The Gentle Fist of the Akatsuki

by Khain255

After three long years...her Vengeance was close...

21. The Arrow

Authors Note: Ten Months…wow…that's impressive even for me ¬¬

But my reasoning for taking so long isn't even because of this chapter…it was simple fact tact this year, ironically after my last update; was nothing short of a nightmare. Gruelling examinations, operations…and painful losses of certain awesome people…

Therefore I don't feel I have to apologise for how long it took to make this chapter

But that's in the past

(Don't fear the length; there is a BIG Authors note at the end)

Enjoy this chapter :)

The Arrow

Danzo sat at the head, sitting with boundless authority, believable of one of his position.

The other 8 men patiently waited for him to address them. Each were the heads of clans, wealthy, powerful…and conceited to their core…He knew that each were already behind him, but were hesitant, they needed something more…like all spineless cowards with a degree of prestige…written word sometimes had little effect,

Written promises sometimes even less so.

None were shinobi, preferring to send others to fight their battles. They had come wearing long robes of silk and expensive jewellery, perhaps to intimidate the other heads with their own standings within the village. But behind their outward showing of nobility, they were to all intent and purposes;

Tax thieves

But betraying them would have been a waste, certainly in regards of how much effort he had used to rally them to his cause. The hundred Root ANBU he had stationed within a mile radius of the meeting room would have been especially wasted if they could have been tracking the movements of Tsunade's favoured agents.

However the men before him were weak willed enough that he could bend them to his cause whilst risking very little in the process

Money and power were expendable resources…but were occasionally;

Powerful incentives

"Gentlemen…" Danzo announced, some of the clan heads straightening slightly

"I think it best to further discuss our arrangements following your support to usurp the current regime in place within Konoha" he said calmly, unsurprised that many in the room were exchanging questioning looks.

One cleared his throat attracting the elderly Root leader's attention in as little amount of respect as possible. He arrogantly fanned himself with a small fan to add some self imagined image of importance.

"Yes, Tenki-Dono?" Danzo replied politely

"My apologies if I speak incredulously for a moment…" He said slowly, looking at the shinobi through half closed eyes

"Whilst I, and my fellow clan heads, are indeed…intrigued…by your proposal…though we respectfully have the most powerful shinobi within this village, even with our combined forces…do you truly expect we are capable of defeating the shinobi of Hokage-sama?" the clan head asked caressing his thin moustache "We wonder if the costs of damage and shinobi equipment will expend our coffers to the bare bone!" he said in effortless amount of shock. He was the more prominent of the clan heads present, and one which the others would support and agree with…

And though on cue, several of the other clan heads nodded in agreement.

"Yes…" Danzo said quietly, nodding once to their view "It is more then likely that the costs of the coming engagement will indeed be high…if not severe…but think for but a moment, gentlemen…" he said, slowly looking from one head to the other

"Were we to succeed, the current regime defeated and I made Hokage…I can make each of you very successful men…making any losses during the engagement… a mere pittance"

The Clan head smiled in delight, fanning himself at a greater speed as he slowly imagined the possibilities before another thought appeared to him

"Whilst that is indeed an interesting prospect Danzo…" Tenki said slowly though taking his time with someone lesser then himself "But it is not completely unrealistic to assume that money is not all we are being offered?"

The clan heads around the room showed a degree of controlled enthusiasm at the prospect

Danzo stared at the man for a few moments

"Of course not…" he said carefully

Tenki smiled slightly

"Should we prove successful; the entire of Konoha's economy will be re-worked…" Danzo said calmly

Several around the room looked shocked at the statement, whilst Tenki waited patiently for him to continue

"…And each of you will receive considerable percentages of all trade and resources within the new system" Danzo said slowly, a small smile as his final piece which would ensure utmost cooperation was put into place

Tenki's eyes shot wide and actually stopped fanning himself, the other leaders found themselves at loss for words and looked to him for guidance, "And that would…" he began before Danzo continued

"Would make each of you the most powerful clans within Konoha, and in a few short years, in regards to the rest of the fire country, could make you wealthy and influential beyond imagining" the aged Root Shinobi said with a small smile

Tenki seemed to force his face to remain calm, but the speed of his fanning was evident that he seemed to enjoy the idea

"Wait a moment, please Tenki-Sama!"

All heads turned to a lesser clan head

Tenki looked at the man from the corner of his eye

"Yes Niigasa?" he enquired

"Whilst it is indeed a pleasant and prudent to see what will transpire in the future, how exactly are we supposed to deal with the forces that Hokage-sama has mustered?"

"It what sense?" Tenki asked further

"First of all the Konoha 10, each one is a skilled combatant, receiving honours and praise from all clients who have hired them, whilst also to be entered within Bingo-books as A ranked Targets" Niigasa began

"Then of course is the Kyuubi Child, who I understand is the preferred agent of the Hokage and is a notable shinobi in the service to the Hyuuga"

"The Hyuuga?" Tenki repeated lightly, though mentally fearing the name.

"Yes, Tenki-sama"

It was common knowledge that the container was the most dangerous shinobi alive within the village, and rumours of his bloodletting frightened the more wise of the populace. But he did somehow have the protection of the Third and now Fifth Hokages, and now apparently the Hyuuga... And it was also true that the shinobi serving the Hokage comprised of the most powerful within the Konoha, Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, and the Konoha 10 were listed amongst hundreds of others…

"And though it perplexes me how it is possible…the Kazekage and his siblings are within Konoha…and will to my understanding fight for the current Hokage" said the lesser head with dread

The room was deathly quiet

"Perhaps it would be wise to perhaps postpone until he has left…?"

"Three additional shinobi are not enough to turn the tide, Niigasa-san" Danzo said in slight annoyance

"Then Danzo…care to provide a suitable counter for these concerns?" Tenki asked, redirecting his gaze at the Root leader

The Aged shinobi sighed

"The ANBU of Root have a perfect record of S-rank successes, I am certain that they will overcome the haphazard collection shinobi Tsunade has accumulated and also...Niigasa-san…" he said turning to the head, his calm face masking that he loathed delays…

"The Konoha ten are an accumulation of a number of class fellows that the third and Fifth have doted upon since they left the academy, they are well known in name…nothing else" Danzo reassured

The Head sighed in slight relief, before looking into his eyes again

"And the Kyuubi child?"

Danzo became slightly tight lipped at the name

"He is still a child, wielding power he is unable to control himself…"

"And your last skirmish with him was just a…friendly spar?" Niigasa said questioningly, pointing at the Root head's empty sleeve "and that a harmless mistake?"

Danzo's visible eye narrowed slightly

Tenki tittered lightly

"My, it would seem my noble counterpart has a valid point, Danzo…" the high head said with a patronising smile "We cannot overlook that your previous attempt to free the reins of control from the current Hokage did result in Root suffering defeat and you being severely maimed" he noted

Danzo remained quiet

"So I ask again…care to provide a suitable counter to these concerns?" Tenki repeated, fanning himself casually as only one who had utter dominance of the situation could have.

Danzo was still emotionless, finally muttering a small word.

"Sai"

Instantly a youth wearing a blank mask materialised from the air to his right, who instantly dropped to one knee in respect. He was dressed differently to conventional ANBU, with black clothing which revealed his taut stomach and one arm.

His sudden appearance had startled near all of the heads in the room, except Tenki who had simply tilted his head in interest

"This is Sai, gentlemen" Danzo announced, indicating to his right whilst not looking at him "He is first among the ANBU, both those who serve me and those of those serving Tsunade. He has a flawless mission completion record, and is known to complete any assignment given to him in a fraction of the time a squad of ANBU shinobi would take…whilst alone…" Danzo smiled at the last piece of emphasised description

Several in the room exchanged glances to one another at the thought

"Have the boy remove his mask, I wish to see the face of this young man who inspires such pride from the usually harsh standards of Root" Tenki said calmly

Danzo continued to stare forward

"Comply" he said simply, hiding his displeasure at the claim of 'praise'

The Shinobi removed his mask and smiled happily.

And instantly several of the clan heads began talking amongst themselves

"He is very young, Danzo…" Niigasa said sceptically

"Age is a meaningless word amongst those within Root" Danzo answered

"Is the boy usually this…pleasant, Danzo?" Tenki asked curiously, and though he hid it completely from sight…the boy's apparent enthusiasm was deeply chilling...

"The boy is simply putting on a mask for you all" Danzo said simply

And though a switch was flipped, Sai opened his eyes and stopped smiling.

Several in the room suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable at the sight of a person completely void of emotion…

"If I may enquire, Danzo…" Niigasa began, attracting the attention of the aged shinobi once more

"The boy may be skilled as you say; he may even best the greatest within the ANBU…but what exactly is so special about him that could possibly rival that of the Kyuubi-child?"

"Other then several bio-enhancements which increase his endurance and stamina…he has knowledge…" Danzo said with a small smile

"Knowledge?" Niigasa repeated questioningly

"Yes Niigasa…knowledge…and we all know that knowledge is power…" Danzo said with small chuckle that several in the room shared

"I assigned Sai to the Kyuubi-child's team cell some time ago…and went thus went on several missions with him…all the while gathering information on his technique, fighting style, speed, strength, endurance, and most notably the areas of vulnerability and triggers of his daemon form …however it should be noted to prevent any misinformation that during the upcoming engagement, whilst the Kyuubi-child is indeed a target…Sai's primary objective will be to eliminate a different shinobi" Danzo said calmly

"What, are you mad!" Niigasa exclaimed, which began a loud muttering amongst all clan heads present

Tenki remained silent, fanning himself with a degree of speed which could indicate some level of disagreement.

"My reasoning behind this, gentlemen…" he said brushing off the insult "Is the fact that my agent will target the second most dangerous shinobi of Konoha…" Danzo said before Tenki interrupted

"I assume that this second shinobi is Hatake Kakashi?" he guessed

"I'm afraid not, Tenki-dono…the primary target of this agent will be one named Nara Shikamaru"

"Who?" Niigasa asked

"I believe I have heard of him…" Tenki said slowly in thought "The shadow genius of the Nara clan…yes...yet there are several genius shinobi within Konoha, why target him?"

"Because his intelligence is second only to the Forth Hokage's" Danzo said ominously

Tenki's mouth unceremoniously dropped

"And whilst that would be enough…such is his level of planning that he may be able to tactically defeat us before the fighting begins, which is why he is often in the direct service of the Hokage…and thus he is a liability" the Root shinobi said slowly

"Ah, you wish to remove the mind so the body is helpless?" Tenki said with an intrigued smile

"Yes" Danzo replied

"And I trust the information gathered on him was taught to all Root?"

"Indeed

"But I also trust that the Kyuubi will be dealt with efficiently in similar if not more proficient manner?" the head asked

"Yes…as soon as the Nara lies dead, the daemon child will be assailed upon by the entire of Root" Danzo said darkly

"And how many Root shinobi are there exactly?" Niigasa asked

Danzo turned to look at him slowly

"…over 500…" he said with a small smile

"500?" Niigasa repeated in awed horror

"I have summoned all Root shinobi to return for this…and other newly trained Root given the memories and skill of the Root that fell before…failure is not an option…" he vowed

"I have a last question if I may…" Tenki asked before continuing regardless "Was this Sai boy present in your last attack?"

"Yes…however since then his body has been altered, new techniques taught and shinobi reports burned into memory…reports indicate that his effectiveness has tripled over the last year"

"I see…a wise move…now unless there is anything else you wish to inform us of, I believe we should conclude this meeting" Tenki said finally

"Inform you of? No there is nothing, however it would be preferable to know whether or not you will assist me?" Danzo asked politely

Tenki closed his hand fan with a snap

"Yes, I will, I give my shinobi and the amount asked to fund asked of my clan" he said with the air of superiority

Several around the room agreed with him

Except one who seemed to think a short moment more

"Niigasa-san?" Danzo asked

The man held his hands together in thought before finally answering

"We put our faith in you Danzo, that we will be recompensed for our role in this" Niigasa said looking over his fingers

"In an emperor's ransom, gentlemen" the Aged shinobi said with a small chuckle, several in the room sharing his sense of humour

As they dispersed, Danzo walked his own way towards the Root headquarters with Sai following obediently behind him

After a short distance when there was certainty that no-one could over hear them, the young root shinobi spoke

"May I have permission to speak, Danzo-Sama?" Sai asked politely

"Denied" the aged shinobi dismissed immediately

Sai looked unbothered by this

"I apologise, Danzo-sama, I simply wish to ask a question regarding my target" he asked humbly, treading very carefully as to not anger his superior

"What of it?" Danzo spat angrily

"I simply wish to ask why the clan heads were not given any notice of the Akatsuki threat?"

"That does not concern your objective in the least" the superior Root commanded

"May I ask what will be done regarding her?" Sai asked

Danzo stopped walking

"She will be executed alongside the Kyuubi child, by my hand if need be…you are incapable of dealing with her" he said darkly

"Of course, Danzo-sama…may I also ask why the clan heads were not informed of her presence…?" he began, a hand was removed from its sleeve roughly grabbed him by the front and pinned him harshly against the wall, it was wrapped with a large lock system on his forearm, Sai's eyes narrowing by a millimetre in discomfort.

"Do not question my edict" Danzo hissed, releasing the young shinobi abruptly "However as you seem so very emotional regarding this…the fools would immediately refuse any assistance to our cause were they to know the threat that any of the Akatsuki would also fight to oppose me from becoming Hokage" he said with a degree of annoyance before thinking on a slight piece of interest

"Sai"

The young root dropped to one knee instantly

"Yes, Danzo-sama"

"Your report indicated that one within the Konoha ten became fond of you in the brief time you spent with them?" he enquired

"Yes Danzo-sama" Sai answered instantly

"Travel under cloak and shadow, and influence their opinion and decision…" the scarred shinobi began "To bring your target to you"

Sai smiled brightly, unaware of the concept of betrayal…

"By your will, Danzo-sama"

The Aged shinobi continued to walk down his path…

The Root will prevail

And the poisoned tree will be cut down…

XXXXXXXXXXX

'Well this certainly wasn't how I imagined this would work out' Jiraiya though with a small smile.

He still sat cross legged; the young Hyuuga had damaged his ability to form chakra before he had the chance to stand.

He slowly and carefully pulled out a blank scroll, ink and brush.

The Seal master found that the damage done to his hands was indeed reversible, an attack which would usually follow in the death of the victim as they could no longer protect themselves. Unfortunately the damage done to him was quite severe, and would require one of the more potent chakra cleansing seals he knew.

As Jiraiya began the long process of writing the lengthy seal combinations, he was thankful and slightly fearful…

Thankful in the knowledge that written seals relied upon the chakra formula imbedded within the ink and parchment…

And fearful of whether the cloaked seal he had placed within the Hyuuga's blind spot will still function…

Knowing only one person in the world was truly able to master it…and it certainly wasn't him

He paused in his writing to briefly take out a smaller scroll.

It was the size of a pencil when bound and was only for equally small seals.

He jotted down something quick and placed his Middle and baby fingers and his thumb on the triangle insignia at the end of the paper

A small bluish square appeared, depicting a close up view of the battlefield

He didn't use it earlier due to giving any indication of the ink to the Hyuuga.

And now he needed it to see how much time he had left, quickly returning to the task of writing his longer seal

'Tsunade is not going to let this go for at least a decade…' he thought with a grimace.

As he felt the slight presence of four others hiding in an area away from the other shinobi…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto saw the threat and reacted instantly, and attempted to kick-up off the ground and get between Sakura and the avenging Hyuuga.

But before he even managed to move six inches, a crackling cage of energy coiled itself around him, and brutally attacked all of his nerves across his body, making him drop to the ground in seconds, he felt his strength plummet from near unbeatable to fallible weakling in less time then it took to rise. Almost as soon as he, all surrounding shinobi were hit by the same attack, with all dropping to the ground or whatever direction they had begun moving towards.

He grit his teeth at the searing agony which held him forcefully. All his muscles and bones soon simply refused to move regardless of his wishes, the after effect of the paralysis technique that the Hyuuga were so rightly fond of, and to simply worsen the situation that much further, he was being slowly electrocuted, searing his pain receptors which was showed no indication of slowing by the Dark kunoichi standing before him.

Feeling that movement was beyond him at the moment he decided to lay still, thankful when the pain stopped as soon as he did.

He could hear the others struggling to rise; Baachan, Yamato and Ino who were the closest to Sakura at the time were blown far from their original position. The young kunoichi lay on her side and hadn't stirred since being blown seven metres away, Ino made quite murmuring sounds to indicate some level of pain that Naruto was so far unaware of. Yamato was lying flat on his back groaning, as was Tsunade who appeared to be trying to bring herself onto all fours but was still unable to move further.

Realising he could still move his head, Naruto turned towards his old teammate.

Her face resembled one of utter terror

The source of this feeling was standing before her, which was exuding such an aura of death that it almost seemed to choke him

He found he couldn't really blame Sakura for her fear…

Hinata was staring down at her, only her eyes were visible over the collar of her black coat and straw hat…yet even these were focussed shards of malice which promised unending pain…

She turned her gaze towards something in the distance

Jiraiya paused in his writing as the Akatsuki looked back at him

She reached backwards…

And onto her blind spot, two fingers burnt with dark fire, placed on the paralysis jutsu placed when she was caught in earlier.

"Crap" Jiraiya said simply

Hinata smiled sinisterly

"I saw it before it was placed" said the voice of the kunoichi, making the elder sannin jump…or rather it would if he could move…her lips didn't move, giving the indication that it was from her mind just for that moment

"Huh…she used the sound seals on me…impressive" he said nodding

"My thanks, but do not try that again…" She said before returning to her current position, the elder Sannin sensing that she had removed the link.

Jiraiya sighed and continued writing as quickly as he could in his condition

'It's all on you, Naruto' he thought

Hinata looked back down and calmly deactivated her bloodline

'Thrice more…' The Hyuuga thought to herself, narrowing her pale eyes slightly

The Akatsuki turned slowly to the blond shinobi lying on his stomach.

Hinata walked up to Naruto and knelt down.

He was somewhat surprised that she had deviated to him instead of simply finishing off her target

The Akatsuki swiftly reached out and grabbed him by his hair, nails raking his scalp as they pulled him up painfully so they were face to face, the unseen cage around him sparking into life, to add further suffering into it.

"If I am not mistaken…" she pondered, scratching her chin in mock thought

Naruto's eyes narrowed, immensely uncomfortable in at her brutal claw like grip

"I have not used my agony technique on you yet, have I?" Hinata asked rhetorically, giving his hair a sharp yank, making the immobile shinobi wince "I will deal with you afterwards…no one is allowed to hide their power from me…and this applies most of all to you" she hissed

Naruto's mouth turned into a defiant snarl before she drove his head into the dirt and let go, returning to her other target.

Stopping three metres away;

"Ah Sakura…" Hinata said pleasantly, though remembering a fond memory

"You are full of secrets…" the Hyuuga continued, moving her hand so her palm was facing upwards, clutching her fingers though she had held onto five rings attached to some thread; and instantly Sakura was brought to her feet, who seemed puzzled at her movement and stumbled back a step.

"I know of the pill you used…" the dark kunoichi spoke though nothing had happened "…and that you have another comfortably sitting within your shinobi pouch…" Hinata said quietly

Sakura looked fearful

"Lets make this somewhat gratifying…You will use your remaining pill to fight me…or I will take you hostage and torture you for the rest of your misbegotten life…" she said with narrowed eyes, her smirk was replaced by a brutal frown and her eyes narrowed in anger.

The medical kunoichi's mind was racing

After months…and quite close to a year…of painstaking study and scrupulous experimentation, with numerous failed attempts…too many to remember…She was still unaware of all the side effects the pills had…let alone such quick consumption. Naruto had done well to remove the extra chakra she had gotten from the first pill, and on initial examination of herself, she appeared as though she had not consumed anything at all

However that did little to comfort her

Such drastic change in chakra levels very rarely left the shinobi's body so easily, without some side effect soon following after

But it seemed she had no longer anything left to lose…

She suddenly remembered something

"I…" Sakura choked out, her throat compressing tightly

"Yes…?" Hinata asked playfully…like an executioner asking their victim a final, albeit pointless request

"I need to take…the c…counterbalance s….solution…" the pink haired kunoichi stammered out, her fear making her breath in unsteady breaths

"Then take it" the Akatsuki vehemently, cocking her head to one side in an irritated gesture

"I didn't bring it with me ready made, I need to make it!" Sakura explained hastily

Static seemed to travel and dance on the black coat, moving fast and wildly in union with the owners rage.

Hinata fist tightened, her nails digging deep into her palms of her leather gloves, cutting for marks through and slice into the skin.

"If you…" Hinata ground out, her teeth clenched hard and her visible eyes were narrowed into ice like shards "Do not value your life…I would be more then happy to end it for you…" she hissed

Sakura swallowed hard

"It will only take six minutes, I swear it!" she promised

"YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE ANOTHER SECOND!" Hinata barked, her intent of death multiplying to unnatural levels, so much so that the air around her seemed to grow thin

The medical kunoichi suddenly found it hard to breathe moving further back into the earth to put anything between her and her death;

"Then perhaps I can fill in for her until that time is up?" said a courteous voice behind the Akatsuki

Sakura looked over Hinata's shoulder and her spirit was instantly lifted

Hinata turned her head slowly, recognising the voice with ease

"Hatake Kakashi" she said slowly in a voice dripping with disgust

The famed shinobi stood with his hands in his pockets, removing his right briefly

"Yo" he said with a wave

Hinata's eye narrowed, a thin line of static sparked across her robe.

The Copy ninja's visible eye was clear and focussed, and he stood without any difficulty. All around shinobi were struggling to rise and numerous groans were heard from the side. Even Gaara, who obviously had assumed would be unaffected by her technique was propped against a tree with an immobility similar to the others around him.

Yet Kakashi was unaffected…

Hinata calculated the possibility in a few short moments;

"Your lightning technique…" she deduced "You activated it before I hit the ground"

"Excellently inferred, especially considering how quickly I did it" Kakashi commented politely

"So be it…" Hinata spat "First I will break you, then my reward in doing so will be the dulcet tones of Sakura's screams…" she said darkly.

Kakashi sighed sadly, looking from one to the other

If someone by some divine miracle had told him four years ago that this would be what the future would hold for the two he wouldn't have believed it. He could remember with pin point accuracy the bond the two had, knowing that they had been friends from even before they had entered the academy;

Like two other past students of his…

But now…

One had a defiance which she herself knew was helpless before the new threat. Kakashi didn't need his hidden eye to know that Sakura was exhausted beyond imagining…such quick use and loss of chakra is difficult to recover from quickly unless you had training in it, which the Uchiha and Hyuuga were the undisputed masters of, and the only other way of managing would be to have a titanic chakra store already…medic nin were trained to maintain a degree of chakra for long periods of time and even from the days when she was his pupil, he knew that Sakura lacked the stamina necessary to recover from such a loss without help.

His visible eye turned to the Hyuuga

The sight still stunned him

Light seemed to bend and lose itself in her presence…like the void which drained everything it drew within...her ominously black and red cloak was a formality in the face of this…but her worst feature was currently on him…even in his time he had never seen eyes like hers…they seemed to be like mirrors which could somehow find your own worst fear and then mentally stimulate it and reverse it towards you. This coupled with a near mask like face was indeed a terrifying thing…

He had some degree of pride of being a genius serving Konoha…but a question continued to come to him…

How did Itachi do something like this?

Or even why?

He remembered travelling with the famous young ANBU squad leader on several missions…he had an intelligence and ability that potentially only one of his clan was capable of. He followed the Konoha lore of the protection of one's own comrades…and yet his current actions completely said the opposite of his demeanour;

Torturing a young and gentle kunoichi, and in doing so transforming her into a merciless and potentially psychopathic assassin?

When he had fought him during the rescue the Kazekage and the earlier encounter with Hoshigaki Kisame…But even then on both occasions he was relatively calm and collected, even if he was part of Akatsuki…

"Before we begin, may I ask a question?" Kakashi asked humbly

The dark kunoichi let out a morbid chuckle

"Oh by all means…talk Sakura's life away…" she said with a tinge of amusement

Kakashi remained silent and raised a hand to his forehead protector;

Lifting it to reveal his closed and scarred eye lid

Before opening it to reveal the crimson bloodline

Hinata appeared uninterested; before she activated her own

Giving her the fearsome expression it gave all Hyuuga

Kakashi's red eye widened

It saw something far more unusual then he was used to…

Chakra seemed to flow around her, emanating from her core and travelled outwards, past her skin which seemed to cover her over six inches out of her body. What was strange was that the chakra required was not diminishing in the slightest; it seemed the amount of energy was constantly maintained at that distance without being wasted…

Kakashi smiled behind his mask

'So this is what an elite Hyuuga is like…' he thought briefly, having never fought an elite of their clan before. Hiashi was out of bounds, being a ruler of the oldest noble clan of Konoha…he imagined such abilities were kept largely secret…Wondering briefly if any Hyuuga of any generation were capable of achieving this;

Thinking more logically, Itachi had put his own hand in and warped the Hyuuga techniques into something far worse…

Hinata reached for her straw hat and lowered it to her side. And giving no indication of any anger from her face, she tightened her fist, nails tearing through the soft material and causing it suddenly burst into blue flames, sparks of lightning racing across its top as she whipped it to the side, before it burnt into ash.

Kakashi prepared himself for the worse

Hinata raised a hand, which seemed like a casual gesture to anyone

The copy ninja saw different

She was generating a small spiral of thin chakra, forming a small spherical shape within the Akatsuki's palm, which largely resembled the Naruto's rasengan if he wasn't mistaken…it travelled at high speeds, gathering momentum for whenever Hinata was to release it

The Hyuuga flexed her fingers upwards

And instantly the tight chakra ball exploded into thousands of chakra strings, which he calculated covered 25 metres horizontally and 7.3 vertically…

'Being smart can be such a pain sometimes' he thought mentally

Kakashi ran in a large arc, travelling as fast as he possibly could, chakra fuelled or otherwise. But soon realised his action was pointless, the strings seemed to have a mind of their own, and promptly broke off to prevent him closing in.

The genius leapt into the air, and with speeds only he were capable of and ran through a number of hand seals

"Suiton! Suikoudan no jutsu!" (Water Dragon Missile) Kakashi shouted

Instantly water from the stream rose, forming another water dragon, which charged at the solitary Akatsuki

Hinata looked tiredly at the attack, she lowered her hand, not requiring it further, and she aimed it at the animated water beast.

The dragon collided hard against the barely visible sphere she created, splashing harmlessly on the ground around her as she withdrew her strings;

"Was that it Kakashi?" Hinata asked curiously, turning slowly towards him as the copy ninja landed on the ground again, a fair distance away to not be struck by any blue filament "A mediocre jutsu at best…Kisame's capabilities far surpass it" the Akatsuki said with a shake of her head

Kakashi smiled behind his mask

"Well I suppose an ex-mist nin would" he commented, thankful that she didn't notice anything more…

Hinata frowned though reading his mind

"…And I am not nearly as moronic as you believe, you fool" she growled, suddenly raising her left hand backwards and crashing it into the ground up to her elbow.

Hinata savagely pulled it out again revealing the copy ninja himself, or alternatively a shadow clone he had created, grabbed around the throat mercilessly. The Akatsuki drew her right wrist blades stuck upwards from his stomach, stabbing through to his lungs and heart. The held Kakashi's eyes went wide in pain before dispelling in a cloud of smoke

The original looked curiously at the sight.

'This is going to be tough' he thought, thinking about his trump card…he really wished it didn't come to that as the technique was largely fatal or at least maiming

And it wouldn't help that his ex-student would most likely tear him apart shortly after

He would have to be somewhat creative…

Or at least unexpected…

Kakashi ran forward at the still Hyuuga before zipping left and right before reaching into his shinobi pouch. He made sudden turns at break neck speed before throwing a trio of kunai, which flew at a greater velocity due to his added movement.

Hinata stared at the attack unblinking

She mentally commanded her chakra, and instantly three strings travelled across the ground and caught each of the kunai by their hilt ring, allowing each to simply hang mid air.

Kakashi was unaffected by this and continued;

He made quick sharp movements, punctuating each sudden turn with a kunai or shuriken thrown in threes, as the dark kunoichi followed his movements effortlessly, her bloodline not letting him out of her sight whilst keeping everything else in perfect vision, a capability only fully understood by those of her clan. She caught each projectile with a single string, expertly looped around their underside or centre rings. Soon it seemed like a forest of steel surrounded her, with each blade a leaf; eerily hanging though held by some unseen ethereal force…

Hinata saw with a shiver of movement as Kakashi took another sharp turn, this time running straight for her

And with unnaturally fast speeds, Hinata's hand flicked out striking his heart before his punch even made contact. The elite shinobi coughed violently in pain and knelt over, before Hinata drew her left wristblades and beheaded him in less then a second. The shinobi's body dropping lifelessly to its knees, and then its side…

Before disappearing in another puff of smoke.

'Another clone' she noted, her bloodline scanning the surroundings before locating her enemy behind her…

"Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. The brief flame spurt from his masked mouth creating a large fireball which descended on her

Hinata raised her open palm at the attack, the flames colliding with her sphere technique. The kunoichi stared calmly at the raging inferno which lay outside her field. The attack clashed harmlessly, unable to travel further through the immovable defence.

'Why these futile attacks?' the Akatsuki thought to herself

Kakashi was one of the few rare shinobi on earth who she had to pay attention to…he wasn't stalling, as his moves would last longer if he was…

A short distance away, Sakura was working frantically grinding and mixing several different variations of medical pills and herbs in her on field equipment. Her mind was buzzing through hundreds of different formulae figuring out the correct remedy following a new problem following the removal of her original pill's effects…so far she was coming up short…

Hinata clutched her hand blocking the fire technique, the barrier seemed to envelope it, forming a spike which speared Kakashi through the chest…who disappeared into smoke…

'and yet another clone…' she thought tiredly

Hinata watched as another water dragon struck from her left, bringing another barrier to block it, separating both her hands;

And leaving her chest exposed…

The sound of chirping birds filled the air

Hinata saw his plan

Her hands were busy holding his other attacks at bay…leaving her open to a frontal assault

Kakashi ran straight for her, the crackling of the unstable chakra held in his fist seemed to grow in ferocity with each step, forming first a few sparks of static and then growing to engulf his entire hand in lightening, to the point that the chirping of the jutsu was almost deafening;

The Akatsuki's eyes narrowed

'How droll…' she thought plainly, she preferred the rasengan…

So much more elegant

Kakashi saw his opening and calculated all the possible ways that Hinata could counter it…

Well, unless there was something else that even he didn't know about, his attack should strike true

The Akatsuki commanded several of her filaments to throw previously caught blades. The grounds rang with sounds of a hundred blades passing effortlessly through air, towards the copy ninja. She knew the technical theory behind the Raikiri meant that straight line travel was essential for its increase in strength, with turns being as sharp as conceivably possible, therefore elegant movement was beyond him at the moment…

Not that it mattered apparently

Kakashi ran for the steel cloud, he didn't pause or even slow down, dodging each and every kunai, not taking his eye off her, his Sharingan eye keeping up with every attack whilst she was preoccupied with his other attacks. Soon the blades were simply destroyed as they approached, the unstable energy of his technique reducing kunai and shuriken into metal sand in a fraction of a second.

'Amusing' Hinata commented in curiosity as Kakashi neared

The final metre, he thrust his hand forward;

"Raikiri!"

Punching forward into the kunoichi's chakra core and hopefully giving it a large enough shock to disrupt her chakra formation for a short while…

Hinata's eyes followed his hand since he had begun running, she had sent a number of chakra strings at him, but they dissipated on nearing the unstable chakra. Knowing she had no other method of stopping it due to the concentration required to block the other two attacks…

She made the choice;

'Twice more…' thought the Dark kunoichi

Kakashi was a mere few feet from contact…but the crackling seemed to die out…

The chakra disappeared…and the instant it did as an act of preservation, the shinobi halted his next step and leapt to the left before taking a larger jump to create some distance.

The Akatsuki stared back at the sudden movement with minor interest, slowly cocking her head slightly.

'I was too slow…' Kakashi thought with slight annoyance, he looked back at the crystal eyes of the Hyuuga

'What a technique' he thought in awe

It happened far too fast for him to have reacted…even with the sharingan…

He saw a seal which was completely unknown to him, appear in mid air in front of where the Hyuuga was standing

A light blue semi-spherical shape appeared, feeding this seal, all the while it seemed to glow, and pulsing as it absorbed this energy…

The Seal soon seemed to reach some critical limit…or alternatively the dark kunoichi had chosen to expel it, but a sharp arrow like bolt of chakra was released, spearing through his shoulder, travelling the length of his arm, and ultimately passing through his hand, destabilising his concentration on his Raikiri…His sharingan saw that the flow of chakra in his arm simply stopped.

He felt no pain… but it was like it had been cut off completely. The elite had suffered a number of ailments during his time with the leaf…but this was…unusual…

Hinata stared into his eyes with unblinking clarity; her bloodline had deactivated giving her a sense of false innocence which seemed to make him shiver…

Kakashi directed his red pupil to his right hand.

The chakra seemed to travel through his circulatory system…but it simply refused to travel through to his arm, like blood which would continuously flow regardless of a severed limb.

He tried flexing his fingers, but even that was now a struggle. Like every joint in his hand had aged rapidly and such movement was somehow truly beyond him.

Looking back up, he saw she stood less then three feet from him.

The jagged teeth of right blades swung at his head

Kakashi ducked, saving himself from a messy decapitation, streaks of chakra following her blades like a venomous taint, which he concluded would be best to stay away from. The copy ninja leapt backwards as the kunoichi had moved in a circle, her left cutting diagonally. The kunoichi had her bloodline active, meaning staying close and hoping she wouldn't see a close ranged counter was madness…

She had paused to allow him some degree of respite, her blades seemed to give off a dark blue aura, almost sentient and gave indication that it wanted a kill soon…

She half closed her eyes.

'In amusement…?' he thought briefly

He considered his options

His right hand was effectively useless, even using taijutsu wasn't an option anymore. He couldn't use ninjutsu, she would just block it, genjutsu was never a problem with Hyuuga…but he noticed something interesting…

Soon after Hinata had used that Seal attack, her chakra was largely disrupted…or rather it took much out of her to pull it off;

Meaning she had a limit to the number of times she could do it.

Assuming that the first was breaking free of Jiraiya-sama's prison…having heard of his and Naruto's plan earlier…

Which meant that she would reserve the further shots for later.

His Sharingan could tell that Hinata's flow of chakra had slowed, and the aura she had at the beginning of their fight had lessened considerably, noticing a large number of the kunai he had thrown had fallen to the ground. However it was difficult to theorise if she had done due to an actual loss of chakra, was a temporary problem which she could fix near instantly…

Or if the attack actually left her slightly vulnerable…

Kakashi potentially only had one hand left.

Therefore only one more shot with the Raikiri before the Akat…She…removed it

He heard a brief sound of fast moving air and in his peripheral vision saw a dark shape moving quick.

Kakashi leapt backwards, the dark kunoichi missed her palm strike by mere inches. The left side of the genius' face beginning to sting horribly, as he strained to keep his sharingan eye open

The Konoha elite leapt backwards, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible, the dark kunoichi following like a wolf on wounded prey…

The pain in the jounin's face reached a peak…causing him to close his red eye…

Hinata covered the space between them instantly, apparently faking the advantage of distance Kakashi had over her. She struck five times, her hands in the shape of daggers, the point being the tip of her middle and forefinger. He deftly blocked two by the forearm, but a tenketsu in his shoulder, the vital points of chakra manipulation, was sealed, as were two directly beneath them…

She was trying to remove his ability to form the Raikiri

Meaning attacks which disrupted her chakra were her weakness!

And only one he thought with clear certainty.

She continued her attack, following with lethal purpose, her eyes unblinking and deadly…

And a new idea came to him

Hinata saw him reach into his pouch and grab three small cloth balls

'Smoke bombs?' Hinata thought in disbelief, she knew that Kakashi was aware of the ineffective nature of blinding a Hyuuga...but she couldn't identify what chemical was within them…

The elite threw them two metres behind them, meant to explode as they crossed by

Hinata stopped following as they detonated, and ran to the left to recover, realising what it was almost too late;

But not soon enough for a miniscule amount to reach her

She bared her teeth in anger, wiping her face to remove the substance within

They were not smoke

They were Mace bombs

Her eyes stung horribly, demanding that she close her eyes to allow her tears to expel the liquid

Kakashi waited with bated breath, he was fatigued yet did not dare to look away.

As she finally closed her eyes

Taking the small lapse swung his hand in a wide horizontal motion whilst releasing his technique, instantly twin beasts of lightning shot out, travelling the length of the grounds with swiftness that gave testament to their element.

The genius realised something truly bizarre for any who used doujutsu to do…

The kunoichi still had her eyes shut

His sharingan saw that a thin horizontal blue line travelled down the length of her entire face.

On completion she opened her eyes once again.

And reactivated her bloodline limit though there was no problem at all.

'So her Healing abilities are as good as they say…' Kakashi thought briefly, hoping that the small space of time was helpful. Though curious that she could purge a chemical substance from her skin with such ease…

Even for a Hyuuga

Hinata had cocked her head slightly as the first of his beasts reached her, attempting to attack her face and perhaps damage her ability to use her doujutsu. She moved to the side, in a manner which seemed more akin to floating then running or even side stepping, but overall evading it, her bloodline keeping track without her following it directly. She stayed clear of the trail of energy which was connected to Kakashi, knowing they were potentially hazardous.

The second lightning animal attempted to leap at her back, following her movements and attack where she had moved. But this was for naught, as the Akatsuki this time leapt far back, landing without sound or effort…almost slowing as she reached the ground;

She looked casually at the beasts as they followed her, noting in particular the sudden charge of chakra that Kakashi had fed them;

The two became four

She followed them

Four became eight

They ran together like a wolf pack;

Eight became Sixteen…

They multiplied dozens of times more and soon a tidal wave of lightning ascended on her, closing around her and cutting off her ability to run

The Sound of lightning was deafening, along with this was the collective roar of the beasts though they themselves were alive.

And under a second, it enveloped her, the lightning reaching skywards like some dread hurricane. The beasts themselves had disappeared, replaced with a fast moving stream of energy, which would undoubtedly electrocute anything living within to death…

Naruto looked at the technique in silence

'Why is he doing that...he knows it won't work' he thought curiously

"There is a lot more to defeating an opponent then simply hurting them brat…" the Daemon reminded

Within the storm of energy, a sphere existed protecting the occupant who looked upwards through its eye.

The Akatsuki saw that the intent of the hurricane was not to harm her but to sap her chakra, which the lightning element was infamous for…which was one of the reasons she had used its theory when designing her own abilities.

'His tenacity is infuriating…' Hinata though in annoyance, as she saw chakra seep off her sphere to feed the technique

Hinata detonated her defence, exploding within the hurricane's centre, and sending random sparks of static racing across the grounds, and for a moment it seemed that the Akatsuki stood on a sea of lightning.

'How pointless' the Dark Kunoichi thought

Kakashi panted slightly, his Sharingan eye closed as he recuperated…which was ominously close to becoming heavy…

It was true that the technique used little chakra, gathering more as the beasts moved, which in turn could be used to multiply them into many…

But losing any chakra in the face of such a deadly Hyuuga was a severe tactical vulnerability

The Genius had no other options…but he truly hated himself for having to resort to his next technique…

Kakashi fought through the pain covering his left side…and opened his red eye once more.

Revealing his tri-scythe Mangekyou

Its sight stopped the dark kunoichi in her tracks.

'What!' Hinata exclaimed mentally, her usual emotionless face and eyes were widened in angered shock

Her bloodline saw something she could not quite explain herself…reality itself seemed drawn to a single point…

The air between the copy ninja and the Akatsuki began to pull together…a large and dread vortex which threatened to swallow her whole. She could actually hear the streams of her cloak begin to tear under the intense pull of the abnormal technique and yet she was too close to physically run away

Naruto saw the technique and was filled with horror

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" he roared, fighting his cage curiously and managing to move over a foot towards the battle.

The genius' brow furrowed and ignored him

The blond shinobi clenched his teeth in rage

'Kami, I'm going to kick his ass after this' he mentally spat

The daemon within chuckled scornfully

"Oh come now brat, you know all about necessity don't you?" the Kyuubi asked rhetorically

Naruto grinded his teeth at the implication

'Shut the fuck up and fix my damn body!' He demanded mentally

The Daemon fox rolled his eyes in boredom

"Temper temper, brat…or who knows what you may unleash…?" the daemon laughed darkly

Hinata could hear her cloak begin to tear in a circular direction. She ignored the pain of her skin beginning to cut and bleed freely as the gravity well of the Uchiha bloodline technique. Kakashi himself had leapt away so there was potentially no way he could be caught. She slowly and folded her arms across her stomach, aiming the tips of her fingers forward. Gathering chakra she shot ten blue strands, travelling in a wide arc, evading the dimensional rift and targeted the caster.

Kakashi saw them coming and leapt backwards, all the while maintaining his technique.

Hinata doubled her effort as the rift appeared to pull with greater fury, making her ability to stop her pain receptors increase to a crawl. She increased the speed of her filaments, making the copy ninja require far greater amounts of speed and timing…

Until he finally slipped…

A quick increase of length and velocity of one string to strike deep into the nerves of his left calf muscle, sending Kakashi to the harsh earth in a similar fashion were someone stung by a scorpion's tail, gripping his leg as it violently ached. And more importantly, the attack sent a jolt in his chakra system, disrupting his concentration for the vortex technique which was deactivated as he fell.

Hinata cancelled her chakra strings and let fatigue lean her forwards, seeing the numerous cuts that riddled her jacket, also fully aware of the short trickles of blood which flowed from some. Her bloodline deactivated to conserve chakra; she hugged her abdomen tightly, attempting to heal the largest collection of slices on her body. Hinata's teeth clenched at the large collection of small cuts, her ability to remove any feeling of pain had also been removed due to the damned technique;

'The fool can summon a black hole…?' Hinata thought bitterly, realising with utter discontent that it was the cause of Deidara losing his arm, which he and Itachi had conveniently forgotten to mention to her. She was also unaware that Kakashi had the capability to further his sharingan when not of the Uchiha himself

How curious…

She found that it also left her more fatigued then she had been on returning to Konoha…she looked back at the genius standing a short space from her, his hand over his left eye and was visibly panting. Her bloodline saw that his chakra seemed to weaken greatly after his technique.

'So it tires him…intriguing…' she thought, her eyes narrowed in delight of exploiting a potential weakness of a universally infamous shinobi

Realising that she herself had lost enough chakra for it become a liability, she deactivated her bloodline.

Hinata stealthily twitched her middle finger, to all without sight, it would appear a simple involuntary gesture

But those with visual bloodline would see the string she had sent to the area of randomly scattered kunai which were thrown earlier, now which lay behind elite shinobi…

Pleased that none amongst them realised that she did not require her bloodline to control her filaments.

Looping it around the hilt rings of two; she noted with some degree of displeasure that gathering more would be difficult to hide. She directed her filaments which threw the connected kunai at the back of the apparently weakened shinobi.

Kakashi's visible eye widened at the sound of metal passing through air. Seemingly on reflex, he leapt to the side, evading the first kunai as the second fell wide.

Turning to the second, due to the fact he had closed his eye, he was unable to see the chakra strings…or that he was neatly between both…

Hinata's eyes narrowed and she smiled darkly

Not wanting to waste another second she sprung her trap, and instantly the area between the kunai was electrified, her torture technique which she had developed engulfed the elite shinobi who stood convulsing violently. The air resounded with the sound of lightning which mercifully drowned out the cries the copy ninja was emitting.

Hinata detached her filament connection and thus ending her technique.

She smiled as Kakashi somehow still had the strength to stand, but did so awkwardly, like a puppet whose puppeteer only controlled parts instead of the whole. She deduced that even if he could fight, Kakashi's nervous system was too disrupted to allow for ease of movement.

The dark kunoichi crouched low and drew her wrist blades, she ran with unnatural speed for the now helpless shinobi, leaping the last two metres and driving her weapons through each shoulder, disabling both arms, and bringing him slamming into the earth.

Drawing her right out again in mere seconds, she stabbed through the shinobi's throat, passing clean through without resistance…

Feeling a slow sense of triumph fill her…

She paused in realisation;

There was no blood

Looking at her first two attacks, there were clear cuts…but again no torrent which would come from such wounds.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly in shock.

She wouldn't have known because of the simple fact her bloodline was off…

It was a genjutsu…

From the moment she had to deactivate her own…

Activating it quickly, she scanned the area;

Kakashi was less then 4 feet from her

…With a fully charged Raikiri

Hinata couldn't move to evade it completely…the attack would give a large enough shock to largely disable her chakra core and render her helpless in seconds…

"RaiKiri!" Kakashi shouted as he thrust his hand forward, aiming for her stomach. She tried a quick side step, to minimize the impact as much as possible, but the strength of the energy that attack had stored would mean any attempt would have been pointless; instead it struck to the right of her abdomen

'Once more…' she hissed mentally

Kakashi saw the seal once more, and even with his Sharingan…he didn't nearly have the strength to avoid it

She unleashed her chakra arrow, spearing through Kakashi's remaining arm…and nullified his second Raikiri…

Or a part of it…

The dagger of energy struck deep, her bloodline saw that it clean cut through both her aura and field. It missed her core by a few inches, but the after shock of the attack didn't…In the same instant, her left hand shot out like a snake, grasping onto Kakashi's chest, tearing through his jounin jacket whilst releasing her filament and shredded his chakra system.

The two staggered away from one another

Hinata felt the slow the damage to her own chakra system instantly…though there was a storm within her, the lightning setting her nerves ablaze and slowing her breathing. Her chakra aura was completely removed, it became difficult to maintain… She had successfully stopped half of the Raikiri from striking her…yet the portion that did enough to her to give her a degree of imbalance…

All around them, the shinobi who were held firmly by her initial attack, found their cages begin to slacken slightly…

Neji in particular found the sudden change allowed him to use his bloodline, and slowly generated chakra in his body…

Kakashi felt an instant gagging sensation and forced himself to not be violently sick. He felt that his chakra system had been torn to shreds, and now even using the sharingan was potentially lethal and instinctively closed his eye. But he felt his fight was indeed over, his last attack had hit near enough home and the beauty of the Raikiri was the fact it functioned similar to a Hyuuga Juuken he was certain that both of them were going to fall to the ground in a few moments…

Hinata's head snapped at him, her bloodline active and furious

She ran at him, slamming her fist into his already weakened chest, making him double at the impact, before grabbing onto his arm she kicked hard into the side of his ribs, surely breaking several with the amount of force used.

Kakashi winced in pain, in disbelief from his severe miscalculation

And with the timing of a born predator, the dark kunoichi leapt at him, driving her knee into his solar plexus as her right hand grabbed his face, inch long claw like nails digging into his cheeks and forehead before spinning on the spot; driving his head backwards and crashing it into the hard earth.

The veteran shinobi grunted in pain, feeling searing pain travel at the back of his head and the indications of some skull damage…and some numbness which was running throughout his body…

'Great…a concussion from a prior student' Kakashi thought dimly, trying desperately to ignore the five razor sharp nails in his face. He only just noticed Hinata straddling him with the blades of one holster was fully drawn and was held idly at the side of her head though waiting for him to open his eyes again…

Her breathing seemed to be very slightly laboured…but not enough to be of any assistance to him in this situation…

She had regained some of her strength far too quickly...

"Time to die…Kakashi…sensei…" Hinata said in an eerie voice of one reciting an old child hood lullaby.

Her eyes displayed such joy…blade poised high; aiming for his head…she began the slow movement forward before stopping "Wait…" Hinata said slowly "I said I would break you first didn't I?" she remembered

Withdrawing her blades, she brought the nails of her left hand together…

Directly above his Sharingan eye.

The injured shinobi's open eye narrowed slightly, though as part of some last near infantile display of resistance

Gai in the distance struggled against his cage furiously, fighting the pain with every last amount of strength in him, actually moving a few feet from where he was seated…but he was too far away…

"And so ends the legend of the Copy ninja…" Hinata mused

Kakashi vision grew hazy, his memories recreating a small Hyuuga girl politely greeting him with a humble bow and a few adorable words of welcome.

The future was indeed dark he thought sadly

'Kakashi-sensei!' Naruto shouted shock, he still struggled to move, he watched the entire fight, but not much process was made in regaining his strength. Never had he seen his old teacher been given such a beating before, remembering the incident with Itachi and the Mental damage…;

'Damn it Daemon fox, what's taking you so long!' he shouted mentally bringing his focus back to the beast

"The damage is quite severe brat, be patient" the Kyuubi replied "And it seems the little blossom will try her hand before we are capable of intervening…" the daemon said with slow chuckle

'What..?' Naruto thought before looking at Sakura…who was standing tall with her head lowered…

Hinata's eyes widened

Kakashi could almost see himself in them… as she stabbing forward;

A loud thud sound rang in the air.

Hinata showed no surprise.

Slowly turning her gaze towards the leather wrapped fist which held her arm…pleased when she was sensing something else…

Something familiar to what she had earlier that day

Turning her head to the left, she saw her prey had risen once again

Sakura's eyes showed a stony, emotionless defiance which matched that she duelled with earlier.

"At last…" Hinata said quietly, "Are you here to stop me Sakura?" she asked, slowly rotating her nails on Kakashi's face, making the jounin give a small cry of pain, blood trickling down his forehead and clothed cheeks and onto the grass. Hinata smiled before she violently pulled her claws from Kakashi's face and ignoring him as she rose to a stand.

"Finally the little blossom has grown" the Akatsuki said in a quiet mocking tone.

Sakura remained silent, not releasing her grip on Hinata's arm

"Come at me then" the dark kunoichi hissed, her bloodline active and furious

Instantly a fist was sent for her face, with a swiftness that would have been impossible to evade for most jounin at this range.

Hinata blocked with her bloodstained right hand, moving the arm away, her bloodline following seamlessly. Without any hesitation, Sakura pulled on her grip brought her knee to her chest and crashed it against the Akatsuki's midriff

Hinata coughed harshly at the blow, feeling a broken rib and moved a few metres back and away from the fallen genius as the medic's grip was released.

Sakura followed, moving fast, she let off a flurry of three punches, aiming for the stomach and head. The dark kunoichi, showing signs of reel from the initial blow, regardless blocked each with ease, her Juuken training brought to bear, using open palmed evasions and counters, her eyes unblinking and focussed.

Her face a deathly mask…

Hinata fought back with near daemonic ferocity, dagger like hands, striking stomach, shoulder, cheek, tearing great cuts and gashes before leaping in the air, using Sakura's movement backwards from her face injury as an opening, swung her foot at the kunoichi's face, hitting hard enough to certainly break teeth and shatter the cheek bones of a normal person, but Sakura stared back calmly and emotionlessly, her pill's enhancements proving true.

The two stood at stand off.

One was in the form of a typical Taijutsu

The other a dark form of the Hyuuga's ancient fighting style, her hands displaying her dagger tip like nails as a sign of danger.

Hinata attacked first, running with blistering speed towards the augmented kunoichi, she spun the last metre, jabbing Sakura in the chest twice with the agonising strikes of the Hyuuga. The medic kunoichi was forced back a step by the force, before her head was forced hard to the left by an open palm strike from the Akatsuki, who spun and drew her blades slicing Sakura across the stomach, legs and arms in a lethal bladed dervish. She paused, as her prey moved back, she held her left pair of wrist blades in front of her face; one eye staring back at her prey through the small space between the two lethal weapons

The blood travelling down each gave a morbid message indeed…

Sakura looked back calmly

She ignored the cuts around her body, feeling the effects of the pill working as her cuts sealed shut after a few heart beats, leaving no trace of any injury other then the blood staining her clothes.

In a split second she was in front of Hinata again, leaping into the air aiming to kick her centre. The Dark kunoichi catching the leg effortlessly, but Sakura saw this as potential action and jabbed forward with her left foot into Hinata's face.

The Akatsuki saw this easily, ducking whilst pulling onto the leg she had already, bringing Sakura slamming into the earth in front of her. Hinata drew both blades and stabbed one after the other at the prone kunoichi

Sakura felt no fear, reaching out on impulse; she caught all four blades, travelling through the gaps two gaps of her Fore, Middle and ring fingers on both hands, catching the Akatsuki in a slight degree of surprise. Sakura chambered both legs and kicked off the ground, using her currently amplified strength to form her body into a spike which she drilled into Hinata's stomach.

The Dark kunoichi felt all the air in her body be expelled in an instant, as her opponent didn't relinquish her grip on her blades. Pulling back her fist, Sakura brought her superhuman strength and crashed it into Hinata's chest, the dark robed kunoichi collided with the earth with force not associated with the amount of energy Sakura had used, instead landing with a loud crash…and not the earth breaking in every conceivable. Hinata withdrew her blades, her face forming a bitter snarl at the pain in her chest as she grabbed onto Sakura's fist and pulled, driving the heel of her sandal into her chin. Flipping backwards a few metres, she landed in a kneeling position on one knee, once again drawing her blades, she charged at Sakura who drew two kunai in defence.

Hinata swung cut upwards diagonally from hip to shoulder, Sakura stepped to the left and lowered her body and leaned to evade it. She countered by stabbing forward twice, in the shoulders to damage her ability to fight, but before she could even get near, the dark kunoichi struck back, cutting clean through both kunai blades, leaving the medic only with the handles in her hands, which she dropped instantly. Hinata sliced at the head and chest, slightly confused when Sakura had disappeared, she withdrew her blades in defence.

Her bloodline saw that she had run to the left, and now was charging towards her with unnatural speeds, jumping the last few metres.

Hinata released her blue filaments at the oncoming attack…

Only for them to fail in cutting through the chakra system, she instead saw them be moved aside like real string, barely a nuisance …

'So this would be the effect of the tablet…' she thought in displeased curiosity;

As her foe's fist collided with her face.

Her head rocked to the left, trails of blood travelling from a split lip as well as from her mouth as her cheek tore from inside. Sakura continued, delivering another hard punch to the other side of her face, the same effect occurring, the Hyuuga felt the onset of throbbing bruises were inevitable. And as Hinata's skull was moved right, Sakura ended it with a devastating uppercut, sending the Hyuuga off her feet.

And with a speed difficult to keep up with, Sakura seemed to disappear again, only to reappear above Hinata, attempting an axe kick to her chest

But the Akatsuki regained her senses, reaching downwards to the earth, she landed and propelled herself to the right, and dodging the attack, which collided hard instead in the space where she had been.

The earth itself shook, and small earthquakes and tremors followed, as the dark kunoichi stood watching from a safe distance, as the other brought her heel out of the ground and stood without fatigue.

Hinata's face was still mask like, but now with the addition of bruises and cuts though the artist was adding something more radical to his sculpture. Two lines of blood were slowly travelling down the sides of her torn lips

From a short distance away, Naruto had a brow raised.

'What the hell is going on?' he thought in wonder

"In what sense, brat?" the Daemon asked

'I've seen those two fight, Hinata usually fights like a blood mad wolf, and can damage you internally enough to reduce a body builder into pulp. While Sakura is strong enough now to put Konoha into a sinkhole …so what the hell are they doing?' he pondered

"Hmm…perhaps the two are more injured then even they realise…the Blossom is unable to bypass the aura of the Hyuuga, and thus bring her new might to bear, whilst retaining her natural strength…whilst your lover in turn cannot fight due to her own chakra being largely weakened following the previous bout with your prior sensei, but she is does effectively remove the additional damage the pink one's pill brings…"

'So they're both spent…' Naruto summed up

"Exactly brat…but the blossom will fall first" the Kyuubi said wisely

'What, how?' the prone shinobi asked

"Observe" said the daemon, and a second later, Naruto felt as though his eyes had undergone the change from blue to red.

Everything was in a crimson hue, and he was able to see the chakra inside his own hand, somewhat wondering if it was how the Hyuuga saw…but he noticed without any difficulty what was happening within Sakura…not understanding at first what he saw until common sense snuck in...

His eyes went wide

'Work fast fox!' he said impatiently

"A few more minutes!" said the daemon with quick reassurance

Sakura looked back at her past friend, unaware of the danger she was in…

Hinata's bloodline not understanding what she saw, interpreted it as a natural change by the pill that she had not seen.

"I am not afraid of you" Sakura said resolutely, her voice echoing slightly as indication of her enlightened state, before running forward with her enhanced speed, attempting to kick twice at her old friend, left followed right in perfect synchrony. The Akatsuki's eyes narrowing at the attack, moved out of range of the first and ducked the second, stepping inwards she struck Sakura on the face, her deadly claw like nails raking the right side, scratching through her eye and tearing a line through her lip before she leapt back.

Hinata laughed darkly

"Is it bravery that you need your precious medication and beloved sensei to fight me?" Hinata asked, her eyes closing slightly at the sight of her bloodied face.

Her prey started back, not giving any indication of any pain, as the brutal injuries and torn eye slowly closed. Her skin bringing the torn areas together perfectly and not leaving any sign of damage, the medic looked back, her stone like eyes returning her opponents glare.

"I would have fought alone if you attacked before my first" Sakura replied calmly, her stony face and sharp green eyes were unblinking and emotionless

"Naïve child" Hinata spat, "So blind to the truth…I believe it goes without saying that you think your precious Sasuke-kun can be brought back and he will love you whole heartedly…" she paused before smiling harshly "oh that's right…he never did, did he?" Hinata remarked before showing a near manic smile

"HE FORGOT YOU!" she laughed loudly.

It was harsh and cruelly grating…that even with an augmented body, Sakura bared her teeth in anger

"YOU WITCH!" Sakura shouted, a sudden burst of chakra, shattering the floor around her in a bowl as she ran forwards

The Akatsuki's rage flared, the insane intent to kill returned in full force

"TRAITOR!" roared the Akatsuki. Her voice seemed to carry it self, turning into an unnatural wail which resounded across the training grounds, painful on the hearing of anyone within two miles as it echoed on the air.

Hinata crossed her arms and whipped them away from her, drawing her wristblades which let off a horrific dark blue purple aura, the chakra responding to its owner's anger as she charged in turn.

The two kunoichi ran for each other.

Sakura's strength tore the ground as she ran, great cracks forming each time moved across the ground.

Hinata's face had resemblance to a daemon, her bloodline active, her face was distorted in rage, as the energy and static that covered her blades trailed behind her.

The Medic brought a fist back, charging it with chakra beyond any amount she had previously;

She suddenly coughed pain, blood coming from her mouth in a small spurt.

Her running becoming uncoordinated and she faltered, reducing to a light jog in second.

A horrifically painful stab like feeling appeared in her stomach as her chakra core was giving an indication that something was wrong;

The lines on her body returned…

And her augmenting pill had depleted

She could no longer control her own body anymore…

Sakura was vulnerable;

Hinata was not

A cruel smile appeared on her face as she slowed her run allowing her prey to reach her; fully aware of what happened within her body and stopped moving.

Sakura tripped the last metre, and came kneeling in front of Hinata, face buried in her Black cloak.

Hinata let out another laughter, this time smaller so only Sakura could hear, reaching down she gripped the pink hair and yanked back, turning her prey's face upwards towards her

Sakura was barely breathing, the lines had faded somewhat and she looked exhausted, her eyes were half closed and gave indication of her current helplessness.

"So sad…when events don't go your way…isn't it…Sakura?" Hinata whispered, reaching with her right hand, placing her palm on her cheek, and slowly and with deliberation, cut a deep line across her forehead, trailing down between her eyes and cutting deep into her left cheek, leaving a bloody scrawled question mark….

"Doesn't this seem familiar though?" She said curiously, her bloodline paying close attention to the last person who intervened, satisfied when she saw no chakra activity in him…

Wasting no more time, she quickly changed hands, gripping her collar with her left; she drew her right wristblades once again and stabbed forward.

In the distance Naruto saw what was happening to Sakura with wide eyes and an open mouth

"BRAT MOVE!" roared the Daemon within.

Naruto didn't waste a second; pushing himself off the ground he charged his chakra bracers, forming four blades and ran.

Hinata saw this and stopped in horror

"WHAT!" she hissed between her teeth, and took a large step back as Naruto reached her in less then a millisecond…

Hinata saw that he swiped at her with chakra blades which protruded from his right forearm.

Whilst in the same instant, a clone that appeared from nowhere gathered Sakura up and leapt a fair distance behind where the attacking Naruto stopped, a few metres away from her. The original kept his back to her, kneeling and looking over his shoulder at Hinata, three curved shards of chakra humming from the flat of his forearm.

Hinata teeth displayed utter anger

"This does not concern you, LEAVE!" she roared

"Not happening" he said simply

"I know you are weakened, and you missed your attack, you orphaned DROPOUT!" Hinata spat cruelly

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the comment, slowly rotating his forearm…revealing another light blue blade…long and almost two feet in length…

His Forth Blade

"I don't miss…Bitch" he spat and used his technique, raising his fore and middle finger together

And on command a nine inch blue line on Hinata's chest split open.

Hinata eyes rose at the sight

There was no blood or cut flesh

But Chakra was seeping though like blue flame, fast moving and draining her of her strength. She brought her hands to her chest in an attempt to hold it back…but her bloodline receded…

She grit her teeth at the overpowering fatigue…

And the memory

Lying in a forest…her vision dimming like before…barely able to keep herself standing.

Realising she had lost this fight because of her own arrogance…

Her breathing was slow and forced, before she cried out loud, another unearthly wail that carried her pain better then other of the senses could.

And with that, the chakra cages that held the others in the area dissipated, all except one stirred weakly…

"THRICE!" Hinata remarked with a scream at Naruto "THRICE YOU STOP ME!" she bellowed as she slowly stepped towards him, each step difficult and taxing.

Naruto remained quiet

"WHY!" the dark kunoichi roared, bitter tears streaming down her face

Naruto sighed sadly

Remembering a conversation he had with Ino earlier that day

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I Know" he said as he finished healing Ino

The psychic looked back curiously

"What do mean 'you know?" she asked, rubbing her neck slowly

Naruto sighed

"I know that if Hinata manages to kill Sakura, she can't come back, she'll be permanently exiled and everything me and everyone else did to find her would have been wasted" he said, remembering the effort so many of his friends and others had put in to help.

"Then why don't you stop her!" Ino shouted

"Because I can't bring myself to do that"

"Why not, fight her if you have to, but just don't kill her!"

"She's too strong…there is only one way I think I can beat her…and I can't accept that as a final answer"

Ino anger stopped and he looked back softly

"Why not…?" she asked

He turned to her and gave his answer

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Because I am not going to lose you twice" he said, changing it to be said to Hinata this time…

The Hyuuga's eyes narrowed weakly

And she dropped to her knees

"And I will never stop…" she said, one hand clutching her stomach, the other holding onto the ground for support

"I know" Naruto noted with a tinge of sadness

Hinata panted heavily, now with only one eye barely open; moving first to the unconscious kunoichi then to him

And instantly both of their eyes looked to the right at the sound of fast movement.

Naruto reached out and grabbed the first set of arms with ease, skilfully dodging the long blades held in both hands, and looked at their attackers;

ANBU of the Root

"So you lot are the guys I sensed hiding" he noted

Three other ran up behind him, all armed with short Katana…but two were not running for him…

They were aiming for Hinata

Naruto quickly moved the Root's arms apart and cut in an X

But before he reached him, the root did a quick back flip, the tips of his feet catching Naruto in the jaw, who recoiled and countered with an elbow to the chest.

The Root leader blocked with the flat of his blade instantly, skidding backwards before regaining his focus.

'Damn it!' he cursed mentally, realising the new level of skill they had

"Brat, your chakra isn't fully healed yet, you're going to drop in 10 seconds!" the Kyuubi warned quickly

Naruto grimaced at the revelation

Directing his attention to the two attacking Hinata who were mere seconds from reaching her

He stepped once before dropping to one knee

His eyes open in shock at the lack of time

"No no NO!" he repeated in terror

'NOT AGAIN!' he roared mentally as the chakra depleted once again at the worst possible moment…

Hinata smiled at her attackers, who were only five seconds from her now

"Life is full of its little ironies…" she said to her self as the blades closed in…

The two attacking Naruto made a simultaneous action, as though all four shared the same mind…

Naruto's teeth bared in a final form of resistance

But a white blur appeared at the corner of his eye…

"HAKKE KYUUSHO!"

And with the voice came a large horizontal pillar of air laced with chakra, blasting the two who were to strike Naruto away like leaves in a hurricane.

Neji changed course and ran for the two attacking Hinata.

Moving with insane speeds, the teachings of his Sensei coming forth, he appeared in front of her and the two katana.

"KAITEN!" he roared, the swirling semi sphere deflecting both strikes and threw both ANBU into the air by the explosive force. The Hyuuga genius stopped his defence abruptly and leapt after them, the ANBU were already stunned by the developed after effects he had added, he struck both in fatal nerve points, hundreds of times in a space a fraction of a second, rotating to allow for ease of attack.

As he landed, the broken bodies of the ANBU landed to each side like light sacks

His sharpened eyes saw that the two attacking Naruto somehow got back up moved towards him.

'Interesting' he thought, noting the lack of paralysis his techniques all had in the two he blasted.

The first moved delicately, moving his blade like before, suddenly cutting at the neck.

Neji's hands began to let off chakra like a mist, as he deflected easily with the back of his hand, before moving in and struck dozens of times at vulnerable points before leaping off the ground delivering a shattering spin kick to the ANBU's neck, breaking it with ease.

The second came in…the first that attacked Naruto…

And with speeds that the genius didn't see possible, stabbed him through the side of his abdomen

"Neji…!" Hinata breathed before finally passing out from near chakra depletion

Naruto saw the blood and his heart sank

"NEJI!"

The genius coughed blood

"You…BASTARD!" he roared, grabbing onto the blade with his right hand and shattered the metal, before he held onto the hand, moving the arm apart before striking hard at the bicep, causing it to burst.

The root leader held his arm in pain before Neji grabbed onto his mask and released another quick and large burst of chakra, making his head explode

Naruto saw it with amused shock…as did several others

"Yikes…" he said quietly

Neji dropped the mask that he still held onto the body, before gingerly holding onto the blade still in his skin. Deactivating his bloodline, he looked over his cousin to see of any injuries, pleased that she was still breathing; he walked over to Naruto who was lying on his side.

"Thanks for that" he said as the Genius neared

"Anytime" he said with a degree of pain

"You know you're still bleeding right?" Naruto said in tired concern, his breathing becoming shallow

Neji took some time to gather his breath

"Yeah…been…stabbed there before…nothing new" Neji reassured with a small chuckle "And Hinata's going to be fine"

Naruto looked back at the sleeping form of his dark angel

"Thank god…" he said quietly before drifting into unconsciousness with her…

In the distance, Jiraiya finally finished his scroll, and casted his jutsu, feeling ease in his joints once again, and leapt for the training grounds, mentally kicking himself that he would have been too late had Naruto and the young Hyuuga Genius didn't intervene

Reaching the grounds he ran for the unconscious form of his student, as well as the bleeding jounin beside him

"Allow me to get the that" Jiraiya said softly

Neji smiled and removed his hand off the sides of the wound

As the elder sannin proceeded to heal him, he couldn't help but smile, looking at the sleeping form of the Hyuuga kunoichi;

'You're truly the forth's son Naruto…'

XXXXXXXXXXX

Authors Note: Well…there you go

Two, technically three fights with plenty of injuries to go around XD

I promise to you all that my next update will not take ten months.

Oh and when I mentioned the 'Sinkhole' comment, I meant the action of earth moving together in a crater, not the hole that the water travels down when/if you wash your hands XD (totally joking about the 'if' too)

As ever stay frosty

MANGA SPOILERS FOLLOWING!

MANGA SPOILERS FOLLOWING!

MANGA SPOILERS FOLLOWING!

MANGA SPOILERS FOLLOWING!

Well A LOT happened over the last…ten…months so lets skip to the main stuff

In order that is:

Yeah Kisame is Alive!

Awesome!

Naruto was going to fight and control the Kyuubi

VERY awesome!

He met and fought 'himself'

A little lame…scratch that…VERY lame…

Overused in anime/cartoons/games…everything in the world...a tad bit?

Naruto met is mother…

Who had her own catchphrase when getting excited….

I will not lie, I did a whole mental:

AWWWWWWWWW

At the sight of them hugging XD

No Naruto, you would look fricken ugly with red hair ¬¬

Just saying as a straight guy to another straight guy…

Ahem

The 'No wonder Shikamaru fears his own mom' comment was brilliant

Ha…tomato…

Aw screw it, she's cool

Ok…Minato managed to stop a group of elite shinobi…as a child…

Will that man's Awesomeness level never stay put?

To save Kushina?

Aww XD

NARUTO VS KYUUBI FIGHT

It was pretty cool at times I'll admit

And of course that one pic of Kyuubi looking back whilst on his back was hilarious XD

That's one BIG energy ball

Naruto sealed his ass…again

Man…sucks to be that guy…

Kushina was the previous Kyuubi container?

I actually did the 'cool' finger whip thing at that, but wow that was pretty cool.

OK Tobi/Madara/ whatever was a conniving little (Censored) back in those days too

I mean threaten a baby?

DUDE

Moving along ¬¬

Aaaaannnnd Minato's Awesomeness level officially bore a hole clean through Pluto XD

:(

Minato and Kushina died together to save their newly born baby :(

But it can be said that Naruto does actually have the coolest ninja parents of ANYONE

Ok her description of a perfect girlfriend was…intriguing…¬¬

BUT

Then the kicker…

Naruto remembered the 'I love you' and felt joy…

AWESOMENESS!111111ONEONEONE!

(Yeah that word will NEVER DIE!")

Yeaaaahh….er…Naruto I somewhat doubt you are going to be THEIR level awesome…

But who knows…I think…

…ok the new Kyuubi form IS:

Interesting…

But I'm missing 4/6 and 8 tail already :(

KISAME vs GAI FIGHT 3

KICKASS!

(See? new word)

OH yes!

Gai turning it up to 7th gate!

Ha, that mid air summon conversation was good :)

Morning peacock!

Nice to see you again.

Large shark missile!

Afternoon Tiger!

HOLY (…..this section of the sentence has been censored for profanity and utter gibberish brought forth from a wildly spasming author…..)

Honestly and truly

I feared for Gai…

BUT OH!

Kisame got trashed

Gai…Dude, the guy twitched! XD

The ending caption made me sad

Ok the previous guy to won Samehada was…large…and fishy…

And Kisame killed his teammates to prevent knowledge getting leaked

Points for dedication dude…but creepy like you would not believe…

I believe a chuck Norris moment is necessary here

Kisame was so unkillable

HE HAD TO KILL HIMSELF XD

Classic!

With style I may add

(Draws his sword once again in a warriors salute)

Good Bye Kisame, you will be missed by all :(

And a shark STILL got through with the info

Ok they are planning a war

War….

Konan vs Madara…

Sea of explosive tags…nice…

Ok she made the freakshow bleed AND remove his arm…

Ok…fighting for place of coolest eldest kunoichi is Konan everyone…

(Same as Above)

Bye, konan you will be missed

Ok

I ACTUALLY did a double take and check when I saw the frog suits

Ok there are ALOT of Zetsu

…I had to look away from the armadillo…thing…

But wow does Kishi have issues…

WAR!

And that's everything minus the Yamato kidnapping and host of zombies

Wow

Zabuza…all of the past Jinchuuriki…

They even brought back Neji's dad to fight!

And Sai's brother…

But Neji's dad!

NOW that's everything important…to me anyway

Stay frosty

And please review!