Disclaimer: I don't own Nartuo or Bioshock(2), yes, you heard me, Bioshock(2).

A/N: Alrighty, a bit of info here, for those of you that have beaten Bio2, you know how they left it open for just about anything and let me tell you, the way they did it (I got the super good ending) I had an utter geek-gasim, and had this story come to mind. This is going to be a strong Naruto fic, a fic with Naruto gaining Plasmids. Not all, but quite a few, but you will likely not be seeing things like wind jutsu, summoning or maybe even the Rasengan, so those that don't want an overpowered Naruto, chill. I tend to dislike those stories myself, I don't want him to two shot Orochimaru or the like, but I still think it's damn lame that the tale's namesake is one of the seemingly weakest people in the story. So here it is!

Rapture is just the Beginning

Chapter 1: A tale from the Past.

This day had started out well enough for all involved. Children had their school, and more importantly, their final exams, the teachers especially were celebrating as it would be Sauske Uchiha's last day, and that meant one thing, and one thing only.

No more fan girls.

For Iruka Umino, the day had rapidly taken a dive, as his favorite student, one Naruto Uzumaki, had had trouble right out of the gate. He knew the young man had been studying hard, he'd seen him at night, sitting up in bed, pouring over books while balancing things on his head and running through hand signs so fast that even the veteran (at least for a ninja) teacher had been left wide eyed, but then why was it that the boy had been doing so poorly in class all these years.

You see, Naruto had been held back two years already, having failed out both times for reasons that Iruka, upon seeing the kid's training regime, couldn't understand. He had ground himself into the dirt doing physical training in the form of his pranks, outrunning even the most seasoned of the ninja forced with relative ease. Only the vaulted Dolphin, former head of the ANBU Tracking Corps., had been able to catch him with any measure of regularity. Iruka was no fool, he suspected some part of the teen's burden had been helping him in that regard, weather or not that was due to something he knew about or it was utterly unconscious none could tell. When he would ask the Hokage about it the elderly leader would simply smile and chuckle at the boy's latest escapade, then ask to see the blond bundle of energy privately for a time.

If anything, the next prank would be that much more grand, as though his commander had been asking the boy to try and test his forces, and he had to admit, after seeing a few of the animal masked black ops warriors huffing and puffing he couldn't blame him. Still, the results of this morning's tests had made so little sense it made him want to question his own skills as a teacher. It was almost as though Naruto had been looking at entirely different questions on the written.

The second Hokage's bloodline ability was wood? Iruka knew that Naruto knew better than that, there wasn't a student in the whole of the academy that knew more about the Kage's, be them foreign or domestic, than Naruto.

Now, Irkua was sitting in one of the many bars in Konoha, nursing a bit of rice wine, his own heart breaking at what he had had to do to someone he considered to be a little brother. None of this was adding up, and right now he was screwing up the courage to try and talk to the Hokage about these scores.

That's where his evening took a dive.

Just as he was about to let the cool liquor slide past his lips he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle, the tall tale sign of someone about to arrive via Shunshin.

Not sparing the ANBU a look waited for the eventual order to come, "Iruka Umino."

"Hrn."

"The Hokage requests your presence at the tower, to join the search."

This caught his attention, "And what, pray tell, would the Hokage need with a washed up ANBU?"

"Naruto Uzumaki has stolen the Forbidden Scroll."

Iruka didn't feel the glass slip from his fingers, but the resulting crash was more than enough to spur him into action, before the cat masked ANBU could so much as blink the academy teacher had vanished, no smoke, no wind, he was simply gone.

Iruka Umino, a young, and currently rather bloody, chunin of Konoha was looking at his onetime best friend in barely contained horror. "No Mizuki! You mustn't!"

With a grin that would have even Orochimaru quaking, the academy professor-turned-traitor took a deep breath, he was going to enjoy this…

"You ARE the NINE TAILED FOX!"

Iruka watched in horror as Naruto looked from his one teacher to another, still clutching the scroll to his chest as he did his best to process what it was he was hearing. He was the fox? That's absurd…but still…all the stares…the harsh mutterings…the beatings…

Could it be true?

The blond boy turned to his sensei with a questioning look to see tears in his mentor's eyes. "Iruka-sensei?"

"No Naruto! It's not true, don't believe him!"

A sadistic laugh echoed through the empty forest as the silver haired chunin drew a shockingly large shruiken before, with a flick of his wrist, the sharpened steel began to spin with the fury of a mill's saw blade. "He's LYING to you! They all are! They hate you, and have been doing everything they can to end you from the beginning! Ever wonder why you can never buy food? Ever wonder why you are tied and beaten!? Ever wonder why you fail every test!?"

Iruka felt his heart tighten with every word, even as Naruto's eyes narrowed, a glare dancing between the two before he looked to the Hokage monument, specifically at the stone edifice of the Third, there his eyes softened before looking back at Mizuki. "You LYING! There's no way the old man would lie to me!"

If anything the man's laughter became even more pronounce, "You fool! Who do you think ORDERED IT!"

Naruto flinched as though he had been struck, memories of him asking the Hokage time and again why he was hated, who his parents were, did he have any other family, all met with a sad smile, a far off look, and a shake of his head. "But…there's no way! The Fourth killed it!"

"Yes! He did kill it! The very night you were born! Or maybe I should say, reborn!"

The laughter only continued as Iruka tried to get his feet, pulling a kunai from his leg as he tried to pull himself to Naruto, "Naruto, don't listen to him! He's trying to trick you again, he's trying to steal the scroll!"

Ignoring the struggling teacher he took careful aim at the teen who was supporting himself on the large scroll s his legs had turned to rubber with the world shattering revelation, however, the weakness was starting to fade as anger filled him. Was Mizuki telling the truth? If so then everything made sense…

As his anger spiked, his mind running through every encounter with every villager, his failed attempts to make friends…Ino…Sakura…Sauske…the bad food, the loneliness, his chakra flared. The two teachers looked on in surprise as his power became something visible something that normally only Jonin were typically capable of. The clearing lit in pale blue, as it kept flaring, then as his eyes turned back to Iruka it…changed.

Blue became a deep purple as the thought of someone he cared for so much had betrayed him, however, he saw how Mizuki had attacked him, and that laugh…he was no friend either.

Purple began to lighten once more to a deep red as he turned now slit eyes on Mizuki, he felt the power coursing through him, he wanted to be strong, never to lose against this teme in a battle again. Naruto was no fool, he knew that every time he came time to spar that Mizuki would go that much harder on him, almost letting Sauske win while he was utterly destroyed in the fight.

Never again!

'That's it, Naruto-kun…That's what you need…Never give up, FIGHT! WIN!! Prove yourself!'

Wide red eyes glanced around small clearing for a moment, wildly searching for the owner of the voice, it was a strange, oddly alluring thing, but it was faint, as though it was coming from deep in a well, "W-Who are you!?"

'A friend Naruto-kun…the silver one only speaks shades of truth…Trust your heart.'

In all the years he had dealt with people, all he had met, only one had sounded like this before.

The Third Hokage, his ojiji. Naruto looked again to Iruka to see the anguish in his eyes, the pure desire for him not to believe Mizuki, and smiled.

Said ex-sensei's eyes narrowed before rearing back and letting the shuriken fly, "Die demon! Die and let us be rid of you FOREVER!"

The world seemed to slow for Naruto as he turned, the too familiar sound of steel cutting through the air, as a reflex he started to draw up his arms to cross before his body, his eyes screwing shut in anticipation of pain, pain that never came.

Confused eyes stared into the dark of night up into the tear streaked face of Iruka, "I…Iru-Iruka-sensei?"

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry…I-I wasn't there for you. I saw, I saw the way you were hurting, but…I just couldn't…Don't believe him. Naruto, you need to take the scroll' Iruka's face seemed to swell for a moment before he coughed up a gout of blood, spattering Naruto with the warm fluid even as tears dripped onto the gaping boy's face, "Take the scroll and go, I'll hold him off."

"B-"

"No buts…let your sensei show you how it's done…"

Naruto felt a tear of his own slip down his cheek as Iruka reached back and pulled the large blade from his back and with a motion that one so injured shouldn't be capable of spun hard and returned it to Mizuki who gave a lazy sidestep. "Come now Iruka, you know as well as I that you are no match for me. I've beaten you in every test, every trial. I've been a chunin two years longer than you, there's no way that you will be able to stop me."

Iruka gave a mirthless laugh as he pulled another set of blades from his from his body, the spurt of blood giving Mizuki another smile. "Mizuki, there is one, small, thing that you're forgetting…"

"Oh? And that is?"

"Being a ninja, is all about deception."

Mizuki's eyes widened as Iruka vanished from view before cursing and taking off himself. There were currently two possibilities, one, Iruka was going for help, or two, he was going to set up an attack.

Either way, he had a kid to find.

Naruto was currently crouched behind a large stump, his hands sealed firmly over his mouth in an attempt to keep his breath all the more quiet. The young man wracking his brain to try and figure out what to do should his former teacher find him again.

'Oh…well that's simple enough…'

"Wha….Who are you? Where are you?"

He could almost feel the voice's smile, 'Come, Naruto-kun, come find me…'

Before he could ask what the voice meant Naruto felt the dark of night seem to intensify on him, close in, then a feeling as though he were falling. When he next opened his eyes he found himself staring up at a dark, stone lined ceiling, several inches of his prone body covered in feted water. Slowly the young teen pulled himself up to his feet, wincing at the scent that now coated him.

"H-Hello?"

Silence.

He cast nervous eyes along what looked to be the only corridor, the weathered stones vanishing into the dark. Seeing nothing else he began to pick his way along the path, the slick sludge and chill stone doing nothing to ease his fears.

"Please? Is…Is anyone there?"

Naruto couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard a whisper far up ahead. Latching onto that he picked up the pace, stumbling every few paces as the corridor began to brighten. Rounding a corner the blond skid to a halt, almost falling as his feet caught at the uneven cobblestones.

There, before the confused teen, was a massive set of bars, the rods of iron vanishing up past his sight as he tried to see the true dimensions of this odd room. Truly, the only thing he could easily understand, as a small slip of paper that said 'seal' over what looked to be a lock.

Sliding closer he reached an unsteady hand up to run gently down the weathered parchment

"Ah, ah, aaahhhh…I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

Naruto leapt back in shock; by the time he had landed he had already brought up a pair of kunai and was in crouch not unlike in Inuzuka boy in his class. There, leaning almost lazily against the bars, her forehead pressed between the narrow bars as she watched him, was a woman unlike any he had ever seen.

She was tall compared to many women he had seen about the village, approaching six feet even in her slightly stooped posture. Her skin looked to be tanned, despite the fact that her apparent cell was so poorly lit, but that was not what really caught his attention.

It was her eyes.

Eyes that held a beauty in their sadness.

Eyes he had seen staring back at him every morning in the mirror, despite their different colors. His eyes being the color of windswept seas, the kind that had claimed so many sailors off the coasts of Wave. Hers the shade of deepest emeralds, making the eyes of his crush Sakura seem so…plain by comparison. Long, fire red hair spilled about her face, obscuring it, but still there were her eyes, watching though the crimson curtain as he cautiously began to inch his way back to her.

"Who…who are you?"

A tired sounding laugh echoed through the space, even in its state it seemed to carry something of a dangerous edge to it, not unlike the purple haired woman he saw heading into the fenced in forest every night, walking past one of his hide holes time and again, muttering to herself about things that he knew all too well.

"I thought that would be simple enough…Naruto-kun, while I know you have never known me, there can be no one else that knows you better."

Despite what all he had been through that night he somehow understood that she was not to be counted among the vast majority of the village that would go so far out of their way to harm him, be it physically or mentally. However, as one of his favorite saying went.

Burned once, flinch twice.

Almost in response to his unspoken thought the woman let out another laugh, for the first time raising her head a bit to let him get a better look even as a sad smile graced full lips. "I always liked that line, so…fitting. Naruto-kun, don't you have even a slight idea as to who I am?"

As he watched the woman slide slowly to the floor, a place he just realized he himself was as some part of his mind was starting to understand. He had seen this woman before, he just couldn't understand as to where.

"You're getting close dear one…oh so close…"

His eyes widened shock as the somewhat familiar endearment finally triggered his memory. "Dear one…but that's…"

"Yes Naruto-kun….it's me."

"S-Shiori?"

A delicate hand snaked through the bars to lie gently on his cheek, her thumb brushing away tears he didn't realize that he had been shedding, tears he had not let fall since the day he was kicked out of the orphanage nine long years ago. After a moment it was her turn to have her eyes widen as his shaking hand came up to do the same. After a startled moment she leaned into the gentle touch, the likes of which she hadn't felt in more than a hundred years.

"Yes Naruto-kun, it's me…"

The teen scooted closer to the bars, doing his best to reach through and pull the woman into a hug, the cold of the steel bars offset by the almost ethereal warmth that permeated the boy's being. The pair simply sat there for a time, basking in the simple presence of one another.

"Shiori-chan…what's going on, who are you?"

She pulled back slightly and looked into confused eyes in sadness, "The silver haired one told you dear one…"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he fought the initial knee-jerk instinct to pull back, it was slight, but he caught the hurt look that flashed across her angelic…or should it be demonic…features before he leaned back in, already missing the warmth. "Y-You're the fox?"

She let out a held breath and fought the urge to purr at the closeness, a feeling she hadn't had in so long…"I have had many names Naruto-kun…my first, before my change, was Shiori…Then came Inari…Others called me Izanami, Lasya, Komorkis…the list continues, now I am simply 'The Ninetails' the Kyuubi no Kitsune…"

While she couldn't see it Naruto's jaw hung in silent awe…the 'fox' sealed into him was a Goddess? "But…if you are Izanami-sama…then why…"

Her voice was one of barley controlled rage, now she really did seem like that purple haired woman, "I was tricked…Naruto-kun, please understand, I never wanted to do what I did…all I remember was sitting among a glade, my glade, then there was this…pull, then I was here, in my trickster form, only far larger, then the attacks came upon me and all I had time to do was try and survive. Understand, even a Goddess, as your kind calls me, can be killed with the right attacks. I-I was afraid, then your father came on the Toad King an-"

"My FATHER!?"

The woman reared back, hands coming up to flatten what Naruto had seen for the first time, a set of fox ears situated at the top of her head, their deep red color melding well with her hair, and in the darkness the black tips were all but invisible. The woman looked at with pained, shocked eyes as she stroked her ears and glared at him a silent question. The teen had the good grace to look a bit sheepish before he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "S-Sorry…but you surprised me…you knew my father…but you said he was on a giant frog-"

"Toad."

"Amphibian,' the pair chuckled a bit before he continued, "But…if he was riding that…then that means he's…"

"The Fourth Hokage."

Only Shiori's hands kept the young man from falling back onto the cold stones, the act would have made the woman laugh if it was anything less world shattering for the boy. "Then why…"

"Do not hate your 'jiji' Naruto-kun, you must understand how hated the Fourth was in the world, if anyone knew…"

Hard eyes stared into hers, making her want to jerk back in surprise, "No Shiori-chan, it would have just been a drop in the bucket compared to what I went through here…"

She let out a heavy sigh as the pair separated; absently they both rubbed their arms, already feeling that much colder. "Naruto-kun…I'm not going to tell you that it was anything but a nightmare, but you do know he did all he could, don't you?"

He ground his teeth in frustration but let out a nod. He wasn't the Elemental Nation's foremost expert on the Kage's for nothing, or at least that's what he considered himself. He knew the Third was getting to old for the job. Hell, he was too old for it ten years ago, but still he soldiered on, and to help with that he had set up a council of elder and advisors, something that had not been seen in the Nations save in times of war, when the Kage was expected to either be on the field or at the least the foremost protectorate for the villages. This council had been working wonderfully, in every respect helping to strength the village and safeguard its citizens. Working so well in fact that many of the other nations were considering starting their own councils to help expedite decisions and help with the economy.

It worked beautifully for everyone involved.

Everyone, except for Naruto, the 'demon child' and 'murderer of their beloved Fourth'. No, for him it had made life a living hell. They voted to withdraw his support stipend, leaving him with only what money he could scrounge from salvaging scrap from the various training fields and trash bins that he would sell to one of the few shops that would let him in. They had denied every petition that came from that family, Tenten's family, to adopt him, same with the duo from his favorite ramen stand. Every move was block and stamped into the dirt. Naruto even had to be careful how he approached the two businesses, less he cause them too many problems.

Shiori winced slightly as the boy remembered his friend, Tenten. The pair had been almost inspirable from the day they had met, her throwing weapons at the back of her family's forge, testing the balance for her father.

Well, that was her excuse.

When one of the blades glanced off another that was already imbedded into the straw target, the knife spinning out into the bushes where she heard a strangled cry. After searching for the source of the cry she let out a scream, one that quickly drew her mother and father outside to see her cradling the boy's head in her lap as she cried, the kunai lodged firmly in his stomach. When the family had rushed him to the hospital, only to be turned away they stormed the Hokage tower and upon seeing the wounded child called in his personal physician before rushing to the hospital.

Konoha's new medical force was the best that had been seen since the days of Tsunade.

However, their halcyon days were numbered, as eventually the pair were to enter the academy, and with Naruto being a year older it looked to be that they would never get to be together, all the hard work the pair had done to create their timing had been wasted. But then Naruto had failed, only the two knowing it was purposeful, in an attempt to skew the teams. Naruto had done all he could to make sure that the pair would be together in the grading curve, letting the two hopefully be together, coupled with another orphan, Rock Lee, the pair would have been unstoppable, but then he had failed again, despite the fact he knew he had aced the test, knew that he had gotten a perfect on the throwing weapons, and a well above average on the ninjutsus portion, only failing to create a bushin. Lee had utterly failed that portion and still passed, even if he had been in the bottom of the barrel, having only barely scraped by in weapons, taijutsu and the written test.

Yes, the council had done well, exactly what they had wanted. Now he had failed again and…

"Naruto-kun…stop, please…we'll make it better, trust me."

Naruto looked back up into pained eyes and gave a weak smile before his eyes widened and he shot to his feet, making Shiori rise as well, "Iruka-sensei! He's in trouble, I have to-"

The red-head raised her hands in a placating manner, "Naruto-kun, understand, here, in this place, time has no meaning, and I have much I need to say."

He cocked an eyebrow at her before settling to the floor again, absently wishing he had a chair, and, much to his shock, both he and Shiori were suddenly sitting in the large, overstuffed chairs that the Hokage had in his study. The fox-girl looked at him in surprise before grinned and snuggling deeper into the soft leather, her many tails, something Naruto was shocked to see as he had somehow missed them, came up to create a kind of blanked for the woman, covering long, lean, tanned legs that were easily seen thanks to the short-skirted black kimono she wore. Pushing the current surprise out of his mind for a moment as he watched her tuck her legs under her, "Yes, Shiori-chan?"

She let out a strained sigh before gathering her thoughts. "Naruto-kun, do you know how ninjutsu and ginjutsu came to be?" the teen's head shook, Understand Naruto-kun, what I'm about to tell you, no one in your world knows, even I do not possess all the knowledge to answer all your questions." This made the boy gape slightly, earning a chuckle from the woman. "You know of the Demon Wars, yes?" He nodded, and for a moment she was happy that he could be so attentive when he wanted to, "My tale reaches further back than that…but know that the first 'ninja' in your world was known as the Sage of Six Paths, and is considered to be every ninja's first, true, ancestor. As without him you all would be unable to utilize ninjutsu or ginjutsu. However, at one time, he was not the only one, he was simply the last survivor. No, at a time they were the ones that went to battle against the 'demons' in order to save their world, and in the end, they destroyed it, drunk with their own power and changing due to what had been done to them, only the 'sage' was left sane, and did all he could to stop them."

"How…how did they gain that power?"

She ran a hand absently through her hair, and for a moment, as her sleeve was pulled up, Naruto saw what looked like injection marks on her arm. "Naruto-kun, he…we…were soldiers, the most powerful of us were deemed 'demons' and they thought we had gained too much power to fast…they turned on us, and only the Sage understood that it was they that were losing control. Naruto-kun, we were all given things, things that we were not told much about, only that it would give us the power to serve. Naruto, at first I wasn't even human, just one more test subject in the lab. One of the girls there named me Shiori…"

The teen across from her was at a loss, he knew she wasn't human, the ears told him that, but to be a simple animal in a lab…what all had been done to her to get to this point? "There were ten of us, all different animals, they were testing ways to 'grow' weapons for humans, you see they had found a number of girls in the sea, girls that had truly incredible powers, the one who named me seemed to possess the most power, and was in the deepest levels of hell for that place. It was all any of us could do to comfort her, in our limited ways…Wherever she had some from, they had developed a way for people to use different elements at their whim, channeling power through their bodies in ways you wouldn't believe. She told them that they had cultivated this substance, ADAM, in slugs, as they wouldn't be able to escape, and didn't have the intelligence to develop things further. They thought that they could increase the yield of this stuff if they put it in other animals…it worked, but they didn't know how it would react with some of us…when the cat they used it on sprouted another tail they started to worry."

Humans…we were responsible for the bijju!?

Her eyes were rather vacant as she stared out into the blackness, her whole being lost to time for now. "As the months passed some of the girls stopped coming, there was only the first…at the time I couldn't understand human tongue, so I had no idea what her name was…only that she always looked rather content…I think now I understand that she was not unlike us, that she had someone with her that was comforting her all the time…even if I couldn't see him…Anyway…eventually it came to human trials…that's where things started to go wrong…I'll spare you the details, but it lead to the end of it all. The ten of us, as well as a few of the 'good ones' had to band together to try and save what we could…but it wasn't without cost. As the years past, and humans destroyed themselves the world changed…these powers were never meant for mortals, and the ten of us being changed into the 'farms' had displaced us from time…we could only watch as you tore yourselves apart, then started to try and re-build…that's when the end for us came in the form of Jūbi…he had gone mad, and the most powerful of the humans rose up to stop the 'demons', the Sage, had to seal him away, to protect us all, but we were still lumped into that same group, and many were sealed into different forms, I hear tell that the one tale was put into a tea-pot of all things…" She gave a mirthless laugh at the thought before containing. "At the time I had been in 'hiding' for a very long time, watching people as best I could…a Goddess for many…anyway, The sage, being the last of the humans with this power after his…purging…had two sons, and the long continued, diluting itself over the hundreds of years even as the mutations continued, now your people must use hand signs to create the same effects of the first ones, but even the Sage was never as strong as the girl…I miss her…and often wonder what had happened to her…."

"Shiori-chan…if you don't mind…what was she like?"

A sad smile graced her lips as she looked at him, "She was a lot like you, Naruto-kun…at first. She seemed to care about anyone, and I think she understood that there was no 'good or evil' only the pain we all feel, deep down, and did what she could to try and lessen it. Even with us, she tried to make us a bit more comfortable in the cages, bringing us bits of food and little toys…' He smiled as a wide grin formed on her face, 'I had this little ball with a furry tail that would shake when you….Sorry…She was soft spoken, rarely yelling, and moved with a grace that I could appreciate. I even modeled this body after hers…at least as best I could…she smiled a lot…Like you…"

Naruto felt a blush creep up on him as she compared him with someone so obviously important to her. She let out another sad sigh before she squared her shoulders, "We can talk about her later Naruto-kun, for now you must know the reason I'm telling you all this. You have that same blood in you, that same substance and mutations that all the other ninja aspirants possess, the difference here is, you also have me, the strongest of the free creators left in the world, sealed within you."

"But you're not free…" He got a tail thwacking him in the head for his trouble.

"Do you want my help or not?!"

He gave her a playful grin before clearing his throat and trying to look a bit more serious, the act only making her smile all the more. "Yes Ma'm!"

She gave a curt nod, "Good, Now then, as I said, you have that blood in you, but it is diluted, I can 'fix' that, but it is not without its risks, you could change, like the others. However, with a bit of luck, I can help guide these changes, should they occur, but for now, we will have to focus on the powers, rather than the physical. Your teacher needs your help, and I can feel them growing closer. Make no mistake, your Irkua is strong, but he was gravely injured in trying to protect you, and soon you will have to act."

"How, How Shiori-chan, Mizuki's a chunin! I know I learned a good move, but will it be enough?"

She smirked as the teen rose from his seat to grip the bars. "Naruto-kun, you know better than I that with all your training, even with the bad food, that you could probably handle him, I simply wish to give you that edge, and to start you on the path to greatness!"

He gave her a long, strange, look, "Why?"

Shiori's face froze in a mask of shock, she had been hoping he wouldn't ask that, "P-Pardon?"

"Why do you want to help me? Why don't you hate me…try and break free?"

She gave the young teen a soft smile, "I could never hate you Naruto-kun, you had no control over what all has happened to you…so much like happened to me…to us…even back in the labs we never had it as bad as you did, despite the tests at least we knew they were going to feed us…and we had 'the First'…our girl…"

"But don't you want out?!"

"Yes, but not at the cost of your life, Naruto-kun….if you try and remove that seal, then we die." She saw the devastated look in his eyes as he plopped back into the chair, she crept forward again to run a hand down his cheek, "Do not fear, Nartuo-kun, I could not have asked for a better container than you. Your dreams, their purity, they sustain me. I will always been with you, Naruto-kun, whispering to you, guiding you. Never fear, even in your darkest, I will never leave you."

Shining blue seas turned to deep emerald orbs in a mix of curiosity, joy and sadness. Stormy blue eyes flicked about her face for a moment, searching for any deceptions, before she lashed out, faster than he could react her hands took his orange jumpsuit by the collar and pulled him to the bars. Dimly he was aware of the dull pain of his cheeks striking steel, but that thought was blasted away as he felt her lips press to his in a hungry kiss. His eyes were wide in shock for a moment before he let them flutter closed, his body leaning against the bars. However, before he could reach his arms around her she pushed him back with a giggle, a hand absently coming up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek as she wrapped her arms around herself and let out a laugh.

"Our time is up, Naruto-kun, you have to go now, but keep an ear open, we have not finished here."

Before he could object he felt the world seeming to draw away, much like it had when he had first found himself in the sewer, slowly, but getting faster, he saw the cage pulling away only to be replaced by the darkened forest. In that moment his senses came rushing back to him, damp earth, fresh blood, blade oil, it was all there.

He had to fight the urge to jump up as he heard a crash behind him as Mizuki was thrown into another tree by…Naruto? Mizuki looked at the boy in shock "How!? How did you know I wasn't Iruka!?"

'Naruto' smirked before falling back against a tree before he was covered in white smoke, "That's easy…because I am!"

Mizuki growled as he staggered to his feet, "Why! You hate the fox as much as I do! He killed your parents!"

Naruto froze behind his stump at hearing Iruka agree, his world darkening that much more at the thought of it. "Ya…Your right, I hate the fox…but not the boy."

Tear filled eyes shot open even as he felt what was like a hug come over him, 'I told you Naruto-kun, trust your heart…now, it is time! Push my power into your hands, and focus on what you feel the most comfortable with, so long as it can deal with that trash!'

"For the boy I have nothing but respect, he is an excellent student!! You'll never understand him, he has been through worse than any of us, and it has given him empathy, something more of us need…"

"If you love him that much…then I'll send you along FIRST!" Iruka gave a sad smile as Mizuki brought his second shruiken to bear, its razor edge becoming a blur as it started to spin before he reared back.

'So this is the end…sorry Naruto…looks like I won't be able to see you achieve your dream…' However, before the blade could be loosed he saw an orange blur and Mizuki was sent flying into a nearby tree.

Steel blue eyes locked on Mizuki as Naruto felt that same red chakra flow through his body, settling on his hands, the two older ninja watching in shock as his left hand and forearm began to shimmer slightly before what looked like a whirlwind encased his arm, with the right Iruka had to fight the urge to shout in shock as his shin seemed to split before, from the open wounds, what looked like a honeycomb began to form, from the blackened recesses of the comb came crawling what looked to be wasps, but they were far too large for a normal insect. "If you lay one more finger on Iruka-sensei, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mizuki smirked as he whipped the blood from his lip, "There you are demon! That makes my job that much easier…now DIE!" Again the shruiken came forward but much to his surprise Naruto flicked his left hand forward and what looked to be a small cyclone appeared on the forest floor right in the path of his weapon. As the shruiken passed over it the wind suddenly intensified and blew itself out, but the job was done as the blade was sent sailing into the night sky, only to come back down and stick into a tree. "My turn! Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Mizuki and Iruka watched, mouth agape, as hundreds of Naruto's filled the forest, each popping joints, rolling shoulders and in general, looking as intimating as they could, the sounds of buzzing filling the night air as well as the sounds of rushing wind. "Naruto-kun, use them together…" He gave a curt nod and as Mizuki started to fall back in shock another small cyclone appeared on the ground behind him, and as his seat hit the floor it sent the man airborne, bowing his back like an inverted 'U' , however, as he reached the tops of the trees he hit another, then another, and another. Again and again the chunin-turned-traitor was thrown about the forest, slamming painfully against trees only to be launched once more. Finally he seemed to reach the end of his journey, silted eyes staring blurry down at the forest floor only to see what looked to be ten more of the little cyclones, but that alone is not what made his eyes widen again in horror, no, it was the fact that interlaced in the wind were what looked like massive insects of some form, their buzzing only hinting at the pain that was to come. "Now for a new jutsu! Straight from Naruto's ninja handbook! Assassin's Typhoon!! The Swarm of Death!" As Mizuki 'hit' the ground he was launched again into the air, however this time he was not alone, hundreds of the massive wasps swarming about him, stinging and, much to his horror, biting hunks of flesh from his hands and face before the feeling of weightlessness took him once more, his body rotating lazily in the air as the swarm that had been left behind in his mad flight caught him, holding him in the air for a time before he plummeted to the earth once more where he was grabbed by a squad of newly arrived ANBU.

The sounds of popping filled the forest that night, as well as a great plume of white smoke as the clones dispelled themselves and Naruto stumbled over to Iruka, his reserves spent, "Iruka-sensei…are you OK?"

He gave a weak smile before nodded then gesturing for the teen to come closer. "Come here Naruto, and close your eyes…" Naruto did as he was asked and felt his 'older brother' pull his goggles from his forehead, before replacing them with something that felt oddly cold. "Now, open." He did so to see an Iruka he had never seen before, something about him just looked…off. "Congratulations Naruto, you graduate!"

The boy's eyes widened in shock as the rays of the rising sun pierced the dense tree-tops, causing the steel on his forehead to reflect light onto his injured teacher, he could only stare for a moment before he launched himself at the older chunin, hugging him for all his worth.

Inside Naruto, 'Kyuubi' watched and seemed to bask in the joy that was running through the young man, her man, if she had anything to say about it. 'Naruto, this world isn't ready for us…but here we are…and if I have anything to say about it, this rapture in your soul, is just the beginning….'