Hey there, Halo here. I'm bored, so I'm gonna reply to a few reviews. Sorry if I don't get to your name. I'm just replying to the ones that either say something smart, funny, ask questions that aren't obviously answered by a little re-reading, or just made me laugh, whether by names, comments, or incredible stupidity. Although, there haven't been a lot of stupid reviews, so I'm happy. More time for writing, ne?
TuxisGirl: Lol, fine, ok. One week? That's fun. But, if I update late, throw in a little pleasure with the pain, ok?
Qminster: Yes, a agree, 12 year olds, even if they are elite ninja, cannot have like 100 pound weights to start off with. They would prolly be 15 by the time they got to that level. Also, I do agree that some stories have their characters as nothing other than muscle bound skinheads that only show off their skills cough DBZ cough No offence DBZ lovers, but it kinda just got old after the cell games. I mean, how many ultimately evil incredibly strong people can there be in the universe? Damn, have them come back alive or something. insert long string of curses here I liked your critique of the battles I've already had, and yes, I do make mistakes. But please, I'm not perfect, so bare with me, ok? Thanks. That's all for now.
To everyone who commented on the new outfit: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I was gonna go with a FFVII Cloud thing, but that's been used more than a two cent whore… um…. Sorry for the language. I though I'd try something new and POP is one of my favorite game series. The Sand wraith was always my favorite. He is not to be confused by the Dark Prince in the third game. Sand wraith is the guy you become in the SECOND game. Just to clear that up for the people who might make the mistake.
To everyone who commented on Hinata: Umm… well, to tell you the truth, I was reading a story the other day, but don't ask me which one. I read like 10-15 now ones each day, depending on their size. Yeah, I read a lot. But, in one of the ones I was reading, Jiraiya was commenting on the Byakugan, and said something along the lines of "Is very useful for peeping, I wish I had one. I heard somewhere that their clan symbol is actually a ward against the Byakugan seeing through their cloths for privacy reasons." (Insert perverted giggling here) Lol, ok, I liked that comment, and seriously, I'm surprised that in all the NaruHina stories I've read that Hinata hasn't taken advantage of her bloodline's skills. So, I decided I would. Yes, she's done it before the mission. Yes, she'll prolly continue to do so until they're married, in which case she won't have to peep. (Another perverted giggle)
Well, that's that. Also, in the (much) later chapters, when Naruto and Hinata are finally married (think after the tree year long training mission with Jiraiya) Do you want a lemon at that part, or do you want me to just… smooth things over? I'll take a vote on this, and each time I update, I'll tally all the votes up to that time. Well, unless I don't get any votes for one side or the other by the time I update next chapter. Then, I'll just say it's unanimous and go with that decision. Anyway, on to the story!
Hinata had her Byakugan active, scanning all around and as far towards the smoke as she possibly could. As they were leaping through the trees, she couldn't quite stop in her tracks, but she did manage to stop at the next branch. Naruto landed next to her.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"They're outnumbered. I see at least… 10 Jounin, 15 Chuunin, a score of Genin, and a squad of what looks like ANBU class. They're all from Sound!" The panic was rising in her voice.
Naruto let out a string of some very colorful words that Hiashi would have paled at, if he knew one of his clan's members had said anything of the sort.
"What about Ibiki and Chouji?"
Hinata paled and looked again. "Unconscious."
"Shit." Naruto's eyes scrunched up, and it was obvious he was thinking hard.
"Ok, we need to get them out of there, wake up the Chuunin, alert any patrols in our vicinity, and get back to Konoha. Here's what we're gonna do…"
"Oi, Kenmaru, you sense anything?"
"No."
"The area is secure, right?"
"Yes."
"Good."
It was at that moment that Naruto and Hinata's plan commenced. Slowly, an unnatural fog that was tinted black rolled in from the forest. The sound ninja were on edge.
"AHH, WHATS THAT?"
A black specter that seemed to just materialize out of the mist was seen by the group in the edges of the clearing. Its eyes glowed blue, and the killing intent that rolled off of it made all but the ANBU and Jounin freeze up in fear. The shadows around it seemed to roll off of it and onto the ground. Many of the plants around the 'thing' were wilting and dying as if their life force had been sucked out…
As silently as it had appeared, it was gone. One minute it was standing there, and it just seemed to dissipate the next. Suddenly, without warning, 50 of these specters jumped out of the trees and charged foreword, each engaging a Nin, and all the ANBU were double teamed, as well as some of the Jounin. The fighting was brutal, but the 'specters' were held off. That is, until the volley of chakra arrows pierced the smoke left behind when each Kage Bunshin dissipated. Needless to say, almost all of the Genin and most of the Chuunin were either dead or incapacitated. Only two or three of the Jounin couldn't fight, but all of the sound Nin, including the ANBU, had some sort of injury, even if it was only a few bruises here and a closed tenketsu there. After the volley of arrows, the wind started to blow away the mist, leaving an empty clearing.
"Shit! Sir, the Konoha patrol is gone!"
"Damn it. Word could get back to their village. We need to catch them!"
As the group slowly pulled themselves together, they jumped into the tree branches to chase after whoever it was that had attacked them. Unfortunately for them, the trees were little more than a minefield of proximity activating explosive notes.
The first few explosions took out at least one enemy Nin each, but after that, they became more cautious. Unfortunately for them, this slowed their progress to a crawl. The snares and projectile traps added to their losses. Needless to say, they were pissed.
Hinata was again acting as the foreword scout. Behind her, the real Naruto was actively gleaning the chakra around him to replenish what he had used to make the mist, Kage Bunshin, the volley of chakra arrows, set the traps, and place the nasty Genjutsu in their wake. It was the finest one Ibiki had taught them. Basically, it made each person caught in it face their greatest fear. The thing was, Naruto had poured nearly half of his chakra reserves (from the seal) into making it. The amount of chakra was more than enough to give it the power to physically inflict the wounds the Genjutsu told their mind they had. It could easily be fatal. Another fourth of his total capacity was everything else he had done, leaving him at one quarter power. (At least, he's at one quarter of what he can access. I'll get into more detail later. To put it simply now, the seal can hold about the power of nine and a half of the tails of Kyuubi. The extra half was a buffer so that the seal wouldn't overload and break. Kyuubi was never sealed, so the seal was filled with Naruto's chakra, roughly the power of a Nine Tails in amount of chakra, but Youkai is much more potent than even Nature Chakra.)
'If those ninja catch up to us, I won't have the power to stop them. I have to replenish my reserves as soon as possible.'
The Kage Bunshin that were carrying the unconscious forms of Ibiki-sensei and Chouji were also gleaning small amounts and sending it back through the link into Naruto, effectively increasing the rate at which it was gathered. Unfortunately, the Kage Bunshin could only do so much if they didn't want to make themselves dissipate. They shrugged and kept at it as they made their way back to camp.
Kagemaru rolled over in his sleeping bag. He snuggled closer to his lover. Miho, in turn, snuggled closer to him. 'Damn, it's too early to get up. Man, now I can't get back to sleep.'
He sat up and thought about how life had been since he'd started this assignment. At first, it was all business, patrolling the border with little interaction between his team and himself. But, as things progressed, Miho had fallen for him, and he felt the same way. At least their nights were no longer completely uneventful, so things weren't as bad as they could have been. Besides, there were no worries about Miho getting pregnant any time soon. Kagemaru wasn't a medic Nin for no reason. He knew all the most effective birth control jutsu, and used them accordingly. Fun.
Miho groaned and sat up next to her lover. "Kage-kun? Why're you awake so early?"
"I can't sleep, Miho-chan. something is telling me to get up…"
It was then that a group of the Kage Bunshin Naruto had sent reached their destination, Home Base. All of them except one quickly packed up everything into their respective places as neatly and efficiently as possible. One, however, had the (mis)fortune to wake up 'The Lovers' as they had been christened by Chouji.
He tapped the side of the tent a couple times to make them wake up.
"Oi, you two awake in there?"
"Yes, Naruto. What d'you want?" Kagemaru's sleep laden voice replied.
"Ibiki-sensei and Chouji were attacked, so Hinata and the Boss are taking them back to Konoha, and try to bring reinforcements, or at least alert Konoha to the apparent invasion force. Me and the other clones are packing up the camp and heading back home. You two gotta get up and follow us so we can meet up with the Boss."
"WHAT!" Miho and Kagemaru said in stereo.
"Come on, there's no time!"
A few minutes later, a (thankfully) fully dressed pair of Chuunin exited their tent, which was rapidly taken down and placed on the back of one of the many Kage Bunshin that were being used as pack mules.
"Lets go" a clone said before they took off in a seemingly random direction.
The three ANBU that were left alive were stalking the group of what seemed to be three Genin, one of which was unconscious along with their Jounin sensei. One had made some Kage Bunshin to carry their unconscious teammates. With a few hand signals, one was told to get ahead of them to stop them. After a few minutes, the ANBU appeared on a branch in front of the Hyuuga that was leading the group. To say that the ANBU was surprised at her next action would be an understatement. Most ANBU expect Genin to stop in their tracks and shake in fear when facing them. However, it seemed that Hinata had some built up rage to release. She did so, in the form of her attack.
"Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!"
By the time she was done, the surprised ANBU had a large amount of tenketsu sealed up. Sure, he had managed to block about half of the attacks, but that only resulted in disabling his arms. The final blast had been to the heart and the forehead. The ANBU thanked the gods that he'd worn his forehead protector on his forehead underneath his mask. The mask cracked, but he was saved from death. He was knocked out though, and fell from the branches. The other two ANBU continued to chase their targets, oblivious to the bone crunching landing of their friend. It didn't help the poor ninja's career that he'd landed on his head, effectively pulverizing his spinal cord, severing most of the nerves in his neck. Ouch. Thankfully, he was unconscious before then.
It seemed that luck was with the other two ANBU. With a swift kick, a volley of kunai and shuriken, and several well placed blows, their targets were effectively held off.
Hinata struggled against the ninja wire that bit into her flesh, thankful for the thick leather of her jacket to protect her arms. She had been tied up, and was being held by her throat by one of the ANBU. The other was standing over her two unconscious teammates, while Naruto could only watch as the Nin holding her put a kunai against her throat.
"Move even an inch, and I kill her."
"Put her down." The icy cold look in Naruto's eyes and menace in his words told the two ANBU that if their hostages got away, their deaths would be slow and painful. But what's the worst a mere Genin could do?
"Hah, you couldn't kill a fly even if you wanted to."
"I'll give you one last chance." Here, Naruto activated his Amatsu Tenshi no Senshu and drew the string back, letting a chakra arrow form. "Let. Her. Go."
"What's the worst you could do? I'm an ANBU, you pathetic waste of sperm. You can't hurt me. You aren't even at the level of a Genin's shit."
With that, the arrow was released. Before it had traveled even a foot, it split into 128 different arrows. Naruto called out his attack.
"Amatsu Tenshi no Senshu Hakke, Hyakunijuu Hatchiya! (Heavenly Angel's Bow, 128 Arrows of Hakke. Note, this is an approximate translation. The only thing I know is right is the Hyakunijuuhatchi. I know enough Japanese to be able to count. You need to know at least that if you're gonna spend six weeks there. It helps when shopping in the open air markets. Venders need to be able to tell you the prices of their goods! )
The arrows sped around the Ninja, looking for all the world to have missed. The man's grin, although hidden behind a mask, faded when he saw each and every arrow curve around and strike him simultaneously. He was thrown into the air, dropping Hinata, and landed hard on his shoulder.
"Your tenketsu have been sealed. You cannot mold chakra anymore. Unfortunately for you, all my arrows have inserted Nature Chakra into your system. You have less than a minute to live. Goodbye." The smooth monotone Naruto said this in (think like Neji when he's talking about fate.) sent shivers up and down the spines of both Hinata and the other ANBU. They watched in horror as the Nature Chakra mixed with the Human Chakra. The result? A modified version of Life Force. Unfortunately for the ANBU, he was in a woodlands. As this mixture leaked into the ground, the grass underneath him shot up, completely piercing his body. The screams he let off confirmed his pain, only to be silenced later as the roots of trees pierced the man's body, sucking it dry of the precious mixture. All the plants that absorbed the Life Force grew before their eyes. The already gigantic trees shot up several stories above the others, and the grass stalks became as thick as Naruto's wrists, almost like bamboo. There was nothing left of the man's body save for a large clump of the super sized grass that fed off the corpse's nutrients.
The other ANBU was frozen in fear. It didn't help that Naruto's gaze switched to him. Before Naruto could react, though, the ANBU pulled out a kunai and threw it at the stunned Hinata.
"Hinata, LOOK OUT!"
Naruto's shout came too late. Hinata's gaze switched to the ANBU. As soon as her eyes made contact with him, she felt a massive pain in her left eye.
Naruto could only watch in horror as the thrown kunai caught Hinata off guard and completely pierced her eye. Hinata's blood curdling scream resounded through the forest as her hand reached up to try to stem the flow of blood that poured from her wound. Naruto dashed foreword as Hinata fell to the ground.
"Hinata-chan!"
Hinata looked up at Naruto's face as he crouched over her. She could only see half of what she usually could. A strange calm came over her. Her voice was wracked with pain. She shuddered and reached out a hand, cupping Naruto's masked face.
"Naruto-kun…Ashiteru…" Her body went limp. Naruto grabbed her hand and held it to his face. His tears were soaking the front of his mask, but he didn't care. He could only watch as his closest friend died in his arms. He was unable to do anything. His grief slowly changed, turning itself into pure rage. Naruto stood and faced the ANBU that had thrown the kunai. The killer intent rolling off of him was strong enough that it was being felt all the way in Konoha. They'd never felt anything this strong, save for from the Kyuubi.
Naruto reached down into his seal, pulling all the chakra he could out of it. It flooded and burned his chakra pathways. It wasn't enough. He kept pulling and pulling. Rocks and clumps of dirt and grass started floating into the air by the massive amount Naruto was gathering. A revelation came over him. 'If I draw much more, my chakra pathways will be burned beyond use. It's not enough! Dammit. Wait… what if I pull it not through my chakra pathways, but outside my body…'
With that though, Naruto found the hole in the seal that Kyuubi had made while escaping it that fateful day. He forced everything he had out that hole, molding it around his body.
To the ANBU, he only saw the gaki shaking in rage. Boy was he surprised when chakra exploded from his body. The chakra was shining such a bright blue that the boy's shadowed outline was the only thing visible. Naruto's eyes were glowing the same bright piercing blue that his chakra was as his bloodline captured each and every iota of chakra his seal had expelled. He gathered it around him like a shroud. It took no shape or form recognizable. It seemed to float around the boy like a wildfire, but flowed and rippled like water. The chakra shroud was huge, fully taller than the trees, despite their recent growth spurt. It tore into the ground as it swirled around him, tearing spiral patterns that flowed out from him. Naruto finally had gathered enough.
Naruto stretched his arm out, his hand open, extended towards the shaking form that was a sound ANBU. The chakra around Naruto flew towards his enemy, completely surrounding him. It picked him up several feet into the air. The man could only float there, completely held by the chakra that was filled with the need for his blood.
"Die." Naruto's cold, emotionless voice would have sent shivers down anyone's voice, but no one save for his enemy was around to hear it.
The chakra formed a sphere around the man. Soon, the ball began to shrink, constricting tighter and tighter. The ANBU couldn't stop its inexorable pressure. Bones cracked and snapped as they were broken from the pressure. The ball continued to get smaller, despite the shower of blood that violently sprayed out from it. It kept getting smaller and smaller, squishing what was left into a tiny ball, smaller than a marble. The energy had compressed the man's atoms together into an ultra dense black stone. Nothing else was left of the ANBU, save for the kunai in Hinata's eye and the blood that coated the entire clearing.
Naruto could only smile to himself as darkness clouded his vision. His form slowly sank down, completely drained. The tiny amount of chakra left in him would keep him alive for little more than a few hours. 'At least Hinata's death has been avenged…' It was then that he finally drifted into unconsciousness, oblivious to the world.
Halo here. Whew, that was fun. I was thinking about continuing this chapter, but I decided I'd just post it and write another one later. I don't know how much time I'll have this week. Anyways, there are a couple of things a gotta go over before I post.
It doesn't matter how much chakra you have, it only matters how much you can force through your chakra system. If a Genin was given the same amount of chakra that a Kage had, it wouldn't allow him to do high level jutsu until his chakra pathways grew enough to accommodate the high flow of chakra needed. Naruto found a way around this by molding it outside his body. He is the only one able to do this because of his bloodline, so this technique would be useless for anyone else, and they'd just waste all that chakra. That's why Orochimaru's Cursed Seal needs a person to 'die'. They are forced to re-grow their chakra pathways to accommodate the incredible influx of chakra they receive from it. It's a decent explanations, I think.
The only reason Naruto and Hinata have been doing so well against the Sound ninja is because they made a great plan, caught them off guard, had several hours to set traps beforehand, and didn't try to fight them, only distract them to get their comrades out of the enemies clutches. If Naruto had stayed to fight, he would have died, even with his new technique to control his massive demon sized chakra stored in the seal.
Nature Chakra is like the chakra of the planet. Human chakra is the chakra of a person. Mix the incredible energy of 'dead' or non-living chakra with 'live' or living chakra and that's what you'll get. In my story at least. It's nothing more than Life Force on steroids. The plants were drawn to it, and it helped them grow at the rapid rate they did. It only lasted till it was gone, but it still killed the man. No worries about him coming back any time soon. I doubt his soul would even be able to re-incarnate after that.
The other ANBU. Naruto's chakra compressed the atoms of his body together to create the black stone. It took a lot of energy. Almost all nine tails worth Naruto could store. Before he was able to mold the chakra outside his body, he only had access to about 1/100th of a tail of chakra. The chakra he could access was roughly equivalent to a low or mid level Jounin. Yeah, he's got a lot more now. More than all of the Kages combined and doubled. Yep. It comes with a price though. Like I said, he can only draw so much chakra at the same time without killing plants or disrupting the planet's chakra. Sure, some plants dying isn't horrible, but if he disrupts the earth's chakra, he could literally cause the world to become unstable. Basically, the end of the world. Yeah, dangerous bloodline. I think Kami-sama would jump in before that happened though. You never know. So, because Naruto used up almost all of his chakra, it will be quite a long time at the rate it usually takes him to regain it all. About a year and a half. I've got another idea for it though, but you'll just have to wait.
So, yeah, that's all my notes. Not really a big cliffy, but oh well. Hope you guys liked it! .
