CHAPTER RATING: T/M(kinda gory)

…

Episode 22: Bloodlines, Part III: The Demon in My Eyes

The silence that overtook the group was terrifying. Not a single breath was heard, but the deafening sound of the bubbling scarlet aura continuously grew, louder, and louder. It slowly moved to engulf his entire being. They gazed at him and saw that his nails were sharpened, and extending like claws; His light sapphire eyes, replaced by a deep crimson. His facial features became more pronounced, the lines on his cheeks deepened, mimicking the look of whiskers that belonged to a fox. He rose as if an invisible puppet master was pulling him back to his feet. His feet took root, but he stood on all fours. His face turned upward, death embodied in his gaze; eyes transfixed on the group that had blackmailed him, he took off.

"Mizuki! Reiko! Takeshi! Aizu! RUN!" the conspirators scrambled, all in time to dodge Naruto's advance.

"Hinata! Look out!" Kiba screamed. They jumped backward and entered the canopy of the trees. The group of conspirators spread out through the forest. Hinata looked toward the edge of her eye, and saw one of them trip.

"H-Help!" the fallen woman called out. "M-My ankle!" Hinata's gaze shifted toward her ankle, she cringed at the sight of the twisted foot.

"A-Aizu!" one of the others called out helplessly as she saw Naruto's hand reach down and take hold of Aizu's windpipe. Naruto's hand closed around her throat; his razor sharp claws slowly digging into her neck. Her screams of terror and fear slowly fading away as her neck slowly, and painfully collapsed upon itself.

Everyone stood and watched with terror in their eyes as her body fell limp onto the green grass in a pool of crimson. Naruto turned, slowly gazing at the rest of them, blood dripping down his hand. He took off again; running from the crazed shinobi in black and orange, another conspirator, looked towards his comrades. He reached forward.

"Reiko! Help!" The woman he called to stopped to look behind her. Takeshi, the one who called out to her, grabbed her hand, and tossed her to the ground. "I-I'm I'm sorry, Reiko!"

Reiko sat up in shock. "Takeshi! You son of a bitch! How could you?!" Reiko flinched, knowing the fate that awaited her. She took in a deep breath, and prayed for a painless demise.

"Shino-kun! Now!" Hinata's voice echoed through the leaves. Reiko looked up to see a giant mass of black beetles swarm around her. The bugs held steady, and refilled the gaps as Naruto's claws tore through the domed structure.

"Grab her, now!" Shino shouted. Kiba and Hinata descended and appeared before Reiko. They supported her arms with their shoulders, and jumped up into the trees once more. Shino's bugs began to dissipate with Naruto's furious blows. "Quickly! The shield is failing!" he shouted desperately. Naruto finally broke through the shield, and began to zig-zag is way through the trees towards the rest of the group.

His speed launched him in front of most of the group. A scarlet ball of energy formed in his hand, a spiraling vortex the was almost pulling the objects around it, to it.

In front of Naruto stood Mizuki, in fear and desperation, he stood before Naruto. His footing loosened, it felt as if the Rasengan was really pulling him in. Naruto launched himself forward. The Rasengan had taken a twisted turn from the energy that pulsed through Naruto's veins.

The Rasengan began to tear through Mizuki. It began to rip into him. A bloody mess of gore and blood spiraled with the Rasengan's motion. Naruto emerged from the red mist; the stains barely visible due to the red aura that still engulfed his body.

The mist shot forth with the force of the Rasengan; the red mist entered Takeshi's eyes, blinding him. The heat from the Nine-Tails' aura seemed to boil the bloody mist, Takeshi closed his eyes as he felt them burning. Even more fear struck his mind as he became stricken with fear.

He felt Naruto's hand push up against his forehead, holding him down against the grass, he began to scream in pain and fear as Naruto's hand began to slowly close around his cranium.

"N-No! Pleas..." His last words disappeared with his last breath as Naruto's claws closed in deeper into his skull. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his head fell limp onto the ground.

The last of the conspirators disappeared into the forest.

"Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, we need to do something." Hinata said aloud.

"What can we do? There's no way we can stop him!" Kiba replied.

"If we fail here, we'll be putting the rest of our village at risk. We need to do something." Shino added. "We have to do something."

They looked over at Reiko, who had someone gained her wits from the horrific experience she had just endured.

"Reiko? Go, go get help from the village, we need to keep Naruto here." Hinata commanded. Reiko nodded, acknowledging her order, she took off only seconds later.

Shino pulled together his team. "Okay…here's the plan."

…

All three descended onto the forest floor. Naruto turned, and without warning charged towards them.

"Ready?!" Shino shouted.

"Ready!" Kiba and Hinata shouted in unison.

Shino brought his hands out to his sides, and forcefully clasped them together. The same, enduring black beetles from the desert shout out through his sleeves. They formed a giant sphere around Naruto; who responded with violent slashing at the sphere.

"H-He's breaking through!" Shino said again with exhaustion.

"Let it go! We're ready!" The sphere released. Akamaru and Kiba swept through the ground, and shot up dirt and mud towards Naruto's eyes. He flinched with unexpected pain and surprise.

"Here we go!" Hinata took her stance. "Juken! Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" Her hands moved to speed. They struck his shoulders. Shino and Kiba watched as the Nine-Tails' red aura disappeared from his arms. She struck his joints, and saw through his chakra paths, blocking them off with her strikes.

His limbs fell limp, he crumbled to the ground, his eyes closed, his breathing steadied. The expression of anger and hatred exchanged with a look of everlasting peace.

Hinata kneeled beside him and held her his head in her hands.

"What do you think will happen now?" Kiba asked.

"We can't hide this." Shino said while looking around at the bloody scene that stained the emerald landscape around them.

"We don't have a choice, the chances are that those who got away have already told everyone they can."

"So, what can we do?" Kiba questioned again.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Shino stoically replied.