Heart of Darkness
Chapter 9:
Anxious Hearts
'Huh...?'
'What happened...?'
The eyes of Kiba opened gradually as he awoke. "Wha..." As he oriented himself, the memories of just moments before came to in a flash, causing his expression to become solemn. "That's right...Naruto...he..."
"You got your answer. I am Naruto...but you'll never live to tell anyone. Jibakukage Kougeki!" The characters for 'suicide' appeared on Narutos forehead, glowing a crimson light. He rushed into Kiba, hands in a seal, with a sickening grin on his face.
"WHAT?" Kiba's eyes widened, immediately realizing what was about to happen.
"See you in hell."
A grand explosion of fire and light lit up the surrounding area.
"Am I dead?" Kiba exclaimed. He quickly felt himself, checking for any injuries. He ran his hand over his chest and flinched. "Ouch!" He looked at his hand and saw that it was covered in blood and black ash. "...I'm alive? But how...? There's no way I could have survived that explosion from that close up!"
Kiba stood up and looked around. His eyes came upon Akamaru, lying on the ground with his fur soaked in blood. "AKAMARU!"
He ran over to his canine companion. The dog was in horrible shaped, his breath a mere wheeze and his body heavy damaged. Kiba knelt down and cradled Akamaru's head in his arms. "Y-You jumped in front of me at the last second didn't you boy?" Akamaru's eyes were closed and he was barely remaining conscious.
'This is bad!' Kiba thought, looking at the wound on Akamaru with slight panic. 'These are third degree burns and it goes deep! If I don't do something quick, Akamaru will...'
"I have to hand it to you, that dog is loyal isn't he?"
Kiba's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. "No...it can't be..." Slowly, he turned around and stared at the source of the voice with shocked eyes that refused to believe the reality in front of them. "I SAW YOU DIE!"
Naruto stood before Kiba with only the scratches from the tsuuga and Akamaru's bite marring his body. Other than that, he appeared to be in far better shape than Kiba. "You saw my shadow clone die."
"What? That's impossible! We destroyed the clone!"
"You did," Naruto agreed. "But I made another one. After I used the doryuheki, I made another clone from behind the wall and hid." Naruto smiled darkly. "It's too bad though...looks like Akamaru's courageous act was all for nothing."
"You...YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU FOR HURTING AKAMARU!" Kiba screamed, making a jump at Naruto. Naruto started to leap forward to meet Kiba but just out of the corner of his eye, he saw a kunai flying straight at him and had to dodge.
"Kiba-kun! Are you alright?"
Kiba turned to the familiar voice, surprised. "H-Hinata?"
There Hinata was, standing before Naruto just as he remembered. Her soft, timid features apparent though mixed with a quiet, yet prominent fierceness caused by the heat of battle. Her body had evolved into the form of an athletic, but petite young woman. Her dark blue hair was also longer and now draped down her back.
Kiba quickly whipped around to see what Naruto's reaction was but he had already re-equipped the hunter-nin mask.
"K-Kiba-kun?"
"Oh, y-yeah, I'm fine," Kiba said, somewhat nervous and distracted. He couldn't help but think about what Naruto was going to do. Would he reveal himself to Hinata? 'What are you going to do...Naruto...'
Hinata took a moment to glanced at the enemy ninja. The young man wasn't looking in her direction at all for some reason. She blinked in confusion when realized that her heart had abruptly quickened its pace. '...W-Why...is my heart beating so fast?' Could it be that she couldn't help but tremble at the incredible power she felt emitting from the unknown ninja? It was true that an enormous power radiated about him like a violent torrent, a force that had momentarily overwhelmed her when she first stepped onto the battlefield. The strength was animalistic, a mysterious beastly chakra that she had never felt before; not even from Kiba, a ninja who was very much in touch with his inner beast. For some reason though, a part of her told her that it wasn't fear that was causing the odd sensation, making her body tremble. It was something different. There was something very nostalgic about this unknown ninja. Though she couldn't see his face, there was something about the hair and chakra that was very familiar. Kiba's voice snapped her out of her daze.
"Hinata! Can you please help save Akamaru! He's injured badly, I don't know what to do!"
Hinata's eyes found Akamaru's motionless body and gasped. She quickly ran over and began treating the dog's injuries. "Oh no! What happened to him?"
Kiba glared at Naruto hatefully. "It's this bastard's fault! I'm gonna kill him!" he shouted out, forming a seal.
"Gijyuu Ninpou: Mouko Tsume no Jutsu!" An aura of chakra appeared around Kiba's claw-like hands. With a burst of speed, he charged at Naruto and struck at his face. Naruto hopped backwards and quite easily dodged by a lengthy distance. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, surprised, as he realized his mask had been grazed by the passing blow.
'But I was at least a foot away from him...how...?' Naruto thought as he dodged another slash. While retreating backwards, Naruto peered behind Kiba at the spot he had just been. He noticed that the tree that had been near him was covered in slash marks. This time he was sure that he wasn't at all close enough to that tree for Kiba's slashes to be marked so deeply in the bark.
'I get it...his claws must be wrapped in an invisible chakra. The chakra blades stretch much longer than what the visible aura actually shows,' Naruto thought.
Naruto cast a quick glance at Hinata, who was busy tending to Akamaru. 'Hinata...'
Anko dreamt.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
The young man in question looked up from his book and glanced over his shoulder to the girl bouncing his way. "Hm?"
"Can you teach me a jutsu today?" the young girl pleaded, her eyes wide with hope.
"I'm afraid not, I'm rather busy."
She twisted in her feverish sleep, sweat dripping down the sides of her forehead. 'Why...am I dreaming of this...'
"Awww, c'mon Orochimaru-sama!"
"Maybe tomorrow..."
"Pleaaaaaase!"
"For now, go study on your own. You don't need my help."
"B-But..."
Orochimaru sighed, rubbing his brow in slight irritation. The girl was become a bother as of late, interrupting him during nearly all his free time. She had even discovered where he lived somehow. "Anko, it's time you stop being so pampered. If you're always relying on someone then you'll never accomplish anything on your own. You'll never get stronger."
The girl flinched slightly, but argued, "But Kayato-sensei says that you're supposed to rely on your teammate and your teammate relies on you. 'Together, you are each other's strength. That's what makes Konoha ninjas strong,' he said."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "That is an excuse for the weak. If you are strong, you don't need to rely on anyone. Konoha ninjas are not strong...they are weak."
"Wh-What?"
"...Nothing. Forget what I said," Orochimaru said with a shake of his head. "I was merely talking to myself."
"No..." Anko said, hesitantly at first, then more firmly. "I...I think I understand Orochimaru-sama. If we're always relying on someone, then what are we gonna do when we're alone! I believe in anything Orochimaru-sama says!"
Orochimaru blinked at the girl's statement. 'Interesting...' he thought. A smile slowly crept up onto his features. "You catch on quickly. Very well, as a reward, I will teach you a jutsu. It is a very strong jutsu, but also very dangerous to learn. Are you prepared?"
"Of course Orochimaru-sama!"
"Good. First, you..."
The next day, Orochimaru sat in the same spot, quietly studying on numerous things.
"...O-Orochimaru...sama..."
Orochimaru looked up and was genuinely surprised to see Anko standing there in front him. She was battered, covered in blood, and clutching an arm that was twisted in an awkward, unnatural position. 'She's alive?'
"I-I...did it..." she managed to get out before falling to the ground.
'That's...that's impossible. There's no way she could have completed the jutsu...' Orochimaru made his way over to fallen girl and knelt down beside her.
Anko's half-open eyes beamed up at him. "I-I'm going to become strong..." She coughed and blood sprayed everywhere. "...l-like Orochimaru-sama...no matter what..."
Anko eyes cracked open. "Wha..." she said groggily in a dazed, almost drugged like state. She tried to sit up but her body refused to do so. "What's happening to me...?" With all her strength, she lifted up her hand that seemed to weigh a hundred pounds heavier. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw that her entire arm was covered in the curved black flame markings of the Heaven Seal. The flames glowed with a fluorescent purple haze and the shapes were beginning to twist and morph into something else. Almost fearfully, she twisted her to head to examine her cursed seal on the nape of the neck. "I-It's...changing!" she gasped. The three, curved tear-like markings had become three straight diamond shapes.
"What...did he do to me...?" she croaked. A sudden surge of pain surged throughout her body, causing her to scream out in agony. Unable to take the pain any longer, she slipped back into unconsciousness.
Some distance away, a pair of cool, calculating eyes watched.
Hinata stared intently at her handiwork on Akamaru with a critical eye. After a long moment, she let out the breath she hadn't know she was holding and wiped the sweat from her brow. 'With this, hopefully, Akamaru will pull through...' Her task complete, she focused her attention to the two ninjas fighting. Kiba's expression worried her. Something had happened between Kiba and this ninja but she couldn't figure out what. 'Who is he...?'
She shook her head. Now was not the time to wondering about such things, her teammate needed her help! Hinata waited until Naruto's back was turned to her then charged in, armed in the Jyuken stance. She struck at Naruto, but he had somehow caught her presence and expected the attack, allowing him to easily swat the blow aside. He was about to turn on Hinata, but Kiba quickly got in his face.
"You're opponent is me!" Kiba yelled out and slashed in between Hinata and Naruto. Naruto retreated a few hops back and peered his two opponents.
"Hinata, stay out of this!" Kiba said to her, coming off more angry that he had meant to.
"B-But..."
His eyes softened slightly. "Please Hinata, leave him to me. This guy...he's really dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt," he said, but thought, 'That's an excuse...please Hinata, don't get involved.'
Hinata looked like she was about to say something but thought otherwise and nodded. 'This is the first time I have ever seen Kiba-kun so serious,' she thought.
"Is...Is Akamaru going to be alright?" Kiba ask hesitantly.
Hinata bit her lower lip. "Um, I've done all I can, b-but...I think so. For now." It was true that she prolonged an immediate death, but what she didn't want to tell him was that it was about a 50/50 chance of his survival through the night. He didn't need to know that right now, it would distract him from the fight and make him lose focus.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright? This man is..." She glanced at him and was surprised see him looking at her for the first time. Their eyes made contact. For a split second, Hinata saw past his invisible mask and a gate opened.
Pain, sadness, suffering. That is what Hinata saw. They were mixed with other, more complex feelings that Hinata didn't quite know what to make of. There were so many layers, so many different facets, in the depths of this man's eyes. Eyes that seemed to tell her he was not quite a man, but more like a boy forced to grow up, so much like someone she knew. Lightning seemed strike her at that moment and it all came together. Her first assumptions were true. She had not met this boy before. Not this side of him.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata cried out, surprising Kiba.
Naruto's eyes widened.
A variety of emotions crossed Hinata's features all at once. Shock became confusion, confusion turned to hopefulness, and finally that hope became a hesitant joy. "I-It is you, isn't it Naruto-kun?"
Naruto tried to control his emotions and not let her tender voice get to him.
She slowly, almost shyly made her way to Naruto with timid steps and an anxious heart. She stopped when she was just a few feet in front of him. "Are you...Naruto?"
Naruto looked Hinata back in the eyes, unable to break his gaze away for she held it down with a wide-eyed, helpless expression that wrung at his heart. "I...I am." Finding it impossible to keep up the facade, he took off his mask to reveal an anxious, uncertain expression.
A full fledged smile broke out and Hinata threw her arms around Naruto's neck, bringing him into a fierce hug while tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "We thought you were dead!" In her heartfelt joy, her mind forgot the tentative situation they were in.
It took a moment before Naruto returned the embrace, his arms wrapping around the small of her back and curling around her hair. His expression remained the same though, still unsure of what to do. After all, the context for their meeting was not the best of circumstances. "Hinata...chan..."
'Why am I losing control like this?' Naruto thought as hugged her. 'This isn't like me. I...I didn't even know her that well.' But he could not ignore the feelings that were surfacing out of the depths of his heart, feelings that he had locked away in order to become stronger. A part of him answered. 'Because she was your only real friend.'
Hinata, the only person that never once looked down at him, that never saw him as anything except as just himself. She even told him that she admired him. Just that was enough for her to steal a place in his heart without even him knowing it.
Kiba watched the two with wavering eyes, wishing he could look away for his chest wrenched painfully at the sight. "Hinata..." he whispered warily.
As her senses gradually returned to her, Hinata let go of Naruto and the reality of the situation was forced upon her. Her smile faded into a worried frown. "W-Why were you fighting Kiba-kun? Why did you hurt Akamaru?"
Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, looking away, before staring back at Hinata with a sad gaze. "Hinata...I'm not the Naruto you once knew."
"Wh-What?"
"Naruto of Konoha is gone and he can't ever come back. I'm Naruto of Akatsuki now, enemy to Konoha."
Hinata shook her head, confused and slightly frightened by what he was implicating. "I don't understand. What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"
"I can't be your friend anymore, Hinata. I'm sorry," he said in a strained tone.
"No, I...I don't understand! Why!" she cried out. "Can't you just come back and be part of Konoha again? There are so many people that miss you!"
"I can't! Besides, that's just it Hinata. There aren't people that miss me. You're the only one!" he shouted back, full of emotion. "I don't want to come back...I...I hate Konoha."
Hinata stared intently into Naruto's eyes. "Do you really think that, Naruto-kun? All the people you grew up with, you're dream, everything...you can't mean that Naruto-kun!"
"I..." He thought hard, back to his childhood memories - the beatings, the stares, the oppression - and tried to grasp upon them for strength, but those were not the memories that came to him. He saw himself at a young age standing in the hall with three other children. A teacher was looking down at them, angry and disapprovingly. It was Iruka and he was berating them for not paying attention in class. The children, Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba, all listened halfheartedly with bored, impatient expressions. Finally, Naruto couldn't take it anymore and he jumped out the window while sticking his tongue out at Iruka. The others grinned and followed suite with Iruka hot on their tails. He yelled his lungs out, commanding them to stop, but the children simply laughed to each other and kept on running.
"I-" Naruto began to speak but was cut off as a kunai whipped by him, surprising all three, Kiba included.
"Step away from him Hinata."
They looked up into the trees to see two ANBU starring down at them. One was unmasked.
Kiba and Hinata both immediately recognized the unmasked ANBU. "Shino!"
(Original Jutsus)
Gijyuu Ninpou: Mouko Tsume no Jutsu - Beast Mimicry Ninja Technique: Fierce Tiger Claw
Jibakukage Kougeki - Suicide Shadow Bomb Attack
A/N: Surprised? I hope so, I love surprises and plot twists. That's mainly why I don't answer a lot of the questions I see in reviews. It's not that I'm ignoring them, it's just that most of them are either going to be answered in a couple chapters or it will spoil something. By the way, I reaaallllly appreciate everyone who's read this story and submitted a review! Thanks!