Speech
Thought/Mindescape
Demon/Jutsu
Demonic Thought
Emphasis
*Sound*
I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR IT'S CHARACTERS
I truly hope the NaruHina fans enjoy this beginning portion. Aside from that, my focus will be on to create more detailed conversations as I expand on exposition. Combat is another thing that I hope to be more effective on to avoid the chapter becoming stale. All in all, I desire to add a sense of maturity to my writing to bring a higher quality. Hopefully you guys enjoy so don't be afraid to review. Thank you.
[Garden Gem Restaurant - 3 Days after Theatre Incident - Uzushio]
Naruto and Hinata sat in a rather upscale restaurant; both donned in formal wear with Naruto in a well-fitting black suit with a silky blue tie and Hinata wearing a flowing silky a blue dress that went to her lower thighs and complimented figure rather well.
Naruto lightly rubbed a bandaged bruise on the left side of his forehead before wincing as the thought back and remembering the events leading up to it. He was the fastest shinobi in Uzushio, but hell hath no fury like an angry woman scorned. And his angry Hyuuga girlfriend caught up with him eventually. Yes, everything was explained but...not as efficiently. As the blonde's eyes traced down the menu, he began to get anxious, "I don't know what to order!" Naruto groaned getting the attention of the other guests who looked to see the source of the statement and simply laughed, knowing well the antics of the son of their two latest Uzukage.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata looked at him with a pleading worry in her eyes, "We can leave if you want?"
"No no. Sorry Hinata-chan, I just have a lot on my mind, ya know? It's just-"
"Honey hush," she said knowing her boyfriend wasn't going to budge even if it was good for him. She began to put down her drink and take her purse in hand. After slightly prying Naruto up, she placed her arm around his after he left a tip and began to walk out, "Come on, babe"
The waiter saw this and began to worry, "I am so sorry, Namikazi-same! Please do not leave. Accept my sincerest apologies for the service speed," he bowed down.
Naruto lifted him back up with gave him a smile, "Please...it's not your fault, my friend. I'm just not feeling well. Regardless, thank you for your service...Saiki," Naruto replied as he read his nametag.
The couple exited the restaurant and entered the civilian streets which were somewhat lively but not much as usual due to it being somewhat late into the night. Hinata looked up at her boyfriend who was caught up in observing the sky and village. Sure he was familiar with everything but he had never truly noticed the beauty in a ground view of it all. His eyes used to increase the illumination making the sky brighter than normal and mostly saw the village from the view of the Uzukage Office balcony or when he quickly dashed through the village streets. Now, he saw the sky how he used to with its original dark hue paired with glimmering stars and the streets of Uzushio with chatter and light all around, even with decreased traffic due to the time.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke up, "Can I be blunt with you?"
He nodded, "Of course, Hinata-chan."
"I love you and love everything so far and I'm not bored or anything, but is all these fancy dates really what you want to do?" she told him plainly with worry in her eyes, "I know I'm a heiress and all, but I'm not entirely for all this formal stuff to be honest. Even as a little girl, it felt suffocating doing it as a child. You don't have to keep taking me out to these restaurant if you don't want to. Your in this relationship too, Naruto-kun. We should do stuff you like too. You know, relax a little bit."
Her expression became one of adventure and hyper activity almost, "We should do something fun. Something stupid. Something risky," with each word, Hinata punched Naruto's chest. He couldn't help but look at this beautiful creature in front of him. The inside of his jacket pocket felt heavy as he felt the ring box's presence still almost haunt him. But Naruto did slightly cursed at himself, while he did want to make her feel special, he had no experience with dating girls. Hinata was his only girlfriend and wanted it to stay that way. He had just tried to make this proper for her, but then again, she had a point. Maybe he should try something more casual.
An idea popped into his head, "You're absolutely right, Hinata-chan. Do you remember our first date?" He stopped walking as a devilish smile came across him
"Of course I REMEMBER!" the last portion was expressed as a scream as the shock of being picked up and quickly ran across to another area with no warning whatsoever. You'd think she'd be used to being sped across randomly by no...it was still a surprise for her. Fearful yet exhilarating.
They came to a park surrounded lightly by trees and a beautiful lake. Suddenly, the realization hit Hinata on what Naruto wanted to do, although this time she was far more skilled. She cracked her knuckles and created seals for two jutsu, "Earth Release: Land Lift. Earth Release: Creator's Mold," a meter above the lake, a rectangular plane of smooth rock was formed. And in front of them, four chunks of rock spiked out, they changed form and smoothened to form a shoe sole with a sharp blade at the bottom, "Here, attach yourself to these like you would with chakra like water walking. Plus this way the wild life isn't hurt. Care to do the honors, Naruto-kun?"
The blond smiled in amazement at the Hyuuga Heiress' skill; he unbuttoned his suit jacket, undid the collar, and loosened the tie allowing him to make his own seals, "Ice Release: Frost Breath," a concentrated blanket of intensely chilled air exited Naruto's mouth and covered the newly made stone platform with a thick layer of ice.
Donning the makeshift skates, Naruto helped Hinata up who nodded her head sideways at the ice rink making Naruto smile. He grabbed her up and launched her at the rink much to her surprise. She spun in the air with her skirt spinning up slightly and landed with the balance of a skilled kunoichi, she continued to skate around to adjust to the feel of her earth jutsu creations until, Naruto jumped and flipped three times in the air before gracefully landing and circling his pouting girlfriend.
"Idiot...you're supposed to lift me. Not throw me," the teasing pout from Hinata continued, "Maybe I need a new boyfriend..."
The Uzushio nin laughed and skated to her and put his hands on her hips. He lifted her up much like a danseur and danseuse where she enjoyed the pleasant breeze of the night as she closed her eyes, spread her arms widely with her wrists angled down, and her legs vertically open, "I think you're content with your current boyfriend, Hyuuga-sama. Even though you did give me a bruise."
"You ran! You wouldn't have it if you had just stayed still," she responded.
Once the lift ended, she grabbed his color and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before grabbing his hands and skating back. His firm gripped resulted in inertia bringing her back where Naruto placed his arm around her, "Plus, no way am I going to let some princess make any moves on my man," Hinata continued with both flaming ferocity and a refined elegance."
"Agreed," Naruto spoke into her ear as his free hand used to fingers to vertically glide down from her shoulders to her hips as he kissed her neck, causing a light moan.
With her hand still with his, she exited his embrace and lifted his hand up, using it to spin around multiple times until Naruto put his hands on her back and lowered her to where she lifted on leg. In that moment, all he could focus on was the girl in front of him as he pressed his lips against hers, which she returned the kiss dearly. The two continued the lip-lock even when he had brought her back upwith his arms around her waist and hers on his chest.
The pair of glimmering blue orbs gazed dearly into the opposing pair of soft lavender as their foreheads touched. The world felt still as they looked up at the sky, the glowing silver moonlight was now unsheathed as the clouds and left its path. The stars more brilliantly glistening on the dark blue sky with the cool breeze swaying trees and chirping of crickets and cicadas gently filled the air.
From the trees, a flurry of fireflies exited an opening and began to circle around the two shinobi bringing them laughter. Hinata separated from Naruto trying to catch one in her hands as the blonde made a container of ice using his chakra to catch one for her. Both aimlessly skated until they ran into each other, laughing at their combined clumsiness.
An instinct came across him as he remembered the box burning a hole in his jacket pocket. Naruto's hand went into the pocket and he pulled out the box that was hidden in his hand, "Hey, Hinata-chan."
She smiled and looked at her lover, "Yes?"
Naruto got down on one knee, cold but he didn't care. Hinata was in shock, "Oh my god..Naruto, what are you doing," she said as a smile came onto her with tears forming."
"You have always been at my side, whether I did know or didn't. You've brought me nothing but joy and comfort and guidance whenever I needed. Throughout my life, no one has given me so much love for so long, and being with you sets my heart on fire. There's nothing more that I want rather than to protect you, always be there for you, and be yours. I am willing to die for you any day, my angel," his hand opened the box revealing a ring. It was pure glimmering gold with flowers engraved into the outside with light blue diamonds and a large lavender amethyst as its center piece. Within it, it was engraved 'To my one and only eternally loved soulmate' in an elegant font of similar style to the flower engraving on the outside. Naruto looked at Hinata deeply with titanic amounts of sincerity and compassion, "Will you marry me, Hinata Hyuuga..."
Tears of happiness had flooded Hinata, she was holding her hands on her mouth to stop her from screaming from the utter joy, "Oh my god! Yes yes yes! A billion times yes! I will marry you, Naruto-kun"
Hinata held her hand out, allowing Naruto to slip the finger onto her, and then lifted him up by the collar of his suit to give him the deepest kiss as his hands wrapped around her body, "What took you so damn long, you sexy idiot?!" she exclaimed before hugging him as she cried tears of joy.
"Girl, you have no idea..." Naruto painfully remembered all the times he was interrupted before but returned the hug and wiped her tears.
The two shinobi then got off the makeshift ice rink and undid their jutsu. Once Hinata was done properly removing the plane of rock from the area, Naruto picked her up and took her to the Uzumaki compound.
[Uzumaki Compound - Four Minutes Earlier - Uzushio]
Masami laid in her room with all the lights turned off as she was still in bed. The loss of her boyfriend had still caused her pain but she was coping. Recently she had been going over old pictures and such, remembering the good times but it all caused her anger as she remembered what happened. What Naruto did.
But even in anger, she soon remembered everything good her brother had done. Everything he had sacrificed. Everything he had endured. Everything he had been through. A life of pain and loss and betrayal. All that combined with the instability of his chakra, like her kaa-san and tou-san had explained.
She was even shocked when they had told her that he had his Kyuubi chakra sealed to regain control of himself before accepting it. While Masami knew she wasn't as skillful with seals as her brother, the girl was still aware of the concept of the seal her father created. How much pain her brother must have endured to eliminate the cause of the pain he caused and lose his oldest friend with it. She felt ashamed for calling her nii-san a monster, but didn't know how to apologize.
Her mothers words still rang in her head when Kushina had first told Masami they would meet Naruto, 'He's a gentle boy but he's been through a lot of pain. He's always been alone, and never grew up like you did. Just be kind to him, okay my sweet Masami? He may lose himself sometimes so please watch over your big brother.'
Tears continued to stream as she knew what she had to do. She needed to tell her brother how much she loves him. Kushina entered the room, the light of the hallway began to illuminate the dark area.
"Masami..." Kushina said with compassion, "You need some light in here. Would you like some dinner?"
Kushina turned on the light switch and saw tears in her daughters eyes making the red-haired woman wrap her arms around her young daughter, "What's wrong? Do you still miss him?"
The younger Uzumaki female cleared the tears from her vision, "Yeah but...I miss Naruto too. I feel so far from him because of what I said. I called him a monster, kaa-san. How could I, his only sister, hurt him like this. I caused him so much pain too...he hates me..." she cried into her mothers arms.
"Hey now," Kushina wiped her tears, "You're a kunoichi. A strong and fierce shinobi of the greatest bloodline and village in the world. Remember, Uzumaki never give up. Your brother may be hurt, but that doesn't mean he hates you. He's been trying so hard to prove himself to all of us that he can still protect everyone. He was just raw from everything and has been working hard to better his own strength, show that he doesn't need a corrupted energy to protect those he loves. I promise you, he's already forgiven you."
"Are you sure?"
"I am," Kushina brushed her daughters hair with her hands, "Naruto and Hinata will be back soon, maybe you can talk to him then. You can come outside whenever you want, I'm not going to rush you. But help me out with the dishes. There's too many damn shinobi eating high amounts of food, ya know?" her mother's antics caused Masami to softly laugh.
"Yeah. I know."
[Uzumaki Clan Compound - Present Time - Uzushio]
Naruto and Hinata burst into the living room, grabbing the attention of Yugito, Fuu, Kushina, Minato, and Kenshin. The two were simply giggling and not speaking any words coherently. Minato was drinking water while eating some chips as he and Kenshin watched television. Yugito and Fu were discussing their training, while Syuu was helping Kushina clean the kitchen. You know, normal Monday night.
"What's going on, sochi?" Kushina asked worried for Naruto.
Kenshin was curious, "Are you guys drunk?"
The two laughed even more worrying the room of shinobi, "Are you guys okay, Naruto-kun?" Fu spoke up.
Hinata stepped in front of them with a deep blushing smile of shyness, "Well..." she lifted her hand to show the ring which was now around her finger, "You tell me, mother and father..."
Minato spit out the water he was drinking as Kenshin started to choke on the chips, which went down the wrong hole in his throat. Kushina dropped the plate Yugito and Fu rushed to Hinata.
"AHHHHHHHH!" the four kunoichi screamed all together like schoolgirls in happiness.
"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!" was all Fu could manage.
"That's one big rock," Yugito stated.
"The stupid blonde actually did it!" Fuu exclaimed again.
Naruto said a quick, "Fuck you!" as Minato hugged his son.
Never had Naruto felt such an iron embrace from his father nor seen him so emotional, "Congratulations, my boy," Minato said with tears forming in his eyes while Naruto returned the hug and tears in his as well.
Kenshin hugged Naruto next, "You got some balls kiddo...good luck."
Lastly, his mother...Kushina jumped onto Naruto, "NARUTO-CHAN! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! YOU FOUND A BEAUTIFUL WIFE! I'M SO HAPPY! WHEN AM I GETTING THE GRANDBABIES?!" his mother's strength rivaled Tsunade's as Naruto was crushed from the compassion of the fiery-haired parent, with a deep blush on his face from the grandbabies comment.
The parents then went to Hinata and embraced her, "Welcome to the family, our lovely daughter-in-law!" Kushina exclaimed as she kissed Hinata's forehead.
The younger females began discussing with Naruto and Hinata how it happened while they cornered the two on the couch. The two explained how the original date plan went down the drain because of Naruto's mood, making him sweat and everyone eye roll. Of course only he himself would feel anxious inside of a basic restaurant and yell. However, their hearts fluttered at the ice skating date and the almost magical night which had formed. Kushina elbowed Minato, "How come you never did that for me?!"
"Wha-" he shrugged with his arms up, "I still made ours memorable...!"
Kushina hit him with a frying pan, "You were half-dead after a mission, you idiot!" she then hugged her husband who was in pain, "But I still love youuuuu. Imagine all the grandbabies, Minato. Lots and lots of grandbabies. We can spoil them so much!" The Namikaze elder's head was still spinning as he hoped his wife would calm down.
Kenshin simply took a swing of sake and said, "This is why I'm single."
Kushina's forehead ticked as her chakra spiked, "YOU'RE SINGLE BECAUSE YOU'RE A PERVERT, LITTLE BROTHER!" said scarred swordsman yelled back 'tomato' causing the sibling bickering to continue forward and back. Kushina grabbed a butcher's knife while Kenshin pulled a tanto. It seemed like two wolves out for blood as they faced off.
"Nii-san..." a voice spoke from the hallway. Everyone looked over to see Masami walking towards them with puffy eyes and wild hair, "You're getting married...?"
Naruto's heart sunk as the realization of the situation came to him, "Yeah. I am, imouto..." he looked down and closed his eyes.
Before he could say another word, she ran up to him and hugged him tightly with tears in her eyes, "I'm so happy for you nii-san...I'm sorry for what I said. I miss Takeshi, but I don't want to hate you for it. You've been through too much alread. You're not a monster. You're my big brother. I love you, nii-san," she choked out as everyone mentally aww'd at this moment between the two siblings.
Naruto returned the hug with his own tight embraces as tears flowed down from his eyes to her hair. She felt them and looked up, "I love you too, imouto. I'm so sorry for what I did too..."
"Shut up, idiot. I already have" she laughed as tears flowed a bit more and the two continued the hug with Hinata joining. Then Kushina. Then Minato. And soon everyone was part of the group hug.
This, however, was interrupted by Kenshin who brought out bottles of sake and other drinks, "Enough of this emotional shit! Naruto is getting fucking married! Let's celebrate a bit right now!" as he waved the bottles in his hand.
Everyone was silent until quickly Yugito took the bottle and chugged it, "LETS GET DRUNK!" now everyone cheered and began the enjoyment. Conversations were sprung and stories shared as everyone sat on the couch talking in social bliss, but none were happier than Naruto and Hinata. He sat on the couch just thinking about the night and how it had turned out as Hinata sat in his lap, more engaged in the conversations than he was.
"Naruto," Masami spoke up, "I hope you know that this is only a partial celebration to the engagement.
Hinata nodded her head, "Oh yes indeed! We're going to Konoha to tell everyone the news."
Yugito smiled coyly, "Am I sensing a...bachelorette party?" her eyes filled with wonder and hints of lust.
"YES! YES! YES!" Kushina said as punched up in the air with each repetition of the word, "YES! YES!"
Kenshin laughed, "Nee-chan, you're drunk," he responded getting an insult from Kushina, "Don't worry kiddo, your dad and I know just what to do for your bachelor party..."
'What a drag...' Naruto thought with a smile, shaking his head remembering his friend, Shikamaru, and his signature phrase whenever the situation seemed to create conflict or tensions began to rise. He was happy, but not ready for the basic wild life that was to come. He could conquer a battlefield and take on a legion of shinobi, but a night filled with wild friends, alcohol, and possible debauchery...not his forte.
But unknown to them, in Naruto's room, a black and red claymore sat on an ornate sword holder. Its blade glowed crimson as it began to vibrate and hum deeply, but quietly bringing no attention to the guests outside who continued their celebration. A dark smoke surfaced from the blade's tip and circled around until falling to the floor and forming a figure.
Kurama's usual smile of bloodlust and corrupted humor was instead replaced with a stoic expression as he looked across the doors slender opening to see the friends and family of his host. Even though the chakra was sealed, they were still bonded and Kurama experienced everything he did with the link they shared.
He'd noticed Naruto's silver chakra get slightly weak in its adaptation and growth, but expected it to regain its normal readjustment cycling. Kurama began to wonder why he was so concerned about not being bonded to Naruto and why he was so mad at him. All he did was reveal the truth, and his chakra just happen to leak out.
The fox sat against the wall and wondered, 'I'm a fucking immortal demon. Why am I getting emotional over this shit?' He looked onto the wall where his soul's container hung collecting dust as an ornament for decoration, rather than an instrument of war it was meant to be. 'Maybe I did go too far...whatever. He'll be back. He needs me...' The fox's form then returned into the sword and continued to hum.
[Edge of the Fire Country]
Six individuals walked through the terrain, only illuminated by the bright moon above. The clouds would pass and cover the light, occasionally hiding them in the cover of night. All donned in the same black cloak with red clouds and an Ame headband with a straw jingasa on their head, concealing their visage and orange hair. All of the six possessed a large amount of piercings, black rods embedded into their bodies and spikes exiting from their skin; the group's robotic movement as they were lined up and continued forward.
Each watched a different angle as the one, but there was a movement in the forest. A gentle rustling of shrubbery that short female of the group saw. Suddenly the middle member accurately raised his hand in direction of the movement without even looking, "Universal Pull," a chuunin of Konoha in his twenties was suddenly pulled out of his hiding and into the direction of the group.
The chuunin dropped to his knees and began to make seals, "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower!" circling wisps of flame launched at the group, but the stock member of the sextet dashed in front of the jutsu.
Raising his arms, the energy of the jutsu flowed into him as the technique was fully absorbed with no damage done to the group. The chuunin's eyes widened before the middle one stabbed his arms into the ground. He looked up and saw that his...no, all of their eyes were not normal. A universal spread purple with multiple rings and a darker shade in the area of the iris; it seemed to almost peer into his soul as the sextent stared down at him.
"We are Pain. We are coming," the middle one spoke again as a separate member, one who's arm turned into rotating blades cut into the mans screamed in agony as his body convulsed but this soon ended, due to the intense amount of blood leaking from what was now several pieces of his body.
Not caring enough, the group simply left the remains for the vultures as they continued their path, "We are coming, Konoha."
[Uzumaki Clan Compound - Next Morning - Uzushio]
Morning greeted Naruto very well as the sunlight peering through his blinds in a horizontal stepping pattern, light as yellow and bright as the Uzumaki's own hair. He turned to his left to see Hinata's bare figure lying next to him covered by his sheets as she continued to sleep, while a blush came across Naruto as he remembered his activities, 'She really did enjoy me taking control after all,' he mentally chuckled before putting on pants.
*ARGHHHHHH* Naruto groaned as he stretched, as suddenly he was enveloped by a burst of silver chakra. It felt so much stronger as the energy spiraled around Naruto's chest and arms. The blond came to the conclusion that his body must be much more integrated with a single source of chakra allowing his Pure Type to return normally.
Just then Kushina burst into the room, "Sochi!" Kushina exclaimed with a whisper, "I sensed a spike."
"Yeah. Can you please keep quiet, kaa-san. Hinata-chan is still sleeping?," Naruto whispered holding up his arm, "My body is just fully returning to balance. I can definitely fight better after this."
Kushina looked and then saw Hinata in Naruto's bed soundly asleep, covers between her arm and chest with her legs slightly angled to the side as her head faced closer to where Naruto would have slept. Normally she'd get mad but since the two had just been engaged, she let it pass. A smile came across her, "Am I getting grandbabies already?" she looked at Naruto with stars in her eyes and an almost innocent expression.
The blond Uzumaki had to literally push her out of his room, "Out, out!" he softly closed the door on her, "See you in a bit for breakfast kaa-san. Love you."
All Kushina replied was, "Cheeky brat...you'll pay for this. And love you too, sweetie!" Her instant but relatively stable personality switches always scared her son, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
The rest of the morning until breakfast went rather normally for the blonde. He turned on the shower and was surprised with a hungover Hinata joining in, which did seem to cause a distraction. Although, Naruto left the shower a bit earlier than normal to help Kushina make breakfast, much to Hinata's displeasure although the water from the shower did help her feel less uneasy..if only it could be less noisy though. As the red-haired kunoichi set the table, her son continued to cook a large heaping of food via multiple shadow clones which dishes that ranged from modern to traditional.
As everyone returned, only then did Naruto realize how much they truly drank last night. Everyone besides him, Kushina, and Masami, who surfaced back to the light, were hungover beyond measure, with Fu unknowingly having a sake bottle tucked into the waistline of her pants. Thankfully, the three Uzumaki's faster metabolism prevented this allowing the mother-son cooking duo to make more eggs, fish, and coffee to deal with the effects.
"Where's Ero-Kenshi?" Naruto asked.
Fuu groaned, "Shhh shhh, please not so loud..and he's prob still asleep..." she began to nurse her head.
Kushina eye-rolling as her head shook until she nodded her head sideways, signaling Naruto to go get the other Uzumaki member. Naruto went to his room and opened the door to a certain sight, "OH MY FUCKING GOD!"
Kenshin and Yugito instantly woke up. Let me rephrase that. The two woke up together, in the same bed, naked. Their clothes laid discarded on the floor with a great deal of empty alcohol bottles.
The two were both messy-haired and still flustered, "You know what...you're 29," he pointed at Yugito covering his eyes as he then pointed at his uncle, "And you're 34. Both consenting adults. Relative age similarity. I'm not judging. Just...freshen up for breakfast, please."
He closed the door and went back into the kitchen where Hinata and Minato had now joined as well feeling equally like shit as they relished the breakfast and protein that would hopefully help. Yugito and Kenshin joined after a bit and sat in different areas of one another. Everyone remained relatively quiet until Kushina spoke up, "So what's the plan for getting to Konoha?"
"We could manage on foot," Fuu said between bites of eggs and rice, "It's should be only a few days for us, I think."
Kenshin grunted in disagreement, "A possible option, yes Fu-san. But Minato and I have been doing some work to the Hirashin Relay. The chakra required should be far decreased now," the scarred swordsman sipped on the coffee.
Naruto shook, "No, it's not about the seal activation. It's about the chakra drain per distance."
"Yes, but actually no. There's a method we developed that should fix that," Kenshin replied as curious eyes were on him and his brother-in-law, "True. Longer the distance, the more chakra required for the seal activation. As long as there's a steady supply of chakra, then it is possible to continue the relay for the user without any affects besides nausea and possibly vertigo, of course. Therefore, what if there was a way to collect unlimited chakra continuously..."
"Sage Mode," Masami replied softly.
Minato nodded, "Essentially, we leave a bunch of Shadow Clones to collect chakra. Once they fade out of existence, their chakra is then returned back to the user. Same principle as the memories and information, but a different use."
"How did I not think of that. Or even use Shadow Clones to collect nature chakra," Naruto facepalm, "Wait tou-san, you know how to access a Sage Mode?"
The elder Namikaze nodded, "I've been training for a while and left a fresh clone every clone to deal with my duties. Work smart, not hard," he tapped his finger on his head.
"When do we leave?" Fu asked.
Minato got up to put on his cloak as he had just finished eating, "You all have one hour. I have to finalize some stuff and let my staff know I'll be gone for a day. I'll be back in a...flash," with that last word, the blonde disappeared in a yellow blur.
Everyone groaned except for Yugito, "Does he say that often?"
"TOO DAMN OFTEN!" Kushina yelled.
[Uzushio West Gate - One Hour Later - Uzushio]
Everyone from the compound had gathered to the gate with backpacks filled with spare clothes, toiletries, and the such as they expected. Kenshin sat ahead of them past the gates on the ground with nine clothes in a line, all made such little movement that birds began to land on on their foreheads and katana. All of the shinobi could sense his chakra shifting, especially Naruto and Masami who recognized Nature chakra anywhere from his own experience, and Masami who had slight training with it.
All members of the compound waited as they wore their standard shinobi garbs, even Kushina who was dressed in a yellow kimono top with black wrapping around her waist, black leggings, grey shinobi sandals, a kunai holster on her right leg, and a pouch on the back of her hip. The back of her kimono had the red Uzumaki clan symbol and on her left arm was a fresh Uzushio headband.
Minato arrived and apologized for being late in his opinion, "Sad news. I have to be back by tomorrow afternoon. My replacement clone won't last too long, but I do have the next 32 hours away of work. Are we all here?"
All the members nodded as the real Kenshin walked over to them with his Dragon Sage features in plain view of the light. The man's red hair clashed with his new silvers eyes and cross pupils paired with his slightly scaly skin, fingers replaced with claws, pointed ears, and sharper teeth, "Everyone hold on to each other and grab onto me."
"Naruto, let go of my damn ear," Kenshin glared at the blonde who laughed, "Activate!"
Instantly, they had all flashed away and rematerialized in the middle of a forest for a few short moments until the cycle repeated. This went on a few times until Kenshin stopped as his physical features returned to normal. He made a seal and in a matter of moments, his Dragon Sage appearance returned. Once again, the group flashed and took a small break as all those in the group besides the Uzumaki family were not used to Hirashin's effects and therefore having vertigo. Once stable, this cycle repeated until all had finally arrived at the gates of Konoha.
Kenshin smiled, "And I still have one clone left," he walked forward until Kushina stopped him.
"You might want to wait until your features fade. Konoha isn't exactly the most welcome to...non-humans," she responded in a motherly tone of caution, which Naruto seconded as he had firsthand experience.
Fu spoke up, "Screw what they think. They should be afraid if they want."
They all shrugged as they dashed and entered after presenting their papers to the gatekeepers. A few people glared at Kenshin and one man spoke up to call him a demon before he the scarred Uzumaki faced him up close and hissed with his mouth open, presenting at his sharpened teeth and searing silver eyes. Naruto just laughed as the man then ran away after looking at his uncle and then the presence of the ex-Konoha nin himself.
Hinata exclaimed grabbing Naruto's hand "C'mon! Let's go find everyone!" they ran off with Naruto asking Hinata to slow down, with Masami running after the duo.
"Where do we go?" Fu asked.
Kushina pointed at the Kage building at the edge of the village in front of Hokage Mountain, "We're going to speak with the Hokage. You can come with us if you wish or wander," she spoke with a smile.
They decided to tag along until Yugito noted the fourth face on the mountain, "Uzukage-sama...is that you on the mountain?"
"Yes it is, Yugito-san," Minato chuckled as they dashed on the rooftops, "Believe it or not, I used to be the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha. But that was a long time ago, before I died."
"Died?" Fu questioned the logic of his statement
"Long story..."
[Yakiniku Q Restaurant - Konoha]
Naruto and Hinata walked in and gauged the restaurant before hearing a feminine voice yell, "Dammit Chouji! Slow down!"
"Let his flames of youth burn bright, Ino-san!" another, far more ecstatic voice announced.
The two sweat-dropped and by the time they had come to the original of the loud voices of their friends, the same female voice responded, "Lee, the only thing that is gonna burn is gonna be Chouji's tongue if the doesn't fucking slow down!"
"Damn blonde..."
"What was that Shikamaru?" Naruto spoke as he came to their view with a huge grin on his face and the Hyuuga heiress next to him with a blush and smile as well.
Everyone cheered and smiled as the two sat down next to their friends; a waitress came by for their orders and soon left, leaving Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Temari, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Sai, Sakura, Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Asuma to converse.
"What what brings you two back to Konoha?" Asuma asked with a cigarette between his lips.
Naruto's face went slightly red as the thought of announcing it seemed so strange to him, "Well-"
"Here's your sake! The food will be coming right up!" the waitress spoke as she handed four bottles of sake and glasses for the entire group.
Kiba laughed as he picked up a bottle to pour himself a glass, "What's the occasion for this?" followed by others who accepted the offer
"Well-"
"Naruto-kun and I are getting married!" Hinata rushed out as her teenage timidness emerged with a deep red look on her cheeks and her face looking down with an awkward yet sincere smile.
Neji and Kiba spit out their drink, Chouji accidentally dropped his chopsticks, Tenten, Ino and Sakura's mouths became the size of dinner plates, Asuma's cigarette fell out from between his lips, Lee's eyes went wide with a heavy smile evident on his face, Temari' kept looking between the two now fiancé, and Shino's eyebrow raised.
"WHAT?!" Neji said.
"NO FUCKIN WAY!" Kiba agreed.
Hinata pulled her hand up to show everyone the gold and lavender ring given to her by Naruto, who smiled and scratched the back of his forehead.
Shikamaru chuckled, "Finally...was wondering when you'd get the balls to do it. Ow"
Temari elbowed her own significant other, "Shut up! Congratulations you two!" she said with a smile.
Everyone on the table said the same aside from Lee who went on a small rant about love and youthful fires of passion blazing stronger than anyone in the village, nation, and world. Everyone's eyes turned to Neji who's own pale eyes continued to twitch as the realization of intimacy between Naruto and the girl who he grew to thought of as his little sister hit him...
"I am speechless at this sudden information, Naruto-san," his eyes looked up and a rare, approving smile was evident, "However, I couldn't think of a better person for Hinata-sama, than you. I genui-"
"Shut up and drink, Neji!" Tenten grew tired and wasn't in the mood for the ambiance of happiness to be dulled by his speeches causing her to pour a bottle down his hatch.
Ino was interested in this now, "So when's the date?"
The two lovers looked at each other in confusion and stayed silent.
"You mean...you haven't even decided on a wedding date yet?" Ino exclaimed. The two shook their heads, "Hinata...I'm helping you out with this."
"Ino-san, there's no need to trou-" the woman began before the Yamanaka hushed her.
"There's no way around this," she said with a smile, "It'd be a dream come true for me."
Naruto was going to speak up about asking his friends to help since their parents might know some key information on setting up a wedding but before he could, an ANBU with a red and green cat-like mask appeared into the restaurant, "Namikaze-san. Your presence is urgently requested by Lady Tsunade."
Naruto shook his head, "Tell he-"
The ANBU interrupted with slight desperation in his voice, "It's an extremely urgent matter, Namikaze-san. You are required to be there right now. You father wishes it so, as well."
"Tenzo? What's going on?" Asuma spoke up to the ANBU.
"It's classified, Asuma," the ANBU replied, "I can't say anything more."
Naruto nodded and got up; he kissed Hinata good bye and wished his friends a goodnight before leaving with Tenzo. Naruto could sense Tenzo's unease as they jumped across the rooftops to the Hokage Building. Naruto's Dragon Eye unknowingly activated but he didn't care as he saw Tenzo possessed a pulsing orange of fear. This only continued as they approached the building; from the window he could sense similar fear and even slight anger coming from the individuals in there: Tsunade, Minato, Kushina, Yugito, and Fu.
[Hokage Office - Konoha]
The blond stuck himself to the wall of the building and entered through the window, "What's going on."
"This," Tsunade handed him a file with a deep sigh, "This happened at the west edge of the Fire Country."
Naruto opened the folder and saw images of the murder...no the slaughter and dismemberment of a chuunin. Limbs and portions of the body left in the open. Dug into his hands was a black rod, one that Naruto was far too familiar with: one of Pain's chakra rods. Tsunade saw Naruto's eyes fill with anger and contempt as she then passed him a bag which contained one of the rods, albiet cut into a length of of approximately 14 centimetres.
"When?" he asked.
Minato sighed, "Last night..."
Naruto's expression turned from one of hatred to a steeled focused as he took in a deep breath, "I have an idea," he took out the chakra rod from the bad and laid it in front of him as he sat with his legs crossed and began to meditate.
Minato, Tsunade and Kushina had an idea of what Naruto was doing although Minato knew only for a fact of what Naruto planned for sure; Kushina was going to speak up, but Minato grabbed her arm and shook his head. Fu and Yugito were confused but just went with the flow. In a few moments, Naruto's chakra signature changed to one of more peaceful in nature as he had entered his Fox Sage Mode. Realizing this change, Naruto grabbed the chakra rod and stabbed it into his abdomen, making sure he didn't hit any internal organs or important blood vessels.
Kushina and Fu exclaimed at this only to be explained by Minato of his son's intentions, "He's going to use Sage Chakra to trace the chakra to the users. The originators being Pain and the other assailants."
Naruto's eyes shut harder as he focused on feeling the flow of the chakra. The feeling was so horrid and loathed, although not one of hate like Kyuubi's. It felt like someone was in great agony and suffering. Suddenly he felt his presence. He felt all their presence. But one stood out the most, the man providing the chakra with the six assailants server as his puppets.
The blonde's eyes widened as he shot up, "They're here! They're at the gate!"
Suddenly an explosion shook the core of the village. Everyone looked beyond the glass to see a huge explosion of ash and flame at the west gate. People in the streets began to run indoors as the skies darkened. Tsunade called out her ANBU, telling them to send reinforcements, secure the civilians, and assemble the Shinobi Council, specially requesting for Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza, Tsume, and Hiashi.
Naruto looked at his dad who simply nodded. Minato then turned to Kushina, "Secure the kids, Naruto and I know what to do. We'll see you soon!" with that he kissed his wife good bye.
Both the blond's jumped out of the window with Minato leaving one clone on a roof to gather sage chakra while Naruto cast out large amounts of Shadow Clones to assist the wounded, secure the sector, and warn his friends. As the father and son duo approached the gate, they saw six figures standing in front of the inferno: the Six Paths of Pain.
Naruto drew his katanas as Minato did the same with his kunai; Naruto noticed his father's eyes turn yellow with a rectangular pupil an an orange mark around his eyelids: Perfect Sage Mode.
"You are trespassing on foreign land," Minato announced, "Leave now and you will be spared."
The middle Pain spoke up, "Such a pathetic warning. It is you who will not be spared. Lay your weapons and we will bless you with a swift death, Minato Namikaze. And you, Naruto Namikaze, will come with us. Otherwise all in this village will suffer."
Naruto may not have Kurama's chakra but his Sage Mode's own slit eyes reflected well in the anger he felt for the individiuals in fron't of him, "Eat shit, Tendo."
The man's eyes raised up, "So you know the origins of my jutsu? Studying up in the Uzumaki library have you? How much do those old scrolls truly contain?"
'Damn. The bastard knows the infromation was still too limited. We didn't learn much except for the fact their vision is linked and that one of them can bring back the dead,' Minato thought as Naruto bit hard.
"It's always wise to know your enemy," Naruto retorted, "Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, Nakara. Six extensions of the will of those who possess the Rinnegan. I know what you are capable of, I also know someone else is in control."
"You're not as dumb as you look, Jinchuuriki," Tendo spoke with a monotone voice, "Perhaps you will die a more noble death than Jiraya."
The mention of Naruto's master filled him with anger that bursted at the seams, "Don't you dare say his name! I'll kill you!"
Naruto rushed at Tendo but was blocked by the Asura path who's serrated blade tail dove from the sky into Naruto's direction. Seeing the movement of the other Path before the attack, Naruto's katana formed an X-block as the serrated edge closed in on him. He flipped back, sheathed one katana put a hand on the flat edge of the blade, and used the leverage to attach himself onto the blade and shortly ran down it to the Asura with his katana poised to slice the mechanized man. Before he could, Naruto heard two words, "Almighty Push."
As the words were said, Naruto was launched back into the air with heavy force, but he quickly realized his positioning and gracefully fell back next to his father.
"You cannot stop us. You cannot stop Pain. We will rid this world of its misery and start anew. And through that, we will bring true peace to these forsaken lands," the Deva Path preached.
Minato chuckled as his stance changed with his kunai now along his forearms, "You gotta get through us first. And after what you did to our family...I doubt you will be left standing to say another word."
Both of the blondes dashed forward after making two clones each with weapons in hand, only for the Animal Path to weave seals for a Summoning Jutsu. Immediately, a giant rhino and ox appeared. Each was easily five times the size of the original animal, but much darker in colour with the same black rods and Rinnegan eyes. Minato threw kunai across at the Six Paths as each beast roared as they charged forward with intent to kill; as they approached, Minato and Naruto picked up the beasts by the horns.
Most of the Paths had dodged Minato's kunai, but one made it close enough, 'Now's my chance!'
Minato's clone Hirashin'd directly in front of the Human Path. The Animal Path saw this coming with the aid of the collection vision of the Rinnegan and her arm produced a black rod which was angled up. As it closed in on the clone, for another clone to appear behind the first, "Sage Art: Giant Rasengan!" The normal sphere grew to a size as wide a human being as it crashed into the Animal Path, completely disintegrating the body, while taking the first decoy clone with it.
At the same time, the original Minato and Naruto had taken on the charging summons, lifting them up. During this short interval, the Asura Path pulled off its hand to reveal an accumulation of missiles poised to launch at the two Namikaze. Just then, two of Naruto's clones also teleported right behind the Asura Path. A few quick slices from the clones' katana cut off the limbs of the Path as the true Naruto and Minato flipped the beast onto the remains of the Asura Path. The Deva Path was uncertain of how Naruto was able to Hirashin to Asura until he remembered, 'The kid placed the seal on Shurado when he first attacked...'
The two Namikaze's Sage Mode seemed to be declining slightly as the use of their abilities started to drain them, although Naruto still had more left than his father due to his experience of senjutsu being higher, "How you keeping up, old man?"
"Better than you, brat," Minato huffed out before turning to Deva Path, "For someone who proclaims themself to be a God, you seemed to have easily lost two of your Paths pretty quickly."
Pain smiled, "I can always make more. You are hardly on my level," Pain then jumped out of view and began to evade the shuriken that Naruto and Minato threw at him as he dashed to the center of the village.
"Go! Get the Deva Path, I got them!" Minato ordered as Naruto hesitated then nodded.
'Take care, tou-san' was all Naruto could think as his father remained on the battlefield with the remaining Preta, Naraka, and Human Path who began to circle around him as the former Yondaimi brough out more of his kunai.
[Inner Village Konoha - Konoha]
Masami saw the large beasts and giant Rasengan manifest from afar and shot up from her seat at a restaurant. Kushina and Kenshin appeared as she did with Naruto's clone next to them, "Nii-san, what's going on?"
"I'm just a clone, Masami. Minato-san and the boss are fighting the Six Paths," the clone clarified.
Kushina's worry began to grow as did her daughters, "Masami, stay close with your uncle. He has a plan. I'm gonna go help Minato-kun," Kushina ordered.
"Ka-"
"That's an order!" the red haired woman ordered with fury in her eyes. This wasn't the usual anger Masami saw whenever her mother scolded her for doing something wrong. This was the the raging inferno of an Uzumaki, especially one who needed to defend her family. Masami could do nothing as her mother tightened her headband and left, with the clone by her side.
Kenshin and Masami made their way to the Tsunade's office where they saw Shizune gathering several files. The young woman's eyes open wide and she motioned for them to follow her. The three went down the hall and beyond a rather long passage of stairs to get to a room which contained Konoha's Clan Heads and several Tokubestu Jounin that specialized in the village's Counter-Intelligence Division.
Within the room, Tsunade was ordering around ANBU as the elder Ino-Shika-Cho were loudly arguing with Hiashi about the current events. The trio were poised on assisting Naruto and Minato by assembling a team of shinobi and several Hyuuga to counter the small invasion of rather powerful shinobi, while the Hyuuga Head said it was wiser to evacuate the village first.
Tsunade put her fist down, "Enough! You are shinobi! Act like it! The village is under attack, either work together or get out of my sight!"
They nodded as Tsume Inuzuka spoke up, "What do we know about these Ame-nin?"
"They are called Pain, members of Akatsuki. Each of them possesses unique ability and vision linked by a Rinnegan," Kenshin clarified.
Tsunade further expanded, "Their aim is to capture Naruto, nothing will stand in their way. They also were the ones who killed Jiraya in a mission gone awry when he and Naruto travelled to Ame."
"Rinnegan?"
"What a drag..."
"We need to assist Minato-san and Naruto-san right now!"
"I agree! They need our support."
"I can lead the counter assault."
These were the responses of Hiashi, Shikaku, Inocihi, Choza, and Tsume respectively as the urgency of the situation had been elevated due to the revelation of these facts.
Tsunade understood and formalized a plan with the clan heads and Kenshin, "First I want every chuunin and genin at our current disposal to evacuate the village. Tsume-san, you and your clan assist them in locating and escorting every civilian out. Tell them to stay with the civilians on the east edge of the village next to the forest. Next, I need Choza to assemble a team of jounin to create a layer of walls through Earth Release Jutsu. Close off the battle from the streets and civilian areas. Lastly, I need Inoichi to establish a mind-link with Shikaku and Hiashi. Hiashi, you head outside with a team of Jounin to view the battle and every detail going on while Shikaku and Inoichi stay here to strategize and provide updates on the development. Connect with Minato and Naruto to supply them information on the battle. Once the village evacuation has reached 80%, every fucking Jounin and ANBU to help take down these Ame-nin. Is that understood?"
The clan heads, ANBU, and specialist Jounin nodded as they sent out orders; the Yamanaka Clan shinobi within the room sent out an information wave using the clan jutsu to spread the word as Shikaku and Inoichi began to prepare.
Masami spoke up, "What about Naruto-kun and tou-san? How long-"
Kenshin stopped her and took her away, "Listen up kiddo, your mom and dad are a lot stronger than you think. Minato was and still is the fastest shinobi in Konoha history. Your mother is there by now assisting him. I guarantee you, they'll be fine," he reassured her.
Masami's eyes still contained worry, "And Naruto..."
The scarred swordsman bit his lip, "...I have an idea. It's the worst, most irrational thing I've ever come up with, but Naruto is buying us time to make it happen. Come with me, we need to go to Uzushio to get something," her uncle spoke with a grim look as he began to run out of the building.
"What are we getting?" Masami followed him.
Kenshin stopped, made several clones, and began to gather senjutsu chakra, "We need Naruto's sword. Naruto needs to unseal the Kyuubi's chakra."
[West Gate - Konoha]
Minato closed in on the Naraka Path with kunai in both hands. He slashed diagonally, but the Pain dodged through the linked vision. With the Path's body angled to the left, Minato used the rotational force of his attack to flip forward, bringing a foot down onto the Naraka path with blinding speed. At first it looked like he missed but through the Frog Kata he had learned from Fukusaku, the movement proved effective as the path was now on the ground, but before the Namikaze could end his opponent, the Human Path appeared behind him, 'What!'
The man's hands glowed blue as his hand got closer to Minato's head. Using a similar attack as before, he dove his head down and launched both feet up into the jaw of his assailant. He quickly snaked around behind and used his kunai to create slashes across the Human Path's body before letting his kunai stay in mid-air as he continued his taijutsu assault.
While mid-air, Minato twisted himself around while grappling on his enemy's shoulders and spun around. Seeing the opportunity, he kicked the kunai into the Path's mouth; the three-prong blade pierced into the side with one edge cutting the tendons of his jaw and a set of teeth being sliced in half from the sheer force of the impact.
Before his enemy was able to recover, the Yellow Flash weaved seals as he landed up close and personal next to his enemy, "Lightning Release: Storm Surge!"
A burst of voltage burst from Minato's body almost like he was an electrical explosive. The kunai set within the Human Path's mouth acted as a lightning rod. With the electricity flowing from Minato's presence directly through the kunai, onto the head of his enemy, the burst of lightning surged through the Path with a growing intensity as his head burst from the pressure. Blood spattered across Minato's face as his enemy's body dropped.
Before the blonde could fully recover from the spatter of the Human Path's crimson fluids, the Preta Path appeared behind him. A swift kick was directed to the Uzukage who simply dodged. They exchanged blows with Minato's decreased reaction timing having the upper hand was sent flying after his enemy foresaw the jump kick he had planned through the linked vision. The Preta Path used a chakra enhanced punch to send the Yellow Flash back a few feet.
While he was knocked back, Minato was aware. But before he could recover, his second enemy weaved seals, "Earth Release: Stalagmite Spike!"
The ground nearby with exception from the Path's was covered with spines of stones extending. In a situation like this, he would usually just teleport to a nearby kunai to evade, but the entire terrain had the sharp hazards.
Quickly thinking of a response, he formed a plan, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" the shockwave of air sent the man even further back into the sky, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Seven clones formed and began to form the jutsu which he had created so many years ago. But the catch was, he used his senjutsu chakra to enhance it, "Sage Art: Giant Rasengan Barrage!"
The eight spheres of giant blue chakra approached the two remaining shinobi at rapid speeds. As the colossal concentrations of chakra approached the Path, the Preta Path simply smiled as he held up his hands began to absorb the jutsu with a thin veil of a blue hue wrapping around the Path's arms. The Rasengan began to decrease in size until all the chakra was absorbed fully. Minato's recovery was a lot slower, allowing him to balance himself on the spikes.
'Minato-san, can you hear me? This is Shikaku Nara,' Minato heard in his head.
'Yes I can. How are you communicating with me right now?'
'Through the help of the Yamanaka Clan abilities,' Inoichi responded, 'We don't have too much time, Hiashi-san can sense your chakra lowering. Can you hold them off a bit longer? Kushina-san is on her way!'
Minato's eyes widened before they steeled once more, 'Will do.'
He sensed his senjutsu chakra reaching its limit as he his breathing becoming more stressed. The Namikaze continued to exchange blows with the two remaining Paths, using taijutsu, but his Sage mode ended before he devised a new plan, 'Fuck...'
The orange tint and yellow eyes were now replaced with brilliant blue as the man threw more kunai at the two shinobi. Flashing between them quickly, Minato found himself quickly next to the Naraka Path. As his legs perfectly balanced on the spines of stone, Minato threw quick flurry of punched which the Path dodged. They continued to exchange blows and blocks; the Naraka prepared a front kick that Minato foreshadows from his enemy's positioning. This allowed him to jump on to the leg of the Naraka Path and prepare a Rasengan. But before he could, the Preta Path jumped up with his fist interlaced with one another.
"Chakra Burst!" the man called out as a portion of the chakra he absorbed from the Rasengan Barrage had been expelled into Minato's back, launching him up. The Path carried him up while absorbing his chakra further until he fell down, and threw the Naraka Path ton top of Minato, who then kicked him down with both legs pressing down on his stomach, standing on him as he closed closer to the ground.
'Dammit. I can't still can't Hirashin away!' his vision closed on the spikes of stone which were approaching him and he thought it was his end. At least until a familiar chakra signature emerged approaching the three quickly.
"Uzumaki Art: Devastator Slice!" a female voice cried out as several cuts of chakra enhanced air diced apart the spines into mere pebbles.
'Kushina-chan!' Minato smiled.
The woman's katana glowed with a light blue hue as she jumped up to her husband, "Get away from him, fucker! Crescent Moon Swipes!"
The blade glowed red as she was suddenly in front of the Naraka Path who's eyes widened at the red-haired woman. Bringing up her blade, she made a half-circle motion before a flurry of glowing crimson slices were unleashed upon the Path. Slashes and lacerations covered the body as blood poured out. The Path's head was barely hanging on as only some muscle fibres kept it attached, but it was the end. The bloody remains made a sickly splat with the scarlet liquid oozing out quickly.
'Damn. I'm getting old,' was all the Namikaze could think.
Kushina held Minato in her arms, much like when he had rescued her when they were younger. She dropped him to the ground, now relatively safe since she had equalized it by eliminating the stone spikes, "You idiot...how could you almost lose to these pieces of shit?" she grumbled slightly worried but with a hint of teasing in her voice.
"I took down three!" Minato sweat-dropped, "But, I'm just glad I have my wife to back me up. "
"You're damn right," she responded fiercely as her katana poised onto the remaining enemy.
The remaining Path looked with a creepy but confident look on his face, "Thank you for the chakra I will put it to use very well when I destroy this village."
"What's his deal?" Kushina asked.
Minato responded, "He can absorb any ninjutsu. But I have a plan. Take out his vision."
Kushina began to weave seals, "Water Release: Mist," the fire-haired woman exhaled a thick flux of fog that fully covered the area and limited their vision, but most importantly the enemy's vision. With that said and done, the two retreated back slightly where Minato quickly whispered his plan to Kushina.
The Path was looking around the mist with slight worry at the limitation of his sense, but knew he still had plenty of chakra left. Suddenly, a high pitch ringing began to surface as several white glows began to present themself causing the mist to clear revealing six Minato's holding a rotating shuriken.
'No way, he shouldn't have that much chakra left!'
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken Barrage!" Minato launched the jutsu at his opponent who was surrounded by them.
The Preta Path smirked, "This still won't work!" he raised his hands again and began to absorb the incoming chakra projectiles. As the did, each of the Rasenshurikens transformed into Kushina who was possessed a murderous glint in her eyes as her katana was raised forward at the Path.
"Nice try. Uzumaki Art: Storm Piercer!" all four Kushina's swords burst out with electricity flowing freely, almost wrapping them as the blades headed straight into the Path.
In mere seconds, they had all found an individual katana fully stabbed through the Preta Path with the surge of lightning electrocuting him. Three copies of Kushina dispelled as the last one precisely pulled out her blade from his body, "Never mess with my family again," with those final words and a clean slice, the Preta Path's head was sliced off with a light spray of blood on Kushina, who was now using the man's cloak to clean her face and the blade before it got too bloody.
"I love you," Kushina said as Minato wiped a small smear of blood of cheek.
The man smiled, "I know. Let's go get Naruto."
As the two dashed through the street, they communicated with the Clan Heads, 'Where is Naruto?'
'He is currently above the Hokage Mountain and is engaged in combat with the last Path,' Hiashi's voice responded in both Kushina's and Minato's head, 'His chakra levels are running low. His condition is stable, but his Sage Mode ran out a while ago. This last Pain seems to have the capabilities to control gravity through repulsion and attraction.'
The two approached closer to the mountain and saw explosions that worried them as the fighting moved into a forest. Suddenly, a large concentration of rocks began to form. The accumulation of stone and foliage formed into the a size that could only be described as completely colossal, almost that of a small moon.
'That could...wipe out all of Konoha,' Minato theorized as his expression grew grim.
They made it to the top of the mountain and headed to the forest beyond it, jumping from branch to branch with speeds far exceeding a normal shinobi as adrenaline pumped through out their body. The husband-wife duo then felt a huge burst of chakra come into formation as a giant silver sphere of chakra began to form into a similar relative scale of the giant ball of earth, although far smaller. As the giant silver Rasengan clashed with the first. For a slight second, everything was still until a shockwave caused to earth to shake. The burst of pressurized air decimated the forest, sending Kushina and Minato flying back. They managed to make a recovery, but Kushina felt Naruto's chakra signature lower considerably.
'No. Not yet! Kenshin you better hurry up with your plan. We need you now more than ever!'
[Senju Forest - 15 Minutes Ago - Konoha]
Naruto's Sage Mode was nearing his limit as he charged at Pain with his twin katana by his side. A left stab was directed into Pain's stomach which easily parried by one of his rods, allowing his right katana slashed at his neck. Pain ducked down low and produced a rod from his freehand which he prepared to plunge into Naruto. The blonde dropped his body weight lower and swiped at Pain's legs. Although his footing was now non-existent, the man stabilized himself by pushing up with his arms. Pain then kicked up at Naruto's jaw causing him raise his arms to block.
This limited Naruto's vision enough for Pain to recover and deliver a hefty punch into Naruto's gut. The Uzushio-nin coughed some blood from the impact before dropping his katana and grabbing onto Pain's hand which was still embedded into his stomach and launched himself up and over the Ame-nin.
"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he was above the Deva Path with his jutsu in hand.
The Pain simply smiled, "Almighty Push!" Naruto was send flying into the air as Pain jumped up after him, two rods in hand prepared to stab through Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto recovered from the impact in time and grabbed each of the rods by the middle and forced them apart. The two exchanged blows mid-air as the ground got closer. Naruto grabbed Pain by the neck and proceeded to punch his jaw repeatedly before the Deva Path raised and kicked his leg onto Naruto's elbow, forcing them apart, and falling onto a nearby tree.
The blonde however was too far and proceeded to make his signature jutsu which he added more chakra and expanded upon until his body was covered entirely in a sphere of silver chakra, "Rasengan Dome," he landed and the defensive jutsu made a small crater at the landing spot, 'That was too close.'
"Something is off about you," Pain began as he picked up one of Naruto's katana, "I don't sense the Kyuubi's chakra flowing through you..."
The blond gritted his teeth as he pulled out a seal from his vest and produced a new katana, "Look's like I won't need it, since you're coming at an Uzumaki with kenjutsu," he responded with a light boast of the Uzumaki's kenjutsu proficiency.
"Cocky as usual, you Jinchuuriki are," Pain ran at Naruto who adjusted himself into the Uzumaki's kenjutsu stance; one foot forward, one back at a 45 degree angle, and both arms holding onto the katana which was being held up near his head as the blade pointed to Pain.
Pain slashed diagonally to the left which Naruto by angling his katana down and extended his leg with a kick forcing Pain back, as Naruto aimed to stab through his enemy's chest. While Pain was able to avoid it for the most part, the edge sliced through the left of his chest just under his arm. Ignoring the injury, the Ame-nin used his dodge to move behind Naruto and begin an assault of katana strikes.
Even when his enemy was behind him, Naruto's face was stone cold as it was just like his training. He soaked in all those long hours of muscle memory as he closed his eyes and felt the movement, the fluidity and speed in his actions increased as he prepared a defensive counter. As Pain first slashed into Naruto's right torso, he was blocked by the blonde reaching his katana over, pointing downwards with is left arm in a 90 degree angle. The second strike was set for the left as the Deva Path expanded his stance to gain the proper momentum. Naruto quickly pulled his arms back from above his head and they were now by his left side, simply stationary as a deflect. Pain left frustration at the blonde's quick movement, 'Just die already.'
The next two attacks were again on the right side and then on his head. Naruto repeated the steps as before, simply moving his arms to his side, this time with the katana pointing downwards, and then above his head with the katana parallel. Before the next attack could come, Naruto leveraged his weight down and pushed his leg back, doing an arched back kick right into Pain's torso. The man was send back several feet but recovered after coughing up some blood, wiping it from his mouth.
'Countered four katana strikes in one second?' Naruto though as he chuckled slightly, 'I must be slowing down. Really gotta practice kenjutsu more.'
"You're pissing me off, Jinchuuriki," Pain's eyes focused on the blonde in front of him, "I'll give you one last chance to surrender."
"My name is Naruto Namikaze," he responded as Naruto flared his chakra in anger, "If you think you can mess with my family, mess with the people I love, kill my master in cold blood. Then you're dead wrong. I will show you the true power of the Prince of Uzushio."
Pain watched as the his words only fueled Naruto who's body was emitting silver chakra that swirled around him rapidly, "You think you know true loss? He was my master too. His sacrifice will lead the world on a better path."
"What? You're lying. Jirarya-sensei would never train someone like you."
"No more games," Pain avoided the question, dropping his katana, and made a hand seal that Naruto recognized all too well. The man made a shadow clone while the original went back several metres, "Planetary Devastation," a small sphere of black energy exited the Deva Path's hand.
It began to float beyond him; pieces of stone, wood, leaves, and grass were absorbed into it, tightly compacting together and growing in size.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu," forty clones covered the landscape and charged at the Pain clone. As they engaged in combat, Naruto quickly sat back and began to absorb senjutsu chakra.
Worry began to overtake him as he knew he was taking a gambit on waiting for his sage chakra to return as a giant concentration of earthly matter formed to the size of a small moon. His clones had finally overpowered the Pain clone; feeling his sage mode return, Naruto dispelled his clones, knowing he had to focus his chakra to one exact point, 'That thing won't just take me out. It'll take out all of Konoha too. Kaa-san. Tou-san. Masami. Hinata...'
"Begone, Jinchuuriki!" Pain roared as he brought the giant sphere of stone and earth down onto Naruto.
'If I can't finish this. Then maybe I can stop this. I leave the rest to you guys. Good bye...' The blonde jumped up and began to force every ounce of chakra left into his palm. A silver Rasengan began to form and only expand greater and greater in size. In the end, it was much larger than the usual Sage Art: Great Rasengan and only half the size of the Planetary Devastation. Naruto felt exhaustion overtake his body as all the chakra he had gathered and had left was forced and compressed into this one last jutsu, only fueled by sheer will and adrenaline, he pushed forward, "My name is Naruto! And I will end you! Sage Art: Catastrophic Rasengan!"
'This isn't the power of a Jinchuuriki! What is it?!'
As the two spheres collided, one of nature another of energy, the utter shockwave destroyed everything in two kilometre radius. The Rasengan shredded through the Planetary Devastation and drilled through the accumulation of earth and trees held together by pure gravitational forces. Naruto pushed it deeper, feeling the shockwave of energy break his arm in multiple places but knew he couldn't hold back from what was at stake.
'No demonic chakra. Where is the damn Kyuubi?!'
He screamed through the pain as his enemy's jutsu was shattered and disintegrated from the rotational energy, Pain was sent back flying from the forces. His cloak was in tatters as it hung down, exposing his bare chest and the chakra receptors in his body. Naruto eventually passed out from severe chakra exhaustion. The shockwave had not only shattered all the bones in his right arm but since sage mode couldn't protect his body from the usual damage it would dull, his body contained multiple fractures. He fell to the ground with a thud, falling on his stomach with blood exiting from his mouth, forehead, and from multiple cuts on his body. Naruto was conscious but found it hard to move.
Pain panted in awe of the feat his opponent had done but smirked, realizing it was in vain as he was alive and Naruto just barely. As he approached the grounded blonde, his own katana in hand, "Since you don't seem to have the Kyuubi anymore, you're of no use to me. Namikaze."
Naruto extened his hand to the ground directly in front of Pain. He smiled one last time as his closed his fist with the exception of the middle finger, "Go...fuck...yourself..."
"You will die alone!" Pain prepared to shove the katana into Naruto's skull before sensing a rapidly approaching chakra signature.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" Minato's foot crashed into Pain's ribs at blinding speeds as the orange-haired Ame-nin was sent flying back. He recovered but was not unfazed from it, holding his mid-torso in pain.
Minato stood next to his son with anger in his eyes as he was joined by Kushina, then Kenshin, and hundreds of multiple Konoha shinobi, "He's not alone," Kushina said taking out her katana.
Masami appeared with a black and red claymore in hand, held by a sheet covered in seals as to prevent her from being damaged by the demonic chakra, "Naruto nii-shan!"
"Ma...sami..." he struggled out.
"Take this!" she held the blade towards him.
"No...I can't. I'll l-lose control..." he struggled to speak.
She rested her hand on his head, "We believe in you. You can do this."
Naruto thought for a slightly second. He didn't entirely admire the fact he had to undo the sealing of his Jinchuuriki chakra. While Pain didn't know it still resided within him, he would find out once he touched the very thing that contained Kurama's soul. The resonance would awaken the chakra and rebond them both. Even though it would heal all his injuries, could he risk his families safety? What if he lost control. His thoughts were erased by the smile of his sister, of Hinata, of his family.
The Namikaze's hand fell upon the grip as the red chakra snaked around his hand to his head, neck, and heart. Yellow seals on his chest appeared and shined as they were stressed to the limit, ultimately breaking. The influx of chakra entered his body with a bursting light. The cuts smoked and sizzled as they closed. The bones groaning as the position was corrected. His arm cracking as the fragments formed whole. Naruto's eyes became crimson slits for several seconds before finally returning to their normal sparkling blue with black slits.
He rose up with the claymore supporting him as he felt his senses narrow and sharpen, the increased speed and strength return to him. A swirling of crimson energy embodied around him as he stared at Pain who seemed...uncertain.
"Good to have you back, kit," Kurama told him from within the mindscape.
'Good to be back, Kurama!' Naruto returned.
Naruto's sword was raised at the Ame-nin as his eyes focused upon the man's prescense. Fury evident in Naruto's eyes, all he desired right now was to end the life of the person who threatened everyone he loved, "No one touch him! He's MINE!"
With that claim spoken, all the shinobi remained back as the blonde charged at Pain, crimson lightening encasing his body. One thing was for certain, the Bloody Maelstrom had returned. Stronger than ever.
And that's a wrap for this chapter. 13k words. Damn, that's the longest chapter I've written yet. Stay tuned for the continuation! Thank you