39

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Shifts in Life

A Ghost of a Chance

'I'm glad to see you've finally recovered from your most recent bout of idiocy,' Kyuubi couldn't help but comment as Naruto sat in seiza in a small room, with Chishimo off to the side sitting in a similar position. It was the morning after the incident with the ghost, and it had taken Naruto nearly that long before he had calmed down enough to think logically. Chishimo had been in for quite the shock when he had come running to find Naruto, fearing the worst after said blond shinobi had gone after the Cursed Warrior, only to find the ninja in question debating with himself about ramen of all things.

It definitely made him question the blonde's sanity for a moment at least.

'Ah... yes, well,' Naruto felt his face heat up in embarrassment as he remembered his momentary bout of... weirdness last night all too well. It wasn't quite something he wished to recall, or have thrown in his face, something that Kyuubi seemed all too keen on doing. 'I-It's not like I'm afraid of ghosts or anything.'

'Of course not,' Kyuubi placated the boy. Naruto either didn't hear, or was ignoring the smile that could practically be heard in her voice. Given who this was, it was most likely that he had not even heard.

'I mean, it's just that I can't fight things like ghosts!' Naruto continued his attempt at denial. 'Give me ninja, demons, and zombies any day of the week and I can take those things down no problem. But it's different with ghosts. Just how the hell am I supposed to hit something that can go through walls? You know?'

'Zombies?'Naruto stopped his rant at Kyuubi's word. The red haired demon currently sealed within his gut sounded... confused? Yes, she definitely sounded confused. That was a first. 'Just what made you decide to include zombies in the list of things you wouldn't mind fighting? You haven't even fought a zombie before.'

'Ah, well,' Naruto would have scratched the back of his head to come up with an answer that didn't make him sound like an idiot, but given that Kyuubi wouldn't see the move anyways, and the one person who would was likely to think he was insane if he did, the whisker marked shinobi refrained from doing so. 'It's just that, all those zombie movies I've watched with Anko-nee-chan, I guess. And if ghosts can exist, than surely zombies can too right? I'm just saying I would take zombies over ghosts any day of the week.'

'I see,' It was quite clear from her voice that Kyuubi did not 'see', but just wasn't willing to push the issue. Obviously this whole ghost fiasco had Naruto losing what little sanity his mind possessed, if it had possessed any to begin with.

'Plus I don't wanna get cursed,' and once more Naruto was on a roll with his rant. 'Anything else would just kill me, and I can deal with that, god knows I've had enough people trying to kill me, but a curse? How do you deal with that? And that's not even going into how I might get possessed...'

'Uh huh.'

'Are you even listening to me?'

'…' A pause. Not really, no.' Naruto scowled, but Kyuubi, being sealed inside of him and all that, didn't notice. 'I mean, I was at first because it's kind of amusing to listen to you trying to justify your fear of ghosts.'

'I'm not afraid of ghosts!' Naruto denied vehemently. Once more there was the very strong urge to pout and cross his arms, and only the knowledge that, A) Kyuubi wouldn't see it anyways and B) Chishimo would and likely question his sanity, kept him from doing didn't mean he didn't want to, however, just that he couldn't.

'Whatever you say, Naruto,' Kyuubi replied nonchalantly, as if she couldn't care one way or the other. There was also an underlying hint of amusement in her voice that Naruto did not like one bit. 'In any case, while it was amusing at first, listening to you babble on about why you... dislike ghosts got boring fast, so I stopped listening.'

Naruto sighed, and almost let his shoulders unconsciously droop, 'I figured as much.'

"Are you ok, Naruto-san?" asked Chishimo, a concerned expression on his face. He probably felt he had a right to be concerned as for the past fifteen minutes the blond shinobi had been making strange faces at himself, so far Chishimo had seen everything from embarrassment to anger to fear... It was almost like he was talking to someone, but that couldn't be it because there was no one else around to talk to and Naruto had been keeping his mouth shut the whole time.

Right?

"Hmm?" Naruto looked up, disengaging from the dialogue he was having with his inner vixen to look at the man sitting to his left. He blinked several times, his brain registering and comprehending the words spoken to him, then once that process was complete, he gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just... thinking."

Chishimo's eyebrows furrowed, "Thinking? About what?"

"Um...?"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer Chishimo, and then promptly closed it when he realized he wasn't quite sure what to say. He certainly couldn't tell the man that truth. How would he even say it? 'I was just having a conversation with the nine tailed demon fox that was capable of turning into a super-hot woman who loves messing with me and is currently sealed inside of my gut.' Yeah, he could see how well that would work out.

'Busted.'

'Hush you,' Naruto thought with a scowl as he heard Kyuubi's snickering inside of his mind. Maybe it was just him, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel that the fox had been teasing him a lot more than usual... and insulting him a lot more than usual. He would have pondered this and what it could mean, but was forced to change his mental processes so he could answer Chishimo.

"I was just wondering why is living in such squalor," he gestured to the room they were sitting in. The small room the two were currently occupying wasn't ugly, or unkempt or anything. The room, and by extension the rest of the house, was very basic, possessing of brown tatami flooring, paper sliding doors with the depiction of birds flying over a lake, and paper thin walls. It most certainly did not live up to the splendor Naruto would have suspected someone who held the title of Daimyo's adviser to live in.

And Naruto had no trouble commenting on that fact.

"I mean, considering he is one of the most important figures in the country next to the Daimyo, I would have expected him to be living a bit more extravagantly." Naruto took a quick moment to pat himself on the back as Chishimo's expression went from 'concerned that there was a possible crazy person in the room with him' to understanding. Oh yeah, he was good.

'Smooth, Naruto. Real smooth.'

'I do try.'

"Ah yes, I can see why you would be curious about that," Chishimo spoke, completely unaware of the fact that Naruto was keeping up two conversations at once. "You see, the trappings of wealth do not interest Mōsō-sama. So he lives frugally, as suits a man of his wisdom."

"Hmm..." that had been about what Naruto expected Chishimo to say. The older man was quite obviously a devote follower of this Mōsō character. Well, whatever, it could be as he said, but it could also just as easily be a ploy designed to make people let their down guard. Naruto would just have to prepare for either possibility. He looked around the room once more, his nose twitching. "So just where is this Mōsō guy?"

"Right here," a voice spoke up from behind the Shoji screen door. Chishimo turned his torso around so that he could place both hands on the door and slide it open, and upon doing so revealed a very large man wearing a white robe with long sleeves that flared out and hid his hands from view. Over his robe the man was wearing a strange two piece cloth that covered the lower right half of his torso down to his legs, and upper left shoulder like some kind of half cape. The unusual looking clothing was attached in the center of his chest with by a ring, and over all that he was wearing what looked like a strap made up of green and purple.

Beyond his clothing, Naruto also noticed that he was bald, with only a pair of sideburns to signify he once had hair. Other than that, the only noticeable traits about this man was his Fu Manchu mustache and the way his eyes seemed to be constantly closed. To be honest, Naruto didn't think the guy looked like an official to a Daimyo, and more like an old magician like the ones he had heard about traveling with the circus.

Not that he would actually say that out loud.

"I am Mōsō," the man introduced himself. "And you must be the young ninja that Konoha sent to help us deal with this Cursed Warrior. I hear you even managed to confront it last night when it attacked Kōmei-sama."

"Erm," Naruto took a deep breath, restraining both his gulp and the shudder that threatened to run down his spine. He wasn't about to make himself look like some kind of fool in front of the Daimyo's adviser by freaking out. When he was sufficiently calm, the blond Uzumaki continued. "Yes, I did."

"Well?" Mōsō made no gesture, but Naruto got the distinct impression that the man was asking for more information. These suspicions were confirmed a second later when the much larger male asked, "did you manage to uncover anything as to the identity of the Cursed Warrior?"

"Unfortunately not," Naruto answered, pausing for a moment as he tried to decide just what he should tell the man. "The Cursed Warrior that I fought last night was nothing but an empty suit of armor. It's possible that whoever is behind the Cursed Warrior's appearance may be versed in puppetry. If that's the case than the ghost you're dealing with is nothing more than a puppet that's dancing to the tune of someone who wishes to cause unrest amongst your people."

"A puppeteer you say?" Mōsō murmured, sounding troubled. Not that Naruto could quite blame the man, while puppets wouldn't be much of a problem for Naruto due to the fact that most relied on poisons and he was immune to such, puppeteers were still tricky opponents.

"It's just a possibility," Naruto told him. "I have no proof whether what I said is true or not, but it's a plausible theory, one that only needs me to find further evidence to back it up."

'Naruto,' Kyuubi interrupted. 'You know as well as I do that the suit of armor you fought was not being controlled by any puppeteer. Even you should have been able to sense that there were no chakra strings attached to the armor, and if even if you couldn't, than I would have.'

'Yes, well, you can't expect me to tell him that. What am I supposed to say? 'Oh sorry, but the Cursed Warrior was actually just an empty husk with nothing living inside of it, not even chakra. There's a good possibility that you're actually dealing with a real life ghost'. I think not. At least with this I sound more competent than admitting that we might actually be dealing with the super natural.' That, and Naruto refused to admit that what he fought last night was a ghost, because so long as he thought about things logically, without any of that supernatural nonsense, he could function at full capacity.

Denial was such a wonderful thing.

"Rest assured however, that I will eventually get to the bottom of this."

"Your resolve is encouraging," Mōsō said. "We have just installed a new Daimyo, this is no time for unrest. Please eliminate these harmful rulers of the Cursed Warrior as soon as possible." The man paused, but only for long enough to surprise Naruto by bending over while sitting in a low bow, hands placed on either side of his head, and his head nearly touching the floor. "You are our only hope. I beg of you."

Ugh, this was just great, how could he possibly say no when the man was quite literally begging him, stupid jerk. Now he had to stick around and get to the bottom of this Cursed Warrior business. Stupid Cursed Warrior.

Well, there was nothing to it. Naruto's job was clear and his task was set. He would need to gather information on all of the sightings of the Cursed Warrior, as well as more knowledge on anybody who stood to gain from the Cursed Warrior's existence. Naruto could only hope that this mission wouldn't get him killed...

...Or worse, cursed.

It wasn't long after the meeting with Mōsō that Naruto and Chishimo found themselves sitting in a small open door stand. The tiny place reminded Naruto a lot of the Ichiraku Ramen stand he always ate at back home, only without the mouthwatering smell of ramen or the cute waitress in Ayame-nee-chan. The walls were slightly dirty, though judging from the cracks it had more to do with age than improper upkeep. Currently, he and Chishimo were sitting on a pair of stools in front of the bar table after ordering a set of bird wings, a specialty dish of Tori no Kuni.

"Here are your bird wings, enjoy."

The balding male behind the counter set a plate of wings down on the table in front of Naruto, along with a bowl of dipping sauce and some miso soup. They wings were kind of small, and there was very little meat on them. Truth be told they didn't look very filling, but they certainly smelled delicious.

Grabbing one of the wings, Naruto dipped it in some of the sauce and took a tentative bite.

"Hey," he murmured in surprise after swallowing his food. He took another bite, chewed, then swallowed again, before a smile crossed his face. "These are pretty good."

"I'm glad you like them," Chishimo said from where he sat on Naruto's left, the same pleasant smile he always wore plastered on his face. Unlike the blond, the older male had just ordered some tea and miso soup. These are a delicacy of Tori no Kuni, they come from a type of bird found only in our country, which is how our country got its name."

"You don't say," Naruto said, only paying the words passing attention. He finished his first wing and quickly grabbed a second, taking one bite out of it and swallowing before deciding they should probably get down to business. "As interesting as your countries history sounds, we should probably begin correlating what we know about the Cursed Warrior situation so far."

"Yes," Chishimo agreed, "I do believe you are right."

"Ok," Naruto sighed as he finished his second chicken wing and set the bones back on the plate. He looked at the other wings he had left, his fingers twitching in ache to grab another. However, he held himself back for the moment; his food would still be there when he finished this conversation. "So from what I've seen the situation here actually seems quite stable, Cursed Warrior aside. Your friend, Sagi, has just assumed the throne after the death of his father, the previous Daimyo. He is young, and therefore inexperienced, so he has Mōsō, a man who is much wiser and has experience in dealing with country politics, acting as his adviser. There doesn't really seem to be anything wrong there, the set up looks and feels like a perfectly stable form of government, the wiser adviser guiding the hands of the young Daimyo and teaching him until he can take the reins of the country himself."

"Yes, that is exactly how it is," Chishimo said. "That's why Mōsō-sama was chosen to be the adviser over Kōmei-sama, because Mōsō-sama is both wise and kind. In fact, he was the reason I am where I am today. You see, Mōsō-sama made me a Paige, saving me from poverty." Naruto nodded but didn't really pay attention to Chishimo's words. To him, it just sounded like the older male was trying to proclaim the greatness of his master, rather than actually adding any useful information that Naruto could use.

"However, it's clear that someone does not like what is going on in this country, hence the Cursed Warrior," the blond continued. "The rumors that are floating around are claiming it's the ghost of the previous Daimyo who has come back from the grave, and it's caused the country a lot of unrest."

Naruto furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a logical reason for the Cursed Warrior's existence. He had gotten much smarter during his tenor as a shinobi of Konoha, but that didn't mean thinking was his strongest point. Naruto was, and always would be, someone who preferred simply confronting his problems with his fists.

"It could be that someone is jealous, perhaps one of the nobles or someone of importance within Tori No Kuni doesn't like the fact that the current Daimyo succeeded him. If that is the case, than it wouldn't be stretch of the imagination to assume that whoever this person is, they created the Cursed Warrior to cast doubt upon the current Daimyo's rule."

The people of the Elemental Nations were by their very nature, a superstitious folk. Ghosts coming back from the grave to haunt others was often seen as an ill omen. That this particular ghost was supposedly the former Daimyo of the country made even more of an impact. It would not take much to make the average citizen assume that the reason for the former Daimyo rising from the grave was because the current one had killed him in order to usurp the throne.

"Do you know of anyone who may wish for the current Daimyo to be ousted?" Naruto asked Chishimo, turning his head to face the older male who had adopted a slightly depressed look.

"I hate to say it, but the one who comes to mind the most is Kōmei-sama," the Paige told him. Naruto frowned, but didn't say anything to prove or disprove the man's words. No theory could be discarded, there was a good possibility that this Kōmei character really was the one behind the Cursed Warrior. At the same time it bothered Naruto that Chishimo was so set on sticking with this one belief and not looking at other possible theories.

Then again, Chishimo did not possess the mind of a ninja, so he couldn't really be blamed.

"I want to see your Daimyo," Naruto told the man suddenly, so suddenly that Chishimo gaped at him, a startled look on his face.

"Wh-What?" the older male blinked, his mind processing the words before he could really respond to them. "You can't, Sagi-sama no longer allows people to see him. Even I, his best friend am no longer allowed to see him."

"I don't care," Naruto said. "I need to speak with him." He needed more information than what he currently had, as well as another perspective. So far all he had come from Chishimo, whose opinion was seriously biased, and Mōsō, who had not actually given him any useful information for his investigation. Adding the perspective of the current Daimyo would go a long way towards giving him more knowledge to work with, plus with the rumors that the Cursed Warrior was the man's deceased father, the blond was sure Sagi would have done some investigating on his own.

"I-I don't know..." Chishimo started unsurely, he didn't look all that enthused about letting Naruto see his friend, which meant he would need some more convincing.

"Listen," the whisker marked shinobi started. "I need more information if I'm going to get to the bottom of this, as the Daimyo of this country, your friend must know something, especially with the rumors going around about the Cursed Warrior. If I can learn something, even something as basic as a few theories and supposition, I'll be one step closer to finding out who is behind the Cursed Warrior's existence." He could see Chishimo teetering, but it looked like he needed another push. "You're his friend, aren't you? Don't you want to help him?"

"I... Alright..." Chishimo sighed, giving in after several moments of what looked like an internal debate. With slightly slumped shoulders and a resigned look, he said, "I'll see what I can do about getting you a meeting with Sagi-sama."

"Thank you," Naruto said with a nod. "Now let's finish eating, if I'm going to be meeting with a Daimyo, I want to do it with a full stomach."

They were crouching in a large patch of grass as they waited in silence for their target to appear. The small, gentle waves of the lake lapped at the sandy shore, producing a soft sound that added to the tranquility of the area around them.

Naruto took in his surroundings with an interested gaze, a large lake with several small islands near the center. The area around the lake was made up of several patches of large grass like the one he and Chishimo crouched in, and other spots that were completely barren. Surrounding the lake and it's shore of all sides was a large field of trees, the perfect place for an ambush if one had the desire to do so. Off in the distance large, rolling hills could be seen blocking the horizon line.

"So tell me why we're here again?" asked Naruto, having finished taking in his surroundings he turned to look at Chishimo, who was crouched down beside him and staring intently at a small peninsula to the lake.

"Because this is the place where Sagi-sama used to play with his sister, Toki-dono, when they were younger," Chishimo answered. He must have realized that such an answer didn't really tell Naruto much, because a few seconds later he continued without needing to be prompted. "He will not meet with us, so that means we'll have to meet with him outside of the palace. This place is where some of his fondest memories are, and also," the Paige's eyes softened a bit, glazing over as his eyes saw something only he could see. "This place holds many fond memories for me as well."

Naruto remained silent after that, whether they met Sagi there or not, it would be disrespectful to interrupt the man when he was clearly remembering something so precious. Instead he turned his attention back towards the area around them, checking and rechecking possible ambush points as a way to occupy his mind.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for too long, barely minutes after the small conversation had passed, a large jiao made of red wood that was being carried by two oxen one in front and one in back. Walking along on all sides of the jiao were several samurai, two on either side making for a total of four. Naruto only paid the guards and oxen a passing glance, having focused most of his attention on the person in the jiao.

Said person was a young man, by the looks of things, with short black hair that had a choppy fringe over his head and a pair of jaw length bangs framing his face. He had black eyes and pale skin, and was definitely royalty by the looks of his clothing. The man was wearing a very intricate looking Kimono made of a light purple, with a darker purple piping lining the edges. Underneath the kimono Naruto could see gray clothing peeking out from the collar, and along the two slits that ran over the man's shoulders. One thing that Naruto noticed, beyond the clothing and general physical features of the person, was that they had a decidingly feminine look.

This guy was definitely one of those bishounen like Sasuke-teme, he was probably a jerk like Sasuke-teme as well.

The jiao soon came to a stop, the oxen halting in their tracks, and the samurai that had been standing guard at the front of the procession came up to the young Daimyo and said, "Excuse me, Sagi-sama, but we've arrived."

Sagi opened his eyes and turned his head to look at the guard that had spoken. "Thank you," he said, before turning his attention out to the lake. Naruto frowned as he watched the very young Daimyo from afar.

"Is it just me, or does something seem... off about him?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"What do you mean?" Chishimo asked, turning his head to look at the spiky headed blond. Naruto noticed the look he was getting, but did his best to ignore it as he furrowed his brow in thought.

"I don't know," he said at last, pausing only for a second before continuing to speak. "Something just feels...not quite right when I look at Sagi," The whisker marked shinobi watched as the Daimyo took something out of his pocket, he couldn't see what it was, but whatever he was holding seemed to make the young country leader depressed. "Then again, maybe I'm just a bit shocked at seeing someone so young ruling a country."

Chishimo gave him an odd look that Naruto couldn't place for a moment, before nodding. "I guess I can understand why you would think that," he said, then turned his attention back towards Sagi who was now wiping the corner of his eyes with his sleeve. "The truth is many people do not actually think Sagi is fit to lead due to his age, there was a bit of unrest when it was decided that he would succeed to the throne after his father died."

Naruto perked up slightly at hearing this. The information Chishimo had just unknowingly given him was quite possibly the best bet for discovering the secret behind the Cursed Warrior. Thinking on it, the whiskered shinobi was more than capable of believing that one of the higher ups had decided to create the ghostly figure that had been haunting the country due to their dissatisfaction with the new Daimyo being so young. Perhaps out of jealousy, or maybe even –

Naruto's thought process was halted, his entire body stiffening silently as the 'sixth sense' he developed for sensing killing intent and chakra usage pricked at the back of his mind. It was a small feeling of menace, so small that had it been anyone else his rank they would have missed it. The only reason Naruto could even sense the intent was thanks to his transformation in the Forest of Death increasing his ability to feel out such shifts in the atmosphere.

'Kyuubi –'

'The feeling is coming from beneath the water,' the vixen told him, having already sensed what he had and predicted his question. 'However, it's not directed at you, which means...'

'Sagi!'

Just as Naruto's mind realized who was being targeted, three shuriken came flying out of the water. Knowing there was very little time to react, the Konoha shinobi flicked his wrists, summoning his own shuriken into his hand. Another flick sent the star shaped projectile weapons slicing through the air, where they met with the other shuriken in a clang of steel and sparks. Over where the jiao still sat, the oxen became restless while the guards all brought out their swords as a threat revealed itself to their lord. Sagi himself looked just as surprised as those guarding him.

With the shuriken no longer a threat to the Daimyo of Tori no Kuni, Naruto dashed forward from his cover. From within his pocket he pulled out the scroll concealing Kubikiribocho, unsealing the massive head cleaving sword and placing the blunt end against his shoulder. Absently, he frowned at how long it had taken him to unseal the massive weapon. He would need to find a way to bring his sword out much more quickly if he wanted it to be usable in combat against S-ranked opponents.

Those thoughts were soon dispelled when three swords emerged from the water, sticking up like the fin of a shark. Naruto appeared in front of the jiao with Sagi and the guards that were trying to quell the frightened oxen just as the water in front of him burst. It was time for him to go to work.

There were three of them, Naruto noted as his enhanced eyesight took in the ninja assassins. They were all wearing the same outfit, blue gi with flared out blue pants that ended in a pair of two-toed boots. Underneath that was a long-sleeve mesh shirt, and their outfits were topped off with a gray mask that had brown spikes on the top, making the three ninja look nearly identical.

Each one of them was also carrying a bladed weapon, a kodachi, a short sword with a straight blade typically used for piercing attacks. Despite their usefulness very few ninja actually used those kinds of weapons. Naruto would have thought on it further, but the mere fact that they were here to assassinate the Daimyo of the country he was under contract with made that point moot right now. They were enemies and had to be eliminated, that was all there was to it.

Moving with the speed granted to him by his yōkai enhanced legs, Naruto burst forward, his form blurring. The first one to fall to his blade was completely unprepared, Naruto appeared right before him, Kubikiribōchō raised in the air, before, with a great heave, he sliced the blade downwards. The results were rather messy as the head cleaver severed the man in half from the left shoulder to the right hip. The man didn't even get a chance to yell before he was killed.

As a spray of blood descended upon the area surrounding the fallen body like mist, Naruto turned his attention onto his next foe.

This one was much more prepared, though from the way his eyes had widened behind his mask, he was definitely experiencing a high level of emotion; whether that was fear, shock, or anger was unknown to Naruto. The blond came in, planting his left foot firmly on the ground and swinging the massive blade in a graceful arc that whistled through the air. The ninja who he had targeted jumped back, dodging the attack entirely.

Or at least, he would have if that had been all there was to the attack. Having seen the muscles of the ninja assassin tense in preparation to dodge his blow, Naruto infused the Kubikiribocho with wind chakra, extending the blade's reach a great deal. The wind natured chakra created an extension of the blade that was at least a foot longer than it had been, and the ninja who had jumped back had only moved the bare minimum necessary to dodge the steel of the blade itself. When Naruto ran wind chakra through the blade, the ethereal green energy sliced into the ninja assassin's abdomen, opening up a large wound that caused blood to gush out like a geyser and the spine to become severed. The man fell into a heap on the ground, his hands holding his stomach closed as he bled out, staining the brown dirt red.

The last of the assassins, having seen the way his comrades had been killed, was quick to dive back into the water. Naruto was tempted to go after him, but his instincts were telling him to be cautious. A good thing too, as moments after the assassin disappeared, there was a large explosion from within the water, causing the liquid to shoot up into the air like a geyser.

"He used paper bombs in the water to cover his escape," Naruto murmured to himself, his eyes narrowing as he cursed his missed opportunity. He had been hoping to capture one of them for interrogation, as doing so may have very well given him the best lead to discovering who the Cursed Warrior was. Now that opportunity was lost, and he would need to find another way to solve this mystery.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto turned his attention back to the Daimyo and his guards. During the time he had battled with those assassins, Chishimo had made his way over to Sagi and was now doing his best to calm down the frightened ox in front.

"Whoa, whoa," he said, grabbing hold of the reins and doing his best to keep the beast from causing any damage to the jiao, as well as the man sitting on it. After a bit of work, the ox seemed to settle down, and Chishimo let go of the large beast of burden so that he could turn his attention to the man that he claimed was his best friend. "Sagi-sama, are you alright?"

"Yes," Sagi said after a moment's hesitation. "I am unhurt."

Chishimo breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad," he said, his eyes softening with gratitude at knowing his friend hadn't been harmed during this incident. Had anything happened to Sagi, the young Paige didn't know what he would have done.

Just then, Naruto walked up to the pair, interrupting what may or may not have been a heartfelt moment between friends. "While I don't want to ruin your guys' bonding moment, perhaps you could introduce me to your friend," the whisker marked blond suggested.

"Ah, yes," Chishimo's eyes widened as he realized that he had yet to introduce the man who had saved the Daimyo yet. Focusing his attention back on Sagi, he gestured towards the Konoha shinobi, a large smile on his face. "Sagi-sama, this is Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi who was sent here from Konoha to help us solve the mystery of the Cursed Warrior."

"He shouldn't have bothered to come," Sagi said, the words he used and the tone he spoke in causing Naruto to narrow his eyes. The young Daimyo didn't see this, as he had closed his eyes, but only for a second, and when he opened them his irises had gained the same sharpness as the shuriken that had nearly ended his life. "Let me guess, this was Mōsō's idea?"

"Yes, because he feared for your life, Sagi-sama," Chishimo told his friend of old solemnly, "And with very good reason. If Naruto-san hadn't been here then –"

"Hold your tongue!" Sagi snapped before Chishimo could finish his sentence. The Paige seemed startled by his friend's whip-like response, but was quick to bow in apology.

"Forgive me."

"Wow, you're kind of an asshole, aren't you?" Sagi's head snapped over to Naruto, his eyes widening for a second before they narrowed.

"What was that?" the young Daimyo hissed in a quiet voice that somehow managed to convey his anger much more clearly than if he were to shout.

"You heard me," Naruto said, ignoring Chishimo's startled cry as he focused his attention on the man before him. "This guy right here," he gestured to the Paige standing to his left, "was so worried about you that he not only traveled all the way to Konoha to hire a ninja, but also paid for quite a bit of the mission itself with money from his own pocket."

"Naruto," Chishimo started to say, hoping to stop the blond before he said too much, but Naruto had no intention of listening and was nowhere near finished.

"And yet here you sit, insulting and snapping at someone who thinks the world of you," the whisker marked shinobi continued, his eyes narrowing into a glare. "You have to be one of the most selfish, self-centered, stuck up bastards I've ever met. With a friend like you, I'm not even sure Chishimo needs any enemies."

Sagi grit his teeth as he glared at the blond, his mind teetering on the edge of rage. However, much to Naruto's surprise, he somehow managed to pull himself back and regain control over his emotions. After taking several deep breaths, the young Daimyo of Tori no Kuni sent him a look of indifference, as if their small altercation not even a few short seconds ago had not happened.

"That friendship has been consigned to the past," Sagi said, his eyes closing as he looked away from the whiskered blond. "I have become a Daimyo, the ruler of this country, but he remains a Paige now and forever." Chishimo closed his eyes and bowed his head in depression; it was an act that did not go unnoticed by Naruto, who narrowed his own eyes in anger. "I have risen to great heights. I can no longer be seen with him."

"Che," Naruto scoffed at the Daimyo, "Sounds to me like someone's gotten a big head. You're no leader, just a child with a chip on his shoulders."

Sagi narrowed his eyes at the blond, but Naruto had already turned around at that point, no longer interested in speaking with the man. With a minor huff, the Daimyo turned to his guards and began giving them their orders. "Proceed."

"Yes, Sagi-sama!"

As the jiao pulled away, Chishimo stood there, looking between his retreating friend, and the blond that had walked off and was now standing near one of the corpses with an expression of interest on his face. After a moment or two of indecision, the Paige walked over to Naruto, stopping just a few feet shy of the bloody corpse.

"Naruto-san," Chishimo called out, getting the blonde's attention to turn from the corpse to him. "Please find it in your heart to forgive Sagi-sama for his words," the man begged, causing the young ninja he was talking to, to raise an eyebrow.

"And why should I do that?"

"Sagi never used to act like this before," the older male defended his friend. Naruto wondered if he was even aware that he had not used the 'sama' suffix when speaking Sagi's name. "But then his father and sister died one after the other. It was then his heart grew cold, I understand why he acts the way he does."

Closing his eyes, Naruto released a sigh. "Whether that is the case or not, it still doesn't give him the right to treat you like that," he said, surprising Chishimo. "I know a lot of people who have suffered just like your friend, people who have lost loved ones and are now forced to rely on themselves."

Finally, Naruto looked up at Chishimo with a hard glint in his eyes. "Your friend is walking a dangerous path right now. I've seen people like him, people who have become embittered by their loss. If he's not careful, he may just wind up losing himself to darkness." That look he had seen in Sagi's eyes just before snapping at Chishimo, Naruto had seen that look plenty of times in Sasuke to recognize those eyes.

The eyes of an avenger.

"Sagi isn't like that!" Chishimo defended his friend fervently, his voice passionate and slightly angry. "I know that the kind hearted Sagi I once knew is still in there. I know he'll come back, he just needs time."

Naruto didn't respond to the younger man's defense of his friend. He had too much experience with people like Sagi to truly believe that the Daimyo could change back with something as simple as time. But then, his own experiences with avengers was jaded, so perhaps he was wrong and Chishimo's friend would eventually go back to the way he had been before losing his family. Everyone was different after all.

A glint of steel flashed out of the corner of his eyes, breaking Naruto from his thoughts and making him turn to look at whatever had caught his attention. It was a small shuriken, one of the ones that had been thrown by those assassins. Walking over to it, Naruto knelt down and picked the projectile up so he could study it.

The shuriken was much different than the ones he used. For one, his had six sides to it, while this one only had three. Another thing Naruto noticed about the shuriken was its shape, the blades were diamond shaped, and were attached to a circle in the center. Looking at it more closely, Naruto could see that if he connected the three blades with a line, the general shape of the entire shuriken would be that of a triangle. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Way different than anything he had ever used.

"Have you found something?" asked Chishimo, who had been watching Naruto curiously as he moved to pick up the shuriken. Looking over the younger male's shoulders, the Paige got a good look at what Naruto held in his hands and promptly gasped in surprise.

Naruto looked at the man curiously, frowning as he saw Chishimo staring at the shuriken in shock. "Is this weapon familiar to you?" he asked, taking a wild guess. His guess was proven correct when Chishimo nodded.

"Yes," the man admitted, still sounding shell shocked at seeing the weapon that had been used to try and kill his friend. "There are no ninja in the land of birds, but some of the guardsmen are receiving special training."

"I see," Naruto murmured softly, his gaze moving back towards the shuriken. After studying the weapon some more, and memorizing it's details, he turned his head to look back at Chishimo. "And who commands the guardsmen?"

"They are under the command of the..." Chishimo's eyes widened as he trailed off for all of one second. "All of them answer to the tactician, Kōmei-sama!"

"Kōmei, huh?" Naruto looked back down at the projectile, turning it over in his hands with a thoughtful look on his face.

'Naruto...'

'I know,' Naruto responded to the Kyuubi's voice, already knowing where she was going. 'It looks like things are about to get a little more exciting, ne?'

The vixen within his gut stifled a snicker, for once she and her host were on the exact same page. 'I agree.'

"Well," Naruto said out loud, catching the attention of Chishimo. A smile worked its way onto the blonde's face as he turned to look at the slightly naïve older man. "It looks like I'm going to be working late tonight."

Kōmei's residence was quite a bit larger than Mōsō's. A structure made in a much more traditional style then what's found nowadays, the mansion where the tactician resided possessed paper walls, a sloped roof, lifted flooring, and was about six to eight times larger than that of the adviser's.

That did not mean that the structure was large, while it was definitely a decent size, and would easily be considered massive when compared to the buildings surrounding it, the house was still very small compared to many of the buildings in Konoha.

Naruto found himself leaning against the wall behind one of the many bushes located within the mansion's walls. It was nearing dawn now, the sun was beginning to lower on the horizon, casting a darkened orange light against the ground that made the shadows that much harsher.

'Do you really think this will work?'

'Yes,' Naruto answered, his eyes closed as he tried to get some rest before he had to move into action. It wasn't like he needed his eyes to see anyways, there were twenty four kage bunshin surrounding the building, all of them henge'd to look like inanimate objects. 'All we need to do is wait, patience is the key here.'

'Patience?' Kyuubi's voice adopted an amused tone. 'You wouldn't know patience if it hit you in the head with a frying pan.'

Naruto just barely managed to withhold his scowl at the woman's taunt. 'I'll have you know I am very patient... when I need to be.'

'Hmmm... I suppose you have gotten better since becoming a genin,' the red haired vixen admitted. 'Still, I can't really picture you and patience in the same sentence.'

'Hmph! Whatever.'

'Aw, don't be like that, I was just teasing,' Kyuubi giggled in response to Naruto's huff. Her voice calmed down a second later, though it still held its tone of amusement to it. 'You know this whole plan you hatched is based upon the belief that Kōmei knows who the Cursed Warrior is, or at least has a hunch and is willing to follow up on it.'

'I am well aware of that,' Naruto replied. 'However, given that he encountered the Cursed Warrior before, I believe he would at least have a theory on who it could be. And I'm willing to bet that he'll follow up on it soon, hopefully tonight.'

'You're just getting restless,' Kyuubi teased. 'I don't think you'd be able to withstand another day of staking out someone's house before going stir crazy.'

Naruto's eye began to twitch, and he would have said something to dispute her claim, perhaps something along the lines of how he was more than capable of sitting around for days on end so long as he could accomplish his mission – a lie if he ever knew one – but the very moment he chose to open his mental mouth, a figure emerging from a backdoor of the mansion caught his eyes. The figure was wearing a blue kimono with the traditional slit in the shoulders that seemed common place in Tori no Kuni, but the thing that got Naruto's attention the most was the dark hood with a facial mask that covered all but his eyes.

'You see that?' asked Naruto, a sense of smug satisfaction in his voice. 'It looks like I was right. There's no other reason for him to head off without his attendants unless he is going to meet the Cursed Warrior.'

'Hmph,'Kyuubi huffed, and Naruto could almost picture her crossing her arms in annoyance. 'Well, I guess even you can be right at least once in your life.'

Rather than be angered by the insult, Naruto just smiled. 'I'll remember you said that the next time I'm right and shove it in your face.'

'Whatever,' Kyuubi rolled her eyes. 'Just follow the tactician before you lose sight of him.'

Naruto's smiled widened slightly as he took to the roof and began following the hooded figure he suspected was Kōmei. It looked like he had finally got one up over the woman sealed inside of him, and he was going to savor that victory like a fine wine.

With all the stealth a ninja of his caliber possessed, which was quite a bit considering the number of pranks he had gotten away with while running from Chunin – or at least, pranks he would have gotten away with were it not for Iruka-sensei – he followed the hooded Kōmei.

The man in question was walking along the streets, a lantern in his hand, which he had lit once it began to get dark out. Naruto had taken to the roofs, silently hopping from one to the next without Kōmei being the wiser. It didn't take to long for the tactician to reach his destination, whilst Naruto himself took to crouching down on a branch of a nearby tree.

'This is the same place we ran into the Cursed Warrior,' Naruto furrowed his brows as he took in the small shrine once more. He really didn't like this place, though that could just be because this was where he had confronted the gho – man! There was no such thing as ghosts! – where he had confronted the man pretending to be a ghost.

'It looks like you were actually onto something.'

'Are you saying you doubted me?' asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow in spite of the fact that he knew Kyuubi could not see it.

'Yes.'

Naruto sighed, but didn't respond to the woman's taunting. He had a job to do, and he couldn't do it by allowing himself to be reeled into an argument with the fox woman.

It was a good thing he hadn't bothered arguing with Kyuubi some more, Naruto decided, because less than a second later the door to the shrine opened up and out walked the white clad figure of the Cursed Warrior.

It's gait was slow, lilting, as it made its way out of the shrine and into the cool night air. It's armor clacked with each step it made, a haunting rhythm that was almost enough to send chills down Naruto's spine. Only his incredible stubbornness and inherent ability to deny reality kept him from freaking out.

As the figure clad in pale white Samurai armor stopped moving, Kōmei removed the face mask and hood from his head. Naruto narrowed his eyes, frowning for a second, before deciding to get some insight from his inner vixen.

'Kyuubi.'

'Already on it,' Kyuubi replied, pausing for a moment as Naruto allowed her to extend her senses from the seal. 'The Cursed Warrior before you is definitely not the one you faced last night. This one has a person inside of it.'

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. 'Which means that there are either two Cursed Warriors, or the one last night was being controlled by someone from afar.'

'That last one isn't very likely. Even if they had been using chakra strings and were a mile away, I would still sense them. No, your theory on their being two different Cursed Warriors is much more plausible.'

'I thought so too,' Naruto agreed. 'Which means that there is much more going on here that we're unaware of.' He blew out a long breath at the realization that this task had just gotten infinitely harder. 'Why can't things ever be simple with me.'

Seriously, it was like some kind of curse. Almost all of the missions he had ever gone went FUBAR in some way, shape, or form. Either someone up there hated him, or this was just Murphy's Law getting in its kicks, which, come to think of it, may translate into someone up there hating him.

'Because Kami loves you,' Kyuubi told in the way that only she could. Naruto would have rolled his eyes, but he was already getting ready to move out. 'What are you planning to do now?'

'What else, I'm going down there and kicking ass,' Naruto replied in a way that implied his answer should have been obvious. 'If this is a trap, than now is the best time to spring it, and if not, I can at least get some information by interrogating Kōmei and the Cursed Warrior.'

'Not a bad plan,' Kyuubi said after a moment or two. 'I suppose even you have to get lucky once in a while.'

'Whatever,' Naruto rolled his eyes as he prepared to leap off the branch. 'Try not to talk to much while I'm working.'

'No promises.'

Remaining as silent as possible, Naruto let himself drop to the ground, and slowly walked up towards where Kōmei was standing. For a moment, he wondered how he should do this, quiet and ninja-like or brash and Naruto-esque.

Well, he had never been one for the subtle approach, so it looked like he would be doing things Naruto-style.

Walking out into the open, Naruto gave a low whistle that managed to catch the attention of the other two people within the vicinity.

"Who's there!?" shouted a startled Kōmei, turning around towards the source of the whistle, his head swiveling back and forth before landing on Naruto.

"This is quite the party you have here," Naruto commented lightly, a small smile playing on his lips. "A tactician and a Cursed Warrior, all we need now is the hero and we can bring this little conspiracy to an end."

Kōmei took a step backwards. "Excuse me?" he asked, his voice sounding quite bewildered. Whether the tactician planned on elaborating his question or not became a moot point when the sound of steel sliding out of its sheath brought all attention onto the Cursed Warrior as he unsheathed his blade. Without hesitation, the figure cloaked in white samurai armor jumped, leaping high into the air before descending upon Naruto.

The whiskered shinobi jumped back, moving well out of the range of the sword as it descended upon the ground with a loud rumble. Kōmei decided that it was time for him to bolt, and soon took off running into the forest. Naruto thought about sending a kage bunshin or two after him, but figured it wouldn't matter in the end and decided to focus all his attention on beating the person clad in armor.

Rushing forward with a burst of speed, Naruto charged the Cursed Warrior. The figure before him reacted with impressive speed, raising his weapon in preparation to strike at Naruto as soon as he got within reach. However, as the whisker marked shinobi reached his opponent's range, he shifted his stance, running low to the ground and allowing the sword to pass overhead.

The low whistling of the blade as it cut through the air filled Naruto's ears. Several strands of hair were sliced off his head, drifting along lazily in the air as they began their descent. In the palm of Naruto's right hand, a Rasengan formed, the swirling maelstrom of blue energy signaling his intent to end this fight in one blow.

It was not to be. When his first attack missed, the Cursed Warrior jumped back before Naruto could smashed the Rasengan into his armor clad chest. With a growl, Naruto dispelled the blue ball of compressed energy and prepared to reengage the armor clad warrior.

He shot forward once again, summoning two kunai into his hand and tossing them at his enemy. They didn't do anything, merely clanking off the armor as if they were made of plastic. Naruto frowned, he had been hoping the man would try to dodge or at least block his attack, but wasn't deterred from his course of action, just because his distraction had done nothing didn't mean he couldn't make do.

At least, that's what he thought until the samurai wearing figure made his first move of the night. The Cursed Warrior held his sword above his head with his left hand, the tip of the blade pointing towards the night sky. He began to twist it around in a circular motion. At first, Naruto planned on shooting forward in a burst of speed and taking the man out before he could complete whatever it was he was hoping to finish. Such thoughts were dashed when a large gale of cutting winds picked up, forcing the Konoha shinobi to stop. The winds, which began whipping the air around him intensely, soon formed a whirlwind of cutting winds around the armored figure, a protective barrier so thick Naruto couldn't even see the figure within it.

"This is so not cool," Naruto cursed under his breath. It wasn't that he couldn't defeat these winds with his own attack; he had finished his wind manipulation training after all. No, he had a dozen ways to break through that measly little barrier. The problem was that all of his attacks would also kill the man inside, who he needed to interrogate if he wanted to learn anything. It sucked, but it looked like he was going to need more finesse than he normally used for this battle.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Well, maybe not finesse so much as a distraction, which the large puff of smoke followed by nearly three dozen clones bum rushing the whirlwind did quite admirably. The mass produced copies didn't attack the whirlwind so much as simply bashing into it face first. It was a sight that would have been comical for anyone not partaking in the battle. Too bad no one but Naruto and the Cursed Warrior were around to see it.

Clone after clone smacked into the wind barrier, which held strong, cutting into the chakra copies and dispelling them in a puff of smoke. The armor wearing figure inside of the whirlwind watched on as the doppelgangers committed mass suicide with impunity. It was almost like all the kage bunshin this kid made were sociopaths!

However, whether Naruto's clones had sociopathic tendencies or not they did their job admirably. The Cursed Warrior was so busy paying attention to the blond copies that continued ramming themselves against the wind barrier that he never noticed the cracks spreading out along the ground from underneath him.

At least, he never noticed them until the ground split open with a loud crack and the original Naruto burst forth. The armor clad figure had no time to do so much as even dodge before the spiky headed blond smashed him in his masked chin with a powerful upper cut. Due to the weight of his armor, the Cursed Warrior merely stumbled back, rather than flew back. But that was fine; in fact, it was exactly what Naruto wanted.

Once more a spinning ball of destructive energy formed in Naruto's hand, and without giving the Samurai clad warrior a chance to recover, he thrust the ball directly into his enemy's torso.

With all the power of a drill, the Rasengan tore into the armor, shredding it to pieces before the man was sent flying into a tree. It was only due to the fact that Naruto had lowered the power so as not to kill him, and the armor itself taking the brunt of the attack that he had not managed to die. As it was, the Cursed Warrior still found himself slumped against the tree, utterly defeated.

"Ha..." Naruto sighed as the remaining clones that had not gotten a chance to kill themselves via running into a whirlwind made of cutting wind blades dispelled. "Not quite my style, but at least it did the job."

'I agree,' Kyuubi made her presence known once more now that the fight was over. 'You certainly won't be earning any style points for that.'

'I don't need any comments from the peanut gallery, thank you very much,' Naruto said, causing Kyuubi to huff. Having better things to do than get into an argument with the red haired female locked within his stomach, the whisker marked ninja walked over to the slumped warrior.

The man had certainly seen better days. While Naruto could not see much thanks to the armor covering most of the guys body, the nasty looking spiral markings on his stomach more than made up for it. Of course, considering a normal powered Rasengan would have shredded the warriors stomach, he should probably consider himself lucky.

"Now," Naruto murmured as he knelt down next to the masked figure. "Let's see who you really are." His hand reached out towards the helmet and face mask, intent on taking it off so he could see who he would be interrogating. However, he was forced to jerk his hand away when purple smoke began emitting from every hole within the Cursed Warrior's armor, "What the hell!?"

Naruto watched in shock as whatever that smoke was literally melted his captured enemy into a green, viscous liquid. Skin shriveled and liquefied, bones hissed and melted, and the man's internal organs turned into goop. It was an altogether unpleasant sight, and not one Naruto had ever wanted to see before.

"Well that's... gross..." an understatement if there ever was one. Naruto crinkled his nose as the armor containing the warrior fell apart now that there was no longer anybody inside to hold it together. After a moment or two, he sighed. "And it looks like I'm back to square one."

Man, that really sucked. After all the work he had put into capturing this prick alive, the idiot had to go and use some kind of acid to melt himself. The jerk. Life was so unfair sometimes.

'Maybe not.'

'What do you mean, Kyuubi?'

'I mean we still have that Kōmei guy around,' Kyuubi said in that 'duh' kind of tone that she used when saying something she thought was obvious. 'You could interrogate him or...'

'No,' Naruto decided after a moment's thought. 'Somehow, I don't think he knows anything. He may suspect something, but I don't think he knows what's really going on.'

'You do know that everything that has happened points towards him being the culprit, don't you?'

'Which is why he couldn't possibly be the culprit,' Naruto reasoned. 'So far all of the evidence is pointing directly at Kōmei, so much so that it's like painting a bull's eye on his back with the words 'Here I am! I did it!'. It's too obvious, almost like...'

'Someone's trying to set him up to take the fall,' Kyuubi finished for him.

'Exactly, there is simply too much evidence pointing towards Kōmei's guilt for him to be truly guilty, which means that someone is setting him up so that whatever plans this hidden player has in the works goes on unnoticed.'

'So then, what do you plan to do?'

'Well,' Naruto said, a predatory smile growing on his face. With the whisker marks on each cheek stretching across his tanned skin, the spiky headed blond truly did look like a kitsune about to play a prank. 'When setting a trap, it's always good to use the correct bait.'

Here we are, another chapter complete. Sorry it took so long to get this one out; I was having some problems writing it. This is actually my sixth rewrite of this chapter. To be honest, I'm still not satisfied with this chapter, it's too canon for my tastes. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any ways to make this not canon since all of the parts in it are important.

Thankfully the next chapter should contain more original work, I hope.

Well, I'm outta here, I got places to go, people to see, and time to waste. So I will see you fools later.