Hello again. Hope you all had a merry Christmas :)

So, here's the latest chapter which sees Hunter well out of his comfort zone and an old enemy returning. Fun all round.

Enjoy.


Chapter 17

Memories can be cruel things sometimes. The operation had gone perfectly, Orochimaru was gone, Hunter had been temporarily disposed of and the attack had been a total success. Thorn had wanted to feel joy and satisfaction but found that he couldn't, then he'd remembered that he had no Heart and all he could do was remember what feeling was like. A Nobody could fake emotions very well, even to the point where they could deceive themselves but they could only fake emotions they could remember. As soon as they ran into an unfamiliar situation they had no memories to draw on and were left with the truth that they felt nothing. It was like having the thing you want most always just beyond your reach.

His melancholy was interrupted when the very angry Sound Four kicked the door in. Thorn turned to face them. He'd known this was coming and a plan had been made. There was always a plan, always an order to follow.

"You...you betrayed Lord Orochimaru AND left us to die!" Kidomaru screamed at him.

Thorn just shrugged "I promised power and I gave it. It's not my fault he never asked about the risks."

That didn't do anything to calm the situation but then it wasn't meant to. "I heard what Hunter said. You knew that the attack would fail! You sabotaged us from the start!" Tayuya pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Right and wrong. The attack was not meant to destroy the Leaf Village. That comes later. If he chooses to."

By now they'd had just about enough of Thorn and his half-answers. The Sound Four tensed, preparing to strike but in an instant they were surrounded by Dusks and Creepers. Moving with supernatural speed and flexibility the Nobodies wrapped themselves around the ninjas, binding them in place.

"What the!? What are these things!?" asked Kidomaru as he tried vainly to break free.

"I am assuming control of this operation. You can either follow me, or be removed."

The Sound Four all looked at each other briefly.

"Yeah sure I'm in." said Sakon.

"Me too." added Jirōbo

"With you all the way." Tayuya nodded emphatically.

"Um...all hail Lord Thorn." Kiodomaru said nervously.

Thorn's mouth twitched in what might have passed for contempt. He snapped his fingers and the Nobodies let the Sound Four go. Needless to say they were all very relieved.

"Erm, hey. Anyone seen Kabuto?" asked Jirōbo. Everyone shook their heads and murmured 'no'.

"He is of no consequence" said Thorn as he turned back to what he'd been doing before. "He's nothing without Orochimaru. Live in three, two, one."

Most of the wall in front of him was taken up by many individual screens that blared with static before coming to life with images of Kages, Daimyos, village leaders, powerful crime lords, all of whom looked shocked or angry.

"Gentlemen." Thorn began "By now I'm sure you're aware of the attack on the Hidden Leaf village this morning. An attack I was behind. I would like to inform you all that all the rumours you've heard are true. The reanimated corpses, enhanced soldiers, otherworldly abilities they are all at my disposal. And all of them...are for sale." The anger was gone now, replaced with something far more worrisome. "My Creepers will now give you a list of items along with their prices. You are all free to contact me any time, simply ask and a Creeper will appear. Good day." The monitors all went blank.

Kidomaru scratched his head "I'm kinda lost here, what did you just do?"

Thorn turned to look at them all with that unsettling blank gaze of his "I just started the Fourth Shinobi War."

In the Hidden Leaf

Tsunade didn't like it. The attack on the village had ended in failure, Orochimaru was seemingly dead, by all accounts she should be feeling overjoyed only she couldn't because there was still so much that didn't add up. Thorn had said that he and Hunter were 'more than kin' which probably meant they were clones (or something like that) and he clearly had an interest in Naruto. Then of course there was Hunter himself who'd once again disappeared without a trace. Hunter had said the Thorn had planned for this attack to fail and that made her worried.

'Just what is this 'Nobody' up to?' she wondered.

"I can't believe he's really gone." said Jiriya, who was standing next to her. The two of them were in her office where she was directing the after battle cleanup.

"You've been a ninja just as long as I have Jiriya. I won't believe he's gone until I see the corpse myself."

Jiriya had to agree with her on that. There had been plenty of times a missing nin had been declared dead only to turn up to cause trouble later.

There was a small puff of smoke and an ANBU wearing a boar mask appearing in front of her desk. "Lady Hokage. I have the status report you requested." Tsunade nodded, giving him permission to carry on "The Hidden Sound invasion has been successfully repelled with all enemy combatants either dead or in custody. Casualties on our side were surprisingly low and most of the structurally damage isn't too severe."

"That's a relief." said Jiriya "If it had lasted any longer than it did things would have been much worse for us."

"What about the prisoners?" asked Tsunade.

"So far they have been unco-"

"Lady Tsunade!" the ANBU was cut off when Shizune burst into the room. Tsunade had sent her to examine the dead Sound ninja and from the look on her face what she'd found hadn't been good. "Sorry but...I found alien DNA in the prisoners blood. I think it's what gave them their increased power!"

"Wait...alien?" Jiriya asked, unsure if he'd heard her right.

"Yes, alien!" Shizune was practically bouncing off the walls "This new DNA has a quadruple helix structure and TWELVE base pairs! It's millions of years ahead of human life!"

Tsunade started massaging her temples. Now she could add aliens to the growing list of weirdness.

"There's more." Shizune continued "This alien DNA is extremely aggressive. In the short term it enhanced all Orochimaru's men but now it's treating its hosts bodies as infections."

"You mean it's killing them." said Jiriya.

Shizune nodded "Yes and quickly. I doubt any of them will make it through the night. Thorn's method of genetic manipulation is...archaic at best but I have noticed differences in some of the prisoners. It's like Thorn was improving his techniques as he went along."

"So with a little more time he could perfect this process? Make soldiers who won't die after a few days?" reasoned Tsunade. "Great. Just what else could go wrong?"

Another ANBU appeared in the office, this one wearing a boar mask "Lady Hokage. Several of our agents just sent in an urgent report. You're not going to like this."

Back in Twilight Town

"Woah, woah, snap! Aaaagh! This is weird!" said Hunter as he tried to get the hang of floating about. "Riku, DiZ! What happened to me?"

"You said it yourself Hunter. You were destroyed by Thorn." Riku explained "Heartless can't die but you don't have a physical body anymore."

"So I'm stuck like this forever!" Hunter whined as he floated upside-down over to Riku who turned him the right way up "Thank you."

"No." DiZ entered the conversation "You will get your body back in time, until then you will need to possess a substitute."

"Possess?"

"Yes Hunter, you can possess inanimate objects in this state. Statues and suites of armour would be preferable, something with appendages, but anything will do. Or you could just wait until your body returns." DiZ walked over to his computers and sat down "It seems Thorn has done away with subterfuge. He's either confidant or desperate. I'm leaning towards the former though."

"No kidding!" said Hunter as he floated over to hover above DiZ. He didn't quite stop in time though and ended up passing through a wall "Really weird." he muttered as he floated back into the room "He suped up Orochimaru's goons, let three clone-copy-whatevers loose and set a giant Heartless on the village!"

"Replicas." Riku corrected him "They're called Replicas. I've had...experience with them in the past. The Organisation used data to make a copy of a person but they never quite got it to work right."

Hunter didn't like the sound of that "So Thorn can whistle up an army of villains on demand? Great!"

Riku shook his head "No. It takes time to make a proper replica. He could use them as battle drones in a pinch but they wouldn't be very smart."

"That's quite enough about Thorn for now." said DiZ "I don't suppose that during all this you remembered to decode the Organisations data?"

Hunter sank a little "Um...I er...left it decoding. I-it should be done by now. I take it that our computer is still..."

DiZ turned up the volume dial a little and out of the speakers to the tune of jingle bell rock came "Stroke-a my, lick-a my, suck on my co-" he turned to dial back down again. "Still infected? Yes. Once you've regained your body go and retrieve that data. I should hopefully have it fixed by then."

Hunter made an expression that looked like he was scratching his head "Erm why wait? Riku's right here, I could just tell him where to go."

"Riku already has an assignment and it is too important for him to take a detour. And before you ask no, neither I nor Naminé can leave our work here either."

"Right fine, fine." Hunter relented "I'll go back and see how the Leaf's doing and then I'll fetch that disk. You know DiZ the more jobs you give me the more I feel like I'm just your Plan B."

"More like a necessary evil."

Hunter glared at him then he hovered over to Naminé "Hey, when I get back to my old self do you think we can have another ice cream?"

The girl smiled at him in that oddly sad way she always did "I'd like that very much. See you soon Hunter and...be careful."

He smiled wildly back at her "Oh where's the fun in that." then he portaled out.

Over to the Elemental Nations

He reappeared in a back street in the Hidden Leaf. Cautiously he hovered upwards to get a better look at the area. It was now night and a half moon was shining down on the village, illuminating the damage done earlier that day. Now that he could see it things didn't look too bad. It had been worse in the last attack. Hunter couldn't see any Sound Ninjas or replicas but there were a lot of Leaf ninjas on patrol. He moved through the village, keeping to the rooftops and using his supernatural senses to stay out of sight. Well, that is until he happened on three familiar faces. Konohamaru, Mogei and Udon were in the street below, hiding in front of a clothing shop.

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello what do we have here then?" he muttered to himself as he sunk in closer.

"This is a bad idea." said a nervous Udon. "Iruka-sensei told us not to leave so soon after the battle. It's still not safe out here!"

"Aw quit complaining Udon!" Konohamaru turned to face his team "You don't hear Mogei worrying right?" Mogei opened her mouth but before she could speak Konohamaru carried on talking "Right. Giant Monster Patrol team, move out!"

Hunter dropped down into the midst of them and screamed "BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" Instead of screaming and running the three children just carried on as normal. "Boo!...Boo?...Am I talking to myself here!?" still nothing. "Am I correct in assuming that none of you can see or hear me?" Hunter asked at Konohamaru. When he got no response he smiled and decided to make the most of this "Konohamaru, your name is ridiculous! Mogei, what the hell is that on your head!? And Udon, wipe your bloody nose man! Are there no tissues in this world or something!?" Unable to hear him the trio went about their business, searching for 'monsters'. Seeing as how he couldn't really do anything Hunter decided to leave them be. Throwing caution to the wind he stated zipping around the town, enjoying his newfound freedom.

Well, that is until he phased into Asuma and Kurenai's room.

"Ahhh! Sweat zombie Jesus my eyes!" he shot upwards through the ceiling, coming to a halt a few feet above the roof. "What has been seen can never be unseen. Brrrrr." he let a shiver run through his non-corporeal body.

"Hey Hunter!"

"SNAP!" Hunter rocketed several feet up into the air. Looking back down at the roof he saw Candy Witch standing there smiling smugly back up at him. Slowly he lowered himself back down again. "Candy? You're still here?"

"Yeah, I was wonderin' where you'd gone. Let me guess, you got your ass handed to you?"

Hunters mouth twitched a little "Yes." he muttered quietly.

Candy's smug grin grew "See, that's what happens when you try and solo a Heartless Lord."

"A what?"

Candy blinked a few times "You...really don't know do you?" Hunter's blank expression was all the answer she needed "Well most Heatless all look pretty much the same, like they've been stamped out of a mould. Lords are different. They're unique because they used to be really powerful villains or something."

Hunter nodded as he took this all in, enjoying the idea that he was a 'lord' "You know quite a bit about Heartless."

Candy leaned back, folding her hands behind her head. "Eh, ya pick things up when you travel the worlds."

"Is that how you learned how to fight to? Picking up odd tips from different worlds?"

"Nah. When I first started out I spent two years in the Traverse Town Defence Force. Yufi and Leon gave us all the basics and we learnt the rest as we went."

Hunter had no idea what she was talking about and his face showed it. "Traverse Town?"

"Yes, it was a refugee world." Hunter stared at her blankly "For refugees? From the Heartless Invasion?" Still nothing."Wow, you really don't know. Ok well 'bout two years ago there was this big tidal wave of Heartless from the Dark Realm, never found out why but they ate like...hundreds of worlds. Everyone who didn't die just drifted through the Lanes Between and eventually found their way to Traverse Town."

"Sounds like fun." said Hunter, dryly.

Candy rolled her eyes "Oh you have no idea. The Heartless weren't the worst of it, the people were. Putting Daleks and Necrons together was definitely a mistake. Then there was all the Elves and their constant whining. And trying to get Klingons, Orks and Dwarves out of the bar. And of course my roommates. Serana was ok but all that dragon Alduin did was moan. And-"

"Ok I get the picture." Hunter interrupted her "Not good times. So what are your plans now?"

"Same as always." Candy walked to the edge of the roof and looked out at the village "Explore every nook and cranny then move on. There's a whole multiverse out there and I want to see it all. Just one thing first though." Without warning she trapped Hunter in a crushingly tight hug "YOU ARE SO KAWAI!"

"Gaahhh! Air! Need air!"

After about thirty seconds of squeezing Candy released him, then she brought out her broom, threw it out in front of her and hopped on it. To Hunters surprise the broom started levitating then flying around with Candy riding it like a surf board. She made one slow circle round the roof "If you ever need me, ya know how ta reach me." then she flew off into the night.

Hunter watched her grow smaller and smaller until she faded from sight "I make the weirdest friends." he muttered to himself then he felt a small jolt that made him wince. He blinked a few times, then moved on.

The Hyūga compound

Hinata couldn't sleep. Everything that had happed the past few days was just so...overwhelming. Hunter, two invasions, the way she'd lost control, Naruto's disappearance then sudden return. She remember hearing once that warm milk before bed could help. Deciding it was worth a shot she got up from her bed, left her room and headed for the kitchen.

With Hunter

"Find a body...body. Hmmmm." he briefly considered a shop window dummy but decided against it. While it did have articulated hands, good for interacting, it was made of wood and would most likely come apart in a fight. The search continued for about half an hour with no results "Grrr! This place is like Fantasy Japan! You think there'd be some samurai armour 'round here somewhere!" He was now scouring a building in a small compound on the villages outer edges. As he floated down the wooden halls he spotted a worthy vessel. An old suit of samurai armour just at the end of the corridor. "Bingo!"

Over to Hinata

Getting around the compound at night was a tricky business. You had to be quiet enough not to wake anyone up but not so stealthy that the guards mistook you for an intruder. As Hinata walked she saw someone standing a few paces in front of her, facing down a side corridor. For a split second she thought it was a person, then she remembered that it was just that antique armour display. She never really understood why that thing was even here, as far as she knew her clan had never worn armour like that as it hampered their ability to discharge chakra bursts from any part of their bodies. Dismissing it as a mystery to be solved later she carried on her way, walking right in front of the armour at the exact moment Hunter tried to possess it. He tried to stop but he was still getting used to controlling his new form and was unable to stop himself from crashing into Hinata.

"Ohhh Snaaaaaa-!"

Dive into heart

Hinata wasn't sure what happened. She felt like she was just waking up but she knew that was impossible. She opened her eyes but it was so dark she couldn't see anything. Now that was odd. There was a full moon that night and coupled with the lights outside she should have been able to see perfectly. As she continued to look however she realized with mounting horror that she wasn't in the compound anymore, all around there was nothing but an impenetrable darkness. Hinata panicked and jumped to her feet. That was when she saw what she was standing on. The floor was a massive circular stain glass window featuring a sleeping image of her set against a forest hill background. Hinata just stared at the image of herself, taking several steps back.

"Well, this is jusssssst peachy!"

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun round and saw Hunter standing behind her. He too was staring at the glass but he was wearing a very annoyed expression. "One job. One simple furking thing! And it's all gone tits up. I swear I've been cursed by something."

"H-hunter!? Wha...where are we? What are you doing here? Why am Ihere?"

Hunter scratched his head. "Well...I can't be one hundred percent but...I think we're...Yeah I'm pretty sure this" he gestured at the floor "is your heart."

Hinata just stared down at the glass floor, trying to get her head round this. "My...heart..."

"Yeah, you can tell because there's a big image of Naruto right over there."

She looked over in the direction Hunter was pointing and saw that in the top corner of the picture above her images head were several small blue circles that contained other people's faces. Her team mates Kiba and Shino where there, along with her sister Hanabi and just like Hunter said one of a smiling Naruto.

"Well, it's better than a shrine in your basement." Hunter joked, then he noticed Hinata's embarrassed expression. "Wait, you don't really...oh Hinata!"

"I-it's just a picture with a few candles!" she blurted out without meaning to. Hinata flushed and turned her gaze skywards. She forgot her embarrassment instantly when she saw what was hanging above them. It was another stain glass window or 'heart' like hers but instead of a person it showed a massive cat like monster set against an image of a dark purple ocean with a single coral like arch rising out of the water. Hunter was the only other person here so this 'heart' must belong to him and that meant that the monster it showed was what Hunter really was.

She looked over at Hunter and saw that he was looking up to. "Yeah, that's me. Please don't make any cat-person jokes."

This wasn't that big a revelation, they all knew by now that Hunter wasn't human. "How did...this happen?" Hinata asked.

"Completely your fault." said Hunter bluntly."I was trying to poses that armour then you got in the way at the last second so..."

"You're...possessing me?!" That was not what Hinata wanted to hear.

"Erm...yeah. Hang on, let me check how things are going out there."

Back in reality

Hunter opened his, erm, Hinata's eyes. Apparently she'd fallen during the possession and all he could see was the wooden floor. He gingerly got up, getting used to this new flesh and blood body. "Wait." he suddenly realised "Flesh and blood...I have skin...muscles...TASTE BUDS!" Hunter ran off, quick as lightning, following his nose to the kitchen. Without a care he threw open every cupboard and started eating anything he could get his hands on. "Soooo delicious!" he said through mouthfuls of food "I'd almost forgotten what eggs tasted like!"

Back in the dream, Hinata was aware of what was going on outside and she wasn't exactly thrilled about all the food Hunter was putting into her body. "Hunter! Y-you're supposed to cook that first!" she pleaded as he downed several raw steaks. After about five minutes the kitchen was destroyed. Cupboard doors had been ripped off their hinges, tables upturned and what food Hunter hadn't eaten was now covering the floor. In the middle of all this mess sat Hunter, happily scoffing mouthfuls of cake icing from a bowl. "Ok Hunter t-that's enough!" Hinata yelled with as much authority as she could muster "You've had your fun. N-now get out of my body!"

Hunter gave her a pleading look "But everything's soooooo tasty! Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to taste anything!"

"N-no! Get out of me now!"

He raised an eyebrow coyly "Ya know, taken out of context this conversation could be taken totally the wrong way." Hunter suddenly looked serious and started looking all around "There aren't any shitty fanfic writers around here, are there?"

"Hunter! Get out!"

"Make me!"

Hinata knew that she couldn't force him out so she had to convince him to leave. "Hunter. Y-you know that all that food your eating...eventually has to...come out."

He didn't understand what she meant for a moment, then realization hit him like a smack to the face "Eww! Oh fu-fine. You win." Hunter crossed his arms and...did nothing.

After about two minutes of both of them just standing there Hinata realised what was going on "You don't know how to leave do you?"

"No." Hunter squeaked.

Over in the real world Hunter had put down the icing bowl and was holding his head in his hands, trying desperately to think of a way out. Having a real body again was fun but he knew in the long run it would be bad. He just couldn't push it as far as his Heartless body, that and it didn't belong to him in the first place. Actually now that he thought about it he had no idea what effect taking over Hinata's body would have. All that 'Power of Darkness' suddenly stuck inside could not be healthy. He picked up the bowl again and looked at his reflection.

Well, most of the changes weren't too drastic. Her hair had gotten a few shades darker and was now shoulder length and a little spiky and her eyes were no longer the 'normal' pale white but bright yellow like Hunters. That's when he noticed the clothes he was wearing now. Hinata's pyjamas had been replaced by a strange suite that covered her body right up to her neck. It was jet black in colour apart from a stylised red Heartless symbol on her stomach and it had an odd tissue like texture. Her left arm was covered in dark purple armour plating that extended from her wrist to her shoulder and there were two similar metal greaves on her shins.

"That's...strange." muttered Hunter. "This seems...familiar. Where have I..."

Hinata had gone red with embarrassment. This gladiator style outfit was a lot more revealing than she was used to. 'Oh please don't let anyone see me like this.' she prayed. Outside was suddenly tinted orange as the sun started to rise over the village.

"Oh no." said Hinata, panic in her voice "It's sun-up! P-people will be getting up any second!"

"This early?" Hunter looked at her incredulously. "Right, we're out of here!"

He smashed through the nearest wall and left the compound at lightning speed, heading for the woods beyond.

"Were are you going?" demanded Hinata. "Y-you can't just run off with my body like this!"

"As of now this is my body too!" he replied as he shot up into the tree line and started leaping from branch to branch. "Right now I need some space to figure out how to get out of you! Pfffft tehehehe!"

"Hunter!"

"Sorry!"

Over in the Hokage's office

Tsunade was on her fourteenth cup of coffee now. In addition to Jiriya and Shizune just about every senior ninja in the Leaf was there, all wearing worried looks at the news she'd just given them all.

"He's selling all that?" repeated Guy.

"That's what our agents say." said a very tired Tsunade as she took another sip. "I don't need to tell you that this will only end one way. Another Shinobi war. And with all this new technology suddenly flying around there's a very real chance that no one will survive this one."

"This was probably Thorns plan all along." muttered Kakashi.

Jiriya wasn't so convinced "He doesn't seem the type to care for money. I get the feeling that this isn't the end, just another step."

"There's only one person who knows for sure." said Tsunade "We can't wait any longer. We need to capture Hunter now and find out everything he knows about Thorn! Any ideas?"

After a moments uncomfy silence Kurenai stepped forward "I think I do."

Back with Hinata and Hunter

"But there has to be a way to get you out!" Hinata moaned. They were no longer running and were now just walking through the villages outskirts.

Hunter grunted as he filled with the armour plates "Hinata, I can't even figure out how to get this off. Leaving your body might not be possible until I've got enough energy to re-grow mine."

"And how long will that take?"

"I don't know. Hours. Maybe a day. This has never happened to me before."

Inside the Dive into Heart Hinata tapped hunter on the shoulder and pointed up at his Dive. "I don't think we have a day."

Hunter looked up at his 'heart' and realised what she meant. It had moved, descended, and was now visibly closer to them. "Not good. That is...oh snap!"

"W-what happens when they meet?" Hinata asked fearfully.

"I...don't know but...I'm guessing one consumes the other." That didn't help the situation. Hinata looked like she was about to have a panic attack. "Oh, and there's one more thing." Hinata looked over at him "We're being followed."

Back in the real world Hunter spun round and threw a lightning spell at a tree behind him. In the moment before the spell connected three figures in black cloaks and ANBU masks leapt out of hiding and landed on the ground in front of him.

"Now, I'm having a rough day." Hunter said as he paced up and down in front of them. "So, why don't you just run back to Tits McGee and- SHIT!" Hunter ducked as a Kunai sailed over his head and embedded itself in a tree behind him.

"Go inform Lord Danzo." said one of the ANBU as he drew another kunai. The one on his left nodded and vanished in a swirl of leaves just as the one on the right charged at Hunter, drawing a sword from under his cloak and slicing upwards at him. Acting on instinct Hunter blocked with his armour covered arm and quick as lightning he punched the ANBU in the face, shattering his masked and sending him flying back.

'One down.' thought Hunter as he faced the last ANBU. His mask was some kind of reptile with large teeth, maybe a crocodile. He drew several kunai and threw them at Hunter, all of them missing and embedding themselves in the ground around him. Then the small paper tags attached to each one exploded, covering the area in a cloud of smoke.

The Crocodile ANBU had retreated up to the treetops to get a better vantage point. 'Prefect.' he thought 'That toxic smoke should have put Hunter out of...huh!?"

Hunter burst out of the smoke, appearing before the ninja. Before he could react he slammed his palm into the mans stomach and blasted him with an unstable mix of Chakra and Dark power that smashed him threw the tree and down to the ground.

The ANBU groaned and tried to get up but in a second Hunter was on top of him, holding his hand over the man's face "Thunder!" the spell shocked the man into unconsciousness as Hunter let his smoking body fall. "Ok, that was fun...Oh and by the way, Hinata."

"Yes?"

"You erm...know that first guy I punched, the one whose mask broke?"

Hinata nodded, after all that had only been moments ago.

Hunter smiled sheepishly "Well...I think I broke your wrist."

"WHAT!?" Hinata screamed.

"Sorry."

With Hinata still freaking out in his head Hunter cast a Cure spell on his hand. "Now just a little...and all my magic's gone. Bugger." That was the one downside to Cure, it didn't work in half measures. Even when it was only being used to heal minor wounds it drained every last drop of magic.

With that out of the way Hunter started examining his fallen foes. Quickly his eyes picked up on a trace of magic coming from the fallen ninjas mouth of all places. Carefully he took of the Croc ANBU's mask and opened his mouth. Tattooed on his tongue was a hexagram, three solid black lines above two broken ones.

Inside the Dive Hunter scratched his head "What the hell is that?"

"Juinjutsu." said Hinata, who was also curious.

Hunter shot her a sideways look "Eh?"

"Juinjutsu is the erm...a shinobi technique used to bring someone under your control." Hinata explained "By applying a seal to someone's body you can make them do whatever you want a-and hurt them if they refuse."

"So it's like that thing on Neji's head, right?"

Hinata nodded grimly.

"So...what does this seal do?"

"I erm...don't know. H-he's an ANBU ninja so maybe it's to keep him from revealing sensitive information."

Hunter folded his arms, "Great, so kicking the shit out of him won't work. Time to check his pockets." he set to work rummaging, starting with the man's jacket "Let's see...lint, knife...shuriken, paper tags...bingo! Map!"

That instantly made Hinata suspicious. This man just happened to have a map on him. It just screamed 'Trap!'.

She told Hunter as much but he didn't seem to mind. "Oh of course it's a trap!" he said as he started following the map. "That or whoever's in charge of this lot is supremely stupid. I heard that guy mention a 'Danzo'? Who's he?"

"Danzō Shimura." said Hinata "He's one of the Village Elders and before that he was a very powerful Shinobi. It's a poorly kept secret that he used to run a division of ANBU and that he often went against the Third Hokage's orders."

"Sounds like a fun guy. I reckon our odds of running into him are, ooooh ...seventy percent."

After walking deeper into the forest the map lead them to a hidden hatch that connected to an underground tunnel network. Hunter wasn't really surprised by this, after all what self respecting ninja village wouldn't have a secret passages and whatnot. Hinata explained to him that passages like this were often used by ANBU as a means of getting about unseen and were normally booby trapped to hell.

"You know an awful lot about secret stuff." Hunter observed as he climbed down into the tunnel.

"I'm the heiress of Konohas most powerful clan. That and most people...tend not to notice me that much."

"People or Naruto." said Hunter with a wry smile. Hinata instantly flushed crimson.

Eventually Hunter reached a large square room that was empty save for a stone pedestal in the centre. Without a care Hunter walked up to it and found...

"A summon charm!" he declared in surprise "Where the hell did-" he picked it up, and that's where the trouble started. A large glowing seal sprang to life on the floor, encircling him with a wall of light. Hunter had been caught in something like this before and from the looks of it he wouldn't be able to escape as easily this time. The room was now almost full of ANBU ninjas that had just appeared out of nowhere, along with one other man.

Unlike the rest he wasn't wearing a mask. He had lanky brown hair, a 'x' shaped scar on his chin and bandages covering the right side of his face. "Interesting." he said calmly. "You knew it was most likely a trap yet you walked into it anyway. Is that confidence or arrogance Hunter?"

Hunter folded his arms "Let's see here. Bad hair, underground lair, Saturday morning cartoon villain vibe. You must be Danzō."

"'Villain'? Interesting choice of words. Especially coming from a Heartless." Hunter's eyes widened "Yes" Danzō continued "I know what you are. I'll admit I am a little surprised by your...current state. Is the Hyūga heiress still aware in there?"

"Yeah, she's still here, she's just riding shotgun. Now how do you know about me?" Hunter wasn't just interested, he needed Danzō to keep talking long enough for him to figure a way out of this mess.

The elder ninja seemed reluctant at first but eventually he spoke "Almost a year ago there was a meteor shower near the village. In the crater was a small cube, a store of information not of this world. It told me of other worlds beyond ours and of being with ruthless and unimaginable power. Power that makes even the greatest Shinobi look like mere ants in comparison." He gripped his cane a little tighter "An one of those beings followed it here."

"You...you're the reason Thorn is here!" Hunter yelled.

"Yes." Danzō admitted, although he didn't seem too broken up about it. "That was...an error of judgment on my part. If I'd have known the trouble that cube would bring I'd have destroyed it myself."

"Well, you didn't!" yelled a very angry Hunter, slamming his fist against the barrier "All this mess is your fault you arrogant, self centred di-"

"Firstly I had no way of knowing that Thorn would come to this world." Danzō pointed out "And you're hardly one to take the moral high ground here. I've taken many lives in my time. Done things that are to many, morally reprehensible. But all of it was for a to keep the village as a whole strong and secure. How many have died to slake your hunger hmm?"

Hunter didn't have an answer for him, even inside the Dive into Heart Hinata was giving him a strange look. "What do you want." he finally asked. "You didn't bring me down here just to take shots at me."

"You've so far proven almost impervious to harm, even destroying you isn't a permanent solution. So I'm simply going to seal you away down here forever, where you can do no more harm." Danzō gave a signal to his men and they instantly set to work revealing more hidden seals around the room and activating them one by one.

"You can't do this!" insisted Hunter "I'm the only one who can stop Thorn! Without me here to protect you-"

"Protect!" Danzō cut him off. "Now that is bad comedy. Your antics around this village have kept everyone's attention solely focused on you. You're the main reason Thorn managed to go unnoticed as long as he did!"

"Well...what about Hinata!?" Hunter continued "She's not part of this!"

"I'm afraid she is. You said yourself that she's still aware inside you and I can't have her revealing any of this. The Hyūga clan does still have another heiress, that and Hiashi is still young. He can always have more children."

Hinata looked absolutely horrified. She was going to be trapped forever underground with Hunter! She was going to die down here with and no one, not her friends or family would know!

"Well you've forgot one thing!" Hunter smirked, holding up the summon charm "You locked me in here with this!"

As if on command the charm began to glow, transforming and taking shape into...

"ME! Deadpool! Took you long enough. Seriously, how did it take you this long to write me in dickhead! Ok, this chapter's done, roll credits!"

This is a book, there are no credits.

"Oh whatever, just end here. Cliff-hanger time!"


Yes, I finally got Deadpool in. Just remember, you asked for it.

I'm only in the last two lines Dickhead! That's barely a cameo! But don't worry boys and girls, the'll be plenty to wet your Deadpool appetite next chapter won't there?

Well, I'm still not sure your the bet fit fo-

(sound of swords drawing) Won't there!?

Yeah, sure whatever you say Mr Pool! nervous laugh Ohhh shit.

Till next time.