A/N: Wow! I'm suprised and love all of you who reviewed, put me on watch or made me a favorite! Thank you! I never expected to get such a positive reaction!

Long delay in between chapters, I know but please bear with me! I will put off but not discontinue Hidden Art, so I can write this. I really can't say anymore until you read this chappie, so the rest of the a/n is at the bottom. so R+R and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. If he was, I would glomp him to death.

Chapter 2-Exit Dream, Enter a Nightmare

She was in a dark void, where there was no concept of time, distance or direction. It was an endless black confusion. The little girl felt very alone. She tried to cry out but when she opened her mouth, no sound came. She reached out, but grabbed a handful of nothing. She was scared.

Suddenly, her whole family appeared right before her eyes. Her mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, all of them were there. She tried to run to them, but they seemed to fade away as the smiled. As suddenly as they came, they vanished.

'NO!'

Kushina shot up, breathing hard. Making sure her parents were still there, she felt for them. Nyazu-kun still on her left, Izumi-chan still on her right. 'It was just a dream. Just a really bad dream.'

Izumi opened her eyes partway. "Kushina –chan? Are you awake? Go back to sleep. You're a growing girl, you need your rest." The girl did as she was told, but something kept her awake. It was awhile before she fell into a fitful sleep.

A man and a woman, dressed in black cloaks with high collars, looked out from the top of a cliff, their eyes hidden by straw hats. "So that's where they are." He studied the complex of traditional buildings. "We will go tomorrow. They will help us…

(Same moment, a few miles away)

"…or they will die." Pain turned and walked away into the trees. "Are you coming, Konan?" The young woman took one last look and followed her companion.

Tsuzei was working at his desk when the doors slammed open and the head guard came in. "Tsuzei-sama! Two figures inn black cloaks are at the gates and they demand a council with you immediately!"

'Oh shit. It's them.' "Take them to the meeting room. But first, inform every man and every woman and every other able bodied fighter to arm themselves with their swords and to guard all of the exits of the clan buildings. Take all of the elders and put them in the secret chamber. And tell my dear Kushina to come here as quick as possible." Sadness was evident in his words.

"Hai Tsuzei-sama." The guard ran out.

'I pray to Kami that we can beat them.'

Five minutes later in the council meeting room, a young man and a young woman in those sinister black cloaks sat across from the clan head. The woman had light purple colored hair and a white origami rose in her hair. No emotion could be seen in her eyes. Her partner, on the other hand, had black hair that hung down in front of his face since his head was bent. The sight of two entire opposites made the elder seem nervous. 'Kushina, please make it out alive.'

The woman spoke first. "Uzumaki-san, we request that you and your clan teach us the ways of your sword so that we too may become strong."

Tsuzei knew his answer immediately. "Why should I let you? You two seem strong enough as it is."

This time, the man spoke. "Because we are on a mission together, one to bring the world to peace. This training will help us destroy the enemies of the world."

"And cause more trouble and destruction in the process? I think not."

"Birdy-kun, where are we?" the little girl asked in a very loud whisper.

"We're in one of the secret paths to your clan's compound." replied the ANBU captain in the falcon mask. Three other ANBU, a cat, a toad, and a fox were also part of the team. The cat carried Kushina's possessions while the other two carried the team's gear.

"Almost there." As the captain spoke, a ring of light could be seen up ahead. When they were right next too it, they saw it was a large boulder covering some sort of secret entrance to the tunnel. The falcon, remembering what Tsuzei had told him to open the entrance, closed his eyes and began to feel the rock. He finally found the chakra holes in it after a while, and pushed chakra into his fingers. The boulder immediately began to move out of the way to open the exit and the captain removed his fingers.

The little girl was awestruck. "Wow Birdy-kun, how'd you do that?" She had seen clan members train and use chakra before but she had never seen someone move a giant rock by simply poking it.

The falcon chuckled. "Oh just a little trick your grandfather taught me." Then, he stepped outside into the sun, feeling refreshed at the feel of the breeze through his silver-white hair. He noticed that the girl hadn't moved an inch from where he had left her, head turned to the ground and long red hair hiding her eyes. Being the kind to care about his teammates and making such mission's second priority, he placed his hand on the little girl's shoulder. "I'm Sorry. Did I make you feel bad?"

Tears could be seen running down her face. "I-I-Its just, I-I won't see him ever again. Or Mommy-chan, o-or Daddy-kun." She fell to her knees. "I m-miss them already."

Falcon picked up her and whispered in her ear, "Remember the times you and your family had together. Remember them and they will always be with you." He swung the girl onto his back. Then, taking a great leap, the group sped off into the trees towards Kushina's future.

"I told you, our answer is no! We will not teach you the Uzumaki Kenbu-Do! That is final!"

"Fine then. You must die." Pain summoned a strange creature about the size of the head house. It had the head of a cat, with piercings along the bridge of its nose and the edge of its ears; the body was that of a goats and the tail was like a lizard's, which too had piercings all along it. He jumped atop its head and formed a few seals. "Are you ready?"

They were outside in the courtyard. 21 Uzumakis, warriors and students alike, surrounded the two people threatening to destroy their clan. Each one wielded a mightily sword, whether it be huge like one of the Seven swordsmen of the Mist, or long and thin like the standard Katana. The most interesting thing about these swords however, was the uniqueness to the person using it. Each sword was designed specifically for that person and their elemental type, carved with the clan symbol, the spiral, surrounded by writing and intricate designs. When a master would use their sword, the body and the blade became one. A singe one would cost a fortune.

Tsuzei summoned his sword using a scroll in his pocket. This sword, out of all of the displayed ones, was the most unique. It looked like a standard sword you would fid in medieval Europe, but without a hilt. The blade slid freely through the handle unless he put his fingers on the holes in the handle, like a flute, thus a very difficult sword to use and even harder to master. H let the blade hang down and looked at his opponent on his mount, shaking his head. "I am not. We all are."

"Then let us begin." Pain summoned up his own weapon, a curved blade on a chain, and began to swing it above his head. Upon completing the last seal, he uttered, "Ikimo Gei: Kasai Tsume." The creature he was on suddenly burst into flames, although they did not harm Pain. Just before it began to attack, four Uzumakis, some using their swords, some not, used various Water Jutsu's and soaked the cat-beast, which immediately disappeared in a cloud of smoke and pain landed on the ground. He swung the chain blade in a large circle at the fighters. One of them, a student, caught the weapon with his sword and yanked. Pain did not budge and pulled back on the chain on his weapon, swiftly pulling the Uzumaki to his death.

The body fell to the ground, leaking blood everywhere. One boy, the best friend of the one that just died, cried out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Immediately, 6 clones appeared next to him. They all charged at Pain, but he used his eyes, the Rin'negan, to easily pick out the real one. Throwing a kunai at the real one he jumped to the side to avoid the oncoming clones and threw a handful of shuriken at their backs to destroy them. Meanwhile, even if he did not see her, he shoved the blade of his weapon into the body of a warrior who was attacking from behind. The fray had started.

Tsuzei knew enough to not approach Pain or his female partner, who was engaged with some others, directly, as this would surely be a fast death for him, as the pre-Akatsuki members had demonstrated. He circled the battle as did another, who would jump into the fight when it turned critical, but neither saw each other.

Within the first two minutes, most of the younger, more eager, less experienced fighters had fallen, even if they had the legendary sword skills. The adults and masters were holding their own, though two had already gone, whether they had made one wrong step or were too slow by a split second.

Pain had had enough of this child's play. He jumped extremely high, long enough for a long chain of hand seals. "Raiko Butai: Kaminari no Amanohara!" he yelled. A large lightning bolt came down on every fighter directly beneath him, killing everyone except the two circling the scene. Nobody had enough time to react, not even enough make a single hand seal it was so quick.

The remaining Uzumakis stood there, dumbstruck at what had just happened. 'How could one so young have so much power? That technique alone would leave me tired!' then Tsuzei remembered something from the meeting earlier in the council room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And cause more trouble and destruction in the process? I think not."

Pain lifted his head. The hair previously obscuring his eyes revealed them to be the Rin'negan, the eyes of the very first Shinobi from which all Ninjustu originated. 'I though they were a legend. They're actually real.' Those mysterious eyes stared into the deep blue of the clan leader's.

"Please do not deny me or my partner this training. Do you not want peace in this world?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'So that's how.' Then it suddenly hit him. 'Shit. We don't have a chance.' Tsuzei, in secret, created an Earth Bunshin and had the clone slowly approach Pain. The two fought longer than expected, both using Taijutsu and Ninjutsu constantly. Pain did not use the Lightning Jutsu again, as he knew that the old man would block it, or what he thought was the old man.

That other Uzumaki, the one who did not fight, was not seen. They had cast a weak Genjutsu around where they were standing to keep themselves concealed.

Finally, after a while of fighting, Pain managed to chop off the man's head, only to discover it crumbled to the ground. "Rasengan!" He spun around quickly to see a bright blue ball of spinning chakra, which slammed into his chest, forcing him to the ground. Sliding the blade of his sword to the ground, Tsuzei place his fingers in the holes in the handle and brought it down to where the Rasengan hit to finish off the boy. It sunk half-way through and stopped.

Suddenly, a blade protruded from the old man's stomach. His eyes widened. 'B-but…how? I didn't sense him.'

Before he had a chance to speculate, he fell to his knees and went face first into the ground, his body motionless. Uzumaki Tsuzei was dead.

Pain yanked his weapon from the bloody figure. "A simple clone. That's all it was." And walked away. "We're done here Konan. Let's go."

Kushina sat in a tree, watching the moon. In her hands she held a small daisy. The girl absentmindedly began to pick the petals off slowly, releasing each one into the breeze. When she was about to pluck the last one off, she looked down and stopped herself. A wind picked up and blew the last petal off. The little girl watched it go and a sudden sense of loss overcame her.
A/N: This was the longest I have ever written, but I know its nothing compared to what I have read. Ok,

Question one: Who do you think the Falcon masked ANBU was?

Question two: Did you not like it when Tsuzei died? (I'm sorry! I tried to avoid doing so but I couldn't! So please don't flame me! Or kill me!)

Question three: Who do you think the other Uzumaki was, the one that did a Genjustu to hide themselves?

Question four: Were you suprised when Tsuzei knew Rasengan?(There's a reason why I did that.)

I will include a dictionary of Justus I create and japanese words at the end of each chapter. The translations are literal. No grammar.

Jutsu Dictionary:

Ikimo Gei: Kasai Tsume- Animal Art: Fire Claw -This Justsu requires a non-human summon. The Summmon and the summoner will burst into flames, but they will not be hurt by them. Any others who touch it will be burned, thus dealing extra damage.

Raiko Butai: Kaminari no Amanohara- Lightning Element: Thunder of the Heavens- Many bolts of lightning are called down from the sky to strike the opponent with over 1000V of energy, instantly killing the struck person.

Japanese Dictionary:

Kenbu-Do: Way of the Dancing Sword

Also, for Tsuzei's sword: If you have seen Seven swords, one of those chinese movies, you would know exactly what the sword looked like. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it because the sword is the one that the woman has.

OK SINCE VFSNAKE IF SO ANGRY AT ME (gives angry glare back) I WILL GIVE HIM HIS PROPS AS MY BETA FOR THIS STORY! VFSNAKE IS MY OFFICIAL BETA FOR THIS STORY! THERE I SAID IT! (and I had to repost this chapter to say it!)

Next Chapter: Less Uzumaki clan, more Kushina in Konoha. There, she meets a certain blonde.

Cookies and brownies to everbody who reviews! And some candy for Halloween!

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