The Leaf's Phantom

by SojiroxTenken

Naruto is on a path all his own. Taken from the village at the time of his birth he will forge a new destiny from the shadows of Inferno, and he will shake the ninja world to it's core. No-one... not the big 5, not Orochimaru... not Madara... no one will stop the Phantom. Rated M for Gore, Language, and Lemons slash Adult situations Later on. NarutoxFemScythe Masterxsmall Harem.

2. The start of a new Journey

The Phantom of the Leaf.

"People-speaking"

'People-thoughts'

Jutsu-/'Tailed beast/Boss summoning thoughts'

"Tailed beast/Boss summoning" speaking

Disclaimer- Hey ya'll SoujiroxTenken here just wanted to drop in again and say what's up. Got a lot going on so updates are going to be slow but I hope they turn out to your liking!

Intro:

"Hey guys you know the drill I do not own Naruto… Phantom Requiem for the Phantom… or any other references made herein, but know that one day I WILL have my own story that makes money and I will be counted as one of the greats just like those other guys. One Day I will ride on the backs of my adoring fans to the stand at Comic-con, One Day I will own twelve cars, and One Day I will learn to stop yelling out loud when I get excited like that…:)

Chapter 2: The beginning of the spiral.

Last we found Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze (or Reiji Azuma depending on his state of dress) standing atop the Hokage monument inside the village hidden in the leaves, contemplating the future and how he was going to handle having been thrust back into the position of having to listen to someone else as his commander.

The thoughts and feelings rushing through Naruto's head at the moment began reminding him of how he felt when he had been a young boy and had begun to receive instruction from Saito Takani, and his handler from the organization formerly known as Inferno. His Handler was a beautiful woman by the name Izumi Hamada or better known by Inferno as "Scythe master". Izumi Hamada was a woman of relatively elegant nature and was obsessed with perfection and everlasting moments. She considered herself an artist for in her opinion she had created a mental conditioning program that exceeded what the leaf villages Danzo Shimura had built.

Izumi stood at five foot six inches tall and had a short bob cut hairstyle with one bang of her blond (not to be confused with blonde hair blond has more of a silver characteristic) hair covering her right eye.

Her marble colored skin contrasted greatly to her hair but even more so to her Canary yellow eyes which sat behind a pair of D. Viation black framed glasses which sat on a petite nose on a semi heart shaped face. The Forty-three year old woman sat at the measurements of 34B, 25W, and 34H and her breasts were a respectable high B bordering on low C. Her attire consisted of a white lab coat that hung down to about mid-calf, a tight mocha colored corset blouse that clung to her body like a second skin, a form fitting black skirt that cut to just below her knee's, and a pair of black shinobi style heels. Naruto upon remembering the women that had trained, nurtured, beaten, broken, and molded him could only shiver at the memory of her smirking visage and the sound of her maniacal giggle. (Yes a maniacal giggle, as terrible as is sounds such a thing exists) After that passing memory a slew of others quickly surfaced and even though they brought pain some as he knew brought pleasure as well. While he could easily admit to himself he would never admit to anyone else that she had been his first hug, first kiss, first… everything. Every experience with that woman had taught him something, and not just the application for seals in combat. No Naruto could still hear her husky voice from that night a little over a year ago clear as day even now "This first one is for me. It has nothing to do with you… and you will view this as nothing but another training exercise."

She had come to him after another grueling day of physical training followed by what would have been classified as an A rank assassination mission by any normal village, and she set herself upon him like a snake to a defenseless baby bird. He could remember she smelled of cream and plums and other than that he really had no words for her or what had transpired… she had come in behind him quickly and placed a paralysis curse mark on him and then blind folded him. She proceeded to strip him and committed herself to her ministrations at her pace and never once gave him the satisfaction of his own release, hell she had even threatened to castrate him if he failed to reach her expectations. Of course the threat meant nothing to Naruto even the fact that she had had the audacity to take his innocence from him wasn't what had bothered him. For this first time since committing his first mission when he was five years old he was helpless. Naruto of course didn't falter in the slightest and the woman had her fun until the wee hours of the morning, and then… left without a word. Standing atop the monument Naruto again let out an involuntary shudder remembering his deceased lover and that the act she committed had been returned to her in spades later on. After reflecting over his long gone lover he then returned to thinking of the man that he had called father, even though said man only referred to him as family on his death bed in return. Saito Takani had been a complex man in the eyes of some on a good day and impossible by most everyone on a normal day, but to Naruto though it was all a matter of knowing what motivated the man and in that sense his "adoptive father" had been an open book. Naruto had been smart and intuitive since the age of four and honestly it wasn't surprising considering he was being trained by "The Lone Wolf" Saito Takani and Kusa's "Mistress of Murder" Megumi Takani. Megumi had almost literally beaten into him to "Look underneath the underneath", and to use his environment to his advantage and Naruto could honestly say that those two lessons were two of the most important he had ever learned before beginning his career.

Naruto continued to view the village of his birth and could only remark on the differences between all the other villages, whether one of the "big five" or not, as opposed to what was the home of his birth.

He could still remember Megumi taking him back to Kusa before the time of her murder and telling him what it had been like to come back only to say goodbye to her childhood home a few hours later…

(This Flashback is from someone else's point of view that is why I didn't list it as a flashback like in the last story because there will be other flashbacks this is how I will be handling this in all my stories)

Kusagakure village hidden in the grass 14 years 11 months ago…

Okay so in retrospect things could be worse; sure only half a day ago Saito Takani had not only lost his son Sano, but now this baby that his daughter Megumi had found was now awake and wailing so loud it could positively wake the dead, (but hey he wasn't dead at the moment so…) yeah things could be much worse but that didn't mean that they didn't outright suck at the moment.

Saito had taken the young babe that he now knew was named Naruto and his daughter and fled the Land of Fire as fast as he could. He now was already standing in the very Spartan living room of his single story home, that he and his wife Natsumi had bought and was beginning to pack everything he could possibly use. He had told Megumi how to prepare the baby a bottle and was starting to get everything in order.

It was a well known fact that Saito was rarely in the village and an even better known fact that he and his family though well-off, had very little in their home. Saito had taken his children and basically lived on the road since the death of his wife, and while he would never admit it to anyone even his children it was because of her presence in the house. The house still smelled like lily and jasmine, the very perfume Natsumi had worn while alive and every moment surrounded by it crushed Saito. He had waited his whole life and truly believed that his wife had been delivered to him by Kami, and for that he would be forever grateful. Every room in the house even the bathroom with its simple hard-wood floor, cream colored walls, and light green matching curtain, shower curtain motif screamed of his wife. He could still remember the day they had come to Kusa and found the house…

Flash back Jutsu

It was mid May in The village hidden in the Grass, and if anything was to be said about Kusa is this; it is a really muggy place. The climate was a strange blend of the lands of Fire and Water but never seemed to reach their obvious extremes. Unlike the land of Fire's Village hidden in the leaves and its climate, Kusa rarely had dry blistering heat.

Also of the same token Grass very rarely had any sort of mist whatsoever, as opposed to the ninja village of the land of water. No hidden grass was known for a season almost perfectly split down the middle, between rain and the ever present muggy sunny day.

It was a Thursday afternoon that Saito and Natsumi Takani could be seen walking down one of the main pathway's from the Kage's office to head to their new home; and Natsume was positively glowing at the moment. Natsumi could be seen wearing a light teal green kimono, with a pink sash crossing over her much engorged belly, with a pair of geta sandals. Natsumi had her hands crossed over her belly as she walked side by side with Saito with a small smile gracing her light pink lips, as she quietly sang a song to herself and her budding baby.

"I don't know…what words I can say… the wind has a way… to talk to me…Flowers sleep… a silent lullaby… I pray for reply…I'm ready. Quiet day… calms me…Oh… Sereni...Ty…Someone…please…tell...me…I don't know… what is it they say…Maybe I will know… one day."

"You sing beautifully my dear; I doubt I've ever heard anything so beautiful before." Saito said as he cast a quick glance to his left.

"Thank you love… I hope our baby boy knows we love him." Natsumi said as she looked to her husband.

"I'm sure he does my love, and soon we will have a place to raise him." Saito said.

The two had been searching for a home for weeks now and still couldn't find anything that caught their eye.

It would be another hour until they came upon what would wind up being their new home. It was a simple one story home with a cream colored five foot high wall separating their compound from the main thorough-fair of the shopping district, with a nice layout of lily bushes lining the outside of the wall.

It came with a simple two acres of land which Saito later used to place a small training ground and personal onsen for himself and his family to use. It took only two months and then Saito and his wife had a simple but elegant home.

End Flashback

Saito shook himself from his musings to take a tally of what they had in their possession. Saito counted upwards of two-dozen scrolls of sword katas and jutsu, a dozen empty sealing scrolls, two sealing scrolls that had most of their camping gear, and a third master sealing scroll usually used for contracts that he had made at the village of artisans. Saito finished loading all the scrolls with everything they needed as Megumi was feeding the babe a bottle of warm milk, and it then dawned on him that the last thing he had to do was sell his home and in that respect is where he would run into his biggest problem. Now normally something like this would be easy for anyone after all people moved out of ninja villages all the time due to various reasons, expenses, death in the family, and so many other things could attribute to someone moving out of one of the more militarized villages. However in Saito's case two things would be a great hindrance for him in trying to make a quiet getaway, one simply being that the Kusakage would be expecting a good reason for him to up and decide to just leave. The snot nosed brat of a woman leading the village hidden in the grass was known simply as Keiko, and as far as Saito could tell there was no reason for her to be a Kage in the first place. For starters she was just a child as far as Saito was concerned as it was that he was almost three times her senior in age, and then of course there was the fact that the girl had little to no experience in the field and to Saito that was just downright criminal. The girl had inherited the title of Kage from her mother who had passed due to a combination of age/illness, and Saito really hadn't liked the old crow Misora either. The Arakawa family had held the Kage seat for the past forty years and Saito had honestly only worked for the village because they paid him well, if not for that he may have actually killed the whole lot of them if only to give someone else the chance to improve Kusa. Saito told Megumi to handle the boy and proceeded to his onsen and cleaned himself from the long journey back, and then dressed himself in a new garb as opposed to his usual traveling kimono. Saito had cut his hair and now it gave off a more wild appearance being slightly spiky but slicked back, with three thicker strands hanging in front of his face. Saito had now donned his outfit from his small stint in Kusa's Anbu as the Captain of "The Hedged Blades". Saito had excepted but never used the specially made ninjato that his crack unit had become famous for during their missions.(Unlike most ninjato's the blades used by Kusa's Anbu were serrated from the base of the blade halfway up until it turned back to the normal edge of a blade.) Saito was now wearing the his black shinobi sandals, hunter green cargo shinobi pants, hunter green long sleeve shirt that clung to his body showing his chiseled muscles(even for someone of his advanced age) his Cole-gray Anbu shin and wrist guards, and his Cole-gray battle jacket with gold buttons which reached just four inches below his backside. As Saito exited the onsen he advised his daughter to have everything on the bed sealed into the master storage scroll and to have their bags packed and ready to go when his business with their Kage was complete. As Saito passed through the gates of his small compound into the bustling thoroughfare that is Kusagakure's shopping district, he could only be overwhelmed by the smells of the various stall vendors. There was an abundant amount of cooking establishment's ranging from ramen, BBQ, stir-fry, and many other assorted stands. The shopping district in Kusagakure was also the only other village to have many import vendors from the famed Village of Artisans; that being one of their biggest appeals to any foreigner coming to the village for a visit, caused a great deal of shopping in the village hence the crowd Saito found himself standing in.

Even the situation being so the second Saito stepped passed his compound everyone froze in what they were doing; whether it had been the vendors of the food stalls cooking, or any number of the shoppers bartering, or even the few small children playing at one of the game stalls everyone stopped to gawk at the legendary man stepping out of his house. The looks he received were also quite varied, ranging from fear to outright worship as it stood for the case of two young boys who would always be nearby being that they aspired to be just like "The Lone Wolf". Saito could only smirk and walk down the path leading to the single story high Kage building with the symbol for grass branded on the side, and marvel as the people would split and crowd the stand's just to let him pass; as if he would lop off their heads for being in his way. (Maybe in his youth once upon a time, but that is for a flashback later in the story ) As Saito traversed to the Kage's tower he could only begin to imagine what the petulant child of a leader he currently worked for would do to try and get him to remain in service to the village.

As Saito stood pressed back first against the door leading into the Kusakage's office with said women grinding into him trying to basically molest him in her office Saito could only sweat drop at the whole situation, having expected a plethora of things but definitely not this. 'This is the behavior of my "Kage" behind closed doors, Kami above I need to get out of here' was all Saito could thing as he began to push the overly assertive Kage away from him.

Keiko Arakawa was a young woman of renown in Kusagakure, being that she was the youngest Kage for the village hidden in the grass since its inception. She could boast that she was a combatant of great skill(In her own opinion, considering most hadn't seen her fight) and that she was able to remain at the top of list as the most beautiful kunoichi of Kusa. Keiko stood at above average height for a woman at five foot eight inches and had a very slender figure. (Not that you could see it under her battle kimono) Keiko had straight shoulder length raven colored locks of hair that she let go in an almost wild about fashion on her head, with one or two bangs hanging in front of her face. She had a creamy complexion and a slightly angular jaw line. Her eyes were pupil-less and the color of storm clouds but held a mirth befitting someone of her tender age of twenty-six. She hid a very lithe form behind her battle kimono. Her kimono was the traditional hunter green that all of her soldiers mixed into their uniform; however on the upper half of her kimono she had a pattern of vines with budding white Camilla's trailing down from her upper left shoulder crossing her mid b-cup breasts down to her right hip. Tied around her slender hips she had a red battle sash which she had her head-band and the emblem of her status as Kage attached too with the symbol being directly above her headband hanging off of her left hip. Keiko had a hunter green mini-skirt with black leggings underneath leading down to her feet where you could see a standard set of black kunoichi style heels.

Smiling coyly Keiko began to stalk Saito until the S-class shinobi was half-sitting on the front of her desk, and she had no shame in admitting to anyone that this situation alone was giving her a perverse amount of pleasure.

She understood that the man had not taken a lover since his late wife and while that was all well and good for most, but Saito had entered her office and said something that completely changed the game for any Kage when it happened…he was looking to tender his resignation code and cease being an active shionbi/warrior for her village. Being that he wasn't a registered shinobi it meant he could just walk really so immediately she did the first thing that seemed appropriate, give him reason not to leave. It was common knowledge that S-class was a title that was given out so rarely that there honestly weren't that many, and even fewer still that weren't listed as missing-nin.

"Now why on earth would you want to leave, when I could easily make your stay so much more… comfortable…? Saito?" The young Kage asked as she sashayed her hips while she slowly approached the man sitting on her desk.

She knew of her status and honestly didn't care what people thought of her because for one she was doing the village a service in trying to retain Saito's impressive services, and secondly… aside from the age difference he was not bad looking. Far from that the man in all honesty was one of the most eligible bachelors of the shinobi nations, if she could put her vote up. While Keiko made her slow advance on her guest the Anbu stationed in the room discretely excused them-selves, not really wanting to stick around and possibly incur the wrath of their Kage…or worse the former ex-captain of "The Hedged Blades". As Keiko felt all the Anbu except one leave the room she made a half ram sign and activated her "privacy seals" for the office, and then turned to face the current leader of her Anbu. "Mui… please step forward." As her command passed her lips a man wearing the standard outfit for "The Hedged Blades" with long black hair, and bull mask stepped out of the camouflage technique he had been concealing himself with. "Why are you still here… can't you see I am in the middle of a very important meeting?" the young woman asked with irration evident in her voice. "Lady Kusakage I merely want to ensure your safety and to do so might I recommend that you move this "meeting" to your private quarters where you will not be disturbed?" the man suggested with a hint of worry.

The Lady Kusakage at least had the decency to blush while her "guest" just sweat-dropped at the fact that this girl needed someone to remind her that anyone needing something handled by the said village leader could show up and intrude on her advances. Saito quickly seeing the opportunity needed from Mui's interruption quickly intruded into the now separate conversation "Lady Keiko I say this with as much respect as I can…while you are an attractive young woman I have no interest in your advances nor in remaining in the village; I have personal matters to attend to and they must be dealt with at their origin and I intend to finish with this death dealing way of life as soon as my next endeavor is complete."

It was at this point that the Lady Kuskage could only stare in slight exasperation and obvious annoyance at "The Lone Wolf" for easily swatting her aside her advances, and while he had commented on her beauty he made it obvious that no matter what she looked like he would not budge on the matter. Now Keiko became desperate and began offering other things like money, land, weapons, anything to try and convince the man to stay but he simply would shake his head indicating his disinterest.

Keiko was now bordering on out right rage if the tick mark on the upper left side of her head meant anything, not to mention the leaking killing intent she was producing. Saito being the ever uncaring man that he was for anyone else's comfort then laid out the ultimatum "Lady Keiko…while I respect your tenacious efforts to convince me and while I also understand your reasoning and respect them as well… do not think for a second that I was actually asking you if I may leave I was merely being gracious and wanted to do this in the most pleasant way possible for all involved. Now if you don't sign my release form know that I will simply walk out of here and that if you send anyone after me no matter whom they may be… I will send them back to you in bits like I did those dogs that attacked our fair village all those years ago when I earned my moniker; do. I. make. Myself. Clear?" As the entire speech was made slowly but surely Saito began to leak his own killing intent to half of what he was capable, and even it being only half his eclipsed Keiko's and brought her and Mui to their knees in the office. After nearly pissing herself and staring into the void like eyes of the Wolf, Keiko knew that he would have no qualms about ending as many lives as he had to so that he could leave the village. After finally looking down in defeat knowing that even she the Kage of the village could not halt him she could only ask "Why…why dessert us now? I know you have no love for my family but if it is the case that you feel I am unfit to give you orders than take my place, or train me for Kami's sake but please I beg of you don't dessert us. The world is in chaos and you are our only chance at holding back the larger villages, you are our only S-class warrior and no one here not even I can hope to best you, without you we will surely fall." Keiko was now on her knees tears rolling down her flushed face from having not really stopped to breathe since she had started her speech. Keiko Had fallen into a fit of being a young girl instead of a Kage and that is why what happened next truly surprised her…Saito picked her up placed her back on her feet and then hugged her. Keiko's eyes shot open and she took in the fact that his embrace reminded her of her late father, and it made her feel safe. Saito leaned back with his hands on Keiko's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, and what he saw was genuine fear. It then occurred to him that this girl was trying so hard to sway him because she had no idea what to do without him. Saito decided he'd confirm something that had always been at the back of his mind here and now "Lady Keiko…you never wanted to be Kage…did you?"

After that question Keiko had quietly led Saito to her private quarters and had Mui standing guard outside with a "privacy jutsu" in place so only he as her closest confidant could hear what was happening. Keiko then went into the tale of how her family had remained in power so far and why she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

According to Keiko her family as instructed by the previous Kage before the beginning of her family coming to power in the village hidden in the grass, had a sacred yet terrible duty. The Arakawa family was instructed to locate and utilize a very powerful and forbidden artifact "The Box of Ultimate Bliss" which was said to have made Kusa the dominating power in the elemental countries during the time of the fabled "Sage of the Six paths". As the conversation continued Saito became aware of four presences in the room with him and Keiko and had to quickly grab the girl to help her avoid being split in two by a kusarigama. Saito then proceeded to disappear from sight and the sound of four bodies hitting the floor resonated from inside the bed-chamber of the Kusakage.

Saito proceeded to step out of the shadows dragging the only one left alive out of the four assailants, and then threw him against the nearest wall where said person hit with a resounding grunt of pain. Saito approached the man with the full intent to interrogate and then be-head the fool but he was cut off when he heard a whimper of pain; to which he then turned and faced the lady Kusakage who was now being held by the throat from behind by the same Anbu that was supposed to be guarding the door. "I am sorry Lady Keiko, Lord Saito, but I am afraid that there has been a change of plans now that you have discussed 'The Box', and I am afraid I can't let either of you leave here alive" Mui said as he pushed a kunai against the Kusakage's neck.

"Why Mui… why would you do this? You're betraying your country..." Keiko began to say before a small chuckle behind her stopped the words in her throat as she attempted to look over her shoulder at the man she once trusted. "What about this situation makes you think I… am being viewed as a traitor?" Mui asked while staring down at Keiko. It was then that it dawned on Keiko and some color actually drained from her face, the council had set her up. They hadn't wanted her in power in the first place and now they had the perfect way to remove her, they could claim she committed treason and have her executed publically to serve as a warning to anyone else that might even consider such an act. Keiko's mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out what to do to fix this diplomatically, but before she could the right side of her face was doused with blood as a blood curdling scream rang from behind her accompanied by the sound of a kunai clanking against the floor. Keiko quickly found herself swept up, and now standing on the same side of the room as Saito as he looked at Mui minus his left hand which was lying on the floor next to the kunai he had dropped.

"Understand me when I say this and pay close attention Mui because I will only say it once; stand down and I will let you go home to your wife and child, or so help me you will find yourself bisected at the waist before you watch me and the Lady Kusakage walk from this room so I can end your benefactors next" Saito said as his eyes took on the stone-like expression many had come to associate with the "Lone Wolf". Mui began to tremble in fear staring at this man…no…killer standing in front of him knowing that the man would indeed slay him where he stood. Mui began to consider his options and decided to relent, 'Harumi is not well… the doctors do not believe she will last long and if I die Mukoo will be alone… I will never let that happen' Mui thought as he bent down and grabbed his severed hand. "I accept…your most gracious offer Lord Saito, and I am sorry Lady Keiko but I was only doing as ordered" Mui said as he stood back up to face the other two occupants of the room. "Who ordered you…am I not your Kage…who would dare try to send you for my life?" Keiko asked him as she turned her now cold eyes onto him.

Mui proceeded to lower himself to one knee and then explained the truth to Keiko and Saito. It seemed that the civilian and shinobi council of Kusa had decided that Keiko was not the right fit to lead the country in the trying times due to her age and they were hoping to be rid of her in lieu of a stronger more…seasoned leader a man by the name of Ichigo Hoshino.

At that name Saito actually faltered for a moment and then realized what was going on, Inferno hadn't sent him to the leaf to get rid of him no it had been a diversion so they could slip one of the lieutenants of the "five burning pillars" into a position of power while he was away. Saito knew Ichigo well the man was a scoundrel and a liar, in fact the only talent the man had as far as Saito was concerned was he was a silver toung. Ichigo by all accounts owned a great deal of businesses in the area of Tanka Gai two days from Tanzuka Gai and was a well-known broker for the criminal underworld. "Lady Keiko, I will carry out one last mission with your directive and end the lives of every single member of the council including the civilians, you merely need to send the Anbu to gather their replacements" Saito said as he straightened his arm guards underneath his long sleeved battle shirt. "I would very much like that, in fact I have a way to make this an easy send-off SS rank mission for this village's top warrior" Keiko said as she threw on her most devilish smirk.

Forty five minutes later Kusagakure's council room was filled with every member of the council except one Ichigo Hoshino, and the Kusakage herself. Four members in particular were beginning to wonder what was going on as it was that they had issued the order to the assailants recommended by Ichigo from Inferno to eliminate the Kusakage, and they had still yet to carry out the order. "I am beginning to wonder why we listened to that man at all" one of the members of the "flower group" a slightly portly man by the name of Kenshin Araki stated as he spoke quietly with his co-conspirators. Kenshin had light purple hair and wore the standard hunter green kimono of the civilian council, along with an extravagant gold medallion emblazoned with a red lotus flower hanging at the middle of his chest. Kenshin pinched the bridge of his large pock-marked nose and narrowed his light green eyes in disgust. "I hope that those fools carry this out today I am getting tired of looking upon that girl in the seat of power for our nation" Kenshin said with evident disgust in his tone. " Oh relax Kenshin we hired Inferno because their reputation for getting things done proceeds them, and I for one have heard that they never fail to deliver on their contracts so please be quiet" said an older looking women named Motoko Shimoda. Motoko was the oldest among the "flower group" and was the only retired shinobi while Kenshin was the only from the civilian sector. Motoko was a wrinkled and pocked marked old crow with light red almost orange hair that was even more faded due to her advanced age of seventy-two years old making one of the oldest on the council in general, not that she would let anyone remind her of that. Like the other three of her group she wore the hunter green kimono and the same gold medallion around her neck drawing attention from here worn face. Her Light pink irises had lost their luster and she had many wrinkles signifying her advanced age. "Besides you young upstarts fail to realize that Lady Keiko should have already been here perhaps they have made their move…perhaps…" Anything that Motoko was going to say died in her throat as the doors to the council chamber; burst open and in walked the said woman she had been speaking of' holding a brown satchel to her left side as she was flanked by Saito and Mui respectively.

"I apologize for my lateness esteemed council but certain things have been brought to my attention and they needed to be dealt with as a matter of security to Kusa, I know that you all value and understand the severity of something like that" Keiko said with a small smile adorning her face as she took her seat at the head of the council. At that the four major perpetrators began to sweat a little and were going to try to subtly ask what the situation was but at that blanched when in walk two squads of the villages Anbu, before they slammed shut the council room doors and they witnessed Keiko perform the hand signs for a "privacy jutsu". As the four along with the rest of the council turned back to face their Kage they realized that not only had her stormy looking eyes turned menacing but she was also leaking out a massive amount of killing intent causing a good deal of the civilian side of the council to empty their stomachs onto the floor. "After a private investigation into rumors brought to my attention by my attendant Mui, I discovered that every last one of you put forth funds to hire a squad of rouge ninja to take my life…and I must say after finding out the reasons for this most grievous betrayal; I find your lack of faith disturbing" Keiko said as she slowly began to raise her voice until the very end of her triage that she was shouting at the council.

"But fret not my dear, dear comrades rejoice in knowing that I have passed word to your families of your betrayal and have already paid them reparations for what I must now do"

Keiko stated as she could now be seen preparing herself a cup of tea. (Where on earth did she get that stuff…Many of the councilors thought as they witnessed the events before them?)

"How dare you…you petulant child, you are not fit to be Kage I hereby call for…"

Anything councilor Kenshin would have said was cut off as he watched Keiko pull out the severed head of Ichigo Hoshino and set it atop an out rolled scroll that actually had a list of demands from the civilian side of the council. 'Demands being made of me by them…pft how ridiculous' Keiko thought with contempt as she laid the head atop the scroll as she looked up to see the awed and fearful faces of the rest of the traitorous council sitting before her. "You people would dare try to rest my seat of power from me with hired assassins… you lot are a sorry bunch of… what was it you called them Saito... Limped dick fools that's what you all are!" Keiko called out to them triumphantly as she watched their faces look aghast at the insult she had delivered onto them. Saito and Mui could only sit back and sweat-drop at the fact that the young woman had actually used Saito's insult 'It really doesn't sound right coming from a young woman like that' they both thought as Saito attempted to clear his throat while Mui could only shake his head. "With that being said I hereby enact docket law five under the founding charter of Kusagakure and hereby disband the current council and am giving the order for the immediate execution of all of you…presently as it were" Keiko said as she put back on her small smile before beginning to sip her tea as the Hedged Blades began to systematically end thirty two lives in a matter of seconds.

The carnage reminded Saito of his time during the war when he had been employed to hunt enemy camps at night, and cut down any forces attempting to enter Kusa. The Hedged Blades proceeded to cut down every member of the council and even the current active duty shinobi on the council didn't stand a chance, it was an outright slaughter.

Arms, Legs, Heads, nothing was spared as Kusa's Anbu cut every last council member down leaving only four members remaining after the carnage that had followed the Kusakage's order.

Huddling in the corner near the door now stood the four members of the flower group, every single one of them struggling to remain on their feet as they were leveled with glares from Saito, Lady Keiko, and Mui respectively. Motoko attempted to step forward to explain their actions but the moment her foot budged the other three members watched in abstract horror and awe as she was cleaved in two by the "Lone Wolf', who then turned a sneer in the remaining members direction. "If there is one thing I cannot stand it is cowardice, and you lot are the sorriest bunch of cowards I have ever see" Saito said as he raised the man slayer above his head again and proceeded to lob the head off of another member of the flower group. It was at this point that Kenshin attempted to speak only to watch in fear as Mui ran forward with his trademark "Blazing Lance jutsu" and pierced the second to last member's skull with a solid blade of flame from his right hand.

Kenshin decided that now would be the time if any to get in a last remark "You fools will all die…you can't hope for that wench to lead you…YOU LITTLE BITCH YOU'LL ROT IN HELL FOR YOUR FAILINGS AND I WILL WATCH AND LAUGH" Kenshin declared as he put a twisted sneer on his face as he turned red with his rage.

The next thing that happened surprised all present Kenshin the most…Keiko stepped forward and placed a small chaste kiss on his forehead before stepping back with a small but frightening smile on her face.

"Did you know that my mother was a great sealing specialist Kenshin… oh yes she had actually studied in her travels before coming back to Kusa and she had a wonderful teacher by the name of Maseru Uzumaki. The man had actually survived the purge of the land of whirlpools when his mother and father fled with him when he was a boy to give him a chance at a long life, and what a life it was I can tell you…after all my mother told me his tale. But none of that is important what is important is this…you believe me weak yet you have never seen why my mother dubbed me a capable successor so…ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU; YOU INSOLENT DOG!" Keiko yelled as she jumped forward two steps while her hands traced the air in the fabled way that the Uzumaki clansmen did to draw seals for battle.

By the end of her tracing the air a round sealing array stood before Keiko glowing a brilliant gold before she actually jumped through it and slammed a palm to Ichigo's forehead and one to the floor underneath him respectively before she deftly cartwheeled away and slammed her hands into the tiger sign; "Uzumaki Sealing Art: Forbidden Seal- ABYSS BREAK… SEAL". The rest of the remaining people in the room watched in fascination as the man struggled to move but was held in his kneeling position by an unseen force. Suddenly the bottom of the seal changed from brilliant gold to blackish purple and began to generate black lightning and light blue fire which then began to attach itself to the man as a violent dust filled wind picked up within the confines of the seal the spectators watched now in horror as the wind, lightning, and fire began to charcoal the man as Kenshin threw his head back; and let out a silent scream as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The process itself took exactly sixty seconds, but by the end all that remained of Kenshin was a charred black pile of ash and the outline of where his legs had lined the ground due to his kneeling position.

After a few tense moments of silence Keiko turned back to the rest of the people in the room with a pleased smile on her face "I'm hungry how about we get something to eat now?" she said with a pleasant tone causing everyone else's eyes to grow comically large for their faces as they became pure white with small black ringed outlines while their mouths dropped clean to the floor. 'How can she think of eating after watching that happen right in front of her' was the shared thought by all the other occupants of the room…even Saito had a hard time understanding how this girl he previously thought had no experience with death could watch something like that and go straight to thinking of food; leaving him with nothing to do but blink owlishly at her behavior.

"For anyone who didn't know my mother that well she was a bit of a sadist and would regularly take me to witness interrogations made against criminals, terrorists, and all other types of undesirables so I am not the squeamish type as you all may have been brought to believe and from those looks your sporting well I can assume that is what you thought of me" Keiko said with a no-nonsense tone as she swept her gaze over her subordinates.

Keiko stepped forward and again surprised everyone by taking Saito into a hug which completely threw everyone else but the Lone Wolf and Mui off watching the exchange which Saito seemed unaffected by, the man didn't so much as budge for Kami sake he just stood there and let it happen and many believed he was incapable of normal interaction with people. "I hereby as the reigning Kusakage release you of all your duties and responsibilities Lord Saito, and know that if you ever need anything at all you and your kin are more than welcome under Kusa's borders from this day forward" Keiko said as she stepped back from the temporary embrace with the S-ranked swordsman. She then proceeded to hand out marching orders of going about cleaning the council chamber and convening a new council meeting within the hour for all the new members. Keiko then escorted Saito along with Mui to the outside of the main administration building, and dismissed Mui to go continue having his now re-attached hand looked at to make sure there would be no further problems. Keiko then turned to Saito and thanked him one last time for all he had done for Kusa and herself personally, and then bowed as a show of respect which to her own surprise she received back in return. "Lady Keiko I must say you surprised me the way that you handled things…and even though it may not mean much I believe Kenshin was wrong and that you will lead Kusa to a bright future. Additionally however since you have given me leave to return I would ask that if and when I do you do me a small kindness…" Saito said to her and then began to explain what he had in mind in full detail.

At the beginning of Saito's words Keiko blushed from the praise but upon him further going along into his request her features went into a shocked state holding until the very end to which if anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen a mischievous smirk and a slight glimmer in the young woman's eyes.

"Lord Saito… I believe the next decade is going to be a veery interesting one indeed" Lady Keiko said as she turned and disappeared into the dark corridor leading back into the Kage's building.

After collecting his pay for his final mission with Kusa which was quite considerable (850,000 ryu is nothing to scoff at) he went back home to find the his daughter had everything packed, but curiously was laying on the ground with whirlpool like swirls where her eyes had once been while giggling holding Naruto who was laughing as much as an infant could. Saito questioned Megumi as to why she was in this state, she went on to explain that she had been trying everything to keep the infant quiet because after he was finished eating he had begun to weep like there was no tomorrow. In her efforts to calm him she had tried funny faces, goofy noises, tickling, and then finally fell onto dancing and that seemed to be the only thing that would quiet the boy. After Megumi stood with the boy to speak to her father she noticed that the infant was now sound asleep, so she set him down in the middle of the bed in the master bedroom and placed a pillow on either side of him to cease his movement while she pulled up a chair next to the bed.

"Megumi…we need to talk my daughter" Saito said as he also pulled up a chair next to the bed so he could explain the situation to her. For the next hour Saito explained the situation and what he had planned to deal with it. He explained that they would be going to Amegakure and that he would be training Naruto once he came of age and that it also meant that he would need her help, to which of course she stated she had no problem. The only thing that gave the whole conversation pause was Megumi's argument to keep the house in Kusa, and while Saito himself knew of the benefit's to keeping the home the ache of being here without Natsumi crushed any kind of desire to keep his first real home. In the end that was the reason he relented and decided to keep the home so that Megumi would at least be able to remember her times with her mother, what few she could remember in any event. After the conversation Saito took the few items the Kusakage had given and added them into one of the storage scrolls and re-sealed it into the master scroll for the upcoming journey. Saito then gathered up there things and handed Megumi her pack and strapped on a carrier for Naruto and placed it on her back, and then took her bag telling her to worry about the boy more than anything else. They then stepped out of the house and Saito set to activating a set of seals the Kusakage had put together out of the Uzumaki scrolls to protect the house and grounds, and then with a final wistful glance he turned away and began walking with his daughter towards the village's main gate. "Goodbye my love" those words rang out through Saito's mind and actually caused him to spare a glance at the entrance to his compound one final time when he and Megumi were halfway through the market district. 'I'll return when I can…my beloved' Saito thought as a stray tear actually fell down the left side of his face as Megumi and him crossed out of the market into the farther out residential district headed toward the gate.

As they continued on out passed the gate little did they know that atop one of the higher watchtowers of Kusa's outer gate stood a cloaked figure with a messenger bird on his shoulder, watching them as they disappeared into the forest border headed towards Ame. 'Interesting, very interesting the five will want to know that he is on the move again, and about the child' the lone figure thought as he quickly pulled out a scroll and wrote down the details of all three traveling companions and the direction in which they were headed. "Go now Nori and bring the masters this turn of events while I await Ichigo's report" the lone man said to his messenger hawk companion before with a great screech the auburn colored hawk took flight in the opposite direction of Saito to a land far different than Amegakure; the Land of Stone…not knowing that he would be waiting for quite some time.

While these events were transpiring though unbeknownst to Saito, and also our lone cloaked figure, two other sets of eyes had been watching what the Lone Wolf was doing. One being a figure that as soon as Saito was out of eyeshot seemed to meld into the earth's floor and disappear as if he was never there, the second of these two had been another dark cloaked figure but this one you would clearly be able to see a plain white mask on it with the only distinguishing mark being that of the "Ne" symbol, above the left eye meaning that it was one of Danzo Shimura's Root Anbu. After writing down what was seen the operative promptly popped a soldier pill in their mouth and turned and began to jump through the trees back toward Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves.

Back atop the Hokage Monument…

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze reached up behind his ponytail and deactivated his seal for carrying out missions, and allowed his brown hair and eyes to fade to allow his golden locks and cerulean blue eyes to blink back into existence along with his whisker-like birthmarks. Naruto then turned around and walked to the catwalk leading down the side of the monument to the streets below, so he could begin his long trek back to the very standard apartment the Third Hokage had supplied for him. He began to take in his surroundings and began to compare this village to all the others he had been to throughout his career as The Phantom, and in all honesty looking back this village would be easy to wipe off the map. 'Inferno really could have achieved their dream if I hadn't intervened I guess huh' Naruto mused to himself as he rounded a corner to prepare to head in the direction of what most would call "cheap-side", in any of the other four big villages.

Flashback jutsu

It came as no surprise that when he arrived at the gate earlier that day in the middle of the afternoon that the chunin had immediately jumped from their sitting posts, and attempted to apprehend him seeing as he was outfitted as a shinobi but bore no headband at the time to show his affiliation to any village. Unfortunately for the eternal gate guards Gotetsu and Izumo however this was no ordinary visitor, in fact Naruto couldn't even be classified as a normal shinobi. In the blink of an eye Naruto under his guise of Reiji grounded and immobilized both Izumo and Gotetsu, and when the two looked up they were now looking at two copies of the boy on each of their sides restraining them while one was crouched in front of both of them; holding a wicked looking dagger drawn and pointing it at their throats. The next few moments had been quite tense as after that Anbu Black Ops had arrived ready for battle, but the most interesting thing to happen was the appearance of the Third Hokage.

"Young man you should know that if you do not let my subordinates go this instant you will force me to cut you down…do you understand me?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked as he punctuated every word with a greater blast of killing intent. After taking stock in the situation Naruto actually had to admit if he meant to cause damage, (which he didn't mind you) but if he had been coming looking for a fight it may actually have gotten him killed. Taking in the appearance of the Third Hokage he was not really surprised at the level of killing intent the man was letting out after all he wasn't known as the "God of Shinobi" for nothing. Naruto quickly dispelled his "Shadow Clones" with but a thought and quickly processed the information they had taken in, and after looking at it the villages defenses left something to be desired in his eyes. 'Their response time was terrible I could have easily ended these two and made a break for it, not to mention why are they only sending forward four plus the Hokage…granted I'm one guy but if I let off the "Reverse Tetra gram seal" I could easily take down those four and maybe even the old man plus a ton of civilians' was Naruto's errant thought before preparing to drop a proverbial bomb on the aged Hokage.

"My deepest apologies Lord Third but you should know that these two jumped me first and I was merely looking to restrain them, in all honesty I'm glad you showed up in person as it is that I have some information for you." Naruto said as he looked upon the group trying to decide if they should jump and kill him or not.

Now as this was going on everyone from the Leaf village was also taking in the situation none more so than the Third, and it was abundantly clear to him that this young man whoever he was may mean no harm. As it was that while Naruto (unknown to him) had picked apart the villages defenses so had the aged Hokage and he also noticed that Naruto had left the gate guards alive. 'He truly means no harm… if he wanted he could have ended Izumo and Gotetsu and yet he didn't, the question is what information could he have for me' the old Hokage questioned himself as he continued to observe the young man before him.

"Well young man by all means speak your mind but know that depending on what it is you would like to discuss we can move this to a more private venue…if necessary" Hiruzen said as he gave a discreet hand sign to have the Anbu disperse the small crowd that had gathered. Taking that as his motion to continue Naruto wisely or unwisely depending on who you ask decided for one of the few times that he had done it to completely abandon any tact he had developed "I have information regarding a certain infant that went missing from the outskirts of this village a little over fifteen years ago now" said the young average looking boy as he stared at the aged Third Hokage with a very bland look.

An errant breeze past through the village hidden in the leaves at that moment and everything went deathly still, not a sound was heard, not a single body moved, and that's when it happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi showed exactly why he was considered the "God of Shinobi". The killing intent that hit the area gave a few in the area flashbacks of when the "Nine Tailed Fox" had attacked the village, most of the civilians in the area actually collapsed and passed into the realm of blessed unconsciousness, and… for the first time in little over a year Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze felt fear. The entire time since the Hokage had arrived before him he had been wearing a neutral expression; even when he had first released his killing intent(which compared to now was absolutely nothing) when addressing Naruto earlier his face had been like a pond on a summers morning calm… but now his face looked down right thunderous. The man's face had hardened and Naruto could honestly say he had only felt killing intent like this from four others in his life, three of those four people being dead and the other taking up residency in his gut. (I'll let you guess who that last one was) If Naruto hadn't had gone through the training and hell that he had been through in his life he could honestly say that he would probably have passed out by then hell even at that moment he couldn't stop himself from shaking just a little. The situation being what it was Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath so he could speak again only to find that the moment he opened his eyes the Hokage had entered his personal space.

'Ho...Ly...crap. I didn't even hear the old guy move let alone feel him standing in front of me.' Was all Naruto could think now that the third was standing directly in front of him.

The next words out of Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth actually gave Naruto pause and caused his mouth to go dry…

"Young man, I am going to ask that you let an old man give you a piece of advice at this moment. You need to be very careful with what you say to me next…because depending on what I hear from you will determine whether or not I have you permanently incarcerated at Anbu's Torture and Interrogation Unit or simply cut you down here and now myself" and the Third Hokage had said it all with an unblinking façade causing Naruto an even greater amount of discomfort.

"Trust me when I say this Lord Third the boy is alive and well…In fact he is closer than you think" was all Naruto could say before giving the Hokage a foxy grin and a wink.

Let it be known that Hiruzen Sarutobi would look back on that moment and kick himself for not having caught on to the hint that Naruto had been obviously giving him, but at the time he was quite angry so I am sure most can overlook this laps in observational awareness. "Perhaps we should reconvene in my office at the tower and discuss this" was all the Third said before placing a hand on Naruto's should and body flickering himself and the boy to his office followed by the group of four Anbu.

After all was said and done a random very plain looking civilian was passing by the gate and came to realize that the two chunin that were on guard duty were passed out with whirlpool looking swirls in their eyes, and after that merely shook his head and began walking away. 'Youngsters just think they can sleep wherever they want these days huh, oh back in my day…'(and that's all I'm going to go into on the random old guys rant as you can probably guess where I'm going with it)

After body flickering to his office and putting up a "privacy jutsu" Hiruzen Sarutobi turned back to his guest and began to fill his pipe with cherry flavored tobacco, "So my young man what do you know of young Na…ru…to?"

After having body flickered to the office and went to sit behind the desk the third had never bothered to look at the young man so he missed him raising his right hand behind his head as if he were going to rub his neck, but due to the high level of stress of the past few moments and the fact of possibly receiving such monumental information Hiruzen Sarutobi missed when Naruto deactivated his seal and allowed his proper physical features to slide into place. So as it were when Hiruzen Sarutobi, the second coming of the "God of Shinobi", turned with a full pipe and prepared to light it in his mouth and got a good look at our young hero it should come as no surprise that the pipe fell straight from his mouth to the desk to discard ashes all over his paperwork and left him doing his best impersonation of a fish. (When asked about the ruined paperwork by the council later on he stated and I quote "Ain't nobody got time for that")

It should also be noted that what came next wasn't that really hard to predict either…

"Ho…Ly…Shi"

PLEASE READ AUTHORS NOTES:

And that is the end of the second chapter boys and girls once again I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please do review and again please remember no flames I really will not pay attention. I hope the cliffy wasn't too bad I was actually channeling the show "Hero's" for that one. I know it might be a little jumbled I hope everybody can follow okay. I am going to say it now, there will be a lot of flashbacks for the first few chapters but that does not mean that I will not be covering canon. And in case no one guessed there are going to be a lot of changes as far as the story goes especially later canon/shippuden arc when we get there. I have been reading the manga and can I just say it has gotten ridonculous, I mean seriously so I am definitely going to put my own flair and let's not forget this is a major crossover with Phantom requiem for the Phantom so anything can happen. If anyone guessed yes some of the characters that are listed or OC just using major prominent names I remember from anime but trying to give their own personality. Don't worry during Naruto's training we may see others that are reminiscent of The Kenshin verse as well (the guy who died was a nobody I just wanted to name a couple of the flower group people seeing as Naruto Blood prison didn't really cover that shady groups origins. Not to mention for my story anybody wanna guess what I'm going to do with the box of bliss… person who gets it right gets a cookie…a chocolate chip cookie… I bake them myself… seriously I am a cook for what I do for real life. Additionally while I plan on working this story as my main story I have two others in the works one covering Naruto as Soujiro's apprentice because well you should get that one right off the bat. The second is going to cover Menma from Naruto road to ninja because I like the alternate Naruto, I mean he seems like an utter bad ass and I think just for shits and giggles I'm gonna set him loose on someone else's universe… just for fun here's my first poll not really sure how it will go but let's say for Menma he's gonna go to one of these three and I will leave a fourth spot open for you guys to leave suggestions and if I choose that one I will give the other person props.

DC Universe may be good/bad haven't decided on pairing yet.

Marvel Universe if he goes here he's gonna be with hot female Deadpool this is not up for debate just because I think it would be hilarious

Fairy Tail-will be a good guy I am going to make him and Mystogan decent friend s and I am thinking of pairing him with female Laxus because I've

Never seen that… or Cana…because I think Cana is smoking hot… YATTA!

This is important This is for the possible suggestions if you want to give one please give me name of Anime /comic/anything really that you want me to depict Naruto in and I will do research and then when I do a new chapter of this as I figure it out I will post at the end.

And finally as a side note please everyone say a prayer for Robin Williams; while I disagree with suicide as a whole due to personal losses I also respect that some people deal with depression from clinical illness and for some it is out of their own control. So as I said Robin Williams may you rest in peace… know that you have left behind a wonderful legacy and many wonderful characters… you will be remembered fondly.