'Thoughts'
"Demon/Inner Self"
'Demon thoughts'
"Gamabunta"
"Writing"
"Speech"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only write to pass time, and have some fun.
A/N: Well, it has been awhile. I can't really say anything, except I got caught up in life, holidays, and sickness. I also blame Final Fantasy III and XII, and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. I am extremely sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out, and I will try my best to avoid such a delay again in the future. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Stalker
That summer turned out to be one of the worst for Naruto to date. Unlike the previous ones, he was not able to spend the time with his friends and the people he considered his family. Each of his friends had training trips, or personal training with their respective families. Even the normally lethargic Shikamaru had left to train with his father for majority of the summer.
His family, Anko, Ibiki, Shizune, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sandaime, and Iruka, were all busy during the summer break. Anko and Ibiki were both sent on separate long-term missions that were supposed to last the duration of the summer.
Anko was in Earth Country keeping an eye on the troops, and where they were moving. Naruto heard that there were reports of Iwagakure building up its military for a possible war with whom no one knew. That was part of why Anko had gone there, to see if she could figure out the purposes of the sudden increase in military activity and whom it was directed at.
Ibiki was sent to Lightning Country, for nearly the same reasons as Anko was sent to Earth Country. Kumogakure Shinobi had been reported to be seen in the northeastern territory of Fire Country. With the attempted kidnapping of Hinata, and the reluctant death of Hyuga Hizashi, the actions were taken very seriously. If there was anything Ibiki had a soft spot for, it was children, and he would do anything to prevent another person in Konoha from going through what Hinata did.
Shizune and Tsunade were busy at the hospital the entire summer. The main reason for this was Tsunade's attempt at cleaning house at the hospital once the summer time came around. The first week of summer was littered with the shouts of indignation and terror by several of the hospital staff who had conducted misdeeds according to Tsunade's investigations. Since there was a loss of 30 of the hospital staff, Tsunade was forced to try to help make up for the shortage. Shizune was dragged along for the trip since she was a capable medic, nurse, and doctor as well.
Along with them, Tsunade took along Hinata, Sakura, and Ino to assist and learn when they were not training or resting. During the previous year, each had showed an eagerness to learn first aide and healing; so Tsunade wanted them to learn more about the profession that she helped to revolutionize.
Jiraiya was mostly seen doing his research or freeloading off Naruto when he was seen in Konoha. When he was never found in Konoha, he was on the road gathering information about the Akatsuki; not that Naruto knew this. Very few also knew that he was investigating the forces of Orochimaru, and the powers within Konoha that wished harm to Naruto.
The Sandaime was busy with the increase in paperwork, and mission requests for majority of the summer. This was not normally a hard job, and in fact, it was easy during the year, most of the time. Summer time though brought out the farmers and the elderly who could not bare the humid heat of Fire Country. These people would request numerous D-Rank missions for the Genin to complete. Aside from an influx in low-level missions, numerous high level missions would come in as well.
Nobles and local Lords from the neighboring smaller countries also would request escort missions, or assistance to protect their lands. The surprising thing for Sarutobi was the sudden increase in missions from the Land of Wind. Sadly for that country's Shinobi village, Sunakagure no Saito, the Lord of the country started to send mission requests to Konoha. This would end up severely hurting the economic stability of the entire Land of Wind, and could cause problems in the future for the other Nations. Sadly, though he could never decline the mission requests, to do so would shame the Land of Fire, and Konohagakure.
Iruka was often gone on C and B Rank missions, hoping to earn extra money, and keep his skills from becoming outdated. With his sudden increase in activity, and desire to better himself, he had little time to check in on Naruto, and anyone else for that matter. When he wasn't doing missions, he was often seen assisting the Sandaime in handing out missions, or checking mission requests that were brought in throughout the day all summer long. When he wasn't doing any of the above, no one knew where to find him.
This left Naruto with plenty of time to himself to do what ever he wished, within reason.
Because of those factors, Naruto spent a great deal of his time working in the forge with Tenten's father, Satome. In fact, he spent so much time there that the forges were nearly active twenty-four hours a day for majority of the week. The only time they would be shut down was to clean out all of the ash and debris from the fire pits, and scrap any metal shavings out of the pits. All of this would normally happen once a week, or when things were busy like the summer time, once every three weeks.
The workload for the two arming the forge nearly tripled with the coming of summer. More missions meant more kunai and weapons thrown, damaged, or in need of repair. This meant more weapons needing to be cast, and forged for the Shinobi populace that frequented the little shop.
When weapons were not required, clothing and other supplies were needed. Weights, shirts, vests, leathers, and an assortment of other day-to-day items that was required for Shinobi in training or on active duty. These of course would be bought from large manufacturers or made on site by Satome and Naruto.
When Naruto wasn't working in the forges, or the Higarashi Weapon shop he could be found training by anyone who cared to look for him.
His training mostly consisted of Taijutsu, in which he would work on the style being taught to him by Hikari. The style was a strange one, and as far as Naruto thought at first, nearly impossible to do. Hikari claimed that it was once the focus of rituals, where the Kitsune people, and their followers, would dance to Inari, begging for his favor. These favors would range from good fortune, to a change in the weather. This is how the Kitsune race created their own style of combat, one that they had dubbed the Go Kazagumo Mai (Five Elements Dance).
The style had five different forms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. They had also managed to incorporate the different abilities of the Kitsune. Many of them would utilize this Taijutsu form when they were finally able to take human form. Their followers and worshippers though were the ones who mainly used this form of combat.
The first Dance, and the one being taught to Naruto currently, was the Kaze Mai (Wind Dance). The "dancer" would release a constant amount of chakra and use this chakra to build up the wind currents as the user moved about during a battle. This was done with wild twists, flips, and constant movement of the "dancer". When the "dancer" would attack, they release the built up energy and use it to strengthen their attacks, often pushing away or pulling the opponent towards them; depending upon the rotation use to build up the energy. The man focus of this dance is to dodge an attack, and contort the body at the same time. The momentum was then used to build up the energy needed to perform some of the more difficult attacks of the style.
Hikari had also told Naruto that he would not learn any other dance until he could perform the Kaze Mai perfectly without any lapse in control. He was then to test it out on a person of her choosing as a rite of passage.
The names of the other four styles also followed the basic elemental concept of the Shinobi world. Kaji Mai (Fire Dance), Daichi Mai (Earth Dance), Mizu Mai (Water Dance), and Denko Mai (Lightning Dance) made up the other four styles. Each of them had a way that they corresponded to the element that they were named after. How they did that, Naruto was never told. The best part of this style, according to Hikari, was that no matter who was watching they could never fully utilize this Taijutsu style without truly being in touch with the elements.
With his Taijutsu practice, he worked in weapons practice with the Tonfas given to him by Iruka. He was starting to get the hang of the weapons now, and was slowly working them into the Kaze Mai. He was far from mastering the weapons, and could probably master them in no time if he wished. However, since they were a gift from one of the first people outside of his family to recognize him, he was going to master them the hard way.
This was all Naruto thought about, as he got ready to head to the Academy for the start of the New Year. This was the year where he could turn his grades around enough to avoid being put on the same team as Sasuke and Sakura. Therefore, with his hopes soaring high, he left his shower to get dressed.
While getting dressed he still couldn't help but remember the armor he had also started to wear that he brought home from Wave Country just over six years ago. Once he put it one and channeled a small amount of Hikari's chakra into them, they quickly conformed to his arms and legs.
Flashback
It was the day after summer started, and Naruto was fully intent on getting the bets training he could in the short time he had to train himself. Before he could do that though he had one other thing to do; find the bracers and shin guards that he brought back from Wave Country.
Finding them turned out to be easy since he always kept his training gear in immaculate order, and hardly left it a mess. If anything was important and stressed by Anko and Ibiki it was finding a weapon when you needed it, and so they drilled that deep into his mind.
After finding the bag that he had kept the items in since that day over six years ago, he walked out to his room and sat on his bed. Slowly, he opened the bag and felt around inside for the pieces of armor that should help him with his new found power, and hopefully prevent any demonic urges he might have. Smiling as he finally found them; he pulled them out of the bag and placed them on his bed before closing it back up.
He carefully removed the silk wrappings from around the armor, and started to inspect them. The armor was indeed leathery in appearance and hardly looked like it would protect him from a shuriken, let alone a kunai of a katana.
'Nee-chan, are you sure that this is the armor you wanted me to get? They seem kind of flimsy to me,' mentally whined Naruto as he picked up the flimsy armor.
"Trust me; they will be able to do the job. They were made of the scales of Ragnarok, and only require a small amount of my chakra to revive them. Once that is done, they will start to suppress your Hanyo powers from getting out of control. This could prove invaluable in the future, where you will have to depend on your strong Hanyo form. When you do, you will be assailed with demonic urges, and if you are weak willed they will overcome you. These should prevent the evil taint in that form from taking over. Now place the bracers on your arms, and the shin guards around your legs. Once they are on we can channel a small amount of my power to activate them," lectured Hikari. These would become invaluable in the future for Naruto; with his Hanyo half gaining energy every minute as her chakra was slowly absorbed into him.
When he first placed the shin guards, and bracers on they were nearly falling off him. However that all changed when a small amount of Hikari's chakra was channeled into them. As soon as the chakra hit the pieces of armor, they suddenly tightened and conformed to his arms and legs. The shin guards started to wrap around his legs; making themselves look more like greaves instead of what they were designed as at first. Each piece of armor then took on a reddish tint, with silver carvings.
The carvings on closer inspection seemed to depict a great storm thriving in the deep oceans. Winds tossing around a small ship that seemed to be lost at sea, and its sail flapping in the winds a mere set of rags. After they had finished molding to his arms and legs, he did a few stretches and found that they did not hinder any of his movements what so ever.
'Well, they don't look so flimsy now, but are they as strong as you claimed,' questioned Naruto as he started to put the bag back in his equipment storage room. The other items still waiting for him to graduate form the academy to use.
"Test them yourself. Grab a kunai and try to stab it into the parts of your body protected by the armor."
Naruto only nodded, and decided to do just that. Therefore, with a quick flick of his wrist, he had a kunai spinning around his finger. He quickly grasped it in his hand and brought it down towards his left shin. Right as the blade looked like it was going to cut through the armor it cracked in half, the tip dropping to the floor breaking the silence that had settled on the room.
'No way! That was one of the bets Kunai I've ever made,' ranted Naruto as he looked at his broken weapon.
"The scales of a dragon are very strong, and the fact that these were made from Ragnarok's own scales only adds to the fact. That worm was also smart enough to place several protective seals on the scales while they were being forged into the armor you now wear. This seal were designed to prevent any of your wild chakra from escaping, and serves to keep it in check. This is done so that no matter what my power will never dwarf yours unless the armor has been removed," answered Hikari as Naruto continued to look at the scenes depicted on the bracers, and on the shin guards turned into greaves.
"I'm not sure, but I believe the scene depicted on the armor is designed to show the person's role in life. Your role seems to be to weather out a very dangerous storm, one that will test everything that you are made of. You may or may not come out of this storm unharmed, just like the boat in the pictures," added Hikari as she saw Naruto start to nod his head in understanding.
'Thanks again Nee-chan. After what happened last time, I'd hate to think about what would happen if we accidentally used too much of your chakra. I guess though it is time to head out and train and get used to these, even if they don't seem to change things much.'
Present
That had been the start of the summer, and since then he had never taken the four pieces of armor off. With them on, he was even able to enjoy shirts that didn't have sleeves all the way down to his wrist; still too ashamed to show all of the scars he sported all over his body. Shaking those thoughts from his mind, he quickly finished getting dressed, and started to head out towards the Village, and meet up with the rest of his friends.
As he started to head towards the village a piney scent caught his nose, and seeing, as there were no pines around his home, he knew it could only be one person. The ANBU he only knew as Tenzo. The man wore a bear like mask, and seemed to be a nice person as far as Naruto knew. He was one of the few ANBU who would actually look out for him in his childhood, and during the early years would play small games with him. Things didn't go to well for Tenzo though, as his dog-masked captain seemed to get angry with him when he was found playing with Naruto.
The dog masked ANBU became a person Naruto hated with a passion, and it seemed to be shared by Hikari, Anko, and Ibiki. It wasn't long before he found out the name of the person, Hatake Kakashi. Naruto had vowed to make the man pay for the insults he would mutter at times, only he strengthened that vow when he found out his father was the Yondaime, and Kakashi's Sensei.
Deciding to ignore the plans of torture for the one eyed man, he quickly doubled his pace, hoping to out run the man following him.
Tenzo couldn't help but smile as he noticed the boy pumping more chakra into his limbs. Their little game of tag had started once again, and this time he could actually enjoy it. His former Captain seemed to have taken up the role of a normal Jonin in preparations for this year's graduating class, and this left Tenzo in charge of the unit. Most of all it let him enjoy the little things, like playing a game of Ninja Tag with Naruto.
By now, Naruto was nearly to the village proper, where there were fewer trees, and more signs of civilization. This only meant that he had spent too much time daydreaming, and caused him to quickly slam his hands down on the ground, sending a small mound of dirt racing towards Naruto.
Naruto felt the small burst of Chakra, and knew Tenzo was making the first move of the game. For that reason, he started to turn his head to look in every direction possible for the man to attack from. Up, Down, Left, Right, Forwards, Backwards. Naruto tried to watch all of them and anticipate where the man would attack from with his strange arsenal of techniques.
Just as Naruto was about to reach the cobblestone walkways of the village, several roots shot out of the forest floor and towards him. Silently swearing, Naruto started to dodge what he could, and use a kunai on what couldn't be avoided. After several minutes, he seemed to have finished of all of the deadly roots and channeled chakra into his legs to rocket forward, but there was one small problem with that.
Right as Naruto shot forward, still looking behind him, he crashed into a thick wooden wall that appeared in front of him. So with a sickening crunch sound as nose meet wood, Naruto started to slide down to the forest floor, and cursed himself for forgetting the tricks Tenzo could perform.
'Damn, I forgot how good he is with Mokuton jutsus. I think I broke my nose and lost some teeth to that stupid wall,' screamed Naruto as he looked up to see several teeth stuck in the wall, and a trail of blood that followed his slow descent on it.
"That hurt you bear masked Bastard! I lost a few teeth this time! I might heal fast, but it doesn't change how much it hurts when you do that," screamed Naruto as he screwed his eyes shut as he tried to realign his nose. While doing this he could hear the soft sound of someone landing atop of the wooden wall.
"Sorry about that Naruto, I guess I got carried away… Really though you should have seen this, your skills must be slipping since the last time we played this game. I was honestly expecting a better challenge then this," laughed the masked man as he jumped down and helped his charge to his feet.
"I guess I was just surprised to have you guarding me again. I thought that the Inu-teme had reassigned you or something."
"Well you might see more of me now, since the former Captain stepped down recently. I believe he took the time off to take on a part time apprentice, but don't quote me on that. Right now I'm in charge of the Unit, and thankfully they all see you as a boy and not something else. I think we've talked long enough Naruto, you have to meet your girlfriend don't you," asked Tenzo.
Naruto only scowled at the man before he jumped over the wall, and took off towards the academy. By now his teeth were already growing back in, and his nose was already healed; all of these injuries being minor to the ones he experienced in the past.
"She's not my girlfriend either Tree Hugger," echoed Naruto's voice as he vanished over the rooftops, causing Tenzo to shake his head.
"She might not be just yet, but the way you two are always together, it should only be a matter of time," stated the man to no one in particular. He had just brought his hand in front of his face to activate a jutsu when he felt a sudden surge of chakra coming from some where on his body.
'Kuso, he must have planted a bomb on me when I helped him up,' shouted the masked man as he knew the tricks of the young container all too well.
Before he could do anything else, his clothes exploded in a cloud of neon orange paint, the paint cloud covered his entire body and left a large orange circle around him. Judging by the amount of paint, he could only guess one thing.
'Blast him, with the amount of paint in that one my entire body may be covered. The only thing safe might be my face thanks to the mask, but everything else is going to be orange until I can clean up. I guess he got me back for the wall of wood though,' muttered Tenzo as he vanished from his place in all his orange glory.
Academy
Naruto had managed to make it to the Hyuga compound, and upon arriving he was told that she had already left to the Academy. Sighing to himself, he quickly left to catch up with his other friends, Shikamaru, Choji and Ino. Once the four joined up, it only took minutes for them to make it to the Academy.
"Alright class, it looks like everyone is here. I see a lot of old faces, and I'm glad to see that all of you have decided to continue the path of village protectors. This should be the final year for many of you, and will be the last chance for some to finally graduate. By now you should all know the drill, so just answer when I call your name out," spoke Iruka as he looked over the list of students in his class, and started to call the names out.
Most students were paying close attention to their instructor, and hoping to start the New Year off with a bang. One small group though was busy conversing, and describing some of the things they did over the summer break.
"I was pretty bored most of the summer. I worked at the forge, and when I was free from that I practiced my Taijutsu and works with the Tonfa Iruka-sensei gave me," moaned Naruto while secretly smiling at being with his friends again.
"My mom wanted to take me to Grass Country, and a few other neighboring countries to find some new flowers for the shop. She had to change her plans though when Tsunade-sama mentioned she wanted me to help some at the hospital. My dad had me practicing something new with some of our family techniques. It was pretty fun doing it too, a shame I can't show you guys until we graduate," added Ino while winking at everyone.
"For once I was actually glad my dad took me out training this summer. Most of it was spent out in the woods with our deer herd, but it proved to be an interesting experience," mumbled Shikamaru with his head on the desk.
"I had loads of fun when my dad and I took a small training trip. He taught me some more of our family techniques that couldn't be used safely around Konoha," chipped in Choji as he looked to the only other person who hadn't added anything to the discussion.
Hinata kept her head down as she felt four sets of eyes looking at her, waiting for her to say a little about her summer. Slowly she started to raise her head and look back up at her friends, and started to speak in with her soft voice barely being heard by the four.
"Otou-san had me training as well for most of the summer. He wanted to take Hanabi-chan and I to a Hyuga estate to the east of here, but had to refrain from doing so since Tsunade-sama wanted me to help at the hospital as well. The council still over saw my training," said Hinata, with the last part being nothing but a whisper.
Shikamaru, Choji and Naruto each knew how the council felt about Hinata, even if her father seemed to be a little nicer now. Naruto was about to ask what they did, but had to quickly duck as Iruka threw a kunai at him.
"Naruto, answer the next time I call your name out! I thought you would have straightened up some this year, but it looks like you still want to slack off," yelled Iruka snapping Naruto back to the problem he faced this year.
The blonde opened his mouth to yell something back, but shut it just as quickly and flopped down into his chair with his arms crossed, and a pout evident on his face.
'What do you know; it looks like Naruto was actually serious about doing better this year. I thought he was joking around to make me feel better, but since he didn't shout back at me it seems he is taking this seriously again,' spoke Iruka mentally, proud that the blonde was once again serious about school. The only other time he had seen the blonde like this was when training with Ibiki or Anko and he was learning something new from them.
Looking around the room, Iruka could see that he wasn't the only one surprised. Most of his other students were looking at Naruto, with their jaws dragging on the ground. None of them seemed to be able to believe that the boy could actually be serious. The only ones who didn't seem shocked were the ones who spent the most time with him, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino.
'I can already tell that this year is going to be special,' thought Iruka as he started to smile at his class.
The rest of the day went by normally, and let the cadets get used to the Academy once again. They reviewed the previous year, and talked about what was expected of them this year. When the day finally ended everyone let out a cheer as they started to head out of the building, and to their respective homes. Naruto and his close friends were the last ones to leave.
As Naruto, Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino started to walk out, they were surprised to see a female Chunin in what looked like bandages, with crimson eyes, and wavy black hair waiting outside the gates. As they came closer to the gates, the woman seemed to notice them, and moved to intercept them before they left the Academy grounds.
"Hinata-sama, I am here to escort you home," called out the woman in a seemingly motherly tone. Hearing this everyone in the group stopped to look at Hinata, and the woman who was supposed to escort her home.
Hinata had her head down to where no one could see her face, and with her hair shadowing and concealing it, it was nearly impossible to see her eyes. She seemed to walk numbly towards the woman, not even saying a word to her friends as she settled in next to the person none of them knew.
"Hey, why do you have to walk Hinata-chan home? I've always done it in the past since we live in the same part of town. Besides, she has never needed anyone to walk her home before, so why start this now," questioned Naruto. Something about this situation didn't seem right to him, and it was setting off a number of his senses.
"I am Yuhi Kurenai, and I have been told by the Hyuga Council that I am to escort Hinata-sama home and to the Academy every day until she graduates. Why they have requested this, I do not know. I only know what I am told for the mission, and my mission is to do what I just told you. I was also told to ensure she did not mingle with you on her way home, or on her way to the Academy," declared Kurenai as she pointedly looked at Naruto. The tone in her voice said she was serious, and would do everything she could to follow this through to the "T". Her eyes seemed to tell a different story to Naruto though.
Her red eyes seemed to scream out that she was sorry for this, and didn't want any part of it. It was almost as if they were pleading with the group not to question her orders any more then they had already. Even as she was talking they shifted to the sides, almost as if they were seeking an unseen enemy some where in the area.
Shikamaru sighed, and Choji stood there trying to think of something to say. Ino looked as if she was about to blow her top at the way things had suddenly changed. The one everyone seemed to watch though was Naruto, as he stood there with his head down, and fists clenched in what looked like anger.
"Hinata-chan…," whispered Naruto, with his teeth grinding as he struggled to keep his voice even. With his head down, he never noticed Hinata flinch at the tone of voice he was using.
"I'm sorry Naruto-san, but I must go now," whispered Hinata as she turned around and started to follow Kurenai down the path leading to the Hyuga compound. Her friends just stood there, unable to believe their eyes and ears at what just happened.
"N-Naruto, are you alright," questioned Choji as he started to close in on his friend, and moved to place a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him.
"W-what just happened," asked a confused Ino as she looked back and forth between Naruto, and the direction Hinata had left in. The quiver in her voice told the others just how confused and hurt she was at what just happened.
Shikamaru didn't bother to say anything, knowing that the words would be ignored. Instead, he motioned for Ino and Choji to head on home. As he walked past Naruto, he stopped just long enough to whisper a message to him, "Don't do anything irrational Naruto. As much as we both hate the Hyuga Elders, there is nothing we can do right now. Lets play this out and see what we can find out," and after saying his message he quickly followed Ino and Choji.
Naruto stood there shaking as he tried to keep the anger he felt under control, resisting the urge to run to the Hyuga compound and paint the white walls red with the blood of the Elders.
'T-those bastards… Something smelled off with Hinata-chan the entire day. I thought she was just nervous again like she used to be, but now I know those Elders did something to her over the summer. When I find out what they did, there will be hell to pay,' cried Naruto internally as he fought to control his raging emotions.
"There will be enough time for that later, right now I think it would be best if we got home, or some place secluded in the forests. You are doing an amazing job, but you are going to change soon, and to do that in the middle of Konoha would be a nightmare," cut in Hikari as she could feel Naruto's body starting to shift. With a feral growl, Naruto set off on the rooftops of Konoha towards his home, hoping that there would be no obstructions between him and there.
Tenzo watched as Naruto fled to the forests of Konoha, unshed tears flying away with the wind. He knew that his orders were to shadow to young boy. However, after the sudden coldness of his first friend, he knew the boy would need some time alone.
'I suppose it is a good thing I planted one of the seeds on him earlier. I just hope that this is not a sign of things to come, if so I hate to see how things will end up. Looks like I'll have to wait for the paint cleaner.'
Hinata had walked home silently, and with her head down. She did not pay attention to the passing scenery, and only barely registered she was finally at home when she was lead to her room by one of the numerous Branch members of the Hyuga family. Once there she let all of her raging emotions bubble up to the surface. It would be the first time in nearly four years that she had broken down and started to cry herself to sleep in her home. Whom did she have to blame for her current position?
Naruto, who had only been a pillar of strength for her, and only tried to make sure she was treated nicely by those around them, No, it would be wrong to blame him for this. He had done nothing wrong, and it hurt her to see his face when she parted with him. She could see and hear his heart breaking with the final cold words she said. It pained her to say them as well, but she had no other choice. The Elders would have her followed by members of her own family, and to disobey them now would be a grave error on her part.
Could she blame her Father, who left her alone in the Hyuga compound with the Elders? He had left with Hanabi to a small summer home that the clan kept for private retreats of the Elders and the head of the clan. She had to stay to continue her training with Tsunade, which was the only way she was able to leave the compound now and during the summer. He could hardly be blamed for her current predicament. He would never have guessed that the Elders would do what they did.
She was tempted to blame herself for what was currently happening. Had she listened to the council back when she first started the Academy, and stayed away from Naruto, she wouldn't be where she was today. Had she resisted the urge to know the young blonde ball of energy, she wouldn't have to worry about the Elders' threats. However, if she did stay away from Naruto back then, she wouldn't be the person she was today. She never would have been given the chance to train with Tsunade and Jiraiya. If Naruto had not recognized her from the park on their first meeting, there was no telling how she would have ended up. All she knew was that she cherished the time she spent with him, and would have to enjoy the brief time she could with him during classes. The only thing she would have to do is act like nothing was happening. That alone would be the greatest task of her life, but she would endure to ensure Naruto's safety and the safety of Hanabi and Neji.
No, in the end, there was only one group she could blame, and the best way to describe them was how Naruto described them so many times in the past. They were the bane to her existence, and had finally been given a chance to exercise that power while her Father was gone over the summer. If it weren't for them, then she would be able to spend this time with Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and most of all Naruto. If they hadn't played the one card she was bound to listen to, she wouldn't be here crying right now. It was times like now that she could see why people like Uchiha Itachi would kill off his entire clan, and how her cousin, Neji, could hate an entire house.
The sad thing was that right now there was very little she could do about it. She had to hide the truth from Naruto, or he would do something drastic. If she knew him, he would probably charge into the Hyuga compound and get himself killed. Choji and Shikamaru would likely follow him in if they new as well. No, she could never let them know what happened over the summer.
She would wait until the time was right, and when the people who were watching over her would least expect it. They would win for now, but they would let their guards down, and when they did, she would make them pay for the pain they caused her. More importantly, they would pain for the pain they made her cause her friends.
Thinking about her friends caused her to reach under her bed roll, and pull up a loose floorboard. Beneath the board was one of her most prized possessions, the present Naruto gave her a year ago. It was the only thing that gave her peace since the Elders had trapped her. Now though, would Naruto could if she ever called him with this? Would he still care about her enough to save her if she needed it?
'Naruto-kun I'm sorry, but I have to do this. This is for Nii-san, and Hanabi-chan. I could never look at myself again if I let them get hurt,' thought Hinata as sleep and exhaustion finally took over.
December
The winter season in Konoha came in as dry as a bone, with the temperature dropping, but no rain or snow to join it. Even then, only the brave would be outside training or moving around in the cold weather that seemed to mimic the mood of a certain group of Shinobi hopefuls.
Out of this group, one seemed to mirror the weather perfectly, as if he thought that the joys of spring time would never come to him again. Even as he worked himself to exhaustion in the weather, he could fell no comfort or joy by his actions. He would go through the training as if he was not in control of his body, and would only realize what he had been doing when someone spoke to him, or he dropped from exhaustion. This was how Uzumaki Naruto had spent the months since Hinata's change in behavior.
Anyone walking through the woods where he was now could hear the slicing of wood as the hanyo worked on his skills with the Tonfas given to him by Iruka the previous year. The tree he was at showed the time he spent trying to refine his skills with the weapons; as the bark held the scars of his labor, as did the other trees that lined the small clearing.
Along with the scars of his weapons, the scars of numerous techniques could be seen; those that failed, and those that were successful. The most interesting ones would be the human like indentions in several of the trees, but those were not just limited to this clearing. Indeed, those could be found all around the forest that surrounded his home.
With a final cry of pent up anger, Naruto slashed the tree in front of him one last time as he collapsed to the ground breathing deeply. Sweat was running down his face, and his clothes were soaked. None of this bothered him though, even with the winter gusts that were blowing through the forest around him. Turning, he put his back to the tree, and looked up towards the sky, watching the clouds of his breath as his breathing started to return to normal.
"You know, if you continue to work yourself like this, you are going to either injure yourself, make yourself sick, or cause your family and friends to worry about you," spoke Hikari from within his mind. It was not the first time since the incident that she reprimanded him for his new intense training regime, and it would not be the last time either.
'I don't care. If I was stronger, I might not have let Hinata-chan down,' retorted Naruto as he looked up into the night sky.
"You don't even know if that is why she is behaving the way she is. What if our first guess was right, and it was the Hyuga Elders," countered Hikari, hating the way this argument always went.
'She wouldn't let them push her around. She would at least talk with Shikamaru and the others while in class, but she didn't do that until I stopped hanging around with them.'
"She would if there was a good reason. You need to be patient and wait for her to tell you why she is acting the way she is."
'How do you know she didn't try to call for me to help her, and I didn't have the Jutsu down well enough to be able to come to help her? I can barely sense the signal from a distance now, and that is after training all summer and fall to do it. If she tried to call me during the summer, and I didn't come, I let her down.'
"Don't you think we would have heard if something dangerous happened to her during the break? If something bad happened to your friends, you would have known about it by now. Quit beating yourself up over something you had no control over; If you continue acting the way you are right now, it will only dull your skills and your mind. You are doing causing yourself more trouble then anything else right now," snapped Hikari, as she finally grew tired of the same old debate with the young Hanyo.
Naruto had nothing else to say as he sat there looking up into the sky, thinking of how things had changed over the last few months.
Since Hinata quit hanging around Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, the group started to distance themselves form each other. To be more exact, Naruto started to distance himself from them, feeling as if he was to blame for Hinata's change in behavior. He had hoped that without him there, she would at least accept them again.
At first, it didn't look like he was to blame for her distance from them. However, his hopes were soon bashed down as she started to talk with the trio more and more. He could do nothing but watch on as she interacted with them, and the other members of the class. However, when it came to him she would turn her nose up, and act as if she could hardly tolerate breathing the same air as him.
What hurt the most were the looks he would now get from the villagers and even some of the other students in class, such as Sasuke and Kiba. Looks that seemed to be glad he was no longer happy. Eyes that said they were glad he had lost his closest friend.
The eyes of Kiba though bothered him the most. They were eyes of triumph, eyes that said he had won the battle for Hinata's heart. Even though Kiba only talked with her, and then that was done in one or two syllable words; it was far more and better then what occurred between Naruto and Hinata.
"Naruto, you need to return home and get some rest while you still can. It isn't good for you to stay out all night; like you have for the last few months…"
'It isn't like I can get sick or anything Nee-chan. I can't stand to sleep either… I keep seeing those eyes, and I hate seeing Hinata-chan's eyes the way they have been so far. I… I just wish she would tell me or someone what was wrong,' answered Naruto.
"I keep telling you to talk with Tsunade-chan, Anko-chan, Shizune-chan, Ibiki, or Iruka. Yet you never heed my words. I've tried talking with you, but I can not help you much locked away inside of you," chided Hikari from within his mind.
'Maybe… Maybe I will talk with Nee-chan in the morning. I hate not knowing or understanding what is going on. She and Iruka-sensei seem closer now too, so maybe she can help me out. If she can't maybe Iruka-sensei could… I'll be damned before I ever ask Ero-Sennin for help with girls though,' remarked Naruto as he started the painfully slow process of pulling himself up from the tree he had tried to beat to death.
"I don't get why I am so tied after that work out. It is the same ones I did during the summer, and even then with the heat I was never this tired," complained Naruto as he picked up his weapons, and placed them in the make shift holsters on his thighs.
"I've told you before; you are only hurting yourself with these wild practices. You've lost some strength and stamina from these sessions. It is true you are exerting yourself, but training yourself improperly does not give you the benefit a proper training regime would give. You threw that proper training out the window around the beginning of September when Hinata and Kiba started to spend more time together."
Hearing the words started to cause his blood to boil at the memory. It had happened a month after they started the New Year, and Kiba and Hinata were walking out of the main building. The thing that nearly caused Naruto to explode and attack Kiba was seeing his arm draped over the shoulders of Hinata. To make things worst, the heiress never bothered to remove it or reprimand the Inuzuka.
After that, he watched them walk down the street, with Kurenai following them from behind. The entire time Naruto was being held back by Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and surprisingly Shino; who had rushed over when the ground was flooded with Naruto's killing intent directed at the Dog user.
With a wild howl, Naruto slammed his fist into a tree as he walked past it. The attack easily destroyed the tree, causing it to explode in a shower of debris, as chakra was force into the attack.
'Thanks for reminding me Nee-chan,' growled Naruto internally as he ignored his bleeding hand, and stalked home.
Hokage Tower
"I'm very worried about Naruto. It seems his grades and overall performance has been dropping lately. At this rate, he would be lucky to graduate with his friends," spoke the Sandaime Hokage as he took a long pull on his pipe. In front of him was Ibiki, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune; each of them look just as worried as the Hokage was at the moment.
Over the last few months, each of them had seen a change in their charge and his friends. The first thing they noticed was the obvious absence of Hinata in the group, and then from there the slow decline in Naruto's behavior. The final cause for concern was when Naruto cut himself off from his friends, every one of them, and started to train by himself late at night.
"Yes, it has become apparent that if we don't do something soon, he will fail to graduate. Not only that but from what I have seen in his late night sessions, his skills have become blunted by poor practice and form," added Jiraiya, who for once was not leering at Tsunade and Shizune.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was the boy I meet just over a year ago. The only thing stopping me from claiming that is the sour mood he has been in as of late," chipped in Tsunade before she took a slow sip of Sake, which showed how much this unnerved her. Beside her Shizune nodded in agreement, and Ibiki just sat their silently with the scowl on his face being the only thing to show his mood.
"Well we can all agree on the changes, but what can we do to fix the problem? If it isn't fixed after this break, then his chances of graduating are slim to none with his past performance. If that happens, then who knows how he may take it," questioned the Sandaime again, hoping to find some answers to all of the questions.
"I'd say we start at the source of the problem, Hyuga Hinata. It is obvious all the changes started after she left, and it some how deeply changed Naruto. Even Iruka has stated that she has been cold towards Naruto at the Academy, which is cause for concern when we look back at how they used to be inseparable."
"For once the pervert is right. I've noticed how withdrawn she has become during our sessions together. When I first asked her what was bothering her, I was only told that she was fine. I didn't press the matter much at the time, and now I wish I did," added Tsunade while Jiraiya glared at her.
"If she wouldn't tell you then Tsunade-sama, what would make you think she would say now? I'm certain you don't want Ibiki to torture the truth out of her, do you," asked Shizune with a questioning and worried look on her face. Next to her, Ibiki only snorted as he tried to fight to keep form laughing. Instead, he earned a sharp elbow to the ribs from the Med-Nin next to him, and a glare that made him resume his former scowling mask before speaking.
"No, I don't think we need to do anything that drastic. I do however know who we need to speak with; as I'm sure, he noticed a sharp change in his daughter's behavior. If anything, Hiashi would know something, or at least be able to find the answers we can not," stated Ibiki evenly in a calm voice. The others in the room only nodded in agreement at the man's idea.
"Very well then, Tsunade, since she is your student, I suggest you and Shizune go and speak with him. If you wish Ibiki, you may go as well since it has caused a drastic change in Naruto's behavior as of late. I want this problem to be solved before the next half of the year begins," declared Sarutobi as he blew out clouds of smoke from his pipe, never taking his eyes off the people in front of him. "Now that all the serious business is taken care of, does anyone know where Iruka and Anko are? They were supposed to be here for this meeting as well," questioned the wizened old Kage.
Uzumaki House
Naruto had finally made it home, and one of the first things he noticed was how all of the lights were out in the house. Seeing this caused him to let out a heavy sigh, knowing that he would be spared talking about his problems for another night. It was with those thought that he stumbled into his home, and walked into the kitchen portion in hopes of fixing a late night snack before heading to bed.
If Naruto had his wits about him, he might have noticed a few signs that there were still people in the large house. Even more importantly, that those people were still very much awake, and that one of them was currently in the same spot he was heading towards. Despite all of the signs, he was too absorbed in thinking over his problems and speaking with Hikari to notice all of this. Therefore, he was in for quite a surprise.
Naruto walked mechanically into the kitchen and towards the large fridge in search of something cold to drink. As he drew near his destination he absently bumped into something, or someone. Grumbling, and with sleep starting to take hold on him, he moved to push the thing away, hoping it wasn't the wall. When he did reach up to push, his hand meet something unexpected, and caused his eyes to open widely as he jumped to wide awake status in a matter of seconds.
Naruto quickly jumped away from the figure in front of him, and withdrew a kunai from his pouch and crouched down. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at his 'attacker', and cried out in surprise at what he saw.
As his eyes started up the body of his attacker, the first thing he noticed was the bare feet of the person who had come into his home to attack him. As he went further up, he was even more surprised that the person wore no pants, and seemed to have what looked like boxer shorts covering the lower half of his body. He was then shocked once again as he notice the bare torso of his attacker, which also seemed to be absent of any weapons.
'What kind of idiot would come to attack me without any clothes or weapons? Some new type of assassin who wants to kill me by being nude,' questioned Naruto as he continued to inspect his would be attacker. All of his questions though ceased when he came to the face of the person in front of him.
Brown hair that reached the squared shoulders of the man who had tanned skin that was a few shades darker then his own. The most surprising thing about his 'attacker' was that his faced was just as surprised about the appearance of Naruto, which was something unexpected by the blonde. Despite all of this, the thing that caused Naruto to cry out in surprise was the present scar across the face that he now recognized as none other then his favorite sensei, Umino Iruka.
"S-sensei, what are you doing in my house like that," cried out Naruto as he dropped his weapon and started to back pedal out of the kitchen. He was nearly our when he bumped into someone else, and heard the person's call out.
"Iruka-kun, why are you taking so long," the too sweet and obviously faked whine of a person that made Naruto's body freeze where he was on the ground. Instead of a verbal answer, Iruka point down towards the speaker's feet with his eyes wide and mouth open in surprise.
'This is not going to be good,' mumble Hikari mentally as she realized what they had walked into.
"O-Otouto, Don't turn around or look up," came the strangled shocked shout of Anko as she tried to flee the areas before Naruto got a glimpse of something he shouldn't.
Before she could even turn around there was already the loud thump of a body hitting the floor, and the sound of someone rushing over to it. Even then, Anko didn't stop running until she reached her room, and slammed the door shut and started to at least pull a robe on.
Then for what would be the first time ever for Anko, she started to blush as she realized that her little brother might have just seen his Nee-chan like the day she was born. What made things worst was that now someone might have to sit him down and have a nice long talk with him.
Hyuga Compound
The next morning brought Tsunade, Shizune, and Ibiki to the home of the most prestigious clan of the Hidden Leaf Village bright and early. The main reason for calling upon Hiashi so early was in hopes of getting to the depths of the problem soone.
Currently they were all three waiting inside of Hiashi's private tea room, where he would often sit and speak with honored guests about important matters. It was also one of the only areas where no one would dare to ease drop on the conversation being held within the small room. The occupants were currently involved in a heated debate on what seemed to have occurred the previous night before.
"I can't believe Anko would be so irresponsible. I mean Naruto could be scarred for life now because of that," muttered Tsunade as she thought of several ways to make the younger Kunoichi's life a living hell.
"It was an accident Tsunade-sama. How was she supposed to know he would be home two hours earlier then he normally is? I admit it is a little disturbing," countered Shizune in a hushed tone, and at the same time trying to hide a blush that was starting to form on her cheeks.
"It doesn't matter; she shouldn't have been walking around like that. We can't do anything about it now though. Maybe we can get this finished early, and then Ibiki could have the "talk" with Naruto. I absolutely forbid Jiraiya giving it to him," finished Tsunade as she heard foot steps coming down the halls towards them.
Ibiki, from his position next to Shizune, started to sputter softly when the Slug Sannin finished, and looked pleadingly to Shizune next to him, hoping to find a way out of the situation. The apprentice only smiled towards him, and shook her head gently. As she saw the bear like man's face darken, she couldn't help but laugh softly at seeing the ANBU interrogator's face. Before anything else could be said, the door at the end of the room opened to reveal their hosts.
Hiashi did not know why Tsunade had decided to come to his home a second time, but he knew the matter had to involve Naruto. The only thing that made him assume this of course was the arrival of Morino Ibiki with the Slug tamer and her long time apprentice. For him to be there with that duo, it had to concern Naruto.
Despite that, he knew that what ever it was concerning Naruto, it had to also deal with the current changes his eldest daughter had gone through in the previous months. After all, what father would not notice the lack of her once close friends, and obvious affections towards the boy? What made it more likely was that they did not have their yearly outing for Hinata.
He of course tried to question the girl, but came up with nothing. In the past he would have questioned her until he was given an answer, but now he knew how that affected her in the past. To add to his worries, she was now acting more like the rest of her family. She was cold, and calculated; she was no longer the kind caring girl that he left at home over the summer.
Despite those obvious changes, he could still see a small part of her underneath her ice cold exterior. Unlike the other members of the Main House, she has never activated the seal placed on the Branch Members. This fact alone let him know that some where inside of the ice sculpture, his daughter was hiding.
So it came as no surprise to hear that Tsunade, Shizune, and Ibiki were waiting for him in his private meeting room. The only thing that truly surprised him was how long it took for them to decide to meet with him concerning the matter. The only thing he needed to do now was retrieve the only person who would be able to shed some light on the situation.
Once he decided on his course of action, it didn't take him long to arrive at his eldest daughter's door. Before he knocked, he stood there and listened, hoping that perhaps he could over hear something of some importance. What he heard caused his frown to deepen as the soft sounds of a crying girl floated to his ears. He would have missed the sound had it not been for his Shinobi life. Stifling a growl of anger, he knocked on the door; his sudden desire to get to the bottom of the problem increasing ten fold.
He could tell he had startled his daughter, as the sounds of sudden activity could be heard easily in the hall. Objects being moved and lifted around was easily heard by the Head, and only served to increase his curiosity. Several seconds went by, and the sounds continued, until one distinctive sound stood out to Hiashi. It was the sound of wood paneling being snapped back into place; an old and yet always used trick among the children in the Hyuga clan. If would not be hard for him to guess where the loose floorboard was located either, but that would have to wait until he had a chance to search the room himself.
Finally, he could hear her voice call out for him to enter, and he did so without hesitating. Walking in he could see she had tried to clean up what ever mess she made in a hurry. Even now he could see the corners of sheets sticking out from the closet, and the trunk below her window. Even her bed roll was askew, which never seemed to happen before. After a quick scan of the room, he turned to look at his daughter, and the sight caused his breathe to catch in his throat.
He had only seen his daughter's eyes red before, and that was when she cried over the death of her mother. After that day, she never cried enough to cause her eyes to turn red, or even show signs of such events. Now though he could see the puffy eyes, and even the black bags that were forming underneath the pale lavender orbs.
'Why haven't I seen that before? Hinata, just what has been bothering you,' pondered Hiashi.
"Hinata we have guests that wish to speak with us. I shall be waiting outside while you make yourself presentable. It would be wise not to keep Tsunade-sama and her company waiting for too long," stated Hiashi in a softer tone, softer then he had used in previous years. He could tell she was surprised by his declaration, but did not dwell on it as he turned and left her room. Closing the door behind him, he stood guard as his mind raced with the possibilities of what would be uncovered in the upcoming talks.
After what seemed like hours, Hinata came walking out of her room, dark rings beneath her eyes gone, hidden under makeup of a simple Henge. Hiashi nodded to her, and was about to lead her away to the meeting when he stopped in mid-step. Spinning around, he looked down at his daughter, frowning when her eyes did not meet his.
"Come Hinata, Tsunade-sama tends to get angry when left waiting for too long," stated Hiashi as he started towards his private meeting room.
Tsunade was surprised to see that Hiashi was not wearing his stoic mask, but instead had a dazed and confused look on his face. Beside him, Hinata was once again looking down at the ground, never meeting the eyes of anyone in the room.
"Hiashi-san, what seems to be the problem," questioned Tsunade as he walked in, closed the door, and went about the room placing tags on all six surfaces of the room. Even after doing that he did not respond as the veins near his temple bulged out. He seemed to take a quick scan of the room before he settled down besides Hinata, opposite of Tsunade, Shizune and Ibiki.
"This is so that we may speak freely without the eyes and ears of the outside world listening in and watching us. We may all speak freely in here now, so do not feel like you must hold your tongue Hinata," commented Hiashi as he settled in and prepared for what ever may be said next.
"Hinata, we are all here today to ask you why the sudden change in behavior. Since the summer break, you and Naruto have been acting oddly. Not only that but it seems you no longer wish to have anything to do with him, only Shikamaru, and the others. Would you like to explain these events? I would also like to hear about this escort that you seem to now have, and who hired the person to escort you to and from the Academy," started Tsunade, catching the girl's body flinching with each sentence she said. Looking to her left and right, she could tell it was picked up by Ibiki and Shizune as well. Shizune seemed to have a confused look on her face, but Ibiki seemed to be angry with the results.
Hiashi looked down at his daughter as well, never having heard of any escorts, nor did he remember ever requesting such services. After the bond he saw with her friends, he stopped all Hyuga members from shadowing her, so this was all news to him.
"Hinata, it would be wise if you spoke up now. I too would like to know about this escort, as I have strictly forbidden any member of the clan from shadowing you. As I said before, what ever is said in here will only be between us," whispered Hiashi as he tried to coax her into talking.
Silence reigned supreme inside of the room for several minutes. Majority of the occupants were focused on the smallest occupant, waiting for the indigo haired girl to begin explaining everything. The same girl was currently fidgeting, and had fallen into her old habit of poking her fingers together. After what seemed like an eternity to the girl, the dark haired apprentice of Tsunade spoke up.
"Hinata-chan, if you open up to us, and maybe we can help; we all care about you and Naruto. Whatever could cause the two of you to change so much, and in such a negative way concerns each of us," pleaded Shizune as she tried to look into the girl's eyes. Beside her, Tsunade tried to bite back a snort at the pleading sound of Shizune's voice.
"Hinata-chan, I will say this only once. We do care about you, and we want to know what is bothering you, however if you do not tell us, we may have to seek alternative means of finding that information out. It wouldn't be anything as extreme as a trip to Ibiki, but he knows some less painful methods, and I'm sure we could talk a Yamanaka into assisting if needed," stated the busty blonde Sannin as she decided to forgo the idea of peacefully getting the information.
Across from Tsunade, Hiashi started to glare at the woman, not liking what was being said. He looked down to his daughter, and could see her shocked face at the words of Tsunade. Never before had she ever heard the woman talk that way to her, or any other child.
'Tsunade-sama… Have I truly made you that angry with me? Is it possible that I have caused everyone pain and anguish? I want to trust them, and tell them everything; but what is word got out that I told someone… No, I have caused enough pain to my friends. I will tell them,' shouted Hinata internally as she snapped her head up to look at Tsunade across from her.
"Tsunade-sensei, Shizune-sensei, Ibiki-san, and Otou-sama I have much to tell you….."
"Naruto just open the door and we can talk," shouted Iruka through the thick wooden door leading to Naruto's room. He had been trying to talk to the boy for the last four hours about the events of the previous night; unfortunately, Naruto didn't seem to be in the talking mood right now.
'Anko-chan is going to kill me if I don't fix this problem. That is nothing compared to what Tsunade-sama said she would do to me if this happened again,' whined Iruka as he pounded on the door again, hoping for the boy to finally answer. After Anko had rushed to her room the previous night, and Naruto passed out, Iruka was bouncing from one problem to the next.
When Naruto passed out the previous night he started to freak out. He and Anko had not expected the boy to be back from his late night training two hours early, and decided to spend a little time together instead of meeting with the Hokage. Boy did that ever turn out wrong for him.
He had gone down to get some refreshments from the fridge when Naruto walked in and saw him in nothing but a pair of boxers. That alone was probably enough to scar the boy for life, what happened next would cause him extreme mental anguish. When Anko walked in behind Naruto, in just her birthday suit, Iruka paled completely. When she started talking he could see the shock registering on Naruto's face.
Thankfully before Naruto could turn around, Anko was already heading back upstairs. That still didn't stop the shock of the current situation from overloading Naruto's mind, and causing him to pass out. Not knowing what caused the reaction; Iruka rushed over and checked him for injuries, only to find none. Thinking that perhaps it could have been internal injuries, he made the biggest mistake of the night, and picked up Naruto's unconscious form and rushed to the Hokage Tower for Tsunade to check him over.
The Slug Tamer was not at all pleased with the way he showed up when he barged into the office of the Sandaime. Be it the way he was dressed, and the insinuations that could come from it, or the topic they were discussing he was never sure. One thing he was thankful for was the quick thinking mind of Jiraiya, as he was pulled out of the path of one of Tsunade's destructive punches.
Shizune, with a small blush, quickly ran over to where Naruto had fallen and started to check him over. Tsunade stopped trying to bash his head in long enough to check on the young vessel, Jiraiya seemed to be asking him questions so fast he hardly heard them. Ibiki and the Hokage were only laughing at the small exchange, and the sudden blushing that formed on Iruka as Jiraiya's questions started to sink in.
After he was pronounced fine, and a threat from Tsunade to wear more clothes, or risk castration, he rushed Naruto home and to his room. He then went to pick his clothes up, and check in on Anko. The dark haired woman was embarrassed, and clearly shaken up that her little brother nearly saw her in all of her natural glory; she was ashamed of herself.
She had been able to prevent such things form happening over the last six years. Even when she would take him with her to the hot springs when he was younger, she would always make sure they changed separately, and she had a towel large enough to hide all of her body.
It had been left up Iruka to calm her down, and assure her everything would be fine. He had even gone as far as to assure her he would talk with Naruto in the morning, and if needed give him the "talk". That ended up bringing him to the boy's door the next day.
"Come on Naruto, I know you may not want to talk to me or see me right now, but this is important," shouted Iruka once again.
"Still no answer Iruka," asked Anko as she started to walk to the door. The only answer she was given was a heavy sigh, and the form of Iruka sliding down the wall next to the door.
"No, I almost forgot how stubborn he could be at times. I mean this semester he mostly skipped the Academy, or he would sleep through the lessons. He doesn't even seem to care about if I get on to him or not any more," groaned the Academy teacher as he finally reached the floor and hung his head.
"I would normally be all for breaking down the door and asking yelling at him…"
"Yeah, but with his traps there is no way I would want to do that either. I'd be afraid he would test one of his newest toys on us," finished Iruka as he caught onto what Anko was thinking. If only they had the Byakugan, they would have saved themselves a great deal of trouble.
The sun was shining down through the canopy of leaves as wild blonde hair blew through the wind, and Naruto jumped from tree to tree. He had left his room when Iruka first started to pound on the door.
After the extremely awkward situation from the previous night he wasn't sure if he could ever look at Anko and Iruka the same again. Being around Jiraiya so much, a few things were bound to rub off and warp his mind, even with Hikari trying to prevent it. With that in mind he left the house through his balcony window as fast as he could. Now he was off to the only place he seemed to be able to clear his mind and think clearly of the past; his father's head on the Hokage monument.
"While I don't agree with what they were possibly doing last night, I still don't agree with running from the problem. You will have to face them sooner or later, and get over the awkwardness of the situation."
'I don't care; I just need to clear my head right now. So much is going on, and I don't know what to make of it. Nee-chan hardly noticed Iruka-sensei at first, and only started realizing his feelings when I told her,' countered Naruto as he flipped around in the air.
"Oh, you mean like you and Hinata right? After all you never noticed her feelings for you until someone said something," growled out Hikari. As she said this, Naruto could have sworn he saw her with a pout on her face, and her hands on her hips.
"Just leave me alone, and let me think," bit back the blonde as he tried his best to ignore his eldest "sister".
Around this time he finally emerged at the top of the Hokage monument, and took his seat on the head of the Yondaime to over look the village in the early morning light. Once he was settled in, laying down and looking at the sky, he let his mind roam on the events of his life leading up to now.
As he looked up at the clouds in the sky he started to do something that came naturally to him now, play with his Kitsune-bi. Ghostly blue flames erupted in his hands, and started to dance around his body, and move with his thoughts. As the flames danced around him, they took the shapes of animals, people, and places as he thought of them.
'Otou-san, what would you tell me to do if you were here right now? From the stories 'Bunta-Oji-san sends me, you would say something stupid, and Kaa-san would hit you on the head, and give me real advice,' thought Naruto as his ethereal flames continued to dance. Every now and then they would try to form a face, one that he could only imagine as his mother.
"Kaa-san, where are you? I wish you were here now to help me, and maybe then I could quit hiding. Who knows, maybe then Hinata-chan would see me worthy of being a friend again," after Naruto finished the thought; the hairs all over his body started to stand on end. His flames vanished in the blink of an eye, and just as quickly Naruto was blinded by a bright white light.
In the next few moments Naruto knew nothing but pure mind numbing pain. His vision clouded, and his body started to convulse as he was hit with a massive bolt of energy. His ears were filled with the sound of the energy crackling as it coursed through his body. Before he was overwhelmed, he could smell his hair being singed by the heat generated by the energy. All he could do in those brief seconds, which felt like hours of pain, was open his mouth in a silent scream of agony. Then just as quickly as it happened, his back settled down from the unnatural angle it had contorted into.
"Raiton: Raikou Dageki (Lightning Release: Lightning Strike), a basic technique most Kumo Shinobi know, similar to Konoha's fire jutsu," came a voice from the trees that lined the top of the monument. "Oh how I have waited to get you alone like this to eliminate you and then finally complete my mission," added the voice as he watched Naruto continue to convulse from the attack."
Naruto for the most couldn't do anything except try to block out the pain caused by the attack. He felt like he had been cooked from the inside, and felt like his blood was boiling. His skin was blistered form the heat generated by the high powered attack. Despite all of this, he could feel the minor wounds, and some of the major pain start to lessen, his healing ability starting to kick in and feed off of his dual chakra sources.
"Wha-what do you w-want," croaked out Naruto, hoping to stall for his body to heal enough to be able to move again.
"A smart boy I see, you wouldn't be stalling for time, would you? I suppose it doesn't matter all that much, you are hardly a threat to me now. If I was to have attacked you months ago, I might have been worried," the man paused just outside of Naruto's sight, and laughed at the confused look that passed over the boy's face. "I want you dead, and then I could complete the mission that I was sent to do nearly seven years ago. Even though you will be dead, you will not have the honor of learning of my purpose. All you need to know is that now you will die by my blade."
'Nee-chan, how much longer, this guy's killing intent is too familiar. I think he is the one we have sensed following Hinata-chan,' shouted Naruto mentally as he started to panic over his current situation. Placing the killing intent as the same and going by what he knew of Kumo, he could only guess what his mission was.
"Another few seconds and you should be able to move. I'm taking off the weights I gave to you, and I suggest doing the same to the other weights. Be extremely careful, he seems to have been watching you, and may know everything you could be capable of. The most you could do is to do something to get help to come to you. Since he seems to use lightning as a weapon, get into the woods, you should be a little safer there from most of his techniques," rushed Hikari as she tried pushing as much chakra as she could to heal him, and yet stop just short from overwhelming him with it.
'I think I know how to get help, I just hope it is someone who knows Baa-chan watching me today. I have a bad feeling I am going to need some serious healing before this is over,' added Naruto as he started to struggle to speak.
"GAMAKICHI, if you are out there run and get Baa-chan; tell her I need help, and let her know where I am," screamed Naruto with the strength he could muster. His voice cracking and the pain causing him to punctuate certain words as the pain racked his body.
The man who came to kill Naruto only looked around, trying to find the mysterious watcher. He had never seen anyone else watching the boy, except sometimes at nights when one of the Sannin, or his "family" would watch over him. This name he shouted caused him to falter in his actions for only just a few seconds.
"Nice bluff kid, but no one will be here to save you. By the time they do find you, all that will remain is a charred body. The technique I used is more then enough to keep you still while I handle my business," growled out the man as he figured out the "bluff" being done by Naruto. He could only scowl as Naruto started to cough in between what could only be called strained laughs.
"Then give me the honor of knowing the name of the man who would kill me. At least then I know who to come back and haunt once I die," Naruto could only laugh as he heard the snarl come from the man just out of his sight.
"Ah, to think you would believe I would hold those same beliefs. I will humor you though boy, you have turned this mission into one of the hardest I've had for some time. My name is Hakai, and I will be delivering you to your maker," spoke the Kumo Jonin as he removed his massive lightning bolt shaped sword from his back.
"NOW," screamed Hikari as she had finally healed his injuries enough to move.
Fortunately for Naruto, the toad watching him at that time was indeed Gamakichi, and not one of his brothers. The small orange toad had seen what happened to Naruto, and could hear the pain in his desperate shout for help. Hearing the normally confident boy in such pain and seeing it, he didn't have to be asked twice to go get Tsunade for help. All that was left to do was track down the chakra signature and smell that matched hers, and get help as soon as possible.
'Why did I have to have such small legs? This is going to take too long. I hope along the way I come across someone who can help me,' thought the small toad as he berated himself for his small stature.
Hopping through the forest, and down into the city proper, he wasn't sure how much time he had wasted in getting help. One thing he knew for sure was that Naruto was fighting for his life against the man. Being summoned so many times by the young vessel, he had become attuned to the boy's chakra, and could feel the fluctuation of Naruto's chakra. He had to hurry before things got out of hand, and Naruto was seriously injured.
As he was nearing the outskirts of the village, he came across the Inuzuka home, and could hear the barks of the dogs being housed in the kennels. He allowed himself a smile as he started to think of a way to get to Tsunade faster. As he made his way towards the fences that kept the dogs separated from the rest of Konoha, he came across a rather imposing sight; at least for a creature his size, a massive black and white wolf like dog with an eye patch on his right eye.
"What do we have here? It isn't often that a scion of Gamabunta graces us Inu with their presence. I can only assume you are here for business, and not some lowly prank," growled Kuromaru as he towered over the now quaking Toad. He watched as the small orange toad suddenly stopped shaking and looked him in the eye with a dead serious look on his face.
"Hell yes, I need you to help me find Tsunade-sama so she can help save Naruto-Nii-san! If we don't hurry he could be killed by a Kumo Jonin! So either help me, or be ready to feel the wrath of my dad should he die," screeched Gamakichi as he hopped back and forth from one webbed foot to the either, waving his forelegs around in the air.
This caught Kuromaru's attention, and caused him to wonder about why the Boss of the Toads and Frogs would have an interest in the Kyubi container. However, instead of standing there and questioning the toad, he picked him up by his small shirt, and tossed him on his back.
"Hold on tight, I'll find her quick enough, then you can explain why the Toad Boss has an interest in the boy to me and Tsunade-hime," yelled Kuromaru as he jumped forward, and started to follow the scent of slugs.
"I'll explain what my pops says I can, but nothing more. Don't let anything stand in your way, get to her as fast as you can no matter what," hollered Gamakichi as he grabbed a handful of hair in his webbed hands.
Together the duo raced down the streets, and over rooftops earning many surprised gasps of astonishment, and squeals of laughter from children and adults alike. Slowly the two started to head towards the Hyuga compound, where Gamakichi could sense her chakra, and Kuromaru could smell her unique scent coming from. As the two neared the building, they could hear the voice of someone calling Kuromaru from behind.
Quickly turning around, the wizened old dog could see his partner, Tsume, running to catch up with him. Even when she was beside him, he did not stop, and continued on his path to the Hyuga compound, earning him a confused look from his friend.
"Don't stop at the walls, jump over and keep following her scent! She has Shizune and Ibiki with her I think, and Hinata-nee-chan seems to be with them. This might be bad but it can't be helped," yelled Gamakichi, earning him another confused look from Tsume. Kuromaru only nodded his head as he cleared the wall of the compound easily, and started down the halls with the shouts of several Hyuga guards following them.
The atmosphere inside of the sealed room was tense as Hinata finished her story. She couldn't look Tsunade in the face, nor could she meet the eyes of anyone else in the room. She could only sit there crying silently as she let them absorb what she had to tell them.
Tsunade herself was grinding her teeth, and squeezing the able in front of her, causing it to crack and groan in protest. She could hardly believe the story she was just told, and yet she would hardly put it past the older members of the Hyuga Council. They never seemed like the understanding type that should be on every council created.
Shizune was in a similar situation, but not from the political view of the situation. She was having a hard time understanding how two people could be torn apart so easily. Two people who seemed to be perfect together, and inspired the other to do better. Two people who obviously cared deeply for the other, and yet too afraid to say so; She could never understand how people like the Elders could deny Hinata the sunshine that she and Naruto deserved.
Ibiki was fuming silently, and trying his best to not storm out of the room, and impale the first Elder on the tip of a kunai. The only thing possibly keeping him from doing that was the death grip Shizune had on his hand and the knowledge that he couldn't kill them all before he was taken down.
Hiashi was going through a kaleidoscope of emotions as he absorbed what Hinata had just said. Anger, rage, sadness, and helplessness were among the more prominent of the emotions playing through his mind at that moment. To think that they would put his daughter through the same trials and tribulations he was placed in, all because they did not see her as a proper heir to the clan. They would deny his daughter a chance at happiness, all because of her choice in dedication and training. It was all because the fools on the council could not see the jump in her abilities from when she started to train with Naruto and Tsunade. What hurt him most of all was that he never noticed any of this taking place.
'It is because of me… I let them oversee her training for the summer, and they used that to their advantage to strip her happiness away. They used that as their chance to set their own plans into motion, plans that I had suspected being laid for some time now. To destroy those plans will require something equally as shocking, and destructive… Perhaps allowing Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Ibiki get their hands on them will be enough,' thought Hiashi as he finally absorbed all the details his daughter had told him. He was brought out of his thoughts as the table in front of him snapped in half, and a very pissed Tsunade.
"Hiashi, I won't pretend that this never happened. If I come across one of the Elders of this clan, I will ensure he or she is never able to reproduce, or breathe again; consequences be damned. Now I would like to know how much of this you will be able to fix, and how much I will have to handle myself."
"To be honest, I have known that they have thought of doing this, but they held back when she started to improve, and then the whispers of it stopped some years ago. The fact they waited for me to leave for the summer only shows how much preparation has been put into this plan. They know I would never have allowed the terms they placed on Hinata; given her improvements since I've allowed her to be friends openly with Naruto.
"I would never force my daughter into an arranged marriage, not after seeing how close she has become to Naruto. I would never have allowed any such thing happen with anyone from the Land of Water, unless I had met them myself and they proved themselves worthy. As you may know, I was nearly placed in such a marriage during the war, but thankfully my father denied it, knowing of Hitome's feelings for me at the time. Be they the son of a Daimyo, or the Mizukage, I would not force this on Hinata so early unless there was no other choice, and she held no interest in anyone in her own home village.
"What angers me the most is how they would force her to act the way she has. Using her love for her family against her and threatening to place the seal on Hanabi or activate it on Neji on a whim will not be tolerated. I have suspected they had some shady dealings in the past, starting with the death of my wife, and the events that followed. This however confirms that there is a faction in the Hyuga clan who wishes harm to us, and to Konoha. They will be sought out, and dealt with the only way such crimes should be handled. That would be of course after Ibiki had a talk with them, as well as anyone else who wishes to question their actions," stated Hiashi grimly as his face took on a more natural appearance, a scowl.
No one said anything for several minutes, each of them digesting everything, and in Hinata's case, feeling slightly happy that she no longer had to hide anything from those she cared for.
"I suppose that the only way to break this arranged marriage is for someone of greater or equal stature here in Konoha, correct," questioned Tsunade as her minded started to work through the scenarios.
"Hai, though there are few that could equal the rank of the Mizukage's son here in Konoha, and I would be willing to give her hand to. To make matters worst, the Mizukage is also the son of the current Daimyo of the Land of Water. To deny this could start a war with their nation. The only person here in Konoha that I know of would be the Uchiha, or possibly Hokage-sama's grandson, which I would never allow," answered Hiashi as he looked Tsunade straight in the eyes.
'Tsunade-hime, you devilish woman; There could only be one person you are thinking of to fix this situation, and it would only make both of them immensely happy,' thought Ibiki. Before he could think any more on the subject, or before anything else could be said, a commotion could be hear in the halls, and a loud banging could be heard on the doors of the meeting room. Accompanying these was the high pitched voice of something small and frantic.
"TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN, Naruto-Nii-san needs your help! Hurry and open the door before these crazy white eyed people killed us," screeched Gamakichi as Kuromaru started to bite at the guards trying to restrain him. Tsume was trying to fight her way through the throng of guards to get to her loyal friend, but was not able to reach them under the current circumstances.
Everyone in the room looked at Tsunade, who had a dumbfounded look on her face. That look was quickly replaced with her full blown anger as she charged the door, and ripped it from the wall.
"CALL ME OLD AGAIN, AND I'LL LET ONE OF MY SLUGS MELT YOUR UNGRATEFUL HIDE," shouted Tsunade as she stormed outside of the room. Her anger was quickly quenched as she saw the strange sight of a small orange and black toad dressed in a blue shirt riding atop of a black and white wolf.
To add to her confusion, the halls were filled with Hyuga Branch members, several of which seemed to be bleeding from bite or claw wounds from the animal in front of her. Behind the gathered Hyuga's was a wild looking woman who could only be the head of the Inuzuka clan.
"What the hell is going on here," roared Hiashi and Tsunade together. All fighting stopped when the voices roared at the gathered people. All eyes focused on the two who caused the commotion.
"Baa-Chan, Nii-san needs your help! A Kumo Jonin is attacking him, and wants to kill him," yelled out Gamakichi as he jumped at Tsunade.
"Quit calling me that you half-pint toad! Slow down and tell me everything from the beginning," ordered Tsunade as she caught the toad half way.
"Naruto-Nii-san was thinking up on the Monument, and then he was attacked by a Kumo Jonin who wants to kill him! When I left he was on the ground from a surprise attack, and could hardly holler for me to get you. He wants you to get up there with any help you can get on the way. He is fighting like crazy right now, but his chakra is depleting fast, and he is still injured from the first lightning bolt that hit him," ranted the oldest son of Gamabunta in Tsunade's hands, and pointing in the general direction of the fight.
"Why would a Kumo-nin want to kill Naruto? Just how the hell do you know Naruto," questioned Tsunade as she nodded to Shizune and Ibiki to leave ahead of her.
"Ask questions later, HELP NII-SAN NOW," screeched the Toad again as he jumped from her hands, and onto Kuromaru once again. "Take me to the Monument fast," and without asking any questions, the wolf-dog did just that, wanting to get to the bottom of the drama playing out. Right on his heels was Tsume, followed closely by Tsunade, Hiashi, and any Hyuga within hearing range.
None of them noticed one person that had left long before they ever did, tears running down her face. Fear was evident as well, but it would seem as if it was for someone other then herself once again.
Once Naruto dodged the initial attack, he quickly moved to the trees, and tried to concentrate on activating the Kitsune Genkaku to buy him some time to remove his other weights, and heal. As he ran to the tree line, he was constantly dodging bolts of lightning being sent at him, and causing all of his hair to stand on end.
Once into the forest, and behind a tree, he was able to focus enough to vanish from plain sight. He quickly moved from his location, and moved to another tree as a bolt of lightning struck were he was once standing.
Feeling relatively safe, he quickly removed the Chakra weights, and tried to apply what little healing power he could muster. All the while he was stretching his sense to find his attacker, and be ready to move should he attack again.
It had been nearly tens minutes since he had screamed for Gamakichi to run, and he wasn't sure if the toad watching him was the little orange toad after his heart as a sibling. He could only hope one of his normal toads were watching him at the time, and would be able to find Tsunade before things got worst.
"Most of the serious internal damage is healed. The blistered skin and burns outside are not anything to worry about right now. Focus on staying alive, and we can handle them later. This man is crazed, and will stop at nothing to see us both dead, so stay on your toes and use everything you can to stay alive," direct Hikari as she finished healing the last major injury.
Naruto was about to respond when he saw the clouds gathering above the section of forest where he was hiding. The sky started to darken as bolts of lightning started to arc through the clouds, causing Naruto to wonder just how save he would be surrounded by nothing but trees waiting to be turned into kindling.
'Alright, now that I can fight, what can I do to stall besides hide? No to mention the sudden change in weather, those clouds look like thunderheads… Wait, why does the air seem different all of a sudden,' as Naruto was planning, the clouds above him continued to darken, and gather. Slowly, the hairs on Naruto's arms started to rise towards the sky as a large amount of static electricity started to build up.
" Raiton: Denkou Kyouran (Lightning Frenzy)," echoed through the woodlands as bolts of lightning started to crash down into the trees, destroying them on impact, and sending the debris flying around. Other trees were impaled by splinters and branches, and at the same time the brush, and dead limbs started to catch fire.
As the bolts of deadly energy crashed down to earth, Naruto jumped from tree to tree, all in hopes of avoiding being struck once again by the forces of nature. At the same time he tried to distance himself from the roaring flames that started to spark up in the dry underbrush.
'Okay, didn't think he would have an area destruction jutsu like that. I can't keep away from these stupid things forever, and staying in one place is just stupid,' thought Naruto as he tried to dance around, and plain avoid the deadly bolts.
"Try using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, it may provide you with enough cover to get out from underneath the clouds, or to some place safe, like a cave," added Hikari as the number of bolts crashing down multiplied.
"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," shouted Naruto as the woods were flooded with clones of the blonde. As soon as they popped into existence, hundreds vanished when struck by lightning, debris, or a deadly sword that was arcing through the trees in pursuit of the blonde.
"No use hiding in your little Genjutsu boy. I can feel the electrical field being given off by your body. Even with my lightning striking, you can never hide from me," shouted Hakai as he started towards where Naruto was standing.
'Kuso, this is not going to be easy… Ok, time to try and even the playing field out. This should at least buy me some more time to think up a defensive plan."
Naruto continued to run from the deadly Kumo-nin, the entire time looking behind him and towards the sky above him as he sought to get out form beneath the death trap that was conjured up. Thinking back to the last hard opponent he fought for his life against, he quickly conjured up a new favorite technique of his.
"Kiri Gakure no Jutsu," whispered Naruto as his chakra infused with the air, drawing on all the moisture to create a dense, thick fog. At the same time the fires in the area died down slightly as the thick fog bank rolled in, concealing everything more then two feet from in front of Naruto, and the pursuing Hakai to vanish in the mist.
"Nice try, but this is only going to delay your death boy. I can still pick out where you are," shouted the crazed Kumo-nin again. 'Damn brat, this mist is throwing off the electrical field, not by much, but enough to cause some slight problems,' thought the man as he went to where he believed the boy to be.
Cleaving the tree in two, he found nothing but air in front of him as he released a feral growl from deep within his throat. By this time the lightning strikes had ceased, and left nothing but a smoldering, and ruined section of Konoha forest behind. Flames still flickered in the sky, drawing the attention of the village below as the fires started to build up once again. The thunderheads were still very much above the man, and slowly shifted to follow in his wake as he pursued Naruto through the forest.
"Nee-chan, that fire is going to start back up soon… Even with the mist the forest and underbrush is still too dry for the winter season. If they aren't dealt with soon, it could cause a massive forest fire.'
"The fire should also draw the attention of the village though, and hopefully help will arrive before they get too serious."
Naruto nodded, and started to run through the trees again, this time heading to a near by cave as he sought sanctuary from any attack the man might have. Once there he started to strip out burnt shirt, and started to tear it into strips of cloth; to bandage his legs, and torso from the blisters caused earlier. In doing this, he left his chest bare, and his arms exposed to the cool air, with the small exception of the bracers he wore on his forearms.
"Alright, minor injuries taken care of, now time to get down to business," and with that, Naruto reached into his hip pouch, and pulled out a scroll that was used to store items. "Let's see how this bastard likes the Uzumaki Naruto Chakra Special," mumbled Naruto as several fist sized metal balls appeared on the floor of the cave. Along with these were several of his flash bangs, and frag grenades.
Pulling his goggles from his pouch, over his head, and over his eyes, he set a determined look on his face as he raced out to set up his traps for his guest and stalker.
Indeed, all around Konoha, civilians and Shinobi alike were looking at the forest fire as it sprung to life. Others gathered to watch to freak lightning storm that started back behind the monument. More were mystified by the dense fog that started to mix and mingle with the smoke from the forest fire. One thing was known by many of the Shinobi of Konoha. This was no accident, but a case of high powered techniques being used.
That was one of the reasons that a certain silver haired man called a stop to what he was doing.
"Sasuke lets call it a day, I think I left my stove on, and I need to hurry home and turn it off before it burns my apartment down," stated the man as he started to walk away. The person behind him only scowled at the half-assed excuse. He could tell the man was going to check out the strange explosions, and the surges of chakra.
"HN, what ever; I have better things to do then hear your lame excuses," bit out the Uchiha as he turned around and left towards his home for a light lunch.
'I wonder though, who could be causing so much trouble behind the monument? From what I can tell there is some high level Raiton Jutsu being used, and I am sorely lacking in that department… Hopefully I can get there before the show is over,' thought Kakashi as he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
In a clearly full of craters, another Jonin stopped his instructions, and looked towards the horizon. He ignored his shorter counterpart as his face set into a scowl at the chakra being expended in the mountain range.
"Gai-Sensei, I have finished the first step of the Lotus! Please Sensei, you must teach me more. If I can not do what you show me, I will run around Konoha on one leg five hundred times. If I can not do that, then I will climb the monument with only my teeth one hundred times," yelled out a boy with black haired cut like a bowl, and large living eyebrows. Like his god, he wore a skin tight green spandex that left little to the imagination for those unfortunate enough to meet them.
"Lee, Neji, and Tenten, training is over for the day. I want you all to head home and rest. We will meet back here tomorrow at the same time," ordered the Konoha no Kedakai Aoi Mōjū, ("Konoha's Noble Green Beast"), also known as Maito Gai.
His ordered shocked his Genin team, as it lacked the normal enthusiasm, and loud voice. Instead of his normal voice, it was one that left no room for arguing. For once in their life, they saw their Sensei serious about something other then their training.
Slowly, and almost mechanically, Neji nodded his head as he backed away from his Sensei's odd behavior. Lee also started to back away, with adoration in his eyes, and a small waterfall of tears starting to form. Before he could open his mouth to say anything though, a kunai landed in front of him, curtsey of the fairer member of the team. Seeing the look in her eye, he only nodded and left in a trail of smoke.
Tenten stood in the clearing, looking at what her sensei was mesmerized by. She knew the area all to well, as Naruto had told her several times in the past that he went there to clear his head.
"Gai-sensei, what is going on," asked the brown eyed girl, fear starting to pool in her stomach. Having been around Naruto for so long, she was nearly attuned to his chakra. She may not have felt the surge a year ago, but being closer this time, she could feel his chakra, and it disturbed her that it was dropping as quickly as it was.
"Tenten, don't worry, everything will be fine," firmly stated Gai as he prepared to jump towards the monument. Before he left, he could hear the girl mumble something akin to "Otouto". Knowing of only one person she called that, he left he a blast of dirt, rocketing towards the monument.
Seeing her Sensei take off like that only made her steel her resolve.
'Otouto, I may not have been able to help you in the past, but I'll be damned if I don't try to help you this time,' shouted Tenten mentally, as images of a beaten, cut, and bruised Naruto flashed through her mind. Out of all his friends, she may have been the one who knew him best. She was also the only one who was privy to what he kept hidden under the long sleeved shirts, jackets, and long thick pants. More importantly, she may have been the only one to ever come across him when the villagers were tormenting him.
Two generations of Ino-Shika-Cho were gathered around on an extremely large picnic blanket. Among them were several baskets, and a number of larger ones were situated in front of the male members of the Akimichi family.
The group was talking amongst themselves until the lightning started striking the monument, and smoke started to dance in the cold December air. Each generation sat there, looking at the sky above the trees surrounding them.
The older generation looked to the sky, praying that there was no eagle or flacon winging across it. Relieved that they saw none, they knew that the village was not being invaded. It still did little to ease their worries.
"I think we need to cut this short, kids you help your mothers get home with everything," shouted Inoichi as he jumped to his feet, shortly followed by Choza and Shikaku. Without sparing another word, the three Jonin took to the trees, and started their way towards the monument.
While the wives were cleaning up, the younger generation of Ino-Shika-Cho was gathered, and talking in hushed whispers out of ear shot from their parents.
"Ino, isn't that where you saw Naruto once? You know, when you were practicing the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)," asked Choji as he started to reach for the hammer across his back. As his hand came to rest on it, he visibly calmed, as he gazed up at the smoke and lightning.
"Yeah… He goes there a lot now," answered Ino, with a hint of fear in her voice. Behind her and Ino, Shikamaru stood watching the clouds, not liking how they seemed to become darker with each passing minute. Several of the clouds were now an eerie red from the pent up energy within them.
"If Naruto is in the middle of this, it could only mean trouble. Well, I suppose we wouldn't be good friends if we weren't there in a time of need," mumbled Shikamaru as he jumped over his friends, and followed the path their fathers left on. Glancing at each other, Choji and Ino nodded in agreement, and followed Shikamaru; never looking back.
"Come on, we are almost there! Nii-san should be where all that smoke is coming from… I hope Nii-san is alright, he really hates fires," shouted Gamakichi, and mumbled the last few words under his breath.
"Don't worry, we have an army behind us, and with all that lightning striking, and the fires blazing, half the Shinobi will be converging on the monument," growled out Kuromaru as he rolled his eyes at the toad's antics.
"That's the problem! If the wrong people get to Nii-san first, they might help the guy," shouted Gamakichi into the ear of the black dog. Hearing those words only caused those within hearing range to double their pace, knowing that the young toad was speaking nothing but the truth.
"Tsunade-hime, I take it you know what is going on," asked Jiraiya as he settled in beside Tsunade and Hiashi. The Sandaime appeared in front of them, and slightly trailing Kuromaru and Gamakichi in full battle attire, and a scowl on his face.
"Yes, Gamakichi says that Naruto is under attack by a Kumo Jonin," answered Tsunade as she quickly threw her green coat off, and started to pour more chakra into the lower half of her body. Not wanting to be left behind, the two beside her matched her pace.
"Gamakichi, I don't remember summoning him. What in the world is he doing here, and how does he know about the brat," asked Jiraiya. Instead of an answer though, he only got dead silence as everyone settled in for what may be coming in the next few minutes.
Naruto had already finished all of his traps, and could hear them going off in the area around his base of operations. His bigger surprises had yet to be trigger, but when they were, he would be the first to know.
He reached out with all of his senses, hoping to detect when and where the man would attack. With the smoke wafting into the area, it was starting to become hard to smell the man. He was about to move to another location when he heard the bushes to his right moving, and quickly spun around to deliver a hard kick into the bushes.
As his foot hit the target, a surge of electricity coursed through his body once again, as a figure stood from the bushes, with Naruto's foot in his hand. Blue arcs of electricity was racing from the man's hands to Naruto's foot and flowing up through his body.
Gritting his teeth, Naruto channeled a small amount of chakra down into the heel of his feet. As the chakra made it there, a barely audible click could be heard coming from both feet. As soon as Naruto heard the sound, he jumped up, and spun his body around, lashing out at the man with his left foot, and the knife blade sticking out the front of the sandal. The man didn't have a chance to dodge the blade as it sliced across his face.
The cut started below his left eye, and continued across the bridge of his nose, and below his right eyes. The sudden pain caused the man to release his grip on Naruto's foot, and place a hand on the new wound. Naruto was about to grin in success until the man removed his hand from the wound, and ran his tongue across the top of his lips, tasting his own blood.
"Very surprising, who would have thought you could fight through my Seiteki Tate (Static Shield). I must say you are impressive, and it looks like you have seen your own share of combat by those scars on your body."
Naruto stood there, holding the leg that the man held moments ago, trying to get feeling back into the appendage. He could only watch and hobble backwards as the man started towards him once again, this time his fingers glowing as arcs of lightning jumped between the fingers. When the man was just over five feet away from him, Naruto stopped and smiled up to the scowling face of his attacker.
"It looks like you are within range. I give you the honor of testing out one of my newest devices; my Chakra Bomb. Let me know what you think when and if you live through it," stated Naruto as he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Hakai then started to look around the clearing for any sign of the boy, but saw no trace of him, nor could he feel him near by. His vision started to distort as the trees and shrubs changed into a small cave; the walls were lined with explosive seals, and other items that could only be bombs. At the front of the cave was a single orb blocking the only way in and out of the cave, and gave off eerie silver light.
"I hope you like the scenery, I may have slacked off on some things, but my Kitsune Genkaku has developed enough for a simple Genjutsu like this," laughed Naruto was his voice echoed down the tunnel. Before the man could do anything else, the orb started to glow a silver-blue light before it exploded.
Naruto watched from a tree a hundred feet away as his chakra bomb went off, and at the same time causing all of his other explosives to go off in a series of blasts. Finally the ground erupted into the sky, sending rocks and dirt over the forest canopy, and smoke flying hundreds of feet into the sky.
'Think that took care of the guy Nee-chan?'
"I wish it could have. If this man is the one we sensed following Hinata-chan around some time ago, then he will be a deadly opponent. It is unlikely that he would be dealt with so easily," as if he was confirming her assumptions, the area around Naruto was blasted by bolts of lightning, sending him flying.
As he was flying, a foot connected with his chest, reversing his direction. Wind the wind knocked out of him, he could do little to block the follow up slash of the sword. As the sword sliced across his chest, the wound was instantly cauterized as electricity once again made its way into Naruto. It was only after that brutal attack that Naruto flew through several trees, and finally came to a rest slumped up against a boulder.
The cut form of Hakai jumped into view. His clothes were torn, and his vest barely hung around his shoulders. He had several burns and lacerations across the exposed portions of his torso, legs, and arms. His hair was even smoking from the inferno he just escaped.
"I'll give you credit for that trap brat, but you have tried my patience long enough. You've drawn more then enough attention to our little fight, more then I would have wished. So pardon me if I quit playing around," growled the man as his hands flashed through several hand seals too fast for Naruto to see. As he went through the complex set of seals, lightning starting dancing around him, striking trees, rocks, and even Naruto himself.
'That amount of chakra… What ever he is doing is going to be a major pain if it hits.'
"Run, run like you have never run before," added Hikari, not liking the level of chakra being placed into the jutsu.
A/N: Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though I did do some skipping around, time wise and scene wise. I know I promised to have the graduation this chap to some people, but I wanted to try and work in something else. The aftermath of the conclusion of the battle will be next chapter, which shouldn't take me months to do. With it, there will be graduation, and team placements.
I know a few of you may be concerned about the change in Naruto's strength, and I have a reason for it. Most anyone who does physical workouts knows that there is a right way and a wrong way to go about them. Doing things the wrong way will not help you, or improve you in any way. If anything, it will only cause more harm then good to you. With Naruto's change in mind set, and anger pushing him, he lost focus on his activities, and ignored proper form for his techniques. This stunts his growth, and lets others catch up to him when they practice the right way.
I hope you liked the techniques I created, and I hope I did a decent job describing them for you. Since we have never seen many Lightning based techniques, I was forced to come up with a large number of them. From there I just picked which ones I liked the most, and placed them in.
As you can tell, I've tried to give you an idea of the Taijutsu style being taught to Naruto by Hikari (Kyubi). I'm not proficient in martial arts or anything. I only know what I read on sites, and see in shows. So I hope you will understand that I may not be able to give a better description of it at the moment.
The weapons for Shikamaru and Hinata will also be shown in the next chapter, since I have avoided mentioning them for the last few chapters. Also, this chapter marks the first of many of Naruto's nice little art projects, or so Deidra would call them that.
Jutsu
Raiton: Raikou Dageki (Lightning Release: Lightning Strike): A simple bolt of lightning is called down from the sky, or sent from the user's body toward the target. It is a basic technique used by many of the Shinobi from the Land of Lightning, and Kumogakure no Saito.
Raiton: Denkou Kyouran (Lightning Frenzy): An extremely deadly technique that allows the user to manipulate the clouds, gathering them to release tremendous amounts of lightning bolts down into the area below the clouds. The technique was designed after the Thunder Plains that surround the village of Kumogakure, where nothing lives, and everything fears being struck by supercharged bolts of lightning.
Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique): This jutsu allows the user to send their mind into a target's body (even an animal's), supplanting the target's mind with their own. Though normally used as a spying jutsu, it can also be used in battle with several major drawbacks. First, the user's spirit travels slowly, making it easy to dodge. If the user misses their target, they are left helpless until their spirit returns to their body, which takes several minutes. Second, even if the technique does work, the user's ability to stay in an enemy's body is determined by how fatigued they are.
Seiteki Tate (Static Shield): This technique amplifies the body's electrical charge, generating static electricity. When the user of the technique is attacked, the attacker is shocked by a strong static charge built up around the user. Depending on the purpose, the shock can be enough to cause immense pain, or just mild discomfort. Since it amplifies the body's own bio energy, it is dangerous to use to great lengths of time, unless the user wishes to destroy their own central nervous system.
Chakra Bomb/Reservoir: A device made by Uzumaki Naruto that serves two purposes. The object is above the size of a fist, and made out of chakra absorbing metal, and forged into a ball shape. The center of the device is left hollow, and acts as a storage space for what is channeled into it. When the user wishes, they can channel chakra into the ball, and it would be stored in the center until needed. As chakra is stored, it could also be drawn out should the user be short on Chakra. These acts similar to a Soldier Pill, except that only the owner of the chakra stored would be able to draw it out. If anyone else were to attempt to draw the chakra it, they could suffer severe damage to their chakra coils.
The second purpose of this device is to act as a bomb. This is done by filling the device up completing, and then sending one final surge of chakra that would cause the weapon to self destruct. When it explodes, it acts like the fragmentation grenade, but also has a chance of damaging anything and everyone within the blast radius with chakra. People and objects are subject to severe chakra lacerations, and burns. In some cases, it may enter their chakra system, and rupture parts of the inner coils.