Hello again and welcome to the first anniversary of my Naruto/Akame ga Kill trilogy series Uzumaki ga Kill. And hold onto your seatbelts folks because things are about to get a little wild in this one as Naruto is paired up with the buxom blonde catgirl of Night Raid, Leone.

To make things even more special, this is the 75th story I have posted on this site, so this is a major milestone for me. So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen…IT'S SHOWTIME!

Summary: Still reeling from Night Raid's attack on the palace and the death of General Budo, the Empire strikes back by sending Syura on an "investigation" into Leone's former home in an attempt to lure the lion-hearted assassin and her team into a trap. Now a vengeful Leone and Night Raid team up with Naruto to make Syura and Wild Hunt pay for their sins.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Akame ga Kill.

Author's Notes: This story takes place after Tatsumi's failed execution and the assassination of General Budo. However, as was the case in my last story, the events leading up to that have been retconned to keep the members of Night Raid alive. Everyone's reasons for being alive are the same as from the previous story, and for the same reasons explained in my first story, the only member of Night Raid that is not alive in this story is Bulat.

Also in this story, Naruto and Konoha have had an alliance with Night Raid that was formed around the end of the 4th War in Naruto canon and around the time Wild Hunt was formed in Akame ga Kill canon. Lastly, as in my previous story, Chelsea is much more adept as a fighter, which again will be a common theme in my stories for reasons I explained in my previous story.

Also, I'd like to take a moment to introduce my new story collaborator warrior of six blades. Who has been helping me not only with his input on this story, but also has contributed to a couple of scenes in this story as well.

The sounds of intense sparring could be heard along the trail to Night Raid's hideout. Currently, Mine and Sheele were going all-out in an intense hand-to-hand spar with neither girl showing any intentions of backing down. It had been one week since Night Raid had saved Tatsumi from being executed by General Esdeath, and had assassinated General Budo, and both ladies were fighting with a renewed focus.

"Ei! Toh! Hah!" Mine shouted as she fired off one powerful high kick after another at Sheele, who blocked the kicks before being knocked back. Both girls stared each other down and smirked.

"You're really motivated Mine. I've never seen you like this before." Sheele said.

"The Empire's Strongest is after my boyfriend, of course, I am. I can't let that psycho bitch get her hands on my man." Mine said and Sheele just grinned.

"I guess I better get serious then," Sheele said before she lowered her stance and went on the attack. She lashed out at Mine by whipping her arms in circular motions of attack at Mine before lashing out with an explosive shoulder strike followed by a palm thrust to the chest.

Mine the first set of attacks before nearly getting knocked for a loop by Sheele's shoulder driving into her and then having the air knocked out of her from the palm to her chest. Sheele capitalized on her reeling opponent and caught Mine by the arm and threw her over her shoulder and onto the ground, driving the air out of Mine, yet again and leaving the pink-haired assassin seeing stars.

"Ready to give up Mine?" Sheele asked with a smirk and Mine smirked back.

"As if Sheele," Mine said as she quickly turned the tables by catching Sheele with a low-sweep that took her off her feet. Mine did a quick kip-up and followed up on the now off balance Sheele with a one-two combo to the body followed by a low-kick that left Sheele limping.

Mine, seeing an opening to capitalize, went in for the finish as she looked to deliver a head kick to the now weakened Sheele. Sheele quickly recovered and caught Mine's leg and caught Mine in the chest with an elbow strike, before sending her flying with a left straight punch.

Both girls stood to their feet and were breathing heavily from their intense spar. Sheele and Mine smiled at each other one more time before launching one last attack at each other. Mine went for a roundhouse kick and Sheele countered by going for an elbow strike.

Both strikes connected and sent both ladies flying back before they both hit the ground. Mine and Sheele sat up and locked eyes with each other before at almost the same time they broke out into laughter.

"We just don't know how to hold back do we Sheele?" Mine joked and Sheele chuckled at her best friend.

"Kinda looks that way doesn't it," Sheele said as she turned and helped Mine up just as Najenda, Lubbock, and Susanoo arrived on the training grounds with Tatsumi, Leone, and Akame.

"Nice to see you two taking your training so seriously. I don't think I've ever seen both of you this focused after completing a mission." Najenda commended her subordinates.

"Well, given that this is Tatsumi's safety we're talking about, I guess it's really no surprise to see these two pushing themselves so hard. Hell, we all are after what Esdeath nearly did to him." Lubbock said.

"Hey, someone's gotta watch out for this idiot next time he decides to try and get himself killed playing hero," Mine said with a smile to Tatsumi that the wielder of Incursio returned.

"Thanks for that Mine, but what kind of person would I be if I wasn't trying to look out for my teammates all the time. It's why I have to get stronger if I'm going to protect you all." Tatsumi said.

"We can protect ourselves Tatsumi, the important thing is keeping you safe," Sheele assured him.

"She's right, you're trying to do too much on your own Tatsumi. Eventually, it's going to get you killed, if not worse." Akame said, and although she tried to hide it, Tatsumi could see the concern in her eyes.

"Akame's right. You have a team Tatsumi, you need to learn to rely on us more. I didn't bring you this far for you to risk your life and die here." Leone sternly said to him.

"Leone's right, no offense Tatsumi but we should have never been in that situation in the first place. Why you decided to stay behind and sacrifice yourself like that just, so I could escape with Syura's Teigu is beyond me." Lubbock criticized and Tatsumi was angered at this.

"I was trying to look out for my team!" Tatsumi shouted.

"You could have done that by escaping along with Lubbock when you realized you were outmatched. You could have died Tatsumi, and you would have if not for Mine and Naruto's timely arrival." Najenda said as she chewed Tatsumi out.

"She's right you know." They heard someone say and they turned to see Naruto and Chelsea arrive back from the capitol from scouting the situation with the Empire since General Budo's death.

"Naruto, I see you and Chelsea have made it back from the Capitol," Najenda said and Tatsumi huffed at the blonde sage.

"Great, just the person I wanted to see." Tatsumi sarcastically said before he received a heavy blow to the head, courtesy of an annoyed Naruto.

"Ow, what the hell was that for!" Tatsumi angrily said.

"That was for being a stubborn, thick-headed idiot. Kami, it's like looking into a mirror sometimes." Naruto exasperatedly said.

"Thank you, Naruto. Finally, somebody said it." Chelsea said, looking just as annoyed as Naruto.

"Look Tatsumi, a very wise shinobi once told me: 'However strong you become, never seek to bear everything alone. If you do, failure is certain.' Do you know what he meant by that?"

"It means that no matter how strong you are and no matter how powerful you become, the minute you try to play the hero and bear the weight of everything on your own it only leads to one of two things: a life of loneliness, or an early death," Naruto said and all of Tatsumi's teammates nodded in agreement at Naruto's words.

"Now think about what Naruto just said Tatsumi and ask yourself: If I continue down this path, what happens when I end up getting myself killed. Is the sacrifice really going to be worth it? You'll go out like a hero sure, but what about the ones who care about you."

"How do you think their lives will be affected when you're gone? How long do you think they'll grieve for you after your death? Thinking about what they could have done to save the one they cared for." Chelsea said as tears began running down her face and Mine began crying as well and Tatsumi began feeling awful for making them cry.

"Tatsumi, I just want you to ask yourself a very simple question. Do you think that Sayo and Ieyasu would be happy with what you're doing right now?" Leone seriously said and Tatsumi's eyes went wide as he thought of his two childhood friends deaths.

He remembered the grief he felt over their deaths that haunted him for a long time, how he felt all of the pain and emotions that Chelsea had described. The thought of possibly putting his friends through that same type of heartache cause him to hang his head in shame as tears began falling from his eyes.

"Tatsumi, you okay?" Mine asked before Tatsumi took off running away from the training grounds with tears streaming down his face.

"Tatsumi, wait!" Mine said and she was just about to run after him before a hand on her shoulder stopped her and she looked back to see that it was Leone.

"Let's leave him alone for now Mine. I think he's just recognizing what he's done and he's feeling embarrassed about it. You trying to talk to him right now will only make it worse." Leone wisely said and Mine frowned at Leone before nodding in agreement.

"Well, Tatsumi aside, how is the situation in the Capitol you two?" Najenda asked Chelsea and Naruto and Naruto just laughed.

"Are you kidding me, it's complete chaos. Everyone in the Empire is running around like chickens with their heads cut off since we took out General Budo. They don't know what to do." Naruto grinned.

"It's almost laughable Boss. Now that we've taken out General Budo, the Empire has gone into panic mode. Especially with Naruto being on our side, they're literally running scared." Chelsea laughed while spinning her lollipop.

"Don't get cocky you two. Remember this is Esdeath, Syura, and Honest we're talking about here. For all we know, they could be plotting a counterattack on us as we speak." The ever-astute Akame said.

"I couldn't agree more, we can't afford to relax our guard for one minute or it could cost us our lives." Najenda wisely said.

"I think you worry too much Boss. I mean we've got one of the strongest shinobi in the world on our side. And with General Budo out of commission, what's the worst those guys can do to us at this point?" Leone said as she hugged Naruto's face to her ample chest, causing him to blush and causing Lubbock to look at him with a look of envy.

"Maybe Leone's right, perhaps we are being a bit too paranoid. With General Budo dead and having someone as powerful as Naruto on our side, what can they really do at this point." Najenda asked herself with an assured smile on her face as she took a puff of her cigarette and watched Leone messing with Naruto much to her subordinates amusement.

~Meanwhile, back in the Imperial Capitol~

As Naruto and Chelsea had accurately described, it was complete mayhem in the Capitol. After Tatsumi's failed execution and subsequent escape with the rest of Night Raid, combined with the death of General Budo, and this was more than the corrupt Prime Minister Honest and his equally corrupt son Syura could take.

"Unbelievable, this is unbelievable! Those villains in Night Raid just keep finding ways to ruin things for us! Now Budo's dead, and our Imperial Forces have been significantly weakened!" Honest growled as he angrily gnarled on a giant Argentinian steak while sitting down for a meeting with his son Syura and Esdeath.

"I know father, they're like annoying cockroaches all of them! Every time you think you have one of them killed, more of them just keep popping up! And with that bastard Uzumaki backing them, they're even more of a nuisance than ever!"

"It's just a good thing I was able to have Izou get my damn Teigu back from that green-haired punk." Syura bickered as he looked at Shambhala safely in his hands once again, Izou having recovered it from Lubbock during the scuffle caused by Tatsumi's failed execution.

"I think you both whine too much, particularly for two men with your level of power," Esdeath said as she enjoyed a glass of bloodred wine and listened to the corrupt politician and his equally corrupt son whine like children.

"What would you propose we do to then, Esdeath? You've met with little success yourself in killing them!" Syura demands impatiently with a heavy glare that Esdeath gives only a cold smirk toward.

"Simple, we need to make them fight on OUR terms and before you say it, the execution grounds were not our terms. Too many bodies for them to sneak in as and not enough guards to watch for them properly. No, we need chaos they can't ignore that will smoke at least one of them out of hiding and bring them to the forefront." Esdeath states as Honest chuckles at this.

"If only that were simple, we know nothing that can bring them out except maybe an attack on their members if they were caught scouting or we find their base." Honest said chewing his meat with more force than needed to vent his anger. Esdeath's smirk was still there to both Honest and Syura's confusion, what made her so confident?

"It just so happens Seryu once met our former prisoner Tatsumi in a certain part of town before his capture a while back. We believe this town is connected to him or someone else in Night Raid, especially by how quickly he wanted to get away from Seryu. Esdeath told them with a sadistic smirk, one shared by both the Prime Minister and his son.

"If nothing else, we can at least smoke out Tatsumi again, if not more members of Night Raid. They'll be so busy trying to save the people and Tatsumi from his mistake, they'll have little time to prepare for our ambush in the burning city." Esdeath said making Honest laugh darkly at the thought.

"Father, I think it's time for Wild Hunt and myself to get back to doing our investigations. And what better place to start again than this area of town, what do you think?" Syura evilly grinned and his father nodded in agreement with an evil smile across his lips.

"Yes, my son, clearly this area of town is full of suspicious activity. Which is why I'm sending you and Wild Hunt down there to look into things on my behalf. And should you find any traces of foul activity, I trust that you will act with the appropriate and necessary authority." Honest said in a mock-authoritative voice and he and his son laughed together as they blatantly abused their authority once again.

Meanwhile, Esdeath smiled sadistically at the corrupt politician and his son enjoying their humor while pouring herself another glass of wine as a plan of her own began forming in her head and an evil smirk crossed her lips.

"Soon, Night Raid will be dead along with Wild Hunt. And Tatsumi, you will be back in my hands once again. And as for you Naruto Uzumaki, you should have stayed out of this war, to begin with. Now you will fall at the feet of the Empire's Strongest." Esdeath thought to herself as she drank her wine.

~Back at Night Raid's Hideout~

Tatsumi sat out on the cliff overlooking Night Raid's hideout. He was staring at the graves of his two former childhood friends Sayo and Ieyasu and pondered with a saddened expression on his face how his stupidity had almost cost him his life, all because he had wanted to have a hero complex and do everything on his own.

"You're still out here, guess I shouldn't be surprised." He heard someone say and he looked back to see Naruto looking at him with the same annoyed expression on his face he'd had days ago.

"Coming out here to chew me out again?" Tatsumi bitterly said.

"You don't think you deserve it. You've been out here for the last three days, and you've barely slept or eaten in that time. Mine and Chelsea are worried sick about you." Naruto angrily said as he walked over to Tatsumi, who cringed at hearing that he'd made his friends suffer again.

"Tell them I'll be fine, I just need time to clear my head and get myself together mentally." Tatsumi somberly said.

"Well here, let me help you with that," Naruto growled as he walked up and nailed Tatsumi with a heavy blow to the top of the head before pinning him down on the ground and restraining him, so he could talk to him.

"Now you listen to me. I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but I know I and all of your teammates are tired of seeing you sulking! Because if you're looking for sympathy, you're not gonna get it!"

"Not from me, not from Mine or Chelsea, or from anyone else! You've made your own bed, now lie in it!" Naruto shouted and Tatsumi hung his head sadly before Naruto sighed and released him.

"Look Tatsumi, believe it or not, I actually understand exactly what you're going through. Remember how I said earlier that it was like looking into a mirror with you, well that's because I've been and done exactly what you're doing to your team." Naruto confessed and Tatsumi raised an eye at this.

"What do you mean?" Tatsumi asked and Naruto looked at him and nodded before sitting next to him and beginning his story.

"Years ago, my teammate Sasuke ran away from our village and became an international criminal. I can't tell you how many people he hurt or how many heinous crimes he committed. He eventually teamed up with one of my sensei's former teammates and declared war on the entire shinobi world."

"When all of my teammates in Konoha discussed what to do with Sasuke, I had already made up my mind, I was going to deal with him on my own and end this war, even if it cost me my own life," Naruto said and Tatsumi was shocked by this.

"But as I told you, a very wise shinobi reminded me that the minute I start thinking I can shoulder the burden of the world alone, I'm almost certainly setting myself up for failure. That was when I realized that for the first time in my life, I had an entire village ready to fight with me, so I didn't have to go it alone anymore."

"The same thing goes for you Tatsumi. You have the best team of trained killers I've ever seen ready to fight by your side. The only thing holding you back is your own stubbornness. As soon as you sit up and realize: 'Hey you know what, maybe it's not all on me. Maybe I don't have to shoulder everything alone. Maybe my friends who have always had my back will fight with me if I just let them.' Then you'll be just fine." Naruto said with a smile and Tatsumi smiled as well as he felt a huge weight had finally been taken off his shoulders.

All of a sudden Naruto felt something incredibly soft hit the back of his neck and head and he looked up to see Leone grinning down at him while smothering her breasts on the back of his head. Naruto blushed heavily before freeing himself from Leone's ample chest (something his godfather and sensei would no doubt be all over him for) and backing away from Leone, while almost backing over the cliff.

"Leone how many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that!" Naruto panicked while Tatsumi snickered at seeing Naruto on the receiving end of Leone's teasing.

"And you call yourself a shinobi. Looks like the almighty hero isn't as smart as he looks." Leone teased, and Naruto puffed out his cheeks at having his intelligence insulted and Leone chuckled before hugging him and pressing his face into her chest, causing him to blush once again.

"Leone, what are you doing out here?" Tatsumi asked his cat-like teammate.

"Just thought I'd come out here and see if Naruto was done knocking some sense into you. So, you done moping around feeling sorry for yourself yet?" Leone asked and Tatsumi thought about it for a second and gave Leone his trademark smile and nodded.

"Good, for a minute I thought I was gonna have to come out here and start smacking you around myself." Leone said with a mischievous smirk that made Tatsumi shiver in fear.

"No, I promise I'm good now. No need to do that." Tatsumi frantically said and he nervously sweated as Leone gave him a blank stare before smiling.

"Good, nice to see you've come back to your senses." Leone said and Tatsumi breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I think there are two lovely ladies you should apologize to right about now." Leone grinned evilly and Tatsumi felt a cold chill run up his spine as he sensed someone behind him and he looked back and his face paled to see Mine and Chelsea standing behind him with almost manic smiles on their faces.

"Hello, Tatsumi," Mine said in a falsely sweet voice.

"Nice to see you're back to normal now," Chelsea said in an equally false sweet voice.

Tatsumi nearly had a heart attack at the looks on both girl's faces and decided to make a break for it to spare himself a lot of pain. But as he was about to take off, he was grabbed by Chelsea who pinned his arms behind his back while Mine grabbed his legs and both girls began to carry him away.

"Hey Naruto, thanks for taking care of Tatsumi for us. We'll take things from here." Chelsea said, and Naruto gave Chelsea a thumbs up.

"He's all yours, girls," Naruto said while beginning to snicker along with Leone as they watched Tatsumi being literally carried away by both girls while struggling in fear of what was about to happen to him. Once Tatsumi was out of sight, both Naruto and Leone fell out laughing.

"He is so dead in so many ways." Naruto hollered.

"No kidding he is, or at least he'll wish he was when Mine and Chelsea get through with him." Leone laughed along with him as they high-fived each other.

~Hours Later~

Leone and Naruto were in a rocky area of Night Raid's hideout showing off their respective abilities to one another. Leone had Lionel activated while Naruto had his Eternal Rinnegan active and both were destroying rock formations and boulders in as spectacular a fashion as possible.

Leone picked up a large boulder with one hand before throwing it into the air. She then focused all of her strength as the boulder came falling down towards her, before smashing the boulder into a hail of pebbles with one punch.

"So, what do you think of that Naruto-kun." Leone said, and Naruto chuckled at his mate's impressive strength.

"That was something Leone-chan, no question about it. But wait until you see what I can do." Naruto said as he turned his attention to a giant rock formation. He focused his eyes on his target and extended his hands.

"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto said before he unleashed a massive wave of repulsive force that completely blasted away the rock formation like it had been blown up by dynamite. He then took out his mother's blade and faster than Leone could blink, sliced the remaining rocks into small pebbles leaving the cat-like assassin impressed.

"How was that Leone-chan?" Naruto asked with a proud smile on his face and Leone just chuckled at him before walking over to him and placing a paw on his head and stroking his spiky blonde locks.

"You truly are one-of-a-kind you know that?" Leone said with an endearing smile that Naruto returned.

"Says the woman who can transform into an actual lion." Naruto quipped, and Leone smirked before pulling his face to her chest which caused him to blush madly again.

"Too close, too close!" Naruto panicked, and Leone laughed as she continued smothering his face into her ample bosom while he struggled to get free.

"For someone who's master was supposed to be some huge pervert, you sure are shy when it comes to women. Come on, be a big boy Naruto-kun." Leone teased, and Naruto squirmed in Leone's hold as he struggled to get free until he realized she wasn't about to let him go and just decided to bite the bullet and let her have her way.

Ever since Naruto and Leone had met each other, she had enjoyed messing with him like this to the amusement of her fellow teammates and the ire of Lubbock, who was jealous at Naruto for getting such affectionate attention from Leone.

Pretty soon, what started out as innocent teasing developed into something deeper than Leone could have ever imagined between herself and the blonde sage. She was always careful about letting people get close to her heart in the past, but there was something about Naruto that just drew her to him. In many ways, he was just like Tatsumi.

"You know, with General Budo dead now, it brings us one step closer to getting Honest and his cronies out of power for good." Leone said as she and Naruto sat out in front of the hideout.

"Well, that's good news for me. I hate to see another land being ruled by corruption while my home is free. I intend to be the one to help bring about change to this country just like I did with my own." Naruto said with no absence of conviction and Leone was amazed at the resolve he spoke with.

"It's a shame I have my face on virtually every wanted poster right now Naruto-kun, I really would have liked to take you out for a drink sometime." Leone said, and Naruto placed his hand on hers.

"Don't worry Leone-chan, you will soon. And I'LL be the one buying you that drink." Naruto confidently said, and Leone smiled at him before they noticed Lubbock approaching them.

"Hey Lubbo, what's up? You stalking us now?" Leone teased before she caught the somber look on Lubbock's face. Leone knew the look all too well, it was the look of someone who had been sent to deliver news of the worst kind, the news that someone close to you has died.

"Lubbock, who is it?" Leone said in an almost cold voice and Lubbock looked at her with a pained expression.

"It's not anyone in Night Raid if you're wondering. We're still trying to get a straight answer for you, but we think Wild Hunt may have attacked your old home." Lubbock confessed, and Leone felt her body go numb as anger began welling up inside of her heart.

"What do you mean when you say: 'You're trying to get a straight answer for me, Lubbock?' The Empire knew somehow, they knew about me, they knew about my home? Why else would they do this, you have to know SOMETHING!" Leone angrily ground out as she grabbed Lubbock by the front of his shirt.

"We're doing the best we can Leone…" Lubbock tried to say.

"Well, evidently it's not enough!" Leone snapped at him with tears threatening to form in her eyes. It was at that moment that Najenda appeared with a look of sadness and anger on her face.

"Leone please, let him go," Najenda commanded and Leone looked at her boss before calming down enough to let go of Lubbock and turning her attention to her leader.

"Boss just tell me one thing, how bad is it?" Leone asked, her voice almost hollow at this point and Najenda looked at her cat-like subordinate and sighed.

"Leone, I'd hate to be the one to tell you this, but Wild Hunt raided your old home about a couple of hours ago. We're still not clear as to how they figured out it was your home, but all we do know is this: That entire area is now in ashes, and everyone who lived there has been killed by Wild Hunt." Najenda bluntly stated and Leone felt both chilling pain and overwhelming anger consume her at Najenda's words.

"If Wild Hunt was trying to make this personal, mission accomplished." Leone angrily growled as she prepared to storm off before she was stopped by Naruto. Leone was furious that someone had stepped in her way of trying to gain revenge on Wild Hunt and was about to let Naruto have it.

That is until she saw the cold yet concerned look on the blonde's face and she paused as she saw in his eyes that he was equally as angered as she was. It was all of these emotions that finally got her to stop and calm down before she did something reckless and stupid.

"I can't let you go, Leone, you're too much of a danger to yourself right now," Naruto said and Najenda nodded in agreement.

"Naruto stay with Leone for now. She is not to leave this area until she has gotten her anger under control, then we will discuss what to do with Wild Hunt." Najenda ordered and Naruto nodded in understanding as she and Lubbock left Leone to cool off for the moment.

"Leone, defend yourself," Naruto commanded as his Eternal Rinnegan appeared in his eyes once again and he immediately went into Six Paths Sage Mode. Leone understood what Naruto was doing and she responded by activating Lionel and staring him down with rage in her eyes.

"Until It Sleeps" by Metallica begins playing

"Come, Leone," Naruto said as he blitzed at the lion-themed assassin and Leone charged at the same time. Leone began unleashing a furious combination of slashes at Naruto's neck and chest, but Naruto managed to dodge them all with relative ease. And as he dodged Leone's strikes, he did so while giving her a mocking smirk.

Leone envisioned that it was Syura giving her that smirk and her anger only grew as she ripped up a giant rock and threw it at Naruto, who deflected and destroyed it using Shinra Tensei. Leone, sensing the opening came right in behind the destroyed boulder with claws ready to strike. Only to be caught and thrown back by Naruto with ease as he continued to mockingly smirk at her.

Leone's anger continued to escalate as she envisioned in her mind Syura taunting her over her failure to save her home. Leone responded by punching the ground and creating a large crater in the ground that knocked Naruto off-balance. Leone looked to capitalize and attack Naruto as she quickly got behind him and raised her claws to strike him down.

But just as she prepared to attack, she was quickly intercepted by an unseen assailant. She quickly recovered to see that the attacker was Akame, with her Murasame sheathed so it couldn't kill anyone, but the blunt force could still knock a person out. Akame rushed at Leone and began flanking her from her sides, while Naruto continued his frontal assault on Leone.

Leone tried to regain control of her senses. She knew that Naruto and Akame were doing this to try and help her gain control of her rage, while also helping her to prepare for her battle against Wild Hunt. She had to stay focused if she wanted to survive.

Akame came in with her sheathed Murasame ready to strike. Leone deflected all of Akame's sword swings by catching the flat side of her blade and deflecting it and countered her attacks by trying to attack Akame with her claws. Akame swiftly dodged Leone's attacks and made way for Naruto to attack.

Naruto came charging in with a Rasengan in one hand and a Hiraishin Kunai in another. He threw the kunai as Leone swung at him and flashed above her and looked to land a knockout blow from above, much like his father did to Obito so many years ago.

But Leone, seeing Naruto teleport above her envisioned that it was Syura attacking her, and with eyes full of malice she intercepted Naruto's attack and blasted him in the face with a devastating punch that sent him flying back into the distance.

Akame, sensing the opportunity to attack quickly rushed in at Leone. Leone saw Akame coming and swung her claws at Akame. But the red-eyed assassin leapt over Leone and managed to get behind her in an instant.

"Eliminate," Akame said as she swung her sheathed blade at the back of Leone's head, but was shocked when Leone caught the blade and turned her eyes to her. She then quickly reversed their position and pinned Akame down with a look of mixed anger and sadness in her eyes.

"Leone, it's alright. You don't have to hold back around me." Akame assured her with a smile and Leone looked into the red eyes of her friend, as tears began to fall from her golden pools. She got off of Akame, fell to her knees and just cried. Lamenting the loss of her old home, her friends, and those people she knew that she had held dear to her heart.

As she grieved for her former home, she felt someone come behind her and wrap their arms around her neck. She looked back to see Naruto comforting her with a caring smile on his face, while Akame sat next to her and gave her a close, gentle, yet tight and supportive hug. Both of these things were enough to get Leone to calm down once again as she sat down between Naruto and Akame.

"Leone-chan, believe me when I say I can understand exactly what you're going through," Naruto said, and Leone looked at him skeptically.

"Oh yeah, how's that," Leone asked, and Naruto looked towards the sky in remembrance.

"Remember what I told you about my master who was like a father to me, guess what ended up happening to him," Naruto said, Leone's eyes widened in shock as the realization hit her. Akame was also stunned as she realized what Naruto was getting at.

"Your master was killed, wasn't he?" Leone deduced, and Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"Yup, when I was told he was killed, I blamed Tsunade for his death and spent the entire day mourning his death. Eventually, with encouragement from Iruka-sensei and my good friend Shikamaru, I was able to push aside my pain and focus on getting stronger to confront the man responsible for my master's death." Naruto told her, and Leone and Akame looked at him with eyes full of wonder.

"And what happened when you did confront him, tell me." Leone pressed, and Naruto looked at her and sighed, knowing that it would be best to tell her the full story.

"When I finally confronted Pain, he had destroyed my entire village and was about to kill Tsunade. I immediately jumped in and stopped him, but after a difficult battle killing some of his other bodies, I was pinned down." Naruto begins to explain.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Other bodies? You mean to tell me he can control bodies like Kurome did to us during our ambush?" Leone asks before seeing Naruto look at the sky with a conflicted expression.

Akame's hand tightens as she thinks of her sister, using the soul of Natala who was Kurome's best friend as one of her puppets... and plans to do the same thing to her too. Kurome has even gone so far as adding their former Dark Squad comrade Kylie to her collection of puppets as of their most recent battle. Naruto and Leone both notice this and place comforting hands on her shoulders, which makes her smile at them gratefully. Before Naruto notices both of them are waiting for him to continue again.

"It's somewhat similar but different. Yes, he controls the bodies of those he killed by using chakra rods he stuck inside them after killing them, but he doesn't imprison their souls like Kurome does with her sword."

"So while it's the same, I would say it's to a lesser degree of wrong than what her Teigu does. Though there is a forbidden ninjitsu that does use the same power her sword does, but that's something I can explain to you all later. I'm getting off track." Naruto explains getting reluctant nods from the young women as they shiver at the implications. His land found out a technique to use the souls of others to do battle for them like Yatsufusa...

"Anyway, I was forced to watch as a close friend jumped in to protect me, only for him to seemingly stab and kill her right in front of my very eyes," Naruto said and Leone and Akame were enraged at hearing this.

"How in the hell did you not want to kill this guy after all of that? If I was in your shoes, after all of that I'd be screaming for vengeance." Leone said in disbelief and Akame couldn't help but share her sentiments.

"I was, the problem is, I became so enraged I lost control of myself and nearly destroyed what was left of my village and everyone left in it," Naruto explained with a regretful tone to match the hurt look on his face that surprised Leone and Akame. It lasted only a second before he smiled in nostalgic happiness again.

"Ultimately, it was the memory of my father and the people I loved that gave me the encouragement to gain control of my hatred long enough to defeat Pain and avenge the lives of the people I had lost."

"What I'm saying is that when you go after Wild Hunt, think about the memory of everyone from your old home that you've ever been close to. And at the same time, think about everyone you have here in Night Raid that's right behind you, supporting you through all of this. That way, when you're taking out all of that rage on Wild Hunt, you'll stay in control and won't allow that hatred to consume you." Naruto said and Akame smiled at his words.

"And just know this, no matter what happens. No matter what you choose to do with the Emperor or with Wild Hunt, I'll always be by your side, no matter what you choose to do." Naruto said, and Leone blushed while looking at Naruto with the same impressed expression she once gave Tatsumi.

"Naruto, I've been meaning to tell you something." Leone said, and Naruto curiously looked at Leone as she approached him and placed her lips to his ear.

"When you let yourself smile, you're really sweet." She said before seductively licking the outer shell of his ear much to Naruto's shock.

"What the...!" Naruto shouted as he nervously backed away from a grinning Leone.

"Hahaha, you can't run away now. I've already marked my territory. Once you finally grow up, you're gonna be all mine baby." Leone laughed and Akame smiled for her friend while secretly wondering what a future between Naruto and Leone would be like.

About an hour later, Night Raid and Naruto were gearing up for their ambush on Syura and Wild Hunt. Mine was checking over Pumpkin and the attachments to her weapon. Lubbock was preparing his Teigu's wires while already planning about a hundred different strategies to trap and kill Wild Hunt.

Sheele was sharpening Extase while thinking about what she was going to do to Wild Hunt herself. Akame was cleaning her sword while mentally preparing herself for the upcoming assault. Tatsumi was out doing a couple of practice swings with Incursio as he prepared himself for what he was going to do to Wild Hunt for what they did to Leone.

Najenda was doing maintenance on her mechanical arm while Susanoo was deep in meditation. Chelsea was watching over Leone in an attempt to be there for her friend, as she could sympathize with the pain of losing everyone close to you. And as for Naruto, he was preparing some Fūinjutsu scrolls for storing weapons and explosives with a vengeful look on his face.

"They won't get out of this one alive, I'll personally see to that." Naruto mentally promised as he prepared himself for the assault.

And that'll do it for Chapter 1. I hope you guys are enjoying the ride so far, and things are only gonna get more interesting in the next chapter when Wild Hunt gets their comeuppance at the hands of Naruto and Night Raid for what they did to Leone's former home.

You may have noticed that callback to the manga with the fight between Mine and Sheele to open up the chapter. And yes, I know that fight was between Mine and Akame, but I decided to go a more creative route and have Sheele be the one to spar with her since Sheele was basically Mine's running mate for most of the story until her death.

As for Tatsumi being reprimanded by his teammates and Naruto for trying to do too much on his own, that was an idea that I had after reading the manga and seeing how Tatsumi always sacrificed himself trying to do everything by himself. And it was the one thing about him that used to frustrate me with him more than anything.

Especially that no one ever called him on it, until it was too late, and he had essentially turned into a dragon. So, that's why I had his teammates stand up and call Tatsumi out on his BS, and then have Naruto literally knock some sense into his thick head by telling him what could happen if he continues down the road he's going down.

As you can see, I also have Tatsumi paired with Mine and Chelsea once again in this story as I did in my last story. I don't know about anyone else, but I just enjoy pairing both girls with Tatsumi for the fun that it allows me to have with those three paired together. And if you think this chapter was the end of the hilarious moments that I have in store for those three, think again.

As for the idea for this story, I originally got the idea from the anime episode 5: "Kill the Empty Dream." As mentioned in the story, the inspiration came from the scene where Tatsumi got separated from Leone patrolling the marketplace and ran into Seryu, before she helped him find his way again.

I liked that scene and wanted to turn it into something where Seryu tipped off the Empire to Leone's home which led to Wild Hunt launching its "investigation" into her home. My story collaborator, warrior of six blades liked the idea but suggested that Seryu should only know that she saw Tatsumi in that area of town and that there's no reason why she should know of Leone or how the town is connected to her. I agreed, and the plotline for this story was set.

The scene with Esdeath, Syura, and Honest was co-written myself and warrior, as he thought it would be a great way to play off of Esdeath's sadistic love of conflict and it is also a good way to set up what I have in store for Esdeath and the Jaegers in the next chapter of the story. Oh, and for those of you wondering, yes Bols is still alive along with Run in this story. Both of whom will factor into the next chapter in a big way.

As for the scene with Leone hearing the news of her home being raided by Wild Hunt, I took inspiration for that scene from Sheele's death in the manga. Basically, this is pretty much the same thing as where Tatsumi got pissed after being informed of her death by Mine and was about to take off after Seryu until Bulat stopped him and told him to go and help Akame fix dinner while Mine recuperated.

The only differences are that it's Lubbock breaking the news to Leone instead of Mine and it's Naruto stopping Leone from going off on her own before he and Akame help her vent her anger at Wild Hunt by sparring with her. Which also helps her to prepare for the upcoming battle she has ahead of her.

As for the song choice of Metallica's "Until It Sleeps," I choose that song for two reasons. One because I think it's one of Metallica's more underrated songs that doesn't get as much recognition as it should. And two, I mostly used it to symbolize the internal pain and loss that Leone was going through and the difficulty she was having in coping with it.

By the way, that song should serve as a major spoiler for the musical selection in the next set of chapters moving forward. As this story's music will be provided by the "Big Four of Thrash Metal" (Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer). Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's about to get heavy in the next couple of chapters, so get ready.

In fact, since I'm in such a giving spirit this holiday season, I'll let you guys decide which songs I use this time around for my scenes in this next chapter. So here's what I have planned for chapter two.

In the first scene of chapter two, Wild Hunt will be getting their much-deserved comeuppance from Night Raid and Naruto. I wanted a Metallica song to symbolize the merciless hostility that Night Raid feels towards Wild Hunt. So Metallica fans, should I go with "Seek & Destroy", "Sad But True", or "Battery".

In the next scene, Naruto will face off against the Jaegers single-handedly. Now for this scene, I wanted a Megadeth song to symbolize the Empire's corrupt hold over the Jaeger's lives. So Megadeth fans, should I go with "Symphony of Destruction", or "Dystopia".

As for the final scene, It's going to be Naruto squaring off with Esdeath. Now for this one, I wanted a Slayer song to symbolize the day of reckoning for either Esdeath or Naruto (hmm, wonder which one wins that fight). So Slayer fans, should I go with either "Hell Awaits" or "Seasons in the Abyss".

Think about those choices and leave a comment in the comments section on which songs you want me to use in the next chapter. As for my Anthrax fans out there, fear not my friends. I have a special treat planned for you in the final chapter of this epic tale, so just be patient for now.

So, until next time, tell me what you thought about this one in the comments and don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. I'm DarkChild316, and I'll see you soon.

OH IT'S TRUE, IT'S DAMN TRUE!