Two months later…

The village that they had been sent to to carry out their mission was, probably, even worse than usual small villages in lesser countries: even though fisher's villages were usually hubs for different kinds of criminal activity, this one stood out from even them. Like expected, the village was extremely poor, just like its inhabitants, who barely managed to make two ends meet, but at the same time it housed all kinds of criminals who were filthy rich. Every kind of crime could be found here: prostitution, drug dealing, smuggling, illegal gambling, where bets were valued more than human life, and, of course, slave trading.

It was hard to tell where the client – a poor old man who looked twice as old as he actually was – found the money to hire the services of Konoha's shinobi: by the looks of him, those money had been either stolen from someone or gathered by the whole community he lived in, which, taking into account the nature of the mission, was more likely, but that didn't matter. Without the sum needed nobody would help him, since Shinobi Villages usually didn't do charity.

But the origin of his payment didn't matter, as long as it was there. Only the mission he did, and Yamato, upon learning what it was, immediately requested that it was his team of genin who would complete it. After all, a combat practice was just what they needed. And it also was a perfect opportunity to see how well the Jinchuriki would fare against his opponents in a fight to death.

All the civilian casualties that could happen due to Naruto not being able to control his bijuu properly didn't matter: some field tests needed to be run, so village's inhabitants were expendable. Not that Yamato would note them in his report, anyway.

So the four shinobi – one adult jonin and three gloomy genins – travelled to the land of Waves to do exactly as they were ordered to: to locate and free all the slaves – young girls and women under age of 20 – that were taken away from their homes. And taking into account that the kidnappers were actively looking for customers – even slaves had to be fed, in order to remain attractive, so the faster they were going to sell them, the sooner their food costs would stop growing – it wasn't hard at all to find the place were trades were executed. The only thing their team had to do was to clean up – since the slave traders wouldn't let their "property" go without a fight – and escort the slaves back to their own village. Piece of cake.

The place where the kidnappers were keeping their victims was located in what could be called a local red lantern district, which shed more light on already obvious fact why they had been kidnapping only women. It was revolting, but also expected at the same time: in the lawless land where the village was located shinobi or samurai were an extremely rare sight, since they wandered there only by chance or led by their mission, so there was no one who would protect those who couldn't protect themselves. In front of shaggy buildings that looked like they were built even before the First Shinobi War stood prostitutes of all ages, some of them obviously ill, others wounded or deformed by their addiction to drugs. They were calling out to boys, asking if they wanted to have some fun or if they were tired after their trip, but the group didn't react: Yamato and Shino simply ignored them, not showing one sign of being affected by their sweet talk in any way, Sasuke carried a frown of disgust and annoyance, and Kurama didn't care altogether: his opinion of humans in general was pretty low, and he didn't need to travel to this hell hole to prove himself right. All his thoughts were occupied with how ironic the mission was: he, the slave of humans, was sent by those very people who enslaved him to free other humans from slavery. He was about to start giggling from the sheer irony of the situation, but his teammates probably wouldn't appreciate the joke. Not that he could tell it to anyone, besides Sasuke, and they weren't on such friendly terms.

After the incident when Sasuke learned of Kurama's situation, the two of them didn't talk much, since the Uchiha was still afraid of Kurama, and Kurama himself wasn't much of a talker. Most of the time they silently trained or carried out their D and C rank missions. However, taking into account his long history with Sasuke's clan, Kurama couldn't help but feel curious: why did Sasuke need all that power so much that he would betray his village? He knew that Sasuke was the last of his clan, so, perhaps, it was somehow related to that fact? The fox was almost sure that that was the case, since, from his knowledge, Uchihas were all about hatred and revenge. Perhaps that was the reason why their population had dropped so suddenly?

He would have to find out about that later: they were closing in on their target, a large brothel where, according to Yamato's informants, kidnappers were holding their victims. Too excited to finally have his chance to cut loose, Kurama grinned, baring his fangs.

The brothel itself consisted of two large rooms: the first, main one, where prostitutes waited for their customers, trying their best to look as seductive as their poor appearance allowed them, and where guests of the brothel could choose one to spend a night with, and the second one, which could be entered through a stairway behind a curtain at the end of the main hall. A stairway led down below the surface, for the nature of business carried out there was way more disgusting than prostitution. The second hall was only for those visitors who could afford themselves to buy a woman for "permanent use", and not just for one night. Basically, that was the place where all the slaves were kept, waiting for the highest bidder.

Yamato entered the brothel first, followed by his three students. Lights in the hall were dim, to create an intimate setting, but to all four shinobis it only strengthened the impression of a rat hole. A young woman, dressed in a vulgar parody of kimono that she probably considered to be provocative, immediately noticed newcomers, and laughed playfully: "So young and already interested in women? Did you bring them here to teach them something new, shinobi-sama?" As she laughed, she exposed two rows of rotten teeth that were claimed by the disease. Sasuke frowned with disgust, and even Shino shifted uneasily.

"You know, I'll charge you less than Mitsuki, and I can do much more than just…" – she was stopped by Yamato, who lifted his hand and, with apologetic smile, told her: "Sorry, but I'm here for a different kind of business".

A trace of realization and fear ran across her face, as she realized what was shinobi's aim here, and she replied nervously, blinking and smiling awkwardly: "Different kind of business? Do you- do you want a room for you and your-"

"I'm here to buy a girl. A slave. I was told that I could find one here, so here I am" – Yamato stopped her, still smiling, but this time his smile, while completely friendly, looked menacing. Both of them already knew it was a charade, but they still played their parts.

"I- I have no idea what you're talking abo-"

"Don't play fool with me" – Yamato suddenly interrupted her, looking her straight in the eye with his unblinking, hollow stare. The girl froze in place, paralyzed with fear: she'd had all kinds of clients, and she knew too well what happens what an angry guest could do to a prostitute. "I know your brothel sells kidnapped women, and I know that they're here in some of these rooms. So you could spare my time and tell me in which one, or else…" He didn't finish his sentence, But it was all too clear what was he talking about. People around them were engaged in their own activities, so nobody noticed anything strange yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't. The girl was practically shivering: she knew what a shinobi could do, but she was also too afraid of what bandits could do to her for assisting Yamato.

"My-my, Chio, you never handle our guests properly" – the group suddenly heard from behind. Turning around, Yamato saw a young woman, in her late twenties, of an unparalleled beauty. Her figure was very slender and even her revealing, loosely worn kimono that exposed her right shoulder didn't make her look vulgar. The skin of her porcelain face was smooth and white, and her lips were red and plum. It was clear that the woman took great care of her looks, and was probably the best this place could offer.

The only thing that spoiled her beauty were ugly scars that disfigured the left side of her face, and that her long, black bangs of silky hair failed to hide completely.

"Forgive Chio, shinobi-sama, she just never learns! You may go" – she said to the girl – "I'll handle our guests from here. I know just what they want" – she smiled provocatively as she moved closer to Yamato, lifting her hand to hug him around his head.

"What-" – Yamato tried to push her away, but she already leaned close enough to whisper into his ear: "They keep them in the second hall, downstairs behind the curtain at the end of that room. You better hurry, the Mother already noticed something's wrong and is on her way to warn them that you're here!" – she looked towards the old short woman who already hasted towards the doorframe covered by curtains at the end of the hall. Reacting immediately, Sasuke threw a kunai, pinning one side of the curtain to the wall right in front of the Mother. The woman froze in her tracks, and when she looked at the boy, he just lifted his index finger to his lips. Yamato chuckled approvingly: Sasuke didn't lose track of his surroundings even for a moment.

"Why are you helping us?" – he asked Mitsuki, to which the girl just shrugged: "I just really hate this place, and this seems like the only opportunity to change something". Yamato's eyes narrowed: "I see". It was clear to him she had some personal agenda and that she wasn't going to reveal it to him, but as long as she didn't endanger the mission it was fine by him. So, turning to his students, he nodded towards the curtain: "Are you ready for your first combat mission? Everybody remembers their roles?"

Boys just nodded seriously, even Kurama, who was too eager to start and finally blow off some steam for real. "Good" – Yamato said – "then Shino, lead the way".

The room was dimly lit and, overall, depressing, despite its pretty rich for such a place furnishing. The bandits, along with their leader, rested on mats at the end of the room, surrounded by small pillows and tables that rested beverages on them. The room would seem like some place where shady figures gathered to pass a few drinks, if not for the large wooden grate that cut off the left side of the room. The improvised cage housed around a dozen young women, none of them older than twenty. Some of them had bruises on their faces, the apparent result of disobedience. Others had an empty look in their eyes, since what the bandits made them do was too much for them to cope, and they were slowly switching off from the reality.

None of them expected any help. And, certainly, none of them expected that it would come in a form of small bugs.

One of the bandits suddenly noticed with the corner of his eye that there were shadows where they definitely weren't supposed to be, and, on top of that, they were moving. The goon slapped himself, believing it to be a trick of his drunken mind, but then one of the girls in the cage screamed, noticing the incoming swarm as well. Although she didn't have much reason to be afraid: the black cloud of insects was crawling only in bandit's direction, completely ignoring the cage.

Noticing the anomaly, all of slave-traders jumped to their feet, toppling over the tables and drawing their weapons, and the swarm, that was pretty soundless before, began to buzz menacingly, sensing the stress and tension of the men. One of the bandits thought that it was a smart idea to just crush bugs under his feet, but the moment he tried that the swarm rose into air on their small chitin wings and attacked him with a horrifying screech, engulfing his whole body in a matter of seconds. The man screamed and fell to the floor, rolling and kicking, but his accomplices were to horrified and shocked to help him, and instead backed away to the very wall. Girls in the cage were scared as well, but they already noticed that the bugs were paying no attention to them whatsoever: if they did, they would go after an easy prey first and already be inside the cage.

The swarm stopped advancing, and now the room was loud with intimidating noise that it created. None of the bandits even thought about moving: they were backed into corner, and they already saw that they stood no chance against this unexplained force of nature, so they just froze, gripping their weapons as hard as they could.

"Good job, Shino" – they heard from the stairway. There, three short figures and one tall were descending from the above. One of the boys that entered the room was holding his arms wide up, as if trying to embrace all of the bugs at once: he was concentrated on whatever he was doing, and if not for the circumstances, his black sunglasses and high-collared coat wouldn't look menacing at all. Now, however, since it became clear who was the master of the bugs, everyone in the room looked at him with a certain degree of fear.

"Sasuke, could you please free the girls?" – the man at the door asked nicely one of the boys, the light smile never leaving his face, as if he and his kids were on a jolly excursion to a zoo. The raven-haired one simply shook his shoulders and threw a kunai at cage's iron lock. With a thud, it fell to the wooden floor, and Sasuke, walking towards the door and not caring whatsoever about a dozen of thugs in a close proximity, opened the door and simply said: "get out".

The girls inside didn't have to hear it twice, they rushed towards the exit, though they were leaning towards the wall on their way out, as the bugs – not to mention their former captors – creeped them out.

"Sasuke, you better follow them so that they don't run away into the village. It would be unpleasant to lose them. Shino" – he turned to the boy who was in charge of bugs – "we're leaving". The boy nodded, and all the insects, who were previously keeping slave-traders under check, left their posts and crawled towards their master, seeking refuge under his clothes – a sight that would be a source of nightmares for thugs, were they to survive the day.

The quartet was on their way out when the leader stopped the blonde boy with a gesture: "Oh, and Naruto… could you clean up the mess here?" The question was asked in a careless manner, as if the man asked his pupil to tidy up in his room, but each slaver felt as if his blood froze in his veins, especially after the blonde boy turned around and replied with a wicked smile: "Gladly… Yamato-sensei".

All shinobis with the exception of the blonde left the room, and thugs started regaining their senses. The boy, actually, didn't look that menacing: he was short, even for his age, and didn't seem like someone who could pose a threat, either. Plus, dangerous or not, he was all on his own, and that meant that taking him out was an easier task then when he was surrounded by his allies. Killing him was their only way of getting away. Of course, they would have to fight with his allies outside, but the hall upstairs presented them with more opportunities to simply flee, as opposed to the small room where they were now, where the only exit was guarded by a 12-year-old genin.

Slowly, without saying a single word, all of the thugs began approaching Kurama, their weapons held ready. Their eyes were measuring the boy as they tried to predict what kind of threat he could pose. With each step, their confidence that the jonin made a mistake, leaving the brat to take them out, only strengthened, and some of them began smiling wickedly, eyeing the confidently-smirking blonde. When only a few meter separated them, the boy suddenly spoke:

"So, you guys like to enslave others?"

Everyone froze where they stood, shocked by the deep voice that in no way could belong to someone so young. Only then they began noticing that something was wrong: the shadows in the room were getting darker with each passing second, and the boys appearance began changing as well. His hair became spikier than before, and his whiskers went wider. His wicked grin now exposed two sharp fangs, and his nails were quickly changing into sharp claws. Each change took a toll on reach slaver, as beads of cold sweat began running down their scared faces, and their grasps on their swords were getting painfully tight.

But when two red eyes beamed into existence, illuminating every dark corner of slavers souls, their screams echoed inside the room, as they realized that their weapons weren't going to save them. Those two red, slitted eyes carried centuries of inhuman hatred towards everything they saw, and, what was more horrifying, that hatred seemed strangely personal.

"I usually fought only against the strongest of your kind, but for pieces of shit like you I'm more than happy to make an exception!" – Kurama mused, red chakra bursting out of his body, as he rushed towards formerly the most feared people around, who were now squirming in the corner, not knowing which gods to ask for help.

One of them desperately stabbed forward with his sword, and Kurama didn't even try to avoid the strike, instead letting the blade come clean through him. Not even flinching, he swung his hand, completely erasing part of his attacker's torso, leaving only a trace of red paste on his comrades and walls behind them.

"Squirm, little bugs. Plead for mercy. You are only the first ones in the line of thousands" – Kurama almost whispered, letting out another burst of his red chakra.

When he walked outside of the room, he was trying his best to hide his satisfied smirk. Not that anyone would notice it, though: the jinchuriki was covered in blood from head to toes, leaving drops of it and red footsteps behind as he walked. Everyone, even his teammates, stared at him with shock: they heard how merciless criminals who would (and probably did) sell their parents for another coin pleaded for mercy like little kids. There had been no sounds of battle: the thugs realized what was coming for them and how futile it was to fight it. All of them died screaming till they were dead, or until they had lungs to scream.

The only one who didn't seem surprised was Yamato. He, as usually, eyed his student with that enigmatic expression of his, looking for some signs that might be important to note in his report later. But, seeing nothing too unexpected, he simply nodded towards his pupil: "Are they dead?"

Naruto/Kurama slowly nodded.

Yamato smiled too cheerfully: "Good. Now, be a good boy and find somewhere to change your clothes. Sasuke, go with him. Me and Shino will escort these girls back to their village and then we'll come back for you. It shouldn't take more than an hour".

Naruto started walking towards the exit, and on his way out he noticed two things.

First thing was Mitsuki waving him with a refrained, but happy smile, completely ignoring that he was covered in blood. In her other hand she was holding a kunai – the same kunai that Sasuke had thrown before to stop the Mother from warning thugs about their arrival. It was covered in blood now.

The second thing he noticed that the Mother was nowhere to be seen.

A/N:

So, you may be wondering why it took me so long to update.

The truth is that I've moved from writing fanfictions and I now try to pursuit my dream of becoming a full-fledged writer. Writing for you guys gave me a lot of important lessons, and I'll forever cherish these moments of passionate writing and creativity.

That said, you can still see my writing at reddit. Just go to /r/Scandalist and you'll find me

Come over and say hello! I'll be glad to know that someone from my old audience actually decided to pay me a visit.

With this, it's time for me to say my proper goodbyes. Thanks again, guys. You are a great community.