In a bold departure from my previous writing style, after reading the reviews of the last chapter, I went through my draft of this chapter, and replaced all the page breaks with plot. Enjoy.
Team Rescue Sasuke moved silently from tree to tree, accompanied by Jiraya and Hinata, who despite being on the same mission had declined from joining Naruto's one-man team. Though tensions were running high, all three ninja were inwardly excited. Jiraya was optimistic about observing the results of his training of Naruto, Hinata's recurrent fantasies of having Naruto observe her perform competently, or maybe even slightly better than competently, had progressed to the point of inhibiting the last semblances of her ability to talk, while Naruto had yet to consider the possibility that the mission might end with any result other than Sasuke's unmitigated defeat at his hands and his subsequent return to Konoha and rehabilitation, while Naruto himself earned the recognition of the entire village, and quickly progressed to becoming the Hokage.
Hinata were so lost in thought that she almost failed to notice Jiraya standing motionless ahead gesturing for them to stop. Naruto however, continued undeterred, wondering about what his appointment ceremony would be like, until it finally occurred to him that the branch he'd intended to land on was no longer moving forward to meet him. Jiraya released his collar, and Naruto fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"We're here," he whispered to Hinata, before stepping off the branch and landing beside Naruto. Now that the mission proper was about to start, Hinata realised how anxious she really was, and took a moment to try and ready herself. Below her, Jiraya had opened Naruto's rucksack, and pulled out a blank scroll. He gestured for the kunoichi to join them. She took several deep breaths and dropped down beside them.
"Hinata, the entrance the cave system is up ahead. I want you to use your Byakugan to try and map as much of the layout as you can see." Hinata nodded, glad to have a simple task she knew she could handle without fear of failure. She focused her chakra and activated her kekkei genkai.
The opening was easy to find – a narrow gully that seemed to be a dried up riverbed was barely fifty meters ahead. Downhill it slowly broadened out and became shallower, before joining with another riverbed, this one host to fast flowing turbulent rapids, while uphill it became narrower and more overgrown, before disappearing entirely into the hillside.
"I've found the cave" she relayed. Intensifying her gaze, she bored through the rock into the cave system beyond. The tunnel branched extensively, and she had trouble keeping track of which branches she'd traced and which she had yet to, so she began sketching a rough map on the scroll, her Byakugan allowing her to draw accurately and consult her own drawing without having to shift her gaze from the caves. The other's watched her intently, trying to remember where they'd gotten lost during their previous visit. After discovering and mapping several dozen dead ends, her pace began to slow. It was becoming harder and harder to see through the dense rock at such a distance, but there were still almost twenty untraced passages, and she was at the very limit of her range. Suddenly and idea occurred to her. "I can't see any further," she announced, "but I think I know which way to go."
This caught the others attentions, and even though she was primarily focused on the cave system, with her Byakugan active she could still see Naruto staring intently at her. "There's one tunnel that's lined with silt. I think it's the original route of the river. All of the other passages are lined with sand and the rocks aren't as smooth either, I think they were made by hand rather than water." She highlighted the path of one of the tunnels through the warren from the cave opening up to one of the open ends at the limit of her vision. "If this is the old riverbed, then we know it can't lead to a dead end." Jiraya seemed satisfied with this reasoning, while Naruto was clearly ecstatic.
"Alright!" he whispered, picking up the map and apparently claiming it as his own. "With Hinata with us, we'll defiantly find Sasuke." Hinata glowed bright red, hoping that Naruto's confidence in her wouldn't be misplaced. Naruto leapt to his feat and shouldered his backpack, preparing to rush straight in, but Jiraya remembered the previous incident and asked Hinata to scan the proposed route for traps or enemy ninja.
Buoyed by Naruto's faith in her abilities, Hinata reprimanded him. "I've been checking the whole time I was making the map. I would have said if there'd been anything like that." A sly glance at Naruto suggested that he approved of people not putting up with his sensei.
Frustrated that apparently none of the village's youth respected him, Jiraya sheepishly suggested they progress towards the caves.
Once inside the light quickly faded. Hinata led the way, her Byakugan allowing her easily navigate through the uneven passage, scanning for traps as she went, while with only the flickering light of their candles to guide them, Jiraya and Naruto were able to do little more than follow without tripping over. Progress was slow and after an hour they were still only half way towards the periphery of Hinata's map. They stopped to rest, and Hinata took the opportunity to extend the map.
"The former river bed splits into two up ahead" she announced, demonstrating on the map. To her delight, after Jiraya considered this development, he announced that he would take the extended map and follow one route, while she and Naruto would continue down the other. The prospect of being alone with Naruto threatened to overwhelm her, and several times during the next few hours Jiraya had to call her back after she absentmindedly got too far ahead.
Several hours later they reached the fork. By this point, the extended use of her Byakugan had fatigued Hinata, and she had long since resorted to navigating by candlelight.
"Stay focused" Jiraya warned them, as he departed. Though he'd been referring to Naruto's tendency to allow the fox to overwhelm him, Hinata misinterpreted it as being directed at her, and began to feel guilty for seeing the mission as an opportunity to get closer to Naruto. She resolved to concentrate on the task at hand.
The two of them set off down the other passage. More time passed. Without the sun to guide them, neither of them had any idea what time of day it was. The tunnel was changing, widening into a large cleft in the rock, and eventually they came to an enormous underground cavern. Small fires burning in metal brackets dotted around the floor partially illuminated the area, revealing a row of low buildings set into rock on the far side of the cave. With no wind to disturb it, the smoke from the fires rose in tight vertical columns that disappeared into the darkness.
Naruto noticed Hinata bring her hands up in front of her, two fingers extended, and guessed that she was about to activate her Byakugan.
"Hinata, wait. You've used up too much chakra already. I'll take care of this." Naruto brought his own hands up, fingers crossed. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Five Narutos burst into existence, nodded their agreement, and ran towards the buildings. They'd barely covered half the distance when shuriken materialised from a shadowy doorway, dispelling the unprepared clones. Naruto and Hinata gasped, suddenly feeling exposed standing in the middle of the cavern with little in the way of cover.
A shinobi stepped slowly out of the doorway, and casually leaned against the wall. "So, you came back." Naruto's first impression was of an animated skeleton; the man was taller than Kakashi, but disturbingly thin. His loose fitting black kimono parted to reveal protruding ribs, and either he had painted his face or was suffering from some illness, because his skin was deathly white except for around the eyes where it was black. Studying him further, Naruto noticed a sound village headband, and a large tattoo on his chest, that looked like a seal.
"Is this one of the Ninja who chased you?" asked Hinata, hoping she didn't sound too much like a mother asking her child about playground bullies. Naruto shook his head.
The enemy answered for him. "I believe our associates are taking the opportunity to get to know one another," he said calmly. Naruto considered this - there'd been three ninja who'd chased them back to Konoha, which meant his sensei was now in at least a three on one battle – but wasn't overly concerned. Jiraya wasn't called legendary for nothing.
"I am Shinaryuto. You are the Qyubi's host for at least the time being, are you not?" he continued. Naruto only growled. Shinaryuto dismissed him with a wave of his hand, before shifting his focus to Hinata. "I don't know you and consequently I have no interest in you. I suggest you leave now." Hinata moved closer to Naruto, and began to speak, but Naruto cut her off.
"Where's Sasuke?" he growled.
"Orochimaru's next host? He's around. But I doubt he's interested in my little experiment." This was too much for Naruto.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he chanted. Suddenly the floor of the cave was lined with a carpet of Naruto. More than the floor, it extended well up the walls, occupying all the visible space save for small islands around the fire brackets.
Shinaryuto seemed unimpressed. "You know, I really am not a good opponent for you. Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" An army of Shinaryuto appeared, forming a rough semicircle against the buildings, with the real one at the canter. Though the prevailing darkness and their black kimonos made it difficult to tell how many there were, there were clearly far fewer in number than the Naruto Clones. Hinata, who had now activated her Byakugan, estimated about 100.
A sea of orange moved to encircle the enemy, who seemed unconcerned. A tense moment passed, before the Naruto clones reached an unspoken consensus and simultaneously charged.