Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or Type Moon

Enjoy.

A/N: For the one who is wondering why did I re-upload the chapters, it's because I decided to rewrite the dream sequences and some part of the story. Hence the story line, albeit a little, will be differ from the last one. I strongly suggest to re-read it from the first chapter to avoid confusion in later chapters especially after chapter 7 and more.

000

A hellish world.

The air was thick with the sickening scent of blood and death. The beautiful landscape that supposed to paint the Land of Fire with luscious green was no where to be seen, destroyed into black ashes by the dark flame of Amaterasu.

The pink human's entrails and their mutilated bodies littered on the burning ground like trashes. What were once life breathing humans was now nothing but a mountain pile of meats and carcasses.

This was the hell that was the final battleground of The Fourth Shinobi war.

Blood made Naruto vision red and blurry. Wounds and fatigue worn him out, making him very hard to keep conscious. His legs trembled as the sign of his body's protest. The scene in front of him was hard to comprehend. It was a sight of a girl, with her petite figure, struggling to hold a man. Her lips was moving like she was saying something but he couldn't hear it at first.

Her face was blurry, perhaps it was because of the blood that got into his eyes, but he could still make out the swaying of her pink hair.

"... Do it"

A weak yet resolute whisper pleaded him.

Brittle and fragile like a cracking crystal, as though it could shatter any second, yet it was the soft voice that overwhelmed every other sounds on the battlefield.

Pained cries, hateful curses, begs for salvation; every single sounds felt like was sucked in to an empty void. The world had been turned into mute.

All he could hear was her small, tired voice.

"Do it, Naruto."

Her pleading word struck his soul as he watched her struggling in disbelief. She was not pleading for her death but for the end of this endless bloodshed.

What should he do? What should he do? What should he do?

On one side there was his duty to end this bloodstained war, on the other side there was a girl he loved more than anything else in this world.

Which one should he choose? One girl or the rest of humanity?

It was such a simple question and the answer should had been very obvious.

But still, his heart refused.

'Naruto, do you know that the worth of someone's life isn't about how they live their life but the manner of how they die. That one, fleeting end defines everything in our entire life.'

Why did he remember her word now?

Despair washed over him like dark wave. Hopelessness was eating away his soul. This wasn't something he could solve just by shouting "'Believe it!" or "Promise of the lifetime!". If those empty words could bring peace upon this world, none of this would happen. Everyone would be still living in those blissful days in the distance past. Ever smiling and laughing without any care in the world.

Why?

Why did this happen?

All he wanted was so everybody could be happy.

He balled his fist so hard that his hand started to bleed as if that could help him strengthened his resolve.

He cursed himself for being weak.

He cursed the world for this fate.

"Naruto, please..."

Beautiful blue sphere appeared in his palm, spinning coldly. He couldn't bear to see her face, still burning with the Will of Fire even in the face of death.

"DO IT!"

With a silent cry, he run towards them, wielding the rasengan in his palm and struck into their hearts. The momentum and efficiency was perfect, they were killed the instant his prized technique run through their chests.

Along with the death of the last Uchiha, the arduous war finally ended.

He should feel happiness, shouldn't he? Why wouldn't anything appear?

Was it because he had saved humanity at the cost of a girl who was the most precious to him. Was it because he had chose the entire world over her?

All he felt was the murky feeling of drowning in the sea of mud.

This, however, was only the beginning.

000

Naruto was in the library of Land of Water.

But most specifically, he was in the capital city of this country like where the library he was in located.

This library had always been prided as the most extensive and the biggest in the entire Elemental Nations. There were at least 600,000 volumes filled with knowledge, there were even rare books that could cause a war between bloodlines clans hidden among them. In this humongous library, hundreds of beautifully-crafted wooden shelves filled with books and scrolls, loomed over the visitors, boasting their lofty heights. The smell of papers permeating from the walls and floor. The mazy structures could be overwhelming for some as though trying to swallow its guests.

A prestigious university was nearby thus this library was often used, not only by academics, but also model students who was striving to get the best grade or desperate undergrads who were pulling an all-nighter for their assignments.

This was the best hideout for him.

Who would expect a S-class missing-nin hide here? In their own capital city?

When he decided to use the Kumo Anbu as a decoy, he had already this place in mind as a temporary refuge.

Besides, it wasn't like he could go anywhere anytime soon. Kiri shinobi should have been stationed in every borders of Land of Water, hence it was impossible for him to get out when they were still in high alert.

The other reason was he still needed to wait for his client to contact him.

Looking around, Naruto noticed that the library was quiet empty. If he recalled correctly, the university was closed for winter holiday. The one who was left here was probably the student who was doing their late assignments but it looked like most of them had given up and just idling away like rotten vegetables.

Human was incredible, Naruto thought.

It was only three years ago the war ended and it seemed that it had been a thing in the past.

The last Shinobi Great War itself spanned for 5 years. You could say that it changed even the outlook of the continent. Towns were burnt down and places were destroyed.

The same could be said to people. Nearly half of its former population was perished.

Among his generation, he was the only one who survived.

But that's not all. After the annihilation of the common enemy, the alliance instantly broke down. Each five nations blamed each others for their loss and despair, and instead of celebrating their victory, they turned the tip of their spears towards their own allies.

As if intoxicated by blood and death, another war broke out soon after for another 2 years.

The destruction brought forth in those two years far surpassed the war against Akatsuki.

Friends killed friends. Lover assassinated own partners. Spouses hunted down their offsprings.

It was a world-wide event that had been the showcase how corrupted and evil humanity really were.

On the contrary to the normal suggestions, the granting of sobriquet 'Monster' as a household name across the land to him was in this war, not the last one.

And then 10 years had passed as instant as the swirling wind to Naruto.

Reminiscing about the past always made him felt the despair strangling his neck. It was always happened when he was idling away like this.

But when Naruto looked up, he was even more surprised that a pair of jade green were staring at him.

He couldn't fathom the reason why she was looking at him. He was sure that there was nothing could be more anonymous than his disguise; black hair that was sleekly styled to the side, big round eyeglasses, plain and unimportant face . It was a meticulous appearance of a penniless, studious boy who looked to be crushing on the most beautiful girl in his class and was bullied by his peer because of his geeky looks.

No one would even pay a second glance in his way. He was just a pebble at the side of the road.

Then why did she take an interest in him?

It was happening so sudden, out of nowhere, she just walked and sat across of him, who had picked out the corner of this huge library. Her light footsteps made her look as if she was gliding; a truly elegant way of moving. Furthermore, she didn't appear to be in a disguise, held no killing intent and was using zero chakra as a matter of fact.

"Good afternoon..." Her melodious voice greeted him graciously.

Green eyes.

Flawless fair skin.

Auburn hair styled at shoulder length, if only it was bright pink.

It couldn't be...

"... I'm..."

... She looked just like...

"Sakura"

... Sakura.

000

Chapter 4

Broken Sword of Justice

"If only I was a mindless machine that don't feel, don't think, and only follow a set of rules that had been input into my program..."

000

The strange woman just sat there, smiling, watching as he went numb, as the image Sakura's sad mien kept flickering and overlapping over the girl in front of him.

Tremendous guilt bubbled up from his chest, threatening to rip it apart. His head froze as though someone just hit him in the head. The world surrounding him started to melt.

The urge to throw up rose from the pit of his stomach, quickly becoming unbearable.

This Sakura wasn't his Sakura, he knew very well of that fact. Moreover, her name was likely a fake but his mind apparently didn't agree with him as it kept projecting the image of that dead girl.

Before long, he had forgot how to breath. Before long, he had to remind himself how to breath.

The overlapping image of Sakura then shook her head sadly, her pink hair gently shifted in the air as she did that. Her jewel-like eyes lied upon him in sorrow.

"What'd happen to you, Naruto? There seems to be an extremely stagnant atmosphere that surrounds you. I don't understand the cause of it but it must be from anger or hatred, right? That's not good, you know. Sooner or later, you'll be dyed completely black and exhaust yourself."

Whether it was his delusion talking or the she actually said that, he didn't know, but this emotion he was feeling must be true.

It was fear.

Fear that she was the real Sakura. Fear that she would blame him for killing him.

And, of course, there was an unbidden hatred.

When he thought about it, the timing of her appearance was just too perfect. It couldn't be a coincidence that he met her here. She must be do this to throw him off balance. The way she smiled and looked at him, it was an undeniable proof that she knew her effect on him, mocking him.

Shall he kill her?

The carnal impulse rose up suddenly, like that of an instinct that belonged to a cornered animal. It should be real easy to snap her lithe neck. That would be a clean method, if he moved faster enough no one in here would notice and he could arrange her body as if she was taking a little nap.

Then, shall he?

If she was any other person, it shouldn't be a problem but in his current state of mind, he wouldn't be able to even if he wanted to. The sinister intent created another mirage; the unwavering face of his late teammate from five years ago, the moment before he ran through her chest with rasengan, overlapped with the woman's face this time. Her small lips was moving but he couldn't hear her at first just like that day.

"Do it, Naruto"

Her whispered voice. The voice that he would never forget in his life.

"Do it"

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up!

Shut up!Shut up!Shut up!Shut up!Shut up!

'Naruto, do you know that the worth of someone's life isn't about how they live their life but the manner of how they die. That one, fleeting end defines everything in our entire life'

"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled.

Tremendous emotions breed illogical action. That was how he had stood up abruptly and smashed the table into two.

His foggy mind cleared. As he snapped out, reality came back to him. He found himself breathing heavily and his henge had disappeared with the Kyuubi's tainted chakra pumping madly through his vein. His pupil had turned crimson and he had no doubt that his appearance had became demon-like, and yet the auburn-haired woman remained unfazed and kept her ever smiling face.

"Calm down, Naruto-kun. You're making a scene"

The blond renegade looked around and found that everyone was staring in fear and shock. They were quiet far from his position but they surely could feel the terrible killing intent pouring out of him.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. "Just who are you? What do you want? Are you my client?"

"Correct." 'Sakura' said airily while keeping her smiling mien.

"Drop your disguise, will you?" Naruto hissed. "Your face is really pissing me off."

"No. I need the reassurance that you won't kill me. You almost did, right? It just meant this is the perfect appearance to meet you. This place is no longer safe. I'll contact you when it's time to retrieve the object. In the meantime, you probably want to go the eastern part of this island."

"Is that a side mission? It will cost you extra." He blithely said.

"Do not fret about the reward. It's just I thought you might want to go there to alleviate boredom."

Naruto wasn't sure why her talking politely aggravated him. Perhaps because it felt condescending?

"Don't play with me. Just because you says you're my client doesn't mean you actually are." His glare intensified.

"Oh my, are you really that passionate about me? Well, it's up to you whether to accept it or not, but you might find what you're looking for in there." The woman's smile grew more sultry, looking into his eyes. "What you're really looking for."

"You-!"

But soon as she said that, she stood up gracefully, then with the same alluring finesse as the way she came, turned around, and disappeared as though she was an illusion created by this old library, ignoring him.

Their meeting happened only about 5 minutes but to him, it felt like an eternity.

000

The night was almost an absolute darkness in Mizu no kuni. The usual starry sky was being blanketed by the ominous armada of dark clouds, looming over the entire country, not even a flicker of the pale moonlight could be seen, instead the loud thunders roaring up in the far distance were the only thing that illuminate his way in the forbidden forest.

A heavy storm was going to hit this country soon.

Naruto sped as if he was riding the wind, the cold torrent of gust that rattled the forrest mercilessly caused him no discomfort.

His destination was the eastern part of this island.

By 'this' island, he meant the nearest island to the mainland and also the first line defense of Land of Water, where the capital city and the Mist hidden village, and also the temple of Water, resided.

Decades ago, before the First Shinobi Great war broke out, this country of Water, who had the smallest territory among the Five great nations, abandoned a third of this island and labelled it as forbidden.

Many rumors and theories had been circulated as to why this country vacated the area, each one differed with the other.

He wouldn't surprise that the real reason had been long lost in the sea of time.

But what disconcerted him was the similarity in those hearsay; that a demon laid waste in the eastern part of this island.

The demon, the devil, the giant, the monster, the titan, the colossus, the god, an abomination, the immortal one. That existence was called under a different name.

Was it a Bijuu? It was unlikely. In the first place, the information could very well be a fraud, but how could all of them mentioned the same thing?

Legends, folk tales, rumors, even military reports revealed the similarity on this account.

Missing reports mentioning the forbidden land in this country was very high. The search party that entered that area never came back. It was as if they're being swallowed a whole by the woodland.

The case of disappearance still continued on even to this day, be it a civilian, a green-horn genin, or even a veteran shinobi. It had been an unwritten rule not to enter the forbidden forest whatever the situation that rose.

And that crossed out the possibility of a Bijuu since they were already sealed away by that period of time.

You must be wondering why he was in such a treacherous region. It's simply because being inside that library was actually managed to also turn him into a mindless vegetable.

And there was also the curiosity as to how did that woman know what he looked for, if it was actually real or not.

Then, he noticed something strange about this area.

As a result of having been abandoned for so long, trees grew aplenty, the size of them even rivaling the one in Konoha's forbidden forest, but that was the same reason as to why this forest exuded an unnatural atmosphere, surrounding the entire area with subtle delicacy, even as the prelude of a tempest was happening, it still couldn't topple its mystifying aura.

It really felt like the forest was a living entity. The blond had sped through this forests for quiet sometime yet he didn't detect a single living being inside, not even an insect.

For an untouchable forest, it was a near impossible feat for not being inhabited by a single life form. He could only conclude that there was something that devouring all the living thing.

"A demon? I guess it really has a huge appetite then." Naruto just shrugged off nonchalantly. Or maybe the entire forest itself was the voracious demon, a possibility.

Something suddenly prickled his eyes. It was a grain of sand. It was just a bit at first so he didn't pay attention to it but slowly, the quantity started to reach a surprising amount as the violent wind carried the sand with it, playing them in the air.

He was forced to stop, to adjust his eyes.

A desert was a region that received an extremely low amount, less than enough to support growth of most plants. The condition made the soil hardened and slowly was being dissolved by the corrosive wind to sand, ebbing away as it spread like a cancer.

Mizu no Kuni lacked neither water nor rain. What had actually happened to this country in the past?

Naruto was filled with both wonderment and dread as he stood on the branch of the tree, looking in the distance at the never-ending desert that laid across everywhere he could see, bordering with the abnormal forest of Water country.

To put it simply, this forbidden region that was supposed to be a vast forest was actually a desert, surrounded by a centuries years old woodland. This was something never been mentioned in any references he read.

Without being canopied by the forest's rooftop, the thunder storm in the sky was as domineering as it could be, crackling and roaring like the booming sound of a war drum. The violent wind created small whirlwinds from the sand. The darkness of the dessert had reached its zenith.

The forlorn renegade stood at the top of the sand dune, looking down, feeling nothing in particular as he scrutinized his surrounding.

Boulders and rubbles that littered the dessert, only served as the evidence of a dead civilization, with most of its part had been reduced to dust by the sand of time. This area had been totally and utterly laid waste like the legend said.

But what kind of entity could pull this off, it had to be so devastating to make even one of the five superpowers to seal off this place just to fend it off.

In the peripheral of his vision, Naruto caught a glimpse of small lights.

He had to focus his eyes to make out an outline of a huge camp which reminded him of a bright-lit circus complex; one huge tent in the middle that was surrounded by smaller tents. Being in the middle of nowhere, it had to be a bandit's den and that also meant...

"You better no thinking anything funny, blondie. You're surrounded here unless you want to be chopped into pieces that is"

A round of gruff laughs followed.

Like he suspected, there's a patrol around the lair.

"Hnn." Naruto grunted in displeasure.

Was this what that woman actually mean? Would this mystery end right after it began?

This couldn't even count as passing free time.

What a huge waste of time.

There were 5 bandits, he could slaughter them less than 5 seconds. A second each. But he needed a shelter from the incoming storm, so surrendering to them was a logical choice for now, he could kill them all later after the storm receded. It's like killing two birds with one stone. He got a shelter from the storm and did a charity work to contribute to the society by cleaning off some trashes. Why everyone called him a monster anyway, when he was this nice and generous.

Naruto put his hands up. As soon as he did that, the men roughly grabbed him and lead them to their hiding place.

It was only a 10-minute walk. When he passed the complex, he noticed there are some cages that filled with girls, some of them looked like in their twenties but most of them were just minors. Their eyes were dead. In this situation, it was either from being violated or raped repeatedly, or both.

He could screaming and wailing from somewhere, but with the sound of the thunderstorm brewing, he could just pass it as his illusion.

They took him to the big tent.

The inside didn't match the poor condition of outside this tent. The big tent was lavished exaggeratedly with riches and expensive furnitures. Music played by doll-like girls filled the tent. The men there all looked like a classic, uncultured bandit with outrageously big muscles and wild looks. A typical brawn without brain. All of them were drinking and laughing, some were busy raping the motionless girls in lust-filled stupor. Serving them were skinny girls with cloth barely covered anything. Like the girls outside, their eyes had also lost their light, dead.

"A guest!" A loud voice exclaimed.

A big man with grossly huge muscles approached him while clapping his hands. His hair was a short sandy blond and had a three claw-like scar in one cheek. Naruto supposed that he was the leader of the bandit.

"What're you doin' to our valued customer" He glared at his subordinates who captured him. "Release him! You've got something better to do like training those skanks outside!"

"With pleasure, boss." They exited, grinning with extreme relish.

Turning to Naruto, the leader gave him a friendly smile "Come, come... let me show you our product"

He clapped his again once more, this time the music changes to a more festive-like and everyone around cheering loudly.

Naruto now noticed there was a stand in the middle of the tent and two erected high poles where a rope bridged the two of them for a ropewalk, it was just like in the circus. Then a girl barely reached her ten climbed up the pole soullessly like a doll and readied to do the walk, without even a stick for balancing or any safety net.

"Look, look... here it goes" The leader said to him excitedly.

The girl started to thread the rope. The music turned into a suspense-filled note, the drum was hit faster with every time she step forward. Her little body staggered to the left and to the right then she fell. Her head smashed into the ground, her blood and brain were splattered everywhere, everyone around him cheered and clapped.

"Ahahaha... Humans just can't fly, can they! Hahaha! Next!"

This time it was a knife throwing event. Twin girls came up on the stage. One girl tied her sister onto a round board, and then she picked up the knife and threw it. It hit the sister's stomach. And she threw it again, now it pierced her sister's arm. And she threw it another, now it punctured her sister's chest.

Everyone clapped wildly with each hits, watching as the girl was slowly killing her own twin sister gleefully.

"See, how obedient our girls are. They make a pretty good slave, don't they?" The leader grinned at him. But he stiffened when he saw a tear dropping down from the girl's eyes.

"You two!" He barked sharply at the men near the stage "Bring her down and teach her a lesson!"

The men dragged her down the stage, and proceed to tear off her cloth, then beating and raping her at the corner of the tent. Another grunt take board with the girl off the stage.

"She is just a new product, so she hasn't been remodeled completely yet. I'll give you a discount for witnessing something like that." He said to Naruto in fake apologetic tone.

Naruto just looked at him before... "Fu-AHAHAHAHA!"

He got it now. All the missing persons, the unsolvable cases, all the other mysterious things regarding this forbidden region had been solved. While there were some instances where the puzzle didn't match its place but the truth was here, in front of his face. The rumor of a demon was actually just a meager band of bandit and a slave trader.

"Ha..ha..." He lost his breath from the laughter.

Did this mean this slave trader have pissed off his client somehow? Perhaps by competing with their human trafficking business?

If this was what that woman meant, all the talk about knowing what he wanted was just a big fat lie. At first he didn't believe it, but this was what she actually proposed to pass his time.

He just couldn't believe it! Did she think he was a garbage man or something?

He got to complain to her next time and ask huge money for wasting his precious time. Now he could pretend he was doing a community service.

Naruto then looked up at the leader, his face drained from all emotion as if the previous laughter was just an illusion "Congratulations, you just sealed your fate sooner than I planned out to be."

It was the bandit's turn to laugh.

"What can one person do?" The boss condescended him haughtily. "Tell him, boys. Who am I?"

His grunts had stood behind their leader and begin to sang raucously praise to the boss "The boss is a monster, he can kill 5 jounins just by himself!"

"Yeah! He is an S-rank missing-nin. What can a scrawny punk like you do! Hahaha!"

"You hear them" The leader looked at the blond. "That's right. I am the Uzumaki Naruto. When my prey hear my name, it's already too late for them. Curse your bad luck, boy!"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Another round of boisterous laughter.

Naruto stood there, looking unimpressed.

"What's the matter, pretty boy? Too 'fraid to talk? Hahaha! Now that you're not a customer, you have two choices left; either being chopped into a tiny pieces your momma' won't recognize anymore, or I can sell you to a rich, old lady to be used as their boy toys. A pretty face like yours could sell for quiet a fortune."

"Hnn." Naruto grunted in displeasure. "Are you done talking?"

"You choose death then." The supposed 'Naruto' made an exaggerate movement of handseals "Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

As the air distorted, the gang leader released a blast of wind from his mouth. The missing-nin just stood and watched the incoming blast emotionlessly, letting the attack hit him without lifting even a finger to fend it off.

BOOM!

The dust and smoke scattered inside the tent, screening the vision of everyone in it.

"Hahaha! That's what you got for challenging Naruto-sama!"

"YEAH!"

The merry mood of the bandit soddened when a bone-chilling tone spoke.

"Is that it? Is this the extend of power of the Uzumaki Naruto. The man that was rumored to be the Lord of Wind who could command the wind as he pleases? Is that what the S-class criminal really can do?"

"You're a dead meat, boy!" The gang leader made another handseals "Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

Another blast of him was sent in his direction, creating a large explosion as it hit.

The smoke finally cleared, the huge man expected to see a large chunk of meat splattered on the floor but instead...

His eyes widened in fear, the man who supposedly dead after getting hit point-blank by his technique, still alive, breathing and standing there, looking unfazed. There's not even a single evidence that his technique hit even though they were supposed to hit, not even his cloth was tattered by the blast.

"H-how?"

"It's simple." Naruto walked forward from the gust of dust. "A servant can't hurt its master, can they? And when you use wind jutsu, you have to use it like this."

Pointing his finger to the high pole, he lazily said as if commanding. "Fuuton: Kamaitachi."

Bam!

Not even half a second later, the pole fell down, as though it had being sliced down by a katana.

"See?" Naruto shifted his eyes to the bandit's boss.

"I-impossible! Fuuton: Kamaitachi is a technique for a fan user. You can't use it without a tool to make the whirlwind, and you're not even making a handseal!"

"Like I said before, they said Uzumaki Naruto has been so good with wind jutsu, he doesn't need any handseals to use them, and it's only natural for me not to use a handseal for a technique below A-rank."

The leader's eyes widened if it was humanely possible "N-no, y-you can't be..."

"Ah, I haven't introduce myself, have I? The name is Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, Naruto-sama."

"Hiiii!" The bandit step backward "K-kill him! Kill him! Attack!"

"Uwaah!" In the midst of his frantic order, he fell down as he slipped on something. His hand touched something thick and wet, the thing that had caused him slipped off "W,what the-"

His blood curdle at what the water turned out to be and the thing that had spilled it out.

"Who're you giving your order to?" Naruto tilted his head, confused "Those pieces of meats?"

"WAAAAAA!"

There were at least 30 of his subordinates in the tent, but what he saw couldn't be call a human anymore, not even calling them death bodies could describe what they had became. His men had been chopped into pieces, littering the floor with tiny chunks and bits. The expensive carpet was now being painted crimson by the pool of human's blood.

"M-Monster..." He moved backward, trembling with absolute horror "G-get away from me!"

Naruto grinned as he walked slowly towards him "Me? Monster? I thought you are the monster. I'm just a nice guy who is now in the middle of doing community service."

The music was still played by the girls as they were unfazed by carnage in front of them. The festive-like music was now sounded like the voice of the dead to the bandit.

"WaaaaAA!" He tried to stand up and run but slipped down again. "F-forgive me! P-please! I-I promise I won't d-do bad things anymore! P-please"

"Ahahahaha!" Naruto laughed mockingly. "As if human could change that easily. Now..." The blond looked at the trembling man on the floor.

"Kneel." The voice that Naruto let out surprised the bandit, not because of how cold it was but because of his body, without his permission, followed the order. Before he knew it, the huge man had kneeled before this monster.

"No need to be surprised. A weakling like you never had a choice to reject my command. Now, you'll show me how human flies."

"W-what?" The bafflement in his voice showed that he didn't register his command but his body understood. Standing up, the bandit walked to the high pole and climbed it. "S-stop!" He begged, to the monster and to his body. Finally, he reached the top.

Naruto clapped his hands "Begin."

"Uaaaahhhh!" The huge man jumped from the pole and dropped like a fly, his head smashed into the floor, an instant death.

"Ck, you're right, humans really couldn't fly. Not like you can hear me anymore." The renegade blond sighed, then he looked around specifically to the girls who still did what they had been ordered to, some were still playing the music while other just stand like corpses, offering alcoholic beverages. "Now what to do?"

He approached the girl who did a throwing-knife with her own sister. He picked her up by her neck and looked into her eyes. "Girl, do you fear death?"

No answer.

It was really foolish of him to expect her to answer his question. A dead man told nothing, they said. It was true. The girls had been death for a long time, their mind had been crushed and their will to live had been shattered. A person with no will and heart was no better than a corpse. The girls here was just a soulless doll, a former shell of a human being. They were no better than a living zombie, begging to be given an eternal peace.

The pity Naruto felt wasn't because of their condition and the torture they had gone through, but because he understood them.

"Then I shall grant your dearest wish." Naruto snapped her neck, giving her an escape from this injustice world, a pitiful wish the girl must had been dearly wished and begged for.

His clones materialized in front of each girls inside the tent and proceeded to exact act as their master; killing them, before poofing away.

The thunder crackled in the background, blinding Samui for a moment as she flapped the entrance of the tent open. She was just in time to watch him breaking a girl's neck, and dropped her onto the ground.

He then turned to her, azure eyes devoid of anything.

"Hey, what's happening?" The missing-nin said, as if nothing happened "You're good, you know that. I didn't even realize you have tag me with a tracking seal until you've entered this camp."

The inside of the tent was like a slaughterhouse, bloods were everywhere and the stinking smell of it permeated in the air.

Having slaughter everyone in there, he stood in the middle of the bloodbath as though it was simply an everyday chore to him. Not even a shred of remorse even though he just murdered those innocent girls.

"You damned MONSTER!"

With that condemning cry, Samui launched 3 kunai, and sped to his direction, aiming her katana to his chest.

He didn't move an inch.

CLANG!

Her kunai and sword stopped just an inch from him.

"Fuuton: Fu-Ou no Kekkai or you could call it the Barrier of the Wind King. It's a technique I created based on the automatic protection of Subaku no Gaara's sand. The divine barrier which protects its master at all cost. Don't think this time will be the same like that Water temple now that I can use my technique freely.."

Samui quickly jumped back. "The same to you. Allow me test your new technique then"

She casted away her katana, causing him to recoil for a bit.

Why would a kenjutsu specialist throw away her weapon? His question was answered immediately when a lightning crackled in her palm. The ball of lightning formed into a katana, looking like an ordinary one, with a dignity and beauty he couldn't describe.

"My clan technique. Raiton no Yaiba."

The sword of lightning. As soon as she announced its name, she disappeared.

Naruto looked around, trying to capture her presence. Then, he stopped at one particular direction, pointing at it. "Fuuton: Kaze no yaiba."

Five invisibles slash of long swords sped towards there.

Samui dodged most of them and blocked the rest with her sword, it supposed to be unblockable but as her sword made out of pure chakra, it clashed.

Without taking an air, she immediately spun around, swing her katana and was met with the Naruto's rasengan, canceling each other's attack.

BOOM!

"Fuuton: Reppushou" A strong gust of wind blew her backwards, in the midst of her flying, she slashed her katana in the air.

"Raikiri!" A golden, lightning cut darted to him as if cutting even the air it passed.

"What?" Widening his eyes in surprise, Naruto dodged. He didn't believe it at first but, as if cutting a paper, his wind barrier, that could even deflect a B-rank technique, was ripped apart by the speeding, golden line, proving the name 'Raikiri' wasn't just a bluff.

It would definitely split him into two if he hadn't dodge it in time.

Breathing out, Naruto twisted his body back, as though he was about to throw a lance, then...

"Fuuton: Kami kaze!" He threw it.

The divine lance created from pure chakra cut through the air with amazing speed, aiming to the flying blond.

"Raiton: Raigeki no yoroi!"

Shouting name of her technique, yellow, electricity immediately crackled around her body, materializing into a lightning armor just in time as the lance of wind pierced her.

BOOM!

The explosion from the clashing of both technique unfazed her, landing on the ground, she quickly turned to offense, making a one-handseal movement. "Raiton: Raikyu" She threw a few of lightning ball to him.

The golden bullets darted, however...

Naruto was prepared for such an attack and strike both his palms onto the ground. "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!"

A large wall of earth ascended.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The sound of exploding bullets, echoing in the tent.

"You're surprised I can use jutsu beside fuuton, huh?" While yelling that, Naruto made a blurring handseals, "Katon: Karyu endan!"

Samui only dodged the stream of fire from his mouth with elegance as reply.

The fire hit the tent, beginning to paint it with hot crimson.

"Gotcha!" Naruto grinned as he stabbed her with a kunai.

"Not really."

Her voice came into his ears, as her clone he stabbed disappeared. The surprise didn't last long when a cold metal sliced through his neck.

Samui made a quick handseal, "Raiton: Raijingu Sanda" An electric field covered her body like a spider web.

It was a follow-up reaction, seeing the one she killed was also a kagebunshin.

Soon after, just like her cold calculation, a kunai stabbed through pass that golden web, and immediately countered by the channeling strike of electricity.

"Guahhh!" Naruto yelled in pain as he forced to move back.

The fire which was burning the tent started to take its effect. The structure that supported the tent started to fall apart. There was no doubt that the tent would collapse any time soon. Sensing this, Naruto ran outside, and expected she followed. A few golden lines, from her Raikiri, cut the air, speeding to his direction. Spinning around, he made a handseals "Fuuton: Tatsuno Ooshigoto" Taking advantage of the raging storm outside, and used the A-rank technique to mold the violent wind into a few cutting tornados.

Wind and thunder clashed.

BOOM!

Both attacks met in the mid-air before reaching their intending targets, blasting a huge explosion.

The dust and sand that veiling them dwindled down.

But even with low visibility, both shinobi, without letting their body loosened up even for a moment, stared down at each other, waiting for the right moment to move.

Behind them, the big tent had collapse, taken down by the fire and the dark clouds had started to reach its peak, the heavy storm could began at any moment. The cold drizzle that hit their faces felt like piercing into their bones.

In that tense moment, suddenly the ground trembled.

The shaking grew bit by bit, started as just a small vibrate until it grew into almost a small earthquake. But to call it as merely an earthquake was entirely off the mark.

It had a rhythm as if the movement of something created it. Something colossal.

Naruto was wrong. He was forced to admit it.

Now, the puzzle, that had been slightly off, finally fit into their rightful places, materializing into one big picture.

The missing persons, the disappearance of shinobi, the mysterious reason behind the vacating of this region, the hearsay that surrounding it, everything lead him to one answer; a demon.

Naruto and Samui looked at the top of a dune. As a giant, height stood more than 3 meters, stood on it, as if a millenary tree on a solitary island.

Hidden beneath a war helmet with curvy, metal bull horns on both side, was crimson gaze casting over the entire camp.

With constitution that was known to all; a dark armor, darker even than the darkest of night, was carved, all over its framework, with reddish silver, as if set ablaze forever by fire of smithery, as the embellishment, the signature panoply of Land of Fire samurai created from the highest quality of materials, made from the best blacksmiths, no man could ever mistaken the menacing chain mail, protecting its colossal frame, as anything else.

As someone who had the same scent, it was easy for Naruto recognized his kind.

A monster that had a stench of blood and death.

Why people in the past called it a demon? He understood it right away.

The cold crawling up his spine was something he had forgotten in a long time, coiling around his body like a snake preying on its prey. It was something akin to fear and anxiety.

But more than the instinctual emotion, his eyes fixed to its blood-colored eyes, felt as if sucking his soul.

"No way." Naruto's lips unconsciously curved up, uneasiness and excitement mixing into one.

The real answer to the existence that had made Land of Water casted away this region had arrived.

The demon had arrived.