The Legend of the Kyubi

"It's a pity that Lala had to go to Zastin's" - Naruto said as he shrugged his shoulders and checked the area more carefully, after all, he hadn't visited the whole neighborhood, except for the places where he went with Rito and the others, as well as the ramen store.     

What? It was obvious that that would be one of Naruto's favorite hangouts, after all, loving ramen was in his blood.     

Naruto was about to enter a game store, so he could check out the new acquisitions, when he saw out of the corner of his eye a small mobile stall that looked rather humble, though that didn't change the huge line in front of him.     

The owner of the small stall was an older man with a friendly smile, and honestly, Naruto felt a huge curiosity, so after some thought, he decided to get in the line.     

The minutes passed slowly, and even though he was a bit bored, the curiosity was too much to get out of the line, more with all the people that were standing at the end, that meant that the moment he got out and wanted to come back, he would have to stand in that long line again.     

"Next" - said the stall owner.     

Naruto was surprised when he noticed how it was his turn, so with an expectant look, he stood in front of the man and noticed that what he was selling, was nothing but fish-shaped snacks.     

"How many do you want, young man?" - The kindly older man asked.     

"Hmm, I want a whole bag" - replied Naruto after some thought.     

"Of course" - nodded the older man as he began to pack his goods into a bag - "Are you new around here?"     

"Yes, my father and I moved in recently" - Naruto answered honestly.     

"And how have you felt the place is so far?" - asked the older man curiously - "Oh, sorry, it's just that there aren't many new people around these parts, so seeing a new face is something special."     

"Don't worry" - replied Naruto while shaking his head - "It's a nice place, the people are nice, although I feel that some people have a lot of energy."     

"I know what you mean, though you don't need to sugar coat your words, there are a lot of perverted idiots around the area" - replied the older man as he let out a small laugh - "But I guess that's a normal thing with young people nowadays"     

Naruto shrugged his shoulders because if he was honest, most of his peers were perverts, so he could understand the shopkeeper's point.     

"Anyway, I think we'd better leave the conversation until here, after all, there are still a lot of people to attend to" - said the older man as he took a taiyaki and handed it to the red haired young man - "But well, I'd like you to try one, this one you can consider it going for the house."     

"Really?" - Naruto said with surprise.     

"Of course, it's the least I can do for a new customer" - replied the older man as he laughed lightly - "It was nice to chat with such a polite young man, you can come back if you liked my snacks."     

Naruto took a bite of the man's treat, only to widen his eyes, surprised by the taste - "Delicious ~!"     

"Of course, it's a recipe that's been passed down in my family for years" - replied the older man as he let out a small laugh - "Anyway, good luck, kid"     

"Thank you" - Naruto said as he paid for the bag of taiyaki and walked away with a smile.     

"Do I get a free taiyaki too?" - Asked the next customer.     

"Sure, you just have to buy a whole bag from me" - replied the older man as he let out a small laugh when he saw how his customer clicked his tongue - "The usual?"     

"The usual" - replied the man as he folded his arms.     

Naruto continued on his journey home, when he felt a gaze resting on him, but that wasn't something strange, the worrying thing was that this gaze wasn't like the others. The vast majority of the gazes he felt, were ones filled with jealousy or lust, this gaze was quite the opposite, he could feel a slight hostility with small tinges of killer instinct.     

"This doesn't look like someone normal, it feels like an assassin" - Naruto thought as he continued to advance in silence, keeping his senses alert and waiting for the right moment to detect the person who was chasing him, although after a few seconds he discovered that his hunter, was more skilled than he thought.     

Naruto had tried to make a few turns that didn't seem out of place, and thus be able to see the area, but when he did, his pursuer also hid to prevent him from being detected.     

"He has the stealth level of an Anbu captain" - Naruto thought as he frowned - "What has me confused, is his intent. I can sense hostility and killer instinct, yet at the same time this is restrained? Maybe he's analyzing me first?"     

Naruto was starting to worry, because he didn't know if the assassin was after him alone, or against everything around him, or if at least he was his main target, after all, there was someone who was much more important than him, and that was none other than Lala Satalin Deviluke, the princess of the Devilukian empire.     

No matter when he thought about it, the possibility that the assassin was after Lala and was just trying to get a bait to lure her in was still there, and as long as he didn't discover the true intentions of his pursuer, it was best not to let his guard down.     

* * * * *     

"Did he detect me?" - Konjiki no Yami muttered as she frowned because that shouldn't be possible, at least not so soon.     

She had been discreet, every time he took a turn, so he could check something, she would hide as quickly as possible, but there was something strange about all this.     

The further they went,the more turns he took, it made the assassin think that perhaps her presence had been discovered, which made her estimation of Naruto's abilities much lower than they really were.     

Konjiki no Yami was silent for a few seconds before taking a chance.     

If Naruto had indeed discovered her, then when she showed herself in front of him, she would notice a change in his expression, or at least in his pulse. With that she would be able to confirm the boy's abilities and in the worst case scenario she would be able to start with her mission.     

After thinking about it some more, she decided that this was the best option, after all, she had nothing to gain by hiding, not when she already had all the necessary information to attack and when to do it.     

* * * * *     

Naruto continued to move forward in silence, when he felt the gaze of his pursuer, right behind him, a few meters away.     

He slowly turned around, and was surprised to find something he didn't expect, after all, he never thought that the person who had been chasing him, was a cute girl with blonde hair and red eyes that reminded him of Kurenai.     

The girl was looking at him silently, though he could tell how she was frowning, as if she had confirmed something that had been bothering her.     

"Who are you, and why have you been watching me?" - Naruto asked earnestly as he put the taiyaki bag away in his storage seal.     

The girl was surprised to see this, though she quickly returned to normal.     

Naruto backed off a bit because he wasn't sure of his opponent's attack range, after all, he didn't have any information from the girl.     

"I'm going to ask again, who are you?" - Naruto asked with a frown, but his expression changed when he saw how a golden blurred silhouette, appeared in front of him.     

Without a second thought, he used the Substitution Jutsu to change with a nearby trash can, only to see it being destroyed by the blonde girl's hair - ". . ."     

"Impressive, this ability wasn't in the information I received" - said the girl while narrowing her eyes - "Good reflexes, and an uncanny ability to swap positions with other things, possibly non-living objects."     

"Your speed is also impressive, and I can sense that you haven't shown your full power" - said Naruto while frowning - "Though that still doesn't explain who you are or what you desire"     

"It's simple, my name is Konjiki no Yami, and I'm an assassin hired to kill you" - Konjiki no Yami replied while narrowing her eyes - "Though if I'm honest, much of the information I've been given, doesn't seem to be true, that's why I've been watching you for the past few days. Honestly, I feel that my client played a bad joke on me with this false information, but now that I initiated the attack, there's no turning back."     

Naruto just kept silent as he pulled a kunai from his seal and looked seriously at the girl because something told him that she was just as strong as Zastin, or even stronger than the knight.