A/N: Wow. 19 reviews for the previous chapter in one day. Simply amazing. Thank you all so much.
Broken Memories
In mere moments the pair arrived at the east wall, Hinata still clinging to his back. Neither of them were prepared for the image of devastation they saw. There, snapping his massive jaws ferociously, was the Lord of Snakes, Manda. Naruto shuddered. It had been a very long time since he had last seen this summon. It brought back bad memories since the last time he had almost died when Kabuto had cut the chakra pathways leading to his heart. He calmly let his blue-haired wife down from his back.
"Hang on. I've got a call to make."
He promptly bit his thumb and swiped the blood across his palm before slamming it into the ground.
"Kuchiyose no justu!"
Immediately a complex pattern of seals emerged on the ground around his hand and a cloud of smoke obscured the area. It dissipated to reveal a small toad about the size of a volleyball. The squat red amphibian saluted him.
"Yo!"
Naruto knelt before his summon and looked him in the eye.
"Yo. Go ask the boss if he feels like tangling with an old friend. An old purple friend."
The toad wasted no time in disappearing in another puff of smoke, reappearing moments later.
"Pops says he's glad you called. He was getting bored. He's been looking forward to a good old fashioned rumble."
"Thanks kid."
"Anytime." He said as he left for good this time.
Naruto raised himself to his full height of six foot two and smirked broadly.
"Let's go Boss! Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
His palm impacted the ground again and the seals spread outward. This time the cloud was much larger, and when it cleared Naruto was standing on top of a very large, very surly toad who was smoking a pipe. Just then Hinata appeared beside him on top of the giant toad. She had just gotten done receiving a report from one of the guards that had been stationed here during the attack. Naruto turned to face her expectantly.
"What did you find out? And how the hell did Manda get here?"
Hinata was quick to begin her explanation.
"Apparently the attack here started after the other one. They allowed just enough time to allow the majority of our forces to make it to the other site. As for Manda, one of the anbu said he saw a ring of about fifteen jounin sound nins crouched around a giant seal. They all did a summoning jutsu at once and it seems that together they had enough power to summon Manda. Of course it didn't end well for them. As soon as Manda appeared he attacked the people who summoned him and ate them, then he just started attacking anyone in sight."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow before bending at the waist to look Gama Bunta in the eye.
"You ready?"
In one smooth motion the toad lord drew his massive kodachi. He chuckled softly, causing puffs of smoke to burst forth from between his lips with each laugh.
"Yeah, I always wanted a pair of snake skin boots."
Naruto shook his head, his blond hair swaying with the movement, before striking an overly dramatic pose. His right leg was bent as he had it up high on top of Gama Bunta's head. His left leg was straight and behind the right one. With a massive movement he swung his right arm above his head before pointing at the area ahead of them.
"Let's go!"
With a powerful leap they were propelled into the air. They reached the peak of their ascent and began to rapidly fall, right above the great snake. Gama Bunta pointed the tip of his kodachi downwards, preparing to run his greatest enemy through. And it might have worked too if they hadn't been noticed. The snake turned his huge eyes skyward, his slitted pupils widening with surprise. He quickly slithered out of the way. The instant the toad landed he was assaulted by the gaping maw of Manda. He quickly brought the flat of his blade up to deflect the attack. And so the two wrestled for dominance, with each trying to push the other back. Of course this fight was not one on one. A blond streak leapt from the huge toad's head and past where the two creatures were engaged in a test for strength. He reared back a mighty fist, glowing with blue and red chakra that swirled around it. With a beastial roar he drove his fist into the snake's nose, causing his head to slam into the ground violently.
"And stay down!"
Manda did not comply, at least not entirely. Almost as continuation of his downward movement he burrowed into the ground, quickly disappearing beneath the surface.
Naruto hopped back on Gama Bunta's head as the toad lord glanced about warily.
"Quit your hiding you coward!" The monstrous toad bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly the ground started to crumble beneath them, and Gama Bunta promptly directed his attention to his feet where he expected the next attack to come from. It was a very good thing Naruto was with him.
"Boss! Behind you!"
The warning was rapidly heeded as he swung his gigantic kodachi around, catching Manda in the side of the head with the unsharpened back of the blade. Even without the cutting power, the force was enough to send the humongous snake flying into the great concrete walls of Konoha. The structure was completely unable to support the weight of one of the greatest summon creatures in existence and immediately crumbled under the pressure.
From where he landed Manda whipped his tail out and tore the blade from Gama Bunta's grip. He tossed it into the woods where it crushed a number of trees as it slid along the ground. The kodachi ended its slide by shattering an especially large tree into splinters.
Naruto's eyes went impossibly wide as his irises turned red around his newly slitted pupils. He took a moment to glance down at Hinata who was staring out into the woods with her hand over her open mouth. A single tear trailed down her cheek. Few new the significance of that tree, and none would realize just how important it was to the Hokage and his wife. That was the tree in which Hinata finally told Naruto about her feelings for him. That was the tree in which she saved him from the loneliness. Manda was not about to get away with destroying it.
"Boss, I'm sending you back."
The toad replied solemnly.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks for inviting me out. I had fun. Good luck kid."
And with that the huge summon disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto landed lightly on the ground and snarled at the giant snake.
"Luck has nothing to do with it."
He vanished. Manda flicked his tongue out, trying to pick up the scent of the blond shinobi. He succeeded, but too late. Naruto appeared standing beside his enormous green eyes. He lashed out with a kunai, slicing diagonally across the eye. The giant snake threw its head back and howled with pain. Naruto deftly planted his feet into a tree and ricocheted to the ground. He calmly strode over to where the snake was thrashing wildly about on the ground, a blue orb spinning to life in his palm. He made his way until he was beneath Manda's scaly belly.
"Rasengan." He whispered as he thrust his hand upwards.
The resulting explosion hurled the massive snake high into the air. Just as Manda landed, causing a huge cloud of debris to fill the air, Naruto appeared next to his wife who was surrounded by a protective ring of Konoha ninja. He extended his hand.
"I need to borrow your kodachi for a moment."
Without a word she drew it from her sheath and placed it in his hand.
"Thanks."
And with that he was gone again. Instantaneously he was back standing on the face of the humongous snake. He glared fiercely into his one good eye. Manda tried to shake him off but his chakra grip was too strong. Naruto pointed the blade at his eye.
"Never mess with the things I hold dear to me."
He slashed, removing sight completely from the huge summon. He flipped up and over, so that he was positioned to land in the middle of the snake's head.
"Or be prepared to pay the consequences."
He drove the blade home into the center of the snake's brain. Smoke was all that was left as Manda disappeared from this world, hopefully forever.
When Naruto touched the ground again Hinata was there waiting for him. Somberly he wiped the blood off of her kodachi on his pants and handed it back to her. She graciously accepted and sheathed the weapon. Quickly she moved to hug her husband who was just barely containing his tears. She tenderly wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest, an action he was swift to reciprocate. She sighed as she tightly gripped the fabric of the back of his shirt.
"It's ok Naruto-kun. It already served its purpose."
He buried his nose in her dark blue hair.
"Yeah."
He lifted his face and pulled a little away from her, looking into her eyes.
"Looks like they've got things under control here. Let's go check on the kids."
She nodded and they vanished from that particular field of battle, making their way to a different one.
In the mean time the kid's battle was heating up. The man who had called himself the Otokage emerged from the trees he had been thrown into, a series of cuts covering his body. He silently cursed his own weakness. He quickly altered his assessment though, deciding that he wasn't weak, these kid's were just abnormally strong. He never expected to have to do this, but it seemed he was going to have to.
An eerie purple aura started to radiate from his body as he uttered a low growling noise. Slowly the lines on his body started to expand to cover his entire body.
Slightly worried, Kanai and Ami exchanged glances. The knowledge that the other was there was enough to restore their confidence, and they turned to face their opponent once more.
Slowly he completed his transformation. His new body had dark spikes emerging from his shoulders, elbows, knuckles, and knees. His eyes were now indistinct swirls of black and purple. The changed man smirked at them sadistically.
"Ah, much better."
At that moment the pair shared the same thought. This could be trouble
A/N: Part 2 of the battle. Hope it was as good as the first. No dance fighting, but some other interesting stuff I think. Well you know the drill. I like reviews. Please give me them.
RLnaruhina: You were first. I guess advance warning helps a bit. Good work. Go dance fighting! It makes the fighting even more fun. Yeah, you can steal that if you want. It's cool that you told me. HUARGH!
Blinkin: Well, I guess cliffhangers have to come sometime ne? Usually when I'm getting too tired to continue. Heh. I like sleep. Actual laughter? Sweet. That means it was actually funny and not just kind of funny.
MichelLover: They don't suck. Hinata and Naruto are just super strong in this story. They're giving everyone else a run for their money I'm just not covering that. However, it is my feeling that after Orochimaru and then Kabuto died that the strength of the Sound village would go downhill. :shrug: I can't win 'em all. I'll try to do better by you next time.
Danny-171984: Yes laugh away. I feed on it and grow stronger. Much stronger. MUAHAHAHAHAHA.
Dragon Man 180: Even so I didn't give the kids Naruto's love of ramen. I love the "Giddyap" line. It made me laugh as I wrote it. That mean's it's good. Heh.
Kai Otogi: Danke. Appreciate it.
RawD: Yeah. I have to reread my responses to understand reviews sometimes. Good times. I think I'm just nuts. Though I am rather stressed……
Thestoneox: Just a little. I'm just trying to teach him a lesson in manners. I would have liked to keep the warnings in the normal response section, but apparently he doesn't read them. Everybody loved the dance fighting. I guess I can count that as a good idea on my part. Thanks.
Shinata Azechi: Yay! Chalk up another victory for the dance fighting. Possibly my most popular idea ever.
Raziel Tepes: More darkness for my little shadow buddy. Even darker than last chapter actually. Good times.
Flameraven1: Yeah, I'm leaning towards both. The line between genius and insanity is a blurry one. I like to think I'm standing on it. Well they are the kid's of two kages/jinchuuriki, and they each have their own special powers. That's not so bad is it?
Warprince2000: Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I understand your confusion and I try to include a characters age in every chapter, or at least a reference point like the day after the wedding. I know it's still a little hard to keep track of (I lose track myself sometimes) but you can do it if you try.
Jays Arravan: You've read stories with dance fighting before? Hmm. I've never seen one. That's cool though. Time jumping will resume soon.
Hopeless-flame: And I don't have a girlfriend to use that line on me (no I'm not proposing) um what the heck is up with bleach! do you mean blech::shrug: Everybody loved the dance fighting. I'm glad. It's nice to have such a popular idea. And look out Gaara is coming for you Kanai!
Mythril dust: funny plus action equals good. That's hobo math for you. Multiply by fluff to get some crazy high awesome. Heh. Yeah. Don't attack the home of two of the strongest ninja's ever. Especially if their kids are around.
John Bellamy: Damn that's a high rating. Don't worry I don't give the bible 10/10 either then again I'm agnostic so the bible is just a tome of hate to me. :shrug: Ah well, it's not all bad. It's nice to hear that I'm improving as I go along too. I would hate to think that my writing wasn't improving with time.
Xs sparky: Wow! Another dance scene lover. I've got find some way to repeat that.
Anime/Manga lubber: Nope, I can't dance either. Well, I can do some stupid liquid dancing. If you don't know what that is…… um ….. good.
Elisa7692: And yet another dance fighting lover. My best idea ever apparently. Wow, I've got you hooked. I've created a raging hobo junkie. Awesome.
