than I was before!"

Hearing this had Naruto grit his teeth in frustration, "Seriously?" He said he got shots of chakra… from snakes?

The idea of an external energy booster was bad enough, but whatever serum this guy had been given wasn't an ordinary steroid formula. The aura coming off of him felt like Gaara on a really, really bad day. Not to mention the chakra wafting from his pores smelled foul and sickly.

It was almost poisonous in nature.

Giggling ecstatically, the white haired ninja then swung his fists out before slamming his hands together to form a hand seal. "Okay! Time to stretch my legs! Let's go, you rat! Doton: Koka Jutsu! (Earth Style: Hardening Technique)" All at once, his chakra levels skyrocketed and a rock like substance started to bleed out of his skin at an accelerated rate. His shoulders and arms pulsating, the shinobi's form suddenly started to bulk up as his body was literally coated from neck to toe with a ridiculous amount of stone, a sight that had the jinchuriki's glare harden at the man's radical transformation. Within seconds, the crazy idiot's form had increased to three times his original size, and the grey stone encasing his entire body fined out to form into a more human-like-shape with visible muscles, making him hulkish in appearance. "COME ON!"

Gritting his teeth, Naruto flicked his wrist and produced three kunai between his fingers in both hands. As soon as they appeared, he pulled his arms back and chucked them forward, the knives trailing explosive tags which he used to pepper his opponent. The man crossed his arms over his face and took each projectile on one after the other. Each of the paper bombs went off on impact, but the stone covered man shook them off with a cackle and burst out of the smoke with a yell.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Leaping from atop the enormous wall of stone, Gitai crashed atop the spikes he had produced below, shattering them effortlessly before charging forward. Like an angry rhino, he advanced upon his foe, his footsteps shaking the earth with every stomp. For someone covered in stone, he was moving at a ridiculously high speed, "You're mine!"

Gripping the handle of his katana with one hand and holding the sheath with the other, Naruto crouched low and charged forward, moving in the form of an orange flash to meet his adversary half way. Undeterred by his size or intimidated by his chakra level, the blonde gritted his teeth and leapt through the air, drawing his blade to decapitate the bastard with a single swing. However, the moment he struck, his opponent responded with a wide hook, which intercepted the boy's blade and clashed with it in a shower of sparks, effectively deflecting it.

Growling in frustration at having his lightning fast attack parried, the jinchuriki kicked off of the back of the person's shoulder and leapt through the air, performing several acrobatic flips and rotation spins before landing a safe distance away. Turning, the jinchuriki brought his sword around in a defensive stance, just in time to see his foe sprinting towards him in another thunderous charge.

In spite of his massive size, Gitai's enormous chakra boost had also boosted his speed and reflexes to an insane degree, allowing him to match the blonde's lightning fast movements with his stone-hard strength.

Bringing his enormous arm back, the man formed a club out of his right fist, which he then swung down at the boy with a roar. Naruto, teeth clenched, struck out at the incoming melee weapon and sliced it in half. When Gitai struck down at him with his other arm on a follow-up swing, the jinchuriki sliced that arm off too, before spinning on the spot using his momentum and thrusting his blade straight into the golem's chest. His katana cut into the concrete like a knife through butter, the two fighters freezing in place when the supposedly 'decisive' blow landed.

For the next few seconds the two held their positions, Naruto clenching his sword tightly while his opponent remained where he was with the blade thrust right through him to his back. Eventually though, the masked man began to snicker, before his chuckles transformed into full-blown laughter.

"Missed."

Looking up at the man oddly from his position beneath his shadow, the jinchuriki left his guard open for the briefest of moments, which allowed his opponent to slam one of his enormous, rock encased fists across his mug in a wide blow. The attack knocked the blonde flying off his feet and barreling across the plain, kicking up dust on every roll before he eventually slammed into a far wall with a shout of pain. Dropping to all fours with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, Naruto glared up at his enemy to see him charging towards him once again, Crow's sword still impaled in his chest.

The sight of the approaching adversary had Naruto grit his teeth and spit out the blood from his mouth. Wiping his chin clean on the back of his hand, the jinchuriki then allowed a smirk to form as he then crouched upon the hard soil, "That's the last free shot you're ever going to get on me." With a frown, the blonde then vanished in an orange flash, his form flickering across the stretch of open ground toward his sprinting foe in an instant, before his body rematerialized in the air directly in front of Gitai.

With a yell of effort, the blonde threw a punch right into the man's unguarded face. When his blow connected, the sound of a gunshot rang out, with enough force behind the attack to shatter a human skull. However, instead of smashing his opponent's mug in like he normally would others, Gitai was unfazed by the blow, grinning in amusement as his face pushed back against the fist before the stone man uncorked one of his own punches into Naruto's. The jinchuriki had a split second to gawk before his opponent's punch slammed into his mug and sent him flying backwards.

Stunned by the force of the attack as he sailed across the valley, Naruto was unable to react in time when his face was grabbed by Gitai's enlarged hand and had his body slammed into the ground skull first, a Tsunade-like shockwave ringing out that formed an enormous crater in the earth. The force behind this blow was so great, not only did it bury the blonde halfway into the rock; it also began to collapse the entire area they were fighting on into the ridiculously large gorge beside them. Enormous plates and chunks of earth stretching about as far as a small village began to cave in on itself, with the two shinobi plummeting with the line of cliff to the river far below.

His face still being smothered into the ground by his enemy, Naruto decided he'd had enough of being smacked around and responded in kind. Slamming a kick across Gitai's face, he managed to knock the man off of him across the falling plate of rock they were on and yank his sword out of the man's chest at the same time, allowing him to leap out of the crater he was in and begin scaling the precipice they were falling from. Hopping from one cascading chunk of earth to another like stepping stones, the blonde climbed the wall of falling rocks as fast as he could before reaching the top. Landing on the edge, the jinchuriki looked over the side to see the enormous landslide sink into the river and bury half of it all along its bank, sections of the large redwood forest also toppling in with the avalanche.

Cheeks bruised from taking punches equivalent to a train, Naruto rubbed a particularly sore spot and shook his head in frustration. "Damn it. This guy is insanely tough."

It was like fighting those Cursed Seal guys again… or, more appropriately, a wall that could hit back. Compared to other opponents he'd faced in the past, this rogue ninja's durability was on a whole other level. He was physically stronger than Jiraiya and hit harder than anyone he'd ever come across before, sans Tsunade, and his defenses were even tougher than Gaara's. That was saying a lot for someone who was using chakra steroids to increase his power.

Frowning distastefully at the battle thus far, Naruto looked back down over the cliff to see what would happen next.

It didn't come as any surprise to him shortly thereafter when he suddenly heard a low rumbling followed by the enormous slabs of stone lying at the bottom of the gorge starting to come together like metal shards to a magnet. With the earth shaking from the rolling boulders converging and mashing into one another to form a singular mass, the blonde then watched with great intrigue as the piece of earth rose up from the bottom of the canyon like a monolith. Moments later, the rocky mass took on a very human shape, no different from the one his opponent had taken on before, only this time the size of the monstrosity was twice that of Gamabunta's.

The fact that half of it was still inside of the canyon meant Naruto was able to get a clear view of its head, where he saw his opponent standing clear as day.

"Doton: Yama Seifuku!" (Earth Release: Mountain Conqueror) The still armor covered Gitai giggled ecstatically as he gestured grandly to his awesome new creation, "What do you think, little man? Does this baby strike terror into your heart or what?"

Staring up at the entity for a second or so allowed a smirk to form on the blonde's face before he retorted in kind, "Is that honestly the best you can come up with?"

"What?" the rock man shouted, before a snarl escaped his lips.

Naruto frowned back at him, "You really are a bunch of helpless fools. I figured you guys would've learned something the first time you faced me. I gave you a chance to leave with your lives, but you decided to come back and start more trouble with me?" He shook his head pitifully at the madman glaring at him. "This time… I'm not letting you get away. I'm taking you down right here and now. Fuck finding your boss."

"Grrr, don't underestimate me you little shit! Let's see how tough you talk after I squash you!" Taking control of the enormous stone giant, the transformed Gitai gave a loud holler as he then instructed the gargantuan body to move.

Stomping forward, the earth-like creation reared its left fist back for a punch, which it then sent forward with the intent to flatten the blonde in a single stroke. Naruto responded to the incoming attack with a glare, before vanishing in an orange flash. The result was the great monolith's blow slamming into the ground and causing an enormous shockwave to ring out across the region like an earthquake, as it not only took out another section of cliff, but caused an entire area of trees to splinter from the force winds. Gitai cackled madly at the sheer amount of destruction he was able to bring, before following after the blonde who'd managed to get the hell out of the way.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the madman shouted, prompting his inanimate servant to raise its foot and slam it down onto another part of the cliff where Naruto was standing.

The jinchuriki leapt out of the way to avoid being stomped into the ground, after which he then back flipped for several yards before skidding to a stop at a distance. Position taken, he then began letting off Hien (Flying Swallow) rounds up at the enormous giant, striking it in the upper body, head and shoulders. His shots however bounced off of the monolith's form like they were nothing, prompting him to then cork his right hand back, gather chakra into his fist, and fire off his next big attack.

"Fūton: Senpūken!" (Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist) With a yell of effort and a sonic boom, an enormous tornado exploded out of his palm and blasted the stone giant directly in the center of the chest. The increased power behind the wind attack was enough to crack the plating and lift the body off the floor a couple of feet, before throwing the gargantuan statue into the cliff wall on the other side of the gorge.

Gitai's giant stumbled backwards under the gale force winds cutting into it, its arms being brought about to try and deflect the attack but ultimately being knocked away under the force. When the giant careened into the side of the canyon, it collapsed whole sections of land into the river, at the same time losing balance and dropping onto its rear.

The masked man controlling the mountain sized warrior glanced up in shock and disbelief, "Whoa! What kind of an attack was that?" Unable to comprehend the power of the wind technique that had been used to topple his giant, Gitai then turned his gaze skywards when he felt a shadow fall over him. When his eyes fixed onto the blue above however, the shinobi's eyes widened when he spotted his opponent diving straight towards him with an attack already formed. The sight of it had the mad Jonin gawk, "What the hell-"

With his right hand brought back and an intense look on his face, Naruto had formed an enormous blue ball of spinning energy in his palm. Having created it in a record breaking time of a few milliseconds, not only was it spinning at an insane rate and making a loud whirring noise at the amount of power put into it, but the sphere of chakra itself was about the size of a house. It was so big in fact, it pretty much eclipsed the sun from where Gitai was lying and looking up at it, prostrated and helpless.

Taking aim at his enormous target, Naruto dove towards the still intact monolith with a howl of wind and a yell of effort as he then thrust his attack straight into the earth. "Eat this! Chōōdama Rasengan!" (Ultra-Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)

Responding in desperation, Gitai prompted his enormous giant to punch up at the descending jinchuriki, only for its enormous fist to miss and the approaching attack to slam straight into the center of its chest. The impact caused a large thunderclap to ring out followed by a shockwave equivalent to a meteor's impact, which shattered the stone giant before an explosion great enough to carve away at an entire mountain blasted outwards in all direction, punching an even larger hole into the canyon and sending the remains of the stone shinobi's creation onto the wind. The howling winds rocked the area, startling birds from their roosts and ripping nearby redwoods out of the ground.

With much of the surrounding forests toppled, the smoke hanging in the air cleared to reveal a gorge several times larger than it previously was. The river that'd been running through it had ceased its flow due to the amount of damage and rubble littering the area. When the explosions stopped and silence fell once again though, the river washed its way back in and continued to run as it previously did.

However, at the top of the cliff on the other side, Naruto could be seen crouching down and staring across at the large hole he'd punched into the land face. Considering the power he'd put behind the blast, it would be a big stretch of the imagination for even his insanely durable foe to have survived that.

But of course, since the universe didn't seem to be playing ball with him today, the jinchuriki watched on in interest when the ground several yards ahead of him popped open, and the head of his enemy appeared, transformed back to what he guessed was his normal form.

Red eyes narrowing, the slightly bruised and burnt man chuckled, "Now this is fun! You're finally starting to take this fight seriously." Gitai then threw the boy a nasty grin from behind his mask, "I have to admit that was an impressive move back there. But if you think you've beaten me just because you've got something like that in your arsenal, then you're sadly mistaken!" Letting out a laugh, the shinobi's body burst completely out of the ground in a shower of debris, after which he held his arm in front and concentrated.

His muscles tensing and veins popping, a strange protrusion under Gitai's skin began snaking its way up his forearm. Naruto then had the pleasure of watching morbidly as a small snake of some kind popped out of his skin, which Gitai grabbed and ripped in half. Then, upon removing his mask, the Jonin held the head part of the snake above him, squeezed it, and swallowed the green, slime-like blood that fell from its tubing.

Gulping it down, the shinobi gave one last manic grin before dark, purple chakra began pouring off of him in a storm. "Yes. That's it. THAT'S IT! YEEEEESSS! THE POWER! SO MUCH POWER!" Energy exploded off of him like hellfire. The sight of his chakra levels skyrocketing again had Naruto gawk in shock, as the aura of energy ripped apart the ground and his body began to contort and take on a new shape. When the radiating energy ceased, slabs of stone suddenly burst out of the ground around him and slammed together, incasing him in rock that glowed a ridiculously hot orange, transforming the surrounding area into molten slurry.

Moments later, the stone shell that had enveloped the madman blasted away in a shower of rubble, prompting Naruto to cut away at the debris with a few quick slashes of his katana. When the shower ended and the blonde sheathed his sword, his opponent emerged from the smoke, only he didn't look human anymore.

To go along with the darkened skin and markings of his previous transformation, the man had also increased in size and taken on the appearance of a spider. More accurately, the man had taken on Asura-like features, with two extra faces on either side of his head, and three arms on each side. He was also lankier than his previous, bulky form with enormous fists, as he'd opted to become taller instead of wider. However, Naruto figured that this wasn't of his own design.

The shinobi's fluctuating chakra signature was proof of that.

"Ke-heh-heh-heh! Oh yeah. This'll do nicely," Gitai said in a sneering voice before grinning across at the jinchuriki staring in his direction with a confounded expression in play, "If you thought I was strong before, wait till I start coming after you like this!"

Blinking, Naruto gritted his teeth and gripped the handle of his katana once again, "Well, one thing's for certain… you've definitely gotten a whole lot uglier."

"Shut up, you smart-aleck rat!" the spider-man roared before bringing all six of his arms up and burying his fingers into the ground, "Take this! Doton: Tsuiseki Hisho no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Tracking Projectile Technique) With a loud holler, the man then launched a series of fiery missiles through the ground, all of which kicked up dust and rocketed towards the jinchuriki through the earth like a barrage of torpedoes. The sight of the approaching rounds had the blonde balk at the way they'd been launched, before kicking himself into action and getting the hell out of the way, only to realize that they were homing, "BURN YOU LITTLE BASTARD! BURN!"

Sprinting across the area in an orange flicker, Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration, "Damn it. Why did I get stuck with this nut-job?" He then picked up speed when the torpedoes following him exploded one after the other, tearing apart the stone field, and sending smoke and rubble hurling into the air.

This was going to be tough…

OOO

Meanwhile…

Further into the forest, the Naruto shadow clone the original had sent away had managed to cover a lot of ground to get the hell out of the way of the fight. Even at this distance, the copy could feel the tremors from the battle taking place, as not only had one of the surviving members of the Gang of Four gotten even stronger and more powerful than before, but he was also managing to give some problems for the real Naruto. Normally the jinchuriki wouldn't have had any issues in dealing with another shinobi, but this guy was using such a wide array of unorthodox and strange abilities, it was almost mindboggling.

Upon darting through the trees undetected for a few more minutes, keeping as silent as possible and out of sight, the copy and his priestess client eventually stopped on a branch of one of the surrounding redwoods. Holding his ground and looking over his shoulder at the girl he'd repositioned onto his back, the jinchuriki doppelganger saw that she was still sound asleep.

"Good. I don't need you waking up just yet." After all, there had only been one figure that'd appeared to attack the original, which meant the other member of the Gang of Four and its leader was probably still lurking about somewhere.

It was odd that he hadn't seen or spotted this particular guy yet. Even with his long reaching senses, he was getting nothing. The pair of gangsters had obviously been staying well ahead of the escort party for quite a while now, waiting for an opportunity to attack them. Knowing how strong the priestess's hired help and bodyguard was they'd opted to keep their distance and observe him from afar, before coming up with an effective strategy to either beat him or take him out of the equation. The first part was simple; pressuring the blonde into a battle that would prompt him to get Shion far enough out of harm's way, thereby separating the primary bodyguard from the priestess. After driving him to this point, the next step was to go for the target while she was vulnerable.

That meant the head of the team and the member charged with specifically assassinating Shion had to be nearby.

"They knew we would be heading in this direction for the shrine, so there's a good chance that the enemy has laid traps in the area for us," the jinchuriki thought while scanning the forest in silence, listening to the birds and getting a bead on the air. In order to avoid detection more effectively, he'd stuck to the trees, followed a non-linear retreat and strayed off of the path for the sealing shrine itself. Having taken these countermeasures, he hoped it'd been good enough to shake whoever was supposedly following them.

Hearing Shion groan uncomfortably, giving a clear indication that she was slowly waking up from their sudden flight through the forest that had rendered her unconscious in the first place, the blonde looked over his shoulder at the young woman and sighed, "Sorry, your highness-ness. Just a little bit longer until-"

Before he could even finish his thought, the bark of the tree at his foot burst outward and a black snake, just like the one Gitai had pulled out of his arm in his fight with the original, shot out and bit the blonde in the ankle.

"Ah, fuck!" the clone shouted, diving off of the branch and dislodging the snake's fangs from his flesh. Cursing profusely to himself as he descended towards the ground, the blonde shinobi did his best to keep Shion on his shoulders before they were both safe. However, following the sneak attack, any and all feelings of safety just vanished with the wind. Looking back up at the branch where he'd been bitten, the doppelganger gritted his teeth, "What the hell? Why the fuck didn't I sense that thing?"

Whatever it was, it was able to conceal itself inside of the tree and use it as cover to hide its presence until the right moment. It hadn't been able to attack them while Naruto had been moving, but the second he stopped to survey the area, that was his biggest mistake.

Not knowing what kind of snake it was or what kind of poison was now starting to course through his body, the jinchuriki copy figured he had just a few seconds before something bad happened. However, just as he was only a few feet off the ground, his body suddenly froze up and the clone lost control of his descent. As a result, his legs buckled when he crashed painfully to the ground, rolling across it and losing the sleeping priestess in the process.

Bouncing a few times, the shadow clone eventually slid to a stop on his front, a pained expression on his face as he slowly glared up towards where he could see Shion now lying several feet away.

"D-Damn it… I… I can't move…"

Whatever this was, it was an anesthetic technique that induced paralysis in the victim.

"And a powerful one," the shadow clone thought before looking up. His eyes fixing upon Shion, whom he saw was starting to stir from her slumber, the jinchuriki then picked up someone fast approaching them on the wind. Eyes widening fearfully when he detected the person, he didn't have to wait for long till the pink haired member and leader of the Gang of Four appeared from out of the canopy.

Materializing between the two fallen young adults Kusuna, drabbed in white and sporting a malicious grin, glanced down at the paralyzed blonde and stepped towards him. Taking a moment to look him over as well as take in his expression, the medic nin snorted, "Look at you; the blonde haired hero who killed my teammates. Not feeling so good now, are you?" Receiving a glare in response for his question, the pink haired shinobi grunted, "It took me a while to hunt you down in this stupid forest. Changing your route to try and throw me off? That was a smart play…"

"Y-You…" Naruto struggled out, his fingers curling in the soil and digging up grass.

"Unfortunately, not smart enough. I know you're not the real one, since my teammate is busy taking care of him, but that doesn't matter. My business is not with you." He then turned his back on the clone…

And started marching towards the immobile Shion.

Seeing the team leader begin marching towards the priestess had the jinchuriki's eyes widen, who then tried to get to his feet. Falling and failing, the blonde tried to crawl, but was unable to move more than a couple of feet before his arms lost all feeling and strength. Growling in frustration when he saw the shinobi stop over the inert Shion, the Jonin shouted.

"NO! Don't you touch her!"

Chuckling in amusement, Kusuna glanced back at the defeated shadow clone. When his eyes met the jinchuriki's, the man then summoned the same snakes he'd used to ambush the copy from his body, which then opened up his cloak and revealed he was carrying dozens of malicious looking medical utensils on him. Drawing one from his pocket, a scalpel, he held it out so that its blade was positioned threatening towards the priestess.

It was a sight that had the shadow clone look up in horror.

"Give your creator a message for me."

Eyes widening, the Naruto doppelganger then gave a furious glare and, with great effort, bit into his thumb…

OOO

Meanwhile…

Darting around explosions going off all around him, the original Naruto gave an annoyed snarl when he saw even more underground projectiles come flying towards him after the barrage, which pretty much gave him the green light to hit the accelerator. Disappearing in a flash, he started flickering between the fiery geysers one after the other in the form of an orange bead of light and rematerialized on the edge of the cliff, where he saw the wall of fire and smoke lift off of the area and reveal his opponent standing in the center of the field. As soon as the view was clear, the blonde glowered.

Cackling madly, the six-armed Gitai leered at his target and brought all of his hands up, "You really are a quick little speck. Well then… how will you deal with this?!" The shinobi then rammed all of his hands into the floor and unleashed a storm of fiery projectiles through the earth, which shot off in all directions and began bombarding the entire clearing, destroying redwoods and peppering the very precipice they were fighting nearby. "I'll just destroy… EVERYTHING!"

For the third time this fight, they reshaped the entire landscape by lighting up the whole area with explosions. The air filled with fire and rubble, pelting the ground with debris and forcing Naruto to dodge them. Unable to avoid them all, he threw his hand out and fired off a few Hien rounds to deflect the stones until the ground gave way beneath them and they started falling once again. The entire section of land they were fighting on vanished beneath them, prompting Naruto to level out and take position on one of the larger slabs.

Glancing up, the blonde saw an enormous boulder above him explode and, emerging from its confines, the enormous spider form of his opponent, who'd once again jacked-up his armor by coating his lanky body in rock again and taking on a more demonic appearance.

"This guy's power is getting out of hand. I'm ending this stupid fight. No more restraints," Naruto thought, crouching down low before blasting towards his descending adversary at full speed, putting his Tsubame no Koto (Soaring Swallow) into action. The air jets exploded off of his feet like rockets, giving him the extra boost he needed and beginning to travel at super-sonic speed.

Recoiling in surprise when he saw his blonde haired target flying toward him, Gitai reared back one of his arms and flung it forward. His limb suddenly extending at an accelerated rate, he attempted to take out the jinchuriki in one hit, but ended up missing when Naruto dodged it. The resulting pass caused it to slam into one of the falling boulders, stamping a chunk of red stone into it before it exploded.

"What the heck-"

Eyes widening when his target slipped around his attempt to finish him, Gitai tried for one more shot but was unable to respond in time when the blonde appeared directly beneath him and rammed two hands into his chest. Palms planted upon his target, the jinchuriki then fired off his signature move, "Jet Hand!" Wind chakra exploding from the man's chest like a hurricane, the transformed shinobi with six limbs suddenly rocketed up into the sky and broke the sound barrier twice, as he was then mercilessly plowed through falling boulders one after the other before he inevitably soared above the treetops.

Crying out at the top of his lungs as he was propelled backwards at an insane rate, the buffed up Asura-Gitai attempted to correct course, but was so preoccupied with trying to get himself out of his spot that he didn't notice his opponent reappear in the sky above him in the direct path of his flight.

Flickering into view from his lightning fast shunshin, Naruto grinned and slammed both his feet into his opponent's back, getting Gitai's attention and forcing the man to look over his shoulder with one of his three faces in shock.

"Huh? How the hell did you do that?!"

Smirking, the jinchuriki took aim and gripped the handle of his katana, "Wouldn't you like to know?" He then drew his sword and in a white flash, sliced right through his six-armed foe and sliced him in two. The blow caused Gitai's eyes to widen in horror and blood to fly out of his mouths, at the same time the open wound started to gush with purple chakra.

Seeing his foe's form begin to splinter like glass, with the cracks revealing a hot orange light that was glowing dangerously underneath, Naruto felt it was time to bail and kicked his foe out of the sky. His air ejection points still propelling the man, albeit on an out of control flight, the blonde managed to get far enough away to watch Gitai's body light up like a firework, his final scream being drowned out by a purple explosion that filled the entire sky. The fire and sparks were a magnificent spectacle, which drew a grin from the slightly banged up blonde before he made a complete descent back down to ground level, where he landed safely atop one of the red woods.

Flicking his sword out, Naruto cleaned its blade and sheathed it back into its scabbard all cool style, marking the end of his epic conquest. When the smoke and debris faded, the Jonin was allowed a moment of post-duel reprieve, taking a few seconds to admire his handiwork and the absolutely ruined patches of forest and valley he'd left behind in the wake of his match.

"Heh. I guess it's just one of those days," the blonde mused to himself, wiping his cheek on the back of his hand as he added this final score to the countless other conflicts he'd been involved with in the past.

Out of all of them, this one had had to be the weirdest one by far.

However, before he could completely relish in the aftershocks of his victory, a sudden flash of memory from a shadow clone dispelling hit him like a blow from a sledgehammer. His eyes widening when his mind managed to process the entire picture at light speed, the jinchuriki's head then snapped in the direction it had come from.

"No!" Expression reflecting fear and disbelief, Naruto turned heel and took off in a flash, before beginning to sprint through the forest at an accelerated rate.

"Shion!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Well… that went well, with even more chaos to come. This arc actually marks one of the first times Naruto makes a miscalculation and screws up, giving him another reason to grow more mentally.

Hidan is now involved, but only in small part, and showing the scars of his torment. And there are two Konoha ANBU on the trail.

Can anyone guess who the two ANBU are? Even though I spelled it out for all of you, I'd like to see how much people are paying attention.

Oh yes. And Happy Easter. :)