The Hunters

Ch 2 - Hinata's Disownment, Council's Fury

Konohagakure no Sato, Yuuhi Kurenai's apartment

Hinata sat on Kurenai's couch, huddled into the fetal psition, her 8-year-old body wracked with emotional and physical pain and exhaustion from her father's constant abuse, and recently, her disownment. After her love, Uzumaki Naruto, had left towards Suna to meet with a family of his, the team had returned reporting that they hd gotten separated, and found Naruto dead from heat-stroke.

Her head was spinning, as the honorable council of Konoha had revealed that Uzumaki Naruto held the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune, and that with the boy's death, the Great Beast had now been sent to hell as it should always have been. Her academy grades fell, her morale dropped, aand now she sat in silent and miserable rage at her father. She wished for all the world that he lost the only thing that was as important to him as Naruto had been for her. His position as a Strong Hyuuga of the Main Branch, she wished her father was a weak and hated member of the Cadet Branch as her dear cousin Neji, Neji being the only person to console her after Naruto's Death, just as she had consoled Neji after his Father's death.

Her tears were for the poor life Naruto had, and her exhaustion was from all the hate she was feeling, causing her to become physically debilitated. Kurenai had come to Hinata after her disownment, and had sworn that she would do something to make Hinata happy, and plunge a thorn the size of Hiashi's ego into the said man's side. As Kurenai re-entered the room with tea and a 6' doll with long dark "Hair", Hinata knew how Kurenai intended to calm her. Hinata saw that The face was drawn in Hiashi's firm, cruel and condescending gaze.

"Hinata, I am going to let you take your frustration out on this dummy, and then, I have a proposition for you." Kurenai said, using her chakra to root the dummy in a standing position. Hinata rose and, having forgone the Hyuuga style when her father found the need to disown her, drew a 6" dagger she had decided she would become skilled with to spite her father. Rather than fighting as a "Noble" Hyuuga,. she would fight as a skilled assassin, her eyes had been ripped out by her step-mother, Hanabi's mother, seeing Hinata, and her late mother for that matter, as a poor excuse for a Hyuuga. When she was offered the eyes of a deceased Hyuuga, she had declined, and requested she be given a set of purple no-clan eyes. She now bore violet pupils, rage shown behind them as she went berserk on the dummy.

If the style she fought in was seen 3 millenia prior, they would say she fought as an angry drunken arab without a kitchen knife.

[36 hours later]

Hinata, finally calmed enough to think straight [I did say she was PISSED, and I meant it], Kurenai took out a letter from Hinata's first friend, previously thought ded, however, Hinata only knew that the letter was of the Kitanaisuna clan, seeing the black paper and yellow-orange ink.

"Hinata, the reports of Uzumaki Naruto's demise were fabricated by the boy himself, 3 years ago, to put the minds of the villagers at ease. He is live, living under the name that he has chosen to live by, to sever his ties with the ones who left him on his own, he has become known as Namikaze Kitanaisuna Naruto, to honors his parents [in my story, kushina was, at the time of the kyuubi attack, married to minato] and clan. He spites the uzumakis for leaving him on his own, and has sworn vengeance against them, but that is not the point here,

"Hinata, he sent this letter to you, I have not lokoed inside of it, but whatever is in here will probably merit you becoming happy and your ex-father becoming angry, so in a way, you win twice, but if this says anything about you transferring to their clan compound, tell me and only me so that I may get you there as soon as possible." Kurenai explained, handing Hinata the letter. Hinata stared at the letter for a few moments before ripping the envelope holding the letter to shreds. Her disonment had made her rather savage.

Dear Hinata-chan

Hi Hinata=-chan, I'm writing this to you because I have learned something rather interesting. I have been searching my mind for the remembrance of one of my friends, and apparently the Kyuubi that is within me, as I'm sure your council has mentioned to you being in me by now, has jumpstarted my mental and emoitionl maturing. What I'm saying is, certain feelings that I should not start having until my teen years will begin now. Some specialists in my clan can see the future, and they have told me some things that are fairly intertesting, 1 of wchich being tht I will end up facing many battles with someone they called my soul mate. I searched my mind and feelings, knowing tht I felt strongly fo rsomeone, and found that I am feeling some kind of strong emotional attachment towards you.

I remember meeting you in the park when we were four, and helping you out with those bullies, and then at the academy a year later when we entered, the way you looked at me is stuck in my head. I feel the need to ask, and I know this may cause some complications, but I would like for you to come here to Sun and learn with me. Basically, well, I have found that due to the increase in my emotional maturity I have started to feel, please don't laugh, love for you, and am now virtually asking you to marry me by becoming a part of my clan. Please do not become, detached and find me creepy, but I felt the need to ask. If you accept, please go be at the Kazekage's mansion in Sunagakure in 8 days time. I would go there, but I cannot get into Konoh with my death being my cover story for being here, and I can't send one of our clansmen in my stead, as konoha would probe his/her mind for secrets and use him/her to breed bastardized Kitanaisuna children.

Love,

Namikaze Kitanaisuna Naruto, formerly Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto

Off to Sunagakure.

-=-

Sunagakure, 8 days later, noon

Hinata and Kurenai had just entered Suna and were on their way to the Kazekage's mansion. As they went, they got looks of, as an understatement, severe hatred. Kurenai had a fairly good guess at the reason. They knew that Naruto was alive, his heritage was definitely out in the open here in Suna, the home village of his clan, and there was the fact that the kyuubi's attack, along with its sealing, were now common knowledge, and Konoha was flaunting every little thing they could.

When Kurenai told Hinata of this, she gained a look of complete disgust. She was now very glad that she was going to be relocating here. They reached the Kazekage's mansion in relative peace, seeing Naruto standing out front talking with a red-headed boy who had a happy smile on his face. As they got closer, standing right next to them, they waited patiently for them to finish talking. It was then Hinata noticed that Naruto's arm now bore the appearance of the Kitanaisuna Kekkei Genkai.

"So Yashamaru really did that? Damn, now I owe you 50,000 Ryo, oh well, can't be right all the time." It was then Naruto noticed Gaara looking at 2 people next to him. He saw a woman wearing an odd dress seemingly made of bandages, standing next... to... "Hinata-chan!"

-=-

Inside the Kazekage's Mansion

"...And that's why I'm here. As for my training and Kyuubi, well..."

'Now look at the hole you dug, think, boy, think!'

"Shut up! Sorry Hinata-chan, this is what I was starting to say, Kyuubi was, for lack of a better term, absorbed by my kekkei genkai, you see, upon activation, we gain a second voice in our head, but since kyuubi was already there, kyuubi was absorbed. Sometimes the voice helps, sometimes it criticizes, but to obtain the next level of my kekkei genkai I have to figure out how to get rid of it." Naruto said, the voice intervening again.

'Get real! You don't want me gone, you need me and you know it!'

"I thought I told you to can it! Again, sorry, he's being annoying. Don't worry I'll figure this out soon, but in the mean time, let's get back to the compound. See ya later, Gaara." Naruto said, standing as Gaara waved.

"Goodbye Naruto. Goodbye Hinata-san." Gaara said, smiling.

"Kill them, give me their blood, I want their blood!"

'Tough, you can't have it.'

Hinata waved, Naruto putting his hand on her shoulder, vanishing in a swirl of sand. Kurenai smirked.

'Keeping his compound hidden by not letting the one that's going back know where it is so no one can enter my mind and find out. Pretty clever, for a kid your age at least, take care of Hinata, Naruto.'

-=-

1 year later

A big shock to the Kitanaisuna clan was exactly what events led up to Hinata's leaving Konoha, and seeing what the final straw, her disownment and removal of her eyes, they had come to a critical decision. They had discovered one way to safely and simply give their powers to an outsider of the clan. The problem was, it was infusing the outsider's blood with a few grains of the Toki no Suna. This would mean that Naruto, while being able to use a higher level of the bloodline by inevitably coming into direct contct with the sands, it would also make the corrupt whisperings of his second voice all the harder to ignore and overcome.

And thus, Naruto had set off to find the Toki no Suna, said to be found in the ruins of what was once called the Toki no Shima [Island of Time], where the sands were created. He had been walking for a month when he finally found what shouldn't have existed in wind country. He saw a large sea, with an Island many miles inward, a rowboat on the edge of the sea. He found some paddles and sat in the boat, pushing off towards the island, hoping that it was the Toki no Shima.

It took him the whole day to get to the Island. He found that there were ruins of what looked to be a large city all over the Island. He had become certain that this was the Toki no Shima, and had continued looking for the Toki no Suna, or even the Toki no Tantou. If he could find the Toki no Tantou he could find the Toki no Suna more easily. He eventually found his way to an altar, where he found a huge hourglass. There were actually priests surrounding the hourglass praying, but when he looked closer, he noticed something the Kyuubi had told him to be on the look-out for before he had been absorbed by the bloodline. The "Priests" were wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them.

'Akatsuki'

'Well? Are you just going to sit there and let them take your prize? Go get them!'

'For once, I agree.'

Naruto charged forward, using a clan jutsu called Osoi Toki [slow time] that slowed everything except for him. He drew a sword he had been carrying with him, a typical blade of his clan, and attacked a "priest" that was standing before the hourglass with a three-bladed scythe on his back. The "priest", though in slowed time, happened to be fast enough in real time to hold Naruto down while he was moving through slowed time. He restrained him by pinning him to the ground with the scythe.

"So, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is from the Kitanaisuna clan, it figures they would send you here to retrieve the Toki no Suna. Too bad we got here first." The scythe's wielder said mockingly, pulling something from under his cloak. "I am actually here without the rest of Akatsuki's knowledge, I will use the Toki no Suna to become the most powerful being alive, and claim this world in the name of Jashin-sama! And you get to bear witness to this, just hope that the wound from my scythe doesn't kill you, or this will all be for naught!"

The man walked towards the hourglass, pulling out the Toki no Tantou from under his cloak. He placed the blade end into a slot on the side of the hourglass. Naruto had been told of what would happen when this was done, and braced himself. He knew what would happen, and rose, even though the scythe was stuck in him. He didn't have the time to remove it, as the hourglass burst open when the Toki no Tantou had entered the slot. The Toki no Suna bursted out and infected everything that it touched. Naruto jumped, but the end of the scythe was touched, and the infection spread to the blade. Naruto knew that he would have one hell of a time moving with a scythe jutting out of his chest, so he broke off as many blades, being the blades that weren't in him, as well as the pole of the scythe, and looked to the man who had the Tantou.

"I, Hidan, have unleashed the Toki no Suna, and using the Toki no Tantou, will control all of time and give it to Jashin-sama!" Hidan would've continued, if not for the dark cloud that was advancing towards him. he heard what sounded like breathing coming from the cloud. When the cloud reached him, he saw that the cloud was surrounding a monstrous creature.

"!eid llahs uoy ,anuS on ikoT eht gninepo roF" The creature bellowed, confusing Hidan.

"Now you've done it." Naruto said, not noticing the glowing from the scythe blade in his chest. "This creature is the Dahaka, it speaks backwards, it said, 'For opening the Toki no Suna, you shall die!'." Naruto picked up his sword, puttin git back in its sheath on Naruto's back, and turned around so he wouldn't have to experience the gruesome scene that was to follow. When he finally heard Hidan stop screaming and the Dahaka stop eating, he turned to see a lake of blood, but no sign of either Hidan or the Dahaka. He went and picked up the Toki no Tantou, putting it in a sheath on his side, taking a bag he had and scooping up some of the Toki no Suna.

'At last, you have come into contact with the Toki no Suna, now we can take this world for our own...'

'You know what? I just learned what bugs me about you.'

'And what is that, boy?'

'You talk as if you have a say in what I do.'

'You don't get it do you? I can take your body whenever I want, all I have to do is overpower your weak, human, mind.'

'Try it and see what happens.'

'With pleasure!'

The markings on Naruto's left arm started glowing much brighter, giving off a large amount of light, the arm itself lashing out at his neck. Naruto grabbed it before it could do anything, but black energy started flowing around him as he began levitating slightly. The energy surrounded him, and he soon reappeared in another form. His hair had turned black, as had his skin. The markings that were once on his arm had spread all across his body. Spikes extended out from his forearms [when his arms are hanging at his sides, the spikes point up] and 1 large spike extended from each shoulder pointing in a diagonal direction. A black scythe was now on his back, the blade the same color as the markings on his body, markings of the same style as were on his body appearing in black on the yellow-orange blade. Naruto's eyes were now completely black, as if he had now eyes at all, his eyebrows black as well. He could feel a distinct drain on his already massive Chakra reserves.

'What have you done to me?!'

'Something wonderful.'

'Wonderful?! You've turned me into death incarnate, what will Hinata-chan say?'

'Who cares? She's just a girl, you can be a god, use the sands and become even more powerful!'

'No! I will not forget about Hinata-chan! And if you don't like it, you can leave!'

'Oh come on, Naruto-

'Don't you ever call me that you disembodied curse! You hold no power over anything, now leave my thoughts to be my own!'

Naruto's stomach, where the shiki fuujin was, started glowing, and another copy of Naruto as he was now appeared before him, scythe drawn and ready.

"If you think you can take me, then come and try it, boy!" The Curse-Naruto said, raising the scythe above his head.

"With pleasure!" Naruto said, drawing his sword and charging. There was a bright Yellow-Orange flash, and both were gone.

[Naruto's Mindscape]

Naruto found himself and his curse-form in a sewer-like arena. He drew his sword and the Tantou, his curse-form drawing his scythe.

"Why even try? You know you can't win. You don't want to win, you want to embrace my power!" Curse-Naruto said, charging forward, raising the scythe above his head.

"Because, I don't need you, I can use your power to protect Hinata-chan, but without you trying to make me forget her!" Naruto said, charging with his sword in his right hand, the Tantou in his left, holding them out horizontally at his sides. They met at the halfway point, Naruto dodging to the right as Curse-Naruto brought the scythe down, Naruto slashing with the tantou. Curse-Naruto cried out in pain, as Naruto slashed him in rapid succession with his sword and alternating occassionally to using the tantou. Curse-Naruto kept trying to use powerful attacks with the scythe, but found that it took too long to attack with the scythe, and had been beaten a little, well, quickly.

"How?! You aren't strong enough to kill me! This can't happen! I'll kill you even if I have to use the Kyuubi's power!" Curse-Naruto shouted, starting to glow red as the markings started glowing red as well. Naruto turned and began walking towards the only exit, not listening to him.

"I've already beaten you, you're nothing more than a disembodied voice that holds no power. And in fusing with the Kyuubi, you've caused your own death, because when I'm 12, you'll cease to exist, as your soul, while very commanding and cunning, does not have the durability to withstand the seal's purification for as long as the Kyuubi could've. All you've done is removed that thorn from my side before I had to deal with it. Everything is going great, Kyuubi and an Akatsuki member are both gone, and I barely had to do a thing." Naruto said, exiting the mindscape, ignoring the shouting voice of the curse in his mind.

[Real World]

Naruto found himself lying in the sand on the beach of the Toki no Shima, the scythe blade in his chest no longer glowing, but his left arm still gowing as brightly as it had been when he changed. He removed the scythe blade, but jumped slightly when it was absorbed into his arm. The transformation process occurred agian, only this time, he didn't feel any drain on his Chakra as he had before. He walked towards his rowboat that he had left slightly in the water, and changed back as soon as he touched the water.

'Okay, so, remember, if I want to go back to normal, just get some water, got it.'

He got into the rowboat and began paddling back to Kaze no Kuni. It took him all the way through the night and into the noon of the next day. He used a new jutsu he had learned from the advanced section in his clan library. It allowed him to instantly move to any place within eyesight. The only thing was that if you didn't have perfect chakra control you would go in the opposite direction, and instead of using no chakra, you would use the same amount of chakra you would use if you made 1000 Kage Bunshins. He had no idea why, but it was better to do things right. He managed to do the technique correctly, and used it over and over until he could see Suna. He moved to right in front of the gates, glad to have finally made it back after that whole episode. His arm was glowing normally and he could feel the curse's futile fighting against the purification.

'Face it, trash, you've lost, and the price for your arrogance is your "life", if you can even call a disembodied voice a living being.'

'I will destroy this seal and when I do you will submit to my power!'

'You seem to be forgetting one key fact, and that is the simple fact that it's not your power anymore.'