A/N: Sorry guys! It's been a while... But now, Neotonix brings you a new chapter!

A group of men chanted monotonously as eight purple pillars of light danced above them. The ceremony itself was taking place in a fairly large cavern. The cloaked men stood in a perfect circle, there words causing the tension in the air to build up to a point of suffocation. It had been three days since the ritual, and yet, the man still showed no signs of life. However, in an instant everything changed. The once tranquil pillars of light turned to menacing shades of red and black, each pillar thrashing above the subject. Not knowing what to do, the men were about to run away when suddenly, each of the lights took the form of a serpent and attacked them. The event happened so quickly that the men almost saw their own throats being pulled out as their life faded from their eyes—the gleaming red light the last thing they would ever see.

The blood of the men was now sprayed across the entire cavern, drenching both the man and the serpents of light. One by one, each serpent entered the man and filled him with an ethereal glow. Eventually, all eight disappeared into his body and all became quiet...

And then, the man's eyes opened slowly, revealing three spinning tomoe surrounded in a bloody red.

OooOo

Naruto, Kyo, and Haruka walked amicably through the town streets as they shopped for the month's groceries. Ever since Naruto had come, the three had lived quite comfortably since the happy Uzumaki had gathered quite a sum of money over his many years of travel.

It had been about two months already and no one had bothered them since the Yakuza event. Kyo had started to learn some basic jutsu from Naruto—the blond refused to teach the young boy any advanced techniques—and Haruka basically made him help with the chores.

“Hey Naruto! I forgot to ask you to go pick up some water. Make sure you get some later.”

Naruto smiled at the young Hyuuga through the countless amount of bags in his arms and lightly bowed. “Of course Haruka-dono. But I'll have to place these bags back at home. After all, they are pretty heavy...”

Haruka waved her hand as she grinned. “It shouldn't be a problem for someone as strong as you, right?” With a smile she whispered a little more subtly. “Uzumaki Naruto-sama?”

Naruto was about to retort when Kyo suddenly walked in front of the two and eagerly pointed to a nearby restaurant. “Hey, shouldn't we get something to eat? We've been shopping all day and we've never eaten there before!”

Haruka paused as she looked at Naruto. He did look tired... Nodding, she followed Kyo into the restaurant with Naruto behind her.

The waitress stared at the three customers with wide eyes. Actually, she was staring at the blond. The amount of groceries that he was carrying had to be at least a couple hundred pounds. The height actually went past his head when resting on the ground. Gulping, she turned towards the young lady who had been leading the trio to take their order.

“I'll have a bowl of soba.”

“Beef for me!”

Naruto was about to order his meal when a large voice suddenly bellowed out from the table across from them.

“HEY WOMAN! LISTEN TO YOUR SUPERIORS!”

The voice caught their attention as all three curiously peered over at the next table.

An attendant was trying to shrink away from a group men. The four men were obviously drunk, the infamous red tint shading their already rubicund visages.

“What, you aint hic gonna answer him? You should respect your customers!”

“Please, sir. If you want, we can get you more food. But you'll have to pay this time. Your credit has already exceeded its limit.”

“MORE? If boss wants food, he gets food! Do you have any idea who this is? He's the infamous fighter Karima! The strongest ninja in the world!”

“I understand, but still-”

“If you understand, then get his order!” The man threw a jar full of sake at the young waitress. Naruto narrowed his eyes and was about to intervene when he saw a flash beat him to it. The jar crushed harmlessly against the scabbard of a long sword with a long silver haired man in a black suit glaring at them from behind it.

“Idiots that resort to violence are not worthy to be called fighters, let alone ninja.”

Flabbergasted, the man simply yelled in surprise. “Wha?!”

“It also seems that your mental faculties do not extend past a primitive form.” Narrowing his eyes, he glared at them with a fair amount of bloodlust behind them. “Leave this waitress alone and get the hell out of here.” The man then turned to leave, but not before the leader of the ruffians stood up.

“Hey, kid. You seem kinda interesting. What say we have a match. If you win, we won't come to this restaurant ever again. But if I win, you have to apologize and kiss our feet until they're clean.”

The young silver haired man slightly smiled as his sword pulsed. The small action escaped everyone's eyes save Naruto's. Deciding that he would only intervene if necessary, the blond stood down as he watched for the silver haired man's response.

“Sounds interesting. Let's take it outside.”

The entire restaurant seemed to be attracted to the event as a circle gathered around the two combatants. On one foci, the mysterious silver haired youth calmly stood his ground with his long sword neatly rested against his back. The other man simply opted for two knives, taking a stance that looked similar to that of a cat's.

“Hey kid. Before you die, what's your name?”

The silver haired man smirked as he lightly tapped the hilt of his sword with two fingers. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a pulse of chakra transfer from the sword to his body. In an instant, the man disappeared and reappeared behind Karima.

“I usually don't give my name to scum. But in this case, it would be rude since a lady's present.”

The waitress blushed slightly as he glanced at her. “Makoto Satoshi, swordmaster extraordinaire.”

With a quick punch, the man was knocked out and the man known as Satoshi wiped his hands. He didn't bother delivering a lethal blow since it would have caused unnecessary panic. With slight amusement he noted that the underlings had fled at first notice, meaning that they had probably just come along for the ride.

Picking the fallen man's pocket, Satoshi removed a pouch full of money from the man's belt and handed it to the woman.

“My lady, please accept this token as a small respite from these ruffians. I am sorry that I could do no more...”

The waitress now had a full on blush with a couple of girls in the crowd vying for the very same position. That is, until-

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU WOMANIZER! GET BACK HERE!”

The crowd turned their heads as they saw a young sixteen year old girl shove her way towards him.

“YOU BETTER NOT BE FLIRTING AGAIN! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU'RE GOING TO WISH THAT MOM HAD NEVER GIVEN BIRTH TO YOU!”

The crowd visibly paled as they looked over to the supposed target. The man was long gone though, a trail of dust echoing in his wake. With surprising celerity, the girl launched into a full on dash, zipping past everyone at a speed that impressed even Naruto. The unusual scene left everyone in shock as they simply stood there. Eventually though, the crowd dispersed and Naruto, Haruka, and Kyo were left standing in front of the restaurant with the beaten drunken leader still laying unconscious in front of them.

Naruto was the first to speak. “So... That was pretty cool, right Kyo?”

Kyo's eyes widened as he nodded. “Yeah. Though weird fits the term better.”

Shaking her head, Haruka grabbed the collars of the two boy's Yukata and dragged them away from their rooted spots.

“I swear, every time we go out to eat, something weird happens. I guess we're eating at home again boys.”

Naruto smiled as he went to retrieve the bags of goods that they had purchased earlier. However, as soon as he got out of eyesight, he frowned as he thought about the man's strange actions. With the energy that the sword had provided him, the speed that the man had possessed had been almost as great as Lee's—and that was saying a lot. But what was even more strange was the fact that the energy had felt familiar. It was definitely chakra, although he had never heard of an inanimate object giving chakra to a person before. Deciding to be wary of this “Satoshi” figure, Naruto picked up the bags and ran out to meet the already leaving Haruka and Kyo.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

OooOo

Satoshi looked at the envelope offered to him as he picked it up professionally. By feeling the weight, he knew that it contained the exact amount of money that he had requested. Nodding, the young man bowed.

“Who is it this time?”

A figure in the shadows threw a scroll out from the inner chamber and remained silent. Satoshi carefully picked up the scroll as he memorized all the information on their in a couple of seconds. His heart raced though as he stared at the target's name in disbelief.

“Uzumaki Naruto? What is the meaning of this?”

The figure remained silent and pointed to the door. Filled with unanswered questions, Satoshi bowed down regardless of his curiosity and burned the scroll on the fire of the nearby candle. In the end, it didn't matter if his opponent was Uzumaki Naruto, his father, or Akuma himself. He would do what he needed to get the money, and with his Reikishi, that would never change.

OooOo

“RAAAAAAAAH! Kyo leapt at Naruto with a kunai in hand as he tried to slice the man's stomach. Naruto merely side stepped as he continued to dodge each movement with ease.

“Your attack pattern is too linear. It might waste some energy, but try moving around to catch me off guard. Against a stronger opponent, you have to use your surroundings with your wit to win. Pure strength doesn't make the victor.”

Kyo nodded as he changed his movements and opted for a more indirect method of circling around the blond and dashing in randomly. Naruto smiled with approval as he noticed how Kyo chose all the correct spots to attack from. The boy was instinctively attacking all of his blind spots, a feat that many shinobi did not develop until years of battle. If he had been born when the wars had been going on, Naruto knew without a doubt that the boy would have been a great ninja.

The two continued for another couple hours or so until Haruka called them in for dinner. Deciding to call it a day, Kyo hopped onto Naruto's shoulders and the two entered the house laughing.

“Ugh, you boys are so sweaty! Make sure you both take a bath after we finish.” Haruka leaked a smile as she saw Naruto and Kyo smile in accordance. The boy had never really had a father figure, let alone a brother. Naruto seemed to fulfill both roles in a strange way.

As Haruka sat eating her soup, she looked at her reflection in the liquid as her eyes shined back at her. She had cried so many times when she had been younger, begging some higher deity to explain why she had to be born without the clan's eyes. Many years had passed since then, but it still hurt to think about it. But at times like these, when Naruto and Kyo laughed with mirth, things seemed to be okay.

“Hey, hurry up and eat or the food will get cold. If you guys keep talking about ninja stuff, you'll never eat!”

Naruto and Kyo saluted her as they simultaneously yelled “HAI!” With a ravenous appetite, the two devoured their meal in a matter of seconds. However, Naruto was about to ask for more when he suddenly felt a large presence coming from outside. Immediately Haruka and Kyo also knew that something was wrong and turned quiet. Standing up, Naruto pointed at the stairs and motioned them to go up and hide.

“I'm going with you.”

Naruto turned around in surprise as he saw Kyo twirling a kunai in his hand. “I know I won't be able to do much, but I want to see you fight. I was able to sense the presence too, so let me be there.”

The look on Haruka's face told him the same thing: determination. Deciding that it was fruitless to try, Naruto gave a tired smile as he nodded. “But if things get dangerous, run inside and hide in the room with seals on the door. No one will be able to harm you in there.”

With that, the three stepped outside as two figures greeted them. With mild surprise Naruto noted that it was the girl and the silver haired boy from the restaurant.

“What do you seek in this humble home? There is nothing of value, yet you raise your chakra to such hostile levels.” Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously as he fingered a kunai. “I'll ask you again. What do you want?”

Satoshi stepped forward as he clutched his sword. A vortex of chakra swirled into his body as his energy matched Naruto's.

“I truly am sorry. But I seek...”

OooOo

Somewhere, in a country far away, a young raven haired man stood up as he looked over the bloody bodies. There was still a man left cowering in the corner, the blood of his friends staining his oddly shaped cloak. There was one word-no, one name continuously running through his mind though. Walking up to the scared man, he tested out his vocal chords as a rich, low voice answered him. “Where is he? Where is...”

OooOo

The two men, though in different lands, stepped towards their respective prey as one frowned while the other gave a sinister smile.

“Uzumaki Naruto!”

TBC...

Sorry it was so short, but hey! It was an update at least, right? Next chapter will get really interesting with lot's of fighting. I'll also be explaining a lot of the plot, so make sure stay tuned. Next update will probably be Kaze no Kami Sama. Either that or Hero.