A/N: Another update from yours truly. Thanks to the encouragement of some of my readers and having a laptop to write with, I feel significantly more inspired to continue writing this story. Hope you enjoy and wish me luck. More reviews and encouragement are always nice. And I apologize for the long delay. I spent a lot of time on Crunchyroll to catch up on Dragon Ball Super.

Chapter two: Veiled Darkness.

In Konoha, more specifically, the Haruno Household. Mebuki was sitting on the couch watching 'The Notebook' sipping on a glass of wine with a scrapbook on her lap, and on the small table in front of her was a half eaten lemon pound cake with cream cheese icing. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying as the credits to the movie rolled and she looked down at the scrapbook, gazing at pictures during a happier time in her married life and her time as a Kunoichi.

She remembered her marriage, it was such a happy occasion, probably one of the few events that her dearest friends had attended in person, then came Sakura's birth, which she believed was an even happier event in her life despite her choice to retire from being a Kunoichi. Then... things started to slowly go downhill.

Her late husband Kizashi started to bury himself in his work as a Civilian council member to 'provide a better life for his family' as he so put it, but now she believed it was to line his pockets with the money he sponged off of others after taking an Anti-Shinobi stance in spite of his own history as a former Shinobi. And now he was dead, it didn't take long for her to figure out who killed him, especially after seeing the mark that was placed on him from the photos shown to her by those investigating his death. Now... it wouldn't be long till it'd be her turn.

The lights and television flickered for a moment before her apartment's electricity went dead. A sad smile filled her face as she sipped her wine and set aside the scrapbook to one side. A loud knocking was heard from her front door, but she didn't get up to answer. She knew who it was.

The knocking became louder and more ferocious as the person outside knocked with more urgency, but the blonde woman grabbed a tissue to clear her tear filled eyes then brought the wine to her lips again to finish it off. At last, the door was kicked down, barely hanging from the door frame due to the chain lock, outside was the silhouette of a person who was dressed all in black with a hood kept up and a face mask to further obscure their features. Gray storm clouds appeared over Konoha behind the intruder as rain began to fall. They stepped inside, the sounds of boots thumping softly against the apartment's hardwood floors was heard with each step.

"It was only a matter of time." Mebuki muttered loud enough for the intruder to hear, with a sigh she threw the wine glass at them, the intruder leaned to the side causing the glass to shatter against the wall as Mebuki dived over the coffee table and threw several Shuriken. The throwing weapons whizzed through the air but only hit the apartment's walls as the attacker had vanished out of sight. Mebuki spotted movement from her peripheral vision and quickly sent a roundhouse kick in the intruder's direction, only for them to duck under it and send a crushing blow towards the blonde woman's midsection.

Despite the wind getting knocked out of her, the ex-Kunoichi assumed a Taijutsu stance and swung at her attacker with a viscous barrage of blows, however the masked person easily swatted aside or blocked the oncoming blows with ease, almost as if they were toying with her the same way a feline might play with its prey. Growling she sent a kick to their ribs but they side-stepped it and countered by hitting the blonde woman straight in the throat. Mebuki wheezed as she felt her windpipe close off as she gasped for air and fell to one knee. She felt the attacker gazing down at her, if she didn't do something fast then she would be killed. Despite her lungs burning, she grabbed at her attacker around the waist and threw them into the adjacent wall making them impact against it with a soft grunt and the cracking of several ceramic tiles.

Mebuki sent a powerful haymaker towards the intruder, but they ducked under it causing her fist to hit the ceramic plated wall breaking apart a large section of it. Despite feeling the pain of her bones cracking from the blow, she wouldn't give up just yet and sent her other fist towards her opponent's head but they leaned to the side causing her fist to pierce through the wall where the ceramic wall tiles had fallen off.

The intruder shoved Mebuki back then kicked a leg out from under her while she was off balance, then in mid fall they used the momentum of gravity and an open palm on her chest to make her crash through the coffee table. The blonde woman screamed as she felt tiny shards of glass shred her nightgown and skin, and with no time to react she found herself being thrown across the apartment like a rag doll. Her head hit against the kitchen counter making her vision spin around.

Shaking her head to clear it, she saw a rack of kitchen knives just waiting to be used. Pursing her lips together, she lunged towards them and threw one across the apartment which missed and imbedded itself into a picture frame, then she grabbed a meat cleaver and threw it at her opponent who successfully caught it by the handle with inhuman reflexes and threw it into the floor, planting the blade firmly into the wood of the floor.

"Fuck me." Mebuki whispered under her breath as she grabbed a third knife and used it in an attempt to stab at the intruder, despite blood trying to obscure her vision she could still see her enemy ducking and weaving around her attempts to stab them. Finally having enough, they caught her outstretched arm as she attempted to stab at them again then snapped her wrist causing her to yell out in pain then drop the knife. They sent a knee into her stomach then a hook into her jaw causing blood and saliva to spray out from her mouth.

Mebuki slumped to the floor, her eyes looking up at her attacker as a grin formed on her face, the blonde woman spat out some blood and spoke as she panted for breath with a small smile on her face "Can you blame a girl for trying? Well, go on then. We both know what happens when we break the rules."

The masked person said nothing at first, and instead went towards a weapons rack, the sounds of glass crunching beneath their boots echoed throughout the apartment as they grabbed a certain Katana off the rack then slowly approached the incapacitated blonde. She swallowed hard, feeling a deepening pit in her stomach since she wouldn't see her daughter again "Do what you have to. Just... don't hurt my little girl. She's not part of this." She spoke while balling her good hand into a fist, waiting for the final blow that would end her life.

She cracked an eye open when it never came, the intruder's masked face was but a few inches away from hers. She felt something placed in her hands, making her look down for a brief moment... it was her old headband from her Kunoichi days. She looked up in confusion before it clicked in her mind... that she was being offered a second chance.

"You owe us." Spoke the masked person in a low voice while clutching their prize. The Katana clicking slightly in its sheath as they walked away and departed without so much as another word or a backwards glance.

Meanwhile.

Hiruzen was in his office finishing off the last few scraps of paperwork before he went to question Kushina regarding Uzu's treasures and the perpetual enigma of the Mark of the First. Before he could finish signing the last page, someone began pounding hard on his office door. Sighing to himself he decided to see what was so important, before he could even call out to whoever was knocking, the door was slammed open by a flood of Chunin who were unintelligibly jabbering over themselves to get his attention.

Some of the Chunin were waving around pictures or reports of incidents, others were animatedly talking on a phone and almost yelling into the mouthpiece. The Hokage jaw-dropped at the sight and wondered what it was that was causing this kind of chaos. He tried to call for order but it seems the Chunin were unable to hear him due to the out-of-control situation. Finally losing his patience the Sandaime yelled out in a tone of authority "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!"

Silence filled the office as the various Chunin stood in silence before rearranging themselves into a more orderly fashion then looked expectantly at the Sandaime. Nodding in thanks the Hokage spoke in a professional tone of voice "Now. One at a time. What is the problem?"

The two Eternal Chunin stepped forward first with some stacks of photographs with Kotetsu speaking "We've been getting reports of mass vandalism all across Konoha. People have been marking up shops, hotels and other buildings with all kinds of graffiti." ushering his partner Izumo forward, the Chunin presented to photos which made the Hokage's eyes widen in horror.

The mark Uzu had been spray painted onto the sides of various buildings, and there were messages as well like 'Remember us now?' or 'Long live our sacred Uzu' or 'The Hokage lied! Uzu was left to die!' and even 'The Evil Uzumaki never forgets!'

"And that's not all! We have been getting phone calls that someone broke into the Haruno household and that a masked person was spotted fleeing the scene and Mebuki was found severely injured! And Iruka just called that someone has been digging up graves across Konoha! Three have been confirmed, Mito Uzumaki, Mikoto Uchiha, and Rin Nohara." Spoke a Chunin named Suzume as she pushed up her glasses.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes, his fists clenching into a white knuckle grip since he knew this was undoubtedly Kushina's handiwork. The Graffiti was an attempt to send a message to the people of Konoha and make them start asking questions, Mebuki being attacked shortly after her husband's death? That was no coincidence. But why dig up those graves... suddenly a shiver went down Hiruzen's spine. If Kushina knew about the Edo Tensei, then it could cause untold damage if she were to revive certain person's of interest.

"I see. I shall handle this matter personally. See about clearing up that graffiti, get Mebuki to the hospital and if anyone asks about the grave robbings don't say a word. There's someone I must go and question about these events." He spoke while assuming his Hokage personality as he got up from his seat. The Chunin cleared a path for him allowing him to exit his office before they began to carry out his orders. All the while the aged Hokage couldn't help but wonder why Kushina and her followers were being so active now. Why wait all this time? Something wasn't right here, and he was going to find out what it was.

Elsewhere.

"... And that's the whole story." Tazuna explained his reasons for lying to them and why he needed a Shinobi team in the first place. His explanation about Gato slowly squeezing the life out of Team Seven earned some mixed feelings. Both Naruto and Sakura kind of understood and felt bad about Wave's plight but things were way different now. Kakashi was inwardly fuming since his team had been put in harm's way and now was the time to consider what would be best to do. Sasuke however cared little for the Bride builder's reasons and instead wished to continue on to become stronger.

"What do we do now Sensei?" Asked Sakura in an unsure voice, she didn't want to abandon Tazuna and by extension the people of Wave, but she wasn't ready to handle a mission that held the fate of an entire country. That was too much pressure not to mention danger involved.

"Well, from the way I see it we have three options. First, we go back to Konoha and report that Tazuna gave false information and mission parameters and allow for a better and more experienced team to take over, but in doing so Tazuna may face some criminal charges for recklessly endangering and potentially wasting Shinobi resources. Second, we continue with the mission at hand to aid Wave Country and possibly face very real danger in the form of more powerful Missing nin or mercenaries. Third, we abandon the mission entirely and leave both Tazuna and Wave country to their fates." At the end of Kakashi's explanation, a grim silence fell over the area. No one had the stomach to say anything at this time since they seemed to be stuck in a no-win situation.

Naruto crossed his arms, feeling conflicted over what to do. Morally speaking, the right thing to do would be to continue on and face the danger regardless of what may come, but still... he felt the power of the mark slowly coursing through his body which became more potent with each passing minute. Even with this power... could he still protect everyone even if he didn't fully understand it? Kakashi could undoubtedly handle himself, maybe Sasuke if he used his head and took the stick out of his ass. But Sakura was still in a bit of a Fangirl phase and was a greenhorn no less.

The visage of Naruko appeared beside him, she gave him a saucy grin as she spoke in an almost mocking tone "Poor Ruto-kun. He's all stuck now. Can't decide which way to go. Forward or back? If only he had someone that could help teach him to use the powers of a demon." His ears perked up at that last statement, while he still wasn't sure he could fully trust this entity... he didn't have many options right now.

"Come on Ruto-kun! Being a demon isn't so bad! You won't need to eat or sleep nearly as much as a regular human, unless it is for pleasure. You'll be stronger, faster, tougher than any Shinobi if you train in your abilities! Now stop being all down in the dumps and buck up! This might be your big chance!" She proudly proclaimed as she suddenly sported a cheerleader outfit complete with a pair of pom-poms. She did a little dance while summoning a neon sign that read 'Go Naruto!' in bright yellow letters.

She paused when she saw his reluctance, it seemed he needed a little extra push. "Come on! What's with you acting all reserved and quiet? If you were that same idiot shouting about becoming Hokage, you would have done something stupid and immediately agreed to help the old man! You wanna know one of the worst kinds of humans? Its the kind of human that clearly sees someone is in trouble... but does nothing about it and passes by, or worse yet, watches. You don't wanna be that kind of person, yeah?" she asked him in a more serious tone, her blood red eyes holding a more menacing glow to them.

Her words made something click in the blonde's mind. She was absolutely right. He couldn't sit by and do nothing at all. Then an idea came to mind causing him to ask "Oi, Kakashi-sensei. What would happen if we were to call for backup?"

The silver haired Jonin adopted a thinking pose for a few moments, he then sighed and spoke in an almost disappointed voice "That's not a bad idea, but it'd be fairly time consuming. Firstly, the request for backup would have to reach the Hokage himself, then he'd have to assess the situation, then he would need to find any available Shinobi or volunteers, then they would need to make their way over to us. It might take a few days at the most."

"Guess we need to send it now then, and in the meantime you can seriously train us how to fight. Its not enough that all we do is teamwork exercises Sensei. What good is all that teamwork if we can't individually handle ourselves if we get separated?" Naruto asked while crossing his arms, his invisible guide smirking at his point.

"Mmm. You make a valid point there. Well then, how about we vote on this in the name of fairness? All in favor of continuing the mission after sending a request for backup?" The Jonin asked after raising his hand, already sensing in which direction this vote would go. Both Naruto and Sasuke raised their hands for their own differing reasons, while Sakura hesitated for a moment, she too raised her hand in agreement since leaving Tazuna would have been wrong.

"Good. We're all in agreement then. I'll start writing up the request for backup." Kakashi spoke while pulling out a blank scroll and pen to write with.

"That's good and all. But umm, won't Tazuna still get in trouble if you explain why we need assistance?" Sakura asked out of a bit of concern, the Bridge builder also wondering the same thing, but currently he was busy trying to hold back the tears in his eyes since this team was still going to help him and his country.

"Only if I write down the specifics. For now, I'll just say we met with unexpected opposition from Missing Nin and need aid. That's not really lying now is it?" The Jonin spoke with an eye-smile as he wrote down the brief request in the scroll. Naruto inched away from the group so he could speak to his 'guide' in private, and maybe learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of being a demon.

"Okay, spill it. Tell me about being a demon. How will it make me stronger? And are there any weaknesses I need to know about?" He asked his black haired counterpart, making her smirk as she transformed into some kind of military style uniform complete with a green beret and a chalkboard appearing behind her.

"I'm so glad you asked Trooper! Now listen up because this is important!" She yelled in a manner similar to a drill sergeant as she began to draw some cartoonish looking demon like creatures on the chalkboard along with several stick figure humans, then she put the words 'Demons vs Humans!' above the childish drawings. When she was finished she cleared her throat to get the blonde's attention.

He nodded in acknowledgment that he was ready prompting her to speak "As I mentioned earlier, Demons do not require as much food or sleep as a Human would, unless they do so for the sake of pleasure or in some cases concealment. Your senses are also incredibly sharpened to superhuman levels! Enhanced eyesight, smell, hearing, the works. In addition, Demons are capable of surviving in extreme climates and conditions, you could stand naked in a frozen tundra and not feel cold or you could wear a heavy coat in a desert and not break a sweat. Demons are also immune to disease and many poisons including cyanide, snake venom and more.

The bodies of Demons are several times sturdier and more durable than a normal human body. Regular weapons will bounce off or break entirely against your skin, and for anyone that tries to punch you, it'll feel like punching solid concrete. It would take an extraordinary amount of strength or a special kind of weapon to injure you, maybe something enhanced with Chakra could do the trick. And even if you do get injured, you may simply use your Demonic chakra to regenerate and heal from the injuries, regrowing lost limbs and organs is also a cinch.

Some jutsu won't work on you too, Fire Jutsu won't do any real damage to you considering that Demonkind originates from a realm of fire and brimstone, Water Jutsu won't work unless the user has a ton of holy water handy, Wind and Lightning jutsu might be able to do some damage. Can't say the same for Bloodline techniques but that kinda depends on what type it is.

Oh, stay off of holy ground because it'll make you feel sluggish or sleepy. You with me so far on all of this?" she asked at the end of her long explanation when she noticed that Naruto was staring blankly at her with a large sweat-drop on his head.

"I kinda feel like I'm turning into one of those souped up OP manga characters or something if you put it all like that." He muttered while crossing his arms.

"Trust me. You'll definitely want to be overpowered when up against another overpowered idiot with a god complex." She deadpanned which caused a certain ripple eyed man to sneeze in Ame. Naruto shrugged his shoulders for a bit but then he wondered about Kushina. About how she kissed him and branded him with the mark. He thought briefly on their conversation... he remembered that she told him the given name of his father being Minato, and the surname of his mother being Uzumaki. Why not tell him their full names?

Unless... she deliberately left that part out for some reason or another. Perhaps to avoid putting him in danger if the Sandaime really was trying to manipulate him. He had too many questions and not nearly enough answers. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted some kind of small dog that seemed similar to a pug running off with the scroll in its mouth as it ran towards Konoha.

"Come on Naruto. Time to go." Sakura called out while waving in his direction. He nodded and jogged up to join his team, in the background Naruko smiled a bit, her ruby red eyes having a slight glow to them as she vanished out of existence. Her presence never leaving her host's side.

In Konoha. Kushina's cell.

Kushina sat in her cell, quietly humming 'You are my sunshine' to herself as she drew a picture of her child, he looked so handsome and the whisker marks simply added to his charm. Meeting him at last brought a feeling of closure to her heart, not to mention she successfully gave him the mark which would throw a huge wrench into the plans formed to manipulate the Prophecy. In Kushina's twisted mind, a Prophecy shouldn't be something to be ignored, but it also shouldn't be too invested in. Prophecy's had a funny way of being incomplete or more often misinterpreted.

She was broken from her musing as the sounds of her cell door swung open and she was yanked from her seat then roughly tossed to the floor. "Easy boys, I don't mind some rough stuff, but I'm more woman than you can handle." She joked with a chuckle making the Anbu guards glare down at her from behind their masks. To her, they were like an open book since it was easy to read their body language. She smirked when she sensed a familiar presence approaching.

"Hiruzen. Something I can do for you?" she asked with a snarky smile on her face, as the Sandaime appeared with the Anbu Neko following close behind him. A stern look was on his face as he chose to don his battle armor instead of his usual Hokage robes.

"Ohhhhh, that's a serious look you got there. Something happen?" she asked making an Anbu kick at her ribs. She grunted at the impact since more and more seals had been added since her meeting with Naruto to ensure she didn't commit suicide or try to escape.

"Several things. Graffitti, Mebuki Haruno being attacked, grave robbings. You're up to something. I still don't know how you communicate with your people, but I am getting answers out of you, one way or another." At the end of his statement the crimson haired woman began laughing maniacally making the Anbu step back nervously, even Hiruzen was still perturbed by this woman to this very day.

"Kami help me, you still make me laugh old man. That almost sounded like a threat you know... except it failed to intimidate me. You know why I was such an effective Kunoichi? Because I was willing to go all the way, I tortured and maimed people, burnt them alive, scalped them, castrated them, drowned them, strung them up, shoved huge wooden stakes up their asses, and other things that would keep you awake at night.

There was this one time, group of Kumo nin, bunch of macho masculine supremacist types that loved raping fertile females with blood lines. 'Extremists' being the term you politicians might use. Me and my unit tracked them and found them, caught them with their pants down, literally. I took my time. Slowly cutting them apart piece by piece, they begged and screamed for me to kill them. I refused their pleas, I just kept on cutting. Had our medic occasionally patch them up to keep them from bleeding out, or I just burned the wounds closed.

I wasn't going to kill them. That would've been a mercy. My goal was to utterly destroy their minds and send them back to the Sandaime Raikage, show him and all the Kumo rapists what happens when you take advantage of unwilling sexual participants. After that... the abuse and rape of POWs captured by Kumo came to a screeching halt. Then... well... after the Kyuubi attack, you stuck me in here and took a softened approach. And what happened? Little Hinata Hyuuga was taken, from her own clan compound no less, and a big scandal occurred that nearly killed Hiashi, and instead claimed his twin brother.

My point is, you're soft Hiruzen. You're not willing to take a hardcore stance against your enemies. I know that you've softened the Academy in recent years to let the Civilian kids have a better shot. Fuck that shit, I say. Make it harder for them! Make them actually fucking work for it! Hardworking Academy students make for more effective Shinobi. Now you have fangirls running around.

This could have all been avoided you know, you could have let me take the Hokage mantle, let me raise my boy in peace, maybe you might have restored my faith in Konoha and the Will of Fire, maybe I would have decided to bury my vendetta against Konoha. But no, you had to get all greedy and decide it was best to keep my boy on a leash and to leave me to rot in this cell. Unfortunately for you... I always have a contingency plan at the ready."

"If that were true, then you would have escaped long ago." Hiruzen spoke with a heated glare, although inwardly he had a pit forming in his stomach, he knew that she was undoubtedly up to something, she always was planning something for her own gain.

"I could have, but I was waiting on something. Execute order sixty-six." Kushina spoke with a malicious smile which sent a shiver down the Sandaime's spine, a look of confusion on his face as he wondered what that last line meant. The Hokage then felt an old and long-forgotten feeling... a feeling of pain via stabbing. He looked down and saw the blade of a katana protruding from his chest.

"See old man? This is loyalty. My disciples all waited patiently for years for my escape. And now... I am gonna take over this village. The Uchiha's tried pulling a coup, yes? You know how I would have stopped it? Get Mikoto and Itachi to testify and make a public statement about Fugaku's crimes then have him and all his co-conspirators publicly executed. That would have stopped the whole thing cold. You need to be willing to go all the way and do the hard things, hell, sometimes you need to trample on people to get shit done. And you? You're just an old fossil from a bygone era. You're in the way of progress. Guess I'm gonna be the first female Hokage after all, and I am gonna fix your messes. Toodles. Yugao?" at the crimson haired woman's order, Neko ripped her blade from the Sandaime's chest then proceeded to slaughter the other Anbu who, despite their immense training, didn't react in time.

As blood splashed across the cell, Hiruzen felt his body growing colder, Kushina standing over him while laughing at his failure to see Neko's betrayel coming. He had heard rumors of Kushina's secret disciples but he dismissed it as mere hearsay since no evidence had ever been found of her having disciples. He coughed up some blood and smiled bitterly, it seems like his sins have caught up to him at last. And Kushina was going to collect in blood.

He felt the end draw near as his vision blackened but then the sounds of returning footsteps snapped him back into the realm of the living, he barely had strength to look up and found his eyes staring at Kushina's feet. "I almost forgot two things. First, don't worry about Konoha, I'm not going to destroy it. At least not in the physical sense. You wanted to take all that mattered to me, so now I'll be taking all that matters to you and all the past Hokages. Just thought I'd make that clear. Secondly... I almost forgot to take a trophy!" She spoke in a demonic tone, grabbing a katana from one of the fallen Anbu and raised it overhead.

The last thing Hiruzen felt was cold steel cutting through his neck.

In Wave country.

"Dobe... how did you beat those two missing nin earlier?" The irritated voice of Sasuke Uchiha asked since that question had been nagging at him for some time now. How was it the Dobe managed to beat them so effortlessly?

"Why? Does it bother you that you weren't in the spotlight?" Naruto asked in order to deflect the Uchiha's question, he wasn't about to explain the fact he was slowly changing into a demon. If he did, then the others may start asking questions he didn't have the answers to, or worse, Sasuke may demand the secrets to his power.

"Pfft. Ignore Uke-kun. He's just puffing his chest and trying to act all big to compensate for his underdeveloped penis." the form of Naruko whispered into her blonde charge's ear making the whiskered teen snicker, which didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"What's so damn funny Dobe?" Sasuke asked with a twitching eyebrow growing more annoyed by the second by the fact Naruto both outshined him and seemed to have gained an abnormal amount of strength in a short period of time.

"Ohhhh, was just thinking that maybe you always try to show off and act all cool because of you possibly having some size issues below the belt." Naruto quipped causing both Tazuna and Kakashi to snort in amusement trying to contain their laughter, Sakura felt the urge to punch the blonde... but opted not to when she saw that Sasuke's face was burning bright red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Was there some truth to the joke? If there was... then there was no wonder as to why he acted cold to anything that was a female.

The self-proclaimed avenger clenched his fist angrily, not liking the blonde's attitude or his sudden boost of strength and confidence. It was like the Dobe had changed since they had previously left the village, what was the secret behind his power? Back during the Genin exam he kept fumbling through it like an idiot... but now he was more confident and sure of himself and displayed some kind of newfound strength he didn't have before. It made the Uchiha burn in anger that he wasn't in possession of that power.

The blonde paused as his nose twitched and he felt a certain headache forming in his skull, followed by more hot and cold flashes, although they weren't as severe as before. Floating above him was his invisible counterpart who was busying herself with some kind of pipe, but instead of smoke coming out bubbles came out instead. She noticed that he was looking at her oddly and spoke "Seems that the changes are coming along nicely. Those feelings of hot and cold you're getting? Signs that your body is changing. Don't worry. They'll pass. The first round's the hardest anyway. And don't look now, but I don't think we're alone." She spoke, her crimson eyes lazily scanning the woods.

Naruto's nose twitched again as he caught certain scents. Blood, herbs, shaved ice, and some other scents he couldn't identify at this time. But it was coming from somewhere to the right-hand side of the group, pursing his lips for a brief moment he decided that this warranted investigating. "Hold up, gotta take a leak." the blonde off handedly announced before vanishing into the woods making his team stop to wait for him.

The blonde hopped up into the tree branches and began jumping from limb to limb, following the scent of whoever or whatever was following them. After a few moments, he spotted someone crouching in the bushes. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a young girl maybe a year or so older than himself holding some kind of Anbu mask with the mark of another village on it.

"Good luck Zabuza-sama. Stay safe." He heard her whisper beneath her breath, the name sounding almost familiar to the blonde for some reason. Seems like she and this 'Zabuza' person were planning on ambushing his team. Maybe he could capture her and keep her as a hostage to discourage her boss?

"Wait... where is the other one? He hasn't returned yet." She spoke to herself, which made the blonde realize she was catching onto the fact something wasn't right. It was do or die time now. He silently leapt down with a soft thump, then in a flash before the girl could even act, Naruto had already put his arms around her neck in a chokehold, cutting off her precious oxygen.

The girl tried to call for help, but no words escaped her throat. She quickly pulled out a bundle of Senbon in her hand and began stabbing at the blonde's arms to force him into releasing her, but they snapped off after the futile attempts to pierce his hardened skin. Growling in her throat, she braced her feet up against a tree and kicked HARD sending the blonde into another tree behind him in an effort to make him loosen his grip. However, this did little to affect him and instead made him squeeze harder around her throat.

She felt her lungs burning, screaming for oxygen, growing desperate she began flailing about, fighting him with every ounce of her strength to get him off her, but soon her body couldn't follow her commands. Her face starting shades of red, then blue, and finally a purple color since she couldn't suck in any air. Eventually her struggles quieted down, her kicking legs reduced to slow twitches as her eyes rolled into her head.

"Shhhhh. Just let go. It'll all be over soon. Just go for a little nap." Naruko spoke to the Kunoichi in a taunting manner, in spite of the fact she couldn't see or hear her. The blonde ignored his 'partners' antics and continued to choke his new prisoner into unconsciousness.

At last she became still and her hands fell to her sides, the blonde slowly loosened his grip to ensure she wasn't playing possum in case he needed to lock his arms again. Once he felt for sure she was out like a light, he released her from his grip. His enhanced hearing alerted him to the sounds of a heartbeat signaling she was still very much alive. Now he just needed something to tie her up with.

"Pause bouya. We have another problem." Naruko spoke while jabbing a thumb towards the direction of where the rest of Team Seven was. Upon inspection, the Jinchuuriki noticed that some guy with a large Zanbatou was holding Kakashi prisoner in some kind of bubble shaped prison made of water while his teammates were helpless before a clone.

"That must be Zabuza. The one this girl was whispering to herself about. From the sounds of it, she holds him in high regard... maybe we can use her as a hostage to get Sensei out?" Naruto spoke out loud to help himself think.

"I got a better idea." Spoke his counterpart then whispered her idea into his ears... despite that no one else could hear her. After a few brief moments, Naruto nodded in agreement and put their plan into action. In a few short moments the blonde emerged from the woods carrying the form of his prisoner, a Kunai held close to her throat.

"Lookie who I found!" Naruto announced, making all attention turn towards him. From inside his prison, Kakashi was relieved that nothing had happened to his blonde student when he went off into the woods. Even better, it seemed that Zabuza Momochi had a hidden accomplice and Naruto had captured her, now the status quo had changed.

"No fucking way. How did a runt like you capture Haku so easily?" The swordsman growled angrily, a vein bulging across his forehead as he felt the urge to cleave that brat in half for taking his 'tool' as a prisoner.

"Heh. Caught her off guard. Does it matter? Now release Kakashi-sensei or I'll cut her throat open!" The blonde shouted, pressing the tip of his Kunai into the girl's flesh. The Swordsman hesitated for a split second, but then smirked beneath his mask for a moment.

"You're bluffing kid. You don't have the stomach to do that." The Demon of Kiri spoke confidently making both Kakashi and the other Konoha Genin flinch visibly in horror, since the whiskered teen had no real experience in killing before.

"How would you know? Maybe I am pretending to be some idiot. Or maybe I might get 'nervous' and 'accidentally' kill her?" Naruto countered back, his face like stone making it near impossible to see if he was bluffing or being serious. The swordsman's eyes flicked to the boy's hand and found them to be perfectly steady, no signs of trembling whatsoever.

"You have practice I don't know about?" The Swordsman asked, now starting to feel a little threatened. He couldn't afford to lose something as precious as Haku, people of loyalty like hers weren't so easily found, much less replaced.

"I'll leave that for you to figure out." The blonde replied in a cryptic manner making the Swordsman smirk beneath his mask of bandages.

"Well Kakashi, that little Uchiha brat and the sniveling pinkette aren't worth my time. But that blonde one? He's got balls. He'll be going places in time." Zabuza spoke in amusement as he released the water prison surrounding the Copy nin. As soon as he was free, the silver haired Jonin rushed to safety, altough inside he was in disbelief that Naruto managed to make the swordsman agree into releasing him in exchange for his accomplice. It must have been someone pretty close to the Missing nin to make him comply.

"All right Gaki, hand Haku over to my water clone and we'll be done here." The swordsman spoke in a gruff manner, pointing to his Water clone which was now waiting with open arms for the girl.

The Copy nin was about to warn his student about doing that but was beaten to the punch when the blonde spoke "What? Only for you to attack us again when she's out of the way? Too bad for you... this is a Shadow clone." At the end of his sentence 'Haku' vanished in a puff of smoke revealing it to be the truth making Zabuza realize that he had just been tricked.

"I made another Clone to take her deeper into the woods, away from where you left her. If you want her back then I suggest you go get her right now." The Jinchuuriki spoke with a big grin that earned a heated glare from the ex-Kiri nin.

"This isn't over. As soon as I'm ready, I'll be hunting you all down. Starting with you Gaki. I won't forget this." Zabuza announced as he vanished in a blur of motion, vanishing into the woods of Kiri.

"Quick! Run before he gets back!" Naruto shouted and ran off leaving behind a dust cloud, his team and their client not far behind him since they didn't want to go for a second round with Demon of Kiri. After nearly an hour of non-stop running they all came to a stop to catch their breath, feeling confident that they would be safe for now.

"Quick thinking there on your part Naruto. Using a decoy to free me like that, and sending him off to chase after his partner too. Good strategy." The Copy nin spoke praisingly patting the blonde on the head for such good work. All of a sudden, the blonde found his neck now within Sakura's arms, the pinkette raining kisses on his cheek for his accomplishment.

"You really saved our bacon back there kid. But Zabuza will be back soon, and he'll be really mad after you duped him." Tazuna spoke in a warning tone, already aware that the assassin sent after him could return at any time.

"Luckily I have something for that." The blonde replied as he released himself from his teammate's grip then whistled Sharply. After a few moments, another Shadow clone of Naruto emerged, carrying the same girl he held 'hostage' earlier in a bridal carry.

"Sent another decoy with a clone of this girl. Haku, as Zabuza called her. I sent him on a wild goose chase and kept the real one to deter him." The whiskered teen announced making everyone gape at his genius... now they were the ones with a Hostage and Zabuza now had nothing. When the swordsman learns he had been duped twice over, would be a very humiliating and infuriating experience for him.

"Oi, anyone got any wire to tie her up with? Rope's no good. Wire is better since she can't chew through it." The blonde asked looking between them all, and as luck would have it Kakashi had some in case of a situation like this. Now they just had to hurry to Tazuna's home before their enemy has the chance to catch up with them.

Meanwhile.

Danzo sighed as he walked up to the roof of the Hokage tower, his cane tapping against the stairs as he slowly climbed up, soon he came up upon the doorway to the outside and opened it allowing sunlight to wash over him. It was most unusual for his old rival to unexpectedly call him out for a meeting, but then strange occurences had been happening around the village.

This might even be a matter of village security. He looked around for the form of Hiruzen and found him dressed in his Hokage robes... seemingly occupying himself by playing minigolf. Most unusual as well since he hadn't known the Sandaime to play something like minigolf. Shrugging his shoulders he approached the Hokage, his cane making small tapping noises with each step. Though as he got closer... he felt a sense of deepening dread. Like the air around him was aware of his existence and was trying to snuff out his life.

Ignoring his uneasiness he only got closer until he announced in a somewhat rude manner "All right Hiruzen, I am here as you requested. What was so urget that you called me here for?" At the Elder's question the Hokage merely raised a finger telling him to wait, then gently used his club to tap one of the golf balls, sending it rolling along. Growing impatient, Danzo stepped even closer... then noticed the ball was rolling into the open mouth of Hiruzen's severed head.

His visible eye widened in shock as he looked back to the 'Hokage' in question... and gaped in horror when he saw the face of Kushina who was now wearing the Hokage robes. "That's Hokage-sama to you, Danzo. Long time no see, yeah? The last time I saw you, I promised that when I became Hokage, I would smash your head into pulp." She spoke and twirled her golf club like it was a baton.

After a few moments of silence, the red haired woman spoke "Cat got your tongue? Come on now, is it really that surprising that I am still alive and well? Or maybe you have grown so comfortable working within the shadows, that now you're up against someone who doesn't give a damn about 'Due process' you just realized you're now royally fucked six ways from sunday?" She asked him, referencing to the fact he was politically immune due to Hiruzen's style of leadership.

But against a beast like Kushina? She'd kill him, laugh about it, then brag about it to Konoha without a care. Of all the things in Kami's green earth, Kushina was perhaps the one Ninja that he truly feared. "You're just going to proclaim yourself as Hokage? Just like that? The Councils will never accept you." He muttered, trying to stall for time until he could release his sealed arm.

Then out of nowhere, Kushina's golf club struck him in his covered eye-socket crushing his hidden Uchiha eye, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Don't care. The Shinobi council will accept me in a heartbeat. The others don't even matter since I'll be terminating their precious seats of power. No more Civilians. No more Elders. No more Democracy. It'll be as it should always have been." She spoke then swung her club down on him again cracking his skull. Blood now dribbling from the side of his head.

"Shinobi, running a SHINOBI village obviously. With me as the one in charge of it all, and the Shinobi council serving as my advisors of course. The old ways are dead. The Will of Fire? Just an excuse to capitalize on Bloodlines." She spoke in a chilling voice and swung once again, hitting him in the jaw causing teeth to fly out.

"That prophecy nonsense the frogs spewed? Another cheap means for Konoha to gain more power. Note to self, burn the Frog summoning contract." She muttered to herself and brought her club down again across Danzo's scalp. Blood now filling his vision. His aged body defenceless against Kushina's merciless assault.

"What does Konoha even have? Leadership so overcome by greed and set in their ways, they can't even see the need for change. A 'spymaster' that writes cheap porn and bangs whores with his needle dick. A history of blood and betrayel left and right wherever you go. And it just doesn't end." She continued her rant then kicked Danzo over, exposing the seal he had on him. Then slapping her own Seal of canceling on his, to prevent it from going off.

"That all ends. Here's a fun-fact, we Uzumaki's can stay in our prime till we're one hundred years old. Good luck waiting for me to die of old age. Cuz Kushina fucking Uzumaki is here to stay, and she doesn't take shit from anybody." She finished and then brought her club down, again and again and again, the sounds of bone crunching and blood spattering could be heard. When she was finished, her golf club was now bent out of shape, what once was Danzo's head was now a puddle of blood and mushy brain matter along with some bits of bone. The fingers on his body still twitching.

"Kami that was good therapy. It really helps to just, you know, talk it out. Get it out of your system. Much obliged Danzo. Oh... and by the way? You're fired." She spoke and then tossed aside her broken golf club. Picking up a new one, she sighed and continued with her game. It would soon be a busy time to clean the slate and douse out the 'Will of Fire' but she wasn't just gonna make it die out... she was gonna piss all over its ashes.

"May as well enjoy myself while I can." she spoke to herself and then snapped her fingers causing a hooded figure to appear behind her who bowed to one knee.

"Yes, Kushina-sama?" her follower asked in a tone of respect, awaiting what ever orders the Red Death had to offer.

"Find my son. Aid him in whatever mission he is on, then bring him back here to me as soon as possible. I want him to meet his mother, his real mother. And see just how great a Kunoichi she is... and how important he is to her." The Evil Uzumaki spoke, causing her servant to vanish in a swirl of leaves, leaving the new Hokage to her own devices.

"I think I'll pose as Hiruzen for a little while. I'll dispose of Kizashi's pet council when Naruto-kun is here, so that he can see it all. I am sorry I wasn't there for you my precious Soch-kun, I never got to become the mother you needed... but I'll still be the Hokage you deserve. And I'll punish everyone that kept us apart." She spoke to herself and tapped on another golf ball, sighing in enjoyment of the cool breeze.

With that being said and done... Konoha was in for a very rude awakening.

End chapter two.

A/N: Decided to end the chapter on this note since I felt it to be a decent stopping point, not to mention I didn't want to end up dragging my heels to try and make this longer than it needed to be. And I'm very sad to say, but next week I'll be much busier with my job due to the holidays which will leave me with little time to do any serious writing. So please be patient and I'll try and have something ready when I am able.

Current Projects (No particular order):

Garchu! Ch.2

Spider Dance Ch.2

Mother Dearest V2 (Rewrite) (Reason: I feel like that time travel bit ruined the flow for me.)

History's Strongest Sensei Ch.3

Romulus Rising (Remake of deleted fic.) *On Hold *

Left Hand of the Shinigami Ch.2

Naruto x Monster girls fic. (Monster girls summoning contract.)