As The Kyuubi no Yoko in Naruto

Dawn painted Konoha's gates in shades of gold as Team Seven assembled.

Naruto could sense the ANBU shadows more numerous than normal, their hidden presence a clear indication of the village's concerns about letting their unstable weapon venture beyond their walls.

Sakura arrived first, followed by Tazuna who kept taking long pulls from his sake bottle, his nervousness evident. When Naruto and Sasuke appeared, walking with that strange synchronization they'd developed, the bridge builder's posture stiffened noticeably.

"Remember," Kakashi's voice carried careful warning as he materialized beside them, "this is a C-rank mission. Standard escort protocols."

The unspoken message was clear - keep the Nine-Tails' influence contained, maintain the appearance of control.

As they passed through the gates, Naruto felt the warmth in his mind stir with interest. The imprints that usually followed them grew fainter, unable to maintain their presence far from their points of origin.

"Freedom," the voice whispered internally, though its tone suggested something more calculated than simple relief. "Now we can truly begin."

The morning air felt different outside the village walls - cleaner somehow, less weighted with watching eyes and whispered fears. Even the ANBU presence would thin once they were far enough from Konoha, their orders likely limiting how far they could follow.

Tazuna walked stiffly, his attention split between watching the road ahead and casting furtive glances at Naruto. The fear wasn't entirely feigned, but there was most definitely something else rode beneath it.

Something that made the Nine-Tails' warmth curl with anticipation.

The first few hours passed in tense silence. Kakashi maintained point position, his casual demeanor betrayed only by how often his attention returned to Naruto. Sakura walked near Tazuna, attempting small talk that died quickly under the weight of unspoken concerns.

"They're gone now," Sasuke murmured, quiet enough that only Naruto could hear. The ANBU presence had finally faded once they'd crossed beyond standard patrol range.

"Not all of them," the warmth corrected internally. "One remains - the one with wood release. They wouldn't risk sending us out completely unwatched."

Naruto's eyes drifted to the treeline where with the Nine-Tails aid he could see that indeed, a single ANBU shadow still followed. Tenzo - as Kyuubi called him - then. The only one they trusted to potentially suppress the Nine-Tails if necessary.

A puddle on the road ahead drew Kakashi's attention. His visible eye narrowed slightly, but he gave no outward sign of noticing anything amiss.

"Kit," the warmth stirred with interest, "let's see how they handle their first test of our... condition."

The attack, when it came, was swift. Chains wrapped around Kakashi, seemingly tearing him apart. Sakura's scream pierced the morning air as two mist ninja emerged from the puddle.

But before anyone could react further, red chakra exploded outward from Naruto. His eyes blazed crimson as he positioned himself between the attackers and his teammates.

"No," his voice carried that ancient undertone they'd carefully cultivated. The red chakra swirled violently, responding to their calculated display of instability. "Won't let you... hurt what's mine."

The performance had begun.

The Demon Brothers' chains had barely finished their arc when the red chakra exploded outward. Naruto moved with unnatural speed, the caustic energy forming claws around his hands.

The first Mist ninja barely registered the movement before those claws tore through his right arm at the shoulder. His scream cut through the morning air as the limb hit the ground, flesh smoking where the demonic chakra had touched it.

"Brother!" the second nin shouted, but Naruto was already moving again.

The red chakra pulsed with violent intent as he rounded on the second attacker. Blood from the first kill had splattered across his face, making his crimson eyes seem even more inhuman.

"Won't let you... hurt what's mine," 

Sasuke moved smoothly to flank him, though there was hardly any need. The remaining Demon Brother was backing away, his trained killer's instinct screaming at him to flee from something that had just casually dismembered his partner.

"What the hell is this kid?" he managed before Naruto's claws raked across his chest, not quite killing but ensuring he wouldn't be a threat.

"Naruto," Kakashi's voice cut through the violence as he appeared beside them, very much alive. "Stand down."

The red chakra pulsed once more before slowly receding, leaving Naruto looking drained and confused - exactly as planned.

"Sensei?" His voice wavered perfectly. "I thought... I saw them..."

"I'm fine," Kakashi assured, though his eye studied the carnage with careful assessment.

"Though this does raise some interesting questions." His gaze shifted to Tazuna, who had pressed himself against a tree, sake bottle forgotten in the dirt. "Questions our client might want to answer."

The bridge builder's fear now had nothing to do with village warnings about simply unstable genin - for it would be punishable by death to simply utter the identity of the host of the Kyuubi to people.

He'd just watched one of his escorts transform into something that had casually dismembered a chunin-level ninja.

Sakura stood frozen, her academy training warring with the reality of what she'd just witnessed. Blood soaked into the dirt road as the surviving Demon Brother moaned weakly, his partner's severed arm still smoking nearby.

"Kakashi-sensei," she managed, her voice barely steady. "Shouldn't we... help them?"

"In a moment," Kakashi replied, his attention fixed on their client. "First, Tazuna-san needs to explain why Mist chunin are targeting a simple bridge builder."

Tazuna couldn't tear his eyes from Naruto, who now stood quietly beside Sasuke, the red chakra fully receded.

"I... there's..." Tazuna swallowed hard. "There's a man, Gato. He doesn't want the bridge built. He's been sending assassins..."

"A C-rank mission involving targeted assassination attempts," Kakashi's voice hardened. "That's quite an omission, Tazuna-san."

"We should return to the village," Sakura suggested, her training finally asserting itself. "If this is really a B-rank or higher mission..."

"No," Naruto spoke softly. "We... we can't abandon them. The bridge is important, isn't it? People need it?"

"Naruto's right," Sasuke added. "We can handle this."

Kakashi studied his team carefully before turning back to their client. "Tazuna-san, you'll tell us everything. No more surprises. We need to know exactly what we're walking into."

As Tazuna began explaining about Gato's tyranny, about the poverty and desperation of Wave Country, the warmth in Naruto's mind curled with satisfaction.

They had just been handed the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their value.

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The mist rolling in over the water was unnaturally thick. Team Seven's boat cut silently through the waves, their boatman using oars rather than the motor to avoid detection.

Tazuna had finished his explanation hours ago, painting a picture of Wave Country's desperation that would justify their continued involvement. Now they approached his homeland under cover of fog, each lost in their own thoughts.

Sakura kept stealing glances at Naruto, trying to reconcile her loud classmate with what she'd witnessed on the road. The casual violence, the inhuman strength, the way he'd torn through trained assassins like paper...

A shift in the mist caught Kakashi's attention. His visible eye narrowed slightly as he scanned their surroundings.

"We're being watched," the warmth whispered in Naruto's mind. "Someone far stronger than those brothers. Perfect."

A massive blade cut through the air where they had been standing moments before. As his team scattered, Kakashi's eye fixed on the figure now perched atop the sword embedded in a tree.

"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi identified, his voice carrying warning. "Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza's voice carried through the mist. "No wonder the Demon Brothers failed." His eyes swept over the genin, pausing briefly on Naruto. 

"Protect Tazuna," Kakashi ordered, reaching for his headband. "This isn't an opponent you can-"

"Can't we?" the Nine-Tails whispered internally, its anticipation building. "Show them what a real demon looks like, kit."

The mist thickened as Zabuza's killing intent filled the air.

"Eight points," Zabuza's voice echoed through the mist. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Which vital spot should I strike first?"

The killing intent pressed down, making Sakura's knees shake. Even Sasuke felt its weight, though his eyes remained fixed on Naruto, waiting.

"This is what they call killing intent?" the warmth mused internally. "How... quaint."

Red chakra began seeping from Naruto, not in the violent burst they'd shown before, but in slow, deliberate waves. The mist around him started to dissipate, burned away by something far more ancient than human malice.

"What's this?" Zabuza's voice carried a note of genuine curiosity as his technique began failing around one small genin.

Kakashi had already revealed his Sharingan, but he hesitated to move, watching how his student's chakra was affecting the battlefield. This wasn't the uncontrolled burst from the Demon Brothers incident - this was something else.

The red chakra continued its steady expansion, burning through Zabuza's mist with methodical precision. Naruto's eyes blazed crimson, but there was no wild instability this time - just ancient, focused malice.

"Interesting brat you've got there, Kakashi," Zabuza's voice held a new edge of wariness. "That chakra... it's not normal."

Instead of responding, Kakashi watched his student carefully. This was different from the previous display - more controlled, more deliberate. He wasn't sure if that was more or less concerning.

Zabuza appeared suddenly between them and Tazuna, massive blade swinging. But the red chakra reacted instantly, forming a barrier that made the sword's metal shriek in protest.

"What the-" Zabuza leapt back as his blade's edge began smoking where it had contacted the caustic energy.

"You call yourself a demon?" Naruto's voice carried that ancient undertone, but now it held something almost like amusement. The red chakra swirled around him, taking shapes that seemed almost like tails.

Sakura pressed herself against a tree, watching in horrified fascination as her teammate faced down an A-rank missing-nin. Even Sasuke's usual stoic expression showed concern.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice cut through the tension, sharp with warning. But before he could intervene, Zabuza's water clone appeared behind Naruto, blade already swinging.

The red chakra reacted instantly, a tail-like formation impaling the clone and reducing it to water. Three more clones emerged from the mist, only to meet the same fate.

"Kit," the warmth cautioned internally, "remember our purpose. Not too much control. Let them see power, but make it seem... unstable."

Taking the hint, Naruto let the chakra surge more chaotically, his movements becoming less precise. A perfect display of raw power without mastery.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he assessed this new threat. His famous blade had barely scratched that caustic chakra, his clones were useless, and the killing intent he prided himself on seemed to amuse rather than intimidate this strange genin.

"Enough games," the missing-nin snarled, his hands forming seals. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

The massive surge of water rushed toward them, but instead of dodging, Naruto stood his ground. The red chakra expanded, taking on a more distinct form around him.

The water jutsu crashed against the red chakra barrier, creating a scalding steam as the two forces met. Through the mist, Zabuza's eyes widened as his technique failed to penetrate.

"Impossible," he muttered, watching the genin emerge unscathed, red chakra swirling more violently now.

The next attack came faster than anyone could track - Naruto's chakra-enhanced form launching forward, claws extended. Zabuza barely managed to bring his blade up in time, but the metal screamed as caustic energy began eating through it.

"What are you?" Zabuza demanded, genuine fear creeping into his voice as cracks appeared in his famous sword.

The red chakra pulsed once, then surged forward in a massive wave. But just as it was about to engulf the missing-nin, two senbon needles struck Zabuza's neck with surgical precision.

The swordsman's body crumpled, falling away from the deadly chakra at the last possible moment. A masked figure appeared beside the fallen nin, their hunter-nin mask betraying no emotion.

"Thank you for your assistance," the newcomer's soft voice carried across the clearing. "I've been tracking Zabuza for weeks."

The red chakra receded slowly as Naruto appeared to regain control, though his eyes remained fixed on the hunter-nin with an intensity that suggested the Nine-Tails wasn't entirely convinced by this intervention.

"A hunter-nin from the Hidden Mist," Kakashi observed, though his tone carried a hint of suspicion.

The masked figure lifted Zabuza's body with surprising strength. "I must dispose of this corpse. It contains many secrets." Without another word, they disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Sensei," Sakura's voice shook slightly. "That was..."

"We should get Tazuna-san home," Kakashi interrupted, his eye lingering on Naruto. "And then we need to talk about what just happened."

.