Tsunade stood atop the Hokage Tower alongside Jiraiya, both looking out in the distance as they saw the various teams she had just sent out. If battle was to come she did not want it happening anywhere near the village. She had heard of the results when the Oto-Suna forces had invaded and she had seen first-hand during the last great ninja war the devastation caused when powerful shinobi fought too close to settlements.
So, when news that the Akatsuki, made up of rogue S-ranked shinobi, were turning their attention to Konoha, Tsunade had gotten concerned. As a preemptive measure she had sent out six teams to scout out any incoming threats but not to engage if possible. Among these teams were Team Nine and Ten, who were also advised to alert Naruto and Hinata if they found.
'Powerful criminal shinobi running loose outside the village, and a powerful crafty demon hiding within the inside. I wonder if either Grandfather or Great-Uncle had to deal with anything like this.'
"Alright, now we need to heighten the village defense itself in case the Akatsuki actually do show up." She thought out loud.
"If we can get them aware ahead of time that Naruto isn't here that might divert them completely." Jiraiya added, though he didn't seem convinced of his own words. "Or it will make them come here anyway to verify it and then level the city for one reason or another."
Tsunade sighed. "At least we only have to prepare for two shinobi. As dangerous as the ones who attacked Suna were, they couldn't actually level the village all on their own. Even Itachi and the Hoshigaki with him couldn't do that. They'd cause a lot of damage, but not that much before we stopped them."
"It sucks that we don't know more about them. For all we know, Akatsuki is sending someone to get one of the Kiri jinchuuriki right now." Jiraiya added.
"For now we can't do anything about that. We have to focus on protecting our own jinchuuriki right now." Tsunade said.
"Speaking of which, can you explain the rumors I heard recently about demons running loose in this village?" Jiraiya asked as he eyed Tsunade.
"You better get comfortable. You might not believe this." Tsunade started, then explained as best she could the entire situation from start to finish to the toad sage. Complete with the recent abduction of Hanabi. Jiraiya listened to it and did not say a word the entire time. Then when Tsunade had finished her tale he remained silent in thought for a long moment.
"So this succubus, is she hot?" He finally asked.
A hard closed fist punch to his head was the answer he received.
"Idiot." Tsunade grumbled.
"Seriously though, one entity was able to take out some of the best fighters of the Hyuuga clan all at once." Jiraiya continued when he recovered, though he did rub his head a little. "That kind of power running loose could mean ill for the entire world."
"Please tell me you can think of something to do about this. Something not perverted." Tsunade requested.
Jiraiya crossed his arms. "Well, someone managed to seal this Lilith away long ago right. Perhaps the same can be done with this Aru character."
"In theory, but do you know of such a method?" Tsunade inquired further with a raised brow.
The toad sage could only shrug in response. "Until now I had no idea such creatures existed. My best guess would be to modify the kind of sealing jutsus that we use for the bijuu. But that comes with a problem."
"Explain." Tsunade ordered.
"Since we're dealing with creatures that are so new to us and have different chakra, we'd have to make such seals on a trial-and-error basis. And I don't think we have the luxury of doing that." Jiraiya answered. "Not to mention that even if we could, the only thing we could contain the demons in would be another person, and that only puts us back where we were when this all started with Hinata."
Tsunade sighed. "Look into it as best you can, see if you can figure out an alternative if you must. With the Akatsuki on one side and this demon on the other, I want a defense ready for both fronts and can only divide my attention so much."
Jiraiya nodded then stared out at the village. "Something is coming Tsunade. It's not just this demon and it is not just the Akatsuki. No, it is something else."
"What?" Tsunade asked, confused and concerned as she looked at her former teammate, hardly ever seeing him looking so serious.
"I am not entirely sure what… but I have this feeling in my bones that something greater is out there. Something... that could redefine dangerous for us." He said as he narrowed his eyes, almost as if he thought that if he squinted hard enough he might be able to see it in the far off distance.
Kiba had to come to a stop. He had been running as fast as he could, carrying Hinata's little sister the whole time, but right now he had to catch his breath.
"Are you proud of yourself for leaving them back there?" Hanabi asked, anger and pain etched on her face and in her voice.
"You weren't exactly eager to stay behind little girl." Kiba managed to retort.
"Are you kidding? I was the only one who refused to leave!" Hanabi countered.
"And when I picked you up you didn't exactly fight back now did you?" Kiba replied. "You had a clear shot to hurt me back there. Jab me in a few places, make me unable to run away or carry you, but you didn't. You let me carry you off. Because you were as afraid of being there any longer than I was."
The white-eyed girl was effectively silenced. She had not thought of it like that, but now that she did, she couldn't think of a way to refute his claims. Had she simply acted tough but was afraid and secretly grateful for the chance to get out of there?
Considering that Aru had kidnapped her with ease, on some level of her mind the answer to that was sadly yes.
"You were afraid?" Hanabi managed to ask.
Kiba closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, I was. Aru had completely used me, I was helpless against him. He had absolute control over me, I had never felt so powerless before. It terrified me to feel like that. As much as I would like to get a shot in at him, I think... no, I know I have a better chance at beating the Hokage than him."
Hanabi slowly nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't help but think I'd rather fight off a Kumo nin than him."
"So am I proud of myself? No. But your sister didn't ask me to be proud of myself. She asked me to save you, and that's what I did." Kiba claimed.
Hanabi sniffled a bit, trying not to cry. "Why did she just give up like that? What's going to happen to her?"
"I really don't want to think about it." Kiba answered with a shudder. Then he felt a rumble. "Did you feel that?"
Hanabi nodded. "Something big is nearby."
Kiba walked up a tree to get a better view, and in the distance he saw Gamabunta heading their way quickly. 'Hey, isn't Naruto able to summon those guys? I gotta get his attention. And some answers.'
Not having his equipment on him, Kiba wasn't able to send up a flare. However, thanks to being part of a tracking team, part of his training involved alerting his teammates if he had found something and they needed to come to him. He could only hope it worked here.
"Ninja Art Flare Jutsu."
A light was born in his hands before rocketing up like its namesake. Kiba rarely used this, but it was always enough to catch the attention of Hinata's byakugan or Shino's insects. Judging by Gamabunta's slowng down, it had worked as intended.
Kiba dropped to the ground, where Hanabi waited with her byakugan active. "You see it?" She nodded. "That's an ally. Let's hope he has good news."
Both went back up the tree and stood on a branch, securing themselves with chakra since Gamabunta was coming closer and thus there were more rumbles. On the branches the two waved their arms and shouted, trying to get his attention.
"What's the big idea?" The big toad bellowed when he got close enough to see them, coming to a stop again by the tree.
From atop the boss summon's head Naruto looked over and silently gasped. "It's okay Bunta, they're friends. Let me talk to them."
"Not if they want to stay here. You need to get to Konoha as quick as possible."
Naruto beckoned for the other two to come to him, and Bunta allowed the two to climb aboard before continuing his race to the village.
"Nee-san!" Hanabi shouted when she saw her sister resting. She immediately rushed to check up on her. "What happened to her?"
"Where the hell were you Naruto?" Kiba asked harshly. "And why are you dressed like Hinata?"
"The Hinata you brought to Aru wasn't her, it was me. I had to dress like her to fool your nose. We couldn't risk you finding out it was me." He confessed.
Kiba blinked, then sighed in relief. "Oh thank Kami-sama. So you were fighting off that ass while Hinata was safe?"
Naruto nodded. "You didn't really think Hinata-chan was doing to sleep with him did you?"
"What was I supposed to think? That's what it looked like." Kiba replied, exasperated but glad to be wrong.
"What's wrong with her?" Hanabi asked since her sister wasn't waking up.
"I don't know. She got the demon out of her but she doesn't seem to be okay." Naruto answered. "I think she's just tired."
"Better get her to a hospital anyway." Kiba commented.
Naruto couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "Gee, why didn't I think of that?"
"Na... Naruto-kun?" Hinata weakly called out, slowly opening her eyes.
"Nee-san!" Hanabi immediately cried, engulfing her sister in a hug. "You're okay!"
Hinata gently patted her sister's back, looking like she wasn't fully awake. "You didn't get hurt did you?"
"No, that jerk just wanted you."
Hinata turned to see her lover and smiled warmly. "Was Aru any trouble?"
Naruto caressed her long hair. "I'm more concerned about what happened with Lilith. Is she really gone?"
Hinata closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes." She pushed herself up as best she could, but she was having difficulty. Hanabi tried to help her, but Naruto was quick to pull her into a hug, one Hinata had no intention of refusing.
"Do you... feel any different?" Naruto carefully asked, like he was afraid of her answer.
"I'm exhausted, but I feel... normal again."
Naruto didn't say anything for a bit, he just held her. Kiba and Hanabi watched but left them alone, knowing the former succubus host needed him more than them.
"Hinata-chan, I love you." He whispered.
Hinata silently gasped and swiftly gave him a kiss like they had never kissed before. Hanabi and Kiba were actually a little uncomfortable watching it; in their eyes this kiss was practically the kind you'd expect to see if these two had made a sex tape. Though they would admit there was more love in it than lust.
"Oh Naruto-kun. I love you Naruto-kun." She told him, crying in joy. She then yawned a bit. "You mind if I go back to sleep?"
"Go ahead. As long as you sleep right here." He said, rubbing her back.
"I'd like that." She said before nestling her head on his chest, blissfully getting comfortable again.
"Probably not a good time to remind you both that you're still wearing the other's clothes." Kiba noted.
Naruto ignored him.
"This should be far enough." Lilith said when she came to roost atop a stone pillar. Looking behind her she saw no toads were following her. "Time for me to go home."
She extended her claws to practically be talons and had the tips of them touch each other for a bit. They soon started to glow a dark blue-green color, and they emitted a mist of the same color. It was like she had the Northern Lights in the palm of her hands. Then she pulled her right arm back and made an upward slashing motion in the air, leaving behind a diagonal trail of light.
The middle of the trail began to widen until there was a tilted diamond of blue-green light floating right in front of her. When it stopped, Lilith jumped through it, her wings folded so they didn't extend past the perimeter of the polygon. Her body disappeared from view as it proceeded, not coming out the other side, and when her tail was gone, the diamond thinned out and faded from existence.
From Lilith's perspective, the other side was nowhere near Mt. Myoboku. She had appeared somewhere completely different. The landscape was a grass-filled meadow decorated with a rainbow of flowers, with nowhere truly flat due to the amount of hills to behold. Scattered around the uneven ground were trees easily big enough to look like mountains all on their own.
"Ah, what a sight for sore eyes." Lilith said happily, inhaling the air and smelling the mixed flora aromas swept up in the wind.
Expanding her wings again, Lilith took flight and rose above the titanic trees, looking for a specific site. Not that far away she saw it, a building made of red stone, within the canopy of one of the trees. She flew towards it, her eyes catching a small herd of deer running away from some predators below her. She was tempted to swoop down and snatch up one for herself, but right now she wanted something else more.
She got to the tree in question, looking around for an entry point. The castle was designed specifically so flight was the only way in or out, though theoretically one could get in via climbing but they'd lose any element of surprise by doing do. Seeing one tower poke out of the foliage, Lilith went to it and found a window big enough to enter. Inside was a room with a spiral staircase downward.
It didn't take her long to reach the halls of the castle. She paused to look at then, reminding herself of the internal artwork and layout. Making several turns and taking another flight of stairs, she found the room she was looking for, a room that contained simply a red orb placed atop a stone cube, nestled on a black pillow.
She picked up the red orb and again her hands glowed blue-green, this time affecting the orb too, turning it a royal purple and glowing like an amethyst sun.
"MY mate, my children, my brethren, I am home. Lilith, Queen of the Succubi and First Circle, is back."
After a while, when the sun was down and the stars were shining, Gamabunta finally came to a stop. He had reached Konoha.
"Here you are kid. My advice is try to avoid Aru and his kind in the future." He told his summoner.
"I won't go looking for them, but that's all I can promise." Naruto said as Hanabi and Kiba descended the giant toad. "And thanks Bunta. I owe you big time for this."
"Heh, I'll add this to your tab then. Best of luck kid."
Carrying Hinata, who was still asleep, Naruto got down to the ground too, allowing Gamabunta to return home. Kotetsu and Izumo needed no verification from the ninja this time, since the big toad's presence was a pretty big indicator that these guys were Konoha nin.
"I gotta get home and let my family know what happened." Kiba told them.
Naruto nodded then looked to Hanabi. "You should do the same. Tell your father I'm taking Hinata to the hospital."
"You sure she needs it?" Hanabi asked. "If she's just tired-"
"I'm not taking that chance. We need to make sure Lilith didn't hurt her when they separated."
With some reluctance, but understanding too, Hanabi nodded then ran off as quickly as she could. Kiba took the opportunity to leave too, though not as quickly as the young girl had.
Naruto got atop the roofs and jumped from one to the next, heading to the hospital. He wanted to make a clone to let Tsunade know they were back, but he couldn't do that while holding Hinata so it would have to wait. Getting there didn't take long, and he rushed in right away.
"I need help right away."
"Naruto?" Coming down a hall was Sakura, who got to him and looked over Hinata. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, a bad case of chakra exhaustion and maybe more?"
"Follow me, we'll get her looked over. And Naruto, why-?"
"Don't ask about the clothes." He quickly cut in.
Hyuuga Hiashi did not consider himself a religious man; especially not after the death of his beloved wife but today. He was in the Hyuuga family shrine kneeling, his face pressed flat against the floor as he silently beseeched Kami-sama.
"Please, forgive me. Forgive my arrogance and my pride. If this is your punishment it is well deserved. But I beg you, return my daughters to me. Strip me of all else if you must but please… let my daughters be safe and I will be a better man. I swear it." All pride and snobbishness was absent from his voice as he prayed. If anyone who knew him could see him right now, they'd wonder if they were actually looking at Hiashi.
The silence was broken by the sound of the shrine door opening, getting Hiashi's attention. He lifted himself up from the floor and turned his head, expecting to see one of the clansmen there but instead…
"Father!"
No one could say who was more surprised at what happened next. But in the blink of an eye, Hiashi enveloped Hanabi in a tight hug. Tears cascaded down his face, and Hanabi found herself shedding a few too.
"You're back... thank Kami-sama you're back."
"I'm alright. Nee-san is at the hospital now. The monster is out of her now."
Hiashi's blood went cold to hear that. While he was glad Hinata was no longer bonded to a demon, the implications of what happened to jinchuuriki's when their demons were taken out filled him with dread. Her being at a hospital only validated such dread.
"How serious?" He asked, hoping the answer wasn't too terrible.
"I don't know, but it's not as bad as it could have been." She answered.
Hiashi released his hold on his youngest daughter. "I need to see her."
Hinata was given a bed, after Naruto had gotten them enough privacy to finally get their rightful clothes back on, and Sakura had hooked her up to a simple nutritional IV in hopes that it would help her. She was also performing a diagnostic jutsu on the white-eyed girl while Naruto stood on the opposite side of the bed, his eyes never leaving his loved one.
"This is so strange." Sakura said.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"Her chakra levels are really low. Not quite dangerous, but less than half of what's normal for her. But that's not what's strange. The problem is I'm not seeing any signs of her regaining her chakra. It's like her system is in a stalemate, not getting any higher or lower."
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
Sakura took a deep breath, trying to think of a way to phrase this so he'd understand without overreacting. "It's like her chakra coils are on pause, she's not replacing the chakra she's lost but she's at least not losing any more. But if she were to use any jutsu, even her eyes, she'd risk getting as low as Lee usually is. She needs some chakra stimulants, but what caused this to happen in the first place?"
The whiskered blonde shifted his weight a bit. "We both had to fight off two people who wanted to hurt her. She was as determined as I was that it wasn't going to happen."
Sakura gently smiled before ending the jutsu and standing up straight. "You do have that effect on her. Just be glad she's not pregnant."
Naruto blinked, confused. "Why? And how do you know?"
"I had to check to be sure. If she had been, this could potentially lead to a miscarriage."
Naruto then sighed in relief. 'That's a relief. Hinata-chan would be absolutely devastated if that happened to her.'
The door to the room opened and in came Hiashi and Hanabi. "How bad is it?" The head of the Hyuuga immediately asked, checking her with his byakugan.
"Chakra exhaustion, but her system's in shock. I recommend stimulants and chakra transfusions." Sakura explained.
Hiashi stepped up to her bed, his doujutsu showing him nothing worse than what the pinkette had described. He then looked to Naruto, his expression while not angry was not happy either. "What happened to her?"
"She got rid of the reason Aru was coming after her in the first place." Naruto answered, knowing that so far Sakura was out of the loop regarding Lilith. "I fought him off with everything. He never landed a finger on her or your other daughter. He never will while I'm around."
Hiashi just stared at him for a moment, like he didn't know what to think. But then he did something that surprised everyone. He bowed to the whiskered blonde. "Uzumaki Naruto, you have saved both of my daughters from a man I could not protect them from. I and the the entirety of the Hyuuga Clan are indebted to you. You may ask anything of me and if it is within my power to grant, then it shall be yours."
Both Sakura and Hanabi were startled by this. 'Did this a henge?' Hanabi couldn't help but ask herself, half-tempted to activate her byakugan and see for sure.
Naruto stared at Hiashi then looked at Hinata for a moment. "I can ask for anything from you?"
Hiashi nodded. "Within reason."
Naruto kept his eyes on Hinata, as if she was the only thing worth looking at right now. And frankly to him, she was. Only one request was coming to him, and it felt like the most natural, if not the only one, he could ever make right then and there.
"Then… I would like your blessing and permission to marry Hinata-chan."
A girl stood on the empty beaches that created the eastern edge of the Land of Fire. Further east but not visible from the shore was the Land of Whirlpools, where few dared to go out of fear of the maelstroms that plagued the waters, and further east from there was the Land of Waters.
But this girl was not looking to the east, instead she was looking westward, as the sun was setting. It was an odd site, a lone person on the beach just standing there facing away from the tides.
She was an attractive girl, her hair the color of golden wheat though a lock of it was jet black. Her skin was pale, as if she wasn't there for getting a tan, and her features were so delicate and perfect it was like she had been made from glass. She wore no shoes nor anything save for a long flimsy white and red garment that bore some semblance to the garb of a miko.
She stood as still as a statute and was just as silent as one. Her eyes were closed as she stood, the only sound to be heard was the waves as they crashed against the shore and the cool water lapped against her bare feet.
Then suddenly, as if awaking from a dream the girl's eyes opened, revealing one iris to be blue and the other green. She started straight ahead of her, past the beach to the inland.
'So, she's back.'
It was then she took a step. It was a careful and deliberate step, the kind that often seen when a child takes its first step. However, once she took that first step, she took another, then another, and finally she was walking with a steady determination.
She was walking towards Konoha.