Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto Dragon Champion ❯ Into the Lair of the Wolf Part 1 ( Chapter 38 )

Naruto Dragon Champion

Disclaimer: I don't have any ownership of Naruto or any of the sort in the anime and manga, so don't ask me if I do.

Chapter 28

Part 1

Into the Lair of the Wolf

( ): Thoughts

((“ ”)): Holy Talon's voice

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In Konoha…

Naruto was currently training with a long spear with Meer as he and the Steel Lancer and the Dragon Champion were deep in training as the blonde Chuunin had some free time on his hands and needed to work out some more of his new moves as well as perfect a few of the older ones that he learned. With Holy talon's power limited and therefore limiting his ability to summon the essences of the previous Dragon Champions, he would have to rely on some more physical training in order to match up with a real Steel Lancer.

Meer lashed out with a powerful stab aimed at Naruto's face as Naruto leaned aside to avoid the strike and he ducked as she followed through with a powerful swipe and he twirled his own spear to block a secondary strike with the axe blade end of the halberd that Meer lashed out with, Naruto attacked with his tri bladed spear at Meer as she easily dodged and then blocked the secondary strike with the shaft of her weapon and then she moved the weapon upward to throw Naruto's weapon upward and she lashed out with a stab that Naruto managed to evade by leaping backwards and bringing his spear down to stop that attack, Naruto pulled the spear back and spun it with the middle area in his hands and the weapon spinning around him like a shield and that forced Meer back and be on the defensive.

Naruto then lashed out with a direct stab that Meer avoided well enough, until Naruto moved the blade up and attacked with diagonal strike with the blade head moving behind him and then attacking Meer while pinning to add extra force with his attack.

As the two continued to spar for a bit longer, Naruto and Meer were being observed by several people, one was his fellow Chuunin from the Rookie 9, Shikamaru as well as Asuma and Iruka. They observed how the two moved and fought with one another and Asuma commented on the sight.

“Naruto's getting better with that spear of his.”

“I agree, he's not usually the kind to use weapons all that much, but he's learning fast.”

Shikamaru agreed with Iruka as he observed his fellow Chuunin fight it out with the female Steel Lancer and the fight seemed to be reaching it's climax as Meer pole vaulted over Naruto and landed down to the side and unleashed a massive barrage of spear stabs at Naruto who retaliated with a spinning and dodging maneuver, that used both ends of his spear to block and push the attacks away as well as his body movements allowing him to avoid the attacks, both of them then attacked one another with a pair of thrusts that both evaded and the clashed against one another.

Meer nodded and Naruto did the same and both of them relaxed one another and both bowed, the Steel Lancer then spoke to the blonde Chuunin.

“Not bad, a bit more practice is in order though.”

“I guess.”

As the two relaxed, they were approached by the other three Konoha ninja with Asuma speaking first.

“Not bad you two, that was some pretty good moves with those weapons of yours.”

Naruto smiled and so did Meer as she bowed to Asuma and then looked at Shikamaru, making the Chuunin looked back at the woman as she grinned.

“What?”

“How good are you with a staff weapon Shikamaru?”

The son of Shikaku gave the Steel lancer a very curious look and shrugged his shoulders in reply. He had no prior training with the use of spear like weapons and certainly in the level that Meer and Naruto had between them . His only skill with weapons were with kunai, shuriken, light bombs and a few others but never a staff style weapon

“No I don't actually. It's sounds troublesome to me anyway.”

“Really, I certainly doubt that, a bit of a spar is in order then, I want to see how good you are in combat without that technique of yours.”

Asuma looked at Shikamaru as the Chuunin wondered just how he was going to answer that challenge given to him by the Steel Lancer and Naruto himself was actually keen to see this happen for the time being, with that in mind, he took out a staff from his special magically enchanted bag and handed it to Shikamaru and his fellow Chuunin spoke as he looked at Naruto as he took the staff from the bag itself.

“Just where were you hiding that Naruto?”

Naruto grinned and replied.

“Sorry, that's a secret, don't worry about a thing Shikamaru, just try it out and see how you do.”

Asuma also agreed.

“You should try it out Shikamaru, this might come in handy if you ever find yourself in that kind of situation and the battle field is unpredictable indeed.”

Seeing that he had few choices and truth be told, he was actually interested to see how he might stand up to the Steel Lancer in a straight up fight despite his specialization of Shadow Manipulation, Shikamaru agreed and took the weapon as he faced off with Meer who smiled warmly at this chance to see how she would fare with Shikamaru now that he was not going to use his Shadow Binding Jutsu on her.

As she spared with him, Naruto decided to ask Asuma and Iruka a few questions about the current standing of the other women from Dagern, he knew that Coryin, Kaelyn , Valeena, Vlana, Tellis, and Liara were doing all right, but the others who were here in Konoha were also people who deserved his attention at the moment.

“How are the others doing Iruka-sensei?”

Iruka thought about that and told him as much as he could recall, so far, Shandra had gotten used to being here as the female Zealot was learning the tricks of the trade here in Konoha, while she was not a full ninja she had considered being assigned a more unique position here in the village where her combat talents could be of a much better use in defending this new home.

Naruto then turned to look in a very sly way at Asuma. This got the Jonin's attention and he spoke to his student in the art of Wind Chakra usage.

“What is it Naruto?”

“How are you doing with courting Vlana Asuma-sensei?”

The Jonin gulped a bit and scratched his head on how he was going to answer that particular question without embarrassing himself. He had developed an affection for the silver haired and red eyed woman and it seemed that she was interested in him, however, he was not all that sure just yet and he decided not to act on it until he was sure to some extent on how he should proceed.

“Well…I haven't…”

Naruto then had an idea.

“You want me to help you in that regard Asuma-sensei?”

Asuma looked at the blonde Chuunin with some level of curiosity and decided to take a shot at finding out all he could about the woman from Naruto. The reason being that since Vlana trained Naruto in some of the use of the powers Naruto began to develop on his own. It was a long shot but what was the harm? However, as a trained and experienced ninja, Asuma had to be wary, he knew Naruto's reputation as a prankster and while he had not been pulling pranks as of late, the Jonin was wary of Naruto's intentions on this matter, not to mention the fact that despite his physical growth and changes, not to mention his maturity ever since gaining Holy Talon

“How exactly do you plan to help me Naruto?”

“Asuma-sensei, you doubt me?”

“It's not that I doubt you or anything, it's just that you don't exactly have the look of a relationship expert.”

Naruto mock glared at Asuma and replied.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well…apart from that time with Koyuki-hime of Snow/Spring Country, and those days you have with Hinata and Sakura, I haven't seen you go out with other women, and the only time you are with Vlana or the others is in training.”

Naruto was quick to get the idea on what exactly was Asuma saying, since he and his lovers managed to keep things fairly discreet for a number of months now, not everyone was aware of his escapades with a number of attractive females, even their Hokage though each relationship was very much loving in private in more ways than one too. This actually gave him an understanding on women in ways that most men would only dream of, though he knew that he would never boast that out in public.

He also knew Vlana well enough to know some important things in which Asuma could use to his advantage if he was indeed serious with approaching Vlana and getting her attention, and he knew for a fact that Vlana liked Asuma despite her slight dislike of him smoking a lot.

“Just give me a chance to prove to you that I can help you Asuma-sensei, I also swear that I will not pull a prank on you and Vlana if you two decide to get all serious about going out together.”

Asuma nodded and decided to see for himself how Naruto could be able to help him as Iruka looked on, wondering just how Naruto was going to help Asuma in dealing with being close to Vlana, as much as he wanted to stick around to see and hear what Naruto would tell the Jonin, he had prior duties to take care of. With the still present lack of manpower, it was vital that all able bodied ninja were ready for combat. And while he was an Academy instructor, he was still a good member of the ninja force of Konoha and therefore was part of the main ninja forces.

“I have to get going, I'll see you guys later.”

“Where are you off too Iruka-sensei?”

“Work, It's my turn to be on patrol with the others.”

As Iruka left the scene, Naruto went to work on helping Asuma get some idea on how to be closer to Vlana just as Shikamaru and Meer were getting into the spirit of things as they continued to spar with one another in the area of Naruto's home.

Later, Naruto was busy running through some of his own paper work as he reported into the office where most of the Chuunin were bound to gather, at the moment, his fellow Chuunin were still giving him the look that made him slightly uneasy while others who were a lot more open about the whole thing were chatting with him and being friendly, and not the fake friendship, but genuine friendship. He sat there and was currently catching up on some reports and had been there for only an hour or so when one of the Chuunin called his attention.

“Hey Naruto!”

“Yeah?”

“You've got a visitor, looks like the Sand Kunoichi with the iron fan.”

Naruto realized who it was quickly, only one female ninja would register in his mind when it involved the use of an iron fan and that was his best friend Gaara's eldest sister Temari. He was a bit surprised by this and filed away his reports and carried Holy Talon on his back after he had placed the sword down on a nearby weapon locker when he arrived at the office. As he made his way to where Temari was waiting for him, he wondered just what was Temari doing here in Konoha, as far as he knew, relations between Konoha and Suna were very much smoothed over and there were no hostilities at the moment. He then wondered if it had something to do with a certain movie.

And sure enough, the very second he entered the building he found himself dodging the fan of a slightly irate Temari, the strike looked weak to the untrained eye, but Naruto knew that despite not showing a beefy build like most would expect, Temari had more than enough physical strength and ability to wield that fan easily. As soon as he was clear he spoke to Temari.

“What was that for Temari-san?!”

“For doing what you did with that actress! I can't believe you allowed that to happen to you of all people!”

“How did you know about….uh?”

“The movie that you had a part in of course! Tongues wag anywhere and if there is one thing I know for a fact there will be those guys and ladies who watch movies of that nature. Besides, your Hokage sent a letter to me telling me about your situation in that movie.”

“She did?”

“Oh yeah, believe me, I was not happy, but I knew WHY you had to be in the movie….I just was not expecting you to do THAT in a movie.”

Naruto felt some relief at that and spoke to Temari in an effort to help her cool her temper in order to avoid causing a scene, it would be one hell of a mess if any of the Chuunin walked into the office and saw that happen.

“Temari-san, I tried to say no but you know that I was on a mission and Koyuki-hime was my team's client and she had authority over the mission at that stage.”

Temari nodded and placed back her fan on her back and walked over to Naruto who was a bit wary on what exactly was Temari going to do at this moment and he got his answer as Temari grabbed him by the collar of his Chuunin flak vest and then pulled him to her and she kissed him on the lips. Naruto was not expecting that and it took him a while to react and kiss Temari back at that moment. Temari moaned a bit and then as she broke the kiss, she spoke to Naruto.

“Now that was not an act Naruto-kun, I hope you don't get dragged into another movie like that again.”

Naruto couldn't help but blush a bit and scratch his head at the words said to him by Temari and it was then that Temari revealed just why she had come here. Ever since the battle with the Reapers and the results, the village Council of Suna decided to petition that new weapons would be ordered from Konoha, all made by Naruto himself. This came in under the recommendation of Gaara himself as well as Kankurou and Baki, she reached into her pouch on the back of her dress and took out the scroll.

“By the way I already showed this to Tsunade-sama and she wanted me to get your approval since you are the one responsible for the making of the weapons.”

“Really? What is this about?”

“It's a trade agreement from the Council back in Suna, after that episode with the Reapers and what we learned, we all in Suna are not planning to take any unnecessary risks when in the battle field. That was why Gaara put forward the request that you make a number of weapons for the ninja forces of our village so we have a much better chance in defending ourselves, not to mention the armor you make will certainly be welcome.”

As Naruto read the document he couldn't help but wonder if Tsunade and Jiraiya had read the document with the rest of the Konoha Council in with it, there was no doubt in his mind that not all would easily forget or forgive Suna for what happened months before so there was a chance that this trade request would be under heavy scrutiny by the members of the Council, namely Homura and Kohane, as well as Danzo. The three elders of Konoha were the ones that Tsunade showed to have something to a tense and cool relationship, though he could see that there was some considerable hostility between Tsunade and Danzo, something that made him wary of the man when he saw him a number of times, not to mention that Holy Talon warned him about Danzo. That coming from the living sword made Naruto all the more wary of him, despite Danzo being a high standing member of the political circle in Konoha.

“Did this get reviewed by everyone in the Konoha Council Temari-san?”

“Yeah, so what about it Naruto-kun, is this all right with you?”

Temari waited patiently for Naruto's answer, the fact that the next room was filled with Konoha ninja was the only reason she had not decided to do it with him right here in the room. She missed him deeply and hoped that she would get the chance to have some quality time with her lover from Konoha. But she doubted that for the moment, as she had a lot to take care of for the time being.

Naruto read the document over and nodded.

“Sure, It'll be a while but I can made some test weapons that you back in Suna can use. You can then send me a letter asking for more if you like.”

Temari smiled at that and she took her leave, stating that she has a lot to do for the time being in order to check up with the current status of the alliance between Suna and Konoha. However she would be hoping for her to have some quality time with him. That was enough to make Naruto groan somewhat, but not that he was not looking forward to the whole thing, in truth he was looking forward to it all, but not at this moment as he had something to deal with.

He had an intention of getting Temari a good gift soon. But for now he had to get back to work and send a letter to Tsunade that he had accepted the trade agreement with Suna. As he got back to work with the rest of his fellow Chuunin, he decided to also give some important gifts to some of the women he had already been intimate with, however some of them were currently on a mission, Shizune was helping in the gaps with the patrols, Kurenai was currently out on a solo mission as well as Anko, Ino was with her team mates on other matters, Kin and the others were also out on their own mission and so was Tenten with her own group, they all were going to be out for a while, at least a week or a week and a half. However he knew that Hinata and Sakura were not on missions and those two women were certainly deserving of some gifts that were both beautiful and useful as well.

As he thought about it all, he decided to get to work on those said gifts as soon as he was done with his work here as a Chuunin.

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A week later…

“There….that should do it.”

Sakura stated as she used her healing chakra once more to heal a wounded rabbit perfectly, Tsunade watched in approval at how Sakura was doing at the moment, her decision to take in Sakura as her apprentice proved to be the right one as her chakra control was very good, in fact, Tsunade was even considering giving Sakura the training to summon Katsuyu at some point when she passed the rest of her tests.

The Sannin could already see that Sakura was getting stronger and better at what she could do as a Medic Nin and it would be good to pass on her Slug Summoning Contract to Sakura, Jiraiya had already done so with having Naruto use the Toad Summoning Contract though Naruto had yet to use the Contract extensively.

With that in mind she looked at the results and smiled at Sakura.

“You did well Sakura, I think you need to take a break for the time being, we'll move to your combat training soon enough.”

“Hai Tsunade-sama.”

As she moved to the inner lobby, Sakura took a deep breath and knew that she was going to be in for a long work out as Tsunade had every intention for her to use all that she had learned in the use of her already growing chakra control to be able to increase her strength, the results of the training were seen already when she and the others were on missions.

As she got ready to get back to training, her father came into the room, carrying a report and Sakura smiled as she greeted her father. Ginji smiled at his daughter and hugged her to show how much he had missed her, due to her duties as Tsunade's new apprentice, the young Kunoichi had not been at home as often as he and his wife would like, but they couldn't fault her for that part after all. As soon as they were done hugging one another, Sakura spoke to her father.

“Dad, what brings you here?”

“I had a report to hand to the Council about the recent actions of the rest of the nations out there, nothing new, and it seems that we're not going to be visited by any threat any time soon. By the way, Naruto-kun dropped by the house earlier.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow at that and wondered just what Naruto did in her home while she was away.

“Was he looking for me?”

“Yes, he wanted to surprise you with a present, apparently the last few weeks he's been working on some sort of surprise present for you and decided to leave it at our house. It's with your mother so you can ask her where she put it.”

Sakura smiled at that and decided to finish up her training with Tsunade so she could see just what was it that Naruto had sent her. She was aware of the fact that Naruto was currently on patrol at the moment so there was no doubt in her mind that it was something nice. As she continued her training a few minutes later, she did her best to do what Tsunade was asking of her and as soon as she was done with what she needed to do for the day, she headed back to her home.

She arrived and greeted her mother with a smile and it was then that her mother told Sakura that Naruto's gift was in her room and it was very nice to look at, prompting the pink haired Kunoichi to smile a bit more as she made it into her room

Sakura smiled at the gift that Naruto had given her and she examined the specially made leather bag as well as the small shirt made from Orchaelium as the blonde Chuunin smiled at her. The apprentice of Tsunade examined the items carefully, to the untrained eye the items looked ordinary but they were not ordinary in the very least. She had seen enough of Naruto's items to know that what she was seeing was not going to be something that was ordinary in any fashion.

The material resembled the Orchaelium metal that she had seen Naruto work on more than once , but Naruto had been able to make the metal very malleable so it seemed to be more like simple cloth than metal, however, Sakura knew that this armor could be a life saver when in a situation that was dire, after all, Naruto had worn this kind of armor and it saved his life more than once in the many battles he would be finding himself in and had found himself in already. To think that Naruto would give her something like this was touching.

The bag also was no doubt made to allow her to store more items like a storage scroll but in a much different manner than the scrolls, besides that, this would certainly help her in the near future so she decided to put it to good use when she and the others were going to go on yet another mission, that and she could finally put her medical jutsu training to use and help her comrades as well as use her strength to even up the odds in a fight when they needed her to put her chakra enhanced Taijutsu to use.

However she had a feeling that she was not the only person who was given a gift by the blonde Chuunin, and she didn't mind that to say the least, she hoped that who that person was she would enjoy the gift that Naruto would give her.

She then wondered just how she would be able to reward Naruto for making this gift to her that could be used in many things such as being on missions. She however had no doubts in her mind that she would be able to find a way.

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In the Hyuuga Clan Estate…

Hinata blushed as she looked at the gift Naruto made for her as she looked at the short arm bracer, it was made with great care, that much she could see from the construction. The metal was gold in color and also seemed to have a soft but undeniably light weight. The bracer also had several beautiful gemstones that acted as the outer ring to a beautiful white stone. She could feel that there was a great deal of power in the stones, while she had no idea as to why she would think that, she couldn't deny that when she looked at the bracer with the Byakugan she could see power there.

There was a note there and she managed to read the hand writing to know that it was Naruto's work and read the note.

`Dear Hinata-chan…

I hope that this gift will be good enough for you, the bracer is a special item I spent a week to make and it is armed with several special enchantments that can shield you from harm, it can cast a special barrier that will defend you from long range attacks and also help increase your own chakra supply so you can use your Clan's special skills as well as your own, it also helps you in resisting poisons and paralyzing illusions.

I hope that you will like this gift…

Naruto Uzumaki'

Hinata smiled and placed the note close to her heart and then placed the bracer on her right arm, a perfect fit in her mind and she decided to test it out as she began her usual training, it was nice to be training again for the time being and while she wished that Naruto was around so she could teach him more of the Hyuuga Clan's techniques, she knew that he had a lot of work to take care of.

As she continued with her training, she wondered just how she was going to reward her Naruto-kun for the gift that he had made for her.

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However….it was not going to be long before evil was about to rear it's ugly head…

The Chuunin guards who were currently watching the gate to Konoha were about to go and get themselves a good meal for lunch as the next rotation was soon to come, however their attention was quickly taken away from lunch as they spotted a figure approaching the gate, the two Chuunin moved into identify the person who was heading into the village. But they were stopped cold as they saw the man.

He was average looking and could have passed for a regular townsperson, just like the villagers in Konoha itself and would not have garnered much attention in normal circumstances. But this was far from normal circumstances as they looked at the man, he looked like he had been attacked by a massive wild animal or a pack of wild animals.

The clothes he had was covered in blood and there were tears and smudges of dirt and dust, the man himself looked like a ragged mess, he looked as if he had been running for days, had not eaten a thing, and was driven close to madness. He looked insane with fear and terror and they had no idea what to do for a moment or two, the man eventually fell to the group before the Chuunin and they quickly moved to him to check him up.

However the very second the men touched the person who had just collapsed, he woke up and began to struggle with surprising strength, startling the Chuunin with the burst of energy and raw fear as the man looked at them and began to speak in a very incoherent but utterly loud tone, the man's voice sounded that it was about to break in his madness and terror.

“Fangs….giant beasts….death….blood! Bloody Claws!!! All dead!!!!! Giant beasts walking like…..men, they walk like men, but are. They killed them, slaughtered…..consumed…..AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

The Chuunin quickly realized that something was horribly wrong here as one of them did his best to hold the man down and prevent him from escaping and hurting himself even more while his companion went to speak to the Hokage as well as get support from the ANBU.

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In the Hokage Tower…

Tsunade read the report on the villager's condition and she had to admit that the man was very lucky to be still alive, he had traveled for what seemed like weeks, with little rest or food, he had not died of dehydration at least but it would be a lot longer before she and the other ANBU could get a solid answer out of him.

The man had been brought in half delirious and out of his mind, it was as if he had seen a dark horror that had nearly overtaken him and that was evident as well in the state of his clothes, it was as if he had been chased about for a while now and it seemed that he was not going to be of much help, however the blonde Hokage decided to get Naruto here to figure out just what the devil was going on here.

The blonde Chuunin was currently on patrol but Tsunade wasted no time to get the Chuunin and Dragon Champion back to the village, she had no idea why but she had a feeling that maybe Naruto could be able to decipher the clues as to what this man was doing here and why it seemed that something had terrified him so much.

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In the Interrogation Area…

Naruto had no idea why he was recalled back to the village while doing some routine patrolling but the very second he was told of the survivor, he went to work and was joined by Ibiki as the Special Jonin needed to file a report as soon as Naruto could make sense of what the man was saying to him.

Naruto turned to Ibiki and spoke.

“Ibiki-san, just what do you know of this man?”

“His name is Daishi from a village near the borders of Bird Country, not really a strategic village in the scheme of things, just a regular farming community and usually trades in food stuffs, recently however the village seemed to be under siege, no idea what it was but from what we could gather from the ramblings this guy spouted….something attacked their village and did so in near demonic savagery.”

“Did he say what that something was?”

The Jonin shook his head.

“He wasn't really clear on the whole thing, all we could piece together is that the creature was huge, it attacked at night, killed and consumed all livestock it could catch, and dragged people away….the weird thing is, from what we could gather, whatever this creature was, it was alone the first night it came to Daishi's village, but after a few nights….it was joined by others like it. There was only last thing though…it could run on both two legs and with all four limbs.”

Naruto did not like that description and spoke mentally to Holy Talon as the sword was strapped to his back at the moment.

(Does that sound familiar to you Holy Talon?)

((“It does, but we need to get more details, from the sound of things, the man Daishi has suffered great trauma and no doubt will be very much mad with terror, we will need to calm him down as best we can.”))

Naruto nodded and turned to Ibiki.

“Ibiki-san, did Daishi have injuries?”

“ Daishi had a fairly good number of injuries, but not too life threatening, however he suffered from exhaustion and dehydration, it's a minor miracle he even made it this far on foot the way he was when the Chuunin saw him. He's in the cell we're reaching, be careful Naruto-san, he's delirious and might attack you.”

Naruto nodded as he and Ibiki reached the cell and sure enough, there was Daishi, he looked like a regular farm worker, if one ignored the fact that he looked like he had not slept in days and was like he had been in hell, his eyes looked vacant but there was no doubt that. It was enough for Naruto to draw Holy Talon from his back and then create the same energy that he had used on the bandit leader who had been attacked by the Wraith Knight.

Ibiki's warning was true enough as the man who seemed to be mad suddenly turned to Naruto and cried out in fear as well as terror and attacked Naruto. The ANBU there as well as Ibiki were ready to restrain the man before he would attack Naruto but the blonde Chuunin was able to counter and evade the man's clumsy but fear driven attacks and tapped him with Holy Talon. The sword quickly unleashed silver green flame and stunned the man and this allowed Naruto to examine him carefully, as he did so, he began to heal the man's mental trauma and as soon as he was finished, the man opened his eyes, the madness and fear in his eyes gone and he spoke clearly.

“Where….?”

“Are you Daishi?”

The man nodded and that allowed Naruto to begin gathering details from the man while Ibiki and the ANBU listened. What they all heard was something that seemed totally outrageous to say the very least, as the man they had found told them that only a few weeks ago, their village came under siege by some unknown creature, it killed their cattle, sheep, all of the livestock that they had with demonic savagery, in all his years seeing animal attacks on livestock which was a great nuisance for most farmers, Daishi told them that he and his fellow farmers had never seen anything like in their lives…

“The animals were brutally torn apart….it was horrible, the bite and claw marks were made by one creature….but to do the damage it did to a fully mature steer and then to a cow was something I have never seen before. We tried to find it, but we couldn't.”

“What did you do?”

We….we tried to set traps, but it was too smart, it evaded them and killed the bait….like it was almost human…..but no human would kill animals that way, ripping them apart as they screamed, dragging away all it could get, leaving nothing but blood and gore.... It then turned on us…..”

“Turned on you?”

Daishi then explained that after nearly wiping out all the livestock in the village, the creature turned it's attention on the people itself and began to hunt them, firs it took out one of the farmers and then the next night the creature came back, claiming another, they tried to defend themselves, but the creature was too cunning, it evaded them and took down more of their kin. They were under siege ever since, there was no telling if the creature would attack them at any time so none of them would leave the village, not even to tend to their crops in fear of the creature coming back. At night they heard bestial howls that chilled their blood and then they finally were able to see the creature that terrorized them for days to at least a week.

“It was like….a human….but taller, it had wolf like features with fangs and claws, it stood before us covered in fur and growled like a real wolf….but it was filled with malice and hunger, coupled with….human intellect. It had dark fur on it's body and deep red eyes, horrible, terrible eyes. It laughed at us….I think it did, and then….and then it was joined by others, but they….they had clothes of….the ones that were lost.”

The story went on until Daishi told Naruto and Ibiki that he and several others made desperate gamble to escape and find help….but the creatures pursued them relentlessly and hunted them down, he and his companions were being picked apart one by one by the creatures. He could hear the screams and the cries for help as they ran.

“We….we were being….taken out like cattle….they howled out to us….hunting us, taunting us….they killed us one by one….I saw it….as it tore apart my friends….oh kami, it continued to….hunt us, and after days it came after me….I ran…..I ran….I ran so hard. I can hear it in my dreams, it's eyes, it's howls….please…..make it stop….make it stop.”

Naruto was moved to great pity for the man and used Holy talon to put the man to sleep, the sword already knew the creature that attacked Daishi's town.

((“It's a werewolf, and not just any werewolf, an Alpha Werewolf….this is bad.”))

(Werewolf?)

((“It's breed of creature that were once human, but infected with a curse that turns them into beasts of destruction. There are spells that allow people to turn into werewolves and Druids can use that power, but so can Chorvax and his ilk, and the same for Death Fang. During the wars of the past, the werewolves that served Lord Faldren and the Light sought to defend the wilds from invaders who sought to despoil sacred sites of power, while Chorvax' own werewolf followers slaughtered and desecrated all in their path. Death Fang commands a number of werewolf spirits that serve it and use these spirits to cause untold chaos and suffering to those who cannot fight back.”))

(How did it have more like itself to siege Daishi's village?)

((“Through the venom in it's bite, a werewolf, namely Alpha ones that serves Chorvax can infect anyone with the venom and if not cured in hours or a near day after being bitten, the ones bitten become what is known as Secondary Werewolves, the ones who are cursed with the power can remain human as they retain their ability to think and be creative like when they were human, but Secondary Werewolves are nothing but mindless beasts of destruction as well as being controlled servants of the Alpha Werewolf. The only weapons apart from me which can kill them are weapons made from Arcane Silver as you already know as well as a handful off spells and special herbal concoctions. I have no doubt our Druid allies can create the cure for the venom. But we have to hurry Master Naruto, if this creature succeeds in creating a village worth of Secondary Werewolf followers it can ravage the land kill countless others.”))

Naruto knew that to be true, his encounter with the Reapers was more than enough proof of that fact. If this Werewolf and it's pack were left unchecked then it would be catastrophic to all living things in the land. He turned to Ibiki and spoke to the Jonin about what Holy Talon had told him. The Jonin nodded seeing how serious this was due to the expression on Naruto's face and ordered the ANBU to keep Daishi under custody but not as a prisoner of war but as a guest and survivor.

Naruto knew that what he was going to tell Tsunade was not going to suit well with her.

--------

In the Hokage Tower…

Tsunade and Jiraiya as well as Shizune listened to Naruto's report on what he had been able to gleam from Daishi and they didn't like what they were hearing. They were not alone as Danzo, Kohane and Homura listened in as the blonde Chuunin spoke at length. The three were curious about this event and why was it that Tsunade was interested in the affairs of a village well outside the Land of Fire.

As soon as he was done, Tsunade looked at Naruto and spoke to him.

“What do you plan to do Naruto-kun?”

“Go after this werewolf pack and kill them all before they spread out.”

Homura then spoke seriously to Naruto.

“Why you Naruto? This is not a matter for Konoha to take at this moment so why do you wish to involve yourself in this maater?”

Naruto replied.

“Death Fang unleashed that creature for a reason Homura-san, it would never be summoned unless it was to test me as a Dragon Champion and to cause suffering in the world, and if we leave it unopposed and destroyed….it could very well create an army and cause untold loss of life in the land. “

“Besides, we're the only ninja village with the materials powerful enough to kill them permanently, no other regular weapon made of steel can harm them and they no doubt would be hard to stop even with high ranking jutsu. Plus we are the only village that known how to cure the venom they have. If they are left unchecked….then they will become an unstoppable horde in only a matter months.”

Tsunade weighed the options and decided to go ahead with the mission, with that in mind she asked Shizune to dispatch ninja to find Naruto's team as well as another team that could be sent out quickly to deal with the situation. It was not long before Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke arrived and the other team arrived as well, and it turned out to be Asuma's team with Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino.

As soon as the Jonin and their teams were in, the blonde Hokage filled them in on the situation that was brewing at the moment and her plan to send them as well as Naruto to try and stop these creatures, Kakashi raised an eyebrow as this was indeed the first time he had ever heard of werewolves as enemies, Sakura was surprised while Sasuke was intrigued as he wanted to see if these creatures were as powerful as Naruto said them to be. Asuma looked serious while Shikamaru and Ino didn't like what they heard at the moment and Chouji was also curious.

As soon as Tsunade was done she decided to have Naruto placed as second in command of the teams, while Shikamaru was very intelligent, and no doubt smarter than Naruto himself at some areas, he had no experience with werewolves, but Naruto did and he was better suited for the mission ahead of them all at this point.

Tsunade then asked them to be ready for the worst and Naruto nodded as he knew that before they could go on with the mission, they would need to gather all the needed gear and supplies that could spell the difference between success and failure, he, Shikamaru and their two Jonin sensei decided to check the maps of Bird Country and located the village where Daishi had come from, they looked the maps over and Holy Talon advised Naruto of how werewolves acted in their hunts. While the Alpha Werewolf could morph into human form to blend into human society, there were ways to detect them, and also the best way to keep the village from being overrun was to place special wards made from Arcane Silver. The wards would need to be enchanted to create a near invisible aura of energy that was very much painful to werewolves and they couldn't abide with the presence of the wards themselves.

As soon as they got the maps and looked at the routes, Kakashi mentioned that the best chance they had to avoid werewolves was to go by air, something that Naruto was agreeing with. It would be too risky for them to go to the village on foot if the werewolves were on the prowl, even more so at night.

With their route selected, Naruto borrowed a few more maps to make some back up plans just in case things got dicey, his experiences with Death Fang had taught him to be ready with a backup plan and since he was second in command of the mission due to his understanding of werewolves thanks to advice from Holy Talon, he was going to be the one the rest would have to rely on.

--------

In Naruto's home…

Naruto opened the lock of his armory and decided to seek out the needed items that they were going to need for this mission as well as wait for Tellis, and Liara since they were the ones who could provide them with the serum to counter the venom of a werewolf bite. He made sure to get the others lightweight Orchaelium armor as well as several Arcane Silver weapons. He also got a pair of Arcane Silver katanas for himself to use to support his attacks.

He handed a pair of specially made knives to Asuma that were similar to Asuma's own trench knives and then gave a straight sword to Kakashi that was similar to the ones used by the ANBU, he also gave Sakura a short sword while giving the same sword type he gave to Kakashi to Sasuke. He then handed a short spear to Ino to help her in fighting off the werewolves if they came too close to her and he handed a pair of clawed gloves to Chouji to take advantage of the Akamichi Clan heir's strength and the Clan's Body Manipulation ability.

He then asked them to wear the armor underneath their normal clothes to protect them and they moved into the blonde Chuunin' home to do just that. However, Sasuke had other plans as well.

As soon as they were armed, the Druids arrived and as soon as they were told by Naruto about the threat of the werewolves, they worked on creating the serum. The teams waited for another day and the Druids were able to complete the serum that was needed should they ever be bitten by the werewolves. Naruto didn't need the serum as Naruto had Holy Talon which could counter the werewolf venom that would be placed into him. However, he did take some extra potions to be on the safe side.

Naruto also took some of the remaining chunks of Arcane Silver in his forge and worked on making the wards that would help protect the village from attack as well as add some measure of personal protection for the others. As soon as the wards were made, he began to use his Dragon Fire to enchant them with help from Tellis, Liara, and of course Holy Talon. The wards were not large things, merely amulets of Arcane Silver shaped like wolf heads which could be placed on buildings and fence posts and had a good full field effect, perfect in keeping the village safe.

As soon as the serums were done, Naruto quickly spoke to the teams about the werewolves.

“Those weapons I gave you are made from Arcane Silver and specially enchanted so they can be twice as effective, there are no other weapons that can harm them except those, try not to use any low level jutsu since their hides can take damage very well, some attacks such as the Chidori or the Raikiri can work however as well as powerful attack Jutsu. But avoid the Alpha Werewolf.”

“Alpha Werewolf?”

“It's the leader of the whole pack, it's got higher resistance to injury and can withstand more damage from Arcane Silver weapons than the Secondary Werewolves it mentally commands. Secondary Werewolves are powerful but lack any form of human instincts and are basically mindless attackers, but they will heed the command of the Alpha Werewolf since it is their creator.”

Asuma nodded as he began to understand the concept, since the Alpha Werewolf made them then the others would see it as their leader, no doubt in the same fashion normal wolves followed their leader.

“So we kill it to stop it, what happens to the surviving werewolves? Do they turn back to being human?”

“I don't think so, this has been happening a week and the villagers don't have the cure to free the others taken by the Alpha Werewolf to make it's pack. Once the leader of their pack is dead, they will be driven mad by the loss of their leader, we have to…deal with them, down to the last one.”

That was serious news to them all, this was not the first time Kakashi and Asuma's team had to deal with dealing with the idea of taking the lives but they realized that unlike the ones they dealt with when they protected Koyuki, the people were now raving beasts and had to be dealt with as quickly as possible before even more people who were innocent were transformed into monsters.

With that done, Naruto summoned a pair of Sky Dragons into the grounds, namely his now trusted Sky Dragon mount Kael and another Sky Dragon named Rylen. The two Dragons took both teams on their backs and then took off into the sky, it still amazed Naruto that he was flying in the sky and the same could be said for the others though Chouji was not quite happy with the feeling of looking down to see the lands below and kept his eyes closed most of the time.

The two Sky Dragons flew like lightning bolts but the way they flew was amazing as the ninjas were feeling the rush of air about them. Kael was quick to understand the situation and explained that their choice of taking the sky route was better and they would have to be careful as like wolves, the Werewolves were gifted with excellent senses for hunting their prey so they would have to be very careful if they decide to face the creatures. It would take at least a full day to reach the country and as soon as night fell on them, the others rested as best they could while Naruto stayed awake until dawn.

As they flew towards Bird Country the next day, it was not long for Naruto to spot the village that they were supposed to go to and as Kael flew down along with Rylen, the blonde Chuunin of Konoha and Dragon Champion could already get the feeling that things were going to get very ugly very quick as soon as they reached the village. The groups landed in a clearing, and then they got off Kael and Rylen and as the Sky Dragons were returned to Holy Talon, the group of ninja quickly rushed to village, they knew that time was of the essence, though they wondered just what sort of greeting they were going to get in the village.

--------

In Daishi's village…

“We're sorry….ever since those demonic beast men have surrounded us, we've been on edge ever since…..”

Kakashi nodded at that and spoke back to the village head, or rather, the new village head since the last one had been one of the victims of the Alpha Werewolf. As soon as the group had arrived near the village they were quickly greeted by a hail of arrows and had to defend themselves quickly as several villagers came out of the village armed to the teeth and looked near mad with rage and desperation. It was only when the villagers saw that they were human that their attacks stopped. They were escorted in and they could see that the werewolf attacks have taken their toll on the villagers. They looked to be unable to sleep for fear of being drabbed away by the werewolves, they also looked to be hungry and that was possible due to the werewolves attacking them when they tried to gather food in the area.

The Konoha ninja looked at this and they could see the results of the attacks of the werewolves as they had seen the brutalized corpses of the village's animals and also the signs of the night attacks made by the werewolves. This village needed help badly at this point as the people were in deep despair at what was happening to them and all of the ninja from Konoha could see that very well.

“It's all right, we came here because we were told by a survivor named Daishi about the situation here…”

The village head gasped and he spoke seriously.

“Daishi?! He made it after all!!!”

“Yes, we found him nearly half dead but he's currently resting in Konoha. As soon as we figured out what was going on, we were dispatched here by the Hokage to help you out.”

“But why? Not that I'm saying your help is not needed, but shouldn't the Feudal Lord send reinforcements to us?”

Kakashi replied to that question by pointing to Naruto.

“Naruto here knows what kind of creatures you are dealing with and insisted that we come here quickly before you are overwhelmed, he also knows what can kill them and how to keep the creatures from attacking your village.”

“What?!”

It took a while for Naruto to explain the details though he didn't mention that the Werewolves were unleashed by Death Fang to test him in particular as this would have really made the mission even harder than it already was. The man was angry that Naruto only brought enough weapons for the ninja teams but he relaxed a bit as Naruto explained that he had special wards which could shield the village from attacks.

It took a while to set up the wards but Naruto had no doubt that they would work, and for the time being he could sense the magic in the air as the wards began to do their work, it seemed that due to his growing and also maturing Dragon Fire reserves, he was able to develop a level of sensing Dragon Fire when it is used in spells. However it only serves as a slight tingle on his hand. However Holy Talon explains that as he grows stronger as a Dragon Champion he would be able to sense when a spell using Dragon Fire is used though it would not tell him what kind it was.

------

In the land outside of the village…

As they gathered the villagers to stay in their village for the coming night, the ninja decided to head out and see if they could find the creatures that they were here to destroy down to the last one. Naruto knew that like wolves, the werewolves would be finding a lair to rest and recuperate during the day, and then would move at night to begin their raid and siege on the village once more since they preferred to be more active in night time, thus making them very deadly.

It wasn't long before Naruto and the others saw signs of the werewolves, there were bones of animals there, dried up pools of animal blood as well as fresh ones, along with the bones and rotting bodies of the animals slain by the werewolves. And of course…there were even human bones. Naruto kept his cool and so did Asuma and Kakashi, but the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion could tell that the others were affected by this sight, they had never dealt with this kind of monster before and in truth neither did he, but he knew that he needed to focus on the threat before them.

They soon arrived near a cliff face after leaving the clearing they had been through, and this cliff face had a number of large trees there as well. It was then however that Naruto smelled something in the air and he felt something wrong, he looked about and the same was said for the others, namely the Jonin. Holy Talon was then the one who revealed to Naruto just what was it that got his senses and that of the others on high alert.

((“They know you're here….werewolves have excellent senses, but they can feel Dragon Fire even more….get ready.”))

(Got it…)

No sooner had Naruto taken Holy Talon out that a chorus of blood curdling howls were heard by the group and then they saw the werewolves appear from the cliff face tunnel. The werewolves howled out even more, their amber eyes glowing as they stared at the group. The Secondary werewolves were brown furred and had bloody fur, no doubt a result from their feasting earlier. The growled savagely after their howls and licked their lips and teeth at the sight of the victims before them.

Suddenly a much darker howl was heard by the others and there on the top was a massive werewolf with black fur and blood red eyes. The creature glared deeply at Naruto and quickly ran down the cliff and landed on the ground and roared at Naruto while baring it's fangs at him as well as the claws it had.

“That's….”

Naruto nodded and replied.

“The Alpha Werewolf…”

They barely had time to absorb this as the Alpha Werewolf pointed a claw at the group and that was the order as the other werewolves roared and attacked the Konoha ninja.

--------

The Konoha ninja fought back with Shikamaru and Chouji getting ready as well as Asuma and Ino while Kakashi got ready as well as Sasuke and Sakura, the fight was going to be a tough one for all of them as this was going to be something that none of them had ever done before in their lives. Naruto led the attack and struck down the first werewolf as it tried to stab the blonde Chuunin with it's claws in the stomach. Naruto evaded the attack quickly and slashed off the werewolf's arm and it howled in pain and rage, but Naruto quickly leaped away from the attack of the werewolf's other arm and then slash the creature from the head to the groin, cutting the creature in half and then he focused on the others heading their way.

There seemed to be at least three dozen of the creatures and now as they charged at Naruto and the others, things were going to get really bloody. The Alpha werewolf however looked on and seemed to be merely observing the whole thing, no doubt to determine just how skilled the fighters were before it and it's pack.

“MEAT TANK!!!”

Chouji's attack was done quickly enough and caught some of the werewolves off guard and he struck them down and as soon as he was back to his normal form, the Akamichi clan member lashed out with a powerful fist and smashed that fist with the Arcane Silver blade hard into a werewolf and killed it quickly, Shikamaru quickly managed to restrain some of the werewolves to keep them from attacking the others, but it took a lot longer for him to restrain the creatures as they were a lot stronger than normal humans.

Ino tried to use her Clan's jutsu, but she broke away in pain at the move as she found out that the mind of a werewolf was not the best place to be. This incapacitated her badly and weakened her, she nearly wound up as the target of another werewolf's claws but Kakashi managed to arrive and slay the creature, another came at Ino but it was then that Naruto come in and cut the creature's head off with a powerful slash with Holy Talon.

Asuma engaged the creatures and kept in mind to be careful in evading their deadly attacks as the werewolves were not about using their teeth to inflict deadly damage to the ninja themselves in the heat of battle. The Jonin used his deadly skills plus his chakra to wound and stun the werewolves and then kill them quickly in order to protect the rest of his team. Kakashi did the same as Sasuke managed to kill another one of the werewolves.

The groups continued to fight one another as the Alpha Werewolf looked on, still unconcerned for the battle before it but most of the attention was not on the others but on Naruto, after all, the creature wanted to see just what sort of abilities the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion for him to be considered a worthy threat to it's master Death Fang. Naruto used his combat experience and his training as he slew yet another of the werewolves that came at him and it was then that the Alpha werewolf called yet another dozen of it's kin to launch the attack and since it was unexpected that there were a dozen more of the werewolves coming for them, the Konoha ninjas were going to have to go full force to avoid being overwhelmed.

Naruto quickly used the same move he used before on Orochimaru and Neji and sent Holy talon flying into the next pack of werewolves, killing three while the others evaded, he then took out both his Arcane Silver katanas and engaged them quickly wounding three of them and placing powerful cuts on their bodies and then placing away the swords as the three were cut down by Holy Talon returning to him and he quickly turned to slice off the arm of another werewolf trying to blindside him.

Ino finally recovered and managed to defend herself with her spear while being aided by Shikamaru and Chouji while Kakashi and Asuma were fighting on with their own foes and so was Sasuke who was doing well enough as he took out a pair more of the werewolves. Naruto knew that they had to take out the Alpha Werewolf, but he was not going to risk getting caught in an ambush as the Alpha werewolf was no fool and there was a chance there would be more of the creatures waiting for the chance to attack.

Sakura and the others fought as best they could but the werewolves were not the kind to give up without a fight or trying up new tricks and one of them revealed it as she finished defeating another werewolf, the pink haired Kunoichi thought she was all right but then got slammed to the ground as one werewolf managed to pin her down and began to roar and snap at her with it's teeth bared.

Sakura cried out as she managed to keep the massive werewolf off of her as it tried to pin her down bite her, she could smell the breath of the once human being who was now nothing more than a ravenous animal, it was eager to tear into her and it took al her strength at the moment to keep the monster from killing her as he continued to drive itself over her form, his' saliva dropping on her and she finally managed to free her arm and shouted out.

“GET OFF ME!!!!”

She smashed her fist into the face of the werewolf, the creature roared in pain and surprise as Sakura's strength shattered the right side of it's mouth and broke it's teeth forcing it to move away from her, allowing her to take out the short sword that Naruto gave her and stabbed the creature in the chest. It cried out and tried to strike at Sakura but it's life blood flowed out like a river and it died.

Sakura tried her best to focus and knew that now was not the time for her to black out with all this happening before her. She faced another werewolf and used her skills as well as her training to evade the attacks and quickly jammed her Arcane Silver short sword into the leg, making the creature howl as she launched a powerful kick to the stomach that sent the creature back with great force, allowing her to get her sword back and stab it into the creature's throat, she closed her eyes as blood flowed from the wound and she got away, and just in time to evade another werewolf attack at her.

However, Kakashi arrived before the creature could attack Sakura again and introduced his Arcane Silver katana into the side of the creature and it howled in great pain at the attack from the Jonin, it managed to swat Kakashi away, but it turned out to be a Kage Bushin and the real Kakashi came into the fight with his patented jutsu.

“RAIKIRI!!!”

The attack tore into the chest of the werewolf and killed it as Kakashi got his sword out of the carcass of the slain creature. The Jonin checked on Sakura and she was all right as the two of them got back to the battle that they were fighting in. Asuma had managed to hold his own while Shikamaru was using his clan's Shadow manipulation Jutsu to hold the wolves in place for his Jonin Sensei and Chouji to finish them off quickly, the Jonin sensei of Shikamaru had to admit that the creatures that they were currently fighting were no pushovers and he had to use lethal force to put an end to them all before things got really bad for them all.

Naruto had already slain at least five of the creatures and they were now able to thin the ranks of the werewolves, but seeing the numbers before them, the werewolf pack was going to do everything to kill them all even if they killed all of the werewolves. The blonde Chuunin looked at the others and then decided to use magic. He summoned his reserve of Dragon Fire and cast the spell quickly.

“FIRESTORM!!!!”

The waves of flame that came out caught the werewolves off guard and several of them were covered in flame, roaring in pain and anger and the smell of burnt fur was quickly joined by roasting skin and flesh, a very deadly and disgusting smell, but the ninjas had no time to relax as while that had given them some breathing room, there was no chance that the werwwolves were done just yet as the survivors gathered and attacked once more, even as Naruto summoned yet another spell and shouted it out as he slashed Holy Talon at them.

“ARROW STORM!!!”

Bolts of Dragon fire that turned into burning arrows stabbed into the werewolves, killing the more injured ones while causing pain in the others, still the werewolves attacked and the Konoha Ninja continued to fight with all that they had at the moment.

Sasuke was doing well enough on his own as he managed to kill at least three of the werewolves while the others including Naruto, but then he suddenly directed his attention to the Alpha Werewolf and he decided to see just how tough this creature really was. He had not placed on his Orchaelium Armor that Naruto had handed him back in Konoha to prove that he didn't need any armor. He managed to evade the attacks of two other werewolves that were before it and as soon as he got some room, he focused his attention on the Alpha Werewolf.

The creature turned to Sasuke and Sasuke wanted that as he began to gather his chakra to unleash the Chidori. As soon as he got the full form of the energy in his hand, he focused his Sharingan on the Alpha werewolf and tossed away his weapon.

(I don't need that sword, my Chidori is more than enough.)

The Alpha Werewolf growled at Sasuke and was eager to see if the human before it actually had the guts to fight it with that technique, it could tell that this was no spell that it was familiar with and wondered if that could come close to injuring it in battle. Of course the Alpha Werewolf had every intention to kill the man before it.

Naruto looked at the Alpha Werewolf to see if the creature would focus on them as soon as they were able to kill a number of it's pack mates and servants, the very second he saw the Uchiha survivor facing the Alpha Werewolf he naturally was utterly shocked at Sasuke's action with the Chidori and shouted to Sasuke not to do it. The other werewolves seemed to stop and turn to face the sight of their pack leader being attacked, some growled and then all of them moved away from the others.

“SASUKE!!! DON'T DO IT!!!!”

He knew for a fact that even though the Chidori was powerful in combat and would make short work of normal foes, the alpha werewolf was NOT something to mess around with and had exceptional resistance to certain attacks, and this one was of them. His warning was proven true as the Alpha Werewolf took the blow but was not reeling in pain or even bleeding, it then growled at Sasuke and then lashed out with a back hand and knocked Sasuke away from itself and as Sasuke tried to recover in time, his luck ran out as the werewolf loomed over him and howled a battle challenge and attacked Sasuke.

Sasuke tried his best to recover and evade as the Alpha werewolf but before he could try to use the Cursed Seal, the Alpha Werewolf made it' s own move and opened it's maw filled with razor sharp jagged teeth, all dripping a large amount of venom.

“SASUKE!!!!”

The shout mixed with the screams of the Uchiha as he was bitten right at the other shoulder by the unharmed alpha werewolf and being thrashed about right off the ground by the ravenous and deadly lycanthrope. The alpha werewolf then released the bleeding Sasuke who rolled away while clutching the now bleeding area of his right shoulder and before her could move, the alpha werewolf attacked with a savage punch that sent the young man flying into a tree.

The other Konoha ninja were shocked to see how easily this monstrous beast had manhandled Sasuke but they had no time to reach Sasuke as the lower level werewolves attacked them, unlike Sasuke who had not worn the protective armor that Naruto had given them and used the weapons as well, they were doing a better job than most. The werewolf then slashed at the young man and Sasuke barely got away before the tree behind him was reduced to splinters in a moment and then he got stabbed in the body by the claws of the werewolf being further injured.

It was only Naruto's arrival on the scene with Holy Talon at the ready that forced the alpha werewolf to back away from the Uchiha. The creature then growled a battle challenge to Naruto that spoke volumes of it's intent to fight and kill the blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion. The blonde Chuunin was more than willing to cross blade with claw on the being, but he knew that fighting this creature was going to be something of a challenge.

The pair fought one another as the Alpha Werewolf lashed out with it's claws, hell bent on slashing Naruto to ribbons, but the armor that Naruto had on was more than able to hold off the attack, he knew that the Alpha Werewolf was a lot smarter and more deadly than the other werewolves so he was not going to ignore the danger this one presented.

The werewolf attacked Naruto with a series of claw strikes aiming to cut Naruto's head clean off his shoulders, but Naruto was able to dodge and evade well enough to keep a good step ahead of the Alpha Werewolf as they attacked one another, Naruto attacked as well after evading the last of the claw strikes, he leaped up in the air and attacked with Holy Talon in one hand and pulled out one of his Arcane Silver katana swords in the other.

The attacks from both swords forced the Alpha werewolf away and Naruto took the advantage by tossing one of the Arcane Silver swords at the Alpha werewolf, the sword stabbed it in the arm and it was able to wound the creature and Naruto attacked with a powerful kick to the chest and then he moved away as the Alpha Werewolf lashed out at him with it's claws.

The Werewolf took out the sword, growling deeply at the feel of it's flesh being touched by the Arcane Silver and tossed the sword at Naruto, Naruto managed to stop the sword with a blast of Dragon fire summoned wind, the sword stopped in flight and landed before the Dragon Champion. Naruto evaded some more of the attacks from the Alpha Werewolf and he managed to wound the creature in the side and the Alpha Werewolf roared in pain. Naruto got ready to attack once more as he had no doubt that the Alpha Werewolf would attack once more if given the chance.

However the Alpha Werewolf suddenly stopped and howled out a series of cries at it's pack and they all left the area, leaving the group of Konoha ninja behind as well as the ones of their pack that the Konoha ninja were able to kill. The Alpha Werewolf looked at them and growled, no doubt sending the message that while they had won this battle it was going to be far from over for them all. It had every intention to kill the villagers and then the Konoha ninja and finally Naruto as well. It gave them one final snarl and joined it's pack in a full retreat, for now they were going to leave their lair and find a new place to rest and recover, then they were going to come back and finish the fight.

Naruto decided not to pursue the pack of werewolves, he had other things to worry about as Sasuke began to scream out loudly, he knew that the venom from the Alpha Werewolf was already working it's way into Sasuke's body, he needed to get the cure into Sasuke's body before things got really bad for them all…namely for his team mate as he could already see the effects of the Alpha Werewolf's bite on Sasuke and that told him that Sasuke had NOT worn the armor he had given him back in Konoha the day before.

It angered him and what was even worse, Sasuke's serum pouch was not with him….apparently the ninja had left the pouch behind…there was no time to bring him to the village it would have to be an on the field treatment. However, he then spotted the said pouch nearby and thanked Kami that the serum was not found and destroyed by the werewolves. However the vials were scattered, meaning that he would have to hurry and find them all or else Sasuke would become one of the Secondary werewolves

--------

In the clearing…

“HOLD HIM STILL!!!!”

Naruto shouted as the others managed to restrain Sasuke as the Uchiha survivor struggled with the pain that was flowing all over his body due to the bite of the alpha werewolf that he had tried to face one on one. The blonde Chuunin quickly got out the vials of liquid that was meant to both halt the venom of the werewolf and prevent the one bitten from being turned into another Secondary Werewolf and under the thrall of the Alpha Werewolf.

As Kakashi, Sakura, Asuma, and Chouji tried to restrain the raven haired young man as he thrashed in pain, Naruto could see that the bite area becoming infected by werewolf venom, while this was indeed his first time, the knowledge he gleamed from Holy Talon told him to be really wary about this kind of damage. He got the cure and quickly poured the liquid into the bite marks and saw the wounds bubble and fester, plus a foul smelling odor like rotten meat, sweet blood, plus an outwardly alien smell filled the area.

The cure worked by burning out the infected cells that were being transformed by the werewolf venom and when drank it would also cleanse the venom's effects on the mind, this was without pain in the mental and physical sense, but on wounds, it was a different matter, Naruto forced the cure down Sasuke's mouth as the young man fought with him and the others violently.

It was taking quite a while and the others were worried greatly for Sasuke's sake and it was not long before the cure began to work and Sasuke began to calm down and relax, quickly falling asleep. Naruto looked over his team mate carefully, not taking any chances with the kind of injuries that Sasuke had just been subjected to. As soon as the Genin was stable, Naruto and the others headed back. Their first battle was tough going and that was just the first round, there would be more to come, that much Naruto knew for a fact

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Later in the village…

The group were currently resting as they had spent the rest of the late afternoon and then the early night, tightening the security around the village. They had told the villagers that a number of the werewolves were already dealt with and they would make another foray to deal with the werewolf pack once and for all. The villagers were happy but seeing Sasuke in his injured state made them worry about him being turned into another one of the beasts that had held them hostage in their own homes.

However, Naruto assured them that he had cured Sasuke and he was not in danger, the village head then gave them some places to stay in for the night. All of them were going to wait for Sasuke to recover for the time being and see if the cure had stopped the transformation completely as well as get rid of the venom there in Sasuke's body. Naruto however went outside for a moment to think about some important things that he planned to speak about to Sasuke.

Sasuke had begun to recover from his near brush with death and being infected by the werewolf venom that had been injected into him by the Alpha werewolf's fangs. As soon as he was able to pen his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of the others looking at him with worry, he placed that aside as Naruto came into the room.

Naruto was relieved to see Sasuke had recovered, but he was also rather angry at his team mate, he had told Sasuke to focus on dealing with the lower ranking werewolves to thin their ranks, not go off and engage the Alpha Werewolf on his own, even with the weapons and armor he had given him. He was also angry with the fact that Sasuke had willingly removed the vials of serum that he had been given to protect himself from the venom and it had nearly killed him as well as turned him into a werewolf as well.

Kakashi and Asuma could tell that Naruto wanted to speak to Sasuke alone and managed to gather their students with them to help deal with other matters.

As soon as the others were well out of sight range and hearing range, the blonde Chuunin moved towards the still bed ridden Uchiha and stood there glaring at him while Sasuke glared back at him in equal measure. Naruto glared at Sasuke who looked back as well and the blonde Chuunin exploded in anger at that exact moment of silence.

“You idiot!!! What the hell were you thinking trying to take that thing on by yourself?! You have any idea how close you were to being his next meal or slave?!”

Sasuke however said nothing and tried to get up, but he was stopped as the pain struck him back down to the ground and Naruto spoke out.

“Don't bother trying to get up, it took us hours to heal your wounds and three more vials to make sure that we could cure the venom in your blood stream, we had to scour the area for the vials in your own pack that you apparently tossed, what the heck were you thinking Sasuke? I gave those serums to everyone here for a reason. And why the hell didn't you use the armor I gave you back in Konoha?! What are you trying to prove here?!”

“I'll be fine…”

“Fine?! You have any idea how close you came to dying?! Not to mention the fact that the werewolf venom that flowed into your body nearly turned you into one?! Trust me on this one you are far from fine, you were either going to be that thing's latest meal or one of it's followers. You are out of commission until then, so you rest and recover here.”

“You're giving me orders now Naruto?”

Sasuke said with a glare at Naruto who shook his head at his team-mates stubbornness and he spoke.

“Those are not orders Sasuke, that's the truth, you nearly died and your body had nearly been warped by the venom.”

“Warped? What does that mean?”

Naruto sighed and replied.

“You know why you feel like your body got pulverized? The venom tried to warp your bones to make it more lupine as the venom kicked in, not to mention it was transforming your body into something else, apparently the alpha werewolf used a lot more venom than it normally does. You're damn lucky the serum saved your life, but your body took a severe beating, and it will take some time before you properly mend.”

“So now what?”

“Now? Now I try to figure out just what to do to keep you from committing suicide every chance you get! How many times do I have to stress out that these guys are NOT the regular kind of enemy? You can't beat them using the same methods we use of other ninja Sasuke, I gave you the serum for countering the werewolf venom, the armor to protect yourself and the blade to kill them, yet you didn't use them….and you nearly died for that.”

“I didn't lie about not stopping you from doing what you feel you have to when you face that person Sasuke. But you're not going to get that chance if you try to get yourself killed to prove something that you don't have to.”

Sasuke said nothing as he looked at the bandages on his body and then Naruto reverted to a serious attitude that brooked no argument to his authority, he had developed that in order to deal with the threats that Death Fang would usually send out to battle

“You're out of commission for the time being Sasuke so get some rest. And no this is not an order, it is a request, if you want to beat those creatures, then get some rest.”

Sasuke lay back down and was silent as Naruto decided to leave him and he moved to see the others, Kakashi was tending to the injuries that some of the villager suffered from the attack and thankfully they were not infected by the werewolf venom, the Jonin was lucky he didn't have to fight those creatures for a while and thankfully the cures that Naruto had on hand saved their lives. The others were currently resting up after a very long night. Naruto however knew that night was the customary hunting time for the werewolves and they would no doubt be on the prowl, but now that the alpha werewolf knew that he was around, then it would focus it's pack on him. He moved out to reach the perimeter of the village and looked out into the blackness and he could see the eyes of the surviving werewolves gleaming like amber gems filled with hunger, anger, madness, and the great thirst for combat, blood, and death. On occasion he spotted the blood red eyes of the Alpha Werewolf but then the eyes faded, showing that the werewolves were done for their day, or rather night.

The secondary werewolves that they had killed had lowered the numbers and with their bodies destroyed of the venom that transformed them and then their bodies were destroyed as well to prevent them from being used as food by the remaining werewolves. There was no doubt also that the werewolves would be hunting anyone who dared to leave the village and that was why Naruto placed special wards made from Arcane Silver to keep them from entering the village, even the Alpha Werewolf wouldn't dare enter a village with these wards on.

However, Naruto knew that while the secondary werewolves obeyed commands given to them, they had lost their human intelligence and creativity while the Alpha werewolf did not and that made the creature more dangerous than even a whole pack of secondary werewolves. It could think and act well and would soon find a way to destroy the wards. The blonde Chuunin and Dragon Champion knew that they would have to strike soon at Alpha werewolf soon and slay it before more people fell to it and it's ravenous pack.

It was then that he had an idea that just might work.

As he thought it over, he turned and spotted Sakura and Ino who were deep in thought and he could see that both women were unable to get some rest. He couldn't blame them either, seeing such horrors, but he focused on doing what he could in order to keep things running. Sakura did well in battle and so did Ino, but now they were in need of rest and it would not be considered rest if they wandered about.

He walked up to them and spoke.

“Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, why are you two out here?”

Sakura sighed and replied.

“We couldn't sleep…not with the knowledge those things are out there….”

“Yeah….it's not right….”

Naruto looked at both Ino and Sakura, he could see that they were afraid and he couldn't fault them for that. He reached out with his free hands and touched their faces, the two reacted to that in a relieved way as they held his hands in their own, they seemed calmer and then Ino spoke.

“How is Sasuke-kun?”

Naruto nodded and replied.

“He'll be all right, give him a day or two and he'll be back on his feet.”

Ino smiled at that and spoke to Naruto.

“How are we going to beat them Naruto-kun….I've never fought anything like these creatures before….I tried to peek into their minds with my….Mind Manipulation Jutsu, but it was so horrible in there….”

Ino was reliving to horror of seeing the mind of a werewolf and Naruto brought her closer to him and she didn't hesitate to hold him tight and sob at the pain those memories gave her. Naruto soothed Ino as best he could. Sakura didn't get mad as she understood Ino's train of thought and stayed there for the time being until Naruto reached out to her and she hugged him too, as she too recalled the horror of the werewolves' attacks on anything living, human or otherwise.

Naruto listened to both Ino and Sakura and it made him feel even more determined to end the threat of the Werewolves once and for all. As both women looked at him, his gaze softened and he spoke to the both of them.

“We WILL beat them, I promise you both that.”

Both women nodded and it was then that Naruto decided to escort them back to the hut they were resting in so he could help the two of them get some much needed rest. As they entered the room, he placed Holy Talon aside on the nearby table in the living room while keeping his Arcane Silver katana swords near him to protect them. He escorted the two to the room that they were in and helped try to go to sleep. I was asking for trouble if they didn't get enough rest for the still coming battles.

As he helped them, he turned to leave but before he could do anything, Sakura grabbed his arm and forced him to stay, while she was not using her strength on him he could feel that she wanted him to stay. He turned about but that was also when Ino and Sakura kissed him at the same time, startling him a great deal as he was not expecting this from the two of them, not while they had a mission of all things. But the idea of turning away was not popping into his mind anytime soon as he kissed them back.

As soon as the kiss stopped between the three of them he looked at both of them and wondered what was going through their minds and then Ino spoke.

“Naruto-kun….stay for a while…”

“Ino-chan….are you still afraid or something?”

Ino didn't give him time to get an answer from her as she hugged him close and Sakura doing the very same thing and before he could do anything to try and assure them any further, the two Kunoichi who he had already been intimate with before began to remove their clothing, making him blush a bit, he tried to convince himself that now was not the time for this, the sight of the two now naked before him was more than enough to quell his thoughts.

Naruto couldn't help but lose control of his own thoughts as he began to remove the Konoha Chuunin vest and then his Orchaelium Chainmail Armor as well. It was not going to be long before he would be joining Ino and Sakura in the bed naked.

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(Lemon in the Lemon Story section later!!!)

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Later…

Naruto opened his eyes hours later and found it to be already deep at night and he looked to see that both Ino and Sakura were fast asleep; he couldn't help but blush somewhat at the memories of what they had done only hours before and he hoped that it was enough to calm the two women to sleep, thankfully the barrier of silence and sight he had cast in the room had kept most if not all of the happening s away from the others.

As he gathered his clothes and put them on and then his Orchaelium Armor, he kissed the two women and smiled a bit as he knew that now was the time to meet up with the others who were still very much awake.

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In the village meeting hall…

Kakashi, Shikamaru and Asuma looked at Naruto who had arrived three hours earlier and had told them of a very bold and somewhat risky strategy. The two Jonin and Chuunin looked at Naruto seriously as he showed them just what he had in mind in order to kill the Alpha Werewolf and it's forces. The three had to admit that this was by far the most dangerous move they would ever take, but considering the situation before them, they were going to have to take some drastic action soon enough.

The longer they stayed here, the greater the chance the village would soon run out of food and supplies, the people here were afraid, starving, and desperate and would do anything to escape. And worse, there was a chance that sooner or later, the wards would be overcome.

Naruto looked at them and could tell that they were not liking what he had in mind and Kakashi spoke that fact out to him.

“What you're suggesting Naruto is extremely dangerous.”

“I know, most people would think I'm insane for doing this, but we don't really have much in terms of options now do we?”

Asuma nodded at that and replied.

“He's got a point there Kakashi, we have to do something before things get really bad.”

Shikamaru nodded as well, he studied just what Naruto had in mind and could see that while there were going to be problems and risks, this was by far the best option they had at the moment if they were able to pull it all off. That however didn't mean that he was going to ignore the risks that were being put forward with the plan.

“You do realize that we're going to be really asking for it if this goes wrong Naruto?”

Naruto nodded at that, he had considered it greatly and he had a solution in mind.

“I do, all this will work if we do it right, that's why I need you to be the one to set it up Shikamaru.”

“Me? What a drag….you do realize I can't possibly have that much chakra for what you have mind right?”

“That's why I brought this little gift.”

Shikamaru looked at the bottle of blue liquid that seemed to have a gentle glow in it. Naruto knew that this liquid would be perfect for Shikamaru as well as the others, he had worked on it for a while with the assistance of Coryin and the others.

“What's that?”

“It's a chakra booster, it will allow the drinker to have at least three times their normal chakra reserves without possible side effects, but I only have enough for all of us and only two bottles of it so we have to be careful with it.”

Kakashi and Asuma smiled, it seemed that Naruto was prepared big time and Shikamaru nodded as the four of them got their plans set up. It was time to make the first move and deal with the wolves, but they were not going to do it at night. The planned to face the Werewolf in it's own den to end it once and for all.

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To be continued…

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Author's Notes:

Well now, Sasuke nearly gets turned into a werewolf in trying to finish off the Alpha Werewolf and both he and Naruto talk about things but as we already know, Sasuke will not give up in trying to face Naruto in battle. However, there will be no doubt that Sasuke will do his best to prove to himself that he is strong. Naruto is not going to be happy but it was a long time coming as Sasuke seeks to prove that despite all this, he will be stronger.

Of course with Naruto's intense combat training as well as his growing arsenal of skills, Sasuke will be in for the fight of his life, as what he seeks as unlike the canon manga and anime battle between Naruto and Sasuke, you can bet that Naruto will not be so easily outpaced as before when he fought Sasuke the first time. Sasuke is going to have to pull out all the stops to beat Naruto this time. But how will the battle he had with the Alpha Werewolf affect Sasuke in the future at how easily he could have been killed by the monstrous demon beast?

On the next chapter…Naruto makes a desperate but unique plan to annihilate the werewolves to the last one. How will this plan work?

Find out soon!!

And for all of you readers, namely for the guys…I have a special chapter in mind that will no doubt appeal to most of you, and if you are really interested in it, then here's a clue…

Sand, surf, food, drink, and….certain articles of clothing…

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Trailer…

Hinata looked at the articles of clothing and she was trying to find the right one for the occasion that she was going to be in with Naruto. But so many of them were so…risqué she had no idea what to do.

“I….I don't know what to do, what should I choose for today?”

Hinata was then greeted by Ino who was giving the Hyuuga heiress the look.

“Hey Hinata-san, I've the thing for you, and I think Naruto-kun will like it.”

The suit in question was more than enough to make Hinata blush bright red while Ino was enjoying the sight. She already had her own choice as well.

Tsunade looked at the others who were with her, Kurenai, Anko, Ayame, Sakura, Kin, Temari, Tenten, Shizune, and Koyuki were already looking at the selection before them. The Hokage was eager to finally get this week off and since they were getting the chance to be in a private place, they were going to have one hell of a good time.

And they were not alone as a certain someone was going to join them….the blonde Hokage grinned seductively at that thought.

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Enjoy!