Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, or Dragon Ball GT.
L: Let's be honest, would anyone in their right mind want to own Dragon Ball GT?
Arc 2: Siege of the Akatsuki
Chapter 27: Blooming Aftershocks
After Yahiko came back to Amegakure with Son Goku in tow, he decided to have his subordinates make more journeys into the Land of Fire to lure out and capture the remaining Jinchuriki hiding out there. The only catch was that the teams now had to partner up with another to go out.
"Sasori my man, this royally blows. I can't believe we're stuck with these two morons if we want to hunt Jinchuriki." Deidera grumbled as he and the others maneuvered through the trees of the forest.
Itachi himself sighed and told Deidera "Don't talk about us like we're not here Artist. And for the record we're luring the Jinchuriki out, not hunting them down like before."
"It's still a stupid plan Genocide. The World Government is more likely to be hunting us down than they are considering how we've taken out a third of them by now."
"Don't insult Pein-sama like that Artist, we just got rid of Reaper, we don't need another disobedient shithead. He's the reason our organization even exists. He gave us all new lives after we rebelled from our villages, and he has great taste in literature." Itachi scolded the younger chairman only for Kisame to speak up.
"And by literature you mean that nonsense that white haired old fart writes." Kisame teased his younger to partner "But you just read them so you can imagine Angel-sama as the heroines don't you?"
"Shut the hell up Kisame." Itachi growled at the fishman walking besides him only to suddenly stop in his tracks. He listened carefully to the woods around before tossing a kunai into the trees, only for it to suddenly fly right back "Everyone on your guard, we're being followed."
"There are Jinchuriki nearby."
"No Scorpion, something else. The Santatsu Foundation." Itachi said with noticeable anger in his normally stoic voice, while various shinobi, missing-nin, and common thugs came out from the trees and surrounded them.
And up front, was one of their leaders, as well as the leader of Otogakure; Orochimaru the Snake Sennin "Honestly Itachi-kun, did you have to skip right to the point there. You're even worse than Skillet-kun when it comes to big twists." The traitor suddenly stopped talking upon seeing Sasori's wooden tail pointed up to his throat.
"I thought I said to never show your ugly face to me again Orochimaru. You know full well what I'm capable of with my puppetry." Sasori threatened his ex-partner, who stood there disinterested.
While this was going, a confused Deidera had a few questions "I'm confused here. Exactly who are these Triple Dragon Dicks again?"
"The Santatsu Foundation is the antipode to our organization, seeking the power of God for vain and selfish reasons. In Orochimaru's case immortality." Itachi explained only to hear another voice come from behind Orochimaru. A voice which made Itachi's uncharacteristic anger flare up even more.
"Reflection Dome Jutsu"
This voice belonged to Raido Namiashi, the Lieutenant of Division 6, bodyguard to the Sandaime, and secret Nitatsu "How rude Itachi, you left out multiple important details concerning our organization. But I guess losing your beloved younger brother to the Cinderface would make a person forgetful."
"You don't know a damn thing about what you're talking about teme!" Itachi suddenly screamed in rage, only for Kisame to block him and intervene.
"Calm down you baka, you're only playing into this freak's game."
"I'm surprised you're acting so calm Kisame. I think you'd be sympathetic with Itachi, since you know the pain of losing of family." Raido mocked the fishman, which visibly worked "Your fiancé was stolen by slave traders, your rebellion fell to shambles, and your older brother is locked up for good."
"Ok, that's it, let's remove their asses from the rest of their bodies." Kisame said angrily as he pulled Samehada out and he charged the group alongside Itachi and Sasori. But strangely they suddenly ended up in the exact opposite direction they were going in at first "Did, did we just go backwards?"
"Something like that. You ran through some sort of portal which somehow turned you the other way. Take a look." Sasori pointed out, as unlike the others he had simply shot his tail forward. And as a result of the warping in space the end of the tail was sticking back out. It was then they noticed something even stranger. The enemy had suddenly vanished.
When he saw this Itachi winced when he realized what was about to happen "Everyone get down now! This is a trap!"
"Chandelier Hell"
Suddenly rays of light began bouncing around them in an enclosed space, and revealed themselves to be very sharp by the cuts they made on Sasori's puppet armor. This also showed that the Akatsuki were currently enclosed in a dome of one way mirrors "Raido's specialty involves mirror techniques. He makes a dome of mirrors with a jutsu and kills you inside."
"That doesn't exactly explain the light show Genocide." Deidera complained to his comrade, only to get another quick and stern explanation.
"That's because only the dome itself is made from a jutsu. He controls their function with a Devil Fruit power!"
"Correct you are Itachi-kun. We knew that we wouldn't be able to just sneak past you or win in a fight. So we decided to create a diversion long enough for us to slip away. I've got important business on Wooden Stone and I can't let you interfere." Orochimaru mocked his former team members from a distance, while Itachi rammed his fists into a nearby tree.
"Santatsu, me and Pein-sama will make you regret this!"
*YAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWNNNNN*
Naruto let out a large cry of slumber, signifying the end of one of his several daily catnaps. He'd been able to finish even more than usual in the past two days, as he'd been laid up in a hospital bed with multiple broken bones from his fight with Pein "If there's one thing my Niisan taught me, it's how to power nap."
"Certainly gives me more time to heal you with all the rest you've had. Normally I'd just leave a few minor cracks and tell you to stay off the limb for awhile, but we both know you'll just ignore me." Kurama said as he ran his his youkai infused hand over the broken spots in Naruto's leg.
"As long as I can get out of here soon. This place brings up a lot of really bad memories." Naruto told his tenant "And besides Niiteme and Tucker are still running free. I don't think I could rest knowing they're still out there."
"Easy for you to say Naruto. You've only got to be in here for about another half hour. I'm stuck in this musty old room with terrible food for 2 more weeks!" Chouji complained from his own hospital bed not far from Naruto's "Think you could fix me up too Kurama?"
"Sorry but it only really works for Naruto since I'm sealed to him. If I tried it on anyone else it'd probably kill them." Kurama explained to the overweight gennin, before Naruto suddenly started to clutch his chest in pain. The biju reacted accordingly "Naruto, what's wrong?"
"M-mercury."
While Naruto writhed in agony on his hospital bed, a smug looking doctor came out from behind the corner "How do you like a plate full of mercury demon! Uchiha-sama will be avenged by me-AAAAAAAH." The doctor squealed upon having a kunai thrown next to his head by Naruto.
"Are you that idiotic? Or did you just forget that I can eat metal to begin with?" Naruto said before removing his IV and growling at his attempted poisoner, releasing a metric ton of killing intent "Now get me my clothes so I can go home."
Upon sensing the killing intent, the man pissed himself and quickly obeyed the swordsman "So I'm literally standing right next to you, and yet they still call you a demon. Have the people in this village been on stupid meds since I died?"
"That's a very likely possibility." Chouji joked along with the demon and turned his attention to the room's entrance to see Shikamaru was walking in "Hey there Shikamaru, what's up with you?"
"A lot of stuff actually; I need to ask you a favor Chouji. Me and Temari are getting married not long from now and I want you to be my best man." Shikamaru said awkwardly said, resulting in shocked silence from the others.
Naruto was the first to recover and break the silence "You're getting married Shikamaru? I thought you'd find it troublesome. Especially proposing."
"Well I did have a lot of help from Otou-san. And the marriage itself I'm fine with; but everything in between is a big drag." Shikamaru gave his opinion on the matter "Speaking of which Naruto, I'm surprised you and Hinata haven't tied the knot by this point. You're crazy about each other and you're both of marrying age."
The swordsman broke out into blushing and looked away "Well Hiashi-san and Neji have talked to me some about it. Anyways I've got to go before someone else tries to kill me." Naruto changed the subject before he and Kurama left the hospital room.
Once they were out and into the hallway Kurama began to grill his jailer for details "You won't be able to avoid answering yourself by avoiding conversation. It's obvious you're crazy for the girl and she's crazy for you. With the Government not chasing you anymore, you can actually afford to settle down."
"In case you haven't noticed Kurama, I'm the village pariah with a shitty apartment and only basic savings from shinobi work. I want to able to make her happy, and as I am right now I can't do that. Especially not with the Akatsuki riding my ass."
"I don't think it really matters Naruto. Hinata will always be happy with you, but I guess you have somewhat of a point with the Akatsuki being an obstacle in things. If it really matters all that much you should hit the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and get a new sword as quickly as possible." Kurama explained his reasoning to Naruto.
"Actually I think there's something that both of us have to take care of."
Somewhere else in the village, a masked man was sitting down re-reading a green colored book, apparently worn out from both boredom and despair. Despair from the past and the present. Not even reading his favorite book could seem to cheer the man up from his seemingly endless depression.
"I can't wait till Icha Icha Journey comes out. It's quite the shame that Roshi-senpai will end up missing it in death." Kakashi mewled to himself before drifting into dream like memories.
The teenage Kakashi had just gotten finished with a mission involving his new Division 13, now acting as its captain with Danzō being fired by the Yondaime recently. Right now he just wanted to rest on his bed and read. This new book series had come out called, Icha Icha which seemed interesting enough. But with Ichigo as his older brother he knew that relaxation was out of the question.
"YAHOO!" Yahiko cried as he fell down from the building above, crash landing directly onto him "Alright that was awesome! Nothing can stop the power of an Uzumaki!"
"Technically you and Nagato-san aren't Uzumaki. You're only half, and the one who got most of the blood was him anyways." Konan said as she flew down on her paper wings.
"Stop trying to sound smarter than me Konan!"
"It's not that hard you know. Don't just crash off buildings like an idiot, you little dumbass! Someone could get hurt!" Ichigo scolded his student and smacked him over the head with the flat part of his scythe, before pulling up Kakashi "Sorry about that. There's a new baby coming soon in Minato's family, so Nagato and Yahiko are probably pretty antsy."
"It's fine Niisan. As long as they didn't get my book dirty. This seems like a pretty big winner."
"Not again Kakashi. Remember what I told you about what would happen if you sit around doing one thing forever." Ichigo said before holding up a picture "You'll start growing mushrooms on your head, and that's not cool."
"This coming from the person with a giant fox in his stomach." Kakashi reacted in a deadpan tone to his brothers antics before turning his attention over to the members of his team.
One of whom was watching them with an excited look "I hope us and our younger brother will have a relationship like Ichigo-sensei and Kakashi-san."
"You can have him Niisan. I have a great Otouto already!"
"But aren't you the younger of you two Yahiko." Konan asked to the the annoyance of her teammate.
"By 6 minutes, big deal!"
The one eyed jounin was snapped out of his reminiscing when the door to his apartment came flying off its hinges and right into the chair he was dozing off in. Thankfully for him, his Logia power prevented any real damage "Oh shit, that must have hurt! Sorry about the door."
"It's no problem really, I can just…" Kakashi immediately paused when he saw who had blown his door down "Oh…it's you…I have the key to Division 1's Hyperbolic Time Chamber if that's what you came for."
"Cut the crap Kakashi-senpai. We both know that the Time Chamber isn't what I came here to talk about." Naruto bluntly stated to his former sensei.
Not being able to face the mental agony any longer, Kakashi dropped to his knees and began to apologize " Roronoa Naruto, I can't apologize enough for how I treated you six years ago. Because of my actions, you became wanted by the World Government and were nearly killed by Sasuke and Danzō. Please don't forgive me for what I've done."
"Is that all you were going to say? I already forgave you for what happened after you took down Fū. The reason I came here was to patch things up." Naruto explained to the Division 1 lieutenant, while pulling something out the pocket of his jacket. A blue book titled 'Icha Icha Journey' "I figured this would be a pretty good peace offering, considering it hasn't even come out in book stores yet. You wouldn't believe how much Jiraiya charged me for it."
Kakashi grasped the book upon it being handed to him with awe before managing to stutter out to the swordsman "I…I…I…I'm not worthy!"
"Don't start crying just yet senpai. I'm not even finished yet. There's someone else I want you to meet." Naruto said to his still kneeling ex-teacher, before unsheathing Kurama in its sword form. Similar to how he and Zoro had done previously, Naruto tossed his demon katana up in the air with his arm stretched out.
In order to avoid cutting off his Jinchuriki's arm, Kurama transformed into his human form, landing on the ground while both he and Kakashi stared each other down in shock at seeing the other again.
'Kakashi?'
'Niisan?'
While the white haired biju stood up in a shocked and wobbly fashion, Kakashi felt his good eye begin to water up with tears. Before Ichigo had anymore time to react, Kakashi charged his older brother in an embrace "Ichigo-niisan! I thought you were dead all this time! I thought I would never see you again."
Now it was Kurama's turn to start crying "I guess I did die then. And so did everyone else. Nagato, Kushina, Biwako, and Minato. 18 years later and I still can't believe they're all gone."
Kakashi felt his stomach descend upon the mention of his former teacher, but before the reunion could continue any longer a gunshot rang out, as well as the sound of Kakashi's window shattering from the bullet crashing through it. Before anyone could realize what was going on, they saw that the bullet had embedded itself in Kurama's head.
Thankfully his forehead had already turned into a layer of red steel which was used to block the sudden attack "It's a damn good thing I saw that coming, otherwise I'd be kissing pavement right now."
"What the hell was that?"
"Take a look outside." Kakashi pointed angrily at the gunman who had almost killed his older brother once again, who was currently cloaked and standing on a nearby rooftop, with an aimed pistol and a rage filled scowl "Someone has it out for us."
"Not really. The more likely situation is that someone has it out for me. And I'm pretty sure I know who it is." Naruto growled before using the Yamakawa-o to deflect another bullet aimed his way and charging out the shattered window towards his assailant. Despite the gunman desperately firing on their target, Naruto easily deflected the bullets and removed the cloak with a single swipe.
"Ittoryu: Hell Barber"
Once the cloak disguising their identity was revealed, Naruto turned with a leer to face his attempted assassin "I could say I thought even you weren't stupid enough to try something like this. But we both know you are, Sakura."
"Shut up you stupid baka! This is all you're fault! You're the reason Sasuke-kun is in prison! You better tell Hokage-sama to release him, or I'll kill you right now!" Sakura screeched at her ex-teammate.
"The teme did that to himself, I had nothing to do with him trying to kill the Kazekage, and actually killing Ibiki. Not to mention sexually harrasing Hinata-chan!" Naruto growled, his voice still brimming with hatred towards the Uchiha "And besides, even if I wanted to let him go, Impel Down is a government run prison. So Jiisama couldn't do anything, since technically this continent isn't even part of the World Government."
"Then use your title as a Shichibukai to set him free. It's all your fault he's stuck there so you should take responsibility and let him go! Everything has been all your fault Baka! If you'd just accepted your fate to be a loser for all eternity and hadn't left the village 6 years ago, then we'd still be a team, he'd be a chunin instead of you, I'd have his babies, and your stupid whore would be dead at my feet!"
Now Sakura's ravings had gone too far for Naruto to handle any longer "Why you stupid bitch!" Before Sakura could pull the trigger on the pistol again, Naruto sliced the gun in half from the bottom up. Now unarmed, Sakura tried to go back to her normal method of nailing Naruto atop his blonde head.
This immediately failed when Naruto caught the punch and retaliated with a slap. Sakura was forced back not only by the attack but the first realization that Naruto had been fighting back in the past months 'How could he just hit me like that? I'm his Sakura-chan! He loves me!'
The scuffle was broken by the sudden appearance of Kakashi and Ichigo "Give this foolishness up Sakura; you're completely out- numbered!"
"Not exactly." Another familiar voice said through a portal very similar to the Kamui, while another cloaked man came out of nowhere behind Sakura, before grabbing her and making an escape "Uchiha-sama will be avenged demon!"
"Ok now I'm really confused. Who the hell was that guy?" Naruto asked both himself and those around him of who this mysterious cloaked figure was.
"I'm not exactly sure but I'm about 99% sure they have something to do with the Santatsu Foundation." Kakashi theorized much to the shock of Naruto who instantly recognized the name given to him by Itachi.
"There's actually more to the story than what the history books say. All I can say on the matter is beware of the Santatsu."
"Did you just say the Santatsu Foundation? Itachi mentioned something like that after I finished off Sasuke-teme! What do they have to with Sakura?"
"I'm not exactly sure what they are myself, but I do know they were the ones holding me captive all that time. They seem to be an organization involving a merger between ROOT and Otogakure. Their leaders are Danzō, Orochimaru, and that masked Akatsuki codenamed Faceless."
"Wait a minute! All three of those guys are the leaders?!" Ichigo said in shock, having just had an an epiphany on the situation "All three of them kidnapped me on the day I died!"
"Then…that means they must have had something to do with the Kyuubi attack 18 years ago. If we can reveal it to Jiisama, then that will finally take Danzō and his flying monkeys down." Naruto realized before turning to his tenant and asking "Kurama, can you tell us anything about the place they took you to?"
"It's been a damn long time so the details are pretty rusty. The only thing I really remember about the place is that there was a yellow Hyuuga clan symbol there."
Upon the mention of the Hyuuga clan symbol, Naruto scowled as he remembered Neji telling him of a Hyuuga's involvement with Danzō and Tobi at one point "Noburu-teme."
'So how long is she going to do this?' The cloaked man thought to himself while Sakura rampaged around her living room, crying in frustration.
"Stupid Naruto-Baka! If it weren't for him, me and my Sasuke-kun would be together forever! It's all his fault!" Sakura continued her tantrum untill she fell over on the floor from exhaustion.
With her rant over, at least for a brief period time, the cloak approached Sakura while unmasking themselves "There, there young lady. The separation between soulmates is a horrible thing to bear alone. Especially at the hands of such a monster."
"Wait a minute, Danzō-sama? How did you get me back to my apartment?" Sakura asked upon seeing the councilor's bandaged face from under his cloak.
"I was an accomplished ninja warrior before my retirement. Even to this day it surprises me how the Nidaime picked that fool Sarutobi to be Hokage over me. Which is I why I'm taking it upon myself to undo the damage he's caused." Danzō explained to his pawn while pulling out a box from the cloak "Of course that includes the freedom of Uchiha-sama and the imprisonment of the actual guilty party, Naruto Uzumaki. But I'll need more help for that to become a reality."
Sakura opened the box held out in front of her and gasped upon seeing it's content inside. What was clearly a Devil Fruit, which was in the shape of a cherry with the swirls typical of a Devil Fruit, and rainbow-like colors plastered around it. Even someone as empty headed as Sakura knew what Danzō's intentions for the fruit were.
"Y-you want me to eat this Devil Fruit?! But I heard that you can never swim again if you eat one of these!" Sakura objected to the idea.
Danzō merely smirked and started manipulating the girl again "That's a small price to pay for seeing your true love again isn't it? With him around you won't ever even need to swim again!"
The pink haired gennin only had to think a few more seconds after Danzō suggested that, and grabbed the fruit "My Sasuke-kin will protect me from everything, once Naruto dies!" She then bit into the fruit sealing her fate.
…
"It tastes like shit."
After realizing the connection between Noburu's dirty dealings and the Santatsu Foundation, Naruto immediately headed towards the Hyuuga clan compound to investigate, with Kurama back in his regular katana form.
"Are you sure we'll even find anything there? I mean it's been almost 2 decades since I was there, so there might not even be any evidence left."
"We at least have to try. If there's something there then we can take out Danzō for good." Naruto huffed while sprinting towards the Hyuuga clan compound at what was practically mach speed. Only to get interrupted by a speeding green bullet knocking him down.
"Dynamic entry!" Lee cried as he accidentally crashed right into Naruto "My eternal rival, what are you doing running so quickly? Are you trying to make your flames of youth burn even brighter?"
"It's a good thing you never use your Devil Fruit power Lee, otherwise you might have killed me just now."
"Lee you bakame! Naruto-sama is right, if you were going top speed you could have caused him some serious harm." Neji scolded his teammate while pulling Naruto up "Are you injured Naruto-sama? Do you require any assistance?"
"Not really if you're talking about physical stuff, but I do need a few things from you guys in general." Naruto explained to the members of Team Gai.
"And what would that be Naruto-san?"
"Well for starters I'm going to need a new sword sooner than later Tenten-chan. Because the Shodai Kitetsu got broken by Pein a few days ago." Naruto pulled the remains of the swords, much to the shock and horror of the weapon loving kunoichi "And there's something I need to investigate at the Hyuuga compound involving the Kyuubi attack. Are there any rooms with a yellow clan symbol?"
"I think I know which building you're speaking of in the compound. But there's a rather large issue with this."
…
"No way, this place is completely totaled!" Naruto groaned upon seeing the eroded rubble that was once their lead.
"I have to be honest I kinda saw this coming."
"One of the first places the Kyuubi appeared in the beginning of it's rampage was at the Hyuuga compound. So that logically leads to the room it was formed in being reduced to a pile of woodwork and asphalt." Neji said to the swordsman while stroking his chin in thought.
"Well there's only one thing I can do about that." Naruto said darkly before unsheathing his two remaining swords "Start digging."
"Don't do that with your swords you moron! With your freakish strength you'll just end up wrecking any evidence left even more!" Tenten admonished the swordsman only to turn around upon hearing someone else coming from behind.
"Naruto-kun? What are you doing?" Hinata asked while staring at her boyfriend who was about to start excavating the remains of the small building.
"Hey Hinata-chan. We were just digging up some old dirt from that bastard Noburu. We think he was involved in some illegal dealings with Danzō and Orochimaru."
Hinata nodded in understanding of the situation, only for Neji to switch into a much more awkward conversation "That's not important right now. If the building is rubble then it likely means any evidence is in the same state. So we should switch our focus to more pressing Hyuuga matters. Hinata-sama, Naruto-sama; the two of you must get married before this year's end!"
"WHAT?!"
"WHAT?!"
"Hiashi-sama has talked of retirement soon, which is problematic since the only heirs are Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama, me, and indirectly Tokuhei-senpai. However Hanabi, isn't of marrying age, so that leaves you and Hinata. We have to set a date for marriage!"
"Wait a minute, you just said you and Tokuhei-senpai count as heirs too. So why don't the two of you just find someone to marry!" Hinata pointed this out to Neji, while Naruto just stood there red as a tomato.
"Yes, but Tokuhei is currently…in the doghouse with his partner and I can't seem to find love, so that's problematic. No girl my type has considered me as a lover. Someone strong, gorgeous, confident, knows how to thow a weapon as well as a punch, always trying to better herself as a shinobi and a person. To become stronger than she was yesterday." Neji pondered to himself while not noticing Tenten getting annoyed with him from behind. The frustration shortly became too much for the girl to handle, and she stormed off in the other direction.
"Oooo, looks like you're in trouble." Naruto tried to say through his blushing and frozen state, still shocked by Neji's previous bluntness in his relationship.
"I don't understand, what made Tenten so angry?"
In response to his confused demeanor, Lee placed his hand on Neji's shoulder "Neji-san, you may be a genius when it comes to close combat and the byakugan. But when it comes to reading the feelings of a woman, you're a complete fool. I mean just look at Naruto and Hinata. They're practically on the same wavelength! Withholding the fact Naruto has smoke coming out of him." Lee pointed out the similarities between the couple's hot red blushing, only to notice the wisps coming off Naruto's shoulder and face.
Naruto broke out of his trance to look at the smoke, also noticing the sudden rise in his body heat. Then out of nowhere, his head suddenly lit itself on fire. This caused a large panic to occur on the people nearby "What's going on here?"
"My head just caught on fire, that's what happened!" Naruto screamed as the flames on his head began to grow, and his crimson jacket also suddenly burst into flames.
This caused Hinata to take immediate action "Hold still Naruto-kun!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"
Hinata's interference caused the flames engulfing her boyfriend's head to go out, along with most of the ones on his jacket. After the blast of wind Naruto immediately removed his coat and stomped out the small flames "Thanks for the save Hinata-chan. Now if only we knew where it came from."
"I think that we're about to find out. Everyone look out!" Neji said upon seeing a cartoonish red bomb coming their way, though it completely missed them and landed with an explosion nearby "Or not."
"Whoever's trying to kill me, they don't have very good aim."
"And unfortunately for them, I do!" Hinata growled with her Byakugan turned on before tossing several kunai where the attack came from. They knew who it was when they heard their squeal upon being struck by the kunai "Sakura-san."
"Why you bitch! How dare you lay a hand on someone as beautiful as me? You ugly cow!" Sakura shrieked at the other kunoichi while holding blue spheres which she tossed at Naruto. To their surprise, the spheres turned into arrows midway, which Naruto deflected easily.
"La Flecha Azul"
Even after seeing that her attacked completely failed, Sakura's arrogance didn't falter in the slightest "I'll give you one last chance to let Sasuke-kun go, and give him your title and rank. Otherwise I'll pound your head in just like the old days! But this time you'll have to deal with my Pigment-Pigment Fruit power."
"So you can control colors? Even your Devil Fruit power is laughably useless Sakura." Naruto said before noticing the golden color raising away from his head, causing it to turn a dull shade of gray.
"I can form anything from the colors I steal, and they'll have same affect of that object in real life. And maybe something a little extra." Sakura gloated while forming a small lightning bolt from the yellow ball she held "Now release my Sasuke-kun or get charbroiled baka!"
"Olympic Lightning"
Naruto didn't falter in the slightest seeing the drawing-like lightning bolt heading directly towards him, and drew out both his swords, intending to use a redirection technique. However before it could even get close, Hinata stepped in front of him, using Gentle Fist to endure the attack herself, returning the color back to Naruto. Ignoring the burns on her hands, Hinata turned her attentions to Sakura.
"That'll be you if you even think about trying to hurt Naruto-kun, you pink-haired slut!" Hinata flared with uncharacteristic anger, much to the shock of the others.
"Hinata-sama is arguing with someone? Aren't you going to try to stop this Naruto-sama?" Neji asked the swordsman next to him, who seemed a tad bit distracted.
"What a woman."
"Get out of my way Hinata! That dobe is a loser who has it coming. What you see in him I'll never know. If you were smart you would be trying to get…Sasuke." Sakura said slowly while having a false epiphany. After standing there for a few seconds, her blank expression turned into one of rage as she suddenly charged at Hinata "You bitch!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Don't play dumb you filthy whore! I've got you figured out; you knew that me and Sasuke-kun were inseparable through normal means, so you pretended to be in love with that Baka to make him notice you. But I won't let you have him!" Sakura ranted while swinging her easily dodged fists at Hinata.
This only made the Hyuuga girl angrier than before "You honestly think I would want the jackass who frickin sexually harassed me over the man who's been my inspiration to become stronger since I became a ninja? The man I almost lost six years ago?! You are an absolute disgrace!" Hinata yelled, preparing to get serious with Sakura. Or she would've had Lee not intervened at the last second, causing the girls to back away.
"Lee-san? What are you doing?"
"I apologize for my actions Hinata-san. Even though I won't fight you, I can't allow you to cause harm to Sakura-chan. Lee surprisingly said while blocking the fight.
"I can't accept that Lee-san. If I let this bitch go now, she'll just keep trying to kill Naruto. This has to stop!" Hinata said before cooling down and speaking to her enemy "We'll settle this in the training fields one hour from now. Come if your brave enough to face me."
An hour passed much faster than expected, though the time allotted allowed the news of the fight to spread like wildfire. The members of the Konoha 12 that hadn't been arrested, hospitalized, or killed in action had all gathered to see how things would turn out.
"I figured someone would try to bring down Sakura's ego eventually. I'm just surprised that it's meek little Hinata." Tenten voiced her view on the recent conflict between kunoichi.
"You can't be too surprised Tenten-san. Hinata-san is incredibly protective of Naruto-san, and Sakura's made it a habit to attempt at bringing down or controlling Naruto-san. This was bound to happen eventually."
"Shino is right Tenten. The only thing more obvious then this eventuality is what the results will be." Neji said to his teammate, only for her to completely ignore him and walk away "What did I do to her?"
'How could someone with the Byakugan be so blind?'
"I'm surprised Sakura hasn't shown up yet. I figured she'd be setting up traps with that Devil Fruit power of her's." Naruto said to his girlfriend, who was practicing her Gentle Fist on a nearby post.
"She better be if she wants to beat me."
Naruto nodded with equal confidence in Hinata, before sensing a very somber wave of emotions coming from nearby. He turned around to see Lee, lying against a nearby tree with an unsure and sick look on his face. Not far away from him Ino was looking up to the sky, as if reminiscing days gone by.
The swordsman had a sneaking suspicion what was wrong and approached "Lee, Ino. You both look like a meerkat with explosive diarrhea right now. I'm guessing that it's got something to do Sakura?"
"I just don't understand how sweet little Sakura could have turned out like this." Ino expressed her emotions, ignoring the crude comparison Naruto had just made "I knew we both had a thing for Sasuke, but I never imagined it would end in our friendship being torn apart. Even afterwards, she wasn't a raging bitch, but she just got worse year after year to everyone around her. Guess that's how she got kicked out of her parent's place."
"They made her into that by having her chase after Sasuke, but they couldn't handle the results. Not to mention Sasuke-teme was a pretty toxic influence. She may have been your friend for some time, but in the end I guess she showed her true colors. No pun intended." Naruto gave his perspective on the matter, only for Lee to speak out.
"You're wrong Naruto-san! I know Sakura-chan hasn't exactly had very bright flames of youth as of late. But I still believe that deep down, there's still some good in her." Lee objected to his friend's words.
"She broke her friendship with Ino off over an emo douchebag and used me as a punching bag from the time I was 8 up till I was 12. I doubt there was any good in her to begin with."
"Well you haven't seen the side of her I have!" Lee interjected, only to cover his mouth shut upon realizing what he'd just revealed. Before Naruto or Ino could explore what he just said, Sakura finally made her arrival.
"Alright Hinata, I'm going to give you one chance to admit your love for Sasuke-kun, and die quickly!" Sakura arrogantly said, while Hinata.
"How much bleach have you been drinking? The only thing I feel for that whiny shit is contempt!" Hinata insisted this to Sakura who didn't listen one bit.
"THEN DIE BITCH!" Sakura screeched while removing the color from the trees around her. After seperating the green from the brown, the weak kunoichi made a large wave of acid from the former.
"Ácido Verde"
"Shadow Wall Jutsu"
While Shikamaru used his own signature jutsu to protect the spectators Hinata easily leapt to safety and landed on the now gray branch of a tree. When she landed though, Sakura threw a pack of kunai and shuriken at Hinata, which had to be deflected or dodged. Angry that her attacks had been failing up to this point, Sakura used the brown color to form sharp, wool-like strings.
"Fibra Marrón"
Using the brown strings Sakura targeted her opponent with intent to kill, slicing up several trees in the forest. Hinata managed to dodge a majority of the wool fibers, only suffering a few small cuts here and there. Until she got tired of avoiding the attack, and dispelled it with her own.
"Kaiten"
"You'll have try a lot harder than that if you want to win this fight!" Hinata said while getting into the standard Hyuuga fighting position.
"Bushin no Jutsu"
"What are you going to do now? You mousy little waste of space!" All of Sakura's clones insulted her at once "Now that I have my clones, there's no way you'll be able to tell us apart! Meaning I can kill you with my strongest attack!"
"Infierno de Flor de Cerezo"
Using the pink color of her hair Sakura made a bushel of cherry blossom petals, which were either razor sharp or illusions from her clones. She spread out the petals around the battlefield, sure that victory would come from this attack. However this was very far from the case.
"She does realize that Byakugan can see through Bushin like any other dojutsu right?" Neji asked in disbelief that she was using the elementary jutsu.
"It's not like it matters. She was going to lose from the beginning even with her Devil Fruit power. As someone with one myself, I can tell she's only grasped the bare basics of what her Devil Fruit can do." Shino said while the others just watched silently, most notably Lee and Ino.
Despite the multiple cuts she'd received from the rotating petals, Hinata remained completely still and showed no signs of pain. That is until she started walking towards the group of clones, easily being able to pinpoint the real one with her Byakugan. Sakura only had time to gasp when she realized Hinata knew she was the original, before a hard punch was sent right into her face.
With Sakura having blacked out the attack dissapeared, and the colors she'd been using throughout the battle returned to their source. Hinata was prepared to leave Sakura alone in her defeat, only for the pink haired girl to get back up "You dare defy me like this? I was the Top Kunoichi of our class, and your just a nobody weakling! Your own clan didn't even want you!"
Sakura tried to charge Hinata in another desperate attempt, only for Lee to suddenly appear from behind and restrain her "Sakura-chan, enough of this foolishness! Please just accept your defeat!"
"No! This is all her fault! She's taken everything from me! She deserves to die!" Sakura delusionally ranted towards Hinata as Lee held her down. It was by this point Naruto pointed the sheathed Kurama at her.
"Sakura, the only thing Hinata-chan has done is stand up to your ego. The fight is over, so if you keep this up I'll have to place you under arrest."
"Shut your stupid mouth dobe! If you had just learned your place and stayed, everything would still be perfect. But you had to leave and become a criminal! You broke our team apart!" Sakura yelled at Naruto only to start breaking down into tears "Why did you leave? Why did you leave me all alone? You're supposed to love me! Not Hinata! You're supposed to be there for me after Sasuke-kun rejects me! You selfish bastard!"
Naruto felt himself getting angrier and angrier with his ex-teammate's whining only to finally explode at her last sentence "I'M THE ONE WHO'S SELFISH?! YOU EXPECTED ME TO NEVER FIND HAPINESS WHILE BEING STUCK WITH A TEAM THAT WOULDN'T GIVE A DAMN WHETHER I LIVED OR DIED, JUST TO KEEP SOMEONE WHO USED ME AS A PUNCHING BAG IN A HAPPY LITTLE FANTASY WORLD! I'M NOT YOUR LIGHTNING ROD SAKURA, I'M MY OWN PERSON AND I CAN BE WITH WHOEVER I WANT, AND NEITHER YOU NOR SASUKE-TEME CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE! YOU'RE FULL OF CRAP, AND I DON'T LISTEN TO CRAP! GOOD GRIEF, WHAT DID I EVER SEE IN SOMEONE LIKE YOU?! YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!"
One could hear a pin drop from the large silence that came through the training grounds after Naruto's rant against Sakura. Lee had now let go of Sakura who had now lost the will to fight "What am I supposed to do know? I already lost Sasuke-kun, I can't lose you to!"
"You lost me six years ago Sakura. There's one guy who might still want you, but you'll need to work a lot harder to actually deserve him. Actually become stronger Sakura and maybe I'll have some respect for you." Naruto broke to Sakura, who was crying crying her eyes out in the middle of the training grounds.
"So Inoichi-senpai, you're placing Sakura under mental care until further notice?" Naruto asked as he walked down the hallways of the Division 1 headquarters with Inoichi, Genma, Hinata, and Kurama.
"That sounds about right. She's proven herself to mentally unstable for shinobi work. We'll do what we can for her, but for now her stay at our division will be indefinite. But for know you need to worry about your own time, since your about to enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and all."
While the Division 5 captain and Naruto talked to each other Kurama merely walked along besides them, examining his old Division carefully 'I can't believe how little has changed since I died. It's almost as unbelievable as Kakashi taking my old post as lieutenant.'
"So you've finally arrived have you? That's good, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show." Jiraiya said to the group as he sat down on a chair in front of a large white door with two dials embedded in it. The sannin was holding a newly forged katana with a navy blue scabbard, and an oval shaped tsuba. Besides him were the leaders of Division 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11.
That was the thing in the room that drew Naruto's eye the most "What do you have that katana for Ero-Sennin? Never pegged you as much of a swordsman."
"Laugh it up gaki. Keep playing that game and I'll just sell this thing. Raidō, give the gaki his sword." Jiraiya told the Division 6 lieutenant who immediately obeyed the order, by tossing the sword to Naruto.
Naruto examined the sword carefully with a smile before taking off the sheath to take a closer look at the blade itself. It had a dark grey color to it, with a forest green hamon "I like the design; should be damn good in a fight. Now what's its name?"
"Ww thought it would only be fair to name the sword after the one who forged it. The sword's name is Azuma!" Chouza explained with a smile on his chubby face.
"Now then we should probably explain the function of the chamber." Hisagi said before beginning his explanation of how it worked to those entering "The way time works inside the chamber is much different than on the outside. In fact it's deliberately designed to move slower. However this only the second version. We've made two important updates since then. Before the time was set per one day equaling one year, however we made it to where we can set up the passage of time inside. And you will also not come physically different than when you came out."
"Wait…if you don't come out any different then doesn't that defeat the purpose of training in there?" Kurama asked the Hyuuga clan leader.
Jiraiya quickly answered the question for him "Actually you'll still come out stronger than before, but your biological age won't be affected. We added than in because of a glitch which came around from time to time. Shinobi would either come out as old men or babies! Now then let's set the time to…A week per day. That'll give you fourteen days of training."
"What's with the specific amount."
"Simple. One of the agents you captured cracked under Anko, and revealed their base was right in the center of Amegakure. All Five Great Nations will be invading under our command in Kumogakure in exactly two weeks. That should give you more than enough time to figure out how to get through Yahiko's Rinnegan." Shikaku explained before Hiashi stepped forward and gave his news.
"Now there's something else I need to discuss. Hinata, you'll be joining Naruto and Kurama in the Time Chamber. You'll also be in the upcoming battle, and since you both make each other stronger, I think it's best you train together." Hiashi explained to his eldest daughter. While Hinata seemed surprised at first, she quickly grew a smile and nodded. This changed when Hiashi spoke again "Also, if you come out engaged, you can go back in for 9 days, and we can set it to a month."
"Isn't that the amount of time it takes for… w-we're not even married Otou-san." Hinata scolded her father for his impatience, while Naruto looked with a smile. Just then, the swordsman felt butterflies in his stomach when he looked at Hinata. He could tell why and felt very happy about it. Nothing mattered to him but being with her.
Something Ichigo saw right through and communicated telepathically 'The idea of marriage doesn't seem so blocked by obstacles anymore does it gaki?'
'Shut the hell up Kurama.' Naruto responded to his tenant's teasing with a blush and a grin.
"Are you to go in boys? Hinata asked them, completely unaware of the subconscious conversation they were having.
"You know we are, Hinata-chan." Naruto said to his girlfriend with another grin. Now ready to stay for the next 14 weeks, the three walked into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, letting it seal behind them.
…
"You were kidding about the 9 day thing right Hiashi-sama?" Tokuhei asked his captain.
"Of course I was fricking kidding!"
Akatsuki Chairman Remaining:
Yahiko Namikaze
Konan
Deidera the Artist
Sasori Akasuna
Kisame Hoshigaki
Itachi Uchiha
Zetsu Frankenstein
Shou Tucker
Rob Lucci
Tobi Uchiha
(A/N): Writer's block sure is a bitch isn't? There's the biggest reason this chapter took so long. The other is the fact the device I keep all the notes for my projects on straight up died while on vacation last month. Since I hadn't backed it up since before last arc ended, I lost a huge chunk of my project's prewriting, which will likely put a huge dent in the second half of the story. Then comes next chapter…I just don't know how it's going to work. On the one hand the type of chapter it is should make writing easy. But not only is my senior year starting in a few weeks, but I also get to go through the thrilling experience of getting my wisdom teeth removed. Joy bunnies.
I hope you all enjoyed Sakura's leave from the plot, which puts an ending to the story's bashing with the exception of Danzō. I hope you all aren't too pissed about the Devil Fruit power though. Fun fact, it was actually going to be named the Color-Color Fruit…only to find that Devil Fruit just came into existence during Heart of Gold. You can probably tell how happy I was about that.
Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review, and I'll see you next time!
Next Chapter: March to Amegakure
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