I will note that questions relating to chapter one since the upload of chapter two have been added in chapter two (the second to last paragraph). Questions are answered following the chapter.
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Chapter Three: Enter the Sennin
There was a long moment of silence as none of the warriors seemed willing to speak. Around them the street was fairly damaged from the battle, and eerily empty. No one stirred, and mists floated soundlessly about everything, almost seeming to confine the battlefield to its own, unnatural world. The new arrival stopped all combat, and the eyes of both sides were upon him. He seemed unwilling to break the silence, merely standing calmly with his arms folded.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura cried at the same instant. Hinata finally let out her breath, not having realized that she had been holding it. The cat-eyed shinobi growled and ceased his attempted attack, throwing the former plan to the winds. This was more important. Abruptly he snapped his fingers once more.
"You! Handle the girls! This one is mine!"
The samurai instantly moved, blades sliding to kill the two wounded shinobi. But Hinata moved in the same moment. She caught two of their wrists and pulled with their strikes, hurling them away. A third blade shot down, but she pushed the flat of it aside with one foot, making it only stab into the concrete beside Sakura harmlessly.
Jerking the blade out and evading her attack, the samurai backed away slightly. The other two were behind her, forming a triangle around her. All of them seemed reluctant to move, cautious but confident in their position. Hinata shivered slightly, then dropped into a fighting position.
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"I think I know you," the cat-eyed shinobi commented. "You, I really want to fight." The chakra around his arms dissolved. "This should be a good test for my skills."
Sasuke remained silent, his mouth hidden by his collar. His eyes were expressionless. Mists traced their way around both warriors, and neither moved to strike for some time. Abruptly laughing, the other warrior flicked his tongue into the air and smirked.
"You don't realize it, but I already have the upper hand."
"Not really," Sasuke tilted his head to the right just slightly. It was merely a statement, not a taunt. "You can analyze jutsu with your tongue, can't you? I've pushed trails of chakra all about us- your senses are completely worthless now."
"Not bad at all," the other chuckled. "But you're still going to die!" He vanished the next second, appearing behind Sasuke and sweeping down with a large kunai. Swiftly Sasuke caught the arm holding the kunai, and in almost the same motion let it go and drove his elbow back into his opponent's stomach. Blood flew from the shinobi's mouth, and he staggered backward across the street.
"H-how much chakra did you put into that attack?" he gasped, holding his stomach. Sasuke had returned to his standing position, face not having shifted even slightly during the conflict.
"None," he answered simply. "Hinata-san damaged your inner organs earlier... I doubt you can take many more direct blows."
"I should have expected as much," the cat-eyed shinobi laughed. "But if you really think I'm beaten, you have another thing coming. I can see I'll need bigger gauntlets for you." Chakra exploded around his fists, forming massive gauntlets that covered his entire forearms. "Plus, I'm not without my own soft style."
Abruptly his palm shot out, and a sphere of chakra flew through the air as gracefully as a butterfly. It seemed that Sasuke merely stepped to the left, but somehow he glided out of the way of the attack and it passed harmlessly behind him. His hair fell over his eyes, shadowing them completely, but now he glanced up between dark locks. Both of his eyes gleamed red.
"Die already!" the other warrior roared, rushing forward. All he had to do was get a few light touches on his opponent's head and then it would be over. But somehow he found each of his maneuvers anticipated and gently turned aside. No matter how fast or complexly he struck, or how he feinted, his opponent evaded the attacks effortlessly. His assault ended abruptly with Sasuke's palm to his chin.
Flung backward through the air, the shinobi crashed heavily on the street. Immediately Sasuke was attacking, foot intending to break through his opponent. It bit only into the street as his opponent faded away to blackened rose petals. Without blinking Sasuke brought an arm up behind his head, blocking a large gauntlet moving toward his skull.
Like lightening he struck back, fist flying for his opponent. But the other shinobi was prepared for such an attack, and put both gauntlets in the way of it. The fist drove him backward, but did nothing to the gauntlets. Sasuke's kick fared no better, deflecting from the gauntlets harmlessly. Behind his shield, the warrior began to laugh.
At that moment Sasuke's other hand swept over his head. In his palm was collected a dangerous energy, a sphere of crackling blue and black power. Before the other shinobi could think to change his defensive style the hand plunged toward him, chakra flaring. The gauntlets shattered under the overwhelming chakra, which continued on to plunge into the cat-eyed shinobi's chest.
For a fraction of an instant he fell backward without a sound, not apparently damaged. Then abruptly his body was consumed as if by flame, and nothing remained. Briefly Sasuke scanned the area around himself, then his eyes faded to their normal blue and he turned away. On the opposite side of the street, Hinata was still defending Ino and Sakura against the samurai.
Hinata ducked beneath a running swipe, letting her opponent miss and move on past. Another of the samurai swiped at her with sword and fist. She managed to evade the first, but it seemed all she could do was grab his arm on the second strike. He jerked away easily, and backed off in the same motion, mainly because his ally was striking down, aiming to split Hinata in half.
Turning, Hinata caught the blade between two fingers of one hand, and struck with her other. Her open palm moved at her opponent's head, but he jerked away and her fingers only traced over his face. All three samurai returned to their triangular formation, focused entirely upon wearing Hinata down.
"This isn't good," Ino muttered to Sakura. "Hinata-chan can't defend us forever."
"Look!" Sakura said in a taunt voice. Both glanced aside and discovered Sasuke's battle was finished. He was standing a short distance away, his arms folded calmly. The wind was blowing his black cloak about him, though he himself was motionless.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino called. "Can't you come over here and defend us?"
The three samurai glanced at him, gaze flickering to the dead body of their leader. It was a tribute to their discipline that they remained where they were, though now they seemed completely on the defensive. If he attacked, they weren't sure what they could do...
"I will do nothing," Sasuke told him, voice soft but unyielding. Everyone collectively gasped. "...because my interference is not required. Am I correct, Hinata-san?" His piercing gaze focused on the Hyuga, who shrank back slightly but nodded. "Don't waste any more time."
Startled, the samurai glanced back to Hinata, but too late. She had already raised both hands, and her eyes were closed. They opened abruptly as veins stood out on her forehead, and ripples of chakra expanded from the Byukagen. The green flowing chakra of each of the samurai was immediately evident... along with the blue chakra embedded on their bodies. This chakra exploded at that moment, and all three screamed in agony. In seconds they stopped writhing, and all three lay on the ground around the female shinobi.
"What was that?" Ino breathed, glancing at Hinata. Maybe she hadn't been quite as helpless as she had imagined after all. Nervous with every eye on her, Hinata began fidgeting with her fingers and avoiding eye contact.
"I don't want to have to save you again," Sasuke told them icily. "There are more important things to do here."
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun!" Ino said cheerfully, getting to her feet surprisingly well for someone heavily injured. She began to move toward him, with Sakura in hot pursuit, but he calmly turned away, robes spinning with the motion. He walked directly away from them and faded away into the shifting mists.
"Oooh, he is so cool," Sakura whispered dreamily.
"Still playing hard to get," Ino muttered. Hinata just glanced back and forth between them and then started fidgeting again. The three of them began moving slowly down the street, nursing injuries. At that point the thought occurred to Hinata that their room had been totally destroyed, and she started worrying about where they'd go, but the others had more important things on their minds.
"I wonder how long he was watching before he interfered," Sakura said thoughtfully.
"That's right, he could have been! I wonder if he was impressed by my new body snatching jutsu..."
"As if! You got your ass kicked!"
"So did you!" Ino shot back. The tension between them was almost palpable, and this time it was real. For once Hinata was glad that she was generally ignored; she didn't want to deal with this in any way.
"Too bad he had to show up now," Sakura muttered, turning away forcefully. "I'm all dirty and sweaty and my hair is out of place... at least I'm not bloody like you."
"Your forehead can be seen even with dirt! I wish he hadn't come then, though, I'm hardly at my best. At least I could have been in a decent dress..."
"A hooker dress, you mean."
"Shut up!"
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Back to the wall, Sakura idly flipped her kunai back and forth between her hands. It glittered surprisingly brightly in the moonlight. A chill wind blew one strand of her hair out of place, and she brushed it back absentmindedly. She was supposed to be standing guard, but the scene outside the balcony window was so idyllic that she couldn't help but be entranced by it. Now if only Sasuke would show up now, when things were quiet and she could lean closer to him and-
A soft sound broke into Sakura's fantasy, and her hand snapped around the handle of her kunai. She whirled upon a startled Hinata, who stepped back with a slightly frightened noise. Letting out her breath heavily, Sakura let her kunai slide out of battle position. It was vaguely disturbing how close Hinata had been able to get without being heard, though...
"I-I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," she said softly. "I just couldn't sleep."
"Neither could I," Sakura breathed. "Seeing Sasuke-kun again, after nearly a year..." her voice trailed off and her eyes closed. She showed no sign of finishing her sentence, so Hinata spoke up timidly.
"Sakura-chan? W-why is it that you like Sasuke-kun so much?"
Sakura turned to her, expression incredulous as if she couldn't believe the question had been asked. For a brief moment Hinata began fidgeting before she noticed and forced herself to stop.
"I guess you wouldn't understand," Sakura eventually said, grinning just slightly. "Good old Hinata-chan. I never have to worry about you."
There was a long pause. Swallowing, Hinata made herself speak up again. "That... that didn't exactly answer my question..."
Rolling her eyes, Sakura threw up her hands. "What can I do with you? Who wouldn't want Sasuke-kun? That silky hair, those dreamy eyes, that way he's always scowling... He's just so mysterious and cool, not to mention se-"
An explosion effectively interrupted her in mid-sentence. Several tongues of flame dissipated high in the black sky, and several clashes of metal could be heard. Both Sakura and Hinata started, and it was not long before Ino joined them by the balcony, alert but blinking sleep from her eyes.
"What's going on?" her grim tone was ruined by a partial yawn.
"I'm not sure," Sakura began, but Hinata interrupted her quietly.
"It's a fight," she told the other two. "At least twelve people. They're all moving too fast for me to tell who they are."
"It might be Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed. Ino didn't bother saying anything, and merely leapt away from the room at full speed. The other two followed quickly, and they sped over the town. Concrete bit hard into Hinata's bare feet, but she ignored the pain. She knew it wasn't Sasuke, but she had a suspicion that this problem concerned them anyway.
The three of them skidded to a halt on street level, finding the battle already over. It had taken place in a broad square, which was now littered with bodies. Much of the street was stained a dark red, and large gouges had been taken out of the concrete. A few nearby businesses had partially broken walls. Standing alone amid the destruction was a single figure, completely untouched by the devastation. Long robes swirled around it softly in the breeze, and it was holding the edge of a broad flat hat that obscured its face entirely.
"A Kage..." Ino whispered. At that moment the figure turned, tilting back its hat to glance at them with shadowed eyes. Abruptly it broke into a broad grin.
"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service!"
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The plot does not truly begin to unfold until the following chapter. Hopefully, however, this chapter will advance the storyline far enough to be satisfying. This chapter should answer certain questions regard use of Byukagen-linked abilities.