Naruto the Twin Swords

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto which is a major disappointment to me since that would been cool…

Chapter 33

Part 2

Old Feuds…

( ): Thoughts

((" ")): Holy Talon

((( ))): Kyuubi's voice

…

In the Terumi Clan base…

Mei escorted the teams from Konoha and she was rather silent for now as she had some things to think about. She was rather surprised to know that Takeo had hired Konoha ninja and two of them being former citizens of the Land of Water as well, but the skills of the teams convinced her that they can be of great help to their current situation. That and the fact that they had some very well known ninja in their ranks added to her relief, though seeing Zabuza was a surprise as well for her.

As they arrived near to her base of operations, she quickly sent a signal ahead to those of her clan there that she was coming. That signal also included a message that she was coming with others who were not hostile. The last thing she wanted was her guests being caught in the crossfire of her people's jumpy tempers. With the still ongoing purges and the new kidnappings, her people were less than welcoming to those they did not know. And there was no doubt in her mind that having people who were ninja from another Hidden Village was going to make them a lot less welcoming to boot.

One of the Terumi ninja glared at the group and replied as he pointed his katana at none other than Zabuza himself

"What the hell is the Demon of the Mist doing here?"

Mei knew that this was going to happen and walked to her clansmen and spoke sternly to him while placing her hand on his own which held his sword.

"It is all right Sanzo, Zabuza is not our enemy here and he is no longer a member of Kiri."

"I know that Mei-sama, but I still cannot fathom he would show his face here after that attempt on the Mizukage's life."

Zabuza said nothing as he knew that his actions had reason and no matter how others might see it, he still felt that what he did was the right thing. He looked to see Mei speak to her clansman and it seemed that the man was now calming down and Mei turned to face them all and spoke to them in a friendly manner.

"It's all right, you can come in now since we have a lot to discuss."

The group moved down into the heart of the cave complex and they saw torches being placed there in intervals of the cave complex, all placed in a particular distance from the other to ensure that there was ample lighting for the rest of the compound. There was also fresh air coming in and out of the complex so the place was well ventilated. The Clan's people were there as they saw a number of ninja there who al bowed to Mei Terumi.

The attractive Kunoichi then turned to face them while moving and spoke.

"You all must be tired from your trip, have you managed to get something to eat?"

Kakashi shook his head and replied.

"Not by much Mei-san since we did not have a lot of time to eat after meeting our contact outside of the Land of water. But we don't want to impose since you and your clan have other matters to deal with due to the current situation pertaining to those with Kekkai Genkai."

"Perhaps Kakashi-san, but right now we're all allies in this mission and I would like it that you and your team are at your best for the dangers that is no doubt going to come along with the mission that you all and I will be undertaking. Come, I'll see if we have enough food in our supplies for you, my people have managed to get some supplies a few weeks before hand."

And sure enough, there were some supplies that were brought in when they entered one of the larger chambers in the cave complex. That room was also well lit and allowed them to see as much as they could manage. The smell of warm food was welcomed and they dug in as the Kunoichi and head of her clan began to fill them in on other details of the current state of the Land of Water ever since the kidnappings happened.

She explained the disappearances were few at first possibly random, but it was not long before the pattern emerged, and that was due to the disappearing numbers of those with Kekkai Genkai who had not been found by the purge, even some of her own clan had been taken which added further weight to the fact these kidnappings were not random events at all. Apparently it had been going on for weeks, at least as far as she and the others in her clan had been able to see. The group took in all the details and when Mei was done, Naruto was deep in thought about what could be the reason for such an attack.

He thought that whoever was doing this could be under Orochimaru's payroll, but that was not something that would make sense just yet. That snake summoning bastard had his eyes set on the Sharingan after all. It did make sense he would study other Kekkai Genkai for an advantage, but the Sharingan was the man's obsession. Naruto was also considering the possibility of Death Fang being involved, and from what he knew of the vile sword and it's masters, as well as it's makers, it would no doubt be seeking out allies or those it deemed useful enough as weapons of war. Life was not sacred to that thing so it would make sense to the blonde Shinobi that the sword would indeed seek out some new allies to make it's stay a lot more dangerous.

Kakashi likewise was very intent in absorbing the details and he could easily see why this situation would be of concern to anyone who was not from the Land of Water. The Kekkai Genkai users mentioned thus far were not too powerful, but if combined into an army, they could become a threat. Still it was too early for him to tell who would be responsible and why.

The same went for Zabuza as well, though his primary concern was how Haku was taking this, no one knew the fate of the rest of the Yuki Clan, and he was not sure if Haku was the only one of his clan to be still alive. There was no telling that else they would find in this attack that could be of help but there was no doubt that they would find out soon enough.

However, it was not long before a ninja came to Mei and spoke to the woman, and the Kunoichi turned to face her clansman with a serious look.

"Are you sure of this?"

"Yes Mei-sama, the strangers do not wear any form of forehead protector, but they move like ninja, skilled ones to be sure. They might be the ones who no doubt are responsible for the kidnappings."

"What are they doing now?"

"They seem to be searching the place, but the way they do it is with great intent. You don't suppose…"

"They found out about us? That is a possibility that we have to expect, how far are they from the compound?"

"At least several hours, Kyutetsu, and Massani were the ones who spotted them on their regular patrols and came back here to tell me of it."

"I see, we cannot remain here then, tell the others to prepare to evacuate all the people here in the compound, we'll need to head off to our other compounds, namely the one we swore not to use unless the situation becomes very dire."

The man nodded and quickly moved out to do what she had ordered him to do. In doing so, Mei turned to the Konoha team and spoke to them seriously.

"It seems that we're going to have to get ready for battle, I do not know if we will be found by the ones Hanza spoke of, but I will not take any chances. The people who are here with my clan happen to be the few surviving Kekkai Genkai users who have not yet been taken and I will not let them die or be taken by them."

Neji then spoke.

"That is a wise plan, but I also believe that we might be able to capture one of them and figure out just who is leading them. It is a risk to be sure, but if we can capture a member of this force, we might have a chance to find out the ring leader and stop this before it becomes too difficult to ignore."

The others nodded and soon they moved out, they needed to buy enough time for Mei's people to get the refugees of the purges and the kidnappings to get out. They knew that they had to whatever it was that they could do in order to break the back of the attack and possibly gain some intel on who was doing the kidnapping and possibly the killings as well. Mei was no slouch and was insistent on fighting alongside the Konoha ninja and they were not going to tell her otherwise. Naruto decided to send out his Falcon and quickly summoned the ethereal bird and gave the orders in the Dagern native language.

"Ensure that you escort the refugees and Mei Terumi's allies to their new compound and make sure to report back to me if they have been pursued."

The creature nodded and soon took off into the air as Naruto was quick to join the others in what was going to be their latest battle with the forces before them. They had no intel on what type of ninja mercenaries they were going t fight, but that did not mean that they were going to take their attackers lightly. Sakura was their medical support and so was Naruto since he had Holy Talon and his training in Life Magic to heal injuries if needed. Neji would be an excellent scout with his Byakugan as well as his close combat skills, Haku could also help with Kekkai Genkai and could use his own medical training for healing and restraining the enemy they could capture, Kin could serve to distract them and use her Sound based Illusion Jutsu to keep the enemy off balance while the rest of them hit hard and fast.

The team soon left the compound and headed out to face their attackers, but both broke into two teams in order to cover both sides to make sure that they did not get hit from behind. It was a risky move and it would divide their strength, but it was to be expected since they had to make sure that they refugees escaped unharmed. Plus they did have means to communicate with one another and if any of them encountered the enemy, the others would arrive to fight them off.

They did not have to wait for long as the enemy ninja descended on them, the first team to encounter them were the team of Kakashi, Mei, Naruto, and Sakura and it was obvious there was a lot of ninja coming right at them and they had to be ready to fight hard and fast. Several of the ninja were quickly dispatched in close combat by Kakashi and were unconscious but only for a moment or two before they got up again and came as the ninja who managed to attack them once more. Sakura moved back a bit and then used her training in chakra enhancement to send several of the attacking ninja away like comets through the trees, and she was thankful for the new strength she got as well as the durability training that Tsunade felt she needed in order to help herself and the others.

Mei was not far behind as she used her Fire chakra to defeat two ninja attacking her, her mastery of one of her chakra types was there as both ninja were quickly killed and she countered a close combat attacking Kunoichi coming right at her with a pair of Kama and also blocked the attacks of another ninja coming in with a spear. Naruto was quickly able to reach her along with Sakura as they both fought alongside Mei as more ninja came pouring in towards them.

The three ninja fought off more of them but then the ones that had been wounded continued to attack, as if ignoring the wounds that had been inflicted on them somehow

Several mirrors of ice suddenly appeared and out came a massive barrage of Senbon as Haku made his appearance and soon the arrival of Neji, Kin, and Zabuza make the whole situation change, Menma was still there at the rear providing support with his ocarina and boosting the chakra of the whole team in battle. And as more of the ninja came forward to fight them all, it was going to get even more difficult for the Konoha forces and their client.

Neji engaged a pair of Shinobi armed with kodachi swords and managed to best them with his Byakugan and the Gentle Fist style, while Haku quickly used his Ice Mirrors to reposition himself and defend Zabuza from the rear as the older Jonin was engaging at least two more ninja with one armed with an iron staff, and Haku was fighting off another pair of ninja who were armed with tiger claws. Sakura used her own kunai to block several slashing attacks from another ninja armed with a much larger kunai that resembled the kind used by Kiri ninja, showing that her foe was a Kiri ninja mercenary.

Naruto managed to cut down another incoming ninja by using Holy Talon to block the incoming strike from the man's two single edged swords and he quickly leaped over him and planted both feet into the man's face. That knocked him flat on the ground and Naruto quickly took one swing with his sword to slice off both blades and render the man's weapons useless. He however leaped back when another mercenary ninja came at him with a long spear and he managed to block the next stab at his face, and this was where Kin came in and used her Sound illusions on Naruto's attacker, causing him to shake and try to fight off the former Sound Kunoichi's sound based Genjutsu, allowing her quickly come in for the kill and lauch a double kick combination to the chest to send the man flying back while using her own kunai to slice off the blade head of his weapon, rendering the spear into a wooden pole.

Naruto smiled at Kin and she moved back smiling at him as she was soon fighting her own foes. Mei was not far behind as well as the Kunoichi fought with two Kunoichi, one armed with a katana and the other with a pair of Kama. The Kekkai Genkai user quickly used her Taijustu skills to send the Kama user flying back and smashing into some trees, showing her strength, and that was soon. An she quickly evaded several slashes made at her by the other Kunoichi before she quickly moved back and unleashed a wave of mud from her mouth using her Earth Chakra.

There was a very large bunch of these mercenaries and most appeared to be Chuunin and Genin level ninja. That much w3as beginning to dawn on the team so that left them to question when were the group's heavy hitters coming in to fight them. They did not have to wait for very long as a large band of ninja came and son engaged them. This time the new arrivals were at Jonin level and that meant to the team and their client that this fight was about to get interesting for all of them.

…

Naruto gritted his teeth as he used Holy Talon's flat edge to block the massive horse cutting sword wielded by one other mercenary ninja who apparently wanted to take off his head. As soon as he blocked it, he quickly moved Holy Talon aside to let the man be carried down by his own momentum as he quickly brought Holy Talon's edge to level and slashed at the ninja who soon lost his head…literally. He however saw that the man's vest was actually filled with explosive tags which were already alight and he swore.

"Oh kami!"

"SUITON! MIZU SHURIKEN!"

A massive shuriken made from water came out and smashed into the decapitated ninja and send the body away from Naruto as the blonde quickly recovered and rolled out of the way. The explosive tags were water resistant and soon exploded, but the Jutsu had been enough to force the body away from Naruto so he was not caught in the blast. Naruto turned to see Mei smiling at him and he smiled back as Mei turned to fight another band of ninja mercenaries coming at her.

Naruto quickly turned to face another pair coming at him, one armed with a standard katana while the other apparently carried a naginata with the intent on skewering him.

Kakashi was able to block the attacks of his own foe with his kunai as he quickly flipped over his foe, leaned down to avoid a strike and then stabbed him with the kunai and he quickly channeled his Lightning Chakra into his katana, the same one given to him by Naruto as he cut through the weapon of another ninja coming at him, this time it was a Kunoichi mercenary armed with a pair of kama with the intent on cutting him. His sword however cut through her weapons as he side stepped her attacks and then moved the stab both her and her partner. The woman however used a Replacement Jutsu to avoid being skewered by Kakashi but her partner, still bleeding from Kakashi's attack was not so lucky as Kakashi's lightning chakra enhanced sword stabbed him right in the heart through the log.

The Jonin was not worried as he quickly readied himself for an attack. And he got is as the female mercenary came at him again, Kakashi then stabbed her in the arm to cripple him, but suddenly noted something was not right. The woman did not even scream in pain or show expressions. It was as if she was dulled to it, even when the attack had severed her muscle tendons.

Haku used his Ice Jutsu to move in and out of the battle while firing his Senbon, he hoped to capture one or more of the mercenaries to see if they could extract any information from them. They had managed to avoid some of his strikes, but one was not as lucky as Haku's weapons managed to hit her in the areas that would stun and cripple her. He could see that his attacks had worked on the mercenary Shinobi as he then spoke to his short range radio to the others in his team.

"It's Haku, I have managed to capture one of the mercenaries, I am going to try and get him out of the area to make sure he will not be lost to us."

Zabuza nodded and he pressed his hand to the device on his neck and spoke as he quickly kicked aside his own foe to get some breathing room..

"Good work Haku, but be careful, if what I saw with Naruto's battle is true, they might have suicide vests on. And there is a chance that they might commit suicide by other means if we are not careful."

"Understood Zabuza-sama, Neji-san, how many more of them to you see?"

.Neji in his own battle turned and with his active Byakugan scanned the area a bit and replied as he managed to defeat his own attacker. But he had been forced to use lethal attacks on the one since he seemed not to care about the previous attacks. And the person did not seem to even react to the attacks, which made the Hyuuga wary of this battle.

"I do not see any more reinforcements yet, these must be their more powerful fighters though I can bet that there are still others left at their base. But I have noted something odd in our foes. They seem to have some form of seal on them I do not recognize, and the chakra in the seal does not look right. It also seems to make them more resistant to pain, far beyond what most would have."

Naruto then spoke next.

"Can you describe it Neji?"

The Hyuuga genius looked at the seal he saw on one of the ninja coming towards him and he replied.

"I see some sort of a circle with three fang like symbols in reverse order in the middle and some sort of burning eye in between them."

Naruto pictured the seal and then directed his attention to Holy Talon and asked the sword just what the seal was.

(("That sounds like the Berserker seal."))

(Berserker seal?)

(("Yes, it's a form of curse seal similar to the one used on your former ally, but in this case, the seal when active makes the user immune to pain and allow them fight longer, ignoring even grievous wounds. But it only numbs it and also makes them highly unstable and thus if the seal increases it's hold on them, they turn on their own allies. That is a Dagern seal and not native here, yet this version seems to be using chakra master Naruto, be cautious, the only way one can make a seal like that is Death Fang."))

(Has such a seal been used before?)

(("Yes, there is an order of corrupted humans, elves and several other races in Dagern under the thrall of the Chaos Dragons who use that seal exclusively to make themselves Berserkers in battle. More than once my previous Masters fought people like them and they revel in pain and death. But this is made using chakra so whoever made this seal must be a native of your world and taught by Death Fang, The only way to stop those with the seals is to kill them with fatal strikes, anything else will not do"))

Naruto gritted his teeth and quickly informed the others of the news. The team and Mei were surprised by this but quickly began to switch to lethal strikes, not a problem for the others but for Haku, he moved back and was pleased that despite the seal numbing pain, it did not reverse the effects of his attacks on them.

The battle soon ended and the whole area was a mess and the group gathered together to assess one another. Mei seemed fine and so did the others, and Haku was with them with the hostage he had managed to keep alive and restrained. The man was not speaking but Sakura checked him out and gave her analysis.

"He's still alive and breathing, but his chakra pathway's not too good either."

Neji nodded as he deactivated his Byakugan.

"I agree with Sakura-san, the man's chakra pathway seemed…altered somehow, it's pathways are the same but they appear to have been torn up in different areas. I have never seen that before in my life."

Naruto recalled his training with Holy Talon on magic and then used that to focus his Dragon Fire into his free left hand. The green Fire was seen and Naruto touched the man's body, looking for the seal. He soon found the seal and focused again. The team watched as the seal suddenly burned out of the man's body with a sickly looking black laced with green and the man groaned afterwards.

Naruto then spoke to the others.

"There…that should remove the seal from him, and maybe we can get some answers, Death fang is behind this, but it seems the thing's gotten some native help."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he covered up his Sharingan.

"You mean it's found a master?"

Naruto shook his head and replied.

"No, if it did Kakashi-sensei, it's master or mistress and I would have sought each other out and fought as well. Plus it would have sent it's own minions alongside these guys to kill me, not ninjas alone. It must have done something similar to when it released Solana at Konoha, only this time a different minion. Or a more powerful version of Solana and that is definitely a serious possibility."

The mention of the Succubus Maiden made Sakura cringe and feel anger as she recalled her kidnapping by that demonic woman. And recalling what she had seen when the demoness had tried to actually rape Naruto while he was unable to fight her made her twice as angry as well. She vowed that if another being like that was on the loose, then she was not going to let herself be caught a second time. Mei was confused by that and the same could be said for the other members of the team with the marked exception of Kakashi, Sakura, and Kin. They already knew of Solana even though Kakashi had not been on the mission to rescue Sakura and Kin.

Mei was the one who spoke first.

"What or who exactly is this Succubus Maiden you spoke of?"

Naruto shook his head and replied.

"That's a long story, what I can say Mei-san is that they are dangerous, deadly, and definitely the kind you want to avoid if you want to keep your sanity and life intact. But that can wait, we've got this one so we should extract the information, but first we need to check him. Neji, can you scan him for a explosive tag vest?"

Neji nodded and scanned the man and gave his report to the team as soon as he did very intense scan of the man they had captured.".

"He does have a vest on him but it appears to be a dual system, if they are killed, some sort of seal activates the vest, and it can also be manually activated. Removing the vest may prove to be a serious problem if we do this wrong."

Zabuza nodded and turned to Haku.

"Haku, can you find a way to neutralize that seal and keep it thinking that the man is still alive?"

"I can try that Zabuza-sama, it will require me to do it with aid though."

It did not take long for both Sakura and Neji to help with the process of removing the vest, Haku managed to help figure out the man's chakra type with Sakura's help. They managed to use Sakura's medical training to help keep the seal contained. It was not easy but Tsunade's training for Sakura was helping and she was able to fool the seal long enough for Haku and Neji to finally remove the seal. Neji's Byakugan allowed Haku to use his Hunter Nin training to locate the exact spots of the man's chakra circulatory system was connected to the seal. Haku then cut those short and Sakura kept the seal 'convinced' that the man was alive.

This allowed Kakashi and Zabuza to remove the explosive tag vest carefully and as soon as they were successful the Jonin got the man away from the area as well as the others, That left only Sakura and Naruto as he and she were ready to move, once the rest of the team were away, Naruto readied his Dragon Fire and used the Spell from the Body Branch, he then nodded to Sakura and then Sakura quickly cut the connection and that meant that the vest was now going to blow up., Naruto quickly summoned his Dragon Fire and unleashed the spell.

"BODY OF WIND!"

The spell quickly activated and soon the pair was covered in a gust of wind and soon they were on the other side with the others. That had surprised the others a bit more but not Kakashi as he knew that Naruto had been training hard to master more of his spells. And it seemed that he had managed to master this particular spell the right way and as soon as the pair were there, the vest detonated and soon the team took their captive back to the now abandoned compound. This was their best chance to get the answers they needed.

Sakura was quick to check the man again to make sure that they did not miss anything that could kill him. Neji himself also helped with the matter and so far they had found nothing that could be seen as a risk in him to them. Once they were done with their work, they decided to make their move and heal him. It was not long before the man finally regained his wits and spoke out.

"W-What…what happened? Who the heck are you people?"

Kakashi was the one to speak first to the man.

"We're the ones who happen to be asking those questions here, now who hired you?"

"I am not telling you Konoha dog anything!"

Kakashi sighed and replied.

"I figured you would say that, but I think that I can persuade you to talk."

It took some time for team of Konoha ninja to finally get the man to start talking, and it had been with the work of both Kakashi and Zabuza. Apparently despite his earlier claims of not telling them anything, the idea of him being subjected to the ministrations of Kakashi and Zabuza who he seemed to know of was enough to get him to talk. That and the fact that when he realized that the had been saved by the suicide vest that had been placed helped speed up the process of getting more information from the man.

They learned that he and his band of renegade ninja were indeed hired for the mission but as soon as they got there, they had been somehow restrained. Then his entire team was being interviewed by the pair of people. But he admitted that there was something wrong about them, something he could not see at first, but he certainly felt it. The female figure then began to place seals on him and his fellow mercenaries and soon everything went blank.

All he knew was that he saw his companions being given suicide vests and at first he had thought it was an illusion until he saw one of his own get killed before meeting the Konoha team. He did not know how he recalled it but somehow, in the back of his mind he saw it. That was all he remembered though he did mention that there was a cave complex in an island where he and his fellow mercenaries took their captives. He had no idea what was there, but he did not want to know what it was either, he told them that there were some more of his people there but that was it.

Mei was listening intensely and she began to feel a deep well of anger towards who was responsible for such a thing towards people. She took out a map and made the captive mercenary ninja look at it and when he pointed out the location, she spoke to the others who were with her.

"We need to find out just what is going on, and who is responsible for all of this. If we can strike him or her down before more people get captured and tortured, and all the better."

Naruto had to agree and turned when he heard a cry and soon his deployed Falcon came back and began to communicate with him. He was intent on what the mystically summoned creature was telling him and he smiled once he was able to understand what it was telling him. He turned to Mei and gave the Kunoichi some very good news which was certainly more than welcome considering the situations that they had been in already.

"You're people made it safely to the secondary compound without incident and the new hideout is clear of any possibly ambush."

Mei smiled at that and Kakashi spoke briefly with Zabuza and Haku, and when it was over Zabuza spoke next.

"The location of the island is known to us so we should get a move on, if we can find any clue as to who is responsible for these attacks, then we can silence them. It's not going to be an easy location though, the caves in that area have not been used and there is no telling if there are traps in that area. We need to be ready for anything once we get there."

Kakashi then looked to Naruto and spoke to him.

"Naruto, if you recognize the seal then does that mean?"

Naruto nodded to confirm what he too suspected, Kakashi did not like that one bit and that was obvious to just about everyone as the Jonin spoke again with the blonde Chuunin.

"All right, if you encounter the threat, you will have to help the rest deal with them, all right?"

"I know Kakashi-sensei, I am ready for what is to come."

As for the mercenary, they locked him up in one of the compound's holding rooms and left him with some food and water. If he escaped, then that was his business, but escape was not going to be too much of an option since the Kunoichi sealed him into the prison with only a few holes to breath through. And Mei then used her Lava release to lock him in tight. Once they were done with that, and patched up any injuries they had gotten, they were now on their way to end the mission they were on.

…

Later…

The team moved in towards the island in question and Naruto as well as Haku and Neji were ahead. Haku used his Ice Mirror ability to move ahead while being supported by Neji with the Byakugan. Naruto then moved with his summoned Falcon overhead and the three made sure that none of them and the team were caught off guard. Once Haku checked out the nearby area, he would then move on making another Ice Mirror and move ahead while remaining in Neji and Naruto's sight range.

Haku soon stopped on the island in question and soon reported to the others as best he could.

"I am on the island, and there seems to be some guards here, possibly part of the same ninja band out friend was part of."

"Possibly?"

"I cannot come closer to verify for sure, any further and I might get attention from the guards."

The others nodded and soon managed to arrive at Haku's location and as soon as they were all there, Naruto and the others looked at what Haku was seeing. There were indeed a fairly large number of guards in the area so they knew that fighting was going to happen. But both Mei and Zabuza decided to even up the odds in their favor. They were both Kiri Ninja show both knew of the Hidden Mist Technique, though Mei took it further with her Boil Release.

The two made the move and soon a thick mist came into the field and that was the opening the team needed. They struck hard and fast to eliminate the guards who were there and soon they would move into the cave system. The first pair of guards were quickly taken out by both Haku and Neji, with the next pair taken down by Kin and Sakura. Kakashi and Zabuza then took out four of the guards quickly with both sword and Taijutsu, while Menma used his own Sound Jutsu to lure several more of the guards into an ambush with both Mei and Naruto finishing them off quickly and effectively. The other guards were not alerted by the arrival of the mist and so the team were quick to finish them off.

These guards apparently did not have the same explosive tag vests as before, but they did have the Berserker Seal on them so the team had to use lethal force to make sure that they did not comer back. It was grisly work and Naruto was quick to act by removing the seals and was now getting more familiar with them and how he was going to be able to take those seals off. Neji quickly scanned the area and reported in.

"I do not see any other chakra signatures outside the area, that means the guards are no longer around and there are no reinforcements. But…"

"But what Neji-san?"

"Kakashi-sensei…I don't see anyone in the complex."

That did not bode well in the minds of the group but they forged ahead to find the entrance into the enemy compound. It took a bit of trial and error but Kin eventually found the latch that would open the hidden door. As soon as the door opened, a foul stench hit the noses of the team and was enough force them to cover up their mouths and noses. Even Kakashi and Zabuza were not enjoying the stench at all. It was brief, but it was obvious enough to them that something bad was going on. They all managed to counter the feeling of nausea and moved into the place with Kakashi quickly taking out a pair of lanterns that he had kept in a storage scroll for emergencies.

…

As soon as they got into the complex, they could sense that something horrible had indeed been done here. There was a feeling of dread in this place, and Naruto did not like that feeling at all, and the same could be said for the others. The feel of the place was not helped by the still present pungent smell of death and despair that was all over it either. The team moved quickly through the place and Naruto decided to decrease the time they spent in this death maze with his Kage Bunshin.

A large number of them moved through the place and fed the information back to the original Naruto and he guided the others that way. They avoided dead ends and also possible traps all over the compound, and Naruto was aided in turn by Neji who used his Byakugan to scan the area before them for anything else. Sakura soon spoke as the feeling of the place and the smell made her skin crawl.

"What the heck happened here? This entire place feels totally wrong."

Menma nodded as he too felt the unnatural aura of the place.

"I have to agree with Sakura-san, I have never been in this place before, and even now I feel like I am going to hurl in here. The smell is hardly helping us either"

Mei herself looked around and she could not help but be disgusted by the feel and smell. She was no delicate rose and was a battle hardened Kunoichi so the smell of death was not unknown to her, yet this place did not sit the least bit well with her at all. She looked around a bit more and soon joined Naruto as she spoke to him.

"Have your Kage Bunshin found anything Naruto-kun?"

The blonde shook his head and answered her.

"Nothing yet Mei-san, but they did find rooms that definitely are the origins of the smell."

"There are?"

"No, that's what worries me, there are no bodies, but the rooms there all are a mess…they look more like what you find in a slaughter house. And there seemed to be some devices there as well, the kind you normally find in a hospital…only more sinister looking."

That image was something that filled the rest of the team with dread with only the high ranking Jonin being more used to that. Still at least that explained the stench, but the lack of bodies also needed to be explained. There should have been some trace of the bodies and the equipment Naruto's Kage Bunshin had seen also made this whole situation a lot more perilous. It was not long before they themselves stumbled into a room and true to what Naruto's Kage Bunshin reported, the sight was nasty.

Sakura however managed to hold herself in and look over the equipment and the room, there was a lot of blood there, but not too much as well. The blood was also centered mostly on the metallic table while some had been spilled over. She looked at the table and then to the nearby devices and spoke.

"This is no ordinary table, this was designed to extract the blood out of people."

The pink haired Kunoichi then looked at the rest of the equipment and tools, all spattered with blood and looked at Naruto.

"Are all the rooms your Kage Bunshin saw like this Naruto-kun?"

At Naruto's nod, Sakura now realized what was going on and it disgusted her.

"The ones heading these kidnappings, they aren't just kidnapping those with Kekkai Genkai, they are actually harvesting it from them, they are taking every cell that houses the Kekkai Genkai. Blood and possibly organs as well, this would explain the smell we all encountered when we came here."

The full ramifications of this send chills down everyone's spine, especially those with Kekkai Genkai, Mei was horrified and outraged at this treatment, Neji was disgusted as well and furious at the callous nature of the people behind these kidnappings, and Haku was also angry, not an easy thing to happen when one considered his personality. Even more so when one considered the fact that it was not usually in his nature but now Haku wanted to find the ones responsible and stop them.

Kakashi and Zabuza managed to move the team ahead and soon they entered a massive cave chamber deeper in the complex and it was here that the stench began to decrease due to the large amounts of tunnels. And this particular place seemed to be well lit, too well lit to be just a simple chamber as the group moved deeper into the chamber. There on a nearby ledge was a figure that they approached carefully. Holy Talon however was quick to speak to Naruto at this point as he had his partner before him.

(("Master Naruto! I recognize that man!"))

Naruto glared and quickly focused his senses and soon he recognized the figure as well. But before he could say who it was, the man spoke for himself.

"Well now, nice to see that I finally meet the ones who have come to ruin my plans yet again, I should have expected that and I should have expected that one of them was you Naruto Uzumaki."

The figure revealed himself once more and Naruto spoke seriously as the face was revealed.

…

"Choumaza…"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he recalled the maniac that converted people into living weapons and the sight of the man again filled with him loathing. The others who were there did not recognize Choumaza, with the exception of Sakura and Kakashi and could tell that Naruto did not like this. The man sneered at the Dragon Champion and Chuunin of Konoha and replied at the way Naruto spoke his name.

"Greetings Naruto Uzumaki…it has been a while has it not?"

"So you are still alive…but different now, you have the smell of Chaos about you."

The man seemed not to care at all and laughed in response.

"Exactly, I have indeed changed, your precious sword's counter part informed me of your new found power's origins. I must say I am impressed that you can be able to use such power like that. My new master also tells me of your…secret as well."

Naruto kept calm but Kakashi narrowed his eye at that, he knew the secret Choumaza was implying and he had a feeling that if this came out. It was going to be bad news for everyone. No doubt Naruto already knew what was Choumaza driving at but at least Naruto knew already yet kept his head calm and focused on the battle.

Choumaza smiled even more and spoke.

"I should have known you would show up sooner or later…but wait, where is your partner Sasuke? He should be here with you right now, I would have so wanted to add his Sharingan to my collection, and my new army. Ah well, no sense worrying about what cannot be obtained, I already got more than my fair share of genetic material"

Mei spoke seriously as she readied herself for a possible attack.

"An army, what are you talking about? And why have you defiled these people in such an inhumane manner you bastard?"

"An army that I have made for my new master, also for my personal enjoyment as well as for bringing the fall of those who have crossed me in one way or another. Besides, considering the hatred the people of Kiri and the Land of water have for you Kekkai Genkai users, I doubt anyone apart from you would care."

"And now I have yet another set to add to my army. Mei Terumi of the Terumi Clan, the only known Kunoichi of the Land of Water thus far to master both Lava and Boil Release, Neji Hyuuga, the genius of the Hyuuga Branch family and user of the Byakugan, and Haku Yuki, last of the Yuki Clan, the master users of Ice. I am impressed that you survived the purges; I had thought that you and your mother were the last of the Clan Haku-chan and that you had died. It seems that I was proven wrong."

Haku could not help but feel deep anger at the actions done by this man but kept his cool, how the man knew of his past he did not know, nor did he care as he replied.

"That was a long time ago, I have no reason to dredge up the past."

Choumaza laughed at that and replied.

"You might not, but I certainly do, let me show you the power given to me by my new master and my partner for this…little excursion."

Another figure appeared and it was definitely feminine and then removed her cloak, showing that she was indeed a woman. But she was hardly the human kind as her horns could show. Naruto glared even more as he finally recognized the being, and so did Sakura and Kin. The woman then spoke with a very calm, but seductive air. This was indeed a Succubus Maiden, but unlike Solana, her hair was shorter and was in some form of braids and was deep blonde and her eyes were grey.

"Greetings Dragon Champion, so I finally met the one who managed to banish my sister Solana, I am impressed, she was one of the strongest among us, to be beaten by a relatively young Champion tells me that you are full of potential. I intend to rectify that failure of my sister soon enough, if you are willing to indulge me."

"And you are?"

"Oh, a man with manners, that is very rare indeed in this day, even more so for this world we are in. I am Kaelain, and I am here to see if you have grown well enough to be a threat to my and Choumaza's master. But now I digress, you're arrival here is most useful since we now have a chance to test those people who we have already used up. Pity, some of them had such potential but they expired a bit too early."

The woman and Choumaza then moved their hands forward and a veil of purple energy and soon massive crystals came from the ground, crystals with figures in them. The crystals suddenly shattered and the figures came out. All of them were dressed in ninja armor and clothing, male and female figures. The ninja realized that they were outnumbered and both Choumaza and Kaelain were amused as their forces appeared. And the sadistic reborn man spoke in a very mocking tone towards the Konoha ninja and Mei Terumi

"Truth be told, we already extracted MORE than ample genetic material from the subjects, and now they are merely husks of their former selves. Some personality remains of course and so does memory so they no doubt are still human for all intents and purposes. Some of whom might seem familiar to you…especially you Haku."

And one DID look familiar to Haku, he could not help but gasp in absolute shock, and horror at the sight before him. After all, the figure before him had a face he would recognize right off the bat without fail.

His mother!

The woman looked at Haku and spoke in the very same voice as he remembered when he was young, but this time, there was tone of death in it, a flat tone devoid of warmth and life.

"Haku….you are alive."

"Mother…mother…what…what have they…done to you?"

Haku turned and glared at both Choumaza and Kaelain, utter fury permeating his entire face as he shouted.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY MOTHER? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?"

Choumaza mocked the enraged ninja.

"Why I brought her back from the dead of course. But I will say it was not easy, we have to extract a fairly large amount of energy to bring her back to a living condition. And then we have to make sure we extracted only the healthiest genetic material that was left. She was such a mess when we managed to locate her corpse after all. Your dear father did quite a number of her when he and the others found out about her being a Kekkai Genkai user. Of course…you already knew that, don't you Haku-chan? Don't worry, once you are taken, your more than healthy genetic material will be extracted and you can be with her forever as my own personal weapon. After all, you Kekkai Genkai users are mere weapons for others, isn't that right?"

Zabuza was shocked at this and so were the rest of the people, Naruto was utterly disgusted by what he was looking at right now, the mere thought of someone defiling the body of another person's mother, then one who brought that person to life was abhorrent to him. And he was quick to react alongside Haku as both he and Haku acted as one.

Haku fired his Senbon at Choumaza and Naruto channeled his Dragon Fire's Life Magic into the weapons. The results were there as Choumaza shouted in pain and fury while Kaelain also moved to the front of the resurrected forces as the man spoke.

"I will never forget that…but for now, I will let my subjects deal with you, once your are dead, your bodies will make excellent additions to my army. ATTACK!"

Kakashi and Zabuza quickly readied themselves along with Mei, Kin, Sakura, Neji, and Menma for the onslaught while Haku and Naruto were also at the ready for battle. Haku looked squarely at the reanimated form of her mother with anger and grief. The sight of her like this filled him with rage and anger, both at the fact that they had willingly defiled his mother's corpse when she did not deserve to be used like this, and now he had to fight her. Naruto looked at him and replied seriously.

"We will free her Haku-san, I promise you that, we will free her from their control."

Haku nodded as the entire Konoha team got ready for what was going to be the fight of their lives.

The Kyuubi was looking forward to that as it got ready to unleash it's chakra in battle once more, and the same went for Holy Talon.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There we go…this chapter is done and I hope that this is going to be all right for you readers since it's been some time since the last update I had made before. Anyway, we are getting one more chapter closer to the final event which will really make things between Naruto and Sasuke get really heated and dangerous.

As for this chapter, I hope that it still meets the standards that I have set for it and my other works, if it does, then I am happy. If not feel free to tell me where I went wrong and how I can best fix the problems. And on this chapter, we can see that there is indeed an old feud, between Naruto and Choumaza, after all, Naruto despised Choumaza for his willingness to use others as living weapons in life, but now as a minion of Death Fang, it is ever worse now.

…

If this situation sounds familiar to you, this is based on the second Blade Movie, where the vampires plan to harvest Blade of his Daywalker abilities. This was the reason for the kidnappings of those Kekkai Genkai users in the Land of Water and it looks like no Kekkai Genkai user is safe, living or not. Just what does Choumaza and naturally Death Fang have in mind for the genetic material extracted from these unfortunate souls is still up for debate. But you can already guess right off the bat that it is not going to be the least bit pretty.

As for the Kekkai Genkai mentioned, there will be some familiar ones and also some new ones that I will be researching on. Make no mistake though, while the numbers are not that many, these Kekkai Genkai will be labeled as dangerous indeed so you can bet that the coming battle between the good guys and the bad guys us going to be nasty.

…

Brining back Haku's mother was something I had not originally planned on doing, but I decided to do so in order to make Haku's return to the land of his birth a lot more serious. And his reaction is utterly natural, I mean if someone defiled your parents' bodies to use for their own ends and make them live a mockery of life before you, you would certainly feel enraged. Haku naturally is going to want to avenge his mother's current state and I will allow both him and her to have a proper reunion and possible farewell when this is over.

Most would suggest that I bring Haku's mother to life and I might consider that as a viable option though I don't know for sure just how I will accomplish that particular challenge yet. But if I can, then I will try to do so though I feel that Haku now has a new leash of life already and I think his mother would approve of the fact that he is alive and found friends who are there for him. And possibly a love interest as well which is just what any mother would want for their son since they would be happy to know that their beloved child has found someone they want to spend their lives with.

How exactly did Hana and Haku become close to one another will be explored later in the series and will be a lot more serious in the sequel of this story when we get there so please try and be patient about it.

…

As for Zabuza, I have my own plans for the former Mist Seven Swordsman and it might involve a familiar Kunoichi of Konoha who is not with Naruto at this time. I will leave the guessing of said Kunoichi up to you readers. Their relationship will also be hinted here at the next chapter and it will be present on the sequel as well. What I can say about who this woman is, is that she is someone who had lost a loved one already and in time works with Zabuza until they develop a bond with one another.

This is that so please wait and see how this will play out.

…

On the next chapter we will have the conclusion of the fight and also the beginning of the steps Mei will be taking to become the Mizukage. The resurrected Kekkai Genkai users might attack Kiri in retaliation for their suffering and under the command of Choumaza and Kaelain so you can bet that Mei and the others would have to stop that. This is a bit risky to me, but it is going to be worth it in the long run as far as I can guess and will be quite a surprise for those who have long since disliked or hated those who had Kekkai Genkai.

As for Mei and Naruto, they will become friends in the long run and she would be more than happy to consider the Konoha Shinobi and Dragon Champion as an ally. Whether that translates to a more intimate relation in the future is still up for debate. Believe me I am very tempted to do that but not right away since I still have to consider the options. If I do that, you can bet that it will only happen if and when Mei becomes Mizukage and the relationship between Konoha and Kiri will be safe and balanced. This can help build an alliance between Kiri and Konoha which can really surprise people in the ninja world, but I happen to like that.

…

Please send me your reviews, comments, and suggestions,. Like before flames will be promptly tossed aside.

See you!