I'm back! And I must say, I'm quite disappointed with the amount of reviews I'm getting, You know when you add this story to your favorites and story alert it kinda means you enjoy reading it…But apparently writing one or two lines is too much…Good to know.

Story favs: 228

Followers: 265

Reviews: 87

You see where I'm going with this ;p?

To the reviewers that did review; Thank youuuuuuu I love reading it I love it, I love it, I love it!

Anonymous reviewers:

Ezra Scalet: Am I a genius like Itachi? I hope so because he's badass :D

Guest: *evil smirk* I was planning on throwing you four chapters at once but since you insulted me I plan on releasing just one. (+1 for making me laugh a lot)

Just a person: Thanks :D I'm planning on releasing another story pretty soon which will take place in the Halo universe, so if you're a Halo fan you just might want to check out my profile from time to time ;)

For some of you readers who think that 'Ghost is too weak because he got his ass kicked twice etc. Don't worry, I've got it all planned out! This story is far from over, in fact! We're just getting started; this story will pass the 150K words easily.

Also I told earlier that I was planning on a Mass effect story. Unfortunately I am halting that for the moment because I got dragged back into the Halo universe and I'm loving every second of it :P

So yeah, expect a Halo story coming up soon.

Ps: the poll is well underway and I want to thank you all for voting! I am keeping the poll open for at least three or four more chapters, since I don't have any romance planned yet (or at all depending on the outcome)

Disclaimer: If I owned the story I would've made Naruto a super badass! But unfortunately I don't own Naruto; I just borrow the Naruto universe for entertaining purposes ;)

I Will Become A Ghost Chapter 15

~Chapter 15 - A Small Break~

It took them a little over a day to get back with the wounded to Konoha. The remaining defenders of Tsuchi No Kuni decided to go straight for Konoha instead.

Ghost held his hand at the side trying to limit his blood loss as much as possible. After 'merging' with the Kyuubi things had gotten interesting to say the least.

Flashback: four and a half years after Naruto's disappearance.

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night after having another of his hellish nightmares. Since touching the strange tattoo in Nami no Kuni they had come and every few weeks. But lately they had come more frequently.

Hawke having left for two weeks Naruto was alone in the cabin in the middle of nowhere.

He stood up from the bed and walked a few steps before dropping to the ground, jolts of excruciating pain shooting through his arm. "What the h- " The pain intensified and images of death and fire flashed before his eyes. He gave in to the pain and blacked out.

Mindscape

Naruto scrambled to his feet. "Kyuubi! What's going on!" he looked to the cage but noticed no movement.

"Kyuubi?"

"Brat…Come closer…"

Naruto did what was asked and came closer; he saw the enormous but still form of the fox. "What's happening to us?"

The Kyuubi focused his gaze on Naruto. "It's time"

Naruto sighed; he knew it would eventually come. "What now?" the blonde asked, unable to meet Kyuubi's gaze.

"I have one thing to give to you." The Kyuubi managed to growl.

Naruto stepped through the cage, which had taken quite a long time for him to be able to do. He crouched down in front of Kyuubi and looked at him with a sad face. "What do you want to give?"

"My chakra, I will give you what is left of my chakra and merge it with yours. Should you survive the transition, you will get an enormous boost in power." The Kyuubi's demonic eyes drooped a bit.

Naruto looked confused. "It can't be that simple?"

Kyuubi gave a low growl but answered the question anyway. "There are some side effects with me dying. You will no longer recover as fast from your wounds as you always had and poison will have a much bigger effect. Also your markings on your face will disappear until you trigger my power."

If it was even possible, Naruto looked even more confused. "Trigger?"

"Our chakra will merge, but you can still choose whether to use it or not."

Naruto nodded in understanding and placed his hand on one of Kyuubi's claw. "Thanks…for everything, I won't let you down."

"You better not, brat or I'll feast on your bones when we meet in hell! And remember what I told you!"

Naruto smiled despite the situation. "Don't worry, I'll show them not to mess with the Nine Tails demon."

Kyuubi gave out a last bark of laughter. "Take care, Naruto Uzumaki, may you become a true Ghost among your enemies."

Naruto bowed his head. "I hope we'll eventually meet again, Kurama, no matter where we end up." A single tear made its way down his cheek, followed by another and another.

The Kyuubi remained silent and slowly faded away at the same time an orange mist filled the room.

Naruto dropped to the ground as everything became dark around him.

He didn't wake up for another three days.

When he finally woke up he didn't stand up and just laid there, knowing that he never felt more alone at that moment. When he finally pulled himself up he walked to a mirror and examined himself.

The only major thing he noticed was that his whisker marks were gone. He looked to his sleeve of his shirt and saw a black tattoo line on his arm.

He pulled up his short sleeve and saw the same tattoo he saw on the body in Nami No Kuni.

Without really knowing why, he channeled his chakra to the tattoo which started to glow faintly. He looked at it with wide eyes before an agonizing pain shot through his arm. "What the fuck!" Naruto screamed out and used his other hand to keep him upright.

He looked at his left arm and saw something which caused him to fall on his butt. His hand looked like a sort scaled black claw. "What the-" His eyes were as wide a saucers "What the hell is going on here!" His voice was a mix of his own and that of the Kyuubi's.

He stood up and looked in the mirror again. He noticed that his whisker marks were back and that his eyes were just like the Kyuubi's.

He slowly started hyperventilating. He stumbled through the small cottage and made his way to the door before slumping to the ground. His breathing became shallower and black dots filled his vision.

End flashback

Ghost came to a halt before the gates of Konoha with Kisame beside him. He looked over his shoulder and saw everyone's relief that they had finally arrived.

The gates opened and they walked through, only to be met by a large crowd, the civilians of Nami No Kuni had been waiting for them.

"Bring the wounded here!" someone shouted

Ghost looked to his right and saw Sakura along with a few other medic-nin standing with their equipment close by.

Ghost had the urge to leave and just bleed out somewhere under a tree but decided against it and walked over to Sakura. "You," he pointed to her. "Fix me up now."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in anger. "You have serious anger issues, and I'm not doing anything until you ask normally."

Ghost mimicked her and narrowed his eyes as well. He pointed again. "If it weren't for me, you would've lost a lot of shinobi and maybe even those civilians of yours," Ghost grunted when he felt another stab of pain shoot through his body. "Now, if it Isn't too much trouble, could you fix me up?"

Sakura gave a fake smile. "Of course I can, sit down."

Ghost sat down and removed his tunic revealing a black shirt with a large cut in it. He pulled the blood soaked shirt and dropped it to the ground.

Sakura took a closer look at the wound and then gently placed her hand on his chest before it started glowing green. "The cut is deep but not life threatening, this should do the trick."

Ghost ignored her and had his eyes closed his thoughts far away.

"Mister? What's going on?"

He looked down at the boy with cold calculated eyes, his hands slowly reaching for his kunai pouch.

"Stay away from my son! Please just let him leave! Let me take his place!"

"What you fail to understand is," He said as he grabbed one of the kunai. "That no one leaves this village alive"

"And it's done, not even a scar." Sakura's voice ringed through his ears.

Ghost stayed silent and stood up, putting his shirt back on, as well as his tunic, leaving the hood where it was.

Sakura growled at the man. "A thank you would be nice you know!"

Ghost ignored her and made his way to the headquarters.

"Ghost!"

The Blonde Hunter turned around and saw Micheru approaching, he gave a nod.

"I heard you were back, things aren't going to good are they?" She asked him with concern after looking him over. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just tired, and I feel like crap, it's like I got blasted through a roof, which I technically did."

Micheru chuckled but smothered it with her hand. "I won't hold you up, but there was a young teen looking for you, Inari was his name?"

Ghost rubbed his face with his hand. "The kid is really becoming annoying."

Micheru raised an eyebrow and pointed over her shoulder. "You want me to get him for you?"

Ghost shook his head and opened the double doors of the headquarters. "He can wait, I'm catching some shuteye, see you in a few."

"I'll tell the others not to disturb you." Micheru said as she looked into Ghost's blue eyes.

Ghost gave a small smile. "Thanks, I appreciate it." And with that he turned around and headed upstairs.

Micheru's eyes followed him until he was out of sight and headed for the cafeteria.

Ghost entered his room and without even changing he dropped on his bed and fell asleep.

xXx

Kakashi looked around the outpost and was satisfied with what he saw. They had entrenched themselves in one of the many forests that was close to the border with a few wooden towers placed along the outpost.

He entered the headquarters and saw Shikamaru sitting comfortable. "Status?"

Shikamaru straightened and looked down on the map on the table. "Everything's up and running, except for communications, we're still working on that." He then pointed to a spot not far from their camp. "Hawke is patrolling with his squad here, and this route will be kept under observation, because this is most likely where they'll attack from.

It was at that moment Itachi came walking in.

Kakashi gave him a cold look, to him Itachi was the enemy and that would never change. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi gave him a glance. "Just passing through, thought you wanted to know that they have taken complete control of Nami No Kuni and are on their way to the border."

Shikamaru looked surprised for a moment. "Already? They're fast."

"Nami No Kuni only has one village and nothing is stopping them from marching straight to the border."

Kakashi turned to Shikamaru. "Call back Hawke and his squad, I want everyone prepared."

"How big is the defense force here?" Itachi asked showing as much interest as always.

Shikamaru looked at Itachi with a neutral expression, he hadn't forgotten about their little stunt a week ago. "We are 300 strong, the force consists of chunin and jonin."

Itachi stayed silent for a moment, and then he gave out an almost inaudible sigh. "It's best If I stay around for a while."

At that moment Ino came walking in followed by Hawke who gave a nod towards Itachi. "You'll be helping them, Itachi?"

Itachi nodded. "You aren't staying?

Hawke shook his head. "I'm heading back to Konoha, but I'll be back later on when things heat up," He smirked. "This is going to be on hell of a fight."

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Troublesome bunch…"

xXx

Couple of days later.

Ghost looked into Kisame's eyes never wavering.

Kisame had the exact same look, he didn't back down one inch.

This was what greeted Robatsu and Micheru when they walked into the lounge of their headquarters.

Ghost smirked. "Pocket ace" and laid his cards on the table.

Rome sighed and put his cards away without showing them.

Kisame smirked. "Full house! You can't win from me with this game." Showing a king and a two, combining them with the two two's and a king on the table.

"Damn, screw you Sushi" he roughly shoved his money towards Kisame.

Kisame just grinned like a madman.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" Micheru asked as she sat down next to Rome and Ghost, staying clear from Kisame.

"Nope" Both Kisame and Ghost said, while Rome stayed silent.

Micheru chuckled. "Ghost, are you going with us to the Kage Summit?"

"Yeah… Not going to happen." Ghost replied in a casual tone.

Kisame snickered and stood up from the table. "Tomorrow? "

Ghost smirked and stood up as well. "Might as well, no one is lucky enough to win twice in a row."

Kisame pointed at him. "And that is where your wrong, brat, you need just as much skill as luck."

Ghost grabbed one of the remaining chips and flicked it to Kisame, hitting him in the face. "There's your skill."

Kisame's grin never left his face. "Can't stand it that I got your hard earned money? I don't hear Rome complaining."

Rome shrugged. "We earn enough on bounties."

Kisame grin grew even wider. "That's right and If I remember, Ghost here earned quite some money on an assignment that had him working with us."

Ghost's whole demeanor changed and he sent a d dark glare to Kisame.

Rome gave a questioning look. "I don't recall ever assigning you with one of them." The bald hunter said as he waved his hand towards the Akatsuki member.

Ghost stayed silent for a long time. "It was a job," He slowly began. "They needed my expertise with and I agreed."

Robatsu spoke up. "What kind of assignment was it?"

Ghost gave Kisame another look. "An…Ah, just a couple of shinobi who were a threat to the Akatsuki."

Micheru snorted. "Sure, and the Akatsuki weren't capable of taking them out by themselves?"

"We weren't" Kisame replied, not able to hide the sour tone in his voice.

Micheru felt herself growing angrier with every passing second. "You're telling me that the most lethal rogue Shinobi organization in the Elemental countries weren't able to take down a couple of shinobi?"

Ghost looked Kisame in the eye and a small smile formed on his lips. "Sounds about right"

It was then that Rome butted in. "Ghost you are a Hunter, and that means that when you are wearing the Hunters outfit you are under our command. If you wore that outfit during your assignment with the Akatsuki you are under the obligation to give us all the details."

Ghost nodded. "I know that very well, Rome, and that's why I didn't wear it at that time. "

Rome smiled and gave a nod of his own. "Alright then, no need to continue this discussion."

Micheru couldn't believe what she was hearing; she was getting sick and tired of Ghost's lies. "Rome, are you serious?"

Rome turned to Micheru. "Everyone has their secrets, Micheru; Ghost is no different, if he doesn't want to tell than that's his decision, and we have to respect that."

Ghost placed his chair back under the table and walked away, Kisame walking beside him.

"When are you going to stop lying to your friends, Ghost?" the petite blonde shouted after him.

. "I never started." He inwardly winced but never stopped walking and he reached the door and walked through it.

Micheru had a quizzical look. "What does that mean?"

"Well…" Robatsu started. "Either he's saying that he in fact never lied or he never considered us as his friends."

Micheru looked at her fellow Hunter. "Not seeing us as his friend?" she asked more to herself then Robatsu, she glanced to the door Ghost went through earlier.

Kisame looked at Ghost from the corner of his eyes. "You've got guts, brat."

They rounded a corner and arrived in the small hall of their headquarters; they walked through the front door and stepped outside, the bright sun shining down on them. The streets were filled with traders and civilians going about their lives, not a care in the world despite the dark days that were crawling closer.

"Hmm?" Ghost murmured as he put on his sunglasses.

"Lying like that, you certainly won't make friends with what you just pulled."

Ghost smirked. "I'm not here to make any friends, I'm here to stop the biggest threat we ever faced, just as you are. But why do you even care, you're the heartless bastard remember?"Kisame slapped him on the shoulder. "I don't care, but it was amusing to see their faces."

Ghost gave a rare grin and shook his head. "You'll never change."

"I thought you would've learned it by now, brat. Enough talking already, I need a drink."

"I guess that's one way to pass time." Ghost replied, and led the way by making a sharp left heading for the nearest inn.

They sat down in a corner; they were in luck since the inn was filled to the brim with shinobi whom were off duty.

"If I come across one more of my old 'colleagues', I'm going to kill myself." Ghost muttered as he clipped his glasses back on his shirt.

Kisame snickered and waved to the nearest waitress and ordered a few drinks asking for small shot glasses instead of regular dishes.

Ghost raised an eyebrow. "What's wodka?"

Kisame turned his eyes back to Ghost after eyeing the waitress a little longer than was considered decent. "wodka is the good stuff, some old man brought it from the western part of world a long time ago, it isn't very popular but sake gets old after a while."

The waitress returned with the drinks and left quickly, not feeling safe around the two S ranked criminals.

Ghost eyed it with distrust before shrugging with his shoulders and downed the drink. A moment later he coughed and slammed his hand on the table. "Kami! What is this crap?"

Kisame laughed, enjoying Ghost's inability to keep his cool. "it's good right?"

Ghost breathed in heavily and ignored his burning throat. "Y-yeah, give me another."

It was at that moment Hawke let himself fall into the seat next to Kisame. "Ah great, I could use one of those!" he grabbed the small glass and downed the drink before going into a coughing fit as well. "Vodka, w-who drinks what vodka around here?!" he managed to ask between his intakes of breath.

"Wodka" Ghost corrected and smirked at Hawke's behavior.

"Wodka, vodka it's all the same." Hawke said after catching his breath.

Kisame leaned forward with an evil grin and barked, "So, who's up for a little drinking game?"

"I am" a voice said.

The three men looked up and saw Jiraiya standing with a plate of sake in his hand.

Ghost slapped himself in the face. "This is not going to end well.

"Who is holding a drinking game and isn't inviting me?" a female voice shouted.

They looked to where the voice came from and saw an attractive woman with violet hair pushing herself past the crowd of people.

"Who are you?" Kisame rudely asked.

She slammed her fist down on the table as she sat down. "I am Mitarashi Anko, and you all just lost!"

Ghost could only sigh in annoyance.

xXx

Ghost returned from the bathroom and looked at the table. Hawke was out of it and was asleep with his head on the table and from the looks of it Jiraiya was well on his way in following Hawke's footsteps.

Kisame on the other hand was feeling the effects of the drinks but he wasn't as wasted as Jiraiya or Hawke.

What surprised him the most was Anko's ability to keep up; she had an iron liver or something because she was looking as sober as she was when she walked in.

Ghost slumped down in his chair, he too began to feel the effects of the wodka and sake but he'd be damned if he let himself be beaten by a woman, blue skinned Akatsuki agents he'd allow but he had to draw the line somewhere. "Alright, I got a game which is going to be a good one."

Anko grinned mischievously. "What's it called?"

Ghost shrugged. "No idea but it's a killer alright." Anko was one of the few he could actually stand. She never showed any hatred other than her normally bitchy behavior. Which reminded him of himself when he was younger and back when he was still a shinobi of Konoha.

He grabbed a pack of cards and shuffled them. He each gave one card, upside down.

"What now?" Kisame muttered.

One the count of three you place the card on your face, showing what it is to everyone else but without knowing it yourself, then the one with the lowest card has to take the shot."

Anko grinned and ran a hand through her hair. "Let's get this thing going!"

Ghost smirked and threw the cards on the table and grabbed his own, slapping it on his forehead. He looked at Anko's card who had a three. He glanced at Kisame's card which revealed to be a nine.

Ghost chuckled. "Oh Anko your screwed!"

Anko laughed and pointed at his card. "You wish buddy!"

Kisame snickered. "Let's show 'em!"

They all at once put their cards back on the table.

Ghost's card turned out to be a two.

Ghost looked at Anko's card and his smirk from earlier vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. "Fuck me…How big are the odds?" The blonde grabbed a shot and drank it; he grimaced for a moment and then sighed. "Alright let's keep this going."

Anko could only smirk evilly at Ghost. "Great game you picked out.

Kisame cracked his knuckles. "Such a shame Itachi isn't here."

Ghost laughed and shook his head. "No thanks we wouldn't be left standing if we did this with him."

Ghost gave them another card and continued the game.

xXx

Kenpachi sat in the destroyed office that once belonged to Tsuchikage. Earth country was under his control. There were some fights here and there but that was it. The unfortunate part was that the Tsuchikage had survived and escaped the battle, but barely.

A Reaver walked into the office and gave a short bow. "Lord Kenpachi, I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's a man here to see you."

Kenpachi didn't look up. "One of ours?"

The Reaver shook his head. "No, sir, he's a Shinobi."

Kenpachi looked up. "Now that's interesting, did he say why he wants to speak to me?"

"Only thing he said was that he's supporting our invasion."

Now that made Kenpachi curious and that didn't happen a lot. "Send him in."

The subordinate nodded and with a bow left the office and signaled someone.

A man with grey hair and glasses stepped in. "It's an honor to meet you Lord Kenpachi, I've heard a lot about your achievements."

Kenpachi stood up and walked over to the man. "You said you are supporting our invasion, why?"

The Shinobi smiled and adjusted his glasses. "My lord agrees to your vision that the Shinobi world needs to be destroyed."

Kenpachi kept a neutral look on his face. "And why does your 'lord' want it destroyed?"

"He's attained many enemies in his path to power. He's fought many battles with them and was forced to hide for a while," the grey haired male sat down on a partial destroyed couch. "Now with your unexpected arrival he thinks that now is the best time to strike back."

"And why would I want an ally? My forces are more than capable of destroying your world."

The grey haired shinobi chuckled. "One of your enemies, Konoha, are very persistent and from what we've gathered they are working together with both the Akatsuki and another S rank organization called The Hunters," The man paused for a moment, waiting for any sort of reaction. When that didn't happen he continued. "We know you want them dead, and my master can offer you a way in without having to start an all-out siege."

Kenpachi stroked his chin. "Interesting, and what's in it for you?"

"My Lord will offer you the way in, all he asks in return is that he accompanies your men when you prepare your attack."

Kenpachi nodded. "I accept but if you double cross me you'll want to wish you were never born."

The Shinobi smiled. "Nothing of the sort Lord Kenpachi"

Kenpachi narrowed his eyes but nodded nonetheless. "Now then, what is your master's name?"

"My name is Kabuto and my Lord's name is Orochimaru."

"I'm looking forward to meeting this 'Orochimaru'." Kenpachi said and turned around striding out of the office.

Kabuto gave a small bow. "As does he, Lord Kenpachi."

I apologize in advance for any mistakes I might've made, I'm only human ;)

Also, some people will think that Ghost was too harsh towards Micheru and Rome but I wanted to use that to eventually make a strong bond and sometimes you need a little bit of disappointment along the way.

I hope that people who favorite and follow etc do leave a review, it takes only thirty seconds and I accept all kind of reviews, especially constructive criticism! (No flaming though!)

Until next time party people!