Disclaimer: Me No Own Shit

Chapter 5

It was not happy, not at all. Its new container was weak, nearly torn apart after only a day of inhabitation. A cough ripped through its chest, and blood and a tooth rocketed out of its mouth. No this would not do, it would have to find a new host; this dog person wouldn't hold up for much longer. However its main priority was to find those Jashinist who had escaped it. It had been so close, so close to killing the pest that had dared to attack it and then it had been blown to bits. This simply would not do. But they were too far away to catch now, they had disappeared into the trees and their scent had vanished. It would have to find a new host and wait for them to return. But it needed a strong one, where could it find a host strong enough to support it for weeks or even months?

It creeped along the wall of the village like a spider, its strong nails digging in and keeping it from falling. If anyone were to look up they would not have recognized the person that used to be Hana Inuzuka. Her nice brown hair had been knocked loose from its ponytail by the force of Kyoju-sha's entry and had turned an iridescent teal. Her formerly kind brown eyes had changed to a predatory gold with diamond shaped pupils. Her body had lengthened and her limbs moved freely in her joints, achieving a kind of mobility that was both disturbing and oddly graceful. The only part of her that was recognizable was her facial tattoos, which had stretched and distorted as her face had sharpened into something animalistic.

The container sniffed the air, trying to sift through the smell of all the weak and find a good container. Wait…there was one. Without hesitation it took off, moving with the speed and grace of a seasoned hunter. One good leap propelled it from the wall and it landed on the roof of a small apartment building. Inside one the apartments was one of the strongest scents he had ever smelled. And it was familiar as well. It took a deep sniff and recognition snapped into place. It was the white haired ANBU that had been poking around the blast sight.

Opening the window was easy, just sliding one fingernail under the sill and breaking the locking mechanism. Kyoju-sha, The Occupant, The Lesser of Three, smiled, distorting Hana's face even farther, and slipped through the window.

The trees were tall, slender and dead; stretching into a blank sky with their barren branches moving in a breeze that Naruto couldn't feel. He walked with no clear destination in mind, the ground crunching hollowly under his feet. He continued to walk for a long time. Or maybe it was a short time, he couldn't tell; dreams had a strange way of distorting time. Eventually he reached a clearing and in the clearing there was a crater. Sitting in the crater, cross-legged and identical to the last time Naruto had seen him, was Waruku.

"Hello outoto" Waruku said, his soft feminine voice breaking the silence of the clearing. He rose to his feet and received Naruto's embrace without another word. The blonde held tighter to the back of white kimono, unwilling to let go in case the androgynous male disappeared.

"He's not dead, Naruto"

Naruto released him and stepped back.

"What? Who's not dead?" he asked, confused

"Kyoju-sha"

"What are you talking about Waruku? He's dead, you killed him. YOU DIED TO KILL HIM! HE HAS TO BE DEAD! HE HA-"

Waruku pressed two fingers to Naruto's lips to silence him and began to speak:

"Little brother have you ever heard the expression 'you can rinse the surface but the stain remains'? It's like that. You can kill the body but the soul remains intact. But," he took his fingers away from Naruto's lips and tapped them twice into the blonde's chest," you have the power to kill him. You have a power inside that could burn villages, and destroy the world as we know it. All you have to do is unlock it."

"But I don't know what you're talking about" The blonde said frustrated. He had had this dream many times since they had reached the Snow Temple and every time Waruku was just as vague as before.

"Jashin-sama has chosen you for great things," Waruku said, cutting him off just as he had in dreams previous, "the villages you know are an empire made of dust and Jashin-sama will blow them away and scatter them back into the Abyss. You are to be a key player in this."

"Waruku, goddamn-it I don't know what power you're talking about! How the hell do you expect me to do anything when you won't tell me what you mean?"

"What killed Shitai's parents?" without waiting for an answer Waruku pushed an open palm against Naruto's stomach.

He awoke with a start, bolting upright in his sleeping bag. Blue eyes darted around and a tan chest rose and fell rapidly. Sweat stuck his blonde hair to his forehead and the back of his neck, his rosary stuck to his chest. Shakily he climbed from his sleeping bag, shivering slightly as the cold air hit his flushed skin. Pulling on his clothes in the dark was difficult but not unmanageable, and he opened the flap of his tent while pulling on his last sandal.

Camp was set up just outside the face of the iceberg that hid the entrance to the Snow Temple. The camp was relatively small, with the only occupied tents being his, Shitai's and Tenshi's which were set up around a fire pit. The rest of the tents were abandoned, with the dig crew being sent back to their respective Temples by Tenshi. Naruto walked up to the fire pit and sat down on one of the logs next to Shitai. His blue haired companion was staring into the embers, cigarette burning between his lips, and the northern lights playing across his face.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, letting the smoke flow out with his words.

Naruto shook his head mutely and took a good look at his unofficial older brother.

He hadn't been sleeping well since Waruku had died and weeks of insomnia had left dark bags under his eyes, giving him with an uncanny resemblance to a raccoon. He had become withdrawn, silent, and it almost seemed like he was going on autopilot most times. The only times he seemed to be his old self was when something so shocking happened that he could momentarily forget what he had lost.

Sometimes when Naruto couldn't sleep he often found himself wondering if there had been more to those two's relationship then he had previously thought; but he never voiced these thoughts afraid of incurring Shitai's temper, which had been much closer to the surface these days.

"Has Tenshi made any progress with Fukuro?" Naruto asked, after several minutes of silence.

Shitai blew out a cloud of smoke and ran a hand through his hair, "I doubt it, he's working on it now but…" he shrugged.

"And where's Sairento? I haven't seen him all day."

"How would I know, he's your zombie. Maybe he's feeding the snow wolves, I saw him doing it a coupla days back."

Naruto said nothing, it was obvious that Shitai wasn't feeling talkative and tilted his head back to stare at the sky. The northern lights really were amazing, an array of colors twisting through the sky. It was really peaceful, serene. And as most peaceful moments of the blonde's life it was destined to be interrupted.

A frantic looking Tenshi burst out of the Snow Temple's entrance, face flushed and glasses askew "Guys! You need to come see this."

"What's going on" Shitai asked, interest creeping into his voice.

"Sairento's got the ice open somehow! Come quick!"

"How'd he do that?" the blue-haired man was definitely interested now.

"I have no idea! I walked in and he was standing in the tomb, the ice was gone!"

Tenshi turned and began to run back into the Temple with the others in tow. It seemed impossible, they had been trying for weeks to get through the ice and Sairento had done in one night, without any warning. As Naruto ran towards the burial chamber Jashin's words came back to him 'When the time comes you will listen to the silent one and awaken him' he shivered and ran faster.

When they reached the burial chamber Sairento was indeed standing in the freshly opened tomb. He was staring down at the comatose Fukuro and his lips were moving silently and rapidly. Cautiously they approached the opened tomb.

"Sairento, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, forgetting momentarily that the zombie was mute. Obviously the zombie couldn't respond but he made a 'come here' gesture with one skeletal hand, not taking his eyes off Fukuro. The blonde approached and the moment he was in reach the skeletal hand shot out and caught him in a vice-like grip. Before he could grasp what was happening he was pulled up against Sairento's chest, breathing in the faint smell of formaldehyde and hearing a scratchy nearly non-existent voice whisper in his ear.

"Chakra has kept him asleep, it will also awaken him."

A/N: OK so obviously this is a lot shorter than the other chapters, but keep in mind the others chapters are actually three combined into one. So sorry about the long absence but what can I say? Writers block is a bitch. Reviews are welcome and I'd be really happy to get feedback, either on this chapter or the revisions.

Thanks,

pathetic-really