Chapter Two: Byakugan . . . defeated?
Anko woke up with a start to find herself in a hospital bed, feeling light-headed, but less drained than she was before. Her throat was still horribly dry, and as soon as she spotted a water glass on a table to her right, she stretched out an arm shakily to try and grasp it. But before her hand reached it, she heard a girl's voice say, "Let me get that for you," and a slender arm reached into her field of vision and handed the glass to her. Looking up, Anko was surprised to see Haruno Sakura standing besides her bed. "I didn't know you were a medic . . . " Anko managed to say after draining the blessedly cool water.
"Well, since I've been helping out Tsunade-sama so much lately, the hospital staff has agreed to let me become an assistant nurse when I'm recovering from missions," the rose-haired chuunin explained, going over to open the blinds on the room's windows, revealing a dark cloudy sky. "Did I . . . did I really have heatstroke?" Anko asked, worried about how she could've ended up in the hospital after blacking out. Sakura sniffed in amusement, arching a pink eyebrow. Lifting her nose into the air, she grumbled, "Ibiki-sensei is such an alarmist. You were just really dehydrated. Part of the reason why I handed you the glass is so you didn't tear out the IV." Looking down at her left arm, Anko spotted the clear tube running up to a bag filled with clear liquid, obviously meant to rehydrate her.
"But I'm still out of action," Anko stated; it wasn't a question. "For at least two days," Sakura replied, nodding. Sitting down in the sole chair in the room, she regarded the older woman with a semi-nervous gaze, then added, "I know it'll be torture, but at least you've got some rest, wish I could take a break." Her green eyes flickered to the window, and she smiled as she said, "It's too bad we're both missing the cooler weather." She turned to leave, picking up a clipboard from the door, but as she was stepping through the doorway, she heard Anko ask faintly, "Haruno . . . can I ask you something?"
Surprised, both at the tone and volume of Anko's voice as well as being asked a question by a higher-ranked kunoichi, she whirled back around and returned to the coal-haired ninja's side. Anko started to speak, but cut it off, as she struggled to find a way to phrase what she wanted to ask without coming off as abrasive. Finally, she decided on saying simply, "Why do I make so many people nervous or annoyed?" Lowering her eyes, she murmured softly, "What am I doing wrong? Nobody ever takes me seriously unless I piss them off." She heard a soft giggle, and glanced up, surprised to see Sakura smiling at her. "Did I say something funny?" Anko muttered, a confused look on her face.
Sakura shook her head gently, a hand lifted daintily to her mouth. "It's just that…I've heard almost those exact same words coming out of Naruto's mouth back when we were first in Team 7," she replied. Anko's brows furrowed as she grumbled, "That no-talent jackass?" Sakura's smile spread further, but she disagreed, telling Anko, "That might've been true a few years ago, but he's fitting in more now, he's calmed down somewhat . . . Though Jiraiya's been a bad influence on him. He's more . . . perceptive. He thinks before he talks now, he's started to make close friends even with somebody like Shino." She gave Anko a sort of sad look, then went on, "I think part of the reason why you're having trouble is that you're still acting the way Naruto used to be. I know the both of you always want to get going and do something exciting, but if you just take it easy, and try and pay attention to what others are saying and feeling, you'll find it's not hard at all to make friends."
Anko lay there in silence for a few minutes, before stretching out her right hand to place on top of Sakura's, surprising the teen. Though not looking at her, she could see that Anko's face bore a small, sad smile as she whispered, "Thanks, kid. Better get going, don't want to make you late." Sakura nodded, walking away slowly. Stepping once more out the door, she looked back in on the contemplating Jounin and realized that there was far more to Anko than she had first suspected when they first met, the day of her first chuunin exam. Anko spent what felt like hours just thinking, then turned her dark eyes to the window and said to herself softly, "Like Naruto, huh?" As she watched the clouds go by, she realized that she would miss her chance to catch that Cloud Nin as he made his second attempt today. Yet surprisingly, she wasn't angry. "I'll get him someday," she whispered to nobody in particular.
Naruto gave a loud whoop of joy at spotting the front gate of Konoha, dirty and tired and hungry but oh-so-glad to be back in his home country. Grinning from ear to ear, he surveyed the crowds treading the streets off in the distance, recalling how empty they had been when he'd left, thanks to the heat. He had been sent off on a C-Rank mission to Rain country to dispatch a troupe of brigands that had been roaming the countryside, too easy in his opinion, but he was glad that now that he'd finally passed the chuunin test he was getting tougher assignments. "At least I'm not finding lost cats for fat old noblewomen anymore!" he crowed, puffing up his chest. His stomach growled, reminding him of the first item on his to-do list: Ichiraku Ramen. But before he could take another step, he heard a deep voice say from off to his left, "Hey, you got anything to eat?"
Whipping his eyes over to the origins of the voice, he saw a tall bearded man standing against a tree, looking towards him with friendly ice-blue eyes. The man's spiky hair somewhat reminded him of Asuma, along with the beard, but the fact that it was accompanied by a moustache distinguished the two immediately. Surprisingly he was wearing a sleeveless black cloth jacket with a furred collar, and ninja-style pants, and as he began to walk closer to the blond-haired Leaf he noticed that his leather boots had claws on the heels. Naruto was usually suspicious of strangers, but something in this man's manner and tone of voice made him like the older man immediately. "Fraid not, but I was just off to my favorite ramen place of all time, if you want to follow me over!" Naruto replied, sticking out his right hand to greet the stranger. But as the man brought his arms around from behind his back, Naruto noticed that the right arm, from elbow to the hand was heavily bandaged. As he expected, the man extended his left hand and waited for Naruto to switch, then shook warmly, introducing himself as Yukio.
"So, you're here from Hidden Grass?" Naruto asked while waiting for the ramen to arrive, relaxing on the stool inside Ichiraku's booth. Yukio nodded, holding into a glass of iced tea, replying, "I'm here to ask the Hokage if she can send someone to help our shinobi fight off the recent scouting parties from Rock who have been making advances. We would've ordinarily sent a ninja here to ask, but they're all busy as you can understand, being undoubtedly a skilled ninja yourself, a chuunin if I'm guessing correctly." Naruto's eyes widened with pride at the words, 'skilled ninja', and pointed a finger at his chest, proclaiming, "You bet! In fact, I'm going to become Hokage someday!"
Yukio chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest as he calmly sipped the tea, smiling kindly at the boy's antics. "So you're going to replace Tsunade-sama, eh?" he asked, sounding amused, but encouraging. Naruto rolled his eyes, and remarked, "As if I'll have long to wait. You may have heard how pretty she is and young-looking, but . . . " he motioned for Yukio to listen to a whisper, then added, "But she's really a fifty-year old baa-san!" "Is she now?" Yukio replied after he leaned back upright, his eyes crinkling in mirth. "She must be using some sort of genjutsu to make herself look young then," he suggested, to Naruto's confirmation. The conversation stopped after the ramen arrived, as Naruto stuffed his face with the Super-Bowl Pork Ramen, while Yukio slurped his beef ramen more slowly, but with apparently equal hunger.
After paying, they continued to walk together as Naruto led Yukio down towards the Leaf ninja headquarters. As they passed the marketplace, they heard a girl gasp, and exclaim, "N-Naruto-kun! Hello! Who's your friend?" They both turned to see a beautiful, pale-skinned, dark-haired girl standing with her younger sister. "Hinata-chan! How's it going?" Naruto shouted, though louder than necessary to be heard over the crowd. Hyuuga Hinata blushed at his enthusiasm, but greeted him warmly with a short, chaste hug. She had been growing her hair out these past three years, and it now reached down to past her shoulders. Because it was summer, she had abandoned her usual jacket and instead wore a conservative t-shirt and capri pants. Beside her, Hanabi glowered at the fox-boy, her silvery eyes far more cruel and mocking than her sister's. She turned away in a huff at the affection the two were showing each other and went to look at a booth displaying expensive jewellery.
Naruto was halfway through Hinata's halting explanation of how her day was going when he heard Yukio say from behind him, "Well now, who's this?" They both turned to see the raven-haired man towering over them, a warm smile on his face. Naruto wasted no time in introducing her as his girlfriend, to which Hinata's face turned bright red, though she shook Yukio's hand when he proffered it to her. And to think that until just a few months ago she had been so embarrassed to hear him call her '-chan', like he used to with Sakura. All three resumed walking together, but Hanabi refused to join them, muttering that she would find her own way back to the Hyuuga estates.
"So, you both are Hyuuga main family members?" Yukio asked as they neared the ninja academy. Hinata nodded, though she was nervous around the large man, though she felt comforted by his kindly manner. She had been unable to erase a blush from her cheeks however, as Naruto insisted upon holding hands on the way over. As she spotted the academy, she recognized an excuse to make herself scarce. "Ah, Naruto-kun? I . . . I think I should go i-inside and see if Iruka-sensei has my class assignment yet," she explained, slowly slipping her hand from his, though she didn't really want to let go. Naruto recognized that Hinata was becoming uncomfortable with the proceedings and nodded, yelling to her as she hurried towards the front doors, "We're still on for Saturday, right?" Hinata blushed profusely, and nodded, waving as she hurried inside the main door, sliding it closed.
"She seems like a nice girl," Yukio commented, watching her leave. Naruto nodded vigorously in agreement, though his grin soon turned towards a sour look as he blurted out, "But Hanabi sure isn't." He was surprised to hear Yukio burst out laughing at that comment, and he asked between chortles, "I'm not surprised, given how disgusted she seemed to see you." Naruto grimaced, and remarked, "Yeah, she's never liked me much, but she's not too different from most of the Hyuuga family in that respect." As they started walking again, Yukio muttered, "Must make dating Hinata difficult, eh?" Naruto grinned impudently, and responded, "If I had a ten-yen coin for every time I had to sneak a date with her, I'd be able to afford ten dates free!"
As they walked up the stairs to Tsunade's office, Naruto had reached his stories about Neji, how he had defeated him in the chuunin exam finals not once, but twice over, yet the two were slowly warming up to each other, reaching the point of friendly rivals. One thing was puzzling Naruto though as they went through the ninja headquarters: every time they came close to a jounin, Yukio would make a point of turning his face away from them, or hurrying on ahead of Naruto. As he did so, Naruto couldn't help but notice the stylized lightning bolts on Yukio's jacket peeking out from under the backpack that he wore, which he assumed to be filled with traveling equipment and clothes, though he heard more clanking of metal than he expected.
As they stopped in front of the large double doors leading to Tsunade's office, Naruto peered in and found Shizune's secretarial office surprisingly empty. "I wonder where she went . . . " he wondered aloud, drawing a look from the Grass man. "Who?" he prodded. Naruto rolled his eyes and replied, "Tsunade's assistant, Shizune-san. She's a nice lady and all, she just needs to relax a bit. She's always hovering around Tsunade like a mother hen, and she carries a pet pig everywhere." He snorted much like a pig himself as he ended the sentence. Yukio moved to enter the office and Naruto trotted right along with him until he felt Yukio's hand on his chest, holding him back.
Looking up questioningly, he found Yukio smiling down at him, and the older man told him gently, "its just going to be boring contract negotiations, I doubt seriously you'd want to stick around. Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion, then he shrugged as he dismissed it, and replied, "No problem, I'll just wait outside." Yukio seemed to relax and bit, and squeezed Naruto's shoulder before opening the Hokage's door and striding inside. Naruto tried to peer in after him, but the older man practically slammed it in his face in a surprising amount of haste to close the door. Huffing in disappointment, Naruto plopped down on top of Shizune's desk to sulk.
Meanwhile, Tsunade's jaw had plummeted practically to her ample chest. "Yo!" Yukio exclaimed, giving a wave. The Godaime's amber-colored eyes were wide with shock, as she stared at his audacity to walk straight into her office. "You walked through Konoha and into my office looking like that!" she blurted, her hands falling from where they had been tying up one of her pigtails. "Sure, nobody here except some of the elites know my face, and everyone'd recognize my mask. It's still not safe for a Cloud ninja to walk about Leaf country, though I hope to change that," he told her, his grin startlingly white amidst his dark beard. Tsunade slapped her forehead with her palm, and muttered, "I didn't save you just so you could gamble your life doing stupid things like this . . . "
Yukio's smile disappeared, and he replied in a low voice, "I seriously doubt that preventing war between Kumogakure no Sato and this country is a stupid thing to do." That got Tsunade's attention. Lifting her golden eyes up to look at his pale blue ones, she hissed, "So, a war is coming, eh? How do I know you're not here to start it? The Katsumasas are . . . " In a sudden burst of fury, Yukio cut her off and bellowed, "I'm nothing like my father! How dare you accuse me of bloodthirst?" Though her expression softened a bit, Tsunade sat more straight in her chair and murmured, "Thank the gods for that. So, how do you plan to stop this supposed war?" Yukio calmed at her softer words, and even smiled a bit, and suggested, "How about giving me what I want in exchange for the information? A fair trade I should think."
Tsunade smirked at the Cloud ninja and lifted up a stone paperweight on her desk and held in her palm as she responded, "How about you tell me right now?" To give emphasis to her intent, she crushed the rock in her fist, grinding it into powder. Recognizing that his bargaining strategy was not about to work, Yukio waved his hands, sputtering, "All right, all right . . . this is the situation . . . "
Naruto had been sitting outside the office for twenty minutes, and he was growing exceedingly bored. He had become quite annoyed when he realized he could have dropped by the academy to see Hinata and have been back here in the time he had spent just sitting in the secretary's chair. Though he thought that his girlfriend should be spending her time training and getting stronger, he was proud of her for deciding to teach the next generation of Konoha students. Naruto's blue eyes lit up and his whiskers twitched when he recalled how Hinata had finally told him how she felt about him in the school shortly after they had gotten back from rescuing Gaara. He had suspected it for a long time, but seeing her pale cheeks blush pink under her pearly eyes sealed the deal for him. He had given up on Sakura during his years of training with Jiraiya, and he had been thinking of Hinata a lot during the later part of his journeys. He didn't know much about the Hyuuga girl at that point, but he made sure to change that.
As he continued to shift through the materials in Shizune's desk, he came across a strawberry-scented postcard and laughed as he remembered how on his first date with Hinata that they had decided to just talk and stroll through one of the city's parks, and how he had decided on the spur of the moment to buy strawberries from a local farmer, and had shared them with the shy girl, and how she couldn't stop blushing as he fed her the fresh fruit, and how he had convinced her after an hour to return the favor. Sighing at the memory, he flipped the card over, and scanned over the writing on the back. Though he couldn't recognize some of the kanji, three characters caught his eye as he made it to the end. "I-ru-ka! What is Shizune-san doing writing to Iruka-sensei of all people?" He sniffed the postcard again, and realized that behind the strawberry smell was the familiar scent of Shizune's favorite perfume. "Is this . . . a love letter?" he wondered, his heart pounding at the possibility of spying on such a juicy secret.
"It's not nice to root through other people's things, you know, Naruto," he heard from behind him. "Wak!" he yelped, dropping the postcard, and it fluttered into the now open door into Tsunade's office. Yukio stood there smirking, as Naruto stammered, trying to explain what he was doing. "Forget it, boys will be boys I guess, just be glad it wasn't her diary, or I'd have to tell her about it," Tsunade called from behind Yukio, her arms crossed under her bosom. Naruto continued to stutter and fluster, protesting, but Yukio just grinned and dragged the protesting boy outside. As they left, Tsunade picked up the postcard and lifted it up to her face, as she wasn't wearing her glasses at the moment. After reading through it, a smile crept over her face, and she whispered to herself, "I thought Shizune was taking a lot of time off recently . . . "
Across town, Ibiki traced his fingers over the scars on his face incessantly, staring out the window at the shimmering heat rising off the roof of the next building, thinking, recalling the day that he received these scars . . . "Sir?" he heard Raidou say, looking at a map in his other hand. "He's back, Raidou, after all these years . . . we have a chance to get back at him. He'd recognize our faces, especially after what he did to them," Ibiki growled, fixing his eyes pointedly on the lightning burns on Raidou's face. "You can't be serious!" Raidou gasped, his throat tightening and his teeth clenching. "I'm deadly serious, Rai-kun," Ibiki replied, his face relaxing, using the old nickname he had given his former teammate. "You want me to go, sir?" Ibiki turned to the speaker, and a cruel smile etched across his face. "Yes . . . he's never fought anyone with your abilities, and given his preference for taijutsu . . . you'd be perfect," he told the younger man, who bowed, and leapt out the window to dash out into the street, his white eyes looking towards the area that Ibiki had pointed out.
"Really? So this…Sasuke is still out there with this . . . Orochimaru person?" Yukio demanded as he and Naruto walked towards the gate. Naruto was still shocked from the look he had gotten when he had first mentioned the snake-like leader of the Sound Village. Pure hatred had been in Yukio's eyes, and not for the first time did Naruto suspect that this man knew more about the shinobi world than he was letting on. He certainly didn't like the third sennin, he could tell that much. Naruto nervously ran a hand through his unruly blond hair as he replied, "Yeah, at least I think. In any case, I'm going to find him. I . . . have to, I made a promise." He looked down at the ground, as he remembered Sakura's tear-stained face as she begged him to bring their teammate back. He would some day, but something told him that Sasuke might find him first.
As they neared the gate again, Naruto noticed yet another oddity about the Hidden Grass diplomat. He kept dipping his left hand under his fur collar to rub at a certain spot on his shoulder, as if it ached, or itched. That gesture reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite place it. Though he was now intensely curious about Yukio's background, he was pleased to have met the man, he had found a new friend today, a weird friend to be true, but he was hoping that he would come back sometime, or if he could visit him on a mission to Grass. He tried to talk to Yukio a couple more times, but the bearded man was silent, glaring straight in front of himself as he walked. As they were losing sight of Konoha's walls, Yukio stopped, and offered his left hand to say goodbye. "Can I come visit you sometime?" Naruto asked, grinning and giving Yukio a thumb's-up. Yukio smiled, but his eyes were slightly sad as he muttered, "Sure, kid."
But as he turned to go, he stopped suddenly, and whipped back around towards the village, his eyes opening wide, and he cursed as he realized what was happening. He removed his pack and opened it up swiftly while Naruto whipped around, gazing in all directions, clueless as to what could be going on. He stepped around in a circle, but when he turned back to Yukio to ask what he had noticed, the words caught in his mouth. Yukio had strapped on a kunai holder onto his leg, various pouches on a belt were cinched around his waist, along with a katana at his right hip, an arm-guard covered his left forearm, and a metal shoulder-pad was on his left shoulder, a knife belted onto his other shoulder. And he was lifting something else out of his bag when he stopped and turned his head towards Naruto.
The boy couldn't recognize the conflicting emotions on the man's face, but finally Yukio said, "Naruto, I'm glad we met. I hope we can remain friends, but in order to do that, I need you to leave now. Run back towards the village, and don't look back." Naruto gasped, and his fists clenched. Yukio was a ninja, he knew it! He must've been here from Grass in disguise, hoping to throw off Rock pursuers, but they must have spotted him! "I can fight too, let me help!" Yukio violently shook his head, and told the teenager hurriedly, "You won't want to against this foe. Besides, after you see me fight, I'm afraid you might not like me anymore." Naruto was really confused now, as he shook and trembled, frozen to the spot, unsure of what he was hearing, feeling both worried for his new friend, and somehow . . . betrayed, as if he had found out something he wasn't supposed to, and Yukio was mad.
But before he could say anything, he heard rustling of leaves, and he pulled out three kunai to deal with whoever was coming, whether Yukio wanted help or not. "Blast, he's fast . . . Naruto, I'm sorry, I had hoped to spare you this, but I can't let this man see my face. Your sensei has probably told you all about me, and I truly wish you'd never found out who I am, but some things in life we can't avoid," Yukio muttered, as he lifted the final object out of his bag. Naruto's confusion grew as the older ninja placed a white half-mask on his head, the white metal gleaming dully in the daylight. The mask, with it's lightning-bolts and swirls, and dark eyeholes chilled Naruto to the bone to look at. Yet he still didn't know what Yukio was talking about, why would he have been told all about Yukio by Kakashi-sensei? It was then that Yukio turned, and Naruto could see what was on the forehead of the mask.
"So there you are! And it just figures that Naruto would be right here with you, yet never realize who you are." They both turned, Naruto forgetting his shock for the moment. Up in the trees, in white, beige, and black robes was Hyuuga Neji. The young jounin gazed calmly down from the branch at Yukio's masked face, and after allowing a few moments for effect, proclaimed, "I'll have you know that Ibiki and Raidou send their warmest regards, Katsumasa Yukio!" Naruto's jaw dropped. Neji knew who Yukio was? And Ibiki-sensei and Raidou-san? Neji spotted Naruto's confusion, and sighed, calling condescendingly down to the younger boy, "What, you couldn't recognize him? Did you even glance at the bingo-book Kakashi gave you? Even without his mask, his outfit is recognizable anywhere, Yukio . . . the Hungry Storm of Kumogakure no Sato!"
Naruto looked back towards the coal-haired jounin, and again saw the Cloud symbol etched into the forehead of the mask. Yukio . . . was a Cloud ninja? He had heard stories about Cloud from Kakashi and Jiraiya, but it suddenly occurred to him what Neji himself had told him about his childhood. He blurted out, "Cloud ninjas tried to kill Hinata's father . . . they tried to kidnap her themselves, they had Neji's dad killed!" His voice filled with anger, and he grimaced at the man he had thought he had trusted, whom he had eaten lunch with, and talked all day with, and yelled, "Why didn't you tell me?" Yukio sighed, and said, "Because I'm here to try and stop the same thing from happening again." "I doubt that," Neji said from where he was standing at Yukio's shoulder. Shocked, the Cloud shinobi dodged back, only to have Neji slam his palm into his right shoulder.
With a dull thump, Yukio faded into a block of wood. Neji smiled, and sniffed. The art of substitution, against a Hyuuga? This man was fast, be he couldn't possibly evade the Byakugan . . . With that thought, Neji's eyes puffed with chakra and veins swelled around his eyes as he activated the ocular ninjutsu, his vision expanding to encompass the whole area for dozens of yards around. Almost immediately, he spotted the Cloud shinobi off to his left and above him. He whirled and leapt right towards the older man, making a slicing motion with a glowing palm. Chakra leapt out in an arc and sliced through the branch that Yukio had been perched on, and as the Cloud jounin tried to dodge, he sent spikes of chakra flying in his direction. With a brief puff, Yukio stopped his fall briefly with the Flying Cloud jutsu, and then returned fire with a fistful of shuriken. Neji landed on another branch and whirled, the Kaiten spin blowing away the metal projectiles.
As Yukio landed, he grinned as he saw Neji still standing there. Confused, Neji quickly realized his mistake as he saw wires attached to the shuriken, which were now embedded in the trees all around him, and the wires ran back to the Cloud's hands. Neji leapt clear with all his strength as electricity flowed through the metal, sparks and arcs of energy filling the space he had occupied a second ago. Yukio grimaced, he knew he needed to not underestimate the boy. Though he was older by several years, this kid obviously knew his stuff, and he was a Hyuuga to boot. Running through signs, he called out, "Kaze-no-Kiba!" Thrusting his hands forwards, a burst of air sliced forth, and plowed through several trees on it's way towards its target. Yet Neji was able to see it coming, and dodged easily, racing towards the Cloud again.
Swearing, Yukio leapt to another branch, trying to stay out of the boy's reach. He knew all too well what the 'Soft Fist' technique could do, all Cloud shinobi from chuunin up were forced to learn about it. Yet as he dropped lower, hoping to get to the ground and dash among the trees, Neji puffed out another blast of chakra, slamming into the ground near Yukio's feet. He couldn't dodge backwards, as Neji's other hand threw needles into the earth behind him. With nowhere to go but back up, Yukio made quick signs and his hand crackled with electricity as air puffed out from under his feet. "Rising Dragon!" he bellowed, shooting upwards, fist extended. Unable to bring a hand around to strike fast enough, Neji contented himself with generating a shield of chakra to block the attack with.
But the force of the blow was enough to throw the teen back, shield or not, and Neji had to scrabble to grab a branch and steady himself. Yet he was still calm. Jounin or not, this man didn't know the territory as well as he did, plus he had yet to even try to escape from the byakugan's field of vision. Expanding the byakugan's reach further, he chose to view the Cloud's chakra pathways and the man dodged and weaved, trying to get into a position to attack. The man knew not to attack him up front, and he was becoming frustrated with his inability to attack at range. Sooner or later, Neji would either wear him out, or discover a weakness. And discover a weakness he did, for as he gazed at Yukio's arms, a sudden startling sight caught his eye. Neji smiled, and muttered, "There was no chance from the beginning."
His headband flapping, Neji sprang forwards and reached for Yukio's right forearm, chakra pulsing in the Soft Fist style. Yukio yanked the limb out of the way, his face turning white. Clutching the bandaged arm to his chest, he glanced in the Leaf's direction, cursing mentally, "Why did he go for this arm? Does he know about . . . Damn!" He weaved more signs with his hands, and called out, "Rai-no-Sasumita!" two prongs of lightning shot forth from his fists, and aimed to trap Neji between them like a pincer. Neji spun and swept away the thunder with the Kaiten spin, then lanced forth to grasp at Yukio's arm again. This time the raven-tressed man could not dodge completely, and chakra pulsed through his arm, causing waves of pain to shoot through his body.
As he landed a distance away, he glanced down at his arm and saw red begin to flow through the white of the bandages. "Oh god . . . he's re-opened it, I can't fight with this wound bleeding again . . . " Looking towards the Hyuuga, he saw him maneuvering for another attack, and he could feel the boy's gaze as the Byakugan tracked his every move. Grimacing, Yukio crouched and prepared. "This jutsu wasn't designed specifically for a Hyuuga, but I don't see why it can't work here . . . I need something to knock out those eyes of his, and this is the best way I know!" he thought to himself as he ran through the complex sign combinations. As Neji raced towards the Cloud shinobi, he was not prepared for what happened next. "Clouds of Oblivion!" Yukio bellowed as he set off the jutsu.
White clouds suddenly billowed forth from his person, and surrounded the whole area, even engulphing the mystified Naruto on the ground. Neji attempted to land on a branch, only to smack chest-first into one. "What's going on? Why can't I see?" he wondered, looking around, expanding the Byakugan. Yet all he could see were misty-looking floating balls of chakra, generating clouds of glowing mist around him. "This . . . . isn't the Kirigakure-no-jutsu . . . what is this?" Neji gasped, dispelling the Byakugan. This made it worse, as white encompassed his whole vision. Everything was muffled inside the clouds, he couldn't hear anything, and his entire nose filled with the smell of electricity and ozone. He was a sitting duck in this fog, he needed to get out as soon as possible! But no matter where he raced, he couldn't find an exit. It wasn't genjutsu; the Byakugan would pierce through it in an instant if it were…
He activated the Byakugan again, if at least to distinguish the branches from the misty orbs as he leapt from tree to tree. From out of nowhere, he felt something slice down his left arm, and he cried out in pain as he lashed out in that direction with a blow of chakra, yet he hit nothing. He gripped his arm where the strike had landed, and felt hot wetness flowing forth, he had been cut by the enemy's blade. He felt a gust of wind behind him and tried to dodge again, only to receive a slash along the back. As he desperately moved, trying to avoid the unseen assailant, an idea came to him. If this was a perfect assassination jutsu, all the Cloud needed do was blast him with a ninjutsu as he floundered about, helpless. Yet he used his sword or knife to attack . . . why? Because this ability was draining all his usable chakra, he probably daren't use any more for fear of breaking the jutsu.
Trying a bold move, Neji leapt forwards, looking for blank gaps in the glowing mist lit up by his Byakugan, and feeling carefully with his exposed skin for the air changes from a person's movement. His courage paid off, as he spotted a dark shape moving towards him quickly. Neji whirled and struck out with chakra needles, and he faintly heard a grunt of pain. Grinning, Neji jumped forwards again, right towards a glowing ball. Yet as it came in contact with his face, he was suddenly completely blind, and white-hot agony filled his eyes, as the chakra burned through the orbs.
Screaming, Neji plummeted from the treetops to the ground, smacking branches on the way down. He grasped at his face futilely as he tried to clear his eyes, but all he could do was scrape at the tears pouring out from the sockets as they burned in pain. Though he could not see it, the clouds were dispersing around him. Yukio landed heavily nearby, clutching his wounded arm, blood trickling down his hand. This was entirely unexpected, he had not anticipated the boy actually running headlong into one of the chakra balls, he could see that the younger jounin was blinded, and in serious discomfort. As Neji continued to claw at his face, he tore off his forehead protector and bandages in his struggles, and Yukio was struck by the sight of the fouin etched on the skin.
Kneeling down next to the boy, he extended his good hand and probed the seal gently, and grunted in confirmation when he discovered what it was. "So that's why our attempt to probe the Hyuuga head's body failed . . . the Hyuuga outsmarted us for sure," he grumbled, pulling his hand back briefly. He lowered it again after gathering chakra into his palm. Naruto had been racing towards them since the clouds had gone, and was shocked to see what appeared to be Yukio delivering a coup-de-grace to his friend. "No, stop!" he cried, gathering winds into his hand as he prepared to unleash the Rasengan. Yukio turned his masked face towards him, and exclaimed, startled, "What? You don't want me to heal him?" The winds in Naruto's hands blew away as he took in the words. Heal Neji? After fighting him so fiercely? What was going on?
Confident that Naruto was convinced, Yukio lowered his hand to the whimpering Hyuuga's face, and cool chakra pulsed into the boy's eyes, clearing away the burning chakra mist. As Neji blinked, he found he could see again, and witnessed the healing aura fade as Yukio lifted his hand away. He found himself looking up into a half-smiling Yukio's face. "You're a member of a branch family of the Hyuuga, are you not?" he asked, extending a hand to help Neji up. More confused now than Naruto, Neji accepted the hand up, and replied uncertainly, "Yes . . . it is my duty to protect the members of the main house of the Hyuuga, and to protect the Byakugan we all possess." Yukio nodded, his eyes closing behind the blackness of the eyeholes of the mask in thought, then opened again, and he told the younger ninja, "Well, you may need to fulfill that duty very soon. Head back to the city, and defend the main family with all your strength." But before he could explain further, he heard Tsunade say from the road, "Is this your idea of protecting the Hyuuga family from your countrymen's attack?" All three men looked towards the dirt path to see Tsunade and Shizune standing together, glaring at Neji and Yukio, with Ibiki standing behind them, looking outraged that Yukio was still alive. "Perhaps it's time to explain things more fully . . . " Yukio muttered, scratching under the band of his mask at the back of his head.
Two hours later . . .
"So, this family, the Yamakata clan are the ones responsible for the death of Hizashi? And they are here to attempt again to acquire the Byakugan?" Tsunade repeated, trying to clarify what she had been told. She was seated in her office, which was now filled with people. Naruto was standing not far from her shoulder, holding into a trembling Hinata, while Iruka placed a hand on both their shoulders, for Naruto had burst into his office not long ago, demanding to know if Hinata was all right. Ibiki and Shizune were leaning against the wall of the office, and Neji had been sent to the Hyuuga estate to prepare and inform his family of the threat.
"Yes, I'm afraid they are. Cloud has been thinking of making an alliance with Leaf for some time now, especially with the recent difficulty in farming, and Konoha's agriculture would benefit us greatly. Yet the Yamakata clan is leading the opposition to the move, instead arguing that now would be the best time to instead conquer the Fire Country, and take what we need after your recent war with the Sound and Sand. But they need to either disable the Hyuuga clan, or acquire their abilities in order to achieve success, or at least that's what the Yamakata clan head, Soshiro wants. He and his clansmen are on their way right now to try and kidnap a Byakugan-possessed Hyuuga, and extract the jutsu from their body, whether the person in question is alive . . . or not," Yukio explained, drawing shocked looks from all present.
"Excuse me, but you're scaring Hinata-chan here!" Naruto grumbled, causing Hinata to blush and press her forefingers together, and the rest of the people assembled to laugh, releasing a lot of the tension. "Of course, they are at least half a week off, so I came here to inform you so that a proper defense could be mounted. I cannot openly help myself, as I would be viewed as a traitor to the Cloud, even if it was to prevent war. If all the Hyuuga clan is protected, we should have no problem," Yukio told the assembled shinobi, relaxing his shoulders, rubbing absently at the arm that Tsunade had healed up.
This drew Hinata's attention to the bandaged limb, and she risked a quick Byakugan look at its interior. Upon seeing what had caused the injury, she gasped and turned paler than even before. "Y-y-Yukio-sa-san . . . " she stammered, tears coming to her eyes. Following her gaze, Yukio realized what she was looking at. "Don't worry, it's been there for a while now, I'm not going to die from it anytime soon," he told the girl, attempting to calm her, but she responded softly, "B-b-but . . . " This drew odd looks from Naruto and Ibiki, but Shizune and Tsunade were not at all surprised, for they knew what Hinata had seen. As Tsunade opened her mouth to give an explanation of the wound that wouldn't reveal sensitive information, Neji burst through the doors of the Hokage's office, followed by Kakashi.
"Hokage-sama, we have secured the Hyuuga compound, but not all family members are present!" Neji reported, trying to catch his breath. Kakashi stepped forwards, looking at Tsunade intently, and added, "We have people out looking for them, and they should be found quickly. We have Asuma and Kurenai out searching the mar . . ket . . . " He trailed off as he caught sight of Yukio, who leapt up from his seat and into a defensive stance. "YOU!" Kakashi bellowed, his one visible eye opening as wide as it could go, his voice filled with unquenchable rage and pain. The Chidori blazed forth from one hand while he lifted his headband from the Sharingan, the red eye blazing forth, while Yukio began to weave symbols swiftly.
"ENOUGH! There shall be no fighting in the Hokage's personal quarters!" Tsunade yelled, and extended an arm to clasp tightly about Yukio's hands, stopping his signs, while Iruka and Shizune grasped Kakashi, though they were having trouble from preventing him from moving. Kakashi writhed in their grip, forcing Ibiki to lend his strength to stop the Copy-ninja. Naruto had never seen Kakashi show much emotion ever at all, even during his time as part of team seven and to witness his sensei's good eye filling with tears and his other eye blazing with anger, his whole body contorted in anger sent him into speechlessness. Straining, Kakashi screamed, "Let me go! He killed her, he killed Rin! You can't expect me to stand here and let him walk free!" He was dragging himself inch by inch closer, the loose energy from the Chidori burning holes in Iruka's vest. Yukio himself was trying to free his arms from Tsunade's grasp to defend himself, but it was like a toddler trying to yank a favorite toy from the jaws of the family Rottweiler.
Suddenly, Hinata gasped, and exclaimed, "Hanabi is still out wandering the city!" Everyone stopped moving, and turned towards the terrified girl, her hands lifted towards her face. Neji and Ibiki nodded at each other, and headed out the door at full speed. After a moment's hesitation, Naruto joined them. At this sudden haste, Kakashi halted, though he didn't release the Chidori. "What is going on?" he demanded, his eyes never deviating from Yukio's mask. Sighing, the Cloud ninja began to explain again.
Outside in the preserve near the monument, Hanabi wandered alone, a shopping bag dangling from one hand. She had bought a few things after wandering away from her older sister and Naruto. She was still fuming as she shuffled her feet as she walked slowly, she could not see what her sister saw in that boy. All she knew is that somehow Naruto had gone from being an object of utter contempt of Konoha to its golden boy, somehow becoming one of its most promising ninjas. Not that it mattered to her, he was still a buffoon, he made her sister behave like a foolish common girl, and moreover, he was swiftly becoming a lecher like his so-called master, the creepy old white-haired 'toad-sennin'. Yet her father, Hiashi wouldn't drive him away, and he was even suffering the imbecile to come inside the compound, he had offered him tea last Tuesday!
Glowering, she sat down on the monument itself, her white eyes tightened in annoyance. Hinata too had changed, not for the better in Hanabi's view. She had reclaimed her position as the Hyuuga heir, practicing harder than ever, mastering the 64-fists style, the Kaiten spin, and she had even developed shielding and trapping jutsus using her chakra. Such jutsus were never going to aid her in actual combat . . . surely Neji-oniisan's chakra needles and blades were far more useful . . . Hanabi was succeeding in the academy every day, yet their father was more concerned with his older daughter's teaching and training, and his nephew's advances as a new jounin, who had announced his intention to join ANBU of all things. "The insufferable jerks . . . " Hanabi muttered, as she got up to leave.
"My my my . . . what are you doing out all alone out here little girl? Your mother must be terribly worried . . . " she heard a silky voice say from behind her. Whipping around, she saw a tall, lanky white-haired man standing there where nobody had been a second ago. He was covered from neck to feet in a flowing white cloak, which she couldn't see under, and his long white hair cascaded over his shoulders, everything about him was white, except for his dark eyes, which gazed at her as if she was a shiny new coin he wanted to snatch up. "And who are you?" Hanabi replied, perturbed, anyone who dressed this way and spoke in that manner had to be up to no good.
"You may call me Yamakata Soshiro, and I am here to take you away to my friends, because you see, you have something we want from you…" he crooned in a sing-song voice, striding towards her, his cloak billowing out like a cloud as he moved forwards while she retreated. Harrumphing, Hanabi went into a Soft Fist stance, and announced, "If you think I am easily raped, pedophile, you are sadly mistaken. I can defend myself as one of the finest of the Hyuuga clan." To her surprise, Soshiro's eyes crinkled in amusement and he burst out laughing. In his sickeningly sweet, honeyed tone of voice, he replied, "Oh, that is too funny! Rape you indeed! No no no . . . my plans are far different than that . . . Now, if you'll come along, we have work to do . . . " and reached out a gloved hand to grasp her arm.
Whirling back, Hanabi lashed out with a hand and sent chakra coursing through the man's chakra lines, and formed the 64-fists seals. Dashing forwards, she flashed her palms rapidly into the man's body, four times, sixteen times, thirty-two times, sixty-four times. Breathing hard, she stopped, and wiped a hand across her brow, remarking haughtily, "You were doomed from the start. You had only a shade of a chance, and now you have no chance at all, with all your chakra points blocked. I doubt you can even move." As Soshiro staggered back, the answer she received was again not what she was expecting. The white-cloaked man burst out in unearthly high-pitched giggles, and his form dissolved into white foam. "A doppelganger!" she thought to herself, using the Byakugan to try and spot his true body. She didn't have far to look.
Sitting on a stump not far away was an uncloaked Yamakata Soshiro, dressed in a fine white silk vest embroidered with gold thread in the shape of lions, and in matching pants with black leather boots that had spiked soles. He was not dressed for combat at all, as if he was mocking her efforts. He held a white cane in one hand with a gold handle, which he tapped against the stump while holding his jaw in his other hand, looking at her with that same amused expression. "No, my dear, you had no chance. For all your boasting, you did not have the sight to see what your strikes were doing each time you landed a 'hit' to my copy. Look at your hands," he instructed her, a grin slicking his face.
Hanabi looked down at her hands in shock, and saw that they were covered with glowing blue bubbles, each swirling like a cloud was trapped inside it. She gathered chakra into her palms to blow it off, but she heard Soshiro click his tongue in a patronizing manner, as he said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Calm down and come with me quietly, and we can get this all over with. Otherwise . . . " He extended the hand that had been holding his clean-shaven face and snapped his fingers. One of the bubbles on Hanabi's hands burst, and electricity coursed through the girl's body, causing her muscles to spasm, and she let out a shriek, collapsing to the ground.
Soshiro laughed again, haughtily, his eyes changing from amused to an almost hungry look, leering at her as he stated, "Each time you so much as try to gather any chakra to those hands, bubbles will pop, and you will be shocked over and over and over again. I can burst as many as I want, whenever I want. If you do not come with me, I shall burst a dozen of them." He extended his had, and beckoned her with scooping motions palm down, as if calling a friend to gossip. Enraged, Hanabi staggered to her feet, and hissed, "I'd rather die than come with you." Not trusting his words, she gathered chakra into her hands and blew it out of her chakra openings in an attempt to blow the bubbles off her hands all at once before she could be shocked. But all the bubbles burst at once, detonating a huge blast of electricity that surged around the girl, scorching her clothes to cinders and jerking her body about like a rag doll, until it seemed she would snap her own spine from the violent movements.
Eventually, she collapsed to the ground, her clothing in tatters, smoking from the lightning burns on her hands. Tut-tutting, Soshiro got off his stump and strolled over to the girl, taking his time. He picked her up nonchalantly with one hand and threw her over his shoulder as he strode off into the forest.
To be continued . . .