Roar of the Dragon: Sorry I couldn't update on Saturday like I planned, the site was down in the morning and I wanted to give it a day to make sure it wasn't going down again. Expect the next chapter in two weeks on Saturday from now on. I'm going back to school tomorrow, so I'll need the longer time between updates to keep up with writing while going to classes. I saw the first Inuyasha movie this weekend, so expect some new moves or ideas to pop up in later chapters.
Review Responses:
xAkix: You're going to hate where I cut this chapter off also, so I'm casting True Ressurection again with a stipulation that it activates after you read this chapter. Ramen flavored cake sounds kind of weird, but I bet Inuyasha and Naruto would love it. I think I'll have Ichiraku give Naruto a lifetime discount coupon for his wedding and do the catering for the reception. (Hint for possible Inu/Kag wedding in your story)
Story Weaver1: It wasn't really a contest per say, they were both just eating their fill. Kimiko wanted to learn what all the flavors were and tasted like while Naruto was making up for missing three years. Fluff is always good, I'll eventually get some fluff for the kids not native to the Naruto world.
Ohiowriter: Glad you have some idea about what is going on, but it won't do you much good since I'm practically rewriting the laws of physics for the Naruto world.
Fiery Demon Fox: Yay, you're back! Glad you like the longer chapters, I enjoy writing them! I know life can really make it hard to find decent writing time, but don't let it get you down!
Inuyasha Taiyoukai of the West: Yay, a new reviewer! Shippo and Rin are at the dating stage, Sesshomaru is making sure they're mature enough to finally mate.
sand-nin-gurl: Thank you for your input, you can use my name for the Fourth. I've changed my formatting to your suggestions for the next chapter, but this one was completed before I received your review and is already 15 pages long in Word. I don't know how long uploaded stories can be so I don't want to make it any longer than it already is.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Oh my Goddess!, or Tenchi Muyo. If I did I would have a PS2, a Game cube, and an X-box and never have to worry about putting in this disclaimer.
"Man, things sure are slow without Naruto around," said Tenten as she ate lunch at Ichiraku with Neji, Kyuubi, Kimiko, and Hiryuu. Miyuki was helping other customers but chatted with her friends as often as she could. "I know, but I'm sure he'll have some exciting story to tell us when he gets back with Hinata-sama," said Neji with a soft smile. Kyuubi smiled at the two Chunin and asked, "When did you two start going out? Based on your attitude three years ago I never would have guessed you had a crush on Tenten." Neji proved that Hinata wasn't the only Hyuga whose face could imitate a tomato. Tenten stared at Neji in shock before grabbing her cell phone and using its camera to snap a picture of her boyfriend's face. Neji blinked as the flash hit his eyes and grabbed for the phone, only to find his hand on something a lot softer. Tenten's eyes narrowed as Neji snatched his hand back like it had been burned and dropped down to the ground to start bowing to her. "Ten-chan, I'm so sorry! I reacted out of instinct and didn't look at what I was grabbing!" exclaimed the Hyuga boy. Kyuubi, Hiryuu, Kimiko, and Miyuki were all laughing at the couple since they got to see the unshakeable Neji Hyuga begging for forgiveness. The peaceful afternoon was suddenly shattered by a loud explosion in the distance. All the customers turned and saw a large fiery version of the Uzumaki crest in mid air. Kyuubi's face paled and she said, "That's the signal flare Naruto used whenever he was unable to move from something I couldn't fix right off like a broken leg! To be using it so close to Konoha must mean Akatsuki found their group!" A tornado suddenly shot up into the air and caused Miyuki to gulp and yell, "Teuchi, I need to go now! That's one of my brother's attacks. He must have been one of the clients Naruto and the others were hired to escort!" Teuchi nodded and Miyuki grabbed a glass of water to transform into her catgirl form. Hiryuu started running towards Hokage tower yelling, "I'll inform Tsunade-sama, you guys go help them now!" Neji nodded and activated the Byakugan as he leapt to his feet. Tenten checked her kunai pouch and scrolls to make sure she had all the weapons she would need. Kimiko and Kyuubi both sniffed the air and tensed. "Itachi, Kisame, and two new ones. I smell Akira and Ryeka to, so now the only members of our group no accounted for are Shippo and Rin," said Kimiko. Kyuubi nodded and the four rescuers ran out of Konoha towards the battle. As soon as they were out of sight of the village walls Kyuubi skidded to a stop. "Stand back!" she said before transforming into her fox form and making sure she was big enough to carry all three of the teenagers. A tail grabbed each of her passengers and placed them on the kitsune's back and then they were off. Kyuubi darted through the trees much faster than any Jounin could and with a speed that caused Tenten to grab Neji with a death grip.
(---------)
Akemi growled and suddenly transformed to her fox form. "Don't even think of touching Oka-san!" she snarled. Kisame stared at Akemi for a second before bursting out in laughter. "And what will you do to stop us you mangy fleabag?" Akemi's eyes narrowed and she inhaled deeply. The kitsune then exhaled and a huge column of fire shot out of her mouth towards Kisame. The shark man barely managed to counter with a water dragon and save himself from becoming grilled shark. "Looks like we'll get two demons instead of one," said Banrai as electricity crackled around his hands. A sudden blast of red energy hit the edge of the seal just then, causing all the Akatsuki members to leap backwards. More energy blasts rained down, none of them ever hitting the trapped group. Naruto suddenly found he was able to move and saw a large chunk of the seal had been whipped out by the energy blasts. The blond shinobi charged towards Kisame and drew his new sword. The two giant blades clashed, neither shinobi able to get past the other's guard. Akemi transformed back to her human form and leapt at Itachi with Hinata. The two kunoichi knew they would only be able to keep the missing nin busy for a few minutes, but that those few minutes might be the difference between life and death. Banrai leapt towards Naruto's back, only to meet Akira's foot in mid-air and get sent crashing to the ground. The former Thunder nin glared at the boy and lunged after him. Akira avoided each of Banrai's attacks, maneuvering the missing nin in a spiral pattern. Finally, Akira had gotten Banrai to the center of the spiral and delivered an uppercut to the Akatsuki member as he yelled, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!" A large tornado shot up into the air and took Banrai with it. The thunder nin tried to call down lightning to strike Akira, only to feel a vicious two handed blow to the back of his head courtesy of Ryeka, who had phased through the ground to escape the seal and later destroy it from the air. Akira then fired off a ki blast with a yell of "Moko Takabisha!" and sent Banrai crashing into a tree, knocking it over and obscuring the missing nin in a cloud of dust. A yell of "Rakurai no Jutsu!" was followed by a bolt of lightning shooting out from the cloud to hit Akira, who threw up his arms to block the attack. The martial artist flew through the air and collapsed, fighting a lousing battle against falling unconscious. His last thoughts were, ::Sorry Ryeka, looks like you're on your own!::
Banrai stepped out of the dissipating smoke cloud from his landing with electricity crackling around his hands. "You brats are good, but now you'll get to meet my little pet." The cloud nin flashed through the seal for the summoning skill before raising his arms to the sky. "Kyuchiyose – Raicho!" yelled the man as lightning shot up into the sky from his hands. Storm clouds immediately formed in the sky and thunder shook the air. The clouds were suddenly parted by a giant bird that seemed to be made of electricity. "Say hello to Raicho the thunder bird!" said Banrai with a smile. Ryeka landed on the ground and saw Akira was out cold from Banrai's earlier attack, meaning she had to deal with the summoned beast and its summoner. Ryeka grinned and also made the seals for the summoning jutsu while communicating with Ren-oh-ki telepathically. "Kyuchiyose – Ren-oh-ki!" yelled the cyan haired girl as she slammed her hands into the ground. Ren-oh-ki immediately phased up through the ground to appear in front of her mistress. The little cabbit gave out a small "Miya" before looking at Banrai. The Cloud nin started laughing and said, "What kind of pathetic summons is that? That thing is only good as a snack for Raicho!" Ryeka grinned, a look on her face her father would have groaned at, the same look her mother had before she started blasting everything in sight. "Ren-oh-ki, transform!" yelled Ryeka. With a loud "Miyaaaaa!" the cabbit leapt into the air and transformed into her space ship form. Banrai stared at the space ship from his perch on Raicho's head as Ryeka floated up into the air and passed into her ship through the red crystal on the bottom. "Ren-oh-ki, lets fry some chicken!" yelled Ryeka as the cabbit ship's weapons were focused on the thunder bird. Raicho sensed the danger he was in and sent a flurry of electric feathers at Ren-oh-ki. The cabbit ship shot up into the air to avoid the attack and countered with a laser blast. Raicho dove towards the ground and then zoomed upwards to ram the ship. Ren-oh-ki yowled and Ryeka saw Banrai smirking. The cyan haired girl teleported outside and formed an energy sword in one hand. "No one, and I mean no one, hurts my friend and gets away with it!" she growled before swinging at the missing nin. Banrai countered with a electric sword in the shape of a lightning bolt. "It has been awhile since I had a good workout, lets dance!" said Ryeka as she broke the deadlock and kicked at Banrai. The man avoided the blow and countered with an electric uppercut to Ryeka's chin. The jolt to her system caused Ryeka to lose control of her flight and she plummeted towards the ground. Banrai smirked until he heard a loud angry roar and saw a giant red beam shooting towards him and Raicho from Ren-oh-ki. "Ah hell," he said just before the beam hit, whipping both of them from the face of the earth. Ren-oh-ki dove towards Ryeka, hoping she could catch her mistress before she hit the ground. As the ground grew closer, the transformed cabbit realized her tractor beam was damaged when Raicho rammed her and she had no way of catching Ryeka. Ren-oh-ki yowled in distress as she fought a hopeless battle to save her mistress.
Just then, Kyuubi burst through the trees and skidded to a stop to allow her passengers to jump off her back. A tail snapped out and grabbed Ryeka to keep her from hitting the ground. The kitsune set Ryeka down beside Akira as Ren-oh-ki transformed back to her cabbit form and landed beside the two. Ryeka smiled at her little friend before waving for Kyuubi to help the others and sinking into a deep sleep. Kimiko saw Hinata and Akemi working together to keep Itachi from attacking Naruto while he was engaged with Kisame and ran to help the two girls. Jiraiya was fighting with Ikushuka, using his fire jutsu to eliminate the razor sharp leaves the missing nin sent hurtling at him. Kyuubi transformed to her human form and leapt at Ikushuka's back, foxfire covering her hands and feet. The kitsune used her flaming claws to destroy a vine that had shot out from the bottom of Ikushuka's robe and was trying to entwine Jiraiya's ankles. Jiraiya glanced at Kyuubi in thanks then formed a series of seals. "Katon Karyuu Endan!" yelled the toad senin as he sent a dragon of flame at Ikushuka. The plant user countered with a yell of "Hakakuheki!" as the leaves on the ground around him swirled up around him to form a barrier against the flame dragon. Kyuubi sent a wave of blue flame at Ikushuka's back, only to see the jaws of the venus flytrap around his head close above him and allow him to sink into the ground. Jiraiya scowled and quickly performed his swamp of the underworld, hoping to trap the missing nin before he could slip away to attack someone from behind. Kyuubi was scanning the area for Ikushuka so intently that she didn't notice the plants sprouting around her feet. Kyuubi suddenly felt herself being jerked into the air. The kitsune had been grabbed by a large vine that was still growing and was strong enough to hold her in mid air where her claws couldn't reach the plant. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" yelled Jiraiya. A loud cloud of smoke announced the arrival of a man sized toad with a long sword. "Cut that vine and catch the woman!" said Jiraiya. The toad nodded and leapt into the air with its sword drawn. A quick slash and Kyuubi fell onto the toad's back. Kyuubi grunted from the impact before getting up and charging Ikushuka again.
Naruto, meanwhile, was fighting Kisame. The shark man's height gave him a slight advantage, but Naruto's speed allowed him to dodge many of the devastating slashes. "That sword may be good for sucking chakra, but all that power in your swings is useless if you can't hit your opponent," said Naruto with a smirk as the edge ofSameHade passed within a centimeter of the top of his hair. Kisame growled and a thick mist formed around the two. "Kirigakure no Jutsu, eh?" said Naruto as he closed his eyes. ::I remember this move, Zabuza used this during both his fights with Kakashi-sensei. Good thing I have enhanced hearing thanks to Oka-san.:: the blond shinobi said to himself. Naruto grabbed Zabuza's sword and prepared himself for Kisame's attack. The sharkman suddenly appeared behind Naruto, swingingSameHade at waist height. Naruto spun and brought Zabuza's up to block the blow before flipping over Kisame to attack him from the rear. The giant sword sliced Kisame in half. Naruto didn't even bother to look as both halves dissolved into water and sank into the ground. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," said Naruto as he glanced at a particular tree. Kisame stepped out and held his sword up in front of his face as a gesture of respect for Naruto's sword skill. Naruto mimicked the stance and both shinobi stared at each other for a few seconds before charging forwards. Both fighters swung in different directions, Naruto upwards and Kisame downwards. Naruto's sword though was suddenly covered in blue flames. "Kitsune bi slash!" yelled Naruto. Kisame's eyes widened as he found his SameHade couldn't absorb the chakra fueling the flames. The mist nin was flung into the air as his robes caught on fire. As he hit the ground, the smell of cooked fish started to spread throughout the battle field. Kisame's injuries were so great that he was unable to stay conscious. Naruto then took a minute to catch his breath and survey how his companions were doing. Seeing his sensei and adopted mother were having a bit of a hard time, Naruto darted towards them, the giant sword covered in fire once again.
Ikushuka chuckled as he easily avoided Kyuubi's attacks. The kitsune woman was fast, but Ikushuka seemed to be even faster. Jiraiya was forced to hold off from attacking since he didn't want to hit Kyuubi. The frog senin blinked as Naruto leapt over him, sword raised for a vicious downward strike. "Okibi shougeki!" yelled Naruto as he plummeted towards Ikushuka with his swords aimed downwards to skewer the missing nin. Ikushuka barely managed to avoid one of Kyuubi's attacks and caught a glimpse of Naruto plummeting towards him. The plant user once again proceeded to block the attack with his shield of leaves. However, Naruto managed to penetrate the barrier with his sword and Ikushuka was forced to retreat under ground to avoid being sliced in two. Naruto secured the sword on his back before shifting into the Kitsune Ken stance and growing his tails, ears, fangs, and claws. Kyuubi and Naruto both sensed Ikushuka emerging from the ground and leapt towards him. Mother and kit surrounded the missing nin and grinned to show their fangs as foxfire blazed on their hands. "Okibi Panchi!" yelled Naruto as he sent a quick punch at the missing nin's back while Kyuubi yelled, "Okibi appa-katto!" as she delivered a blazing uppercut to Ikushuka's chin. The two Uzumaki kept hitting Ikushuka with one flaming attack after another until the missing nin was knocked unconscious.
Neji and Tenten both saw Naruto had Kisame under control and ran to help Hinata and Akemi. Itachi ducked a hail of kunai Tenten hurled at him, only to find himself surrounded by Hinata and Neji. Both Hyugas were in the Jyuken stance and yelled, "64 hands of Hakke!" before charging him. Itachi was unable to react because of Neji's strong divination field and felt both Hyuga start to seal off his Tsubos. "Two hands, four hands, eight hands, sixteen hands, thirty two hands, sixty four hands of Hakke!" chanted the Hyuga cousins as they finished their attacks. Itachi grimaced before disappearing in a burst of smoke. "Kage Bushin!" yelled Neji, only to get kicked in the gut by Itachi as the missing nin appeared in front of him. Hinata tried to strike Itachi in the back, but the missing nin hit her with a spinning rear kick that sent her crashing into Akemi. Itachi suddenly looked up to see Tenten hovering in mid air with two scrolls weaving around her. Tenten yelled, "Soushouryu!" and started pulling weapons from the scrolls. Kunai, shuriken, fumma shuriken, spears, sai, maces, sickles, and even more weapons rained down on Itachi. Tenten landed on the ground, panting with exhaustion from an earlier mission that day and having to throw all the weapons at such a high speed. Itachi suddenly appeared behind the weapons mistress and drove a kunai towards her back. Tenten heard the sound of a Kunai hitting flesh then became aware of something wet hitting her back. Spinning around, Tenten gasped as she saw Neji glaring at Itachi with the missing nin's kunai in his arm. "Reikon kujo (Soul Destruction) no Jutsu!" roared the Hyuga as blue chakra erupted around his hand as he drove it into Itachi's chest. Itachi's eyes widened as he felt like his soul was being destroyed inside him. The missing nin suddenly became a log and reappeared to kick Neji in the face, making him fall on top of Tenten unconscious from the strain his last jutsu had placed on him.
Akemi transformed herself into her fox form and leapt at Itachi, who rolled to the side to avoid her attack. The kitsune spun in midair and hit Itachi with her tails. Kimiko had already leapt into the air and lunged at Itachi yelling, "Sankon Tessou!" The attack hit but Itachi managed to pull off another Kawarimi and left a poor tree stump to get turned into kindling. Flamie had forced Hinata onto his back to keep her safe and took to the air to rain fireballs down on Itachi. Itachi was getting annoyed and pulled the sleeve of his left arm up to reveal a long dragon tattoo. Itachi bit his thumb and spread the blood along the dragon's body. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" whispered Itachi as he slammed his palms into the ground. The earth shook as something started pushing up to the surface. A large black dragon pulled itself free of the ground and roared loudly. Flamie whimpered as the much larger dragon eyed him like he was a fly that needed squishing. Kimiko gulped as she took in the giant dragon with Itachi standing on its head but bravely stepped forward. "I doubt you can do anything against my pet little girl," said Itachi. Kimiko grabbed her bow from its resting place on her back. The hanyou girl closed her eyes and carefully tried to sniff out the clash of youki energies that was the wind scar. The energy of the dragon was incredibly strong, Kimiko had to check to make sure she wasn't inside the beast's youki aura. Finally, the place where the two auras met appeared to her nose. Kimiko's eyes snapped open as she aimed an arrow towards the wind scar with a yell of "Ya Kaze no Kizu!" before releasing the arrow. The arrow was surrounded by a pink aura as it passed through the wind scar. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw five yellow energy beams seem to wrap themselves around the arrow's aura. The attack hit the dragon's chest and pierced it, causing the beast to roar in pain and anger.
"Damn, my powers aren't strong enough," growled Kimiko as she looked at the hole her attack had torn in the dragon's chest. "It's times like this that I wish I had dad's Tetsusaiga so I could use the Bakuryuuha," she continued as she ran to avoid a giant fireball the dragon shot at her. A yell of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" from two different voices caught Kimiko's attention. Facing the dark dragon where the large forms of Gamabunta, with Naruto and Jiraiya standing on his head, andKatsuyu, the slug boss, with Tsunade on her head. (AN: I'm not sure of Katsuyu's sex, but I think it is a female slug) "Itachi, as Godaime of Konoha I will not let you harm any more of the people who have put their trust in me. Either surrender and face the charges for your crimes or prepare to die!" Itachi stared at Tsunade for a minute before taking in the large number of shinobi who had arrived with her. The dark dragon Itachi stood on growled deeply. "Patience Ryuujin, we will teach these fools a lesson," said Itachi. Gamabunta immediately drew his short sword while Katsuyu prepared an acid attack. Ryuujin made the first move though, sending a large ball of fire towards Katsuyu. The attack was intercepted by a giant fox tail courtesy of Kyuubi, who was now as large as when she was forced to attack Konoha fifth teen years ago. Kyuubi used her tail to easily bat the fireball into the air, glaring at the man who would have harmed her kit to get her power. Katsuyu inhaled suddenly then spat out a large burst of acid as Tsunade yelled, "Zeshi Nensan!" The acid attack would have hit Ryuujin if he hadn't taken to the air. Itachi was considering his next target when a shadow passed over his head. Looking up, Itachi found Flamie's tail swinging at his face. The missing nin didn't have enough time to dodge the blow and got knocked off Ryuujin's back. The dragon dove down, hoping to catch his master. "Gama, give me some oil! Are you ready Naruto?" yelled Jiraiya as he raised one hand like he was holding a tube to his mouth. Naruto nodded, foxfire gathering around his hands as Gamabunta spat out a large geyser of oil towards the ground as Ryuujin landed with Itachi on his back. Jiraiya yelled, "Katon!" and shot a large flame blast at the oil stream. The flames ignited the oil and Naruto raised his arms. "Kitsune bi!" yelled the Naruto as the blue flame shot out to curl around the flaming oil and shaped it into a giant blue fox head made entirely of flame with burning red eyes. "Kitsune Gama yuendan!" yelled Naruto as the fox shaped blast flew towards Ryuujin. The dragon roared, "Ryuujin Hibakuha!" and shot a beam of fire from his mouth that took on the shape of a dragon head. The two attacks collided and everyone present heard what sounded like a giant fox fighting a dragon before the fox attack overpowered the dragon one. Ryuujin had no chance to dodge as the fox head hit his body right on the wound Kimiko had given him. The dragon raised its head to the heavens and roared in agony before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Itachi had leapt clear of his summoned creature when he sensed the power behind his opponents' attack and quickly grabbed Kisame and Ikushuka before disappearing in a large cloud of smoke. However, a kage bushin leapt out of the cloud and hurled a chakra enhanced kunai at Kimiko that homed in on her before anyone could react. The kunai hit the hanyou girl in the side and she screamed as dark flames sprang up from the weapon. A sudden pink glow shone from the cut and a small round jewel popped out of Kimiko. Kimiko stared at the jewel as she collapsed to the ground, barely managing to grab it before she passed out from the pain of her wound. Naruto collapsed to his knees on top of Gamabunta, exhausted from how much chakra control he had to exert to shape the attack into the fox head. Kyuubi quickly and gently placed the boy on her back with a tail. Hinata scrambled up on top of Kyuubi to check on Naruto's condition as Kyuubi started lifting all the other unconscious teens up onto her back. "They're going to need a lot of rest," said Tsunade as she joined Hinata in checking all the teens. Luckily, most of them had just used all their chakra and would be fine after a few good meals and some rest. Kimiko's wound was a little more serious, Jiraiya had to seal the black flame inside a scroll like he had three years ago when he last faced Itachi before Tsunade could start to heal her. Unfortuneatly, Kimiko's body seemed to reject Tsunade's chakra and was healing on its own, although much slower than normal. Nothing could pry Kimiko's fist open, not even Tsunade's super strength. Hiryuu had arrived with the rescue party in time to see the jewel pop out of Kimiko and drew Tsunade aside to explain the legend behind the jewel. The young monk's tale lasted until they reached the gates of Konoha.
(---------)
Hyuga Hiashi had never been a very patient man. He had been talking to the Hokage about canceling the absurd, in his mind, engagement between Naruto and Hinata when a young boy dressed as a monk burst into Tsunade's office babbling something about Naruto's team needing help. Tsunade had immediately run out with the monk, leaving a very annoyed Hiashi sitting in front of her desk. The Hyuga Head tried to track down the Hokage, only to find she had rallied a rescue force and departed the village. Hiashi was now waiting at the village gate to confront Tsunade and finish their talk. The Hyuga head saw some Jounin returning from the rescue group and knew Tsunade wasn't far behind. However, Hiashi didn't expect to see Kyuubi walk out of the trees, step over the wall around Konoha like it wasn't even there, glare at him a second, then slowly walk towards the hospital so she wouldn't crush any villagers. Hiashi's mouth was hanging and the Chunin on gate guard duty struggled to keep from laughing at the expression on his face as they watched his eyes follow the giant fox. Since Tsunade had announced the truth of the events fifth teen years ago, many of the villagers had forgiven Kyuubi and turned their hatred towards Orochimaru. Hiashi still disliked the former youkai container since his behavior had made Hinata behave in ways that were inappropriate for a clan heir. ::Even without Kyuubi inside him that boy is still a danger. If he has allowed the secrets of the Byakugan to fall into enemy hands then I will bring the full wrath of the Hyuga clan down on him!::
(---------)
"Well, I've got everyone stabilized and they should recover soon," said Tsunade as she walked out of the intensive care section of the Konoha hospital with Sakura and Shizune. Kyuubi's body, which had been tense up till this point, relaxed as she let out a sigh of relief, echoed by Akemi, that Naruto was all right. Hinata had stayed by her boyfriend's side while he rested to recover from the huge charka use he had put himself through with his final attack. Neji was asleep with one hand clutching Tenten's as she kept watch over her boyfriend. Ryeka and Akira had to be treated for severe burns, but they had pulled through and were resting with Miyuki watching over them. Kimiko's pain had diminished, thanks to a bit of acupuncture by Hinata, allowing the hanyou girl to relax in bed while her body healed. Hiryuu sat by his friend's side with Kudora on one shoulder and Flamie on the other. The rest of Naruto's friends were gathered around Kyuubi and Akemi outside. Hiashi had tried to barge in to the recovery room, demanding to see Hinata, only to be glared down by Jiraiya, Kyuubi, and Tsunade. The Hyuga head had been so focused on his argument with the three adults that he didn't notice Akamaru walk up beside him and raise his leg. The feel of something wet by his feet distracted Hiashi from his argument as he looked down to stare at Akamaru walking away from him and the small yellow puddle beside him. "Sorry Hyuga-san, Akamaru was confused by the pattern on your kimono. The trees look like the bushes at our training ground and he just woke up from a nap. I guess he thought we were still at the training ground and did his business," said Kiba, fighting hard to keep his voice innocent and not burst out in laughter. Most of the other occupants of the room were having the same problem, Shino was actually chuckling softly, though you could only tell because his whole body moved slightly or if you had the enhanced sense of hearing shared by Kiba, Kyuubi, and Akemi. Shikamaru was the only one not laughing out loud, though a large grin decorated his face. Hiashi glared at the whole room before storming out.
As soon as the doors had closed behind Hiashi, the whole room erupted in laughter. "Oh Kami-sama, I needed that!" howled Tsunade as she pounded on the wall with tears of mirth running down her face. "I've been wanting let Akamaru do that for years!" yelled Kiba as he rolled around on the floor. The door to the room occupied by the recovering shinobi and dimensional visitors burst open and a sudden hail of kunai and shuriken shot towards the laughing group. Everyone dove for cover as the weapons flew towards them. Hinata and Tenten stood in the doorway, their expressions indicating they were extremely pissed off. "There are people trying to sleep in here! If you all have to make so much noise you can leave!" snarled Hinata, not caring that her friend had almost skewered her future mother and sister in law, her past teammates, current sensei, or the Hokage who had trained her as a medic nin. The two kunoichi glared at all their startled friends before shutting the door again. Lee was the first one to break the awkward silence that descended over the room. "Tenten and Hinata are surely filled with the fires of youthful passion. Neji and Naruto are lucky men," said the Taijutsu master. The rest of the shinobi all glanced at the doors separating them from their friends and knew that the bonds of love inside that room were some of the strongest forces in the village and nothing could break them.
(---------)
Neji was running. He didn't know if he was chasing something or if something was chasing him, all he knew was that he couldn't stop running. Trees blurred as he dashed past them, the forest never seeming to end. Finally, Neji came to a cliff overlooking a deep lake with a waterfall going over the cliff. Without hesitating the Hyuga boy ran right towards the cliff and leapt off gracefully to plummet towards the waters below. The wind rushing past his body seemed to make him feel more alive than he ever had before. The water grew closer and closer, shining with the sun and immeasurably deep and cool. Neji broke through the surface of the water and sank deep into the lake. Neji's eyes opened and he found himself staring at the ceiling of a room in the Konoha hospital. Turning his head, Neji found Tenten asleep on a chair beside him, her hand still clasping his. Evening sun shone through a window and formed a halo around Tenten's head. Neji smiled as he stored the image of his beautiful angel in his memory forever. Looking around the room, Neji saw Naruto sitting up in bed and talking softly with Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kyuubi while Hinata and Akemi played cards together on Naruto's bed side table. Miyuki was talking to a strange boy that Neji had seen knocked out on the battle ground, who he guessed was her brother Akira. Next to Akira's bed Ryeka was cuddling Ren-oh-ki as she slept in her own bed. Hiryuu kept watch over Kimiko, whose face still bore a look of agony from Itachi's attack. Kimiko whimpered in her sleep, showing that Itachi's last attack was still hurting her. Tsunade was by the hanyou girl in a second, healing chakra shining in her hands as she tried to ease Kimiko's pain. Kimiko's cries didn't diminish a bit as time went on. Hiryuu suddenly removed Flamie and Kudora from his shoulder as he stood up and placed the two pets on the chair he had occupied. Everyone stared at the monk as he took a deep breath before raising his left hand in front of his face while his right grasped his staff. Hiryuu started chanting a prayer as he slowly moved the staff up and down, the soft jingling of the rings waking everyone who had been asleep and focusing their attention on him as a blue light started shining around Kimiko.
(---------)
(Inside Kimiko's mind)
Two figures huddled over the hanyou girl. One was a young girl with black hair and brilliant golden eyes. The other was a large white dog that was sadly nuzzling Kimiko's body. Kimiko's eyes opened and she sat up with a wince. "Damn Itachi, if I ever get my claws on him I'll shred him to pieces!" growled the dog as a bright light engulfed her. The light faded to reveal Kimiko with red stripes on her cheeks and blue eyes with red slits for pupils. Kimiko sighed as she reached up and scratched behind the ears of her youkai side. "You know I would love to let you do that but I don't want to end up cleaning his blood off my clothes, I'd never get the scent out." Kimiko's human side nodded and pulled a first aid kit out of nowhere to begin cleaning Kimiko's wound. A sudden POP alerted all three girls to the arrival of Flamie. The little dragon had used his mental connection to Kimiko to reach into her inner mind as soon as her body regained consciousness inside. Kimiko hugged Flamie happily as her human side resumed cleaning the wound while her youkai side was busy shredding an Itachi dummy. Hiryuu's voice suddenly reached the ears of all three girls as a blue light surrounded Kimiko.
(---------)
(In the hospital room)
Hiryuu breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the expression of pain on Kimiko's face slowly disappear after he finished his chant. Tsunade as staring at the sight of Kimiko's former wound in shock, all signs that she had been hurt had disappeared. "What was that?" asked Hinata. Her Byakugan had been active in an effort to examine Kimiko's condition so she had seen Hiryuu start to chant but failed to see any type of chakra. Hiryuu smiled as Kudora jumped back to his shoulder. "Kimiko's spirit was fighting off the dark chakra Itachi used to burn her in his attack. My chant strengthened her miko powers and allowed her body to repair the damage to her spirit and itself. I had to wait until her spirit was strong enough that my holy powers didn't purify her youkai traits away, since those are what allow her to heal so rapidly," said the monk. Kyuubi nodded, having often repaired Naruto's body from the inside she had a good idea what Hiryuu was talking about. Miyuki and Ryeka shared a glance behind Hiryuu's back, knowing that he had a crush on Kimiko, and smiled. Their silent exchange wasn't lost on Akemi and Hinata, both of whom decided that Kimiko and Hiryuu just might find themselves locked in a room together alone.
(---------)
By the time night fell the next day, everyone had recovered from the battle with the Akatsuki members. Kimiko's side was still a little stiff, but she insisted she was fine and could walk on her own. Tsunade had summoned Kimiko, Hiryuu, and Jiraiya's team to her office the next morning and Kimiko didn't want to miss out on whatever was going on. The hanyou girl stubbornly refused to stay in bed on the day of the meeting and would have run to the Hokage tower if Flamie hadn't shifted to his large form and grabbed the back of her shirt to hold her back before forcing her to get on his back so he could carry her through the streets. Many villagers stared at Flamie, but the sight of Hinata resting one hand on the dragon's side told the villagers that the dragon wouldn't attack unless provoked. One drunk made the mistake of trying to bully Naruto, only to find himself being flung into the air by Flamie's tail and crashing into a fountain to sober up. The group soon entered the Hokage tower with Flamie resuming his small form and perching on Kimiko's shoulder.
(---------)
"All right Baa-chan, whaaaaack!" yelled Naruto as he ducked a paperweight Tsunade threw at him for waking her up and calling her Baa-chan. The paperweight was headed right towards Hiryuu's face until Kimiko's hand snapped out and caught it in mid air like it was a small ball. Tsunade's eyes widened a little, since she had thrown the paperweight pretty hard, and Kimiko didn't seem to put any effort into catching it. Hinata gave Naruto a light hit on the head as she said, "Naruto-kun, you shouldn't disrespect Tsunade-sensei like that!" Naruto rolled his eyes and muttered something about old ladies using Henge, but shut up when Tsunade hefted a kunai that she usually used as a nail trimmer. Tsunade set the kunai down and picked up a mission scroll. "I've got your next mission right here, but I'm asking you to take Kimiko and Hiryuu with you since there is a chance you might have to fight demons during this mission and they have experience with them." Akemi looked a little nervous, something not lost on Tsunade. "Anything wrong Akemi-chan?" asked the Hokage. "Ano, you say we might have to fight demons, do you know if they are wild demons or are they being forced to fight?" replied the kitsune girl. Tsunade sighed and walked over to a large map showing the Shinobi countries. "I don't know for sure, but our scouts have reported that Sound nins have been gathering in an old set of ruins in one of the neutral regions between the Fire and Wind countries. The Kazekage has requested our help in this situation, since all his shinobi teams are occupied with a Sound invasion. We believe Sound has set up a base in the old ruins and is using this base to launch attacks into the Wind country. The only problem is our scouts report huge chakra signatures, not nearly as strong as Kyuubi's fifth teen years ago, but pretty close. Since the ruins were supposedly used to confine demons for ancient warriors to fight in an arena, I'm afraid that the Sound Nins have captured or summoned some demons and is holding them there," said Tsunade.
Everyone was stunned at the idea of Orochimaru having access to demons; they all knew what he was capable of. Naruto scowled as he remembered that Orochimaru's scheme robbed him of his chance to be a normal shinobi and made the first twelve years of his life miserable. "If it will hurt the slimy snake I'll level that place to the ground so much you won't even be able to tell it was there!" said Naruto as his eyes briefly flickered to Kyuubi like they used to when he was using a large amount of her chakra. Tsunade shuddered slightly at the sight of her little brother with demon eyes before looking at Akemi and Hinata. "Are the two of you prepared to go on this mission?" asked Tsunade. Hinata looked at Naruto and Akemi and seemed to draw strength from their encouraging looks before she nodded and said, "I have a duty as a medic nin of Konoha to make sure my comrades are safe and heal their wounds. I will not abandon them if the face of danger, nor will I hinder them!" Tsunade smiled at her former student, Hinata was the perfect example of a medic nin. Akemi now spoke up, "I can not forgive Orochimaru for the pain he has caused Oka-san and me. If I can do anything to prevent the same fate befalling others I will gladly do so!" Jiraiya looked extremely proud of his team, they all knew that this mission would be a tough one but they were willing to go anyway. "Can we expect any type of back-up from hidden Sand?" asked the toad senin. Tsunade sighed and said, "There is a possibility Gaara's team will be able to slip through the enemy lines and join with you. If that is the case, after the base is destroyed you will assist them in attacking the enemy forces from the rear. I don't care what you do, summon Gamabunta to squash all of them if you want to!" Naruto suddenly grinned and Hinata just knew her boyfriend had slipped back into the role of Konoha's number one prankster. How many times had she seen him grin like that just before one of his pranks went off on an unsuspecting victim? More than she could count. Hiryuu glanced at Kimiko before saying, "As a monk and a Taijiya, it is my duty to protect people from monsters." Kimiko just tested her bowstring to make sure her bow was ready for action and checked how many arrows she had. Tsunade grinned as she surveyed the group of determined teens. "Great, you leave tomorrow at noon so rest up!" exclaimed Tsunade.
(---------)
(Edge of the ruins)
"So how are we going to do this?" asked Kimiko as she looked at the ruins from a distance through Jiraiya's telescope that Naruto had stolen. The group was on the edge of the valley that contained the ruins and hidden from view by a large number of boulders. The ruins weren't very complex, just five buildings surrounding a large arena. A wall surrounded the buildings with only one opening to allow entry to the ruins. Two new looking guard towers stood on either side of the opening with Sound nin watching for intruders. Jiraiya took a good look at the layout of the buildings before sketching a rough map of the ruins in the dirt. "Naruto, Hinata, and Hiryuu will be in one group while Kimiko, Akemi, and I will be in another. We'll go and search the arena since that is the most likely place to keep any demons captive while you three search the buildings, starting from the small one to your right as you enter the ruins. Go through all the buildings that you can and eliminate any Sound nin you encounter. After searching all the buildings and the arena we'll make our escape. For that we'll need a distraction. Naruto, you'll have to slip to the rear of the ruins and create a horde of Kage Bushin that all look different from each other to confuse our enemies. Then you simply have to get over the wall and we're home free." Naruto nodded, Jiraiya had managed to drill a grasp of tactics into his head over the past three years and he was already planning the route between the buildings that his group would take. "How do we take out the sentries?" asked Kimiko. Jiraiya reached into his pack and pulled out a thin tube. "We'll be using these blowguns to shoot darts dipped in knockout formula at the sentries," said the perverted hermit. Kimiko's mouth stretched into a huge grin and Jiraiya suddenly realized he might be in trouble.
"I don't believe it!" whispered Naruto as he watched Kimiko finish darting the last of the sentries. The hanyou girl had hit each sentry with a single dart with perfect timing so they slumped in a position that looked like they were still keeping watch. Kimiko spun the blowgun like a baton before slipping it into her pack. "What can I say? I used to practice shooting darts at a particularly annoying little imp," said Kimiko with a shrug and a smile. The groups swiftly made their way to the edge of the opening in the wall. Kimiko and Akemi checked the air for any nearby Sound nins while Hinata scanned the area with her Byakugan. Seeing that the coast was clear, Hinata signaled 'all clear'. The two groups rushed through the opening in the wall, Kimiko, Jiraiya, and Akemi darting towards the arena while Naruto, Hinata, and Hiryuu ran to the closest building. Hinata checked the inside and found a single Sound nin asleep on a desk. Naruto picked the lock and the three friends slipped inside. Hinata pressed a few pressure points and sent the Sound nin into a deeper sleep that would last all day. Naruto quickly searched the desk and found a few maps and important looking scrolls which he passed to Hiryuu while Hinata kept watch. There was nothing else of interest in the building, so the group darted to the next one, a large L-shaped building. This turned out to be a mess hall, fortunately unoccupied. Hinata poured few handfuls of some ground herbs into a large water tank used for cooking. "These herbs will dissolve into the water and give everyone a bad case of diarrhea!" said the girl with a small grin that Naruto returned. The three then ran towards the next building, another small one, and found a store house of supplies and weapons. Naruto and Hinata grabbed all the kunai and shuriken they could find while Hiryuu kept watch at the door. As the group left the building, a group of Sound nins exited the next building, a small two story one, and spotted them. Naruto quickly took off with Hinata and Hiryuu at his heels as he ran towards the arena as the Sound nins yelled out an alert. As the three skidded to a stop in the center of the arena they found themselves swiftly surrounded by Sound nins. Naruto scowled and pulled his giant sword off his back as Hinata shifted into theJyuuken stance of her family with the Byakugan activated. Hiryuu tightened his grip on his staff as Kudora leapt down from his shoulder to transform into her large form and guard his side. All four of them went back to back to cover each other.
Jiraiya led Kimiko and Akemi towards the arena and to a small stairway leading underneath the structure. Two bored Sound nin standing guard at the bottom of the stare only saw black and red blurs as Kimiko and Akemi darted forward and knocked them out. The door to the lower level of the arena was unlocked, so the trio managed to slip in without any more sound nins being alerted to their presence. The trio found themselves in a large underground passage that seemed to be waiting rooms for fighters to prepare for their next match. Further down the corridor, they found several large empty cages. At the very end of the corridor were two cages that were not empty. Kimiko gasped as she saw the creatures trapped inside. "Shippo! Rin!" she exclaimed. Both of the older teens were in their true form, Rin a large black dog and Shippo a nine tailed fox. Both changed to their normal forms as they saw Kimiko and Flamie. Kimiko tried to hug Shippo through the bars of the cage, only to receive a nasty shock and get thrown back against the far wall. "Itai, what the heck was that?" yelled Kimiko as she got up while rubbing her head. "Some weird jutsu they placed on the bars to keep me from ripping them out," said Shippo. "Luckily they caught us in our true forms, so they haven't been able to take away Heart's Fire or Rin's daggers." Jiraiya was examining the bars carefully and groaned. "Great, Kikan kinko, the electrical feedback imprisonment! Orochimaru would use this to guard anything he felt was important. I've never been able to break it," said the senin. "Did you see any of your captors place a scroll or seal on the wall anywhere nearby?" he continued. Shippo started to shake his head before stopping to think for a minute. "Well, one of them was fiddling around above the bars where we couldn't see him do anything," he said. Flamie immediately flew up to look above the doors and found a seal etched into the stone. Jiraiya used his telescope to examine the area and started to grin. "Excellent, now we can get rid of that feedback!" he said. "But I thought you didn't know how to break it Ero-senin!" yelled Akemi. Jiraiya slapped his forehead at Naruto's nickname for him before saying, "Right, I can't break it but if we destroy the seal the jutsu will collapse." Flamie immediately started breathing a steady stream of fire over the seal above Shippo's cage, quickly melting the stone around the seal and erasing it. As Flamie moved to Rin's cage, Shippo shifted back to his fox form and tried to rip out the bars. To his surprise the flimsy metal bars held strong and didn't budge. Akemi transformed also, but wasn't able to budge the bars working by herself or with Shippo and Kimiko. All three collapsed to the ground panting. Flamie tried to melt the bars loose, but that didn't work. Not ever Heart's Fire at full power could make a nick in these bars. Fox fire and fire jutsu failed also. Kimiko got so frustrated she gave the bars a good kick, only to hurt her toe and start mumbling curses Kagome wouldn't have liked hearing from her daughter as she hopped on one foot.
While Jiraiya's group was having trouble down below, Naruto's group was facing their own share of difficulties. Several dead sound nins surrounded the group, but they weren't without wounds themselves. Hinata had taken a nasty cut from a katana in the side while Kudora was nursing a few burns from explosion notes wrapped around kunai as well as the loss of one paw from a serious wound dealt by an axe wielding Sound nin whom Hiryuu promptly made sure never sired children with a swing of his staff. Hiryuu had a few cuts and scratches but was mostly fine due to theTaijiya outfit he wore beneath his robes. Naruto's scratches and cuts had mostly healed except for a puncture wound in his left arm from when he blocked a kunai from hitting Hinata. All together they had given a good account of themselves, with several dead Sound nins each and many more severely injured or knocked out. Right now the Sound nins had backed off, giving the group time to catch their breath and allowing Hinata the chance to heal her wound as well as Kudora's paw. A sudden flare of chakra had all four looking at the entrance to the arena. A single cloaked figure walked in, the Sound nins giving way and leaving a clear aisle in front of the mysterious person whom they all seemed to fear. The cloaked figure finally stopped a few meters from Naruto and removed their cloak. Naruto growled and his eyes turned red as he saw two swirling Sharingan eyes staring at him from beneath raven hair topped by a Sound Hitai-ate. "Sasuke, how dare you show your face to me after what you did! You left Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, the whole village, and me for that snake bastard!"
Sasuke took in Hinata, Hiryuu, Kudora before dismissing them and turning his attention to Naruto. "I didn't expect to see you here Dobe. I thought it was a squad of Jounin that came here to wipe us out. It seems you've gotten stronger since the last time we fought in the Valley of the End. Lets just see how strong you are, Naruto," said Sasuke with his trademark smirk. Two Sound nins suddenly darted behind Hinata and Hiryuu to pull them back to the edge of the arena with the other Sound nins. Kudora leapt towards her master to save him, only to fall victim to a gas bomb that knocked her out. Naruto growled as the Sound nin holding Hinata hostage shifted his kunai a little bit and caused a drop of blood to appear on her throat. "Leave them alone and I'll fight you Sasuke, but if they are hurt any more I won't be responsible for the consequences. Sasuke made a gesture and the shinobi holding Hinata relaxed slightly. Naruto glanced at his fiancée and friend. "Don't interfere, this is personal," he said to them. "Naruto-kun… I …" said Hinata as tears started forming in her eyes as the memories of how badly Naruto was hurt in his last fight with Sasuke. This time, Hinata was afraid her boyfriend would die. Naruto was suddenly fight in front of Hinata and wiping away her tears with a handkerchief. "Shimpai Shite Mo (Don't worry) Hinata-chan, I'll kick Sasuke-yarou's butt!" said Naruto with a smile before kissing Hinata on the cheek. No one was able to see Naruto dart up to Hinata, except for Sasuke. Naruto then glared at the shinobi holding Hinata hostage and showed his fangs. "Hurt her and I'll rip out your balls and stuff them down your throat!" he growled before walking back towards Sasuke, who tossed a soldier pill at Naruto. "I want a fair fight dobe, you had better use that to regain all you chakra!" said Sasuke. Naruto popped the pill into his mouth, his enhanced sense of smell detecting no trace of poison or anything harmful to him. Sasuke and Naruto both stared at the other's eyes, waiting for a slight twitch to signal the first move. A single leaf drifted down on the wind between the two fighters. As the leaf hit the ground between them, both Sasuke and Naruto darted towards their former friend and teammate.
Well, the next chapter will have a big Sasuke vs. Naruto fight with Naruto going practically all out, a jailbreak, lots of running, some romance in the hospital, and the introduction of Shippo and Rin to the Konoha gang. Read and Review!