And so the slumbering author awakes...
Disclaimer: I don' own Naruto
Deemed to be Forgotten
by: Ximena-chan
Chapter 6
Attack
Kakashi stared at Ibiki who seemed to be in tension because of what he just found out. His eye that had the sharingan was open under his forehead protector in shock too. His hands trembled and his skin was pale.
'Sasuke…against Konoha…?' He thought.
After a short pause of deafening silence, Ibiki spoke. "But, Tsunade-sama, we can never be sure…that is just what the usurper said."
Tsunade massaged her temple. If what Ibiki found out would turn out to be true, it would cause a sudden stir inside the Leaf; Sasuke, right now, would spell turmoil if he would be fighting against the village where he once resided. She sighed heavily. "Is that so?"
Ibiki nodded in a nervous way.
"You may leave now…"
Ibiki bowed down to show his respect to Tsunade and shortly after, he left.
Kakashi was pale because of the information Ibiki told them. He tried to calm himself down. "Tsunade-sama, what were you going to tell me?" He asked.
Tsunade sighed. "I was supposed to tell you something about suspicious actions from the sound for the past few months." She told Kakashi. "I wanted to send you there to gather more information but if what Ibiki said is true, going there would prove to be a dangerous action. Sasuke is a person we cannot take lightly. We do not know how much he has improved…" She sighed.
Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Yes; it is dangerous if you send someone to go there. The sound, sadly, has been left unchecked since its unexpected fall five years ago."
Tsunade thought for a second and said, "It would make sense if their so-called fall is only a ploy."
"They might have used the past 5 years to improve their techniques, Hokage-sama. If that is their aim, it would make perfect sense if their fall is merely a ploy." Kakashi agreed.
"…And Kakashi…" Tsunade said.
Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.
"Make sure you come later at the Hyuuga's party."
"But, Tsunade-sama…it would be better if I do something about this problem." He said.
"You are expected there by someone that I'm sure you would like to see and it's an order from me."
"Then I would come there, Tsunade-sama."
Kakashi stared at the memorial stone at the training grounds sadly.
"…and that's how the mission went." He said. He had just finished narrating the story for Obito. He then looked up the sky and spoke, "Konoha is very busy again. Something came up that quite shook me a while ago." He shifted his gaze towards the stone. "It seems like my former students has been doing something against Konoha. If what we found out is true, it would mean that he has totally turned against the village he considered as his home once. I don't know how things will turn out in the end. The sound has kept silent for the past 5 years; we don't know how much power they hold this time." His eyes became dark. "We had a hard time when Orochimaru attacked with the sand…I wonder how things will turn out…" He voiced out his thoughts.
Footsteps were heard. Kakashi kept staring at the stone.
"The sand is at our side this time; trust me." An old man spoke.
Kakashi turned his head. "Jiraiya-sama, what brings you back here?" Kakashi asked.
The sennin smiled making his other wrinkles at his face more visible. "I believe you know that already, Kakashi." The Old Sennin sighed heavily.
"Naruto really meant so much to you." Kakashi said.
Jiraiya laughed. "If only he lived, I would have made him my official apprentice. But of course, I'll do it with your agreement."
There was silence.
"Has Tsunade told anyone of you anything lately?" Jiraiya asked.
"…About what?" Kakashi fully faced Jiraiya.
"Ah, nothing, nothing…" He grinned. "I was just asking to make sure she's not keeping anything from me."
"I see…" Kakashi said but in truth, he was sensing a hidden matter waiting to be discovered.
"Well I have to go now. See you when I see you, Kakashi." Jiraiya said while he turned around.
Tsunade pulled out a file from her drawer. The folder was marked with a big "TOP SECRET" sign in front. She heaved a sigh and made an irritated expression while she slowly opened the folder.
Reports from ALPHA Squad
Members:
Arato Bakin
Gakusha Akito
Hanabusa Katsumi
Inuzuka Kiba
Mazuka Goro
Mission rank: A-class
Mission Objective: Follow clues about suspicious things and events near the Sound area.
Notes: ALPHA Squad has been given a full week to investigate on this matter. Everyday they are obliged to send reports via any means that is familiar to Konoha. Mission is a failure because of sudden unknown enemy forces that attacked. ALPHA Squad leader is Inuzuka Kiba.
Reports:
Day 1: The Squad spent the whole day searching for clues. At midday, we saw a small village. The state of the villagers and the village itself disturbed the members greatly. The villagers were covered in dirt; they were skinny specially the children; they were also covered with scabies; they gave off a stench that became more unbearable as we stayed inside the village. They live inside shacks that were damaged beyond repair.
Mazuka Goro was able to talk to a villager that was somewhat in a fine state. He found out that the poor state of this village was caused by the sound's sudden downfall. It puzzled us because the village was far away from the sound. Even though we, ninjas, were trained to bear such images, we were still overpowered by such a sight so we decided to leave.
Day 2: in the morning, while Gakusha Akito was searching for food, she found an abandoned facility. After her discovery, she quickly informed us about it. We quickly scrambled our way towards the facility. Once we reached it, we separated ways to be able to use time efficiently; we were to meet an hour later. I, the team leader, was unable to find anything except a couple of torn papers with unreadable writings in it. After that, I walk around the facility and went inside a room that seemed to be used for briefing and discussion means because there was a big and long table at the middle. The room had ten chairs scattered all around. Some were covered with dusts and some were completely deemed unusable. I picked up a cloth that seemed to be a curtain and wiped the dust off the table. After the dust was cleared, I discovered that the table had a big sound insignia carved in it.
This place was owned by the sound and it's currently in shambles.
When the hour was finished, we rejoined at the facility's entrance. Bakin discovered an operation room with rusty operating materials inside. According to what he observed, this facility might have been abandoned years ago. He found nothing else that would prove relevant. Katsumi found a big library with books of all sorts under the subject medicine, anatomy and every other subject that deals with human bodies. Other books were burned and ripped apart. It looks like this facility was not destroyed by an accident; the sound itself might have been the one that destroyed it. Goro told me he found a hallway leading to the underground of this facility. The underground of this facility was a morgue. He told me he found less than a hundred bodies there. He observed that the bodies were preserved. He also found a big freezer-like room. It had about a hundred human organs frozen in there, according to Goro. Akito found out some useful stuff. She found a folder labeled "Project Impure Blood." It contained READABLE stuff but the drawback is you got to have wide knowledge about the human body to understand it. I guess we will let Hokage-sama read it.
After our journey in the facility, we left and made our way towards where the sound was five years ago the rest of the day.
Day 3: While we were on our way towards the sound, we encountered a bravo Squad member. He was barely alive and he was panting for breath. The Leaf-nin was covered in bandages that seemed like he tied around himself. Before he ran out of breath, he told us they were attacked by men that bore no hitae-ite. The Bravo Squad, which consisted of seven members, was no more. The man we encountered was the last member of the squad and he had just died. A few hours during our journey toward the village of the sound, we encountered the Charlie Squad. There were only 5 of them. During the mission briefing there was seven of them. The leader, who was injured, told us that his two other men died for the sake of the mission, He also showed me a scroll left by the attackers of the Charlie squad. The Charlie Squad leader showed it to us and what was written disturbed us.
"Hokage will die one day. The Leaf would fall one day and we would rise higher than the Fire."
It was also suspicious that the scroll didn't explode after being opened. It seems the enemy wants everyone to know what they want…the Leaf's downfall. After that get together, the Charlie Squad decided to join forces with us because, according to the Charlie Squad Team Leader, since we were the only ones that wasn't attacked, we would be the next one in the list.
End of Reports
Extra Notes: On the Fourth day, the joined forces of Alpha and Charlie squad were attacked. Arato Bakin died for the Squad's well being. After his death, the Alpha-Charlie squad rushed back to the leaf. All of them were injured and were immediately sent to the hospital. The folder containing information about "Project Impure Blood" was snatched by the enemies while the attack happened. Only the scroll containing disturbing writings was brought back.
"Tsunade-hime…" Tsunade shut the folder close when she heard her former teammate's voice. He raised an eyebrow and peered above the folder.
"Don't talk to me today Jiraiya; I'm in a not-so-good mood today." She said and put down the folder.
Jiraiya saw the "top secret" sign. "Oh, what does that folder contain, Tsunade-hime?" He questioned.
Tsunade became more irritated. "Do you want me to throw you out of this room with one finger?" She asked while she massaged her forehead.
"Tsk…Tsunade-hime, has the stress of work and the wonders of age beat its way to you?" Jiraiya crossed his arms. "You can't even handle playful conversations anymore."
Tsunade brought out a scroll. "Really, Jiraiya…I sense you really want a taste of my finger's wrath." Tsunade continued.
Jiraiya sighed. "I give up; I'm going straight to the point because that is what Godaime Hokage wants." He said.
Tsunade gave the scroll to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya took it and instead of opening and reading it, he flipped it in his hands. "I already know what this contains."
Tsunade kept silent.
"And I know about the three squads that you sent to investigate."
The Hokage put the folder inside the drawer.
"Lastly, I bring you more news."
Tsunade leaned back on her chair. "Shoot." She said.
"Akatsuki has fallen." Jiraiya announced.
Hiashi paced back and forth at the Hyuuga compound's entrance. He had been acting like that for thirty minutes now. He was waiting for the unofficial Hyuuga head to come back.
He stopped when he saw her.
Hinata stopped running towards the gate when she saw her father. She knew what was coming. Slowly, she walked towards the former Hyuuga head. She bowed down when she reached the entrance. "Forgive me, father…" She whispered.
Hiashi sighed. "Where have you been?" He asked.
"I went to the hospital." She stopped bowing down.
"Why did you go there?" He tapped the pavement with his walking stick.
"Ah…" She turned pale. "You see father…I…" She knew Hiashi would get angry because Hidetada was once again in danger.
"Stop beating around the bush, Hinata…" Hiashi commanded.
"Hide-kun has been attacked." She shut her mouth.
Hiashi urged her to continue with his white and resolute eyes.
"I'll tell you later, father. It's time for me to get ready." Hinata temporarily closed the topic.
"…" Hiashi followed her inside.
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "I just found out a few days ago." Jiraiya shoved his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a torn paper.
He showed it to Tsunade.
"The music of death has triumphed once again." Jiraiya said. "That's what it said. And this is the only piece of the whole sheet of paper that was found in a valley. To tell you the truth, the valley was one gory site." He shook his head. "…Blood everywhere. And Itachi…"
Tsunade took the torn paper and read it herself. "What about Itachi?" She asked.
"Itachi was cut into pieces. If the Uchiha kid was the one who did this… he must have been out of his mind." Jiraiya said. "And also this…" He put down his bag and took out a scroll similar to what the Charlie Squad found. "Here…" He gave it to Tsunade.
Tsunade unrolled the scroll.
The fire shall be put out once the sound plays its song of death. The song of death shall start soon. The sound shall overpower the fire.
The sound shall bring forth a new age.
Tsunade shut her eyes. "There have been a couple of death threats for me for the past few days." She said.
"I heard…" Jiraiya said. "Eh, Tsunade-hime, what up with the Hyuuga? They seem to be on hype today."
Tsunade laughed. "You know top secret stuff about the Hokage and you don't know what the Hyuuga is up to?" She asked.
"Let's just say I'm not one hundred percent updated at the moment." Jiraiya crossed his arms.
"Just come with me later if you want to find out. And I bet you're gonna have a heart attack later…" She chuckled.
"I'm afraid I can't come with you, Tsunade-hime…" Jiraiya was searching for something in his bag.
"Why?" Tsunade asked.
Jiraiya brought out a scope. "I got some researching to do." He stated with a full grin.
Tsunade picked up a pencil and threw it at Jiraiya.
BLAG!
Naruto chuckled while leaning on the wall outside the door of Tsunade's office. "Some things never change…" He whispered. "Oh well…at least I found out a couple of things. I don't want the perverted hermit to find out that I am alive…yet." He disappeared. 'I was right…Sasuke is the root cause of all this…'
Naruto sat at the bough in the Hyuuga's garden once again. He was watching the Hyuuga branch house members set up the tables and chairs. They were almost finished at the party will start in an hour.
He decided he would use this time as the continuation of his "recalling of that past."
Flashback:
Hanako placed a cup of tea at the table in front of Naruto. Naruto didn't pay attention to the tea though; he wanted to find out what they were going to tell him.
"So, what is it? This matter you need to tell me…" He looked very serious.
Arinori looked down at the table. "Naruto-san, you've been a great help to us and it pains me to say that you must leave our family alone." The patriarch looked at Naruto.
"Why?" Naruto instantly asked.
Hanako took this chance to sit beside her husband. "Yoshi is very interested in your shinobi ways; he wants to be one someday. We…we cannot risk that. He cannot be a ninja." She explained.
Naruto was puzzled. "I-I don't understand."
"We thank you for not teaching him but Yoshi-kun learns fast and he is a good observer. He learns things by observing sometimes. With his good observing skills, he learned some of your ninja ways." Arinori said.
"Still…why can't he be a ninja?" Naruto demanded an answer.
There was a moment of silence as Arinori and Hanako looked downcast.
Arinori suddenly spoke, "Yoshi…is not really our son." He said flatly with a pained expression.
Naruto stared at them with his eyes wide open. He was speechless.
Arinori sighed. "We are only Yoshi's guardians. Yoshi is part of an influential clan at the snow. A few days after he was put into our care, his whole clan was poisoned." He explained.
Naruto asked, "Why did they place him under your care."
"At those times, his clan's peace was threatened by someone called the snake sennin." Hanako said.
Naruto flinched at what he heard. "Orochimaru…" He whispered.
"You see, the snake sennin wanted to find out about the deadly techniques that Yoshi's clan possessed. The thing is the clan's current head, Yoshi's father, stopped using those techniques. He has banned from using them because he deemed it as 'demonic techniques that bring nothing but havoc and turmoil.' Since the war stopped long ago, he didn't want the clan's upcoming generations to be what they are supposed to be, the devils of the snow." She added. "Yoshi's clan was considered as ruthless devils that stain the white snow of their village with blood. After an incident when Yoshi's father happened, they were hated. Yoshi's grandfather was killed for the sake of the clan. When Yoshi's father reigned, he made the clan less hostile. And because of all of this, he didn't want the Jutsus to spread out of the clan so he never gave the snake sennin Jutsus he was asking for. Unknown to them, the snake sennin held a grudge that would cause their downfall. A week after the snake sennin's departure, a couple of shinobi's abducted Yoshi's older brother. Yoshi's father wanted to protect him so he summoned us. We took him under our care and kept his identity a secret." Arinori told the story.
"What is Yoshi's real identity?" Naruto asked.
Arinori and Hanako exchanged glances. After a moment, Arinori spoke. "His real name is…"
Naruto flinched when he felt a sudden surge of pain in his head. He reached out and massaged his forehead. He leaned back at the trees. "Where did that come from?" He asked himself.
He decided to continue remembering the past he wanted to forget but every time he'll get to the part where Arinori tells him Yoshi's real name, he suddenly gets a headache.
"…I wonder why…I can't seem to remember…" He whispered.
"Sorry if I'm late…you know how life impedes my schedule." Kakashi said. "…Naruto…" He added.
A while ago, he was standing in front of the memorial stone and now he was standing in front of his former student's tombstone. Nostalgia overcame him as he stared wistfully at the engraved writings on Naruto's tombstone. His eyes that usually looked lazy didn't look like that; Kakashi looked sad.
"It's been ten years but I still can't forget what happened to you. I…I blame myself partly for your death Naruto. If only…if only…I…" He sighed. There was silence as a gush of wind passed him. "Naruto…I think Sasuke is back and he…he is against Konoha it seems. It would be a great help if only you were alive." Kakashi said.
Naruto still sat at the bough. He drilled himself for answers on why he cannot remember the boy's name.
"…"
Hey kid…
The Kyuubi spoke.
"I can't talk right now…can't you see I'm trying to think?" He whispered.
Fine…I was just trying to help…
"Wait…!" Naruto exclaimed.
What now? Kyuubi asked.
"How can you help me?"
…well…I can help you remember…
"You can…?"
Yes I can; remember that there was a year during your ten year journey that you placed your body under a deep sleep. That was after Yoshi's death…
Naruto stretched a bit. "What does that have to do with all this?" He asked.
Well Naruto… you practically shut yourself from the world at that time and I was able to enhance your body. Of course, enhancing your body had consequences…and maybe forgetting that fragment of your memory was one of it since you were trying so hard to forget it. Instead of forgetting just that bloody night, you also forgot that part.
"…" Naruto thought deeply.
Let me help you on this, kid…
"Fine…"
"Ah…daughter…" Hiashi flashed one of his rare smiles. "You look fine in that wardrobe." He added.
Hinata looked at herself via the vanity mirror. She turned around once and then faced the mirror again. Her kimono looked splendid on her. It was purple. At the back of the kimono, the Hyuuga crest was embroidered. She didn't need to wear any make-up because she already looked good and because she didn't want to wear cosmetics.
"You think so, father?" She asked.
"Yes I do think so." Hiashi's eyes softened. "You…you look like your mother even more with that kimono…" He lowered his head.
Hinata stopped looking at herself and she set her gaze upon the former Hyuuga head.
"Father…" She whispered.
Hiashi then felt someone's arms encircle him. He looked up and saw his daughter.
"Father, don't be sad…" Hinata comforted him. "It's not like I'm getting married." She smiled.
Hiashi laughed softly. "True…" He said. He hugged her back and after that he put his hands lightly on her shoulder and said, "It's almost time. Is the new Hyuuga head ready?"
Hinata nodded.
Jiraiya looked around the Hyuuga garden. The garden was full of influential people and strong ninjas. He grabbed the bottle of sake and poured sake over his cup. "Ne Tsunade-hime, are you sure this is a simple party?" He asked after he sipped some sake from his cup.
Tsunade gestured for more sake and Jiraiya poured some on her cup. "Who said it was a simple party?" She asked.
Jiraiya grunted. "No one said it was; I assumed it was."
Tsunade chuckled. "Well you were wrong. The Hyuuga clan rarely throws simple parties."
Jiraiya didn't answer.
He looked around again. The garden was really full of people.
"Okaasan, I'm going now!" Ino said while she walked out of the flower shop. She grabbed one of the bouquets she arranged earlier. Carefully, she held it in her arms.
She stopped when she saw someone waiting for her.
The man waiting for her yawned and whispered, "The clouds look nice today…" He said lazily.
"Shika-kun…I thought you had a mission?" She asked.
Shikamaru yawned. "Tsunade-sama said I shouldn't go on that mission. She said she has another mission for me."
Ino smiled. "Where's Chouji?" She asked.
"Ah well, he's kinda occupied now but he'll be following later." He scratched the back of his neck. Shikamaru then smile lazily at Ino. He offered his hand. "Shall we go now?" He asked.
Ino nodded and took his hand.
"Is that for Hinata?" Shikamaru asked while they walked.
"Yeah…" Ino answered. "Did you hear…?"
"Yep, I heard what the party is for." He said.
"Oh well, we better hurry...the party is starting now…" Ino nudged Shikamaru.
"Do we have to be there on time? It's too troublesome you know…" He whispered.
Naruto sneaked around the hallways of the Hyuuga manor. He was using a henge and he was walking around as a Hyuuga branch member. He slowly opened a door when…
"Hey!" Someone shouted. Naruto turned around and saw Neji walking towards him.
He put off his henge.
"..Na-Naruto…?" Neji was startled. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Naruto removed his hood. "Do you know where Hinata is?" He asked.
Neji nodded. "She's actually at that room." Neji pointed at the door behind Naruto.
"Thanks for telling me." Naruto said his appreciation.
"Naruto, do tell her that it's almost time. She has to be out at the garden in a few minutes." Neji said before Naruto turned his back.
Naruto nodded and opened the door slowly.
Hinata kept staring at her reflection. She was glad that her father was glad. And because her father was glad maybe everyone that's out there at the garden will be glad. She started doing her old habit of twiddling her fingers when she thought about a certain someone. 'How about him…will he be…?' A faint color of pink was visible in her pale cheeks.
She gracefully turned around when she heard the door open.
"Hinata…"
"Is it…"
The man she was thinking about was there staring at her.
"…time?" She continued. Her blush intensified as Naruto stared at her longer.
"Na-Naruto-kun, is something the matter?" She asked and looked down. She struggled to not twiddle her fingers.
Naruto stopped staring at her and he looked away. There was a blush in his face.
"I was just gonna tell you something concerning Hide…" He said.
"It's a perfect time to get the boy…" A man spoke. They were somewhere in Konoha.
"Yes… all of the important and strong shinobi are in the new Hyuuga head's inauguration party. A couple of ANBU squad members shouldn't be a problem." The other man said.
"Ah…" The man who spoke first agreed. "Let's split up, Kagemaru. I'll go get the boy and you deliver the message."
The man named Kagemaru smirked and nodded. He suddenly disappeared.
"What about Hidetada-kun?" She asked.
Naruto faced Hinata but he didn't stare at her. His eyes constantly wandered somewhere else to avoid staring at the beautiful Hyuuga head. "I'll take care of him…Let me be the one that will stand as his family from now on." He said.
Hinata smiled. Naruto has agreed about taking care of Hidetada. "Are you really gonna take care of him?" She asked in excitement. Naruto was someone she could trust.
Naruto nodded.
Hinata ran to him and threw her arms around him; it was an action that startled Naruto. Naruto had his eyes wide open as Hinata hugged him.
"Thank You Naruto-kun! Hidetada is in good hands!" She exclaimed.
There was silence as Hinata continued to hug him.
Naruto saw their reflection in the mirror.
They looked like lovers.
Naruto blushed.
"Ah…Hinata…you still have something to do…" He reminded her. "And…your dad might see us…what would he think?"
Hinata instantly backed off. She bowed her head. "Sorry." She said.
Naruto scratched his head. "It's ok…Hinata…" He whispered while he blushed.
Hinata looked away. "I'm really sorry." Her face was red.
"Really, it's ok…" Naruto repeated.
Hiashi looked at Neji. "Are you sure she's coming?" He asked.
"I'm sure, Hiashi-sama." Neji said. 'What's taking Hinata-sama so long?'
Hinata bowed her head again. "I need to go now. Father is waiting for me." She said.
"Let me accompany you on the way out." Naruto said.
Hinata blushed. "Are you sure?" She asked.
Naruto nodded. "Let's go. We don't want the guests and your father to wait more." He said.
They walked out of the room.
Silence also accompanied them while they walked in the hallway.
After a moment, Naruto said, "You know…you look good in purple." He said.
"You think?" She asked.
"Yeah…" Naruto answered.
There was silence again.
They continued to walk.
Soon, they saw the door leading to the garden. Naruto stopped.
"Naruto-kun, what's the matter?" Hinata asked.
Naruto stared at the door. "If I went out now, I would ruin your party…" He said.
Hinata smiled. "Or is it just cold feet again?" She asked.
Naruto laughed softly. "Maybe…"
Hinata took his hand and squeezed it. Naruto was startled again. "Hi-Hinata…?"
Hinata looked up at him. She was blushing while she looked at his blue eyes. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I'm sure you can do it…" She said. "I know you can… Uzumaki Naruto never backs down." She smiled.
Naruto smiled. "Yeah…Uzumaki Naruto never backs down."
Hinata let go off his hand. "Well I got to go… see you later…" She said and walked out of the hallway.
"It's about time the new Hyuuga head makes her appearance." Hyuuga Hiashi said once Hinata arrived at the garden. Hinata walked towards the table where Hiashi and Hanabi were.
"Hinata-neechan, you look very good!" Hanabi exclaimed.
Hinata sat at the chair by Hiashi's right. She smiled sweetly at Hanabi.
Hinata then looked around. She wanted to see how many people were there.
She saw Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune first. And then she saw the table where their former senseis were. After that, she saw Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Lee, Shino, Kiba, Chouji, TenTen, and Iruka. The Kazekage and his siblings were also there for the party. She was sad that Hidetada wasn't here.
Hiashi then stood up. "Sorry if I kept you waiting wonderful guests." He apologized. "Well on with my speech. Some of you probably heard why this party is going on and some might still be ignorant of the fact that the new Hyuuga head will be inaugurated today." He looked at everyone. He saw that two men were discussing about who the new Hyuuga head is. He read their lips. "Will it be Hanabi or Hinata?" A man asked.
There were a couple of whispers in the room. Hinata felt nervous.
Hiashi cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen…please hold your horses. You will soon find out who the new Hyuuga head is." He smiled. "But first, I would like you to listen to the speech I dedicate to the new head."
Naruto felt weird in the hallway. There was something…something out there.
He looked around. The hallway seems to have changed somehow. It was…darker. It had more shadows. He looked at the door leading to the gardens. The sun hadn't set yet and the sunlight should provide sufficient light in the hallway.
He then heard a low creeping noise.
Someone's here kid…
"The new Hyuuga head is, of course, one of my wonderful daughters. I…watched her grow all these years. And she has grown into a fine woman. Silently, I watched her improve. My white eyes always followed her around though she didn't know. Being a strict father was just a way of saying that I care…" He smiled.
'I know…' Naruto said to the Kyuubi.
Behind you kid!
Naruto squatted and rolled to the right. He stood up instantly and grabbed a kunai from his pouch. He looked around while gripping the handle of his kunai tightly.
He silently waited for the enemy to strike again.
A bead of sweat ran down his cheek while he waited patiently.
And then the enemy appeared. He threw five shurikens towards Naruto. Naruto used his kunai to shield himself. He deflected the shurikens using his single kunai. While the shurikens were in the air, he caught it and threw it at the enemy. The enemy disappeared before the shurikens hit him.
He has the ability to blend in with the shadows…
'I know…' Naruto replied.
"Shadow blast…" A low whisper resounded at the hallway. The shadow surround Naruto turned into spikes and shot off kunais and shurikens at Naruto. Naruto did his best to deflect the kunais and shurikens, but it hit him.
A man appeared. "Heh got him…" Kagemaru smirked.
Naruto turned into a log.
"Nani...!" The man looked around. "Where is he?" He asked in a whisper.
"Here!" Naruto jumped out from the shadows and kicked the man by the chin.
The man turned into smoke.
"…" Naruto landed on the floor with a "thud" sound.
"You won't get me that easily kid…" The man appeared at Naruto's back. He was ready to slash Naruto with his kunai.
Naruto disappeared.
"Me too..." Naruto's voice echoed in the hallway.
Neji fidgeted in his seat. He felt that something was wrong. He looked around and saw his friends were also uneasy. The Hokage was also uneasy as well as their former senseis.
'Something's wrong…'
The man looked around again and this time, he smirked.
The man said, "Shadow blast" and disappeared. The spikes formed again but a certain part of the shadow didn't. "Got you…" The spike shot out shurikens and kunais towards the spike-less part. Naruto jumped out from the shadow and rolled to the left where the weapons wouldn't hit him. After he rolled, the man appeared at his back and slashed him. Luckily, Naruto was able to evade the attack and only his arm was wounded. He flipped and kicked the man at the torso. After kicking him, he swept his feet and the man fell. He followed the man's fall with a strong punch to the man's head. The man disappeared again. Naruto's eyes widened. The massive amounts of shadows disappeared. There was a note at the floor.
You're not my target…
He quickly stood up and ran towards the door.
…the new Hyuuga head is.
"Hinata…!"
Well that's a long chapter.
Thank you for the reviews, keep 'em coming guys. This author is tired to say more Author's notes.
Until Next Time...