"I'm going to kill you!" Naruto rushes forward, his eyes red with slit pupils and his nails now claws. The mirror shatters and the masked boy jumps out, trying to dive a needle into the back of his neck. He rolls out of the way and dust is kicked up by the impact. The masked boy tries to get into another mirror, but is grabbed by Naruto. Naruto's chakra skyrockets and the mirrors fall to the ground. He charges his chakra into his hand and lands a powerful hit to the boy's mask, sending him tumbling across the bridge.

Naruto charges again as the mask cracks and falls. He is in midair when he sees the boy's face, recognizing it as the boy he met in the forest the day before. His once red eyes turn back to their original cerulean color. Just before he reaches the boy, another ice mirror comes up between them. Unable to stop or dodge, Naruto smashes into it and is sent to the ground in a heap.

The boy moves to his side cautiously and finds him unconscious. Just as he's about to finish him, he hears the sound of birds chirping. "Zabuza." Without a moment's hesitation, he rushes to Zabuza's side. The hand of Naruto's sensei, Kakashi, impales his chest. He removes the hand and the boy falls to the ground.

Clapping comes from behind them from the short businessman Gato. "It seems that the Demon of the Hidden Mist is a baby demon at best. That brat of your was weak and useless. I'll pay double to the one who brings me his head."

"It seems that we don't have to continue this Kakashi." Staining his arm, he picks up his zanbato and runs towards Gato's small army. He slices through the army, until he reaches Gato, whose head makes a splash in the sea. Zabuza stumbles over to where Kakashi stands and collapses. "Kakashi, could you bring Haku over to me?" Kakashi picks up the boy and lays him beside Zabuza, who bandages fell during his slaughter of Gato's men. It begins to snow. "Haku, are you crying? I wish I could go to the same place as you."

Zabuza dies of his wounds and the small army is regrouping. "He killed our meal ticket, now we have to go raid the village." A crossbow bolt sticks into the man's forehead, Inari and the villagers stand at the end of the bridge.

"Not one of you is stepping foot on our country again!" Kakashi creates a line of Shadow Clones that stretches to both sides of the bridge. The men easily become scared and jump off the bridge to escape.

Unseen by everyone, a colossal gate appears at the unfinished end of the bridge. The doors swing open slowly and two figures walk out, one man and one woman. They both have feathered capes, the man's black, the woman's white, their hair the same color as their capes. Their clothes were gray, both pants and sleeveless shirts. "What a performance."

"I agree. I haven't been this assumed in some time."

"Nor I, but let's make it more interesting."

"What do you have in mind brother?"

"Let's bestow upon two mortals some of our power and see what they do with it."

"They will have to be strong willed individuals to withstand the power."

"Yes indeed, and I have found such a person in that boy there."

"You mean the one who contains the demon?" The black clad man nods. "Do you really think he can handle both yours and the demon's power?"

"I believe he can, but if not, your choice will be able to stop him. You must hurry and choose, we must keep balance in this world."

"Very well, I'll leave now. When I find the other, I'll contact you." The cape turns out to be wings and she takes off into the sky. A noise from within the gate made the man turn around. The dark outline of a giant man was in the gateway.

"You know that if you do this that the two will be connected to each other, do you not?"

"Yes we do, but with the power we're giving them, they could change the world, for either good or evil."

"Just having power is nothing if they don't know how to use it. That boy is powerful, even without thw demon. Kee an eye on him, with too much power, he could enter our realm and his demon doesn't care for us much."

"What demon does? Besides, Kyuubi is no match for you and in our realm it is even weaker then it is now."

"You underestimate the boy, he would be nearly unstoppable. You could not have found a being with more will power than this boy. Were he ever to cross over, he would be a god." The giant walked back into the darkness of the gate.

'Brother, I'm ready.'

'Very well, then let us begin.' He walked past the villagers who were removing the dead, a pink haired girl who was crying over a boy's body, Kakashi sitting with a glazed over look, and more villagers before reaching the boy. He spread his wings and summoned a black ball into the palm of his hand. 'In three, two, one, and NOW!' He shoved the ball into Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body starts to shake violently, catching the attention of the people around him. The daze Kakashi rushed to his side as powerful wave of energy erupted from him. The winged man smirks. 'Is it done brother?'

'Yes it is, now return so we can leave.'

'It will be just a moment.' He started back to the gate the boy who was being wept over was awake and trying to get over to Naruto. The villagers were all around him, looking concerned.

He had just reached the gate as his sister landed. "Since you know of mine, who is yours?"

"A girl from the same village as yours."

"Must you do everything opposite of me?"

"Actually, yes. Like you and I, these two are complete opposites. The only things they have in common other than where they live, is the desire to prove themselves and their age."

"I see, you picked that girl, that will certainly make this entertaining, but I have been warned to keep an eye on this one. His will power is far beyond what I had first thought, so much so that Lord Exodus came himself."

"What did he say?"

"That we are to make sure the boy never crosses over to our realm, because if he did, almost nothing could stop him."

"Not even the thirteen of them together?"

"He didn't say that, only that the boy would be a god if he did."

"Are we going to help them learn how to use our gifts?"

"I suppose we could, but for now we'll wait and see if they can do it themselves." Together they walk back through the gate, the doors closing behind them.

--

Naruto opened his eyes and was staring at the ceiling. 'Tazuna's house?' He slowly sat up, his body protesting with pain. 'What happened?' Pushing himself to his feet, the stumbled out of the room. While he was going down the stairs, his legs gave out and he fell down the rest, crushing to the bottom. "Damn that hurt." He rubbed the back of his head where it met the last step.

Tsunami came running up to him. "Are you alright Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How long was I out?"

"Just about two days. You should really take it easy, you going to be kind of stiff for a little while."

"Maybe you're right. I'm gonna walk around a bit outside to work the chinks out."

"Just don't do anything too demanding, you could really hurt yourself."

"I wouldn't think of it."

"Like you think anyway."

Just past Tsunami, Sasuke sat at the kitchen table. Naruto's mouth hung open. "Sasuke?" Naruto rubbed his eyes, but everything stayed the same. "You're alive."

"The needles missed just barely, either he made a mistake, or he intend to make it look like I died."

"What happened?"

"I'm not really sure, when I came to, the villagers were at the bridge, Zabuza and his partner Haku were dead and you were unconscious. You were also shaking and emitting a high level of power. I want to know where it came from."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"So you're saying you don't know what that power was?"

"If I did, I would have used it to stomp you into the ground before. Now that I know it's there, I'm going to try to harness it." 'Damn that fox, what's it trying to do now?' "See ya later Sasuke, I'm gonna go for a walk."

"There's a reason why I'm here instead of with Kakashi and Sakura."

"To rub the fact that your Sharingan activated in my face?"

"No, now come on." Sasuke stood up and walked towards the door with Naruto just behind. Sasuke led him to a cliff, not far from the bridge, that looked over the sea. There near the edge was Zabuza's sword sticking into the ground, the pieces of Haku's mask resting against it. "Kakashi decided to bury them. He told me to bring you here when you woke up."

"Thanks, even if you didn't want to do it."

"I've done worse jobs before. Like catching that damn cat over and over."

Naruto smiled. "We should just kill it next time."

"Who says there will be a next time?"

"Are you kidding, when the old man hears about this, we'll never be able to do a higher mission until we're promoted."

"We finished it didn't we?"

"Yes, but the two of us nearly died, Sakura didn't do shit, as usual, and the only reason we finished is because of Kakashi. He's gonna raise requirements for mission ranks, and we'll be stuck doing D-ranks until we're at least chunin."

"You really think he'll do that?"

"I know he will. He looks at the village like everyone is his family, and because of that, he'll do everything it his power to protect us, even if it's against our will. He's a good leader, but a better person."

"I'm heading back, the others will be back by night fall for dinner."

"Thanks again Sasuke. I'll probably be back before them." Sasuke turned and left the way they came. Naruto just stared at the grave for a few moments. "Haku, did I do this to you?" He went around the sword and sat down with his back against the side of the blade. He closes his eyes and finds himself in a sewer-like passage. He looks around. "Where the hell am I? Is this some kind of genjutsu?" He forms a seal. "Kai."

Nothing happens. "Great, not only do I not know where I am, but I can't feel my chakra either." Far down the tunnel, a red light appears. "What the hell, it's not like I know how to get out of here." As he gets closer, an ominous feeling overcomes him. He starts to question the smartness of deciding to walk towards the light. Despite these feeling, he continues to walk and is engulfed in the light. When he is able to see something other than red, he stares in awe at the room he entered.

The room was huge, he could not see either side walls or the ceiling, and directly in front of him was a large gate, which was only being held shut by a piece of paper that read 'Seal'. "Oh this just gets better and better." From deep within the darkness behind the gate, came a growl.

"What do you want brat?"

"Who are you and where are we?"

Laughter echoed in the room and a large pair of blood red eyes appeared behind the gate, followed by a large pointed tooth smile. "You must be dumber than I thought. We are in your mind, and I am your worst nightmare, Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"That's a laugh, you are a pleasant dream compared to my real worse nightmare. Since I'm here, are you the cause of that power surge Sasuke was talking about?"

"I wish I had that kind of power over you. No, that was the work of another."

"You mean something else is sealed in me too?"

"Are you really this stupid? No mortal could handle the stress of having two other beings sealed within them, most can't handle even one."

"Well, aren't I special. If it wasn't you then who was it?"

"I suppode you could call him a fallen angel. He and his kind kill demons and angela out of envy, while demons reside in hell and angels in heaven, they had to find a place to reside. They found one that is alongside yours, and can see the things that go on in yours."

"If they kill demons, why haven't you and the other demons gone and killed them?"

"We cannot enter their realm and even if we could, our powers would be cut in half. it's the exact opposite of your world. He gave you power, what is unknown to me but I do know that in order to do so, his sister would have had to give power to another or your world would be ripped apart."

"Great, so not only do I house a demon, but if I or this other person die, the world ends."

"Is there something else, I was sleeping."

"Just one more thing, did we kill Haku?"

"No, you wussed out last minute and got knocked out. I'm going back to bed, night." The eyes and teeth disappeared and Naruto head back the way he came.

--

One month later, the day before they were to start back to Konoha, Naruto was once again standing in front of the sword. Kakashi had told him what had happened on the bridge. He stared at the blade, deep in thought. 'Haku died to protect his precious person, and Sasuke nearly died to protect me, but is that enough to make him precious to me? All we really do is fight each other, the only things we have in common are the desire to grow stronger and to prove that we are better than each other, so we're rivals? Even if we aren't friends, I would get my life to protect him because we are teammates.'

"Hey loser, what up with you, you been kind of distant since you woke up after the fight on the bridge."

"I've had a lot on my mind."

Sasuke smirked. "That's a first."

"You're right, normally I don't think this long or hard on any one thing." Sasuke's smirk dropped. "What are we?"

"That's a pretty stupid question, we're shinobi."

"That's not what I meant. I mean you and I, are we friends, rivals, or just teammates, I'm having a hard time trying to determine the answer."

"I wouldn't really consider us friends, seeing as how we're always at each others throats. You're pretty decent in some aspects, but you could never keep up with me enough to be a rival. However, things change in unexpected ways, so who knows how things will turn out."

"Thanks Sasuke, I think I found my answer." He walks forward and places his hand on the sharp edge of the blade. He jerks his hand upward and cuts open his palm. "I swear that I will do everything in my power to protect those who mean the most to me. I am no one's tool and I never will be." His blood runs down the blade and when it touches the ground, the sword begins to glow red. The blade itself started to change, the half circle cut from the edge was no longer there. Instead, a fox head appeared on both sides, its jaws open, its ears pulled back, and its eyes as red as the blood still running down it.

The glowing died off and the blade was black and the lines of the engraved fox were white. "What did you do?"

"I have no idea, I just cut my hand on it because I don't have a kunai on me." Sasuke walked over and was about to grab the handle when a voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that." The two boys turn to see Kakashi reading from his orange book. "What he just did is something that skilled sword smiths usually have high paying customers do. Only someone who shares the blood that was placed on the blade, meaning Naruto and his family, can wield that sword now."

"What would happen if someone tried?"

"I don't know, it depends on the sword. It could be anything from a shock to burns, or even instant death."

"Yeah right, like a sword could deny someone from using it."

"If you don't believe me, go ahead and try, but neither he nor I will be held responsible." Sasuke was having a hard time trying to decide if he should believe Kakashi, in the end, he decide that Kakashi wouldn't joke about one of them getting hurt just to help another. He turned and walked away, heading back to Tazuna's house.

"Is what you said true?"

"Yes. You have to be careful where you leave that from now on. I suggest you use a storage scroll, especially since it has a fox engraved into it."

"I suppose, but I don't know anything about storage scrolls." Kakashi took out a scroll and started marking out kanji all over it.

"Here, that will do for now, but when we get back, I have some sealing scrolls you could borrow. Just place the sword on top and push some chakra into it, do the same to get it out."

He handed the scroll to Naruto and followed after Sasuke. Naruto pulled the sword from the ground to find it had kept the same shape expect that the hole near the end wasn't there anymore, in it's place was a spiral like the one on the back of his jacket. "I promise you Zabuza, I will put your sword to good use. Unfortunately, I do not know the name you used for it."

He closed his eyes as he thought and he heard a voice speaking within his mind that was neither his nor Kyuubi's. 'My name is Ittou Kabau.'

He looked from the sword to the scroll. He unrolled the scroll and placed the sword on it before placing chakra into the scroll. In a puff of smoke the sword was gone, and in the center of the kanji Kakashi had written, was the kanji for sword. Smiling, Naruto rolled up the scroll and pocketed it. 'Ittou Kabau and power from a fallen angel, what an strange mission this turned into.'

Shaking his head, he started back to Tazuna's house. As he walked, he thought of ways to carry his sword without sealing it. He came up with several, but one stuck out among the others. But he would have to wait until he got back to Konoha, as he didn't have what he needed with him.