29. Freedom
Victory! Victory for Zim!
Okay! Chapter 29 for my loyal readers. I'm sorry for the delay in getting this out to you, but as I mentioned I did beta work for some other authors I've promoted in my story and all in all, I completed beta work for ten chapters. That's right, you read correctly – ten chapters. After that, I busted this chapter out in 3 weeks. So I have a good reason for this one taking longer than usual.
As I always do, I'd like to thank Titokhan for his help and support. And a very heartfelt thanks to Chewie Cookies – you know the reason why.
I would also like to give a big shout-out this chapter to MattWilson83, who took time out of his busy schedule doing graphic work on NaruHina Chronicles to converse with me on several occasions regarding ideas and flow for this chapter. His input was beyond helpful and I can't thank him enough.
And now, on to credit where credit is due:
TheMachine5499: Your idea about what happens in the fight between Guy and Hanari (Freyja) is used here. Thanks!
willie94: I didn't give you proper credit last chapter for your idea regarding Hinata and the twins, so here it is. The rest of your idea will come later. Thank you!
Hektols: I'm going to use your last idea regarding Ino. Appreciate the thought.
MattWilson83: There's really just too much to mention here. Let's just say he gets credit for a ton of ideas coming up in the story. Check out his deviantArt account if you want to read some killer stuff. It's the cure for anyone who needs a NaruHina fix in between chapter releases for the stories they're following.
I would also like to thank Guarani Lioness and DaManKaliel for leaving me a review for every chapter I've written so far. I really appreciate the time and effort it took to do this. Looking forward to what you write for this one.
So, here's some story shout-outs…reviews are always appreciated for these authors and their works:
Naruto – Path to the Future by OGAFazer89AC: I did beta work on the last chapter for this story, and I'll be doing the next chapter as well. I'm making this one of my little pet projects because this story is so good, and I can't understand why it doesn't have more followers or reviews than it does. I really want to see those numbers increase, so as a personal favor to me, please get on over there and check it out.
Sanctuary of the Wounded by weirdismyname: Once again, beta work for a couple of chapters. You may remember her last story, Beyond an Heiress' Purpose which I recommended and loved. This one is starting to pick up steam where Naruto just got reunited with Hinata.
Rise of Ryujin by Arcana37210: A chapter of beta work here as well. This is a different take on Naruto where he becomes a dragon (of sorts). Chapters are insanely long but the story is very detailed and well written.
For the Love of the Hokage by Hendrixson: Did beta work on his last two chapters. This is one of my favorite stories right now, and I've offered to do beta work on them going forward if he needs it. Probably one of the more honest, heartfelt stories I've seen where the focus is about ninety percent on our favorite couple. I can't get enough of it. Please, do yourself a favor and give this one a read and leave a review because the author deserves it.
Our Ninja Way by justretribution: I've recommended this story before, the author just updated and he's set himself with a personal goal of trying to hit 1,000 reviews. He's at about 750 right now and I'm asking my readers to help him out. The story is outrageously awesome and if you haven't read it by now, you should. Leave a review for every chapter if you can!
Last of all, a quick response to a couple of reviews I received:
Bob (Guest): Dude, I don't know where you got the idea for chapters 9 and 16 that Naruto had a giant penis. I said he was 'large', not part horse. Everyone's interpretation is different I guess, but bear in mind from my perspective 'large' means above average (like 9 inches or so). Otherwise, I appreciate the reviews and what you said about the rest of my story.
And now, the disclaimer. In honor of all the help MattWilson83 gave me, I decided to go with a very old British show for this one. It aired in the late 80's for all of 3 years, but some of the moments were pretty damn hilarious. (Reading it with a British accent really helps!)
Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto. But everyone, hands up – who likes me?
Vivyan – No one likes you. Because you're a complete bastard.
Disclaimer – I'm being serious.
Vivyan – So am I. You're a complete bastard.
Disclaimer – I find that very hard to believe.
Vivyan – You wanna bet on it? I'll put down a fiver.
Disclaimer – Right, that's it. I'm going to kill myself. You'll all be sorry when I'm gone!
Vivyan – No, we won't.
Disclaimer – Fine! Ha! See this? [Grabs a large bottle of pills from the top of the refrigerator, shows it to everyone and starts stuffing pills into his mouth by the handful.]
Neil – Hey Vivyan, uh, can you like, actually kill yourself by overdosing on laxative pills?
Vivyan – I don't know, Neil. But I'm gonna stay and find out! (+1 if you get the reference).
Chapter 29 – Freedom
"Well, in that case Uncle Neji, how'd you like to be free from the caged bird seal?"
Neji leaned in closer to the drawing, eager to get a better look. He extended his fingertips and traced part of the caged bird seal, before moving on to the intricate group of seals surrounding it. He wondered if what he was staring at could possibly be real… a solution to the curse that the branch House had been living under for years, and freedom for his child.
Hinata and Hanabi watched Neji as he stared at the drawing. Even though technically Neji was their cousin, both women had come to think of him as their brother over the years – especially after the incident in the chūnin exams where Naruto knocked some sense into him. After that, while his duty of protecting the Royal family remained the same, his attitude towards doing that changed. He viewed it less as an obligation, and more of a… choice.
He knew his position in the clan would probably never change, despite Naruto's promise to him and yet, right in front of them was the fulfillment of that promise. For the branch family, Neji and more specifically his baby… it was freedom. And it seemed almost too good to be true.
"Hikaru," Neji asked, his voice full of tentative hope, "where did you get this?"
A smug grin broke out on the young boy's face. "I made it, Uncle Neji."
Three heads snapped around to look at him. "You made this, Hikaru?" Hanabi asked, pointing at the drawing.
"I sure did, Aunt Hanabi," He said proudly, nodding his head vigorously, "but to be honest I had some help. The first month or so I worked on it all on my own, but then dad helped me out for a month before he set me up with the old lady here." He finished, motioning his head towards Tsunade.
Tenten glanced disbelievingly between Hikaru and Tsunade. "He calls you old lady?"
"He's the only one who gets to do that, so don't get any ideas. Any of you." Tsunade said flatly, narrowing her eyes dangerously as she looked around at the group, before coming to rest on Naruto.
"I think Hikaru's giving us too much credit." He said, taking the hint from Tsunade and picking up the conversation. "I'd say Tsunade and I helped with about twenty-five percent of it, but the rest was all him."
"You knew about this, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked inquisitively, the tone of her voice slightly hurt, "And you didn't tell me? Don't you trust me?"
"Ah… It's not that I didn't trust you, Hinata-hime – I just didn't want you to get your hopes up. I mean, if I'd told you what Hikaru was working on, you'd have worried yourself sick every night, wondering if he'd made any progress at all and you and I both know that stress isn't good during a pregnancy. And then what would have happened if we found out Hikaru couldn't do it?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head abashedly. "You'd be devastated because let's face it, no matter how you look at this it's a VERY big deal. Plus, can you imagine if the elders who don't want the branch family freed found out somehow that Hikaru was trying to break the caged bird seal?"
Hinata and Hanabi blanched. They knew very well what would happen; Hikaru would be dead and they'd make it look like an accident. Everyone would know they were responsible but without proof, there would be nothing they could do within the confines of the law.
That wouldn't stop Naruto, of course. If he had to, he'd declare an all-out war on the Hyūga clan as retribution for such an act and in all honesty, going up against one of the most powerful ninja in the world, with the full power of the Nine-Tailed Fox at his disposal, the clan would lose – very badly.
"Hikaru," Neji asked once again, "where did you get this?"
"Umm, weren't you listening before, Uncle Neji? I told you I made it."
"No. I'm talking about this, specifically." Neji said, pointing at the caged bird seal drawing. "Where did you get this? Because I thought the knowledge of the composition of the caged bird seal has been lost for over a century."
Hikaru's eyes grew wide with shock as he realized the implication of what Neji was asking. His head whipped around and he stared pleadingly at his father, silently asking for help.
"Sorry Hikaru… you've been around them long enough to know that this is what happens when you deal with the Hyūga clan." Naruto replied, a smirk appearing on his face. "They're not idiots, they don't miss details and they'll know if you're lying to them. You've pretty much backed yourself into a corner, so my advice is to just tell the truth and come clean."
Hikaru swallowed heavily and looked at the three Hyūga in the room, who were all staring pointedly at him with Byakugan eyes. It was bad enough when his mother did it, but a sight like this – especially with two of them moody and pregnant – was very unnerving to someone who was only weeks away from turning nine years old.
"Um…" he started, fidgeting nervously, "I… I kind of… stolethecagedbirdsealbrand."
"You did what?" Hinata demanded, her voice rising several octaves. "You stole from your grandfather? From the clan? When exactly did you do that?"
"It was like a week or so before dad got back from his mission. But it was the only way I could get a good look at the seal without asking anyone else in the branch family! I… I wanted this to be a surprise for Uncle Neji and Aunt Tenten, and there was really no one else I could trust to ask. So I stole the brand and put it under a microscope to see all the seals that made it up."
"Well, I'm still a bit confused," Tenten said, while rubbing her belly comfortingly. "Since when are you so good with fūinjutsu? I mean, I know Naruto and a few others are pretty good, but what you're talking about is something that even Jiraiya couldn't crack, and he was the last seal master this village had."
"I can answer that one." Naruto said. "You remember when Sasuke and I were gone from the village for two months?" Everyone but Tsunade and Hikaru nodded back at him. "Well, I asked Kakashi to train Hinata and Hikaru while I was gone and sometime during those sessions Hikaru took an interest in fūinjutsu. Kakashi had a hunch and secretly had him tested for a variety of things – one of which was a DNA test. The results that came back showed that somehow, my mother's genes pretty much overrode everything else."
"And before anyone asks, I can tell you it's very rare that something like that occurs." Tsunade added. "It happens more often when a Kekkei Genkai is involved, like the Byakugan or Sharingan because they're extremely dominant traits, but in this case the Uzumaki bloodline is what I call a passive dominant gene. They have enhanced healing abilities, large pools of chakra, increased stamina and a natural talent for fūinjutsu, but there's really nothing physical that shows."
"So yeah, to sum it up Hikaru is a true Uzumaki." Naruto finished. "He got his red hair, along with everything else from my mom, Kushina. Oh, and before you ask Hinata, the tests also showed that Hikaru has a primary affinity for wind, and at the time they were done his chakra reserves were 812."
While he'd told Hikaru's class about his chakra affinity, Naruto hadn't divulged the level of his reserves to anyone since Kakashi showed him the test results – mainly because no one ever asked. So it came as a surprise to everyone present, and they stared at Hikaru with respect and a little bit of awe.
"Okay, wait a minute." Tenten said, furrowing her brow. "I get the part about Hikaru being an Uzumaki and all, but the rest doesn't make any sense. How in the world was he able to sneak into the Hyūga compound and steal the brand? That place is guarded 'round the clock, and every one of them has the Byakugan. Maybe an elite ANBU could get in there undetected, but there's no way they wouldn't see an eight year old boy."
There was an introspective pause as everyone but Naruto and Hikaru thought about Tenten's comment – and those two silently made the decision to keep their mouths shut, because it probably wouldn't make any difference if they said something.
"That's because they didn't see an eight year old boy," Hanabi said as she stared accusingly at Hikaru, "they saw a well-proportioned, very naked female running around the compound. Am I right?"
Ten pairs of eyes fixed on Hikaru, who began to squirm underneath their disapproving glares. Hinata mirrored her sister's actions and crossed her arms in front of her chest, signifying she was just as cross with him as Hanabi was.
"Is that why you had Konohamaru teach you the Sexy Jutsu, young man? So that you could sneak into the compound and steal the caged bird seal brand?"
"No! No it wasn't!" Hikaru shouted back defensively, before lowering his tone of voice and looking pleadingly at his mother. "Well, not at first it wasn't. I… Um, I mean… Do you remember that day when Ojii-san came to visit us at the house while dad was gone on his mission?"
Hinata nodded mutely.
"I know you figured out from the note I left you that I heard the whole thing – especially the part about how he didn't consider me family, or you to be my mom because… well, you know, the birth thing…"
Hinata nodded again. Sakura was still a sore subject with them both, and despite her recent efforts around the village, forgiveness from both Hinata and Hikaru for what she did would be a long time coming, if ever.
"He also treated us pretty bad while we lived at the Hyūga estate. And between the stories from you, Aunt Hanabi and Uncle Neji, I know he pretty much was the same while you were growing up. So, I… I went to see Uncle Kono because the old lady here," He gestured towards Tsunade, "told me once that he was dad's unofficial top student when they were younger – including the prank department. So I asked him to help me do the same thing to Ojii-san and he said he'd love to. Then he taught me the Sexy Jutsu and we started pulling pranks on him, until he decided to be less of a jerk and change his mind about me."
There was another moment of silence as everyone digested the explanation Hikaru had just given. Hinata's disapproving gaze appeared to soften a bit while Naruto, Tsunade and Tenten's mouths were twitching, as they tried to keep from breaking out in laugher.
As for herself, Hanabi privately felt a twinge of guilt over hearing this. When Konohamaru had woken up with a severe hangover the next day, he'd tried to explain the reasons behind why he'd taught Hikaru the Sexy Jutsu. Hanabi had quickly shut him down, not wanting to hear any part of it because she felt no explanation would be sufficient. He'd left that afternoon for some week long mission Naruto had given him, and while she still wasn't happy that Konohamaru had done it, she realized she'd been far too hard on him and privately owed him an apology for acting as harshly as she did.
Besides, she reasoned to herself, father probably had it coming at some point in his life anyway. Better it be Hikaru than someone dangerous…
However, Neji was staring at Hikaru, eyes wide in realization. "So all those pranks Kō told me about that were happening to Uncle a few months ago – those were all your doing?"
"Yeah, they were."
"The hot sauce in his underwear? Tora strung out on catnip running through his office on a rampage? The robes stitched together with thread that coincidentally fell apart at the village council meeting?"
"Well, Uncle Kono thought up the ideas but I'm the one who did them. The Sexy Jutsu just made sure that anyone who saw me got bloody noses and passed out, but when they started putting women in the patrols I knew I had to get better at hiding myself. So I asked Hokage-sensei for some stealth training, since he's pretty much a legend in the ANBU for that stuff. He never knew what it was for, but I must have done a pretty good job learning it because no one ever caught me. It wasn't until almost three weeks in that I decided to steal the brand and try to find a way to break the caged bird seal."
Even with the help of the Sexy Jutsu, Neji found it hard to believe that a mere child had been able to evade the entirety of the Hyūga clan for almost two months. Granted, the boy's potential had really begun to blossom once Naruto came into his life, but he still should've been caught at some point. Hikaru must have unknowingly had some inside help – he wondered if Kō knew anything about it.
But that still left one very important question unanswered…
"Hikaru – if I'm adding this up correctly, you've been working on this in secret for the last four months. Correct?"
"Yeah, I have."
"How often?"
Hikaru shrugged. "After getting out of the academy, I'd usually come straight home and work on it for about three hours, give or take. There were a few times on the weekends when I'd work on it all day, when mom didn't give me anything to do, like watching Reira. I got some good training in with dad and Uncle Sasuke around the work I did, to throw everyone off."
So this was a major investment in his time and effort, Neji thought, but that still doesn't answer my question.
"But… why?"
Hikaru stared confusedly at him. "Why what, Uncle Neji?"
"Why would you give so much, Hikaru? Please don't misunderstand me – I'm grateful beyond measure, but this…" He waved his hand at the drawing, "…this was a huge commitment. You sacrificed nights, weekends, time with your friends and more than likely a good amount of sleep to make this happen. I'd… just like to know why you did it."
Hikaru took a deep breath and sighed. "Look Uncle Neji, I'm… I'm not stupid." He began, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck in a manner much like his father. "I lived all those years in the Hyūga compound, and I know what it means when someone in the branch family has a baby. It gets branded, plain and simple."
"When mom came back from that village with me, the clan disowned her within a month. You…" He pointed his finger at Neji, "…gave us a place to stay in the Hyūga compound when everyone else wanted to kick us out. Even after you married Aunt Tenten, the two of you still took care of us when it wasn't your responsibility, and really didn't have to. You helped us out with money. You bought us food. You gave us both a warm bed to sleep in."
"I wanted to do something to pay you back." Hikaru said, looking away in embarrassment, "So when I realized how good I was at fūinjutsu, I got the idea that I might be able to find a way to get rid of the caged bird seal. I… I made a promise that day to myself that no matter what it took, I'd find a way to free you, and keep your baby from getting branded. But when dad told me about his idea, and what he said to you in the chūnin exams a long time ago, it was even more important to keep my promise."
"And what idea is that, Naruto?" Hanabi asked, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.
Naruto frowned. He'd purposely been trying to keep the focus on Hikaru, and the intense amount of work and effort he'd done but now, he felt that by telling everyone about the agreement, he was stealing part of the glory from his son. And dismissing it wouldn't be good either, based on the steely gaze the three pregnant women in the room were fixating on him. Just like he'd told Hikaru, coming clean was his best option here.
"Well, over the last few months I've had several talks with Hiashi – the first one happened about a week or so after I found out you were pregnant, Hinata. Basically, I told him it was pretty obvious that dealing with the elders was wearing on him, and I wondered if he'd consider retiring. No offense to you Hanabi, but I made the argument that if Hiashi was truly interested in uniting the clan, then Neji should be the next clan head. The branch family trusts him because he's one of them, he's at least as qualified as you to run the clan and the first thing he'd do is outlaw the use of the caged bird seal. It'd also make doubly sure that any children he and Tenten have will never get branded."
After a few moments of silence Hinata asked, "And… And what did father say after that, Naruto-kun?"
"At first he was a bit hesitant, but not for the reasons you might think. He knows he screwed up with how he treated you, Hinata – the conversation that day at the house while I was gone proves it and besides that I laid into him, telling him that it was no secret around the village that he did a pretty shitty job as a father while you and Hanabi were growing up."
His eyes darted between Tenten, Hanabi and Hinata. "He wants another chance – a chance with his grandchildren to be the person he should have been all those years ago before your mother's death changed him. That's why he's been spending so much time with all of you lately – he's trying to repair the relationship he has with you, hoping that you'll let him be a bigger part of his grandchildren's lives."
"By retiring, he'd be able to do that but he didn't think it'd work because Neji is still branded, so why would he even bother nominating him in the first place? I told him this was the perfect opportunity because the elders who were against uniting the houses would approve the agreement out of sheer overconfidence, thinking it'd never happen. I also told him to add a clause that if nothing changes in regards to Neji being free from the caged bird seal within a year then Hanabi would take over as clan head."
Naruto paused here and then grinned broadly. "Hiashi had the agreement drawn up and after dangling the carrot of Hanabi taking over – because they thought Neji had no chance – the elders approved it but decided to keep it a secret, probably because they didn't want the branch family to have even a glimmer of hope that Neji might lead the clan someday. Hiashi also made sure that Hanabi wouldn't know about it until after she had her baby, because he didn't want her to have any unnecessary stress during her pregnancy."
Naruto extended a closed fist in Neji's direction. "Remember this gesture from the chūnin exams? When the two of us fought, I swore that when I became Hokage I'd find a way to get rid of the caged bird seal, and everyone here knows that I never go back on my word, because that's my nindō. Now, because of Hikaru we not only have a way to do that, but protect your baby and put you in charge of the clan as well. You'll be in a position to accomplish everything you've ever wanted – all you have to do is let Hikaru get that thing off your forehead and take the job."
With the exception of Tsunade, because she knew about his scheme to put Neji in charge of the Hyūga clan, everyone else stared dumbfounded at Naruto and Hikaru. Neji appeared to be on an entirely different level of disbelief – this was more than he could have ever dreamed of and here it was, being presented to him within only a few months of him becoming a father, with no conditions or strings attached. It was a truly priceless gift that Naruto and Hikaru were giving him.
Apparently Tenten thought so too, because her eyes filled with tears and she walked over to stand in front of Hikaru. She reached down and placed her hands on his cheeks, drawing him to a standing position. Hikaru stared nervously back at her, wondering what she was going to do next.
"So you mean to tell me that you did all this – worked tirelessly for four months straight, keeping this entire thing a secret and even doing training on the side just to throw everyone off – without wanting anything in return? Just to free Neji from the caged bird seal? And save our baby?"
"Er, yeah." He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. "That's pretty much it." Being around emotional women made him leery, and that was probably because over the last several months, Reira used them on him to her advantage all the time.
She blinked, and the tears that filled her eyes fell down her cheeks. A warm smile, filled with happiness and joy broke out on her face and she swiftly pulled Hikaru into a fierce, yet awkward hug.
"Thank you, Hikaru," she said gratefully, "thank you so much for this. You… You have no idea how much this means to the branch family. To Neji and me. And to our baby."
"Umm, don't thank me just yet, Aunt Tenten." The hug was awkward enough, since he was pressed up against her swollen belly and he could feel the baby kicking, like he or she was thanking him as well. He knew it was a completely natural thing, but it still creeped him out. "I should probably tell you the seal I made up isn't perfect. I tried as best as I could, but it's only got about an eighty-five percent chance that it'll work."
"Eighty-five percent?" Hanabi clearly wasn't satisfied with the number. "Why are you showing us something that has only an eighty-five percent chance of working?"
"Because there's not enough time for me to figure something out before the baby is born. You see…"
Hikaru then went into a detailed explanation of the workings of the caged bird seal, pointing out each piece on the drawing and what its purpose was. By the time he finished Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and Tenten were beyond impressed, since he'd found out more in four months about the caged bird seal than anyone else had in over a hundred years.
"The seal amplifies whatever chakra is stored in it when someone activates it. Every time it passes through the loop it gets stronger and stronger – so basically it drills through someone's brain with an overload of chakra." He pointed to the drawing on the table in front of them. "There's a modified vacuum seal built into what I made that'll suck the chakra out of the caged bird seal, and I repeated the pattern ten times to make it strong enough to handle almost any level of chakra the caged bird seal was made with. I can't use any more, because then the seal will be too big to fit on Uncle Neji's forehead. But the big problem I have is that I don't know how much chakra went into making the one on Uncle Neji's forehead. If the person who did it used a lot, then the vacuum seal I made won't have enough time to work before it fries his brain."
"Can't you just shut it down before that happens?" Hanabi asked.
Hikaru shook his head. "No. When I turn my seal on, it'll hit the caged bird seal and break about twenty of the symbols that make it up. I'll need that many openings to get the chakra out, but the caged bird seal has a failsafe built into it. If someone tampers with it, then…"
"It activates, and won't stop until that person is dead." Neji said grimly, interrupting him. "My grandfather – Hizashi and Hiashi's father – is the one who placed the seal on me, and he's been dead for five years. We have no way of knowing how much chakra he infused into the seal on my forehead, but to me it doesn't matter." He stared soberly at Hikaru. "It sounds like you've accounted for everything except the most extreme conditions. Even though you can't guarantee that it'll work, the odds are heavily in my favor and I'm willing to take that chance."
"Neji-kun? Are you sure?" Tenten wrung her hands nervously in front of her swollen stomach, and everyone could hear the panic in her voice. "If this doesn't work, then…"
With his left hand, Neji reached out and gently stopped hers while his right hand came up to lovingly caress her cheek. More tears spilled from her eyes and she closed them, leaning into his touch as her lower lip trembled with fright over the thought that he might die.
"I have to do this, Ten-chan. I won't waste this precious gift that Naruto, Lady Tsunade and Hikaru have given us. For the clan, the branch family, our baby and for future generations of Hyūga children, I'll do whatever it takes to ensure that everyone will be free."
She opened her eyes and looked pleadingly at him, but his expression was determined and unyielding. She knew right away that he wasn't going to change his mind, no matter what was said. She nodded, reluctantly accepting his choice.
He nodded back and released her hands so that he could undo the knot that secured his hitai-ate in place. The caged bird seal seemed to stare angrily back at everyone in the room – ugly, black and prominent against the paleness of his Hyūga skin.
Neji stared confidently at Hikaru. Despite the fact that there was a slim possibility that he might not survive what was coming, he appeared unafraid. "I have faith in you and Lady Tsunade, Hikaru. And I know you will do everything in your power to ensure I survive whatever will happen. Now tell me what I need to do."
Hikaru took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Having someone's life in your hands was nerve-racking, no matter how you looked at it. He wondered how Tsunade did it all the time with patients at the hospital.
He pointed towards the couch. "Just lie down there Uncle Neji. It's gonna take a while for me to write my seal on your forehead, but try and remain still so that I don't make any mistakes with the kanji. But while I'm doing it, you should probably prepare yourself because when we're ready to go, I'm gonna have to activate the caged bird seal, and I'm sure you know that's gonna hurt. A lot."
It was close to nine o'clock when Naruto, Hinata and Hikaru walked through the front door of their house. Well, Hikaru didn't walk – Naruto was carrying him on his back because he'd passed out from exhaustion. Not a sound could be heard, meaning that Hanari and Reira were already asleep, or they were out with Kakashi. Either way, it was probably a good thing because it had been an eventful, and for Hikaru a very exhausting night.
He couldn't write small enough on Neji's forehead with the brush and chakra ink he'd brought along, so he'd been forced to use chakra writing instead. For someone like his mother or father it wouldn't have been a problem, but since he was still just shy of nine years old and didn't have the reserves they did, the task had drained him considerably. He'd refused help from Tsunade afterwards, saying he was perfectly fine even though everyone else knew he was lying when he fell asleep five minutes later.
Neji had survived, although the experience was excruciating because the seal had been placed with a larger than average amount of chakra. It had taken about a minute longer than they'd hoped and Hinata, Hanabi and Tenten's hearts broke for Neji as he screamed out in pain, but in the end Hikaru's seal worked and the caged bird seal was gone from his forehead. A very faint scar was left on his skin from where the seal had been, but Tsunade said she could make that almost indistinguishable once he recovered.
Tsunade checked him over afterwards and said that he'd be fine in about a week. She ordered Tenten to keep him away from the hospital, unless she had no choice but to bring him there – this was still an S-rank secret after all. But either her or Shizune would come by frequently during that time and check up on his health.
"How about we get our little hero up to bed, and then get some sleep ourselves?" Naruto asked, giving his wife a crooked smile. "Not that I'm as exhausted as Hikaru, but cuddling with my wife sounds like a great way to end the day."
Hinata smiled in return, briefly resting her hand with the amalgamation seal on his arm. She could feel his love for her radiating through it, and it warmed her heart. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Naruto-kun."
They walked quietly up the stairs and into Hikaru's bedroom. Naruto gently laid him down on the bed, before covering him up and tucking him in. It appeared to be the right gesture, because within only a few seconds he began snoring loudly and drooling out of the side of his mouth.
Just like his father, Hinata thought absently.
They tiptoed quietly out of the room, closing the door behind them until it made a loud, and very satisfying 'click'. They wanted to make sure no one accidentally woke him up early the next morning – especially someone with blonde hair that happened to live in their house. He'd more than earned the right to sleep in.
Naruto watched as Hinata stared thoughtfully at the door, not moving even though there was no reason to stay there. Deciding to take the initiative, he reached out and grasped her hand. "C'mon, Hinata-hime. We should be getting to bed too. Plus, I need to get this shirt off. I think Hikaru drooled on it, because the back of my shoulder is wet." He tugged a bit on her hand to get her moving. "Do you want something to eat or drink before we go in?" he asked as they walked back down the stairs. "We really didn't have a chance for anything earlier. I can get you something from the kitchen if…"
He stopped talking when he noticed that Hinata was staring lovingly at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hinata? Why are you crying?" Naruto asked worriedly. "Is something wrong?"
She shook her head and brought her hands up, using her thumbs to affectionately caress his whisker marks. "No, Naruto-kun," she said, sniffing against her tears, "nothing is wrong. On the contrary, everything is very right."
"If everything is right, then why are you crying?"
Hinata laughed merrily at his question. "Because Naruto-kun, I don't think you realize how important you are – how much influence you have on everyone and everything around you."
"I think you're making me out to be more than I am."
"No, I'm not." She dropped her hands to rest against his chest, feeling the rippling of his muscles and the strong, steady rhythm of his heartbeat as they intertwined with a torrent of emotions she was sending him through the seal on her hand. "Neji will free the branch family and stop the use of the caged bird seal, just like you promised him in the chūnin exams many years ago. He'll be able to do this because you convinced my father – a man known to be cold, stern and rather inflexible – to draw up an agreement making Neji the next head of the clan, and then helped him trick the elders into giving their approval for it."
"All of that means nothing without Hikaru's help, Hinata. He's the one responsible for…"
"And who do you think is responsible for Hikaru?" Hinata asked firmly, interrupting him. "I have raised him for most of his life. I changed his diapers, fed him and clothed him. I was there when he took his first steps and I heard his first words, but all of that is secondary because none of it would have happened, and he wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto's look turned dark as he realized what she was referring to. The subject of Hikaru's true parentage was still a very sore and sensitive topic, and anyone who came into contact with him, Hinata or Hikaru knew better than to mention it. He opened his mouth to ask why she was bringing this up now of all times but before he could say anything Hinata placed her finger over his lips, stopping him.
"Please don't say anything, Naruto-kun. Not until I've finished. Then you can yell at me all you want."
Naruto was confused as to why Hinata would think he'd ever yell at her, even with a subject like this but he nodded, agreeing to her request. Hinata removed her finger from his lips and continued.
"I'm not sure if it's because of my pregnancy, but lately I've been thinking a lot about… our past. How if I'd been bolder, like Reira is with Hikaru, our lives would have been different. I would have told you far before Pain attacked the village that I was in love with you. Your heart wouldn't have been broken, and you never would have left the village. I wouldn't have had to keep the secret about Hikaru, and suffer at the hands of my clan and the villagers for almost eight years because of it."
"And yet, as much as it hurts me to say it I… I don't think I'd change anything." Hinata buried her face in his chest and hugged him tightly, as if she was afraid her next words would cause him to become angry, and perhaps leave. "If I could go back in time and give us happiness from the very beginning, that would mean I'd have to give up Hikaru and I… I just couldn't do that."
She sobbed softly, and her tears soaked through his shirt quickly. It seemed that once her emotional floodgates opened she couldn't stop, but then again she didn't want to.
"You are everything I could have asked for in a husband, Naruto-kun. My life is so full of happiness and love that at times I think I'll burst, but somehow you always find room for more. You gave me a home, and a family. I'm pregnant with what I'm sure will be two adorable children. I have a son who I love dearly, and because of him the Hyūga clan will be whole once again, ending the strife and hatred that have plagued us for decades. Shikamaru, Temari, Neji, Tenten… the list of people whose lives you've changed for the better is very long, Naruto-kun. You're the one responsible for it all, and I can never thank you enough for everything you've done – not only for me, but also for our friends and my family. We all owe you so much, and I… I don't know how we can ever repay you."
His arms wrapped protectively around her, Naruto thought about what she'd just said as he rubbed her back soothingly, trying to comfort and calm her down. Whether she'd intended it to or not, her words triggered the memory of a conversation he'd had many months ago with Kurama the day after his wedding…
***Flashback***
Don't you ever wonder about stuff like this, Kurama? How life could have been different by changing one little thing?
There have been many times I've thought about my existence and the choices I've made. However, through it all I've come to understand that the past is nothing but a weight that sits upon your shoulders, and the more you dwell upon it the heavier it becomes, making you less capable of living in the present.
Does it ever go away? This feeling of regret?
No, not really. Time cannot erase these wounds, only diminish them. I'd advise you to learn from the mistakes that you've made, and realize that everything you've endured has worked together to bring you to this moment, allowing you to make the choice for a better future, not only for yourself but for the family you now possess.
***End Flashback***
He now understood fully why Hinata was afraid that he'd be furious with her. She was basically saying that if the impossible had been offered to her – a 'what if' scenario where she could go back in time and change everything – she wouldn't do it.
Her shyness… His obliviousness… Ignoring her confession… Him dating Sakura, and the hurt he caused Hinata by doing so… Him enduring eight years of pain and anguish when Sakura broke up with him… Seeking his own death… Hinata being disowned and disinherited… Her dealing with eight years of hatred, ridicule and scorn from both the clan and the villagers…
Given the chance, she'd have them repeat all those experiences – both the good and the bad – because the price to change it all would be Hikaru, and that was the reason why she was upset. She was basically saying that to her line of reasoning, all the pain and suffering he'd experienced was worth it to her, since she couldn't imagine wanting her life to be any different than it was right now. Hinata was afraid that he'd be angry with her because she'd come to the conclusion that next to Hikaru's life, along with everything that had happened since he came back to the village, the value of his own pain and suffering meant nothing, and she couldn't handle the guilt that thought brought her.
He'd never given it much thought, but if he was being honest with himself Hinata was right, and she shouldn't feel guilty at all. Naruto had already come to terms with his own 'what if' scenarios, but even knowing that it could erase years of anguish for the both of them, he wouldn't change a thing. Above everyone else, Hinata and Hikaru were his most precious people and he wasn't giving them up, no matter what the circumstances were, or what was promised to him.
He scooped her up and held her close, as she clung to his neck and continued to cry into his shirt. Going to bed early and spending some time with his wife was definitely the best option, because she needed to know that he wasn't angry, and agreed with her that there was no part of their lives now that was worth exchanging for the life they could have had back then.
Besides, he definitely needed a good night's rest because Tsunade had a very tumultuous and eventful day ahead of them tomorrow. He wondered if when she showed up at his office in the morning, he could truly make her an offer she couldn't refuse.
The next morning around nine o'clock, Tsunade walked into the Hokage tower, elated and surprisingly well rested. Last night, she'd slept better than she had in months because she helped do something not seen in generations… free someone from the caged bird seal. Naruto had been right in saying that a large amount of the credit should go to Hikaru, but still – even if it was only a small part, accomplishing something she'd tried so many times to do as Hokage was very gratifying.
But as she walked past Mina and turned to enter her old office, her eyes widened in surprise as she was greeted by the sight of Kurenai, Hanari and Might Guy along with Naruto, who were all staring back at her. Kakashi was also there, but he had his face buried in one of his Icha Icha novels.
"Morning, Tsunade." Naruto smirked amusingly at her. "Sleep well?"
She decided she wasn't going to be baited by his subtle innuendos. "Surprisingly enough, yes."
"So you're well rested and sober, right?"
Tsunade scowled at him. "You know damn well the last time I had a drink and the reason why, gaki. Why are you even asking a question like that?"
"Just making sure." He said cheekily, before turning his attention to the rest of the group. "Okay Hanari, Might Guy asked to have a sparring match with you a few weeks ago, and you agreed. So today I'll be bringing the two of you, along with Kurenai to training ground twenty-six. Kurenai is in charge of the fight – what she says goes, but the same rules apply as the one you had with Kakashi. No large scale jutsu, you will not try to injure Guy permanently and you-know-who stays in your sword. Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah." Hanari said offhandedly. "Don't break him, or the landscape. I got it."
"Same goes for you, Guy-sensei. Make sure whatever you do to Hanari, she can heal from it."
"You have my word Hokage-sama, and my word is as unbreakable as my fiery passion of youth!" Guy exclaimed, winking as he gave Naruto his classic thumbs-up. "Besides, even the cool tempered nature of my eternal rival would surely turn into a torrent of rage if I broke his heart's desire, the Lady Hanari beyond repair."
Kakashi lifted his face from the novel he was reading. "Sorry Gai, did you say something?" he asked, seemingly ignorant of Gai's speech.
Gai shook his fist at him in annoyance and frustration. "Damn you and your hip attitude, Kakashi!"
Hanari scoffed in disbelief at Guy's original comment. "Pfft. You actually think you'll be able break me? Are you sure you didn't have a traumatic head injury recently?"
The implication that he wasn't even close to her level of skill sailed right over Guy's bowl-shaped haircut. "Not that I'm aware of, no." he said, staring blankly back at her. "But my youthful enthusiasm will not be denied! Let's get to the training ground so that we may begin our spar. I'm filled with the flames of youth this morning!"
"Alright, before we start having a 'who's gonna kick who's ass' war of words between you two," Naruto growled, "I'm getting everyone to training ground twenty-six. The three of you will have to find your own way back, though – and Kurenai can help you with that if you're in no condition to do so."
"As if! Like I'd…"
"Hanari! No boasting. Now the three of you get over here and grab my shoulder."
Kurenai, Guy and Hanari complied, and half a second later they vanished in a flash of yellow light.
As they waited for Naruto to get back, the two former Hokage stared at each other. The silence stretched uncomfortably on for almost a minute before Tsunade decided she'd had enough and started up a conversation in order to break the tension.
"So, Kakashi – any idea why Naruto asked us to be here?"
He put his book away and shook his head. "No, not really. I know why they were here…" he said, motioning his head towards the spot where everyone had been only minutes before, "but I'm clueless as to the rest. Maybe it has to do with something that only we, as former Hokage would have any knowledge about."
"I can't think of anything better. Any guesses as to what it might be?"
"Not a clue. During his first two weeks on the job, Naruto created a couple dozen clones and read through everything in the vault that holds most of the village secrets. There shouldn't be much left to ask about, and of the things I know of that were purposely left out, none of them are important enough to call us both here. Either one of us would have been sufficient."
Over at Training Ground Twenty-Six…
"For Kami's sake Hanari, you're here for a sparring match, not an insult contest." Naruto's patience was wearing thin, especially with his former teammate. "Guy, keep your flames of youth in check until Kurenai says you can start the fight. And Kurenai, if either one of them get out of line, use the worst genjutsu you can think of to knock them out, and then bring them back to the village. The ANBU know you guys are out here, so if you need help just call for it. Other than that, I'll see you guys when the match is finished."
As soon as Naruto disappeared, Hanari casually reached up and touched the seal at the back of her neck. SuchīRushadou appeared in her right hand, and just as Kurenai and Guy had seen the day she'd fought Kakashi, a swirling aura of ebony black and jade green surrounded the sword.
Still grinning smugly, Hanari decided she'd test the limits of Naruto's final command. "You ready to get started, spandex boy?"
Guy returned the grin and drew a pair of metal nunchaku from the storage pouch on his hip. "I am, and you have my word that I won't take your fighting skills lightly. I've seen firsthand how capable a kunoichi you are."
"Then why don't you just…" She was interrupted as Guy crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"First Gate of Opening…OPEN!"
Hanari watched with moderate fascination as the nunchaku became a blur as he rapidly twirled them around his body. She had no clue what that 'gate' thing was he just used, but gave him a nice power boost. Maybe she'd finally found someone who could come close to keeping up with her speed.
"Well, Guy… you've peaked my interest. You might actually make me break a sweat. I'm gonna enjoy seeing just how good you really are."
Guy stopped spinning his nunchaku. The sun glistened briefly off his teeth as he took a defensive pose.
"As will I, Hanari. Show me how brightly the flames of youth burn within you!"
Kurenai watched as the two rushed towards each other, almost faster than she could follow. Thinking this fight would probably be at least as entertaining as the one between Hanari and Kakashi – if not more so – she pulled out a storage scroll and produced a large bag of buttered popcorn. She adjusted her seat on the rock in order to get more comfortable, popping a few kernels in her mouth as she listened to the clang of weapons from two of the most insane ninja in the village as they clashed with one another.
Back in Konoha…
Kakashi and Tsunade were interrupted as Naruto suddenly reappeared behind his desk. "Honestly, it's like dealing with genin fresh out of the academy!" he said indignantly.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked casually.
"Guy was overly enthusiastic to get started, yelling that his 'flames of youth' couldn't be contained any longer. Hanari was egging him on, saying that his spandex suit must have cut off the flow of blood to his brain if he thought he had a chance of beating her. Kurenai was laughing too hard at the whole thing to stop them. I think Hanari is a bad influence on her."
Tsunade and Kakashi shared a look, and then both chuckled softly. "Well, now you know exactly how it was for both of us dealing with you when you were younger." Kakashi said jokingly.
"There's no way I was that bad, Kakashi-sensei."
"You're right. You weren't that bad." Tsunade couldn't resist joining Kakashi in needling him a little bit. "You were worse."
"Ha ha ha. You're hilarious. The both of you." The sarcasm practically oozed out of his voice. "Anyway, let's get back to the reason why you're both here. I'm sure the two of you were discussing it while I was gone, right?"
"Actually, yes." Kakashi said flatly. "The only thing we could come up with was that it had something to do with private Hokage business, since both of us held the office before you."
"Well, that's partially true. I wanted both of you here because you held the title of Hokage, but not in the way you were probably thinking about." Naruto steepled his hands and rested his chin on them. His eyes turned a steely shade of blue as he stared at Tsunade, his gaze intense and calculating. If Kakashi didn't know better, he'd swear there was a Hyūga sitting in front of them.
"I want you to fight me. And as a former Hokage also, I want him…" Naruto motioned his head towards Kakashi, "…to be there as both referee and witness for the entire thing. And take us to the hospital afterwards if necessary."
Tsunade and Kakashi were both taken by surprise at the request.
"You want me to spar? With you?" she asked. It was both a question and a statement.
"Not spar. Fight. There's a difference. And yes. With me."
"That doesn't make any sense, Naruto. Why do you want to fight with me?"
Naruto hesitated for a moment, before reclining his seat and closing his eyes. "My reasons are my own," Naruto said wearily, rubbing his temples, "and I won't tell you the entire reason why until you give me your answer, but the fact of the matter is that I'm tired, Tsunade."
She eyed him skeptically. This was the complete opposite of the upbeat man she'd seen less than thirty minutes ago when she'd walked into his office. "Tired? Tired of what?"
"Of this," Naruto motioning one hand back and forth between the two of them. "It all started when I got back from Nadeshiko Village with the mission file. You remember the conversation we had the day after? Where I told you how pissed off and disgusted I was with you, and turned your desk into pile of toothpicks?"
Tsunade nodded solemnly. It wasn't something she was particularly proud of, and the memory of it brought a sour taste to her mouth. "I don't think I'll ever forget it."
"Then there was the conversation we had when I first became Hokage. You told me how sorry you were, and begged and pleaded for me to forgive you for all the crap you did. I accepted your apology, but said that forgiveness was a long way off." His gaze softened as he looked at Tsunade once again. "Since then, I've been running you ragged with small, odd personal requests because even though you totally deserved it, I didn't feel like making your life a living hell. But what you did to help Hikaru and Neji… that meant a lot. And I'm tired of just dumping requests off on you. You're a former Hokage damn it, and frankly none of that is doing anything to get you to feel or understand what I went through for eight years. That's why I want you to fight me."
The skeptic look was back on her face. "You're still not making a very good case, Naruto. You're dead set on fighting me, but there has to be some incentive, because I'm really not interested in the two of us just beating the hell out of each other. Give me one good reason why I should fight you in the first place."
"Because if you win, I'll consider your debt to me paid in full. I still won't forget, but I'll forgive what you did."
Tsunade was stunned. The reward was certainly far greater than what she'd been expecting – not that she was looking for the easy way out, because fighting Naruto wouldn't be easy by any stretch of the imagination. But she wanted so badly… so very badly for her heart to stop hurting so much. She desperately wanted her adopted grandson to call her "Baa-chan" once again, and be part of a family – his family.
The opposite was going on with Kakashi. He narrowed his eye suspiciously at Naruto, wondering what his ulterior motive was in all of this. Tsunade had no clue Naruto had spent eight years with the Mienai Segi. With Sage Mode, his summoning contract with the toads at Mount Myōboku, and the full power of Kurama at his disposal the fight would be unbelievably lopsided, even taking into account that Tsunade was one of the legendary Sannin. There's no way Naruto was stupid enough not to know that.
"I assume you'll find a way to make the fight more even?" Kakashi wasn't trying to insinuate that he'd use it regardless, but the nine-tailed fox definitely gave Naruto an edge. "She's not a jinchuuriki, Naruto."
Naruto let out a dry laugh. "Don't worry. I've already taken that into account and I've got it covered."
Tsunade pondered his request. It was certainly tempting, but… "What happens if I lose?"
"Nothing, other than a free trip to the hospital. You can try again once you've healed, but bear in mind that you'll be that much older when you do. And I've got a good forty-five years on you right now."
"Smartass. It's thirty-three at the most." Tsunade gave Naruto a deadpan look and crossed her arms in front of her chest – which Kakashi thought was a rather impressive feat. "Fine. I accept. When would you like to do this? And where?"
"The when is right now – that's why I asked if you got a good night's sleep when you got here." Naruto said straightforwardly. "I have to leave for Kirigakure in a few days, so I want some time to heal before I do. As for the where, I figured we could use training ground forty-four, the forest of death. It'd be the perfect place for two Kage level ninja to go all out, and since we aren't scheduled to have the chūnin exams in the village for another four years, there'll be plenty of time for the local landscape to recover. I sent a clone out there yesterday with one of my special kunai, so I can get us there in an instant if you're up for it."
Tsunade stared back at him, stone faced as she thought about the pros and cons of the situation. Pros? Both she and Naruto could finally get past this… continued awkwardness, this wall he'd built between them and start moving back to where things should have been before… well, basically before he'd found out how bad she'd fucked things up. And just like Sakura, she'd deserved every bit of what she'd gotten.
The cons? She'd be fighting Naruto, who'd brought down Pain when the entirety of Konoha couldn't and with Sasuke's help, defeated both Kaguya and Madara Uchiha when he was seventeen years old. Those two instances made him much more of a legend than her honorary title of 'Legendary Sannin'. Plus, she was actually thirty-eight years older than him, which made her… well, however old she wanted to admit. She could still count herself among the most powerful ninja in the elemental nations but when it came to Naruto, the age gap was very significant.
Still, the offer was far too good to pass up. Even if she lost, she could at least say that met the challenge head-on, and tried her best rather than decline out of fear. And win or lose, she hoped it would make a difference to him, as to where she stood in his life.
Back at Training Ground Twenty-Six…
Hanari was upset. No, upset wasn't the right term for what she was feeling right now. It was ticked off.
For the last ten minutes, she'd been trying to cut Guy's nunchaku to pieces but his skill with the weapon was at least as good as her kenjutsu. She quickly realized that since he witnessed the fight between her and Kakashi, he knew that SuchīRushadou could slice through practically anything and every time she'd swung her sword at him, he'd used the nunchaku to hit the flat of her blade and deflect it. While Guy seemed to enjoy the 'clang' every time that happened, the sound only served to irritate her more.
She didn't want to use any ninjutsu just yet – forbidden or not – because she wanted to gauge his abilities first. But at this point, she was either going to have to resort to using some, or push herself faster. She quickly decided for the latter, since other than her former Mienai Segi associate Gilgamesh, there was no one faster than she was.
Hanari threw a front kick at Guy, which he of course blocked but the impact was enough to send them about a dozen yards away from one another. They stared down one another, panting heavily. Hanari dragged the back of her free hand across her forehead, and when it came away she was a bit surprised to see it covered in a thick layer of sweat.
"Heh. I'm impressed, Guy. Looks like you actually did make me break a sweat. That's something not even Kakashi made me do. You must be WAY stronger than he is."
Still in his defensive stance, Guy flashed his trademark smile and with his own free hand, gave her a thumbs-up. "I appreciate that, and I'm impressed with your skills as well. However, I'm sorry to say that you're incorrect about my eternal rival. At present, the count of various contests between us stands at eighty-six to seventy-two, in his favor."
Guy had made the statement casually, but the words triggered something with Hanari. She narrowed her eyes accusingly at him, the point of her sword dropped several inches and her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Bullshit. You're lying."
Guy shook his head. "I assure you that I'm not, Hanari. My eternal rival is truly a formidable opponent." He motioned his head towards Kurenai, who is still sitting on her rock at the edge of the clearing. "You may ask Kurenai, if you don't believe me."
Even though she didn't think he'd stoop so low as to attack her while she was distracted, Hanari remained slightly on guard and glanced at Kurenai out of the corner of her eye.
"He's right," she said, tossing four or five kernels of popcorn into her mouth, "Kakashi was the strongest out of our graduating class, Hanari. The ANBU are Konoha's elite fighting force, and he's a legend even among them. And he was the Hokage – you don't get that job by being an above average shinobi."
"But…But that's impossible!" she yelled in denial. "I kicked his ass in what – twenty minutes when we fought? If he's stronger than Guy, then how…"
"You can chalk part of it up to not knowing the extent of your skills, but more than likely the rest of it is because he didn't want to cause any permanent damage." Kurenai smiled wistfully as her mind brought up memories – both sad and happy – of the past. "Both Guy and I have known Kakashi since we were children, Hanari. He's had a pretty bad string of luck in his life. A lot of people he was close to died. It kind of shut him down emotionally, but he cares about you – a lot. We can both see it, and it's more than we've seen him care about someone in a very long time. And with the history he's had, Kakashi deserves some happiness. Subconsciously, he was probably trying not to hurt you because he didn't want to screw up that chance."
"So he…he threw the fight?"
"Umm," Kurenai said hesitantly, "I wouldn't say that. I'm pretty sure he didn't even know he was doing it until…"
The point of her sword came back up and her chakra suddenly spiked, enveloping her entire body in the swirling jade green and ebony black aura that had only been surrounding the sword up until now.
"That rotten, no good son of a bitch! When I'm done here, I'm gonna break every bone in his body!" She bared her teeth, grinding them in fury. "No, scratch that! First I'll break him in half, then I'll break every bone in his body! He won't be able to walk for at least a month!" Hanari pointed her sword menacingly at Guy, and the aura surrounding her body increased in intensity. "But first, you and I are finishing this fight! You better up your game, because I'm through playing around with you!"
"Wonderful! A marvelous display of youth!" Guy shouted exhilaratingly, bringing his arms to his sides. "I shall up my game! Third Gate… Gate of Life, OPEN!"
Guy's skin turned red, and his eyes seemed to glow white with power. An aura of what Hanari could only assume was chakra appeared around his body. The sight caused an adrenaline rush throughout her body – a psychosomatic thrill at being able to fight someone who, through a lifetime of insane training regimens, was a self-made powerhouse.
"C'mon, green bean – show me what you got!" Hanari yelled, grinning maniacally.
Over at Training Ground Forty-Four, The Forest of Death…
Kakashi, Tsunade and Naruto appeared suddenly in a flash of yellow light. Tsunade noticed immediately that they were in the large clearing in the northwest corner – while not completely barren, the area was only sparsely populated by trees, along with a few dozen rocks of various sizes, including six boulders.
"Okay Tsunade, we're going to have a few extra few rules for this fight." Naruto said casually, as he took his jacket off and extended it towards Kakashi, who quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I have my own coat like this, but this one belonged to my dad. I'd rather not ruin it." Naruto explained. Kakashi took the coat and nodded, understanding immediately.
"Rules?" Tsunade asked semi-curiously. "Other than the traditional shinobi sparring rules, which basically state that 'purposely trying to kill or maim your opponent is forbidden', what else do we need?"
"These are mostly for your protection. Kakashi hinted that he more or less wants a fair fight, and I agree with him. So first, no summons. Kastuyu and the slugs, along with Gamabunta and the rest of the toads don't make an appearance. Agreed?"
He wanted the match to be between the two of them, and not their summons. It was a reasonable request, plus Katsuyu and Gamabunta wouldn't take kindly to having to fight one another. "Agreed."
"Second, I won't be using nine-tails chakra mode. There are some healing benefits Kurama's chakra gives me that I can't turn off, but I won't use it to accelerate anything, or perform any offensive attacks."
That was in response to what Kakashi said back at the office. "Agreed."
Now for the one she isn't expecting, Naruto thought as he smirked at her. "Third… I won't use Sage Mode."
That last one shocked her. "You what?"
"You heard me. I'm not going to use Sage Mode."
He's certainly giving himself a major handicap for this fight, Kakashi thought to himself. Satisfied that Naruto honored his request to make the fight more or less even, Kakashi used the shunshin to move to the far edge of the clearing, where he could sit and watch the fight from a safe distance. With these two, there was no telling how big the damage might be.
Tsunade however, wasn't convinced. "There's something missing here, Naruto. Kyuubi or not, no one limits themselves in a fight like you just did unless it's a friendly spar – which this apparently is not – or there's another reason behind it all. You said so yourself at the office, so why don't you just tell me the rest of the reason for all of this?"
His face hardened, and the color of his eyes became a dark cobalt blue as he stared icily back at her. Tsunade retreated a step or two as she saw his demeanor change… this was not the boy she remembered, nor was it the man who returned to the village almost a year ago. No, this was someone else entirely… someone she'd never seen before…
"You want to know the real reason behind all of this, Tsunade?" he asked coldly, "It's because after months of trying to find another way besides this to show you what happened to me, I couldn't do it. Yes, you're sorry – but do you truly know what you're sorry about?"
Tsunade took another step back, as she began to feel his chakra increase. But the feeling was off – it was dark, foreboding… almost like a living thing that continued to grow, smothering any warmth it encountered. And it wasn't something she ever expected to come from a person like Naruto.
"The pain I suffered through. The training sessions I endured. The suicide missions I volunteered for, looking for my own death which instead of killing me, only made me stronger. The horrors and atrocities I've seen. The faces of those I've killed. The blank, lifeless stares of the innocent I wasn't in time to save. I became numb to my emotions. Most of the time it was far safer to feel nothing at all."
Tsunade actually began to shiver under the pressure of his chakra. Is this what Sakura and I are responsible for? This can't be possible…
Naruto suddenly remembered that he'd left the seal on his hand open and quickly shut it down. He didn't know what kind of effect it would have on Hinata, but he hoped nothing made it through because otherwise, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do when he got home.
"In order for you to truly understand, I wanted you to see what you helped create," he growled menacingly. His posture shifted, like an alpha predator ready to pounce on his next meal… "No influence from Kurama. No hiding behind Sage Mode. No shadows or illusions."
Naruto spiked his chakra pressure…
"I wanted you to see the monster I became."
…and both Tsunade and Kakashi gasped, as the world turned heavy.
Back at Training Ground Twenty-Six…
"EARTH STYLE!" Hanari shouted, stabbing her sword into the ground, "EARTH TSUNAMI!"
A wave of earth, easily thirty feet tall radiated out from her sword and traveled toward Guy, who was standing across the clearing.
Grinning ecstatically, he slammed his palms together in front of him and shouted back, "RISING SUN!"
The shockwaves that emanated from his hands sizzled for a few yards before they burst into flame, growing in size and speed as they traveled towards the earth tsunami barreling toward him. The two met in the middle and exploded, causing flaming chunks of rocks to shower all around them.
Hanari swatted away the pieces with her sword, while Guy used his nunchaku to do the same. The only difference was that Guy was clearly enjoying himself, while Hanari was seriously pissed off. She bumped her chakra to another level, pushing out more power.
Kurenai watched as the jade green and black aura surrounding Hanari intensified, and then both she and Guy disappeared in a blur of colors. She finished her popcorn several minutes ago, and was watching the fight with rabid fascination. Both Guy and Hanari were moving so fast that even she, an experienced jōnin couldn't follow their movements – but she could certainly hear them. Sonic booms and seismic tremors came from all over the clearing. Boulders and trees exploded, and craters formed in their wake.
The two of them seemed to be polar opposites – Hanari was getting angrier as the fight dragged on, while Guy became more and more excited. Well, she assumed that was the case since he kept screaming about the 'flames of youth', but he always did that. But either way, it was clear he was enjoying the match against Hanari on a number of levels.
Hanari's coat was in tatters from two of Guy's attacks, but unlike the day she'd fought Kakashi she refused to discard it. Kurenai figured that might change soon, because there wasn't much of it left. Although, Hanari in a chain mail shirt would probably be less of a distraction to Guy than it would be to Kakashi because… well, just because. And thankfully, Guy's spandex suit remained mostly intact except for a few holes here and there where Hanari had gotten him with some sort of rapid fire barrage earth jutsu.
Both of them were pushing each other to their limits, especially Guy – and that was something she'd only seen Kakashi do before. Even worse, neither of them was at their maximum, which meant that this would probably end badly for one of them… or maybe both.
She was interrupted from her thoughts as they suddenly stopped about twenty yards or so from each other, panting heavily.
"How?" Hanari railed, as she reached up and ripped the remains of her coat off and threw it angrily at the ground. "How the fuck can you be this fast? It can't be from whatever the hell those 'gate' things are you keep shouting about. I don't care how insane your workouts might be, there's no fucking way…"
"Actually, it's exactly from those 'gate' things you're screaming about." Kurenai said matter-of-factly from her seat at the edge of the clearing, as she wadded up the empty popcorn bag and casually tossed it over her shoulder. "Guy really isn't good at molding chakra. He basically has almost no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he focuses on his taijutsu and in that one area he trains himself mercilessly to be the best. You won't find someone better at taijutsu anywhere in the elemental nations. He's highly skilled and deadly enough without it but if he needs to, he can also utilize the Eight Gates."
Not taking her eyes off of Guy, Hanari hacked and spat some blood on the ground. "Eight Gates? What the hell are those?"
"The Eight Gates are specific tenketsu in someone's chakra pathway system." Guy explained. "They limit the flow of chakra within your body and it is the most powerful taijutsu technique known, as well as the most dangerous. Through intense physical training, only someone who is a taijutsu master can learn how to open these gates, allowing the user to surpass their own limitations. Opening each one increases the user's strength, speed and stamina exponentially, but doing so can cause extreme damage to their body. The final gate – the Gate of Death – can only be utilized at the cost of the user's life, but the rest can be survived if their body is strong enough. At the present time, I have opened five gates and still have the ability to open two more."
So he still has two more levels to go, Hanari thought, and both of them will make him stronger and faster than he is already. Fuck. This is what I get for being overconfident. I wonder if my forbidden jutsu will be enough for me to take him down…
She was broken from her thoughts, and everyone paused as a wave of emotions washed over them, like a light summer breeze. The only difference was that unlike a summer breeze, this didn't have one iota of warmth in it. They all looked in the direction it came from, but while Guy and Kurenai looked apprehensive, Hanari snickered knowingly.
Kurenai blanched. "What…What the hell is that?"
"This is the opposite of the flames of youth." The trademark smile had vanished from Guy's face for the first time since the match had started. "The sensation feels as if all at the same time, someone was experiencing the worst of what the world had to offer."
"It's called Emotional Coalescence," Hanari stated wryly, as Kurenai and Guy stared guardedly at her. "It's a technique where you can actually make your emotions palpable. It's used to demoralize and really scare the shit out of the enemy on the battlefield. I mean, we're probably a couple of miles away right now. Can you imagine being within a few yards of that and getting hit with it full force?"
A couple of miles away? Both Kurenai and Guy shivered at the thought.
"I know how to do it too, but this is way beyond what I'm capable of. But the feeling it puts out is unique to whoever's doing it. Kind of like a fingerprint. And this is one I've felt before. I know exactly who it is, and Kami help whoever he's using it on."
"That… is your Hokage."
A/N: So everyone's probably looking at this thinking… 'What an evil cliffhanger!' Well, you'd be right. And the next chapter will be a conclusion to all of this, in addition to some issues with Neji, Sakura, Kakashi, Hanari, Tsunade and the Hyūga council. I was originally planning on putting all of this into one chapter but it would have taken longer, and the chapter would have been over 20k words so I'm breaking it up – plus, I didn't want to wait any longer to push something out to you guys.
I would also like to apologize to gigiree123. I took a break at the end of last chapter to do some beta work on what you sent me and guess what? Yours is the only piece I didn't complete. You gave me the reasons why we haven't talked and that's fine, but I still feel bad.
So, next chapter is the conclusion of the fights between Hanari/Kakashi and Tsunade/Naruto. Things happen with Sakura and Ino. Neji, Naruto and Hiashi confront the Hyūga council. And Reira has a bit of a moment as well.
Poll! Okay, last chapter I told my readers that I'm leaving it up to them as to who Choji ends up with – Karui or Ino. As of right now, Karui is in the lead (even taking into account votes from reviews and PM's), but I'm leaving the poll open for one more chapter. If you haven't voted yet, please head over to my profile page and do so, because it will definitely affect the plot and future chapters!
Recommendation time! So there's this story I was reading a few months back and never ended up recommending because I was under the impression that the story had ended. Well, I can't tell you how wrong I was and the author is continuing it much to my delight. There are several other authors on this site that have read and recommended it (I'm thinking of you, Ayrmed), so they know how good of a piece of work it is.
The name of it is White Kunai by Magma823. The summary pretty much says it all – Naruto, Ino and Hinata are called to another town to investigate a serial rapist/killer. The story has now picked up where Naruto is the Hokage and he and Hinata are married, with a baby on the way. Besides being well written, it's filled with cliffhangers and tension. Go on over and read it – I'm almost positive you won't be disappointed. And leave a review when you do – I'm sure the author would appreciate it!
Here's the link, as usual remove the spaces and you know what to replace the stars with:
www . fanfiction . *** / s / 9919311
REVIEWS! Okay, so I pleaded for reviews last chapter and you guys responded in a big way. One hundred and thirty-two reviews, which is a new record. Granted, fifty of them came from those two readers who left me one for every chapter but it still counts. It was the best Christmas present a guy like me could get. I can't thank everyone enough, and I now have 2,000 reviews in my sights.
I know I won't come close to that number, but I'm still going to plead for as many reviews as you'll give me. They motivate me, challenge me, encourage me and help me stay focused on writing, so please take a minute to leave one for me. I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate it.
That's all for now. Take care and stay safe.
Serious Sam