What's with you guys calling for death to OCs? I mean... the interlude is not the best thing I ever wrote but I can't have them to be so devoted to Naruto out of nowhere!

At any rate while some of my reviewers disagree about the last chapter is my best I get more review for that chapter anyway...

Aizen oooh call for his death my dear readers!

It's beta-ed so no worries... it's undoubtedly much better than what I originally wrote.

There's a poll about whether or not you want to have a time skip to the start of canon, rookie 9 graduation. OR you want me to continue Naruto's story from where I left in this story. I will continue at least 3 to 5 chapters from here before I can do time skip or continue so vote it in my profile or review!

ps: I enable anonymous review not for irresponsible people to abuse it. I can take critiques but I 'hate' people using it just to tell me what's so suck about my story without a good reason. I especially pissed off someone just tell me too many OC, delete them! Who the hell are you to demand that?

And all these complains make me wonder, have you read my first chapter author note AT ALL?

Here is the copy : This is the kind of story in which, I write what I 'want' which is not necessarily a good story like any other I have written before. It's more to my personal pleasure you see, no worrying for 101 guide of good fanfiction. I want to write a cool fuuinjutsu user Naruto, and so I write one.

7th Legacy: You're Our Pride

"Now, Naruto… wipe your tears! The shinobi in front of you is going to leave with pride…
he protected you 'till the very end. We should be proud of him…"
Uchiha Shisui to Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto didn't care about the hole in his hand or the resulting sharp pain; both were the farthest thing from his mind. He had been careless, and his friends had paid the price. He should have realize how odd it was for Aizen to knock Hinamori out by holding the back of her neck, or paid attention to the scruff of her neck when she was laying down. He did neither, and now Hinamori had nailed his hand to the wooden surface with her katana. The price he paid for his carelessness.

Naruto ignored the pain as he pulled the katana out of his hand, spilling his blood all over the seal array. Hinamori paid him no mind as she strode to her master who looked dead, but... could he survive that? His breath hitched when he saw the seal array on the back of Hinamori's neck, a crudely made mind control seal.

What the hell was Aizen thinking? One of the most obscure type of seals were the ones that dealt with the mind, using that kind of seal recklessly would destroy someone's mind. His blood ran cold at the thought of the seal having been planted a long time ago. Hinamori had been with Aizen for years, her mind was probably...

The sound of metal hitting wood alerted him to Itachi and Shisui pulling Aizen's weapons out of themselves. Faint smoke was coming off of both weapons from the fire jutsus used to destroy the seal arrays carved into them. A wise move, he decided. Naruto winced when he felt the wound on his hand closing rapidly. He'd never had a wound this deep before, so the experience of his muscle tissue being pulled and mended by Kurama's demonic chakra was foreign and slightly painful.

"Naruto-kun," Itachi's calm voice alerted him to the ANBU's presence by his side, "are you alright?"

The jinchuuriki nodded, watching from the corner of his eyes as all the ANBU retreated to the giant tree stump. It was a wise choice; they didn't want Aizen to attack them again with his lightning element. "I'm fine... but Hinamori, she's under his control..."

Someone would have tried to approach her and knock her out, but what she held made them pause. In one hand, she was holding one of Aizen's kunai with a lightning element seal, and in the other was the dreaded treasure. Stepping anywhere near the water's surface was a suicidal move, and although they were physically superior compared to Hinamori, it would be too dangerous to confront her. They knew that a mind-controlled human, like her, could do the unthinkable with little regard to themselves and their surroundings.

"Taichou, could we use the wall to get to her?" Kuma asked Tori warily.

Tori turned to the Uchihas and said, "Itachi, Shisui... can you see if anything's in the wall? If there's another seal trap there it could be a dead end."

Itachi and Shisui nodded, pushing more chakra into their eyes to see better in the dimly lit room. "I can see some traces of chakra..." Shisui gulped at the sight and what it implied. "This is bad."

The Uchiha scion nodded, "how could we miss this?" He gritted his teeth, his sharingan spinning furiously. "The wall... is a landmine." If they had noticed earlier, they wouldn't have even dared to touch the wall. And to think, all of this was a defense mechanism made by Uzumaki Mito?

The warning of 'don't touch the seal' was never voiced, but it didn't need be. The Uzumaki clan was notorious for their use of seals as traps.

Naruto coughed, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "Because this giant seal array activated," he breathed out, "the defense mechanism that's been dormant for so long has been revived by my chakra. But, Aizen and Hinamori have been here before, so they probably know how to deactivate it..." Though Hinamori had probably not been aware of Aizen's malicious intent towards the seal. Naruto gritted his teeth, "It's designed to annihilate intruders if they manage to reach the treasure, but it's backfired in our case, because they know how to control it while we don't."

Aizen's hoarse laughter rang throughout the room. "How perceptive, Naruto-kun! Ha ha ha... as expected of an Uzumaki."

The younger seal master scowled. "Aizen..."

Shisui snarled. "How the hell are you still alive after that attack?"

Aizen tilted his head to the side as he stood up to his full height. On his chest was an ugly burn scar though it wasn't a life threatening injury. "It's a simple trick any seal master with mediocre knowledge of medical ninjutsu could achieve..." he revealed. "It ate more than half my chakra, though."

"Aren't you cocky …" Tori drawled. "Revealing your secrets is foolish."

"Though that can be easily rectified with this treasure," Aizen stated as glanced at Hinamori who held the treasure close to her chest. "Now, Hinamori, give me the treasure."

Naruto tried to move, but Itachi stopped him. "You, of all people, should know it's unwise to attack Aizen blindly," the Uchiha scion muttered stoically.

"Don't!" Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Hinamori force the purple orb into Aizen's burned chest. "Is he crazy? He's trying to consume that foul chakra?"

'I once knew a foolish pair of brothers who did the same,' Kurama informed with a growl. 'Aizen will either grow stronger or die because of chakra intoxication."

'I see...' Naruto gritted his teeth, 'but will he be able to control that power?'

Kurama cackled, 'Who knows? Either way he'll find out... "

'Is that so?' Naruto cut his mental conversation short, ignoring Kurama's indignant rambling about his ungrateful jinchuuriki. Whether or not what Kurama said was true, it was still just a prediction. Meanwhile, Aizen had become quiet as his eyes started to glow an eerie purple. He strolled leisurely in their direction with a smirk on his face. Naruto didn't like this sudden confidence Aizen had gained with stepping into the tree stump, the only trap free area. After all, he was the one with a severe disadvantage as far as the number of allies went.

"What are…?" Naruto's eyes widened when Aizen vanished from his sight. The next thing he knew, the ANBU members who stood beside Itachi fell to the ground in bloody messes, and said Uchiha was blocking Aizen's bloody hand with his ninjato.

Itachi winced. "What power..." He could see Aizen's every move with his sharingan enhanced eyes, but his body couldn't react in time. With just brute strength, the man was pushing him back.

Shisui growled, "When did he..." The shunshin expert vanished and reappeared next to the traitor and swung his ninjato, but was greeted by air.

"UARGH!" The sickening sound of crushed ribs echoed as the ANBU with a bear mask was slammed into the ground.

Tori backed away, suppressing his anger about the death of his subordinates as his hands ran through a series of seals. "Suiton: Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)!" A torrent of water rose up and spun like a drill, barreling towards man in question just smiled as he cut through the drill of water with his bare hands. "Is that it?"

Shisui scowled. In just the blink of an eye, they were down to four shinobi, Naruto excluded. Shisui glanced at the blond, immediately knowing by the way he wobbled on his feet that he was far from ok. The Uchiha could understand though, it was common for most children to be exhausted when they activated their bloodline for the first time. Shisui's attention was drawn to Itachi as he sheathed his ninjato, and his eyes widened when he saw the large crack on the sword. Itachi appeared calm, but Shisui could tell his cousin was running a number of strategies through his mind.

"How strong is this bastard?" Shisui asked with a grimace at the broken ninjato.

"He's strong enough to tear us apart with his bare hands," Itachi answered calmly. "Do not engage him directly."

Naruto winced, it seemed Aizen was nowhere near dying of chakra poisoning. "Itachi... Shisui..." he called, "Aizen is absorbing the foul chakra of that orb, and even though his chakra, power ,and speed has increased exponentially... he's not infallible... and he's not supposed to be able to control this power too quickly." He coughed again before he took a deep breath. "Please stall him to give me more time. I have a plan."

Itachi nodded as his right hand pulled a wire from his weapon's pouch. "I'm going first."

Tori and his remaining subordinate, Nezumi, dodged another torrent of lighting attacks in their limited amount of space. Itachi was right. Save for the tree stump, the whole area was a landmine for them. Tori somersaulted and landed right on the edge of the wooden surface. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Itachi land in between him and Nezumi. "Itachi..."

"Taichou," Itachi began, "let's focus on immobilizing this man, while we stall for time. We must try to keep him inside this giant seal array as long as we can."

Nezumi turned to the Uchiha prodigy. "What do you mean?"

Tori ended the conversation with, "talk later, he's coming."

Naruto knelt on the wooden surface, his fingers tracing the center of the giant seal array. Shisui was beside him looking worried. Naruto ignored the weary state his mind and body were in as he tried to focus. His chakra pool was nearly empty, and he knew he didn't have enough to accomplish the required tasks. He could call out Kurama's energy, but what he needed was Uzumaki chakra, not Kurama's demonic one. It was frustrating being so useless and weak when he had a role to fulfill in this battle. Failure just wasn't an option. He had already lost two of the ANBU guards who'd protected him for years, and he wasn't going to lose any more of his friends.

He drew his legs into lotus position, his fingers forming a ram seal. It would help to recover his chakra a bit faster. "Naruto," the young seal master frowned, "brace yourself," Shisui murmured, a grim expression painted on his face. "It seems a lady is joining our party."

Naruto grimaced at the bun-haired girl who walked towards them, her katana glimmering in the dim light. "Hinamori-nee..." he hissed. "Shisui, try to immobilize her... she has no sense of self-preservation as she is now..."

Which meant it was the same as fighting someone who was ready to die, and in Shisui's book, that was always a bad idea. If you engage with this kind recklessly, you would end up dying with them. "Understood."

As soon as the word left his mouth, Hinamori charged at Shisui, and though the shunshin expert dodged the attack easily, he was displeased by the implications of the first attack. Naruto was right about the 'no sense of self-preservation' part. This girl had charged at him with all her power when there were so many other openings. His sharingan spun wildly as he tried to trap her in a genjutsu, but nothing happened. Maybe the seal blocked genjutsu attacks or something?

Shisui dodged another sloppy attack. "Che," he grunted.

From the way she attacked, Shisui could tell she wanted him to attack her, and he could only imagine how splendidly that would end, especially if the seal on her katana was the same as Aizen's. Lightning natured chakra was second only to wind when it came to versatility, so touching a weapon with that kind of seal was a suicide.

Fortunately for Shisui, he also had a trick on his weapon. "I have lightning chakra, too, Ojou-chan." Shisui grinned as his weapon clashed with Hinamori's.

The petite girl's face remained stoic as she exchanged blow after blow with Shisui, but it was obvious she wasn't faring well. Shisui could tell she was not used to using one katana, because she was a twin sword user. A person under mind control, like her, hadn't thought ahead, so she hadn't bothered to regain possession of the katana she'd used on Naruto earlier.

The blond boy silently watched Shisui and Hinamori from the corner of his eyes, and it seemed Shisui was doing well. He was still low on chakra, so he could only hope they could buy him more time. His blue eyes then glanced at the other battle that was not going well. At some point, some sort of wing made of ominous, purple chakra had erupted from Aizen's back making him look decidedly less human. Some sort of strange, black pattern was spreading over his skin, and even a non-sensor could feel the unnatural chakra practically radiating from him. What the hell had that orb done to Aizen?

It was a three against one battle, and though they were ANBU, they could barely hold their ground against him. In fact, Aizen was just toying with them, biding his time and savoring his moment of superiority. The lack of land for their battleground didn't help either, especially since they wanted to keep their distance and stick to mid to long range attacks.

Itachi was thinking along the same lines as Naruto. Whatever was happening to Aizen would have undesirable outcome for them. While they pondered over their next course of action, Tori broke the silence, his normally reserved voice sounding unsure because of the weird markings marring Aizen's skin. "You're... one of that bastard's experiments?" he growled out murderously.

"Tori-taichou?" Itachi glanced at the man; he'd never seen his captain look so perturbed.

Aizen laughed because, unlike them, he knew what Tori was referring to. "Oh, Orochimaru-san?" The amount of politeness used to address the most dangerous missing nin Konoha had ever produced didn't sit well with them. "Do I look like someone who does his bidding?" he asked in a mocking tone, faking an indignant expression. "I'm not one of those fake dolls he created," Aizen muttered, and for a moment, the false, genial smile he always donned returned to his face. "I'm an original carrier of this blessing." At this point, the marks covered over half of his body.

"Blessing?" Tori repeated, his ninjato pointed at the traitor. "It's a curse that feeds on power-hungry men like you."

Aizen scoffed, then he let out a maniacal laughter at Tori's insult. "Maybe to those copies," he grinned, charging the ANBU, "but not for me!" Tori hissed as he blocked Aizen's kick with his arm guard. It shattered in an instant and he could feel his bone screaming in protest under the immense pressure. Itachi and Nezumi didn't stay idle, they both raised their respective weapons and dealt a blow to the man's vital points.

CLANK!

Nezumi gasped as his ninjato snapped in two instead of piercing Aizen's spinal column, Itachi's kunai also broke. The ANBU knew in an instant that engaging Aizen in close range, even with three against one, was dangerous. They all jumped away from the traitor, but Nezumi was not lucky enough to escape as Aizen turned and caught him by his throat. Nezumi tried to break free but Aizen had an iron like grip on his throat, cutting off his air supply. "Before I kill you all..." Aizen began with a sneer, "I think it would be fair to indulge the reason of why I did this..."

Naruto never thought he would thank God for the dreaded monologue every cocky villain did to reveal their plans. 'Madara's bad habit, the dreaded monologue~'

'It's working to my advantage, so let him,' Naruto muttered to Kurama. 'Besides...it's a sign he's getting over-confident, and that's good news for us.'

Nezumi was caught, but Tori wouldn't let his subordinate die without trying to save him.

'Just concentrate on recovering your chakra,' Kurama hissed coolly. 'Your chakra coils are in a bad shape after that last stunt you pulled. You weren't ready for that.'Chakra coils were the pathways of chakra circulation, so if the coils were undeveloped like Naruto's (or any child's), it didn't matter if a shinobi had a lot of chakra available. Extreme use of chakra resulted in the wear of these coils, because they weren't ready for the strain, which could lead to the inability to use chakra later. 'I'm healing them now, so hopefully they'll be in good enough condition for your plan, but I got to warn you... it's going to hurt like a bitch later!'

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the warning. 'That's the least of my concerns.'

"Naruto-kun," Aizen called the jinchuuriki in his fake, genial voice, just like how he used to. It snapped Naruto's attention back to his former mentor and made him want to hurl. "You may loath your jinchuuriki status, but there was once a clan who willingly became demon vessels."

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki glared at the traitor. "A clan of fools then," he hissed testily.

"Fools?" Aizen echoed, slamming Nezumi into the hard, wooden surface. The ANBU was still breathing but the sickening cracks they heard definitely indicated broken ribs. Aizen moved away from his latest victim, and Tori glared at the man as he checked on Nezumi.

Aizen laughed. "My clan was the greatest! We were the next step in human evolution!" he boasted proudly.

More like disgraces to humanity, Naruto thought furiously. "I hardly believe that." Naruto didn't even bat an eye when Itachi landed next to him. The Uchiha probably knew that Naruto was baiting Aizen to keep him talking, but probably wasn't willing to risk the man's wrath coming out. A dull thud not far from Naruto made the boy briefly glance in Shisui's direction, Hinamori was once again out cold. Shisui had tied her up with a rope for safety measures and confiscated her weapon's pouch and scrolls; he even used the confining seal Naruto gave him.

The traitor looked at his former student disapprovingly. "We were... in fact, better than jinchuuriki like you," he drawled haughtily, looking at Naruto condescendingly. "Unlike you, we contained demons in our body with no seals... they became a part of us, and we were in control of their power... It gave us vitality and longevity superior to lesser humans..."

Naruto was pretty sure no jinchuuriki – especially himself – would want to be compared to an abomination like Aizen. The man was just so proud of being able to abuse the power that came with being less human. "So your clan bred with lesser demons?" Kurama had once told him that the bijuu were not the only demons around, and that lesser demons did exist and could breed with humans to produce half-demon spawn. The Uzumaki family was originally a clan of onmyouji that exorcised demons who threatened humanity, and the Rokudo Sennin had also been one before he 'created' the shinobi profession.

Aizen looked like he'd been slapped across the face. "As if. We took the power of the demons we sealed and implanted it into our bodies..." he informed, placing his hand above his heart as a sneer marred his face. All of his skin had turned to a sickly shade of purple, and the butterfly-like wings made of chakra had fully extended out of his back. His appearance was decidedly bestial, and his chakra only grew fouler with each passing moment.

The blond jinchuuriki felt his heartbeat become more erratic, and he felt restless. 'It's nothing. Uzumakis are pretty sensitive to demon chakra... Your body is alert, that's all. If anything, this will speed up your recovery rate because your body instinctively knows there's a threat.'Naruto guessed that had something to do with the Uzumaki's profession prior to the shinobi age.

'Your Uchiha friends, however...' Kyuubi redirected the jinchuuriki's attention toward the cousins.

"Urgh!" Itachi and Shishui suddenly hurled and threw up the contents of their stomach.

The Uchiha scion coughed as he struggled to regain control of his body. "What's… happened?" Itachi hissed.

Shisui cradled his head, "I'm getting dizzy…"

"Itachi! Shisui!" Naruto called out to them, "are you all right?"

Kyuubi scoffed, 'They're the descendants of the Rokudo Sennin… so they're pretty sensitive, too. Normally, they wouldn't have reacted this badly to this kind of demonic chakra, but…' He trailed off, 'Mixing poison could produce a more lethal one, it's something like that… Aizen-bastard have foul chakra since the very beginning but he absorbed another kind of nasty chakra which no good for your senses or the Uchiha's."

"Great, it's an enemy that makes us want to puke literally," Naruto muttered under his breath, feeling his stomach twist unpleasantly. 'Just a bit more… please make it in time.'

Aizen looked unperturbed by their speculations of him and their reactions to his transformation. The sclera of his eyes turned black while the irises became yellow. He also gained a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead down to the bridge of his nose, and his skin's texture became tough and jagged like a rock. "Hm… I can think clearly…" he murmured, revealing his voice had become deeper and hoarse. "I like it."

Shisui and Itachi wiped their mouths, neither looking happy to be reduced to their current state. "Itachi, Shisui…" Naruto called their attention to him, "don't worry about the sudden nausea, it'll wear off fast…" he wheezed out. "Don't think to fight him head on, just keep him distracted from me and stay alive…"

"Got it." Shisui grinned then said to Itachi, "Ready?"

Itachi scoffed, "Whenever you are."

They jumped away from Naruto and landed on the opposite side of Aizen. Their enemy looked unconcerned, taking his time to marvel about his new power. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

Aizen batted away the incoming fireball with his bare hands, much to their ire. Shisui gritted his teeth when Aizen appeared in a flash, leaving the shunshin expert barely any time to defend with his lightning-coated ninjato. Shisui knew if not for the coating on his ninjato, he would have met the same fate as Itachi's ANBU teammates. His eyes widened when a crack appeared on his ninjato from Aizen's force. He tried to move away, but Aizen was too strong, so he was locked in the clash. Itachi, though, came to his rescue, throwing a barrage of kunai with explosion tags. The blast didn't deal any meaningful damage to Aizen, but it allowed Shisui a safe retreat.

"Thank you, Itachi!" Shisui grinned at his cousin as he jumped away, then cringed when he saw his broken ninjato. "Shit." Next time he'd have to bring a spare, he noted mentally.

Aizen was not pleased with Itachi's interference and decided to give the boy a taste of his own medicine. Aizen grew jet booster-like appendages on his arms, extended them and gathered chakra. He formed a huge and powerful chakra blast that Itachi barely dodged in time with a shunshin. Itachi reappeared beside Shisui as they surveyed the damage left by the chakra blast Aizen unleashed.

Itachi's expression was grim. "That attack, if it had hit…"

Shisui gulped, "It's unlikely you'd have survived that." The wall Aizen hit with that chakra blast had a half sphere shaped hole and the water' surface was split like the red sea before it crashed back together.

They had no time to talk as Aizen went after them again, and the battle continued by exchanging elemental ninjutsu attacks, because going anywhere near Aizen was too risky. Tori protected them all with earth element shields, but they only lasted long enough to give them a chance to catch their breath. The ANBU captain knew their chakra was running low and that they were on their last leg.

Meanwhile, Nezumi was having difficulty breathing because of the earlier attack that broke his ribs, and he knew a broken bone had punctured his lungs. So while Shisui and Itachi distracted Aizen with another barrage of fireballs, Nezumi pulled his captain aside to explain his plan.

"I have a plan, but it will cost me." Nezumi gritted out.

Tori protested, "But…"

"Captain! Listen… we can't fail Naruto again… not again…" Nezumi reminded.

Tori was reluctant at first but eventually gave in as neither of them were much use as they were. Tori had taken a beating on his left leg from Aizen, and it was useless now. They looked at their junior teammate then to Naruto, who was still recovering. It was now or never.

Tori cut Aizen's path off with another water element attack that pushed the deformed human back a few feet. Like all previous attacks, it did minimal damage but caused Aizen to direct his vengeance onto the ones who attacked him. Tori knew that would happen because, despite all of Aizen's boasting of brilliance, he had a pretty simple mind when it came to the battlefield.

However, Aizen never got to his target as another ANBU moved to block his path. "Got you." Nezumi grinned when he caught Aizen's fist with his hands, ignoring the cracking noise his arms made. He shifted his body when another fist moved to smash him, but this time Aizen's fist pierced his stomach. "Urgh… "Nezumi grunted in pain. "Thank… you for holding me back, just like I wanted."

"Nezumi!" Naruto shouted in horror. His chakra was almost full, he could feel it…

Nezumi wished he could take off his mask, so he could show Naruto a smile in his dying moments. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I at least I protected you 'till the very end…" He laughed softly, then turned to Aizen. "As for you, embrace the earth, bastard! Doton: Ganban Kyū (Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin)!" A mud-like substance flowed from his mouth, forming a rocky ground under his feet. Then, two gigantic rocks rose and crashed into its user and Aizen.

"Nezumi…" Naruto stared at the rock coffin, his eyes widening when he saw a tiny crack on its surface.

'Naruto, concentrate! That bastard's still alive! Do it now while he's still trapped there!' Kurama warned his vessel. "And get your friends away from that coffin!"

"Itachi! Shisui! Tori!" Naruto shouted desperately, "he's still alive! Get away from there!" As the three shinobi heeded his warning, Naruto began to pull his chakra chain out of his body. "Ugh!" He nearly screamed when pain racked his body. It felt like an unclosed wound was grating against sandpaper. Kurama was right about his chakra coils, but he needed to focus and ignore the pain.

Once again, the chain shot out and traced the seal carved on the wooden surface, but the chakra drain was even more rapid than last time, and Naruto felt his consciousness slipping away. Aizen's head and hand holding his katana suddenly broke through the coffin, but the rest of his body remained buried. "No! I'm not going to end here! My clan shall be avenged! Lesser humans will pay!" he roared at the three shinobi before turning his attention to Naruto. "Die, jinchuuriki!" Aizen threw his katana at the defenseless blond.

"Naruto-kun!" Itachi moved as fast as he could, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop the sword. His eyes widened when he saw someone was already there to block the sword. "Tori-taichou!"

Naruto saw the incoming projectile with half-lidded eyes, he couldn't move… then his vision was suddenly painted with blood, and something warm was soaking his cheek. "Heh… are you all right, Naruto?"

The jinchuuriki stared at the mask of a bird that fell on his lap, then looked to the katana that pierced the ANBU's chest and the unmasked face. "Tori…"

Tori smiled at the boy he had protected for years. "Don't… worry about… me," he coughed out. "Seal him now, Naruto..."

Naruto nodded, tears streaming down his face as he answered, "Yes…" The chain moved at a slower pace as Naruto pushed his remaining chakra into forming the seal.

Aizen struggled to break free, but since the seal was nearly complete, he couldn't. "Die! You should all die! Hinamoriiiiiiii! Kill them!"

Shisui's eyes widened when he saw Hinamori had regained consciousness while they were distracted. Her rope bindings had been cut off with the katana she'd pinned Naruto with earlier, but luckily the seal on her still remained intact. Shisui and Itachi quickly moved to block Hinamori, who had stood up on her master's command, and much to their shock, she was trying to break free of the binding seal with brute strength.

Shisui gritted his teeth as he raised his kunai. "Hey, stop that!" Moments later she was released, and her whole body was marred by cuts all over as a result. Shisui cursed, he didn't have enough chakra to use his lightning release, and Itachi wasn't faring any better. His remaining chakra was being used to just keep himself standing.

"Hinamori-san… come back to your senses, you don't want this…" Itachi hissed as he helped his ANBU captain to sit. It was painful seeing the life slipping away, and it reminded him so much of the war.

"Hinamori!" Aizen roared desperately, "move! Kill Naruto!"

Naruto turned to Hinamori, who had stopped her advance, and watched as her eyes shifted from lifeless to normal, back and forth. She was struggling to break free of the control seal. "Fight back, Hinamori-neesan! Fight it!"

Hinamori suddenly fell on her knees, raising her katana, but instead of attacking Itachi and Shisui, she stabbed her right hand through to the ground. Her eyes were normal as tears streamed down her face. "I don't… want… to hurt… anyone…" she stammered as blood dyed the ground red. "Little brother… my dear brother…" She looked at Naruto with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry… so sorry, nee-san can't protect you… hurt you…"

"Hinamori-neesan?" Naruto called out to her, but she fell to the ground, her eyes closed as she slipped back into unconsciousness. She was still alive but that break down just now… her mind… it was… "Aizen!" Naruto hissed furiously as he felt his chakra chains trace over the last stroke of the seal. "Go back to where you belong!"

Hands made of wood grew out of the seal array and pulled Aizen out of the earth coffin. Nezumi's body fell to the ground as the wooden hands trapped Aizen in their grip. "No! Nooo!" Aizen roared hysterically, "let me go!" His skin reverted back to normal and the transformation slipped away. His eyes widened in horror when he realized the wood chakra the Shodaime left was purifying his power. "You will pay! You will pay, Jinchuuriki! One day, my clan will rise again!" he roared as half of his body sunk into the wood. "We're the chosen humans! We will rise again! Ha ha ha ha!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, you won't…" he hissed, "I won't let you… ever…" Naruto formed a ram seal, his breathing ragged as he shouted,

"Fuuin!"

And with that, Aizen was dragged down into the seal with not a trace left of him. A spell of silence hung in the air as they all stared at the smooth surface of wood where the traitor previously was. "It's over," shisui whispered.

Itachi looked at Naruto then to his captain. "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto turned his attention to Itachi, his expression grim as he looked at Tori. The ANBU captain's chakra was so weak, he was dying. "Tori…" Naruto stood up slowly, limping over to Itachi and Tori.

The ANBU captain was laughing softly. His damp, brown hair was askew, and he was looking at Naruto with half lidded green eyes. "Heh." The katana was still embedded in his chest, and though his bleeding didn't show any signs of stopping, it had staved off death long enough to say goodbye. It wasn't much time, but he could say what he wanted at least.

"I'm so sorry…" Naruto muttered, tears streaming down his face. "Because of me…"

Tori grinned at Naruto as his hand rose to cup the boy's whiskered cheek. "Don't cry… it's not your fault. My team and I chose to protect you with our lives… so as a shinobi and your protector we're content…"

Naruto sobbed and stammered, "but… if only I was stronger… if only… I was a better shinobi and jinchuuriki, you wouldn't…"

Tori shook his head. "Naruto… not once did my team or I see our duty as protecting the jinchuuriki of Konoha," he muttered in a pained voice. "We protected you, because… we love you."

"You love me?" Naruto asked in a daze. It was not out of duty but genuine love?

The ANBU captain nodded. "We always have… If anything… I'm the one who should be asking for forgiveness," he coughed, his smile looking pained. "That night… when you were born, my team was one of the ANBU squads assigned to protect your parents… we failed, even though we're the first line of defense and before we knew it other team had been killed and Yondaime had to seal Kyuubi..." His team had survived since they were guarding the farthest area from the cave. They hadn't even known they were under attack until Kyuubi appeared. Tori's eyes closed briefly as he recalled the other dead squads, the picture of tragedy from eight years ago.

"Tori… what happened isn't… your fault." Naruto stammered sadly.

Tori shook his head, "We couldn't protect the Yondaime and Kushina-sama… not when we found him sealing the Kyuubi into you, and not even as they spoke to you with their dying breaths," Tori said in a broken voice. "You had your parents for a few miserable minutes… and then you were scorned by those you sacrificed your life for… We watched this and wished we could've eased your pain, but…"

Naruto sobbed as he grasped the gentle hand on his cheek. "I was happy though, because you were always there for me… I can't thank you and your team enough!"

Tori's dark green eyes widened, a small smile painted on his lips. "Thank you…" he muttered in a hushed whisper. "Now, I understand your parents' feelings, at least a little… I wish… I could protect you longer… but…" His voice was hoarse as he glanced at the Uchihas. "Itachi… this is my last order as your captain."

Itachi nodded. "Yes, I'll protect…"

Tori cut him off with, "No… what I want you to do is to be Naruto's comrade, not a protector in the shadows like us… we were able to protect him from physical harm, but we could never protect his heart," he stated regretfully. "We let those vengeful villagers to scorn him… and we could do nothing. I want you to be by his side as a comrade… you and your cousin, please…"

"Yes… Tori-taichou," Itachi said in a hushed whisper. "I promise… "

Shisui nodded, "Me too…" He grinned as he dragged the dazed Naruto into his arms, "Now, Naruto… wipe your tears," he said as he helped the boy to do so, he could hear his voice was shaking. "The shinobi in front of you is going to leave with pride… he protected you 'till the very end. We should be proud of him…"

Tori grinned. "That's right… so, Naruto… smile," he requested hoarsely. "It's been a while since I saw your real smile."

Naruto nodded, his lips curving up as he gave the ANBU his foxy grin. "Like this?"

He nodded, "Yes… thank you, Naruto, for… everything…" he muttered as he closed his green eyes slowly and welcomed his death. He had no regrets. When he reunited with his teams, he would congratulate them for a job well done; they had protected Naruto until the very end. Then, he would see the Yondaime and Kushina-sama and tell them their boy had grown to be…

A hero…

Naruto awoke to the irritatingly familiar smell of antiseptics. The smell came with being confined to the hospital, aka prison. However, this time it was not as bad as usual, because he when he saw Tokusa and his master, Hakurei, sitting beside his bed and looking at him with identical expressions of worry. Hakurei was the leader of the Shiomitsu clan and was as old as the Sandaime. He wore a white kimono with dark blue lining and a dark maroon scarf, and his white hair was styled in a high ponytail.

He sat up with a dazed feeling. It took a few moments for him to register them asking about his condition and tears began welling up as he recalled what happened in that underground chamber.

It didn't take long to recover his bearings; he had to be coherent to demand the Shiomitsu pair tell him what happened afterwards. Naruto had apparently passed out yesterday because of severe chakra exhaustion. Itachi and Shisui had also suffered from chakra exhaustion and a couple of bruises and cuts. Overall, there was nothing to worry about with the Uchiha cousins as they only needed a few days of rest. Hakurei promised he would bring him to visit the Uchihas, whose room was in a completely different wing of the hospital.

Hakurei was extremely careful in the wording of his report about how they were separated as precaution. Naruto couldn't help but growl at that, but he couldn't fault the logic. The Uchiha family was trying to stave off accusations of them trying to influence Naruto to their supposed cause, or whatever ludicrous ideas people had… which got pretty ridiculous in Naruto's opinion.

Then, Hakurei asked him if he was all right to hear more about his recently dead ex-mentor. Naruto assured them he had never trusted Aizen, had even noticed the man's power-hungry eyes on him since the very beginning. He was also pretty angry with Shiomitsus, since they had been at odds with Aizen but had never explained the reason for the animosity. He had been lead to believe it was a simple political struggle between the two.

Hakurei and Tokusa apologized and would have bowed deeply if he had not stopped them; he just wanted them to be honest with him. After Hakurei asked Tokusa to guard the door from outside, he applied a privacy seal on the room. Then, Hakurei began his story about Aizen Sousuke and how the man was welcomed into their ranks.

"It was twenty five years ago… right before the Second Shinobi World War reached its end," Hakurei began solemnly. "Uzushiogakure had just fallen, so Konoha was desperate to find the survivors. One of the few clans they managed to find was the Shiomitsu clan…" He looked at Naruto sadly. "We're a clan who serves under the main family of Uzumaki, Mito-sama's and your family line…"

Naruto nodded, he could guess that much from how they treated him. "But what's any of that got to do with Aizen?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm getting to that, Naruto-sama," Hakurei said patiently. "The problem was… at that time, all records of Uzushiogakure's inhabitants was lost, and Konoha didn't know any better… so a clan used that to their advantage to join Konoha's ranks, claiming they were a small clan from our fallen homeland." Hakurei's expression was pained as he continued his story, but Naruto needed to know. "That clan… was Aizen's."

"So they lied?" Naruto asked incredulously. "But if you worked as my family's vassal how could they deceive Konoha? You should have known they weren't a part of Uzushiogakure."

"No one really cared at that time." Hakurei gritted his teeth as he explained that since Uzushiogakure's records were lost, it was impossible to prove the family was not from their fallen homeland. Not to mention, like many families of Uzushio, the Aizen clan showed prowess in fuuinjutsu and nothing much in any other field. The clan members were malnourished and weak. They acted like a clan of genial scholars like Aizen Sousuke, so when they begged on their knees for place in Konoha, the Sandaime could not deny them.

Hakurei took a deep breath, "But still… Konoha didn't really trust them, so they were placed on the outskirts of Konoha." He looked down, "They were surprisingly content with that arrangement." Hakurei gritted his teeth, "but then… their clan members died out one by one in a short period of time… a clan the size of ten families was suddenly reduced to three families in two years. The clan was very tightlipped about it, and while the rest of Konoha was not affected, Sandaime couldn't just turn a blind eye."

Naruto could guess what Sandaime did next; the clan was put on heavy surveillance by ANBU. "So what'd they find?"

Hakurei shook slightly as he recalled the horror he witnessed two decades ago. "Experimentation that involved fuuinjutsu, lesser demons, and genetic manipulation... a cursed branch of study called Juuinjutsu," he muttered with a disgusted face, "which they inflicted on their own kin. That was the last straw… The Sandaime ordered his shinobi to capture the clan members. My clan was ordered by Mito-sama to assist in the raid…" He continued with a grieving voice, "we were just going to arrest them… but it turned into a massacre when the Aizens turned into monsters and attacked our forces."

"Monsters…" Naruto murmured, "Like he did."

Hakurei nodded. "The mild-mannered clan turned into bloodthirsty monsters in one night, and we had no choice but to kill them all… and after we dealt with the adults, we searched for their children, hoping that they had survived…" The old man gritted his teeth. "But what we found were five dead children… ranging from the ages of five to ten years old, all dead… inside a wooden coffin…" Hakurei rubbed his temple as he continued his story. "Or at least my brother and I thought they were… we checked their pulse and everything," he explained with a pained voice. "Then, suddenly what we thought was a miracle happened, the oldest of the five children… Aizen Sousuke, started to breathe again."

Naruto's eyes widened, "He… survived?"

"We let our guard down," the Shiomitsu muttered sadly. "We thought it was a miracle… we checked the boy into the hospital and found he was normal, except for the weird enzyme in his body… it was dormant so we thought nothing about it. My brother was a kind man… he felt responsible for Aizen Sousuke so he adopted and raised the child as his own." Hakurei shook his head, "It wasn't until Sagetsu passed away seven years ago that we started to suspect Aizen…"

Aizen Sousuke had been adopted into the Shiomitsu clan and raised by the previous division leader, Shiomitsu Sagetsu. The distrust for Aizen had started to form when the surrogate father had suddenly fallen ill and passed away. At first it was grief that made the Shiomitsu clan want to blame someone… even to the point of Hakurei being paranoid enough to dig up his brother's grave to perform an autopsy of the body. Hakurei was very enraged by what he found. In his brother's body was the same enzyme found dormant in Aizen's body years ago, and it had killed his brother slowly.

However, that evidence was invalid due to the lack of proof and knowledge of how the enzyme could invade Sangetsu's body. In the end, the case was closed, and it was concluded that his brother was poisoned with a slow acting serum during the massacre. There was nothing Hakurei could do to refute that possibility. Aizen Sousuke, on the other hand, took that chance to act as the tragic adopted son Sangetsu left. Sousuke accused them of slandering his name so Hakurei could take his late brother's position, and the split of power in Seal Tower was inevitable – half went to Aizen and another half to the Shiomitsus.

In the end, Sandaime brought up Sagetsu's will, one that, until today, couldn't be confirmed as false or legitimate. So Sousuke was chosen to be the next leader, and he discarded the Shiomitsu surname he took up when Sangetsu adopted him, claiming it disgusted him to shoulder the same surname as Hakurei. Their clan could only swallow bitterly as they lived under the rule of the traitor, and it was only when Naruto had come to their tower that they saw a chance to overthrow Aizen. Unfortunately, Aizen saw a different kind of chance in Naruto. He wanted to use the Uzumaki to unlock the cursed treasure Shodaima and Uzumaki Mito sealed.

The treasure was a legacy that was left behind by a fallen village called Hoshigakure, a meteor that granted immense power. The treasure emitted a foul chakra and was very dangerous, which was why the Shodaime and his wife sealed it in the depths of their tower. The only reason they hadn't destroyed it was because the Shodaime was unsure of the consequences destroying it would cause. Hakurei suspected the Aizen clan originally hailed from the fallen Hoshigakure and had records of the secret treasure, which was why Sousuke wanted its power. In their cursed form, the Aizen clan lost themselves in the power, but the treasure could help them to retain their senses. Aizen was bitter about the death of his clan, so he planned to perfect his cursed seal and avenge his fallen clan

"So that's why…" Naruto gritted his teeth, "he wanted to avenge his clan."

Shiomitsu Hakurei nodded. "Yes, Naruto-sama… a fool's revenge. While I was angered by Aizen's actions until now… I still can't comprehend why that boy wanted to avenge his clan… a clan that had fallen so far for power, to the point they had sacrificed their children."

Or maybe the Aizen clan, from the very beginning, had always had a twisted sense of love. Hakurei had to berate himself and his brother for not noticing that. Sousuke, as a child, had always childishly claimed his late parents loved him so much. For Aizen's, the gift of power was probably proof of their parental love. They were all… broken humans, scorned for their tradition and instead of fixing their error, they strived to fall deeper.

Naruto shook his head, "That man is dead…" For some reason, he felt unease when he declared someone's death, his first kill. "What about… Hinamori, she has been with Aizen for so long… you examined the mind control seal on her right?" Hakurei nodded, "Is there any chance for her to recover?"

Hakurei stiffened at that. "She's asleep now… but when she awoke for a few minutes yesterday… that poor girl, she asked where her little brother was. She was calm… very calm… then suddenly, she cried and begged for her brother to forgive her…"

Hinamori was a war orphan, her village having been destroyed in war. Hakurei didn't know the details, but apparently her little brother had been very sick, and Hinamori had nursed him for days while their parents worked in the field. She'd gotten bored watching him and had decided to play with her friends, so she left her sleeping brother to play for a while with hopes she would make it back before he woke up. Their house was hit by a stray fire jutsu, her little brother was killed in that fire along with their parents, and she was the sole survivor. She was then taken to Konoha severely traumatized by the tragedy.

Aizen adopted her and turned her into the formidable seal master she is today. It's likely Aizen's control over her had lasted so long, the memory disappeared and left her to be molded to Aizen's liking. The sick bastard had dared to claim that he had raised her with the affection she needed, and that was the reason Hinamori had recovered from her trauma. It gained him a lot of support and sympathy, which solidify his position as division leader. The chance of recovery after under mind control seal for so long was almost nonexistent.

"So… her mind was broken," Naruto muttered sadly. The Hinamori he knew might have never even existed, and just been an illusion done by Aizen. "There's got to be a chance to undo the damage." He gritted out. "There's got to be…" he repeated determinedly.

Hakurei didn't dare utter even a word to refute Naruto's conviction, he just hoped with time Naruto succeeded or accept sometimes it was wiser to give up.

The next day, they attended the funeral for Tori and his ANBU team. Hokage comforted Naruto who, even though he shed tears, didn't say a word in front of their graves. When asked why he was so quiet, Naruto answered with a smile.

"I've already told Tori everything I want to say… I'm sure he is telling his squad that I love them." He closed his eyes. "He's probably congratulating his squad right now for a job well done, because they protected me till the very end… He knows I'm grateful for them, and I know… they're very proud of me."

Itachi and Shisui couldn't help but smiled when they heard him, especially because his headband was tied on his forehead now. That was the first time Naruto was wearing his Konoha headband. He was no longer unsure of his allegiance, just like those who had passed on with pride for him and Konoha, he was Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha. And he was... no longer alone.

Before anyone protested about Aizen was over-powered and so on. Aizen was probably stronger than Juugo, because he could control his cursed seal form perfectly and he got power boost to boot. Itachi was strong but he was a newbie ANBU at this point and not ANBU Captain with Mangekyou Sharingan, who slaughtered his clan single handedly at 13.
And YES, Aizen Sousuke in my story belongs to the same clan as Juugo. They were both original carrier of Cursed seal... there's not much background of how Juugo was born with that condition, so I saw a chance to write a story of my own about the 'origin' of cursed seal. Hence, why Aizen was found dead and suddenly alive again in wooden coffin like Sasuke did to achieve his level 2 curse seal.

Just to confirm one thing, I 'did' read about Juugo's info about his cursed form and sage transformation. Sorry that I didn't elaborate it, but the demon implantation on Aizen clan is the same as Toad's oil from Myobokuzan, it serve as catalysis to trigger the sage transformation. I would have explain in detail but it kind of hard since Naruto at this point want to know about Aizen's vendetta against Shiomitsu, rather than details of Aizen clan's technique... He will know later but at that point of time he didn't need to know. Aizen is DEAD anyway

I am sorry you have to endure background story of OCs or rather Aizen and Hinamori in my story, but it would be stupid of me to just leave you guessing how the hell they ended up like that. You guys could dislike OCs, but when it comes to Naruto I could be careless as long as they were in the sidelines. There's a lot of characters in Naruto but they're all have little development if not a very minimum info such as their look, rank and division. What's the difference with OC in that case?

About the birthday party, don't worry... we'll celebrate it later. Poor Naruto ;_;

As for Naruto's power level now... hm, I will say he is not as strong in term of physical power as canon Genin Naruto because he is much younger. But he is a more balanced and skilled shinobi. As a combat seal master he has an unorthodox fighting style. He is also not 'completely' helpless in genjutsu because he has Kurama to watch his back like Gyuuki did Killer Bee. Since he is used to fight older and stronger sparing partner, Naruto rely more on his kage bunshin, weapons, and seals. So don't be disappointed that for now he is not a front line fighter, in fact in later years I am expecting him to develop a very different fighting style as his canon counterpart.