Shadow of a Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters… If I did, then Sasuke would be dead and Itachi would have his eyes.

A/N: So… This is my shot at a Naruto AU. I hope this turns out better than my little old pessimistic self is thinking it will be. A few beginning notes. This print means a demon is speaking (Except Akuma). Anything italicized is emphasized or is an author's note, I'm sure you can differentiate. Two quotes mean dialogue, one means thoughts. This chapter basically is going to get all of the training over and done with so we can get to action next chapter. Yay! Okay, now with the intros covered, on with the story!

Edit: Argh, stupid thing didn't put in section breakers so I had to do it by myself... What a drag.

Chapter 1 – The road to power: Crushed and getting back up

Flames danced inside the shadows of the wreckage. The light of the flames invading the shadows' territory and forcing it to back off. Bodies of humans, mutilated enough to cover their identity, were strewn across the ashen and bloodstained pavement. The light given off by the sun overhead seemed to be dyed crimson fitting the unfolded carnage. A boy, no older than six, stood fully erect, standing tall above the soulless bodies of the victims around him. A single tear had escaped his eye, and he silently asked himself in morbid fear.

'What have I done?'

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The alarm clock rang anew, blaring its designated sound effects like a siren. The plastic shell of the clock seemed to bow as a taut fist collided with its top, silencing the annoyance, and granting the one next to it his peace. The boy woke up with a start after remembering his dream, but he dismissed it as a nightmare.

Once realizing what day it was, he all but flew out of his bed; uncharacteristically for one who enjoyed sleep like him. The boy ran a worried eye over his calendar and his fear was confirmed. Nineteen X's were visible on the calendar, leaving the first uncrossed one to read the number 20. Today was October 20th, the day he feared most. His birthday, the day the mobs came to get him.

Naruto Uzumaki made sure he had food in his fridge, and then ran to the door at the end of the hallway in his small apartment. He sealed three boards of wood onto the door and placed a rather large mattress in front. He went to the only window in his apartment and placed boards over it aswell, causing all light in the tiny apartment to cease. Normally this would cause one to become insane, stuck in pure darkness all day, seeing as the lights didn't work, but for Naruto, this was his safe cover. He would much rather be stuck in here than be held outside to the mercy of several mobs.

Quite frankly, the blonde boy preferred the lesser of the two evils.

"Everyone prefers the lesser of two evils, unless they are masochists." A voice said.

"Who's there?!" Naruto shouted. He immediately became worried. First they attacked on the outside, now they're going inside of his head?

"Relax kid. I don't mean any harm. I merely want to help you. Also, keep it down… all you have to do is think and I'll hear." The voice had a ring of compassion to it, yet at the same time, sounded almost… demonic.

Several knocks were heard. Then Naruto spotted a black shape fly through the darkness. He was sure it was the mattress. Light flooded into the room and shadows became visible.

'Why do you want to help me?' Naruto asked.

"We have the same goals. I'm sure you want revenge against Konoha for disgracing you, and I want to see Konoha in ashes for disgracing my family. We are in the same boat here!" The voice seemed to be getting angry.

'How did they disgrace you?'

"Long story… Besides, a mob is coming, and you might want to defend yourself… or let me." The voice said.

'Wait what?' Naruto lost control of his body as it began to move by itself. "I'll show you." The voice said.

All of a sudden, Naruto's body acted independently of his mind, brutally slaughtering anyone from the mob who came near him. Blood splashed down from the destroyed people as the limply fell to the floor. Several ninjas were part of the mob, and tried different things in killing the poor boy. Some tried fire, some tried knives, and one even tried explosive notes, which blew up a fair amount of the entire building.

Watching from the eyes of his possessed body, Naruto was appalled at the fighting skill of this voice in his head. Corpses were everywhere, mob members killed by both parties. It seemed that the whole apartment complex was leveled save for a few buildings, only half-leveled. Fires burnt everywhere and the sun seemed to glow crimson. An attack of déjà vu struck Naruto as he realized it was exactly like his dream.

'What have I done?' A single tear slid down his cheek.

"We have no time to cry now. It's time to get out of the village and show what your true potential can unlock. I'll give control back to you, and all will be explained once we arrive at a safe spot." The voice explained. Since the whole terrain around Naruto was destroyed, he figured he might as well start anew somewhere else. The boy took the voice's advice and fled, leaving the carnage around and his past behind him.

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It seemed like hours of running, after stopping at a river, he proceeded to wash his bloodstained face in the icy waters. He decided to not worry about his clothes, almost shredded in pieces but better than nothing at all. He stopped and sat slumped down against a tree, resting his tired and sore body.

"It seems as if this is as far as you can go," the voice commented. "Very well. I will explain. My name is Kyuubi. My full title is the Kyuubi no Kitsune, lord of demons and king of the Bijuu. You don't have to refer to me with my full title, notwithstanding the fact that most of my servants greet me with that, you may merely refer to me as Kyuubi."

'What are we going to do now that I'm all the way out here?' Naruto asked the newly revealed Kyuubi.

Kyuubi chuckled. "I'm surprised that you are not afraid of me. After all, I was sealed into you by the Fourth… I am why they hate you."

'What, you?!' Naruto mentally yelled

"I assure you, I never meant for it to happen this way. You see, I merely wanted revenge on Konoha for disgracing my family and I figured destroying the village would work. Sadly, that bastard Fourth Hokage summoned the Shinigami and completely turned the tables, and the Death God sealed me into the newly born you. I'm sorry for the hate you've received. Now, I wish to train you so we can deal out our revenge together."

'Train? Where?' Naruto thought looking around. They were in the middle of nowhere, if the demon in his head hadn't noticed.

"Here of course! What better place to toughen your body up than the wilderness? We will live off nature for the next three years, constantly improving your stamina and your body in general."

'I'm having a feeling that this will be very hard.' Naruto sighed.

"There are no shortcuts to greatness. How do you think I became King of Demons? Millennia of training, that's what! If we train you the hard way, opponents will become a cakewalk to defeat! Imagine becoming a demon of my caliber, maybe even higher! That's what I'm talking about."

Naruto imagined the power to crush any human in his way with an iron fist, and suddenly Kyuubi's proposal seemed a lot more enticing. A demonic impulse seemed to fill him, and he grinned sadistically.

'Of course, Kyuubi-sama'

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"What do you mean the whole thing was burned down!?" The Sandaime Hokage, Sasuke Sarutobi, slammed his fists onto his oak-made desk. Normally the wrinkled old Monkey summoner wouldn't be this jumpy, but never in his career had a fight of this caliber had taken place in an apartment complex. Even so, the Kyuubi vessel lived there aswell, meaning he would have been involved in the fight, and the council would finally have a reason to execute the poor Uzumaki. Well, the good thing was, as the Hokage's aide had told him, Naruto had gone missing. No trace of his body was found except for a lot of blood.

"Naruto has disappeared Hokage-sama." The aide said. This calmed the man's nerves. The aide spoke up again, "It seems that the Kyuubi had assisted in the fighting because I should think that Naruto wouldn't be able to put down that many ninja. I merely hope that the Fourth wasn't wrong in saying his seal was foolproof."

"Neither do I, he was like a son to me, Minato was." Sarutobi glanced at the picture of the smiling man in spite of himself. "I just hope that if the Kyuubi caused this, that demon's intentions were pure."

"As do I, Hokage-sama."

"Takashi. I have something to tell you. But first, swear to me you will not repeat it."

Takashi nodded, "Okay, I swear."

"Well then, Upon Minato's death, he said a few words to me. He said that if you looked at the fox's eyes, you could tell that the demon attacked Konoha for a reason other than mere sport." The old man sighed, "I just hope he was right. But then again, Kyuubi was known for being one of the most violent demons."

Takashi nodded, "Please don't think that way, Hokage-sama. Optimism is always better."

"Takashi." The Hokage's face became serious.

"Yes?" The aide paid utmost attention.

"The rest of Konoha does not need to know that Naruto is alive. In Konoha's eyes, he is now dead. No one but us will know otherwise. Do not even put any sign of his being alive in any records. I want him to be marked as dead… for his own protection."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The aide quickly ran off.

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Upon hearing of the demon's death, the council of Konohagakure no Sato was ecstatic. After the Hokage himself had told them that Naruto had died in a mob attack. Seen after, news had spread like wildfire across the village. It seemed like after an hour, everyone knew.

The Hokage smiled within the safe confines of his office. Everything was going as planned.

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"First, let me explain something. I have changed the way your body will grow, so as to remain hidden. People will recognize us if we go around as we are, and knowing Sarutobi, he probably has us marked as dead, so we better keep people none the wiser."

Naruto nodded. He had felt something weird go about with his hair.

"You will be known as Chiniiro Akuma. I have altered your hair so that it will look like that of an old adversary of mine, Uchiha Madara. That was the only hairstyle I could think of, sorry. Your hair will slowly change to black with maroon highlights. You will also be a bit taller, because short people aren't intimidating and I want to be in an intimidating vessel. We'll see how life unfolds as it unfolds, no? Well, let's begin training."

'Hai, Kyuubi-sama.' Naruto did a mental bow.

"You don't have to be so formal…" Kyuubi tried to protest.

'You saved my life and you're training me! I need to at least be as respectful as I can to you!'

"Okay, kit. Whatever."

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Three years later (Please pardon the timeskip… I seriously couldn't continue any other way.)

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Uchiha Sasuke was the epitome of an Uchiha. Proud, Arrogant, Owner of a massive superiority complex, you name it. He was at the top of his class in every respect, and was had more power than anyone in the class, almost matching the teacher himself. Unfortunately, that earned him a lot of the bane of his existence: fangirls.

Many of the boys in his class debated as to whether or not he was gay, as most of them would sell their souls to the Shinigami just to have a minute with that many girls. Sasuke was obviously the heartthrob of town, and everyone knew it.

Kiba Inuzuka was one boy who was jealous of the girls Sasuke took for granted. He was as perverted as a certain cycloptic jounin even if he was nine. Today he decided to show Sasuke that he meant business. At the end of class that day, he challenged the Uchiha to a fight. Now, it was common knowledge that Kiba was at the bottom of the class. He simply wanted attention and girls, and desired them even more so than strength, the classic ninja goal.

Upon challenging the Uchiha, he was escorted to a training ground outside of the academy. Kiba had finally performed Tsuuga correctly, for the first time in his life. It was saddening to see his former ecstasy upon mastering the move crushed by the Uchiha who completely smothered him in fire. Even worse, Kiba couldn't move and Sasuke decided to rub it in his face, literally. He stood on the ground-borne Inuzuka and grinded it against his face with the strength that Kiba began to thoroughly despise.

"This is the difference between an Uchiha and you' you pathetic commoner." Sasuke topped it off by spitting in his face. What was worse was that no one cared for Kiba. They were all star-struck by Sasuke's performance. The only one who appeared by his side was a lethargic looking boy named Shikamaru.

That is how the two became friends and allies in their new goal, surpassing Sasuke and giving him what he gave Kiba earlier. Ambitions were made, and the two new friends knew they could reach them.

"We'll beat Sasuke together, Kiba." Shikamaru reassured.

"Yeah." Kiba said.

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'So, Kyuubi-sama, what will we do now? Three years has come and gone." Naruto, now known as Akuma observed. He now was nine years old, but tall for his age. He stood at five foot three and had jet black hair with crimson highlights travelling down his back. His bangs were split in the middle and had grown rather long, reaching just below the collar on his cloak. His hair was almost the spitting image of the Madara forever captured in the statue at the valley of the end. His eyes were blue as the ocean, and seemed intricate and complicated, yet at the same time so simple. Yet they portrayed the look of sadness and past darkness. He wore clothes to go with his hair color. A dark red traveler's cloak adorned his body, but in the opening a tight black shirt was visible, illustrating the lean body of the boy. He wore black

"Kit. We will start to work on your demonic abilities. We will work on them for the rest of your life. You've already noticed yeah? In order to change your looks so as to be inconspicuous I had to make you into a half-demon, or hanyou." Kyuubi explained.

'I thought so.' Akuma decided, 'That's why I've been feeling weaker when there's a new moon, right?'

"Correct." Kyuubi confirmed, "Anyways, now we will head to a place that I know very well. It is called the Demon's Realm. We will meet up with some old friends of mine and train you. You'll probably become a full demon when you become fourteen at this rate."

'Just out of curiosity, how strong will I be when I finish?'

"I'd say you definitely could best four tails worth of power. In order for you to get this strong we will be doing a unique and forbidden training method, which will be detailed later."

'Okay, Kyuubi-sama.' Akuma smiled, 'When I will hold a candle to the Hokage's power at last.'

"Indeed kit. You will hold much more than a candle."

'And I will sap my revenge.'

"Yes kit. Revenge. Revenge on those who tormented you, those who doubted you, those who thought you were me. Oh this revenge will be sweet."

"Yes it will, Kyuubi-sama." Akuma grinned sadistically. He was liking this.

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The next day at the Academy for Ninjas, Iruka Umino noticed something strange. Kiba, the one who usually goofed off and yelled, was silent and studying. He noticed that Shikamaru also wasn't sleeping. Something strange had happened to motivate those two, as they were at the bottom of the barrel when it came to class scores and only something big could motivate them like this.

He decided to enjoy it while it lasted and taught as if nothing had changed. He pretended the two were still as inattentive as normal and the day went by rather fast.

He would enjoy Kiba not talking out.

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"So kit, this is the gateway to the Demon's Realm." Kyuubi pointed out a rock in the middle of a field. He could already hear what Akuma would say.

'This… is a rock, Kyuubi-sama' Akuma pointed out very obviously.

"Yes. I know, kit. But, if you put your finger in that hole then the gateway will show up." The fox demon explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

'What are you implying?' Akuma said sarcastically. He inserted his finger into the indent in the craggy surface of the stone and expected it to be bitten off or something similar. Instead, a doorway appeared in front of him which seemed to glow purple. Akuma removed his finger and entered the door, unknowing what to expect.

Inside of the doorway, the world seemed malnourished and overall, dead. The sky was eternally stuck purple and an orange moon shone above the dead treetops. Ravens flew here and there, squawking loudly as they hovered overhead.

"Home sweet home." Kyuubi said to no one in particular.

'Seems like a… comfortable place, Kyuubi-sama.' Akuma commented.

"I know, right!"

'Sure.' That was one of Kyuubi's more… quirky sides. He could become very strange at certain times. Akuma walked quietly down the dirt path and glanced back and forth between the dead vegetation adorning the sides of the paths. It seemed that dead plants were popular in the Demon's Realm. How odd, Akuma thought briefly, and then continued following Kyuubi's instructions on how to reach his home.

"Look at the map there and find Hi no Kuni. Travel to where Konoha would be." Kyuubi instructed. Akuma did what he was told and located where Konoha would be. It was marked as Nine-Tailed lair. Akuma figured that this would be correct. He noticed that the demonic gate sent him rather close to the place. It would only be a few days' walk if the Demon's Realm was really parallel to the Human's Realm.

Akuma began to walk in designated direction, completely oblivious to what was about to happen in the Human's Realm.

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"Kukuku. Kabuto-kun, is he ready?" A pale skinned man asked his trusted servant, Kabuto-kun

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. The preparations are complete. He will be ready for you to transfer your body into."

"Good. If we had waited another three years, he might have been attacked with the disease famous for running through his clan. No matter, it will be done now. Kabuto-kun, ready the body."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama."

"Kukuku… those Konoha weaklings won't know what hit them."

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A few days later…

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"Well, kit; welcome to my humble abode." The Kyuubi no Kitsune said.

After a few uneventful days of walking they made it to a large cavern. But a cavern was all it was. It was huge and could fit a lot of stuff, but the Kyuubi probably merely used it for sleeping in. Akuma had only one thing to say.

'Seems rather… empty.'

"Because it is! Demons have different interests you know…" the large demon sighed, "Well, I suppose you should make yourself at home first before we train."

Akuma looked around and said, 'This isn't a very human friendly place. Is it possible that you can change it, Kyuubi-sama?'

"Of course I can! What do you take me for?" Kyuubi said as a door appeared to Akuma's right. "There's your room, kit."

'Arigato, Kyuubi-sama.' Akuma mentally bowed to the Kyuubi before hurrying to his room. Inside was a richly furnished suite containing a closet filled with different types of clothing, from kimonos to the standard shirt and pants. The floor was made with bamboo and the bed was exceedingly comfy. A fridge existed with all sorts of culinary delights inside. Not only that, a shower worth millions was lodged into the bathroom… A shower, finally!

How long had it been since he had showered? He had been forced to survive with what nature gave him for the past three years and nature certainly gave him no showers. Akuma eagerly headed straight for the shower, and stripped, then enjoyed the nice hot blasts of water.

Later, when he came out, he dressed in the clothes he assumed were for sleeping and sat on the bed. He liked it in this comfortable place in the demon world, but what would he be doing? The Kyuubi took this time to be unresponsive, only keeping the training routine secret. Akuma slipped under the covers of the bed and fell asleep.

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The next day found Shikamaru and Kiba training, yes, training. Kiba was doing push-ups with Akamaru on his back while Shikamaru was doing kicks. Now, they had been doing training for the past week or so in their effort to catch up with Sasuke. They had asked the Hokage what the best methods of training were, but the old man had kept a tight lip. They figured they could ask their parents, but Shikamaru would find it troublesome if his parents died of heart attacks due to the shock of him actually doing something.

Kiba, on the other hand, disagreed with Shikamaru and wanted to ask as soon as possible. He was doing the best Inuzuka training they had as it was, but Kiba needed chakra control and more chakra in general.

Shikamaru figured that his parents would loophole him to shadow training, as they always did. They merely wanted him to become the best shadow user in their family. After all, since the Hokage upped the Graduation age to fourteen after the Uchiha Massacre, they had five years before they became ninja, right?

Shikamaru wanted to do something other than shadows, because he found it so troublesome that everyone in his family controlled the same thing. He wanted to control clouds, but he knew that wouldn't do any good in battle, so he had been thinking of something else.

Kiba was fine with the Inuzuka training; he just wanted to go above and beyond what any Inuzuka had done. He wanted to become a master of Fire jutsu. That element was his favorite simply for its meaning of aggressiveness. He also knew that fire was the easiest elements to harness, but could be deadly if used correctly.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Kiba called after finishing his push-ups, "We should see if there's any better training to do here." The dog boy walked out of the training ground.

"Fine." Shikamaru stopped kicking and followed Kiba out of the training ground. The two looked back and forth around Konoha for anything of use. Shikamaru had an idea. The Konoha library for Ninjas would work. Academy students in their third year could enter, right?

The two friends entered the library with no trouble and searched around the scrolls. Kiba had split off and headed to the ones with fire jutsu, while Shikamaru just searched stuff that would fir his interests. He passed all of the aisles, glancing at some of the scrolls in each before settling on looking at the older scrolls. The cloud watcher walked down the aisle and found a scroll that caught his interest. He was at the far back of the library, when he felt a presence. The deer herder turned around to see what was calling to him. It seemed to be the scroll without a title that rested in the shelf directly in front of him. He pulled the scroll out and brought it to a table before opening it. After that, he unrolled it, and he could have sworn he saw it glow for a split second, before reading it. Inside of the scroll was how to manipulate wind. What?

The lethargic boy was actually excited for studying this. If he mastered this, he would control wind without any seals at all. He hadn't heard about this at all in any of his academy lessons, so he figured this would advance him towards Sasuke. He wondered for a brief moment if Kiba had found anything in his search, then continued looking the instructions over in his scroll.

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Kiba was looking through the scrolls of fire type jutsu. As he headed farther down the aisle, the older the scrolls got. The dog boy found a scroll he liked and went to find Shikamaru. Kiba's scroll read, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower". After skimming its contents, Kiba thought this jutsu would be a good one to start with.

He walked back up the aisle and found Shikamaru at a table studying. For once in life, the boy seemed deep in thought. Kiba took a seat across from him. The dog boy said "Hi!" to Shikamaru causing the lethargic boy to flinch.

"Look what I have," Kiba said. "I think this will be one of the best Fire jutsus."

Shikamaru looked up, "What rank is it?"

Kiba looked at the scroll, "C. What's yours?"

"Mine doesn't have a rank." Shikamaru smiled, "It's a really old scroll."

The dog boy cocked his head, "So what's the jutsu."

"Well, the scroll calls it, 'Wind Style: All Gales Elemental Shift', supposedly you control wind without seals with this one. It's kind of troublesome that it requires really advanced chakra control."

"Cool." Kiba said, looking back to his scroll. "Think we should go back to the training ground for this."

"Sure." Kiba began to walk off. "Wait! Kiba! We need to check these out!" Shikamaru ran after the dog boy.

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The next morning in the Demon's Realm, Akuma woke up to the Kyuubi telling him to go train, as usual. Akuma washed his face and ate breakfast, then headed to the main part of the cavern for training. Akuma was impatient, 'Kyuubi-sama, what are we going to do for training?'

"Hmhmhm… Impatient, are we? Well, in this cavern, there are seals I placed a very long time ago. They are time seals. I can use them to slow down time or speed it up as long as I am in this cavern. We are going to slow down time and train for a hundred years but in reality, only five. Heh, don't worry, you won't be a hundred and nine years old after this, you will still be fourteen. Heh, we will go over various things, including your demonic affinity and your human affinity. We will also increase your chakra capacity at least a hundred fold so you can actually begin to use demonic jutsus." The Kyuubi took in a huge breath, "And we will train with time slowed down so much that each session will last one twentieth of a year, about eighteen days."

'Oh, I get it.'

"Indeed. Now, I want you to give me one hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, and with that bar over there," A bar literally just appeared out of nowhere, "I want one hundred pull-ups and one hundred handstand push-ups. Now go."

'Hai, Kyuubi-sama.' Akuma began the Kyuubi's training routine. He knew that this would be hard, but in order to get his revenge, he pushed on.

"Oh, and kit."

'Yes, Kyuubi-sama?'

"At the final twenty years of training… I have a present."

'What is it?'

"They are called the Kiretsume. They are a demonic weapon built for speed. I can't tell you exactly what it is now, or else it'll ruin the surprise, but all I can say is that no one has mastered it in over two hundred millennia."

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Another year later…

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Back in the Human's Realm, Shikamaru almost got sliced to bits by his jutsu. He had been practicing chakra control for months, yet he still didn't the wind jutsu right. Kiba had already mastered Phoenix Flower, Grand Fireball, and was on to Fire Dragon already. Both of the two ambitious boys had made incredible progress, but Shikamaru still didn't master his jutsu from the library. It said he needed superb chakra control, and Shikamaru was sure he had it. He could walk on water! That was one of the highest forms of control, yet the Wind Style: All Gales Elemental Shift Jutsu was still out of his reach.

The boy decided to just continue practicing chakra control, but he wondered what he could even do to increase it further. He had mastered the leaf lifting exercise, the tree climbing exercise, and the water walking exercise. What was next? Air walking?

That gave Shikamaru an idea. He could attempt to be the first to walk on air! Shikamaru decided to come up with a theory for walking on air. Maybe he could make blacks of chakra that he would walk on. Nah, that would take too much, and it would be slippery since chakra has no friction. Maybe he could use chakra to pack all of the air molecules together.

That would help with wind manipulation too! Shikamaru excitedly attempted to force air into a black below his raised foot. Sadly, it didn't go as planned, and the block dispersed before he could place his foot on it. He sighed, "How troublesome." He said out loud as he attempted to gather another block.

In the Demon's Realm, Akuma was running around the now very familiar Nine-Tailed Lair. He was supposed to run all up and down its craggy sides and through dark tunnels and even wall-run over a pit filled with spikes. After that he had to jump on thin rocks and then had to do another fifteen laps, all in the dark! Akuma had figured out a long time ago that Kyuubi's methods were harsh but this was a whole new level of hell. Half the time Akuma got stuck in one of the many pits filled with spikes. Ouch would be a horrible understatement. When Akuma slept, Kyuubi would teach him the histories of the world and even learn its languages. The fox demon would teach Akuma how to play its many strategy games and have Akuma come up with strategies for war in make believe situations. It was really interesting in the mindscape.

It had been a year since Akuma started the training, but twenty if you counted the time slowdown. Akuma's personality stayed the same even though he was training in a time rift for twenty years. He knew that he had eighty years to go, so he kept himself motivated.

Akuma was practicing his demonic chakra control. He sat on top of a really sharp rock Indian style making shapes out of pure demonic chakra. The goal was to make as many unique shapes as possible and to stay balanced on the spike and to keep it from stabbing your rear end. Akuma was rather good at this training, since starting it a year ago in slowdown time.

He got off the rock after making two hundred fifty shapes and asked Kyuubi to put the next phase down. He took off his shoes as hot coals appeared on the cavern floor. Akuma walked across and walked back, and then the coals became spiky.

This was the part Akuma couldn't do. He tried to walk across and yelped in pain when his feet were impaled and burned. The wounds healed immediately, but it still hurt like a bitch.

After completing the hot coals and falling eight times, Akuma had to avoid getting squished by a two ton boulder. He was to lift it up and throw it as far as he could, which when it came to two ton boulders, was kind of hard.

At the end of the session, Akuma finally got another eighteen days of rest. Since he was in the slowdown time, he had eighteen day sessions and eighteen day rests. It worked pretty well overall. Akuma knew that his strength was greatly increasing, and he couldn't wait until he could put the Hokage himself down.

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And finally, another four years ahead. Today is the Genin Exams…

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Umino Iruka was proud of two students in his class. They studied extremely hard over the past five years and he was certain they would pass. Sasuke worried him. Iruka knew he would pass; it was just that his mental condition set Iruka on edge.

Kiba was excited for the exam. The boy had mastered at least thirty fire type jutsu and had even made some of his own. Many of the jutsu Kiba designed himself worked well with Akamaru aswell. Shikamaru had finally gotten the All Gales Elemental Shift down as well as several other jutsu. He could air walk for a short time before his blocks dispersed, but that was all he really needed.

Both were pumped and ready. Iruka called a boy named Aburame Shino first to do the transformation jutsu. Shino passed with flying colors. After a while, Kiba was next and he went down. Kiba definitely had the most muscle of the entire class, and had even earned himself a mini fan club after flexing his bicep, but he was disappointed that most of the female population remained loyal to Sasuke. His grey furred hoodie kept him warm a lot of the time, but he only wore the hood up when needed. He wore long brown pants that had several pockets designed for keeping scrolls and weapons in. Kiba transformed into a perfect copy of Iruka, then Iruka let him transform into someone else. Kiba transformed into Shikamaru. Iruka gave Kiba his headband and the excited boy headed back to his seat.

Shikamaru was called and he transformed into Iruka, then transformed into Kiba, took his headband, and headed back to his desk. The pineapple-haired boy never really changed his attire. A simple open shirt with fishnet under and tan shorts. Still as thin as a rake. He merely sighed, "Troublesome." As he sat at his desk.

Iruka knew that these two were friends, and them transforming into each other proves it.

"Okay, for those who graduated, you have three weeks off until you come back here and meet your senseis and teams." Iruka announced. "Okay, shoo!"

'Hm. Those pathetic weaklings think they can beat me. Ha! I'll show them why their weak.' That was Sasuke's thought as he left the academy building, brand new headband tied around his head. Three weeks until they would be assigned teams. He couldn't wait to see who would be training him. He couldn't care less about his team.

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Three weeks later…

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Kiba and Shikamaru were sitting next to each other, waiting for their teams to be announced Iruka was far in the list already, and he was currently saying team seven's list. "Now, we're short one student, so Team Seven will only have two people on it. Those people are Haruno Sakura,"

Sakura hoped her other teammate was Sasuke.

"And Yamanaka Ino."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, "I don't want to be with her!"

"WHY DO I HAVE TO BE WITH THAT SLUT?!" Ino yelled.

"I didn't decide these, the Hokage did. Please remain calm girls!" Iruka unconsciously took a step back.

"Humph." Both girls looked away from each other.

"Girls, your sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai." Iruka informed, "Anyways, Team Eight had Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru,"

Both boys cheered.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

Both boys banged their heads on the desk.

"Boys, your sensei is Mitarashi Anko." Iruka cleared his throat, "Team Ten consists of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Akimichi Chouji, your sensei is Hatake Kakashi."

All of them looked completely indifferent.

"Okay, so that is all, have a nice day! Your senseis will be-" A big black ball flew through the window and exploded. A huge banner came out saying, "Mitarashi Anko! Jounin Sensei for Team Eight!"

"Here shortly," Iruka finished. "Early again Anko?! Why?!"

The purple haired woman put her hand behind her head, "Whoops!"

"Score!" Kiba shouted, "Our sensei is so hot!"

"I know, right?" Anko joyfully said, "Meet me on the roof!" She poofed away.

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sasuke exited the classroom and made their way up onto the roof. Anko was already there waiting for them. She was still smiling brightly.

"Hi!" She waved like a little girl. She spoke again as they sat down, "So, should we get to know each other?"

"Sure," was Sasuke's reply.

"Okay! I'll go first," Anko started, "My name it Mitarashi Anko. I like dango, fun things, and booze. I hate a certain snake man," The temperature seemed to drop massively, "My hobbies are eating dango, training, and doing fun things. I don't really have dreams for the future though. Okay, Duck Butt, your turn."

Sasuke seethed at the name, but gave no indication, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like nothing, dislike everything, and train as a hobby. I don't have a dream for the future, but I have an ambition. I will kill a certain man!"

Anko applauded, "I like the drama, okay, you Kibble Head."

Kiba's eye twitched at the name, "My name is Inuzuka Kiba! I like my friends, Akamaru, and girls. I hate Sasuke-teme! My hobbies include training and learning more jutsus. My dreams for the future… Or I should say fate, because it will happen, is to get revenge on Sasuke-teme for that day!"

Sasuke chuckled, "You'll never be able to do that to me."

"What?! Oh I will, you just wait and see!"

Anko smiled, "I'm glad you two hate each other, but we still need Pineapple Boy to talk, then you can kill each other."

"My name is Nara Shikamaru. I like my friends, clouds, and sleeping. I hate troublesome women and waking up. My hobbies are training, reading, watching clouds, and sleeping. My dream for the future is to grow up, have a normal family, and retire early."

Anko seemed to be in thought, 'So we have an emo drama queen, a stinky dog boy, and a lazy bum. I think that this will go on very well.'

Anko spoke, "Okay guys, we have a survival exam. Now I want you to get all of your ninja gear, get a good night's rest, and don't eat any breakfast; unless you want to throw up that is. Bye!"

Anko jumped away, munching on a piece of dango on her way home.

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"Hmhmhm… Your training is complete, kit. I knew I would be right in training you like this to master it. Hahaha. You have mastered the Kiretsume."

Red light glittered in the cavern. It shone off of ten blades, shining a dangerous red in the crimson glow. Flames crackled as the body of another demon lay before him, in tine pieces and absolutely lifeless.

"I am a full demon now, and I have mastered the forbidden art of the Kiretsume." He spat on the corpse, "You'll see as my power rises. People, human and demon alike will cower under the name Chiniiro Akuma: the Demon of the Bloody Claws."

"Atta kit."

Kiretsume: Slicer Claws

So, any guesses as to what the Kiretsume are? All training is done and Team Eight is going to do a survival exam proctored by the crazy woman, Anko. What is the Kyuubi's goal with raising Akuma, and what will Akuma do now that his training is complete?

Find out in the next chapter. Ja ne!

-Flat Rock "Woopsire"