General Badaxe- Well, I recently uploaded a chapter of my story up, as for when this one will be put up, I don't know. I have nothing new to say really, except that they are currently working me "Balls to the Wall" style. For those who don't know what it means, it means they are slave driving me from sun-up to sun-down, and sometimes past even sun-down. So needless to say, it took a lot of time and energy for me to write this chapter. Oh, and real quick, for anyone reading this currently serving, or someone who is prior service: I don't want to hear it. Honestly, I'm sick of people trying to one-up me the second they find out I'm in the military. Whether it be on cyber space, in real life, it seems like everyone I meet has some sort of war story. I don't care. I'm here to publish a story, try to make it memorable, and ignore those people who try to insult my story and don't explain why or how it could be better. Honestly, I don't see those people writing a good story most of the time, if they write at all, so it irks me slightly when they breakdown my characters and their personalities, and plotlines. Look, if you want a flawless book go buy a New York Times Bestseller. (And even then, I think my writing is better than some of those books) But anyways, enjoy a look at an alternate dimension. Moving onto the story now. (I'll answer the reviews at the end of the story, specifically, when I'm about to upload this one and read them and edit the chapter to include them.)

I walked along, my feet seeming to echo along the corridor as they slapped against the ground. I had basically shut everyone and everything out of my mind, the only thing I was thinking of was pressing forward and ending this blasted mission, kill Orochimaru, and get on with my life. Though, to be a little honest, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. But it had to be better than stalking some sort of dark fortress, looking for a bloody snake to kill. Heck, I would say that anything is better than this. I was definitely going to take a vacation after all this was said and done. As for where I would go…I have no clue in all honesty. Someplace quiet and peaceful. That sounds like the best option for me.

And then in the distance, I witnessed a light shining at me. As my footsteps brought me closer, it was slowly growing brighter and brighter. I was guessing this room led to the next guardian, and my next fight. Hopefully the last fight before Orochimaru was in my grasp. Then again, knowing my luck in life, I had twelve more of these stupid people to kill before I finally got to chop the head off of this magnificent serpent. One could only press forward and hope for the best in these kind of circumstances.

As I entered the white light, I felt the area around me shift. It was an odd sensation, as though someone had taken my being, and changed everything. I looked down at my claws, and flexed them a little. They seemed to respond to everything I asked them to do…and as I moved the rest of my body, It moved exactly how I wanted it to. So what had that strange feeling been? I wanted to say it was something that the guardian had done to me to make this fight harder for me, but I couldn't see any differences. And nothing seemed to be wrong with my body or movements. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me? I guess it was a possibility. Though one thing that caught my attention for a brief instant was that the crying stopped. I guess they were done now.

"Welcome to my humble abode." I heard a voice behind me say, someone with a rather sweet and easily feminine voice. "I do hope you enjoy your stay here."

I stopped where I was, unable to move for the briefest second, before turning around in a crouched position, my claws ready and able to shred anyone or anything apart. I looked at where the voice had come from, and to be honest, I was not ready for what I saw. In front of me, had to be the most radiantly beautiful woman I had ever seen.

She was roughly half a head shorter than me judging by her appearance and the distance between us. She had the most lustrous raven black I had ever seen, as though midnight under a full moon was shining down on this woman. Her face was perfectly structured, as though some sort of God had carefully pieced it together. Her nose was not overly small, but it wasn't too large either. Her lips were a sweet looking red, as though made of roses. Part of me wondered if that's what they tasted like. Her eyes were a wonderful, deep sea green. Even from the distance between us, I could make them out. And I noticed that it was easy to get lost in them. Her cheeks seemed to be made of the softest velvet, the tiniest hint of a blush on them as she looked at me. Her skin seemed to be some sort of rich cream, as though she was the sweetest thing on this planet. She might be in all honesty.

She was wearing a long, red towel it seemed like. It flowed along her body, as though it lived on it, and to seemed to extend the slightest bit and then retract. It was floating a little, and it was positioned in just the right place, than nothing truly explicit was showing. And yet it fit her, despite the semi-shy appearance she had. She looked older than me, by a couple years, but to me that made her that more alluring, as though she had some secrets that age wrought, a secret that only she could tell. Added a little mystery to her as well. Nothing seemed out of place about her, nothing to mar her or make her ugly. Nothing that made any part of her body unattractive. I found myself staring, and as I stared, her blush deepened slightly as though she knew what I was thinking. It was kind of embarrassing in all honesty.

I felt my heart hammering in my chest, as though it was trying to break free of my ribs and show this woman that it belonged to her. I had to close my eyes and shake my head, she was distracting me from my mission. But I found that even with my eyes closed and my head shaking, she was burned into my mind, and I just couldn't forget about her. I couldn't escape her image, and it was bugging the living daylights out of me. I wondered how long this would keep up, because it was very slowly driving me angry, even though my lust was easily the dominant emotion right now, anger would be welling up, and hopefully quick enough that this would stop bugging me. Wait a second…This room was supposed to house a Guardian. Was this woman the Guardian?

With that realization, my eyes snapped open, and I flexed my claws out of instinct, as I suddenly glared at her with an intense hatred. I thought it would phase her, affect her a little. She just stared at me, her lips curved into a sweet smile, and I felt my heart almost stop. I couldn't help but stare at her as our eyes met again, and there was a small twinkling in hers that made her even more alluring than she should be. I had no idea anyone or anything was capable of such beauty. Part of me wanted to think that it was a crime, but I barely had room in my head to think. I saw her take a step towards me, and part of me was defensive. But only a part. The other part of me couldn't help but look at her clothing, waiting to see if it would slip enough for me to see even more of her skin than I should. Much to my chagrin, the clothing moved with her, so I couldn't see any more.

"You seem to be a little occupied." She said with her soft voice, and there was a hint of knowing in her voice as she stepped closer to me. I took a few steps back. I wasn't quite sure if I did it because I was trying to be defensive and keep her away just in case. Or if it was because As she stepped closer I felt my emotions going more ballistic than normal. I couldn't believe me looking at a woman was capable of doing this to me. I didn't know how long it would last either, it didn't seem like I could grow used to these looks. And as long as this was the case, I was going to have a problem.

"Will you stay away from me?" I cried out, taking another step back as I then let out a furious howl, as I called upon my demonic energy, as it began to erupt from my body violently, the swirls of scarlet energy tearing through the ground and breaking it apart, as rocks flew at the woman, as I felt hatred begin to shatter the feelings I had felt, my fighting spirit rising to new heights. However, something was odd, and then I realized what it was rather quickly. And to be honest, it scared me more than anything else in my life right then.

The rocks were…avoiding her, for lack of better words. She wasn't giving off any energy, none that I could feel at least. But as the rocks were about to hit her, they seemed to slow down as though her beauty was stopping them, or some type of energy. And then they would curve, as though they didn't want to hurt her. I could only stare in disbelief, and then I was hit with another surprise. As she stepped into my chakra, my violent energy, it…calmed itself. In fact, it stopped going where she was, as though my energy was scared of her. She was just smiling at me sweetly, as though nothing was wrong with the world. What was I supposed to do…I felt defeated. My energy seemed to be useless against her. "I want to get closer though." She said to me. It was such a simple statement. But it was enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I leapt away from her, my chakra surging violently all around me again, and then I jumped high into the air, High above the ground, as I flipped my body so that I Was facing her, going down head first. Then I felt flames bursting all around me, my hands cupping them softly, Before I spun, and launched a massive wave of fire at her, and then using the remaining flames to create a dragon, this blazing sentinel of hatred burning so hot that it felt like it was going to fry me, before I launched it after the wave of flame, the hatred and rage burning from all three of us compressing down on this woman. I saw the wall hit, and seem to splash all around, before the serpent of rage smashed into the ground, the flames so loud and explosive that they threatened to hit me even though I was high in the air.

I saw it then…the flames clearing away and dying out, as though they were losing their anger, as I looked down at this woman, who was looking up at me with an affectionate smile on. As though she found my antics to be nothing more than amusing. I was at a complete loss. Did nothing work on her? Well, I had a few more tricks up my sleeves, and I was hoping that at least one of them would work. I used my energy to slam myself away in the air, I didn't want to be near her. Well, to be honest, I didn't want her to be able to touch me. I was scared of what it would do to me. If her being near my energy quelled it, then I was really worried about what her touch could do to a spirit as violent as mine.

I was flying away, and then I landed on the ground, swirling towards her to keep my eyes on her. That red towel was not covering her ass. I felt a blush sear across my face as I looked at her, as she was turning around to look at me. At this point, she had a playful smile on as she looked at me, And judging from the look in her eyes, she knew why I was blushing as I looked at her. I focused as quickly as I could, As my energy gathered around my hands, before I altered it, changing it into crackling lightning, the ground beneath my claws lurching upwards, as the electricity kept shattering it, before I slammed the two balls of electricity together, and then threw it at the woman, the ground cracking slightly as the electricity arced towards the woman.

I saw the energy about to crash into her, but as I was starting to come to accept, it just dissipated before it hit her. She wasn't even trying to dodge it, as though she already knew the outcome of the attacks I sent at her. It was frustrating and disheartening as I glared at her. She didn't even have the common courtesy to return my hatred, she was just amused. At best. To a degree, that infuriated me even more. But it seems my fury was wasted in all honesty, what with all of my assaults being turned away with the slightest of ease, if she was trying at all. Well, I didn't know exactly what else I could do…but I had to try. I couldn't let myself be stopped here.

A surge of my crimson energy shot from the ground around me, and I noticed that her smile died slightly, but only by the barest margin as she looked at me. Then the energy surged onto me, and then began to gather around my right fist. She was watching me closely, as the energy started to take form into a fox head, as I glared at her. Then I smashed the head into the ground, as my energy surged into it. All energy around me seemed to disappear. I looked up at her then, a dark smile on my lips. Then I formed a burning ball of flame in my hands, and pointed it at her. She looked at my hand expectantly, smiling the whole time. That smile was easily starting to get on my nerves, despite the fact I found it rather attractive. It was a good thing that the fireball I was holding was merely a distraction. That was the reason I was smiling so.

Then red energy surged up from beneath her, rocks and debris flying everywhere, as a massive pillar of my energy broke free, completely engulfing her in that catastrophic nature, as it flew high enough to hit the ceiling, and completely shatter it. I let the flames in front of me dissipate, as I watched in wonder as the pillar slowly lost energy. I looked on and my smile just froze on my face.

She was standing there, the ground around her undisturbed, still looking at me, still smiling. I was honestly beginning to think that this woman was immortal. Or at least that there was no way for me to hurt her, which to me, was the equivalent to such a thing. What was wrong with all of this? There had to be something…some sort of explanation as to why nothing seemed to work. I felt my energy leaving me though…not through anything else besides my own will losing hope. As Despair started to seep into me, I found all my willpower leaving me. What was the point? She was going to deflect every attack I sent at her. Not even my own energy would affect her. I was running out of options, and it was infuriating and humiliating on a level I didn't know my emotions were capable of. But I still had a few more options, but if my hunch was correct, nothing I had will work on her. But I wouldn't let this stop me…wouldn't let it end here.

I slammed my hands into the ground, as crackling electricity surged through my body, and I opened my mouth, letting out a furious howl, as I brought my hands up, lightning arcing all around me, before slamming my hands together again. Then I felt a strange sensation well up inside of me, A strange…passion. Then My hands slammed back into the ground, as the Earth tore itself apart in order to annihilate my foe, as the electricity surged through the ground going straight for the woman. I watched though, as I was starting to come to expect, nothing happened. The energy seemed to die out before it could reach her, and nothing happened. I let out a few choice words, and her smile seemed to brighten. I honestly felt like I was her entertainment, If this kept up, I would have to make it up close and personal, maybe that could get by her. Maybe.

Slamming my tail into the ground, I dug it in there deep, before forcing it to curl, bending the ground to my will, and it was slightly painful to do that. But it was worth it. Then I jumped into the air, flipping backwards, and using my tail to launch a large wave of rocks at the woman, and then I hit the ground on all fours, my tail digging deep into the ground, before I used it to cut up the ground a little, and pick up a large boulder, and then I spun, using my tail as a rather large sling, and hurling the boulder at her, glaring as I did it, as though it would give the boulder that slight sliver of fear that would give it the ability to drive past whatever god-forsaken defense she had put up and finally hit this blasted woman.

The rock wave all seemed to avoid her, but from the looks of things the large boulder tried to push past whatever defense she had…before it ultimately cracked down the center, and then fall into broken rock and debris. I scowled slightly, I was expecting it, but a small part of me had held onto hope. Needless to say, that part was shrinking back in shame. Well, I've tried a whole range of attacks, and not one of them seemed to be working. I guess I could try melee, but by the same token, I don't know if I could hurt her…not with my own strength. It was a strange thing to think about, but in my defense, it was hard enough for me to hurt and/or kill a woman in the first place. So of course one as ravishing as her would be harder for me to kill. Or hurt. Could that be the reason none of my attacks are hitting her? I guess it was possible, but that would be a little strange.

She did something I didn't expect though, and took a step towards me. I took a step back as she kept smiling at me, another twinkle adorning her eyes as she giggled lightly. I couldn't help but feel my heart skip a beat at this, as she kept stepping closer. "You're cute." She said to me simply, with that smile. "And you amuse me."

I couldn't tell if I should be proud of that statement, or if I should feel a wave of hopelessness, but I managed to feel both of them at once. And that feeling was a strange mixture. I'm not sure what kind of effect it had on me, but I didn't have any time to focus on it. Whatever I was going to do, I needed to do it fast. And I would need to find a way to actually hurt her. That seemed like a slightly impossible task to me, but it would really become impossible the second that I gave up. But what other tactics could I use? I had to think of something soon. Maybe her defense had a limit, and if I hit it hard enough it would shatter the defense of hers and wound her. Well, it was my only option.

Backing away from her rapidly, I applied some chakra to my feet and stood on the wall, glaring at her. All she did was smile at me, despite this small show of power. Then again, she seemed to smile no matter what I did to her, so it wasn't that surprising of a thing. This was going to be more difficult than I wish it would be, but I honestly don't have a choice. Because another possibility was that it could only protect against one kind of energy. As I gathered my chakra around me, a small red circle appeared around me, and expanded slowly on the wall.

The circle was normal at first, but as it slowly began to expand, symbols began to fill it. These symbols were at first just a few simple lines, nothing more complicated than what a child was capable of drawing. But as it progressed, the lines began to intersect one another, and others such as swirls and diagonals began to splash their own colors onto the pattern. And then as it continued to grow, the lines began to warp their colors as well, changing from my raging red to a vibrant green, a serene blue, a rough brown, and a flickering orange. But at the center of the symbol, where I was, was the raging crimson of blood I naturally admitted. This energy slowly formed into a fox head at the center.

She did nothing but smile at me, which in itself was infuriating. I had never felt such a strong mix of hate and lust at the same time, the only person who could possibly come close was sealed inside of me. Though with that one it was more of a mix of lust, anger, and a slight hint of fear. Though despair was a close enough emotion to fear I guess. As I gathered the energy inside of me, The colors around me seemed to gain an energy of their own, Their colors seeming to come alive like my own had, before the swirls in each color began to mix, swirling around until the colors were mixing. Until eventually the colors all mixed until it was just a completely black symbol, which seemed to shine with some sort of slickness. Then the wolf head seemed to sink into the wall, and the woman was just staring at me.

Of course, because she was staring at me, she didn't notice that there were four other symbols. Ones on the other three walls, and one on the ceiling staring down at her. She seemed to be oblivious to it all, which was slightly surprising to me. She was a Guardian after all, so it would make me think she was stronger than this. Or at least more observant. It could be that she was just that cocky though, and would let her guard down because of it. Well, whatever was the case, this situation was to my advantage now, and I wouldn't let it get away because of my own ignorance.

With a defiant roar, the three other symbols assumed their own colors, the one above her turning bright orange, the one on the Right wall turning a neon green, the one on the left wall become the same color as mud, and the wall behind her turning a deep Ocean blue, and the one under me turning into a raging crimson, as though blood was pouring all over the walls. With a roar from myself, all five of the symbols flashed, and it was then that she looked around, a small look of surprise forming on her face, but by then it was too late for her to prepare a defense for all of them.

A wind so violent you could see it slashing the walls and rocks suddenly surged forth from the green symbol, that Gale of Death as it twisted so violently you could see the blades of Air going towards her. From the mud colored symbol, a sudden upheaval of the ground sending a surge of stalagmites puncturing the ground towards her. From that deep ocean blue, a tidal wave seemed to come from out of nowhere, as the ground was covered in water suddenly breaking upward to cover the whole ceiling, attempting to crush her. And from the ceiling, a towering inferno suddenly descended upon her, that raging flame attempting to devour her and everything that she was working to accomplish as though her very existence was a sin upon mankind.

My own crimson energy didn't seem to do anything though, as I just stood on the wall, that violent energy encasing me, as I watched the result of my energy and attacks upon this woman. Would that defense of hers be enough to stop this assault? It was a question where I hoped the answer was a 'No.' After all, if this failed, I was out of options. And then I saw it happen, the four energies smash into her, a catastrophic collision that shook the room as I looked at her, and I watched closely, as the four energies struggled against some unseen force. However, they seemed to be bypassing it so far.

And as I looked at her, is seemed that whatever her defense was, it was giving in to my relentless assault. But there was something strange about it…and then I noticed what she was doing, and I couldn't help but feel horror overcome my features. Her energy…it wasn't giving into my assault. It was…altering the path. And the way it was altering it…was towards me.

Suddenly, all four of those violent energies sprang from her, their velocity seeming to increase as they came towards me, and during the process, they seemed to merge into one. Not only had she redirected my attack back at me, but made it more powerful in the process. Something I was definitely not expecting. I had used up a lot of my chakra in that attack as well, leaving me with mostly the energy I had gathered under me…but the way it was currently shaped, it would be unable to be used for a defensive purpose. Well, I heard somewhere along the lines that the best defense was a good offense. Well, now would be the time to test that theory I guess.

Surging even more power into the chakra beneath my feet, I could feel the wall begin to shake slightly, the power on the surface of it slowly pushing it away from me, so great was the energy pounding against me. Then I broke free from it, the massive surge suddenly pounding against me, and launching me towards those four elements as I thrust my right hand forward, spiking all my energy into it, as it twisted itself into a massive lance, the tip becoming sharper than any blade could hope to be, as I drove it into those four elements.

Of course, I'm not strong enough to just push this attack aside. I do wish I was, but of course this was wrought from my own power, so such a task was impossible. And as I drove into this elemental cascade of power, I could feel the ground tearing into my body, the spikes puncturing my skin and sprawling my blood across the ground. I could feel the water punching me in the face, the pressure from it making it seem like my whole face was being forced into the back of my skull. The wind was cutting along my skin, the nails of some hated witch clawing deep into me as it was trying to rip out my soul and devour it. The fire was sliding along my body, reaching deep into my soul and roasting it, making the flames of Hell itself grab my body and wrench it asunder.

The only thing I could do for this was grit my teeth and deal with it. I forced myself past it, most likely the only thing that kept me alive through this relentless assault of my own making was the very fast healing I had. And that would only do so much, I was reaching my limit and it was not pretty. I would definitely need to work to improve myself after this. If I lived through it, and with each encounter of mine, I was beginning to think I would survive less and less. I guess my biggest downfall though was the lack of understanding.

It felt like an eternity, those four pains rending my flesh and annihilating my soul, but in all honesty, maybe only a few seconds past, before I broke free from those torments, and was then sent rocketing towards the woman, who only looked at me with a smile. She knew as well as I did my energy wouldn't touch her. But I wouldn't be able to stop either. Well, I guess I truly had no intention of stopping either.

Suddenly the crimson lance I had formed disappeared in an instant, leaving me with nothing more than my claws at my side. She looked at me, surprise etched on her face for a flash of an instant, and even though most of it disappeared, there was the smallest hint of fear lining her face. I felt my feral instincts growing larger with each second I got closer to her, my fear of touching her seeming to melt between my fingers, falling onto the ground with splashes as it was left behind.

Then I lanced directly in front of her, twisting my body so the momentum from that force wasn't left behind, as I stretched out my claw to rake it across her face. And then she did something peculiar…she hopped away from me. It was obviously prepared, and she was easily skilled in more than just deflecting energy. But, the fact she had jumped away meant she was scared of something. That she didn't want to get hurt or wounded. And it appears I had found the means to deal with this woman. As I turned my head to look at her, I felt a monstrous grin spread across my face as I looked at her. I felt relief flood through me. This woman wasn't invincible it seemed. And her weakness was the exact thing I feared: Close Quarter combat.

Though now I wondered about that…I had never been scared to go toe to toe with someone before, but suddenly I was? In retrospect that should have been a hint to me. When I had entered the room, or maybe when I was staring at her, she must have put some Genjutsu on me, some sort of fear technique that made me prefer to fight her from a range. Cursing lightly, I glared at her. She had pulled a fast one on me, and my guess that ranged chakra attacks she was able to manipulate and make it seem like they couldn't affect her. And that she could redirect them at will. Probably a way to make them feel a sense of hopelessness, her opponents, at being unable to hurt her.

Her appearance must be to distract men like myself so that it is harder for us to notice this developing concept, and so she would have an easier time. And slowly, as we realized that our chakra attacks couldn't hurt her, we would begin to feel a growing sense of dread. And it would slowly consume us, and before long, we would pull out our strongest attack we could do with chakra. And that would be when she struck, redirecting it right back at us and finishing us off. All in all, it was quite an elaborate trap. What I didn't like was how she had gotten me. It was a bit of an insult in my opinion that it had so easily fooled me. I just wonder how many people it had affected. And one other question entered my mind…an odd one really. Did this affect women, or was it only a man?

Shaking my head lightly I decided that it was a pointless thing to ask, so I didn't bother. "Well now," I said, looking at her. "I guess you do have a weakness." I said to her, stretching my body in an exaggerated motion at her. The motion was so that she understood my meaning. And I realized my fear of ranged based attacks were gone…had the Genjutsu been dispelled when I realized what the effects were? It must rely on ignorance to be active. As such, the second that I realized what was happening, it must have left.

The woman blushed a little, her creamy skin taking on a small hue of red. Kind of cute in all reality, had it been that she wasn't trying to kill me. And she had come close to succeeding. The only thing that had kept me alive had been the fact my chakra was special. If it wasn't tainted with demon blood at all, then I get the feeling that it would be impossible for me to have come even this far. "You…" She said in a soft voice. Nothing more than a whisper really. "Really do deserve the Title of 'The Demon'."

I was slightly curious at that…I thought my full title had been "The Demon of Konoha". Were people getting tired of saying the full thing and shortened it? Or was there something else behind it? Sighing lightly, never taking my eyes off the woman, I decided it was probably that people were lazy and shortening it so they didn't need to say as much. It was the normal case for things like this anyways. "Why thank you." I said to her, flexing another claw in her direction.

She blushed lightly, as though what I had said had been a nice compliment to her. This woman needed to get out more…Or was it all an act? I guess it could be that, considering how good she had been at fooling me before. What I'm going to do to her though…Well, I guess what I want to do to her would be a more accurate way of saying it. Needless to say, I was going to make this little wench suffer. But I couldn't waste any more Chakra than I needed to, I needed enough to take Orochimaru down. And of course, enough for anymore surprises that would happen to come my way.

Then my look at her narrowed, my gaze stripping her of her defenses. She had a lithe body, I could tell that much. So, she probably had some close combat techniques. But in my opinion, with that ability to manipulate other people's energy, her forte was long ranged combat. I hoped I was right as well, because if I was wrong, then things would become a lot more difficult for me. After all, she would then probably hurt me a lot more than my current state. Not a very pleasant thought for me, but it was one I forced myself to swallow in order for myself to be prepared to take this woman down.

I lunged at her then, my feet leaving a small imprint on the ground as a little debris flew up behind me, as the gap between us closed rather fast, my claws seeming to tingle in excitement at finally being able to be used. She didn't seem surprised by the current development, but of course, whether or not that meant she would be able to do anything about it was just another story. She prepared herself by getting into a combat stance, that red cloth of hers adjusting with her body. To a small degree, past all my bloodlust, I felt a little disappointed by that. I still wanted to see her naked. Whether or not that was a good or bad thing, I truly did not know. I guess it could mean that I'm a healthy young man, but that's about it.

I was in front of her then, dropping low to the ground, and spinning rather quickly, attempting to catch the woman with my foot and trip her, my leg outstretched in order to become one with her own. She had seemed to see it coming though, and flipped away a little too effortlessly. Then I pushed myself up with my hands, throwing myself into the air after her, twisting my body a little vigorously in order to gain a little momentum. And then I outstretched my leg, attempting to bring it down on top of her head, driving her directly into the ground. I saw her raise her arms to guard against my attack, and felt my leg connect with her arms, only to drive right past her resistance, and crush my leg against her skull. She plummeted from the sky harshly into the ground, and I saw her drive the whole floor lower into the ground, making a semi-deep crater in order to keep from driving straight through the planet.

I grinned, things were starting to look good for me now. Whether or not it could get worse, I did now know. But I had the feeling that things would suddenly become a little easier. Then I landed on the ground, twisting my body to look at her. She was standing up, that damn cloth of hers still completely covering her up, and yet being so alluring at the same time. I wondered just how annoying such a thing could be, and I was slowly beginning to find out. Well, on the bright side, this battle wouldn't go on much longer, and there was nothing that could stop it. This woman could not match me in close quarters, I was able to pull that much information about her from that very small and brief encounter just now. She was going down.

Then I lunged at her again, and she had the common courtesy to scowl, after all, she realized her situation as well as I did. Grinning at her, I pulled my claw back, and thrust it forward at her abdomen in order to impale her. She twisted her body, and I was only able to cut the cloth of hers a little, not enough to do real damage, but enough that it had been a close call for her. Picking up my leg and slamming my foot behind me, I felt it fully connect with her. Where I hit I didn't know, but it was enough to launch her away from me, and I heard her let out a small scream of pain. And judging from the sound of the scream, the pitch and everything, she had not felt true pain in a long, long time. A bit foolish in my opinion, after all, if one did not feel something for a while, they would lose the ability to get used to it. And shrugging it off would become all but impossible. I could only imagine what would happen if I was able to get one of my claws to connect, and tear that soft looking flesh of hers off.

Time to find out.

I lunged at her again, this time using my chakra to enhance my speed, and lunged at her, the world around me turning into nothing more than a blur even before my eyes, as I drove my foot into her stomach again, and after I did that, I continued to follow through with the attack. After she had been sent flying, I felt my adrenaline truly begin to pound through me, that irresistible rush seeming to rule over the rest of my senses and put me into a state of ecstasy. I didn't know what else to do, but to let it take over, and become my own personal drug to help me through the situation.

But I pushed past that small force of my foot connecting with her body, and followed her as she started to fly away from me. I reached out and grabbed that small red cloth of hers, and yanked back on it hard, trying to yank her back. And with a small realization, I felt that that red cloth was made of some sort of metal, and that it was easily just as sharp. As the blade-like cloth tore into my skin, pulling my blood to the surface for an instant. I of course let go of the cloth the second that I felt a burning fire race through my hand. I was slightly surprised that it would be able to tear into me with such ease.

She landed on the ground, a small and heavy breathing coming from her body as she stared at me, a sort of incredulous look on her face as she slowly came to terms with herself that I had hit her. It was kind of annoying to use only, and purely only taijutsu. Made it harder to keep a relentless assault on this woman, and of course she wasn't going to be the one to begrudge me that. She would like nothing more than for me to launch another attack at her so she would be able to redirect it. Of course, I really didn't want that to happen to me, so I was just going to deal with her. On the bright side, she was completely terrible at going toe to toe with someone.

Smirking a little, I couldn't help but wonder a little about that red cloth though. It felt soft, very soft. As for what it was, I had no idea. It could cut me, and pretty easily it seems. So, grabbing it was not a really an option. So, I would need to find some sort of alternative. Sighing lightly, I glared at the woman again, shaking my head a little. "Well, you are quite the interesting woman." I told her.

"Thank you." She said to me in that soft voice of hers, her tone sending a couple small shivers down my spine.

Whether or not I liked it, I found her to be an attractive woman. A very attractive woman. Sometimes I wondered if women were put on this planet to kill men, and when I thought about all the women I knew, I started to believe I was right.

Then I saw her take a step back, and the ground began to shake a little. Smirking a little, she stomped harder on the ground, and then a pillar made of stone started to rise from the ground right under her feet. T seemed to be made of some sort of metallic stone though, as it glistened in what little light there was. As the pillar rose higher and higher, I noticed the base slowly beginning to expand as though the weight was massive enough that unless it did, it would just topple over and crush everyone or anyone on top. Or on bottom for that matter.

As I looked up, it was pretty high. Maybe if I grew to about ten times my size, I could make it to the top. It would be a close call. But maybe. However, for a brief second, I thought I had seen a metallic sheen on that rock. And after that cloth, I was not in a large hurry to find out myself. So, taking out a couple shuriken, I threw them at the rock, and without much of a surprise from me, I heard the shuriken bounce off the rock with the sound as though it was hitting other metal. So I got the feeling that if I touched it, it would just cut me.

Then I looked up at the woman, who seemed to be holding a fireball in her left hand. I wanted to counter it so badly with my own technique, but I just didn't know the range at what she could manipulate my energy, so it was a risk I wasn't able to take. Scowling slightly, I saw her throw it at me. Easy enough to dodge really, but she was jut feeling me up at this point, seeing what I was and wasn't capable of. So, it was easily something that would make things slightly more difficult on me. Maybe I could do the same though…see just how far her ability reached.

Pulling back slightly, I jumped to a point we could lock eyes. Then I pulled back, sucking in a lot of air into my body, feeling a lot of fluid begin to fill up inside of my body. And then I forced it out, the force of water flooding from my mouth as it flew at the woman, suddenly seeming to sharpen on the end as it attempted to pierce this woman. I knew it was a futile effort, especially since I knew the basics of her ability. And because of that, I found that it was a bit pointless for me to deal with her in this way.

Watching the water fly up at her, I couldn't help but watch, as suddenly the water stopped in the air, floating there. And with that, I saw the distance she could control my elements. It was quite easy to figure out, seeing the distance between her and the water. And with the rock she was standing on, it made it a lot easier to judge the distance. Glaring at her. I couldn't help but glare at her. The distance was roughly fifty meters. A long distance to be able to control chakra at in my opinion. Especially someone else's.

Then I watched as the water floated towards her which confused me a little. What on Earth was she planning to do? It was a bit irking to me honestly, but this woman had a new trick every time I looked at her, and it was seriously beginning to piss me off. Then I saw the fireball she was holding absorb the water, as both of the elements seemed to merge into one. It was an odd thing, seeing water and fire intermixing with each other, and not cancel one or the other out. Must be another of her abilities…to be able to merge and mix her opponents attacks with her own, no matter what kind of element either of the attacks were made of. Even more irking…and to a degree, I wonder if she could take my demonic chakra and use it against me. Not something I was going to find out.

But the rock pillar she was on was easily more than fifty meters tall. I only needed to distract her for the briefest instant, and then this would all be over. And hopefully, when I reached the end of this little hell-bent maze, then things would easily be taken care of. Though I got the feeling that Orochimaru would be able to defeat every last one of the people I had fought, so it was my greatest hopes that this would be the last person. After all, I don't know how much longer I would be able to keep fighting like this and be able to take him out. Well, at least if I did die I could say I didn't have any regrets. Well, I guess that wasn't completely true. I never was able to have one more bowl of Ramen…

Then I saw that the ball of fire and water was suddenly being pulled back, which made me scowl slightly. She was going to attack…and maybe this was where I would get the moment of distraction where I would be able to get in that one vital strike needed to take her out.

Then I saw the flaming and cooling sphere suddenly burst forward, despite her hand not moving. Must be using her special ability in order to launch it at me. But it was coming at me so fast that I noticed that the velocity was creating a small pocket of air, where the element seemed to be voided by the mere passing. Must be the fire absorbing it was my guess. Only a guess mind you, but it was the best I could do at the moment.

Pulling out some of my chakra, I formed a shield to intercept the attack, my chakra molding forward and putting up a barrier to absorb the attack. And as I felt the attack strike my shield, I felt my own body being pushed back slightly, and it made me give a rather dark scowl. I Could feel the heat from the attack pushing against me, it didn't burn as much as my own fire, but it was strong enough that it was irritating me. I hated the fact that this woman was giving me this much trouble.

Then I twisted my shield, throwing the ball of flame away from me, and making it crash into the wall. Looking at her, she seemed slightly surprised at this development, and took a step away from me, despite being on that tower of sharp steel-like rock. But then again, that great defense was also a weakness. And she would find out why in just a second. I had my opening, and as long as she didn't realize what was going on, it was the end.

My chakra began to swirl around my claws, and then collected. And as it slowly went on, the two mounds of chakra took shape. IT seemed as though I was holding two fox heads, both of which were growling as they looked at her. As soon as she had regained her composure, she could do nothing but smirk at me. It seemed she thought I was insane. To a degree though, she was right.

Then I took my left fist, and threw the fox head at her, as it suddenly let out a furious howl at her. And then when I was sure she was focused on that one, I pushed the one in my right hand into the ground, as it silently burrowed into the Earth around us. I was still staring at her, watching as my fox head stopped, and began to swirl around her as it then turned and glared at me. And I felt my heart skip a beat at that, it was quite intimidating to stare into the eyes of that thing, and when you were on the receiving end of it, it was something that now I understood why some people were scared of it.

It growled at me. And then as it began to head back for me, there was a small shake in the Earth. And her fox head stopped. She looked rather puzzled. All I could do was let out a small smirk, and a small laugh. She seemed slightly alarmed by this, but by then, it was too late.

Suddenly the pillar she was standing on started to shake violently, and cracks started to form. She was starting to grow scared, I could see it in her eyes. Then a massive fissure formed down the center, as what seemed like thousands of cracks began to spider web out of the large fissure, and crack apart. Then the cracks reached the top. And then the show began.

She couldn't keep her balance, and ended up slipping on the rock. Then the pillar she was on shattered completely, as the rocks jumped all around, my fox head breaking through the ground completely and dissipating before she could gain control. Though I wasn't sure if she could concentrate enough. Then again, I didn't know if it required any concentration in the first place either. But it was the end for her, as I watched her vicious plummet.

As she fell, the splinters and pieces of rock that had just broken up caught her, and as I watched, blood began to pour from her wounds, as the jagged edges began to bleed her dry. It wasn't long after that that she began to scream, a blood curdling scream of death, as she seemed to fall forever and ever, her screams increasing in intensity with each second as her mountain seemed to slice her apart.

As she fell silent, her body was nothing more than a completely crimson mess, seeming to drop faster and faster, the rocks cutting her apart as she fell. I thought she was dead before she hit the bottom, and as she hit the ground, it acted as though it had been some sort of catalyst in order to trigger a new event. For as soon as she hit the ground, the mountain seemed to fold in on itself, and then it fell down, all those razor rocks falling on top of her. After all the rocks had fallen on top of her, and when the dust settled, I waited. I don't know how long I waited either, I just know it had been a while. And with that, this battle of mine was over. I did find the irony in it though. Someone who specialized in using someone else's attacks against her opponent had just been killed by a device of her own making. It made me chuckle a little.

Then I turned around and watched, watched as a door appeared before me. Smirking a little, it felt nice to relax after such a rough battle. Not for long, but I would be able to regain a little of my chakra and stamina back. And as I walked through the door…

"WILL YOU FUCKING ANSWER ME KIT?" I heard and extremely pissed off Prier suddenly shatter the silence, making my head hurt as I dropped to a knee, clutching my forehead in agony. I should have known it was too quiet…

'What is it Prier? And would you not shout, it's making my head hurt.' I thought to her, groaning a little.

'Well, maybe if you wouldn't ignore me, I wouldn't need to take such drastic measures.' She thought to me, making me wonder a little bit if I was cursed.

'Well, this is the first time I have heard you. I haven't heard you since you stopped crying, right when I entered the roo-' I stopped that thought in mid-track. Had there been something in that room that stopped the communication in myself? How or why? Well, if I could have talked to Prier, I would have figured out a long time ago that the woman was manipulating my energy and not just immune to it. Was it some kind of technique or was the room constructed of a special material? Well, whatever it was, it was going to bug me for a little bit.

'Well Kit, I must say that had been a rather interesting battle. Though you didn't need to ignore me the whole time I was telling you stuff.' She thought to me a little sardonically.

'And you don't need to be so bitter about it.' I thought to her a bit sharply. I didn't want her to know about the fact I hadn't been ignoring her. Who knows when something like that could come in handy. I just needed to figure out how it had happened. Then I would be able to get some peace when I needed it.

'Maybe if you would pay attention to me, you wouldn't come out as hurt and drained as you have!' She thought to me slightly bitterly. And I could hear a small wave of detest from that statement. Yeah, she was pretty pissed off. Over ignoring her though? Something seemed up…

'Say Prier, may I ask you something?' I thought to her, a sudden curiosity seeming to strike me. I just remembered that I have never asked her something that could mean a lot to my health.

'I guess you can.' She thought to me with a hint of bitterness as she seemed to be disturbed by something. Probably me in all honesty, who knew how I had found ways to piss this woman off.

'Do you and other female demons PMS?' I asked her with a hint of curiosity breaking through.

I heard silence for a little bit. It had been a bit bold of a question, and it had appeared to shock one of the world's most powerful demons. It had been a bit before she answered me, and honestly, I had gotten up and started walking down the corridor in order for me to get some distance. 'Well kit,' She thought to me, catching me by surprise 'If you must know, yes, we do PMS.' She thought to me, with what appeared to be a hint of shyness and embarrassment.

Oh this was just great. I had a woman who PMSed at a moment's notice, and I wouldn't be able to get away from her. Why I had never realized or asked her this before I didn't know. But it did explain why every once in a while she held a grudge that seemed would never be let go from time to time. It honestly explained a lot to me.

From that time on, I was travelling in silence. Whether it was because she was embarrassed or not, I could not tell. But it wasn't that surprising to me at this point. But at least things were going well for me. And as I walked down the hallway, darkness slowly began to engulf me. It must be the means of entering the next room. The only question I had was 'Who or what is it this time?'

As I took a couple more steps, I was completely engulfed in darkness.

'This is aggravating.' I thought to myself, not knowing where I was stepping. A trap could hit me at any moment, and there was nothing I could do about it. I could hope that it would be easy to dodge, but that was a bit farfetched. Anyone willing to put a trap into complete darkness was going to make it very deadly, most likely, so that it would guarantee a kill or two.

I slowly began to wonder just how time was passing. As it felt like I wasn't moving at all. But I couldn't truly tell if I was moving as I walked down this small void. Getting slowly frustrated, I decided that I would use my chakra, and create a small flame. As I lifted my palm up, and made fire into my hand, I let out a small scowl. I knew there was a flame, I could feel the heat. But no light was emitted. It was aggravating, especially since I had no idea what was causing all this.

As I took only a few more steps, after extinguishing the fire, I suddenly fell. I didn't know how or why, the only thing I did know was that there was no solid ground under me. It was irking to say the least, and a splash of fear assailed my senses, causing that ripple to spread through my body. As I reached around, trying to grab the wall ledges, it was to no avail. And without knowing exactly what was around me, I didn't want to reach out too far. I might lose a hand or something, which in my opinion would be rather unpleasant. I didn't feel like regenerating whole body parts. It would get a little aggravating after that in my opinion.

Then I saw a light below me. I don't know if I was more happy to see light, or if I was happier knowing that this dark void was going to end. I let out a smile. And then I fell into the light, and I peered around, still falling.

The room was illuminated by what seemed like a few lamps. There were bookcases everywhere, all of which appeared to be thoroughly used. The books that is. There seemed to be a lavish chair, which had been used a few times. A table with an unfinished chess game, but it looked like the white side was losing. The walls were made of a slightly light blue, as though it was supposed to remind one what the sky looked like. The floor was purely white and compared to everything else it was rather clean. Except the place directly under me.

I couldn't help but get a little pissed off…actually I got extremely pissed off. Because right under me, was another black pit, and it was exactly as dark as the last one. So I doubted I would try to put some light into that. But I do have one question: Who in their right mind makes this kind of pitfall, with a room, only to have the person fall past the room and continue a descent into darkness? I mean honestly, talk about taunting someone. There had to be a better thing to do besides do that…all it would do is piss someone off. Which it had done so for me.

And as I continued this descent into darkness, I was very, very aggravated. As this continued, I wondered about why one would build their living place even remotely close to this monstrosity that it has become. I guess when one was paranoid, and needed defense, this is what you went with. But that didn't even come close to making me stop being pissed off.

I fell into another light, which seemed to sneak up on me. It was odd, but this light was dimmer. And as I looked around I noticed that instead of actual lamps, there was only a few sparse candles lit. It was still better than the place I had just been. As I hit the ground, there was a splash of water, and I bent over, placing my hands in it. The water felt a little disgusting in all honesty, and for the briefest instant, I thought I was back in my mind, but that realization went away. Especially when I heard a semi-haunting melody coming from behind me.

"Why, Hello Naruto-kun. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." I heard a semi-raspy voice say to me. As though it had a snakes tongue. Looking behind me, I saw a man with a white face, and a couple pink strikes beneath his eyes. He stood a little taller than me, which made me blink a little. He had long hair, which reached to the middle of his hair. It was black, and appeared a bit oily as though it hadn't been washed in a while. He wore some light tan kimono looking thing, with some sort of purple tie around his waist. Underneath that tan kimono was some sort of black outfit. The most striking feature of his though was his eyes…they looked exactly like some sort of deadly viper's. "Sasuke-kun has told me all about you."

"Orochimaru." I said, glaring at him.

General Badaxe- Be honest people, you saw this coming. (Though I'm willing to bet some of you thought he would fight Sasuke before Orochimaru) But anyways, when I upload this chapter, I'll answer your questions and comments. Well, I do apologize it has taken this long. But my work schedule isn't that friendly. I write when I can, and when I'm not thoroughly exhausted in the process. On the bright side, my platoon is finishing a two and a half month project in one month. So we are looking rather well. So without further delay, I'll get started. Master Incalu, I'm just going to say that the reference in the beginning wasn't for you. If you're in the military, you probably hear more war stories than you think possible as well. Such as I remember one guy telling me he had his legs blown off, somehow stayed quiet while some insurgents came around. Managed to kill all of them, and then crawl to a safe base. I couldn't help but wonder how on Earth this guy thought any of that was possible. I'll reserve my opinions on that one though. I'm honestly glad you serve, and I hope life finds you well. KitsuneNoYomeiri, I'm pretty sure this cliffhanger will irk you too. You'll get used to them, until I end the story. Also, I won't be able to Update Blood Raider. Sadly, I did not have enough time to finish that one, my apologies everyone. I'm trying, but things get too complicated over here.