Everyone has darkness

A new start

Kirigakure no sato. Mizukage's private chambers…

"Hmm… Did I make the right choice?" Naruto asked, sitting in a comfortable armchair with his head resting in his hand. "I could've ended it then and there…"

"That's probably for the best…" Yamato said.

"You think?"

"Yes." The demon blade stated. "It was a fight against three Grand Elders, three bosses and countless humans, and you're not all that strong… not until you drain the remaining power from that statue at least…"

Now Naruto got slightly offended. "Hey! I almost destroyed that village with my Crimson Flare! It's that toad jabroni, who…"

"Oh, give me a break!" Yamato interrupted him. "Yeah, you probably could, but what would that accomplish?! Destroying a human village?! You know that in the Netherworld it's not such big of a deal."

Naruto snorted at that. "And still, Kyuubi failed…"

"Yeah…"

The demon sighed. "So you think I was right?"

"Pretty much… Besides, if you've stayed, you could probably lose your ally."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Berial is a bad cat… And he has a nice attitude as well. It's a rare thing among demons, especially Greater ones."

Yamato chuckled. "And what do you mean by 'nice attitude'?!"

"Well…" Naruto started. "He's actually a funny guy, if you know him close enough." He then shrugged. "You know how most demons go. 'I will destroy this and kill that…', and all that stupid crap…"

"Isn't that what demons consider… noble?!" The demon blade asked with obvious amusement in his voice.

The blond shrugged. "Yeah, well Berial's not really like that, despite that 'Conqueror of the Fire Hell' shit. He had his dose of useless destruction."

"By the way…" The sword said. "You two seemed pretty much like old pals, but I didn't know him. So that means you met him before becoming my master." He paused. "So the question is… how did you summon him without my ability to open the Hell gates?!"

Naruto chuckled. "Now that is a good question indeed." He stopped laughing. "To tell you the truth… I didn't actually 'summon' Berial into this world… someone did that for me…"

"What do you mean?" Yamato asked.

"Sigh… Say, would you believe if I just say I accidentally stumbled upon a hell's gate?"

A pause…

"…Nah…"

"That's what I thought… but it's actually the truth."

Another pause…

"You know… If you didn't want to answer, you could just say so…"

Naruto sighed again. "I knew you wouldn't believe…"

"And for a good reason!" Yamato almost shouted. "You can't just 'stumble' upon a hell's gate!"

"You're right." Naruto stated. "I too thought it over in my head many times…"

"And?"

"Someone summoned it on purpose." The demon paused. "That someone wanted me to find it."

"Hmm… can't be a coincidence, that's for sure."

"Precisely." Naruto said. "Because the gate opened the moment I stood in front of them."

"And Berial came out?"