A/N: PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?
EDIT: Really? Begone, trolls! Cruel words will never break hus!
WARNING! This chapter hits the ground running. So yeah, there you go.
As promised, here's your Wednesday update, and would you look at that, over ten thousand words for you all. Looking forward to that sweet, sweet feedback..The gang and I put a lot of work into it. Our apologies for any errors you might find.
In other news, I should have some mystery updates for you on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and possibly Sunday. My surgery is shortly after that, so I'm afraid I can't make any exact promises once the week unfolds. This chapter was a blast to write; because we finally get to see just how much Salem's presence has truly changed this world. You'll soon see what we mean. Also.
Been a bit, sorry about that. Surgery knocked me down for a bit. Updates weren't quite as long as I'd like them to be, either. In that regard, "Road" and "Remnants" are still very much being worked on, but its taking time. Those chapters are quite long and full of...well. I'll not say more for spoilers sake. That new Grimm was definitely a thing. Scary as all hell, yikes...now for your questions~!
Q: You really like writing Salem, don't you?
A: She's a right force of nature in this story; she has her motives, her goals, and her ambitions. All that time locked away may have weakened her, but thanks to Naruto? She's growing stronger every day. Now, she's not invincible by any means, but she's a right force to be reckoned with all the same. made her more powerful once she was released. Furthermore, she's very much the main pairing here. She doesn't take kindly to challengers,...or does she? Magic's a scary thing...
Q: What did you do to Yugao?!
A: I? I have done nothing. You'll have to ask Salem.
Q: Is Naruto going to be evil in this story? He stills seems like himself.
A: Depends on your definition of the word. He's clearly grown behind his usual foolish self, but pure evil? Nah. Lets call him chaotic neutral...for now.
Q: Somebody's a Bleach fan~!
A: Yup. Any references to Bleach here are deliberate and intentional. I'm glad some people caught them. Consider it a homage.
Q: Are you going to include THAT Grimm?
A: It was my intent yes, but this simply makes it canon.
Q: Can we expect to see other RWBY characters running around here? I mean, it strikes me as something the God of Light/God of Darkness would do. Only the elite shinobi would stand a change in a fair fight with Salem, and even then they'd have to trap or immobilize her. Wouldn't it be better to bring some of the old cast in to help?
A: *zips lips*
Now, then. Away we go! As ever I own NO references, memes or themes. Not a wit, not a one.
"A child who was not embraced by their village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.
You shunned that boy. You made him an outcast. You forsook him.
And where did that bring him, I wonder. Oh yes.
You know the answer, don't you?
"TO ME."
~Salem.
Break The Cage
There was just something therapeutic about an 'ol fashioned beatdown, Naruto found.
If said beatdown consisted of smacking a smug prick in the mouth? Icing on the cake. When said prick had been running said mouth? Spouting lies like fate and destiny? Well! It spoke to a deep, primal place in the young man's soul. Fate could go plow itself. Destiny be damned. Every blow battered down that arrogance; each strike sheared away the Hyuuga's burning pride until naught but dying cinders remained. By Neji's own words, he was "destined" to be weak. Powerless. Forgotten. Alone. A dead-last street rat who knew nothing of friends or family. Not the embrace of a Mother, nor the guidance of a Father.
Naruto took that real personal.
Neji believed fate to be eternal, inevitable, unstoppable. His beliefs had fashioned themselves into a cage, his so-called "destiny" preventing him from reaching out into the wide world beyond. Naruto was determined to break that cage...and maybe a few bones. Probably best to be sure. He knew Neji wouldn't accept anything less than total defeat. Any trick on his part might be seen as a fluke, and wouldn't be accepted as a victory in the broken Hyuuga's. He needed overwhelm him. Dominate him. Annihilate him, without killing him. A triumph so obvious, a defeat so glaring, that it couldn't possibly be denied.
Here, in this moment, Naruto couldn't care less about being a Chunin. He was here to make a point.
Little did he know he'd already been chosen by those watching him.
Even had he known, he wouldn't have cared.
Neji barreled in again, hands blurring. Naruto swung his arm back and caught a pointed strike to his shoulder for the trouble. He allowed it, barely even grunting as he caught the older boy by the face with one hand and slammed him to the ground. Another crater was born from the impact. He pushed his adversary down into it, fingers tight around his throat. A frantic flurry of jyuuken strikes stabbed at the armored plates now sheathing his wrists, to no avail. It felt like the buzzing of an annoying gnat; noticeable, but harmless all the same.
Naruto rolled his eyes and pressed down harder. Neji kicked out at him, shoes slapping at his chest.
"This isn't enough." the former blond modulated his voice to an angry rasp, knowing the effect it would have on his foe. "You're never going to win like this."
"Damn you...!"
"Damned? Me?" Naruto tilted his head, pretending to consider the words. "Not at all. I feel blessed."
Neji howled and thrashed beneath him. There it was. A crack in his composure. The tiniest of fractures visible in his resolve.
Naruto knew he could have ended it there. Of course he could. It was well within his power to do so. It would've been a simple matter to apply just a little more pressure and choke the Hyugga out, thereby ending their match once and for all. Or perhaps a few good punches to the face. Neji didn't have Aura. He wouldn't be able to stand up to that kind of punishment. It would be quick. Painful and humiliating, perhaps, but Neji would recover in time.
None would be able to deny his victory.
No one...save Neji. He saw the defiance still burning in those pale orbs. Even now on the precipice of defeat, his jaw was still set in a firm line. His resolve was fractured, but not broken. Nothing would change if he beat him like this. They'd still hate one another. Neji wouldn't accept a victory like this.
With a long suffering sigh Naruto reared back and deliberately released his prey. Rather than finish what he'd started, he chose to let his adversary slip away yet again, prolonging the match. Neji seized the opportunity of course, but in doing so, he was forced to acknowledge the fact that he'd been released in the first place. And so the fracture became a break, a fissure etching itself into his glassy expression as he scrambled way. It wasn't enough to save him. Not quite. But it would be.
Neji beliefs weren't broken...yet.
You must break your enemy before you engage them. An old memory -Salem's voice!- pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. Only then will you have your victory.
Only a month under her wing had...well, it hadn't necessarily shattered his worldview, but changed it. Shaped it. Altered it. Rather than rush in blindly, he'd taken the time to study his opponent. It wasn't hard. Neji's strengths lay in close combat, in his all-seeing eyes and the prowess they afforded him. Of course they did. The Gentle Fist was made to close down chakra points. Without chakra, a shinobi was powerless. In a world where chakra meant power, the one who took it away was king.
Such a shame he wasn't using chakra right now. Still, the pain was annoying.
Salem's power -her magic!- coursed through his veins, eager to rip and tear. Naruto leashed and controlled it, giving it focus and direction both, then pushed it through his chakra coils. A faint blue light briefly shimmered around his shoulders as they sprang open once more. Blue burned back into a dark tainted red, drawing alarmed cries from the audience. He didn't care.
Neji sucked in a sharp breath. "That's not possible. You...you shouldn't be able to do that."
"Shouldn't be knocking you around either, but I'm doing that, too."
The Hyuuga's jaw closed with a soft click. "A fluke. Nothing more."
Naruto chuckled. "Keep tellin' yourself that."
Salem had given him two separate sources of power. First came her blood, and with it, all the powers of the Grimm. Not quite magic on its own, but useful nonetheless. It granted him the sacred rite to summon her brood and transform into the shape he was wielding even now. Thanks to her tutelage, he could hold this mask for nearly thirty minutes now. That might not seem like much to some, but in a fight?
Half-an-hour was an eternity.
Her other power was far more potent; that of the soul. She'd unlocked his Aura already, but the gift she'd given him transcended even that. This was potent and held no such time limit. Mana surged through his veins like a live wire, sending his pulse pounding in his ears like the drums of a great hunt out for blood. She'd called it the power of the Maidens. Rather, someone named Ozma gave it such a title. Hers was different and all the more powerful for it. There was no such restriction on her gift. Salem could impart her power to whomever she wished, and take it back just as easily. And she'd only given him a fourth of her strength.
Yeah, he pitied her opponents.
But this power had a drawback all its own. He couldn't control it well. Whenever he used it, the magic would rush out of him like a flood. He couldn't control it anywhere near as much as he would've liked. He he unleashed that thunderbolt earlier, Neji wouldn't be standing here. There could be no doubt of that. Natuto didn't want him dead. You couldn't repent from the afterlife. His punishment must be more severe.
The prodigy closed with him again, fists flashing in an intricate combination meant to distract as much as stun.
"Eight Trigrams!" he cried!
This time the jinchuuriki retaliated. After all, this presented a rare opportunity. If he couldn't control Salem's power properly, then he just needed to learn, didn't he? Nothing quite like a trial by fire to bring out the best in someone. Or so Salem said. Meh, semantics. Regardless, this was a good chance to test himself under fire. With but a thought, he ordered the Grimm back, preventing their interference.
Neji was nearly halfway to him nwo. "Sixty Four-
Naruto grinned and almost immediately his mask mirrored the motion. "Gotcha."
Jaws of jagged porcelain popped open with an ominous click. Fanged teeth gaped wide to reveal the danger lurking just beyond their bite. A smoldering swell of red light revealed itself with a sonorous hum, building at the back of Naruto's throat. With each passing moment it burned bright, brighter, brightest still. Power was marshaled and mastered, ruthlessly held in check even as it whined and thrashed under his grip.
'Alright,' he hummed himself. 'Lets see you deal with this.'
Sure enough, Neji saw it and dug in his heels to lengthen his stride, for all the good it did him. He knew he wouldn't make it in time. Naruto knew it too. It was too late to for that. Far too late. In his anger he'd made the rookie mistake of charging into melee, thinking his foe wouldn't have a ranged attack. Now Naruto punished him for it. Viciously. The jinchuuriki roared and a seething swathe of scarlet light burst from his mouth to strike the Hyuuga head on. There was no escape.
One could imagine his surprise then, when Neji dug his heels in, pushed his chakra to the fore, and spun.
"Rotation!"
At the very last moment, an expansive dome of blue-and-white sprang up between him and the blast, splitting the coruscating red beam like a great sea to either side.
Rather than experience anger at being forestalled, Naruto nearly laughed aloud. He would've too, if he wasn't occupied with his attack. For a moment, he almost wanted to thank Neji for this gracious gift. He couldn't have designed a better challenge himself. Now he was even more determined to break that strange shield of his. Rearing back, the blond's red eyes flashed and he howled, pouring a fresh surge of power into his attack. Scarlet light became blinding, pushing against the snarling vortex with renewed intensity.
Neji's technique held for all of a moment more; then that proud dome of blue light shattered like so much glass.
Bereft of his protections and caught on the back foot, Neji had nothing left to him. The older boy barely had time to cross his arms before his face before the blast ripped him from his feet, bore him down into the ground and all but drilled him into the nearest solid surface. There was an explosion when he hit the southern wall; an almighty rush of heat and fury and light that rushed through the stadium to turn the world red. And, for the first time since their battle began, someone screamed.
"Oooh." Salem cooed in the back of his head. "That sounded painful."
Despite himself, Naruto winced. Any enjoyment he might have felt at Neji's pain faded when he saw the state of his right arm. Somehow, he'd managed to twist his body aside at the last instant; reducing his profile and minimizing the damage. It didn't change the fact that his dominant limb was currently a charred mess. His headband had been blown back too, exposing a strange mark on his forehead. Yet despite that, or perhaps solely out of spite, the battered Hyuuga pulled himself upright.
"What's that on your forehead?" he asked.
"Its none of your concern." Neji growled. "What...was that?!"
"Don't really have a name for it, yet." the jinchuuriki shrugged. "I'm thinking about doom blast. How's that sound?""
Neji wrinkled his nose as he scraped himself off the floor. "Tacky."
"I know." A wry grin spread beneath his bony facade. "But its the right kind of tack, don't you think?"
Neji coughed smoke. "Utter bastard."
"No," Naruto riposted instantly. "That would be you. Now, are you gonna surrender gracefully. Or are ya ready for round two?"
Neji snarled and flung a brace of shuriken at him.
Nearly a dozen shadowy hands erupted from the earth to intercept them.
Naruto peered out between the faux-limbs, mas kparting to reveal a grim grin. "Round two it is, then!"
(.0.0.0.)
Baki considered himself a loyal shinobi.
He was loyal to his Kazekage, loyal to his village, and loyal to his people. Nothing else mattered to him. He cared not a fig for the other villages and their people. Why should he? They were not the Sand. What could they possibly hope to offer them? Mist? A land constantly at war with itself. Stone? A realm trapped in traditionalist dogma, unable to rise above the mistakes of the last war. Cloud? Too distant and ruled by emotion. Many of the lesser villages were beneath his notice altogether.
Ah, but the Hidden Leaf...they were worthy of his ire.
Her people lived a life of luxury, replete with comforts those of the Sand were forced to do without. They knew nothing of suffering, naught of sacrifice or hardship. But they would soon. They, who had taken the wealth of missions from them, they who stole away their clients and left their village to found away in the dark...they had sown the wind and would reap the whirlwind. This invasion was necessary to save his country; with the Leaf gone, wealth would flow back into the Sand. They would prosper once more.
So did he watch. So did he wait. So did he observe the battle raging below, preparing himself for the chosen time.
That boy down there...the one with the mask...they'd been wrong about him. Initial reconnaissance had deemed the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi little more than a loud-mouthed boy. A braying fool who didn't know when to shut up. Loud perhaps, but otherwise weak. He hadn't done much to prove otherwise in the preliminaries. Back then hadn't seen any reason to amend their intel. Why would he? The snot-nosed brat had won on a fluke, nothing more. He was a threat to no one, save himself.
How a month had changed him. Now looked older. Taller. Stronger.
Now he was tossing that Hyuuga around like a straw doll. He'd clearly mastered some semblance of his beast. It must be. What else could it be? He ground his hands into a fist at the sight. A shudder passed through him, not one of anticipation this time, but fear. By all accounts, Shukaku was the weakest of the tailed beasts. The Kyuubi was far stronger. If this whelp could control it...no. He mustn't think such treacherous thoughts. This one would need to be watched closely. Perhaps a bit of poison slipped into his food, a sneak attack when he wasn't prepared. Something -anything!- to cripple him when the time came.
What if Gaara had to fight him? Would he win?
"It doesn't matter." Baki murmured to himself. "He's weak, like the rest. He will be crushed."
"Weak, are we?" a woman's voice hissed in his ear suddenly, sibilant in its softness. "Care to test that?"
A thin steel cord looped around the shinobi's neck and hauled him into the shadows before he could cry out. The attack was so sharp, so sudden, that he had no time to prepare himself; much less defend against it. Even as his hands flew to his throat the garrote wire bit into his neck and strangled any hope of escape, much less a substitution jutsu. No one saw him, none recognized his plight. Tan fingers scrabbled at the wire as his world began to blur. Violet hair ticked his cheek and still his captor dragged him away from prying eyes.
"Hurts, doesn't it." that same voice snarled at him, the blackest of hisses. "This is what he felt when you killed him. His life bleeding away...with no one to save him...
Baki slapped a hand at her wrist. "No...Not like this...!"
"You're right." remarkably, his tormentor hummed their agreement. "This is too quick. You have to suffer first."
Without warning the wire slipped away. A boot slammed into his back and kicked him forward, slamming him down to his hands and knees. He didn't have time to rise. A kick crashed into his side and slammed him down a flight of stairs, fracturing one rib and shattering three more. Shards of flying bone played havoc with his insides. Gasping, he flung himself aside, tensing for a killing blow that was sure to come.
It never came.
Instead he scrambled to his feet and found himself face to face with an Anbu wearing a cat mask, their face hidden from the world. Only their strange, violet hair lent any credence to their identity. Her shoulders were stiff with tension, her hands quivering in unmistakable rage. Idly, he noted the blade at her back. She looked like she knew how to use it.
"Who are...?"
"At last. Vengeance." the woman interrupted suddenly, turning her head to regard him with a stiff, jerky motion. "All that planning, all that preparation. I have sold my very soul for this moment."
Questions whirled in Baki's mind as he stumbled away; so many grains of sand blown away in the a windstorm. Who in blazes was this woman? Why was she attacking him? Had his identity been compromised? Was the invasion doomed already? Surely not. Unless it was. Unless the Leaf had led them to this very moment? Had their enemies lain in wait and permitted them to gather their forces, just to crush them...? It was a hopeless thought, one he didn't want to believe it; one that overwhelmed him regardless.
"Identify yourself!" he cried in vain, hoping to buy himself time.
Incredibly, the Anbu complied. "Gladly, murderer."
She threw her mask away, exposing angry eyes and...oh gods. Her face. What was wrong with her face? It wasn't normal. Didn't look healthy at all. At a glance the left side of her visage appeared perfectly normal; it was the right that worried him. It was all wrong and pallid, bone white with red veins pulsing through her cheeks on that side. They pulsed in time with her heartbeat. A single red iris regarded him and for all his bravery, Baki found himself shrinking back. By the sage. What was this? An infection? A plague? She looked well on her way to becoming a monster.
Perhaps she already was one.
"My name is Yugao Uzuki." the madwoman declared, warped face twisting in a snarl. "You killed my lover; you took everything from me. Prepare to die."
Baki bristled. "Yugao...? I don't even know who you are."
Her smile was just the wrong shade of vicious.
"You will."
Baki cleared his throat, only to pause as he experienced a sudden pang of dread. Fingers like ice ran down his spine, chilling him to the bone. A question sprang to his mind. Something told him he wouldn't very much like the answer. Somewhere above them in the stands, the crowd roared their approval for one of the combatants.
"Who," he croaked out, "No. What was his name?"
Yugao gave him one word.
"Hayate."
The blood drained from Baki's face. Well. There went any chance of diplomacy. By the sands, this was going to come down to a fight, one he wasn't sure he could win. He'd have to kill her quickly; quietly, too. It wasn't yet time to strike. But could he succeed? This woman was well aware of him and likely knew his tricks. He was confident enough in his ability. He'd have to be quick. One strike, one kill, one death before she could ever hope to realize what transpired. He'd hide her corpse and pin the blame on someone else. He'd slay her the same way he had that Hayate fool.
Raising his hands, he began to weave a quick array seals...
Splat.
...why wasn't his right hand moving?
Baki looked down. Blinked, as he beheld his right arm laying on the floor, severed well below the elbow. Shock dawned as he watch the blood flow from it. His gaze rose and fell upon the severed stump of his arm. At first he didn't quite comprehend it. Then came the fear. This-this was a joke, right? It had to be. Perhaps a genjutsu of some sort. He hadn't even felt the cut, much less the blade biting into his flesh. No one could possibly be that fast. She hadn't even drawn her sword...!
"Doesn't feel very nice, does it?" the Anbu crooned. "Here. Let me even you out."
Yugao's blade flicked out again in another impossibly fast sweep, little more than a gleaming arc of silver light. Baki barely felt the cut before his left hand joined the right upon the floor. Disarmed -quite literally!- he tried at last to retreat, only to gurgle in surprise as another flash of silver bisected his legs. This time, he couldn't ignore the pain. He crashed down to the ground with a scream. It was quickly drowned out by the stands above. Outside, the crowd howled for bloody spectacle, blissfully unaware of the grisly game taking place beneath their very feet.
'I'm going to die here.' a small part of his brain balked numbly as Yugao advanced upon him. 'Aren't I?'
Her sword slashed down at his limbless body. Once. Twice. Thrice.
Baki did not die well.
(.0.0.0.)
Salem watched Naruto's brawl from the stands and sniffled happily.
"I raised that boy, you know." she wiped a tear from her eye. "Even taught him that move. I'm so proud."
Hazel offered a rueful chuckle of his own as he leaned forward in his seat. "He's doing quite well, isn't he? To think he's holding back...
He was, wasn't he? Such a sight pleased the Queen of the Grimm to no end. She even clapped as fresh explosion sent Neji scurrying for cover. How unlike her contractor to play with his food. Really, it served as a stoic reminder of how far she'd come in such a short time. Centuries ago she would have sught to slaughter everyone in this village without so much as a second thought. No remorse would have been felt, no tears shed for the fallen. She would have gone about her work like a machine, feeling nothing for anything of her victims. Now?
"Yes!" she pumped a fist into the air with a triumphant cry! "Go for the groin!"
To his credit, being of the male persuasion, Hazel didn't endorse such violence. "My queen, please...
Salem ignored his protests and continued to watch the slaughter with open relish. So what if the common folk balked at her? Thanks to her disguise, they thought her a particularly bloodthirsty child come to watch the Chunin Exams with her father. No one was any the wiser. A good thing too. She would've eviscerated anyone who spoiled her fun right now. Really, she found this arena amusing; if only because she'd never seen one before.
Why had she not thought of such a thing?
To her, this idea was fresh. New. Something she'd never thought to attempt before. And why not? Warriors fighting for her amusement, the chance to gain favor and advance in rank under her watchful eye as they tested their mettle and revealed fighting styles yet unseen...the very idea tickled her. She'd never thought to try her hand at such a thing. Even in the past, there had never been a shortage of those willing to fight for the sake of glory. For all its faults and flaws, humanity could be terribly entertaining at times. When pitted against one another, they were all too eager to turn on one another.
Atlas had been one such example. Nothing wrong with a little spectacle now and again.
Why, she hadn't needed to do much of anything there. She'd shown up with a giant Grimm Whale, surrounded the city, and let them destroy one another. Such silly creatures, those mortals. Bit of a shame what happened to the robot girl, though. Salem hadn't held any real ill will toward Penny. After all, the girl had been so kind as to give her the Staff...
A sharp crack caught her attention and she turned in time to find a rather amusing sight; one of Naruto's summoned Ursa had caught Neji by the heel with a giant paw.
Said bear proceeded to whip the poor prodigy back and forth, smashing him into the ground like a rag dol.
Heh. Puny Hyuuga.
Her gaze drifted across the stands, listening as bets were placed and wagers made. A seed of curiosity sprouted in her mind as she observed them. Was this what Ozma had called gambling? Another aspect of life she had not bothered to indulge in ages ago. Wait. Were these fools betting on her contractor? Aha! They were!
An idea struck her and on a whim, she seized it.
She turned to face a portly noble in the seat opposite her; a fine fool of a fop clad in heavy robes and...was that makeup? Ugh. It made him look like a clown, all white and pasty-faced. And these fools ruled this land? Her lips curled in a scowl at the thought. The right to rule belonged to the strong. Not these fools.
"A thousand on the Uzumaki boy." she declared.
The braggart rounded on her, eyes gleaming with avarice. "I'll take that bet, little miss!"
Within moments others took up the hue and cry; even as a few staunch idiots stubbornly clung to the idea that their cherished Hyuuga would win the day. Salem let them live in their ignorance. They may be smug now, but that would make their moment of defeat all the sweeter. She'd enjoy fleecing them while her contractor beat the bastard bloody.
She saw something else, then. Rather, someone. A girl with pale eyes.
Just like that, her interest shifted anew. Could it be? There was certainly some resemblance to Neji there. Almost frightfully so. Curiosity reared its head in her heart and the beginnings of a frown plucked at the corner of her mouth. She wanted to know-no, she needed to know. Was this the girl her Contractor had spoken of? What was she like, to have caught his eye? Brave? Fierce? Strong? Something less? Something more? The thought wouldn't let her be. Perhaps it was the body she was using, perhaps changing her form like this made her more emotional. Who could say? Regardless, she simply must know.
"Well, well, well...
Hazel saw her smirk and frowned in mild displeasure. "My queen, please don't."
"Too late." Salem patted one of his arms. "Be a dear and look after my body for a moment would you?"
She never gave him the chance to answer; for in the very next moment she went limp in the giant's arms and arrowed herself at the girl's mind.
(.0.0.0.)
Naruto was winning.
Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. She kept blinking them, certain she'd wake at any moment. A small part of her almost expected she would; any moment now she'd wake up in a hospital bed, only to find that this was all some delirious fever dream. The thought was almost too painful to imagine. It threatened to break her, shatter her heart beyond repair.
But, no. This was real.
No matter how much she scrubbed her eyes, the scene before her did not change.
Against all odds, against all hope, against everything cousin Neji had said and done, Naruto was pounding her cousin in the ground.
All thanks to that strange, terrifying new power of his. That dark energy coiling about him. It spoke to a small, primal part of her, a voice she'd sought to suppress all her life.
Her cousin lunged at him anew and the two of them exchanged a blistering series of blows, moving faster than the untrained eye could see. Quite suddenly the masked warrior came out on top. He shunted aside a palm thrust that would have surely perforated his heart and chambered a vicious kick into Neji's chin in the chin. Caught unawares, the branch member was launched away, sent skipping across the arena like a flung stone. A sudden gust of wind followed, buffeting his body and all but slamming him into a wall.
One of those strange summoned beasts loped after him with a low chuffing sound, only for its master to raise a hand.
Incredibly, the creature obeyed and sat on its haunches, leaving him to continue what he'd started.
Hinata didn't want Neji to die. She wasn't that cruel. But she wasn't above seeing him lose a few teeth for what he'd done to her. Her hands clenched in her lap, biting into the dark fabric of her tunic. She couldn't bring herself to shout like everyone else. But she prayed for his triumph all the same. If he could be this brave, then surely...surely...blast it. She couldn't finish the thought.
Win! She willed the thought at him instead. Kick his ass!
"He's become a bit of a showoff, hasn't he?"
Startled, she rounded on the voice.
Where once there had been an empty seat to her right, she now found herself gazing at a young girl with a round face, bearing bright blue eyes and pale blond hair. Clad in a pale white dress with matching sandals, she appeared utterly normal. At a glance, she might have even been mistaken for Ino. Indeed, Hinata was half-tempted to dismiss her outright. It was only that small smirk that warned her otherwise. A normal girl wouldn't wear that kind of smile; it reminded her of a stalking predator hunting its prey.
Some sixth sense shrieked in the back of her head, begging her to run. She didn't listen to it. She should have listened
"Tell me," Those bewitching eyes ensnared her, heart and soul. "Are you Hinata Hyuuga?"
"I am...?" the words emerged as a question. "Can I help you?"
"Perhaps," the girl considered her for a long moment. "He speaks often of you, you know."
She had a strange way of speaking this one. Why did that fill her with dread? Hinata blinked fitfully. "Excuse me...?"
"Naruto, of course. I confess, I wanted to see you for myself." The girl ignored her gasp, instead touching one hand to her pale chin. "To see the girl who roused my contractor to such righteous fury." she tittered softly at some fond memory. "He's usually so peaceful. Yet when he spoke of your crushing defeat, he changed."
This...this girl knew Naruto?
A pang of jealousy stirred in Hinata's heart. She tried to stamp it down, to no avail. Something burned in her throat. Anger? Knowing someone else had taken interest in him. Then again, it wasn't as though she had any right to him. She'd never approached him, and the few times they'd spoken she'd nearly fainted. And what in blazes was a contractor?
"I wondered what you must be like, how fierce you must be to catch his eye." Pale blue eyes flitting her up and down, assessing her worth. The girl's smile became a scowl. "Yet all I see before me is a weak-willed child." A stray spark of red flashed through her gaze.
"I am not impressed."
The rebuke stung more than it should.
"Y-You can say whatever you want." Hinata might be a meek girl, but she bridled at the insult all the same. "I think you should leave."
"Oh?" a blond brow rose. "Do you have some spine after all? By all means, show me."
Was this girl trying to test her? Seeking a rise out of her or something? Cheeky little upstart. Wait. Where had that thought come from? She tried to speak, but a hacking cough caught her out and forced her into silence as her chest spasmed. Blasted lungs! She still hadn't fully recovered from what Neji had done to her lungs. Even a month after the fact, that single strike was still the bane of her existence.
"Byakugan...!"
Her eyes flared, trying to get a measure of this girl. Mistakes were made.
All seeing eyes stripped away the illusion before her. Too late, she realized this wasn't a girl at all, but rather a young woman masquerading as one. She was darkness incarnate; shadow and flame and fury. Her skin pale as the driven snow, eyes the color of blood, rich as the angry red veins throbbing in her veins. Looking at her hurt; the very vision of her stung Hinata's eyes so badly that she wanted to close them out of reflex. But in that darkness she glimpsed a thread of light, one gleaming among the dark. That thread flowed out of her in a thin river of golden luminescence, down into the arena below.
She followed it with her gaze. Her eyes widened. It went to...Naruto? Were they connected somehow? Was she hurting him?!
No, now that she looked closely, she wasn't giving him power; on the contrary, his existence seemed to be sustaining hers just as much as she did him. Not some ghastly vampire feeding off his life energy. Not at all. Like a symbiote working with its host, so too did they coexist with one another. Try as she might, she couldn't think of another way to describe it, only that it was. Their very souls were bonded together by some strange jutsu -magic?- on a level that hers would never be with his.
As if sensing her gaze, Naruto looked up at her. Red eyes narrowed against lavender.
Hinata yanked the chakra away from her eyes, unable to bear the sight of it. "Who are you? What have you done to him?"
"Oh?" She wasn't prepared for the laughter that followed. "So those eyes of yours can see me; see the bond between me and my contractor, while others cannot. Fascinating." the woman smiled then. It caused the shadows to twist around her, taking on monstrous shapes straight out of her nightmares. "Perhaps I was too quick to judge you, Hinata of the Hyuuga." still that smile didn't abate. You're not normal. There may yet be some hope for you after all."
The recovering girl flinched.
Though the stranger's remark hadn't been phrased as an insult, Hinata quailed beneath the weight of those words all the same. No. She wasn't normal. She was less than normal. Weak. Pathetic. Unable to live up to the weight of her clan name, a failure in every aspect of her life. Trapped in an untenable position, doomed to live out the rest of her days in mediocrity. This one would not. She was strength and power. Grace personified, a being who cared not a fig what others thought of her. She wanted that. She needed that. But first, she had to know.
"J-Just what are you...?" she whispered.
The demonic woman didn't continue, not at first. She merely blinked back at her, weighing the worth of speaking.
"Do you know me?" she intoned. "Do you know what I am? Do you want to know my name?"
Something told her not to ask. Her tongue betrayed her. "Tell me."
Black eyes burned with triumph.
"Very well. This is what I am called." the twisted being before her declared, spreading her arms wide. "Immortal." she all but spat the word. "Eternal, a being without end. I am forsaken. Witch, mankind called me. A being from a bygone age." the very air seemed to warp with the weight of her words. "I was here when your world was young and I will be here still when it crumbles into dust." a peal of distant thunder rumbled overhead, rattling the heavens themselves. "I have as many names as there are winds, as many titles as there are ways to die. I was contained once, but no longer."
In a flash she rounded on her, pale visage looming mere inches before hers.
"I am Salem." she declared at last, and the very mention of her name boiled in the air between them like a curse. "Goddess of the Grimm. And your world will be mine."
Just like that, she leaned back and the spell was broken.
"As to your second question, I have made my Contractor more than what he was." she made a show of inspecting her nails as Hinata continued to balk. "The rest is none of your concern. He can never be yours." the words hit her like a punch to the gut more than any other. "He is already mine; he simply hasn't realized it yet."
"W-What?" No! Recover! "Who are you to say that?!"
"Have I offended you?" Salem blinked guilelessly, wearing the guise of an innocent girl once more. "My apologies." a hand rose and fell, tucking a stray strand of pale hair behind her ear. "This is not a threat. It is simply the truth." she tossed her head and that bewitching smile returned once more; the full confidence of a woman masquerading as a mere girl. "You will never have him. His heart belongs to me."
Her every instinct shrieked at her to back down. "He isn't yours."
By the sage, what was she saying?! This woman was darkness! Death! Challenging like this only meant her end! And yet she found herself rising from her seat, standing her ground. Even as the weight of Salem's gaze crashed down on her like a physical force, she stood firm. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide, lock herself in her room and pretend this never happened. But that would mean turning her back on the abomination before her, and she would surely die if she did so. It wasn't bravery that stilled her. Oh, no. It was fear.
"A little fight in you, hmm?" thankfully for her, Salem mistook it as the former. Her eyes sharpened. "I like that. Tell me, do you seek power?"
Yes. a voice hissed in the back of Hinata's head. More than anything. I never want to be weak again. Even if what she says is true, I want to stand beside him, I want to be worthy of his respect.
Salem laid a hand on her collarbone, well above her breasts.
Hinata jerked back. "W-What are you doing?!"
"A show of good faith."
Just like that, the crushing pain in her chest abated, leaving her to breathe freely once more. Hinata sucked in a shuddering breath as a veined arm pulled away, feeling stronger than she'd ever been. Pale eyes flitted up to meet blazing red orbs. Not with confusion or fear, or even hate...but relief. She hadn't realized just how ill she was, how badly damaged she'd been. Her lungs pulled in fresh clean air, startling her with a gasp. Lavender orbs gazed up listlessly, flecked with confusion.
"Why?" she whispered.
Salem didn't give her an answer.
"We will meet again, Hinata of the Hyuuga clan." Two fingers flicked forward, poking her forehead. "Now. Wake. Up."
...ta...!
The recovered heiress blinked, realizing someone was shaking her. Eyes bleary, ears ringing, she flailed for a moment before she recognized the tattooed face bli
"I...what?" she stifled a yawn with the back of her palm. "Kiba?"
"You dozed off for a bit there." Her teammate regarded her fretfully. "You alright?"
"I'm fine. I was talking to...
"Eh?" The inuzuka blinked. "To who?"
When she turned her head, Hinata found only an empty aisle beside her.
Had she truly been dreaming? It didn't seem possible. Everything had felt so real. To claim it was simply a figment of her imagination felt almost too fantastic to believe. Could someone be healed in a dream? It sounded absurd; bespoke of silly things like magic and blessings and curses. Fairy tales. Fables. That sort of thing. Yet her body felt light again and the air came easily to her once more.
Across the way, a familiar pair of eyes found hers. Salem waved lazily.
Just like that, Hinata felt her very soul turn to ice in her veins.
And then, quite suddenly, the match ended.
(.0.0.0.)
Neji was no stranger to fear.
He was born in it, molded by it, raised in the knowledge that his life could be ended at any given moment if someone so chose. Just as Father's had been. The main branch lorded their power over their family ever day, eager to remind them -him!- of their place. In time, he had learned to live with it. He'd thought himself past it.
Now, for the first time in a long time, Neji Hyuuga felt fear again.
It was worse than he'd imagined. So much wasn't the pulse pounding in his ears that terrified him so, nor the frantic beating of his heart, though the latter certainly played a part in his anxiety. It was the knowledge that he'd been wrong. Had he been holding this power in reserve during the preliminaries? Was it all a front?
"Doesn't feel so good, does it?!"
Pale fire crashed down where he'd been standing a moment before, bathing the world in eerie azure relief. He flung himself aside, hastening his pace lest he be struck down and consumed by the flame. Angry heat licked at his heels, scorching his skin as he tumbled away. His foe was toying with him, he was certain of it. Blasted blond bastard, putting on a show for the crowds. They were eating it up.
"What's wrong?" a low, bemused laugh answered him. "You were so quick to dismiss me before. What happened to all that arrogance?"
A knee slammed into his chin as Naruto tanked a gentle fist strike and lashed out, sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground, tumbled, flipped himself upright to avoid a summoned Beowolf snapping at his heel, and bolted for cover before the Ursa could trample him underfoot. Not a heartbeat later, a hail of sharpened feathers from the boy's pet Nevermore skewered where he'd been standing.
"Why are you running, Neji?!" Naruto sauntered after him, clawed hands flexing. "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!"
No matter what he tried, nothing worked!
Whirling away, the prodigy scaled the nearest wall in a desperate attempt to earn so much-needed distance between him and his foe. He climbed to the absolute apex and all the while his body screamed at him. His chest heaving, lungs screaming, legs begging for rest that refused to come. Neji ignored it all and frantically tried to marshal his thoughts. He needed time to think. Time to plan. Time. Never enough time. His foe was relentless; never giving him space, never enough time to think, never! But he'd be safe up here surely. Even if the fool chased him he'd-
A fireball rocketed up into his face at blistering speeds.
Neji dug his heels into the wall and rotated viciously, batting it away. Unfortunately, the very moment he ceased spinning, blood-red eyes flooded his vision.
"Neji," came the sigh. "This worked once. Did you think I'd let you use it a second time?"
A roundhouse kick slapped him from his perch and hurled him to the ground.
Armored boots entered his field of vision as he gasped for air.
"I want you to hit me as hard as you can."
"What-
"Now hold on." a finger rose as Neji clamored to his feet. "You might've misheard me. Not half as hard, not some arbitrary percentage." He shook his head slowly, planting one hand on his hip. "I want you. To hit me. As hard. As you can." pale arms spread wide exposing red veins against white flesh. "I'm going to give you one free shot; hell, I won't even move from this space while you take it." Pale arms spread wide, inviting an attack, a deadly blow, even. "But I'm warning you, if you waste it-
Neji absolutely blurred. "Sixty Four Palms!"
He willed his scorched arm to move in tandem with the others, hammering strike after strike into the unyielding pillar before him. Each strike doubled in intensity. Each hit inflicted vicious internal injuries. He was a whirl of motion, a blur unsurpassed. Perfection personified. There could be no escape for his victim. A series of machinge-gun-like strikes hammered home into his torso, intensifying with each moment.
Naruto took each strike soundlessly.
He didn't move. Didn't budge. Even as his body shook with every blow. Even as dozens of needle-like chakra spikes rammed into his body and sealed his power away, he refused to falter. Those bloodred eyes gazed down at him soullessly. Weighing him. Judging him. Assessing his worth.
The final strike should have blow him clear off his feet Instead, he only grunted.
...you're gonna regret it." his foe finished with a sigh.
Neji flung himself backward, bracing for an attack that never came. Once more those eerie red orbs followed him, narrow and intent. No. No this wasn't possible. Even a jonin would be in crippling pain after an attack like that. That was his best technique, the very peak of his taijutsu. He had nothing left to give, bar the rotation technique itself. How?! The gap between them couldn't be this wide! It just couldn't! He raged against the thought, even as it availed him naught. This...this was a trick of some kind. Yes! That must be it! An illusion!
"Release!" he slapped his hands together and pulsed his chakra.
The scene before him didn't waver.
He tried again. "Release!"
Nothing happened.
"Denying reality now, are we?" a hoarse chuckle rewarded his efforts. "How unlike you."
"How?!" the word tore out of him in a snarl as he slashed a hand through the air. "I know I closed your chakra points! Not once, but twice! You should be writhing on the ground!"
"I did feel them." the masked warrior rolled his shoulders producing an awful pop deep within his chest. "That last one actually tickled me a little bit. But you know what they say. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice...
Naruto peeled back his jacket and began to roll up his shirt, exposing much of his torso to prying eyes. What the devil was he doing?! Neji sputtered as color flooding his cheeks. His byakugan briefly lapsed, such was his shock. High in the stands above, Kiba squawked as Hinata slumped into his arms.
Naruto paid neither of them any mind.
...not gonna happen."
In that moment, Neji saw what lay beneath; beheld the hardened plates of red-and-white bone, cracked now and crumbling away from the blond's pallid chest. He'd hardened his skin; no, he'd simply grown that hideous armor into his very chest, uncaring of the damage he did to himself. This...this was grotesque. Granted, it looked to be a temporary thing meant to take a single series of attacks, but the pain he must've felt, forcing his own body to grow bone like that. Just the thought made him shudder.
"Monster." he stammered. "You're a monster."
As he looked on, the blond rolled his shirt back down and started forward once more.
"Do you understand now?" Neji's own words came back to haunt him as his opponent advanced, slow measured strides carving up the distance between them. "This is your so-called fate. This is your destiny. You were meant to lose today. Doesn't feel so good, does it?"
His shadow threatened to swallow him whole.
Naruto leaned forward, pressing his masked forehead to his.
"Well, would you look at that." he drawled. "Seems you can feel fear."
Something broke deep inside within Neji as he reeled away from that mask. It was his mind.
"No!"
In desperationhe flailed at Naruto, driving a wild strike into where he knew his heart to be, uncaring for the damage he did. It never landed. A pale fist locked around his wrist and wrenched it upright at a horrific angle. Bone creaked ominously. Pale eyes went wide. A vicious wrench dislocated his shoulder, drawing a keening whine between his teeth. Neji lashed out with the other and the blond repeated the process without a word. It flopped down uselessly beside his right, hanging loose and limp for all the world to see.
"You know, I was wondering what would break first. Your spirit, or your body."
Naruto's fist swung back and the earth responded. Bits of white porcelain manifested around his arm, sheathing his fist in a stark white gauntlet. The Hyuuga found himself strangely reminded of a giant hammer; and he the nail it was to crash upon. He couldn't even move his arms. There was no way of blocking it, worse, the proctor looked fit to step in at any moment. A withering glare from the monster rooted him where he stood. No, no, this wasn't happening. Not like this! He refused to go down like this!
"Lets find out."
Neji shrank back from the sight of that massive fist, thinking only of flinging himself to safety.
Something latched onto his legs, pinning him in place. His blind spot! He spun, hips twisting, and found a pair of baleful red orbs glaring at him. In his fear, he'd all but forgotten about the monsters Naruto summoned. One of them clung to him now, a ghastly hound-like creature gripping him by the knees. Pale eyes bulged. He couldn't move, couldn't rotate in time to free himself; even if he could, the beast's claws all but bit into his legs, promising to tear them apart if he moved.
"Let me go!"
"No." The Grimm grinned back at him.
"Good work, Hound." Naruto beamed behind his mask. "Hold him reeeaaal still for me."
Neji snarled, tossing himself from side to side in a desperate attempt to escape the attack he knew was coming. This would be a finish blow, no doubt about it. If that thing hit him, he was finished. There must be some way out of this; an option he'd not considered, a technique he hadn't bothered to try. He was destined to win here. Fate had decreed his victory...hadn't it?
"Clench. Your. Teeth."
There was no divine intervention to change the outcome for Neji Hyuuga. No last minute savior came to his aid. There was no sagely voice in the back of his head to offer him help. No demon on his shoulder promising him power in exchange for his soul. None of these things happened. He was alone, exhausted, and outmatched.
Naruto reared back. Then he swung. And it was done.
A blur of white flooded Neji's vision and quite suddenly found himself airborne once more. It was a good punch, a distant part of him mused. Clean. Quick. Efficient. He actually blacked out for a moment there. His entire body had gone slack, a helpless puppet unable to do anything but fall to the ground. He knew what would happen if he struck it at this velocity. With his body battered and his chakra reserves tattered, he held no way to soften his fall. He would hit the earth, or the wall, it mattered not.
The impact was going to break his neck.
Instead a pair of strong arms caught him before he could fall. Neji already knew who they belonged to. Aghast, he glared up at his savior.
Naruto glared back, dug his feet in and lowered him to the floor. Neji tried to shout at at him. All that emerged was a groan.
"Finish me." he croaked. "The match isn't over until I die or concede."
Bloody eyes bored into him silently.
"Well?!" a snarl tore out of Neji's throat. "What are you waiting for?!"
A hand swept back and he tensed for the end, refusing to close his eyes against it. If this was to be his end, he would meet death head on.
Instead those pale fingers gripped his mask and swept it aside, dispelling it in a rush of dark light. Neji squinted against it, mildly alarmed to find himself facing the same tan-skinned youth as before. His eyes shimmered with faint blue flames for a moment, but soon even those receded as he mastered himself once more. Gentle blue eyes bored into him, but no attack came. Bitter tears stung at Neji's eyes.
"Why?!"
"Because that's my choice." his adversary declared. "I won't kill you." Even now he shamed him with his mercy. "Dying's easy. Living is hard."
"We make our own destiny." he declared, the deep growl gone from his voice now a he spoke. "I sacrificed, and bled, and sweat and cried for this power." he thumped a marked hand against his chest. "That's why I won today. Not 'cuz of fate, or destiny, or any crap like that; but because I trained. Because I wanted- no, needed!- to win this match."
"I...don't understand." Neji struggled to lift his head. "Where did you acquire such strength?"
"Who knows?" He was granted a rueful grin. "Maybe I'll tell you someday."
"Just like that?" he croaked. "You'd share such a secret?"
His grin became pure, almost boyish.
"Sure, why not? After all...
Without so much as another word, he dropped him and walked away. Neji couldn't even lift his chin to scowl at his back. He was too spent even for that. Belatedly, it occurred to him that the blond wasn't going to finish him off ater all. Even after all that torment, Naruto had gone out of his way to avoid killing him. Perhaps he'd been wrong after all. Could fate be overcome? Could destiny be overturned? One final parting shot took what little remained of his pride and smashed it to peaces.
...if I can change my destiny, so can you."
Maybe he'd been right after all... The sweet blackness of exhaustion took him.
"Winner!" he heard the proctor declare just before he blacked out, "Naruto Uzumaki!"
A/N: Had to hold off on a certain Salem scene for obvious reasons, but there we are.
Congratulations, Neji. You've seen the light. Or darkness in this case. Semantics, I suppose. This chapter confirmed what some guessed in the last; Naruto's the living definition of a Male!Maiden, all supped up with Grimm powers and the like.
He's not cut loose for real, yet. We're saving that for Gaara. Oh, dear. Did I say Gaara? I believe I did!
Soooooooo In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? It Keeps A Man Alive...
And of course, here are some previews for your care and time~!
References are references as always and I own absolutely nothiiiiing!"
(Previews!)
"You did well."
Naruto preened. "Thanks. The training helped."
"Of course it did." Salem smiled. "Now, I believe you deserve a reward."
"Eh?"
In full view of everyone, she deliberately leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.
He saw a stranger in the crowd. Silver eyes met his.
Naruto blinked and they were gone.
...who was that?"
"Sasuke's gonna be disqualified if he doesn't show up...
"Yeah about that," Shikamaru drawled. "They just disqualified him."
Naruto blew out a sigh.
...I'mm gonna have to fight that sand bastard, aren't I?"
Someone patted his back.
"Don't be like that, there's still a few matches to go...
"You want a mother that badly?" Salem chuckled. "Then by all means, come here."
Gaara gulped.
Sakura had never feared Naruto before. She did now.
R&R~!