DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I still haven't won the lottery and do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered, burned, and in some cases - dead!

This chapter is dedicated to of of my loyal readers - Janzen222 - a huge Asuma fan and a great writer! Check him out!

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Demons Aren't Real - Ushi Village

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter,

Dancing through the fire 'Cause I am a champion

And you're gonna hear me roar Louder, louder than a lion

~Katy Perry~

Everyone was back by the time Naruto and Sakura returned to the village with the civilians. It was immediately apparent that they had come across some problems. Asuma and Kakashi were sitting at a table pouring over a map when Ino gasped and shouted, "They're back! And they have people with them."

As they got closer, Asuma began giving commands. "You four," he said, pointing at Ino, Chouji, Sai, and Sasuke, "Help Sakura get those people to the infirmary and see if the need to be treated." He then waved over the blonde to join him.

Naruto could feel the copy-nin staring at him while the other jonin was issuing orders. He just knew his father was cataloging every spot of blood on his clothes and every visible scrape on his body. He clenched his fists as the sharp eye of his father zeroed in on the crimson spotted bandages Sakura had put on him. Mentally rolling his eyes, he quickly and unobtrusively signed, "I'm fine," before walking past the silver-haired man and presenting himself to Asuma to report.

~~O~~

Kakashi and Asuma shared an incredulous look. Naruto, sensing their doubt, hastily defended his accounting. "Look, I know what I saw. I'm not making any of it up. It was the boogieman, seriously. You've got to believe me; he had horns, these big, huge fangs, and claws on his hands and feet."

Asuma asked doubtfully, "And wings?"

Naruto saw the truth in Asuma's eyes, which were huge, as black and liquid as ink, as direct and penetrating as those of his father's, the Hokage. His eyes revealed an intelligence, patience, and relentless curiosity that defined the kind of man who posed the greatest threat to any enemy. The blonde insisted, "Hey, I'm not saying I saw it fly or anything like that, but I know what I saw…please believe me."

"But son… that's just…"

"Crazy?" asked Naruto with a hint of anger. He took a deep breath and counted to five. Quietly, he turned his head, looked Kakashi in the eye, and said, "Don't you think I know that? Why do you think I didn't say anything to Sakura? She'd probably think I was losing my mind too."

"I wasn't going to say that," said Kakashi gently, "But the boogieman? You do know that's not real right?"

Naruto looked at the copy-nin in horror. He rapped his head on the table several times and exhaled loudly. Speaking slowly between gritted teeth, he said exasperatedly, "I'm not a little kid, Kakashi Sensei. I know the boogieman isn't real, but I don't know how else to describe it. It looked a lot like the monster in my closet when I was six. I didn't make that up then just like I'm not making this up now."

Kakashi met his troubled gaze and considered his words.

Asuma frowned in uncertainty. Skeptically, he asked, "What about the body? What happened to it?"

"I told you that already… when I went back outside, it was gone. I saw tracks leading to the north so I sent a clone to follow. It had to have been hit from behind because when it was dispelled, it didn't see anything."

"I too saw strange tracks leading north at the site of last night's attack and followed them," said Kakashi thoughtfully. "But I lost them at the river."

"Hmm," sighed Asuma contemplatively. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. It'll be to dark to see anything soon. We'll bunk here for the night and set out at first light. I'll speak with Takeshi in the morning and see what he knows about the area up there."

Naruto stood up and commented, "If you guys don't mind, I'm telling everyone that I got something in my eye and didn't see anything." He started to walk away, but stopped after taking a few steps. Staring straight ahead, he murmured, "Whatever that thing was, you can be sure there are more. This whole area stinks of them and I know you can smell it too dad."

Asuma waited until Naruto was no longer in sight before he hesitantly asked, "What do you think? Do you believe any of it?"

Kakashi gave a half-hearted shrug. He looked off in the distance where he had last seen his son and sighed before giving a slight nod. "I want to believe him. He hasn't lied to me in years. I'm not saying I believe in the boogieman, but he definitely saw something, that's for sure."

Asuma leaned forward and rubbed his temple. Feeling a powerful headache coming on, he asked, "You don't mean to tell me that you think he actually saw a real monster?"

"I didn't believe him then and it almost cost me his life. I saw the body of the animal that was killed. Now I'm no trained medic, but all I can say is," Kakashi hesitated, carefully choosing his words, "It was… unusual."

~~O~~

Asuma stood in the doorway of the inn where they had spent the night and watched the teens preparing their gear. The village was very different from Konoha. Here there were no high walls to keep out predators and enemies. The sound of nature was much louder, keeping him awake most of the night.

The night was different here as well. The constant cloud cover hid the moon and stars from view. One minute it was light, and in the next it was black – an impenetrable, suffocating black. The village seemed unnaturally silent, "The hush before a storm," he thought with a grimace. The jonin took a long swallow of his steaming cup of tea and greeted Takeshi with a nod. He went straight to business. "We found tracks leading north into the mountains. Is there anything up there?"

"North?" replied Takeshi clearly startled. "The lodge is north of here, but it's been abandoned for decades."

"A lodge? What, like a hunting shack?" asked Naruto as he walked out of the inn, yawning widely and rubbing his eyes.

"Three hundred million sperm and that's the one that got through…" Takeshi shook his head sadly, hocked up a wad of phlegm and spat loudly. "No, it has always been called that. At one time, there was a small mining community up there, but it ran out of ore. Now it's just a ghost town. The only building pretty much left standing is the lodge. It was the owner's mansion."

Si pulled a gleaming sword out of the sheath on his back and held it out in front of him. He sliced it through the air in a whistling arc and then said with a shrug, "Well, today is as good a day as any to die."

Thinking to himself that all ninja must be insane, Takeshi asked, "Are you all crazy or just stupid?"

Naruto grinned as he checked his gear. He looked at Takeshi and answered, "Na, not Sai; he's not crazy, he's been tested. And besides, we're shinobi… we don't die; we just go to hell and regroup."

"Well shitfire and save matches… I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out a smarter statement than that."

"That was sarcasm, right?" asked Sai eagerly, "Because if I wasn't, I would really be interested to see that. Can you really shit fire?"

Takeshi stared open-mouthed at the teen for a second. He shook his head and muttered, "There's something seriously wrong with that kid."

~~O~~

The forest was still mostly dark. Milky daylight speared down in shafts through scattered holes in the green canopy that was formed by densely interlaced branches of the mammoth trees. The sunshine was diffused by the cloud cover, muted, revealing little. The pathway widened and soon they found themselves in front of the abandoned lodge.

It was not what they had been expecting at all. The only resemblance the rambling mansion had to a lodge was that it was made of logs. At one time it could have been called majestic, but now it was a sad remnant of the past.

A deep, animal snarl came from the woods. The team raised their weapons as they peered into the underbrush. The early morning haze kept sunlight from penetrating making the forest a maze of dark shadows. In the stillness, they could hear leaves flutter and limbs snap. Then...

The forest went dead quiet. Too quiet. There wasn't even the sound of chirping from the morning birds. Chouji looking around nervously gave out a startled squawk when he was slapped unexpectedly on the back by Asuma.

"Three men stay here with me. Sakura..."

"I'm not a man…"

"Ino..."

"I'm better than a man…"

Asuma grinned, but hardly skipped a beat. "The rest of you check out the back of the building."

As team seven left, Asuma briskly rubbed his hands together. "Alright team," he said, "Lets spread out and gave the grounds a thorough inspection. I want you all on the lookout for any signs of recent activity."

After a long thorough search, they came up empty. They did find some fresh animal tracks, but nothing human. Asuma decided it would be best to wait for team seven to return before going inside the house to investigate.

The jonin rummaged for a cigarette in his jacket pocket and pulled one out. As he lit it, the flame seemed to excite sounds around him. He looked up and around, his dark, intelligent eyes not missing a thing. The grounds were empty in both directions.

A guttural sound came from behind. He spun around, dropped the cigarette, and backed away. From the darkness behind him stepped a huge form. A knife was put to his lower belly. Its wielder was a massive man, face distorted, his features grotesquely shaped with horns on the sides of his head.

In a guttural voice, the creature ordered, "Move and I gut you."

Asuma stayed still, his mind whirling at the possible outcomes. He heard a sound above him and glanced up. A monster was climbing down the lodge wall, mouth opened wide to take off his head. He threw himself forward at the man holding the knife as the other's jaw snapped shut, missing him by inches.

He slammed his knee into its belly and with his fist, knocked the knife out of its hand. They rolled around in the dirt, trying to kill each other while the other creature crept closer. It was almost upon Asuma while Ino and Chouji stared in shock. Asuma buried his knuckle knives deep into the creature's chest.

Sakura leaped at the creature sneaking up to Asuma just in time, driving it to the ground. In one brutal motion, she straddled it, twisting its head at a horrible angle.

Chouji stammered, "Whoa Sakura, you're really scary."

Dark shapes could be seen moving, circling; a half-dozenof them. Asuma sternly barked, "Snap out of it! Be ready to fight."

Out of the shadows came the gruesome, huge ogre-like creatures, each wore loincloths and carried a massive kanabō (club-like weapon). They had sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They were humanoid for the most part, but most had odd numbers of eyes or clawed fingers and toes. Some even had wings and tails just like Naruto had described.

Sakura pulled herself off the rapidly cooling corpse as Ino and Chouji tensed for the battle. "Oni," they whispered and exchanged apprehensive looks before swallowing their fears. They would not fail.

~~O~~

Team seven made their way through the thick underbrush and came upon a thick expanse of reeds to the back of the house. Lying on the other side was a cemetery. It had high walls, surrounded by the reeds, with the tops of mausoleums, showing above it. It looked almost like a fortressed town.

They started towards it.

The sun was still low in the sky; tiny rays of golden light glinted off the metal fence. The reeds sighed. The rusty hinges gave a long, tortured squeal as Kakashi pushed one of the gates open and stepped inside. His footsteps echoed, unnaturally loud in this city of the dead. To either side of him, elegant and elaborate mausoleums, running away into the distance, with numerous small tombs set around and between them.

"This is really creepy," muttered Naruto, "Why is there such a large graveyard in the middle of nowhere?" He stopped suddenly and took a deep breath. "Strange…," he murmured quietly with a befuddled look.

Instantly alert, Kakashi asked, "What is it?"

"I smell something. Animal," he took another breath, "But not animal. Human... but not human either. It's… odd. It's like what I smelled at the ranch."

Kakashi sniffed the air. "I smell it too," he instructed, "Just keep your eyes open,"

Sai slowly wandered the walkways on the lookout for anything amiss. He was enchanted by the splendor of the place. There are strange, bittersweet sights along the way: statues of dogs sleeping on their masters' graves; of mourning mothers; of children, sitting at their graves. And grotesque images too: gargoyles protecting the doorways of mausoleums; a tiger, roaring in stone. It was another world, solemn and silent. He wished he could paint the scene in front of him.

Kakashi must have sensed he was about to say something because he turned his head and gave it a sharp shake. Danger prickled over his skin. Something was near. Very near.

Turning towards one of the larger mausoleums, Kakashi took a slow step forward. "Show yourself," he commanded.

There was a rustle from the gloomy shadows followed by a sharp scrape of claws upon the tomb before a large, hulking form slowly appeared. At first glance, it would have been simple to dismiss the intruder as an awkward, brainless beast but Kakashi knew better than to assume anything. With thick, leathery skin, seeping boils, and a misshapen head that sported three eyes and horns, he was the poster child for the monster beneath the bed.

"Oni," whispered Sasuke tensely.

Almost faster than their eyes could follow, Kakashi bent and in a smooth movement, grasped two kunai hidden in his pack. In the same motion, he was rolling forward, the kunai already leaving his hands as he came back up to his feet.

For a moment, the humanoid creature merely stood silent in the shaded corner of the crypt. It was almost as if he hadn't yet noticed the kunai deeply planted in his middle eye or the other that stuck in his lower stomach. But whether he was in shock or indifferent to the danger, the deadly missiles had done their duty; with a rasping moan, he collapsed onto the leaf covered path.

Kakashi never hesitated as he flowed forward. With ruthless efficiency, he retrieved his weapons and sliced open the creature's throat, ensuring its death.

"That's what I saw at the ranch," shouted Naruto excitedly. "I told you I saw the boogieman. I mean, what else would you call that?"

"It's an oni," stated Sasuke, a little shaken.

"An oni… What's an oni?"

"Tch, everyone knows what an oni is baka. Didn't your father ever tell you about them when you were little?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and muttered, "An oni is just a story that parents use to frighten their children into behaving. It's supposedly a demon spirit that's devours humans. I never told him those stories because there are much more frightening things in this world than fictional ghosts."

"Oh, so you're saying that an Oni is basically the monster in the closet?" Naruto gave Kakashi an 'I told you so' look. He then shook his head sadly at Sasuke. "Wow, you mean your parents actually told you that a monster would come and eat you if you weren't good? That's a little sick…"

"Well obviously it wasn't just a story," said Sasuke, pointing at the carcass.

They all watched in rapt amazement as the creature's body began to twitch and spasm. The horns began to recede, bones and muscles moved and shook as they shortened and lengthened, rearranging into human order. None of them could believe what they saw. The oni that had lain before him was no more. A dead man lay on his side, his legs up curled to his chest, his naked torso slick with blood.

"What the hell is that?" asked Naruto in astonishment. He hadn't stayed long enough by the creature he had killed the other day to see it do anything.

Kakashi grimly answered, "I'm not sure, but an Oni is a spirit; this creature is flesh and blood. Stay alert; we don't know if there are more."

~~O~~

Asuma narrowed his eyes as the beasts came closer. He made a set of hand-seals, "Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"

Asuma spewed a stream of chakra infused gun-powder from his mouth that enveloped the surrounding area in a thick, choking mist. It hid the creatures from view for a moment before it settled. One of the oni caught sight of Ino and raised its kanabō. It charged, slow from its massive weight and extra leg, but still deadly.

Ino threw several shuriken, which bounced off its thick hide. She jumped back and prepared to launch another attack as Chouji's arm swelled. He swiped at the monster and knocked it back.

"Demons aren't real." said Asuma gruffly before clicking his teeth on the piece of flint in his mouth. The spark that was created ignited the ash clinging to the beast-men and caused a massive explosion.

Sakura, Ino, and Chouji, standing safely at the edge of the blast, watched as the creatures burned. One of them stumbled towards them. His deformed mouth opened wide and he hissed.

"Slay me and ten will rise to take my place. All will die. ALL WILL…"

The Sakura's curved dual-bladed chain knife whipped out and sliced the creature's throat. The grotesque body flailed and spasmed before its skin peeled off in the fire, flesh bubbling and smoking, hair whooshing up like a torch, eyes melting, teeth turning coal black as flames seared his tongue and followed his breath down his throat to his lungs. Finally, consumed by the flames, the head spun around and came to a halt at Chouji's feet.

"Holy shit!" he screamed and jumped back in surprise as the man-beast's eyes popped open in reflex.

Ino fought back a slightly hysterical giggle. Trying to calm herself more than her teammate, she sniped, "Chill out, Chouji, I'm pretty sure it's dead by now."

Sakura, more than a little disturbed at the gruesome sight, shuddered violently and gagged. "I…I…I didn't mean for that to happen."

Asuma lit another cigarette and grinned. "Well," he said lazily, "Now we know where the saying 'Heads are gonna roll' came from. Great job Pinky."

Sakura, Ino, and Chouji exchanged green, sickly looks.

~~O~~

Team seven jerked as they heard the explosion. Finishing their sweep of the cemetery quickly, they hurried back to the front of the house to find Asuma and his team patiently waiting in front of many charred bodies.

"Having problems?" asked Kakashi.

"Naw," said Asuma with a smirk and a wink, "we were just having a very interesting conversation about the benefits of ninjutsu verses kenjutsu."

Kakashi moved forward and nudged one of the blackened creatures with the toe of his sandal. He crouched over the corpse and scrutinized it carefully. "Sai," he motioned with his hand and ordered, "Come here."

As the boy hurried over to squat down next to his sensei, Kakashi asked, "Tell me what you think?"

Sai opened the creature's mouth and looked inside. Next, he pulled out a kunai and rammed it into its chest. Sakura and Ino joined him as he cracked the torso open and inspected the cavity.

"B-But that's…" stammered Ino in disbelief.

Sakura protested, "It can't be…"

"No, it was definitely human," said Sai grimly, "Just like the other one."

Asuma stared at the cooked beast thoughtfully. "We need to look inside the house and see if we can find out what's going on here."

"Kakashi Sensei?" asked Sai, pointing at the mark on the back of the creature's neck, "This creature has an odd tattoo. Look." Although the body was badly burnt, the three slightly hooked lines were still detectable.

Asuma and Kakashi leaned over the body and studied the mark. "I don't think that it's a tattoo. I believe it's a cursed seal, if I'm not mistaken. Who would have that kind of skill to create such a monster?"

"I agree," nodded Kakashi grimly. "There are very few people I know of capable of doing such a thing."

"It would explain how these things turned human… or vice versa," said Asuma gravely.

"You're the captain; what are your orders?"

Asuma was quiet for a moment, considering his options. He glanced toward the teens and frowned; they were all so young and inexperienced. Although Asuma was a very laid-back type of person and did not usually get himself involved in things unless absolutely necessary, he knew what his duty was. He had to protect the citizens within the Land of Fire.

"We're going in… all of us."

"We need back up if these things were created by who I think it is." At Asuma's nod, Kakashi began running through hand seals at a high-speed, his fingers flying so fast it was virtually impossible for any of the teens to pick out any one seal. It was only when he slammed his hand on the ground when they knew what jutsu he had performed.

"Yo," said Pakkun as the smoke dissipated.

"I need you to get a message to the Hokage and Anbu as quickly as possible."

"No problem. What's the message?" asked the ninken alertly.

Kakashi wrote down the details of their find on some paper and handed it to the hound. "Tell him that we might have found one of Orochimaru's laboratories."

Sasuke's gaze hardened when he heard those words. "Finally," he thought to himself, "I will kill that man and get my revenge for my friends at Waterfall." He glanced over at Sai and Naruto and saw that they wore matching expressions…vindication.

AN:

Thanks to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter! And to the guests that I couldn't respond back to (Gamma89, Stephanie, shauds) - an extra thanks. And to those of you that didn't - why not? (Big tears running down face!) Tell me - love it, hate it?

Another awesome fic I want to recommend is Crimson Dreams by BelleDayNight. It's really, really good. Added bonus - she updates like almost every week!

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST