Fugaku smirked, he had a new goal in mind, if he could obtain this artifact, he could certainly defeat Itachi, and bring him back to the clan.
The Uzumaki island was peaceful, the afternoon sun shining down. Birds could be heard in the distance, along with the soft sounds of battle. Grunting, yelling, low sounds of a taijutsu battle. Naruto was training with Hinata, he, trying to add elemental affinity to his attacks, she, trying to perfect her Jyuuken and her Byakugan. Sasuke remained off to the side, studying them with his Sharingan active. He wanted to be able to mimic their movements, so they could work properly as a team, he needed to see how they moved, how they fought, what better way than to watch them fight and use his Sharingan to memorize them.
Naruto side stepped and pushed Hinata's arm away as she aimed a Jyuuken strike to his chest. She wasn't putting any chakra into the attack, but they agreed to fight as if she was. Naruto charged a little electricity into his punch and attempted to aim a strike at her stomach, she spun to the right, landing a strike to his shoulder, before spinning further and attempting to sweep his legs. Naruto winced at the hit to his shoulder before jumping up, grabbing onto Hinata's shoulders. He flipped his legs over, landing on her back, kicking off, sending her tumbling forward as he flipped into the air. He swung his left arm forward sending a small ball of fire towards her. She quickly regained her footing, channeling chakra into her palm, she struck the small ball downwards. Naruto landed not far away.
"Nice Hime!" Naruto said smiling. Hinata smiled back at him before crouching down, her left arm in front of her, her right behind.
"You're in my divination field…" She began. Naruto felt some sweat drop as he looked at her, his eyes suddenly went wide. "Shi-" He started but was too late, Hinata was rushing at him.
"2 palms" She exclaimed, landing two strikes to his chest, closing 2 points.
"4 palms" She continued her onslaught, closing more points.
"8 palms" closing more points, she started to increase speed. Naruto was defenseless against this, he just simply was not fast enough to counter.
"16 palms" again moving faster she struck and closed more points.
"32 palms" faster still.
"Eight trigrams - 64 palms!" She exclaimed before landing one final strike, no chakra in this one, sending Naruto tumbling backwards landing on the ground hard, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Both Sasuke and Hinata looked to see Naruto walk out from behind a tree, he whistled.
"That would have really hurt Hinata!" He pouted. She deactivated her Byakugan.
"Sorry Naruto-kun, I guess I got a bit carried away…" She said a bit shily. Naruto ran over and wrapped her in a hug, she nuzzled closer to him.
The trio had spent a little over a week on the island. They had enough supplies from Jin from earlier and they wanted to enjoy the isolation. Hinata had always used her Byakugan to check further and further, she had not seen any sign of Kakashi so figured he was unable to find them currently. Hinata had started to improve her mood, with Naruto's constant reassurance and affection she had slowly started to warm up. She had started to smile more, the pain of her loss slowly receding into her mind, she would never forget about her sister, but she could now cope with it. Sasuke had spent most of the time pouring over the ancient scroll they received from Jin as well as the scrolls he took from the Uchiha compound. The three of them had been training constantly, trying to improve as quickly as possible, using each other as training partners.
In just one week they had improved dramatically. Naruto had figured out his clones gave him the experiences they received, so started using them more in his training. Through careful meditation, Sasuke had unlocked the final tomoe in each eye. He had also learned a few fire jutsu and discovered he had slight affinity for lightning by simply trying to do them. Hinata was able to perform the Jyuuken stance as well as could be expected from any Hyuuga. She had also learned the 64 palms strike and had even adapted her own style of it being a defensive ability. By channeling a thin beam of chakra from her palms. She had attempted many times to learn the Kaiten but was so far unsuccessful, deciding rather to keep to her Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms).
Sasuke deactivate his Sharingan and stood up. He walked over to the couple.
"Ok Dobe, it's my turn." Sasuke said, getting into a fighting stance. Naruto let go of Hinata reluctantly. She kissed him on the cheek and went to take the seat Sasuke had previously occupied. She activated her Byakugan, she couldn't memorize movement's like Sasuke could but it helped her see them more clearly.
"Heh, heh, you're on!" Naruto said, getting into a stance himself. His stance was similar to the Gentle fist, since he learned of his bloodline, he started channeling lightning chakra through his palms, giving them similar damaging properties to the Jyuuken, even if it didn't directly stop chakra flow, it would numb the area, or, contract the muscles causing pain.
Sasuke's stance was relaxed, with one hand on the hilt of a sword. Naruto had given him the sword he found in the shrine. He had seen Sasuke use one before so decided it would be better in his hands, Naruto preferred to fight with his fists. Sasuke kept his Sharingan active, if he wanted to spar Naruto seriously, he needed to.
Naruto started by rushing forward, punching the air in front of him, sending small fireballs hurtling towards Sasuke, even if these hit, they wouldn't do much damage. Sasuke pulled out his sword and began swiping at the balls of flame. The sword he had received was special, it was designed to nullify chakra, so when he struck the balls, they were absorbed into the sword. As Naruto came closer, he stomped on the ground, causing a boulder to rise in front of him, he flipped over it and swung his arm forward, hurling it as Sasuke, he then punched both his hands forward, causing a burst of wind to cause it to rush faster.
Sasuke's eyes widened a moment at the size of the rock before he used the other ability of the sword. He had discovered, that if he channelled some chakra into the blade, he could unleash the skills he had stored. He swung the blade in a horizontal arc in front of him and a large ball of flame erupted from it, colliding with the stone flung earlier, stopping its advance. Naruto arrived in front of Sasuke, aiming a gentle fist channeled with electricity. Sasuke used the back of his blade to stop the hit. Naruto pushed the blade down, he flipped sideways, aiming a kick at Sasuke. He blocked the attack and pushed backwards, causing Naruto to falter slightly. Sasuke kicked out and collided with Naruto's stomach sending him backwards a bit. Naruto dug his feet into the ground to absorb the impact, although it sent him sliding, digging small grooves in the ground. Sasuke ran through a series of hand signs.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Fire style: Great Fireball)." Sasuke said, breathing a ball of fire towards Naruto. Naruto spun in a circle, causing the earth to open up and he fell down into a hole, letting the ball pass by harmlessly. Sasuke looked around, he couldn't see Naruto anywhere. He suddenly felt a presence below him as Naruto burst out of the ground, aiming a punch at his chin. Sasuke just barely dodged the attack, he did a backflip, kicking Naruto in the chin, only for it to disperse in a cloud of smoke. A hand emerged from the ground, grabbing Sasuke's ankle.
"What the?" Sasuke said as he was suddenly dragged into the ground with a yell. Naruto jumped out of the ground afterwards, leaving Sasuke with only his head above ground.
"Heh, heh, you look like a mole." Naruto said, crouching down in front of Sasuke's head.
"Very funny dobe, except…" Suddenly the head started to waver in the air and vanish. Naruto's eyes widened and he turned around just in time to catch a punch to his cheek from Sasuke, sending him tumbling backwards.
"Genjutsu…" Naruto said, rubbing his cheek. Sasuke just smirked at him.
Naruto and Sasuke rushed at each other again, continuing their taijutsu battle. Each exchanging blows, but mostly parrying each other.
Hinata watched with earnest. She was learning how they moved. She was admiring how fluid they were, the movement of their muscles, the sweat dripping down them. She started to feel a bit warm and blushed a bit. She continued to watch them exchange blows when suddenly, something caught her attention, she had widened her range considerably and noticed a figure, walking along the water towards the island. She focused her vision on the figure and noticed wild white hair and a face covered in a mask. Kakashi had figured out where they were.
"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Hinata said frantically. Both fighters stopped, each clutching each other's shirt, fists raised. They looked at her, she sounded panicked.
"Kakashi-sensei, he's found us!" She exclaimed.
The two boys let go of each other.
"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked, a serious look on his face. Hinata nodded.
"He's still a few hours out, but we need to move." Hinata said. She ran back to a campsite they had set up inside the ruins of an old house. The three of them quickly started packing their things and began running in the opposite direction from Kakashi. They ran through the rest of the ruins before reaching a beach, on the northern end of the island.
"We'll have to run on the water." Sasuke said.
Naruto crossed his arms, and put a hand on his chin, he had an idea. He had seen some of the Jutsu's in Hinata's scroll, some of them related to water, a smirk formed on his face. He jumped and landed on the water, standing on top of it.
"Stand near me guys." He said. They both jumped next to him. He concentrated for a moment.
'I'm going to need some chakra, Kurama' he thought.
"Go ahead kit, take as much as you need." The fox replied. Naruto nodded and began to focus. A red aura began to surround him. His eyes shot open, red with black slits. The water around him began to swirl and lift. Naruto smirked and pointed forward. The water began to move like a platform underneath them. Hinata lost her balance a bit, causing her to grab onto Naruto. He placed an arm around her waist.
"Hold on tight, Hinata." He said, she smiled lightly at him and leaned into him. He looked over to Sasuke, "You good?" He asked. Sasuke nodded. Naruto smirked, looking forward and the platform rushed forward, pushing them through the water, away from the island.
"Ikuzo!" Naruto yelled, as the water around them gained speed, greatly pushing them through the water. They continued on this motion for a few minutes before they saw the shore rapidly approaching.
"Oi… slow down dobe." Sasuke said as the shore got closer and closer.
"Eheheh, I don't know how…" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. Both Hinata and Sasuke had a sweat drop as they approached the shore. "Better brace ourselves." Naruto said. The three of them braced for impact as the wave crashed into the shore, a large splash and spray of water sent the three ninja hurtling onto the ground. Hinata and Sasuke were able to reposition themselves in midair, landing on their feet while Naruto crashed into the ground hard. Legs flailing up in the air before landing back on the ground, his rear in the air.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled running towards him, "are you ok?" She asked, concerned. He lifted his head off the ground and sat back, rubbing his chin.
"That hurt.." He pouted. Hinata giggled at his antics before placing a soft kiss on his chin.
"Better?" She asked. Naruto blushed a bit with a goofy grin on his face.
Sasuke groaned, "Let's keep moving." He said, gesturing ahead of them.
"Well, where are we going?" Naruto asked, looking over at him. He didn't even know where they were, never mind where they were going.
Sasuke sighed, he pulled his bag out from behind him and opened it up. He pulled out a map from inside and laid it out on the ground. Naruto and Hinata gathered around it. He pointed to an area on the eastern edge of the Fire country.
"We're about here." Sasuke said. "We want to avoid the fire country right now, too many Konoha ninja wandering around, we may run into some." Both Naruto and Hinata nodded. Sasuke looked over to Hinata.
"The part about a "blade's edge" got me thinking. There is the land of Iron, up here." Sasuke pointed to a northern area of the map. "Shinobi don't live there, the land is inhabited by Samurai." He said. Hinata nodded, blade's edge, it made sense, Samurai were primarily sword users.
"Since I don't even have a clue as to where the Uchiha artifact may be, I think it's probably best to start there." He said, "We should probably head this way." He gestured around the outer border of the fire country. "We can pass through the land of hot water, maybe restock on supplies there. A hidden village used to be located there, but it's now a hot springs resort. We should be able to hide there for a while." He exclaimed.
"Hot springs…" Naruto said, mind wandering. He suddenly got a goofy smirk on his face as he looked over to Hinata. She blushed immensely, covering her body with her arms.
Sasuke had a vein bulge on his head as he wrapped up the map and smacked Naruto on the head with it.
"What was that for?!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fist towards Sasuke.
"Pervert." Sasuke said, putting the map away.
"I'm not a pervert!" Naruto yelled.
"Right… that transformation you did back at the fishing village really proves that." Sasuke retorted as he started to walk off.
Naruto started gritting his teeth, until Hinata grabbed his hand.
"Let's go, Naruto-kun." She said, leading him after Sasuke. Naruto smiled lightly, squeezing her hand before following Sasuke.
The cave was dark. The only light that was visible was the glow of some strange chakra. A giant statue stood in the room, a head with nine shut eyes and a wide open mouth, showing sharp teeth could be seen. A steady stream of white chakra with a thinner line of red chakra flowing in it. Two arms protruded from the ground, ten shadowy, translucent figures atop them, one on each finger. In the center of the room, floating in the center, was a young red headed boy, with the kanji for love on his forehead, his mouth was hanging open with the red chakra flowing out, slowly. Eventually the chakra subsided and Gaara fell to the floor, lifeless. The Ichibi, Shukaku, had been removed. One eye on the statue began to open until it was fully wide, revealing a pupil.
"The ritual is complete." A voice said. His eyes glowing grey, with multiple rings all the way out.
"About fucking time." Another figure said, rubbing his shoulders.
"Shut up, don't make me kill you." Another one with green and pink eyes said.
"As if you could dumb ass." He replied.
"Silence, both of you." The first voice said with authority. The other two figures stopped talking.
"Now that the sealing is complete. Itachi, Koga, it is unlike you to fail. Where is the Kyuubi?"
Koga spoke, "He was not in Konoha."
"Where is he then?" The first figure asked.
"We don't know, he seems to have left the village of his own accord. I scanned the entire village with my Byakugan, I did not see his presence. His apartment was burned to the ground." Koga replied.
The first figure paused, "No matter then, we can come for him later, for now, focus on your other objectives." He looked over to the only two figures in the room that where solid.
"Sasori, Deidara, dispose of the body and begin hunting for the Sanbi."
"Can I use this one as a puppet?" Sasori asked.
"Do as you wish." The holographic figure said before flickering and vanishing. One by one all the other figures flickered and vanished.
Sasori walked over to the deceased Gaara. "Time to get to work." He said before pulling out some scrolls from underneath his cloak.
"You call that real art? Hn." Deidara asked mockingly. He liked to mess with his partner.
"What do you know about art? Those pathetic displays of yours?" Sasori retorted emotionlessly.
"Art is bang Danna." Deidara replied, "Meant to be experienced in the moment, hn."
"Tch, leave me alone, start preparations for finding the Sanbi." He said.
"Hai, Hai." Deidara said with a smirk as he began to exit the cave.
Danzo sat in the Hokage's office. His inauguration had gone smoothly, the village was more or less receptive of his rise to power. The older generation saw him as a power figure and welcomed him, while the younger generations were a bit more wary, they didn't know him all that well. It didn't matter, they would come to accept him in time. Danzo heard a knock on the door.
"Enter." He said. The door opened to reveal Jiraiya, the legendary sannin standing there.
"You wanted to see me Danzo?" Jiraiya said.
"Hmph, show some respect. You will refer to me as Hokage-sama." He said.
Jiraiya sighed, "Hokage-sama" he stressed the sama in a mocking tone.
Danzo glared at him but let it slip.
"We need your power within this village, however, I know of your spy network and having you chained down here would be a detriment." Danzo started, Jiraiya snorted and crossed his arms but remained quiet.
"As such, I have mission for you. You will go out and relieve Kakashi's search for the Kyuubi. He seems like he is unable to complete this task." He said. Jiraiya was surprised by this, he knew Naruto had left the village but he figured Kakashi would have caught him and his companions by now. They sure were a crafty bunch.
"And what if I refuse?" Jiraiya said. Danzo narrowed his one eye.
"Then I will send a ROOT squad after him, and I promise you, that will not be a pleasant outcome for them." He would have liked to preserve the bloodlines and the Kyuubi but it was an acceptable loss to keep Jiraiya under his thumb.
Jiraiya's eyes widened, he knew it was going to be something bad but he didn't think he would go so far.
"So you'll kill them?" He asked, glaring at Danzo.
"If it comes to it." Danzo replied. Jiraiya grit his teeth, he didn't like being under Danzo's control, but he couldn't let his pupils legacy, as well as the other children, be flat out murdered because of his stubbornness. Jiraiya sighed, he was just going to have to be sneaky about this.
"Hai, Hokage-sama" he replied.
A/N: See you guys Monday :)