Okay, for those who read my other story 'The wild horse mage knight', I know I should be focusing on finishing up edits on the next chapter for that, but after seeing the first Disgaea-Naruto crossover that I actually liked, along with the challenge from its author, I couldn't resist writing this. For everyone else, please enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: Would I honestly be writing this if I owned either of the above mentioned series? Answer: yes, I would, mostly because my original plans probably wouldn't have made it to the rest of the world because of the idiotic censors that people in the merchandising business seem to enjoy so much. But I still don't own the series.

Chapter I: Rescue

A place darker than a pitch-black cave… located deeper than the depths of the seas. … It is a place where evil reigns and foul beings dwell. … Nobody knows its whereabouts. …But everyone fears its existence. … This is the world of demons. … This is the world of Disgaea.

-X-

Deep in the bowels of one of the thousands of netherworlds, a dark castle stood atop the edgeof a cliff. Whereas a normal castle would be surrounded by a moat of water, this one was enclosed by a sea of boiling rock. The blaze of the lava casting an eerie glow on the already sinister structure.

On the outer grounds of the castle, the noise of different demons of all kinds, humanoid or not, caused an incomprehensible racket, as the denizens of hell went about their normal business with a cheerfulness that only a true demon could appreciate. Inside the castle though, things were much different, especially for a certain demoness.

On top of one of the castle towers sat a feminine figure. At a glance, one could easily mistake her for a regular woman in her twenties if they were to look at her from the wrong angle. The only things that identified her as a demon was her long, thin, spade-tipped tail and the large bat-like wings on her back, both very similar to those of the succubi race.

The woman was sitting with her legs hugged towards her chest, her leathery wings wrapped around her form, giving the illusion of a coat. Her eyes were downcast, turned towards her knees, but the glazed look upon them showed that her attention was elsewhere. A deep frown played upon her lips as an aura of depression flowed from what would normally be a very chipper and sadistic person, just as her dark pink hair flowed in the surprisingly cold breeze of hell.

To most of those that knew of her - which was more or less all those in her home netherworld - this sight would have come as a great surprise. After all, as far as most demons knew, Etna Krichevskoy was not one to be easily depressed. And yet, here she sat, silently gazing below at the demons under her mate and former master's rule, her eyes watering up as she was slowly but surely being reduced to tears.

"Where could you be… Mira?" she whispered, barely audible to even herself, but still breaking the silence that had enshrouded her. Nothing more was said after that though, as the sound of a woman in tears soon took the place of the howling winds.

She continued to sob into her knees as she sat on the tower, uninterrupted for who knew how long. It was only when she had almost no more tears to shed that someone else joined her.

The tapping sound made as a second woman landed on the roof was not missed by the black clad demoness, but she chose not to react. Even in her downtrodden state she could still tell with great ease who had decided to join her on the roof. Instead, she simply wipe her eyes as her new guest joined her.

The second demon was similar to Etna in many ways as far as appearances went: sharper than normal fangs, large, leathery, bat-like wings and a long tail with an arrowhead for a tip, the only difference being the red coloration of said two appendages as opposed to the younger demoness' own black ones. Her platinum blonde hair was comparatively longer, though.

Without a word, the blonde sat beside the pinkette, her legs dangling from the edge of the huge stone structure. No words were exchanged as they both simply stared below at the bustlingdemon settlement at the foot of the castle.

Finally, the red winged woman decided to speak.

"That time of year again, huh?" she asked, her sympathy clearly present in her voice.

She received a glare in response. "What do you want Flonne?" completely ignoring the fallen angel's inquiry, the pinkette snapped back angrily, her voice hoarse from crying.

Flonne sighed in response. Clearly, getting Etna out of this depression would not be easy. "Not that getting her out of it last time was any easier… or all the other times before that for that matter," she thought dejectedly.

"Look, Etna… I can't say I know how you feel…" Flonne started, stopping for just a minute to find the right words. Etna however, didn't give her a chance to say more.

"Of course you don't!" she stood up and yelled, her throat hurting. But she didn't care about that. "Of course you don't know how I feel! It wasn't your daughter that was kidnapped, it wasn't your daughter that went missing for twenty seven years! It was mine!"

Just like a match, Etna went from a black and cold depression to a red and fiery rage, the pain in her throat completely forgotten as she focused her grief-fueled anger upon the red-eyed woman.

"You don't know what it feels like to lose someone you cared for so much that you would die for them! You don't know how it feels to know that you may never see your child again!" by now her tears had come back at full force as the black winged demoness fell to her knees, glaring at the ground as best she could while her tears kept falling. "I failed, Flonne. … I only had her for a month, and I already loved her, but… but I couldn't even protect her… and from humans, no less."

And once more, just like a match, what once was a fiery rage, with the slightest breeze, was reduced to a burnt out mess.

Flonne's heart clenched at the sight. Here was one of the strongest people she knew. The person she had come to see as a sister. The proud demoness everyone in this netherworld, and many in others had come to fear: reduced to a crying mess. She reached out a hand to comfort her.

"Etna… please… I know you feel sad… but this is no way to deal with it. Mira… may not have been my daughter, but she is your daughter as well as my husband's. Laharl isn't taking this any easier you know. And if both of you are sad, then you know that I am too. We're family Etna, you're not the only one who's been hurt by this."

Seeing that her words had at least slowed down the river of salty liquid on Etna's face, Flonne continued. "Listen to me Etna. Yes, I know it's been twenty seven years. Yes, I know that we have absolutely no clue of where she could be, but we do know what world she's in. Even after all these years, Laharl still hasn't given up on finding Mira."

Once more, she paused. This time, Etna had completely stopped crying. She still looked depressed, very much so, but at least she was calmer now. Flonne allowed a small smile to make its way onto her face. She turned towards the pinkette and pulled her into an embrace, and Etna, being in the state she was in, didn't have the strength to pull away like she normally would. This time, she simply chose to stay there in the fallen angel's embrace, taking in all the comfort it provided as the blonde demoness spoke soothing words into her ears. True, she would've preferred being in her husband's arms, but he himself was busy at the moment.

It had been well over seven hundred years after the demon Overlord Laharl Krichevskoy had made an alliance with Celestia, the land of angels. An odd move in the eyes of many other demons to be sure, but not one without its own benefits.

It was around five hundred years after this alliance was made that a romance, if a bumpy one to begin with, had started between the Overlord, his vassal, Etna, and the fallen angel, Flonne. This, in turn, eventually led to the women being given the title: Queens of the netherworld.

Two hundred years later, a new development had taken place: Flonne and Etna became pregnant. Now, a little known fact outside the netherworld is that, despite the large abundance of demons throughout the uncountable number of netherworlds, it is actually quite rare for new demons to be born. Instead, most demons are created via the re-incarnation of tainted souls. That said, the birth of not one, but two new demons into a reigning royal family had naturally become a grand affair. A great celebration was thrown for the births of the two new netherworld princesses, complete with wide-spread battles, some of which, surprisingly enough, were kept in arenas. All those who had become close friends to their father (another oddity among demons) had been invited to the event. The Overlords of other netherworlds, the current defenders of the earth, and even the seraph of Celestia had come to give the two children blessing.

Unfortunately for one of them though, such a blessing did not do her any good. The daughter of the black queen, Mira Krichevskoy was abducted. It was during a disturbance caused in one of the human words did this incident occur.

A great war had broken out in a place known as the Elemental Nations. This, in itself, wasn't what garnered the attention of the Overlord though. No, it was the fact that the demon lords who were working under him in this world were being sealed off and used as weapons which had gotten the king's notice.

And of course, where there are those who capture demons, there are also those who would attempt to summon them, and summon them they did. By way of some miracle, a group of lucky (or otherwise unlucky) ninja had managed to succeed in successfully summoning a demon, or rather, demoness.

Of course, being who she was, Etna did not take kindly to being ordered by humans, just to become their weapon, especially considering that she was summoned while breast-feeding her child. The blood of many was spilt that day as she slaughtered those who had dared to command her, putting down her child to do so more freely. This would have been the biggest mistake she would ever make.

As luck would have it, one of her summoners had managed to get away before her killing spree started, and upon seeing the demon they had summoned put down its child (he refused to call the demon a her), he had immediately reversed the summoning, sending Etna back into the netherworld. Mira, not being the intended target of the summoning, was left behind.

And so, Etna's grief had begun. Every year, at the end of the human month of September, Etna would remember the loss of her daughter and her mask of sadistic glee would shatter for just a small period of time.

She wasn't the only one affected, of course. From the time that his daughter was taken, up to the present day, Laharl had all of his best trackers searching for her. It was around two years later when they had gotten news about her general location. One of the local demon lords, a three tailed giant turtle, the Sanbi no Kyodaigame had told him about a child that matched Mira's description who was rescued from a group of rouge ninja.

Sadly, the turtle demon's freedom was brief before he himself was sealed away, and so could not tell him the location of those that had saved his child. The event was disheartening for the demonic emperor and his mates. To know that they were so close to finding her, only to fail because of the humans' greed for power.

The blue haired demon had very nearly wiped the village that had sealed the demonic reptile of the map, a place called Kirigakure, if his other informants were accurate, but decided against it. There was a small chance that the people of Kiri might have been the ones who had Mira. It wouldn't do to destroy the mist shrouded village… yet.

After that incident, all search parties were called back from the other worlds. Instead, every demon ninja under his command was sent scour the vast lands of the Elemental Nations, fitting into the environment perfectly. But for all their effort, not a single thing was found, even after nearly a quarter of century of searching… that is, until one fateful night on the tenth of October.

-X-

In the Elemental Nations, there exists five major ninja villages. This story, the real story, starts out at what many consider the strongest of these villages: Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves.

It was October tenth, a very festive event for most of the villagers, for this was the day that the village's greatest leader, the fourth Hokage, had managed to defeat the strongest of the tailed beasts, the Kyubi no Yoko.

Every year, on this day, people of all ages and all walks of life would be out on the streets, basking in the merriment of the festival's attractions. Adults could be found drinking all over the place. Ninja that were lucky enough to be off duty would be having the time of their lives, enjoying a day where they didn't need to put their lives on the line. Children of all ages were running around, playing festival games, eating junk food and wearing masks as they explored the festival grounds with their relatives.

However…

For one child in Konoha, this was not the case…

In one of the more secluded areas of the city-sized village, a small boy, no older than seven years was running for his life. He was messy and bleeding all over from a multitude of cuts marring his body. His normally off-white shirt was torn and yellow with brown splotches of muck, the red insignia of Konoha proudly embroidered on the torso of the shirt was barely visible now.

Behind the young boy was a mob of about two to three dozen people, civilian and shinobi alike, each one armed with whatever was available to them. The shouts calling for the little child's death were endless as shuriken and kunai alike were hurled by the ninja among the crowd towards the blonde child.

The boy could only continue to run, making use of what little benefit his short, sabotaged time in the academy granted him, pumping what small amount of chakra he could control into the coils in his legs. They were burning in protest as he continued to weave around the metal projectiles, a feat he was capable of only because of the practice incidents like this one had given him. His sapphire blue eyes showing deep sadness and the desperation to get away as tears ran down his eyes, running down his whiskered cheek.

This boy was Uzumaki Naruto, the pariah of Konoha, jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no yoko and, unknown to all but the third Hokage, the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the previous jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no Yoko and Namikaze Minato, Konoha's yondaime Hokage. It was his birthday today, but unlike most children, to Naruto, this wasn't a day of celebration, no, this was the day when he was guaranteed to get chased and beaten, and so, he hid, and when he was found, he ran.

Naruto continued on his wild run, dodging and weaving in and out of the alleyways to escape his pursuers. But alas, it was for naught. Even though a majority of his persecutors were civilians, his continuous dodging of the kunai and shuriken was slowing him down immensely, taxing even him and his monstrous stamina.

It wasn't long before disaster struck. As the blonde grew tired from running and dodging, he continued to move more and more sluggishly. More and more of the thrown blades got closer to reaching their target, grazing him again and again, until finally, one hit its mark.

Naruto felt a great pain go through his right leg as the blade pierced it right to the bone, causing him to fall flat on his face. Despair crept up his spine as the villagers drew closer, malicious grins lined upon their features. As the closest one raised his weapon of choice, a broken glass bottle, Naruto prepared himself for the pain.

The villagers continued to torture him with every possible method available as they got to their favorite part of the annual Kyubi hunt, beating down the demon fox that had made them suffer while screaming it to his face.

There wouldn't be any mercy for the young jinchuuriki, that much he knew, so instead of begging, he simply chose to keep silent, hoping to slip into blissful unconsciousness where he would feel no more pain, wondering all the while what he did to deserve such treatment.

He was so close to it. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy as black spots appeared at the edge of his vision. The pain, all the pain was starting to become numb as he felt his reprieve approaching

His attackers would have none of it.

With a mighty jolt from a raiton jutsu, Naruto's mind was shocked back into complete awareness, the numbing effect of the electricity coursing through his body only giving him a few more seconds before the pain returned.

They wouldn't have any of it indeed. Death was going to come tonight in this alley. This would be the last Kyubi hunt. Those were the thoughts of all of Naruto's assaulters that night. Unknown to them, that prediction would come true… unfortunately for them.

-X-

Inside Naruto's mindscape, a giant nine tailed fox looked on through the eyes of its container with fury. "And to think that those pathetic beings would dare call me a monster," the great beast muttered to itself, watching angrily as the villagers continued to torture the blonde child, trying it's best to heal him and keep the boy alive.

The fox demon's anger rose when she saw what would happen next. The beating had finally stopped and the villagers had backed away, but it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. The strongest of the tailed beast could do naught but glare at what Naruto was witnessing.

As soon as the crowd had backed up enough, another man came over; a ninja if the chunin vest he wore was any indication. Like all the other villagers, this man had a malicious smirk on his features, his face contorted into a crazed and menacing visage as he carried a barrel of gasoline over his shoulders.

Any fool would know what would happen next. It wasn't long before the Kyubi saw the embers of a mighty flame starting to fall. Its anger peaked at that moment. Its youki flaring in all directions, flooding Naruto's chakra coils.

It would have continued to do so too, if it didn't feel another explosion of youki from within its prison. Instinctively, the mighty fox tensed. It knew this youki. This was the aura of the Azurae demon tribe(1), which had only one known survivor. Kyubi's eyes widened in recognition and fear.

"By kami! This boy… he's… but that means… Kushina was… and I…" Kyubi said, slowly backing up into its cage as though being cornered by a predator. An expression of fear clearly visible on its vulpine face. "I… I killed Overlord Laharl's daughter," the great fox finished just as the realization of just what its actions had brought unto itself was.

"I… I may not have been… in control of myself, but… I still killed her. If the Overlord finds out about this… when the Overlord finds out about this…" but the morbid thoughts of the Kyubi no Yoko had no time to form as another explosion of Naruto's youki occurred, this one bigger than the last. No longer was it confined within the young boy's body only. No, this explosion had burst straight out of Naruto's tiny frame, putting out the flames and knocking all of his tormentors back.

-X-

(A few minutes back, on the other side of Konoha)

There are very few things that can annoy a great ninja. There are even less things that can annoy a demon ninja, despite their more aggressive nature. There is hardly anything that can annoy an Overlord's top ninja.

Unfortunately, going to a festival was one of those very few things that Kagetarou was annoyed with.

A normally patient demon by virtue, a trait normally present in only a handful of tribes and disciplines of the demon realm, he was the perfect candidate to lead the Zan'ei(2) battalion, Overlord Laharl's ninja army.

Appearance wise, he may not have been much: dark, slicked-back grey hair, clinging to his scalp before spiking outwards where they touched the neck, a lean but muscular build, garbed in very simple civilian clothing. All in all, a very unassuming guy. About the only thing worth noticing where his elfin ears, but in a world where various clans had animal like features, it was mostly overlooked.

But just like any ninja, demon or otherwise, appearances could be very deceiving. As one of Laharl's personal vassals, he was among the strongest fighters in his home netherworld, and certainly the fastest. A master of all branches of demonic ninjutsu, the general was understandably very well feared. Unfortunately, most demons in the netherworld had already forgotten him in his twenty five years of absence due to the search for his Overlord's heiress. Which is where was now; disguised as a civilian like so many times before, in a new village he had moved into just a month or two back and tired as all hell from a quarter century's lack of clues.

"Stuck in this world for over twenty five years and still not a single lead," he glumly thought, letting a sigh escape from his lips, trying desperately to block out the sound of all the people around him. "Grr… I'm already the laughing stock of Overlord Laharl's ten generals(3), can't I at least get a break for once."

As if to answer his prayers, Kagetarou felt a powerful surge of youki originating from within the village. His head instantly shot up, going into high alert and surprising the other patrons of the bar he was in. It was far away, but the feel of the aura was unmistakable.

"An Azurae demon… and a young one at that. It's got to be her!"

With all thoughts of stealth thrown out the window, the demonic shinobi ran out of the bar and took to the roofs towards the source of the dark energy, moving at speeds that could make a certain green clad jonin turn into a hulk lookalike from his envy.

-X-

They stared. That was all that the villagers could do as they saw the malevolent aura pouring out of the child that was once their prey, his screams becoming completely silent to their ears. Even the shinobi were so paralyzed with fear, they couldn't even back away while the civilians had already managed to soil themselves.

They watched with morbid fascination as the blonde boy began to change. His entire ribcage seemed to expand, as did his shoulders, becoming much broader while his stomach flattened. Where once he was all skin and bones from malnutrition, he was now rapidly gaining muscles, his stomach showing the makings of a four pack, an odd sight for one of his age. Naruto's eyes had changed, however, unlike the red slited eyes that they had expected, his eyes had become akin to a blood red version of the Byakugan.

This was the scene that Kagetarou arrived to. He looked down to see the source of the youki, a small blonde child, the remnants of a burnt shirt hanging off of his rapidly changing frame as he gained the distinct build of the Azurae demons. He could also see the makings of a pitch black tail and chiropteran wings forming on his back.

The shadow general looked on in confusion. "A… boy? And a mere child at that. What in Baal's name is going on?" he asked himself as he continued to observe. Realization hit him as he saw the blonde boy's whiskered cheeks. "Wait a second… that's the child that everybody in the village told me to stay away from… Naruto, if I'm correct. An orphan with unknown parents." He sighed, trying to imagine just what kind of reaction this would get from the already distraught queen. "This isn't going to end well," he uttered under his breath, shaking his head at the rather… brutal mental pictures.

Hoping that he would at least be allowed to live for retrieving what he deduced to be his king's grandson, Kagetarou dove into the alley, landing right in between the villagers and the transforming child, just as said child's tormentors had finally gained the courage to approach the target of their rage.

They stopped in their tracks as the demon general landed. The same man who had set Naruto ablaze looked towards the new arrival. "Who the hell are you?"

Kagetarou just looked at him with a bored expression. "What did you do to this child?" he asked, completely ignoring the human's question, his tone matching the look on his face to a T.

The statement obviously sparked something in the villagers as one of the civilians, a rather fat merchant from the looks of it, had immediately stood up, pointing past Kagetarou towards Naruto. "That's no child!" he blurted out, "that… that… thing… is nothing but a God forsaken demon! It needs to be killed!" the merchant declared, getting shouts of agreement from the crowd.

The Zan'ei general just continued to stare at them, his head turning slowly to look at them all before his eyes turned back to focusing on the fat man. From behind him, he could feel flow of youki coming to an end, the thud of a body hitting the ground indicating that the boy had passed out, but he paid it no heed. His first priority at this point was to punish these people. No demon, no matter how dishonorable would ever harm a child to that extent. Kill, perhaps, but it would always be quick and painless. His gaze turned towards the rooftops. "Is what he said true, Kage of Konoha?"

That question quickly got the mob's attention. They all turned towards the same place that Kagetarou was staring at. Surely enough, the sandaime Hokage was standing on the rooftop to their right, wearing his black battle armor and accompanied by half a dozen ANBU.

The battle-hardened man's eyes darted from the group of villagers that had once again attacked Naruto to the strange man that stood between them and their target. "Arrest them," he commanded, gesturing towards a dog masked ANBU to his right.

The ANBU captain was just about to give his command before he was interrupted by a cold voice. "No." Now everyone was looking at Kagetarou once more as he eyed the villagers. "You people… attempted to kill my lord's grandson. … Imprisonment will be too kind a punishment for you. I will kill you all myself," he stated. All those present threw the man a questioning look for his first statement before contorting to alarm and, mostly among the civilians, fear.

The ninja that attacked Naruto though, simply grew angry. "Hah! You? Kill us? You don't seem to get what's going on here do you?" the chunin arrogantly questioned, thinking it impossible for a man to take them all on, and for the ANBU to just let it happen.

The smirk he got in return though sent shivers down his spine. "Oh, I assure you… I most definitely 'get' this situation," Kagetarou started, his voice becoming deeper and harsher as his own youki started to flare. "And believe me, I definitely can kill you… all of you."

No sooner did the words leave when an even larger burst of youki blasted out from the alleyway, this time coming from the shadow general. For the second time that night, the villagers ended up soiling themselves, causing the shadow general's smirk to widen.

"Heh… heheheheh… still think I can't kill you?" the grey haired demon asked, his eyes glowing a sickly green. "Heheheheh… let me tell you this; if this entire village couldn't even kill a ordinary demon lord like the Kyubi, what hope could you possibly have against a demon Overlord's general?" he asked the terrified audience. But they didn't get a chance to answer. Before they could even move, Kagetarou was already on them, punching straight through the chunin's chest before throwing the man's carcass towards the merchant who had shouted earlier, blasting out a wave of slicing wind just as they made contact, shredding them to pieces.

Neither the Hokage nor the ANBU were able to react in time. When they had gotten to the ground, the entire mob had already been eradicated, their killer now picking up Naruto's prone body.

"What do you think you're doing?" the aged Kage questioned in a threatening but cautious voice, trying not to aggravate the man that held his surrogate grandson over his shoulders, taking a small step forward as he did so.

The shadow general looked over his shoulder. "What am I doing?" he asked back, feigning innocence, his voice having returned to that of a human's. A smile soon played on his lips. "Why, I'm taking this child to his grandparents of course."

The Hokage wanted to say more, but before he could do anything, the mysterious man was already gone, disappearing in a burst of dark fire. Sarutobi could do nothing but stare at the scorched spot. It was a while before all the ANBU had returned to their stations, the Hokage following soon after.

"That youki, the one from Naruto and that man… both of them were definitely felt by every ninja Konoha. Probably by the civilians as well. The council is definitely going to get a jump on this.

-X-

(On the outskirts of Konoha)

A burst of black fire heralded the arrival of the fastest of Laharl's ten generals, with Naruto held securely on his shoulders. Setting the boy down, he closed his eyes in concentration.

"Gatekeeper! This Insho(4) Kagetarou! The Zan'ei battalion's mission has finally been completed. Open up the gate at our rendezvous point. Keep it open for a week." he mentally ordered, sending a telepathic message to the dimensional gatekeeper. He set off as soon as he got an affirmative, with Naruto once more on his shoulders.

-X-

And so ends the first chapter of newest story. And to darkvizardking69, I hope you liked it so far. It was your story that inspired this, and your challenge that made me decide to write it. To everyone, please leave a review to show your appreciation.

(1) From what I gathered, the different classes of humanoid demons in Disgaea all come from different tribes. So since Laharl is a humanoid demon, I decided to put him into a tribe of his own. As a side note, Azurae means azure, from Laharl and his father's hair colour.

(2) Zan'ei, literally meaning cutting shadow. A nod towards an old time favourite game of mine.

(3) The ten generals I mention are the created characters that I most often used in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. All of them are the top tiers of their class. They are made up of, from strongest to weakest, in terms of their individual fortes: a ronin, a female healer (forgot the actual class name), a ninja (Kagetarou), a prinny god, an archer, a knight, a mage, a scout and a thief. I don't like using majins and angels, they make things too easy. While they won't get much spotlight, they will play an important role in this story.

(4) Insho, translates to 'Shadow general'. Once again, a nod to one of my favourite game characters of all time.