Never thought I'd manage to get chapter 4 up this quick. Don't expect any more updates until Thursday at least.

IronicEnding: Yeah, humor is good. This fic will get darker, but it will have its moments. I'm glad you don't think my OCs are overused as well. It's pretty tricky; when you make up a character in an already established fictional story, you don't want the character to wind up stealing the show from the main characters. At the same time, you can't have them appear so flat and appear as nothing more than a waste of space. I'll have many more OCs in store. Naruto's team will play a key role in some chapters, but the story will still be his. A lot of more OCs will just be for either battle or they will be killed after an arc (or something like that). It's a balance I hope to maintain.

The boat finally reached the island, and not a moment too soon. Another tropical storm had started up, and no one was too happy about it. The boat was not designed to protect them against the rain, and everyone was forced to stay on the deck. Yuji got the worst of it as evidenced by his cold, but it didn't seem to affect his ninjutsu. Still, he was the kind of person you didn't want to be around for health related reasons.

Mana stepped forward. "Come with me. There's an inn a mile from here. We'll be able to dry off there and spend the night."

Naruto led his team toward the direction Mana had indicated, walking through rushing water that went up to their necks. It didn't help that Naruto had to go rescue Yuji several times from being drowned, thus delaying them from their final destination. The rain was so bad that despite wearing their ponchos and straw hats, they were all soaking wet. Finally, they reached the hotel.

Mana smiled and said "I can't believe we're finally here! No matter how long I live here, I can never get used to this rain…"

Suddenly, Naruto picked her up bridal style and shouted "Everyone! Inside!" Naruto and his team sprinted the best they could in the muddy terrain, and reached inside.

On the border of Lighting country, a group of ANBU ninjas made their way through the forests. Each carried a unique face mask, but one of the most notable feature of one was her pink hair. Most would ignore Sakura's rabbit mask. Kakashi never bothered with the face masks, since he wore one all the time already. Despite having far more experience with this job, Sakura was chosen to lead. She was a perfect combination of brains and strength, and both Kakashi and Tsunade had agreed she needed the experience.

Sakura was glad for the face mask, because in her mind, she was freaking out, and wasn't sure she could hide it very well. She was the one responsible for her teammates' lives. It didn't help that Kakashi was with her, as it put both the pressure to please her former sensei and to protect someone she considered family. Eventually, Sakura stopped on a branch, and signaled for the others to halt. Kakashi came in close and took out his Sharingan eye to get a better look. There were two cloud ninjas below them.

Sakura looked back at Neji. "Attack them, but don't kill them. We need to interrogate them."

Neji nodded, and jumped in between the two cloud nins.

"Hey, who are you!?" They both drew shuriken, but they did not have a chance to retaliate.

Neji shouted "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!" and attacked. The 2 cloud nins fell back, conscious but unable to fight. Then Sakura and Ino came up from behind and knocked them both out with chops to the back of the head.

Kakashi came down and said "Sakura, we need to get them to a more secluded spot before we interrogate them."

Sakura nodded as she carried one of them. "Right! All right, we'll head 20 kilometers southeast of here!" The leaf nins and their captors disappeared into the night.

Another ship was making its way through a stormy sea. Orochimaru was at the front, looking quite bored. "Well, I might as well come along. After all, he provided me with such great specimens for my experiments." Kabuto came up to Orochimaru, who was well aware of his presence.

"Lord Orochimaru, he plans to have us attack the rebels with him. All he requested was that we leave the one named Mana Kono to him."

Orochimaru sighed. "Very well. Is there anything else?"

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and said "Nothing really. However, I think it's wise that Sasuke keeps his distance from him."

Orochimaru raised his eyebrow and said "Oh?"

"He said that Sasuke reminds him of someone he hates to this very day."

Orochimaru looked back and said "Interesting."

Back at the border of Lightning country, the two cloud nins came to. They were at first startled that they were bound, but eventually gave up. They noticed the 4 ANBU ninjas in front of them.

"Who are you!?" they both asked.

The one with pink hair said "If we could tell you that, we wouldn't bother wearing these masks."

One of the captors asked "What do you want?"

"The current Raikage, IF you can call him that. We want to know about him."

The 2 ninjas looked at her with fright. "You-you want to kill him!?"

"Depends. We know your previous Raikage has disappeared. Who is the new leader?"

The ninja complied and answered "His son."

This sent a chill down the spines the ANBU squad. What kind of son would do such a thing to his own father?

"We know what you're thinking. You're wondering how a son could take overthrow his own father. Let us tell you: He was a monster since the day he was born!!"

It sounded all too familiar to Sakura. "What do you mean a monster?" she said as she tried to keep the alarm in her voice hidden.

"Our Raikage, Kenji Strife, is really the five-tailed dog, Houkou!!"

Kenji sat in his private room, staring straight out the window. Just then, his hand glowed. He looked at it, his face showing no emotion. "Pity. I was starting to like those two. Oh well." His hand clasped.

"Please, free our country! We'll give you anything you want!" one of the cloud nins screamed. Sakura said nothing. Kakashi hoped what he thought would happen wouldn't. "Please!"

Sakura stood up. She said with a voice full of malice and said "Why should we? Why should I even consider making a deal with scum like you!?" The cloud ninja looked at each other in shock.

One said "B-But, if he is allowed to live, he'll become a threat to all shinobi nations, including yours…"

"It's your fault that threat exists in the first place!" Sakura screamed. "I bet you shunned him, beat him, and kept your children from playing with him. It's no wonder he came back for revenge!"

One of the ninja shouted back "Don't talk like you know a jinchuriki! That monster killed my daughter right in front of me! She was only 3 years old!"

Sakura could not comment. That one revelation left her too confused to continue the interrogation.

Kakashi stood in front of her and took over. "Just tell us about him as much as you can."

One of ninja sadly smiled and said "There's no point. By this time, Kenji will have realized we betrayed him, and will have us killed."

"There's still time. We can protect you-"

Just then the 2 ninja screamed in pain. Kakashi removed one of the headbands and saw a mark on one of the ninja. It was green and blue, and was shaped like a yin and yang symbol.

"He…He's heading for Monsoon country. Please…free us…." After that, both ninja coughed up blood and died.

The ANBU grouped camped out later that night, reflecting over the incident. Neji in particular was sympathetic to the cloud nin because of the seals that were placed on them.

Sakura at the moment was very confused. She wanted to sympathize with this new jinchikuri, but with what the ninja told her, she wasn't so sure she should.

Kakashi came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sakura."

Sakura looked behind her, widened her eyes for a moment, and turned back. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I really screwed up. I let my emotions get in the way."

Kakashi said "I felt the same way. But you have to understand that regardless of how anyone became evil, you have to defeat them for the greater good. Remember Garaa?" Sakura nodded. "It was his village's fault that he became a psychotic killer. He didn't deserve any of that, but when he ultimately became what the Sand Village feared, that didn't matter in the end. I'm sure Naruto felt sympathetic towards him, but he was ready to kill him if it meant saving you."

Sakura didn't say anything, but she understood. Then, a thought just occurred to her. "Wait a minute, sensei, how did you know about that?" she asked. "Only Naruto, Sasuke, and I knew about it after Sasuke told me."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "Gaara told me. He said it was that battle that made him a better person."

Sakura smiled and thought to herself. "Naruto…Your greatest power isn't your clones, your rasengan, your wind jutsus or the demon inside of you…it's your ability to change people for the better…I should've known in the land of waves that is more incredible than any jutsu…" Suddenly, she became alarmed. "Kakashi-sensei, where is Naruto!?"

Kakashi at first looked puzzled, then alarmed. "Monsoon country..." Normally, he would have advised for them to head immediately back to Konoha for reinforcements, but Monsoon country at this point was much closer.

Sakura said "Ino, I need you to head back to Konoha immediately and tell Tsunade-shishou that we need reinforcements to help Naruto! Get Sai and Yamato-sensei if you can, but anyone will do!" Ino immediately took to the tree tops and left. "Neji, you're with us." Sakura stated as she and Kakashi took off in another direction.

Neji immediately followed them. "Whoever this Kenji Strife is, he shall fall for what he has done to his people!" he thought to himself.

It was a night like any other. A seven year old Iori was in bed. Like any child, she had trouble sleeping. Then, her father, a kind and gentle man with red hair but great strength, came rushing in her room, looking scared "Iori! Hide, under the bed!" he whispered harshly.

"Father, what's-"

"SHHHH! Do as I say, quickly!"

Iori got under the bed, frightened. "Why is he so scared?" she thought. "Daddy is the strongest person I know. Who could scare him like this!?"

Suddenly, the door came down, and two people walked in. Though Iori couldn't see their faces, she could see the outline of their coats: Black, with red clouds.

"Myojin-kun, it is time for you to die." One of them said, in a voice that shook her to the core.

"It is you who will die, Akatsuki scum!" her father yelled. Silver charka surrounded him, and he ran towards the intruders. The battle went outside, and she knew it was epic, but was too scared to watch. Suddenly, it was too quiet.

Iori hurried outside, hoping her father had won but was too exhausted to come back in. She looked around the corner of a branch, and clasped her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Her father lay there, bloodied and battered.

"He was a tough one, Itachi-san. He managed to break my arm." One of the two said as he carried a monstrous sword with his good arm.

"Of the Jinchuriki, he's one of the stronger ones." that same cold voice said. "After all, he did posses the seven-tails." It was too dark for Iori to make out any features on him, but there was one thing she would never forget: Those eyes. Those red, cold eyes. They stared right at her…

"AHHHHHH!" Iori woke up in her futon, cold with sweat. She looked around, noticing that her teammates and sensei were still there.

Naruto woke up from Iori's scream. "Bad dream?" he asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"A memory." She replied back.

Naruto got up and walked over to her, concerned. "Must have been really bad to take the place of a silly nightmare." He said.

"It was about my father. I was originally from the Village Hidden in the Vines in Beach country. He was a great ninja. He never lost a battle once. Until that night. They came, and killed him."

Naruto became concerned. "Who?" he asked.

"I don't know. But they both wore black cloaks with red clouds. One of them had a giant sword. The other was so cold, and had eyes unlike anything I have ever seen."

Naruto's fox charka flickered for a second. "Excuse me." He said, walking outside. Though he calmed himself enough to keep the Kyuubi from escaping, he was still full of rage. "She was the child of a jinchuriki like me. Those bastards. They don't even care about what happens to their friends and family. It's because of Itachi that Sasuke left. I'll make them pay for everything they've done." He walked back inside, planning to tell Tsunade about what he found out about Iori as soon as they got home…

The next morning, Naruto's team woke up. It was still raining, although not as heavily as before. Needless to say, no one was too eager to go outside. Finally Mana came in the room as everyone finished getting ready.

"Thank you all very much for your help. My journey home was a lot safer because of you all. To repay the favor, I've arranged for you four to be taken to a different port to sail home. The journey there will be much easier then if you came back the way we came here."

Naruto smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Miss Kono."

As the team traveled under the tunnel, Naruto felt something wasn't right. Mana hadn't said a word to them, and her normally cheery personality disappeared. Instead, she had a serious look on her face. Right when they were leaving, no less. When they finally reached the port, there was no ship to be found.

"Are we early?" Naruto asked.

Mana turned around and pointed a kunai at Naruto's throat. "Actually, we're right on time." she said. Three other ninjas came out, and knocked out the genins with chops to the head.

Naruto yelled "What's going on!?"

Mana said "I really wish we didn't have to resort to this. I really wish that we could properly pay for an A-rank assignment. Obviously, we wouldn't be doing any of this if that was the case."

Naruto asked "What do you want?"

Mana said "This isn't really a new country. More like a refuge. We're really cloud ninjas. We had to forge a lot of documents and start many small businesses to make it seem like a legitimate country. My objective was to get you, Uzumaki Naruto, to fight for us."

Naruto replied "Why should I, other than the fact that you've just taken my genins hostage?"

"Because, if you don't, you will leave a whole country of people to be destined for slavery and death. We want you to assassinate our current Raikage."

Naruto said "There are always some nay-sayers. How will I know I'm on the right side?"

Mana paused, and then said "Do you know the real reason I requested you specifically?" Naruto nodded no. "Because I know you're a jinchuriki. I knew that when I watched your fight with the Hyuuga. The Raikage is one too. We-"

"A jinchuriki!? Like me!? Why should I!? I bet he got the position fair and square, and you're just a bunch of people who can't understand that he is a human being like you!!" Naruto shouted back.

Mana at first looked too stunned for words, and then she pressed her kunai harder against Naruto's throat. "If you truly knew me, you would realize I was one of the few who recognized Kenji to be just that." She seethed.

Naruto sighed and said "Sorry. But I can't believe you. Not yet, at least." Naruto snapped his fingers and the other three hostages turned into logs.

One of the cloud ninja screamed "Substitution!? For that long without us noticing!?" Just as he was about to go running for them, his legs were suddenly bound together, causing him to fall over. Another ninja reached for shuriken, only to have a box made of stone surround him. It was too high to jump over, and too slippery to climb, even when using charka. The last ninja put his kunai in a guard position, ready for anything. That was what he thought until Iori came right in his line of sight with a jump kick to the face, knocking him out cold.

Obviously surprised, Mana stuttered "B-But how!?"

Naruto said "I noticed back on the mainland that you bought not only ponchos, but kunai. That alone let me know that you yourself were a ninja. Also, I noticed back at the hotel, you spoke with the manager. The two of you seemed to be discussing something serious, so I had a little friend sneak over and let me in on what you were talking about."

Mana blinked and asked "Friend?"

Naruto bit his thumb and preformed a summoning jutsu. There appeared a tiny toad. "Mana, meet Gamimachi. Gamimachi, meet Mana."

The toad spoke "Yeah, I was the one who told the boss that you were planning to force him into this."

Naruto then said "However, I wanted to know exactly why you planned such a thing. So I alerted my team to your intentions. I signaled them to use the substitution right before you revealed your betrayal."

Mana tensed, and this time pressed her kunai against his throat strongly enough to draw blood. However, her enraged look softened and she dropped the kunai. Then, tears flowed down her eyes. "You're just like him." She sobbed. "At least, the one I knew."

Naruto was starting to feel bad, but he didn't let his guard down. He knew from personal experience that other shinobi would try to take advantage of their adversary's mercy. Still, that didn't stop him from showing his genuine concern. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Mana choked out "Kenji used to be just like you. But the village never understood who he really was. He couldn't take it anymore, and he changed."

Naruto was about to ask more, until a rumbling sound came from beneath the port. Something burst through, and Naruto grabbed Mana and got to safety. Yuji threw two wires onto two rock outcroppings, which his teammates grabbed onto.

"What the hell was that!?" Iori screamed.

As Naruto found his footing, a gigantic crocodile emerged from the water. Naruto looked up to see a person in Kage robes and a hat.

"It's been a while Mana." The man said. Mana's eyes grew wide with fear. "Normally I would say it's so good to see you again…but not in a friend sort of way. More like I'm finally glad I'll be able to end your life."

Naruto didn't like the sound of this. The man removed his hat and revealed himself. He had short red hair, with a tuft of green that stood out like a fern. He looked the same age as Mana. He also had intense yellow eyes. And a smile, but not like Naruto's. It was tainted with malice.

"Kenji." Mana whispered.

Naruto then knew what was going on. This man was the one she wanted to overthrow. The other jinchuriki. And judging by the look of him, he just may have to do what Mana told him to…

Here's my villain! I know at first he seems like a rip-off of Garaa. But remember, Garaa was simply psychotic, and followed his village's orders; this guy is full of hate (the reasons of this will be explored later) and on top of it all, is the leader of his people. In other words, he is what Naruto COULD become. There will be a massive battle next chapter!