AN: Hello everyone, What a way to defeat the monday blah's! I hope you all will enjoy this Chapter! Please read and review!
Disclaimer: This story is mine, the characters and their worlds are not, they belong to their original creators only!
Chapter 7
The next morning after breakfast Kaoru gave them their training clothes, which consisted of a loose fitting cream colored kimono top and blue hakama. They had then been instructed to go change and meet in the dojo for their first lesson. Kaoru and Kenshin had decided that the best way to train them for the time being would be for them to work with Kaoru and Yahiko in the mornings and then, while Kaoru was teaching her other students outside the dojo in the afternoons, they would help with chores. The evenings would be spent either in the dojo working on taijutsu or training in the nearby woods. Kenshin knew that if they didn't practice their jutsu's periodically they would not continue to improve upon them, and with them being shinobi, their ability with jutsu was important.
Once they were gathered in the dojo, Kaoru gave them a quick look over. Both young shinobi were in the training clothes she had given them, but she noticed that Hinata had placed her black shirt underneath the loose fitting top. She then proceeded to show them the correct way to hold their bokken and the stance for the first kata. She watched them carefully, making sure that they were performing the swinging motion of the opening move correctly and making adjustments to their stances as needed. She was quite impressed with how they took to it. While it was quite obvious that neither had held a sword before, they were picking up the basic concept easily. Deciding that they could move on to the next part of the kata, she decided to have Yahiko, who was working on his own set of kata's down at the other end of the dojo, help. She was well aware of the friction between Naruto and Yahiko from the night before. She knew it was just Yahiko being jealous and he seemed to have calmed down this morning, but decided not to push it too far. The boys had the garden to clean that afternoon so she thought it might be good for Yahiko to work with Hinata on the next step of the kata. She also hoped that Hinata's calm demeanor and how she was picking up the steps to the kata so easily would help Yahiko relax and accept her as a fellow student.
When asked, Yahiko had grudgingly did as Kaoru asked and stood next to Hinata to show her the next step to the kata, which was a pair of blocks and a slash.
"Watch carefully ok, I don't want to have to show you twice." He said, his annoyance at working with her was evident, but he didn't want to disappoint Kenshin again. Holding the bokken in the start position he swung it up and forward as he took a step, then tilted it in front of his face to the right as he took another step forward, then tilted it to the left as he stepped back and then slashed from his upper left and ending on his lower right as he took the final step back into the starting position.
"You got it?" He asked.
"Y-yes." Hinata said. She had watched him closely as he performed the kata. It was simple enough so she was not too worried about performing it. She moved herself into the starting position and began the simple kata, her mind focused. She couldn't help but picture herself in battle. It was how she was trained to think when using weapons. Precision and accuracy were important when fighting for your life after all. As she stepped back into the final step of the kata, she swung her bokken down into a strong slash. Her bokken letting off a loud whoosh as it cut through the air.
Yahiko instinctively took a step back as his respect for the shy girl started to form. "Uhh, yeah, you got it." He said, feeling a bit nervous. 'Man, if that had hit me that would have hurt!' He thought to himself.
They practiced the kata for several more minutes while Kaoru watched intently. She was pleased with their progress on the first day as she wrapped up the training session so they could clean the dojo and then go eat lunch.
After lunch Kenshin went with the boys to the garden while he left Hinata to clean up. He figured that they would need supervision and he wanted to see what plants had survived the neglect of the past month. He was pleased to see that two of the three Kabocha squash plants were doing well. They even had some young squash on their vines. The Kyuri plants hadn't done so well with no one training the vines up the poles, although there were a few fruits on their vines. The leeks were overgrown and had to be pulled and most of the daikons had been eaten by rabbits by the looks of them. Once the salvageable plants had been taken care of, Kenshin had the boys pull out the dieing plants and weeds. He was a bit surprised at the lack of arguing between the two. Not to say the work went along quietly. There was quite a bit of whining from both boys, but they didn't argue, although he did catch them giving each other dirty looks on occasion and growling to themselves about stupid chores and the like. By the time they were done the garden had doubled in size being a good eight meters long and four meters wide. (26.25ft x 13.12ft).
As the boys washed up a bit by the well, Hinata appeared coming out of the kitchen. She was carrying a tray with three cups of tea and a plate with some onigiri on it. "K-Kenshin-sensei, I made a snack for the three of you." She called softly as she placed the tray on the edge of the engawa.
"Thank you Hinata-dono, that was very kind of you." Kenshin said as he walked over and sat on the edge of the engawa. "What do you say boys?" He said as Naruto and Yahiko approached.
"Thanks!"
"Thank you!"
Naruto dug right in. He had gotten to taste some of Hinata's cooking on the trip here. Granted it wasn't anything fancy as they had been camping, but it had been good and the onigiri were no exception. "These are awesome Hinata!" He said happily as he munched on his snack.
Yahiko was pleasantly surprised himself at how tasty they were. "These are good! They are a lot better than Kaoru's!" He said.
"Now you shouldn't put down Kaoru-dono's cooking. She tries really hard to make good food for us, that she does." Kenshin said, although he did agree that these were very tasty.
"You mean kill us, I swear her cooking is the worst!" Yahiko exclaimed.
"Is Kaoru-sensei's cooking really that bad?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yes!" Yahiko replied.
"Sadly, Kaoru-dono is not as skilled in the kitchen as she is with her bokken, that she is not." Kenshin said. "But she doesn't give up. I hope one day she will figure it out and have another skill to be proud of."
Yahiko sniggered. "Only because you don't want to spend the rest of your life cooking!" He said teasingly.
"Now Yahiko, I don't mind cooking, or doing chores for that matter. It helps Kaoru-dono out that it does." He replied.
"Eh, you can keep the woman's work!" Yahiko replied. "I'm going to go train some more!" He said as he finished his snack and headed off to the dojo.
Naruto gave a snort of annoyance as he walked off, clearly not impressed by Yahiko in the least.
"Naruto, I need you to come with me for a bit. I have a task given to me by Jiraiya-dono that I need your help with." Kenshin said as he rose from the edge of engawa.
Naruto perked up at this. "Really? What is it?" He asked excitedly.
"It's a special seal he gave me. He said that we need to place it using your chakra in a spot under water that is well hidden. I was thinking of a spot down by the river near where the road turns. You can see the dojo gate once you get onto the road, but the river bank itself is hidden by bushes and a couple of trees and would be a good spot for it, that it would. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me!" Naruto replied excitedly.
"We will be back in a little while Hinata-dono. This should not take long at all. Kaoru-dono should be home soon as well. Sano went to meet her at her last stop so he will be back as well." Kenshin said as he moved off, following Naruto towards the gate.
Hinata, having finished cleaning up the cups and plate, walked quietly to her room. Once inside she opened the trunk and pulled out one of her training scrolls. Settling herself into a comfortable position she opened the scroll and started to read, carefully going over each of the intricate combinations in her mind for later practice. The quiet sound of her shoji opening had her looking up, as she turned to see who it was, she felt a pain in her shoulder and slumped forward.
'That was too easy.' The masked man thought to himself as he slid the shoji open further. Gathering up the girl he left the letter on top of the open scroll and disappeared out the shoji.
Crouching on the bank, the warm late afternoon sun shining on his back, Kenshin peered down into the river. "Naruto, what about there?" Kenshin asked as he leaned over the side of the bank, pointing to the smooth side of a large rock. They had tried three other spots, but the seal had not taken to any of them.
Naruto waded over and looked at it. He carefully felt the the side of the rock to see if it was large enough for the seal. "Well, it feels like it should be big enough. Let's try it!" He said excitedly. Taking the seal in his right hand, he channeled some chakra into in and reached under the water, pressing firmly against the rock. After a second there was pulse of light as the seal transferred itself to the rock. "Hey it worked!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly as he hopped out of the water and onto the bank.
"Well, that took longer than expected. Let's head back and I will start dinner." Kenshin said as he stood up and moved back through the bushes to the road. As they walked back to the dojo they spied Sano and Kaoru walking towards them from the other direction.
"Hello there, how are your students fairing Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin asked both groups approached the compound gate.
"They are doing alright. Their parents weren't too happy that I disappeared for a month though. I had to offer a couple of them a free session just to keep them." She replied, looking a bit upset. "So what were the two of you up to?"
"Oh, we had this se…."
"We had a task to perform for Jiraiya-dono. It needed to get done before he arrives and I thought that it would be best to get it done today, that I did." He said cutting off Naruto who scowled darkly at him in return. "Well, let's go in so I can start supper. Naruto, why don't you go work on those exercises that Jiraiya-dono gave you?" Kenshin said over his shoulder as he entered the main gate.
Naruto sighed heavily at the request. "Yeah…. alright." He replied as he entered behind him.
No one notice the shadowy figure hidden among the Nearby stand of trees, nor the small figure hanging limply in his grasp.
About an hour later just as Kenshin was finishing dinner preparations Naruto poked his head into the room.
"Getting hungry are we?" Kenshin teased, having caught sight of his nephew out of the corner of his eye.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave him a sheepish smile. "Heh, yeah a bit." He replied causing Kenshin to chuckle.
"Well dinner will be done shortly. I am just waiting for Sano to finish cooking the fish. Why don't you go get Kaoru-dono and Yahiko from the dojo and tell them to get cleaned up, and when your done, go get Hinata-dono. I think she might be in her room." He said as Naruto bolted out of the room and took off for the dojo.
A few minutes later as Sano entered the kitchen with a tray of grilled fish, Kenshin could hear Kaoru and Yahiko arguing about something as they crossed the courtyard, moving towards the house.
Naruto jogged across the courtyard, Kaoru and Yahiko arguing behind him as they left the dojo. He quickly tossed aside his sandals as he hopped up onto the engawa and walked down towards Hinata's room. 'It's the one on the end...right?' He thought to himself as he approached the end room. He reached for the shoji to open it but paused. 'I should probably knock first huh?' He thought. He gave the frame a light knock with his fist before calling out.
"Uh, hey Hinata, dinner's almost ready." He stood there for a moment a frown forming when he received no reply. "Hinata?" He called out again as he reached for the shoji.
'Maybe she fell asleep?' He wondered. He slowly slid the shoji back and stuck his head in, his frown growing when he found the room empty. 'Where could she be?' He thought as he pulled his head out of her room and scanned the yard. The bath house behind him was quiet and the fire unlit. The only people in the yard were Kaoru and Yahiko who were up by the well at the other end of the yard. Turning, he surveyed her room again. The lid to the small trunk was open and a scroll lay open on the floor. He then noticed something laying on top of the scroll. 'What is that?' He wondered as he slid into her room and walked over to it. The item laying on the scroll appeared to be some sort of letter and it was addressed to someone. 'Battousai' he read. 'Who is this Battousai person?' He thought as he opened the letter and scanned it quickly. His eyes got large and he paled as he read the letter. 'SHIT!' Was the only though he had as he tore out of her room, running full tilt down the engawa letter in hand.
Kenshin looked up startled as Naruto tore down the engawa. "JI-SAN!" He yelled, his feet skidding on the polished wood as he turned into the room.
"Naruto, what's wrong?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.
"Hey there kid slow down, are you alright?" Sano asked.
"It's Hinata, she's not in her room…." Naruto said, panting a little.
"Well maybe she went to the bathroom or something, sheesh kid, don't give us a heart attack like that, ok?" Sano replied.
"NO! There was this letter…" He said as he handed the letter over to his uncle. "It's addressed to someone name Battousai…..they say they have her…."
Kenshin paled as he read the letter himself. "The old shrine in the northern woods at midnight." He said softly to himself.
"What's going on?! Naruto are you ok?!" Kaoru asked as she burst into the room, concerned after hearing Naruto's shout.
"Someone kidnapped little missy." Sano replied, anger laced his voice.
"WHAT!" Exclaimed Kaoru as she looked from Sano to Kenshin and back.
"It's true. They wish to make an exchange for her life." Kenshin replied, his voice serious and laced with his growing anger.
"I want to know what is going on! Who is this Battousai person and why would they kidnap HInata to get to him?!" Naruto growled out, his own anger rising.
Kenshin sighed as he refolded the letter. "I am sorry Naruto, that I am." He said as he turned to him. "The Battousai person that they are looking for is who I was know as during the Bakumatsu revolution. They are using Hinata-dono to get to me."
Naruto let out a low, dangerous growl. "It would have been nice to have know that! Now Hinata is in danger and doesn't even know why!" He moved angrily through the room. "We are in the south-eastern part of Tokyo right?" He asked as he headed through the kitchen and into the main room of the house. "And these northern woods are to the north of Tokyo?"
"Well, yes. Why?" Kaoru replied confused as to why he wanted to know.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Kenshin called after him as he reached the far side of the living room.
"Getting Hinata back!" He yelled over his shoulder as he slid open the fusuma paneling.
"And how do you plan on doing that?! Don't you remember what we discussed?! You can't just go around and do as you please! You don't know enough kenjutsu yet to even stand a chance and I doubt that taijutsu alone will be enough!" Kenshin replied, his voice stern. "You should stay here with Kaoru-dono and Yahiko, that you should. Me and Sano can take care of them and get her back!"
"Like hell I will!" Naruto yelled back. "I'm the one that is supposed to protect her and I will do just that, ya'know! And as far as those stupid rules you told me about go, they can go straight to HELL! I will do whatever it takes to get her back safely! I don't care if I am feared or hated for what I can do, I've already dealt with it my whole life, so what does it matter anyway!" With that said he stepped through the doorway and disappeared down the inner hallway of the house. He ignored the sound of voices behind him as he quickly reached his room and slid the paneling open with a loud thump. Stepping over to his own small trunk, he opened it and grabbed out his leg pouch and strapped that on his right leg, then he grabbed his larger kunai pouch and attached that to the back of his hakama. He eyed his bokken that was leaning against the wall and decided to take that too and slid that into ties of his hakima like he saw his uncle do with his sword. As he was adjusting the bokken to make sure it wasn't in the way of his kunai pouch he saw Kenshin appear in the doorway.
"Naruto I…."
"Save it. You're not changing my mind." Naruto said cutting him off, his voice angry. His hard blue eyes flashed. "She is depending on me and I refuse to abandon her."
Kenshin studied him for a moment. His face was set with his determination, he also could sense his agitation boiling away just under the surface. "I know. I... wanted to apologize. I was being selfish by asking you to stay here." He said, his voice serious but sincere. "I didn't mean to disrespect you, nor your skills as a warrior. I know perfectly well that you can defend yourself. I was just afraid...I don't want to lose what family I have left, that I do not. But you are right. She is your betrothed and yours to protect. I would never wish for you to abandon her and I will respect your decision to rescue her and would like to help….if you will let me."
Naruto eyed him warily for a moment before nodding his consent. Reaching over he closed the trunk and moved passed his uncle, walking back up the hall to the living room area, determination evident in every step. As he stepped into the living room, Yahiko entered through the shoji. At the sight of him, Naruto's temper sparked again.
"You!" He growled angrily as he stepped over to him and grabbed him roughly by the front of his kimono, pulling him forward so they were nose to nose.
"Hey what are you doing?!" Yahiko asked as he was grabbed.
"Hey wait a minute!" Kaoru said as she moved to stop Naruto, but was stopped by Kenshin as he appeared out of the hallway.
"Leave them alone. I will intervene if I need too." He said as he kept a close eye on Naruto.
"You peace of scum!" He growled out, his anger growing at a rapid pace. "Forget that, you give scum a bad name! Don't you know those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum! SO WHY?! WHAT DID SHE DO TO YOU HUH?!" He yelled, his voice rising.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Yahiko yelled back confused, his own temper rising.
"HINATA! SHE WAS KIDNAPPED! YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE HERE WITH HER! WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP HER OR COME AND GET ME OR KENSHIN-JISAN!" He yelled back.
"K-kidnapped...WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Yahiko asked, confused.
"Hinata-dono was kidnapped while we were out. One of my enemy's snuck into the house and took her and left this note." Kenshin said as he held up the letter. "Do you know anything?" He asked, his voice deceptively calm.
"NO! I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING, I DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS KIDNAPPED I SWEAR!" Yahiko exclaimed, both shocked and upset himself.
"You better be telling the truth." Naruto growled in his face, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Because if I find out otherwise you will regret it." He said as he shoved Yahiko roughly away.
"Really, I swear, I give you my word as a samurai of Tokyo!" Yahiko said. "I wouldn't let anything happen to a girl without trying to help!"
"Alright, we need to leave, that we do." Kenshin said as he moved to the open shoji. "The safest way to get to the North Woods at night is by detouring around Mount Ueno." Turning his head slightly he looked back over his shoulder. "Are you going to come help us Yahiko?" He asked.
"Of course!" he replied.
"Good." Naruto said as he reached into his pouch and took out his hitai-ate. He tied it firmly to his forehead as he moved forward. "We need all the help we can get." As he stepped out onto the engawa he turned to Kenshin. "I have a plan."
Hinata felt drowsy. 'Did I…. fall asleep?' She thought as she went to stretch. Her head cleared quickly as she realised that her hands and feet were bound. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a dark, dank room. The smell of rotting wood was heavy in the air.
"So you're finally awake then?" Asked a strange male voice.
She tried to talk, but found herself to be gagged as well which caused the strange man to laugh.
"Oh don't worry, once the Battousai comes to rescue you we will make quick work of him and then you'll be on your way!" He said, laughing like this was all some kind of joke.
She furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes at the shadowy form of the man, which seemed to make him laugh even more. As she tried to push herself up using her elbow a wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to fall back onto the floor. 'I...I was drugged.' She thought.
"Now don't be getting any ideas in that little head of yours." He said, his voice amused. "You won't be going anywhere without my say so."
She carefully rolled onto her stomach, turning her face away from the shadowy form of the man to scan the darkness behind her. She took in her surroundings as best she could in the limited amount of moonlight that was filtering in from the crack in the entryway and the small holes in the ceiling and wall. 'It looks like I am in some sort of abandoned building….a small home or temple maybe.' She thought. The sound of footsteps outside caught her attention. They were fairly quiet, indicating that the structure was not surrounded by an engawa, but they were not the footsteps of a shinobi. You wouldn't hear a trained shinobi approach unless they wanted you to hear them.
"He's coming and he is alone. He's on the old shrine path now and should be here in a couple of minutes." Said a second male voice from just outside the entryway.
"Good. Your men are well hidden correct?" The shadowy man asked as he stepped over to Hinata and sliced the rope binding her feet with his sword.
"Of course."
"When the he arrives, I will welcome him and have your men come out and surround him when I give the signal." He replied, pleased.
"Yes sir." Said the other man as he left. His footsteps retreating quickly away from the building.
Kenshin walked along the overgrown path. His footsteps quick and determined, his thoughts on the coming confrontation. What had him worried at the moment was the fact he had no idea who they were going up against. Usually he knew, or at least had a good idea about who he was going to be facing. His thoughts turned to his friends, who were traveling unseen through the woods flanking him. Yahiko and Kaoru off to his right and Naruto and Sano off to his left. It was an unusual move for the group as they always face danger head on together when they fought, but the note had said to come alone. The risk to Hinata was not something any of them were willing to take lightly so it had been decided that he would travel the path alone, making the enemy believe that he had followed his request. That would give them the element of surprise and hopefully allow them to get Hinata out safely.
He could see the old abandoned shrine through the trees ahead. The moonlight illuminating the building and it's clearing in an eerie glow. His hard eyes scanned the clearing as he emerged from the woods. "Come out!" He barked, his voice dangerous.
The old wooden door to the shrine slid open slowly allowing a tall, brown haired man to emerge. The small figure of Hinata could be seen lying on the floor just inside the entryway.
"Ah, so you are here! Welcome!" The brown haired figure said arrogantly. "Are you prepared to die?"
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "I don't know who you are, or who you work for but you will pay. Now LET HER GO!"
"Oh really? You don't remember me?" The man growled angrily. He turned quickly and pulled Hinata up to her feet. He turned back and moved into the yard, dragging the smaller girl roughly along side him, drawn sword held tightly. "Maybe I should refresh your memory! That boy you wanted so badly last year, that piece of trash Yahiko, you stole him from Tanishi-sama! Then you disgraced me in front of him! Then to find out that you're the legendary Hitokiri Battousai on top of it all! I will bring your head to Tanishi-sama on a platter and regain my position as the head of his yakuza! As for the girl, don't worry about her, she will make a fine addition to one of Tanishi-sama's brothels!" He exclaimed as he raised sword and gave a slight flick of his wrist. Two dozen men, swords drawn, appeared from behind the shrine and moved to surround Kenshin as he slowly unsheathed his sword and held it in front of himself in a ready position.
X
"What is Kenshin doing?!" Yahiko growled from the bushes where he and Kaoru were waiting for their signal. "Why is he holding his sword like that!"
"Yahiko quiet down before you give us away!" Kaoru whispered loudly, giving him a smack upside the head.
X
Sano was having the same thought from where he and Naruto were hiding. "Hey kid, about this plan of yours that you talked to him about, what exactly haven't you told me about?" He asked as he looked over at the blonde boy next to him.
Naruto grinned. "Heh, you'll see!" He said as he turned his attention back to the shrine clearing
X
The hired swordsmen stood, swords drawn, acting like an impenetrable wall around him, preventing retreat. Gasuke stood before him, Hinata held roughly at his side. He watched as one of the swordsmen closest the Gasuke moved over to him and he released her to his custody. "You were foolish to come alone and you are going to pay for that foolishness!" Gasuke said, raising his sword at Kenshin.
Kenshin smirked. "Who said I came alone?" He replied, giving a small wave of one hand. Out of the bushes from about ten meters to either side of the trail appeared Kaoru with Yahiko, bokken in hand and Sano with Naruto. "Now, don't make me repeat myself again. Let...Her...GO!"
"Like hell I will!" Gasuke roared as he charged forward, bringing his sword up to slash at the red haired man. "Now it's time for you to die!" He yelled as he brought his blade down. Kenshin went to block but was unable to block the full swing, the sword catching him in the arm. The clearing stood in shocked silence as Kenshin disappeared in a poof of smoke.
After a long moment the quiet was suddenly broken. "It would help if you were actually fighting me, that it would." Came a cool voice from above causing Gasuke's head to snap up as he looked onto the roof of the shrine. Kenshin stood there, his expression unreadable to those below him. His right hand resting lightly on the shoulder of the blonde boy next to him. "Now, we would appreciate it if you would hand Hinata-dono over. She does not belong to you, that she does not."
X
"How the hell?!" Sano exclaimed just as confused as Gasuke as he turned to the Naruto standing next to him. "How are you up there and down here?! And what was with that smoke?!"
'Naruto' laughed slightly. "Heh, you'll just have to ask the boss!" He replied grinning mischievously up at Sano.
X
Hinata took in the area around her. There were very few swordsman in this part of the clearing and the swordsman that had her was not paying attention, they were all focused on the shrine. Unfortunately she knew she could not slip out of his grasp with her hands tied like they were. She could still feel the kunai that was attached to the small holster up her sleeve. Apparently they hadn't thought to check her for weapons, which was a foolish mistake on their part. She sent a small surge of chakra through the holster to release the kunai into her hand and began to carefully cut the rope around her wrists.
X
Gasuke stared, his anger growing. "How, how did you do that?!" He asked.
"Aa, well that is a secret, one that I will not tell you. Now, give Hinata-dono back to us and we will take it easy on you, that we will." Kenshin replied in the same cool tone.
"Give her back you bastard or I'll make you pay!" Naruto shouted down at them his own anger boiling away what patients he had left.
"And what is a boy like you going to do to a bunch of skilled swordsmen?" Gasuke taunted. "A child like you shouldn't get into a man's fight! Now face me like a man Battousai!" He growled.
"Fine, but which one of us do you want to face first?" Kenshin asked casually.
"What do you mean?! Face me damn it!" He shouted back.
"I mean exactly that. Which one of us do you wish to face first? I will gladly chose for you if you like, that I will." Kenshin said as he withdrew his hand from Naruto's shoulder and placed it on the hilt of his sword. As he did so there was movement in the treetops as another dozen 'Kenshin's' appeared surrounding the group of swordsmen. "Now, I am sure that I can easily take out all your men in less than a minute and you….you will not stand a chance against my nephew. You see, Hinata-dono is his to protect. You will regret taking her from him, that you will." He said as he slowly drew his sword, all the other 'Kenshin's' mimicking his movement causing Gasuke's hired swordsmen to panic and try to run.
X
Hinata used the confusion to her advantage as she cut the last of the rope binding her wrists and gave the swordsman who was roughly shoving her around a chakra laced smack to the chest causing him to gasp for breath and stagger away from her. Using her new freedom she managed to dodge the fighting and get part way across the clearing where one of the Kenshin's scooped her up and brought her over the Yahiko and Kaoru.
X
Gasuke looked around him at the men trying to flee and being stopped by the multitude of 'Kenshin's' and his friends. "Stand your ground you cowards!" He yelled.
"You're the coward!" Naruto yelled from above him, catching his attention.
"W-what the hell!" Gasuke exclaimed. Above him Kenshin still stood with his sword drawn and was calmly watching the battle below, but that was not what he was concerned about. Where there had only been one blonde boy before now there were two and there was a glowing blue object forming in one of their hands.
"How dare you call them cowards when you aren't man enough to fight your own battles yourself!" Naruto yelled, a glowing blue orb growing steadily in size in his hand. As the hired swordsmen were finally finished off all eye's turned to stare as Naruto gave an angry yell and launched himself at Gasuke. The swordsman tried to slash at Naruto, but was not able to land a hit as the blonde quickly dodged. "Rasengan!" He yelled as the attack landed.
Gasuke gave a strangled scream as the Rasengan tore into him and sent him flying through the clearing and into the tree line where he landed hard against a tree, his severely injured and unconscious form slumping down to the ground.
"Well, that is finally over, that it is." Kenshin said as he dropped to the ground just behind Naruto and sheathed his sword as the others came running over with the exception of Hinata, who was moving at a slower pace.
"Alright, now you got some explaining to do! We don't kill people, I told you that!" Kaoru said as she marched up to them. "And you Kenshin, why would you condone that from your own nephew?!"
"Well, you see…" Kenshin began as he placed his hands up protectively in front of himself. "...he shouldn't be dead. So it should be alright, that it should!"
"What?" Kaoru asked surprised as she looked in the direction that Gasuke had landed. "He's not?"
"N-no. He's alive." Hinata said as she reached Kaoru's side, her Byakugan active.
"Whoa, what's with the eyes?!" Yahiko exclaimed as he backed away from her.
"T-they're a trait of my clan." She said as she quickly deactivated them.
"Alright I want to know what is going on! Where did all these guys come from and how can you be in two places at once Naruto?" Sano asked as he looked between the two Naruto's and the other remaining Kenshin's. "I-is it some kind of magic or something?" He asked as his voice became a bit wary.
"Heh….well they're all me." Naruto said as he grinned and rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "It's….a special technic that I can use… so yeah." As he talked the remaining couple of 'Kenshin's' and remaining 'Naruto' released themselves in poofs of smoke and he looked at Kenshin from the corner of his eye, not sure how much he should say and how to explain it.
Kenshin sighed. "I suppose I should explain things a bit as keeping everything a secret is no longer possible." He said as he looked at Naruto and Hinata, who were standing next to each other. "There are things that I cannot divulge now, or may never be able to divulge, but as I told you before Sano, these two have special abilities. You have seen Hinata's for yourself and you have gotten a taste for what Naruto can do now as well, that you have. To put it simply, they are shinobi. There is a major difference between these two and Misao and the Oniwabanshu though. These two can use chakra and ninjutsu whereas the Oniwabanshu and all the other ninja that I have encountered here can no longer consciously use chakra, nor ninjutsu, that they cannot." He said.
"Wow, I didn't know they were ninja's!" Yahiko said surprised.
"Chakra, what is that?!" Sano asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.
Hinata looked up a bit as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers. "I-It is the combination of ph-physical energy and spiritual energy in the body. And is used for ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques." She answered quietly, giving the standard academy definition..
"So kinda like a monk or a sage or something?" Sano asked as he thought about people he had fought before that had special powers.
Kenshin let out a relieved sigh. "Yes Sano. Shinobi who can use chakra are believed to be the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, the father of shinobi and ninshu, the way of the ninja." He replied, glad to see that Sano seemed to have a grasp on things a bit. "So, now why don't we go home, it is getting late and I am sure we are all tired."
With everyone in agreement they headed out. Naruto and Hinata lagging behind a bit. He was watching her from the corner of his eye and was a bit worried. She didn't seem herself. "Are you ok Hinata?" He asked as he turned to look at her. "That guy didn't hurt you or anything did he?"
"N-No, he didn't hurt me. I-I'm just tired and a bit light headed, that's all. I'll be ok." She said as she moved forward, struggling not to let her weakness show. She could still feel the drugs that they had used to knock her out in her system and the aftereffects of them were making her feel sluggish, weak and lightheaded.
"Here, let me help." He said as he moved in front of her and stooped down. "Hop on, I'll carry you."
"A-are you sure?" She asked hesitantly, her cheeks heating up in an embarrassed flush at the thought of being carried by Naruto.
"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't!" He said as he grinned over his shoulder at her.
She looked down and away for a moment. "I-I don't want to be a burden…"
"You're not a burden Hinata, not now, not ever." He said as he continued to look over his shoulder at her.
She paused for a moment as his words sunk in. With a quiet sigh she moved forward. "A-alright, if you're sure." She said as she carefully climbed onto his back. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it!" He said, his voice getting quieter and gentler as he continued. "Just rest. You don't need to push yourself so hard. I'm here for you ok?"
"O-ok." She replied as she relaxed and was soon asleep.
