(Hello all, glad you could come here to read this chapter of RotIK. This one was a doozy to write considering I didn't make myself stop writing till I reached the word length I set for myself. So, this will probably be the longest chapter I ever do since, despite my intentions for the chapter, I worked on figuring out what else I could show without doing the whole going back to Konoha to show what that crew was up to since I did it last time. Plus, I don't plan for the Uchiha massacre to happen for a while. I.E. I want it to happen like a month or so before Naruto returns to Konoha from this mini-trip. So, for a full year, there won't be much of me showing off the obvious tension that is happening there but I will show bits and pieces with Itachi trying to handle things. The massacre is going to be different since I don't plan on Itachi doing it. Who will do it? Wait and see, even though I have no doubt you guys know Danzo will be part of it. Anyways, go ahead and read the chapter and if you are wondering about the pairing of this story, don't wonder about it. Will it be a harem? Sort of hard for that to not happen for this kind of story but all of that will be on the back burner. It won't be big either just 3 girls. Why? Because I said so. Side note, do you guys prefer the Japanese names or the English names of techniques?

Alright, that's everything I needed to say. I think? Just read the damn story already)

'Thoughts/Thoughts'

"Minato Speaking"

"Demon/Kyuubi Mental Speaking"

Human Techniques

Yokai Techniques

Chapter 5: Old Homes and Broken Bones

"Moriko-san. I didn't expect to see you again today." An elderly woman said from behind the counter of the flower shop. She was sitting in a chair knitting something that she wasn't exactly sure of. The beautiful girl gave a smile to the elderly woman before speaking in a soft voice that could soothe any beast.

"I know but I had to stop by and pick up a flower I had forgotten." The elderly woman simply gave a kind smiled and let the girl find what she wanted. This girl had an amazing green thumb, able to grow about anything she wanted even if it wasn't native to the country. It made the elder of the two wondered how she was still single? She had a kind personality and there was just something about her that seems to bring energy into the place. She could swear that the plants in her shop would look livelier when she was around.

Moriko smiled at the plants that she was passing by before finding what she wanted. It was a white flower of a pinwheel shape, up to 4 inches across, and borne at the end of the branches. It had a staminal column that was red. Her smile seemed to make the flower rise and she grabbed it carefully before bringing it to the counter. The old woman smiled at her choice and rang up her selection.

"Ah, the Hibiscus arnottianus. It is rare for these to grow in these lands but I managed to pull it off." She said while Moriko giggled while paying for the flower. It would make a nice addition back to her home. Once the flower was placed in a protective container Moriko headed for the door. "Take care of that flower just as you take care of yourself now deary."

The young maiden gave her a smile and wave. "Don't worry, I will. You take care as well Kuo-san." Leaving the building the snow haired girl began making her way through the town. Being as beautiful as she was, she already knew several boys had their eyes on her. Even a few of the adult males were staring at her. Not only was that slightly creepy considering the "age" difference but some of them had a girlfriend or wife hanging onto them. As such it was no surprise that she witnesses them getting slapped on the back of the head or being pulled away by the ear.

It did make her giggle though.

This town had such a lively atmosphere that it was easy to draw her into it. She wasn't from around here, as shown by her choice of clothing, but she loved to travel around and visit different places. She had almost passed this town up before she saw the many people here enjoying life. That was one of life's many guilty pleasures she enjoyed seeing. Those around her being happy and living well. In this kind of world, it was best to live like this than to think on the bad parts.

Though there was a lesson to life, that everyone needed to know. Good things don't always last. Something or someone will always be there to bring life down.

()

A moderate-sized yacht made its stop at one of the docks closest to the town. A midget of a man with sunglasses on his face wearing a business suit stepped out to the deck. He gave a smile that was nowhere near friendly. Two thugs stood beside him both looking out to the town with anticipation. Walking down the bridge that was let down, a small army of thugs and bandits followed behind the midget of a businessman. Once they were on the dock and moving forward to the town, Gato smirked as he could already see people in the distance.

"Alright boys, I want you to raid this place and gather everyone to the town center. No one is to be killed. At least not yet. And make sure if you find any ladies, no matter the age, that look worthwhile then you bring them first. They'll be good to ship off to one of the brothels elsewhere." Each of the men with him gave off a hearty laugh before they all began making a beeline straight for the town. There was an unlucky man who had finished doing some fishing. He heard the shouts and trampling feet before turning to see the many bandits running his way with weapons of all kinds. He panicked and dropped his catch of the day before taking off to try and warn everyone else. Unfortunately, in his haste, he managed to misstep and trip himself. One of the thugs came from behind and stomped down on his leg making him cry out in pain. Two of them grabbed the man for capture and the rest began making their way into the town.

They didn't see a small child who watched it all happen run back to town. He needed to warn everyone and get back to his mother, father, and grandfather.

()

Moriko smiled at the children running around playing tag with one another. She just couldn't get enough of the happy energies that were coming from everyone around her currently. She wishes she could stay and watch this last.

"BANDITS!"

If there was a record player, she would be sure it just scratched right then. Everyone stopped and had wide eyes. There couldn't be bandits or thugs here. This an island country and simple bandits didn't have the smarts or money to get a boat to travel with their group here. These thoughts were soon put to an end when a scream was heard. All eyes turned and grew fearful when a woman was tackled and pulled into a vice grip before the army of bandits began their raid on the town. Like a domino effect, everyone took off in the opposite direction.

They were a peaceful type of people. While their country did have its own guards and samurai from the Daimyo, most of the time they stayed at the palace. What was the point of having any of them in town when there was rarely any crime? If any crime happened, it was more so just petty theft from mischievous children. All of Wave Country would learn to regret not having at least some proper guards that were station close by in an outpost.

Moriko had made a dash into an alleyway and watched from the corner as many people were attacked. They weren't killing anyone which was strange to her. It could only mean that they were being paid by someone and whoever they were didn't want the people hurt. At least not yet anyway. Holding her flower and other bags she turned around to head in the opposite direction. They wanted to most likely capture everybody so their boss could "chat" with them. And possibly worse, they would probably take a special interest in any woman, young or mature. Being captured and put through that was the last thing she ever wanted to happen. Of course, there just had to have been some higher power messing with her. The next turn she took through the alley was into the back of one of the bandits. The man turned and instantly grinned when seeing her beauty and the "scared" face she had.

"Well, well. Looks like someone was moving through these alleys. I must be lucky." He said while pulling out a knife from his pocket and held it up. "Alright, girl. You're coming with me. Boss wants all beauties like you for a special relocation to happen in the coming month. Though," Here he pressed the dagger close to her skin and grinned wider as he trailed in her appearance. She was definitely an exotic beauty that would go for a high price was she was… "tamed". "I may have to break you in first before handing you over. I know that fat midget won't mind as long as you are still in good condition." It was here he chuckled disgustingly in front of her while she looked frighten.

Then that look of hers changed.

Her face morphed from being a frightened young maiden at the mercy of a lecherous thug to a cold angry killer. Her eyes, once a lovely amber was now a feral forest green color. Her pupils became slits and her nails grew longer. The man in front of her recoiled before he let out a gasp. When he turned his gaze towards what had caused it, he noticed a hand sticking through his chest. He tasted blood coming up from his throat while seeing a river of it fall down his body. Screaming would have been the next thing he would naturally do if it weren't for the woman in front of him shoving her other hand into his throat. There was a gurgling sound before she ripped both hands out, taking chunks of flesh and meat away. His hands went to the wounds on his body before tipping over hitting the earth below their feet.

Placing her hands down to his face she clenched the air before a soft glow encased him. Soon wisp of light blue energy flowed out of his mouth and eyes, collecting into a small wisp in her hand. She glared down at the body as it began to decompose before her very eyes after having the life essence taken away. Instantly she began seeing memories from the fool of a man and clicked her tongue in disgust.

"Gato. What is that runt of a businessman doing here?" She knew about the midget of a "businessman". Nothing but a criminal with a business over his operations. A disgusting worm as he shouldn't be here to ruin this wonderful island country. Stepping forward with her foot crushing the skull of the dead bandit, the young woman looked around the corner to see many of the residents of this town being captured before being herded towards the center. A frown marred her beautiful face, there had to be something she could do but there were a lot of bandits. It would be foolish and dangerous to take them head-on by herself. Even if she could take them all on, she was trying to stay hidden and not reveal her true self so willy nilly like. Right now, her best option would be to spy on them and see what exactly Gato was doing here.

'Most likely trying to expand his territory and monetary gain through this island. With it not having any connections to the mainland there is little anyone could do or report without having to use the sea. The midget isn't completely stupid to let them be able to send any distress message on the boat.'

Moving from the alleyway she began tailing a group of civilians and the bandits that surrounded them. She did her best to stay hidden behind buildings or any trees/bushes that were close by. Moriko saw the little runt of a man walk to stand in front of everyone that was gathered before the army of bandits. Seems the bastard was ready to give a speech of some kind.

"I'm glad that you were all able to attend this meeting of mine." He started off smug and full of himself. A cocky smirk on his face with sunglasses hiding his beady eyes that held no care for anyone's life besides his own. "As of this moment forward I, Gato, have taken control of this little town of yours. From now on you will all be taxed by me, all imports and exports from this island belong to me, your lives are now in my hand. Isn't that wonderful?" He said with a slimy chuckle that was joined by the thugs around him. The people were not happy but feared for their lives. They were a peaceful country and didn't have many people interested in fighting. The Daimyo wasn't even directly apart of this island as there was another, larger island that held his capital and its people.

"These fine men you see before you are now your new guards who will make sure to keep order by my discretion. I'll be setting up shop soon and I need these boys to keep a watch on all of you. They will also be gathering a couple of you that are… hmm, more delicate by nature." He said with a creepy grin directed towards a few of the women in the crowd making them back away in fear at the hidden meaning of his words. "Enjoy the rest of your day, I'll be watching you all." And with that, the midget of a bastard walked off with his army of bandits with only a couple staying behind to make sure no one got any bright ideas.

Despair was currently moving throughout the people of wave and they tried to walk off without thinking about how their lives have taken a complete turn from normal to the worst of scenarios besides them just raiding and destroying the village. Moriko glared towards the retreating backs of the bandit army and the one that paid them. She needed a way to stop this from gaining traction. Right now, Gato probably had a ship of some kind that he would be using as his base of operations considering they just got here. The Land of Waves didn't have any mansions that the notorious rich man would want to stay in. Raiding the ship would be nice and then killing the man, but that would live the army of bandits who were yet to be paid. They would most likely take out their frustrations of losing their client on the people. She couldn't let that happen.

For the moment it seemed she was going to be staying in the town to watch out for everyone here. Most importantly, she would do her best to make sure Gato's men didn't kidnap any of the ladies, at least not all of them. The younger they were the more likely they would be taken. She would die before letting those girls face what that man had in store for them. All she needed was time to plan and prepare for his next move.

(Rise of the Inukitsune)

It was a harsh journey once they made it to the many whirlpools that surrounded the island. The captain had everyone on deck working to make sure that that they got through in one piece. Once the land was safely reached both Naruto and Kakashi departed from the ship and began their trek to the center of the island. Even from their traveling on the waters both shinobi and shinobi-to-be could see ruins of buildings further in on the island. It filled Naruto with a sort of disquietude for what he may find once they made it to the village. The entire island was filled with nature that made Naruto fill at ease from the feelings he was having as they grew closer to their destination.

Then it all came to view. Large destruction and debris everywhere. What made it worse were the countless bodies outside the large village. Both individuals walked through the field of decomposed bodies and broken weapons. Naruto was silent the entire way as well as the beings that shared space within his mind. Minato was the only one who was currently showing any kind of emotion as he glared at the many enemy shinobi that were on the ground. What made it easier for the father-son duo to not explode from rage was the fact that there were hundreds if not thousands of dead bodies from Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. For every Uzumaki taken down, it seems they took five or more with them. Making the victory a hollow one.

'My clan at least gave them hell before dying off or separating to the corners of the Elemental Nations.' He didn't want to think that his whole clan died here during the battle. There had to have been a couple few who managed to escape. From what he was told by Minato, Kushina had come to Konoha before the fighting happened. So, if she managed to get to safety then he believed others had as well. All it would take was some extensive searching whenever he was given the chance.

They reached near the north gate of the large village but had to stop. What was in front of them was…. odd. How you may ask? Well, for starters, you don't usually see a giant stone statue kneeling in front of the gate of a village. It was pretty huge considering it blocked the entire thing. It was possibly ten feet tall if it stood fully up. The statue seemed to be a carving of a samurai that had long spiky hair that poked out of its helmet. There was a stone katana at its waist that had the Uzumaki swirl on the pommel.

Both Kakashi and Naruto looked at the statue and then to each before shrugging their shoulders. Maybe one of the members of the clan was a samurai instead of being a shinobi and this was to both honor him and as a way to show he still guarded his home. They walked forward before stopping when a swirl on the chest of the statue began to glow. The swirl looked exactly like the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. Then both of them watched the statue stand up from its kneeling position and stared down at the two.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Naruto asked Kakashi as the copycat nin turned his gaze to him before gazing back at the statue. Honestly, Kakashi has never seen a self-moving statue. If it wasn't controlled by a jutsu someone cast or controlled by chakra strings then he didn't think it was possible for such a thing to happen.

"This is a first for me. Maybe it's friendly?" He shrugged while Naruto had a strange suspicion that this was going to go bad for them. That was just his kind of luck too. Walking forward they stopped when the statue looked down at them and held its hand on the hilt of the stone blade. Slowly its sword came out of the sheathe and it held it with both hands in front of them.

'Huh, didn't think the sword could be used. Guess it is really a guardian and not just a normal statue.' Toga spoke up while everyone else grew curious about what it could do, besides Minato who was hoping Naruto could handle this thing. He wasn't sure if Kakashi could take it down by himself and didn't know if Naruto was ready for this. Toga took in Minato's worried look and chuckled before patting his back. 'Relax, isn't this the reason we've all been training him? To face obstacles like this and come out on top.' The former Hokage could only nod his head and focus back on the outside as the guardian began to charge them both.

"Scatter!" Kakashi ordered with both males jumping to the sides and dodged the massive stone sword that came crashing down where they used to be. Kakashi immediately went through a couple of hand signs before shooting a fireball out of his mouth straight to it. The guardian statue pulled its sword up in a guard and to the surprise of both of them, seals appeared on the stone blade before the fire was absorbed into it. If that wasn't enough of a revelation then seeing the guardian swing its blade horizontally, sending out a wave of far was definitely something else they didn't expect. Kakashi used the Moguragakure no Jutsu (Hiding Like a Mole technique) to dodge the wave before popping out of the ground a good distance back.

Seemed like Jutsus would be ineffective if it had its sword to block them. They would have to attack from behind or while it couldn't block whatever attack they used. The guardian was on the move again heading straight for the cyclopean jounin before stopping to raise its arm up in a guard from Naruto trying to kick it. Using its arm as a platform the half-breed shinobi jumped from its reached before it could backhand him. Landing on the ground Naruto tried to figure out a way to put it down without possibly destroying it. The seal that was used to make this thing animated could be useful to learn. Fuinjutsu was something he wanted to get into since it was literally in his veins to know such a talent.

'Any ideas would be helpful in taking this thing down.' He mentally said to everyone inside his dome that was listening. (despite technically one of them being in his stomach). Entering a dance of glancing blows from the guardian with little time for countering until Kakashi came from the side and stabs his kunai into the shoulder of the statue. It didn't do much and barely made an indention into the giant rock being. The stone samurai simply shrugged the copycat nin off of his shoulder before moving to stomp on him. Naruto wasn't going to allow this and decided to step things up a bit.

"Poison Luster Claw!" Channeling his yokai to his clawed hand he generated his poison that was causing his hand to gain a sickly yellow-green color before slashed down on the samurai's arm. The poison from his claws melted the armor shaped stone which made the guardian take notice of the new threat. This was enough for Kakashi to roll off to the side and get back up. Seeing the damage done to the arm made him look with surprise. The area where the poison was placed had melted a good third way through. He doubted a human would survive being attacked by such a technique and if they did then he wondered what were the after-effects of having it inside them.

Probably best if he just didn't know

The guardian began to go back and attack Naruto but the current injury to its arm was making it hard to use both hands with its sword because each movement caused the injury of the arm to grow. As such, it only used one arm to attack and would bring up the damage one to be a defense. Naruto was dodging swipes left and right but didn't expect the statue to left its leg into a forward kick that sent him flying back. Rolling on the ground he managed to get back to his feet. Rubbing his sternum from the stinging pain he stared at the statue trying to figure out what could he do to make it stop.

"Find the master seal," Minato stated while Naruto blinked for a second before nodding his head. He stared at the guardian currently fighting Kakashi who was using his skills from ANBU to apply pressure against the injured arm with his attacks. The silver-haired jounin had used an earth jutsu to make the ground underneath it to collapse. As he watched the two, he began to take notice of the Uzumaki symbol on its chest was more than what it seems. If his hunch was correct than that was most likely the master seal. Now he just needed to disrupt it.

'Easier said than done.' Determination set he ran forward to assist Kakashi while the guardian slowly managed to dig itself out of the ground. Jumping forward he kicked the statue guardian in the head before it could defend itself. He added chakra to his legs to make them sturdier and give himself some extra force making the head knock backward. Kakashi used this moment to climb the statue and placed a few explosive tags on the arm that Naruto had damaged before. Both silver-haired assailants jumped back from the explosion and watched the arm finally break off from the guardian. Using this opportunity with it being dazed from the explosion, the younger of the two ran forward before placing his hand on the Uzumaki swirl on its chest before using his chakra to disrupt the seal. There were a couple of flashes from it before it became dull. The movement from the statue came to a halt allowing both of them to let out a sigh of relief.

"Man… I can't believe we fought a living statue," Naruto stated with Kakashi idly nodding his head. Walking forward he looked at the swirl on the chest and realized it was a very complicated seal that only someone on Jiraiya's level could understand. Possibly that is since the man has on several occasions claimed how the Uzumaki's sealings were a hundred if not a thousand times better than what he could do. While he was a proclaimed seal master, the Uzumaki made seals that made the hardest of things seem simple.

"Shall we proceed?" Kakashi asked with the younger of the two noddings before walking with him to the gate. Pushing it open they could see the destruction on the inside was a lot worse than how things looked outside. Bodies lied everywhere and buildings were toppled over and in pieces. Naruto took a moment to give his respects to his clan who died protecting their home and hoped that sometime in the future he could meet anyone that survived this unwanted assault. Walking further into the large village they looked around trying to find someplace that would hold any information that could be useful to them. A lot of places seemed to have been raided by the surviving enemy but there was still a good bit of scrolls still laying around. The information in those scrolls was basic at best and something that wouldn't really interest any good shinobi. They needed to find a vault of some kind. A place that held a collection of the higher rank teachings of the Uzumaki. Coming to this conclusion led them to the only place to check.

The Uzukage Tower

Just like the Hokage Tower back in Konoha, the Uzukage Tower was the tallest and one of the biggest buildings in the entire village. Moving inside they began heading up to find the Uzukage's office. If anything, important was still left for someone to find it should be in there. As they made it to the office, checking several other rooms for any documents that could be used with them finding a documentation room that held one interesting document that did manage to survive and go un-raided. It was a document detailing several Uzumaki hideouts in the entire Elemental Nations that Uzu ANBU used for both long term missions in different countries or to be used in case the village was overtaken. These hideouts would be places that the ANBU were to store items that shouldn't be allowed to anyone's hands besides an Uzumaki's. Considering what the two of them were doing there and looking for they took the important paper and sealed it away to look at later.

The office was right ahead and once the both of the silver heads entered; they notice that this was probably the only room that wasn't completely ransacked. The desk was still in the same place it was placed with the chair behind it as well. Naruto maneuvered over to the desk and looked through the drawers and didn't really find anything of interest. That was until he felt a button in one of them and pushed it. A hidden compartment opened up from under the desk. Opening it up, Naruto found a letter and decided to see what it entailed.

"Dear Uzumaki Clan Member,

I am sure you are curious about this letter and how I know you are an Uzumaki. Simply put that the guardian in the front of the village wouldn't have been defeated or turned off if you weren't an Uzumaki by blood. Therefore this message is for you and any surviving members of our clan.

Uzushiogakure has fallen. It is sad but I know our clan will give these invaders hell for attacking us. If you haven't found it already there is a document detailing special locations around the Elemental Nations. Each of these is safe houses that we have stored some of our most powerful items. Whether they be weapons, jutsus, powerful seals, or even a special summoning scroll that we were specially entrusted to keep.

I hope you find them before someone else unsavory gets to them. While most of Uzu will be ransacked of items there is a vault behind the portrait of our founding clan head. Inside you will find a scroll that holds a multitude of techniques and items that can be useful to you.

May you live on and bring honor to the Uzumaki name. If you wish to rebuild all of Uzu there is a seal at the bottom of this letter that should hold a scroll that held the rest of Uzushiogakure's treasury. It is all that we could salvage before these assholes came and attacked us.

Remember these words: Family above all. Our bonds are strongest when together. Fight to protect what you cherish in your heart.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to go show these pricks why you don't mess with an Uzumaki during RAMEN TIME!

-sincerely, Shinma Uzumaki"

Naruto smiled at that ending of the letter. He guessed it was a clan thing for him to be obsessed over Ramen. Placing a finger on the seal at the bottom he pulsed some of his chakra and waited a few seconds before seeing a large scroll pop out. This surprised him some. Opening the scroll, he began reading the details and his eyes widen. Kakashi looked over his shoulders to see what was labeled on the scroll and couldn't but lift up his hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan eye. Reading through the names for each label he couldn't help but blink three times in succession.

"That's…. an excessive amount of left-over money."

"Yeah, no kidding. Is it enough to rebuild all of Uzu though?"

"…I believe it should be enough to clean the place up and rebuild a couple of buildings. Maybe even rework the land."

"Well, damn."

Sealing the scroll into a different scroll he had on hand in his bag he decided to check out what was inside the vault that was mentioned in the letter. Going to a picture frame of Ashida Uzumaki he smiled at seeing the elder man's face as he stood right next to Hashirama Senju. Moving the frame aside he saw a seal matrix on the wall. Placing his hand on it he pulsed his chakra through the seal and watch as it glowed before turning red and then turning white before with a puff of smoke there was a medium-size vault in the wall. Grabbing the handle, he opened it up to see several carrying packs inside. These would be useful on the journey, whatever they were. He would check them later as he wanted to get a move on so they could check out the different safe houses.

"Alright, then. I guess it's back to Nami then." Kakashi nodded at his statement. After grabbing anything else that would be beneficial for their trip, they left the tower and made their way out of the village to head back to the boat. Once they got on board it was back through the dangerous whirlpools.

Unknown to them, they would be returning back to something much more complicated than simple crashing waves of water. A whole country was at stack from a fat mad man who believed money gave him all the power in the world.

A good foot to the ass should fix that, but only if they get back in time before one midget of a man does something horrible.

(Kind of a weird ending spot and somewhat rushed but I really wanted to get this chapter done and over with. Its been sitting here on my computer for a long while and everything has been pretty distracting/hectic for me to focus on writing for this story. Or any of my other stories for that matter. Therefore I am going to try something different and I will simply WRITE until I feel a chapter is ready to stop instead of trying to meet a word count quota. Some chapters will be long and some will be short, but at the end of the day as long as I get them out to you guys and you enjoy that is all that matters. So, I hope you enjoy chapter five of Rise of the InuKitsune and the next story to be updated shall be…. Elemental Uzumaki. I already got a good idea of what that chapter will entail so hopefully it shouldn't take long. And then I'll do the next chapter of New Face of Death and then these three stories will be on hold so I can work on the other stories I started because of my stupid brain.

Jangoman signing out!)