Chapter 1: Konoha's Home Welcoming
Chouji and Ino stared at Naruto as he nervously waited for their response. Ino couldn't believe how much Naruto had grown; it was as if the time away from Konoha had killed away his immaturity. She also couldn't resist thinking about how much of a man he had become, and how he'd become handsome. Ino spat out whatever sinful thoughts she had at the moment from her mouth and the incredibly nasty taste of feeling attracted even a little bit to him, while Chouji embraced Naruto with a massive bear hug.
"Ahh, Naruto! Where have you been!" he asked as Naruto tried separating him from the grizzly.
"Chouji let him go," Ino said, pointing out to him the purplish color Naruto's face had begun to turn.
Chouji looked at Naruto's face with curiosity, then with a great laugh allowed Naruto to breathe. Naruto fell to his knees and coughed violently, gasping for any oxygen available.
"Sorry Naruto, it's been a long time," Chouji said joyously.
Naruto stood on his feet and regained his composure. He took a look at Chouji, then at Ino. Both had grown substantially over the years, and each looked battle hardened. The expressions and unusual battle scars on both ninjas confirmed fears Naruto had about what had been happening.
"Chouji, Ino, what happened here?" he asked, his head turned back to the gate.
Chouji and Ino lost their joyful emotions and lowered their eyes. Naruto turned back and saw the sorrowful expressions.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
Ino let out a sigh as she instructed Naruto to follow her. Chouji walked beside her, knowing where they were headed. Naruto followed them both past the warehouse and through the small alleys of Konoha. Naruto walked along with them, but he questioned their route. Why can't we just walk along the street? Ino smacked Naruto's head and signaled him to crouch as they walked. After the annoying pain faded, he looked ahead to Chouji. Both he and Ino were squatting as they walked, as if they were in a trench during a battle. Naruto followed their lead, and slowly they went along through the village.
The trio proceeded slowly past the old shops that were once filled with Konoha denizens. Naruto wondered why no one was out in the marketplace. A small opening between shops allowed Naruto to see the road from the alley. He scanned the area quickly, looking for any sign of life. Suddenly his eyes caught an interesting little area; it was where he spent most of his money, Ichiraku Ramen. Only instead of the quaint little shack, there lay piles of broken wood and crushed rock. A sick feeling came over Naruto's whole body. His legs became weak and his forehead sweaty. He reasoned in his mind that he was mistaken of the location, and that the years away affected his memory of the area. Ino tapped Naruto's shoulder to bring him back to the real world. He shook his head and looked to where Ino pointed.
"There, hurry," she said.
Chouji lifted a wooden board open that covered a hole in the back wall of one of the abandoned-looking buildings. Quickly Naruto followed behind Ino. As he entered, Chouji closed the board from behind him and began performing hand seals.
"SEAL!"
Naruto looked on as the board, as well as the rest of the shop, was sealed in a type of chakra wall. The visibility of the chakra faded, but Naruto knew it was a type of defense jutsu. Ino breathed heavily as she sat down on a dusty table. Chouji folded his legs and sat right on the ground, opening a fresh bag of chips. Ino looked at Naruto, and in return he looked back at her, waiting for their response to his question earlier.
"So, what happened in our village?" he asked again.
Ino hesitated, and then looked over to Chouji. Chouji nodded his head, while Naruto looked on. Finally Ino began talking.
"To tell you the truth Naruto, Konoha doesn't exist anymore."
A great shadow fell over Naruto's heart. He was both angry and frustrated at Ino's ridiculous statement.
"What are you talking about doesn't exist anymore, I'm here, standing in Konoha," Naruto replied, demanding a straightforward answer through his tone.
"Technically," Ino started, "Konoha is still here, but the government is completely gone, the organization of the village is demolished, and the villagers are all dead or separated."
"The government is gone! What does that mean? Where is the Hokage?" Naruto asked, his blood boiling throughout his body.
"Calm down Naruto," Chouji said as he calmly ate. "You remember the day you brought back Sasuke don't you? When we successfully completed that mission?"
"Yeah," Naruto's voiced trailed off.
Chouji closed his eyes and smelt the musty air around him, "I wonder sometimes, what would've happened if we let Sasuke go, if things would've turned out better, you know?"
"I know what you mean Chouji, things could've gone better, but what happened here, after I left?" Naruto asked, calming himself.
"Well, it's a little complicated," Ino interrupted, hesitant to answer Naruto's question.
"AHHHHHH!"
A childish scream erupted from the outside of the building. The noise was distant, coming from the road. Naruto looked confused as Ino and Chouji stiffened.
"Chouji, that's…." Ino started.
"Yeah……..RELEASE SEAL!" Chouji released his chakra barrier from around the building as Ino raced through the entrance. Chouji quickly followed, passing by Naruto, pondering the situation. Without another thought he followed the two ninjas outside.
A confrontation had erupted between two parties. On one side stood two sneering ninjas wearing torn clothing with kunais ready in their hands. The scratched symbols on their head protectors were not that of Konoha's leaf, but of the hidden Rain village. Not far from where the two Rain nins stood was a boy struggling to stand. His face was bruised and stained with traces of blood and dirt. It appeared that a pursuit of some kind had occurred, and the boy had been the prey. Gasping heavily and outnumbered, the boy quickly decided to attack while his opponents were wary. With a sudden burst of energy the boy raced towards his enemies. He reached into his pouch that lay hidden behind his body and took out his last two remaining shurikens. The two Rain nins watched eagerly as the boy pitched his petty attack against them. As the shurikens flew the young boy speedily performed an odd arrangement of hand seals.
"SHURIKEN BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"
The shurikens were suddenly accompanied by a few hundred other projectiles of the same kind.
"Will you be able to dodge the real ones!" mocked the boy.
The boy screeched to a halt as one of the Rain nins disappeared from his view. The one that was still in the trajectory of his attack quickly performed a special hand seal.
"SPRAY OF THE OCEAN JUTUS!"
The boy watched as the nin clasped his hands together in front of his face. With a great breath the nin spat an enormous amount of water from his mouth. The water destroyed the fake shurikens with its pressure in addition to rapidly decreasing the speed of the real ones. The young boy couldn't believe his attack was dealt with so easily. He felt a slight change in the wind behind him. The other Rain nin had snuck behind the boy. The boy turned and watched helplessly as the nin was already finishing his seals.
"WATER CYCLONE JUTUS!"
The nin spat out a small amount of liquid that quickly increased in amount. The spit-water encased the young boy and began to spin violently. The boy's body spun wildly within the watery prison. Without the strength to resist the flow of the water, his body was unable to stop the rush of water into his lungs.
"It's over for yo……"
The nin felt a sharp, numb sensation in his jaw as his body involuntarily lifted into the air. Naruto's face was filled with disgust as his kick sent the nin into a nearby shack. Naruto landed smoothly onto the ground as the structure fell onto the nin that he kicked seconds ago. The Rain nin's ally appeared at his side, waiting for him to recover. Naruto stood tall, peering over to the two ninjas. Debris lifted into the air as the sore nin arose from the wreckage, his face bloodied and filled with rage. Chouji and Ino appeared by Naruto's side.
"Konohamaru, what trouble did you get into this time," Ino asked, keeping her gaze on the enemy.
A sudden flash of memory struck in Naruto's mind.
"Huh! KONOHAMARU!" Though he appeared older and more mature, it was undoubtedly that boy who used to follow Naruto wherever he went.
Konohamaru looked up at Naruto with a confused look.
"Yeah," he said, "and who are you?"
Naruto smiled, then moved to separate the hostile ninjas from the group. Chouji followed Naruto's movements, but stopped when Naruto lifted his hand towards them.
"No Chouji, Ino. Looks like you guys already had your fair share of fighting today. Your chakras are pretty depleted; I'll take care of them."
"If you think you can handle it," Ino said kneeling beside Konohamaru, "but if you're getting your ass kicked, I'm jumping in."
"Ditto," Chouji said.
Naruto chuckled, "Don't worry, that won't happen today."
"Hey!" yelled the nin who had just been kicked silly a minute ago, "You don't have time to be talking you little punk that hurt, I'm going to make you bleed!"
"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the duo. "Normally I don't have a problem with ninjas from other villages," Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fist as hard as he could towards the two ninjas, "but to enter another village with the intent to cause suffering, it is UNFORGIVABLE!"
"Looks like it's the same Nar…..ugh." Ino elbowed Chouji in the side. He rubbed the tender spot with his hand.
"Why'd you do THAT!" Chouji screamed at Ino.
Her eyes motioned towards Konohamaru, and that was all that was needed for Chouji to understand.
"Now," Naruto began, pulling his tattered sleeves so that it would allow his to freely bend his elbows, "let's begin you no good loser ninjas."
What a lame insult. Ino thought to herself.
Yeah that'll show em. Naruto thought to himself.
"Teh, I've had enough of your mouth, its time for all of you to die! Raiu, prepare yourself!"
"It's time for that huh?" Raiu asked, smiling evilly at the unsuspecting group.
Naruto's eyes widened as the two nins performed the same seals in perfect unison.
"Everyone, RUN!" Naruto yelled.
"It's too late for that! TENTACLES OF THE SEA JUTUS!"
Chouji quickly grabbed Konohamaru and the four jumped way as fast as they could. From the ground exploded streaks of water filled with chakra energy. One of the streaks scraped Naruto's leg, causing him to lose the ability to land upright. Ino, Chouji, and Konohamaru landed safely, a far amount of distance away from Naruto.
"Hey, you ok!" yelled Ino as she reached for a kunai.
Naruto motioned with his hand to stop, displaying that he was ok to the other three.
"Men," Ino whispered.
"Hahaha, it's useless for you to fight us now. That jutus is a special Rain technique that uses the combined chakras of two nins. It allows the users to control the water that flows under the earth as they please. There's no way for you to attack or defen…"
"Yeahyeahyeah, I already figured that out, stop talking," ordered Naruto as he lifted back onto his feet.
"Hehehe, it's gonna be fun making you scream punk," said the Rain nin.
Naruto jumped into the air and sent a kunai towards the ninja not named Raiu. He smirked as a burst of water erupted from the ground to deflect the projectile. Naruto landed back onto the ground. He grabbed two kunais in each hand and threw them again at the ninjas. Yet again bursts of water came forth from the ground to halt the kunais from ever reaching flesh. Naruto jumped from side to side, throwing away his kunais in hope of getting one passed the water.
"Hah, what's this kid doing, he's just wasting his breath," Raiu said.
Naruto skidded on the ground with his knees. He had only two kunais left, one in each hand. He looked over to the two ninjas, each with a grossly confident face. The looks made it all the much sweeter for Naruto.
"You're getting nowhere!" yelled Chouji, feeling the heat rise to his head.
Naruto smiled as he spun the kunais on his fingers, then threw them to the ground.
"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTUS!"
A few dozen copies of Naruto appeared from smoke and nothingness. His clones cracked their knuckles and stretched their necks, warming up for a fight.
"Hah, that's a high level technique, impressive," said the Rain nin, "but it's useless against our jutus."
"Well see, let's GO!"
Naruto crouched and grabbed his kunais from the ground, which stuck up like pins in a needle pillow. The Naruto clones charged the two ninjas with their fists ready.
"Hah, attacking like that unarmed!" Like the sudden blooming of a cactus, water from the ground shot up and dispersed the clones one by one. Although many were easily ridded of, there were still some who were still charging.
"Even, if you get here, what can you clones do with just flesh!" taunted the ninja.
The Naruto clones smiled as they reached the scattered kunais that the originally Naruto had thrown before.
"What!" Ino shouted, "he wasted those kunais intentionally, so his clones would be able to pick them up while having the enemy underestimate them."
"Huhhh!" A considerable amount of shadow clones fully equipped with kunais raced to the unprepared ninjas.
"I won't go like this!" Raiu yelled as chakra poured from his body.
The clones had reached them, Chouji yelled in excitement as they attacked. A singular, gigantic wall of water burst from underneath the clones. Chouji, Ino and Konohamaru all watched as the water pierced through the clones, then sent them into the air. The clones dispersed into steam. The rain ninjas laughed hysterically as the real Naruto fell back to the ground.
"That's it," Chouji said, "it's my turn now…….!"
What had appeared to have been the real Naruto burst into a puff of smoke. Chouji looked over at the two Rain nins. They were shaking in their stance, and a feeling of terror melted down their faces.
"Hhh….how?...Ss…..so fast!"
Naruto had appeared behind the two ninjas when his clones had charged. Naruto walked calmly between the ninjas, his head bowed and his eyes closed.
"It was all a show, even for a couple of chunnins like yourselves, I'm too much for you," Naruto revealed.
"Tsk, he's still so sure of himself," Chouji said aloud, unable to keep down his smile.
"What are you talking about Chouji, how do you know that guy?" Konohamaru asked.
Chouji didn't answer.
"If you acted like real ninjas, you wouldn't have been so cocky during the battle, and now you have kunais stuck in your backs. The time to celebrate or mourn is the moment when both parties know its over, like now………AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Naruto bent his arms into himself, and with a great flow of chakra pushed away the two ninjas in opposite directions. A great whirlwind formed from Naruto that caused a miniature sandstorm. The force Naruto used was so great it sent the ninjas high into the air, even though Naruto had pushed them in a horizontal manner. The ninjas flew away until the four ninjas could not see them anymore. When the dust and dirt settled, and the wind died down, Ino saw the calm Naruto standing emotionless, staring at into the sky.
It looks like he's matured a lot, and gotten much stronger too. She thought to herself.
Suddenly Naruto fell to the ground and rapidly rubbed his wounded leg from the previous attack.
"OWWWWWWW!"
Guess not. Ino ran over to Naruto, followed by Chouji and Konohamaru.
"Man this hurts!" Naruto exclaimed as he blew onto the tiny cut.
"Stop whining baby, it's just a cut, I'll put some water on it and it'll be fine," Ino said as she took out her water bottle.
"No, this wound was caused by water; I don't want that clear stuff anywhere near it until it starts scabbing," Naruto ordered.
Ino shrugged and put away her bottle. Just as suddenly as he fell, Naruto stood up. His posture and stance suggested that his little childish episode a few seconds ago hadn't ever occurred, and that his body was free of pain. Ino and Chouji shook their heads, but Konohamaru was itching for info.
"Hey you, what your name!" he asked zealously.
"Haha, I guess I look different, why I am the GREAT U……"
"He is the GREAT UZI!" Ino interrupted.
Both Naruto and Konohamaru looked at her blankly.
"U…..zi?" they asked.
"Yes, Uzi of the uhh, of the Grass Village," Chouji added.
"Exactly," Ino backed.
Naruto's face filled with confusion as Konohamaru pondered the new character.
"Uzi of the Grass eh? Well then why is he wearing a Leaf protector?" Konohamaru asked.
Ino and Chouji were caught off guard by the question and stunted in their speech.
"Because," Naruto explained, "I was undercover, to uh, fulfill a top secret mission given to me by my village to help the ninjas of the Leaf village, yeah."
Naruto looked at Konohamaru, and his face revealed that he wasn't buying any of it for a second. The three older ninjas began to sweat as Konohamaru looked at each one of them, then with a great big smile ok'd the story.
"Well then I believe you! It's really great the Hidden Grass Village wants to help us out. Uzi of the Grass, I am Konohamaru, genin of the Leaf and grandson of the great Third Hokage! I am a specialist in concealment tactics and camouflage."
"Uh huh, that's why you were being chased by those two ninjas huh?" Ino asked as Konohamaru smacked himself for getting caught.
"By the way," Chouji said, looking suspiciously at Konohamaru," why were those Rain nins after you, why are you even out here?"
Naruto saw a great big smile come across Konohamaru's face. Suddenly he turned to Chouji and took out a scroll.
"Because, I stole something VERY important to them!" he bragged.
Ino and Chouji's mouths dropped as question marks appeared in Naruto's head.
"Is that," Chouji started.
"Uh huh, it's Vungnou's soldier deployments! And I got It! I used my Sexy no Jutsu to pretend I was a helpless, beautiful young girl to infiltrate his base, and the dopes guarding the place fell for it!"
Chouji grabbed the scroll away from Konohamaru, who complained viciously with the rampaging of his body. Naruto grinned, felling a sense of pride from the boy.
"Hey give me that back!" he demanded.
Chouji took Konohamaru off himself like a tiny fly.
"This is very important, I'll hold on to this until we get back," Chouji told Konohamaru.
Konohamaru stuck his tongue out at Chouji, who then proceeded to grab Konohamaru in his arm like a sack.
"Come on, it won't be safe in the village for a while, we have to get back."
Chouji walked towards the gate with a struggling Konohamaru under his arms, though it looked as if Chouji wasn't carrying anything at all. Ino sighed and followed behind the two. She stopped and turned back to Naruto.
"Welcome back, Naruto," she said.
"You mean Uzi," Naruto corrected.
Ino's eyes lowered, a sense of sadness appeared, which confused Naruto.
"Sorry about that, I'll explain later. All you need to know right now is that Chouji and I are going to be the only ones who know you are Naruto."
With that Ino turned back and followed Chouji. Confused, Naruto slowly trailed the group.
Deep inside the old, fortress bunker once used during the Third Secret World War, passed the rotting walls and the rusted doors, through the sour smelling medical bay and onto the barracks, and finally into the general's quarters a group of scouting ninjas gathered. They all knelt before a dark, tall shadow, obviously their leader.
"Report," the shadowy figure commanded, his back turned from them.
The left-most soldier nin stood up and advanced towards him. "Just as you predicted General Vungnou, the resistance forces had a spy infiltrate the central stronghold. Unfortunately, the nin deployments had been stolen, and our hunters could not capture the culprit."
The general walked away from the shadow, appearing to his subordinates in his full glory. Standing well over seven feet tall, Vungnou easily overshadowed the four ninjas. His muscular neck pulsated with blood and chakra; his sleek and silky blue hair ran down all the way to his shoulder blades. He was truly a site to behold, and a ninja to be feared.
"Excellent, everything is going according to plan," he said firmly.
As Vungnou faced away from the ninjas and walked back into the shadow, a foolish enough soldier dared to speak to him without being addressed first.
"But sir, are soldiers located at the weak points will be overrun by the resistance forces, we must fortify those locations immediately."
Vungnou stood silent; the nins watched their master fearfully. The air became incredibly thick and humid, even though they were underground in the comfort of coolness. The air began to sizzle, it was as if the room was transformed into a cooking stove. The nins froze in absolute fear. A dark, inhuman voice whispered into their ears, utterly the words of their master, but clearly their master had not been speaking aloud. The wicked voice that rang in their ears caused one of the nins to lose the ability to control his bodily fluids, drenching himself in his own urine.
"That is the extent of my power," Vungnou proclaimed, speaking from his body, "there is nothing to worry about from the Hyuga, he is nothing."
The air returned to normal, and the nins regained their composures. Vungnou disappeared from the sight of the nins, and left no trace of himself in the room.
The group had walked for a little ways on the main road, until the entrance was far off into the horizon. From there Chouji led the group off the main road and down what seemed to be nothing but thick brush, but to the trained eye was clearly a well hidden path. They passed through forest and rock, eventually entering a small clearing by tall rocky cliffs and a decent sized stream. Ino dropped down to the stream and splashed her face and hair into the cool waters that originated from the northern mountains. Chouji quickly scanned the area, looking for suspicious entities. Konohamaru took off his dirty goggles and began to wash them in the water. Naruto, unsure of the resting area, rested himself on a tree, but still alert of the surroundings.
"Well, looks like its safe to build a fire. I'll go gather some firewood, Konohamaru, you get us some fish, looks like I'm out of chips though," Chouji said as he started out for the wooded area again.
"Hey, no fair, you go get the fish and I'll go gather the wood," Konohamaru suggested, already heading for the woods. Chouji shrugged and began to peel away his layers of clothing.
"Nasty Chouji," Ino said, looking away in disgust.
"Bah, you just can't take the full vision of a true man," Chouji said as he began to enter the water.
"Wait," Naruto interrupted, "is this is safe place to be stopping; I mean there's going to be more nins looking for us."
Ino grabbed her hair into a bundle and squeezed all the juices out like a lemon.
"It's ok, only our allies know about this place, is safe, even with smoke from a campfire, it's difficult for hunters to track it down," she said, tying her hair into a single bundle.
"And, we won't be staying here for long, just to get something to eat," Chouji said as he threw a kunai into the water with pinpoint accuracy.
Naruto accepted their explanation and sat down under the tree. "Anyways, you guys have to explain something to me."
Chouji and Ino shook their heads.
"Man," Konohamaru complained, "why couldn't Chouji tell that Uzi guy to gather wood, I'm the one that stole the scroll. Tsk, Uzi of the Grass, how lame."
Konohamaru gathered fallen branches that long died and dried up. He was under large trees that allowed only hints of sunlight to reach the forest floor. He wiped his head of sweat as he went to grab another piece of wood. As he reached for the branch a shadow fell over him. Konohamaru dropped the pile of wood he accumulated in his arms and reached for a kunai. He quickly turned around, only to see a terrible evil before him. His hand was unable to grip the kunai, dropping the weapon onto the ground. A beautiful young girl looked at Konohamaru right into his eyes. He was dazzled by her incredibly enchanting eyes and her lush blonde hair. The young girl took a small strand of her hair that stood out in front of her face and twirled it around with her index finger. The shyness of this girl caused Konohamaru to drool excessively.
"Ummm, can you help me find my way out of here? I was separated from my daddy, and now I don't know where to go."
Konohamaru turned away from the young girl, smiling wildly as he devised the perfect plan for wooing the girl. Wiping the drool from his mouth he turned back to the girl and proclaimed his intent to her.
"In order to win your heart, I will, uhhhh, HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY OUT OF HERE!"
The young girl giggled at Konohamaru; he smacked himself for revealing his intent, and smacked himself again devising such a pathetic plan.
"You're cute," she said.
Konohamaru's cheeks filled with burning blood. He raised his hands in the air, and with a great big voice he yelled, "OK, I WILL WIN YOUR LOVE!"
Konohamaru began to reach for her hand, while she went forward to him. A dark flash zipped passed Konohamaru's eyes as he was about to grab the young girl's hand. Before he knew it, the young girl was whimpering in pain. Konohamaru looked at her hand. There he saw a shiny kunai sticking out of her pierced flesh.
"Oh no, who would such a thing!" he yelled as he went to take the kunai out, drawing his own kunai for a possible battle.
"I wouldn't touch her if I were you," a voice suggested from the trees.
Konohamaru stopped and looked high above into the upper portions of the trees. He could make out a silhouette of a person, but could not zone in on any details.
"Who are you, how DARE you attack my future wife!" he yelled, shaking his fists at the figure.
The figure laughed at the little boy. From the tone Konohamaru could tell it was a woman.
"Please, help me," the little girl pleaded.
Konohamaru turned back to the little girl, who was now bleeding heavily from her hand. Konohamaru gasped in horror as the beautiful little girl was enduring that much pain.
"Don't, touch her," the woman ordered again.
This time a rage fell over Konohamaru as he turned to the woman again.
"Who the hell are you to attack an innocent girl like you did? Tell me!" he ordered.
The woman laughed at the childish child. "Have you taken a look at your little crush's feet?"
A question mark popped into his head. Her………feet?
Puzzled, he took the advice of the woman and turned his gaze to the young girl's feet. Terrified and disgusted, Konohamaru jumped back nearly 20 feet away from the girl.
"Hairy, furry, FURRY!" he choked up.
The little girl's innocent expression melted away into a distorted mess of hatred and rage. Konohamaru watched as the little girl he had just been speaking to seconds ago was ripped into an enormous creature of fur and darkness. The monster charged Konohamaru, who squealed like a little piglet. Suddenly the being was pushed back by what seemed to Konohamaru a bolt of lightning. The creature fell back and hit the ground with a large thud, taken aback but barely phased. The fuzzy bolt of lightning was clearly the woman from the trees. Konohamaru stood back on his feet, a little more secure with something between him and the beast.
"What, what the heck is that?" he asked, detailing the creature with his eyes.
"That, is a Pinuai. They are enormous and dark beasts that seem to mimic a form between the ape and chimpanzee, but their true forms are far beyond that of any normal beasts. They are able to use their dark powers to take the form of humans as well. That's how they get little horny boys like you for dinner," the woman explained.
"Nasty………….feet," Konohamaru stuttered.
"Those who have hunted the Pinuais discovered one weakness in their shape shifting, the inability to chose the form of their feet. Some think it's because they are unable to control their evil chakra all the way down to the base of their forms, others believe they need to keep a small portion of their body in their original, physical form in order to remind them of what they really are, and in order to prevent them from staying in the form they changed into forever. The feet are the most unnoticeable, so that's where they keep it the same, but, it doesn't really matter."
The woman clasped her hands together as the Pinuai regained its form.
"I haven't had a challenge in a long time," the woman said.
Chakra emitted from the terrible beast in a grayish shade. A terrible odor flew out from its mouth, possibly the smell of leftover human flesh caught in its tiger-like teeth. The creature charged the woman full force, causing the grass he stepped on in his rampage to die instantly.
"Good, once the shape-shifting spell is broken, they go into a fit of animal rage that also prevents them from molding chakra properly. It makes it much easier on me," she said.
"ROOTS OF THE WARDEN JUTUS!"
A great thunder clasped below the ground. Terrible shaking began instantly, like the earth itself was ripping apart. Giant roots uplifted from the ground with great speed. The hundreds of roots wrapped around the struggling demon beast. Konohamaru watched as the roots completely covered over the Pinuai.
"GAEA ETERNAL PRISON JUTSU!"
The roots pulled back down into the earth, dragging along the entangled Pinuai with them. The ground closed up like a flower, and returned to its original form. The woman dropped her arms, but her form was still stiff and strict.
"That, thing got swallowed by the earth!" Konohamaru revealed.
The woman turned her gaze on the young boy, who in turn shook in fear.
"Yeah, so why don't you want anyone to know I am me?" Naruto asked again, pondering the details that were given to him by Chouji and Ino earlier during the day.
"The Akatsuki Wars three years ago devastated Konoha. Konoha was depleted of any real power even before they invaded. No one in the village during the time could defeat the combine forces of Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame," Ino said, staring into the sky blankly.
Chouji sat next to the pile of fish he had speared; a bitter expression covered his face as he dried in the sun.
"No one understood how those two managed to gather such a huge force of elite jounins and chunnins, some were even sworn protectors of Konoha, people you never thought would have abandon the village," Chouji stated.
"Including," Ino started, "my father."
Naruto had remembered that day, when he joined the InoShikaChou in order to search for missing comrades. When they reached a specific portion of the forest they encountered the enemy. He was unbelievably powerful, who outmatched all four of them combined with his experience and skills. He also happened to be Ino's father.
"I know all, all of this already. What happened next?" Naruto asked.
Chouji took a deep breath as he prepared for a lengthy reason.
"The forces that attacked would have been taking care of by the soldiers still loyal to Konoha, but no jounin in the village could match up to Itachi and Kisame. It was possible for Gai sensei and Kakashi sensei to face them, but they had to face the other forces that immediately threatened the people of Konoha. As well, it was unlikely those two could match up to the power of the Akatsuki dou evenly, and it would've just been a horrible death for two of the finest Konoha had left. So the hope of the people rested on the last Sannin, Jiraiya the Frog Master!"
Naruto hadn't known that. After Itachi and Kisame had shown themselves, Jiraiya had informed him to escape Konoha. Though Naruto protested viciously, he eventually left the village. Later Jiraiya had met up with him. After that Naruto had little information on what happened in Konoha.
"But," Ino interrupted, "but he didn't come. The Great Sannin never came to fight the Akatsuki duo, and the village was left to burn. Or that was what the people believed. The villagers had found out that Jiraiya had escaped with the Nine-tails boy, away from the fighting. They believed Jiraiya had followed a similar path of another Sannin, Orochimaru. They believed he wanted the power of the Nine-tails for himself, and abandoned the village because he didn't care for it anymore. Fortunately we were spared anymore wrath, because the duo left the village just as easily as they entered. Still, the people resented the Sannin and the Nine-tails boy. You, are that Nine-tails boy, aren't you Naruto?"
Naruto didn't answer; he sorted through the information in his mind.
"That's why you should keep your identity a secret. Whatever really happened, the villagers who are still trying to fight for Konoha will not listen. It is safer if you stay Uzi for a while."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, bowing his head.
Twigs snapped in the nearby forage. Naruto gripped a kunai as Chouji and Ino instantly switched into battle mode. They relaxed when a grinning Konohamaru appeared with an armful of dry wood.
"Don't sneak up on us like that or you'll have a dozen kunias stuck in you," Ino said, relaxing back into a comfortable sitting position.
Naruto looked on as another person walked from the brush.
"Wha, it's you!" Chouji yelled in surprise.
A woman appeared behind Konohamaru, but only her mouth could be seen. Her eyes were covered by a thick visor-mask, and her long, green hair was her most eye-catching feature. Her clothing was apparently suited for heavily combat, she was well armored but it seemed weightless in appearance. Naruto could feel a mystical sensation from her, and her body was just radiating with chakra. Clearly this woman was no ordinary person.
"Yuuga," Ino said surprised, "what are you doing here."
Yuuga's gaze was upon Naruto, and did not respond to Ino's question. Naruto watched cautiously for any sudden movements from the new character. With the speed of a blink Yuuga had thrown a kunai straight for Naruto's head. Just as quickly Naruto countered with a kunai of his own, though less sparkly than his counterpart. The two kunais met and ricocheted back to their owners. With lightning speed the two grabbed their respective kunais and stopped a small distance away from the other person.
"You're extremely good," Naruto confessed. The woman did not speak.
Suddenly a colossal hand slashed in between the two ninjas, crushing through the rock and earth.
"Enough!" Chouji ordered, preparing his other arm in case he needed to knock some sense into one or the other.
"Yuuga, he's ok, he's not a spy," Ino pleaded, staying a ways away from the fighting. Konohamaru just stared at the confrontation.
Yuuga and Naruto stared each other down, still gripping their kunais. Naruto was unblinking, though he could feel the tremendous power coming from the woman. Likewise, Yuuga could feel a vast and terrible power from Naruto, but she sensed it was under control and unwilling to hurt. Finally Yuuga backed down and put her kunai away, Naruto wasn't too trusting and so kept his handy. She turned away from Naruto, but suddenly lifting her arms, pointing in his direction.
"Keep an eye on him, I don't trust him." With that Yuuga jumped into the air and disappeared.
Though he had been ready to fight, Naruto knew just by reading her movements that she was no ordinary ninja.
"Yuuga is well beyond the abilities and strengths of a common jounin, Uzi," Chouji said, remembering the presence of Konohamaru, "you were lucky today."
Naruto flipped his kunai with his finger and placed it back into his pouch.
"Yuuga? What's her story," Naruto asked.
Ino took the firewood from Konohamaru and walked over to where she had been sitting a few minutes ago.
Ino began, "She is part of our resistance forces, although no one knows exactly where she came from or who she is. Despite the mystery of her nature, Yuuga is incredibly strong, and a vital piece to our resistance, though she always works alone and seldom does she talk to anyone except our leader."
"Leader?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, the leader of the resistance forces, Hyuga Neji," Ino revealed.
Neji? Naruto thought.
"Yeah whatever," Konohamaru interrupted, "how about we end this History lesson and start cooking, I'm hungry!"
"I second that, we'll talk later when we get to the base," Chouji said.
Chouji's arms returned to normal as he ran to the fish.
"Base?" The three nins ignored Naruto and began with the fish, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the group.
Ahhhhhhhhhh……………