Underlined speech is thought.
Italicized words signify emphasis put on the words or a change in tone. You should be able to figure it out from the choice of words and the character.
Sentences of thought that are completely italicized were spoken by another character previously in this story's timeline.
CAPITALIZED SPEECH IS YELLING.
These are … interruptions in …speech caused … by things …like laughing,…crying, thought,.. and…others.
Words-with-dashes-between-them-consistently-signify-when-a-character-is-talking-too-fast-to-understand.
Words with tildes~ after them are spoken for longer~ periods of time.
Bold words are author notes.
(Previously on "The Ultimate Shinobi." Arashi walked over to Kabuto and started up a conversation while wondering if the Shockwave of Forgetfulness worked. In the end, he decided to drain Kabuto's chakra and leave behind a clone. From there, he chased after Orochimaru. Tsukura dived in and dropped Hinata off. Arashi used the chance to pull off another joke. They let off the tension with some banter before getting serious just in time to find the base. Arashi punched through the ground and landed right over Orochimaru and Sasuke. The Uchiha had little hesitation towards attacking, but his knowledge of elemental jutsu couldn't match Arashi's. Arashi ended it when he used a chance to send Sasuke up to fight Hinata.)
11-1-09
I made some slight changes to a previous chapter to match this one. Most shouldn't be able to notice the change.
Also, I will still be using that new writing rule a lot in this chapter. It really makes this chapter special.
"Accumulation; Return"
Hinata waited patiently as she watched Arashi fight Orochimaru and Sasuke. She laughed at the joke of how confidently Sasuke faced off against her shishō. "My father told me how arrogant the Uchiha were, but this actually makes me believe him. Arashi-shishō's movements and jutsu are flawless and without waist. He must be a bit tired if he is being that~ careful." Her eyes widened when she saw Arashi start tossing Sasuke straight for her. She followed the Uchiha's trajectory to a spot a good distance away from where she stood.
Sasuke slowly stood up and turned to where he came from. The first person he saw was a Hyuga girl with long midnight blue hair. She wore normal sandals and dark blue pants. Her jacket had lavender half-circles over the hips and a V where cleavage would start. Even with the different outfit, Sasuke was able to recall who this was. "You are that Hyuga girl from my old class." Sasuke took note of her serious expression and activated doujutsu. "Step aside. You are of no challenge to me."
Those words struck Hinata like a ton of bricks. Surprisingly to her, instead of affecting her confidence, it struck at her temper. "I AM NOT TAKING THAT FROM YOU! I'LL BET THAT THE ONLY REASON YOU BEAT NARUTO-KUN IS BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO HURT YOU! YOU COULD NEVER BEAT HIM IN A REAL FIGHT!" She huffed and puffed from the slight exhaustion the yelling caused her as Sasuke activated his Sharingan. Arashi popped up in the background. "AND ANOTHER THING! I HAVE BEEN TRAINING UNDER THE MOST INSAIN REGIMINED FOR OVER TWO YEARS! I AM NOT THE SAME PERSON I WAS BACK IN THE CHUNIN EXAMS!"
"YOU TELL HIM HINATA-CHAN~!"
Hinata turned and glared at the blue-eyed man. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PUT ME THROUGH THAT TRAINING!"
Arashi only smiled happily. "I AM NOT WHO YOU SHOULD BE FIGHTING HINATA-CHAN~!"
Hinata turned to Sasuke to see him stalking towards her with a serious expression. "If that man trained you, it should have made for some~ difference."
Hinata glared while taking a generic stance. "Don't look down on me."
"I remember the dobe saying something similar; though I can't remember when."
A massive snake appeared out of nowhere and lunged at Hinata. She jumped up and landed on Tsukura's back. "It appears that we are working together here. Let's show this serpent who the real predator is."
"What's the plan Tsukura-san? I can't fight very well at a distance, but you fight better when further away."
She let out a few hoots that sounded like laughter. "Just hold on." Tsukura dived for the snake nearly large enough to eat her and slipped by a strike with pinpoint timing. The serpent received a gash from Tsukura's talons for the trouble. It returned to where it was summoned to avoid further harm. Sasuke summoned three more serpents of slightly greater size to send after the owl.
Tsukura dived perfectly between two strikes and flapped over the third. With sound as the only clue, she spun out of at large tail's way and grabbed it. She had no trouble lifting the massive reptile into the air and slamming it into another before spinning away from another strike. During all this movement, Hinata crouched low and used varying levels of chakra to keep in place. "This is just like the first training with Arashi-shishō. He put me on that stone slab and spun me around like a wheel. I had to adjust my chakra with only a split second to react. You're reacting to changes even faster now Hinata-chan." Hinata smiled. "I think he planed for me to work with owls."
Seeing how the fight was going, Sasuke charged in with his sword electrified by his chakra. Tsukura turned her head for a clear view of him. An upward beat of her wing unleashed a wave of wind that distorted the rhythm of the vibrating chakra. "Now Hinata."
Hinata pushes off of Tsukura's back and prepares to launch an open palm for Sasuke's sword arm. He sees this and leans back enough to avoid the blow. Hinata stumbles a bit with her landing, leading Sasuke to slash at her side. The Byakugan and her chakra blades saved her from injury. Sasuke launched a kick, which Hinata caught. She received a shock from Sasuke's full bodied Chidori for the action.
Before he could slice her arms in an attempt to disable Hinata, Tsukura launched a wave of wind in time to divert the slash. Seeing that his snakes were once again dispatched, Sasuke faced the annoying raptor alone. As he charged, Tsukura used her strength and chakra to gain altitude. This would have worked, if Sasuke didn't suddenly grow hand-like wings. Using these, Sasuke was able to put a cut along Tsukura's left breast. With the important flight muscle damaged, she could no longer remain airborne. "My deepest apologies. I will no longer be able to continue fighting with you … Hinata-dono." She disappeared in a puff of smoke just in time to avoid being skewered by the electrified blade.
Arashi glared at this. "I see that Sasuke is using a bit of your~ power. What's wrong … he can't win with just his skills alone."
"You're mistaken~. Sasuke-kun made the power of the curse mark his."
"Merely learning how to control a power doesn't make it yours."
With the time her summon bought, Hinata was able to regain the feeling in her arms. She was grateful that the slash didn't get though; because it would have been excruciating at that moment. "Arigato Tsukura-san." Sasuke looked at Hinata in the eyes, causing her to leap back. "He is using some kind of cloak of lightning chakra to make sure I can't touch him. Maybe I can leach it off him." She charges straight for him and prepares some chakra at her left fingertips. "Jutsu attacks can be defended against in their own ways. … Lighting will be a bit trickier. You must create a large amount of chakra that starts where the attack hits and leads to the ground. Make sure it is very dense and that it reaches the ground."
She rushed at Sasuke before suddenly slipping to the right and sweeping her chakra blades along his body all the way down to the ground. Her dense chakra served as a medium for the vibrating chakra to flow down into the ground harmlessly. "My Chidori is gone."
Her forward momentum gave Sasuke enough time to launch a strong sword slash. With no ability to dodge in that position, she could only defend. "When dealing with swords, there is a good way to knock if out of the user's hands. Three precisely placed chakra blades at the end, center, and then base will blast the weapon out of the user's grip." Hinata quickly formed the three chakra blades, with the first two being just weak enough. The one at the tip severely reduced the power while the one in the center removed power and speed. The last one blasted the sword out of Sasuke's hand, just as Arashi said it would. With that done, Hinata slammed Sasuke's left side with a blow of Jūken she hasn't used in an unknown amount of time.
Because of the proximity to his heart, Sasuke felt like a large amount of his stamina was drained away. With the gained advantage, Hinata pressed forward. Her open palms thrust forward at high speed. Only by focusing 100% of his Sharingan abilities upon following her movements did he manage to avoid any further damage.
Hinata kept track of every time Sasuke moved to dodge her strikes. "Evasion plays as much a part of one's rhythm as does attack. 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3, 4. He's matched his rhythm to mine. It must be his Sharingan." Hinata quickly broke her own rhythm and lashed out in an unexpected way, managing to glance Sasuke's side with another blow.
It was Orochimaru's turn to glare at events. "Impossible~! Sasuke-kun's Sharingan should have prevailed in that situation."
Arashi chuckled. "You can't trust is the abilities of a doujutsu all the time. You also can't say that a fight is without a pattern. Even a random bar fight would have a rhythm to it. The one who finds the pattern of this dance has the greatest chance of winning over the group. Even though the Sharingan may help with this, Sasuke has received no direct training for the skill. Hinata-chan has however spent months dealing with rapid changes between rhythms. That knowledge and experience can serve her more than any doujutsu."
Orochimaru watch as Sasuke soon found himself completely at the mercy of every strike Hinata launched. Even his Sharingan was fooled into seeing attacks that never came. This sight cause the Sannin's anger to rise. "This is impossible. Even with training and the Byakugan, no one can predict Sasuke-kun so flawlessly."
"Naïve. You assume that Hinata-chan is using her Byakugan right now." The white skinned man's eyes widened. "This is an attack named after a spear that a god sacrificed half his sight for. That mythological spear was said to never miss its mark no matter what. This … is Gungnir."
Sasuke soon felt his rage building up after gaining an understanding of what it felt like to be a training log. He might as well not be dodging since every blow hit with full force. With no choice, he began to pull on the power upon his neck.
Hinata's eyes widened and she hesitated a bit when torn patches of black started to spread out over every piece of Sasuke's exposed skin. The way the white in his eyes turned black made her hesitate further. "What is this?"
Without warning, Sasuke struck Hinata with a powerful punch in the center of her chest. She rolled on the ground for a bit until Sasuke stopped her with his foot. Hinata looked up in pain and fear. "To think that you~ were able to push me this far." Some blood and spit came out when he kicked her back.
As she had enough time to stop rolling, she lifted herself just in time to avoid a punch. This didn't save Hinata from the sweeping kick to the face that sent her flying further. "Itai. … Itai. I don't know if I can take any more of these powerful blows." She could feel Sasuke's killer intent washing over her. Reacting on reflex, she pushed off the ground while still rolling. This avoided a potentially damaging axe kick. Hinata reached a half-standing position with surprised eyes. "I remember~ now. When an attacker is both powerful and angry, their killer intent will be felt all over your body. Even so, there will be spots that are more concentrated than others. You need to be able to detect those."
She dodged another punch and ducked under a sweeping kick. This gave her the chance to strike Sasuke again. Sasuke created some distance from her and looked directly in her eyes. "Those eyes~. They look just like that idiot who never knew how to give up." He formed some old hand-seals before charging his hand with dark blue lightning chakra. He built up his speed by circling around Hinata.
Even with the deafening chirping going around her, Hinata was focused completely upon Sasuke's killer intent. Her legs bucked, but she held her ground. She could tell by how the point of focus circled around her chest that he was aiming for her heart. It only came down to which angle he would attack from. She noticed it becoming stronger each time it circled to her front. "He's either perverted or overconfident. He actually wants to kill me through my breast."
Sasuke charged forward with his Chidori ready. "Time to end this." His eyes widened when she slipped away in the nick of time and prepared a counter attack.
Hinata firmly slammed her open palm into the center of Sasuke's chakra core. All the physical training she was forced to go through in Kumo came in play as she stopped Sasuke's forward momentum dead and even reversed his direction. She followed through with her powerful blow enough to slam Sasuke to the ground hard enough to crack it. It was his turn to cough out spit and blood. She stood triumphantly and let out a sigh. "He shouldn't get up from that." She quickly backed off when the dark chakra around Sasuke became visible to the naked eye. The dark marks finished covering Sasuke's body. His skin became a bluish shade of grey and his growing hair turned white. A bird-like mark appeared over his nose and his lips looked like he was wearing black lipstick. Large hand shaped wings appeared behind him as well. "This isn't over yet."
Sasuke glared at Hinata seriously. "She's much stronger than I anticipated. Someone who was unable to get to the third round of the Chunin exams is now strong enough to take me on. I will need to calm down if I want to win now." Sasuke turned his attention to Arashi. "I have no doubt that he alone is the cause." He returned his attention to Hinata. "What is that man's name?"
"MY NAME IS ARASHI AYAMA!"
"If I defeat this Hyuga, I will take her place as your student."
Hinata's eyes widened. "HE CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" She turned to Arashi to see him wearing a fixed expression.
"AS A MASTER OF MARTIAL ARTS, I RECOGNIZE THAT THE LOSER IS OBLIGED TO OBEY THE DEMANDS OF THE WINNER! I WILL ACCEPT ANY DEMAND THAT YOU MAKE OUT OF HINATA-CHAN SHOULD YOU WIN!"
Hinata couldn't believe her ears. "What is he saying? How can he be so ready to loose me so easily?" She then got a good look of Arashi's eyes.
"BUT IF YOU LOSE, YOU MUST ACCEPT ANY DEMAND HINATA-CHAN MAKES OF YOU!" Sasuke nodded and faced Hinata.
Orochimaru could not believe what was going on. "I have to stop this."
Hinata glared at Sasuke in confidence. "Arashi-shishō believes that I can win this. If I win, I can tell Sasuke-san to do whatever I want." She calmed down and pulled on her most recent training under Arashi. Her hands sweeped around her personal area, helping to form a field around her that only Arashi could see very well.
Sasuke walked over and picked up his previously lost sword. He then stalked towards Hinata. "There is nothing more that I can learn from Orochimaru. This Arashi should be able to bring me even closer to obtaining my goal of killing my brother. All that remains is this single obstacle."
Once again, Sasuke's killer intent washed over Hinata. The difference was that the killer intent was far more intense than before. It was obvious to her that he planed on coming at her stronger and more powerfully than before. It was the same feeling from just a few days ago.
Flashback.
Hinata trained with Arashi in improving her Seikūken so she would have some experience. Arashi stalked towards her with a misleading level of malicious intent. He quickly attacked multiple times, giving Hinata just enough time to deflect the attacks. "Hold your ground. Strike out at anything entering your territory. That is the essence of Seikūken." He then pulled out the massive stone clubs created by his jutsu. "But when you have to face a foe whose power dwarfs your own and whose speed is faster than you can follow; what next. Will you spend your time trying to maintain a territory you can't. … … NO! … You must be the rock in the rapids." Arashi launched his attack
Flashback end.
Hinata's memories were cut short with Sasuke quickly entering her Seikūken. Her body couldn't react fast enough to avoid the blow. She wasted no time getting back up though. "I can't defend such a wide territory." As she focused, the emotions in her eyes became less and less pronounced.
Arashi's expression became one of extreme happiness. "She's doing it. Hinata-chan is really about to unlock the next stage."
Orochimaru caught site of Hinata's expression and Arashi's. "Not good. I can't let this go any further."
Sasuke looked at Hinata with an apathetic expression. "So you have finally lost the will to fight me. Just wait there patiently so I don't have to kill you." He slowly walked towards her with full intent on ending it quickly.
Hinata lifted her eyes and focused on Sasuke's. "This feeling … is strange. Every movement Sasuke-san makes seems so~ fluid. It is almost like I can feel every movement he is making. … It feels really amazing." As soon as she smiled, the sensations disappeared. Piercing pain suddenly appeared at her leg. She looked down to see a snake with its fangs imbedded into her leg. The beast quickly disappeared with it's job done.
Sasuke glared at the snake in rage for a second before turning to Orochimaru in time to see the Sannin being sent flying by a powerful punch from Arashi. Sasuke could barely turn his head fast enough to follow Arashi to Hinata's side, which cause his rage to be replaced with surprise. "This man's strength really is something."
Arashi looked down at Hinata with a worried expression. "How are you? Do you think that the poison was very bad?"
As she winced in pain, Hinata pulled out a vile from a pocket and injected herself in a spot a short distance over the bite marks. After a few seconds, her expression began to relax. "I never thought I would have to use that. It's a good thing they taught me that one poison can neutralize another."
Arashi chuckled. "To be honest, I wasn't sure that you would ever need that. I was just going with being over prepared. It is actually a bit of a policy in Kumo as well. Immunity to that poison is part of the genin requirements. They have had plenty of practice, so it isn't hard for each child to be ready for a full dose in four years."
Sasuke made his presence known with a burst of chakra. "I'm not done yet."
Arashi looked at him seriously. "I don't care."
Sasuke focused on Arashi's blue eyes. "Perhaps I can use my Sharingan on him a bit."
Arashi quickly reacted with a paralyzing wave of killer intent and chakra. "Don't you dare~ try that with me Uchiha? I am more than capable of handling anything that your Sharingan can toss at me. It's a real shame that you feel that you must resort to that. I know about your desire for revenge against your brother. If revenge is that important to you, then I won't want to put my all into training you anyways." Arashi picked Hinata up and ran into the forest.
Sasuke turned away from them and towards the one who has been training him for the last two and a half years. "Orochimaru has become a hindrance to me."
Arashi set Hinata down, who looked at her shishō defiantly. "What are you doing? I still stood a chance against Sasuke-san."
"I know. I simply decided that it really wasn't worth continuing. When you beat him, I doubt that he would have done anything he didn't want to. I just didn't trust Sasuke much after he has been trained under Orochimaru for so~ long. Also, the fight gave me a perfect idea for how to train you next."
Hinata let out a sigh. "And where are we going for this training next."
Arashi smiled widely and chuckled. "Konoha."
I think that I delivered what I promised I would last chapter. I really liked putting together all the training Hinata went through in a single fight. I am sure that most of you can guess what Hinata was about to do. I was really going for an even fight.
"Next Chapter: Surprise~~.
