A/N: From now on, only Naruto and his servants will have POVs. I had also forgotten to mention Sakura this entire chapter. So I added that little joke at the end as a result once I realized. I know not many people think highly of her. I dunno. Maybe I should offscreen her since I've kinda lost the drive to make her interesting. I tried at first, but got bored. Wonder if Orochimaru's snake summon is hungry. Thoughts?

Naruto sat atop the roof of his apartment, legs crossed and hands folded in his lap. Kakashi had told him that meditating was crucial to becoming a Shinobi, as it allowed one to focus their thoughts and tame any unwanted emotions. And it was hard. He didn't like sitting still. Didn't like being so quiet. But at the same time, there was a certain serenity in the practice. Like the chaotic world around him had faded away, replaced only by the rhythmic sound of his breathing. And it let him think. Think about all that happened. From his graduation, to meeting Jack, to learning about his affinities and even learning how to walk on walls and water. He'd come a long way from the loud brat that would prank everyone.

Don't get him wrong, he still loved pranking, but he'd toned it down. Mostly because of Jack. If people saw that she was affiliated with him, they might bully her as well and that was something he refused to let happen. His problems were his problems, not hers. Not only that, but though she was incredibly strong, she was still a kid. And in a way, he felt that it was his responsibility to look after her. Especially since in the eyes of the village, he was now considered a legal adult. So he had to force himself to mature. At least a little.

And it was ironic. He had no problems setting a bad example for Konohamaru and his minions, but Jack was different. Maybe it was the kindred spirit he saw in her. Maybe it was because she was basically family. But either way, he was oddly protective of her.

She was strong. But he knew there were stronger people out there. Old Man Hokage was one of them. He had no doubt that the Hokage could easily subdue Jack. Speaking of, perhaps he should talk to him about it? He might know something. And he might be able to give him the means to get even stronger, to be able to protect his new family.

"So you want to become stronger, huh?"

His eyes shot open as a loud voice reverberated around him and he realized he was no longer on the rooftop. He was in some kind of dark sewer-like area.

He immediately stood up and turned around, having a feeling something or someone was there. And that's when he saw them. Two gigantic red eyes. Eyes so full of hatred that if they could kill, he'd have fallen over dead on the spot.

"Typical humans. Always greedy for more than they have."

Naruto stared at the source of the rumbling voice. A voice that sent shivers down his spine. It felt ancient. And powerful.

"Well? Are you going to stand there looking stupid or are you going to greet me?"

The blond blinked. "Uh."

"Good lord. Are you really that daft? Think about it for a minute, moron. Who else could I be?"

And that's when the pieces connected. "Ah. You're the Kyuubi!"

"Yes. I am the great Kyuubi. Sealed inside you by that wretched Fourth Hokage."

Naruto crossed his arms and titled his head. "If you were so great, how'd you get sealed away so easily?"

The gigantic fox rammed into the cage. "Don't make me devour you, brat!"

Naruto snorted but shook his head in a bid to recompose himself. The fox wasn't so scary now. Especially with such Sakura-like outbursts. "Anyways, backing up a bit. You said something about me becoming stronger?"

"Of course that's what you'd focus on. Yes. By loosening the seal and allowing me to gain more control, I can grant you incredible power."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "That sounds like something that could easily bite me in the ass. How do I know you won't just take me over?"

"Oh. So you're smarter than you look. It's true, I want nothing more than to get out of this cage and if taking you over allows me to do that, so be it."

The genin scratched his chin and thought about the situation at hand. Here was the Kyuubi offering him power for a price. Power that could help him protect those he cared about. And it was clearly being honest about its intentions. The answer was obvious.

"No deal," he said, his resolve strengthening. "I'll become strong enough to protect everyone on my own 'ttebayo!"

There was a tense silence between them.

"This won't be the last time we speak, brat."

Naruto just grinned. "Good to hear it! You just made meditation just got a lot more exciting!"

And with that, Naruto was ousted from his mindscape and found himself once more in the outside world. He stood up, a confident expression coloring his face. It was time to show everyone. Old Man Teuchi, Ayame, Old Man Hokage, Iruka, Kakashi. Even those villagers that hated him.

That he'd inherit the Will of Fire and truly become the next Hokage!

His stomach growled.

Right after he ate some ramen!

Jack trailed alongside her Mommy while in astral form, keeping an eye out for any potential threats. He and his team had been chosen for a C-Rank Mission and were to escort this old guy to his bridge. Jack didn't like the old guy. His breath stink and he was really mean to her Mommy! But she held her tongue and didn't say anything bad. She didn't want to make her Mommy angry at her. Especially after they'd been so kind.

But as they traveled down the dirt path, she noticed something out of place. Call it a gut feeling, or experience, but something about the puddle at the side of the road didn't feel right. It seemed too out of place. Too noticeable. And that's when she realized the ground beneath her feet was bone dry.

Her body moved before her mind did and she materialized, countering the clawed strike of one of the would-be Assassins with her knives. They were slow. A lot slower than her. Even that scarecrow guy moved way faster. Unfortunately the other one managed to slip past her.

"Mommy, bad guys!" she called out in warning.

"Good work, Jack," Kakashi's calm and collected voice replied. "Now let's see what they want, hm?"

The man she was fighting called her a very unflattering name and tried to sprint past her, but she refused to let him pass. She could see Kakashi engaging with the other out of the corner of her eye and knew that stopping this one fell to her. She could kill him, but her Mommy had told her a bit about Shinobi's. And that's while they weren't exactly against killing, it was always good to obtain information first. So she'd cripple him, that'd be best. She easily bobbed, hopped and weaved around his frantic clawed strikes - telling her that he wasn't exactly the most experienced fighter - and at the right moment, shot forward and severed the tendons in his ankles, bringing him to the ground in a crumpled heap. She then held one of her knives to his neck, her expression a far cry from her normal childish one. "Don't move," she said coldly.

She felt someone pat her head and looked up to see Kakashi looking down at her, his signature eye smile in place.

"I'll take it from here, Jack. Go check on Naruto, will you? He's having a hard time of it."

She reluctantly removed her knife from her opponent and glanced over at her Mommy. He looked white as a sheet. She trotted up to him. "Mommy?"

Naruto snapped out of his trance at Jack's voice and gazed down at the concerned expression of his servant. He mentally swore. He hadn't meant to freeze up like that, but suddenly being thrust into a real battle, where his life was in danger, it took him by surprise. If he had been alone. If Jack or Kakashi hadn't been around, he might be dead.

Why? Why had he frozen up? He'd faced angry villagers. He'd faced Mizuki. And he'd even faced down the Kyuubi himself. So why had he been afraid?

"Killing intent," came Kakashi's voice as he walked over to the group. "That's why you froze up, Naruto. Real shinobi know how to project it."

And as Kakashi said that, Naruto realized he was right. The villagers could be dicks, Mizuki was a bastard and the Kyuubi was a ball of hate. But none of them had directed such intense killing intent at him. Mizuki underestimated him and the Kyuubi was, well, the Kyuubi. Killing intent toward someone like him was probably beneath it.

"Relax," Sasuke said as he walked up beside him. "If you let that little bit of killing intent get to you, you'll never make it as a Shinobi. Let alone as the Hokage."

That made Naruto fume. He was about to retort when he felt Jack pull on his pants.

She smiled up at him. "It's okay, Mommy. You can project killing intent too."

He blinked. That was a good point. If others could do it, why couldn't he? Problem was, he didn't know how.

"It's simple." Jack said, as if reading his mind, "just imagine something precious being taken away from you. We imagine being separated from Mommy and suddenly we want to kill the person before us~."

Okay. Note to self. Get Jack some consoling. In fact, get himself some consoling too. It was sorely needed.

Still, it brought to mind what Kakashi had said a few days ago. About those abandoning their comrades being worse than scum.

He nodded. He could do this. No, he would do this.

"Thank you, Jackie" he said with a smile.

She smiled in return.

It was easy to tell Mommy that before, but now? Jack wasn't so sure. Because a few hours later, a new figure had arrived. His name was Zabuza Momochi and the aura he exerted made even Jack tense. He wasn't someone she'd be able to go easy on. But just as she felt like she'd be in for a tough fight, he utilized a Jutsu.

The Hidden Mist Technique.

Jack felt a feral smile form on her lips as the mist enveloped them. This man, he had just given her the advantage. The mist. It was her home. Her old hunting ground. If he thought he would gain the upper hand, he was sorely mistaken.

It was just like her Noble Phantasm, The Mist. Only less smog based. Even so, it would do just as well.

When Zabuza's killing intent cut through the shroud, she had already vanished before reappearing next to her Mommy. "It's okay, Mommy," she whispered in his ear. "The hunt has already begun."

She then took off through the mist, flickering in and out of existence as she did so.

She was aware of some fighting, probably between Zabuza and Kakashi, but she wasn't concerned about that. No, what she was concerned about was getting in the right spot. The right spot to launch a surprise attack. Her presence had been completely concealed. No one would be able to sense her. And what Zabuza had started, she would finish.

Naruto had been a bit frightened of Zabuza until he'd heard two things. The first were Jack's words, which made him remember that his servant was truly one to be feared. And the second was Kakashi's inspiring speech. Right. No more being afraid. He could do this. He didn't know what Jack was up to, but he trusted her.

And as his eyes adjusted to the mist, he noticed Zabuza right in front of him! He swore and immediately drew his kunai. He wasn't going to die that easily!

He countered the man's massive sword and felt his knees nearly give out from the recoil. But fortunately for him, Sasuke was there to back him up, followed by Kakashi, who quickly revealed that the Zabuza who had attacked was some kind of Water Clone.

And then Kakashi got cut in half! But he was a clone too.

Clone combat was weird.

But it was something that was totally up his wheelhouse, so he'd be referring to this fight at a later date when it came time to create his own tactics.

"Water Prison Jutsu!"

That didn't sound good and it didn't look good either. Zabuza had trapped Kakashi in some kind of water orb. And then he'd created another Water Clone.

Three Genin and an old man versus a Rogue Jonin. Yeah, that seemed fair.

"Grab Tazuna and run!" Kakashi yelled at them, seemingly forgetting that one of their numbers wasn't present. Something that was not lost on Naruto.

If you're going to do something awesome, Jackie. Do it now.

And that's when he saw her appearing out of the Mist.

She stabbed both of her daggers into Zabuza's back, causing him to shout in pain as the water prison was disrupted. She jumped over his back hand and landed in front of him. Well, she said landed, but she crashed right through the surface, forgetting that unlike her Mommy, she could not walk on it. She let out a startled squeak as she barely avoided his meat cleaver of a weapon and scurried back to solid land. She thought for sure that he'd be taken down by that. She really underestimated just how durable this guy could be.

She shook herself off, shivering a bit from the cold. She hated the cold. But it was okay. Even now, she felt the warmth of her Mommy's chakra empowering her. And so long as that warmth was there, the cold would never win.

She raised her knives, ready to face the man when Kakashi literally decked him in the side of the head. Oh right, she'd forgotten about him. She lowered her knives and this proved to be her mistake as she felt a prick in the side of her neck.

Huh?

She felt her vision begin to darken. What was happening? Why was it getting so hard to see? She couldn't even move her arms. She felt herself fall forward, but never felt the impact, as she had lost consciousness just before.

To Naruto, it was as if Jack had fallen in slow motion. Everything had been working out fine. She had freed Kakashi, injured Zabuza and now the tides were turning. But then, he saw a glint of something in the air and Jack collapsed.

He could feel a blip in their connection. She was still alive, but something was wrong. Seriously wrong. And then a masked person appeared beside her.

"You're a threat to Master Zabuza. So I can't let you live."

Can't let you live.

Let you live.

Let.

You.

Live.

Naruto saw red and in an instant, he had crossed the distance between himself and Jack, landing a solid punch on the masked shinobi. His teeth were bared and he could barely keep control of himself. He felt a pressure weighing down on him. And it only got worse as he glanced down at Jack's rapidly paling complexion. It wasn't hard to deduce what had happened, especially from the small senbon sticking from her neck. She'd been poisoned. She, his servant, his family, was in danger of dying.

He was in danger of losing his family.

His sister!

The connection between them felt even more strained and he could feel her suffering through it.

He glared at Jack's attacker, who had now risen to their feet, his eyes flickering between blue and red.

They've dared to try and take someone you care about away from you.

His nails lengthened and his whiskers became more defined.

Are you going to let them get away with that? Destroy them. Reduce them to ashes!

Naruto's hatred for the figure in front of him was starting to take hold of him. He took a step forward when he heard a pained cough. His eyes flickered down to Jack and he felt his emotions change direction. He had promised. He had promised he'd protect everyone.

If he wasted time attacking, Jack would die. He needed to help her. He had to help her. He would help her!

He bit his thumb and channeled all of his chakra and all the chakra he'd gained from the Kyuubi into the following technique. He let it have all his rage and sorrow. All of his emotions.

All for the sake of protecting Jack.

"Servant Summoning Jutsu!" he screamed as he slammed his palm into the ground and a massive beam of light shot forth, dispersing all of the mist in an instant.

"Kuhaha . . . "

Naruto blinked and was then nearly blindsided by an immense amount of power.

"KUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Black flames erupted in a circle around him and Jack, but they didn't get any closer. Instead, they seemed to be protecting them.

"Servant Avenger has responded to your call, Master" a male's voice spoke and there just outside the flames, Naruto could see him. A tall man with wild white hair and glowing golden eyes. He wore a fedora and a tattered black cloak that hid a rather fancy suit. His hands, covered by white gloves, were clenched as he gazed upon them.

"Simply name your enemy and I shall obliterate them."

Naruto snapped out of his shock and shook his head. "Is there . . . anything you can do?" he asked as he looked down at Jack, who he now held in his arms. "Anything you can do to save her?"

The new Servant's lone visible eye softened. "So you put your well being above your own?"

Naruto nodded. "You're damn right I do, 'ttebayo. What kind of future Hokage would I be if I let my precious people die?!"

The man laughed. "Kuhahaha . . . oh how fortunate I be to be blessed with such a righteous Master. Very well. Do I have your permission to use my Noble Phantasm then?"

"Yeah! Do whatever you need to."

"As you command," he said as he held out his hand only to glance back at the masked individual. "I presume you are not going to let me act as I wish?"

"You are a threat to Zabuza-sama."

He laughed darkly. "Blind obedience leads to a lonely death. Are you sure you want such a fate for yourself?"

They said nothing in return and he glanced over to the right. "Your Master seems to be in over his head. Why not go there?"

The figure followed his gaze and let out a gasp before sprinting in Zabuza's direction.

"Such naivety," he said before allowing the black flames around his master and fellow servant to disperse. "Lay her on the ground before me."

His Master did just that and he focused his gaze on the girl before him. She didn't have long left to live. Any medic would consider her a lost cause.

But he wasn't a medic.

He was an Avenger.

Reality was merely a suggestion to him.

"Attendre, Espérer" he intoned. "Wait and hope."

A warm, but powerful light enveloped the girl in front of him and he could feel her life force returning. The senbon in her neck was eradicated as her eyes flickered open.

"Kuhahaha . . . welcome back from the edge of transmigration."

Jack sat up in disbelief, hand going to her neck. She swore she was about to fade away, to return to the Throne. A place where she wouldn't be able to see her Mommy again. But then his warmth grabbed onto her and dragged her back. She then realized what the source of it was. Another servant. Her Mommy had summoned another. And then she felt herself pulled into a tight hug.

It felt nice, but she felt guilty. She had let down her guard. And it was clear it had hurt her Mommy. But at the same time, it made her almost want to cry. Her Mommy cared so much about her that he cried? No one had ever felt that way about her before.

She embraced him back. "We're sorry for worrying you, Mommy."

Naruto was physically and emotionally drained. But despite it all, he was happy. Things had worked out. Jack was sleeping on his back while Avenger walked beside him. He didn't know a lot about Avenger. All he knew was that he was really cool. And talked about revenge a lot. He was like Sasuke in that regard.

Still. It seemed that in the end, Zabuza and the masked Shinobi had escaped. Mostly due to Kakashi running out of chakra. Naruto had made a few clones to carry the man and right now, they were headed back to Tazuna's place.

And after they got situated there, Naruto knew that it'd be time for more training.

He refused to ever let Jack get hurt like that even, even if she insisted that it was her fault for letting down her guard.

He also felt like he was forgetting something. But it probably wasn't important.

He would later realize they forgot Sakura back in Konoha.