Chapter two

It all happened within the span of a few minutes...

The summoning...

The mental assault...

The explosion of chakra.

Hiruzen Sarutobi weathered the strain of Yamanaka Ino's attack. And there was no fooling himself. It HAD to have been her.

No one else.

Not that it mattered.

The damage was done. Orochimaru had fucked up and now they all were about to have to deal with the consequences.

"You've doomed us," he growled, his breaths coming out in strained gasps. "You've doomed the whole village."

That was all he was able to get out before the chakra came. It exploded...utterly burst forth from the restraints that held it back for thirteen years in a sudden rush of pure destructive power, accompanied by an unearthly wail.

Everything came to a halt.

And it was then, and only then that the Snake Sannin was able to grasp the third Hokage's secret.

"The kyuubi," he damn near whispered, his voice full of shocked incredulousness. "You've had the kyuubi sealed under the village..."

Then his face twisted into a truly terrifyingly amused grin. One that was all teeth and gleaming eyes.

"I never knew..." he began, a laugh already rumbling in his throat.

"That you had that much ambition, Sautobi Sensei!"

He knew of the Kyuubi. Had seen traces of its destructive power and was nearby when it ravaged the village. Truly it was one of the very few things in this world that could make him feel any semblance of fear. It had spent generations earning it mantle of natural disaster.

And his foolish sensei had dared to try and keep it imprisoned within the village he so swears he wants to protect.

He turned towards the Hokage just as a fountain of red shot up out of the remains of the hokage mountain and bathed the village in a red/orange glow. He and the revived hokages seemingly illuminated by the glow, making them more imposing then they already are.

His golden eyes seemed to glow in the backdrop as his grin continued to split his face. "I must ask you this though," he began while taking a single step in the Hokage's direction.

"Just who...is Naruto-Kun?"

And then the Kyuubi's chakra suddenly disappeared. Eyes all around grew surprised. Even the hokage's

'Wha-?'

Then it was there again... Only...

Even Orochimaru's eyes widened as he felt the chakra stabilize and settle...into nine different signatures. What the hell?

"Orochimaru," said the Hokage, his eyes not even daring to leave the direction the nine chakra signatures were coming from. "We need to hurry. The...things you just released will take this village from us all if we do not stop them. Drop your barrier."

"Hmm?" Was he serious? Did he really just do what he thinks he did?

Hiruzen must have noticed the look on the Snake Sannin's face because he suddenly scowled.

"We don't have time you foolish child! drop the barrier now! Gather your strongest subordinates and follow me! We-!"

Then the signatures scattered.

"Fuck!"

(xxxx)

As their chakra settled and their bodies stabilized, the eight of them climbed out of their prisons.

Hesitance flooded their bodies as they made their way up into the open for the first time in their lives.

But the drive for their sudden freedom pushed them along.

They emerged, amongst the ruins of the Hokage monument and took the time to just...take it all in.

"W-wow,"

Seven pairs of eyes suddenly focused on the one who spoke. And for the first time, they laid eyes on each other.

The one who spoke was skinny. But not unhealthily so. She stood at a little over five feet tall with large beautiful heterochromatic eyes. The right one was a bright, beautiful emerald green, that seemed to sparkle like the gem itself, only a slit pupil adding any sort of oddity to the eye, and her left eye was ruby red. She was wearing practically nothing. They all were. Their wardens saw no reason to make sure they were properly dressed. In a way it made sense. They were in utter darkness and isolation after all.

She stood, staring up at the blue sky, smiling as the wind tickled her skin. Her long pink hair swayed, almost touching the ground. Her grin revealed her exaggerated canines, fangs no doubt ready to tear a foe asunder and her cheeks were adorned with a duo of whisker marks each. She stretched, linking her clawed fingers together above her head and sighed in relieved pleasure as her body popped and adjusted. Her chakra pulsed, powerful and ready, filling her with even more bliss.

"So this is the outside," she said. She basked in the feeling. And right then and there she vowed she was never going back to that prison. "It's so...nice."

"Yeah...it is."

She recognized the voice and brought her attention to the one who spoke as a result, and her gaze found them all. They all stared at each other. Their brains took time to register the individual appearances and then they took the time to memories them, to connect the faces with the voices.

Happiness overcame them all as they finally realized that they were seeing their until then, unknown loved ones for the very first time and they surged at each other, eager...desperate almost to touch...to hug and to genuinely introduce themselves to each other.

"You're so beautiful! Hinata-Chan!" said Sakura, her two different eyes sparkling as she took in the features of a long dark blue haired rather curvy girl with pupil-less light red eyes and pointed ears. Said girl blushed and giggled as the pink haired girl grinned and prodded at her, child-like admiration coloring her eyes as she took her all in.

"I'm almost jealous."

There was laughter.

"You're one to talk Sakura-Chan! Just look at ya!"

It was Kiba. It had to have been. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. She beamed at the muscular boy with wild silver hair and Dog ears atop his head. His golden eyes were gleaming, unashamedly trailing up and down her body. His feral grin was framed by a purple bar design on each cheek, and it made her grin back.

"Well I must say, you guys certainly weren't what I'd expected to see."

That was Shikamaru. He looked just like he sounded. Body lazily crouched on the ground, as if ready to amble off on all fours, he stared at them all with vastly intelligent, but half open glowing yellow sclera and pupil-less eyes. His hair trailed down his back and onto the ground around him, writhing and shimmering like liquid shadow. It melded with his actual shadow, covering his hands and feet, seemingly waiting for any sort of command. Upon his cheeks were a pair of black bars, perhaps designed to look like whiskers, only these were not. They weren't like Sakura's or Hinata's. Shikamaru's looked like a tribal marking.

For the next couple of minutes, they basked in each other's presences, happy and carefree and joyously celebrating their newfound freedom. Utterly unconcerned with the environment around them. But then that voice came.

That serene motherly sounding female voice responsible for keeping them all together all these years, seemed to flow over them all and snap them out of their reverie.

"But..where is Naruto-Kun?"

And just like that, joy of the moment was gone.

All eyes turned to Ino-Chan. She stood there looking as beautiful as her voice hinted at, with long light yellow, shimmering locks that covered half of her face and came to an end just a centimeter or so from touching the ground. Her eyes were a shade of light blue, with no pupils, but with a red border around the iris. Her cheeks sported a trio of thin whisker marks and her ears were pointed. She was worried, her clawed hands clasped in front of her bare chest.

Worry and anger began to set in.

"Crap, that's right," growled Kiba. "Where is he?"

Then Hinata spoke, unnatural nervousness coloring her voice as she spoke. "you don't think...they captured him already...do you?"

Sakura hissed. "No," she said, eyes narrowed in seething anger and fists clenched hard enough to draw blood. "They wouldn't be so stupid as to try. They are in the middle of an invasion!"

"But if they have?" said Shikamaru. "What if they've already moved in and snapped Naruto-kun up? Logically speaking, this would be the best time to recapture us, while we're disoriented and basking in our newfound freedom, while adjusting to our chakra. What do we do if they come for us right away?"

"We'll kill them all."

The one who spoke this was pale. His Alabaster skin stood out amongst his obsidian spiky locks and glowing purple eyes. There was a glowing sheen of the same color of his eyes outlining his body, making him seem almost otherworldly in his presence. He was tall and not quite lanky but not bulky either. He was scowling, his demonic visage emphasized even more by his fangs and the trio of bars on his cheeks.

Everyone knew that voice.

Sasuke.

He stepped up, positioning himself so that he was the very center of their attention, while drawing close to Ino almost protectively, as if waiting for some foolish human to come at them.

"We don't owe this village anything," he began. "Its rotten and tainted, a breeding ground for liars, traitors and bigoted hypocrites, and If we have to tear this cesspool asunder to find our friend and loved one then so be it."

"He's right."

It was almost shocking, the contrast Chouji's appearance had with his quiet, gentle voice. The boy was intimidating to no end. He was huge, more than a full head taller than any of them, with hulking muscles all over. But he wasn't grotesque. His hair was maroon in color, as were his slightly glowing eyes. The look upon his face was almost calm. But there was a grim sort of hardened determination flashing within those eyes. He stood next to Sakura, arms crossed over his chest. "We'll have to fight anyway. There's no way the Hokage will leave us alone." He grinned. It was a savage sort of look that just seemed completely unnatural on his face.

"So we might as well hit them first."

Sasuke looked at them. His eyes seemed to draw them all in with their intensity. He felt Ino shift beside him, saw Chouji turn to Shikamaru and he watched as the gentle eyes of Hinata quickly transformed.

"So," he began."What do you say we wreak a little havoc?"

Konohagkure was already in the middle of an invasion. The sounds of battle were a constant hum that painted the air and it was this battle, and the reckless casting of some powerful shinobi or other, had freed them from their prisons. It was perfect. It couldn't get more convenient than that.

But this had also cast into doubt, the welfare of one of their own, and that simply was unacceptable. So like eight wrathful spirits, they had risen from the ground and took the time to acclimate to their new environment. Then they began prepare themselves to unleash hell upon realizing that one of their own was missing.

They closed their eyes and used senses never before exercised to get a feel for the area...to ascertain what may be the best places to assault.

They felt dozens of chakra signatures heading their way, drawn and foolishly inquisitive as to the source of that wave of demonic energy a couple of minutes ago. Sasuke felt his entire body tense and his chakra begin to stir again. He looked at the others. They were the same.

"Make your decisions now," he said. "The humans are coming."

"Tch, like you even needed to say anything." said Kiba. "We've already made our decisions."

"Yeah," chouji spoke up. His fists were clenched. "We decided this...years ago."

Each and every one of them had unfinished business.

It was time to settle them.

"Then let's do this."

As he prepared to leap away with the others, a soft hand landed on his forearm. Sasuke turned and looked into the red and blue eyes of his guiding light.

"Be safe," she said, her voice soft and full of concern. It froze them all as it drifted through their minds, flooding them with emotion. "And please...find Naruto-Kun."

"Hah, you don't have to worry about us Ino-Chan!" exclaimed Kiba. He was grinning savagely, his hands curled up, ready to tear asunder his enemies with his claws.

"You just be sure you stay safe. Don't hesitate to call for help if you need it."

"And don't worry," began Shikamaru. The shadows were already beginning to swirl around him, rising up to engulf his body.

"Naruto will be found."

Ino closed her eyes and connected with the minds of those she'd grown to love. And she felt herself relax at their confidence...their strength.

"Okay," she said, with a smile.

Then they were gone, off to settle festering wounds left behind by this village.

The blonde remained, she alone standing amongst the ruins of her prison. She thought and contemplated.

"Eh? This is the source of that chakra? It's just a girl!"

Abruptly, her eyes snapped open. Twelve Humans stood before her, each of them dressed in grays and whites. They were uniform in appearance, with the symbol for a village she'd never heard of before upon their headbands, meaning they were foreign. She sighed, disappointed.

But then one of them grabbed her arm.

"Take her to Orochimaru-Sama. I'm sure he can figure out just what makes her tick."

Her disappointment at the fact that these guys were not from Konoha, vanished the second they decided to take her prisoner. It was like a switch within her mind.

"Let go of me!" she suddenly yelled. Then an invisible concussive force slammed into the twelve of them and sent them flying off in different directions away from her.

"Argh! what the hell was that!"

Ino's eyes began to glow, and her body began to levitate in the air, debris and chunks of earth began to float around her, as her beautiful face twisted into a scowl. "I won't be a prisoner again," she muttered. The shinobi began to recover, and with a yell they charged at her. "You little bitch!" yelled one man.

"Never again!"

Her chakra reacted and she grasped at the sudden power surge.

Twelve ninja suddenly collapsed, wailing in agony, clutching at their heads. Ino eyed them without remorse and began to hover higher into the air, instinctively utilizing her apparent telekinetic power.

"I suppose I should test this out," she said, with a smile.

"And I know just who to test myself out on too."

(xxxx)

Orange eyes snapped open as surges of his nakama's chakra began to flare up in different parts of the village. "Ugh," he complained, pushing his way up out of the debris. "What the hell happened?"

It was dark, suggesting that he was still underground. But the environment felt...different.

"That...is what I would like to know."

He spun, eyes wide and surprised and came face to face with an old man. But there was something off with this particular man. There was something extremely familiar...

Then it clicked.

"Danzo," he said, Ino's lessons suddenly coming to mind. Danzo raised his visible eyebrow. "Curious," he said. "I Have no recollection of ever seeing you anywhere within the village, and I've taken great pains to remain unknown. How is it that you know who I am?"

Naruto grinned. already he could feel his chakra surging to the surface. His body tensed with the oncoming fight he knew was about to begin. Mainly because he was about to start it.

"I know a lot about ya, Old man. More than you think I know." He crouched, his hair starting to transform becoming golden/Orange and flame like. Danzo's eye widened as Naruto began to glow.

"And I gotta say, it's enough to make me wanna draw ya out into the light. Heh, be glad it's not Sasuke in front of ya!"

Danzo stared, unbelieving, already positioning himself to attack. Naruto smirked. "I bet you thought you were just gonna wait out this invasion with your little army then move in to take over once the dust settled huh? Well I got news for ya. This village isn't gonna be yours when this is all over. heh heh. Its gonna belong to us."

"Kyuubi," muttered the leader of ROOT with a slightly widened eye.

Naruto grinned. "Not quite!" Then with roar, he charged. "But if you can survive more than five minutes I'll tell ya who I am!"

"ROOT! Subdue this demon!"

"Hahahahahaha! That's not gonna work Old man! There's thirteen years of repressed charka and anger here! Try harder!"

"Ahhh-Gurk!"

Hiruzen glared At Orochimaru. "You god damned fool," he ground out. Rage and helplessness flooded him as he felt the nine signatures of the Hanyous begin to encounter denizens of the village...and attack them without any sort of hesitation.

"You have to drop this barrier, now!"

Orochimaru seemed like he was in a trance. His mind was running mile a minute, trying to analyze the signatures. All nine of them were powerful. Nine different parts of the Kyuubi. What the hell did the old man do? He turned to the third Hokage, who sat scowling in helpless rage. And for good reason.

Even Orochimaru could feel what was going on.

"You will tell me what is going on, if you want to have even the slightest chance of saving your precious village," he said, suddenly. How dare the Hokage unwittingly take away his goal of ending this pathetic village by trying to experiment on the Kyuubi!

The third Hokage sighed, hesitance keeping him from speaking right away.

"If I tell you, you have to agree to help me subdue them."

"Them?"

"Never mind that now," he said. "Promise to help me capture them. Gather your subordinates and allies and help me take them out before they rob you of your goal."

"Oho, how devious. But I suppose I don't have too much of a choice. Fine then old man. Let's hear this tale of yours."

"You've got yourself a deal, Sarutobi Sensei,"

AN: So there it is All kinda hell is about to break loose haha. The Nine Hanyous are out, they begin to wreak Havoc, but their actions have consequences and unforseen events. Alliances will be forged, Conflicts will arise and more than a decade of festering bitterness will spew out all at once and Konoha is the center stage of it all.

Stay tuned for the next chapter.