Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or High School DxD. If I did, I would have been rich and wouldn't have to worry about money at all.

Chapter 8: Memories

"Hello." talking

'Hello.' thinking

"Hello." Kyuubi talking

'Hello.' Kyuubi thinking

*Knock* Sound effects

"Bunshin no Jutsu" Jutsu

Zabuza was currently on a bed, a pair of senbon needles sticking out of his neck. The hunter-nin stood over him as he slowly reached forward and removed the needles. The hunter-nin retracted his hands, but Zabuza's hand shot up and stopped it.

"Ouch! Dammit." groaned Zabuza, trying to sit up. "You had to pick the neck, didn't you, Haku?"

"I didn't want to blemish Zabuza-sama's perfect skin." replied Haku, the hunter-nin. "You shouldn't force yourself to get up. It takes quite a while to get fully back from the dead."

"Gah!" Zabuza fell back on the bed, unable to push himself up. "If the method is dangerous, don't use it." he scolded Haku.

"There was no other way, Zabuza-sama." said Haku. "Those three were pretty thorough in their attack and teamwork. There was no way I could have interfered and helped us win. And they didn't even get any help from their Jounin-sensei either."

"That's true isn't it?" said Zabuza. Looking back at the battle, he was completely swept away by their pace. Very few squads can act with such great display of teamwork. There weren't any perceptible signals, nor were any words said during the actual assault. This meant they trusted each other greatly enough to attack him without worrying about getting caught in a crossfire.

"Heh." smirked Zabuza, and Haku felt pity for the three genin who put up such a great fight. "They made it into my bingo book for sure."

"Oh, before I forget, there was some sort of message in your pocket." said Haku. He rummaged inside his pocket, and pulled a piece of paper from it. He handed the parchment to Zabuza.

Zabuza opened the parchment, and immediately fell silent.

'Do what you have to do. Kurokami Madoka'

'Kurokami Madoka, huh….' thought Zabuza.

Flashback

A young Zabuza was walking through the streets of the hidden village of Kiri. He had the standard Anbu wear, with only discrepancy being his sword, Kubikiribocho. He was an Anbu member, and he was a famous one too. The Demon of the Bloody Mist was what he was called. Quite a catchy name, don't you think? He was off duty right now, though. He was wondering what he should do with his spare time. Sharpen all the kunai that he had? Nah, too boring. Maybe he should sharpen a certain 'special kunai'. As pondered about his dilemma, he noticed a commotion up ahead. A crowd had gathered around. He walked to the crowd, and very easily got to the front, since the people just bisected when they noticed him. He found a young woman surrounded by several ruffians.

"You think you can take us all on?" yelled one of the ruffians. Zabuza recognized the man as Shinichi, the head of a local street gang.

"Of course I can, or else my name is not Kurokami Madoka!" replied the woman. "Come on, start already. Or are you afraid?" She teased.

"Fine! Take her out!" commanded Shinichi, and all the goons charged forward.

Madoka blocked an incoming punch from the right, before she bent to her left, pulling the attacker down with a takedown. She ducked under a kick, before grabbing onto the leg. She then heaved the man off his other feet, before swinging him around in full three circles, effectively knocking out all the rest of the attackers by their own comrade. She then lifted the man up high, before slamming him down onto Shinichi, wrapping up the overly one-sided fight.

"Like I said, I can beat all of you." said Madoka. She huffed, getting hair out of her eyes. She turned around, finally noticing the crowd that had gathered. "What are you looking at?" she growled. "Come on. Move along. Nothing to see here." she said, her irritation clearly showing. The crowd quickly dispersed, scared of what she could do to them.

Madoka began walking away, and for some weird reason, Zabuza followed. He didn't even know why, but he just had a feeling that he had to. They soon rounded a corner, ended up inside a dead end alley. Madoka turned around, and confronted Zabuza.

"What do you want?" she spat, clearly irritated that she was being followed.

"Uh…" Zabuza wondered himself. "You are strong." He said the first thing that came to his mind.

"So?" asked Madoka, clearly not impressed.

"I was wondering who taught you." said Zabuza quickly, trying to decide what to do. "Not many people can fight like that empty-handed around here, especially when they are not a ninja."

"That's because I am not from around here." she replied, slightly relaxing.

"Really? Where are you from?" asked Zabuza, easing up. The conversation was actually going somewhere!

"I am from Land of Fire." she said. Her guard was still up.

Zabuza whistled. "That's from quite far. What are you doing here at Kiri?"

"I am a businesswoman. I travel all over the world, making sure that my businesses are working fine, and acquiring new ones." she replied.

"Wow." marveled Zabuza. "You can fight for a businesswoman."

"Well of course." said Madoka, her nose rising up. "I have to be able to protect myself. The bodyguards tend to be incompetent."

"You could always hire ninja." offered Zabuza.

"It's costly to get any good ones. I would rather do it myself." Madoka said, irritation really oozing out of her voice. "And you are quite rude you know."

"What do you mean?" Zabuza was clearly defensive.

"Here I am giving you information about myself, and you are yet to introduce yourself." she criticized.

"Sorry about that." chuckled Zabuza nervously. "My name is Momochi Zabuza. But I am better known as Demon of the Bloody Mist."

Flashback end

That was the day Zabuza had first met Kurokami Madoka. A feisty young woman she was, and she knew how to drive a deal home to. And once she set her mind to something, she would accomplish it. He could still remember how she had gone about getting him to guard her for free.

Flashback

It has been two weeks since Zabuza had met Madoka. After talking for a while, they had grabbed a bit of lunch before exchanging addresses and parting. That was the last time he saw her. Currently, he was out on a mission. He was supposed to infiltrate a certain fortress near the borders and kill the leader of the bandit group that had taken it over, without being seen of course.

He was standing on a tree branch, not too far away from the fortress, but far enough to remain undetected. He had summoned lots of mist just to help him with the task. Since they were near the sea, a bit of mist was not suspicious, but rather natural.

The fortress was an old one. It had been built around the time of the first shinobi war, and had been used a lot back then. But as the wars were over, so was the need to maintain the fortress. It was left unattended and abandoned, causing it to fall into ruins. There were several sections of the wall that had collapsed, resulting in gaping holes in the structure. This made it very hard to believe that somebody was actually inside the fortress. A closer inspection however, would reveal a completely different story. There were evidences of patchwork done near the western side of the fortress, and the holes in the wall on that side revealed a corridor that had been blocked off. Zabuza was sure that if anyone tried to enter the fortress from the other sides would fall into a series of traps.

Just as he was done scoping the place out, he had to come up with a plan. One that left him in the shadows. He'd have to play it very safe. Maybe he should…

"Ah, Zabuza-kun." called out a voice from behind him, startling him out of his perch. He landed face first into the ground, right at the feet of the owner of the voice. His body twitched a little, as he remained upside down, face stuck into the ground for a few moments, before he quickly up righted himself. He finally noticed the person who called him. "Remember me?" asked the woman in front of him.

"Kurokami Madoka…" remembered Zabuza. "Why are you here?"

"Oh… just on a little business trip. What about you?" she asked.

"I am working." grumbled Zabuza. This was bad. He was already seen, albeit not by the group of bandits. This just made it harder for him. "What kind of business brings you to the middle of nowhere?"

"I just need to talk to the person inside that fortress." answered Madoka, pointing at the fortress Zabuza was scoping out.

"Why?" asked Zabuza. This was not going to work out, it would seem.

"I was going to hire his mercenary group for a little bit of 'muscle work'." she replied. "What about you?"

"Can't say that to you. It's a secret mission. If I told you, I would have to kill you." replied Zabuza, trying to sound menacing.

"Oooh! A secret mission. I hope you succeed Zabuza-kun. I should get going though. I am running late already. Shouldn't make the bandits wait, right." Madoka skipped away, before turning around and waving at Zabuza.

'Zabuza-kun… huh.' thought a dumb-struck Zabuza. He stood there for a while, before finally breaking out of his stupor. He still had a mission to complete, one which had gotten several times harder. Or had it?

Madoka walked towards the fortress, the spring in her steps clearly visible. However, her mind was whirring at a surprisingly fast speed. She considered all the known facts, and decided that she had stepped right into Zabuza's mission. And if she knew any better (and she did), she was going to be used in order to ensure the missions success. A feral grin appeared on her face for a split second before going back to the cheerful smile. If she was going to be used, she was going to get back the proper payment for it, god be damned.

As she approached the gate, it opened by itself, revealing two guards.

"Who goes there?" called the guard.

"Kurokami Madoka. I have an appointment."

The guard looked at a list, before motioning her forward. They checked her thoroughly, ensuring that she didn't have any weapons on her, before letting her in. One of the guards led her inside. They passed through a labyrinth of corridors before arriving at a door.

"The boss is waiting for you inside." said the guard, before leaving her there. Madoka stood in front of the door, watching the guard leave. Once he disappeared from view, she turned around and faced the door. She knocked on the door, before walking in.

Once inside, she took a few moments to grasp the surrounding. The room was very chilly. There was no visible ventilation, but a cold wind seemed to blow around the room. The only light was on the desk that was placed right opposite to the door. Behind it was a chair, on which a muscular man sat.

"Sawamatsu Yoshiku." addressed Madoka. "We finally meet."

"Indeed." replied the man. "I have heard a lot about you Madoka-san."

"Good things I hope." teased Madoka.

"Depends on what you call good things. They are good things for our business, certainly." answered Yoshiku.

"Thank you then. I hope you know why I am here Yoshiku-san." Madoka got into serious business mode.

"I do. But I don't agree with you. We are perfectly fine on our own. There is absolutely no need for a foreigner to come in." said Yoshiku, a serious and defiant look finding its way to his face.

"Oh, but it's quite profitable around here you know." Madoka said cheerfully.

"It is. And we would like to keep it that way." said Yoshiku seriously.

"Are you implying that I can't run a business properly, and I would cause the entire industry to slump?" asked Madoka dangerously.

"Nothing of the sort." Yoshiku tried to dissolve the situation. "We just like to keep our turf to ourselves."

"If that is the case, I can't say anything else, now can I." said Madoka, the cheerful smile was back on her lips. "Anyway, I actually have a job for you."

"Oh, what kind?" asked Yoshiku leaning forward, his interest clearly caught.

"I want you to have this person assassinated." said Madoka as she pushed forward a picture. "He is a business rival, and I can't have him get something that I can't. He is in Water country currently, so you should have no trouble finding him."

"Oh my. That's a troublesome target you have there." said Yoshiku, looking at the picture. "I will have to do this myself. That will cost you extra."

"I know." said Misaki, before placing a heavy bag on the desk. "That's your advance. You will get the same amount once the job is done."

"That will do just fine." said Yoshiku, opening the bag and checking its contents. "When do you need this done by?"

"As soon as you can." replied Madoka.

Zabuza had been waiting for a while outside the fortress. He had watched as Madoka walk inside, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy. She knew he was here, and even if he did move positions, he was still at a disadvantage. If Madoka were to tell them that he was here, his mission would be considered a failure, even if he killed Yoshiku, his target.

As he was worrying about his predicament, Zabuza heard the door of the fortress and turned around. He watched as Madoka walked out, being accompanied by Yoshiku himself. They exchanged greetings at the gate, before Misaki turned to leave. She strolled a few meters away when the door finally closed. as soon as the door closed, Madoka faced right where Zabuza was and winked. She then walked away nonchalantly as Zabuza was left questioning his pride as a user of Silent Killing.

Once Zabuza regained his composure, he realized what the wink entailed. A savage grin appeared on his face, understanding that she had just played her hand, and completely made a fool out of him.

'I wonder what she is going to ask as payment for this?' thought Zabuza as he saw Yoshiku leave the fortress, alone.

Yoshiku moved quickly along the border. He soon found himself in a border town, and quickly mixed in with the crowd. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him. He had made sure that he moved out of the regular routes, and he had also ran at full speed, so if anyone did follow him, he would feel their chakra that they used to keep up. He had felt no chakra signatures. And yet he still had a lingering feeling of someone looking at him. It felt like killing intent, yet it was completely suppressed, such that it didn't seem like one. Frankly this scared him. But he had a mission to accomplish; one which would pay a lot if he succeeded.

He walked amongst the crowd, paying half his attention to the chatter in hopes to pick something important up as he looked for the local information broker. He knew the man personally, so he hoped he could get some reliable information on his target. But he didn't even have to go that far, as there was something quite interesting he caught on the chatter.

"Hey did you know?"

"What is it?"

"There is rumor that The Prince is in town."

"Really? Oh my, that is dangerous you know. If the Prince of the Mafia world suddenly showed up at a small town like this, won't we get completely wiped out?"

"I hear that he is being chased."

"Chased! But by whom?"

"I hear it was the Invisible Princess."

"Invisible Princess? Who is that?"

"You don't know? Man, you are quite behind times aren't you? They say that she's not originally from Kiri. She showed up in the Kiri Mafia World out of nowhere last month and has gone on to take over almost a quarter of the Mafia under her control. And yet, no one has yet to see her face."

"And if she is so good at hiding, how did the news get out?"

"You have the losing side to thank for that. They have been using any means possible to get news out to other groups in an attempt to stop her conquest. So they have been using the regular channel to make it even hard for her, since now the Kiri ninja are after her to stop the disruption in the balance of power."

"So, why would a person like Prince run away from her? I am pretty sure he is known for his stubbornness. There is no way he would let go of his territory."

"I hear he was forced to. She had somehow gained the approval of Prince's inner circle, forcing him out of his own organization. So he did the only thing he could do. He ran."

"So he must want to escape the country if he is here, no?"

"I guess so."

That was information goldmine for Yoshiku. If the Prince was here, he could get his job done much easily. He began moving quickly, scoping out the town, and recalling all the information that he had on The Prince and the town. He soon found out where his target was. He seemed to be holed up in an underground abandoned facility. He quickly reached the building, and found an alternate entrance. He carefully walked in. He didn't waste any time and began exploring the building. He soon arrived at a closed door. He enhanced his senses, and tried to feel out the inside of the room. There was a faint noise from inside, and he quickly moved back, hiding by a corridor. He peered from the edge, and saw a man coming out. He realized that his target was standing in front of him.

He moved quickly, and silenced the man by covering his mouth. Before his mark could struggle he slit his throat. He waited for the struggles of a dying man to reduce to mere twitches before letting him go. The now dead man slumped to the ground. Yoshiku turned the corpse over, and took out the photo in his pocket.

'A perfect match.' He thought. He stood up, and for a fleeting moment, he was paralyzed by the killing intent from behind him. He regained his movement quickly though, as he bent down and vomited blood. He looked down, to find a large sword impaling him from behind. His consciousness was fading, and everything was blurring slowly but surely. Just before he was consumed by the darkness, he heard a male voice from behind him.

"She played all of us very well, didn't she." was the last words Yoshiku heard before his death.

Madoka was waiting at the gates of the town. She paced about just outside the town, unable to take the suspense. She stopped pacing when she heard some noise in the forest. As she walked over, she felt a chakra signature that she recognized immediately.

"I suppose this means your mission was a success, eh Zabuza-kun." Madoka asked the man that was standing in front of her.

"It was." replied Zabuza. He dropped the body of The Prince in front of Madoka. "I suppose you would want that."

"Why would I want the dead body of a person I don't know." asked Madoka, looking clueless.

"No need to act all innocent, 'Invisible Princess'." said Zabuza.

Madoka's face remained expressionless for a few moments, before bursting into a full blown smile. "Guess you found out, huh?"

"It wasn't that hard to decipher, you know." said Zabuza, shaking his head. "You gave me all the clues yourself."

"It was intentional." replied Madoka. "I wanted to see how long would it take for you to figure it out."

"So… How much is it going to cost me?" asked Zabuza.

"Cost you what?" asked Madoka innocently.

"How much will it cost me to keep you quite about the mission?" asked Zabuza, his patience was running thin.

"Oh! That. All you have to do is be my bodyguard for free when I ask you to." she said.

Flashback end

That was the one and only time that Momochi Zabuza was played for a fool by someone.

Naruto lay down on the ground, completely tired after the exhausting training that he just went through. He was tired. He felt like he couldn't even move a single muscle, let alone get up. Just as his fatigued mind drifted into a slumber, he heard a voice reverberate through him.

"So you did it again, brat." The voice belonged to Kyuubi, the nine tailed demon fox that resided inside Naruto.

'Ah. Kyuubi, I need a little help here.' said Naruto.

"Tch. Can't even call on your devil powers without my help, can you?" grumbled Kyuubi as he slowly released a bit of his chakra into Naruto's chakra system. Naruto was soon revitalized, and few strands of orange chakra began leaking from him. He quickly reined the extra chakra in, and suddenly a large mass of dark energy released quickly before wrapping around him, resulting into an aura to appear around him. He concentrated, resulting into the aura's color to change to orange. He breathed in and out, and the aura slowly dissipated.

'Damn, that's hard.' complained Naruto in his mind. 'Trying to control two different types of energy that didn't belong to me originally is extremely hard, you know.'

"That's just because you don't try. If you tried hard enough, you could release at least my chakra by yourself, without having me to 'open the tap' as it were every single time." Kyuubi continued to gripe about indignantly.

'Oh come on. Give me a break. You know that the training that I got from that old man was only enough to call upon my power in near death state. Even he was skeptical that if I could even tap into my devil powers on my own in one human lifetime.' huffed Naruto.

"Yeah, that's true. To be fair, if you can't do something after that guy's training, you most probably can't do it in the first place." muttered Kyuubi.

Naruto sat down and took a meditative pose as he began reminiscing his first meeting with a Maou, Ajuka Beelzebub.

Flashback

"Hello, Uzumaki Naruto. My name is Ajuka Beelzebub. We need to talk."

A handsome young man stood at Naruto's doorsteps as Naruto gaped at the sudden arrival of a stranger at his house. He could hear the Kyuubi cussing up a storm at the back of his mind.

"What the fuck! I thought I killed that fucking bastard." roared Kyuubi.

'I guess it's much harder to kill devils.' thought Naruto. He said out loud, "What do you need to talk about?"

"It's about your current 'condition'." said Ajuka. "May I come in?" Naruto stepped aside as Ajuka walked inside his apartment. Naruto looked on apprehensively as Ajuka observed the surrounding for a few seconds, before locating a chair. He pulled it up to the dining table and sat down, before motioning Naruto to the seat across him. Naruto took the seat, before looking expectantly at Ajuka.

"I believe your furry friend has already explained to you the pros and cons of being a devil." began Ajuka. Naruto nodded in agreement, so Ajuka continued. "But he didn't tell you everything. Or rather, he couldn't tell you everything, since he himself doesn't know everything." Ajuka paused there. He looked seriously at Naruto, before beginning to explain what Kyuubi could not.

"You see, the only reason you could reincarnate into a devil is because of Kyuubi's influence. To be fair, he pretty much bypassed the regular system of reincarnation. Normally, you would use evil pieces for the reincarnation purpose, thus allowing only devils with peerage to reincarnate others. Since none of these were included in your reincarnation procedure, you are pretty much an anomaly in the system. The other devils would want to get rid of such an irregularity as soon as they can."

At this Naruto visibly stiffened. But Ajuka smiled gently at him. "You do not need to worry. I am not like those devils. To be fair, I find you fascinating. Since I was the one who build the reincarnation system, I would like to observe the inconsistency in the method created due to you."

Naruto relaxed slightly at the assurance provided by Ajuka. He wasn't completely assured though. The observing part still had him unnerved.

"Relax. I am not going to turn you into a lab rat. All I would do is observe your growth on regular basis, nothing too hard." Ajuka said cheerfully. He quickly changed mood to serious, as he said, "however, because of the glitch, you reincarnated as a stray devil."

"Huh?" Naruto didn't understand what Ajuka was talking about. He looked quizzically at Ajuka, who took it as his que and began explaining.

"Stray devils are those who do not belong to any group or peerage. They have abandoned their master, and usually use devious means to remain alive. The regular job of a devil usually entails killing these stray devils." Naruto paled again.

"There is usually no way to stop being a stray devil. But considering your unique situation, the four Maou have decided to give you a way out. You are being given two choices; to become part of someone's group, or get your own group."

Color returned to Naruto's face once he realized that he still had a chance. As he pondered his choices, he realized he still didn't understand what being in a group entailed. He looked up and asked Ajuka, "What is a group anyway?"

"Ah. Basically a group is just a group of devils who work together. They have a master, who orders them to do his bidding. But the main attraction is taking part in the Rating Games. Rating Games are basically battles against other groups. As you win you increase your popularity as a devil. The more you win the more facilities you get from the devils."

"Is that so?" Naruto began thinking. So either way, he was going to have to become a part of a group. That meant whatever he did, it will only be good for him. Especially because it can also ensure his survival. Now, he needed to decide. Join a group or make one of his own? If he joined one, he'd have a master who will order him around. If he made one, he would be the master of the group… Why did they even bother to give him a choice?

"I'll make my own group." answered Naruto with conviction. For a fleeting moment, an evil grin passed through Ajuka's face. "I thought you would say that." he said, before activating and manipulating a magic circle. A light engulfed both him and Naruto.

Naruto was partly blinded by the light. As he slowly regained his vision, he found himself in a vast white place. He could see the horizon on all four sides, and it was all white. He saw Ajuka standing right in front of him, holding some sort of device.

"Where are we?" asked Naruto.

"We are inside a different dimension." answered Ajuka.

"Why are we here?"

"Because you need to prove yourself worthy of a peerage." replied Ajuka.

"Peerage? But I thought I am going to become a master?" asked a doubtful Naruto.

"Didn't I tell you? To be able to start a group, you need to have a peerage." answered Ajuka, a devilish smirk appeared on his face, as he clicked the button on the device in his hand. Naruto paled.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" Naruto's scream reverberated through the entire dimension.

Flashback End

"Ugh." Naruto shivered involuntarily. "That was the worst kind of training I ever had."

"And yet, it was the best training you ever had, too." quipped Kyuubi.

'Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now shut up and let me meditate.'

Sasuke was walking through the Uchiha compound. There was no sign of anyone around. It was completely silent. Sasuke hated that silence. He picked up pace, and he was soon running. He soon arrived at his house. He quickly ran inside, and found a lot of blood; his parents lying amongst the ground. There was a sound behind him. He whirled around, only to come face to face with his brother Itachi. He was relieved. But only for a moment; until he saw the blood on his hand.

Itachi's sharingan spun, and revealed a new pattern, one that Sasuke was unfamiliar with. Before he could do anything, he was pulled into a different dimension. Itachi stood before him.

"You are weak, brother." said Itachi, as he began showing Sasuke the images of the massacre of the Uchiha clan that had only just occurred. "If you wish to become as strong as me, then hate me. And kill your closest friend."

"Gah!" Sasuke woke up with a start. He was panting really hard, and was completely drenched in his sweat. He shakily got to his feet, and unsteadily walked towards the washroom. Once inside, he splashed his face with the cold water from the tap, rendering him awake.

"That dream again…" he wondered out loud as he came out to the corridor.

"What dream?" asked a voice, startling Sasuke. He turned around to find Misaki walking up to him. Sasuke controlled his breathing, before looking questioningly at Misaki.

"Hm… Oh. I had the graveyard shift, remember?" said Misaki.

"Ah. Guard duty." said Sasuke in comprehension.

"So… what dream were you talking about?" asked Misaki again.

Sasuke didn't reply for a while. He stood there silently for a few seconds, as if he had never heard the question. But he had heard the question. He opened his mouth after the silence, and almost whispered. "I dreamed about 'that night'."

"Ah…" an awkward silence filled the corridor, as the two of them just stood there. After several more seconds of silence, it was Sasuke again who broke it.

"Where is Naruto?" he asked, trying to change the topic. "I didn't see him in the room."

"Ah, Naruto never came back from training." replied Misaki, looking relieved that they managed to change the topic.

"Never came back?" asked an incredulous Sasuke. "And why did no one go look for him?"

"Oh I did." answered Misaki, a hint of anger in her voice, "He sent me back, saying that he didn't need my help. Can you believe the gall of the brat, refusing to come back when we are in the middle of a mission? And Kakashi-sensei approved it. That just took the cake."

As Misaki fumed over Naruto's attitude, the Uchiha cousins began walking, with Misaki at the front and Sasuke following. They reached a balcony soon. As they stood there, they could see the forest at the back of the house, and a light mist loomed over the area. It had only been a day since Zabuza had attacked them. They had managed to fend him of, which was an achievement in itself. After that they had quickly retreated to Tazuna's house, where after a short meeting, they decided that Zabuza was not dead and still out large.

After that they had split the guard duty amongst themselves, and on their spare time decided to train, since it would take Zabuza over a week to recover from the deathlike state that they had seen him in last. Sasuke was already pretty exhausted from the fight they had, so he picked sleep on the first day. Naruto, on the other hand picked training. It wasn't really shocking though. He was a ball of energy, Naruto was. Even an engaging fight as that one hadn't been taxing on him physically. But it must have affected him mentally, because he jumped right at the opportunity of training. Even if it was a solo one.

As they stood on the balcony looking over the forest, silence was the only thing they could sense.

"I thought you said he was training." asked Sasuke.

"He was when I last checked on him." replied Misaki. "He must have fallen asleep. We should go get him." she said, before jumping off and landing lithely on the ground. Sasuke followed her, albeit not as gracefully, but as silently as her. They took of quickly with Misaki leading the way.

It didn't take long to find Naruto though. They arrived at the clearing where he was training and found him meditating.

"I didn't know that Naruto could meditate." said a shocked Sasuke.

"He can't." replied Misaki. One could detect the mirth in her voice. "He fell asleep while trying."

"Oh." said Sasuke. "Why was he trying anyway?"

"How would I know?" said Misaki.

"Should we wake him?" asked Sasuke.

"Why?" replied Misaki, a devilish smirk on her lips.

"Uh… Sorry. I got nothing." replied Sasuke.

"Let's let him sleep. It would be bad if he actually managed to exhaust himself." she said. And with that, she laid down on the ground.

Sasuke stood there, baffled at Misaki's actions. "Shouldn't you go back to your guard duty?" he asked her.

"I woke up Kakashi-sensei before coming here." she replied. She then turned her head at Sasuke, and motioned at him. After considering for a few moments, Sasuke took the invitation and sat down beside Misaki.

Silence engulfed them as they wordlessly watched the night sky, whatever that could be seen of course. Misaki was the first one to break the silence this time around.

"So… do you want to talk about it?"

"…." Sasuke didn't reply. He rued his choice of sitting down. She had brought back the topic, something he wanted to escape.

"You don't… huh. It'd do you no good to hold it in you know." she chided him.

"What would you know!" exploded Sasuke, unable to hold in his anger. "You did not have to watch the entire clan's massacre over and over again, did you?! How did you even survive that day? Don't think I'll believe your silly story about hiding. There is no way you could have hid from Itachi! So tell me. How. Did. You. Survive?"

"Oh my. I guess you finally asked, huh." said Misaki, as she looked at Sasuke with one half-lidded eye. "I suppose it shouldn't hurt to tell you how I survived, don't you agree Naruto?" Sasuke whipped his head around, to find Naruto facing them, still in his meditation pose. However, he had his eyes open, and he looked at Sasuke with an amused grin on his face. "No, it wouldn't. And he will find out eventually, so sooner the better." Naruto answered Misaki's question.

Misaki smiled at Naruto's reply. She stood up, before facing away from Sasuke.

"You were right. I couldn't hide from Itachi. He found me very quickly. There was nothing I could do as I watched him impale me with his sword. I could only lie there as the blood oozed out of my wound, as my consciousness grew dimmer. You see Sasuke, I didn't survive that day. I died." Misaki's face was grim.

"But that is impossible!" shouted an enraged Sasuke. "You are standing right in front of me. You are not dead!"

"You have Naruto to thank for that. He 'saved' me… no wait. 'Save' is not the right word; he 'resurrected' me into a devil.' Misaki turned around as black bat-like wings sprouted from her back.

Sasuke was stunned. The wings that grew from Misaki's back were fascinating. As he turned his head, he saw Naruto also mimicking Misaki, with wings growing out of his back too. He couldn't wrap his head around the information that was presented before him.

"You… What…. How… But… " Sasuke sputtered indignantly.

"Basically what happened," Naruto spoke, "was that I had met Misaki the day before. We hit it off pretty well. She invited me to her house that day. Once I got there, the entire clan had already been killed. It took me quite a while to find her. Once I did, I used my powers to reincarnate her."

It took a while to for Sasuke to grasp what had just been told. Once he did, Naruto found himself pinned to a tree by Sasuke.

"You can resurrect people?" asked Sasuke vehemently.

"Somewhat." replied Naruto.

"Can you bring back my mother and father?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto looked at Sasuke silently for a few moments before answering. "No, Sasuke. I cannot. It has been way too long to bring them back."

"Is that so…" Sasuke looked visibly downcast as he let Naruto go.

"But I can help you get your revenge, that I can assure you." said Naruto. "If you want, you can get as much power as Misaki."

Sasuke's eyes shone at the words. "Really? What's the catch?"

"Ah, well. You'd lose your freedom and your humanity. You will become a devil. Just like Misaki and me." answered Naruto.

Sasuke was demoralized immediately. "I don't need that kind of power." He said as he began walking away.

"Well it's your choice." Naruto said from behind him. "The offer will stay on the table, if you change your mind."

Sasuke turned his head to look back at him, before he walked away.

"Do you think he will reconsider?" asked Misaki.

"It's up to him to decide." answered Naruto. "It depends on how badly he wants the power."

Zabuza was still lying down. He had managed to get the movements of his arms back, but that's about it. Haku waited upon him, providing him with everything that he needed. Zabuza was wondering about the letter that he had gotten from Madoka.

'She must be planning something big if she gave me a free pass. She must really want an unpredictable vector in the equation. I can still remember her work in Kiri. Ah those were the days.'

Flashback

Zabuza had been brought into the Seven Swordsman a few years ago. He had joined almost immediately after that stupid mission to kill Yoshiku. He had been called several times since then to guard Madoka. In fact, most of the time, he was given some sort of compensation, making those stints not exactly free. Of course, there were times when they were free. To be fair, those were mostly him acting as physical labor and carrying all the shopping bags Madoka gave him. He could even pass it off as training. The harder ones always had some sort of pay involved.

Since then, he had risen to the opportunity, and had improved on his reputation of a Demon, especially due to his status as one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri. He happened to be one of the most cruel and vicious Swordsmen, eclipsed only by Hoshigake Kisame. During this time, Kiri's military might grew, and it continued to pile on its dark reputation. But the people during this time weren't happy. Because of heavy spending on the military might, Kiri's economy suffered, even with Madoka working in the background trying to fix it. According to her, it's no use having a mafia if the country's economy fell into a recession.

So, as the economy suffered, the people became discontented. There were several small acts of rebellion that kept on happening throughout the Land of Water. Then came the Bloodline Purges. The Mizukage sought to oppress the rebellions, and according to him, they were being headed by several bloodline users. And to snip it from the roots, he began killing all the bloodline users. That was the tipping point, as the entire Kiri began rallying against the Mizukage. Zabuza was no exception.

The Mizukage had gone too far this time, and while this was a military rule, once the ruler becomes tyrannical, it becomes the job of the people to stand up to him and throw him down. And Zabuza took it as his duty to take down the power drunk Mizukage. If he could get a few good battles on the way he wasn't going to complain.

But as he rallied his supporters against the Mizukage, he found resistance in a form that he didn't expect.

"Zabuza." Madoka called from behind him as he was about to charge the Mizukage Tower.

"What do you want? I am in the middle of a rebellion here." replied an annoyed Zabuza.

"Don't go! You will only get yourself killed." shouted Madoka.

"What the hell?! Don't you have any trust in my power woman?" Zabuza shouted back.

"That is not the point. In fact I'm not even worried about whether you can beat Yagura or not. But he isn't the real enemy here." replied Madoka.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Zabuza.

"I have been trying to run things from behind the curtains, but there seems to be someone who is even better than me at pulling strings. He managed to bring Yagura under his control, and that is why you saw all the Bloodline Purges. I only managed to postpone them as far as you saw, which was not much. There is no way you can stand up to someone who has the power to control someone like Yagura. So stop this nonsense." pleaded Madoka.

"I won't stop. I can't stop. Not after coming so far. I can't betray the trust of my comrades." answered Zabuza.

"Fine. Do what you want. I am not going to pull your ass out of this. If you fail, then you will have to run. Not just from Yagura, but from me. Because you are betraying me." One could almost see the tears that welled up on the corner of Madoka's eyes as she turned around and fled the scene.

Needless to say, Zabuza failed in his attempted coup and has been on the run since then.

Flashback end

Zabuza was brought back from his thoughts as the door to the room opened to show Gatou standing there with a few of his goons.

"Well well well, what do you know? Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Bloody Mist, beaten by just a group of green genin." taunted Gatou.

"You should know that they weren't any green genin. They had two Uchiha. Surely even you know the reputation that the Uchiha have." replied Zabuza.

"Indeed I do. But they shouldn't be any problem for the great Zabuza should it. You sound like you are trying to give excuses."

"I do not need excuses. The next time I go after them will be the last moments of their lives."

"I hope that's the case, or else…" Gatou trailed off as he turned around to leave.

"Just so you know." Zabuza called from behind. "One of the genin is an associate of Kurokami Madoka."

Gatou whipped his head around, fear written clearly on his face as he looked incredulously at Zabuza. Seeing that Zabuza's eyes didn't betray any emotions, he was even more scared. He hurriedly turned around and left the room, followed closely by his train of goons.

"By the way, Haku. There was absolutely no need the get your needles ready." scolded Zabuza merrily.

"It's not a problem." replied Haku. I will always protect Zabuza-san."

Omake

Andrew: Yay, I got 100 favorites. Banzai!

Naruto: And yet your chapter is at least a week late.

Andrew: Couldn't be helped. I had too many things on my plate to even sit down and write. As compensation, I am giving you guys a 7000 word chapter.

Naruto: Which has absolutely nothing to do with the story.

Andrew: Hey! It has everything to do with the story. It explains all those small things that weren't explained and has quite a few flashbacks too.

Naruto: It does, doesn't it? But what about the people who were going to show up in the Omake.

Andrew: Oh, that's right. We are going to start this with the next chapter. I call this "Questions with your favorite character". We are going to start it off with Haku.

Naruto: So, how is it gonna work?

Andrew: Basically the readers will ask questions to Haku through reviews and Haku is going to answer them. The questions can be anything related to Haku. Of course questions related to the story will be answered by yours truly.

Naruto: Huh. And what about deciding who comes to the show next time?

Andrew: Again, it will be the readers who decide. Of course I would prefer if they chose from Misaki, Madoka or Zabuza, but anyone else should be fine too.

Naruto: Is that so?

Andrew: Yep, anyway moving on. Let's do our regular section.

Naruto: Ugh. Fine.

Next Time on Blonde Haired Devil

Zabuza finally attacks the three genin, and will Naruto do the mission that Madoka gave him?

Find out Next Time on Blonde Haired Devil

(I swear to god if I have to do this one more time I am going to quit.)