Chapter 17:
Getting him within range of the trademark attack, Neji began 64 Hands of the Divinity.
With each strike, Aiyoru's eyes grew larger; he knew that with every passing blow, his life was that much closer to its end. When the jutsu ended at last, he fell to the charred earth and stared up at the red sky.
"I can't win… Kaiho, what'll I do?"
There was silence.
"Kaiho? Are you… what the! My chakra is still…" Getting back up to his feet, he realized that it was the demon's energy that had been sealed off and not his own. "This… this is even worse! Phoenix Flame: Death and Rebirth took up almost all of my chakra; stopping it now would leave me with enough power for only one more attack…"
With Neji still standing battle ready and Naruto comfortable thanks to Kyuubi's abundance of chakra, Aiyoru had no choice but to conserve his own power by ending his ultimate jutsu.
"Surrendering?" Neji asked, relaxing his stance slightly.
"Sadly, no; your master paid me to fight to the death if so necessary. Although I do not desire such an end and have no chance of victory as it stands, I am willing to accept the outcome."
Curses became audible from behind him. Turning his head, Aiyoru found his benefactor drawing a kunai and dizzily getting to his feet.
With yet another curse, Hiashi sent the kunai flying. Being in an unfocused state, the projectile was far off its mark and, instead, found its way straight for his pawn's head.
"Not like this!" He thought fearfully, gathering the last of his chakra.
As the weapon neared his head, it seemed to almost evaporate into little more than a small quantity of metal dust; slight traces of blue flickers appearing between Aiyoru and the projectile.
Completely spent, Aiyoru collapsed to the ground. All was not lost, he decided, reaching for his tool belt and drawing forth a small pill. Struggling with even this amount of movement, he managed to consume the soldier pill and could feel slight amounts of energy restored to his body.
Raising himself to his feet, he found Neji standing over him, ready to land a finishing blow if necessary.
"Don't look like that." Aiyoru replied with a sigh. "You guys won; the fight's over."
"What!" The three conscious shinobi shouted.
"Didn't you say just a few seconds ago that you're going to fight to the death?" Naruto asked, stepping over.
"Traitor!" Hiashi growled.
"You broke the contract." Aiyoru replied. "Even if it wasn't your intention, that attack was directed towards me. Betrayal by the employer nullifies my contract; therefore I have no reason to fight. Naruto, go on to the mansion; Hinata ought to be in her room."
Stunned momentarily, the trademark foxy grin spread across Naruto's face as he nodded and took off.
"As for me, business is dead here, so I'll be moving on; so long, it's been fun." He smiled, picking up his things and heading off.
As Aiyoru came to the wall marking the city's limits, he couldn't help but throw one last look at what had been his home for the last three years. "Thanks Naruto-sama, I'll take care to remember you, for we may one day meet again… perhaps after you've started a family."
That last line of internal monologue brought a smile to his face and he performed a simple jutsu and watched as his mask was assimilated by the wall. Reaching into his pack, he drew another and set it upon his face.
"Until we meet again, Naruto-sama… Hinata-sama…" With a nod, he leapt off the fortification and into the forest below.
Running down the halls of the Hyuuga residence, Naruto found the door to Hinata's room and threw it open. Running in, he found her and quickly wrapped his arms around her, refusing to let go.
Finally, both were truly happy and no longer alone.
Thus this story comes to a close. Did anyone notice that Aiyoru never did use that katana of his? Does anyone care?
By the way, although this is over, it is not yet "The End". I have plans for making a sequal (of sorts) but that won't be coming around for some time yet.
Thank you all for reading, believe it or not, thanks to your support this has been the first story I've ever finished. I hope (if you enjoyed this one) that you'll read the next when it becomes available. Until then, feel free to read my stories posted on FictionPress.
Once more, thank you and good day.
