Summary (longer): Tsukino Usagi was betrayed by those she thought she could trust. Taking her little brother, Shingo, along for the ride, she wished for a change-and she got it. Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto has only a few protectors in the village; only a few would hesitate to cause him pain. It has caused him to develop both a mask and unparalleled strength. When Usagi and Naruto meet, Heaven and Earth shake, and Hell trembles, for neither of them is a normal shinobi by any means. And that may just be what changes their world forever. Naruto/Usagi is the main pairing.

(A/N: Hi everyone! This is my attempt at a new story in the Naruto fandom and the culmination of several years of thought with all of these concepts that I invented back when I was a more inexperienced writer.

I finally have a world in which these concepts work together-or rather, I engineered it until it worked.

Warning: The shinobi world is MUCH darker than in canonical Naruto and there are no real jokes or 'canon' personalities to lighten it. Where Naruto is naive in canon, he's not nearly naive enough to follow that now.

Second Warning: For those of you bothered by/triggered by explicit attacks on someone (understanding the injuries inflicted) then please skip the scene after Naruto confronts Mizuki. This scene ends in the big bold and italicized brackets [END SCENE], and I will be using these warnings for graphic scenes in the future.)

Edit: Hebi's personal pronouns have been fixed. Thank you for pointing that error out, dpdj1.

Note: If any of you see other errors, please PM is having trouble with showing reviews for this story right now, for some reason. That also goes for any review that isn't short enough to fit into an email (i.e. any review longer than a few lines) completely. Thanks!

Chapter One: The Scroll of Seals

Two people stood atop the Yondaime's head on the Hokage Monument, side-by-side, in the early hours of the morning. It was about 3:30am, two and a half hours before sunrise, and between shifts of the ANBU guarding the Monument-the most boring job the ANBU ever had.

To any shinobi these two were familiar in the daylight-yet they weren't dressed so people would recognize them. They were both dressed all in black, with gloves and close-toed boots instead of the usual sandals and masks shinobi wore, and hoods covered their hair.

The only noticeable differences between the two of them were their heights and a mask.

The taller of the two of them, standing at about 5'4", went without a mask, revealing intense sky blue eyes with catlike slits for pupils, though the lower half of his face was still covered by a black mask. Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto was the only one supposed to be implicated in the theft of this scroll, so he went without-and at some point he would be using his Genjutsu, to throw the Hokage off. After all, he couldn't just waltz into the Hokage's office and defeat the old man one-on-one. Sarutobi was just too strong.

The other, standing at about 5'2", hid her face with a half-mask of white with a cat's shape, with black shading on the forehead and near the eyes. The lower half of her face was also covered by a black mask, and bright, almost-cerulean gray-blue eyes stared out from the eye holes of the mask. She was here as his backup and trusted partner. Usagi's job was to ensure the theft went off as planned and that the ANBU didn't notice anything off about Naruto's presence, or lack thereof. The ANBU and protective seals on the Hokage Tower couldn't sense her chakra, thus wouldn't react to her Genjutsu-which was how they'd get in.

Together, the two surveyed the village, and Naruto did a last sweep of the Hokage Tower with a very small pulse of normal chakra. Small enough that it went undetected.

They glanced at each other again, more for reassurance that the other was really here because touch wasn't going to work.

The use of any human chakra near the Hokage Tower would ensure both of them were caught, so they had to do this the mundane way. Well, mostly. Usagi wasn't sure her reiki would guard them well enough though most of it was going into making sure Naruto's Genjutsu remained active. Usagi needed to keep the ANBU from noticing the differences between the duo tonight and who they were in the village at large.

The Sandaime Hokage also needed to be there as a witness, which was why the two of them had waited until he arrived in the middle of the night to get a head start on his paperwork. Sarutobi did this every Friday morning without fail, so that he could spend the afternoon with his family.

And it was this habit they were going to take advantage of to ensure Naruto was implicated, to draw out the traitor in their ranks. It would be a bonus for them if other people took advantage of the fact.

Usagi bit her tongue nervously, running through the plan again in her head. She had framed enough civilian council members of theft and other humiliating, often-discrediting crimes on Naruto's behalf over the past four years. Several council members were replaced yearly, though only the worst offenders were framed as traitors.

She'd started the moment she had enough stealth training to sneak up on Naruto, and had gained the chakra control necessary to keep pace with him-for the most part. Usagi was always nervous about their more elaborate pranks and schemes; she was never the confident one of the two of them, and she always, always had a backup plan in place to destroy the evidence. It kept them from getting caught.

And better yet, it made them an unstoppable team. Usagi would always pull them out of trouble before they were ever implicated, with her numerous backup plans. Naruto, meanwhile, came up with the bulk of the plan and worked out their newest targets, doing reconnaissance and surveillance.

Their one failed prank on the Hyuuga compound had led to their 'rivalry' and Usagi taking the fall for Naruto, to protect his secrets. He would've been known as a smart 'demon' if he were caught, and reinventing herself as a prankster was the best way around that. And while Naruto could (and did) cover up after his pranks very well, and he could lie with the best of them, having a partner also allowed them to do more than they could individually.

Not that the village at large knew they were partners, let alone friends. Usagi and Naruto were very careful to keep their friendship under wraps around others, and especially while they were at the Academy. It was too dangerous for her to publicly associate with him, even if they were best friends in private.

Naruto silently reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing gently and broadcasting as much reassurance as he could. She squeezed back in thanks, feeling some of her nervous tension leave, glancing over at him.

He raised an eyebrow, very slightly, asking for permission.

Usagi gave him the barest hint of a nod in return, and the two of them vanished in a Wind Shunshin from the top of the Hokage Monument to the graveyard. Specifically, the civilian side of the largest graveyard in Konoha. The graveyard was always empty at this hour, and there were no ANBU guarding the civilian side of any graveyard, as civilian graves weren't nearly as valuable. Sometimes there were Chuunin assigned to clean the place up (respectfully) but no one defiled graves in Konoha.

Then again, most of Konoha was more worthy of trust than the entire Minato ward of Tokyo, where Usagi had spent her childhood.

It was also almost directly behind the Hokage Tower, just out of range of the chakra sensing seals. The minute Usagi and Naruto arrived in the graveyard, Naruto pressed a paper seal onto his arm, hiding it beneath his black outfit and letting it suppress his chakra. It would last for just long enough to get them inside and to the Scroll.

Usagi closed her eyes, calling up her divine chakra and concentrating on her appearance and Naruto's. So long as she only used her divine chakra, they could both sneak past seals meant to pick up on normal or demonic chakra signatures. Her power felt like ice moving through her veins, and Usagi shivered as they walked past the first barrier.

Sarutobi was not immune to Usagi's and Naruto's pranks, though he had less of a reason to fear them than most. The most he had to fear from them was forgetting one of their birthdays, or that they needed a little extra payment each time they pulled off a successful prank.

He'd caught them after they pranked the Inuzuka compound, and offered to pay them for their services; discreetly, of course, but it helped Usagi and Shingo get on their feet and allowed Usagi and Naruto to take on and protect Kurama and Suzume as well.

When she gave him the slightest nod and faded out of the human visual spectrum, Naruto moved, switching bushes periodically to ensure they weren't noticed and staying downwind of the four ANBU posted outside. Each of the ANBU rotated positions every fifteen minutes, and the easiest time to move was in the midst of the rotation. All Naruto had to do was keep his chakra as suppressed as possible, enough to let her divine chakra cover his.

As Naruto moved, Usagi pressed up behind him, closer than any normal shinobi could get to their partner to make sure the ANBU couldn't see her shadow in the low light around the Hokage Tower. The door was easily entered, since it was always slightly ajar, and the ANBU only glanced at it once or twice a night. And that was if they thought there was any possible way a threat to the village could sneak in.

In Usagi's opinion, the ANBU were far too confident that they would catch an attack on the Hokage Tower without keeping a closer watch on the door itself. But their loss was also Usagi's and Naruto's gain; it would give both of them an excuse to know at least two of the jutsu in the Scroll of Sealing.

To say nothing about their actual plans for the Scroll.

Once they were inside the first layer of ANBU guards, Naruto and Usagi slipped inside the door with ease. Usagi felt the seals pulse as they normally did, once every five minutes, but none of the seals reacted. No one had thought to calibrate them for divine chakra.

Together, she and Naruto silently slipped into the lobby, out of the path of the two ANBU silhouetted against the hallway down from the Hokage's office and the Sealing Vault. They hid behind the secretary's desk, within view of the hallway but low enough that they couldn't be seen.

Usagi had noticed the pattern the first time she'd helped Naruto prank Sarutobi, and no one had thought to change it since, not even Sarutobi himself. The ANBU would sweep the lobby quickly, but never glance behind the secretary's desk until it was time for them to turn around and they never did a chakra scan. The first ANBU (since they always patrolled inside in pairs) would always look underneath and around the lobby's furniture, while the other watched their backs. And they never turned around, assuming all threats were either external or unimportant.

Obviously, they had never considered that someone might attack the Tower in the middle of the night, but that meant the ANBU weren't doing their jobs right.

They would learn soon enough.

The ANBU came down the stairs, as expected, as Usagi and Naruto both quieted their breathing. Their next move depended on who was on duty. If it was Inu or Ketsueki they were in trouble and would have to use Usagi's chakra once again to slip past the two ANBU, which might compromise the whole mission. They weren't supposed to be here, but there was always the chance that someone had switched their shifts around.

However, when they saw the first ANBU's mask, Usagi let out a very quiet breath, slowly and evenly, as it was Karasu who was on duty tonight. He didn't treat either of them well-and he took out that anger on their siblings, too. Shingo was the special 'target' this ANBU used for his hatred when he couldn't get to Naruto or Usagi. Usually it was verbal, but he'd tried to lead Shingo right to the Kumo delegate who was in the process of kidnapping Hinata Hyuuga just to get rid of Shingo.

That meant the whole Tsukino-Uzumaki family hated him.

Karasu found Usagi an annoying, stupid brat at best and a demon-lover at worst, and he saw Naruto as nothing more than the demon he contained. She still didn't know how the dumbass had actually managed to make it into ANBU, but it seemed that the civilian council had had a hand in things.

She knew tonight was his punishment for disrespecting the blond brats again in front of the Academy a few weeks ago. And right where Ketsu-nii could catch him in the act, too.

Ketsueki-nii had refused to tell Usagi or Naruto what the man had done, but claimed he was not only a traitor but a foolish actor against Konoha's stability. He'd been hanging out in his civilian guise near the Academy, and probably muttering things or starting rumors about them again.

And Ketsueki-nii was exactly like his namesake; he was vicious and ruthless towards anyone threatening his family, in any way. It was part of why Usagi and Naruto loved him so much.

It had been totally worth it to see the expression on the ANBU's faces. Ketsueki-nii had even used a Namikaze technique to show them the memory, with Naruto's permission, and both Naruto and Usagi had been howling with laughter with what Ketsueki had done to Karasu.

They had topped the prank since, of course, but it had been hard to do.

Once Karasu was focused on the rest of the office, Naruto slipped past him, moving just slowly enough that Karasu wouldn't detect a change in the air flows in the room. Just to be even more careful, he slipped past Karasu and Karasu's partner, Hebi, by slipping between the shadows cast on the walls. Hebi was posted on the ceiling, guarding his partner's weak spot.

However, Hebi failed to look at the walls right where they intersected with the stairwell floor. The rafters were easy to watch, as well as the rest of the hallway between the staircase, but Hebi never looked at that precise place, even after several warnings from Ketsu-nii. He also kept a closer watch on his partner's back and the area Karasu was checking, letting them move past him without getting caught.

Usagi didn't dare use even a tiny amount of her divine chakra to sneak them past; Hebi was sensitive to divine chakra, likely due to the small amount of devil's chakra in his system. Instead, she focused on keeping herself as small as possible and kept to the shadows.

Hebi didn't turn around at all, creeping along the ceiling and flipping his head up every few times to check the floor, but he never spotted them. Mercifully, they made it to the Vault Room without any further complications. The Vault Room was, however, trapped so that only one of a Hokage's immediate family could get in, unless the door was ever so slightly ajar.

The door was firmly locked tonight, but she was with the Yondaime's son, so it didn't matter. Naruto glanced at her with a foxy smirk visible in his eyes, detaching two of the fingertips of his gloves-his forefinger and thumb. Naruto's claw sliced into his index finger, and he wiped the blood onto the doorknob over the Yondaime's security seal.

Usagi heard a faint click as a small ripple of yellow and blue chakra passed over the door, weak enough to let them enter but not strong enough to alert the ANBU. The blood vanished into the handle, leaving no traces.

The door opened soundlessly at Naruto's light touch. He opened it just enough to let Usagi slip in behind him, and then left it that way, since they were hoping to find the Scroll of Seals first, and get caught second, if they were caught at all.

Chances were they would be caught, but only after a few hours had passed, with her disguise off them.

The Vault Room was small, but bigger than Usagi had expected. Several hundred scrolls lined the walls, each set aside in four separate areas. Most were behind something that reminded her of glass-some sort of sealing barrier, probably released by a blood seal. The last two weren't, though the Yondaime's scrolls were shimmering in the low light as Naruto drew closer to them. Strangely, there were fewer of those here than in the Namikaze clan house. Minato-dono must have thought they would be safer there, given its protections.

And Minato-dono hadn't been wrong, given that the Namikaze clan house was so well fortified that not even Naruto and Usagi could find it.

The Scroll of Seals was resting innocently among the Namikaze-Uzumaki scrolls, a large, though plain scroll (when compared to the Senju clan scrolls) with ends of dark gray (almost black) and a few lines of silver crisscrossing its surface. It was thick, and looked heavier than the others, but in comparison to the Namikaze-Uzumaki scrolls, it was almost garishly flashy, trying to draw attention to itself.

Maybe that was the point. It was unassuming among the scrolls here, but it still looked like it might hold something impressive. The Namikaze-Uzumaki clans' scrolls were so ordinary-looking that nobody would think to look twice at them or their secrets. They didn't even have special clan designs on them, unlike the other clans' scrolls.

Usagi felt someone moving closer, someone very powerful. Naruto froze.

They glanced at each other, and Usagi raised an eyebrow, asking should I check?

Naruto shook his head, glancing back towards the door as he tilted his head to the side, and Usagi regulated her breathing, quieting her heartbeat as best she could without slowing it too much. The taller blonde closed his eyes in concentration and then opened them, his voice barely a whisper on the wind. "It's Jiji."

Shit. They didn't have nearly as much time as she'd hoped for. The Hokage was early. She'd hoped they would have time to copy the whole scroll twice over; now all they had time for was one copy.

Hyakumei pulsed once on Usagi's back, reminding her to stay calm, and she took a deep, soundless breath. She signed to him [I assume this means we go with your plan,] and Naruto nodded, turning on the lights so the Hokage would come this way.

Usagi formed a one-handed seal in her left hand, half of a seal she had invented to help her focus her chakra. Gathering just enough, she reached out and touched Naruto's forehead, and he closed his eyes.

To all eyes save her own, Usagi wasn't there, and Naruto was now back to 4'10", wearing orange, and grinning like the 'dobe' they liked to pretend he was in their graduating class. He caught her eye and winked at her as Usagi let herself fade completely into the shadows in the room.

Then Naruto said to himself "They'll be sure to pass me now," and Usagi winced, hating the way he had to change his voice, too. "Ha! Found it!"

In truth, his Transformed voice also got on Naruto's nerves, but he was much better at keeping it from showing than Usagi was, which was why some of their 'animosity' was real. Besides, nobody would expect Naruto to be so…different, not after dealing with a very stupid-acting Naruto for years.

Usagi waited very patiently in the shadows, concealing her chakra signature as she heard the Hokage rush up the stairs. Moments later, Hiruzen Sarutobi ran in; "Naruto!" she closed her ears to the scolding, and could tell Naruto wasn't listening, either.

"Jiji? Oh shoot," Naruto slung the scroll across his back, looking like a deer or rabbit caught in a trap. "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Usagi sighed as Naruto turned into a nearly-naked woman to distract the old man, with whisker marks, hair like hers, and only tiny bits of smoke covering her privates. She cooed at Sarutobi, winking at him and moving around in such a way that made her chest (obviously) bounce, and the Hokage's face turned red before he fell backwards with blood spurting out of his nose.

She didn't find this as funny as he did, but then again, given how many male ninja were perverts (even if secretly), it was also the perfect way to distract them and run. Usagi had used it to turn into a version of Setsuna several times.

And Usagi refused to feel any shame for using her enemy's body like that. It was effective. As was the male version when she wanted to 'drop her Henge' and make people back off if they weren't taking 'no' for an answer.

Naruto snickered at the downed Hokage, and after a glance at his face Usagi did too, though much more quietly. Naruto opened the window to the Vault Room, and after checking that Usagi was beside him, leapt out even as the ANBU ran up the side of the Tower.

Usagi caught him mid-flight and before they hit the ground, both had vanished in a Wind Shunshin to the Shodai's forest, near Training Ground 44. Sure, the alarm would be raised, but they had at least two hours and then some before anyone would catch them.

Landing in a deserted clearing, Usagi released the transformation and fading effects over both of them. Naruto pulled off the chakra suppressing seal.

"I'd rather not do a blood clone," said Usagi hesitantly, and Naruto turned to her. "I don't want to let them know we can use that one."

"My thoughts exactly, but a Mizu Bunshin is too obvious, and Doton is harder to make quickly," said Naruto, frowning. "We could use Kage Bunshin, but that would be…we don't have an excuse for that."

"We're already going to have to excuse ourselves when we catch this idiot," Usagi pointed out, "I just don't want to have to claim the Blood Clone as a clan technique yet. Katon Bunshin is also too obvious by scent alone. And the Kage Bunshin is in the scroll-we have an excuse for knowing that."

Naruto's frown deepened "You're right, but we shouldn't know it yet. It has to be a solid variant that we already know. How about a Light Clone? I'd wager no one in the village knows about that variant, and it's not as dangerous as the Blood Clone. It'll just look like an accident involving the regular Illusion."

Light Clones were an accidental invention of Usagi's. She'd taught it to every one of the Namikaze-Tsukino-Uchiha-Uzumaki group, after the accident; the clone was created out of Light oriented chakra and solidified light, so it could take several hits, and it didn't have a scent that differed from the creator's in any way. When it did dispel, it faded into sparkling multicolored light.

It was almost indistinguishable from the regular Clone, though, as it wasn't quite solid when she played around with it.

The problem with Light Clones was that they required a lot of control, much more control than Naruto and Usagi had ever displayed before openly, and also ate up a good chunk of their chakra. Light Clones possessed about 1/100th of their creator's chakra, but took 1/10th to create, though Usagi only needed 1/50th of hers with her superior control.

The Light Clones were very good for assassination, deception, and infiltration. Everything on them was solidified light.

Usagi nodded "We should be able to recover the chakra they require by the time the ANBU catch up to us, or Mizuki-teme tries to meet us. Asshole should never have even tried to mess with you," she said, shaking her head.

Naruto smirked beneath his mask "Damn right he shouldn't have," he replied, "Nobody goes after my best friend like that."

Usagi bared her teeth beneath her mask in a silent, predatory grin in response. Mizuki had had it out for Naruto since they got put into his class, after failing their previous graduation test. After Usagi had begun switching test papers around and screwing up Mizuki's attempts to mess with Naruto and hold him back, he'd started taking it out on her too, guessing she was responsible for Mizuki's mistakes. She was, of course, but that didn't mean he had the right to go after either of them like this.

She'd retaliated by embarrassing him in front of the entire class to the point that he probably wanted to kill her almost as much as he wanted to kill Naruto. She asked really, really obvious questions that it was obvious he'd skipped over the answers to just to throw him off and make him look bad. Iruka-sensei always seemed upset over it, too, so that only made the assistant teacher look even worse.

And looks meant everything to most people.

"Light Clone it is," said Naruto.

Usagi smiled at him, taking off the top half of her mask only to reattach it after wiping away a little sweat from her brow. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. You still nervous?

She gave him a very slight shake of the head. No, I'm confident this will work.

Neither of them needed hand-seals for this jutsu, though both used the hand-seal for Kage Bunshin to focus it. They hadn't managed to erase their need for hand-seals entirely just yet, but they'd gotten really, really close and most of their jutsu were both seal-less and soundless.

Not this one, though, not yet.

"Hikari Bunshin no Jutsu," intoned Usagi and Naruto as one.

Sparkling light gathered together next to both of them, silver glittering stars next to Usagi and soft golden sparks next to Naruto. They melted together, fading into two clones, each of whom resembled Usagi's and Naruto's masks perfectly.

Naruto's clone was 4'10", and resembled the 'old' Naruto, the one that everyone thought honestly existed, wearing an eyesore of an orange jumpsuit and with a stupid grin across his face. His hair was shorter than Naruto's was, with thicker, less obvious spikes in it and it was a slightly darker blond color. His eyes were a duller shade of blue, almost like chips of ice, and his whiskers were thinner and shorter. He had his hands on his hips and slung across his back was a perfect replica of the Scroll of Seals.

Usagi's clone was 4'9", and resembled the crybaby she'd been as a child, a very long time ago. Her hair was pinned up into its typical buns, with tails of pale blond hair sweeping past her shoulders, and her eyes were darker, less silvery and more human-looking. Hyakumei was gone from her back, and Clone Usagi was wearing a garishly bright neon pink track suit with a silver crescent moon on the sleeve where Naruto's blue Uzumaki spiral was on his. She had a big goofy grin on her face, too.

"Are you sure about this, Usagi-chan?" asked Naruto, turning to her hesitantly "I don't want you to be implicated if you aren't ready for it."

Usagi rolled her eyes "I think it will have more of an effect if we're both tricked, don't you? I mean, wouldn't the girl the village knows want to beat you to the Scroll? Besides, Mizuki-teme gave the mission to me, remember?"

"So, what, you want to rival me?" teased Clone Naruto, and she rolled her eyes. So did Clone-Usagi "I'm okay with that, Bunny!"

"Watch it, Fox!" shot back Clone-Usagi, grinning "I'll beat you yet!"

"Lead them away from the Forest of Death, along the edges of Training Ground Seventeen," Usagi instructed her clone. "Distract them and pretend to be Naruto's rival. You know the drill; use the same mask as before, with the plans I have."

"Will do, boss!" Clone-Usagi saluted her, turning to Clone-Naruto.

"You do the same, just pretend to be the ignorant, loud dobe," Naruto instructed his clone, "And for the love of the kami, both of you, don't kill each other. We don't need the village thinking we've killed each other, or that I've tried to kill Usagi-chan."

Usagi nodded in agreement, staring at the clones sternly until they both saluted. Then Clone-Naruto turned to Clone-Usagi, and leant over, whispering something in her ear that made her grin, and wink at Usagi and Naruto. The two clones shot off in another Leaf Shunshin, leaving Naruto and Usagi alone in the training ground.

They'd find out what that was when the clones dispelled.

Usagi and Naruto had tested their sensory abilities, and while Usagi couldn't sense beyond ten miles distant without the help of Hyakumei (it was harder to pick individual chakras out), Naruto's abilities were almost inhuman. He was an extremely powerful sensor, and a natural-he'd taught her most of what she knew about chakra sensing. No matter where their clones ran, he would be able to track them.

Naruto smirked at her, sealing the Scroll of Seals into a seal on his belt. "Shall we?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the Forest of Death.

"I think we very much shall," she said, applying just enough chakra to her feet to avoid leaving footprints on the ground. "Race you to our favorite clearing!" Usagi cried, dashing off.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that," Naruto laughed, as he ran after her, keeping pace with Usagi as they raced for the Forest of Death by treetop. "I'll catch you yet, Rabbit!"

"Gotta run for it then, Fox, and without using jutsu!" shot back Usagi as she shot off through the treetops.

They were about as fast as each other, at least in terms of raw speed, but Naruto's rate of growth was even more inhuman than Usagi's. He'd catch her easily as he was, with a few extra seconds on her mile time that he just didn't have. He was built for speed, where she was built for strength.

It was only once they were in the Forest of Death that Usagi started to laugh too, exhaling as much as she could while she ran. Naruto was gaining on her. She could feel him getting closer and closer, and Usagi poured on the speed, doing her best not to channel chakra to her legs. That would be cheating.

They reached the clearing at almost exactly the same time and Usagi touched the tree first. It was only by a few millimeters, though, so his fingers brushed against hers, and for a moment they stood there in silence.

Then he yelled "Gotcha!" and tackled her, causing her to squeal in surprise and then break out laughing as they fell.

They wrestled with each other on the ground, squirming around until she got her legs wrapped around his torso and managed to flip him over her head onto the ground. This let her detach her mask so it didn't keep hitting her face. The minute she sealed it away Naruto flipped her over with a playful growl and a lunge, wrestling her backwards towards the tree. She tried to flip him again, but he pinned her arms to her sides. She flipped them both forwards, landing on him-if not for the quick Kawarimi (Replacement) he used to get out of the way.

This left her to fall on a log. She moved aside, rolling, but Naruto was behind her almost instantly, and she struck backwards to try and stop him from flipping her again. His legs tensed and she could feel him trying to use chakra to stick to the floor, which succeeded until she kicked at his feet, sending both of them to the ground again.

Then they were back to wrestling.

Usually, they didn't use jutsu while wrestling, but Kawarimi sometimes snuck in anyway. That was an unspoken rule-neither of them wanted to really hurt each other; this was more of a strength contest. Usagi yelped as Naruto flipped her over, barely managing to flip him too, only for him to kick upwards as he flipped, knocking her over so she landed with him on top of her. He was not two inches from her face, now, and she tried to shove him off, but he was too strong.

"My win, Usagi," he said, his breath warm on her face through his mask, and a smile visible through the dark fabric.

Usagi grinned, knowing she couldn't beat him "Oh, really?" she bucked, trying to get him off her, and Naruto reached down with one gloved finger, stroking his finger along one of her sensitive sides. "Uncle!" she cried, before he started tickling her, because she was really ticklish there. "Uncle. Seriously, uncle!" laughed Usagi as he tickled her anyway, making her squirm and laugh in his grip.

Naruto stopped, chuckling, and offered her a hand up. When she took his hand, warmth-affection-trust-happiness washed through her and her grin brightened as she stood up, shoving her hood off. With a few more strokes she managed to brush away the leaves and twigs that had been caught in her hair, and Naruto followed suit, adding a little water manipulation to soak and quickly dry his hair, rinsing it fully after pulling the dirt from it.

"Me too, please," requested Usagi, and he soaked her hair, letting her rinse the dirt out of it with a bit of earth manipulation, and he used a bit of wind manipulation to dry it. "Thanks."

Naruto was better at raw elemental manipulation than she was, given that he had been born into a shinobi life and she hadn't. That being said, his two most powerful elements were also wind and water, while Usagi favored earth and lightning, though both of them had all five elemental affinities.

"No problem," Naruto unsealed the Scroll of Seals "So are we even?"

"Yeah, I think that makes us even," Usagi said, thinking back to their last few wrestling matches. "I won the last one, which put me one up. And did you channel chakra to your legs today?"

Naruto blinked "No," he said, handing over the scroll "Why do you ask, Usagi?"

"You were able to catch me today," Usagi said, "and I was running at full speed. I assume you were, too, so that means you've gotten faster or you were subconsciously channeling chakra to your legs."

Naruto started in surprise before glancing down at the Scroll "I guess I have gotten faster, then. I didn't do it on purpose, if…no, the hyper chakra never moved. I would've noticed it. And you didn't use shunpo, so does that mean the win goes to you?"

"No," Usagi said, as she unfurled the scroll, grinning "And we were so right." Naruto pulled out a smaller scroll, and summoned two Kage Bunshin. She unsealed his Fuuinjutsu kit from her belt, handing it over to him "Kunai Kage Bunshin? Wasn't that, and Kage Bunshin, your dad's invention?"

"It was," Naruto agreed, as he started copying the seals, and Usagi retrieved her mask with a smile. "Dad didn't invent this one, though. Bunshin Daibakuha…you want to learn it?" he offered.

"You won," Usagi tried to argue, already knowing it was futile. "You should learn it first."

"I'm also copying the Scroll of Seals," Naruto pointed out "and all the information contained within. You can treat me to Ichiraku next time if you feel bad about it. Besides, you're probably going to be the first one to figure out that earth manipulation trick that most shinobi can't use."

Usagi grinned, knowing the trick he was talking about, "Don't I already owe you ramen?" she asked, sealing her half-mask away in a seal on Hyakumei's shoulder strap.

"Well, technically yes, but not Ku, Shin, or Zume," Naruto pointed out, as he and his clones worked at copying the scroll.

Usagi winced "I wish we could be seen in public with them," she muttered, summoning around ten Kage Bunshin so she could learn the jutsu quickly, without attracting too much attention. She summoned up ten more "Search the forest for any useful supplies. Their owners won't need them anymore."

"Hai, oyabun!" the clones saluted, and took off in different directions from the clearing.

"Me too, but you know why we can't," Naruto replied quietly. "But we need to pass this year."

Usagi smirked "I left jiji the message on his desk," she said, starting her work on learning the hand-seals with her Kage Bunshin.

They'd written the Hokage a message about what needed to and didn't need to happen last night. And given that Usagi and Naruto had technically passed the exams by creating Light Clones, not to mention over a thousand Kage Bunshin in the intervening years, there was really no reason to keep them in the Academy. Not over a single jutsu.

Usagi started her work on the Bunshin Daibakuha when Naruto nodded, but kept his eyes on the Scroll, sensing that he needed the time to work. In all honesty, so did Usagi, because she needed more concentration to learn and master a jutsu in less than two hours. To help her, she added a few more Kage Bunshin to the group, including one keeping an eye out solely for hand-seals, while Naruto whistled a soft tune to himself.

She had two hours to master this. Two hours before they had to take on Mizuki-teme. It was time to get to work.

Two hours later, Usagi and Naruto were racing through the forests outside Konoha to catch up with their Light Clones before they dispelled. Having released their resistance seals, the two of them were pressing hard to get to their clones without leading the ANBU right to them, while also beating Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-teme there.

Iruka-sensei's involvement hadn't been part of the plan. Naruto and Usagi had both suspected that the Chuunin was more than he let on, but they'd both thought they could trust him. Naruto cursed himself for not seeing it sooner, for not wondering why Iruka-sensei was so nice to them. He knew Usagi was more forgiving than he was, but this betrayal wouldn't go over well with her either if he was right about why Iruka-sensei was there.

And if either teacher realized what Naruto and Usagi were up to, they were going to have to escape the village on the Namikaze summons' backs. With Ketsueki-nii, Inu-nii, and the kids in tow if they could.

They managed it. Barely. Usagi and Naruto sped right past Iruka and Mizuki, chakra still suppressed and cloaked in Usagi's divine chakra, and stopped near the two Hikari Bunshin. Usagi reapplied her Genjutsu, fixing it to herself and transforming back into the stupid, dumb, crybaby girl she'd been pretending to be for eight years, and Naruto did the same with no hand-seals, pulling the Scroll of Seals across his back.

Better to have it where no one could really accuse him of more than theft, even if he'd copied all of it.

"Because…I'm Iruka!" exclaimed Iruka from a nearby tree, surprising Naruto as his Clone vanished into golden sparks, Usagi's dissipating into silver, glittering shards of light.

Mizuki had stopped and was panting for air "Why…do you defend it, Iruka?" Naruto fought to keep his emotions from Usagi, no matter how hard it was, seeing Usagi's stance change from alert to tense and angry. "The demon…the Kyuubi…it killed your parents! Why would you defend such a monster? It killed half our village, and even the Yondaime and your sensei! And Usagi?" Mizuki laughed "The girl's nothing more than its whore."

Now that was not true, and that made Naruto angry. He felt his claws unsheathing and his teeth felt just a little bit sharper hearing those words, but he kept listening, keeping a firm handle on his youki and hyper chakra. Usagi glanced at him, her face a cold mask of fury, and he shook his head very slightly. He wanted to hear this. All of it.

Iruka was silent for a few moments. And then he spoke, his words shattering all of Naruto's and Usagi's expectations from the Chuunin.

"That's true," Iruka said, "The Kyuubi no Youko is a monster. It killed my parents, and over half of Konoha-including the Yondaime. And you're right, it did kill Kushina-sensei." Naruto bit his tongue before he said something, stunned. "But you missed something, Mizuki-teme," Iruka's voice rose. "At first, I did hate him. Or I thought I did, but I didn't understand. I didn't see it, couldn't see it, but then I spent time with him. I had to; I was ordered to look at him, to watch over him by my own sensei." His voice strengthened "And now, fourteen years later, I know for sure that Naruto is not the Kyuubi. He's proven himself as a true shinobi of Konoha, and as an ally, a trusted friend, and someone I am proud to call my little brother and comrade." Iruka's voice rose "Tsukino Usagi is the only person in his graduating class to treat him as he is-not as an idiot but as a rival, and a friend. As for whore…I'd say the only bitch here is you, Mizuki, for listening to a traitorous piece of scum to the Leaf village over your own Hokage."

Silence fell and Naruto felt like his heart was going to burst, listening to Iruka-no, Anga, this was all Anga talking, he knew it now-talking about him. He-he-Iruka, Anga, he loved Naruto. Naruto had never heard him say it, but Iruka-sensei was someone he looked up to, someone Naruto almost idolized despite not being fully human like Iruka-sensei was. And even knowing what he did about Naruto, Iruka-sensei still loved him. Anga was one of the few guards who did their best to protect Naruto, but he'd been less effective than Ketsu-nii because he was weaker and younger than Ketsueki-nii.

Now he understood why. Now he understood why Anga would go so far to protect him, to protect Usagi.

Mizuki-teme had hurt Iruka-sensei, Naruto realized as he sorted through the memories, still in shock from what Iruka-sensei had said. Iruka-sensei loved them. Loved them like siblings, like comrades, trusted comrades, and friends. He loved both of them, not just Naruto or just Usagi. Maybe even despite their masks.

Usagi's hand on his shoulder snapped Naruto out of his reverie and he offered her a small, apologetic smile for his troubles.

"You don't have to apologize to me," whispered Usagi, "But I think it's time we stopped hiding." Naruto's eyebrow went up, but he didn't release his Genjutsu. "Unless you want Mizuki to believe he was beaten up by an orange-wearing loudmouth? It'd be funny, but it won't work."

Naruto shook his head slightly "The kids." Then he straightened "Ketsu-nii's heading our way. All I have to do is stop Mizuki-teme and stay alive." He looked at her "You think…"

"The ANBU are the only ones after us," she said quietly, forming the Ram seal "It's up to you." She added "And though I have certainly been called worse, I want him dead."

Closing his eyes, Naruto shifted his Genjutsu into a simple Henge, and smirked at her "Let me handle this, Usagi?" he asked, hoping she'd let him face Mizuki-teme down and just kill the bastard.

"No way in hell are you facing him alone," whispered Usagi as Mizuki-teme started to laugh maniacally. "I'm not letting this go. He called you a demon."

And he'd called Usagi-chan a whore. There was no contest-Mizuki-teme was going down, and it was going to be Naruto that killed him.

Iruka-sensei was injured, badly, by a shuriken to the back, according to his Clone's memories. And-Naruto flushed a little, glad the mask hid his cheeks, not looking at Usagi as he remembered what the clone had whispered to Usagi's. If this all works out, how about we go out to dinner later, just you and me?

Damn clones and their tendencies to blurt out things Naruto wasn't ready to admit.

Taking command of the situation, Naruto ordered quietly "Heal Iruka-sensei, and cover me. I'll take out the bastard. I won't kill him but he won't walk out of this uninjured."

"You really think that?!" shouted Mizuki, still laughing "You think he's a shinobi? All he is, is a monster," he cackled now, and Naruto gritted his teeth, feeling his canines sharpen and his hyper chakra strained against his hold on it. "And very soon, he'll be put down, just like all you demon-lovers will be!"

In a lightning-fast Shunshin, Naruto appeared in the clearing, the Scroll of Sealing on his back and Usagi standing at his side.

"If you lay one finger on Iruka-sensei," said Naruto, letting his Henge dispel, and giving Mizuki his coldest, sharpest look. The Chuunin went pale, his movements instantly becoming jerky and his heartbeat shifting to erratic and fearful "I'll kill you after I torture you to death."

"N-Na-Naruto?" Iruka coughed as Usagi moved to kneel beside him, her Genjutsu gone "Usagi? W-what…what?"

"Stay still, sensei," Usagi whispered, but Naruto's ears picked it up as if she were talking to him "You're badly hurt, and probably poisoned, too. I will heal you, but I need you to stay still in case you have broken ribs. Naruto's fine. We owe you an explanation, but Naruto and I do actually know what we're doing."

Iruka coughed again "D-Do it," he said, coughing again, "You…you have to…he…O-Orochi-maru…"

Orochimaru. Damn, well that clinched it; they were handing this idiot over to T&I once Naruto finished thoroughly kicking his ass.

"Don't try to talk, you're making it worse," scolded Usagi, forming two Kage Bunshin "Naruto-" she began.

"I know," said Naruto; he could feel from here that Iruka-sensei was poisoned, and he gritted his teeth behind the mask, tasting blood in his mouth where his canines dug into his lips.

Mizuki-teme stank of shock, but not fear; the more fool him, given the stark difference in their chakra levels and Naruto's experience in combat versus Mizuki-teme's. But Mizuki-teme was overconfident, and working with Orochimaru to boot. He'd killed more than a few shinobi in his lifetime, whereas Naruto's few kills were difficult and didn't afford too much combat experience. Mizuki-teme probably thought he had enough power to take Naruto down, then take out Usagi and steal the Scroll of Seals while blaming Usagi's and Iruka-sensei's deaths on Naruto.

"How do you know he's telling the truth?" jeered Mizuki, sneering at him "Iruka has always hated you, demon brat. He hides it better than the rest of us, but he's just like the rest of this village!"

Naruto silently formed several Kage Bunshin, deciding that this beat-down was going to hurt. A lot. Mizuki had hurt Iruka-sensei, hurt Anga-aniki, and that was crossing a line he wasn't allowed to cross. He didn't bother drawing the obvious ninjato at his back, either. He didn't have to.

Instead, he locked eyes with Mizuki, and just looked at him, for a very long moment, letting Mizuki think he was considering the Chuunin's words. The look went on longer than that, however, since he knew it would unnerve the man and shake him of his desire to kill Naruto.

Right before Mizuki moved to attack, Naruto snapped into action, kicking the silver-haired jackass in the stomach hard enough to rupture something. The man flew into one of his Kage Bunshin's waiting arms, which used a medical Ninjutsu to then mess up the man's nervous system with an electric shock. For good measure, he had another Kage Bunshin kick Mizuki between the legs, and the man made a high-pitched noise like he was auditioning for the Konoha Opera House.

Then he dragged Mizuki up to stare him directly in the eyes, growling low in his throat as Naruto released his Killing Intent, directing it only at Mizuki. A concentrated dose of this would actually kill Mizuki from fear, which was not what he was after.

The Chuunin gulped as Naruto locked eyes with him again "I know exactly who and what I am, you piece of cowardly trash," he said coldly, venom in his voice. "And you never should have touched any of my precious people."

Then he smiled coldly and sweetly, sending an obvious chill down Mizuki's spine.

It was time to mess with Mizuki's head. Usagi and Naruto had planned this and it was a ninja's greatest weapon-deception. Usagi quietly cast a Genjutsu from her position, which would alter Naruto's features to Mizuki's eyes, so he more resembled the Kyuubi no Youko. The world darkened around the two of them, at least to Mizuki's eyes.

[GRAPHIC SCENE START]

"You want to see a demon, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, "I'll show you the demon." He laughed, but it had no mirth in it "Let's start with your legs, shall we?"

Mizuki whimpered as Naruto's KI became nearly solid, and he slapped a seal onto the man's left leg.

"Let's see how well you take that scroll to Orochimaru with this," whispered Naruto, sending a tiny jolt of hyper chakra into the seal.

True to his word, he wasn't going to kill the man without permission from the Hokage. That didn't mean Mizuki-teme would ever be a ninja again. Mizuki started to scream as the miniscule amount of corrosive, inhuman hyper chakra burned its way through his leg's chakra coils, and he flailed, trying to escape. He managed to dig a kunai into Naruto's arm, but that was all part of the plan.

The blood that spurted out was streaked with the gold of Naruto's hyper chakra and it hit Mizuki in the face, right across the eyes. The Chuunin cried out as wind chakra rushed from the injury, slicing a neat, clean hole in his hand as the kunai rocketed out backwards. This also severed most of the tendons in his hand, leaving him whimpering as the seal recollected the hyper chakra, channeling it back into Naruto and leaving scars behind.

The blood that hit Mizuki-teme in the face just moments before then started to smoke, sizzling, and Naruto smelled burning meat. Mizuki screamed again, swiping at his own face, trying to protect his eyes.

He succeeded, but only just. Now he was nearly blind, with third-degree burns across his face scarring the once-handsome (as Naruto had overheard him described) features. Even if he did get out of prison, the injuries to his chakra system would keep him from ever becoming an active-duty shinobi, and the near-blindness would be difficult to heal without the Namikaze library's secrets.

"Now," said Naruto, pulling out another seal "You know what a demon is. Do you know what we do to those that threaten our family?"

Mizuki cried out as Naruto slapped another seal on him, using fire manipulation to sear it into his skin, which started burning its way into his spinal cord's chakra coils immediately. He wasn't going to deny T&I their fun with the man, but Naruto had no intention of letting the traitor loose without some well-deserved payback. He pulled all of Mizuki's accessible chakra, at least all of the consciously accessible chakra (even that required to open the gates) towards the seal he'd created just for this purpose. Mizuki tried to fight, striking at him with his free hand, but Naruto turned his head to the side, letting Mizuki hit him just wrong enough that the Chuunin's fingers broke on his cheekbone.

The seal locked into place, sealing off all of Mizuki's chakra, and Naruto backhanded the man across the face sharply, breaking his jaw and sending him into the waiting arms of two of his Kage Bunshin. As a final insult, he snapped his fingers, "Humiliate the asshole," he instructed. "The Namikaze-Uzumaki way."

That had been much, much easier than he'd expected it to be. It was a little scary, actually, given how much damage he had dealt to the man over the span of exactly one minute and seventeen seconds. Mizuki wasn't even trying to fight now that Naruto's clones were stripping him, and painting several nasty things across his back, putting an apple in his mouth and dressing him up like a snake.

Complete with lots of paper cuts and green paint with lemon juice and a bit of vinegar in it, to make it really burn.

[END]

Naruto turned back to Usagi, who finished healing Iruka and stood up, offering her hand to the Chuunin. In just a few moments, Naruto checked him over with a diagnostic jutsu, as he usually did with the kids.

Iruka let them help him up, glancing behind Naruto at the severely beaten and humiliated Chuunin. Naruto had let the man off lightly considering that he would remove the man's capacity for shame before T&I got to Mizuki. He could have made it much worse.

Iruka turned to Naruto and Usagi, stunned.

"H-How? Forget how, when?" Iruka managed, as Naruto unsealed the Scroll of Seals from one of the many seals on his belt, and put it across his back again.

Naruto smiled at him "It's a long story, Iruka-sensei," he admitted, "and I don't really have the time to tell it here." His Kage Bunshin dispelled into puffs of smoke, which quickly evaporated.

"We don't," Usagi corrected. Naruto winced at her expression "We do have breakfast to get to after all, right Ketsueki-nii-chan?"

The former ANBU captain leapt out of the trees, landing on his feet two feet to the left of Usagi, Naruto and Iruka. With a few steps, he put himself between Mizuki and the trio, glancing over the Chuunin where Naruto's Kage Bunshin were painting him brilliant, neon green. Mizuki was whimpering and yelling out periodically as the clones made sure to pepper him with nearly-invisible cuts first, to make sure he got the message.

Ketsueki Ookami was one of the very few ANBU guards Naruto (and Usagi by association) had had when they were younger that they both trusted completely. He was a tall man, standing at about 6'2", and had long, spiky black hair that he combed back into a low ponytail kept hidden beneath his hood. His eyes were an incredibly intense shade of blue, and he usually wore a two-part mask of a white wolf's face, the mouth twisted into a snarl with blood dripping down its chin in vivid, bright crimson. He also carried a katana-length blade across his back, within easy reach of his left hand with a black sheath and red cloth wrapped around the hilt. Given that ANBU already had an Ookami (wolf), he was nicknamed Ketsueki, after the blood on his mask, and the moniker 'Bloody' had stuck since he had officially retired from ANBU.

Unofficially Ketsueki was still on guard duty for Naruto, Usagi, and the three kids they took care of, though he never admitted as much to the village at large. He was the legal guardian of all three of those children, and technically Usagi, too, just to keep the civilian council unable to meddle with them.

Ketsueki didn't even bother nudging the body "Let me guess, he took on Iruka, and tried to get you to steal that," he gestured at the Scroll of Seals. He took another look at Mizuki "And he pissed off Naruto, didn't he?"

"Damn right he did; he went after my precious people," Naruto said, and Usagi took his hand, gently squeezing it to remind him she was still there.

Usagi nodded "And from what we know, he's been working for Orochimaru for-how long did you say, Iruka-sensei?"

They'd found evidence implicating him as a spy a few weeks ago. Then all it had taken was a little maneuvering to get Mizuki-teme into the right place at the right time, and they'd caught themselves a spy.

Iruka didn't look nearly as surprised "I don't know. You didn't give him the chance to use it but he has a strange seal on his neck. I don't," he paused, "I don't know when he got it, but he's always been a bit erratic. Sir," he added belatedly, glancing at Ketsueki's flak jacket.

Anga was smooth. Smooth enough that Naruto and Usagi might have believed he never had been ANBU in the first place if not for the smell he had, and there was no person that smelled the same. His chakra was another dead giveaway though.

"Bunshin, go tell Naruto's clones," Usagi ordered a newly created Kage Bunshin. "And help him seal it off."

"Hai, taichou!" saluted the Kage Bunshin, before marching over to the group of clones painting up Mizuki-teme with lemon-saturated paint.

Ketsueki was-he was coldly furious, to Naruto's surprise "I think I am going to have to have a little talk with Ibiki and Anko to make sure our security is tightened. And another one with Fox-dono. Traitors should not be allowed in our ranks, no matter how well-hidden they are."

Naruto clenched one hand into a fist, "Mizuki-teme should have some information. Not much, but he'll give us everything he knows, and Usagi and I can go after them for you."

Usagi's smile was not nice, even if she was wearing a face-mask like Inu and Naruto did, but Ketsueki shook his head "That's too obvious. You two have been-ah," he turned to glare at Tora when the ANBU slipped out from behind the tree. "And just where have you two been?" he turned to Karasu "You, tie that thing up, and make it painful," he snapped, pointing at Mizuki.

Neither ANBU moved.

"If either of you wants to avoid Fox-dono's wrath, do as I say!" barked Ketsueki "Because I will go bring her down here if I have to, to make you two lazy dolts get off your asses! Take him to Ibiki and Anko, and tell them to seal off his chakra-yes, Naruto?" he paused, looking at the blond.

Naruto smiled innocently up at him "I've already sealed his chakra off, and even if he breaks that seal, he's got those special chakra scars Dad gave people who really pissed him off."

Ketsueki smiled audibly "Good job, Naruto," he turned back to the ANBU, both of whom blanched a little "If he's been working with Orochimaru," both ANBU blanched a little, "Then he may have a cursed seal, and we need to either contain the threat or destroy it. I'll be talking to our resident Seals Masters about doing that."

"Sir!" both ANBU saluted, and a third dropped out of the trees near Naruto's back.

Naruto immediately recognized it was Neko, who was on duty for the day shift since shift change had just occurred. Naruto had no doubt Karasu had been put on detaining the traitor (and given more extra work) because Fox was upset with him over letting a 'kid' get by him, again. That made Naruto snicker, even if it was unkind, given how mean the ANBU had always been to both of them. It didn't matter if it were Naruto and Usagi, but Fox knew her troops needed the training and with how they treated the duo, it wasn't like she would let them off.

Ketsueki turned to Naruto and Usagi "Hokage-sama wants to see both of you in his office," he said, and then to Iruka "You as well, Iruka-san."

"Just Iruka, please, Ketsueki-san," said Iruka, smiling apologetically. "And sure, no problem."

Just one problem with that: Kurama couldn't cook, Shingo didn't like waking up early, and Suzume was probably worrying over them, since she was an early riser like her siblings. They couldn't leave the kids at home alone, not if Ketsueki was with them.

"Ah-the kids?" Naruto asked hesitantly, looking back at Ketsueki.

"I talked to Inu. He's got them for the morning," Ketsueki reassured him, "I told him to invite Fox along because I'm not subjecting them to his cooking." He shuddered "That man cannot cook."

"Kids?" Iruka glanced between Naruto and Usagi, who looked at each other.

You want to tell him? Usagi asked, raising an eyebrow silently as Ketsueki cleared his throat.

Naruto shrugged; he trusted Iruka, but he wasn't sure the kids would. He held up a hand and tipped it side-to-side from a flat position; not sure. Later? Kids might not be ok with it.

Ketsueki cleared his throat "If you're both done flirting," Naruto felt his cheeks warm a little, and he could see Usagi's face turning rosy pink. "As cute as this is we really do have to go."

"We'll see you there," said Usagi and Naruto as one, disappearing into showers of silver and golden light.

Moments later, Ketsueki followed in a flash of fire, and Iruka in a swirl of water.

(A/N: So, is this too dark, or is this good? What do you think? Next chapter is lighter and happier, I promise-and the third chapter shows Naruto's and Usagi's softer side.

And yes, you will meet Zume, Ku, and Shin, as well as learn more about Ketsueki Ookami, in later chapters.)