A/N: Shorter than I'd like, but I promised an Arcane update today. Didn't want to post another new story...

Took some time off to reassess. I'm baaaaaaaaack, baby~!

Can't wait to hear what you all think of this chapter.

As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this, if people don't enjoy...well, I won't continue it. What's the point in writing something no one likes? Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule -two jobs!- I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!

Now for your questions, comments, and concerns. Feel free to skip this if you like, but do so at your own peril...

Q: Wait, wait, so did Vi just give up on Powder? Not cool!

A: Sisters fight all the time. It remains to be seen if their fracture relationship can be repaired. To say nothing of Claggor and Mylo. There's been a reason those two haven't gotten much in the way of screentime here.

Q: Summoning still works here?!

A: Why wouldn't it? So long as Naruto has the contract -and he most assuredly still does- its possible to summon the toads.

Q: Is this story coming to an end?

A: Suppose that depends on the readers now, doesn't it? I'll be awaiting your feedback as ever. Looking forward to chatting with you.

Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get into the meat of the matter and have some fun!

Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes.

Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!

"People are won not by words, but action."

~?

Hesitation is Defeat

Powder was a quick study.

Naruto wasn't sure why that made him proud, but it did all the same. So damn proud. In the weeks that followed, his student soaked up everything he taught like a living sponge. Training weights? Summoning? Shadow Clones? Sage Mode? She threw herself into each with singular determination.

Did she struggle? Yes.

Did she falter? Definitely.

Did she overcome? Most certainly.

Every task he set her, she took to with minimal complaint, but maximum questions. He soon discovered it wasn't enough to see a jutsu-not for her. She had to understand it. Dissect it. Pick it apart. She didn't just want to learn from She went above and beyond. For perhaps that reason alone, he continued to teach her. Her willingness to work won his respect; her refusal to give up, admiration. It didn't matter what he taught her. She kept at it. Power didn't simply want to learn, she needed to, and that need drover her hard, harder than he ever could.

It almost made her damn sneaky when she wanted to be.

She was good, and getting better every day, but she still had a ways to go before she'd catch up to him.

As such, Naruto didn't deign to look up when her shadow fell over his. He kept walking, even as his sixth sens squawked at him. His little minion had chosen her point of ambush well this particular morning; leaping from misty rooftop just as he entered, striking with the sun at her back. A sound stratagem. Alas, there were a few flaws to said stratagem.

First, he'd sensed her coming. Second, he'e heard her.

And last but not least:

"Rasengan!"

He didn't bother to counter her. His head swayed to the right and let the swirling sphere whistle harmlessly past, then her body with it, arm still fully extended from the lunge. He saw her eyes widen, first in surprise, then pain as he slapped an open palm into her elbow. The limb creaked but held even as her jutsu guttered. Impressive. Most impressive. But she wasn't a shinobi yet. A knee smashed into her small body, launching her into a brick wall. Wedging her there. He knew she could take it.

A hand slammed down just beside her head, drawing a yelp from his student. The other rose...

...and gently chopped her on the forehead

"How many times do I have to tell you?" He tutted softly as she pouted up at him. "Don't shout when you're about to attack. It ruins the element of surprise!"

She squirmed, still stuck in the wall. "But it sounds cool!"

His right eye began to twitch. "Cool, she says. C'mon now, Powder...

Kurama rumbled a laugh. "You weren't so difference once yourself."

Maybe so. The one-armed shinobi heaved a sigh. A golden claw burst the stump, tore her free from the wall, set her down on hboth feet.

"You want cool?" he wagged a finger at her. "Your body will be cold and dead if an opponent catches you pulling a stunt like that."

Powder flinched, looked down, and scuffed a shoe against the street. "M'sorry."

"Don't be sorry." he patted her forehead. "Be better. I know you can."

Heat speared through her cheeks. "Can we keep trying?"

Naruto didn't answer. Instead he waited while she got her breathing under control, dragged herself upright, and thumbed a line of blood from her lip. Her eyes gleamed, not with anger, but determination. A need to prove herself, but also something more. She made no move to attack. Almost as if she were waiting for something.

"..."

He realized what she wanted soon thereafter. "...you're getting better. Good job, Powder. I'm proud of you."

Her face lit up and she made a pleased noise as she bounced in place. "I can go another round!"

She really could, couldn't she? Such a stubborn girl, this wily little apprentice of his.

"Alright." Naruto crooked a hand forward. "Remember, hesitation is defeat."

Powder grinned. "Good to know."

She was still speaking when the street ruptured beneath his feet. A blond brow quirked, looking down now as twin hands burst forth and grabbed him by the ankles. Yanked. He didn't budge. They tugged again and still he remained immovable. A foot rose and stomped down, dispelling the shadow clone she'd tried to use against him.

"Nice try," he clapped his hands, congratulating her. "But I'm using a jutsu to increase the gravity of my body. You'll have to try a bit harder-

Razor wind lashed at his back. He dropped flat a second too late and lost a few strange of hair for it. Surprise gave way to confusion, then bloomed into baffled surprise.

"How did you learn that jutsu?" he frowned her way. "I only told you about it once.

Powder grinned impishly, wholly at her ease. "Practice."

That settled it. Girl was a bloody savant. Still...

"You're wide open."

His fist slammed into her chest-no, a plume of smoke. Another shadow clone. Heh. She'd learned her lesson after their last session. He ducked a sweeping kick from behind, caught her ankle, and levered her into a wall. She hit it in a handstand, inhaled mightily, and spat fire in his face.

He laughed, warding it away with his good arm. "Good! Keep your body reinforced with chakra at all times."

"Easy for you to say!" She kicked off the wall, stumbled a little, then finally found her balance. "I can barely move with these stupid weights."

"Good."

"GOOD?!" Powder howled.

"Just think how fast you'll be when they finally come off."

She flipped him off. He laughed and tousled her hair, earning a fearsome scowl. "When will I unlock my bloodline?"

"You're assuming you have one."

Really, it was a tossup. Sometimes bloodlines manifested randomly. Others were hereditary. He wouldn't be surprised if hers was related to explosions of some sort. Sure. Great. Because that was exactly what Zaun needed, a wild little girl with a case of the zoomies running around blowing things up will-nilly.

"I know I do!" Honestly her pout was adorable, so much so that it drew him out of his maudlin thoughts. "Just you wait. I'll get even stronger once I find it. Strong enough to protect you and Vander and-

"Vi?" Naruto finished with a knowing smile.

Her jaw clicked shut. "I didn't say that!"

"But you were thinking it."

"Don't read into it, old man." She looked away with a huff, arms crossed before her chest. Adorable. Must protect.

"I'm doing all the reading. She's your sister."

Powder refused to turn his way. "Sisters don't hurt each other."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to, back then. She's just jittery around you. Make up with her."

She bit her lip...

.

..

...finally, the damn broke.

"That's not the only thing. It isn't!" she scowled at him when he quirked a blond brow. "She wants chakra. She wants to be better than me. Its not fair...

"Is that so?" He knew she was grasping at straws. It didn't stop him. "Well, too bad. I'm not giving it to her. People are won not by words, but action. She hasn't proven herself to me." And in truth, he wasn't sure Vi would be able to, not with an attitude like that. "It'll take a lot to convince me."

"You mean it?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die-

-stick a needle in your eye." she finished with a giggle. Hope flashed in her eyes. "You'll keep training me, then?"

Naruto hid a smile behind one hand and gently cuffed her head with the other. "For now, brat."

Her smile was too pure. "Then...!"

A faint tremor ran through the streets, cutting her short. It was soon followed by an odd, muffled noise, then a curious ringing. Shouts echoed in the distance. Yet another muffled noise went up and this one, Naruto knew well. It was the sound of an explosion. He craned his neck back, searching for the source. Saw the smoke. Knew the direction it came from.

Realization dawned, and it was an ugly thing indeed.

His heart sank into his stomach. "No...

Someone had hit the Last Drop.

(.0.0.0.)

They found Vander's body first.

He wasn't far from the smoldering wreckage. They soon saw why; the blackened burns on his back told a story all their own. He lay sprawled over Claggor and Mylo's stunned forms. Must've shielded them from the worst of it. Against all odds, both boys were still breathing. Out cold, but alive. Naruto wasn't sure if he could say the same for the big oaf.

Powder shrieked. "No! No, he can't be...

...he's alive." Naruto touched a hand to his neck, sighed in relief when he found his pulse. Hurt, but alive."

"Where's Vi?!"

He craned his neck back. "Don't sense here anywhere nearby...

"Who did this?!" She rounded on the crumbling ruin that had once been their home, fists balled at her sides. "I'll tear them apart!"

"Powder."

"I will!" She rounded on him with wild eyes. "There were good people in there! Someone just blew them the hell up! Why aren't you angry?!"

He stared her into submission until finally, she looked away with a scowl.

"I am angry. Furious, really But anger won't change the fact that we don't know who did this."

Something shifted through the hazy smoke. Ruble shifted. Naruto sensed them a moment later. Heard the gunshots. And the screams that followed.

No.

His temper blazed.

They should know better.

The Enforcers most certainly didn't; the moment they laid eyes on them, they raised their weapons.

"There they are!" one of them, a big brute towering head and shoulders. above the rest, raised his rifle. "Blast them-

A gun barked. Powder wasn't quite quick enough, and took a slug to the shoulder. She yelped and skittered behind him.

Naruto's world didn't do red. That implied some measure of control. Of reason.

Absently, he laid a hand on her wound and healed it. Muttered softly.

"Stay with Vander."

Then he stepped in...and swung.

The first gunman died as he stove their head in. Another pitched back as a rasengan drilled through his torso. Then he was among them, and there was no time for anything but rage.

Hesitation is defeat. He'd said those words earlier. Now he lived them...and he didn't hesitate.

"You think!" a roaring roundhouse hurtled an enforcer away. "You can hurt! My apprentice?!" Another waded and he rounded on them in turn." Are you feeling angry, humiliated, is that it?!" He caught their fist, snatched them up by the ground and slammed them down into their fellows. "Idiot! You don't know what humiliation is!" Bone twisted then broke as he stomped down in a rage. "I'm trying to HELP this place, but you're all making this so...damn...difficult...!

More unloaded on him. For what little good it did. He raised his gaze in the smoke. Blue eyes burned baleful red.

"Why won't you die?!" Someone gibbered and tried to reload. Naruto never knew who. Didn't care, frankly.

A rasenshuriken sparked in his palm. He threw it that way. The whimpers stopped.

"Honestly, has this ever worked?" he sighed softly, wounds healing, the damage undone before their very eyes. "Your kind never learn. Or was it Marcus that put you up to this?" Even in his cold rage, he could still think. Reason. Prisoner. He needed a prisoner. His arms caught an unlucky Enforcer in a bruising bear hug, broke his spine, threw him aside to question later. "But that's alright...

THRUCK!

...class is now in session. And I'm the teacher!"

Another victim folded over as a fist slammed through their torso. They hurtled up into the air, only to cry out as a hand caught their ankle, yanked them down, and whipped them into the ground. The street creaked and began to crumble, leaving a decidedly human-shaped impression behind.

"Open your textbook to chapter nine!" Naruto's boot stomped down on their chest, grinding them deeper into the dirt as he leered down at them. "Also known as the pages of PAIN!"

A giant golden claw reached back and gripped a crumbling building, damaged by the blast. Tore it free from its foundations.

They looked up. Just in time to see ten tones of stone crash down on their heads.

They died screaming.

A/N: Aaaaand that is why you don't mess with an angry shinobi.

As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this...well, I'll not continue it. Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule, I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!

Reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.

So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?

They keeps an old man alive.

And enjoy the previews.

As ever:

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Get ready to smile~!

Obvious references are obvious~!

(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.

"How many dead?"

Half a dozen. Your boy's figured something was wrong

"Mylo and Claggor are missing."

And Vi?"

"Vanished last night."

...you don't think?"

"You said no one would get hurt!"

"I did. And I kept my word. You have a choice to make, girl. I can't make it for you. Only you can.

What is it you want? Power? Safety? Or family?

Well? What will it be?"

"Everyone keeps calling me that! Jinx! Jinx! JINX!" Powder exhaled slowly. "I've had enough. C'mon." She spread her arms and walked forward. "Come get jinxed."

She stepped forward. Hands grabbed her. Her fist flew upward.

So did her attackers.

"You're only one man!"

Maybe so. But where you see one...I see MANY."

Screams pierced the night.

Its over!

You can't win!"

He smiled. "I already have."

"I want every gun we have focused on that man! I don't care who sees! Drop the damn building on him, if that's what it takes! Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!"

"Only monsters deal in absolutes. I'll do what I must.

A tired sigh pierced the foggy gloom.

"You will try, my old friend."

"You call this a wound?"

He walked through the doorway.

"This ain't a wound; barely even a scratch."

His victim pitched backward, struggling to hold their bleeding face together.

"Lemme show you...what a real injury looks like. Feels like! SOUNDS LIKE! Come here! I'll carve it into your corpse!

Get up! Rise, damn you! If you don't get up right now everyone is going to die! Nothing will change! GET UP!

His arms braced against the ground. Pushed. And the rubble gave way.

He was unarmed. His hands empty. His back riddled with wounds he'd taken protecting them, one arm hanging loosely at his side. So much blood. Yet still he stalked forward. Oh gods. She could see right through him. How was he still moving...? Bravado or sheer willpower. Had to be. He'd collapse any second now. But he didn't. He threw his head back and snarled. The sound was dark and painful, filled with so much hurt and regret and...and death. So much death. Like a fell hound howling at the moon.

"I can...do this...all day."

R&R~!