True Path of a Jinchuuriki Ch 10: Lust for Power

(Italics: Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's / Demon's / Inner Characters's Speech. Underline: Time Skips)

It had been three days since the failed mission, and three days since Naruto lost to Sasuke again! Naruto couldn't get over it, it drove him insane every time he thought about it. Naruto's body tensed up at the thought as he slammed his fist into the wooden training post in front of him, re-enforcing his physical power with chakra as the training post, the solid wooden post shattering like a thin piece of glass. Suddenly Naruto sense someone's presence behind him. Quickly he threw a Kunai behind him, barely missing Hinata who was frozen in place, a look of terror on her face. "Oh it's only you Hinata, what do you want?"

Hinata frowned at him. "What's wrong Naruto-kun? You've been acting... Different." Hinata asked him. Naruto turned his back to her. "I'm training to become more powerful and I can't have any distractions, my training requires my absolute concentration... I need to be alone." And with those words Naruto faded into darkness. What's happening to you Naruto-kun? Hinata wondered to herself as two single tears dripped down her pale cheeks.

I need more power... I need more power... I need more power...

The words seemed to echo in his mind over and over again. He needed more strength, more cunning, more techniques, more power! As he thought this he stood atop the head of the Fourth Hokage at the Hokage monument, gazing outward toward the village he grew up in, the village that hated him since his birth... Yet he desired to protect it... As he became lost in thought Light and Darkness Naruto manifested in the forms of shadow clones in accordance to their free will. "Do you truly wish to surpass the Uchiha at any cost?" Light and Darkness Naruto asked together, standing in front of him side-by-side. Naruto nodded as his attention shifted toward his alter-egos.

Light and Darkness Naruto fused together forming a new powerful ally. As the transformation finished his form became revealed. Half of the Naruto clone was bright golden, everything from his skin, to his clothes, even down to his eyes color, an angel wing sprouting from his left shoulder. The other vertical half Naruto's alter-ego was a night-black texture, all except his eye which glowed a fiery violet. Naruto was in awe at the power emitting from his alternate self. "I have much to teach you, and if you truly wish for the power you seek you will obey me without question."

One week later...

"Push yourself harder! Your physical endurance and chakra control are the keys to perfecting the technique."

A voice explained in the back of his mind. Naruto nodded his head in response as he concentrated chakra in the soles of his feet, running up a vertical cliff with a look of intense concentration embedded into his very facial expression. Sweat dripping off his face as he reached the top, sitting down underneath a tree protruding from the ground, relaxing in the shade as he closed his eyes and began his meditation exercises. He hadn't spoken to Hinata since he ran into her the other week, he was sure she was there waiting for him but he wasn't quite sure he'd return anytime soon, as much as he enjoyed her company she was a distraction from him growing stronger.

As Naruto began to relax he fell into a trance, reality dissolving around him in a blur of shapes and colors as he entered his inner realm, appearing in the circular room that once caged his Kekei Genkai. Two of the three fragments of his Ego sitting in a circle, cross-legged in meditation. The third paying no attention to his surroundings as he enjoyed the rush of the demonic energy flowing through him.

"Welcome back Naruto we've been expecting you."

Tactical Naruto said, one eye opened and watching him. Naruto smirked in response. "Have you now? What for?" His alternate self grinned darkly in response.

"To help you perfect the technique of course..."

One Hour Later...

Naruto snapped back into reality as fatigue overcame him, his body collapsing on the ground about halfway back to the village from where he was training. What power...! Naruto thought to himself as he blacked out. When he regained consciousness he found himself in Konoha hospital, not hearing anyone around he quickly got dressed and grabbed his gear. Opening the window quickly he slid his foot out the window and had about half his body out the window when an angry voice suddenly spoke from behind. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Naruto turned around and came face-to-face with his ex-teammate Sakura Haruno. "What business is it of yours? I'm not injured so I'm leaving." Sakura frowned at him. "Hinata told me what happened, why won't you talk with her?" Naruto turned his back to Sakura. "Sakura it's none of your business and for that matter since when have you given a damn about me? I didn't even exist in your world until Sasuke was gone forever." His words hit Sakura like a ton of bricks as her gaze dropped to her feet, she gazed back upward and was going to say something but the moment she looked up, he was gone.

Hinata sat alone in Naruto's bedroom, curled up in a ball as she cried to herself, she missed her Naruto-kun but he wasn't himself... He was becoming so dark, very different from the strong innocent boy she fell in love with. She knew this was her home but she couldn't wait for Naruto forever... She would have to part ways with him... For now anyway. As she finished her thoughts she put her key down on the table. Closing the door behind her and locking it as she left, a single tear running down her face. Good-bye Naruto-kun... Hinata thought to herself as she went to go talk to her friend Tenten to arrange a place to stay.

Naruto wandered aimlessly through the streets of Konoha, no destination as he went with the flow. After about fifteen minutes of traveling Naruto found himself at a shady-looking Sake bar and decides to enter, eyes from countless people following his every as he entered, he didn't mind though, he was used to it. As he sat down he ordered a bottle of Sake, after exchanging money for the bottle he uncorked it, not bothering to pour himself a glass as he brought the bottle to his lips, draining a good portion of the bottle before he set it down on the bar in front of him. "Hey there Naruto what are you doing in a place like this?" Naruto gazed upward from his seat only to come face to face with Kiba and Shikamaru. "Oh hey guys what are you up to?" Naruto asked in an empty tone as he brought the bottle to his lips again. "Not much me and Shikamaru were just about to head to the roof of the Academy and drink a few bottles of Sake, care to join us?" Naruto just grinned and nodded his head in response.

Sasuke sat in a dimly lit, circular chamber composed of solid black stone. Sitting around him were four shadowed figures, their features not visible due to the poor light. "I have summoned you all here today to propose an alliance. You all as well as I are labeled as criminals, and why I ask? Because we all saw through the Shinobi Nations' false peace and sought power!? With power we could gain control over this chaotic order mindless and heartless human beings have forged through their generations of wars, deceit, and lust for power. With the destruction of this world we will enter an era of recreation, an era of peace."

As Sasuke finished a tall, slender shadowed figure sitting across from Sasuke stood up and spoke in a powerful yet delicate tone. "Your ideals are flattering Sasuke Uchiha as well as your own power but how do you propose we obtain enough power to gain control over five massive armies?" The man asked skeptically. A sly, dark grin spread across Sasuke's facial expression. "Have any of you heard the Legend of the Frozen Flame?" Sasuke asked.

One Hour Later...

"Wow now that's what I call Sake." Naruto said with a foxy grin. "Tell me about it..." Shikamaru said as he took another swig of the bottle. Kiba's gaze drifted toward Naruto as he began to speak. "Say Naruto why are you drinking so heavily? Did something happen?" Naruto smirked and took another swig of Sake, putting the bottle down. "I saw Sasuke again and I let that bastard get the best of me... But I've been training relentlessly since that day and I've prepared myself in ways nobody would expect..." Naruto said as he brought his bottle to his lips again. Kiba shot him a toothy grin. "Another technique?" Kiba asked. "You have no idea..." Naruto said with a dark grin on his face, finishing the contents of the Sake bottle.

Four Hours Later...

A group of five Elite ANBU Operatives sat in a circle playing cards, none of them dropping their guard and playing in silence as they remained on constant alert, their eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly all five of the ANBU Operatives' eyes shot open, all of them immediately forming a barrier around the entrance to the Temple of Lightning. Suddenly a demonic laughter erupted from all around them. "Who's there!?" The ANBU Leader called out into the proceeding darkness. As his voice echoed throughout the shadows a humanoid form emerged from oblivion, the twilight revealing the features of the lone figure. It was a women with the sexiest womanly features the ANBU had ever seen in their entire lives, a beautiful woman with a look of sadistic pleasure written across her facial expression.

One of the ANBU trembled and took a step back as he looked at the woman wide-eyed. "What's wrong Kai?" The ANBU refereed to as Kai continued to tremble as he spoke in a terrified tone. "I've seen her face in the Bingo book sir! She's a sorceress of some kind." The ANBU captain bit down on his lip in frustration. "Are you ready to play with my dolls?"

The girl asked in a sadistic and sinister tone. As she said this she rose her right hand, an amulet in her palm glowing a bright crimson as an army of soldiers manifested from nothingness, surrounding the ANBU as they advanced. "Earth Style! Impaling Spike Jutsu!"

The ANBU Captain announced as he slammed his open palm into the earth. As the incantation echoed cracks formed in the ground, spears of solid earth protruding upwards from the ground, impaling all the advancing soldiers and stopping them in their tracks. The Sorceress merely smirked as she stood atop one of the spikes unharmed. Impossible! The ANBU Captain thought as his eyes widened at the sight of the sorceress.

"If you think you can prevail over my un-dead army think again!?"

And with those words the body parts of every one of the impaled soldiers glowed the same shade of bright crimson as the amulet in her palm. Their body parts separating and coming back together. Appearing around the ANBU battle-ready. The ANBU did all they could to fight back but no matter how many times they destroyed them they came back together, they knew all they had to do to end it was kill the sorceress, unfortunately her un-dead army never gave them the chance. A few hours into the conflict all the ANBU fell unconscious due to fatigue and chakra exhaustion. The reanimated corpses finishing them off as the Necromancer proceeded inside the temple, the barrier around the entrance dissolved.

As she entered the Elemental orb on the other side of the room began to glow a bright yellow. An enormous humanoid form manifesting from energy, electricity flowing through the beings body. The Necromancer merely grinned at the obstacle before her, squeezing her amulet tightly and closing her eyes in concentration. I'm going to need a SPECIAL doll for this one... As she finished her thoughts the amulet as well as her eyes glowed a bright crimson.

As her amulet's glow dimmed she walked away from the remains of the elemental guardian. Coating her hand in an aura of chakra as she squeezed the orb, the energy dissolving as it vanished into nothingness, an incomprehensible yellow symbol glowing beneath her. Suddenly the entire room began to glow a bright golden, a powerful light shooting upward, connecting the earth to the heavens. "My role is at an end..." The Necromancer muttered to herself before she vanished into absolute oblivion.

Naruto stood in the center of a clearing in the middle of the night. His eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly his eyes shot open as he put his hands together in concentration and drew out chakra with all of his might. A black and white orb of opposite energies glowing through his chest. The orb glowed brightly as an aura of black chakra covered the left part of his body, split horizontally as the right part of his body became covered in a shell of white chakra, a single angel and devil wing sprouting from his back.

"Embody the power of destruction and creation, become the embodiment of power itself, show the entire world the meaning of our existence!"

Naruto now understood what his teacher meant by that. The power surging through him was proof of what was promised to him... Although the technique was a double-edged sword... Naruto felt a pain shoot throughout his entire body, the technique crumbling away like broken armor, regaining his natural state as he fell face first onto the ground. He could only hold the technique for about forty seconds but that little time could make all the difference in battle, it could very well be his Triumph card in achieving victory. Although Naruto felt somewhat satisfied with his lust for power he couldn't shake off this unsettling feeling he had deep in the pit of his stomach, like something was in motion... Something Big...

A/N: Well this story is certainly getting interesting... I wanted Sasuke to form an alliance of powerful shinobi from the other four nations who also left their countries in search of power, the twist is all four of them have powerful Kekei Genkai native to their home countries. Everything else just kind of came together, anyway I thought I did a good job. Please REVIEW if you care!

Peace! - DL555