Authors notes.
Now, I was told by a friend that he smart thing to do would be to wait a week or so before updating, to squeeze as many reviews as possible out of my readers. I updated two days later, so stuff you! People seemed to be looking forward to this chapter, so I tried to bring it as soon as possible. I hope that I didn't disappoint. Naruto may seem a little dark in this chapter. Let me just say that he is really pissed. Not the red hot anger of Kyuubi, but rather the cold, calculated anger that only a human can really pull off. Pretty much no humor in this one. It would have been out of character. I will be bringing it back soon, however. Just child abuse is something that I really don't stand for.
Anyways, on with the chapter, nearly at two hundred reviews!
Chapter Nine
Hyuuga Hijnks
Naruto slowly got dressed, still burning with anger at what the Hyuuga family had done to Hinata. But what really riled him up where two things in particular, one: that they apparently did this on a regular basis. Two: that this time, he felt that he was partly to blame for the beating. He should have known that the Hyuuga would not just simply accept him. He let out a growl as he raised the black hood of the outfit he had brought just over two months ago. It covered his head, obscuring his features. Suddenly, glowing red eyes glinted in the darkness.
"So, kid. What's the plan?"
Naruto curled his lip in a half smile, bringing one of his elongated canines into prominence. "We go to the house on the Hokage heads and pick up a few things. Then, it's open season on the Hyuuga's ass'." Arlia, who had joined them once more just half an hour ago, grinned wolfishly. "I like your thinking boy. Let's go."
Fifteen minutes later, Naruto was at the door of his parent's house once more. He walked purposefully towards the building, cutting his hand with a kunai and then flinging it forward without even slowing down. His blood arced in the space between him and the door, before a couple of drops of the red liquid splashed on the wooden surface. The seal came into view once more, this time not slowly changing to yellow, but immediately flashing an orange in color, signaling the seal's disarmament. Naruto had come here regularly since he had travelled back in time and each time his blood activated the seal, it took a shorter amount of time for it to power down. The bright flash had also slowly changed color, signifying, Shinigami said, that it was starting to learn who its new master was. Not that the seal itself was sentient, just that it was able to 'learn' in some weird way that frankly, Naruto did not understand. But as more of his blood was given to the seal, the color slowly changed to an orange shade. Apparently, soon enough Naruto would be able to enter the building without even having to go through any of the security measures.
Immediately after he opened the door, Naruto moved towards his parent's bedroom. There had been a couple of nights when he had slept in their bed instead of going to his apartment. It made him feel closer to them, something that he sometimes felt was needed. It was strange feeling. It made him sad, while at the same time, it made him happy. It was confusing as hell, but that was not why he had come here tonight. Stalking to his fathers side of the bed, he yanked open the last drawer, to reveal… a book. It was a big, bulky thing, with well over a thousand pages. The writing on each of the normal pages was slightly cramped and busy, it was in his father's handwriting. But it was what was on the pages abnormal that was really interesting to Naruto. The book had been made with every second page divided into six separate pieces, by a series of small dot perforations for easy separation. And on every single separate piece of paper, was a fuiin seal, which could only be activated by someone of the Namikaze bloodline. His bloodline.
However, this would have meant absolutely nothing to him as Naruto could not understand pretty much any of what his father's technical jargon, advanced calculations and sometimes slightly rabid (in his opinion) ranting actually meant. To put it simply, if Naruto had had to rely on his father's instructions, he would never be able to safely use the seals for fear of blowing himself up because he could not understand what the damn thing actually did! Luckily for him, his mom had helped out. On each page, was a simple explanation of what the seal actually did, written with red ink, in a broad and flowing script. The descriptions of the different seals functions went something along the lines of this. Paralyzing seal, does exactly what it says. (Good for use on Jiraiya when we go to the bedroom.) Naruto had paused at this, made a note to test another of Arlia's special Jutsu on Jiraiya next time they met and continued reading. Chakra Flash: Blinds those who can see chakra. (In case a Hyuuga is looking at what doesn't belong to them.) Naruto blushed, absentmindedly wondering about the reasons as to why Hinata was always fainting, although, admittedly, she had got better. Sleeping seal, good for dreamless sleep. Instant unconsciousness on activation. (For when Minato has nightmares about that battle against Iwa.) Naruto frowned. The Fourth was lauded as a hero for that battle, why would he have nightmares about it?
"HUMANS ARE SOFT CREATURES, KILLING ANOTHER LEAVES SCARS ON THE HEART OF A DECENT HUMAN BEING. YOUR FATHER MAY HAVE BEEN A PRICK FOR SEALING ME IN YOU, BUT HE WAS A DECENT HUMAN BEING. KILLING SO MANY IN ONE BATTLE WOULD HAVE HAUNTED HIM FOR A LONG TIME, EVEN IF IT WAS NECESSARY."
Naruto sighed, knowing that Kyuubi was right. He paged through the sections of the book, reading just his mothers description. Paralyses its victims, sends them to sleep, prevents them from sleeping, causes pain, seals away pain, shocks its victims, freezes its victims, burns its victims, cuts its victims, turns its victims inside out, wait, what? A couple of minutes later, Naruto closed the book with a thud and a shudder. He could have stayed here all night reading this book, but he had work to do.
Naruto turned and left the room, passing through the doorway, before immediately re-entering the room. Walking over to his mother's side of the bed, he did not bother looking in her bottom drawer, it was locked and despite being a ninja, he had never been taught how to pick a lock. The academy teachers had neglected to go through that lesson with him. Instead, he took hi mother's katana from its stand and strapped it to his back. He had not done any specialized training in kenjutsu, apart from learning some of the basic forms with Jiraiya during his training trip. After facing Zabuza and having Kisame after his ass, both of them high level kenjutsu masters, Jiraiya had thought it wise for him to have at least a basic understanding of swordsmanship. Although he had never actually used a sword in battle himself, if the training only meant that he would know when it was the right time to duck, he thought it well worth the time. Why did he take it? To be honest it was a pretty spur of the moment kind of thing. But his reasoning was sound, at least to his twisted logic. His… chat with the Hyuuga clan was something that he would have to burn into their memory. Kunai and shuriken were good ninja tools, but they were also extremely common. But if he showed up in the middle of the Hyuuga compound wielding a high quality piece of steel like the one in his hands right now, he could guarantee that they wouldn't be forgetting about him in a hurry. Naruto left the room with a wolfish smile on his face. He had a little bit more equipment to collect, but after that, the hunt was on.
Now, when most people look at Naruto, all that they see is a hyperactive, grinning, idiot of a prankster. They'd be right. But he was so much more than just that. Sure he was hyperactive, but that just added to his already amazing stamina, which could get him through almost any situation. His grin was usually a mask to hide what he was really thinking. And he did this incredibly effectively, being able to even deceive the residents of a village of ninja, apart from Hinata, but she was a special case. And shinobi, after all, often say that deception is the life's blood of a ninja. And yes, he could be an idiot. In fact, at times he was an idiot; that was not just a part of his mask. But because he was an idiot, people constantly underestimated him. And he was not just a prankster. He was a prankster King. Pranking was quite possibly one of the only things that Naruto ever really took the time to think about. That and fighting. After all, it took a very special type of planning to be able to finish painting the faces of each of the Hokage heads without getting caught. This same type of planning was used in almost every one of his pranks.
Surprisingly enough though, this pranking was always put to the side as some, reasonably, harmless fun. Because most of the pranks were just silly little things, no one actually took the time to stop, take a step back and look at just exactly what Naruto had to do to be able to successfully pull of a prank. Take the time he had put that bright pink dye in the shampoo of the Inuzuka hounds the day before their monthly bath date. Since a similar thing had happened before, Hana Inuzuka kept the shampoo in her room for all the good that it had done her in the end. This mere obstacle had done nothing to stop Naruto. First, he had got into the compound through an open window. Than, it was a relatively simple matter for him to avoid the members of the Inuzuka household on his way to Hana's room, all of which, it should be added, had heightened senses. Avoiding their canine partners was a mite bit more difficult, but by masking his scent with some discarded Inuzuka clothes it had been doable. After that, he had crept into the sleeping heiress' room and doctored the shampoo, leaving with no one the wiser. So, in effect, he had made a successful penetration into a clan compound, avoiding all of the 'guards' and got into the room, within touching distance of one of Konoha's clan heirs. It was kind of sad really, that in a village of ninja no one really understood that Naruto was already able to perform all the things necessary to be an accomplished assassin.
Naruto lay within easy sight of the Hyuuga clan complex. Waiting. Watching. Success here was dependent on information. In this case, information on the changes of the guard. The Hyuuga clan was the only clan in Konoha that actually had members of the clan perform actual guard duty. It was tradition, after all. And the Hyuuga clan had always been one for tradition. Naruto supposed it might be because they were the only clan in Konoha that had actually been granted noble status by the Fire Daimyo. Whatever, that wasn't really all that important. The important thing right now was that the guards worked in two-hour shifts, from what he could tell. Naruto was not aware of the patrols of all the guards inside the complex, he'd just have to find them before they found him.
Despite this slight complication, Naruto could not help but to smile at the way they were going through their guarding duties. To them it was just a routine. A formality. It made sense he supposed. The Hyuuga clan was the largest, wealthiest and arguably the most powerful clan in Konoha. Naruto snorted. 'With their "all seeing eyes" and their "unbeatable" taijutsu style, they have grown overconfident,' he thought 'arrogant.' And he was right. Although to his way of thinking, most of them, meaning pretty much all of them aside from Hinata, just had a stick up their ass. But their haughty nature was also proof of a fatal flaw that could be easily taken advantage of. Overconfidence. After all, there were only really two reasons as to why they had guards patrolling the area. First, because it was tradition, second, because by doing so they showed the other, less numerous clans their higher position, in that they had the numbers to be able to have guards patrol the grounds every night. But these guards their guards didn't even act to use their Byakugan at regular intervals, instead only using it when they heard a noise or heard something that was suspicious. Extremely lazy of them to do so, although it does explain why the Kumo representative was able to get so close to kidnapping Hinata in the first place. Naruto froze at that thought. Either that, or the Kumo shinobi had had inside help. Naruto shook his head, clearing his mind of those kinds of thoughts. They were for another day. He needed to focus on the now. The point was, that the mindset of the entire Hyuuga clan had grown increasingly complacent. After all, who would be fool enough to challenge the might of the Hyuuga clan? One young, blond and pissed of Jinchuriki would have raised his hand in answer to that question. As he had once said, in the future, a long time ago, if not being a fool means abandoning your friends, then he would remain a fool for the rest of his life. In short, the Hyuuga clan were making this operation far to easy for Naruto. Of course, it wasn't as if the final result would have been any different if the guards had been more vigilant. However, it may have made it a little bit more… entertaining.
"Are you sure that you want to go through?" Shinigami asked Naruto. Naruto just growled. Shinigami continued. "Remember boy, once you do this, you can't go back. It cannot be undone. Are you sure that this is what you want?"
Naruto spoke out loud, his voice soft, icy… deadly. "They hurt her Shinigami-sama. They hurt Hinata-chan. She's been working so hard and she's been getting stronger all the time. But they don't even care. Not one whit. And do you why they hurt her?" Shinigami just remained silent. Naruto nodded. "Yes, you know, don't you? You were there after all. And now, they want to take her from." By now, Naruto's voice had dropped to a whisper and yet, it somehow made him sound all the more dangerous. "I won't allow it. She was taken away from me once. Never again. Never again. She is one of my most precious people and no one will take her from me again, not even her family. I won't let it happen ever again!" So saying, he leapt out in to the darkness. It was time. He had waited patiently, until it was late at night and then more than halfway through the current guards shift, to a time when they would be tired, lazy. It was time, time to begin.
Guard number one and guard two were at the front gate. To be frank, Naruto did not know the names of many of the Hyuuga clan. He didn't really spend enough time around the compound to learn the names of any of them in the first place. That would have to change. Although, it may just have been for the best. Naruto was not sure if he would have been able to complete what he had set out to do if he was putting a name to every face. Instead, he would just give each guard a number. Numbers were a lot more impersonal. Boldly, he trotted directly towards them, in full view of both guards.
Guard number one lifted an eyebrow in one miniscule movement. Even when there was no one to see, the proper Hyuuga decorum must be upheld. But still, he was surprised to see a fox walk right up to just beyond reach of him and his partner, only to sit down. It was remarkably tame, which was odd in Konoha. Foxes… were not really very popular in the Village hidden in the leaves. For obvious reasons. Neither of them however, made any move to kill the fox, although his partner had started fingering a shuriken. Yawning at them, the fox deliberately stood up, turned around so he was facing directly away from them and lifted his tail. A slightly angry expression on his face, guard number two flung his shuriken at the fox, hitting it dead center. The fox who had been giving them the brown eye disappeared in a puff of smoke. Blinking in surprise, guard number one took a couple of steps forward, before turning around to his partner. Immediately, he got into the gentle fist stance. His partner was slumped against the wall, unconscious, a slight amount of blood trickling from a large lump on the back of his head. And a fox stood just in front of him, its hackles raised as he growled at the Hyuuga guard. "You are in range of my divination," the Hyuuga whispered, bloodline activated. The fox simply cocked his head at an angle at the Hyuuga, before swiping a paw in front of him. The Hyuuga stood, shocked as a wave of chakra exploded in front of that swipe, originating from an animal which, as far as he could tell, had no chakra system. His shock prevented him from dodging and the chakra wave hit him in the face. The world went black and he knew no more.
There was a small cloud of smoke, yet no noise, when Naruto undid his henge. Only to reveal that it was what he had dubbed, a layered henge. His sixteen-year-old self stood in front of the doorway, dressed in a black outfit almost identical to the one he had bought. Although he was doing more physical training than he had last done at this time, he needed the strength of an older person for this job. And if he was forced to dispel a henge prematurely and people saw who he really was, there would be trouble. The layered henge took care of that. It basically meant that he transformed into something, then transformed again, meaning that when he dispelled the last transformation, it would reveal the transformation 'under' that one. But it took at least twice as much chakra to do the second 'layer' and twice that of the second layer to do a third layer. In other words, it was not completely practical.
Looking at the two unconscious Hyuuga, Naruto allowed himself a small grin. He was really starting to love his henge. The fox form was still the easiest and he was able to change certain things in the original animal. For instance, increasing the length of the tail to just over three feet, enough to wrap it around guard number two's throat and then increasing the strength of said tail to enable it to pull the guards head back, slamming it against the wall that he had been leaning on before he threw the shuriken. Naruto had already known that he could perform the kazeken in fox form. Although it was probably a stupid idea to screw around with a jutsu in the middle of the field… All he had done was pump a bit more chakra into the technique and fiddle around with the shape manipulation. Instead of making the chakra thin and sharp, he had made it fat and blunt. The final result however, was more than satisfactory. It had knocked the Hyuuga out like a light. Walking over to him, he lifted the bandages from the Hyuuga's forehead and inspected the red welt that had been left by his jutsu, ignoring the curse seal. It looked almost as if he had been hit in the head with a staff. Naruto smiled. Kazebo. He had a name for his new technique. Looking down at the two Hyuuga, Naruto made a pair of shadow clones, who used henge to transform into guards one and two. Shinigami spoke once more. "This is the point of no return kid. Cross this line and there's no going back." Naruto nodded as he drew a special kunai from a sheath that he had prepared for this night alone.
"I know," he said, leaning down and drawing a red smile lines on each of the Hyuuga's throats. After doing so, he grabbed the unmoving bodies by the back of their robes and dragged them into the compound. He stashed the unresponsive Hyuuga in a side room that had a key left in the lock, turning the key and leaving them there. He had sighed in relief as he spotted the key. This would be so much easier if he knew how to pick a lock. Now, the bodies would not be tripped over as he continued with his work. Pocketing the key, he moved on.
Guard number three was outside in the garden, standing just below the edge of a roof. Naruto blinked. He never thought that one of the Hyuuga would be taking a cigarette break. He shrugged. Oh well. Leaping up, he grabbed the rim of he roof and pulled himself up in one swift move. Immediately, he stopped, cursing. He remembered this roof. The roof was made with two different types of tiles. One of them was an ordinary type. The others were of a rather more fragile, yet more expensive type. Completely weather proof, they had on very special feature. Put any real weight on them and they'll snap with a loud crack. Loud enough to alert the guards, loud enough to wake up some of those sleeping below. And they were completely identical to the other tiles. It was nothing but pure luck that Naruto had avoided them when he first got onto the roof. Naruto smirked. This would stop most people. There was a small puff of smoke. Luckily for him, foxes are very light on their feet. It was but the work of the moment to cross the roof. Several times, he could feel a slight shifting that indicated that he had stepped on one of the trick tiles. But none of them cracked. Once he reached the end of the roof, Naruto leapt into the air, undoing the henge as he did so. His mother's katana was drawn from its scabbard. The slight rasp of metal caused the smoker to turn. He saw a black figure with the moon behind him, a blade raised in the air. The blade came down. The Hyuuga collapsed.
Guard number seven fell to a simple barrier seal. Naruto had watched his patrol. He was more vigilant than most of the others. Despite that, in the dark he failed to notice the two pieces of paper, one on each side of the corridor. When he walked between them, electricity ran through his body. The trio of silencing trio of silencing seals prevented any shouts he might have made from being heard. Naruto walked towards him, letting himself be seen as he drew the kunai from its sheath, for the sixth time.
Guard number thirteen had also been more vigilant than any other that Naruto had seen that night, opening and closing each and every door as he went past. That was his downfall. As he opened one last door, a bucket overhead tipped over, splashing him with an unknown substance. Whatever it was, it was effective. Guard number thirteen never even had time to draw in breath for a shout before he crumpled to the floor. Naruto walked out from behind a corner, kunai in hand. He was impressed. He had found the formula for this mixture in a book left by his mom, detailing a number of pranks, as well as a deal of herb lore. He had wondered if he had got the herb dosages correct. This was a simple, yet potent contact poison, a couple of drops would knock you out after a couple of minutes. But with the amount that he had used, unconsciousness was immediate. After bending down and swiping his special kunai across guard number thirteen's throat, Naruto used henge and transformed the guard into a fox. No matter what he did, foxes were always easier for him. And after lugging the first ten Hyuuga to that side room, he figured that it would be easier to just carry a fox's body there instead. He undid the henge when he got to the room. Naruto looked around the room without compassion. It was starting to get crowded in here.
Guard number sixteen was yanked off his feet when a rope suddenly tightened across his neck as he walked out from underneath a roof. Guard number twenty never even saw the butt of the sword that knocked into the side of his head. Guard number twenty-three never looked up and so he never saw the figure lying flush against the ceiling, sticking to it with chakra, blending in with the shadows. He never knew anything about it until the figure dropped on top of him. Guard number twenty-seven had been getting a bit drowsy. He fell asleep all the more quickly when a cloth with a sickly smelling scent was suddenly pressed across his mouth. Guard number thirty never questioned why guard number fifteen walked up to him. After the chop to the back of the neck, he wasn't able to. And so it continued, all the way to guard number forty, who Naruto, now annoyed at having to take so many foxes to the side room, instead led guard number forty there himself stating that there was a problem that needed his attention. Guard number forty trusted guard number twenty-six completely and followed him to the room, byakugan activated. Unfortunately for him, several of the Hyuuga rooms had been sealed for privacy reasons and so he could not see what was inside the room. When he opened the room, there was a blinding flash of chakra, unseen to the normal eye. With his eyes out of the picture, it was a simple matter to strike him with a kunai in the back of the neck. Once he fell, Naruto brought out the dripping red kunai. He had not cleaned it since he started the mission. Guards taken care of, room ready, he moved to the next phase. With out the guards patrolling the area, no one would interrupt him as he moved on to those that were sleeping.
Hiashi was awoken by a violent slap across the face. He immediately opened his eyes to see a masked, hooded figure dressed in black standing over him, a katana held in one hand. He immediately opened his mouth to cry out, only to find that he couldn't make a sound. With a violent motion, he flung himself out of bed, in his sleep blurred state sending a slightly sloppy jūken strike, which was easily evaded. The figure raised one hand in a seal. "Pain," he said softly and it felt as if white-hot knives ripped through his body. Hiashi crumbled to the ground. The figure moved his hands into another hand sign. "Activate." A cold feeling came over Hiashi's body. It was one that was without pain, but it felt like every single muscle in his body had suddenly become as stiff as a board. "Ah," the figure slowly sat down on Hiashi's back. "I apologize for not giving you a fair fight Hiashi, but I've had a long night and I'm really not feeling up to it right now." He sighed theatrically. "Well, I suppose it's time to go. Places to be, conversation to be made, people to kill." Hiashi stomach clenched at the last phrase. "And you, Hiashi-sama," he said scorn filling his voice. "You, are coming with me." So saying, he grabbed Hiashi painfully by the hair and dragged him from his luxurious bedroom, not caring as he bumped his way down the small flight of steps leading to his door.
He was dragged for only thirty seconds, before the figure halted at the first door he came to. "Our first stop for the night Hiashi," he said cheerfully. "Don't worry, this won't take long." He checked the door quietly. It was locked. Drawing his katana, Hiashi watched as wind chakra ran along its length. Gently, noiselessly, he inserted the katana into the wood of the door and effortlessly cut around the lock. Pushing the door open as he sheathed his sword, the figure walked in. No sound was heard. Twenty seconds later, he walked out once more, red liquid dripping off the kunai he held in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he sent several drops splashing onto Hiashi's face. Due to the paralysis seal placed on him, he couldn't even flinch. The liquid was warm.
Tears were running down from Hiashi's unblinking face. He had been taken to six different rooms and each time, the process was repeated. Blood now stained his robes and his face, were a pair of tear tracks could be seen, where his tears had washed away the blood. Hope had risen in his breast when he spotted a pair of guards walking down the corridor. But they had done nothing, just looked at him and smiled cruelly. Seeing the despair in his eyes, the figure crouched over in front of Hiashi. "Henge," he whispered. The despair just deepened. Hiashi understood. His guards could not help him anymore. Hair feeling as if it was about to be torn out by the roots, Hiashi was brought to another room. His captor stretched. "Well, this is the last stop before we get to the real party." Despite the situation, Hiashi could not help but feel a small stirring of relief. He feared that he would lose his sanity if this continued for any longer. The door was tried. It was unlocked. The figure went in, kunai drawn. This time, Hiashi heard a gasp, followed by a muffled shriek and the clattering of furniture, before there was a gasp. Then all was silent. The figure came out of the room, kunai stained with red once more. "The bitch was awake," he said lightly. Hate filled Hiashi's gaze. Then he heard a voice. "Hiashi-sama? What's going on?" Ko, one of his more trusted branch members, rounded the corner and stared at the scene in front of him, Hiashi on the ground, an armed specter above him. He started to shout out a warning, but the specter just swiped his hand in the air and Ko fell down, defeated. Hiashi felt the rage, the frustration, the helplessness and most of all, the hate for the man who had done this. He just sighed, ignoring Hiashi and his hate. "So sorry, Hiashi-sama. We are going to have to make one more stop. You," he said, pointing at one of the fake guards. "Carry him, we're going to the side room."
Three minutes later, Hiashi was dragged into the training dojo, along with seven other Hyuuga elders, three women and four men. Their eyes were just as dead as his and their face and robes were spotted with red. He learned later that they had all made the same stops as he had. They had all seen the room. Filled with forty, pale Hyuuga bodies, the floor sticky, wet and stained red. The tangy copper scent that filled the room and the red marks across their throats. But worst of all had been the ones whose eyes had been open, those pale, unseeing eyes. As each elder was dragged into the room, the clone pulling them had erupted in a small puff of smoke. Shadow clones. That explained all the replaced guards. Sitting easily on a chair, the figure made a one handed seal. "Release," he said casually. Strength returned to Hiashi's limbs and he dived at the man in front of him, hands outstretched, intent on killing this murderer. He was blown backward as he hit an invisible wall in front of him. Seals glowed at for corners of a large square, which contained all the Hyuuga. "Please," he stated. "Do you really think that I am that foolish?" Hiashi just glared at the man.
"Who are you?" one of the elders asked. Hiashi was too angry to notice who it was. The man in front of him smiled.
"Yes, I suppose that you will have to call me something. You may call me Yurei."
Naruto gazed at each of the Hyuuga in turn. He had them exactly where he wanted them. "Don't bother trying to scream for help," he said. "No one will hear you." Each and every one of the Hyuuga stiffened at his words. He smiled, allowing them to see the action from the way his mask moved. He noticed that Hiashi and four of the other elders were all using their Byakugan, trying to see who he was. Good luck with that. He had already tested the seals that he had sewn into this clothing. The byakugan could not see through it. "The seals I placed around this area mean that no sound will leave this dojo." The Hyuuga relaxed slightly. They had been worried that there was no one living left to hear them.
"Why did you do this?" Hiashi demanded. Yurei turned to him and spoke a single name.
"Hinata Hyuuga."
One of the elders, an old man by the name of Horensa, exploded. "That weakling bitch! What do your actions have to do with that disgrace? You've just sentenced her to execution!" Killing intent flooded the room. It was strong, stronger than anything that Hiashi had ever felt, save the Kyuubi's. But the Kyuubi's killing intent had been used against more than a hundred thousand people. This one's killing intent was divided amongst eight, with the majority of it aimed at Horensa. None of them could move. One of the women lost control of her bladder, as did two of the men. Horensa, just keeled over. The figure blinked, then sighed. "Damn. Looks like I gave him a heart attack," he said in that same quiet, calm tone, putting a leash on his killing intent. "Activate," he said, putting his hands in a seal again and walking in the barrier. Hiashi glared, just a couple of inches away from him and he could not do anything about it. Looking at Horensa, he sighed in frustration, raised his hand over his head, then slammed a fist into Horensa's chest. And again. And again. With a gasp of breath and of pain, Horensa sat bolt upright. "You may have some broken ribs, but you're not dead. Yet." Yurei walked out of the barrier once more and released the paralysis seal on the rest of them, laughing slightly to himself as 'killing with a look' took an entirely different new meaning to him.
"What does my daughter have to do about this?" Hiashi asked, his teeth gritted.
Yurei pulled his katana out of its sheath, studying its gleam in the strong moonlight. "You know," he said calmly. "If there is one thing that I really hate, it is child abuse. Well, that and rape." Looking over at them, he let just a trickle of his killing intent through to make his point and to keep them quiet through his explanation.
"Let me tell you a story. A story of a young girl, innocent and gentle. She gave to whoever asked and her kindness was a light to many. But this young girl had a curse that she never deserved. The curse of a family, a noble clan," he said with great contempt. "This girl did all that she could to make her family pleased with her, but it was never enough. They always wanted more. They wanted her to do better. And so she tried. She tried and tried and tried. But no matter if she had any improvement, she never received so much as a single word of encouragement. Instead, she was given nothing but scathing comments and verbal abuse. The girl already being shy in nature, started to draw away from the world, within herself. She rarely smiled. She never laughed. And as the undeserved abuse continued, she began having trouble. She was forced to fight her younger sister, who, due to her kind nature, she could never raise a hand against, even in self-defense. The abuse got worse and she started to get hit. At first it was a couple of slaps, or the back of someone's hand. But it made her more nervous and in turn, her performance suffered, just as she did. And then, her family, the people she loved above all others, began to beat her, again and again and again. Despite being well within her rights, she never mentioned it to anyone else. She never went to get it healed. She suffered in silence, because her loved ones, her precious people, said that she deserved it. But without healing, she couldn't perform. And the beatings again. She became shy, introverted and most of all, lonely. Once again, because of her noble family, she had difficulty making friends. She went through her life, unloved, friendless and all alone. Her family despised her, her sister hated her and her father," here he looked at Hiashi with rage in eyes that could be seen to be a glowing red. Emotion tinged Yurei's voice for the first time since Hiashi had seen him. "Her father, who she loved and respected above all others, constantly beat her, abused her, sent her into deep depressions and at times, almost drove her to suicide!" Hiashi's eyes widened. He had no idea. Yurei closed his eyes, breathing deeply, calming himself.
"And yet, despite all this, she remained kind, gentle and loving, just like her mother." Yurei glared at Hiashi once more. "Her life was miserable beyond anything that any of you could imagine." He breathed deeply once more.
"And then, something changed. She made a friend. And she could not be happier. For the first time in the longest time, she looked forward to every day. She looked forward to living. She could smile again and although she had nearly forgotten how, she could laugh again." Yurei chuckled lightly. "These were, to her mind, the best times of her life. And she began to improve. She still never got complimented on any of her improvements, but the scathing comments and abuse did not matter, for she had a friend, someone who accepted her, for just being her. And then, her noble family found out about her friend. He was a disreputable boy. Worse, he was the village pariah, the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Kyuubi no Yoko." He looked at their astonished faces. "Yes I know who and what he is. I was with the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze when the beast was sealed." Hiashi's eyes widened. That meant that the man in front of them was of considerable power.
Yurei continued with his story. "And so, the noble family brought the girl before the council of elders. They told her that she was longer to see her friend. Her heart died within her, but her friend had given her the courage to do something that she had never done before. She stood up for herself. 'No,' she said. The elders were furious. The girl had defied them! They ordered her to sever all ties with her friend. She refused yet again. And so, one of them stood up and spoke. 'To the dojo.' And there, this girl was forced to fight against the elders. Each one of them were masters at their style of taijutsu and none of them held back. After the first elder had sparred for half an hour, she was ordered to stay away from her friend. 'No,' she said. And the next elder took his turn. When she refused to abandon him yet again, the next elder faced her. And the next. And the next. Finally, all seven elders had beat the girl, for a total of three and a half hours. She was bruised, bloody, beaten to a pulp." Yurei pointed at a large bloodstain that was on the dojo floor. "And yet, she remained unbroken. She was finally showing the strength that the elders and her father had always wanted her to show. But they want her to be strong, they wanted her to be obedient. And once all the elders had finished, her father stood up. Hope bloomed in her for one brief moment. Surely her daddy would help her. That hope died in her chest as his foot kicked her in the stomach. Another half hour passed and this hurt the worst of all. Not because of the beating that was given, but because of who did it. Her dad, her father, was the one to do this to her. And once more, she was told to never see her friend again. Heartbroken, with multiple injuries and blood seeping from her wounds, she nevertheless managed to grasp the strength to whisper one more word. 'No.' Her noble family then told her that if she did not, a seal would be placed on both her and on the boy. Whenever they got close, the seal would automatically activate and this would happen to both of them." Yurei raised his hands in a seal. "PAIN!" he roared. Screams ripped from the mouths of each Hyuuga there. Yurei cancelled the seal and continued talking. "Worried, not for herself, but for her friend, the girl finally agreed. And then she was healed. Not everywhere, but just in the places were it would show. After all, it could not be known that a noble family beat a child almost to the point of death." When he finished, the contempt and disgust he held for them was clear in his voice.
"So then what is this?" Horensa asked. "Judgment? Why would you even care?" Yurei shook his head. "I care, because she was once kind to me, she stood for me when I was pinned and weak. I care because I count her to be precious. And this is not judgment. This is merely a warning."
"A warning?" one of the female elders nearly shrieked. "You consider killing more than forty clan members nothing more than a warning?" Yurei paused.
"Maybe," he said. "But I think that you are forgetting all the little stops that we all made on our way here." Takashi threw up as realization hit them all. Yurei appeared not to notice.
"Maybe I do. Hinata is precious to me. I will do anything to protect those precious to me. So, aye. This is a warning. And trust me, if something like this happens again, there will be no more warning. There will be judgment. No more physical abuse. No more verbal abuse. If you hurt her, I'll kill you. If you make tears come from her eyes, I'll remove yours and sell them to Kumo. If she ever goes through another beating like that again, I'll kill all of those responsible, then their immediate family. You will let her be friends with whoever she wishes, even the Demon Brat if that is what she wants."
"Unacceptable!" Horensa yelled. "You cannot do this to us! Who do you think you are!"
Yurei smirked. "A good friend. But a terrible enemy. I'm the man who broke into your compound. I'm the man who took out every single one of your guards without any of them even being able to set off the alarm. I'm the man who holds the life of you and your entire clan in the palm of his hand. Plus, if you don't do as I tell you to, then I will release certain… information that I am sure you would not like the public to find out." In reality, Naruto had next to no dirt on the Hyuuga clan, but Jiraiya had always told him that everyone has some skeletons in their closet and that if you were vague enough about it, they would automatically assume the worse. In other words, he was bluffing. But as he said it and old nervous habit came into play, as Naruto raised both hands and rubbed the back of his neck and head. That, combined with the words information led all the Hyuuga present to come to a distressing, if incorrect, assumption. 'He knows about the byakugan's blind spot!' They thought as one. "Agreed," Horensa spoke through gritted teeth.
"And one more thing." At this, his killing intent flooded the room once more, stronger than ever. "If you seal her, or even threaten to seal her, then she and the Uchiha will have something in common, for I will kill every single Hyuuga aged over eleven years old. But if she disappears one night and I have even the slightest inkling of suspicion that a Hyuuga is responsible for it, the Hyuuga clan dies. I will annihilate the entire clan. The men. The women and the children. Or maybe I'll just kill the children and those without any and let the parents bury their sons and daughters. Let them live with the knowledge that their babies are dead and that it is their fault." Silence greeted this statement. Horensa suddenly smirked.
"You wouldn't. Hinata cares about her family too much. If you did that, you'd hurt her." Yurei just shrugged. "Not as much as you do. Besides, she'll get over it eventually. After all, when have any of you done something right by her anyway?"
"And you!" Yurei knelt to the ground and poked Hiashi in the chest. "You will act as a father should. I don't know why I actually have to tell you this, but at least try and act like you love your daughter." Fire burned in Hiashi's eyes.
"You're wrong," he said angrily.
"Oh? How so?"
"I do love my daughter." Yurei gave Hiashi a back handed slap across the face.
"Don't lie to me," he said disparagingly.
"It's not a lie!" Hiashi shouted, ignoring the red welt on his face.
Yurei just looked at him. "I'll tell you a secret Hiashi," he said condescendingly. Hinata doesn't believe that." Hiashi recoiled as if struck. That, more than anything else that Yurei had said, had hit him hard. "Besides, Hiashi-sama. I've seen your daughters' rooms'. There's Hanabi filled with expensive gifts and pictures. She even has several pictures of you actually smiling! And then there's Hinata's room. The only way that you can tell it belongs to her is that stuffed fox toy that's on her bed, the different painting scheme and the picture of her mother that she keeps hidden away in fear that it will be taken from her, just like so many other precious things that she once had. I believe you said she had to earn them back. Tell me Hiashi. Do you really think that she believes you love her?"
Hiashi hung his head. "Well. Are we in agreement?" Scowling, the Hyuuga elders nodded. "Good. Stand up." They remained on the ground. Yurei put his hands into the signal for pain. They stood up. Yurei nodded in satisfaction. "Activate." Once more, they were, paralyzed, this time standing up straight. Naruto walked towards them and with the kunai he had prepared hours before hand, he drew a red line across their throats. "That ink is special. It can be hidden with a genjutsu, but the Hyuuga eyes will still see it. Tomorrow morning the entire Hyuuga clan will apologize to Hinata, on bended knee. Do that and you will be given the only substance that will wash away that ink without turning it poisonous. Or forever live with the shame of having it on your neck." He turned to leave. "you will remain here until sunrise. When the sun rises, the paralysing seal i've painted on you will dissipate." Naruto had been able to easily copy the seal from his dad's book. Takashi spoke, surprising them all, except Naruto. There were two seals placed on them. One to stop movement, one to stop speaking. He had normally just activated them both at once. "Then the others aren't dead." Naruto, known to them as Yurei, shook his head.
"No. This was only a warning after all. Come sunrise, every one of you will be able to move once more."
"Are you a Namikaze?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why on earth would I tell you that? Minato loved me and I still love him, even if he's gone. The village practically worships the Yondaime Hokage as a minor god and yet I see how you treat the Namikaze heir, his son. What difference would it make if I were a Namikaze or not?"
Shocked silence greeted this statement. Hiashi in particular was dumbstruck. He had known Minato well, mostly through business as clan head and Hokage. Nevertheless, Minato was one of the best friends that he had ever had. He had never even known that he had had a son. "Why do you ask?" the man known to them as Yurei inquired.
"By their enemies, the Namikaze were known for their flashy jutsu and for good friends, but terrible enemies. Their friends also knew them for another skill: their deadly assassination skills. They would have been known for the same by their enemies, at least, if it were not for their deadly assassination skills."
"There is one more thing that the Namikaze clan is noted for. Honor. A Namikaze would never ask someone to do something that they wouldn't do themselves," Naruto said. "But above all, they would sacrifice anything for their family, to those precious to them." Moving behind them, he watched as their eyes followed him. Their mouths dried as they heard the steely rasp of his katana being drawn. "You Hyuuga grow your hair long to show your noble status. To show that you are a clan of honor." In one, wide slash, he cut off the hair of each Hyuuga, dipping and lifting his sword as he did so, leaving their hair cut at the nape of their neck. "You have no honor." Despite these words, he removed the paper seal that he had placed on the back of their necks. "But I do. And so I will not continually threaten you with a torture seal at all times. But since I am pretty pissed that you do it to the cadet branch…" Yurei waved his hand in front of him and the kazebo jutsu knocked them all to the ground.
Yurei let out an exhalation of satisfaction, turned and walked towards the door. He stopped just before leaving. "Maybe I am a Namikaze, maybe I'm not. That doesn't matter. Hinata stayed at Kurenai Yuuhi's house tonight. She will be here a couple of hours after sunrise. The entire clan will be there for her return. They will all apologize for the wrongs that they have committed to her in the past. And they will apologize on their knees. Either you enforce this, or I will. Oh and one last thing. The Namikaze heir is under my protection, as is Hinata and I would appreciate it if news of his existence was not bandied about around the village. Touch either of them and I guarantee that you will regret it." So saying, he disappeared from the dojo.
In a couple of hours, the entire clan was in uproar. Naruto had made sure that he painted the fuiin seal on each and every Hyuuga in the household. Shadow clones were a very useful thing. And each and every Hyuuga who had ever hurt Hinata had woken to see a terrifying figure standing over them, holding a katana to their throats, only to find that they were completely helpless. Every person who Naruto had found out had ever beaten Hinata was shorn. Naruto had made a copy of any of the names that Hinata had sobbed out when she had completely broken down. He did not press her for answers, but he got them, nevertheless. After that it was a relatively simple matter to use a couple of shadow clones in Hiashi's office to find out who lived where. The entire clan was called for an emergency meeting. The newly shorn Hyuuga were particularly angry. But their fear outweighed their anger. Finally, after much deliberation, they came to a conclusion.
Anko had decided against walking Hinata to the Hyuuga clan compound, but had instead climbed a tree where she could see the Hyuuga clan grounds with a telescope that she had confiscated from Jiraiya a long time ago. She watched wide eyed as she watched Hinata walk through the gates and the entire clan kneeled down in front of her. "Kami above, she whispered. "He did it. The little punk actually did it."
Authors note
And cut. Hope you liked it. Review if you thought that Naruto had actually killed them. Scratch that. Review anyway. Right now, I'm in the middle of a camp and I had to swap two king-size chocolate bars with a mate, who incidentally, was the same one who suggested I leave of updating for a while, so that I could use his wi-fi to upload this thing. He says that I'm foolish. That I will be disappointed with the number of reviews. HELP ME PROVE HIM WRONG! Ahem. Hope you liked it. More on Hyuuga's humiliation next chapter, Hinata's point of view. I enjoyed writing this chapter, it was fun at times, yet real difficult in others. So, read and review and help me with ideas, like a different chapter heading. Didn't like this one, couldn't think of another. And in case you haven't noticed, I also kinda suck at Japanese names. I could use a hand with that as well.
