Author's Note: Descriptions of dark scenes involving adult material. No actual lemons but still giving warning. Thank you for reading. I own nothing.

Story start:

Naruto walked through the main gate of the Leaf Village Camp. The guards barely noticed him as they were half awake and about to make shift change. Though the safe zones were patrolled by samurai and fighting was strictly prohibited under threat of fine or invitation revoke, it would be stupid to not have security just in case either Kazahana or Kata said 'fuck the sophisticated war, kill everyone'. With the possibility of their money running out that was more and more likely to happen with each passing day. In some ways Naruto welcomed the change as it would mean free rain to kill the greedy noblemen as well.

Making the mess hall inside the old wooden structure that used to be a small roadside inn, he sat down in a back corner to wait for the mail. Slowly the tables began to fill with the other Leaf Shinobi that called the camp home. Unlike the first few months of this operation, which saw this place packed, close to half the seats were now empty either due to death or carrier ending injuries. Naruto groaned seeing Kotetsu Hagane and his partner Izumo Kamizuki walk in. Both chunin saw him and headed his way. The blonde was not sure about the sincerity of their shared interest, but both chunin seemed to like him and his company. Izumo had even shown him his special jutsu, Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field. The move had saved Naruto once from pursuers and he had also used it to build on his own original techniques: both in Water Release and Hyoton.

"What's up squirt." Kotetsu greeted as he sat down opposite of the boy. The spiked haired brunette wore the basic Leaf Chunin attire with a bandage across his nose. "Get your little girlfriend's letter yet? She send you more ramen? Maybe something to make you blush?"

"High guys." Naruto ignoring the usual teasing while giving a big beaming fake smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Hear you took a load of iron ore from Kata's minds. What is it now, one in three make it out intact?"

"Yep, big pay day." Izumo smirked while folding his arm triumphantly. He wore the standard outfit but his blue shirt covered his neck and chin. His headband was fixed to a bandanna completely covering his head and, for some reason Naruto didn't understand, he always combed his spiky brown hair to cover his right eye. "Can't wait to blow my ryo in the red light district."

Kotetsu rolled his eyes at his friend's usual thought process. "Maybe you should try saving some of it, moron."

"Why?" Izumo asked self-riotously with an upturned nose. "If I die then it all just goes to the village. Ain't got no one to leave it to so I'd rather just give it the lovely ladies that hold me tight."

"Yeah, they hold you and everyone else." Kotetsu mocked scratching his bandaged nose. "Long as you got ryo they won't let go for nothing. The moment you run out they can't get you through the door fast enough."

"Yeah, like a girlfriend without the emotional attachments." Izumo joked as the food came round. Several kunoichi at a nearby table shot him dirty looks to which he only smiled and waved.

Servers soon came round carrying platters full of various things like steamed rice, miso soup, pickles, and various proteins. Naruto grabbed a platter of small fish, rice, and boiled eggs. He reasoned no one could poison him if he always switched up what he grabbed as well the server he took food from. This was all paid for by the Fire Daimyo so everything was free. After the servers came the mail. Naruto eagerly awaited Hinata's letter with his own reply already written out. The only time you could send letters is when you received them because of security.

The mail courier walked past without much to say handing out letters. When he came to Naruto he handed him Hinata's and took the one offered with a grunt. The blonde did not waist anytime in opening the envelope. Two pieces of paper fell out: one a sealing scroll of ramen and the other Hinata's normal correspondence. Unsealing his ramen the Jinchuriki read to himself slurping down noodles.

'Hello Naruto-kun,

I hope you are doing well. I loved your last letter detailing the funny merchant you helped move. Koren sounds like a nice man going through a ruff time. I hope his new shop will do better than his old one, but I suppose so long as the economy remains unstable no small business will be able to thrive. Only those with massive capital stand any chance of staying open, and even that is no guarantee. At least the mission was easy and more to do than your basic reconnaissance assignments.'

Naruto paused to remember Merchant Koren; his third confirmed assassination. The bastard would sell people and their belongings which he stole under the guise of debt. To be sure those he traded on the slave market did owe him large amounts of ryo, but that was do to insanely high interest and hidden fees he never told them about when they asked for loans. Several countries around the world did allow indentured servitude, so Koren was able to sell the people to work their own debt off. The merchant swindled the wrong man and his brother, a respected sea captain, who bought off his brother's debt by selling his ship. The captain then turned around and threw some coin for Koren's head because of the trouble. It had not been much since the man gave up almost everything for his brother's freedom, but Naruto still happily delivered the frozen head anyway.

'This week was graduation and team placement.' Naruto continued to read unashamed for his lie. Honestly, what could he truly tell his former classmate that would not give her nightmares. 'Everyone was excited for the chance to become shinobi; though many didn't show it at all. Shino almost tied with Sasuke for Rookie Of The Year but the proud Uchiha out did everyone In Taijutsu. Sakura and Ino could not stop cheering the whole time as he fought Mizuki Sensei, they really hurt my ears. I have often wondered if anyone ever bothered mentioning to either girl that a shinobi must be silent and observant.'

Naruto smiled reading the last part. As the year had gone by Hinata's letters had begun showing more humor. The girl was at first to polite to make jokes about classmates, but Naruto kept poking at characteristics he remembered so much the heiress began responding to them. The Jinchuriki needed that more than ever; familiarity. He could close his eyes and picture the days Hinata described as he tried to sleep. If he was really lucky he dreamt about them instead of the bodies he had piled up. Though the more horrible dreams were the ones were happy school days ended in explosions and fire; his classmates scattered dead all around him.

'Team placement did not go exactly as we thought it would.' Naruto slurped down more ramen as he read on. 'Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji all wound up on a team together, much like Shikamaru once speculated would happen; I believed he implied it would be 'troublesome'. It is common to pair their three clans together when possible as you yourself mentioned knowing because of your commander, Inosa Nara, but the three candidates still have to show promise. Apparently our generation of InaShikaCho meet the requirements.

Shikamaru also speculated me, Kiba, and Shino would make the most sense as a Reconnaissance and Tracking Team; however, he missed the mark on this one as Kiba was paired with Sakura and Sasuke. The spot Shikamaru once said you would take, but I guess he never thought you would graduate a year early and head off to The Land Of Snow.'

Naruto sighed wistfully at the thought of pairing with Sasuke and Sakura. Going on easy missions, rescuing cats and other lost pets; or so some at the camp had mentioned: D-Ranked Missions. He was unsure of his feelings regarding the pinkette now as they had shifted to Hinata; he wasn't so naïve to think that was natural. The blonde often wondered why his shy classmate wrote to him but lacked the courage to ask. Thoughts of the indigo haired girl would often plague his thoughts. Hugging and kissing were the more common fantasy but he had seen far more with his fox-eye than strictly innocent. He tried to steer away from those thoughts regarding Hinata much as possible; he felt they insulted her in someway. He was planning on taking her for ramen the moment he got home.

'Me and Shino did get paired together, but we do not have a third teammate.' The Jinchuriki forced himself to focus back on the letter before the image of Hinata in a compromising position became to clear. 'Iruka explained we were a special case and would be paired with a chunin, Kiba's older sister Hana Inuzuka. I've met her before and she seems nice but I don't understand why this is happening. I've never heard of this before now. It's not improbable for a team of older genin to need a replacement, but Hana is definitely a chunin and we were not assigned a jounin instructor. I could tell by Iruka Sensei's voice something was troubling him when me and Shino inquired further after class, but he said he had no more information to give us. I believe he was under orders not to or he expects Hana to fill us in herself.'

'Anyways Naruto, it is getting late so I should probably end this now and go to sleep. Please stay safe and come back soon. Everyone misses you and your pranks; specially the ANBU.'

'Always your friend,

Hinata Hyuga'

"So Naruto," Izumo spoke the moment the letter was put away getting the Jinchuriki's attention, "you want to go with me and Kotetsu to town; see the pretty girls?"

The boy saw the chunin wagging his one visible eyebrow suggestively. Naruto wasn't sure why but both men were desperate to get him laid; which was a little concerting. He understood the physical aspects more than he should; probably anyway. As the two chunin were constantly trying buddy up to him Naruto had followed them on occasion when they went to the various towns around the area; he honestly believed their motives were sincere but that didn't ease his paranoia, nor his determination to not get caught with his paints down either literally or figuratively. Following them secretly through the red light districts they loved so much, his eye had seen through walls and locked doors to the various antics the two men got up to. The young Jinchuriki had no idea there were so many positions, and the weird toys. The innocent blonde boy had no idea why they would pay a woman in leather to whip them repeatedly, but that was a favorite pastime. It wasn't just them either. Everyone in camp was determine to live their off time to the max; meaning a lot of drinking, partying, and sex. Several older kunoichi had keyed in on Naruto's young naiveness and targeted him like a rare juicy veal steak, but their flirting was off put by the fact they were not Hinata.

"I'm good." Naruto smiled emptily. "I'm probably just going back to my place and work on jutsu."

"Yeah Izumo," Kotetsu nudged the guys shoulder, "you now Wicked Eye here only likes the shy quiet types. Not to many of those in the red light district. Though there are a few that will act the part if you pay them well enough."

"Uzumaki!" Looking up Naruto saw a stone faced shinobi standing by the door. "Commander Nara needs a word! Head to her office now!"

Letting out an aggravated sigh Naruto folded up his letter and left the mess hall. Walking down the old inn's hallway he came to a large room that used to be a reception area for quests. On the left wall were missions anyone could take if approved and on the right were various known enemies and their states. The upper floor of the inn was used as a hospital ward but the two back rooms were the quarters of Commander Nara. Walking up to the door marked office the boy knocked loudly.

"Enter, Uzumaki!"

"You wanted to see me, ma'am?" The blonde questioned as he sat down at her desk.

Seating behind a basic office desk was a young woman in her mid twenties: Commander Inosa Yamanaka. Despite her young age she had the respect of everyone in the camp. Long blonde hair that reached the legs of her chair and elegant facial features of her mother's clan, she looked more like a Yamanaka than a Nara. It was odd but with the degree of associations amongst the Yamanaka, Nara, and, Akimichi clans when it came to teams of three, marriage was not that common so the commander was actually a rarity.

The woman reached to the side of her desk and pulled out a scroll with yellow ribbon; the lowest and cheapest rank mission. Handing it over the desk she explained. "This just came in from a village about four hours travel inland, for a ninja anyway. It would seem a father's young daughter went missing two nights ago; girl's name is Riho. He needs help locating her but, as you can see by the scroll, can't afford much aid. I thought you would like taking it. Your various skills and eye should allow you to handle the situation fairly easy."

"Are there any expected complications?" Naruto asked opening the scroll. Inside was a photo of a girl not much older than himself wearing blue furs. She looked very pretty with her natural curly red hair and freckles.

"It may not be connected, but there is a small time gang that operates in the area. They don't do much, small time drugs, illegal whiskey, smuggling, they have a hand in anything that passes through the village really. There's also a 'possibly' hidden illegal brothel if rumors are true. Supposedly they can't get a license to operate since some of the tastes they cater to are unethical. Honestly, the rumor mill just might be churning on this one as it is said they will go to any links to satisfy their costumers most depraved fantasies: bondage, torture, murder, everything's on the table."

"Understood." Naruto's eyes narrowed at the information; he hoped it was just wild rumors but this war had shown him humans would do anything to survive; even sell their neighbor's very life if need be. Standing up he bowed low and shunshined away in a swirl of snow.

…..

Umssamu was a nice sized village squirreled away in a small valley between two forests. Normal it was a lively place of trade and commuters heading for the mines, but because of the war it was quite dead. Several buildings had begun to show signs of neglect as the inhabitants had no money for upkeep, everything they had went to food. Naruto entered through the Main Street entrance after hiding his headband and donning a hinge to look normal feeling no need to advertise he was a ninja.

Making his way down a street of small apartment buildings Naruto smiled at the people he saw. Several young kids were playing tag in the snow. Though poor and dressed in rags they still retained happiness in dark times. It was just starting to snow when he knocked on the door of the apartment he was to meet his client.

"Just a minute!" Someone called from inside.

The door opened to a thin man holding the hand of a small boy at his feet. Both had the same grey blue hair and tattered clothing. The adult took one look at Naruto and nodded. "Ah, you must be the ninja I sent for."

"Yes sir, if you're Myshi that is." Naruto gave the kindest smile he could in greeting.

"I am he." The man gave an a tired smile back. "Won't you come in. Oh, this is my son Kugai."

Inside there wasn't much to look at but some old furniture and carpet. Judging by the size, Naruto assumed this place had been a well furnished home before the war. Myshi probably had enough money to live quite comfortably until the economy crumbled.

"Please make yourself at home." The man nervously rung his hands together. "I have some corn beef and cabbage if you'd like."

Naruto looked to the kitchen to see the hot pot on the stove steaming. He had noticed the nice smell when he walked in put hadn't put a name to the dish. For some reason the sight made him uneasy. "No thanks. Probably best if I get tracking your daughter, Riho, down."

"Oh yes, yes, ah, you mean save her, right?" The man seemed genuinely confused.

Naruto's uneasy feeling returned as he opened up the mission request; the man wasn't acting the way he assumed a worried father would. "You wrote my command that your daughter, Riho, had gone missing two days ago and you needed someone to help track her down."

Myshi took the scroll and read it puzzled. Handing it back he apologized with broken words and hand gestures. "Yes, .. sorry, .. with everything going on, my worry for my children, money, our next meal, I'm a little scatterbrained."

"Yeah, no problem sir, I'll handle this soon hopefully." The Jinchuriki pocketed the scroll wondering what his next move should be. It was possible he was just being paranoid and Myshi was on the level, or someone was aiming to slip a knife in his back again. "Any idea where I should start looking. Do you know who saw her last?"

"My Riho got a job bussing tables at the hotel restaurant." The man's face grew dark at the thought. It was the first time he had shown a genuine emotion to the situation that Naruto could understand, which eased his paranoia some.

"The Gyo, a small gang of thugs deputized by the lord of these lands to save money; hard to hire samurai and pikemen right now. With all the honorable soldiers joining one side or the other, there isn't many free to take the job of village guard. The Gyo get complete reign of the village, allowing for all manner of formally illegal activity, so long as they keep some kind of peace. The original owner of the inn sold it to them because he fell on hard times like everyone else. Now the upstairs is a brothel and who knows what else."

"And you let Riho get a job there." Naruto asked bewildered.

"It was that or watch her starve to death; besides, I didn't allow it so much as she said she was going to do it to help out, and that was final."

The Jinchuriki and man studied one another for a moment until Naruto asked. "Are you sure they have her?"

"You saw her picture." Myshi stated forlornly. Hands shaking in rage he quietly spat. "What do you think. I told her not to go work there. I told her that fat bastard Gazo wouldn't be able to keep his eyes and hands off her. I can only imagine what she's going through with that monster."

Again, Naruto noticed the man's emotions were true, but for some reason alarm bells were ringing in his mind. Not for the first time he wished his eye had mind reading capability; or at the vary least genjutsu capability. He could see and detect the illusion arts easily enough but had yet managed to replicate any technique he observed.

…..

Getting directions from Myshi, Naruto was able to find the Umssamu Inn. Unlike the surrounding buildings the large three story structure was much nicer looking. With a fresh coat of paint on the outside you could tell business was booming. Walking in through the front several people gave him odd and suspicious looks. The boy ignored them and headed for the bar.

"Tea and honey, please." The blonde stated placing some money on the counter.

A tall burly bartender walked over with a steaming cup and small ceramic pot. "You're a little young to be walking around on your own, aren't you son? What with the war and bandits and all."

"My master's upstairs. Told me to wait down here for a while; said he wouldn't be long." Naruto shrugged in an uncaring way. Lying smoothly he gave a bright grin. "We're on our way to the coast to see about a shipment of wool. We're traveling salesmen."

"Alright son," the man gave a curt nod, "you just be careful. This is no place for a youngster like yourself. Stay at the bar where I can kind off keep an eye on you please."

The man walked off after Naruto assured him he would stay put. Sighing to himself he checked to make sure no one was looking and glanced upwards at the ceiling to appear deep in thought. Searching from one room to the next the Jinchuriki found it difficult to keep a straight face. One depraved scene after another greeted his gaze. There were times when Naruto hated this eye and a few moments were he thought of gouging it out. He hated places like this. The boy loathed the way they made him feel dirty, as if watching the adult acts themselves made him a participant. He hated the nightmares they invoked were usually a classmate took the place of the girls he witnessed. The absolute worst were the ones were he took the place of the man doing the torture. Finally, in a small furniture-less room on the third floor, he found Riho. The redhead, unconscious at the far wall, was chained from the ceiling by her arms in individual chains and shackles. The girl's feet were bound to the floor to prevent her from kicking out at anyone that came to close. A quick look through her tattered raged kimono showed bruising from paddles and whips; most noticeable across her lower back and buttocks.

Looking away quickly Naruto shook in rage. Despite his impulse to rip the place down and find the bastards responsible he had to be smart. There were innocent people about that could get caught in the crossfire and Riho herself could get hurt as well; or hurt worse than she already had been.

The bartender returned to see if he needed refreshing, so Naruto asked in a conversational manner. "So, who owns this place mister. From the outside I'd say they were doing well for the times we're in. I'm curious to know what his or her secret is."

The burly man gave a lopsided grin with a response. "He deals in the world's oldest profession; women and the like. Yeah, Boss Gazo is a smart man. Managed to get in good with Lord Hayoshi Tatekite; which is always profitable. Allows the old pervert first pick of the girls. In turn the man allows Gazo to run the town."

"I hope he doesn't get up to anything illegal or dangerous." Naruto let a little fear slip into his voice.

The bartender laughed at this. "The law is what man writes down on paper and enforces kid. If the written word is changed, or no one enforces it, than you can't really break the law. However, no, Boss Gazo is a business man and doesn't deal in anything illegal except the occasional small time drug deal."

Nodding towards the back the man indicated a large round table with several well dressed men setting at it. Following his gaze the young ninja saw a short fat man with long greying hair snuggled up to a young woman's in his lap. His hand was inside her kimono top as they shared a drink. The woman was all smiles but Naruto easily saw by her body language she would rather be anywhere else but the gangster's lap. Using his eye Naruto saw the other men all had various weapons on their person. Bodyguards with attitude and some skill; still no match for a ninja.

"So that's your boss with the pretty lady?"

"Yep, that girl is actually all the way from Tea Country." The bartender seemed oddly impressed by this. "The Wagarashi Clan owed Boss Gazo a favor and paid up with a shipment of women. Not sure how they acquired such a good looking number of them, but here they are at the inn."

"No offense sir, but there is an obvious answer to that question." The Jinchuriki's eyes narrowed angrily.

"Kidnapping?" The burly man sighed annoyed. "You're not the first to suggest such a thing, nor will you be the last. The truth of our world is anyone at anytime could find themselves owing money to a cutthroat businessman that will sell their bodies to cover the debt. Happens all the time; especially these days in Snow Country. Almost ever country agrees to some level of Bound-Servitude in some way or another; even the Five Great Nations. Though I heard all those people become ninja to some degree or another, so the hidden village wines up owning them all."

Naruto would have violently objected to that statement when he first came to this country, but now knew better. He wasn't much deferent than these whore in the brothel, his village sold him out for profit no different than Boss Gazo. Yeah sure he didn't have to sleep with people, unless he was ordered to possibly, but the service he provided was still just as damaging to the soul. He was only twelve, soon to be thirteen, and already had enough physical and emotional scars most eighty-year-olds didn't acquire.

The Jinchuriki gave his best off putting fake smile as the bartender finally left. Sneaking away he climbed the stars to the third floor. Ignoring the sounds of pain and pleasure filled moaning from the various rooms he streaked down the hallway. Coming to the room holding Riho he placed his back to the wall to lessen. Glancing through the door he once again saw the unconscious redhead hanging from the ceiling. Doing his best to remain calm he assessed the situation. Honestly his paranoia was going bat-shit-crazy in his head. This mission was just to easy; everything fell into place to snug. Not to mention the damsel-in-destress scenario. Everything was geared for a young dumb kid playing ninja in mind; a basic rookie trap. Naruto didn't like it one bit.

Slowly the door opened as the blondie crept inside. The girl on the far wall didn't move a muscle as he approached. With growing anxiety he looked around for a trap but saw nothing apparent. Finally, standing before the girl he whispered her name. "Riho, I'm here to rescue you. Can you hear me?"

Slowly, the girl twitched awake. Looking up she gave a sad broken smile seeing Naruto. "Please kill me, my body hurts so much. I haven't been violated yet because they want me to give permission; to beg for the fat man. I can't take anymore of the whip and paddle. Punished for being a stubborn foolish girl that should simply do what comes natural."

"It's ok, I'm going to take you home and kill that fat bastard; believe it." Naruto gave his most sincere earnest smile as he beamed happily. "Don't you worry Riho. Gazo won't hurt anyone ever again."

The boy wrapped the girl in a hug to ease her worries. The redhead began to cry into his shoulder felling his warmth. Naruto had no warning as a blade came out of her breast and empaled him through the back. Coughing up blood he heard a man's sinister laugh. "That was easier than I thought it would be. You foolish genin are far to stupid to take seriously. It's pathetic how a crying little girl will make you completely drop your guard."

…..

Hinata ducked quick as Shino tried to roundhouse kick her in the face. Panting profusely the girl rolled away on the lake's surface to get some distance; the thick winter cloak and hood she wore slowing her down some. Sparring on water in this way served three training purposes; taijutsu, chakra control, and endurance. Under the watch of Senpai Hana, the two genin had trained this way for the last week when the Inuzuka found out they already knew tree-walking curtesy of their clans.

"Nice move Shino!" The pretty woman called from the bank. The tall brunette didn't bother responding as he rushed the indigo haired heiress. "Hinata, you need to press the attack! Your enemies will not show mercy up north!"

The young kunoichi thew herself back at the taller boy to meet him head on; determined for once to force him on guard. She would not fail this mission; rescuing Naruto. The moment Hana asked if they wished to volunteer for mercenary duty she had agreed without hesitation; Shino had taken a day and night to decide. Everything they did since then was to prepare for battle conditions. Besides their normal attire, Hinata's baggy beige jacket and Shino's high collar light grey jacket with sunglasses, the two also wore heavy white winter cloaks and hoods; they had to get used to moving in them despite the heat and exhaustion. The young girl wasn't stupid by any means and knew Naruto's letters were mostly lies. She had seen the Hyuga who returned from the north, those dead or far to broken for the duties of a shinobi. The heiress had talked with those still able to communicate and learned a good deal about what Naruto had truly been going through; his new eye and the assassination attempts, how he was always working alone to paranoid to trust anyone in the camp. Hinata understood her friend was in hell and she was determined to save what little remained of the knucklehead she loved.

…..

Naruto coughed up more blood as he turned to glare at his enemy. There were two, an older man and a young girl only two or three years his senior. The man was covered in a thick black fur cloak with long light blonde hair. The girl wore a thick blue jacket buttoned up at the left side with shinobi pants and brown fur boots. Her hair was a long dull grayish purple that reached the small of her knees. On her back Naruto recognized a large battle fan Sand Ninja were known for using. On their foreheads sat their headbands. Naruto recognized the man as Ganba The Grotesque Puppeteer. He was known for covering his puppets in the skin of dead people to fool targets into thinking they were corpses. This allowed him an easy ambush tactic.

"What is this?" Naruto wheezed out. "Where's the girl? Where's Riho?

"Geez your one dead moron." The girl laughed in response. "That girl's father sold her to Gazo a few days ago. We found out and offered to buy her back in exchange for him helping us lure you here. Apparently your heroic bullshit has been costing Lord Kazahana a lot of ryo, so he sent out a mission to the mercenary camps to collect your head. As a bonus Senpai Ganba here is going to transplant your eye into me. Even a broken Byakugan still has power."

"And Gazo?" Naruto spat blood as he tried to remain standing.

"What off the glorified pimp?" Ganba scoffed. "So long as he gets his money the man doesn't care who dies or gets fucked. He let us use this room in exchange for a night with Sekoto here. Apparently the man had never been with a kunoichi."

The girl's face grew dark at the memory, but her cocky smile soon returned. "Long as I get that eye it will have been worth it."

"Well, I hope you got off at least girl, because my eye remains where it is." Both Sand Ninja turned around to see Naruto leaning casually in the doorframe. Turning back to the puppet they saw a pile of snow falling to the ground. "You fools aren't the only ones that can show people what they expect to see."

"How did you know!?" Sekoto shrieked outraged. "You damned Leaf Ninja Genin are known for your hero complex!"

"True, and I definitely had it at one time," the blonde smiled emptily remembering back to who he used to be, "but I have learned from this frozen hell to take nothing at face value; nor to believe every desperate cry fore help is legit. Everything about this mission was to damned easy. Talking with the bartender down stairs was also telling. When I factored in his information, I realized Gazo would have taken to great a risk kidnapping Riho when he could simply have bought her servitude instead. Even if Lord Hayoshi Tatekite was willing to overlook small time criminal activity, kidnapping would have been to glaring a crime. I didn't have all the pieces, I'm not that clever, but my Snow Clone got you fools talking well enough."

"Think you're so cleaver brat!" Sekoto stormed as she built up her chakra. Grabbing her battle fan she swung it horizontally, opening it to show one moon on the inside paper. A solid gust of wind shot out at Naruto who easily avoided it by jumping up through the roof. The jutsu carried out into the hallway and obliterated the adjacent room across. Luckily no one was inside to be massacred.

Squaring off on the roof the three shinobi sized one another up. Down on the street a crowd was begging to gather. Gazo and his men were glaring at the damage done to the hotel. Ganba had freed his Riho looking puppet to stand before him. The human flesh it was cover with beginning to show rapid decay. It still looked kind of normal except for the puppet limb with attached katana blade poking out the breast.

Without warning the puppet shot forth as more blades ripped themselves from the palms of her hands. Naruto formed a scythe made of ice and began paring the deadly swiping attacks, keeping one eye on his enemy. Sekoto focused her chakra using the hand sign for ram and once again swung her fan. Still using just one moon she unleashed a small tornado of deadly razor wind at the puppet's back. Ganba quickly made his weapon stand aside as Naruto ran through his own hand signs.

"Wind Release: Tornado Wall!"

Naruto wasn't sure why, but all his wind jutsu had a shade of black to them, much like his water jutsu were always more dense than what he observed with others. If he had to guess it was something to do with the fact he couldn't fully separate hyoton from either his water or wind releases; meaning either style was always blistering frigid and overpowered regardless of his intentions. As such his tornado wall was barely transparent as he appeared to be in an odd form of dark cloud-like structure of whirling air currents. (1)

The moment Naruto's jutsu ended he made the sign of dragon. An enormous amount of icicles formed in midair aimed at the two Sand Ninja. Thrusting his arms out the boy caused each icicle to fire one by one at his enemies. Both shinobi began taking defensive action in their own unique ways. Ganba unsealed a large wooden shield from a pocket scroll that appeared to have multiple hidden compartments to hid behind. Sekoto closed her fan and began twirling through the air batting away any projectile she couldn't safely dodge. When the attack ended the girl was out of breath but completely unharmed. Ganba had been forced to relinquish his strings on the Riho-puppet to apply all his effort to the shield. Causing it to spin and emit chakra was the only way the shield-puppet weathered the attack.

"Son of a bitch this kid's chakra is unreal." Looking to his subordinate Ganba ordered. "We need to retreat Sekoto! At this rate we're dead! My puppets won't hold up against his attacks for long and you don't have the chakra to maintain a ninjutsu battle."

Opening her fan all the way the girl tossed it in the air as she made hand signs. Catching it with a fluid motion she raged. "I don't care what it takes that eye will be mine! Wind Release: Wind Scythe Cyclone!" (2)

Unleashing the massive jutsu the girl actually managed to catch Naruto by surprise. The sheer size, power, and speed of the technique was beyond anything he imagine the kunoichi pulling off. Suspended in midair his body began to shred away as blades of wind cut through his clothes. Focusing his power the Jinchuriki began countering with his own wind jutsu. His body became clouded behind darkness once again as he weathered the attack.

"HELL NO, YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THERE ALIVE BRAT!" Sekoto screamed outraged.

Waving her fan back and forth the kunoichi unleashed more chakra infused wind. Naruto gritted his teeth as he held his defenses against the assault. Ganba growing desperate unsealed a massive ten foot shuriken from his pocket scroll and hurled it into the twister. Using chakra strings he guided it as best he could to try and take off the boy's head; though it proved difficult keeping a hold on metal with his jutsu. Naruto, unable to move or use any jutsu as he concentrated on wind chakra, raised his left arm and parried the shuriken with his forearm.

"What the hell kind of chakra is in that arm!" Ganba cried as the blonde casually flung the blade away.

Sekoto's power gave out as she relinquished her attack. Naruto fell to the inn's roof ready to continue. Unleashing a wave of chakra with his left hand he froze the roof in a thick layer of frost. Charging forward he restored his ice scythe as he attempted to decapitate the kunoichi who had to adjust to the slippery surface. Black wind coated the ice blade as the boy mad a horizontal slash for the stumbling girl's neck. Sekoto noticed the danger and bent back at a painful sharp angle, just in time allowing the attack to pass. The wind attack carried forward like a semitransparent black cloud of death. The dark eyes of Sekoto widened fearfully realizing they couldn't win this fight. Taijutsu wise they were evenly matched but he outclassed her in strength, stamina, chakra, and ninjutsu. Ganba was an accomplished puppet master but was most effective in ambush tactics; not a straight fight. Neither were any good a genjutsu which probably wouldn't be effective because of that eye. They had to escape but the boy would never let them leave after they tried killing him. Rolling away the girl stopped suddenly and realized something was horribly wrong; everything suddenly felt far to cold.

Ganba saw his subordinate in trouble so sent the Riho-puppet forward to engage. The sound of wet flesh tearing apart was heard as the back exploded in gore to reveal three more arms with attached katana blades. The mouth opened unnaturally wide causing the face to rip open at the jaw. From the maw a hail of senbon were unleashed at Naruto's back. With a tight twirl through the air the blonde deflected the projectiles with a flourish of his cloak.

"Sekoto, we need to go now!" Ganba called looking for the girl. His heart nearly stopped when he found her by the roof's edge. The purplette had evaded Naruto's primary attack to fall for his second; landing on a jagged spike of ice that ran her through at the abdomen. Unable to do anything the man just sighed in disbelief. "No."

"You brought this on yourself." Looking up the puppeteer saw his enemy approaching slowly. The dead emotionless look in his mismatched eyes was inhumanly haunting.

"You don't have to tell me that brat." Ganba popped his neck and recalled his shield and Riho-puppet. "We're shinobi after all. It's what we do; fight and die like good little soldiers."

Causing several large blades to spring out of his shield-puppet's top, bottom, and sides the man leveled a cold glare at the Jinchuriki. "At least I know now you live up to your name; Wicked Eyed Ice Oni."

"I really hate that name." Naruto wearily remarked with a sigh. "It fits me better than I'd like to admit. I always thought the world would know me for being a grate hero. Instead all I've ever reminded them of is a monster."

"Kid, monster and hero go hand-to-hand in the Shinobi World." Thick purple smoke began leaking from the shield-puppet as it started spinning like a fan. The new blades acting like propellers to send the cloud of death Naruto's way.

The Jinchuriki didn't bother responding. Running through hand signs he built chakra for his strongest wind jutsu; even as his eye showed him Ganba trying to make his escape behind the wall of smoke. The puppeteer would not manage to escape his attack though. "Wind Release: Dark Twister Vortex Stream!"

Currents of air gathered in front of Naruto to form a dark tornado that fired off parallel to the roof; decimating wood and shingles. Both puppets met the jutsu head on and actually managed to part the attack for a second, destroying two lower rooms, before succumbing to the pressurized wind; it was lucky the hotel had already been evacuated. With the sound of shredding metal and wood both weapons were destroyed as the wind jutsu continued its trajectory; catching the fleeing Ganba seconds before escaping mid shunshin. The puppeteer gave of a desperate strangled cry as his body was hammered by pressurized wind blades. Through his eye Naruto saw the man's right arm despair below the elbow as a spray of blood jetted from his neck. Watching the Sand Shinobi fall from the building to the alleyway bellow the boy knew the fight was finally over.

Walking over to Sekoto, Naruto looked down upon the dying girl with a stony face. The purplette looked up desperately with tears in her eyes and pleaded; shivering from the cold. "P-p-p-please d-d-don't k-k-k-ill me."

The blonde knelt down beside her and placed his left hand on her neck. "The child I wants was would have tried to help you out of blind heroism and misplaced ideology of shinobi doctrine, but the monster this cursed land has forged knows better than that naïve child. You tried to kill a killer, kunoichi. What did you think would happen if you lost?"

Instantly freezing her neck Naruto broke off her head. Glancing sideways he saw the discarded battle fan and picked it up. Marveling at how light the massive yet mostly hollow weapon was he attacked it to his back with chakra. Jumping down into the alleyway to retrieve the head of Ganba he received a surprise; the body was gone. Looking around he found the remains of the puppeteer's right forearm and inter lower jaw. Remembering the spray of blood he mistook for a severed neck the Jinchuriki realized what had actually happened. The Sand Ninja tried receiving just enough injury to appear dead and misjudged the cut of a wind blade to the face. Being a medic it was possible for him to survive his injuries and heal himself; they would meet again.

…..

A nervous Myshi rushed to open the door when he heard the pounding. "Just a minute!"

Opening the threshold he saw a short man with an angry scowl flanked by two well dressed goons in matching white suites: one bald with sunglasses and the other with a dark bushy ponytail that stuck upwards. Worried the man asked unsure. "What do you want Gazo, I thought we were all squared up?"

"We were, until those shinobi you brought here wrecked my brothel." The short man wheezed angrily. "I have to replace the whole roof and about half the top floor. The repairs will cost me more than what I originally paid for the place."

Forcing his way in the short man glanced around at the disheveled home. "I blame you for this Myshi, and I expect you to cover the damages."

"Now h-h-hold on," the blue haired man stammered flabbergasted, "that wasn't the arrangement! Those shinobi paid my debt to send a bogus letter to the Hidden Leaf Camp! Whatever deal you had with them is on you and doesn't involve me in any way!"

"Yeah, you may have a point." The little gangster agreed with a sinister smile. "Now explain why I should care about that. You have two bundles of joy that can fetch a good price on the market, not to mention what little I could get for you."

"Why can't you just leave us alone!" Both men looked to the hallway entrance to see an angry young redheaded girl in a nightgown. "This is over and done with. If you have a grievance file it away with the samurai like everyone else; or take it directly to the Sand Village Camp."

"A whore's wisdom means little to me dear." The man leered suggestively.

"I never participated in such activities!" The redhead seethed outraged.

"Yeah, which is good for profit. With what I need to make on you to cover damages, I'm thinking film work. Nothing sells like a recording of a whore's first time." Looking to his goons Gazo ordered. "Gather the two brats for market."

Myshi moved to protect his daughter but the action was unnecessary as everyone paused hearing the sound of slurping coming from the dark kitchen. Eyes adjusting they saw a young blonde boy slurping beef and cabbage from a bowl. His clothes were tattered and bloody but he appeared unfazed by this fact. Finishing the bowl with an exaggerated performance, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and gave a big grin. "Damn that hit the spot!"

"You, why are you here!?" Gazo questioned terrified. "You should have left long ago!"

"I should have; why's that?" Naruto questioned back in a mocking unsure manner. "I mean, there's quite a few people that tried to kill me still in this village. Would not it be better to deal with them before leaving?"

The gangster paled at the subtle threat. "Now wait a minute. That business was between you shinobi, not us civilians."

"You involved yourselves when you agreed to help them trick me." The smile left Naruto's face as he pulled out the severed head of Sekoto from behind his back and placed it on the counter. "I believe you know this kunoichi. She mentioned the two of you had an arrangement for the use of your brothel."

Both goons began slowly reaching inside their suits for weapons, but stopped when Naruto shot them cold looks. A terrified Gazo began looking for a way to shift blame. With a trembling hand he pointed to Myshi. "He was the one that sent the mission request, not me.

"None of this would have been necessary had you not bought my daughter." Myshi fist shook in rage.

"You choose to sell her to me!" The gangster spat angrily.

"Enough." Naruto calmly threatened not wanting to bother with an argument between the two men.

Placing his bowl in the sink he addressed Gazo. "Who do you think Hidden Sand will want dead more, the boy who killed their kunoichi or the man that violated her for a cheep thrill. What I did is bad, true, but then again we are shinobi. You, on the other hand, made her less than a kunoichi for a night."

"Now wait a minute." Gazo nervousness increased. "Me and her had a deal. Hidden Sand will understand that surely."

Naruto chuckled darkly hearing the excuse. "Yeah, their command and kage will for sure, but the average Sand Shinobi won't. I'm protected by Hidden Leaf, killing me could spark a war; however, no one is going to care if some angry kunoichi comes along and skins your dick off to avenge a dishonored friend."

Letting his words sink in the boy beamed eerily. "But don't worry, I'm sure it will be ok. After all, I doubt Ganba will won't Sekoto remembered in such a way and I have no reason to tell anyone either; so that just leaves you. If you take this grievance to the samurai you'll have to explain what happened, forcing me to defend myself in court. Which would mean bringing up the method of payment used. Definitely not something you would want."

"Then that means this is my only option!" The gangster whined pleadingly. "How else can I make up my losses."

"Not my problem or theirs." The Jinchuriki's eyes turned icy. "The only ones who owe you damages in this affair is Hidden Sand; meaning you're extremely fucked. Cut your losses, or a vengeful kunoichi just might cut it off."

"You can't do this to me." Gazo's anger returned as he looked to his men expecting them to attack, but both just stood frozen in fear. "Do something you cowards! This is what I pay you for!"

"There ain't enough money in the world for us to attack him." The bald man scoffed. "Kid or no kid we saw him fighting on the roof. We wouldn't last five seconds."

"Look at him, he's injured!" The gangster tried pleading.

"Then you attack him if you think you can win!" The second bodyguard exclaimed. "I doubt we'd win even if both his arm were in slings."

Gazo turned to argue some more but Naruto had enough. "Just get out and don't come back."

Vanishing in a blur he appeared right behind Gazo and held an ice kunai to his throat. Feeling the point at his neck the small man pissed his pants. "I'll be keeping an eye on this family and town. The snow is my power and my power is everywhere; don't forget that. You won't see me but I'll see you. Give me a reason and I'll feed you to the winter."

The defeated gangster left soon afterward with his preverbal tail between his legs. Myshi watched him go unsure if it was really over. Riho gave Naruto a polite bow as she tried apologizing. "Thank you Naruto-san, we don't deserve your help."

The blonde glared at the girl with a face of marble. "Well, you want to tell me the truth now?"

"I'm sorry…" Myshi began, only to stop when an ice kunai flew past his head cutting his cheek.

"I didn't ask you." Naruto's eyes promised death if the man even breathed wrong.

Riho looked away in shame as she started. "Most of what my dad told you was true. I did get a job at the inn bussing tables. Gazo paid me in food instead of wages; a payment method I excepted. Unfortunately he only paid me enough for myself only. I tried sharing with my family but it just wasn't enough. Gazo tried convincing me of ways I could get more money but I refused; I'd rather starve with my dignity."

Giving her dad an angry sad glare the redhead continued. "That's when Gazo approached my father. My dad sold me for a large sum of money with the intent to earn enough to buy me back after the war. Fortunately, or unfortunately for you, I wasn't owned long enough to have anything done to me. Those shinobi approached my dad the very next day and offered to buy me back for a favor. I guess you know the rest."

Glaring at Myshi the boy spat. "You recognized me when I opened the door. Instantly knowing I was a ninja despite not showing any signs. The beef and cabbage were bought with the money Gazo gave you; something you shouldn't have been able to afford if you gave all you could to pay for the mission."

"I did it to save my family." The man tried explaining to the angry boy. "All I've done is to save my family."

"YOU SOLD YOUR DAUGHTER TO A BROTHEL!" Naruto raged his power building.

"SHE WOULD HAVE LIVED!" Myshi screamed back with tears in his eyes. "I COULDN'T WATCH HER STARVE ANYMORE!"

"Daddy?" A small boy's scared voice came from the hallway as Kugai appeared.

Riho quickly ran up to him and held the child close. Glancing to the severed head still on the counter she nervously tickled his belly to distract him. "Did we wake you up big guy. Come on, let big sis tuck you back in."

Watching his children go Myshi broke down in tears as he fell to his knees. Weeping pitifully he tried explaining. "Please, you must understand I didn't want any of this. I owned a shop before it was taken from me by the bank. My wife past after Kugai was born so it was just us three. I've done everything I could to keep my children feed and safe. When Gazo approached me I wanted to say no, but I couldn't see any other way. My children hadn't had a true meal in weeks, just a bowl of soup they'd shared when Riho got home at night. After it was done we sat down together and had a meal, and I realized what I'd done, then those ninja showed up; it all happened to fast for me to think. I admit if killing you would save my children than I wouldn't hesitate to try, but I'm still sorry. You're a child too and didn't deserve any of this."

Naruto just looked down at the back of the man's head with a blank expression. The boy was so empty inside he couldn't truly feel angry with the broken father. Picking up Sekoto's severed head Naruto couldn't help but think about the girl she was before this frozen hell. With nothing more to say he vanished, leaving Myshi broken on the floor.

Author's Note: I know 'Gazo' sounds like Gato, but they are completely deferent. Gato was a carrier criminal and Gazo skirts the law but never breaks it. The drugs he buys can be prescribed by a doctor. All he has to do is bribe one to write blank prescriptions. Technically that is breaking the law, just not overly obvious I guess you could say.

(1)- Something like this was in Ninja Clash In The Land Of Snow. Ice Style: Black Dragon Blizzard. Literally don't like the way this jutsu is supposed to be an ice attack as it appears to be wind, but whatever. Naruto's wind is unnaturally dense and cold so appears black. Yes I know that doesn't fully make sense but it's what I'm going with.

(2)-Maybe someone can help me out with this. The jutsu described was the one Temari defeated Tenten with. I know Temari had a weasel summons and when used it changed the name of her jutsu, but I've seen some online phrasing that suggests Tenten was beat with a jutsu from the weasel category. I know the actual fight in Chunin Exam was filler but is there an official answer somewhere. Trying to find a list of Temari's jutsu with pictures and descriptions but not sure what is game based, movie based, anime based, or manga based. Doesn't matter what their 'base' is so long as I know where it comes from originally.