Roar of the Dragon: Okay everyone, vote time: Do I pair Shikamaru up with Ino or Temari? Sakura with Sasuke or Lee? And who will catch Akemi's interest? Give me your opinions. However, Akemi can't have Shikamaru or the guy Sakura ends up with. Also, one request for my female readers: what do girls do at slumber parties besides talk, play some party games, and maybe watch some movies? The Konoha girls will be having a slumber party later and I need to get started on planning what will happen.
Review Responses:
xAkix: Umm, let me put it this way: I know Tenten won't hug Neji to death by cutting off his air supply. As for your mom forbidding you to write more of your story, just write a rough outline of what you want to have happen in each chapter on paper and pencil and type up the chapter later, that is what I do. As for Kimiko and Hiryuu, they're in a sort of Inuyasha Kagome relationship. Neither one knows how the other feels about them. I'm not sure how I'm going to hook them up yet, but they will be hooked up before they return to their world. As for Mirouku being in deep kuso, Inuyasha knows Hiryuu is an honorable monk, unlike his father, so Inuyasha trusts him around his little girl.
Story Weaver1: I actually found my Inuyasha battles a little easier to write but I'm glad you liked this batch!
Fiery Demon Fox: No, Sasuke vs Naruto isn't bad, their major fight in the managa spans several issues and is one of the best parts of the manga.
Crazyhanyoued: You might be surprised at how Sasuke and Naruto's battle goes at first. Glad you thought Kimiko was cool.
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.
Naruto charged at Sasuke, intent on defeating his rival and keeping his promise of a lifetime to bring him back to Konoha. Sasuke was focused on defeating Naruto and proving he was ready to take on Itachi. Everyone watching knew that these two would fight to the brink of death and keep going as long as they could. Hinata was worried, she had her Byakugan active and saw Jiraiya, Kimiko, and Akemi in a passage underneath the arena floor talking to two people in separate cages. They seemed to be trying to break the bars on the cage. The sound of flesh hitting flesh drew Hinata's attention back to the center of the arena. Naruto and Sasuke were exchanging blow after blow. Punches, kicks, flips, leg sweeps, all were a blur, it looked like the arms and legs of both boys were blurs as they fought in the center of the arena, neither one moving the slightest bit. Hinata was surprised to see Sasuke didn't have his Sharingan active at this point, which puzzled her. Both fighters sprang apart and landed on opposite ends of the arena. "Nice work out dobe, it looks like I'll have some fun with this fight!" said Sasuke with a smirk as his eyes briefly closed and opened to reveal the Sharingan. Naruto didn't reply except to take on the Kitsune Ken stance and raise one hand palm up towards Sasuke. Naruto waved the fingers of his hand back and forth to say, 'come at me' which irritated Sasuke to no end. Here was the dead last asking for the top of the class to come at him. Sasuke charged at Naruto, punching the foxboy in the gut. Naruto flew across the arena as Sound shinobi dived out of his path so he hit the wall in a big cloud of dust. Sasuke smirked and waited for Naruto to show himself. A loud yell of "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" caused the smoke cloud to grow larger. A horde of Naruto bushins charged out of the smoke screen provided by the jutsu and ran towards Sasuke. Sasuke's Sharingan allowed him to see one hanging back within the smoke screen.
:So the dobe thinks he can hide in there and send his clones out to wear me out: thought Sasuke with a mental smirk as he quickly made the seals for horse and tiger before inhaling deeply :Goukakyuu no Jutsu: yelled Sasuke inside his head as he breathed out a huge fireball that easily eliminated all the bushins. The giant fireball shot towards the Naruto concealed by the rapidly fading cloud of smoke. Naruto's eyes widened and he barely managed to leap over the fireball.
Naruto landed on his feet and glared at Sasuke. "Nice, you've really improved over the past three years Sasuke. But, so have I!" exclaimed Naruto before holding up his hand. A blue flame sprang up over Naruto's palm as he grinned at Sasuke. "Kitsune bi!" yelled Naruto as he hurled the fire ball at Sasuke, who ducked to avoid the attack. Naruto then created another fireball, this one much bigger than the first, and hurled it into the air. "Naruto Ninpocho: Jouro Kitsune Bi!" yelled Naruto. The fireball burst into millions of smaller fireballs that all fell towards Sasuke rapidly.
Sasuke quickly formed seals and yelled, "Suiton Suijinheki!" before spewing out a large water blast that formed a barrier around him and nullified the foxfire. Sasuke smirked and looked at Naruto to see what he thought of his counter, only to see Naruto grinning his trademark fox grin as his fist met Sasuke's face. Sasuke flew backwards and his water barrier disappeared.
Sasuke stood up slowly and popped his neck joints before disappearing from Naruto's sight. The former Konoha nin suddenly slid beneath Naruto and delivered a powerful kick to his former friend's chin. Naruto wasn't able to react in time and Sasuke pressed a pressure point on his back, paralyzing the fox boy as he whispered, "Kage Buyou." Sasuke then flipped over Naruto and kicked him in the gut. Sasuke then spun Naruto so the fox boy was beneath him and drove his fist into Naruto's chest before grabbing him as they plummeted towards the ground. Just before they reached the ground Sasuke spun himself around and delivered an axe kick to Naruto's chest with a yell of "Shishi Rendan!" Sasuke then used his arm to perform a quick back flip before landing safely on the ground as a cloud of smoke hid Naruto from view. The smoke quickly blew away to reveal a battered Naruto. Naruto opened one eye and spat some blood out of his mouth. "Pathetic, you gave me a tougher battle three years ago!" said Sasuke with a snort.
Naruto suddenly grinned and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. :Kage Bushin? But it should have been destroyed by my first kick: thought Sasuke. A sudden laugh from the crater Naruto had made in the wall had everyone looking over to see a rock on the arena floor turn into Naruto with a puff of smoke.
"Really Sasuke, did you think I would just charge in blindly like I used to? I played the same trick on Neji, having a Kage Bushin act like me while I stayed hidden to ambush him while his guard was down. Never underestimate Konoha's number one prankster! Speaking of which, look down," said Naruto. Sasuke looked down to find his pants had somehow fallen down, leaving him standing in his Uchiha fan patterned boxers. Hinata and Hiryuu both started laughing and even some of the Sound shinobi seemed to be fighting a smile.
Sasuke swiftly pulled up his pants with a blush on his cheeks and made sure the belt he used to secure them was securely fastened. Sasuke then glared at Naruto, who simply grinned and let the glare bounce off him. "Naruto Ninpocho: Death by Fangirl!" yelled Naruto as a horde of Naruto clones appeared and transformed into Ino, Sakura, and all the other girls Naruto had ever seen chase after Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened and he grabbed a bunch of kunai and shuriken. The weapons flew through the air to destroy all the clones, leaving a wide eyed Sasuke, who shivered like he had seen the greatest horror known to man, and a grinning Naruto.
Hinata sighed, Naruto was not taking this seriously. "Naruto-kun, if you don't get serious I'm not kissing you when this is over!" she yelled.
Naruto's happy grin disappeared and he spun around to face Hinata. "You wouldn't!" he growled. Hinata just stared at Naruto and he cringed knowing she would. Sasuke meanwhile regained his composure and activated his curse seal to level one. Black flame marking spread over his body from the three comma shaped marks on the left side of his neck. Naruto saw Hinata and Hiryuu's eyes widen and spun around to see Sasuke covered in the black marking and glowing with a purple chakra. "Time to get serious eh?" said Naruto as he reached up and pulled off his jacket before tossing it aside. The orange jacket hit the ground and a huge cloud of dust sprang up. "Kitsune hair makes great clothes for training, it weighs a lot!" said Naruto with a grin as he pulled leg warmers similar to Lee's off of his legs and tossed them aside also. Two more smoke clouds appeared and Naruto grinned. "Don't blink Sasuke-teme, you might miss something!" he said before he seemed to disappear. Sasuke's Sharingan gave him only a split second to react as a fist was headed for his face. Sasuke managed to avoid Naruto's blows, but he knew he needed more chakra to match Naruto's speed. Sasuke went to Curse Seal level two (AN: UGH, sounds like DBZ). Sasuke's skin darkened as his hair turned white and his nails turned into claws like Kimiko's. Two giant wings, that looked like gross versions of his hands, sprouted from Sasuke's back.
"Now Naruto, show me your real power!" yelled Sasuke. Naruto's face hardened before his fox features revealed themselves.
"Sasuke, you told me that high class shinobi can only read inside each others minds when their fists meet. I'll show you that you were wrong to come to Orochimaru and betray Konoha!" yelled Naruto. Sasuke didn't say anything, he only glared at Naruto. Both of the fighters then charged at each other and their fists collided in the center of the arena. Once again a rapid series of blows was exchanged with neither fighter budging an inch. Naruto though noticed something. :I feel a deep sorrow each time he hits me. Is this Sasuke's soul crying out that I hear: Naruto was so wrapped up in his thoughts that his guard dropped and Sasuke hit him in the stomach again, knocking the wind from Naruto as he crashed into the arena wall unconscious (AN: I can't let Naruto get through all the fights without him getting hurt a few times). Sasuke's hands formed the seals for the assassination jutsu Kakashi had taught him for the final part of the Chunin Exam three years ago.
The sound of a thousand birds filled the arena and caused Hinata's face to pale. "Chidori!" she gasped.
Sasuke grinned, "It is time to finish this!" he yelled before charging at Naruto, the ground below his hand being torn up as he ran. Just as Sasuke was lifted his arm to plunge it into Naruto's head, a grey and blue blur appeared in front of him and a voice yelled, "Hakke Shou Kaiten!" Sasuke was thrown back, surprise clearly showing on his face as he realized his attack had been deflected. He was even more surprised to see Hinata standing in a crater in front of Naruto with her Byakugan active and in the Jyuken stance. "Uchiha Sasuke, I can not allow you to harm my precious person!" said Hinata quietly, though everyone in the arena was able to hear her.
Sasuke stared at Hinata in disbelief. He had never really seen Hinata fight but he knew she was not a very strong fighter. However, the fact that she managed to deflect his Chidori showed she had some skill. "You got lucky Hyuga, this time I'll rip out your heart and show it to Naruto before I kill him!" snarled Sasuke. Hinata didn't say anything, except to smirk slightly. "What's so funny?" asked Sasuke.
"You're within the field of my Hakke!" said Hinata. Hinata seemed to bend over with her left hand almost touching the ground and her right hand raised behind her back in the air. "Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" exclaimed Hinata before suddenly darting forward and hitting Sasuke in the chest and back with a yell of "Two Hakke!" Four more rapid blows followed with a yell of "Four Hakke!" Sasuke grunted as Hinata's hands dealt him eight more blows, then sixteen, thirty two, and finally sixty four. "Sixty Four hands of Hakke!" yelled Hinata as she jumped backwards to resume her position in front of Naruto.
Sasuke gasped, he felt like all of his chakra had disappeared as he collapsed to his knees. "What… what did you…do to… me?" he managed to gasp.
"I've closed off your Tsubos, cutting off the chakra flow through your body!" said Hinata as blue chakra formed around her right hand for the chakra scalpel. Hinata lunged at Sasuke, aiming to disable him with a quick blow from her left as she faked a slice with the chakra scalpel. However, Sasuke suddenly looked up at her and she gasped as he raised his arm to point at her.
"Senei Jyashu!" yelled Sasuke as a bunch of snakes shot out of his shirt sleeve and grabbed Hinata to immobilize her. The snakes' momentum carried Hinata to the wall beside Naruto. Sasuke stood up, a maniacal grin on his face. "I admit you surprised me girl, if it wasn't for this curse seal I would have been drained of all my chakra. Now I'll just kill you!" Sasuke once again made the hand seals for Chidori and charged towards Naruto and Hinata.
Naruto groaned, the sound of a thousand birds echoing through his head. Naruto's heart nearly stopped as he heard the sound suddenly stop and be replaced with the sound of a hand punching through a body. Naruto's eyes opened and he thought he was in a nightmare. Sasuke had his hand through Hinata's chest and the bastard was laughing as he pulled it out. Naruto could see Sasuke hadn't hit any vital organs but the wound was so serious that Hinata wouldn't be able to heal herself before she died of bloodloss. Naruto saw red as the person that had always acknowledged and loved him gasped in pain.
Suddenly, everyone in the arena felt a huge surge of chakra. Sasuke spun around to find Naruto's fox features, which had disappeared when he was knocked out, had reappeared and the blond shinobi was now surrounded by a chakra outline of a nine tailed fox. Naruto raised his head and let out a mournful howl before fixing his eyes on Sasuke. "You killed her!" growled Naruto before he lunged at Sasuke. Sasuke found that just like in their fight in the Valley of the End, the chakra fox form could move instantly to intercept him. Having no choice, Sasuke leapt to the far edge of the arena after landing a lucky kick to Naruto's face and sending him crashing back into the wall in a cloud of dust. No one noticed that Naruto changed into what looked like his Sexy no Jutsu form because of all the chakra and dust surrounding the blond shinobi. For the third time, Chidori blazed in Sasuke's hands. Naruto pulled himself up again and formed a Rasengan in one hand. Both charged at each other, meeting in the center of the arena. The two attacks collided in a bright flash of light that blinded everyone in the arena. A huge explosion occurred and two blurs slammed into the wall on opposite sides of the arena.
(-)
Underneath the arena, Kimiko was ready to start bashing her head on the wall. They still hadn't figured out a way to free Shippo and Rin. Akemi sighed as she glared at the bars. "If only I was stronger I could break these. Oka-san could easily do that if she was here." Kimiko nodded, her thoughts elsewhere until Akemi's first sentence clicked in her head.
"I just might have an idea!" said Kimiko as she reached into her miko robes and found a shuriken holster modified to hold the Shikon Jewel attached to the belt under her pants.
As Kimiko brought out the Jewel, Shippo's eyes widened and he groaned. "Oh hell, how is the jewel here? Wait don't answer, let me guess. You got wounded and the jewel just popped right out?" asked the trapped kitsune.
Kimiko nodded and placed the jewel in Akemi's hands. "Try to remove the bars now!" said Kimiko. Akemi shrugged and obeyed. To her surprise, the bars tore out of the stone like it wasn't even there. Jiraiya's eyes threatened to pop out of his head as his jaw hit the floor in amazement.
Akemi stared at the bars for a second before crumpling them into a small ball. "Guess I don't know my own strength," she said as Shippo stepped out of his cage. Akemi soon had Rin freed and returned the jewel to Kimiko. Kimiko had just finished closing the jewel's holder when the whole corridor they were in when they all felt a huge surge of energy above them.
Jiriaya's face paled as he said, "Oh shit, Naruto's snapped!" seeing the looks everyone was giving him, the toad senin sighed and said, "I'll explain in more detail later, but the bare bones is that when Naruto uses Kyuubi's chakra in his human fox hybrid form her goes a little crazy. He'll attack any enemies without stopping until they are dead. The result of using so much of Kyuubi's chakra is a fox shaped aura that surrounds Naruto, as well as some interesting shape shifting." Another surge of chakra above them was felt as well as fear as the corridor started shaking. "Shit, we have to get out of here!" yelled Jiraiya. The whole group ran for their lives and barely made it outside before an explosion caved in the passage.
Kimiko turned to examine the rest of the ruins and her nose caught the scent of Hinata's blood. "Hinata-chan is severely wounded!" gasped the hanyou girl before running towards one of the entrances to the arena with the rest of the group behind him. Kimiko skidded to a stop as she the backs of a bunch of Sound shinobi facing away from her.
Shippo and Rin drew their weapons and grinned at each other. "Time for some payback for mistreating us!" said Rin with a grin that Shippo echoed. Both of the youkai darted forward and attacked the Sound shinobi. Akemi and Kimiko freed Hiryuu while Jiraiya used his Swamp of the Underworld to trap most of the enemy shinobi.
Kimiko looked up as the smoke and dust were blown away to see a large crater in the center of the arena. On the side farthest from her the hanyou girl could see a black haired figure lying unconscious on the ground. Kimiko turned to look at the wall closer to her location. What she saw surprised her. An female Naruto with fox features was sobbing over Hinata. Kimiko ran over and was relieved to see Hinata breathing. "Naruto, what happened?" asked Kimiko.
Naruto sniffed before saying, "Hinata fought off Sasuke to save me and he killed her!"
Kimiko stared at Naruto and yelled, "Baka, she isn't dead yet!" Naruto's eyes widened and she placed one fox ear on Hinata's chest. Faintly, Naruto could hear a heart beat. Naruto's face changed from sad to determined as she grabbed a kunai from her supply pouch and suddenly slit her wrist. Naruto then cut Hinata's wrist and pressed the two wounds together. Kimiko started to demand what Naruto was doing, but the blond girl started chanting in a strange language before Kimiko could open her mouth.
Jiraiya had run over upon hearing Kimiko's yell and seemed to know what was going on. "What is Naruto doing Ero-senin? And why is he a she?" asked Kimiko.
Jiraiya sighed and said, "To give Naruto access to all her powers, Kyuubi had to partially merge with him. However, since Kyuubi is female, whenever Naruto is in the fox human hybrid form and uses too much of her chakra, his body automatically shifts into a female form to make the chakra flow easier. It's an example of a yin yang principle; mainly Naruto's male body can't handle all of the chakra he is using. As for the weird chant and slitting of the wrists, that is an ancient kitsune ritual that will transfer some of Naruto's blood into Hinata, thus granting her some of Kyuubi's powers. Kyuubi taught Naruto this so that if he ever got married his wife would be able to become more like him and wouldn't feel inferior to him. Watch and you'll see what I mean." Kimiko turned her attention back to Hinata and was amazed to see the hole in her chest rapidly closing as red chakra glowed around the edges of the wound.
By now all the Sound shinobi were dead and the rest of the group joined the Senin and hanyou in their vigil. As soon as Hinata's wound had mended, red chakra surrounded her body and obscured her from the sight of the watchers. The red chakra was suddenly sucked back into Hinata and everyone was surprised to see blue fox ears perched on top of her head and three blue fox tails sticking out of her pants. Hinata's eyes opened and she yawned slightly, seemingly from a long sleep. Hinata suddenly remembered what had happened after she attempted to close off Sasuke's Tsubos and she gasped and grabbed at her chest. Finding no wound when she clearly remembered Sasuke's Chidori hitting her dead on, Hinata looked around in surprise until her eyes focused on a tired by happy female Naruto. "Naruto-kun?" whispered Hinata. Naruto nodded, quickly repeating Jiraiya's explanation on using Kyuubi's chakra. Hinata's ears suddenly twitched as a leaf drifted down to land on them and she jumped in surprise before clasping her hands to her head.
Naruto rubbed her head and looked down at the ground in shame. "Gomen Nasai Hinata-chan, but to save your life I had to give you some of my blood so you would gain the same healing powers I have. I'm afraid your now half kitsune like me," said Naruto. Hinata blinked, reaching back behind her and feeling her tails before feeling inside her mouth to find her canines had grown a little longer and sharper. "Are you mad Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto without looking at the blue haired girl.
Naruto's question was answered by Hinata tackling her in a hug and kissing her hard on the lips. Hinata smiled and actually licked Naruto's cheek before saying, "No Naruto-ku…chan, I am not mad. You saved my life just like I saved yours. Now we can truly live out our lives together as equals." Naruto blushed, very aware that Hinata's scent said she didn't care that Naruto was temporarily stuck as a girl, and quickly shifter back to his normal form, though he kept the fox ears and tails. (AN: from now on I'll call Naruto and Hinata kitsune, just for simplicity)
Both of the kitsune stood up and hugged each other before turning to their friends. The first thing they noticed was Jiraiya scribbling in his note book with a small trail of drool hanging off his chin. Said pervert found himself on the receiving end of One Thousand Years of Pain from an enraged Naruto while Hinata instinctively used fox fire to burn the note book. Everyone was so wrapped up in watching Naruto and Hinata yell at Jiraiya that they didn't notice Sasuke charging at Naruto with a kunai until a wall of sand suddenly appeared in front of the enraged Uchiha and surrounded him. "Uzumaki Naruto, it is good to see you again," said a voice that Jiraiya, Hinata, and Naruto recognized.
"Hi Gaara, how's the badger?" asked Naruto with a grin, completely forgetting that only a wall of sand separated him from Sasuke. Gaara glared at the blond, but a slight upwards twitch of his lips showed he was trying not to smile. Flanking Gaara were his siblings Temari and Kankuro. Temari had her giant fan on her back while Kankuro's two puppets were wrapped in their bandage covers on his. "As you can see the three of you missed most of the fun," said Naruto.
Temari raised one eyebrow as she surveyed the huge number of dead or unconscious Sound shinobi littering the floor of the arena while Kankuro chuckled. Gaara didn't say anything as he glared at Sasuke and formed the sand into a sort of strait jacket that prevented Sasuke from making any seals. Hinata jabbed a pressure point on Sasuke's neck that caused him to fall unconscious and said, "That should keep him out of it for a few days, long enough for us to transport him to Konoha."
Naruto grinned and made several seals before yelling "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" as he slammed his hand on to the ground. A large cloud of smoke appeared and as it cleared away everyone saw Naruto standing on top of Gamabunta's head.
"Oi Gaki! Why'd you summon me this time?" asked the huge toad.
"I need you to help me take Sasuke bastard back to Konoha while the rest of the group attacks the Sound forces from the rear. We'll bring reinforcements and get to the battle after dropping off Sasuke," said Naruto. Gamabunta glanced at Sasuke and sighed.
"All right, but you had better make sure that I get some action, I'm not your errand boy!" growled the toad boss as Gaara's sand lifted Sasuke on to Gamabunta. Naruto gathered chakra on his feet to keep himself and Sasuke in place. Gamabunta crouched down and then leapt out of the arena and ruins all together. The ground shook when the giant toad landed some distance away. The shaking continued several times until Gamabunta was to far away for his landings to be felt. Jiraiya made everyone rest for an hour before they did anything else and Hinata introduced the Sand siblings to her new friends and explained how Kyuubi was no longer sealed inside Naruto.
(-)
The Sound forces were wrecking havoc on the defending Sand shinobi. Apparently some missing shinobi from Suna (Hidden Sand) had joined Oto (Hidden Sound) after the treaty between Suna and Konoha and were ready to guide the Sound forces through the desert to the hidden village. The Sound shinobi had slaughtered anyone attempting to exit Suna and Konoha was only informed of the attack on their ally because Gaara managed to use his sand to transport a messenger underground behind the Sound forces. Gaara had gotten himself and his siblings out the same way and they were attacking the Sound forces with hit and run tactics. Temari described the positioning of the Sound forces to the Konoha Shinobi, Kimiko, and Hiryuu while they recovered from their fights in the arena. Together, Temari and Jiraiya managed to work out an attack plan while Akemi taught Hinata how to use her kitsune abilities. The Hyuga girl learned quickly and Shippo said she learned more in the five hour journey towards Suna than he did in five years. At a certain distance from the enemy lines, the group split up and prepared for their attack.
(-)
Shippo grinned as he snuck into a tent filled with supplies for the Sound forces. The kitsune had spent his years in his mother's time learning basic chemistry with things found around the home and went straight for the large bags of flour he smelled. "Time to heat things up a little!" said Shippo with a smirk as he idly tossed a ball of foxfire onto the stack of flour bags. Now when flour is heated by itself it explodes. Shippo ran out of the tent as a giant fireball erupted behind him. "Oh yeah, that was a good one!" yelled the kitsune with a grin as he surveyed his latest work of art. A group of Sound nin quickly surrounded Shippo. Shippo's grin widened as he cracked his knuckles. "Lets dance!" he said before charging for the first nin. Shippo proceeded to warm up by beating the crud out of three Sound shinobi with his bare fists. He then covered his hands and feet with fox fire and left fist and foot shaped burns on the next group of shinobi to attack him. Finally relaxed, Shippo drew Heart's Fire and started cutting down the Sound Shinobi like they were wheat. Shippo even brought out his old top, which caused some of the sound shinobi to laugh until he made it grow to its large size and spin on their heads. Shippo was having a lot of fun, it wasn't often he could fight all out since his family moved to his mom's time and this was a great stress reliever.
(-)
"You're right Akemi, this is fun!" said Hinata as she set the pants of another sound nin on fire. The two girls had hidden themselves and were using foxfire to drive the Sound shinobi towards Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. The girls simply created a wall of fire that chased the Sound forces right into Gaara's sand. The sand held the enemy ninja down so Kankuro's puppets and Temari's wind attacks could hit them easily. A loud explosion to the girls' left announced that Shippo had set to work.
"Hey Hinata, watch this!" exclaimed Akemi as she closed her eyes and concentrated. The giant flames caused by Shippo's pyrotechnics suddenly formed a giant dragon that flew into the air and dive bombed the Sound forces. Akemi then made the dragon appear to relieve itself in mid air on one foolish Sound nin who tried to blast it with a water jutsu. The Sound nin died a most painful death, allowing Akemi to search for her next target.
(-)
"Sankon Tessou!" yelled Kimiko as she shredded a Sound Jounin who was attempting to hit Hiryuu with some jutsu. The hanyou girl and the monk were fighting together, years of mock battles allowing them to work together easily and cover each other's weak points. Hiryuu used his staff to deflect kunai and shuriken from hitting Kimiko's back while she fought using her claws. Hiryuu occasionally hurled an ofuda that shocked the sound shinobi by giving them a huge chakra surge that was either fatal or disabling. Kimiko used her Bu-meran to keep the sound Shinobi back so she wasn't swarmed by opponents.
"You know, we could really use your father's sword right now!" exclaimed Hiryuu as he whacked a Sound nin on the head. Kimiko grunted to show she agreed but kept her eyes on her opponent. Akemi's fire dragon swooped over head and caused the Sound nin facing Kimiko to duck on instinct, leaving himself vulnerable for a minute. That minute was all Kimiko needed to shred him. The hanyou girl grinned as she sensed Rin wreaking havoc on a group of Sound shinobi a short distance away.
(-)
Rin grinned as she jumped on top of another Sound nin in her true form. The dog girl was having lots of fun romping through the battle field as a giant dog. At one point, an annoying itch behind her ear caused Rin to scratch herself. The thumping of Rin's paws caused earthquake like shocks to rock the battle field while her tail wagging as she got rid of the itch sent several Sound shinobi flying. Several ninja summoned creatures to fight Rin, including some giant snakes, but Rin plowed right through them.
(-)
After three years of being the Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade had seen some strange things. She was friends with a female kitsune that almost destroyed Konoha fifth teen years ago, had met people from another world, and seen people transform when splashed with water all within the last two weeks. But nothing beat the sight of Naruto knocking on the window of her office while holding an unconscious Sasuke, no longer trapped in Gaara's sand straight jacket, upside down while the blond fox boy stood on top of a large frog's head. Tsunade's jaw hit the top of her desk and the sake bottle in her hand broke as it hit the floor. Shizune ran into the room and saw Naruto grinning through the window while holding Sasuke. Sakura had followed Shizune, since they were in the middle of a discussion when they heard Tsunade's sake bottle hit the floor, and the pink haired girl reacted to the sight of her old team mates in a way that neither of the two older women or Naruto expected.
"Naruto, you said you would take me with you when you went after Sasuke!" yelled Sakura as she pounded on Naruto's head. "Why do you think I trained for the last three years as a medic nin? I did it so I could help you for once and not be the one being protected!"
Naruto yelped and tried to cover his abused head with his arms. "Itai! But Sakura-chan, I didn't know we'd meet the bastard in the middle of our mission. I had a hard fight with him and he almost killed Hinata-chan when she saved me! I would have brought you along if I had any idea he'd be where we were going!" exclaimed the boy. Just then, a purple blur hoped up beside Naruto.
Ino stared at her former crush and then did something that surprised everyone watching. She delivered a beautiful crescent kick to Sasuke's family jewels as she yelled, "Chouji almost died because he came after you, you bastard! How could you betray all of us? Do you know what kind of anguish you put Sakura through for the last three years?" Sasuke had almost woken up just before Ino kicked him, but he couldn't reply as he whimpered in pain. Naruto's leg snapped out as he kicked Sasuke in the head, sending the Uchiha back to la-la land.
Tsunade sighed and gave a low whistle. Almost instantly, ANBU appeared around Naruto and Sasuke. "Take Sasuke to the hospital and put him in the restricted access section. Post guards in his room and outside the door. No one is to see him without me present, understood?" said the Hokage. All the ANBU nodded and disappeared with Sasuke in a cloud of smoke. Tsunade then turned to Naruto, who had apparently decided to stand on the wall for a change. Tsunade raised one eyebrow at the blond boy's actions before asking, "Was there something else Naruto?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, I kind of left the others as they were preparing to head out to attack the Sound forces so I could bring Sasuke back and I'd like to take some help back with me. We also found the last two members of Kimiko's group and I thought they would enjoy being reunited as soon as possible."
Tsunade smiled before sending a messenger for the rest of Naruto's friends and his house guests. As soon as everyone was assembled and briefed on the situation, Naruto led them to where Gamabunta waited patiently outside the village. The toad boss complained about having to carry so many people until Naruto asked if he should summon a more agreeable helper. Gamabunta stopped complaining and jumped off, his huge leaps quickly getting the reinforcements to the sight of the battle. Kiba and Akamaru's reaction to the sight of Rin romping through the battle field was hilarious, Naruto had never known that the human canine team's body reactions were linked until he noticed Kiba's pants tightening around the crotch as he caught the scent of Akamaru's interest. "Don't even think about it, she's already got a boy friend," said Miyuki with a smirk as her nose caught the pair's obvious interest in her friend's cousin. Akamaru looked heartbroken, while Kiba looked like he was coming out of a drug induced daze, Akamaru's instincts having temporarily overpowered his common sense. The six Chunin, catgirl, fox boy, alien girl, and martial artist all leaped down and plowed into the Sound forces. The Sound shinobi had already been loosing their confidence and the arrival of the reinforcements was the final blow that signaled the rapid defeat of the Sound forces.
Kiba and Akamaru tore across the battle field as a pair of twin tornadoes shredding anything in their path. Chouji was a giant ball of pure destructive power as he bowled Sound shinobi over and flattened them to the ground. A green blur was all that could be seen of Lee as he zipped around the field. Ino and Shikamaru used their family jutsu to make their opponents jump into the path of Chouji, Kiba, or Akamaru while Neji and Tenten watched over them. Tenten's kunai and shuriken struck down Sound shinobi by the dozens while Neji's Kaiten sent them flying. Swarms of Shino's bugs buzzed throughout the field, sucking the chakra from the Sound forces. But it was Naruto who scared the Sound shinobi the most. The blond shinobi tore through his opponents with Rasengan and those that saw his face before they died saw the eyes of Kyuubi staring at them just before the Rasengan hit them.
The battle was over quickly after the reinforcements arrived. The Konoha and Suna shinobi had all survived with minimal bruises and cuts. After a quick trip to Suna to report to the Kazekage, who was Gaara's old sensei Baki, that the mission was a success. The people of Suna rejoiced and threw a big festival to celebrate the end of the fighting. The Konoha shinobi and their friends stayed in Suna for two more days to relax and allow Naruto to help Hinata deal with any issues Akemi and Shippo had missed in using her kitsune abilities. Hinata's new senses had given her a much better grasp of what she saw with her Byakugan, allowing her to smell and hear everything she could see now, making it easier to spot foes. Hinata's strength also increased, giving here the relative strength and speed Lee had at the time of their first Chunin Exam with his weights on. Naruto gave Hinata some of his old weights to help get her closer to his level. In a sparing session against Neji, Hinata was surprised to find that she actually managed to keep up with her cousin. She couldn't quite beat him yet, but Neji claimed that soon she would surpass him if she kept improving at her current rate and become the most powerful Hyuga in the village. All of Hinata's friends were happy for her and Hinata was eager to return to Konoha and show Tsunade how much she had improved.
(-)
Finally, the Konoha shinobi and their friends had to depart from Suna. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro saw them off. Naruto surprised everyone but Jiraiya by turning into a giant golden fox with nine tails and a Konoha Hitai-ate on his head. Jiraiya found out the hard way that a giant fox's tail really hurts when it is used to smack you off the fox after you make a rude comment to that fox's fiancée. The toad hermit was forced to summon a toad to catch up to his transformed student and then had to dodge a bunch of fireballs courtesy of Hinata and Akemi. The pervert hermit sulked for the rest of the trip and didn't talk to anyone and ignored what was happening on Naruto's back. Which was good, considering that Naruto made a Bushin to keep Hinata company and she had fallen asleep against the Bushin while Tenten let Neji use her lap as a pillow. Akemi was joking with Kiba, Chouji, Kimiko, Ryeka, Miyuki, and Akira while Shikamaru stared at the clouds moving by. Shippo and Rin were indulging in a heavy make out session after being stuck in their cages for a week within sight of each other but not able to touch. Hiryuu and Shino just sat quietly and listened to Sakura and Ino argue over who had the better method (Read: most agonizing and painful) to take out an enemy. The journey went quickly with only a single stop, Naruto had to relieve himself and watered a nice patch of forest, to the amusement of Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto's cheeks were noticeably red under his gold fur, something Kiba teased him about until Naruto threatened to knock the Inuzuka boy off his back with a tail.
(-)
As Naruto approached Konoha he could see many shinobi staring at him and grinned. Even though he had changed a lot, Naruto still liked to be acknowledged by people. Naruto noticed, with much amusement, that his eyes were level with the guards on top of the wall and he could see sweat dripping off them as they fought their instincts to run and hide. Naruto reached around with one of his tails and gently knocked on the village gate. The whole group was forced to wait until Tsunade arrived to enter Konoha because the guards were so scared they wouldn't budge to open the gates until Tsunade gave her approval. Naruto trotted through the gates happily before bending down to let his friends and fiancé slide down to the ground. Naruto then shifted back to his human form and stretched to get the kinks out of his back and arms. "Well, I guess we have to give the old hag the mission report," said Naruto with a yawn, not realizing Tsunade had appeared behind him and heard his comment.
Tsunade scowled and brought her fist down at Naruto's head, only to have a cloud of smoke obscure her target. "Kage Bushin?" exclaimed Tsunade. The smoke cleared to reveal Jiraiya face down in the ground with the imprint of Tsunade's fist on his head. "Kawarimi!" exclaimed Tsunade with a grin that she managed to hit the old pervert for no reason and not feel guilty.
Naruto's voice behind her caused Tsunade to turn around and see Naruto standing beside Hinata and Akemi with a huge grin on his face. "I knew you were there and would hit me, the old pervert deserved it for making a rude joke about my relationship with Hinata-chan! Speaking of which, we have a few things to tell you," said Naruto. Tsunade nodded and lead the way to her office. She spent the next hour and a half listening to Naruto tell about infiltrating the ruins while Akemi explained how her group found Rin and Shippo. The encounter with Sasuke was the next topic of discussion, Hinata telling what she had seen and the details of her brief fight with the level two curse seal Sasuke. Tsunade almost had a heart attack when Hinata said Sasuke's Chidori had pierced her and Naruto hastily told Tsunade how he kicked Sasuke's ass and saved Hinata's life. Tsunade sighed and asked Hinata to reveal her fox features. The Hokage smiled at the sight of the blue fox ears and tails and told Naruto that she wasn't mad at him for acting as he had to save Hinata. "So can we go now Tsunade-ne-chan?" asked Naruto.
Tsunade nodded and picked up the report she had been reading on Sasuke's condition before she went to meet Naruto at the gates. Naruto helped Hinata up and took her arm in his to lead her out of the office with Akemi following behind them. "Come on, I told the others we would meet them at the house," said Naruto as the trio exited the building. The walk to the Uzumaki residence passed quickly and all three could smell the scent of their friends waiting for them.
Kyuubi burst out of the door to the house and swept all three of the teens into a hug. "Kimiko and Hiryuu explained everything to me, I'm so glad you're safe Hinata. You've become like a second daughter to me and I'm so happy Naruto performed the bonding ritual to save you and make you a true member of our family! You must be starving, come in and I'll get you something to eat!" said the kitsune woman with a huge smile as she released the three teens.
As Naruto entered the house, his nose easily detected the scent of the most glorius food known to man. "Ramen!" yelled Naruto before turning into an orange and blond blur as he ran into the kitchen to find Kimiko stirring a huge pot of ramen noodles. Naruto started drooling at the sight of all the ramen and Kimiko whirled around to glare at him.
"Oh no, these are MY ramen noodles! I bought them while you where talking to Tsunade-sama and I'm cooking them for me!" exclaimed Kimiko.
"Come on Kimiko, just one bowl…"
"NO! Make your own!"
"But then I'll have to wait for the water to boil and the three minutes for the noodles to cook!"
"Tough, you aren't getting any of my ramen!" yelled Kimiko, not noticing her eyes were turning red and her claws were growing longer.
Naruto was to angry to notice the change in Kimiko's scent and appearance. The blond shinobi was about to open his mouth when Shippo's voice caught his attention. "I wouldn't Naruto, Kimiko's first words were 'Ramen Mine!' and she doesn't like people stealing it from her. Just back away from the noodles slowly otherwise she'll attack you. Her youkai blood is starting to take over and she doesn't know what she is doing," said Shippo as he leaned against the kitchen doorway's frame.
Naruto gulped as he took in the angry Kimiko guarding the pot of noodles and hissing "My precioouuuuuuusssssss," much like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
Shippo sighed and yelled, "Rin, could you talk some sense into Kimiko, you're the only one she'll listen to when she is in Gollum ramen mode!" Rin sighed and got up from where she had just gotten comfortable on the couch to calm her cousin. Shippo exited the kitchen to find Hinata squirming on a stool as Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Akemi styled her hair and held articles of clothing up to her to check how they went with her new look.
Apparently the blood transfusion Naruto gave Hinata took a few days to complete its work. Hinata's hair was longer and smoother now with a natural shine that had the other girls gritting their teeth in jealousy. Hinata's body had also grown more fit, what little excess fat she had had rapidly disappeared and her muscles were nicely defined, but not obvious, while her figure would make Jiraiya and Kakashi stare for hours if they had been there. Hinata had grown about an inch, putting her two inches below Naruto's height, and making most of her clothes no longer fit, hence the decision of the other girls to check what would look good for her new wardrobe.
Kyuubi suddenly swept into the gathering around Hinata and stopped the other girls from turning the lavender eyed girl into a living doll. "I know you girls mean well, but I have something that Hinata will find more useful," said Kyuubi as she pulled what looked like a red T-shirt and pair of red shorts from behind her back. "These clothes are made from some of my tail hairs and have the ability to change into whatever type and color of clothing their wearer wishes. In addition, kitsune fur is able to withstand all but the most powerful katon jutsu. It is also fairly water proof and dries quickly. Naruto's clothes are also made from my hair and that has saved his life a few times because of its protective abilities. Go ahead and try these on Hinata, you just have to picture what you want them to look like and they'll change their shape to suit your imagination."
Hinata grabbed the fox fur garments and darted into her room upstairs. A few minutes later, Hinata walked downstairs and everyone took a good look at her new outfit. A purple vest with the Hyuga crest on the back and shoulders covered a grey T-shirt, under which a net shirt went down to her wrists. Surprise additions were arm guards like ANBU members wore on her lower arms. A pair of blue cargo shorts covered the tops of Hinata's legs while bandages covered the rest as well as shin guards like Anko's Hinata wore her forehead protector around her neck again, using it to keep her longer hair back and harder for an opponent to grab. A shuriken and kunai holster on each leg showed Hinata was ready for action, while her supply pouch rested on her waist within easy reach. Naruto gave an appreciative whistle, which caused Hinata to blush, while all the others stared in shock to see Hinata in such a revealing outfit. Neji hid his surprise and smirked. "Hinata, your father would have a fit if he saw you dressed like that. I'm glad you're no longer living in the main family house or he would most likely be foaming at the mouth." Hinata giggled at the mental image of her father foaming at the mouth and calmly sat down on Naruto's lap and wrapped her arms around him. Naruto blushed and Kiba, Shippo, Kyuubi, Hinata, and Akemi could smell his reaction to Hinata being so close, causing them to grin.
Before anyone could say anything, a hole seemed to open in midair in the middle of the room. Everyone stared at the hole in shock, you could actually see Shino's mouth hanging open and a slight raising of his eyebrows showed how large his eyeballs had become. "What the hell is that?" yelled Neji as he pushed Tenten behind him incase he needed to use Kaiten to deflect an attack. Kimiko and Rin ran into the room in time to see a bunch of shapes appear in the hole and suddenly hit the floor with a loud THUMP. Miyuki, Hiryuu, Akira, Ryeka, Shippo, Rin, and Kimiko stared at the things in disbelief. They were staring at….
And that is the end of this chapter. Expect the next one in two weeks, but college might delay my writing time. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, read and review!