Chapter Ten ======= ======= =======


Land of Rice ####### ####### #######

The dark holograms flickered, lighting the walls of the cave in an eerie purple glow. The images of the Akatsuki members were assembled, waiting for their leader to make his unscheduled announcement.

"Orochimaru. Word of your transgression has travelled quickly throughout the lands. You murdered the retired Third Hokage of the Leaf."

"What of it?"

"This is bringing too much unwanted attention to the Akatsuki too soon. If were are caught killing such important figures, we will be investigated by the great counties. That cannot happen. Your little private affair is endangering the organization. You must pay for your mistake."

"What do you want me to do?" Orochimaru rasped.

"You will be expelled from the Akatsuki."

"Expelled?"

"The world must not associate your crime with the actions of the organization. From now on, you are a rogue. I will not have your actions reflect on us."

As the back and forth continued, Hanabi stopped paying attention, her thoughts turning inward. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, not too unlike her comrades, who also wore expressions of annoyance and exasperation.

Hinata, what are you thinking?

.

Once the meeting was over, Hinata briskly made her way to the cave entrance, followed by Kisame.

"Hey, what's the rush? We are going back to base, right?"

"No… I need to…" Her voice trailed off.

"Does it have to do with Orochimaru?"

"... In a sense. I must go to the Hidden Sound. You do not have to accompany me."

"I don't think we need to separate the team for this. I might as well come along."

"Don't fall behind."


Hinata's Apartment ####### ####### #######

Hinata looked down numbly at the green jacket in her hands as she stood in the center of her room, alone. What use was a promotion if she was still so weak? She didn't actually want to be responsible for others. She couldn't do it. She couldn't wear it and claim herself to be a Chuunin of Konoha. She would leave the plastic packaging unopened. But what then? Soon she would be ordered on missions and expected to wear the damn thing, to lead a team. Sitting down on her bed, she considered her alternatives. What did she really want? Hanabi. Staying in the village was merely keeping her back, and Hanabi wouldn't come back. She would have to leave, both to become stronger and find her target. But where would she go?

A dull ache of pain on her neck reminded her. Orochimaru's mark. He had promised her power beyond imagination. Perhaps she should see if this mark was worth it.

.

Standing up, she decided to go to the hospital.


Konoha Hospital ####### ####### #######

The sliding of the door tore Sasuke from his daydreaming, and he turned his head away from the window.

"Yo! Sasuke! Looks who's back." He heard a cheery voice shout.

"Naruto, good to see you." Sasuke smiled.

"Hey, wanna eat something?"

"Sure."

"Granny gave me this apple to give you." He handed over the bright red fruit. Sasuke slowly began taking small timid bites out of it.

"Who is Granny?"

Another person walked in, this one a very large woman.

"Greetings, Uchiha Sasuke. My name is Tsunade."

"Pleased to meet you."

"I'm going to try to cure you of Orochimaru's poison."

"Is it really possible?" Sasuke winced. He didn't expect much after weeks of little improvement despite his extended hospital stays.

"I'm not sure, but I'll do my best to figure out what's wrong."

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, confident in his friend's recovery.

"You don't have to worry about anything anymore, Sasuke. This old lady is super skilled. Believe it!"

"If you say so…"

.

"Hmm." Tsunade pulled her hands back after having thoroughly tested Sasuke's body. "It's as Jiraiya suspected. The poison is feeding on your chakra, altering it and then imbuing the body with it. Also, once your chakra is drained, it starts feeding on your very lifespan, draining your body to continue producing the dark, toxic chakra. Using chakra healing to replenish your chakra could be temporary stopgap measure, but even that is unsustainable if you were to mould large amounts of chakra in a short amount of time, such as in battle."

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto interjected.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"I have lots and lots of chakra, right? So much that I don't know what to do with it all. I never get tired using ninjutsu."

Tsunade sighed, fearing what he was about to say next.

"So how about, I just always stick next to Sasuke, using healing to give him extra chakra every once in a while?"

"You can't always be right next to him. That's unrealistic."

"But we could keep going on missions together, so long as I'm healing him afterwards."

"We'll see. As a doctor, I think it could work for a while, but it could affect missions, so you'll have to take it up with the Hokage."

"Alright!"

The older woman left the room, shaking her head. That kid, he's too generous.

.

Naruto proceeded to recount his battle with the Akatsuki, and they shared fond memories of the late Third Hokage, until the were interrupted by the door opening again. It wasn't a doctor or their sensei.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Sasuke was also dumbfounded. She hadn't come to visit him, had she?

At first, she approached the bed tensely, fists balled. She paused, her eyes running up and down the length of Sasuke's prone form. The corner of her lips twitched in a snarl as she realized that Sasuke was in no fighting condition. Last time their fight had been interrupted and poorly timed. A satisfying challenge would have to wait. She whirled on Naruto, who had been staring at her mutedly.

"Fight me."

"What?!" The two boys blurted out.

"Naruto. You're strong. I recognize it. So come out and fight me."

At first, Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but settled back to smile.

"Fine."

"Oi." Sasuke voiced, alarmed. "What's going on?".

"Stay here, Sasuke. I'll be right back once I teach Hinata some manners." Naruto growled, cracking his knuckles.

"When are you going to learn your place, peasant?" Hinata replied to Naruto with acid in her voice.

They left the room, heading for the staircase to go to the hospital roof.

Bedsheets and laundry were slowly flapping in the light breeze as Naruto and Hinata faced off each other.

"Scared? I can see your trembling as clear as day."

"Ha! I'm trembling because I'm excited. This is a rematch for the last time."

"It'll end just like it did before."

"You don't know that. You never know until you try."

"No amount of trying will ever get you to my level."

"You know, I've never once thought you were better than me, Hinata."

"Shut up and fight!" Hinata shouted back.

They molded their chakras, and charged. Hinata held back the curse seal, wanting to establish a baseline before using the other power. What followed was a scene of chaos as Naruto clones and flooded the roof and then were torn apart by the gentle fist. The various pieces of white cloth were shredded by blades or trampled underfoot.

The fight had reached a crescendo, and Hinata noticed that Naruto had pulled back his main body in order to begin a new jutsu. Before that could happen, her Byakugan saw Kakashi hastily approaching the building, probably intent on intervening in their fight.

Thinking quickly, she jumped off the hospital roof.

The roof door swung open, revealing Sasuke in his hospital gown. He had dragged himself up the stairs to find them.

"Both of you stop!"

She ignored him and ran towards the northern forest. Naruto gave chase behind her.

"Are you running away now?! Hey!" He called.

She didn't turn her head, focused purely on getting out of range from Kakashi. It seemed his laziness won out, and he was content to not give chase, so long as his students weren't hurling lethal jutsu at each other. Once she had reached the forest training grounds, she set foot on the ground, and faced Naruto, who had stayed right behind her.

"Kakashi was about to get in the way. A change of location means no more interfering from the outside." She stood her combat stance.

"Show me your chakra." She intoned calmly as she shut down all of Naruto's chakra points one by one.

"Damn it!" Naruto realized what had been done too late.

"What you did back during the Chuunin Exam should have been impossible. Show me again how you overcame the Sixty-Four Palms."

Rage flaring, Naruto dove deeply into the well of red chakra within him. Like before, Hinata's eyes narrowed as she saw his chakra network forcefully reopening itself. She struck him down again. Naruto refused to stay down. Once more, his chakra returned, stronger than ever.

"What the hell kind of a monster are you?"

"I'm not a monster! I'm Konoha's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Controlling her shock, Hinata realized that the red chakra was changing Naruto's body, morphing it. His nails grew into claws and his into fangs. Hunched over, he held himself on all fours in a beast-mimicry. His feral growls became a roar.

She jumped to dodge the instant a blast of pure chakra exploded her way. The nearby branches were torn to splinters, and the great trees uprooted, tilting over dangerously, some even coming crashing down in a symphony of crunching leaves and snapping twigs.

Such power!

Hinata licked her lips, deciding that perhaps Naruto was worthy as an opponent against whom to test her strength, after all. Even before the dust cleared, she perceived the intensity with which he glared at her. He was emotional. That was the key to the red chakra. At first it was stubborn refusal to loose, but now there was anger. But not enough.

"Naruto, you saw my sister, saw her strength. How do you think I should beat her?" She asked Naruto rhetorically as she smiled coldly.

"How should I know?"

"Maybe I should take a Sharingan off Sasuke, just like Hanabi, to match her eye for eye."

"You wouldn't dare hurt Sasuke! He's our comrade!"

"I don't believe in comrades. Strength is all that matters. If I have to hurt Sasuke to become strong, then that's what I'll do!" She could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, but it just flowed automatically. It had the intended effect.

Naruto charged at her on all fours, claws swinging.

She dodged gracefully, dealing deadly body blows with her palms.

Unfazed by the attacks, Naruto continued to launch himself at her. He was already numb to the pain, and his chakra just kept growing beyond all that was reasonable.

Finally, she began to use ninjutsu, starting with the Chidori. She dodged and sliced her way through his endless waves of clones, stabbing him in the shoulder. Blood splattered over her extended arm as Naruto crumpled onto the hard dirt below.

Exhaling slowly, Hinata continued to search through his body, wondering if the fight had ended. Bubbles began oozing from his skin. Angry, orange, volcanic, they formed a frothing layer between Naruto and the earth. Hinata stepped back in shock. This wasn't jutsu. This was chakra incarnate. A physical manifestation of spiritual energy. To a shinobi, it was the equivalent of seeing a ghost take solid form.

The movement of Naruto's arm didn't even register until after she was spinning upwards in the air, a hard bruise forming on the bottom of her jaw. As soon as she landed in the trees, she saw Naruto bulldozing his way through the forest trees at an ungodly speed. Pain filled her body as she willed the seal to open on her neck. Immediately, fire began dancing over her skin, as the tattoo-like marks spread, covering her milky white skin in black teardrop blotches.

She reveled in the dark and thick chakra coursing through her. This was totally different. Nothing would be the same ever again. Her eyes locked on to Naruto, and she sallied forth to battle.


Meanwhile, Konoha Hospital ####### ####### #######

Sasuke scrunched his face in grim determination has he hastily pulled on his clothes and gear. Kakashi was nearby, giving him a look of mild curiosity under a single raised eyebrow.

"What's the hurry, Sasuke. You saw them stop fighting."

"You didn't see her eyes. They're not going to stop. They just going to continue somewhere else. We have to go to where they are."

"Ah, but then it might be troublesome to find them."

"You're the jounin here! What about teamwork?"

"... Huhhh." Kakashi sighed. "I guess you're right. But are you really okay, going out like this? I don't think you're supposed to leave the hospital so soon."
Sasuke ground his teeth.

"My friends are out there. I can't just do nothing."

Kakashi smiled in response.
"As expected of my student."

.

As soon as they leapt off the hospital roof, they felt the wind from explosions to the north. The sounds of ninjutsu battles were not unusual, coming from the training area. Yet, this time they filled Sasuke's chest with dread. No one would think to investigate the fight, as ninja rarely bothered to report their training schedules. Townspeople became used to intermittent clashes in the forests. Peace and security without wake-up calls in many long years had left the general population of the ninja village desensitized to warning signs, content to live life oblivious to the constant dangers present in the world of shinobi.

.

An enraged Uzumaki Naruto was one of those dangers.


Forest Near Konoha ####### ####### #######

Faster! Higher! Stronger!

Hinata grinned from ear to ear as she tasted the blood Naruto had spilled on her face from her latest punch. The gentle fist was useless against this monster, as it could absorb any chakra attack, even with her newly evolved chakra. So she took joy in beating him around like a ragdoll, watching as all he could do was flatten the landscape around them and yell like a frenzied animal.

Yet, She was beginning to tire, the curse seal was taking its toll. The fight would have to end eventually, but every time she put Naruto down he rose back up faster. The orange-red bubbles had overtaken his entire body, striking at her independently of Naruto's own volition.

Such was the ferocity of the fight that she ignored the approaching curious shinobi.

.

It was time to end things with a final jutsu. She let the electric nature chakra fill her body, and channelled it into her palm. The black marks on her glowed red briefly as her chakra spiked. Its dark power mixed with the pure blue of the electric charge, drowning it in a black color. An evolved chidori for her evolved chakra. She bared her teeth as she presented Naruto with the unstable blade of energy.
"Chidori Lament!"

Diving her fist clean through Naruto's chest, she exhaled as Naruto's chakra melted away.

The strangers whispered to each other in the nearby trees.

"Holy shit! She just killed that kid!"

"Isn't that the Hyūga? Has she snapped?!"
"No… wait… look."

Naruto's lip twitched. Hinata realized he was trying to say something.

"You… you're actually trying to kill me?"

"Only a weakling holds back. All that time we spent as a 'team' and you still don't know anything about me. You and Sasuke are complete jokes."

"You're wrong." Naruto declared. "I know exactly how you feel. That feeling of being alone... I understand you better than anyone else."

She released her grip, letting Naruto fall to his knees, panting.

"You understand nothing. You were always an orphan. Being alone is all you ever knew. I had a family, once. And then I lost everything. Don't put yourself on the same level as me."

"But… Sasuke…"

"I'm going to where Orochimaru is. I'm going to kill Sasuke and take his eyes. With the Sharingan and Orochimaru's power… I can finally kill Hanabi."

Kill Sasuke. Naruto felt an anger boil in his guts at how carelessly Hinata had stated those words. After all they'd been through together, how could she- just who did she think she was. Sasuke was his best friend - his only friend. No one hurt his friends and got away with it.

Once again, the red chakra was back. The gaping hole in Naruto's chest twisted in a spiral, instantly filling in with scarred flesh.

The two men nearby shouted as a blast of wind and chakra blew them off their feet.

Instead of orange bubbles, the chakra that emerged was now a deep, velvet red. It formed a sphere around Naruto's body, burning his skin red, as if his entire body were scalded under boiling water.

"I won't let you hurt Sasuke, even if I have to break every bone in your body!"

"You will try." Hinata smirked coldly. She noticed the two men nearby staggering back even after they had gotten back up on their feet.

"This chakra! It… It can't be!"

"Kyuubi!"

Hinata's eyes widened. Wasn't the fox killed thirteen years ago? Naruto's inhuman chakra, his transformations in strength and character in times of stress… Something clicked within Hinata as her unconscious came to the realization before her conscious mind fully understood. A shiver ran down her spine.

"Naru...to?"

The roar of a demon answered.


Konoha Village Center ####### ####### #######

It was never the awful days. The weather was clear and unsurprising. Humans generally feel a need to patternize things, to make connections between cause and effect or correlation. Typically, one expects a foul day to be accompanied by foul weather. But reality does not always oblige. For the people of Konoha, good weather meant a good day. People were out on the streets, shopping, playing, working, smiling as always. But peace never lasts.

.

Sasuke and Kakashi had made it halfway across town before they realized something was wrong. Anbu were springing back and forth like fleas on the rooftops. It seemed someone else had seen Naruto's spade with Hinata earlier than expected. But this reaction, what could it mean?

.

It began as a low wail, then ramped up to a howling whine. A sound that froze all the adults in place as they realized they were hearing the one sound they hoped never to hear again. The sound of an alarm siren over the entire city. All eyes turned to the large column of smoke that began rising on one of the edges of the outer walls. The air vibrated with energy as the low thumps, like muffled thunder, of distant explosions could be heard. Konoha was under attack.

End of Chapter Ten ======= ======= =======