Memories of Blood

Disclaimer: I own Naruto. I regret nothing!
… Alright, I don't own it. Are you happy now?

XXX

Kurenai doubled over, coughing up a little blood as a gloved fist smashed into her stomach. That really stung! As the fist was removed, she fell to the ground, clutching her belly and glaring up at the rosette standing above her with an impassive look on his chiselled face.

Everything had gone well for them in the past week. Hinata, Shino and Kiba were training non-stop and had come leaps and bounds, three jonin had arrived from Konoha to assist them in return for quite a hefty mission fee increase when the bridge was completed, and she'd not seen hide or tail of those three monsters from before.

And now her dreams of success lay in tatters. When the mist appeared, everything went wrong. Renji was torn to pieces in front of her eyes by steel wire. Bakura had been decapitated by Zabuza who had appeared like a spectre from the mist before vanishing back into its folds.

And as for Mai, some massive thing veiled by the mist had munched its way through a good chunk of the bridge itself, taking the poor kunoichi with it into the black ocean bellow.

Why the hell was this happening?

Phantazmal crouched down in front of her, meeting her ruby gaze with his honey coloured eyes. "You have such sadness in your mind. A little girl left all alone; daddy taken by the big bad fox." Kurenai's eyes widened and her lips quivered. "They say life, without pain, has no meaning. Miss Yuuhi, I wish to give your life meaning."

"GATSUUGA!" Phantazmal leapt back as a spinning blur of fang and claw slammed into the spot he'd been standing in. Kiba had appeared. The bridge builder, still being watched over by Shino and Hinata must have got out of the mist. That at least gave Kurenai a little release. "I won't let you lay a hand on sensei!" roared Kiba.

His dog, Akamaru, had transformed into an exact copy of Kiba, and was standing parallel to the brunette, sending an equally intense glare towards the fuchsia-haired man, who was suddenly joined by Zabuza, who was carrying the massive Kubikiri over his shoulders, and Guujin who was grinning lazily, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Kurenai couldn't believe this. She was going to die. Kiba couldn't protect her from all three of them. She sharply drew in her breath when Phantazmal summoned his sitar and plectrum. "I'm afraid you'll have to die now. Naiou no omoide." (Memories of the Depths) With a swift strum of his sitar, the mist around them gained a bluish hue, and suddenly it became much harder to breathe.

Guujin huffed, before turning around and walking away. "You show off. I'm not bothered with these small fry." He suddenly disappeared via shuishin.

The grey skinned Zabuza grunted, but stood his ground. A loud moaning could be heard from all directions- but mostly from bellow. And Kurenai knew what was coming- that thing from before.

With an almighty roar, a huge silhouette leapt out of the water bellow the bridge, floating a good thirty feet above them, its yellow eyes, the size of a full-grown man, staring at them with heated fury. Even with a bone mask-like helm covering its lower jaw, and tusks sticking out its head, Kurenai could tell what it was. That man had summoned a great-orca. And with whatever freakish powers he had, was able to sustain it on land.

And poor Kiba, a minute ago so ready to give his life for Kurenai, fell to his knees from the sight. He was out of his league. With another ear-splitting moan, the orca zoomed downwards, ready not only to devour them but slam directly into the bridge, its massive bulk probably being enough to disintegrate the solid concrete from which it was built.

Gasping lightly, Kurenai felt her world go bright. Could this be… the end?

XXX

Ooi was in unbelievable pain. That frightened him. He never felt pain- not with his robot charging his nerve system with hardening earth chakra and numbing lightning chakra. His eyes fluttered to his shoulder, wear blood was spurting out of like a fountain. One of the robot's tubes' should be there.

Then he saw his little robot slammed against the wall, untimely ripped from his body. He began to shake. "I… Feel pain." Still not voicing his unbelievable agony, his eyes fell on the short figure in front of him, whose arms were stretched wide having just torn the machine from his body.

Orange chakra was leaking from his body, chains covering his bandaged arms in a strange helix fashion. His violet eyes met Ooi's crimson gaze. "You are the Kyuubi…" murmured Ooi, faintly. And then he lost all sanity. "IT HURTS! WHY DOES IT HURT?"

He screamed loud enough to wake the dead, and sure enough, Utakata groaned as he regained conciseness. When he took note of the situation, his eye widened. "Naruto!"

Said blonde was standing over the wailing Ooi, an unreadable expression on his normally jubilant face. From behind him, the small robot lunged, arms outstretched in an attempt to drain him. Chains suddenly shot from Naruto's back, stabbing into the robot causing it to elicit a violent and loud sound, which could only be described as a scream.

"Poison chakra! It sti-ingssss…" groaned Ooi's other half, in an almost pitiful manner. "Data subject noted: classification: Lockdown chakra. Family of use: Uzumaki!"

At once, Ooi stopped wailing. "Uzumaki… Eh?" he twitches slightly as a few wires shot out of the bloodied spots on his back, sealing off the wounds. "You are just a boy. You have no idea what I can do. Jinchuriki are all the same. It's such a pity but you are all just like me." He slowly crawled to his feet, meeting Naruto's gaze, the sorrowful look on his face replaced with a mad grin. "Interesting! I… REALLY WANT TO KILL YOU!" a stream of yellow cards appeared around him. "TURN TO DUST, UZUMAKI! KUROGA-"

Naruto was suddenly in front of him, his face right beside Ooi's. Leaning in close, Naruto gently whispered into the man's ear, "Vanish." The orange chakra around his fists suddenly turned a blinding blue, before he slammed his left fist into Ooi's stomached, sending him rocketing across the cavern, two chains attached to his body via Naruto's arm. As he flew, they seemed to lengthen instantaneously, only stopping when he himself made contact with a wall.

With a small tug, Ooi came rushing back towards Naruto, who had his spare fist cocked and charging with an equally bright blue energy. "Rougufu: Ayaui konpeki-tanken." (Rough Fist: Critical Azure-Dagger)

As Ooi came within range, Naruto's chakra scaled down in size before bursting in a concentrated beam, piercing a football-sized hole in Ooi's chest. "Pain…" muttered Ooi, as his eyes went blank.

Utakata stared in disbelief. That was the technique Naruto had used on his mantis summon on that mission in Taki- somehow he'd managed not only to perfect it but use it with some other strange technique.

With a dark buzzing sound, the robot itself increased in speed and managed to bounce from wall to wall around Naruto, landing on top of Ooi. "Ooi must fly away. Live to kill another day." With a hiss, a plume of gas was released from the robots chasse, which Naruto blew away in an instant with a sweep of his arm. Ooi had vanished.

Naruto's chakra flared up for an instant, then died away, leaving the blonde boy standing normally, the complex seals around his body glowing as they reactivated. His eyes instantly fell on the throng of on-looking vein-mist ninja, who were staring at him with awe and fear. He smiled, faintly, at the red head, before whispering, "Goodnight, Mei-chan…" then he promptly collapsed from sheer chakra exhaustion.

A single cerulean eye snapped open, while a bandaged hand darted upwards over the spot where his eye-patch was. It was starting to sting again. Sighing, Naruto got to his feet and clambered out of the tent where the rest of team 7 was sleeping. Kakashi was sitting outside the tent, sharpening one of his kunai.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, without looking up at his blonde student. "Me neither." He nodded towards the field of canvas consisting of the remainder of the diamond village. "The villagers are tired. They can't keep up with us. At this rate, it'll be another three days before we make it to Konoha."

His student raised an eyebrow. "Would that be a problem?"

"No. But I do find this whole situation far too confusing. Why'd that guy attack? Why'd he leave? I don't know, the Hokage should have some idea, but I'm clueless. And besides, we're nearing bandit country. I hate bandits."

XXX

Kurenai opened one eye. She was alive? Kiba was still in front of her, but his mouth was wide, agape, staring at the figure in front of him. A tall slender man, brandishing a massive metal weapon, was blocking the summon with the tip of his blade. "Two weeks. We waste two weeks getting here, and you find me the wrong team?"

The bone mask of the orca cracked as it suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke. Another figure appeared, identical to the first, but with a cheerful expression on his face. "Well, I technically was following the trail of a Konoha team, not necessarily his. We found out they're from Konoha at least, give me SOME credit!"

Phantazmal was staring, his eyes wide in surprise. "Who are you?"

The first male glanced at the rosette and narrowed his eyes, before running his fingers through the bangs covering his eye. "Me? I'm a guy who's fucking pissed right now; and who really needs to vent some anger." He swung his claymore round and stabbed it into the ground. "The name's Ranpu."

"You stopped Nobunaga. He's my favourite summon." For the first time, Phantazmal's eyes showed true anger. "Taste my music." Suddenly the plectrum was moving like lightning, strumming the strings at blistering strings"Counter Melody: Scherzo." His eyes gained a greenish hue.

"Well, would you look at that, a bloodline-user. Go figure."

"Nouton: Kurokenou" (Memory Release: Black Revelation) From the bluish mist, a swarm of transparent eels shot forwards, mouths open revealing rows of tiny sharp teeth.

"Yami, take care of the grey-guy." Whispered Ranpu, with a feral grin as he unearthed his claymore. "I don't want anyone spoiling this. Time to see what my new sword can REALLY do."

Yami sent his brother a distasteful look, but nodded in agreement. "As you wish, nii-san." In a blur of movement, he was in front of Zabuza a small jagged weapon with an aerodynamic shape in his hand. The handle was part of the weapon- covered in leather to prevent the holder being cut. It was a boomerang.

Blinking in surprise at the sudden assault, Zabuza lurched backwards, using Kubikiri as a shield from the small but razor sharp weapon. "You're pretty fast for a little brat."

"I'm twenty-one I'll have you know. That means I ain't a brat." Zabuza's eyes widened as wind chakra began to spiral around the blade in his hands. "And you blocked the wrong way."

Kubikiri was suddenly cleaved in half as a surge of wind chakra blasted through it via the little blade. Grunting in annoyance, Zabuza retreated towards the mutilated body of the konoha jonin Guujin had killed earlier. As kubikiri met the blood of the poor jonin, its blade began to reform. "Don't get cocky."

Meanwhile, Phantazmal's eels' had been cleaved to pieces by a few swings of Ranpu's massive weapon. With every slash, the weapon and glowed slightly, almost as though it sensed the feeling of cleaving through flesh and bone. "I hate fish." Muttered Ranpu. "They make me sick. Please don't summon more."

Phantazmal grimaced, before readying himself into a stance, pointing the neck of the sitar towards Ranpu. "I'm afraid I must destroy you now. Don't think badly of me if you end up in a world of pain."

"You talk to much." Mumbled Ranpu, as he held out his free hand towards Phantazmal. "Just die."

"Nouton:"

"Ikiton:"

While a rose-coloured light gathered up on the tip of Phantazmal's guitar, an emerald-green light gathered in the palm of Ranpu's hand. Kurenai felt the pressure build as the colour grew to a blinding level, so much so that Kiba was forced to avert his gaze. "These two…" the crimson eyed teacher thought, "… Are monsters!"

"Madokaboukyaku!" (Memory Release: Tranquil Oblivion)

"Tsunogen-wakuseirei" (Spirit Release: Horn of Blinding Spirit)

In a clash of pure light, an explosion that could be seen from miles away tore a hole in the very sky as the two beams of light met at full force, one pink, the other green. With equal devastation they stood at a standstill, before the uncompleted-bridge on which they met was torn, a good quarter of the newly built bridge being sent to nothingness.

And then it disappeared.

The two figures now stood very close to one another, Phantazmal's head leaning on the younger man's shoulder, his eyes wide with surprise. The massive blade had pierced straight through his instrument, through his slender body and straight through his spine. "I'm… disappointed." Muttered Ranpu, before he kicked the body of Phantazmal off his blade. "You coward." He turned to his left, where a hooded figure was standing, solemnly. "Using substitution is cheating." He cast his eye towards the body he'd cut down, which was slowly transforming into a long fish-like creature, with a bone mask covering its face. "You sacrificed one of your summons'? That's downright heartless."

When he looked back up, Phantazmal was gone. "Prick." He muttered, his eyes flicking towards the mist where the sounds of steel clashing could be heard. "Time to help my bro…" With a crazed grin, Ranpu's obscured eye began to glow, the red and black symbol becoming visible even through the bangs. "I've just gotta kill something."

XXX

"So what's up with you, that hard-assed team mate of yours said you were 'Opthalmaphobic', right? What does that actually mean?" asked Naruto, sending a casual glance in Negi's direction causing him to blush and looked away.

"I can't stand being stared at. When I was little I only really spent time with my grandfather in the catacombs of the Diamond Village. Spending so much time alone in the dark made it terrifying to be with people in the daylight," He laughed nervously. "It's kinda silly, but I can't get rid of my phobia, even though I want to. Kagami says I'm an embarrassment of a ninja- and he's probably right." He continued to laugh nervously, but it seemed strained.

Sighing, Naruto patted him on the back. "It's fine. Everyone has something to be afraid of, your fear is just a bit more…" he paused to think of a word.

"Lame?" Negi suggested, weakly.

"… Unusual. As long as you can deal with your fears in a practical way, you should be fine." He grinned at the raven haired boy who squeaked and looked away in the opposite direction. The group hadn't encountered any problems so far, what with the fairly imposing diamond ninja surrounding the villagers and the Konoha genin dotted about on all sides, Kakashi leading the front of the group with Noa and another jonin.

"So how long have you been a genin?" asked the blonde, in an attempt to draw the conversation away from Negi's personal flaws.

"Just over a year. I'm super lucky to be paired with Fuu- since she's good at genjutsu any opponents I face don't usually look at me." He grinned. "Then again, I'm hardly ever involved in combat; Kagami does all the hard work. Fuu's the brains, Kagami's the muscle and I'm…" he sighed in a defeated manner. "… The mascot."

This time it was Naruto's turn to laugh nervously, his attempt at conversation again deriving to Negi's self-punishment. "This is going to be a long three days, isn't it…?"

XXX

Sorry it took so long to finish this, and sorry it's sub-par to the rest of the story. The truth is I finished the chapter a while back, but wanted to revise it drastically- however I couldn't think of any other way to change it. I hope you enjoyed in nonetheless.

Anyway, I hope the next chapter will be of greater quality and writing, but this is all I could come up with.

As for Clone Emperor- I'm really, really stuck. I've got the first half of the chapter done (It sucks, but it's still done) and every time I try to continue it I come up against a wall… I'm trying to base Naruto's clones on the six paths of pain, one for the five elements and one for a shadow clone with the original controlling them from a broadcasting tower using the chakra blades as receivers, but (strangely enough) that's surprisingly hard to write! Ah well, I'll see ya'll next time.

I'm posting a poll on my profile by the way. What poll you ask? Well, its results will decide if anyone will DIE next chapter MUHAHAHAHAHA! That is all.