9 ch 9

Naruto strapped on his white sandals. He had finally gotten over his orange fetish and accepted that as a warrior of Tengoku he would wear white. The straps on the sandals snapped into place. He straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. It had been almost eight months since he'd left Konoha and he hadn't had a haircut since. His spiky blonde hair was longer now; bushier; spikier if that was possibly. Naruto looked at himself in the mirror, one of the many supplies brought back in their material expeditions. He didn't look thirteen – well at least he didn't think so. His body had started to harden up from all the manual labor. He had grown a few inches as well. It was certainly not the same Naruto who left Konoha with nowhere to go that stared back at him from the mirror.

Naruto sighed and put on his white jacket over the white vest he had on. He left it unzipped and pushed the Tengoku 'armband' up his left arm, tying it securely above his left bicep. He didn't bother with a shuriken holster since he'd learnt how to make senbon out of wind. He had an unlimited supply as long as he had chakra, And let's face it- he thought to himself -the one thing I have loads of is chakra.

Naruto grabbed a largo Bo staff he had gotten from Tenchi a few days ago. "Don't go getting this one broken too Naruto." Tenchi had warned him. "It takes me a lot of time and effort to carve these to have the perfect balance and weight. I won't be making you another anytime soon."

He took it to heart. Of course Tenchi failed to mention that standing not ten feet away was Guerrera –who was chuckling to himself - remembering when he broke Naruto's staff.

Naruto spun the Bo around him, twirling it and then bringing it to a sudden stop with a thump to his right, the base of one end landing perfectly on the ground. Ready.

He strode outside of the temporary room that he had chosen on the completed second floor of the tower. He nodded to some of his clones as he walked past them. He hoped his clones would last until he came back from this mission. There was still so much work to be done to prepare this village.

He walked down the stairs to the ground floor where Jiraiya and Tenchi were waiting for him. He looked around but didn't see Senjii anywhere. His new friend had been slightly different since Hiroka had shown up; more serious, less outgoing. It was to Naruto as if the Senjii he knew had withdrawn into a shell.

Naruto needn't have worried about Senjii's whereabouts though, he appeared in the room besides him in a flash. Senjii had shrugged off his usual black clothes and also donned a white uniform, very similar to Naruto's. Senji had explained that he had his own reputation as 'Senjii the Dark Blade', but that he didn't want to go against the new look of their village. He had sounded very proud when he used the words "our village". Naruto couldn't help but smile.

In as much Senjii's clothes were now white, the style was much different from Naruto's. Senjii wore what could pass as a Monk's coat, except slim fitting. It was open to reveal a suit underneath, also all white. Not just any suit, but what Naruto would swear was a formal suit. Buttoned down shirt, slacks, shoes not sandals. Senjii looked like he was going to some formal event.

Naruto stood there in shock, mouth slightly agape.

Senjii looked at him and laughed. "Well we are representing the village. And as your bodyguard I thought I should look the part. We're going for being remembered here."

Jiraiya nodded. "He's right. In fact this mission has no financial reward."

Senjii almost fainted. "You mean this will be a freebie!?" He looked angrily between Tenchi and Jiraiya. "I've worked years just to build up a reputation where I don't HAVE to do freebies anymore! And now you want me to do it again?"

Jiraiya nodded with a smile. "Yes. You may have a reputation, but Tengoku does not." He turned to Naruto. "You will go to the city of Evora which lies south of here in the plains of the unnamed country. Naruto, your clones have proven to be very useful. I've drawn a map of where the wind streams we've charted head. One passes a few miles west of Evora."

Naruto nodded and looked at the map. It was at least a week's travel if they didn't use the wind stream. Unfortunately, he still hadn't found a river besides the main one to bring them back home. That meant a long trek back after they were done.

Senjii glanced at the map and noticed something. "Hey, at least one major stream goes to each hidden village. That's an odd coincidence isn't it?" he said, half asking a question at the end.

Tenchi nodded. "Don't worry about that right now, Jiraiya and I are still theorizing about that. For now, just focus on your mission. Evora is a Puritan city. Its inhabitants believe in righteousness and a higher power. Because of this any Chi user or Kekkai Genkai for example, is considered a demon or devil."

Jiraiya continued. "They routinely hold unsuspecting visitors to their city, and spend hours 'interrogating' them to see if they are indeed demons. This questioning is nothing more than torture designed to make people admit to anything, true or false. Sometimes they also raid nearby towns looking for demons to sacrifice to their god. They burn them at the stake."

Naruto looked sick to his stomach. That people could be that cruel…

"So," Senjii asked. He too looked a little pale. "We rescue any captives?"

Jiraiya nodded. He then looked at Naruto. "I want you to figure out a way to stop them from continuing this madness. If you can do it without destroying the city, then great. But if you must, use that Wind blast you used on Carachii."

Senjii glanced nervously at Naruto for a split second before Jiraiya continued. "And Naruto, if you can do it without going… well...all foxy on us, that would be best. We're trying to get people behind us, not afraid of us."

Naruto nodded, but he could already feel a lot of emotion inside him. Without a word, he and Senjii flashed out the entrance and towards the Wind Stream that would take them on their mission.

Jiraiya watched them go, a thoughtful frown on his face. Tenchi thought he could tell what he was thinking without having the gift of reading minds. "They'll be safe. Senjii is a strong warrior and he looks up to Naruto. They will protect each other."

Jiraiya shook his head. "No. I'm sure they'll be fine. I'm worried Naruto will go overboard and hurt someone he doesn't mean to. I don't think he's ready for that sort of guilt yet."

Tenchi looked out the doorway, now also deep in thought.

Naruto and Senjii leapt into the stream. Naruto's clones had put a clear marker by the stream so it was easy to find. The familiar yet still odd sensation of flying over took them. Naruto went headfirst this time, arms at his sides, Bo staff strapped to his back, enjoying the feel of wind around his body, the weightlessness.

Senjii folded his arms and assumed a lotus position. His body language was very easy to read, very much not pleased with this mode of transportation. They sped across the morning sky, high enough that someone on the ground could not see them if they looked up unless they had a Sharingan or Byakugan, and then only as a dot traveling impossibly fast.

The wind whipped around them, making conversation difficult. This was one of the faster streams that Naruto's clones had discovered so far. Within thirty minutes they neared the point at which they needed to leave the stream. Naruto glanced at Senjii who nodded at him. Senjii unfolded and grabbed onto Naruto's legs with one hand, essentially moving his body out of the way. Naruto faced back to where they had come from, and unleashed a palm thrust of chakra and wind. It was as powerful as he had used back in training to cancel Senjii's blade slices. It was strong enough here to temporarily disrupt the stream and let them fall out of it.

They had discussed this many times, how to get out of the stream. So Naruto was glad to see it work. However, the falling to the ground part he was not looking forward to. Jiraiya had said this method 'should' work.

'Should work' Naruto thought. '…but if it doesn't we'll be pancakes!'

Senjii seemed to have complete faith in Naruto as he shifted his body in mid fall to be behind Naruto. Naruto faced the ground that was rushing up to them, and did the same move, but this time pumping a bit more chakra into it. The ground exploded just as they were about twenty feet above it. The concussive blast of the force acted as a cushion and actually pushed them back up slightly. Naruto and Senjii used the push to flip and arc over the blast area, landing on their feet with a solid thump.

Senjii immediately fell to his knees. "Thank the great Kami that that worked!" He exclaimed. Apparently his trust in Naruto was not one hundred percent absolute.

Naruto grinned. "I knew it would."

Senjii scoffed. "Yeah right." He looked back to where they almost landed. "Hey look at that."

Naruto turned and looked at what Senjii was pointing at. As the dust settled, two huge handprints were embedded in the ground where they would have landed. Senjii 's face split into a smile. "Well you've already left your mark on this area Naruto!" he walked off towards the village laughing.

Tsunade scowled as she looked at the ravine in front of her. Her patience had worn exceedingly thin. Walking miles and miles, even with the help of her slug summons, had been tiring. Of course, it was made worse with close to two hundred children of different ages complaining for the entire trip.

She swore, if one more snot nosed brat asked her if they were there yet, so help her she would…

"Mistress Tsunade?" Sakura's voice cut into her thoughts. "What do we do from here?"

Tsunade sighed and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders. With a small heave, she chucked Sakura into the ravine. She trusted Jiraiya implicitly where things like this was concerned, so it wasn't really a dangerous thing to do to Sakura. And if she got hurt, Tsunade could always fix her herself being a medic Nin and all that.

Sakura shot like an arrow up the ravine and up into the clouds. Tsunade gave it a minute then nodded to herself. Sakura had not come crashing and screaming back to earth, so she guessed it was safe.

She turned to the assorted children behind her. "Ok form a line, and come here one at a time."

An hour later, Tsunade herself burst through the clouds. She had let all the children come up first before tiredly jumping into the ravine herself.

As she landed on her feet with a thump, she noticed immediately that Sakura had taken control along with Shizune and organized all the children into a single group. The kids seemed in awe of where they were. Undoubtedly many of them wondered if they were really in 'Heaven'.

Jiraiya came walking over to smile at Tsunade.

"Glad you made it," he beamed at her, "…but where did you pick up the army of dwarves?" He laughed at her frustrated growl. She halfheartedly tried to punch him but he dodged it well. She looked around at the island.

"Wow you weren't kidding. This place is amazing." She started to walk to the land and paused. "Do you feel that?" She asked Jiraiya.

He frowned, he did have a weird feeling every time he was in Tengoku, but never bothered with it; he didn't like heights after all.

Tsunade closed her eyes and breathed in deep. The crisp air felt cold against her lungs… then she felt it again. "Chakra," she said. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"You said this is where all the wind of the world starts and comes back to? The air here is thick with Natural Energy." Tsunade kept walking. She herself never wanted to master the sage arts; she much preferred the science of Medicine. But that didn't mean that as a Sannin she couldn't feel Natural Energy around her.

Jiraiya cursed himself for not noticing sooner. He was a Sage, but never achieved perfect control. He really hadn't stopped to feel that energy around him, but now that Tsunade pointed it out, he couldn't help but feel it all around, invading his very pores.

He cursed verbally now. "Shit."

Tsunade turned to look at him, her eyes coming off the village area under construction. "What?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Naruto has begun to feel the natural energy too."

Tsunade frowned. "He's had no training, how could that be?"

"He's a wind affinity," Jiraiya shrugged. "I guess as the wind here is laced with energy he is starting to become sensitive to it. The problem here is that this much natural energy is dangerous, he hasn't had any training. I had already decided to talk to Pa Toad, but I think I better do it now. When Naruto comes back, he needs to start Sage training."

Tsunade nodded. She stopped walking in front the tower under construction, impressed in spite of herself. It was looking massive and impressive, the third floor under construction and the white stones glimmering in the sunlight.

"OK, where do I unseal this damn orphanage," she asked, reaching behind her and pulling out a sealing box. That box had cost her a pretty penny, but it did manage to hold a building for two hundred orphans.

"How did he manage it?" Ino asked Shikamaru. News had spread fast of the murder of the two village elders. The ANBU and ROOT were both hunting Kakashi actively, so he had gone into hiding. Fortunately, enough Jounin were on the side of Naturo's Army that hiding wasn't proving too difficult…yet.

"I'm not sure," Shikamaru replied. The coroner had declared both Elders were killed by a lightning hand strike through their chests. In other words by Kakashi's signature move the Chidori. Since no one else in Konoha could execute that attack - except Sasuke who was definitely not in Konoha – that left only one suspect.

"However he did it, there's no doubt Danzo is making the most of it." A state of emergency had been declared in Konoha, temporarily suspending the powers of the council. This effectively left Danzo as Hokage until the suspension was lifted. It was a brilliant strategy Shikamaru had to admit, one he hadn't planned for.

The other Konoha Genin sat semi dejectedly around the room. The Jounins were all out 'searching' for Kakashi, so the original Naruto's Army was meeting without them.

"It's illogical to continue analyzing. We don't have enough data. All we can do is look ahead." Shino said.

Lee nodded. He was a man of action, all this thinking aggravated him. "We need to get rid of Danzo!" Lee said animatedly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, but we're all Genin. We need to get much stronger if we're to have any chance against ANBU or ROOT." He looked at the assembled ninja. "When I look at us, you know what I see? I see the future of Konoha. I see the potential for greatness. Every man and woman in this room could be the best Ninja Konoha has ever seen. We need to refocus our strategies. " Shikamaru got up and began to pace the floor.

"Someone needs to infiltrate Danzo's office. That someone needs to earn his trust so we can have access to his plans."

"A spy!" Kiba exclaimed. Shikamary had a look of disgust on his face.

"Shh. That rules you out Kiba. You're about as subtle as a rock to the face." A snicker from Neji and Lee. Shikamaru looked at each of their faces, studying them carefully.

"Why not you Shika?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, he'd be suspicious of me from the start. The Hokage has access to aptitude tests and I score very high. He'd be wary of me. No, we need someone he'd never suspect, but that he could find useful."

He pointed at Ino. "You Ino."

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "Me? Why?"

"Your family abilities could be very useful to the Hokage's office. And you're a girl. Men typically underestimate women."

Shika looked at everyone else. "The rest of us have our own mission. We need to train. We need to get stronger. But don't let anyone know how strong we're getting."

Shino nodded. "That is sound logic. No one will see Genin as a threat. And if we increase our abilities up to Chunin or even Jounin level, we'd have the tactical advantage."

Shikamaru smiled. "Yes exactly. We don't know as yet what Danzo is planning, but we will. And we will be ready."

Danzo chuckled. The latest report said that Kakashi still hadn't been found. That was good news as far as he was concerned. As long as Kakashi was out there, he was the perfect scapegoat.

After all, who else could possibly learn the Chidori? He laughed out loud in the silence of his office, the Sharingan eye hidden behind the bandages on the left side of his face spinning madly.

Naruto and Senjii stared down at the village below them. From their vantage point on a hill outside of town, it was an impressive sight. This was like no village they had ever seen before. The buildings were huge, and numerous, the town was easily twice as large as Konoha was. In the very center was a Cathedral that towered above the other buildings, its bell towers reaching up like dark spires into the sky.

Naruto shuddered - this place had a bad feeling to it.

"OK, so how do we find the captives?" Senjii asked Naruto, not taking his eyes off the village. He didn't want anyone to take them by surprise. Not far from them were two guards on the west entrance to the village.

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, I guess the easiest thing to do is…ask?"

Senjii turned to look at him puzzled. But Naruto had tossed his Bo staff to Senjii and then Hiraishin'd to right in front the guards.

"What the..!" One of the guards almost fell back on his ass. The other lowered his spear to point it at Naruto.

"Excuse me," Naruto asked innocently. "Where do you hold Chakra users like me?"

The guard who had almost fallen down threw a net over Naruto and they both pointed their spears at him. "Ha! Caught you now demon!" Naruto bowed his head but looked back to where Senjii was, hidden out of sight.

Senjii cursed until he caught sight of Naruto's smile. Damn that fool, he wanted to get caught so they would take him to the others. Senjii muttered to himself about the recklessness of his friend, and decided to follow the captive Naruto as the guards marched him into the city at the point of their spears.

He followed them jumping on rooftops, flash stepping as fast as he could from chimney to chimney, trying to stay out of sight. He watched as they pushed Naruto and tripped him, making him fall to the cobblestone floor. They laughed and Senjii had to try hard not to cut them to pieces where they stood.

They led him straight into an ominous looking building just short of the grand cathedral itself. With a word to the guards posted in front that building, they pushed Naruto inside and followed. Senjii could no longer see what was happening.

He sat down on the roof he was perched on and decided to give Naruto one day before he killed every man who was holding Naruto prisoner.

Naruto smiled as the bars slammed shut behind him. The guards laughed and left without a glance backwards. They clearly underestimated him, Naruto thought. He looked around his new accommodation. A small eight by eight cell it looked like stone floors and iron bars. Naruto could feel other eyes on him. In the cell next to him in the very darkest of shadows, he saw two feet sticking out.

"Hello?" Naruto asked of the darkness. "Who's there? I've come to rescue you."

"Hah hah hah!" A young male voice came from the shadows. "Some rescue attempt." There was a scraping noise and a figure emerged. It was a teenage boy, maybe seventeen years old. He was the oddest looking boy Naruto had ever seen. For one thing his skin was as black as his hair. His hair was thick and curly, in finger length bunches. His clothes were frayed, in a brown tunic and beige slacks with a rope belt. He approached the bars and put his hands on them.

"So how exactly did you plan to rescue us?" The boy glanced at Naruto's white clothing and snickered. "I'll assume you are a magic user like the rest of us. But have you tried channeling since you entered the city?"

Naruto shrugged and did the hand seal for a shadow clone, just as he'd done thousands of times before. This time however it felt like a weight was resting on him, like a giant sponge had just hit him in the chest. Nothing happened. No smoke, no shadow clone. Nothing.

The boy nodded. "See? The entire city is shrouded by a Magic Dampener. None of our techniques work."

Naruto saw that there were more cells in the darkness, and each had one or several people in them. His eyes were getting used to the darkness. Men, women, children. All kinds were sitting or standing in their cells. The same look of hopelessness on all their faces.

He clenched his fists in anger, the inhumanity getting to him. He sat down and tried to think of a way out of this without chakra.

Senjii woke up on the same rooftop he had been keeping watch. He yawned and scratched his neck. Tiled rooftop was not the most comfortable place in the world to fall asleep. He heard some guards talking about the Demon cleansing ritual they would be holding today.

"Them damn demons will be sent back to hell!" One clearly enlightened and educated man exclaimed.

"That's right!" The next chimed in. "The cleansing fire will send them back to the damnation from whence they came."

"Amen brother. Sister Agnes assured me that I would get to light at least one pillar myself!"

"You're kidding! What an honor! What did you have to do to gain such privilege?"

"My cousin from the Land of Snow brought the new parts for the Demon Suppressor. I helped arrange it." The man said proudly.

Senjii's head cocked to the side. This Demon Suppressor sounded interesting. He'd need to do some investigating into it. He hoped Naruto was doing OK.

"I hope Senjii is doing OK," Naruto sighed. All his attempts to blow his way out of the cell failed miserably. He couldn't mold chakra at all. He tried kicking at the bars, but without chakra enhancing his attacks, his body wasn't strong enough to do any damage at all.

So Naruto had sat down and put his mental capacity to work at getting out of this situation. When he had surrendered, he had just wanted to find the prisoners. Well he had found them, but he hadn't expected to be helpless. It was a weird sensation.

He looked across at the dark skinned teenage boy across in the next cell.

"Hey you." He ventured. "What's your name?"

The boy looked across at Naruto, his black eyes stark even in the dim light. "I'm Nagi Mikihara. What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied. "Where are you from Nagi? I've never met someone who looks like you." Naruto stated bluntly.

Nagi looked intently at Naruto. "Are you afraid of me Naruto? Does my color frighten you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well not really. I mean my friend Lee becomes red sometimes when he fights. That seems much scarier than you are right now. Especially with the way Lee fights."

Nagi stared incredulously at Naruto. Years of hatred and persecution, and he'd never met someone who had brushed aside his complexion so easily.

"Um… I don't know where I'm from. I was raised by my adoptive parents in a village far from here, but decided to find my own way as soon as I could." Nagi replied earnestly.

Naruto smiled at him. "Well if you want, when we get out of here, you can come and be a part of my Village." He lifted his voice for all the prisoners to hear. "That goes for everyone. All are welcome in Tengoku."

This was greeted by some murmuring. Nagi snapped at Naruto angrily. "Stop saying foolishness like that. There is no rescue, there is no after here. We're going to be executed today and there's no escape from that fact." His face became sad. "Sorry kid. There's just no way out."

"Psst Naruto," Senjii's whispered voice almost echoed in the dungeon. "You ready to make a move yet? I'm getting bored out here."

Naruto looked up startled. Senjii's voice came from a small opening to let some light in the cells.

"Senjii, I can't mold any chakra. None at all. So I'm stuck for now." Naruto replied.

"Ohhh." Senjii exclaimed knowingly. "Now it makes sense. OK, I'll take care of that. You just be ready to make your move." With that Senjii melted back into the street and took once again to the rooftops. He just needed to find someone who could show him where the 'Demon Suppressor' was. Piece of cake.

Naruto turned to the shocked Nagi. "Offer is still open, think about it after."

30 minutes later

Naruto, Nagi and a five member family of 'magic' users were tied to wooden posts inside the huge cathedral. People were still filing in, anxious apparently to witness the cleansing.

"Your friend hasn't come through as yet." Nagi said, semi-panicked. Naruto assumed that anyone would be tied to a stake and about to be burned alive.

He however felt fairly calm. He trusted Senjii.

"He will. Believe it!" Nagi stared incredulously at Naruto again. He hoped he wasn't this cheerily optimistic all the time.

The high priest and his attendants marched in behind the stakes.

"Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Flame, tonight we have come to witness once again the ritual that gives us everlasting life. The ritual that lifts up our spirits and brings us closer to our Lord Seti. " He held up a large bronze staff with curling snakes on it. Naruto shuddered involuntarily as he thought of Orochimaru.

"These 'Demons' have confessed to me privately that they came here looking for souls to devour and turn against our lord Seti!" There were audible gasps from the crowd, along with cries of 'no' and 'burn them'.

Naruto moved to speak but a guard stepped forward and clubbed him in the stomach with the back of his spear.

Naruto spit out blood and doubled over as far as the binding ropes would let him. "Anytime now Senjii," he whispered under his breathe.

It took just one second. Over the sound of the crowd laughing a Naruto being hit, he heard a familiar whistle. The noise Naruto had come to know was the slash of Senjii's blade. Naruto stayed perfectly still as the air ripple sliced into the ropes all around him. Senjii appeared in the door to the Cathedral.

"I'm still looking Naruto. You do what you can here until I can find it OK?" Senjii called out before disappearing.

Naruto nodded and took a fighting stance. He may not be able to mold Chakra right now, but he was still a Ninja and damn it if he was going to show these Baka his Taijutsu.

"Naruto, release me, I can help." Nagi said urgently. Naruto grabbed a spear from a still in shock guard and sliced the ropes holding Nagi.

The Head Priest now snapped out of his own shock. "Guards! Call the Defenders of Seti! Everyone! The Demon's are free!"

Many in the gathering of people screamed and made a run for the door. Some surged forward though, to recapture the demons.

Naruto jumped and whirlwind kicked the first guard in the face, sending him reeling back into the arms of his colleague. Naruto landed crouched, spinning again and swiping the catching guard off his feet.

He glanced over to see what Nagi was doing and paused for a second to stare in wonder.

Nagi was dancing.

There was no other way for Naruto to describe it. Nagi stepped left, then right, his back leg sweeping behind him, to some unheard rhythm in his head. As a guard approached Nagi bent at the waist and touched his palm to the floor, bringing the back leg up in an incredibly swift kick. He sent the guard flying. Nagi spun around and was back in the dance, staring down the other guards, trying to decide who to attack next.

Naruto took the decision out of their hands and lunged at them.

Senjii slapped the man across the face again. "Where is it? The next time I ask won't be pretty."

The guard laughed and spat at Senjii. Senjii smiled and in a blink of an eye, severed the man's left hand. As he lay screaming, Senjii re-sheathed his sword.

"Are you going to make me ask again? A man can live with one hand, but none, why you wouldn't even make a proper beggar now would you."

Naruto managed to untie the other family in the melee. They however chose to try to escape instead of staying to help. Naruto was glad they did. The father didn't seem like much of a fighter, and Naruto didn't need to see any new Orphans get created today.

Nagi was holding his own for now, his dancing martial arts impressing Naruto whenever he had a chance to see it.

There were many more guards than Naruto anticipated however, hundreds poured into the Cathedral. Naruto had to admit even he couldn't hold them off for much longer. He spun around and backhanded a guard across his face. He flipped backwards over a lunging spear.

No, not long at all.

Senjii stared at the metal box under the bell in the Cathedral bell tower. He scratched his head. "How do I turn this off?"

He shrugged and bent at the knees. Seconds later his sword sliced right through the machine where the words "Prototype: Property of Doto Kazahana. Please return if found" were printed.

Naruto felt it, the surge of power coming back to him. It was as if someone had turned on a light switch. He took a breath and made one hundred shadow clones. They all smiled at the stunned guards then surged forward.

Naruto glanced across at Nagi who should have also gotten access to his chakra back. It was an amazing sight.

Nagi spun and kicked the nearest guard. But his kick ended with him melting into the shadows on the ground. He emerged from another shadow to do a somersault kick and landed, once again disappearing completely into the shadows on the ground.

Naruto had never seen anything like it. He knew Shikamaru could control his Shadow, but this was something else. It was as if Nagi WAS a shadow.

The High Priest shouted once again. "Kill them! Kill the demons!"

The guards surged forward with spears and swords and crossbows. Naruto gathered his Chakra and pushed. His practice paying off immensely as a huge chunk of guards were flung backwards.

He was thrown forward as a blast of fire hit him from behind. He could feel his scorched skin burn and sizzle, even as the Kyuubi chakra worked to heal him.

He turned to see the High Priest pointing his staff at Nagi. "Burn Demon!" he shouted. "Feel the miracle of Seti!" Another long flame of fire burst from the staff. Nagi however melted into the shadows.

Naruto grew angry. That was no miracle, that was Chakra.

"You!" Naruto raged at the man. "You can use Chakra! Why! Why are you killing people like you!"

The man snarled at him. "I am nothing like you. I serve the Lord Seti! He gives me the power to serve his will!"

He leveled the staff at Naruto and blasted at him. A ball of energy exploding the ground where Naruto was a second ago. Naruto Hiraishin'ed to the last place he saw Nagi disappear.

"Nagi if you're here still get out of the Village now." Naruto's voice was steely. "Get some distance away, I have something to finish here."

The shadow to Naruto's left shifted slightly then seemed to melt through the rock wall.

Naruto turned back his full attention to the high priest, a little too late though as the man hit him under the chin with the staff, sending him up into the air. He then blasted Naruto with an energy ball, cackling madly as he did it. Naruto was sent crashing through the ceiling of the Cathedral and flying straight up into the evening sky. He could once again feel his skin start to heal even as he headed up into the sky. As he reached the peak of his ascent, he started to gather his chakra. He could feel the wind whipping at him and he almost felt as if it lent him some strength as well. He began to hurtled back down to earth the village far below.

He hoped Senjii was clear too.

Senjii in fact was looking up at Naruto from the courtyard of the prison near the Cathedral. He was covering for the exit of the other prisoners. They were all gone and he was just decimating guards when he looked up and saw Naruto plummeting. At first he was worried about his friend, falling from that height…

Then he cursed and ran; flash stepping as fast as he could away from the center of the village. Naruto knew a way to stop his fall from that height, but it would mean…

He cleared the village gate just as he felt the Chakra surge.

Naruto had gathered an immense amount of Chakra, and pushed down, using the technique he had used when they first arrived on the wind stream.

The blast was immense. Huge hands of Chakra flattened the stone buildings into rubble, dust erupting all around. The cackling of the high priest drowned out by the tumultuous destruction of the city.

Like before, the blast create a cushion for Naruto to bounce off of, and flip to safety outside the blast area. It was still a long fall, but he channeled some Chakra to his legs to help him land without breaking them. It left a small impact crater where he landed.

The dust was still pluming into the evening sky when Senjii found Naruto. He was staring at the imprints in the landscape from a nearby hilltop. Two giant hands embedded in the ground, where the village had once stood. Nothing left but a few stone walls on the outskirts and a sign on a road that read "Sinners and Demons beware".

Nagi materialized out of a nearby shadow and whistled. He looked from the destruction to Naruto.

"Sooo… where exactly is this village of yours?"

Naruto, Nagi and Senjii trudged along the dirt road. Once again Naruto wished they could find a wind stream to take them home. They were a week, maybe more, away from Tengoku on foot. Senjii had immediately bonded with Nagi. They were all warriors at heart, so finding something in common was easy.

"I hate walking." Senjii grumbled. His face lit up. "Hey Naruto, how about we toss you into the air and see if we can't find a wind stream back home?"

Nagi grinned too, an evil light in his eyes. Naruto stepped backwards… they wouldn't.

Nagi disappeared into the ground and Senjii lunged forward in a flash step. Naruto began to Hiraishin away, laughing at the play, when two hands shot out of the shadow on the ground and held his ankles.

Before he knew it, he was laying across the outstretched and interlocked arms of Nagi and Senjii.

"Wait guys, I'm not sure."

"…3" The two teenagers shouted, bypassing both numbers one and two. They shot Naruto far into the air. He waved his arms futilely, no stream up here, and began to plummet to earth. He was going to use his Chakra push to brace his fall but then he realized his friends were below him. He swung his legs below and pumped chakra into them, hoping to cushion as much of the landing as he could.

Just before he hit the ground, a large hand reached between Nagi and Senjii and grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt, keeping him from hitting the ground.

They swiftly looked at the oddly dressed large man who had appeared before them, and then at the large wagon rolling into the meadow behind him.

"Greetings! I am..." the man began to speak.

Naruto finished the sentence excitedly. "…the Magnificent Milford Mabry!"