Opening: AU – Alternate Universe.

Warning: Fighting/Death, Yaoi, Language, Possible lemon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor do I own a second dimension, but wouldn't it be killer if I did? (Just realizes the irony of this statement after reading the first chapter)

--Once Upon a Time--

-Lost and Losing-

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me! Haha!" A happy boy laughed and ran around in the water.

In a beautiful glade with lush and fertile vegetation, a waterfall crashed gracefully into a large pond and the wind blew softly. Sun flitted through the trees making specs of light dance along the forest floor. Tall rocks stacked high next to the waterfall led to a smooth top where the sun shined down on lavishly; a perfect place for sun bathing or just relaxation. The water cascading from the falls was clean and had an aqua coloration that made it look so peaceful, even when disturbed by motion. Herbs grew abundantly and provided ideal cures for the everyday illness and then some. Green grass carpeted the ground, it was soft and in the morning, cool dew accented the beauty of this sanctuary with little reflections of sunlight that made the place sparkle.

The family that resided near this beautiful haven was currently at play.

Four young looking fox demon kits played a game similar to tag, but it apparently took a turn to, 'chase the cocky fox'. Two women rested on the stone slab of rock high above the pond, smiling fondly at the shouts of amusement.

Of the four kits, three were male and one was female.

The first born was a male by the name of Aki, because he was born in the fall. He was tall and muscular, tanned dark as if the sun revolved around him. He was experienced in battle for someone at the age of 18 and it showed as 5 tails swished quietly behind him a dazzling red-orange fur that matched with his hair. Aki's hair was long and tapered down to the curve of his spine, yet confined to a blue ribbon that was mocked by the intense blue eyes, dancing merrily with happiness. His fox ears poked out of his hair and twitched with the songs of the birds. His body was clothed with almost one-third of wrapped cloth. His stomach was wrapped in it up to his chest, his legs from his calves to mid-thigh, and his arms, from his wrists to his biceps.

Over his torso, he had a black quarter-sleeved jacket that was left open to view the wraps on his abdomen. The bottom half of his outfit was a pair of black, knee-length pants. It wasn't a classy outfit but on the god like body it was held on, it left very little to the imagination.

The second born was also a male. He was known as Haku. Haku was effeminate and was often accused of being a girl. It didn't matter to him at all; he liked the way his slim hips curved out slightly like a woman's and his slender shoulders that contained the look of innocence on the 17 year old boy. His skin was not quite tan, it was odd, seeing that his family and most of the village was tanned, but the pale skin was envied by many women. Two black tails hung limply behind him when he stopped for breath as his siblings and cousin ran on. He didn't like fighting and tried to avoid it at all costs. Blood reminded him of his father, and then his uncle… it made him feel so sick thinking about it.

Haku also had long hair but only grew to the middle of his back; he liked having the silk black hair free. He wore a forest green, baggy-like, half-sleeved shirt. It was made of mock-silk material with intricate black designs. His pants were beige and wide so that if you weren't paying attention to detail it would look like a calf length skirt.

Being the feminine man that he was, he wore jewelry to accentuate his womanly appearance. He had seven silver bracelets on his left wrist, one for each important person in his life: his mother, his aunt, his uncle, his brother, his sister, his niece and his cousin. He had a black sash around his neck. When his black ear twitched you could see a shining piece of metal; an earring in his left ear, a little more than half way down. Haku was a truly beautiful person, inside and out.

The last born was the female and her name was Maki. She was small and meek. At her current age of 8, she finally had one tail. She never strayed too far from her family because she was a shy young thing. Her slate grey eyes were always half-lidded in a gentle manner and she always had a smile on her face, even if it was small, it was there. She had pretty brown hair that she put in a high pony-tail. When it was down it only reached her shoulder blades but she never much liked long hair on herself, it wasn't really fitting. Her skin was much like Haku's. She wore a gray sun dress with a dull blue sash around the middle. When she was younger her mother made her a rabbit stuffed animal. It had soft gray fur and a blue ribbon that matched her sash. She never let it out of her sight for a moment and the use of it was obvious by the almost unnoticeable repairs. It was currently heating up under the suns rays at the edge of the pond.

Finally, the last of the four kits was a male known as Naruto. He was the cousin to the other three and was just a year younger than Haku. The only thing similar between Naruto and Haku was that he was also feminine looking. He had sunshine blonde hair and unlike his other male cousins, he was short. Standing at an unremarkable 5'6" the only people he could compare his height to fairly were the women in the near by village. He was a free spirit though, in the petite-sized body.

Innocent and happy, he foolishly trusted everything that he was faced with, people and animals alike. Nothing ever seemed to bring him down. He was still too young, but he was going to be the next ruler of the fox demon tribes, all of them. At that point in time however, his mother was ruling for him, until he was ready. His father was the previous king until he was killed. His skin was mildly tanned to a perfect caramel color. The build that Haku had was slim like his own, but he had muscles on him from training his mother made him do. They weren't bulky like his older cousin's; they were cut well, but still small, so he still maintained his 'girlish' looks.

Three tails wagged happily, poking out of the tight white shorts on his legs as he ran from his chasers. He had a sleeveless, backless, light orange turtleneck for a shirt. It looked like he had white leg warmers on his arms; they were mostly white but had light orange lining. They went from his triceps to halfway pass his elbows where they puffed out, and then they went to his hand and were connected to an orange plastic ring on each of his middle fingers. It wasn't shocking that he chose such bright and happy colors to show his personality.

They were running through the water as best as they can since the water seemed to pull them further away from where they were headed. But they were having fun none the less.

It was the time they spent, the outcome held no significance to them.

Two sisters watched as their children played below, also enjoying each other's company. They made small talk giggling at the times Naruto's klutziness had shown through when he tripped or when Maki made a fuss about being too slow and wanting them to slow down.

It was one of the very few breaks that they all had at the same time and they were going to spend it together like a family. They left the village that was five or six miles away and came to their piece of land that gave them peace of mind. Kyuubi, Naruto's mother always said that. She was currently sipping on tequila while she twirled one of her nine tails around her hand and through her fingers.

Kagami [1, her sister, made an odd muffled noise. She turned to her and smirked at her younger sister and Kagami shivered. Kyuubi took one of her tails and 'accidentally', lightly touched her side. The same noise came and that was the only warning Kagami got before he sister pounced tickling her with all nine tails. It was all in good fun and they fought with their tails. Although, Kagami was at a disadvantage seeing as she only had eight tails and her older sister lovingly pointed it out.

During the blissful moment, Kyuubi tensed suddenly, feeling evil approaching quickly. Kagami caught the sound of rushing feet in her ears and nodded at her sisters' look. The two jumped off of the rocks and guarded their kids from the wickedness coming from the surrounding forest.

Air around them blew furiously, almost an ominous flick to it. The children's game ended abruptly with the tense atmosphere of their mothers. A one-sided war of distrust went on between the women and the forest.

"Children! Please, go and hide! Evil approaches!" Naruto's mother barked; her voice trembled with the build-up of growing power.

"Hurry! There are many with killer intent. A murderous aura," Kagami instructed with a foreboding temper rising. Her tails swung dangerously, threatening whoever in the forest to back off.

Naruto and Haku nodded and took Maki behind the waterfall with them to hide. They watched in anxiety as the battle started. No predetermined winner. No good outcome. Life or Death. Madness versus Reason. Chaos.

Twenty-five men, fifteen humans and ten demons of mixed blood, attacked the mothers. The humans wielding long firearms and the demons with nothing but their bare claws and short swords.

A large explosion of power surged out of Kyuubi and Kagami. With a passionate roar of authority Kyuubi attacked the demons while Kagami and Aki fought with the humans.

The three thrashed and clawed at the evil men. No amount of mercy was evident in their eyes. As the blows they landed increased, so too had the blows they received. Whereas Kyuubi was throttled and scarred, Kagami and Aki were shot.

The fight continued in that manner of pure offence for what seemed like forever. Numbers lessened from twenty-five to eleven, leaving six demons and five humans. They fought purely on adrenaline and that was most likely the reason they were still standing. Wasn't it said that, "with adrenaline, one may possess the strength of ten men"? In this case the two mothers would have the strength of twenty men.

Kyuubi brutally attacked another demon, inflicting it with violently powerful punches and kicks. She was having trouble stabilizing herself with the blood that she lost. Her senses were focused on her current opponent and she wasn't prepared for the stab to her back. She turned to see a short sword penetrating her back between her shoulder-blades and a demons sly smile glinting shamelessly.

"You sick fuck!" She whipped around and drove her claws into his chest. Pulling her fist out, she gleamed and licked the blood off of her hand. Note to self: Don't let your guard down again. She clenched the back of her neck hoping to ease the pain with little success.

Looking down at the ground, she noticed the pool of blood surrounding her and realized most of it was hers. I can't keep going on like this, I hope Kagami is okay.

She glanced at her sister and nephew killing another human and smirked, but the smirk quickly faded when she saw all the blood that they were losing, especially Kagami. We have to finish this soon.

Kyuubi whipped around to fend off another demon when she heard an earth-shattering cry. She made her kill and ran to Aki's side where he hovered over Kagami. Kagami was down, her healing system too overloaded with injuries to catch up. Blood was running down her face and her wounds, mixing in with the water she laid in. She was soaked to the bone and caked in mud and blood.

Tears fell from the fighters' eyes.

"Kagami, I'm sorry, I… I, Oh God!" Kyuubi fell to her knees beside her sister and cried into her chest. Fox demons aren't immortal, no demon is. Blood is blood and it creates more blood; the process never ends.

"Just…make sure… kauh- spla… that those bastards… ha… all of them…die…" More blood was coughed up and the air stilled in her lungs.

Kyuubi stood shaking violently. Don't worry, Kagami. Her eyes glowed red. Even Lucifer will be breathless after this.

She exploded with rage and launched herself at them, human and demon alike. Aki was not far behind her after hearing his mother's last words.

"Goddamn you all!" She cried, her emotions ruling her. The woman beat, punched, and kicked with all she was.

Blinded by rage, she barely heard the barbaric scream of her nephew falling to earth. She turned in time to see a sword pierce his back and drive into the dirt below his stomach.

Tears ran down her face, never stopping or slowing, in their pace or in her battle. Three demons… four humans… any one of them could end her life. She could feel the fear and pain emanating from behind the falls. Restraint, to keep from joining the battle. Hope, against all hope that this battle will finish with no more blood from loved ones. Anxiety, for the end.

And the end soon came, but it was not for the good. Kyuubi was down. One demon and one human went down with her. The demons roared triumphantly and the humans sought more blood. Nothing quelled by the pool of blood soaking the soiled earth.

Maki's cry of anguish was heard painfully. Haku panicked as the eyes of the murders flicked toward the falls. He drew Maki close to him and hugged her tightly to calm her. She fought against the restraint, trying desperately to reach her mother's corpse.

Through the sorrowful event, Naruto stood stalk still. He was shaking violently and had to use the wall of the cave for support. His aunt, his cousin…his mother…his Mother! His head snapped forward and with a yell only a beast could unleash, charged out from behind the cascading waters.

The approaching villains were startle by the outburst and readied themselves with their weapons. Not wasting any time, Naruto let loose a frenzy of devastating blows. Clawing, ripping, and shredding at his enemy's skin.

"Naruto! …Wait!" Haku's words fell on deaf ears, ears deaf by the sound of his mother's final cries, ears deaf by the sound of Aki's animalist roars, ears deaf by the sound of his aunt's final words. The two still concealed burst out of their hiding place.

An orange glow wrapped itself around Naruto, flaring up and fluctuating like the frantic dance the boy displayed.

He wrapped his claws around one demon's neck and clenched unto blood poured from its jugular. It crumpled to the ground as if boneless.

Haku turned his sister to face his chest, trying to prevent her from seeing the massacre.

The men panicked; shooting everywhere they could in an attempt to hit the beast ravaging their few numbers. One stray bullet struck Haku in the leg that made him fall back leaving Maki wide open. He heard the crack of a gun and time seemed to slow down.

The bullet, though slowed by the moment, sped toward the girl. She was standing in the direct path of it and couldn't move, couldn't scream. Haku tried so hard to stand so that he could block the bullet, but his left leg wouldn't cooperate with him. Time resumed and hit them both hard. A short high shriek came from Maki's mouth and she fell over, dying immediately.

"No! Maki!" Haku clutched her bleeding frame to his body, "Maki! Oh God…" This sound shook Naruto to the core and ignited more rage within him.

Naruto removed the man who shot Haku from the earth along with the other that had killed Maki, relishing their blood on his hands. He killed the last human with a simple stroke of a finger. He didn't hear the blade of the final demon being drawn. He did, however; feel it being pushed through his back and out his stomach.

"Lucky me," the demon's hollowed voice reverberated around the glade.

With blood pouring from his wound, he snapped around, stole his sword and slammed it into the beast's stomach.

His fists tightened, in mechanical movements, he straddled the unmoving carcass and punched him in the face repeatedly, yelling and screaming. Soon, blood started splashing him from the battered face.

"Naruto, stop!" Shrieked Haku, clinging onto his back. "He's dead. He's dead, you did it. Please, calm down Naru…please…Your mama wouldn't want to see this. She wouldn't." Haku didn't let go.

The blonde's hands slowed and came to a stop. Tears weld up in his eyes, even as they glowed red. He hugged Haku tightly.

"I'm sorry, Maki. I'm so sorry," he kept repeating it over and over. Haku didn't care that he was bleeding all over him, as long as he was himself again, that's all that mattered.

"We need to go, Naruto. There might be more and we can't risk returning to the village," Haku cradled himself on a thick branch.

Naruto nodded and slid off of the demon. He walked with Haku, they didn't know where they were going or what they would do once they got there, but they knew that they had to protect each other if they were going to survive this.

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After nearly five hours of walking, Naruto paused to rest against a tree. He was panting and from what one could tell by simply looking, his bleeding hadn't stopped in the least even with the makeshift wrap Haku gave him. While the fox demon side of him kept him from bleeding out as fast as a mere human would, the length at which he remained standing was a feat alone.

"Naru, we can't stop. We have to keep going," Haku instructed him. It sounded muddled to Naruto as he stared, unblinking at his cousin.

"Naruto?" The boy in question, continued staring, his eyes began slipping closed.

"Naruto!" Haku rushed to his aide just as he collapsed. "Stay still, Naru. We can't continue at this rate," his eyes flashed worriedly toward the wound.

"Get my pouch, take some too, Haku," he whispered while he was laid against the tree.

Haku nodded and untied the pouch string from Naruto's waist. It was a small leather pouch Kyuubi made for Naruto and she filled it with Juuten berries. Juuten berries were a rarity that only royalty could get their hands on. She had told Naruto that she got them from a friend. They were a type of 'magical' berry that replenished health and calmed jittery nerves. They were mostly used on the battle field. The other great thing about them was that even after you pick them they stayed fresh for fifteen to twenty years. Naruto received it when he was just six years old.

He opened the pouch and took out ten, getting three for himself as instructed. Haku took the leftover seven and placed them into Naruto's mouth. He moved his jaw in order to crush the berries and then tipped his head back, waiting for him to swallow them.

"Are you okay, Haku?" Naruto offered smiling, albeit weakly. He was trying to lighten the mood. Haku was sure that if Naruto wasn't there, he would have gone insane, that is, if he made it away from those killers.

Haku nodded gratefully and ate his. I was lucky though, he thought and sat back against a neighboring tree.

He bent over and pulled up his pant leg to reveal a thigh plate. Kagami passed it down from her father, entrusting it to him. He never took it off and he was glad for it so much now.

Though it was still not a pretty site. The bullet pierced through the metal, but the guard significantly slowed it down. It broke his femur instantly and immobilized him. You could see the bullet if you looked into the opening of the wound. He noticed Naruto's gaze on his leg.

"It's fine. Nothing too bad." He smiled at him reassuringly.

Naruto looked over at him and sighed in relief. He was glad he wasn't injured too badly.

The blonde was starting to tire; the lack of blood was slowly catching up to him. His eyes slipped closed. He faintly heard Haku yelling at him and felt the boy shake him, but there was nothing he could do. Naruto felt warm as arms wrapped themselves around him and dragged him deep into the sleeping world.

"Naru? Naru?! Wake up, Naru! Damn it, wake up!" Haku cried as he shook the boy almost violently. There was nothing he could do, he realized.

"Someone, please find us. Someone please help." He whispered and hugged his cousin tightly, tears flowing down his cheeks. Sleep took him as well and he prayed, even in his dreams.

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"Oh my…what is this?" A shocked man looked at the two boys.

--------TBC--------

1: You get a mention in my next update if you can tell me which of my stories Kagami is from.

Nomi: Yay! I updated! I think it's harder to change a pre-existing story than to make one to begin with.

Mol: Whatever! Freakin' hurry up would you?

Nomi: Yeah, I know. I'm working super hard to make up for lost time. I got rid of the authors notes and stuff, so yay! Now, we're back in business and I'm working on redoing all of the chapters. Some of them won't have really obvious changes, but just some that I noticed, needed to be made.

I also want to thank EVERYONE who has stayed with this story, and bared with my stupidity and lateness with the chapters. I definitely do NOT want to give up on my love of writing or the people who stick with me. So thank you again.

P.S.: MayIFall is an amazing editor and I love her to itty bitty bits and pieces. Thank you so much!