Konoha/ Iwa War: Battle of Ishigakure

Sarutobi Asuma: Commander of the 2nd Assault Battalion: 2 Months after Deployment

Sarutobi Asuma was tired, so very tired. After being assigned to Division 3 he was designated commander of the 2nd Assault Battalion that was tasked with pushing back the Ishi-nins to their village. After 2 month of bloody battles and sacrifices of over 100 jonin and 200 chunin, they had finally backed Ishigakure in a corner and in the morning they were going to siege Ishigakure and capture it in the name of Konoha.

Ishigakure itself would be difficult to capture, and Asuma knew it. He was one of the 12 ninja guardian and one of the things he had to learn was the defensive capabilities of minor villages in the off chance the Fire Diamyo was kidnapped by one of these villages. The village was at the base of 3 mountains that protected it from the north, east, and west. The south was where their entrance was located but a there was a rocky plain that stretched out 300 ft. from the forest they were hiding in to the village walls. Perfect for taking out enemy forces since they had no cover, Asuma knew it would be a bloodbath and he knew at least 40% of his subordinates would die in the siege.

Asuma looked at the sky and let out a humorless chuckle, he could remember back to the 3rd Great Shinobi War when he was a naïve idiot under the command of an Elite Jonin. He remembered the horrible day that was forever etched into his mind, the battle of Jigoku Pass.

He had just been promoted to chunin and had been assigned to the 5th Assault Company under the command of Daisuke Aoi, he thought he was invincible and that he could climb the ranks and make jonin by the time the war ended. His first mission had been for him and his platoon to capture Jigoku Pass from a platoon of Iwa 4th Infantry Platoon and push Iwa out of Grass Country.

He hadn't known it at the time but Jigoku Pass was only accessible through a narrow pass that made them extremely vulnerable to ambush. He ran into the canyon with all the confidence in the world but that confidence soon turned to horror when kunai rained down on them from above, his comrades were slaughtered from left to right and he had expected his commander to order a retreat but he just ordered them to push forward. For 5 minutes Asuma remembered watching his comrades be struck down by countless kunai and shuriken from Iwa-nin as his platoon pushed forward. On the frontlines he had never witnessed such a slaughter, it was always 2 forces fighting evenly and Konoha would eventually force the enemy to retreat. Eventually they reached Jigoku Pass, his platoon fought bravely and they won the battle but at the cost of over 60% of their company.

Ever since that day he had hated his commander, thinking he had willingly sacrificed his comrades to win a battle. But now Asuma was in the same situation, he knew countless lives would be lost and they would blame him for leading them into a slaughter. He wouldn't blame them, sometimes even moral people need to become heartless monsters in times of war, if loathing and hating them eased their pain then he would let them hate him.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when a shinobi with a large radio on his back called out to him, "Asuma-taicho!"

Asuma turned to look at him, "What is it?"

"Reinforcements have arrived from HQ, they have sent us 20 ANBU, 50 chunin, and 100 genin" relayed the radio-nin.

Asuma nodded and jumped off the tree he had been resting on and followed the radio-nin to his company of shinobi.

When Asuma looked at the crowd his eyes slightly widened but then he tiredly sighed, he knew it would happen eventually.

"Asuma-sensei!" called out Ino as she ran up to her sensei. Ino had been returned to active duty when her father sealed all her memories of being trapped in the Kyuubi, while she had occasional nightmares from random resurfacing memories, she was cleared for duty.

Asuma gave a forced smile, "Ino it's good to see you…" he looked behind Ino to see Shikamaru and Choji walk, "Yo! The whole team is here."

Choji, who would normally be eating chips, looked around nervously and slightly afraid, "Choji it's good to see you…" said Asuma as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I-It's good to see you too Asuma-sensei" stuttered Choji.

"I hope you got off your ass and trained, Shikamaru" teased Asuma as he rubbed the lazy Nara's head affectionately.

Shikamaru muttered 'Troublesome' but gave a small smile, "Alright so back into the group while I explain your duties" said Asuma.

His team nodded and blended back into the crowd, "Alright men, you are all here as reinforcements for the comrades we lost during the last 2 months. But because of their sacrifice we are only one day away from taking Ishigakure. Are you going to let their sacrifices be in vain or will you fight to make sure they all died for something!"

The crowd cheered except for a few select people who knew people were going to die, "My lieutenants will be assigning your jobs for tomorrow during our siege of Ishigakure. I want all ANBU to meet me inside my tent" ordered Asuma.

There was a chorus of 'Hai's, Asuma left for his tent and waited for all 20 ANBU to enter his tent.

"I have a separate mission for all of you…" explained Asuma as he lit a cigarette, he took a deep drag and exhaled, "At 0500 (5:00 am) tomorrow morning, three squads of four will scale the mountains to the north, west, and east of Ishigakure and ambush their defenders while they concentrate on our army that will charge them from the south. The final 8 ANBU will join me in our charge of Ishigakure. Wolf and his squad will take the north, Dragon and his squad will take the east, and Lion and his squad will take the west while Falcon, Tiger and their squads will lead the charge with me. Do you have any questions?"

The ANBU were quiet meaning they perfectly understood their mission, "Good, get some rest for your mission."

"Hai Asuma-taicho!" chorused the ANBU before leaving the tent, Asuma sighed as he sat on his bed and smoked his cigarette.

"Asuma-sensei?" called Ino from the other side of the tent flap, "Come in" replied Asuma.

Team 10 entered the tent and looked at their sensei, "Are you alright sensei?" asked Ino in concern.

Asuma faked a smile before responding, "Yes Ino I'm fine."

"No you aren't, it's obvious you're tired sensei" Asuma chuckled, "Still sharp as ever Shikamaru, keep this up and you'll wind up being the next Jonin Commander like your father."

Asuma sighed, "War isn't all that it's cracked up to be brats, sure they tell you that it's an honor to fight for your village but after killing more people than you can ever count you come to realize that war isn't an honor, it's more of a curse" explained Asuma tiredly.

"Sensei I want to fight in the first wave" said Shikamaru with conviction, Asuma looked at him in shock, "Shikamaru are you crazy! You of all people should what would happen if you fight in the first wave!" exclaimed Asuma; he had purposely placed his genin squad in the second wave of the assault since the first wave would suffer the majority of casualties.

"I know sensei but I don't want to be protected and coddled all my life, I'm ready to fight and protect Konoha and my comrades, we all trained ourselves to the ground to be ready for this" spoke Shikamaru, "M-Me too sensei, I-I want to help" stuttered Choji slightly, Ino sighed and closed her arms, "I might as well go too, who knows what would happen to you idiots if I'm not there" huffed Ino.

Asuma couldn't help but smile at his students, "Alright I'll reassign you tomorrow. Now go get some rest, you'll need it."

Once Team 10 left Asuma looked at the ground, "What would you think of what's happening Tou-san, would you weep that Konoha's 'King' is being corrupted by war or smile that their Will of Fire still burns bright after everything that's happened" whispered Asuma before he sighed and went to sleep.

Next Morning

Asuma stood at the edge of the forest as he looked at Ishigakure in the cloudy distance, his army of 100 jonin, 300 chunin, and 200 genin stood behind him as they gripped their kunai's, tanto's, or katana's tightly. Asuma looked to his left and right to see the siege weapons had been set up and ready to fire. They were designed as giant crossbows that fired massive shuriken, he planned to bombard Ishigakure with them to weaken their defenses and make Ishigakure all the more easy to capture.

Asuma raised his hand… the shinobi tasked with the shuriken catapults did a few hand signs and set the shuriken on fire… "Fire!" yelled Asuma, the catapults released the flaming shuriken and the projectiles flew towards the walls and hit the walls and the insides of the village causing an inferno to ensue inside the village.

"CHARGE!" yelled Asuma as he ran into the clearing followed by his army of 600 shinobi charged the minor village. The Konoha-nins let out a war cry as they neared the village with their weapons drawn and their adrenaline pumping.

Suddenly Ishi-nin jumped over their wall and charged at the Konoha-nin while spears of earth rose randomly throughout the battlefield and skewered anyone that wasn't paying attention. Asuma kept his eyes forward and started doing hand seals, "Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!" Asuma exhaled a large stream of fire that reduced a group of Ishi-nin ahead of him to ashes. He then took out his trench knives and channeled wind charka into them, he looked at a group of Ishi-nin charging him and disappeared in a burst of speed slicing up and killing the entire group effortlessly.

He looked around to see they were making progress but like he predicted they were being slaughtered, his ANBU and jonin were cutting down the Ishi-nin like nothing while the chunin and genin were having some difficulty. He was suddenly knocked out of his thoughts when his shinobi senses kicked in and he was forced to jump away from a dragon made of earth.

H watched as Yuuta Yoshiro, the supreme commander of Ishigakure landed across from him, "Sarutobi Asuma, it must be my lucky day. I can't to bring your head to the Tsuchikage and laugh over your father's grave when we destroy Konoha" spoke Yoshiro arrogantly.

"You will do that over my dead body" replied Asuma with cold eyes, "You'll never get past me and I'll make sure I deliver your head to the Tsuchikage when we siege Iwa."

Asuma vs. Yoshiro

Asuma started doing hands seals, "Katon: Haisekishō (Fire Style: Burning Ash)!" Asuma exhaled a cloud of chakra infused gunpowder that surrounded Yoshiro; he clicked his teeth and watched as Yoshiro was enveloped in an inferno.

Asuma kept his guard up, years of shinobi experience told him that probably wasn't enough to kill him. He was right since Yoshiro exited the smoke cloud a few seconds later with his cloths badly singed but his body unharmed, "Is that all you've got, Sarutobi?" questioned Yoshiro arrogantly.

Asuma scowled and channeled wind chakra into his trench knives before disappearing in a burst of speed, Yoshiro smirked arrogantly and met Asuma in the middle of the clearing. Asuma swung his wind cover trench knife while the Ishi commander swung his arm toward Asuma, Asuma smirked thinking he had won since his kunai would cut through his arm.

He was shocked when instead of cutting through his arm; the kunai was stopped by his palm that had turned metallic black, "So the reports were right, you have Kōton (Steel Style). Looks like I have to stop holding back" commented Asuma, "That's right, did you really think you were winning this war? We were luring you here so we could slaughter you here and get rid of a majority of you platoon. Why did you think my clan never fought any battles? It was because we didn't want you to find a way to negate our Kōton, you're all going to die here" explained Yoshino with a sadistic smirk.

Asuma had a look of shock when 12 Yuuta clan members jumped over the wall, but the shock turned into a smirk when his 3 ANBU squads ambushed the Yuuta clan members and engaged them in battle.

"You might want to look again Yoshino, my ANBU are more than enough to take out you clan…" Asuma concentrated and sharpened the wind chakra on his trench knives, "Now let's finish this." The Ishi commander scowled and started doing hand seals, "Kōton no Yoroi (Steel Armor)" muttered Yoshino as his entire body turned to steel.

Yoshino and Asuma charged at each other, Asuma swung his trench knife while Yoshino swung his fist. Both weapons came in contact and sparks flew as the steel skin protected Yoshino from the wind covered knives. Asuma noticed that Yoshino was much slower with his steel armor on so he took advantage of that and started swinging his trench knives rapidly toward the Ishi commander, Yoshino grit his teeth as he countered every swing but his steel armor was slowing him down and Asuma was finding a lot of openings that were weakening his armor.

Finally Asuma surprised when he kicked Yoshino in the gut and sent him back, Asuma slightly winced in pain when his foot came in contact with the steel armor but he shrugged it off and started doing hand seals, "Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!" Asuma exhaled a stream of fire that engulfed Yoshino in an inferno, once the smoke cleared Yoshino stepped out with an arrogant smirk on his face. The fire had caused his armor to turn molten red from the heat. Asuma shifted into a defensive stance as Yoshino charged him, his body was still molten hot and Asuma grit his teeth as he blocked the heated punches and waited for his plan to play out.

His prayers were answered when thunder boomed in the overhead clouds, Yoshino's steel armor hissed as a downpour cooled down his molten steel armor quickly. Asuma didn't waste his chance and charged Yoshino with his trench knives covered in wind chakra, Yoshino put his hands up in a defensive matter as Asuma swung down his knife but to his horror the wind covered knife sliced right through his arm as his armor shattered.

The Ishi commander screamed in pain as he fell to his knees and clutched his missing hand, "You should have known that metal is extremely weak when it's heated and cooled immediately, now you will die" said Asuma in a cold, emotionless tone.

"P-Please s-spare me-e…" stuttered Yoshino as he continued to bleed out, "Sorry, I have no mercy for my enemies" replied Asuma coldly before beheading Yoshino and watched as his lifeless body fell to the floor.

Shikamaru watched as his sensei beheaded the enemy commander, he looked around to see the Ishi-nins were now hesitant to attack, 'Alright! With their leader dead, they lost all their morale and won't want to fight.'

Like Shikamaru had predicted, the Ishi-nins dropped their weapons and ran back to their wall as the Konoha shinobi ran after them and struck down any that weren't fast enough. The Konoha army in turn cheered as their morale boosted and they charged the village striking down all Ishi-nin unlucky enough to fall behind. Asuma rejoined his army, once they reached the closed gate he could see that the Yuuta clan members were still being cut down by his ambush teams.

Asuma started doing hand seals, "Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu)!" Asuma exhaled 2 fire dragons side to side; the duo-dragons soared toward the gate and reduced it to rubble as it crashed through. Some scaled the wall while others entered through the gate, 200 shinobi entered the village and began taking control but with the Yuuta clan extinguished and their commander dead Ishigakure had no strong shinobi and was under Konoha's control in an hour.

Asuma stood on the wall as he rummaged through his pocket and dug out a seal, he activated it and threw it into the air before it exploded into green smoke. He watched as the 700 shinobi of the second wave ran through the tree line and made their way through the dead bodies of their comrades and enemies making sure they killed off any surviving enemies and saved any injured comrades. Asuma turned around and watched as a flag with the symbol of Ishigakure was burned and a flag with the symbol of Konoha was raised in its place.

"Asuma-taicho, HQ requests a status report!" relayed a radio-nin.

Asuma didn't turn to look at his subordinate and replied stoically, "Report that Ishigakure is now under Konoha's control, also tell them I request an additional battalion to replenish our dead and reinforce our defenses here as well as supplies to prepare out shinobi for Iwa's counter-attack" ordered Asuma, the radio-nin gave a 'Hai' and left to complete his orders.

Asuma watched as his troops began completing their orders. Doton users creating trenches and repairing the walls while the artillery was moved onto the walls to be used as defense, he knew it wouldn't be long before Iwa tried to reclaim Ishigakure. With Ishigakure under Konoha's control they could cut of Iwa from the rest of Earth Country to the west while opening up a front from the west to invade Iwa. Once they reclaimed Kusagakure and Grass Country they would be able to open a front from the south, and once they captured Takigakure they would be able to open a front from the east effectively attacking Iwa from 3 fronts and making capturing it easier.

"All that's left now is to wait" muttered Asuma as he watched the sun set in the horizon. Blood would continue to be spilt and the future of Konoha was still a mystery.

(A/N: I just wanted to let you guys know that the war will be random time skips, Iwa/Konoha is just a preview into the war while the real chapter would begin after the war view.")

Blood Thirsty Jinchūriki

I don't own Naruto

Normal Speech

Normal Thought

Demon Speech

Demon Thought

Chapter 14: Rebellion of the Bloody Mist Pt. 2

Naruto followed Mai, the rebellion leader's younger sister, through the tunnels toward an underground training ground. The red-head swayed her hips a little as she walked ahead of the blonde Uzumaki, Naruto grinned lecherously as he enjoyed the show.

"Something you find entertaining Naruto-san?" asked Ao with narrowed eyes as he appeared next to the blonde.

Naruto smirked and took his eyes off the red-head, "Yes, I do Ao-san. I find something very entertaining" spoke Naruto with a grin.

Ao shook his head, "You should think twice before going after Mai-sama, Mei-sama is very hostile toward any men that try and get close to her younger sister. Not to mention what Chōjūrō does to them after Mei-sama is done with them, the boy can be ferociously protective of her but when it comes to talking with her, he's a coward' added Ao in his thoughts.

Naruto didn't stop grinning, "Well I'm not as weak as all those losers that have tried getting close to Mai-chan."

Ao just sighed and shook his head, he tried to warn the blonde but if he wouldn't take his advice then there was nothing he could do.

After a few minutes of walking, the group exited on an isolated island in the middle of Water Country.

Naruto saw that there were some people in the stands waited for the match to begin; Zabuza, Haku, Gaara, Chōjūrō, Ao, Mai and a couple unnamed people. Mei was standing on the other side of the training ground with a smile that radiated danger, "Are you ready for our spar, Naruto-san?" asked Mei with a sickly, sweet smile.

Naruto slightly shuttered before shrugging it off, "Yes Mei-san I'm more than ready" replied Naruto as he fell into a taijutsu stance.

Naruto vs. Mei

Mei shifted into her own taijutsu stance before disappearing in a burst of speed; Naruto held up his hand and blocked one of Mei's kicks. Naruto was surprised when the kick caused him to lose some ground, Naruto grinned and sent a roundhouse kick toward the rebel leader's head but Mei ducked under the kick and jumped back.

"Yōton: Yōgan Gurobu (Lava Style: Lava Globs)!" Mei spit out globs of molten lava toward Naruto. The Uzumaki grinned and started his own lightning fast hand seals, "Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall)!" Naruto didn't bother to slam his hands into the ground since he had advanced his earth nature to the point his earth ninjutsu could be executed with his feet, a wall of earth rose and blocked the globs of lava.

Naruto jumped over the wall and charged at Mei, the rebel leader smirked and did some additional hand seals, "Futton: Kōmu no Jutsu (Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique)" The duel-bloodline user exhaled a white mist toward Naruto. Naruto ran straight into the mist and began to melt away but Mei was shock when 'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke and spears of earth rose from the ground forcing Mei to jump away.

Naruto exploded from the ground with his sharingan blazing and his hands in a tiger seal, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" Naruto exhaled a large fireball, the fireball engulfed Mei in an inferno but Naruto was on guard when the smoke cleared and a charred piece of wood appeared.

"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu (Lava Style: Melting Apparition Jutsu)!" the rebel leader spit out a thin sheet of molten lava that spread all around Naruto, the Uzumaki grinned before doing his own hand seals, "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave)!" Naruto spit out a large volume of water that ate up a lot of his reserves but being a jinchuriki he wasn't worried, the wave of water collided with the lava cooling it down and turning into rock.

Audience

"Are they trying to kill each other?" deadpanned Mai, "Uh-h it l-looks like they a-are M-Mai-chan" stuttered Chōjūrō.

"Back in my day people would have attacked with intent to kill in our spars" commented Ao.

"Then it's a good thing Naruto-san put up this barrier…" spoke Gaara as he touched the invisible barrier in front of them, "If not we would have been caught in the crossfire."

Everyone nodded their heads, "Still it's impressive that Mei-sama is holding out against Naruto-san" commented Haku, "She isn't" spoke Zabuza, "Naruto's been playing with her since the beginning, he still hasn't even advance his eyes to the next stage like in our fight and he hasn't thrown any of his Hiraishin kunai. He's just making her think she's winning before completely outclassing her when he stops holding back" said Zabuza.

The non-Akayoake (Red Dawn: Name of Naruto's organization) shinobi gasped, "T-The Hiraishin? The jutsu made famous by the Yondaime Hokage!" exclaimed Ao in disbelief.

Zabuza nodded, "It's what he used to escape Konoha and has been his main technique to use when fighting, so far no one has ever beaten him" spoke Zabuza before everyone shifted their attention back to the fight.

Naruto vs. Mei

Naruto and Mei did lightning fast hand seals before both ended in a Bird seal, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)!" 2 vortices of water swirled on the surface of the ocean before coiling around their masters, both dragons gave a loud roar before charging at one another and canceling each other out.

Suddenly Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, indicating that it had been a shadow clone. 'Where did he go? Left… Right… Above… Below!'

Mei was forced to jump into the air when the ground exploded and a dragon made of fire almost killed her,

"Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!"

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

Mei's eyes widened when a white hot fireball charged at her from behind, "Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Style: Water Wall)!" the rebel leader spit out a massive wall of water that blocked the white-hot fireball. When the steam cleared it revealed Mei, who was breathing heavily, with Naruto, who was calm and not even winded, standing across from her.

Audience

"Amazing! He can keep up with Mei-sama and isn't even tired!" exclaimed one of Mei's military advisors.

Chōjūrō was feeling uneasy as he watched Mei struggle to keep up with the blonde, Mai on the other hand couldn't help but feel excited that someone was stronger than her sister, she was already thinking of what kind of boyfriend he would be. Since her sister was one of the strongest kunoichi in Kiri, no one even tried to get close to her in fear they may piss of her sister.

Ao felt slightly displeased as he watched the blonde completely outclass his leader; Zabuza and Haku felt worried for Mei's safety having first hand witnessed Naruto's full power. Gaara felt nothing since he really didn't care for Mei and he knew Naruto would never lose to her.

The unnamed personnel in the crowd, which consisted of military advisors, high-rank shinobi, and civilian politicians; were ecstatic that someone as strong as Naruto would be joining in their fight. But like in all governments, corruption was guaranteed, there were already some politicians plotting to have Naruto join Kiri after the civil war.

Naruto vs. Mei

Naruto finally relaxed as he reached into his pouch, "As fun as this warm up has been, we should finish this up now Mei-san."

Mei scowled at the way Naruto brushed her off, "Don't think I'll go down easily!"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, "Of course not, but someone like you has no chance against me." Mei scowled but was put on guard when Naruto threw twenty kunai with the flick of his wrist.

The rebel leader jumped back and easily dodged all the kunai, "Ha! Where's your skill now? I dodged all your kunai effortlessly."

Naruto shook his head, "Don't you see something different about my kunai Mei-san?"

Mei was slightly confused but looked at the kunai from the corner of her eye; she saw they weren't regular kunai but rather three-pronged kunai with something written on the handle.

"Now, let's finish this" spoke Naruto before he disappeared in a yellow flash.

Naruto reappeared in front of Mei and kicked her in the gut before disappearing again, the blonde shinobi appeared behind the rebel leader and round house kicked her into a tree before disappearing again.

Mei was in a state of shock as Naruto reappeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, she tried to dodge but he was too fast.

The red-headed leader crashed into a tree and coughed up some blood but Naruto's onslaught was far from over. He reappeared in a yellow flash to her right and punched her into the center of the Hiraishin kunai circle, once Mei was inside the circle she tried to shakily stand up. She was suddenly surrounded by flashes of yellow light as Naruto punched and kicked her from different angles in the blink of an eye. Naruto finished when he kicked her into the air and threw a kunai as her barely conscious body floated in the air, the blonde jinchuriki suddenly reappeared above her with a rasengan in hand.

"Rasengan!" Naruto slammed the rasengan in the rebel leader's back sending her back crashing into the ground leaving Mei unconscious inside a large crater.

"Mei-sama!" yelled Ao and Chōjūrō as they raced to help their leader while Mai didn't have an outburst but went to help her sister anyway.

Naruto reappeared next to Gaara with a victorious smirk on his face, never noticing the looks of fear and awe from Mei's subordinate advisors.

"He completely outclassed her!"

"He annihilated her!"

"He knew the strongest jutsu in the world!"

"It seems you've caught their attention Naruto-san" commented Gaara, Naruto smirked and nodded, "That was the point, I want them to know they need me more than I need them" replied Naruto.

Ao and Chōjūrō walked out of the crater with looks of rage etched on their faces, "What did you do!" yelled Ao.

Naruto smirk didn't fade as an enraged Ao and Chōjūrō confronted him, "What's the problem, she was a shinobi, she faces death every moment. Had I wanted to, I could have killed her during the first five minutes of our fight."

"It was a spar; you didn't need to go so far!" Naruto looked uninterested, "I was proving a point, I'm more than qualified to be called an SS-rank criminal and help your rat-hole of a country with its civil war…" Naruto's smirk grew, "If I wanted to, I could walk into Kiri and destroy it…But I want to have some fun before I win you this war."

Naruto smirk disappeared when a massive sword appeared hostilely in front of his face, Gaara saw this as a threat and commanded his sand but Naruto signaled him to stop.

"Enough Gaara…It seems I've push the weakling too far, Chōjūrō was it?" asked Naruto with a mocking grin.

Said shinobi held Hiramekarei close to Naruto's head steadily, "What you did was unforgivable! You are supposed to be our ally yet you almost killed our leader!"

"Ally!?" laughed Naruto, "I am not your ally weakling, I am the person who will win this war for you because face it, without me you won't last another 3 months. You rebellion is low on weapons, food, money, and morale. If Yagura chose to do so, he could easily crush you all in one swoop…There are no allies in the shinobi world, there are only those that take and those that are taken from. Remember that weakling" spoke Naruto before turning to leave but once again Chōjūrō was in front of him, "NO! I challenge you to a fight to avenge Mei-sama's honor!"

Naruto snickered and tried not to break down to hysterical tears, "Honor? We are shinobi not samurai, we have no honor weakling. But if you're so hell bent on getting your ass kicked, I'll be more than happy to oblige."

Both shinobi disappeared in bursts of speed and reappeared in the center of the training ground, Mei was begin to wake up as Naruto and Chōjūrō were starting their fight.

"A-Ao what happened?" asked Mei as Mai healed her wounds, "Naruto-san overwhelmed you in battle and went too far" spoke Ao.

"Where's Chōjūrō?" asked Mei, Ao frowned and looked toward the training ground, Mei followed his lead to see Chōjūrō and Naruto falling into their respective fighting stances.

Mei's eyes widened, "What is he doing!? He's no match for him!" exclaimed Mei, Ao nodded in agreement, "I know but he dead set on regaining you honor" said Ao with a sigh.

Mei tried to stand up and stop the match but her sister immediately pushed her back down, "Don't move too much Nee-san, your wounds might reopen."

Naruto vs. Chōjūrō

Chōjūrō spread his legs and unwrapped Hiramekarei; the unique sword glowed with blue chakra as it took the form of a blade. Naruto smirked and unsealed his own katana, and channeled wind chakra to it.

Naruto pointed the blade at Chōjūrō and looked at him with a mocking smile, "Now, why don't you show me what one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist can do."

Chōjūrō narrowed his eyes and charged forward, "AHHH!" cried out the blue-haired swordsman as he swung down his sword.

Naruto didn't move as he quickly and effortlessly blocked Chōjūrō's swing, "Is that all you got Chōjūrō?" mocked the blonde jinchuriki.

Chōjūrō scowled at his mock but was put on the defensive when suddenly kicked him in the gut, causing him to lose some ground. He recovered and was immediately on guard when Naruto swung his katana down on him, the wind chakra on Naruto's katana began cutting into the charka surrounding Hiramekarei.

Chōjūrō tried to hold his own against the other swordsman but found he was being overpowered. Naruto overpowered Chōjūrō and was able to knock Hiramekarei out of his hand, Chōjūrō moved to dodge but Naruto was too fast and managed to give Chōjūrō a long but shallow cut on his arm. Naruto gave a disappointed look at Chōjūrō, "Is this really all one of Kiri's Seven Swordsman can give? I don't understand why this pathetic village was ever feared for its swordsman, all your swordsman's are weaklings!" spoke Naruto with a smirk.

This caused the Kiri representatives plus Zabuza and Haku to scowl at Naruto's comment about the 7 swordsman. Mei was about to stop the fight seeing that Chōjūrō had lost but was surprised when Chōjūrō stood up.

The blue-haired swordsman stood back up, but instead of a nervous wreck he had been before; he now looked confident and determined. Chōjūrō picked up Hiramekarei and shifted back into his stance.

"Oh so you can still fight, I'm surprised I would have expected a weakling not to get back up" mocked Naruto.

Chōjūrō's determined look didn't waver as he spoke, "You're wrong, I'm not weak. Mei-sama believes in me…" Chōjūrō charged Naruto at a much higher speed than before causing the blonde-nin to slightly grit his teeth as he defended against Chōjūrō's swing, "My comrades believe in me…" Chōjūrō swung again and caused Naruto to lose some ground, "They are the ones that give me strength, I will not disappoint them and I will give my life to free Kiri from Yagura!" Hiramekarei glowed blue as the chakra took the shape of a hammer and slammed into Naruto causing him to fly into a nearby hill, making a huge crater.

Chōjūrō smiled tiredly as he fell to his knees exhausted, "I-I did i-it" spoke Chōjūrō while everyone looked at the dust cloud in surprise.

Once the dust cloud cleared, everyone was surprised when Naruto walked out. His head was bleeding and there were bruises on his face. Although his wounds weren't what got their attention, it was his face. He had a look of pure rage.

"If you…" Naruto's injuries hissed as they completely healed, "honestly believe…" Naruto looked at Chōjūrō with his sharingan blazing, "that caring about others…" Naruto's sharingan morphed into his mangekyo sharingan "can make you stronger…" Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared in front of Chōjūrō, "you're just another naïve fool believing in Sarutobi's Will of Fire!" Naruto kicked Chōjūrō in the face faster that he could blink.

Chōjūrō recovered and held up his sword just in time to block a devastating sword swing, causing Chōjūrō to lose some ground.

Naruto charged the blue-haired swordsman, his training all but forgotten as he charged to get rid the world of every shred of Sarutobi's 'Will of Fire' or anyone who thought similar to the man that let him suffer for so many years for the sake of a disgusting village.

Luckily Chōjūrō was ready, a second wind fueling his defense, his swordsman training kicking in and his confidence boosted.

"Chōjūrō, don't look in his eyes!" warned Ao, the young swordsman heeded his superiors' advise and averted his eyes opting to instead focus on his opponents feet. While it was considerably harder to see Naruto, Chōjūrō could easily predict Naruto who was letting rage cloud his mind.

Naruto swung his katana, pumping a large amount of wind chakra into it. "Kaze no Surasshu (Wind Slash)!" called out Naruto, a crescent of wind raced toward Chōjūrō, who put up his sword and channeled chakra into the blade, "Hiramekarei Shīrudo (Hiramekarei Shield)" muttered Chōjūrō, the chakra surrounding the unique sword glowed before it took the shape of a shield, effortlessly protecting Chōjūrō from the deadly wind blade.

Chōjūrō disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared behind Naruto, getting the blonde by surprise, "Hiramekarei Hanmā (Hiramekarei Hammer)!" yelled Chōjūrō as his sword took the form of a hammer and landed a devastating hit on the blonde shinobi, causing him to be sent crashing through a tree and into the ground creating a large crater.

Chōjūrō never wavered as he stood in his fighting stance waiting for any surprises, his answer came in the form of Naruto slowly climbing out of crater with a massive amount of KI radiating off of him. Everyone looked toward the blonde to see his mangekyo sharingan spinning wildly and a black skeletal ribcage forming around him.

Naruto could feel nothing but rage of bloodlust in his mind, clouding all other senses. He subconsciously began drawing Kurama's chakra and his black Susanoo began bleeding red until Naruto was surrounded by a crimson red Yamabushi figure, with a fox-like Tengu hood and 7 Tails waving on his back wildly.

Mindscape

"Naruto calm down!" exclaimed Kurama as he tried to stop his container from breaking the seal, while he did want his freedom he knew that there were safe ways of having himself extracted and not at the cost of the life of the boy he thought of as a friend.

The Biju tried keeping his chakra from leaving the seal, but unfortunately the seal was designed to forcibly take Kurama's chakra whenever Naruto willed it.

Kurama's warning went unheard as Naruto kept muttering, "I will kill him, I will erase everything that man stood for, I will destroy everything that man held dear!" raged Naruto as he pulled more of Kurama's chakra.

Naruto looked up to see Gerotora's cage, said Toad could only look in fear as the homicidal blonde turned his attention to him. Naruto stalked up to the cage and ripped open the door before grabbing the Toad by the throat, "I AM TIRED OF WAITING TOAD, TSUKUYOMI!"

Kurama watched as Gerotora's eyes rolled into the back into his head and his abdomen extended before slowly unfurling and revealing the key to the seal. Naruto quickly made a copy of the key before killing the Toad once and for all. Naruto walked out of the smaller cage for it completely disappeared

"Naruto! Think about what you're doing! Opening the seal now will flood your body with my chakra and kill you!" warned Kurama. Naruto chuckled darkly, "I can't let this brat get away with it Kurama, to think Sarutobi's and Konoha's ideals reached here. I swore to wipe out that damn ideal once and for all, which is what I will do!" yelled Naruto, "You're letting your rage get the better of you, Naruto! Remember what I taught you, control your rage and hate rather than letting it control you!"

Naruto seemed to pause for a minute as he looked at his hands and started taking deep breaths, calming himself down and letting Kurama's chakra recede back into the seal. Naruto couldn't help but think of the amount of rage he had fueling him after he had read his father's letter.

Flashback

Naruto sat up on his bed as he woke up relaxed and ready to start the day, unfortunately he only needed two hours of sleep because Kurama's chakra always let him rest faster so he knew it was only 3 AM. He walked out of the hidden base stealthfully while slipping through the patrols with ease, he found himself on the main island and began running into a nearby forest. After an hour of running he climbed up the tallest tree and looked at the full moon. He always felt more powerful during a full moon, his hate and Kurama's chakra in perfect synch during the full moon, had he wanted to he could go into his 6 tails state without so much as a struggle.

He sat on a branch as he thought how his life had led to this moment; growing up in an orphanage hated and ignored, given little to no food and never allowed to sleep more than an hour before the matron beat him awake, whenever he left the orphanage to find something to eat he would always be chased by a mob of angry villager and when they caught him they would beat him to an inch of his life before Kurama's chakra healed him. When he was finally kicked out of the orphanage and met Kurama, everything had changed.

His first night in the crappy apartment the Hokage had assigned him, four villagers had tried to break into his apartment and set it on fire. He made quick work of them before brutally ripping their insides out and hanging their corpses in the market the following morning as an example. While there was no evidence pointing him to the murders, the civilian council demanded his head. The Sandaime conducted his investigation and couldn't find who did it or he refused to believe the 'sweet and gentle Naruto-kun' would so something so heinous. For a year he evaded all contact with the villagers and trained to the level of Chunin, after a year he began showing his face more around the village, almost as if daring anyone to do something.

It took 6 months before the villagers gathered the courage to 'hunt the demon'; the very first 'Demon Hunt' was led by Haruno Suki who gathered a mob of twenty villagers and two chunin. Naruto ran through the village as they chased him, the villagers thinking he was running in fear when in reality he was leading them into a trap.

Naruto led them into an abandoned warehouse where he quickly disappeared in a burst of speed and killed the chunin with some shuriken to the head. He could practically feel the fear radiating off the villagers as they realized the weak and naïve idiot that had been too weak to defend himself was gone, instead there was a cold and cruel boy that would spill their blood with a smile on his face. He immediately killed all the lights and left them in a pitch black room; Naruto used his enhanced and quietly killed every single one slowly and painfully. The entire village of Konoha woke up to the bodies of their brothers, mothers, fathers, or sisters lying dead on their doorsteps. Unfortunately the Haruno had escaped his clutched every time, and with every mob there would be more dead villagers and more revenge seeking relatives. It was like and endless cycle until finally the more wealthy villagers had begun hiring missing-nin to try and assassinate him.

Throughout everything the Sandaime continued to let the civilian council overrule him, did nothing to protect him except assign the occasional ANBU to his protection. Naruto shook his head as he began to dwell on the past, 'Jeez I'm turning into that emo, Sasuke' thought Naruto before rummaging through his pocket and pulling a letter signed 'To my son, Naruto'.

It was the letter his 'Father' had left him before sealing the Kyuubi in him and leaving him to suffer a loveless childhood. He scoffed as he didn't even bother to refer Namikaze Minato as a father; the coward had dumped a heavy burden on him at birth for the sake of his precious village and villagers before dying. He hated the man enough to drop the Namikaze name and keeping the Uzumaki name, as far as he knew his mother never betrayed him so he had no reason to hate her.

He opened the letter and began reading…

To my son, Naruto

I have very little time as I write this letter as the Kyuubi is advancing on our village. On the day of your birth your mother died giving birth to you and your brother…

Naruto immediately sat up and read the letter careful the minute Minato said he had a brother.

…Before she died she said you and your brother, Arashi, were the most precious things she had. She said she would always love you no matter what happened and hoped you and your brother grew up loved and happy.

I can only hope you can forgive me for what I had to do; it was the only way to stop the Kyuubi from destroying the village your mother and I swore to protect with our lives. I hope that Sandaime-sama honors my request and you are seen as a hero. Jiraiya, my sensei, is your godfather and I know he will train you and your brother and take care of you so you two can grow strong to protect our village, I know that you will make me proud as a Konoha shinobi.

I hope you have a happy life, just like your mother, I will always be proud of you no matter what happened.

Signed,

Namikaze Minato

The paper erupted in flames as Naruto shook with rage, his KI unleashed throughout the forest causing every animal to drop dead from the pressure.

"I h-have a brother… a brother that didn't suffer… a brother that didn't have to worry where his next meal came from… a brother that know nothing of the pain this world brings! I swear on my life Namikaze! I will destroy everything you held dear! YOUR VILLAGE, YOUR VILLAGERS, AND THE LAST LEGACY YOU LEFT BEHIND!" the surrounding forest imploded at the sheer amount of chakra Naruto was radiating; he walked out of the office barely able to control his rage. He knew it would serve a purpose to get his revenge, he wouldn't rest until everything Namikaze Minato held dear was destroyed; until Konoha and its villagers were burning and slaughtered, and until Namikaze Arashi experienced his pain by his hand.

With a new goal fueling him, Naruto left in a yellow flash back to the base. He would need to give his spy network the task of finding Namikaze Arashi.

End Flashback

Naruto cut off the chakra to the Susanoo and the skeleton dissipated, leaving the blonde on the other side of the clearing.

He had an emotionless look as he gazed toward Chōjūrō, "Congratulations, you win Chōjūrō…" Chōjūrō breathed a sigh of relief before collapsing and began catching his breath after the life-threating fight he had with the blonde, he turned to Mei, "I assume you're satisfied with my strength Mei-san?" asked Naruto.

Mei was knocked out of her stupor, "Y-Yeah, now all that's left is to negotiate the terms" spoke Mei, Naruto nodded and everyone headed back inside.

"Zabuza-sama did Naruto-san forfeit?" asked Haku, he was certain the blonde would have killed Chōjūrō, The former Kiri-nin nodded, "Yeah, something must have happened in his rage… He was close to losing control the minute Chōjūrō mentioned fighting to protect his comrades… if I'm not mistaken his motivation is similar to Konoha's 'Will of Fire', I can only image Naruto was reminded of Konoha, a place he hates very much, causing him to fly into a rage. I've never really seen anything like it" commented Zabuza.

Haku nodded at Zabuza's analysis, "Do you think Mei-san will be able to negotiate our allegiance to her?" asked the ice-user. Zabuza sighed and shook his head, "I'm pretty sure he won't let us off easily, Mei will have to offer him something very valuable for him to let us go" spoke Zabuza.

Haku sighed before looking around to see Naruto talking with Gaara, Mei talking to Ao and Chōjūrō, and the Rebel Representatives talking amongst themselves, "I don't trust him Zabuza-sama" spoke Haku quietly.

"Me either, Haku… Me either"

End:

DONE! Please remember to rate and review and check out my other story if you haven't.

Have a nice day!

Chapter 15: Battle of Shūen Pass/ Rebellion of the Bloody Mist Pt. 3