Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)
"blah" = speech
'blah' = thoughts
A/N: a 2nd version of ch10 is up.
ic everyone loved my cliffhanger for chapter 10 =D
here it is... wat the jounin exam was really leading up to...
also im not good at writing fluffy stuff so dont expect much.
OpposingForce - I already support you!
other reviews are answered in new ch10
Chapter 11 – Assassination
"Yes, she will definitely be perfect," mused Naruto, "now all I have to do is make preparations and tie-up loose ends."
Several Hours Later
Naruto dressed in black shorts and a gray t-shirt, without his facemask, was standing at the edge of the forest looking over at the three-log training area. He kneeled down to pet his toad, "thanks Gamakichi,´ and gave it a cookie. The toad munched down the cookie and disappeared. 'I prefer foxes for surveillance, but in this village they're a little risky.'
'Alright, here goes…' thought Naruto talking a deep breath and started to slowly walk toward the logs.
As he got closer a small figure became more and more visible. The figure was sitting with her back to the center log and her face buried in her hands, which were resting on top of her knees. Faint sobs could be heard coming from the girl.
Naruto walked up to her and knelt down, "Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"
"I failed him!" she sobbed out, not even looking up.
"Failed?" asked Naruto in a caring tone. "I'm sure you didn't fail anyone," reassured Naruto.
"Yes, yes… I failed him…" Hinata trailed off as a thought crossed her mind, 'Hinata-chan? Nobody calls me that.' Hinata's head suddenly shot up to look at whom she was talking to.
"Na-Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata in an unsure tone, 'is it really him?'
"Yeah, Hinata-chan, it's me" answered Naruto with a slight smile.
"Oh, Naruto-kun,´ said Hinata and threw her arms around the blonde boy, crying on his shoulder.
'I gotta thank Raiko next time I see him for teaching me about this kind of stuff,' thought Naruto with a silent chuckle. 'He's sure got a hell of a lot more class than Ero-Sennin…'
"It's alright Hinata-chan," comforted Naruto, "everything will be fine."
Naruto put one hand on her back and the other on her head. He gently stroked her hair while whispering comforting words in her ear. After a little while Hinata managed to calm down enough to speak coherently.
"Oh Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you're back" she said with a shy smile.
"Really?" asked Naruto somewhat teasingly.
"Yes! Oh, it's so good to have you back Naruto-kun," Hinata hugged Naruto tighter. 'This is like a dream. My prayers have been answered!'
"It's good to be back," said Naruto with a content but sad sigh.
Hinata pulled away from him slightly, even though her body protested, to look into his now darker blue eyes. Caringly she asked, "why, Naruto-kun?"
"Why what, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto softly.
"Why did you leave?" she asked with a downcast eyes.
"Oh that…" Naruto's mood darkened slightly, "you know when the village that you almost die protecting hates you, the person that you save resents you for it and there's no one that really cares for you, what's the point of staying?" said Naruto softly and coldly.
"Oh, Naruto-kun" said Hinata and started crying again. 'And I'm to blame for this too…' "I'm so sorry," she kept repeating.
"Nothing to be sorry for Hinata-chan," comforted Naruto. 'Really, she had nothing at all to do with my leaving.'
"Naruto-kun, I should have told you a long time ago…" Hinata said in just above a whisper.
"Told me what Hinata-chan?"
"Naruto-kun, I-I-I l-love you," Hinata said blushing as red as a cherry and kissed him passionately. Naruto quickly reciprocated the kiss.
'Mmm… Hinata-chan is a good kisser…' thought Naruto. 'NO! Don't lose sight of the objective.'
Naruto gently broke the kiss and looked at Hinata, "I love you too Hinata-chan," said Naruto caringly and kissed her again. During the kiss Naruto felt moisture on Hinata's cheek and pulled away, "why are you crying Hinata-chan?"
"I'm happy…" answered Hinata, I'm so, so happy… that you're here now… with me…" said Hinata in between kisses.
Hinata broke the series of kisses and looked at Naruto curiously, "Naruto-kun, why do you have fangs?"
'Oh shit! Didn't consider that…' cursed Naruto. 'Tell her about the Kyuubi? Hell no! I'm not going to wash by plan down the drain…'
"It's a… it's just something related to my blood limit," replied Naruto inwardly happy at the look in her eyes; she bought it. 'Phew… quick save. Not really a lie either.'
Hinata's look went from understanding to curiosity once again, "I'm curious, Naruto-kun, when did you return?" she asked of her newfound lover.
"Just now, several hours ago," replied Naruto.
"How did you get in?" followed up Hinata.
"You mean how does a Class S Missing-nin make his way inside the Leaf Village?" asked Naruto chuckling.
Hinata nodded, slightly surprised that he called himself a Class S Missing-nin. 'Why such negativity Naruto-kun?'
Naruto noticed the surprise on Hinata's face, 'Crap, I must not be officially rated as Class S. just hope she doesn't get suspicious… Damn it, I'm having too many slip ups.'
"Well, I did grow up in this village. I know the less guarded places," explained Naruto, but chose to omit mention of his stealth skills and jutsus. 'No need for her to be curious about my training.'
"Naruto-kun is still great…" said Hinata here face lighting up. Hinata then suddenly frowned, "you're not going to leave again are you?" questioned Hinata with tears in her eyes.
"No, don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm not going anywhere… I'll stay here with you," said Naruto once again sealing their lips. 'at least for the time being…' thought Naruto.
"I'm gonna go talk with Tsunade tomorrow" said Naruto confidently.
"You mean you came to me first?" Hinata asked shyly with a slight blush.
"Yeah…" replied Naruto softly.
"How come?" she continued.
"Because I realized during my journey that I really like you," answered Naruto in a caring tone. 'God, I feel so bad lying to her,' thought Naruto with a pang of regret going through his heart.
They stayed like that, hugging and kissing until nightfall. Naruto telling her about his adventures; a modified version of course. In turn Hinata told Naruto of what had happened in the Leaf since he left. They finally realized what time it was when the cold night breeze swept by them.
"It's gotten late, Hinata-chan," said Naruto.
"Yeah…" replied Hinata sadly, "we have to go home now."
"Umm… actually Hinata-chan… I don't have a place to go to," said Naruto sorrowfully. "Well it's alright really," he continued with a fake smile, "I'll just sleep in some tree in the forest." He turned and slowly started walking toward the forest.
Hinata contemplated for a bit, but in the end could not stand the thought of her lover sleeping in the forest. "Wait Naruto-kun!" cried Hinata, "Don't go!" Naruto couldn't help but smirk mischievously, 'so far so good.'
She ran up to him and grabbed his arm then blushing furiously said, "you can sleep over at my place."
"Really!?" exclaimed Naruto. "But will your family actually let me stay?" he continued sadly.
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I can sneak you in. Trust me!" said Hinata pulling Naruto in the direction of her house.
"Alright Hinata-chan, I'll trust you" said Naruto and followed her.
Hinata and Naruto successfully snuck in via a very well hidden backdoor and were soon within the safety of Hinata's room. Inwardly Naruto chuckled evilly, 'this is it… thank you very much Hinata. Not it's mission start!'
While Hinata had her back turned, Naruto quickly did a few hand seals. Then he walked up to her and gave her a passionate open-mounted kiss, during which he breathed out into her. Within five seconds Hinata's body fell limp into Naruto's arms. Naruto gently put her in bed and whispered, "Sleep now Hinata… you've been a great help. I'm sorry for all this, but I'll at least give you the gift of life."
Naruto then pulled out a scroll from his pocket, put in on the floor and quickly unrolled it. In a cloud of smoke the scroll was gone, but in its place appeared black clothing, a holster, a katana and a backpack. Naruto quickly put all this on and looked very much like he had for the jounin exam with several exceptions.
Instead of a kunai he had throwing knives, he also wore a black hat that was specially made to be longer at the back to completely cover all of Naruto's hair and end at the bottom of the neck and on the top of his left sleeve he had the emblem of the nine-tails in blood red.
Before moving out Naruto did a final check and grew his nails by several millimeters, 'perfect…the conditions couldn't be better; the dark of the night covers me, Tsunade is busy with Sasuke at the hospital and most of the village is going to be or already is asleep. Well, time to go,' thought Naruto and with a few hand seals he disappeared.
Flashback
"The mission parameters are simple: you are to assassinate five Hyuga clan leaders and the head of the Main Family" said Itachi in a cool tone.
"Simple? You call that simple!?" yelled Naruto.
"The parameters are simple," continued Itachi, "I didn't say anything about the execution." Naruto just sighed.
"That's another reason you're going alone, it will be easier to get one person into the Hyuga Manor." Still no response from Naruto.
Itachi then hit Naruto upside the head, "hey you listening?"
"Damn it! Let me think!" yelled Naruto, "I'm trying to memorize their faces here! Not to mention get well acquainted with the manor blueprints!" 'And figure how the hell I'm gonna take on one of the most powerful bloodlines in the world.'
"You can do that later," said Itachi absent mindedly, "I'm just trying to remind you of all the things you have to do on assassination missions…"
"It's not like I haven't done this before," yelled an aggravated Naruto.
Itachi paid him no heed, "first of, remember that you'll need to bring back the heads as proof…"
"Damn it Itachi!" screamed Naruto rubbing his temples, "You're really not helping me right now!" Itachi gave him an unreadable look and continued his lecture as if nothing happened.
End Flashback
Hyuga Hiashi was strolling around the Hyuga Manor enjoying the peaceful night and thinking about the turbulent events of the jounin exam. 'Hinata lost again… not surprising really… she's gotten stronger, though still not good enough' mused Hiashi. 'Then there was that Grass-nin, terrifying, Sasuke was still convulsing when I saw him in the hospital. I wonder what that Doujutsu really did to him.' Hiashi's thoughts went back to the Grass-nin, 'for some reason, I can't shake the feeling of danger from him…' (A/N: more on Sasuke's condition and effects of Naruto's Doujutsu in the next chapter)
Just then Hiashi heard the sound of metal hitting metal, 'what the…?' thought Hiashi as he went over next to the door from where the sound came. A few seconds later, he heard a ripping sound followed closely by a thud. 'That sounded too much like a body dropping,' figured Hiashi and swung open the door. He was prepared for almost anything except this.
Naruto had just cut off the head of his fourth target and put it in his backpack, 'jeez, are all the Hyuga this easy. This was the first one to retaliate… granted the rest were asleep, but still.' Naruto's musings were cut off when the door burst open, without warning, to show the last person Naruto wanted to see, Hiashi.
'Shit! I was going to leave him for last.' As soon as Naruto finished that thought the alarm sounded, 'God damn it! Somebody must have found one of the other bodies. Now not only Hiashi, but the rest of the Hyuga.' Naruto mentally cursed in one long colorful sentence.
They looked at each other for a second, 'it's definitely that Grass-nin from the exam' thought Hiashi instantly recognizing the assassin. Naruto realized that Hiashi was in shock and hence saw his opportunity.
'No time to lose, he's not battle ready…' thought Naruto instantly coming up with a next action. Naruto disappeared and re-appeared right behind Hiashi. Naruto then hit him hard in the lower back, breaking Hiashi's lower spine. As Hiashi started falling, Naruto took out his sword preparing to cut off Hiashi's head.
Hiashi, however, had other plans 'I may not survive, but at least I'll injure him' he thought. He then suddenly twisted around a little and hit Naruto square over his heart. That didn't save him, as Naruto's katana still went through Hiashi's neck. Naruto wasn't in a very good condition though.
'Shit! A Hyuga deathblow… can't feel chakra in my heart…damn you Hiashi!' cursed Naruto. 'I'm gonna have to use it then,' concluded Naruto as he fell down to his hands and knees.
"Demon Regeneration," said Naruto pulling out Kyuubi's chakra. A thin red cloud developed around Naruto and lingered there for about two seconds. It was then quickly absorbed into Naruto's body, mostly his chest. 'The only downfall right now is that I can't hide this much chakra.'
No sooner than he had healed himself, Naruto heard a commotion at the end of the hallway. Looking up he saw three Hyuga guards running toward him. Grabbing Hiashi's head, Naruto quickly Shadow Stepped away without a particular destination.
Elsewhere in the Leaf Village, Jiraiya was up to his usual "business" when he suddenly sensed a certain chakra, 'that chakra signature… I'd recognize it anywhere, it's too unique… but what's it doing here?' Jiraiya instantly forgot about his previous activities and rushed to find the chakra.
Meanwhile, Naruto had Shadow Stepped into an open field in the middle of the Hyuga Manor. Turning around he saw two clan leaders running side by side toward him, 'luck…'
Without another seconds delay Naruto charged up two Rasengans, behind his back. The Hyuga were too shocked that he had just appeared almost directly in front of them and did not have the time to react properly. So when the Hyuga got close enough, Naruto slammed each Rasengan into one of the clan leaders. Unable to dodge they took the attack head on and were thrown back with immense force.
Naruto gripped the hilt of his katana and Shadow Stepped to where the two Hyuga were being blown. Once there he formed a cushion of chakra underneath his feet, unsheathed his already bloody katana and held it at the Hyugas' neck level. Once the Hyuga were right next to him, he used the chakra cushion to rotate himself 360 degrees within half a second.
Back to facing his original direction he instantly sheathed his katana and grabbed both Hyuga by the hair. Just as he did that the momentum from the Rasengans blew the bodies backwards, but the heads stayed in Naruto's hands. Knowing he had no time to lose, he quickly put the heads in his backpack along with the rest.
By this time the rest of the manor was already awake, so Naruto was being attacked by two-dozen Hyuga. 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' cursed Naruto, 'These odds are hard enough, but the ANBU are undoubtedly on their way and not to mention any other ninja in the area… I don't need that. I can't handle the entire village.'
'Fight off these… make for the wall…' contemplated Naruto while parrying off attacks, 'and then high tail it the hell out of here,' concluded Naruto. 'Sounds like a plan.'
"Chakra Ripple" whispered Naruto and a small wave of chakra hit all the people around Naruto pushing them back. Naruto did several dozen hand seals and heavily stomped his foot on the ground, "Kinjutsu - Doton: Desert Sea" he said. Instantly the entire field around him turned into quicksand, sucking down everyone unfortunate enough to step on it (which was everyone, except Naruto of course). Naruto's opponents tried to counter this by putting more chakra into their feet and were absolutely shocked when that actually worked against them.
Naruto noticed the looks of shock and horror on their faces and smirked, 'the beauty of Desert Sea is that it pulls in chakra. So the more you use to try and keep yourself afloat to faster it will pull you in.' Naruto blessed his natural affinity for Earth Jutsus.
Upon noticing that most of the Hyuga were sucked in at least up to the knees he did two hands seals, "Solidify." The quicksand sea instantly became solid ground effectively trapping all of Naruto's opponents. 'Now!' thought Naruto.
He once again made a chakra cushion under his feet while performing several hand seals, "Katon: Grand Housenka" he whispered and started rotating around while shooting out fireballs. Making it look like he was firing them in all direction at the same time.
Some of the Hyuga were able to duck under the attack and other more powerful ones were able to use Kaiten to block the projectiles and free themselves from the ground. The ones that weren't able to do either died, of course. By either burning to death or if they got lucky enough and the shuriken inside the flames hit a critical area then they died a much more painless death.
The survivors instantly retaliated by firing a Grand Fireball straight at Naruto from all sides. "Fuuiton: Wind Barrier" said Naruto. Wind swirled all around him and blocked all the fireballs. However Naruto didn't stop there, "Dokumori: Poison Cloud." (A/N: Dokumori is what that final fantasy website said)
The wind barrier suddenly changed color to green and Naruto made the wind from the barrier move outward in circular motion around himself; consequently spreading out the poison as it went. (A/N: in Poison Cloud, Naruto can use ANY poison)
Naruto had used a high level poison that need only touch the skin to take effect. Inhaling it causes dizziness and disorientation, but once the poison has sunk into the skin, which is after about two minutes, the person dies. Most of the Hyuga just held their breath and thought that they were safe, some however did actually activate their Kaiten fully blocking the poison.
During the spread of the poison Naruto had made enough Kage Bushin to match all his opponents and instantly attacked them. The clones that were fighting infected Hyuga, just fought to pull time and waited until their opponent died. However the ones that were fighting the smarter Hyuga all used Cobra Strike, a poison attack where the poison was concentrated in the hands and/or claws. If the opponent was hit, death would be almost instantaneous; since it was cobra venom.
What Naruto's opponents didn't know was that the clones, for the most part, were merely a distraction so that Naruto could escape. The fact that most of Naruto's enemies either died or were in critical condition didn't bother Naruto the least bit as long as he could get out of there. When Naruto saw his chance for an escape, he instantly took it and made a dash for the wall of the manor. As he was going to jump over, two guards tried to stop him, but fell dead as Naruto flew by them at an insane speed.
Jiraiya had heard the alarm and was closing in on the Hyuga Manor along with at least a dozen ANBU and regular jounin, when he just barely noticed a black figure running at top speed toward the western gate. Figuring that that must be the intruder, he quickly changed direction to chase him.
Naruto raced through the village and the gates were soon within his sight; there were at least 10 guards compared to the usual 3. He knew that it would be a long battle if he tried getting out the conventional way, so he jumped down from the rooftops and unto the ground. As he continued running on the ground, he did several hands seals and said, "Doton: Ground Reaper no Jutsu."
The ground that Naruto had just ran on was lifted up with each passing step, "Doton Condense" whispered Naruto. The newly raised ground behind Naruto condensed itself into a boulder, Naruto kept up these two jutsus until the boulder became about the size of a small house. He then attached as many chakra strings as he could to the boulder and yanked on them with full force, "Boulder Strike" he yelled and flung the enormous mass straight at the gate.
Not surprisingly the gate and most of the wall around it, broke as soon as the boulder had collided with it. The explosion, that resulted, had caused all the guard ninjas to pass out and Naruto found that he now had a straight unguarded path laid out in front of him. 'Once I'm out the gate it's over…' thought Naruto contently as he kept up his speed even once outside the village.
A little over a mile outside the village Naruto stopped, sensing a familiar presence, "Itachi-onii-chan…"
"I take it it's done?" he asked.
Naruto turned around to find those two familiar crimson eyes staring at him, "yes," answered Naruto in a cold tone, "there were complications, but that's usual."
"Yeah… I heard the explosion from here…" said Itachi, Naruto snorted. "Anyway, you get quota?" asked Itachi.
"Even more," answered Naruto talking off his hat and running his hand through his hair, "I got the younger of the Main House heirs."
"Could have gotten both…" replied Itachi in a questioning tone, while handing Naruto his Akatsuki cloak.
Naruto put it on, but did not answer as he turned his head sideways and sniffed the air. "We should get out of here…" he said quickly. 'Damn it! I thought I managed to avoid pursuit… and why of all people does it have to be HIM?'
"You're not going anywhere!" came a voice from behind Naruto.
"Let's go," said Naruto, "we can out run him."
"What are you doing back here after five years and in his company?" Jiraiya continued questioning. 'And why the Akatsuki cloak?' mentally questioned Jiraiya.
"Isn't it obvious… Ero-Sennin?" replied Naruto coldly with a side-ways glare at Jiraiya.
'Could it be?' wondered Jiraiya, 'have our worst fears come true?'
"Go Naruto!" ordered Itachi, "I'll take care of him."
"What? No, it's my mess I'll clean it up" protested Naruto.
"Go! You're battle worn, you won't be able to handle him," reasoned Itachi in a commanding tone.
Leaning his head to Naruto's ear he whispered, "deliver the evidence to the Akatsuki and we'll meet up at our usual hotel."
"Fine," reluctantly agreed Naruto, then put his hand on Itachi's shoulder and said just loud enough for Jiraiya to hear, "make it back safe, Itachi-onii-chan." Jiraiya's eyes widened at the way Naruto addressed Itachi.
Naruto gave a last glare at Jiraiya and disappeared into the forest. Jiraiya tried to follow, but was stopped by Itachi, "your fight is with me!" Jiraiya grimaced a little but seeing as there was no other way, got into a fighting stance.
A/N:
1) for clarity: there are 10 clan leaders and one main house leader.
2) i completely forgot about hinata's blushing, until after everything was written...
3) naruto is able to do Shadow Step w/o seals, but can only get 1/2 of the max distance at best.
4) i made naruto into a cold heartless bastard didnt i...? [i'll explain more about that later... 3yrs later in story time to be exact (a little spoiler there for ya)]
next chapter: Jiraiya vs Itachi (dun dun dun)