A Grimm Contract

by Jcrowe56

Attacked on his ninth birthday, Naruto Uzumaki was chased into the forest of death. falling into a chasm and finding a hidden temple filled with images and carvings of odd creatures with red eyes and covered in bone armor. In the center of this temple Naruto finds a scroll between the effigies of two dragons. See the rise of the Grimm Sage.

7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey there my Readers... Surprise!!! I am still alive and kicking! Look, I am sorry for the long delay, the thing is that alot has happened in the past few weeks... First I began my classes to get my A-class CDL... Then I found out that my youngest sister was in ICU in a coma and that the doctors said she wouldn't survive... So yeah, it has been hard to try and put the pen to paper so to speak. I can't promise a steady release schedule right now, but I assure you all that I will not be abandoning any of my stories, I only ask that you all be patient with me.

Thank you,

JCrowe.

Chapter 7: Team Selections, First Impressions, and Familiy Found

It was with an air of boredom that Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze made his way towards the Academy for Team Selections for the prospective Genin. It had been a quiet four days since the attempted theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals by Mizuki. After the young blond and his partnered summons had returned with both the undamaged, if not a bit blood stained, scroll along with a separate scroll containing both Mizuki's and the unknown spies' remains, Naruto had made his report to the Sandaime and his advisors.

While definitely impressed with the new Genin's skills in not only tracking but also dealing with the co-conspirators, Hiruzen and the two remaining, loyal, members of the Sanin couldn't help but swallow down both bile and worry at the sheer brutality that Naruto and his summons had dealt upon their targets. When asked why they had been so brutal with the execution of the two, Naruto could only reply that with the help of his senses he had gained from both Kyūbi and his summons that Mizuki had been an irredeemable traitor to their home and had declared himself as an agent of Orochimaru repeatedly. This along with the man's blatant arrogance and bigotry led the normally affable blond to go with a… more deadly approach.

The group had then turned to the still form of Raven, who had been standing silently behind her summoner despite being offered a seat in the office. A few moments passed with the group only staring in wait for the Branwen, the Hokage and Sanin expecting an explanation from her, only to sweat drop when said woman made no move to answer. It had taken Naruto asking the Grimm woman for Raven to explain what had happened when she confronted the spy.

According to Raven when she attempted to catch the spy off guard the traitor, who turned out to be a former member of Root that had been declared missing in the late Danzo's records, attempted to strike out at the former Huntress turned bandit. The ravenette had then explained that she had engaged in a short but fast paced battle with the spy and almost immediately incapacitated them by slicing their Achillies tendons. At the raised brow and disbelieving looks directed towards her from the Hokage, his advisors, and Naruto himself, Raven then looked a bit sheepish as she explained that the spy had attempted to activate a self-destruction Jutsu that would have likely demolished an entire city block, if the amount of chakra used during the hand seals could be believed. Not wishing to make a bigger commotion, Raven had moved without hesitation and stopped the attempt by slicing both arms at the shoulder, thereby completely rendering the person immobile. Raven had then moved to secure the now prisoner… only to realize to late that the spy had taken it upon themselves to get rid of any evidence by breaking a suicide capsule that had been disguised as one of their teeth.

After finishing her explanation, Raven only stood stoically as the room's other occupants just stared in understanding. Hiruzen then thanked the two for their work once more before dismissing them from the office so he could speak with Tsunade and Jiraiya about the findings of this evening's escapade. Though just before he left, Naruto had a quick question that he felt needed to be answered.

"Ne, Jiji-" seeing that he had gained the attention of his leader and grandfather figure, Naruto continued, "I had a quick question about team selections if that's okay?"

Hiruzen seemed to think for a moment, attempting to determine what Naruto could want to know, and gave the boy a soft grandfatherly smile before responding.

"Of course Naruto, what did you want to ask?" Standing from his seat, the duo of Sanin had to hold back a sweat drop at the sudden smile that split the young man's face… but Hiruzen on the other hand had to fight back a shiver at the disturbingly familiar devious smirk that had previously only been seen on two others the elderly man had known in the past, one of which was the boy's own mother, the other one… Well let's just say that the eldest Sarutobi had a healthy respect for Shikaku Nara's Wife, and her ability to throw an iron skillet accurately from almost a mile away while still hitting her husband in the head. When the young Uzumaki finished explaining his plan, Hiruzen had to fight with everything he had to stop the ever growing headache that was sprouting behind his sinuses.

'I am getting way too old for this shit!'

-Time Skip-

Konohagakure Shinobi Academy, Day of Team Selections:

The morning of team selections Found Naruto leisurely making his way towards the academy with his partner in her Grimm form stationed attentively on his shoulder. The two still hadn't spoken about the words the blond had let slip the day of the graduation exam. It wasn't as if they had forgotten about the implication Naruto's words had… but the fact was that neither one had any sort of idea on how to act.

Naruto, for all of his forced maturity, was still only physically a thirteen year old boy, not even taking into account the mental damage from his childhood, and Raven… that was a kettle of worms strapped to a land mine. By the time team selection day came it had become an unspoken agreement between the summons and summoner that it would be better to talk about their situation at a later time.

Before Naruto knew it, he found himself in front of the sliding doors leading to his graduating class's waiting room. Taking a deep breath and running a finger down Raven's plumage, much to the transformed Grimm woman's secret delight and visible irritation, Naruto steeled his nerves and reached out opening the door in a single motion.

Looking around as he made his way inside, Naruto took note of the students that were already sitting either alone or with friends. The ones that stuck out the most to the mostly blond were the present heirs to the various clans. First were the two sitting in the front that Naruto identified as two thirds of Konoha's iconic InoShikaCho trio. Chōji Akimichi, son and heir of Chōza Akimichi, was sitting quietly while snacking on a bag of potato chips. The Akimichi heir was a… large boy with a robust build and red swirl markings on both cheeks, his Hitai-ate is wrapped around his head leaving two large tufts of hair on either side of his head. The boy's outfit consisted of a green, short-sleeved haori with a long, white scarf over a white shirt with the kanji for "food" emblazoned on it. He also was wearing black shorts, blue shinobi sandals with cloth wrappings around both his legs and forearms up to his knuckles.

Sitting while laying his head down beside him, apparently asleep if it wasn't for the mumbles of 'Troublesome' escaping his lips, was the living embodiment of his clan's iconic laziness, Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru has narrow eyes, a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated, with his hair styled in an upwards spiked ponytail. The perpetually tired teen's outfit consisted of a short-sleeved grey jacket with green edges on the sleeves his Hitai-ate sported on his left sleeve and sewn in place. Under his jacket, Shikamaru sports a green-lined mesh armor T-shirt, finished up with brown pants and blue shinobi sandals. When he was walking by, Naruto noticed that both the Nara and Akimichi seemed to be wearing a similar set of three silver hoop earrings. Wondering what the earrings could represent but putting the thought off for later, Naruto continued his observations as he made his way up the center aisle towards his previous seat from the examination day.

Noting that the majority of the middle rows of the class were filled with the successful civilian born graduates, Naruto only gave a few waves in greeting until he noticed the next notable face. There sitting by himself while staring out of the window was the last member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha. When Naruto heard from the Hokage and the Sanin what had happened to one of Konoha's only remaining founding clans, the blond had to hold back a groan at the shortsightedness of the elder Kage not seeing that the ostracization of the only other dōjutsu clan for the manipulation it was by the War Hawk Danzo. In fact Naruto had to fight down the need to tear his Jiji a new asshole at the sheer audacity of allowing his former teammates to just about walk all over him, much to the chagrin of the elder and the entertainment of his former students. Shaking off the thoughts of the fall of his mother's best friend's clan, Naruto took in the features of the brooding teen in front of him.

Sasuke Uchiha had pale skin with his clan's iconic coal black eyes and spiky black hair with a blue tint. Wearing his Hitai-ate on his forehead the young teen's face is framed by two long bangs that go to just before his chin while the back of his hair spikes up, causing Naruto to compare it to a ducks ass much to his quiet enjoyment. The last Uchiha's outfit consisted of a dark, navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha clan symbol prominently shown on his back collar. Sasuke also wears white shorts and white arm warmers; on his legs he has his calves wrapped with bandages and also wears shinobi sandals. Just as the mostly blond finished his observation, said emo brat turned his gaze towards Naruto and scoffed before returning his attention to his brooding.

Naruto had to hold back his anger at the sheer disrespect of the whelp of an Uchiha, Raven puffing up in indignation that this weakling of a so called 'avenger' was so self-assured that he would dismiss those who had already proven their power, as small of a showing that Naruto had made during his graduation exams. Naruto himself just shook off his annoyance at the bratty duck ass emo prince and turned his head to see the last of the present graduates.

The last three in the room so far were the Aburame, and Inuzuka heirs as well as the Hyūga heiress respectively. Naruto wasted no time on the fuming form of the Inuzuka, who was attempting to glare the Uzumaki heir into nonexistence with his ire due to the thrashing he had received at the blonds' hands during the combat exam. The Grimm summoner then gave the Aburame a slight nod of acknowledgement, which was returned by the tall, silent, teen. Finally Naruto's gaze came to the young Heiress, said heiress attempting to fight off her blush at the attention that Naruto was giving her.

Hinata Hyūga is a slender girl with a fair complexion, she has the iconic pale eyes that mark her as a member of the Hyūga clan, though her eyes were more of a pale lavender rather than the white of her clan. She sports dark blue hair that is kept in a short hime style with long bangs that frame her soft face. The young Hyūga's outfit consisted of a large and baggy cream-colored hooded jacket with a fire symbol on the upper sleeves fur around the cuffs and hem that effectively hides her body, her Hitai-ate prominently displayed around her neck in a loose neck sash. Hinata also wears blue baggy shinobi pants with her kunai pouch on her right leg and black shinobi sandals.

Giving the young girl a soft smile, causing the Hyūga to almost explode in a steaming blush, Naruto moved to the empty top row behind Sasuke and sat down to wait for Iruka to arrive and start the team selections. While he was waiting, Raven decided to hop from the blonds' shoulder and face the physically young teen and began to speak using the telepathic link Naruto had with all of the higher summons of the Grimm; 'Though thankfully the link was only open when said summons were actually with him…' Naruto thought, images of various the other special Grimm flitting across his mind.

"So, what do you think of these children so far Naruto?" Before Naruto could respond to his partner, a sudden commotion could be heard making its way towards the class.

Raising his brow at the noise, that he would later swear was comparable of a stampede of Ursa and Boarbatusk when someone shot the alpha with a needle gun… Don't ask, both Grimm and summoner were able to lock onto the door of the classroom just as it was almost launched off its sliding hinge as a pink and blond blur crashed into the teachers' podium in a tangle of limbs and screeches. Naruto sweat dropped then deadpanned at the scene as it was revealed that the blurs were none other than the last two remaining class graduates, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, fighting the twitch in his eye at the actions of the two future Kunoichi, Naruto had to almost hold back Raven, as the former bandit queen turned Grimm was about to launch herself to peck the two girls for their disgraceful actions.

Sakura Haruno is a slim girl born from two civilian born shinobi with soft fair skin and green eyes… as well as pink hair, the same shade as her name sake. The young kunoichi prospect wore her shoulder length hair in a high ponytail while using her Hitai-ate as a hairband and two long bangs framing her face as well as a slightly larger than normal forehead. For her outfit, Naruto noticed that she wore a short red qipao dress that went to her upper thighs with white trimmings and a white circle on the back along with tight shinobi leggings that went to her knees and black shinobi sandals. The only other item of note on her person was the thick ANBU style half gloves that sported a metal plate on the back to protect from bladed weapons.

The young teen that was still arguing with the pink haired girl, Naruto was able to quickly identify as the last remaining part of this generations group of the InoShikaCho and the heiress of the Yamanaka clan; Ino Yamanaka. Ino was of a similar height to Sakura with bright platinum blond hair that was tied in a long ponytail that even when up still went down to her lower back and one bang that nearly covered her right eye while framing her face. The young heiress's eyes were a blue green, though narrowed due to the slowly escalating argument. The surprising part about the young woman though was her outfit. Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at the outfit the young Kunoichi had chosen as it consisted of a purple outfit made up of a high-collared cropped blouse and matching apron skirt. The only thing giving the young blond any sense of decency was the bandages that were wrapped around her midriff and thighs down to the upper knee along with large arm warmers and blue shinobi sandals, her Hitai-ate being prominently shown as a belt. The last bit Naruto noticed was the familiar set of silver hoop earrings in her uncovered ear.

It was as he finished his observations, Naruto finally tuned in to hear what the two kunoichi were fighting about to make such a scene… and almost immediately he wanted to let Raven go to punish the two.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY INO-BUTA! I WANT TO SIT NEXT TO SASUKE-KUN AND YOU WON'T STOP ME!" Sakura's shrill voice pierced the room as those who had heightened senses, such as Kiba and Naruto shuttered at the rise in volume. Ino, not to be deterred, began to yell back though not as loud as her former best friend.

"What the hell do you mean that you are going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!?" The blond then placed her hands on her hips before she tilted and gave a disgruntled snort, "There's no way someone as great as Sasuke-kun would want a waste of a billboard sized forehead like you by his side, he would definitely prefer a more… womanly partner at his side."

With her last declaration, Ino flipped her long hair over her shoulder while placing her fist on her cocked hip and smiling smugly at her rival. Sakura, incensed by Ino's barb at her looks, was about to scream out again in response… only to freeze when a sudden burst of some unknown pressure began to press down on not only her but the majority of the class.

Fighting to keep their feet and not drop to their knees or faces depending on if they were already seated, the class attempted to find where the pressure was coming from, only to find that it was their newest classmate.

Naruto was now standing, his face shadowed, and expression hidden from the class as a wispy black miasma seemed to surround him, Raven once again on her summoner's shoulder stared down on the disgusting display of what should be warriors in front of her as her eyes gleamed in bloody red fury. As his head rose to show his expression, the entire class had to hold back a flinch at the sheer look of anger and disappointment on Naruto's face as he looked down at the now trembling forms of Sakura and Ino. The rest of the class, especially the clan children could only look on in awe and fear at the power that was rolling off this young man who seemed to be their age, the only exceptions being Kiba who was shivering in terror and Sasuke, who was stuck in his seat while inwardly seething at this unknown nobody's obvious show of power.

Naruto then moved from his row of seats and entered the aisle, slowly making his way towards the cowering and shaking forms of the previously arguing girls. When he made it to the two, Naruto finally began to notice the affect his Grimm's aura was having on the teens, their eyes marked by tear tracks as they tried to keep conscious in the oppressive aura. Naruto, not wanting to mentally scar the two, took a deep breath and reigned in his aura, the two only had a moment to sigh in relief at the abating feeling until the cold voice of the Uzumaki captured their attention.

"How could you two act like this?" Ino and Sakura couldn't help the flinch that came from the disappointed tone.

"You two are supposed to be Kunoichi now, you two have entered a world where acting like you have during the academy could not only get your team, but yourself killed as well." Seeing the guilty but stubborn look on the two's faces, Naruto's eyes narrowed further and even began to glow a light ruby at the edges as his anger began to peak.

"Do you understand that if you continue to act like this; death would only be the kindest fate for you if the worse happens?" Seeing the confusion on Sakura's and Ino's faces and sensing the similar feelings behind him Naruto continued.

"What do you think will happen when you are on a mission, say to fight against a bandit camp, or Brother's forbid Nuke-nin, and your teammates are killed leaving either one of you the only one left with little to no Chakra to fight due to a lack of training?" Naruto could now feel it as behind him spikes of fear and anxiety began to flare from some of the more aware members of the class. Even Ino seemed to realize what Naruto was implying, but Sakura only huffed and answered in a depreciating tone.

"Well of course Sasuke-kun would come and save me at the last moment baka!"

At the pink haired girl's statement, not only Naruto, but the rest of the class, Ino included, could only look on in shock at the young Kunoichi's naïve answer. Sighing in disappointment once more and rubbing his eyes, Naruto looked towards the pinkette and locked eyes with her causing Sakura to flinch at the now slitted, glowing, blue eyes. Naruto's next words then froze Sakura in place.

"Haruno-san, do you know that most Kunoichi do not die in battle in the field when their teams are defeated… no the main cause of death for Kunoichi in fact has two main sources… either suicide before capture or death from repeatedly being violated by their captors…"

The mood in the room then fell into a dark gloom at the cold fact of their world. After the defeat of Danzo and the restructuring of the academy when the young girls were in their fourth year they all were taken to a special class that specified what dangers women faced, especially in the worst case scenario if they were to be captured by the enemy on a mission or during war. Older Kunoichi would explain the options and methods by which a Kunoichi could attempt to either break free or end their life if there was no other option.

Sakura, feeling as if she was slapped with the reminder of what would happen in the case of such a happening, could only look down in shame. The young pinkette could remember when the classes had changed, and her group had been given that class, Sakura had promised herself that day she would never allow herself to be so weak that she would end up like that. It had been an eye opener, that she could possibly end up with such a fate if she was ever captured in the line of duty. With tears building in their eyes as they met, both Ino and Sakura could only quietly whisper apologies to each other as the shame of their actions grew within them.

Their feelings were beginning to grow out of control, until a gentle hand was placed on their shoulders. Looking up in shock, the two Kunoichi had to fight back a blush at the changed look on Naruto's face. Gone was the hard, cold, and eerily glowing slitted eyes. In their place was now a pair of bright blue, near silver eyes that only showed care and compassion for ones comrades, then there was the smile the blond gave them… it took everything in the two young hormonal teens not to melt at the feelings that Naruto's bright smile gave them. Without noticing the affect he was having on the two young teens in front of him Naruto began to speak in a now softer tone that soothed, not only Sakura and Ino, but the rest of the graduates as well… well except for Kiba and Sasuke for differing reasons.

"It's okay, I just hope that you two will use this reminder, not only of the dangers that surround those of us who choose this path, but of the strength we all gain by working with our squads and comrades to become greater than we could ever be alone."

Getting a few nods, and quiet agreements from his fellow graduates, Naruto released Sakura and Ino and gestured to the seating areas with a small bow.

"Now, we should go and take our seats because I can sense Iruka Sensei just down the hall and he seems to be in a hurry."

Ino and Sakura gave Naruto a quick nod and shy smiles before they quickly made their way towards the open seats, Ino sitting with Shikamaru and Chōji, while Sakura quietly sat at the end of the row where Sasuke sat while keeping a slight distance so she could clear her thoughts. Seeing that the class had settled in, Naruto also made his way up to his previous spot while noting the silent approval and light annoyance from his partner. When he had retaken his seat, Naruto attempted to catch Raven's eye and inquire what the problem was, only to be met with the transformed woman keeping her head turned from him.

Before Naruto could attempt to coax a response from his partner, Iruka finally made his way to the classroom, not even seeming to notice the broken sliding door. Finally arriving at the teacher's desk, Iruka placed a stack of papers on said desk before turning to face his soon to be former students… hopefully. Shaking off the doubts of his students passing their soon to be sensei's final tests, Iruka gave the class a wide proud grin and began to speak.

"Hello there class, I cannot tell you how proud I am to see you all here today. I am happy to have been the one here to usher you all to the shinobi forces of Konohagakure no Sato!" All of the students, except for a certain broody Uchiha brat who just scoffed silently, returned their soon to be former teachers happy grin. Iruka, realizing that he needed to hurry with the team selections so the Genin could begin to bond with their new teammates coughed into his fist to regain the attention of the class.

"Now without further ado,-" Reaching over, the scarred Chunin instructor picked up the stack of papers and began to read off the team lists.

"Team One; led by Jonin Gekkō Hayate, will consist of…" Naruto attempted to pay attention as the teams were chosen, from what the Uzumaki could observe the first six teams consisted entirely of civilian born shinobi hopefuls that would likely be part of the general shinobi ranks. Then came the beginnings of the special teams.

"Next… Team Seven; led by Jonin Hatake Kakashi, will consist of Sakura Haruno-" Said pinkette perked up at finally hearing her name, "Sasuke Uchiha-"

While if this had been even an hour ago, Sakura would have jumped for joy at joining the last loyal Uchiha's team, after the talk she and Ino had received from Naruto had the young Genin hopeful rethinking her priorities. This was not to say that some part of her wasn't excited to be placed on the same team as her crush, so the young teen decided to just save any celebrations till another day.

"and Sai." In an isolated corner at the back of the class a pale boy was drawing in a handheld artisans easel, hearing his name being spoken the boy looked up with a slightly apathetic look present on his features that was quickly replaced by what, in Naruto's opinion, had to have been the most fake pasted on smile he had ever seen.

Iruka himself had to hold back a slight frown when he had finished calling out the name Team Seven's last member. The young Chunin instructor could remember when the boy had been introduced to him by the Sandaime. From what his leader had told him, Sai was one of the only survivors of Danzo's ROOT programs training grounds. In the notes found in the old traitors records, Sai was taken in along with many orphans from the Kyūbi attack thirteen years ago. When Danzo's bases had been raided by the Sandime's forces, Sai had been one of only four surviving children that hadn't been completely broken by the War Hawks methods… unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the boy's older brother, who had died due to a slow acting poison administered by one of Danzo's top operatives only two days after the rescue.

From then until now, Sai had been emotionally distant and almost incapable of forming even basic connections of friendship between his peers. Just the thought of what the young boy had to go through made the usually peaceful Iruka have to fight down his ire towards the now deceased traitorous former elder. Taking a deep breath to clear his head from the spike of anger, Iruka moved on to the next team on the list.

"Next, Team Eight; led by Jonin Kurenai Yuhi, will consist of Shino Aburame,-" Que silent eyebrow raise, "Hinata Hyūga,-" Que silent fidgeting and finger poking, "and Kiba Inuzuka."

The whoop of joy from said teen and light flinch from the young bluenette sent a sudden red flag to the teacher, not that anyone noticed the slight tensing of Iruka's brow. Naruto and Raven on the other hand could only stare at the dog like shinobi with matching narrowed eyes at the sudden bloom of negative emotions, primarily lust much to the duo's worry and irritation, but what really cemented the issue was the sudden rush of fear from said heiress making Naruto's hackles rise. Just as Kiba was about to start speaking, he was suddenly struck in the head by a piece of chalk, curtesy of Iruka, who only gave a curt "Sit," causing the animalistic boy to sullenly return to his seat.

Iruka, seeing that it was once again quiet, decided to move on while making a mental note to speak with Kurenai-san about what he had noticed during the lunch hour before the teams would meet their senseis. Clearing his throat, Iruka continued while ignoring the indignant look from his most animalistic student.

"Now, Team Nine is still in rotation, so moving on, our second to last team will be Team Ten; led by Jonin Asuma Sarutobi, consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Chōji, and Ino Yamanaka."

Much to Iruka's surprise and silent joy, it seemed that the young Yamanaka heiress didn't make a scene and only turned to her two teammates and gave a slightly strained smile and friendly nod that was returned by her two childhood playmates. Chōji, still eating his chips, and a still dozing Shikamaru were at least polite enough to return the young blonds' nod with polite nods of their own. Of course it hadn't been much of a surprise for the trio ending up together due to their families being allies as far back as the Warring Clans Era, this hadn't changed when the three clans had joined Konohagakure as one of the villages' first shinobi clans, after the founding clans and the Hyūga then followed by the Inuzuka and Aburame respectively. To be honest there hadn't been a time since the time of the First Shinobi World War that their wasn't at least one iteration of Konoha's infamous InoShikaCho trio.

Shaking off his musings on his villages' team traditions, Iruka was just about to make his final announcement, until he was interrupted once more by one of the civilian graduates.

"Um… Iruka-sensei… what about Uzumaki-san?" The room was silent for a moment as the student's words registered, then a sudden raucous laughter was heard from a certain Inuzuka followed with a derisive chuckle from the resident emo duck prince, both assholes sending similar looks towards the silent Grimm summoner. Around the class, the other students couldn't help but feel slightly disturbed, angered or disgusted by the reaction of the two boys towards Naruto. Some of the more noticeable reactions were a slight buzzing and tensing from Shino while Hinata seemed to be fighting with herself to speak up in the young Uzumaki's defense. Similar reactions could be seen with almost all of the notable clan children, as well as Sakura, the only exception seeming to be Sai who only looked around confused at the reaction of his two most irritating male classmates. As the laughing continued with no sign of stopping, Iruka had finally had enough, taking a deep breath the Chunin activated his personal genjutsu called *Demonic Illusion: Big Head Oni Sensei* and yelled out.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" in a moment the room was silent as the illusion cowed both the Uchiha and Inuzuka. Wordlessly and sealessly releasing his illusion, Iruka directed a glare to both boys while releasing a minimal amount of Ki causing boys to begin sweating from the normally docile teachers aura.

"I do not know what you two think you were doing… but this is not how Konoha Shinobi treat their comrades,-" Seeing that both boys hadn't changed their expression Iruka continued with a firm tone.

"Due to your attitudes and actions, I have no choice but to place a mark on your record and advise to your Jonin sensei for correctional action to be taken." Both boys were about to jump up in angered shock, only to be stopped by a raised hand from the scared Chunin.

"Don't bother trying to fight me on this, you two need to understand that the type of behavior you two have shown just now will not be allowed in Konoha's military forces, and if you attempt to continue with your disrespectful attitudes your superiors will have no choice but to recommend you be removed from the shinobi forces indefinitely or even permanently… am I understood?"

For a moment, the rest of the class was sure that the two boy's would fight back against the ruling, only for the prideful duo to lower their gazes and give a stiff nod to the instructor. Iruka, seeing that the two had been cowed, at least for now, once again cleared his throat and continued with the last announcement.

"Now, due to the odd number of graduates, it was decided by Hokage-sama that Naruto Uzumaki will be placed on a temporary one man team, designated Team Grimm; led by-"

Before the teacher could continue, the window at the front of the classroom suddenly exploded as a black wrapped bundle was launched into the room. Just as the object made its way to the center of the room it suddenly burst into four directions revealing a large banner that covered the entirety of the back wall and read-

*NOW INTRODUCING THE SEXY AND SINGLE ANKO MITARASHI*

And standing in front of this banner was what had to be the most provocative Kunoichi Naruto had ever seen. The woman was average sized with a slender though curvy body, her face was feminine with light brown, pupilless eyes, tilted in such a way to show the sadistic though mischievous personality within. The young woman's hair was a spikey dark purple put up in a fanned ponytail in the back while her bangs partially covered her hitai-ate on her forehead. Anko's outfit, seeming to embody the ideal Kunoichi fighting style to distract with her looks and sexual appeal, consists of a formfitting metal mesh body suit that went from her torso to just above her knees. Over this the snake mistress wears an orange mini skirt with a navy blue belt and holster, then finishing off the outfit was a large beige trench coat and armored shin guards over her black shinobi sandals.

All of the males in the class, even the usually stoic Uchiha, couldn't help but think that the woman in front of them was attractive in an overwhelmingly sensual and dangerous way. The only ones not obviously affected were Shikamaru, Shino and Naruto. Shikamaru was nearly unaffected due to the fact he was still attempting to fall asleep; Shino only had a single brow raised at the effective use of sex appeal to distract any potential opponents, reminding the silent heir of some of the more dangerous insects in his families collections. Then came Naruto, while the Uzumaki could say without a doubt that the woman in front of him was without a doubt beautiful… the fact is that with some of the former humans he had met in the Grimmlands, not to mention a certain ruby-eyed raven and of course the queen herself… Well Naruto was at least savvy enough at this point not to fall for overt distractions such as this.

The woman herself only looked at the room while giving an alluring but sadistic smile at the affect she was having on the students in front of her. While she knew that there would be those who could resist her womanly charms, hell she had even expected certain students in this class such as the Nara and the Aburame to be next to unaffected, no, the only two to surprise her with their reactions were the blond teen with a bird and the Uchiha brat. Anko was almost certain that the duck headed emo was more of a kunai juggler due to the absolute zero interest in any of the girls in his class, hell even his older brother had shown at least some interest in the opposite sex even when he was a member of ANBU from what her friend Neko had told her. Then there was the blond with blood red tips and his bird.

At first glance Anko could already see that this gaki was a cut above the rest in this class, just from the way he had reacted to her entrance by subtly preparing either a weapon or technique out of her view. Also she was sure that the bird was anything but a simple bird if the mask and glowing crimson red eyes glaring into her soul were anything to go by. Any further musings for the purplette were put on hold as an irritated throat clearing was heard behind her. Turning to face the noise, Anko only gave a fake apologetic smile to the instructor and got on with her business with a sadistic smirk growing on her face.

"Alright, which one of you gakis is called Uzumaki?" Anko's smirk only grew when she saw that the boy and his bird were the ones to begin moving towards her, though the interrogation specialist was surprised to see that the 'weapon' that the boy had prepared had turned out to be a glowing kunai connected to a chain that ran up his sleeves. That surprise only grew when said kunai then dispersed in motes of golden energy before being absorbed into the Uzumaki's body.

When Naruto finally made his way to the woman, who was seriously beginning to give him the creeps with that smile on her face, he stopped just outside her arms reach and gave a simple salute and friendly smile.

"Yo, Naruto Uzumaki at your service Mitarashi-san-" Before he could continue his introduction, Naruto moved his head to the side, dodging a kunai that had been aimed towards his right eye.

For the rest of the class the next few moments passed in a blur. One second Naruto had been about to introduce himself to the provocatively dressed Kunoichi, the next the teen and his companion were dodging a thrown kunai followed by a rushing Anko. When asked about this in the future, the only witness that could report anything other than only the blurs of motion Naruto, Anko, and Raven had become, had been Iruka.

For said Chunin instructor, Iruka could only look on in shock as the young Uzumaki skillfully dodged and deflected the purple haired Kunoichi's swipes and strikes with either her limbs or any sharp implements that the woman pulled from seemingly nowhere. The flurry of motion continued for another five seconds until in a burst of chakra burst from Naruto forming two large falchions in his grasp. Iruka and Anko couldn't help but gasp at the simple majesty of the weapons, though the snake using Kunoichi only had a moment to stare until there was a flash of black edged crimson light behind her and another flash from the boy in front coming from the left handed sword.

Cursing and attempting to block her vision, Anko suddenly found herself wrapped by something metallic, next to follow was the loss of her chakra, then two blades, one cold and the other warm like the midday sun, pressed on either side of her neck. Freezing in place in both shock and self-preservation, Anko attempted to blink the spots from her vision before finally making out the situation she had found herself in.

The second in command of Konoha's TI department found herself wrapped in familiar golden chains connected to the blond in front of her holding his left blade against the front of her neck, resting gently against the skin covering her carotid artery. Though it was the presence behind her that had Anko confused, from what she could see from the corner of her eye there was a young woman standing at a height of one hundred seventy centimeters, wearing a stylized mask reminiscent of the one worn by the boy's bird companion and an outfit that wouldn't be dissimilar to those worn by some of the more hardcore Kunoichi from the Hunter Core or even former ANBU. Dressed in a V-neck black and red kimono-top, held in place with a red obi sash around her waist alongside a red tasset carrying what Anko assumed was the sheath for her weapon, with a black pleated skirt and black shorts to keep her modesty though showing off her rather impressive curves. The young woman, or teen, had various accessories consisting of various beaded necklaces along with red armored gauntlets covering up to her elbows, black fingerless gloves and black mid-thigh high boots with armor plating.

Then there was the young woman's weapon, a long odachi made out of an odd glowing crimson red alloy with the oversized sheath on her hips that looked to carry multiple similar, though differently colored, blades. Any further observations Anko may have had were suddenly cut off by the cold and venom filled voice from the masked woman that would have put even Tsunade Senju to shame with the sheer menace it inspired.

"If you are quite done with whatever test this was supposed to be, you will now tell us why you are here and why you felt it necessary to attack my master." The still unnamed woman then brought her blade closer, the edge so sharp that it had already split the skin on Anko's neck and causing a line of blood to fall into the purplette's cleavage, much to the young Jonin's embarrassment and the silent appreciation of the males in the class, though some were better at hiding it.

Deciding that she rather liked where her head was at the moment and not wanting to test the still unknown individual, that apparently called the Uzumaki Gaki 'master' which she will be sure to bring up during a future conversation, Anko just bit the senbon and gave a quick explanation along with an apology to the young man in front of her that had stayed silent. Looking said silent blond in the eye and having to force back a flinch at the look the Uzumaki teen was giving her, Anko gave a forced chuckle while attempting to not cut herself on either blade that hadn't moved in the slightest.

"Umm… sorry about the whole 'attacking you' thing… it's just that I wanted to give you a quick test seeing as it's just going to be you, me-" Anko then returned her gaze to the woman behind her, "-and I am assuming the samurai girl behind me on a team."

Anko then gained a slightly sheepish expression and had to fight the reflexive response to scratch the back of her head, lest she inadvertently slice her own throat on the blonds glowing sword… not that she could now that she thought about it seeing as she was well and truly trussed up like a roast duck ready for roasting. Fighting through her embarrassment Anko continued explaining while her voice got lower.

"Also this is my first team since I became an official Jonin, and I wanted to be sure that we would be able to kick ass and take names ya'know?"

Naruto had to fight the brow that attempted to raise at the now nervously fidgeting woman in front of him. Now don't get it wrong, Naruto and Raven both knew that the Kunoichi in front of them hadn't been planning on harming him, probably attempt to scare the shit out of him yes, but kill no. Now hearing her reasoning and the slight note of anxiousness in her voice, Naruto couldn't help but feel a slight kinship with the woman in front of him. Another moment passed in silence, the class and Iruka not wanting to cause any undue accidents if they spoke up, Naruto finally gave a slight nod to Raven and in a fluid motion said woman's blade was back in its sheath while the blonds' chains and blades burst into motes of light and were reabsorbed into his body.

Anko only breathed a sigh of relief that she would live to eat dango another day. Raven only silently made her way to stand next to her summoner so that both now faced Anko in expectation. It only took a moment for said woman to realize that the two were waiting for her to give them an instruction. Giving a light chuckle, Anko retook her wide stance with her hands on her waist and spoke out in glee surprising the still silent class and teacher.

"Now, Team Eleven; consisting of Naruto Uzumaki and his still unnamed partner that I was not told about, you two will follow me so we can get team intros done-" Anko then placed an open palm against the still open banner and made a single ram hand sign, causing the banner to poof in a puff of smoke before revealing it to be gone.

Turning back to the duo, Anko gave a wide smile that showed off her larger than normal canines.

"Alright you two meet me at Miroi's Dango Shop for lunch followed by team meet and greet."

Then without another word, the purplette jumped out the still broken window before hopping from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of her favorite dango stand, the excitement visible on her features at the two bad asses that she was now teamed with. Images of the trio fighting alongside each other, kicking ass and taking names while looking good doing it sent a shiver of excitement through the former apprentice of Orochimaru-teme (Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama having convinced the Sandaime to officially change the Snake Sanin's name in the Bingo Book one night after the trio had gotten plastered when Jiraiya had brought out a massive bottle of Toad Sake from Mount Myōboku, much to the former apprentice's delight). Somehow Anko knew that this was the beginning of something that would revolutionize the shinobi world as they knew it.

-Line Break-

Back at the classroom, Naruto only took a moment to match gazes with the hidden eyes of his partner before they just shrugged and jumped through the same window, following behind the still jumping form of their Jonin squad captain.

With the trio now gone, the classroom of graduates, plus one stunned Chunin, were silent in shock at what they had just witnessed. The silence would have likely continued if it hadn't been broken by a thoroughly flabbergasted Kiba Inuzuka.

"What the fuck was that!? Where the fuck did that hot chick come from!? Why is that bastard so lucky to have two hot bitches like that on his team!!!"

It was the last statement that brought the majority of the class from their collective stupor. When the rest of the female members of the graduates registered what the dog boy had said, their eyes shadowed and a collective aura of Righteous Feminine Fury. The rest of the males, minus said dog boy who was still blustering about the unfairness of a 'lesser, loser of a beta male getting all the hot bitches… while he, an alpha! Was left with nothing,' quickly made their way outside the classroom leaving Kiba to his fate. Even someone as emotionally damaged as Sasuke knew that voicing any sort of agreement in this situation would be a one way ticket to getting ones-self a free all expenses paid sex-change via rusty kunai.

Kiba, not even noticing that he was now the only male in the room (even Akamaru, his Nin-dog companion having jumped ship so as to not be neutered by the angry girls in their class.) didn't notice anything at first until the sound of cracking knuckles could be heard behind him. Freezing in place, the younger Inuzuka heir slowly turned around, only to find the shadowed forms of his female classmates exuding an aura that was coalescing into the form of a Hanya like mask that was bleeding from the eyes and fanged mouth. Realizing the danger he was now in, Kiba attempted to speak only to hear the words that sealed his fate. Stepping forward at the head of the coalition of angered females stood Sakura, Ino and even Hinata, in sync the three spoke.

"GET HIM GIRLS!"

-Line Break-

Back with Naruto, Raven and a happy Anko, the trio had made it to the purplette's favorite eatery and were just about to give their orders when suddenly the windows shook when a high pitched squeal filled the air. Both Naruto and Raven only looked on in confusion at what could have made a noise like that, while Anko began to cackle crazily causing the two to sweat drop. After the laughter continued for another five minutes, Naruto finally had enough and decided to just ask.

"Well Anko-san, care to share with the rest of us?" It ended up taking another two minutes of light giggles for the sadistic Kunoichi to calm herself before she could finally answer the Uzumaki's question. Wiping a tear from her eye Anko began to speak.

"Ah… sorry about that, well anyways speaking from experience, that sound was the sound of a man being beaten to a pulp by Righteous Feminine Fury." Anko then seemed to think about something before continuing, "Judging by the direction, I would have to hazard a guess it came from the academy, which is odd cause usually the screams come from the hot springs when Jiraiya-sama is caught by the Kunoichi peeping in the women's baths."

Naruto had to fight back the need to facepalm at the actions of his Godfather, how a man that was so ruled by his vices could have ended up as such a powerful shinobi was honestly beyond the young teen at this point. Raven on the other hand had to fight down the urge to go and find the white-haired pervert and beat him to an inch of his life and likely castrate him if the opportunity provided itself. Anko, not seeming to notice the looks on the two's faces only shrugged before making a note to check in with the KWA (Konoha Women's Association) to get any details on what may have occurred without her knowing.

Without wasting anymore time, the trio made their respective orders of dango, for refreshment; Naruto had chosen Jasmin tea, Raven picked Green tea while Anko broke the train and got a whole bottle of Sake. Ignoring the deadpan from the blond and hidden look of the Uzumaki's partner Anko decided that now was a good time to begin their introductions while their orders were being prepared.

"Well, while we wait why don't we get started. Now why don't we go around the table and introduce ourselves ya'know; likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, etcetera. I'll go first"

Gesturing to herself while uncaringly emphasizing her bountiful bust, much to Naruto's embarrassment, Anko began her introduction.

"My name, as you for sure know, is Anko Mitarashi, newly minted Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato. My likes are Dango, sake, and my best friends; Yugao, Hana, and Kurenai." Anko's expression went from happy to deadly in a moment as she continued, "My dislikes are traitors, perverts, rapists, sexists and ignorant assholes who paint the innocent with the same brush as the guilty." A sullen air then filled Anko as she said that last part, her negative emotions like a beacon for the two across from her.

"My dreams for the future… well I'll probably tell you later" Giving the two a cheeky smile to hide the still present emotions within her, Anko then gestured to the still masked Raven.

"Alright, you next samurai girl, but take off the mask, at least when it's just you and your team ya'know?"

Raven seemed to think for a moment before giving a slight nod of acceptance to Anko and reached up to remove the mask. When the mask finally came off, Naruto had to fight the slight flinch of surprise seeing Raven's changed features. Well they weren't really changed… just younger. Raven now looked to be around Naruto's physical age, fourteen to fifteen, her pale skin and eyes missing the former worry lines and bags that had been present for much of her adult life. All together Naruto could say without a doubt that Raven looked like a black-haired, red-eyed version of her daughter Yang with pale skin instead of tanned peach.

Even Anko had to hold back a gasp at the doll like beauty of the young teen in front of her, to be honest the teen reminded her a lot of her friends Kurenai and Yugao in looks. Raven, not responding to the looks of the two sitting with her along with the various reactions of surrounding civilians and off duty shinobi began her introduction in a light tone.

"My name is Raven Branwen, I do not wish to share my likes, but I loathe those who threaten my family or loved ones. My dream for the future is to remain by my master's side and help him to accomplish his goals."

As soon as she finished, Raven proceeded to pick up her freshly delivered green tea and took a sip without speaking another word. Anko only rose a brow at the short and to the point introduction before just shrugging and turning to face the last member of their new team.

"All right Gaki, you are the last one."

Not even responding to the 'Gaki' moniker, Naruto only nodded and began to speak.

"Yo, my name is Naruto Uzumaki; my likes are my friends and precious people, Ramen, and chicken parmesan. My dislikes are traitors, rapists, and those who can't let go of their hate only to push it onto those who don't deserve it." Anko had to fight the urge to reach up to her shoulder where her former teacher's mark resided, only to be broken out of her musing by the continuation of Naruto's introduction.

"My dream for the future… I would like to restart my clan and bring it back to the prominence it once held before its destruction in the Second Shinobi World War."

Anko couldn't hold back the wide eyed look as the implication of what the Uzumaki had said hit her. It wasn't a well-known fact that there had been only one pure blooded Uzumaki still residing within the village before the Kyūbi attack thirteen years ago. Anko was only barely old enough herself to remember the fiery red hair of one of Konoha's most famous Kunoichi before she had left the shinobi service for a time, only to end up losing her life during the fox's attack. It didn't take a genius to figure out just who Naruto was from there, to be honest the Snake summoner had to stop herself from slapping herself in the face from how obvious it was considering the teen's ridiculous chakra levels, abilities with seals and of course the chakra chains. Hell the tips of the teen's hair were almost an exact match for the Red Hot Blooded Habanero, also known as the Red Death in Kumo and Kiri.

Deciding to bring up her discoveries with the Hokage when she had finished with their meal, Anko simply nodded to the mostly blond Uzumaki, just as the conversation lulled the trio's food finally arrived much to Anko's excitement. The three then proceeded to dig in to their respective stacks of dango, thirty minutes later found the trio sitting in quiet solidarity each enjoying their respective drinks.

Naruto looked to his partner, who still hadn't replaced her mask much to his surprise and raised a single brow that the now younger looking Grimm woman caught. Raven just gave Naruto a look and then flicked her gaze to the still happily drinking Anko, who was definitely building quite the buzz if the flustered cheeks were anything to go by. Sighing to himself and deciding that he might as well ask, Naruto coughed into his clenched fist catching the purplette by slight surprise. Seeing that he had gained his captain's attention, Naruto began to speak.

"Ne… Anko-san-" Before Naruto could continue, Anko held a hand up and gave the Uzumaki a slightly drunken glare.

"Oi, Gaki… why don't you just drop the -san, it's just way to stuffy…" Anko then seemed to grow a slightly sullen look before returning to look at the duo across from her. "I mean, I know that we won't have the usual sensei student relationship that most fresh Genin have with their Jonin-sensei due to your circumstances… but that doesn't mean that we couldn't all make the best damn team that this village had ever seen ya'know?"

It took only a moment for Naruto to understand why Anko would be upset about their team's situation, only for the memory of Anko's dream to flash through his mind. This was Anko's first team since finally becoming a Jonin, and usually a Jonin would be expected to be a mentor or even a parental figure to those in their charge. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you ask, Anko had been given Naruto, not as a student but as a sort of placeholder or partner to bond him to the village.

Now Naruto understood why his Jiji, and the Sanin would do this, considering all of the messed up shit that had happened to him due to the machinations of Danzo and his flunkies in the council and shinobi forces, Sarutobi would have to be the most blind fool to not find some way to ensure Naruto remained loyal if anything were to happen to either him, Jiraiya, or Tsunade. In no way did Naruto hold this against Anko, in the time that he had been waiting for the graduation exam Naruto had been doing some investigations of his own into some of the more well-known names in Konoha's forces.

During his investigations Naruto had eventually come across the tragic situation that Anko Mitarashi, formally known as Konoha's Snake Mistress, had undergone due to her former sensei Orochimaru. It truly showed the hypocrisy of the majority of the villagers that they had collectively decided to blame the actions of the traitorous teacher on his innocent student whose only mistake was trusting the wrong man. Hell if what he had heard had been true, Anko herself didn't even remember her time with the Snake Sanin outside the village. One day she had been leaving with her teacher on a training trip at the age of twelve, only to wake up on a slab in a hidden lab four years older and with a Curse Seal branding on her shoulder keeping her in a constant amount of pain while being interrogated by a group of ANBU in Umi no Kuni.

This would mark the start of Anko's life as the traitorous 'Snake Whore' doomed to treatment that would have likely broken a lesser person. Though instead of breaking, Anko had decided to turn her pain into motivation to prove to everyone that she wasn't her traitorous creep of a teacher. The purplette had shed blood, sweat and tears to eventually claw her way up to the second in command of the Torture and Interrogation Department under Konoha's Sadist; Ibiki Morino. If Naruto was honest with himself, then there was no one in this village who deserved a change in luck more than this woman in front of him. Meeting eyes with the still sullen Anko, Naruto surprised her when he gave her a bright smile that seemed to knock the Jonin out of her funk with the pure positivity of it.

"Anko-chan, I can promise you this…" Naruto's face then changed to a serious one, the force of which brought a light dusting of red to the older woman. "The three of us will show this village… no this world, how great we can be, we will show those who had once looked down on us the error of their decisions that I promise you, Dattebyo!"

And like that all of the seriousness of the situation was suddenly lost as both Raven and Anko began to crack up much to Naruto's embarrassment with the reemergence of his verbal tic. The two women's laughter continued for about three more minutes until they were able to collect themselves. Anko, straightening up and giving a cheeky, though thankful, grin to the Uzumaki, showing that her spirits had been risen.

"Thanks for the pep talk Gak… Naruto." Said boy looked up from his slump of embarrassment, thankful for the drop of the 'Gaki' moniker. Anko seeing this increased the size of her grin, "Now with that done we can get to what the purpose of our squad will be." Leaning forward Naruto and Raven both listened with rapt attention to the purplette.

Seeing that she had the two's undivided attention, Anko spoke in a serious tone, her previous drunkenness nowhere to be seen.

"Now, since our team is missing a member, Hokage-sama had designated our squad as an 'Emergency Backup and Assault Squad,' what this means is that unless we are called out of the village for backing up another team we will only be sent out on low level 'Search and Destroy missions' against either bandit groups or low level Nuke-nin, with no higher rank than C in the Bingo Book."

Both Naruto and Raven listened to Anko with no visible emotion on their faces. When the older woman finished her explanation of what their team would be doing both teen and Grimm woman were agreeable to the situation. Though before anything else could be said Naruto had to ask one thing.

"Ne, Anko, I do have one question if you would?" Getting a confused look on her face, Anko only gave a short nod in affirmation to the Uzumaki's question. Seeing that he had her attention, Naruto spoke with a serious look on his face that brought a questioning look to form on Raven's normally placid features.

"Will we be forced to do those chores disguised as missions the civilians are too lazy to do themselves?"

Anko seemed frozen in confusion and blinked twice, then the teen's words registered and the Jonin began to laugh uproariously. Both Naruto and Raven didn't even have a moment to ask why she was laughing before Anko settled and responded to the Uzumaki's question.

"Ah… sorry, sorry, I wasn't laughing at your question Naruto, but to answer it no, we will not be doing any D-ranked missions. This was a stipulation that I requested from Hokage-sama himself when he told me about your skills when you had dealt with that traitor Mizuki."

Naruto was happy to hear that their team wouldn't be wasting time on D-ranks but was surprised that his Jiji had deemed it necessary to tell Anko about his mission to deal with the former Chunin traitor. Though after thinking about it, Naruto decided to let it slide and just let things progress as they would.

The trio of Team Eleven would then proceed to spend the next two hours getting to know each other and slowly building a bond that would endure well into the future.

-Time Skip-

Border of Hi no Kuni, Three Months Later:

In the lands bordering Hi no Kuni and Kusa no Kuni, homeland of the shinobi of the similarly named Kusagakure no Sato, all seems to be peaceful…

"AAGH!!"

"NO!!!"

"P-PLEASE SPARE ME!!"

These screams and more filled an unmarked brigand encampment as the various bandits and low leveled Nuke-nin were being summarily slaughtered by various monsters made of living shadow. Their shapes varied both in size and power, the smallest being around the size of a large dog and the largest being comparable to some of the more powerful battle summons of the more famous shinobi of the Great Nations. It hadn't been long before this that the group of criminals had been celebrating yet another set of raids upon the surrounding villages of Hi no Kuni's borders.

In the last four months that this particular group had been active, the bandits had been responsible for the ransacking and destruction of over eight different villages along Hi no Kuni's northwestern border. Though the group didn't only take riches the bandits had also made a point of taking any survivors, especially women and young children, to sell in the various underground slave markets. Of course as is usual for scum like this, these bad excuses for human waste would usually take the chance to, 'sample the merchandise,' leaving those who had been chosen broken in both mind and body. In fact it was this night when the group had decided to stop and go over their 'inventory' before setting out south to Kawa no Kuni, where a hidden slave ring funded by various rich business men was waiting for their next delivery.

The nightmare began when one of the more… lascivious men, a giant of a brute with more fat than muscle reached within one of the cages that held their captives and pulled out a young girl with bright crimson red hair. What was surprising about this girl was that she was dressed in traditional garb of a Kusa Genin. The young girl wore a mesh shirt and stockings, a purple skirt, a light brown short sleeved jacket with an orange strip going across the chest, and black sandals.

This girl was Karin… just Karin, an orphan and now former Kunoichi of Kusagakure. The young teen had been unfortunate when on a routine mission with her two teammates and sensei, the group had been caught off guard by the Nuke-nin of this group. The team had attempted to fight back for a time, with Karin herself providing support by allowing the others of her team to bite her to heal and empower themselves with her dense healing chakra. Unfortunately this ended up backfiring.

One of the Nuke-nin among the group, a high B-Rank shinobi from Kumogakure who had left his village after be implicated in the botched attempt to kidnap the Hyūga heiress. The shinobi had a sudden realization who and what clan the girl in front of their raiding party must have come from. Smirking in sick delight at the opportunity in front of him, the shinobi proceeded to rush through a series of hand signs and then releasing an overwhelming Raiton jutsu at the Kusa Jonin's blindside, killing the man instantly. Karin had been shocked seeing her team leader being killed so suddenly she hadn't even noticed when her two other 'teammates' immediately turned and began to run away, leaving the young Kunoichi behind with little remaining chakra to fight back.

By the time Karin had realized she had been abandoned it was too late. The Kumo shinobi had proceeded to knock her unconscious and brought her back to the bandits camp where she was placed with chakra sealing manacles, ironically made by the young red head's destroyed clan before the technique was stolen during the beginning of the siege of Uzushio. The next days for the young teen were filled with fear as she watched these beasts in human skin leave the camp and return with various goods, treasures, and captives. She had also been privy to some of the women's defilement when the bastards grew bored between raids. There were many nights when she could only curse her inherited ability to sense not only chakra but emotions and intent of those around her.

Now here she was, about to be violated like so many before her, unable to do anything to stop this disgusting piece of shit from violating her until either her will or her body broke… then it appeared.

At the edge of her senses, Karin could suddenly sense as… something suddenly appeared at the south eastern border of the campsite. Concentrating further as much as she could through the dampening of the seal cuffs she wore, Karin could determine that there were three large signatures slowly making their way into the unprotected part of the camp, but there was one that caught her attention the most. The being's energy and chakra were massive, easily eclipsing any other signature she had ever felt before, but it wasn't only the power that enthralled her. The chakra of this being was, in a word, beautifully chaotic. It was an enchanting combination of both sunny and warm followed by a deep darkness that seemed to swallow everything in its wake into a void.

Before Karin could continue her observation, the redhead was suddenly struck across the face by the pig that was dragging her away.

"Get the hell up you bitch! The boss said I could break you in before we takes you to market, and I plan on getting my due you blood headed slut!"

Spitting blood to the side, Karin was about to speak up and verbally tear the pig faced brute a new asshole, only to freeze in fear at what she saw when she looked up. The bandit, convinced that the girl was afraid of him, gave a disgusting grin and made to grab the girl once more only to find that his arm was missing at the elbow.

The camp seemed to pause then, the silence deafening to all those present, even the prisoners couldn't help but gape at what was happening. It then finally registered for the man as his arm burst with a spray of arterial blood. Grabbing his stump and screaming out in pain, the bandit had tried to scream out only for another flash of movement and the man's head was disconnected from his body. The rest of the camp could only stare in shock at this, then the man's neck burst in a shower of gore that covered the area around him, though thankfully Karin had been outside the 'splash zone,' And like a match to an oil covered field, chaos ensued.

Screams began to erupt from the entire perimeter as the guards and bandits on the outside were summarily overwhelmed then torn apart by a veritable flood of beast born from the darkest of nightmares. Creatures that resembled those only thought of as legends; bipedal wolves, giant bears scorpions and birds, snakes the size of an entire wagon train with two heads on either end, there was no end to the veritable menagerie of nightmares tearing apart the bandits around the redheaded teen.

Karin could only shake in fear as a man was suddenly torn in two by what appeared to be a large ape like creature, that like the others of these odd creatures was made of what appeared to be shadows and bone armor with blood red glowing eyes that looked upon its foes with hunger and contempt. Even the Nuke-nin stood no chance, the B-Ranker that had captured Karin was being run down by what could only be a demon combined with a dark facsimile of a fallen steed. Just as the Shinobi was about to use a shunshin to escape the creature whipped it's arm forward, the appendage extending with its \sharp claws ready to disembowel the poor fool.

The bandit nin only had a moment to realize what was about to happen when the whip like clawed appendage hit then pierced the man's chest, skewering his heart and lungs, and killing him instantly. The creature seeing it's job was done, then leaned it's head back with a sickening *CRUNCH* and let out a soul chilling battle cry that seemed to suck the fight from the remaining bandits.

Then just like that the battle was over, everywhere Karin looked was another corpse of those who had imprisoned her… had planned to do unspeakable things to her before callously selling her to the highest bidder… the next thing Karin knew she was hugging herself while massive sobs escaped her.

All of her pain, her grief, and sorrow were being unshackled in this moment at the realization that she wouldn't die or be soiled this night. It was the silence around her that finally broke Karin from her crying, with bleary eyes Karin looked up only to have to hold back a scream. The camp around the young red head was filled with the creatures, and they were all staring at her with blank, hunger filled gazes. Fear began to fill Karin at what she now thought was going to be her end, a new wave of tears building in her eyes. Just as she was about to give up, Karin was once again shocked when a piercing whistle rang through the air causing the various creatures to stiffen and look uniformly to a single direction.

Following the horde's gaze, Karin was shocked at the sight, there standing amongst the creatures were a trio of masked individuals. At first, Karin was convinced that the trio were a small squad of one of the black ops units utilized by the major villages due to the stylized masks they all wore. The first leading the group looked to be male with a fox-skull like mask dressed in dark shinobi gear perfect for an assassination mission, an odd pair of golden glowing swords slowly dissipating from his grasp.

Narrowing her eyes at the familiar ability to create chakra constructs Karin couldn't help herself, using her innate ability to sense chakra, Karin couldn't help but gasp at what she sensed. This was the massive and chaotic chakra she had felt before the attack. Though that wasn't the only thing surprising about it, the figure seemed to have a dual type chakra, both energies at first confused Karin but when she tried to feel deeper into the energy she let out a sigh. The golden hue reminded the red headed teen of the spring time sun, invigorating and providing comfort. The second darker hued energy, Karin had been afraid would be filled with malice or some other darker emotion, only to be met with the cool embrace of an early autumn night that soothed her mental anguish and sadness.

Just as she was about to pull back and check the other two of the sill approaching trio, Karin suddenly felt something else hidden beneath the dual chakra… and like that the fear was back. The malice and bloodlust surrounded by a rage that seemed to enshroud everything that it came into contact with only to destroy it. Karin couldn't pull back her senses fast enough, she was more than aware what this feeling was, having met one other like this when she and her team had been doing a border patrol near Tsuchi no Kuni one month after graduating from the academy and had a run in with one of the two devils of Iwa; Yonbi no Rōshi… this person in front of her was one of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their village… a Jinchuriki! Stopping herself from spiraling in fear at what this could mean, Karin moved on, though she kept her senses pointed in the container's direction just in case.

The two following to either side of him were both equally intimidating, the one on the right wore an avian type mask that hid all features but the young woman's long dark hair and wore a more feminized version of the stealth outfit the young man wore with dark crimson highlights. The second woman wore more traditional ANBU styled equipment, though with the addition of a dark purple long coat with black highlights that resembled the bodies of serpents. Just like the other two this woman wore a stylized white mask reminiscent of the large two sided serpents, evenly split between black and white with violet markings instead of crimson.

That was all the time Karin had to observe the trio as they finally finished their approach, the young male kneeling a foot away from Karin and making a gesture with his hands, indicating the other prisoners who had mostly passed out due to the deaths of their captors. Flinching back at what the unknown person could want from her, Karin held herself and tried hard to stop the tears that had once again begun to flow down her cheeks. Just as panic was about to set in, Karin's racing thoughts were suddenly stopped when a soft masculine voice spoke out from the figure in front of her followed by a radiating warmth from his chakra.

"Hey, are you alright miss?" looking up and meeting the Shinobi's masked features, Karin was surprised when the male then reached up towards his mask. Then, with a single flex of his hand the mask suddenly vanished in motes of dark golden light revealing what lied beneath it.

Karin had to hold back a gasp, the young man in front of her was in a word… GORGEOUS!!!

Unable to stop an atomic red blush from forming on her face, the young teen couldn't help but stare in awe at the young man's exotic features. Pale, yet lightly tanned skin, with three adorable whisker marks symmetrically placed on either side of his ruggedly handsome, though still somewhat soft due to his young age, features. Then there was his hair, spiked and shaggy, blond at the roots but then bled to a shockingly familiar shade of crimson at the tips.

One moment, Karin was just sitting there on the ground scared out of her mind and sure she was about to be either killed by the Shinobi/Jinchuriki and two Kunoichi in front of her or eaten by the dark beasts that stood in silent vigil around the clearing… The next, said red head had crossed the distance to the unmasked young man and was unleashing an unholy amount of word vomit to the blond-red head.

"Oh my Kami! Are you an Uzumaki like me!? Where have you been!? Are there any others like you!? Which village are you from-" before more questions could be blurted out by the young teen, Naruto placed his finger on Karin's lips, both quieting and causing the teen to blush a nearly florescent shade of red.

Giving the flustered Karin a soft smile that caused said teen, along with his partners unknown to him due to their masks, to blush madly with a sudden skip in her heart beat, Naruto spoke in a calm tone.

"Sorry about that, It's just that I can't answer your questions if you don't allow me a moment to speak ya'know?" Removing his finger from Karin's mouth, Naruto continued speaking.

"Now, starting from the top with an introduction, my name is Naruto Uzumaki,-" Karin's eyes widened in excitement at the confirmation.

"I am a half-blooded Uzumaki from the main Uzumaki line. My mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki, also known as 'Akai Chishio no Habanero', daughter of the second Uzukage; Kenshi Uzumaki. I am currently a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato.-" Naruto's smile then dimmed as he continued, "Unfortunately, I am the only surviving member of the Uzumaki Clan remaining in Konoha." Looking down in disappointment, Karin only had a moment of sadness before a warm gloved hand was placed on her shoulder.

"I know it isn't what you wanted to hear, and I am sorry that I have to ask this, but can you please tell me your name and how you ended up here?"

Fighting down a blush from the contact of the young man who had confirmed himself to be part of the long thought dead clan, Karin mustered her courage and began to explain her past leading up to being captured by the bandit group.

Naruto himself had to fight the sudden urge to unleash some of his more devastating Grimm on Kusagakure for what his apparent clan member had had to suffer during her time there. From what Karin had told him, not only did those bastards hide surviving members of his clan from Konoha, but they had the audacity to force Karin's mother into using her own life force as a panacea cure all. Then when they had caused the poor woman's death due to chakra exhaustion, they forced the same treatment onto her daughter without a seconds hesitation at the age of seven. Then when all was said and done, her own teammates had abandoned her to be captured, and likely raped by bandits, just to save their worthless hides.

Naruto swore to himself then and there, if he were to ever run across the bastards who had abandoned Karin, or if anyone attempted to take her back to become a tool for Kusa again… He would destroy them completely.

When Karin had finally finished her retelling of her time before and after her capture, ending with the death of the man who had grabbed her, both Anko and Raven returned with the group of captured women huddling behind them. Naruto could feel the overwhelming fear flowing from the women as they looked around at the carnage around them. Deciding to alleviate their fears, Naruto cleared his throat, catching the attention of the now shivering group, minus Karin and his teammates.

"Ladies, I am sorry for the tragedies that led you all to witness this today, but I wish to tell you all that you are safe now." Naruto then gestured to his team then himself.

"My team and I were sent out by Konoha, at the behest of the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni to find and destroy the bandit camps that have been cropping up along our borders these last few months." Seeing the sudden hope and happiness that grew in the eyes of the former captives, Naruto continued his explanation of the situation.

"Unfortunately, as much as I do not wish to tell you all, the villages you were all taken from were destroyed and none were left alive." The younger teens and girls among the former captives began to cry at the confirmation of what they had already known but had hoped was wrong. The older teens and women moved to comfort those who were crying, Naruto seeing this had to fight to hold a snarl of anger at the pointless loss of life these bandit pieces of shit had caused in their lust and greed.

Pushing his anger down once more, so as to not cause his Grimm to respond to his emotions, Naruto continued once more.

"Be assured, Though your homes are gone now, the Daimyo, as well as the Hokage himself, have assured and authorized my team and I that we can escort you all to a destination of your choice. This also includes the capital as well as Konoha if you so desire." Seeing the women's attention once more back on him, Naruto gave another comforting smile while releasing his light enhanced chakra to soothe the fears of the women.

"Now please speak among yourselves and make your decision, I and my teammates will establish a perimeter and ensure that there are no more remaining bandit forces remaining."

As the group of women and young girls spoke among themselves, Naruto, his team and surprisingly Karin walked over to the side. When Anko noticed the redhead following them, the purplette couldn't help but use this opportunity to poke fun at her teammate.

Removing her mask, showing her shit eating grin, Anko began to tease, "Ne, ne, Naruto-kun, what's up with the little tomato Kunoichi, did you find yourself another girlfriend while me and Raven weren't looking?" Just raising his brow at the look and words of the older Kunoichi, Naruto was about to respond when a sudden spike of anger came from two directions.

Stiffening from the larger of the two signatures, Naruto began to sweat when the sound of a sword unsheathing came from his left. Turning slowly to face the sound, Naruto had to fight down a shiver of fear when he saw the aura of anger and death that came from Raven as she continued to unsheathe her sword; Omen. Naruto was about to ask what was wrong when the second source of anger suddenly jumped, Turning to his other side, Naruto was witness to a now furious Karin who was staring daggers of Killing Intent at Anko, the redhead then spoke in a deathly calm tone that reminded the blond of the Slug Sannin when Jiraiya or his Jiji did something perverted.

"Who the hell do you think you are calling a Tomato, Huh!?"

"Naruto… do we need to have another discussion about being a womanizer like my failure of a brother."

It was at this moment both Naruto and Anko began to fear for their lives, the blond shooting a look to the purplette that said, 'This is all your fault!!!'

Before either enraged young woman could enact their Womanly Fury upon the now cowering duo, they were all interrupted by a sudden sound of a clearing throat behind them. Turning to look back, the group was met with the entire group of rescued women standing and staring with varying amounts of amusement on their faces at the scene. The one that caught their attention, a woman in her late twenties with auburn hair pulled back in a braid and holding onto a young girl of around ten years old with similar features, gave the trio, plus Karin, a motherly smile and began to speak.

"Ufufu, sorry to interrupt your lovers quarrel-" The woman skillfully ignored the sudden shouts of 'What!!' and 'It's not like that Dattebyo!!,' even the sudden movement when Naruto and Anko dogpiled Raven when the Grimm woman attempted to pull out Omen to cut down the woman attempting to embarrass her… Nope she just continued as if she hadn't seen or heard anything.

"but all of us have agreed that we wish to return with you to Konoha." A sudden return of the groups sadness and grief brought the mood back to seriousness as the team and Karin gave sympathetic looks of understanding to the group. Naruto then stepped forward and gave the group an understanding, though sad, smile.

"I understand, we will happily escort you all to Konoha after we ensure that there is nothing left of this place for another group to attempt to take over where these bastards left off."

With that said, Naruto then raised his hand to his mouth and released a shrill whistle, causing the women, girls and Karin to flinch. Sudden movement from the Grimm caused some of the younger children to huddle closer to their mothers, siblings or any of the older women. Naruto, Hiding a flinch at the reaction of the civilian captives, spoke loudly to his summons.

"All right, all of you listen up!" Even Raven, who had been a Grimm herself for longer than she would wish to say, couldn't help the sudden urge to grab the handle of Omen when the thirty to forty Grimm turned their complete attention to her partner and master.

"You will all go and dispose of the remains of these pieces of trash, then afterwords the Beowolves and Beringels, led by Anko, will go and collect any information, weapons or supplies that could be useful to the village." Getting various nods or grunts from the Grimm, Naruto then turned to Raven.

"Then I want you, Raven, to head out and check the surroundings with the other Nevermores to ensure that our path remains free of any stragglers that may have escaped." The former bandit queen only gave her leader a short nod before replacing her mask then, in a flash of black light, assuming her Nevermore form and taking wing along with a flock of various sized bird like Grimm.

Seeing that his orders were being taken care of, Naruto then turned to the remaining Grimm, most notably the demonic horse and rider combination; Nuckelavee. Approaching the silent beast and rider, Naruto gave a friendly grin gaining a crackling tilt of the beings horned head. Finishing his approach Naruto placed a light palm on the Grimm's mount, which gave an echoing whinny in appreciation, before speaking softly so as to not be overheard by the women or Karin.

"Thank you for your help with this…" the demonic looking Grimm only gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. Naruto, seeming to hear something only he could, continued speaking.

"I know that taking this form is hard for you, especially with your personal history with this shape."

To be honest, when Naruto had heard the story about what had happened, he couldn't help but curse the Brother of Darkness for doing something as callous as what was done to the one in front of him. Just as his mood was about to fall into anger, the whiplike arm of the beast laid upon his shoulder in a gentle gesture… then in a flash of light Naruto suddenly felt calm fill him dispersing his negative emotions.

Looking up at the skull like visage that hid the now glowing pink eyes of their owner, Naruto couldn't help giving a light smile.

"Thank you for that, I don't think that we will need you for anything else, you can take the rest of this bunch back to the Grimmlands and take a rest…" Naruto then gave a tired smile that only just reached his eyes.

"Tell everyone that I'll see them soon… and be well… Ren."

Another nod of acknowledgement was all Naruto received as a dark portal appeared beneath the revealed Lie Ren along with the rest of the various creatures Naruto had summoned for the raid. Taking a deep breath as the last of the creatures and one former human of Remnant turned Grimm returned to his summons realm, Naruto turned back to the group seeing that the women had begun to help collect supplies for themselves so they could begin their travel to Konoha.