For nearly an hour, Rei explained the situation of the Icharuka family to Deis, going into exact detail about what he was told. When he finished, he waited a moment before giving his assessment. "They're scared."

Deis nodded. "They should be. Should've been scared a long time ago."

"Agreed and now that they are?"

"…We need to do something more. I think we should find a war and break it up."

"I will question the Pathfinders immediately," he told her. "Who do you think should handle it?"

"…Let's send the lodges, all of them. I know they've been itching for a good fight."

Rei looked at her incredulously. "You want to send near a hundred berserkers into a battlefield?"

"Not enough or too much? As if I don't know."

Rei sighed but smiled at her. "My wife, you will forever know how to make a statement." He remembered something he heard as a child and said it now. "Where a berserker goes, ruin follows. …There won't be anything left of the country."

"True, better send someone else. Think the Shadows can handle it?"

"Been a long time since they have seen war but Koto will have them ready in quick order."

"I'm sure he will," Deis said with a smirk. "So, some berserkers, some Shadows, anyone else?"

"…How about a few from the Leyline?"

"Oh, gives me chills. Which ones?"

"…I got it, remember the original legend of the Bijuu? The one with Orochi the eight headed and tailed snake?"

"Yes, I remember… Oh, you are still one sly cat. You want to send Laylia."

"If we can pull her from her books long enough, yes. After all, what better way to grab attention then to summon the spirits of the original Bijuu?"

—oo000oo—

Kurasa wrote down exactly what he was being told by the genin before him. "So, he never even touched you with the weapons? Never made a handsign? Nothing but swung that sword of his?"

"Yes," Hyuuga Neji replied; his head low and his voice soft. "I knew it wasn't real, deep down, but…I couldn't shake it off. What he made me see…I don't even know how he knew what I was afraid of. No one else does."

"He was taking your sight away, wasn't he?"

Neji barely forced a nod. "There were shadows everywhere. I couldn't see anything but him…and the cage bird seal." Kurasa knew which he meant. "Even in the darkness, I could see that. And then he just said he already won and my arms and legs…" He grabbed his arms as if to assure himself that they were there still. "They were just lying on the ground."

Kurasa nodded as he finished his notes. There were others that had experienced similar things, always with one of those Uzu dark armored warriors, the ones that reminded people of death. It was always after a length of time though that the genjutsu started to affect those the dark knights were fighting. Given that each victim was also found with a trace of an unknown energy in their body after the fight, he could guess why. Something the dark knights carried was like hallucinogens to others centered on their fear. There was no genjutsu because it was their own minds making it, similar to killing intent hallucinations. And just like with those hallucinations, Kurasa doubted there was any way to stop it once it took hold. "Thank you, Neji-kun," he said, standing up and offering his hand to the genin. "You have helped prepare the village should we ever fight against these dark knights again."

"…They have more, don't they," Neji asked him. "More than just that tanuki, hundreds more."

"We doubt hundreds…but more were among their numbers."

"…" Neji started shaking his head, his arms still clutching each other. "I can't…I won't fight him again. Not him, not again."

"No one is expecting you to, Neji, him or any other Dark Knight."

"…He was just a boy like me or my cousins… Kami, what could fully trained ones do?"

Kurasa frowned as he had seen this before. Combat fatigue, killing intent trauma, and now 'fel poisoning' as one of the Uzu healers called it. He put his notes into a folder with several files in it, each about a different kind of fighter for Uzu no Kuni. And their strengths just kept growing. The dark knights alone commanded the undead, were weapons masters, and now poisoned those around them in extended contact. Spellsingers, berserkers, shamans, mages, spellblades, he even had reports of some transforming into animals. Then there were the people that made up the fighters. Uzumaki, Ryu, Rand, and Sora. Each was dangerous in their own rights. He sighed, and he didn't know how much of it was from magic or even any of it. Aisha didn't seem to use any and they were still trying to clean up her mess. Nor did Rand Perrin. He had broken walls with strength alone. "Neji-kun, might I suggest talking to someone? I have seen cases like this too often and counseling has always been the answer."

"Will that make the fear leave?"

"No…but it will help you work through it. After all, courage isn't the absence of fear but the ability to overcome it."

"…I will listen to your suggestion, Kurasa-san." Neji stood up and left, he shoulders still stooped in defeat.

Kurasa put the file down and started looking through all the old text, documents on ruins and legends they had. Jiriaya-san once said many years ago that he heard of the Uzumaki clan through one such ruin so maybe more information could be derived of them. "Uchiha-san," his temporary aid said from the door, "the next one is here."

"Send him in." Another piece of paper, another piece of information learned about Uzu.

—oo000oo—

Kaguya Kimimaro sat in a waiting room unsure what to do. With Orochimaru-sama dead, what did he have to live for? No one could answer that. They had doctors helping him with his tuberculosis but they said if he didn't fight then he would die anyway. Konoha had come and picked him up after the defeat of Oto and had asked him to join with all the others. He gave no answer. Why bother, his reason to live was dead and he hadn't even been there to help. "You may go in now," someone told him so Kimimaro. Slowly, he got up and walked.

"Hello, I'm Uchiha Kurasa," the man in the room offered as he entered.

"…Kaguya Kimimaro."

"A Kaguya," Kurasa said in interest. "How curious? Kimimaro-kun, you said you had information on the Uzu?"

"The Uzumaki, yes," Kimimaro said while handing him a book. "This journal was kept by Orochimaru-sama. Inside is all the information he had on the Uzumaki and Uzumaki Deis. He felt that an advanced bloodline as theirs would be of value to him."

Kurasa took it and skimmed through it. Orochmaru seemed to have been meticulous about finding details about them and the fight he once had with them it seemed. "Thank you for giving this to us but why?"

"They killed Orochimaru-sama," he replied. "I need no other reason."

"Yet you are willing to die without helping in the battle that may come between us and them?"

"I am not needed in this world. Better to die and have the Kaguya die with me."

Kurasa thought about that for a minute without saying anything. "Kimimaro, you believe the Kaguya should die? Why?"

"You know my clan's reputation as well as I, we were monsters."

"…I see." Kurasa sat down in his chair and activated a silence seal around the room. "You strike me a person of great honor, Kimimaro. Are you one?"

"…I did not and do not kill for fun if that is what you are asking."

"No, not that. You owed your loyalty to a belief in something bigger than yourself. That the belief was a man meant no matter; he embodied your belief so you fought for it."

"And that loyalty wasn't enough," Kimimaro said sadly.

"…Kimimaro, I want to tell you something and it is something I need to know will never leave this office for as long as either of us will live. Are you a person honorable enough to keep it?"

"…Yes."

"Very well then. Kimimaro, the Uchiha clan, the one that was so respected by the very village you are currently within, was planning on destroying this village and was destroyed by it." Kimimaro looked shocked at that. Shocked beyond words. "Uchiha Itachi, under orders of the Hokage aids and supported by the Hokage himself, executed his clan save for his brother. He violated his orders in doing so and had to leave Konoha as a traitor even if he wasn't. Do you know why he left Uchiha Sasuke alive?" Kimimaro shook his head. "So that his brother could one day kill him and restore honor to the Uchiha name. He gave up everything so that his clan could be strong once again. He believed in something bigger than himself as well."

"…But I thought you said he killed all but his brother. How are you here?"

"I was banished from my home," Kurasa replied. "With all other Uchiha dead or gone, I had to come home to fulfill that wish myself. I am here now, Kimimaro, to change the Uchiha name. Even if we were looked to in awe and respect, it was never enough. It started with our ancestor Uchiha Madara who killed his brother and then tried to kill the Hokage. It continued with Uchiha Fugaku who tried to kill the village. And ended with Uchiha Itachi who killed them all. I remain so I have to end the curse that is on my clan. I have to change it even if no one knows about that change."

Kimimaro was quiet as he digested all that information. "…That must be a heavy burden."

"It is. The Hokage and his aids will forever look to me in suspicion for if I one day decide to betray my village. To me, the Uzu means little and so is the information I am gathering on them. I do this only to aid my village and restore my clan's name."

"Restore their name? If what all you told me is true, one would almost thing the clan should end."

"And yet I think it can be saved. That as long as one Uchiha with honor lives there will be hope for the rest of them."

"…Can one really save a clan?"

"I don't know but if I believed one couldn't, I would just kill myself now."

"Like I am doing," Kimimaro muttered.

"Like you are doing," Kurasa agreed. "Tell me, do you truly believe the Kaguya are beyond saving? Do you truly have no reason to live without Orochimaru? Even with the promise of tomorrow."

"…There might be something."

"Something bigger than yourself? Something that if you chose to fight for it, you would push away even death to see it happen?"

"…The Kaguya were not always monsters, you know," Kimimaro whispered.

"I did not know. Yet if it produced you then I believe you."

Kimimaro was quiet for a long time as Kurasa decided to just let him think. It remained that way until a knock came from the door. Releasing the seal, Kurasa's assistant opened the door. "Sorry to bother you sir but there is another archaeological file here for you."

"Thank you, please bring it in." He gave a file to Kurasa and left the room. Kurasa opened it and gave a cursory glance through it, especially at the picture in the front. It was of a tablet depicting a person lying on an alter and a scepter over them in some ritual. The only translation gotten from it was in reference of 'Kardis, the Goddess of All Destruction and Misery'. He would've passed that off as some old superstition just three weeks ago. But claims of Uzu say they get some of their power from gods and goddesses he had only heard of in legend if at all.

He read it for a few minutes before Kimimaro said, "Are you done with me, Uchiha-san?"

"Yes, you may leave if you wish. If there is any more information you would like to give me please come by and share it."

—oo000oo—

Whistling as he headed to the stone wall before him, Togashi smiled at the work day being almost over. "Hey, Togashi, joining us at the pub tonight," one of the other miners called.

"Couldn't keep me away, Yatou," he called to him before kneeling down with a drill and making a small hole in the wall. Carving five more in a circle, he planted small explosive charges in each, wired them up, and went to the plunger. Hitting the alarm to warn everyone in the section he was about to blast, they cleared out. Once the last one was away, Togashi pushed down on the plunger and the bombs exploded. It went textbook in Togashi's opinion. A portion of the wall was blown out to break through what they couldn't dig and teams were about to go through and look for valuable minerals in the debris. It was after the blast that things got weird.

The before the explosion finished, it looked like it got pulled into the wall along with air inside the tunnel. Togashi had been a miner for a long time and he knew what that meant. They hit a void. "Get your mask on!" Gas pockets are sealed from air and when the explosion went off, it broke the seal. The fire was burning away the oxygen which was why when it got pulled in there wasn't another explosion. It burned out and couldn't light the methane or whatever else was in there.

Togashi put his mask on and waited for someone to bring down a rat or something. Yatou, always looking on the bright side, said, "Imagine our bonus if we hit oil."

"…That would be nice," Togashi replied. It took fifteen minutes for someone to come down with the animal. Seeing it didn't react as they got closer to the void, he took off the mask and took a deep breath. "…It's clear! Get back to work!"

Togashi pulled off his mask and called out, "Excavators, start looking through the debris, I want two men to go into the void; I want to know what we hit!"

The two left their masks on and went to the hole. "…Togashi, you might want to look at this," they called back.

Sighing, he headed over. "What did you find; fossils?" He came to them standing in a brick wall corridor. "…Okay, this I wasn't expected. Must be some kind of ancient ruin." Smelling the air, he coughed from how stale it was. Looking around, he saw a mural on the wall. Going over, he saw it was of a battle. Monsters on one side and warriors of light one the other. He was going to look away until he noticed that the monsters were winning and it showed several images of their glory. "Huh?" A skittering was heard down both ends of the corridor.

"…Togashi, I think we should back out of here," one of the two said slowly.

"I think so too," the other agreed.

Before Togashi could reply, they heard skittering to their right. Before they could do anything, a giant spider jumped on Togashi trying to bit him. "Get it off, get it off!" While one grabbed the thing by the back and pulled, the other grabbed a pick.

"Move!" He brought the pick down on it and gave a great shudder before it came down again. It got off him, trying to get away when he hit it one more time. It heaved and began to curl up, dead. "What the hell is that?"

Togashi stared at it in shock before looking himself over to see if it bit him. "…Lights! Get some lights over here now!" Torches were quickly brought and used to light the old ones in the corridor. He stood there a moment, wanting to run from here but unwilling to. "Does anyone see anything else?

"I think," someone said before stopping.

He didn't even turn around before someone shouted, "Another one!" Looking to the one that yelled and following his gaze, he saw another spider holding the speaker in the air, biting him on the neck.

"More!" Looking to where Yatou pointed, he saw a bipedal lizard breathing wisp of fire growling at them before lunging forward. Yatou jumped back and barely got out of its way. Others were so lucky. "Get the hell out of here!" Miners started running as more monsters came from the ruins. Togashi was almost out the hole when an arrow shot him in the chest and nailed him to the wall. More creatures poured out of the darkness including his sniper. He looked at the one that was about to kill him and was surprised. It was a gorgeous woman in dark leather armor and a black wood bow. Her skin was of blackest night, her hair the purest of whites, and eyes like burning embers. She looked down on him like he was less than nothing as she notched another arrow.

"Al'doer ulu l' Har'oloth, rivvil," she said as she drew the arrow back and aimed at his head. And even though he never heard the words before, somehow he heard them in his mind as what they meant. 'Welcome to the Underdark, human.' A cold, merciless smile graced her face. "Al'doer ulu Uoi'nota," She said before letting the arrow go. 'Welcome to hell.'

—oo000oo—

In the week since her forced relocation, Ayame had gone about life much the same. She was currently in an inn somewhere in Tsuchi no Kuni enjoying a cup of tea and a pie. She viewed herself as an authority of where the best of foods were and right now she was eating the best apple pie in the world. Conversations were going on around her when someone approached her. "You have the look of an adventuring sort," they said to her.

"I've been known to do a little delving," she told him. Since her escape, here seemed to have been a new kind of rush. Ruin delvers were the new gold miners with everyone including villages looking for ruins to search for rare artifacts within.

"How would you like to join up," he said as he sat down. "From the look of you, you know a few things."

"I do," she replied.

"And you also look like you can use those," he said, pointing to her weapons.

"…Is there a point," Ayame asked before taking another bite of her pie.

He nodded and began to whisper. "Okay, so I heard about some silver mine that broke into some ruin deep down in the earth."

"…Why haven't I heard about it," she asked, curious now.

"Because they aren't advertising it," he told her. "Apparently a whole bunch of monsters came pouring out of it and up to the surface. They killed anyway and anything in their path. But when they got to the sun, some actually caught fire while others acted like they were burning and fled back within the darkness."

"…Monsters?"

"Hey, even if Uzu no Kuni hadn't come out of seclusion would you really think it that surprising?" Ayame thought of all the things that ninja went through and nodded. "So, they are keeping this hush hush while ninja are trying to clear it out and take back the mine. All that silver, there is no way they would leave it be. Problem is they aren't doing the best and are hiring dungeon delvers to help them."

"…What village," she asked.

"I think this is being head up by Kusa."

Ayame frowned as she thought about it. "No, Kusa is an ally of Konoha and I will have nothing to do with that village."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I'll be here for the night if you change your mind."

"I won't," she assured him. Finishing her pie, she stood and headed outside. This was big news and she wanted to talk to Deis about it. "Reumos."

—oo000oo—

In Uzu the celebration was still going on and at the moment, Naruto and Konan were laughing as they stepped off the dance floor. They had just done a samba together and were a little worn out but they had a lot of fun. "Nya! That was awesome," Konan laughed.

"It was," Naruto agreed. "Still can't figure out why Din didn't want to dance it as well."

"Oh, leave it be," Konan said, her cheeks puffing up in irritation. "Come on, let's dance another!"

"Alright, just let me get some water," Naruto said before being snagged away from Konan.

"New partners," Din said, taking him out and dancing to a slower song.

Konan growled before noticing Ayame talking to Deis not to far away and from the look on their faces it had nothing to do with the party.

"…They broke into the Underdark," Deis told her simply.

"The Underdark," Ayame questioned.

"A huge series of cave systems spread all throughout the crust of the earth deep beneath the earth or even where mines should go. Very dark, very dangerous. Home to a lot of creatures that should never have been born, demons and otherwise. If they found one of the caves to it, it is likely a Keeper's dungeon. Back when the two interacted a bit more, there were attacks made by the denizens of the Underdark and the Keepers were the ones that led them."

"…Then why are they only attacking now?"

"Best guess? The Keeper is dead and has been dead for over a thousand years. Without the leader there they either left or decided to use it as a lair. Likely they left and it was rediscovered later to use as a lair."

"So what should we do?"

"Probably nothing," Deis told her straight up. "If it gets out of hand, we'll step in but likely they are just expanding into the mine for resources."

"Nothing to worry about then?"

"Oh no, nothing at all. Both the miners and the creatures of the Underdark were just surprised to see each other. That it ended in blood shed…" Deis shrugged, not really surprised. "Before too long, they will close off the entrance to their lair and possibly use it as a staging ground for night raids or block it off completely."

"What about them burning in the sunlight?"

Deis gave a small giggle. "They live in a place of complete darkness," she told her. "They see by seeing heat more than anything else. And as they evolved down there, they grew weak to sunlight."

"Of course," Ayame chuckled. "Well then, I guess I won't be delving there."

"Best to avoid it altogether if you don't have a party to go with you. Honestly, I wouldn't want to go there unless I had a strong group like my grandfather did."

Konan blinked as she listened to them and smiled. That sounded like a fun place to visit! "Naruto-kun!" She turned around and ran at the two dancing, tackling Naruto to the ground.

"Konan," the two yelled before Konan interrupted.

"Let's go on an adventure to the Underdark!" The two looked at her owlishly and then each other.

—oo000oo—

Naruto, Din, Konan, Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro were all sitting at a table in Bleu's home. "Let me get this right," Temari said to her. "You want to go trudging off like some adventurers party from over a thousand years ago into a place of all manner of monstrosity and clear out the dungeon. Is that it?"

"Nya," Konan confirmed. "Come on, our clans used to do something like that all the time! You mother went on two big adventures herself, didn't she?"

"…Yeah, first against Myria and the second against Deathevn," Kankuro replied.

"But we aren't our mother and things aren't like it was then," Gaara told her.

"Sure it is," Konan said excitedly. "They are attacking a mining village thus they need stopped."

Din sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Konan, this is a hair brain scheme if I have ever heard one."

"I know, sounds fun," she replied.

Naruto laughed and said, "It does! I'm in!"

"Naruto," Din exclaimed.

"Why not, it does sound like fun and if it's too much for us to handle we'll just come back and call it a learning experience. That when we were young and stupid we headed off head first into danger. But if we can handle it, and we save a few people, then we know we are doing the right thing. That's why we are getting involved in things now, right?"

"But…adventurers die doing things like that," Din reminded.

"Yet someone must answer the call when lives are in danger," Kankuro stated. "If we are going to that 'Keeper's Dungeon', then I will go."

"That's three," Konan cheered.

"This is madness," Din said, throwing her arms in the air.

"Madness," Gaara asked with a grin. "This is Uzu no Kuni! Madness lives down the street and is often our dinner guest. So why not?"

"Not you too!"

"…Might as well make it a complete set," Temari said with a smile. "Mama certainly wouldn't want us going without me there."

"Have you all gone daft," Din asked, looking them in the eyes. "This isn't the Chunin Exams, this is going into the Underdark and tearing down a lair!"

"Don't come," Konan said with a shrug. "Not saying you have to."

"…Naruto-kun, don't you think this might just be a little out of our league?" She held up her fingers with a small space between them at 'little' as she tried to reason with him.

"If it is then we will come back," he replied.

"I don't believe this," Din said, running her fingers through her hair before rounding on Konan. "What is it about you that makes him do dumb things!"

Konan kept that grin of hers going and said, "Nya, we like to party!"

Din gripped her hair trying to resist pulling it out and said, "Oh no, you aren't going there without supervision! Not without me there to say I told you so while I'm porting the lot of us home!"

"Then it's settled," Naruto said happily. "So, what's our party name going to be?"

"Ladon give me strength," Din muttered, wiping her face.

—oo000oo—

"Nya, Ayame-chan," Konan said, bouncing over to the older girl in her family's new restaurant.

"Hello, Konan," she said in greeting as she set a bowl down in front of a customer. "And what brings you here?"

"Me, Naruto, and a few others were thinking of going dungeon delving," she said happily. "Naturally, we thought of you for advice."

Ayame chuckled and said, "Well, what do you want to know?"

"How about someplace not to go? Don't want to get over our heads."

"…Well, there are a lot of ruins in the world but not so many in the Elemental countries that haven't already been picked clean. And… I have heard of a mine," she told her. "Supposedly it's being attacked by creatures of the Underdark."

"Ooh… Where is it?"

"A silver mine in Kusa no Kuni. They got Kusa ninja protecting it, Konan so stay away from there."

"Okay…now where should we look?"

"Think creatively," Ayame replied. "I wouldn't doubt that there is some beneath the ocean or possibly giant lakes. What is now a wasteland could have been a thriving city at one point."

"No help huh?"

"Sorry, the only places I know I already picked through."

Konan sighed sadly and said, "That is how it goes. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ayame said as Konan started to walk away. "And Konan? I mean it, don't go there."

"Nya, Ayame-chan! Would I ever do something I'm not supposed to," she asked while giving a Cheshire grin.

"Get going you kitten."

Running back to where the others waited, she said, "Kusa no Kuni."

"Alright, all aboard," Temari said from her flying carpet.

—oo000oo—

Finding the mine didn't take too long; the hard part was finding a place where they could port to within the Underdark to avoid the ninjas. Using a scrying spell, they were able to map out where a tunnel connecting to the lair was and how deep down. When Temari felt she was ready, she opened a portal in the air showing complete darkness. "Looks like the place, let's go."

Naruto stepped in first, his eyes quickly adjusting to see things in black and white. Casting his head around, he smiled and said, "It's clear."

Konan and Gaara came next, their eyes just as good as his in the dark. Next came the other three, using spells to enhance their sight to see. "Which way," Kankuro asked looking down both tunnel ends.

"That way," Konan said, her ears hearing distant sounds. Heading deeper into the darkness, they moved quickly and quietly unsure of what laid around the next corner.

What they found was the tunnel ending at a door with a stone head on it. "Magical," Din said to the others as they got closer. "Must be the door man?"

The head moved to look them over and said, "Vel'uss chu p'los uns'aa?" They looked at each other in confusion so it said, "'Iv choltaH qaSpa' jIH?" That just sounded violent and harsh to the throat. "Darega watashi no mae ni kuru?"

"I think those were three different languages," Konan stated.

"Who comes before me," it asked a fourth time, making them jump in surprise.

"Now that I understood," Naruto said.

"Oi, finally," the head said. "Don't you even know Common or the trade language?"

"Uh…no," Gaara replied. "That's why we didn't say anything."

The stone head leveled him a cold glare before saying again, "Who comes before me?"

"Uh…I'm Naruto. This is Konan, Din, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari."

"I need to hear them say it," the statue replied.

"…I'm Kankuro."

"Din."

"Gaara."

"Konan."

"Temari… Nice spell you're putting on us," she said, looking at her hand. A rune was now on the back of it.

"By speaking your name I have confirmed you are travelers and are free to enter," it explained. "Monsters cannot speak thus they can't enter. Welcome to Suldanessellar, the City of Trades."

Splitting down the middle, the door opened and revealed a room with three interconnecting arches over a pit with what looked like a giant dead heart at the bottom. Between the arches were stairs leading to a platform with a throne that was currently empty. Music played through the hall as if of a festival. Around the room were several creatures they had never seen or even heard of before. Small creatures with green skin and pointed ears. Tieflings, the descendants of humans and demons. Humans with skin as black as pitch and hair as white as bleached bone and ember red eyes. A creature that was a floating eyeball with several stocks on its head with eyes at the end. A couple of things that looked like they had died long ago. Gray skinned, short, stocky men with beards almost as long as they were tall. With gray skinned, short, stocky women with beards almost as long. A woman with her chest bared and her lower body like that of a giant spider. Several small creatures even smaller than the green skinned ones only half the height, large black eyes, that ran faster than anything the six of them had ever seen. Even odder they were all talking to each other in a language they could understand. A few looked to them and dismissed them as they went about what they were doing. Across the dead heart the room opened up to a larger area they couldn't see.

"…I was expecting someplace a bit more violent," Naruto muttered.

Before they could even answer, one of the Tieflings came over with a smirk. She looked to be a little older than them, had bat wings and a prehensile tail with a spade end, a clothes that could barely be called that, and an almost hungry look to her as she sized Naruto up. "Hello pussy cat," she said with a smirk. "Why don't you come play with me?"

Naruto felt his cheeks warm up at that. "Uh…Play?"

"Of course! Its Tangi d'Dro, the festival of life so let's go live," she said, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him away.

"Wait, what," he said resisting her pull. "Who, and what, are you?"

She puffed up at that and said, "I'm Aliizsa and you could just say you weren't interested."

"Wait, I didn't mean to offend," he started to say, making her smile and suddenly lean in and kiss him.

"NYA!"

"Eh!" Din cried out in shock with Konan.

Aliizsa pulled back, leaving Naruto wide eyed, his mouth a bit open from her tongue being inside it, and in a state of shock. "I'm a Tiefling, putty cat, and my grandmother was a Succubus."

Naruto was completely red under his fur before he fainted. "What did you do to him," Din demanded.

"Nothing," she said teasingly. "He's just so innocent and I do this thing with my tongue… Oh, I get it," Aliizsa said suddenly. "I like him! Or maybe you're just jealous that I haven't kissed you as well." She grabbed Din gently by the cheeks and kissed her before she could deny or protest. Din looked shocked and tried to struggle for a moment before almost getting lost in the feeling. Aliizsa smacked her lips and said, "Cherry flavored." It was too much for Din as well as she fainted.

"…Just how much Succubus are you," Temari asked in curiosity.

"Quarter," she replied happily and with pride. "Grangran is very proud of how I look like her and can cause ecstasy with just a kiss. …Where are you all from, anyway? Everyone's heard of Tieflings before."

Gaara smirked and said, "Long way from here, a place called Uzu no Kuni."

"Land of Whirlpools? Never heard of it." She shrugged and said, "So, want to celebrate life with me, fuzz boy?"

"That is tempting, real tempting, but we had something we needed to do. Not sure if we can do it anymore."

On the ground, Naruto had sat up and shook himself out like he had gotten out of a bath only to find him looking at a very nice view of Aliizsa's butt. "…Wow, that really happened."

"Nya, Naruto-kun," Konan said, jumping on him. "She's a succubus; she might've sucked your soul!"

"I doubt," Naruto started to say before she continued.

"Old remedy for soul sucked by succubus, kiss someone else real quickly," she said before grabbing his collar. Naruto put his hand on her face and held her back with a sigh.

"Konan, enough with the teasing," he replied as he pulled himself back up.

"I was not expecting this," Kankuro said, looking around.

"Expecting what," Aliizsa asked.

"…We heard about a mine to the surface breaking in here," Temari said.

"I know," Aliizsa said excited about it. "I thought it was just an old legend too but the surface world does exist! One of the local hunters was in the tunnels when she heard an explosion. And these hairless apes called humans were trying to get inside one of the tunnels leading to the city! Luckily a bunch of the wild animals escaped up in their mine and pushed them back or else they might've attacked us. Our guards have been fighting with them to keep the city safe ever since."

Kankuro blinked and said, "They are the attackers?"

"Of course, why on earth would we go up to that light scorched place?" Aliizsa shrugged before looking him over. "You…are you a paladin? You must be here to pray at the temple then!" She suddenly took his hand and pulled him deeper into the city. Everyone else followed them. Out of the old Dungeon Heart, a chasm and a city stretched far beyond their sight. They were at the bottom and there were many buildings build into the stone walls as well as calcified webs over a dozen meters thick stretching from side to side. Everywhere all manner of creatures that had never seen the surface went about their lives. Almost losing the two in the crowds, they went inside a temple unlike any they had seen. There were no candles or art pieces; there was only a statue in the back of a warrior. He wore greaves, a breastplate with a crescent moon on one side, a tunic on the other, a blue V tattoo on his forehead pointing down to his nose, white eyes that saw nothing and everything, red crescents under his eyes with a long pointed hat falling down his back. In his hands was a two handed sword shaped like a sharp edged infinity symbol pulled back for an overhead attack.

Not far from the statue was a priestess though none like they had ever seen before. She wore armor and a sword like that of the statue. She too was one of the dark skinned, white haired humanoids. "Triel, there's a paladin on pilgrimage," Aliizsa called while pulling him closer.

Triel looked to him and walked over. "Welcome, young paladin, to the temple of battle."

"Let go," Kankuro said, pulling his arm free. "I'm not on pilgrimage, priestess, I'm afraid I don't even know who your god is."

She smirked at that while Aliizsa looked a bit confused and curious. "How true that is," she muttered. "I am no priestess, boy, merely an old warrior tending to a shrine. As for him," she motioned to the statue, "he has no name that he has given. Now, why don't you sit down and explain just white you don't know him. Or shall I say why…Topsider."

Aliizsa stepped back in shock. "You mean he's a human," she asked afraid.

"Not quite," she replied, looking at the others. "All of you sit down and start talking."

Naruto gulped and said, "We heard there was a battle here so we came."

Triel shook her head. "Unacceptable. No way is it that easy. You are from the surface, all of you."

Din bit her lip and said, "We came to defend the surface from an attack from the Underdark. But we expected to find…mindless monsters, not this."

"And I expected Rivvil, not…this," Triel countered, pointing to Din, Konan, Naruto, and Gaara. "So nothing is as we expected. What else?"

Konan clicked her tongue and said, "We aren't humans. Well, most of us. Naruto and I are Worens, Din is a Wyndian, and Gaara is a Tanuki. We are from a place called Uzu no Kuni, a land considerably like this city. There are a lot of different people of different races there."

"…And?"

Gaara winced. "That is a long story."

"We aren't going anywhere until I hear it," Triel promised. The six of them sighed and started telling her everything about the recent happenings of Uzu.

—oo000oo—

"Hmm. I see, so it is magic hunters we are fighting now," Triel asked to make sure she understood it correctly. "Greed has always been the motivation of the corrupt."

"…So there is a place on the surface no one would attack me," Aliizsa asked.

"Yes," Naruto answered. "Uzu accepts people for who they are."

"…Neat."

"I have a question," Kankuro said to Triel. "Exactly who is he," he asked, pointing to the statue.

"One of the Unnamed Gods, known only as the Fierce Deity, the Lord of Battle. All Father gave life to the first of his sons and daughters on earth and they had no need of food, water, or shelter. But their children did. So the All Father bid the Fierce Deity to teach them to War. To one another for that which they could eat. To track animals that could be consumed. To still oneself in a cloak of shadow and silence to hear that which was beyond sight. To turn fang and claw, stone and metal, into weapons used to hunt and kill."

"A warrior teaching people to hunt," Naruto said with a shrug, kind of surprised at being able to see it working.

"Yes but they killed too many," Triel told him. "A warrior cannot teach peace. They cried out for help as they died, seeking another way. So the Great Mother gave them plants and mushrooms to eat without killing. And life returned. And grew and grew until there was not enough food. So the scholar of the gods, the Faceless Mage, said for there to be both. Let them kill if they must, eat plants if they must, let them do both and live as they will."

"…Really into the circle of life, aren't they?"

"Only thing that matters, really," Triel replied with a shrug. "Circle of life, food chain, whatever you like. You don't see politics in nature."

"…Can hardly counter that," Temari stated. "So what now?"

"Tempted to kill you like the surfacers you are," Triel said with a shrug.

"…That would be bad," Gaara stated.

"For you but as you aren't trying to kill people and to do so without you breaking a law is frowned upon to say the least. So I won't."

"That's good," Kankuro said in relief.

"I'll turn you over to the first house of Suldanessellar. They can decide if you live or die."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I was wondering to myself what happened to all the creatures that had been in the world of Breath of Fire. If they all started to die out or if humans were growing as numerous as to push all others aside. I decided to go with the second one. Then I remembered the underground part of Breath of Fire II. In caves beneath the earth many creatures lived. I decided to call this the Underdark and have a few chapters where they interact.

The talking door spoke in four languages. First was Drow, second was Klingon (yes, from the actual Klingon Language), third was Japanese, and fourth was meant to be an ancient version of English. After that, it cast that rune on them to let them pass and trade with others. After all, it is the 'City of Trade' and if you can't talk, you can't trade.

For those that know my writing, I like Legend of Zelda and have taken inspiration from Majora's Mask like Fuka-hone, the guitar in Sound of a Jinchuuriki. The fish bone guitar from the Zora form. Well, if you have played that game you will of course know the Fierce Deity. I wanted the Unknown Gods to be something seen as the giver of life but not something asking for repayment. If you worship them or not doesn't matter to them. They gave life and had other things to do than play nursemaid. A whole Cosmos to take care of, they didn't need to sit around and deal with how bad a single person's life was. Let them carve out their own path like the gods did themselves.

See you Space Cowboy.