I don't own any characters in this story, but I do declare ownership of the Land of Quake, and any and all characters that reside there.
This story takes place in the shippuden time period, right after Naruto returns.
As the waves crashed against the side of the boat, Naruto had his face set in a wide grin of determination. He had been sent to form an alliance with the newly found island; the Land of Quake. An island far east of the Land of Water, it was a small volcanic island, and had been discovered by a fishing boat almost a week ago. As soon as Tsunade heard of this discovery, she had sent Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru, along with Kakashi. They had set out 2 nights ago, and had already made amazing progress.
"I think I can see the island from here!" shouted Naruto.
"Not so loud!" said Shikamaru, as he hurled himself to the side of the boat, spewing over,"Your shouting is making me sick, although it might be this crummy boat rocking back and forth."
"Quit your whining, we're almost there," said Kakashi as he stepped onto the bow of the boat.
"I think we'll be landing there in about an hour," Hinata said, as she pulled the oar back and forth.
"WHY DO YOU HAVE US DOING ALL THE WORK, KAKASHI?!?" shouted Sakura as she too pulled the oar, over and over.
"Because it will make you stronger, and you might need it where we're going," he responded.
"It will also make us tired!!" she snapped back.
"Don't argue with him, he's right you know. You weakling." Shikamaru said under his breath, as he hurled over the side again.
"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU LAZY BUM?!?! YOU WANT ME TO THROW YOU OFF THIS BOAT?!?!"
"QUIT YELLING AT EACHOTHER!!!" Naruto screamed. This was the first word he had said anything since they had set sail. The others quieted as he stepped onto the bow of the boat, beside Kakashi.
"This may well be the last time any of us see each other, and you spending it
BICKERING?? We don't know who or what is on that island, and some of us might not make it back. Old Lady Tsunade sent us because we are the BEST at what we do. Hinata, you beat Neji in a fight using your newly developed Byakugan. Shikamaru, you outsmarted Ibiki in a fight, and actually performed a genjutsu on him!! Sakura, when I had a sword through my chest in a fight with Sasuke, you healed me before my blood could hit the ground. And me? Well, he he, I'm the best at leading this awesome team, along with Kakashi of course," he stood there for a moment, caught up in his own overloaded self-esteem. The others sweatdropped.
He shook his head, and slowly looked around at his mismatched, but perfectly balanced team. Hinata, looking his way, caught his gaze. Instead of shyly looking away, like she used to, she held it, and smiled. He smiled back, and recalled the day that she beat Neji.
As Hinata and Neji both looked at each other intensely,panting, Hinata smiled. She dashed forward , and because of her newly developed Byakugan, she saw the chakra building up as Neji prepared his Eight Trigrams Rotation Technique. He placed his stance to begin the spin, when Hinata struck a vital chakra point in his chest, sending him hurtling backwards. He gasped as he got up, shaking.
"How have you attained this power? It took me years, and I already beat you once, yet you have surpassed me!!" He shouted at her angrily.
"You want to know why?" She asked, as he glared at her. She smirked as she said,"It's because I believe in myself, and my ability to change my own destiny. In the chunin exams, I was confident, but I didn't really believe that I could beat you, and that is why I lost. I have trained my hardest in the past 4 years, and now, because of my will, and my belief, I have evolved, from a loser, to an avenger. An avenger of my own belief's.
Her eyes glowed an eerie green, and the small veins pulsed, ever so slightly. Neji's eyes, gray, like hers used to be, seemed to be gasping for victory. The veins, pumping blood into his eyes, started to thicken as he charged towards her. She laughed.
"Don't you realize?" she said quietly. "You are going to lose, because I WON'T. NOT THIS TIME!!!EIGHT TRIGRAMS SEVENTH SEAL OF HEAVEN!!" She screamed. The move that Neji had tried and failed so hard to perfect struck true as she hit ten points on his arms, legs, then chest. A figure eight appeared on his chest, as he collapsed. He started to cry, as all his chakra left him.
"WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO ME!!" He cried. The seal on his chest forbid him from using any of his chakra, unless Hinata herself chose to remove it.
"Because you don't deserve the gift that you were born with. You don't deserve the gift that you tried so hard to attain. I am going to remove that seal, but only if you follow MY rules." she said, as she helped him to his feet. He looked at her, hope replacing the determination in his eyes.
"First, you must admit that I have finally become better than you."
He eyes her suspiciously, and after a pause, said, "Done. You have far surpassed me, and although I am not quick to admit it, you are my superior."
"Second," she said, eying his mood with those all knowing Byakugan. "You are to give up."
"Give up on what?" he asked slowly. He was afraid that he was not about to like the answer.
"You must give up all training of the gentle fist technique."
"WHAT?!" he shouted. "Give up everything that I have worked so hard on. It means everything to me!"
"And that is why you will give it up. I suffered from that technique, and so have others, some not deserving. I will remove that seal. But not now. If you forfeit all training on the gentle fist for a year, I will consider removing it. But only if you follow this last, simple rule."
"Please, whatever it is, it can't be worse than what you've already said to me."
"(sigh) You are to buy me, Naruto, and others of my choosing, Ichiraku ramen for a year."
Neji faceplanted. He stood back up, and shouted, "Are you kidding me!! How am I supposed to make money without being able to do my gentle fist to succeed on missions!!" Hinata's eyes pulsed green, and she struck 2 points on his forehead, then 3 on his chest. Neji flinched, and the figure eight lightened to a dull gray.
"There, now you will be able to do taijutsu, just not the gentle fist. Also, your other jutsu capabilities are severely weak now. The points in your arms and legs are still blocked a little, so you'll have to wait about a week to start missions again, unless you want to permanently damage them." She smiled at him as he glared and growled.
"And how long do you expect to keep this up? If I tell your father, he'll force you to remove the seal."
"I have already spoken with him, and he has agreed to this, although he was regrettable about the gentle fist transaction. He said that he will have people watch over you for a year, and if you do not practice any gentle fist, I will remove the seal."
"This is ridiculous! But if you insist, I will agree to your terms. I think the third one was drawing the line!"
Back on the boat, Hinata stared at Naruto with her green eyes as Naruto's gaze shifted to Shikamaru. He was still hurling over the side of the boat. Shikamaru looked awkwardly at him, still a little chunk of spew on his lips. He clearly remembered the day that Ibiki and he had fought. They had fought because Shikamaru was wanted. He had been led into a trap during a mission, and had been framed for the murder of several jonin. Shikamaru had undoubtedly proven himself in there fight.
Shikamaru ran as fast as he could away from the dark shape following him though the trees. Every once in a while, he looked back, to see that the shadow was getting steadily closer.
"There's no way I can outrun him!" He thought. "Theres only one thing I can do. Fight."
He stopped, turning, and threw a shuriken into the night. A flash appeared as Ibiki's scarred face flashed in the night. He flew like a bullet through the shadows, and reached Shikamaru in seconds. Shikamaru shook, as Ibiki thrust a kunai deep into his arm. Shikamaru screamed in pain, and dropped down the several hundred foot tree. Ibiki laughed maniacally as he began to jump down the tree. He used a kunai to slow his decent by digging it into the tree, all the way to the bottom. He reached the bottom, and Shikamaru was nowhere in sight. A kunai flew, and he easily dodged it.
"Now I got you!" He shouted as he ran towards where the kunai had come from. He saw drops of blood leading to a patch in the grass.
"I'm getting close" he thought, as he followed the trail. It lead to another patch of blood in the grass. It kept going like this for some time, and Ibiki was starting to get worried.
"This kid has an unusually large amount of blood."He thought to himself as he followed the patches. Finally, he came upon a tree that had a cut down the entire thing.
"Thats the tree I slid down! I'm going around in circles! Where are you kid! Your shadow possession jutsu doesn't work on me. You have nothing left!" A cold kunai laid itself on his throat.
The genjutsu wore off, and he realized that he had been tricked. He was lying on the ground, next to the tree, with a lump on his head, ropes on his wrists and ankles, and Shikamaru standing above him, without a scratch.
"I waited until you were about to stab me, then performed the genjutsu. Because of your excitement, you didn't even notice. You fell off the tree, and I tied you up."
Ibiki stared at him in horror at the realization that this, this KID, had bested him with a genjutsu.
"By the way, the REAL murderers are in a cave nearby. I captured them, and was about to come tell you to see for yourself, but instead, you attacked me." He said as he started to drag Ibiki toward the cave. "Also, never assume that 14.3 pints of blood is natural." He smirked as Ibiki glared at him.
Shikamaru laughed as he recalled, and stared at Naruto until another batch came up his throat. Naruto smiled and giggled to himself as his gaze finally switched to the final party member, Sakura. She had saved his life many times, and just recently, in a fight between him and Sasuke.
"Rasengan!" "Chidori!"
Naruto and Sasuke shouted as they pounded each other, over and over. Naruto finally got the upper hand, as he made several shadow clones, and started to beat Sasuke to a pulp. Suddenly, Sasuke gained a burst of speed and strength, and hurled off Naruto and the clones.
"This ends NOW!!!" He shouted. He released his sword from the sheath, and hurled it at Naruto. He tried to dodge out of the way, but Sasuke sped behind him, and kicked him in the back, straight into the oncoming sword.
Naruto stood there for a bit, then collapsed. Sasuke unsheathed his sword from Naruto, put it into the sheath, and walked away. Sakura ran up and knelt beside him.
"Don't die on me Naruto!" She cried. She made several hand seals, and held her hand over his chest as a green light spilled over him. It near instantly closed up, as
Naruto's vision blurred, then halted, and he collapsed.
Naruto thanked her that he was still alive, but still, that was too close. The boat hit something, tumbling Naruto over the edge.
"OH GOD, HELP ME, I'M GONNA DROOOOOWWWWNNNN!!!!" He screamed, kicking in the knee high water.
"We're here Naruto, now get up, and help us set up camp."
Naruto froze, then stood up. He spun around, and saw an enormous volcano towering over him. It's shadow covered this entire half of the island, as far as he could see, and the sandy white beaches stretched for miles. They had finally arrived at the Land of Quake.