The Shinobi Visitor

Chapter 5 - The Mist Demon Returns...

(HSD Universe)

-(Morning)-Takagi Estate-

A day has passed since Naruto brought a new group of survivors; three of them are Rei's and Takashi's parents, much to the teenagers' happiness. The blonde ninja spend his morning on training in a secluded location that was not far from the mansion's estate, making sure no one see him using his abilities. After the training, he spent the rest of the day with Saeko that made him feel happy when he's near her and the same could be said about the purple hair girl when she's near him.

The boy laid on his back on top of his new bed with his black shirt and jeans on inside of his new room, staring at the ceiling. His orange jacket was hanging on the chair that was across from his bed with his watch, hip pouch sitting on top of it and Tenkaichi leaning perfectly against it. He was thinking about what Mizuki said about the time difference between the worlds and decided to have a chat with his partner, so the blonde got into a lotus position and closed his eyes as he meditates to enter his subconscious.

-Naruto's Mindscape-

The young Uzumaki appeared in front of the new cave/home of his partner. He looked around at the improved vast land that he created and nodded to him-self for his imagination. Moments later, the towering fox exited out of his new home with his shadow looming over his human partner/jinchuriki, staring at him.

"So…"said Kurama breaking the silence.

"So…" said Naruto putting his hands in his pockets, "What are we going to do, now that the Ten Tails are sending his goons for us?"

Kurama growled a little, "I don't think that weak Mizuki was sent here for us."

Naruto raised a brow. "What do you mean that he wasn't sent here for us? He clearly proved that by calling me you by your old name." He crossed his arms as he tries to process the fox's statement, then sat cross-legged on the ground.

"I think that he was sent here for either reconnaissance or… he was looking for something, but what I don't know. Unless…" pondered Kurama putting his right index finger and thumbs as he thinks every possible theory.

After a few moments, both Naruto and Kurama realized the theory with the former stood up quickly. "THE KEYS/THE KEYS!" The duo blinked owlishly a few times as silence suddenly appeared around them.

"So you think the Ten Tails knows about the keys as well, huh" said Naruto in the form of a question, receiving a nod from his tall partner.

"Apparently, you think so too. But we should make sure we're correct on this," said the Tailed Beast laying his body on the ground, resting his head on his arms.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "And to do that, we need to capture the next guy the Ten Tails sends…after we beat him, plus I'm hoping the guy is stronger than Mizuki because he was weak that he had to resort to the Ten Tails' chakra just to gain an advantage over me." He heard the fox chuckled, irritating the boy a little, "What's so funny?"

"Just your hunger for battling against equal or stronger enemies, it amuses me," replied the fox, grinning to ear to ear. His jinchuriki huffed and crossed his arms while looking away.

"Whatever. Oh yeah, before I forget, you told me that you'll explain about the time difference between our world and the other worlds we have to yet to visit," said Naruto.

Kurama nodded in agreement. "Very well. Like that weakling Mizuki said, it was already two months in our world when we were in this world for two days, you with me?" Naruto nodded, "Good, because I don't want to explain this twice. The Bridge Worlds, like the one we're currently in, are slower than the Major Worlds like ours by 58 days and also—"he stopped when Naruto raised his right hand and groaned, "Yes, what is it?"

"Like our world? You mean our world is one of the Major Worlds. I thought the Sage said there were Four Major Worlds, not five," replied the boy still confused.

The fox sighed. "It's a secret that was bestowed upon Old Man Sage by Kami and Shinigami. He discussed this during the lesson that you fell asleep in!"

"I said I was sorry already!" complained the boy looking away, receiving a sigh from the Tailed Beast pinching his nose bridge.

Moments of silence surrounded the duo until the Tailed Beast remembered something else. "Naruto," the blonde looked at him again, "While you're here, we should use this time to help you master 'that' technique."

"Oh yeah, you're right about that. But I'm still having trouble getting the basics down, even with my Shadow Clones helping me."

Kurama sighed at this. "Well, you should've mentioned it to the old man while you were training under him. Why didn't you ask him, anyway?"

Naruto gave his partner an irritated look. "The answer to your question is I was too busy with the taijutsu sessions, the elemental training sessions and lastly the history lessons. Plus, I was too excited to learn the new techniques to even bring it up, okay? Get off my back already, will ya?!"

"Don't you take that tone with me!" exclaimed Kurama in the same loud tone that his human partner did, igniting a bicker match between the duo. The shouting and name-calling between the two ended after ten minutes when Naruto calmed him-self down. Shortly after that, he calmed the fox though the latter was seething between his teeth and fangs, but eventually calmed his anger. "You ready, kid?"

Naruto grinned madly. "You bet I'm ready! I won't stop until I master this technique and its variations," He pulled out a scroll from his pouch and opened it, "Let's do this."

-(Noon)-With Takashi-

"Man, this is turning into an intense day," said Takashi to himself. After spending his morning with his mom, he left to check on his friends and was content that Kotha and Asami were getting along well…really well in the garage when the duo were cleaning the guns and the female cop recognized the several models of the guns the group cleaned out of Rika's apartment, much to the male gun fan's delight. When he gathered his friends on the porch, they watched Saya's father protest to the civilians about cutting down the walkers and forget that they were once family members or friends because they're no longer human to them.

When the rally was over, the group was surprised by Kotha's sudden outburst and his insults about the armed men with swords, leading to an argument between the leader and the marksman with the latter running away while saying something about 'Not going to be that person again.'

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Takashi looked over to see Saya standing there with a scowl. "What's up, Saya?" He saw her roll her eyes.

"Let's meet up at Naruto's room. We need to discuss with the others about the discussion we had earlier," said the pink hair genius. The black hair male nodded and told the rest to meet at their ninja friend's room in a hour, but not before telling Rei to get their parents to meet them as well since they're part of their group.

An hour later, the group, including Rei's parents and Takashi's mother, was outside of the shinobi's room with Takashi reluctantly knocking on the door.

"Naruto? Are you in there because we need to talk and everyone's here," said the teen leader. A moment passed until they heard the door handle turning and the door opening, revealing the blonde teenager in his jeans and black shirt, staring at them. They noticed the boy had very small beads of sweat on his face, concerning them of what happened to him.

Naruto noticed their expressions and waved it off. "Don't worry, I was just training when you called me. Come in, come in, everybody." Everyone complied and followed the boy inside the room with Zeke running around in circles before jumping on the bed with Alice laying next to the puppy, petting him.

As soon as everyone got settled in, Takashi started the meeting. "Saya and I brought you all here because we discussed an important matter earlier and we thought you all should know about it and give us your opinions." The group raised their brows as they were confused, but Naruto had a bored expression instead.

"You want to know if we want to stay here in the mansion or we should leave. Am I right?" asked the boy crossing his arms, shocking his two friends of his knowledge of their topic as well surprising the rest of the group of their options.

Takashi blinked a few times before asking, "How did you know?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "Because it's obvious, well to me anyway," he looked to his right where his female swordsman/friend was standing and smiled, "You look really beautiful in that kimono, Saeko. Do you know that?" He saw a small blush on the girl's cheeks and couldn't help but chuckle at her blushing.

"T-thank you, Naruto," said Saeko still blushing a little until she controlled herself and heard the blonde sage telling their leader and genius to continue the meeting and debate.

After a few protests from Shizuka and Asami, the group concluded their meeting with the decision to leave the mansion. At first, Takashi and Rei expected their parents to argue with their plan, but instead they and their friends received compliments and praise from the adults for their maturity and quick progression to young adults.

The group was ready to leave the room until Naruto stopped them, saying that he has one more matter to discuss.

"What is it?" asked Rei concerned.

Naruto was about to say something when Saeko beat him to it. "It has something to do with Mizuki, the man you fought two days ago, doesn't it?" She received a slow nod from the shinobi, becoming concerned as well for her friend.

"…Yes, it's about Mizuki and…other things. When all of you left, that guy was given back his youth by the Ten Tails." Naruto saw everyone's eyes widen as he continues, "Just before we fought, he said two months had passed in my world."

"WHAT?! HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE?! YOU'VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR TWO DAYS!" exclaimed Saya, disbelieving her team member's new information.

Naruto sighed while putting his hands in his pockets. "I know that and there's a strong possibility that the Ten Tails might send someone else…today." He heard gasps from the teens and see shock expressions on the adults' faces, letting everyone process this information.

"S-someone e-else c-coming h-here t-today? Will this person be stronger than Mizuki?" asked Kotha slightly trembling with fear. Everyone looked at the blonde teenager for his next answer.

Naruto slightly frowned as he thinks for a reasonable answer, but could only come up with one. "To be honest, I don't know if the next guy will be stronger…" A grin appeared on the Toad Sage's face, "But I'm hoping that he'll be a challenge for me." Everybody is surprised by the boy's excitement for a strong opponent until Saya's surprised look was replaced by rage.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! WHAT IF THIS PERSON IS STRONGER THAN YOU?!" shouted Saya.

Naruto flinched and used his pinky to make sure he still has his hearing. He soon glared at the pink genius, "First of all, don't do that again, I need both of my ears. Second of all, I don't doubt the Ten Tails will send someone whose strength either equals or is greater than mine. That's why I train constantly every day, to keep my strength up and to raise it the greater heights." The Uzumaki looked from each member of his group, and all of them have doubts on their minds and faces. "Hey, listen to me, everyone. I'm not going to let the Ten Tails or his followers hurt any of you guys, especially not letting one of his goons beat me. I'm Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Saeko couldn't help but giggled at the blonde's antic and soon saw her friends smile at the ninja as well. Suddenly a loud growl bellowed in the room, scaring Alice into jumping from the bed and onto Shizuka's arms. The duo was shaking in fear with everyone looking around in the room for the source of noise.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his stomach. "Sorry about that, guys, I haven't eat breakfast this morning. Want to get some grub?" He received nods from his friends and a happy bark from the dog, so the ninja walked over to his equipment. The Leaf shinobi put his hip pouch and watch in their respective places and motioned to grab his black blade and its scabbard, but a hand was placed on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned around and found him-self facing Saya with her hands on her hips with a glare. "What?"

"You can't carry your sword around in the mansion. You're lucky that my father allowed you to keep it," replied Saya while fixing her glasses.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the reason as he pulled out a small paper from his hip pouch with his left hand, embedded it on his right wrist, then grabbed Tenkaichi by its scabbard. The jinchuriki placed the black sword on top of the paper and channeled chakra into it, resulting in a puff of smoke and the weapon gone and chuckled when he saw everyone's eyes widen in surprise.

"For the question going around your heads, it's Fuinjutsu or Sealing Techniques. I sealed my sword into this small paper, now I'm armed without anyone outside this room even knowing it. Now, let's get something to eat, cause I'm starving!" The young Uzumaki grabbed his jacket and putted it on while following his friends out of the room and closed the door behind him since he was the last one to exit.

The group entered the kitchen, made their food, then sat at the large dinner table. Naruto was mesmerized by the decorations and design of the dining hall while chewing through his sandwich and telling his friends about Konoha's vast lands surrounded by tall trees with multiple leaves that gave his home village its name. He also commented about taking them to visit his home after his mission is completed, bringing smiles and cheers from everyone.

"Naruto," Kotha called out to the sage who looked at him, "I've been meaning to ask you this and you didn't mention it during your explanation, but…" Naruto leaned a little as he waits for the chubby teenager to complete his sentence.

"But what? Spit it out, already!"

"How old are you, anyway?" Everyone, but Naruto, blinked at the question and turned their heads at the ninja.

"Oh, I'm 17," replied Naruto simply. His birthday passed during the six months of training with the Sage of the Six Paths and it was the biggest celebration he ever experienced. He received nods from everyone and resumed eating. Naruto took one last bite of his sandwich until he felt two presences standing behind him and looked over his left shoulder, seeing two men armed with swords attached to their belts. "What's up?"

"Mr. Takagi wants to speak to you," said the man on the right.

The jinchuriki raised a brow while his friends muttered amongst themselves until Saya spoke to one of the men. "Why does my father want to talk with Naruto?" The man on Naruto's left side looked at her and responded to her question.

"I don't know the reason. Just that he ordered us to bring Uzumaki, now if you'll just come with-" he stopped when he no longer see the boy in his chair and looked around frantically in the room, then stopped when he heard chuckling from the others who simply shrugged. The two men exited the room to search for the blonde ninja as they grumbled about how the teenager managed to slip out of their noses.

-Takagi Estate Roof-

Souichiro Takagi, the intimidating leader of the Takagi Mansion/home, stood close behind the edge with his hands behind his back and his katana sword attached to his belt as he gazes at the city. He felt a breeze coming from behind him and turned around fully to see the blonde teenager without the men that he sent to retrieve him. Both of the males had emotionless expressions on their faces as they stare at each other.

"So," Naruto breaking the intense silence, "What did you want to talk to me about?" He crossed his arms as he waits for the man's answer.

"Two days ago, when my wife found my daughter and your group, a portal appeared," He saw Naruto widen his eyes slightly," and a man walked out of the portal. He wore strange clothing, but one thing that made sense was the headband he sported…and it looks similar to the one you're wearing on your forehead now."

The blonde sage narrowed his eyes. "So, what?"

"Who are you, really and most importantly, are you a threat?" asked Souichiro grabbing his sword's base hilt while glaring intensely at the teen.

After a few moments, Naruto put his arms to their respective sides and responded to the man's question. "No, I'm not a threat to you or my friends. That guy who entered from the portal was an old enemy of mine. He and I are not from here and that's all you should know."

Souichiro gritted his teeth when the boy gave him limited information, but knew the teenager will not budge about anything else. He looks at the blonde' blue eyes and see years of battle and hardships within them, but vowed to get more information from him one way or another.

"Very well. That's it…for now," muttered Souichiro at the last two words. The boy nodded and turned around, walking to the door near him and entered it, leaving a seething Takagi behind.

"Okay, now that's over with, I think I'll go train some more," thought Naruto when he reached the third level of the mansion. He sprinted to the end of the hall, opened the window and shunshined to the trees.

-Hidden Training Ground-

The boy reappeared in the middle of his secret training area. He made the hand-signs for the alarm seal he used back at the apartment to make sure no one gets the drop on him while training. After setting up the alarm system, the ninja cracked his knuckles and cross his fingers, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Puffs of smoke surrounded him and quickly dissipated as it appear, revealing 30 clones of the Uzumaki member appeared around the original who smirked after releasing the technique. "All right, guys! Let the training session commence!"

"YES SIR!" The air and surrounding area was soon filled by shouts and yells from the multiple Uzumakis as they train hard like their original to get stronger.

-(Three Hours Later)-

"Oh, man, what a workout!" Naruto was walking with his jacket slung over his left shoulder and carrying a water bottle that he took from the fridge in the kitchen. The training session with his Shadow Clones was under par of the Sage of the Six Paths' training, but it helps to keep his strength up as well increasing it. He took another gulp while ascending the stairs, reaching to the second floor and made a right to his room at the end of the hall.

Naruto sighed in frustration. "Man, I'm still having trouble to getting the basics down. Why does the technique have to be so difficult to learn? Eh, I'll worry about it, later." He entered his room once he reached it, and made his way to his bed, intending to relax but stopped when he smelled him-self and anime tears streamed down his face.

"Whew! Man, I reek badly. Hehe, guess that's what I get for training so hard," said the boy as he swiftly tossed his jacket on the chair next to him, then unsealed Tenkaichi and crumbled the paper since it is only good for one use. The boy placed both his sword and his watch on top of the table before entering the bathroom and took a shower after undressing.

20 minutes later, the boy exited out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, a smile present on his face. "Man that felt good. I can't think of another-" Naruto heard knocking on his door. "Who is it?"

"It's Takashi and Saya. Can we come in?" asked the former.

"Wait just a minute," the blonde male went to his hip pouch and unsealed his Leaf dark blue long-sleeved shirt and pants plus a new pair of boxers, leaving the flak jacket and shuriken holsters in the scroll after re-sealing it again, then sealed his dirty and smelly clothes into another scroll and placed them in the hip pouch. After putting away his hip pouch, Naruto then called out his friends, "Okay, you can come in now."

The leader and genius of the group entered the room and complimented on Naruto's incomplete ninja attire. "What's up?"

"You know we're leaving tonight, right?" asked Takashi. Naruto looked at him.

"Yeah."

"Well, Saya and I talked about where we're going to go after the meeting and we found a solution." Naruto stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for answer.

"Well…"

"What?"

Naruto sighed, irritated "What's the solution? You didn't say what the solution is."

"We can get off the mainland and live on an island. Islands have natural resources and it'd be even better if it was uncharted or undiscovered plus it'd be safe and isolated from the walkers," said Saya, filling in for her childhood friend. She interrupted Naruto when the latter was about to say something, "If you're going to ask how we're going to get to an island, my parents have boats in a private section we own at the docks. They don't care if one goes missing because we have so many."

Naruto nodded before stifled a yawn with his right backhand. "Sorry, guys. I'm exhausted from the training I did earlier, so I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we're going to leave." He receives nods from his friends and locked the door after them, then jumped on the bed to let his body get relax and closed his eyes for a well-deserved rest.

-(Night)-A Few Hours Later-

A huge storm covered the mainland of Japan. Rain poured from the dark clouds above, soaking everything in its vast radius from the trees to the streets and bridge. Back at the Takagi Mansion, the estate was showered by the small droplets of water with security as tight as ever and with three of our protagonists walking to the main house after Saya confronted the people who dissed her father and before that, defending Kotha from Souichiro and his men as well preventing them from taking their guns.

The trio entered inside the mansion and Takashi was about to relax when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over his shoulder to find the hand belonged to Saya. Kotha stopped when he noticed the two and walked back towards them until he was 10 feet away.

"What's up, Saya? Something on your mind?" asked Takashi after staring at the pink hair's eyes for a few minutes.

Saya closed her eyes and sighed deeply before saying, "We need to leave now." Koth were surprised by this notion and was about to ask why, but Saya interrupted him. "Now it's a good, no, perfect time to do so. Takashi, gather the others and meet back here in 10 minutes. Kotha, help him find the others, understand?" The two nodded and the teenagers went to their respective paths to find their friends in the group.

10 minutes later, Shizuka, Saya, Takashi, Rei, Asami, Tadashi, Alice, Kotha, Saeko and Zeke met back at the center of the living room in their clean and washed clothing with their respective weapons in arms, except Alice and Zeke for obvious reasons.

Saya was doing a head count until she noticed someone is missing and groaned. Takashi saw this and said: "What's wrong, Saya?"

"Did you or Kotha go to wake up Naruto because I don't see him here." Both of the males flinched at Saya's creepy tone and started shaking a little. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Um…well," Takashi gulped a little, "I thought Kotha was going to get him."

"Hey! Don't you blame this on me!" Kotha shouted back at Takashi, igniting a bickering match between the leader and marksman until Rei smacked them on the head, causing bumps to form.

"Enough! Both of you. Just go and wake him up," said Rei with her right hand on her hip while carrying her weapon with her left hand. Takashi was about to protest when Saeko intervened.

"It's all right. I'll go wake him up," said Saeko as she turns around to leave but stopped when Rei suddenly ran to outside with the doors open, causing everyone to follow her and anger quickly rose in each of one of the older members, especially the Miyamoto family when their enemy, Shido, is standing with his hands up. He was clearly a bit frightened as the young sojutsu master held her bayonet-equipped rifle closed to his neck.

"You have a lot of nerve to show your face here," said Rei pushing her weapon slightly to the point of tearing the former high school teacher's neck. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over her left to see her father standing with a motionless look and realizes that he wants to take a shot at him, so she pulled back her weapon and stepped backwards, eventually stopping next to Takashi.

Tadashi looked at Shido and gave a heck of haymaker, causing the latter to fall on the floor with the former get on top of him and continued punching him mercilessly. Soon Souichiro arrived after being informed by one of his men who saw the conflict and was about to intervene when Kiriko and Rei stepped in his way, preventing him to do anything.

"What's going on here? Why is Tadashi beating that man up?" Souchiro crossed his arms as he waits for an explanation and he got it from Rei who was tearing up. She explained about her father investigating Shido's father doing dirty business and in retaliation, the latter had forced Rei to stay behind a year during her school years. By the time that the young teenager finished explaining, Tadashi was already walking back to his wife and daughter, leaving behind a bloodied and broken down Shido on the ground.

Tadashi put his arms over Kiriko and Rei's shoulders and led them back to their group while Souichiro was thinking about what his daughter's friend had revealed to him. The intimidating leader was approached by the beaten Shido who tries to dissuade him of the lies from the Miyamoto family, but he quickly silenced the teacher as well banishing him and his group from the mansion as they were infected by 'his evil.'

As Shido's group left the mansion via school bus, the Miyamoto family gave Souichiro their thanks. The latter simply nodded and was about to leave when he noticed the group armed with their weapons and gear. "What's going on here? Why are all of you armed?" No one responded him and so he asked again, still no answer from either of them. "One of you had better-"

"We're leaving," said Tadashi, shocking Souichiro of this revelation with the latter looking at his daughter who simply nodded as confirmation. "Why? I demand to know the reason." Saya walked up to him and explained that she and her friends would be better comfortable on their own, leaving out the part of taking one of the boats to find an island.

The intimidating Takagi man was a bit stunned by his daughter's answer and was about to ask her another question when the lights inside the house and around the estate flickered off, concerning everyone on the porch and soon the entire group of survivors started to appear from inside the entrance, asking for an explanation before panic start to overtake them. Souichiro called for one of his men and one stood in front of him at attention. "What happened to the power?"

"We don't know exactly what happened, sir! All we do know is that all the power around the estate and the town had started to lose power," replied the man.

Souichiro narrowed his eyes as he pondered about the current situation they're in until he heard loud banging, causing everyone to look at the gates and behind them were thousands of walkers that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, demanding their next meal/buffet that awaits them. The Takagi leader ordered his armed men to lock the gates and so they immediately ran to the gates. The men locked three huge locks between the gates and stepped back when they finished with their weapons pointed at them.

Back with Takashi's group, a woman in the civilian group started panicking before screaming out loud, causing the walkers to bang on the gates harder for their next meal. Before anyone knew it, a slap was heard and everyone looked to see Saya in front of the screaming woman who was rubbing her left cheek while in shock of the girl's action.

"Keep quiet! The walkers can find us because of their enhanced hearing. If we all be quiet for a few minutes, they'll leave us alone but we must remain absolute silent," said Saya getting agreements from her group. The woman was about to protest, but was silenced by Suoichiro and the latter told everyone else, including the men near the gates, to do what his daughter said. Saya was surprised by her father's support and couldn't help but smile a bit as everyone stayed quiet.

(Naruto's Universe)

-The Island-

Two months had passed since the Ten Tails had sent his dead follower, Mizuki, to the other world where he learned that the Uzumaki jinchuriki was still alive and defeated his former enemy. So the towering beast had his new follower to train himself to get stronger until the time expiration for the next portal opening ends and that time has arrived. He heard clashes of metal and saw sparks in the night-consumed land and summoned his follower.

"You called, master?" asked the man covered in the darkness.

The original demon gave a quick nod. "Yes, it is time. You understand your mission?" The man nodded before bowing again. "Excellent…you know what awaits for you if you fail." The ninja nodded again and the Ten Tails opened another portal with the former walking confidently inside and the doorway to the next world closes, leaving only the Ten Tails alone on his private island.

The beast chuckled menacingly. "Let's see if you can beat this one, Uzumaki."

(HSD Universe)

-(Night)-Takagi Estate-

Moments turned into seconds and the seconds turned into minutes as the entire group of survivors stayed quiet to the point where all they can hear is the rain pouring from the skies above and the walkers continued to bang on the gates. The survivors flinched each time the gates recoiled from the hits and grew more scared since the girl's plan isn't working.

"This isn't working, we should-"Takashi stopped when the banging ceased and the walkers started to disperse from the gates, heading back inside the city. Takashi and everyone sighed in relief since they escaped of being a buffet for the undead and waited for 15 minutes just in case. Takashi was about to talk when a familiar portal appeared above the fountain, destroying it as well shocking him and everyone else present. "Oh no," the boy muttered to himself as he remembered the same event occurring two days before and his concerns grew deeper when a silhouette of somebody appears from the doorway that closed after he exited it.

The man was tall and muscular with pale skin, short spiky black hair, black eyes with no pupils and small eyebrows. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with matching pants, a waist guard and the Hidden Mist's striped wrists and leg-warmers. The most noticeable features are the headband with the kanji 'Ten Tails' that's worn sideways on his head and the bandages that covers his mouth and lastly, the massive broadsword that looks like a giant butcher knife with two cut-outs; one circle close to the top and a semi-circular one near the handle and was attached to the belt slung across his chest.

Everyone heard a gasp and looked at the overweight teenager who was trembling at the sight of the man. Takashi became worried when he saw his friend, "Hey, Kotha. Hey!" Kotha looked at him with the horrified look still present on his face. "Kotha…do you recognize him?"

"Y-yes, I-I know w-who h-he is," Kotha looking from Takashi to everybody else in his group. "And you all too…he's from Naruto's world." He looked back at that tall and menacing man. The people in his group gathered information from their presentation of Naruto's history, then horrified expressions presented on their faces as they stare at the intimidating ninja.

Souichiro saw their faces and growled at being kept out of the loop and he demanded answers. "What is it? Do you know who this man?" Takashi felt the question was directed to him and looked at him.

"H-his name is Zabuza Momochi," replied Takashi nervously, never taking his eyes of the said ninja while Souichiro was confused and becomes more confused by the vague information. The latter was about to ask more questions when the stranger standing before them stopped him and turned his attention to the man.

"Hand over Naruto Uzumaki and you all shall live," said Zabuza emotionless. The civilians chit-chatted amongst themselves and wondered what the ninja wants with the blonde teenager except Takashi's group and Saya's parents.

"We won't tell you where he is and that's final," said Saeko with her hand on her sword's hilt, ready for battle despite being untrained in the ways of the shinobi of Naruto's world along with Takashi and the others gripped their weapons too.

Zabuza gripped his sword's handle and took a step forward before he was halted by a man with a strange weapon pointing at him. At that moment, he looked around to see other men with similar weapons pointing at him and formed a circle, surrounding the Mist ninja.

"Let go of that sword and put your hands up," said one of the man but Zabuza kept his grip on his sword and remained motionless with his head low, shadowing his eyes. Moments later, blood sprayed across the sky and splattered among the pavement below Zabuza's feet with the latter carrying his large sword in hand and blood dripping from the blade. The men's bodies fell to the ground, cut in half by the waists and blood bleeding profusely from the open wounds. The ninja looked at the huge group of civilians who were appalled by his ruthless display and started walking to them slowly followed by the inevitable action.

A loud shriek pierced the vast sky and echoed across the city, causing a nightmare to revive. Groaning came from the vast numbers of walkers that was within hearing distance as they walked to the origins of the shriek due to their heightened hearing.

Back at the mansion, the teen group and the civilians look at the person who blew their cover and it was no surprise that it was the woman who panicked earlier. Saya groaned as she pinched her nose bridge before she and the others looked at the motionless ninja who placed his now-cleaned blade on his back. "Great, now thanks to that banshee over there, the walkers are heading their way back here."

"I think that walkers are the least of our worries right now," said Takashi aiming his shotgun as he and the others saw the drenched Mist swordsman slowly walking towards them. The others readied their weapons for a fight they were surely not going to win.

Zabuza continued walking as if he had all the time in the world. "I was planning to let you all to live once I know of Uzumaki's location…but I see you're not going to do that. What a shame."

"Why don't you leave them out of this and deal with me?" said a voice, surprising everyone but Takashi's group with smiles on their faces and Zabuza with his emotionless posture. Then the latter looked up to find a figure standing on top of the roof before that said figure jumped off the roof and landed softly in front of him, standing 15 yards away.

Souichiro was mildly surprised when the blonde teenager landed on the ground from the roof like nothing. He also noticed the strange attire the boy was wearing; a flak jacket with a swirl on the back, a hip pouch located on his lower back, a holster strapped around his right thigh, a long-sleeved dark blue shirt with matching pants and lastly the headband that he always wears. The black sword and scabbard was also present, slung over his right shoulder on his back with a strange swirl dangling from the hilt.

"Oh yeah! Naruto's going to do some damage." Takashi and others looked at Kotha before looking at the back of their superhuman friend in his Leaf shinobi attire who stood passively in the rain.

Finally Naruto broke the silence, "It's been a long time, hasn't it…Zabuza?" He received a subtle nod from his undead opponent.

"…"

"No comments?"

"Why is your chakra level low?" Naruto's eyes narrowed as Zabuza flex his fingers in anticipation for the upcoming battle while Takashi and friends become confused. "I was expecting the strength of your chakra to be very high…Does it have to do with those people behind you?" A dark flame-like aura surrounded Zabuza's body, soon forming into a demon above him until it dissipated.

"He let his chakra level rise to full strength and it's clear that he's stronger than Mizuki. Hehe, of course Zabuza would be stronger than him, but I didn't expect his strength to be equal to mine. Not to mention his chakra looked like a demon. I guess that's how he was given the moniker 'Demon of the Hidden Mist," thought Naruto as he flexed his fingers in preparation for the upcoming battle.

"Hey, is it just me or did it get difficult to breathe right now?" asked Rei breathing heavy. After hearing the girl's comment, everyone present realize the air around became tight and found their breathing to be heavy as well.

After getting her breathing in control, Saeko asked Naruto about his chakra level. "Naruto, what does he mean your chakra level being low? And why did the air get heavy after that weird and sinister aura appeared around Zabuza's body?" She waited for her friend to answer but was met with silence. The purple-hair was about to ask the question again, but Naruto answered.

"I'll explain that to you and the others later. Right now, EVERYBODY must get out of here now and I don't want to hear any arguments from any of you. Understand?" The Uzumaki jinchuriki heard multiple but reluctant 'yes' from his friends, then Saeko and Takashi telling everyone else to follow them inside the house for a secret passage that leads them elsewhere. Naruto sensed their chakra signatures getting farther and farther away from him and Zabuza and smiled as he prepares to cease suppressing his chakra.

Zabuza raised a brow. "Why are you smiling?" His answer was a blue flame-like aura surrounding Naruto's body and instantly felt his opponent's strength rising. "That's more like it! I can't wait to fight him."

Both of the ninja sent death glares at each other while getting more drenched by the continuing rain. Thunder boomed, lightning struck multiple times across the sky while the shinobi continues the death stare at each until Naruto broke it. "You ready to get this started?"

"You bet I am, Naruto," replied Zabuza wielding Executioner's Blade in his sword arm, prompting the boy to draw his blade. "Prepare to be cut down by my Executioner's Blade." Moments passed by and the ninja waited for a sign to signal the start of the battle and found a small leaf falling to the center that was between them. The moment the leaf touched the ground, Naruto and Zabuza flickered out of existence, then reappeared in the sky with their swords drawn and swung their respective blades.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he and his opponent clashes their blades before being pushed back by the force of the impact and landed on the ground before charging again at Zabuza with determination.