Chapter IV: Will the Real Naruto Namikaze Please Stand Up?

"This Plague, this damned, bloody Plague… born of hate, raised in scorn, and tutored in deceit; the vile pestilence drifts forevermore on the shifting breeze as it glides on heroin wings– soft, feathered things that consume what they touch with the sweet whispers of broken promises. Remember, miserable fool, that you made it what it is– your hands did this. Your guilt, my guilt, it makes no difference– we have sinned and soon our Plague, our darling little Plague, will come for us, to destroy us, to make us repent. Soon… our little Plague will devour us all."


The rain and lightning thundered loudly as Kumaji marched towards the front door of his home, each drop pelting the aged oak of his dwelling, an extravagant building located in the heart of the Fuuma clan's main compound. For years Kumaji had toiled away through the day to day minutia that was life, betraying allies, slaughtering enemies, and empowering his clan, to get to where he was- head of the Fuuma clan.

"It was all for nothing," Kumaji thought as his captor opened the door and pushed him into the cold rain.

He was going to die tonight.


15 Hours Ago…

"Kill him."

"You know we can't do that, Sasuke… we tried."

"We should try harder," Sakura added, massaging her backside.

Naruto was thankful for the mask hiding his grin at Sakura's suffering; friend or not, watching Kakashi send her flying through the air with his finger "technique" was a memory he would treasure always. However, a small amount of killing intent caught the blonde's attention and brought him out of his musings.

"I can feel that shit-eating grin hiding behind that stupid mask, you idiot. And if you value your 'analginity,' you'll forget what you saw and never bring this up again…" Sakura threatened, brandishing a kunai for added emphasis.

Naruto shuddered slightly before steering the conversation back towards disgustingly overpowered jonin and how to stop them, and away from the forceful taking of other's analginities. "Look, I'm pretty sure I have a plan that could stop him, and get us those bells, but we're gonna have to work together if we want it to work."

"And you plan to address the fact that there are only two bells how?" Sasuke asked.

"And 'keen points' to the Sharingan user for spotting the elephant in the room! Good catch, Sasuke-chan! What would we ever do without you?"

"NARUTO! Get on with whatever it is you've got to say; every minute we waste on your shitty jokes is a minute Kakashi-sensei gets closer to finding us!" Sakura shouted, the pain in her rear making her rather… irritable. "That asshole used two fingers…"

"Calm down, don't get your panties in a knot, jeez. Anyway, before I was interrupted, I was about to address the inequality of numbers currently befalling our team: fuck it."

After a few seconds of silent staring, Naruto decided to elaborate for his teammates.

"Look, I think we can all agree that it's obvious something's up; no one in their right mind would expect three genin to overcome a jonin, especially one like Kakashi. There's some other angle that we aren't seeing– some kind of hidden meaning behind all of this."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded before the pinkette spoke up. "And if there isn't?"

Naruto shrugged as he drew his katana and began drawing out a plan in the dirt. "We still need the bells… we can kill each other after we get 'em."


Kakashi sighed, snapping his book closed and putting it back into his vest, when he saw Sasuke walk out from behind a line of trees encircling the small clearing he currently occupied.

"I'd been wondering when you were going to show up, Sasuke. Think you've got a good strate-"

The copy-nin stopped abruptly and dropped into a defensive stance when he saw the genin hopeful flash through a string of seals.

"Katon: Kasumi Endu no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted before spewing a foul-smelling mist that raced towards Kakashi from his mouth.

"Hmm… seems like someone's been studying the Uchiha Katon scrolls… but still, he should know it won't work with out an ignition…" Kakashi's thoughts trailed off as he watched a kunai imbed itself in the ground before his feet, a second Sasuke smirking at him from his perch in the trees as he placed his hands in the "ram" seal.

"Kai."

The clearing erupted in a blaze of fire as the exploding kunai blew, igniting the flammable gas provided by the first Sasuke. The whole affair provided Kakashi with quite the show from his tree on the opposite side of the clearing- shunshin was a damn fine jutsu to know when in a pinch.

The jonin made use of the jutsu one more time to teleport back to the middle of the clearing, his lone visible eye carefully scanning for Sasuke and his shadow clone. A tiny movement caught his attention, causing Kakashi to snap his head in its direction just in time to see the two Sasukes burst through the wall of smoke and dying flames.

Taking a guess, Kakashi picked the Sasuke on his left and shot forward, driving his knee into the young teen's gut, effectively halting his advance. The copy-nin followed up with a bruising uppercut that sent Sasuke staggering backwards, until Kakashi shunshin'd behind him, driving his elbow into the back of the boy's skull with a resounding "crack."

Placing a foot on top of Sasuke to keep him immobilized, the masked jonin turned towards the sound of approaching footsteps to see what he presumed was Sasuke's shadow clone running at him, a fistful of shuriken held in each hand. Kakashi mentally sighed as he watched the clone charge head on, an act that usually left one dead on the battlefield; such actions were not acceptable and best reprimanded sooner, rather than later.

And when one wanted to make an important point, it was best to engrave it into the other person's mind; genin, despite how much they claimed otherwise, were disturbingly similar to children.

And, like naughty children, they needed a good spanking every once in awhile.

Kakashi smirked as he recalled a bit of information he gleaned from reading up on Sasuke's "Sharingan Madness." The jonin deduced that a specific, often overlooked, E-ranked jutsu would do the trick; even if it wasn't actually Sasuke, the shadow clone's memory transfer capabilities would ensure that the point got across.

Despite his Sharingan, Sasuke was unable to recognize the jutsu Kakashi was preparing, even as his dojutsu memorized the seals. Sticking to the plan, the young Uchiha continued his forward advancement, fingers tightening around his fistful of shuriken.

Kakashi smirked as he stopped on "bird" and raised his hands to his mouth. "Ninpou: Hinata!"

Sasuke paused as a tiny ball of light fluttered into existence from between Kakashi's thumbs and index fingers before gently floating forward.

It was then, that several things happened at once.

Sasuke's eyes widened comically as the Sharingan picked up the ungodly amount of chakra now flooding the tiny sphere of light just as it exploded, forming miniature burning sun that sent the Uchiha sprawling onto his back, screaming and clutching his bleeding eyes even as they continued to burn, liquefying and evaporating from the jutsu's intense heat and proximity.

Kakashi turned his head as a cry of "Sen'eijashu!" reached his ears, only to blink stupidly as the Sasuke below him was enveloped in a poof of smoke that revealed the lone kunoichi on his team, grinning devilishly at him as her snakes tightened their grip on him.

Fuckin' henge.

A soft whistling sound drew Kakashi's attention away from Sakura and to just behind the few remaining wisps of smoke left behind by Sasuke's departed kage bunshin. Kakashi's eye narrowed as the real Sasuke's shuriken wrapped around him, binding him even tighter with their attached ninja wire.

"I can only assume Naruto has some sort of grandiose part in this little plan…" Kakashi drawled as he struggled against his bonds.

"You know me too well, Kakashi-sensei!" The blond chirped, dropping down from the safety of the branches. "Now, I'll ask nicely, how 'bout you play nice and let us take those bells off your hands, hmm?"

The silver-haired nin tilted his head thoughtfully before replying. "Mmm… no. Why don't you try to take them, Naruto, and see what happens?"

Even as Naruto felt Kakashi drawing heavily on his chakra reserves, he couldn't help but smirk. "I was hoping you'd say that…"

Sakura and Sasuke looked on as their teammate sliced open his palm before flying through a set of seals and slamming the bloody appendage on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Everyone watched as web of runes snaked out from under Naruto's hand and a rather large puff of smoke appeared, signaling a successful summoning.

Kakashi paled when a violent roar tore through the clearing, dissipating the smoke and revealing a towering grizzly bear standing up on its hind legs. The jonin's keen eye quickly zeroed in on the razor-sharp claws attached to each of the bear's paws.

They were coated in what was clearly dried blood.

The copy-nin gulped as the bear gave one more feral roar before lurching forward and charging directly at him.

Naruto watched in satisfaction as Ken'ichi thundered forward, intent on "incapacitating" Kakashi. It really was a shame, the blonde jinchuuriki had no real desire to kill Kakashi, but the jonin was forcing his hand. He said that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura needed to come at him with the intent to kill, and Naruto was going to adhere to that advice.

If it meant that one prideful jonin got his head wrenched from his shoulders and his brains splattered on the grass, then so be it.

However, before the young genin could begin pondering on whether or not he should give Sasuke or Sakura a bell--or simply kill them both--he felt an odd tugging sensation just as Ken'ichi brought his heavy paw up to slash at Kakashi's head.

It was then that everything went wrong for Naruto.

Horribly, horribly wrong.

As a competent shinobi, Naruto Uzumaki could say that he had used the kawarimi jutsu hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Any shinobi worth his salt was intimately familiar with the feel of bending an object to your will with chakra, and the sudden rush of speed that enveloped one as he or she switched places with the object of their choosing.

But that was not what Naruto felt; no, instead the young jinchuuriki felt the burning sensation of foreign chakra enveloping his frame before he was violently tugged, leaving him slightly disoriented and unable to process why he suddenly felt rather constricted.

Sasuke and Sakura hastened to loose their grip when they saw Naruto replace Kakashi in their trap, but it was too late. The two genin watched as the bear's mighty paw came down on Naruto's face, the animal being too committed in its motion to do anything but stop halfway through its strike by dismissing itself.

Sakura winced as she saw the bear's claws rip into Naruto's face, tearing away his mask, skin, and a few teeth in a bloody display of brutality that sent the formerly masked genin sprawling to the floor howling in pain.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed as he and Sakura rushed towards their fallen teammate's side.

"Sasuke, hold him down!" Sakura cried as she began to withdraw the few field medical supplies she had on her person.

The Uchiha nodded and grabbed Naruto's hands, holding them away from his face to allow Sakura to do what she could.

The pinkette grimaced when she got a clear view of Naruto's injury. The bear had ripped away the majority of Naruto's left cheek, along with a trio of molars, leaving the left side of his mouth open to the world.

"FUCK!!!" Naruto howled in pain as Sakura began to use antiseptic to clean the blood away from the wound.

"Naruto, I know, but it has to happen! I need to stop the blooding and disinfect the wound before we take you to the hospital" Sakura urged, running what she hoped was a comforting hand through Naruto's hair.

"Fuckinggoddamnit- YOU!" The enraged genin roared when a tall form entered his periphery.

"Yo."

"Sensei!" Sakura cried, "Naruto needs help!"

"I'm sure he does, Sakura," Kakashi said, leaning down to inspect Naruto's disfigured face and noting that it was already slowly beginning to heal, "but I'm afraid he'll have to wait a few more minutes.

"Now," the jonin began, rubbing his hands together, "what has everybody learned from our little exercise?"

Kakashi sighed dramatically when he only received a pair of dumbfounded stares from Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto just whimpered pitifully as he felt along his gums and discovered how many teeth he was missing.


"Look, I'm a powerful man, I can make you very wealthy…" Kumaji began, letting the offer hang in the air, "Whatever the Kedouin clan is paying you, I can triple it!"

"You know it doesn't work that way, Kumaji-san." His would-be killer replied softly.

"Is it worth it? Is Agari's worthless daughter worth starting a war over!? Will forcing the Fuuma clan to exterminate the whole lot of those-"

Kumaji stopped abruptly when his captor spun him around and placed a kunai at the corner of his mouth.

"Open."

The Fuuma clan head hesitated but quickly relented when the assassin began to cut into his cheek.

"Good," the black-clad specter complimented as he withdrew a small seal tag, the red edges identifying it as an explosive one, "Now, I'm sure you know what this is, yes?"

His answer was a frantic nod of Kumaji's head.

"Excellent," his captor said before placing the tag on Kumaji's tongue and closing his mouth gently, "You hold onto that for me. And as for your other question… well, I suppose the real question you'll have to ask yourself is 'was it worth it to you?' Were the pleasures of soft, unspoiled flesh worth the lives of so many?" Kumaji squeaked pitifully when his captor suddenly grabbed him by the throat and drew him in close. "When I finally kill you, and end your pathetic fucking existence, you depraved, child-raping pedophile, you'll have to ask yourself, was it all worth it?"

"But," the assassin interrupted as he nodded to himself and withdrew a small sealing scroll, "We have some work to do before that…"

Kumaji only looked at him blankly when he unsealed a small, worn shovel from the scroll and tossed it at the condemned man's feet.

"Dig."


10 Hours Ago…

Teamwork.

Even now, as he walked through the crowded streets of Konoha after leaving the hospital, that word continued to infuriate him. "Teamwork" was the all important lesson because, apparently, "those that abandon their friends are worse than scum."

That lesson had cost Naruto half of his fucking face.

But it was a lesson that Naruto respected Kakashi greatly for.

For all of his faults, shortcomings, and failures, Naruto had one bright spot, one inherently good quality, that shone through the polluted, blood-soaked miasma that was his existence.

Loyalty.

Naruto might have been a killer--one who clearly enjoyed the act, even--but that didn't mean he wasn't loyal.

Look out for those looking out for you- a simple rule to live by.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were Team 7 now, Kakashi's Team 7, and the cycloptic jonin wanted them to understand just how important it was that they all work together to survive out in the field. Years of war and combat had taught Kakashi that shinobi that fight together come back home together.

A valuable lesson, indeed, but Naruto still couldn't shake the nagging sensation at the back of his head that insisted there was more to it. There were a million and one ways for a jonin of Kakashi's caliber to teach fresh genin lessons like that, and million of those ways didn't involve humiliating and beating the shit out of said genin.

And, yet, Kakashi Hatake had picked "B" when everyone else would have chosen "A" and moved on. In a world where left is right, the man had opted to move forward instead.

Then, as Naruto continued to his destination, it hit him. That was why Kakashi's name was the talk of legends, almost on par with the sannin. Kakashi would be forever remembered because he not only dared to go against the grain, but he succeeded as well. Whatever grand scheme Kakashi was plotting, Naruto would go along with. It was now painfully clear that Kakashi possessed enough experience, skill, and wisdom to allow Naruto to defer to his ways.

Unfortunately, Kakashi possessed enough experience, skill, and wisdom to make him a threat, and threats were problems that needed to be dealt with swiftly.

But, before the jinchuuriki could decide on how to best make it look like an "accident," he found himself at his destination.

Upon reaching that conclusion, his eyes widened comically as he double-checked the address given to him by Tetsuo; it checked out.

"Damn…"

Naruto sighed as he turned to one of the stoic guards and stepped forward for admittance. The man nodded to him before ushering him inside the walled-off compound.

"Hiashi-sama is expecting you, Uzumaki-san."


She was on the verge of a panic attack, her hands were shaking so badly she could hardly hold her brush steady as she attempted to tame her hair in an effort to appear presentable in front of her father.

Why did this have to happen today? After spending hours in training ground 17 with her teammates and sensei, the last thing Hinata needed now was more stress. It was bad enough that her father had personally requested Naruto's presence, but to go so far as to throw a clan banquet showed that her father knew much more than he was letting on.

The whole situation reeked of politics; clearly her father believed that pulling Naruto into the Hyuga clan's sphere of influence would benefit the clan as a whole.

The thought of Naruto becoming her father's pawn disturbed her greatly.

Wringing her wrists in distress, Hinata attempted to banish her feelings of nervousness before she hurried over to her closet to put on the formal kimono reserved for occasions such as the one she was currently facing.

Running her small fingers over the delicate silk, Hinata couldn't help but sigh and calm down to some degree; the beautiful kimono had once belonged to her mother, and she knew for a fact that the late Hyuga matron had once used it to catch the eye of the then young Hiashi Hyuga.

Maybe, just maybe, she could use it to catch Naruto's eye…

The timid girl flushed prettily, before she disrobed and slid the silken garment over her frame, tying it closed with a matching obi from her own collection. After smoothing out a few nonexistent wrinkles, Hinata began making her way to the room she knew her father would use for his meeting with Naruto. As heiress, it would be her job to serve the two of them tea, a practice that had long since been ingrained into her being.

Serving tea was now as natural as seeing in every direction at once.

Hinata allowed herself a small chuckle as the double meaning of her thoughts caught up with her.

Natural, indeed.

The young kunoichi rounded the corner and entered a room used by many Branch members for tea preparation. Hinata was relieved to see that the majority of her work had been handled already, all that remained for her was to arrange the serving tray and take it to Naruto and her father.

Recalling years of practice, her nimble hands quickly arranged the tray to her liking before she picked it up, her clothed feet quietly ghosting across the varnished wood of the building's halls.

Stopping in front of the door, Hinata took a calming breath before sliding it open, bowing demurely as she stepped inside.

"Hinata," her father greeted.

"Otou-sama, Naruto-kun…" She returned, kneeling down and placing the tea tray on the small, raised platform between Naruto and her father. A quick glance at Naruto piqued her curiosity; the normally black-clad boy, was sporting a fresh set of medical bandages in place of his usual mask.

"Thank you, Hinata-sama…" the blonde muttered, taking the offered cup of tea while Hiashi did the same.

"Now, I am sure you are curious as to why I've called you here, yes?"

"Correct, Hiashi-sama." Naruto replied, placing his untouched tea back on the table.

"I will be frank, then. My daughter's performance in the Academy was not what I've come to expect from my children. When my eldest can no longer defeat her sister--a sister five years her junior--then I am faced with a problem." Hiashi began, ignoring Hinata's involuntary flinch at the mention of her shortcomings, "Hinata is supposed to be the next leader of this clan, but I can no longer guarantee that. The Elders continue to bray loudly in my ears, every chance they get; 'weak,' they whisper in my ears."

Hiashi chanced a glance at his eldest, her head was bowed in shame, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room.

The clan head sighed. "There is only one fate that awaits those that are deemed 'weak,' Naruto-san. And that is where you come in; I have reviewed your academy records, and taken your relationship with my daughter into account and have come to the conclusion that your wide array of skills make you the best candidate for what I am about to propose."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "And what is that, Hiashi-sama?"

"I would like you to tutor my daughter, so that when she is to be presented to the Elder Council, they will feel confident in her skills and permit her to remain as my heir."

Naruto ignored Hinata's shocked gasp and relayed the response he and Hiashi had planned before her arrival. "I will do as you ask, Hiashi-sama. When I am not occupied with my duties to the village, I will tutor Hinata-sama in private as you have requested. I assure you, the council will find her acceptable as heiress to the clan."

Hiashi nodded in thanks. "Thank you, Naruto-san. Hinata," Hiashi snapped, causing the girl to start, eyes going wide in surprise, "see to it that a guest room is prepared for your new sensei to bathe and change in, and have the servants bring him some suitable attire for the banquet."

"Hai!" Hinata said, rising swiftly and bowing before scurrying off to honor her father's requests.

Hiashi watched her leave, before leveling his gaze at Naruto. "You did well, Uzumaki-san. Now no one will have reason for suspicion when you drop by to pick up new contracts."

The jinchuuriki nodded. "But what happens when people start asking why you are allowing your eldest daughter to be subjected to the tutelage of the Kyuubi?"

The clan head smirked before sipping his tea and setting it down. "Why do you think the Brotherhood values my services so much? People do not question the actions of the Hyuga, they simply accept what we do as finality- if I wish for my daughter to be tutored by the Kyuubi, then they will accept it because they know I have the power to do it."

"And what about Hinata? What if she grows suspicious?"

Hiashi allowed a rare laugh to escape him, it was sound that lacked any real humor. "Hinata? She is far too blinded to even begin discerning her sudden wave of good fortune. All she registers is that she will be spending more time with you- it might even encourage her to actually improve in her skills."

"And if it doesn't?"

The Hyuga head shrugged. "Then she will be sealed into the Branch family and Hanabi will take her place."

Naruto felt his hand clench at Hiashi's callousness to his own daughter. "I see…"

"Now, I must prepare for the coming banquet, your associates will be here shortly to discuss the mission you will be undertaking later tonight."

"I have one last question, Hiashi-sama." Naruto began as he rose to his feet.

The Hyuga paused at the doorway and turned around. "Yes?"

"I understand the need for secrecy, and I understand your role in the Brotherhood, but one thing escapes me…"

"And what is that, Naruto-san?"

"Why are you throwing this banquet, in terms of an alibi, it's overkill, don't you think?"

"It is customary for one clan head to honor another when he visits his home for the first time- I suggest you see the Hokage when you have the time to discuss your parentage further. Now, I must go, Anko-san and Tetsuo-san will be along shortly to brief you before you go prepare for dinner."

Naruto could only watch in silence as the clan leader's form disappeared behind the screen door.


"That's big enough, Kumaji-san."

Said captive promptly stopped digging and surveyed his work.

Kumaji felt the pit of his stomach drop when he saw the size of the grave he had dug- it was obviously meant for more than one person.

The assassin helped Kumaji out of the grave before placing him on his knees at the edge of the grave. Kumaji felt himself begin to sweat despite the rain when his captor tied his hands behind his back and removed the explosive tag from his mouth.

No sooner than the paper had left his tongue, Kumaji began to beg.

"Please… you don't have to do this! We can work something out- anything you want, name it and it's yours!"

The assassin sighed and turned Kumaji around to face him. "Do you know why you are here, Kumaji-san?"

The condemned man nodded, mumbling under his breath.

The masked assassin yanked him forward, holding a kunai to his neck. "I didn't hear you."

"I said b-because of what we d-did to Manami Kedouin…"

The assassin nodded. "And what did you do to Manami-chan, what did you and your brother do to Agari's daughter?"

Kumaji knew he was crying, he could feel his warm salty tears contrasting horribly with the rain water splattering against his face; each warm drop burning its way down his cheeks as he was forced to relieve the decision that had landed him in this situation in the first place.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" His captor roared, violently shaking Kumaji from his thoughts.

"W-w-we punished her to send a message to Agari, to warn the rest of the Kedouin clan to stop encroaching on our territory-"

"'Punished?'" The black-clad shinobi repeated, "You consider what you did to Manami punishment? No, Kumaji-san, that wasn't punishment, and you know it. What did you really do?"

Kumaji swallowed, the saliva felt like rocks sliding down his gullet. "W-we raped-"

"That's right, Kumaji-san! You raped her!" The assassin pulled Kumaji closer before driving his kunai into the weeping man's side. "You penetrated her, just like my blade is penetrating you. You and your brother kidnapped that poor girl, beat her, molested her, and raped her… AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN!" The shinobi shouted, punctuating each "again" with a stab to Kumaji's gut.

Naruto wrenched his blade free from Kumaji's stomach, causing a trickle of blood to splatter onto the soaked ground. "I understand what you did, I really do. You needed to upset the order, go against the grain and remove the Kedouin clan's influence in this area. But in your noble undertaking, you went astray and turned your cause into an opportunity for you and your worthless brother to get your dicks wet.

"Believe me when I say your actions disgust me, you selfish pig- and that's coming from someone who kills, and enjoys it, for a living. I can appreciate the need for chaos, the want to spread anarchy and disorder, but I can't condone a pair of fucktards wandering about looking for a hole to put their dicks in."

The blonde jinchuuriki reached into his pocket and withdrew a single violet petal. "A wise leader would have known this, but instead you and your brother raped that poor girl and stirred up the fucking hornets' nest," Naruto chided as he placed the nightshade petal on Kumaji's tongue. "And because of that, shit's gonna burn. This isn't some simple assassination, the Kedouins want blood- this is declaration of war.

"You pushed those people to the point of turning to us. They want war, even though they know they can't possibly win. No, all they want is to see as many of your people die in puddles of their own blood as possible. Because of your selfish actions, the Kedouin clan will soon be a thing of the past, and the Fuuma clan will feel the backlash of your decisions for generations to come."

Naruto stood, and swiftly kicked the dying clan head into the freshly dug grave before turning to the two approaching people. "Did you get them all?"

Tetsuo grunted as he adjusted the two tied prisoners on his back. "I got the daughter and the wife, Anko got the brother."

"Look out below!" Anko called as she slit her prisoner's throat and dropped him next to Kumaji. "That one put up a bit of a fight!"

Naruto grinned as he watched Tetsuo impale Kumaji's wife on his sword before unceremoniously kicking her over the grave's edge. "She cooperated," he remarked, wiping the pearly white blade on his sleeve, "once I got a hold of her," the older genin remarked, jerking his thumb towards Kumaji's daughter.

The masked shinobi nodded and walked over to the girl. Her eyes widened in fear even as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Naruto picked her up and carried to the edge of the family grave, kneeling her down in front of it.

The poor girl began to shake violently with fresh sobs when her eyes focused in on the bodies of her dead family members.

"Do not fear, child," Naruto began, placing his hands on her head in a soothing manner, "for you will find solace in the Night Mother's loving embrace… go to her."

Kumaji heard a loud crack before his daughter's falling body entered his vision as she tumbled to the ground next to her mother.

It was the last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him.


Seven Hours Ago…

Naruto sat on Hinata's bed patiently as he waited for her to return with a fresh set of bandages; eating had reopened a few of his many cuts causing blood to seep through his old ones.

The blonde took another swig of the sake he pilfered from the Hyuga dinning room, and winced as half of it dribbled out of the open wound.

"Fuckin' kawarimi…"

To make matters worse, Tetsuo and Anko were running late and had yet to show up.

At least the food the Hyuga served was good.

Shaking his head, Naruto took another sloppy swig just as Hinata entered her room.

"Naruto-kun! You shouldn't be drinking that, you aren't old enough!"

Naruto chuckled as he drained the bottle of its last few drops. "Being a shinobi means we can drink, Hinata-chan," He pointed out.

The girl frowned before walking forward and taking the empty bottle away. "But that doesn't mean you should…"

The blonde shrugged, watching the kunoichi prepare her supplies. "We agree to disagree, I suppose."

Hinata sighed as she went about soaking one side of the bandages in an ointment designed to fight off infections. The heiress could once again breath easy knowing that the dinner hadn't been an entire fiasco.

Naruto, for the most part, had behaved and gotten along with the clan members in attendance.

"Your sister's kind of a little bitch, you know."

Most of those in attendance.

"Please don't refer to Hanabi-chan that way, Naruto-kun; she can't help it at her age. The elder's have been given far too much sway over her upbringing- she didn't have the benefit of being raised by Kaa-san…"

Naruto ignored the fact that that was probably why Hanabi was currently being groomed to be the next heiress while Hinata had been placed under his "tutelage."

"You have my apologies, Hinata-chan," Naruto amended, his voice growing muffled as Hinata began wrapping the bandages around his face.

"I-it's okay, Naruto-kun. Just try to relax while I finish wrapping the bandages."

"So, excited for your first missions tomorrow? I'd imagine that being on a team with Shino and Kiba would land you some pretty good assassination missions in the future…"

Hinata gulped. "Assassination…?"

"Yeah, you know, that thing where they pay you to kill someone."

"I-I…"

"Not looking forward to it?"

Hinata finished wrapping the bandages and sighed sadly. "No…" She whispered.

"Ah."

The heiress looked at he crush. "Are you looking forward to it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned behind his bandages. "Of course. You know that the Kyuubi loves killing!"

Naruto's offhand remark about his recently revealed status as a jinchuuriki made Hinata frown. "You aren't the Kyuubi, Naruto-kun, just its jailor."

Said jinchuuriki laughed dryly. When Hinata had cornered him and asked him about the incident with Mizuki, he had, in a rare act of complete honesty, told his best friend about his jinchuuriki status. And, naturally, the young girl had shed a few tears on his behalf before adamantly claiming he was not a monster.

That was Hinata for you, compassionate, understanding, and predictable.

"You know it doesn't work that way, Sunshine, not when it comes to the villagers. They don't care about the scroll you seal a kunai into- all that really matters to them is the kunai. The scroll is expendable, and easily replaced, but the kunai holds the real power. The only difference is that I'm a scroll who knows the value of its kunai… and I can summon bears, too."

That made Hinata giggle. "I haven't seen Kokoro-chan in ages…"

Naruto sighed as he formed the seals. "The things I do for you… Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A small puff of smoke signaled the arrival of Kokoro, a small panda bear, who instantly leapt into Hinata's lap, licking her face eagerly.

Naruto watched in amusement as Hinata ran her delicate fingers through the bear's thick fur, before rolling it onto its back and tickling his belly.

"I highly doubt an evil, destructive demon would care enough about my happiness to go so far as to summon a cute, cuddly bear for me, Naruto-kun."

"Maybe it's all an act, Hinata-chan; I never said I was a sloppy psycho killer…"

The Hyuga rolled her eyes. "No matter how much you say those things, I know they're not true."

Naruto grinned as he poked Hinata playfully in her side, causing the small girl to yelp and spasm. "Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire! You should run, Hinata! Fa-fa-fa-fa-far away!"

Hinata banished her blush before regarding Naruto speculatively. "Where did that come from?"

Another shrug. "Heard it in a song once, kinda catchy."

"Oh…"

The jinchuuriki looked around Hinata's room, nervously now that the dreaded awkward silence had be fallen them. It was a standard bedroom, four walls, bed, dresser, desk, door leading to bathroom, and a rather large closet. Naruto's eyes zeroed in on the several items decorating Hinata's dresser. He saw several small keepsakes of unknown origin, including what appeared to be a diary and several dried and pressed flowers. His eyes moved onto the trio of photographs Hinata had had framed. Naruto saw himself, along with Hinata, standing under the tree located behind the Academy; the shy girl blushing madly as she held onto him.

"Her twelfth birthday… this was right after I gave her my present."

Naruto allowed himself a hidden smile before moving onto the next picture. The photograph showed a five-year old Hinata clinging to Hiashi's robes while they stood next to a pretty woman holding an infant Naruto assumed was Hanabi.

Finally there was an official Team 8 photograph that showed a scowling Shino, a blushing Hinata, a grinning Kiba holding up Akamaru, and Hinata's jonin sensei, Kurenai Yuuhi.

The blonde sighed and withdrew a small book from his kimono. One of the benefits of such attire was the ability to hide many things without arousing suspicion; as such, Naruto was able to store several of his more "valued" possessions on his person, rather that leaving them with his dirty clothes in his "guest" room.

Flipping to a specific page, Naruto read over the jutsu before nodding and walking over to Hinata's window.

"Follow me."

Hinata nodded and rose to follow Naruto outside to one of the compound's private gardens.

Coming to a small clearing that would provide Naruto with plenty of room to work, the Jinchuuriki stopped and quickly summoned a shadow clone.

"Alright, Hinata, since I'm your new 'sensei,' I figure I might as well start teaching you something. So watch carefully," the blonde instructed before flipping through a few seals and saying, "Raiton: Jibashi!"

Electricity crackled to life along Naruto's hands before he slammed his palm into the clone's head, causing it to convulse violently for a few seconds before poofing out of existence.

Hinata gulped nervously when Naruto looked at her expectantly.

"Your turn," he said, summoning another clone that walked over until it was standing in front of her.

The Hyuga princess nodded shakily before going through the seals and muttering the correct words. "Raiton: Jibashi!" Hinata jabbed the clone in the chest with her right index and middle fingers as a spark of electricity left her tenketsu.

Instead of exploding, the clone merely went rigid for a few seconds before Naruto dispelled it with a chop to the neck.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun…" Hinata began, shame creeping into her voice. The very thought of failing Naruto nearly bringing the girl to tears.

"It's alright, Hinata. Jibashi is an assassination technique that requires a lot of chakra to produce fatal results. However, it also has another use: paralysis. Even with just the minimal chakra expenditure, you can generate enough electricity to leave an opponent stunned for a few brief seconds," Naruto explained, "And in the shinobi world, a few seconds can be the difference between life and death.

"Furthermore, if your opponents can't move, then they can't stop you from, say… rupturing their heart, or liquefying their brain with a well placed Juuken strike."

"O-or I could incapacitate them with it…"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Hinata, you can't afford to think like that! Shinobi fight to kill, not incapacitate. The man who first said it takes far more skill to defeat your opponent rather than kill him was probably shocked when his 'opponent' got back up and stabbed him in the back!

"Beyond those walls," Naruto continued, pointing to Konoha's Southern gate, "there is no mercy. They will kill you and not think twice- and that's if you're lucky."

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm not a killer like-"

"Like me, right? Do you think sparing lives makes you better than me, you think your morality will see you through to retirement?"

Hinata gasped. "That isn't what I meant, I-"

Naruto cut her off by taking a menacing step forward. "But it's what you thought, isn't it? Do you not see, Hinata- this is why your father thinks you are weak!" The jinchuuriki snarled, words pouring from his mouth like venom, "I suggest you rethink your position on the matter unless you want to end up wearing your hitai-ite on your head to cover your new seal!"

He couldn't stop himself. No matter how much he willed himself, he couldn't stop yelling at her. Even now, as he watched her sobbing form retreat into the safety of her home, he couldn't muster up the strength to call out to her.

He had hurt her.

Naruto had enjoyed it.

The jinchuuriki shook his head and gasped in pain when a sharp spike of pain erupted into a migraine. "Fuck… what the hell's going on with me…?"

"Talking to yourself obviously means you're bat-shit crazy, fuck-twat."

The genin grabbed his head in frustration; why was life shitting on him so?

"Took you long enough, where's Anko?"

"Yo," the kunoichi in question answered, tossing a bag at Naruto's feet, "We gathered your gear. Get dressed and we'll fill you in."

Naruto nodded in thanks as he grabbed the bag and walked behind a tree to preserve his modesty.

"Our targets are Kumaji Fuuma, Yuuna Fuuma, their daughter Manami, and Kumaji's brother Saburo." Anko explained.

"Ages?" Naruto called as he strapped on his greaves.

"Thirty-seven, thirty-five, nine, and thirty, respectively."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "We're killing a child? Wow, someone must be pissed…"

"Well," Tetsuo drawled, "Kumaji and Saburo had the bright idea to rape and murder Agari Kedouin's daughter, so, yeah, I'd imagine he's pretty pissed. That's probably why he's hiring us to start a war, not simply kill the Fuuma brothers. Agari apparently wants everyone directly related to Kumaji to take a dirt nap- hell, he even gave us special directions concerning the corpses."

"Special directions?" Naruto asked, stepping out from behind his tree, gear fully in place.

Anko's hand clapped him on the shoulder as she gave him a sinister grin, "Let's head out, we got quite a bit of a journey to make 'fore we get started on Kumaji's funeral pyre!"


Present Time…

Naruto wrinkled his nose in distaste as the smell of burning flesh invaded his senses.

"Seems like the fire's burning good…"

Anko chuckled. "Would you expect anything less from me, Naruto-kun?"

"As much as I'd love to keep standing around, listening to the two of you talk about how great you both are," Tetsuo interrupted, denying Naruto his witty retort, "the pile of burning bodies below us is sure to attract attention. And, while I know that Agari specifically instructed us to not hide our presence, if we stick around we'll have the whole Fuuma clan coming down on us.

"And I only commit genocide if the price is right- no freebies."

Naruto chuckled as the trio took off into the woods. "Like you could do anything, Tetsuo. You're twenty years old and still a genin. Or did you forget? I hear drugs can fry your brain…"

The jinchuuriki smirked when Tetsuo's only reply was to grasp at a lump in his shoulder before thinking better of it. "Fuck you, you little shit! One of these days-"

"Shut up, both of you!" Anko snapped. "I don't want to hear you ladies bitching all the way back to Konoha; stow a tampon in it and shut it!"

The two genin promptly quieted down and resumed their jumping.

Anko was a scary woman, after all.


Naruto rubbed his temples in annoyance as he stepped inside his apartment; the damn migraine was becoming a real nuisance.

"Something troubling you, my boy?"

The jinchuuriki quickly whipped a kunai at the voice's originator, only to stare as the man snatched it out of the air.

"H-Hokage-sama…?"

The old man chuckled as he set the kunai down on Naruto's end table. "That was quite the greeting!"

Naruto bowed humbly, but was waved off.

"Now, now, we'll have none of that, Naruto-kun. Come," Sarutobi asked, gesturing to Naruto's living room, "Have a seat, we've much to discuss."

The blonde did as asked before looking at his leader expectantly. "What is it you needed to see me about, Hokage-sama?"

The Sandaime sighed tiredly and withdrew a sealed envelope from his robes. "Your inheritance, Naruto."


Jutsu:

Katon: Kasumi Endu no Jutsu- Fire Release: Mist Covering Technique

Ninpou: Hinata- Ninja Art: In the Sun

A/N: Sorry about the delay, folks, but shit happens. On a brighter note, the story has now surpassed the 10,000 hits mark, and is up to 81 reviews! I'd like to thank you all for supporting this fiction, you all make it worthwhile. Now, several important things happened in this chapter, so I hope you paid close attention. Bonus points to those that can point out the two biggies. Next chapter will be the start of the Wave Arc, so see you then.

-Andrew