An: I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but my parents had taken me on a two week trip to tour the college campuses of California. Sorry if this chapter is a bit rushed.

13 hours since the Cloud incident

The woods were a simple green and brown blur to the fleeing hunter-nin. At the high speeds he was moving at, it was a miracle that he hadn't crashed into a tree in the dense forest. Behind him, Naruto could detect the quick movements of numerous figures giving chase. Cloud hunter-nins no doubt.

"How ironic, that you, praised as one of the best hunter-nins in Konoha would be running away from fellow hunter-nins." Nearly eight similarly masked ninjas appeared behind the running Naruto, each with a katana strapped over their shoulder. Turning his attention back onto the path he was traveling on, the blonde had to concentrate on not stumbling over his own feet. Even for a demon container, a week of torture on top of not eating left its mark.

Konoha

Sarutobi stared aimlessly at his desk even as his hands seemingly with a mind of its own filled out the endless piles of paperwork in front of him. Sign, put the date. Sign, put the date. Sign, put the date. The Third sighed as he stood up and allowed himself a small break.

His knees popped as he stretched out his cramped fingers. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stared out the window and let out a world weary sight that could only belong to an old man who had seen too much of what life had to offer.

The faceless voice of an Anbu drifted through the door. "Asuma is here to see you lord Hokage." Sarutobi grunted in acknowledgement as his chain smoking son stepped in and shut the door behind him.

Taking the lit cigarette from his lips, the bearded jounin blew out a small cloud of smoke before speaking. "It's almost time."

The Third returned to his desk and sat down with another heavy sigh. Interlocking his fingers in front of his face, the grizzled war veteran gazed up at his son. "Are all the preparations ready?"

Putting the death stick back into his mouth, the younger Sarutobi nodded in confirmation.

Nodding his head approvingly, the Hokage took his hat off and placed it onto the only open space on his document filled desk. "And have you spoken to Anko?" Asuma nodded again. "And?"

"She still refuses to speak. Says it's the same as acknowledging his passing and what not." The smoking man shook his head. "I think you should order her to see a psychiatrist soon. Once his death hits home, she could have a psychological breakdown, or go on a killing rampage. Knowing Anko, it is most likely to be the latter."

The Hokage nodded as he picked up a pen and once again returned to the tedious job of filling out papers. "One other thing old man." The Third frowned and turned his attention back onto his son. "You may want to up the security at the funeral. God knows what those villagers may try to do."

The elderly Sarutobi shook his head in disgust even as he realized the truth in his son's words. "It's times like these I can finally understand why my students were so eager to leave this village."

Asuma nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise. "You don't mean that old man." He turned around to leave.

The Hokage snorted. "Don't I? You'd be surprised." The wizened man sighed once more as he returned to filling out papers. 'This accursed paperwork isn't helping reinforce my will to stay either.'

Unknown Location

The small open spot in the dense forest was partially lit by the small rays of sunlight that managed to sneak in past the thick canopy of green leaves overhead. All around in the environment, small animals and bugs went about their business, squirrels gathering nuts to store for the coming winter, birds building nests to nurture the next generation, bees courting and dancing with the few flowers that managed to survive under the massive trees.

But there was something or rather someone who wasn't doing anything at all. Uzumaki Naruto seemed completely out of place with the bustling animals surrounding him, sitting as still as a statue, hidden amongst leaves on the third branch of an ancient and gnarled tree. His blond hair caught and reflected a small amount of sunlight dully, as a gentle breeze nipped playfully at the ends of his hair.

The animals in the background ignored the new intruder and continued on with their business, content to leave this alien alone. And the blond hunter-nin sat perfectly still, watching, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Hunter-Nin's POV

The eight cloud hunter-nins were spread out in a Diamond Head formation with their captain taking the lead, slowly treading forward through the dense forest. They knew their prey was close, they had seen his tracks disappear, indicating that he was no doubt preparing an ambush for the retrieval team. The one who had destroyed their home was hiding close by, and he was going to pay for what he had done.

They weren't going to kill him here, oh no. They were going to bring him back alive so that they could crucify his body in the city plaza before burning him at the cross. This was the only way the people of Cloud would ever feel compensated for their tragic losses. And so these eight elite hunters moved on carefully, senses on full throttle waiting to pick up on any abnormal signs that would give away the enemies inevitable ambush.

Naruto POV

As his pursuers came into view, Naruto showed no signs of any emotion. Fear, nervousness, anxiety, nothing. A quick glance showed that they were spread out into a Diamond Head formation to avoid being all killed by one well placed jutsu. Raising his hand, he twitched his index finger slightly. A shadow detached itself from a nearby tree and plummeted noiselessly straight down at the 8 hunter-nins.

"Looks like the shows about to start."

'Indeed it has Kyuubi.'

"Think you'll win?"

'I don't think about the outcome of a battle Kyuubi, I just fight it.' Their conversation ended when the clone reached his intended target.

Hunters

There had barely been any noise to warn the hunting party. Nothing had seemed out of place, except for a soft rustling most would have passed off as the wind. Leaping backwards, the captain managed to avoid the falling body before it fell on top of him. The man closest to the left of the team leader launched a handful of shurikens towards the blonde that had dropped out from the shadows.

Dancing gracefully between the deadly blades the clone charged forward towards the captain who by then had unsheathed his blade and gotten into a defensive stance.

Ducking the overhead swing aimed to decapitate, the clone lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the man's waist as his opponent's teammates closed in around them. A bright glow encompassed the clone before it imploded, cloaking the captain in a fiery burst of explosive chakra.

When the smoke cleared, a burnt and charred log surrounded by a 10 foot radius of decimated forest growth could be seen. The captain leapt down from the tree he had kawarimied into and scanned the area grimly. Nothing. "Be on guard. This is no doubt the first of many attacks." His faceless team nodded back at him. Reforming the Diamond Head formation, they once more crept off silently, now more paranoid then ever.

Naruto

"This guy is good." The huge fox rubbed his snout against his paw in his cage. "There's no way to tell between a normal clone and an exploding one, yet he still managed to get out in time. I must say, this flesh bag has impressed me."

Naruto stared on blankly as the group crept closer to his position. 'I'll have to be careful around that one.' Clasping his hands together, he made the ram seal and began concentrating his chakra. The blonde closed his eyes as he focused his entire being into his technique. The second phase was about to begin.

Hunters

A mist had crept in out of nowhere, and now the team could barely see a yard ahead of themselves, let alone each other. Grabbing his throat mike, the captain spoke into it calmly even as the unnatural mist thickened into a dense creamy white. "Rally to me."

Through the cloak of white density, his teammates came out. One by one they drifted towards their captain and squatted or stood staring at him, awaiting further orders. 'Good all eight are here.'

A brief pause in thought had the gears turning in the captain's head. "Scatter!" he bellowed, but it was already too late. A kneeling hunter-nin had detonated sending three members of the team flying in the resulting concussive blast. Two landed outside in the mist too far for the eye to see, but the third and the closest had been caught in the midst of the blast.

Screaming in agony, the man stumbled while holding onto the charred lump of meat that had once served as his right arm. The medical specialist rushed forward and pried the screaming man's left hand off the injury and began binding the smoldering wound to the best of her ability. The smell of burnt flesh had bile rising in all their throats, but the remaining four hunters ignored it and instead formed a defensive perimeter around the injured man and the medic treating him.

Staring out carefully into the mist, the captain watched for any signs of movement. Again, nothing. "Sir" The hunter on his right side spoke up. "What about Ganzo and Tenchi?" The captain hesitated for a moment but shook his head.

"No, it's far too dangerous to go out to retrieve them." As the ninja on his right shifted slightly, the captain once again shook his head. "And no, I won't let any of you go out there alone." His eyes narrowed as a shapeless form appeared in his vision before quickly vanishing. "It's too late for them now; hold your position until she's done."

The other three nodded their heads reluctantly in response and continued straining their eyes against the mist as they fingered their weapons.

Naruto

Nicking his left thumb with a kunai, Naruto swiped the bleeding digit across the palm of his right hand before making the familiar sears required for summoning. Slamming his palm into the ground, two foxes appeared. One was a gray shaggy male fox about the size of a small tiger. One of his eyes was permanently closed with a vertical scar running down it, and his jaws seemed to be jutted out in a permanent leer.

The second female fox was smaller, slightly larger then the size of a common dog. Her well groomed silver fur seemed to contrast greatly with the wild untamed mane of the first fox.

"Zaraki there are two downed shinobi in the mist, go out there and take care of them." The half blind fox grinned viciously before hurrying off into the mist to find his next meal.

Naruto turned his attention to the female. "Inoue I need you to cast your genjutsu on that group of shinobi at the center of the mist." If possible the vixen's face pulled into a small pout as she glared up at her master.

"All work and no play is very unhealthy for a girl you know." A scream followed by a vicious howl of triumph punctured the silence that followed her carefree statement. Glancing into the mist Naruto grunted in approval before looking back at his summon.

"I'll let you have the other six if you help me." The pouting face morphed into a happy if not slightly sadistic smile. She ran up and rubbed her back against his legs before moving off into the mist.

Inoue laughed mockingly as her voice reached Naruto's ears "I knew you loved me!" The blonde nodded his head in satisfaction before creating half a dozen clones that dove off into the swirling white mist on an invisible command from the original.

Though his fox summons came in all shapes, colors, and sizes, the one thing they all shared was their gift with genjutsu. Unlike human genjutsu, fox genjutsu were not as easily dispelled and they tended to be much more subtle and hart to recognize.

"And so all the pieces are in place. Do you think it will be checkmate next round?"

Leaping back onto the branch he had left in order to summon his foxes and clones, the blonde considered the demon's words for a moment before replying.

'Yes, and if it isn't then I'm in trouble.'

Hunters

The blood curdling scream from their fallen companions left the shinobi tense, but it was the howl that followed that had them all drawing out their weapons. Eyes darting quickly about scanning for enemies, they unknowingly fell into a primal stat of terror where their fight or flight instincts were screaming at them at full blast. They didn't know it, but they had already fallen into the beginning phase of Inoue's genjutsu.

Naruto

While Inoue had been casting her genjutsu over the small group of hunter-nins guarding the medic, Naruto had used the cover of the fog to flank the nervous group. He paused to examine his summon's handy work and nodded in admiration.

Already the four supposed guards were grouping together, leaving the medic exposed to attack. This was only the first phase of her genjutsu. Unlike human genjutsu that primarily effected the five senses, fox genjutsu could also prey on the primal side of its target. Fear gave humans almost supernatural abilities from increased speed and strength to savagery unrivaled by any other animal on the face of the world.

But this rage came at the price of the rational side of their minds, making them even easier prey to genjutsu attacks. Humans, being pack animals, instinctively group together when confronting an unknown enemy. Fox genjutsu were extremely hard to recognize and dispel due to the fact that unlike the human variation, it didn't force itself onto the host, but slowly merged itself into the chakra system. Though it took more time, fox genjutsu was much more dangerous then its human counterpart and the target did not dispel the genjutsu on their own if given enough time.

The blond hunter-nin smiled slightly when he saw the four guards back to back. From past experience working with Inoue, he knew that those four could only see what she wanted them to and nothing else. He could dance naked in front of them and they wouldn't notice a thing.

Naruto leapt off the branch he had been observing the situation in and landed gracefully behind the medic-nin. The woman whirled around and gasped when she caught sight of the short figure advancing towards her while dual wielding kunais. Her hand darted for her shuriken pouch, but already the blond hunter-nin was in range.

Leaping back, the medic-nin barely managed to avoid the kunai her opponent had swiped at her stomach. Slowing her backward momentum, she pulled out a handful of gleaming metal and dispersed them into both her hands in one smooth motion, but her enemy had stopped and was staring at her dispassionately.

Not questioning her luck, she moved forward to throw, but stopped as a pain shot through her abdominal area causing her to drop the shurikens. She stared down at the front of her shirt and realized it had ripped. 'That's funny when did it…?' Slowly, almost as if to mock her question, a small thin red line appeared on her smooth abbs and grew frighteningly long.

She gaped stupidly even as the line opened up, dumping out her steaming intestines onto the dirty forest floor. Dropping onto the soil next to her entrails, she grabbed desperately at the gaping wound knowing that not even a miracle worker like Tsunade could possible save her.

The dying medic looked up at the unmoving blonde and gasped out her question as the world seemed to spin and fade out. "But how? You missed!" The blonde hunter-nin turned around and vanished into the thick mist.

"I never miss." His cold reply was the last thing she heard before the icy grips of death claimed her soul.

Inoue

Inoue smiled in approval as she watched the female medical kunoichi die. 'As cold and ruthless as always Naruto-kun.' She still remembered the first time he had summoned her; she had just hit the fox version of puberty. 'Hard to believe he's grown so much, yet changed so little.' She continued musing until said hunter-nin dropped in besides her.

Crouching down next to his favorite summon, Naruto scratched the special spot he knew Inoue loved, right behind her left ear. Her tongue lolled out and her ears flattened against her skull in pleasure as her master pampered her. "How are you doing with those four?" Pouting slightly as he stopped scratching, the fox turned her gaze contemplatively onto the four humans who remained oblivious to the fact that their medic was dead.

"They're just about ready to crack. What about that guy without the arm?" The blonde grunted and sat down crossed legged next to the fox who then laid her head onto his lap demanding attention. Scratching away absentmindedly, Naruto focused his attention on the group before him. "I've got a message I want delivered."

Without warning, one of the four nameless hunter-nins turned around and began yelling at his captain. The blonde smiled underneath his soulless mask. "It's begun."

Hunters

"This is all your damn fault! What the hell are we doing out here anyways?!" The captain glared back at his impudent subordinate.

"My fault?! How the fuck is it my fault?!! If you retards were half as talented as you though you were, we wouldn't be in this mess right now!" The other two men snarled and turned around to face their captain at his accusations.

It happened in an instant. The first man lunged forward towards his captain with a kunai in hand, but the captain was too fast. Side stepping the enraged man's charge, the team leader slammed his katana in between the other's shoulder. The fight that followed was quick and brutal as was the way of ninja battles. In the end, only the captain was left breathing, but for how long was a debatable point.

With the adrenaline fast fading, the pain came back in full vengeance. Five kunais and 3 shurikens could be seen sticking out at odd angles all over his body, and a katana had been shoved through his left shoulder. Blood was pooling at his feet as he staggered over to where his medic had last been seen. "Isan!" he rasped out. "Damn it Isan, I need your help!!" his voice sounder weaker and more desperate as he stumbled about blindly in the curtain of mist.

His left foot stepped on something soft and squishy, and a foul smell assaulted the captain's nose. The man recoiled in horror as he came upon the disemboweled body of his medic. Emptying the contents of his stomach as the putrid smell of intestines got to him, the captain fell to his knees among the freshly spilled guts of the woman.

Coughing a few times, he failed to get to his feet as he felt all his remaining energy leave him. The soft sounds of footsteps drifted to his ears, but the normally comforting noise sounded more like a funeral march to the captain. Utilizing the last of his strength, he propped himself up next to Isan's body and watched his adversary materialize out of the mist.

With his increasingly fading vision, the captain studied the young boy, for surely only one so young could be so short, that had devastated his once proud team. Gleaming blond hair reached the waist of the shirtless hunter-nin. His muscular chest and six pack abbs rippled with each step he took like that of a huge cat's, graceful, but deadly. Covering his face was the symbol of Hunter-X, the mask with the crossed shaped scar that had struck fear onto an untold number of criminals right before they died.

In his right hand, he held a bloody katana that dripped a small trail of blood onto the ground. His left hand held onto a large makeshift bag that was made out of what appeared to be the robe like uniforms the Cloud hunter-nins were required to wear. The bag was full, and the bottom was stained crimson with small drops of blood seeping though once in a while. The captain had a good idea what was inside.

His nemesis stopped before him and stared down at his beaten form. The captain gave a good natured salute towards the boy in front of him. "Well done." He gave a weak chuckle as the world seemed to blur around the edges. "At least I was beaten by a superior opponent." His breathing became shallow and the man knew his life had come to an end. "Hang on Rei-chan," he whispered softly, "I'm coming."

Naruto stood before the dead man's body and returned the small salute. One swing of the katana and he added the captain's head to the bag he held in his left hand. A second swing and the medic's head joined those of her comrades.

The blonde walked casually into the mist completely unaffected by the fact that he had just beheaded two still warm corpses. After a few steps though the thick mist, he came upon the trembling form of the last and only living member of the squad that had been sent out to kill him. "Pl..please. I have children." The man with the missing right hand tried to crawl away as the blond hunter-nin approached him. Stopping just before the handicapped man, Naruto dropped the bag next to him.

"Take that and return to your village. Let them serve as an example to all those who would dare cross me." The man reached his left hand out to the stained bag as if it were a lifeline. Holding tightly onto the bloody bag, the man got unsteadily to his feet while facing the inert blonde. Backing away slowly as if expecting the fair-haired hunter-nin to laugh and say 'just kidding' and attack, the man slowly gained confidence with each step. Turning around he fled through the mist trying to put as much distance between him and the blonde as possible.

"You realize that you are one sick twisted son-of-bitch right?"

Naruto watched the fleeing man disappear into the mist coolly. 'I have no idea what you're talking about fox.' The huge fox chuckled quietly as his host turned around and began racing westwards towards the border of fire country.

"I mean that little surprise you left in the bag. You think it'll reach cloud, or will he get curious?"

'Does it really matter?' There was a short pause as the demon considered his host's words. A moment later the gargantuan fox grinned again before settling down in his cage.

"So how much damage can 20 explosive tags do?" Naruto shrugged noncommittally as he continued his fat paced trek towards Konoha. The fox chuckled softly again. "You must get it from that sister of yours."

The blonde snorted beneath his mask. 'No doubt about that.'

Funeral

Sarutobi eyed the small crowd of gathered shinobi sadly. Most of them were hunter-nins and other shinobi who had worked with Naruto in the past, with the exception of Hyuuga Hiashi who had come to honor the one who had fallen while trying to protect the Hyuuga bloodline. The third sighed and removed his hat as he stood up on the podium next to the enlarged picture of the masked Naruto. They had been unable to find any picture of him without his mask on, since the only person possessing them was Anko, and she point blank refused to hand them over.

The elderly Hokage took a deep breath before launching into his speech. "Fellow shinobi and kunoichi, it saddens me greatly to have to stand here and speak to you this day. Recently, we have lost a young and promising shinobi who fell for his home and its people. To some, he was a shinobi of unmatched caliber. To others he was a demon vessel that they held in contempt. But I am here to tell you that he was nothing but a boy, a boy who had the weight of the world placed on him since his birth." Here Sarutobi took a deep breath to stop himself from breaking down. Deep down, he knew that Naruto wouldn't have wanted him to cry, but that may have been because Naruto didn't know how to cry. "His name was Uzumaki Naruto, and he was a shinobi of the leaf."

Gates of Konoha

The two gate guards sat idly by, passing the time with a deck of playing cards, discussing the funeral as they played go fish. "Shame really. One of our best hunter-nin from what I hear." His partner snorted and sneered. "Says you, the demon would have turned on us sooner or later. Better he died for Konoha I say." The first guard shook his head sadly at his fellow shinobi's disrespect for the fallen. He opened his mouth to reprimand his partner when he caught sight of the shirtless blonde figure walking casually thought the huge wooden gates.

His mouth stayed open as the man gaped in shock. The second guard turned away from his hand to look at his partner. "Oy it's your turn." Noticing the man's expression, he followed the stunned man's gaze. Blinking once to make sure he was seeing correctly, he rubbed his eyes with his hands to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

The blond hunter-nin walked up to the gate house and stopped in front of the two frozen guards. "Lost my passport back in Kumo." The two stupefied guards stayed unmoving as the blonde walked off into the village after his short explanation. A few minutes passed before the first guard managed to splutter out a few incoherent words. The second guard scratched his head before spitting on the floor.

"Well what do you know, the kid made it. You better go tell the Hokage." The first man snapped out of his daze and glared back at his partner.

"Why me? In fact, I became chunnin before you did if I recall correctly, so I should have seniority around here."

His partner rolled his eyes before replying. "Because if you don't, I'll tell your wife about that girlfriend of yours."

"What?!! I don't have a girlfriend!" protested the first guard angrily. The second guard smirked back that his partner.

"Ah, that may be true, but we all know how paranoid your wife is. Even if it weren't true, you'll still sleep on the couch for a month, and most likely not get any until next year. That's a long five months." The first man grumbled and stomped out of the guard house in defeat.

Ramen stand

"Give me another miso ramen old man!" The ramen stand owner stared out sadly at the disheveled figure of Mitarashi Anko. Placing another steaming bowl before the red eyed woman, he sighed as he watched her guzzle down her misery in another bowl of ramen. Pausing in her frenzied eating, the tired looking Anko gave a small hollow laugh. "You know, ramen was his favorite food. We would always argue over which was better, ramen or dango."

Her eyes stung as her tear ducts demanded for her to release her sorrow, but the iron willed kunoichi held them back. Looking up at the ramen stand owner for his reaction, she blinked at the surprised expression on his face.

"And I still say ramen is better." The same cold toneless voice that had haunted her dreams for the past week sent a jolt down her spine. The scantly clad woman whirled around in her seat as she stared at the short blonde standing before her. Reaching a trembling hand forward, she caressed the ivory mask her little brother always wore.

"It's really you" she whispered softly.

"Are you well Anko nee-chan? You look tired and unkept." There was an uncharacteristic hint of worry in his voice, but there was no mistaking his manner of speaking. Anko launched herself forward and enveloped her adoptive brother in a strong embrace ignoring the strange looks passing villager were giving them.

For the first time since she had heard the news of the demise of her younger brother, Anko allowed her tears to fall. "Everything is going to be fine now Naruto." A slow smile spread across her face, but faltered slightly when she felt her brother buckle under her. She pulled back and panicked as Naruto fell to one knee while leaning heavily against her.

"Naruto! What's wrong?!!" A soft groan was all she got in reply. Scooping up the twelve year old in her arms, she raced off desperately towards the hospital.

Funeral

"And we must not forget the sacrifice he made for out village." Asuma had surprisingly put out his cigarette for his speech, a sign of respect for those that knew him. "We must-"

"HOKAGE-SAMA!!" A sweating and panting man sprinted into view. The third turned about angrily to give the man who interrupted his adoptive grandson's funeral a piece of his mind when the man blurted out his message. "X has returned!!"

The third froze as his mind tried to process the message. The crowd of gathered ninja murmured in shocked excitement. Hiashi pushed his way forward through the crowd and snapped out at the gasping chunnin. "Are you sure it's him? Our enemies may have used henge to try to sneak in!"

"Uh…" The guard began to sweat as scores of gazes turned towards him. Sarutobi immediately reverted back into his role of Hokage as he learned of the possible security breach.

"Everyone spread out and search for Uzumaki Naruto and any other possible imposters that you do no recognize!" A chorus of hai's echoed as the gathered shinobi vanished off to do their lord's bidding.

Hiashi walked over to the Hokage, face flushed with excitement. "Do you think it's him?"

The third sighed and gaze up at the enlarged portrait of Naruto. "Honestly, I don't know."

AN: Well there you go, read and review. I think this is my longest chapter yet.