Hatake Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage's desk in muted shock. He had failed.
Again.
Sasuke had failed to heed his words about vengeance, camaraderie, and loyalty. Now, Kakashi and Sasuke's failings were putting Naruto and the other members of the Retrieval Team in great danger. Sasuke had even struck Sakura...his teammate and the girl that was truly in love with him.
He was heading to the gates of Konoha when a small team of Hyūga and medics arrived. "I take it Hiashi requested support for the Hunter Squads?"
One of the Hyūga nodded. The Hyūga wore his hair in a shoulder-length cut. "Hiashi-sama and Tsunade-sama felt it prudent to deploy additional assets to bring our the Retrieval Teams home. They will, unfortunately and undoubtedly, need medical assistance."
Kakashi sighed at the formality of the Hyūga. "Unfortunately. Stay close, we move out...now!" He bit his thumb to draw blood before completing the Summoning Jutsu.
"Yo, Kakashi! You're not sending me to chase after a crazy Jinchūriki again, are you?" Pakkun asked, greeting his summoner.
"No, Pakkun," Kakashi promised his summon. "We need your help in tracking Naruto and Sasuke. Either by choice or coercion, Sasuke has defected to Oto and Orochimaru."
"Well, shit," Pakkun grumbled.
"These assholes are too damn persistent!" Tayuya cursed as it became very clear that the Konoha team was gaining ground. "I bet that fat bastard is dead."
Sakon hissed in frustration. "We will wish those Konoha fools had killed us if we do not get this dead-weight Uchiha to Orochimaru-sama soon."
"I think it's time for Player One to enter the game," Kidōmaru snapped. "Time to get my killstreak up."
"Whatever," Tayuya huffed. "Just don't fuck things up."
"Have faith, I'm an expert!" Kidōmaru bragged. The heavily-modified shinobi melted into the treeline.
"I hate that guy," Tayuya spat.
Sakon rolled his eyes. "You hate all of us, woman."
Aburame Shino could feel the ambush before he had any true understanding it was coming. The kikaichū bugs writhed under his skin and flooded the hive with certain pheromones and their limited system's equivalent to adrenaline. Shino interpreted the data his forward sentries as a warning of some form of predator ambush. The information was too fragmented and panicked. 'What are you trying to tell me?'
The information soon hit him like a raging bull. "Ambush! Spider-web trap!"
Naruto had a pair of kage bunshin on point with Kiba close behind. Shino's friend and teammate heard the warning before the kage bunshin. Naruto's solid clones quickly became ensnared in the spider's web. Kiba managed to pause his advance, but Akamaru got caught in the web. Shino's teammate immediately set to work freeing his canine partner from the webbing.
"Kiba! Above you!" Shino cried out in alarm. Kiba stood his ground to defend Akumaru. The strange spider-like shinobi was was preparing to attack.
In a triumphant example of miraculous timing, the attack never materialized. Hyūga Neji had launched a surprise attack using a simple Jūken technique known as the Palm Bottom. It disrupted the chakra-infused silk and threw the enemy's aim off.
"The hell?! No one has ever been able to break my webbing!"
The Sasuke Recovery Team was shocked that the explanation did not come from Neji.
"You're webbing is infused with chakra. T-There is no way you can hide the secrets of your technique from these eyes," Hinata Hyūga announced.
'She's goaded this guy. Hinata realizes that Jūken is the best bet against him. This freak's webbing allows him to attack from a distance, but if Hinata and Neji stay behind, they can cover each other and force him into close combat. I guess she's realizing that if she keeps going, she'll drop from physical exhaustion. This is her only chance.' Shikamaru gauged the options.
This was it.
"Arrogant little bitch," Kidōmaru sneered. His sneer became a look of panic as Neji nearly struck him in the side of the head with a Jūken strike.
"Naruto! Hinata-sama and I will handle this enemy. You are the only one who possess the insight and power to rescue Sasuke from his own darkness."
"But!" Naruto called out. He hadn't fought so hard to save Hinata and Neji to let them fight a Jonin-level opponent on their own.
"Naruto-kun, y-you are forgetting something important...the H-Hyūga are Konoha's strongest!" Hinata exclaimed.
It took the Uzumaki Chuunin a moment to realize that Hinata needed this battle on some level. Her last fight had been against her own, admittedly treasonous but still own, family. Naruto understood that this fight, for the good of the village, was also for Hinata's good as well. She needed to wash away her fratricide with service.
Hinata also needed Naruto to have faith in her as a kunoichi.
"D-Don't use up too much chakra on this asshole," Naruto forced out an order. "I, we, will need your Byakugan to track down the rest of Orochimaru's trash."
"I can't believe I'm stuck with two easy-mode trash talkers!" Kidōmaru roared. His rant never had an opportunity to continue as a wall of pure chakra knocked him from his perch and practically shattered the tree he was resting on.
"Hinata and Neji have got this!" Kiba shouted. "If we don't hurry, Akamaru and I will lose Sasuke's scent!"
"When Chouji and Tenten catch up, brief them on the situation," Shikamaru ordered and motioned for the rest of the team to follow.
Naruto watched Hinata and Neji leap into the trees after the Otogakure shinobi. As Hinata's form disappeared from sight, Naruto whispered a silent prayer for her quick victory.
Naruto quickly caught up to the rest of the Recovery Team. For shinobi, the mission may have had to come before personal concerns.
It didn't mean they had to like it. And Naruto currently hated the situation.
'Damn it!' Kidōmaru thought was he watched the two Hyūga deflect or destroy the webbing he sent to delay the rest of the Konoha shinobi from resuming their chase of Orochimaru-sama's prize. 'They really are rendering my webbing useless!'
Worse, the two Hyūga shinobi were able to coordinate their efforts on an almost uncanny level. Kidōmaru formed six arrows and fired them in quick succession. The kunoichi was almost sickeningly agile and managed to dodge all of the arrows. Kidōmaru readied a second batch of arrows, only to be engaged in close combat by the male ninja.
'They have to be twins! There's no way anyone else can have this level of instinctive coordination without that connection. Orochimaru-sama, Guren, and Kabuto researched 'Twin Sense'. This has to be it!' the Spider-nin thought in a panic. He tried to block the onslaught of precise blows.
"My chakra!" Kidōmaru cried out as his control became shot.
"Jūken cannot be defended against," Neji declared. "And by the way...this isn't easy mode. It's game over. You are in range of my Divination! Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!"
Hinata did not stop to admire her cousin's flawless execution of one of the Hyūga Clan's most powerful techniques. The kunoichi was rushing to get into position. Her muscles and chakra network were straining to keep up this level of exertion. This was her second major battle in less than twenty-four hours.
'Hurry, Hinata!' she extolled herself. 'Neji-nii-san and Naruto-kun aren't the only ones counting on me!'
The tree was cracking from the force of Neji's assault. Hinata nearly lost control of her chakra due to exhaustion and felt her feet lift off the tree limb. She was over compensating.
There was no time. "Divination!" The tree shattered as Hinata roughly entered position. Her foe was strangely proportioned. Something, probably not Neji's attack, had warped his features. The Hyūga kunoichi didn't have time to contemplate this strange development.
"Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" Hinata cried as she joined in the Jūken onslaught. 'I will not fail!'
Sakon and Tayuya raced through the trees in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of the Konoha pursuit team. The Otogakure shinobi couldn't believe that they were being taken to task by two Chuunin and six Genin. The Sound Four may have been outnumbered two-to-one, but they were Orochimaru's elite! Orochimaru-sama had given them the Cursed Seal, and they had survived the torturous process to master the Juinjutsu.
"It's been a third of a day and we've not even finished half of the plan!" Tayuya hissed. "If we don't get Sasuke back to Orochimaru-sama, we'll wish Konoha got a hold of us!"
Thud!
"What the heck!" Sakon griped. "There's no way. He can't possible have already conquered his Seal!"
"Why the hell are fat-ass and Kidōmaru taking their sweet time?" The redheaded kunoichi barked.
"Maybe cause they got their asses kicked!" A voice the Oto shinobi recognized as the shorter of the two Konoha Chuunin answered the question. "We've caught up and there's nowhere left to run!"
"Yeah! You've got nowhere to run!" Sakon had snapped. He charged the four Konoha Shinobi. "Taren Ken!"
The impact struck one of the shinobi wearing a high collared jacket. Instead of the delightful music of agony, Sakon's impact created a cloud of insects. The hesitation born of surprise created another opening that the Konoha platoon exploited. Sakon miraculously executed a kawarimi before the blond-haired Chuunin obliterated him with a spiraling sphere of pure chakra.
"You dumbass! They wanted you to dodge!" Tayuya shrieked. She suddenly lost all feeling in her lower body. "W-What?"
"Kagemane: success!" Tayuya heard the other Chuunin declare. She turned her head and saw the other Chuunin heading straight for her. She fully expected to die when a particularly violent tremor from Sasuke's container broke the shadow binding Tayuya to Shikamaru. The Sound Kunoichi immediately hit the dirt. She cast a glance towards her sole remaining compatriot. Sakon was using his superior speed to press the advantage against the boy with the dog and the bug-user.
Her lucky timing saw the smirking Chuunin sail over her head. The blonde guy canceled his attack before he hit Sasuke's container. He grabbed the container with a triumphant yell.
"Great work Naruto!" the shadow manipulator crowed. "Kiba! Shino! Disengage."
Sakon heard the order and snarled. "Oh no you don't!" He threw himself at the tattooed boy and unleashed a flurry of attacks. The Oto and Konoha fighters were locked in a fierce taijutsu battle. The tide turned when the small white dog bit Sakon in the Ankle, tearing Sakon's Achilles' Tendon.
"Shit!" Tayuya's exclaimation captured just how desperate Orochimaru's Elites had become. Konoha was winning. Scratch that, they were dominating them. Even if Jirōbō and Kidōmaru had killed their opponents, they were likely in no condition to prevent Konoha from reclaiming the Uchiha.
Tayuya lamented her failure, but her visage suddenly twisted into one of terrified relief.
The branches where the taijutsu battle was occurring was cut away. Sakon and his opponents were caught so off guard that they had fallen nearly twenty feet into the ravine before they had even registered the event. Tayuya only knew one shinobi that fast and that skilled in kenjutsu outside of Orochimaru-sama.
"K-Kimimaro!"
The ANBU materialized in the Hokage's office. The female ANBU still had her porcelain cat mask over her face. Her stance was tense. The recent missions she had been on were executed quickly, efficiently, and with no ties back to Konoha. For a Jonin, the missions would be worthy of a commendation.
For ANBU, they were average. ANBU could not accept average.
"Reporting as ordered, Hokage-sama," the ANBU said professionally.
Tsunade smiled at the ANBU. "There are silencing seals in place. Please remove your mask, Hyou. For the purposes of this mission, I require Uzuki Yūgao."
Yūgao acquiesced and removed her ANBU mask. She was a beautiful woman with, long purple hair, warm brown eyes and noble features. "What does my Hokage require?"
"I have a long-term mission. It is highly unusual, and in no way a critique on your performance. As a member of ANBU Team Ro, I assigned you to observe and contain Uzumaki Naruto's assault on the Hyūga Usurpers. What is your assessment of the assault?"
"Uzumaki Naruto showed incredible skill. He defeated numerous Chuunin and even a pair of Jonin," Yūgao recalled. "His tactics were incredibly well conceived and he protected the Hyūga non-combatants to the best of his ability. The boy's talent is still a bit raw, but with the proper training, Uzumaki-san could be an ANBU Candidate in five years."
"I want him to be an ANBU candidate in three." Tsunade leaned forward. "Did you witness Hyūga Hinata at anytime during the battle?"
"Not directly, Hokage-sama. Several ANBU were surprised by her improvement. Hyūga Hanako may have been past her prime, but she was still a veteran of several shinobi wars, including the last World War."
Tsunade sighed. "Was there consensus on her potential?"
"From what I've heard, she will make a fine Jonin eventually. Her disposition is uniquely suited for the sensei of a Genin Cell. ANBU, however, does not see her as a potential candidate at this time. We feel her talents and nature would best serve the village in other capacities," Yūgao finished her report.
The Godaime Hokage nodded. "That is an assessment I can agree with. Now, for the long-term assignment I mentioned. Officially, you will be Hyūga Hinata's 'warden' during her 'penitent journey'. She did, technically, kill a member of her own clan. Uzumaki Naruto will be leaving on a 'penitent journey' with Jiraiya of the Sannin on the same day. I want you to accompany Naruto and Jiraiya. One, you will provide Naruto with expanded training. Two, I want you to make sure my teammate doesn't slack off while he should be training my most promising shinobi. Finally, I want Hyūga Hinata to be prepared to prove her clan dead wrong."
"I understand, Hokage-sama."
"You're wondering, 'why me', aren't you?" Tsuande asked. Yūgao nodded. "It is simple. I feel you are exactly what Hinata and Naruto need to achieve their potential. Yūgao, you are ANBU and have experience in the depths of our shinobi world. Kurenai has a strong bond with Hinata, but she's too close. I need someone who will be honest and address Hinata's growth and flaws in a realistic way. I also want someone to make sure that Jiraiya's personal habits don't rub off on Naruto."
After a moments pause, Tsunade continued. "And you said it yourself, Naruto is an ANBU candidate. I want him ready in three years."
"Three years," Yūgao repeated. "With Jiraiya-sama's assistance, I believe Uzumaki Naruto could be ready for ANBU service in two."
"Prepare him for his Jonin trials the moment he comes back through the gates," Tsunade ordered as she slid the full mission document across the desk. Yūgao picked it up and felt a quiver of shock.
'This is more ambitious than I could ever imagine...'
Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were practically family. They had fought and trained with each other to an incredible degree. The two young men of Team Eight could read each other on an almost instinctive level. Shino and a opaque cloud of kikachū beetles forced Sakon to escape to the air.
Sakon was not an individual. He, and his brother possessed a unique kekkei genkai that allowed them to exist together. They also had inhuman control over their body. Sakon's brother, Ukon, could manifest his physical body or parts of his body at will.
The appearance of Ukon's head behind Sakon's own saved their lives.
"BROTHER!" Ukon roared a warning. The warning allowed Sakon, whosr arms were already ready for hand-seals, to execute a kawarimi. The jutsu was completed just as two corkscrewing masses of angry Inuzuka Gennin and Ninken obliterated the boulder selected to rescue the Otogakure shinobi.
Much to the chagrin of the twisted twins, Shino had somehow anticipated the location they landed at. The Aburame did not excel at taijutsu, but he had the element of surprise. Ukon manifested one of his arms out of Sakon's chest. Sakon used one of his arms to strike Shino's elbow with a chakra-boosted palm strike.
Kiba had never heard Shino cry out in pain before. It was an alien experience. The Inuzuka Genin and his partner charged the enemy snarling fiercely.
"Brother, our chakra will continue to be drained rapidly if I have to manifest such a specific body part just to keep us moving! The mutt has done more damage than either of the shinobi!" Ukon informed his brother.
"We'll just have to kill them as quickly as possible. Prepare to activate Stage Two!"
"Impossible!" Neji growled in a rare moment of emotional outburst. Hinata agreed with the sentiment. The combined Jūken attacks should have killed their opponent.
"You...you aren't the only ones with a kekkei genkai! I can...I can excrete my webbing through any pore or mucus membrane!"
"It is enhanced by chakra," Hinata realized. "It acts like chain mail against Jūken."
Neji's eyes narrowed. "This knowledge cannot be allowed to leave this battlefield. You will die so that the Hyūga maintains our place as the masters of taijutsu!"
"Arrogant assholes!" Kidōmaru roared and jumped into the trees.
Hinata and Neji immediately acted as if they had lost sight of the enemy shinobi. Kidōmaru grinned viciously as he wiped a bit of blood from his nose. He was truly lucky to be alive. If he had not donned the Armor of Sticky Gold, there was no doubt he would have died in agony. Even with the Armor, his chakra and nerve network felt as if a thousand red-hot needles had been pressed into his skin.
'I'm going to kill them one way or another. I might rip the eyes out of one of them and see if Kabuto can implant them..." Kidōmaru thought darkly. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
"Nii-san!" Hinata quickly fired off a pair of Vacuum Palms. The two jutsu were unnecessary to save Neji as the elder Hyūga had seen the spider summon. However, it wounded the creature by pushing the monstrosity into a very large oak tree.
"I will deal with the summon!" Neji shouted. "Finish the summoner!"
Hinata nodded and pursued the Otogakure shinobi into the trees. Her chakra coils and muscles protested, but she could not falter. Kidōmaru's emotions were pulled as taut as the string of his bow. This was supposed to be easy-mode, or at worst medium! His enemies weren't supposed to have hax!
"Hakke Kūshō!"
Kidōmaru cursed as he instinctively dodged the attack. The realization hit him as hard as the Hyūga technique would have. "Shit! It was a trick!"
A sizable portion of the tree had shattered under the assault. Kidōmaru was furious as the mousy little girl's strategy became clear. Unfortunately, comprehending the strategy was not enough to counter it. The Hyūga kunoichi had already substituted with some of the remnants of the tree. She closed quickly and managed to land a pair of strikes to his right shoulder and torso. He countered as quickly as he could, but was mentally stunned when the girl countered his counter by pushing chakra through the areas he'd hit!
'I have to put some distance between us!' Kidōmaru realized. He hoped Kyodaigumo was eating that other Hyūga hax-using jackass!
The personal summon had already scrambled to its feet. Neji was warily observing the arachnid. There were dozens, perhaps even a hundred or more, other chakra signatures writhing inside the enormous spider. Neji was nearly overcome by a horrendous smell that rushed from the widening slit in the creature's abdomen.
Neji swallowed back his gag reflex. He was thankful that Kiba was not in this situation. The Inuzuka Gennin had an extremely sensitive nose. 'If I'm nearly overwhelmed by the smell, how would he be affected?'
The last spark of the thought on Neji's synapses had barely faded away as a tide of spiderlings swelled over the earth. There could be no hesitation. 'Two hits!' Neji internalized.
He moved from strike to strike. The Jūken attacks grew in frequency and ferocity. Neji ground his teeth as he silenced the voice in his mind screaming in protest. The exhaustion, both emotional and physical, was overwhelming. The last two months had been constantly pushing Neji past his limits. The battle against Naruto had been the first. Next, the swirling chaos of the war against Orochimaru's forces had challenged him in ways Neji had never dreamed. The Elders' attempt to truly enslave the Hyūga through their coup and Neji's current mission had given birth to a new thought. Were there limits anymore?
'One hundred and twenty eight hits!"
Kidōmaru had managed to distract the annoying Konoha girl with a series of Web traps and barricades. She could probably activate some no-clip bullshit, but Kidōmaru was confident he had bought enough time to finish the other one off.
"I'm going to enjoy this," the Oto shinobi whispered. He quickly created his bow and a vicious barbed arrow. Kidōmaru took aim at the Konoha ninja's heart. He was going to end this!
The bowstring sang with a satisfying and vicious twang. Kidōmaru knew his shot was moving at a speed that should have made even the sound insufficient warning. The shot, as always, was impeccably aimed.
"Damn cheaters!" Kidōmaru bellowed so loudly that his voice cracked under the strain. He had forgotten about the Dōjutsu his opponents possessed! Kidōmaru wasn't sure if he wanted to rip out the annoying bastard's eyes so Orochimaru-sama's agents could implant them or if he just wanted to crush those abominations! "What the fuck?!"
The Elite Otogakure Shinobi could only watch in horror as his arrow was redirected directly into the still disoriented and prone form of his summon. The Hyūga may have collapsed onto his hands and knees in exhaustion, but his orb of chakra had been raised at the perfect time. The orb barely deflected the arrow, but the deed had been done.
Kidōmaru's face was a visage of pure animal fury. His hate of the Hyūga now compelled him to erase them from history. The Otogakure elite would even consider going rogue if Orochimaru-sama would not permit his vendetta to be fulfilled.
"You are in range of my Divination..."
'Fuck...' was not the last thought Kidōmaru had planned in his life. He had always dreamed of grander words that would echo throughout history alongside his legend. That was a cruel dream snatched away as his world exploded into pain. The Armor of Sticky Gold had been drawn away from his back. Kidōmaru had transferred some of the material to reinforce his arrow to ensure the Hyūga bastard's demise.
In his anger and bloodlust, he had completely forgotten about the Hyūga bitch. His fight was 2v1!
His situation was even worse than he imagined. The Hyūga's attack had not only burned his internal organs with the intense foreign chakra, but completely disrupted his own chakra network. Kidōmaru could barely scream as his muscles seized and he fell from his perch. He had absolutely no control over his fall. All he could do is curse the entire Hyūga Clan to the worst form of Damnation conceived by Gods, men, and demons.
Hinata collapsed from near-complete chakra exhaustion, miraculously grabbing hold of the tree branch her foe had perched upon moments earlier. She managed to claw her way to a somewhat stable position to witness the culmination of her attack. The Hyūga maiden did not flinch or otherwise shy away from her handiwork. In fact, she felt a sort of grim satisfaction as her opponent was impaled on a jagged, broken tree limb.
The foe had tried to kill her teammates, her friends, her cousin...and Naruto-kun. Hinata had heard from some of the Jonin within the Hyūga Clan that the a shinobi of similar appearance had been involved in maintaining the barrier that contributed to the Sandaime Hokage's defeat and death.
This victory was not a simply triumph in battle. It was justice.
And Hyūga Hinata was proud of her contribution.
The world seemed to freeze as Kimimaro, Shikamaru, Tayuya and Naruto took stock of the situation. It was as if the history of the world was hinging on one of the shinobi's next moves.
The dam broke when a snarl escaped from Naruto's lips. "Give us back Sasuke!"
"Only Orochimaru-sama may lay claim to such a prize." Kimimaro's point was punctuated by a rueful shake of the head.
Naruto made a lunge to attack, but Kimimaro's speed was shocking. Worse for Naruto's budding temper, the red-headed kunoichi leaped in front of his path. She blocked his strikes before adjusting her vector.
Skillfully landing on a large branch between Kimimaro's escape route and the Konoha Shinobi, Tayuya prepared for battle. "I cannot and will not fail Orochimaru-sama!"
"We can't waste time here, Naruto," Shikamaru said from his signature thinking-pose. "Every second we wait is a second Sasuke gets farther away."
"I know that!" Naruto hissed. "She's too strong for us to fight head on!"
"Damn right I am, you Konoha shits!" Tayuya spat hatefully as her flute met her lips.
"To hell with this! Kurama, I need some chakra!" The Kyūbi was instantly curious about Naruto's request. The mightiest Bijū knew his warden's mission would fail without his aid...a point he promised to exploit later. Naruto, for his part, felt the surge of power and grinned. A barely visible crimson nimbus surrounded the Jinchūriki. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
"That won't save...you?" Tayuya's defiant statement trailed off into a question. An unnatural shadow was rapidly expanding. The cruel, yet beautiful, young woman had no time for another reaction.
A summoned toad of colossal size crushed her under its enormous girth and decimated the surrounded forest.
The toad looked over its shoulder and frowned. "Forgive me Naruto-san. I was clumsy."
"Forgive you?" Naruto cried in shock. "Forgive? That was awesome! What's your name?"
"Gamaken," the toad revealed with a bow.
"Thanks, Gamaken! Hey, do you see where that asshole who snatched my friend is headed?"
The embryo of a smile had worked its way to Naruto's face. The elation of his quick victory had countered his anger. As Gamaken pointed in Kimimaro's general direction, Naruto erupted into the forest with Shikamaru close behind.
Soon, Naruto swore, this would all be over. 'Shikamaru and I are going to get everyone home in one piece-ttebayo!'
Author's Note: Yes, this is a real update. Yes, That last bit was the fight. And yes, that has actually been planned for years. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I have several other chapters that are far along. I'm trying to work on them when I have time. I got hired for a full time teaching positioned and I've had to hit the ground running to get ready for the school year.