ch 10

Naruto, Senjii and Nagi sat quietly on top the wagon. It really was a magnificent vehicle, easily the size of a house. The wheels alone stood taller than a man. With brightly colored canvas and brass piping as a visible frame, it looked as ostentatious as the owner. The wheels turned again slowly, as Mabry snapped a whip at the enormous donkeys pulling the wagon.

Mabry had greeted them warmly and explained to Naruto how he had met up with Tsunade and was working for Tengoku now. Naruto had greeted him warmly and gushed about how he remembered him when he was a child, and the magic show Mabry had put on.

At the end of it, Mabry had told them he needed help setting up one piece of their supply line, and asked Naruto to come along. Naruto happily, yet in a serious manner, agreed. This was important to his new village so it had to be done. Senjii of course agreed, Nagi tagged along to learn more about his new friends.

Mabry steered the wagon, thinking. He hadn't really needed the help, but if he was going to be affiliated with Tengoku, he wanted to know what kind of man Naruto was growing up to be. This test would either settle his fears, or justify them.

The wagon turned slowly down the path to the City of Garene. Mabry called out to Naruto and the other teenagers.

"Naruto! Kids, come down here!"

They clambered down off the wagon and landed on the ground next to the wagon driver seat.

"OK," Mabry began. "This city is called Garene. Here I will be meeting up with a major link in the food supply chain. However, I will also be putting on a show. I've been in this town before and there is a mobster here who will try to shake down our show. I sent my two aides to another city already to help with the supply link, so it's just you guys and me. I need you to protect me while I'm here."

Naruto looked up at the almost seven foot tall man with a grin. "Sure we'll protect you Mr. Mabry. You're a citizen of Tengoku after all."

Senjii watched him a bit more slyly. Mabry did not look like the kind of man who needed protection. Senjii had been around a lot of people, and The Magnificent Milford Mabry was definitely a fighter.

Nagi looked between Naruto, Senjii and Mabry. Something was up. Nagi had a good vibe from Naruto, but Mabry was up to something.

Naruto suddenly had a startled expression on his face, which turned into a sad one, then into a smile.

"What's up Naruto?" Senjii asked.

Naruto smiled "Well, with you, me and Nagi, we're now a three man cell. I was just remembering the first team I was on that's all." Naruto turned towards the town. "Let's get this mission done and head home OK?"

Tsunade watched in amusement as the Naruto clones went about cleaning the orphanage like a small army. She had already gotten over her surprise at how long they were lasting. Naruto was a near bottom less pit of chakra, and he had poured a lot into these so they would last for as long as he was gone.

She had never been good with children, so she was very glad that Sakura, Shizune and surprisingly the big bruiser Guerrera, was there. He had shown to have a huge soft spot for children and they absolutely loved him.

The white tower's third floor was almost complete. The water had been run to both it and the orphanage. Tazuna and Inari had chipped in to help install the Wind Turbines as well and they all hoped to have electricity up and running within the week.

Jiraiya had been making plans and drawing maps since Naruto had left. The creation of a new city required many things besides infrastructure. The village needed to have life. It needed to breathe and have a flow. Money needed to come into and out of the city. Food and supplies were already arranged with Mabry.

Jiraiya was also working on the entry to the island. So far, despite all the clones searching, they had found only the one way up. Many rivers down were already mapped out, but no others back up had been discovered yet. He had started a complex set of seals along the tunnel to Tengoku. He was tying the seals to the blood of the residents. His intention was a drop of blood had to be given inside the white tower before anyone could ride the river into the city. So basically you had to either be a resident, or a resident had to grant you access and bring a drop of your blood to the city first. Anyone who didn't and jumped in the river would be destroyed by a series of chakra traps.

It wasn't perfect, but it would do for now.

His spies had also sent along some information. Akatsuki was still quiet. No movements on their side so Jiraiya still felt like he had some time before they became a threat. Also Konoha seemed to be in upheaval. Danzo had declared martial law, and was making advances into Iwagakure territory. A war was definitely brewing on that front.

He sighed heavily. Tengoku was halfway around the world, but he was sure it would affect Naruto. However, this was no time to get involved in something like that. Not when they were now building a new life.

Jiraiya looked at the list of things he wanted to do today. He steeled himself and performed the summoning jutsu. In a puff of smoke, a pair of old toads appeared on the desk.

"Pa, Ma. How are you?" Jiraiya asked with a smile.

"Could be better young Jiraiya, my hip has been giving me a lot of trouble," Pa toad responded as he shifted slightly on the desk.

"Have you been eating properly?" Ma toad asked with concern. "You look a little thin."

Jiraiya grinned. "I'm fine Ma. I have something to ask you."

Pa and Ma looked up with serious faces.

"There's this boy named Naruto…" Jiraiya started. He hoped his explanation would help convince them to start training him in the sage arts a little earlier than normal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Mabry said at the top of his lungs to a quickly gathering crowd. "Do you believe in Magic?" He flourished his arms and white doves flew from his previously empty hands. The crowd laughed appreciatively and clapped.

Naruto could barely take his eyes off the captivating magician. He didn't really remember the specific act Mabry had done when he was a child, but he did remember the feeling of awe and wonder he felt. The crowd was clearly reacting in the same way. Naruto was so entranced by Mabry, that he noticed when the magician's eyes locked onto someone in the crowd and a strange look crossed his face.

Naruto followed his gaze to a girl in the crowd. She wasn't looking at the show as such, instead she was very quietly passing in between people and pick pocketing them. Naruto looked sadly at her. Her dress was a simple one made of what looked like brown canvas, with a simple ribbon tied in her auburn hair. She had to be about ten or eleven years old. Naruto spied Mabry glancing at her several times during his performance. She disappeared into the crowd again, only to reappear on the far side close to an alleyway. Mabry seemed completely engrossed in his latest magic trick now, and didn't seem concerned with the girl anymore. Naruto looked over to where Nagi and Senjii were passing around with bowls for donations from the crowd for the magician. They hadn't seen the girl, and something about her made Naruto want to find out where she went.

He slipped out of the crowd and into the alley where she had disappeared. Despite it being the middle of the day, the darkness in the alley was overpowering and oppressive. It actually gave him the urge to leave the alley far behind and forget his quest, but he pushed on through.

As he walked further and further down the alleyway, that feeling of darkness grew stronger. He peeked around a corner to see the same girl handing wallets and cash over to a tall black clad man. There were two other boys there, both also holding wallets and money.

The strange man's clothing bothered Naruto. It was tattered and torn. A deep black that seemed to absorb the light around it. There was a sense of filth around the man whose face Naruto could not see under a head of long shoulder length frizzy hair and a black top hat which was slightly askew.

A deep throaty cackle escaped from the man as the little girl handed over the money.

"See how easy it was Mirrun? That's a good girl. Stealing is easy, and now you can eat dinner. Maybe even get yourself a real dress."

Tears were rolling down the little girl's face – she looked absolutely defeated and lost. As did the other children around the man.

Naruto stepped into the alley, feeling his rage build up inside him. "Hey you! Leave them alone!"

The man looked up at Naruto and seemed genuinely startled. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Naruto replied "Don't mind that! Just step away from the girl!"

The man cocked his head to the side and pulled the girl into him, holding her there. He laughed and pointed at Naruto. A beam of black energy raced from his finger to hit Naruto square in the chest. Naruto flew back several feet to impact into the bare brick wall behind him.

He fell to the ground in a heap of dust and brick fragments. Naruto pushed himself up, coughing a little blood. That hurt.

Naruto felt like his chest was raw where the beam hit, but knew he was already healing from the blast. He stood up, much to the amazement of the man before him.

"Very few can take a Shadow Blast and live, much less stand back up." The man let go of the little girl and glided towards Naruto. His hair shifted from his face to reveal he had no face, just a bleached white skull. "What are you young one?" the skull-man asked as it got closer.

Naruto felt a pang of fear grip him, and in his panic shoved a wind-chakra blast towards the man. It hit him dead center yet didn't seem to faze him. He did however stop in his tracks and look down at where he was hit.

"Ah…wind. Interesting. You must have some ability to be able to withstand my attack. I, Ji-Hoon, will soon find out what it is. "

Naruto kicked out, only to have his leg caught be the 'man' and thrown aside. Ice-like fingers wrapped around Naruto's throat and the skull came right up to his face. Tiny red lights deep in the eye sockets glowered at Naruto. "So tell me your secrets young ninja." The voice growled at him.

Naruto felt his skin getting hot and his eyes changing. When he opened them, his iris were slit and a pale orange glow had overtaken his body. With a voice Naruto knew to not be his own, he growled.

"Get… your… hands… off… me…" A sudden blast of orange fire and the man shrieked and flew backwards clutching his hand. Naruto stood there, feeling the rage inside him, felt himself losing control. He struggled to push it back down, to bury it again and lock it away.

The man's hand had withered away, ashes still falling from where it once was. He looked over at Naruto. "Kyuubi," was all he said, spitting it out with disgust and fear. The man shrieked once more and disappeared in an explosion of black dust and smoke.

Naruto was left panting, struggling with his rage. The four children approached him, three boys and one girl. Naruto noticed they had no fear as they approached him.

"Stay away!" Naruto growled. "Just give me a second," Naruto held up his hand and pushed the anger back down. The children just looked at him curiously.

After a few seconds Naruto stood up and looked around. Yup, that freak is gone. He looked down at the children in front of him. The girl, Mirrun the skull-man had called her, was very pretty even though she was grimy. Her eyes were what caught Naruto off guard. They were a shimmering gold.

The two boys also came close enough for Naruto to look them over. "What are your names?" he asked.

The first boy to speak up looked like he was also ten. He had shockingly blue hair which was spiked very similarly to Naruto's. "I am Syran. Why did you scare Mr. Ji-Hoon away? Mr. Ji-Hoon looks after us."

Mirrun started to cry. "What will we do now? Will Mr. Ji-Hoon come back Gen?" she asked the second boy. This one had a strip of cloth over his eyes and a short staff in his hand, clearly used to guide him as he walked.

"I don't know Mirrun. We will just have to wait and see," his voice was pained as he said this.

Naruto looked at them puzzled. "Why are you sad to see that monster go? He was making you steal to survive!"

Syren looked at Naruto with anger. "What do you know about growing up an orphan? You think it's easy to live on the streets? Mr. Ji-Hoon cared about us. He made sure no one came near us."

Naruto grew angry. "No he USED you! I was an orphan too! I've met people like him before! Well maybe not like him cause he was a monster, but I met people who wanted to use you and that's all you were to them. A thing to be used and thrown away."

The other boy Gen spoke up. "It doesn't matter. Once he's here, we're safe. Once we do what he asks, no one harms us. You should leave."

Naruto stared at them incredulously. "Are you joking, is this the life you want? Stealing and scrounging for someone else? No, I can offer you more than this."

Mirrun looked up at him through her tear filled eyes. "What do you mean?"

Naruto straightened his back. "Would you three like to come with me to my new village? We are still building it, but we will eventually be the best and strongest hidden village in the world. We're starting a warrior academy for those who want to fight, a normal school for those who don't. I offer you food, shelter, a life, a NEW life."

The children stared at him. No one had ever offered them anything that sounded so good before.

"It's not real, you want something from us," Syren said stepping back. "No one would make us an offer like that without wanting something in return."

"I do want something in return," Naruto said looking at them with steely blue eyes. "I want you to be free and happy. I was alone too. I made the choice to not go down the path of darkness. I lost a friend to that path. Come with me and find a new life. If you don't like it, you can leave at any time. You have my word on that."

The children looked at each other, even Gen moved his head towards the others making it seem like he was seeing them. Gen actually 'looked' over at Naruto. "You're not human either. You're like Mr. Ji-Hoon, so if he's so bad, why should we trust you?"

Naruto was shocked. As he was about to ask why the boy thought he wasn't human, angry voices poured into the alley behind him. He noticed that the dark feeling that made him not want to enter the alley had left with Ji-Hoon. Around the corner came a mob of angry robbed citizens.

"There they are!" One man shouted.

"Those damn pickpocket kids! Let's show them!" Another growled as the mob charged.

Naruto stood in front of them and started to physically block the attacks using nothing but taijutsu. He blocked, spun, kicked and punched, keeping the mob at bay while the children stood behind him. Naruto didn't want to harm the citizens, they did have a right to be mad, but at the same time, he didn't want them harming the kids.

A few snuck past Naruto though on the far wall of the alley and were rushing the kids. As Naruto turned to head them off and defend the kids, he saw Mirrun move in a blur and dodge the attacks, appearing high on a ledge in the alley.

Syren jumped up and became a geyser of water that bounced from wall to wall, until also landing on the ledge next to Mirrun and transformed back into himself.

Gen though, was an artist. Naruto felt it when it happened, but he couldn't explain it. Gen slammed the end of his stick down into the ground and released a burst of chakra in a circle around him. He then dodged and ducked and weaved his way through the crowd in a way no blind boy should be able to. He didn't harm a single person but ended up on top a garbage bin and jumped from ledge to ledge until he too was sitting high up next to Mirrun.

Naruto paused for a second and smirked. The mob had paused as well. They're definitely joining our Warrior Academy, he thought.

Naruto laughed and ran towards the wall where they were. His strides took him on a dead run at the brick wall, then he leapt up and began to run up the side of the wall.

"They're freaks!" one villager shouted. "All of them!"

"Let's get out of here!"

Naruto laughed as the last of them left. It was sort of…nice…to have a fight where he didn't have to kill anyone.

"Well done Naruto." Naruto looked up to see Mabry, Senjii and Nagi looking down at them from the rooftop of the very building they were on.

Naruto scowled, "How long have you guys been up there?"

Senjii rubbed the back of his head and smiled with his eyes closed. "Well we got here just as that Ji-Hoon guy disappeared. I held Nagi back and explained we should give you some time to calm down."

Nagi laughed. "Good speech about the new life at Tengoku. I think you're getting better at selling it to us strays you pick up."

Mabry nodded, a huge grin on his face. Naruto was everything Tsunade had said he had become. Earnest, honest, caring and strong. Exactly what a leader should be. He had sided with the right guys for once.

"Kids, what Naruto offered you is real. He," he said pointing to Nagi, "is also a new kid picked up, we're all headed to that village Naruto spoke of." Mabry's eyes narrowed. "No child should live like this. I myself run a home for orphans. You would have heard of it probably if you've been on the streets for any length of time."

Gen 'looked' up at him. "You're Milford Mabry? The Magician?" Mabry nodded. Gen turned his head to Naruto.

"You're Naruto? The city destroyer? The Shinigami? The Protector?"

"Whoa," Senjii whistled. "That's a new one Naruto! The Protector! How do you like that one?" Naruto grinned like an idiot with a smile that threatened to split his face in two.

"I guess Jiraiya's spy network has been hard at work spreading rumors," Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

The three children (though they were only three years younger than Naruto, he couldn't help but think of them as children) nodded to each other.

Syran spoke up. "We've heard of you Mr. Mabry. We'd go with you. We've also heard of Naruto, some of it good things, so we'll trust you."

Mabry nodded. "Great. Now a quick note here guys." He looked at Naruto, Senjii and Nagi. "You should get ready for a battle, oh I'd say in the next minute at most."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Yup, you see I didn't realize that the Nefari worked this far north, they're usually much lower south, closer to the Land of the Dead. Must be looking to add to their arsenal."

"What does that mean?" Senjii asked, clutching his blade.

"The Nefari are half demons. They come from the Land of the Dead which is a huge island far south of here. They corrupt people and claim their souls, make them their slaves, subordinates, warriors, etc. They can only claim a soul that's been completely corrupted. I imagine this one, Mr. Ji-Hoon, would have eventually asked these kids to kill someone. The act of murder splits the soul. He'd have been able to completely claim these kids after that."

"What does that have to do with a battle?" Nagi asked, feeling a cold wind start to blow.

"Well he's put a lot of effort into these three, I'm guessing the time it takes him to find reinforcements won't be long, so he'll be coming back to finish off Naruto."

The wind was now a gale, and dark clouds had gathered overhead.

"Wonderful," Naruto muttered.

Shadows started to come down the alleyway.

"Oh one more thing," Mabry shouted out, "Only Demon magic can kill a demon. Kinjutsu, forbidden arts and the like. You're not likely going to do much damage with, a sword," he looked at Senjii, "or Capoeira" he looked at Nagi. He reached into his magnificently brilliant coat and pulled out a small dagger that was intricately designed with carvings. He tossed it to Senjii. "Here use this." He reached again into his jacket and pulled out a pair of white gloves with runes written on them. He tossed them to Nagi. "Put these on."

As he did that, voices and screams echoed down the alleyway. "What about me?" Naruto shouted over the din.

Mabry smiled. "You're a walking talking Demon exterminator. Just do your thing Naruto!" Mabry struck a heroic pose and grabbed the three children in his grasp. "Meet you back at the wagon in fifteen minutes. Hurry up, cause we won't wait for you."

In a flash of stage magic, Mabry was gone with the kids, leaving Naruto, Senjii and Nagi to face the suddenly very visible horde of various monsters, demons and warriors.

"Crap," Senjii said and moved in with his dagger as Nagi hurriedly slipped on his gloves and Naruto took a ready stance.

The demon horde looked like something out of a nightmare. Gnashing teeth, fangs and rotted flesh. Naruto's eyes opened wide as the bodies spilled into the narrow alley. The oppressive feeling was back, and a loud cackle over the din belied the presence of Mr. Ji-Hoon.

Nagi and Senjii appeared on either side of Naruto. Senjii held the dagger in his hand with distaste.

"What the hell am I gonna do with this small thing? Pin-prick them to death?" Senjii asked disgustedly.

Nagi fingered the gloves. "Capoeira is mostly kicks, couldn't he give me some demon killing shoes?"

Naruto looked grim. "I'm not sure I can control my…" he glanced at Nagi, who didn't know his secret as yet, "...resident either."

Nagi glanced at him and laughed. "Senjii already filled me in. He seems quite proud of what you're doing there. So you don't think it will help?"

The first zombie lurched forward. Senjii stepped in front the trio and plunged the dagger into the brain of the carnivorous walking corpse. The creature shrieked and fell to the floor convulsing for a few seconds before it lay still. Senjii stepped back and looked with renewed disgust at the black tar like blood that stained his dagger.

A tall beast that was neither human nor bull yet both reached for Nagi. He melted into the shadows and popped back out in a spinning kick, the kick landed solidly, pushing the beast into Naruto who was now fighting off two zombies of his own.

Naruto and the beast went tumbling down, the beast pinning Naruto under him. Naruto grunted and pushed an air blast into the beast's stomach. It erupted in a fountain of flesh and tar like blood.

Naruto heaved and threw the monster to the side. The pair of zombies he had been battling lunged for his neck, but Senjii backhanded one while Nagi unleashed a punch on the other that caved in its skull.

The one Senjii hit came back but a quick dagger to the head and it too fell.

More monsters piled into the alley. Naruto assessed quickly.

"The narrow alley means they can't attack us more than two or three at a time. Senjii and Nagi, if you can hold them off long enough, I'll try to call on some of the Kyuubi's Chakra for a mass effect jutsu."

The Bull-monster began to get back up despite having its chest blown out, but Nagi punched it in the face, smashing its brain.

The next wave of attackers rushed them, three skeleton warriors with swords. Naruto dug deep inside, and felt that familiar feeling. The rage, anger, hate. He felt it like a pool, just waiting there. He tried to let just a little rise to the surface, just a tiny amount.

Red chakra erupted over his body like flames. Nagi and Senjii were both dispatching the undead creatures in front of them while Naruto raged at the chakra building up in him. His eyes were closed tightly as he sought to control it. He opened them and felt the difference, his irises were slit and the raw energy was flowing through him.

Nagi and Senjii were doing their best, but the creatures started to pile up and it made it difficult to move. The horde had begun to clamber over the fallen.

"I'm ready, move behind me." Naruto shouted over the roaring and screaming creatures.

Nagi and Senjii both moved in a flash behind Naruto who was already gathering as much chakra as he could. Naruto could physically feel the difference between his own and the Kyuubi's chakra. He had done it once before, he hoped he could do it again.

He focused on internalizing the chakra and mixing it with his. He felt the violent rejection at first, then the merging of the chakras. He exhaled and pushed forward with both palms sending a shock wave of mixed demon and human chakra slicing through the horde of monsters. The result was catastrophic.

When the dust settled, only one shadow moved. Ji-Hoon emerged from the ground, passing through the cobblestone as if he were nothing more than a ghost.

"Curse you Kyuubi! Magnon shall hear of your treachery! Turning against your own kind!" Ji-Hoon spit at Naruto. In a puff of black smoke and amidst a screeching noise, he disappeared.

Naruto, Senjii and Nagi stood panting. Black blood stained all of them, a mounting of bodies almost blocking them into their end of the alley.

"When we get back to Tengoku, I am getting a damn demon killing sword instead of this children's toy," Senjii said spitefully. Nagi just nodded breathlessly.

Naruto sighed, feeling very drained.

Twenty minutes since the fight began a very tired and battle weary trio of Tengoku warriors emerged from the crumbling alley to find that the wagon had already left. They would need to run to catch up to it. On the ground where the wagon had been was a note.

"Too slow. Work on your speed. Catch up down the Northern road. We're going straight to Tengoku. Our new guests are Mirrun Tatsumi, Syran Basia and Gennosuke Odagiri. Pick up some meat for dinner tonight –The Magnificent Milford Mabry"

The trio of friends sighed and headed on down the road after Mabry. After a brief stop at the market for some meat that is.

Konoha

"Again!" Lee told himself as he launched forward, this was his twentieth sprint through the length of Konoha. He had increased his weights to the point that at twenty laps, he could barely stand up. But that was the point, to push himself.

His feet moved in quick succession. To a normal person watching, it may have looked like a quick jog, but anyone of Jounin level would see how much Lee was struggling to move.

He passed by Ino's flower shop and saw for the twentieth time her sitting by her bedroom window above the shop in a trancelike state. He knew Ino had been practicing jumping from body to body using her mind switch technique. Usually at this stage of his run she'd try to keep pace with him. This time was no different.

The first person he saw on the sidewalk turned and smiled at him. "Let's go again Lee." He kept running as fast as he could, inspired by Ino's hard work. A few steps further down a green grocer turned around and smiled at him "Come on slowpoke, can't you keep up?" Lee grinned and pushed harder. And so it continued until Ino couldn't reach any further and had to go back to her body to rest.

Lee made it to the end of Konoha in a few minutes and stopped. He leaned against a stone wall and dry heaved. His body was being pushed to his limit. But he knew it would work, he would get stronger, faster.

He looked out into the training ground closest to where he was standing. He could make out Ten Ten and Neji doing similar exercises.

They were all doing them, all the Konoha Genin and Chunnin in on the plot. They were getting stronger in preparation for the day they overthrew Danzo.

Elsewhere

Kakashi looked around his house. He sighed at the collection of brightly colored books on his bookshelf. At least when the ANBU had searched his place they hadn't destroyed it. They'd left his books too. It helped he was a former commander of the ANBU and they for the most part didn't believe he was guilty either.

He hefted the small bag he had packed and strung it over his back. He took one last look around.

"I won't be back for a while house, don't fall apart on me. I promise I'll get someone to clean you once a week." He said to no one in particular. He stopped at the small shrine he had for his father, the White Fang of Konoha. He lit incense and nodded.

"*sigh* Tengoku, huh? Nice name for a Village." He smiled under his mask and disappeared from his house, and the village.